Latest Acquisition (Auron)

[Razielle Van-Derveld]

Master Van-Derveld sat at her desk awaiting the arrival of a potential new student. A young man who she did not quite have the story on, but she was familiar with his former master who simply did not have the time to commit to his training at present. Since the apprentice was young and impressionable, Razielle had decided to intercede and take an interest in redirecting his training in the Darkside.

....he was late. She had sent for him quite some time ago and the thrall she had sent had returned to respond that the boy had been found, and the message delivered that she was awaiting him in her office.

Still no sign of him was forthcoming.

She drummed her sharpened nails atop her desk until the sound set her own nerves on edge and then she narrowed her eyes and concentrated on the apprentice himself.

"Disciple Auron. My office. Now." Her telepathic words would ring in his ears until he presented himself.

[Auron]

The young disciple, Auron, had spent the morning but a short while outside of the Sith Temple. He had rather recently been drawn to a cliff that overlooked the wide steppes of Munto Codru, evidently smouldered by the thick shrouds of Dark Side energy since the Empire's settling of the planet. Auron had felt an unexplained desire to be in this place, but he was not sure why. Yet it was as if he yearned to be there.

When the nameless thrall came to him with Master Van-Derveld's summonings, he intended to take his time but still with the intention of going, though he became distracted when he noticed a black scorpion-like insect emerging from the cracks in the dry, blackened ground, no doubt scouring for food. The following hour consisted of him gradually removing legs, pincers and the tail of the beast for his own amusement. He watched, fascinated, without emotion as he pulled apart the creature while it squealed and screeched for respite. The ringing of Van-Derveld's incessant commands in his ears was enough to drive him to impatience, and in a fit of rage the boy clenched his hand into a firm fist and brought it down without hesitation onto the dying insect, its black-green insides smearing his fingers.

By the time Auron arrived back at the temple, the blood had dried around his fingers. He paid no mind. The pulsing red of the temple's interior was oddly soothing, noted the boy as he sauntered to Master Van-Derveld's office. The occasional Sith shot an intrigued glance his way as he passed, some seeming as though they almost recognised him, but just as quickly looked away, returning to whatever they were doing. So many of the people here angered him beyond words, and yet he only partially understood why. As he arrived, the doors to his new Master's office opened for him. Stepping in, his eyes met those of Razielle Van-Derveld's.
"I come."

[Razielle Van-Derveld]

"So I see.", she remarked dryly.

The vacant chair on the side of the desk opposite to Razielle pulled itself out with a noisy scraping of heavy furniture across the cold stone floor. "Sit."

"Explain to me why you think it is acceptable to take your own time in arriving to a summons from a Council Member of the Sith Empire."

That he was a younger member of the Empire would not save him from her wrath, should he incur it. At the moment, she was more interested in discovering the source of his utter lack of self preservation and respect, than dealing with punishment however.

[Auron]

The Master was furious. Even with but a small, unharnessed shimmer of the Force flickering inside of him, like a newly-lit lantern, Auron could feel the Sith's growing rage directed towards him, and it made him feel empowered, fortified even. It was such anger that he enjoyed, and relished in experiencing. He did not consider why, not often, but he was frequently plagued with dreams of fire and raw emotion, and had learned to develop a devotion and attachment towards it.
"I was killing things," he told the Master, truthfully and plainly. His head and eyes flicked freakishly around the room for but a few moments before returning to the Van-Derveld. To those who knew him not, the very notion of hierarchy seemed to be lost on the boy, but it could not have been farther from the truth. He had respect for the Master, that much was true, and he thoroughly understood her power and what she could offer him in the long run, but he was driven by many forces for many means, not all of which would peacefully fuse. He would not bow willingly to anyone. He was his own, and nobody would understand him.

[Razielle Van-Derveld]

Master Van-Derveld took in the dried smears of blood covering the young man's fingers. She arched a brow. "Bugs, from the look of it. Tell me, did they put up much resistance? "

In truth, she was more annoyed with his tardiness than angry with the circumstance. Killing things, that was all well and fine she supposed.

"It is only through picking apart something bigger than you, stronger than you, that you will grow as a Sith. That is the nature of conflict. Anyone can squish a bug. Perhaps I'll take you to Korriban and introduce you to something a little more terrifying and see if it takes you apart, hmmm?"

[Auron]

The suggestion of going to Korriban, whether it was intended as a threat or not, was enough to instil a moment of excitement within young Auron and, for a moment at least, he actually seemed a child. His eyes widened out of the narrow slits they had been up until that moment and his brow stretched back.
"Would you?" The thought of the Sith homeworld gave him shivers. He knew much about it, its history, its tombs and the legends that resided within them. He could only dream of the knowledge that rested on that planet, and yet, he had no recollection of where he had learned all of this. The knowledge was simply just there, but he tried not to dwell too much on it.

He did understand what Master Van-Derveld was telling him. He would have to tear apart greater subjects than simple bugs, no matter how much satisfaction the bugs' inability to fight back successfully provided. He closed his eyes a moment, and his mind was suddenly plagued with visions of fire, of blood, of intense anger, too much to bear. Auron scrunched his brow. There were terrible screams.
"I hate you with every fiber of my being, and I know just what to do to make this right."
"Fight me! Fight me! Fight me!!!"
"I am General and Gladiator to Betrayal.”
And in a flash, they were gone. Auron's eyes opened. The Master Van-Derveld was there, all was still, and Auron broke the silence as if nothing had happened.
"I understand."

[Razielle Van-Derveld]

His eagerness to be brought to Korriban was not exactly the reaction Razielle had been going for, but nonetheless it brought a smile to her face. Now she had a bit of leverage over the young one. The promise of Korriban and all it's dust covered danger and blood dripping history was enough to entice him into a bit of compliance, perhaps.

"I would. If you prove yourself a promising Sith apprentice. Otherwise it would be a waste of my time."

For a moment there she could see that he did understand what she was trying to explain to him about that nature of conflict and how it would help him to progress on his path as a Sith. That moment was disrupted by a swift vacant expression that came over his features as his mind wandered to something else... what that distraction was, Razielle could not say, but he recovered quickly.

"Tell me, Disciple. What have you learned so far? Have you received any training at all?"

[Auron]

The sudden attack of vision dwelled on his mind, as if something important was being told to him, but he could not understand what it meant. He pushed away the thoughts as deeply as he could, yet still his mind wandered, as it often did. Despite such mental meandering, his desire to train and understand the ways of the Sith were genuine. He remained still, looking to the Master with a seeming greater focus.
"I have not."

[Razielle Van-Derveld]

"Well then you must begin at once.", she concluded. "We cannot have you being the weakest link. Someone might come and try to pluck your legs off or something. What a hideous disappointment that would be.", she grinned, flashing a set of shiny white fangs.

Rising from her desk, the Sith Master moved to one of the many sets of shelves lining her office walls, looking for something suitable to use as a focal point for the young man. In the end she decided upon a skull. The truth was - she had no idea whose skull it was. It was not something she had procured intentionally, it was just a skull. The remains of some long dead Sith of no renown, otherwise it would have been found buried in the dust of Korriban, not loitering upon her shelf in that sort of dust..

"Here we are..", she returned to the desk and set the grinning headpiece down facing the young apprentice.

"The Force. It connects us to everything. Our surroundings. Alive or dead. It is in the air we breathe. It is in the way we move. It is in your mouth before you speak... Let it guide you, and you will become wiser for it. For now though, I want you to consider what I've said - that you are connected to everything surrounding you and focus on the skull. When you can understand the concept, you will see the connections. When that happens, I want you to use them to lift the skull off the desk."

[Auron]

The young boy was silent, holding the Master's words close and contemplating them deeply. He closed his eyes, and behind his lids he saw fire and death in slow motion. He took a deep breath, partly to expel the sights and partly to calm and prepare himself. He continued to breathe slowly, contemplating the Force further, and finally he opened his eyes again, concentrating on the skull itself. It gazed back at him with unmoving, sterile silence, yet he sought to look past what it was as a skull and instead considered the Force. As he did so, he could feel his cranium grow hot, burning fiercely as if consumed by fire. His brow furrowed at the pain that subsequently followed, yet he persisted, saying nothing, pushing himself beyond the fires and smoke that plagued his inner eye. He grit his teeth, keeping his eyes fixed onto the skull, and after several long moments it seemed to struggle into life, twitching and buzzing atop the desk.

He began to feel a new energy around him and around the skull, resonating with both, and pushed further, determined to conquer. And within a single moment the skull lifted, slowly, gradually, for several inches, and then several inches more. But as if in a flash, his mind distorted, his vision blackened and his emotions stunned. He could see the fire around him, yet just ahead of him there was a hooded figure of black, standing alone. The figure turned to him, his clothes drenched in red, and he removed his hood. He was bald of head, and his eyes shone the colour of blood, and he could feel their burn the most, as if two ember coals placed over his own eyes.

And then just like that the vision was gone, forced away by a thudding sound, and he opened his eyes. Barely seconds had passed, but it felt like an eternity. Auron looked to the desk but the skull was no longer there, instead now shattered and split onto the floor in front of him, its teeth scattered. For the longest time he said nothing, for he could not speak, but finally he managed a few words when he returned his gaze to his master.
"Did I do it?"

[Razielle Van-Derveld]

With a hip leaned against her desk, Razielle watched as the boy closed his eyes and reached out with his mind for the Darkside, and the skull. He seemed troubled as he progressed. As though he were making a simple thing into something far more complex in his own mind, yet it was effective enough. The skull lifted, raising into the air off her desk and rotating slowly.

And then abruptly it hurled itself the the floor and shattered into a mess of bone and teeth. She arched a brow. "I...suppose.", she answered.

"A bit more control would be fantastic. Next time try it with your eyes open, you'll see better that way, and my curiosities won't be destroyed.", she muttered the last.

"Again." With a gesture, the Sith Master called another object to her desk before the boy. A glass gazing ball.

[Auron]

Sighing heavily and hard, the boy did not nod, and barely acknowledged what his master had said to him, but he obeyed her instruction nonetheless. Though solemn in nature, he felt a rush of some sort surge through his body as he began to sense a energy surround him, the Force itself, manifested through its Dark Side, and from that he grinned.

This time with his eyes fixed upon the gazing ball, Auron's brow furrowed as if seeking to understand the glass itself, searching for that same energy that had surrounded him mere moments before, and as if he was calling it to him, suddenly the ball began to tremble. Instinctively, Auron raised his hand in the direction of the ball as he attempted to in some way echo his feelings and intentions towards it, and in return it slowly started to rise. He pushed more, wanting to show to himself that he could do it, and wanting to impress his master, and yet something slipped beyond his control that he could not quite place, and the ball began to crack from the centre, moving outward to the surface yet not reaching it entirely.

A trickle of sweat fell from his brow as he gradually let himself move the glass ball back down to the table's surface. He exhaled long and hard a moment, and inhaled in equal measure before gazing back to his teacher.

[Razielle Van-Derveld]

"Disciple Auron. Future lessons will be conducted out doors." The Sith Master's tone was deadpan.

With far more control than the new student, Razielle lifted the gazing ball to her hand with the Force, twisting the orb so that the crack was easily viewed. "Hmm.." That sort of damage was most often caused by skills like Resonate, the sort that implied tearing an object apart from within. That it had been accomplished by an untrained boy was impressive. She set the object down, with the control of her practiced mind.

"You will go to the training grounds, or outside the temple walls and practice this skill. I want to see control. By tomorrow you will show me your progress. You will lift an object, move it on a path of my choosing, and set it down without breaking it, or I will have you moved to the ranks of thralls that become target dummies for advanced attacks, like how to explode an organ within the body."

She smiled. "Am I quite clear?"

[Auron]

Auron's eyes were fixed upon his master's face, and his fists were clenched slightly as he nodded in acknowledgement. If he ever allowed himself a moment to relax, the boy might have actually been proud of himself for the slight accomplishment, but he would rather use that time to improve, for he hungered for more.
"I will," he assured her, eyes unmoving yet heavy.

[Razielle Van-Derveld]

It was laughable, she never pegged herself as the mothering type when she had been young. Yet, it was who she had become. The mother of the lost.. Not only Vega's miscellany, but extending beyond toward cases like Kazrah, and potentially this boy, if he could be trained..

"We shall see." Disenchanting the locks upon her office door, she gestured that Auron was free to go

The following afternoon, she sent for the Sith Disciple again. This time he was to be brought to her upon the mountain slopes beyond the Sith stronghold. The fading sunlight angled just so that it was a chore simply to see. A further distraction for the apprentice to overcome for this first test of his. A hooded robe gathered around her Nightsister lizard-leather armor, Master Adrasteia observed the task set out for young Auron. Claw marks marred the bark of some of the trees scattered along the steep slopes. They made a particular circuit that ended at a rather flat stone slab. She had the object to be moved, all that remained was for the apprentice to arrive.