He couldn't move, he dared not move. Her slender frame was on the bordering of the infinite black and the visible range, the deep shadows cloaked over her like thick ethereal robes. Neither of them moved an inch for the longest of times. Like, 5 seconds in all honesty, but still. The stand off broke with the simplest and most malicious of gestures, her lips curled into an ever-so-slight smile, and the last ounces of Atsa courage vanished as if they were never present. He ran as fast as he could away from her. Never looking back, for fear that she would be there. Tears streamed down his eyes. He knew exactly what he was doing, he was running away. Away from her, the darkness that swarmed around her, the promise of a horrible fate, all the nightmares that could ever exist within this horrid place, but the worst thing of all, he was running away from saving Karkun. In his head, all he could do was beg for forgiveness. From what, from who, it didn't matter. In Atsa's heart and mind, he was abandoning Karkun. Finally, the thought was too much and he fell to his knees.
The cold was creeping up his back, over his shoulders, but Atsa no longer cared. He was scared, more so than he'd ever been in his life, but he had to keep going. Master Votar once taught that the Force has a plan for everyone, but how could that plan involve this place? This tree, this darkness, it was entirely unnatural. It wasn't suppose to happen, not here, not on Tython. Especially not this close to the temple. This wasn't the will of the Light Side, which meant that someone had to do something. Atsa had to find Karkun in here, somewhere. He had to, even if it meant losing himself in this darkness. Even if it meant facing her, staring into those black pits of nothingness where eyes should be. Even if it meant turning around. So, he did, and he was back where he'd first ran. Atsa couldn't explain how he knew this, given how freaking dark it was, but somehow.... he just did. The women was nowhere to be seen, but in the absence of sight, sound prevailed. Movement. The sudden jolt of the force bond sent Atsa trailing after the source, Karkun was close.
Atsa raced into the darkness, but the tree made it clear it didn't want that. The root floor seemed to become more gnarled and knobby, making running next to impossible. Even though Atsa was exceptionally light on his feet, every spring and bound was cut short by his foot hooking in this damned twisted wood. But Atsa wouldn't stop, and his persistence paid off. Finally, finally, he found Karkun. His cobalt blue saber battered away at these living shadows, fighting away at..... something. Damn, it was dark. Atsa tripped and stumbled closer, and the invisible assault seemed to cease. Karkun's eyes darted instantly to Atsa, but there wasn't the cherishable look of finding each other again, it was a fearful and worrying look. Atsa'd never seen Karkun's eyes like that before, never saw that lack of confidence or surety. Before Atsa had a chance of input at all, Karkun practically vanished in a flash, sprinting away full speed. Thank the force, Atsa's ability to leap kept Karkun within range of sight. Though Atsa almost flew full-force into Karkun's back when he stopped abruptly.
His eyes were wider than ever, and utter terror poured over the bond. Karkun looked like he was..... counting, almost. His eyes darted around, but all Atsa could see was darkness. But..... there was something else, like Atsa was only seeing one side, and Karkun was seeing the other. For a brief second, those boundaries crossed for a frightful moment, as Atsa's reality "flickered" with aspects of Karkun's. Bodies, corpses, cadavers. Skinned, horrifying, smiling. For not even a second, Atsa saw them and felt their gaze. They were all watching him and Karkun with a soul-stealing stare. It was.... indescribable. A thought, or word, or something, came through Atsa's mind. It was one word, and it was Karkun's voice. "Run." Both of them took off like the whole of the darkest things in the galaxy was right on their heels, and for all the Force, it was. Atsa struggled to keep up with Karkun. Usually, he never did, but this was different. Like the floor between the two was stretching out, purposefully distancing them from each other. Atsa wasn't falling for this again, and he leapt forward with all he had. Time slowed to a crawl, Karkun's figure sprinting a mad-dash away was all Atsa focused on. His clawed hand got within inches, as Karkun's brown robes dispersed into shadows. He was gone again.
Atsa tumbled to the ground in several rolls and flips, banging his hands on the floor in a minor tantrum of frustration and anxiety. He was right there. And now he's gone again. There wasn't any doubt in Atsa's mind, Karkun was just moved away, or maybe Atsa was, or both. Point is that they were in different places again. Atsa glanced down at his hand, specifically the bits of brown fabric that were hooked on his claws. Karkun's robes. Atsa was so close. Still, at least he knew Karkun was alright..... for the most part. Atsa got up and set on to find him again, when something felt like it caught the back of his robes. Looking back, a root from the ceiling had snaked down from the ceiling and snagged onto his collar. That definitely wasn't there before. Atsa reached back to try and unhook the annoyance, but then it got tighter. Kinda like it was..... getting.... a better grip?
Oh.... That's where this is going.
Before he could react, the root yanked Atsa up into the ceiling. The roots parted and swarmed, and soon Atsa was practically drowning in the ash from the floor above him. The root let go, abandoning Atsa to his fate of being buried alive. He struggled and squirmed, digging and thrashing around till the tip of his claw made contact with the cold air of the surface. Now, armed with the knowledge of which way is up, Atsa finally breach the floor's surface. Or, tried to. He was greeted by being throttled, the vision of an incoming fist, with all the wrath a human being could muster aiding it. Atsa, in this time of split-second decision, fell back on his default reaction to sudden surprise. Scream and mouth-flash. The highly agitated voice of one Miss Jehaa Starcross marks her identity to Atsa, right before she basically hurls him away into a wall. Once again, the half-hollow thud of his skull greeting another, scarily less-hard surface rings around the room.
"Owwwwww! It's the same wall! Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow! .......Oh, hi, Jehaa! Uhh..... what are you doing in here?"
Yep. Atsa. A testament to seriousness and focus. And total obliviousness.