- Joined
- May 31, 2016
- Messages
- 960
- Reaction score
- 1,398
Water, a substance of purity and life.
Pools of the liquid reflect the sun's rays in a brilliant spectacle of light. Rivers, streams, and brooks carry with them a sense of immortality. A never ending cycle continually bringing forth new life into existence.
This, like many things, is a lie. To create, is to destroy.
Many have met their end beneath the the liquid's shimmering surface, watching helplessly as they sink into the shadows below.
By altering that which exists, we perceive order.
Inherent good, and inherent evil, are only perceptions.
Some say tragedies linger, that certain sorrows can never be erased. The temple of Bara'dour is such a place. Perhaps one day the rainfall will wash away the heinous acts committed by the cult that once worshiped inside it's halls long ago. Today, the ruins remain, consumed by the forest and shrouded by a canopy of foliage...
Drips echoed. The damp air carried with it a chill as it swept through the temple from the forest above, much like a cave, "breathes".
Droplets fell, from cracks in the temple's low ceiling. They seeped through the gauze of bandages unto brittle, chaffed, skin. Skin which ached for release, dry, despite the humidity. Skin which hailed from the desert.
Fingers, thin as bones gently caressed the boy's neck. They were cold. As they reached his chin, he realized that they too were covered in bandages save for the fingertips, and as he gazed into the eyes of the monster which held him captive, beyond the fear, he couldn't help but wonder what had twisted her into something so horrid. The touch of her nails against his skin, despite their tenderness, sent chills down his spine. Her breath reminded him of a village ridden with plague he had visited with Sigal, and he wished, more than anything, that she would come to shelter him from this creature, just as she had covered his eyes in that village, sparing him from seeing the dead that lined the streets and homes.
"What is it you seek in life?"
The Sith whispered in his ear. Her lips so close he could feel her breath. In the silence of the temple, even these soft whispers carried on in echoes which faded in an instant.
It was the smell of rot, rather than the Sith's words, that caused the Jedi Initiate to recoil, and look away from the sorceress.
"Do not deny that you have wished for other things. Things which the Jedi could not give you."
Her fingers wrapped around his chin once again, using just enough force to make the boy look up at her. He gazed at her face, the markings on her skin, her yellow eyes, which glowed in the darkness like pits of despair. There was beauty there as well, but it was ominous, he dared not trust a Sith. Perhaps Keket sensed this, an emotion so easily recognizable, along with doubt fear and anger. Yet why did he not feel the others? Why was there no anger? Surely even Jedi had a breaking point. Time did not exist here, at least not to her, she cared not how long it would take she would make this Jedi use his rage or she would see him perish.
"Give me an answer Jedi. That is all I ask for."
Her voice was so soft, as if she could never do him any harm.
Keket waited patiently. Yet the initiate's thoughts did not dwell on himself. He was selfless, just like his master. Keket watched as his deep green eyes shifted their gaze from her own over to the other two Jedi tied up and gagged next to him. They only lingered there for a brief moment, but she saw it all the same.
"You are worried about them. Worried about what will become of the three of you."
Keket's voice was still soft, but held an edge of uncertainty.
She released his chin and stood up to her full height, leaving the Initiate where he was, bound and on his knees in one of the many shallow puddles of murky water on the chamber floor, his robes partially soaked, by this, and the droplets from above. Cold, wet, and engulfed by the temple's dark aura, it had to be quite draining on the poor soul.
Keket nonchalantly took several steps towards the other two Jedi. A girl, and a boy, neither of them over the age of ten, and judging by their matching blond hair and similar features, a brother and a younger sister.
Much to Keket's delight, the eldest of the three still watched her every move.
"Speak. My question was simple. What is it you wish to achieve above all else?"
Keket studied his face for an answer, knowing that his love for the two little ones would get his mouth moving.
The eldest swallowed. Feeling more nervous than anything, his pride outweighed the fear, and he answered spitefully.
"To put an end to evil. Like you!"
Keket felt the torrent of emotions and the power they held. Yes, anger was present now...
"What harm have I done?"
Keket laughed. Not a menacing laugh, but the laugh of any woman after a joke. Perhaps what scared the boy the most was, it sounded very similar to Sigal's.
She then sat. Her bandages folding as her body came to rest next to the two siblings on a dry patch of stone, those horrid bony fingers ran through the hair of the little girl.
"When I was your age, my father would tell me stories of the Jedi. He said my ancestors were all hunted down and killed by Knights, and that one day the Jedi would come to get me too. So I hid, under the covers. Waiting there, every night for a Jedi to come and kill my father and I, but now he is gone, and you are on our doorstep. There was a time when I did not believe everything he said, but now I see it is true. Korriban is falling, and you are to blame my sweet child."
There was a sadness to Keket's voice, though it certainly was not for the Jedi her arm was wrapped around. She had no pity for any of them.
Her dark lips kissed the child's blonde hair.
"We all have to make sacrifices to become better. Everything comes with a cost."
Keket let go of the girl completely, and slowly, deliberately began reaching towards her ankle and the black hilt wrapped in the gauze there. The eldest quickly put two and two together, his eyes widening as he discovered what the Sith intended.
"NOOOO!!!"
Screamed the eldest, who struggled against his bindings and toppled forward into the chilled puddle of water that surrounded him.
Keket removed the serrated blade, it's edge honed to a fine point.
"Don't touch her!"
But Keket's finger's wrapped around the hilt ever tighter, and her lips formed a smile.
"Break your bonds. Prove you are worthy of their love. Prove you are not weak."
With those final words, Keket's arm drew back and she embedded the blade of the dagger into the the stomach of the brother, who let out a muffled scream through the gag which covered his mouth. Followed by the equally muffled sobs of his sister.
@Esther Nyx
Last edited: