Almost Easy (Rugs)

[Silas]

”I know! I’m going to land in that clearing over there, quick,” Silas hollered over the sound of the proton torpedoes as they ripped through the air, a sound in his voice somewhat similar to panic, but not quite there yet.

As he went in for a quick landing the Sith continued his barrage on the beasts which flew dangerously close to their Delaya-class courier. With a quick intake of air he delved deeply into the force, and could feel almost feel the Drexl as well, and he was able to avoid the initial murder of Skevs, but he’d scared them just enough to get them really angry at the ship. It was already evident that this was going to be a very eventful little trip, and as the landing gears came down the ship moved around to sink down below the tree level onto the forest floor. With a slight sigh he knew this wasn’t done yet, but maybe now they wouldn’t attack anymore, he thought he’d outran all but the fastest anyway. That had been quite the eventful little excursion, for he hadn’t quite experience an attack by animals in a ship before. Drexl were known for their volatile nature, but he didn’t think they would go so far as to attack a shuttle.

As he waited for a few seconds to see if the creatures would attack anymore, it seemed as if they were gone for the most part, and he exhaled loudly. It’d been a long way from Korriban, and while it hadn’t been as bad as it could have been, which might involve two dead bodies, it almost involved one. Truth be told Nieraan wasn’t the worst straggler he could have picked up, but he needed to be taught a little self control if he wanted follow Silas around, and remain in a healthy condition.

”Not a scratch…” Silas told Alice as he gave her a smile and got out of the large pilots chair.

Right now he didn’t quite know why he was here. Oh, he realised what he was doing here, but the other parts of all of this, the attachments to someone, the thought of helping someone was all a very vague, surreal thing. Maybe Silas craved a relationship, but he had so many of those. In all reality it was more of an experiment to him, a social game of sorts. There once was a story he’d been told of a large group of Force Users, and inside this there was a part of them which were corrupt. Those who were corrupt were good at concealing their malicious intent, and while everyone knew they existed these people being the zealots they were pretended they were a myth. However, in a quest to learn more about them, and destroy this plague one of those devoted to the good of that group joined the dark ones. While she betrayed her moral conscious, and the purity of her life she sacrificed herself for the ‘greater good’. Perhaps this is in a way what Silas did, only his’ was a cause much more twisted than hers’.

As he hit a button next to the ramp hydraulic lefts caused the platform to slant down to touch the grassy forest floor below. With a deep breath Silas breathed in the fresh air, but there was a particular odour to the air which stopped him in mid-breath. A few steps down the ramp, and he looked back towards the ship and the two people who had accompanied him.

”Nieraan, come here, I want to ask you something,” Silas commanded as he stepped down onto the solid ground of the moon.

Sounds already came from the brush just meters before him, as a rustle here, and a motion there caught his attention. This planet was so alive, and animals roved all about its surface more so than most other planets could boast. Simply the lack of sentient development had allowed for that, and Silas wasn’t sure which one was more efficient, but he was sure the urbanized communities where much more where he belonged. Out here there was little fun to be found, and while he’d like to say there was something here for him, in all honesty he couldn’t get anything smart enough to be his playmate out here. There wasn’t enough sentience which he could bend to his will, and the only thing left for him to play with was the animals. After a while killing something which had no chance just got boring, and so you had to give them the advantages, something that was hard to do when your prey had no conscious thought.

Silas personally liked to give his toys the upper hand at first, he wanted to make sure they had a fighting chance so that once they were his, and as soon as he truly broke them the victory was so much sweeter. A person lazy, or inconceivably bland would just kill someone, and not regret missing out on all the things they could have learned from them. All the things which they could have learned about themselves when they slowly ripped every bit of their life away from them, and turned it upside down. It was a beautiful thing to torture someone until they were completely, and utterly subservient. It was difficult, yes. It took more time, yes, but the reward was so great. Lidell, his current puppet was so helpful, he’d sent him to get his replacement a couple days back, and it had been a sad occurrence. When Silas was forced to kill Lidell it would be a sad day, and the Sith would probably require a little experimentation to take his mind of the whole thing. That was in the future, though, a day which might be months away.

”I want to know where you came from kid,” Silas told Nieraan with a slight glance over towards him as he took a step towards the jungle, ”Before I feed you to the Maalraas.”

With a completely serious face he expected an answer, but he didn’t intend to feed the kid to the kittens just yet. Maybe later, but right now there was company, and being rude wasn’t something he condoned.

[Rugs]

Nieraan knew that the day he decided to join the Sith would be an eventful one, but so far, things had been different than even he'd expected. Thus far, he'd been thrown across a room, strangled twice, one time that nearly led to him being unconscious, and now, he was accompanying Silas, the man that let him in to the Sith Temple, to Dxun, on some hunt or something of the sort. Of course, he could have opted not to go along, and Silas probably would have liked that.

However, as Nieraan sat to himself on the trip, studying Silas from afar, he felt a resolve growing with him--a resolve to prove himself to the older Firrerreo, whatever that might entail. Silas' opinion of Nieraan was low; after the show Nieraan put on at the Sith Temple, it was safe to assume that. While he wasn't even considering an apology or anything of the like, he knew that Silas, being nearly three times as old as he was, probably knew a great many things that he did not. That's not to say Nieraan was weak, because he was quite competent. However, he knew an opportunity when he saw one, and Silas was strong. Maybe, if he could show Silas that he was worth something, he could learn a thing or two.

Now, Nieraan was well aware of the fact that doing that would probably mean showing some form of subservience to Silas, or at least to cut down on being so insubordinate. That irritated him, but he would be willing to do it if there was evidence that it might better him in the long run. But for the time being, he only contemplated these things, and opted to wait to see what would happen on Dxun.

They touched down after an eventful entry into the atmosphere. Nieraan stood from his little corner and gathered his things, putting his lightsabers into their holster that hung from the belt that was wrapped around his waist. He kept his hood down, letting his shaggy black and blue-streaked hair hang freely about his head, down to his shoulders.

Dxun was unlike any world he'd ever seen before. Most of his life had been spent on Metellos, which was a planet that was all one big sprawling slum, save for the stratablocks. Ruusan had been his home for a while too, and there was nature there, but it was different than this. It was tame. Or if it wasn't, the jungles of Dxun made it look tame.

Silas called Nieraan over to him, cutting his thoughts short. Something about the man's voice irked Nieraan; it was the way it was spoken, as a command, one that Silas obviously expected to be followed. Nieraan didn't have a problem with being called over, and so he did as Silas said, but he did have an issue with bowing his head to the authority of others. It was a relic, left over from spending so many years under his mother and her abusive training, no doubt. It was also something he'd have to reign in if he wanted to last any span of time in the Sith and not get killed.

The question Silas asked brought him to a halt. It wasn't completely unexpected, especially since they shared blood as Firrerreo, but...

"Street rat."

Nieraan broke eye contact with Silas as he felt his hands clenching into fists. He was still sore over Silas' insult, not because of the fact that it was an insult, but from the way that that arrow flew so true.

"I..." Nieraan looked at Silas again for a moment before breaking his gaze and looking off into the trees. "Metellos," he said with a sigh. "I was born there. A little while after that my parents, who were both former Jedi, broke up. My father took me to Ruusan, and that was where I spent my childhood, and where I started my training. When I was fifteen we went back to Metellos on a business trip. Long story short, my mother ambushed us, disabled my father, and beat the sh*t out of me before I passed out." He shook his head a bit, offering Silas a rueful smile. "I still have the scars from her lightsaber across my back.

"And then came twelve long years of training under her. She would teach me something, and if I didn't get it quick enough, she'd just beat me until I learned it when we sparred. Words cannot describe," he said, looking back toward Silas, "how much I hated her. But I think that's what she wanted, because as she kept on with her training, I became closer and closer to the Dark Side until I got to where I am today. I eventually killed, her though. She thought to use me as her weapon of revenge against my father. She didn't think I'd have it in me to make a trap out of that, but I did."

Nieraan was quiet for a few moments, as he looked back on those chapters of his life. They were hard, and he'd hated them when he was still a boy, but they made him strong, and turned him into the man he was now. "And yes, we lived in the slums. Almost everyone on Metellos lived in the slums. I spent a lot of my free time doing work for a gang or finding my own way in the streets." He folded his arms across his chest, and gave Silas what he hoped was a sarcastic smile, though he had to fight to do it, and hide his anger. "So yes. I'm a 'street rat' as you put it.

"But what about you, Silas? What's your story? And what the hell is a Maalraas?"

[Silas]

For a second they stopped, as Nieraan was brought to a halt with the question at hand. For a second he could almost hear the forest snarl as he gazed upon the forest before them. It almost seemed to have a life of its own as it breathed and had eyes of its own, eyes which watched them with a disturbing familiarity. All of this was so dark, so looming that it intrigued the Sith as he pondered what lay within those shadows, and what secrets they might find along the way. This world was limitlessly filled with creatures of the wildest imagination and it only took one more step at a time to open the door to this realm of uncertainty. Silas was beginning to get impatient.

Then the boy began to speak, and Silas’ attention was caught up in what he began to share with the older man. Slowly the stage was set, the characters took their places, and everything fell into place as the younger Sith told of a life filled with lies, pain, and anguish. It wasn’t anything like Silas’, but it brought him to the reality that it was almost impossible to discover the truth of the Darkside without a hard life. Only those who are mighty enough will wield this gift, for all others would fall under its strength. It was…..

Everything Silas might have been thinking abruptly stopped as the boy asked, "But what about you, Silas? What's your story?”

Deeply he breathed in as his eyes glazed over, whilst the world disappeared as all of the things which happened in his life flashed in front of his vision. Something like sorrow welled under his skin; it flooded every vein in his body, and distorted his mind. All of a sudden he remembered the woman, but he pushed that out of his mind. Never again would he speak of her, never again would he remember her face, and he’d die before he told Nieraan.

”I…ummm,” Began the man as he remembered the Jedi, their ways of life, and the manner in which they threw him out like trashed, ”My parents gave me up. I don’t know who they were, I never met them. The people who raised me up taught me of the force, but they kicked me out when I proved to be too powerful for them to control.” With a sigh he walked forward. The only thing which he knew at this point was if he went forward he didn’t have to go back.

”I met a guy, and I became a bounty hunter for a while. My story isn’t that exciting, kid. After I lost track of the person who taught me about the criminal world I stumbled upon a Dark Jedi whom I later killed, and then I found myself among the Sith a little while back.” With a slight touch of his activation plate a vibrant yellow lightsaber burst into life with a deadly hiss. Ahead the forest loomed, and he’d use his lightsaber to hack through it if he must. ”I’m not even sure how I found out about these people.”

Of course he hadn’t told him about the Jedi, he didn’t utter a word about Anne, and he didn’t tell him about their life together. Once upon a time he’d been one of the best, the pair of them had been an unstoppable match, and he’d even considered having kids with this woman he loved. So many memories of her, so much of him was a part of her and yet all of it he’d had to strip away from himself as to not go insane. There might have been a chance for him to live a normal life, but a group of pirates destroyed that. They crushed his life, so he’d not only killed them, but he had found the lightsaber he’d stolen from one of Jedi during his escape, and mercilessly slaughtered everyone one of them. For the first time he’d used what he thought to be the Dark Side of the force that day, and while it might have been rudimentary it began all of this.

Within seconds of lashing out, and going to hide somewhere on this Force forsaken planet the man remembered his family back home. In an instant a warm feeling flooded his senses as he remembered them, and all the help they’d been to him over the year. Each of them had brought a new perspective to his life, and while one by one he’d lost some they always came back, just a little differently. For a second he’d have liked to go back to his home, but with one quick decisive swing he cut through some of the foliage in his way. Into the darkness of this forest he brought himself with his mind delved into the Force to make sure they weren’t about to get attacked by a dangerous creature which might just take its chance to have some lunch.

A Maalraas….Maalraas,” Clicked the Sith in a slightly lighter mood than before, ”Kind of like a house cat, only a little less fur, and a longer neck.” Perhaps Silas wasn’t telling him all about the animal, but it might be better if they just found the thing and killed it, rather than make the poor bloke run away before they ever even found it.

With a slight shiver in the Force he felt something from the side, near him, and quickly his eyes turned to that side as he observed what it was. Quickly he breathed in as he sensed what seemed like a rather large creature off in the distance. One foot pushed off the ground as he soared into a nearby tree to get a better look through this forest, and groaned as he saw a large Zakkeg in the distance. It hadn’t noticed them yet, but the Sith didn’t really want to take one of them on. While he was certain he could kill the creature with relative ease, that didn’t make it any less of a nuisance. Silas used the Force as an aide while he dropped out of the tree back to the forest floor below, and crouched low.

Once signal to the other to do so he spread his awareness until he brushed up upon the others, and sent a message to them telepathically. It wasn’t difficult for the Fierrerreo to enter even most Force User’s minds as he said, ”There are some animals to our side we probably shouldn’t mess with, follow me quietly.” As he turned he slowly made his way through the foliage as he tried very hard not to alert the beast, but he spread out his awareness in the force to the beast jut incase.

[Rugs]

Nieraan knew how to read people, and he knew how to do it fairly well. It was something he'd had to learn out on the streets of Metellos, where one wrong word could send some drunk or overly-inflated thug into a furor. And more than being able to read people's expressions or postures, he could read them through the Force--usually fairly easily, unless they were actively hiding something.

Now, when he asked the older Firrerreo about his own story, these senses kicked into use almost instinctively. Before Silas said anything, there was the swelling of sorrow within him that made Nieraan's eyebrows lift just a bit. Then Silas spoke, telling of how he'd never known his parents, and was given away to be raised by some group of people in the ways of the Force. Nieraan's first instinct was to say that Silas had, at one time, been a Jedi. Nieraan knew how the Jedi worked; both of his parents had been former Jedi, after all. But Silas continued, telling a very truncated tale of a life that seemed very different than Nieraan's own.

But, Nieraan didn't need his the Force to see that the older Sith was hiding something. The signs were subtle, but they were there; in the way he held himself, or the oh-so subtle difference in the tone of his voice. Nieraan didn't pry into the matter, as he didn't want Silas getting mad at him again, so he only nodded his head when the Sith finished speaking. But why would he hide something? he wondered. I told him everything about my own life. What could have happened that he'd feel the need to hide? Had Silas' life been painful, perhaps? Well that was almost a certainty, given the fact that those that walked the path of the Dark Side often were set along by some overwhelmingly painful event. But what could Silas be hiding? Nieraan watched the man, interest playing behind his eyes, and he found that he had a new goal, one that was secondary to learning something from the man (or perhaps one that fit into that larger overarching goal): learn about the Sith's past. Of course, Nieraan knew that if he was even to have a chance of doing that, he'd have to get beyond the point where Silas thought him to be some annoying brat, which sure as hell wasn't now.

The sound of Silas' voice brought Nieraan back to the world around him, and he looked up to see that the Sith was standing there, with a yellow lightsaber in his hand. Nieraan took one of his own from the holster they hung in on his hip; it was his main saber, one that had a blade the color of burnished gold. He didn't ignite it, though. Not yet.

"So we're here after housecats?" he asked Silas, not even trying to hide the sarcasm that filled his voice. Silas was playing a game with him. So be it, then; he'd soon see what Nieraan as capable of. "You know, you never struck me as the cat sort, Silas."

He fell in behind Silas as the older Sith moved forward, but he was quickly motioned to halt. Then, without warning, Silas jumped up to a nearby tree, to look around the area. He jumped back a few moments later, and did something Nieraan wasn't expecting: he spoke directly to his mind. See, neither of Neiraan's parents had really specialized in the area of telepathy, and as such, it was one of his weaker areas. It wasn't his weakest, no, and he knew how to protect himself from some telepathic abilities, but, in the run of things, he was probably worse than most in that particular school. And so Silas' ability--one that he seemed to do with a good deal of ease--was something Nieraan simply never experienced before, and his eyes widened a bit in surprise as he looked a Silas.

The surprise was shaken away an instant later, though. Apparently there was some animal there, one that even Silas didn't want to bother. Nieraan snorted a soft laugh as he began to move again. If there was something that gave that man pause, it must have been strong. Killing it would probably be fun.

He looked around, but crouched as he was, he couldn't see anything. So he stood to his feet, and scanned the area around them. Still nothing. Nieraan's face twisted with a scowl and he started to reach out through the Force, probing with his senses to locate whatever had grabbed Silas' attention so. "Silas, I don't see anything," he started, speaking in a voice that was probably too loud. "Are you su-"

The Force whispered that danger was near, and he turned around to see the beast Silas had been talking about. Nieraan didn't know what it was, but was big, with thick skin and body that rippled with powerful muscles that could, no doubt, tear any of them apart with ease. And it was charging them. A grin split Nieraan's face as his gold saber exploded to life in his hands. "Well hello there," he muttered, "I think I'm gonna have some fun with you."

Before Silas could say anything to stop him, Nieraan moved, running forward to meet the beast's charge. However, before he got to the point where the thing could harm him, he jumped, using the Force to fuel his already-strong muscles to take him skyward, to one of the large branches in the tree Silas jumped to. Of course, the big animal just continued along, toward the other Sith Nieraan came with. That hadn't been the intention, but it would do. Perhaps now Nieraan would get to see what Silas could do, before he joined the fight himself.

[Silas]

"You know, you never struck me as the cat sort, Silas," Responded the boy, a response laced with complete sarcasm.

For less than a second he considered Nieraan more than just bantha fodder, yet only for a mere moment. Whilst the older man realised he had done no one thing to prove his worth, the young had began to intrigue the older on if nothing else. It wasn’t often that someone was interesting to the man, but this person wasn’t simply the angry, disgruntled child he had originally assessed him as. Perhaps still angry as well as disgruntled, but there was more to him, and Silas would peel away the layers. Once that had been done he might be done with the kid, but they would see. Someday he’d have to come to acknowledge the fact that he wasn’t alone in this universe and not everyone was meant to be fuel for his hobby, but as to this point he had only but one example of such a person. The Fierrerreo next to him was in a race he did not realise, a game which he knew not the rules of or the competition, and yet the stakes were so high.

”You first struck me as an insolent bastard without any wits about you, and now I realise you do have some wits. Appearances can be deceiving, child,” Muttered the other man with a slight bit of a smirk. Not quite sure how he’d take it, but quite frankly the Sith didn’t care what the other thought.

Quietly they were stalked, or perhaps not quite. In a degree they were the stalkers, but still Silas felt as if at any moment they could go from hunter to appetiser. It wouldn’t be hard to kill the beast, but it might not be fun in the process, and the less chance for mistakes, the less likely they will be made. Perhaps Nieraan, though, had been misjudged, for he spoke in a relatively loud voice now, and he didn’t even try to be subtle. With a growl he went to pull him down, but he moved as just the right moment to escape Silas’ subtle movement. Then he felt the creature became hostile, and the older man wanted to send his lightsaber through the stupid child’s back. With a growl he pulled out his other lightsaber, and got ready to deal with this creature.

”Are you su…” The other hollered at him, and he just shook his head whilst he prepared for the oncoming attack.

Up till the moment when the boy jumped, Silas thought he might just attack, but he just threw his red lightsaber at him up in the tree. There was a price to pay for cowardice, and for what the older man had planned there was no need for a second lightsaber. As the beast came lumbering towards him the Sith leapt far into the air, and as the wind escaped his mouth for a second he felt himself soar through the leaves before he fell on the other side of the creatures path. With a quick spin he sent a wave of the Force towards the other creature, and caught the backside of the creature to send it flying into a tree.

Once it hit Silas was on the move faster than any human might even imagine to come up to the creature before it could fully hit the ground, wrong side up. One of his hands felt his other sabre coming back towards him as he pulled it along with the Force, and he snatched it out of the air without the need of eyes. With both he stabbed into what he assumed was a softer part of the beast, and a guttural shriek ripped through the trees. That growl was the last thing the creature uttered before the man tore both lightsaber outwards to cut it in half lengthwise. A dark smile emitted from his mouth as he stood up, both lightsabers still ignited in his hands, and turned around. Blood might have been on his hands if the creature had not been mutilated by his sabres.

Quietly he disengaged both of the blades, and placed them on his sides where they belonged with a silent grace. They were his companions, the instrument which was most prevalent in this world which he lived in. People might see his scalpel, and think of healing, but one saw the sabre as only an instrument of death. For what more might one use it for? Could one hope to find a retribution for its innate nature? Yes, it could be used as a tool for other things, but this was not its true nature. In justification pure the true light by which this eloquent monster was designed was death. Cold and non-discriminatory death.

Now his gaze moved onto the boy, and deep in his mind he wished with every fibre of his being that the lightsaber had killed him. Still he addressed him, ”Next time you run away from a fight, I’ll make sure that lightsaber goes through your eyes, you kriffer.”

Once he’d been a bounty hunter, and a reputable one at that. If he’d ever partnered himself with one who’d done that to him, the man would be the second person on his list. Luckily Silas had softened since then, if only a little.

[Rugs]

Nieraan watched the Zakkeg with a great degree of interest as it charged forward, racing toward Silas with all the grace and fury of a derailed train. It would proved a good chance to see how the old man worked, and what tricks he knew. And once the fight gets going I'll-

The whirring of a lightsaber caught his attention, and he looked up just in time to duck as one of Silas' blades sailed through the space his face occupied only a moment ago and buried itself into the tree. What the hell?! He hadn't even done anything this time! Why was Silas trying to kill him now?

Shock sent adrenaline flooding through his veins, and as his heart pounded away in his chest, he realized that, for a moment, he'd been very scared. The reaction was natural, or as natural as might be expected from someone that had a Force-damned lightsaber flying at their face, but the knowledge of it rankled. Fear was quickly replaced by anger. Nieraan snarled darkly, his grip on the hilt of his lightsaber tightening as he watched Silas fight the beast down below.

Any other day, Nieraan might have been impressed with the skill that Silas displayed in handling the massive creature. Even now, somewhere within the depths of his smoldering fury, was a part of him that acknowledged it and impressed. But not now. Now he was trying to figure out just why Silas had thrown the saber at him. Surely he didn't think Nieraan had tried to escape or anything of the sort?

A low growl sounded in his throat when he jumped down from his perch in the tree. He stalked toward Silas, gold saber still aglow in his hand, as the other Sith finished slaying the beast. "What the hell was that for?!" he yelled, his fury clear. "Why di-"

Nieraan's words died on his tongue when Silas turned to him, giving him a look that nearly made his blood run cold. Then the older Firrerreo spoke, and made it clear that he wasn't pleased.

”Next time you run away from a fight, I’ll make sure that lightsaber goes through your eyes, you kriffer.”

And thus ended Nieraan's two second-long silence. "You think I ran away?" he hissed angrily. Silas' (false) accusation almost hurt, and pissed Nieraan off beyond belief. "Listen to me, old man," he said, moving to stand right in front of Silas and glare into his eyes. "I don't run away from fights. I planned to watch that... that thing for a moment before I jumped into the fight, not run away. I've never seen one of those damn things in my life, and if you think I was running away, you ca-"

He forced himself to stop and look away. Silas had already proven that he wouldn't take any crap from Nieraan, and Nieraan wasn't really in the mood to get strangled again. Or thrown back again. Or whatever else Silas might decide to do. Then there was the fact that it would only make his image worse in Silas' eyes, and Nieraan had a feeling it was probably already bad enough as things stood.

He stalked off to the side with a frustrated sigh and let his gold blade die away before putting it back in its place at his hip. Finally, he turned around to look at Silas. "Lead on."

[Silas]

In all reality Silas wasn’t concerned about Nieraan’s excuses; whether he was right or wrong, he didn’t quite care. It was about getting him to think fast more than anything; Silas wasn’t worried about killing the things, it wasn’t usually hard to kill a non-sentient animal. Most of all it was rude of the other Firrerreo, and he didn’t like discourteous people for the most part, if he didn’t have to deal with them all the better. If he had to kill one to get him to realise the mistake he’s made, so be it. Of course he didn’t expect the other Sith to die from a simple lightsaber, that would have been a real reason for him to die. Next time he’d jump over it or some such, and at least pretend like he’s trying to kill it, which would serve the older man just fine.

Of course there was the rant, though, a horrible display of child-like insolence which in the grand scheme of things wouldn’t really change his stubborn old mind. Some people might fall victim to the little display he put on, but it wasn’t the kind which would play into the sympathy of this man. There was only one thing he was overly sympathetic to, though; a curious thing after all these years, but still there.

“I planned to watch that... that thing for a moment before I jumped into the fight, not run away. I've never seen one of those damn things in my life, “ Whined the child, still trying to justify himself.

With a quick roll of his eyes Silas responded, ”Good for you.” It was really just a way of totally ignoring his statements without remaining completely non-responsive all together.

After one spin of his lightsabers to help his wrists to pop he deactivated the sabres, and placed them on the belt at his hip. Where he planned on finding these Malraas, Silas wasn’t quite sure, but he did intend to find them before night fell; the seven corellian hells only knew what came out at night in the place. Probably something the size of a rancor that stomps around on little Sith while they’re trying to use their abilities to escape.

So they romped. Through the dark forests of this planet, filled with these arcane creatures, they made their way past the noises which surrounded them, and the eyes which might follow them. Theirs was not a path of timid steps, and careful planning, but more a brazen trek through an unknown world, and they might find obstacles, which would no more pose a threat than the next stream they stepped over. Nothing in this place spoke a word intelligible, nor would they rise beyond the need to thrive on instincts whilst the pair was still there, and yet some still dare attack them. This time, however, the older of the pair had barely a seconds warning before he heard the silent hiss of something behind him. Like a clandestine tribute to the mysterious nature of this planet the creature stood in its wake, a grim smile etched across his face.

Of course, however, this could not be made easy. In his curiosity he missed a thing of vital importance; the other life he might have otherwise missed had he not been distracted. Then he caught it in his mind, the smell of it on the air, and could almost taste it in his mouth; Mandalorian. It wasn’t the brightest, but he could see it now, and he ducked down. This time he didn’t give Nieraan the choice, as he would attempt to pull the kid down with him by the sleeve. Perhaps this lone man, seeming to be Cathar, would be friendly, but maybe they wouldn’t. Silas would probably kill him either way. The once bounty hunter had never had a great fondness for their kind.

[Rugs]

Nieraan growled at Silas when the older man simply brushed off his reasoning for leaping up into the tree. Then Silas was moving again, dismissing Nieraan from his attention like he was some petulant child (though, to be fair, when compared to Silas, he was just that). He followed, but his hands clenched into fists as he trailed Silas, and if glares could kill... well Silas would have been dead several times over.

He didn't get it. His reason for jumping over the Zakkeg was certainly reasonable, and as he'd said he didn't run away from fights. The beast continuing on wasn't completely unexpected, but sending it at Silas, rather than himself, hadn't been what Nieraan was planning. Surely Silas understood that, right?

But why then could he feel nothing but disapproval and annoyance from the other man? Sure, Nieraan wasn't the easiest person to get along with, what would he have to do to get his points across to the old Firrerreo? And why did Silas' low opinion get under Nieraan's skin so easily?

Perhaps there was some truth to his earlier musings that he wanted to prove himself to the man. Right now, all Nieraan wanted to do was punch him. But that wouldn't end well. Nieraan was strong, and confident in his abilities, but he had no doubt that Silas could probably destroy him if he wished it. So I'm afraid of him now? Nieraan growled again, more at himself than Silas this time. Oh, he wanted to do something to Silas, but he couldn't. Not if he didn't want to get hurt; and never mind the possibility of ruining his chances of making it into the Sith Order.

For the moment, all he could do was grind his teeth and follow on. It all reminded him a bit too much of the years he'd lived under his mother; he'd hated her more than he'd hated anyone before or since, yet he was completely powerless to do something about it. The woman had been powerful, and in turn had made Nieraan powerful, but that made trying to kill her very frustrating. It was, perhaps, the very reason he had such troubles now with submitting to the authority of others. Others like Silas. We'll see how things play out, old man. Nieraan didn't notice the way he was absentmindedly caressing the hilt of one of his sabers.

They went on, romping through the jungle as if they owned it, with the need for stealth left behind. Were he a different sort of man, Nieraan might have been enthralled by the sort of wild beauty the place had. He wasn't, though, and he was too busy glowering to really care at the moment. They went on and through the shadows of the massive trees that grew in this place, and barged through small streams and rivulets without so much as a second thought. They were the hunters here; the jungle was theirs, as was the life of anything that was foolish enough to challenge them.

Except nothing was coming forward to challenge them. It only made Nieraan's mood worse, and he found himself desperately wanting to strangle something.Anything. If a puppy were dropped right in front of him, he'd kill it just to get some of his frustrations out. Life was around them, certainly; he could feel it. But nothing was ballsy enough to come forward.

Well, until the Cathar.

Nieraan had gotten lost in his own thoughts, and as such he didn't notice the man's approach until Silas grabbed him by the sleeve and pulled him down. Nieraan muttered irritably under his breath at being drawn from his musings so abruptly, but that stopped when he looked up.

The man was alone. Armored and armed with a short vibrosword and a blaster rifle, but alone nonetheless. Silas didn't make a move. Nieraan glanced at the old man for a moment, weighing the decision he was about to make.

"Alright, Silas," he whispered, "you want to see me fight? Here it is."

He slipped free of the older Firrerreo's grasp and slinked off through the grasses, moving to a place where he could better strike his foe. Nieraan didn't know who the man was. He didn't -care- who the man was, but he could guess that the Cathar probably wouldn't be alive much longer. Better for Nieraan to kill it than Silas, right?

Time seemed to slow, from Nieraan's perspective, as he homed in on his unsuspecting victim. The Cathar continued on his patrol, moving with the easy stride of one who was well acquainted with these jungles. He paused when Nieraan was only a few feet away from him, as if he'd heard something. He started to turn around. Nieraan pounced.

They went to the ground in a heap. Nieraan grunted at the feel of an armored fist slamming into his side, but managed to get the man's firearm and toss it away, safely out of reach. The duo separated; the Mandalorian jumped back and to his feet, short vibroblade drawn Nieraan came up in a low crouch, balanced on the balls of his feet with the hilt of his gold saber held out to the side in his right hand. Excitement shined brightly in his eyes, and an eager grin turned the corners of his mouth up. Supposedly Mandalorians were fierce warriors, and some of the best in the Galaxy. Testing himself against one would be fun.

"Who are you, offworlder?" the Cathar growled, rage clear and plain in his voice. "State your reason for attacking me, and I might let you live."

Nieraan snorted a laugh. "I attacked you because I think killing you will be fun." He didn't give a chance for a response, as he suddenly rushed forward, thumbing his lightsaber to life. This Mandalorian's blood was calling him, begging to be spilt. Nieraan would answer that call.

The Cathar met his charge, coming in with a quick swipe from the side with his vibroblade. Nieraan easily rolled to the side, and struck out with his lightsaber at the side that had been left open by the Cathar's attack. It hit, and should have killed the man, but his armor was beskar, as the armor Mandalorians wear tends to be. As such, Nieraan's lightsaber hit, and even left a burn mark, but it did not penetrate through the armor. An annoyance, certainly, but he had other options. And the Mandalorian's armor had crevices, cracks in areas were flexibility was needed for movement. Like at the neck.

The Cathar roared in rage and threw a fist at Nieraan's face. Again, Nieraan ducked the blow, and when he came up, he threw a blast of the Force in front of him, sending the Cathar up and into the air. The sound of snapping tree branches followed his ascent and descent until he slammed back down onto the ground a few moments later.

Nieraan was on the Mandalorian while he was still disoriented from the flight. The vibroblade had fallen sometime after the Cather went airborne, and was a safe distance away. Nieraan's quarry was unarmed, and the fall had been rather disorienting. "I think I'll have a bit of fun with you before I kill you," he said, picking the fallen warrior up with the Force. Tendrils of the Force went out, wrapping around the Mandalorian's neck and squeezing, choking the air out of him. Yes, he'd rough the Cathar up a bit, and then drain the life from him with Force Drain, which was a favorite technique of his.

Of course, had he not been so focused on his newfound plaything, he might have noticed that they weren't alone. Apparently, the Cathar had been on patrol with a friend or two, and Nieraan's racket had drawn their attention.

[Silas]

It was little enough that he was here, that the Mandalorians had shown up, but Silas was almost to an end point in this story which might be called the young Neiraan’s life. It was a pity someone with potential had to be so insolent, and whilst he might eventually grow up, right now he was begged for a final breath. It wasn’t moments after the man had appeared in the dense foliage, and yet there was an absolution in the boy’s eyes which Silas could not only see, but almost feel. Any Sith could kill bantha fodder, yet the older man had barely a thread of hope left in him, nor could he hold the respect to believe he would do it without getting them both in a deeper fix. It wasn’t about skill at the moment; it was about experience, which the boy obviously lacked in.

Then there came the words which were like a bringer of some gruesome fate. Once the boy spoke them, he knew the boy had made up his mind, but he could not help feel a little anxious about letting him get in this fight by himself. Perhaps it might be best if the older man simply killed the mongrel, and get on with things. However, a certain faith which he could not explain stilled the hand which itched for his blade, and let the boy carry out whatever his scheme was, not giving resistance when he slipped free of his grasp. Now, if this choice was one which should have been made or not was a different tale all together.

“Yes, Nieraan. I wish to watch you die,” Whispered the old man to himself with a chuckle as he held the hilt to his sabre in hand, moving slowly around the pair as the boy stalked his prey.

Apathetic eyes trained on Mandalorian as he assessed the man, saw the strength which he might bequeath upon Nieraan, and could only pity him. Sympathy might not show upon his face, but the man would die tonight one way or another. While some considered death a happy thing, one which brought people to a new level of the Universe which was at peace, but Silas knew not of this. There could be no place wherein this hitherto Jedi might find peace, nor posterity, and contentment might only be wrought in the state which he found himself in now; power. Could lust and continuous hunger find itself in peace? No. While he might find comfort in those fading eyes, he knew their soul would find itself amidst hell when it gathered to, for that was the will of the Force. Nieraan was a will of that Force, his sabre a tool of it.

The boy pounced, the man reacted, and it all took but a fraction of a second. The entire world happened as such, and he could only watch it go by, but now he could feel danger loom on the fringes of his mind. It flitted among the Force as a warning, a silent alarm which brought his lightsaber in hand; the blade to hiss into life. Whatever it was, it was not this man, and he would not let it interrupt their fight. With the same property which brought him this warning he extended it to grasp the firearm which had been dropped as he stood straight once more, and flung it as far as he was able to. In an instant it flew through the trees, the pop and distortion of tree branches as protest to this act. One less weapon to play with meant one less threat to worry about in the future.

They say one’s life flashed before their eye’s before they died, but Silas knew this was a lie, for arrogance did not come when one was truly faced with what they had done. Yet, still the man showed this trait, his voice seethed with the confidence as the other Sith took the opportunity to resolve some of the man’s self-dignified nature.

Slowly a smile formed on his lips as he saw the younger one fight, he might just make this entertaining for a moment. However, some semblance of danger still tugged at his mind, and cold eyes roved over the dense forest around him. People barely ever came through here, so the Sith disregarded any more of the Mandalorians at first, the surely would not… Then he noted the noise which they made, the sound of the fight was much worse than any wounds which they might sustain, and reality crashed upon him like a premonition. A growl emitted from his mouth; he knew this would happen. He knew that Nieraan would screw this up somehow. That insignificant little twit couldn’t find his way around a tree; much less fight someone with the mental power to lift a spoon. Anger festered inside him as his second lightsaber brought itself to his hand.

As it flashed into life he saw what his prey was, not with his eyes, but just as surely as if he had they were there when his senses caught up with the Force. No eyes were visible past their t-visor, but if he had been able to see beyond that mask, he would have hoped to see fear. Undeniable horror which tormented their mind like a plague, but theirs’ was a cocky race; one filled with a pious deeply rooted in their own ability. Some might call them fierce, or the best of the best, but it was simply because of the show they put on. If one spoke loudly enough, eventually people would listen, and these people were just good enough to present a show. However, like every other man they had a heart which could be plucked from them like an apple from a tree.

As the loomed closer to his companion and as their feet took them as fast as they might take any one without the Force, a taste hung on his lips. Carelessly he licked them, but he had not the blood which he wished for, the death which he longed for. Bright crimson made a circle in his vision as he spun it around his thumb, and slowly he stretched to his full height. Most of the time these lightsabers which he held were meant for show, more than anything else. Long ago someone had shown these were a symbol; an ideology of what a Sith should be, and so with that in mind he had constructed them. The one which he had made as a Jedi lay in his right hand as the yellow blade hummed. It remained as a covenant to those people, a promise to make them pay. It begged for their blood, and today he would have to subdue its thirst with the blood of another.

Neither had noticed him yet, as their attention remained fixed upon their companion and his assailant. Softly a chortle raised from his throat as his hands lifted, and the Force began to move through them. As he brought his head up to look at them he sent a wave of Force through the jungle, which caused them to be uprooted from their spot.

Nieraan, be done with him, before I kill you, Silas sent the message through the Force towards the young man with as much will as it might take for him to hear it.

Now a real smile graced his lips; danced upon the corners of his mouth, and perhaps even some of his teeth were visible for a second. This Sith’s own fun was about to grace these people, but for the pair something similar to insanity was about to unfold in the inner reaches of their minds. Threads of the Force drifted towards the pair, and worked their way into their thoughts, and slowly he began to project his thoughts through their subconscious. The world around them was beginning to change from reality, to the intrepid nature of Silas’ mind, something to fear indeed. Suddenly their friend would disappear. The child who had attacked him was gone, and there was simply that lone figure left standing, but something was different now. They could feel eyes all around them, and as they slowly turned their heads there slowly began to appear small dots all around. Suddenly they were surrounded by beasts more ferocious than anything Dxun could offer.

A chuckle escaped his lips as the man watched them flail around with their swords, and yet all they struck was limbs, trees, and occasionally the other. It was humourous to watch, and surely he could have let it last for quite some time, but when one ventured to scream Silas knew it must end.

Once the old man had walked up to them, idly making sure their blades did not hit him, he let the illusion drop, and they saw him there. They stood there for a second confused, and that was all the time he needed to send one red sabre through a man’s throat. It cut through the space which lacked armour as easily as if he had cut air itself, and as he pulled it back, the man had only the chance to gargle before he hit the ground. The other man looked at him with a fear, but Silas would soon be done with him anyway. One lightsaber came up to stop the strike which might have been deadly, if not for the yellow blade in hand. This man was hopefully somewhat skilled in the weapon he held, for this would be rather bland if he killed him like he had the other. Luckily, the man did not disappoint, and was able to block the next strike which came at him. With one quick touch his other lightsaber was deactivated, and back in place, as he held the man there. With the thought that he might get ahead while Silas was slightly distracted, the man went to strike again, but it was once again stopped.

“Are you thirsty, child of mandalore?” Asked the man as he took the chance to put in his own attack, with just hints of his strength behind the strike, “For I can quench that.”

As tendrils of the Force moved through his hands he brought down a strike upon the man with as much vigour as he might spare for a mando, and for a second he could feel the fear he so much desired.

[Rugs]

"Be done with him?" Nieraan almost whispered back to Silas, "But why?" There was an almost exultant airiness to his voice, and a dark, contented shine to his eyes. Here Nieraan found something he enjoyed--one of the things that had come with his corruption on Metellos.

Power was many things to many people. Even to Nieraan, the word, the concept, had many faces, but none was so sweet, so pure as the one was working with now. To be able to call upon the Force and summon lightning from nothing was power. To drain the life from another being was power. To work the shadows, manipulating others to do your will was power. But to Nieraan, nothing was greater than to face a foe and defeat them, knowing that their life was in his hands. It was something they had no control over, something that they, or anyone else, could never get back if he decided to take it.

"Why rush these things, Silas?" he continued on as he set the Cathar down so that his feet were barely touching the ground. "Surely you of all people can understand what it's like to have some fun with a toy." He grinned at the Mandalorian darkly. "Isn't that right? We're just gonna have a bit of fun..."

The Force slammed the Mando back into the tree and Nieraan held him there as he walked forward. His stride was easy; he wasn't concerned with the happenings around him--he had confidence that Silas could handle whoever it was he was dealing with. For the next few minutes, this Cathar would be the center of Nieraan's attention, which, in situations like these, was never a good thing.

"I think I want to see your face for this, Mandalorian." As he still held the Mandalorian there with the Force he reached forward with his free hand ripped the helmet free. It clanked off softly through the grasses as he tossed it to the side and looked up. His foe's face was old and weathered. A burn marred the right half of his face, and his right eye was clearly cybernetic.

Nieraan knew what sort of man this was: a veteran of many battles, both on and off the battlefield. He scowled at Nieraan and spit in his face defiantly. It didn't bother the Sith though. Instead, it only amused him. "Yes, that's right old man," Nieraan jeered softly, "fight me. Fight me to your last breath. Fight me, so I can show you how pathetic you are."

He released his hold on the man in the Force, and the Mandalorian lunged forward, swinging a hard punch at the side of his face. Nieraan ducked it and came up, grabbing the Cathar as he recovered and flipping him over his shoulder to slam him into the ground. He kicked the Cathar in the side of the head before holding a hand out over him. Electricity danced across his fingers and up his forearm as he crouched down and put his hand onto the old Mando's forehead.

"Scream for me."

Lightning coursed down his arm and directly into the Cathar's skull. His body went rigid as he resisted, but Nieraan turned up the intensity, until finally, he got his scream. It echoed out through the jungles, will them with sound of a man about to die. But Nieraan wasn't quite done. Not yet.

"Very good." He leaned in close now, taking in the smell of burning flesh, reveling in the pain that radiated out from the old warrior in the Force. "Now, old man, you will die. But your death won't be in vain, I assure you. I, at least, will get some enjoyment out of it."

Again his hand shot out to the Cathar's forehead. This time a red glow surrounded it, as Nieraan almost laughed with joy when he made contact. Life came into him. Life surged through the bond that was created when his hand, leaving the Cathar and flowing into Nieraan, renewing his vigor.

When it was done, the Cathar was dead, his skin grey and withered. Nieraan chuckled darkly and looked up, toward Silas.

"See," he said as he spun clipped his lightsaber back in its place, "I told you, you can't rush good things. Now what else can we kill?"

[Silas]

One breath was all it took. Through the soft whistle of his lips he drew in the calamity to stop the swing of his sword, for there could be no hope for satisfaction in a quick slaughter. Instead a bitter smile interrupted his gaze as the Force gathered around his finger. Splendour welled inside him as he immersed himself in the raging storm that was the Dark Side of the Force as its very presence attempted to pull him under. If even for a second he lost his control of it he felt as though he might be pulled under and lose himself in the torrent that crashed down upon him. With that same deity he pushed to fell the man who reeked of fear, despite the sense of an auspicious fight he had first dreamed of. To the victor goes the spoils they said, yet the spoils of this fight had been the hope that had faded from his eyes and the upcoming futility as he lost the last bits of coherency.

Nieraan was doing admirably despite the lack of natural intuition he seemed to have, and since they had likely alerted the entire planet to their presence it didn’t truly matter if they made a little more noise. One of the two who had initially come to fight was on the ground as his eyes seemed to call for his little friend to join him. The man’s back hit the tree first as the rest seemed to react in slow motion as he was pushed firmly up against the large trunk behind him. That helmet hid his face; the sweat that invariably fell from his brown, and the look in his eyes that would be utter horror in moments to come. With one little movement of his fingers the helmet rushed from his head, and as it jerked away he saw the face of his perpetrator.

“So, the mighty Mando has a face after all? Do you fear that I might hurt that pretty little smile of yours?” Silas asked sullenly as he took a step closer. The crunch of twigs under his foot was the only sound as he made in the brief moment he took to look at the man. The red tint to his hair was odd for the stature of the man, being both tall, and stronger than most would expect. Still, the green of his eyes spoke of experience all in vain as he struggled against the bonds he failed so see as the Sith before him finished, “Don’t worry, your face is the least you have to fear. Aside from me, you have nothing to fear at all.”

It almost seemed as if he took it to heart as he began to struggle harder, and those muscles began to tense for no real purpose at all. Some people said if you had enough will anything was possible, but no matter what this man attempted in the end he would still be the one pinned against the tree, and Silas would still be the one killing him. Strength was more powerful than will, and that was one area Silas excelled in.

Now that current which felt as if it might pull him under was once again flowed through him, and he was reminded of its perfection; of the purity he found in its presence even as he struggled against it. Then, he moved it towards the man in a different direction. This time the tendrils moved towards the man’s mind once more, and while he could not see it the attack slipped into the cavities of his conscious thought like a flood. Deeper into his mind he fought, and this time he struck the part of this man that felt courage, and hope. Already somewhat diminished it was not hard to suck what little ambitions of walking away from this fight out of his mind. The man stopped his strain, instead his eyes became distant and cold before the Sith dropped him to the ground.

Where his feet should have caught him, his knees crumpled like old wood as he found himself on the ground in a ball. This grown man was done. If he had once had honour, it was there no more. When he had pushed the mando to the point where he could no longer sense any desire to live in the man, he was done with him. On the brink of death he would leave him here, and if someone ever found him there would hardly be a man left for them to drag back. Time would heal his mind, but not completely.

“Now what else can we kill?" The naïve child behind him asked after he had finished with his own little toy.

With his eyes distant, he simple looked at the decrepit form on the ground with a horrendous smile on his face. He might have laughed if he was not so entrapped by the beauty of it, and the sweet sound of the man’s whimper. Eventually he spoke though, “Sometimes…death isn’t the most exhilarating part. Occasionally it’s worth it to see them exactly the way they were meant to be.”

As he broke himself from the sight he simply began to walk once more. While he might not know exactly where he was to go, it didn’t matter; there would be more death. Nieraan would get his wish soon enough.

[Rugs]

{As discussed, it's time. Thread revival! >:3}

Yellowed eyes watched the man that Silas had done his work on. His heart still pulsed; life still flowed through his veins, but when Nieraan probed him through the Force it felt as if he were a man already dead. How did he do that? He looked to his older counterpart.

He'd not seen Silas make any overt action, not do anything that was so easily recognizable as harm. So how then, had he done that? Nieraan shuffled over through the undergrowth to stand over the fallen warrior and prodded him with his foot. No response. Just a dull, lifeless stare with glazed-over eyes.

“Sometimes…death isn’t the most exhilarating part. Occasionally it’s worth it to see them exactly the way they were meant to be.”

Nieraan heard Silas' words as he crouched down next to the fallen victim. The man's eyes reacted slightly at waves of his hand, there was still breath coming from his nose, but...

What did Silas do?

Something had been done to affect the man's mind, to break it. His will seemed to be shattered, and all without laying a finger on him. Oh, Nieraan kill a man without touching him; he could squeeze a heart until if failed, or crush a throat with naught but his will, but to break a man so completely with nothing by the mind?

The sound of movement caught his attention. Silas was moving on.

With a final glance back to the broken man, Nieraan stood to his feet and loped off after the old Sith. He could still find no love, no fondness for Silas, but now he could see the man had strength, and the knowledge of abilities that Nieraan lacked.

The young Firrerreo was suddenly jealous, like a child whose friends gain something it does not possess.

Silas had a skill Nieraan did not. Nieraan wanted it.

"Hey, wait," he called after Silas as he caught up, ducking beneath some low branches and swatting leaves out of the way. "That man back there... He was alive, but at the same time, he... well, he wasn't." Nieraan glanced at Silas from the corner of yellow eye, watching signs of a response.

"How did you do that?" asked he in a voice that was almost more demanding than inquisitive.

"Tell me how to d-"

His words were cut short by the sound of something moving deeper into the trees. Quick probing through the Force detected life. "Something's coming up."

As if to inform him that his announcement had been a waste of time, the creature let loose a roar that echoed through the forest. It shook the trees and their leave, was nearly the sort of thing that's felt, rather than heard.

Nieraan's lips twisted into an eager grin as he unclipped one of his sabers from its place at his belt. "Something to kill again." The creature, still out of sight started to move through the underbrush, growling and making all sorts of racket. It roared again.

And then another roar answered it.

There was more shuffling and then the sound of two massive beings colliding.

Nieraan looked to Silas and grinned. "I'm going to see what's going on." He was gone as soon as he said it, racing forward as his lightsaber came alive to investigate the source of the noises.

[Silas]

Neiraan’s voice broke through his grim pleasure as he had begun to walk away, however he didn’t respond to it at first simple because his mind was other place. It wouldn’t be satisfactory to talk to that little whelp again right now, so he took another step in the other direction; away from Nieraan and the body he’d left behind. With his saber still in hand but not ignited he made his way through the thick foliage that clawed at him. Behind the sound of snapping twigs allowed him to gage the pace of the kid whom seemed to be trying to catch up with him a bit. If he got so bold as to touch the older Fierrerreo, he would have one less hand.

Luckily for Silas, though, he simply whined a bit more, “"How did you do that?"

Quickly he turned on his heels to face the younger man as he looked him straight in the eye with a look that might promise death. Too many times today he’d almost gotten killed and any one of these annoyances in the near future could lead to the break. The culmination of all those former half-hearted attempts to kill him might add up till he just wrung that filthy little neck, which would provide excellent bait for his game. Maybe Nieraan’s corpse could be more of an asset than his conscious being. No, he needed someone to carry the beasts back.

“How about we try it again? This time I’ll let you get a first hand view of it. Would that make things a little clearer?” He asked the boy with a mocking grin on his face. As the other’s words dropped off he felt something on the edges of his sense, which he could only assume was the same thing that had taken the other man’s attention.

"Something's coming up." The other said as a large roar echoed through the forest all around them, loud enough to make the leaves upon the trees shudder slightly.

For a second he shook his head as whatever it was seemed to collide with something else as Silas’ voice broke through the clamour, “No, Nieraan. When I hear loud ominous sounds in the middle of a forest, I immediately think ‘Oh! There must be nothing here.’ I’m quite glad you have the deductive reasoning skills of a three year old.”

The lightsaber he had in his hand flash into life; a brilliant yellow that moved quick as a whisper as he twisted it between his fingers. A couple leaves fell from the trees but aside from that it hit nothing as he discarded whatever he was going to say to the little brat next so he could move towards the clamor. The kid began to talk about killing again and Silas suddenly realized that he might have a slight fetish for it, hopefully it was only the killing part. Necrophilia wasn’t something he much promoted.

"I'm going to see what's going on,” The boy said to him as he took off, and Silas allowed him to take the lead to perhaps have a little fun. It took him a second to realize that this boy was blood thirsty and on the other side of the next tree could be a Maalras. If the other so much as scratched the creature there would be serious repercussions. Silas wanted this to be done.

Picking up his pace he called after the other, “If that’s a Malraas and you kill it, I’m going to be so pissed, Nieraan!”

His voice filtered through the trees as he took off in a run after the kid and before a couple seconds he was in front of the younger man. Sad as it was he reached a small clearing first where he felt the presence coming from, but now it seemed empty despite it still lingering there. Light wafted green through the leaves of the tree as he slowed down and his other saber appeared in his hand in a flash of metal. It roared to life as he heard a twig pop from the brush on the other side of the clearing.

Golden eyes flashed for just a second as he saw one of the creature’s paw hit the ground as he made his way out of the darkness he’d been hiding in. Then, another’s eyes snapped from the darkness, and another. Before long six sets of eyes stared at them along with the one that he had first witnessed.

“We only need one. The rest you can do with as you please,” He told the other as he brought his lightsabers in a defensive stance.

[Rugs]

Nieraan moved swiftly, using his athleticism alone to sail smoothly through the brush. With a quick jump, he pushed himself off of the ground to one of the trees nearby. His feet hit the trunk and he shoved off of it, jumping up higher to grab one of the thick, low branches of another tree. Once he had it, he swung around, using the momentum to flip himself, and landed smoothly in a crouch with one hand resting against the side of the trunk for balance.

“If that’s a Malraas and you kill it, I’m going to be so pissed, Nieraan!”

Tempting, old man. You make it so tempting... Nieraan chuckled lowly in his throat as he turned to look back at the old Sith from his perch. "Silas," he started in a voice that was mocking in its innocence, "you think I would be so careless as to kill something without a second thought?" There was something to be said for the smile that grew on his face. It was twisted, almost more of a smirk than a true smile. Almost. It was knowing, sarcastic...

"And here I thought you were starting to get to know me." As he turned to glance back at where the noise was coming from, the smile did turn to a smirk. "Don't worry, I'll leave you one, since you asked so nicely. I'd hate to think what the high blood pressure would do to you, old man."

Somewhere in the deepest recesses of his mind, Nieraan was aware that an angry Silas might be bad for his own health, but he ignored that much. Let the old man get mad if he wants to, he thought with a huff. Wasn't like the old crank wouldn't get mad again anyway.

Nieraan hushed those thoughts and moved on, jumping smoothly from tree to tree to move closer to the source of the noise. As he moved on, he looked down to see Silas running ahead on the forest floor, apparently determined to get there before Nieraan did. Don't trust me, Silas? Nieraan silently crooned, smirking again as he took one final leap back down to the forest floor. His saber came to life again as he landed next to Silas, dropping his weight into a low crouch.

The two Sith were stopped on the edge of a small clearing. Nieraan could feel the life within through the Force, but he couldn't quite see anything in the darkness. He shifted his crouch a bit, leaning his weight forward more onto the balls of his feet. Something was in there. Watching. Waiting.

Then there was a sound. A twig broke, followed by a snarled hiss. Nieraan's yellowed eyes followed the sound to the source, and there was a creature, slinking its way out of the darkness. All he could see of it was the edge of one of its paws and a vague outline as it drew nearer. And the eyes; the eyes that reflected the forest's soft light back toward the Sith duo.

“We only need one," he heard Silas start as more of the creatures began to make themselves known. "The rest you can do with as you please."

Nieraan stood up and rolled his shoulders, his presence in the Force thick with anticipation. "Good. But if I were you," he glanced over to Silas and flashed him a grin that showed the tips of his sharp canines, "I'd get the one I need quickly. I can get carried away sometimes, you see."

Suddenly, without another word, Nieraan was in motion, loping with his gold saber singing in his hand toward the first of the creatures. It saw him and hissed a warning. He paid it little mind and continued on, grinning at the rush that came before the fight. The creature's hiss continued until Nieraan got near, and then it pounced. Nieraan shifted his weight, dropping into a sideways roll that took him out of harm's way. As he came back up, his saber licked out, but the thing was already out of reach, if just barely. That was when he actually noticed what it looked like.

It was a cat... thing. Certainly fitting of what Silas' description of a Maalraas had been, but...

"You came all the way out here to find one of these?" Nieraan looked to Silas with a disbelieving stare. "Really?" It was so small!

Nieraan's attention shift nearly cost him, however, as the Maalraas leapt at him. Razor-sharp claws glinted faintly in the light, and a sudden flare up of danger to his senses was the only thing that kept him at getting the edge of his jacket torn instead of a rather nasty cut to the side. The Firrerreo snarled as the Maalraas went by and swung his saber at it. The plasma blade found the Maalraas' stomach, and the animal fell into halves, dead before could even hit the forest floor.

Nieraan snorted and looked disdainfully back to Silas. "You can kill these yourself old man. They aren't even worth my time."