Peace is a lie (niemar)

[Dean]

Her eyes shifter towards him as he grinned after calling her an initiate. She could sense even without the force that this was meant as some sort of a taunt. Not one she understood though. It was painfully obvious that she was a Sith initiate, she had never been here before. She didn’t plan on being an initiate long though. That was a concern for later however.

They walked through the temple while he talked on and explained her words differently from how she had meant them. Painfully obvious oblivious toward the true meaning behind them. Didn’t matter, she didn’t need him to understand. It was good enough if she herself understood them. She bumped shoulders with one of the people crossing her path. The man had probably thought she would back down for some reason, but she didn’t even pay attention to him and just kept on walking next to the dog boy. She was hoping that she would be relieved of his presence soon.

They almost stepped out into the courtyard when a voice called out and her so called companion stopped walking and faced the boy that had spoken. He had called him instructor and asked for another session of training, his body still broken over the last time they had been training. Ara couldn’t help but raise her eyebrow. Dog boy barked him away and resumed his path.

She walked next to him thinking for a second. This might explain a little more why he had pulled back in their fight. He was used to doing that she assumed. Couldn’t have instructors cutting people in half on a daily basis. Maybe she had known on an unconscious level. The force was funny that way.

’’You beat up little kids often I presume?’’

She asked with a grim smile. She had to comment on what just happened, that was her personality. She didn’t intend to tell him about her real thoughts though. And she didn’t plan on him knowing them. They crossed the courtyard and went inside again.

He told her the names of the people leading this place. She assumed that there was only one female among the three of them. Didn’t matter. The names were really a mouthful and she chuckled a little.

’’Does your name get longer as you climb the ranks?’’

She cut around the corner and braced for challenges to come.

[Rugs]

’’You beat up little kids often I presume?’’

Nieraan snorted a short laugh; the first that the woman had genuinely earned all day. "Only sometimes," he answered, "when they deserve it. Few beatings here'n there build character." His voice was wry, as it had been for most of his time dealing with the woman. But for a moment, the biting sarcasm had been dialed back and replaced by a note of amusement.

It belied the reservations he had about his own past and upbringing; those were for him alone, though.

No one comes here to be coddled, Nieraan told himself as they stepped inside. The ones that do never last. Not that he needed to justify his methods, to himself or anyone.

’’Does your name get longer as you climb the ranks?’’

A side of Nieraan's mouth pulled up slightly and he shook his head, chuckling softly. "For some, I guess. Only if you want." He led her around another corner and started down a narrow flight of stairs. "There's always the ones like Honog, though I s'pose it's still a longer name than Cho."

Nieraan glanced at Aarati as he reached a landing and began down the next flight. "Name's up to you when you take it."

They reached a door and Nieraan took Aarati through it. Another student, a Twi'lek woman in her early thirties, was approaching from the other side. She'd spent the whole of her life unaware of her Force sensitivity, until a scout happened upon her in a slum on Nar Shadaa. Were Force sensitivity a flame, she'd barely have enough heat to light a candle. She at least had a decent enough grasp for a blade, even if she was slow and clumsy.

She'd make good fodder, if she never amounted to anything else. The war meant everyone had a role to play.

As Nieraan passed, she opened her mouth to say something, but was stilled to silence as he raised a hand. He passed without saying a word.

One more turn, and Nieraan led his catch into a moderate-sized room. It was well-lit, with a few chairs along either side of it and a long stone table at the far end. A Bothan woman sat behind the table. Her light brown fur was clean and neatly trimmed. There was a dusting of grey at her temples. A dignified air surrounded her on the whole, from her neat robes to the impeccable tidiness of the flimsies and files arrayed on the table before her. A quiet, restrained power emanated from her.

"Aurellius," she said without looking up, "so nice of you to come and visit me." She looked up over the top of the glasses perched on her snout. "Brought another newcomer in, have you."

"Aye. A feisty one, but nothing we've never dealt with before."

The Bothan looked at Nieraan blankly for a moment. "No," she said dryly, "we wouldn't know anything about those, Aurellius."

Nieraan snorted gently as he reached the table. "I know what you're implying and I don't appreciate it one bit, Sorza." Sarcasm and feigned hurt were thick in his voice. "After all the things we've been through..."

"Please, boy," Sorza snorted. She set down her stylus and looked up fully at the duo before her. Her sharp, cunning eyes settled on Aarati for a moment before she looked again to Nieraan. "So?"

It was Nieraan's turn to snort. "I'm not her mother. She can introduce herself. Though I do have instruction for her placement once she's done."

Sorza turned to the blonde woman, eyeing her. A quiet manipulation of the Force drew a blank flimsie to lay in front of her and she plucked out a different stylus to write with. "Name. Age. Obviously female. From where are you coming to us, and how did you learn of us?"

[Dean]

They kept walking through the temple and Ara was looking around to scope out if she would be here for long. It seemed decent enough alright and she could probably spend some time here but there was no way in hell she would be here for long. She was used to travelling the galaxy and receiving missions from the jedi council and going where she was needed. She wasn’t used to being in one place for long periods of time.

The passed a pretty twi’lek woman and the dog boy raised his hand to silence her before she even spoke. From this Ara guessed that the woman was lower in rank than him. She also knew that this wasn’t really a point. When she would start here she would be lower in rank too but she would never be shut up by some alien raising his fist. She would damn well say whatever she wanted to say. She raised one eyebrow and looked at the guy walking next to her.

’’Not one of your top recruits I hope’’

It was a statement of fact rather than a question.

They entered a room after they cut a corner and Ara saw a bothan woman sitting behind a desk. She seemed well organized and that reflected in her manner of speaking and dressing. She had a conversation with the boy who she now realized was called Aurellius. Dog boy would do fine in her head. Ara smiled at her own thought.

She made eye contact with the Bothan for a few seconds and then the Bothan looked away at her companion again. She asked the canine about her and he told her that Ara could introduce herself. In that he was right. On the other hand he also told her that he had plans for her placements. This struck her as odd on first thought, not even taking offence she turned to him.

’’I did not desert the Jedi to come here and switch from one council to the other.’’

This also was a statement rather than an insult and it was devoid of any emotion in her voice. She turned back to the Bothan and stated;

’’My name is Aarati Irawagbon. Age 37, coming from corusant I presume. I didn’t learn of you until I could feel power from the temple I actually hoped it was deserted and had power for myself. But life is disappointing that way. The guard dog was barking up my tree before I knew it.’’

[Rugs]

’’I did not desert the Jedi to come here and switch from one council to the other.’’

Nieraan shook his head and softly laughed. "You seem to make the mistake of thinking I care why you came here." His voice was steady and even. It was a simple statement of truth, even if the same wry, sarcastic note rode the edge of his voice.

He folded his arms over his chest and shifted his weight from his right leg to his left as the woman spoke. Another former Jedi. Months ago, Nieraan might have been surprised at just how many Jedi had come to answer the Sith's calling. Fallen or deserted through the Jedi and their corps, they came, and continued to come.

Makes me feel all different and special. Nieraan grinned stupidly for a moment.

’’My name is Aarati Irawagbon. Age 37, coming from Coruscant I presume. I didn’t learn of you until I could feel power from the temple I actually hoped it was deserted and had power for myself. But life is disappointing that way. The guard dog was barking up my tree before I knew it.’’

Nieraan snorted. "She presumes she's from Coruscant, but isn't quite sure..." He chuckled to himself, ignoring the flat look Sorza was giving him over the top of her spectacles.

"That will do, Aarati," the Bothan said. She wrote something along the bottom of the flimsie in her flowing script, then turned to Nieraan. "You said you had something to add, Aurellius?"

"That I do." Nieraan stepped forward, unfolding his arms and leaning forward lazily with his palms on the edge of the smooth tabletop. The veins spiderwebbing up his arms and shoulders began to show again as blood moved back down into his arms.

"Do see to it that she's assigned to the introductory lessons with the rest of the Initiates that don't know their way around a lightsaber." Sorza lifted a furry brow. Nieraan grinned slightly. "Just a concern from something I learned after she decided to start a fight out on the steps. Can't have every new recruit throwing themselves at a lightsabers, now can we? How would we get anywhere if that kept happening?" It was evident from his tone that he didn't care a lick about her making some mistake.

"She is to remain as such until I say she's free, but I wouldn't worry." He straightened up again, gently pushing off the table with his hands. "If she's half as talented as she thinks she is, I doubt she'll need more than a few lessons."

Sorza's hand hung over the flimsie, the tip of her stylus a hair's breadth from making contact. "Do you have the authority to make such... recommendations, Aurellius?"

Nieraan smirked. "Our dear Renata gave me the authority when I gained my position. However, you may feel free to check with her." The Firrerreo lifted a brow and feigned a look of innocent. "Though I don't know why you would doubt me, Sorza."

The Bothan shook her head and scribbled more on the flmsie. "I will accept your word for now, Aurellius. However, I will still check with Renata for certainty."

"She's so old fashioned," Nieraan said, grinning at Araati. "But I guess it works for her. Anyway, you're free to go now. I'm sure you're competent enough to figure out the layout of the Temple on your own, yes?"

[Dean]

She finished with listing the information the bothan asked of her and the woman wrote it down. The boy couldn’t refrain from a little snide comment. She didn’t care about that and was rather interested in what Aurellius would ask for her placement. The bothan obliged her thoughts and asked him what his request was.

The creature leant forward and told the bothan that she would be placed in a beginners course for lightsaber combat since she didn’t know her way around the blade. Anger boiled up in Ara but she didn’t act on it just yet, she came into that ever present circle again. Anger fed her power which in turn fed her anger. She was boiling inside but kept calm on the outside. She knew better than to unleash her power here. She could blow out the wall of this room with a force wave. She decided on a less violent but even as aggressive approach to her problems.

For another second she was motionless and started to smile. She wouldn’t let her training get sabotaged by some petty lowlife and she was willing and able to prove that for a fact. She turned to face him and looked at him condescending. Her anger still boiling inside her, hoping that she wouldn’t give into the fury that was all too eager to set in.

’’Look, Aurellius. I understand the whole alpha male thing you have going on at this temple and I actually appreciate you a little for it.’’

She took a step in his direction. She wasn’t as tall as he was but that wasn’t the point of this exercise. The point was that he fully knew that she was on the attack on this one and would not let it go. Well she wouldn’t let it go unpunished.

’’But let me tell you the cold hard truth, backing down on the stairs was a bold risk on my side, as you will learn in your life you might find out that only through risk you can claim reward.’’

Another step.

’’When you paraded around the temple with me I learned some interesting things, the people you silenced with your hand are your students. Your students are weak. You can’t blame them for that. They are not trained by a real sith. A real sith would have struck me down and cast me aside as weak, at least broke a few bones in the process to claim authority.’’

Another step. She came closer and closer.

’’I will be a true sith, if you cast me into a weak program I will deal with weaklings like Sith are supposed to, I will kill every single initiate you put me up against. I really hope you have enough cannon fodder to satisfy me and your masters alike in your pettiness.’’

[Rugs]

Anger.

Ah yes... Nieraan grinned slightly, looking at the woman. There it is.

The woman's aura was turbulent, twisting and roiling with fury under an outer layer of calm. Her face was smooth, her features plain, but Nieraan knew what was working below the surface.

It was amazing how easy it could be to find a pressure point and use it. Even more, it was amazing how satisfying it was.

Perhaps he was more similar to Kamirille than he wanted to admit.

The woman, Araati, turned to him, putting on a pretty smile and looking at him defiantly. She was shorter than him. Smaller, weaker. Skilled enough with a blade and the Force, but he knew that he could match her, if not defeat her outright.

But she wouldn't try that here. She couldn't be that stupid, not after he'd allowed her in.

She didn't.

Rather than attack him, she spoke, imploring him, subtly to rethink his assigning her to the beginner's course. She went on and on, thinking to strike at him by saying he wasn't a 'real Sith' and making threats that, ironically, were threats of her own destruction.

Nieraan just watched and listened, arms folded quietly over his chest. When she finally finished speaking, he stared at her, yellow eyes meeting her own, and shook his head. A smile grew on his face, showing his canines, and he chuckled.

It was an amazing, how badly she didn't want to be with the young learners for a week or two--a time that, in the scheme of things, was nothing. A drop in a bucket. A cup in an ocean.

But then, perhaps his Firrerreo view on things made things different. He still had centuries left to live. She had, at best, about sixty years.

Sorza just watched. Quietly. Carefully.

"It's funny," he said. "You come here, wanting to learn our ways and then take it upon yourself to tell me what a 'real Sith' is." He laughed again. "For all your bravado, your view is shallow. And personally, I'd be concerned if I heard someone like me, telling you that.

"A 'real Sith' knows there are more means to an end than the obvious. A real Sith does not beg to have their situation changed when they don't like it." He let his arms fall to his side again and shrugged slightly, unconcerned with her speech. "But let me let you in on something, since you clearly missed the point when I told it to you earlier.

"You kill a student, your time here is over. If you're lucky, you'll be removed from the Temple. If not, your journey will come to an end, and we'll hang you on a wall and flay you for show. So." He smiled at her. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

"Your assignment, however, stays the same. First class is in the morning. See you there."

[Dean]

She glared into the yellow eyes of the boy she had grown to hate pretty fast. It would last, she could feel it. What he said however had a bit of truth in it, also a lesson he had yet to learn himself. Ara could see past all that, still flowing with fury. The words he spoke about her killing students not being tolerated send a shiver down her spine. Why was the dark side this contradictory. She didn’t understand that yet. It was at least satisfactory to see that the boy she was glaring at didn’t even reach that point of observation yet.

The smile on her face that spoke different tales than her aura and eyes however became wider. Without breaking eye contact she raised an eyebrow. Her voice still accusing, rid of any sarcasm and emotion she started speaking.

’’Your words are empty and you know it. As I told you, I’m not here to learn your ways. I am here to learn the way of the sith. This far you have been a real disappointment. A real Sith would know to value an opponent and bow down until strong enough to take her place. But fine, I would be delighted to show you the finer aspects of djem sho.

Settling for a wry smile she crossed her arms in front of her and raised her eyebrow once more. Quickly realizing that she indeed couldn’t kill the students and chastising herself for making a bold claim in her anger. She spoke one last time.

’’I won’t kill your precious dogs, don’t worry. Make sure you have enough bacta though, I’m not one to go easy and dark side pretenders, look it up.’’

She walked towards an exit and made damn sure that the boy was in the way of that exit. She had to get her satisfaction now. She walked toward the exit, not caring if she hit him or not, just knowing that she wouldn’t falter.

[Rugs]

The woman spoke again, and Nieraan shook his head. He chuckled, openly showing his disregard for attempted lecture. "You speak so freely and pretend to know so much," he answered wryly, smiling sadly at her. "But you know nothing."

Her words were constant contradictions. She came to learn the ways of the Sith, yet told a Sith she wasn't here to learn his ways. She claimed true Sith bowed low in the face of their betters, until the time came for them to rise up and claim their rightful place, and yet belittled the students for bowing to him when he was their clear superior.

She'll learn her place. If she didn't, she'd have a rough time of things in the Temple. Nieraan had gone through the same process; he even still had his moments of trouble. But now he was better at playing the game that dominated interactions at the Temple, and he knew the benefits and drawbacks that came with it.

She spoke on, showing that it was clear she didn't know what kind of class he had in store for her. But that was fine. Let her think she'll be fighting. It would only make the surprise better.

"I'll be sure to." He smiled at her and held back a laugh. "See you bright and early."

The woman began to leave, but veered toward him. It was an odd thing, with Nieraan still standing right in front of Sorza's table and the door in the complete opposite direction, but she seemed determined to hit him on the way out.

He let her, unbothered by the act, though he laughed as she made her way out the door.

Once she was gone, door closed behind her, Nieraan sighed and shook his head.

"It seems you were correct about her nature, Aurellius," Sorza said, dry as ever as she neatly tucked a flimsie away into her desk.

"I would know. I keep telling you I would never lie to you, Sorza."

"So you do."

Nieraan shook his head. "Anyway, business done here. Was nice visisting," he said as he turned to leave. "We'll have to do it again sometime. Over tea?"

Sorza stared at him flatly as the door shut behind him.