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Post by Hobbit-eyes on Sept 11, 2006 16:05:24 GMT -5
Hee ;D
Warning. Now my Joss Whedon side REEEEAAALLY comes into play.
It wasn’t long after Obi-Wan and Xanden began their search before they came across the bodies of the elves. They were twisted amongst the fallen remains of the houses, as though the houses had been just ripped from the trees, sending the elves plummeting to their deaths. Neither of them said anything, but Obi-Wan saw that a shadow seemed to have set across Xanden’s face. No doubt he was adding this to his list of reasons to kill Sethan.
But something about this seemed wrong to Obi-Wan. When they’d caught Sethan in the Falcon with Ashara, he hadn’t seemed like a triumphant evil villain only a few steps away from world domination. He had seemed hurt – and scared. That didn’t match up to what they’d seen of Sethan in the past.
Nor did his fleeing. He’d demonstrated that he could easily kill them all – but he didn’t. They were even more vulnerable before, when searching the lake for Narya – only Xanden and Astaldin would have been able to fight back – yet he came straight in here… to ‘talk’ to Ashara, he’d said. To get the location of the Rings, Xanden insisted. But if he had indeed found all that out, he would have known that they already had Narya and Adyra – and surely would have just killed them and taken them, before proceeding onto Lothlorien to get the remaining two?
He needed time to sit down and work all this out. Time was precisely what they didn’t have. Because if – IF Sethan had nothing to do with this – then there was some other figure at play here, whom they had no information about. And that idea terrified Obi-Wan more than Sethan ever had.
Obi-Wan cast a sideways glance at Xanden. “Xanden,” he said carefully, “Have you considered that… we might be wrong?”
As he suspected, Xanden snapped back, “About what?”
“What proof do we have that Sethan is trying to unleash Morgoth?”
Xanden just stared at Obi-Wan, and for a moment, Obi-Wan thought he wasn’t even going to answer. Finally, Xanden said in forced level tones, “We have lots of proof.”
“Such as?” When Xanden said nothing, Obi-Wan persisted, “We know he did all those terrible things all those years ago. We know he fled to Middle-earth. And we know that there is currently a plot in Middle-earth to free Morgoth. But can we actually link him to it?”
“Of course we can,” said Xanden, striding off ahead into the trees.
Obi-Wan rolled his eyes and hurried after him. “But we don’t have any definite evidence-”
Xanden suddenly span round, looking Obi-Wan dead in the eyes. “Look, Skywalker, maybe you’re right. Maybe he’s not part of all this. But he still has to die, and I would have thought you of all people would understand that I can’t rest until I’ve hunted him down and killed him myself.”
Obi-Wan met his gaze. “I do understand that,” he said levelly, “But I just want to know – if it turns out that Sethan has nothing to do with this, what will you do? Will you still keep chasing him – or will you come with us, and try to save the world?” Xanden said nothing. “The fact that you can’t reply,” said Obi-Wan, “scares me.”
Xanden opened his mouth to say something, but froze when he heard a rustle in the undergrowth. “Now, see,” he said, “That scares me…”
In an instant, they both had their lightsabers drawn, and had moved so they were standing back-to-back. “I don’t get it,” muttered Xanden, “Your sister said she couldn’t sense anyone nearby…”
“Well, boy, people do move around,” came a voice from behind them. Obi-Wan and Xanden span round to face it, and had just enough time to catch a glimpse of a dark-haired boy before they were both struck by blaster bolts and sent flying. They landed sprawled a few feet away.
An elf stepped forward to check them. “They’re dead, sir,” he reported, turning to face the dark-haired boy.
“I should think so.” He stepped up to them and nudged Xanden’s lifeless body with his foot. “I realise saying something alerted them to my presence,” he said airily, almost to himself, “But I guessed that their facial expressions would be ones I would want to remember.”
He bent down to examine Obi-Wan, in particular the large bloodstain spreading on his front. “They were a little disappointing, to be honest,” he carried on, “I was hoping they’d recognise me so that I’d get that flash of despair in their eyes as they died. That look stays in their eyes forever, you know. But they didn’t. Oh well,” he sighed, straightening up again, “The next one, I’ll kill slower.”
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Post by goblingirl on Sept 11, 2006 16:14:21 GMT -5
*restraining inner self*
Inner-self: NNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
*gags inner self*
More.
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Post by Hobbit-eyes on Sept 11, 2006 16:21:11 GMT -5
You think that one was bad? ;D
Astaldin didn’t hear the blaster shots. The first he knew about the elves was when the door slammed open, and he found himself being seized by some invisible force and flung up against the wall. He couldn’t even struggle. None of his muscles would move.
A dark-haired boy strolled into the room, hands in his pockets. He glanced at Astaldin briefly before wandering over to Ashara, still unconscious on the bed. He bent over her, and gently brushed a strand of hair off her sleeping face, then rested a hand on her forehead and closed his eyes. He didn’t move for a moment. Astaldin could see other elves waiting out in the corridor. Finally, the boy sighed, straightened, and waved them in. “Yes. Take her,” he said.
Astaldin could only watch as two elves stepped forwards and lifted her off the bed, and carried her out of the door. The dark-haired boy watched them go, and then turned to Astaldin. His hand went to his lightsaber, but then stopped. He looked thoughtfully at Astaldin, and walked slowly towards him. A smile was flickering around his mouth.
“Say,” he said slowly, green eyes glinting with a strange light, “You wouldn’t be Astaldin, would you?”
Astaldin couldn’t answer, but by the way the boy’s smile suddenly widened, it seemed as though he knew anyway. He suddenly laughed, a short burst of laughter, as though he was absolutely delighted about something. “That,” he said, “is just fantastic. Really. You can’t imagine. Ashara told me all about you, of course. I thought for a while you were going to make my job more difficult, but – what can I say?” He shrugged, still grinning and shaking his head slightly as though he couldn’t believe his luck. “I’m a worrier.”
Astaldin still couldn’t say anything, but the boy seemed happy for the conversation to be one-sided. “Oh, but this opens up so many possibilities. I suppose… I could keep you alive… either to make sure Ashara does what I want, or just for the fun of killing you in my own time…”
He watched Astaldin for a long moment, as though considering. Then he shrugged and said, “Nah. That causes too many problems.”
He lost the smile, and became suddenly very business-like. “Now I want you to listen carefully. I now have all four Elven Rings, and I know where the One Ring is. I’ve just killed Xanden and Obi-Wan. I’m about to kill Lucy. And finally, after I’ve got what I want from Ashara, I’m going to kill her too. Slowly. And then finally I’ll unleash Morgoth and take over the world. I’d say there was nothing anyone could do to stop me, but that would just jinx it. But there isn’t. Oh, and in a few moments, I’m going to kill you too.”
Astaldin could only stare wordlessly. A truly evil smile crept back onto the face of the boy. “Now,” he said, “there’s a look of despair that’ll last for centuries.”
The only small mercy was that Astaldin never felt his neck break.
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Post by goblingirl on Sept 11, 2006 16:24:08 GMT -5
Inner self: *faints*
.....so now it's up to Lucy to save her? PLEASE say it's not Sethan gonna save her. PLEEEEEEASE!
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Post by Hobbit-eyes on Sept 11, 2006 16:25:22 GMT -5
*says nothing*
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Post by reasonably_crazy on Sept 12, 2006 0:25:51 GMT -5
Okay, primarily, having TWO Sethans is just dirty cheating. Secondly, you are evil. Thirdly, do update. Again. Please.
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Post by goblingirl on Sept 12, 2006 5:15:54 GMT -5
Or, write more, THEN update.
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Post by Hobbit-eyes on Sept 12, 2006 17:26:07 GMT -5
Primarily - I know ;D Secondly - I know ;D Thirdly - oh, all right.
Lucy was meditating. She was concentrating on sensing the deep energies coming from the surrounding trees and the ground itself, and the lingering emotions and thoughts of those elves lying dead on the ground around them. She was only just beginning to construct a picture of what happened – there was the normal peace and tranquillity, suddenly shattered by what seemed to massive blasts of energy from above… that would have to be spaceships. Whoever did this attacked from the air. She quickly filed this bit of information and moved on.
Most of the ships had moved through the trees, blasting the homes from their branches… but one hadn’t. One had hovered, directly outside Galadriel’s treetop home… she concentrated harder… there were strong emotions of surprise, and horror, and a strange presence, once she had never come across before…
She was so deeply immersed in concentration that though she sensed the blaster shots outside, she ignored them. She was too busy focussing on the strange presence to think of what it could mean.
Her focus on the presence was getting stronger and stronger. Forcing herself to stay calm, she concentrated even harder; her fists were clenched so tightly her nails were cutting into her palms. She could feel it… it was moving. Thoughtlessly she followed it, away from Galadriel’s palace, down through the trees… she felt Astaldin’s neck break, but swept the thought aside, pursuing the elusive presence, determined to find out who it was…
It was getting clearer all the time. It was taking shape… it was as though it was directly in front of her…
Realisation suddenly hit her, as sudden and as shocking as though she’d just fallen from a great height into a lake of icy water. She struggled to claw her way out of her subconscious, before-
She felt two hands rest lightly against her head, and it was as though she’d just been struck. Her mind reeling, she felt herself hit the ground. She opened her eyes. She was lying on grass.
She quickly sat up. She was on a grassy plain, underneath a starry sky. She immediately knew this wasn’t real – this was all happening inside her mind. Which could only mean one thing – someone was assailing her mind, and brought her here –
“You must be Lucy Skywalker.”
She looked up. There was a dark-haired boy standing over her. He had a slight half-smile, and was holding out a hand.
She ignored it and scrambled to her feet. “Who-”
“-am I?” He grinned and said, “I must say, I’m rather surprised. Your brother and Xanden didn’t have any idea who I was either. Did you really all just believe it was Sethan that easily?
Lucy’s hand suddenly flew to her neck. The chain wasn’t there. She looked back at the boy, and saw he was waving it in front of him. And hanging from it were-
“Adyra,” he said, watching them swing, “and Narya. Thanks very much for getting them for me.”
Lucy snatched for them, but the boy held them up above his head. “Go on. Jump for them.”
Lucy just glared at him. “Oh, you’re no fun,” he said, “But I suppose it would be ever so slightly pointless, considering these aren’t the actual Rings. I’ve already taken them from your body. I have the complete set now. And the One Ring.” He met her glare, and took a step towards her, gazing directly into her eyes. His eyes were the same green as snakeskin. “You’ve failed,” he stated.
Lucy lashed out at him, but he sent her flying backwards with a wave of his hand. She crashed painfully into the ground a few feet away. “Oh Force, don’t start all that,” she heard him say in a bored voice as she lay on her side, breathing in the smell of the grass in short gasps, “You know this is all in your mind – you know you can’t actually kill me here... I, however, can kill you as soon as I leave. So don’t you think you should be trying to be a bit nicer to me?”
“Oh, please,” snapped Lucy, raising her head, “If you’re here, then you’ve already killed the others. And you wouldn’t be going on about how you have the Rings unless you were sure there was nothing I could do about it. You’re going to kill me anyway, so why haven’t you done it yet??”
The boy looked at her. Suddenly he laughed. “Oh, Lucy…” he said, sitting down next to her, “You really are very smart.” He reached out and started twirling a tendril of her hair around his finger. “Shame you’re on the wrong side…”
She smacked his hand away. “You don’t ever touch me.”
He looked thoughtfully at the hand she’d just hit. “Hmm,” he said thoughtfully, “I haven’t been hit in a very long time.”
“Shame.” Lucy punched him again, and started to scramble to her feet.
“Come on, Lucy-” He waved a finger, and she felt her feet fly out from underneath her. She fell back to the ground with a thud. “- what’s the rush? Enjoy the view. It’s very nice, I must say. Everyone has a different ‘environment’ in their head, which says something about their personality… I like yours. Very beautiful, very – open, very free. Ashara’s was a room, did you know that? A small poky room. There was a window, though, and a large landscape beyond it. If you ask me, she’s got issues with feeling trapped.”
“When did you see that? When you were treating her to such enthralling conversation?” snapped Lucy.
“No, just when I went into her mind to make her forget meeting Sethan,” he said, looking up at the stars, “Otherwise she might have stopped trusting me, and I couldn’t have that.”
He glanced at Lucy, and saw the mystified expression on her face. “Oh, you still haven’t figured it out? I’m Valistar. You know, the one Ashara was sent to marry?”
“The King of Uialtum?” said Lucy blankly, “But… why do you want to unleash Morgoth?”
“Same reason you thought Sethan did. Ultimate power, galaxy domination, all that nonsense. Don’t feel bad,” he said, patting her arm, “You were very close thinking Sethan was the one behind all this. But… well, looks can be deceiving.”
He started to get to his feet. “Well, Lucy dear, as fun as this has been, I must be off – I have an evil Valar to unleash. Don’t worry, I’ll kill you as soon as I get out of here, you won’t have to wait too long-”
He suddenly stopped, looking distracted. A moment later, a white-haired boy appeared from nowhere, and grabbed Valistar by the neck.
“Let her go,” ordered Sethan.
Valistar looked mildly surprised. “Sethan. Well, this is unexpected. I doubt this is just a social call?”
“Let her go,” repeated Sethan.
“Rather impolite, just barging in like this. I presume this means the guards I left on the Falcon are dead.”
“Let. Her. Go.”
“You know, you can keep saying that, but it doesn’t get any more convincing. Why should I?”
Lucy saw Sethan’s grip tighten. “Guess.”
“Oh, you’ll kill me? How terribly original. Hm. See, if you do that, she’ll die anyway. Our minds being connected and all that. So, as I see it, your only way of getting out of here with her still alive is to let me go, and we sort it out back in the real world. Savvy?”
Sethan glared at Valistar. If looks could kill, Lucy thought, Valistar would be very very dead by now. Finally, Sethan released Valistar, muttering, “I hate it when you’re right.”
“You always did,” grinned Valistar, “Right! First back to the real world has the advantage. Race you!”
He vanished. Before she could say anything, Sethan had snatched her hand, and everything dissolved into a blur of colour –
She was back on the Millennium Falcon. Sethan was leaping to his feet in front of her, and hurling himself at Valistar, who was standing on the other side of her – there was a flash of red light, a red lightsaber - and Sethan fell on top of her.
“You lose,” sighed Valistar. He held out a hand, and Adyra and Narya flew from Sethan’s pocket back to him. “Forward thinking. Commendable,” he remarked, throwing them into the air and catching them in the same hand before slipping them back into his own pocket. He glanced at Lucy, as though considering – then shrugged, and strode out of the room.
Lucy couldn’t move for a few seconds, some invisible force holding her still, as well as the weight of Sethan on top of her; but then she was released, and she pushed Sethan off her. He rolled onto the floor. There was a large wound in his chest, which Lucy could instantly see was fatal.
“Oh Force,” she said, looking at the wound, “Sethan – Sethan, don’t worry-”
“I’m not worried,” gasped Sethan irritably, feeling around his neck, “Not about this, anyway.” He dragged out a chain from his shirt. Attached to it was a small crystal bottle, containing a clear liquid. He tore it off and handed it to her with shaking hands. “Quickly – pour a drop or two into the wound-”
Lucy, baffled, quickly did what he said. For a moment, nothing happened, and she moved to add more, but Sethan grabbed her hand. “No – don’t waste them, just wait-”
Before her eyes, the wound began to close up; she could see the muscle underneath knitting back together, and the skin closing over the top. A moment later, there was nothing there. It had healed completely.
Sethan sat up and took the bottle from her. “Thanks for that.”
“Wha – hang on!” Sethan was already getting to his feet and shoving the bottle down the front of his shirt. Lucy grabbed his sleeve. “What-”
“Ashara’s mother was part phoenix,” explained Sethan patiently, “When I knew her, she gave me this bottle of her tears. They have healing powers. For when I got into trouble, which was a lot,” he said, a slightly nostalgic smile coming onto his face.
Lucy didn’t smile back. “I don’t trust you,” she said firmly.
“I don’t trust you, either. Hooray, we have one thing in common. Now, your friends are dead, shall we go help them?”
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Post by goblingirl on Sept 13, 2006 1:43:47 GMT -5
Bottle of tears?
Update.
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Post by Hobbit-eyes on Sept 13, 2006 8:00:22 GMT -5
Yes. Apologies. I'm sure Angel could cry on cue by then.
What do you think of this turn of events, though?
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Post by goblingirl on Sept 13, 2006 9:18:22 GMT -5
To be honest, I'm getting a little confusicated. How be there two Sethans?
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Post by Hobbit-eyes on Sept 13, 2006 9:23:43 GMT -5
HarHAR. All shall become clear. But what about Valistar etc?
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Post by goblingirl on Sept 13, 2006 9:37:47 GMT -5
Sneaky. But I know he'll die at some point, probably killed by Sethan.
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Post by Hobbit-eyes on Sept 13, 2006 9:39:15 GMT -5
*says nothing*
I will update this soon. But I only just wrote the last bit, and I need to proof-read it first to check it's not rubbish.
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Post by goblingirl on Sept 13, 2006 9:53:32 GMT -5
*waits*
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