Dark, dry and very very unnerving. Those were the words Nishikiy would had used to describe this environment he'd ventured into. The dark stone vaults, cold floors with some sort of roots crawling from the space between the floor tiles. Walls of these narrow hallways and corridors were covered with carvings of pained faces and statues which seemed to be struggling to hold the whole tomb above from collapsing onto the people forced to venture in these dreary paths.
The tall zabrak, a humanoid alien with dark red skin and small horns. A body build like a springy branch of a tree, strong, flexible. Or that was how Nishikiy usually thought of himself when seeing his own features. Right now however, on this hostile planet of Korriban, the home of Sith Order and forced to tread trough an old tomb of a warlord long since gone, he felt vulnerable, small and weak. Fear. That was it. Among the slaves, he'd been one of the strong, yet when facing his masters, Nishikiy had, like all around him, bend his knee in fear of death and punishment. Born a slave, wearing the shock collar since his birth, he knew fear. Or so he'd thought. This fear that surrounded him however was of different kind. It was not a person or idea. This place had "presence" unlike anything he'd ever felt. It was a kind of fear and awe he could not help but admire. Even in death, this old sith lord had greater effect on him than most of the living he'd ever met.
Shaking off the paranoia, man forced himself to focus on task at hand. With hasty steps, man followed his target, the person he believed had the key to surviving this place. He had nothing but one clue on tracking her in this tomb where darkness and many twists and turns made echoes, making it impossible to track by sound alone. But he had an alternative. Scent of a female. Despite the grim situation and surroundings, Nishikiy could not help but grin on the fact that he was tracking the sith acolyte ahead of him based on her scent. "But where are you going?" he asked from the darkness. It was clear from the twists and turns she was taking that she had a goal, but to him it appeared like she was not aiming for exit. This was suggested by the way she chose to venture deeper underground, crossing bridges over chasms and choosing staircases further into darkness. In the beginning, Nishikiy had tried to keep track of turns and way so he could return on his own if necessary, but after what he believed was 30 minutes in the darkness, he had given up on trying to memorize the path. He just did not have the brain for it.
Suddenly the path came to an end. Stopping on his tracks, Nishikiy halted his steps, staying by the doorway as the corridor opened into a large hall. The edges of room were filled with soldiers made of stone. Trough sculptures, yet the sheer amount of almost 40 of them made it impressive regardless. In the midst of it all, there was a platform and stairs leading up to it. And the short woman was climbing those ladders to the sarcophagus placed at top. With utmost carefulness to step silently, man sneaked closer, curiosity getting the better of him. The woman reached the large stone chest or sarcophagus, and crouching over it she leaned to reach for the bottom, forcing herself to stand on the tips of her toes to keep balance. The small devilish voice in zabrak's head made remark about the view she offered him without knowing, but it was silenced by more serious one, and the curiosity what was hidden there. Could it be some ancient sith artifact? Who was this woman who'd been given such map to this location?
Straightening up, the young woman pulled the out the item she'd been reaching for. A sort of disappointment flushed over Nishikiy at the sight of an old, but well kept vibroblade. A short sword, the length of blade approximately 60 cm, it was designed to be able to parry even a lightsaber. This weapon was the most common tool in training of sith in swordsmanship, and it was also part of equipment many soldiers were given as personal deflector shields had become common good in galactic warfare against the blasters. Of course it was far from the elegance and efficiency of a lightsaber, but then again it's cutting power and durability made it a formidable weapon in hands of an experienced fighter.
These details aside however, even if not an powerful artifact, this weapon very valuable in situation such as this. None of them had had any weapons upon entering, and now this woman possessed a working vibroblade. Or at least man assumed it was working, but so far as she wouldn't use it, he could not tell for certain. "So that is what I felt on my way down here..." The woman said out loud softly, turning towards Nishikiy's general direction. "... You were following me all the way here? Weren't you?" she asked, starting to walk down the stairs, the blade drawn, trailing her steps few centimeters off the ground. Cursing quietly, zabrak stepped away from the doorway and into the dim light of chamber. This had become extremely dangerous for him in matter of seconds, but he did not intend to run. Not yet at least. He had an ace up his sleeve which he was pretty certain the woman did not posses. "Indeed. You must have realized that even if most of us did not see overseer give you the chip, everyone did see you read the message in the darkness of the shuttle?" he replied, starting to slowly walk sideways, which caused the woman to stop her advancing.
Despite her boasting a weapon, it appeared the zabrak did not intend to run away? No, the way he moved suggested almost a duel. He was not backing off. If it was pride and foolishness, or a trick, she could not tell. "It doesn't matter if you people see or not. In this world there are no rules. Only the victor, and the dead" woman answered sternly, following zabrak into the circling was the way of the Sith. The strength above all. You'd hunger and crave for it, and you'd rise. You'd ignore it and it's call, and would be destroyed by those who'd use you as a stepping stone on their path to glory.
The two circled each other like lions baring their fangs, preparing to fight for their territory, their future. "My guess is that you intend to try out your new toy on my skin?" Nishikiy inquired with self irony from his foe. "I have heard your race is sturdier than most.. So you would make a decent try out, and a good start on ruling out competition" dark haired woman replied with velvet soft voice, a small chuckle escaping her lips at grim joke. Giving back a grin, man stopped walking around, collecting his thoughts, reaching into his past experience about the Force. He'd need it soon. "Alternatively, I could use that blade myself, and I've yet to experience killing a woman" he shot back at her. "You are not a screamer I hope? I have sensitive ears". Giving one last chuckle, the woman shook her head. "No, I am not. But I wonder if you'll be?".
It took Nishikiy a few seconds to grasp that she was attacking now, so fast were her movement. The first thing that alerted him was the hum of the vibroblade's cell activating, causing the blade to heat up in a second. As if carried by some unnatural might, petite woman charged on him, closing the distance before zabrak could react and slashing at him with strength and ferocity man wouldn't had guessed. Throwing himself to the side in less than gracious motion, he managed to dodge the rising horizontal slash. Hitting the stone floor with a slight grunt, he spun on his back to see the woman leaping at him again. Backing off with all speed he could muster, man got up, yet could not fully regain his posture due to the aggressive attacks of his enemy. Cursing under his breath, he took note on the look on her face. It was like she was in trance, the joy and excitement showing from her face. "Come on! You can do better than that!" She taunted him, stopping her own attacks for a moment. Catching a breath, Nishikiy finally managed to regain his posture and with a low growl, answered: "A bad call to give me room, woman...". Focusing on his screaming survival instinct and desire to wipe away the smirk on her face, he threw his hand towards her, reaching for her with his open palm and fingers. The scent of electricity and the static noise filled the hall as shock of lightning shot out of his hand, throwing alien's hand back with painful grow. Yet the bolt of hate-filled electricity had departed, and it hit the unsuspecting target with ferocity, tossing her back several meters and releasing a high pitched howl of pain from human as the shock ravaged her body. Shaking his head to cast away the sparkling stars and pain from his hand, Nishikiy shot forward, running for woman who was still crouching on ground, clutching herself as the aftershock shook her body. Yet still, the sword was firmly in her grip. With a shout, zabrak kicked woman's side. If lucky, the more fragile ribs of human body might not be able to take the pain and he could finish her off.
This was not the case however, and he realized his mistake as the girl's hand shot out, wrapping around his leg while her feet spun into air with a wild kick straight towards his lower stomach. Gasping as air left his lungs, zabrak collapsed on top of her, the two engaging in a tangling mess of hand and feet dead set on harming other person. Multiple hits were exchanged, yet none truly lethal due to the close proximity of combatants and lack of room to gather strength behind blows. And then the low, ground shaking growl caused both of them to freeze. "What... was... that?" The woman, currently pinned under larger zabrak male, asked. Both turning their eyes to the darkness of the doorway and the corridor, they smelled it. The inhumane stench of something's breath. And the silhouette which blocked the whole doorway. "Is that what they call... Sithspawn?" woman asked, recalling old tales about horrors of Korriban. "That, or it is the descendant of tomb owner's pet.." the man answered with a mere whisper, observing how the enormous creature which seemed to consist of spikes and teeth only entered the room. The two looked at each other, their eyes saying same. They couldn't care less for their earlier fight right now. "I am Nishikiy and I wish to have a temporary alliance with you and your sword". The woman nodded without hesitation. They could try killing each other later. "Numini. Now get off me before that thing eats us". That was the beginning of an very odd and eventful friendship.