Stupid Luck

[Isola Rin]

She gave a small grin as the Jedi seemed pleased with her revelation in the Force; Austin excused them from the Mayor to follow what she felt. Sometimes Loa didn't like to be correct, it seemed the closer she neared with the two Knights, the more ill she was feeling; then on top of it all, her ankle was still sore. Though she remembered her code, repeating it softly just under her breath to encourage her to continue onward. The path they followed reminded her of the forest that was tainted by the Dark side on Andara, there was no life, or if there was any, there was a weakening to it where the corruption has taken hold. It was too similar as her eyes traced the trees, her senses stretched outward feeling ahead of Austin while she occasionally glanced over her shoulder to see Galahad keeping up.

Her cheeks grew warm as they approached the hut in the tree and Loa quirked an eyebrow, admiring the resourcefulness of it, "Maybe they're naturalists..." she softly spoked, "who like dead things..." her brow furrowed as she pushed away the exhaustion in her muscles; she never felt like she did now and wasn't liking it. If the cause of it was this dark home, she wanted it to be stopped. Galahad approached the door, walking pretty much through it and it was no better inside.

Loa opened herself to the Force, trying to find the light in the clouded darkness, she could easily feel Austin and Galahad, like beacons as she followed down the stairs seeing the ritual artifacts. She felt a moment of mesmerization as she looked at the bleeding Kyber crystal; she never seen such a color, or felt so much pain from an object, though her attention would be directed to the old woman she recognized from the village. Loa felt her senses heightened, sensing for tricks from the old woman who looked to belittle the Jedi. She grinned at them as she spoke of breaking things and Loa's face visibly twisted into disgust.

"Did they break your toothbrush too?" she blurted out, however, remembering she had the infant and the little girl, Loa suddenly became worried, shifting her stance to ready herself for a fight.

The old woman crackled again now at the feisty comment of the youngling, her fingers outstretched as she slowly curled them inward, "Such spirit from a young Adept," her grinned widened, "Not as annoying as Jedi, but..." the dark side seemed to trickle off the elder woman, its tendrils snaked along the ankles of the Jedi, looking to hold them in place, "...but just as nosy." With just a glance, Loa felt herself propelled backwards as she was hit with an ice cold wall of dark energy. She hit the table, sending herself and some of the pieces of the dark artifacts tumbling to the ground. Loa could hear her Master yelling from thousand lightyears away to get up and she listened, pushing herself up as the old woman worked to crush the Knights under the weight of the dark side.

Though there would be more footsteps coming down the stairs, this old woman was not alone.

@Vosrik @Shalken

 

[Austin Wolfe]

Once again the hulk of a Jedi showed why he was a force to be reckoned with, not bothering to fiddle with the locked door and simply walking through it. Austin gaped for a moment, stepping gingerly over the pieces of rotting wood left behind in Galahad's wake. Disgust welled up inside the Jedi as the state of the hut's inside was no better than it looked from the outside. "Those that revel in their corruption indeed..." Austin repeated before breaking out in another fit of coughing. He did not like being sick — whatever this was needed to end immediately. Reaching the basement, the unholy feel of the Dark Side was pungent as ever as the giant Kyber crystal came into view. Darkness surrounded it and permeated the area, the stone walls around the crystal discoloured an inky black.

"That..." Austin choked out in between coughs. "That is an altar." Who knows why the creator of such an abomination was looking for Force sensitive children. It was almost too disturbing to imagine. It was then that the author of all these horrific deeds came forward, blocking the trio off from their escape. The hairs raised on the back of Austin's neck — a fight was imminent, and he drew the Force within himself. The woman attacked first, calling on the Dark Side to launch Loa into the altar and telekinetically crush both himself and Galahad. Despite knocking off some of the "decorations" on the table, the Kyber crystal remained levitating, unshaken. If the trio were to be able to fight back, they needed to end this miasma of darkness.

Outstretching his hand, Austin commanded his lightsaber to it and ignited the brilliant azure blade. In one swift motion, he cleaved the discoloured crystal in two — causing a wave of energy to wash out and what sounded like the release of souls. Instantly, the debilitating cloud over Austin's mind vanished as a shadow would in presence of light. "Your foul deeds end now, dark creature," the doctor declared. Outstretching his hand, he drew upon the Light itself and released it upon himself and his companions. Whatever remnant of sickness still lay upon them, it would flee in the face of the Light.

​

It was then that two men descended the stairs and showed themselves. Hooded and masked, wisps of blue fire seemed to trail from their hands and heads. These things, though likely once human, now seemed to have been possessed or corrupted entirely by the power of the Dark Side. They wielded hatchets and bows, likely the only things that remained of their previous selves. These men were likely hunters who met their demise long ago.

Resisting the power of the Dark Side, Austin reached outward and released the Force in a telekinetic blast, staggering the woman* but not throwing her into the henchmen as the Jedi had planned. Stepping forward and assuming an opening Niman stance, Austin prepared to meet the abominations head-on.

@Shalken @GABA​

 

[Galahad Vult]

Galahad was already gathering the Force inside him in preparation for a fight. This whole place was saturated with the Dark Side, and it was their duty to destroy the ritual taking place here. Suddenly, Loa was telekinetically launched into the altar, knocking aside some of the paraphernalia but leaving the tainted Kyber crystal untouched. "LOA!" he called out, only then realizing that he was rooted in place by the dark woman's power. Moments later Galahad felt the crushing weight of the Dark Side bearing down upon him from all sides, and the fuzziness in his head had crescendoed to a cacophony of noise, making it nearly impossible to focus.

Austin's quick actions shattered the dark spell that lay over the land, and Galahad's mind was restored as he was filled with the strength and clarity of the Light. Now it was his turn. Calling his Brylark staff to his hand with the Force, Galahad stepped forward to face the two corrupted humanoids that had moved to guard the dark woman. As the first hunter swung his axe overhead towards the ex-guard, Vult knocked it aside with his staff before deftly bisecting him — a simple Makashi parry and counter. Before the other opponent could reach the doctor and the girl behind him, Galahad swung his staff in a wide arc at its head, empowering his weapon with the Force moments before it struck. The force of the impact combined with the imbued strength of his staff instantly atomized its skull, the hunter's corpse dropping headlessly to the floor.

Feeling a wave of exhaustion from his exertion, Galahad collapsed into the nearby wall, leaning upon it for stability. "Surrender, witch," he breathed heavily. "We have destroyed your ritual. Your days of working dark sorceries are over."

@GABA @Vosrik​

 

[Isola Rin]

The dark sorceress stepped back to let her men take care of the trio, however, they were no match for the strength and resolve of the Jedi Knights in the room. The old woman's anger was apparent, with the call of her to surrender, she refused, clearly seeing the one Knight who took out her corrupted companions weakly lean against the wall. "No, maybe for you, you believe those days are over, but the darkness will forever live on. It was here before the light and it will remain after the light is gone." Her skeleton like fingers reached outward, ready to overpower Galahad.

It was those words though that Loa knew she was not going to surrender, the old woman would chose death over surrendering and she was more than happy to oblige. With a yell, the energies of the Force emitted from the girls palms as she jutted them outward. The dark woman stumbled backwards as Loa followed her attack, her own natural strength behind her swinging fist as she made contact with the temple of the old woman. There was a loud crack as the old woman's body seemed to slump into unconsciousness while Loa raised her fist again to unleash another hit, but paused, feeling the quiet whispers brush against her ear, letting her know everything will be fine.

Slowly, she lowered her hand and stood up, taking a step backwards away from the old woman.

"We should let the mayor and the villagers decide on the punishment for her." Loa stated, rubbing her knuckles and glancing at Galahad and Austin.

@Vosrik @Shalken

 

[Austin Wolfe]

Despite Austin's readiness to dive into combat with the two corrupted men, Galahad stepped forward first. One would not even realize that the Knight had a weakened leg as he flew into action, cutting down one monstrosity and utterly pulverizing the skull of the next. In fact, the doctor had been so mesmerized by the display of violence, by the time he turned to the old crone, she was also being taken down savagely by Loa. The solid crack of her temple being struck resounded across the room, and then all was silent but for the laboured breathing of the trio. It seemed their work here was finished indeed.

Stepping forward and giving the young one a warm smile, he placed a hand gently on her shoulder. "You have shown great restraint in allowing her to live, Loa. Many others would have simply cut her down in the heat of battle. Good work," he encouraged, looking down on the unconscious body of the old woman. "But yes, the mayor and villagers will decide her fate. Come Galahad, you and I can likely craft some sort of means of carrying her to the settlement."

◊ ◊ ◊​

Once they had reached the village and handed off the culprit to the mayor, Austin turned to Loa and Galahad. "Her fate is no longer our concern. We have done a great service today — not only for these people, but also for the Force itself. Perhaps one day we will visit a town that is not plagued by unnatural causes," he chuckled, this now being the second place they had come to aid and found a sinister cause to the illnesses. Looking specifically to the girl the Jedi had just met that day, Austin continued, "I believe it is time for us to part ways, young one. It was our pleasure to meet you and work with you to heal these people." He smiled and gestured to Loa's injury. "Now take care of that — give it a couple weeks and it should be good as new. Or if you'd like a bit of a challenge, you can certainly attempt speeding the process with the Force. We could always have more healers in this Galaxy."

Bowing his head in farewell, he and Galahad journeyed away from the settlement. "I wonder if we will ever see her again," Austin commented to Galahad when Loa was out of earshot. "She certainly has a fiery spirit. She would make an excellent Jedi."

Fin​

@Shalken @GABA
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