Dark days

[Gherron Dragovalor]

Rylan looked at the swamplands from inside his ship, taking it all in for a moment before heading for the rear hatch. As he made to go outside, a small head popped out from the darkness below him. Allowing a small smile, he bent down to pet the tiny animal's head. A stowaway from Refuge, he'd found the little winged fox some time after leaving, and had been taking care of it ever since. Even loners needed friends. Once he finished giving his companion attention, he stepped outside into the muggy air. Why Rylan was here, he couldn't say. Recently, he'd taken to following his own path through the force, even with his old master reaching out to him. He'd wanted to put some distance between himself and his past, at least for now, while he got his story straight. So far, he'd done a pretty good job, with his once light blonde hair a solid black, and his new choice of garb usually a hooded coat of some dark color, today his choice being black. Alnost hung on his back, sheathed in leather, while Absolution, his newest and favored pistol, hung at his side. Stories came to mind of this place being one for dark magic and uses of the force that baffled him in a lot of ways. With the darkness clouding the air like it did, it seemed almost like he was picking a fight, with his sword just giving off light energy through the force. He didn't care, though. He wasn't a Jedi. He didn't fight like one, either. Whoever, or whatever decided to confront him woukd have a lot to deal with on their hands. As he thought about everything that had led up to this point, he grasped the crystal and tusk on his neck, a reminder of those closest to him, and made a silent promise that he would return, some day.

[member="Krest"]

 

[Dezoti]

Picking a fight, huh?

It didn't take long for Krest to find the source of this invitation. The want for fighting was something the Zabrak was all too familiar with, and something he enjoyed. So when the challenge came? The red man came to accept. Strapped to his waist was his sowrd, and on the opposite was the large pistol he recently had gotten. Who knew, maybe he'd have a chance to test it out today. That was the thought until he found the source. Blue eyes fixated on [member="Rylan Thatcher"] . In disbelief the Templar began to laugh. Gherron. The Zabrak certainly knew who the man was.

"Been a while kid, why are you so angry this time?"

 

[Gherron Dragovalor]

As he continued through the forest, Rylan felt a presence, one he was very familiar with. As soon as the name came to mind, his face hardened. Krest. He'd once called the man his friend, until he'd betrayed him to the Sith and tried to kill him. Rylan may not have been a Jedi anymore, but he didn't take it very lightly when he was betrayed. Even though the Zabrak had seemed to reform some time after, he had never trusted him again, and had always kept his guard up. So yes, he was angry at the red man. Ironic, as he'd heard that was a nickname for him, it seemed. When the man made it into view, Rylan stared him down neutrally. From his posture and words, it seemed he wasn't fooled by Rylan's new mindset and look. Maybe he'd have to do better at hiding himself. Crossing his arms, he raised an eyebrow. "I'm no kid, and you know that. Even before... He grimaced as a flash of pain came, the memory that had seared itself into his mind making itself known. "Even before I'd decided to disappear, I'd changed enough to not be considered just some kid. Besides, I'm pushing thirty now. You should stay a bit more informed, oldtimer." Bringing his arms back down, he slowly, cautiously closed the gal between them. "What are you doing here?"

[member="Krest"]

 

[Dezoti]

"Pushin thirty huh? Let me know when you start pushin fifty, but even then you'd still be a kid to me. Till you prove otherwise at least." Little taunting, yes, but that's how Krest was. Always testing, prodding. [member="Rylan Thatcher"] was still just the padawan he knew so many years ago. Well, no, that's not true. He could see how much the boy had grown, but he was still angry. Dark. Oh how far this prodigal son has fallen.

"And I'll answer your question once you answer mine, deal?"

 

[Gherron Dragovalor]

Rylan chuckled at the zabrak's words, a good natured one at that. They had both grown older, and the galaxy wasn't getting any younger. While the words didn't succeed at poking too deep for him, they did stir him out of his original demeanor, and his expression turned neutral, his mind going at ease, yet still on guard. "I'm not angry. I've just been through a lot since we'd last met. You still have ties with the Sith?" Even when he had last seen the man at the rally for the Army of Light, he hadn't believed his claim of rejecting them. Maybe he wasn't one anymore, but Rylan refused to believe that his once friend had completely cut off everything from his time as one. Still... could he really blame him? Even now, he felt the tug of the darkness pulling at him, imploring him to delve into the other aspects of the force, and already he had begun to listen. There were a few times already where he had found himself playing with fire, quite literally, in his ship's living quarters. Though he could as of yet only generate a tiny spark, a spark was all it took to start a raging inferno.

[member="Krest"]

 

[Dezoti]

"Nah. After my apprentice overthrew me and went so far as to take my name, I had a lot of time to think about what it was to be a Sith. In the cell he put me in. Not sure why he didn't kill me, probably because he needed me for something, but I'm no Sith anymore. The dark? Yeah, that's still there." He had been smiling as he chatted away with [member="Rylan Thatcher"] , but the smile faded into a thin line. "And I can see it in you too. The Grey taught balance, but you're far from it. What happened to you?" Now it was Krest trying to avoid the subject of his time as a Sith. It wasn't complicated, but there was so much regret, and so many he missed, that the Zabrak didn't want to say a thing about it.

 

[Gherron Dragovalor]

Rylan listened to the man as he recounted his tale, though he still wasn't sure if he could actually be taken seriously at that. Perhaps with time, he would be able to trust the zabrak again, provided he had actually cut the Sith out of his life. When the conversation turned to him though, he backpedaled a little. He hadn't expected to be asked about his own exploits, but it was fair that he told his own story. "During a fight with another Sith, I was infected with some sort of poison that soon took over me, amplifying my rage and hate somehow. It did die down, but ever since then, I can still feel the darkness inside, pulling at me. I get real tempted to use it, and sometimes I do." To demonstrate this, he raised his hand, and a ball of flame materialized in it. He watched as it danced around his fingers for a moment before extinguishing it. "I came here to further attune myself, so I can learn to control it so it doesn't control me again." He didn't say it, but some part of him was also wondering if the man could give him a few tips on how to properly wield his new weapon. He was quickly understanding that though similar, lightsabers and swords shared plenty of differences.

[member="Krest"]

 

[Dezoti]

Fire huh? Krest gave the flame a passive stare before returning his eyes to [member="Rylan Thatcher"] . He thought the flame was darkness? An embodiment of evil? Well, that just wasn't true. It was no different than using the Force to grab things. The use determined the attunement. Then again, if the poison Gheron spoke of was truly as malevolent as he made it seem, perhaps it stained all powers black.

The Templar brought up his own hand then, letting his own flame cloak around his fingers. It wasn't much more than what the man before him did, with how rusty the Zabrak still was, but enough to show he did know something about the fire. "Don't assume fire is dark. Fire cleanses, creates soot and ash to feed plants, removes bacteria and death from lands to help them regrow. Understand?"

 

[Gherron Dragovalor]

Rylan nodded as he understood the man's words, but as he let his flame extinguish, a troubled look still clouded his face. "I was taught that it was one of the abilities that had ties to the dark side. Fire is destruction, and thinking with that ideal can lead to the destruction of others. But you say it's a form of cleansing, being made anew. So which is it?" In a way, he looked more lost on the topic than he had with anything else before. He felt like he was just now beginning to understand the true nature of the force. How could one thing bring life as easily as it brings death? Perhaps that was the key to both sides of the force, dark and light.

[member="Krest"]

 

[Dezoti]

"Neither. Or both. Fire is the essence of what the Grey was trying to show you. Ironic you found it, huh?" Or a sign. The Force was weird like that after all. A wave of his hand would signal that [member="Rylan Thatcher"] should follow the Zabrak, and without delay he took off down a nearby path. "I can show you this, but not next to your ship. Last thing we need is your ship blowing up, and fire tends to be uncontrollable once you hit a point. Get it?"

 

[Gherron Dragovalor]

Rylan nodded in understanding, and began to follow Krest down the path, his mind still overflowing with doubt. The brunt of the reason why he had abdicated the use of lightsabers was to dampen the amount of power he had available to him. If the zabrak was going to teach him this new way if viewing the force, a more powerful route, where did that leave him? He scratched his chin for a moment, then looked around at the forest surrounding them. "This place just radiates power, doesn't it? I recall hearing about an ancient Sith Lord that took some training here, or something like that. He eventually wound up leaving the Sith and trying to take it dow . He was a zabrak too." He looked at the man for a response.

[member="Krest"]

 

[Dezoti]

"Ironic. I did the same thing, and failed. Well, at least I'm still alive, huh? I assume the other is dead, so maybe there's still hope, or something." Not something he wanted to dwell on, that was for sure. It was then Krest turned to face [member="Rylan Thatcher"] , holding up a single hand. Fire sparked around his flesh, burning up the air itself. A nod was offered to the man as the fire began to take shape, eventually becoming something so simple.

A butterfly.

"Light and dark are two sides of the same coin. Control is what picks one side or the other. One can control which side the coin will face, but only with enough practice. What is it you can do with this flame?"

 

[Gherron Dragovalor]

Thinking on what the man had said, Rylan would stare at the butterfly flitting to and fro for a moment before reaching out with his own hand. "Control..." Opening his palm, he let the flames dance across his fingertips, watching as they overflowed and hit the ground, taking shape.

A fox.

"Hm." An amused smile made its way to his face then, as the fox began sniffing around, moving over toward Krest. As soon as it reached te man however, it began falling apart, the flames darting outward from the form. Quickly, Rylan swiped his hand in the direction of the apparition and caused it to disappear. "Maybe I need a bit more practice."

[member="Krest"]

 

[Dezoti]

"That's part of the reason I brought you out here. Train ya in some skills. Though, I never was able to master them myself. I got other skills I'm better at, for example." Those he wasn't going to show [member="Rylan Thatcher"] just yet. A mans gotta have his secrets after all. The Zabrak made a move to pet the fox, only to watch it dissipate into the air. It didn't last long, but to make a shape that complex out of fire was pretty skilled.

"Have you tried channeling heat through your body? Once I was able to walk by lava by taking in the heat and expelling it as flame from my body. Looked pretty intimidating, and kept my insides from boiling. It's handy in hot situations." Krest found a nearby stump by this point, taking a seat atop the dead wood. At least it wasn't rotted out. Blue eyes fixated on his fellow knight and once student, waiting for an answer.

 

[Gherron Dragovalor]

At the question, Rylan had to shake his head no, that he had never even thought if the idea. "I'll admit though, that does sound pretty cool. Maybe I'll be able to put it to use on Mustafar. I've proven to learn valuable skills under extreme stress." His mind shifted to one battle with a Sith, in where he had feared for his life, and in the process, let loose an extreme amount of force in the form of enlightenment. He'd lost his ability to go into the force like that since then, but he did do so a few times after. Reaching outward, he let a small inferno play around his fingers once more, studying it. What would it take, for him to be thrown into lava? Perhaps. He was a man of extremes, that was for sure. And to go through so much in ten years... it did put some amount of stress on him. With a thought, he snuffed out the flames, then focused his eyes on the zabrak. "Teach me."

[member="Krest"]

 

[Dezoti]

"The heat on Mustafar will boil your insides before you get a chance to figure it out. If you wanna learn this, start smaller first. Stick your hand into an open flame without getting burned. I can help you with that, and once you've at least done that, we can go take a trip to the lava." Always the teacher. Krest was serious about the melting of the insides. What he didn't mention to [member="Rylan Thatcher"] was that the Zabrak himself wasn't completely prepared to walk along the lava beach again without burning himself. Years without using the Force had dampened him to the extent he wasn't sure he could even do the simple task he mentioned above.

"You have any questions though? Anything more you want to know before you start shoving your hand into fire?"

 

[Gherron Dragovalor]

Rylan gave the idea some thought, but it didn't take much for him to simply shake his head, a gleam in his eye. "I wanna try it." At this point in the game, he wanted to learn to control himself as much as possible, and in the process, learn some new things. Besides, he had a feeling Krest was right. Just skipping to the 'swimming in lava' concept would yield pretty bad results. A sunburn would be the last of his problems. No, better to start small, and work his way up, like the zabrak was suggesting. Still, Rylan's curiosity had peaked, and he was already imagining the possibilities with this line of abilities. His mind went to a certain fire shaper he knew; perhaps he could learn similar abilities to what he had seen. "Alright then, let's get ready, i'm anxious to see whether or not i'll have a crispy hand by the end of today."

[member="Krest"]