Discovering Secrets

[Prancing Yawn]

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip.
Dripdripdripdripdripdripdripdrip------

...

dripdripdripdripdripdripdripdrip...

Blank uncomfortably shifted in his seat; his head twitching each time one of the water droplets smashed - smashed, was his description - into the metal floor of the council chambers. There was a leak in a pipe, somewhere in the room, and a serviceman hadn't been there to fix it yet.

It was driving the hell out of him. Drip drip drip..
What kind of idiotic sound is that?

He stepped off of his seat and walked behind it, looking long and hard at that bronze pipe. There was a tiny leakspot..
and he punched it, causing the pipe to split in half and a burst of water to spew out onto the floor, soaking Blank's shoes. He mumbled something - unintelligible because of his mangled vocal chords, but it still sounded quite angry- and drew his lightsaber, the viridian hue reflecting in the pool of water on the floor. He grabbed one of the pipe pieces and twisted it back towards the other one, starting to weld the two together with his saber..

What do you think, now, Drip? By the Force, I swear - you'll never drip again!
Beneath his mask, he smiled like a madman.
---

The Battlemaster sat still, tapping his fingers on the left cushioned armrest of the chair. The comm device in his ear beeped twice, the green glow of it shining through his mask. He remembered why he was there..

Send them in.

 

[Master Maverick]

Ayva had arrived with Tsume to the Council Chambers on The Light of the Force earlier that day. She found it odd that the Battle Master of the Order would be taking their request to speak with them when it was clearly the Lore Master's area of expertise and she should have been meeting with them.

However, times rarely allowed for things to be so easy.

They were scanned and checked thoroughly before even entering the ship itself and once more before entering the chambers. It was standard procedure, but it was starting to wear on the Kaminoan. Never before had security been so tight and the time it took to get anywhere increased ridiculously. However, it was quite necessary.

She bowed her head slightly to the Knight guarding the Chamber as he opened it and allowed them access. Ayva had not her lightsabers, as she had left them with the Knight, but was allowed to keep the small sack she held in her left hand. It had to be, as it was the reason for this meeting. It was scanned and checked thoroughly before it was determined that it was, indeed, simply a holocron with naught but information and knowledge inside.

What it was, though, Ayva had no idea.

In the time since their mission to Onderon, Ayva had kept the device in her safekeeping. Never did she activate it and she kept it's whereabouts hidden from everyone, even the Council. Indeed, this was the first time they learned of the device. While on her report she had revealed that all was lost upon their escape, this was a partially necessary lie. The timing was poor and she couldn't get it to the Council soon enough. After the destruction of The Will, then the invasion and defeat at Saleucami, the loss of a Council in the destruction of the Temple on Coruscant and the creation of a new Council that seemed to still be changing and settling, she didn't feel it right to reveal her quarry.

Finally she had gotten time, and so did the Council. Finally it was time to reveal the contents of the device and learn what knowledge it held. Whether it was with Ayva and Tsume or to be shown only the Council mattered little, it just needed to exchange hands.

Moving to the center of the room, Tsume would take a position slightly behind herself and to her right as she bowed to the Battle Master. "Councilor," she spoke softly, her voice recovered from the incident on Yashuvhu. Her gait was as though she were floating upon the ground, and her stark white dress as though she were walking through water. She stood, no hovered, in her spot to pause for a moment.

There were many stories about Councilor Valhalla, though Ayva wasn't one to listen to them. Therefore, she knew nothing of the man. He took the former Battle Master's position when he stepped down due to conflicting ideology. It didn't surprise her, but it was still a bit disappointing. The Council couldn't seem to settle in the most tumultuous of times and these were the times when it was most needed.

Even so, she finally spoke once more, her voice soft and warm, seeming to echo passed the echoes naturally created by the Chamber, and caress the ears of all present, "This holocron was recovered during a mission to Onderon. You may have read my report; we went there in order to find out the odd influx of bounty hunters and encountered a cave and a Dark Jedi. We engaged him and succeeded only in his suicide and barely made it out alive. The caves are not completely collapsed and there is no real way back into them.

"However, while going through the caves, we noticed a rather large collection of crystals used for lightsabers, and even more that I knew not the use for, and still do not. I apologize for keeping this from the Council for so long, but the current events made meeting with you nigh on impossible and the timing wrong. I have not activated the device and thus know not what is inside. It is now under the protect of you and the Council to do with what you see fit."

She was finished with her explanation of her visit. It was rather short and probably didn't need to be done in this fashion, but perhaps the Battle Master might activate it with them in the room. If not, then hopefully some other topic might be brought up so it might not feel like this meeting was excessive. Though it didn't particularly matter either way.

The holocron in the cloth was positioned in such a way that she would quickly hand it to the Battle Master when he requested it.

 

[Prancing Yawn]

He nodded as the renowned Ayva Starfall entered the room, his fingers still tapping on the armrest, barely mimicking the drip that he had 'repaired.' The thought almost crossed his mind to offer them tea; although he had none on hand, it reminded him of his old friend, Nuju Leafskipper. The former Loremaster held his weight in tea more than anything else.

Depending on each of their proficiency in telepathy, Blank's 'speaking' would either appear as plain text in an empty section of their mind, or they would hear his deep, booming voice - as they would hear it if he was speaking it from normal, unscarred vocal chords.

My curiosity begs me to activate it here, Master Starfall. May I see the holocron?

 

[Master Maverick]

Even though she had never met the man in person before, being a Master of the Order, she knew about his... condition. Her mind was already prepared for his voice, and she reacted in a timely manner. That being, practically as he was 'speaking'.

"Of course, Master Valhalla," she said out loud as she bounded towards - no, glided - quickly with the object still in its wrappings and held it out to set gently into the Battlemaster's hands as though it might break from harsh contact.

Ayva herself was rather anxious to witness its contents. However, her mind quickly thought of Tsume; how would he handle this information? Keeping her thoughts from Tsume, she relayed her concern to Councilor Valhalla to let him know of her concern. Perhaps he didn't know of the situation with Tsume. While he had shown a change of heart to her, she still couldn't shake the idea that he might turn back. It was an entice road and an urge he would have to fight for the rest of his life. She didn't want to make it any harder on him than it was already going to be.

Stepping back, she returned to her original position and waited patiently for the Councilor to reveal the secrets inside the device.

 

[Nevermourn]

Tsume was curious as to why they were not headed for the lore master, but didn't voice it. As they entered the room, he took position just behind Ayva and began to listen, not carie.g to voice his own thoughts on the matter.

He let his mind wonder, thinking about his future as a knight, if he had one, and round himself dreading the thoughts. Pushing them away, he began to focus more positively, and figured now was an excellent time to center his mind. He first began sweeping away anything negative, shutting tight his eyes to help gain concentration, and then began picking out several differant memories, analizing them, remembering every detail as vividly as possible.

For several moments he did this, until he was sure he had contemplated every act, every choice, and then opened his eyes, driven by some unknown force. He couldn't stop himself.

"It was a gift to me." He blurted out in a protective tone then frowned. Why did he care? He didn't want to mess with it. Didn't want to fall into its dark clutches, to be seduced by darkness. So what's force in his little mind had driven him to blurt that out? Pride perhaps? Curiousity? Or fear for their lives?

 

[Master Maverick]

Quite out of character for the Kaminoan, her head snapped back to look at Tsume. Her face one of concern more than curiosity.

"What do you mean, Tsume?" The concern flowed into her voice as she looked back tentatively to the Battle Master, not sure of his reaction or his opinion on this - what might because, a - situation.

 

[Nevermourn]

"I'm not sure." He frowned. He was just as confused as her about his sudden protectivness over the strange object. He didn't rightly trust it, and feared something horrible might happen, should it be activiated. It wasn't something he was willing to do himself, however, and for the first time in a while he found himself worried for his own fate. The feeling was sudden, and caught him unaware, but it was there.