Shadowcaster: Redemption?

[Seth Darkserpent]

<font size=1>OOC/This RP is of course open, but I'd like for you to contact me before you post. My AIM is JediFerris. Thank you/IC

<font size=2>1 hour, 2 minutes, 47 seconds. Seth felt their presence only 10 miles away. Surely they would catch up sooner or later, it was only a matter of time. His face was smeared with a line of dirt that had been caused by an untimely stumble into a pile of mud. The jungle was a death trap for those who did not know their way around. The canopies above let in small amounts of sunlight that spotlighted certain parts of the forest. The insects, more specifically the Piranha beetles were deadly, and moved around in large groups. Seth felt small again, as he had on that Jedi's ship. An ant in a world of giants Seth thought to himself, shaking his head miserably. Fatigue drew him nearer to the ground, where he could lie down and rest. Using his fading will power, the man refused by simply wincing and continuing his slow pace. One could only wonder how Seth Darkserpent got himself into such a predicament...

As Seth Darkserpent had suspected, Warren Azalin had a hard time getting him on Yavin IV. The defenses were so well thought of, that any strategic fleet trying to blockade Yavin IV, would not make it very far. Trusted New Republic officers ran most of the defence stations, with some help from the Jedi residents. Seth had been unaware that the Jedi were based on Yavin IV, up until this point. The location was an actual mystery, but Seth did not take any pride in unraveling that mystery. Yavin IV had actually turned out to be a death trap for unwanted denizens and spacers.

Warren told the officer through his commlink that he had three passengers aboard. "Myself, my co-pilot and a person in need of the Jedi's help." The Jedi Knight had not lied, but it probably would have been better if he did. The officer grilled him on the importance of bringing "others" to Yavin IV. Warren assured the officer that this "visitor" would be no threat to the Jedi in any way, which at the time he believed. Seth himself believed that at well. He was quite proud of himself, for he had been able to sustain control of his dark urges for almost five hours. Most of that he owed to a two hour nap he had taken en-route to Yavin IV. His dreams were unpleasant, but after he had awakened the memory of their dark pictures had long since faded from his mind.

The Jedi Knight had been given his instructions on where to land. It was a rather small settlement just a mile away from the Great Temple. Seth had deducted it was where the Jedi lived when they were not in the temple, or training their Padawans. The great Massassi temples of Yavin IV became more clear as they passed through the cloud that covered the small planet. Seth had never been to Yavin IV, or seen it before. The sight was not breath taking, and did not excite him. What did excite him was the fact that his vision was slowly returning. Seth could make out the greenery below, from the view port he stared through. As Warren and his co-pilot worked on landing the ship steadily, Seth bowed his head. He still could not understand why the Jedi had chosen a planet with such "rich" Dark Side history.

1 hour, 12 minutes, 11 seconds. The Dark Side was what kept Seth going, as he trekked across the rugged jungle terrain. No doubt he would have fainted from exhaustion, had the Dark Side not fueled him. His anger felt uncontrollable, and the fact that he was going to experience death, or imprisonment from the Jedi very soon, made everything even worse.

Seth had discarded the tattered gloves half an hour ago. He now clung on to a large gnarled stick that helped him correct his balance. The multiple presences were still far, but drawing nearer by the second. As he pushed his sphere of responsibility outward, he felt something. A solitary Force of light east of his present course. Around it he experienced the feeling of smaller creatures, such as insects and plants. Everything in this area seemed to be magnified by the Light Side of the Force, and it was not far off. Coughing in a raspy and crackled voice, Seth pushed his stick forward, and with it his body followed.

Everything in his mind screamed NO!, but he progressed toward the light, at a determined pace. Those following him shared emotions of both curiosity and disappointment. He could feel Jedi presence among his pursuers, but this Light presence that he was moving toward was much stronger. It filled him with comfort, the kind he had never, ever experienced. The shackle of darkness that chained Seth's mind to the Dark Side was weakening by the moment, as Seth felt return control. He felt small relief, the relief that he had felt over an hour ago, prior to his "tempter tantrum".

As Seth exited the shuttle, he was followed closely by Warren. The Jedi Knight was rather unsure of how Darkserpent would act, but Seth had expected this. For a moment, he opened himself to the Force, and felt all the signatures like a cold smack in the face. If anything, this planet was rich in life. Perhaps that answered the question of why the Jedi would choose such a location to train their Padawans. Seth hinted no traces of the Dark Side, other then himself. Embarrassed, he quickly masked his own signature and took a step back.

"Where can I find the Jedi Masters?" Seth demanded, his voice shaking.

"I'm going to bring you to the temple, where we will arrange a meeting." Warren answered quietly.

A group of New Republic officers advanced toward them and nodded to Warren. They moved toward Seth, and shackled him with strong binding cuffs. Darkserpent turned back to Warren and gave him a betrayed look. The officers began to pat him down, searching for weaponry. After they were convinced he was not armed, they nodded to Warren and stood up. Seth growled and turned fully toward Warren.

"What is the meaning of this Jedi Azalin? You lured me here!" Seth accused in a loud voice. He felt his anger level rising like a geyser on Nkklon.

"Seth, these are just standard regulations for newcomers. I'm afraid you will have to stay in those binders for the duration of thi--" Warren was cut in mid-sentence by Seth's cry of rage.

<font size=5>"DECEITFUL JEDI!"<font size=2> In an earlier stage of his life, Seth would have recognized this as standard regulations. Right now, his "inner geyser" had erupted, and unleashed all of his anger. His eyes glowed a bright orange as he broke the binding cuffs with a strong tug. Seth brought his hand back, and swept it through the air. A powerful Force wave rushed forward and knocked everyone over. Darkserpent gave Warren a look of pure hatred, and spun on his heel. Faster then he had ever run, the Dark Jedi fled into the jungle opening at the edge of their landing pad. Using the Force to strengthen his leg muscles, he progressed on. Seth did not know where he was going, but at that point he did not care.

The Dark Jedi felt the presence of Light closer then ever now. His growing fatigue prevented him from actually pin pointing the exact location of this Light power. Using the last droplet of anger that remained in his blood, he raised the stick over his head and dove it into the soil. Seth winced at the toll it had taken on his weak arms, and retired to a fallen log.

"Traitorous Jedi. I should have never come here..." Seth spat out in basic. His language varied from mixed basic to another language that most would be unfamiliar with. It was fast paced like the Sullustan language. Suddenly he stopped, and held up a hand in dead silence. Seth heard something, but he could not be sure of what exactly. As he waited in silence, he felt nothing. The Dark Jedi pounded his fist into the branch. He was definite that he'd heard something, or perhaps he had felt something.

Seth rose off the branch, as slow as a Hutt, and took a step forward. Something stirred in his mind, again. Defensively, Seth raised a fist up meekly. It fell back down, but he forced himself to raise it up again.

"Who is there? Reveal yoursssself!" Seth hissed slowly, and waited for a response, if any...

[Master Yoghurt]

~~Half an hour earlier..~~

The Jungles of Yavin IV


The Massassi Temples towered majestetically over the lush green jungle - clusters of pyramids and strange architectural designs complimenting the blue and lightly clouded skyline of Yavin IV. The skies had a hue of orange, lit up by reflected light from the the gas giant planet dwarfing the fourth moon. The Great Temple, once Luke Skywalker's Jedi Academy, now a training center for a new generation of Jedi, was located to the west. The newly built and heavily defended Temple Avalon was located to the South of the Great Temple.. a more ominous looking structure, knowned as Temple of Exar Kun was further north. The hundreds of treetops formed a thick rugged carpet reaching as far as a pair of macrobinoculars could see.

The ground was still moist and muddy as a result of the past several days of scattered rainshowers and high humidity. Finally though, weather had improved, allowing for some sunlight and almost clear skies. The trees swayed lazily in the wind, imposing a rattling sound, sometimes in an extraordinary loud manner caused by the many woolamanders swinging across the leafy canopy. Beams of sunlight streak through the rich and intricate ceiling of trees, iluminating the heavily vegetated areas below. It was as if the jungle had woken up from hibernation; plants flourished and the undergrowth was teeming of life. Yavinian runyips crept from their hiding places, and groups of Piranha-beetles marched on their way scouting for unfortunate victims that might stumble upon their battle ready armies.


A dense, chaotic and seemingly endless gridwork of bushes, rocks and trees blocked visibility in every direction. Nearby, there was a clearing. A tiny peculiar looking creature wearing robes sat in a cross legged position with arms folded and eyes closed. He was the same as of Yoda's race, green and looking a bit like some old hump backed midget. In fact, one would be forgiven thinking it was Yoda, but he was not. This creature was known as "Yoghurt", or Yog among friends. His conspiciously strange name, referring to dairy products unknown to this galaxy, did little to indicate this really was a Jedi Master.

To his right side was a medium sized lake which extended from the nearby river that run between the westside Great Temple and the Palace of the Salamander a few miles to the south and east. The lake surface was almost silver glittering in appearance, displaying a magnificent mirror image of the densely vegetated surroundings. The image blurred out once in a while, broken by water ripples as the Muccous salamander swimmed to the surface, dipping its red and tentacled mouth into the other realm for air. To his left side, there was a steep and rocky hill. At the base of the incline, there was a pile of rocks and pebbles that had slid down due to centuries of erosion caused by the river..

The air was fresh, warm and full of moisture; flowing through the Jedi's nostrils, it filled his lungs. He breathed out slowly, pausing for several seconds, then took another deep breath. As he pushed his sphere of influence outwards, he felt the energy field known as the Force flowing through him, connecting him with the surroundings.. the trees.. the water.. the Muccous salamander..

..the rocks.

The nearby pile of eroded material started to vibrate as some of the pebbles rattled against each other. A somewhat larger size rock started to budge slightly in the mud, then with a sudden twist it spun up into the air, leveling out 3 meters above the ground. Force levitating a single rock was not much of a task for this Jedi, so he reached out with the Force to extend his sphere of influence even further.. focusing upon yet another rock, which soon afterwards rise up slowly, joining the other one. The process was repeated until a formation of 8 rocks hovered in a ring. As the Jedi Master let tendrils of the Force interconnect the formation of rocks, the ring started to rotate, first slow, then faster.. and faster.

A whispering sound cascaded from this accelerating carousel as it whipped the air. Finally, the rocks spinned so fast, it was difficult to see their outline at any point. Just a swirly circle that had an almost hypnotic effect. The spinning ring moved outwards, until it hovered across the lake casting its reflected image. The Jedi Master looked deep into the mirror image of the circle's center, as if he could see through a portal into some unknown space, at least unknown to the Muccous Salamander swimming happily a few meters away. Yog's eyes grew more distant for every breath he took, indulging him further into the trance. The blurry mirror images of the ring's circle became increasingly clearer, until distinct shapes could be seen across the lakes surface. Images of places.. old friends, long gone. The past.. and the future.. something..

..dark?

A disturbance. He had felt this before, yet had not interupted his daily meditation for this reason. This time it was much closer. No more delays, it was time to locate and identify the source.

The spinning ring of rocks seemed to halt their rotating movement for a split second, and splashed into the lake scaring the poor salamander away in terror. The Jedi Master, although very old and slow of appearance, flipped to his feet with surprising agility. His gimmerstick tree walking cane spinned through the air as it was called to his hands with the Force. Yog moved silently to cover behind some branches in anticipation of the arriving visitor who could be heard from the far distance running like mad in his direction..

"Who is there? Reveal yoursssself!", the figure said.

The branch was slowly pushed aside, revealing this peculiar creature

"Greetings stranger.. lost are you.. yes? Perhaps help you I can.. hmmm? How end up here did you?"

The creatures ears raised attentively up in the air awaiting his answer.

[Seth Darkserpent]

Seth Darkserpent stared back into nothing, yet something had addressed him. His red rimmed eyes shifted downward painfully, and finally he caught glimpse of the being that had just spoken to him. The creature was no more then three feet in height, and had green skin. Were it not for the darker contrast of the creature's skin and the rag that it wore, it would be camouflaged by the leaves on the branch. Seth tipped his head to the side, wondering what race this odd creature belonged to. Its eyes were not large, but they shone brightly, and its ears were long and pointed. If Seth were in a better state, he would be able to notice the few white hairs atop the small alien's head.

The Dark Jedi opened himself to the Force, and pushed his sphere of responsibility toward the creature. As soon as he sensed this creature in the Force, Seth Darkserpent was volleyed back into a tree. Seth's eyes went wide with horror, and at the same time chills scurried down his spine like thousands of spiders. This thing was quite possibly the strongest being in the Force that Seth had ever encountered. His dark aura was deflected and penetrated by this creature of light. The overwhelming power sent the Dark Jedi to his knees, unable to comprehend what he was feeling in such a weak state.

It spoke to him, Greetings stranger.. lost are you.. yes? Perhaps help you I can.. hmmm? How end up here did you?

Seth stared at the creature with much confusion and about a thousand questions. Surely this being was a part of the Jedi Order that had now been put on alert due to Seth's dark presence. The little green being looked nothing like any of the Jedi that Seth had encountered, though the hypothesis could not be discounted. The Jedi of old came in all different shapes, forms and sizes as Seth had read through the various history texts at Ossus. Yes, this creature was most likely a Jedi, a painstakingly powerful Jedi.

The Dark Jedi noted this Jedi alien was awaiting a definite response, after his ears raised upward. Seth was forced to close his eyes as a beam of sunlight shot through the canopy above and encompassed Yoghurt. He brought a weak arm up to shield the top of his eyes and peered at the creature through broken vision. Darkserpent could feel the Force in him, and with it he felt conflict. The light side that this Jedi wielded hit Seth like a mallet, somewhat like how particles attracted each other. Immediately he felt a sense of calm wash over him. The pain escaped his body and he felt control over himself. Although Seth rejected the light and pulled back, gasping for air. He would not be influenced so easily, not even in his apparently weak mental and physical state. The pain returned soon after.

Seth allowed himself a gust of air through his nostrils and let it out through his mouth. The man was sure he had not punctured any of his lungs, despite the fact that it hurt every time he breathed through his mouth. He called upon the Force for aid, unsure if he was calling upon the Dark or the Light. It provided him with little strength, but enough to comprehend his situation and speak. He felt the warmth returning to his blood, and the feeling returning to his weak legs. Seth did not rise off his kneeling position, he preferred to be leveled with the creature. Perhaps this Jedi would be the answer to all of his problems, and aid him in finding help.

Seth...Seth, attack him! He is clearly one of them, and he will kill you! The annoyingly loud voice of the body's host, Sven, filled Seth's head. These Jedi want you dead Seth. You are a threat to their peace, and they know it as well as I do. Destroy him now! He will not suspect such an attack in your weak state.

Darkserpent's eyes shifted to the mossy jungle floor. An insect had found its way on to his leg, and it began to crawl up. Although Seth allowed Sven to torment his mind within, he did not let it show. Now that he was in full control of himself again, he had no attention of attacking anything. It would be foolish to attack a Jedi on a planet full of other Jedi anyway. If Seth began to attack Jedi, it would only be a matter of time before he was hunted down and attacked himself.

One question remained in his head...Would this Jedi attack him? Surely he would have done so already, but perhaps he took pleasure in allowing his victims to squirm. Seth knew that the Jedi were not like this, but perhaps this one was a warrior Jedi. A warrior Jedi's job was to vanquish the Dark whenever they could. Although Seth could not spot any weapons on the Jedi alien before him, he did suspect that this creature could squash him with the Force.

"Y--you a--a--are a Jedi, correct?" Seth held out a hand, and fell face first in the dirt before the Jedi. He pushed back with his hand, and examined the scrape his chin had just endured. Seth spoke again, "I-I'm S-Seth D--Da-Dark--Ser---pent."

The Dark Jedi closed his eyes and focused on the Force, calling upon more strength. His speech was stuttered by weakness and fatigue, and this creature would not be able to help him if Seth could not speak properly.

"I was brought..." Seth paused to breath easily, as if he was lacking oxygen, "...To this planet by a Jedi Knight named Warren Azalin. I promised him I would not hurt any Jedi during my visit here and I still hold this promise to be valid.....As you have probably guessed, I am of the Dark. I've sought out a Jedi Master that could help me cure my problem."

Seth let out a series of nasty coughs, indicating he had caught some type of cold. His eyes rolled into his sockets momentarily, but he fended off the urge to faint. He eyed this creature wearily, wondering what it was thinking. The bug had now crawled it's way onto Seth's arm, and quickly scurried to the half open hand. The Dark Jedi shuddered as the creature's small legs crawled atop his sensitive palm. With a sudden surge of adrenaline, he crushed it in his hand.

"Although, I've run into a slight problem during my arrival on this planet. The New Republic forces tried to cuff me, after learning what I was. In anger and haste I lost control of myself and escaped. Now it seems the local constabulary along with the Jedi are looking for me." Seth paused for a moment, trying to hold his breath. His cheeks erupted into another loud cough.

Seth felt uneasy when he realized he did not know the identity of this Jedi creature. It prompted his first question;

"I've told you who I am, now...Who are you?"