It Can't Rain All The Time...

[Jeseth Cloak]

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It had been several hours now since his encounter with the Sith Lordess, Dalethria Mal Pannis. Jeseth hadn't been able to keep his composure, and found that in time the loss of blood and exertion had force him into the realm of unconsciousness. She had told him that she would offer him a challenge, and that was exactly what he got... but it seemed as if for this once he had bitten off more than he could chew. The clap of thunder was hanging in the air, droplets of water bouncing lightly off his pale skin. Blood was drying onto his clothes, the patches of stains almost unnoticeable among all the black he wore... he couldn't help but wonder about what had happened. He remembered having attempted to hide himself among the shadows, the turning to leave... had he failed to make his escape?

Whatever had transpired, he wasn't in any condition to continue the fight now. Maybe, though, he could find her. It was doubtful that she would still be in the area, but perhaps he could pick up the trail. Jeseth propped himself up and looked at the blood which was smudged along the fallen leaves, the water stirring it up nicely... He began to follow it like a path, noticing the slight changes in color. His blood was much darker than hers for some reason... perhaps it had to do with her being human - most human blood was much brighter.

Are you still out here?

It was raining hard, and after what might have been half an hour of searching, the trail washed away. He was, for all purposes, lost. His wings were soaked too... meaning he wouldn't be flying his way out of this one. The river was still where it had been, but it ran for miles. There was no guarantee he would find anything by walking the banks...

[Dalethria Mal Pannis]

The rain was refreshing and revitalizing. It almost made the burning sensation in her chest tolerable. Most of the wounds she had suffered by Jeseth were easily blocked but it was the lung that she had to take great care in making sure to keep it contained. Her telekinetic abilities were being entirely concentrated upon that wound so she could still breathe.

She dared to open her tired eyes and laughed, causing her chest to heave. Wiping away the trickle of blood that fell down her chin, she found it quite ironic that she was now back in a tree. This whole situation started by Dalethria following Jeseth through the trees, curious about this strange being. Now she was leaning against the cool damp bark of one of the tallest trees in the forest, high up to where the leaves and darkness caused by cloud cover obscured her physical presence. She was close to regaining enough of her strength to return back home. That time was drawing nearer and nearer ...

... and so was Jeseth.

If she had to, Dalethria would finish what was started if he wanted to continue this ... yet ... that wasn't what she sensed. There were no hostilities from what she could determine, just a need to try and find her.

From her vantage point, there was no sign of Jeseth. She wiped the wet, matted, hair from her face as the rain continued to shower down across the land. Dalethria leaned back and returned to her rigid spot on the branch and returned the call.

"Yes ..."

[Jeseth Cloak]

He nodded somewhat painfully, his skin still searing. Wait there, then. I'll be along shortly... if I happen to be on the right path. Jeseth glanced up through the trees, letting the chilling rain pour down over his hair, washing him clean. From Dalethria's vantage point, she probably could see him easily now, hobbling into her field of vision and attack. Jeseth looked up at her and held his saber at her direction, then clipped it to his belt in show of peace. His hand traveled back up past his chest, the stab wounds still lightly pouring forth with blood. He placed his broken artificial fingers against the tree she sat in before leaning against it, catching his breath.

"How did you control the lightening? There was no storm then." He had seen such a technique used once before by a Sith Master, but never had he felt it's true power. Whatever she had done, it was amazing. His nerves were still sizzling from the attack, even hours later... he had to know how to do it, too. Will you teach me? He undid his coat, removing it and tossing it into the water at his feet. It sunk quickly, blood blooming from cloth and spreading to touch the roots of the tree. The wounds he had suffered were much more apparent now. It was a wonder he could still keep his composure.

[Dalethria Mal Pannis]

Jeseth's display of civility was amusing but the fact that he actually came all this way in the shape he was in was to be respected. Whatever reasons he had to find her, they must be important to put one's body through that amount of pain to reach those answers.

Her head rolled to the right which brought about an interesting sensation as the bumps in the bark changed. It was tingly and slippery from the water. Her head felt light and weighted down at the same time like she was floating in water. Jeseth was in a sorry state. She was not any better and he wanted her teach him how to channel one of the most violent and beautiful displays of nature.

"Look at yourself, Jeseth. You can barely stand."

The sound of thunder in the distance caught her attention and she looked skyward, smiling at the ironic timing of the thunderclouds.

"Besides, I don't remember you being my Apprentice."

[Jeseth Cloak]

"What doesn't kill us can only make us stronger... or so they say." He took a deep breath and leaned against the tree. "I would be in your debt if you would instruct me but just this once. My former Master, Darth Tholuem, has met his fate. I fear he shall not return this time from wherever his destiny has taken him this time."

[Dalethria Mal Pannis]

Her eyes blink constantly from the rainwater that was hitting and rolling down her face. Jeseth was without a Master ... something she thought would never happen for quite some time between her and Kat. Now she was with Master Rama and wasn't sure where that road will take her.

My sympathies for your late Master but what does it mean that Jeseth is indebted to me? Perhaps if I understood that better I might be able to share such knowledge.

[Jeseth Cloak]

He took another deep breath and closed his eyes, allowing the spinning around him to come to a halt. As he opened his eyes again, he noticed a red stream moving away from him amidst the rainwater. He was losing a lot of blood. The wounds in his body suddenly stopped. Jeseth's mind was focused elsewhere - away from the present, away from the past and future. Along the scratches and stabs a disgusting puss-like fluid began to appear, bubbling up from the Dark Jedi's flesh as something was whispered underneath his low breaths. The only way he could heal himself would in the long run take it's toll on him, but for now the fester and decay would keep his blood from draining away too quickly.

"I shall share with you my knowledge... I have searched the galaxy in my endeavor to find as much information about the Force and it's uses, and it's followers and the forms in which they have appeared. Take this not for granted... for there is yet much that The Sith Empire has allowed to slip away with the sands of time. Perhaps because some of that information may seemingly shame them, make them feel like lesser beings... but I have a feeling that you're not like so many of the others. If you were, you'd not have bothered to give me an audience with you in the first place... Unless, that is, you merely enjoy toying with your pray.

"My skills are at your disposal. I am but a scholar... nothing more."

[Dalethria Mal Pannis]

The hold that she was implementing with the Force to keep her lung from collapsing was slipping. There was no way to tell visibly that Dalethria was loosing the struggle, save for her skin becoming a tad whiter then normal. From where Jeseth stood, he couldn't even notice that.

The Dark Jedi continued to speak and the Sith Lordess concentrated fully on the injury she suffered. Her skills were strong in her telekinetic ability, down to where she could control her own body. Slow her heart rate, breathing ... hold bones together and even a bronchial tube. Manipulating the area where she was cut, carefully she brought the two delicate areas together once again. It wasn't enough and Dalethria didn't want to loose her control over that area again.

It was a mediation technique that she had learn and used before training Apprentices. A part of her mind went elsewhere. The only purpose that it held was to keep that wound together. Nothing else. Multitasking like this would cause her power would dwindle somewhat but that was what channeling was for. As long as her hate, anger, desire and want were strong ... the Dark Side would always be there for her.

A few moments after Jeseth finished, Dalethria brought her attention back solely on him. She heard everything that was said eventhough her concentration was split. "I am the product of my Master and who I once was ..."

She got up into a crouch and flipped off the side of the branch. Landing on her feet, again in a crouch, her eyes looked up at the winged being known as Jeseth, "... luckily for you I am somewhere in the middle of such extremes."

[Jeseth Cloak]

He nodded and looked at her. "Allow me to heal your wounds? It will only be temporary... So it won't eliminate use of a bacta tank or proper medical attention. For the time being at least you'll be able to take your mind off things. There are certain skills I've picked up which can come in very handy at the right times..." He half-smiled and brought himself down to eye level with her, kneeling into the water. "it will a bit... painful - Though I don't forsee that bothering you." The Dark Jedi took a deep breath and noticed his blood had once again managed to stain the clear water.

[Dalethria Mal Pannis]

Dalethria lowered her right knee into the mud; the cold wet earth clinging to her skin and masking some of the pain she couldn't block. She placed an index finger into the pool of water and blood, spinning it around ... watching the red liquid from a kaleidoscope of patterns within the puddle, "Perhaps you should do that for yourself. I'm not slowly bleeding to death."

Her head lifted slightly from looking at the ground to look at Jeseth. He could see the slight resemblence of a grin on the Sith's face, "I'm only having a breathing problem."

[Jeseth Cloak]

"There's not much else I can do for myself..." And that much was true. His wounds were too deep to heal. If he attempted, he might only succeed in infecting himself with a score of disease that he'd be unable to cure without a proper medical facility at his disposal. She wouldn't have that same problem, though. "I'd only make matters worse." Rising up to his full height, Jeseth brushed his bloody hand back through his dark hair, wiping it as his fingers slicked back the jaw-length strands. Water snaked it's way through his fingers, falling back towards the puddles at Jeseth's feet.

"So, when could we begin this lesson?" He quieted down, letting the piddle-patter of rain fill the silence. He was obviously quite eager to grasp this new concept...

[Dalethria Mal Pannis]

She flicked the red droplets of water off her finger and stood up, "Very well."

There was still mud clinging to her knee but was slowly being wash away by the falling rain. White skin peered through as each rain drop impacted against the moistened dirt.

The rain helped to slick back her hair once again and Dalethria cocked her head to the side, "You still owe me that healing in return even though it isn't going to help you. Hopefully you're strong enough to survive the lesson but at this point ... I don't care. Sooner get this done sooner I get inside."

[Jeseth Cloak]

Jeseth reached out calmly, placing his hand to her shoulder. It was the first time this day that he had laid a touch upon her without some malice at mind. It was a different experience... Besides getting a glimpse of her internal injuries, he also felt a moment of clarity. A flash went through his mind, and he saw glimpses of a future there. The tissue of her lungs seemed to boil momentarily as the rush of matter came. Her wounds sealed themselves in a wave of strange puss and bacteria. It was a temporary patch. The injuries would still need to be treated, but for now they'd be held at bay. His hand slipped away from her shoulder, his blood remaining upon her clothing in small smudge marks.

"Then I'm ready." He looked to her, wondering if she'd have already adjusted to the fevered condition that his touch had imparted upon her. His shoulder gave a quick twitch, the burning and irritation making a fresh wave over his flesh.

[Dalethria Mal Pannis]

The pain inside her chest exploded in her mind that she held her scream at bay by grinding her teeth together. The teleknetic hold that Dalethria had on her wound was overlapped by whatever Jeseth was doing to her. Now all that remained was the burning that quaked throughout her body. Concentrating inward, Dalethria regulated her body temperature until it returned to a normal level. The sweat was washed away by the cool rain water as the Lordess felt more like herself. The temporary fix that she had ontop of his would be enough to get by for sometime ... just not indefinately.

Dalethria took a good look around her without worrying about her wounds or Jeseth. She came to conclusion that the Dark Jedi was insane ... which didn't surprise her, and laughed, "You want me to instruct you on the elemental power of lightning in the rain? IN YOUR CONDITION?"

It was the funniest thing she ever heard, "You do wish to die this day ... just not by my hand."

[Jeseth Cloak]

Jeseth stifled a cough, but it came through anyway and blood spilt out into the water around them. This forest did a decent job of collecting the rain... it was like a sponge. "I'm not as weak," another cough broke his sentence, "as I look. You said you would teach me, and I am ready now. If I die, then so be it." He wiped the blood from his mouth and looked at her with a determined look in his eyes. He had been forced to learn much of what he knew on his own, with little guidance. "This is not my day to die. I shall live on, and when next we meet it will be on very different terms..."

He held his hand up and attempted to summon his pain and anger, feeling his internal organs giving slightly, and willing the lightening to manifest, but he only watched as his right hand fizzled slightly, then curled up on itself in a defensive action that his muscles had taken without his approval.

[Dalethria Mal Pannis]

The Lordess closed her eyes and let the mysterious of the future become open to her. Jeseth's statement brought forth curiosity in what hidden meaning lay within those words. It was only a moment of searching and a thread of possibility was shown to her. Her brows narrowed and she hummed in contemplation as to what was revealed.

Her eyes then slowly opened, "Yes... we will meet again but it won't be as enemies. No... it seems that my path will be rocky..." She stopped herself and watched Jeseth attempt to call forth electricity from his own hand.

Dalethria placed a hand on top of his, "It isn't just inside you, Jeseth. It is all around you. All the ambient energy for the taking but you need to will it inside you firstly."

She extended her senses and began to tap into that energy. It helped to revitalize her own body but that nagging lung of her's still liked to make its presence known, but even that too was pushed aside. The power of the Dark Side was all around her. The destructive nature of the storm only heightened that connection.

"As you absorb the energy, your own body's electrical nature will do the rest... Your body and mine is more or less a battery. To absorb the energy around you is because you are a Force user. Combine the two ..." Her hand targeted a nearby tree and she released a bolt of lightning. It impacted skillfully and the tree cracked in two. Both sides moaned in protest as they parted and fell to the ground.

She turned to Jeseth after watching the tree lay still, "Now explaining and doing are two different things of course..."

[Jeseth Cloak]

Jeseth nodded slowly and felt how her use of the technique had left him with a feeling of slight drain... something he had not noticed in the heat of battle. She was drawing energy from everything. The Force was something that could be felt, and as such every tug and ripple was made apparent to those who minded it. She was right... he had been looking in the wrong places. The energy was not coming from within either of them entirely.

He concentrated, using his anger and hatred, releasing it as a channel for the power, and targeting the same tree which she had struck. He closed his eyes and drew upon the energies around him as best he could, very slowly drawing them against him as some sort of blanket... and then dragging them closer and closer to whatever it was inside him that allowed him to control the Force. He felt his cells erupt into a fire of pain, all along his arm, and then a stream of nearly untamed lightening shot forth and licked the trunk of the tree, sparking through the rain and sending a ripple of light that quickly fell to the ground, little photons trapped deep within the rain drops.

The attempt had not been entirely successful, but he had managed to achieve something closer to what his original intent had been. His right hand felt raw, his palm numb. His wounds were still foaming up inside, distracting him with an occasional sharp sting. He was reminded of the entrance the dagger had made.

Another few moments, and he managed to wrap small tendrils of the blue energy around his fingers, holding them back as they attempted to make their escape from his grasp. It sent his nerve endings over their threshold for pain, but he succeeded in releasing a second and more destructive blast of lightening that shattered the remaining bark of the tree. The death of the thing's roots left an imprint upon the Force... one which Jeseth could draw upon as well to rekindle the power inside him. He balled his hand into a fist and gritted his teeth, shutting his eyes and attempting to contain the urge to yell.

The water had done a quick job of sending the waves of lightening across the winged Dark Jedi's body. "Thank you..." He opened his eyes and took a deep breath, letting his heart rate slowly settle into a regular cycle. "The Force did not fail me when it called me here to further my training..." Jeseth straightened up to his full height, letting the rain slip and slide down his hair and pale face. His body was nearly battered beyond functioning properly any longer. He would need to seek out his ship while there was still enough life left in him. "Come with me... I have something for you." He set off, limping in the direction from which they had come.

We shall have to cross the river... again. I can only hope a bridge is not far from where we stand now.

[Dalethria Mal Pannis]

Her time was well spent and Jeseth learned quickly. Always when training her students, an actual example with her lecture made more sense then endless talk. To actually feel and see what it is you want to learn in the Force made the task easier... if one knew where to look. Jeseth did and was now stronger this day. Perhaps a ally was made because of this? That was part of her motivation in teaching the Dark Jedi, but he did heal her and Dalethria made a habit to keep her promises. Well, the ones she wished to keep to those deserving.

Dalethria had thought their meeting was at an end until Jeseth started to limp off.... wanting her to come too. She blinked and then followed, "Something for me?"

They needed to cross the river and the Lordess took point, leading the way to where the nearest bridge waited. The journey would be about a quarter mile through the dense forest and occasionally she would look off to her side to make sure Jeseth was keeping up. As with her Winged companion, her body felt like it was going to give up any moment but it was because of the Force and sheer will that kept what should not be mobile... mobile.

Shouldn't be much farther now...

And it wasn't... the darkness obscured the rope bridge that joined both sides of the river. It was attached to the nearest trees on either end. Very crude but also efficient...

What is it you wish to show me?

Dalethria asked as she waited for Jeseth to go first.