Plate of Escargot

[Liliane]

"I might have to look into these materials. Didn't thought to use them, but perhaps could incorporate them," Lilin started thinking. She had noticed these materials when she first researched what to use for her armour, but she had slid over them with not much thought put into whether they could be used or not. She had to admit that Yuuzhan Vong materials were just bloody amazing.

She looked at Micah as he tried to make his way through the shell. Yeah, it would take them hours, even if they took turns in that. Oh well, Lilin didn't have anything else planned for the day anyway.

"Yes, a lightweight one. I don't like the heaviness of the armours Hounds wear. I want to move like wind and water, be as fierce as fire or unpredictable as ground. And then strike like lightning," she started to feel more and more confident. Their relations were improving more and more and she could feel herself wanting to talk.

"With a standard armour, I would just be a clumsy bucket."

She sighed.

"What's your armour all about, though?"

[ [member="Micah Talith"] ]

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Lilin Imperieuse"]

He perked his head a the question.

"Oh mine?" the corner of his mouth twitched. "It's a mixture of things." He said, bowing his head low again to concentrate on cutting the shell. He could already feel the slight burn of lactate building up.

"It's made of Terentatek leather, the base of it at least." he told her. "Helps prevent getting too tied up with the Force by others." his brows scrunched up in concentration.

"Songsteel plates cover the main bits where I need extra protection." he added, the orange plasma reflecting a soft ember glow across his face as he cut.

"I also imbued it a bit. Helps my force signature seem as if it was scattered everywhere. " A devilish glint came to his eyes.

"Makes it hard for people to know where I am at."

 

[Liliane]

"That is a lot of stuff."

She hadn't even thought of making her armour so complicated. Neither could she actually do anything to difficult -- she couldn't imbue anything, neither could she do a lot of metalwork. Songsteel would be an amazing option, but she just didn't have the knowledge or the need for that. Even though Songsteel was not the hardest metal, she still thought it would add too much weight to the whole armour.

"I also use force-imbued things every once in a while," Lilin decided to admit to her heresy. She didn't wear these things often, but when she did, the situation really did demand them. "My ancestors made some crazy Sith amulets."

Oh kark, maybe she shouldn't have said that? She could have gotten into trouble for using Dark Side amulets and medallions. They could have taken these things away from her and sealed them in some vault or something. Or even worse, they could have destroyed them.

"I use them when I need to give off a Dark Side Force presence."

Maybe that could save her from being put into a magma cell.

[ [member="Micah Talith"] ]

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Lilin Imperieuse"]

"Oh did they?" Micah's mop of hair perked up. If Lilin was able to see the Talith, she'd catch his expression of curiosity. Honestly, he didn't know much about Lilin's family, so this would be the first time they broached the subject.


"Like what?" he asked, flexing his fingers along the hilt of his saber. Barely made a about twenty centimeters in. "Oh, so it gives you a mock Darkside presence?" he was curious what other heirlooms she might have.

 

[Liliane]

"Well, yeah, I think so," Lilin said. "I don't know why they would make themselves amulets that would make them appear as darksiders, considering their allegiance, but..." She had definitely caught the tone of interest in Micah's voice, after which she did look at him. The Talith was definitely curious to hear what she had in her possession.

Then her eyes slid to the shell. It was actually going a little bit faster than she had expected it to.

"... well, I don't know. Sith do weird things sometimes."

Yes, she definitely had no idea what the jewelry she had found was really made for. Of course, since most of their effects were unable to be felt by the owner, Lilin didn't know what they really did to her.

All she knew was that they gave off a Dark Side Force signature.

"I guess it's a little bit different from the imbuing stuff you do, seeing as how they were Sith and everything. Could have used Alchemy to make these things."

She didn't know how they had been made. And she didn't really care, either. She wasn't the person to work on such small things, on handicraft. She was more curious about the state of the galaxy and the destruction of the Sith.

The fact that Micah and her grandfather loved doing these things was awesome, but she could never see herself doing anything like this.

"Just let me know when you want me to take over," she commented on cutting through the snail's shell.

[ [member="Micah Talith"] ]

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Lilin Imperieuse"]

His hands were getting a bit tired, but he could handle a few more minutes.

"I"m alright," he assured her, cracking a half smile in gratitude for the offer. Now as for the mull on why someone would want to pretend to be Darkside... well.

"Maybe someone in your family did secret missions?" he tossed in theory. His mother had done that. From the stories she told, and what little he could glean, she had been a Jedi Investigator and then a Jedi Shadow later in life.

"They could have needed to go to places where the Darkside was prevalent.. blend in maybe?" a small shrug followed suit. "Lots of reasons..." A shake of his head tossed the mop of his dark hair away from his eyes. The shaggy mess needed a haircut, but the Talith had a tendency to let that sit idle for too long.

"Alchemy probably," he told her, "It is the most common." it was said casually, but he was curious by Lilin's admission that her ancestors were Sith. Not like he could judge her, and he didn't -- his own grandfather had been Moridin, the First Emperor of the Sith.

If anyone had skeletons in their closet, it was me.

 

[Liliane]

"Whatever they were thinking, I don't really understand them. Will most likely never understand the way Sith think," Lilin spoke. It was the best thought, though. An enemy could never be conquered if you didn't really know how they thought or how they would act. And even though Jedi were not supposed to tap the Dark Side of the Force, most of the time they did have to know how Sith thought.

It was a paradox, maybe. Maybe not. She didn't know what to think about this.

"Ironic."

She grunted while shaking her head.

"No matter how much corruption my mother put into me, I can never seem to really think like a Darksider would."

She had no idea that Micah was also a child of a Sith. A former Sith, that is, but a Sith nonetheless. The girl had not heard a lot about the bloodline of the Taliths other than the most recent generation. It was probably logical that she knew them the best because, duh, she was friends with nearly all of the kids.

The information about the ancestors of these Talith kids, however, was really lacking.

[ [member="Micah Talith"] ]

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Lilin Imperieuse"]

Ahhh. So that was it.

Micah reflected on this a bit as he worked through the shell. "Well... you are you. You are not your ancestors. Nor are you your mother." the Talith told Lilin, flicking those bright copper eyes over at the young woman.

"Just because your mother was prone to tangling with the Darkside of the Force doesn't mean you will." a pause, then Micah gave a slight shrug to add, "... well, let me rephrase that."

"Knowledge is knowledge. Just like my experience in Alchemy. Whatever your mother might have shown you or done, that knowledge can't force you to do anything. The difference is in knowing what is right or wrong. " it was a lesson that his father had taught all the Talith kids since they were young. He didn't hide what the Darkside of the Force could do, the temptation, the power. He had them know exactly what it was capable of doing, and that is why they were well aware that diving into that hole wasn't the way they'd want to go.

"My dad told us that the Darkside is a temptation, it is a path to power, strength, and easier way of life. It is an addiction because it gives you something that you feel you cannot otherwise get, but it is a lie.

Sith Alchemy and Sorcery are a good example of this. All it is is a temptation. They offer a path to what you think is more. More power, more ability, more of everything you could ever want. Whether it is true or not, my dad said is debatable, but the lesson is that if one realizes that the knowledge of those Darkside abilities are just mere temptations, then it can never hurt you unless one gives in."

 

[Liliane]

All of these thoughts Micah had just presented to the young Jedi girl made her really think what the Darkness really was. If it was merely a temptation, then how could it have become such a large part of the galaxy? If it was an addiction, how the hell had it caused the Sith to be born?

Oh, screw that thought. Alcohol, spices, tobacco... all of them were temptations and addictions, yet they made people do crazy things. Let's just carry on.

"Do you think all people are naturally corrupt?" Lilin asked from the boy. "When I was younger, my mother told me that the darkness which runs in her is now also a part of me. My dad told me stuff about it as well. How he could sense the part of me that I had inherited from my mother."

Truth be told, she had never heard anybody other than her parents talk about her natural corruption. Maybe it was just a lie the two had come up with? Or maybe others really just couldn't feel it?

"But maybe they were wrong about the Darkness being a leftover of my parent? Maybe it's inside all people?"

She didn't know where that thought came from. Sometimes people's trains of thought were very unpredictable and illogical.

"You sure you don't want me to take over?"

[ [member="Micah Talith"] ]

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Lilin Imperieuse"]

A rascal grin shot over at Lilin. Amused, he gave into her insistence. He shut off his saber, fingers flexing as he let the sore muscles curl and relax.

"Yeah, you can take over now." he told her, scooping himself up onto his feet. The Calama Snail would be knocked out for a while, so there were no worries there.

"Just sit down right here," he gestured, showing her how to sit down in the most comfortable position. "Here, you can use mine, it's already set to the specific length," he added, handing her his lightsaber.

"Keep your wrist relaxed, it isn't going to cut through very fast. Just an even pressure, " he instructed Lilin.

Crouching down beside her, he let his forearms rest along the tops of his thighs.

"I think everyone has the potential to do bad things." He finally answered her, after trying this best to figure out how to word things.

"Things can go wrong, emotions rise, and then we make choices. How we react in those particular instances is where the path diverges. " a toss of his head flicked his lanky brown locks away from his eyes. Here in the enclosure of the snail's foot, they seemed incredibly bright, like twin glowing embers of a fire. Eerie, perhaps, and more often than not, upon first glance, most people were a bit startled by them.

"Some people say it is all in the bloodline --" his face scrunched up, and he gave a small scratch against his cheek with a finger.

"But I don't believe that. My mum and dad don't either. " he wagged a finger, "Oh, strength in the Force along with potential, sure... some families are prone to such. But to be corrupt or dark?" he shook his head empathically, "Nah."

A cocky grin and then a mischievous glint shone in his bright eyes. "If I can do okay despite having the former Sith Emperor of the Old Empire as my grandfather, then I think you're fine..."

 

[Liliane]

Lilin knelt next to Micah, trying to mimic the posture the boy was holding as best as she could. She hadn't expected the Talith to let her use his lightsaber -- most people considered these exclusive and not to be used by anybody other than their owner. For some reason, the girl had thought Taliths would be on the top of the list of these people.

She did take the lightsaber's hilt into her hand, feeling its warmth and the nearly immediate change in pressure and force. The shell was durable, there was no doubt in that. It resisted the blade really well, but she wouldn't give up. Holding her wrist loose and relaxed, she let the blade do the work.

What came next - the monologue of Micah's thoughts - was something Lilin hadn't expected. The Rogue Jedi didn't really seem too philosophical to the girl. Never had seemed like a real student of the Force. But it looked like the Talith parents had really done their work at teaching the kids about life and the way the Force worked. Oh what she would have given to get such knowledge from her parents. But her father had only been an unaffiliated Force user, her mother a Sith who had died when the girl was just young.

The girl didn't really believe in all of the boy's thoughts, but she did consider them.

"I guess so," she finally replied after he ended his speech.

Oh wait, what? The boy's grandfather had been the Sith Emperor? Oh praise the lord what kind of information was suddenly unwrapping.

"So... our ancestors have also been on the same side?"

Her mother must have served the Sith Empire before the One Sith, right? Darth Malificete did come into existence in the old days before the One Sith Empire, the girl was pretty sure of that.

[ [member="Micah Talith"] ]

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Liliane Lancaster"]

"Ehh..." Micah began, twisting his face in a slight expression of wondering. "Kinda? Maybe?" he admited.

"Honestly, I don't know." He confessed, running his hand through his hair to push the locks away. "I don't know much about your mother." he added, but by no means was it him fishing for information. Just fact.

"And my grandfather wasn't really the team player time." he added with a grimace. "Not the best highlight of my family tree, but Darth Morodin isn't something you can really sweep under the rug."

Nope. Not at all.

 

[Liliane]

"Huh, like my mother would be the best example of my family," Lilin said. She hadn't gotten over her terrible mother and what she had done. Despite what Micah thought, the girl did believe corruption could have been natural and inherited. What else would it have been that had caused her so much trouble with the Dark Side ever since her birth?

"She, uh, left the family to join the One Sith. Her loyalties were not with her blood, but with her faction."

She hated that the mos about Lilith. She had been a merciless Sithspit who'd abandoned her family and what did she do then? Got resurrected as a person who couldn't remember anything other than that she had to serve the Dark Lord.

"Would it have been a Jedi Order or something, I wouldn't mind. But it was the karking Sith."

Emotions, despite not being the Jedi way, were present at that moment. And there was a lot of these emotions, especially hatred.

"I just hope I can some day forgive her."

[ [member="Micah Talith"] ]

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Liliane Lancaster"]

Yup. Micah did nota have to be an empath to tell that Lilin had some unresolved anger issues with her mother. It was strange for Micah to see that. His family was really close; some say a bit too close. They did everything together and had a pretty happy childhood. His mother was a bit of a worry wart, but that was just something he was used to. They had pretty much daily comm calls and there wasn't anything that he kept from them. Both of his parents were very loving, supportive, and encouraging.

He knew that not every family was like this. His dad had said that his grandfather didn't even know that he had a son, and even the ones he did know about ... well, they weren't raised to be happy go lucky. Micah knew who was behind all of the scars that ran along her mother's legs. It had been his aunt Nemene that had caused that.

Knowing that Lilin was venting, he chose to be quiet while she talked. But there was well of hate there, that caused him some concern.

"Forgiveness is good." he admitted, acknowledging that.

"But being okay with yourself is better." he added quietly.

 

[Liliane]

"Your life must be so much simpler," Lilin said without bothering to think about it for a moment. It appeared to her as if the Taliths had everything they needed -- good parents, lots of money and free time, the Force potential, fantastic personalities... They were a fun bunch, all of the kids at least. She didn't know about the fourth one, though, and even less about their parents.

Going through the shell so slowly was something odd; something she was not used to. Most materials she had had to chop up with her saber in her life hadn't been so resistant to the lightsaber, so it was strange to finally meet a material which wasn't so easy to cut through.

"I bet your family is all so close to each other and everything," she said, an angsty teenager she was. But it was true that her own family wasn't doing all that great. She barely talked to her brother and the third child was an abomination she couldn't really accept at all. Her father was the only one in the family she did talk to, and even with him she wasn't that close anymore.

Things were changing and everything else seemed better options than her own family could ever seem.

Forgiveness was something she strove for, but deep inside she knew it was going to be a rocky road to that destination. She would have to brace herself, rely on her friends, and maybe one day get through that.

Maybe not tomorrow or the day after, but definitely some time in the future.

[ [member="Micah Talith"] ]

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Liliane Lancaster"]


At that, Micah gave a short laugh. It had not been meant to insult her. Just that in hindsight, perhaps it may seem as if his life was indeed simpler. A little less troublesome.

"To a degree," he replied, nodding his head. A bit too much at times, but Micah knew that they meant well.

"But things weren't always like that." he began, brows furrowing. "Dad didn't have the best relationship with my grandfather. Didn't even know he existed. He was raised by my oma and great oma." he explained. Micah didn't want to make it seem as if he had a perfect life, it was just due to circumstance. By what his parents had to live through. How they grew up. The commitment to make their children's lives better and richer in experience.

"My mum doesn't know her parents or where she came from," he revealed then. "She grew up as an orphan on Kuat. Just her. But she said that she wasn't alone. She had the rest of the younglings there with her... the people she met in the Order." he explained.

"Then dad." a slight frown deepened.

"Family isn't just tied to blood, Lilin. Vexen is every bit my family, my best friend." He spoke about the Defel he had stumbled upon years ago when he was ten.

"Sometimes we just learn from our past experiences and do our best to change that in the future. I don't know..." he admitted, he was just a kid. He didn't know much. He had a lengthy life to live and so much to experience himself.

"Just gotta look at the bright side of things, I guess. And keep in mind those who are around you that care about you just the same."

 

[Liliane]

Ah, it came down to how blood didn't define family again. It always did. And Lilin believed in this as well. She knew that she couldn't just call her own family that much of a family again. What she truly considered to be her family was the group of friends she had. And she had many of them, some closer than the others.

But what she lacked as a best friend. She'd never had one. Maybe that had something to do with her coming from such an alien planet, maybe it was all because of who she was... She was social, she loved talking to people. But that didn't mean she would have really close friends.

She was sure everything would change in the future. She wasn't going to be a talkative, careless Padawan for the rest of her life, so there was also bound to be huge changes in the ways she interacted with others, whether she liked it or not.

"True," she commented the last statement Micah made. She didn't have anything else to say as a response. She was out of words and she did not want to seem like an awkward self-obsessed girl who looked at other families with jealousy. It was better to shut up about it.

Lilin had never really thought about how the Talith family could have any problems. The thought of it was just so odd and off the place in the otherwise perfect-seeming family.

Instead of thinking too much into it, she focused on the lightsaber and the calama shell, feeling hopeful. Soon she would get to have her own personal piece of armour. That was a good thought, making her smile and everything.

[ [member="Micah Talith"] ]

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Liliane Lancaster"]

Those few minutes had Micah study Lilin with a half cant smile. She'll be alright, he told himself. For now, though, they had the shell to finish off.

"You need me to take over?" he asked. They were doing well, just that the rest would take time. It was a slow process. They were lucky that the snail was unconscious. Awake, that sickening sensation would have made this ten times harder.

 

[Liliane]

"Yeah, you can take over," Lilin said as she let the boy grab the lightsaber hilt, after which she let go of it and knelt besides him. It was a really tiresome task and she truly hoped they would be done with it soon. She didn't feel too good about hurting this poor animal and she would surely not feel better were it to wake up from its slumber.

She didn't know if there was a Force power that could possibly make the process faster. Probably wasn't. Or at least not an ability a Jedi could use.

"It's strange," the girl spoke after a period of silently looking at the boy cutting through the extremely resistant shell. "Families and relationships and friendships and... everything else, really."

The girl had no idea where that came from. She must have just felt really philosophic and poetic at the moment. That's what you get for talking about deep matters of life with a boy so temptingly smirking right next to you all the time.

"It's so strange how these people can mean so much to us while not being anything like us. Yet at the same time, the people closest to you can turn into nothing over time."

She was sounding weird.

"Never mind. Don't listen to me."

[ [member="Micah Talith"] ]

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Liliane Lancaster"]

Micah sat down, fingers gripping the saber as he took over the cutting. Sparing a glance up at Lilin, he shot her an encouraging half smile. The twin suns of his eyes seemed so bright under the ragged mop of those dark forelocks. Eerie, how they seemed to glow at times.

"Nah, I get what you mean." he assured her, turning back his attention to the shell. The dark slash of his brows bent forward, " I think though, it is a two way hyperlane there." he'd say. He was no prophet nor wise man, just spoke about what he thought about things.

"It isn't much of a relationship if there is only one party investing in it." he'd add, only to give a grimace. "Then again... not many people are very sociable. Aela, for example... I know she cares, but she just has trouble on actually showing it."

Micah shot a wry, rascal's grin at the young woman over his shoulder.

"You know, first born syndrome," he joked, attempting to lighten the mood.