BENEATH SHADOWED BOUGHS
"Sleighbells ring, are you listening? In the lane snow is glistening... A beautiful sight, we're happy tonight, walking in a Winter Wonderland..."The eerie melody echoes through the quiet, snowy streets. A single line from a song so familiar to some, and yet there is no festive cheer that accompanies it. It whispers through the park, carries across
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[Despite his earlier warning, Saren had every intention of getting to the bottom of Nihlus' situation. It had been - disturbing - to say the least, to stumble upon Nihlus in the dead state of mind he was currently lost in. A completely blank slate, and no more than an unintelligible puppet, really. It unsettled him. Nihlus held no memory of anything about himself, nor of him. Not his death, not his betrayal.
Saren despised it, somehow felt insulted on both his own and Nihlus' behalf.
Nihlus was not some sort of mindless husk, but he might as well have been with the way he carried himself now. Still, it would've been a cruelty to leave Nihlus on his own. He had intended to, but he felt a certain amount of responsibility still to Nihlus as his former mentor and...friend. He took Nihlus in to - what - care for him? Saren snorted. After all he'd done, he owed Nihlus this much.
Saren scanned the area. Empty. Made his way toward the spot he discovered Nihlus. Narrowed his eyes as he spotted a familiar human - ah, yes, the human female from Shepard's crew. Williams, wasn't it?
He stared at her, the expression on his face unpleasant, then moved forward.]
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Something kept screaming at her to turn around and walk away. But she couldn't. There was something-- something important--
Maybe it was a sixth sense, maybe it was a sound, but something makes her look over her shoulder. Immediately she sights the seven-foot something futuristic dinosaur coming towards her, and she stills, sliding into a defensive stance.] What are you doing here?
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The same as you, I presume.
[The defensive stance did not go unnoticed by Saren. Foolish human. Did she honestly think to have any sort of advantage over him, like this? It was fortunate for her that he saw no benefit nor reason in killing her. If he truly meant her hostile intent, her death would have come all too easily and swiftly.
But Saren ignored her instead of further confronting her, and stopped his approach once he reached near the tree. He did not move any closer than he thought necessary, but he sensed something...off.
Saren scanned the area again. Nihlus had lost his memory, here - it would be wise to stay on guard.]
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Something was ... not wrong, but unexpected, about him. She notes the way he moves, the careful steps, the wary stop. His attention wasn't really focused on her at all-- she'd almost be offended at that, but the thought that there was something here he deemed worth his attention makes her pause. 'Same as you,' he'd said. Inspecting the tree, then, but with a great deal more care than she'd expected from him.
Maybe he knew something she didn't.
Her gaze follows him, and she turns as he moves, making sure to never give him her back. Maybe he wasn't going to immediately attack her, but that didn't mean it was all right to let her guard down.] What do you know about this thing?
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[Saren halted, and paused in the midst of his inspection. Though he could tell she felt threatened by his presence, he regarded the human nearby him with the same detached disinterest he held before. Ashley Williams was a human that he didn't know much of - all he could recall was that Shepard picked her up after his assault on Eden Prime (she had lost her squad, because of it), and that she remained a consistent part of Shepard's crew. There was something about her surname that struck out in the back of his mind, but Saren dismissed it. She was irrelevant.
Saren gave a derisive snort in response to her continued display of bravado. It struck him as a pitiful attempt to be in control of the situation.]
What makes you assume I know anything of it, human?
[Saren resumed his investigation. There was something here that affected Nihlus.]
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[Besides, he'd taken Nihlus. There had to be something to that. Saren didn't strike her as the kind of person to do something out of the good will of his heart.]
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[Saren's mandibles twitched, annoyed. He watched as the human edged closer toward the tree - even if there was no reliable knowledge of what it was or what it did, it was foolish to inspect it so carelessly. She called it a hunch - he had one of his own. He was reluctant to give the human any sort of consideration, but he doubted that Shepard would be pleased with him if she found out he could have prevented the human from suffering a similar fate to Nihlus.]
I would stay away from the tree, if I were you. Call it a hunch.
[There's a slightly mocking edge attached to his voice, and he resumed inspecting the ice.]
There's not much that I know. Nothing that is fact, anyway.
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Is that what happened with Nihlus? [Saren had to know something.] He got too close to the creepy tree?
[The lights were still dancing oddly under the ice, and Ashley had the faint feeling that this was extremely significant-- but she couldn't seem to focus on why that would be. It was actually hard to focus on much of anything besides the tree and the turian not ten feet from her, both giving her equally strong pangs of danger.]
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I assume that's what happened. I found him here.
[If they're going to get anywhere here, he might as well give her something to work with if only to shut her up and make her less of a hindrance. Although in retrospect, it might have been more ideal to simply let Williams get closer, watch what happened.
Nothing felt quite right in the given area.]
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She half expected it to spring to life and attack her, but it merely sat there, as if waiting for something.
Staring at it, she was struck by an almost overwhelming urge to touch it, to take those few last steps and close the distance between herself and the stark white wood. The lights swirled in a frenzy beneath her feet, and she leaned forward--
But no. No, she wasn't an idiot. And Saren's warning rang in her head, making her take a step back.
Indoctrination? Some sort of subtle, mental manipulation? She definitely had the vague feeling that something was wrong in her head, but she couldn't unwind the knot to figure out what, exactly, that was.]
Do you feel any sort of -- [And this may have been the first serious-sounding question she'd asked him at all] -- of-- push, or draw, or something?
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Crudely put, but, yes.
I would hardly leave him.
[Did she honestly expect that he'd - what - take Nihlus to Shepard's care? Seek out Shepard's help? He might not oppose her, but that didn't mean he actively sought an alliance with the Normandy crew, or something of the sort. Saren snorted, watched the human as she leaned toward the tree. One warning was all that she would receive from him. If she wanted to potentially endanger herself, she was more than welcome to. Might be worth letting it happen, even, to see if his hunch was correct.
But unfortunately, it seemed that Williams was a bit more intelligent than Saren gave her credit for.]
Yes.
[He answered her curtly. It did ring similar to indoctrination, but not quite.]
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