Private Born in the Flames

[Kaalia Pavanos]

: Silver Ridge Estate, Aradia's accommodation :
: Dromund Kaas :
: Born in the Flames :
​

The Silver Ridge Estate was a simple but peaceful place. It was the home of the Pavanos family, a large piece of land owned by Kaalia and Ishana where their children could grow up and their parents could live without worry. It was far away from the conflicts of the galaxy, a place Kaalia had always dreamed of having in her younger years. There was, however, one set of accommodations not inhabited by family. They were where Darth Avacyn's apprentices past, present and future lived.

The redhead was on her way to visit one of those homes, but not without purpose. The time had come for one of Darth Avacyn's apprentices to take the next step and prove her worth as a Sith. When Avacyn found her she was no more than a slave, powerless and without freedom, but in time she grew to become so much more. She had finally begun to embrace the potential she carried within her and now, she was to put what she had learned to the ultimate test. The path of the Sith was not a dangerous one and no training method would be able to prepare her for that. There was only one way to teach one that the weak died and the strong lived, and that was to show that very fact in its purest form. War.

War had come. The New Imperial Order were hellbent on bringing about the end of the Sith Empire. Their forces crept ever closer to Bastion and it seemed like it was only a matter of time before they would make their move to take the empire's capitol. While Darth Avacyn's time on the frontlines was mostly behind her, the apprentices she taught still had lessons to learn there. In times like these, the wheat was separated from the chaff. The strong would rise up to become the next generation of Sith, while the weak were purged from the ranks.

Aradia would hear knocking at the door to her accommodation. Waiting there was Darth Avacyn, a rare sight. Normally Avacyn summoned Aradia to her, though today was different. This would be the last day here for the apprentice for a while, though she did not know just yet. She was to either come back a different woman, or not at all. Something within the Sith Lady told her it would be the former, though only time could tell.

Darth Daiara ​

 

[Darth Daiara]

There had come a time when having her own accommodations had overwhelmed Aradia. A dress felt like too much. Coffee-- meant for HER to drink and not just hold?

That version of her felt like a lifetime ago. It was a nightmare that she never wanted to revisit, and she had done everything in her power since to meet expectations and progress in her training. Aradia no longer spoke of where she came from. She did not allow herself to even think of it.

Some doors were better left closed.

Her morning ritual turned out to be her most vital part of the day. Without it, things always seemed to come undone and go wrong. At least, that was the girl's explanation, and so very little stopped her from completing her morning routine. Wake up. Stretch. Brew coffee. Weigh self, shower, get dressed, fix coffee and meditate. Clean. Go to lessons.

But she had barely pulled on her last sock when the knock came from the entryway. Her head snapped up, her brows furrowing in confusion as she walked with wet hair to open the door.

"Mistress," she breathed, shock highlighting her tone. Water dripped onto the floor, soaking up her socks. Aradia glanced wildly behind her, looking for the clock. "I'm not late, am I? I could have sworn you said nine-" From the kitchen, the coffee machine beeped, the aroma of the fresh brew in the air.

Kaalia Pavanos

 

[Kaalia Pavanos]

The door opened and behind it was a rather taken-aback Aradia, clearly surprised to see Avacyn at her doorstep. The reaction shouldn't have shocked the Sith Lady, despite her apprentice's growth there was still a level of self-created pressure to do everything as perfectly as possible. It was easy to mistake the nature of Avacyn's visit, though there was certainly no punishment waiting in the wings.

"You're not late, no," Kaalia replied, chuckling slightly, "Can I come in?" She wasn't afraid to show her friendly side, even if she was teaching Aradia in the ways of the Sith and didn't shy away from the harsh lessons one had to learn. Instilling fear was not her motivator of choice. "And I will keep reminding you that just Avacyn is fine." For someone learning from the Lady of Defiance, she still had much to learn in that respect.

Avacyn would make her way inside and took quick inventory of how Aradia had decided to personalize the place. It still seemed a little simple, though that could easily have been a deliberate aesthetic choice. The redhead didn't mind it. "I want to discuss the next step in your training. Let's sit down and I'll get you up to speed." She took a chair and sat down, waiting for her apprentice to do the same before she began.

"You've grown a lot since I met you," Avacyn began. From a slave to now, it seemed her gut feeling hadn't let her down. "Now it's time to see if you are truly as worthy of the title of Sith as I believe you could be." The more animated Avacyn from before had made way for a much more serious one. This was a big step, but it was equally as dangerous. "The war with the NIO is only increasing in scale. They want Bastion and we cannot let that happen. A battle is inevitable. That battle shall become your proving ground."

The day Avacyn met Aradia, she told the girl that the path of the Sith lead one to either greatness, or death. It was wholeheartedly accepted then, and it had to be now.

Darth Daiara ​

 

[Darth Daiara]

Aradia stepped to the side, unabashed as Kaalia reminded her yet again of the informal term she preferred. Old habits die hard, and it was one that Aradia didn't care to dash. She liked serving under Kaalia. As Avacyn, her teacher, or the friendly woman taking a seat at the stools around her counter top. Kaalia had earned Aradia's reverence off actions alone. She would be the only one to get that title from the girl for the rest of her life.

Thanks to her, Aradia could now give it or take it from whomever she wished.

"Yes, Mistress." No sass intend.

The house was simple, only a collection of things speckled the shelves, and Kaalia would recognize them all. A crystal, from one of their first lessons. An artifact, useless to the woman but secured by Aradia's own hands. It had been a hard lesson. But she pulled through it. She always did. A piece of volcanic rock-- an old busted saber hilt. She collected nothing else, she didn't feel the need to.

She hurriedly went to pour them both a cup of caf as Kaalia started to speak, sacrificing her usual two-cup pour for a serving each. Aradia's fussing movements slowed as Kaalia spoke on, mirroring her mentor's seriousness as she slowly pursed her lips and sat with a straighter back. News of the war was not new to her. The battles ravaging their system made it to her whether or not she turned on her holonet, and often she didn't.

The skin on her arm tingled as the orders were leveled.

Not unexpected either, she might add. She had felt the tempo of her lessons changing. Every task she mastered was replied by another more serious... harder... concerning. All to prep her for this moment. She took a deep breath in, raising her steaming mug to her lips and taking a small sip.

"Ok," came the easy acceptance. "When do we leave?"

We.

There was a singular, vital detail to the debriefing she had missed. Aradia had yet to go into anything alone.

Kaalia Pavanos

 

[Kaalia Pavanos]

Avacyn looked at the cup that was placed in front of her before she started speaking and brought it to her lips, taking a sip. It gave Aradia the time to process what the woman had told her. Her apprentice rarely, if ever, went against her word, though the utter lack of resistance was certainly a little surprising. She herself vividly remembered her first landing in a warzone and the apprehension she had felt beforehand, unsure of what was to come. Aradia, however, seemed much more willing. Perhaps it was due to her expectation not being completely accurate, though.

"I won't be going with you, I'm afraid," The Sith Lady corrected. "I am needed away from the battlefield and cannot join you." In the past, the redhead was always there with her apprentices to see them prove their worth with her own eyes, but things were different now. Her family life was busier than it ever had been and she had redoubled her focus on training Valkyrie noviciates, leaving her with little time for anything else. For Darth Avacyn, her time on the front lines were as good as behind her.

"I have, however, pulled some strings. An... acquaintance of mine will oversee your efforts. Her name is Jorryn Fordyce." She had asked for a small favor from Taeli Raaf to make that happen, something the High Inquisitor surely wasn't going to be particularly excited about. That concerned Avacyn shockingly little, however. "You will be heading out tomorrow, so make sure you have packed your things by the end of today." Though she didn't say it, the woman was going to miss Aradia. Still, she knew this was a necessary step for her apprentice to take, and she was both hopeful and confident she'd make it back in one piece.

Darth Daiara ​

 

[Darth Daiara]

Aradia stilled, the calm of her mind shattering with one tangible crack.

Her stomach dropped. The hairs on he arms tingled, a sense of nausea creeping over her.

I told you so, sniveled the small voice in her head. It had taken months, if not years to silence it. All the trauma and loss she had endured in her life as a slave had clawed at her mind over the course of her training. The self-doubt, the fear, the inability to think, it had held her back for so long. Her own mind had been her biggest hurdle in her training. And she had just gotten control of it. The path to power wasn't meant to be an easy one, but Kaalia had always said it was her choice.

This order wasn't her choice.

The whiplash was debilitating, her words bubbling from her lips before she could check them.

"You're sending me away?" She demanded, her features twisting with the sense of betrayal. She misunderstood the situation, her perception tainted by the many masters she had once known. She had been traded off like ship parts, often without warning. And that was exactly what she saw here.

But you don't ever stop being who you were born as. You just get better at pretending to be something different.

She stood up, her mug clattering across the counter loudly. "But I've done everything- I've been perfect!"

Kaalia Pavanos

 

[Kaalia Pavanos]

"No. I am not sending you away."

Aradia was upset. Avacyn hadn't seen her apprentice like this before, but that didn't mean she was taken aback. This was a teachable moment- a good time to remind the girl of the path she was walking and the sacrifices one had to make for it. She had made real progress, but there was still a long way to go. Simply staying here wasn't going to get her much further.

"You show promise. More so than most of the acolytes I teach. That is exactly the reason why I am sending you out to fight." The woman remained perfectly calm, seeing no reason to get up from her chair. "You made a promise when you agreed to become my apprentice. You would achieve greatness, or die trying. This is how you achieve greatness," she replied, taking a sip of her caf afterwards.

"And upon your return, I will continue to guide you-" Avacyn suddenly went silent for a moment, her head tilting slightly as she realized something.

"You didn't think I was getting rid of you, did you?" She couldn't help but chuckle a little, finding a little humor in the misunderstanding. "This is only a test of your abilities, Aradia. I will continue to be your teacher; miss Fordyce will simply be my eyes for a little while." Finally the woman would get out of her chair, shooting Aradia a reassuring look as she did.

"You'll go and fight, then return here, stronger than you were before."

Darth Daiara ​

 

[Darth Daiara]

That was exactly what she thought.

Aradia stood there, her clenched fists shaking as the moment 360'd once more. Her mind stuttered, then restarted, a bought of embarrassment washing over her as she realized her sharp reaction was uncalled for. She couldn't calm herself down though. Her heart beat wildly in her chest, wound up and riled for a reality that thankfully wouldn't come.

She was going out... as a test. But her spot would remain open for her return. Her body surged with each heaving breath she took, the trepidation that Avacyn expected finally finding the girl. A war. Alone.

Suddenly she didn't feel so confident about this.

She swallowed hard, the subtle shake to her hands still dominating her as she reached out and righted her mug. Coffee raced across the counter top. She stopped it short with her sleeve.

"Yes, Mistress." The look of reassurance was a drop into the bucket of her concerns.

Kaalia might almost find that as her cue to go, the quiet girl saying nothing as she stood there with the wind knocked out of her. The moment her mentor made a move to turn away, she called out.

"But lessons today?" It was a plea-- one last chance to gain what she could for the woman before... it was time to meet her end of the deal.

Succeed, or die trying.

Kaalia Pavanos

 

[Kaalia Pavanos]

There it was. The hesitation. Truth be told, Avacyn was glad to see it. It meant Aradia knew what awaited her and the stakes she was going to be facing. It was the only way she'd learn what the galaxy truly was like and the only way she'd find the inner strength to find her place within it. The girl had been taught invaluable skills and abilities that would serve her well on the battlefield, but only when she'd actually been there would she truly know what it took to be a warrior.

"The fear you feel now, don't forget it. It will fuel your strength when you most need it," The woman remarked. Without fear, Avacyn wouldn't have survived the encounter that left her with the scar that adorned her face. It was a tool, an important one. "It might just become the difference between life and death."

Aradia then asked for a final lesson before her departure. Avacyn nodded before taking the final sip of her caf before setting it back down on the table next to her. One final lesson before the most important test of her life until now. "Meet me at the training grounds in two hours. I will teach you a fire shaping technique," the redhead replied. It would give her apprentice enough time to prepare, but more importantly let the conversation they just had sink in a little.

Darth Daiara ​