"There must be a third child, a third product of the realm!

"For the Darkness yet resides within her; she has already birthed two Daughters of Dread.

"The Sith are the Key to the All, and she is the Key to the Sith and the Balance.

"Three there must be, for three others now exist. Balance must be maintained, boy; is this task too difficult for you? Have you not the ability to woo a lady, to take a bride, to sire the Third? That through them--"

He stopped abruptly, stared outward where a fading pair of gigantic, red eyes seemed to frown at him. They faded then, along with whatever other words he had been about to speak.

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

I blinked, the ideal of the later disgusting to even my low moral standards; brutal, violent, and practically abhorrent. "She desires only power, and only a "pure sith line". Last I checked, I had neither of the qualifications. Thus I do request that you give me some sort of aid."

I smiled very faintly. "Or do you not want your plans to come to fruitation?"

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"If the task is beyond your capabilities, boy, then begone from these realms! There are many who would gladly take up the challenge, many who in winning the child, in siring the Third, would be placed in a position of such power..."

He trailed, cocked his head to one side, the fires of hell dancing in his eyes.

"You are brave enough to stand up against me here, although truly I do not believe you know what it is that is now before you. Yet you have not the courage to accomplish what I ask; I find this strange indeed. Perhaps I have chosen poorly at that."

His eyes darkened then as, the motion swift and sudden, he reached out and grasped Rykounagin's hand in his own. Turning it palm up, he let his other hand hover over his wrist, directly over the black Tattoo of Entitlement.

"Shall I remove it, then?"

Blackness flashed across his countenance, and in the distance Maladius gibbered with glee.

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

I looked back with a cold smile. "When this is over... when you have what you need. I want the privilege of removing the obstacles for you... I will not fail."

I straightened myself. "I think by now your daughter will have found some way around protections I have placed to keep her in place. I suppose the first part of my task is to find her. That always did seem the easier part of the two evils... but father... if I cannot... well, win her back... must I?"

The way my father had spoken left no further room for error. The task had to be done, with haste. I was aware of the difficulties I would face in having to make her fall in love with me. Again. If I were to fail and run out of time...

By the small bits of humanity remaining in my soul, do not make me.

I shook off the horrible question that loomed over me now, and voiced a less hideous one. "How long do I have?"

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"Why, all the time that is left before you, of course..."

With that he ripped open a portal between the dimensions, opening up a rift between the Dark Tower and the cave from which Rykounagin had entered.

"Remember, there are three others... but three not yet truly united. And of those three, why my boy, the path upon which one of them must tread is entirely up to you.

"Now go, and prove yourself to me, and to that which you yet may become."

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I darted from the cave beyond the reach of his very short temper, and began my scale down the cliff, muttering to myself as I did so.

"As if I wouldn't notice...."

(((OOC: Rykounagin returns to "The Saving of a Soul" int his forum. Thankyou.)))

[ 07-13-2006 02:41 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Rykounagin ]

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The ship passed through the portal and into the Darker Realms.
Thoran released his hold and the portal schlicked shut behind the ship. He turned to Yaoksi, surprised that he was still standing. He had never opened a portal that large before.

“All ri--”, he started. A sudden emptiness filled his head, his eyes rolled back, his knees buckled, and Thoran fell backwards, unconscious.

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"These are all of my brushes, the sani-steam is the middle door on that wall," she pointed to the only wall without furnature in front of it.

"And, well I've never tried to use a blaster before, but how hard could it be right?"

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"Depends on what your trying to shoot... little critters easy, stormtroopers... they shoot back. I guess the greater question is have you ever killed anyone."

Satisfied my fur was properly clensed I removed my head from the sani-steam and used the towel to dry it off. I was about to use the brush to straighten my fur when I saw the view out the porthole had changed. I quickly dropped the towel and the brush to draw my blaster, making sure it was on kill... best to be safe. I motioned my blaster at the porthole for Thea to show the changed view.

"I think we better get back to the bridge."

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"Well, I haven't killed anyone yet, but I knew when I went to the Praxeum that I would someday. I've seen Jedi kill and I know that they need to sometimes so I've prepared for that eventuallity. I just always assumed I would be holding a lightsaber at the time, not a blaster."

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As we continued on towards the bridge while maintaining one hand on my blaster I reached into my vest and pulled out a small vibro-blade. I usualy used it to cut wires and break into security pannels, but Thea might find it more useful at the moment then I do.

"Here for the moment you can use this, please take care of it though, I liked the wookie that gave it to me."

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"Thanks, I will. We're here."

Thea opened the door to the bridge and quietly surveyed the room before stepping into it.

"It's just us, guys. How are we doing?"

She kept a firm grip on her weapon, hoping for a positive reply.

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"I hope his estimate on the time he'll be out was accurate," Aaron couldn't help but observe aloud as Thea and Cel then entered the cabin and asked how things were going.

Aaron tried his best not to frown at the question, reminding himself that Thea was a kid. Still, being a Jedi padawan...

Aaron shook himself from his thoughts, and looked up towards Thea to then answer her. "We've made it to the Darker Realms, but Thoran is out cold," he explained, then thinking of something. "It would be a big help if you could go to the galley and get him some water. Hopefully he'll be coming back around soon."

Eyeing his wrist chrono at that, Aaron unconsciously counted the seconds. He looked back at Thoran, waiting.

The Sith, eyes still closed, groaned...

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Thea turned and ran down the hallway. She knew that the sooner they were out of the Darker Realms the better, so she didn't wait for anyone to accompany her. She found it surprisingly easy to run with the vibro-blade in her hand and she soon slid to a stop in the galley. She filled a glass with water and hurried back being careful not to spill. She didn't want to waste any time or to slow their progress getting out of where they were and to wherever they were going. She slowed to a brisk walk a few steps away from the bridge so as to not startle anyone and stepped back into the room as calmly as she could. She held the glass out, out of breath, hoping someone would grab it from her soon.

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“Oh darn,” he groaned, “I was hoping I’d wake up next to good looking lady with a big pair of—“

Thoran noticed Thea standing next to Aaron, water in her hand.

“—eyes.”

Thoran tried to stand but couldn’t quite manage it yet. He sat up and held out his hand to Thea.

“Water sounds great,” he said. “I should be all right in a minute or so, just hope Yaoksi can keep us unnoticed until then.”

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"This place lives up to its name," Aaron observed then, unable to fully supress the shiver which crawled up his spine as he momentarily gazed at the viewport before averting his eyes entirely. "I mean, I don't even have to be Force-sensitive to somehow sense it..."

He trailed then, his eyes wandering to Thea, who stood still trying to catch her breath. "I'm surprised that you hadn't already sensed it before you came here to the deck," he commented to Thea. "After all, you are wanting to be a Jedi."

[ 01-02-2007 01:30 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Aaron Barnes ]

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At first I thought the lack of any sensory pickup was due to some sort of computer error; one thought of my Verpine buddy promptly laid that improbability to a definite rest. Which therefore meant--

"Hey guys, cut the chatter; I can't concentrate up here!" I hollered over my shoulder as I punched the control to raise my blast shields. They rolled upward, or at least I think they did, for what was revealed was just as dark as the back of the shields themselves.

I shivered, and immediately slowed our progress through this eerie realm. All I could see was blackness; I couldn't tell up from down, port from starboard, fore from aft. All that existed was simple, velvety darkness, without so much as a glitter of light anywhere.

Sheesh, where's the ground?! I sweated to myself, damning whatever it was that nulled my sensors.

How in blazes am I supposed to fly, and to where--?

"Thoran, now would be a good time to make that other Portal, pal!" I hollered over my shoulder.

"I'm getting a bad feeling about this..."

I shouldn't have said it, sure as there are womprats on Tatooine. For no sooner had the words left my mouth when we struck--

Something.

Hell if I know what it was: tangible black against otherness, who in blazes knew. All I did know was that aboard Devil things flashed from relative quiet into chaos; only my pilot's reflexes kept me in my seat as she upended twenty degrees to fore and starboard, sending everything and everyone else into a turmoil of arms and legs and cups of caff and who the hell knew what else.

Devil then groaned, and settled to an even keel on...

Something.

And promptly went dark.

I had a moment of absolute terror before the auxilliary kicked in, bathing us all in red back-up light. After several futile attempts to get my ship airborne I gave up, whirled from my seat and headed aft.

"K'kihl!" I hollered as I ran.

"Get yer carapace up here, pal! We just hit something, and I'm not getting any power--"

The groans and mutters and rising panic in the others went unheeded as I headed to where I found the Verpine on his belly, deep into an engineering access cubby. He slid out as I came up to him, stared up at me and shrugged; then, hydro-spanner in hand he returned to his work.

Oh hell. Now I really had a bad feeling about this...!

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Hearing various and sundry thuds and groans as the Devil settled herself then momentarily went black before switching to emergency power, Aaron tried to establish just where the hell everyone was and if they were allright as Yaoksi tended to the ship. It appeared everyone had slid to approximately the same area of the cabin, for everyone was in one tangled heap...

...on top of Aaron. And the bulkhead at his back, along with the weight on his body, pretty much eliminated Aaron from moving a milimeter at that moment.

"Thoran!" Aaron groaned, trying to free himself from his entanglement with the large Sith regardless, "Thea, Cel, you gals alright?" he then queried, feeling some fur to his left.

[ 01-02-2007 02:39 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Aaron Barnes ]

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"Hello, dinner!" he drooled as, after quickly clambering up and around to the forward port, he clamped himself to the ship, hanging there upside down to peer at those inside with his lethal gaze. Another noisome burst of insane laughter erupted from him; he could quite easily make a portal into the ship, but it was just so much better to terrorize them all first.

Especially when his friends came along to join the party...

Peal after peal of psychotic yowling pelted the otherness of the Darker Realms then, as nearly fifty more of the demonic little imps appeared at Maladius's side to dance and cavort right along with him, climbing all over Devil in a terrible parody of ants seeking forage.

I tried to reach out to the closest pannel with my right hand, when I put some weight on it I felt the pain and pulled it back.

"I think I broke my right arm, but other then that I'm alright."

I transfered my blaster from my left hand to my right and used my left arm and tail to grb onto the closest pannel to pull me up.

"Well lets not do that again."

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“Yaoksi, unless you’ve got an electrified hull,” he called out, “then get yer butt in here right now because we are LEAVING!”

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I couldn't help dripping as much sarcasm as possible into those retorted words, for truth be told I was scared spitless. But hell if I could let the kids see that; limping along--

When the hell did my ankle go wonkers?

--I hastened back to where the others were disentangling themselves, coming to a halt by the starboard viewport. There I paused, the majority of my weight on my good leg, hands on my hips.

"We're not going anywhere friend; there's no kriffing power! K'kihl's doing the best he--

"AAUUGGHHH!!!"

The latter was in direct response to the leering visage from hell which suddenly made itself known outside the duraglass. I leapt across the wardroom where all had gathered-- literally-- only to come to a crashing halt against the newly arisen Cel.

Down we went in a tangle of fur; I winced hearing her groan... a groan which bit off into a repressed scream when I grabbed her arm to help her back up to her feet again.

"Oh, hell!" I muttered, demons put aside for the merest of moments as I cast around for the nearest medikit. Snatching one up, I turned back to her, avoiding the viewport like the plague.

"All right, Cel, it's time to be a--" and before I even finished the sentence I grabbed her shoulder and forearm and yank/twisted it just so. Beads of sweat immediately popped up on her brow, but bless her heart she was a trooper indeed, not making another sound as I then applied a fast and temporary cast to her arm.

"There, one small dilemma resolved," I muttered, turning back to the others.

"Which only leaves the bigger one. Wha--"

Again my words were cut off as the ship suddenly rocked violently under the pounding it was receiving from those imps from Hell.

[ 01-02-2007 10:45 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Yaoksi Joao ]

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Thoran struck the air with his clawed hand, ripping a tear in the space before him. As it grew, Thoran turned and shouted to the others.

“Through the portal NOW!” he commanded. “I can come back here later, Yaoksi, maybe they’ll leave when we’re gone.”

Thoran heard the welcoming sounds of voices and clinking glasses come from the other side of the portal, in the lounge within the Temple of Warriors. He grabbed the nearest person, which happened to be Thea, and shoved her through. Motioning for Aaron to go, he looked at Yaoksi and Cel.

“Believe me, please! Come now, because I am closing this in 3 seconds!”

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

He came up on those remaining in the wardroom, slavering and dripping poison and drool.

"No, you no go! You no leaving Maladius; Maladius hungry!!"

With that he sprang, claws extended, landing upon Aaron and knocking him sprawling to the deck. Behind him, two or three others made a bee-line to the Portal Thoran had opened into K'eel Doba.

And he'd seen them before, and knew what this guy could do. But that didn't mean he wasn't going to scramble and kick for all he was worth; in fact, that just made it more urgent to do precisely that.

"Thoran, get everyone out of here, now!" he yelled, feeling the Thing's claws ripping into him despite his struggle to get it off.

[ 01-02-2007 11:10 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Aaron Barnes ]

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