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Like claws, brambles wrapped themselves around the legs of the Sith. Through gauze, and into flesh they raked across her skin. Her ankles bled, along with her emotions. Anger seeped from her wounds just as much as the red liquid itself. She ached for relief. An end to this torment. Perhaps, even an end to herself. She held unto nothing. Her Empire was lost. Her salvation-lost. Her faith lost.
How can there be passion without strength? How can there be victory without strife?
Both of these statements contradicted within her... Memories surfaced, and then faded as she trekked through the jungle.
The great temple of Korriban, aflame and in ruins, though now she could not tell if this was indeed the truth, or a memory of ages past. Were they both not the same? Was history not the present? Where had they gone wrong? Where had they lost their way? How deeply she had admired Malon. How deeply she had placed faith in his every action and supported his every move, and now, all that trust was gone. Without direction and purpose. Consumed by the rot of her own body. Her fading mortality. Her pitiful existence. Through loss, power is gained. Yet she was not on the receiving end of that power.
How Keket loathed the Jedi...and in her lingering hatred she realized that she despised her fellow Sith just as much. Her own brothers and sisters had let her down at the very moment in which they stood triumphant. They needed only to seize the galaxy that lay before them, yet it had slipped right through their fingers.
In her anger, Keket's rage boiled over, manifesting itself as a roar as she cast out her hands into a concentrated burst of the force into the foliage in front of her. Bark cracked, twigs snapped, and off in the distance several avian creatures squawked and fled from their roosts.
The Sith lowered her shaking hands.
In front of her lay a partially cleared path, but only for several meters. Broken stems and branches oozed sap.
Keket closed her hands into fists, feeling her dry skin stretch beneath the gauze. She breathed in heavily, her muscles aching. What was this?! Thought the Inquisitor as she gazed upon the destruction. Her composure was giving way as starvation began to take hold. Her withering body would not be able to withstand much more stress.
Defeated, Keket slowly lowered one of her bandaged hands down towards her ankle. The Inquisitor ran her palm across the scratched and inflamed skin, the bandages on her palm soaking up some of the blood which leaked from the cuts. She paused momentarily, recalling a memory of her only child- Nyph, the margay she had raised. When Nyph had grown old enough to hunt, Keket remembered that the cat had made a game out of trying to catch the Sith's feet. Keket had laughed at the kitten at the time despite the discomfort which Nyph's claws and teeth had caused, and here, in this unknown jungle, that memory soothed her.
Keket cursed herself for having left Nyph in the care of her friend, Akasha. Their separation was horrid, and although she trusted the Dathomirian to return her beloved pet safely, Keket began to wonder if she would ever feel the cat's soft fur again...
Her fingers wrapped themselves around the bark of a tree, and she pressed onward. Her destination was not safety, it was not shelter or a way off this accursed landscapet, it was sustenance. Her stomach ached, and her throat was so dry it burned. For a day and a half she had remained next to her crashed Ziost fighter, but she could stand no more. Death awaited her in the jungle. She had heard the cries of creatures which resonated in the air, and the consistent hiss of insects, yet remaining with her ship would surely be the end of her. The Sith knew all too well that this was indeed the end, of not only her, but the Empire as well. No one was coming....she was alone.
As the sorceress looked down at the drying blood in her palm, tears began to well in her eyes. What had she done wrong? Was her destiny to watch everything she had held dear slip out of her fingers? All of her achievements were in vain. Her life, her struggle, none of it mattered. It had all been taken in a single instant by the pride and greed of her fellow Sith.
Once more Keket clenched her hand into a fist, droplets of blood trickling down unto the forest floor.
Where was her guidance? Korriban was lost, and her connection to those that lay beyond the veil of death was severely hindered. None could speak with her, and in their absence Keket felt a great void.
The Sith's yellow eyes were diverted away from her palm, something was moving nearby, Keket could hear it in the underbrush. Through the thicket of throrns, a creature emerged. A maw of teeth and four black eyes.
Keket found herself stumbling backwards as she reached for her sabers, both hands closing around metal hilts. Her bare feet tredded on wet leaves, and her back pressed up against the rigid bark of a trer as she stared down the beast. Her crimson red blades flared to life, heartbeat rising as she prepared to defend herself from the nexu. In her current state, Keket did not know just how long she could last. Her heart beat with furor, faster and faster until it felt as though it might spring out of her chest.
Keket prepared for the inevitable attack...
@Kyo'kou
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