Terrin was laying on the bed, his head now bandaged and his blue eyes blankly assessing the ceiling, obvious waves of agony radiating from him that didn't have a thing to do with the fact he was hurt.

At these realizations, Shayla decided to go to the emotional needs before she did the physical ones. Gently taking the baby from Matt, she stepped over to the bed and deposited her on top of Terrin, who clearly still didn't understand she was really in the room.

Then Shayla reached out a healing hand to him then waited to see what he would do.

[ 10-14-2002 01:37 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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Yeesh, and I thought Invisec was weird....

However, I haven't earned the position of being the top gun hunter of the Tavlorean Guild just by my dashing good looks. The ability to focus on the job at hand to the exclusion of all else now came quite easily to me; I continued to stride alongside the Jedi, not saying a word, almost ignoring the fact that the little girl was trotting along with us, her small hand engulfed in Shawn's larger one, chattering happily about wanting to be a Jedi.

Soon we came to the stepped sides of the largest construction I had ever come across in all my born days. We mounted those steps, came to an apex, found a smaller entrance...

...and descended into more labyrinthine corridors, which led one to another, through a kind of foyer, and then twisted and turned and branched. We followed one after another, sometimes moving down, and sometimes climbing up, continuing on and on and on.

I tensed as a red-skinned being who fairly erupted vitality and strength in all directions strode past me, his brilliant green eyes utterly ignoring me as though people clad in Mandalorian armor were commonplace in this strange city. Heck, for all I knew they were. Then a shorter human came flying past, only to retrace his steps after we had moved into another corridor. I tensed inwardly at the speed in which he was travelling, noting that he was carrying what appeared to be first aid materials in his hands. I glanced at the Jedi at that; his calm demeanor only remained annoyingly unruffled, so I forced myself to just keep walking even though every nerve ending was screaming for me to start running.

At length a young lady came swifly past us, entering into a doorway up ahead. We came to a halt in that very same doorway.

And there I froze, taking in an impossible scene.

Though an entrance to another room I could see a man stretched out on a bed, his head bandaged. The young lady who had entered just ahead of us was leaning over him. I yanked my gaze to the room ahead of us, where another man was holding a baby--

A baby?!?

--in his arms, rocking and whispering baby-talk to her. Then the blond young woman came from the adjoining room, took that baby, and returned to where she had come from.

I scarcely noted the fact, my eyes immediately going to a slight figure who was huddled in a chair next to the man who had been holding that infant.

I froze in place, my heart leaping into my throat. I had seen that look in her eye before, or rather I should say the utter lack of expression... although admittedly it hadn't been quite this, well, blank.

A slight frown plastered itself on my face as I wondered why in Hell's Seven Circles no one was helping her.

OK, buddy, guess that's your number one priority here, isn't it? Ask questions later.

With that I stepped out, letting my armor provide the breakwater, strode to where Galen was huddled in a cloud of near-catatonia, and scooped her up into my arms.

I squeezed her as hard as I could, taking her chin in one hand and likewise shaking her face. Then I gave her a light slap, then another, harder one.

It had worked before. Couldn't see why it wasn't gonna work now.

[ 10-14-2002 02:27 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Sorben Tarnus ]

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Taking the baby up in her arms once again, she kept her hand on Terrin's shoulder a moment longer til he had drifted off into a renewing sleep. Assured that he was resting well, Shayla stepped back out into the main room to the scene of the bounty hunter, whom she had healed not so long ago, slapping Galen around.

She frowned.

"I had a much gentler approach in mind, Mr. Tarnus," she said directly. "Things have been rough enough around here lately as it is. So do you mind putting her down now?"

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Who the hell was this again, and how the hell did she think she knew so much about what would and wouldn't work on Galen? Seems their so called "gentler approach" hadn't been doing diddly for her, judging by the non-look she had in her eye when I had entered into the room....

Now I tensed, my eyes slitting behind my visor. I paused, one hand still cupping Galen's chin, and spoke as much to this woman, whoever in Hell's Seven Circles she was. Then I turned back to my ministrations, shaking Galen strongly and every now and again giving another slap to her face.

Dammit, but her smooth skin was beginning to redden a bit.... I cringed inwardly, only once, seeing what I was doing to her, but pressed onward.

This lil gal was tough, and the very few times she had "gone in," she had gone in deep. It was going to take more than a feather's touch to reach her, and that's a fact I knew very well from personal experience.

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Beside her, Jasyn reached for his blaster holster, only to be disgusted to find the blaster no longer there. She reached a hand down to his arm to stop him, then reached out into Galen's mind with her Force-sense, feeling the woman's complete shock. Maybe she wouldn't respond to anything in the physical world, but she had to at least hear what was in her head.

Galen! Galen! Your daughter has been returned to safety, and Terrin's going to be allright after a little bit of rest. The emotions welled up inside of you may hurt, but shutting everything else out will in the end hurt you more, and I know a couple of people who really wouldn't want that.

Keeping her link with Galen open, simply glaring at Sorben Tarnus to stop whatever it was he was doing, Shayla waited to see if the woman would respond and what else the bounty hunter might do.

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

I simply give up....

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No, no, no! Do NOT give up, Galen!

Knowing that words would do no good and finally gathering all her strength about her, Shayla somehow--and she wasn't quite sure HOW--managed to shove Sorben Tarnus out of the way long enough for him to let Galen fall back into her chair.

Then, quite gently, Shayla deposited JhinDarra into Galen's limp arms, steadying her so that the two of them would be so very close...

Shayla waited, hoping for all the world that JhinDarra could do what she simply couldn't at this point.

Reach her mother.

[ 10-14-2002 05:36 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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...but something STILL wasn't right.

Slowly, so very slowly, Terrin opened one eye.

Yes indeedy, the spinning was beginning to slow just a just a bit...

He opened the other eye, then frowned.

Something was still so very, very wrong.

WHERE WAS GALEN?

Sure, on a conscious level he knew she was probably in the other room, but something was oh-so-very wrong about this.

Galen WASN'T the type to just blow off people when they were hurt. She was usually the type to hover and worry...

...and stick by til she was certain that they were gonna be okay.

Something was wrong. Didn't take a Jedi to figure as much. But how the hell to get out of this bed without cracking his head further, Terrin didn't know. But he knew that he simply had to. He half-rolled, half-fell out of the bed, hitting the floor in a crouch. The room spun in response...but not as much as it had been, which Terrin was so very, very thankful for.

Shakily, he gripped the wall for dear life til he was at least standing. His stomach rolled; but he managed to get his feet going underneath him. He wasn't quite sure how long it took him to get there, but at length he made it to the outer room to come to face the images--blurred though they were--of a bounty hunter and Shayla sitting on a chair close to Galen, who was holding little Darra.

With assistance.

Something inside of him literally almost broke at the look on her face, or rather the lack thereof. He waved to Jasyn, who was standing regarding the bounty hunter suspiciously. "Help me get to her," he said, leaning against the wall heavily for support. Jasyn nodded, coming to him and helping him hobble over.

Terrin didn't so much as take any more note of Sorben Tarnus for the moment; for certainly, that's who this man was that had so suddenly and unexpectedly appeared. He just waited for Shayla to move, and let Jasyn help him sit next to Galen, who now had Darra in her lap. He managed to move the baby so she was again in Galen's arms, then drew them both to himself, gently rocking, totally ignoring the fact that his head was spinning once again.

"Galen please...come back. You don't have to face this alone; I'm here, I'm here..."

Then, not completely aware of the reasons for his actions, Terrin leaned back a bit and kissed her gently. Then he whispered into her ear. "Please let me help you carry your burden; I'm here, and I love you..."

[ 10-14-2002 05:59 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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...but not immediately. I wasn't stupid; I realized this lady--

Lady? You call that a lady???

--was after all really trying to help Galen.

So I restrained my first impulse and merely shook my head, loosening my stance a bit as the man who had been laying on the bed was now helped to her side. I watched, swallowing underneath my helmet, as he scooped up the baby--

That just had to be her daughter. MY daughter as well....

--and began rocking them both, whispering to her but not so softly that I couldn't overhear his every word.

I swallowed again, suddenly feeling very much the fifth wheel, shaking my head a little in growing anger. I was angry that this red-headed vixen had managed to pop up in my life and break through my carefully manufactured facade... angry that Fate had dealt the hand it had to her since that time... angry at her for leaving me for all the wrong reasons, that I couldn't be there when she had needed me, as much as she might deny that fact, angry that I still hadn't been able to so much as hold my tiny daughter....

But most of all angry that it wasn't me being the one to be holding her now, rocking her, giving her all the love and support that I so achingly wanted to give.

Dammit Galen, I'll never be able to get you out of my life. Why can't I stop loving you?

My jaw worked wordlessly, as once again I sent a fervent thanks heavenward for the enigmatic masking effect of my helmet. Quee and Suess used to give me a hard time about it, saying I would scarcely go to bed without it on.

But I had never blessed its obscuring presence as much as I found myself doing now.

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Sheesh, hadn't she just put the guy to sleep? He must have been very worried about Galen to have been crazy enough to get out of bed in his condition and stumble past the bounty hunter to get to her.

But then, Shayla wasn't so sure Terrin was really seeing the bounty hunter at the moment. She'd sensed he'd been worried about the baby; it wasn't very difficult to sense he was also worried about Galen. So she sat by, letting him speak to Galen and rock her, not daring to move either of the two at the moment. At length however, Terrin's rocking slowed little by little as exhaustion took over...

...after all, Shayla hadn't really gotten to healing his head wound. She had intended to, thinking that Terrin, fully healed other than the fact he would still need some rest, might be able to reach Galen even better than she could. But the entrance of the bounty hunter changed things, and Shayla didn't want to complicate matters.

As she looked upon them once more, Shayla noted that Terrin had at last stopped rocking his wife and little JhinDarra back and forth, and was dead asleep. She came round to make sure that the baby was secure as he began to go limp, then instructed his men to move him over on the nearby couch. Shayla had a suspicion that he was going to be out for a while; he'd really run himself ragged.

Shayla sat next to Galen again reached out for her mind once more.

Galen, your daughter IS here. Reach out for her, she's not very far...

And silently Shayla prayed that Galen would do just that, for she was believed the baby would sense the distress of her mother as she had on board the Sith warship what seemed so long ago.

[ 10-14-2002 11:06 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Mara1Jade ]

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He smiled darkly as thoughts began drifting in a certain direction.

"you are willing to sacrifice yourself indeed... But what of your child graysith? would you allow your child to live for all eternity in this place?"

He laughed for a moment, sitting back and letting his mind relax further, she believed she was controlling him... but as always, it was he who pulled the strings, she simply did not know it yet.

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He got to his knees...

What am I doing here?

The last thing he could remember, was approaching the dining hall... everything after that he blacked out, until now...

I remember looking into the dining hall... there I saw ShaRhylla... Recinis.. Graysith... and... SHAYLA... I went in to protect her!! from what??

He quickly shrugged off the last question, he could figure that out later...

He was now on his feet, rushing toward where he sensed Shayla... something just a little off with what she was sensing, he couldn't put his finger on it, but reason enough to start running toward her...

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Bringing forth the love intrusted to him recinis slowly focused that love, through the bonds that had thrived upon the feeling... Hoping with all his heart that it would bring that loving feeling back to her... Hoping she would again be able to reach out and grasp that warmth... he pressed harder with his mind.... He would not fail.

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This feeling was not what he wanted..he had fought before to preserve the warmth...it was not pleasant to know he was again being threatened by cold... though all of this was mere fact, and not true thought on his part.

it was then he stumbled upon the small trace of warmth reachign out to a once unreakable bond... His small concious reached out to that, pullign it to him, allowing the warmth to wash through him fully,hoping... hoping... Hoping she, who was she? somethign wiggled its way into what little conciousness he possessed... Mommy... He hoped his mommy would help him... he could not bring warmth back to his home by himself, but he tried, oh how he tried!
With the desperation borne of the freezing cold,and hope of warmth, he managed a fully coherent thought screaming out to her
"Help me mommy!"

Slowly his mind began its slumber once more... Tired...he was so very tired.

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She drew in a breath, frowning slightly as that niggle gained in strength. Along with it came an image, one of strength and vitality, a Warrior Lord with fierce demeanor yet the gentlest of hands and eyes in regards to her. Recinis; this was the Dark Lord of the Warrior clan, the new one, the one...

Her eyes dropped to her wrist, where a tattoo gleamed in quiet assurance there, affirming that warrior was more than mere warrior to her.

Now the little grunt transformed into a little gasp, and somewhere a door began opening, slowly at first, then wider and wider. It was as if some unknown someone were outside that door, knocking with quiet persistence, and another unknown someone inside was struggling to open that door and let him in.

The gasp broadened with the realization that neither of the two someones were intruders... but beings she suddenly found herself welcoming with all her heart.

With all her heart....

Somewhere, a tiny voice cried out in protest.

"No, my love, NO! Not now...."

It was too late. It was as if a great floodgate opened, and a veritable sea of warmth and love and cherished memories burst in upon her in an overpowering wave. That little voice bowed down before the inevitable... that the one she loved with all her being was trying to contact her.

She sobbed at the knowledge that the love within her had not only been reawakened, but made stronger than ever. She sobbed to see the strength, wondering if that strength she would be further weakened...

...but then quieted. Her daughter was still quiet, still under her control. Before her...

Before her sat the one she had once loved, at least the body of the one she once loved...

No. The one she still loved. A love so great as she had for him, no matter what kind it was, was indeed undying... as was the one she had for Recinis. The knowledge that yet within that possessed body, He still retained at least some of his essence, perhaps all of it, so strong was the evil holding him under its thumb. This knowledge easily being accomodated by the simple fact that there was indeed room in her heart for two.

And the greatest epiphany of all: the fact that she was able to reach out beyond evil, and offer love in its simplest and therefore purest form.

All this descended upon her in a rush beneath which she literally staggered, the Glyph now flaring anew, the Beast within whining once, then compliantly curling up to let it enter into her being. She allowed it full rein, her eyes beginning to glisten with the feelings roiling within her, feelings which simply grew stronger and stronger as she gazed into eyes growing more and more brilliant in hue, at hair becoming even more beautiful a raven's wing black, at features she had longed to caress for nearly two long years....

All this striking her, all this being totally accepted within her, she couldn't help herself. Slowly she reached out a slender hand which trembled but once, then stilled.

"My Dark Heart, oh my love... I know you are there. Can you hear me? Perhaps you have bound even more with evil to regain your body and your life, but oh can you yet understand that I love you, I always have, and I will until the end of time...?"

With that she stood, an arm outstretched, wondering if the words she had just spoken would prove to be her epitaph.

[ 10-14-2002 11:38 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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Yet now that love seemed directed upon him... No, not him, she was attempting to reach wicked... She would fail... But...

As the thougth passed he realized somethign within him was rushing outward to greet her... He growled, putting it out of thought with his dark will.

no wicked, This body is mine now... MINE! YOU CAN NOT HAVE IT!

he could easily fight wicked, he knew it to be so, wicked was nothing... But she had taken so much... his power was so depleted... He growled once again, hands shooting to his temples as the rolling will of wicked arose within him

BUT I DESTROYED YOU!

his inner thought screamed at him... Again he focused his dark will... But he needed rest, there was so little strength left in him... He had used much of his dark energy in resisting her, and she had drained him... And also his dark attack upon her... Suddenly his infanate power seemed to simply be gone, as if a flash flood, the power which had flowed freely through him now simply vanished...silently he cursed himself for using the energy to destroy the compound on kamino, had no resisted that urge, this would nto be happening... OH but it was happening!

the remaining bit of wickeds conciousness rolled over him, simply throwing him down
I have been waiting entaris... I may have given you my body, but you will not harm my love, the one woman i could ever find love,YOU WILL NOT HARM HER! Weak i may be. BAH! You are pittiful!

now wicked fully in control of his actions, the body arose, eyes searching out in a confused manor "G-Graysith?"

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She had waited so long, so long, to hear that single word fall from those very lips, lips she had never thought she would ever see again, let alone hear any such word fall from again. The word was so quiet, so totally unexpected it was almost as if it were something completely alien, and therefore unrecognizable.

Almost.

And then that rush of warmth within her grew thousandfold, and her other arm rose to join its partner in reaching out to him.

"Dark Heart...?"

She took a little step forward... and another, and yet another, the steps coming faster and faster as she realized there was no impeding blackness laying in wait to trip her, that he was simply standing there, quiet after speaking her name, but having spoken it with an undertone of something she clearly recognized and had waited to hear and feel for far to lengthy a time.

Another sob flinging from her lips, she threw herself into his arms, her hands going to finally caress the planes of his face, her eyes staring up to fall and drown within his.

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"Graysith... I... Its been so long sense i have been able to truly see... I have been within darkness for so long. Is this real?"
How long can you keep him at bay? how long can you keep control of yourself? hold it together... do not fail

"Where are we, graysith? It seems as though i am once again alive... but there is no light...Have i returned to life, only to find death?"

he sighed slowly

Why cant you remember everything? Why is it so dark? Is this my soul? is this what i have become? is this what HE did to me? I wish i could see the sky... Just one last time... But can you risk it? can you hold on? can you ressist failure? you must try!

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"I-- I am not certain what this dark place is, my dark heart," she finally whispered, stroking his face, reaching up to run her hand along his shining hair, her eyes not leaving his. "But I found my way here; I can find our way out again."

Now she paused, gently probing into his essence with a loving tendril of herself, coming headlong against his rising fear of failure.

"Worry not, my loved one," she whispered quickly, before her finding that question could somehow manage to strengthen its impact in his mind.

"You shall not fail. I have never known you to fail; your strength has sustained me for two years... you simply can not fail."

With that, she reached up on tiptoe and at long last gave herself in to the kiss she had been seeking for a seeming eternity.

Then with a wave of her hand, she tore down the shield... stepping back out into the eternity of darkness which waited without...

...along with her Lord and love and husband.

She did not waste any time with explanations, but merely reached out her other hand to Recinis, and thus uniting them all in the unity of love, took them out of this place and back into Phrinnchatka.

All except the thing which had once been her daughter....

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He didnt care, he simply gave into his full love, sharing it with her as much he could, and in the proccess, likewise flowing over to extend his exceptence of wicked... And he hoped wicked it would remain...

He could sense her undying love for them both, and it truly made him happy that she had been able to find the love for wicked once more... For now she could truly be happy, no longer was there that unkept link in her love, no longer any unfinished chapters to there mystical book...

turning for a moment, he kissed her gently "I am truly glad you have returned safefly... and i am overjoyed that he has been saved... What of... her?" he said, indicating ShaRhylla

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Crowded it was, he couldn't wait...

He noticed Shayla, sitting next to a limp Galen...

Did they get to her, after I left... I shouldn't have left her...

He then saw that the babe was in her grasp... well, sort of...

Well, everything must be back to normal... well... all things considered...

He then approached Shayla... seeing the sprawled out Terrin, laying on a near by couch...

His attention now fully on Shayla,"Are you ok? and what in the hell is going on..." He gave a quick gesture toward Galen, then simply waited for Shayla to respond...

[ 10-15-2002 12:51 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Loban ]

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She paused, considering the woman for a moment with concern as along a link she shared with Graysith images of she, Recinis, and a newcomer now returned to Prinn'chatka niggled it's way into her mind.

Returning her attentions to Galen, finally beginning to give her a few little shakes of her own, Shayla sent out information regarding the current status of things to Graysith, still waiting to see just what might happen.

[ 10-15-2002 01:11 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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"Is there anything I can do to help?" He asked Shayla, and awaited her reply...

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"I feel that it is best for the moment that she remains in that realm, my Lord," she answered him, making the title into an endearment as she so easily did. For indeed no better endearment existed for him in her eyes; he was to her the Lord of her heart. "She can always be found and released at a later date; I do not think she has the ability to leave that place on her own, as from what this entity existing in this body has said to me--"

She indicated the handsome and imposing darth with a nod of her head.

"--he himself had been trapped there for an uncountable number of years. When the time is right, when the last threat of his evil has truly been completely demolished, then I shall return to take her home, that perhaps with love we can finally reach into her heart and regain what has been lost to us.

"Otherwise...."

She let the word trail off into silence, but a silence heavily weighted with nuance and implication. Then the smile on her lips darkened a bit, and she pursed her lips.

"My love, there is still pain running rampant in Phrinnchatka. We must go from here quickly, and ascertain if there is anything we can do to assist in the healing of... of my sister's mind and soul."

She stumbled slightly over the last words, an unwanted image of Galen rising up in her mind's eye, one of her laying in a dark and dank stone cell in a certain temple belonging to a particular darth....

Then casting that thought aside, she merely strode onward through the Phrinnchatkan streets, heading with swiftness and sureness toward the great and central Temple of the Sith which stood in looming sovereignty over the city. And as they hastened along, she sent a quiet thought arrowing into the mind of Darth Wicked, a thought open that her husband might hear it as well,

"Welcome back to K'eel Doba, my Dark Heart."

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But now there was no need for such stealth. In fact, something inside me kept on insisting with greater and greater urgency that while everyone kept tiptoeing around Galen in the manner in which they were doing, she was slipping deeper and deeper into that little place I have only known her to disappear into but once before...

And once was quite enough, thank you.

I crossed my arms, giving Sleeping Beauty a scornful look from beneath my helmet. Then I tilted my head to one side, and shifted my weight, taking advantage of the motion to make my armor squeak in the loudest and most ominous manner that it could, a subconscious clearing of the throat, if you will. Then I broke the glum silence of the room with a carefully worded statement.

"If you're going to try to get through to her that way, you're going to have to be a touch wee rougher, Princess," I shot out with in a smug voice, my lips grinning beneath my faceplate but that apparent humor far from reaching my eyes, which in fact were narrowing by the second.

[ 10-15-2002 01:14 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Sorben Tarnus ]

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