Even as she progressed forward, she sent a small tendril of her mind behind her, curious to feel what was running through Shayla's mind in her absence. As that tendril entered into the adept's thoughts and unconscious, as silently and stealthily as a transparant gas, she smiled.

Many of the Truths we cling to depend entirely upon our own point of view....

Her smile broadened.

Aye, it would seem her instincts were right. There was yet hope for this One....

As smoothly as she had entered, she withdrew the tendril, bringing it back into her own essence as she quietly moved into the forward section of her ship, and entered the bridge. There she seated herself in the command chair, leaning forward to scrape one nail against a digital sigil.

The forward screen, having darkened in her absence, sprang obediently into vibrant life. There before her, presenting itself as some wondrous ruby amidst myriad smaller diamonds, lay Ambria. Her ship was still in orbit around it, still unnoticed by any ground forces below. How long that state of affairs would continue was at the moment anyone's guess... although Graysith had the ability to actively seek and capture that information. She smiled, deciding not to waste the energy, and concentrated once more on the rotating world beneath her.

Actar is down there, she purred to herself. Him; the One with the odd Power that I sensed...

For another moment she considered the wisdom of "dropping in" and confronting him there, seeking answers regarding the missing Galen. Well she knew that he had once held her in his hands, as well as she knew she had slipped through his fingers.

Then she dismissed the thought with a disdainful snort. For if the "Admiral" had allowed Galen to flee him, what answer could he give her? Indeed, what good were the powers she sensed about him at all, if so slight and small a quarry had escaped him with such ease?

Graysith then leaned forward in preparation of breaking orbit, mulling over the virtues of taking her adept to Khar Delba for further training, when her attention was captured by a small green light which quite suddenly began to blink on her control panel.

She touched the light gently with one finger, and upon the forward screen the image of Ambria was smoothly replaced with the ominous form of one of her seeker-droids. It's red lens glowed with a hellish light, as with some hideous instinct it persisted in clattering its grasping claws together, over and over again in a mantra to accompany the transmission it was now sending:

Preez ne'l a frzzna... grbbd d' n'latt. Preez ne'l a frzzna... grbbd d' n'latt...

Over and over the coded transmission came, until its odd babble was finally silenced as Graysith acknowledged its receipt. The red light faded in the seeker's lensed eye, as with a final small burble, it turned to hum its way back to her ship.

Graysith sat back in her command seat, her eyes black. A smile of equal darkness then slowly began to spread upon her face.

I have you now.... she thought out into the Void as in a series of graceful movements her fingers danced upon the navboard, plotting in a new course away from the planet.

The strangely greeny-golden little ship, its form so difficult to look upon, its overall geometries something not quite of this Galaxy, performed an impossible little maneuver. Then it plummetted out of its Ambrian orbit, bee-lining toward a remote and unassuming little portion of Spacetime, where there hovered a fleet of magnificent ships.

Which, in spite of their combined power and strength and armament, were in comparison to her ship less than a mote in the eye of some distant and quite uncaring god.

[ 08-19-2001 03:52 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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

Shayla wondered where they were headed. In fact, she wondered where in the galaxy they were to begin with. She wasn't sure, hadn't thought of it, and suddenly felt strangely disoriented.

"So," she asked into the quietness of the shuttle bridge. "Where are we going?"

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

He loved.

He'd never loved before.

She needed him.

No one had ever needed him before.

He needed her.

He'd never admitted that to anyone before.

He felt happier than he ever had in his whole life...

And he never wanted that to change.

He knew that this one woman had changed him so much in the small time frame that he had known her, and he marveled over what a significant impact she'd already had. Before he'd met her on Ambria, he'd been full of hate and desired nothing but vengeance. He'd shut the galaxy out and kept it at a distance. He'd even entertained the idea of using evil to get what he wanted.

Only now what he had wanted in the past he no longer desired at all. He just wanted to be with her, and he wanted to become the person that he knew he should have become long ago. And he wanted to be with her. His smile broadened as he thought of her features: her small figure...her red hair...her big brown eyes...

How he yearned to know the woman that owned those features, down to the very last detail. He closed his eyes, and pictured her face in his mind's eye. And with that image firmly planted there, he drifted off to sleep...

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

Before the piercing inner gaze of the Chosen Daughter, opening pathways announced themselves with an abrupt infusion of Light coming into her being. These pathways seemed to come from differing directions, but all were heading toward a convergence upon another mote of light, one which glowed with a brilliance striving to equal her own as it sought increased capacitance from her own tremendous energy stores.

If it were possible to smile and frown at the same time, Graysith would doing that very thing. She was more than well pleased to discover a growing eagerness Shayla appeared to be revealing to her at a steadily increasing rate, an eagerness to learn about her and of the great Powers she held but could not totally command.

But to what end does this one really wish to learn of my ways? Graysith allowed the disturbing little question to niggle forth. Although I could easily rip into her mind to discern this, I do not wish to do so.

But why?

Now the frown took dominance as she pondered that particular branch of the pathway her mind had started upon. The frown deepened a bit as in following that path, she found a little by-pass, which led her directly to the three in-coming modes of emergence and directly back to the smaller shining mote once more.

Alevedaar.

An image of a powerfully built and magnificently horned humanoid burst into her mind, his volcanic eyes glowing with a strange molten satisfaction as he reached out one clawed hand in a sweeping gesture to take into account all that was now being laid before her gaze. A small smile threatened to banish her growing frown as this image brought a sudden flash of past effort to the fore.

Once I was so smug to "see" where the path of but one led him, and to that end found the means to alter it completely. Once I was then so chastined by the One who is my love and Sire, as he contrasted for me the extent of that which I hold against the extent of that which I may command. One can be handled; the convergence of myriad paths needs a stronger touch than I have.

Even as now he is showing me this convergence... and reminding me of my place within it.

And hers as well.

Graysith's violet eyes slowly opened as she contemplated that which had been revealed to her in that moment, revealed so effortlessly by a being light-years distant, and hidden as well in that special little spot that marks one second of Spacetime from the next.

Three converging paths:

Galen, and the one with her, Terrin Danner.

A new warrior, coming with the male called Yaoksi, within whose mind she had dabbled as a child with sand upon a shore. One of the pair extremely strong in the Light, one just as strong in his convictions.

Yet three others coming; not the original third prong in the trident, but as sharp and potentially deadly to her purpose. One hovering behind them all, yet still attached...

and all pathways merging toward a nexus who stood with a firm conviction Graysith, for reasons she had yet to examine too closely, yet refused to truly dissect.

With a little sigh she brought her focus back from deep inside herself, and looked to where Shayla was still standing respectfully behind her, hoping for an answer to a question so simple, yet so fraught with dark possibilities and uncertain conclusions.

She smiled fully, the Glyph on her forehead flaring out in wondrous energy as, rising to her feet she reached out a hand to the younger woman.

"Where are we going?" she repeated the question softly. "My young adept: we are going to seek Truth amidst Chaos and Fear.

"Even if it means the destruction of those who would stay our hand."

[ 08-29-2001 12:09 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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He needed me. He needed ME....

I was positive the smile on my face broadened into an even more sappy one as I turned around and leaned my back against the door. I was even more aware of the fact that I was acting like a love-stricken schoolgirl, totally dismissive of the logic that from somewhere deep inside was trying to point out the fact that Galen, you hardly know the guy; Galen, you haven't been with him long enough to begin knowing him, much less fall in love with him.

To all the above I directed a loud mental raspberry. I simply didn't care. There are times when things happen in the Universe which are indeed beyond one's logic or ken. And at those times, wise beings know not to battle against them, but to simply go with their flow.

I was flowing so much at this point that its a wonder I didn't puddle into a little pool of ooze right there on the carpet.

Still smiling, I floated to the 'fresher, and let myself bask once again in it's steamy water, supplanting in my mind the feel of the warm spray with Terrin's equally warm touch. Towelling myself dry, I proceeded to that glitzy armoire from whose ample interior I extracted a simple yet elegant sleeping gown. Donning it with a sudden yawn, I headed to the luxurious bed the suite provided, pulled back the sumptuous covers, and burrowed within them Snuggling a bit, I then gave short-term memory full rein, and allowed it to replay the events of this wondrous night over again, word for word.

Before me once more I saw Terrin's strong face, heated with a passion he refused to give in to, tears glinting in his eyes as he made that surprising proclamation: "I need you to help me redeem myself..." followed soon thereafter by the even more satisfying phrase, "I love you." His blue eyes gazing deeply and firmly into my own, clear want showing there, yet existing side-by-side with respect for me and remarkable restraint and self-control. That same penetrating gaze, revealing more than did the mere words he spoke in telling me everything about Shayla.

His blue eyes... sequeing into another blue pair....

I sighed a little, shifting about in the bed. Sorben. I had to tell Terrin about him; I mean, it was only fair. He had told me of Shayla, and that small storm had been easily weathered. With sudden assurety, I knew this would be weathered with equal ease. For another moment I let my gaze turn inward, inspecting the sudden wonder of the complete lack of hurt within me as I spoke Sorben's name to myself.

What we had shared together had been like a supernova. It had flared into overwhelming brilliance, the power of its touch indomitable, barrelling over the two of us and scorching us into one searing image which remained... as long as that exotic event existed. Yet supernovae result in the collapse of the parent star, sometimes into the complete non-existence of an anomaly. They are indeed short-lived beasties...

What I now sensed springing into life between Terrin and me, that light by which he shone, was instead more like a typical star. The solid, dependable Type-G variety, which burn steadily far longer than their explosive brethren, long enough to create and succor life on their little rings of worlds.

Life....

I could feel my mouth slacken drowsily as these pleasant thoughts led me through the brilliance of starfire, and toward a velvety blackness which beckoned beyond it. The wondrous images of stellar coronas swirled out to embrace me, entwining me in a golden aura that was no more lustrous than the gold of Terrin's hair, and carried me down and down toward the very surface from which they had sprung. A surface whose light now dimmed into a lesser heat and thus more sustaining comfort, that gentled me closer and closer...

...Deepening now, traversing the electromagnetic spectrum...

...following rainbow colors therein, which lie in the heart of every star...

...darkening further, imperceptibly blending from bright golden yellows into deep russet oranges and tiptoeing into the vividly deep umbers of far infared...

...which sequed impossibly into a stark and blazing ultraviolet.

A brilliance which coalesced into a pair of viscious eyes that laughed....

I sat bolt upright in my bed, my eyes staring, my heart pounding inexplicably in my chest.

NO!

Beyond thought, acting on pure animal instinct, I rolled off the bed and flew to the door, slamming against the release button en route, the timing such that I scarcely had to slow as I took off from my suite and fled, half-blinded yet by sleep, away from a night-terror I couldn't even explain but knew was very, very real.

Fled thus toward the only haven I knew of. Or wanted.

Quite suddenly I found myself fully awake, somehow not surprised to see I was once again outside Terrin's door, pounding frantically upon it for all I was worth.

[ 09-02-2001 03:43 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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Probably some stupid maintainance man trying to fix something in the middle of the night, Terrin thought irritably. He rolled over on his stomach and covered his head with his pillow.

It wasn't helping either. Damn it all!

In a fit of anger, Terrin sat up, throwing the covers to the end of the bed. He stood, grabbed his nightrobe and threw it on almost as an afterthought, and then headed for the door. In the darkeness of his chambers, however, he'd forgotten where he had thrown his boots, and realized where they were only after he'd stubbed his toe on one of them. "Sithspit, Oww!" he yelled, momentarily removing his foot from the floor til his toe stopped throbbing a little. It was then he realized the rapping was coming from his door, and not somewhere else.

Who the hell was knocking at this time of night? Terrin wondered, his eyes narrowing momentarily. At last he proceeded to the door, calming himself and limping slightly, his toe still sore.

He unlocked the door using the keypad, and it slid open, revealing...Galen.

He looked down at her, her red hair still slightly wet from the shower she must have taken and dressed in a pale blue silk nightgown that nearly reached the floor. Terrin worked his jaw, which was threatening to drop to the floor again. Then he noticed the worry in her face, and his look of awe turned to one of at least equal concern. "Galen...what's wrong?"

[ 09-02-2001 05:01 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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Oh sheesh! These autohatches can just go to Hell's Seventh Circle, they open so abruptly!

As it was, I managed to regain my balance, and stood before him, the hand I was pounding upon the door with held up like a banner. Then, fear and worry uppermost in my mind, totally disregarding the fact that Terrin at least was garbed in a robe while I stood practically vulnerable in my nightgown, I hurried past him into his quarters. I made it all the way to the couch I had earlier perched so blissfully upon before I heard the whoosh as the door closed behind me.

I whirled to face him, my mouth working in synchronization with his own. Nothing came out.

Tears of terror mingled with utter frustration flooded my eyes, as I felt my chest constrict into a tight little knot.

Galen, steady... hold it together, he doesn't need hysterics, tell him calmly what you came here to divulge, steady...

Near-hysterics won out. Usually I'm stronger than this, but dear Khaandon this man I so suddenly and so deeply loved really hadn't one clue about the strength of the Evil we were up against. I blinked quickly with the realization that my near-hysterics were based not upon fear for myself, but for him. And for the fact that he also hadn't a clue why that Evil was chasing after me with a persistence likened to the very Hounds of Hell.

I let my knees give way and release me to the couch. There I sat for a moment, the flooding tears now spilling from my eyes and rolling down my cheeks, my hands working the fabric into sweaty little lumps.

"Terrin, I'm afraid!" I finally blurted, staring up at him. A part of me acknowledged the concern and worry that was taking over his own features as he strode toward me. But the majority of my vision was turned inward, beyond him, seeing only blazing violet and searing flame and a cloak of rune-encrypted smoke that swirled with a sultry seduction that promised things too awful to contemplate upon those who chose to approach it...

...or foolishly let it approach them. Or her, rather. Me.

I scarcely felt Terrin's presence when he joined me on the couch; hardly noticed the fact that he had his arms around me. His repeated question of, "Galen, what's wrong?" fell on deaf ears as I continued to look blankly inward, knowing that inward perusal was indeed being brought outward to a hideous reality that I also knew would join with us all too soon.

The images playing there were simply too awful to bear alone. With a choked little garble, I turned my head, pressing my face into Terrin's strong chest, my hands now grasping him with a ferocity bordering upon sheer desperation. As if the strength of that grip would keep him with me forever. Words I didn't even know I was saying started pouring from my mouth, words muffled by Terrin's body, but words he could clearly discern nevertheless.

Words I was so terribly frightened would drive him away from me.

"Oh Khaandon Terrin, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I should have told you the whole story, but I didn't! It's her, Terrin, she's here! I know it, I can feel it; she's close, very close! She's coming for me, I know that, and now you're in danger too..."

I paused for a deeply shaky breath, pulling my face away from where it had burrowed against Terrin, and turned it up into his own. My eyes widened further yet, silently seeking understanding and forgiveness.

If this turned him away from me, I would never forgive myself. But not to the extent of the guilt I would live with should he die by Her hand...

"She's coming for me, and not simply because I keep eluding her. Terrin, she's pure Evil, she's powerful! She's so strong I don't know if anyone or anything can withstand her. I've managed to escape her clutches, but never for good, she keeps finding me. I somehow keep managing to stay one jump ahead of her... but she's like a Noghri, Terrin. I know her; she won't stop until she's got me... and everyone around me is dead."

I paused for a moment, turning my gaze now down and away from Terrin's face, afraid of what I would read there. I continued then, not daring to look up.

"There was a man I loved... or at least thought that I did. A bounty hunter, Sorben Tarnus. I-- I left him because of her, because I was afraid of what she would do to him. Because at the time she believed him to be important to me.

"He was. Then. But now I realize what I felt was nothing like what I feel for you. I love you, and I don't want anything to happen to you. But I'm afraid something will happen--"

I choked off the sentence before its completion, now looking up directly into his blue gaze, my own eyes wide with silent pleading. Drawing in a deep breath, I managed to continue on, stating the conclusion to my soliloquy in a choking whisper.

"She's coming for me because she once carried a child, one that was probably even more powerful than she is. But she lost this child. And I was the cause of her losing it."

[ 09-02-2001 06:18 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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So this Sith is after her? Terrin buddy, the little devil on one shoulder yelled in his ear, What are you doing? Haven't you been listening to me?

But there was a funny thing about the little devil this time. In times past, the little guy yelled loudly, and he usually won out. This time, his yell was a mere whisper and Terrin could nearly see himself reaching up a hand and knocking the wicked fellow off his shoulder. He would have laughed at the thought, had the situation allowed it.

Terrin, you're really in love.

"I know her," Galen said, "she won't stop until she's got me... and everyone around me is dead."

Something flashed from within him with these words...was that anger? He had to fight with all his soul to keep from blurting out that maybe someone should stop her first, but he somehow managed.

"There was a man I loved... or at least thought that I did. A bounty hunter, Sorben Tarnus. I-- I left him because of her, because I was afraid of what she would do to him. Because at the time she believed him to be important to me.

He was. Then. But now I realize what I felt was nothing like what I feel for you. I love you, and I don't want anything to happen to you. But I'm afraid something will happen--"

Galen paused there, and a brief tendril of jealousy shot through Terrin at the mention of someone who meant so much to her once. But with her assurance that she loved him and with the realization that he had done just about the same to her only a little while before when he told her of Shayla, the jealousy faded into nothingness.

Galen looked up at him once again, her deep brown eyes still damp from the tears and full of worry and pleading. "She's coming for me because she once carried a child, one that was probably even more powerful than she is. But she lost this child. And I was the cause of her losing it."

Oh, woah, Terrin thought, his eyes widening only slightly with her admittance. This woman, the woman now love, has far more power than you ever will. What makes you think you can protect her? Seems she can stay a step ahead herself.

A flicker of concern about not being good enough for Galen passed through Terrin's mind, but he pushed it aside. But she is here, with you now. She came to you for support, she came to you for consolation. And she's told you the truth. She loves you too, and that's all that counts.

He'd known he wanted to be with her for a while now, even though it had been a short amount of time since he'd known her. Now he was even more certain, regardless of the risks, that he wanted to be with her always. Terrin thought it odd that in the situations when he would have most likely backed out before he was becoming more certain of his feelings for Galen instead.

All the stuff, all the history, all the risks, all the past...it just didn't matter. He didn't have any words for her, not yet. She sat in front of him, her eyes seeking within his for a sign of...hope? He wondered how long he'd been sitting there, thinking through everything that had been revealed.

He focused his his on her deep brown ones, and said softly, "I guess I'm not the only one with a nasty history."

She blinked, but a flicker of hope flashed across her eyes.

She's worried I'm going to back out on her because of this, Terrin realized.

"My feelings aren't going to change, no matter what is in the past, or what's in the future. All I know is what I feel now. I love you, and I want to be with you..."

He paused, gazing into her eyes and noticing the wonder within them. Then he understood that what he'd just started to stay he hadn't finished completely. He thought back to the words that he'd already said and the completion of the phrase that he inteded to speak, and discovered that, unlike in the past, he had no fear in uttering it.

"Galen...I want to be with you...forever."

[ 09-02-2001 10:26 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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He wanted to be with me forever...

As those words hit, they brought with them a responding certainty that I too never wanted to leave him. Ever.

Beginning to tremble, I reached a hand up to his face. The trembling intensified when he caught it up, and brought it to his lips. All the while his blue eyes continued to pierce mine, washing away the terrors, washing away the trepidation, eliminating the fear that he would use this as an extremely justifiable excuse to dump me on the nearest planet and hotfoot it across the Galaxy.

"I--I couldn't stand to be without you either, Terrin." The words whispered from my lips like the sighing of a distant sea-breeze. "I want to be with you the rest of my life, and I want this more than I've ever wanted anything."

I sniffed a little, digging deeply within myself for that inner core of strength I knew was there. Was still there, and would really always be there, no matter how my baser instincts might make me react to any threatening situation...

...such as this one.

I sat up straighter, firming, gaining even greater fortitude with the realization that this man would adhere to my side like a rock-limpet, and would not run from me no matter what would happen.

Only Death would divide us; I knew that with a conviction stemming from the bottom of my soul.

I drew in a deep breath, allowing myself to smile just a bit before I continued on.

"I really don't know how we're going to stop her, Terrin. I don't think there's any place I can hide. I keep telling you how strong she is; Terrin, she commands Noghri! You know the Noghri have long since retaliated against the Sith, and that they will have nothing to do with them any longer.

"I don't think she's really the kind of Sith history has shown us. I don't really know what in Hell's Seven Circles she is! But I do know that she's very powerful, and that normal weapons aren't gonna do diddly against her. We're gonna have to come up with some sort of an idea, and fast, if we're gonna get your friend away from her in one piece.

"Not to mention keep me in one piece away from her as well."

Instinct threatened to command me once again, and I struggled to keep from throwing myself into his arms. I lapsed into momentary silence, giving him the opportunity to offer any advice or suggestion, quietly waiting to hear what he might say...

...when it hit me with the impact of an SSD.

Once again it was all I could do to keep from flinging my arms about him. I couldn't keep the sudden sparkle from my eye, however, nor hold back the exhalation of utter relief which burst forth from me.

"Terrin!" Ok, so I got a lil excited. Heh... guess he'd better find out about this side of me, too. Spurred by the sound of his name on my lips, I sprang to my feet. He nearly pitched onto his face; I overlooked the fact that he was still holding my hand to his lips. Oops...

I smiled an apology, then continued quickly before he thought he had fallen in love with a madwoman.

"Terrin!" I repeated, "I forgot! Remember when I said I knew how to help you, and how that could save your company? Well, I wasn't exaggerating. I know where there is, well... to call it a weapon, per se, is perhaps stretching things a bit.

"But I know where there are ships that harbor power you've never seen. That can do things you'd never imagine. That I think just might be useful to us in this.

"They might have enough power to overcome her. Hell's Seven Circles, they ought to.

"They're Sith. And I know how to pilot them."

[ 09-02-2001 11:23 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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"I'll have the fleet set course for this location tomorrow morning," he said anxiously.

Then he realized...here they were, again. Suddenly, his face flushed hot as he finally admitted to himself that he didn't want to let her go even now. He let go of her hands and began pacing a small piece of the living area floor near her.

She watched him, curiously. She probably thinks you're off your rocker, buddy. You might as well come clean. Suddenly, he turned once again to face her, and took her left hand in his right. Come clean, but respect her space, he told himself.

"Galen, I want you to stay with me now more than even before. I love you, and I want to be with you. But, this has happened all so quickly, and so many emotions have been felt..." he paused, pondering the right words to say, but nothing else came to mind. I'm just not good at this, he thought to himself. I don't want to push don't want to risk it...don't want to move too fast if she doesn't want to...

He never finished the sentence. Instead he gazed into her big eyes, those beautiful brown eyes, and waited...

[ 09-02-2001 11:43 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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...if not the main course on the menu.

My mouth dropped open a bit, as thoughts sped through my mind at breakneck speed.

Didn't he hear what I said? I was talking about maybe a way of saving this Shayla... about maybe saving my own skin... about maybe gaining victory in what at first glanced appeared to be entirely too hopeless a battle....

The I realized I wasn't quite hearing what he was saying myself. Or rather, not saying. I gulped as this realization slammed home, bringing with it another bout of trembling which washed over me in great waves that refused to abate.

But this time the trembling wasn't springing into being out of fear.

Suddenly, I knew he was asking what he was because he was placing me, placing us, before and above anything else that could possibly exist in the Universe. Absolutely nothing, no danger, no riches, no adventure, could possibly hold a candle to that great one he was seeking to explore with me. Yet somehow... it was as though he needed something cemented deeply within himself... and for some reason, I alone could provide him with the mortar he needed.

My eyes were positively huge in my head as I stared into his, falling into them, knowing what I would answer, as well as knowing he knew it before I was aware of it myself.

That's how close we had come to be in so short a timespan. And, I reminded myself, a timespan that ought to be considered more precious than gold. For even though I believed the Sith ships on that planet Dad had found would be the answer to our prayers, there was really no guarantee that they would. This might be the only real time we would have together for a long time to come... if not forever.

I felt my eyes grow huger yet, and everything within me blurred and softened as, in response to the unvocalized affirmative, Terrin took one small step forward and gathered me into his arms.

[ 09-03-2001 12:09 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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As he watched her, he noticed her eyes grow large, as though she was suddenly understanding the importance of his words, and the depth of his need for her to be with him now. His need for her? He'd told her he needed her, and he'd even admitted it within to himself. But, til this point in which he'd voiced his desire to have her with him, he'd not admitted his need out loud to himself. And now, without the slightest hesitation or difficulty, he'd spoken it. And it felt good.

He smiled at this realization and continued gazing at Galen. He read in her body language that she, without saying a word, was understanding the same thing herself. She knew they belonged together, and she knew that with the dangers they would certainly face, the time was now.

All hesitations pushed to the side and all concerns for the near future in the farest corner of his mind, Terrin stepped in, took her in his arms, and she yielded to him.

And he knew with more certainty than ever that each of them, though apart were two halves, together, created a wonderful and complete whole.

[ 09-03-2001 03:21 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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But that was the catch. People were coming for her. Ever since the Force and been uncovered from wherever it had been so perfectly hdden from her, Shayla had known this. She'd known it in the form of Erik Kartan, who had reached out to her and even spoken to her through the Force. She'd known it in the forms of Jeroc, Cella, and Logan, whose minds she knew were there, and searching for hers. She'd felt the touch of Thea constantly, and from time to time she even reached out to assure her that she was allright.

But was she allright? Did she really even understand the levity of what she was doing? Certainly if she was here to learn and understand what Graysith believed in, she would eventually have to demonstrate that understand.

A bit of worry flashed through Shayla's mind, but as quickly as it came it was pushed to the furtherest corner of her mind.

They were coming for her, but they had waited too long. Where were they when she couldn't reach them? Where were they when she was on the Sith shuttle floating above what must have been Yavin IV, back in the beginning? Why had they waited so long to seek her out? They were too late, she'd made her choice. There was no turning from it now.

Truth amongst Fear and Chaos...even if it means destroying those who might stay our hand...

Those who might stay our hand? Shayla knew the meaning of the words, and truthfully, they did cause her concern. Alas, that was they way things were for the time, and she could only hope when the time came she could do the right thing.

Smiling shyly, Shayla accepted the hand that had been offered to her.

What the right thing would be, when that time came, Shayla was more than a little unsure about...

[ 09-03-2001 02:59 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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A short yet somehow intensely awkward moment stretched endlessly between them. At length it was broken by the silken sound of the Chosen Daughter's musical voice. The words she uttered were pitched low, almost in a whisper.

"My young One," she began, dropping Shayla's hand and leaning comfortably back in her navseat. "May I ask your opinion of something?"

She paused, waiting for her "sister's" affirmative nod, which came obediently, just as she had expected it to. With a wave of her slim hand, she indicated Shayla take a seat beside her. Then she continued, her gaze now focusing out the forward viewscreen into the Otherness which raged beyond.

"Let me tell you a story, my young Adept. A story of a race of beings, strong, powerful, endowed with incredible magicks. Beings who governed the Galaxy with a strong yet equitable hand. Beings who kept immaculate Order amidst early Chaos, who sought only to eliminate Fear.

"Yet, beings of a civilization that, responding over Time as does any strong and powerful one, eventually found itself traveling a road a bit less immaculate. A bit more branched with by-passes and side-paths. A race who then was suddenly betrayed by the very Galaxy it had governed as, in one fell swoop and via a coward's invasion, it was eliminated in its entirety practically overnight.

"Whose very self was thus supplanted by those invaders. Not merely destroyed; stolen. Whose rightful destiny, whatever that may have been, was denied in that grand theft.."

She paused for a moment, turning from the viewscreen to pin Shayla's gaze with her own, once again seeming to seek something within their warm and curious depths before, leaning forward with sudden intensity, she continued on.

"And what if you had it within you to restore those Lost to their former and rightful place in the Universe? Even if in that restoration another being had to forfeit it's life?"

[ 09-08-2001 12:44 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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The idea was, Shayla had to admit, enticing. But suddenly the red flag that had been waving around in her brain surfaced once again. Including the fact that the death of some being or some race was an issue, a couple of other things were of key importance that Shayla felt she needed to know.

First of all, she felt Graysith's words were a bit cryptic. She didn't know this race that was being referred to, and furthermore felt that the crypticism was purposeful, as though Graysith was somehow shielding the complete truth from her. Shayla didn't like this, and had always been one to collect all the data before making a decision. She needed to know more.

But more importantly, allowing herself to draw into the attractiveness of power and importance was something she had been taught all along to avoid, and something that she knew could be very dangerous. Shayla wanted to help Graysith, and felt she truly wanted Shayla's help, but at what cost?

Shayla knew she was trapped. She suddenly felt small in the scrutinizing gaze of her teacher. Now was not the time to give in to fear and uncertainty though, for as soon as she declined the offer presented her she was almost certain she would be cast into the nothingness again, or something even worse.

Hang in there Shayla, we're coming, a familiar voice echoed in her brain.

There is nothing, Shayla thought back to him, Nothing at all you can do to stop what will most certainly happen. I alone have control of it. CAN'T YOU ALL JUST TRUST ME? You weren't there for me before, so why suddenly now?

Surprised at her flash of anger, Shayla calmed herself. There is no emotion, only the Force. She knew she had phased out for a while, and she knew that Graysith was expecting an answer even still.

"I cannot be certain of my answer without all the facts, my sister. I have come to you seeking knowledge and understanding and friendship. You are giving me the knowledge, and I truly want to understand this that you are telling me and to know the truth, to see things from all angles. That will take time. You have given me friendship as well, for you have provided me shelter and given me respect. But, by the same token, you once threw me into darkness when I chose to stick to what I believed. I misjudged you then, so is it not possible that you too misjudged me, and by not telling me the full truth now misjudge me still?"

[ 09-09-2001 06:33 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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She fought against the rising tide of anger bordering on disgust. Not one inkling of a suggestion of this did she let loose; her features remained calm save for the Glyph, which burst quite suddenly into radiant life upon her brow. After quietly regarding Shayla for a moment longer, she finally spoke.

"By the very words of your mouth have I justification for my judgement of you," she said in a deathly tone of voice. "How eager you are to seek that which you think I hold, that which you think may indeed somehow fulfill you. How defiantly does the Student stand up to her Teacher, who only asked a question of her regarding a hypothetical situation. If facts I thought you needed, they would have been supplied you."

She paused for another moment, fixing Shayla with her penetrating violet stare Then she leaned suddenly forward, deadly earnest.

"The potential to achieve True Fulfillment not only lives within you, Shayla; it lives within every being. Remember the fruit, and the blarnworm. I believe that, even though at the time you mis-spoke, you were striving to see beyond the superficial, beyond the obvious. This is a potential which indeed is difficult to achieve. But it is a potential which cannot be achieved until one truly ceases to see in in shades of black and white, and stops seeking to understand the Universe by viewing it from the standpoint of its common polarities.

"But for now, the small minds in this particular Universe persist in their dichotomous ways. And as long as they persist in this, then my destiny has chance of seeing fruition. But this is a way which, in the end, shall indeed come to an end. And it is frightening to those who do not understand."

With a graceful movement, Graysith turned to her navboard, played upon the mysterious sigils and digital runes there. Before her seat, the forward viewscreen seemed to waver, as though the non-space beyond the little ship had somehow lurched. Then the howling white nothingness abruptly resolved itself into a velvety canopy, liberally sprinkled with stars.

And studded with not more than a few ships.

She sat back in her seat, pursing her lips as her brow crinkled in thought. Then she turned to her young padawan-cum-adept with a smile, one slim hand waving toward the screen to encompass the view it obediently revealed to them.

"There are those out there who have sought you, Shayla. Indeed, here there is one who appears may finally have found you. But now my question to you is, who is it that has been found, Shayla? Indeed, do you wish at all to be liberated from me?

"My destiny is an assurety. Yours yet stands bisected before you. While I would indeed desire a... companion to assist me along my path, I freely leave that choice entirely up to you."

[ 09-09-2001 09:47 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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Student and Teacher? And yet by the same token Graysith had called her sister? Which was it?

Shayla felt rather like a school girl who had asked the wrong question in class and was being reprimanded for it. Had she mistaken the desire for this woman to have companionship and help for her need to have authority over another being?

This thought was pushed to the furtherest corner of Shayla's mind when, to her utter shock, the shuttle came out of hyperspace into...Terrin Danner's fleet...

Her mind was spinning. What were they doing here? What was she about to be asked to do? How had it come to this?

"There are those out there who have sought you, Shayla. Indeed, here there is one who appears may finally have found you."

So Terrin Danner was after her even still? Even after she had left for the Praxeum? Shayla was about to give into the anger that was welling up inside her when she realized something else.

He was there, aboard the Hornett as usual. His surroundings she could not make out, but his Force-signature was all too familiar. And he was strangely but certainly at calm peace. Shayla couldn't explain it, but suddenly she wished the man no harm. Harm he would certainly encounter if she didn't do something to stop it.

"But now my question to you is, who is it that has been found, Shayla? Indeed, do you wish at all to be liberated from me?

"My destiny is an assurety," Graysith continued. "Yours yet stands bisected before you. While I would indeed desire a...companion to assist me along my path, I freely leave that choice entirely up to you."

Did she wish to be liberated? Into the hands of Terrin Danner, certainly not. But that niggling in her mind persisted. She certainly had control of her own destiny, and choosing this path with Graysith might ultimately be the most dangerous. But could she honestly trust him? And could she honestly believe that if she left here alive she wouldn't be pursued to the ends of the universe?

Certainly, she wanted to understand what Graysith was about, and what she intended to accomplish. Shayla had a love for knowledge, and a willingness to go to the corners of the galaxy to help another being.

Maybe that was her mistake. Maybe Graysith really didn't need her at all. But there was a definite desire for sisterhood.

With sudden clarity, Shayla realized that this was, in fact, a test. A test to which she had no clue what the right answer was.

Wait, a little voice in her mind said, Maybe there is, in fact, no right answer to the question at all. Reach into your heart, Shayla Stargazer Petrolu, and answer that which is the truth according to you...

"I do wish," Shayla answered finally, "to learn and understand. But likewise I feel as though I'm in a world I do not completely trust. I am not the same Shayla that I was before, but even so I miss my roots. Still, to be released into the hands of this man whose character I am very uncertain, I don't desire."

That being said, Shayla waited for Graysith's reply...

[ 09-09-2001 10:50 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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"Ssso-oo-oo..." the syllable came like the susurration of an adder's hiss. "Once you reached for my extended hand... but only to escape the Elseness into which you had been placed. Now you reach yet again... but to avoid this One who waits without."

She paused, striding quickly forward until she was directly in front of the startled Shayla. The movement swift and sure, she reached out, gripping Shayla's chin in one cool hand. She leaned in close, closer yet, until her lips were millimeters away from Shayla's ear.

"So far you divulge that which you do NOT desire. What is it that you do? Look deeply within yourself; what is it that you discover to be there?

"I believe I have found the answer...."

Abruptly, she pulled back, dropping her hand, turning to approach her command seat once more. She seated herself gracefully upon it, played upon the communications glyphs, sending forth hailing frequencies in a loud and fearless proclamation. Her voice was silken, yet laden with such darkness that behind her, it was all that Shayla could do to keep from bolting from the bridge.

"Mr. Danner," Graysith announced sweetly. "This is... Chosen One. I believe I have someone here, and you there, over which certain... negotiations must be entertained.

"I suggest you entertain me in this, Mr. Danner. I give you 15 standard minutes to respond."

Sitting back, the Chosen Daughter closed the connection. She smiled to herself, knowing the commotion that was probably raging aboard the Hornett and its accompanying ships. Now reaching out a slim hand, she played about with certain sigils, and in the doing made her little ship absolutely impregnable to probes of any sort.

Then she turned to face Shayla once again, regarded her for a long moment. Time stretched forward interminably....

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"What is it that I want?" she asked, not realizing she was nearly yelling. Graysith's glare became deeper. I'm going to regret this, Shayla thought. [i]What was it that she desired deep within herself? Well...[i]

Taking a deep breath and calming the raging storm within, Shayla spoke again. "There is a man...a man that I love very much. Someone...whom I place alot of trust in. Lately, I've questioned his feelings for me. I've felt so very, very alone. Very...alone..." Trailing momentarily, Shayla fought the tears that were coming even so. "I thought he had left me...thought he had forgotten me. But he is out there even still, and I've felt him with me." Shayla smiled briefly, thinking of his Force-touch on her mind.

"My desire, ultimately, is to be with him."

With that, Shayla hushed and tried to slow the tears that were coming still. Maybe she was taking the wrong step in sharing this information. But it was the Truth...and the truth, she hoped, would somehow set her free...

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For a full five minutes she remained thus, the Beast within howling for blood, scrabbling and clawing and demanding sustenance it knew she could provide. At length the inner storm could be borne no longer. A thin black tendril reached in to whip the slavering quasi-animal into submission, then inverted itself, seeking to lash out beyond her inner psyche.

With a great effort she held it back, pinning Shayla with her gaze. Finally she spoke, her voice as icy as her frozen eyes.

"So be it. I see that I have erred; I thought you were a strong one. But one-sided perceptions still overwhelm your visions; the True Strength of the All would ever elude you, as would it elude those you call 'jedi,' with whom you really desire to be."

Graysith paused, drew in a deep breath, then threw out her arm in an imperious manner. "MwonBo'o!" the call rang out harshly, ringing throughout the ship and stabbing into the very core of Shayla's being. "Assist me!"

Mere seconds passed until the great tuk'ata clattered to her side. There he butted his head against her leg, offering her his great strength and loyalty. Mistress in need of This One being? he purred into her mind.

She reached down a slim hand to stroke his head. "See this...Padawan to her quarters, my pet, and see to it that she remains there."

Then, utterly dismissing them both, she turned back to her chair, sat down upon it, and waited for a response from the Hornett. But even as she waited, an unbidden thought crossed her mind in complete and surprising defiance of all that had just occurred:

You would no longer have found yourself alone with me....

[ 09-10-2001 01:23 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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But then he remembered why he was awoken the first time, as he realized there was a warm body near him. That would have made him smile, but now he was positive there were alarms sounding.

Suddenly, Galen sat bolt upright, an obvious flash of fear that he could see even in the darkness crossing her soft features.

"What is it?" he asked her, sitting up himself and trying to brush his blonde hair down with one hand.

"We gotta get out of here!" Galen said in a hushed whisper.

He wanted to ask why, but he had a bad feeling he'd know soon enough. Quickly, he got out of bed and threw on his robe and wandered across the room into the closet where he retreived some slippers and put them on his feet. With the same quickness, he came over to Galen, and extended a hand.

"We gotta go to the command deck, now," he told her.

As fast as he had moved she arose and got ready to leave. In only a few moments, his hand in hers and him slightly ahead of her, they were scurrying down the hallway to the main deck.

Terrin knew what it looked like. And everyone would be right. But he didn't care. Finding out the what the hell was going on was far more important.

By the time they hit deck, Matt Stanza, likewise dressed in a robe and looking half awake spotted Terrin and nearly ran to him, almost crashing into him. "Terrin, there's some strange shuttle out there. We don't know what the hell it is. And we can't scan it," the redheaded man blurted, obviously scared out of his mind. "It's hailing...you...says she has something you are looking for and wishes to...negotiate..." he ended, making an apparent effort to calm himself down.

Negotiate? If negotiations involved what he thought they might, this wasn't going to be a very pleasant discussion, for he would not yield. Terrin looked over at Galen questioningly, and she returned a more than petrified look at him.

Well, whatever it was out there, he'd HAVE to comply at least initially. Not responding to the enemy was generally a bad move. Although he was fairly certain this enemy was, in fact, Galen's Sith and Shayla's captor. But what the hell was he going to do?

"Matt," he said, his voice completely and utterly calm and hiding any fear but yet still betraying an edge of ice, "Start caculations for a jump into hyperspace to anywhere but here and have them locked in all shuttles and ready for use. Also, open me a comm channel with this...shuttle. If whomever is aboard that shuttle wants to talk, talk we shall."

With that order, Matt hurried off, and Terrin turned to look at Galen once again, sending an unasked question that he knew she'd hear regardless. What are we going to do?

[ 09-10-2001 11:12 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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Roughly, but without a hand or a paw ever being laid on her, Shayla was escorted back to her room, and pushed into it. The door slammed, this time locking. And she knew it guarded the door, and watched her every thought.

Every hope Shayla ever had of being free vaporized. She looked for an outlet for the anger she could no longer withstand, and it slammed into the one person she knew could feel it as much as she could.

Erik.

I trusted you! she thought angrily. I thought that you would be my solace, my support, my savior. But you are not. I'm doomed, and nothing you can do will ever stop it. What makes you think that anything you can do, in your weakness, will prevent my fate?

"Anger and agression, the dark side are they," she heard him say.

It's too late! she growled even without uttering a word. I needed you...I need you still. But you do not come. So you shall not have me, any longer, at all.

With that, Shayla erected a Force block, knowing Erik could not penetrate it. Certainly, she loved him even still. But she could not bear his reprimands and his touch any longer. She just couldn't.

With the quickness that she had directed her anger at her lover, she turned to another source.

Terrin.

You! she thought, fire flashing through her eyes. It is YOUR FAULT I am here, even now. You forced my return to the Praxeum by challenging my existence. Why can't you just leave me alone and let me be? And now you shall die with me!

She felt his presence, his calm, his fear. He was there, aboard the Hornett, almost certainly trying to figure some way out of this mess.

A mess he could never understand nor escape.

Then, another presence caught Shayla's attention. There was someone there, with him even now. Someone who somehow felt very familiar to her, as though they had met before.

But what was she doing there, aboard Terrin Danner's shuttle, and what part did she play in this horrid mess?

Feeling both confused and angry, a wave of fatique swept over Shayla. She laid back, and tried to relax, but the situation and the circumstances would not permit her to do so.

What WERE they doing here? And what fate indeed would she, Graysith, Terrin Danner, and this other collide with?

At last, the anger and confusion took over Shayla's exhausted mind, and the universe went black.

Completely, and utterly, black...

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Snarl I! Snarl I!

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Her senses led her straight to M'wonBo'o... and beyond. Following the link, she once more encountered confusion, chaos, despair, anger and fear... all within the darkened mind of Shayla.

Without realizing it, she was on her feet, beginning to pace about the somewhat small confines of her bridge. This aspect of her tuk'ata came as a great surprise to her... one which could prove to be useful in the future. His ability to link mentally with other beings appeared to be growing, swelling... and, ever loyal beast that he was, through these developing links he could easily keep her apprised of the repressed feelings and thoughts of others. That he could be utilized thus would be helpful in that no more would she have to remain aggressive in this regard; she could save her energies for other matters.

Such as the two matters now facing her.

A frown, almost borne of deep sadness, creased her forehead as she thought of Shayla. Once more she followed M'wonBo'o's link into the mind of the padawan... read so easily the conflict within... reveled in the dark despair, the growing anger and apparent hatred toward the one called Erik... as well as the other outside whose fleet she sat patiently waiting, like a whorl-spider calmly considering a gleeberfly trapped in its web.

Something deep was lurking there....

She thought briefly about fostering this hatred... of giving substantiation to the anger and fear.

Sat back with solid certainty. Glanced quickly at the chronometer, and reached out a delicate touch to open communications once again.

"Mr. Danner," she said sweetly. "Your time is up. No more negotiations.

"Give me Galen Jhin'Darr NOW, or suffer the consequences. The choice no longer is yours to decide."

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As those awful words came into my ears, the meaning inherent in them slammed home with such impetus I almost doubled over. Instead I clutched at Terrin's arm, looking up into his wonderful blue eyes, hoping to find surcease there.

I was not this frightened when I ran from Her with Sorben. I wasn't even this frightened when I was held captive in that hideous Temple on that even more hideous planet, where the renegade Noghri had done their utmost to break my spirit along with my life. Then I felt despair, overwhelming sadness, for that was when the truth had finally been quite literally beaten into me that I no longer had a sister. That Jharmeen Jhin'Darr was indeed no more...

...but now, now was different. Now I found myself practically overflowing with the absolute certainty that, no matter where I went, no matter who I tried to side or hide with, She would find me. Like a Nek on the trail of blood, or worse, with the deathly resolve of that unholy Beast she kept by her side, She would not remove herself from my trail until I was captured and my baby was dead.

I shuddered again, refusing to think what she would do to anyone getting in her way... or when, finally having me, in exactly what manner she would have her way.

Blinking the threatening tears out of my eyes, and trying to fling them from me altogether with a falsely defiant toss of my head, I looked again for an answer in Terrin's blue gaze.

What I saw there came as no surprise. Dishearteningly enough, it only served to deepen my fear.

In an unconscious move, devil take anyone who looked askance at us now!-- I took my grasp from his arm. Instead, hunkering as closely as I could, trying to draw his warm sanity into me, I wrapped my arms around him, turning my head to look at the viewscreen.

There it was, as I knew it would be. It's geometries somehow difficult to look upon, it's greeny-golden beauty a farce in comparison to the flaming wonders of the Universe, the little ship just hovered. Didn't move, didn't make any overt gesture of hostility.

I knew only too well of its capabilities. It didn't need to.

I swallowed quickly, willing my brain to kick into gear. Galen ol girl, you've flown one of those things. You know what it can do. THINK!

A thought.

I jerked my gaze back into Terrin's worried one. "Has- has that ship sent out any weird energy field in our direction?" I asked in a whisper, afraid that even across the vaccuum of space my words might somehow be heard.

Terrin looked to Matt, who held a quick conference with another crew member. My heart began to lift as, watching head after head shaking in the negative, I realized we might have one small hope.

She is strong, but not totally invincible. Her arrogance may be her only weakness....

"If that energy field touches us, it imbeds a molecular homing device into the very stuff our ships are made of. Apparently she either has forgotten it, or thinks she doesn't need it.

"Get us out of here now, Terrin! Anywhere!

"We desperately need time to think and plan, and now's our only chance."

[ 09-22-2001 03:21 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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