The Elvenqueen

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Oh definitely, I've considered actually writing down a lore section into a Google Docs file or something just to keep track of all of it haha XD

Sweet, I look forward to it as always!

Shuffle your music player and post the first 10 songs

1. Yellow Light-Of Monsters and Men-My Head Is An Animal
2. Warriors-Imagine Dragons-Smoke + Mirrors
3. Wolf-First Aid Kit-Young Folks
4. Broken Crown-Mumford & Sons-Babel
5. You-Breaking Benjamin-Phobia
6. White Blank Page-Mumford & Sons-Sigh No More (Deluxe)
7. Putting The Dog To Sleep-The Antlers-Burst Apart
8. Jenny (Lily Sevin Ballad Cover)-Studio Killers (original)-Studio Killers (original)
9. Vox Populi-30 Seconds to Mars-This Is War
10. War Of Change-Thousand Foot Krutch-The End Is Where We Begin

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Had to come up with a way that they'd get hold of a map so they'd know which way to go and that seemed like as good a solution as any. Didn't want to bunny him too much hence his abrupt-ish poof XD but awesome, we shall see how it goes then no? Depending where we go and how appropriate they are I might scoot in another NPC as well, but don't want to do it just for the sake of having a new character y'know? XD

Ooohh man, I'm kinda scared to find out about her powers now, yet intruigued at the same time! :'( *prepares nerves for the worst* XD

This all sounds really good! And I like the idea of them using the former Senate Tower as their HQ, as for a new name for it uuhhh...I'll have to have a think on that XD
Dromund Kaas is a sensible target for them definitely, and probably likely to contain a couple stasis pods anyways since it was basically the Empire's capital in its hayday :P awesome, let's get our Yerbol back! ;w; xD

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Might be a slightly shorter one cause I didn't want to jump TOO far ahead before we'd properly talked through some progression haha

So, Ari kinda voiced some possible thoughts I had in that post herself with regards to exactly HOW they're going to deal with the Xiis, but feel free to have Voldon propose an alternate idea/solution if you or he can come up with one :)

And a couple other thoughts/questions I had regarding where we're going with it currently:
-Would they successfully rescue Yerbol in the next few posts, or would Illesia somehow be able to tell they were coming and relocate him again?
-If they WERE to get down near where he is, what would happen with Illesia and her Xiis minions? Would they kill or otherwise subdue/neutralise them then and there or would Illesia or some other Xiis manage to slip away to keep causing trouble for a while? (Seems kind of a shame to get rid of her so quickly, she seems like a really awesome villain? XD)

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Before very long, Aria had bundled into a shuttle to accompany Voldon to Coruscant (Chwuq and Taral faithfully in tow, of course….she wasn’t going to make the mistake of leaving them behind again. Their keener senses would hopefully stop any Xiis catching them off guard again once they hit the ground). She wasn't sure if Voldon’s reassurance that he was sure Yerbol was present on the capital world was a comfort to her or not. Since he had spoken to her when she had been in the medbay, Aria had been unable to contact Yerbol directly again. Their bond was more accessible, and as they touched down on Coruscant she found that it was a lot less difficult to find and connect to. He really could be here.
She backed up Voldon’s insistence on he and Aria venturing further in without the assistance of a military squad. It would tip the Xiis off to their approach much too easily. Besides, they could handle this...or, that’s what she kept telling herself. She hoped when it came down to it, she would have the resolve to REALLY do whatever it took in order to get Yerbol back. Junoco accompanied them momentarily, in order to hack into a locked-down computer terminal and transfer a map of the undercity (which was surprisingly well hidden, though easily accessible for someone of the smuggler’s skill set) to both of their datapads. His help had been well worth the removal of the petty crimes from his record, Aria thought, after Junoco escorted them down to the former territory of the Justicar gang, which he insisted provided the best route down into the area below the planet’s “ground level”, and then bid them farewell (but not without urging that “his help was only a holocall away, should they ever need it again”).

Aria noted the streets had begun to look not too dissimilar to those on Nar Shaddaa...at least that meant they were on the right track. The Tuk’ata slunk off to scout ahead, Aria turning towards Voldon to voice the thoughts she had been turning over in her mind on the trip over there. The Champion sighed heavily, her teeth scraping her bottom lip. She wasn’t sure he wasn’t going to like what she had to say:
“We’re going to have to kill them. The Xiis.” before he could interrupt, she held up a hand to quiet him and continued. “And this isn’t just because this is personal now, it’s not because of Yerbol or because I’m not thinking clearly, so please don’t try to give me that as an argument, Master Naylon. This is about what Renso told us...showed us, about the Xiis. What I’VE seen. The only way I can see us being able to stop them is if we kill them. They’re not like us, they don’t HAVE a moral compass or a sense of right and wrong, they can’t be reasoned with. All they want to do is kill and destroy, everything in their path. And I know violence shouldn’t be the first solution we go to, but I just….don’t see any other way for this to work out. If we DON’T kill them they’re just going to get stronger.” she turned to face the approaching tomb beasts as they trotted back, tails held tentatively aloft although the spiny crests that ran along their backs and shoulders rattled loudly to betray their unease. Dropping to one knee, Aria scratched both under their chins gently, in the place they both liked, murmuring.
“Can you smell him? Feel him, too? Is he here?”
Two pairs of crimson eyes stared back at her, white teeth (after MANY rounds of brushing over the months they had spent on Taris!) glinting back at her for a moment as the Tuk’ata chuffed softly back at her. Noses twitched as they trotted a few paces ahead and snuffled about the ground and the various corpses, looking for a trail. Aria straightened, turning back to Voldon now that he had some time to digest the point she had put forward. “Of course, if...if you still think there’s a better way to go about it, you’re far more experienced than I am.” a wry smile painted her features, stretched thin from worry. “But that’s just what I think, and I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t get any satisfaction out of it.” She knew she should know better, but she couldn’t help it.

“Uff! Uff!” Aria’s head jerked sideways to find Taral staring back at them, jerking his head towards an access port. Scraping sounds could be heard from inside, had Chwuq gone in already, or was something else already in there? Her hand closed around a lightsaber hilt, nodding towards Voldon as both Force users cautiously approached.
“UFF!” Taral grunted again, tail swishing once before it settled parallel with the ground again, ears and muzzle twitching to point towards the opening.
This way. Smells go this way.
She wasn’t even sure how she had started learning to understand what they said when they didn’t have the words in Basic, perhaps they were repressed memories from when she had been younger...Roan had tried to teach her, once. Or perhaps the defeated Sith Lord was somehow still imparting his knowledge of the Tuk’ata’s body language and vocalizations to her. Could he be watching over them right now?
Yerbol HAD said he was underground…Out loud, she responded to Taral:
“Alright, if you’re sure. Where’s Chwuq?” A soft bark behind her sounded familiar, the second hound looping back to join her mate when she realised he had stopped. Still gripping her saber, Aria used Taral’s shoulder as a stepping platform to help her up and into the access port, shuffling forward an inch or so before she tried to turn around to check on the others behind her.
“Hrrrmph!” a loud exhale, followed by an uneasy growl, and Taral nudged her thigh with his nose. He was small enough to fit, barely, as the open space drastically decreased only a few feet into the opening. If Aria moved mere inches further in, her own head would brush the ceiling.
“Bit of a tight squeeze…” she squinted ahead into the gloom, hoping it would be like the sewer ruins, “Should open up further down though, and let us stand up again.” It had to, right? If the Xiis were down here, and holding Yerbol captive.
Voldon managed to cram himself in as well, with Chwuq close behind him, and with careful trepidation they inched further in.

Thankfully, it did open out a lot more. At least enough that she and Voldon could stop and sit mostly upright (the Battlemaster was considerably taller than she was, and had to duck down a little to avoid hitting his head). The musty smell of damp earth wafted through their surroundings, the occasional “drip” of a droplet falling from the ceiling or the scuffle of movement somewhere further below permeating the silence.
“It FEELS like we’re in the right place.” Aria whispered to the Battlemaster. “He said it was underground, and it smelled earthy. I could smell what he was smelling, just barely.” she patted the Tuk’ata’s flanks. “Besides, their noses are better than ours and if they think they can smell something...they’re usually right.”
Bol, can you hear me? Or...or sense us? Nothing. We’re coming. Me, Voldon and the dogs. They found a tunnel, we’re coming to get you.
Please, let this be the right one… she was pleading, hoping for some kind of sign that they were on the right track before they went any further down...

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Aaaaahhhh Illesia, you are BAD news aren't you? O_O (also, Ari is gonna kick your butt into oblivion for what you've probably done to Bol D:)

If I don't manage to get a post out to you later tonight it shall be tomorrow :P not sure how quick I shall get it done between other jobs haha

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Apologies if the end conclusion seems hasty or rushed haha but I guess it kinda fits since they're all a bit frantic and panicky right now haha let me know if you want me to elaborate on anything a little more or take anything out as always XD

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

When the medic mentioned a dunk in the kolto tank, Aria’s eyes rolled up towards the ceiling and she gave an exasperated groan. “Is this really necessary…? I hate kolto tanks-” she tried to protest (Something about ‘spent months in one the last time and never got the taste out of my mouth’ though the redhead Knight took no notice of it as such), Kira was already pulling her towards the changing room before she could say much else in protest and she hardly had the strength left to put up much of a fight in the first place. Despite her grumblings, once she’d sunk down into the kolto it did seem to ease the ache a little. Thankfully with only her ribs damaged she could get away with simply submerging her torso into the tank and leaving most of her upper body out of the kolto by clinging onto the side. Aria was surprised to hear Kira voice her exact thoughts, silent for a moment as she recounted her time apart from Voldon when the Battlemaster had been away fighting the Emperor. For a moment she was silent, blinking until she finally found the words.
“I had no idea…” at that moment the man in question entered the room as well, prompting her attention as she answered his question:
“I can still feel him, yeah. Cause of the Force bond or...whatever it's called. I tried calling out to him but he isn't answering me right now...” the words stuck in her throat like chunks of rotten meat. “I think...he's just unconscious. I-I like to think...and...and hope that it'd feel different if he was dead.”
With a nod and a few words of encouragement, the couple left her in the medbay which prompted Aria to let go of the side of the tank and let herself float lazily for a while so she could rest and recover her strength. She had tried to reach out to her partner again a few times during her talk with Kira and been met with the same dead end, but was jolted from her partially-sleeping state when she suddenly felt his mind fumbling for the threads between their consciousness. At first, she thought she had been imagining it until his voice spoke too:
I don't know where I am...find me, baby. Please.
Bol?! I'm here! We’ll find you, babe, I promise. Hang in there. You don't...there's nothing around you? She prompted, desperate to find something that they could work on. Nothing you can hear or...or smell?
He was still very disoriented and barely able to maintain their link, thus not able to tell her much but Aria did her best to reassure him that they were on their way to find him no matter what it took. Now that she knew he was DEFINITELY alive, Aria didn't want to let him go at all. But she had to, if they were going to figure out where he had been taken. Underground. That was something, right? She wished she could have hugged him, or provided some better form of comfort than just words.
We'll find you. She repeated, pausing for a moment before she quickly added before he withdrew again. Hey, I love you, and I'm coming to get you. Soon.

Pedia returned to give her a quick check over about forty five minutes later, giving her approval to leave the medbay under caution that she was to take the medication “EXACTLY as instructed!”; Aria waved the medic off with a distracted promise, unable to clamber out of the tank and get redressed in her usual attire fast enough. Should have been resting, she knew that. But she had to tell them. They had to get to him, and fast. She’d never heard him sound so broken and desperate, and it HURT to hear the defeat in his voice. They had to get to him before they broke him so badly that he gave up. She didn’t know what she would do if that happened…
Doorway after doorway flew past her as she searched the complex for Voldon or Kira, not even stopping as she heard a few startled exclamations of her name from Cheriss and Ailel as she stuck her head through to find neither of the other two Council members with them. After passing a few more rooms, she finally located Voldon again, Cheriss and Ailel in tow as they tried to get her to sit down.
“Not now, not now!” she waved the other two Masters away frantically. “I got through to him! He said...he said he was underground somewhere. He wasn’t sure where but definitely underground!”
“Underground?” Cheriss frowned as she took Aria by the arm firmly and guided her into a chair at the side of the room. Aria nodded again in confirmation, prompting Ailel to ask whether Aria thought she might be able to reach Yerbol again and get some more information from him. She wasn’t sure, but it was worth a try. Or perhaps, Cheriss suggested at length, if they meditated together Aria could attempt to transfer some of the images she had gotten from Yerbol to them so they could try and help her figure out where the other Champion had been taken.
“If it was underground...it narrows down our options a bit.” Ailel pointed out as they settled down in a group, Cheriss insisting that Aria remained where she was in the chair so as not to aggravate her newly healed ribs. With a half hearted smirk, the Champion complied, frowning in concentration.
“What do you mean...narrows down options?”
“Well, there aren’t as many worlds with an underground network.” Ailel clarified. “And assuming it isn’t still Nar Shaddaa…”
“That would be too easy. I doubt they’d stay on a world where they know we think they are.”
“Exactly. So if we eliminate Nar Shaddaa that leaves Taris, Coruscant, possibly somewhere underneath the palace on Alderaan.”
“....It sounds busy, too busy for Alderaan.” Cheriss interjected as Aria managed to recall a somewhat fuzzy image of the surroundings Yerbol had projected to her when he’d synched up their bond again for that brief moment of time.
Ailel frowned as she listened more closely as well, nodding slowly. “Possibly even too much foot traffic for Taris.”
“Yerbol would have known it if it was Taris.” Aria interrupted quickly, fighting to keep her heart from hammering so fast. “His parents live there, we were there not too long ago. Even if he’s underground he’d recognise some of the sounds or...or something.”
“That’s a very bold assumption to make, Aria.” Cheriss pointed out carefully.
“We don’t have time to check everywhere, he needs our help NOW!”
“Don’t get yourself all upset, now, look...why don’t we send some of the Alliance crews to investigate Taris and Nar Shaddaa again and we can check Coruscant?” the Dathomirian suggested, somehow trying to take a tactical approach while at the same time being mindful of the urgency Aria kept insisting upon. Even if none of them fully understood the origins or the purpose of the Force bond that existed between the two Champions, Aria had come to trust it as a reliable source of information. The Masters, while still skeptical, could hardly argue with a potential lead when they had so little to go on already and the possibility of time running out for Yerbol sooner rather than later…
“PLEASE Cheriss, I don’t care if it’s a dead end. I’ve got to go and look for him. If something happens to him I…” Aria couldn’t even bear to think of the awful things the Xiis might be doing to them, or what she might do if she lost him.

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Aaaahhh poor baby ;w; *wraps Yerbol in a blanket* Ari's coming for you, don't worry! And when she gets there she's gonna kick some butt xD

I also totally didn't realise the connection between Ari's nickname and their word for "Lord" (I think it was? hehe), that was totally unintentional I swear :P

Awesome, I shall get them meditating then! ;)

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

It is ahaha, she's not going to let him out of her sight for a while after this XD

Alas, I never studied Hamlet! D: If it had been Macbeth or Romeo and Juliet I might have managed! XD No worries, as always take your time! :P