Private By Light of Moon and Ray of Star

[Arcturus Dinn]

Oh Korriban, graveyard of the Ancient Sith whose majesty lingered still within tombs beneath red sandstone. There dust storms kicked up at a mere gust of wind, limiting vision and aching eyes of those who wandered through regardless. Though Horuset beat down upon its craggy face by day, by night a chill descended through the valleys and canyons while the sky held aloft more moons than most.​

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It was into this hellish, frigid landscape that the boy had descended, a steady breeze whipping at his untamed auburn hair and settling grains of sand about his form. Though long gone from the halls of the Sith, no doubt dead in the eyes of the few who had known him, he appeared hardly a day older than he had been when last he'd wandered Maliphant's halls. His body though was scrawnier, if such could be imagined, face hollowed with malnourishment for his time spent amidst complete wilds.​

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He came upon the Academy wherein he was assured he'd find his quarry and crossed the threshold on fleet feet that made nary a sound. The fresh clothes he had procured obscured wounds unhealed, inflicted by beasts which stalked the night, presented him as something of a tamed being; his eyes, however, betrayed him. Suspended in time as he might have been, locked within an eternal nightmare, there had still been much in the way of experiences to be had... And his gaze spoke volumes.​

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Through shadowy corridors he trod, until naught but a door stood between the two. One simple door which might have well held the Galaxy within its core for all the distance it seemed to withhold. He raised a hand, testing through the Force to discover whether it would budge. Even a crack would be enough to bridge that abyss which lay before him.​

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To bring an end to his endless venture.​

 

[Darth Empyrean]

"- see that its done with expedience.", Maliphant said as he passed the holopad back to the Sith before him.

The Sith Pureblood, for what it was worth, stood slightly shorter than him - dressed in much the same heavy black robes. She nodded, glanced to Thesh, and then moved to depart the area the same way he had entered. Her gaze had drawn Maliphant's own, and his eyes studied Thesh for a moment - though there was never a second he offered anything but recognition.

"Thesh.", he said plainly as he closed the distance between them with a slow stride.

A hand moved some of the boys hair, adjusting his head to search for something - scars, wounds, something Thesh likely wouldn't know of. Maliphant sighed as he let go and took a step back.

"You've been away a long time, Apprentice. What happened?", Maliphant asked as he motioned to another to bring them water.

Arcturus Dinn

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

The door opened without resistance, and for a moment Thesh could only stand and stare. No illusion was broken as he had anticipated, in fact his stomach had come to life with incessant butterflies who demanded their escape, and in response his stoic expression shattered. If only for a moment.​

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The boy inhaled a slow breath, and then pushed further. He did not open it fully, just enough to slip inside. Therein he caught the tail end of a conversation he had no desire to listen in on, lingering by the door until the Pureblood glanced his way and drew attention to his presence. He felt a blind rage rising within, as though he had been unwittingly unmasked. But there was also a sense of liberation. Nowhere left to hide, he had to simply face it head on.​

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Thesh was not the one who ultimately moved, no it was Maliphant who closed the distance between them and inquisitively inspected the boy for... something. Was he making sure that it was not some replica droid which stood before him? An imposter sent to take him out? The boy could not claim to know, he simply stood through it and kept his gaze level upon the face of the man before him. Expressionless.​

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That exterior did not waver until the word Apprentice escaped the man's lips. As though he had been waiting to know where they stood. It was barely a crack, but enough to prove that Thesh was still in there, buried deep but present. He swallowed, ever small in the presence of his Master, and whetted his lips as he pondered on a suitable answer.​

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"Our ship was pulled off course," he finally explained, voice rather hoarse as though he had forgotten what it was to speak at all. Harkening back to their earlier days, where the boy had barely uttered a word. "It crashed on the Galaxy's edge." Nobody else had made it out alive, and though the crew had likely been provided by Maliphant the boy did not bother to divulge such information. It seemed... unnecessary.​

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Somehow he managed to keep his gaze measured and set upon Maliphant's, though a deep and growing desire to look away gripped him at his core. He refused to comply with it, however. After so much time - far more than he himself was aware of - he would not return to his Master a mewling welp.​

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Not this time.​

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Darth Empyrean ​

 

[Darth Empyrean]

Maliphant nodded as he moved to find a seat near the desk. It wasn't a particularly great office, dust and cobble lining the floor - while gaping holes were patched over with wood and junkyard ship parts; but it would suffice for them for now. Maliphant gave it no notice so long as Thesh didn't, and slipped into the hard backed chair he had claimed as his own. An office unbecoming of the Director of the IGBC, but perfectly set for Darth Maliphant.

"Then you've done well to survive.", he said as the droid carried over to glasses of purified water to them. Korriban was still in the fledging moments of its rehabilitation, debilitated by the Galactic Alliance, the Warlords, and now the Worm Emperor - so it had more scarcity than most.

"I won't ask the details of how you've returned to me, I can well imagine what it took.", Maliphant dismissively added.

"But I am... thankful, you've returned. How do you fare, what are you planning to do from here?"

He left it opened ended. For Maliphant, it was a simple test of what Thesh intended to do; for the man would not stop the boy from leaving the Sith if that was his indeed his choice, though he would offer a counteroffer to such regardless. The fact was, Thesh was his first apprentice - and perhaps the one he held a closer tie to than the others, saved from slavery from Ession years prior when Maliphant did not know his own identity.

Arcturus Dinn

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

There were no probing questions asked of the boy, of what he had endured or how it was he had come to once again stand before his Master, simply acceptance that he was there. Nay... Gratitude? Thesh was momentarily shocked, his brows even furrowing together when Maliphant chose to speak on it. He had been expecting anger, frustration, for his absence. At the very least disappointment that he'd gotten himself lost in the first place.​

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But none of that presented itself.​

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Instead just a simple question stood between them.​

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What were his plans?​

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Thesh finally looked away from the man, glancing behind him instead. The place was rather run down, not at all befitting the man it housed. Thesh reasoned that Maliphant's presence here must have been recent, his hold on Korriban likely tumultuous. That would not do...​

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"I wish to learn," he said, with more conviction than he'd ever shown before, eyes returning to look upon Maliphant, "If you'll have me again, I'll see to it that your goals are met. I won't let you down this time."​

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He was done waiting for his life to begin, done waiting for someone else to come and make something of him. With or without Maliphant's help Thesh would claw his way to greatness. And from there?​

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Well... Who ever really knew what they wanted out of life?​

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Darth Empyrean ​

 

[Darth Empyrean]

Maliphant watched him, molten golden irises looking over his features for a crack in marble, anything to signify doubt in his own mind. A seed of doubt now would be endless tormet for them both as they continued onwards - but the Alchemist didn't see such. Instead, there was conviction though dark and brooding as it was, and a need for glory; all rippling along Thesh's features like a quake along a fault. A tense jaw, a stare at the unseen, Maliphant had seen the look many a time - but felt it more often.

"Good.", he said flatly, not taking away from Thesh's own disparaging comments.

"Then you will do well to meet with the others; Apprentices who have helped further my goals since your departure. Odanneth Mal (Darth Nyx) , The Asphodel , and The Hyacinth . You will work alongside them, learn alongside them, and prove yourself their better - or you will fall behind."

In life, in teachings, it didn't matter - the matter was correct no matter how Thesh interpreted it.

"Speak to them, garner allies, and I will make sure you succeed Thesh. Know that my charity is infinite, but so is my wraith."

Arcturus Dinn

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

"Consider it already done," he assured the man as he stood before his scrutinizing gaze, marking those names to memory. Though fatigued and weary upon entering, he felt his strength returning even now as he was returned once more to a path with purpose. ​

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There was plenty still to do, of course, to refamiliarize himself with civilization and return him to where it was he had been before his time away. But that would come in time; he did not worry about such trivial matters. He would see it done.​

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For now Thesh chose not to delve too deeply into competitiveness of his position, not to dwell upon the implications should he indeed falter. He would not return himself to the mud, this much he knew for sure.​

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The boy took a singular step back, providing enough time for further instructions should they come while simultaneously refusing to take up more of the mans time than was necessary. He paused before another could be taken, though, that thin veneer he'd upheld thus far beginning to crumble despite his best efforts.​

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"I am... glad, you know?" His voice was softer this time, words practically whispered as though the child within was snatching a moment on the surface. "To see you once more, Master." His expression spoke of more that could be said but wasn't. In truth, did it even need to be?​

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Darth Empyrean​