Icethorne's Welcome (Kayura, Open)

[icethorne]

It had been too long since his eyes had witnessed the light. Spending years in the darkness alone has offered a long time to meditate undisturbed. Now, things have changed he has felt a great power explode through the force.

His robes are pure black and under he wore a light armor. And, sheathed on his back, is his sword. Slightly curved the blade was etched with runes in the blade causing a dark glow around the blade.

Icethorne attained a calm and set off towards the one place he knew to go... the stronghold. It has been many years since he had left. And, personally he didn't feel like going back. However, something has happened and something is pulling him.

It only took a few hours to set his sights on the grand stronghold. Squinting his eyes against the light he made out a guard who shouted from one of the many guard towers on the outer wall, "Identify yourself!" Icethorne didn't need to see the many guards on the wall ready to open fire. He walked ever closer to the main gate, "I said, identify yourself!" Icethorne still didn't answer the guard. Their patience fades as the first shot was fired and zoomed right by Icethorne's head. And, shortly the whole line opened fire on him. Shot after shot raining down Icethorne stopped letting the bullets whiz by. Without warning Icethorne dove into a pool of shadow in the ground and vanished.

On the tower the guards stopped firing as they stared in wonder,"Where did he go?" said one of the lower ranked guards. Silence gripped the corporal as he search pacively for the person. But, under the corporal a pool of shadow emerged and he slowly realized that his troops were backing away. As the officer stared in silence to the horizon he was unaware to what happened next: Icethorne flew up through the pool with his sword drawn and run the blade through the corporal's chin up through the top of his head. Blood ran out and down the corporal's suprised face, now cut in two. His body dropped lazily as Icethorne snarled at the other guards. His body moved so quick he left traces of color as he quickly decapitated the late corporal's personal guard, "So much for a happy welcome" he smiled evily and laughed bitterly. Sinking into the ground he traveled through the shadow world to look for that certain signature. It has been far to long Kayura ((<--- Highlight))

[Kayura]

She walked along the corridors, paying them more mind than she had in a long time. This had been the backdrop to nearly every memory she had and now she was the proud owner of all of it...all because of a simple duel in the desert. Now she was the Dark Ladylord of the Sith for the outcome and now, she stalked the halls simply wondering about, letting plans form more clearly in her mind.

Several trains of thought ran at once. Many scenarois of galactic domination brewed and played out with computer precision and speed. Most of them involved a military takeover and possibly political maneuver. Some of those trains of thought involved the Jedi anf thier resistance, others considered the Gray Jedi allies...in others, they were a threat. Where the last Dark Lord had been passionate perhaps to his undoing, she was a stark contrast. There was a placid expression set on her face as Nas'ra faithfully took her place walking beside her.

Just as she had guessed, the fresh air was a slight relief and it was helping her focus more sharply. The Dark Side called her attention and the myriad dead began to stir. There were voices that came as soft whispers on the light breeze telling her of a new arrival. Clearly the tides of the Force were telling her the same. Her yellow eyes closed and in that world of dismal black and murky grays there was the sight of guards struggling on the other end of the ramparts. There was another reddish figure fighitng against them. Eyes opening, there was now a dark smile to replace the placid expression. That knowing glint came to her eyes as she sensed confusion, fear and even anger.

Guards, report. What news?

Nas'ra growled low, the deep growl so low that the air literally pulsed rapidly around the alchemically modified Dark Wolf. A pair of large canine eyes searched and a massive nose was pressed to the wind. Ears slicked back, quilled hackles stood like a black forest on her back and the flesh of the snout rippled as the serrated fangs flashed.

Showing no sign of fear or anger or hate, she stood stock still and merely let the Force speak of a presence seeking her out. She let it speak to her of its intent. Seconds later she had no reason to fear the new arrival. Her voice became a soft velvet and lilting whisper as she shifted to the ancient language of the Sith, "Nas'ra, la. Sa-had'sheh." The beast seemed to calm, but the poised stance and piqued senses remained.

This one was a clever user of his emotions. He was certainly skilled at the laws as he had managed to slip past even the guards.

Master, there is an intruder loose on the Stronghold. Take care as he may be heading your way.

That drew an involuntary nod of the head as she returned, I see him coming.

She could feel the figure in the Force coming to a stop. Right away, she could sense that this was a younger Sith, but still nothing to sneeze at as the Force also spoke of him carrying a Sith blade at his back...that was the traditional mark of the warrior and all Sith knew what one had to do to earn that rank.

Now she was being sized up. She didn't need to open her eyes to know where the intuder was or whether he had drawn his weapon or not. There was that diabolically placid smile on her face as they opened anyway. Her voice reamined a velvet and litling whisper, but for her connection to the Force, it echoed with the power of a forcefull yell. "Warrior, there are some whose talents are advanced enough to where shadow and light are one and the same. Show yourself."

That placid, idol-like smile remained on her face and it belied the malestrom beneath the surface. She had killed the last Dark Lord not too long ago. Clearly, the ripples it sent through the Force would be felt on both sides and it would have been a beacon for those left in the far reached of the old empire's remnants. She saw this was merely the first in potentially thoudsands more. As she waited, eyes as fierce as a Korribani sandstorm pierced the shadows to see the outline of a figure as it emerged from black oblivion.

[icethorne]

"Warrior, there are some whose talents are advanced enough to where shadow and light are one and the same. Show yourself."

Emerging from the darkness with a slight smile on his face Icethorne replied, "I don't think that I could have said it better myself," he paused momentarily; kneeling before Kayura's presence with a bowed head he added, "My Dark Lady Lord," the force told him everything he needed to know. It seemed she was accompanied by some... beast. Icethorne paid it no mind as it paid him no mind.

Standing up before her again seemed to strike euphoric levels. His sensitivity to the world around him had seemed to be increased ten fold as Icethorne spoke lightly, "Your presence in the force pulled on my concious," he took gentle steps and added on, "It would be an honor for me to serve you my lady," his voice was sinical in a way as he moved within five paces of her personal space.

((OOC:/hugz - How you doin? I was starting to worry because it has been quite a few days ))

[Kayura]

The placid smile remained as Nas'ra moved to place herself between the young Sith and her master. With a simple motion of the hand and an equally graceful maneuver in the Force, the massive horse-sized canine was pushed back. "Nas'ra, la. Se-had'sheh." The black forrest of half-raised quills flattened against the creature's back. The nose continued to work as it sniffed in the direction of the newcommer.

She gracefully nodded. "It's good to see one of our own return. Welcome back to the Stronghold." Her liquid yellow eyes mirrored the same wild yet clear stare seen in her companion beast. Her voice still remained a velvet whisper, suitable given that the lad was closing the distance, yet just barely out of physical striking range. He was a well-trained apprentice to say the least. Her head tilted as her brows furrowed. One brow delicately lifting, she asked in a softly lilted voice, "I see you came alone. Did you not have a master?"

The Force spoke of his singular talent, but it also told her he was an apprentice or a warrior...either way, a master seemed like he would not be far behind. No matter, others would come in thier own time.

((OOC:Yeah, sorry 'bout that. It got really crazy for a few days as I was preparing for graduataion...yay college!))

[icethorne]

"I see you came alone. Did you not have a master?"

His smile accompanied the next sentence odly, "If you could call him that," in truth Icethorne's master had taken the responsibility of an apprentice and failed to do his own part in training. "I thought that I was alone in the world, many people dissapeared... I locked myself away in a deep sleep." But, you woke me up. It seems that something big is about to change the universe as we know it. Icethorne's body language whispered of a feeling known as excitement. But, he never let himself enjoy those kind of feelings for his face was like stone, "Also, the weakness I had been seeing marred my sole in the very core, perhaps you can help save our kind and take back what is truly ours," his eyes were like a black fire burning through the light.

((OOC: Yay... I am graduating as well this year on the 29th ... can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!))

[Kayura]

"Also, the weakness I had been seeing marred my soul to the very core, perhaps you can help save our kind and take back what is truly ours."

Those words were striking comming from an apprentice. Somewhere, the words sounded more like the words one would expect to hear from the other Lords, who had been strangely silent. They even seemed to avoid her in the halls, yet glare as if to covet her hard-won position as thier leader. The dead were not as silent. No sooner than the lad finished his sentence was there a chorus of whispers echoing in her mind. Soft, like a delicate breeze in treebranches, the myriad dead whispered in her ear. He's right. We must take back what's ours. Her eyes narrowed, not with malice; not with anger, but with contemplation. A Delicate smile played on her face and an equally soft whisper answered, "Well spoken, Apprentice. The fact you have arrived without him makes it fairly obvious that you seek out another."

She mentally sighed. There were weaknesses in the order. Some had been created by the previous Dark Lords before her. Others had been inherent in the system. For a moment, her eyes closed and a placid, idol-like expression played on her face. "It does sadden me that there are weaknesses in our order so obvious that an apprentice can see them with the clarity of a Lord. And you are right, as the Dark Ladylord it is my responsibility to see to it that we overcome those weaknesses." She spoke in a tone slightly louder than a whisper, echoing unnatually well through the corridors and causing the massive beast at her side to flinch, "You are right to suggest that we must take back what was rightfully ours. We had it once, long ago when these halls were filled with the red faces of true Sith, the Ahl-al-Sithi. We had it in the days of Exar Kun." Her eyes opened and her voice was again the whispering yell, "We will strengthen our ranks and temper the weakest links until they are strong. We will have what is rightfully ours by preserving our cherished traditions and upholding the laws of our order. We will uphold and relcaim the old borders of our lost empire."

She took a breath and knowing she was heard the stronghold over, she reverted back to that ghastly soft whisper. Instead of proclamation, she spoke to him as more a colleague than an apprentice. Her voice still carried the patina of the archaic language that gracefully accented her voice. "Let me tell you now, this will demad sacrifice and this will be difficult for us all. We have been silent as we should be, yet we have forgotten what it is that makes us a glorious people. We will be at war until we reclaim what has been taken from us. Expect the Jedi and the Galactic Republic to form formidable resistance. You have come, you have appeared and spoken of it, now are you ready to take on your share of that challenge, Apprentice?"

She could see out of the corner of her eyes that the dead had appeared and stood behind her as a ceremonial gesture of agreement. She could hear thier approving whispers echo through the Force. She knew members of the living would not agree, others perhaps. In either case, he was a Dark Ladylord with something to prove, even to her own ranks. Her new political faction in thier ranks would have to start soon, and quite possibly with the young man standing in front of her. She quietly waited for the answer this apprentice would give.

[icethorne]

"Let me tell you now, this will demad sacrifice and this will be difficult for us all. We have been silent as we should be, yet we have forgotten what it is that makes us a glorious people. We will be at war until we reclaim what has been taken from us. Expect the Jedi and the Galactic Republic to form formidable resistance. You have come, you have appeared and spoken of it, now are you ready to take on your share of that challenge, Apprentice?"

Hearing the words she spoke brought about a silent epiphany. Stimulating his mind with the thoughts battle. It was more than past time to try out some of new techniques that meditation has taught him. All he had to do was keep on track and the Sith will shine once more.

Icethorne's mind played at him with thoughts of glory and adventure as well as thoughts of losing his mind. It was all thrown up in the air as if to display his feelings. He would not stand for weakness. Just then a vision came of a tomb and a simple thought neither would he. He focused hard upon the feeling that the grave had brought on... power beyond imagination.

Reaching naturally to his sheathed sword, as to not offend the beast's presence. Icethorne drew the blade out as he moved to kneel. Presenting the sword to Kayura the blade seemed to eat the light around it causing a kind of negative effect if you look through the aura. With a slight pause between the presentation of the blade Icethorne pronounced, "My sword is yours."

((OOC: You should change my title from 'New Member' to something easier on my own eyes ))

[Kayura]

((OOC: Okie-dokie, PM me with some suggestions and I'll see what I can do. ))

As soon as the blade scratched its way clear of the sheath, the great black beast slicked her ears back and the serrated eight-inch fangs were bared. A low growl shook the ground as a black forrest of quills flashed skyward. The beast began to sink into a low crouch before her voice barked with unnatual power, "Nas'ra, sa-had'she!" The beast's tail wagged yet now it was a submissive crouch. A low whine issued from the creature, ever so slightly as her eyes locked on Nas'ra's.

Her eyes snapped back with almost animalistic speed and with a wolf-like glint as she saw the apprentice sink to a knee, presenting his blade. Everything spoke of him being a strangely advanced apprentice...yet he was curiously without a master. Those twenty or so trains of thought were all slowing down as she heard him say, "My sword is yours."

Logic told her that this was an opportunity to do that other annoying aspect of her job: uphold tradition. She was effectively the dominant Darth, and as such would be expected to take on an apprentice of her own soon. She did sense a strong connection to the Dark Side and he was at the same time very...conflicted. Until another Darth appeared soon, it was safe to assume he was alone, and without a master. It was almost too perfect. First she'd simply have to lead a Bantha to water.

A placid expression replaced the feral one that had flashed across her face just moments before. Her voice was the opposite of that fierce bark as it returned to that delicately accented, lilting whisper. "You wish to continue your training, yes?"

[icethorne]

"You wish to continue your training, yes?"

Icethorne tilted his head enough to see Kayura's face and reply, "I wish to continue my training under your supervision my lady." As soon as Icethorne had finished his sentence he put his head back down to honor Kayura.

Icethorne sat silently for the remainder of the ceremony. Waiting diligently for her to accept him. For all of the sith people this day would be the day to turn the tides. In a single moment in time fate was written as if in blood. The only future now is destruction and death. Only the strong will survive. But, in this case perhaps it would help cleanse our ranks as well. In a way it would pick the weeds from the garden.

[Kayura]

Still on a knee and bowed, the lad had made the offer where she had only hinted at it. The placid smile remained while a nose, massive, black and wet sniffed at the lad. Even under a blast of warm canine breath, the lad answered, "I wish to continue my training under your supervision my lady."

Kayura watched, a hint of that feral glint playing in her yellow eyes. Her position as the beast's master was secure and now it was a matter of seeing if the beast wasn't going to eat the would-be apprentice. Instead there was only the inquisative sniff and a glance back at her with the dots of whiskers above the eyes cocked almost in a human form of confusion. She could almost sense the animal trying to think why haven't you eaten him yet? ears perked and the beast watched licking the whisker-studded lips before Kaa'li said, "Rise Apprentice, I shall train you."

These were words that would complete her status and make it clear to the others she was indeed the Dark Ladylord of the Sith in full at last. A pet was one thing, but a pet, no matter how loyal would not bring nearly the same point home as an apprentice. She would have to figure out how to pass down her particular skill set later. At the same time, the memories of being an apprentice spoke of the treason necessary to get ahead. Nas'ra was both her pet and insurance against such treason. Still, apprentices were the reason that Dark Lords past never slept.

In her case, it wasn't merely an apparentice that would be the cause of many a weary night spent in sleeplessness. There were already the myriad whispers snickering and the millions of ghastly eyes staring like a sea of thirsting souls pining for the chance to take over. The Dark Side of the Force brouth with it a unique truth, but at the same time, it was a cruel mistress in what it demanded.

The role of the Dark Ladylord or the Dark Lord was to uphold and preserve the traditions of the order. This she had now done. It was now a matter of carrying it out.

[icethorne]

"Rise Apprentice, I shall train you."

In his mind Icethorne heard a locking sound as if to put home the fact that he would now personally service not just the normal life of an apprentice. Instead, he would live the life of an apprentice to the Dark Ladylord. That alone would bring strife. However, his far superior skills would shatter any thought of treason from the living. Nothing would ever put fear into his mind; from now on he would have to prove himself to everyone. Also, by doing that Kayura would also have a better hold on the ranks. After all, Icethorne was not just a normal sith anyways. He would put the fear into the weak and respect the strong. But, only for her. He rose to his feet sheathing his sword. He locked eyes with Kayura quickly. You could nearly see his soul burning with determination.

Icethorne had never forgot about Kayura's little "gift". And, he had no doubt she remembered him. However, there is a reason they are what they are now. She knew that he was not properly ranked as an apprentice. But, no recorded training had taken place. And, that left him at square one, for now. All he had to do was prove himself to the order. And, that shouldn't be to hard.

"Now that we have the formalities taken care of, what do you require of me?" His stance and facial expression spoke of energy. After all, Icethorne has been in a meditation state for what seemed ages. His understanding of life around him made him too different to fit in. But, with Kayura he could express himself. She understood him in a way no one has. Therefore, he would only serve her. And, soon it would all pay off and he would finally become one with his darkness. As if his thoughts echoed he was lost in a semi-trance.

[Kayura]

"Now that we have the formalities taken care of, what do you require of me?"

The smile formed in full. "I applaud your eagerness to learn. Soon you will begin the long and difficult process of coming to terms with that voice, that almost second will that will push you. Some would find it frightening and choose to fight against it. This is the problem with our opposition in the Jedi who hide from it rather than explore and learn from it." There was a pause as she shifted trains of thought, "More frightening still is the fact that like you, I too am haunted."

A brief flash of surprise may have passed over the youth's face as she spoke those words. She sensed it and, having been a medium for as long as she could remember, knew that only those haunted as she could have learned beyond the norm and yet have no proof. It also explained the strong connection the youth had to the Force. It was to be expected to find another like her haunted by the odd one or two ghosts, but not so likely to find another whose connection to the Sith dead was as strong as hers...yet.

Something did periodically flash in his mind as she watched him, studied his thoughts as she scanned them...there was the image of a tomb that breifly flashed in his mind, like the repeated loop of broken holofile video. Yes, it had to be because he was haunted.

Then, as Nas'ra took a seat next to her and kept a watchful eye, it hit her. Yes, she had remembered a younger version of this lad before...but with her intensive training under Sidro Hannc, it seemed ages ago and that she had been cut off from the others herself. Such was the ways of some masters. Perhaps his had been a similar fate. She glanced up at her faithful companion, and for the split second that thier eyes met, the dog's head tilted. Yes, it had to have been that.

There had been a long silence as she ran through the remaining fifty or so trains of thought streaming through her head concerned with the matters of the quick and the dead. Finally, she was able to collect her thoughts as she sensed the presence of other ghosts watching her carefully, almost as if now she had a panel of judges to impress. "As for what I require of you, that will be come self-evident in time." Her soft voice lilted, "As I said before, we are now at war until we have returned to us what is rightfully ours. In the meantime, I will give you the chance to show me what you had been taught before. I know you had a master once, and that perhaps now, you are one of those who are never alone. Knowing that you have had training before, I wil leave it to you to show me where your last master left off and where the training here will begin."