Knight's Dread Year |Apillis|

[Dutch]

"Excuse me, please put your blaster down sir."

Her voice was almost not heard over the din of the crowd. The massive metal megalith that was the Kuat Drive Yards was like an entire giant city all on it's own, except it floated in Kuat's orbit. Sentients of all races mingled around it, most selling anything related to starcrafts, but there was also the smell of restaurants and bars all through out. Unfortunately, like any 'city' crime was a factor. And as a Jedi Peacekeeper, even if it wasn't apart of the mission, she needed to enforce the law. And holding a Sullustan at blaster point was definitely against the law. The Devaronian holding the blaster looked over at the speaker.

Halli Price wasn't exactly the most intimidating Peacekeeper in the Order. As a matter of fact, many argued that she didn't belong with them. But time and again the young woman showed she had the determination to stand with the Jedi in Blue. Clad in her light, skin tight armor-weave of blue with silver accents (which included the Order's symbol emblazoned on a badge-print) and her pinkish-blonde hair, Halli looked like she belonged more in a holo-comic than in the role of a real Jedi. The Devaronian began to laugh. He laughed and he laughed and he laughed. Halli pursed her lips as her cheeks began to flush. No matter how often this happened to her, irritation would still rise.

"Sir I-"

She began again but instantly was cut off by more of the man's laughter. Halli stamped her foot and moved forward as she brought out her cuffs. The man quickly stopped his laughter but instead turned his blaster on Halli.

"Hold it right there blondie, I ain't doin nothin, and I ain't gettin arrested."

Halli stopped right in her tracks and her eyes widened. Her pulse instantly began to pick up, and she was too aware of her heart as it slammed in her chest. Didn't matter how many time it happened, Halli had to fight panic the minute a weapon was pointed at her. She took a deep breath, and drew her lightsabers after she dropped the cuffs.

"In the name of the Republic and the Jedi Order, I hereby place you under arrest on the charges of battery and threatening a Peacekeeper of the Republic."

The girl nearly blurted, the practiced words flowed easily out of her, but the tinge of panic and fear still pervaded it. She just hoped that he would give up, and that she wouldn't have to hurt the poor man.

[Apillis]

In the next instant a the brilliant orange beam of a blade of light all too familiar to a Jedi... or Sith... protruded from the Devaronian's stomach. As the blade ran him through and he looked down to see the luminescent beam sticking out of the front of his body. Dazed he abruptly jerked from where he stood as he felt the hilt of a lightsaber violently slam into his back. More than half of the radiant orange blade of light stuck out of his body. But a mere second later all fell to darkness for him as the blade in one swift, vicious action ran up his body exiting at the top of his head nearly splitting him in two.

With the corpse of the Devaroanin flopping to the ground, what then stood in his place was statuesque women with a slim, lean build. Her clothes were militaristic and ragged, while over them she wore a white Jedi Archivist cloak worn, tattered, and torn--though these days from the passage of time it was more of a pale grey hue than white. The cloak was marked by carbon scouring and old blood stains that would never come out no matter how often it was cleansed The hood drawn of the old cloak partly hiding her visage, while concealing the lower half of her face was a black mask with monstrous dark grey jagged fangs. What could be seen of her face were her eyes, those intense crimson eyes blatantly marks of the dark side like the pale flesh of the woman's face that held them as those eyes stared straight into the young Jedi's own.

"My Lord... we're exposed. Republic units will close in on us fast. We need to move.", uttered one of the four elite Sith soldiery, a pair flanking the Sith Lord at either side of her. He looked at the Jedi the Sith Lord appeared to have an interest in, "What do you want to do with her?"

It was as if she did not even hear the soldiers warning or question, she merely stood silent for another trice staring straight into the youthful Jedi's bright eyes. The dark presence of the woman was oppressive, as if it siphoned away all the color in the Force around them, suffocating what ever shining light dared enter its proximity... violently strangling it to death.

"A Jedi Peacekeeper...", she at last spoke with a husky tone of voice, one that become slightly hoarse from barking commands on a field of battle and crying out with the raw hatred and rage that boiled beneath her breast, "I have not seen one of your like in a... long, long time... Not since I left the Order... Unsurprisingly it's been mostly nothing but Sentinels and Shadows since...", she went on, though those crimson eyes turned their gaze to the lightsaber in the young Jedi's grip, and despite her visage being hidden--it could be seen in the eyes, those intense crimson eyes that the Sith Lord gained an expression of amusement, "Do you intend to use that tool, young Jedi?", her voice then gained a dark severity to its tone dripping with a sinister malevolence, "Or will I have to take it from you?"

Fear is what attracted her to the scene, and the young Jedi had much of it, fear of the dangerous situation a moment ago. And the fear that was brewing now as that danger has vastly increased, the Sith Lord savored the flavor of it as each second ticked away between them as she continued to stare into the girl's eyes...

[Dutch]

In the next second a fierce titian blade shone harshly through the man. Halli's jaw would instantly drop and she screamed 'No!' as that same blade would suddenly cleave upwards to leave him halved. Halli gasped in a mixture of horror and shock as she took a couple instinctual steps backward. And then the presence hit her. Like a blast of hot, ashen wind the Force suddenly wrenched into something sinister and predatory. Halli could almost hear a hungry growl within the Force, and what was normally her ally suddenly scared her. Her heart began to race even faster as she looked around in a bewildered fashion. And then she noticed her.

Halli's breath caught in her throat and her eyes widened in utter terror. This was where the presence emanated from. It washed and enveloped everything like a dark tide, constantly projecting and feeding into the woman's presence. Only once had Halli ever felt anything like this before, and even then, this one was entirely different. If anything... it was more evil than him. Halli's body began to quiver uncontrollably and her left hand that still clutched the deactivated guard shoto would snap up to press fingers into the scar Eurachis had left long ago. Icy cold dread flooded into her form as memories of her last abuse at the hands of the Darth openly wafted within and outside of her mind.

It was all she could do but stare into those intense eyes, rooted in place as she shook from head to toe visibly. When she finally spoke Halli couldn't help but whimper. Her words were impossibly heavy, as if the very act of her voice echoed into the Force and through the young Jedi. Nonononono.... She repeated over and over to herself, her veins ran with ice and sheer panic. Her mouth would open and close wordlessly a couple times, completely unable to answer any of her questions. Finally after several moments, Halli took a timid step backwards as a fat tear rolled down her right cheek. She could only utter a single word, and even then, it came out unsteady and soft.

"Please..."

[Apillis]

How quickly the innocence of the girl lead her into a fearful submission. In a way, Hervor was a little disappointed by it, she is driven by the constant conflict of dark against light, and being deprived of the challenge she did not care for. However, other opportunities were presented to her because of the girl's extreme fear. The girl was clearly no warrior, but rather an optimistic and hopeful peacemaker. But optimism and hope in this galaxy are fragile concepts, which requires a merciful heart to indulge, but mercy is something that had long been bled away from the Sith Lord.

With an unforgiving and violent grasp, Hervor grabbed the girl's hand that clasped her deactivated lightsaber. With a strength empowered by the Force the Sith Lord's grasp on the girl's hand tightened like a vice, and with a harsh, abrupt pull she yanked the girl toward. But just before the girl collide against the Sith Lord, she caught the girl by the throat with her other hand. And that hand begun to squeeze like a python around the girl's throat, though the grip was like iron--it was not tight enough for the girl to talk, it was enough to make labor heavily to breathe.

"Don't waste your tears for this moment, young Jedi", Hervor uttered with low, dark tone, "Our getting acquainted is just beginning...", It was not through telepathy or feeling out how to intensify the girl's fear, it was through the presence and gravitas that the dark side granted as it flowed through her like an unending crashing tidal wave, "Your name. Your master.", they were not questions, they were demands.

"Are we going to use her for leverage or insurance, my Lord...?", questioned another one of the four soldiers accompanying the Sith Lord.

Hervor with an arched brow finally acknowledging their presence with that small reaction since encountering the young Knight now in Hervor's grasp, and with a faint sigh she looked back straight into the girl's eyes as she uttered, "Soldiery... they think so small, but I think we both have a similar understanding for what I'm going to do with you, young Jedi."

It was then she at last uttered a word to the four soldiers with her, "She's coming with us..."

[Dutch]

Halli screamed.

The woman's hand was icy-cold on hers, and the vice-like grip made the girl cry out in pain as the joints and bones in her hand shifted and popped painfully. Her face scrunched up in pain and her teeth gritted as she tried to struggle out of the woman's grasp. Halli barely had time to try to escape when suddenly she was yanked forward with surprising force. The girl's gasp was cut short as another long fingered hand wrapped too easily around Halli's slim neck. Her pulse raced and likely could be felt by the assaulter. Halli tried to struggle at first but her body simply would not respond to her panicked commands. Her body trembled as the skin where the woman touched burned and itched in response to the dark energies that were cast from it. Like the woman was some sinister beacon of power.

The crowd around them moved as far as possible, with several people screaming and running away. Some looked as if they were trying to hail security, but Halli pulled the Force the best she could through the darkness to her, to push her mind out to the crowd, a simple message, an urge to run. If the attacker was this violent towards a Jedi, Halli could only imagine what she'd do to those without the Force. RUN She bellowed out into the Force and she felt a tiny trickle of relief as the onlookers did begin to flee the area.

Don't waste your tears for this moment, young Jedi...

Halli's eyes instantly snapped to her assailant as she spoke, her big doe-like eyes instantly watered up despite the other command. Her bottom lip trembled violently as she continued to speak, her words a dark promise. Halli felt dizzy, everything felt like it was revolving around the two women. Her mind would instantly go to the faces of Karon, Bellinda, Jace, Aeia, Roq... she pleaded at their ghostly visages in her mind for help, but as clearly as she could see them, was as clear as she realized that she had no help. That she was trapped.

The woman continued to speak to Halli, but it wasn't just words that came from her. The Force that emanated from her was predatory in nature, but also patient, cunning. It was clear that the woman held wisdom from the umber parts of the galaxy, and that she was no mere pawn of the Darkside. She was the darkness incarnate, and those eyes that burned into Halli's only showed how steeped the woman in white was. Halli had never seen eyes like hers before, and it was all she could do to look away, but the blooded gaze held hers. But it hit her: This wasn't the moment. Halli had seen the moment, seen it at all hours with her waking eye.

She's coming with us...

Halli's eyes still flooded with tears, and her body rattled like the engines on a clunker of a space ship. But a glint of something unnameable shone in those eyes as well. Halli's free hand quickly slid her other lightsaber into the belt loop before it moved up to clutch the woman's wrist that connected to the hand that grasped her. With a pull on the Force Halli too channeled it into her hand to grab with shocking strength. With a cry of defiance she would bring a leg up to kick at the woman's stomach. Force Body was indeed a handy technique, and Halli used her strength in the Force to propel herself off the Sith woman to back-flip away. She collapsed to her knees and gasped for breath for a brief moment before she rose slowly to her feet. Still shaking with fear, Halli held her head up to look the woman in the eyes once more.

"I am Halli P-Price. My Masters are Jace Beleren, Aeia Fu, and Roq. And I am n-not going anywhere with you"

[Apillis]

Hervor was a little surprised the young Knight found the gumption to break herself free, and even try to save face with whatever moxie she could muster to stand up to the Sith Lord. Albeit... it is what Hervor wanted from her from the onset...

To say the young Knight's resistance was an enjoyment of its own kind for Hervor would be a vast understatement. It triggered something within her like the prey-drive of a primal beast. The more resistance one presented to her, the more Hervor sought to oppose it--to break it--to devour it. A constant challenge, a constantly conflict, she burned for more constantly--a hunger that is never fully sated. The desire gnawed and teethed at her beneath her breast like a vile beast it is clawing and gnashing its teeth to rip out of the body that housed it.

And yet... Hervor's delight did not simply end there, when the girl uttered whom her masters were. It made Hervor's twisted heart to twist up just a bit more... crush the flower they sought to grow. Two were Grandmasters of the Order, while the other... strange she never knew she existed until becoming one of the High Council, and with that the mention of the one who taught her--someone Hervor was connected. This girl in front Hervor held a small link to a past that Hervor believed to have long been severed. However, small links that form a chain are easiest to break, and by the countenance of this girl--snapping each link in the chain that she composes will provide its own engrossing pastime.

The Sith Lord drew back her hood as she lowered her mask unveiling her visage. She then ordered to the soldiers, "Continue with the operation. I will catch up. It seems the girl and I are going to get a bit intimate...", in that instant the four elite Sith troops did not question but instead swiftly moved on like the professional soldiers they are to continue their operation. When they left it was then Hervor stated to the girl, "Each of them were little more than sprats when I left the Order... In fact, I was the padawan to a predecessor of theirs, Grandmaster Hjomalir, or 'Master Hjo' as he was affectionately called."

Hervor drew her lightsaber once again, igniting its brilliant orange blade like that of burning sun falling into dusk serving as prelude to the dark night yet to arrive to eclipse the sky, "Let's see, how well they prepared you for this battle, young Jedi. Did they teach you the Force is your ally, that the tranquility of its light will save you even in the deepest darkness? I'm sorry, young Jedi, but the great tragedy of life is how misguided those beliefs and traditions are. The dark side is patient and it always wins. Light is so easily eclipsed. And in this moment--and no doubt you feel it too... the Force is more my ally than yours. The Force cares nothing for you or our petty philosophies, you are just another insignificant speck drifting in its great, empty void of darkness."

In the next instant--the movement Hervor made was little more than blur, the swiftness was immense and it was with purpose. The small gap between them was erased by the speed at which Hervor charged at the girl. But a cross-slash came at her head while it was immediately followed up with savage knee directed at her stomach. The strength behind the two attempted strikes were blatantly augmented through the Force to be delivered with an ogreish power to them. This is often what it means to face a Sith Lord after all, fighting a creation of darkness with unyielding and vicious strength making each blow even when defended against potentially punishing.

[Dutch]

"Each of them were little more than sprats when I left the Order... In fact, I was the padawan to a predecessor of theirs, Grandmaster Hjomalir, or 'Master Hjo' as he was affectionately called."

Halli listened to the Sith's words. Her tone was unlike anything Halli had ever heard from another human. It was as if the very fires of their primeval ancestors burned beneath her breast, heated and hungry. The woman revealed her face and she was... surprisingly beautiful. Underneath the obvious corruption of the Darkside though. Despite herself, Halli's face slid into something that resembled pity, to see someone so powerful and gifted so tainted. Halli recognized that name, Master Hjo. Aeia had mentioned them before, and the blonde had studied some of his lectures in the past during her time as a Padawan. Her big black eyes would look at the woman's hands as she drew and ignited her lightsaber. The orange blade cast a glow upon her adversary that fit her all too well. Fierce and powerful.

The woman spoke more, and Halli tried to ignore the truth that weighed behind those words. Or truth as the taller woman saw it. Halli was convinced otherwise. She knew the Force was her ally, and that even now as it cracked and smoked around her, she could still feel its true energies about. The Force wasn't darkness, the woman's own inner shadow tainted it around them. The Force was her ally. The Force was her ally. Halli took in a slow, shaky breath and drew in some of the Force as she did, but it was difficult, like breathing through a damp cloth.

"You're wro-"

Halli's eyes would bulge widely and her words instantly cut off as the Sith suddenly was on the attack. She brought her left arm up into a defensive stance but only had time to dodge the slash sent by her attacker. The second attack Halli was literally unable to do anything about, her backwards dodge left her abdomen wide open. A gasp of crashing pain sounded from her next and Halli saw stars as she felt herself lift off the ground. She lifted for a moment before she collapsed forward, her lightsaber clattered out of her hand. Halli gasped desperately for air, the wind knocked out of her. Her vision was a haze of black and twinkling lights, and all she could see was the Sith's feet bathed in orange. Fear screamed through her every nerve, making her body quiver and her attempts for air sound pitiful.

She began to rise to her knees, still frantically trying to breath and get her bearings. It was all she could do not to simply collapse and black out from the lack of air and cold fear. Halli's eyes peered up into the tainted ones owned by the Sith, and tried to fight the tears that fell- to no avail. Air finally seemed to begin to fill her lungs again, and Halli cringed as the pain blossomed more as she tried to move. She clenched her jaw, she would not give her the satisfaction of knowing what a devastating blow had been lain down. Her hand moved out and the dropped lightsaber flipped to her awaiting fingers. Once more she slowly stood, her body still shook with fear and effort, but she once more took a defensive stance. Her eyes never left the other woman's, even though Halli wanted nothing more right then than to look away. But the way the woman watched her, Halli could all but help to look right back at her.

"I-is that all you got?"

Halli whispered, trying to sound as strong as she could. But as always, her voice would betray her true emotions. Her mind went to Karon again, and wished desperately for him to swoop in and save the day. Though Halli realized one thing: Even Karon wouldn't be able to stand up to the juggernaut of night that stood before her.

She honestly couldn't think of anyone who could.

Another tear fell.

[Apillis]

"Save your tears, young Jedi...", Hervor uttered with a small smile as she watched the young Jedi pick herself back up off of the ground, "I told you, we're just getting acquainted. There's so much more for you to experience at my hands.", her words were ominous and self-fulfilling foreshadowing of events that Hervor seeks turn from mere concepts in her mind into reality by the dominance of her will pressed upon the girl.

Her movements seemed like little more than a flash as her image blurred from the swiftness of her next action. The Sith Lord cross-slashed, but it was not with intention for a direct killing blow. This was a redirecting fencing strike at the girl's lightsaber to remove her defense with her lightsaber, by turning the girl's own blade away from her. This was quickly followed up by Hervor suddenly thrusting her lightsaber at Halli's abdomen, but just before Hervor's blade was in range to strike the girl, Hervor switched off the blade, flipping the hilt around so instead what struck at the girl was the pommel of Hervor's now deactivated lightsaber.

Flipping the hilt back into a proper grip in her hand she switched it back on and the brilliant orange blade snapped back into existence as she pulled back her blade into a ready position. Though it was feinting cross-slash initially narrowly missing the girl to instead switch to back-handed pommel strike at the young Knight's temple.

As Hervor nonchalantly with her natural long-legged strides walked a half-circle around the girl with her lightsaber now pointed directly at her ready for another assault. She told the young Jedi with a tone that actually seemed to hold a bit of sincerity in the immense arrogance of the opinion, "Just from this exchange you have likely learned far more from me than you have your entire life among the Jedi..."

[Dutch]

Halli couldn't do a thing to stop the chill that ran up and down her spine as well as make her skin rise in goosebumps. Merely the Sith's voice was enough to make a fresh jet of fear-induced adrenaline surge through her. As she stared at the Sith her free hand rose up to rest above her racing heart, which felt like a small bird trying to escape from her rib cage. It was then that she sorely yearned for her heavier armor instead of just the thin underweave. It was clear that the woman was every bit as fast as Halli, if not faster. Speed was her usual tool over opponents, but it was clear in this case that the added protection would be more useful. Added protection that sat in her room on Coruscant right now.

The attacker moved, she was just so fast. Halli gasped in shock and tried to hold her lightsaber up to defend. But she was just so fast. The blonde barely had time to register how fast the Sith moved. Like Halli was nothing more than a kid with a stick, the woman knocked away her blade to bring it bearing down on her. Halli thought for a flash that that was it. She was dead. Her eyes saw the orange blade descend. Her stomach clenched instinctively, awaiting the cold sensation of nerves being flayed and seared as they were snuffed. What she felt instead surprised her. The deactivated lightsaber thudded dully into Halli and an audible 'Oof!' sounded from her. The Sith didn't relent. Once more the woman pulled back to strike, and Halli thought she was dead.

Instead stars clouded her vision as the Sith's blow landed, a vicious pommel strike that sent Halli reeling. She collapsed onto the floor, and struggled to fight back the whimpers that clawed to be let out. Halli placed her free hand to her head for a moment and was surprised to feel something wet there. She pulled her hand back to see bright red blood glistening in the artificial light of the orbiting station. That actually did pull a whimper from her. Why was this woman hurting her? Halli understood that the Sith hated the Jedi... but what could one do against such hate? As she held herself up her deep, black eyes watched the Sith circle her. She moved with such grace, it truly stunned Halli what an elegant person this woman seemed to be. It reminded her of paintings done by one of her favorite artists, the woman able to blend both beauty and horror into a single work. And this woman was an avatar of exactly that. She spoke sinister words, pride and confidence. Halli was nothing but a toy to her.

"W-who are you?"

She barely managed to whisper as her eyes never left the Sith's. Halli wasn't certain exactly what compelled her to ask. There was no true need for it, but a morbid curiosity had gripped her. Her mind went to Bellinda. Poor, sweet Bellinda. Was this what was to become of her dear friend? Already mangled physically, and yet provoked a mauling of her spirit by embracing the darkness- like the woman that circled her like a predatory jungle cat. Halli moved to get up but cringed at the combination of wooziness and pain that wracked her head and abdomen. So much damage done in so little moves. Her eyes opened once more to look up at the Sith woman, her eyes pleaded for mercy. For help. For respite. For safety.

None of it would come.

There was no mercy.

Not for Halli Price.

[Apillis]

The Sith Lord watched the young Jedi Knight hit the ground as she paced around the girl like a shark slowly circling its prey. But as the girl remained on the ground, Hervor arched a brow as she paused in her steps, "Done?", she asked, and the girl's whimper brought a smile to Hervor's face as it was all she needed for an answer, "Ok.", she said as she deactivated her lightsaber and clipped it back onto her belt.

"W-who are you?"

Hervor heard the Jedi whimper as she kicked away the girl's lightsaber. The veteran warrior Sith Lord merely looked down at the girl at her feet with a smile. It was a small smile, one that was a combination of amusement toward the question and lacking the ability to answer a question that was far more complicated than it seemed. Hervor knelt on one knee beside the girl, while she rest her arms on her other as she answered, "That is a difficult question to answer. Among the Jedi, I'm known as Hervor. Among the Sith, I am the Dark Lord of the Sith, Allvitende. But either moniker is superfluous--all you need to know is this, young Jedi...", violently Hervor grabbed the young Jedi by the hair, a thick wad of hair in her hands and pulled the girl up by the hair so they could look at each other eye to eye as the Sith Lord then uttered with an ominous, low, dark tone, "I'm the one who's going take the sunshine away."

Nonchalantly Hervor let go of the girl's hair, letting her torso fall back down to the ground. Hervor then rose back up to her feet and stepped over the Jedi as she lay there in pain, and as she stepped over the girl Hervor swooped her right hand down grabbing the girl by the left wrist. Standing upright Hervor begun casually walking dragging the young Jedi across the concrete ground as she grasped the girl by the wrist with an iron grip. Hervor's destination being to meet back up with the elite soldiers that were accompanying her earlier.

"You and I are going to spend quite a bit of time together..."

((Edit: POST 777, YO!))

[Dutch]

"No!"

Halli gasped as the woman kicked Ardent from her hand. It slid across the floor with a metallic rattle, and her heart rattled with it. Her eyes found the woman's and once more, could not for the life of her look away. They glinted with something Halli had no word for, something primal, something ancient, something hungry. Gemstones forged in fires of power and dominance. It roiled off the Sith in waves, and rippled over everything near. She spoke, and Halli listened as the woman knelt. Allvitende, Hervor. She knew these names. They sent a chill over her body that made her entire body quake. Only once had she heard the name Hervor come up among Jedi, and the man was instantly shushed and told never to say that name. Allvitende however, had been on the lips of many a Jedi, and always tied with one other: Thila. Many were killed that day. Halli had seen the aftermath. Bellinda had been apart of that massacre, the comm tower... seeing her on Corellia... which meant that the woman that loomed above Halli, was her commander.

Her thoughts were suddenly cut off as agony and panic bloomed in her mind. Like she was nothing more than a doll, Hervor had grabbed her hair and lifted the girl clear off her feet. Hot tears streamed from her eyes as they clenched shut in pain. Her feet kicked and her hands snapped up to grasp Hervor's. She tried and she tried, but she simply did not have the strength to pry the long digits away. There was nothing she could do to calm herself at this point, once again all she could do was flail and scream in vain as a Sith held her. "I'm the one who's going take the sunshine away."Hervor said, and something deep within Halli squirmed at the connotations. Every urge within her screamed to escape, and almost as if the Force listened, Halli suddenly plummeted and landed with a thud on the floor. The back of her head smacked violently on the floor, and stars once again blossomed across her vision.

It was all Halli could do but lay there and cradle the back of her head as tears still fell. She couldn't stop them, and no longer tried. Her body felt bruised and ached with a dull fire. All she wanted, was her bed on Coruscant all warm and soft. Safe from the monsters. The she-monster stepped over her form, and Halli involuntarily cringed away from Hervor. Halli felt woozy, and weak. She didn't even fight when Hervor once more grasped her in that iron grip. Halli whimpered and her eyes fluttered shut as fresh tears fell anew, and Hervor spoke. It wasn't like last time. When Eurachis had just left her there. The Sith woman intended on taking her alive. The image of Jace bound, bleeding and broken rose to her mind.

"No... please..."

Halli whimpered as the memories and visions rose into her thoughts more. The agony she had seen Jace withstand shocked her, and she admired the way he never once gave them anything they wanted. He was strong, even in the face of his own death. He didn't cry, didn't whimper, didn't beg. Which was exactly what Halli had been doing. Shame rose hot to her face, and she was grateful that there were no other Jedi there to see her. Even if it meant her safety and survival. Her eyes opened to look around, the crowd that filled the KDY parted without question for Hervor, and Halli's scared eyes looked at the beings that passed by. Not a single one even looked at her. Halli was alone. There would be no one coming to save her this time. Karon, would not be there to save her this time. If she was to be saved, Halli had to save herself.

A flare of defiance roared out in the Force from Halli, and her hand found Reverie. The second guard shoto was pulled from its loop and the girl cried out as she swung the lightsaber with the Force to propel it further. Aimed right at the wrist, Halli channeled Force Body into the strike as mighty as she could. The grasp let go. A second flare of victory shot through Halli as she used her hands to push herself off the ground with a front flip. The second her boots hit the ground, Halli took off. It was difficult to channel the Force in the Darkness that wafted from Hervor, but what she could grab she poured into her body. Deft and nimble the girl lanced through the crowd. She swooped low to grab Ardent as she passed the other lightsaber and put both in their loops on her belt.

Halli ran, nothing more than a blur of blonde and blue as she ran for her life.

[Apillis]

"Try not to feel too bad...", Hervor said as she nonchalantly continued to drag the girl across the ground, "Over a bit of time things may become amicable between us... This may be a learning experience for the bo--", it was then as Hervor felt the girl start to struggle once again, she heard an all too familiar sound of a swing weapon with great speed. It was just as she left go of the girl's wrist to pull her hand away that the you Knight's weapon caught Hervor's forearm delivering a severe strike upon her arm. The Sith Lord hissed in pain as she pulled her hand away in sudden pain from the blunt trauma the blade caused by the girl's weapon.

She watched the young Knight run for her very life as a blur of kinetic motion. Hervor remained where she stood, the hand of her fractured forearm she stretched out to her side cringing at the pain. The Sith Lord never seemed to take notice to the people that were around them, but in this moment one could say--she had always been aware of them, merely never cared. Bright flashing bolts of violet energy burst forth from her out-stretched hand.

The dark presence of the woman swirled around her as the shadows of the Force all around them seemed to flow directly for the Sith Lord channeling through her as though she were a veritable conduit for the darkness. The more the darkness flowed through her the more powerful these violet energy bolts mimicking something akin to lightning grew in power stretching out and all around the woman. These bolts crawled across the shipyard floor and walls surrounding the Sith Lord, striking and latching on to the people around her. And like metaphysical parasites these faux lighting bolts leeched the very life out of their victims--draining their lives and connection the Force imbuing it all into Hervor herself.

In terrible agony they cried out their misery, but their very beings screamed in anguish through the Force as Hervor fed upon their very lives. Doing so all for one simple purpose, utilizing the energy their lives--the essence that connected to them to all life through the Force to mend the wound Halli delivered upon Hervor's forearm. It was essentially a field of death that Hervor had created around herself, and all those within the reach of her power--their lives they found to be torn from them... leaving a terrible, disturbing silence... both in the material world and within the Force as well. As if the life that was there in that part of the shipyards had been entirely replaced by still emptiness... And all that seemed to linger there was the quiet of death.

Leisurely Hervor looked back at her forearm, seeing it had healed as it was. She smirked a little in amusement as it was a way like a new scar to add to several she had upon her body from her years of battle. But getting back to the affair at hand, she idly stepped over the corpses of those around her, and then with a frightening swiftness she moved at an astounding pace chasing after the young Jedi Knight. The girl was very much unlike Hervor, but at least one thing they shared in common--they do not hide their presence within the Force. And a young beacon of light for someone as dark as Hervor was something simple to follow... And perceiving that, she knew just where to cut the girl off in her pathway.

And that she did...

Just as the Knight was nearing a corner, in a flash of speed a calloused, spidery fingered hand reached out grabbing the girl by the face. Long slender fingers tightened like individual vices while in one swift action of savage infernal strength the girl was whipped around until with a beastly force the back of the young Knight's head was slammed against the stone wall that was just to her left side. But those fingers continued to clasp tighter upon the poor Jedi's head as she was violently pulled back and slammed with demonic strength back against the stone wall. There was a second pause until it happened again and again and again.

And just when the spidery fingers of that calloused hand at last let go, a brutish knee struck at her upper abdomen. Of course... it was the Sith Lord... Hervor... at which point she just watched the girl for a trice before uttering with an eerie dissonant serenity as she glanced around noticing there was nobody in the area of the shipyards they were now in, "You may have better chance over here... no lives for me to tear away...", she glanced back at the girl with a faint smile, "I know the limits of that ancient technique you've been using to pick yourself back up again, and... I think you have just enough to keep going if you have the moxie to give yourself another push... How about it? Or are you going to surrender to the inevitability of the situation you find yourself in...?"

[Dutch]

Halli gasped and clutched her chest over her heart as life suddenly began to be torn around her. The girl stumbled and collapsed for a moment. She turned fearful eyes back to stare at Hervor as dark energy pulsed and shot out around her. Halli watched in horror as Hervor drained and dimmed life, after life, after life. Each one howled emptily in the Force, and from those wounds oozed darkness. It began to fill the room more and more, only for it to flow into the Sith. Halli had never witnessed anything so terrible before. She had hit the woman as hard as she could with Force Body, and in some dark, twisted ritual, was able to mend the wound into nothing more than a mark. Halli's heart sunk. She had always been told that Sith were unable to heal as Jedi Healer's did. But the beast before her did as casually as if she were breathing. A few fat tears rolled down Halli's cheeks as she stumbled back to her feet, and took off once more. Right. Left. Right. Right. Left.

She ran and she ran and she ran, sure she was safe. Halli found it difficult to track the woman in the Force, the darkness was just veiled too thickly everywhere. It was like mud choked the very air around her, and Halli found it hard to breath- but that was likely the panic that seized her. She whipped around another left corner, and screamed. The hand collided against her face with a smack, and Halli's eyes flew wide. Halli hit the wall hard. She screamed in shock and pain. Her hands moved to cradle the back of her head. Halli quickly regretted this as she was slammed against. She blubbered pitifully as her fingers lit up with pain, and she felt a couple break. Her arms fell limp and her only visible eye looked at Hervor in agony before she was savaged again, repeatedly slammed against the wall. Halli felt something hot begin to ooze down her neck, and knew it was blood. Bright red against the pink of her skin, it dribbled lazily down the back and front of her bodysuit. She cried, and panted for air, desperate for it all to just stop. Halli felt woozy, and her head screamed dully in agony. Her fingers shot waves of pain all the way up to her shoulders. She worried that she might not be able to paint anymore.

"W-why?"

Halli asked, her voice cracked at the end of the word. More tears fell. Why did this woman seek her agony so? What had happened to the Sith to make her so hateful. It scared her more than anything she had ever encountered before. Her body shook, drenched in a mixture of sweat and blood and exhaustion. Halli didn't want to die. She wanted to live. She wanted to see Bellinda return to the Jedi, she wanted to see Karon get his first Padawan. She wanted to see Corellia again. She wanted her painting sessions under the Coruscanti sun. She wanted. She wanted to live. This really would be her last chance. If she couldn't escape from Hervor, she simply wouldn't have the energy anymore to fight back. Not without a brief reprieve. Half her vision was darkened by Hervor's hand, and she could taste the salt of the woman's skin on his lips as the hand grasped her. And then the Sith kneed her, again. Right in the same spot. Halli's scream caught in her throat and blackness took her vision completely for a few moments. She hung there against the wall and gasped for air for several moments. Halli's senses all felt acutely aware and dulled at the same time, as if none of this was truly happening to her. But it was.

She reached up to grasp Hervor's arm, her grip delicate to avoid hurting the couple broken fingers. Halli whimpered at the fresh pain that shot down both arms, and she almost let them fall limp again. No! Master Beleren wouldn't give up! She thought, and her visible eye looked into Hervor's. She was enjoying this. The Sith's pleasure and pride oozed off her freely. It made Halli sick that the woman was so excited over hurting her so. The girl simply could not comprehend holding onto so much anger. Halli even felt guilty, when she suddenly forced herself forward to bite down with all her might onto Hervor's palm. She flinched as the salty rush of Hervor's blood cascaded into her mouth, and Halli gagged and sputtered, but kept her focus. Her boots planted onto the wall behind her and she pushed with a gust of the Force forward. The blonde smashed into Hervor and went rolling away. A trail of their blood followed Halli until she slid to a stop, and looked up at Hervor fearfully, the entire lower half of her face covered in blood. Halli desperately tried to spit out the sour, coppery taste. She wretched a couple times. It occurred to her that she had yet to eat today. The Force was with her.

With squeaking boots, Halli stumbled to her feet but slipped in the blood and fell to her knees. They screamed at the awkward position she fell in, but the girl quickly picked herself up. Every instinct screamed for her to run, and Halli stumbled around away from Hervor. She began to jog the best she could, but the hall seemed to sift from left to right, and Halli knew she had lost a lot of blood by this point. The blonde wasn't aware of the dotted trail of red that followed her, the only thing she was aware of, was the monster behind her, and her desperation to be freed of her.

[Apillis]

Hervor merely looked down at the girl, watching her writhe in pain and agony... physical... emotional... both sustained the faint smile on the Sith Lord's visage as she watched her. The girl's clambering, disorientation--all hervor did was watch it in mild amusement. Taking a figure of light--a Jedi and reducing her to a low state, a broken figure at her feet. But it was not enough... for Hervor, perhaps... it would never truly be enough. So much had been wounded and torn from the Sith Lord in years now long past that, it seemed there was only a vaccuum in place of what once fulfilled her. And time's decay has also eroded so much that had been apart of the Sith Lord. Time it seems is the ultimate shaper of destiny, for it can be difficult to imagine that the Sith Lord was a Jedi in the service of the light. But a memory of such time is so far away and forgotten to the present, that it simply does not factor anymore and likely... never will.

As the girl reaching out in her dazed state and grabbed onto Hervor's hand, the Sith Lord had no reaction. She merely continued watching the girl writhe in her pain. It was when the girl asked why in her disillusioned agony that Hervor let out a small chuckle, finding it adorable in its way, "Why does the spider eat the fly...? It's just its nature.", Hervor replied softly with an eerily motherly tone. In truth, that was perhaps the best explanation as to why Hervor did anything. She has her motives and her ambitions and deeper reasonings, but having been acting and reacting in accordance to her darker impulses over decades it has become the determining factor behind the majority of what she does. Thus becoming a vicious monster driven utterly by twisted impulses elicited by the dark side.

It was but a moment later Hervor's eyes popped open wide in shock and pain as she felt a set of blunt ivory teeth sink into the calloused flesh of her hand. With a seething hiss as she cringed in response to the sharp pain shooting through her arm, she yanked her hand out of the girl's mouth. Hervor stood there for moment in shock looking at her bleeding hand caused by the young Jedi's dental record cutting into the Sith Lord's flesh. But after a trice Hervor's shock turned into a great amusement than she had before, and let out a little bit of laugh as she watched the young girl run off once again... Though on another second later, the Sith Lord was once again upon her trail moving at speeds not many in the galaxy can hope to follow.

But once the girl found herself in a hallway, Hervor chose to strike. As if from no where, she slammed against the girl--smashing her up into the wall of the hall. What came next happened in such quick succession that it was if there was no space of time between them. Which was a right elbow to the girl's right breast immediately followed up with a back-fist across the girl's face striking her right eye. Albeit, one such as Hervor was would never let it end there. A swift left toe-kick struck at the back of the young Jedi's right knee, bringing her down to a knee. With adroit footwork the Sith Lord's left foot went back to firmly being planted on the floor, but right abruptly slammed the girl's head against the wall behind her.

That faint smile of Hervor grew back as she leaned forward a little adding more pressure to the girl's head as it was pressed against the hard wall by the Sith Lord's right boot, and this was aside from what the long, lean, muscular leg of the Sith Lord's was already pressing into the girl's head. The heel of her boot digging into the girl's right eye that had just been smacked by the Sith Lord's fist but a second ago.

"It hurts, doesn't it...", she said with that same soft tone as before, though more as a statement than a question, but only to clarify a second later, "Not the beating... but the fear... and knowing... you're all alone... and no one is coming to save you. Despite part of your face being under my boot... I can see it happening now... the hope draining away... I've seen it before. Many times.", she then held up her hand with the girl's bite mark and still bleeding, "But it's this that I truly look for. Removing all the pretentiousness and righteousness of a Jedi, taking away all their posturing and notions of civility. To be replaced by this... a blind animalistic act out of survival. The act solely being out of survival and the desire to live. Forgetting about all the rest--all the over-inflated nonsense."

"That's all you thought about when struck my arm earlier, isn't it? Giving no forethought to the consequences... What I may do to those people surrounding us. Thinking only of yourself and your own survival. It's not a bad thing. The desire to live is not wrong. It's natural to think of yourself first before others. Jedi spin a good line about quelling fears and whatnot, but sometimes... as you've experienced thus far... fear is the only appropriate response."

In the next instant the Sith Lord's right boot lifted off of the Jedi's head, but a flash of the Sith Lord's left crashed heavy across the Jedi's head. The Sith Lord like a savage, picked the girl up by her hair and begun dragging her a little ways as she mused, "Though, I had been saying your tears were premature, because we were only just getting know one another... Now that I think about it more. Your tears are fairly warranted... The fear of a slow death all alone is a very painful thing...", she then violent grabbed the girl by her head with one hand, lifting her up with a barbaric strength so they looked eye to eye, "But that largely depends on you, young Jedi. Pain is an excellently teaching tool--when applied correctly. The fear you're experiencing now is not unlike what those people felt briefly when I tore their lives from them. Do you know how I did it?", she did not wait for the Jedi to answer back, "I'll show you."

With terrible strength and force the Sith Lord threw the girl face first to the floor, and then stomped on the girl's back to hold her down underfoot. She then went on to say with a matronly tone as if giving a genuine lesson, "You've probably been taught that those fallen to the dark side cannot heal as Jedi do... This is both right and wrong... Some have retained the ability to use Jedi healing techniques but are either dismal or mediocre at best at it... However...", the Sith Lord then held her bitten hand casually over the girl--hovering in the air in front of herself as she went onto say in a low ominous tone, "The dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities that some consider unnatural..."

It was much like before... the dark, bleak surroundings of the area--they seemed to grow colder, empty... The shadows seemed to grow just a bit darker... just for her. The dark side grew heavier and thicker all around them, swirling about as it channeled right through the Sith Lord as though as a focal point for it all to concentrate into. And then it happened, those malevolent brilliant violet bolts mimicking lightning exerting from the Sith Lord's fingertips of her bitten hand. The bolts latched onto the young Jedi, leeching away at not just her very life--but the Force itself within her--the comfort of its sunlight warmth receding and leaving behind it only a cold, emptiness... a void... the approach of death. But it was tempered and slow, oh so slow... which is what the Sith Lord wanted--not to kill the girl, nothing would be learned from that and the experience would be minute. No, what the Sith Lord wanted was to instill the experience and lasting memory of it.

But then it stopped. Suddenly. Bending down Hervor showed the girl her bitten hand which now has become a freshly closed scar, "And that is how I did it.", Hervor informed before standing upright again with her boot still firmly plant on the girl's spine holding her down onto the floor, "For those people the experience was more abrupt, but... quite a bit more violent... and final. But it's how I mended the fractured arm you gave me. Had you never done that, they'd still be alive. After all, I never cared about them, I had no reason to harm them before... Until you gave me a reason to bring them harm.", the faint smile returned to Hervor's face as she went onto mention, "But for you... I wanted you to feel it... fully... For them it's over, but for you... the memory of the experience will always be there... The feeling of everything you retreat to for comfort receding leaving only emptiness there... by my will."

It was then hervor at last lifted her foot of the young Jedi, and just stood beside her as she lay on the ground. Hervor said nothing, just stood there in silence looking down at the girl with that faint smile. She was waiting... waiting for the girl to utilize that ancient technique they both shared, the at least one commonality they had. The moment the Sith Lord perceived the Jedi about to fallback to using that technique, Hervor viciously stomped the girl's back between her shoulder blades--tortuously digging the heel of her boot into the girl's spine for long drawn out moment wanting to her the girl scream in pain.

And finally upon lifting her boot of the girl once again, still with her faint smile, Hervor inquired, "What now, young Jedi?"

[Dutch]

Halli stumbled and fought the urge to just lay down and sleep. She was concussed, and had lost more blood than ever in her life. With numb fingers she reached to her belt and gingerly keyed her comm device. A direct line was sent to Karon, but he didn't answer. Halli sobbed loudly as his voice echoed in her ear piece, a recorded message greeting her. It wasn't a shock that he didn't answer, the man was always out saving the galaxy. It was more that Halli desperately needed him. Her heart ached and she sobbed again at the thought of never seeing the Miraluka man again. Halli turned her frightened eyes back for a moment, but Hervor was already on her.

"No! Please!"

She barely managed to gasp before her world exploded in pain once more. But this time, over the blunt barbaric acts of before, the Sith suddenly showed a grace and accuracy that Halli could not even comprehend. Darkness overtook Halli as the kick collided with her head. But she would not be allowed to escape the beating. Halli snapped back into consciousness with a gasp and mewl of agony as the other dug her heel into Halli's face. She tried to push the leg aside, but shuddered and wailed as her forgotten broken fingers betrayed her and sent waves of debilitating pain. Her arms fell and her vision focused and unfocused repeatedly as the woman lectured. When the heel was removed, Halli began to fall forward when another kick sent Halli straight to the floor. Darkness took her again. She awoke mere seconds later and screamed at the new agony that erupted from her scalp, and felt the ground slide underneath her. Hervor was dragging her by her hair. Halli tried to reach up to stop the woman, but the Sith was just too quick.

Halli could do nothing but shudder as the pain exploded over her head and the world fell under her. Once more, she was being held off the ground by the monster, but such exhaustion had robbed words from Halli. The world then rushed to greet her, and Halli's body thudded lightly against the ground. It was cold. It almost felt good on her aching and shaking body. She felt like it would be fine to die then. To let the Force into her and cease the suffering. Halli wouldn't mind that at all, almost like returning home after a long, long trip. Her eyes began to close when something wet dripped onto her cheeks. The girl's eyes would peer up to see Hervor as she held the still bleeding hand over Halli. The blonde shuddered in disgust as she realized that it was the Sith's blood that pattered onto her face and into her hair.

And then winter fell.

Such sheer frigid cold gripped her entire body. Not the soothing cool floor, but an inner snap-freeze that made the girl gasp and her eyes go blank for the entire session. Hot guilt lanced through the cold as Hervor spoke. They died... because of me? she thought as tears lazily fell and pooled onto the floor under her. It didn't end, why didn't it end? Halli's body just quivered in reaction, even though her mind was telling it to move and escape. The pain almost faded as darkness began to fall, and the life in Halli's eyes slowly dimmed. Until Hervor decided she was done, and the pain cascaded over her entire body all over again as life persisted in the little Jedi. Her mind barely registered what Hervor said, and blank eyes looked at the new scar she showed. It was then that the boot finally was lifted. Halli breathed shakily, her body wracked with pain. She was honestly shocked to still be alive.

"Karon... Bellinda... I'm sorry..."

She whispered, their names brought fresh tears and a hot pain in her chest. Halli knew that she could not escape. The little blonde was completely at the hands of the woman that stood above her, the embodiment of everything the Jedi feared of the Sith. And then something occurred to Halli. Her comm device was still linked to Karon's. The woman's entire speech was recorded, and the comm's galactic positioning device had been relaying her location to her friend. Karon would find out what happened, he would tell the Jedi, they would come save her. All Halli had to do, was escape and hide until they arrived, and the entire chase and beating would be nothing more than a bad dream. Renewed hope rose from Halli and the girl squirmed as she tried to push herself up, but the mixture of blood and broken fingers prevented her from getting good traction. Until finally her palms gripped, and her elbows shook as she rose... only for Hervor to stamp out those last embers of hope.

The heel bit easily through the thin, skin-tight weave, and Halli gritted her teeth as she cried out at the fresh pain. Her back popped and Halli feared that Hervor would paralyze her from the back down if she continued. And then she stopped. And loomed. And mocked. It was clear from the way she spoke, that the Sith never even broke a sweat from the exchange, and in fact enjoyed every second of it. Even the pain, Halli thought. What now? Had that truly been the question? Halli's mind whirled and spun its wheels. She tried to move, tried to stand, tried to speak. Halli tried. She tried. And tried. But her body wouldn't respond. She had only one idea, and Halli had no idea how much of a mistake her words would be.

"I-I know Bellinda Maskrr... s-she's one of you... she... she could..."

And then darkness truly fell.

[Apillis]

Whatever fight was left in the young Knight, Hervor could see she had successfully quashed it. Not much of a fighter, but quite a resilient little thing. There are not many Knights that could endure what Hervor had put the girl through. If nothing else, the young Knight should be commended for at least that. As the young Knight lay on the ground, Hervor nudged the girl with her foot, flipping the young Jedi onto her back.

But it was only a moment the young Knight gave Hervor something far more precious than the young girl in her daze and delirium could ever truly appreciate in that moment, "Oh...?", replied Hervor as her lips curled into a grin as the Jedi mentioned the name of a young up and coming Sith, "She could what...? Defeat me...?", an amused look came over Hervor's visage as she nodded faux humoring the delirious young Jedi while nodding slowly, "Maybe..."

It was then Hervor stepped one foot over the young Jedi, and lowered herself down taking a knee right beside the young Jedi, "Would you like to see her again?", she asked with a false motherly generosity as she gently brushed back the young Jedi's bangs, "Maybe she could help you. Free you even. Save you.", she suggested warmly, "Would you like that? To see her again? I can make that happen.", but then her voice became sinister and ominous as she uttered darkly with that husky voice of hers, "Agree to willingly come with me... And I will make that happen for you. Say it. And I'll it will be done."

[Dutch]

A light groan and whimper would sound from Halli as Hervor nudged her onto her back. The ultrachrome of her lightsabers clinked lightly against the concrete next to her. Everything hurt. A dull, throbbing pain that always seemed to ebb slightly as it neared being unbearable. Her breaths were light, labored and unsteady. The light above her was intensely bright to the girl and shot stabbing pains to the very back of her skull. Pain, exhaustion and blood loss had taken what fight that was left in Halli out. She had fought too. She had struggled. She had ran desperately for her freedom. And Hervor had outclassed her in every aspect. There was literally nothing Halli could do, there was not a single area that she trumped the other in. What was it that made the woman so superior? Was it that she was older? More learned? Or was it... the Darkside...

Sick, cold fear dripped into her stomach like fetid honey. Halli wanted to vomit, but it seemed that sheer exhaustion wouldn't even let her abdomen clench to wretch. Hervor spoke, queried if Bellinda could defeat her. Nearly slack-jawed, Halli turned bleary eyes to meet the Sith's, and weakly shook her head. There was no possible way a cripple like Bellinda could withstand the type of beating the other was capable of. Halli was a trained Guardian, a Peacekeeper. She was supposed to be able to handle nearly any opponent on a physical level... and yet Hervor had toyed with Halli as if she were merely a youngling still. Like she was nothing more than a seedling the woman plucked out, roots and all, and merely tossed aside.

"Would you like to see her again?"

Halli's heart halted for a moment, and fluttered lightly as images of Bellinda's sweet smile slid through her mind. She would very much like to see Bells. In her delirious mind, she actually pictured reuniting with the red head again, one on one. In her mind, she convinced Bellinda to rebel against the Sith, and ran away with Halli back to Coruscant, back to Karon, back to the Jedi. Back to a normal life, where they splashed their feet in the Room of a Thousand Fountains. Where Halli babbled and painted as the two listened to classical music. To where there was no pain, no fear, only community, welcoming, and love. Her lower lip trembled terribly against her will, and hot tears slid from her eyes and into her dirty, blood-caked locks of blonde. She nodded weakly, and turned her head away from Hervor.

"I-I..."

She started, but instantly broke into a whimper followed by more tears. Halli cried softly for a moment. Her mind could barely function with her body in so much pain. The girl's emotions were at war, on one side the panicked, crippling fear that raced through her, making her pulse quicker and her insides chilled. And then there was the deep, deep desire for it all just to end. She didn't care how it did. Halli desperately wanted the pain to stop, desperately wanted to just curl into a ball and hold herself until the pain went away. But when she tried to curl up, her body screamed in agony and protest. All it did in response, was shake and quiver. What could she do? How could she listen to the woman that had savaged her so?

How did one stand up to such a creature?

Halli turned her head and closed her eyes, no longer able to look at Hervor. It felt as if the concrete under her was afloat at sea, her world rocked gently. Back and forth. Back and forth. She felt warm everywhere. Not a pleasant warmth, not even the satisfying ache after exercise. It was as if every nerve had hot coals under them, dull and throbbing. Except in her hands. It felt as if the very bones within them work like knives within her very hands. The pain wasn't so bad when she didn't move them, but whenever a random nerve cause a finger to twitch, her body would shudder and she would whimper softly. Halli prayed for the Force to take her, for Hervor to just take her foot and stamp out the pain, once and for all. She was completely at the woman's mercy. And her voice... could she be capable of mercy? The mixture of motherly and strange desire in her tone made Halli head spin. She had no choice. She knew it. Hervor knew it. With eyes still closed, and tears still pooling and falling down her face, Halli spoke, but would pass out mid-sentence.

"Please... I'll come..."

[Apillis]

The moment the girl conceded to Hervor's will, her faint smile grew a little more. That intense-fiery-eyed gaze of hers looking down at the young Jedi Knight at her feet. Softly she spoke with her low, rasp of a husky tone of voice, "Let's go meet your little friend, young Jedi... We'll see how strong the bonds of friendship truly are.", she then picked the girl up and slung her over her shoulder. The young Jedi draped over Hervor's left shoulder like a rag, the Sith Lord carried the girl to the operation's destination where she was to meet the Sith Special Ops soldiers who were with her. While she was dealing with the Jedi that she chose to have an encounter with distracting her from her initial mission, the few Sith Special Ops soldiers continued to carry it out ahead of her.

The mission was actually simply to steal a light corvette vessel being designed for the Jedi--a mere prototype of its kind. But Imperial Intelligence got wind of it, who passed it along to their Sith superiors given it involved the Jedi. Hervor had taken it upon herself to see to it being stolen, and dealing with any Jedi that may be there. From their arrival to going operational with the mission, they had not crossed paths with any Jedi. That is until Hervor felt the presence of the young Jedi of whom she chose to go out of her way to relentlessly and mercilessly torment.

Perhaps it was merely a careless moment on the security's side of things within the shipyards, but the Sith Special Operations soldiers did their job with astounding efficiency even without Hervor there to lead them directly. Then again, Hervor knew the training those soldiers go through, in fact, she knew of it before there was the current Sith Empire, before there was the Sith Aristocrats, going back as far as when that training they underwent was seen within the Republic before the Sith Aristocrats split from it. So, her merely placing her faith within those men was not out of her ignorance, but rather she knew what to expect from them--from their ability to their capability.

By the time Hervor arrived on the scene, the Sith Special Operations soldiers were quickly moving about the vessel securing it, while they knew security reinforcements were soon to arrive after they had eliminated the detail that was guarding the vessel; Hervor carried the unconscious young Jedi to the medibay, where she tossed the girl into a kolto tank to soak until she had recovered--at least physically from what Hervor had put her through. But that torment... that was just an iota of the beginning for what Hervor had in mind. Alone with her, and without time as her constraint as it was in this case, she could have her way with the girl completely at her leisure able to indulge every cruelty, every temptation, every impulse, every wanton, base, primal emotion of aggression that seethed within the Sith Lord like a festering plague that had long been brought low--and to a decayed ruin a once noble civilization. It was what the nature of hate and absence of love does to their victim, continuing to erode--creating a greater and greater emptiness, causing the victim to inflict great and horrendous things upon others so they too may experience that void that has decayed the initial victim from the inside out until there is little if not nothing of the person they once were...

Hervor stared for a long moment at the young Jedi soaking in the kolto tank, just standing there idly in a pensive state. Ignoring and paying no mind to the work and diligence of the Sith Special Ops soldiers as they had successfully accomplished the mission. Hervor scarcely even noticed the vessel having narrowly escaped Republic security forces at their heels before making the jump to lightspeed. But to the soldiers surprise when they begun plotting the course for their final destination to bring the mission to its conclusion, Hervor exited the medbay and went straight for the bridge to issue a new order.

"We're going to Rhen Var...", she uttered upon entering the bridge with a dark, overawing tone--one that even non-Force-Sensitives like the elite Sith soldiers with her knew not to question, for the very words themselves seemed to demand submission, and they did obey them. The course was immediately set, and was then implemented. And with that dark, potent tone--though her words may have been in the form of a simple order, but again--the presence within her words held a command themselves demanding cowing to her will, "Contact the Sith Temple, tell them Lord Allvitende wants Bellinda Maskrr to meet her at Rhen Var.", there was no question to her reasoning as to why, only obedience.

And with that, Hervor turned on her heel and returned to the medbay, and for the rest of the trip, she merely stood there in the center of the room with her arms crossed under chest staring at the young Jedi Knight floating unconsciously in the kolto tank as the destination of their journey together lead them to Rhen Var...