Unbridled

[Dalethria Mal Pannis]

Dalethria had heard tales of the Dark Jedi and once had the pleasure of listening to Rane speak to her husband, Ogre, at one point. She brushed off their ways at the time but considering the situation she has been placed, perhaps she could find something here to help her. Or ... she could really be loosing her mind and wind up dead, or someone else, if she tries anything with her Force abilities.

She would have to take the chance. This strange group of people that decided to follow a different path just might have some unknown knowledge that could be beneficial to her.

Stepping up to the gate of the once great castle, Dalethria knew that her presence would be felt and someone would make their way to her. It be a shame that if no one was residing here at this time. She would have wasted a favor in getting here.

The blackened remains of stone scattered around the courtyard were quite an eye sore but Dalethria could get a sense that this place once held great power. All that was left of its past glory was one lone tower that remained The hairs on the back of her neck stood a bit and her head rose skyward. The purplish red sky was becoming overcast with the darkest colored grey clouds that her eyes beheld.

Great ... it was about to rain and that wasn't a good thing.

It wasn't the first strike of lightning that got her a bit worried. It was the second. If what she heard about this planet was true, Dalethria did not want to be caught outside.

Instead of waiting for someone, she decided to knock and if no one came soon, she would find a way inside herself.

[Jeseth Cloak]

Jeseth looked up into the sky at the sound of thunder... He had been perched atop the tower, examening the terrain. They truely were in need of a new geographical map, and it was his intention to produce one.

His eyes had caught a glimpse of a ship touching down in the distance, but unfortunately he had paid it no mind. Now the problem had become much clearer: A Sith. Her face glanced upwards towards the towers, but obviously she had no noticed him.

[Dalethria Mal Pannis]

Dalethria waited ... and waited for someone to come. Her teeth clenched together in annoyance as she realized that she would have to make her presence known. Oh well, so be it.

Taking a few steps back, she began to jog forward with a slight skip. Planting her foot at the base of the gate, she jumped up and planted her other foot upon another metal bar. Vaulting herself high into the air, she flipped her body forward. Landing on her feet on the other side of the gate, Dalethria looked around for anyone. The air was heavy with moisture and she sniffed the air. A sharp smell of acid hung about and she needed to get inside shelter soon.

Lightning streaked across the purple red sky and shadows cast about the ruins for a moment. It was that moment where a pair of wings cast across the side of the tower, leading all the way down to the ground. The wind was already picking up and she had to put up an arm to get her hair from whipping into her face. Her eyes gaze to who could be sitting up there during an occurrence such as this.

[Evil Hobgoblin]

The doors to the castle open to reveal a short, stumpy figure. The figure gazes intently at the newcomer, then beckons her forward. When she is within hearing range, the figure speaks.

"You are Sith, that much is clear-
Dalethria Mal Pannis, why are you here?
Answer the question after you're inside
Because from the acid rain, you'd best hide.
And keep in mind that old Hob sees all
Attempts to decieve him will surely fall."

[Jeseth Cloak]

Jeseth listens to Hob from a distance, his figure but a mere skew of lines amongst the shadows in which he so eagerly dwelled.

[Dalethria Mal Pannis]

Dalethria stops in front of this strange being, listening to his rhyming sentences. She looks up at the sky and knows that the heavens are going to rain down death any moment. She quickly makes her way past Hob and looks around the old musty stones in the wall.

"I'm here to seek audience. I've come for knowledge and thought the Dark Jedi could aide me."

A soft shrilling yell seemed to echo across the corridor and Dalethria turned around to find the source. It seemed to disappear as a gentle breeze blew in from the cracks of the castle doors. Regarding Hob, he made no outward reaction to hearing what had occurred.

Then her head started to pound, causing her left brow to twitch involuntary. She covered her face with a hand and felt her body begin to grow warm. For a moment she lost her balance and caught herself, placing her free hand on the wall. Her face lined with pain but she didn't cry out. Something was trying to break down her mental defenses that she erected to protect herself from others thoughts. So far, she was loosing the battle.

[Evil Hobgoblin]

Hob ambles forward, using his powerful knuckles just as much as his legs for walking. He lifts a hand and cups Dalethria's chin in it, then stares into her eyes.

~ Come further in, lass, and don't y' be faintin' on me now.~

The thought is transmitted directly into Dalethria's mind, and for a moment, it blocks out whatever was trying to worm it's way into her mind. Though the rest of Hob is scruffy-looking and entirely beneath notice, his eyes are a bright, clear, calm blue.

~ Old Hob has a stake in seein' y' make it to Black Hand in one piece, don't y'know?~

Hob offers his hand in a gentlemanly fashion.

[Jeseth Cloak]

Jeseth steps foward calmly, bowing to the visitor, his eyes still set on her out of caution.

"Welcome, Dalehria, to our home... What brings you here? You seek knowledge do you? Be careful what you ask for."

His shoulders flinch for a moment as he makes a strange gesture with one of his wings, bringing it back against himself.

"Maybe I can help you anyways - State your game, and we'll see..."

[Dalethria Mal Pannis]

Opening her eyes, she was staring into the calmest blues ones that she had ever seen. She licked her lips in noticing that they became dried and looked to the offered hand. If Dalethria was in a better state, she would have brushed off such kindness. Giving into a simple gesture showed weakness but didn't she already admit to herself that she was weak?

A shaky hand clasped Hob's and she looked puzzled to what he said last, "A stake in getting me to the others? I don't understand. I just met you."

Her ears picked up slight ruffle of ... something and couldn't put her finger on it until Jeseth stepped out of the shadows. Dammit! She should have already known that he was there! She rubbed her eyes out of tiredness and looked to the Dark Jedi. To beat around the bush would slow her quest for answers. Only the truth and forwardness would get what she needed. "I need to learn why there is a change in my soul."

[Jeseth Cloak]

"And why of all people have you choosen to come to us?"

He calmly paced towards her and yawned.

"I don't recall there being a sign on main entrance that said 'Get Help Here.' You might want to explain this to me in further detail."

[Delirion]

She stepped out of the shadow of the dark end of the hall, a black-clad figure with a drawn, pale face that contrasted starkly with the darkness around her. Her black eyes were sunken in her face, making her eyes seem like deep dark hollows in her face.

She stepped into the light, and with every step forward that she took, the gauntness of her features, the wild-eyed look in her eyes became more prominent. Yet they burned with a strange intensity, as if something once dead had been re-awakened to burn with a brighter flame.

She stepped forward, never casting a glance at her brothers, and fixed the visitor with her glowering dark eyes.

'Something familiar... yet strange. Something kindred... yet different. Open... yet closed.'

Yet so different... The voices had changed their subtle song, whispering, moaning, a sound like wind sweeping through a forest of crystalline trees, a low and infinitely sad wailing overlaying everything.

Delirion reached out her hand, to touch her fingertips to the visitor's temple. Yet when her skin touched against a strand of hair, the wailing of the voices in the stones rose, a second one joining in where only one had been before. And as she felt the warm skin beneath her fingertips, it was as if she had touched the crystalline flow of the song itself.

In wonder, she stood before the visitor, a smile full of wonder and astonishment creeping into her eyes.

"Thou can'st hear them, can'st thou not?"

[Cardinal Aiyalin]

A woman, shrouded in a black cloak joins the congregation at the front of the hall. She walks slowly, each step taken with care. Glancing up, she regards her fellow dark Jedi with cold eyes. Her hood falls from her head, revealing a stunningly beautiful woman. Long black hair frames a small alabaster face -- the creamy white contrasting with the blackness around her. Her eyes are blue as ice, hard as agates, and her lips are the color of blood.

She says nothing, simply watches and waits... Her cold eyes missed nothing as she watched Dalethria's fate unfold.

[Dalethria Mal Pannis]

She was trying to find the words to Jeseth's rude questioning. Nothing came to mind, as Dalethria just wanted to wipe the floor with his smug and arrogant attitude. Of course she expected such things to happen in her visit, but she had a short fuse lately. Her hand came to rest on her hip as she growled low and deep, fighting the urge to attack the Dark Jedi. Which would be foolish in his own abode.

Then a presence made itself known to her, but this time Dalethria wasn't angry at herself for missing yet another in hiding. It was a sense of fear. The pale one kept creeping forward, her eyes totally fixated upon Dalethria's form. Those swollen black pits that house her eyes felt like she was looking into two black holes, waiting to be sucked through them and into the secrets that lay within this Dark Jedi's mind. Instinctively, Dalethria knew that this was the beginning. This person signified the change that was to take place here. This was the one.

A gentle voice brushed into her mind and calmed her. <a href=http://pub31.ezboard.com/firentiosfrm2.showMessage?topicID=23.topic>Vicet</a> had returned to her from recently leaving Dalethria to find the Dark Jedi on her own. Her guidance was cryptic but she unraveled where she was to go, leading herself here to Vjun. Her voice resonated louder in her mind, suddenly becoming strong as if she was speaking right before her. Right before the Dark Jedi went to touch her.

<font color=red>"Do not be afraid. Sshe iss the guide to madnessss. Embrace and conquer it Dalethria."</font>

Vicet's presence faded as the Dark Jedi touched her face, breaking any control that she or Hob had against what was invading her mind. Dalethria's eyes opened fully as her face became drawn in pain. It was too overpowering to have it hit her so fast. It was a melody of pure rage that pierced her mind followed by a symphony of glee that another was here to listen to the song. The music played out in her mind and it turned sorrowful. As if looking at this woman, while hearing the music, changed the chorus to something different. It was so beautiful and deafening that a lone tear shed from each eye and slowly crawled their way down her cheek. Whispering softy, Dalethria found the courage to speak, to speak in complete understanding.

"Yes. The songs are so … lovely."

[Delirion]

She almost would have cried out with joy, yet the bitter truth of both their fates came to lie heavily on her soul. The fate of both their souls. Doomed forever to loneliness that came from deep within - shared only with the voices of a past that was no more real than they themselves.

But as familiar as she felt with the other, there was yet a subtle difference. Bitter pain flooded her heart, realising that through the friendship they would have, there was yet one thing that would forever keep them separate.

Death. Ever present, lurking in the background, threatening her at every opportunity.

Yet, for now, she would be there. No matter what her brothers had intended, the visitor would stay. With her.

The voices exulted, the song crescendoed in a chorus of variating harmonies. They approved of her choice, it seemed, and Delirion wondered how much this had been of their own making. Had they been what had brought this woman here - could they meddle with fate so much, tamper with it, guide it?

She did not know. Yet once again, the song that filled her head grew sad, melancholy - as if once they had assured that all was as they had planned, they retreated to see fate unfold before them, until they could step in again.

Delirion let her fingertips brush down the woman's head, her shoulders, down her arm, until their fingers met, and entwined in mutual understanding.

She did not speak aloud - mere words were not needed. Instead, she let her thoughts be guided by the crystal stream of the song, to gently enter the other one's mind, past the defenses that lay open to her now.

'I am Delirion. Do not concern yourself with these others here. They do not understand as we do... Come with me.'

For the first time since she had entered the hall, she turned to regard her brothers and her sister, who were standing there with faces that spoke of their dislike of what she had done, of what she was doing.

She would explain to them later. Now, she strengthened her grip on the woman's fingers, and led her outside, down the darkened halls.

[Evil Hobgoblin]

Hob leaned back upon his gargantuan knuckles and lifted his feet into a cross-legged sitting position in the air. His eyes shut and he concentrated, blocking out the air, and the light, and concentrating on what outlines made the shadows.

The Shining Dark exploded into view, and the paths that leapt out of the light spun off into the void where Hob could see them, pick them out, as though examining panes from a movie reel.

Hob reached towards the one that he was in, reached and reached with arms longer than his body, but no less than the length of his mind, and gripped that future thread, falling into the pane where it contained Dalethria and Delirion and Cardinal and Jeseth. It replayed in his mind, but this time there were two Hobs, one of them filmy and indistinct while the other occupied his former position. From his new perspective, he could see the sparkles of light that surrounded Delirion and he watched as they reached out to touch Dalethria, to tune her.

He could see the temporary mental block he had put up wash away, as tides did castles of sand.

Letters formed of sparkles crossed between the two women, leaving trails of words streaming through the air.

' I am Delirion,' they said. ' Do not concern yourself with these others here. They do not understand as we do... Come with me.'

With extra eyes looking back at the past, things became a little clearer to Hob. He grunted and opened his eyes, absently noting Jeseth and Cardinal were still present.

His review of the past had taken no more than a fraction's second.

The old caretaker of Bast lumbered foreward with his legs still crossed in the air and his arms powering his movement. He grunted in guttural rhyme to himself as he left the area.

"With dark beyond light
Sight beyond sight
Never dictate when Hob will not understand
He just might!"