Below the sun [Rugs]

[The Gray Sith]

The sun was striking down any living thing outside of a cave or a building, with no mercy, just like the people that lived under it. The red sand would feel like it was burning, just on the touch of skin. It perhaps even was, just with some invisible fire. Still, there was no reason to quit what the Sith have been doing for so long now, because that sun was a factor every single day on Korriban. Many lords and ladies stayed in the Temple, or at least in some closed of buildings with roofs on top. But that was just because they were soft, they were spoiled by their servants. Many other Knights, acolytes and even some lords were out in the open, sweating their skin off, and training. Either themselves, or someone else, but they were training. 

Roth was walking slowly, not because of the sun, just because he wanted to hesitate as much as he could, but he knew that orders had to be obeyed. With his hood over his head, covering his eyes from the brightness, but still, as his robes were black, attracting all of the heat from the sun. He didn't mind that, it was nothing new to him, the heat. When you have to train outside in the black for four years all the time on the sun, you can kinda get used to it. Taking some of the dust from the ground with his every step, and his robes touching the ground and getting dirtier, he sped up his pace, and found himself looking at a group of acolytes, training with their practice sabers, sweating like mad. He knew he was that kind of acolyte, when he saw one human among them, who wasn't hesitating on striking the dummies and the training droids as hard as he could, even if he was still not used to the heat. Roth briefly smiled, trying to hide it, like someone was actually looking at him, and judging him for feeling nostalgic. 

Roth's feelings changed in a quick second, as he felt a strong wave of energy in the Force, one that made him shiver. It was a long walk, from a cave he was at, doing some meditating, so he hadn't felt any Force radiation in a while, like even a day or so, and this one was strong. For the acolytes, he didn't even sharpen his senses, since he knew they were all too weak to find any powerful one, but what he wasn't expecting on his way back to the Temple, was here, almost in front of him. Roth looked at the end of the training section, and saw a man, it looked like he was only a few years older than Roth, but he had way more power than him and that was for sure. Roth got used to feeling this much power at the temple, but he was skilled enough to create a difference between each person's radiation in the Force, and this guy, whomever he was, Roth hadn't seen before. 

By the looks on the Sith's face, Roth could see he was in charge of these acolytes, and then he remembered a thing or two some other initiates told him in the Temple some weeks ago. Lord Aurelius, his name is i think. -Yes, it is, they say he's mad! -Yeah, he was my instructor for a while back, he gave us all an expert battle droid to dismantle, and just left us somewhere far out of the Temple, and left to do his meditations and who knows what, one guy almost died there, and he didn't care whatsoever! The voices echoed in his mind, and even though he knew most of those stories were just false, or in the best case, amplified so that they could attract attention. Even besides that, he still didn't really like having to talk to him, who knows what could possibly happen from just an introduction. He had to, though, at least to walk right past him if he wanted to return to the Temple as quick as possible, which he did. And if he was to just walk past a Lord of the Sith without a bow or an introduction or anything of that sort, he could easily say goodbye to his life. 

Now being barely 15 feet away from the guy, Roth decided to get himself together, for god's sake it wasn't the first time he bowed to a Sith Lord, and it wouldn't be the last one either. But still, there was something about this Lord, something that Roth really didn't find comfortable, or maybe it was just from the stories he heard, as they did leave kind of an impression on him. Roth could almost feel his hood betraying him and running away, but it didn't, it stayed over his eyes, as he finally pulled it from his face, back to his back where it stayed, gathering even more heat on his back. Roth's red face and black markings were now clearly visible to anyone in the area, along with his horns that were symmetrically aligned on the top of his head. 

"Lord Aurelius" Roth bowed briefly, as he stopped his hood from falling back onto his head as he lowered it. He was sweating, now more than earlier, more then anytime so far, and yet he didn't have any reason to, or he thought so at least. "Pleasure meeting you, I've heard stories" Now it was the end. Roth tried so hard to not mention anything he heard about him, but he failed, and miserably that is. The Lords' eyes, they were piercing right through every bit of Roth's body and soul, tearing him apart, not letting him breath and killing him from the inside, even though Roth had no idea why was that. Then, when Roth was about to leave, he stopped feeling his legs. They had betrayed him, what was this, some Sith magic or something of sort, to completely freeze Roth and make him obligated to listen through anything Aurelius had to say. He didn't want to, now shivering and sweating at the same time, but he had to, for some reason. Even if he could move his legs, his brain was now telling him to wait, to hear the guy out. He could hear himself talking in his own mind, and for the first time ever, Roth felt crazed from the Dark side, as his own inner self was telling him how this Lord is good for him, how he should stay and talk, not coward out. He obeyed himself at last, and the feeling in his legs returned, but he didn't leave. Now, he knew, or at least thought so, that Aurelius will be good for him, and how there is more to the stories.

[Rugs]

“Maybe you wouldn’t have to get so pissy if you’d quit falling for the same move over and over, Toth.” Nieraan’s voice was casual — borderline dismissive as an Initiate huffed and stomped around in the sands of one of training yard’s many sparring pits. Toth, a red Twi’lek boy of about 19 or so years, was taking his apparent frustrations at dropping another bout to his training partner, Zilana.

Zilana, for her part, stood idly by, viridian lightsaber still alive, in case Toth should direct his fury at her, rather than just about everything but her. The Nautolan stood still as a statue otherwise, save for the occasional blinking of her big, black eyes.

Toth calmed his tantrum somewhat at Nieraan’s attention. Rage still simmered beneath the surface, barely contained behind a twisted contortion of a sneer. If the Toth’s face only strongly hinted at his rage, his presence in the Force might as well have screamed ”Look at me! I’m angry!” to Nieraan. Toth didn’t handle anger well — he hadn’t learned to harness it as some of the other Sith.

“I’ve watched you fight her four times,” Nieraan said, unperturbed by the Initiate’s lack of decorum. “And four times, you’ve failed every time she uses a certain feint.” He turned his yellow eyes to Zilana, lazily motioning at her to speak. “Do you disagree, Zilana?”

She paused for a moment — she was a thoughtful girl, Nieraan had noticed. Careful to choose her words and actions. Her peers thought it meant her slow, but Nieraan knew the truth, just as many of them learned it in their spars: it made her dangerous.

“Yes, Lord Aurellius,” she said after a few heartbeats’ worth of thought. “I agree.” She looked to Rath, who’d turned his seething gaze to her. “Perhaps you would not lose so much if you would pay more attention,” Zilana offered in her measured, thoughtful way. Her voice never wavered, but Nieraan knew she was mocking the boy. “And… perhaps you could actually give me a test.”

“And maybe you can leave that poor sand that never did a damn thing to ya alone,” Nieraan jeered as Rath lunged at Zilana.

He turned on his heel as the hiss and pop of clashing sabers filled the air behind him. No doubt Rath would fail again, but that wasn’t Nieraan’s problem.

The yard was full of apprentices. It was the midday training block, or would be for another quarter-hour or so. Some sparred in pairs, as Zilana and Rath did. Others worked alone per his instruction, cutting the air as they practiced their form, or testing their Force abilities with challenges of varying difficulty. They were a decent group, all told. But they’d need more. The war would chew them up and spit out the bones…

”Lord Aurelius.” Nieraan glanced from the corner of his eye to see a tall Zabrak bowing. Mmm, so that’s who that is. He planned to continue along, when the student spoke again.

Now Nieraan stopped with a roll of the eyes before he turned around to face the Initiate. A quick probe of the senses told Nieraan the youth was about as strong as anyone might expect. Capable, perhaps, but hardly threatening. And why are you wasting my time? he thought.

He noticed something else as his felt out the boy’s presence. He seemed to be having a breakdown, of some sort. His presence was flustered, chaotic.

Nieraan sighed, and glanced over his shoulder to where Scylla normally sat during the training sessions. But the Tuk’ata pup had stayed home today, with Danica and the newborns…

“Force help me,” he muttered in annoyance under his breath before speaking to the apprentice. “Can… I help you?

[The Gray Sith]

It was over. Now, and forever, it was over. Roth got over that feeling that made his blood boil. Now he was focusing on getting into Aurelius' mind. Roth had no idea what he was like, or what he was thinking like. One thing that was obvious, he was quite egoistic, looking at Roth like he was a fresh initiate, like he couldn't hurt him one bit. He was either very overrating himself, or he is hiding his own potential quite well. 

As Aurelius looked at him with that lack of any expressions, Roth's face grew in a frown, thinking that the lord will just ignore him, but as Roth looked more deeply into the sith's eyes, his face made a smirk, such a smirk someone could get offended by, even though Roth made no offense with it. It was if he knew the man's thoughts, he could hear his own inner voice whispering, at least he thought so. 

He couldn't care less about me. I like this guy. Roth's smirk went into a serious face once again, as he looked at the lord, now even with a little bit of friendliness in his eyes, but still not letting his seriousness stop showing. Roth quickly gazed over the red sand below him, and above, to the orange-ish sky, along with the hot Sun.

Can… I help you?

Alright, so Aurelius wasn't that big of a mystery anymore, he was a sarcastic egoist with possibly very incredible powers. That's all Roth needed to know. All of the hierarchy among the sith was gone. Roth could feel his skin sweating, but that was nothing new. He looked at Aurelius now once again, with a smile, and possibly a smirk on his face. The lord was far beyond Roth's capabilities, and that's what he enjoyed so much. Roth would never engage in a suicidal battle, but his red eyes didn't show any signs of him actually wanting to fight Aurelius. The Sith Order was about using opportunities, and moving forward by getting rid of those who used to stay above you. This was that opportunity. 

"Yes, you actually can." On Roth's surprise, the voices in his head weren't wrong the first time he heard them. Now he also knew what they meant, and what they wanted from him to do. Aurelius' strength might just become a bouncing board for Roth's. And before the man got to respond, or even think about his response, Roth spoke again, after having a long conversation with himself. Long in his mind, while in reality, only a few seconds had passed. 

"Before you make your sarcastic face and ask me 'how is that', let me explain. The second I walked near the training grounds, your power echoed into me, and as my trials and training under instructors have passed, I am serving the Inner Sanctum on Korriban, until there is a soul willing to teach me." This was incredible. The most words Roth said in a year. What, a year, no, the most words Roth said since he had arrived on Korriban, but it was because these words could've secured him a ticket out of here, or just gotten him noticed. 

Under Aurelius, Roth's power could grow enough to actually become known among the sith, but if Aurelius wasn't into this kind of thing, Roth's reputation among the sith would still highly jump, being probably the only initiate that ever had the courage to openly speak to a lord of the Sith. A win-win, even though the first case would've been a better win. Two things Roth actually knew that were true about Aurelius from the stories were the things that he could get used to the most. Solitude, Roth already liked and needed, and sarcasm, Roth could never refuse. Aurelius was something Roth needed, the obedience he asked for was something Roth had gotten used to liking and respecting among the Sith. 

Roth once more looked towards the sky, which was still orange, and thought about what he had lived through. This would, for a change, be something nice, and calm. 

[Rugs]

The Zabrak spoke, apparently wanting to head off any further quips from Nieraan. He spoke about feeling the Firrerreo’s power resonate with his own as soon as he entered the yards or something to that effect. He implied, without outright asking, that he wanted to train under Nieraan.

Nieraan sighed softly, temporarily turning his attention back to the other two students. Zilana was pressing, but Toth was fending her off, for the moment. His bladework was messy and his footwork nearly caused Nieraan physical pain, but… the effort was there.

It’s a start. A start wouldn’t see him through a battlefield, but that would have to wait.

What do with you… he wondered, glancing at the Zabrak again. He already had one student. Zexva was sure to be handful enough, in time. And he’d gone through quite some effort to prove himself to Nieraan.

This one though…

He shrugged casually. “There are plenty of Knights here looking for students,” he said calmly. “I’m sure one of them would be more than willing to pick up a new pet. I also offer individual lessons, when the right need arises.”

He paused again, looking at the Zabrak from the corner of his eye. “I don’t see any reason why I should offer you more than that.”

[The Gray Sith]

As Roth put his head back into his normal position, Aurelius once more turned away towards his Initiates. He wanted to smile badly, but he knew he shouldn't. It wasn't a time for smiling, nor he had a really good reason to, he just felt victory, in the way he hadn't felt it in a long time.

No matter what words were to come out of Aurelius' mouth, Roth couldn't be more pleased. He, once again, spoke to the voices in his head, without showing it in any way to the outside world, readying himself for the Lords' words. 

His thoughts flew quickly, scanning for an option that might not suite him, and finding a way to eliminate that option. Aurelius was now looking back at him, with his usual face, though it seemed he fell into his thoughts, like Roth did, except Roth did it with more caution, while Aurelius' face seemed quite peaceful.

There are plenty of Knights here looking for students,

As Aurelius spoke about the Knights that may train him, Roth didn't care, not even one bit, if he did, he wouldn't come to a Lord for training. Roth knew very well that his abilities were, at least, very close to a knight's. He didn't need someone of his own power to teach him, he needed someone greater. 

"I appreciate that, but I do not wish to train under a certain someone who's power I will surpass in a months time." After Aurelius finished, Roth smiled and spoke. It seemed like the Lord had no interest in his words, but he only kept talking.

I don’t see any reason why I should offer you more than that

Now, this was giving Roth something. Something that made his eyes glister on the sunlight, as his bare skin did. His two hearts were beating in the same pace now, though they usually wouldn't. He saw his words more of an opportunity, than a rejection.

"But, if I were to prove myself, give you a reason to train me, you would consider it?" This man, no matter if he was a Lord or a slave, was underestimating Roth's power, and he was eager to prove to Aurelius how much he is missing by just looking at him. Roth put his right hand around the saber on his left side, as he was readying himself for any challenge Aurelius might toss his way, while still hiding his other robe, on his left side, with his robes falling over it.