The Dark Side of the Moon (Ashe Sieris)

[Jorshal Vuntana]

Exar Kun, Lord Naga... Jorshal knew the history of this place, What Sith didn't? Yavin 4, a common place of history for both Jedi and Sith. In the distance a Massassi temple poked above the canopy, he was standing on the ledge of another. Sightseeing and history, however, was not why he was there. Blashphemours to the nature of the Force was why he was there, Jedi brought him to the the fourth moon of Yavin.

A light rain began to precipitate, the warm drops on his skin hardly distracted his mind from his mission. The Sith were beginning to expand their tendrils across the galaxy, with a little help from the Empire they were beginning to fulfill their mission as Sith. The Empire and the Sith had a common enemy, the Jedi, crusaders against the darkside, allies of the Rebel Alliance. There was not a cure for the Jedi plague, but vanquished they must become. To hunt, as a predator would stalk its prey, the Jedi was the only feasible cure.

He could not say he ever knew Ashe Sieris, nor did he ever hope to. Her name was but one on the list of known Jedi throughout the galaxy, soon to fall on the list of Jedi extinguished. Her skills were unknown to him, her strengths and weaknesses undocumented. He was going in blind, a dangerous attribute to any mission, such perhaps was the reason he selected it. He was Darth Ahkilleus, Jorshal Vuntana, Master of the Sith Order; the highest in rank amongst the darkside adepts of Korriban. There was little doubt in his mind that he couldn't handle a single Jedi. With the Jedi fragmented the way it was, there was little room for training and, he believed, little room for masters to flourish.

His mind wrapped itself around Yavin's moon, squeazing, probing, peering between the branches for the Jedi he sought out. The residue left behind by the Force blotted his feelers, history was proving to stand against him. "Where are you Ashe Sieris?"

[Ashe Sieris]

The sky was clouded and rain had begun pouring around the temple ruins about fifteen minutes ago. The gentle rumble of thunder and the occasional flicker of lightening high within the clouds gave the moon world an eery but calming mood to someone like the jedi that was hiding there. The occasional animal call echoed through the trees and into her ears as she stood near of one of the many temple ruins that are scattered about Yavin IV. Someone else was out there. She could sense them but... she wasn't sure who it was or if it was just one of the random animals that had been touched too deeply by the dark side.

Her deep eyes looked slowly around the forest, taking in everything that she could see. Most of the native creatures of the world had headed for shelter when the storm hit. No movement could be seen through the trees except for the wind blowing their branches. Ashe turned away from the forest and gazed up at the temple she stood before. She was drenched from standing out in the rain, but she didn't care.

Ashe moved forward towards the temple and out of the rain, approaching the large stone doors. She paused at the doors, looking them over before running her hand along the sith runes encraved around the door frame. She paused at one, staring at it. The rune was identical to the one branded into the palm of her right hand. A scar she had obtained long ago when she used to live here. She could feel the two runes call to each other but ignored it.

Her eyes turned to the large stone door before her again. She ran her hand across them until she found the panel. Pressing gently then stepping back, the doors slowly slid open, allowing her access within the Sith Temple of old.

[Jorshal Vuntana]

His mental gaze was pulled in on a certain spot surrounding one of the many Sith Temples, a rune had met its twin. The answer to the mystery behind the runes did not reveal itself so easily. He was never one for games and puzzles, the straightforward approach, he always preferred. What could a Jedi and Sith runes have in common? Perhaps they were seperate happenings, neither having anythign to do with the other. It was start regardless and his only lead for the moment, not to mention the location of the temple was nearby. He boarded the small craft as the rain began to pour, ordering it to bring him to the Temple in the distance.

[Ashe Sieris]

Ashe paused and looked out of the door. Her eyes dart around, searching for anything. Still, the only thing that meets her gaze is the trees and rain. A shiver ran down her spine but weather it was from the rain dripping down her back or from the eery feeling she was getting, she wasn't sure. So she mearly turned back around and continued into the runes. The door slid shut behind her as she stepped forward.

Ashe's footsteps echoed down the hall as she walked. The hall was dark but she could see clearly in the darkness due to her connection to the shadows that she has through the force. Her eyes roam the walls, looking over the runes and symbols engraved there. She paused beside a tapastry a good ways down the hall and around a corner from the door and looked it over carefully. She pulls out a glowstick and cracks it open, holding it up so that she can look at it a bit better.

The tapastry showed an ancient sith from long ago. Along the edges it showed the battles he had been through. At the top was one that was important to all force users, dark or light. The battle over the two sides that wars between all force users. Some are able to repress it in order to stay loyal to their side. With others, the war is constantly raging, causeing them to be sensitive to either side pushing at them. Ashe sighs as she looks at it and places her hand apon the tapastry, closeing her eyes.

[Jorshal Vuntana]

The tree branches waved and the grass gave way to the small ship setting down before the temple. Gently it hovered above the ground as the landing gear revealed itself from the base of the ship. At last, the ship depowered having secured itself on the surface of Yavin 4. The cockpit was the only room for a single passanger to occupy the ship, the viewport surrounded by durasteele cracked open and let in a breath of fresh air for its pilot.

Jorshal climbed from the seat and set his feet upon the long grass. The drizzling rain gave signal to the A.I. of the ship to close off the cockpit, though its master didn't seem to mind it. He wiped the water from his brow as he approached the door to the temple. Runes surrounded the portal, none of them made much sense to him. None except the one that was calling through the Force. He scanned the stone for it, found it and place his hand in the shallow trenches of the engraving. His eyes darted to the door, then back again to the rune. These runes would give him no clue to open the door, he would use force then.

Never his strong spot though he was more than capable of using it, he accessed the Force and cause the heavy door telekinetically to move. He could feel the gears grinding withint he stone as the door lifted and stopped at a position in which he could walk through. Slowly the door closed behind him, easing his mind. In the dark he stared, reaching for his lightsaber. The crimson glow from the blade illuminated the immediate space with a hiss. There was someone near, more than likely alerted to his presence through all senses. Still and silent, he stretched through the Force for the mind of another.

[Ashe Sieris]

She had felt it as much as she had heard it. The door to the temple opening and someone walking inside. Her hand quickly dropped to her saber but then she thought better of activating it. If she did so right now, it would alert the person of her exact location, if they did not know it now. Her hand quickly left her saber as she looked around, trying to figure out what to do.

Ashe's eyes dodged around the temple hall way then she quickly, but silently, made her way farther into the temple. She could not let this person catch her in there, incase they didn't know she was. She turns a few corners and finds herself in, what she would guess, to be a training room, if this was a sith academy at one time.

There was an obvious square indent in the ground, at the center of the floor, that was filled with what looked like dirt or sand. Many plants had grown out of it over the years, forming a strange jungle like scene within the room. Ashe quickly dodged around the plants and took hiding within the vines and follage. She used the shadows around her to assist her in hiding a bit better.

[Jorshal Vuntana]

His intuition had been served him well, the Jedi he sought was indeed what had activated the rune. She was frightened, he sensed, and she was searching for somewhere to hide. Just like a Jedi, afraid to face what reality dealt. Just like the weak, afraid to fight. He wanted to believe this was going to be easy, it could be, but he wasn't going to bet everything on a hunch.

Force users have always had a link between each other, whether light or dark, one can always sense the other. Like a trail of breadcrumbs leading through the temple, Jorshal was drawn to his quarry through a network of tunnels and hallways, each one growing denser than the previous with vines and foliage. At last he had reached a room where the Force signature of the Jedi was stationary. It was blackened with plants and vines providing a spider-web of cover for her.

He pointed the ignited lightsaber through the vines, a wave of telekinetic Force power swept through the vines lifting them out of place. A tunnel of arched plants formed to the wall. He directed it to the left, the noise of rustling vines disturbing the silence as the makeshift tunnel moved across the room based on the direction of the tip of his lightsaber. Finally he stopped on where he could sense the presence of the Jedi, but with his eyes he could not see her. Her signature felt, darkened.

"Here little Jedi." He whispered in a sing-song tone.

[Ashe Sieris]

Ashe pulled farther back into the plants until she had come out the other end of the folage. She grabbed her lightsaber, now that he knew what she is. She can feel the force flowing through her lims as she prepares herself for anything. But she can feel this strange pulling at her chest, like something is trying to get her to go to this man, this Sith. Her mind dodges across the other sith she has come across. Zereth and Ambrose being the main ones.

Her vision shifts slightly, showing the faded image of the man in the room with her. She continues to use the shadows to mask herself in the back of the room, keeping her lightsaber off. He was powerful. More so than Ambrose, but she was not sure about Zereth. She pulled herself back into her own mind. But that tugging feeling was still there, telling her to go to him.

[Jorshal Vuntana]

Shadows? Instinct told him this went deeper than simple camouflage. Taking a step closer, his eyes searched the shadowed figure through the frame of vines. Another step coincided with the scattering of shadow across Ashe's skin. It was his mind against hers at this point, a sense of hubris and pride of strength flourished from within, manifesting itself in his darkside power. He could overwhelm her, but perhaps she was letting him. He withdrew, letting the shadow cover her again leaving only her eyes naked.

To conquor, he did not wish any longer. Curious since his youth, he wanted to know more about her as if she were a gadget he had found as a child. He slowly stepped closer, with each glaring pace he felt their Force power repel like magnetic spheres. Standing at last in front of her, his face so close he could hear her breathe.

Silence stood like a monolith between them as he search her through the Force.

His long hair trailed his head as it spun around quickly, leading his body towards where he entered the room. His back openly faced her, a declaration that did not fear her. They were connected now, albeit loosly. He had faith she would not let him leave just yet.

---

"What do you hope to gain by agreeing to harbor her here?" Jorshal asked. He was young, he did not understand his master's methods.

"I hope for nothing." Southstar said monotnously. "The Force is my tool, I can only know."

"Know what?" Jorshal asked in unrestrainted anger and confusion.Folding his arms and turning to the filled bookshelf in Southstar's quarters, he dwelled on the situation.

"She can be turned." He said, finally gracing Jorshal with his gaze.

Rayna Eclipse had been picked up by the two on an earlier mission. She resisted, she fought Southstar by lightsaber. Jorshal was there, he fought her apprentice, he nearly died. Something had struck the Sith's minds like a plague, causing them to blackout. Jorshal should have died. Instead he found the Jedi apprentice dead at his feet, Rayna sobbing not too far in the distance.

"You can't." Jorshal met Southstar's gaze. "We blacked out! We don't know what happened! It could have been a set up. You don't know you can turn her."

"Don't I?" Southstar's voice rang of anger. "Have you not listened this whole time you've been at my side? Have you not observed? She will become one of us. I swear it."

"She is a Jedi." Jorshal protested softly through gritted teeth.

"Jedi incline to the greatest of Sith."