(Cyrionessa) In the Footsteps of a Sith Lord (Dystopics)

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They finally reached a four-way intersection. "Straight ahead is the burial chamber." She almost took a step forward but glanced to the sides at the piles of bones and decaying bodies. ".....duck......" She knelt down and tapped the tile in front of her. From the sides at torso height, small darts flew out and embedded themselves into the walls. "They're coated with my father's special blend of death. You'll die after your vocal chords are paralyzed and your lungs stop working." She stood again and walked forwards, heading straight down the next tunnel's descending staircase.
 
Hearing the sith tell him to duck, Tor noticed the piles of bones, and put 2 and 2 together. Panic diving, he managed to hit the floor as the darts shot out. Glad he had avoided that trap, he congratulated himself on his maintained focus on not dying, as it had already payed itself off, and would likely do so again, as they continued to traverse the tomb. His spirits raised, he nonetheless stuck quite close to the Lady who seemed so confident in her stride.
 
When they reached the bottom of the stairs, the area opened up into a giant room filled with ancient artifacts from other civilizations. There was no doubt that they were war trophies from her father's exploits. Her eyes quickly scanned the area and saw no obvious sign of the saber hilt. ".....go look around but try not to move anything out of place. I know most of the booby traps for the halls. I'm a little fuzzy on the actual room traps." Darth Mirana walked straight up to the sarcophagus, kneeling before it for a moment. "[Father, I ask you to entrust me with your blade. The Korriban Saber must rise again from the ashes and into the hands of a wielder.]" The air suddenly grew very still, almost suffocatingly still. Darth Mirana rose and winced; that was not a good sign. "Tor....get over here back-to-back with me. There are more than booby traps in this place still."
 
They entered the room, Tor following the Lady, and at her direction, began to slowly walk around the room, examining what he could for a lightsaber hilt. Carefully, he stepped round the piled treasures of various species, and watched closely for trick tiles and laser tripwires. Passing a particularly prominent stack, a dull, golden medallion caught his eye. The urge from before surged forth again, and his hand reached out for it. Closer, and closer, his hand was nearly touching it, when his master spoke again. Turning his head, it was as if a spell broke, and he made his way back to her, taking care to retrace his steps to avoid any missed traps.
 
Darth Mirana's hands went to her saber hilts almost automatically. Her master had always told her that there was one gigantic issue with coming in to her father's tomb and she was trying desperately to remember it. Suddenly, it dawned on her. "....shit...." This was not going to be a simple task at all. Not with THAT sort of thing roaming about. "Tuk'ata, the Sith hounds bred to protect these tombs. They were trained to kill anything that enters. Should've made sure you had a decent sort of weapon on you before coming down here. Especially since the Tuk'ata mother is probably the one roaming the halls right now. One of the other tunnels leads to her den. The other most likely contains the saber hilt."
 
At the mention of the sith hounds, Tor froze. he had had some bad experiences with a hound as child, ending with him being bitten. "How big are these hounds?" he asked, speaking up for the first time, "Womp rat sized? or closer to rancor?" He fingered a favored blade as he eased it out of its concealed sheath. Long for a dagger, it wasnt made for fighting any thing but another biped.
 
As if in answer to his question, a horse-sized creature that somehow resembled a dog walked down the stairs, staring straight at her. "....hold on a second....they're semi-sentient and they understand the Sith language." Darth Mirana carefully approached the creature. "[We are not here to harm the tomb or its treasures. I am the descendant of he who lies here and am come to retrieve the Korriban Saber]." The creature blinked for a moment, looking down on her. It lowered its head and she reached up to scratch it behind the ears. The beast's tail wagged and a genuine smile covered the Sith's face that would have shocked anyone looking at her. Her love of animals was something that she could never forget.
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The massive hound's arrival did not go unnoticed by Tor. His grip on his knife became white-knuckled with panic, as he stayed painfully still, ancient fight-or-flight reflexes kicking into action. the instinct was slightly confused as his master spoke in that odd language again, and then went up to the giant hound and BEGAN SCRATCHING IT BEHIND THE EAR. His body refused to move, and only incomprehensible noises emerged from his throat.
 
"Sith scientists bred these things and taught them the Sith language." Darth Mirana continued smiling. "[Please, take me to your mother so that I may talk to her and ease her mind about our presence.]" The giant creature rumbled something like a sound of affirmation and turned. "....follow our dear friend, the tuk'ata.....time to go talk to his mother." The being led them up and to the right, passing other tuk'ata as they passed. At first, they growled at their presence; but, noticing that their counterpart was leading them, they soon fell in line behind them on their way into the mother tuk'ata's nest. They entered the room seconds later, greeted by the stench of decently fresh corpses. A tuk'ata about the size of an elephant laid at the center of the room on top of a stone platform. She raised her head and growled for a second at the newcomers.
"[Please, Queen Mother....]" Darth Mirana put up her hands peacefully. "[I mean no harm to your pups or you. I have come to retrieve the Korriban Saber; the time has come for it to be wielded again. Please....]" Darth Mirana shocked again as she knelt and bowed her head to the creature before her. "[I ask only that I be allowed to retrieve that and I will leave you to your duty.]" The tuk'ata mother stood, lowering her massive head to stare at both of them. Her lips snarled slightly at Tor. "[The boy is my apprentice and unlearned in the Sith tongue as of yet. He follows my orders.]" The massive creature stopped growling and leaned down to Tor, her eyes looking at him expectantly. Her nose was inches away from his face now.
 
Frozen in fear, he stared at the horse-sized hound. It stared right back. He stared at the hound, and it still stared back, waiting expectantly. Nervously, cautiously, he raised the hand without a long knife in it, and moved it towards the hounds head. The hound stared still, as if daring him to touch her. He reached her ear, and cautiously, began to gently scratch.
 
The tuk'ata leaned her head against the scratching, her giant tail thumping on the ground. Her red eyes closed and a low rumble echoed from her throat. Suddenly, the other tuk'ata were surrounding him and Darth Mirana, nosing at their hands and bodies for an ear scratch. Darth Mirana smiled again and tried to give them all equal attention while still addressing the larger mother tuk'ata. "[Queen Mother, may I be allowed to retrieve the saber?]"
The dog looked up and nodded visibly. Darth Mirana bowed her head in thanks. "Come, Tor. The hilt is in the other chamber." The other tuk'ata parted and allowed her to leave. The first tuk'ata that they had met, however, continued to follow even down the next tunnel. He was staying quite close to the pair and occasionally bumped Tor with his shoulder. The next tunnel had a set of stairs that led upwards into a large chamber that had a small light shining down on top of what looked almost like an altar. Atop it, the hilt of a saber laid atop a stand and it shone in the light.
Darth Mirana smiled and leaned back against the entrance. ".....well, I think it's time that you show me what you can do. You're going to retrieve it on your own. Be aware that there are probably traps of many types surrounding the saber. I'll keep you from mortal danger with hints when necessary."
 
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Tor stared at his master for a moment. Really? she was sending him, someone without training or fancy force tricks, or magic animal whispering languages, into a known pit of traps, meant to maim and kill any who attempt to pass. Slumping his head in resignation, he stepped forth into the chamber, checking carefully for pressure plates. Pausing, he noticed what seemed to be a thin mist in front of his face, which didnt react to air movements. sighing, he pulled a credit chit from a pocket, and tossed it towards the stairs. as it landed on a step, a bladed pendulum swung down across the plane of 'mist', darts shot from the wall at varying heights just beyond that, and a laser shot out from the edges of the steps, panning across its slope, effectively removing the feet of any who'd like to pass.
 
Darth Mirana choked back a laugh. At least this one was bright. Her eyes wandered for a moment as she studied her apprentice. Taller than her by a few inches, handsome face, obvious wit....this was a subject she didn't mind observing. This was most likely due to the fact that she had had hardly any contact with others of the opposite as equals or close to equals. Darth Malek and Darth Revan were about the closest that it got. She blinked rapidly for a second; she was not going to have a hormonal teenager phase now of all times. Due to her training, she had never really had one. After those thoughts, she tried not to watch her apprentice so closely but failed.
"Good job." Her voice rang out from behind him. "Now, how do you get past a trap like that, Tor?"
 
*Sigh* "I'd normally go around it, but seeing as there isnt another path..." he quickly rolled through the mist. as the pendulum came down behind him, he stood, and whipped out a heavy cloth, with metal threads woven in. spinning round, he waved round himself, and caught the darts that would've hit him. Sighing in relief, he took a step forward, and activated a pressure plate. feeling the shifting plate, his face widened with panic, and abandoned all caution as he ran forward, just ahead of spikes shooting from the ground. Reaching the stairs, he took a deep breath, and leaped onto the first step. running up, he counted down, 3,2,1, and leaped once more, over the laser. Finally, at the top of the steps, he stopped to catch his breath, and empty the cloth of darts.
 
"....not exactly how I would have handled it...." Darth Mirana nodded approvingly. "But, to each his own." She gestured towards the saber hilt. "Now, retrieve that and we'll be done with this tomb." Her eyes narrowed, not knowing for sure that all the traps were disarmed. Anything could happen when he picked up the saber. And she did mean ANYTHING.
 
Stand up once more, he prepared himself for the final stretch. The hilt lay on a pedestal, centered on the platform at the top of the steps. It seemed rather plain and unadorned, and seemed quite durable. Wondering if his credit trick would work again, he tossed another at the pedestal. Nothing, or so he thought. after a few moments, he was about to step forward, when he heard the telltall hiss of a jet of gas. stepping back, he watched as a green gas jetted from a hidden nozzle on the pedestal, and quickly melted the credit chit. "Really? You had blades, spikes, darts, and even lasers. Now you've got some mystery melting gas?" he mumbled to himself, as he tried to figure out how to not get his legs, and laterly his body, dissolved. Inspiration striking him, he pulls a small, but strong, electromagnet from a hidden pocket, along with a length of cord. tying off the magnet, tossed it at the hilt. Missing, he waited patiently for the gas to start, stop, and dissipate before trying again. Landing it, and giving it a small tug to ensure that it was firmly held by the magnet, he yanked the cord back, and launched the hilt towards himself. Catching it, he sighed in relief. He didnt want to even imagine what she would've done to him if it had fallen victim to the gas.
 
Darth Mirana sighed with relief. "Good.....let's get out of he-" The door suddenly slid shut behind her, trapping her, the tuk'ata, and her apprentice inside. The outer floor tiles started to fall and she found herself running towards him full tilt. The traps that he had by-passed earlier she simply jumped through, twisting her body so that nothing, not even a dart, hit her. She landed next to him. The tuk'ata fell down as the tiles collapsed beneath him. All of the tiles collapsed around the altar area, then stopped. ".....good. Apparently we get a reprieve from falling." As if in answer, the tiles beneath their feet suddenly shifted and she found herself falling. "....dammit...."
 
As they fell, Tor seemed fairly calm about the whole thing. "He had everything except for a giant deathball chasing us out of the tomb. Not surprised that the floor fell out to be honest. I just hope there's a bottom, and that its padded." He said, seeming to lay back on the rushing air.
 
"....well.....at least I know something is going to break my landing...." Darth Mirana twisted her body, her headdress falling off as she did so. The twisting had the desired effect, however, of putting her body on top of Tor's so that when they landed she would land on top of him. And the landing came not too soon afterwards as they fell down into a shallow, underground creek bed.
 
Landing from such a height would never feel good, even into something soft. The underground creek did what it could to break their fall, but even so... "....owwwwwww" Tor groaned out. The cavern they were in was dimly lit, and there were three things Tor could identify at the moment; the cold water running over him, the stones digging into his, now quite bruised, back, and the soft, warm body on top of him. "This could've ended worse, i suppose," he managed to murmur between bouts of groaning. One thing was sure, if didnt have to, he wouldnt be moving for a while. As the water leached heat from him, he tried to enjoy the heat radiating from the source on top of him, as blackness threatened to consume him.
 
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