She found herself cared for, laying amidst the luxurious silks and satins of the ornate bed in the quarters once belonging to the clone Darth Wicked, then appropriated by her, and now shared between Lord Roan and herself. She blinked, smiling a little to greet the new day, lost in the simple thoughts one has upon newly awakening. Then memory slammed into her like a herd of stampeding rontos.

Her eyes darted to her hand. Someone had bandaged it...

Shayla. Her Adept had felt her pain, and had come to lend whatever succor she could. Pain which, strangely enough, had now completely vanished.

Her smile flickered as conflicting emotions tore at her. Love and gratitude for one young woman...

...and absolute hatred for another.

The smile darkened as she mused over her bandaged hand, recalling the momentary despair which had flooded her in her instinctive reaction to that injury. It was now as incorporeal as was that former pain, supplanted by a dreadful and utterly determined oath to make amends.

With sister dearest.

Rolling her head to the side, she saw that, while an indentation in the bedding showed she had not been alone, the other occupant had already risen and departed. Now her smile flowed from the dark in her, fueled by a deep and satisfying certainty that the horrific affront to her person would not go unpunished.

It was not, after all, so much that the finger was gone. Or that her Claw had been purloined with the Nar Khelba; these small factors could be easily dealt with. But that Galen... or the whelp with whom she now lay... had the temerity to actually execute such a deed was unpardonable.

Straightening her head, she snuggled more deeply into the covers and pillows, letting her eyes drop as once again she let herself go into the embrace of the healing trance Shayla had placed her in. There would be much to do when next she awoke.

[ 12-18-2001 09:15 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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

Anger and hurt which she gladly shared. Terrin Danner had no idea what he was doing, nor what he was up against. Maybe he had changed since she knew him, but he wasn't the only one. He at the very least still seemed to be a man out for his own good, totally unaware that there was far more at stake than his own petty wishes.

And now he had far overstepped the line. Not only had he caused irreversible harm, he'd taken her with him. He no more knew what to do with the child she carried than she did; everyone seemed totally oblivious to the ramifications of the child being raised in the hands of mere commonfolk.

Let alone the fact that the woman he was now with already owed a debt far higher than she could ever pay. And now...

...he would share her fate as well...

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

His thoughts as dark as the purple and black markings that coiled about on his skin, he came up to where Aelvedaar yet stood silent in a trance, holding the shield around Khar Delba. The power of the sith assisting him in this reached out to their Dark Lord as he wished to reach out to his Dark Heart, nevermind but there would be time for that later.

Now he reached out and touched the red-skinned sith sorcerer. "This shielding is not needed at the present, brother," he said in his deep voice. His eyes flashed a deep and penetrating turqois, willing the other to awaken and release the hold he had on his task.

Aelvedaar blinked a little bit, then shuddered. Gradually he became aware of where he was, and who was in front of him. He smiled to greet his dark Brother, then stopped at the look he saw on Roan's face. That was rapidly replaced by a look even darker as still ignoring the embracing carresses of the sith shadows about then Lord Roan quickly told Aelvedaar what had happened to the Daughter.

He pinned the pair of flaming yellow eyes with his brilliant turquois ones. "You know what we might do, Brother," he said darkly, his heart swelling with joy as a sith swirled its essence into his being.

Aelvedaar nodded, then turned and quietly left for his own quarters. Instructing the Noghri to accompany him, nothing could happen to his Brother, nothing!-- he turned and retraced his steps back to his own swuits
where he had left his Dark Heart in a healing sleep. Perhaps he could lend a hand in her recovery.

His purpley-black lips curled in a smile, exposing the fangs inside his mouth, fangs he planned on using in so many different ways, gods help those yet to come. In this frame of mind he went back to his quarters, totally ignoring the begging sith shadows which played all around him.

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

But she came back to the lightsaber. Although she was certain she soon wouldn't need it at all, she still wanted to be a more than adequate fighter with one. For while she would have a plethora of choices to defend or attack and did so even now, mastery of lightsaber technique would allow her to keep any skills she had learned to herself until such time as they became completely necessary to use. And Shayla was no fool. While she might be perfectly capable of Force-blasting someone into submission, that didn't necessarily make that method the right choice for every situation.

Her blonde hair now falling out of the tie in which she'd placed it and falling down upon the sides of her face, she activated the remote. It lurched before her, dancing to evade her blows and spray her with an electric shock. She held the lightsaber at waist level, whirled in a fast three-sixty turn on her right leg, bringing her left leg down on the floor as she completed the circle.

Success. The remote, even though its computer mind was methodical didn't have enough time to calculate all of her possible next moves. As she swirled around she lowered the blade of the lightsaber to perpendicular with her waist, and in one quick flash cut through the remote.

Ten seconds. Not bad. Better next time though.

Panting, she shut down the lightsaber and flopped to the floor, cross-legged.

"Impressive," he said from the other side of the room, tilting his head at her.

"How did you..?" she started, looking up at Erik as he wandered into her suite. Then she realised that she had left her door slightly open and relaxed. Leaning back, she placed her two hands on the floor behind her, putting some of her weight on them. He sat on the floor across from her.

"Shayla, I have a question," he said simply. "Why would Terrin Danner and this woman cut off Graysith's finger?"

"Because he's an idiot," Shayla growled. "You know as well as I do that Terrin acts before he thinks."

She knew about the weapon that had been on Graysith's finger. But she wasn't about to let Erik know about it. Not yet.

"So...what are you going to do about it?"

Shayla arched an eyebrow. "That remains to be seen, as it is Graysith's choice. She was the one who was wronged."

"Well, they did have Terrin and the woman imprisoned in the Temple," he countered.

Shayla leaned forward with that. "That might be true enough, but escape and causing bodily harm are two different things," she hissed between her teeth. "Something else happened before he cut off her finger. They had an opportunity to escape, if that was their plan. They took it a step further. No direct harm had been committed upon either of their persons before that. The act was an offensive, not a defensive move."

"But they were in..." Erik started.

Shayla cut him off, shooting to her feet, and turning from him. "You don't know what's in the past, Erik. Don't assume without the big picture."

He stood, coming from behind her and rubbing her bare shoulders. "I can't know the big picture unless you tell me."

She turned, her blue-green eyes piercing his dark brown ones. "You are not ready." Then a little more quietly, but still just as intensely, "You are not ready, and neither am I."

[ 12-20-2001 03:24 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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

Her room was dim, lit only by a flickering fire someone had started to warm both her body and her spirit. She glanced at her hand: the bandage there was pristine, freshly changed only recently. She turned her head; the indentation was still there beside her, now cold from a body long departed. From somewhere in the shadows came the questioning growl of M'wonBo'o, who was undoubtedly close by to protect her.

Suddenly her earlier despair slammed into her.

Failed. She had failed.

She turned her head to the depression next to her, her own growing within her in leaps and bounds.

I have failed my Sire, and my Dark Heart as well. I have let the Nar Kelba be taken from me. Even-- even He will have nothing to do with me any longer; marred now as I am, I deserve him not.

Slowly letting her head sink back into the pillows, she raised her hand and stared at it for a good long time. Then her violet eyes closed, a solitary tear squeezing from one of them to trickle down her pale cheek.

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

Standing up straight again, she carefully took Graysith's right wrist, turning it slightly in her hand to examine the bandaging.

Looks good, she thought. Then she frowned, sensing the utter despair roiling off her Teacher, her Sister.

She was not asleep.

Gently, Shayla laid a hand upon the woman's shoulder. "He will return," she said softly. "And then, justice will be done."

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

At length the fire died a bit in Graysith's violet eyes, and they grew a bit vague as she looked inward, seeking something there only she could see.

"He will NOT be returning," she finally asserted in a deathlike whisper. "At least not until I have proven myself worthy of Him once more.

"My sister." Now her eyes sparked with something of their old brilliance, and she struggled with one hand to prop herself up higher in her bed. "Indeed shall justice be done for the blasphemy done against my person, and in that affront, against all the Sith. More than justice.

"Vengeance is mine. And I desire it now.

"Into your hands I place this task, my sister. Into your hands do I place my own life. This, then, a final test of your own... as well as one designed for myself.

"The mode and means I leave in your hands as..." She paused, holding up her wounded member. "...mine are currently flawed. But I go with thee, my sister, and with thee goes the All."

With that, she fell back against her pillows, her breast heaving with the exertion her little speech demanded of her. Her eyes pinned to Shayla's, fire to ice, though never once allowing their deeper haunting shadows to gain egress.

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

Turning on a heel and hurrying down the hallways of the Temple, Shayla practically slammed into Erik, her mind so intent on the task ahead.

"What is it?" he asked. "You allright?"

"Yeah," she said. Then, biting her lip a bit. "How did you get here, to Khar Delba?"

"On the Lioness. Why?"

She thought a bit, ignoring his question. The Lioness is awfully small. But a Sith ship isn't right for this mission, and it CERTAINLY would be too small. Better to go on a well-serviced ship. The Lioness will have to do.

"Shayla?" Erik persisted.

"Start packing, and quickly. Is the passcode to the Lioness still the same?"

Erik nodded, looking a bit blank. "Yeah. Shayla...?"

"I'll be back. You get things ready. We need a med package to keep Graysith's wound clean, and some rations just in case the trip is longer than I think."

With that, she proceeded to walk past Erik, leaving him standing there dumbfounded for a moment. He didn't know what was going on; he'd have to wait to find out.

*********************************************

Finally finding the Lioness a little ways from the Temple, Shayla was about to open the hatch of the little ship when she saw something gleaming through the trees about fifty meters in front of her. Curious, she left the Lioness to investigate.

She stepped into the clearing and gasped at what she found: A pristine yacht, looking very available.

The All was with her indeed!

Now, to get into the ship...

Fiddling with the hatch a bit, Shayla got ready to resort to a less desirable method when the hatch just...opened. Immediately on her guard, she pulled her lightsaber from her belt and held it ready to activate.

Out of the open hatch wafted something extremely familiar. Tootles and beeps. INDIGNANT tootles and beeps.

"IZZY?!" Shayla called increduously, carefully entering the open hatch.

More indignant tootles and beeps, followed by some definite raspberries, followed by more tootles and beeps and even more raspberries. At last, the purple and silver droid was in view. She stopped her rolling as Shayla squatted down in front of her, allowing Izzy's "eye" to see her.

The R2 unit whistled a crescendo, her dome spinning in a 360 degree turn. Shayla patted her on top of the dome. "Boy, do I need you! Care to help me hotwire this baby and rewire a few circuits so that there are no slave devices operating?"

The droid tootled excitedly, glad to see her Mistress and glad to have something to do.

"Allright then. Let's get to it."

*********************************************

A couple of hours later, Shayla found herself at the controls of the beautiful yacht, which gracefully flew through Khar Delban air at her touch. In moments she had the ship down in front of the Temple.

Road trip time.

Leaving the ship under Izzy's watch, Shayla hurried into the Temple to find Erik loaded down with stuff.

"...Shayla...???" he called, still clueless.

Again, she ignored him. "Come with me."

He followed her out, then froze, looking startled at the ship. "Where did you...?"

"Someone left it here. So it's ours."

Then he realized why the ship was familiar. He'd docked with it before. "Shayla, that's Cella Poliani's ship, the Pride of Yavin...."

"Not anymore," Shayla growled, turning to arch an eyebrow at him. "Now she's the Relentless, and she's all ours."

"...Shayla...???" he questioned, taken aback.

"Are you going to put that stuff in the ship or what?!" she hissed.

"Going, going," he muttered, heading into the ship and returning a few moments later empty handed. She turned on her heel and he followed her back into the Temple.

Directing Erik to help Graysith out, Shayla called to Leev. In the meantime, Erik headed out with Graysith, M'wonBo'o following closely behind.

Mistress, coming we are, Leev indicated.

Good, she replied. Then walking out of the Temple, she turned to give it a final glance. Nikk and Leev quickly arrived at her side, and with them she headed into the ship once again, this time the hatch closing behind her.

In moments Shayla piloted the ship off the jungle floor, to the skies, to space. In just a few more moments, after a little juking and jinking, she selected her hyperspace vector, and with spacelines the ship disappeared into hyperspace.

Indeed they would be relentless in achieving the veangance that was theirs...

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

His partner.

Shayla turned to him, finally ready to explain. "You can get us into Corellia safely, right?" she asked.

"Yeah, I can. But Shayla..." he started.

She put a hand in the air to silence him. "Give me a minute to explain."

He nodded.

"We're going to a med facility to take care of Graysith's injury. From there I'm not sure, but there's a good chance we'll be about the galaxy looking for Terrin Danner and his...female companion."

"And then?" Erik asked.

"Then the debt they owe will be repaid," she said simply. He shuddered just a bit at the vehemance of her words.

"You absolutely cannot interfere," she warned. "I love you, but you've got alot to learn about what I've become before you can make the decision about how you feel about me. I'm going to give you that chance, but should you step in the way of any of our plans, I will have to take the necessary measures to stop you. I don't want to have to do that. I will need your help, but I won't request you to do anything I think you might have qualms with. At the moment, I need you to watch the ship controls. Can you do that for me?"

He quirked a brow in surprise at her directness, but managed to reply. "Yes, I can."

"Okay, I'll be back," she responded, leaving him sitting in the cabin of the yacht to mull over his own thoughts. In the meantime, she headed for the quarters Graysith had been given to find it guarded by two loyal Noghri. They stepped aside to let her enter.

Graysith was now awake, staring blankly at her wounded hand, a myriad of thoughts no doubt spinning in her head. Pulling some bandaging from the med pack Erik had left near the bed, Shayla quickly rewrapped the injury.

Then she met Graysith's gaze. "We are on our way to Corellia, in order to get proper medical attention for your injury. After that, we'll find Terrin Danner and the woman. As an information smuggler I have the resources at my disposal to find him quickly. I'm also thinking we might want to lay a distraction for the Jedi--they've been so anxious to help Danner out, I'm sure they'd do it again. I don't know what the distraction might be, but I'm sure there is something. Meanwhile, we travel in hyperspace. We will be at Corellia in about twelve hours; in that time we should make the arrangements for our stay on the planet..."

[ 12-24-2001 01:59 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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

"Distraction we shall have, my sister, and easily."

With no more words, no further consultation, she surprised her Adept somewhat by closing her eyes and giving herself to intense concentration. The Glyph on her brow immediately flared from near invisibility into glorious life, reaching out with the All to send snakelike coils of itself out into the fabric of time and space, hunting, seeking...

...and abruptly finding.

There. A large fleet. And just coming to dock with it, a small shuttle which carried inside three very familiar signatures.

A thin, cruel smile spread across Graysith's pale features as, using the All as her Sire had taught her, she slid the mysterious tendril into the interior of the shuttle, where it coiled and writhed about like a dianoga on the prowl. The three inhabitants of the little craft had barely the time to acknowledge it's presence when in a lightning-fast strike it coiled about the little body of Thea and yanked her away...

One.

By now Jeroc had his lightsaber out and ignited, slashing futilely away at the mysterious and writhing essence which blackened the shuttle with the assurety of its presence. Though time and again the humming blade sliced cleanly into it, time and again it made no impact whatsoever. If anything, the blade itself seemed to dim a bit, as it's energies were siphoned from it into the welcoming maw of the All...

...which seemed to utterly disregard Jeroc as a rancor does decayed carrion. It crept about, nosing, seeking, then finding the Other one it was sent to take...

...and with no further ado wrapped Logan once more in it's deathlike coils and disappeared from the shuttle with him.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The second coiling tendril reappeared as if by magic over a distant and not so pleasant world, unravelling itself from the noxious excuse it had for an atmosphere. Once home of an Imperial prison and forced-labor spice mine, it was now abandoned. Too horrible a place to live, too expensive to terraform, and too far out from normal shipping lanes, Kessel attracted no one other than the occasional runner who tried to break the old Kessel-Run vector records laid down by those in the past. The coil unfolded, holding the struggling form of Logan out over the surface, as though teasing him with it's cruel sight.

Then it dropped him, coughing and choking, and disappeared.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The first tendril acted in a manner which an objective bystander would view as seeming a bit more humane. This one manifested itself out of the very molecules which formed the atmosphere inside the Relentless, dropping its prize directly at the feet of Shayla Stargazer Petrolu.

Who looked down into the wide staring eyes of little Thea, and smiled. In her ears rang the soft words of her Teacher.

"Her destination lies in your hands, my Adept." Then the Glyph on her brow darkened as Graysith fell back against her pillows to rest.

[ 12-24-2001 02:59 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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

"She needs to be somewhere far away from us. This is far too dangerous a place for her, as it soon will be with the Jedi if they continue on their current route.

"Perhaps we shall set up a dual diversion...one that will split the Jedi apart..." Shayla continued, thinking aloud.

If Logan was at Kessel, and the idea was to divert the Jedi AND split them up, Thea should be sent somewhere on the OTHER known side of the galaxy from him.

An idea immediately came to mind. Somewhere deserted and inhospitable on the outside, but if the little girl was placed in just the right location...

Looking up at Graysith, she said one single word. "Hoth."

[ 12-24-2001 04:19 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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

The droid replied with a quizzical-sounding wimper.

"Yeah, I'm all right. Just thinking about some things."

Well, thinking about a lot of things, he mentally editted. Back to Corellia? After how long? What of his family that he'd left behind, of the heritage he took and in turn, when he came of age, refused to accept? He was happy being an information smuggler, an employee of Shayla's and sometime later her partner.

She was always so determined, always so firm in her beliefs...that was why he'd loved her.

That's why he DID love her.

This new self-certainty...well, it was different. While Shayla had always been determined, she'd never believed in herself. Furthermore, she'd never trusted anyone else anymore than she trusted herself. She DIDN'T trust herself. Not then.

But now...she had new purpose, new assurity...

...And she'd told him that she loved him. When had she ever said that before? Never. She'd said she cared, but she'd never been able to reach out that extra mile, out of distrust, out of uncertainty in herself...

Erik sighed, his mind again floating away to only awareness of himself and the bleeping controls around him.

Did he have that same certainty she did? Did he believe in the things she now did? Could he stand by while she and her Teacher went after Terrin Danner and his companions? DARE HE STAND IN HER WAY?

Somehow he had no doubt her warning was far more than just a threat.

Maybe the anger with Terrin and his group was truly justified. But he couldn't help thinking that there was yet a piece, even pieces of this puzzle that he still did not understand...

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

Closing her eyes to belie the sharp stab of pain the movement sent shooting up her arm, she slowly sat up, then carefully got to her feet. Donning her signature robe, she then left her bed and crossed her spacious quarters to where her Adept and the little girl were confronting each other. They remained as though encased in the ice of Hoth, a crouching Shayla and the trembling and wide-eyed little girl who faced her. Graysith couldn't help but smile to see the tinges of defiance and anger shining through Thea's fear as her big blue eyes maintained direct contact with her Adept's greeny-blue ones.

This young one could be so useful to us if only she would open herself to being taught. Perhaps that moment could come....

Shaking herself from the momentary distraction, Graysith glided gracefully to join the pair. Coming to a halt beside Shayla, she too knelt down to be on the same level as Thea. The little girl's eyes flashed into her own violet ones and a brief shudder wracked her small frame, but to her credit she stood her tiny ground. Graysith's smile broadened at that, and she reached out her good hand and placed it on top of Thea's head.

"A shame, that one so young needs be caught up within the machinations of her elders," she murmured, stroking her silky hair. "But at times one must do what one must do, as distasteful as the deed may be. One cannot allow one to see through tunnelled vision; the needs of the larger picture must be served."

With those somewhat cryptic words, Graysith broke the visual link with the little girl, closing her eyes and thoroughly startling the youngster as she concentrated, utilizing the All to now accomplish a task more daunting than any she had before. Small beads of sweat sprang upon her brow with her efforts to tackle what to most would be considered the impossible:

The complete restoration to life of the generators of Alpha Base, and the warming up of that base from it's current below-zero temperatures.

Far far away from any well-travelled spacelanes, on an ice-entrapped world circled by three lonely moons, a solitary generator sent forth a series of creaks and groans as Something reached out to it and mysteriously began channelling the ever-present flow of electrons from it's primary directly into its workings. A family of tauntauns foraging nearby fled, honking and garbling in startled fear as the groans and creaks rapidly escalated into louder clangs and hissing snapping noises, then to deep snarls and rumblings and finally full-throated roars as the ancient machine sprang at last into unexpected life. Hidden within the ice caves of the northern equatorial region, lights unused for years likewise sprang into existence, flooding old corridors and mess halls and storage compartments and personal quarters as Alpha Base came alive after so long a dormancy. Deep within its gut, protected by a maze of ice corridors, the old command center likewise lit up like Coruscant on High Eve, the myriad lights of consoles and computer readouts blinking and flashing like tiny novae bursting into life.

Graysith concentrated a bit further... and managed to find it within her to escalate likewise the movements of the molecules within the atmosphere of Alpha Base. Bit by bit they sped up in velocity, pinging and crashing off of each other and the ice walls and anything else that came in contact with them, gradually releasing leftover energies in the form of heat and warming the air much faster than if the Chosen Daughter had left this task to the devices of the generator alone. Bit by bit, the temperatures began rising from the minus fifty-two degrees which Alpha Base had endured for years, and soon reached a comparatively balmy fifty-eight above zero. That temperature would be steadily maintained as long as the generator remained working...

...which was anybody's guess, as all mech-droids had long ago departed, abandoning the premises with their flesh-and-blood masters.

Satisfied that living conditions, while being lonely and perhaps a touch chilly, would maintain Thea's life...there was, after all, plenty of rations yet stored in the depths of the old base, and nothing preserves food like subzero temperatures...Graysith opened her eyes once more. Leaning forward, she softly kissed Thea's smooth little cheek. Then, rising to her feet and giving her good hand an imperious wave, she once again commanded the All to reach out and carry the little girl to her destination.

It could do nothing but obey.

[ 12-29-2001 01:15 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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

Turning her attentions from the task newly completed to a far easier one, Graysith concentrated, one last time reaching out to command the All as her Sire had taught her to do. From the atmosphere of her quarters it coiled in obescience, twining out like a black and sultry snake to take her up in its icy arms, whisking her away from the newly-christened Relentless...

...and after a length of time, bringing her gently back.

For a moment she remained standing where the receding coil of Elseness had deposited her, her eyes closed as a shudder ran through her body. Deep within her, the Beast yowled in effrontery, utterly outraged to be so mercilessly stricken with the otherness and frigidity and blazing heat of the All. Then it settled down into grumbling quiescence, coiling around a yet-protected kernal held deep within the essence of the Chosen Daughter of the Sith, who opened her eyes and gazed calmly at Shayla.

"And now, my Adept, we shall see what we shall see."

With that, she let her cloak drop from her shoulders, and approached the young woman. Draping her arm companionably about Shayla's shoulders, she smiled away her mysterious and momentary disappearance.

"I hunger, my sister," she murmured softly. "Shall we go partake of some dinner and conversation?"

Gently guiding Shayla, she turned and exited her quarters, the two Noghri taking up flanking positions just behind them as they walked along the corridor toward the mess. Then Graysith paused in midstep, a thought striking her.

"Perhaps you would like to have your... friend accompany us," she offerred smoothly. "I am curious as to how he is taking our current situation, which I must admit has probably unfolded rather abruptly in his eyes."

Smiling again, she continued on, making small talk, and otherwise letting her Adept know that her strength, far from being depleted by her recent machinations, was indeed returning to her. In short notice, they found themselves at the mess, where Graysith entered and seated herself at the gleaming Captain's Table. She then cocked her head, her brow arching and a little smile coming to her lips to see what Shayla would do. Behind her, Nikk and Leev stood at rock-steady attention.

[ 12-29-2001 02:08 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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

Sheesh, but you sure do like to question and second guess everything, DON'T YOU? some little shoulder devil taunted. Shayla took that little inner voice for what it was worth. You have a point, she conceded.

Realizing she really hadn't trusted Erik too much at all aside from letting him watch the Relentless's controls since she'd picked him up, Shayla evaluated the risk of mentally linking with him. Before she'd stayed closed off because she knew things she didn't want him to; even now she knew things he shouldn't just yet. However, if she was going to trust him at all she had to throw him a lifeline, and she certainly could shield some thoughts from him while sending enough of a tendril of herself out to him to signal him to come to her.

And there was another thing about operating this way. They'd never really done this sort of mental-linkage, aside from one time during the Terrin Danner crisis, until Shayla had been taken by Graysith seemingly eons ago. Her mind was quite made up. If she couldn't shield herself from the one she loved and in turn trust him not to press, then how could there be any love to begin with?

Love without trust is void.

Sending a tiny niggling out, just enough to tap into the mind of Erik Kartan and nothing more, she read that he understood. He signaled that he was on his way, leaving Izzy in the cabin to keep a lookout.

In moments he entered the mess hall, giving Graysith a slight nod and flicking a brown-eyed gaze Shayla's way. "You...called?" he asked.

She extended her right hand, palm upward, to the chair next to her. "Come and eat," she explained simply.

He complied, somehow aware that She was intent upon his and Shayla's interaction, not entirely sure what he thought of it himself. Things with her were so different, but the same...

Erik couldn't quite put his finger on it. Somehow, although the outward reactions of Shayla were different, the core was somehow still as it always had been.

Sensing that the room was dead silent, Erik finally decided to speak up, knowing that soon more would be on his plate than merely the food he so suddenly realized he wanted. "So," he said at last, "What's to eat?"

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

Dark Lord Roan strode to her and for the first time in his life went to one knee his horned head bowed. "The Nar Kelba is destroyed and my minion has brought you a trophy." His voice was steady but his eyes were unyeildingly to the floor.

Maladius brought the bloody remains of Terrin's arm and laid it at her feet his head also bowed. He stepped back behind his lord as Roan looked up into his chosen ones eyes.

"These are but small victories in comparison to your sacrafice my dark heart but I hope that you will find them satisfactory." He stayed motionless looking into her eyes his heart and mind open to her. He had underestimated Galen's ability to channel the childs energy's under diress and in doing so had failed his love. He waited now for her words, her touch....

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

...by enacting out that very movement, and kneeling himself at her feet.

For a timeless moment her thoughts flashed back to that day in the Great Temple, when he had raised her from the depths of despair by coming to her and professing what love he could toward her, thus awakening within her the power of the All and her undying devotion to him. Now that same feeling descended on her in a great rush of deja vu, so certain had she been that he would have nothing more to do with her for her seeming failure to protect and keep the Nar Kelba.

Amazing the extremes frail flesh is capable of enduring. From subarctic cold to blazing heat. From near vacuum to pressures great enough to alter bone density. From total despair to soaring ecstasy....

In the face of this new wonder, that gem appeared pale and lifeless. Its destruction, less than inconsequential. Trembling, her heart threatening to burst from her chest, she totally dismissed the presence of Shayla and Erik and reached out her good hand to gently lay it alongside Roan's cheek. Pressing in with her fingertips, she held it there as she met his gaze with a straightforward and unflinching one.

Turquoise met violet. Fire drowned in ice.

She held that moment, that Look, that feeling... then, still utterly ignoring the presence of the others in the Mess Hall, her movement soft and flowing, she gracefully lowered herself from the chair in which she had been seated and knelt before her Lord.

Her own Dark Heart, who by this one action had proven to her that his great heart was yet as forgiving as it ever had been.

Her hand moved from his cheek to brush lightly atop his lips. "Oh, my love," she breathed in a quiet whisper, still gazing deeply into his eyes. "By far the most coveted trophy which you have brought to me this day is that of yourself. I now beg that you stay, and remain here with me."

Then she fell silent as with a mere thought the lights in the Mess Hall began to dim, allowing her to better see the emotion shining from the depths of the turquoise pair before her. Her hand was replaced by her own lips, and in a wondrously strange way having nothing whatsoever to do with the All, Time came to a complete standstill as the two kneeling Sith came together and lost themselves in a joyous universe of their own creation.

[ 12-31-2001 11:19 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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Serves him right, for taking Graysith's finger.

Shayla frowned a moment, surprised from whence the thought came.

Whoa.

Then, as the exchanged between her Sister and the other continued, she suddenly felt the need to leave them to each other. In moments she'd taken Erik by the hand and lead him out of the Mess Hall.

"Shayla..." he muttered, clearly startled.

She knew without another word what he was thinking. He didn't understand, he didn't have enough information.

Maybe it was time he saw just a tiny bit more of the puzzle.

"Graysith had a weapon on her finger, didn't she?" Erik asked before Shayla could get anything out.

Shayla's chin almost dropped to the floor. "How did you...?"

"Well, there's the fact that your Sith pal just implied it," he replied, "And anyone would figure that Terrin Danner wouldn't just cut off someone's finger for no reason. He's not always a good guy, but I don't think he's that type either."

Shayla frowned, glaring laser bolts through him. "What precisely are you implying? You want Terrin Danner running around the galaxy with a Sith weapon?"

"No, but I sure as Hell think he would have liked to keep his arm."

"Erik, Terrin gave up that right the second he presumed he should have that weapon. The damage isn't permanant. He'll get a prosthetic, and life will go on. And just maybe Terrin will realize that he's not the all-powerful idiot he thinks he is."

With that she whirled, heading for the controls. But Erik stopped her, taking her hand in his and turning her back to him. "Wait," he pled. Then looking away, "I'm sorry."

She quirked a brow at him, suddenly curious. "Is the arm all you saw?" she questioned.

He didn't look back yet. "No."

She knew without asking further that he understood. Smiling a bit, she took his chin in her hand, pulling his face to hers. She kissed him lightly, then drew back. "Tell me what you saw."

He blinked in surprise. "I think I just saw two Sith who looked like they were really in love."

Shayla nodded marginally, keeping his chin in her hand, making sure her greeny-blue eyes were in line with his deep brown ones. "Then you've seen what the rest of them have missed."

[ 12-30-2001 12:36 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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So much of the evidence seemed to conflict, yet at the same time worked harmoniously together...

He shrugged it off as Shayla brought the Relentless smoothly out of hyperspace and requested docking previleges in a bay he'd reccommended, not to far from a med facility.

He turned to gaze at her thoughtfully as she awaited permission. Dressed in a black pilotsuit, her skin fairly radiated with life, as did her intense blue-green eyes. Try as he might to not barrel into things all at once, he was slowly succumbing to the love he'd had for her all along regardless of the things she had done and might be doing.

After all, the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.

"What?" she finally asked, turning to him.

He gulped a bit. Forwardness wasn't his style, he wondered how in the Universe to explain what he was feeling. "You...you know that I love you, right?"

She cocked her head at him. "In light of all which has unfolded thusfar?"

He turned inward, remembering the incident from the previous evening, shuddering a bit at the thought of Terrin Danner's arm being presented as a...trophy.

"Yes," he replied.

She observed him a bit further before responding to the green light on the navboard, sensing his slight hesitation. "You know that I believe you. But I want you to be sure of what you are getting yourself into."

He sighed a bit as she busied herself with the landing permit. She wasn't trying to shove him off, he knew that. She was instead shielding him from rushing into something he might later regret. He was glad that she had the forethought to do so.

But he'd made up his mind, at least for the moment, he was going to stick it out.

Shayla brought the yacht down into atmosphere, proceeding to the landing platform she had been assigned. As they neared the ground, Erik's mind became awash with memories.

He'd grown up here. He and his friends had trod the paths of Treasure Ship Row...he'd been TRAINED in the Jedi arts here...

Why was it again that he had left...?

As Shayla began to shut down system after system, he let the question hang dead in his thoughts.

He really didn't remember why he had left. He'd wanted to be MORE than just a civilian, MORE than just a Jedi...

...He'd wanted to have a life full of true meaning, one that fullfilled his needs as well as the needs of others.

Satisfied that the ship was properly shut down, Shayla turned to him. "You know the way to the med facility, I assume?"

He nodded. "Yes, it's not too far from here."

"Good," she responded. Then through the link she maintained with Graysith, We are here.

[ 12-31-2001 01:12 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Erik Kartan ]

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A chill bordering the heated furnace of the energies which blast young stars into life, and a pair of clawed hands suddenly grasped her from behind. They tightened briefly yet gently upon her shoulders, soon followed by another soft touch as Dark Lord Roan bent his horned head to kiss her neck. Her smile broadened, became softer yet, and she turned in his arms.

"We have arrived at Corellia, my love," she murmured quietly, placing both hands, good and marred, upon his muscular chest. Her violet eyes plunged into the depths of the turquoise sea before her, and he smiled to feel her image there. Tilting his head, his eyes never leaving hers, he graced her marred hand with a kiss.

"It surprises me that you wish to repair this damage my disgrace has brought upon you." His deep bass voice brushed into her ears, into her mind and heart and very soul. "I would think you would let it remain, a constant reminder to me to never fail you again."

Graysith merely smiled, lifting her bandaged hand to lightly caress him with it. "You have not failed me, my love," she answered simply. "And I know you never will. Remember this, as well as how deeply I believe and adhere to it. Throughout all eternity."

For a moment she sobered, her violet eyes penetrating deeply into Roan's soul, there to implant the sincerity of her words and the emotions which carried them. Then she lightened, and continued.

"But as to the injury; I acquiese to my Adept in her desire to prove her loyalty to me, to us, to the All. This is but the first in her many steps along the road to that achievement, and in the doing shall further cement the bonds that exist between us."

The Dark Lord remained silent, affixing his eyes to hers. His powerful arms tightened around her, holding her firmly yet delicately. Graysith shivered beneath the touch of his evident strength being held back, then she smiled, and pushing against him, broke free from that grasp.

"I fear you ought not accompany us on this minor quest," she at last asserted, cocking her head to now take in the image he presented. His skin, where black and purple shadows swirled and mingled in a constant dance upon his face; the horns upon his head, the claws upon his hands. While these alien characteristics were aspects most would not pay heed to... well, at least not overly so; his was a rather arresting presence, after all... it was the mere aura of power and assurety and quite simply the All radiating from him like some indomitable solar wind that other beings would fearfully look askance upon. Now was not the time to draw attention to themselves.

She placed her hand upon her lips, blew her love a small kiss.

Oh that others could but see this moment, the thought suddenly sprang into her head. For then they could perhaps begin to open their eyes to who we are, who I am, what our destiny is, and what we can do for them all....

"I shall return to you, my love," she said simply, then turned and departed her quarters.

[ 12-31-2001 02:57 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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Shayla smiled down at the droid, as Erik leaned back against the bulkhead and just grinned, clearly aware of what the droid was saying even without a translator.

"No, Izzy, you need to stay and watch ship."

That comment rendered a good raspberry. Shayla actually squatted down in front of the little droid as if she were a child and rubbed a finger across her silver dome. "This is how you can best serve me now," she said soothingly. "Make sure the Relentless is undisturbed."

A mechanical sigh followed by a reassuring crescendo echoed in the cabin as Graysith made her way from her quarters. Shayla stood and wrapped an arm around her sister. "I hope that you are feeling better," she said. Then, frowning, something dawned on her, "Perhaps we should briefly disguise the rune which your Sire has bestowed upon you, so that we can travel the city streets in peace?"

At this Izzy tootled something, and Erik leaned over to read the translator box. Then he stood again, bowing at the waist slightly at Graysith. Shayla couldn't help but smile just a bit at that. Then he explained. "Izzy suggests utilizing the rune as part of a tiara of jewels rather than simply disguising it."

Shayla nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, I think that might work," she said, biting her lower lip. "That is," she continued, "If it suits your wishes, my sister?"

Turning to Graysith for confirmation, Shayla missed the slight quirk of Erik's brow, which he covered fairly well. Then he added. "Med facility isn't too far," he interjected, "And I'm sure I can find us a little hole in the facility to be left alone while steps are taken to repair your injury," he said, nodding to Graysith. "All we need do is make it there safely. I think the droid has a good idea."

He then quieted as they awaited Graysith's analysis of the plan, carefully ignoring the string of raspberries Izzy now blurted, clearly insulted at being referred to as "the droid."

[ 12-31-2001 04:03 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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Well, perhaps not the droid....

She smiled gently, radiating warmth. Even as this One, my Adept, seeks after my well-being, there is another whose needs I must further attend to myself. That thought had no sooner struck her then she surprised the two humans in front of her by settling back on her heels, folding her injured hand into the palm of its mate, and closing her eyes. The startled raspberries blown by the anxious little droid faded in strength and importance in her ears, as she smoothly tuned out the reality about her and entered into another one completely.

Abruptly her eyes flew open, the Glyph on her forehead ravening into glorious splendor. It's ultraviolet radiance reflected off the shining ice walls surrounding her, segueing into the depths of the corridor in which she stood, there to brighten a bit the darker shadows which danced murkily beyond the reach of the light fixtures interspersed here and there upon those walls. She ignored the chill in the air, totally disregarded the shadows in the distance, utterly dismissed the faintly glowing and somehow beckoning light which lay far, far down the corridor like the veritable one at the end of some tunnel.

All she had eyes for was the little girl who was hunkered into a little ball at her feet, shivering.

For a moment Graysith merely stood there silent, looking down at the trembling little body. Thea's eyes widened in shock and fear to see her there, but she didn't move. Then she closed her eyes, almost as though resigned to a fate over which she had no control. They flew open again in surprise, however, as the Chosen Daughter of the Sith knelt down to her, reaching out with both her hands to rub Thea's shoulders as though to warm her.

"Come, child," Graysith murmured in a soft voice. "Don't be afraid. There is no need to despair. There are those coming after you; your discomfort here shall be a short one."

She paused momentarily, gripping Thea a little bit more tightly as the child gave a great shudder and tried to pull away from her. Her pale hands like iron, Graysith merely waited until Thea once more went limp with resignation. Then she smiled, placing her good hand beneath Thea's chin and lifting her face so that their eyes would meet.

"Mind your instincts, little one, and be resourceful," she said in a silken murmur. "Look; there is food and clothing here for your use." Now lifting her other hand, she indicated the softly glowing light in the distance. "Go there, child, and take care of yourself. Be strong, and remember, do not fear.

"You are not alone."

In one smooth motion, Graysith rose back up on her feet, the movement immediately mimicked by the little girl who then stood silently, if somewhat nervously, in front of her. Graysith smiled, and patted her on the head. Then, closing her eyes, she let herself fall back...

...into the reality from whence she had come. They opened smoothly, considered Erik and Shayla calmly. She smiled, pointed to the buzzing Izzy.

"That is a very good idea, little droid," she complimented the now-tootling astrodroid. "Perhaps you and...your people will attend to this, so we may quickly accomplish what it is we came here to do. There is much remaining to be done, and I wish not to linger long on this world."

Turning her violet eyes now into Shayla's greeny-blue pair, she fell into silence, and waited.

[ 12-31-2001 07:57 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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He frowned at her cryptic words. What in the Universe...?

Even before he had the chance to ask she released her hold upon him and merely waited for Graysith's return. She didn't wait too long; in a few minutes Graysith returned, drawing curious tootles from Izzy. Graysith smiled warmly.

"That is a very good idea, little droid. Perhaps you and...your people will attend to this, so we may quickly accomplish what it is we came here to do. There is much remaining to be done, and I wish not to linger long on this world."

Shayla couldn't help but grin a bit at Graysith's reference to her and Erik as Izzy's "people." Certainly the flattery would win the mechnical little heart of the droid, and once Izzy was on someone's side she didn't waver. Funny how even a droid can evidence such loyalty.

Going to the task at hand, she and Erik searched about the ship, with Izzy's help, to design a tiara that fit about Graysith's forhead. The jewels were secured all around the perimeter of the forehead, leaving a space in the front to quite effectively set off the rune as the center of the tiara.

Satisfied, Shayla nodded to Erik. He opened the hatch of the Relentless and helped the two women down the ramp, drawing a warm smile from Shayla as he took her hand to lead her down. In minutes they found themselves in a small but adequate med facility, one Shayla found out was run by and old friend of Erik's.

Erik...he seemed to be somewhere far from here, perhaps in another time, as they wandered the streets to the facility. Shayla sensed that he was struggling with the roots he had left behind here; suddenly she wondered just what prompted him to leave.

Maybe, some little voice whispered in her head, you should find that out.

Storing that thought for later analysis, Shayla had followed him into the facility, where he quickly had them set for an appointment with the med-droid, who would analyze and create the prosthesis for Graysith's wound.

Perhaps this would be but a small repayal for the debt Shayla felt she yet owed...

[ 01-01-2002 01:20 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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She nodded, her eyes closed and arms hugged tightly about herself, as though she were cold. He took his pilot's jacket off and wrapped it around her shoulders. She smiled. "Thanks."

With that he stood again, beginning to pace. Eyes still closed, Shayla asked, "Why did you leave Corellia?"

He shot a quizzical look her way. How did she know what he was thinking? Leaning against a wall, he folded his own arms and sighed. "Honestly, I don't know."

"Oh?" she questioned, at last opening her eyes to look curiously at him. "You were on your way to become a Jedi. Sounds like you had things pretty planned out...or rather, someone had things planned out for you."

He frowned a bit, then pointed his finger to emphasize his next words. "That's exactly it. What they had planned for me didn't fit with what my heart told me."

"That's one of the things we have in common, you know," she interjected.

He cocked a brow at her. "Yeah, I know." Then he quieted, his brown eyes turning a bit darker as he seemed to drift once again.

Shayla responded with a frown of her own, furrowing a brow. Something else was bothering him. "What is it?"

"The thing you told me on the Relentless...about the big picture...

...Shayla, I know about the padawan and the little girl."

Shayla's eyes grew wide as she suddenly put herself on guard.

His eyes blackened just a bit more in response to that shield. "Shayla, you can trust me. I'm not going to give anything away to the Jedi, or anyone else for that matter."

She relaxed a bit, sensing the sincerity in his words. "I know. But what of the big picture do you see in all this?"

He sighed once again. "I can't say that I understand it. But I know what the Jedi did the last time an apprentice was removed from them," he explained wistfully. "I never could understand...what took them so long. It was as though if they couldn't use the Force to figure it out, they simply couldn't do a thing."

He's beginning to understand, Shayla thought to herself. Aloud she replied instead, "Maybe then it was truly the will of the...Force...that I remained where I was?"

He arched a brow. "I hadn't thought of it like that. But that does make sense."

She patted the chair next to her. "Come, sit with me til the meddroid comes back." He smiled and complied, sitting next to her. She in turn leaned her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes once again.

If only others could see a glimpse of that which Erik was...

[ 01-01-2002 09:43 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Erik Kartan ]

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One simple failure, an apparent defeat... or merely a momentary retreat, one battle in an on-going war surrendered to the opposition?

She thought of the loss of the Nar Khelba. While it seemed that those who knew of it had been aware of it's properties, those being the destruction of the soul along with the physical body when utilized in a lightsaber, she wondered how many knew how task-specific that gem really had been. Created by the Sith, it was made to destroy the soul of a jedi; again she couldn't help but wonder if the lightsiders were aware of that fact, or that it could easily be recreated by her Sorcerer Sire whenever he deemed it necessary.

That thought brought a smile to her face. I may have lost a finger in this battle, but Terrin Danner lost an arm, and has both gained and lost naivete: lost it in the realization of the powers he is up against, and gained it in the consideration of the Nar Kelba.

He thinks it gone forever....

She let her eyes half-lid themselves, then turned her attentions to the finicky meddroid, which having been busy at work in the rear of the little cubicle she lay in, now approached her with a digit in his manipulatory claws. If he could have grimaced, he would.

"Serious this wound has been, and most unusual," he fretted, laying the digit down in an aseptic dish, and scanning her partially healed hand with a bio-scanner. The little instrument clicked off and he directed his sensory input lenses upon her face. "How did you come by this injury?"

Graysith's eyes hooded further. "It is of no consequence as to how I came by it," she replied smoothly. "All which is of importance is the fact that it has been properly taken care of in the interim, and now needs permanent repair."

As though stuck in some sort of feedback loop, the meddroid hunkered his input lenses closer, turning his head from Graysith's hand to the scanner and back again. At length he straightened. "I would say the member had been sawed off, Lady," he commented, continuing with: "...and none too cleanly, at that."

The Chosen Daughter of the Sith frowned at his continued annoyance; then allowed a brief flash of the disguised Glyph to flare into the meddroid's simple memory banks. He immediately froze, clatterning and cheeping to himself; then seemed to shake himself in orientation. "Ahhh, fear not, my Lady," he resumed after that odd interruption. "We shall have your lovely hand back to normal in no time."

Graysith smiled and lay back against the guerney, her other hand resting comfortably upon the silken folds of the gown she wore, and closed her eyes. At her side, the meddroid continued his restorative ministrations.

[ 01-02-2002 01:44 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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