Maenaki picked her way through the scattered wasteland, trying to hold the hem of her black dress from dragging over the bone particles and slimy mud. Having learned her lesson from her last fight, the Seltron wore thick wedged heels, but it was not making her life any easier. Her shoes sunk slightly into the soft and decomposed ground with each step, her gait less a walk than it was a stumble forward.
The sensations of the dark side imbued area caused the Seeker’s flesh to prickle beneath the lace sleeves of her dress. Maenaki’s sea-green gaze scanned the area, searching for any movement as she pressed forward. Something caught her attention as it skittered just out of her sight, moving up and over the skull of some long dead beast whose bones had been bleached by glimpses of sunlight.
“Hello?! Ough!” Just as the Seltron spoke, the heel of her boot sunk far deeper than she had expected, trapping her ankle deep in mud. “Oh, for the love of…”
The young man sat on the rancor skull, watching as the rose skinned woman tried to pull her leg from the muck, the silvery chains that looped themselves through the many braids of her fiery red hair slapping against her cheeks. As the Scion finally tugged her leg hard enough, her braids blowing into her face, she immediately fell backward. She landed on her back in the mud with a cry of frustration. As though guided by some unnatural force, her gaze was suddenly turned in his direction.
“Boy, I know you’re up there. A little help, please? There are…” she paused, looking around for a moment before trying to scramble back to her feet, “things!”
She moved sloppily, her feet splashing against the wet ground, a look of panic crossing her delicately elfin features as she tried to run towards him. Levi closed his eyes, feeling the area with the Force. He abruptly opened his eyes, still concealed by the blindfold, and leapt down from the skull, running in the direction of the tall woman.
The athletic man lept part way down the fragmented skull, sliding down its fractured curve and landing a few feet from the stranded woman. Mud splashed up his pant leg, soaking his boots with the fetid terrain, as he moved toward her. Without pause, Levi twisted his posture, watching the approaching beings as they began cresting over and around the large skeletal piles.
“Who are you and what are you doing here?” Levi asked, activating his lightsaber and pointing at Maenaki as she scrambled towards him.
“I’m Mae and I’m here for the same reasons as you.” Her voice was curt, but she gave a polite nod as she introduced herself, despite her duress.
“What do you know of my reasons?!” The young man demanded, his eyes narrowing dangerously.
“To find the crazy Sith Lord who has become fat because of too much power.” She stood, towering a good six-inches over him, despite the fact, her heels were sinking deep into the muck.
The creatures, blue feathered-looking things running on four legs at a rapid pace in their direction, were closing the distance. Maenaki glanced at them and then back at Levi.
“I’m not a fighter. I came here to find a black-box of sorts. Something that may have relevant information to both our Clans. I have a cipher memorized and I vow on my mother’s life that if you help me find it, I will share the information with you.”
Levi did not trust this woman, but he no longer had time to ask questions. He needed to make a decision and fast. The beasts came near and Mystic could see by their muscular physique that they were going to be a challenge. With a calming inhale, the Kiffar hybrid faced down his enemy, weapon at the ready.
They moved to close in from either side and see that the beasts did not, in fact, have feathers. Long tentacle like protrusions extended from the tops of their heads and all the way down their thick necks. The young man momentarily believed himself safe, still having a few feet of distance, but the Force warned him otherwise. He dodged out of the way just as a long blue suction cupped hand whipped past his face, extending further than the Palatinaean could have expected.
