Life Without Remorse

[Hailyn]

They say the relationship between master and apprentice is akin to that of a parent and child. Skills are learned, traded, both learn from the other, the child growing with a compounded knowledge of their betters and their own experiences. The link between the two would theoretically lead to a generational chain in which the end of the link would possess all the knowledge, the power, and the wisdom of their predecessors. So why, after ten thousand years, were Jedi and Sith still around? Braith's time had been prior to the conflicts of the Republic and the original Sith Empire of the likes of Marka Ragnos and Naga Sadow, before the wars of Exar Kun and Ulic Qel-Droma, and it the time that passed from then to now it appeared as if the two sects had remained stagnant - teaching only enough to climb the insurmountable wall of division that lay between the two. So many orders of the force, so many governments and warring factions, and yet none a single one had managed to entirely destroy the other. One might find it a remarkable willpower on the part of the people whom had been beaten into the dirt, others - those who thought logically, with superiority, like Braith, knew it to be a flaw. They saw weakness as defeat and did not pursue absolute victory, as though their pursuit of power and knowledge was of greater importance.. and yet they only taught, only learned, enough to survive on top. The purpose of becoming a master and fostering an apprentice had been irrevocably perverted within these groups, and though the 'why' was obvious, she wondered only how they had not yet learned from their mistakes - were they so blind?

But, unlike those fools, Braith came from an untouched world in a forgotten era and had never fostered an apprentice, a student, of her own. Ten thousand years ago she had been regarded as the goddess that would herald the calamity or prosperity of the planet of Pax Insul, and eons later it no longer supported a native sentient species. There was no coincidence between the two facts, only luck for this apprentice - this [member="Vishune"] - that she would be instructed by a woman who had never known a true rival, not because of a lack of challenges either. She was Braith Ma'at Achlys, an ancient master of this fluid entity that the galaxy now called "the force", what she referred to as the source - the progenitors of her own people's gods and goddesses, such as herself - and there was much for the woman to teach, both of knowledge and wisdom. Power would come with time, but knowledge was invaluable and could be lost at any given time. Their setting? Braith had found it suitable that the delectable little angel of the stars be subject to the wilds of Pax Insul with no distractions from sentient life at all. The world was literally their oyster, and there were no people for Vishune to put her attention toward but herself and master. Standing amidst a small ten-meter-wide clearing within the jungles of the six largest island, dead center at that, was the somewhat tall and voluptuous form of Braith, staring directly into the eyes of her apprentice. If the deity had found any sexual interest in others than perhaps the awe-inspiring beauty of her apprentice might have made things difficult, but there was no interest in such here, nothing that would detract from their relationship as teacher and student. "You will remain on this planet, with me, until I am satisfied with your abilities, knowledge, and maturity. I will subject you to the same training I underwent during my youth so that you may learn what I know, and there is no turning back once you have begun. Is that clear?" Braith asked, her arms crossed over each other - glad to be covered by the night sky. There would be no training outside in the daylight, such would be unbearable for the woman - her species unable to remain exposed to ultraviolet light without being burned merely on contact with rays of sunlight.

 

[Slot 9]

The world of Pax Insul. There was little life here, apart from the plants. In the darkness, with the stars seemingly endless above them, it might have been beautiful. But Vishune cared little for beauty. In fact, she cared little for anything. Her emotions were to raw and forth-coming to linger upon an insignificant thing like scenery.​

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Two glowing orange eyes looked down at the woman who was to be Vishune's master. As [member="Braith"] relayed her instructions, the dark Diathim gave her a single nod in reply. She had no intention of turning from this path. She needed to learn. She craved instruction. Just as she had from her creator.​

 

[Hailyn]

Where the Daithim wished for instruction, Braith was hesitant to give it. She had lived through a childhood of many mentors, each teaching her different things - from alchemy to metallurgy, swordplay to pole arms - and she had always soaked up the knowledge more quickly than her teachers were prepared to give it. Though now she understood that it was because she had a natural increased perception of time, and thus a "slowed" experience of time, it was still very possible that she would either move too quickly for the girl or too slowly. Unfortunately for her, however, that just happened to be one of the natural learning curves of being a mentor, she would have to know what was too much, and when she was giving too little, and right now she wasn't quite certain where in that generality she was. "Tell me, Vishune, how difficult do you believe it is for masters of this flow, which you call 'the force', to control and alter the weather, the very environment around them?" The raven-haired goddess asked, looking up towards the towering figure of her apprentice - not quite paying much attention to the gap in their height, nor their lack of an age gap. As if to demonstrate, Braith stepped back towards the line of trees behind her and slowly lifted both of her hands with their palms spread, as though she were lifting the air with some visible and physical strain. Behind her the limbs of the trees shook and moved, leaves whistling with the wind that picked up and pulled up, and a gust of wind screamed through the air to rip branches, leaves, and even small trees from the ground. A small jet stream, so far from the tip of the atmosphere, was created by the will of the Alua'an, much unlike shaping that would have required a constant concerted effort and physical movement to orchestrate. To her the difference between the two was the difference between a the magicks of Sith magic and traditional use of the force with less words and hymns. Altering the environment, quite simply, was just more efficient and practical than creating her own ammunition. That wasn't to say she couldn't combine the two of them, of course.

The winds died down and she tilted her head back, nodding towards the crowd of trees that now suffered brutal damages - yet controlled and secluded at the same time. "True strength is not determined by the raw power one can muster, to destroy is easy. To cultivate such power and only touch a single spot is much more difficult." Braith explained, gesturing to her left, behind her, with an outstretched hand with a rather matter-of-fact tone. Of course she didn't expect her apprentice to be able to ever recreate such demonstrations, not without significant years of training and tutoring well into her ascension to a perceived mastery of the force. "I don't expect you to do that, but I will be teaching you, coaching you even, on this specific method of control. Some refer to this as altering the environment, as you use the pre-existing world around you to do as you wish, to cause thunderstorms, to form hurricanes, and form fissures in the earth. Unlike shaping, you do not need to expend all of your stamina on creating the element of your desire, nor is the expenditure even comparable to such elementary skills." She added, studying her student's reaction. It was true, shaping, specifically any that required the creation of the elements when not near an external source, was extremely tiring when compared to manipulating the very air around them. A brief pause and the deity reached into the inner folds of her robes and pulled out a small blue crystal, one which radiated an aura of the force but also enhanced its use. It was set into a pendant of some sort, like a necklace, and she held it out for [member="Vishune"] to take. "This crystal is one of my own creation, to wear it on your person, or to have it nearby, will make your use of the force much easier. Wear it." She instructed, trying to think of how she'd explain how exactly one would go about altering the environment next.

 

[Slot 9]

Vishune's expression was unchanging as Braith began the lesson. She watched the trees be obliterated in only one area, leaving the rest of the forest untouched. She had never been told that control was needed to better wield power. It was a curious concept to her.​

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She took the necklace and placed it on her neck as she was instructed, and waited patiently for Braith to continue.​

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[member="Braith"]​

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((OOC: Sorry for the wait!))​

 

[Hailyn]

While her apprentice followed her instructions, putting the necklace around her neck as asked - which most certainly would assist in the quality of her actions through the force more than anything - Braith was already drumming up an explanation in her head as to what exactly it was that she did when she altered the environment, whether it be the weather or the very environment itself. "I'm not usually one to try to explain the processes behind things, it comes easier, naturally, to me than it does for most people - a feeling like I just 'know' something, rather than learning it per se." She began, still trying to come up with a decent way to describe what the latent force energy that she was able to access was, and why it was more important than outright destructive power - at least in the long run. "When you walk through the grass, with your feet on the ground with nothing between your heels and the slightly dewy plants below, the wind blowing through your hair, do you feel the sensation of life around you? That something can exist, thrive, and survive? In a place so rich in flora and fauna such as this forest it is easiest to make that connection, that all around you is the force that is flowing through all of this life." The Alua'an continued, raising her right hand to gesture to the trees around them, and the grass beneath them. "There is a natural phenomena that can take place which allows a wielder of the 'force' to control plantlife, similar to how one would feed off of the force itself - only in reverse, and funneled into that particular plant or set of plants - but this goes beyond that. Rather than relying on such things like telekinesis to create a ball of compressed air, I can reach out and control the very force energy that exists within nature, within the galaxy, and force the environment to beckon to my will. It is easiest to excite what is already there, like making a snow storm into a deadly blizzard, or turning a simple sunshower into a deadly hurricane, and though it takes practice to precisely cause such things to occur, it requires far less stamina than it would to do the same via shaping - in fact it is impossible to create a hurricane through shaping, it would require more than what even a handful of masters might provide. Yet it only takes one skilled wielder of this ability to create such a storm." Braith explained. She wasn't too certain if her apprentice was fully understanding the implications of such potential feats, but she knew it would come with time and practice.

[member="Vishune"]

 

[Slot 9]

Such power must come from long and rigorous training....​

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Vishune spoke to Braith through the Force: The only means of actual communication she ever used. The Diathim looked down at her own feet in the grass. She didn't typically wear shoes, as she never saw a use for them. She could already feel the Force around them. There wasn't any sign of animal life, but the plant life still remained. To make a connection that allowed her to bend even the plants to her will was something she had never considered before.​

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[member="Braith"]​