A New Purpose (Rugs)

[Deleted]

As he lay there in partial pain, he watched as Lord Aurelius walked around, and he noticed his lightsaber hanging from the man's belt. A slight pinch in his stomach formed as he wanted to reach out, and take it back, but he knew better. He had already set this man off, and he didn't want to risk doing so again. So he listened, and he learned what his lesson actually was, which was something he had kinda realized the moment he did it. Trying to snoop around in this man's head was incredibly dangerous, and was the reason he was in this infirmary...Well it was part of the reason.

"Understood...Don't try prying into your head ever again..." he stated as he did his best to sit up.

Pain wracked his body like a thousand knives but he found the resolve to put his body upright so that he could at least face this man, with some small measure of his pride. He had lost the fight, and he knew that he was going to lose from the get go, but he had given it every trick he had, still it wasn't enough. He had failed in his mission to get this man's approval as his apprentice, or so he thought.

"I may have failed this time Lord Aurelius, but I will get stronger, and next time I will be your apprentice." he stated the tone of defiance in his voice clearly strong.

He refused to accept failure as an option so he would just have to keep trying harder, and harder each time.

[Rugs]

"Understood...Don't try prying into your head ever again..."

Smart kid.

“…or there will be pieces of you scattered across the ground from here to the end of the Valley, yes,” Nieraan finished as the boy sat up. Pain obviously still tormented the boy as he forced himself upright; that was obvious to Nieraan’s steady gaze alone as Zexva’s body struggled to cooperate with his will.

Such was the lesson. Actions bore consequences, and only a fool constantly picked fights he knew he couldn’t win. Zexva would learn that eventually, and if the gulf in their power wasn’t already abundantly clear…

Well, that too would be fixed in the coming days.

"I may have failed this time Lord Aurelius, but I will get stronger, and next time I will be your apprentice."

Nieraan snorted and turned around. He clasped his hands behind his back as he walked slowly back to the window, lightsabers still tink-tink-tinking at his waist with every step. Defiance, deep and convicted, rose in the boy’s words even as his body probably yelled against his every motion. Again, Nieraan was reminded of the old cramped apartment on Muunilist, or some dark, grime covered back alley where Kamirrile liked to administer her “training.”

”I’m not afraid of you,” the words of a younger self echoed in head. Even now, so many years later, he felt the lie as powerfully as the moment he spoke it. ”I won’t let you scare me.”

He said nothing for a moment. A moment grew to minutes and the silence stretched on as Nieraan seemed much more interested in watching the sunrise beyond the Temple walls than paying mind to the wounded boy he’d put in the infirmary.

“Do you really think you failed?” Nieraan asked after the silence stretched well beyond the point of discomfort. He didn’t turn away from the window, nor did he unclasp his hands from behind his back. His eyes flicked subtly upward, using the window’s faint reflection to watch the boy behind him.

“You came to me seeking a master.” Another pause followed, shorter this time. “You found one. You lost the fight, but you went in that room knowing you never had a prayer to win. It was stupid, but…”

He let the rest of the sentence, and all the implications it carried, fade away into the air. “Riddle me this, Vuluha.” Now he glanced over his shoulder, looking at the boy from the corner of a yellow eye. “Where does out power come from?”

[Deleted]

He perked up the moment that Lord Aurelius mentioned that he had went in there looking for a Master, and that he had found one. Figuring that the feeling that he was feeling right now, was the closest thing to joy that he had felt since killing his Mother. It was trivial, but it was nice being successful in his venture. This meant that he was one step closer to being strong enough to fulfill his own goals. He listened to his new Master speak drinking in every word that he spoke.

He asked him where their power came from, and the easy answer was the Darkside of the force, and the passion's that they each pursued while on their own dark journey. Rage, fear, and pain were all emotions that fueled the Darkside.

"I get my power from all of the rage that I constantly keep bottled up. Whenever I need power I reach deep within that well of hatred, and use it to assault my foes..." he said as he looked at his Master's back. "However if we follow the code, Passion is the root of our power." he stated flatly as he waited to see what his new master though of his answer.

[Rugs]

Nieraan listened intently to the boy’s answer. His question had purpose—it was a surprisingly measured philosophical query for a man who often shunned or outright mocked questions of philosophy and its place in the Order.

Rage, Zexva said. Rage was the source of his own strength from the Dark Side, but the Initiate was quick to note that other emotions could fuel the Sith’s power.

Nieraan turned back to the window, hiding the barest dusting of a smile that touched his lips. “Good answer kid,” he said simply. Abruptly he turned, walking casually past the bed and on towards the door. “Too many of your… peers seem to think anger alone is all they need, but it’s more than that. Anger, hatred, greed, jealousy… love.” Nieraan stopped just inside the door, and glanced back over his shoulder at the boy. “Even fear.

“Whatever the emotion, you grab it, and don’t let it go until the need has passed,” he went on. “Focus it. We’re creatures of passion — every damn one of us.”

He worked at the foremost saber on his waist, unclipping it deftly. He held it up, as though to study it. It was Zexva’s lightsaber. After a moment of this, he tossed it to the boy and turned again toward the door.

“Your training will begin once you're healed. You’ll need the rest anyway,” he said. “I will be harder on you than the students in my classes. But I will make you strong.” The door hissed open and Nieraan stepped into the hallway, but he paused once more, glancing over his shoulder. “Oh and, by the way, we probably have a scenery change coming. Just so you know.”

He turned again the door slid shut behind him.