[Tahiri, Kul’tak] Beastmasters Unite!

This is a continuation of fiction that started in the ACC battle between Tahiri Drakon Night-Thorn and Kul’tak Drol during the [GJW XII] ACC Phase I - Winds of Change.

“If you’re willing to listen?” Tahiris’ words were echoed by the booming thunder overhead. What is he going to say? Hopefully he’ll listen, she thought to herself as she watched him carefully considering her words.

“Are we to keep fighting and waste our energies, instead of doing something more productive?” she coyly asked as her blades fell to more relaxed positions. “Like I said before though, we can still help each other, and there are ways for an alliance to be forged, and stay in our own clans.”

Sheathing her black blade, Tahiri gave Kul’tak a genuine smile of sincerity, as she transferred her red blade from one hand to the other. “So what do you say? Could we talk somewhere a little drier, or shall we just keep trading sword blows until one of us slips off this wet platform?”

Lightning flashed across the sky, intensifying the moment, holding out her free right hand as a sign of truce. Hopefully he will consider it. He is a powerful ally to have. And Kul understands me in a way that no one else has ever done before.

Kul’s head tilted to the side as he contemplated the Togruta’s words. His body was hungry for a fight now that his primal instincts had been awoken, but he stifled its call even while his adrenaline began to spike. She was offering to ally, with no need for him to force her to submit! This was the best case scenario he could have hoped for. A partnership formed from their mutual desire would thrive much stronger than one created through fear or submission. Even though Kul followed the Sith code to an extent, he was more than happy to achieve his goal through easier means if it meant finally having a hunting partner.

Having made his decision, Kul slid his blades back into their sheaths and crossed his arms in front of his chest. Tahiri gave him another one of her bright smiles. The sight made Kul’s heart skip a beat, and he felt the heat of his blood-lust dissipate. She mirrored his actions with her own saber, but rested her hands on her hips as she awaited his response patiently. Though she would prefer not to wait long. The rain was beginning to chill her bones.

“I take it you accept my proposal then?”

Kul blew some water off the end of his nose.

“I know a place we can go that’s a bit drier. I’ll send you the coordinates. Oh…,” he continued with a sly grin, “…and bring your akul.”

Mid Rim
Iridonia

As the Zoehumai’ru settled into a soft patch of sand after its landing sequence, Kul paused in the Delta shuttle’s swivel chair. He knew that he’d be unsure how to feel had he ever returned to his birthplace, but now that he was here he found himself surprisingly calm. Even more surprising was the rising energy surging through his blood. He was actually excited.

Swatting the tail of his cloak out of his legs, the Zabrak strode down the exit ramp and into the glaring rays of the Iridonian sun. The warm feeling from older memories were quickly replaced by a feeling of repression, as if his mere presence was unwanted.

How dare you return here, after leaving them to die?

There was nothing I could do against the Sith.

You were weak.

So I became strong. I obtained my revenge. My family rests in peace now.

Doubtful, considering what you became in order to do so.

Kul felt his hands tighten in anger and he shook his head to dispel any more conflicting thoughts. Perhaps there were still a few parts of his old life that were not yet shrouded enough. So he focused his attentions towards the reason he had forced himself back to his home planet: the hunt. It wasn’t until he gave a full scan of his surroundings that he noticed Tahiri had already arrived as well. The Togruta female was squatting casually beside her rented transport while she drug the tip of a small vibroknife around in weaving patterns through the soil. At her side rested a large akul, its orange fur and thick neck muscles marking it for the predator it was. Glad to see she’d brought her creature companion along, Kul tilted his head and concentrated on the area inside his ship. It did not take very long before two massiffs came barrelling out of the exit to roll in a disheveled heap at his boots. He shook his head at them and started walking towards Tahiri. With a silent command from their master, the massiffs fell into step beside him on each respective flank.

Tahiri looked up as her ever-watchful akul, Solan, perked up at an approaching shadow. Its shade fell across her even as her pet began to show its teeth in defiance of someone daring to approach its master. The figure had approached with the sun to its back, so the Togruta raised a hand to get a better view. Not many were brave enough to approach a full grown akul on purpose, so she had a pretty good idea of who it was. When the invasive light had cleared enough for her vision to focus, she saw that she had been correct. She smiled out of amusement when she saw he was squinting even while keeping his hood tight about his face.

“You know if you didn’t cover your eyes all the time you might be used to sunlight.”

Kul huffed before reaching up to grasp his hood. His hand hesitated a moment before he threw the hood back to bathe his red skin in the penetrating rays of the sun. His grimace was obvious, but he refrained from commenting and instead flicked his eyes to the jungles waiting nearby. This was not one of the jungles he had hunted in as a youth, but he knew deep within its brambles there was a worthy prey awaiting them. The shrieking scream of some aviaries emitted from the emerald sea of leaves, telling Kul that their prey may be on the move. He squatted down beside the Togruta and drug a nail through the sand.

“Have you ever hunted a Reek before? Every Zabrak male hunts one during their Selenoren to prove their manhood. It is no easy feat as the beast is large and aggressive, but together we shall hopefully make short work of one. It will take time to lead one into our trap, but I assure you the wait is well worth the prize. So…think you can handle it?”

Tahiri flashed him an eager smile while nodding. “I think the real question is ‘can you keep up’?”

Now it was Kul’s turn to smile, though his Zabrak demeanor kept it short.

“I do like a challenge.”

Seeing Kul’taks’ smile was like a breath of fresh air, she felt like all she wanted was to make him smile. The only other person who actually smiled, a sincere smile around her, was her brother apprentice. Very few Sith actually smiled in a sincere way. Something about Kul told her that the Zabrak could smile more, but chose not to. Or was forced not to.

Standing, she heard a slight intake of air from Kul, casting a quick glance to him Tahiri started to smirk, though quickly hid it. As the Zabrak, now wide eyed, had just realized the simple leather clothes she had on. Instead of putting on her second set of her Assassins Armor, she wanted something a little more natural to herself. Tahiris’ simple tribal clothes were much more revealing, worn more for modesty then for comfort, which showed off much more of her lithe muscular body, and the black flame markings on her arms and legs. She preferred to hunt in these clothes than the other ones.

Solan growled a bit, he was looking back and forth between Kul, as he stood up, and his pair of massiff’s. Tahiri looked over her shoulder and sent a calming reassuring thought to Solan. The Akul sniffed the air cautiously for a moment, then huffed and got up to stand closer to his master. He rubbed against her, still eyeing the Zabrak male in his peripheral vision.

“Solan, it’s okay,” Tahiri as rubbed his head. “This is Kul’tak Drol. He invited us here, so be nice. Or else I will go hunt with him and you will stay to guard the transports.” She flashed another coy smile at Kul as she add that last threat. Looking towards the jungle, Tahiri got her mind back into the task ahead. He likes challenges, huh? This will be interesting. She had wondered if Kul had brought her here to be put through some kind of trial period like situation, to determined how truly trustworthy she could be. She completely understood this, she knew Kul’tak was trustworthy to a degree, and would take this opportunity to test him as well.

Another flurry of activity within the canopy ignited Tahiris’ hunting instincts, every fiber of her being was poised for action. Solan began to purr, feeling her anticipation and anxiousness for the hunt rising through their connection. “You may want leave your cloak behind,” she suggested, tilting her head slightly, but keeping her eyes fixed on the jungle.

Kul shook his head, another smile tugging slightly at his lips, “Hmm, yes the brush is dense in there.” Undoing the clasp he let the cloak fall from around his shoulders. “Shall we get to hunting then?”

“Hold on, I have to do one quick thing first.” Tahiri stepped forward, turned on her heel and stood facing Solan. Reaching up and placing her hands on either side of the big cat-like head, the Togrutan placed her forehead against Solans’ broad furry forehead.

Cocking his eyebrow, Kul watched them in wonderment, as the woman and beast closed their eyes together, and then straining to hear, as Tahiri whispered something in Togruti to her Akul. After a moment of silence, she backed away and took a deep breath, as did Solan. Lekku and ear twitching ever so slightly in sync as both opened their eyes. Solan shook himself, and then stretched forward as he slid up to his master, rubbing against her like a kitten would.

Giggling, Tahiri gently pushed the big cat away, running her right hand through Solan’s fur as he slinked by her heading towards the jungle. The Akul stopped a few feet away and then sat down on his hunches, looking back at Tahiri with longing eyes.

As Tahiri turned towards Kul, asking, “So, who are these two wonderful creatures?” Kneeling, she tentatively held out her right hand towards the Massiffs.

The question had almost caught Kul off guard, replying after a moment. “Ah, well, the male here is Shor’kir,” the Zabrak motioned to his right side and then to his left. “And she is Shar’kala.” With a motion of his hand and a welcoming thought, both Massiffs stepped forward to greet Tahiri. First by sniffing her hand and then her face as she stayed kneeling, before submitting to her caress.

“Ah, a male and female,” Tahiri stated as she gently petted the smooth reptilian like skin, and spines along the creatures backs. “They are beautiful.” Standing up, she looked Kul straight in eyes.

Their gaze stayed locked for a moment or two, until it being interrupted by a snort from Solan. Tahiri was glad that her skin was red, so that he couldn’t see her blushing ever so slightly, as Kul quickly averted his eyes. Kul looked at the Akul and then tentatively asked Tahiri, “So, if you don’t mind me asking? Umm, what was that all about?” His motioned from her to Solan, “The thing you did with him?”

“Do what, oh that,” it was Tahiri’s turn to raise an eyebrow, then a smile spread as she explained. “It is something I do before every hunt we go on together. I was reaffirming our connection through the Force and something, a phrase, my Father taught me, so that we can communicate, even when we can’t see each other.”

Pausing for a moment as the memory of her Fathers’ lesson flashed to the surface, she turned away slightly as her smile faded a bit.

“My Father would always say to me before the hunt, ‘We hunt as one. I am your senses, as you are mine. If you are safe, then I am safe. Together we prevail, apart we fail. We are one force.’ It is a tradition I now do with Solan.” She turned back to Kul, forcing herself to forget the past and focus on the now. Tahiris’ enthusiasm returned with the thoughts of the hunt, grinning as she said, “Heh, I just realized that you’re the first one I’ve ever told that to. Anyways, I’m ready now. Let’s go hunt us a Reek! What’s your plan?”

Kul gave an inward sigh of relief as her final question relieved him from having to respond to the statement before. He wasn’t very good at personal things, not to mention that just being in the Togruta’s presence was somehow intoxicating in itself. The last time he had recognized a female for her potential had been in his fight with Blade the Zeltron, and it had been forced out of him when her pheromones had left him reeling. He still held feelings of resentment about that day, but he knew Tahiri had no such weapon of the sort at her disposal and thus knew what he felt was something else. Surely it wasn’t…

The electric current pulsed through his body again, dragging screams of torment from his already ravaged lungs.

‘You belong to Plagueis, slave! You are nothing unless the Dread Lord wills it!’

The electrified rod drove into his side, and his existence was fire.

‘You serve only the clan! You obey only the clan! You love. ONLY. The CLAN!’

Each word was seared into his memory as the arcing tendrils grasped at every inch of him.

“…Kul? Kul are you listening?”

Tahiri cocked her lead to give her a better view of his face. She almost gasped aloud when she saw that his eyes had become darker. The red that usually outlined his orange iris had enveloped it, giving him the appearance of a wild beast. The pressure of dark side energy he gave off was repressing and triggered her instincts to get away. Instead she hesitantly reached out a hand, but before she could make contact with him his gaze snapped to her. His eyes had returned to normal, though he appeared slightly confused. The dark side quickly began to diffuse from around him, though it’s presence within him remained.

“Tahiri?”

“Kul, are you ok? What was that?”

The Zabrak’s eyebrows furrowed as he realized his mind had drifted off. Over time he had been able to rid himself of the brainwashing techniques used to initiate him into clan Plagueis, but every now and then certain triggers would pull him into some dark memory of that time. He could feel the remnants of his rage, and thanked the stars he had not directed it at Tahiri. He waved away the topic so as to avoid discussing it. Perhaps once he’d ensured he could trust her, but not yet.

“It’s…nothing. A small side effect of my training. It passes. Now. You said something about a plan? Ordinarily hunting a Reek is done by a Zabrak male alone on his Selenoren to prove his strength, but as I have already completed mine I am allowed to hunt the beast as I see fit. Since you’re new to Reek-hunting, we’ll keep it simple this time as one mistake can result in one becoming rather…well, flat.”

Kul waved a hand in the direction of their creature companions.

“Using our friends here we will flush out a Reek and they will drive it towards us. Done successfully, this will allow us to take a flank and hit it from two sides. A warning, though. Make your first strike count, as you may not have a chance for a second. Not that I doubt your prowess, of course, but the Reek is formidable when made to anger and their hides are thick.”

Tahiri nodded at every sentence, with wide eyes and a smile playing coyly at her lips. It wasn’t until Kul finished that he realized she was toying with him. He scoffed.

“You won’t think it’s funny when the Reek takes a few pounds off you with his horns.”

The Togruta placed her hands at her hips and feigned an insulted look.

“Are you insinuating I need to lose weight?”

Kul’s face almost visibly grew a darker shade of red as he attempted to speak while being taken aback completely.

“What…? No…I would never…”

As he struggled to re-establish his train of thought, Tahiri chuckled and pushed his shoulder playfully.

“I’m teasing, Kul. Come on, daylight’s wasting.”

With their companions in tow the two broke through the edge of the forest and embraced the smells and sounds around them, Kul muttering as they did so.

“Thinks she’s funny does she…Regular comedy master…”

He couldn’t fight off the smile that snuck its way across his face, however.

The small cadre of hunters stopped as they came to the edge of a small clearing. They had discovered multiple sets of heavy tracks snaking their way around towards one of the larger watering holes Kul had heard to be a popular gathering spot for the local herds. After a quick scan of the area and confirmation there were no other Zabraks (not that there should have been, the time for Selenoren was not yet approaching so the only other hunters would have been an entire clan seeking to replenish their mounts in preparation for the harvest season.), Kul focused his attentions on the group of Reek dipping their leathery mouths to the pool for refreshment. Most of the beasts were of moderate size, but the one that caught Kul’s attention was a hulking brute and obviously the herd’s alpha male. Seeing it sent a burst of adrenaline through Kul’s veins. A creature certainly worthy of the hunt. He turned to Tahiri, who was watching the powerful beasts with admiration. He hesitated as he took in the look of captivation on her face, distracted by her attractive features, but she noticed the movement and turned to face him. He quickly indicated the larger male Reek.

“See that one? If you like a challenge that’s the one we want.”

Tahiri nodded and measured the beast for herself. It certainly looked like it would make things interesting. A beast that large would probably be unable to sprint for long, or at all, so their advantage would be in mobility.

“How do you suggest we take it down?”

Kul gave her a sly look and nodded his head in her direction.

“What would you do?”

A test already, then? No. This is more likely an attempt to get an understanding of my hunting habits…

Tahiri looked back at the herd with a finger resting on her chin. “Well, a good start would be to get it separated from the pack. So we use Solan, Shor’kir, and Shar’kala to split it from the herd and lure it towards us. Since it is obviously the alpha male it won’t ignore a possible threat to its herd and should take the bait to chase them away. Once it gets close enough…we strike.”

She beamed at Kul while she pronounced her plan, and he nodded along with her.

“A good plan. Though there is a way to expedite the ending. You see, Reeks are not naturally over aggressive, but can be prodded into it when need be. You are correct that our pets could possibly draw its attention, but if it decides they are not a threat it will merely ignore them due to their size and assurance in the protection of their thick hides. My massifs for one could not do more than tickle its ankles. That’s a full-grown Reek, though…” He extended his finger in the direction of a couple of baby Reeks that were playing while the adults refreshed. “…whereas a young Reek has not fully matured its hide yet and is capable of harm from even a smaller predator.”

The Togruta nodded in understanding.

“And then the alpha will be forced to act regardless.”

“Then the fun begins.”