See No Evil, Speak No Evil

[Hotel]

Shandari walked down the steps of the temple, following the Miraluka man Shard. They had just met, and the man seemed to perplex her to no end. They had just had a very odd sparring match, in which Shard had basically just toyed with her while she fought with her best without the force in unarmed combat. Yet here she was walking with the man as if it had never happened. She could not explain it herself, but for some strange reason... she actually enjoyed his comany, though she would not admit it to him. Maybe she was just lonely for being secluded for so many years.

They reached the base of the stairs. Shandari looked up at the sky for a moment, then at the Valley of the Sith before them. She then looked back at Shard. Not even a wrinkle in his clothes from their sparring earlier. This man was in a league all his own, possibly even rivalling the five from the day before. Her eyes continued to examine him. Despite his strength, he had actually shown her kindness, and respected her own skill. He was definitly something different.

Shandari reached out with her mind once more. Being mute, telepathy was the best way she could communicate, preferring it to sign language. "Where are we going Shard?" The question was a simple one, and innocent enough. Shandari had not had the chance to explore Korriban the last time she had been here, as had spend most of that time unconscious and she had left with her master almost as soon as she had woken. Her eyes left him again and lingered over the Valley of the Sith.

[Karl the Unfettered]

"Up," Shard replied as they made their way down the steps. He pointed in that direction, specifically at one of the high cliffs surrounding the Temple. Korriban was mountainous and largely arid, awash in the power of the Dark Side. The afternoon, drawing toward evening as it was, was currently a mild temperature; not the heat of day or chill of night, but something tolerable, more suited for small hikes.

"In my time here I have occasionally gone off by myself, to get away from the crowds of the Temple," he explained as he set off across the valley floor. "During one such little trek, I found a trail that leads to the top of the plateaus, and from there to that peak I pointed out just now. It is not a long or particularly difficult walk, and no doubt you could simply fly up there with ease.

"But for now, remain with me on the ground. That way you can truly come to know this place." By then they were at the cliffs, and sure enough a narrow trail began between two massive rocks. Presumably it wound upward, along the route Shard described. As he promised it was not hard; there was only one place he had to use his hands, even, though Shandari could easily use her wings to balance herself and stay upright.

Ten minutes later they came to the plateau, and the whole of the Valley of the Sith was spread out before them. To Shard it was a riot of darkness, yet not with its colors; the Temple was awash with the light of life and the Force, and everywhere it seethed and roiled sluggishly. Korriban was an ancient world, long a stronghold of darkness, and it showed.

Fortunately the Miraluka had brought canteens, one for each of them, and now he handed one to his companion. "I must confess, our encounter so far has been... new for me," he began after he had washed the dust down his throat. "I am not typically so... intimate, I suppose, with someone I have only met." Here he smirked slightly, in her direction. "Regardless of how beautiful she is."

In Shard's vision, beauty wasn't completely physical, but in the Force as well. In a sense he saw people's souls; a person like Shandari, given toward evil like he was, would perhaps seem ugly on the inside to others, but he felt he could see past that. Darkness for its own sake was among the ugliest things in the universe, but if it had a source, a purpose, a drive... why, then it could shine as brightly as any light.

Or, something like that. No one ever said he was a philosopher or a beauty pageant judge, after all.

[Hotel]

Shandari's eyes followed the direction Shard pointed. So they were heading to the top of the valley. It would be interesting to see the valley and the temple from above, something she had not yet been able to do since returning. Shard spoke of a hidden trail up through the cliffs, and she nodded at him, preferring to actually walk with him there instead of flying herself. The more she was with this strange man, the more she wanted to get to know him.

They walked toward the cliffs. Shandari remained focused on his words as he spoke, and soon they were at the path he had described to her. It was not a difficult ascent. For the most part it was rather easy, only encountering about one rough spot on the trail. They were at the top before too long, and Shandari smiled, accepting the canteen he offered her. She took a long drink from it and looked at the valley below them.

It was a sight she would never forget. There the temple stood in all it's glory. It stood high above anything else in the Valley of the Sith, casting it's great shadow over the tombs placed there. The tombs themselves were a sight to behold as well. Each were spaced out evenly among the valley, and while most lay in ruins, they still held an air of mystery and grandeur around them.

She turned while the man continued to speak. She to normally did not get along with someone soo well upon first meeting them, so this was new to her as well. Then the Rilan woman tensed. Had he just called her....beuatiful? Her black orbs turned to him, examinging his facial expressions. Surely she had heard wrong. Shandari did not consider herself beautiful. No one had ever told her as such before. People either thought of her as frail and weak, or something to be feared. Never beautiful...

[Karl the Unfettered]

"I sense doubt," Shard said with a chuckle, looking up at the sky. "You forget, I see differently than most. Some might see someone to be afraid of, but I do not fear you; others would look at your physical form and see frailty, weakness. But we have fought each other in the Echani tradition, you and I, and we have the measure of each other's strength; there is no frailty in you.

"No, I see a strong woman unafraid of the galaxy, but unsure of her place in it." He went a few steps closer, reaching out and gently putting a hand on her forehead. "Let me show you what I see, when I look at you."

In her mind's eye, Shandari would see herself, wings fully extended, glowing from within with a hard red light. Her black eyes had faint blue swirls, and her long hair whipped about in a breeze. The air around her lithe form hissed and crackled with her power, red and purple and black; she seemed to stand out against a shadowy darkness, in which dim shapes of buildings and landscape could be seen. Her lightsabers glowed brightly in each hand, a counterpoint to the swirling power that surrounded her (but not a contrast).

"That is how you could be," he explained as the vision faded. "That is what I see when I look at you, a deadly angel who won't stop no matter what." The image was gone, but he did not retract his hand. "You are beautiful, and it's their fault if they can't see it." A pause. "What do you see, when you look at me?" he asked, curious.

[Hotel]

Shandari's eyes widened once more as he touched her forhead, revealing how he saw the woman. Was that really her? Is she really how this man described her? Was she this beautiful, deadly angel? Shandari watched the figure of herself almost longingly, wanting to truly be this unstoppable, beautiful figure.

But almost as soon as she had appeared in her mind, the image was gone. Shard was still resting his hand against her. He spoke of how she could be like that, that that is how the Mirlaukan sees her. And how others were fools if they could not see it themselves. And then he paused. The next words she heard were ones she would never expected to hear. Shard wished to know what she saw when looking at him?

Shandari's eyes took in his figure once more. His expensive clothing, his well shapen figure. Everything about him seemed perfection. Then Shandari remembered everything that she had learned about the man. She reached up, and ever so gently removed his glasses. Her mind touched his once more. "I see an outcast like myself. One who has been wronged, and has worked hard to overcome it. I see a man who does not care what others think of him, only what he thinks of himsef. I see a man who is strong, couragous, unstoppable, a force to be reckoned with. A man who stands proud." She smiled at him, offering the glasses back to him, her own black orbs on the empty sockets. Would they bother most? Most likely. Did they bother her? No. She saw this man for who he was, not the clothes, not the glasses, not even his eyes, could hide that from her.

[Karl the Unfettered]

If Shard had eyes, he would have blinked. As it was, he stood silent for several moments, staring at Shandari with a neutral expression on his face. Finally he moved, reaching out to take his glasses back and slip them over his sockets again. "You... no," he finally said, forgetting to speak silently. "No, that..." He shook his head. "I'm no hero. Heroes are for stories, are for newly-made Jedi Knights to delude themselves into effectiveness."

He stepped back again, his face still neutral. "Of course you would see that," he went on, his voice low but not inaudible. "After all I showed you, to see what you see... Perhaps we're mad. I know I am, I'm completely bonkers. Maybe it's all a dream, an illusion, a simulacrum thrown up by my mind and I'm going to wake up right... now!" and he reached up to slap himself across the face. The sound was sharp, and from the way his head whipped to the side he hadn't been nice about it either.

"Hmm... nope. Not a dream then." He faced back around, and once again had a slightly off-putting smile across his face. "That leaves only two options: I'm falling in love or I'm crazier than I thought I was!" His voice had risen through the last sentence, and now he laughed crazily, arms out and face to the sky; that laugh echoed across the Valley, the unmistakable sound of madness given vent.

"Well, anyway, let's keep going," he said suddenly, breaking the laughter off abruptly as he gestured at the ongoing trail. "We still have to reach the peak, remember?"

[Hotel]

Shandari continued to smile at him as he seemed to mull over her words, speaking to himself. A hero? Well she hadn't said it exactly like that. More a man that deserved and commanded respect. He continued to speak to himself worriedly, and all she could really do was watch. SMACK! Shard had slapped himself, his head snapping around. The sound rang out clear from the slap, and it had looked like it really hurt.

The man then spoke about the only possibilities for his actions, though her ears only heard one thing. Falling in love..... Could this man really have feelings for her? And what of her.... Did she have feelings for him? She did not know... it was possible she might... While these thoughts ran through her head, she did not even seem to mind the mad laughter, only returning from her deep thinking when Shard spoke to her.

So they were not at the spot he wished to show her yet? Shandari straightened up, and took another sip from the canteen before placing it in her robes. The Rilan woman then moved to follow him as they continued along the trail.

[Karl the Unfettered]

Shard's thoughts were a confusion as he led the way up the trail, Shandari a looming presence behind him. He wasn't given toward self-doubt, or what others might call "soft" emotions, yet here he was, leading a woman he hadn't known more than a day up to one of his spots. He manipulated people all the time, led them to think he felt for them what he didn't feel; it was strange to be subject to such in turn, except he could tell she was just as confused as he was. Hell, he'd actually touched her a few times, gotten in close to her. What the hell was he, some kid with a crush?

No, he told himself in a firm mental shake. You are Charlill Sylvorr, better known as Shard, soon to be a Master of the Sith Order. This is what normal people deal with at some point or another; you've had too much insanity and ambition in your life up till now. It'll be good for you, so just go with it. That sounded fair enough, and he whistled idly as the end of the trail came into view. "Almost there," he said over his shoulder. "You'll love the view."

The trail ended at a ledge; they weren't exactly at the very top, but close enough. Up here the air was just starting to become thin, and the sun, now setting, cast its glow over the whole mountain chain. A scattering of clouds high in the atmosphere promised a magnificent sunset in a few minutes. Curiously, the ledge bore his imprint, for it was a place he returned to often; it was a lonely spot, and the view was good.

"From all the way up here, those down below look like ants," he told Shandari, standing at the edge and pulling her up alongside him. "But I don't come up here to think about them. Up here the air is clear and the view is wide; helpful for when I need a broader perspective on my plans. And I do have plans, big plans.

"Ever since I was a Padawan I studied the ways of leadership, of influence. There is much, much more to being a leader than grand speeches and gestures; you must set an example, be larger than yourself, know when to be stern and when to be forgiving." He sighed in a melancholy way. "It can be... tiring, at times. The facade, the demeanor... it may be easy after all these years, but it still requires effort."

He turned his head and looked at the Rilan, at her coal-black eyes. "Conquest, Shandari... in my name, in the name of the Order. My strength and that of my men, all our cunning and skill, put to one of the hardest and oldest tests; that of overcoming the strength, cunning and skill of other men and leaders." He paused, as if to consider something, then went ahead, turning to face her full on. "What happened today... I do not believe it was chance, or coincidence. You and I are bound somehow, I am not sure how, but I was never one to deny the Force.

"You don't have to answer me now, but..." Here he grinned. "If you want, it could be in your name, as well. I need a partner, a second in command if you will, and right now I can think of no one else better for it than you. Your presence, your strength... combined with mine, think what we could do!" He couldn't help but get excited as he thought of his ambitions once again, and he trembled lightly because of it.

[Hotel]

Shandari followed the Miralukan, her mind a buzz with different thoughts and emotions. Shard had actually said he might be falling in love with her. He called out, telling her that they were almost there. Shandari tried to focus, almost slipping one time when she was too lost in her thoughts, but she made it to the top with him unscathed. Shard offered his hand to pull her op onto the ledge beside her, and she took it.

Finally they were at the top, and she just stared. The view was amazing. The sun was just beginning to dip below the horizon, casting an amber glow. out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that the ground was embedded with footprints, recognizing the same pattern from the prints Shard had left on the trail. Apparently he must come up here often. She looked back up, just watching as the sun slowly set.

Shard began to speak of plans. She turned to him, curious. He began to speak of leadership, influence. It intrigued her. And then he spoke of how difficult it could be on ones self, even with experience. The Rilan woman nodded. She herself had never been in a position to lead before, but she could only imagine how it must wear one down. The Miralukan then turned his head towards her, and her eyes met level with his glasses. He spoke of conquest, in his name and the Orders. And then he turned fully to her.

Their meeting had been the will of the force? She seemed a bit suprised at his words. Since leaving the Jedi, she had never believed the force to have a will of it's own. At least, not one that wasnt influenced or manipulated by others. And it bound the two of them together? She was not sure she believed it, but Shard sounded soo sure of himself. And the woman somehow knew that he had studied the mysteries of the force much more then she had.

And then he did something she would never have expected. He told her he needed a partner in this grand plan of his, someone to lead at his side. And he wanted her. Not only wanted her, but thought there could be no one better then her. She could not help but feel flattered. And then she saw it in her mind. The two of them at the head of a grand force, stomping all opposition that faced them. She knew right then that that was what she wanted, to command at this man's side. The normally calm aura around her swirled with emotion and her gaze met his glasses once more. Only one word entered his mind, but it held all her ambition behind it. "Yes."