*Hunger* (open challenge to a padawan)

[Sl Enoth]

*Such a worthless village.. So little meat of any use, and so much meat in total.. Behind it, the dozens of small houses and farms sat quietly, not a sound rising from any it's many residents.. This was mainly due to the fact that not a one of their skeletons still carried any organic material on them.*

*Their deaths had been quiet and painful. One thing it knew on instinct, was that at night, the humans slept. And when sleeping, it was all too easy to slide a blade into their throat, disabling them from screaming as you picked their bones clean of meat. However, some of them had been stupid enough to try and fight back. They, it had eaten slowly, making sure to preserve their vital organs as long as possible, simply for the annoyance their struggling had caused it.*

*4 hours, and another small town on this vividly green planet had fallen to the "creature" that some of the citizens seemed to have named the "Crying Death". It knew they called it that, because some of those who had noticed it before being shut up, and called out those words..*

*The words made sense to it, even if they only applied when it was interested in having a little fun. During the days, it had acquired a taste for running prey, so had started releasing air from the dual esophogases on either side of it's neck. The action produced a rather loud multi-toned screeching sound, that had been alikened to "the wails of damned souls." A suitable comparison, considering that all those who heard it nowadays, were inevitably doomed. *

*Now it stood amongst the trees of the nearby forest, watching the silent village intensely. For days now, it had sensed the presence of a Jedi. Because of this, it had been attacking the towns at random, and not the one-to-the-next pattern it had been going at before. Finally, it had fed enough that it was as strong as it was going to be for attacking the Jedi. After all, it's training at the now gone Sith Empire had been limited, it learning little more than how to feel and move objects with the force.. It had developed those skills into pushes and pulls as well, but they were far from reliable as a main means of attack. However, now was not the time to consider such things, for the Jedi was approaching..*

*Blending it's form into the pitch black shadows of the night, it watched the form of the Jedi strolling through the empty silence of the village, shadows covering everything with an eerie dread that the moonless night sky did nothing to help...*

[Zeke]

Zeke moved throught the village to the monument in the town's square. With a Force-boosted jump he leapt atop it and looked around.

"Crying Death, they say. Jeez, take all the fun outta insomnia."

Zeke had been hired as a village guard in exchange for a warm bed and 3 meals a day. He'd have done it for free, but they were so insistent on feeding him that he couldn't decline. Seeing nothing, he jumped down and put his hands in his pockets, hands closed around his 2 sabers.

"Better make the rounds."

He'd been doing this for a few days now, checking first the forest, then the fields, then wandering the town at random. He headed for the forest, sensing something chilling in the air...

[Sl Enoth]

"You are the Jedi?"

*The words slithered into Zeke's mind, a quiet, hissing, inhuman sounding psychic voice that he could decipher no source from. What he could tell because of it though, was that the creature had to be able to see him.. And, it had to be a force user.. How else could it have known he was Jedi?*

*However, before he could call out a reply, the voice reentered his head, the sound alone chilling him to no end..*

"Then you shall be a good meal."

*That said, it released a silent, odourless bio-chemical similar to pheromones into the air.. The chemical quickly reached Zeke, and became ingested into his body through his breathing... To him, it seemed that the night was growing darker and darker with each breath, the shadows becoming more and more inhospitable, the forest hiding terrible terrible things, things he could barely even fathom, thirsting for blood, and wanting to tear him apart.. But no, they wouldn't stop at his death, these creatures would feast on his soul as well.. Such horrible, terrifying things.. What was he going to do?*

*If it could have grinned, if it had the mouth to do so, it would have.. Watching the Jedi's resolve dissapear with every inhalation of the precious gasses he needed to survive, was most amusing.. Now it was just a matter of waiting.. The Jedi would either break under the pressure of it's own false fears and run off, making himself an easy target, or he would stick through and beat the chemical, and find out just how meek these thoughts running through his head were in comparison to what he'd be up against..*

[Zeke]

Zeke shook his head to clear it. It was like a nightmare...shadows of dark creatures...wishing to devour his soul...Odin Murk? No, a different Force signature...this one had control. He stood back from the forest and tied his scarf around his face by a sudden hunch. The visions faded somewhat.

"Enough games! I doubt if you can eat me with your mind."

Zeke's hands returned to his pockets and he took a stance. Once he could see his enemy, gauge his strength, he would draw.

[Sl Enoth]

"I could not."

*With that, it stepped out into the open, the "Crying Death".. It was a terrible sight to behold, horrifying, yet with a graceful beauty that truly put Zeke on edge.. It stood at least 7 feet tall on two kangaroo jointed legs, that ended in tri-clawed feet. Its body seemed covered by some kind of bio-armor, large plates covering it's joints with their weird twists. It had both of it's arms crossed over it's chest, each ending in a large transluscent blade that seemed to be writhing on the inside, as if filled with restless snakes, aching to strike out. It's entire body shone with even the tiny amount of light that the stars caressed the planet's surface with.. And on top of it all, it's eyes were hidden by a white glow that still allowed an incredible sense of malignant intelligence through.. It was a true horror..*

"Do you wish to die quickly and painlessly? Or painfully in battle? I offer you both in generosity, because of what I will gain from ingesting you."

[Zeke]

"ANOTHER Sith that wants to eat me. Jeez, what is it that makes people think I'm edible?"

This guy was ugly, like he'd come out of a horrorflick or a nightmare. Frightening, sure, but Zeke had always found horror movies and nightmares to be bizarrely cheesy. It had 2 blades on its arms. He drew both his sabers and ignited them.

"Bring it. No one dies tonight."

[Sl Enoth]

"You are. Have you ever looked at your species' flesh? It is quite edible, I assure you. And you must be blind, if you think no-one will die tonight."

*It did not actually believe that the Jedi was stupid enough to overlook the entire village of people behind him, but it made a point of throwing that oversight back into his face, before attacking.*

*It's two blade arms seemed to ignite with a crimson bio-electrical energy, crackling with tendrills of electricity until it calmed down, and they simply glowed the color that was so unnervingly close to blood.. Spreading it's arms until they were horizontal with it's shoulders, it's dual esophoguses opened, and the hellish scream that it had become known for released into the night air. It was ear-piercingly loud, as the rustle of the forest creatures waking and running away could not be heard over the terrible sound.*

*As it continued to scream, it suddenly launched forwards, it's legs carrying it quickly towards the Jedi, whom was giving his best efforts to stop his bowels from excavating themselves.. Fortunately though, as the two glowing arms closed in on the Jedi's head, his training overruled his thinking, and he brought both sabers out against them. The saber-blades clashed loudly with the creature's arms, yet the crackling energy still was muted beneath the sound of it's scream. Grimacing, Zeke found his arms being pushed closer and closer in towards himself, as his own formiddable strength was unable to stand against the extra leverage his opponent had, it's arms being it's weapons and all.*

*Suddenly though, he was released, both arms shooting out to the sides as the creature's blades moved straight up. However, the moment of relief wasn't short enough to be enjoyed, as he found it's clawed foot launching at his chest..*

[Zeke]

Zeke grimaced. Jeez, that was loud. The...thing...rushed him with its blades, and he blocked them, pushing out to counter the slow advance of the arm blades.

"Dude...shut up."

Not like the thing could hear him over the racket it was making. It released its blades and kicked him. Zeke twisted, barely dodging and came in close with a sweep to the creature's other leg.

[Sl Enoth]

*The scream ended with the connection of the kick. It was pleased by the Jedi's words, it showed he was either good at resisting intimidation, or good at acting brave. Both of these traits would be useful in their own rights.. The attack it had launched had only scraped the Jedi's back, but it was not as if it was trying yet.*

*Ducking down with surprising speed as it sensed the incoming sweep, it took advantage of the Jedi's prone position, by launching forwards with a shoulder into the Jedi's ribs. The hit connected hard, and Zeke found himself tumbling backwards over his head and then back face-first onto the ground. Meanwhile it had caught itself with an un-natural grace, had risen back onto it's feet, and was now walking quickly towards him, both blade arms crossed over it's chest, ready to strike at any given moment.*

[Zeke]

Zeke stood, spitting dirt from his mouth as he did so. It was advancing on him with its blades over its chest. Fine, let it make the next attack. Zeke took a defense.

[Sl Enoth]

*As it watched the Jedi twist himself into a defensive position, it grabbed ahold of a large clump of dirt, sand, and grass. De-energizing it's left blade, it brought both arms above it's head. As Zeke watched on, wondering what it was doing, it kicked up with it's leg, launching the dirt and such into the air towards it's right arm.. The glowing blade crackled as the dirt turned molten, the sand turned to liquid glass, the grass caught on fire, and Zeke caught on too late to fully get out of the way. It's other arm swung down, launching the spray of rather lethal components in an arc towards the Jedi, much like a shotgun blast..*

[Zeke]

Zeke dived, blocking a few with his sabers, dodging a few,but took some of the bullets in his shoulder. The sensation was like a thousand bee-stings. He relaxed his right arm and came in with a swing to his opponent's right, then followed with an upward swing with his other arm, feeling it sting him as he moved it. He could ignore it.

[Sl Enoth]

*The swing towards it's right arm was easily deflected, simply by raising it's blade slightly from where it had been. However, it had miscalculated to trajectory of the Jedi's other saber just slightly, not missing the attack, but not successfully blocking it either. The saber burnt a short wound along it's chest, which caused it to hiss involuntarily from the pain.. However, It also left the Jedi's side in a prone position, and before he had even followed through on his swing, It's left blade was jabbing towards the side of his torso, it's other blade ready to deflect a counter-counter from either side..*

[Zeke]

Zeke fell to the ground, his shirt torn by the blade. Oh, at all the luck. Zeke rolled away and backed up slowly, sabers raised in defense.

[Sl Enoth]

*It continued to walk towards him, swaying slightly with each eerily graceful and silent step. It's arms stretched out at 45' angles down from it's shoulders. The white liquid that Zeke imagined to be it's blood had quickly welled up around the wound, but instead of dripping, it seemed to be hardening, scabbing over the cut right before his eyes..*

*As the Jedi sat there in a defense position, it began concentrating force energy into the two tentacles on either side of it's neck.. They were used to focus it's psychic energies when it used them, but it had found that they worked just as well for focusing the Force.. *

*Finally, just before it would have reached striking distance, the two glistening tendrills arced forwards, and Zeke found himself the target of a hard force push. It hit his upper torso, causing him to lose his balance as his legs lost their grip on the ground. However, before he touched down, he found himself yanked forwards again by a force pull. Even as his mind was trying to figure out whether he was coming or going, Zeke realized he was headed straight for one of it's outstretched blades, that was aimed right at his stomach.. The other blade was in such a position that it could easily deflect what pathetic attempts to defend the Jedi could actually make in such a situation....*

[Zeke]

Zeke sighed and drew upon the Force. He'd had enough of this science lab reject's trickery. He slowed himself, halting just before the blade.

"You thought I'd be no match? I have learned much, and have fought far worse enemies than you. I won't lose so easily."

He deflected the beast's blades aside and delivered a Force-boosted punch to its face.

[Sl Enoth]

"Do you believe I am trying?"

*Reflexively moving back with the punch, It bent over backwards, planting it's blade-arms into the ground as stabalizers. The attack hurt, but served more as added momentum when it hit. That, and it left his body prone to what was coming. At it's lower half spun up to flip over with the upper half, it's feet hooked into Zeke's chest, the claws digging deep into his flesh, as it then picked him up and tossed him over and away, much like a catapult.. During all this, it continued to telepathically speak to his mind.*

"You have not learned as much as you think."

*As the flying Jedi neared one of the many trees of the forest, It planted it's feet back onto the ground and slowly raised back into a standing position, turning to face the direction it had tossed it's opponent..*

[Zeke]

Zeke landed nimbly in the trees and put a hand to his chest. He was bleeding, but nothing was broken, no organs injured. He couldn't let this thing eat the villagers, no matter what.

"And I suppose you're FAR superior and know EVERYTHING about the Force," Zeke spat sarcastically. "You're on my level. You know it, you're just trying to act cool like you're not."

That's the way all Sith were, a bunch of cowards trying to prove how tough they are. This one was no different.

[Sl Enoth]

"So you're trying your Hardest?"

*It just stood there watching the Jedi out of it's blank eyes. It was somewhat impressed at how he had twisted mid-air to not hit the tree he'd been thrown straight at, but it wasn't an incredible feat in itself.*

"You contradict yourself. You say you've beaten many opponents stronger than I, yet state that we're the same level. I do not think you know enough about me to make such assumptions."

[Zeke]

Zeke raised a brow.

"I said I'd FOUGHT stronger. Never said I won. And like you know enough about me to assume that YOU'RE gonna win this one."

[Sl Enoth]

"All it would take would be a single blade into your flesh."

*As the tendrils of psychic energy carried the words into Zeke's mind, it held it's right arm out towards him.. Suddenly, hundreds of tiny holes along the blade's porous surface opened, and thousands on thousands of miniscule yellow-brown tendrils slid out. He could not see it clearly, but a message to his mind assured Zeke that each individual strand ended with a sharp hook-claw and a sucker, for rending flesh apart, and ingesting it into it's body. As Zeke watched, the tendrills extended almost 4 feet away from the blade, a veritable cloud of ripping, tearing, death, before being pulled back into it's arm..*

"I've already cut you once."

*The words came across just as bluntly as they were meant, and subconciously Zeke reached down to his side, where the, albeit slight cut, was ever so slowly oozing blood..*

[Zeke]

OOC: Sorry 'bout that...and delete tht OOC up there. The mods don't like it.

IC: Zeke gripped his side, trying to stop the flow of blood. He refused to give in, he couldn't, for if he did the villagers would die. He stood in the tree, glaring defiantly.

"I won't be pushed around by you!"

He summoned Force energy to him and jumped out of the tree.

"Your move."

[Sl Enoth]

OOC: Lol, I would, but can't ^_^ And I know, I've been around for a couple of years as a different character =)

"Ok."

*The moment it sent the word to Zeke, It broke into a full-on dash towards the Jedi. The speed of the monstrosity was still a surprise to him, as it seemed to surpass what he believed to be it's limit with every new movement. In an instant it was on him, it's right blade carving up towards his left armpit diagonally, while it's left blade arced back behind it. The attack was blocked, albeit with quite a bit of effort considering the angle it was coming from. However, he didn't have time to think about that, as it's left blade was now racing towards his neck.*

*The moment he brought his saber up to deflect it though, it's other arm was being thrust again towards his stomach. Spinning out his left saber as his right arm fought to keep it's glowing red blade from his throat, he managed to remove the incoming threat. Suddenly though, it's Left arm thrust backwards, forcing his right arm somewhat off it's bearings from the sudden loss of resistance. Quickly reversing the momentum, it's left arm was now speeding down towards his right side, too fast to spin his right saber around. He'd have to thrust over his Left saber.. But wait, it's Right saber was coming in on his left side as well...*