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| - "Into the forest," Obi-Wan instructs. He pulls up his hood and walks towards the Rope Bridge. Anakin steps out of the Z95, following Obi-Wan in grim silence as the lightsaber bounces against his hip. You head north over the swamps on the rope bridge. Anakin Skywalker arrives from the Rope Bridge. Anakin Skywalker begins following you. Obi-Wan walks through the forest underbrush, pushing plants aside with his hand. He looks back to Anakin, then presses on slowly. He moves past the wooden gate without a word. There seems to be nothing to say between the two; there is a sense of foreboding surrounding him, a grim sense of abandonment, resignation. You pass through the Wooden Gate - into the Kkowir Forest Wilderness. Are you the hunter or the hunted? Anakin Skywalker emerges from the Wooden Gate, ready for action. In the darkness Obi-Wan walks, unafraid of the dangers around him. They move up a gentle slope, to the caverns of Myyydril, an Wookie warrior who went insane, and took refuge in the caves. Suddenly the warm forest floor grows cold, and Obi-Wan slows. The distinct feeling of fear surrounds the travelers while the Knight crosses his arms in front of him and looks to his Padawan. Anakin stiffens slightly, peering into the darkness and crossing his arms across his chest. He senses the feeling in the air, and stops, turning to look to Obi-Wan. "Will you be needing my lightsaber now, Master?" Obi-Wan rests his hand on a rock and picks up a small, skinny stick. He sits down on the rock, tilting his head downward. "You must go into the cave," he explains, tracing the stick over blades of grass. "It is strong in the Dark Side." To his question, Kenobi merely answers, "You will not need your weapons." "The Dark Side?" Anakin's green eyes flash with wariness, watching the Knight carefully. "I can feel it. Why here? What's in the cave?" He makes no move to drop his blaster nor the lightsaber, gaze turning to the yawning maw of the dark cave. "What will I find?" Kenobi smiles beneath his cowl. "Only what you take with you." Anakin laughs a humorless laugh, watching the Knight carefully as his gaze shifts to the cave again. He seems suspicious for a few moments; then his eyes close, drawing a few deep breaths as the padawan calms himself and crosses his arms across his chest. "What am I to do?" he asks softly. "Maut was given a mission ... I do not know what you wish of me." His gaze turns to Obi-Wan again, then the cave. "You must enter the cave," Obi-Wan replies calmly, "and then your trials will begin. You must go, Anakin, and remember what you have learned. I cannot interfere, and you will receive no help from the Order." The stick sweeps lightly across the grass while he watches him, waiting. Anakin watches the Knight calmly, his nod only a slight tip of his head. "I understand." He half-smiles, a touch of bitterness and uncertainty in it. "See you on the other side, Master." He turns away, stepping through the darkness and into the cave. Anakin Skywalker leaves the forest-floor heading downward on an incline, towards deep caverns in the rock. Anakin Skywalker has left. Ragnos A figure clothed in black, with a visible aura of red around its frame. It is of average height, but shrunken, somehow. It has pale skin and rotting, yellow teeth, though its form is opaque and not entirely whole. Yellow eyes peer out from beneath a dark, heavy cowl. Upon seeing this.. thing, an image of untold hatred is instilled in your mind, burning there with the heat of a hundred suns. STATUS: Ragnos is a male Human in excellent condition. He is unarmed and wears a Tan Robe. You slip into hiding among the fallen branchs, large boulders, and moss covered stones. You feel substantially hidden. The Dark Side is strong here. The cave is cold and damp, and soon you can see your own breath spilling from your nose and mouth. A voice echoes in the cave, hissing, "Deeper..." Anakin stops, vibrant emerald eyes adjusting to the lack of light here. He tenses slightly, steps slowing and then picking up the pace again. The voice causes him to stir, head lifting, but he remains calm and steps deeper into the cave. Anakin Skywalker heads deeper into the darkness. Anakin Skywalker has left. You sneak into the new area. The further in, the less life there is, and the more cold it gets. Ice is crystalized on the walls and ceiling of the cave, and the sounds of the river are in the distance only. But there is more thank darkness and cold, here. There is something else: an ancient fear, tempered through patience and perversion. It is in the air, the walls, the very cave itself... "Welcome, Skywalker," the voice hisses. Anakin shivers, and not entirely from the cold. His eyes squeeze shut for a moment, arms crossing over his chest; then they open again, the emerald reflecting a dim light in this dark area. He casts a searching gaze from right to left, but can see nothing. "I can feel you," he murmurs quietly, hands drifting towards his sides -- then rising again as he remembers Obi-Wan's words. "Show yourself." The voice cackles in mockery. "Obi-Wan has taught you well...." an image of red emerges to Anakin's left, in front of the drop, ".... but you are not a Jedi yet." You slip out of hiding. Anakin turns slowly, gaze wandering up and down the cowled shape's form. "I am a padawan," he corrects quietly, seeming subdued as he pulls his arms closer to him to ward against the cold. "A member of the Jedi Order. And soon, I will be a Knight. What are -you-?" His chin lifts slightly, regarding the thing. He is tense, guarded ... threatened. "Your Destiny." It moves its hand, pulling out a lightsaber. It flashes upward, as red as blood. "But soon you will call me.." it takes a step forward, ".. Master." COMBAT: You ignite your red lightsaber. The red light forms a halo around Anakin's head, his face illuminated by the light as his breath fades away in a white mist. His green eyes are cold and hard, focused on the red blade of light for a few long moments, then shifting to the shape that holds it. "Never," he replies simply, eyes narrowing. "My Master is Obi-Wan Kenobi. I serve only the Jedi Order. You are nothing. I know the truth, and there is strength in that truth; you ..." He pauses. "You are only lies, and will fall like all lies do." He takes a step back, reaching for his lightsaber but not activating it. "If you will not raises your defenses," its lightsaber raises above its head, revealing old, worn yellow eyes, "then you will be destroyed!" The saber crashes down towards Anakin, threatening to cut him clean in half. COMBAT: You swing your red lightsaber at Anakin Skywalker -- but you try not to hurt Anakin Skywalker too badly! FORCE: You move with enhanced speed. COMBAT: Anakin Skywalker ignites his purple lightsaber and tries to parry! COMBAT: Anakin Skywalker tries to parry with his purple lightsaber, but Ragnos's red lightsaber hits and mauls him. The purple blade explodes into light, lifting to meet the red; but it just misses, the red skidding along Anakin's frame and slashing deeply across Anakin's chest. He takes a sharp breath, taking a step back as his eyes narrow. "You will never destroy me," he says, dropping into a defensive stance, the point of the blade held above his face. A slow trickle of blood leaks from his side, the cave filled with the stench of burning flesh. The figure cackles again. It lifts its lightsaber and swipes it towards Anakin's shoulder, yelling, "You are gravely mistaken!" COMBAT: You swing your red lightsaber at Anakin Skywalker -- but you try not to hurt Anakin Skywalker too badly! FORCE: You move with enhanced speed. COMBAT: Anakin Skywalker tries to parry with his purple lightsaber, but Ragnos's red lightsaber hits and grievously wounds him. To Anakin's eyes, it seems as if the red blade moves faster than possible; his mind explodes with pain as the red blade seems undeterred by Anakin's attempts to parry. His eyes widen as he stumbles backwards, but he takes another half-step, regaining his balance as his other hand goes to his side, touching the wound there. "You can't be real," he says, looking shocked. "Nothing ... it's impossible." He takes another step away, backing from the shape. "I will not succumb to this. There is no one else in this cave. I would have sensed it, the danger. I do not ... require weapons." Remembering those words again, his eyes widen. Anakin steps backwards once more, watching the shape. Suddenly, the blade disappears into the hilt of his lightsaber and he flings it into a corner of the cave, smiling strangely. "I will not give in to the temptation. There is nothing to fight... nothing but myself." The figure clenches its teeth and lashes out at Anakin again, but its saber does no damage: instead it passes through Anakin, leaving nothing. "Obi-Wan has taught you well," it admits calmly, stepping away. A new voice speaks out, not the soft hiss of the Sith; instead it is deep and calm, "Go where storms ravage earth and sea, A world old and proud, A hard place of crime untold: Seek your Master there. Your Trials await." The aura of red fades as the Sith tilts its head upwards and closes his yellow eyes. He fades slowly into the darkness. The ice begins to melt in the cave. Anakin's eyes flash, not even flinching as the blade comes down on him and passes through harmlessly. As the shape slowly fades away, he takes in a long breath and crumples to the ground, exhaling deeply as if a great weight has been lifted from his shoulders. After a few long moments of this, he opens his eyes and rises, fumbling in the darkness until he finds the lightsaber once again and puts it on his belt. Then he considers the shape's words.
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