Converting a Sith Ally

[Orphen]

"I, Uh, okay!"

Orphen was kind of taken back by what kitty had said, the sudden interest in the Jedi order with what he had managed to explain them to be. Had he done a good job? He must have! Orphen scrambled his thoughts in order to recompose himself, Kittie's question was actually rather good, what did the older Jedi do, and what did they learn as opposed to the younglins that they had seen so far. Orphen knew a couple of the answers, but, the learning didn't so much happen here. Turning around when Kitty had made the objection he would begin to lead them back in the direction of the Temple, heading up some stairs to one of the higher levels of the temple, a place where only Jedi tended to be allowed. This place was littered with rooms and meditation chambers as well as several smaller libraries which contained holocrons of older Jedi masters.

But as the younger Feline man began to talk, Orphen stopped the tour bus for a time and listened to what he had to say, he seemed to be asking the question to both Kitty and Orphen... Orphen would take the reigns first, as, he knew his answer was not what the boy was looking for.

"My biological parents were epicanthix, i'm basically human... but..."

Orphen took off his own visor to show his eyes, one of them seemed to be blatantly warped in the same manner of sith eyes. The skin around it scarred, like it had been burned. It was a scar of the dark side, there was no denying it or hiding it, one of the reasons he wore his visor so often was that the eyes of the dark side were the biggest sign of those who would become sith. Orphen also pulled his clothing aside to show the metallic circles which were the access points to the mechanical veins which ran through his body.

"I was, taken by sith when i was about twelve, they experimented on my mind and changed me into something else. One of the reasons I try keep away from Silvers, potential of being a spy or spawn and all."

He said momentarily putting his visor back on and allowing Kitty to answer her much more relevant answer. Orphen would talk about the Jedi soon, but he would wait for this to be resolved first.

[member="Kitty"] | [member="Ryn'Dhal"]

 

[Kitty]

Kitty was confused by his question first up until he took his mask off and she understood. It didn't at all surprise her but she was glad to finally be able to see his face. What he said afterwards though the reason he wore his mask pissed her off quite a bit. Yet again her resolve was tested as she was tempted to release her force presence and crush the mask he held. Instead she quickly attempted to confiscate it. "You are a Felacatian. The reason you probably don't know what you are is Felacatian's very rarely leave their homeworld. As you have probably noticed yourself hyperspace isn't very healthy for us or....for those around us. So we are a rather rare sight in the galaxy. It is quite fortunate we met or else you may have never found it. Finding a book with us in it may not have helped you any either. We are a little different from most Felacatian's. We have more feline features and I would dare say are more superior. I have kinda given us a bad name on our home planet though as I've had much greater trouble with my form shifting and have caused quite a bit of trouble. I'm much better at it now days though thanks to Orphen." Kitty said almost giving Orphen a hug before remembering their public jedi setting. In betrayal of her intent to keep their relationship incognito her ears fell back in sadness for a moment. She'd get to make up for it once they were in privet though. Speaking of which. "By the way Orphen where am I going to be staying?"

Kitty was glad for the distraction of these conversations and as she spoke with Orphen and Ryn'Dhal she continued to rewrite her opinion of the jedi. She was going to have to test their intolerance of the dark side to finalize her new opinion. Continuing to hide her secret from Orphen was probably a bad thing too. He probably had no doubts about her lie of not being force sensitive as had she been giving off any dark side vibe she would have been swarmed by now, being inside the jedi temple and all. She needed another sample though and she may have the perfect candidate.

[member="Orphen"] [member="Ryn'Dhal"]

 

[Ryn'Dhal]

His ears perked forwards, towards Kitty, eagerly soaking in the information she gave him, about what they were. She said she believed they were superior to others of their kind because of their changes, their uniqueness? Interesting. He was nodding in agreement about the issues with Hyperspace travel. Part of him was curious as to how she appeared when changed.... if she could do so at will.... many other questions he'd never dream of asking, as there was a line to being blatantly rude, and he was staying well away from it!

But, then she mentioned Orphen being a huge help with her changes. Her words were not what intrigued him. It was her reaction. Had she been a normal humanoid, he'd have not noticed or thought anything of it. But, as her mannerisms were very similar to his own, when her ears folded back for a swift moment, before returning to normal, his own ears would cock at odd angles to the sides of his head, before smoothly, almost imperceptibly to anyone, except perhaps Kitty, into shifting about to pick up noises coming from different locations about them. His natural auditory defenses. He hoped he wasn't obvious to her as she had been to him. He now knew there was something more than simply Orphen bringing her on a tour.

But that was none of his business, so he'd be sure to avoid that line-of-rudeness all the more.

Attention turning back towards Orphen, drifting back to the subject of his eye. "I, personally, have not witnessed any particular.... zealotry.... in the Silvers.... Though, I am still relatively new to the Order myself.... I am just fortunate they saved me, took me in, and trained me...." He'd offer a slight shrug. "I can only speak for myself, but I know that I would endeavor to take you at face-value. One's affinity with the Dark Side does not inherently make one evil, much as one's affinity does not always mean one is good.... I've heard of it going in both directions. You, your deeds, your actions, and your own heart, determine if you are good, or evil.... Though.... that might be heretical thoughts conjured by inexperienced youth...." He'd finish his tangent weakly, offering a meek, awkward shrug, his fingers fiddling with his mask skittishly.

"I.... I think.... I am not yet ready to be without my mask just yet.... Baby steps...." He'd mutter, before slipping the mask back into place, hood pulled down once again to hide his ears.


[member="Kitty"] | [member="Orphen"]

 

[Orphen]

Orphen smiled warmly,

Felacians were rather rare through the galaxy, though, with the additions of Cathar Firrerreo and other feline races, Orphen was surprised that he had not come across others which would be able to lead him in the right direction, it was a rather odd occurrence, though, neither of him seemed to pay much attention to his own revelation, Orphen didn't feel hurt, but their apathy spoke some volumes to it. He felt like he didn't matter for a moment before coming to the conclusion that he was probably right, in a sense, the younger leonid had come to Kitty for his answers, not coming to the young epicanthix for his life story. While Kitty had just begun explaining Orphen stepped away from the group and made his presence more scarce and allowed the two of them to have their moment, placing more importance on them than himself and sliding the visor back over his eyes and concealing them from the world.

It was at that moment that he heard Kitties' question

Looking back to her, he hadn't really planned anything yet, though there were a multitude of buildings nearby which would provide accommodation with a high degree of comfort and ease of access for the two of them. He looked up at the buildings near by, his wage as scientist under Taeli Raaf gave him a good wage, he had worked on many a project for aurora industries which had made several of the people within the company wealthy. His work on maser technology one of the many. So, he would point to a nice hotel towering above some of the other buildings, it was pristine, worthy of a princess and overlooked the city which surrounded it as well as the Jedi Temple.

"The Coraanan Spa I hear is fantastic, I can make a booking for you there no trouble, "

Orphen was happy she seemed to be having a good time, it wasn't often she was so curious about everything, but it seemed the two of them were having a moment, So, Orphen excused himself, taking a seat by a nearby chair and waiting for the revelation to be complete, he knew that it wasn't likely for them to run off anywhere together and get into anything stupid, unless there was some primal challenge tradition that he didn't know about. So, taking the datapad from his side and placing it in his hands he began to work on the bookings for Kitty as well as discover all of the things that he had to do, messaging his former master, keeping up pretences, but he was sure that Taeli no longer gave a damn about the stuff he got up to these days...

Another master down the drain...

bringing the current total up to five.

[member="Kitty"] | [member="Ryn'Dhal"]

 

[Kitty]

It seemed her attempt to confiscate the mask didn't go as planned. He was after all the same quick reflexes species as her and a jedi to boot. In hindsight she probably should have used force speed, but that wasn't an option in this situation anyways. "Hey you can't wear that hood. That's hindering your hearing." After noticing his ears shifting about looking for anything that sounded off, a natural common action of theirs she couldn't believe he could stand covering them up. Well there were other things to do.

With these revelation of hers Kitty was impatient to test them. It sounded like the place she would be staying needed prior reservation so that wasn't going to help at all at the moment. "Is there anywhere privet the three of us could go. I'd like to know what holding one of these lightsabers feels like and maybe you guys could show me how to use one a little." Kitty said looking at them wide eyed like a kitten getting some left over chicken or catnip.

[member="Ryn'Dhal"] [member="Orphen"]

 

[Ryn'Dhal]

He'd observe the subtle shift in Orphen. It would have possibly gone unnoticed, if it didn't ring with such a strong familiarity with how he himself tended to feel on a daily basis. Feeling less important, even if it was only a brief flare. Ryn cocked his head one way, then the other, before looking back to Kitty, smiling again, which would be evident in his voice and eyes. "I make up for my self-afflicted limitations by relying of the Force. Helps to sharpen my capacity for feeling the world around me." He'd give a slight sigh. "Though, it does make it slightly bothersome going without my natural senses in that regard.... It makes me appreciate the gift of hearing that much more whenever I do remove the hood."

Then she mentioned saber-'lessons', to which he'd scan about, and offer a weak shrug. "As I am exceedingly unfamiliar with this world, and this temple, only having arrived for a visit not long before you did, I shall gladly relent to Orphen on the subject."

[member=Orphen] | [member=Kitty]​

 

[Orphen]

Orphen rose an eyebrow at the request by kitty.

It was not normally safe or allowed for a Jedi to simply hand over a light-saber to someone and allow them to have a turn with it, though, teaching someone the basics of sword-play and how to defend themselves with a weapon was something that the Jedi went to worlds to perform at any given time. Orphen had to think about it for a small amount of time before relenting, he knew Kitty, and he knew that she had been with the sith, so it was not like she had not come into contact with the weapons before. In fact it was highly unlikely that she hadn't, with Ferus as her father, he could almost be assured that he would have taught her how to defend herself in one way or another, be it with a blade or another means...

So, Orphen shrugged.

As they were in the Jedi Temple at the time still, he would move to an abandoned training room, a place where older Jedi came to test and train their skills and hone their senses away from the prying eyes of others. Orphen would reach behindd his back and draw one of his coveted blades, though his were odd compared to that of many other Jedi, the slender hilt was much more in line with that of a sword with a hand-guard capable of parrying a blow from another light-saber. The Saber appeared not to have a switch which controlled it being on or off either, instead, at the top of the blade was a trigger like a fire-arm. Closing his eyes for a second, Orphen, using the force weaved the tendrils of his mind around the circuits of the weapon, manipulating its power out-put to be much lower than normal, effectively lowering it to safe, training friendly settings. Simply so that no-one would be able to get seriously hurt.

"This room should do well, all of the training rooms in the temple are effectively meditation chambers, so, they cut out the influences of the outside world and allow you to focus a little better. The sheer amount of people using them tends to blind people to what we're doing, so, we should be fine here. Although, let me tell you now that this is not something which Jedi would usually do... some masters get a little... touchy, about this kinda thing."

Orphen was a little nervous, though he broke out with a slightly mischievous smile, tossing his blade to kitty as he would look to Ryn, hoping that he would be okay with everything going on at the moment. He didn't want to leave the leonid out of the proceedings, perhaps he would like to take the front a little more

"Me weapons are a little different to other Jedi's that trigger near the hilt, pulling down on it controls the length and activates it, the harder you pull down, the longer it gets, if you push the trigger to the side a little there are small teeth for the trigger to slot into so you can lock it in place. But, it's still a bonafide light-saber, have you ever used one before? Maybe Ryn here could give you some pointers."

Orphen asked kitty and finished with a light laugh, bringing both of his hands and interweaving his fingers behind his head. watching kittie's every move looking forward to what was to come.

Lightsabers were his specialty.

[member="Kitty"] | [member="Ryn'Dhal"]

 

[Kitty]

"Yay" Kitty exclaimed excitedly jumping up and down a little. She followed Orphen into a training meditation chamber thingy. She was even more glad to hear this room was a little more separate from everything else. Time seemed to go ever so slow as Orphen explained how his light sabers worked and tossed one over to Kitty. She couldn't believe things were going according to plan so smoothly. She looked down at the blade with a more serious expression. She knew it was likely on a lower setting as she doubted Orphen would hand her a dangerous blade when for all he knew she had no experience with it. Still she was very confident in her ability to handle a couple of padawans even with a training blade. This was it, the biggest secret she had ever kept was about to be revealed.

"There is probably a good reason for that." Kitty said in response to the comment about the masters not liking this kind of thing. She then released her art of the small technique and let go every bit of dark side presence she had, which was quite a bit soo much so even a non force user would be able to sense it. Kitty ignited the bladed and locked it at the lenght she was comfortable with. She lifted her gaze to the two with a very serious expression. "Thanks but I know how to handle em just fine." Kitty said with a bit of tease and shifting the blade into a reverse hand grip and taking a shien stance. Now Orphen knew she was a fully fledged sith.

[member="Orphen"] [member="Ryn'Dhal"]

 

[Ryn'Dhal]

Ryn'Dhal had been removing his mask and cloak, chuckling to himself at the thought of a saber-lesson, and as such the flinch that the females Darkness evoked from him was obvious, his ears suddenly flush against his scalp. Turning quickly, his array of weapons now visible with his cloak cast aside, one could see he bore a pair of short swords, sheaths crossing at his lower-back, easily accessible for reversed grip combat. A twin pair of curve-hilt lightsabers also hung at each hip. A third sword would have been glimpsed as well, sheath angled across his back, though it's hilt was angled for removal downwards, instead of the more common over-the-shoulder draw.

His tail flicked, his anxiety over her presence obvious to [member=Kitty] in the motion. He was confused, unsure how to take the situation. At least, until the logical mind kicked in, and he spoke his thought process out-loud.... partly for his own benefit in organizing his thoughts, but also for theirs, in hopes of potentially diffusing a potentially volatile situation before it gets bad. "I.... I am a little confused.... But.... let me be sure I have this straight.... I don't believe you're here with ill-intent.... Because I doubt that two padawan are worth a suicide run into a Jedi stronghold to kill.... I say suicide run, because if our deaths were your goal, it'd be unlikely you'd be able to get off world before being discovered...." His hands made no movements towards his weapons, though he'd cross his arms across his chest, stroking his chin, while his eyes would keep shifting between [member=Orphen] and the woman. "I am just wanting to make sure I'm not in the wrong here by assuming we're not hostile in these walls...." His ears drooped from defensive to sad as he sighed. "Would be just my luck.... find out who and what I am, only to be killed or have to kill the only other of my kind I'd ever met....." The words actually hurt to say.

His eyes had traveled towards the ground, his guard dropped momentarily, before lifting his gaze once again, looking between the two. "We..... we are.... friends.... right?"

 

[Orphen]

The heated blade twisted deeply in Orphen's heart...

'Sith' to him wasn't a word, it was a feeling, the emotional triggering of memories far too painful to comprehend, the vivid memories of half a decade of torture exploded into Orphen's brain, taking over all control in a full blown mental relapse, blood falling from his nose and eyes as his blood pressure sky-rocketed and his body attempted to desperately vent the pressure by any means possible in order to protect his brain. He didn't move or scream, the shock of everything ran by his head causing him to freeze with a single, although absent look of disbelief. Two fingers on his right hand twitching in time with his heartbeat as the Jedi attempted to fight through the inner demons. Surrounded by nothing more than pain on all sides, the epicanthix attempted to curl his thoughts into a ball, under constant harassment from the feelings which almost tore at him physically.

Orphen had, had to deal with these relapses in the past, however, with everything fighting against him, with the nature of Kittie's reveal, there was little he could do to resist, he had no anchor for his mind to latch onto, he had nothing, slipping away as the footing within his consious mind broke away like sand under his feat, leaving to constantly fight to clamor to the surface only to be met once again by the grim realization of reality... The memories of the experiments chain reacted within his mind, chaining into him remembering the feeling of abandonment from the masters in the Jedi order, each of them leaving for their own purposes. Some turning grey, others to the dark side...

The dark side...

The twitch in his hand became a grip, gripping tightly onto his remaining blade as within his mind the boy finally caught ahold on firm ground. The trick to maintaining your sanity was to find a single instant, a single feeling or emotion and focus everything onto it, gripping to it tightly with everything you have so not to let yourself be swept away by the river assaulting you. In desperation the only common denominator for all of his pain, was a resentment for the Dark Side. The resentment allowed the focus, after only a few mere moments to flood back to his eyes as colour began to creep back into his cheeks, the blood from his nose and eyes running down the side of his face and down his neck in several long ribbons as Orphen grit his teeth and began to shake as adrenaline coarsed through his body and mind.

"You... lied to me... ... ... I trusted you!"

Were the only words that came out of his mouth before like spears his gaze, even through his visor would penetrate the visage of Kitty. His hand whipping to his belt and drawing one of his pistols, completely forgetting that he had set his own power settings to a non lethal gradiant, the charged particle pistol would hum as his finger pressed down on the trigger and Orphen began to open fire, aiming for Kittie's chest. In his mental state, his ability to draw on the force was completely removed, having no focus to be able to maintain his connection, his mind so clouded with everything running through it he couldn't devise strategy or calculate as he normally would. However, in his other hand his light-saber expanded, its brilliant gold piercing the atmosphere and humming at his side and waiting for his opponent to try to get close.

Each of the bolts from his weapon, although non lethal, were still explosive, enough to crack bone with repeated impact and easily enough force to not allow light-sabers to deflect the blasts.

[member="Kitty"] | [member="Ryn'Dhal"]

 

[Kitty]

Kitty was unpleasantly surprised to find the one she most expected to attack her not to and the one she expected least likely to attack her do so. It was probably a bit rude to ignore Ryn but he wasn't attacking her and her lover was. Orphen aimed a pistol of some sort and aimed it at her. It hummed before he began open firing. Kitty was very much concerned with the humming. Normal pistols did not hum like that. Instead of blocking it with the lightsaber she held Kitty would extend a hand and put up a force barrier between her and Orphen. She was glad she did so as the bolts exploded on the barrier. He also ignited his own blade.

"Well I guess you turn into a different kind of rage monster." Kitty said to Orphen. Kitty's own ears drooped of sadness. "I thought you were different than other jedi, I thought............I just thought you were different." It seemed Kitty had been wrong. Even the jedi that seemed to preach the most peace turned on a flip of a switch in the face of a true sith. She didn't know what to think of Ryn though. She suspected his reaction was due to some sort of same species connection. Now she knew she was not wrong about the jedi. "I think I'm ready to go home now Orphen." Kitty said in a last ditch effort to appeal to the Orphen she was familiar with before things got really ugly.

[member="Ryn'Dhal"] [member="Orphen"]

 

[Ryn'Dhal]

Ryn was wrought with confusion. His training and his basic understanding was imploring him to dive into the melee against Kitty. But, she wouldn't have come all this way, into a bastion of the Light Side, just to kill a padawan, particularly Orphen. If she sought his head, she'd have taken it on the ship before they arrived here. Ryn'Dhal's presence was purely coincidental. He was certain there was no way he, himself, was part of the original equation here. No, this reveal was originally for Orphen's eyes only. That much the feline-humanoid was certain.

But, now the damage seemed done. Orphen was on the offence, and Ryn wasn't sure how to react. One part demanded solidarity with his fellow padawan. Another part demanded justice, which meant giving Kitty a chance to speak her piece. Honor demanded justice. And Ryn knew that he'd be doing a great injustice, even toward a Sith, to deny her an opportunity to speak. A greatly pained expression cut across Ryn's face, as he reached with the Force, attempting to grip the weapon in Orphen's hand, and with a wrenching motion, an attempt to rip the gun away from his fellow padawan.

Regardless of the outcome of his attempt, he would dart between the two, his twin silver-bladed sabers igniting simultaneously, before making the subtle dance, reminiscent of the defensive form Soresu, orbits, about his body. His twin-bladed style was refined, and he was certain, that provided either, or both, lashed at him, he'd be able to deflect most, if not all, of their strikes. It was the one thing he held great personal confidence in.

Now, positioned between the two, his visage holding extreme emotional pain in his countenance, he'd look to Orphen, imploringly, "Calm yourself! Please! Why would she have waited this long to reveal this, if her only goal was harm? Hear her out, before casting her out! Don't be exactly that which all of us fear and dread!" Judgement for who we were. What we appear to be. Judging without knowing. he thought to himself. He hoped, and prayed, that reason would break through to Orphen.

Glancing back towards Kitty, he'd add, "Please, remain calm, and remain here, I'd rather a peaceful resolution, if possible.... Don't make me regret choosing justice and honor over our trained hatred of your sect." Yes, she was Sith. And yes, had he met her while she was threatening innocent lives, he would cut her down. But, she came here, empty handed, diplomatically. She wasn't a threat, unless she chose to be. And, as it stood, the only one actively choosing to be a threat.... as Orphen....

"Please.... Words are our greatest tool..... Please....."



[member=Kitty] | [member=Orphen]

 

[Orphen]

No confusion was greater than this...

Kitty defended the bolts with a force barrier, cementing the lie which had been cast against him as Orphen came to the conclusion that she had talked him out of a weapon before this began. Tears streamed down Orphen's eyes mixed with the blood which poured from his nose to an almost dangerous level as, along his body, bruises had begun to appear as his complexion had paled to the point that it looked like he had vomited or been physically ill within the last few moments due to him mind taking an immediate and very physical toll on his body. As the bolts which had been tuned down stopped coming, Orphen was about to continue his crusade, Kitties' words had almost fallen on deaf ears but it was Ryn, whos voice penetrated through the chaos, managing to bring the Jedi Padawan to his senses, each word he spoke underlay an emotional wisdom beyond his years, something which Orphen could not have possibly contended with due to the sheer absence of his masters combined with the lack of emotional discipline he had received through his training.

Then action...

The force yanked the weapon out of his hands as in turn Orphen dropped his light-saber, the will to fight drained from his body as well as his strength as within moment, the Jedi Padawan looked broken and conflicted. Rage, waned to sorrow, and sorrow to something hollow within him that he was not able to describe, and those around him, were not able to feel due to his special alignment... Orphen stared at the two of them for a moment, Ryn was right, she deserved the time to speak and to explain herself, the logic of this action was flawed, there would be no reason to reveal that here if the reason was to harm them, but harm someone else, that was something else that Orphen could not forget... they were at the seat of the Jedi Counsil, or at least, within the same building, so, taking a staggering step back, Orphen tried to swallow what blood had slipped past his lips and stuttered as he attempted to talk.

"I... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have don- ... but, but why? ... You lied to me... why?"

a second hesitant step backwards proved to be an ill informed idea, as the strength which literally poured from his body reduced him to a state that but a single leg was incapable of holding his own weight, and so, buckling, he fell backwards colliding with the floor in a sitting position, managing to barely use one arm to catch himself and prop himself up. It would be evident that something 'medically' had happened to Orphen within the last couple of moments, be it mental or otherwise, the two felines would be able to smell it on the breeze were they more in tune with their animal instincts than they were their more human side. Orphen's eyes locked on kitty, not knowing where else to look, he could see the shimmering silver blades of rin as he stood between them, no doubt he would be looking for answers also. Orphen composed his next sentence a lot better, thinking his words through before he spoke so not to stumble verbally as badly as he had physically.

"A whole year, I trusted you... did you not trust me this whole time? You could have told me Kitty... I thought I proved to you i was different, but, like this? what did you think would happen? I smile, and tell you that it's ok? That I knew all along? I had a hunch, but when you told me what you were, i believed you, despite all my doubts. I believed you."

He wanted nothing more than to mimic her, telling her he thought she was different, that she wasn't just a sith, and that they were another side that could be good, capable of kindness and compassion, but all he saw now was the betrayal and he wanted an answer, as much as it would pain him... Though, it could very well have simply been misunderstanding that drove him to this point... he didn't know, his mind swam as the thoughts and pains crept back, he could feel the phantoms of the bacta flowing through his artificial veins, see the images and hear the sounds of laboratories attempting to drill thoughts into his consciousness creating a ringing in his ears that he needed to focus through simply to hear spoken words least the world drown out around him.

Simply put, the 'surprise' of the reveal had worked.

He was surprised.

[member="Kitty"] || [member="Ryn'Dhal"]