A special Delivery

~\*{ SPECIAL DELIVERY }\*~

One-shot: Continuation of A Gift From The Gods

IC: Kas'sparr Bathori / Terrogate Artifax of Tolliere

Location: Batorine

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music: "mountain" by, Jonathan Jeremiah

https://youtu.be/nVc96vPYEHY

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After being woken by his Master, Terrogate, Kas'sparr had made his way to the stone circle near their home. There in the darkness of the night his stepfather was waiting for the young horned Chiss for his next task. The Cathar led him away from the sacred circle, along the stream where they spoke about the force. The fear of becoming like the ones who broke his mother, Kas'sparr rarely used his abilities. Terrogate tried to teach the boy that the force wasn't good or bad but neutral power that flows through everything and connects all. He wanted to help him reconnect with force and use his abilities.

The Cathar led him further into the deep forest until they reached a clearing, a perfect circle with the blood trees, each of them a face being carved into the trunk. As they took a closer look at the carved faces,  Kas'sparr noticed the similarities to his mother. His master suggested to use his psychometric abilities on the carvings and when he did it confirmed it were indeed depictions of Darth Bathor. The native Bloodcarvers started worshipping her when they connected her to the flourishing of the forests.

Together they made their way to a hill overlooking Blood Carver village, where Terrogate informed his Apprentice of his task. A sickness has spread between the natives and the boy had to deliver medicine and herbs to the altar in the village.

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In the dead of night Kas'sparr stood on top of a hill overlooking a Blood Carver village. Next to him stood his stepfather, his master, who had just told him about his task. "Are there any questions my son?” Terrogate asked the boy. He shook his head "No master, I know what I have to do." he spoke with confidence and smiled "I'll be back before you know it" and he grabbed the bag with medicine and herbs. On his shoulder C00-K13 began to beep excited "calm down Cookie, of course you are coming with me. We are a team remember" Kas'sparr chuckled and walked to the edge, pausing there to have a better look at the village. The moon stood high in the pitch black sky, and its silver light gave a clear view on the small town below.

The village was nestled into the side of a mountain, on ledges that were connected to each other with narrow carved out steps. On each ledge, hidden between bushes and trees, tents were scattered around. Small streams of water ran through the primitive village, cascading down several waterfalls into a deep cavern separating the village from the foot of the hill that they stood on. An old stone bridge seemed to be the only way to cross the deep cavern but the bridge wasn't the only stone structure. On the highest level of the village stood a temple and in front there was a small grove with a statue and an altar. That was where Kas'sparr needed to drop off the bag but there were several guards patrolling the small town he could see them walking around holding fire torches. The bridge itself had at least eight guards he needed to sneak past.

"We have do be quiet Cookie and no lights." Kas'sparr said softly to the droid as he put the bag around his other shoulder. The BD unit beeped softly in confirmation. "Ok, let go." He said and looked over his shoulder, giving his stepfather a nod before he began his descent.

Using the shadows of the trees Kas'sparr climbed down until he reached the foot of the hill. As quiet as he could he sneaked through the bushes closer to the bridge where he peeked through the undergrowth. He could see four Bloodcarvers at the beginning of the stone bridge, they carried primitive looking bone swords. On each side of the bridge stood a fire torch, the flames made the golden skin of the insectoids shimmer. The natives had always been keeping an eye on his family but Kas'sparr had never seen any of them up close. Only now he noticed how dark their eyes were and that they had beak like noses with tattoos on their nose flaps.

Instead of hair they had sharp spikes that hung at the back of their head. 'Kriff, don't think we should underestimate these guys' the young horned Chiss thought to himself as his eyes fell on the three long sharp claws the Bloodcarvers had on each hand.

As Kas'sparr moved closer towards the bridge he could hear the guarded speak, it was a language he wasn't familiar with and he noticed that the colour of their noses seems to change lightly as they spoke. 'Must have something to do with their mood' the boy thought and he wondered what their mood was now as he still had to pass them to get to the bridge. He took a deep breath and used the force to cloak himself and the little droid on his shoulder. The boy understood that he wasn't powerful enough to disappear completely so he still used the shadows to sneak past across the road to the side of the bridge. To save his energy he lifted the cloak as soon as he reached the foot of the stone bridge.

The cavern was too deep and the waters too wild for Kas'sparr to swim across, he had you use the bridge but that wouldn't be easy. The bridge consisted of five large arches with four big pillars, that carried the weight, that stood with their foot in the wild river. He moved closer to the edge to look for a way to cross. The bridge was old and over the centuries the mortar had corroded, creating gaps between the large blocks, big enough for the young horned Chiss to hold. But to cross the bridge he still needed extra strength, so he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to connect to the Force.

Using the energy to give him that extra strength he grabbed hold between the blocks. When he had enough grip he started to move, slowly to the left, his legs hanging as he shimmied over along the first arch. When he reached the first pillar he found footing on a missing block and took a moment to recover before he continued. But when he had reached he didn't find any footing, "kriff" he grunted softly,  realising he would have to continue without a break. His fingers hurt, and drops of sweat formed on his forehead as he shimmied further over the wild river below him. "thank the lord" he responded when he reached the third pillar and was able to recover. After a minute or two he was ready to continue, he still had to cross two arches until he would reach the otherside.

"Ok Cookie, here we go again" he said softly knowing that the noise of the river below him would mask the sound. Connecting to the force again the young apprentice grabbed hold on the blocks and slowly moved to the next pillar and after another break he made it across.

Hiding the shadow of the bridge the boy could hear more guards. Again four with primitive weapons stood at the start, talking to one another. Now he had to cross a street, only now he was able to see that they were actually paved but covered in a thick layer of green moss. The guards would see him if he'd cross the street, there weren't enough shadows to hide in and his cloak wouldn't be enough to be completely invisible. He didn't want to risk it so he had ro find a distraction. Suddenly he got an idea snuck a little closer towards the guards, and using telekinesis he started to pull at one of them. The guard was shocked and said something to the other three. This time Kas'sparr used telekinesis to move one of the two torches. Now all four responded in shock, they didn't understand what happened. And when the torch lifted in the air and away they followed it curiously. After a few meters Kas'sparr dropped it and the four guards cautiously stepped closer to it, allowing the boy to cloak and sneak across the street where he could hide in the shadows again.

The boy smiled as he could see them poking their swords at the torch that lay on the ground. Now that they were distracted Kas'sparr moved quietly to the first set of stairs. When he stood on the hilltop he saw guards patrolling the streets, he knew they were there but now he was unable to see them. Therefore at the foot the stairs he paused and used the force to sense if the coast was clear for him to ascend the stone steps. His senses weren't strong, therefore his reach wasn't very far, but in this case that was the point he needed to know if the guards were in close proximity. Lucky for him he did not sense them, he did sense faint signatures of Bloodcarvers sleeping. It was the middle of the night, so most of the villagers lay asleep in their tents so it did not surprise the boy that he picked their signatures up. As quiet as possible he snuck up the steps and behind the tents towards the next set of stairs. He had to climb all the way to the highest level where the altar stood.

As he passed the tents heard the slow breaths of the sleeping Bloodcarvers, Kas'sparr was surprised that with the size of their noses none of them snored. In the pale moonlight he could see a waterfall at top of the next set of stairs. The sound of water cascading down the bedrock became louder as he approached the stairs, and as he moved closer he could see there they had created a wall to make sure no water would flow down the stairs onto the lower level. There was a small wooden bridge that was connected to the stairs and went over the gushing waters.

When Kas'sparr finally reached the stairs he didn't need to use his senses, he could hear footsteps on the wooden bridge and an orange glow that moved closer. It was one of the patrolling guards holding a fire torch in his hand. Just before he came in sight, the boy quickly hid behind one of the nearby tents. Made from hides and a thick kind of canvas he could only see the faint glow seep through. As silent as he could he waited for the guard to move on, but it didn't, the guard stopped on the other side of the tent and seemed to move closer. Worried that he would get caught, Kas'sparr felt his heart racing and placed his hand on his lightsaber, ready to defend himself. But then he heard the sound of movement inside the tent and soft whispers. For a moment he listened as he heard two Bloodcarvers, the guard and a female inside the tent softly talking to each other. 'Must be his own tent' the boy thought and felt relieved. As the guard kept conversing to, what he thought to be their mate, Kas'sparr took the opportunity to sneak up the steps to the next level.

The gushing waterfall had splashed over the stone steps and the bridge making them both slippery. Nearly slipping he made it across before the guard had emerged from the tent. Quickly Kas'sparr got in the shadows and took a moment to get his bearings. As he looked up from the bushes, he saw a guard two levels above him, standing on a small wooden lookout platform.

To avoid being detected by the lookout he pressed himself against the rock face, and moved towards the next stairs. He was getting closer to his target but the altar was still two levels up and to drop off the bag he still had to snuck past more guards. With his eyes up to see the look out he hadn't noticed two more guards that now stood at the top of the next stairs, lucky for him his droid did and squeezed his shoulder to alert him. "Ouch" he said and instantly looked and saw the two guards. "Shit" he softly said and looked over his shoulder and saw the other guard was now back on his post as well. "Ooh, double shit" he whispered realizing he was stuck. He moved closer to the stairs and waited quietly in the bushes, praying that the two guards would move on….. but they didn't. Kas'sparr was pinned down,  one guard behind him, two in front and even one above him..

A slight panic came over him, worried that he would get caught. Hopelessly he looked through bushes, across the cavern to the hill where his Master was waiting. He wondered if the Cather saw in his much of a mess he was. Suddenly the little droid jumped off his shoulder, "hey, where are you going" he softly said knowing that the waterfall would mask his voice. But the little orange droid didn't respond and disappeared between the bushes near the very edge. 'Great, even my droid abandons me' Kas'sparr thought as he helplessly stared at the ledge.

But after a few seconds the droid popped up again and started to jump excitedly. "Calm down" Kas'sparr whispered and snuck closer towards his little friend. Staying low between the bushes he tried to understand what C00-K13 had discovered, softly beeping the BD unit pointed him further, closer to the edge. "I don't understand, what do you mean 'a tunnel'?" He whispered. Kas'sparr crouched and pushed the branches aside and to his surprise he saw what the droid meant. It was indeed like a tunnel, a narrow ledge under the overhanging rock.

His helplessness was gone and he smiled brightly. "Yes Cookie" he exclaimed happily and lowered himself to his stomach. The overhang was low, he had to crawl underneath. C00-K13 went ahead, the small droid easily made his way under the overhanging but the horned Chiss had to move slowly. Again he could hear the sound of water up ahead, and as he looked he saw another waterfall sparkling in the moonlight. Slow and steady he moved closer, the stone was wet from water drizzling down over the overhang and moss had grown all over it making it more slippery. Adding to that disadvantage the bag around his shoulder kept getting stuck on the rock making it even more difficult. Moving further the water pounded loudly down the overhang and for a moment the boy dared to look over the ledge. The drop was at least 20 meters, his eyes widened "oooh kriffing hell" he said and felt the bag on his shoulder moving. Is slided to one side, to the edge, shifting the weight making the boy nearly lose balance. "Oohh shit!!" He quickly pressed himself against the rocks again but the bag was still hanging to his side. Again felt panic, worried that he would drop the bag or worse that he would fall to his death. Slowly he reached for the bag, but when he did so he could feel himself slipping so he put his hand back on the stone to keep balance. The bag moved more to the side and dropped, it was hanging over the edge almost pulling him over as well. Quickly he reached out to the force and tried to move the bag with telekinesis…

Slowly the bag moved, up and over his shoulder until it lay on the moss covered wet ledge. Relieved her pet out a sigh and pushed the bag forward, crawling further along the ledge, sandwiched between rocks. After nearly ten minutes he had finally made it to the other side. He was now on a small ledge that wasn't part of the village but there stood a large tree that would allow him to reach the top level. But first he took a moment to recover and calm his nerves.

With the bang over his right shoulder and the BD unit on the left, Kas'sparr stood at the foot of the tree. There were no branches within his reach but because the tree stood closely to the rockface he could squeeze himself between it. Augmenting his strength once more he pressed his back against the flat surface of the rocks and placed his feet on the rough trunk. His hands low, on the rocks as well, that was he could slide himself up each step his feet made. Slowly he moved up against the tree, it took a while before he reached the top level, where he pushed off against the trunk and landed on his back. Using his senses he already knew that the coast was clear and didn't have to worry about any of the guards, but still, when he got onto his feet, he remained in the shadows.

Staying alert he moved quickly towards the altar in the small grove. As he moved closer he could finally see the details of the statue that stood by the altar. It was a blood Carver but this one had curved horns like him and his mother, they even had gilded tips that shimmered in the pale moonlight. C00-K13 jumped off his shoulder onto the altar and started scanning the statue while Kas'sparr took the bag off his shoulder and placed it on the stone table. As he scanned, the BD unit beeped softly. "Yes, I'm sure mom mom will love to see it as well." The blue skinned Iktotchi responded softly as he gazed around. He saw a small opening between the trees that lead to the temple, now he had a choice to make: go back to stepfather or explore the temple now that he was so close.

Cookie chirped, telling him that he was done scanning. Kas looked down at him, then over this shoulder to the way back, and back in front towards the temple. The little droid bleeped questioning him. "I know.. but we are here anyway.. we could have a quick look." His curiosity was stronger than anything, Kas'sparr had to take a look and walked towards the small opening between the trees. Cookie jumped off the altar and followed his master between the trees. Only a few meters away he saw the entrance to the temple, large square pillars covered with a thick layer of red moss and dark green vines. Using his senses he approached, and slowly walked up the steps, he didn't pick up on any life signatures inside. "I think we are alone, Cookie" he whispered as his hand touched the red moss on one of the pillars. It was pitch black inside the temple, to avoid any attention he told his droid not to use his light, and relied on his natural gift of night vision. Inside the walls were also covered with the red moss, which absorbed every sound. At the end of the corridor he saw a silver light, the entrance to the main chamber.

As he moved closer, Kas'sparr was able to look into the next room. The silver light came from the open ceiling, that shone on a beautiful blood tree. As he stepped over the threshold his feet became wet, the centre room was flooded, and only now he heard the sound water trickling down the stone walls. Cookie hopped through the shallow water to the tree and used his scan. "A statue?" Kas'sparr asked, responding to the droid as he stepped closer. To his surprise the tree was indeed only a statue, but carved so detailed that it looked real. "Hmm I wonder why" he asked as he touched the delicate carved out leaves. "Maybe this is a depiction of an ancient bloodtree, one that is important to the natives? Do you understand the inscriptions?" he looked hopeful at his little friend who gave a sad bleep. "That's ok, maybe mother can decipher it" Kas responded with a smile and gazed around the room. His eyes fell on a door on the other side and noticed the orange glow of fire burning. Instantly he knew that was where he had to go.

Again the little droid went ahead, and beeped cheerfully when he entered the next chamber. This room wasn't flooded like the other, and there were several torches burning. There were several statues that stood on both sides of the chamber, each dressed in a light armour and wearing a hood over their faces. Kas'sparr approached one of the statues to take a closer look. Like the other carved statues he had seen these were just as lifelike. "Wow, these Bloodcarvers are craftsmen for sure" Kas'sparr whispered as he touched the stone figure. Behind him C00-K13 had been scanning the room and started beeping. When the boy turned, he saw that his little droid friend stood before the wal at the far end of the chamber. Between two pillars, a map was carved out on the wall, two fires burned in front of it and down against that wall stood a pedestal with two bracers displayed on it. "Oh wow" his jaw dropped as he approached.

Standing before the pedestal he noticed a plack on the wall behind it, again he wasn't able to read it but at the bottom there was a symbol of a black three fingered claw. "Hmm interesting, I wonder what says" Kas'sparr softly mumbled as his eyes moved down to the bracers. "Wow, these are beautiful Cookie" he continued and at once the little droid jumped up.

Taking one of the bracers of the display he holds it up to the light. The decorations were stunning, like everything else he had seen so far they had fine details carved into the metal. Turning the bracer around he noticed a blade and a mechanism, reminding him of the drawings of his mother. "These look like mom's bracers" he said as he pressed what looked like a button and at once the shining blade popped out. "Wow!" He said andre go for the button, immediately the blade retracted again. Cookie looked up at Kas'sparr and chirped. "I do.. but I can't take these" the boy responded and lowered the bracer. "These seem to be important, why else would they be on display here? I can't bring them medicine and then steal these." He wanted to place the bracer back but suddenly paused "but…" he looked down at Cookie "we can make a detailed scan.. and with moms drawings we can build our own." With a grin on his face he turned to the BD unit and held the bracer in front of him, at once Cookie began to scan the bracer. Kas'sparr slowly turned it to make sure the scan would show every detail.

"We better get going" Kas'sparr said as he placed the bracers back on the display. Cookie jumped on his shoulder and together they left the chamber. Knowing it would be light soon, the boy picked up the pace. Water splashed with each step as they crossed the flooded room to the exit. But then, when they stepped into the with moss covered corridor they stood face to face with of the Bloodcarver guards. "Kriff!" Kas reacted in shock, he had totally forgotten to use his senses to check if the coast was clear. The guards dark eyes stared at him, equally shocked, but also a hint of curiosity as he glanced the boy up and down. The blue skinned Iktotchi froze, he didn't know what to say or do and nervously responded "hi." The guard reached for his sword. Waving his hands in front of him he shook his head "no no no… no need for that." But the guard unsheathed his sword and started to yell in his native language. "Hey. I'm not your enemy " Kas responded defensive, realising instantly that it didn't look that way. The guard stepped closer pointing his sword, yelling at the boy. Then he got an idea, the boy tried to connect to the force and use his mind to persuade the guard. Calmly, with a soft voice he said "you will let me pass." The guard stopped for a moment and frowned, but then he continued his approach. Again the teen tried "you will let me pass" he said with more persuasion in his voice. Again the guard stopped he mumbled something and stepped aside. Quickly the young apprentice rushed past the guard and ran to the exit.

Outside he made his way to the grovel where several Bloodcarvers stood around the altar, examining the back. They looked up in surprise when they heard the horned Chiss approach. "Shhhiiittt" Kas'sparr said, but instead of stopping he tapped into the force and ran by, augmenting his speed. Like a flash he rushed by the Bloodcarvers who started shouting and followed. With the mob following him he was unable to go for the tree he used to climb to the top level, instead he turned right and rushed down the first set of stairs. Hopping from stone to stone across the stream and along the long ledge. Behind him the mob was on his tail, their noise woke up more of the villagers who stepped out of their tents. Every single one of them looked confused as the horned Chiss rushed by.

He descended another set of stairs, and zigzagged between the tents. Again, using the force he tried to speed up, putting some distance between him and the mob. Running across the plateau he could see the first light on the horizon and started to worry, as more light meant less shadows to hide in. With another burst of speed he put more distance between him and the guards and when he was out of sight for a moment he quickly jumped between the bushes here he hid. Moments later the mob passed and ran further.

After waiting a little Kas'sparr decided to run back to the grove and use the tree to climb down. There he had a choice, crawl back under the overhang onto the village or dare to climb down the rockface. Both choices came with risk. First he had to recover as he overextended his force abilities with the running. Cookie jumped off his shoulder and beeped softly. "I know. I messed up" Kas'sparr sighed and sat down against the tree trunk "the sun is coming up, going through the village is too risky" he added. The little droid hopped to the ledge and peeked over. "Yeah I know.. that is also risky. But I have no other choice." After fifteen minutes Kas'sparr felt he was steady to climb down the rockface.

"Come Cookie" he said as he got back onto his feet and walked to the edge. Nervously he peeked over, there were plenty of purchases but it was a long way down. The droid looked at him as he got down onto the ground and slowly slid his legs over the edge. With his feet he felt until he found footing. "Ok, get on my shoulder" he softly said as he started to connect to the force augmenting his strength and stamina to be able to make the climb. Lowering himself over the ledge the droid stepped onto his shoulder. "Ok… there we go" and slowly he began to climb down. In the distance he could still hear the Bloodcarvers, it was clear they were still searching for him. Avoiding the village was the best move, but when he reached the foot of the mountain Kas'sparr still had to cross the cavern.

With sweat on his forehead and breathing rapidly the boy hid between the bushes. Slowly and as quietly as he could without the force,  he snuck towards the bridge, this time he approached from the otherside. The sun was up, there were no more shadows to hide in. His connection to the force was weakened because of overextending his powers during his descent. peeking through the undergrowth he saw the four guards were still there..he had to distract them but didn't want to use more of his powers. With his hand he felt around until he found a large rock. 'This could work' he thought to himself and threw the stone across the street. Instantly the guards were altered, and two of them went to investigate. Again he searched for a rock, and when he found one he threw it further. A third guard joined, leaving only one at the bridge.

He snuck closer, and when the fourth guard moved his gaze to the guards Kas'sparr jumped out of the bushes and used the little power he still had left to sleep up, and like a flash he rushed over the bridge and pushed the guards on the other end of the bridge aside. Lucky for him the guards didn't follow as they were confused about what had just happened. Quickly Kas'sparr jumped between the bushes where he dropped onto the floor to catch his breath. "We... did... it Cookie" he said between beet breaths… "we better… get… back to … Terrogate." He added and got back onto his feet.

Remaining between the bushes, Kas'sparr slowly climbed the hill to meet his master….