If Ever [Closed, Taja Loraan]

[Evelyn]

Evelyn leaned against the brick walls that held on the gates on the side. It was night, but she still wore black tinted glasses. The woman looked a lot like Eve Siren, the ex-Sith Knight, but wasn't. Evelyn yawned, tilting her head to the side as she shoved her hands into her torn jeans' pockets, staring at the ground. What was she doing here ? Was she bored ? That would've been a stupid reason. The real reason why, was because she was doing what Eve was too afraid to do: Approach The Black Hand. Eve was a wuss, a coward, a little rat ... Evelyn wasn't afraid of a challenge.

She waited for someone to come out. "..."

[imported_Taja Loraan]

Taja swayed back and forth from where she was sat on Bast’s high walls, silently observing the girl. The woman had been standing there idly for a while now, and clearly had no intention of leaving without audience.

For her part, Taja was quite content with having her wait, at least until the clouds bled their acid. But something about Evelyn intrigued the Dark Jedi, something dark and unnatural. Unreal.

Pushing her feet against the stone, she dropped from her perch to land beside the girl, the impact sending a fusillade of dust billowing around the pair. Taja brushed away from her face the dark blonde hair caught by Vjun’s stale wind and smiled slowly, wearing an innocent and child-like expression. She was genuinely curious.

“Lost?”

Her tone of voice suggested an answer past the obvious, and the word was uttered more as a statement than a serious inquiry. Nonetheless, Taja knocked her head sideways against the wall, expectantly watching the newcomer through laughing eyes.

[Evelyn]

Evelyn's eyes squinted through the black glasses, looking at the woman for a long minute before dusting off her shoulders with her gloved hands. Watching the woman tilt her head to the side, Evelyn's dark glare quickly turned into a rather bored one. Her eyebrow arched up as the woman questionned her. She shrugged and shook her head, pulling out a cigarette from inside of her jacket, then lighting it up.

Finally, she talked. "If I was lost, why would I stand here for hours, just to wait for you to come down here ?" Circles of white smoke flew from Evelyn's mouth.

[imported_Taja Loraan]

The girl's bluntness caused Taja's grin to broaden.

"Good question. Why would you, indeed."

She traced her finger along the wall's crevices and, staring at the dust collected on it, her brows knotted. Without turning her gaze back to Evelyn, she continued drawing the random patterns before one of the smoke rings dissipated against her cheek. Taja blinked, her eyes dreary and bemused.

"Hmmm."

[Evelyn]

Evelyn tilted her head to the side, watching the girl draw on the walls. She arched an eyebrow again, then took another puff of her cigarette.

"Not really clean. Later, without knowing it, you'll rub your eyes with that hand, then they'll start to itch and then get all swollen from more rubbing." She casually said.

[imported_Taja Loraan]

Taja giggled.

"You're funny."

She reached out and quickly touched Evelyn's forehead, smearing the grime across her unblemished skin. Then, her lips curled into a stupefied smile, she waved a finger in warning and tutted, nodding towards the cigarette.

"That stuff can kill a person, you know. As can many other things that live around this place. Unless you're here to give me a health lecture, I suggest you leave."

Evelyn felt a number of formless ropes tugging down on her ankles, her wrists and arms, and gradually the whole of her body, urging her to simply yield to the powers of gravity and fall.

"NOW."

[Evelyn]

Evelyn's eyes widened as she fell to her knees. She groaned, looking up to the girl as a few strands of her black hair fell across her face. She grit her teeth, the side of her head slowly leaning towards the brick walls. Using that as a support, she struggle to stand back up. A few minutes later, her back leaned against the wall, though she was still laced invisibly around her whole body.

"Maybe later." She mumbled, looking at the girl.

Half of her face were covered by her hair, she was already slightly breathing heavily. Not everyday you have to go against gravity.Finally, she flipped her hair with a swift movement of her head.

"Name's Evelyn." She said louder, a grin drawing on her lips. Whatever just happened there ... She liked it.

[imported_Taja Loraan]

Her gaze traveled with Evelyn as she regained her posture. Slipping one gloved hand into the back pocket of her corduroys, she gestured with the other dismissively.

“Yes, yes, I’m well aware of that.”

She shrugged.

“Thoughts speak louder than words.”

Taja moved in a slow circle around the brunette and flicked away a stray lock of hair fallen over the young girl’s eyes. Those black irises … they appeared as though composed of the very essence of darkness. Her own revealed nothing, so Evelyn would be incapable of surmising much, if anything, from there.

“You still haven’t told me why you’re here. And I’m sure you didn’t come down all this way just to get shoved around by the locals.”

Without warning, Taja slumped to the ground and started examining the pebbles littered about the desiccated surface with great attention. The tendrils that were hovering over Evelyn’s recovering form now honed in around her neck, constricting her throat. If she wanted to speak, she had better do so and soon.

“Or did you?”

[Evelyn]

Evelyn grit her teeth, as she groaned and started to choke. She closed her eyes, trying to concentrate for a moment before speaking.

"I came here to join you ..." She coughed. "To prove that I am much better than the Sith ... that is, much better than Eve Siren, the ex-Sith Knight."

[imported_Taja Loraan]

Taja’s eyebrows rose at the mention of the Sith. As a former member of the Empire, she knew of Eve Siren, though their paths had never actually crossed. Her head, however, remained bowed, and she made no further signs to acknowledge the comment.

"Well, you're no good to us dead ..."

The invisible wires continued pulling tighter, and breathing was becoming quite the ordeal.

[Evelyn]

Evelyn tilted her head back, letting out a louder groan. She tried to concentrate away from the pain, especially because of the wires around of her neck, crushing the only way she knows how to breathe.

The Force.

Because of where she came from, Slayn's darkness, Evelyn had more abilities of the Force to start with, along with Eve's Force experiences. Slowly, her irises turned white, as she struggled to break the invisible wires. Finally, she let out a loud scream, breaking the wires and pushing away everything near her. The walls' bricks were a little bit cracked, but the wires were broken and Taja should be pushed a few meters away.

She then stood back up. The wires were so strong, that it made numerous cuts around her arms, ripped her clothes and scratched her neck a few wounds.

"Ow." She muttered.

[imported_Taja Loraan]

Still sitting cross-legged, Taja skidded back a little way. Her expression was unflinching; not once did she look up to evaluate Evelyn’s behavior in the predicament she had wandered into. Not until, that is, she selected a small stone from the collection, unremarkable in every way.

She raised her head to face Evelyn, who was evidently bruised. Taking careful aim, Taja hurled the pebble some distance above the girl. Where it struck the wall the cracks extended, dislodging several of the larger boulders which now came crashing down over her head from all directions.

[Evelyn]

All Evelyn did was cover her head with her arms, letting all of the boulders fall on her. When it finally finished, she pushed the smaller boulders off of her shoulders, a long trail of blood falling down from her forehead, over her eye, going down her cheek. She dusted off her shoulders again, kicking the few rocks on the ground.

[imported_Taja Loraan]

The shower of rocks ended, and a pause ensued. After a long moment Taja shook her head in mock sympathy, and arose to stride over to where Evelyn was standing.

“Amazing. You’re still here.”

Taja cupped her chin with one hand and slowly turned her head to the right, then the left, as though examining some strange new specimen. Evelyn certainly had great stamina, and already the beginnings of one potentially adept in the Force. However, sheer endurance and strength alone were not the makings of a Dark Jedi.

Patting the girl’s cheek, Taja stepped back a few paces so as to view her better.

“You wish to join the Hand. What’s in it for you?”

[Slayn Cloak]

Slayn had been in a deep meditation for some time now. As he looked out over the precipice on which he sat, he could feel now that his progeny had finally come... Even more interesting to him was who she had been conversing with. It seemed to Slayn that Evelyn and Taja had undergone some transgression of some kind, no doubt Taja was having her way with Evelyn. With that thought Slayn rose from the wall and made his way back inside of the great castle. It wasn't that long before he came upon the pair just outside the eastern wall, but on the way he could feel certain peaks in the force brought upon by each of them. He exited a hall to find Taja questioning the girl, who he belive had been bludgeoned by stones. Slayn stepped behind Taja and awaited Evelyns reply...

[Evelyn]

Evelyn's eyes fell on Slayn immediately as he presented himself. She cursed under her breath, turning her gaze away immediately, before replying to the girl.

"Strength, power, definition of myself." She glanced at Slayn. "Nothing else."

[Slayn Cloak]

Slayn stepped around Taja, and began to move toward Evelyn. Once he was close enough he circled the girl once, placing a finger upon her check as he passed, then tracing it along her jaw and down her neck. He then turned to face Taja and spoke in minds of both women.

" What do you think Loran? Shall we continue to play?"

[imported_Taja Loraan]

“Strength and power are both offered by the Sith. The Hand is not so shallow. What have you that would reinforce our cause?”

The young Cloak’s arrival did not go unnoticed by Taja, only she chose to make it appear so. Her demeanor was all at once somber. She clasped her hands together behind her back, and lowered her voice to a grave monotone.

“Correction: what is our cause?”

Taja’s eyes darted in Slayn’s direction, who seemed to be teasing the girl. The darkness she felt in Evelyn mirrored the Keeper of Shadow’s in many ways, but the matter was not her chief concern at this time.

His questions had been rhetoric, so she merely waited for Evelyn’s response, not turning her attention on Slayn again. The voices were unnerved by his presence alone …

[Evelyn]

Slayn's presence also bothered Evelyn. She let his finger slip down her cheek but once it reached her neck, she slapped his hand away. She looked at him with furious eyes. The one who couldn't stop thinking about Eve, the Sith.

"Don't touch me." She muttered to him.

She then turned to the girl again. "Your cause ? The true nature of Dark Jedi ... Wherever there's weakness, the Dark Jedi force changes."

Glaring back at Slayn once more, she added. "The Sith cannot do that."

[Slayn Cloak]

Slayn stepped behind Evelyn and placed his right palm into the small of her back. Evelyn had been created by Slayn ad was still very much under his control in some respects. The girl could feel her very skin crawl under the palm of the Dark Jedi, this was followed bye a great pain, one that would cause a weaker person to fall. Slayn reached into the very essence of her energy, that witch was the dark energy bled from Eve, aswell as Slayn himself...

" The Sith are incapable of many things my dear.
"

[Evelyn]

Evelyn grit her teeth. "Yes, yet you are capable of falling love with them !" She couldn't help but almost yell.

The pain was great indeed, and thus, a weaker person would've fall, but this energy was Evelyn's 'mother'. The one thing that keeps her from tearing Slayn apart with her bare hands. She turned and grabbed his wrist, throwing it away, causing him to stumble back.

"I said, don't touch me, Cloak." She told him again, breathing heavily from the pain.

[Vega Van-Derveld]

A figure watched from within the confines of the castle gates, a frown knitted into his brow ...

[imported_Taja Loraan]

The girl looked ready to burst, but Taja wasn’t quite through with her just yet.

"Yes, don’t touch her, Slayn."

So he harbored feelings for the Sith Eve. Had Taja not been so temperamental, this news would undoubtedly have caused her to erupt into a fit of giggles, but right now the only visible effect was the twitching at the corner of her lips. Strange what one revealed when under pressure.

"Feisty, aren’t we? I like that. But the way things are going, we’ll either be standing around and talking until one of us falls asleep, or you could let loverboy there have his way with you.'

A thousand daggers impaled Evelyn’s mind, causing it to deaden with pain.

"Better yet, since you’re such a health expert and all, you can show me the different methods of tackling brainfreeze."

[Evelyn]

"Why can't you just give me an ice cream cone or something ?" Evelyn winced.

She closed her left eye, starting to hit gently the left side of her head, feeling as if her body was beginning to stop functioning, until something caught her eye, a shadow, a familiar one. Though she was only a part of Eve, she wasn't a clone which meant she felt the same feelings and relationship the Dark Lord shared with her other half.

" .. Vega ?" She muttered.

[Slayn Cloak]

Slayn didn't appreciate the tone coming from his comrade, it indeed was quite unsettling. He spoke into her mind closing his message off from all others...

" Mind your tongue Loran, and please pay no mind to this abomination- You can have her if you like... She will be strong with the proper instruction."

Slayn turned to face Evelyn once more who was now calling out to Vega. He stepped back a little before speaking in to Vega's mind.

" I'm not completely sure what you're thinking, but I can ensure you, as convincing as it may feel, it's not her; Of course, you can always come out and see for yourself."

Slayn then spoke directly to Evelyn in the common speech, out loud in his shrewd cold voice.

" So then you've come all this way for nothing...?"

[Vega Van-Derveld]

His lips curled into a snarl.

I have her dead body, Slayn - so it is quite obviously not her. How has she come to be? Another abomination, a clone?!

[imported_Taja Loraan]

Lighten up, Slayn. You know I love you really.

There followed a quiet chuckling in his mind; Taja wasn’t certain whether his solemnity was due to his origins, or if she had actually succeeded in peeving him. Whatever the reason, she knew all too well what it was like to not feel, and didn’t want to see him remain stuck in that particular rut.

All the while, the dull ache in the back of Evelyn’s mind was increasing into a throbbing pain. Her Brother was watching and if the Dark Lord wished to make himself seen, he would. Taja instead looked to the girl and repeated what Slayn had said, adding emphasis on the last word.

"All this way for nothing."

[Evelyn]

"Ugh ..." Evelyn winced again, letting out a slight groan of pain. "No. All this way ... For a new existence."

Evelyn ran her gloved her hand through her dark red-ish hair, then pulled on them lightly, as if she was trying to find a sort of solution to ease the pain.

[Slayn Cloak]

" You know I can make it go away..."

Slayn spoke in Evenly's mind, his words seemed to repeat into infinity. He smiled and held his hand out to the girl. He began to speak in the minds of Vega and Loran while maintaining his guise.

" No Vega, not at all, that wouldn't do either of us any good... She's real, just a little more than Eve ever let herself be..."

" Taja... mind your tongue, your sarcasm falls upon violent ears..."

[Evelyn]

Evelyn hesitated. The pain was getting more and more unbearable but it was Slayn. A man she decided never to trust again. She held her hand up towards him, her hand shaking then slapped his away, pulling her hand back afterwards to hold onto her head. Taking his hand, asking for his help would be going against her decisions and beliefs ... And a real Dark Jedi would never let anything control them such as feelings or pain.

"I'd rather have ... you go away."

[imported_Taja Loraan]

Looks like somebody got off on the wrong side of bed this morning.

Taja stuck out her tongue and strode over to Evelyn and Slayn. Pausing before the latter, she rose on tiptoe and brushed her lips lightly against his cheek. She then turned to the girl and smiled.

"Looks like you found your painkiller. Defiance."

As quickly as they had formed in Evelyn's mind, the psychic spears disintegrated.

"As you have said, the Dark Jedi force changes where necessary, and we do so by opposing all creeds but our own. It is this which unites us as Brothers and Sisters. You wished to prove that you are better than the Sith ... I believe your determination speaks for itself."

She bowed and made an over-exaggerated sweep of the arm in a show of courtesy, her hand gesturing towards the now open gates.

"Welcome to Bast Keep."

[Evelyn]

"..."

Evelyn ran her hand through her red-ish hair again, trying not to show her relief of the disappearance of the pain. She pushed Slayn out of her way and walked up towards the girl, she stopped in front of the gates, looking sideways at her. Blood still flowed down from her forehead across her right eye, and her clothes were still torn apart from those invisible wires earlier.

"You still haven't told me your name." She just said.

[Slayn Cloak]

Slayn left his gaze on Taja, she insisted on torturing him. He could smell her as she stretched upward to kiss him, but it was all an act. The next thing he knew, Evelyn had pushed him out of her way, and ran a dialogue with Loran. She was wounded, and perhaps in time, she would learn to use the living force, but for now, Slayn would provide it for her. She was now to his back, as Slayn's eyes betrayed himself to Taja, he lifted his left hand. A small cloud of the dark tenebrous substance left Slayn's wrist, tracing around his hand and moving toward Evelyn. It entered the girl's body without any resistance, it in fact looked as Evelyn hadn't noticed. Her cuts closed, and the blotches on her skin caused by contusions lifted, as her appearance returned to normal.

[imported_Taja Loraan]

"Loraan. Taja. Just ... Taja."

She grinned broadly and turned to stare at Slayn again. The child-like gleam in her eyes had returned all too suddenly, and with a chuckle she leaned up to press her mouth over his.

Before he could react, Taja pulled away and punched Evelyn playfully in the arm.

"Tag, you're it!"

She dashed through into the main courtyard and disappeared into the Castle (http://www.swforums.net/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=22470), laughing gleefully.

[Slayn Cloak]

Slayn followed casually, not making any particular haste; He knew very well were they were going. He had recently become quite deserted by Taja, her taunts hand left him a little less then irritated.

[Evelyn]

Evelyn watched Slayn and Taja enter the castle silently. She had noticed that her wounds closed and ran her hand through her hair again, as if to make sure that the headache was truly gone. She turned to Vega and looked up to him for a long moment.

Vega ...

No. That was the old Eve. She turned her head to the side, sighed then paced to the castle.