SithLore

Basking in the song of the forest, she listened and waited. Quietly humming, Jade waited like a predator in the dark, emmeralds glittering in the dark. How can you tell what the hunt looks like? The stillness of the night, broken constantly by the melody of life and death, was calming for the huntress. Oddly in peace, she observed in silence the resting game. What shape or form (or is there no shape or form to begin with?) will it take in the winged mind..

But the darkness was alive, full of eyes that peeked at anything and everything, looking for weakness, looking for a bad omen. It is known that the Fortune is a cruel mistress, but the Hunt is the more just of them all. All that takes must give something in exchange. And the small huntress was no different. What most people don't realise, is that the best way to appear defenseless is to actually be defenseless. Scouring the bedrock of hope, of despair.

The beast fell from the canopy, death from above, as it had been foretold. Mighty creature, born to rule the gloom. Slim body that changed into powerful jaws and sharp talons. Truly, it sang a song of bone and blood, of fight and flight. The song of the hunt had started, and it was fated to end.

Destiny like a rainbow. Defiant and daring, yet elegant and inerrant. The hunt juxtaposed. Quicksilver made flesh, the huntress turned against the shadow that sieved before her. Jaw against arm, the beast drew blood. Weapon against hide, the huntress ended the fight.

Quietly, almost lovingly, Jade put the creature on the ground. Checking on her arm, and deciding a bandage was enough to fix it, she reloaded her blaster, just in case. A treck between her and the sith was all that was left of her part of the work. Carrying the vornskr on her shoulders, she followed the disturbance in the wild. Truly, Slade reeked of blood and despair if he made such a change in the forest just by standing there. Poor broken thing, just imagining what had made him what he was made Jade feel pity. But the man knew his fair deal about taming beasts, so she started the short trip towards the lone man...

Crazy is as Crazy DoEs...

Slade stood alone, his heartbeat the only music he had to sate him this forsaken night. The thickets were still until he decided to move through them, his hand casual and soft on the hilt of his Electrowhip. thumb softly caressing the switch that would soon bring it to life. He touched it as if he intended to feel its power, to wield it, to be unified with the brutish tactics that made him more man than animal. Tonight was different. Tonight he was to be reversed in his biology, to be more civilized. Animals, afterall, seemed to have more etiquette then man, for the most part of interaction. Men, hell humans and humanoids alike had no sense of regality, anymore. Tonight he would only dance with those he deemed worth his time, and if Jade wanted nothing to do with learning how to get her animals his way, then she would have to worry about the rest, herself.

Time coursed him well though the forest as it felt more allowing of his distance. And with such, he was rewarded with coming upon the threads of life belonging to the animals he sought. The nest, a den, harbored by omegas and pups. The alphas and betas, those who followed who were worthy of the hunt were out, enjoying the night, just as he was. Hunting, relishing every morsel of a meal, whereas he snug up on the den, hunting, and relishing the lack of intrusive abrasion. It was only when he was a meter from the entrance, a moss ridden hole in a cavernous mound, where he made noise and stirred movement outside the opening. An omega, large through it's own right, came from the depths, a growl of hellbent threats emanating to him as it's orbs glowed hellishly through the night.

The man knew well enough he would have been able to make the Vornskr submit through violence, but he was much more than a villain. He could have waited for the entire pack to return so he would have the opportunity to have the entire pack under his thumb with the subjugation of the alphaic pair, but he chose differently, tonight. He would show his softer side for life.

He was unaware of Jade nearing him, as he ha cut his attention from everything and everyone. His own gems met those of the guarding Vornskr. On knees, he lowered himself, bringing himself slightly lower than the lowly ranked female lupine before him. Her growls eased slightly as she was made more confused than alarmed at his sudden appearance. Her only guess to go on was his submission to her, someone who had nothing to go on other than her mandatory duty to protect the pups within the chambers. This made him less of a threat to her, and soon after motionless bodies were fronting eachother , her growls fell silent.

Slade put her in eased mindset but he took it another step, travelling through the distance between them in the threads of Force. In her mind she resided with much less turmoil than that of a human, so much simple life that it was easy to grapple the lines that were within her. The Vornskr was unaware of its situation, only giving him more to work with. More and more he weaved his influence into the webs she bore within her, and not too long after, the battle was won, if it could even be considered that.
She was tamed.

Quietly, Jade watched the broken mind bend the beast. She had seen plenty of wonders in her times in Dathomir, but, credit where it is due, this was impressive.There was a certain quality in his moves, not quite respect but deep nonetheless. She had witnessed a shaman taming a rancor once, and it had been a mystic experience about communing with the beast before seizing control. She had heard that the other tribes tried to befriend the creatures instead of binding them, but the ways of the Nightsisters were clear: the strong thrive, the weak obey.
What she just witnessed, though, had a halo of wrongness that she couldn't explain. What the sith did was not guiding the beast nor creating a bond. He was twisting them, bending them into something useful. And still it was a beatiful thing to watch. It was...art, for lack of a better word. She whistled to make her presence known.

-That was...impressive. I thought you'd follow the trail I left. I mean, I can't say your methods don't work, but I thought we would do this in a quiet place after capturing them. Anyway, I want this one too. He was smart enough to not go for your blood, but brave enough to try with mine. We should get moving, though. The pack surely knows you're here, and I'd rather not shoot a whole group of vornskrs.

OOC:Connection problems caused a double post here

He had enough power over the Vornskr to influence her to leave the den, despite it rubbing abrasively against her maternal instincts, but with cooing reassurances in their bond, Slade relieved her of her natural duty. As if she shrugged a hefty weight from her shoulders, the Vornskr leapt ahead to catch place with her new owner. Slade didn't move from his spot as he turned to face Jade, his desire to be done with this exhaustive and dangerous task not yet peaked, but nearing the point. Calm tones hid his impatience, and he asked politely,

"Did you want the pups, as well? Or will you stick with the single dame?"

It was more worthy to track down and subdue the omega, as they were guarding the real gold; the pups. They could easily be trained and given profitable homes, made whatever their owners wanted them to turn out to be, and he would reap such worthy benefits. But what was it Jade wanted?

Jade watched the bewitched beast abandon it's duty with the pack, leaving the pups alone and vulnerable. It was awe inspiring to see the formerly proud beast obey submissively. Not exactly pleasant, but oddly soothing. His power was certainly impressive if he was able to that kind of thing on animals that quickly. It made one wonder about the implications...

-Wait, what? No! Why would I want to take all the pups? That would most certainly maim the pack for some years.

The thought never even passed through her mind. What kind of madman was he to suggest such a thing? What was even the point of taking them? No worthwhile profit would be done and they would damage the pack. What was he thinking on?

-I just wanted to catch a couple of hunting partners, not take away the future of the whole pack. What kind of psycho are you?

'One mad enough to sick this newly tamed Vornskr on you', he restrained himself from saying aloud. Instead, in a more clipped manner, he replied, "It wouldn't make me a psycho for you to take these pups; In fact, you would be saving them and preventing them from being fell upon by other predators. And I don't believe they debate whether or not they're psychos for eating the entire brood."

Hell, if she didn't want them, he wasn't going to let them wither away in the den. Every second that passed was another counting against them. Either save the pups for himself, or give them to her. But he wasn't going to let them be killed by another.
So with a whistle, low and steady, he whisked a hand to the entrance of the den, then pitched the whistle a count of three times. Already, he was training the newfound animal for retrieval. Maintaining eye contact until it had clicked in the head of the omega, he turned to look at the den entrance, making his point clear. There were a total of 3 pups inside, and Slade hadn't exactly gotten enough of a read for genders, but he did sense the life forces.

The omega trotted back to the den, pulling one heave of short, dark fur and muscle after another. Gentle canines dropped the pups before both Jade and Slade. With the presence of their keeper, the pups did not cry out, and instead grew curious. After the last was brought before him, Slade checked the undersides of each pup with a quick duck-glance, and turned to Jade.

2 girls, one male.
"Two females, one male. Make your choice."

With that, he sent a direct whistle to the Vornskr who scooped up a pup, as well as he did. And the two set off into the night, taking off towards the ship, leaving behind one for Jade.

A pensative frown on her face, Jade observed the pup. Three warm bodies in the night, and only the wind in the leaves to keep her company while she wondered. The dathomiri could see how she had ended up in this situation, and what she saw did not please her. This whole trip had set her on a direct path of collision with Slade, and now she realized how different they actually were. Even if he was broken almost beyond repair, he was still responsible for his own character flaws. Besides, Jade wasn't going to let herself be pushed around by a bully, even if he was a Lord of the Sith.

She took a decision: she didn't want him anywhere near her future companion. The dathomiri considered if she should kill the pup to make a point and keep the young male. Finally, he decided against wasting a life for such a petty reason. She was not above doing such things, but she wasn't sure he would even notice. So, she waited until her hostage regained it's consciousness and made it run away. No point in getting the poor beast killed anyway. Thus, she got back to the ship, ready for what she knew was going to be a tense trip.

Once he passed through the massive density of the jungle forest, he saw the ship not far from where they had met up at. The Infiltrator gleamed dully in it's matte glory, and aboard the steps he and the accompanying Vornskrs leapt. The quicker they got off this planet, the sooner he could drop this confused woman off. She irked a piece of him he wasn't feeling up to showing, and if she continued to push him, there was most definitely nothing going to hold him back from feeding her to this canine.

'Infect me with your love,
Fill me with your poison...'

The ramp slid down and on walked up him with the pup in his arms, and the clacking claws of his company who held the other pup. He unceremoniously sat the pup down on the metal floor, while the accompanying packmate set the other down near it. Slade began to speedily start the systems of the ship, bringing silent power to the thrusters and motors, preparing it for an immediate takeoff.
60 seconds. He would be generous and give her 60 seconds to join him, or else he were leaving this planet without her.

Sitting in the piloting seat, he waited, counting down the seconds with mental exhaustion.

Jade got to the ship seconds after Slade, but decided to wait. Seeing how he had already started the engines, he was probably counting down to leave without her or something. That kind of passive-agressive behaviour was totally out of place in any rational adult, but it had been stablished that Slade was anything but rational.
A mischevious smile in her lips, she waited until the ramp was halfway up and boarded the ship, her pup secure within her arms. Hiding her steps in the roar of the engines taking off, she moved behind the still untouched chess board and waited for the yisalmiri bubble to disappear playing with the pieces that spoke of open mockery to the savagest of lords.