The Black Silence [Jez]

[Remus]

The red-pink clouds of a Wild Space nebula engulfed the little A-wing fighter Dual for a moment as it maintained firm course for Kesh. Remus had learned what he could of the remote planet from the few resources provided at the Jedi Archives, and though it was not as much as he had wished, it was enough to provoke the desire to investigate himself. The planet had seen much activity from the Force over the centuries, namely from the Lost Tribe of the Sith as they had been called. Such stories had fascinated him for many a year, and now he had finally committed to exploring, taking full advantage of his new-found freedom.

The glistening blackness of space was redeemed as Kesh came into view. Remus boosted Dual's thrusters with sight of the planet and prepared himself for landing. His wyrwulf companion, Cailín, sat secure and quiet at his feet as the ship began to shake vigorously with atmospheric impact, until it finally burst through into Kesh's controlled air. He could see the smear of Tahv focus into a broken, almost-dormant city that rang a low hum of slow activity, but already Remus could feel something else was lurking amidst the quiet hive of life.

Remus lowered Dual into the open hanger bay, nestling it onto a landing pad with no trouble. He still had the touch. Armed only with the Force and a small silver dagger that bore the mark of the Keth family, the Apprentice made his way through the hanger and into the open city. He had heard of the destruction of the City of Glass and did not quite believe it up until this point, but the devastation was certainly a sight to behold. Since then, survivors had seemingly begun to rebuild in a fashion, but the city had now become nothing more than a shanty town, its people living in slums.

With Cailín at his heel, Remus surveyed his surroundings in silence as he walked the dead streets. Looking over the city was the ruin of the Kesh Sith Temple. It was late evening. All was silent but for the occasional chatter or coughing of the homeless or the distant breaking of glass. Something was here, he could feel its resonance. What, he could not say; his training was not yet refined enough for him to understand it. But he knew he should be wary, and he began to wonder if he was really ready for such an expedition.

[Jezebella Shadana]

A hooded figure stood amid the desolate Circle Eternal, once a hallowed site of celebration and assembly. A booted foot stretched outward, nudging the eroded hand separated from a nearby stone effigy out of their path. The individual paused once they reached the plaza's center, the cloak ensconcing their svelte frame wavering under the duress of the nippy breeze breathing down from the jagged mountains beyond the city's venerable walls. Despite the decaying state of this once proud township, the Living Force was ever present; thriving on the memory of all that once was and all that remained.

Gloved hands flexed, fingers crooking inward in a coaxing manner. The shadows swarmed at the boundaries of the courtyard and tendrils of darkness diverged from them, spanning the derelict cobblestones and surging in every direction. The inveigled umbrage scattered into a webbed pattern on the ground and then lapsed into stillness. Another prompt from the figure's extremities transmuted the obscurity into a smoke-like miasma that drifted up and varnished those distant memories. The figure was no longer alone, surrounded by a gathering of transient apparitions that spoke of the Skyborn and a Temple built in reverence beyond the walls of the city.

There were more secrets to be had but a ship passing overhead disturbed the concentration needed to support the otherworldly manifestations. The shadows trickled away from the memories like bits of black sand and were scattered back from whence they came by another strong gust of wind. A wind that unsettled the hood drawn up over the figure's head. The thick material fell back against Jezebella's shoulders and her yellow-red eyes swiveled up to the vessel, observing as it began to touch down at the spaceport mere blocks away.

"Interesting..." She murmured to herself, forsaking her exploration of the plaza in favor of learning who the presence belonged to and how they had so easily jarred her out of her meditative state.