Heading to the Archives (Rugs)

The Archives. They were a place where he couldn't cause any trouble, or wouldn't run the risk of getting chewed out by some Sith higher-up for causing trouble.

At least, that was the reasoning behind why Nieraan went to spend a chunk of his day in the Archives. There was more to it than that, of course; he'd spent a great deal of the day digging through old texts and datapads, searching for ways to increase his own power. After all, power was the entire reason he'd sought the Sith out.

There'd been some success so far. He'd found ways to further strengthen techniques he knew, and hints of things he didn't. But along with those glimmers of promise, he'd found piles of histories and writings on philosophy. Ramblings about disagreements with the Jedi, talk of political structure and maneuvering, endless piles of things that, while not entirely useless, weren't of any interest to him.

Especially philosophies. At least the history writings were bearable

Presently, he'd found an old manuscript on destructive applications of the Force and delving deeper into the dark side of the Force. He'd transferred it to a datapad and was reading it quietly, stretched out comfortably on top of a short wall that served as a divider between archive segments. His head rested against the pillar behind him, one leg was bent at the knee and the other hung down freely.

He hadn't really been paying much attention to the others in the archives. What was the need? So long as they didn't start anything, he didn't care.

After a while, he finished his reading and decided it was time to walk about for a bit. Stretch his legs. Maybe even go out to the sparring rooms and see who was hanging around there. Hopefully a better challenge than the last idiot I fought, he mused as he leapt gracefully down to the floor. Almost felt sorry for him.

He tucked his datapad away and stretched out, forcing blood into muscles that protested from sitting for so long. The three lightsabers--the two identical ones he'd made for himself and their newest brother he'd picked from the corpse of a Jedi that died at his hand--tapped softly against each other as he walked off, passing by the Archives' entrance on his way to a final round of looking through the lightsaber texts.

As he passed by the entrance, he felt another being bump into him. Or maybe he bumped into the other. Whatever the case, irritation flared for a moment as he turned to the offender. It was another Initiate. Young looking, despite the stubble that was growing on his face. Not that Nieraan looked much older; he was deceptively young for his age, looking more like a nineteen or twenty year old than one who was over thirty.

"Hey," he growled, flashing his sharp canines in a snarl as his presence in the Force momentarily flared, "watch where you're goin', kid."

As Cadyren was walking toward the archives, memories of a year ago sprung to his mind. He remembered how much more interesting things had been for him when he had first arrived. He had met some very interesting individuals, a man by the name of Grawn that had tutored him for some time, a woman who he had helped with building her first Lightsaber, and a couple of other interesting individuals. He had also made a trip into the Mid Rim, trying to prove himself capable of being a Sith. He had failed unfortunately, was caught by a Jedi around his own age and had been forced to leave the planet before the local authorities, or worse the Jedi. Life had been far more interesting then, now all he did was sit around all day and study, with an occasional interesting spar.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he did not notice that he and another initiate around his own age were walking straight towards each other. It wasn’t until he was about to smash into the man that Cadyren noticed him, stepping to the side to avoid hitting him. His shoulder still bumped into the older Initiate’s, but he had managed to avoid smashing head first into him. Cadyren thought that he had just barely avoided a potentially fatal incident, but it seemed that he wasn’t completely right.

The man turned to him, obviously angry. At first Cadyren didn’t care that the man was angry, he seemed to be about the same age as him so Cadyren figured he could hold his won until someone stepped in. This thought left him as the Force grew in the man, and Cadyren could tell that the person in front of him was far more powerful then he was. Cadyren was by no means skilled in sensing another persons Force abilities, but just from that small flair Cadyren knew that if this man attacked him, he would he would be defenseless.

Cadyren wasn’t sure if the man would attack him, not as long as Cadyren didn’t try to further angry him. So Cadyren wasn’t afraid, though he did admit he didn’t like being in a situation where another being could simply destroy him if he wanted too. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going. I’ll make sure to be more careful next time.” Cadyren said politely, hoping that by trying to act like he was genuinely sorry the man would calm down. He hated that he was forced to apologize to this guy when they both were at fault, but thanks to his lack of ability he was forced to. After responding to the man Cadyren stood there facing him, waiting for him to respond back.

Nieraan turned around to look through yellowed eyes at the boy that'd bumped into him. He was young; the shaggy hair and scraggly stubble on his jaw made it hard to pin an exact age on him, but Nieraan knew him to be younger than he. Less than twenty, certainly. Unless he was of a particularly long-lived people, as Nieraan was. Then it wouldn't be so simple.

Whatever his age, the more important thing was his power, and Nieraan was far from impressed with what he felt. Simply put, this one was weak. He had a level of strength in the Force that seemed to match his apparent age. Though he was about an inch taller than Nieraan, the Firrerreo held no illusions on who the dominant one of the pair would be.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going. I’ll make sure to be more careful next time.”

Nieraan narrowed his eyes slightly. Another one. Another spineless one tucking tail. Are Makura and I the only ones in this damn place with a bit of backbone? If Cadyren had hoped his apology would make things better, well, he'd been mistaken. Today at least. Any other day, Nieraan might have ignored it, kept his contempt to little more than a snide insult.

Not today, though.

"That's it?" He snorted softly, took another step nearer to the other Initiate? "You just gonna be like every other damn Initiate in this Temple? Just apologize and hope that if you keep your head low enough, the big bad strong Sith will leave you alone, right?"

It was incredible to even try to comprehend. He'd stood up to, made demands on Iniquitous himself, and yet it seemed that--save a select few--most of the other Initiates lacked the spine to stand up to each other. Is this what the Sith are about?

No, this Initiate wouldn't get off so easy; he just had the misfortune of being the one to set Nieraan's frustrations to the point where they eked out.

"You gonna fight a war like that, kid? You think the Dark rewards the meek the weak and the humble?"

He stepped forward suddenly, lifted a hand to shove the boy back. Not to knock him down, but certainly enough to make him stumble back a few steps, perhaps into the wall behind him. Nieraan didn't really care how the kid physically took the shove.

"Well it doesn't, kid." He watched Cadyren, eyes almost daring him to take a stand, to do something in answer for the shove he'd given. He wasn't looking for a fight, since he knew he could beat this one up and down the archives at his leisure, but he wanted some show of defiance. Some show of a spine.

"What're you here to find, anyway? Some old writing on how to beg and grovel and kiss ass the best?"

Perhaps he wasn't being entirely fair to the other Initiate, letting his ire at others all come out at him. Then again, he didn't particularly care.

(Sorry for short post )


Cadyren’s apology hadn’t work. In fact it seemed to have made the older Sith even angrier. As the Sith took a step toward Cadyren, insulting him and saying he was just as bad as every other Initiate in the temple. As the man talked Cadyren’s anger grew, how dare this man say he was just another pathetic little Initiate. What a fool this man is. Is he so consumed by the dark side that he just walks around looking for someone to piss him off? He thinks me a coward, but I only do this so I can survive. Cadyren thought to himself, his anger still continuing to grow. He tried his best to hold it in, but the other Sith continued to insult him.

The man decided to say one last thing, calling Cadyren meek and humble, before stepping forward to push Cadyren backwards. Lifting his arm up, Cadyren smacked the man’s arm aside, taking a step forwards. This man was starting to really annoy Cadyren, and he wasn’t going top just sit by anymore and take it. Cadyren locked eyes with the man, whose eyes seemed to dare Cadyren to stand up to him.

The man then asked Cadyren why he had come to the archives, if he had come to learn how to become a better ass-kisser. Finally having enough of this man, Cadyren spoke, not caring if the man attacked him now. “No, I came here so that I could learn to kill fools like you. You think I’m a coward just because I’m not looking for trouble? I’m sorry I don’t confront people over stupid things like getting bumped on the shoulder. And if I’m a coward, you’re a fool who can’t even control his emotions. The Dark Side doesn’t reward the meak and humble, but it doesn’t reward those who let themselves be controlled by it either.” Cadyren said, his voice an angry whisper as he stood up to the older Sith.

Some of the other Initiates had heard the older Sith when he had called Cadyren meek and humble, and had gathered to watch what would happen next. Cadyren ignored them all, only focusing on the Sith in front of him. He expected the Sith to attack him, to ‘teach him a lesson’ for insulting him, Cadyren didn’t care anymore though, if this Sith wanted to hurt him, so be it.

So this one did have a little backbone hidden in him. Nieraan could feel it. He could feel the boy starting to get angry as he berated him, and it nearly brought a wicked grin to his face. Good. Maybe at least one of 'em can learn to stand up instead of slinkin' away with his tail between his legs.

Cadyren went even further, knocking Nieraan's hand to the side and stepping forward. Even better. As the boy stepped forward, so too did Nieraan, bringing the two of them to stand less than a pace apart from one another. The anger was nearly visible in Cadyren's eyes, in the way he held himself and glared at Nieraan. A nerve had been struck. And now that Nieraan had realized this, and in the process, given himself something to do beyond studying old texts, he intended to strike it again. And again, if necessary.

He was going to see what kind of mettle this boy had to him. And perhaps, in the process, discover if Cadyren was actually worth something, or if he was just another Initiate that he could walk all over. And he wouldn't be the only one to know; a number of Initiates were starting to gather to watch, forming a wide circle around them. And Nieraan knew as well as any other how gossip spread through this Temple.

“No, I came here so that I could learn to kill fools like you. You think I’m a coward just because I’m not looking for trouble? I’m sorry I don’t confront people over stupid things like getting bumped on the shoulder. And if I’m a coward, you’re a fool who can’t even control his emotions. The Dark Side doesn’t reward the meek and humble, but it doesn’t reward those who let themselves be controlled by it either.”

Nieraan laughed at that. He laughed truly, laughed in Cadyren's face. "What's wrong, boy? Are you upset?" His voice was cold, mocking. "Mad that you realize you're just another lowly Initiate that has to scrounge around the bottom of the barrel for the scraps the real Sith here leave behind for you?

"And tell me, boy, what do you know of the dark, hm?" His senses had been easing during the confrontation, feeling out the presence of this boy in the Force. There was a taint to it, certainly, but he had not given himself to it completely, not nearly as far as he could. "Its call is one of emotion. A flash of anger, the rush for revenge, the pain of betrayal. But what would you know about that? You've probably lived your life too afraid to step out and take it and hold it for yourself, like some timid fool of a Jedi. So you don't know it's power." He lifted a hand up and flexed his fingers for a moment, then closed it into a fist. Sparks of lightning cracked around it threateningly, wildly. But he was in control. "You don't know its rewards."

Amusement, cold and cruel, danced in his Dark Side-yellowed eyes as he met the boy's gaze. Even as the corner of his mouth pulled up into a mocking smirk. "Poor baby. It must be hard, knowing you're so weak. Knowing that you're just a rat in a land of giants." He lifted a brow slightly. "Is that why you bow and scrape? Because you know that for the rest of your pitiful existence, you'll always be at the bottom?

Because you know, down in the pit of your stomach, that you are nothing."

Without warning, he acted, threw his still-crackling fist forward at Cadyren's face. The force behind the blow alone could do a great deal of damage; the lightning would only make it worse. If it was meant to hit. It wasn't; it was another prod, meant to gain a response, to see how the boy reacted.

The punch stopped before it landed, the sparks vanished, and Nieraan held his palm open for a moment before letting it fall back to his side.

As soon as Cadyren had finished talking the other Initiate laughed, laughed straight into his face. He then said to Cadyren mockingly “ What's wrong, boy? Are you upset? Mad that you realize you're just another lowly Initiate that has to scrounge around the bottom of the barrel for the scraps the real Sith here leave behind for you?”

This man was really good at pushing Cadyren’s nerves, everything he said angered and annoyed Cadyren. Why this guy was doing this to him, Cadyren could only guess. All Cadyren had done was bump into him, and the man had gone from being mad at him to trying to make him mad. What was up with this guy?

Shortly after his first statement ended, the other Sith began to question his ability to use the Dark Side of the Force. He explained how the Dark Side worked, telling Cadyren things he already knew, emotions he had already felt, time and time again.


”Its call is one of emotion, A flash of anger, the rush for revenge, the pain of betrayal. But what would you know about that? You've probably lived your life too afraid to step out and take it and hold it for yourself, like some timid fool of a Jedi. So you don't know it's power."

Cadyren knew these emotions well. He had been betrayed by his own brother, who had killed Cadyren’s Jedi Master. His anger and his desire for revenge were the emotions that had turned him to the Dark Side, made him begin to rely upon his emotions in combat, to want to kill instead of disarm his opponent. The Sith was partially right about one thing, for most of Cadyren’s life he had been unwilling to use the Dark Side, believing to it to be a path that led to ones own destruction.

Cadyren knew it’s power though, he may not have been able to fully access it yet, but he had felt the Dark Side flow through him, help him kill those that he had hated and those who hated him. “You know nothing about me, now why don’t you just go and find some other Sith to try to bully so that you can make yourself feel powerful.” Cadyren said to the Sith, his voice sounding a bit more calm now. He realized that this man as just trying to play with him, make him angry and embarrass himself in front of the other Sith. Cadyren was mad at the Sith for all of the insults he had said, but he would not let them control his judgment. He kept them inside him, where they raged, growing stronger as he kept the emotions caged in his body.

Cadyren turned to walk away from the man, not wanting to waste any more of his time with him, when the other Sith raised one of his hands up, clenched in a fist. Lightning began to surround it, dancing around the Sith’s hand savagely. The Sith began to talk again, it seemed that he never shut up. He called Cadyren a rat, he called him weak, and told him that he would always be on the bottom. Cadyren felt his anger grow even more at these insults, who did this man think he was? Cadyren could feel his anger now trying to push its way outward, to try and show this man just how ‘weak’ he was.

As the man’s fist flew towards his face, Cadyren released his anger. A blast of Dark power flew from Cadyren, strong enough to fling the man in front of him back into the wall on the other side of the hall if he didn’t stop it. The man’s fist had stopped right in front of his face, so Cadyren would believe that his attack had at least distracted him if the man had stopped the blast of Dark Side energy, or thrown him backwards before his fist had connected with Cadyren.

Regardless of what happened, some of the initiates that were watching felt the dark energy that had thrown itself out of him. Some thought it amazing, though most of these were newer initiates that were barely trained in the Force. Some of the more well trained Sith found Cadyren’s attack to be weak, and some even laughed at his attempt, though they would quickly quiet down if Cadyren’s attack had managed to catch the other Sith off guard.

As Nieraan's hand flew toward the boy, his senses felt something start to stir. The anger was growing in the other Initiate, starting to bubble up to the surface. That was almost cause enough to grin. His button-pushing was working. This one was easy to push. Too easy for his own good, perhaps.

As his hand stopped a blast of energy exploded out from the boy. His senses screamed warning to him the moment before, and he answered with his own. It was a casual push, not one that was strong, but one that was very focused. The boy's burst had a nearly impressive amount of power behind it but it was wild, raw with emotional energy behind it. Unfocused. Nieraan's focused cut split it down the middle and made it pass harmlessly on either side of him, doing little more than stir his long white sash and tousle his hair.

A quiet fell over the room. Tension came with it. Nieraan reached out to feel the greater area around him as he let his hand fall to his side. Some of the weak Initiates were impressed. Others were not. Some even laughed quietly amongst themselves. All of them waited to see what would happen next. Could it be that a fight was going to break out?

Nieraan wouldn't discount that possibility, but he had other things in mind.

A chuckle broke the silence as he took two steps back from the boy. They'd need some breathing room between them. "Well look, the rat found some power in him." The corner of his mouth curled up in a smirk as lightning crackled around his fist again for an instant. "How cute.

"Buuuut, if you want to go anywhere in this place, you'll have to do better than that, boy. You're loud. Easy to read in the Force for any idiot with half a brain to listen." He neglected to mention that his ability to sense through the Force was better than most. He didn't care.

"And your strength is too unfocused. If you're going to be so easy to piss off, use the anger, boy. But tame it. Make it yours." He chuckled coldly, observed the boy curiously.

And then, without warning, he pointed some of his fingers from his side at the boy and let a stream of lightning flow from them. It was strong; not close to what he could truly do, but powerful nonetheless. It wouldn't do any permanent damage, but if it hit that boy, it would hurt.

"And I will leave you alone when I'm done with you, boy." The lightning stopped.

"Now do it again. Throw me across this hall, boy, if you've got half the worth of those rags you're wearing."

Maybe it wasn't the fairest way to go about things. He knew he had the strength to turn aside any blast this Initiate could let loose at him. Then again, had he been thinking about it at the time, he'd realize he was doing to Cadyren the same thing his mother had done to train him. It hadn't been fair then, either.

But since when did Sith care about being fair?

Cadyren’s attack didn’t work. He watched as his blast was split in half and to either side of the man. His hair and robes were ruffled, but that was all. Cadyren had honestly though his plan would work. He had performed a similar trick on his former master Grawn when he first took him as his apprentice. Grawn had used the Force to amplify his strength while they were in a saber lock, and Cadyren had been able to attack him while he was focused on doing that, and had succeeded. This man must have been more powerful then Grawn, or at least faster at guarding against offensive Force abilities.

The man then went back to taunting him, making a comment that Cadyren seemed to have ‘’some power in him after all’. Cadyren frowned, he knew now for sure that he had bitten more then he could chew with that attack, and would probably pay for it soon. Idiot, your going to pay for this now… Cadyren thought, the man was still talking though. Perhaps he thought it would be more of insult to Cadyren? By not even bothering to make him pay for the attack, he would seem even weaker, as though his assault wasn’t even worth retaliating against.

The man then said something that struck Cadyren as odd. The man had simply insulted Cadyren the whole time they had been talking, calling him weak and hopeless, but his last sentence hadn’t been that much of an insult, it ALMOST sounded like he was giving advice to Cadyren.

Cadyren was still a bit confused by the man’s last statement that he didn’t notice the man was raising his hands toward him until the last second. Cadyren attempted to raise a shield in the force in front of him, but it barely even held for a second as lightning assaulted it. The second it broke, Cadyren fell back into the wall, a loud grunt of pain escaping his lips. For a moment, that was all he felt, excruciating pain moving through his entire body. Despite the pain, Cadyren managed to stay on his feet, though it was in part due to him using the wall to support his body. Cadyren could barely hear what the man was saying as he struggled to stay on his feet, did his best to not cry out in pain.

The Lightning stopped after a few seconds, but to Cadyren it had felt like forever. As he moved forward again, his whole body still screaming in pain, he could smell his hair, his flesh his clothes, all burnt from the lightning the man had sent at him as if it were nothing. Cadyren wanted to kill this man, wanted to make him pay for publicly humiliating him. And he wanted to kill him even more because he was so much more powerful then Cadyren, for being able to stop Cadyren’s attack like it was nothing, and to break through his defenses just as easily. His feelings were apparent as he once again stared straight at the man, as though he believed he could kill him with his glare.

It seemed the man wanted to further insult him, telling him to try again and send him across the hall with the Force. Cadyren would have loved to do that, love to watch the man fly across the room and slam into the wall. He knew that he would fail, but he would rather get beaten trying then beaten for not even attempting, as he was sure this Sith would torture him regardless of what he did. So once again, Cadyren drew upon the anger he felt towards the man, concentrating on it and letting it grow inside of him. He felt it turn into a roaring flame inside him, the fire feeding off all of the hatred he felt towards the man. He felt the power of the Dark Side flow through him now, ready to do as he commanded it. Raising his arm towards his opponent, Cadyren sent another blast of energy forward, this one more focused, and aimed straight at the mans chest.

There you go, boy, Nieraan thought. He could feel fury, hot and swift, swelling in the core of Cadyren's being. The boy was mad at him. He may have even hated Nieraan. Let him. Nieraan watched the boy placidly, feeling an attack starting to draw near. If it gives him a spine. Energy crackled on around his hands again. Now it even started to spread up his forearms as he began to draw on the Dark Side, submerging himself in its power. It was at once sick and sweet. Fire and ice. A raging torrent of power that could strengthen him beyond the wildest dreams of any man, and at the same time constantly threatened to destroy him completely.

"To use the Dark is a privilege, whelp." His mother's words, her voice, echoed in his memories. "A privilege reserved only for the strong. It is a fire, boy--one fueled by your passions and your hate. Only a strong will can keep it from consuming you completely. But you.... you are weak, boy. You continue to try to walk the line. You will give yourself to it completely, or it will give you nothing." He remembered that day. It was one of many from when the time when his mother had gone through the process of breaking him, of forcing him to fall. It was after she'd beaten the daylights out of him, as she so often did. "Now stand up, boy. You are my son, and you will not be weak. We fight again."

The Force exploded from Cadyren again. It was better this time, focused into a blast directed at Nieraan's chest. If Nieraan had been weaker it might have presented a threat.

Unfortunately for Cadyren and his efforts, Nieraan was not weak. He held his hand up in front of him, let a blast of energy erupt from it. Again his hair and clothing shifted gently in the wind, but this time it was from the blowback of his own burst leaving his hand. It slammed into Cadyren's blast, consumed it like a hungry beast and kept on unabated toward the boy himself. It had lost some of its strength in blowing over Cadyren's attack, but if it wasn't stopped, it would be more than strong enough to slam him back into the wall; not that that was far, considering how close the boy was to the wall.

Nieraan cared little about that, though. The boy had failed again, and so he would be hurt again. Another wave of lightning poured from his fingers, this time stronger than the last. It would last a few seconds longer as well, before Nieraan finally relented and let his hand fall to his side again.

Echoes, he thought silently as he watched the boy. His mother had trained him this way. When she taught him to weild the Force, he would learn it and learn it fast, or he would be hurt. When they sparred, he would fight until he could fight no longer, and then have to fight some more, or she would beat him like a dog. He'd hated her for it.

But she made him strong.

So what did it mean now, now that he was doing the same for this boy?

There would be no jabs this time. No insults or threats. He could continue to embarrass this boy through action if he so chose. This time there would only be a question.

"Who is your master, boy?"

Cadyren had once again failed to hit the older Sith. Instead of making a protective barrier however, the older Sith decided it would be a good idea to meet Cadyren’s blast with his own. Cadyren struggled with the older Sith’s more powerful attack for a moment, but it quickly fell under the more powerful blast. The blast hit him so fast that Cadyren hadn’t been able to erect a protective barrier, not that it would have mattered anyway. Knocked off his feet, Cadyren quickly felt his back slam into the wall once again, before he fell to the ground.

Still hurt from the previous blast of Lightning, Cadyren slowly got back to his feet. The man seemed to want to embarrass him further, now with the Force instead of words. As he got up Cadyren finally noticed some of the other initiates who were watching. They stood a distance away, not wanting to be near the older Sith. Some of them looked at Cadyren with pity, which made Cadyren even more angry, while others snickered to themselves and even more hurried themselves away, not wanting to be the next victim of the older Sith.

Turning back to the Sith, Cadyren didn’t know what he should do. There was no way he could beat this guy, he could destroy Cadyren easily if he wanted to. Cadyren didn’t have time to think of a plan however, because almost as soon as he got up a storm of Force Lightning struck him again.

Pain once again assaulted Cadyren’s entire being, every cell in Cadyren’s body screaming out. As much as he tried, Cadyren couldn’t stop himself from yelling out in pain. He fell to his knees as more lightning assaulted him, it seemed the Sith wanted Cadyren to suffer even more this time around. For the first few moments, all Cadyren could think about was how unbearable the pain was, nothing else mattered.

Slowly, Cadyren’s mind began to work again. The pain was still almost impossible to bear, but Cadyren managed to keep himself standing throughout the assault. It was difficult, and many times Cadyren almost felt his knees buckle beneath him, but he managed to remain standing until the end.

As soon as the Lightning ended however, Cadyren fell to the ground. His clothes were now even more burnt, smoldering in fact. Cadyren coughed a few times, then looked up at the Sith in front of him. He expected the Sith to taunt him again, to call him weak and pathetic, but no, Instead he just asked him a question. Who was his master? He did not have one. Nor would he waste his breathe saying so to the man in front of him. Instead, he slowly got back to his feet again, despite his bodies protesting.

As he got up, he continued to look at the other Sith silently. The man should have been able to figure out that Cadyren had no master easily enough, yes Cadyren had decent skill with Force abilities, but it was rather obvious that he had no formal training in the Dark Side. Cadyren did not fear another storm of Lightning, he knew that if it was coming it would come regardless of what he said or did. So he remained quite, mentally trying to prepare himself for the next wave of pain.

Push to slam into the wall, followed by lightning to sear the flesh with pain. It was a brutal combination of attacks to be put through, and the Initiate boy bore the brunt of both of them. He fell to the ground once, after the push slammed him into the unforgiving stone behind him, and then again once Nieraan's electrical assault had come to an end.

The boy was hurting. Nieraan could feel it rolling from his presence in waves. Despite that pain, though, he stood to his feet. Despite the fact that he knew Nieraan could end him if he so chose, he stood tall and stared the more powerful Initiate down.

He might have been hurting, but above it all, the boy seemed to be stubborn. Nieraan almost smirked a bit. Good. There's some backbone in there after all.

A few heartbeats passed after he asked his question. Heartbeats turned into seconds that begin to stretch on and near a minute. Some of the Initiates that had stopped to watch shifted nervously, wondering what might happen. It was clear that Cadyren wouldn't be answering Nieraan's question. Would he be punished again, this time for falling silent when Nieraan demanded something of him.

Nieraan's mind was elsewhere. True, at first, he'd been annoyed with this boy. At first he'd wanted to put him in his place, to show him where he belonged in the Temple. But as the confrontation unfolded, his goal shifted. He was testing the boy. It had just been to see how much he could push him around initially, but now... now it was for something else.

The boy's silence was a lack of an answer. For as much as Nieraan acted like little more than an irritable bully--and he was that--he wasn't stupid. Far from it. He wasn't some student of strategy, like Yin, but he understood how useful having an image could be. Life in the underworld tended to teach that.

No, Nieraan wasn't stupid, and he could be rather perceptive when he wished to be. The boy's silence wasn't a lack of an answer. It was an answer in and of itself--an answer he'd been in the position of giving himself, after many of the beatings he got as part of his 'training' from his mother.

"I see," he said quietly. He looked around at the other Sith quietly for a moment. He hadn't ever believed he was going to do what he knew was about to happen, but it was coming. Though the boy was weak, he'd impressed Nieraan. He hadn't caved, nor had he begged for mercy. Perhaps something could be made of him, and perhaps he could be of use to Nieraan in the future.

He took a few steps closer to the boy, but he took no further action to harm him. Not yet. "You hate me, don't?" When he spoke, he lowered his voice enough so that only Cadyren would hear. "I can feel it in you, boy. You wish you could hurt me. I'm sure you wonder why I made you suffer like this, when all you wanted was to come find something in the archives." He smirked knowingly, huffed a soft laugh.

"It's because that's the way it is in the place sometimes, boy. That's the way it is out in the Galaxy, where no one gives a damn about you, or what it is you want. That's a fact you better learn, and learn quickly."

He fell quiet for a moment, studying Cadyren. Then he spoke again. "I take your answer, or lack thereof to mean you don't have a master. Shame, that. For all the potential I can feel in you, you're weak. Rough and unpolished. But I have an offer to make you. I can teach you things, I can show you how to call on the Dark and make it yours." He held a hand up between them, and lightning crackled again. "I can show you to harness its power. I can make you something that might even pose something resembling a threat to those stronger than the rest of the rats that fill this place." The sparks vanished from around his hand, he dropped it to his side.

"Whether you take it or not is up to you, though. You may accept, or you can continue to wallow in your incompetency until some Jedi lops your head off." He shrugged slightly and moved as if to leave, but stopped at Cadyren's side, his shoulder nearly touching the boy's. "But know this, boy: I've been in the shoes you just put your feet in. Perhaps that's why I put you in them.

"Do not waste time in your decision. I won't be feeling generous for long." With that he went on. If the boy wanted his attention, or wanted to learn what he had to offer, then he could follow or call out to him. If not, then he would simply leave. Either way, Nieraan kept his senses primed for threats in the Force, and a hand near one of the lightsabers that hung from his waist.

Time seemed to stand still as Cadyren waited for the older more powerful Sith to do something. He had expected to be electrocuted shortly after the question had been asked, when Cadyren didn’t answer it. Cadyren’s body was still in great pain from the previous blasts of Force Lightning, and he wasn’t sure if he could take another. Even though he stood tall and defiantly, on the inside Cadyren felt like he could barely stand. If the older Sith were to blast him again, Cadyren would most likely go down.

The older Sith didn’t seem to be focusing on Cadyren’s lack of an answer however, his mind seemed to be elsewhere. Cadyren didn’t know if this was a good thing or a bad, thing, so he just stood there and waited to see what happened. He soon thought he was going to regret that decision, because the older Sith took a few steps towards him. Cadyren’s left hand moved towards his Lightsaber, which was on his left hip, but soon after he did he realized that the Sith wasn’t trying to attack him.

Instead the man talked, whispering so that only Cadyren could hear. “You hate me don’t you? I can feel it in you boy. You wish you could hurt me. I'm sure you wonder why I made you suffer like this, when all you wanted was to come find something in the archives.” The man then stopped to laugh for a moment, before continuing, “It's because that's the way it is in the place sometimes, boy. That's the way it is out in the Galaxy, where no one gives a damn about you, or what it is you want. That's a fact you better learn, and learn quickly."

Yes, of course Cadyren hated him. Cadyren had done nothing to the man in front of him, yet now he was being publicly humiliated. There were only a couple of initiates watching, but Cadyren knew that gossiped traveled, and that every other initiate in the Temple would know he was weak. It infuriated him even more to know that there was nothing he could do about it, the other Sith was to strong for Cadyren, and could turn away any attack Cadyren threw at him with ease.

What the man said next shocked Cadyren, so much that Cadyren thought at first he had misheard the man. He said that Cadyren had potential, though it was rough and unpolished. Was he trying to play some game with Cadyren? He had to be, because what he said next was even more unbelievable. He said he could teach Cadyren how to use the Dark Side, how to harness its power. Cadyren looked at the man and studied his face, trying to see if he was trying to mess with him some more before leaving, but to Cadyren he didn’t seem to be lying.

The man then turned away, telling Cadyren to make haste with his decision while he was still feeling generous. Cadyren stood there for a moment as the older Sith began to walk away, thinking over the offer. Cadyren wanted to become stronger, to be feared and respected by the other Sith at the temple, but would he really be willing to train under this man to reach that goal?

Finally making his decision Cadyren followed after the man, doing his best to not limp or show any signs of the pain he still felt. His clothes were no longer smoldering, however his grey tunic now seemed a little bit darker, and there were a few small burn marks on his face. Cadyren was sure that there were more to come, but he didn’t care. It would be worth it.

(sorry for taking so long, I've been busy the past couple of days.)