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+---- Thread: Behind Enemy Lines (Day Three) (/showthread.php?tid=369)
Behind Enemy Lines (Day Three) - Akirapryde - 03-26-2017
Behind Enemy Lines (Day Three)
Covert Action (Duncan/Jaden)
Outer Rim World of Olivan
Date: 2919 AOK (Eight months after Auro’s Birthday)
In the distance, the Jedi Temple of Olivan was lit up by its own lights as well as by those of the Twenty-Seventh. The combination of lights cast an eerie glow in the sky. A glow that the strike team of Partisans found comforting. The mixed Olivanee, Rogue Jedi group tried to get as much sleep as they could before their big mission later in the morning. The wings of the LAAT were being used to shield them from the rain, as the annual downpour continued. Though there were some minor breaks in the clouds indicating a break in the rain tomorrow. Something everyone was looking forward to.
Beyond everyone’s sight, a small human girl dressed in a bright yellow dress danced to some unheard music. The bright happiness in her eyes radiated across her smile. She moved between the sleeping members of the strike team like a ghost. Her hair unaffected by the rain, it flowed from her body as she turned and continued her dance. Behind her, she left no footprints nor did the water even ripper where she stepped. She came to a stop next to Jaden and Duncan. She slowly lowered herself as Duncan started to stir. She smiled and whispered, “sleep.” On that, Duncan slowly lowered his head and went back to sleep.
She reached down and picked up a flower that had been crushed as the Strike team made their beds under the speeder. She sighed softly and moved her hand over the broken flower. The local flower was a bright blue flower with purple and pink throughout the design. But it was broken and ugly. She waved her hand over the flower. As she did, her hand glowed as did the flower. Slowly it returned to a prefect state as if it had just been picked. She reached over and placed it in his hand, “you will know when” she whispered in to Jaden’s ear.
She brought her hands up towards her lips and kissed them. As she did, small little lights drifted from her lips and danced over Jaden. She smiled at the lights, “guide him” she whispered and gave them a soft blow with her lips. The lights started to dance over Jaden as she stood up and backed away from him. Though them, Jaden heard a strange sound. It was as if a lovely voice was singing to him. Jaden said nothing as the lights woke him up.
It was if he was lost in a trance as the lights danced around him. As the lights started to move away, Jaden reached over to his brother and tried to wake him. Duncan didn’t stir as Jaden tried to keep the lights in sight. He tried again to wake Duncan but nothing happened. “To hell with it” he said getting up and chasing after the singing lights. It seemed the faster he run, the faster they moved. Jaden ran through the rain soaked forest of Olivan as he chased the lights.
Jaden had to sprint as fast as he could to just keep the light in sight. He leaped over fallen trees and slid under low hanging branches. He could hear the music almost as if it was completely around him. He chased the lights till they slowed and started to dim. But the music remained the same. As he started to reach a clearing he also slowed down, as the lights completely vanished. But the music didn’t go away. Jaden slowed as he had to crawl under thick foliage to get through. He never realized why he was favoring one hand, he just knew that he would know when.
He reached the heart of the clearing and Jaden saw a large force illusion at work. It was the source of the music. He knew it was only an illusion of his eyes and ears. There were a dozen figures made up of a ghostly blue mist playing strange instruments while others were singing in a strange language. He tried to get a better view of the figures, but then saw through them the source of the illusion. It was Trysta!
The figures were of her own people and had encircled her. While they were not as provocative as her outfit was, they were dressed similarly. Trysta was lost in the illusion as she continued to sing her song with the aid of her own people. She had taken mud and made strange marks on her face. Similar marks on the faces and bodies of the ghostly figures around her. As she sang with them, she spun madly almost as if she was singing for Olivan’s two moons.
Trysta's song
Within moments her song was over and she suddenly turned at a strange feeling. She half drew her swords but stopped when she saw Jaden. “Spying on me,” she said half playing half surprised. She pushed her blades back in to their sheaf. She turned and walked to a near by stream to wash her face off.
Beyond the clearing and beyond their vision, the little girl smiled as she watched the scene unfold. A tall woman dressed in a deep blue robe walked up behind her. A lightsaber hung from her side. “We do not approve of this nor did We did agree to this.”
The girl turned and smiled, “We have talked about the next conflict. Should we fail, we should be ready for the next conflict.” She turned back to the scene, "to remain ahead of the darkness."
“We agreed that we would focus our efforts on this conflict so that we don't loss it,” the older woman said.
“it’s love,” the little girl said as she motioned to Jaden and Trysta. “It was meant to be.”
“These events were never meant to be. He and his brother were meant to have been killed two days ago,” the older woman warned. "Their deaths would trigger other events that would press the balance in the favor of the Light." The older woman stepped closer to the girl as she continued, “our actions have changed the time stream. Darkness has detected these changes. It searches for the source of the change.”
The girl shook her head, “We found a window that their deaths didn’t happen. This is not a change. It is only a Deviationfrom the actually stream. We choose to explore it. If not for this conflict, for the next one.”
“Deviation? He is supposed to be dead. In a few days, she will battle Auro on the roof top and later that day she will die. Killed by her own kind." The older woman stepped in front of the girl. "This is a change. As for the windows we speak of. We have been warned about those windows. The danger that comes with them. We are risking much more than just the moment.”
The little girl side stepped as she wanted to see more in to the clearing, "we don’t care. These events have happened and cannot be changed. We have made sure of that." She turned to the older woman, "they deserve love. Their descendants will be heroes within their own right. Darkness nor Light can change this now. We have found a way to protect this window." On that she faded from existence leaving the older woman alone near the clearing.
The older woman sighed heavily, "we are being foolish." With that, she was also gone.
RE: Behind Enemy Lines (Day Three) - Jaden_Starchaser - 03-27-2017
Jaden broke out of the stupor he was in from seeing the strange dance and hearing her melodious singing after he heard her speak. He came out from his spot with a sheepish look on his face and rubbed the back of his neck with his right hand. He thought it strange he wasn't using his dominant left hand the whole time he was going through the trees and branches, but all he knew he would know when the time came. "Yeah, sorry about that. I heard...," he paused. He was going to omit the part of the lights, but why lie? "I woke up to see these lights dancing in front of me. They guided me over here where I saw your dance and those people and heard your song."
RE: Behind Enemy Lines (Day Three) - Akirapryde - 03-27-2017
"Lights uh," she questioned as she lowered herself along the bank of the stream. "If you say so, magical lights that guided you here at this very moment." She gave a slight laugh, "I will give you an A for originality."
Trysta sighed as she scooped up water in her cupped hands. She splashed it over her face and used it to wash away the mud markings. "When I was little girl, back home, it was a song that was song to the Crone," she said point to the twin moons.
"It was the first time I sung that song since I left home," he paused trying not to allow the visions to flood her memory. "It was a life time ago."
RE: Behind Enemy Lines (Day Three) - Jaden_Starchaser - 03-27-2017
"I know it sounds like I was doing spice or something, but believe me it happened," Jaden said while walking up to her. He continued, "Your song and dance was beautiful. Do you mind if I ask more about it? "
RE: Behind Enemy Lines (Day Three) - Akirapryde - 03-27-2017
Trysta finished washing the mud off her face, "do you see that light over there in the distance," she said pointing to a rotating light near the Headquarters of the Twenty Seventh. "Each time there is a new Commander of the watch, that light turns off and on twice before resuming normal operations."
Once she was sure he knew what she was talking about she continued, "you have till that light goes off to ask me anything you wish. I will speak truthfully. But I warn you, lie to me and that will be the end of it."
She reached down once more with her hands and scooped up some water. She slowly took a sip, "ahhhhh," I love the water here. It reminds me of where we would train back on Fray. There was a creek just at the boarder of the field. We used to bath and play in that creek after Training."
She looked up to the moons, "it was the only times I could remember where I truly felt safe."
RE: Behind Enemy Lines (Day Three) - Jaden_Starchaser - 03-27-2017
Jaden came up beside her and sat next to her. He had thousands of thoughts and questions burning in his mind. He went with what he believed was the most important. "Tell me about Fray," he began, "what had happened there that led you and many others to where you are now?"
RE: Behind Enemy Lines (Day Three) - Akirapryde - 03-27-2017
Trysta had to fight the urge to cut him down right then and there. Instead she drew in a deep breath and choose to fight back the horrors locked in her memory. "Sorry Legend Slayer," she said trying to be playful but she couldn't.
She shifted on her feet as she turned and leaned up against a fallen tree. There were so many memories to fight back. Instead of fighting them all, she decided to talk about something she felt she could. "Fray is where my sister died" she finally said in defeat. Her voice soft and filled with sorrow.
"There was a Civil War, and we at the Academy were tasked with protecting a local noble as she was transported back to her home city. Auro Syrdash led the mission. My sister was chosen to go with him." She looked up at the rain falling from the havens and uttered a silent prayer for the rain that concealed her own tears. "They were shot down. No one knew what happened to her. She was presumed Killed In Action." She looked Jaden in the eyes, "I never once blamed Auro for her death. I blamed the woman we were tasked with protecting, with Kayla's death. Later in the war, our Academy was attacked. I felt the call, that temptation, that voice calling me. It was so, so strong and authoritative. It was all that my sister was, strong and sure. I didn't want to obey, but I felt I had to."
She looked up to the sky once more as the rain washed over her face, "I reached out through the force and grabbed one of the attackers. I could feel his life in my hand. I could feel the beat of his heart. I could see his fears, his hopes, his dreams. In that moment I know more about him than that woman he claimed to love. It was in that moment, I saw her face. The woman we were suppose to protect. The woman my sister died for." She looked back to Jaden, "I saw her as real as I see you now. And I would have killed him if it wasn't for Auro."
She took a moment to calm her voice and gather up some strength. "After the war, we got new leadership at the Academy. I begged them to send a mission to find her. To find my sister's body." She drifted her gaze down as she continued. "They told me that I should hold on to my attachments. It was Graff and the other Blades that understood my pain. He led us in to the heart of Fray's jungles in search of her."
"A month later, we found her. Stuck in a tree with a branch through h......her....." Her voice broke as she tried to continue. Her tears flowed as she hid her face from him with her knees, "I remember begging to the Three Goddess, that she died on impact. Because I couldn't bare to know that she was stuck up their slowly dying while animals bit pieces of flesh from her."
She fell silent for a moment as she pulled back the pain and fought to stop the tears, "Graff used his own money so that I could get transportation back home. So that I could take her back to our forests where her people will watch over her spirit."
She looked up at Jaden once more, "When no one else would lift a finger for me. The Saberblades, Graff, Jenna, Frija, all of them, defied orders and followed me in to the darkest parts of those jungles to find my sister. I can't speak for anyone else, but that is the reason why I am where I am now. I will lay down my life for them. They are my family."
RE: Behind Enemy Lines (Day Three) - Jaden_Starchaser - 03-28-2017
Jaden noticed the tears in her eyes, felt the pain in her voice as she spoke. It confirmed what he knew whenever she spoke of her sister in the past tense. He knew he can never fully understand her pain, but he remembered the voice that called to him when he believed his brother to be dead. He could relate to that. He got up and took her in his arms. That's when he finally noticed what was in his left hand. A beautiful blue petaled flower that had purple and pink going through it that despite having been in there the whole time had not had any damage done to it. "Do you know how a flower starts out? Just a little seed. One little seed that can be easily crushed or consumed before it could begin to gestate and bloom. It takes the right soil, the right amount of water and sunlight, and sometimes the right person to help it along. But when all those things happen," at this he presents her with the flower, "it becomes something truly beautiful." He looked into her eyes as he said all this and wiped a stray tear off her face.
RE: Behind Enemy Lines (Day Three) - Akirapryde - 03-28-2017
As Jaden moved closer towards Trysta and took her in to his arms, her whole body tended up. It was beyond uncomfortable for her to be there as he held her. Deep in the back of her mind that specter slowly started to claw it's way back in to her consciousness. Her muscles slowly tightened as her mind fought back urges to strike back at that monster.
She could barely focus on his words as that shadowy monster from her memory continued to claw it's way from its prison in her mind. 'He will hurt you, just like you have been in the past. Kill him' that voice demanded of her.
Her eyes focused on the flower, as her mind fought back against the voice. Her heart rate increased as her body reached a point of flight or fight. Her hand reached up towards her sword hilts. Instead, she placed and hand on his chest and pushed him back. More forcibly than she had wanted, as she took a step back.
She turned away from him to hide the fear that slowly room hold of her heart, "don't ever do that again" she said looking down at the flower. The flower was beautiful, but her eyes were o her shaking hands. She drew in a deep breath, as her mind started to clear. "You know, the same thing can be said about darkness."
Her hands carefully traced the sides of the flower as she continued, "I have ever heard of the Gifts of Darkness?"
RE: Behind Enemy Lines (Day Three) - Jaden_Starchaser - 03-28-2017
Jaden felt her body tense when he held her. When she pushed him back he saw she had the look of a cornered animal debating on fighting or running. He questioned why she turned from him and meant to bring it up when he heard her words. "The gift of darkness?"