The tendril, carefully guarded and protected, tapped lightly around the shell placed around Graysith. It gingerly danced, a one-way link tip-toeing around the presence the Eye felt.

We have met before. You did not triumph then, why shall you succeed now?

The Eye glowed softly within Shayla’s pocket, the warmth spreading to her skin.

Protect the Dark Lady well, my friend.

“Then let us see what bounty Phal—Lord Phalomir was preparing for us.”

She turned away from the group and hastened into the gleaming and spacious galley through a door in the back of the dining area, by-passing the little table where Matt sat with a scowling Jasyn. She cut them a quick glance as she continued on then proceeded to ignore them altogether, even though she could fairly feel Jasyn’s eyes trying to cut through her back.

Her smile darkened, just a touch.

Then she was in the galley, where she proceeded to rattle and clank dishes and pans about. This domestic clatter was followed by a period of intense silence, a silence intruded upon by the occasional thud of the closing door to cupboard or food preservation unit, as she hunted about for items to prepare.

Time passed on, and she remained away from the group. Once she came back to offer a light wine as an appetizer only to disappear into the galley again. Finally, however, she returned to the group, a large tureen carried carefully in her hands.

“I could not find what Lord Phalomir was creating, if indeed he ever got this far—“

She shot a quick and meaningful glance to Jasyn.

“So I made some soup.”

Smiling with pride at her culinary efforts, she proceeded from one to the next, dishing up bowls of hot liquid laden with succulent chunks of exotic meats and vegetables. When all had been served, she seated herself and picked up her spoon. Pausing then, she looked to the others.

“Eat, my friends,” she said nicely, “that we might then discuss what we must do in the time ahead of us.”

She remained quiet then, hand poised, spoon rock steady and empty, and watched as those present let their noses dictate their actions. It wasn’t long before all were heartily slurping up soup—

--and in not too great a time after that, unconscious.

Something black and oily rippled in the depths of Graysith’s eyes as she set her spoon down with great deliberation. Getting to her feet, she prowled up to where the others lay sprawled where they fell, some with their heads upon the table, and Jasyn actually upon the floor of the dining area. She looked down upon him a moment, holding back her immediate impulse to kick him in his face; then she went to where Shayla lay out like a light.

For a long moment she studied her, looking at her intently, as if hunting for something…

Then she closed her eyes and fell into a semi-conscious state herself, as if her very body was being set aside for the moment, not being of any immediate use at the moment.

Time passed...

Her eyes flew open, and the Glyph raged. She ignored it, and hurried from her sleeping comrades to return to the bridge. A warning buzzer was sounding their immediate drop from hyperspace…

How easily they were fooled! They did not even notice that you knew the coordinates to this system, which you keyed in right beneath their dullard’s noses….

Her fingers played about the control panel, and the heavens cried out with a mighty roar of displaced air as the great warship descended toward the surface of the mythical planet of Korriban. She settled it upon the dusty and sere surface as lightly as a feather, then put the systems into standby mode.

Not deigning to honor those by the touch of her great powers, she then returned to the galley area and, one at a time, hauled the three remaining passengers from the ship and out into the furnace which described the environment of the planet. Shayla was the last to be thus dumped; for a moment Graysith remained stooped over her quiet body, swaying a bit, her eyes closed. The Glyph on her brow shouted in disgusted despair at the betrayal; after a moment thus, she opened her eyes and, keeping them firmly planted upon the distant horizon, straightened.

Oil writhed within her being. Deep within, the fettered Beast clawed and tried to yowl.

And deeper yet, some little speck that was still herself sobbed in anguish.

But she straightened. And kept her eyes planted on that horizon as if it was the most interesting thing in the entire universe. And turned and walked with a steady and almost nonchalant pace back to the warship.

And soon was lost in the hyperdriven starlanes that exist in an area not quite that which men term real.

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

Beneath him, the terrifying black and oily something writhed like a den of dianoga; he tightened his hold on his weapon and snorted, trying to chase away his rising fear.

I don’t really have to go after her, he thought to himself. There really is no reason for it; I can quite easily clamber straight back up this slope and head away, until I finally find—

It wasn’t so much the gut feeling that he would find absolutely nothing that stopped that train of thought. It was, rather, the sense of shame he felt suddenly rising within him.

After what I—after what He made me do to her….

He took a deep breath, strengthening his resolve. Then with no more looking back, he continued down slope, until at length he once more found himself on a small outcrop. This one was only a few meters above that roiling, awful nothing.

He took in another great breath of air, and blinked his eyes once.

Rhua, admit it. You never really wanted to be a scientist anyway now, did you?

No stepping back: he took a final deep breath and launched himself into the black, and only in the final seconds before impact did he manage to close his eyes….

((Follow Rhua Ki as he now enters Behind the Black River in the "Jedi/Sith forums, thank you))

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

...and her eyes snapped open even as she sat straight up on the desert ground of Korriban. Not far from her lay one Jasyn Lancaster and one Matt Stanza...

...and no Graysith or warship to speak of.

And you wanted evidence that all was not well...

With a start then, Shayla reached for the place where she'd hidden the Eye...

It was still there...

...so whomever may have taken possession of Graysith must have also wanted the Eye to be with her, and on this planet.

That wasn't a good thing. And what was in store for Graysith?

Shayla shuddered at the very thought. She had a very bad feeling about this...

Even as these thoughts surfaced in her mind, she became aware of the stirring Matt Stanza. Beside him Lancaster still laid totally out. Shayla reached out a hand and gave him a little shake...

[ 02-04-2004 10:39 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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

...and sat up with a jerk, spitting out desert sand.

"What the kriffing hell?!?! he blurted, his brown eyes snaping alert. Quickly he picked up on the fact that he was sitting in the middle of a desert with his commrade and none other than Shayla Stargazer. The latter looked somehow troubled...

"Oh hell," Jasyn growled. "Something tells me that Graysith didn't just leave us for a bit to go on a quick supply run..."

[ 02-04-2004 10:46 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Jasyn Lancaster ]

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

...and I don't even have a link to lock on to her by any longer."

She quieted a moment at that, despair in her eyes. "The fact is," she then continued, "Without a ship, we have no way to even depart this planet, nor find Graysith as I would like. And even if we manage to get to the Valley and Phalomir's Dark Canyon, and managed to find Galen, we still would be stuck here. Unless..."

Shayla closed her eyes then, eliciting an irritable look from Lancaster as she did so. Perhaps the Eye could indeed help them...

I need a beacon to guide my path. I do not know the whereabouts of the Dark Lady, and my friends and I are stranded here even if we succeed in our quest to find Galen Danner on this planet. Please, show me a way...

[ 02-07-2004 10:01 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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

"Wait a minute," he opened with simply, "We can't be certain we have been deposited on Korriban; after all, there are many desert worlds in the Universe."

As he spoke, he stood, brushing sand off his pants. Then he continued, "At any rate, it's no use sitting around and waiting for answers. If we want them, we'll have to go looking for them. Can you sense any lifeforms? Anything unusual? Something we could head towards..."

"...Water...?" Jasyn interrupted irritably, running a hand across his throat as he too stood, a hopeful look planted on his face as he looked expectantly to Shayla and waited.

[ 02-11-2004 10:21 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Matt Stanza ]

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

...and coming up with something extremely interesting.

"There's something ahead of us," she then spoke up, pointing in the correct direction. "Something that I just can't feel...

...at all. And whatever it is, it's enormous. Other than that, I sense some lifeforms here and there...

...but not much else."

She paused, cocking her head in the direction she had just indicated. "This is going to be somewhat of a hike," she then proceeded with, "Better get moving."

Then with no further ado, she did just that, knowing that the two men would follow. Even as they began on their trek she heard a muffled but definite "Kriffing hell..." not far behind her...

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

If you ask for my aid, then wait for the answer. Patience is the key, remember this. The Dark Lady has done her part, let her rest. Now we fulfill our part, aiding those would be used by the dark masters. When we succeed, we save her as well. Keep faith in what you know, and in the potential of those whom you do not. Not all is as it seems.

...not in the least.

"Something wrong?" Matt Stanza queried, pausing mid-step as he realized she had fallen back.

Shayla looked to the red-headed man. "No," she responded without explanation. Then she continued on with, "We should keep moving, though. And we should look for some vegetation, if there is any..."

"...and some water," Lancaster interjected persistently.

Shayla turned to him a moment with the barest of frowns. "Yes," she then agreed. "Truth is, I don't know exactly how far we have to go..."

She trailed this time, noting the darkening look in Lancaster's eye. "...but I don't believe it is that far," she amended.

Jasyn snorted, gesturing with one hand palm upwards as if to say "Just lead the way already."

Shayla humored him, and began forward once more. The two EE employees wasted no time falling in step as well. And though the sun was hot and the air was dry, Shayla could help but wrap her cloak more tightly about herself as she headed onward, feeling as though she was the blind leading the blind.

There was something out there...

Allright, she then thought to the Eye, For now I'm going to follow the only plausible path I can see, and follow that which I know...

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

...not that they were even attempting to do so anyway.

"We're never going to find any food here," he interjected into the silence as they followed Stargazer along. "We're just lucky we managed to dig up a little water, such as it was. We were left to die here, you know..."

Stargazer stopped and turned abruptly, the look in her eye hard. Jasyn ambled to a stop as well, followed by his coworker.

"All the more reason for us to continue pressing on," she spoke up with determination. "And as long as we keep finding water...

...we'll be allright, at least for some time.

"If we don't all pass out from exhaustion, that is," Jasyn growled. "Look, I want to get somewhere soon too. But I don't see us pressing on at the expense of our own health. We're gonna need that, after all."

Stargazer remained silent for a moment, the look in her greeny-blue eyes unreadable...

...then she simply sighed. "Allright, we'll stop and rest for a while, since resting during the day with no shelter will be difficult."

One of Jasyn's eyebrows shot up. "Well thank you for granting us permission, Your Highness," he said irritably. "Too bad we weren't left here with a couple bottles of brandy to celebrate the occasion..."

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

Slowly, ever so slowly, the intrusive sound of something very similar to an annoying water drip wormed into Graysith’s sensibilities, bringing something of reality to bear upon her. A breath of a sigh pushed a light groan from her, adding magnitude enough to the annoying ticking sound first capturing her unconscious attention to jiggle her yet another degree or so closer to awakening. A period of time passed by, unitless, borne upon the back of whimsy, chasing gray ghosts down glimmering hallways…

…until that annoying dripping sound escalated in timbre to where it seemed to shatter her very head.

She opened her eyes, blinking against the light. Around her was nothing more than the soothing emptiness of the warship’s bridge, its ambient lighting reduced to standby mode, dim enough to make the steadily flashing glyphs and sigils on the navigation boards stand out almost in bas relief. The ticking, dripping sound expanded outward… then contracted down to a steady and supportive cyberbiotic whisper, that of the ship’s systems assuring themselves and their passengers that all was well with the universe.

But they were quite incorrect in this.

She blinked again, and this time managed to rouse herself enough to take a better look around. One perceptive enough to assure her that yes, she really was alone.

Well, at least here, on the bridge.

Her frown returned with a vengeance. Something had happened, she had been somewhere, had gone off somewhere with someone… But who? Where? And of the greatest importance of all:

Why?

Unable to come to an answer on her own, she did the only thing she could do: reaching out to the control panel she quickly accessed the ship’s logs and began keying in computer queries.

To no avail. Her presence here was a mystery; the reason behind it, an enigma. There was no log entry denoting destination, nothing anywhere giving a clue to…

To anything.

She frowned again, trying to remember back. Slowly an image started coming into focus: a fearsome face, red of skin, great of horn, with intensely glowing, brightly colored eyes.

She smiled at the memory, happy to be able to hook onto something substantial at last.

Aelvedaar, my dear Sire….

That thought immediately connected to another: a snowbound world encircled by a slight ribbon of green, said ribbon dominated by a gray and brooding edifice.

Khar Delba….

She had a connection there. He was there. He would explain it all to her….

The smile was still growing on her face as, unsure as to how she knew what to do, she now leaned forward and keyed in the coordinates to that Sith world. The streaks of starlines about the ship shrank into colorful dots as the ship dropped from hyperdrive to orient itself.

Then it disappeared from reality once more, carrying her swiftly and unerringly toward Khar Delba and the Great Temple of the Sorcerers of the Sith.

[ 02-19-2004 03:36 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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

...Aylemaar, no less...

...and dreamed of the past. Dreamed of searching for her true potential and of finding a place at Graysith's side.

...stay loyal, for when she returns she shall need you to stand with her...

...when she returns...

With a start, Shayla sat up, brushing hair out of her eyes. Not too far away, Jasyn Lancaster continued in a somewhat fitful slumber, even as the sun was already beginning to rise.

"We need to get your buddy up and get moving again," Shayla started simply. "The eye mentioned that Graysith will return...whether that means she will return to here, return to herself, or perhaps both I do not know. But one thing is for certain...

...one of those will happen."

She paused at this, her greeny-blues growing a bit vague as a dark thought surfaced in her mind. "I wonder just what she's doing right now, and what Aelvedaar...

...or whoever has taken possession of her...

...is planning to do with her..."

Trailing, Shayla shuddered, clearly recalling what one other Dark Lord had done to her friend and chosen sister, all for his own gain.

She was the only sister Shayla had ever known. She wouldn't stand for her to have to endure such a thing again...

...not if there was any possible way she could stop it...

Lancaster's groaning jarred her back into reality.

"Is it morning...already...?" he growled.

Shayla got to her feet even as he sat up, sleep still in his eyes as he blinked at the growing brightness of the sun.

"Yes, it is morning, and time is wasting while we sit. II don't know exactly what this is that my senses are guiding us to...

...but I feel strongly that getting there will lead us to some answers, especially if we are indeed on Korriban."

Jasyn nodded, either to clear the fog from his head, reply to her, or both.

"If we hurry," she continued then, turning and beginning to walk as she once more pulled her cloak about herself, "Maybe we can actually make it to our destination in a couple of days or even less..."

[ 02-19-2004 04:11 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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

He didn't know how Stargazer was handling this all so well. Granted, she was looking a little sweat-soaked herself, but she still seemed utterly composed, utterly determined...

...and quite ready to keep hiking on into the wee hours. Damn Force-user...

Scowling at this very thought, Jasyn continued to trudge on, feeling that in any moment his feet and legs might give out entirely. It was just so kriffing hot...

...but then, maybe there was hope yet. For somewhere in the distance he swore he saw...

"Hey look... water!" he exclaimed, pointing ahead of him anxiously to a pool of water which at least appeared to be ahead of them.

Shayla paused, squinting her eyes a little and looking in the direction where he pointed. Then she turned to him. "I see it," she admitted, "But I have a suspicion it's not really there."

"What do you mean, it's not there?!" Jasyn growled. "I'd know a mirage from an illusion..."

He trailed, realizing the improbability of his own words.

"It's just gotta be water..."

"Well," Stargazer answered. "Something might be ahead anyway. The nothingness seems to be coming into greater focus..."

She trailed, even as the call of some wild animal interrupted her words.

"Wh--what was that?" Jasyn queried.

"If my suspicions are right," Shayla answered, "It might be a wild tuk'ata. Evening will be approaching soon. Let's see if we can get to whatever you're seeing ahead of us."

"Yeah," Jasyn responded, realizing just how dry his mouth was, "And before we become some creature's dinner, if possible..."

[ 02-21-2004 03:55 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Jasyn Lancaster ]

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

...but Shayla pressed on, one silent EE employee and one grumbling one in tow. The desert stretched on and on before them...

...and even she had to admit she was starting to get very famished and very fatiqued.

"Kriffing hell," Lancaster growled from behind her, "I thought you said we were close. We need rest...

...and did I mention some sustence and water would be nice???"

Shayla didn't turn to look at him, but perhaps for the first time she seemed to sag ever the slightest. "The nothingness may be close," she started out, "Or perhaps it is just very large. Either would account for me being able to sense it so well."

"Well, now is a fine time for you to mention that!" Jasyn muttered. "I'm stopping for the evening, and that's final."

Shayla stopped in her tracks, and sighed. She didn't turn to face the others, just yet however. Instead she spoke directly to the Eye:

If we follow the wind much longer with the little food and food and water we have managed to find...

...we will die. What would you have me do, in my humanness, to both endure this journey and fullfill my reason...

...and my companion's reasons...

...for being here at the same time...?

[ 02-23-2004 10:44 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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

The wind carries much, and there is much to be carried. Seek not the black river, you are not ready. There are those there who wait for you, and though for some it is through friendship and hope, for another it is hope of an evil vein.

The wind circled around Shayla, stirring up the dust around her ankles. The barren landscape before them offered no comfort, and the wind seemed to moan its uncaring lament to the weary travelers.

Look to the wind, it offers you solace. Listen to the wind, it leads you onward to hope.

But if it is not to the Black river that you lead me, then where? she couldn't help but ask the Eye. If I am on the planet which I believe I may be, then there is not much else here...

...so what is it that there can be for me to find...?

In another unconscious motion, she took a small step forward, her eyes suddenly locking on two large stones in the distance. Shayla didn't know why, but for some reason she felt drawn to them...

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

What in the name of all the gods was this...???

Something--a mix of both an unforseen pull and a simple curiosity--drew her hands to that metal. Stooping to the ground, she reached, unsurprised to find that when she touched that metal it had grown incredibly hot beneath the sun's rays. She gave it a good pull...

...and it began to move beneath her touch. Still, she couldn't quite get it to budge...

Behind her, she scarcely heard the sounds of foot against sand.

"What the kriffing hell..." came a low whisper from behind her, causing her to almost jump...

...almost. She turned and looked directly into the widened and curious eyes of Jasyn Lancaster, her very countenance reading that he should hold his tongue, at least until they figured out just what was going on.

"Help me pull this up," she mouthed more than spoke. The EE employee scowled ever the slightest, but then squatted, coming to assistance as asked. In only a few moments the metal began to completely give way...

...and the howling of the wind grew even louder. Before they even finished pulling the metal loose Shayla was certain that there was something down there...

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

Answers, and indeed, new questions await you. Here lie the remains of a desperate plan, one that crosses paths with another laid in motion 4 millennia ago. Here you shall find horrors, but you shall also find shelter and sustenance.

Shayla looked up a moment to the EE employee. "I think the Eye has just lead us to food and water...

...and something else as well. We're going to have a look."

And with no further adieu than that, Shayla climbed down into the metal tube, descending the ladder. The EE employees followed, and after a surprisingly lengthy climb downward, they reached the bottom of the ladder where they were greeted by a metallic door.

Lancaster's eyebrow shot up in curiousity, and his hand strayed to his blaster holster, his eyes suddenly growing very alert as if to say "If we're going in, I'm ready."

Shayla hesitated another moment, a chill racing up her spine. This place had the feeling of...

...well, of death.

"Well?" Jasyn repeated, this time much more quietly.

Shayla firmed, reached for the latch to the door...

...which responded by immediately opening at her slight touch, revealing a laboratory-like room full of metal tables and sterile-looking instruments and test tubes...

...along with several lifeless Kaminoan bodies.

"Oh kriffing hell..." Jasyn muttered.

Shayla's greeny-blue eyes were wide, and for the moment she found herself frozen in place.

This is has something to do with whatever Roan was doing with Galen, doesn't it? she queried to the Eye, willing her feet to move even as she awaited its response.

[ 02-25-2004 10:12 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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

This is Khar Delba! There is nothing on Khar Delba; it is yet dead… she wondered to herself with growing perplexity. There is nothing on Khar Delba but the Great Temple and perhaps a few Noghri.

What in the name of Khaandon has happened here?

She sat back, flicking the screen back into normal mode as her eyes continued to argue with her memories. In front of her the images shrank at a high rate of speed as if some camera was being pulled back, until at last the rim of the planet itself crept into view. The arc of its curvature tightened until the entirety of Khar Delba was finally shown against its backdrop of stars, which then in turn diminished to mere specks against millions of others.

Now her attention was drawn to a particularly ordered pattern of those specks, which hovered easily above and below the planet in twin planes, both parallel to the planet’s equator. She leaned forward again, reaching out and laying one slim finger upon the screen to trace an invisible connecting line upon those dots.

And who is this? she wondered to herself, not for the life of her recognizing what she was seeing or recalling any memories in regard to them, yet instinctively realizing the dots were more than apparent arrangements of stars.

Her frown deepened.

Very well then…

Now her hands swept across the control panel as she sent the warship forth. It moved across the remaining light-year or so of kilometers with a lazy grandness, the aura it carried upon its back clearly revealing the fact that it had no time for any possible delay by unknown specks. Soon it was close enough where the signatures of those specks were actively picked up by the cyberbiotic attention of the ship itself; it was in the process of flashing myriad glyphs and warnings regarding the Imperial blockade when—

When everything went black. Graysith jerked in surprise, her fingers dancing in near-frenzy upon the controls.

A chronotic shield!

Indeed, such blackness could be caused by nothing else and created by none other than Aelvedaar—but why?

She sighed and sat back, knowing she could do nothing until he released her from its protection. At length a tiny smile crept across her features.

At least he knew she had returned.

With that knowledge, she was content.

[ 02-26-2004 12:41 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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

And it was time to be introduced…

A soft heat spread from the tip of the channeler, sending its warmth through Graysith’s cloak. The feeling was gentle, soothing, and as he felt her thoughts turn to more relaxing images, he spoke in her mind. His voice was calm, smooth, yet focused and unwavering.

“Good day, dear lady. It is I, your most humble – and loyal – servant. Good tidings.”

Lancaster turned to her, his brow slightly cocked. "And what of this place? And Galen?" he queried.

"What has been done to her has been done," she replied, restating what the Eye had already spoken to her. "What matters is that she is no longer here and that the Eye has given us direction to follow. Judging by the appearances of things, I would make one of two assumptions: either she managed to somehow escape, probably with assistance considering both the security of this place and the number of deaths...

...or that someone else broke in and took her from here. Considering that Phalomir thought he saw her in his Dark Canyon, I tend to lean towards the former. That places her on Korriban in an escape scenario, and that sounds like a very plausible place for Roan to hide his quarry."

Quieting a moment at this, Shayla simply let her words soak in. Then...

"Hurry, we must find food and water, and we must be on our way. Though the Eye is being vague in its directions, it most certainly is clear in the fact that if we don't the consequences could involve death..."

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