A hunting we will go

[Lord DarkStar]

DarkStar picked up the last of the completed Dragon Sabres and looked around the room, the soul jars were all empty now, he needed more Dragon souls to make more. He sighed, he had been putting this off for far too long but he really hated it. Last time he had wandered into a cave full of a whole clan of dragons, even the powerful Sith Lord had only just escped with his life.

Well there was nothing for it, he needed more souls. With a snarl he reached for Widowmaker and stopped, an evil grin spread across his face as an even more evil idea formed in his mind. He had several new apprentices, perhaps it was time to take them into the field and see what they had learnt, now was as good a time as any.

Smiling to himself he send the summons to Danya, Jezebella and Darius to meet him in the suttlebay that contained his personal transport. He also signalled Admiral Sandrax aboard the ISD Dreamchaser to be ready for their arrival. That all done he grabbed his two lightsabres, threw his cloak around his shoulders and set off for the shuttle bay.

[Darius Van-Derveld]

The summons had come and it had taken Darius little time to ready himself for whatever lay ahead; donning his knife belt, blaster belt, clipping both sabres securely at his hip and finally shucking himself into his best overcoat he set off for for the shuttlebay.

Whilst walking along the winding corridors toward the bay, his mind whirred, what could the Master want; not allowing speculation to cloud his thoughts he passed through the bay doors and crossed to where the Master stood, bowing low then moving to his side he asked no questions, the Master did not look particularly talkative and besides, he would wait till the others arrived for fear of repeating himself.

Checking his equiptment he remained silent.

[Lord DarkStar]

DarkStar folded his arms and began to drum the fingers of one hand on his opposite arm. The annoyance in his eyes at being kept waiting was evident and Darius could almost feel the anger around the ancient Sith Lord.

His cold green eyes scanned the entrances and Darius could feel him push outwards with the Force, looking for his other two apprentices.

[Darius Van-Derveld]

Flinching inwardly as the Master sent his thoughts serching outward, he had felt the brush of that force before and the extreame displeasure that accompanied it, when the others turned up they would be made to feel uncomfortable.
The waves of emotion did not bode well, the last time Darius had felt the heat of that anger he had been on the recieveing end, it was not a fate he would wish on his worst enemies.

The tapping especially unnerved him.

[Danya Van Derveld]

Danya hurried through her room for a moment, trying to see if she was forgetting anything. Both of her sabers were on her weapons belt, and she was wearing her very fine black cloak over her black leather pants and red tube top. A thoughtful smile crafted her lips as she made her way toward the shuttlebay. The young woman entered through the doors and spotted Darius and Lord Darkstar. Walking toward them, she stopped short and bowed in respect.

"Greetings my Master...and to you as well Darius."

She said with a nod toward her friend. Then she noticed the look in the eyes of Darkstar. It was a cold glare....he appeared upset. The anger that rolled off of his body was a bit....unnerving. Danya took a deep breath and stood beside Darius, not saying anything more....

[Lord DarkStar]

DarkStar stood for a very long time without moving, at last the field of anger around him seemed to reach a peak and he snarled his anger.

"Blast the girl, she can catch us up if she ever arrives!"

Without a word to Darius or Danya the Sith Lord spun and walked up the ramp of the shuttle. At the top sat the white wolf with a "you weren't going to leave me behind were you?" look in its eyes, it grinned at DarkStar before standing up and padding over to the corner where it lay down, watching the hatch.

DarkStar stormed onboard and glared at the pilot as he took his seat. Glancing round to make sure his two apprentices were onboard he looked back at the pilot.

"Take us the the Dreamchaser, Admiral Sandrax has been informed of our immenent arrival,"

The way DarkStar said it made the pilot feel sure that if he didn't get the ship up to the ISD in record time the angry Sith would toss him out of the airlock and pilot the shuttle himself.

Moments later the lamda was leaving the hangerbay and headed for the orbiting ISD. Docking minutes later the still livid Sith Lord strode from the shuttle to be met by Admiral Sandrax, flanked by two rows of Stormtrooper escort.

"Welcome aboard my lord,"

Sandrax bowed

"Set a course for Terra, I'll be in the discussion chamber with my two apprentices."

Without another word to Sandrax, or a word to either of his apprentices DarkStar stormed off, expecting to be followed.

[Danya Van Derveld]

Danya was impressed by the amount of respect shown to her Master. It made her feel safe, to say the least. She did as expected of her, and followed him toward the Discussion Chamber. Keeping silent as she walked beside Darius, she kept her eyes on the floor.....following as she waited for the trio to stop at the place her Master had spoken of...

[Darius Van-Derveld]

His master still retained a burning anger as he walked ahead, ignoring the rows of troopers and bearly acnowledging the Admiral he lead them towards the 'Discussion Chamber', he glanced over to check on Danya, she looked downcast, stareing at the floor as she walked beside him. Secretly he was surprised that she was still with them, he had expected her to be unable to walk after the Masters rage had dissipated into her but as it was, Darkstar seemed in control, venting his anger at his absent apprentice Jezebella.

Lightly squeezing Danya's shoulder he spoke so only she could hear.

"Chin up, whatever happens will happen, and there is nothing anyone can do about it, just pay attention to what he says and stick close."

[Lord DarkStar]

DarkStar pushed through the massive double doors to the discussion chamber, the doors flung themselves open before the rage surrounding the ancient Sith Lord.

The Force Vampyre walked to the head of the table and, swirling his cloak around him, sat down in the large throne like chair. The white wolf padded up and lay down on the dias next the the throne.

The room had been heavily converted from its original purpose, tapastries of the Death Guard drapped the walls giving the room a gothic feel, even made of steel it some how seemed dark and forboding, like DarkStars palace on Terran and the original Death Guard palace on Terra.

Slowly the anger faded from the Sith Lord, replaced by a sort of calm, as it did the red eyes of the white wolf glowed brightly for a moment then faded back to normal.

DarkStar motioned for the two apprentices to take a seat as he composed himself.

"We are going hunting...Dragon hunting,"

He said at last,

"The journey will take approximately two days, in that time there are three things I want you to do,"

DarkStar tugged absent mindedly on his leather gloves before lowering a hand to stroke the wolf.

"Firstly, practice your sabre skills, you will need them, secondly, practice your dodging, Dragon fire is very hot and thirdly, relax, I want you fully rested and ready for the hunt when we arrive at Terran,"

He smiled gently at them,

"Once we get there, follow my lead and be careful, Dragons are the most dangerous creatures you will ever face but you will come out of this much stronger, now, go, complete my tasks,"

DarkStar crossed his hands in his lap and closed his eyes, efectivly a dismissal as the Force Vampyre entered a trance-like state to regain his energy, their version of sleep.

[Danya Van Derveld]

Danya listened carefully and gasped quietly when he told that they were going Dragon hunting. Her heart skipped a few beats in her chest at the words. She looked over at Darius to see his reaction....but he almost appeared to wear none. The young Apprentice was glad when her Master gave them tasks to complete....it was something to do while they waited. Bowing her head in deep respect for the Sith Lord, she rose from her seat and stood beside Darius.

"Perhaps we should go practice now...."

She said softly, motioning for their departure of the room to head for the small living quarters on the ship. This would give them a chance to practice together and also talk....then they could relax....

[Darius Van-Derveld]

"That would be best,"

Rising from his seat he bowed to the Master and then left the room following Danya as she led him to the Living quaters; neither of them knew the layout of the ship, so it was, with a few detours and inqueries to various members of the crew that they reached the quaters set aside for them. The rooms stood across from eachother with a third obviously for Jezebella, there was a larger door at the end of the corridor, it looked like a training area of somesort, possibly a disused shuttlebay, regardless, it would be enough for their uses.

"Danya, meet here in...fifteen minutes...i'm going to have a shower."

Without waiting for an answer Darius turned and entered the quaters; they were not sumptuous, but not spartan, just what the old empire had been like, without further pause Darius made his way to the bathroom turned on the shower, undressed, and lost himself in the clouds of hot vapour.

[Lord DarkStar]

DarkStar opened his eyes about five minutes after the two apprentices had left the chambre. He looked down at The Cold and stood.

"Shall we go watch?"

He asked with a smile, the wolf responded by getting to its feet and padding towards the door. DarkStar followed the wolf to the door and together they went into the secret room in the top corner of the training ground behind one way glass that looked like steal.

DarkStar damped their Force sense, the apprentice's wouldn't even know there was a room there, much less that their master was watching them when they began to pranctise as he had instructed.

[Danya Van Derveld]

Danya entered the living quarters and began meditating. After the alloted fifteen minutes passed, she got up and stretched, then opened the small blast door. Once standing where she was to meet Darius, she waited.

"Are you ready yet?"

She yelled through his door.....anticipating their practice session.....

[Darius Van-Derveld]

Dressed in light robes found in his room, Darius stepped out into the corridor feeling completely relaxed and ready for his impending spar.

"Yes, i'm ready, come on, "

Leading the way, Darius entered the large blast doors and surveyed his surroundings; as he expected, they were in a disused shuttle bay, along one wall was an array of training implements, the rest of the space was empty, open and ready for use.

Calling a pair of wooden training staffs to him, he tossed one at Danya's feet and moved away from the young woman. Turning to face her again he began to loosen up his muscles then saluted; bringing the length of solid wood up to his forhead then sweeping it down to his right.

"A little light dueling to start with, go easy, we have to face dragons later on and I am becoming sick of medbays."

Altering his stance to a fluid defencive posture he waited for her to act.

[Lord DarkStar]

DarkStar sat quietly in the observation room, absentmindedly scratching behind the ear of the white wolf. He gently streached out his Force sense, touching them both and establishing a link without their knowledge. The Sith Lord would observe the spar not just with his eyes, but through their Force sense as well. With a smile he sat back to watch.

[Danya Van Derveld]

Danya grinned to herself and picked up the staff at her feet. It was such a good feeling to have one back in her hands. Smiling, she twirled it around like a pro and eyed him for a moment.

"Giving me one of these was a really bad idea...."

She said with a slight laugh. Taking up a ready position, she watched him for a moment, noting that he was giving her the first move. Nodding slightly she lunged forward with a strike to his head....but then moved to the side and spun around, attacking with the other end of the staff. The movements were quick and flawless as she fell back into the training that she had had for so long....

[Darius Van-Derveld]

The report of staffs rang hollowly in the cavernous training bay; Darius watched the path of his opponents weapon as it jinked in midflight and repositioned itself to strike at another part of his head.

Raising his staff to counter Danya's final stroke he waited untill the strikes energy had dissipated then, using his proximity to his own advantage, drove a shoulder up towards her ribs.

[Danya Van Derveld]

Danya had seen that move too many times while training in Martial Arts. A smile crossed her lips as she turned and fell to the side, coming out of it with a shoulder roll. If only the lightsaber was as easy.... She thought to herself as she spun around with a kick to his head, followed by a false strike to his midsection and the real thing to his ankles....

[Darius Van-Derveld]

The blows came in fast; the girls counter had been unexpected and a response had been to late.

As her feints and the final blow came in Darius allowed her to blur around him, waiting untill the last second he hopped over the ankle shot and brought his staff down towards the girls neck, angeling in on the right.