Tomb Raider

[Leah Reach]

Alexander Ayers. A curious name for a curious man.

Plucked from a crew of smugglers, he joined the Galactic Alliance with a passion to change the galaxy. Rebel ambassador Leah Reach recognized his confidence, convictions and faith in the cause well before the others, but she always maintained her distance. There was something else about him. Something more than his rebel spirit that piqued her interest. It was not long after a discussion with Jedi Master Vu’thari that they recognized he possessed an inordinate presence in the Force. Further discussion led to a confrontation, and then into an introduction.

Alexander was presented with the opportunity to join the ranks of the Jedi, but he needed first to prove his worth. After more deliberation with Vu’thari, it was Master Reach who decided to take the young man on a journey of great consequence. The pair would embark together on a quest for a long lost artifact, where she might know Alexander better and come to understand his true potential. It would act as his trial to becoming a Jedi Padawan. Little did either of them understand the dangers ahead. The threats that lurked in the shadows. An ancient relic would not be all they discover on the barren world of Jedha and in the ruins of a Jedi sanctuary. Not in the least.

If Jedha had once been a planet of high esteem among the Jedi Order, Leah couldn’t see it now. As they descended into the atmosphere, there was nothing to see. None of the glittering oceans that painted Tython. No vast woodlands, rolling hills or green meadows like those of Al’doleem. Only amber dust and empty dunes. Old ruins, tombs and crypts passed below them like fleeting shadows. Through the cockpit window, she spotted a walled city perched atop a mesa. Intrigued, she leaned closer to steal away a glance. Not that it mattered. Jedha City was not their destination. Rather, the ship sailed toward the desert floor a few kilometers outside the city outskirts.

Looming above them was the decayed remains of a Jedi crypt. Abandoned after the Sith Empire bombed the original temple into a heap of rubble, Leah believed there was an important relic within. The Force was strong there. Even in the confines of the shuttle, even as she collected her belongings, she could feel it. No doubt Alexander could feel it too. However, she felt a strange foreboding too. She may have felt a strong pull into the catacombs, but the air smelled foul. It was not pollution nor the smoke from the ship’s exhausted engines. It was something she had not sensed in a long time.

Ignoring the thought, she turned to the young man beside her and raised a brow. “All right. Let’s get this show on the road. You ready?”

@Lucid

 

[Alexander Ayers]

Alexander was leaning forward in his seat, his face all but squashed against the cockpit's windows, straining to check out the bleak scenery below them as they flew over it.

Though he had been away from his homeworld of Kashyyyk for a while now, he was still impressed by the vastness of the galaxy. Every world as different, from the way it looked and smelled, to how his mind perceived the colors and patterns of the Force that was ever present in the background. Here on Jedha though, was the first time he had seen so little in the way of life but felt so much in the Force.

There was a feral edge to it that he could not explain. It felt like when of the dangerous beasts that lived deep in the forests of Kashyyyk was on the hunt. It made him itch and he could tell that Leah, sitting next to him, was uneasy as well. The ruins nearby were a beacon in the Force, it was interesting to say the least. It didn't feel the same as the Force in it's raw state, as it was on Kashyyyk. It felt much more purposeful as though it had been placed in the rocks intentionally. Leah had said that it was a Jedi crypt at some point during their trip. He guessed that made sense. Over time the presence of the Jedi must have changed the place.

He wondered how...but that was a question for another time.

"I mean, yeah," he said to Leah, getting up and slipping on his utility belt. It bristled with assorted weaponry. Blaster pistol, a handful of fragmentation grenades and, oddly, Alexander though, a vibrosword. It struck him as antiquated and a strange thing to bring into a modern battle...but seeing as how he did not yet own a lightsaber, it would have to do. "I think this is a bit much," he said, gesturing to his waist. "Never hurts to be prepared...especially with whatever it is that's making the Force smell terrible." He winked at her and pulled on his jacket. Together they disembarked and headed to the ruins.

The blowing sand made him sneeze incessantly and ferociously. He still wasn't accustomed to these barren, arid worlds. He looked beseechingly at Leah between sneezes and swore he saw amusement in her eyes. "Oh sure, laugh it up," was all he managed to say before sneezing so vigorously it made him wonder if it was possible to suffocate while sneezing. [/color]

@Deviant

 

[Leah Reach]

“The Dark Side lingers here.” She answered as she inspected the entrance into the crypt from afar. “But you’re fine as you are. Plus, I wouldn’t worry so much. This tomb has been abandoned for centuries and the Sith have not returned to this world for just as long. The worst you can expect is some more walking.” Leah joked, a small grin tugged the edge of her lips. As she approached the sanctuary, a current of sand swept through. She paused to hear Alexander sneeze. Once, twice, a few times. “Are you okay?” She said, biting back a full-fledged smile, resisting the temptation to laugh. They only just met but Leah found his company to be rather amusing. Almost like they had known one another longer than they really had.

She swallowed her laughter, trying to maintain a look of professionalism and grace before they entered the tombs. Then, another wave of dust settled in. Grossly underestimating her tolerance of sand, she wrinkled her nose and sneezed several times. Like a machine gun. Light, almost childlike. Nothing befitting of a Jedi Master. When she was done, the woman turned to Alexander, flustered and annoyed. Pointing a finger, she snapped back. “Don’t start.” With a sarcastic scoff, Leah continued. She passed the main pillars of the gateway, looked into the darkness of the crypt and pushed through.

Narrow columns were all that remained intact. Holding the ceiling and walls together, she understood one slash into any one of the pillars could leave them buried alive. It was why she wandered carefully, ambling down broken stairs and weaving around debris. As the streaks of daylight melted away the farther they went, Leah realized they needed light to guide them through. Not bothering to find a torch, she pulled out her lightsaber. A single click ignited the blade to life. A blue glow illuminated the entire antechamber, revealing a dark discovery. Bones littered the floors. A complete line, as if they were rounded up and wiped out. The former refuge was truly a tomb for the dead.

A chill climbed her spine. She was getting some serious bad vibes. The crypt was not at all what she anticipated. The Dark Side was growing ever stronger as they marched on and her shoulders tensed as it weighed heavy in the air. Leah glanced to Alexander and hoped he was all right. Trying to manage a reassuring smile, she said, “It’s okay. We must be getting close. I know we are.” However, her focus ahead and behind failed to give her the big picture. Her vision was clouded. The writing was on the wall. There was a Sith wandering the halls of the ancient ruins.

@Lucid @Malon

 

[The Storyteller]

Ludark Zott smelled death everywhere. It was why the Shistavanen Sith often brought his prey here to sup upon; the smell of death made the last screams of his meals that much more tasty—they always said the meat of a scared animal went bad, but that was not true of his prey. Their fear enhanced the taste, in his morbid opinion. These crypts outside the Holy City were feared by all within it; because they were where dissidents and criminals were sent to die. Ludark did not know who had originally built them, and he didn't care; they were the dens where he dined and slept. In the end, that was all that really mattered to him.

The wolfman's ears twitched. Aside from when the crypts were filled with the echoes of his prey's screams, they were usually silent as the grave. But there was a familiar snap-hiss, the sound of a lightsaber's activation, coming from the adjacent corridor. His canine-level sense of smell also detected a rise in ozone, confirming that it was indeed a lightsaber he had heard. Lifting his head from his most recent meal, the Shistavanen's teeth still dripping of fresh blood and shredded flesh, he reached for his own lightsaber: a double-bladed weapon that hung from his waist.

The Force stirred, but it was not darkness—not another Sith, in other words—but rather in light. His suspicions were confirmed a moment later when a woman shrouded in blue light stepped through the mouth of the corridor and into the true crypts—his home. Ludark's lips curled back, revealing his bloody fangs, and he growled deep in his throat. He doubted she could see him. Even the light of her lightsaber did not reach as far back into the chamber as he was. All she would see, he thought, was a pair of glimmering ruby eyes staring back at her from the darkness.

"It has been a long time since your kind walked the surface of this moon," he snarled at her. Holding his weapon horizontally in front of him, the lupine Sith activated his weapon. Blades the color of the blood that stained his fur burst from either end of the weapon, illuminating him in a mixture of crimson light and shadows. He stood nearly two meters tall and, aside from a tattered black tunic, was entirely covered in silverish-black fur. "You should not have come here, Jedi. But now that you have, your bones will join my other victims'... after I dine on your flesh."

The Sith was practically salivating at the thought of tasting Jedi meat as he descended the ancient steps on the vast floor of the cathedral that had served as both his home and as a monument to the dead. He kept his blades out in front of him and the air grew cold as the dark side of the Force began to coil around him. He wondered how long it had been since a Sith had last crossed blades with a Jedi. No matter. He was about to be among the first in five centuries. @Deviant @Lucid

 

[Alexander Ayers]

"I wouldn't dream of it, Alexander informed Leah innocently as they walked towards the tombs. With every step the air seemed to chill. Something within the tomb was terribly, terribly wrong.

Alexander's sly grin at Leah's trouble with the sand slid from his face as they entered the catacombs. The Force here was rank with perversion. It was not the symphony of life he was so accustomed to hearing in the back of his mind. Within the halls of the tomb, Alex could only feel the icy sting of death on his skin. He could smell it too, oddly enough. Whatever was in here was claiming fresh kills and keeping their rotting corpses at hand. It was a disgusting thought however he didn't have to wait long for an answer.

Only a few moments after Leah had ignited her lightsaber that eyes appeared, red and sinister, in the darkness beyond. It took Alexander a moment to realize that the gutteral snarling coming from somewhere below the eyes was actually words in Basic. The twisted being ignited his own saber, a snazzy two ended variant that Alex hadn't seen before, and spoke to them of time long past and his carnal desire to eat their flesh. It was all very gross and grandiose, but that didn't make Alexander think for one second that there was no danger.

His spine tingled and he felt Leah tense beside him. He wondered if she had known what lived in these crypts. It seemed very intense for a first mission, but Alex wasn't about to complain. He was excited, intimidated and curious all at the same time. He hadn't imagined that his short time with the Rebels could have escalated so quickly. He drew his vibrosword from his belt and, bending his knees, settled into a two handed mid-guard stance with his blade pointing upwards on an angle in front of him. Leah didn't immediately say anything and remaining silent seemed like something only a dead man would do so Alex blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.

"That's really quite disgusting. I'll pass, thanks." His words were a stark contrast to the currents of the Force around him. He brought it into and through his body, remembering what his father had taught him. No anger, no fear, no hate. Commit yourself to your cause, remember that you must do what is right. He thought of his Wookiee friends and he thought of Leah and Vuthari and many others. With them in his mind, he brought a spark of light to a place that had not seen it in a long, long time.

@Deviant @Malon

 

[Leah Reach]

Darkness rose with light to meet it. In the shadows of the crypt, a Sith emerged. Ruby eyes, rugged voice, a crimson blade. A Shistavanen rank with the Dark Side, corrupted to the point of cannibalism and madness. She did not need to reach out with the Force to know the Sith was lost. He was bloodied, nestled in a garden of bones. His threats were not idle, neither was his figure as he approached the Jedi Master and her newest student. She had not expected to come face to face with such an enemy, no less on a world left alone by the Empire for centuries. Why or how it came to reside in the ancient sanctuary was a question for another time. Or not at all. Retribution would be served and the Sith’s reign of terror put to an end.

“Yeah, I think I’ll pass too.” She answered following Alexander. The woman glanced toward him and noticed he possessed not even an ounce of fear or hesitation. He was tense, but he was ready. Leah understood the young man was already familiar with the ways of the Force, but seeing him in action surprised her. Most other students would slink back, try to stay behind her, play the supporting role. Instead, he pulled the Force toward him and positioned himself into an offensive stance. She was about to request he keep his distance and leave it to the adults, but it was clear Alexander was no child. He was no beginner. In truth, she had a strange feeling he would be the one to end this. In a way, this was his great trial.

She wished it would have been anywhere but in an underground cavern shrouded in darkness and covered in bones and rotting corpses. Of course, beggars couldn’t be choosers. Leah had to live with what she was given. So would the Sith as the Jedi Master flicked her hand and sent several jagged bones toward him. Sharp, quick and camouflaged into the shadows, her enemy would be hard-pressed to see the attack coming. However, Leah kept her expectations low. Whether the Force strike landed or not, she would step forward and ready in a stance of her own. Right heel forward, arms pulled back, lightsaber raised high and her eyes burning with focus.

This would be no easy fight— for the Sith. @Malon

 

[The Storyteller]

The Jedi might find the battle ahead of them harder than they thought. Madness had certainly claimed Ludark Zott's mind long ago, but there was still a predatory cunning to him that made him more dangerous than they might have imagined. The wolfman positioned his lightsaber so that it was diagonal, illuminating his horrid face. Then, the moment the woman attacked him with the long-range telekinetic toss of bones, he extinguished both blades rather suddenly and bolted off and out of sight. The result was instantaneous: he vanished into the darkness.

And as he vanished from their sight, so too would his presence in the Force shrink away and vanish, almost as if he had never been there to begin with. His steps were equally careful and quiet, for he could use the Force to simultaneously quiet the sounds he would otherwise involuntarily create with such movement. As he circled his prey in the dark, Ludark took advantage of two things: he made sure to stay just outside the light cast by the woman's lightsaber, which was fairly easy given the wideness of the chamber, and he made use of his species' ability to see sharply in the dark, which allowed him to see both the Jedi and their surroundings far better than they ever could. The suspense and the inability to see him, he hoped, would make them anxious, antsy, and stupid. Fear often did that to prey before they were caught; but these Jedi were not ordinary prey. They required a far more cautious approach.

Lukdark's attack came from the boy's (@Lucid) left. His double-bladed weapon ignited a moment before he ducked low and swept at the Jedi-boy's feet. The boy's options were three-fold: he could jump above the attack, backpedal fast enough to avoid the sweep, or get his feet cut off above the ankle. Either way, the wolfman would carry through, which would put him in the perfect position to stab up and backward with the other end of his blade up under the woman-Jedi's (@Deviant) guard. Unblocked, his blade would carve through her innards like a hot knife through butter; though he fully expected her to block with her own lightsaber.

The attack's purpose was similarly three-fold: to gauge their effectiveness as a team, to probe their defenses, and separate them. He supposed there might also be a fourth: to get the measure of them as warriors. Either way, separating them would go along ways towards achieving victory. Jedi who were attacking from different angles were easier to deal with using his style of weapon. His blood was flowing now, and excitement made his fur ripple. The first Sith in five hundred years to fight a Jedi. He was going to enjoy every morsel of this meal afterwards in celebration.

 

[Alexander Ayers]

It was weird when the Sith vanished into the shadows and weirder still when he all but dropped out of the Force. Alexander reacted on instinct...which, for a man raised partly by Wookiees was to try and smell the Sith. It was an unsual way of going about it, but Alexander had tried this a couple times before when he was a kid playing with his Wookiee friends. They had thought it hilarious that he was so inept at hide and seek, relying only on his eyes and ears (Alexander had thought using the Force to be cheating). So, after a time, Alex figured their game and why they were so good at finding him in their games.

They could smell him.

For someone who'd grown up with a species who had a lot of their perceptions based on scent, it had taken him an embarrassingly long time to figure out. Longer still to figure out how to use his weak human nose to detect their unique scents. Eventually though, he'd discovered that in addition to many other wondrous things, the Force could be used to sharpen his sense of smell. That is what Alexander did when the Sith vanished from all his senses. It took only a touch of the power he had brought to himself; and in a heartbeat he could smell the lionman's disgusting funk of natural scents, decay and fur. It was coming quickly in from his left.

Alexander reacted quickly, turning and weaving his blade through a defensive pattern across his body. He caught the Sith's blade with the end of his own as it ignited. The unexpected parry would arrest Lukdark's movement, preventing him from following through with his low slash. Alexander, eyes wide with surprise, turned his blade to complete the parry; turning aside Lukdark's blade.

Still acting partly on desperation, Alexander threw his left hand forward and released the rest of the Force energy he had drawn to himself. It poured from his hand: a hard telekinetic blast to the huge being's chest. What good it would do, Alex didn't know, though as he adjusted his feet to bring his blade back around into center guard to begin parrying again, he hoped that it would buy enough time for Leah to think of something.

@Deviant @Malon

 

[Leah Reach]

The Sith vanished. His red blades melded into the darkness. Her attack was consumed by the shadow and all she could hear was the clatter of bones against the cavern wall. She missed, her enemy was alive and he was looking to attack. Almost immediately, the Jedi Master went back to back with the young man she accompanied. Her lightsaber raised high, she was a beacon of light against the darkness. If the Sith attempted to charge against them, Leah could notice them coming from at least a few meters away. More than enough space and time to react and retaliate. On the other hand, Alexander had something else in mind. He sniffed. She couldn’t believe what he was doing, trying to determine the enemy by smell alone. Then she realized.

The Sith had been hiding in the damp, cold confines of the cavern for how long? Years. Surrounded by rotting corpses and skeletal remains. With fur that clung to the worst smells, blood and sweat, far more than ordinary skin. Without a bath or shower to maintain cleanliness. Her opponent may have disappeared from the Force and melted into the darkness, but with Alexander’s superior smell as a native of Kashyyyk, she recognized he could sense the Sith before he could even strike. And indeed, he struck. Darting in from the young man’s left side, or Leah’s right, she reacted swiftly. Her feet stepped away to provide the Padawan some space to defend and ensure their enemy did not hit them both. She needed her own space to retaliate too.

Alexander’s lock and parry would do wonders. The Sith must have expected a retreat, but he would surprise him with a similar skill with a blade. Leah was glad to have him at her side. Glad to have met a new Padawan who knew what they doing and exactly how to do it. He must have been trained well on Kashyyyk. Either way, with the Shistavanen stopped, they would be unable to carry through to impale the Jedi Master, no less given her distance. But she knew the opportunity could not be passed. At the same time, there was no way the Jedi would leave Alex alone to the Sith and his double-bladed lightsaber. With only one sword, it made the duel dangerous. Fortunately, together with Leah, they had two.

Leaping to join the side of the young man, she shielded his flank should the Sith attempt to carve into his side with the other edge of his lightsaber. She was not going to stand around and watch, however. As Alexander delivered a powerful blast of the Force, the Jedi Master opened one hand and joined her strength with his. Due to the close proximity of their enemy, the Sith would be essentially tossed like a rag doll back into the darkness and presumably into the cavern wall. If or when he did, Leah would turn to the makeshift Jedi Padawan and whisper their next plan of action. Which was more spontaneous than it was well-thought. “He has the advantage in the darkness. We need to lure him in and clinch him.”

The Sith would be well out of earshot. If not, no matter. Leah had another trick up her sleeve. She wasn’t a Jedi Master purely because of her skill with a lightsaber. No, not even close.

@Lucid

 

[The Storyteller]

The two Jedi were strong. Stronger together than either one of them were apart. Their combined telekinetic attacks sent him hurdling backwards into the wall. His lightsaber blades vanished as he flew, which gave the appearance that he was swallowed by the darkness, leaving his fate ultimately unseen. The wolfman was irritated. He had underestimated them. But he would not make the same mistake twice. His sensitive ears caught the woman's whispers and he snarled maliciously. Yes... he did have the advantage in the dark. But there was so much else he was capable of as well.

Standing to his feet, the dark side of the Force flowed into him, calming his aches and filling his muscles with cold fire. He held the hilt of his weapon horizontally and ignited his twin crimson blades once again. Hatred glimmered in his eyes for the Jedi and he spun the blade like a bloody disk. It was a distraction. Taking his left hand momentarily off of the large pommel of his blade, Ludark unleashed a blast of cold telekinetic energy towards the weakest link: the apprentice. At best, the blast would send him skidding backwards and put distance between him and his master. At worst, it would send him flying just as he had to Ludark.

The wolfman Sith wouldn't wait to see the results. He would use his time to cross the distance between them, swinging diagonally at the Jedi Master with his left blade, leaving his right blade free to deal with the Padawan should he decide to rejoin the fray. He knew he was disadvantaged fighting two Jedi at once, but if he could kill the Master, the apprentice would be like a helpless chick. An easy meal for the plucking. @Lucid @Deviant

 

[Alexander Ayers]

Alexander felt the Force well in the dark, the wolfman's blades burning red and hot in the black of the room. He drew on the Force himself to counter whatever was coming but it wasn't quite fast enough. Only a trendril of power flowed from Alex as Ludark thrust him backward but it was just enough to stop him from being slammed into the wall. He scrambled for traction as he was thrown backward and his own dancing feet gave him an idea.

As the wolfman closed the distance between himself and Leah, Alex threw the Force from him in a thin sheet along the ground. Smooth and slick it was like ice but with no substance for Ludark's claws to find purchase in. It was a desperate move but an unexpected on and if Alex was lucky, Ludark would find himself slipping every which way and horribly off balance as he came in to strike at Leah. Alex knew that she would capitalize on the advantage that he had given her, no matter how small it was. With the feral sliding around Alexander took a deep breath and charged back into the fray. His sword by his side and pointing forward, ready to be brought round to parry an attack from the Sith's rear blade.

@Malon @Deviant

 

[Leah Reach]

The Sith grossly underestimated not only the speed and strength of the Jedi Master but the Padawan too. Alexander already proved he knew a thing or two about combat, but the enemy still believed he was nothing more than a weak-willed pupil. A lamb with only Leah as his shepherd. Wrong again. She was not his shepherd, he was no sheep, and the Sith was no real menace. To the pair of Jedi, he was only a nuisance, a shadow that would be engulfed by the Light. The combined Light of the Master and the apprentice. As Alex covered the ground with a sheet of ice, which would inevitably throw the Sith off balance, no less after hurling his weight into the attack, committing to the blow.

Not that the ice would stop him. Not that Leah would do anything to interrupt him. She wanted the Sith to come close, as much as possible, and with the ice forcing his approach to speed up faster than he may have expected, she would have him right where she wanted him. Both hands on her lightsaber, she met the left end of his dual lightsaber at an opposite angle, closer toward the hilt than the edge. Violet sparks danced between blue and red. With her body turned to its side, she could face the other side of his lightsaber as well as his bloodied face to make cover her flank. But holding her guard was not the point of the block.

As the Force flowed in her hand, she threw an open palm into the direction of the Sith. Before he realized what was about to happen, it already happened. A blinding explosion of light burst forth: Force flash. An ability Leah had picked up early in her trials as a Jedi Knight. For her own skill and strength, the strike required little effort and would come without a moment’s notice, without warning. Given the sensitivity of the Shistavanen’s sight, and due to his extreme close proximity, the light would burn into each eye. Leah had essentially released a visionary flash bang inches in front of his face. It would be painful, brutal and give her and Alexander the opening they needed.

Any attempt to retreat back would fail. The ice would ensure the Sith did not have a quick escape back into the darkness, as well as his momentarily crippled vision. With Leah locked against his lightsaber too, refusing to break, the Shistavanen would be stuck. No easy way out would be found. Although the crypt was the Sith’s territory, his decision to attack rather than defend would cost him dearly. And with Alexander readying his blade, he had the chance to strike to a fatal blow.

@Malon

 

[The Storyteller]

Ludark howled when the light struck his retinas. The pain was excruciating, but the noise he made was unholy. Chilling. His anger and pain manifested in the worst way possible. The howl wasn't just the shriek of a Sith in pain, it was amplified through the dark side of the Force into a Force scream. The woman close to him would find her mental and physical defenses assaulted by the powerful waves of dark side energy rippling through the sound waves he was projecting. The Padawan, being further away, would be less likely to feel its effects... but that was hardly the only effect it had.

Beneath the wolfman, the ice the Padawan had created began to crack and crumble; and, above, the ceiling of the old crypts began to crumble and cave. Stone, first small, and then gradually larger, began to dislodge and fall from above. The woman would have to disengage her blade lock to escape being crushed; and, when she did, Ludark would do the same thing, skidding backwards and away. But he could no longer rely on the darkness to hide himself, because light was now pouring in from above.

With his newfound distance, the Sith did something unexpected. He unsnapped the hilt of his weapon at the middle, breaking it down into two lightsabers. One lightsaber, the right one, he held out in front of him, while the other, he held in a reverse grip. His sight might be temporarily robbed, but he was a creature of darkness. He still had his smell. He still had the Force. The Jedi were foolish to believe he was done just yet. This time he would make them come to him. And this time, they would fall. @Lucid @Deviant

 

[Alexander Ayers]

Theme--Der Erlkönig​

Alexander heard the scream but it didn't carry the same edge as it would for Leah. He closed his mind to the sound and moved as the floor began to collapse. Perhaps it was unjedi like of him to leave Leah to her own devices, but she hardly needed his help. Vastly more powerful and experienced than he, she would be able to make something of the mess surrounding her.

He could feel the tension in the air from the scream. It cascaded and seemed to echo in the stone around him. He had never heard of the Force being used in such a way. But there was quite a bit he had never heard of, so he chalked it up as food for thought later and took action. He called the Force once again, this time more subtly. It poured into him and came to rest in his legs and arms.

Alexander sprang into action, taking two steps before kicking off the ground; the Force lifted and helped him across the distance. He didn't waste time or energy on any flashy acrobatics. As the Sith split his lightsabers in two, Alexander was there. His sword flashed, though the creatures, eyes accustomed to years in the dark would be unlikely to see it coming. The flash of light from Leah still burned in Alex's eyes, who knew what it must be doing to the wolfman. His sword came across at a tricky angle for the wolfman to parry as he separated his blades. Moving downwards on a slight angle, Alexander accelerated his slash, hoping to land it across the furry neck before it could be parried.

@Malon @Deviant

 

[Leah Reach]

The flash of light landed true. The Shistavanen Sith was blinded, his wide pupils scorched in the span of a split second. Due to his heavy reliance in the darkness, because of the sensitivity of his vision, the blast surely cost him dearly. However, it lead to something all the more horrifying. The Force coalesced in him, the Dark Side now a lump in his throat, and Leah could see and sense it coming only moments before it hit. She squinted and gathered the Force inside her to guard against the scream. Her mental defenses was what demanded the greatest protection, but she did not neglect the physical. Regardless, her ears rang. Drums popped. Feet slid. The Jedi Master retreated several meters in a desperate attempt to escape the scream.

As she did, stone broke from the ceiling. Rocks crashed and shattered into the ground all around her. The Sith would attempt to retreat the same way, slipping into the darkness, but Leah would not allow it. She already left a wicked mark against her enemy and it was time to finish the job, especially should Alexander persevere and push on to strike. He needed her to act, and she would. As one shard of stone fell between them, Leah mustered some piece of strength she had leftover after her defense and hurled a burst of the Force at the Sith. Concentrated, but it was not meant to hit him directly. Rather, it would carry and control the falling rocks, now dangerous shrapnel, aimed to pierce his vulnerable face and chest.

Alexander, likely coming in immediately after the attack, would easily catch the Shistavanen by surprise. Leah believed there was no way the Sith could avoid the coordinated attacks at once, no less amid the excruciating pain they now endured. Nevertheless, the Jedi Master was prepared to leap back into the fray or save the young Jedi should he find himself trapped or troubled. Of course, she had faith in him, and hope that they could end the battle once and for all. Even if they couldn’t surmount the Sith now, they would eventually. Together. Their enemy would not last, not against the Light Side of the Force. Not against the Jedi he so foolishly thought he could defeat.

@Malon

 

[The Storyteller]

The Sith had been a fool to underestimate these Jedi and he would pay the price for that mistake. The Jedi Master's blast... he sensed it coming, but he did not sense the rocks that came with it. Just as he tensed to dodge, they caught him with bone shattering impact. One struck his snout and he felt a sharp sting followed by the metalic taste of blood—a tooth or two had been knocked loose. The rest of the stones also caught his body, slapping against his chest, knuckles, knees, and forehead, and opening gashes with each painful blow. The pain was good, it was of the dark side and only helped him to focus his anger for the Jedi. But the pain did not prepare him for the next, quite fatal, surprise.

A hot flash crossed his neck. That was all it was. The pain wasn't as sharp as the stones and there wasn't the warm trickling sensation of freshly drawn blood. Just the searing feeling of flesh burning for an instant before all sensation ceased entirely. It took a moment for the Sith's brain to realize that he was dead. And by the time the synapses caught up, he had little time to curse the Jedi for his demise before his his body collapsed. His lightsabers, with a loud hiss, deactivated and clattered to the floor, rolling away from the corpse in either direction; and then it was done, and the Holy City was at last free of his murderous streak.

The tombs fell silent, save for the humming of the Jedis' blades. @Deviant @Lucid

 

[Alexander Ayers]

Alexander felt the Sith's death in the Force before his sword came free. It was odd to experience; the odd darkness in the Force vanished but in its place came a terrible emptiness. No matter how twisted he had been, the loss of life lessened the Force though he would return to it elsewhere. Alex stepped back and took a good look at the body of the being who's life he had taken. The wolfman seemed smaller in death...Alexander hadn't even known his name.

He wasn't entirely sure he cared. Compassion was one thing, useless sentiment was another. He owned what he had done, it had been right...not good, but right. His eyes fell to the Sith's lightsabers and something in them called to the young Jedi. Without looking to Leah, not sure if she'd approve but knowing that he could not pass up the opportunity, Alexander reached down, his sword falling to the floor next to him with a sharp clatter--a jarring noise in the silence. He took the lightsabers into one hand.

Immediately he knew he had made a mistake, but he couldn't let go. Something electric snarled its way up his arm. Electric and cold. A coppery taste filled his mouth and he longed for the freedom of release, of reckless abandon to give into every urge, every violent thought he had ever had. It consumed him for a moment, his eyes flashed yellow as he rounded on Leah, murder in his eyes. He sprang forward, intent to cleave her heart from her chest. Just then, Alexander perceived her to be anything but what she was.

As the cold, dark, electric feel from the sabers burned through his body he knew the darkside. It had long festered in the core of the sabers. It was powerful and Alexander gave into it for a moment. But only a moment. Even as he sprang through the air the memory of only scant minutes ago, of Leah sneezing in the dust of Jheda, telling him to shut up, flashed through his mind. Maybe it wasn't the most poignant memory, but it was enough to give him pause and see outside the dark lust that had consumed him. He saw himself as if looking from the perspective of a bystander. He saw the rage and fear that had contorted his normally kind face into a twisted mask. He saw the flash of his yellow and orange eyes.

Instinct took over then. He rejected what he saw. He didn't want it, he didn't need it and he sure as hell wasn't going to give into it...perhaps a touch of stubbornness was a good thing. Time seemed to hang still as he watched himself fly through the air towards Leah. He drew deeply on the reservoir that was the Force, an unrefined but powerful channeling of the Force shaped by the teachings of both Leah and his father. He reached into the light and pulled it through his body. He fell to a knee before Leah, the air seeming to bend and twist around his body as he sent the power he had grabbed through his body and down his arm.

It surged into the twisted sabers, a cleansing heat that drove out the twisted urges that had lived for so long in their cores. Dark lightning full of malice and hunger poured from their ends, crackling around himself and Leah before finding purchase in the stone around them. He stood. The evil light in his eyes vanishing as quickly as it had come. He didn't remember taking a saber in his other hand, let alone igniting them, but he had.

They burned white and hot. Purified and blinding in their brilliance. He looked at Leah, their eyes meeting for a moment as the air around him stilled, the maelstrom of Force energy leaving him in a howling rush. "That was..." he started weakly. "That was neat."

It was all he managed before the sabers fell from his hands, their blades flashing out into nothingness as his hands slid from their trigger pads. He toppled forward into Leah, exhausted and trembling. He had in an instant, when his need had been greatest, summoned more power than he ever had. Likely more than he ever would. His body was overwhelmed with the effort, but his mind was alive with excitement.

He had passed the first test.

@Deviant

//Thread?