A Glimpse of Darkness

[Zagara Vao]

[member="Abyss"]

It was a cold night in Lessu as Zagara stepped back out onto the streets. The cold, but dry arid air of Ryloth blasted in her face once more - her red, leathery skin brushing it aside under the hood of her cloak. Behind her, another pub in ruins - another petty fight with humans, fellow Twi'lek, Gamorreans, maybe a Mandalorian or two. It meant little. At the end of the day, it was just another bar brawl she was unfortunate enough to be dragged into.

All this for what, mynocks? A few nuggets? Pride? Insipid little creatures.

Her bitter inner dialogue assaulted her again as she now wiped a little streak of blood from her nose. Her Z6 baton hung from her utility belt by heir waist, parts of it blackened by the burning electric current that ran through it, and others stained with blood. This was a good fight - then again, any fight where she walked away relatively unscathed was a good one. The nuggets, although necessary for survival, mattered little by now. Zagara was going on rage at this point, and Ryloth had no shortage of lowlifes to take it out on. Such was the fate of an ex-slave orphan, she figured. Life had given her no closure either - she tried to run from the past, but it screamed out to her from days long since past. She killed her friends, fellow slaves, her master, and for what? So that now she could wander Ryloth's surface day to day living like a fugitive on some days, and a scoundrel on others?

What'd mother say to me now?

Little more than a few paces down the street however, by the corner, a hunched figure too was out on the streets at night. Something was different however, something sinister, but something powerful. Her stomach lurched and her heart rate quickened as they approached each other - neither saying anything. As the two crossed paths and walked away from each other, immediately a flash - quick glances of nightmares long since buried along with childhood; disturbing visions of turbulence and chaos. She winced slightly under her cloak, but could hold it in no longer. The stranger was no ordinary Twi'leki, if he was even from here.

"Haly! (Ryl/Twileki for "visitor")", she broodingly but loudly said, still looking the other way. She then slowly turned around in the wind, her purple eyes now revealing themselves to the stranger as she stared intently at him. What was that you just did? Who are you?"

 

[Darth Abyss]

Ryloth. A world littered with thugs and lowlifes, with any male and female who felt the need to wastr the rest of their little money in hopes of finding their own exotic dancer. Abyss himslef had no real interest on the things happening on the world, it was just another place in the galaxy he could use to hide from the eyes of his enemies.

Normally he would spend most of his time outside of academy or the battlefield that wasn't used for his own research on nar shaddaa, the smugglers moon had turned into a second home for the acolyte. Now the one sith had turned to infighting and Abyss knew that if he wanted to stay safe he had to find more places he could use to disappear.

The acolyte almost would have missed the woman that passed by him if it weren't for ... something. A hint of darkness, a raw and primal power. He stopped but didn't turned around to answer her.

"I have done nothing daughter of ryloth. Not yet at least."

[member="Zagara Vao"]

 

[Zagara Vao]

"You speak in riddles, off-worlder."

Zagara mumbled and sighed with a grunt as she removed the hood of her cloak to be able to get a better look at the other cloaked figure with his back still turned to her. Her bright red skin stood out in the dead of night - almost glowing; just as much as her electric purple eyes that remained intently fixed on the haly. Underneath her earthen-brown cloak she wore little more than rags - or rags sewn into what barely passed as standard civilian fare, even for a ragtag backwater like Ryloth. Nevertheless, the fabric hugged around the her lithe form like how a Tusken Raider's would, yet the little Twi'lek oozed an inner confidence and smugness that she seemed to carry - with all her rage, all her disdain, all her anger.

Taking slow steps towards the Haly, but in no way trying to stealth her advances, she continued to probe him. "You're not from here, are you?", she queried with what was almost a smirk on her face - amusement. "What brings you here? Came to get yourself a Twi'lek girl like all the rest? You can tell me. I don't bite." At this point bystanders were beginning to notice the all too familiar setup to what they assumed would turn out to be another reckless duel in the streets. The adobe structures of Lessu and the dust roads felt cold and indifferent - as were its citizens, hardened and toughened by the planet's poverty and mired involvement in the galactic slave trade. It was a brutal setting, used to violence and oppression, yet there was something different about this particular encounter. The locals could feel it. The red-skin seemed far too cocky to be genuinely sizing someone up, and the mysterious figure radiated a confidence of his own - he didn't seem the least bit fazed: to be sure, a characteristic that impressed many here, Zagara included.

As she stoically and steadily approached him from behind, her boots kicking up dust from the ground with scratching noises typical of the arid climate of a backwater world, one of her hands moved to her waist to start unholstering her Z6 baton, while the other reached out in front of her and upward to try and find a resting place on the much taller mysterious figure's shoulder. Her friendly demeanor however, evident to whoever was observing, only served to mask the carefully selected words she softly mumbled - just audible enough for the man to hear: "Back there, you saw me. Heard me. What are you.."

[member="Abyss"]

 

[Darth Abyss]

Still looking away from her a small smile appeared in Abyss face. He could feel the dark side pulsating inside her, almost like it was pulsating inside himself. Almost. Her power was unfocused, lacking any control a trained force user would have. As he her hand landed on his shoulder the young sith turned around, slowly and precise, revealing his yellow glowing eyes to her as he looked directly into hers.

"I am what you could be if you are as strong as you think you are."

The words weren't mumbled like hers but he choose to at least keep his voice quite enough so no one else could hear him. His hand slowly moved to his belt, resting on the hilt of his lightsaber that was hidden under his robe. He opend his mouth once more this time speaking loudly.

"My business here is none of yours twilek. And I would suggest you leave it a that if you value your life even a little bit."

This was nothing more than a test of her character. The way she would react to these threads he made publicly would tell him if she had in her what he was looking for. Not like there was one right reaction but a handful of them he would show that she was worthy to learn what he could offer.

"Now is your last chance. Back of and go back to dancing for those fools."

[member="Zagara Vao"]

 

[Zagara Vao]

Moment of truth, Z.

Zagara shook her head and stepped back, her instincts telling her that not being able to see her opponent's hands was a good cause for maintaining distance. Thermal detonator? Frag grenade? Blaster? She'd seen it all, she thought as she moved about three paces back, her right hand now resting on the hilt of her Z6 as well while her other stayed low but in front of her.

"You really take me for a dancer, Haly?", she said with a smirk as, in one quick, smooth motion, she un-holstered her baton and extended it - the buzz of its dual electric heads coming to life with a low hum and a purple-blueish glow as Zagara spun it once and assumed a more defensive posture. "Oh I dance, off-worlder. But my shows come at a price - a price most people can only afford to pay once." By now a small crowd of bystanders watched from the sides - some from their stalls, others leaving the comfort of their houses of pubs of choice for tonight to watch the little spectacle. Lessu was home to scum, but not many had the gall or the guts to take their business to the streets - where the general public could see. In Zagara's defense however, whether there were onlookers or not was irrelevant to begin with. Threats were not something she took lightly - nor a slur, however common to her species, that reminded her of her past.

She clenched her teeth and tightened her grip around the Z6's handle as her vision narrowed, her spite unconsciously fueling her focus as her purple eyes squinted, her soft, red face illuminated bright purple by her power baton. "You've got a lot of guts talking trash to a Twi'lek", she said smugly and with a smirk again. "You'll find that this one doesn't always dance to a rhythm you choose."

And then, just before the average onlooker could exhale, the little Twi'lek took a huge leap forward, pushing off on her rear foot and leaping at her much larger opponent. The baton's live head spun from resting behind her elbow and thrust straight at him, rising in the pitch of its electrical hum as it veered off at the closure of her opening strike, and swung back again from the other side.

[member="Abyss"]

 

[Darth Abyss]

Without showing any emotion Abyss circled to the side, evading the first strike by simply getting out of her reach. A split second later the crimson red blade of a lightsaber ignited in his hand, blocking the second swing. His face still showed no emotion as he took a small step back and got in position. Left foot slighty behind his right, the lightsaber vertically hoovering in the air only kept there by his right hand.

"You have got a lot of guts for attacking a sith."

The sarcasm in his voice was obvious. He had no praise for her foolish behaviour. Her choice of weapon was ... uncreative at the very least, nothing more than an electric club. Her attack had strength but it lacked any finesse. There was potential but she had long way in front of her if she planned on using it. The first step would be to lose the obvious arrogance she showed. Such a simple emotion driven by pride and confidence but also such a dangerous if not deadly weakness.

The short battle had already showed him that she had no clue how to the power she had inside her. His left hand extend his fingers pointing at her chest. All his focus moved to the fire of passion that drove him, channeling it from his mind trough his arm and into his hand. A single blue lighting composed of nothing else but the dark side erupted from his fingertips and was shot trough the air aimed at her chest. Abyss could feel the slight burnes on his hand, as he once more in his life failed to completely control the energy he had summoned. They would serve as remainder for his incompetence at the ancient art of force lighting and would do so again and again until he would finally reach mastery over it.

[member="Zagara Vao"]

 

[Zagara Vao]

What in Ryloth's..

It all happened so quickly. Before she could even blink, the man had sidestepped her initial thrust, which had normally worked for most of the thugs in front of her before. It was almost as if he could read her - no, even know what she was going to do before she knew it herself. Her eyes widened and her heart dropped as her subsequent, returning strike was then met by what she thought up until that point was only legend. He was one of them, a Force User. Guardians and Lords of the Galaxy. The quick lull in the skirmish didn't have enough time for any more thoughts however, as she quickly found herself on the receiving end of a nasty lick of Force Lighting. She'd already felt what it like to be electrocuted - having been shocked and stunned by her own Z6 countless times before learning to understand how it worked. This one however, felt different. It felt darker, heavier, almost as if she was simultaneously being injected with every negative sensation and then let it spread through her body like a disease. In convulsion she went into spasm and dropped her baton, almost instinctively clenching her teeth in agony as she felt all of her muscles tense and cramp at once. The crackling rumble almost deafened her as she struggled to think of a way out of it, but could not as she almost felt herself lifted off the ground from the power. She barely noticed the Z6 powering down as it hit the sand below in the midst of what was really quick but felt like a lifetime of agony.

So this is how I-

And just like that, it stopped. She fell to her knees before the man, still smoking with little sparks of lighting jumping across her clothes. In an instant all sense and reason seemed to return to her, and it was at that moment she knew that she'd finally met her match. It was a sickening feeling - not only from having her braintails rocked like never before, but because for the first time, she knew she was soundly defeated. There was no other explanation; no excuses to be made. From the corner of her eye she could see that her weapon had been fried -short circuited and little more than a hard plastic club at this point. It'd need repairs later - that is, if she lived to see to it after this.

"Wha... what are you", she struggled to stammer out as she shook and looked up at the victorious combatant. Her eyes were bloodshot red from the assault as she gasped for air and slowly regained full control of her muscular system. And then she fixed her gaze upon it - the laser weapon of renown that everyone only thought was legend. It was real; they were real. Unfortunately, it, and he, was also probably about to end her.

"You.. You were right about that", she continued, short of breath and panting. "It took guts, and I lost." She then looked down until the red blade's glow only hinted at the corner of her eye. "Do chonda, Haly" ("I fold, visitor"), she then said in resignation, looking at the sand and closing her eyes - expecting a killing blow to end it all and finally put her out of her misery.

[member="Abyss"]

 

[Darth Abyss]

Abyss face suddenly showed disgust, not over the woman in front of him but because of the small burns that he had inflicted on his own arm. What worth had it to bring an enemy to its knees it couldn't do it without injuring himself. He could feel as his frustration slowly evolved into an anger that pushed against his focus, breaking his will to keep the darkness inside him under control.

It was the crowd that finally pushed him over the edge. Many had left after the sith made the woman kneel, but a group of drunken and angry twilek man was still watching, shouting insults and obscenities at the man that just almost killed one of their own. His face formed a grimace composed of pure hate, and a wordless cry left his lungs, followed by a wave of telekinetic energy. The rest of the group rushed away as the loudest one of them collapse on the ground with broken bones.

His focus returned to the woman in front of him, the red blade of his weapon disappearing back into its hilt. From his mouth words came into being as the yellow eyes darted onto her.

"Rise daughter of ryloth. You just learned your first lesson on the long path in front of you. Arogance and pride are as deadly as any blade. There is potential inside of you, but you need to find the strength to use it."

[member="Zagara Vao"]

 

[Zagara Vao]

The young Twi'lek rose to her feet, with little to no regard about the fact that another Twi'Leki had just been fatally maimed in front of her. These things were normal - Twi'Leki's died every day - dog's deaths, heroes' deaths if they were lucky and played their cards right. After all, how much of a nob could the guy have been - wasting his life (and his bones) over another's defeat. He deserved it, she thought. (If [member="Abyss"] was listening to her at the precise moment she thought that, he would have been able to hear her, clear as day)

"First? There's more?"

Zagara holstered the baton by her waist again as she still winced a little from the pain, but for the most part got her bearings once more. A look of anguish remained on her face as the negative sensations from the assault to her systems still haunted her and lingered, but at the same time there was something different in her eyes - anger, but not at him. It was at herself: for not being stronger, and not understanding.

Then, as she rested her hands on her knees, bending over to brace herself against the aftershock to her person, she looked up at him - almost in disbelief but at the same time in awe. "Wh-who are you, Haly?"

Then shaking her head (he could be answering at this point), she shook the momentary weakness off, and then gestured towards the spaceport. "I have a ship, Haly. We can talk about it there." She knew at that point that she had run into something far greater than any of her petty cons and scams for nuggets and credits, and she wanted to know more.

 

[Darth Abyss]

Abyss began to smile slightly, not enough to look friendly but enough to show his satisfaction. She didn't even wasted a real look on the dead man, showed neither remorse nor sympathy for him. Good. As his eyes meet hers he could see it, almost feel it. Anger, so strong that it felt like he was standing in front of a bright flame. Without even telling her she was already connecting with the darkness insider of her. To her luck he had been right about her and her potential. If she would find the will to walk down the ancient path she could become a strong sith one day. A single, inhuman laugh formed inside his body, echoing trough the streets before he answered her.

"The path of the sith knows no end. We strive for nothing less than perfection, and only those who fully dedicate themselves can ever come close to it."

Abyss had no intention of becoming her master, he was nothing more than an acolyte himself. Still bringing one more into the ranks of the sith was something he enjoyed. She wasn't the first and wouldn't be the last that was lead on the the path of darkness by him, and like those before she would make a powerful allie one day.

"I am Abyss the ascended, but names and titles have no meaning to me. Now bring me to your ship so I can introduce you to the real meaning of power."

[member="Zagara Vao"]

 

[Zagara Vao]

The awkward but societally detestable due walked through the streets of Lessu towards the spaceport in the dead of night. Most were already asleep or passed out drunk - like dogs content with their meager lot in life. Zagara was feeling a lot better at this point, although her self-loathing at not being stronger and her curiosity with @Abyss were eating at her from the inside. She could feel her gut wrench and drop under the heaviness of his company, but there was something also oddly addictive about it. She couldn't articulate it, but she knew what she felt from him. Power.

"The Sith?", she echoed almost in disbelief as she listened to his restrained but seemingly calculated speech. "Supposedly you were but a myth. Shadows of the empire that died out with it. You're real." She was talking more to herself though by the last bit, and couldn't help but try to steal another glance at the stranger's weapon. A more civilized weapon, for a more civilized age surely, and it fascinated her to no end.

By the time the two arrived at the spaceport and the holding bay doors to her freighter were opened, she just couldn't maintain the charade of silence anymore. She had to know; she had questions.

"Can you show me more of this power?", she intently asked as she fixed him again with an intense gaze, walking backwards in front of him as the two disappeared into the hull of her ship. A sinister feeling filled the air as the lift returned back up to the rest of the ship's hull - something dark, but at the same time shrouded.

[member="Darth Abyss"]

 

[Darth Abyss]

A myth? Abyss knew that ryloth could be considered a backwater world by those who had spend most their lifes in the core, but he always thought that its inhabitants were better informed than on remote and isolated places like kathol or tattooien. Still her lack of knowledge revealed another trait of her that would serve her well on her path: curiosity. Only those who actively searched for knowledge could learn enough to become sith.

Wordless the acolyte followed her towards the landing bay, entering the inside of the freighter while listening to her words. There was it, the desire for power, the one thing that drove any sith forward in one way or another.

"Yes and no. I can teach you how to learn more about it, about the sith ... and the force. But to wield it yourself you have to dedicate your life to the darkness. No one will give it to you, you have to take it for yourself. "

Abyss yellow eyes locked onto her, awaiting her reaction. She wouldn't be the first to back away after learning that reaching mastery was only possible after a lifetime of training. And even then no one could really learn everything there was to know.


[member="Zagara Vao"]

 

[Zagara Vao]

"Perfection", she mused and smiled as the two boarded the ship. She quickly removed her outer cloak and lay her Z6 on the workdesk for later as she sat on the table and faced him - like a child obsessed with a new bauble. "It's a goal that changes. Can change, cannot catch." She then repeated the last 'axiom' in Twi'leki for emphasis, and then smirked. "I'd rather take things for myself anyway Abyss, better than to let some old bantha herder hand it to you on a silver platter. Just wouldn't feel right."

Zagara then momentarily zoned out, as if in deep thought, and then continued - her gaze returning once more to the acolyte. "I've been a slave my whole life, like my mother before me. It's all I know. I don't know what power's supposed to be, but I do know that it means nothing if it's only granted to you by someone stronger who can crush you anyway. Like a fly. You have to grow."

Another quick moment of silence, and then she spoke up again: "It's a lot like freedom isn't it? It's a delusion - granted to the weak by the strong. Only the strong are free, huh?", she then smiled sheepishly, as if recalling some dark memory.

[member="Darth Abyss"]

 

[Darth Abyss]

"Change"

Abyss smile stayed as he listend to her, becoming more and more satisfied with what she had to say. She was already grasping the concepts that made the sith who they are without even realizing it. She had a dark future ahead of her.

"A sith has to constantly adapt to the world around. Only those who can be defeated, crippled and broken but still find the strength to not only stand up again but evolve to become more than before can really become sith."

Abyss listend to her, sorting the information about her time as a slave with the rest he could gather about her in the short time. Many sith had a dark past, one that drove them forward, but as many had been consumed by clinging to it instead of evolving beyond it.

"Many sith leave behind their past when they join our ranks, some even take on a new name to show that they are not who they were before. But that is a decision everyone has to make themselves."

Freedom. A small laugh left his mouth, as she spoke about freedom. She was already thinking like a sith, now it was time that she would learn what it meant to be one.

"Close your eyes. Focus on all the negative emotions inside you, let them guide you, form you, allow yourself to draw your strength from them.
The sith are an ancient order, dedicated to the dark side of the force. The force is a power that connects the whole universe, flowing through every inch of it. And like me and many others you were chosen by it, and given the power to manipulate it to do your bidding.
We follow an ancient code, one every sith has to know.
Repeat after me.
There is no peace, only passion
Through passion, I gain strength
Through strength, I gain power
Through power, I gain victory
Through victory my chains are broken
The force shall free me"

[member="Zagara Vao"]

 

[Zagara Vao]

Zagara eagerly listened to what [member="Darth Abyss"] had to say, and found herself nodding in agreement with most of it. Hers was a hard life, and the twofold proposition of leaving that behind, but also feeding off of the rage and fury in her that built up inside her throughout her life was something she warmed up to easily.

I may be weak now, Abyss the Ascended, but for you, I can grow stronger, she thought to herself as she obeyed his instructions and closed her eyes and centered herself atop her root; for the first time, really getting to explore her inner self and savor every little emotion that she felt swirl around her - only to fade as quickly as it surfaced, consumed by the anger and disdain that constantly licked at her like fiery embers from an inner furnace that never died. He would have felt it himself - it was little more than embers and sparks, but it was there. Misguided, feeble, unstable, virgin, but it was there. She began to repeat the words:

"There is no peace, only passion"
"There is no peace, there is only.. passion."
"Through passion, I gain strength"
"Through passion, I gain strength."
"Through strength, I gain power"
"Through strength, I gain power."
"Through power, I gain victory"
"Through power, I gain victory."
"Through victory my chains are broken"
"Through victory, my chains are broken."
"The force shall free me"
"The Force(sheepish).. The Force(?).. The Force(conviction) shall set me.. free(realization)."

As she repeated the words, although she couldn't have possibly understood everything all at once and at this early a stage, she felt it - power. She opened her eyes, now squinting and staring straight at Abyss, almost as if thinking out loud as she felt him right there with him, brooding over and around her like a cold, deathly surrogate.

These words, Abyss, help me understand them. Line by line I can read them, but altogether I must unlock their meaning. You know a little too much about the mystical Force, but I think I understand why you do; who you are. You, who, through your own strength, dominate, conquer, and control.

She then suddenly snapped out of it, and while still looking into his yellow eyes, a look of softness and momentary weakness appeared on her face. "But what about the comforts? The leisure?" She was having an inner dialogue with herself. For the first time, she questioned her own values. As a slave, she'd always equated power and influence with hedonism and affluence.

A few moments later, after she started breathing heavily and looked like she was about to cry to Abyss, her breathing slowed; her heartrate returned to normal again. A look of anger now surfaced on her face as she kept looking at the Sith, her eyes squinting once more and her teeth clenched and pressed against each other. Shame. Shame, for my weakness.

"Comfort", she internally answered back at herself, ".. is a myth. Given to younglings until they are ready for the painful trials of true existence."

"And your freedom as a slave, Zagara?"

"I care not for freedom, it softens a people. We waste time. Only growing stronger and destroying this insipid weakness in me counts. I will evolve, or I will die."

 

[Darth Abyss]

Abyss never properly learned how to read the minds of others, at least not without having a physical connection he could use to push his mind into someone head and drain whatever was hidden there. This time it was different, not because he suddenly got stronger but because as [member="Sonorous Daemon"] began to connect with the darkness inside her she tapped into the force, revealing her mind and presence brighter and strong than before. Only few could understand what the code of the sith really meant, and even Abyss who could recite the code in the tongue it was once written in before he even joined the sith needed his master to understand.

It was almost like the time he entered the mind of a witch, the thoughts inside her heard resounded trough the force like he was listening to a conversation. The young sith watched and waited with curiosity, this was a quite fascinating situation. Closely he listened to what her mind was saying to herself, following as she her past and her future came into conflict. As the strange event came to and end Abyss stayed silent for moment, looking deep into the woman eyes, overseeing the change that he had just witnessed.

"Now you are one step closer to perfection, daughter of Ryloth. You left behind your past, and embraced your future. I expect great things from you when our paths will cross once more."

Abyss was standing up from the chair had taken place at, his hand entering inside his robe. In one fluid motion a small book appeared in his hand that he placed on the table. It wasn't a complex work about the depths of the force, but a simple but effective collection of the groundwork needed to learn about the force and its powers ... He had discarded the idea for the book in the middle of working on it, switching his focus onto another, but its still contained knowledge that would prove useful for her.