SithLore

On a transporter bound for the space station just outside of Lothal’s atmosphere sat a girl with her fingers laced nervously. She was a young woman, no older than nineteen or so with long ashen blonde hair that of which hid her eyes and the majority of her heart shaped face. Her shoulders drooped with exhaustion and her hollow stares suggested that a good night’s sleep had been alluding her for days. Anxious didn’t even begin to explain how tense the girl was. Her nervous energy was nearly a tangible presence around her, body jumping when the shuttle lunged free from the gravity of the planet it birthed from.

“Miss? Are you quite alright?” The man seated behind her leaned forward to inquire about her rigid posture, to which the young woman replied abruptly, “I’m fine. Thank you.” But she wasn’t fine. Who would be alright after being chased from their family home by a man claiming that the force revealed her to him? She’d been reliving it hour by hour ever since her escape…





“Kressara!!! RUN!!! RUN!!!” Her father’s screams were silenced with the vicious hum of a scarlet saber, the same one which claimed the life of her mother just moments before. Her heart twisted in agony, holding her breath and trying to stay quiet in her hiding place. Two men appeared at the farm not long ago, an older Devaronian and a younger human with scars on his face. That’s when the carnage started. Kressara found a quiet place on the farm to hide from their guests like she usually did, being that she never did care for social interactions, and so her parents had the misfortune of greeting them first. The older assailant was the one to take their lives while his younger counterpart searched for her.

“Such a pity. Had you shown yourself sooner perhaps these lives could have been spared.” The Devaronian’s voice carried throughout the barn. He continued with a cackle and a wicked sneer. “However meaningless their existence beyond this point would have been.” Pain wrenched Kressara’s guts and her head swam, shaking like the whole world had turned to ice. Her parents were dead, their murderers were toying with her, and she was certain that it would only be a matter of time before her own blood stained the floors with them. A red blade blared to life from the crates stacked behind her and burned the skin on the top of her shoulder.





Kressara startled in her seat and whipped her head around to stare wide eyed at the passenger behind her. The man blinked hard to refocus his eyes on her after looking up from his datapad, prodding, “Are you sure you’re alright?” She didn’t know how to answer him and after having a look around to reaffirm that she was indeed on a shuttle and not back in the barn with the men who killed her family, the girl nodded and apologized. Her attention returned to the window by her seat, watching the world she grew up on shrinking into the distance. A burning sensation on her shoulder irritated Kressara and she lifted her hand to rub the wound hidden well beneath her clothes. The future was so uncertain with the loss of her parents and her childhood home. She could still smell the smoke of the fires she started. She could still hear the screams of the apprentice she mangled.

After the younger man stabbed at her through the wall of crates Kressara had been hiding behind she bolted for the nearest exit. The Devaronian blocked her path and up the stairs to the second story of the barn she ran. He egged his youthful accomplis on and Kressara weaved through machinery to escape the wild swings of his lightsaber. In his haste to bring harm upon the girl she vanished in the maze of equipment and boxes. “Search your feelings for her, my apprentice! Bring me the girl!” The older one commanded. He must not have searched hard enough, because Kressara leapt out from behind a control panel and shoved the apprentice over the railing onto a large machine below. He might have been unharmed from his fall had not Kressara turned the grinder on before plunging herself out of the second story loading doors onto some chaff piles below.

The awful sounds he made haunted her still. Had they not been murderers who were out for blood Kressara might actually feel remorse for what she did. Her only true regret was that she didn’t disable the Devaronian. It wasn’t for lack of trying. While the murderer tried to shut down the machinery which crippled his accomplis Kressara broke open a fuel tank by the barn and lifted the busted hose into the window. The rest was up in smoke when that fuel reached the heated core of the machinery’s main engine. After she was certain the flames would distract her enemy Kressara willfully lost herself for the first time in years and didn’t stop running until civilization rose above the horizon. She was certain that the killer lived though. She felt it...she felt him stalking after her like a beast of prey for hours after she fled. A couple of days later and she somehow got herself on a shuttle heading for a space station where a larger ship would ferry her into the unknown. She went to the home of a trusted client for fast medical attention and spare clothes, sold her grandmother’s ring for a ticket off of the planet, and now here she was waiting in a shuttle full of strangers and bad memories.

At this point the girl was running on autopilot, zoning out and rethinking her own tragedy over and over again until the shuttle docked with the station. She hardly noticed any time passed until the rumbling of the thrusters jarred her from her reverie. The passengers embarked from their transport and with them Kressara wandered aimlessly into the crowded terminal. The device in her hand beeped and a holographic screen popped up with the side scrolling words, “Your ship is now accepting passengers in terminal C, dock 7. Please proceed to your destination. Thank you!”

Kressara’s heart sank. She just wanted to hide from it all in some soundless corner of the station. Kressara knew better. She’d never be able to pick herself back up again in time to reach a safe place. Bracing herself inwardly the wayward wanderer forced her feet to carry her into the bustling crowd.

Lothal- a temperate planet that was heavily populated by the excess of carbon and other hazardous breathable scum that danced in and through the fibers of air on this city-filled planet. It was a business place, a gambling place, and overall something he was only partially interested.
Everything else within Lord Blood cried out for release from such putrid conditions.

The Sith Lord was dressed in a silken dress shirt, deep garnet sewn through chic threads, giving an illusion of a black shirt until he was just under the glow of some illumination. His slacks were a plain black, being just tapered comfortably over nice shined leather business shoes. Beneath this attire however, was a light chain link level of stolen beskar, mail that was cushioned over basic cotton to prevent alerting or lousy noise. Jet black hair was left in a well brushed tail behind the nape of his neck, trailing an onyx mane of hair between broad shoulder blades and only long enough to be 'over-average' length. Atop the chiseled face of the handsome 24 year old man, a pair of golden gems scanned through a few pictures of the Loth-Wolf almost lazily. He had studied all of what he could on the beats, and he found them to be more interesting than the rest of the organics on the planet, whether it be humans, aliens, plants, or anything else that inhaled and exhaled this disgusting air.

Then it happened...He looked up from the holowatch with an intense stare just ahead of him. The pupils dialated as his vision became more direct on the lessened level of light, but his gaze was like that of a hungry wolf, itself. That scent, that wild perfume of wild....wild..
energy...
Force energy...
Potential..

"I’m fine. Thank you."

Feminine voice. Youthful. Innocent, seemingly. Almost...timid? Several whiffs he pulled to himself in the Force, but in all his inhalations he found nothing but more questions salivating for answers. She was a seat ahead of him, whoever this voice was. Whoever this beacon of untapped potential was. And the untamable urge to simple capture her ear, to sing her a song of false promises and eased pains, to woo her with promises of unstoppable power, it came and lulled him into something that erased completely his mission on the forfront of his mind, and replaced it with a new incentive.

Capture this woman's mind...
And add her to the Pack.

Blood stood seconds before the ship docked, his senses revving into a hyperaware state. His Senses caught every radiation others who were near him emanated as they passed around him, the man who took his time getting off of the ship. He took his time, just as she did hers. Careful eyes that remained on her form only just so it was unfelt, he kept stride with her. Not too much time had passed before he had made it into the terminal, just behind her. The wicked messiah, seconds being spared, ran through an entire flurry of options he had for captivating this woman. Timid prey often fled, and he had both witnessed it and experienced it. Occasionally he enjoyed the hunt, but oftentimes he relished time more than wasted it. His patience thinned the more manic he was in his pursuits, and oftentimes he reacted to the chase with fury rather than enjoyment.

But today, his card would be subtle, kind, alluring...
Kind
kINd
.....Ki...nd...

With a curious voice, the Sithian spoke out to her, not touching her as to give her a startle. Baritones roamed almost quietly, but seeming to be meant only for her.
Just her.

"Excuse me, ma'am, do you have a second?"

A gentle twinkle beckoned in his eyes, illusive and almost honest those golden eyes seemed, his head tilted a slight cant. Would she oblige?
Or would the chase commence?

After all the hunting, this place seems decent enough...

A silvery grey eye peered around the terminal as he stood watching the crowds. His right hidden beneath an eye patch, a single scar graced his handsome face, from left ear to the corner of his mouth. Any other scars hidden beneath the patch and darker clothing, his chest was a bit more rigid in appearance from the minute armor he wore. He felt naked, to be fair. He preferred having heavier things on nowadays. And to make matters worse, with the knowledge that a few Sith were nearby, he had needed to hide himself from them... (Force Mask)

"The view may be stunning, but I'd have rather brought one of my ships..." he said softly, a low rumble of words. Terminal C was a bustle of activity, but it seemed to thin, a bit better toward dock 7, that suited him better, perhaps. He could travel to someplace a lot of people weren't going, then get a ride from there. Maybe it'd put him in range to the Arcus, then he could call Sevenate and have him pick them up-- he paused as his eye fell on one figure in particular, and his brow went up, immediately in interest...

You haven't looked at many like that in ages...

"Shut up, no one asked you..." he murmured, "Besides, there's something bothering her..."

I can feel something dark... tainting her, hunting her perhaps? With her even now...

"Guess that means I should introduce myself," he said with a roll of his eye, as he moved toward the girl, his line merged into hers, and he wound up behind her as they boarded the shuttle. "A person can travel all over the galaxy, and not escape their own mind," he said simply in greeting, he offered her a warm enough smile. "Hi, I'm Colton Hunter, you can just call me Colt... are we going anywhere interesting?" he asked her, looking up at the terminal... nope, he had already passed the location's name. Seemed like Colt didn't care where he was going.

"Guess it'll be what we make it, hm?" he asked her. His eye paused, however, as he heard another voice, turning his attention toward Lord Blood... the man with dual identities... he hadn't seen Colt's face yet, and with his Force signature already hidden and concealed, he had nothing to identify him with, thus far. He looked the man over briefly, then bowed his head a bit in greeting before taking his own seat, nearby.

Kressara’s eyes were darting every which way in search of her dock when a voice stole her from her dazed state of mind. Her chin jerked to face the man with the eyepatch, her own golden chartreuse eyes boring into him with a level of anxiety that would unnerve most. The intensity of her hazel glare didn’t so much soften as it simply retreated back into the confines of her chaotic mind like a monster reclusing back into the shadows. What had he said? What did he mean by that? Her nerves shot through the roof at his mention of running and with quite some effort she suppressed her urge to throw something at him and launch herself into yet another long winded run. Truthfully she didn’t have it in her, or at least she didn’t think she could run again. Two days of running without sleep would do that to even a well trained individual, much less a farm girl. The man introduced himself before Kressara could inquire about his probing question. Colton Hunter, an interesting name. He seemed like a vagabond sort to the girl, though she hadn’t had the chance to meet many others like him by comparison.

“My name is Kressara Thryn...It’s not my mind I’m leaving behind. Well...maybe.” She seemed unsure of that statement.

“This ship is bound for Ganthel.” Kressara muttered. Not very talkative that one. She was fully prepared to begin ignoring Mr. Hunter until he announced his intentions to hang around by boarding the ship as well.

“Excuse me, ma'am, do you have a second?”

A sickeningly innocent voice of masculine tone slithered by her ear and in a movement as fast as the rise in Kressara’s blood pressure she dodged away from Blood. Kressara caught those golden eyes of his before she took notice of anything else about him, like something of his being had been visible to her from behind his eyelids and the girl wasn’t about to let it escape her sights before she identified just what she was looking at. She’d seen eyes like those before only days prior. The flaxen haired girls energy changed as soon as the revelation hit her, shifting from uncomfortable to angry, erratic, and scared. This man was dangerous. Everything from his far too elegant attire to the aura he gave off. Had not she just escaped two devils with the same dark energy radiating off of them, she may have fallen into the trap his dulcet behavior laid. The girl only looked between the two like she was choosing the better of two evils.

On one hand a man with the same eyes as those who murdered her family, his dangerously eloquent tone of voice sending shivers down her spine...and on the other hand, small talk with a stranger. Call it insane if you must, but Kressara actually had to think for a second on which situation would be worse. She opened her mouth to answer the alluringly terrifying stranger but stalled without saying a word. Closing it again she took a second to think and the device in her hand blinked once again to call for passengers. Her eyes narrowed in his direction and speaking truthfully she answered, “Actually...I don’t. Sorry.”

She then looked down to Colton Hunter and nodded, awkwardly blurting, “Good afternoon.” Before turning her back on the both of them and hastily entering into the docking bay where the ship to Ganthel was waiting.

Don’t follow me. Don’t follow me. DON’T FOLLOW ME. Her internal dialogue repeated as she crossed the hanger and bounded up onto the ship. It was a great deal larger than the shuttle from before, being that it had rooms for its passengers to sit, dine, and sleep during their journey through the stars. Kressara turned in her ticket and rushed to the farthest room from the entrance of the ship. Tucking herself away into the empty room which consisted of a round table in the corner with curved booth seating and a row of cushioned seats lining the opposing wall, Kressara would seat herself at the table and bury her face in her hands.

“I wish this had never happened.” She mumbled against her palms and raked her hands upwards into her hair, lifting her bangs from her face and brushing them back to reveal her sharp facial features.

Noffiti had followed Blood onto the ship, being careful to concentrate on getting rid of her signature. She knew he could sense her and though he hadn't taught her that skill yet she figured if she focused enough she could do it. She had no clue why he had gotten on the ship but her curiosity had gotten the better of her. So she had followed him and tried to dress not so Sith like. It was rather hard when most of her clothes were from Sojourn. She wore a black dress with a grey cape over her shoulders. She had gloves that reached her elbows and simple black shoes. She had removed every braid from her hair and styled it back into a bun. It was completely unlike her, but it made her seem less threatening. Less like an obvious Sith Padawan.

When she slipped into the ship unnoticed she found the girl Blood had been talking to. She looked distressed and her darkness sneered at the displayed weakness. Noffiti mentally batted it away and approached the girl. She reached into her satchel and pulled out a glass vial. It contained a powder with dried leaves. She extended the vial to the stranger. "Take it. It helps calm nerves and ease muscles." She sat down beside her and smiled warmly. "My name is Tam." She gave the girl a false name. If Blood had hoped to recruit her she'd then give her true name to the girl. For now it was best that she remained anonymous.

Just as time slipped away from him, the Sith Lord had watched the emotions not only morph within her chest, but across her face as well. Was he so far gone as to not appear even normal, anymore? A sigh gave himself up as he relaxed his rigidly 'too straight' posture. He had assumed he had done atleast somewhat decent approach to normalcy; seems he would have to try less, next time. Tired eyes turned to the stranger that she had been with that he somehow hadn't managed to notice until now.

Handsome fellow, slightly shorter than his own 6"4' height, dark shoulder pelt with a hidden eye, while the other was silver. His Son had a silver eye; how peculiar of him to meet another Silver eye. Immediately his Force went to sniffing this man out, precarious in his search, wondering how exactly he had come across this woman whom he too, was interested in.
The Force rove all over this man, every crevice and every nook, searching for any specific scent it could identify this stranger to be.
Nothing.
Bland. He was an ordinary mortal.

Hm. On one hand, he was interested in this normal man, some sense of unknown poking and prodding Blood's own memory, looking for any trace of this man. On the other hand, he was irritated that he happened to be someone his prey had run into, as well. Now was not the time to address the man.

Bella had come to join him, the newly planted bud of Potential he had plucked from a different ground not too long ago. It seemed she was making herself well established being with him, but she had boldly gone up and offered not only a vial to the woman with unknown contents in them, no doubt something with herbs and such as was her interest, but she gave the woman words, as well. Blood found this even more forthright than his own 'subtle' approach. Internally, he cursed everything near and far, as he considered this stealth to have been blown, not only with the introduction of this random man to where he couldn't get this girl alone with him, but the unpredictability of his newest pupil.

The confirmation lie in those last words before she turned and left the group with “Actually...I don’t. Sorry.”

Wretched curr...

Blood watched her go, and with more or less of bared fangs at the man who was there as well, he and Belladonna pursued this woman. Not a meter away, Blood watched her board the just-arrived shuttle and flew through more of his options. He only had a single one he could snatch from the reel, and that was to continue his pursuit of her. But how would he be careful about it? Careful...
Such a pointless thing. She had already dismissed him, and his pride hadn't handled that very well. He could feel his own irritation building up from it. His strides had become more direct, no loft or casual strait in those classily dressed limbs. Snatching a ticket from his left pocket, he threw it at the Falleen who was taking them through an automatic machine, and shoved another on in the box for his pupil. Then, he stomped onto the ship, his golden eyes narrowed as he searched for this girl.

In his search, the Force pulled and pushed through every strand of scent that was stuffed into the hold of this shuttle, and further in the back the Sun Pelt had been picked up. And towards the back, he went. She was sitting there, almost hidden behind the scenes of what all was happening on this Ship, but Blood took no problem tuning it all out; he was here for her, and her, alone.

"It would be wise for you," he said, standing opposite of her, arms crossed over his chest as he looked down at her. "If you took a minute of your time to listen to what I have to say."

His hands, ungloved for once in his attire, began to seem to darken, paling at first as they lost their humanistic color, then greying, until they eventually form beneath the cuffs of his sleeves, inky dark onyx spread downwards to his fingers. The Dark Side was easily summoned by him now, and he found the more he did it, the more effects it dramatically called across his features. It threatened to curl it's influence though his irises, the gold on edge of unnaturally yellowing, and only a hair away from wrapping the pupil in that infamous scarlet glow. His restraint, however, was clear in his lack of attack.

"Because I can't guarentee you will have the oppertunity to make a choice of your own free will, much longer."

Perhaps the girl could indeed sense his corruption through the force, but what she saw in his eyes was neither a gift of the force nor a fluke. She recognized them simply by the spirit they housed. Kressara was no doubt force sensitive and perhaps in time she could learn to use her connection to the force in a way that would allow her to read those around her like a book, but never once had she been made aware of such potential. What she used to her advantage now was none other than a simple judge of character. She often spent hours in the past analyzing guests on the farm from afar, or people watching when her father asked her to journey into town with him to bring in a new shipment. She’d developed a skill for discerning personalities by body language and the way they watched others. This man was a predator. He was dangerous and for some reason he wanted Kressara’s undivided attention. This would not do, and so she ran. Using her ticket as an excuse to retreat from the man was the best she could come up with in the time she was given and now hiding in the back of the ship seemed her only viable option.

Everything was going according to plan until…

“Take it. It helps calm nerves and ease muscles.” Another stranger just waltzed into her personal bubble. Was the entire universe so chummy? Was everyone so eager to chat up random travelers who clearly didn’t want to speak with anyone? Dear god, what has she done? Kressara had a cynical thought run through her mind...maybe she should go live out her life on some outer rim moon as a hermit.

The girl seemed normal enough, lacking the superior sense of ill will that Blood had portrayed unknowingly, but still Kressara didn’t want anything to do with her. Forcing a polite smile the girl answered, “Thank you.” And slipped the vile into her asymmetric coat pocket opposite the newcomer. Kressara had no intentions of taking her strange drug, but taking the vile from her and placing it out of her reach seemed like a smart decision. “My name is Kressara…” She trailed off. There seemed to be more to that sentence, but the girl awkwardly ended it without any shown interest in talking further. This isn’t to say she didn’t pay attention to the stranger in the booth beside her. Kressara had tabs on her through her shaggy bangs and watch every movement like a hawk. This girl was odd, like something about her just didn’t belong. Maybe it was her entire being? Kressara couldn’t put her finger on it, but the young woman seemed to be acting like something she genuinely wasn’t.

And then the big bad wolf of a man came storming into the room like Kressara had insulted the integrity of every last ancestor in his family tree. Her chartreuse eyes widened as she began to realize there was nowhere to run now. She was cornered in a booth by a girl trying to offer her drugs and a man with hellfire in his soul. These were the sort of people her parents warned her about as a child, she just knew it. Kressara couldn’t just stand up due to the table fixed in place above her lap and the girl at her side blocking one of the ways out. The only other option she had was to slide out the other end of the booth and maybe try to...no that wouldn’t work. The room was so small that all of them could touch hands if they reached out at once. There was no chance she’d slip past the large male blocking her escape.

His words tainted her mind with fear and a shiver skittered up and down her spine. These people were going to be the death of her.

“What do you want?” She spoke lowly, as if trying to sound intimidating but failing due to her own tense nerves. The girl was so high strung you could have nocked an arrow on her and fired it. The darkness radiating from his hands and clouding around his visage did not go unnoticed. Kressara’s own energy seemed to react without her knowing, tense, pent up, angry fear welling up around her like a defense mechanism.

She knew deep down there was no escape this time.

Noffiti slammed her hands on the table and looked up at Blood with anger. He was obviously scaring her too much. Sure she had been scared when she first met him, but she was mostly scared of her own self, not him. She stood up and thinned her lips. The movement had caused several of her blond hairs to fall from her bun.

"You're scaring her! You! Blood, you need to learn when to care about people's feelings!" She had so easily slipped into character that she started to become Tam, letting Noffiti and Belladonna fade into nothing. "And don't you dare say anything about how you must do this! It's very clear she doesn't want you near her. If you must sit in a different area, but not here." She pointed her hand to the door, letting him know that his presence was not needed here. She smoothed her hairs behind her ears and calmed her breathing. Noffiti was gone, Tam had surfaced full force and smothered the Sith Padawan completely.

OOC: DID. Dissociative Identity Disorder or Multiple Personality Disorder. A condition where a person's identity is fragmented into two or more distinct personality states. That's what Noffiti has. Just thought you should know.

Colt watched the man carefully.

"There you go, you chased that lovely lady away, came on a bit strong, didn't you?" he asked Blood, he kept his hold on the Force, holding it close to his chest, before he moved to stand and stretch, the man moved to follow, and Colt sighed. "Easy buddy, you need to learn to take no for an answer, she's definitely getting creeped out by you," he said, he'd follow just a bit, making sure the girl knew he'd be on her side in this. He didn't want a fight to break out on a shuttle, or in the terminal... he'd try to avoid that.

"How 'bout I get you a drink... think this barge has anything strong?" he asked, he smiled toward the woman, and paused at the sight of the girl he had met briefly... his armor had been heavier then, golden, with the helmet that concealed his face... but she had not... and Blood had goaded her into shooting a man in cold blood... still, there was perhaps hope.

"Why don't you listen to the girl, pal, c'mon..." he offered, perhaps Blood would listen to one of his own. "I think I like her too," he added, grinning that lopsided grin of his.

((OOC: Sorry, was at work, I'll post multiple times in a day, please try not to skip over me, I'm not gone yet ))

Whatever grace of sanity that he had had been tested and that thin thread had snapped as quickly as the hair of an eyelash. Without even reconsideration of Kressara's own opinions on the matter, Blood had pulled a now obsidian shaded hand from between the crook of his left arm, the right arm being raised from the tight position. The Dark Side was lividly powerful as his temper soared through the roof of the shuttle, and the lights began to dim as he pulled within him the extreme levels of energy. The fear Kressara had radiated only helped to fuel his might, the lights beginning to dim even more specifically where they were.

Shadows twists unnaturally across the floor, and just as shade seemed to obscure the majority of sight, Blood raised his right hand, and with it, Noffiti would not only feel her throat being obstructed by an unseeable force, but she would feel her own feet leave the darkening floor, as well.

Blood had no tolerance for disrespect, and once they returned to Sojourn, she would surely see how costly her words were. It didn't matter what cover they were supposedly supposed to be hidden underneath or behind, what role they could try to play, whatever it may be,
But Blood surely would handle this, and if she survived his wrath, then she should most certainly watch her mouth afterwards.

After a minute and a half of rending this disrespectful initiate of his airless, he released his grip from her. Without even sparing Belladonna a glance, he spoke softly to her, the baritones thick with his desire to simple kill her.

"Ready a ship for our departure."

The Sith Lord returned his attention to Kressara, and with a sigh, he reached forward and made to grab her arm and pull her from the seat so they could get off the ship before it took off.

"There will be questions from you that I have no issue answering, but I rather you not get on my nerves, girl. That chance of you having your own free will has just unfortionately been voided."


[OOC: Sorry there, Colt, I saw Kress post again, and I thought you and her talked out you leaving- My bad~]


Posting Order:


Kressara
Blood
Colt
Noffiti

From this point forward, no one will post again until Colt catches up with post. Noffit, is next after him. Then Kressara.