Dark Skies

[Rugs]

As he walked down the exit ramp from his shuttle, Locke found himself thinking about how strange it was that he'd gotten into such a familiar situation. Eerily similar to what happened only a few weeks prior, in fact. Jazen was missing. Again. This time Locke didn't know where he'd gone, though. They were too far separated for Locke to glean anything from their bond.

Locke was beyond worried. There'd been no vision to lead him to his student this time, no warning through the Force until it was too late. Jazen was gone, but to where exactly, Locke couldn't say. Unlike the trip to Naboo, Locke didn't think this was something that Jazen did on a wild impulse, either; he certainly hoped it wasn't, given the amount of trouble Jazen got into the first time. Still, he could worry about how Jazen vanished once he found him. For the time being, Locke needed to go about finding Jazen. It was a task that would be difficult enough in and of itself. However, after a great deal of meditation, Locke came to the conclusion that he'd let the Force lead him.

Prazhi was the world the Force lead him to. Whether it was the ultimate goal or just a stepping stone, Locke couldn't say, but he'd do what he could to find the information he'd need to locate Jazen. With a sigh, he stuck his hands into the pockets of his coat and went out into the small town to begin his search. The skies were cloudy and the air damp, with the promise of incoming rain, though hopefully he'd be inside when it struck. The town was mid-sized, and perhaps more of a small city; it was located on the edge of a massive lake, and Locke was near the docks. Normally, he might have wrinkled his nose at the smell of fish being hauled in from the water, but he wasn't even thinking about it today. Everything was on finding some way to find Jazen.

Or, it was until he felt a presence that made his brow furrow. The presence was familiar. It was dark. Well, that meant it could be any number of people, really, but he didn't like it. Now was not the time. Against his better judgment, he decided to ignore it, and continued walking along the docks. If the person wanted something to do with him, then fine, but for the time being, he had much more important business to handle.

[allenwalker]

Allen sat on the floor of his chambers meditating. a voice came up on the loud speaaker and said "sir weve finall arrived at prazhi awaiting your orders sir."allen opened his eyes got up from his meditative stance. He grabbed his cloack and his sabers and headed to the bridge. Allen walked throughout the ship the crew knew not to get into allens. Allen made it to the bridge and said "bring the ship to the closest town were gona be here for a while." allen turned around and his cloak whipped to the side as he made his way to the docking area.

As the ship began decending he began sensing a familiar presence on the planet. allen squuezed his hands together and grinned and said "jedi." he then began chuckling to himself as the ship finally made a complete landing. the docking bay exit ramp lowered to the ground steam hissed covering allen in a veil of shadow. he raised the hood of his cloak and walked down the ramp eager for the hunt to begin. he made his way through the crowds of people making his way towards the presence he had felt earlier. Finally allen reached his his prey. he was behind the jedi the element of surprise was his.allen then began channeling the daerkside into him and fire a force lightning at the jedis back.

[Rugs]

Locke continued on with his walking, focusing on the task at hand. He didn't really have any leads, so he couldn't say where he'd have to go. Unpleasant though it might have been, it wasn't a completely unfamiliar situation; he'd done investigations before under similar circumstances. That didn't make it any less unpleasant though, especially considering what was riding on his success or failure.

His experiences led him to do what he always did when he didn't have a lead: go to a cantina. It was amazing the types of people one could find in a cantina; unsavory cantinas in particular, because unsavory types had a way of having information that Locke was usually after. Even with that knowledge, he was still probably looking at a few hours'--if not days--worth of work. Hopefully Jazen, wherever he was, could hold on that long.

That dark presence came to his attention again, pulling him from his thoughts. Whoever the person was, they were drawing nearer. Following him more than likely. I don't have time for this, Locke thought irritably. A confrontation seemed inevitable, though, so Locke changed his course, leading his follower out to one of the emptier parts of town, near a pier, where they could be away from the larger crowds of people.

A light fog sat over the docks out here, on the water's edge. A few dockworkers were about, though some well-used mind tricks convinced them that they needed to attend to business elsewhere for a little while. Then, facing the water, Locke waited. The presence grew nearer, and as they did, Locke could feel the way they longed to attack him. Finally, the person was near enough for Locke to hear footsteps, and he spun around when he felt the sudden intake of the Force.

Orange lit up the area around him as his saber came alive, stopping the wave of lightning that had been meant to take him in the back. Locke's scowled deeply when he looked up to see his attacker. It was that same Sith from Naboo. The one that got in his way the last time he was trying to find Jazen. "You again?" he said as the lightning faded away, letting his irritation show.

"First of all, you need to learn how to sneak up on people. A blind man could've known you were coming with the way you were radiating your presence. Second- you know what, I don't have time for this. Let's get this over with." Locke shook his hand and settled into his stance. "I need an ass to kick anyway." He cared little for acting the prim and proper Jedi at the moment--or less so than he normally did, anyway. Time was of the essence, and he intended to deal with this Sith quickly and efficiently.

To start, he reached out with a violent claw of the Force, to pull the Sith within range. Once he got there, Locke would move in with his blade, striking high at the Sith's shoulder, then his saber arm, before finishing up with a punch that was intended to take the Sith in the stomach.

[allenwalker]

"I told you we would meet again jedi but this time things are going to be different. Allen cracked hisknuckles removed his hood his eyes had changed to that of the sith. He noticed the surroundings around him they were isolated from peope a shame rreally allen was in the mood for a lot blood shed. But the jedi would have to suffice for now. "I see you managed to lose your padawan yet again such poor communication between you two." Allen took out his light saber and activated it when he suddenly feltthe jedi use the claw of the force. Allen felt himself being pulled towards his enemy and laughed. "Big mistake jedi!" allen used his saber and blocked the jedis lightsaber attack. Allen then countered the punch that was headed towards his stomach with his free hand.

Allen stared into the face of his opponent amd locked eyes with him and stared at him. Allen turned his head to the side quizzically and smiled. "Hmm this seems familiar don't you agree jedi." Allen the gave a quick quick to lockes stomach and pushed locke back as well. Allen took a few steps back and twirled his lightsaber in his hand. Allen moved his neck to the side. His neck crackled when he did that and he stared at the jedi "as you can see I have improved since our last encounter." Allen then ran towards the jedi and began a onslaught of strikes from multiple angles infront of the jedi while still maintaining a defence against the jedi.

[Rugs]

{I'm assuming you meant a 'quick kick to Locke's stomach' where you have a 'quick quick to Locke's stomach'}

Just like last time, Locke thought when the Sith caught his punch. The first time they'd met, Locke had been worried mess, wracked with fear over what might be going on with Jazen. He was still worried now yes, but at the same time, he couldn't let those worries start playing into the fight. To be truthful, he'd done a terrible job in his last fight against this Sith; the Sith's taunts worked beautifully, and Locke suffered for it. This time would be different though.

Allen's words fell on deaf ears as Locke's mind shifted to analyzing the way his foe fought, in an attempt to look for potential weaknesses that he could exploit. He found his first one as his fist pushed against Allen's palm, forcing the Sith's hand back: from the looks of that contest, Allen wasn't very strong physically. In fact, Locke would go so far as to call him weak, which was something the Investigator almost never got to do.

The Sith disengaged, and his leg struck out towards Locke's stomach. Locke reacted, and braced his arms to block the blow, though he was forced back a step or two from the impact. "Have you now?" he asked, smirking amusedly. "I can't tell. Or maybe you were never that good to begin with..." Then the Sith charged, and Locke shook his head. He was confident enough in his swordsmanship abilities to say that the Sith wouldn't beat him in a blade-to-blade contest. Far be it from me to stop him if he wants it, though.

Their sabers crashed together loudly again and again, as Allen's assault on Locke began. Locke's orange blade darted around quickly, parrying Allen's blows as Locke settled into Soresu and began to slowly retreat. The Sith was determined, if nothing else; though, he wasn't near fast enough to overwhelm Locke and he was far too weak to have any hope of wearing Locke down physically. Certainly, he was skilled enough to keep Locke on his toes, but Locke had a creeping suspicion that he knew where the tide of battle would shift once the time to attack came.

"Is that the best you can do?" Allen's lightsaber came down, diagonally towards Locke's shoulder, only to be denied access by a flick of Locke's wrist. "Sir, you disappoint!" He continued to give ground, though it wasn't because he was being forced to; every step back he took moved him further out onto the pier, and that was exactly what he wanted. All he had to do was wait for the correct opportunity...

Said opportunity presented itself when Allen made a bold strike at Locke's neck. Locke reacted by ducking down under it, rather than blocking it. While he was still down, he pushed forward, using the muscles of his thighs to give him a burst of speed that would take him forward so that his shoulder would slam into Allen's stomach. Locke would keep moving forward to the side of the pier for another step or two, to impart his momentum into Allen, and then, once he stopped, his hand would go up, throwing out a powerful blast of the Force to make sure the Sith ended up the water, should the tackle not be enough.

[allenwalker]

allen felt his anger growing larger and large by the minute as his opponent blocked his attacks. "Oh very funny jedi but soon ill be the one laughing as i become the victor in the fight.." Allen then thought to himself 'he seems more powerful then the last time we fought i had better switch to shincho style." as allen was about to switch to Shii-cho he felt himself be tackled and then as he wasbegining to fall to the ground he felt the force push from locke and flew towards the lake. his lightsaber skimmed across the lakes suface evaporating some of the water. His body then skidded acorss the water a few times and then finally allen plunged into the water.

Allen was starting to reach his boiling point as he swam up to the surface. he deactivated his saber and swam toward locke. Allen dove under the water to conceal his presence the lakes dark water hid him as he swam underneath the dock. He slowly rose from the water and walked back onto shore. Allen walked towards locke his face calm. "That was a very refreshing dip thanks for that Locke." allen placed his hands close togetherand began compressing force lightning into his hands into a large ball. "lets see you stope this Jedi!" Allen then released the ball of force lightning at locke the energy ball flew towards locke with incredible speed.

[Rugs]

{Alright. Force Lightning isn't really something that can be compressed into a ball like that, but I'll roll with it for this one post}

Locke only smirked he watched the Sith skim the surface of the lake before finally plunging in. "Well, you're off to a marvelous start, my friend," he muttered as he spun his lightsaber idly. Of course, Allen was far from through. The waters were dark, and hid the Sith from view, but the Force was not limited by such things; Locke could feel Allen's presence, slinking along beneath the surface as he moved toward the shore. And that was where their battle would resume.

"It was my pleasure, friend," Locke responded with a too-friendly smile. "Perhaps you should've stayed down there, though. I'd hate to have to hurt you." That smile suddenly turned sarcastic, and then Locke held the Force once more. There was a degree of interest in his steely grey eyes as he watched Allen prepare his attack, which looked to be some form of Force lightning. Interesting. He might actually be a threat.

Allen fired off his attack, but Locke wasn't worried. Strands of the Force were already being laid in the air in front of him, weaving in and out in a strong pattern of defense that left a fait blue shimmering in the air around him. This Sith was weak. It would hold.

Or so he thought.

The lightning slammed into Locke's barrier, and his eyes widened in shock. The shield was holding for the time being, but it was a close thing. Memories of Naboo, of the way he'd been forced back by Allen's lightning before his shield finally crumbled, came flooding back into Locke's mind. He swore, knowing he'd misstepped, and drew more and more of the Force, willing his shield to hold...

But it was just too much. A good deal of the lightning's energy had been dissipated by the time it broke through, but it broke through none the less, and it was too near for Locke to do anything to avoid it. It took him in the chest, wracking his torso with waves of pain. Locke ground his teeth together to keep from yelling out, but was forced to take a few steps back from the impact of the blow.

"Have it your way, then," was all he said before moving forward. As he moved, he called the Force oncce more, using it to fuel his muscles and send him into an explosive leap forward. As he landed, his saber came down, toward Allen's head, but it was a feint. The true attack came when it shifted, to the side and lashed out, at the Sith's thigh on his lead leg. Locke's attack sequence ended with another rough shove through the Force, one that should send the Sith sailing back through the air.

[allenwalker]

Allen panted for a second after he released the force lightning. he thought to himself 'that took more out of than i thought id better just stick with regular force lightning' Allen then noticed his hands were feeling a little numb a little set back but not to worry about. "another time perhaps id rather just fight you on land my...friend." Allen expression was ecstatic as he saw the Jedi get hit with the lightning. Allen's eyes widened to shock when he saw the attack coming at him. then the expression of shock turned to a wide grin. he then saw the saber going for his leg and he blocked it with his own saber but the the felt himself get pushed back. he fell to the ground a few feet away from were he was. "Nice try Jedi u almost had me ill have to remember that move." Allen twirled his saber in his hand Allen then noticed a very large tree behind him and he got a idea. he ran to the tree and the swung his light saber through the half of the tree. the tree suddenly began falling to wards were the Jedi was at a alarming rate Allen jumped to the side so he wouldn't get squashed.

[Rugs]

"You'd do well to learn a lot more than that 'move,' Sith," Locke jeered as the Force blasted forward from his hand. He'd not yet landed a hit with his saber, but he was sure that it would come with time; after all, this Sith hadn't been the most impressive duelist so far, though he was certainly dangerous with the Force. Pity for him that Locke also happened to be dangerous with the Force.

His push connected with the Sith and kept going, carrying Locke's foe with it. Allen came down to the ground a few feet back from where he was, landing rather unceremoniously in the light trail of dust the push kicked up. Locke smirked, not even attempting to hide his amusement as he watched the man get up. "You really should just give up, Sith," he chided, "before I start to tire of dealing with you."

But Allen did not give up; instead, he chose to make an indirect attack on Locke, by cutting a tree that was obviously supposed to land on the Investigator. It was an interesting tactic, if one that was doomed to failure, given that Allen simply left Locke standing there, able to put his full attention into stopping or evading the tree's fall. He'll learn one day, Locke mused with a shake of his head.

Avoiding the tree was a simple thing. All it took was a roll to the side, which, for someone like Locke, who happened to be quite deft on his feet, was near-second nature. He rolled to the left, and as he came up onto his feet, the Force ripped out from an outstretched hand to the Sith. Provided that everything worked the way Locke was planning, little fingers of the Force would reach out, and pull Allen forward. Right into the fist that Locke sent flying toward his face.