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29-04-2023, 09:48 PM
Pilgrimage to Korriban.Training like the Sith of old
“You are to travel to Korriban, not to the academy or the inhabited land. Go into the wilds and discover yourself. Venture further into the Valley of the Dark Lords and seek out lost works of the Sith, as these will be your mentors. The hiking and climbing alongside the fighting will be your physical training. If you do not come back, then Typhogem claimed you, if you do then you will become stronger.” were the words her Master, Lord Tokiai spoke to Tashha after asking her what she knew about the Valley of the Dark Lords, and of its purposes. It was late in the evening when Tashha was given her task. She left the Vipion Estate apartment complex and quickly took a taxi towards the small apartment which she used occasionally, and where she changed her gear, opting to wear her black armored outfit, which would be comprised of a full set of black plasteel armour upon which she would wear a simple black cloak.
Her armour would be layered, first being a full-body catsuit made out of black soft thermoweave, which acted as the base and upon which she would wear black matching plasteel boots, gauntlets which would protect her hands and forearms, and a chestplate which would be made from several plasteel layers, comfortable to wear and which didn’t take away from her flexibility. She enjoyed using this set and the simple black cloak which would clip on easily to the sides, as it was something which she had adjusted many times after purchasing it. She would clip her lightsaber to her belt and would step to look into a mirror before turning around and going to a drawer where she had stored some items which proved to be of great use many times in the past. However she closed it and shook her head, remembering the instructions her Master gave her, which were to take with herself only her lightsaber, hydration tablets and the clothes upon herself.
She did not waste much time and began to meditate for several hours, all throughout the night, mentally preparing herself for what was, as she believed, a trip which will surely test every single aspect or her as a Sith apprentice. As dawn had struck, she left and took the first shuttle from Dromund Kaas and after reaching the space station, she switched for the next shuttle which took her towards Korriban where she arrived in the early hours of the day.
There, she procured 3 glowsticks and a small pack of hydration tablets from one of the imperial soldiers stationed at the garrison next to the academy. As she would turn to look around, and gazed upon the tall and imposing structure which was the academy, it seemed to her as if it was sticking out as a beacon at the end of the valley. She watched as a small group of fresh acolytes, some which she could quickly identify as slaves due to the way they acted around the only pureblooded sith acolyte in the group, were looking through the old pottery littered around the valley. Nostalgia did strike her, as she would remember her arrival on Korriban, weeks before she was even taken as an acolyte. She recalled how after being told to wait outside next to one of the tombs, the one who had taken her there disappeared and she had to learn all over again how to survive by herself. She snickered and began to walk, heading down through the Valley of the Dark Lords with a constant and steady pace.
Her steps taken through the rough coarse sand created a distinct churning sound beneath her feet as her plasteel boots had been recently polished now began to get worn, slightly with each step. She passed each of the well-known tombs which she also had visited occasionally during her trials and missions as an acolyte and after several hours, she stopped, turning around and would notice that the academy was now out of sight, however there were still a long way to go. Her general direction was going east, that of the city Dreshdae, which from her knowledge was located a solid three days walk away from where she was. She would turn to gaze forwards and the land began to appear much more hostile, as there were no acolytes, no Sith, and no imperials to be seen. All she could sense through the Force around herself were the little signs of life which small critters would give away near her. She could see a path before herself and a long way ahead, in the distance, appeared to be several monoliths which were toppled over, as well as large rock sides, abrupt ridges lined with sharp stone. She presumed that within the area there would be tombs and decided to check.
As it was still day, the Horuset sun was shining bright and even though Korriban was dry and cold, the constant exposure to the sun as she was walking down the valley would begin to take its toll. She took one of the hydration tablets and chewed on it, cracking it between her teeth and the taste would cause a bit of a shudder at first, as it felt like biting into a small bit of clay. After an hour she had reached her destination and as she entered the canyon with the fallen monoliths she noticed earlier, her eyes would set upon a small path which would leave to another opening, through the rubble of stone and broken pottery. She began to carefully walk, minding each of her step and keeping herself alert at all times and eventually, she would find herself within what seemed to be a depression of sorts, and which had, in its middle, some sort of an old altar which seemed to be the center of a former large construct. Surrounding the altar, she would see three other smaller ones, at an equal distance from each other and as she stepped in closer, her feet would kick off the thin layer of sand off the ground and as she looked down, she saw the brown coarse sand being changed into another colour, that or a darky grey. She kneeled down and after having a closer look, she sighed and uttered to herself “Ash… How odd”. She decided to approach the altar in the middle and as she carefully descended the depression, her feet would dig easier into the ground, due to her fairly heavy build and she felt a bit of a crunch as if stepping on a twig. She stood up several feet away from the altar and looked around to see many bones sticking out from the sand which were brittle and crumbled to her touch as she would use her foot to prod at them.
She began to ponder and her thoughts began to slowly piece together what she saw “This must’ve been a place of ritual, of many sacrifices…” and as she looked around, her peace was disturbed as she would hear, from a distance, the flutter of wings, many wings. She could not make what exactly was approaching but it was approaching fast and by using the Force to sense the direction, she grabbed her lightsaber and ignited it, holding it firmly as she prepared herself. A sharp and loud shriek would fill the canyon and as it reached her, she finally realised what it was just moments before her eyes would see the flock “Shyracks!” she told herself, and seeing them, she would be able to make use of her implant in order to quickly count how many were approaching. She already took note that 5 of them were coming down straight at her and extending her left arm she used her hatred to fuel her bolt of lightning, which sparked from her fingertips, arcing in the air and reaching the first shyrack nearly instantly, striking it in the chest and making the best fall down. Because of this, the other four shrieked once more and would circle around Tashha before finally deciding to strike at their prey by diving down and going for a bite with their razor-sharp teeth. For Tashha, the beasts were a threat and they were also large, flying would surround her if they wanted to, however she wasn’t too disturbed by such thoughts. With determination and by making use of Force Augmentation for a bursts of speed, she managed to strike at the beasts one at a time as they went in to have a bite of her, using quick yet wide strikes, and eventually the last one had dropped down onto the sand. She used her weapon to make sure they were dead and as she would look around herself, she saw as the beasts had landed just near the altar in the center, almost as if this was a sign. She used telekinesis and carefully moved each of the bodies together into a pile in front of the altar and kneeled, closing her eyes and would pray in a hushed voice “I may be a mere human, but I’ve started to believe and have faith. I offer these beasts as my offering to you, Typhogem, as well as every other life that I will take will be in your name. In return I only ask humbly that you give me the strength to succeed in my task” and after that she would turn around to leave the area, continuing down the same direction, that of east.
For a time it seemed to her that the Valley had no end, as each step she took felt like it was in vain. All she could see forwards, back and everywhere around her was nothing but red and brown, sand and rock, canyons and ridges, old structures now in ruin and every now and then tombs which were sealed shut. Her first night caught her a long distance away from where she had began her journey. She managed to find shelter next to what seemed to be the entrance of an old tomb, which had some worn out markings on the entrance. She arrived there right when the last rays of light were still dwindling and sat down near the entrance. She gathered some rocks and dry wood she managed to find along the way and lit up a small campfire, where again she would meditate. All this time she practiced seething, and as the hours passed during the day, she recalled all of her memories, as much as she could remember, and thought of herself, her past, and what exactly set her in motion on the path which she was taking and the constant drawing upon her emotions, the anger, the bitterness and cold hatred she felt, the frustration and fear of failure only served to nurture her. She relished in each and every single moment, feeding on the power which the dark side had to offer, and as she found herself in the pitch black darkness, with only the dim light of the small campfire to keep her eyes open and alert, she slowly began to feel her core being prodded, from deep within by a new emotion. It was dread. It was perhaps the middle of the night and she would snap out of her meditative trance as a cold sweat began run down her spine, and her head turn almost as on cue, her amber eyes open wide as she gazed towards the entrance of the tomb which seemed to be completely devoid of the light of the fire. It was darker than the blackness of the Valley and even as she was constantly focusing on using Force Tapas to not succumb to the chilling temperature of Korriban at night, she began to shudder as if an icy cold breeze of air was seeping from the tomb. She stepped up and her pulse shot up as for all the hours which have passed where she was standing there she felt nothing coming from the tomb, until now. She grabbed her lightsaber and ignited it, holding it firmly in her right hand and as she stood several feet away from the entrance in the tomb she pointed her weapon at it, and the red light which illuminated her figure and everything around in a crimson veil made it possible for her to see that there was nothing for tens of feet deep inside the tomb, but she could only see up until there was a drop of stairs leading down, and she realised that whatever was there, beckoning her to enter, was located deep within the tomb.
She tried to keep herself calm, shaking her head and reminding herself of the purpose this journey had. As she took a step closer towards the tomb a sudden blast of icy cold air hit her and the force at which it came rushing out felt like a valve releasing pressure, which also put out her little campfire. She felt surrounded in darkness and as she focused, using the Force to reach out and sense any presences nearby, dread struck her again, harder, like a knife to the chest and realised that something old and powerful was in the tomb and now, she had disturbed it. Yet, at the exact same moment, she began to hear off in the distance, a crunching sound… or clicking… She could not make out what it was and would turn around, using her lightsaber almost like one would use a torch to see into the darkness. The sound grew louder, and it felt as if whatever approached her was also growing in size. She took no chances and quickly began to channel her emotions, almost desperately, despite her focus being constantly challenged by the presence from the tomb, which felt as if it was eating away all of her efforts, like a gnawing parasite in the back of her head. The sound grew and in the darkness she couldn’t tell what it was and with a hiss she used her left arm to channel her hatred and send a strong bolt of Force Lightning, aimed in the general direction of where she believe the threat came from. The bolt instantly arced outwards from her fingertips and after traveling near-instantly several feet up in the air, it struck something, yet it arced outwards and around, into smaller thinner arcs as if she struck something large. The sounds which by this point sounded more like buzzing was accompanied by multiple small thuds of something dropping down into the sound not too far away from herself. She began to send Force Pushes and it felt like it did nothing. Then another blast of cold air shot out from the tomb accompanied by a low, guttural defiant laughter which struck fear all the way down into her core and she quickly turned around as the buzzing sound now came from each direction - left, right, and from above. She began to flail her lightsaber around and she saw it hit small insects, pebble sized bugs, making them drop down onto the sand. She was struck by realisation in the fleeting moments of her struggle and she was shouting the words in her head “Pelko bugs! PELKO BUGS! I can’t let them touch me!” and feeling them coming in closer she began to spin, however they avoided her weapon only to swarm over and around her, trying to reach her back. The fear kept building up and she let out a scream as she sent out a strong force push and creating a gap in the swarm, she took the chance and leapt out, using the Force to guide her as she jumped out of there and many feet away deep within the tomb, landing face down onto the cold stone floor.
Her lightsaber unignited she quickly turned around and reached for it, turning it on once more and seeing as the large swarm of Pelko bugs stopped at the entrance, refusing to enter. It was like a living wall of insects, blocking the door, churning and wobbling in the crimson light of her saber. She tried to stand up but felt a sting and then her left leg losing strength, and going completely numb instantly. Alarmed she rolled onto her right side and saw that one of the bugs managed to latch onto her leg during her leap and just bit her, instantly sending a sharp burst of pain, like a hot thin needle piercing her thigh. The tiny insect managed to pierce her skin even through her fabric and the area instantly reacted and began to swell up, and turn to blisters which send a strong stinging sensation up her thigh from there. Huffing, she sent it off flying with a Force Push and using telekinesis, she crushed it in the air. She stood there, her heart racing and her ears couldn’t hear anything but the sound of the swarm which echoed throughout the corridor of the tomb where she found herself in. She remembered reading about these insects, and knew that several hours needed to pass until the toxin effects would wear off, and she could regain use of her foot, yet her thoughts were soon replaced by another, which she spoke, as if asking herself “Why… are they not entering?” and just looked at the door with amazement. She couldn’t find an answer for now, and rolling around a bit more, she finally managed to stand herself up and leaned against the wall, panting and trying to get adjusted to the pain. She had deignited her lightsaber and clipped it onto her belt then reached out for one of the glowsticks which she promptly began to use, and limping away through the darkness she began to descend into the depths of the tomb.
It was difficult at first to move around with just one leg, and her whole left side leaned against the wall. She held the glowstick in her right hand and kept going up through a long narrow corridor up until she couldn’t hear the buzzing of the swarm anymore. The bright cyan-colored light of the glowstick illuminated the walls, floor and ceiling, and Tashha stopped, as her left hand touched the edge of the corridor. She’d been looking down at her feet and at the wall as she slowly was moving around and tried to be careful enough to not trigger any pressure plate. As she stopped her right hand extended outwards and using telekinesis, she made the glowstick float out slowly, from herself and into the large room before her. She lifted the light source up and near the ceiling and looked around, seeing two rows of columns which continued the path of the corridor, all the way to the end of the room, which had an altar. She looked around the room carefully and in the darkness she felt the cold touch of dread once more as it struck her hard, almost making her collapse again. She hissed, and clinged to the edge of the wall, pulling the glow stick back into her hand and began to tremble lightly. She slowly felt the numbness easing off but she still couldn’t move her leg anymore and knowing well enough that she was a sitting pray at that point, she decided to stand there and wait until she could walk normally once more. Several hours passed as she stood there, at the threshold between the corridor and the antechamber of the tomb, where she meditated. She had eventually regained the usage of her foot once more yet this wasn’t her main concern due to the fact that during this time, ever since she sat down she began to hear faint whispers surrounding her, taunting her, coming from every direction.
She at first struggled with keeping her sanity, kept her eyes closed and the glowstick in her lap, and channeled the fear she felt into fuel so that she could use the Force and shield her mind and body from any harm, however it only managed to keep the whispers at bay yet not muffle them out completely, and the persistent feeling of dread cut right through any mental defense she had as if it were nonexistent. This troubled her deeply, and it made every single little action feel like a daunting task, yet she never budged and only because of her strong will did she kept on going. Without realising, 6 hours had passed ever since she sat down and her focus was eventually broken by something brushing against the stone wall some distance away. She was alarmed and stood up, for a moment running her left hand onto her thigh and clutching it and straining her leg, feeling the muscles just like before and using the light of the glowstick she lit up the antechamber and began to take careful steps inside. Slowly but surely, she stuck to the right wall and as she reached the end of the room, she looked upon the altar and saw that it was empty, and upon a closer look, she would see that within the smooth stone, there was an inlet which resembled the shape of a sword. She pondered about this for a moment and ran her fingertips across the inlet, thinking “this must be some sort of a lock… perhaps if I find the object I can unlock the door” and she would look at the wall behind the altar, which had different and more ornate engravings than the other walls. She realised the wall was a doorway and kept hearing more sounds of something brushing up against the walls beyond the stone wall and then a thud. Startled she turned around and began to look down onto the floor, and eventually, in the middle she found an old rusted sword. She picked it up and placed it onto the altar in the inlet and saw that it was a perfect match, then waited. Moments passed, it was complete silence and she began to think that it didn’t work yet after many seconds there would be a low grumbling sound of an ancient mechanism starting to move, and stone grinding against stone signaled what she could see, that of the wall in front of her slowly and surely lifting itself up.
She stepped aside and quickly ripped out a thin ribbon of cloth from her long black cloak, and tied the glowstick to her left arm and then grabbed her lightsaber, igniting it and waited, as the wall had now completely lifted. A foul, gut churning stench immediately filled the antechamber, of old stale air and of rotten dried up flesh but she gritted her teeth and pressed on, taking slow and careful steps into the newly opened corridor. Her fear grew more and more and her heart by now felt like pounding out from her chest. What frustrated her most about this wasn’t the idea that she was going completely unprepared into an abandoned tomb, but the fact that she couldn’t control herself as she always had. She never was one to suppress her emotions, she relished in harnessing them and learned to do so with great skill whilst also keeping a straight face and not letting anyone else be able to tell of her mood or intentions by just glancing on her, unless they would use the Force to sense it. But this was different, much more different than any other tomb dive she had done before in her life and looking upon the walls, she saw that the engravings were less damaged than the ones in the previous corridor or the antechamber. She leaned in for a moment and tried to make out what they meant. During her time as an acolyte, one of her hobbies was studying the written aspect of High Sith due to the fact that speaking it felt to her like tangling her tongue in a knot. She managed to discern several words and uttered them in a hushed voice “Fear… strike down… Victory.” and then turned to look at the other wall “Use… fear… tool”. She stopped and heard a scratching sound, remaining completely still and through the darkness, she took advantage of the light from her glowstick, that of her lightsaber and of her implant, to make out what others would have a difficult time in peering into the darkness. She saw deep down into the corridor something slowly moving, crawling towards herself and then as another scratch was heard, she saw a second figure standing up and fumbling itself forwards then also crawling to her.
She felt terrified and gritting her teeth she spat down onto the floor and rushed in blindly, lightsaber in a two handed grip and using the Force, letting it flow through her, she moved quickly, like a blur, her steps light and quick and reached a larger chamber which had what she now saw to be a couple of corpses that were walking towards her. The husks let out a deathly growl and stood taller than Tashha, as they swung large rusted swords at Tashha, but she used her skill in wielding a saber to her advantage, making quick work of the corpses by slicing away at them at their core, cutting off their hands and each of them at the hips, making them drop down. She stood there motionless, watching the rotten corpses and was bewildered by what just happened, and then the corpses began to twitch and slowly they moved, their severed body parts going back and it seemed as if they glued them back together. She stepped back and took a dry gulp as loud laughter was heard coming off from every direction and she quickly sidestepped, avoiding the swing the corpses took at her. She swiftly replied by slicing away and cutting their weapons, rendering them useless and again, used her superior speed to cut off their limbs until they dropped down onto the floor. She used telekinesis once more and took every piece of dead flesh she just dispensed, clumped it all up together in a mound and lifted it, using the Force to apply pressure from each side. Slowly but surely, the ball of twitching corpses began to crumble in on itself and the sound of bone being crushed and the wheezing of these ‘guardians’ echoed throughout the room. Tashha stopped after crushing them all together several sizes smaller than the initial clump, and threw the ‘corpse ball’ away into a corner, seeing as these foes wouldn’t pose anymore threats to her for now.
Making her way deeper within the tomb, she eventually reached the Burial Chamber, and stopped only a few feet after the entrance, as she was completely frozen by fear, dread, and anxiety, making it impossible for her to do anything but just stand. The Burial Chamber was the largest room she had been in thus far and for some odd reason, it was almost completely empty, apart from the sarcophagus which laid in the middle. She gazed upon it and saw how the air around it seemed to swirl, almost like a mist. She had not realised it by now but the temperature within the burial chamber was much colder than in the other rooms, making it unsure for her to tell what caused her trembling - the cold ambience, fear, dread, anxiety, adrenaline, or perhaps all of them mixed in together. She felt as if death stood in front of her, glaring and then she heard a voice, which spoke in a language she couldn’t make out at first, making her believe it was an old dialect of High Sith, but it didn’t matter, as the words pierced like blaster bolts through paper, as they would resonate throughout the room and her body. Then, the voice spoke in basic “You are nothing but a thief. You tread upon my resting place defiantly, seeking to take what is not yours. For this, you will die!” and laughed once more, yet nothing happened to her, yet. She stood there listening, yet all she began to be capable of doing was to recite the Sith code in her head, over and over again, like some sort of mantra. Her body was frozen in fear, yet her mind was still free, unchained, her will was still there but it was hard to even move a muscle. Then she heard a familiar sound from before, that of dried up flesh dragging against the stone walls and floor, this time louder. She realised that the corpses she slew earlier came back.
She was right. There were now 10 ‘guardians’ which slowly began to walk down the corridor which was several meters away, behind her. She closed her eyes and her right hand slowly began to grip her blade tighter. “Peace is a lie… there is only passion.” she told herself and opened her eyes, seeing the lid of the sarcophagus trembling, almost like something from beneath made it vibrate “through passion I gain strength” and then suddenly she began to use the fear and all the other emotions which by now had filled her whole being more than fully, and brought both of her hands together upon the hilt of her lightsaber, holding it firmly “through strength I gain power” she spoke and turned around just in time as the large group of ‘guardians’ came at her, weapons swinging. She would let out a growl and used her footwork to weave herself a path through them, swinging away, slicing with wide heavy blows at the corpses, cutting away their arms and legs. As she was doing so, the lid of the sarcophagus suddenly got flung off and thrown to the side, landing on the stone floor with a loud heavy thud and as she turned to glance at this, she saw a husk surrounded by a purple mist standing up and glaring at her, being dressed in what seemed to be old crimson and gold tattered robes, and it held a long blade in its grasp, slowly lifting it and pointing at Tashha, and growled, as the voice spoke once more, in an angered tone “I will enslave you, and you shall guard the very tomb which you trespassed for eternity!”. Tashha sent out several quick Force Pushes to create more space for herself, pushing the ‘guardians’ away and looking at the menacing spirit which now stood up, she spoke to herself once more, in a defiant tone as she glared at the foe “through power I gain victory!” and used Force Augmentation to give her a sudden burst of speed, making her move quickly as she sliced away the corpses which creeped out to her and as the corpse which laid in the sarcophagus now lifted its sword and would go for an overhead strike, she would step aside and used her left hand to channel her hatred once more and shot at the foe a strong bolt of Force Lightning, making it topple back and to the side, and she’d move away, stepping back towards the corridor from before “Through victory, my chains are broken!” and seeing the corpses now slowly standing up once more, she now realised what the previous writing was about “Fear… it is a tool. It uses fear and traps all trespassers here, then uses them as guardians. I will not become a tool, I will not succumb to fear!”. She ran as fast as she could, using the Force to push her body beyond any limit and increasing her speed several times over, and quickly she found out the corridor from where she came, and saw that there was light outside. She heard another loud roar of anger from the spirit from deep inside the tomb and the walls began to tremble, and the corridor began to crumble in on itself. Stone fell down from the ceiling and hit her in the side of the head as she ran, and just in the last moment, she jumped out from the tomb, landing back onto the sand, next to the small fireplace she had made the night before. The entrance to the tomb crumbled in on itself and seeing this she slowly began to feel the sense of fear and dread leaving her, her heart slowly beating slower and she laid on her back, staring up at the Korriban sky, exhausted.
Within the following days, Tashha kept on travelling through the canyons and dried riverbeds, she climbed the sharp ridges and decided to camp out in small alcoves formed by the rocks and as the wild tuk’ata rushed in packs to attack her, she stood her ground and put the beasts down, and fed upon their cooked flesh. Several days went by uneventful, and during this time, she unknowingly managed to change direction from east to north, thus making her take a longer route to her destination over a much more arid and rough terrain. She felt herself pushed to the limit, both physical and mental, and after many days of being out in the wilds, through the ruins, she began to find herself channeling her emotions with less effort than before. All she had to do was remember the moment where she stared directly at the corpse which was risen from the sarcophagus, and how she simply turned the tables by using her own fear to her advantage. Days went by one after another, and upon reaching the 10th day, she had no more hydration tablets, and food was even more scarce. She did manage to get back on track and headed east, however her body slowly started to grow weak and travelling became in itself a challenge. The only bit of sustenance she could get was by meditating, channeling her emotions, and feeding off the dark side as it channeled through her body. It wasn’t quite enough but she believed it was just the minimum for her to survive.
Night came once more, and she the last glowstick she had on herself began to dim away, and eventually faded out completely. She didn’t manage to find any dry wood or things to burn, and the cold of the Korriban desert battered her tired body relentlessly. Huddled up against the fallen ruins of an old monolith, she looked up at the sky which was now clear and she could see the stars. This was the only comfort she could find and as she stared up, gazing at the stars, suddenly she felt something coming close, as if looking for her. Quickly she wasted no time, and grabbed her lightsaber, igniting it and stood up, prepared for whatever it was to come “more Tuk’ata? Shyracks? What… what is it now?” she asked herself as she didn’t hear or see anything but after many moments, she picked up the sound of the swarm of Pelko bugs out in the distance. Suddenly she dashed off, going in the opposite direction, sprinting as fast as she could away from the swarm which was slowly gaining ground and reaching her. She remembered the first time she encountered it and how nothing seemed to work, and that only after she jumped into the tomb, the swarm stopped. “These insects… were afraid of the entity, and its tomb… they were kept at bay by the sense… of danger and fear”. Her mind was trying to piece together this information and as she leapt from rock to rock which appeared in her path, she heard the swarm getting closer. “Pelko are drawn to force sensitives… they must’ve picked up my location from many kilometers away because I stopped… I can’t keep this up forever, if only I could stop them.” and as she had these thoughts, she found herself confronted with the fact that the small canyon into which she ran because her mind was too preoccupied had an end, which if she tried to climb would take too much time.
She stopped and turned around, being able to see a mass of black which closed in onto her. She struggled to come up with a solution and suddenly something clicked into her mind. She tempered her breathing and began to concentrate, harder than ever before ever since she had arrived on her pilgrimage. Her memory of persistent fear, dread, anxiety within the tomb was something that she was latching onto and drawing upon this and digging deep for her emotions, she began to channel the Force through her body and project outwards, all around herself in each direction the sensation of fear and danger, making herself the beacon from which this originated. She stood there and would hear the buzzing of the swarm yet she felt no bites, no closing in and she opened her eyes. To her amazement, she saw the swarm stop in place, and moving like a massive blob from one place to another, confused and keeping a distance from her. She blinked and could not believe her gamble had paid off, and after unigniting her lightsaber and carefully clipping it back onto her belt, she sat herself down in a meditative position and began to put more effort into her concentration. She now had an idea on how to keep the swarm at bay and glaring forwards, channeling more emotions into her effort she saw the swarm moving back slowly, further and further away, responding to her efforts up until the swarm suddenly moved away. With a gasp she would lay down on her back and let out a sigh of relief, still channeling and pushing herself further and further so that the sensation she felt while doing this would be something she’d never forget, and could bring up to use at will.
Within the next day she began to walk further east, and her feat only gave her more motivation to carry on, and eventually she had reached the outskirts of Dreshdae. She stopped at the first imperial outpost and as the soldiers gave her confused looks, she demanded fresh water and food after stating who she was and which house she represented. She ate and drank and not long after, she took the first shuttle from Dreshdae back to the space station where she used the first shuttle that was scheduled to leave for Dromund Kaas.
“You are to travel to Korriban, not to the academy or the inhabited land. Go into the wilds and discover yourself. Venture further into the Valley of the Dark Lords and seek out lost works of the Sith, as these will be your mentors. The hiking and climbing alongside the fighting will be your physical training. If you do not come back, then Typhogem claimed you, if you do then you will become stronger.” were the words her Master, Lord Tokiai spoke to Tashha after asking her what she knew about the Valley of the Dark Lords, and of its purposes. It was late in the evening when Tashha was given her task. She left the Vipion Estate apartment complex and quickly took a taxi towards the small apartment which she used occasionally, and where she changed her gear, opting to wear her black armored outfit, which would be comprised of a full set of black plasteel armour upon which she would wear a simple black cloak.
Her armour would be layered, first being a full-body catsuit made out of black soft thermoweave, which acted as the base and upon which she would wear black matching plasteel boots, gauntlets which would protect her hands and forearms, and a chestplate which would be made from several plasteel layers, comfortable to wear and which didn’t take away from her flexibility. She enjoyed using this set and the simple black cloak which would clip on easily to the sides, as it was something which she had adjusted many times after purchasing it. She would clip her lightsaber to her belt and would step to look into a mirror before turning around and going to a drawer where she had stored some items which proved to be of great use many times in the past. However she closed it and shook her head, remembering the instructions her Master gave her, which were to take with herself only her lightsaber, hydration tablets and the clothes upon herself.
She did not waste much time and began to meditate for several hours, all throughout the night, mentally preparing herself for what was, as she believed, a trip which will surely test every single aspect or her as a Sith apprentice. As dawn had struck, she left and took the first shuttle from Dromund Kaas and after reaching the space station, she switched for the next shuttle which took her towards Korriban where she arrived in the early hours of the day.
There, she procured 3 glowsticks and a small pack of hydration tablets from one of the imperial soldiers stationed at the garrison next to the academy. As she would turn to look around, and gazed upon the tall and imposing structure which was the academy, it seemed to her as if it was sticking out as a beacon at the end of the valley. She watched as a small group of fresh acolytes, some which she could quickly identify as slaves due to the way they acted around the only pureblooded sith acolyte in the group, were looking through the old pottery littered around the valley. Nostalgia did strike her, as she would remember her arrival on Korriban, weeks before she was even taken as an acolyte. She recalled how after being told to wait outside next to one of the tombs, the one who had taken her there disappeared and she had to learn all over again how to survive by herself. She snickered and began to walk, heading down through the Valley of the Dark Lords with a constant and steady pace.
Her steps taken through the rough coarse sand created a distinct churning sound beneath her feet as her plasteel boots had been recently polished now began to get worn, slightly with each step. She passed each of the well-known tombs which she also had visited occasionally during her trials and missions as an acolyte and after several hours, she stopped, turning around and would notice that the academy was now out of sight, however there were still a long way to go. Her general direction was going east, that of the city Dreshdae, which from her knowledge was located a solid three days walk away from where she was. She would turn to gaze forwards and the land began to appear much more hostile, as there were no acolytes, no Sith, and no imperials to be seen. All she could sense through the Force around herself were the little signs of life which small critters would give away near her. She could see a path before herself and a long way ahead, in the distance, appeared to be several monoliths which were toppled over, as well as large rock sides, abrupt ridges lined with sharp stone. She presumed that within the area there would be tombs and decided to check.
As it was still day, the Horuset sun was shining bright and even though Korriban was dry and cold, the constant exposure to the sun as she was walking down the valley would begin to take its toll. She took one of the hydration tablets and chewed on it, cracking it between her teeth and the taste would cause a bit of a shudder at first, as it felt like biting into a small bit of clay. After an hour she had reached her destination and as she entered the canyon with the fallen monoliths she noticed earlier, her eyes would set upon a small path which would leave to another opening, through the rubble of stone and broken pottery. She began to carefully walk, minding each of her step and keeping herself alert at all times and eventually, she would find herself within what seemed to be a depression of sorts, and which had, in its middle, some sort of an old altar which seemed to be the center of a former large construct. Surrounding the altar, she would see three other smaller ones, at an equal distance from each other and as she stepped in closer, her feet would kick off the thin layer of sand off the ground and as she looked down, she saw the brown coarse sand being changed into another colour, that or a darky grey. She kneeled down and after having a closer look, she sighed and uttered to herself “Ash… How odd”. She decided to approach the altar in the middle and as she carefully descended the depression, her feet would dig easier into the ground, due to her fairly heavy build and she felt a bit of a crunch as if stepping on a twig. She stood up several feet away from the altar and looked around to see many bones sticking out from the sand which were brittle and crumbled to her touch as she would use her foot to prod at them.
She began to ponder and her thoughts began to slowly piece together what she saw “This must’ve been a place of ritual, of many sacrifices…” and as she looked around, her peace was disturbed as she would hear, from a distance, the flutter of wings, many wings. She could not make what exactly was approaching but it was approaching fast and by using the Force to sense the direction, she grabbed her lightsaber and ignited it, holding it firmly as she prepared herself. A sharp and loud shriek would fill the canyon and as it reached her, she finally realised what it was just moments before her eyes would see the flock “Shyracks!” she told herself, and seeing them, she would be able to make use of her implant in order to quickly count how many were approaching. She already took note that 5 of them were coming down straight at her and extending her left arm she used her hatred to fuel her bolt of lightning, which sparked from her fingertips, arcing in the air and reaching the first shyrack nearly instantly, striking it in the chest and making the best fall down. Because of this, the other four shrieked once more and would circle around Tashha before finally deciding to strike at their prey by diving down and going for a bite with their razor-sharp teeth. For Tashha, the beasts were a threat and they were also large, flying would surround her if they wanted to, however she wasn’t too disturbed by such thoughts. With determination and by making use of Force Augmentation for a bursts of speed, she managed to strike at the beasts one at a time as they went in to have a bite of her, using quick yet wide strikes, and eventually the last one had dropped down onto the sand. She used her weapon to make sure they were dead and as she would look around herself, she saw as the beasts had landed just near the altar in the center, almost as if this was a sign. She used telekinesis and carefully moved each of the bodies together into a pile in front of the altar and kneeled, closing her eyes and would pray in a hushed voice “I may be a mere human, but I’ve started to believe and have faith. I offer these beasts as my offering to you, Typhogem, as well as every other life that I will take will be in your name. In return I only ask humbly that you give me the strength to succeed in my task” and after that she would turn around to leave the area, continuing down the same direction, that of east.
For a time it seemed to her that the Valley had no end, as each step she took felt like it was in vain. All she could see forwards, back and everywhere around her was nothing but red and brown, sand and rock, canyons and ridges, old structures now in ruin and every now and then tombs which were sealed shut. Her first night caught her a long distance away from where she had began her journey. She managed to find shelter next to what seemed to be the entrance of an old tomb, which had some worn out markings on the entrance. She arrived there right when the last rays of light were still dwindling and sat down near the entrance. She gathered some rocks and dry wood she managed to find along the way and lit up a small campfire, where again she would meditate. All this time she practiced seething, and as the hours passed during the day, she recalled all of her memories, as much as she could remember, and thought of herself, her past, and what exactly set her in motion on the path which she was taking and the constant drawing upon her emotions, the anger, the bitterness and cold hatred she felt, the frustration and fear of failure only served to nurture her. She relished in each and every single moment, feeding on the power which the dark side had to offer, and as she found herself in the pitch black darkness, with only the dim light of the small campfire to keep her eyes open and alert, she slowly began to feel her core being prodded, from deep within by a new emotion. It was dread. It was perhaps the middle of the night and she would snap out of her meditative trance as a cold sweat began run down her spine, and her head turn almost as on cue, her amber eyes open wide as she gazed towards the entrance of the tomb which seemed to be completely devoid of the light of the fire. It was darker than the blackness of the Valley and even as she was constantly focusing on using Force Tapas to not succumb to the chilling temperature of Korriban at night, she began to shudder as if an icy cold breeze of air was seeping from the tomb. She stepped up and her pulse shot up as for all the hours which have passed where she was standing there she felt nothing coming from the tomb, until now. She grabbed her lightsaber and ignited it, holding it firmly in her right hand and as she stood several feet away from the entrance in the tomb she pointed her weapon at it, and the red light which illuminated her figure and everything around in a crimson veil made it possible for her to see that there was nothing for tens of feet deep inside the tomb, but she could only see up until there was a drop of stairs leading down, and she realised that whatever was there, beckoning her to enter, was located deep within the tomb.
She tried to keep herself calm, shaking her head and reminding herself of the purpose this journey had. As she took a step closer towards the tomb a sudden blast of icy cold air hit her and the force at which it came rushing out felt like a valve releasing pressure, which also put out her little campfire. She felt surrounded in darkness and as she focused, using the Force to reach out and sense any presences nearby, dread struck her again, harder, like a knife to the chest and realised that something old and powerful was in the tomb and now, she had disturbed it. Yet, at the exact same moment, she began to hear off in the distance, a crunching sound… or clicking… She could not make out what it was and would turn around, using her lightsaber almost like one would use a torch to see into the darkness. The sound grew louder, and it felt as if whatever approached her was also growing in size. She took no chances and quickly began to channel her emotions, almost desperately, despite her focus being constantly challenged by the presence from the tomb, which felt as if it was eating away all of her efforts, like a gnawing parasite in the back of her head. The sound grew and in the darkness she couldn’t tell what it was and with a hiss she used her left arm to channel her hatred and send a strong bolt of Force Lightning, aimed in the general direction of where she believe the threat came from. The bolt instantly arced outwards from her fingertips and after traveling near-instantly several feet up in the air, it struck something, yet it arced outwards and around, into smaller thinner arcs as if she struck something large. The sounds which by this point sounded more like buzzing was accompanied by multiple small thuds of something dropping down into the sound not too far away from herself. She began to send Force Pushes and it felt like it did nothing. Then another blast of cold air shot out from the tomb accompanied by a low, guttural defiant laughter which struck fear all the way down into her core and she quickly turned around as the buzzing sound now came from each direction - left, right, and from above. She began to flail her lightsaber around and she saw it hit small insects, pebble sized bugs, making them drop down onto the sand. She was struck by realisation in the fleeting moments of her struggle and she was shouting the words in her head “Pelko bugs! PELKO BUGS! I can’t let them touch me!” and feeling them coming in closer she began to spin, however they avoided her weapon only to swarm over and around her, trying to reach her back. The fear kept building up and she let out a scream as she sent out a strong force push and creating a gap in the swarm, she took the chance and leapt out, using the Force to guide her as she jumped out of there and many feet away deep within the tomb, landing face down onto the cold stone floor.
Her lightsaber unignited she quickly turned around and reached for it, turning it on once more and seeing as the large swarm of Pelko bugs stopped at the entrance, refusing to enter. It was like a living wall of insects, blocking the door, churning and wobbling in the crimson light of her saber. She tried to stand up but felt a sting and then her left leg losing strength, and going completely numb instantly. Alarmed she rolled onto her right side and saw that one of the bugs managed to latch onto her leg during her leap and just bit her, instantly sending a sharp burst of pain, like a hot thin needle piercing her thigh. The tiny insect managed to pierce her skin even through her fabric and the area instantly reacted and began to swell up, and turn to blisters which send a strong stinging sensation up her thigh from there. Huffing, she sent it off flying with a Force Push and using telekinesis, she crushed it in the air. She stood there, her heart racing and her ears couldn’t hear anything but the sound of the swarm which echoed throughout the corridor of the tomb where she found herself in. She remembered reading about these insects, and knew that several hours needed to pass until the toxin effects would wear off, and she could regain use of her foot, yet her thoughts were soon replaced by another, which she spoke, as if asking herself “Why… are they not entering?” and just looked at the door with amazement. She couldn’t find an answer for now, and rolling around a bit more, she finally managed to stand herself up and leaned against the wall, panting and trying to get adjusted to the pain. She had deignited her lightsaber and clipped it onto her belt then reached out for one of the glowsticks which she promptly began to use, and limping away through the darkness she began to descend into the depths of the tomb.
It was difficult at first to move around with just one leg, and her whole left side leaned against the wall. She held the glowstick in her right hand and kept going up through a long narrow corridor up until she couldn’t hear the buzzing of the swarm anymore. The bright cyan-colored light of the glowstick illuminated the walls, floor and ceiling, and Tashha stopped, as her left hand touched the edge of the corridor. She’d been looking down at her feet and at the wall as she slowly was moving around and tried to be careful enough to not trigger any pressure plate. As she stopped her right hand extended outwards and using telekinesis, she made the glowstick float out slowly, from herself and into the large room before her. She lifted the light source up and near the ceiling and looked around, seeing two rows of columns which continued the path of the corridor, all the way to the end of the room, which had an altar. She looked around the room carefully and in the darkness she felt the cold touch of dread once more as it struck her hard, almost making her collapse again. She hissed, and clinged to the edge of the wall, pulling the glow stick back into her hand and began to tremble lightly. She slowly felt the numbness easing off but she still couldn’t move her leg anymore and knowing well enough that she was a sitting pray at that point, she decided to stand there and wait until she could walk normally once more. Several hours passed as she stood there, at the threshold between the corridor and the antechamber of the tomb, where she meditated. She had eventually regained the usage of her foot once more yet this wasn’t her main concern due to the fact that during this time, ever since she sat down she began to hear faint whispers surrounding her, taunting her, coming from every direction.
She at first struggled with keeping her sanity, kept her eyes closed and the glowstick in her lap, and channeled the fear she felt into fuel so that she could use the Force and shield her mind and body from any harm, however it only managed to keep the whispers at bay yet not muffle them out completely, and the persistent feeling of dread cut right through any mental defense she had as if it were nonexistent. This troubled her deeply, and it made every single little action feel like a daunting task, yet she never budged and only because of her strong will did she kept on going. Without realising, 6 hours had passed ever since she sat down and her focus was eventually broken by something brushing against the stone wall some distance away. She was alarmed and stood up, for a moment running her left hand onto her thigh and clutching it and straining her leg, feeling the muscles just like before and using the light of the glowstick she lit up the antechamber and began to take careful steps inside. Slowly but surely, she stuck to the right wall and as she reached the end of the room, she looked upon the altar and saw that it was empty, and upon a closer look, she would see that within the smooth stone, there was an inlet which resembled the shape of a sword. She pondered about this for a moment and ran her fingertips across the inlet, thinking “this must be some sort of a lock… perhaps if I find the object I can unlock the door” and she would look at the wall behind the altar, which had different and more ornate engravings than the other walls. She realised the wall was a doorway and kept hearing more sounds of something brushing up against the walls beyond the stone wall and then a thud. Startled she turned around and began to look down onto the floor, and eventually, in the middle she found an old rusted sword. She picked it up and placed it onto the altar in the inlet and saw that it was a perfect match, then waited. Moments passed, it was complete silence and she began to think that it didn’t work yet after many seconds there would be a low grumbling sound of an ancient mechanism starting to move, and stone grinding against stone signaled what she could see, that of the wall in front of her slowly and surely lifting itself up.
She stepped aside and quickly ripped out a thin ribbon of cloth from her long black cloak, and tied the glowstick to her left arm and then grabbed her lightsaber, igniting it and waited, as the wall had now completely lifted. A foul, gut churning stench immediately filled the antechamber, of old stale air and of rotten dried up flesh but she gritted her teeth and pressed on, taking slow and careful steps into the newly opened corridor. Her fear grew more and more and her heart by now felt like pounding out from her chest. What frustrated her most about this wasn’t the idea that she was going completely unprepared into an abandoned tomb, but the fact that she couldn’t control herself as she always had. She never was one to suppress her emotions, she relished in harnessing them and learned to do so with great skill whilst also keeping a straight face and not letting anyone else be able to tell of her mood or intentions by just glancing on her, unless they would use the Force to sense it. But this was different, much more different than any other tomb dive she had done before in her life and looking upon the walls, she saw that the engravings were less damaged than the ones in the previous corridor or the antechamber. She leaned in for a moment and tried to make out what they meant. During her time as an acolyte, one of her hobbies was studying the written aspect of High Sith due to the fact that speaking it felt to her like tangling her tongue in a knot. She managed to discern several words and uttered them in a hushed voice “Fear… strike down… Victory.” and then turned to look at the other wall “Use… fear… tool”. She stopped and heard a scratching sound, remaining completely still and through the darkness, she took advantage of the light from her glowstick, that of her lightsaber and of her implant, to make out what others would have a difficult time in peering into the darkness. She saw deep down into the corridor something slowly moving, crawling towards herself and then as another scratch was heard, she saw a second figure standing up and fumbling itself forwards then also crawling to her.
She felt terrified and gritting her teeth she spat down onto the floor and rushed in blindly, lightsaber in a two handed grip and using the Force, letting it flow through her, she moved quickly, like a blur, her steps light and quick and reached a larger chamber which had what she now saw to be a couple of corpses that were walking towards her. The husks let out a deathly growl and stood taller than Tashha, as they swung large rusted swords at Tashha, but she used her skill in wielding a saber to her advantage, making quick work of the corpses by slicing away at them at their core, cutting off their hands and each of them at the hips, making them drop down. She stood there motionless, watching the rotten corpses and was bewildered by what just happened, and then the corpses began to twitch and slowly they moved, their severed body parts going back and it seemed as if they glued them back together. She stepped back and took a dry gulp as loud laughter was heard coming off from every direction and she quickly sidestepped, avoiding the swing the corpses took at her. She swiftly replied by slicing away and cutting their weapons, rendering them useless and again, used her superior speed to cut off their limbs until they dropped down onto the floor. She used telekinesis once more and took every piece of dead flesh she just dispensed, clumped it all up together in a mound and lifted it, using the Force to apply pressure from each side. Slowly but surely, the ball of twitching corpses began to crumble in on itself and the sound of bone being crushed and the wheezing of these ‘guardians’ echoed throughout the room. Tashha stopped after crushing them all together several sizes smaller than the initial clump, and threw the ‘corpse ball’ away into a corner, seeing as these foes wouldn’t pose anymore threats to her for now.
Making her way deeper within the tomb, she eventually reached the Burial Chamber, and stopped only a few feet after the entrance, as she was completely frozen by fear, dread, and anxiety, making it impossible for her to do anything but just stand. The Burial Chamber was the largest room she had been in thus far and for some odd reason, it was almost completely empty, apart from the sarcophagus which laid in the middle. She gazed upon it and saw how the air around it seemed to swirl, almost like a mist. She had not realised it by now but the temperature within the burial chamber was much colder than in the other rooms, making it unsure for her to tell what caused her trembling - the cold ambience, fear, dread, anxiety, adrenaline, or perhaps all of them mixed in together. She felt as if death stood in front of her, glaring and then she heard a voice, which spoke in a language she couldn’t make out at first, making her believe it was an old dialect of High Sith, but it didn’t matter, as the words pierced like blaster bolts through paper, as they would resonate throughout the room and her body. Then, the voice spoke in basic “You are nothing but a thief. You tread upon my resting place defiantly, seeking to take what is not yours. For this, you will die!” and laughed once more, yet nothing happened to her, yet. She stood there listening, yet all she began to be capable of doing was to recite the Sith code in her head, over and over again, like some sort of mantra. Her body was frozen in fear, yet her mind was still free, unchained, her will was still there but it was hard to even move a muscle. Then she heard a familiar sound from before, that of dried up flesh dragging against the stone walls and floor, this time louder. She realised that the corpses she slew earlier came back.
She was right. There were now 10 ‘guardians’ which slowly began to walk down the corridor which was several meters away, behind her. She closed her eyes and her right hand slowly began to grip her blade tighter. “Peace is a lie… there is only passion.” she told herself and opened her eyes, seeing the lid of the sarcophagus trembling, almost like something from beneath made it vibrate “through passion I gain strength” and then suddenly she began to use the fear and all the other emotions which by now had filled her whole being more than fully, and brought both of her hands together upon the hilt of her lightsaber, holding it firmly “through strength I gain power” she spoke and turned around just in time as the large group of ‘guardians’ came at her, weapons swinging. She would let out a growl and used her footwork to weave herself a path through them, swinging away, slicing with wide heavy blows at the corpses, cutting away their arms and legs. As she was doing so, the lid of the sarcophagus suddenly got flung off and thrown to the side, landing on the stone floor with a loud heavy thud and as she turned to glance at this, she saw a husk surrounded by a purple mist standing up and glaring at her, being dressed in what seemed to be old crimson and gold tattered robes, and it held a long blade in its grasp, slowly lifting it and pointing at Tashha, and growled, as the voice spoke once more, in an angered tone “I will enslave you, and you shall guard the very tomb which you trespassed for eternity!”. Tashha sent out several quick Force Pushes to create more space for herself, pushing the ‘guardians’ away and looking at the menacing spirit which now stood up, she spoke to herself once more, in a defiant tone as she glared at the foe “through power I gain victory!” and used Force Augmentation to give her a sudden burst of speed, making her move quickly as she sliced away the corpses which creeped out to her and as the corpse which laid in the sarcophagus now lifted its sword and would go for an overhead strike, she would step aside and used her left hand to channel her hatred once more and shot at the foe a strong bolt of Force Lightning, making it topple back and to the side, and she’d move away, stepping back towards the corridor from before “Through victory, my chains are broken!” and seeing the corpses now slowly standing up once more, she now realised what the previous writing was about “Fear… it is a tool. It uses fear and traps all trespassers here, then uses them as guardians. I will not become a tool, I will not succumb to fear!”. She ran as fast as she could, using the Force to push her body beyond any limit and increasing her speed several times over, and quickly she found out the corridor from where she came, and saw that there was light outside. She heard another loud roar of anger from the spirit from deep inside the tomb and the walls began to tremble, and the corridor began to crumble in on itself. Stone fell down from the ceiling and hit her in the side of the head as she ran, and just in the last moment, she jumped out from the tomb, landing back onto the sand, next to the small fireplace she had made the night before. The entrance to the tomb crumbled in on itself and seeing this she slowly began to feel the sense of fear and dread leaving her, her heart slowly beating slower and she laid on her back, staring up at the Korriban sky, exhausted.
Within the following days, Tashha kept on travelling through the canyons and dried riverbeds, she climbed the sharp ridges and decided to camp out in small alcoves formed by the rocks and as the wild tuk’ata rushed in packs to attack her, she stood her ground and put the beasts down, and fed upon their cooked flesh. Several days went by uneventful, and during this time, she unknowingly managed to change direction from east to north, thus making her take a longer route to her destination over a much more arid and rough terrain. She felt herself pushed to the limit, both physical and mental, and after many days of being out in the wilds, through the ruins, she began to find herself channeling her emotions with less effort than before. All she had to do was remember the moment where she stared directly at the corpse which was risen from the sarcophagus, and how she simply turned the tables by using her own fear to her advantage. Days went by one after another, and upon reaching the 10th day, she had no more hydration tablets, and food was even more scarce. She did manage to get back on track and headed east, however her body slowly started to grow weak and travelling became in itself a challenge. The only bit of sustenance she could get was by meditating, channeling her emotions, and feeding off the dark side as it channeled through her body. It wasn’t quite enough but she believed it was just the minimum for her to survive.
Night came once more, and she the last glowstick she had on herself began to dim away, and eventually faded out completely. She didn’t manage to find any dry wood or things to burn, and the cold of the Korriban desert battered her tired body relentlessly. Huddled up against the fallen ruins of an old monolith, she looked up at the sky which was now clear and she could see the stars. This was the only comfort she could find and as she stared up, gazing at the stars, suddenly she felt something coming close, as if looking for her. Quickly she wasted no time, and grabbed her lightsaber, igniting it and stood up, prepared for whatever it was to come “more Tuk’ata? Shyracks? What… what is it now?” she asked herself as she didn’t hear or see anything but after many moments, she picked up the sound of the swarm of Pelko bugs out in the distance. Suddenly she dashed off, going in the opposite direction, sprinting as fast as she could away from the swarm which was slowly gaining ground and reaching her. She remembered the first time she encountered it and how nothing seemed to work, and that only after she jumped into the tomb, the swarm stopped. “These insects… were afraid of the entity, and its tomb… they were kept at bay by the sense… of danger and fear”. Her mind was trying to piece together this information and as she leapt from rock to rock which appeared in her path, she heard the swarm getting closer. “Pelko are drawn to force sensitives… they must’ve picked up my location from many kilometers away because I stopped… I can’t keep this up forever, if only I could stop them.” and as she had these thoughts, she found herself confronted with the fact that the small canyon into which she ran because her mind was too preoccupied had an end, which if she tried to climb would take too much time.
She stopped and turned around, being able to see a mass of black which closed in onto her. She struggled to come up with a solution and suddenly something clicked into her mind. She tempered her breathing and began to concentrate, harder than ever before ever since she had arrived on her pilgrimage. Her memory of persistent fear, dread, anxiety within the tomb was something that she was latching onto and drawing upon this and digging deep for her emotions, she began to channel the Force through her body and project outwards, all around herself in each direction the sensation of fear and danger, making herself the beacon from which this originated. She stood there and would hear the buzzing of the swarm yet she felt no bites, no closing in and she opened her eyes. To her amazement, she saw the swarm stop in place, and moving like a massive blob from one place to another, confused and keeping a distance from her. She blinked and could not believe her gamble had paid off, and after unigniting her lightsaber and carefully clipping it back onto her belt, she sat herself down in a meditative position and began to put more effort into her concentration. She now had an idea on how to keep the swarm at bay and glaring forwards, channeling more emotions into her effort she saw the swarm moving back slowly, further and further away, responding to her efforts up until the swarm suddenly moved away. With a gasp she would lay down on her back and let out a sigh of relief, still channeling and pushing herself further and further so that the sensation she felt while doing this would be something she’d never forget, and could bring up to use at will.
Within the next day she began to walk further east, and her feat only gave her more motivation to carry on, and eventually she had reached the outskirts of Dreshdae. She stopped at the first imperial outpost and as the soldiers gave her confused looks, she demanded fresh water and food after stating who she was and which house she represented. She ate and drank and not long after, she took the first shuttle from Dreshdae back to the space station where she used the first shuttle that was scheduled to leave for Dromund Kaas.
Discord:
lord_saltaeon
