Ask Welcome Home

[Param Vour]

Param stopped when Gemini fell to a knee, watching him with a steady silver gaze. The corner of her lips curled into a smirk. Smart man. She ignored the smell of marcan, blocking the thoughts of her old garden. Kai had come to Eshan before Gemini woke up and had offered her to pick up where she left off in the spiked tea business. She would rather not think about her refusal or him. It wouldn’t do Gemini any justice.

“You will get frustrated training against the elder. You’ll want to throw her through the wall with how untouchable she can be at first. I’m making sure that if you do, it won’t be because you have the advantage of the Force on your side,” Param explained, turning and continuing to walk as Gemini began his puffs of the marcan cigar.

The rest of the walk, she left the man in silence. They came upon the village, being greeted by what were familiar faces to Param. The smile that brought was short lived; the elder wasn’t with them. A quick survey of the village, even of the pagoda-like temple in the center where Param had spent most of her time on her last visit, and the elder was nowhere in sight.

“Long time no see,” the man that had been her old sparring partner on her last visit said with a bittersweet smile. “You’ve changed.”

“Yeah,” Param agreed quietly. She half turned, motioning to Gemini. “I’ve brought a lost echani for the elder. He’s a lot like I was.” Her intense glance at the man made him take a step back. They hated Sith here on Eshan. Param raised her hand to calm him. “We’re no longer in the Order, hence… this.” She waved a hand around her tanned and dyed haired self.

“I see…” the man trailed off, his smile turning into a frown. “The elder passed away a few weeks ago.”

Param returned his frown, then half turned her face toward Gemini so she could see him from the corner of her eye. “And you don’t have the same heart that she did.”

“I’m sorry,” the man held up both of his hands. She could sense the nervousness sweating from his forehead.

“Don’t be,” She said, turning around and walking back toward the small village Gemini and her had come from. “Come.” Param gave Gemini a quick, hardened glance.

@Mythos

 

[Gemini]

To explain Gemini's sight, I would akin it to a Force Induced and Delved Into aspect that is similar to echo location, albeit a more metaphysical or grandeur plane. Essentially an open and enlightened level of subconscious that can ascertain continous images through the Living and Cosmic Forces. That being said, although not usually taxing on it's own through their hereditary usage, when he reaches a exasperated level of fatigue in the Force, it becomes hindered significantly. Literally becomes hazed, blurred, and weak that could have confusing thoughts tied to the overall images of his 'Force Sight'.

Fortunately, by the time Param and Gemini reached the village, his sight had become more refined and clear. And yet, as the duo stepped into the village's central and Param began her conversation, Gemini could feel the aura of stigmata creasing at the back of his mind. She may have been met with openness, but he felt completely as an outsider. Even as children pointed in curiosity and parents shewed nosey children, Gemini tried to be as friendly as he could possibly be with squinted eyes and a broad smile as he met the gazes of those that surrounded them and even some who didn't.

But Gemini's intentions were met with stern reluctance. As Param introduced him, Gemini bowed and presented himself only find a few whispers and silent gasps envelope the crowd. Confused, he shrugged it off. But developed ears could still hear the essence of what was being said about Clan Armegedon. And deep inside, a silent anger began to brew.

As Param turned to leave, Gemini stayed in silence as they moved away from the village, unsure as to what it meant for his training. And yet, on the same hand, felt a semblance of both hatred and disappointment. Conflicted, Gemini spoke. "Param" He let slip. "It's probably best that this village didn't take me in. I heard many in the crowd mumbling about my father's Clan after I introduced myself." He sighed briefly, gazing up at the mid-day sun. "I'm not sure what it means for my training, but it's certainly apparent that I would have been unwelcome there."

Gemini meant no disregard in her former Teacher's passing, or likely the impact it may have upon her. But her relationships were of her business and not something he would protrude upon. Still, in silence, he gazed upon her and studied her actions, trying to gauge her mentality in genuine worry.

@TheDudeMike

 

[Param Vour]

"Which is why we're leaving," Param said without looking at him. His slip-up with her name was of no consequence; the village already knew her name. Last time she had come she had silver hair and alabaster skin, though. If the village was so dead set in their ways, then it was for the best that Param not hand Gemini over to them. She would train him herself- a endeavor that didn't require them to be on Eshan. Param had felt like she was about near the time to leave the planet, any way.

"The village is set in their ways," Param said, having walked back toward where the village they were staying at. "That's their right, but it means I'll have to teach you instead." It wasn't a bad thing, but Param wasn't exactly the best teacher. She'd managed to teach Cyu how the echani fought, but even that was just a surface level understanding. "So to start, what do you know about echani martial arts?" Finally Param turned a silver gaze to Gemini. Though her lips sported a soft smile, her eyes were dulled and missing the usual sparkle of warmth.

@Mythos

 

[Gemini]

Gemini kept up his pace with Param, listening to her words without ever gazing back at the village or it's inhabitants. They were of little importance now, and upon hearing Param discuss her training him, they became nothing more than a fleeting memory. As her cold gaze met his surprise, he spoke only what he knew. "It, in essence, is the language of our people, how we truly communicate, and reveal ourselves through it's expression."

It's words weren't far off from a perfect description, and it was knowledge that Gemini had gained from the memories of his father and others that knew his heritage. But they were mere words, expression quoted through memory, dull in the truth behind them. It was like speaking basic when one's true language was so much more intricate.

Just as Gemini went to speak more, a painful sharp stabbing hit his gut, causing him to fall to his knees as waves of anger, hunger, and lust rippled throughout his form and throughout his presence. And as a subtle realization entered his mind, unconsciousness took him just as a tune began to dance upon his mind.

 

[Dioscuri]

Skydancer

Gemini's body began to shake as his veins became black, his silvered eyes sinking into their sockets and an eerie yellow glow gazed up into Param's own, the blackened veins only a foresight as his skin rippled with movement. In a glorified expression of pain, insanity, and beastiality, a roar would escape his tightening maw as he expressed his subconsciousness in a primal guttural scream.

And in that moment, he was off.

As he traversed the distance from where he had fallen to his knees into the distant treeline, his figure would twist grotesquely and enlarge as joints popped out of place, the seed within encompassing his form with decayed foliage, and his skin would tighten to nearly silk thin as his bones would protrude. And just before he disappeared into the underbrush of Eshan's forested world, he would turn to face Param once more as the foliage protruded his skull and layered his skeletal face behind bone of his cranium like the wings of a deadly butterfly.

In that moment, she would catch a glimpse of the demon within Gemini, the Exalted one known solely as Dioscuri, the Beast within.

Arms gripping the ground and legs protruding behind him, he disappeared into the darkened underbrush as a roar ripped across the vastness of the valley and the birds would vacate the area as his hunt began. Moments later, screams of fauna could be heard in the growing distance as he feasted and briefly moved on to the next. The question would remain echoing in the silence that had befallen her. Would she abandon him to this curse? Or would she chance becoming a victim in order to help him contain himself as the darkness became his thrall? The choice would lay with her.

@TheDudeMike

 

[Param Vour]

Param sensed the darkness before she ever saw a thing. Gemini fell to his knees, seemingly in pain and she stopped. It was the shaking of his body, the transformation of it, or the beginnings of a transformation, that had her karambit vibro-knife in her right hand and at the ready. Before she could utter a word, or even a sound through her frozen slacked jaw, the creature that had once been Gemini was off toward the forest. The transformation apparently complete as the creature looked back at her.

“Vee, summon a speeder and get my sword,” she said quietly. As Vee hopped off her shoulder, scurrying as fast as he could back toward their current residence while ordering a rental speeder, Param connected her EZPhone to him with a call so that he could track her, put an EZPod in her ear, and began tailing the demon by following its tracks.

She ignored the screams of the fauna, it was screams of people she was worried about hearing. But why? Param had never really cared about the living and dying of other people unless they were her friends. Even if the echani were her people, the thought of them dying didn’t really hold any sway over her emotions, at least not until now. Why was she concerned with it now?

Her internal mental struggle would have to wait. As she entered the tree line, she used the Force to leap into a tree. Going deeper wasn’t her goal, no, keeping it within the confines of the forest was. Luckily, it was the only darkside being in the area, and was practically oozing its presence in the Force. Param kept tabs on it while she skirted the edge of the forest, jumping from one branch to another.

An alert from Vee told her that he’d gotten the speeder and just made it back to the homestead. Param ignored it for now, though was happy her little friend gave her updates. It would be some time before he got back, which means all she had was the Force and a vibro-knife to keep the demon within the forest.

She should just kill it. Doing so might kill Gemini though. Param wouldn’t have a choice if the demon went for the village. Wait, no, she would have a choice; she could leave Eshan to its fate. Eshan had a better military than most planets like it, even had some deals with Apex. Why did Param have to worry about it- because it was the right thing to do?

Param shook the thoughts away, continuing to move across the tree limbs at the edge of the forest as she sensed the creature moving.

@Mythos

 

[Dioscuri]

Plums of Marcan smoke would billow from his form, small spores littering his arms, legs, and upper chest as Nerfscourge pollen fell to his hands with each movement as he stood bipedally and slowed his trek through the forest, his gaze shifting occasionally as the sounds of movements danced within his ears. He was but a babe explpring life for the first of instances, primordial instincts but the only way he knew to live. And it showed as his slow walk turned into a infancy stroll.

His gaze would shift and his head would follow as he gazed upon the flora of this world. And in his wake, decay upon them would follow as his Exalted form sucked the Force from them. And yet, he was oblivious, curious, and intrigued. What was this fantasical place where he roamed? The silence of it was deafening as the fauna took their leave after the initial entrance of him. To him, it was beautiful and yet disgusting all in the same breath. All while the air around him became thick with the plum he emitted.

Flashes of memories not his own would startle him, and in his obliviousness, he would snarl and shift his gaze about, looking for the red haired man he saw in his visions. And yet, no one was around, only the semblance of his own scent as he sniffed in the air, his own plum mixed in. Only the intent and purpose of his existence lingered at the back of it's primordial thoughts.

Deep within him sat the seedling implanted by the being known as Raze. And yet, there was no call to be felt. No voice, no command. Only silence. Silence, everywhere. It was maddening. A large plum escaped his form as his anger grew more intensely. Silence. It was his bane. He ached for noise, for emotions, for life. And since he slew the fauna from before, none could be found, an insatiable hunger growing inside him. And as it grew, so did the roots that made his form, hardening and causing pain as it attempted to tear away the skin it sat beneath and protruded upon.

From beneath the boned mask, a gutteral roar erupted from his anger, its echo reaching as far as it could as it's power became the only semblance of life within the forest. Returning to all fours, he charged deeper into the forest in search of life. His hunger ached to be fed.

@TheDudeMike

 

[Param Vour]

The beast seemed contented to wander the forest, though its use of Force could be sense by any Force user for miles. Param knew exactly where it was at all times, and placed herself between it and the village. It would be trapped between a river and her unless it went back out to the open, rolling hills they had originally come from. The forest is where it belonged, and where it had the most advantage. A forest on Eshan, however, was not where Param wanted to leave the monster that had once been Gemini.

A speeder, piloted by a droid pulled up to the edge of the treeline. Vee hopped out, Param's Force forged sword clutched in one foot. Param waved the speeder off, she would order a new one if it came down to it, but for now she simply needed her sword and Vee. Vee chirped, tossing the sword to Param, and then hopping up onto her left shoulder to settle in on his perch. It seemed the commotion within the forest that the beast had stirred was being noticed, though.

The same group of echani that had greeted them approached. Param barely heard what they were asking, hearing only the gutteral roar of the beast and sensing the pure hunger it searched to sate. These people were in danger coming out here. Param slid the sword into the left side of her belt, keeping her left hand just under the guard. She looked to the forest, uncaring of what the people around her were speaking of, suggesting, or asking.

"You need to go back to the village. Now." It was not a request, and it was delivered with enough natural tone behind it that the group stopped talking and were stunned a moment. Param's mind stayed on the hunger. If it sensed the group, it would lead the beast right to the village that was only a few hundred feet behind her. To make matters worse, the crystal in her sword spoke to her, whispering thoughts of leaving the village to its fate. Her stomach knotted, and no amount of deep breaths took away the prickly feeling running along her arms and back.

@Mythos

 

[Dioscuri]

As Dioscuri continued his pace through the forest, his mind would grow more feral and enraged, a mindless and wild beast preying upon both life and the Force as it hunted endlessly. It's grotesque form hardened as the changes settled and Gemini became no more but an unconscious passenger in a primordial ride along. Clawed hands would extend to rake bark from tree, his form clumsily traversing the terrain as it's mind became the forebearer. And in the moment, there was no sentience within.

And then it smelt the deliciousness of life lingering upon the air and it came to a halt, sniffing the air and finding its trail upon not only the flowing winds upstream of him, but it's presence within the Force. With a bellowing shriek, it's folds of scalp reverberating and revealing the features it hid beneath, it made charge toward it, salivating as it turned its intent upon the scent and followed it hungrily.

For Param and those that had gathered around her, it would grow eerily quiet and for a brief moment, Dioscuri's presence in the Force would be masked. And in the seconds that followed, he would cover the distance between them. Only the visual emergence of the Exalted would reveal him and his presence would ripple in the Force as it's gaze locked eyes with the villagers and sat upon them unphased by Param and her presence upon the field.

Only the blur of yellow eyed and blackened form would shift across the field like a spirited creature from a horror holovid as it came to prey upon the life it craved. And before reactions could be met, he was upon the villagers, a plum of marcan excitedly pouring from it's large form as it drew to strike them with Nerfscourge laced claws.

And it presented Param with her moment of selection. Beneath the form, Gemini remained, her potential legacy of darkness and the Echani. But as was his current form, Dioscuri was a beast of insatiable hunger for life and harvester of souls in the unparticipating aspect as a child of Raze. Which would she choose to aid?

@TheDudeMike

 

[Param Vour]

Param's silver eyes followed the beast until it were beyond her and on the villagers. They hadn't listened. Why should she care? They had an out- they could have gone back to the village and been okay. Instead they gathered and massed, bringing the beast directly to them. But she did care. Every muscle in her body stopped her from just leaving the villagers to their fate. The bled crystal in her Force forged sword screamed at her, throbbed with discontent, but this was not up for debate. Param didn't have a choice.

Channeling the Force through her, she adopted a fighting stance that flowed from one movement to the next- until finally as the beast went to claw at a villager, a slab of rock exploded from the ground beneath the beast, to slam into it's stomach. It would knock the beast back, if only a few steps, but that's all Param needed. Raising both hands, she channeled the Force through them, turning the snow beneath the beast's feet to ice. The sudden lack of traction, would buy precious seconds for the villagers, seconds that Param used to get between them and the beast yet again.

This time Param had her Force forged sword drawn and in her right hand. The villagers were running and screaming behind her, making their way back to the village. It wouldn't protect them if she failed- but she didn't intend to fail. Her face was deadpan, revealing none of the disappointment she felt for the man beneath the beast. Param chose to believe that he simply didn't know about it. It was the only thing keeping her blade from cutting the beast apart vine by sickening vine.

Param raised her curved sword, pointing the tip at the treeline behind the beast. It was clear: go back to the forest where it belonged. Her silver eyes were fixed on the beast's. The Force rippled and coiled around her left arm. Lightning arced between her fingertips, but it was not Sith lightning. This was natural.

@Mythos

 

[Dioscuri]

Dioscuri 's gaze shifted from the villagers toward Param as the earth shook loose from its confines and slammed into his form with unforgiving force, the Exalted reeling from the loss of his balance as he stumbled back. Only, in the moment that his feeling met the coldness of the snow, it was slick and frictionless. With an angered roar echoing across the opened field, Dioscuri's back met the frozen earth with enough force that it's wind was knocked from its lungs.

Enraged, it struggled to its feet, clawed hands tearing up flora from beneath and ripping through the ice and snow as it slipped upon the ice until it was finally able to stand. With piercing yellowed eyes, it gazed ravenously at Param, sword in hand or not as it shifted from her to the villagers she protected and then back to her, confused and impartial.

He let out an obviously struggled roar and stepped back briefly, an apparent war of wills being fought as its clawed hands reached up and dug at it's boned mask, and in a few moments following as it tore at its own form, it fell upon its knees with an eerily echoing voice coming from within. "La...dy... Pa...ram...

@TheDudeMike

 

[Gemini]

"Forgive me." Gemini's voice resounded as Dioscuri fell completely to the ground, its clawed hand reaching out toward Gemini's master before it curled up into a fetal position as it's form began to shrink and return to normal, the folding of the mask back over the top of his head and his hair fluffing out as the seedling of Raze shrank in size.

Moments later, Gemini would return to his natural form save for the clawed up form of his skin where he had tore at himself and the bruised body that barely hung onto consciousness as his silvered eyes gazed up at Param mixed between guilt and fear. The memory of what happened lingered but for a moment and disappeared from knowledge as the realization of his wounds and the lack of retelling flooded his mind.

Weak and injured, no recollection of the past few hours apparent in his eyes, tears streaming from his face like a wounded animal with no soul, he looked Param dead in her eyes as his mind's eye took in the entirety of the moment. "Wha...What happened. Why... Why am I like this? Wh... who did this?"

So many questions rang out of his mind and through his hoarse voice as he tried to make sense of it all. But to no avail. For as soon as he voiced his questions, the retaliation for the moment took on it's toll and unconsciousness would proceed to follow as his mind fell into the darkness of the ethereal realm. There likely would be no answers to come.

@TheDudeMike

 

[Param Vour]

As Gemini returned and the beast... withered, he would look up to find a stern, unyielding expression on Param's face. He was a monster; a creature of the darkside that she could not leave on Eshan any more than she could take him with her on her ship. His questions were mirrors of questions she herself had. Why was he like that? Who made him that way? None of the answers would matter, not now. The people that had run from the village were starting to come back. Param could not forgive the man laying before her, but she could spare him his dignity, at least for his actions up until now.

"Vee, speeder," she said quickly. Vee let out a string of beeps and whirs, but the same speeder that he had brought Param's sword with came within seconds and stopped next to them. Param slid the sword back into the scabbard on her hip, the hilt burning into her palm while the bled crystal inside screamed and thrashed. It hated her now, that much was clear to Param. Reaching out with her left hand while she shook the pain away from the right, she coiled the Force around Gemini's body, gently drifting him over to the speeder and setting him in the backseat.

"Go back to your homes. I'll handle him," she said, turning to the approaching echani. She hopped into the driver's seat of the speeder, whipped it around, and headed for the capital. They would not be returning to the homestead- not after that transformation. Gemini's demon was going to cost her the two last remaining things of her old life: the savings she had built up running the spice mines on Troiken, and her apprentice.

"Vee, use the savings account to buy a small freightor. Have it prepped for when we get to the capital," Param said. Her usual method of asking Vee instead of telling was no where to be found. A frown seemed etched into her lips perminently. Vee made a low whir, but complied. It wasn't like Kai was going to settle down with a house or anything with her. Maybe it was time for her to start anew completely. Forge her own path regardless of who graced her with their presence.

When they arrived at the starport, Param drove the speeder into the hangarbay where a small freightor was getting finished up. An echani ship salesmen approached, and after a quick signing, Gemini was officially the owner of a new ship and transponder. The nav data was spiked to be erased, leaving no trace of eshan on it. With a last, disappointed look at her apprentice and failed former life, Param loaded Gemini into the ship and let the auto-pilot take him away to find a place in the galaxy to start drifting. As the ship disappeared into the sky, Param turned to head back to the homestead. She would gather her things and leave as well.

/endthread

@Mythos