Ask Two

[Wodan]

Wodan’s mouth dropped agape at the anger in her voice. Shit had he overstepped the mark? He went to take a step back giving the Dathmorian some space, before he felt The Force slam into his body sending him flat onto his arse. The impact on the stone floor sent a spasm of pain up his back and down his leg, but any thought of pain was completely erased as Arla’s leg crossed his lap.

Any thought of the Shard, Malastare or anything else apart from him and Arla in that moment faded away. Clothes were shed were needed, danger and death thrown to the wayside along with his shirt. Wodan had a decent idea of what Arla liked and wanted from the boat and was happy to allow the assertive Dathmorian control over the situation.

------​

The cold stone against his back, helped regulate his temperature as he breathed deeply, lying on the floor of the passage. A cheeky smile across his face, the glint of his fangs peering through his lips, that was an unexpected turn of events, but a welcome one for sure. “You know, I didn’t tell you that you could do that either.” He joked.

@Phoenix

 

[Arla]

Arla rolled onto her back and looked up at the ceiling for a moment as well before starting to put her clothes back on without missing a beat. His quip in return almost earned a humored snort, but instead she just delivered her next statement completely deadpan.

Yes. You didn't have to speak for your tongue to tell me what you actually thought, she said, shooting him a side eye and letting the very corner of her mouth curl up in just the slightest hint of a smirk.

Now, if you're finished distracting me, we have a shard to find, she said with a hint of dry humor.

She finished slipping her clothes back on and looked down the creepy cave still ahead of them. From one kind of fun to another, she said, actually sounding a bit excited to be heading down the dark creepy tunnel. Yeah, Arla was a little weird, but he already knew that by this point.

@Braden

 

[Wodan]

As Arla began to dress, Wodan followed suit, sitting up and slowly pulling everything back on, although he was distracted slightly as he watched the Dathmorian redress.

Back on his feet, they were both ready to head out again, passing Arla he lent down and planted another kiss on her lips. “Now i'm finished. For now.” He said with a cheeky smirk before turning towards the cave.

With his senses no longer one hundred percent concentrated on his and Arla’s pleasure, the reality of their surroundings sunk back in. They were deep underground in an ancient Sith facility, surrounded by ancient spirits. “The fact the Spirit recognised this, gives me the inclination that we are at least on the correct path.” He continued lifting up the Shard. Arla would have noticed that although every other piece of clothing had ended up strewn across the area, the Shard had stayed put around his neck throughout everything.

@Phoenix

 

[Arla]

Arla let out an amused snort at his final kiss, but didn't push him away or scold him this time. How could she after that, anyway?

She looked back to the shard as he spoke about it and the way the spirit had recognized it. Yes, it did point to them being on the right path, which was encouraging.

I wonder if Sidious set traps around here to keep people out, she said, though it still struck her as odd that he'd have brought it here in the first place. She was sure he had his reasons, though what those reasons were was a little bit beyond her.

Almost as if on cue, she entered a room with a series of mechanisms that seemed to connect even deeper into the ground, perhaps suspending something underground or maybe holding in place a secret passage. She had to assume it was the latter because there didn't seem to be any evidence of a path forward at all that she could see.

@Braden

 

[Wodan]

“It wasn’t him who brought it here.” He replied, as they entered the weird looking room. “It would have been after he died the first time. His disciples each stole a piece and fled, it makes sense they were drawn to a planet like Malachor.” Wodan learnt over time that the Shard loved the Dark Side even more than your everyday Sith, everytime Wodan had channelled the corrupted power it or been in around vast quantities it had reacted in kind.

Wodan’s eyes scanned the room, it seemed to be empty apart from dust and rubble, whoever had hidden this piece had done so a long time ago. No traces of footsteps or machinery could be seen on the ground. The Firrerrian headed towards the nearest of mechanism, but as he reached a few feet from it, the thing began to activate.

Cable began to rush quickly through pulleys and gears, turning or releasing something. A large audible click could be heard then the floor began moving underneath them, the far edge began to sink down into the ground as the edge by the door began to rise. Was it a trap or an entrance he couldn’t tell.

@Phoenix

 

[Arla]

The door rose and Arla stepped back as she watched everything unfolding, unsure of whether or not it was safe to proceed. This was made by Sith or Sith cultists, which she had to assume meant the answer was "no." They weren't known for sharing their secrets or information.

She moved forward slowly and tentatively, watching to see what was going to happen before conjuring a small stone and tossing it through the opening. No lasers, explosions, saw blades, or any other manner of obvious trap. And yet someone had gone to all this effort to create it.

It occurred to her that the path may well have opened because they had one of the other shards. Maybe that was the reason why.

Only way's forward, she said with a shrug and took several more tentative steps downward.

The darkness here was thick as well, and she was starting to get used to that. That was until she noted things beginning to get brighter. A dark and dim light at first, but one that grew brighter the further down they went before they came into some sort of storeroom or archive. She wasn't sure what the best word to call it was, but whatever it was, it seemed to have been a work space for the Sith Eternal cultists who had brought the shard here.

@Braden

 

[Wodan]

A puff of stale air shot through the room as the door revealed itself to them. Whatever was down there must be dead, or crazed due to the loneliness of being trapped so long underground. Wodan stepped up next to Arla as she tossed a rock through the door, nothing, no death, no destruction, maybe this was just the home of some Sith hermit. Or it was just a trap to lure them further inside.

He followed her down the steps into the darkness. “I was expecting at least a giant boulder to chase us.” He said as the corridor slowly began to illuminate ahead of them ending in an archive of some sorts. Walls were lined with computers and book shelves, texts of every type, holo, scroll and book were lining the walls.

In the middle a large stone table, carved with Ur-Kittat runes and channels for fluids dominated the lower sections. Behind it more desks and tables, various instruments covered their surfaces, further back against the rear wall was a trio of bunks. “Let's have a look around.” Wodan said as he began working his way towards the stacks of ancient texts.

@Phoenix

 

[Arla]

Arla's eyes swept across the room and its contents. While the Shard itself was quite a prize, she had a feeling that what was in this room could be nearly as valuable to her.

What exactly do these shards do for you? she asked. She knew quite little about them, and that was something she didn't particularly like.

She started flipping through some of the books almost entirely having forgotten about the shard as she started looking at the old records of Sith magic and techniques. Some of them, she had seriously dubious feelings about whether they would work, but others had real potential.

@Braden

 

[Wodan]

That was a loaded question and Wodan wasn’t sure how he wanted to answer it. As much as he cared for Arla, Wodan wasn’t comfortable with revealing everything the Shard’s did or didn’t do. She was stronger than him and could easily rip it from his grasp if she tried and he had no doubt if she wanted Arla would throw away any feelings she had for him in an instant if she wanted.

“They have a little of something of him inside, a little tidbit of his knowledge, it's not much, most of it is irrelevant to us now. We know where Moraband and Ziost are and how to bleed crystals. But it feels weird to leave them broken.” He lied.

“Anything interesting?” He asked, as he moved past her and onto the next section of the hideaway.

@Phoenix

 

[Arla]

Arla listened to his answer, and... it just didn't line up. She wasn't a master of reading whether people were lying or not, but she was a student of history and she was a student of artifacts.

Then why are we here? Chasing something down just for sentimental value? she asked, looking over at him and looking quite unamused. She had come here with him largely as a personal favor, but now she felt... like she was being strung along or deceived. This feeling was only amplified when she remembered his reaction to her touching the shard. There was something he wasn't telling her, and she just wasn't sure how much she wanted to push.

He pressed on and she didn't move for a moment and she didn't answer his question. She just watched him. Not in the "preparing to attack" sort of way, but still laced with displeasure and skepticism.

@Braden

 

[Wodan]

Shit, maybe he had been too vague, Wodan had to hold his tongue not to make a joke about what happened in the tunnel earlier and that being his true goal just to break the tension. Should he tell her the truth? Maybe just a sliver? But then she would know he had definitely lied, but did that make any difference now. Whilst he continued to mull over in his head if he should tell her anything else Wodan continued his search through the archives.

He could feel her eyes on the back of his head and he purposefully stepped behind a large bookshelf to break line of sight with the Dathmorian. The shelves themselves were lined with texts, talking about Kyber crystals and the true power of the organic stone, much of it looked like gibberish at a glance, but something deep down inside at him tugged at the knowledge. He grabbed a pair of old books which seemed to be the most promising and stepped back into the centre of the room.

@Phoenix

 

[Arla]

Arla was not amused. He was very clearly hiding something. Going on to not actually answer her questions only further confirmed that, and for a very long moment she just stood there as he went around the corner to hide. She actually did almost find it amusing on some level until she reminded herself that she didn't like to have things hidden from her.

She was about to say something about how she was good enough to use to fight his ghosts but not tell the truth to when she remembered something else. This "bro code" hex that he had apparently placed on either she or Altair. It was beginning to paint a picture she was not fond of.

You don't own me, you know, she finally blurted out. To him it would probably appear as if it were coming out of left field, but in her mind it all made perfect sense.

You won't tell me what's going on but willing to use my power to help you get it. You have gone around telling people that I am off limits because you think you have some claim on me. I do not appreciate this, she said. The outburst was very much her mother, though Arla likely wouldn't see or admit it. She had half a mind to just turn and walk out and she might have if it weren't for the fact that she wanted to take all of these books with her.

@Braden

 

[Wodan]

What? Wodan was shocked by what Arla said, he didn’t own her, what was she on about. Placing the two books down on the table, his head turned towards her, a look of confusion and surprise on his face as she began blurting out more and more things, none of which made any sense to him. “Of course I don’t own you. And what are you on about telling people your off limits?” He replied back, his voice elevated slightly, annoyed by the accusation that he thought he owned Arla.

The Firrerrian stepped around the large stone table moving slightly towards Arla as he did. “I didn’t ask you to come here with me because I wanted to use your power.” Wodan tried not to dwell on the fact that others telling her she was off limits meant that she had actively pursued someone else, yes he liked Arla but like she said he didn’t own her. She could pursue other people if she liked even if he wasn’t happy about the thought of it.

@Phoenix

 

[Arla]

Really? Then what is this "bro code" hex? she asked, frowning and crossing her arms over her chest in a "gotcha" motion. I was told that Altair couldn't lay a finger on me because of this absurdity, she said. She wasn't trying to hide it. She knew what she enjoyed, and she saw no reason to be concerned about it.

It was clear that whatever this "bro code" was she didn't particularly understand it or the role that it played. As with so many things in the "courting" world, it was completely lost on her as a Dathomirian. Their culture was just far too different from the rest of the galaxy in that regard.

So you don't want my power, but you don't trust me enough to tell me what we're really doing here? she said. Although he was raising his voice, hers was still relatively low in volume, though not lacking in intensity.

Perhaps there was some significance to the fact that she actually cared enough to argue or perhaps she was just stubborn. It was always difficult to tell with her.

@Braden

 

[Wodan]

Bro Code, that was it, Arla had made a move on Altair and his friend, no brother had turned her down because of him. A smirk appeared across his lips as he raised his hands to rub the bridge of his nose. Wodan knew Arla had grown up in a rather select society so of course she would think Bro Code was something more formal than it actually was. “I didn’t ask him to do that.” He said, although he would have to thank Altair the next time he saw the man, it was truly a great thing he had done for him.

Dropping his hand from his face he took a step closer to Arla, his voice dropped the defensiveness from before gone. “Look, I asked you here because I like you. Ok.” There he said it, now it was out in the open. “The Shard is the reason I am here, but the reason I invited you is because I like you and wanted to see, if…” He paused for a moment. The scar on his face all at once began to burn, a phantom pain which made him flinch, his subconscious adding fuel to the fire of his doubt. His voice dropped lower. “I wanted to see if ‘this’ made you see me, different.”

@Phoenix

 

[Arla]

Arla was still frowning even as he denied that he'd asked Altair to do it, arms still folded across her chest. She looked entirely unamused as he seemed to be struggling with some pain in his nose or something, but when he finally let his hand drop, his voice was softer and less confrontational.

His next admission was... another one of those admissions that she didn't really know how to handle. This was far from her strong suit and she found herself glancing around the room like the answer was suddenly going to appear on the wall. It didn't.

Well, it didn't stop me in the tunnel, did it? she said. Although she clearly still wasn't thrilled, at least some of the edge in those silvery eyes seemed to have blunted.

She frowned again. This is about you off-worlders and your... she paused and frowned deeper as she searched for the word that Caer had used ...infatuations again, isn't it? she asked. She hated that word. It was an insufferable word, but it was her assumption that it was the word that all off-worlders used for their "more than friends" emotions.

I like you as well, but I'm not ready to belong to anyone. I'm not sure I'll ever be, she said. She did like him, she enjoyed spending time with him, and she certainly enjoyed their encounters like the one in the tunnel, but... Nightsisters simply weren't accustomed to being tied down to one person.

@Braden

 

[Wodan]

He couldn't help but let out a small chuckle at the word ‘infatuations’ that probably wouldn’t have been the word he would have used to describe his feelings towards Arla. The rest of her words were a double edged sword, she liked him, that was great, but she didn’t want to belong or as he read it tied down to one man. Not yet, not ever.

Arla would see his shoulders drop slightly as he digested what she had to say, it was an awkward middle ground he hadn’t expected. Yes but no, he had expected one or the other, mentally prepared as best he could for one of them not both. He took a step back leaning against the stone table. “I understand.” He replied with a plain voice.

He took a moment to think over everything, before burying whatever it was deep down inside and pulled a fake smile across his face. “Let's find this shard.” He added, his voice overly chirpy for the situation, before pushing off the table and heading towards the back of the room to search alone.

@Phoenix

 

[Arla]

Arla watched the expressions change on his face, but more than that she felt the impressions in the Force. Even not being an expert at reading people, she could see that he was hurt.

That wasn't her goal, she didn't want to hurt him because she did like him, but she was who she was. He said that they should go back to finding the shard and for another long moment she stood there with a surprising amount of uncertainty.

Rather than continuing to search, she just sat down in one of the chairs that promptly shattered beneath her, the wood having gone old and rotten and leaving her sprawled on the floor sitting atop shattered pieces of wood. The cacophonous snap of the breaking wood was quite loud.

She sighed and reached up to rub her face, not sure why off-worlders had to be so difficult with their hang-ups.

You are not interested in me anymore, are you? she finally blurted out after another moment.

@Braden

 

[Wodan]

Wodan had moved himself out of sight of Arla, allowing the false smile and happy go lucky facade to disappear. He let out a deep breath, allowing Arla’s words to sink in a little more whilst he began checking the back of the room for any sign of the Shard.

Then he heard the snap, without thinking Wodan turned and ran back towards Arla. Only The Force knew what could be lying in wait within the Cultist hideout, considering what he and Carellion had seen on that remote world, a hundred horrors flashed through his mind as he sped past the giant table. Coming to a stop as he rounded the table, his hand on his racing heart as he spotted Arla on the floor surrounded by splintered rotten wood.

“Are you ok?” He asked, reaching his hand out to help her to her feet. If she took it he would answer. “I still like you Arla, a few words won’t change that.” This time with a genuine smile on his face.

@Phoenix

 

[Arla]

Arla saw him rushing around the corner, still looking somewhat grumpy on top of her broken chair.

I'm fine, she reassured him, taking his offered hand. That alone was probably a good sign as normally she would have simply chosen to stand up on her own. It was a small thing, likely to go unnoticed.

She looked at the way he smiled, and the way the emotions in him changed even as he spoke his words of reassurance. She was... surprised by the feelings within her. Surprised that she found herself encouraged by the words and that they did strike something within her.

For a moment, she stood there before leaning forward and quickly kissing him before pulling back and pressing on around the corner he had just appeared from behind. And right back to business as if, again, nothing had happened, though she knew that something had.

I don't see your shard-of-power-you-won't-tell-me-about, she finally said after another moment.

Maybe there's some sort of hidden compartment in here or somewhere it could be concealed, she suggested, starting to look around for levers, cracks, or mechanisms that would point the way. She could feel they were close. She could feel the power very near by, but just couldn't quite pinpoint it.

@Braden