dust-covered tomes (closed)

[Takai Konrad]

**The scent of old warn paper and warn dust-covered bindings was the first thing that the young girl noticed as she entered one of the libraries housed within the halls of the Sith Empire's HQ. She slowly pushed the door open with both of her hands; which were covered by an oversized faded crimson sweater. Takai liked the libraries...they were quiet. There were hardly very many persons in them, either. Most were out physically training. She liked it that way, less people would question as to why one who looked to be eight years old (and that was at most) would be wandering around in a Sith library. Only books like violent tales of torture and tutorials on how to skin a person alive could be found here...certainly not a place for a child.

The library itself could be considered somewhat well lit with torches along the walls and candles on tables between the aisles of bookcases. However, even the light from the candles that could be held when looking up-close at a particular book did not cast enough light to reveal what the large bound volumes upon the highest shelves contained. But it was not these books which the young girl had come to read.

As she slowly crept down the rows of books, a thud and not-so-soft cursings made her look down an isle. An apprentice had dropped an older book and several of the pages had fallen out. She smirked and watched as the pages blew away from him in what was normally a draftless room...child's play.**

[Takai Konrad]

**Takai continued towards the back of the library where the lighting became worse and the rows sparser until only there were only two torches lighting a smaller area. Another table sat there for one to sit and read at not that one really could with the dim lighting and only a single candle at the table to aid. Takai did not need to use it, her eyes were used to the darkness.
She let her covered fingertips lightly touch the volumes as she read off the names and titles in her head. Some were in runes that she had only seen once or twice before...others in wording that she was quite unfamiliar with.
Her hand stopped over a book with a deep scarlet leather binding that had black runes burnt into it. She pulled it off the shelf and walked back over to the table and set it down.
She pulled herself up onto the chair and sat on her knees, her elbows resting on the table as she blew the dust off the cover of the book and opened it.
There was a slight cracking sound of the off-colored paper as it was moved; as if it hadn't done so in ages.
It was a book on Sith sorcery. At least, that is what the runes on the cover suggested. Takai's father and mother had never taught her to read such things...she had just simply learned on her own for her own pleasure...or perhaps it was the will of the Darkside.**

[Jedah Lynch]

Yawning the great Sith mage stretched out his hand to the candle where the flickering flame was snuffed out by his thumb and finger. The small contact with light jarred him awake enough as the tomes piled before him lay half open and spread out on the solid oak table seven hundred years old. Many of the books were thousands of years old themselves.

Researching the old arts and techniques was a pain staking and tedious duty he had placed on himself. Seeking to learn that which many had forgotten or lost in the untold millenniums of conflict and political upheaval within the Sith culture.

So much had been lost. There was still much more that had been hidden away, these books with their ancient smells and chipped brown sheets of paper that lay with markings both common and mysterious held much information. Information that led to power and answers that most sought to claim.

Many would seek to master these secrets that lurked within these books that looked plain and sometimes beautifully crafted. The foolish never yielded any results. Those who had did muster some ounce of ability to work the arts more times than not ended with failure and blood stained walls laced with bits of the caster itself.

Black, purple and blue lightning flowed through his veins as he held out one hand channeling the vast amount of energy that raged inside his body began to focus and strike outward wishing to be released. Running his hands on the old symbols he repeated, attempted to repeat the words carefully. Each word needed the proper pronunciation and spoken volume.

It burst forth outwards from his palm, enough dark side energy to cause a storm that would cause buildings to shudder and tear free from their foundations while assaulting the very ground around them. Than when the power was at its peak it died in silence.

A sigh escaped forth from the Sith Masters lips and reluctantly he stood up and rubbed his eyes annoyed with himself. The words did not come easy nor the task of discovering their exact meaning. Too many hours had he tried to find them with little more than meager success as his reward.

In truth the progress was normal. It was the fact few others had enough knowledge or ability to add any insight of discover what he might not see or overlook that bothered him. The art of dark side spell casting was all but an lost art. While many Sith did tap into the force granting them abilities or powers beyond that of mortal man not many could call on elaborate deadly spell castings or those that fully allowed illusional diversions. Those were two mere specializations in the known arts.

Far more existed.

His eyes shined in the dark with a dull green hue as he walked past from the table littered with the books. Dark black robes with crimson red markings on the shoulders and chest blazed forth marking him as one wise in the Sith ways. So few others in this majestic place held the same reverence and understanding of the secrets within. It troubled him although it did not show upon that face of cold stone and piercing eyes.

Those who did walk the halls and read the sacred text were often those of high rank able to learn and use the arts to a small level of degree. Daring and ambitious Sith apprentices walked in the large room from time to time. This night in the corner of his eye he saw an slightly puzzling sight. An oddity.

A young girl. Far too young to be an Sith apprentice. It must be one of the other orders children. It had wandered in here, wandered in a place it should not be. And "it" must be taught the errors of its way.

Behind the small dark haired girl he approached with silent intent. When he was directly behind her he gazed past her shoulder to the page before her and he could swear he heard her reading it, pieces if nothing else. Words she should not be able to read.

In a tone not of a question so much as a command for an answer he spoke.

"What are you doing here"

[Takai Konrad]

"…I am reading."

**The answer came after a moment of silence. There was no sarcasm in her tone, in truth, it was downright emotionless and hollow-sounding. The young girl did not look away from the book, despite the strong presence in the Darkside she felt behind her. There was no fear or guilt coming from her; she had answered the question with no hesitation and the thought that she was not supposed to be there had not even come close to entering her thoughts.
A few seconds passed before she finally looked up from the book. She knew she had not been left and was now slightly curious as to know why.
Takai slowly turned away from the book and looked upon the Sith Master. Again she spoke in the monotone, cold voice that she had earlier.**

"...Why do you desire that information?"

[Jedah Lynch]

Apparently the girl was oblivious to the fact of who he was and how dangerous a predicament she now found herself into. The female should have been taught better or risen wisely enough to know her place at an early age. Life in the dark service was one of constant peril and death awaited those that made less than satisfactory actions in the presence of the dark ones that trudged their ways through the holy halls.

Children from an early age who were the offspring of the Sith were taught far more important things than tolerance and love. Ways to disable, maim or kill another were common place at the earliest ages, the ways to battle and learn strategy burned into their minds during long sessions where pain was the reply when a lesson was not properly learned.

This girl had quite clearly been not taught the Councils faces and those that sat upon cold thrones made of grim stone. He could strike her for her insolence. The thought of doing so to see her expression and if the tone of her voice would have more expression than too fled his mind.

"I seek information no matter how small it is."

With one arm bent under his cloak to his side gesturing to the room he let those cold green eyes stare down at her. "This place is where I find that information. You are not suppose to belong. Why are you here."

[Takai Konrad]

**Not belong? The idea had never come to Takai's mind until the Sith Master had said it. Part of her wanted to question that fact, but the majority of her mind was screaming at her not to. Her father had told her of those on the council, but had never shown her what they looked like. However, what he told her was enough for the young girl to know that the man before her was one of them. Anger flooded through her, aimed at herself for not realizing who the powerful Sith was. She would no doubt find a way to punish herself later for her stupidity.
All these thoughts she kept to herself, locked behind many mental barriers. She hated people reading her thoughts and knowing how she felt; not that the child ever felt many emotions other than anger and pain. She had never been one of those "happy" children.
Takai lowered her gaze to the ground in a sign of respect for the one before her.**

"I have told you why I am here. I was reading. I wished to better myself because my father and uncle will not train me, due to the request of my mother.
I meant no disrespect to you, or these texts. I will leave here and not return if that is your wish."

**A soft breeze came from around her, just enough to make slight movements in her hair and oversized sweater. She never knew why it happened, the breeze was always there when she was put into her place and had her eyes downcast. Quite unlike what happened when she was put full of rage.
Takai never deliberately attempted to disrespect anyone of the Sith. But more often than not she found herself being yelled at by her father for attempting to end the life of, or tormenting, her twin brother.
Again she kept the thoughts to herself. Keeping her barriers up. They were one of the few things she had asked her father and uncle to show her how to do before her mother told them to stop. Her mother feared her...but for reasons no one in her family, or Takai herself could understand. Nor would they find out, now that the woman was in a coma.
The young girl waited the Sith Masters words. Words that she was certain would ban her from the only place where she felt comfortable anymore. The books were like a second barrier to her. One that kept her apart from the other children around the Empire…the children she loathed being compared to.**

[Jedah Lynch]

Eyes that burned with forbidden and haunted darkness continued to gaze down at the child unforgivingly or without any remorse of pity or any look of caring. Swiftly he rose one arm up bent at the elbow and slung his hand out besides her.

Inches beside her face the Siths robed arm hung, his hand pointing to the book she had been minutes before busying herself with. A hand ran over the surface of the page she had been studying at, his eyes focusing on what they held with dark designs.

Shifting his eyes back to her he could sense her sullen mood at the way he spoke to her. It was easily visible on her face and the way she acted. Much like any child scorned by an adult. There existed however a trace of dark worth here he knew.

"Why were you looking at this. And what does it say."

[Takai Konrad]

**Her gaze followed his hand back to the book. She heard his questions and took them in, starting to think of an answer she could say that would not anger the Sith Master any farther. She would have to be truthful again.**

"I was reading it, because I have done so before. I was trying to perfect something. As for what it says; perhaps that would be best if I showed you rather than spoke it."

**She kept mindful of the Sith Master, fully aware he could kill her as she turned around and crouched down and opened a small black pack that she had placed by the chair. Takai reached inside and pulled out a small box and placed it upon the table. Returning to the chair she had been sitting on earlier she picked up the box and opened it, turning it upside down and letting a small, dead bat drop out from it.
She glanced back at the book before biting into her finger. She didn't wince in pain like a normal child would, but rather glanced back at the page she had been reading, then Takai slowly let her blood drip onto the bat as she spoke in the language the book was written in. The young girl spoke slowly, making sure to get every word right, not wanting to suffer consequences of a misspoken spell.
Then, suddenly she stopped and sat back in the chair, letting out a slight sigh.
There was a small squeak before the wings of the bat started to move; one of it's wings flapping wildly, the other now was seen to be broken. As it moved it's head the large gash that had caused it to die in the first place could easily be seen.
The young girl did not smile at what she had done. There was no joy in bringing such a pathetic creature back to the world of the living. The bat was merely a test subject and the young girl had to suppress the sudden urge to destroy it again. She would wait to see what the Sith Master would say, first. In her mind, there were no expectations for the powerful Sith to be pleased, rather she expected to be told to leave the library and receive some sort of punishment.**

[Jedah Lynch]

She was too young.

The thought ran in his mind upon viewing the scene before him.

While she may not had peformed any great miracle or task she had accomplished an act that should not be by any measure of the word possible for one of her age. Her reading of the words equally should have been impossible. The language was one far too old for but for a few skilled languagist to know and if they started from scratch in their research it would take years for them to understood the words, find the difference in vowels and even the pronuctation of each word could be a challenge.

With a quick motion of his arm he placed his palm on her forehead, staring dead ahead at her he began to read her through the force. There was something here. What was this child that she could do what she did. Her parents was not the cause of her abilities this he knew, they had not shown they had studied any such works and through all his works in the field of genetics the simulations had not provided any un natural occurance in their offspring when they breed. The Sith master did like to keep tabs on potential future prospects that would have a strong connection to the force so he himself could use them in his own plans once born, if the parents objected there were easy ways to silence the protest.

Having the genetic scans, medical and otherwise did so help the master prepare for the future if not attempt to alter it to his whims. And there was such a huge population to play with in that regard, so much genetic potential to turn and bind to form an greater being.

Pushing the thought away he glared at her.

Nothing had indicated she was special. Not until now at least.

It was not a great mystery however.

The force itself manifested within the bodies of people at different rates and speeds with some cases being individuals developed abilities that they would nor would an common Sith be able to perform.

If she had been born with an uncanny ability to translate beyond that of her years the force could have also enhanced her skill, likely it was just the force and that was all that mattered.

Approaching one book shelf he ran his eyes over the covers until he found the one he sought. Removing the brown book with an golden insignal on its casing he placed it before the girl and flipped through the pages until placing a finger on the passage he wanted.

"This, read this."

A test.

A small one but a very good one and not without risk.

But only to the girl.

He doubted if she could manage such a test but it was worth seeing for now.

[Takai Konrad]

**She had watched as the Sith Master had placed the book before her and frowned slightly. There had been several times that she had passed by the book and felt drawn to it. Once she had even taken it from it's place but had quickly put it back, not yet feeling ready enough to attempt it.
Now it sat before her, a passage was pointed out and she was told to read it. She moved to her knees again so she could see the text clearly. Taking a deep breath she looked down at the book and focused upon the words set there.
Slowly, Takai looked over the part that the Sith Master had instructed her to read and frowned ever so slightly again. It was harder to understand than most of the languages she had learned. The young girl allowed her eyes to wander to the sentences before and below the ones she would have to speak. As she continued to let her eyes scan the book, brief images began to form in her mind.
A few minutes went by before she finally came back the the passage that had been pointed out. She never could explain how she could understand such things, though there was a part of her that knew it had something to do with the Force. It was not as if the language of the book had shifted to be a familiar one, she could just...read it and understand.
Taking another deep breath she nodded to herself, feeling confident that her mind was not lying to her with the images and words it was providing. To say she did not feel nervous would only be a partial truth. There was obvious danger when reading books of this type, it was a danger she was well aware of. But unlike many others, she was not afraid to lose her life if it had to be because of an error on her part.
And so...after a final readying breath, she put her small finger underneath the passage to keep her place and slowly began to read the words, focusing fully on them, rather than the possibility of the many consequences that could come if she was just a bit off.**

[Jedah Lynch]

Crackling low almost inaudioable it began to form around the young girl, to a normal human it would all but be a slight annoying feeling that one could not describe. The Sith looked on in a sly and uncompromising stare to see how well she could handle this. It was more of a sense of tingling in the skin, a feeling of something that should not be triffled with for those of inexperience.

An uneasy feeling to most that spoke of danger and damnation for the caster.

The words from her young voice came and he listened to each and every single word, how she spoke them to see if she mispronunced or errored in the slightest and he focused on the effects of the casting. A shimmering dark blue and lighter blue outlining the crackling energy rippred forth three feet from the girl that blazed with strength by every further reading of the passage.

The girl was not faring too badly.

Than a streak of sizzling lightning came forth from the mass of energy striking her in the upper right shoulder burning flesh and clothing knocking her back. The energy roared and pulsated and than focusing on its caster let several more tendrils of lighting striking the floor around her narrow missing her form.

Unable to lock on and destroy the target with the smaller cast of lightning it hovered there and then found her position and shot forth ready to engulf the young girl.

A black form impossible fast leapt behind her and covered the female before the energy could hit. The Sith kneeling with one arm hauling her close to him and another arm with his robes that hung loose from his arms and dangled in the air met the charge of the burning blue mass.

Blinding light and the smell of flesh and cloth burning flowed into Takia's nose, when it was over the young girl was free to lower the arm from her eyes. No trace of the energy lingered, and she was not harmed save for the earlier lightning strike against her.

Standing behind her stood impassive the Sith Master, his right arm from elbow to hand was burnt, scorched and hung in tattered pieces of skin, one finger even showed a piece of bone. The smell was sickening and heavy. He was able to fend off the burst but not without some personal cost. An eye moved to her to see how well she had fared if not phsyicaly than mentally from the event.

[Takai Konrad]

**The events happened too fast for her to fully grasp what had happened to make things suddenly go wrong. The burn on her shoulder was only a slight annoyance, the buzzing in her mind however, was throwing everything off. The energy had hit her so suddenly in her concentration it had broken it, breaking the constant barriers she held. Already her mind was beginning to piece them back together, but unfortunately she had not been taught how to avoid the situation completely, and was now suffering from it.
The few candles in the area flared up slightly before she closed her eyes and shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. Opening her eyes slightly, she finally managed to realize what had fully happened; and her attention quickly turned to the Sith Master that had protected her from the full onslaught of the spell.
Takai blinked and looked to the man behind her before speaking softly.**

"You require medical assistance..."

**The fact was obvious, but it was the only thing she could sort out to say from the thoughts that continued to rush upon her. She was having trouble containing the most basic of them, seeing as how she was constantly keeping incidents hidden; ones she wanted no one, not even herself, to know about, remember, or even have a hint that she was hiding them.**

[Jedah Lynch]

Attempting to move his arm in the slightest the pain told him not to push his luck, the scars, blood and puss that flowed from the badly burnt arm was a warning and indeed Takai's words of him requiring medical attention was sound and more importantly needed. Gripping a small vial from beneath the folds in his robes he emptied the contents into his mouth than produced a second small metal case with a needle which he soon injected into his charred flesh.

The pain was intense. It took a great deal of effort to maintain the pain threshold control needed for such an wound being wrought on the body. Keeping the arm straight he dared not to move the appendage for it felt as if his skin would finish falling of his arm and the bone underneath would stand open and bare for any to see.

Taking out a small device he spoke a few words to another on the end of the communications. "Follow me if your wits are still about you girl."

Yes he would need some medical attention and that would easily be done, a check of the girl would be prudent as well for some examination of her could wield some results of her abilities that may lay hidden. The force had given the girl an unique gift, it would serve him well he knew.

[Takai Konrad]

**The sounds, words, and memories were quieting down again. Her barriers were almost fully replaced and it was slightly calming to know that she would not have to keep such a tight guard on her own thoughts again. In that state, she was slightly distracted and now she could return the majority of her attention to the imposing Sith Master.
She nodded after he had spoken, a small sign showing that she would follow him. However, out of respect, she connected the motion with quiet words.**

"Yes, sir."

**Although she was not sure why he wished her to follow him, she was forming ideas in her young mind.**

[Jedah Lynch]

Metallic arms shifted stretching out as needles filled with medical nanobots were sent into Lynchs blood stream. Each were sent out on a pre determined course to repair the damange done to his arm, his fingers twitched as other medic droids saw to the burnt flesh and began to repair the more servere ruined areas of his tissue. As they healed or completely removed the dead regions they regrew the damage tissue and attached a layer of skin on his arm to replace that which had been burnt away.

During this the Sith Masters servent, one Luuke Skywalker attended to the girl, he said nothing to her as he took samples of her blood and placed her through various basic medical examinations to make sure the days events had not any adverse hidden damage done to her. Such a prized little specimen had to be in perfect health after all.

Three hours and twenty nine minutes later the Sith walked towards her, his arm had been mended best as possible, the skin would finish graphing itself and be perfectly healed in seven more hours. He held in his hand a small data pad that he read over the examination done of the young woman. Nothing out of the ordinary was hinted. Nothing amiss from that of any other at her age.

Tapping the data pad he nodded for Luuke to go about his regular duties. In the corner of the room lay strapped to a table a man who had been cut open, the expression on his face held a terrfying truth. The person had been fully awake during the procedure. Several rooms next to this one and much larger held the Siths labs where he had cloned some before and tested subjects for any possible genetic oddities had arisen during their life span.

"How long have you been able to read books like the one you did earlier. And do your parents know of this."