To Tame A Beast.

[Drogh]

Drogh looked out into the acidic storm that roared out outside. Thunderous amounts of acid rain burning down on the dry and desolate surface. It was a miasma of green water the rain was so intense, like a sea crashing down. He was lucky not exposed to such scorching water, hiding away within the great depths of the mighty Gothic fortress, that was the Bast Castle. Drogh knew little of the castle, other then it was very old and the presence of the darkside lingered here, subtle and small, like a dead body in the ground, yet it was still there. Drogh was in, what was a "training room", bland and boring, lacking any of the simplistic brutish beauty of the rest of the castle, just grey shiny floors, a massive window overlooking the land around them, and in the center of the room a slightly lighter shade of grey to indicate some kind of sparring spot. Drogh did not like it here, it was far to large, far to spacious, he always preferred small, cramped areas where one could hardly move. With all this open space Drogh felt uncomfortable, as if eyes were constantly glaring at him, gnawing at the back of his head.

Yet Drogh was here for a reason, to be "trained". Despite being a darksider, the darkside flowing though him more fluently then most, he always lacked that prime aspect of the darkside, ambition; yet that had changed recently, Ra stoked something in him, the fires of want and desire starting to flicker, embers of power growing within him. Although just mere embers, it could be turned into a raging storm of mindless want. Yet perhaps he'd simply sink back into the darkness of his own mind, as the fire dies within and all that remains is just the cold hollow shell. Drogh feared this, he feared that he would loose motivation, he doubted him self constantly, never knowing if he was truly worthy, of anything. But he was certain of one thing, he hated Ra. They had known each other for a long time, Drogh even remembered her when she was weak, when she forgot her self and was merely a small little girl, that Drogh wanted to desperately crush. Now she was something else entirely, although not quite as dark as she pretends to be. Drogh senses the light in her, the desire to do good, self righteousness and arrogance, yet also the darkness to dominate and control. He was not very keen to be taught by her, but what other choices did he have?

Drogh paced across in the empty room, each step radiating a echo. His impatience was growing, he despised having to wait for others, he was half tempted to simply leave and wonder off, as he often did. Yet he was warned this was partially important, so he could allow him self slightly more patience then usual for such an occasion.

@Ra'a'mah

 

[Ra'a'mah]

The relationship between Ra and Drogh was interesting and unique. This man had been in her life the longest of any person still alive. They had started as enemies and in a way remained that way. Not to the point it had been before though. At least she didn't want to see him dead. Unsure of his opinion about her, he had accepted her offer to train him. It would hopefully inspire him to reach further than he had thought of before.

She had invited him along with several others to Bast Castle on Vjun. Bast had been her home for the longest and she had grown used to it here. The ever-present darkness was a part of it and her. Though not as dark or light as she had been in the past, Ra was still fully capable of guiding somebody along a dark path.

Now the opportunity had arisen to begin training Drogh. If it had been possible to do earlier, it would have. There was one person Ra wished could lend assistance in this and that was Lord Nexus. She really felt he would be a better master for Drogh than she was. However, he came and went as he pleased and wasn't around currently to start this.

Not one to be late for anything, Ra really dragged her feet today. Keeping him waiting, she did appear as if there was no concern in being late.

"I'm glad you decided to stay, Drogh."

Knowing him, he would hear them as empty words and that is what she intended them to be. Ra held a piece of meat out to the wild animal and tempted him to come close. Not to trap him, but teach him. He was still a pup and she was an alpha in this situation.
​
"What do you already know?"

[member="Drogh"]

 

[Drogh]

Drogh stopped in his tracks, turning towards her with cold glaring eyes. A spasm of rage danced across his mind, he once again could not help him self to think what her head would look like if removed from the rest of her body. She uttered words of meaningless gratitude, without even trying to make the sound convincing, in a sense Drogh preferred this, the bluntness of truth was always preferable to the poison of lies. Yet she still spent the time to train him? Of course this was of no sense to "help" him but to make him a more useful slave. She made little attempt to hide her aura, it was different then it had been on Coruscant, not a overbearing shadow of malice, but rather a twisted storm of black and white. She was powerful, far more powerful then him, his raw ability in the force as remarkable as it was, was nothing compared to her mastery of the darkside, and perhaps even the light. Yet Drogh sensed that she paraded this as some sort of strength? As if there was any value in dividing your self to the light and dark, one can not serve two masters. The influences of her peers had shown, that Twi'lek maggot might be to blame for this, in a sense Drogh felt sad for Ra, like art being ruined and defiled, she was so much more when she embraced the dark, and only the dark.

Although this feeling of pity was not long lasting, as his mind quickly fell back to hatred and spite. Then of course, she asked him what he knew. Truth be told, Drogh knew very little, he could muster a few good pushes and chokes, even to able to use force crush, which stemmed from his deep immersion in the darkside then any real skill. The sound of breaking bone, twisted muscle and blood, to see a victim slowly squirming into a bloody ball of meat, oh yes Drogh was capable of that. Force lighting was completely beyond him, although a subtle aura of force cloak, but this was very underdeveloped and usually only appeared when desperately wanting to hide and wasn't controllable. "I can crush, push, shove, enough to get by."
@Ra'a'mah

 

[Ra'a'mah]

She was not an empathic person so did not feel that small touch of sympathy from him. Waiting on his answer, Ra walked further into the room and left the door open on purpose. It would in a way allow him some feeling of control in this and he could leave whenever he wanted. Training Drogh was going to be trying for both of them, but she was ready for him.

His answer was as much as she thought. Skills that would be learned naturally with no real formal training. She had been lucky in a way and picked up as a child. Sadly most of her skills from then weren't Force related, but through manipulation. Words and sometimes mixed in some Force persuasion As time had passed and her watching her master, Ra had seen his slip into the darkness. A vow spoken to herself then was what kept her more neutral in life now. Ra was not going to become a slave to the dark and always craving that. Drogh on the other hand wanted exactly that and she would give that to him.

"What about the more common skills? Telepathy and speed?"

The thought of trying t​o teach him telepathy was slightly intimidating. If he didn't know how, it would be difficult to get that lesson done.
​
[member="Drogh"]

 

[Drogh]

Drogh gave a snarling sort of sigh, an aggressive agitated yawn. He wasn't going to make this easy for her, he felt the need to test her, to test her patience. It did this more or less for his own enjoyment, some childish nastiness, the few occasions Drogh generally manged to even slightly get under her skin were very enjoyable, as sadly he could not realistic pummel her head into the ground, until naught was left but a bloody stump. He paced up and down, giving her a sort of judgmental look, that even though his mask could be seen so clearly. It wasn't entirely horribleness for the sake of being cruel, there was a genuine frustration, although it materialized in Drogh in quite the toxic fashion, in insults, mockery and testing. But Ra had surrounded her self with admirers and friends, honey coated words and gentleness, Drogh could not be brought so easily. He was not always right granted, often times his own reality was hazed by the darkside, yet Ra was naive, at least Drogh thought. "You think you can train me?" Drogh said scoffing at the very idea, "You have lost your self, completely and utterly, Ra. "You can barely figure out who you are, let alone help anyone else further them selves." Drogh said, bitterness and hatred starting to curl up in his words. "I remember you, do not forget when you were so weak, when I could of ended you." "One moment you sway between the light and dark, the next you embrace it completely and then you forsake it." And then Drogh said with such malice and cruelty, these words were intended to sting as harshly as they could. "Well I'm not surprised, one who calls a green slug with legs a sister is hardly sound of mind."

@Ra'a'mah

 

[Ra'a'mah]

Allowing him to wegh her was something Ra did not relish going through, but he needed it. Under that spiteful gaze of his and words of criticism, she showed no weakness. He asked if she thought she could train him and continued on what he thought of her.

"No, I don't think I can train you honestly. Never did, what I can do is give you strength and assist you in reaching goals you can't do on your own."

He brought up their first meetings, when she was a weak apprentice. For once she agreed with the mad man.

"I have forsaken nothing. You have been alone for so long that you can't see beyond the end of your nose in some matters. What you say of me, might be true, but none of us are always of sound mind."

I​t was a ploy of his to try and draw her to anger. For now, she wasn't going to allow it to work. Giving him a piercing look of her own, her aura changed slightly.

"These people around us are both strengths and weaknesses. Powerful allies to have and dangerous enemies. As for Star, well I've known you only a little longer. Instead of wanting to rend me to pieces, she and I became friends and then sisters. Careful you don't get on her bad side."

[member="Drogh"]

 

[Drogh]

Drogh paced around Ra, circling her. His glare grew in intense, his dull colourless flickering with malice. Drogh was studying her now, this was a mind game, to test and poke. He launched his offense and she remained steadfast, mostly. He sensed something, a burning tinge, a ember of something. Drogh could sense it in her, as she returned her own piercing stare. Was she trying to threaten him? Or perhaps a simple response to being insulted, Drogh cared regardless, she was annoyed if nothing else. She was passive and calm in her words, going with the flow instead of resisting or denying them. Drogh could not be so reckless with his assaults, he needed to be more planed and refined, instead of throwing rocks, he needed to stab.

Despite Ra having a cold exterior, she was not so emotionless as she pretended to be, a facade that Drogh him self practiced. She had anger in her, she had rage, and Drogh would bring it out of her, whether she liked it or not. "You're compensating for something aren't you?" Drogh said, it did not hold the same spiteful spill that his other words did, more of a question. "You never had a family, a sister?" Drogh believed he already knew the answer, so he would then twist those questions into something horrid. "You are alone Ra, everyone likes you, but does anyone really love you?" "You may say your sister, but in truth I believe she is merely filling a empty hole, a replacement, never as good as the real thing, merely a supplement."

@Ra'a'mah

 

[Ra'a'mah]

Her last statement while true was in a way empty words. Ra didn't think Drogh would go out of his way to get on Star's bad side and thus never have to deal with her. Something dawned on her. This wasn't going to be about training Drogh so much as fighting him. Be it with words or weapons. One of them would be victorious in this and one of them the looser. What was unknown as of yet was the who.

"Compensating? No. You are correct though, I never had a family. My master growing up was not a father to me and I was merely his apprentice. There was one man in my life that ever came close to filling that role and he died before I met you."

She had raised one finger when she mentioned the captain of her ship. The man that had taken her a wild child off the streets of Coruscant and gave her a future as a merchant.

"I don't want the love of anybody, it'll only bring pain in the end."

It was her turn now.
​
"You have no idea to be among society at all. Would rather be hiding in a gutter instead of taking control of your life and future. Let life roll over you and do what it wants. Not one to go out of your comfort zone. Yet you are here, away from everything that makes you comfortable. Why? Because buried under that scum is a man with dreams and desires, but that man does not know how to go about getting what he wants. That green slug, as you put it, will be one of the many to help you get what you want."

[member="Drogh"]

 

[Drogh]

Drogh let out a laugh, his stoic form broken. It was an insulting, mocking and condescending laugh. It had no real humor behind it, merely the bitterness and spite, almost forced. Yet there was something to laugh at. "You do not love?" Drogh said, a mocking humor in his voice. "You are desperate for it, while else would you call that thing a sister?" "Perhaps you are right, perhaps you do not love her, I doubt you ever can, but I'd imagine you'd never tell Star this, would you?" She had walked into a trap, or perhaps she spoke truly, that she did not genuinely love her "sister", if so he was proven right.

Then however Drogh him self was attacked, finally some thing was provoked out of her, some degree of anger, some degree of frustration, as small as it was, it was enough to fuel Drogh. "You think I care, at least I have strayed true to my self, unlike you." "You have forsaken the darkside, you have forsaken the very thing that gave you power, you cling on to petty things, you surround your self with admirers and yes-men, and "sisters". "You may claim that you do not love, and I believe that you don't. but you crave it regardless, you want someone to say "I love you", perhaps your sister is just a mere pet, something that blindly adores you while you show it mild compassion at best." His voice was harsher now, anger growing in him, pace getting faster.

@Ra'a'mah

 

[Ra'a'mah]

He thought he had her in a corner she couldn't escape from and he was wrong about that.

"Correct again, my dear Drogh. I do not know love and I have never said that word to my sister. If she asks, I would tell her the truth. I'm not a liar."

As Ra spoke, there was no anger in voice, but there was some heat near the end. ​Her wild card apprentice was trying to get her mad enough to lash out at him and she wasn't going to allow him to get that far. Even when she had made her observation on him and called him out, there was no anger in her voice. That did not mean it wasn't inside of her. An ever present cauldron of anger, unfocused and just simmering. It had been released not long ago on Winter and when that had completed, it went back to the calm anger she always had.

"Now in that aspect you are wrong. The darkside is always there and present, just waiting to be unleashed. And there are targets it will be directed at. A question, what makes you said I want the love of somebody?"

She did not show it externally at all, but what he said hit her to the core. It was true, but even Ra was unable to admit it to herself let alone anybody else.

[member="Drogh"]

 

[Drogh]

Drogh could sense the anger in her, the darkness was growing, festering nicely within her heart. Yet Drogh was deeply angered by the fact that she would not show it, her unflinching face frustrated Drogh to no end. She was getting angry, but held on to self restraint, self control, pathetic. Drogh would do the unthinkable, he removed his weeping mask. The cold crude metal clanging on the grey ground, as the shadow was removed, the facade gone. Drogh would revel a cold, cruel and twisted smile on his pale ruined face. He looked far older then he was meant to, his face a ghostly sickly pale, his eyes a burning inferno of rotten yellow. Despite being merely a single year older then Ra, he looked almost decades her elder.

"Lonely child, look at you, you pathetic thing." Drogh said, his voice like vile poison, thick with hatred and sweated with sadism. "You chase a love that you will never have, and it has only weakened you. You little girl why you are not even worthy to stand before me, you are not worthy of any of this." Drogh stopped circling around her, the poking and prodding was over, the real battle was about to begin. He walked up towards her, his burning eyes locking on her cold ones, fire against ice. He walked up to her, uncomfortably close. "Oh how I would cherish to see that slug cry and weep as you tell her the truth, how you can not love her, that is a pain I would be so desperate to see her in." "Show me that darkness, show me that anger, before I throttle it out of you." His eyes widen, the cruel smile stretching to painful lengths, his fingers tingling with a gleeful rage.

@Ra'a'mah

 

[Ra'a'mah]

If when he removed his mask, Drogh expected her to recoil and pull away he was mistaken. Ra gave no sign at the revelation of his look, just knew this was going to one of the rare times it happened. Like a man that lived what he preached, his appearance had been corrupted by the darkness. It was something Ra had avoided happening to herself. When she did use the Force, her skills were far more neutral than dark.

"I chase nothing and certainly not love."

A slight smile played across her lips when he got into her face and said he would enjoy seeing Star react how he expected her to.

"That can be accomplished if that is what you want. However, look at your hands."

He was so engrossed in ripping her shreds verbally that he seemed to forget why he was here. In her stoic performance, she had drawn enough anger from him that any moment, he might be able to shoot lightening or at least a spark from his fingers.

[member="Drogh"]

 

[Drogh]

She would not budge, no matter how hard he pushed, not matter how deep he cut, she remained still. His smile dropped, his face becoming more and more twisted with anger and rage, she did not lash out, she kept her self controlled, sedated, quiet. Although there was a shadow of darkness that reflected off her, a shining of her inner darkness that she would not share with Drogh. He could sense slipping in her emotion, in her control, it was being tested but it was not breaking. Although Drogh's own patience was dwindling, his insults growing stale. He turned away from her, rubbing his own hands, feeling a heat radiate off them, as if a infection was burning beneath them, it hurt. "Idiot girl." Drogh muttered under his own breath, snarling and grumbling in his own frustrated mumbles.

The time for words were over, he had tested her and she had disappointed. Even if Drogh was beaten to the ground, it would of been worth it to seen her face clench with rage, yet she was so silent. He was desperate to draw it out of her, and he would one way or another. Drogh span around in a instant, he was fast even without the force enhancing him, he was still fast. Yet he moved very quickly, a darting shadow, a vague blur of filthy rags and pale flesh. His fist clenched, his dirty nails digging into the palms of his hand ready to smack that little girl, ready to break her face, to repeat what happened on Coruscant, to see her in tears as his bloody hand broke her. In truth Drogh didn't care what happened, as long as some remark of emotion was shown on that disgusting pretty face.

@Ra'a'mah

 

[Ra'a'mah]

Not unfamiliar with his methods, Ra did this on purpose. As much as he was trying to push her to react, her not falling prey to him was her way of pushing him. If he felt she was a disappointment, he was not to her. Any moment now, he was going to lose what false control he had and lash out at her.

He turned away from her, called her an idiot and growled at himself. As if she wasn't present or could hear them.

Moving quickly, she watched him as he spun back around to face her and the burning desire he had to hit her. Even now she was not going to rise to his bait and would only block his punch. With the small inclusion of an attempt to push him away with the Force, she showed no reaction on her face. No showing of emotions, positive or negative.

"You want to kill me don't you?"

[member="Drogh"]

 

[Drogh]

Drogh recoiled back, giving of some spiteful hiss. "Always" Drogh said with cold conviction. She wasn't going to hit him, she didn't believe Drogh could hurt her, of course. Drogh could feel something within his hands, a vicious and hateful burning, as if his hands were starting to catch alight, he could feel some ancient old power swell within him, some darkness far thicker and far more focused that it had been before. "You miserable liar, all I'm hearing is empty words." Drogh still wanted to hurt her, to call her out on her stupidity and contradiction, "You claim not to chase love?" "You name some one who isn't connected to you by blood a sister, not even the same race, you're just saying all this because you know I'm right but you wont give me the damned satisfaction of just admitting it, will you?" "I had a family Ra, a love you'll never know, I may just be some gutter rat, but at least I know what love is, and I'm not just chasing some sick and pathetic parody of it."

Drogh clenched his fists even further, sparks and spastic lighting erupted from his hands now, uncontrolled and mad but something. "I also know pain you'll never understand Ra, I saw my parents as they bled on the cold ground, as the only people I ever cared about were taken from me, to see their dying expressions is a memory I'll never forget, and this galaxy will burn for that." Drogh mustered all the rage, all the anger, frustration, misery and pain that he could find within his own dark soul. It was no small thing, Drogh's own flesh was scorched and burnt as he smelt his own blood boil. The lighting was like a enveloping storm, coiling around his arms, sparking out in all directions in a uncontrolled explosion of blue light. He had singular fixation on Ra, his eyes burning with anger, his mouth foaming with rage, his hands dripping with pain, a storm of lighting was unleashed, unfocused, uncoordinated, Drogh him self was struck by his own lighting as he hurled it at Ra, wishing to see her obliterated.

@Ra'a'mah

 

[Ra'a'mah]

At his single word of an answer, he finally got a vicious smile out of her. He was able to fully admit he wanted to kill her. As he continued, he gave her some history of himself. However some of what he said was true and accurate and she would let him know this.

The push away she gave him got him out of her face, but still likely close enough to touch. In the process of his training, she was testing him. His limits, skills and just how far he would be pushed. Eventually though Drogh would find weaknesses in her barrier around her and when that broke, she wouldn't hold back on him. When that fury was released on him, it would please him, but she didn't think he would revel in very long.

He still claimed to be hearing empty words. As he continued he revealed he knew pain on a far greater level than she ever would.

"You're wrong. Family doesn't have to be blood. Before we met, I had everything I cared about taken from me as well. I saw their dying expressions too."

Her tone was cold, chill​ and her face stoic. All the while, she felt the previous power within him building. She had pointed it out to him minutes ago, but it had gone unnoticed by him. Typical of a first timer, he had no control over what he was doing. The explosion was going to hurt him more than it did her. When it did happen, in the blink of an eye a barrier was placed between them. His wild lightning attack spread around the room, but the strikes sent at Ra were absorbed by that barrier.

What almost surprised her was the focus he did have. Once his onslaught finished, she lowered the barrier around her.

"Feel better? Nice work there."

[member="Drogh"]

 

[Drogh]

Drogh fell to his knees, slamming his fist in the ground in a fit of frustration. His smoldering skin reeked, he felt the passive burns reap across his body. A haze of heat reached into the otherwise silent air, giving it a stuffy smoky smell. His body ached with pain, his flesh was struck to the core with his own lighting, every movement, no matter the smallest was dominated by agony. Finally Drogh mustered enough strength to peer his head up at Ra, he hated her now more then he ever had in his life, this singular desire for her destruction controlled his mind, as if he wasn't even sentient. Slowly and with great effort Drogh managed to pull him self up, his robes emitting slight smoke. He could feel the hot blood drip down and wet his cloak, as it's dark features began to grow a black red. "Shut the kark up Ra." Drogh managed to say in a hatred riddled voice, so utterly broken and frenzied, only contained by his immersible pain.

He didn't twist in face into anger, or try and childish scare her with a creepy grin, he had a dead face, emotionless, yet far from tranquil. Then there was something that Drogh could not forgive, something he found so utterly offensive. How dare she try to compare her loss to his? "I'm so karking sick of you Ra, you don't understand what it's like to loose family because you never had one, and despite how hard you try, you never will." Drogh said, his own words containing something more then malice, anger and hatred by something far more vulnerable, genuine and deep pain. "We are alone Ra."

@Ra'a'mah

 

[Ra'a'mah]

She watched as Drogh fell to his knees, too weak, shocked or in pain from the energy released to remain on his feet. Offering him no support or sympathy, it would have been a kick in the teeth to him. Unwanted, it would have rolled off him like oil trying to mix with water. To make a move like that would have been stupid on her part and Ra wasn't that. However it didn't take a genius to figure that out.

When he finally gathered the energy to speak, he told her to shut up. What he said next may or may not have been true, it didn't matter to her. If he hadn't managed to pull himself to his feet, she would have picked up by that point. Not because she was being nice and offering to help, but because what he said made her angry. That's what he wanted though. To see a flicker of emotion from her.

The anger that boiled in her threatened to explode and it almost deafened her to what he said last. He m ay have done it by accident, but it revealed something very great about him...her as well, but Ra wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of anything.

"Not at all. As you have so pointedly mentioned, I have my followers."

[member="Drogh"]

 

[Drogh]

Drogh looked at her, the stoic appearance on her face was failing her, glimpse of a black rage, the darkness that he wanted to force out of her. He had finally struck deep enough, hurt her enough, to provoke something out of her. That great maw of rage boiling up within her, smoldering in her soul, devouring her like a plague. This wasn't enough, she perhaps out of some superiority complex or sheer stubbornness was holding on those last remaining threads of self control and restraint. Drogh was terrified of Ra, but his fear for once meant nothing, he wanted to see her angry more then anything, just to break her composure and frame, to finally give in and forsake the light. Drogh was going to cut deeper, she was lying though her teeth, so transparent, the facade breaking down before his very eyes.

"Ah yes, followers." Drogh said, with such a disregarding, almost pitying tone. "Yes of course, those who 'love you' who are your 'friends', yet tell me have you ever felt anything towards them? "Do they really feel anything towards you?" "People admire you to be sure Ra, you're quite the pretty face, everyone likes you, but nobody loves you.". He could feel her anger so clearly know, as if he was getting to close to a fire, burning him, yet he wanted it. "You may have your followers, friends, lovers and even so called 'sisters', but they wont ever love you Ra, nor you them." "They will never know the loneliness of your heart, the emptiness within your soul, but I will Ra, we may hate each other but there isn't anyone in this galaxy that knows you better then I." Then Drogh words that were clear as water, true and blunt, pure as pure as Drogh could be. "And now you're angry, so stop pretending and karking hit me!"

 

[Ra'a'mah]

She did hold onto her control more out of stubbornness than anything else. Her desire to push Drogh was much higher. To see him admit defeat. He pushed her and pushed again. A relentless attack of words, trying to get her to break. When he said she had a pretty face, she let out a scoff of laughter and he was correct. At least she didn't think anybody loved her, though it was false. One thing about Ra, she was not naturally empathic. Without the aid of the Force, she could not read another person's emotions. So what one might feel was hidden to her.

However, his attack failed...again. It did not stir up the anger he wanted. While she was still certainly angry, it was no longer about to boil over. The light he wanted her to forsake had always been there, same as the darkness he wanted her to embrace. While she had her ups and down through the time they had known one another, she was again at a turning point in her life.

"You would like that too much. I will not."

[member="Drogh"]