Walking down the streets with my .....'s on (Mara)

[Dean]

Aarati was walking through the endless corridors of the temple, it was just about a day after she arrived and she could freely roam now. Well not freely, she had a certain feeling that in the dark shadows things were waiting for her. She shook it of as an annoying superstition and pressed on walking and breathing in and out regulated. She could feel more dark presences in this temple that were darker then her. She had been a jedi no less then six months ago, so what did you expect.

She looked at the finely made walls and sometimes even touched them to feel their texture. This was all so new for her and she was still flabbergasted. She came across a pillar that was carved with hooded figures out of the stone. They were standing still silently watching everyone that passed by. This was one of the more classic made corridors of the temple she couldn’t help but notice. The rest of it was more new, Way more new.

She had recently learned that everyone could visit all the tombs at will. The weak ones would get hunted down by animals either way, so it didn’t matter. Only the strong could gather power. Power that she too, would soon posses. Even in her short stay here she had seen more idiots then she could imagine. Idiots were a plague it seemed. More deadly to an order then the real plague was to an individual. But as with every diseases, there were cures. And one of those cures dangled down everyone’s belt.

[Mara]

[... from Making Up For Lost Time]



A few days after her late night/early morning catching up and more with Caleb, Looma again found herself walking through the Temple. Though it had been days and she hadn't come across him since, the yellow Twi'lek was still riding a bit of a high from the encounter. Seeing Cal for the first time in a month could do that to her. Especially in the new condition she had found him in.

So much was she reliving those few hours that she had actually forgotten for a while her earlier frustration. How even after the Temple had been completed and promotions thrown out for the Darths, she still had had not official true training. No master or even any classes. Still learning and practicing on her own with some of the other initiates. With her impatience she had forgotten the newness of the Order and just wanted to get to the next step of her life.

So much so that she didn't feel a presence ahead of her until it was almost too late. A blonde woman was before her, coming from the opposite direction. A startling strong presence in the Force as well. Looma wondered whom this could be, perhaps another initiate? But this one seemed so more advanced than the others that had come from Bakura from her. Though, she also knew that other rankings had not be sorted out yet; they were all on the same level, for now.

Looma saw as she walked closer that she was quite older than her own 17-year-old self. She stopped and made a little bow, not knowing exactly who this woman was and wanted to treat her with respect in case she had come looking for the Twi'lek on purpose or she was one of the higher level initiates. Still a bit lost in her high of seeing Caleb, the thought that this woman might want an apprentice had never crossed her mind. When she looked up again, she nodded. "Hello." No other words came to her tongue, so a simple greeting had to suffice.

[Dean]

She heard footsteps coming from the corridor next to her, and with a little movement in the force, the hilt of her lightsaber was in her hands, ready to be used any moment. When she glanced to the corridor she saw a young woman come out of it. Even with her lousy sensing skills she could feel that this woman was not a threat. Maybe even a useful tool later on.

She blew out her last breath and noticed that her heartbeat didn’t change, it was weird for a human she thought to have a steady heartbeat almost every single second. She guessed it was one of the things that came automatically if you had been a jedi for over thirty years. She could be angry now and would, but fear was not an emotion she was familiar with, not as a sith and not as a jedi.

The girl bowed for her and a smile came to her face, only to disappear with the same swiftness it came. ’’You do realize that bowing in front of a person means you have more then only loyalty to the dark side, right?’’ This is what she said, what she refrained form saying was that bowing also was a form of weakness, Showing respect gave another Sith strength, strength that came from you.

’’And who might you be?’’

[Mara]

A chill washed over her, and Looma wasn't sure if it had to do with the cold corridor and her lack of clothes--she hadn't had a chance to find anything to replace her tattered Bakura farming clothes yet--or something less physical, something that had to do with the woman standing in front of her. Involuntary she shivered slightly and wrapped her arms around her middle, covering the bare yellow midriff.

Looma wasn't sure what to think of the woman's question. She didn't know whether it was merely rhetorical or if the blonde wanted her to answer it. Plus, she wasn't really sure what she meant by it, or how she could answer. Maybe her mind was still clouded by her earlier thoughts, but how did bowing convey all that? The Twi'lek knew her loyalty only ran with the dark side and the Sith. There was no one else she would serve. So deciding it was best not to answer, she remained quiet, waiting to see if the woman would add to what she said.

And she did, this time just asking who she was. Now this was a question Looma knew she could answer, but she waited an extra moment to decide how to answer it. She could be brief and general or more specific about who she was. Just her name, or perhaps more. This woman was a stranger to her, but that meant nothing. Most of the beings at the Temple Looma didn't know. She smiled. "My name is Looma." No need to explain her rank; any Sith at the Temple would know she was an initiate and not one of the Darths. "And you?"

[Dean]

Aarati was her old calm self again, now not standing in the middle of a light waterfall but trying to be the darkness beyond the black that was the dark side, this however took years of training, training that she didn’t have yet. She tried her hardest though, to be one of them, her ambition was great, yes it was but her power was not yet comparable.

She noticed the twi’lek girl did not answer her first question and she couldn’t help but give a grim smile, this meant confusion. Or not having a desire to answer or even both. Ah well it didn’t matter, It wasn’t Aarati’s job to teach this girl about the dark side, mainly because she almost didn’t learn anything about it herself.

’’My name? My name is Aarati, Master Irwagabon just six months ago. But I appear to have given up that great honor.’’ She spoke about her old title as if it was worth nothing. Actually she had a history of killing people like the girl in front of her. Most of her missions had led her to people that wanted to understand the dark side but did not. Only being lured into the easiest performances of it; Fights. Even a jedi could beat such posers.

A thought sprang into her mind, What if she could use this girl. She didn’t know how long this twi’lek had been at the temple, maybe she could do things that Aarati couldn’t, Like shooting lightning. Still smiling Aarati knew that she would have to be slick and cunning to do this. ’’How long have you been here? I just touched down with my ship a day ago.’’

[Mara]

Looma was slightly confused at the woman's response to her question. What did she mean, she no longer went by a more formal title? A master of what, or whom? She knew there were none at the Temple who went back that name besides the Dark Lord himself and the others of the Inner Circle, and this woman was not one of them.

But she didn't let her confusion show on her face, just nodding in answer. Perhaps later this woman would explain what she meant, but for now Looma was lost in her thoughts to try to come up with a reason for her words. The only thing that made sense to the young Twi'lek was this woman had come from another society or culture, or perhaps some organization where she had held a high position. The thought that she was once of the Jedi Order had never crossed her mind.

The smile the other gave her was slightly disconcerting, but she thought about the question anyway. It seemed harmless enough. And the fact that she had so recently arrived explained how Looma didn't recognize her as any of the other initiates or recruits. She thought back to her arrival before the Temple construction, the construction which had ended just a few days before. "A few weeks," Looma answered, knowing that she didn't actually know the exact time period but giving it a good guess. Even with all the new recruits from Bakura and use of the Force, the completion of the Temple had taken quite a while.

[Dean]

Aarati gave up her attempt on a smile; she didn’t have to be nice here. It wasn’t her job to be good to everyone anymore. If she killed this kid on the spot it would only make her stronger and more hated. She didn’t though, as it would serve no goal. The girl was however slightly annoying her. She used her old training practices to look at her emotions from a distance only to realize something.

She was not annoyed by the girl at all. It was her rank that majorly confused and annoyed her. How could this twi’lek girl be of the same rank as her? It was just a little girl, nothing more. She had only been here a day and something started to eat at her already. The Jedi archives had explained this as doubt, and warned that doubt was very dangerous. She didn’t see it like that and planned on thinking about it at night. When she could relax before she would go to sleep.

’’As I said, I just arrived and I’m curious, Do all people have the same rank here? I don’t doubt it you have your strengths, but aren’t the legions of people here that are stronger as you?’’ She asked it with a nice voice but couldn’t refrain for laying a certain threat into it. She needed to know and was not planning on letting this conversation to go anywhere besides this.

She just now felt that putting her lightsaber away was not a risk anymore; she didn’t think this girl posed that much of a threat. She clicked it on her belt and let her robe fall over it. She was totally relaxed, allowing herself to feel and acknowledge emotions but not to get eaten by hatred. She would have her revenge when the time came. And when she lured more fools into training her in the way’s of the dark side.

[Mara]

The interrogation she was receiving from this stranger was beginning to unsettle Looma a little bit. All she had been doing was walking through the hallway, hoping to find someone else to train with or at least talk to, maybe find Caleb again, when she had run into this woman. At the time she had hoped to just be polite and nod and go on her way, but now the young Twi'lek had gotten dragged into this conversation without any end in sight. Nor did she know this other's purpose in stopping her and engaging her attention.

And why did she keep asking things she barely knew the answer to herself? Just because she had been on planet longer... Looma forced all her feelings inward and took a hold of the Force to fortify herself. She knew she couldn't lie--this one seemed powerful enough to know if she did--and so Looma found herself just being honest, more honest than she thought.

"Well, everything is still rather new here, with the Order and all. Most of us are initiates, yes, with a few of the more powerful ones gaining the tile of Lord and Lady just a few nights ago, the Darths Novus and Eurachis and Renata... and then there is our valiant leader, the Dark Lord, Darth Iniquitous." She answered, believing every word she said. Looma shrugged then. "I don't believe any further rankings have been settled yet. I'm still trying to feel my way around this place."

[Dean]

Aarati spat on the idea of being the same rank as this girl, she could feel the girl trying to bury her emotions as the planet itself gave her more power in the darkside she noted that her normally mediocre sense abilities got just a slide better here. It felt good, the ecstasy of being more powerful then you really are always felt good she guessed. She thought about the time when she pushed the life out of a dark Jedi, just when she first laid claim to the path that she was walking down now.

’’Hey girl, just between us two women, are there any good teachers here, or maybe someone that has some ability in the way’s of force lightning. It would greatly help me you know.’’ When she said the words she realized they were stupid, what was she doing here in a fucking hallway when she could as well be searching for a master on the training grounds. She looked at the girl and got a new idea. She could be nineteen at most.

’’Wait, forget that hun, Why don’t we go to the training grounds together. Maybe I could learn you something?’’

[Mara]

(((I'm wondering if you could tone down the language, in this thread at least? I know the filter catches it, but it's still pretty obvious. I'm just not a huge fan, personally. ))



With her awareness to the Force having been opened since coming into content with this woman, Looma was having more and more thoughts that perhaps it would be a good idea to take her leave. The aura coming off this woman was not something that felt good to her. And the force with which she spat on the ground was a good indicator to the Twi'lek with which she would wield other parts of her body or other weapons she might have hidden. Her only shield at the moment from her possible wrath she knew was the fact that she was only angry at her words and the knowledge she gave her, not at Looma herself. And she hoped to keep it that way, she thought, still hugging her arms around her stomach.

More questions. When would they end? Looma turned her purple eyes away then briefly, trying to think. Obviously there were initiates with enough skill to act as masters and teachers to some of the more novice ones; she had heard rumors of these classes but hadn't been able to get involved in one yet. As for Force lightning... no, she hadn't seen anyone use it, to her recollection. If she had, she must be forgetting. This woman interrogating her was making her feel uneasy and a bit flustered. "No, I don't know anyone who teaches that." Looma swallowed and then added, looking back at her. "Sorry."

The next thing the woman said to her would have been relief, if it hadn't been to ask to go with her to the training grounds. At least she didn't seem too angry about there not being anyone to ask about the lighting. But to spar with this woman? Obviously there were things she could teach Looma, but she wasn't sure it would be a good idea, with this woman's volatile personality. Though, of course, there was bound to be many others in the training areas, this time of day. Her eagerness to finally learn something, even from a stranger she just met, outweighed her wariness. Looma nodded at her. "All right. I can lead us there." She smiled.

She stepped past the woman then, continuing on the way she had planning to before being stopped by the newcomer. But where she would have gone right, she continued straight for a while, then took a left. Another few minutes, and the hallway opened up into a huge room filled with various items to assist with training. Looma had come here before alone, to practice her telekinesis. Never before had she come in with someone else.

[Dean]

She scowled a little bit inside her mouth, she had hoped that this girl knew the theory at least, then she could have perfected in on her own. But that was not the case now; she had nothing to do gain from this girl anymore apart from finally feeling herself a Jedi master by training her. Oh well, maybe that feeling would make It worth the effort, and an easy sparring match at the moment could be ideal. It had been a while since she had last trained.

She walked behind the girl to where the training halls were. At least that’s what she was thinking since she had never been to this place before and she trusted a seventeen year old girl. The girl turned left somewhere and the endless hallway continued. She almost got through with the walking when the hall opened up and she saw a training room that was rather huge. She nodded her approval and looked at the ceiling how high it was. Several meters, it would be good enough to jump all around.

She ignored the girl and stepped into the hall only to look around amazed, it made her remember the Jedi temple a bit, only the texture was rougher. In the temple everything has screamed with peace but here everything looked like it wanted to fight. She inhaled slowly and deeply to and her heart started to beat faster a little.

With a little intention her saber flew to her hand and smacked into it with a little sound. She put it on training mode and turned to the girl, not igniting it yet. ’’Lets see what you can do now shall we?’’ She gave her best smile.


OOC: Sorry bout that.

OOC2: sorry bout the lenght too i'm hungover and can't make up anything better.

[Mara]

(((No worries. ))


Coming into the room, Looma walked a few paces inside then stood off to the side by the near wall. Though it was oddly empty at the moment, she felt a need to be out of the way of this woman, despite her desire to want to teach her something. Her lekku twitched nervously as she watched the older blonde come in after her and survey their surroundings. The Force was sending her a bad premonition, but she knew she couldn't just leave this woman--what did she say her name was? Aarati, yes. A former master... of what, Looma hadn't figured that out yet for sure. She knew she couldn't lead Aarati here and just depart. Especially since she apparently wanted the young Twi'lek with her.

For the most part the other woman seemed content to just look around, and Looma was beginning to reconsider her decision to remain in the training room, and took a few glances at the open doorway. For some reason she was feeling nervous, and as a new Sith, the feelings felt odd to her. Though she was only a novice, she should be exuding confidence. But Looma wasn't; this stranger, though new, had a stronger presence in the Force than her own. The yellow Twi'lek wasn't exactly a slouch with the Force herself, but most of hers was just raw talent, nothing focused or honed or perfected. This Aarati had an aura of training and power about her. And Looma was steadily regretting stopping to say hello to the woman. Or letting Caleb out of her sight.

This feeling grew as she saw the woman turn to her and bring out her lightsaber. Though still unlit, Looma's purple eyes almost doubled in size and her lekku wiggled behind her. She had no weapon of herself and had barely touched a lightsaber since departing for Bakura almost four years prior. Her heart pounded in her chest, and she could think of no answering reply for Aarati, nor could she move her frozen body to look for lightsaber, even a training one, in the room she was in. Looma swallowed hard, afraid for what would come next.

[Dean]

Exited that she was in one of the training rooms and actually knew how to come there from now on so she could train herself she had almost turned on her lightsaber before taking another look at the girl. She tilted her head a little bit in surprise as she noticed that the beautifully purple eyes of the twi-lek were widened with what she thought was fear as she had gotten her lightsaber from her belt. When she followed the lines of the girls’ body with her eyes she noticed that this girl didn’t have a lightsaber. This came as a surprise to her. She probably still had to move her brain away from the other temple, one that she had been way more familiar with.

She was used to the fact that every kid around her age would have a lightsaber by that time, but apparently in this temple things went very different, after she put a moment of thought into it she could see why. If some rookie of forty two came into the temple you couldn’t expect them to be trained lightsaber users. She let her head down for a moment and put her lightsaber away again. She looked up and smiled to the girl, hoping to have relieved her. The little girl seemed to be afraid of her, she could imagine a place were the dark side was taught not being the best place to spend your time in as a child though.

’’I’m sorry’’ She shook her head slightly before going on with explaining her mistake. She didn’t need the girl to fear her, she needed respect.’’The place where I come from, most people your age have a lightsaber.’’ she smiled. Her head tilted a bit to the left as she took time again to study the kid, not her looks but she tried to use her feeble sensing powers to measure the kid. She could feel that the kid was quite strong in the force, but also felt that it was raw and untrained, like a wooden rollercoaster compared to a metal one. The idea had shape, but it wasn’t perfected in a long shot.

[Mara]

The smile from the other woman did little to help soothe Looma's emotions at being found without a weapon. She could defend herself with the Force, but there wasn't a whole lot in the training room that should could throw at this woman. And even if she did, her opponent's lightsaber would make quick work of most of it. Plus the woman was obviously strong in the Force; a few telekinetic bursts from her wouldn't stop her for long. So Looma had nothing to do but stand there and wait. And hope that this woman would reconsider.

It was then that she belatedly noticed that the blonde had put her lightsaber away; Looma had been so focused on the woman's face and her intent through the Force she hadn't noticed the small action. She relaxed a bit more then, her body no longer frozen, her lekku no longer nervously fluttering. But she also knew she wasn't out of the forest yet, as it were. Just because the woman's weapon was hidden away again didn't mean she couldn't just as easily draw it out again.

The yellow Twi'lek listened as the woman continued. The place she came from? Looma still had no idea where that was, except it was a place she had learned to master the Force. Something about that phrase, plus the added information of most the younger beings carrying lightsabers had triggered something in her mind. Was this woman... a Jedi? Now that she thought of it, everything clicked in place. The Jedi Temple, of course... now it all made sense. And this one standing in front of her was a Jedi Master? Well, obviously no longer; Darth Iniquitous and the others wouldn't have let a Jedi into the Temple. Another initiate like her, then...

Knowing she needed to get some response, she smiled feebly at the woman and nodded. "That's okay. I..." Looma didn't know what else to say, suddenly feeling a lot younger than she actually was.

[Dean]

Aarati noted the girl relaxing a bit after she had put away her lightsaber, what she did not understand though was why this girl was this tense, did she think that Aarati would grab her by the neck and strangle her when she would look away for a second? If that was the case it would be rather odd. The order itself should be based on other foundations and rules, but as far as Aarati had heard, there were not rules yet. This place was practically lawless and with that provided a dangerous territory for anyone who was significantly weaker then the others. If she viewed it from that perspective she could see why the girl was tensed.

She looked around in the training hall some more noticing how quiet it was in comparison to the training halls of the Jedi temple, those were always light and full of life, even when no one was there. You could feel the life jumping on you to make you more powerful, this place however, with the little use it probably had in these few weeks. Aarati smiled at it would be fun to live through the very beginning of an order. Living here now with the experience she already had would also make it easy to promote and maybe take an apprentice one day, if she didn’t feel too old for it.

Now she diverted her attention back to the girl and looked at her with a new kind of interest. If the dark lords wanted to build an empire they would need soldiers. This girl however was not a soldier, just a kid without a weapon and much formal training. Aarati almost began to care about what would happen, but then she realized she didn’t know anything at all yet.

’’Say, Do you have a master yet?’’ She was curious about what went around here now and decided to pull as much information as she could from this little twi’lek girl.

((sorry, couldn’t think of anything better, bad vibe FML))

[Mara]

Seeming satisfied with Looma's lack of a real response, the woman looked away from the Twi'lek then, and Looma found herself relaxing at the relief. She also decided to use the time that the blonde wasn't focusing on her to calm the rest of her nerves. Drawing on the Force, she took a deep breath, allowing the energy to flow within her and settle her down. With each new inhalation, she was feeling more at peace with herself. The Force was such a comfort in times like these, times when she was feeling alone and just a little bit scared at the situation she found herself in. Feeling not quite herself. But now, she was feeling a bit better, if not back to feeling normal again.

During that time she had stepped a few paces away from her new companion, effectively going farther into the training room. Looma felt the other's gaze on her, though, and turned around, no longer any fear showing in her purple eyes. Her body was still, though not because of any inner turmoil. No, it was still because she was calm and in control of herself once more.

Looma considered the woman's question, knowing that her answer could well determine how the rest of their conversation might go. The yellow Twi'lek obviously did want a master, some more focused training, instead of teaching herself or finding random others to learn with. But she wasn't sure she wanted this one as her master. The woman was effectively a newbie Sith like her, though she had more training and power in the Force.

However, she didn't want to spent too much time debating with herself; taking too long might give the other reason to believe that she was stupid perhaps, in that she wasn't sure whether she had a master. Looma decided to be honest, thinking that she could always deny a request if it was given. She shook her head, her lekku swaying slightly. "No, I don't."