From ashes to embers

[Arikos]

Dathomir

At first glance, one might assume that the dense obscurity ensconcing the western tree-line of the forest was mist. Upon further exploration, it would be determined that it was, in fact, not. The air was dry, thick, and mottled grey with ash that clung to one’s form upon entry. Birds and other beasts did not vocalize their presence and the lofty star that bathed their world in crimson did not colorize this somber realm. Much like stepping into purgatory, one brought into existence after the cataclysm, this plane seemed unending, inert, and unfeeling.

There was, however, life amongst the barren landscape. A seemingly solitary, cloaked figure stood within a clearing painted in pallid gradation. An energy bow was braced at the ready against leather armguards trimmed in fur, his face shrouded by a generous hood. His masculinity was defined by his broad, chiseled structure and emphasized by the inscribed armaments otherwise adorning him. His deliberate breath stirred ashes in the air but other than the almost patient rise and fall of his chest, he was unmoving. Poised, head slightly cocked as his preternatural senses desperately searched the silence...

There.

His movements were executed with militant precision and suddenly the lusterless world was awash with unnatural light as his calloused fingers nocked the energy bow. Scarlet illumination spilled across the sharp angles of his face and his eyes, which had been closed until now, opened and became singularly focused on a breach in the woods before him. No one made it this far without her knowing…