Sunshine Challenge: Kyanite

[extrapenguin]

I didn't know kyanite existed, so congrats on the sunshine_challenge for teaching me something! Also I like kyanite because it's blue. *g* We are now on part 4 out of the 5+1+1 times fic.

Kyanite


Acina felt more than a little relieved when the Fury settled down in the middle of a temperate forest. It wasn't the tropical jungle she preferred, but it wouldn't freeze her or leave her pulmonary passages feeling like someone had gone over them with particularly rough sandpaper. As for what Nox wished to show her here, well, the past few locations had been a mix of intriguing and aesthetically appealing. No doubt this one would be as well.

"I think this one should be a bit more to your speed," Nox said as the landing ramp descended – this time without the need for any protective equipment.

"The climate certainly looks less hostile than the previous two."

"Winters can be harsh, but the planet is in the middle of its summer." Nox set out. "It's a few minutes' hike. Come."

Acina sighed and followed Nox across the clearing. Once they'd gotten to the edge of the trees, the wild hays turned to moss and various sprigs which bore the beginnings of berries. No doubt the forest would feed the local populace once autumn came. Now, it was merely potential, ripe for claiming.

Trees rose tall beside them, orange-brown bark flaking off in layers. Birds sang a myriad songs. It was all a bit too serene; Acina felt like taking a nap.

"So, Nox, who lived here?" Acina asked as they walked. "A Sith Lord? Some Jedi? A heretofore unknown Force sect?"

"A Sith Lord known as Itsukotsât, possibly."

"Possibly."

"This does predate Vitiate and his empire by a significant margin. The dedication on the library is to an Itsukotsât, but whether that is meant to be an individual's name or simply a generic term referring to all who have broken their chains is up for debate."

Itsukotsât did mean chain-breaker in High Sith. "Is the rest of the inscription in High Sith as well?"

"Yes."

That would mean it was thousands of years old, predating the Sith exodus to Ziost and the gradual loss of the language beyond monument inscriptions in favor of Basic. Intriguing. "Is it just the one inscription, or is there more?"

"Only the one that's survived." Nox shrugged. "The weathering has been extreme, as you might imagine, and vegetation has grown over much of it."

"And the library's contents?"

"The stone tablets have survived in part. No evidence of holocrons yet, though it might predate the technology."

One of the first Sith libraries outside Korriban, and Nox was showing this to her. Acina couldn't help but shudder. Usually, at this time, a Sith would start hinting at what they wished for the other to do in exchange. Nox...

"The lock mechanism has eroded, but in its prime, the tablets would've been covered by a structure that's since degraded and some Force artefact."

Would the other shoe drop? Acina would've thought that the other woman was beyond simple currying favor with her, yet here she was, showing her things as if she simply wished to impress her. "Was the lock anything useful or interesting?"

Nox walked over to a rocky outcropping and wiped off the moss. Growing out of the pale gray stone were several blades of a blue mineral, mostly opaque but some translucent and greatly varying in shade. "It seems to have involved the local kyanite. One of the mineral's peculiarities is that it is significantly harder along one axis than the others. The lock involved aligning a blade of the crystal properly."

"Did this Itsukotsât not have other Force-sensitives on the planet, or was this lock only the first of many?" Acina refused to believe that a self-respecting Sith would only have the one lock on their sanctum, especially if it were one so simple.

Nox shrugged. The afternoon light glinted off her horns. "Who knows? Much shall remain lost, even when this site has been properly excavated." She continued looking at Acina, expression moderately open, waiting for something.

Acina decided to push her luck. "I want one of those stone tablets," she said. "Find me one."

Nox grinned and bowed. "Your wish is my command!" She turned her back to Acina like she didn't care a whit about being stabbed in the back and made her way carefully across the forest floor.

Acina felt like she was missing something, like the final piece of the puzzle around which everything revolved would appear at any minute now and let her complete the picture yet stubbornly refused to come. She ran her fingers across a blade of the kyanite, feeling the roughness and the slight echo in the Force that characterized all proper crystals, then observed Nox's form, intently walking over the moss.

As if pulled by an invisible string, she took a step toward Nox, then another. She told herself she was simply ensuring Nox would do the job correctly, but as she approached her fellow Sith, someplace deep in her heart knew this was not the case.

Comments

[enemytosleep]

She told herself she was simply ensuring Nox would do the job correctly, but as she approached her fellow Sith, someplace deep in her heart knew this was not the case.

I love this final line. She keeps indulging him in these adventures, and he seems so eager to host and share this all with her.