Ask Thawed Hearts

[Karys]

Ziost l Death Enabled​

Karys hadn’t been on Ziost since he was an Acolyte, since he was eighteen. His body had grown unaccustomed to the cold since then. He had spent too much time away from his birthplace, too much time in the deserts of Korriban. He’d forgotten the chill of eternal winter. He didn’t miss it.

Karys had come for multiple reasons, chief among them was to begin taking this world. Azar had told him long ago that he would need to sit upon this frozen throne, he would need to be king ruling alongside him. Karys intended to do just that, to rule a planet as cold as he had become.

Second, was to speak with his former apprentice Vossari. He knew Azar loved him. He knew Vossari loved Azar. For a time it enraged him. He plotted against his former apprentice. He viewed him as a rival to his husband’s heart. He’d been wrong. Azar’s love spilled onto them both, it wasn’t something either could possess alone without losing it entirely. Azar was happiest with them both by his side. An end to this competition had to be reached.

Finally, Karys was interested in the power of the nexus on Ziost. The font of power had begun to fade as no one nurtured it. That was a mistake he intended to rectify. Together, the former Master and Apprentice would expand their understandings, knowledge, and power by revitalizing the Dark Side there.

Their meeting place was to be the manor Karys had inherited from Cyutadakyr all that time ago. The guards his father had stationed were slaughtered. Karys had moved through them like a scythe through frost grain. He tended to the fireplace in the main foyer as he waited for Vossari’s arrival.

It had been too long since Rattatak.

@Fine Dining Set

 

[Vossari Khaldun]

It had been far too long since Rattatak. Vossari had seen little of Azar's brooding husband and his own former master in the interceding time. A strange feeling came over Vossari before he received Karys's invitation. Did he miss Karys? Nah, that couldn't be it - must've just eaten something weird.

They got along best when they were chasing after power, that was certain. Karys was steering himself to become a fixture in the Sith politics, an offensive general while Azar consolidated the regime internally. Indeed, a new shifting of power occurred slowly, subtly, within the Sith, as Tempest's chosen began to rise past the gale herself. The Ziost campaign would help solidify a turning point in Sith history. A new Order was soon to rise.

Vossari strode in, Acridia on beneath the helm of his suit of sorcery, and lightsaber clasped at his hip. He stepped over the bodies of cut-through guards as he entered a roaring great hall, feeling the warmth of flame. "You did the hard work, again." Karys was now a master. And Vossari a champion. Both their powers had grown. Taking a single planet would be child's play for the pair of them.

Vossari's air conditioned outfit always kept him warm, but he took off his gloves to feel the warmth of the fire.

@Apollyon

 

[Karys]

Karys felt Vossari’s presence before the Wrean entered the Manor. Karys stood before the fire, warming his own cold, blood slicked hands. He heard his former apprentice as he approached, he didn’t turn away from the fire to look at him. He left his back exposed to Vossari, a brazen display, something Karys had become synonymous with in the Order. However, when Vossari came alongside Karys, the Pureblood glanced down to him.

“I did. And I am glad you came.” Karys stated simply. “I have missed you, Vossari.” He stated without hesitation. It was the truth, Vossari was one of the few Sith he considered something approaching a friend. “How does Azar fair on Korriban?” He asked, acknowledging their relationship for the first time.

There was a long pause before Karys would speak again. It wasn’t about Ziost or his plans.

“I hated you. The entire time you were my apprentice, I wanted to see you fail.” He admitted. “But you proved yourself over and over to me.” He continued with a tinge of bitterness in his voice. “You showed your loyalty by standing beside me, no matter the conflict.” His golden eyes cut harshly at Vossari then. “You forced hate from my veins, you earned my friendship…and then Azar fell in love with you.” The words came out as a hiss. “But…I am tired of hating you Vossari. I am tired of empty plans to kill you. I am tired of conspiring against someone I’ve come to care for.” The venom left Karys’ words.

Karys fell silent for a long while, his eyes shifting back and forth as he sifted through complex emotions. He visibly swallowed before speaking again.

“We both hold Azar’s heart in our hands. Neither of us can wholly possess it. If one of us kills the other, it will destroy him and in turn, the survivor.” He stated as he turned to face Vossari. “So I propose something…else.” He whispered. “We drink deep in our passion. We bind ourselves together for him. We protect the man we love, together.”

Karys’ hand reached up to touch the side of Vossari’s helmeted face. It was a gentle touch, Karys’ lip curled as he did so. A mixture of passion and lingering resentment swirled in his eye.

“We become a triumvirate that has an unbreakable bond.”

@Fine Dining Set

 

[Vossari Khaldun]

Karys's bloody paws left a print on his helmet when his fingers connected to Vossari's viewport. He did not react, at first, as he mulled over Karys's words. He spoke openly about Azar - perhaps with grace, but certainly with some resentment. Beneath his mask, Vossari's eyebrows furrowed as he listened to the proposal. A triumvirate...deliberately cutting out Trael, of course. Was there a deeper meaning? Why propose this here, now?

It was true, Azar loved them both. It was true, Azar would long for both of them by his side. But had Karys even asked Azar if this is what he wanted? Moreover, was this a plan to build a bulwark of lovers against TRAEL? As if that human ingrate was deserving of so much thought.

He thought back to the night that the pair of them met. A party on Nar Shadda. Karys had tried to humiliate him that night. He had mocked Vossari for loving Azar then, and when mockery failed, attacked him. The shattered glass still left scars on his body, intermingled with the tattoos and spite that coursed through his veins. Yet, Vossari had been patient. He had played the part of brilliant apprentice well. He bode his time and gained his master's trust. It all led to this moment - all the waiting, all the painstaking humiliation, all the internal strife about being second to Karys in Azar's eyes and in the Order.

This plan seeks to corral him. Control him. But Vossari could not be controlled. Not by Param, not by Karys, not even by his writer - no one would restrain him from what he wanted. He would not be the blunt instrument in someone else's plan for vengeance or absolution. He would find his own path to power, now and always.

No matter which way he looked at it, now was his opportunity. Perhaps, a more calculated Sith could use Karys's trust towards a longer-term vision, a grand design that could swallow the whole Order. But Vossari had grown tired of waiting. Arak, Nash, Karys, Trael...all of these people treated Vossari like he was a curiosity. A 'friend.' Someone that they could rely on and trust. Had Voss grown so weak as to reciprocate these simpering feelings? Had he forgotten to instill in them, in himself, the proper discipline that a Sith required? The Dark Side did not call for mere love and passion - it called for hate. As he thought back to his time in the Order, it was the burning hatred of others that had proven to be a great personal motivator. He wouldn't lose that.

It was not passion he felt, but revulsion. Voss had certainly been curious about the massive Massassi's prowess as a lover, but this whole display was...unfocused and unbecoming. The nature of the Sith was for one to rise above. Vossari would be that one. He would not share - not here, not now, and certainly not with Karys for both Azar's heart and for grand, galactic political power.

"You have grown tired, Karys." "You have lost your motivation, and in the process, forgotten who we are. Let me remind you." Vossari's lightsaber flew to his right hand, and he ignited and drew it upwards in a single, horizontal arc. He would chop swiftly through Karys's arm, taking a single limb instead of placing the blade into his heart. That would be today's compromise, a gesture of friendship and camaraderie. Karys needed to suffer to remember why he was Sith. His hate towards Vossari would be a better motivator than anything else.

He backed away to the snow outside, saber still alight. He did not turn his back on Karys. Telepathically, he whispered to his former Master as he made his way back to his ship. I do not have friends, Karys, I have interests. Speak to me again when our interests align.

/Thread Exit

@Apollyon

 

[Karys]

Karys should have seen the betrayal coming. He should have had his guard raised and higher. But he didn’t. He’d grown overconfident. He’d grown complacent. He’d forgotten his hatred. He’d forgotten his ambition. He’d become selfless.

He’d become weak.

Because of that weakness, Karys didn’t see Vossari’s betrayal coming until it was too late. His former Apprentice’s lightsaber would snap to life and take the arm that touched the viewpoint of his environmental suit. For an instant, Karys wouldn’t compute what had happened. It wouldn’t be until the sound of his severed arm hit the floor that it registered.

Karys stumbled backwards, his back thudded against the wall behind him. He blinked in disbelief as his gaze fell to the burning wreckage of left arm. It had been taken in the center of the bicep, the plasma had burned through the muscle neatly. Karys knew it could be cloned, the arm laid on the stone floor. His golden eyes fell to it before they returned to Vossari.

Moments before there was a mixture of emotion that swam in Karys’ eyes. It was gone now. Vossari’s lesson had taken root. Karys remembered who he was now. He was more than just Azar’s husband. He was a conqueror. He was a Sith Master. Kindness was weakness.

Hate burned in that baleful gaze.

Karys would have his revenge. He no longer cared how Azar felt about Vossari or Trael or Trodai. He wouldn’t be his husband’s lapdog. As Karys’ eyes narrowed one thing became clear.

He would kill Vossari for this.

It was the only way to thank his former apprentice for reawakening him. It was the only way to show Azar he wasn’t tamed and cowed. That day wasn’t today though. For now, he called his severed arm to him and pressed a button on its wrist. It would call droids to attend him. He would have to undergo surgeries to have the arm cloned, attached, and then he’d have it corrupted. It would be a stark reminder of who he was and what they were.

@Fine Dining Set
/endthread