Coldstone

[Sierra Momoa]

[member="Darth Zarrah"]

The Covenant was something to see and Sierra was gliding through the air over the one temple they had constructed. Her wings out with the flesh tight and catching the currents before her hands gripped one of the wall digging claws into the stone. The Vanr started climbing up until she reached a window and crawled in rising to her full height as some of the other acolytes were looking at her. The human's not moving while her tail swished, her hair came down her back to the small of her back and her wings extended before closing around her shoulders like a cloak. Covering the ragged clothing on her while the clawed feet walked across the the floor with the nails of her feet clacking against it. The clinking of her anklets on her one ankle gleaming as some of the only jewelry she had aside from on her arm and wrist. Earrings as well but her large pointed ears allowed her to pick up the sounds and whispers of the students while she was moving into one of the empty courtyards to await her master.

 

[Grima Volitu]

It was not only months but years since she decided to take on a new Apprentice. Most of her former students had met with tragedy. Some died trying to achieve success from her tests. Some died because they simply ignored her teachings and bit off more than they could chew. Her final one died on Korriban when the Sith Empire collapsed and from the ashes came the One Sith. Only one that called her Master had survived and he was a Sith Lord these days. She wasn't a harsh Master but she did believe that Apprentices should always listen and follow the guidance of their Masters.

Darth Zarrah walked toward the courtyard to meet her new Apprentice. The Togruta Witch knew little of this Sierra Momoa other than she was a Vanr. Darth Zarrah had no idea what a Vanr was but species and genders made no difference to her. The only thing that did matter was the ability to learn and follow simple orders. Zarrah did not believe in dishing out punishment to her Apprentices like so many in the former Sith Order she walked among did. Punishment only led to hatred directed toward their Masters and Zarrah always encouraged her Apprentices to hate her without resorting to brutal tactics.

Zarrah stopped in front of her newly acquired Apprentice. As was her tradition she began as she did so often. "You will call me Master until either you die through your Apprenticeship to me or you exceed my expectations when there is no more I can teach you. You will learn to hate me and that is encouraged. Hate will give you focus. Hate will give you a reason to succeed. Hate will make you strong. We are not friends but Master and Apprentice only."

Zarrah placed her hands on her hips and continued with the brief lecture. "You will never bow to me or anyone. Many things I can understand. Weakness is not one of them. You are free to make inquiries but you are not free to second guess me. You will not mirror yourself after me or any other rather you will embrace individualism. You will not kill needlessly or out of sating your thirst to do so but will only kill out of self-preservation as long as you are my Apprentice. Do you understand? If so we will begin your training at once."



[member="Sierra Momoa"]

 

[Sierra Momoa]

[member="Darth Zarrah"]

She heard the words while standing there, the attention on her face while she was looking towards the woman. Her red skin and black garb something to appreciate before her wings opened wide. Coming in and framing her back as her tail switched on the ground before wrapping around her leg for a moment. She looked towards her master as the woman spoke more about how it was going to be and at least she could get behind not being in such a situation like that. Bowing and from the waist through to show some respect as her clawed hand set over her shoulder. "Understood master." She rose back up straightening herself and looking for what they would begin with, her blood was screaming for something as a natural result of being around the darkside. Every pore drinking it deep into her body as her eyes flicked around feeling more and more.

 

[Grima Volitu]

"The first lesson will be the easiest one you will endure." Zarrah always had a pre-planned schedule for teaching her Apprentices. Consistency was the backbone of her teachings. She never trained her Apprentices the same way. For some it might be lightsaber forms first. Others it was the Force. For those that had no knowledge of Sith history it could be the Sith Code or Sith philosophy. All were equally important for her Apprentices to know. The educated traditionally survived longer in the galaxy than those that were not.

"First things first. Tell me two things. The first is tell me about yourself. The second is what you hope to gain by learning under me."

It was extremely important to get an accurate picture of her Apprentices. Their history or life was important to her. Knowing it allowed for the Togruta to reshape and reform her Apprentice. To pick any locks on those chains that threatened to bind them to their past was only the way they would free from limits and restrictions. Zarrah knew all to well that any Sith who could not or struggled to break those limits and restrictions would never succeed as a Sith.


[member="Sierra Momoa"]

 

[Sierra Momoa]

[member="Darth Zarrah"]

About herself? Sierra was looking at the woman now as she was thinking about how to answer that and what she wanted. Her clawed hand clenched thinking about it as she remembered Dromuund Kaas and spoke. "My people were on Dromuund Kaas when the mandalorians brought asteroids to the sky and tossed them down. My people were nearly exterminated and destroyed with some of us clawing our way out to Dagobah to survive instead of choking on the ashes of the dead and destroyed." Her anger was flaring up now though as she fist rose and she growled extending her wings and tail out. The force blowing her hair around her as the color in her eyes went yellow with her fangs barred. "I want revenge."

 

[Grima Volitu]

Zarrah had little to none interactions with the Mandalorians. She respected their warrior way of life. She did not respect how they flocked to war under the guise of honour. Zarrah was never a judgmental individual and she would paste no judgment on the Mandalorians now. Her Apprentice was free to do so. It was her right to do so. They had brought harm, war, destruction, and death to her people. She wanted revenge. Revenge was good.

"There are two forms of revenge, Apprentice. Calculated revenge and misguided revenge, If you seek misguided revenge then you have already lost." Zarrah had seen others fail under misguided revenge. They had allowed the motive to rule over them. To carry them forth. To lead them into death.

"Calculated revenge requires mastery over your emotions. Emotions are powerful but they can be a weakness." Zarrah decided that the next lesson would be on the foundation of emotions. If her Apprentice wanted revenge. Calculated revenge. Then she needed to control her emotions.

"Sith hold fast to emotions such as hatred and anger. Both will grant you power if you allow yourself to work through them and not with them. By working through them you are cutting through the shackles of restrictions. By working with them you are allowing them to rule over you. They will be the restrictions that hold you back. In the end they will be your death."

Zarrah turned her head toward the building behind her. A thought came to her. "You will go inside and pick out another. You will confront them. You will belittle them. You will force them to fight you only using fists. You will lose that fight. Then you will return to me. You want revenge? Then we will give you a new face to direct it against."


[member="Sierra Momoa"]

 

[Sierra Momoa]

[member="Darth Zarrah"]

There was a look at the woman as she spoke and Sierra brought her wing back in as the light went away from her eyes. Listening about her wanting of revenge had her moving as directed inside so she could find someone. Fight and lose was a strange order but she wasn't going to argue it, there could be value in losing and her tail swished while she was walking towards the building towering over most of the apprentices that were standing there as she found the largest running into him when he was picking on some of the students. Getting his angry eyes starring dagger's at her for a moment before he was clenching his fist. The human still wasn't her size, hell compared to the others around them while she barely had to speak before he was attacking and badly. She should have picked a stronger one but he seemed to be the one picking fights... Slowly though she was moving as they went outside through a window and she sneered feeling a flaccid punch that got her in the shoulder. A look before she let him strike her in the jaw and onto the ground mounting her to pummel and punch her over and over near view of her master. The guy got off of her and she was rolling over cradling her face as she had some cuts with a snarl from her lips. He seemed enboldened before kicking her in the stomach and walking away with the air leaving her lungs. The fire was there as compared to the rest there was less skill in kicking someone in the ribs with a boot.

 

[Grima Volitu]

Zarrah remained in a standing position reaching out through the Force blending her mind to that of her new Apprentice. Zarrah never understood the bond or links that formed between Master and Apprentice. What she did understand was when one pledged themselves to a Master the bond formed. Zarrah could feel the pain from her Apprentice with each blow and kick. It had been to long since the Togruta Witch felt physical pain like that. The pain she suffered these days came from her mind. Self torturing it was called.

"Pick yourself up and return to me," Zarrah spoke directly into the mind of her Apprentice. Zarrah could feel the girl's struggles to return to an upright position. Zarrah knew the girl had not only been beating badly but embarrassed in front of her peers. This was the first stage of understanding revenge. Humility cast down around her from stares of the other hopefuls.

When her Apprentice finally reappeared before her Zarrah said, "Tell me, Apprentice. What did you feel during and after the fight?"

[member="Sierra Momoa"]

 

[Sierra Momoa]

[member="Darth Zarrah"]

Returning to her master was the main goal and as she stood there Sierra felt her blood boiling hot enough to melt her skin. SHe would flick her eyes to see that she wasn't melting in places but she could feel her master now. Eyes going to her while she nodded. "I felt he was pathetic at first, his size compared to most human's is big but he doesn't know how to punch or fight. If I had not been ordered t lose I wouldn't have been on the ground for him to kick me in the ribs." The anger there was flaring up now and she was grinding her teeth. "I want to drop him from the the sky and watch him splat."

 

[Grima Volitu]

"Be wary of pride, Apprentice," Zarrah told her. "Pride is a double-edge blade. At any given time you can find yourself on the receiving end of a nasty cut." Zarrah would not condemn her Apprentice for having pride. In her youth she was prideful herself. Her Master had to literally rip her pride out of her before she was trainable. She still bore the scars from those lessons.

"Now you have a purpose to direct your revenge until you can successfully stare down the Mandalorians." As a young Acolyte herself she was vengeful and it nearly destroyed her. "Patience is not the Sith way. Or that is what they want to believe. Patience is the driving mechanism that revenge flows through. Treachery is another."

"I will teach you ways to disperse your enemies whilst teaching you to unlock your full potential." Zarrah was ready to begin passing her knowledge down to the girl. Whether the girl lived a long and prosperous life or died tragically young was not Zarrah's problem. She hoped the former for the girl. "Tell me, Apprentice. What do you know of illusions?"

[member="Sierra Momoa"]

 

[Sierra Momoa]

[member="Darth Zarrah"]

She was looking at her master and patience.... pride those were interesting ideas to her but her people weren't know for their pride usually serving n Kaas as warriors in the marshlands. For her right now though she was looking into what she knew and illusions were not something she knew much about., She had seen them she was sure of it but hadn't known the difference more then likely. Her clawed fingers clenched as she admitted defeat to herself. "I do not know much about them or most sith abilities, the Vanr did not usually fight off world." Her wings small claw reached up and scratched at her neck in a nervous reaction while she swished her tail slightly angrily.

 

[Grima Volitu]

"Your honesty is quite commendable, Apprentice." In her experience most Acolytes or those coming into the ways of either the Force or the Dark Side seemed to believe in the 'fabrication' policy. Most would try to sugar coat what they thought they knew when in fact they were only speaking to try to please their Masters. Zarrah had no such need for a 'fabricator' but an Apprentice who was more or less uneducated on how the Force worked. Including the Dark Side. A new mind was always easier to train than one already filled with false teachings and horrid misconceptions of the Dark Side.

"There are two designs of Sith. The first kind is the brutal kind. They believe in killing is always the right way to do things. Usually they don't last long enough to reach my age or higher." Zarrah frowned at the memory when she was forced to witness the deaths of so many young Acolytes and Knights back on Korriban so many lifetimes ago. Foolish and headstrong they were. Foolish and headstrong dead they were now.

"The second design is one that resorts to manipulation, deceit, and treachery to complete their goals. The most efficient way to defeat an enemy is to persuade them to join your cause. Even revenge can be used as leverage to undermine the will of those that have wronged you." That had always been the Togruta's way. Corrupt the minds and use them for whatever purpose she needed. Thralls. Sycophants. Puppets. All those were employed by the Sith Witch.

"Illusions are the way that all those who choose to be cut from the second design work. And mind domination. The first thing I will teach you is Force Cloak. Whether you use this in your lifetime or not it is an ability that can save your life and achieve your desire for revenge."

Reaching out with her mind she dug deep into the Dark Side energy and began to bend light and sound around her. One minute she was there and the next she was nearly invisible to the naked eye. "Concentration is important. Imagine yourself in the centre of the galaxy. Then begin to shape the lights and sounds of the galaxy around you," she spoke returning to visibility. "It maybe difficult at first but nothing is ever easy, Apprentice."


[member="Sierra Momoa"]

 

[Sierra Momoa]

[member="Darth Zarrah"]

She stood there and was listening to the woman speak about the different types of force and skills. Her attention on the darkside while she could feel it within her bones. The Vanr were semi evolved sithspawn... ones shaped a long time ago but then over generations of breeding if had become their lives. So she felt at the force and the darkside while going to where she wanted her to go, the center of the universe and all the light, all the energy while her wings remained close to her body. The pulse of darkside energy that came to her while she was clenching her fists with the pumping of her blood in her ears, the heat of it almost boiling her skin and she felt like a film was over her skin clinging to it and she wondered how you could really tell if you were bending light around yourself.