A Helping Blade (Darth Ferus)

[Zion Mirtis]

Sitting in the middle of a training room, along with barley any light, Darth Raven meditated with her lightsaber sitting at her knees. Everything was a quiet noise, only her breathing could be heard throughout the dark surrounding shadow. She'd been like this for five whole minutes, reaching out with the darkside and letting it open her mind to all manner of sensations around her. It was only then, as she could feel something in the dark, something she expected, that she tensed.

A shot came from the darkness, Raven rolling away before being hit. As she got to her feet more shots came out. She jumped and dodged and rolled away from them, trying to get to her saber. Once she'd managed to avoid one array of blasts she stood straight, summoning the saber to her hand via the force. The red blade ignited, revealing that battle droids were around her with guns aimed at the girl.

More shots rang out, some missing while others were deflected back by Raven's blade. A few bots were taken down by it before she moved closer, each step adding another blocked blast or two. Eventually she was close enough to where she could slice them down, one after the other. Her force sense allowed her to see as others tried attacking from behind, only to miss before being chopped down as well. Within minutes there was nothing left but scraps lying about the floor, Raven's blade still humming as she looked around at an almost unsatisfied victory.

[member="Darth Ferus"]

 

[Darth Ferus]

"You are good with your blade, but you don't seem to have any form. Perhaps Shien would do good for you, no?" Ferus's voice sounded off behind [member="Darth Raven"] . The red man stood near one of the walls, both arms crossed over his chest. He had come initially to apologize once more to the female for his interruption of her training, and Valdra's actions. But as he entered the room he had watched her with her training simulation and could help himself.

As a bladesman he is always looking to improve both his own swordplay and others he could. Raven may have just ended up in another of the Sith Lords training events. But unlike most, he wasn't here to belittle the female. He had a level of respect for those willing to go out of their way to train others, as the Sith sorely needed teachers.

 

[Zion Mirtis]

Hearing the voice had already keyed Raven in to who was there. Unlike before she was more welcoming of [member="Darth Ferus"] to have come in. She turned after hearing his comment and would respond. But first she felt the need to bow to him, only putting her hands on her knees and giving a quick but low one to him.

"Lord Ferus." she said afterwards. "Glad to know you're always a beacon of wisdom I can look to for guidance." After that she looked back to the broken droids, commenting "I do feel as though I'm just swinging away and waiting until they go down. It's more fancy flaying about than anything else." She then looked to him and asked "You really think Shien is the best choice?"

 

[Darth Ferus]

"I.. Y.." Ferus stuttered a bit as [member="Darth Raven"] bowed. Truthfully, he had not expected anyone to bow to him within the One Sith, let alone a Sith Knight. He would only end up scratching the back of his head as she did the act, and would gladly continue with the subject of swordplay when she asked.

"I.. Ah, yes. Well, I'm only going by what I saw, and that was you surrounded by droids shooting, and your blade being used to knock the shots back. It's a fundamental of Shien to do so, so perhaps you'd be interested in taking that a step forward?"

 

[Zion Mirtis]

She looked at him a bit oddly. His reaction to her bow was not what she thought. If anything, since he was a Sith Lord, she figured he was used to that sort of respect, even from a knight. Perhaps it was just her then. Raven always had a place for respect, even if the person was someone you didn't like. But those who spat on respect didn't deserve it, she agreed on that much. Such was her case when dealing with Darth Valdra when he interrupted her class. He had no respect for her and even if he was stronger than her she wasn't going to simply stand down on that principal.

After [member="Darth Ferus"] asked she nodded and said "Very well. As you wish, my lord." She then stepped back towards the center while asking "Is there anything special we might need for this training?"

 

[Darth Ferus]

Here within the One Sith Ferus had gotten use to the idea that Knights such as [member="Darth Raven"] were considered equal to Masters like himself. IT was only acolytes who were considered lesser within the Dark Lords eyes. But Ferus had not had much experience with the politics of this brand of Sith, and as such he would have to just roll with it.

He would wave a hand towards the battle droids that laid scattered, but he kept his own blue eyes on the girl. "More droids would help, as the purpose is to teach you how to deflect blasters back at the opponent effectively." Not that she hadn't. In fact, she had done incredibly well with the return fire and he felt almost bad about indirectly saying she wasn't effective.

Almost. He respected brutal honesty above all, and would keep it as such when he spoke to those he found equal to himself. "Tell me though, what is it you do when you block a shot?"

 

[Zion Mirtis]

At the mention of more droids needed Darth Raven nodded before waving her hand at a nearby wall. Part of it opened, revealing more battle droids awaiting to be used. They marched out and stood in line with their weapons not drawn yet. They still awaited more commands from either Ferus or Raven before then. She then looked to [member="Darth Ferus"] when he asked about her blocking skills.

"Well....mainly I just tilt the blade it a direction and, sometimes, it bounces back. I've never had any sort of technique to it." answering as truthfully as possible.

 

[Darth Ferus]

"Then perhaps it may be time for a change." Ferus noted the droids for a moment, but he was much more focused on [member="Darth Raven"] now that the tools needed to train were in place. He would pull off one of his own sabers, the golden one, and toss the peculiar flat bladed lightsabers to her.

"Normal lightsabers don't have a flat side, meaning you have to use the center of the blade to deflect blasts accurately. With this blade however, you have a flat side in which to angle where the blast will go." The Zabrak would nod once before waving to one of the droids. "You, shoot her once at the torso. So she can see what I mean for herself." The droid did not hesitate to listen to orders. Drawing it's gun rather quickly, it would take a single shot at the girl, whether she was ready or not.

 

[Zion Mirtis]

As [member="Darth Ferus"] explained how the flat side of her blade was what helped Darth raven examined only by the hilt. In truth she'd not thought of that while constricting her saber. Of course building a lightsaber also involved having a connection with the force in the process. If anything it may have been her own conscious, or some deeper power behind the Force itself, that had guided her to making the saber this way. In truth even she wasn't completely sure. It mattered little though as Ferus ordered one droid to fire at her. As it did instinctively her blade came up and defended her torso. Given her position the bolt went flying back, missing the droid but hitting the wall behind it. Seeing what he meant she looked to Ferus to further understand.

 

[Darth Ferus]

There was another nod from Ferus as he watched [member="Darth Raven"] with her movements. Quick and precise. Well, almost. The flat saber was an oddity to most, and trying to defend with it was difficult without the proper training. As she looked to Ferus however, he simply motioned his head back to the droids. Three of them had guns up and aiming.

"Good, now continue. Be mindful as you redirect your blasts. They won't stop until you hit them this time."

 

[Zion Mirtis]

With his instruction Raven nodded, turning her attention back to the droids and holding her blade across her chest in a defensive manner. The singla was given and the three opened fire. The first few rounds Raven only managed to deflect away from her but not anywhere near the droids. The next few, however, she realized how to position the blade in the right angle that would send the back. A quick jolted turn and the first of the droids was struck through the chest by one of their fellow's blasts. The next two were easier, both being hit by direct deflects back as Raven angled her blade again; one going through the droid's chest again while the other took the next one's head clean off. She stood there, looking over her victory, before giving a smile back to [member="Darth Ferus"] to hear his critique.

 

[Darth Ferus]

"You learn quick [member="Darth Raven"] . I can see how you earned your title at such a young age." There was a faint smile on the Zabrak's face before he motioned to the saber in her grasp with a slight nod. "Of course, I'd like my blade back. I suggest going back to the normal saber, as you can defend at any angle instead of needing to rotate the blade." She had shown quite an understanding, but this wasn't really a proper lesson or training session. So he would lean against the wall behind him, glancing her up and down.

"What's your story anyway?"

 

[Zion Mirtis]

She smiled at his comment, glad that she impressed a Sith Lord like himself. It was also a comfort that for her age she'd apparently earned her title faster than others. Her master had seen so much potential in her before she was glad to know another Sith Lord had seen it as well. When he motioned for his blade back she handed it to him without a second thought.

She did comment "I prefer mine anyway." showing off hers for a moment before putting it away. When he asked she echoed "Story?" before thinking back. "Well....would you believe I used to be a Jedi?" She waited a moment for his reaction before adding "Well more a padawan. I'd been trying to train under then but always found myself....disagreeing with them. I felt so wrong for it back then. I kept trying to understand things that didn't make sense with the Jedi. It wasn't until I got too bold and looked in one of the ruined temples on Tython that Master Arcanix had found me. And thanks to her I learned the truth, the Jedi were not the true means of knowledge. That was only through power, and power could only be found with the Sith."

 

[Darth Ferus]

"Darth Arcanix?" It was a name Ferus knew rather well. Once, Arcanix had brought his now late wife to the Sith Order, setting in motion things neither he or Arcanix could predict, and ending with the death of the woman he loved. He was quick to push these thoughts from his head however as he nodded to [member="Darth Raven"] .

"It's not as uncommon as you think, Jedi becoming Sith. Darth Vader was once Jedi, for example. I myself have never been a Jedi, but I have been a multitude of other such organizations like the Templars in the old CIS space, or the order of the Grey. As you said it however, only the Sith have true power and knowledge."

 

[Zion Mirtis]

His talk of the old ways of the Jedi becoming Sith was something well known to her. Raven had studied much of the Sith history, dating as far back as Darth Bane and the start of the Rule of Two. Darth Vader's transition was not the first but as she'd known most of the step from Jedi to Sith, or even viceversa, was not too common a thing. But given how often it sometimes happened she wouldn't be that surprised.

When he mentioned the CIS and the Order of the Grey, she perked, asking "You used to be with those factions? I see you tend to get around a lot."

[member="Darth Ferus"]

 

[Darth Ferus]

"I like to know as much as I can about the galaxy around me, but I've never once been Jedi. They never had anything that interested me." For a moment the Zabrak scratched the side of his cheek, looking at [member="Darth Raven"] . It had been a while since he last had just a normal conversation with another Sith that didn't involve plots of death or training, and it was relaxing. For once, he didn't feel any stress.

"So, what is it the new Sith such as yourself do for fun?"

 

[Zion Mirtis]

Given his question about what she did Raven had to think about it. She expected him to have asked something about devil plots of schemes to take over a world or the like; the sort of stuff she expected Sith to always talk about. It was nice that [member="Darth Ferus"] was willing to have just a normal conversation. She shrugged before answering "Nothing extravagant, I can say that much. I read, train, sometimes see a new holovid. I take time with my new apprentice and on occasion may travel for the fun of it. Otherwise I'm here, doing what Sith always do: try to become stronger."

 

[Darth Ferus]

"That sounds oddly boring. No running around in the towns killing people? No side hobbies like knitting or baking?" Ferus raised a brow at [member="Darth Raven"] , more or less surprised by the lack of things she did. The other Sith he knew around her age group enjoyed murder, sex, and drinking.

 

[Zion Mirtis]

She raised a brow at [member="Darth Ferus"] , as if she had some sort of standard for the sith to live up to. The way he made it sounded seemed to make SOphie think there was some secret club or password or the like she wasn't aware of. "Aside from the occasional times I take my pet sithspawn out for a walk and need to clean his droppings, no. Nothing like that." she said with a somewhat annoyed tone.

 

[Darth Ferus]

Ferus caught onto [member="Darth Raven"] 's annoyed tone pretty quick. With a slight frown he would rub at the back of his head, glancing off. "I wasn't trying to be offensive. Just, all the Sith I meet around your age want to kill puppies or something. Just surprised me is all." And it really did. Here was an actually sane Sith, if that was ever possible. Though, rather than keep to the topic, he spoke up quickly.

"What kind of Sithspawn is it?"