Star Wars: Warriors of the Force

[Xbx_Inthusiast]

He kept walking, nearing closer to Tacit. Unknowingly, he was actually going in the wrong direction, but he had a general sense of where he was.

[Writer]

Katri let out a startled yelp as Tari gripped her arm and stumbled for a moment before regaining her footing and increasing her speed to match Tari's. For just a moment, she lost her sense of where Tacit was, but she managed to regain it. Still, she couldn't quite pinpoint him and it bothered her.

[The Doctor]

((Alright guys, here's the deal. My seminars are done, but I still have two exams this week. I won't be able to post that often. Jasra knows as much about the story as anyone, so I'm giving her permission to take control of Tacit, if she's willing. If not, then try to go along without me for now. I'll be back in a few days. Sorry.))

[ForceFightWMe12]

Come on... Tari thought to herself as they left the edge of the town behind. We have to be getting close...

 

((OOC: Just waiting for the go-ahead, Doc and Jas.))

[The Doctor]

((Not yet, Kira. I still need to find time to do a real post. I'll add one to this message now. Sign on to MSN, if you can.))

 

Tacit stared at her as she stood, his mouth wide open. He had almost lost to a woman! He clenched his jaw, and glared at her.

"Geohound, huh?" he said. "Funny - I didn't think they existed anymore."

[JasraLantill]

"Don't exist? Hmm...." Zev patted her face and arms. "Yup. Just what I thought. I exist." Then Zev frowned a bit and jiggled and waved her extended hand in front of Tacit. "You know," she said to him condescendingly, "it is customary in these parts, not to mention being generally considered good manners, to grip and shake a hand that's extended to you." She grinned. "Unless, that is, you're still clinging to the convictions you had when you were eight that touching girls gives you 'cooties.' I promise, I don't bite." She paused. "Well, not usually, anyway."

[The Doctor]

Tacit gritted his teeth and pushed past her. "Do me a favour: stop following me. I don't need your protection. Or your 'Pope'. Just stay out of my way, woman."

[JasraLantill]

Zev shook her head. "Sorry," she said to Tacit. "Can't do that. I've sworn a blood oath." She paused, critically evaluating his expression of dogged determination. "Well, as you're so bent and determined to go up there, I suppose I have no choice but to go up there with you." She grinned broadly at him. "Don't you just love blood oaths? They make choices seem so simple."

[The Doctor]

(Sorry about that guys and gals. Exams are over now, and I'm over the trauma of the Religions essays. I do have bad news, though. This tuesday, I'm attending a youth conference for the Presbyterian Church of Canada, and I won't be back until the 9th.

Jasra, you already know more about the story than anyone else, seeing as how you've been my sounding board. If I give you a run-down of where I want the story to go, could you take Tacit for the week? I'd appreciate it.))

 

((I need to take control of a few characters to get the story moving again. Here goes nothing...))

 

Tacit sighed and gritted his teeth. He didn't need this. He'd had enough female manipulation from Tari, and he sure as hell wasn't going to take it from this 'Geohound'.

"I liked it better when you people were extinct," he said, continuing up the mountain. "So tell me: how is that the Geohounds survived the Imperial Genocide?"

Zev simply smiled, falling into stride beside him. "It's not hard to hide from an enemy who's already fighting a three front war. Zolev bit off more than he could chew - and he suffered the consequences."

"But the Genocide continued long after Zolev's empire collapsed," remarked Tacit, jumping onto a high ledge as they continued to the summit. "It went on through to the establishment of the Alliance."

Zev shrugged, climbing up the small mountain just as easily as Tacit. "By the time the Alliance was established, we were already assumed to be extinct. After a few years, people just... lost interest, I suppose."

"But how did... you..."

He trailed off as the ghost of a stabbing pain erupted in his chest, and his vision blurred for a fraction of a second. He leaned against the cliff face, fighting to keep the contents of his stomach from erupting onto the ground. He closed his eyes and forced his mind to focus, allowing the pain to recede.

He looked back over his shoulder. He could just make out the burning buildings of the Allied Capital, the Cyrimian Palace Plaza surrounded by dark stormclouds.

"Hrent..." he muttered.

"What?" asked Zev, kneeling down beside him. "What is it?"

He shook his head, and snapped his eyes back to the mountain. A few meters above their heads was an opening into the cliff. He stared at the black fissure for a moment, anger rising in his chest. He closed his eyes again, and again forced his mind to concentrate. "Wait here. I don't care what kind of blood oath you've made, but I'm not letting you come with me in here. It's too dangerous."

"Yelt dung," she spat, glaring at him. "I can take care of myself."

"I don't care," he said, his voice full of venom. "I'm not risking your life in there, Geohound or not. There are terrors in here worse than anything you could ever dream of."

"I can't let you go in there alone. I shouldn't even be letting you in there at all."

He ignored her, and jumped the remaining dozen meters up to the mouth of the cave. He ignited his sword and continued through.

"Why do I get the feeling revealing myself was a bad idea..." she muttered. She jumped, grabbed hold of a branch halfway up, swung around it, and jumped the remaining height, landing gracefully at the mouth of the cave. Tacit's beam sword had disappeared from view. She sighed, pulled out her own weapons, and followed him into the cave.

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

Tacit rolled into a crouching positin as the tunnel opened up into a cavernous antechamber, the walls covered in a ropey purple vines. On the floor in the middle of the chamber was a large crest, the sillouhette of a large black dragon surrounded by a blood red triangle. Above the crest floated a massive sphere of blue energy, small bursts of lightning arching across it's surface. It too was choked by the purple vines, which ran around the sphere, down to the floor, and all around the chamber. He walked slowly towards the centre of the chamber, ignoring Zev as she entered the chamber herself. He reached out a hand to touch the vines ensnaring the orb, but Zev appeared at his side and grabbed his arm before he could reach it.

"Are you insane?!" she snapped. "Do you have any idea what this is?!"

Tacit threw her arm to the side and glared at her. "I don't care. I know what it's done to my life and my family, and I know that it needs to be destroyed."

"This is a Seal of Valmad..." she muttered. "I never thought I would see one... especially this close to the monestary..."

"A seal of what?"

"Valmar," she said, walking towards the sphere. "They seal in the power of the Dark Lord, preventing him from being reborn and beginning another war on Holen."

Tacit stared blankly at her. "Who?!"

She sighed. "The Great Mother. The Almighty Holen. She created this realm for humanity, plucking us from the jaws of a cataclysmic war in our home realm. We owe Her our lives - our very existence."

"And who is this 'Valmar' guy?"

"A monster," she said. "A terrible creature responsible for the war that Holen saved us from. He was bent on the destruction of humanity. When Holen rescued us, he declared war, using the bodies of dead mortals as soldiers against Holen.

"But he was eventually defeated. During the final battle, Holen herself slew Valmar, her sword cutting him into five pieces. She had these pieces spread across the planet, sealed away, using her power to contain his."

"And... this is supposed to be where she put a part of him?"

She gazed at the crest on the floor. "It must be... that's the crest of Valmar's army. It's a warning to her people."

She looked back up at the seal, her eyes wide. "But... this seal... it's..."

"It's what?"

"It's broken," she whispered. "The seal has been ruptured. It's no longer controlling the power of Valmar..."

"So... 'Valmar' could break out at any second and-"

"Worse than that," she muttered. "I fear he may already have escaped and found a mortal host to share a body with."

Tacit balled his hands into fists. Adelfos... It... it can't be...

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

Katri pulled Tari up the ledge, Ty helping her to her feet when she was safely up. The entrance to the cave stood a few feet away, the wind echoing through it menacingly.

"Are you sure he came up this way?" she asked, her eyes full of fear as she looked into the cave.

Katri nodded. "There's another power, too.Something dark, something... elusive."

"I've got a bad feeling about this..." muttered Ty. "I think we should wait here for him to come out."

"We can't," said Tari, though she knew she didn't want to go into the cave. "We have to follow him."

"He told us to stay in the inn," said Ty. "He'll already be pissed off enough when he finds out we followed him this far. If we go in there-"

"If we don't go in there, he could die," said Katri, her eyes closed. "I sense that he's in danger. But..."

"But what?"

"He's not alone..." she said, here eyes closed. "There's someone in there with him... but I can't sense any more than that."

 

((That should get things moving again, I think...))

[ForceFightWMe12]

((OOC: Hmm...I didn't know Ty rejoined Tari and Katri... ))

 

IC:

 

Tari clenched her hands into fists to stop them from shaking.

"I'm going in." she said boldly, looking straight ahead into the foreboding darkness, "You can follow me if you want, or stay out here. But I'm going in."

With that, she ducked inside.

"Ow!" she hissed as she bumped into the wall of the cave, "How anyone can see in here I'll never...know."

She had arrived in the antichamber. Before her was some sort of blue ball. The thing was massive, floated above the floor, and was lancing with energy.

"What in the name of..."

She continued to scan the room, and noticed the dark forms of two people standing at the base of the ball.

"Tacit!"

[The Doctor]

Tacit spun around to face the source of the voice, and saw Tari running towards him. He threw out his hand, forcing her to come to a stop. "What the hell are you doing here? Go back! Now!"

[ForceFightWMe12]

Tari snarled as she was forced to a halt.

"I could ask you the same thing!" she said, tugging at her foot, though she knew it wouldn't move. "Now will you let me go, please? I hate it when you do this!"

[JasraLantill]

"There's nothing to be done here," Zev said into Tacit's ear. "The seal is broken. Valmar is out there somewhere. And we have to find him and destroy him." She paused. "Or at least put him back in his box," she added quickly under her breath. "Either way, we should go. Now," she added, in case there was any doubt in Tacit's mind about her urgency.

[The Doctor]

Tacit ignored Zev, and spoke to Tari instead.

"Go back!" he yelled again. "I told you stay at the inn! I meant it! It's far too dangerous to-"

He was cut off as the ground beneath their feet began to shake, and the archs of energy flying across the orb grew larger as their momentum increased. A bolt shot out at Tacit, hitting him full in the chest. He fell to the ground, his sword deactivating and rolling off towards the giant orb that was now screaming with built up mana.

[ForceFightWMe12]

"Tacit!" Tari shouted again, hardly noticing that she was released from his power as she rushed to his side.

"The idiot! He's telling me it's dangerous!"

[JasraLantill]

Seeing Tacit knocked down, Zev quickly stepped in and moved Tari away from him, then lifted Tacit up and over her shoulder in a fireman carry. "We have to go," she said to Tari, gently shoving her in the right direction. She wasn't sure if Tacit could hear her, but she continued to talk anyway as Tari was there. "The seal is broken." She stepped on the end of Tacit's light sword hilt to flip it up into the air so she could catch it in her free hand. "And Valmar is out there somewhere. And now it's our job to find him and destroy him." She paused, taking one last look at the glowing orb. "Or at least put him back in his box," she added under her breath. "Either way, we need to go. Now!" she added, in case there was any doubt in Tari's mind about the urgency of the situation as the orb began to swell to dangerous proportions.

 

They had barely reached the mouth of the cave when a huge surge of energy exploded behind them, ejecting them the rest of the way out by force.

 

After the dust cleared, Zev picked herself up off the ground then brushed herself off. "Well,” she said, grinning at the dust covered Tari, “that was fun, wasn't it?"

[ForceFightWMe12]

Tari coughed, doing what she could to get rid of the dust.

"Fun? You must be completely out of your mind."

Oh, gross, dust, dirt, grime...EW!

[JasraLantill]

"Fun? You must be completely out of your mind!"

 

Zev stared at Tari blankly for a moment, as if contemplating what she had said. "Probably," she replied flatly. She looked down at Tacit and tutted. "Warrior, indeed," she muttered, as she pocketed his light sword hilt then hoisted him up over her shoulder once again. "C'mon, boy," she said to Tacit, even though he couldn't hear her. "Time to go."

 

She started toward the longer, but gentler path that led down the mountain, then paused and turned to look at the others. "Well?" she said to them. "Are you just planning to hang out here all day, or are you coming with me?"

[ForceFightWMe12]

Tari stared after Zev as if she had three heads.

She's talking to herself! she thought, As if being stuck with Tacit the bonehead and Ty the pain wasn't enough, I'm now stuck with a total whack-job!

"Hold up a sec." Tari called, catching up, "First off, who are you? Where'd you come from? How did you know where to find Tacit? Who were you talking about back in that cave thing? As a matter of fact, what was that--"

[JasraLantill]

Zev again looked at Tari strangely, then looked back at the cave, it's entrance still glowing angrily with purple light. "What? You want to hang around her and have a chat?" She shook her head. "And she thinks I'm out of my mind," she muttered to herself again. "Look," she said to Tari, "I'll be perfectly willing to answer any of your questions once we are away from this place. Right now, all you need to know is what's in that cave is bad and we need to leave. Now, are you coming or what?"

 

Without waiting for an answer, Zev started down the path, Tacit's limp body dangling over her shoulder. She planned to stop for a breather once she had reached the clearing where she and Tacit had fought earlier. From there, she planned to proceed to the monestary, a place of sanctuary for her, and a place of healing for Tacit. And, if the others tagged along, a place of rest and information for them.

[ForceFightWMe12]

"Hmph." This Zev person was not making a very good first impression. Then again, none of her companions really did...

"Fine, I'm coming. Katri! Ty! C'mon, let's go."

[Xbx_Inthusiast]

As a matter of fact, Ty was no where to be seen. He had gone off on his own, to do what he pleased. This distraction proved useful in his escape. Eventually he'd meet back up with them, but not in a long while. In reality, he was far ahead of them, at the Sanctuary. He had been attacked along the way by a street gang, and had a rather large fight at the santuary itself. Obviously, he had won, but the monestary was almost destroyed from the massive amount of violence that had previously occurred there.

 

He sat on the steps, bleeding, his clothes torn and his body riddled with small cuts and bruises. A long gash adorned his back diagonally down to the small of his back adn up to the bottom of his neck. His sword lay beside him, covered in dried blood and caked limestone dust. His lip was bloodied and his right eyebrow was sliced apart, letting a slow, steady drip cycle of crimson slide down his face. He was hunched over, his bangs over his eyes, his knees to his chest and his head in his arms. He was beat. He knew that this santuary wasn't a safe place to be; he had just made enemies.

[JasraLantill]

Still carrying Tacit over her shoulder, and with Tari and Katri following, Zev led the way down the mountain and then headed toward the monastery. She hadn’t been there for a long while, having been selected by the Pope to follow and watch Tacit, but she knew the way blindfolded.

 

They walked for a few hours, with Tari complaining, Katri trying to soothe Tari, and Zev ignoring the both of them, knowing that they would all get rest, food and shelter when they reached their destination. But as the monastery came into view on the horizon, Zev paused on the path, then frowned.

 

Faint tendrils of smoke trailed upwards into the late afternoon sky, indicating that there was some semblence of civilisation up ahead. Tari seemed relieved by this and stepped forward with more vigor than she had since they left the mountain, but Zev held up her hand for her to stop. “No sound,” Zev said. And when Tari looked confused, she added, “Not you. The monestary. It’s too quiet.” Normally at this time of day there would be bells ringing, calling everyone to prayer, but not today. Today there was silence. “Stay behind me,” Zev told the two women as she motioned them to go forward cautiously. “Something’s wrong.”

 

As they got closer, she could see the front gates were wide open, and just inside, was the body of a dead monk. And another. And another. And then she spied Ty—sitting on the front steps, looking beat and ragged, with a blood encrusted sword laying beside him.

 

Zev carefully laid down the unconscious Tacit on the ground, then she drew her sword. She stood over the dead monk for a moment, then her eyes narrowed and she looked over at Ty. “You know,” she said, slowly moving towards him, “I’ve seen you fight. And you’re good. But this….” She shook her head as she surveyed the destruction all around her. “You’re not that good to have done this all on your own. What happened?”

[ForceFightWMe12]

((OOC: Hey all, I'm back from NYC :D Yaaay. I know you missed me so much ))

 

IC:

 

"For the love of..." Tari's sentence drifted off as she fought off the impulse to puke right then and there.

"Ty..." she whispered, her eyes unable to leave the body of the dead monk, "What have you done?..."

[Xbx_Inthusiast]

He spat on the ground, a small stream of crimson splashed to the dirt below. "I protected myself.." He looked to Zev, then to Tari, then back to the ground. "I was attacked, and the fight led here. I managed to.." He coughed a few times, then continued, "take most of them out before they fled. I didn't kill any of these monks, but I do claim responsibility for the other seven bodies strewn about these grounds.." He put his right hand on his sword's hilt.

 

He dragged the sword forward as he stood, pulling himself to his feet with the blade, then leaning on it afterward.