The Forgotten Tombs of Elom

[Serena Laran]

Elom, home of the Elomin and the Elom, was also a huge source of lommite - one of the major components of transparisteel. As such it was a world of great interest to both the Empire and the Alliance, and after the borders had solidified and Elom was soundly inside the Alliance's new territory, the senators from the system had been throwing their weight around on Bothawui.

New contracts had to be written, new workers sent, there were many moving pieces and a lot of continued mining going on...and one day a discovery had been made. An ancient tomb was unearthed during preliminary excavations for a new lommite mine, and the archaeologists had been called in. After opening it (the overeager fools), Sith writings were found inside, as well as other objects. And then the archaeologists had started to die.

The first was a freak accident, and the second a coincidence, and then after the fourth member of the party managed to die in a sonic shower during a power surge no one wanted to talk about it anymore. The fifth member of the team was placed into complete medical isolation, and the Jedi on Ossus were contacted.

So it was that Serena Laran found herself in an Alliance shuttle with her two padawans, Draiya Naaiaenya and Scout Ravenwood. Scout was a relative newcomer to Ossus, but was bright and a quick learner. Serena had been happy to bring her in under her tutelage, though she hadn't really seen how the tomboy Draaiya and the girly-girl Scout would interact while in close proximity. The journey so far had been... interesting.

"Almost there," she said, pointing out the window at the bright gleam of Elom's atmosphere as the shuttle dove toward it.

[Draiya Naaianeya]

Away from the splendor of the cockpit's vista, Draiya had sequestered herself as far away from the pilot, her master, and her fellow padawan as she could. Sitting cross-legged in the staging area next to the gangplank, the Syragori girl had rolled out a bolt of cloth before her. Arrayed on the small travel mat were her Jedi weapons. The pair of twin shoto lightsabers lay disassembled into their primary components. The power cells, the emitters, the crystal housings, the focus controls, and the outer shell that made up most of the grip. They were more than the parts of weapons. They lay as she lay, parts of a whole, looking to be complete. Careful calloused fingers reached out as Draiya closed her eyes. Her fingers traced every contour. Every hard edge, every curvature. Every bushing and threading and knob. Draiya felt their familiar weight, and she felt through a sense more than touch. The unliving parts of the blade. The unliving parts of herself. A lightsaber was more than a Jedi's weapon. It was their intention made manifest. Their obligation given spark and form and substance. A light shining in the darkness, set against the uncomprehending.

Draiya carefully curled fingers around the emitter, finding it's weight and balance as exact as she'd known from hundreds of such rituals. It was the only way she could truly acquaint herself to the weapons she would trust her life to, and in turn, would be trusted to use with a Jedi's wisdom and just countenance. Through only the deepest concentration, Draiya could see through the living energies, to the threads unseen within each part. Perhaps with enough time, she would come to understand them. Understand herself.

The yaw of the shuttle began to shift, and in the distance, Padawan Naaianeya could hear her master's words. They'd arrived. Reverent hands began to undo the ritual of disassembly, guiding parts back together just so. With each shoto returned to whole, Draiya tucked the pair of Jedi weapons into their twin leather holster at her belt, and carefully rolled up her mat as she stood.

[Scout Ravenwood]

Scout had left the cockpit as they began to approach. There was no denying there was a beauty to the planet, but this was also her first real mission, and she felt nervous too. She was trying to hide her fear; Jedi weren't supposed to feel it, but she wasn't a Jedi yet. Just an inexperienced padawan facing her first real challenge. That and a lack of time spent in spaceships meant that the final approach to a planet always made her feel a little sick. She walked back in to the rear of the shuttle, heeled boots clicking on the floor as she took a seat at the other end to Draiya, who was busy preparing and checking her weapons, it seemed.

Scout only had one weapon, her pink-hilted (and pink bladed) lightsaber. There wasn't much to check since she didn't know much about it, but the idea of checking something seemed to be a good idea to calm her nerves. So she pulled out her compact and checked her make-up. Okay, perhaps it was about the most stereotypical thing a girl with a reputation for being girly (although her entirely pink get-up certainly cemented that reputation) could do, but it made her feel better to have something to focus on, and she liked to know at least she was looking good before they went out on their mission, in case they encountered any diplomatic situations.

She applied a fresh coat of pink lipstick, and put it away, fidgeting nervously a little. Trying to think of what else to do, she pulled out her perfume, and sprayed it on a little, a fresh, bright scent. Another girly, stereotypical habit, but it made her feel better, and she did like knowing she smelled nice. Especially if she was about to be in a situation where she might end up sweaty or tired. She looked over at Draiya, and felt like she should say something. She smiled uneasily.
"So, um, you have... two lightsabers? I hope we won't need them." It wasn't a very good topic of conversation, but she wasn't sure what else to talk about.

[Serena Laran]

She could hear the padawans talking in the back, but was content to let them talk while the Alliance pilot flew them down to the surface. She had taken her own ship to a rendezvous with one of the Alliance's capital ships, and hitched a ride with them to Elom.

They flew over mountains, where the cave dwelling Elom lived, and then the shuttle decelerated over a wide valley, excavation equipment looming larger the closer they got. There was a small group of tents set up to the side of the abandoned dig, and a prefabricated pop-up command structure. A couple people in dusty uniforms appeared as the shuttle began to land, shading their eyes from the sun.

Serena stretched out her senses toward them. Fear. Hope. When she gave the same attention to the dark hole in the ground she felt an oily black sensation. Corruption.

As the ship settled on the ground, Serena got up and called to the girls. "Time to see what we can do to help." She strode past them and down the extending ramp, heading for the waiting Alliance personnel.

[Draiya Naaianeya]

Draiya leveled a guarded frown as Scout approached her. She had barely gotten a chance at introductions when Serena took her as one of her padawans as well, so there was a lot to the newcomer Draiya didn't know. She was older than Draiya was, and she seemed to exude a cloying saccharine presence upon every one of her senses. From her garish preference of pink attire, to the nebula of scent she surrounded herself within, to her bubbly voice. Even when Draiya relaxed her eyes and saw her living essence through second sight, the energy moved to it's own frenetic and loud cadence in a pink hue. Pink! Was it a trick of psychosomatic response that she sensed Scout that way through the force too?

"Yourr lightsaberr is a parrt of you." Draiya replied in a Syragori accent as she redoubled her simple ponytail, pulling back errant strands in a taut manner. "And you'rre a parrt of it."

Lips pressed taut, Draiya's eyes averted from her cheerful companion, thinking about the words she'd said, and the Jedi who'd told her that. He'd left Ossus not long afterwards, after trying to tell her something more.

"This is yourr firrst mission?"

As she spoke, Serena mustered, heading to the gangplank as the skids hit the ground. The ramp lowered, and the Jedi Master wasted no time in heading for action.

"Masterr Larran will keep you safe. No worrries."

A Padawan fearful of having to draw her lightsaber in combat was a liability. She wouldn't question her master's judgment in bringing Scout here, so that must be the plan. Draiya turned to follow Serena into the camp, ready to aid the distressed inhabitants however possible. She didn't have time to coddle a greenhorn.

Plus, Draiya realized, there was something here that felt deeply wrong.

[Scout Ravenwood]

Scout listened to Draiya's reply about the lightsabers, knowing that it was part of the Jedi philosophy, as well as noting the unusual accent. Scout couldn't place it, but she'd grown up on Naboo, rarely even leaving the house, and had a very coddled existence. At least she could understand her thought. That was better than being teamed up with a being that didn't speak Basic. She gave an uneasy smile back, lifting her own pink hilt from her pink belt, just to glance at it.
"Well, yeah, but that doesn't mean we'll have to use them..." She said hopefully. It was a silly thing to say, she realised, next to the harsh seriousness her fellow padawan was exuding in her presence alone, but it summed up both Scout's nervousness and her belief. She didn't understand why so many Jedi were combat oriented when, she thought, they had so much else to give. Combat was always the last thing on her mind, but here she had a nervous uncertainty, as none of them knew what to expect.

She smiled uneasily at the promise Larran would keep her safe, and followed the two down the ramp, towards the dusty encampment. She glanced down as a light film of dust began to coat her shiny pink stiletto boots, and she tried not to cringe too much. Scout hated dirt and getting dirty, and hated the thought of her precious boots getting ruined. She noticed that she was, more than the others, drawing the odd stare. Jedi attire, traditional Jedi attire, actually blended well in to dusty environments, Scout realised, but not so much when it was pink, the boots were heeled, and you were wearing a reasonable amount of make-up. Scout looked very out of place, and she was drawing attention.

Worse than that though, Scout could feel something was wrong. Nothing that she could put in to words, just a foreboding sense of something ... dark. She didn't like it and tried to shake it off, to ignore it, but it ate away at her. Like something was waiting for them in that tomb. Something terrifying...

[Serena Laran]

The padawans followed her, and she walked with purpose toward the Alliance officer. He was wearing a khaki uniform and had the look of someone who usually had a sour expression on his face. "Lieutenant Ren," he said, holding out his hand, a faint flicker of hope easing the lines on his forehead as he greeted the Jedi.

"Jedi Serena Laran, and these are my padawans: Draiya Naaianeya and Scout Ravenwood." She shook his hand, and looked around at the ersatz mining camp. "We've already been briefed, so I'd like to get a look at this tomb first, if you're ready for that?"

"Uh, of course," he said, a little awkwardly. "I have a room set up for you in the command structure, but I wasn't expecting..." Lt. Ren gestured toward the younger Jedi.

"I take them everywhere with me," Serena explained. "Part of their training is getting out and doing things. I'm sure whatever you have will be sufficient for us."

His mind was working, but he moved on with a nod, and said, "Follow me, the excavation is this way." The Jedi followed him across a dusty expanse toward where the dig was, a couple people moving in on the shuttle behind them to greet the pilot and offload a few supplied they'd brought down with them.

[Draiya Naaianeya]

Draiya's pace flagged somewhat as the walked through the camp, her eyes moving from face to face as they passed.

Fear.

She knew it by feel. It reverberated through the mind, down into the body and spirit like a discordant cancer. It questioned decisions, caused hearts to burn in their chests, and demoralized utterly. Her eyes fixed upon one particular camp denizen as he rifled through his pack. He paused, eyes coming up to hers like some wild creature that had been found out by a predator. Blue irises at the threshold to fight or flight. What had he seen? Had he seen anything at all? At the moment that Draiya was in danger of staring too long into the abyss, she broke eye contact by turning her head sharply, letting out a breath she didn't know she'd held.

[Scout Ravenwood]

Scout was taking in the area on more of a surface level than her better trained and yet younger fellow padawan. It wasn't like anything she had experienced before (although Scout hadn't experienced much of anything before) and she found herself pondering how long people had lived like this. The tents seemed so flimsy, and devoid of personality, and through the odd open flap she could see bed spreads on the ground. Had they really been sleeping on the ground all this time? Scout had never slept in anything but a nice comfortable bed. She watched the females in the group, not a single one with a touch of make-up, or anything fancy to their clothes. It was the type of life utterly unfamiliar to the eternal girly girl that was Scout.

She stumbled and tripped as one of her heels sank in to soft sand, and she caught herself just before she fell flat on her face, noticing a few people roll their eyes at her. She hurried up to try and catch up with Master Serena, a little embarrassed, but her heel sank again, and she tripped fully this time, with a small yelp.

To her surprise, nobody came to help her up. Again, it wasn't something Scout was used to. She scrambled to her feet, and dusted herself off with a cringe, blushing brightly, although such a thing was fortunately hidden by her make-up. She quickly hurried to catch up with Draiya. Nobody had moved, although she had caught some weary, annoyed stares. What was wrong with these people? Scout could sense a forboding presence, but she was a Jedi Padawan. Surely these people couldn't sense it too? What could be so powerful even the non-Force sensitives felt it? Or perhaps it was something else....

"D-do you mind if I hold your hand?" Scout asked Draiya nervously. "It's hard to walk in this sand in my heels." She explained. It was the best thing she could think of to help her get across the uneven surface. Of course, it never crossed her minds to lose the boots. Truth was, though, she was also feeling very tense thanks to that awful presence, and she thought that holding Draiya's hand might help to calm her nerves.

[Serena Laran]

"Uh, are they... is she okay?" Lieutenant Ren looked over his shoulder at the struggling padawan, and then at Serena, his pace slowing.

"Scout will be fine," Serena replied, inwardly amused at the girl's predicament. Draiya's reaction to the other's request would say a lot about her and her own growth, and Scout would need to learn how to plan ahead and overcome obstacles a little better. "The tomb?"

"Yes, Master Jedi, right over here. There's a ladder into the pit," Ren looked over at the padawans again, and apologized, "just a ladder. We were going to work on steps into the excavation but all work was ordered stopped after Dr. Fronklen died. He was... the third."

"The ladder is fine," she reassured him, tucking her skirts securely around her legs before following him down the twenty-five feet into the pit.

[Draiya Naaianeya]

Draiya's attention peeled away from the feelings around the camp to her fellow Padawan, who was fussing and fretting over walking in her stilted pink abominations. She looked like one of those dolled up Carshoulis Rrou'diyaa'li women, wearing a wardrobe worth more than her family would make in two months.

"You want me to...hold yourr hand?"

She spoke in monotone, still looking at the ridiculous stilted things on her feet. For a moment, she considered using a lightsaber to give Scout's pumps a wardrobe modification, so that she could negotiate the terrain like a normal person, instead of looking like a scout walker trying to tap dance in a bowl of jelly. Upon a second look, however, Draiya got an idea. Their feet seemed to be fairly similar in size.

"Take off yourr boots."

[Scout Ravenwood]

Scout blushed a little as Draiya questioned her request in a tone of voice that made her feel ridiculous. It was a silly request, right, for two padawans on a mission? But Scout was feeling a horrible fear and she knew that Draiya must be as well, and what harm would there be in holding hands? Especially not when Scout was struggling. But sadly it wasn't going to happen, obviously, and Draiya simply seemed to look at her and make a request. Or, well, she more spoke it like an order, and Scout hated not doing what she was told.

"B-but it's sandy. I don't want to get my feet dirty and I like these boots." She stammered, obviously finding it hard to be confrontational and say no. "I-I'll be okay once we're in the tomb, it's just where it's sandy. Please, just hold my hand? It's only over there..." She said hopefully, pointing towards the tomb as their master descended the ladder. Scout didn't like ladders either, truth be told, for an impractical girly girl they weren't something to be enjoyed, but anything was better than the humiliation in the sand.

[Draiya Naaianeya]

Draiya was already in the midst of removing her own soft-soled tabi boots as Scout whinged on and on.

"You can have my boots, they'll be easierr to move arround in."

It seemed sensible enough. Draiya had no problem running around in bare feet, and this would help keep Scout from being a liability to both the mission and herself. Still, as Draiya moved to offer her own footwear to the older Padawan, she paused with a somewhat knowing expression. The fear she'd felt before, it passed through Scout like a prism. Even the Jedi weren't immune.

"You feel what I'm feeling too, don't you?"

A rare bit of sympathy crossed Draiya's normally steely expression.

[Scout Ravenwood]

Scout looked sceptically at Draiya's boots, biting her tongue before the words 'but they're not even pink' left her mouth. Instead she just held out a polite hand, trying to reject them as nicely as possible.
"N-no, I couldn't do that. You can't go barefoot in the tomb. It's too dangerous." Scout stumbled for an excuse, but hoped that it was enough. "B-besides, we're pretty much at the ladder now." She pointed out, pausing to swallow nervously as she looked at the dark hole and awkward ladder leading down.

Here, the feelings of foreboding and fear were even worse. It was obvious where it was coming from, and it made the nervous Scout even more afraid of having to climb down the ladder. Physical achievements were never something she was good at, but climbing in to that sort of darkness was terrifying no matter how much she had been studying repressing her emotions.
"....If what you're feeling is a darkness you can't even put in to words, yes." She squeaked nervously, looking down in to the pit.

"I... don't suppose you want to go first?" She gulped.

[Draiya Naaianeya]

"Arre you surre?"

Draiya's mouth skewed in skeptical delivery as she looked from her tabi and down to Scout's brilliant pink heel stilts.

"I don't mind, you know. I spent most of my time back home barrefoot."

She wiggled her toes for emphasis, now digging into the dirt below. Even still, she could see that Scout was adamant about keeping her horrid attire intact. With a resigned shrug, Draiya returned her own soft-soled boots to her now-dirty feet.

They approached the mouth of the cave entrance that would lead them down to the ladder, and the Syragori girl looked back at Scout with a taut-lipped nod.

"Yeah, that's the feeling." she gulped a bit, glancing into the dark. "Emotions without body orr forrm. It should be harrd forr me to feel what's not living, but I can feel a lot in this place."

Draiya's arms instinctively wrapped around her body as if she'd picked up a chill. Conscious of how ridiculous the act seemed in the heat, she soon willed her arms back to her sides.

"Alrright. I'll go firrst. Just...be carreful. If one of us falls, I can't...you know. I don't know how to stop that."

Crouching down, Draiya began to ease her feet down onto the first swaying rung. She took a hand hold, then moved the next step down. By degrees, the descent grew more and more dark, until it was impossible to see. Draiya paused, pulling one of her shoto lightsabers free from the double scabbard. The weapon sparked to life as Draiya held it out to the side, the column of green energy casting enough light to cleary navigate through.

[Serena Laran]

Lt. Ren flipped on the lights the archaeologists had strung up and left behind them, illuminating the excavated area. They were just twenty-five feet down but it got inexplicably dark even though the sun was high in the sky. "Here is the entrance," he said, gesturing toward it but keeping a good five steps back from what looked like a cave mouth.

A largish rock was laid to the side, obviously some sort of seal that the researchers had moved to the side. It was intricately carved in Sith runes. "We will take a closer look," said Serena, looking up as her padawans made their way down the ladder. There was a deep sensation of foreboding coming from the artificially lit tomb, the string of work lights preceding into the cave, and yet it was somehow...incomplete. Like harmonies with no melody to guide them.

Once they were together again the Jedi master asked the girls, "What do you sense?"

[Scout Ravenwood]

"Ew." Is all Scout could say to the thought of spending all day barefoot, and she tried not to wrinkle her nose at the thought. Perhaps fortunately, the topic of conversation came to the darkness inhabiting the place, and Scout nodded, seemingly pale and frightened. "Y-yeah. It's all around us. I feel... surrounded. A-and it's even worse... down there..." She said, pointing one of her manicured fingernails down the very hole they were to climb in to.

And climb Draiya did, and Scout only realised afterwards that this left her up top all alone.
"Wait for me!" She panicked, beginning the long climb down after her fellow padawan. She copied Draiya, igniting her pink lightsaber, but struggling with the ladder with only one hand in a manner that Draiya hadn't, so arrived at the bottom a fair bit behind her, panting a little from the effort. As Scout's attire suggested, she wasn't particularly physical, and she rushed to catch up with her Master, heels clicking noisily inside the tomb.

"...Something... intense, Master." Scout answered. "A darkness... but... it doesn't feel... alive. It feels all around. It's... very powerful, hard to ignore..." Scout shivered. "I think even the people up top can feel it, even the non-Force sensitive ones. Although they might not realise what they're feeling..." She speculated, despite her fear. She panted a little, out of breath from the climb, and decided she'd better check her appearance, in case she'd messed up her hair or smudged her make-up from the effort. She pulled out her compact, as ever in one of the pink pouches on her Jedi belt, and checked herself over...

[Draiya Naaianeya]

Draiya paused before Serena and their guide, extinguishing her blade as she returned it to her scabbard. Her mouth was partially open, ready to answer Master Laran's question, but to her surprise, Scout managed a fairly complete summation of everything Draiya had picked up on. Mouth promptly closed, Draiya looked back at Scout, finding nothing notable to add to her report.

"I sense it as well." she simply plus-one'd the older Padawan's intuition, clasping her hands behind her back as Scout preened from her minute exertion.

[Serena Laran]

"Very good," she said. The lieutenant looked and felt decidedly anxious, and she turned to him. "You may go, if you wish. We can continue alone and find you again up top. Thank you for showing me the way."

"O-of course," Lt. Ren said, bobbing nervously backward with a half bow. "I'll just..." there was a moment of indecision, which seemed to come down to the fact that he didn't want to run away and leave a woman and two girls down here. "...just stay out here." He smiled wanly, and Serena nodded, turning to her padawans and gesturing for them to follow her.

It was a narrow door, and Serena had to duck her head a bit to clear it. On the other side the work lights shone brightly...except their light didn't seem to penetrate as far as they should have normally. As if the shadows were creeping up from the corners and eating away at the light. An ornate set of urns were set into the wall, and a few ebony boxes decorated with Sith runes were set on pedestals. There was a sense of darkness and death, of hate and anger... and also incompleteness. As if something had been here but had been removed.

"Observations?" she asked her padawans.

[Scout Ravenwood]

"I think this lip gloss really su-" Scout was half way through answering, since she was checking herself in her compact instead of looking around the tomb when Serena spoke, before realising what she had just said. "Uh, I mean, it's ... uh, it's really dark, Master." She stammered as she put the compact away quickly like a naughty child caught doing something she shouldn't and trying to take in the tomb quickly to give an answer that at least satisfied Serena. "T-those lights... they don't seem to be functioning properly. I mean, it doesn't make sense it's so dark." Scout went on.

"A-and I can't sense beyond the darkness. Usually in the dark, I can use the Force to sense what is around me, but here... I feel... blind. Like something is fighting me. Something stronger than I am. Something horrible and dark..." Scout went on to explain. "That... powerful feeling, that darkness that we could sense on the surface is getting stronger. It's so big, it's all around... and so angry... b-but, I don't know what it is. I've never felt anything like it..."

[Draiya Naaianeya]

Draiya could feel the unease seeping into Scout's bones. The room they stood in had an unnatural darkness just like she said, but it wasn't merely a deprivation of sight or sense. It hid itself through the leaving of warnings. Signs, for those who could see, of the shroud that fell over them. With a moment of curiosity cast to her peer, Draiya watched the effects of staring into the abyss unsettle Scout as she described what she felt and what she did not feel.

"The Darrk Side."

It was spoken softly through dry lips, and Draiya's brown eyes moved from Scout to Master Laran in a guarded expression. It was a concept Draiya had been taught about in detail. Something to gird against, an influence from which you girded yourself from temptation. But as much as Draiya knew of the Dark Side, it was all academic. She'd never felt it, or experienced it's latent power.

"Isn't it?"

Careful eyes turned back to the inky shadows, and Draiya pressed thin lips together tautly as she swallowed.

"I can feel this place, Masterr, as if someone somehow put theirr life essence into stone. I feel it almost as clearrly as I can feel the both of you."

[Serena Laran]

"Yes," she said. "It is the Dark Side. The fear, anger...and hate. It is strong here." Serena raised an eyebrow, looking around the tomb and the artifacts, and then back to her padawans. "There is a Presence here. But it feels incomplete to me."

She had experience with the Dark side. It pressed in around her and pulled up memories of the former Alliance General, Dan Thule. Darth Decepis, as he styled himself, now deep in a watery tomb in the oceans of Ossus. Serena did not allow the cold touch of her memories to land, and took a deep breath, exhaling the tension and daring to open up her senses more fully to the Force. "Remember your mediation lessons. Be calm.

"Whoever is buried here, they are long dead. This does not mean the place is harmless," she added. "Be on your guard."

[ooc: padawans, feel free to observe the room. I don't recommend touching the urns! There is at least one missing box.]

[Scout Ravenwood]

Remember your meditation? Okay, sure, Scout could do that. Only, it was a lot easier to remember your meditation when you weren't surrounded by terrifying darkness. When the very walls didn't seem to pulsate with death and decay. When there wasn't an all surrounding evil seeping in to everything. Scout hated it here. She hated it here so much and she just wanted to retreat back to her lovely, safe and very pink room. But that wasn't the fate of a Jedi. They were here to find out what was causing this darkness, and help the people up top. Helping people sometimes meant doing that which you feared or hated.

And of course, a Jedi wasn't meant to feel those emotions anyway. She took a deep breath, and began to examine the room, her heels clicking noisily on the stone floor, loud enough that even Scout began to regret wearing them, lest they awaken some ancient evil.

She peered at the urns, and the dust, but she was too afraid to touch anything.
"...What are we looking for?" Scout asked, unsure and frightened, and not knowing what to do. The poor girl's perfect little pink existence hadn't ever involved raiding tombs, so she had no eye for the missing boxes, or noticing that the area had been disturbed. "Did the archaeologists make it down this far?" She asked, hoping that the answer was yes and that they weren't the first to set foot here.

[Serena Laran]

"Yes, they did," Serena answered. "Ultrasonic imagery suggests there are larger chambers behind this one, but they hadn't found the entrance yet when things started going awry."

[Draiya Naaianeya]

Draiya fell into her second sight, peering into what her eyes could not detect. That living energy was all around, and the room illuminated to her senses. But something was deeply wrong. It felt wrong to her very core, and Draiya spent a moment merely turning around in a circle as she took it all in, shivering against a cold more imagined than real.

"I feel something close."

Deep shades of red against her mind. Whispers without words but all the malice and dread they wished to convey. Like a moth caught in a flame, Draiya began to move. Her feet shuffled a bit as she moved towards what looked to be a plain burial urn. There were few if any adornments on it, but within, Draiya could feel...

...her hand began to move towards the urn nearest her.

[Serena Laran]

Serena saw her padawan's hand moving, and reached out with the Force as quick as a blink, flicking the girl's hand before it got too close. "Be mindful of your surroundings, padawan." Her voice was stern.

[Scout Ravenwood]

Scout didn't have her fellow padawan's aptitude for sending the room, and she stood there awkwardly, wishing there was something she could do. This was outside of her expertise. She was good at reading minds, thoughts and feelings, but not of places. The dark presence here was strong, but not a physical mind. She couldn't quite get a grasp on it.

She could sense Draiya's thoughts though, and suddenly she became aware of what she was doing. She was aware that something strange was happening, because her movement made no sense. There was a discord with what was happening in her mind. She didn't know what to make of it, but she was reaching for that urn...

"Draiya, stop!" Scout sprang forwards, and grabbed her arm, stopping her. She realised what she'd just done, and that it was really difficult to justify. "You... you don't want to touch that. I mean, it's a burial urn. It might have somebody's ashes inside. That's disgusting!" She fretted as an excuse, until she knew better why she had just done what she'd done.

[Draiya Naaianeya]

"I..."

The Syragori girl blinked, suddenly looking from Serena and Scout back at the urn. She could still see the radiant energy within, but now with due warning, she could sense the imminent danger lurking just within.

Draiya glanced down at her arm, with Scout's hand still firmly clamped at the wrist. Only now did she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"It's morre than life enerrgy that I feel. Therre's intent. I want to..."

Her voice trailed off at that, looking just past Scout.

"Do you see that?"

[Serena Laran]

"See what?" asked Serena, looking in the same direction. She knew what she could see, but wanted to know what Draiya was picking up on. For now it was still a teaching moment, but she would take control of the situation should things start getting out of hand.

Her eyes cast about, and she could sense that something had been here...but was no longer here. Possibly another urn, or... there was an alcove in the tomb that was empty. Whatever had been there, had been removed. Serena looked upward, as if she could see through the dirt and rock to the Alliance camp. Whatever had been there was no doubt responsible for the tragedies the archaeologists had suffered.

[Scout Ravenwood]

Scout could sense the intent Draiya spoke of too, but not as directly. It was communicating through Draiya. Tempting her to touch that urn. That was why Scout had stopped her. But stopping her and saying it was because she read her mind seemed to be unfair, so instead Scout remained quiet, not stating the true reasons behind her actions. Was something communicating directly with Draiya? Why didn't Scout feel it? She was curious, but also nervous. That fear inside of her was rising. Jedi weren't supposed to be afraid. Scout had studied all the textbooks. Jedi didn't feel fear. Jedi didn't get scared.

Scout was trembling.

Jedi didn't get scared. Jedi didn't get scared. Jedi didn't get-

When Draiya said she could see something, Scout shrieked, and jumped behind her fellow padawan, grasping her hand in quaking fear. Scout didn't see anything there, and was looking around in a frantic panic. She knew the code, she knew the rules, but this was her first real mission, and no matter what the Jedi Code said, there definitely was fear... She couldn't suppress it.
"I-I-I don't see anything!" She panicked.

[Draiya Naaianeya]

"No, look."

Draiya turned to her fellow padawan, this time without an expression of trepidation. She'd seen something important with her own eyes. Keeping her hand in Scout's own, Draiya pulled her to the spot, dropping down on her haunches in a space where nothing existed.

And that was the point.

Draiya traced a finger along the dusty floor, leaving a path until her finger stopped at an octagonal patch of ground where no dust had settled. It was as if something had remained here for ages, and was removed.

[Serena Laran]

Serena's brows knotted at Scout's theatrics. "Calm yourself, Padawan." The girl nodded quickly, but she was still worked up by the dark forces in the tomb. "You are correct, Draiya. Something was removed, something to do with the darkness we can all feel in here."

She collected her padawans, and they left the tomb, Scout nearly panting with relief at the surface. Lt. Ren looked relieved to see the three women all intact, but wisely said nothing. "I can show you to your room now, or perhaps -?"

"What do you think, Draiya? Rest, or would you like to interview the surviving archaeologist?" Serena raised her eyebrow as she addressed her older padawan.

[Draiya Naaianeya]

Like a kath hound with a scent, Draiya was alert and alive. Her dark eyes met Serena's with a sharpness to them; her lips pressed thin in a serious line.

"The feeling of incompleteness herre, I think it's because something was taken."

That something didn't require explanation. It's very absence had been visible to them. Draiya met Scout's eyes, determined to find a path that eschewed fear of the unknown or lingering dread, and fixed them firmly onto the matters at hand.

"We need to know as much as we can. The arrchaeologist may know what used to be in that spot. It would help us to know what we'rre looking forr."

Something else concerned Draiya. Master Laran had mentioned larger chambers beyond this place. Which would mean they had been standing in some kind of antechamber. With as much danger that remained latent and silent here, what didn't they see? And what danger might that hold for the people here.

[Serena Laran]

Serena nodded in agreement, pleased at the padawan's observations. "Take us to the survivor." She looked at Scout, and added, not unkindly, "You may settle our things in our room, if you'd like. Take some time to meditate, center yourself." The girl nodded, taking off for the shuttle to gather their bags, and the lieutenant cleared his throat.

"This way then, master Jedi." He led them to the prefabricated command structure, past the modern tents that were set up with something less than military precision. "The archaeologists were sleeping out here, working in the tomb," Lt. Ren said. "Most of the delicate work took place in there," he added, lifting his chin toward the prefab they were walking toward. "Refreshers, cafeteria, labs, comms, it's all in here.

"Storage, too," he said.

"And the survivor?" asked Serena.

"Doctor Erran Dre'en. Bith scientist. As far as what he was doing - well, you'd have to ask him. Spent most of his time in the lab, not the tomb." The Alliance officer waved his credentials in front of the door scanner, and then patted his pockets as the doors slid open jankily. "I have visitor badges for you..." Locating them, he passed the plastic cards to Serena and Draiya. "These should give you full access."

Serena smiled, shaking the dust off the hem of her robes before entering the prefab. "Thank you."