Like Father Like Son.

[Darth Ferus]

Iridonia was a hostile world. It's environment was made to kill the weak. In the cities this was not true. Zabrak could wander without fear. There was no threat of a giant predator chasing them down. No threat of malnutrition or dehydration. Despite being the King of the Nomads, those who chose to live outside the cities, to live off the land as their ancestors had, Krest lived in one of these such places.

It was not an insult to the tribes, living here of all places. The Zabrak King had made the city his home for one reason. To unite all Zabrak one day, be they Nomad or City, and with the Nomads already backing him, the City folk were what was left. Naturally though, he chose to live in the outskirts, just by the border between 'civilized' and 'uncivilized'.

And it was here he raised his son.

In the field behind his home Krest stood, dressed in his usual leathers, with a wooden sword in hand. There was an arena of sorts built to stand just shy of five feet over the ground, simple and wooden. Here, he had trained a boy for so many years in the Sith's own true skill of battle. And just as he had so many times before, Krest would give Janos another lesson.

[member="Janos"]

 

[Janos]

Janos sat in his room, looking at pictures of his father and the mother that he had never met. [member="Krest"] was relatively a light "ruler", he lacked the compassion of parents that Janos had heard about in the city but, [member="Krest"] still treated him with respect. Janos gazed outside his window to find his father standing outside, he quickly glanced at the clock.

It was roughly training practice time, Janos quickly walked out of the house and towards his father in the makeshift area. This was a daily routine since he was able to hold a sword properly and fighting was drilled into his lifestyle since birth. Janos never truly understood [member="Krest"] fascination with violence and bloodlust but, his father never failed him before so, he never directly challenged his father. Their relation went deeper than just the typical relation between an apprentice and a Sith Master.

Krest never seemed to show direct and open compassion, but occasionally some love might slip through the cracks of his bloodthirsty and war-mongering façade.

Janos quickly scooped up his training blade and walked towards Krest. Today was actually a special day for Janos, it was his birthday in fact but Krest would likely forget about it until it was 2 weeks too late. Janos sighed in slight disappointment as he stared at his father and mentally prepared today's training exercise.

 

[Darth Ferus]

"Yo." A smile formed on the older mans face as he saw [member="Janos"] step up onto the arena. With a casual nod of his head he pulled his blade up in a light grip, letting his eyes focus. "We'll work on parries and counters for now, understood?" Without waiting for an answer he rushed forward, his blade thrusting out right for the prince's chest. Always be prepared, always be ready to fight. This wasn't Sith, but Iridonian to Krest. He had never once told Janos why, but today was different.

Soon, a real trial would come for the boy. It was his birthday after all. Even as he struck out with the full intent of harming his son, his mind couldn't help but wander to when Janos was just a child. Had it truly been fifteen years since the boy first started using a sword? It was hard to believe. He could already remember the first lesson he taught the young halfbreed.

-----------------

Before the arena, before the home, there was only grass. Krest, younger, harder, stood in the plains dressed in a tattered red cloak. It was the time of the One Sith, when he served the Dark Lord as his shadow, his personal assassin. He had brought his boy here from Coruscant to show him the land of his people, and begin his training. He held two wooden swords in his hand, one for himself, and one for a young Janos, much smaller and made specifically for a child.

"You are born of the blood of war. You're heritage is blood, your birthright pain." The cloaked man turned, tossing the smaller blade over. "You're lessons begin now Janos, and you will learn what it is to be Sith."

 

[Janos]

15 years ago
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"You are born of the blood of war. You're heritage is blood, your birthright pain." The cloaked man turned, tossing the smaller blade over. "You're lessons begin now Janos, and you will learn what it is to be Sith."

Janos stared at his father in childish innocence and confusion. "Where is mom?". Janos took hold of his blade with ease and something seemed to call out to him. "Sith......I am going to be a Sith?" Janos gave a wide toothy grin despite having little knowledge in what a Sith would do and the path lying before him.

Present day
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Janos quickly snapped out of his childhood memory to see [member="Krest"] blade sailing towards him. He quickly took a step back and quickly kocked the strike to his right. Janos panted as sudden adrenaline rush ripped through his body in waves. Krest was always doing this with the sudden attack during their practices. It wasn't hard to counter but still shook him up every time with every "practice" strike being a potentially fatal blow. Janos glared at his father before returning a quick short jab at Krest in an attempt to catch him off guard. It wasn't a potentially fatal blow but would probably be enough to make his father have to counter or dodge with slight difficulty. It wasn't really an attack, more of a gesture of annoyance.

 

[Darth Ferus]

"You're mother.. She is not coming back." The man could only sigh before stepping over to [member="Janos"] . The Zabrak pulled down his hood and crouched, placing a hand atop the half breed's head. "And yes. You're going to become Sith. But for now, I shall show you how to use that sword I just gave you. Now, hold it in both hands, like this." The Zabrak stood and held his own sword in a simple two handed grip. Memories of his own childhood prevented the Sith from harming his own child. One day Janos would become Sith, but for now, he would become Iridonian.

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Krest could only grin at Janos's annoyance. In all this time, he never did learn how to enjoy a fight. Perhaps that was the red man's fault. Ah well. A quick step backwards and a swipe, and the Lord's wooden blade would smack the jab to the side. "Come on now. You're suppose to be focused on this. Don't let your emotions rule you, rule them." The Lord pulled his blade up, and simply waited.

 

[Janos]

[member="Krest"] easily deflected his attack with ease. "Come on now. You're suppose to be focused on this. Don't let your emotions rule you, rule them." . Janos took hold of his wooden blade with a total mimic of Krest's fighting style. A slight act of mockery to use the exact same fighting style but it was quite an effective fighting style neverless.

The Force began its whispers of darkness and violence. Janos's eyes grew into a shade of red and narrowed as he stared at @Krest. His carefree friendly persona melted away to become the warrior that Krest has forged from the beginning.

His blade lunged forward, thrusting for the chest of the droid to impale his father. But Janos knew his father would have too much experience for a simple lunge to defeat him so the Force filled his free hand to launch a blast meant to send Krest reeling back. Janos could not let him push the offensive if, Janos wished to stand a chance.

 

[Darth Ferus]

A quick flick of his wrist had the wooden blade in Krest's grasp swipe through the air to knock the lunge away. He was about to open his mouth to scold [member="Janos"] for keeping with the predictable attacks when a sudden feeling of weightlessness occurred. The elder couldn't help but smile as he was blasted back. He twisted his form and with a little assistance from the Force he landed on his feet, his blade brought up defensively as he stared down his son.

"Good! Surprise your opponent. Do things they don't expect. That's how you win."

 

[Janos]

The Force once again swelled as Janos's focus grew. The force bending to his will grew in strength with every breath he took. The force at his fingertips grew more focused and controlled. The Force would release with huge amounts of power to launch [member="Krest"] towards Janos. This would likely suprise him as he would be sent spiraling forward at the enemy rather than away as before. As Krest would be forced into Janos, he would lift his wooden blade upward and bring it down upon his father with all of his strength.

 

[Darth Ferus]

The elder kept his blade up, fully expecting another blast to perhaps unsettle his footing. Yet as he found himself nearing [member="Janos"] , he quickly realized that the boy had chosen a different route. With a laugh he landed in front of the Red Prince, barely lifting his own blade in time to catch the boys. Joy and pride filled the fathers mind as he watched his son. He had learned quite well.

"You've been keeping up with your practice at least. Perhaprs you are ready for what comes next, hmm?"

 

[Janos]

"Yes... Yes....I suppose I have been practicing as of late". Janis lowered his blade slightly but warily held it to counter any random attacks of need be. "You seem to be occupied about something. You are acting differently from our normal practice sessions." Janis eyes faded back into blue and his postures relaxed slightly. He turned to face [member="Krest"] with puzzlement. Krest loved having conversations during practice so, Janis would attempt to have a nice conversation about his father's recent behavior while barely dodging and countering Krests blows. It was their version of "Family time".

 

[Darth Ferus]

It was at this point that the elder did something uncharacteristic. He lowered his blade, and did not attack [member="Janos"] . Instead he tossed the blade to the side, and motioned for the boy to sit. "Do you remember when you were a boy and I said I was going to make you Sith?" It was so long ago now, but hopefully the half breed did remember. Krest himself sat down, and waited for the boy to do the same. "I think it's about time I do as I said I would. You've done well to learn the way of the blade, and now I think you should learn the other half."

 

[Janos]

Janos quickly tossed his blade into the grass below him. He quickly took a seat beside his father and stared at him with great curiousity.

"Do you remember when you were a boy and I said I was going to make you Sith?"
Janos quickly gave a slight puzzled look at his father's sudden reminiscence of the past. "Why of course, I remember though I couldn't remember the details about what happened that day.".

"I think it's about time I do as I said I would. You've done well to learn the way of the blade, and now I think you should learn the other half." Janos quickly sat up with much more interest and alert into what [member="Krest"] just said. Would today finally be different from all those years of practice sessions? To actually learn something besides Force basics and swordsplay?! Janos slowly became overjoyed but did not allow this sudden interest to change his calm façade.

 

[Darth Ferus]

"It is a path I wanted to start you on when you were young, but the path is a hard and brutal one. In truth, I couldn't in good mind subject you to the pain needed to become stronger. As my son, I want you to have the choice. To become Sith, you will forsake everything you are now and be subjected to a misery you cannot comprehend at this time. So I ask you. Will you brave pain for power?" [member="Janos"] 's choice would affect the rest of his life, that much was for certain. But he was an adult now, and the choice would be his.

 

[Janos]

Janos was taken back at [member="Krest"] sudden question. Janos pondered about the decision to become a Sith and the possible consequences that lay ahead. He was raised as an Iridonian, would he ever get over his sense of morality? Janos quickly silenced his inner torn conscience and raised his head to meet Krest's. "I shall become a Sith, I am willing to forsake everything suffer. So I ask you. I shall brave pain for power. I will not fail you". His eyes and facial expression grew into a resolve with an appearance of determination and obedience. However, his conscience continued in great turmoil and inner conflict did not cease.

 

[Darth Ferus]

"As a father I don't mind if you fail. But as a Sith, failure often leads to permanent scars or death. My cybernetics are a prime example. But, if you are determined, your training begins now." The Sith Lord took a deep breath then stood. He stared down to [member="Janos"] , his once blue eyes turning to a shade of deep red. The Dark Side and all it's power began to blanket the area, turning the warm summer day to a cold winters night. Anger and hate, palpable, was contained within Krest as only a Lord could control it.

"There is no peace, only passion.​

Through passion I gain strength.​

Through strength, I gain power.​

Through power, I gain victory.​

Through victory, my chains are broken.​

The Force shall set me free."​

​

They were the words of a creed, his creed, the Sith's creed. In those words, the path to power was paved. It was the core of every Sith, no matter who. "What do you think these words mean?"

 

[Janos]

"The Sith Code is about power and ambition. It is about the nature of the Sith and the pursuit of power. A Sith doesn't close their mind, but keeps it open to all the different perspectives. Victory is not just about the outcome but the trials as well.". Talis calmly returned the stare with the glaring crimson eyes of his own.