Eternity. That was what surrounded him, eternity. But, maybe eternity was a good thing. No pain, no thought, no emotion. But, he needed to know. To know what it was the kept his memories from him.

He had vague memories of doing battle with his sabres, with swords and other weapons, but in those he could not see his foes faces.

However, he kept seeing a face. But he couldn't see it quite well. He decided he'd work on that, and in the mean time. He would finally see that face, and know it's meaning.

[ 05-28-2004 08:38 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Rykounagin ]

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Mayhaps he has some importance, but I don't think I see a connection with anything yet. I guess I'll have to keep trying to connect in the mean time.

[ 05-28-2004 08:39 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Rykounagin ]

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What was that supposed to mean? It just didn't make sense, none of it did.

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I could try to find my way out, but.... I must stay here for the sake of my master. But now I must wonder who Aelvedaar is. The axis had better be right about all of this, or it will feel cold death before I am to fall before their might.

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All I can do is wait, wait for them to come to me. Or if they forsake me, that I find them, all in due time.

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Just remember, you have a purpose, and it is through that purpose that we survive.

[ 06-12-2004 03:06 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Rykounagin ]

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So now I wait in this eternal abyss of a prison, with nothing that I can accomplish.... Or can I?

Rykounagin leaned up from his previous laying upon the nothingness that supported him.

If the past is right, these markings have power. Maybe I can learn to use it.

He now stood up, and decided to concentrate upon the markings upon his hands.

Nothing....

Then, he felt something build. But it felt as though a dam stood in the way. Keep pushing, he thought.

Then it suddenly disappeared, and he felt incredibly drained.
Did I imagine?, was his last thought before he slipped into a long deep darkness.

[ 06-16-2004 05:23 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Rykounagin ]

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But looking up, he suddenly saw, no, more like felt something ahead.

He got up and moved towards it. It was small, like a dying candle, yet it burned with an intense ferocity.

He moved closer, then suddenly, with great unexpected force, was hurled backwards.

It felt as if he was thrown through fire, ice, and every possible element. What is this power, this emotion that bars my passage? It's so alien, yet it feels familiar, as though from a long time ago. Is it, love?

Rykounagin shook the thought from his head, as if such a pitiable emotion could exist in such a cold barren place such as this.

Then, he saw yet another thing. It was almost like a gateway, a like looking through a mirror to see another world, rather than yourself.

It appeared to be a room in some unknown location, similar to those back in the Temple that Graysith had thrown him here from.

He got up, unawares that he was wounded from every pore, unawares of the blood that covered him.

He moved towards it, but it seemed to slowly shrink. No! I must not be left behind, I must make it!

He forced himself forward, fire coursing in his veins, he moved onward. He came before it, yet it repelled him with all it's might.

Suddenly he found himself lying on cold stone, sharp voices surrounding him. He could not remember learning the language they spoke, yet he understood their sharp tones.
"Fetch the master! Fetch him quickly, 'nother strange one! Quick! Quick!"

With that, his energy faded, and he again, slipped away, into the darkness.

(((OOC: Rykounagin has fallen through the portals of the Elseness, into The Flame, Triumphant, Burns, in this forum, thank you.)))

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Trapped...

The word seemed to boom in the silence, echoing throughout the blank, white entirety of the Elseness, echoing inside Ragorian's own head.

I am trapped again. Imprisioned. Alone. Forgotten.

Truer by the day this seemed to him. Although he could still feel the rest of himself, the rest of the we that was he, it seemed distant, preoccupied. The whole of him grew further away from this piece as time went on.

Time...how long has it been? How long has there been silence? How long has there stillness? Does it matter? Why ask these questions? There is no one to answer...

Suddenly he heard, echoing as if from far away, racous cackling, insane laughter. It was his own, he realized. His own mind...the lost part of it, the part shattered by the first great silence. It had returned to haunt him.

No one to answer! it mimiced him gleefully. Never anyone to answer! Was there EVER anyone to answer? No! Only you and only me! Forever this shall be! Lost and forsaken are we, for all eternity!

Forcefully, the sane side of Ragorian stifled this madness, contained him, shut him away in a deep, dark corner of the mind.
Yet gone, Ragorian knew it certainly was not. It would be back. It always came back.

Just like last time.. his mind moaned forlornly.

Just as it was last time...we are trapped.

Trapped...

--------------------

What it was, he did not know. But something was wrong, he could sense it. Where he gained this instinct was a mystery to him. Until he remembered the rest of his spirit, which dwelled on the outside of the Elseness. Reaching out to it, he found that he could not touch it. It was still there, surely...but it, no he...was simply not...alive anymore.

In a panic, he tried his hardest, stretching out to reach the rest of the spirit, the rest of himself. But that spirit was not alive. It was not dead either; it had not been slain, obviously, or all of Ragorian would have ceased to exist. No, from what he could tell, the rest of his spirit had simply...stopped.

But how could that be possible? From what he could sense of his spirit, it had simply ceased all action, all activity. t was not sleeping, comatose, or anything of the sort. It was doing simply nothing at all, not in mind or body. It was as if it had been frozen in time.

Was that possible? Surely it did not seem logical. And yet, how else to explain this phenomenon, this complete halt to the majority of his spirit? Death was the only other way he could think of, and surely that had not happened.

Perhaps, it occured to him, this was some doing of the power he could not understand...the power that Graysith, ShaRhylla, and Aelvedaar so weilded. The Force, he had heard it called, or something close to that. Could this Force have imprisioned his spirit so? How could that be done? Certainly, it was beyond any Sith magic that he knew, or indeed could fathom. But that Force, that unfamiliar power, it had been awesome indeed, the few times he had faced it.

The unfamiliarity of the power ignited his natural curiosity, which he now directed towards this idea of the Force: What was it? Where did it come from? Could he find it, and weild it? For, he was sure, it was that pwoer, not Sith magick, that had imprisioned him here. Could it free him as well?

And still there was the question of what had happened to him. So many questions to answer. Questions that could allow him ,for a time, at least, to block out the silence, the torture of his prison.

Part of his mind continued analyzing the condition of his larger spirit outside the Elseness, attempting to figure out what had happened to it. Part of it continued along the sudden interest he had developed in the Force, searching his midn for all he had hear about it, some way to reach it. Yet still, though he tried to stop it, the greater part of his mind wallowed in despair, battled with insanity, dropped back int othe darkness of his first imprisonment, wandering his own mind for an escape from the silence.

--------------------

--------------------

For the Elseness, it seemed was being changed. He could sense it, somehow. At first, he was bewildered as to where this sense was coming from, but then his instinct kicked in, and he realized that this feeling he was getting was that of the non-ness that surrounded him opening somehow, somewhere, a sudden door to Something unlocked amidst the Nothing.

All his senses were focused towards this door, this opening in the Elseness. For emenating from it, he could sense an incredible power, the likes of which left him awestruck. There was Sith magick in that power, tha he could easily sense, but once again there was that potent something more. That something he had felt few times before, around ShaRhylla, Lord Aelvedaar, and Lady Graysith. The Force, the All, whatever it was called. It was combining with Sith magick, thrumming in harmony with it, a high All-melody complementing the low tones of the magick. And this power, this music, was doing...something incredible.

His internal battle lasted mere moments. His natural curiosity, fueled by his awe and intrigue at this power, as well as the undeniable call of some opening, an escape from the Elseness, took over quickly. He had to find out what was happening in the Elseness.

But even before he could pursue his curiosity, it happened. The power ended. The opening closed. And Ragorian's perspective was, momentarily, completely gone. And the Nothing around him turned upside down. For, without any warning to him, it had given birth to Something. And that Something was all around him.

His mind whirled in complete disorientation, then finally it cleared, and he attempted to come to grips with his situation. Matter surrounded him, a familiar, comforting feeling. Quick examination told him that the matter his spirit now was surrounded by was stone. Also, he again felt the imprisionment the greater part of him felt inside his vessel, the blade, but to a lesser extent, as though he were merely inside a shelter, not infused with it. Probing further, he found that his senses could reach outside this stone, to what seemed to be a sandy desert beyond. His spirit, it seemed, was inside a fairly large boulder in the middle of a barren wasteland.

His immediate examinations stopped, and utter confusion took over. How was this possible? Matter suddenly just...forming around him? And not just any matter. if he senses told him correct, he was on an entire planet. But what in the multiverse was a planet doing here?

Could this, then, be what that immense power he felt had accomplished? Was that its purpose? Moving an entire planet into the Elseness? The sheer impossibility of it screamed at him, yet he knew that it was perhaps the only explanation possible now. Other questions, questions uncountable, rose in his mind, but he pushed them down. He would figure out his immediate situation first, and then he would attempt to figure out what, how, and why.

He focused himself on the stone around him, on the tie his spirit had to it. He could not be entirely sure, but for now the stone only felt like a palce of safekeeping, a home of sorts. He knew, or at least was quite sure that he could completely transfer his spirit out of this rock, if he so desired.

Or, if there was anything to transfer it to.

Now, he senses spread across the newfoudn planet, searching for some sort of life form in this wasteland. And he found it, found much more than he expected. There were many creatures on this planet, native ones, so it seemed. And some of these were quite near to him.

The very beginnings of an idea began to form in Ragorian's mind. If he could get one of these nearby creatures to touch the rock he now inhabited, he could siphon himself into it, perhaps, make it a host or share its body. Then he would be able to actually travel the planet, and perhaps begin to find some way out of it. How he did not know, but when it came to that, he would confront it then. For now, his focus was on a pack of the hound-like creatures of the planet, and one hound in particular, one that happened to be wandering quite close to his stone...

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Tentatively he reachedo out to the mind of this creature, testing the waters that he meant to enter. To his surprise and curiosity, the creatures mind pulled away from him...in surprise and confusion, as though it was not used ot hearing stones speak. As he wandered the edges of the hound's mind, he sensed within a much for sophisticated intelligence than he had first assumed...it was something between animal and human.

Considering this information, Ragorian formed a different possible course of action than total domination of its mind, which he had been planning before. Reaching out with a slight tendril of his spirit, he entered the creatures mind, probing, and learning. He learned its desires, those held deep within its heart, desires of power and glory and honor. And, using his innate persuasive talents, he spoke to the creature seductively, promising all of these, if it would allow him into its mind, allow them to form an alliance, and if it would teach him about its people.

He observed, amused, the internal debate his words caused upon the creature, a struggle between its sensible mind and yearning heart. Finally, heart won out, and the door swung open to Ragorian, who promptly took the cue and entered the mind of the creature, leaving the stone behind and transferring all of his spirit to it.

Immediatly he was assaulted with a flood of images, emotions, information, and questions from the creature, which he spent a few moments putting these into logical order. And from them he learned much.

The tuk'ata... he thought to himself. That is what they are called. The name strikes a chord of familiarity...but where and when have I heard this name, encountered these creatures before?

For a moment he considered delving back into his age-old memory to find the recognition of these creatures it produced, but still the tuk'ata called out to him, its questions and desires pulling at him. And he needed this creature as an ally, so his own delving would have to wait. Scanning the tuk'ata's mind again, he found the information he would need for the present, including this interesting tuk'ata's name.

"Greetings, friend Yrrulk'kto, he said soothingly, drawing on what he had learned of the creature's thought-patterns and making sure it would interpret his words in its own peculiar manner. "Well-met, noble Huntbrother. Do not worry, my young friend, for I am an ally, yes, and one to be trusted. I only wish to learn more of the tuk'ata, and who better than mighty Yrrulk'kto to teach me of their honor and power?"

"Please, my ally. Take me to your pack, your family, so that I may see more of your amazing people. Lead on, friend Yrrulk'kto. There is much for us to learn of each other, as well."

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ShaRhylla's smile broadened further.

"No need to imagine that which is obvious, and no need to tarry in boredom waiting for the dog of an assassin to find his way here."

With no further ado, she closed her eyes in concentration, one hand once more reaching out to rend open the very fabric of space and time. For, being the one to open the portal into the Elseness and fling the blade therein, she likewise could re-open it and seek him once again.

It took but a moment, for indeed there is no time where there is no dimension.

Something black and noisome yowled in the corners of existence as she thrust one arm in the portal, up to the shoulder. Eagerly grasping fingers easily found that which she had placed there, indeed for safe-keeping. A little grunt, a pulling back, another wrenching tug of one hand...

...and the Portal was closed. She stood where she was, the Finger of R'lous in one hand, the Blade which housed Ragorian's spirit held firmly in the other.

Smiling, she held the blade up to her face and spoke to it.

"Dear Ragorian, did you think I had abandoned you? Nay; the assassin would have taken you from me; I was watching over you all the time.

"Now that you are safely back with me here, I have a proposition for you. I know who you are, and what it is that you seek...."

((OOC: Follow ShaRhylla and the Blade of Chaos back into Not Lost, Yet Not Found, thank you.))

[ 01-26-2005 07:28 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by ShaRhylla ]

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He had asked for knowledge of their back, and Yrrulk'kto had responded with literally all he had. Exasperated yet amused, he immediatly dictated a part of his many-layered conciousness to the task of studying the vast deluge of memories, sorting them, and learning all it could from them.

And learn much he did. Names began surfacing in his mind, classifications, a strict hierarchy that took moments to sort through.

So, he dictated back to himself, the clan is made up of Huntbrothers, the strongest and fittest males who hunt for the pack, and Watchers, the females and those males too young to hunt. The Huntbrothers are led by the Bloodseeker, a male, and the watchers are led by Underwatcher, a female. The whole pack is presided over by the Firstwatcher, who can be challenged for leadership...

Most interesting. These tuk'ata are far more intelligent and sophisticated than I would have thought.

A sudden tendril of surprise curled into his mind, generated by the part of him examining Yrrulk'kto's memories. Shifting his focus to these, he found what had caused it: his mind had accessed a group of memories quite unlike those it had examined so far; memories of Yrrulk'kto on the hunt. It had been surprised mainly because of the emotions, Yrrulk'kto's emotions, that had come along with the memory: extreme excitement, bloodthinning tension, and fierce joy saturated the entire fiber of the young tuk'ata's being.

Intrigued, Ragorian opened this memory further, immersing himself in the experience. Something about the entire thing pulled at him with a startling familiarity. As the memory flowed around him, surrounding him with the experience of the hunt, his own memory called out to him, from depths that he had not reached in years immeasurable.

And suddenly he was being pulled in, his mind sinking into its own dark depths for the first time in eons...

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Shayla looked to Jharmeen, and nodded solemly. She knew the All usage ability was buried somewhere in her mind from her direct access, and that there was in all likelyhood no way she could get to it...
...but she could sure try. If nothing else, the lending of her strength should be enough to help Jharmeen be strong enough to open a large portal. So, without hesitation, Shayla took Jharmeen's hand, nodding once to show that she was ready, and closing her eyes, drawing her strength together and then sending it to her Chosen sister.

Even as she did so, Shayla knew that their efforts were not in vain, for she could feel the shift in their location, via the Force if nothing else.

As she opened her eyes, Shayla already knew they were in the Elseness, and no longer enroute to Khar Delba...

[ 09-21-2005 02:47 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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Something far, far larger. Something that was pure certainty, as sure as a ship's proximity sensor warns its crew of an approaching planet.

Not waiting to ask any other to perform the task, she lunged forward, slapped her hand upon the communications sigil.

"Terrin, Galen-- are you with us?" she asked quickly, concern evident in her voice and in her eyes.

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"My favorite place in all the Universe-- or not," I muttered, wincing at the truly unintended double play on words that had just fallen like bricks from my mouth. I shot Terrin a "hey!" sort of look, then returned to the boards.

That "hey" burst out of me then, in all its glory.

"Hey!" I said, smiling a little with relief.

"I show a planet up ahead, about 450 klicks. I bet it's Koris'ian..."

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"Personally, I'm kinda glad about our experience here the last time," I murmurered, reaching over to lay my hand against the strong planes of Terrin's face, to draw him sideways that I could give him a quick peck on the cheek.

Our eyes met. A heartbeat ticked past.

I turned back to the controls.

"I'm sure this is the right place; I am picking up tons of flora, and from what I remember of Korriban, it's a dustball of a rock.

"Let's head on down. Damn the Eyeballs, full speed ahead!"

Letting my fingers dance a peculiar little polka on the boards, I soon felt the familiar tug as gravity tried to take hold of us and crush us against the crust of the planet below. I, of course, would have nothing of that, deftly handling the little fighter just as I had my dear Jesters,.

A sudden thunk announced our planetfall.

Swallowing, I powered down and contacted the other ship, letting them know we had landed.

Eyeballs be damned indeed...

"Shall we depart?" I asked, still trying to put up a brave front, for if the truth were told, I was suddenly scared spitless.

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Damn, but Galen oculd fly. I mean, how many other people could make a landing like, Sith ship or no?

Trying to lighten up the suddenly ominious feeling, Terrin said as much, then sobered. "Regarding departing, there's no time like the present," he agreed, getting to his feet and then offering Galen a hand as she vacated the pilot's station. His blue eyes met her baby browns again. Another heartbeat passed.

He could swim in them forever..

"And as for our last experience here...I'm kinda glad we had it as well. And if I haven't mentioned it...

...thank you. For risking yourself to save me."

He leaned over then, his lips meeting hers for a moment before his eyes wandered to the hatch of the little fighter. As he and Galen then headed for in that direction and it opened, Terrin recalled that the last time they were at this point a chorus of singing tuk'ata welcomed them.

Kriffing hell, was it going to be the same this time around?

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He was thinking. Now where was that device he and Panthar had encountered?

"I hope you remember where the device was, or that tuk'ata can lead you back to it, cause as I recall, it was a ways within the Temple..."

Erik trailed, pausing midstep from his pathway to the hatch of the ship, a noise from outside the ship catching his attention.

Was that the growl of a tuk'ata?

He asked as much out loud. Then he looked back at Panthar finished with. "I sure hope that is your buddy."

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The old tuk’ata followed the trail through the forest and around the temple. It had been waiting, sensing the search, sensing Panthar. Now it stood waiting as the first of the ships landed, followed by the next. As the doors opened he stepped from the woods and announced his presence with a growl.

Then he turned his face to the sky and howled. Long, mournful, and wailing. It was lonely now, caught in the vast nothingness of the Elseness and knowing that it was fate. Losing connection with the Temples, not able to sense the power of the three. Yet it knew that for everything there is a reason, and it accepted its fate.

It lowered its head to Panthar as the Sith disembarked, its tentacles falling limp. Knowing what Panthar sought, it then lifted its head and walked to him, licking his hand and running its face tendrils along Panthar’s head. It then turned towards the Temple and walked at a slow pace, looking back once to make sure it was being followed.