"I would be most grateful for a meal, sir" she responded, "a chair in the med bay its self would also be appreciated, if there is not one there at the moment. I cannot maintain this sort of protective sphere from a distance, with something outside trying to break it." Yes, there was definitely some force pushing in on Aven, and Havec was grateful for the power boost that twenty years in meditation had given her. I am fortunate that defence is easier than offense, or I wouldn't be able to keep this up much longer. This, perhaps, is why I was awoken.

She moved the sphere with her hands, letting it glide along a few feet in front of her as she walked back towards the base. The asteroid's thin atmosphere was beginning to take its toll on her lungs, long since adapted to a more comfortable level of oxygen, and she was breathing heavily to compensate.

Suddenly, visibly, a small tendril of darkness found it's way through the sphere. As soon as it got inside it shot out towards Aven, curling itself around his neck. It seeped into his skin, and with a gasp his eyes opened and he curled into a ball. After the peace this darkness seemed to burn inside him, and he wished he had his lightaber with him if only to end his own life.

Then the darkness took hold. He flew to the edge of the sphere and pounded his remaining limbs against it, trying to smash his way out. But to no avail. Though the darkness was unstoppable, his body was not. He collapsed, exhausted, and sank into the realm between conciousness and sleep.

Havec jumped visibly at the small dark tendril. She tried to push it back, but physical exhaustion was taking its mental toll. Train the body, train the mind. This corporeal form does have its disadvantages. She put her energy into strengthening the physical barrier that the sphere created, and into pushing it forwards, following Semmarv into the temple its self.

It was far easier to breath once they were inside, and Havec caught her breath quickly, once presented with a more breathable atmosphere. Now, Aven, listen to me she didn't speak aloud, the sphere blocked most sounds anyways. I can't block whatever's trapping you without your cooperation, and I need it out while we work to heal your body. This would be much easier if I could trance properly. The last part was to herself. She clenched one fist, angry with herself for having let the opposing force through.

Aven nodded unconciously at Havec's request and began to try to push the darkness out of his mind. It was easier if he tried to mediate, and so he did. It was refreshing, the familiarity of meditating, and soon the darkness began to lift, it's power over him lessening.

It appears to only have power over my physical body he thought, hoping that Havec might be listening, and the ability to cloud my mind. But it can not control it, which means that, in the end, I am the one with the power. Hopefully this won't take too long.

She listened. That is something, then, that it cannot control your mind. I am eager to hear your story, of the time I have been gone, but first you should rest. The medical drones were approaching, and Havec lowered Aven gently onto the examination table, and cautiously removed the sphere. She asked an attending droid to request a meal for her, then sat down in the provided chair.

Aven lay on the table in an extreme meditative state. He didn't even wince as the needles noded poked and examined him. He was too busy trying to win the battle in his mind.

It wasn't as easy as expected. The dark force was fighting back, and the effects of the battle were beginning to show in Aven's body. He was shaking violently, and occasionally he twitched, dangerously close to falling off the table.

"Doctor, can you give him a muscle relaxant that won't affect his mental functions?" asked Havec, sitting calmly but prepared to return the protective sphere, should it be needed. The droid nodded, although he seemed skeptical, and selected a vial from a wide variety on a tray, slipping it into an injection slot leading into one of the needles Aven had been poked with.

Aven relaxed immediately. His body was now in no danger, and the battle in his mind was nearly won.

Suddenly there was a flash of light, and Aven's eyes filled with blackness. His whole body was surrounded by a dark cloud, and it seemed to force him to stand up. Aven was a puppet to the darkness' power. So he, under the command of the darkness, dove at Havec, claws stretching for her throat.

Havec was on her feet in an instant, although her reflexes were slower than she'd remembered. One of his claws caught her face, and she looked back at him with blood and broken feathers running down her left cheek. She didn't even consider her lightsaber, reaching instead for the source of power she felt inside herself. Her hands pushed forwards, towards Aven, accompanied by a strong wall of Force energy, glowing faintly with the same light she had.

I am very sorry, Aven. The droids are going to have a little more work, but I will not let this... thing possessing you hurt me, or any of the students. She positioned herself firmly between him and the door, looking calm and relaxed, not even in battle stance, but very much ready to fight him if she needed to.

Aven pulled his hand back, ready for a fatal strike, when suddenly the darkness flew out of his eyes and disappeared, and he collapsed to the floor, unconcious.

Havec mentally relaxed a little, although her stance didn't seem to change at all. "We'll need some physical restraints, I think" she told one of the droids, who went to fetch something of the sort from a supply cabinet (they were rather used to difficult patients.)

Another of the robots brought a cloth to her face, cleaning off the large gash she'd received in the short skirmish. She winced for a moment at the warm liquid it was soaked in, an antiseptic that stung as it soaked into the wound. It wasn't a deep cut, just large one, and it had sliced across the long, mostly decorative feathers below her left eye, something of a blow to her pride. They'll take weeks to grow back she thought, but she was glad nothing else had been hurt.

Raziel stood in the doorway of the Medical Bay, leaning against the wall he watched as a Medical Droid cleaned a cut on Havecs cheek, he then turned his attention to a Medical Droid that applying physical restraints to Aven, he wasn't suprised, Aven could be a difficult patient, he walked over to Havec, "I'm going to go to the Training Simulation Suite, I'll contact you if I hear from Steelven" Raziel said as he put a Comm Link down on the table next to Havec.

"Thank you, Raziel. I wish you luck in your training." A droid skidded past the unofficial Sith Raziel, bringing Havec a simple meal. "I hope we can all discuss the situation when Steelven returns, I feel there is much that I do not yet understand of this matter. And some of my gaps can, I believe, be filled by Aven. We will need to find an effective method of blocking this darkness, he will be near impossible to work with if we need to keep him constantly in chains."

((I can finally come online and post. Lordy...I still can't believe Gryph returned...it boggles my mind. Of course, I'm 900% ok with you joining the RP, Gryph.

Time to RP...Sith style.))

Steelven was exasperated while he carried the adrenaline crystals with the force as he exited the core path. Every few steps he had to stop and meditate while standing to regain the collossal force chakra he had used to get past all the traps. I hope Raziel and Aven are ok...I haven't spoke with Raziel about the whole situation since...hours ago...

Steelven soon reached the temple entrance. When he entered, he called for a droid. "Take these crystals to the biohazard bay. Allow them only to be retrieved by either Raziel or me." Steelven commanded.

The droid instantly obeyed, taking the crystals and zooming off.

Steelven was walking to the council room when he sensed a feeling he had not felt since the last he fought alongside his beloved on Coruscant.

"Wha-" Steelven was cut off by a sudden pain in his chest. He sank to his knees.

The crystals! Although I was carrying them with the force, they must've emitted radiation waves that are beginning to affect me!

Steelven then began to feel like his chest was on fire. He tore off his armor and clenched his skin where his heart was. His vision was getting blurry.

The last thing Steelven felt was a bitter, coppery taste in his mouth. After that he hit the ground, unconcious.

Havec felt a sharp pain at almost the same moment Steelven did, and she quickly pinpointed his location with the Force. "Take care of him" she told the nearest droid, leaving them to tend to Aven and running out of the med bay as fast as he talons would carry her.

She kept her mind close to Steelven with the Force, seeing double for a while before his eyes slid closed. Although she could distinguish his pain from hers (just a lingering soreness on her cheek) the empathy she gained from the Force connection was causing almost physical injury. She withdrew a little, confident that he wasn't going to be running off anywhere, but her worry was nearly as bad.

He hadn't gotten far from the entrance, close enough to the med bay that she reached him only a moment after he'd passed out. Kneeling, she reached out again, to figure out what was wrong. Radiation? Steelven, you brave fool, how big a crystal did you carry up? Still, it shouldn't have affected him so harshly so quickly. She wondered if perhaps his species had some physical characteristic that acted as a catalyst to the adrenaline crystal's negative effects. Or perhaps his race just had a natural aversion to one of the chemicals the crystal created.

She put one clawed hand against his chest, closing her eyes. Control. Radiation alters cells on an atomic level, and in this case causes them to produce toxic levels of adrenalin, and a few other nasty chemicals, in his bloodstream. Well, she hadn't had much to do for twenty years save work on her control over the Force. She set herself to work, first putting a temporary halt on his adrenaline production, then working on reducing the poisons he'd already received. It was a tedious process by hand, and she hoped dearly that Raziel would be able to manage the antidote he promised.

Steelven lifted his head. He looked up, and saw a sky with a green hue. He turned his head from side to side, seeing lush green plains. "Where-" Steelven was cut off when he saw something so strange that he couldn't speak.

He saw a small creature that looked just like him running towards him, only about 6 years old or so. He had many physical features that were just like Steelven's.

"Hey! You!" Steelven cried out. The small boy didn't respond and kept coming towards him. "Hey, I need you to-"

Steelven gasped. The boy walked right through him. "What the..." was all Steelven could say before a bright light consumed the area.


Steelven gasped for air. The toxins from the radiation had caused him so much pain for a few seconds that it jolted him awake. Steelven didn't open his eyes, as he felt they were burning.

But Steelven felt something on his chest. Something solid. Something...familiar.

No...it can't be...

Steelven forced his eyes open. He stared in disbelief when he saw a figure that looked like Havec. It...it...it is.....her...

Steelven looked at her eyes, not saying a word.

She stared back into his eyes, breathing heavily from the effort of the delicate healing. Worry flooded away, leaving only relief and joy and a fluttering in her stomach that was nearly painful, it felt so strong.

"It's really you" she whispered, the reality of the reunion sinking in. She did not usually show much of her emotions, but tears were running down the feathers on her cheeks, and her glow seemed brighten than usual. She had questions to ask, but all coherency of thought and speech seemed to vanish, engulfed by a bright emotion stronger than she'd ever imagined it would be when, and for awhile if, she saw him again.

Aven woke up, the ceiling of the Med Bay slowly coming into focus. His mind seemed much clearer than it had been for the past few days, so he settled into the bed and closed his eyes again. He slipped into a meditative state, and began to search the temple for any interesting happenings. There was Raziel, heading for the training room. A few apprentices were playing in the common room. A couple of other people were eating in the mess hall. Steelven was back, and seemed to be relieved, happy for some reason. And there next to him was...

Aven shot up out of bed and raced into the hallway. He found his way around the twisting corridors of the Tample, and found what he was looking for. "Havec!" he shouted, racing up the hallway to properly greet his old friend, "I can't believe you're back!"

As Raziel headed to the Training Suite he felt a familiar presence....

"Steelven!" Raziel said as he raced off down the corridor.

He soon reached Steelven, but he was barely conscious and Havec was kneeling next to him.

"Havec.... what's going....." But he knew the answer instantly, he had seen this before, Adrenaline Poisoning.

He then heard a shout from behind them, it was Aven.

"Havec try to keep him awake" Raziel said before racing off back down the corridor.

Aven, followed closely by Raziel, ended their little moment. "It's alright, both of you. I've removed the worst of the toxins, what he needs now is a good meal, rest, and perhaps an injection of one or two other chemicals I removed during the process, it can be difficult to separate the bad from the good. Aven, I am glad to see you up. Are you feeling better?"

She was still breathing heavily from the procedure. Her hand, still resting on Steelven, was covered in a thick black liquid, the bad blood and toxins she'd leeched up though his skin. They were harmless, now that they weren't in his bloodstream, and she didn't even notice them when she looked back down at her fellow Sith lord.

Steelven kept a blank stare in his eyes. "Havec..." was all Steelven could mutter at the moment.

He looked at her. He could recognize her features. Her strikingly beautiful face. Her gorgeous figure. Her kind soul.

"Thank you...my fair lady..." Steelven spoke softly. "You've saved me two times just now. By healing me, and by bringing back my heart with you from your absence."

Steelven smiled a quaint smile that showed not nearly what he was feeling at the moment.

She smiled back at him, gold-yellow eyes meeting his again. "You've saved my life a hundred times over in our time together, my dear Steelven" she whispered, brushing her free hand lightly against his face mask. "I think we're even. But here, can you stand?" she got to her knees, and offered him her muck-free hand, aware that he was likely more drained from the ordeal than she was. "We'd best get you down to the medical bay, to make sure there isn't any deeper damage."

From the radiation, or my quick healing she thought, worried. Her first aid had, perhaps, saved his life, but she was worried it had done some damage of its own in its haste.

Meanwhile:

Semmarv finneshed replacing the armor pannel that he had patched on the Cruiser. He was very tired after toting the Armor pannel over to his ship. "Glad that's done." He climbed in to his ship and Taxied out of the garage to his ship's hangar section. Getting out, he decided to look for the masters he had had this little adventure with. "Wait till the other's here about this!" he thought. Semmarv was surprised to see that the Aven and master (or at least, he thought she was a master.) Havec were gone. No sings of a strugle, maybe Havec was moving this "Aven" to a safer spot. "Or maybe She's loading him into a ship to flee." Semmarv said out loud. No, He would have passed her in the halls. He Inquered of the droid the way she had gone. The droid indicated the way she had left and added: "The Patient went the same way some few minutes later sir, I tryed to talk him out of it, he's realy in no contion to be out and about. But he..." Semmarv cut him off: "Yes. Thank you. that's what I needed to know." he didn't feel like hearing the droid through. He knew how long 3PO's could talk if left unninterupted. Semmarv uncliped the Training lightsaber from his belt, though he did not activate it yet, and made sure it was at a leathal setting. He didn't like the Idea of the creature Raziel had tracked and fought running lose. He headed off in the derection he, or it, had went.

Steelven took Havec's hand and stood up. "Alright then." Steelven agreed.

Steelven then came close to Havec and grabbed her arm gently. He squeezed it with care and ease. "You-you're for real...it's just so hard to finally be at ease to know that you're alive. I'm going to have to get used to this." Steelven smiled his wry smile.

"Shall we get going then?"