Ruins of home.

[Caine]

Hidden among one of the the rain forests of Honoghr the ruins of the Ra'Kul clan were slowly being reclaimed by the forests, vines and moss covering the stone ruins of the town at the center of the land that they had once called home the bodies of his family left to rot where they had fallen throughout the streets over a decade earlier leaving only crumbling skeletons bleached white by the sun resting beneath the forest floor.

Few bodies were found within buildings even the clans children having chosen to fight rather then be killed in hiding, Lux had been in the town for almost a week having spent most of his savings on a small statue and brought it back to his ancestral home to place in the center of the town and removed the few bodies he had found within the buildings to be buried beneath it and hung 3 small blood stained leather necklaces from it each bearing the symbol of one of the clans that had destroyed his family.

Lux felt calmer and more at peace here among the ruins of his clan then he had since the day his parents had fled Honoghr after discovering the clans fall, he could almost feel the spirits of his clan around him welcoming him home and had sworn again that one day he would bring his family home to bring justice to those that had all but destroyed it in the past.

Swearing silently to himself again that they would pay for taking his family from him Lux sprang lightly to his feet as he sensed new presences in his home, many of them he could tell were Noghri and he had to fight his desire to confront them immediately. It's possible others of my clan survived, but if they had surely they would have dealt with the bodies. I'd best check on the lone presence first I don't think they're friends. He decided stepping out a window to drop 15 feet to the ground landing lightly on the balls of his feet as he pulled his cloak tighter around him and allowed his mask to slip into place hiding his face as he pulled his hood up.

Taking a slow breath he suppressed his presence in the force to hide himself before moving in the direction of the lone presence he felt, slipping silently through the ruins he came across a woman he few years older then him in Jedi robes and studied her curiously as he sniffed the air. Definitely at least partially human but the scent is wrong, I know what humans smell like. Interesting, why is a Jedi here? He wondered before he stepped out of the shadow of a tree rolling his shoulders to settle his armor into a more comfortable position.

" Who are you Jedi and why have you come to this place. " He called calmly. They'll find my scent soon and know somebody else is here. If she's an enemy I'm in trouble Jedi don't go down easily and I doubt even I could fight her and a Noghri hunting party at the same time. He thought moving slightly to place her between himself and the direction he could feel the Noghri in.

@Rae Anne Jarrus

(( His appearance. http://williamfdrake.deviantart.com/art/Nightingale-Armor-311099729 ))

 

[Rae Anne Jarrus]

Rae had been at the Jedi Temple meditating for a while until one of the masters decided she had been training enough for one day, as she had been meditating and training the entire day, and sent her on a mission to the planet Honoghr. She had been told of mysterious mishaps happening on the planet and suggested she may become of some help for the people of that planet.

After the meeting with the master, Rae ran to her room, grabbing her two lightsabers and pistols either hooking them to her belt or shoving them in her holsters. Afterwards, it was off to this planet. She made her way to a small ship known as The Jedi Rebel and punched in quickly some coordinates for the planet before taking off and finding the hyperspace lane to completely take off.

Once she got there, there was a sense of death and rot, rolling it's way through the surroundings of the forest that would usually seem to be less drab than what it is at that moment. Rae new something wasn't right and she would find out the issues and try to help fix them if anyone she ran into, or if she ran into anybody wasn't hostile towards her.

Sooner or later, she felt a wave of emotion and slight fright and mixed emotions coming from the town. She made her way there to find another force sensitive who was confused about her being there. She knew he had to be force sensitive due to him knowing she was a Jedi.

She waked forward calmly and slowly, with her hands up, showing that she wasn't going to be quick to draw and neither was she there to fight, but help. She figured an introduction of some sorts would help a little. She heard the calmness in her voice and spoke with her own calm, her voice smooth, quiet and feminine.

"I mean no harm. I honestly come to help, if help is needed. My name is Rae Arwen Bell, a Jedi of the order. I have come here for one simple reason. I am alone, and I have come to see if there is anything I can do to help." she stated calmly.

 

[Caine]

Studying her for a moment Lux lowered his hood slipping his mask back up inside it as he sighed and turned away from her. " Your 13 years to late Jedi, welcome to the ruins of the Ra'Kul clan. I'm Lux Tenebris Ra'Kul last of the blood of the Ra'Kul clan, stay as long as you like so long as you don't disturb any of the remains I have no reason to harm you and no desire to kill another Jedi. " Lux said quietly before he whistled quietly bringing Amare out of her hiding place.

As the 13 year old human girl appeared tucking a knife back into the sheath on her leg and brushing dust off her own armor he walked towards her. " Go back to the ship and wait for me, if I'm not back by tonight tell the pilot to take you home. " He told her earning a glare from her as she shook her head furiously. " No I'm not leaving it's my job to make sure you don't get yourself killed. " She said defiantly.

Sighing fondly he patted her head before he grabbed her by the front of her armor and lifted her off the ground. " Either you go back to the ship or I break your legs and have the pilot come and carry you back. I can't fight a Noghri hunting party and protect you at the same time and I will not watch my daughter die., I won't survive watching it happen again. " He said pleadingly getting a weaker glare from her as he lowered her back to the ground before she turned to walk into the forest. " That's a cheap shot, you better come back none of us will ever forgive you if you leave us. " She shouted over her shoulder refusing to look back at him.


Turning back to the Jedi again Lux studied her for a moment looking broken before his pain vanished behind a confident mask and he began walking back towards the center of the town buttoning up his trench coat to hide his armor as he walked. " Follow me if you want to know what happened here Jedi, but I warn you. You will not like what you see or hear, you'll find nothing but death in this place. "

@Rae Anne Jarrus

 

[Rae Anne Jarrus]

Rae's eyes opened wide. 13 years?! She was 12 at the time this all happened. How did word get to the Jedi so slow?? Maybe when word was sent, that person got killed. She remembered hearing something about one of their own be killed, so it would have had to be possible that their messenger was killed in space. She couldn't believe what he had seen or herd already. "I have no intent to disturb the remains or ruins. It appears that when I was a Padawan, a Jedi who I think fought here, must have been killed on their way back." she remembered that the one who was sent, she was told it was a brother of hers that she had never known.

She looked to see a young girl come out of a hiding spot tucking a knife away. She must have thought that Rae was an enemy of sorts. Rae watched the two argue with each other and she waited patiently and quietly. It appeared that he was the father of this girl. He had been similar to her own father and a small frown appeared on her face watching the two.

Rae noticed that when he turned back around, he was hurt. She could sense it. If her father and mother were alive she would feel the same way the girl did, but she would never act that way towards them. She started to follow him hearing what he said and she spoke up once more. "I can bear seeing and hearing what you have to say to me about what happened here."

 

[Caine]

" It's possible. " Lux said shrugging to himself as he walked. " If he fought on my clan's side his or her body is probably here somewhere, only my parents and I survived that night and that was because we weren't here. My people have no regrets though, they may have won the fight but we decimated them for generations in the process. If the clan had to fall then we'd have chosen to do it fighting. "

" You should stay out of this Jedi, this isn't your war. But if you really want to help, if I die make sure they don't go after my daughter. " Lux said tiredly as he walked around the corner into the town center again to see a cluster of 6 Noghri arguing furiously before they all turned warily in his direction and the oldest of them with a jagged scar running across his face stepped forward. " Him. " Lux growled so quietly only Rae would hear him.

" Who are you, what clan do you come from, what are you doing on our land. " The scarred Noghri asked warily before staggering back slightly as a cold malicious aura began radiating from Lux as he looked at him replacing the tired despondent one that had surrounded him earlier. " Your land? No, how's the face coward, still hurts I trust. " Lux growled out as he pulled off his coat and dropped it beside him so the Noghri could see his armor and added his cloak to it revealing the pair of light sabers strapped across the base of his spine leaving a row of empty strap running up to his shoulder blades.

The scarred Noghri's eyes widened in fear as he caught sight of the armor before he retreated to his companion who looked confused at his reaction as he shouted shakily. " That's not real, we killed you all. " As he managed to bury his fear. " You missed one, did you really believe after all these generations the Tenebris would be wiped out so easily, your clan has been hunting us since it's founding, how's that going for you? I had a few words with the last hunter who came after me, how many hundreds did you lose that night to kill 8 of us? How many scores more before you were able to take down my parents? " Lux called back mockingly grinning behind his mask as the youngest of the group shouted angrily and rushed at him ignoring the shouts of his companions to stop.

Waiting for him to close Lux's force presence flared for an instant as he slipped easily inside the reach of his attacker and without even bothering to look at him slammed his elbow into the side of his foes head stunning him before reaching out dismissively and snapping his neck dropping him to the ground. " I hope you've got another son, he's not getting back up. " Lux said coldly as the rest of the group glared furiously at him as he stamped down on his dead foes chest shattering it.

" I'll give you a fair warning for the Jedi here coward, my sister was 12 when she gave you that scar and was considered something of a prodigy in my family. Of all those who faced her that night only you lived and you attacked her from behind after she'd killed many of your clan and even then did not escape without injury. " Lux said his voice carrying the promise of pain as he let his mask slip back into place and slowly withdrew one of the light sabers from his back. " I'm far more dangerous then my family ever was. Run, if your lucky I might even allow one of you to live. " He continued his cold tone making it clear he had no intention of allowing it as a red blade burst to life in his hand and the 5 remaining Noghri began moving towards him warily to surround him.

@Rae Anne Jarrus

 

[Rae Anne Jarrus]

Rae walked alongside Lux as they talked and walked along. "Almost all of the Jedi at that time were on your clan's side. You and your parents were lucky. My parents had already been dead at the time and a brother I had only known after ten years and only for two days had died in that battle. I had never known about him until ten years later when I was 12. He was my older brother and we never knew about each other until two days before he died." she said, looking towards the ground to mask her sadness of never knowing her own sibling who ended up killed. She remembered begging to go and fight in that war because she knew something about her brother wasn't right. Finding out about a dead brother and only knowing him for two days was miserable.

She wasn't very approving hearing him say it wasn't her battle. She had wanted to fight that battle her brother was killed in and she would fight in this one. "Two is better than one sir. I will take care of your daughter, but I have been wanting to avenge my parents and brother for a while." What? Why did that come from her? She was starting to sound more dark than she had ever been before.

Rae stayed quiet for the most part, her hands only sliding over her two lightsabers on either side of her belt buckle. She heard Lux growl about a man who stepped forward with a nasty scar that stretched across his face. Rae could sense war would break out, just sensing how Dark energy was rolling off of Lux towards the man who came forward. Even the man flinched upon feeling his dark energy. If Rae fought, she wasn't going to be soft. She would kick some ass no matter which way it went. She was experienced and had one of the best masters referred for her.

Rae had let Lux do all the talking because if she opened her mouth at that moment, who knew how he would react. She only waited until he was finished talking, that she spoke up watching and sensing where the man's companions were spreading out and around. She was mainly surprised to see Lux ignite a red lightsaber. Was he a gray Jedi, Dark Jedi, or one of what was left of the sith?

"I can also say something too. My brother fought in the same battle with blood sweat and tears and I intend to avenge him for what your clan did to him and this man's clan." she said firmly.

 

[Caine]

" Do what you want Jedi but scar face is mine. " Lux said quietly as they closed in on him then span gracefully between 2 of them faster then they could react sending one crashing to the ground in 2 pieces and the other stumbling towards Rae with from an elbow to the back of the head as he continued on towards the scarred Noghri at the back of the group ignoring the remaining 3 behind him as he flicked off the light saber and slipped it back into place on his back.

" Me and scar face here need to have a chat about the price of killing my family. " Lux growled as he slapped aside scar faces claw leaving a knick on the inside of his wrist severing the tendons in the process crippling his left hand then drove his armored fist up into his gut lifting him bodily off the ground and sending him crashing into a wall coughing blood as the impact ruptured his insides.

"' It's an insult, a coward like you killing one of the Tenebris. " He muttered as he caught his right arm by the wrist as scar face lashed out at him then slammed his knee up into it breaking it in half with a wet snapping sound. " I'm sure she's furious that her baby brother lived and she didn't. You can help me appease her though, I'm sure she'll love my gift. " He continued picking scar face up by the throat then turning him around to slam him face first into the wall before hurling him across the courtyard into another wall with a crunch as his ribs were crushed by the impact drawing a scream of pain from him.

Looking up at the second story of the building scar face hit Lux sighed. " I told you to wait at the ship, you didn't need to see this. " He growled up at the window making Amare wince as she appeared in it in time to see Lux lift scar face up again and drive his fist into his back snapping his spine and causing his legs to go limp before he dropped him back on the ground. " Say hello to the coward who stabbed your aunt in the back. " Lux said dismissing scar face and turning back to watch Rae. " He'll be dead soon, so if you've got anything to say to him make it quick. " He added as she dropped lightly out the window.

Turning back as scar face screamed again he chuckled quietly to himself as Amare slipped her durasteel claws on smiling cruelly down at her broken victim then tore into his body with them carving his torso apart until her armor was covered in blood. " Girl, some times I worry about you. " He said as she stood panting trying to catch her breath and wiped the blood off her claws. Guess she was angrier then I thought, I'm glad she took it out on him not me.

@Rae Anne Jarrus

 

[Rae Anne Jarrus]

Rae nodded and watched their enemies moves. She didn't grab for her sabers until two came for her and she pulled them off her belt, twirling them and igniting them at the same time, one blade purple and the other blue as she moved smoothly and quickly through the two who came after her with vibro swords. The other three decided to go at her all at the same time thinking that maybe three would throw her off, but no, she cut right though them easily and quickly without a drop of blood on her own skin.

Hearing that the man with the scar would have been dead soon, she sheathed her sabers and walked over, grabbing him from his knees and into the air. He may have been at least two times bigger than her, but she had enough strength to lift an entire ship. (Not exactly) she glared into his eyes as she saw a now fearful one in his as he noticed her being able to pick him up the way she did and she spoke rather sinisterly. More than usual. "You killed a brother I only knew for two days. I met him when he was 16 and I was 11. You killed him two days after only then to include an entire clan. Now you will pay." She saw Amare drop down from a balcony and before Rae dropped him down to let Amare finish him off, she snapped his windpipe so he would suffocate. She then backed up and let Amare do her job.

Rae watched the young girl scrape the man out with claws and her expression never changed as she watched. After Amare was done, Rae's expression changed to a more soft one at seeing a father and his daughter together. She just wished she had done something similar with her father. She rarely got any chance with hers.

 

[Caine]

Muttering to himself about disobedient children Lux lifted Amare off the ground and settled her on his shoulder before he looked over at Rae. " Ask whatever it is you want to know, I could feel you staring at me earlier when I drew the saber. " He said as he drew it again and set about removing the heads of each of the dead Noghri before settling them around the statue in the center of the courtyard.

Once he'd finished he walked into one of the buildings collecting his coat along the way and settled Amare on it before he sat down beside her. " Haven't seen her lose it like that since the day our home was attacked by slavers when I was 15. She's probably gonna be asleep for a while. "

@Rae Anne Jarrus

 

[Rae Anne Jarrus]

Rae heard Lux mutter about children being disobedient and she had to admit, she wasn't very obedient herself. She looked over to him as he lifted his daughter over his shoulder and ignited the red blade once more cutting the heads off of the bodies she killed and laid them under a statue. "Are you a Sith?" she managed to push out after a brief pause between the two.

She followed Lux over to where he laid Amare down to rest. She interestingly looked peaceful where she was. "She's a good fighter. How she lost it today, is how I have secretly felt for the past few years." she said quietly to him before looking back to Amare again.

 

[Caine]

" Naw, I didn't even know I was force sensitive until last week when my newest clan sister was being tested against Amare. She, made me angry and I covered 10 meters in the space of a second and release enough blood lust through the force that every one of my children and my new sister were terrified I was about to kill them all. " Lux said shrugging his shoulders as he thought about it.

" Well except my youngest daughter who apparently is so certain I won't hurt her that she doesn't even notice it. Girl is scary good at hiding as well she's the only one of my kids who's capable of actually getting near me without me noticing her. I'm starting to think maybe she's force sensitive as well because at time's even when I'm looking right at her I can't sense her and I can do the same thing. " He continued before he reached behind him and pulled out both light sabers.

" Anyway, no I'm not Sith or Jedi. I took the red one off a sith and took the purple one off a jedi. I ran into them fighting last year and told them to stop spouting holier then though crap at each other and kill each other already and I guess they got upset because they both tried to kill me, so I killed them both and decided to keep there toys.
I don't really like them I'd prefer a good solid metal sword but they might be useful some day. "

@Rae Anne Jarrus

 

[Rae Anne Jarrus]

Rae stood, watching and listening to what he was saying. Listening to everything he said, she was very impressed. "Wow, that's quite impressive. I have to say, learning that you are a force sensitive and then gaining lightsabers from both sides of the force and also killing the owners of those sabers are very impressive and not very easy to accomplish within the week of you finding out that you are force sensitive. When I first found out, I was five and alone with my mother's saber," Rae pulled the purple saber off her belt that had a specially designed hilt. "And my father's saber." she then also pulled off the blue saber from hr belt and showed him.

"I was forced to take my parents' sabers when the Empire invaded. My father had told me to take them and I had no choice but to follow what he said and then run away while Imperials were still distracted. Of course, trying to get away from the Empire at that time, was tough. I barely escaped an agent who tried stopping me. That was the first time I had ignited my parents' lightsabers and used them to defend myself. He never caught me, but I escaped with a broken leg and a scar that can't be forgotten." she said, a small frown spread across her lips.

"I have to say, lightsabers do come in very handy. A lightsaber can easily defeat a metal sword unless it is saber proof. You see, sabers are heat, heat burns metal, and if your enemy had metal, you can cut their sword in half." she said. Rae then thought of how he said that his family was frightened of him when the force burst from him. "Just be happy that you have a family." she gave a small smile that faded just as quick as it came.

 

[Caine]

Shaking his head Lux looked down at the pair of sabers before he slipped them back into place on his back. " I've had the sabers for over a year, if I hadn't taken them somebody else would have and besides one day one of my kids might turn out to be a force user and I'll have something to pass down to them if they decide they'd rather use a light saber. Don't see why they would though other then being flashy they're not really very impressive. "

Frowning himself at her description of a light saber Lux shook his head. Girls gonna get herself killed relying on them, if her brother died here I guess it's down to me to repay the debt. Lux decided before springing lightly to his feet and motioning for her to follow him outside. " Attack me with your light sabers, I need to teach you something before you get yourself killed relying on them. My clan would never forgive me for allowing one of us to be killed."

Lowering himself into a slight crouch Lux pulled the force into himself lightly and focused it around his hands whilst he waited for her to attack him.

@Rae Anne Jarrus

 

[Rae Anne Jarrus]

Rae saw as he started shaking his head and put his sabers back into their places. The way he described the lightsabers as being flashy and no good, Rae raised an eyebrow hearing him say it. "Flashy? That's a new one." she said under her breath. She had heard many insults about lightsabers, but she could somewhat understand. They could be just as fragile as metal swords, but a swords use only went so far and if it came into contact with a lightsaber, it would more than likely be cut in half.

Looking at Lux, she could tell he was thinking about something, but she couldn't exactly tell. Then he asked her to attack him. "W-Why would I do that??" But then he said teach, so she sighed and stood up pulling her sabers back out and igniting them. She stood in the usual Ataru stance and then leaped forward, attacking as he asked er to.

 

[Caine]

Watching her move to attack him Lux smiled to himself as his mask slid down into place. She's definitely smarter then the idiots who used to own my sabers they just charged right at me. He thought as she swung towards him. " First reason you shouldn't rely on a light saber, or any bladed weapon really. " Lux said calmly as he twisted aside from each incoming blow. " If your target is fast enough you'll have a bad time trying to hit him, that's how I came to possess 2 sabers. The previous owners were certainly good but they underestimated me for not using the force and never accepted that I could be faster then them. "

As another swing came in Lux closed his eyes for a second to focus before he stepped into the blow rather then evading it and swung a hand towards the saber deflecting it away from him with the back of his hand several times before stepped out of range and motioning for Rae to stop. " Second reason and this one is more recent. You don't need a light saber or a special weapon to block a light saber if you have the force yourself and it's nearly impossible to tell until it's too late. " He said drawing one of his own and swinging it at the back of his other hand where it came to a stop an inch short of his hand. " Force users can channel the force into weapons and nearly anything can be a weapon if you know what your doing with it. " He continued putting his saber away again and rapping his knuckled on the back of his other hand drawing a dull metal clang from it. " Armored plating inside my gloves, they were made to allow me to fight swords bare handed, works just as well against a saber and nobody ever expects it. "

@Rae Anne Jarrus

 

[Rae Anne Jarrus]

Rae listened carefully but then also swung precisely and smoothly at Lux. Of course she wasn't going into the complicated moves, because this was only a little lesson. Hearing what he said, she gave a small nod. He definitely had logic, no doubt, but she was also a trained knight. "I always use the force when in a battle. I found it helps you to be quicker, smoother and then you can also sense better if someone is coming up on you without you knowing it." she stated.

When he signaled for her to stop, she spun both of her blades in a circle, and sheathed her sabers at the same time, before putting them on her belt. She looked at Lux as she crossed her arms and listened to him only to realize something. Her master had said something sort of similar. "I remember my master saying something somewhat similar when I was a youngling." she said remembering the times she and Cassus would go out to train. She remembered when she thought she was crazy on deciding to date her master. He still taught her much though.

The sound of metal bending caught her attention again and she looked confused for a second before noticing that it was only Lux cracking his knuckes with metal plating that was put there for sword combat.

 

[Caine]

" I don't. " Lux said shrugging his shoulders. " The force is just another weapon to me and one that I have no real use for. Even without the force I'm already every bit as strong and fast as you are and I don't need it to know when somebody is nearby. " Lux studied Rae briefly before he walked over to the statue and crouching down grabbed a small box from beside it and pulled out the broken saber from inside it and tossed it towards Rae.

" Maybe you can find a way to fix it, either way it should be with his family not rotting here. " He said walking past her back into the house and settling back down beside his daughter.

@Rae Anne Jarrus

 

[Rae Anne Jarrus]

"Well, I guess we all have different perspectives on the force." she said after he finished. When he studied her, she was watching him as he walked over to a box and pulled out a broken lightsaber. He tossed it to her, and she caught it taking a close look at it. Not easily fixed, but could definitely be fixed.

Rae continued to study the saber feeling a connection with it. She looked up at Lux when he said that the saber should stay with his family. His family? Who was the his? Then she understood. It was her brother's saber. A surprised and shocked look appeared on her face as she looked between the saber and Lux.

"You knew him?" she asked quietly.

 

[Caine]

" I found his weapon whilst I was recovering my families armor and decided to leave it here since it was broken. " Lux said absently as he pulled his gloves off and began picking flakes of blood off of them. " Since he was your brother I figure it should go with you until you find a use for it or somewhere to leave it. Either way it belongs more with you not in the ground here. " He continued absently before he leaned down ignoring Amare's grumbling and scooped her up.

" You should go home anyway Jedi, I've got a job to do tomorrow so I need to get this one back home and pick up another of the kids and catch my transport. " He said over his shoulder as he walked back out of the building. " Try to forget about this place, this is my war not yours. "

@Rae Anne Jarrus

 

[Rae Anne Jarrus]

Rae looked from the saber to Lux, the smallest smile forming on her face. "Thank you... for salvaging this and giving it to me. This is the last of him I will ever have." she said, looking back over to Lux. She watched as he bent down and picked up his daughter, looking small in his arms. She couldn't just leave these people. It didn't feel right to just leave for some reason. Something told her to follow.

The very last thing he said to her, made her feel something deep inside. Something that made her walk forward and beside him. "I think we both know that this is both our war. We both lost family and friends to that lunatic in the war and as a Jedi, it is my duty to serve and help people like you and whoever is left of your people. I'm not asking for anything other than for you to let me help you. I know you need help getting this place back into shape and I know you need help defeating punks who want to come and destroy this land. The land is sacred and I know that we both lost something dear to our hearts that day." she said, still following him.

"You should also know, I'm not one who takes no for an answer and I am one who will never give up, no matter what the cost is."