Private Convergence [Asha Hex]

[Darth Ahriman]

VALEN ARENAIS​

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Starship: The Chimera
Inventory: Acolyte Apparel // Sith Lightsaber

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Torment.

Once having come into the possession of the truth of his origins, the revelation that Valen was little but a construct of someone else's design had both enraged but also set into course his emotional undoing. Arcadia-N-30 had seen he and his Master Zeptepi Zambrano sift through the Silver Jedi world under the pretence of civilian alias, moving from location to location until they had tracked down the people responsible for the man's enslavement during his younger years, that which he had recalled nothing before his servitude at seventeen standard years.

Reaching the source of his past discrepancies, his Master had cut him loose to inflict a bloodied frenzy through the cultists, defectors to the former Sith Empire and zealous followers of Darth Typjojem, a legendary and ancient Sith Lord they had praised above that of their holy emperor Darth Carnifex himself. Valen and Zeptepi were both fed their fill of violence, right up until crossing paths with the cultist leader who disclosed to the Sith Acolyte that he was a former student of Darth Prazutis and responsible for the clone's creation. Valen's creation.

I am but a tool of war. Not the hand that commands, but the sword that strikes as it is commanded.

Rage swallowed the young man, and in response, nothing was left standing. The darkness swelled to him and devoured what little innocence remained within him. Awoken a boy, trained to kill and thrust into war, forged anew within blood and power, he had ascended all expectations of his peers within the Order of the Sith...-Only to find that his achievements were not that of an individual nor a protege of the Emperor's Hand, but a clone. Designed and created. All he was, felt like deceit against all that he had done in the name of the Kainate, in his Masters' name and his very ambitions to become the epitome of Sith might.

Veiere Arenais.

It...-He. Needed more. He needed to understand and to undo all that this name meant to the Galaxy. Valen yearned for the truth to be erased. He had grasped the one truth he felt possible, plausible and achievable. To become this truth, he was required to erase the falsehood that was the name Veiere Arenais. Jedi filth. A lineage of light to be blotted out in a torrent of hatred for what Valen required it to be. A heresy of the most personal disgrace. An attack against his past, present and future.

And so he had begun to retrace the Jedi's steps...Footprints within Galactic History of which was surprisingly easy to come by. The Sith Archives, the Holonet Database, fame attached to the Household name Arenais that only further invoked a deep-seated and malevolent rage, darkness within the Sith Acolyte which spread throughout his core and burned its way through to reflect within his perception of those around him. All were beneath his newfound motivation. Nothing was more important than the pure dissemination of falsehood against former Jedi Master, and to perish all those connected to the mantle of House Arenais.

Among a list of associates, names that Valen had accumulated over the following days since his mission on Arcadia-N-30; The name Asha Hex.

 

[Asha Sar'andor]

It was always nice to find herself on her way back home after a brief stint out there in the Galaxy. Home... Most would not look upon somewhere like Tribunal Station and view it as such, it was not your typical homestead after all, but for Asha it had very much become that. It was where her favourite people could most often be found, it was where she'd sewn her seeds and buried her roots. For a girl who had for so long existed out of a ship, it was nice to have some permanency.

Of course, the Station was buried within the Kathol Rift. There was still another leg of the journey left for her, and that's where Kal'Shebbol came into it. The last pit stop before she navigated space so strange it was difficult for most to get through much less in a timely fashion. Having made it so many times now she had her paths through, it certainly didn't take her literal weeks anymore, but all the same it was nice to get out, stretch her legs, breathe and restock, before plunging into the depths of obscurity.

While Pilgrim was busy being refueled and stocked up, Asha had wandered from the starport and found herself beyond its confines and staring out over rolling plains which held herds of chollas and banthas. Leaning forward against a perimeter fence she merely observed them with casual interest. Her fingers itched to draw but she hadn't remembered to bring her journal from the ship so instead she settled for merely observing.

A quiet, peaceful day indeed. Just what she needed after so long shipbound.

Valen Arenais

 

[Darth Ahriman]

To track a single individual hidden within a Galaxy of countless billions, humanoid and female, it was not an easy task. Utilizing the Sith Database and political connections within the Kainate, those hidden assets buried deep behind enemy lines under the authority of the Emperor and Lord Darth Carnifex himself, Valen made the most of Zeptepi Zambrano 's name and his own status via the former apprenticeship he held with her in order to put out feelers for anyone going by the name of Asha Hex (Asha Vynea); For that had been her surname associated with what little Valen knew of the House Arenais family.

His days had been spent pouring through intelligence relating to not only Veiere Arenais, killed by Darth Prazutis , but also the Son who had originally discovered Valen's enslavement on the world of Arcadia-N-30 to the traitor-cult leader Darth Veneer. Most interesting was that this woman was not only an associate of the family but also the mentor to the Jedi Knight who, last Valen had checked, resided within the Order of the Silver Jedi. An inevitable target for which Valen would need to eradicate in order to feed his hunger for self-vindication. Not only this, but Caedyn also held a Sister Loreena Arenais-Valhoun who was formerly tied to the Eternal Empire and now by way of marriage, to the Elysium Empire. Twin siblings, the spawn of Veiere Arenais and his also deceased wife NPC Treasury Arenais. Two down, yet two still remained. Half of his task had already been fulfilled it seemed.

His first target had taken several days before word reached Valen, and he finally had something to go on. A recent series of sightings seemingly placed around a particular 'Tribunal Station'. The reported movements suggested more than just a fleeting visit, and so the Sith Apprentice set off with a great eagerness to finally have some source of action within his path. No more sitting around listening to reports of hearsay or insufficient intel.

Kal'Shebbol would be their place of contact, not by chance but out of Valen's choosing. He had visited the Tribunal Station yet found only the woman's absence, thus he had sent our seeker probes to sift through the outlying systems while also continuing to utilize the Kainate's agency his lowly rank allowed. It just so happened that this Vynea Woman wasn't far from home, and her ship had been identified and relayed to the nearby Chimera.

There would be no subtle or hidden approach. Valen sought information from this person, not her very life...-Not at this stage, that was. The Chimera descended down through the clouds and swooped low across the land, lifting only slightly in order to begin its last descent and landing without clearance within the same bay as the woman's vessel, The Pilgrim.

Opening with a loud mechanical hiss, the light of the sun over Kal'Shebbol would cast a revealing glare across the black tunic of the Sith Apprentice, the loose black robe swaying around his figure as the repulsors gradually died down and the air under the Sith Corvette finally settled. The Dark Side of the Force announced his presence with a grave tremor, felt not by those without sensitivity to the Force but by any with the ability to wield such a power within the immediate vicinity. The target he had come for, knew of the Force and how to control it, and thus she would surely sense his arrival had she not been near enough to see his craft descend so dangerously close to her own.

 

[Asha Sar'andor]

Spring must have recently sprung on world, for there was quite the influx of barely weaned calves parading through the fields, so brazen and bold beneath the warm sun, such a beauty to behold. Time passed leisurely that afternoon, and soon enough she was sat within the grass on the other side of the fence with them in the pasture. One or two had seen fit to come closer to investigate, sniffing at her with great huffing breaths, but for the most part they did not interact. Asha was not here to disturb them, after all, merely to exist.

Several ships descended in that time, tracking their way down into the starport, and none of them warranted any real attention from her. After all, that was what a starport was for, no?

But then, some hours in, she felt a shift in the Force and drew her gaze skyward. One vessel in particular had caught her eye, and though she tried to return to her musings she couldn't put it from her mind. Soon enough she was venturing back through the pasture, over the fence, and her feet led her toward the starport. Her arrival would not be immediate, she was on foot after all, but eventually she made it back to her docking bay and found it occupied by a secondary ship.

An unauthorized ship, no less, given that she'd paid for the space herself.

She felt a general uneasiness in the force upon her approach, eyes scanning for whomever had docked...

Valen Arenais

 

[Darth Ahriman]

The black robes of the Sith Apprentice swayed in the wind of every step as his heavy plated boots strode down the landing ramp and out into the open light of the hangar bay. The unscheduled and prohibited proximity to the neighbouring vessel warranting the presence of an Air-Traffic Officer to be summoned from the control centre, seeking to meet with and amend the illicit landing.

In most cases, it would have served him better to keep to some form of subtlety; yet he had a single objective in mind and his passions had been riled too much by the revelation of his unnatural origins and connection to the Arenais family to think clearly. When the man came walking swiftly out into the open Hangar Bay area, Valen could tell by the look of his attire that he had every intention of getting in the way.

His first instinct was to harm the man, to alleviate some of the torrential anger churning within by carving a way through every person he came across until he found the pilot of the starship next to his, but this would send the wrong message. He did not seek blood this time, but information, and so instead of killing the man, he chose to claim dominion over their mind.

"Tell me where the pilot is" Valen instructed, his left hand reaching out, fingers outstretched as if seeking to take hold of something physical; instead he called upon the Darkside of the Force to overwhelm the man's cognition, to completely eradicate any self-control that the Officer had, any free-will that his weakened mind possessed, and forcing him to obey.

Fear-stricken, the Officer desperately apologized and explained that they weren't part of the maintenance personnel that were responsible for refuelling and tending to the docked vessel. In order to attain the information that he needed, they would need to return to the control centre that they had hurried down from to meet with him. Valen did not find the response pleasing in the least, however, in some kind turn of fate for the man, another presence approached. This one with a much stronger force signature than that of civilian life.

"Leave us" Valen commanded the helpless man, already on the move towards the woman who had entered into the open sunlight. She matched the description of his target perfectly, and it seemed that no one would die before he found her after all.

Asha Vynea

 

[Asha Sar'andor]

Asha's approach afforded her snippets of their conversation.​

​

It took her a moment to realize who the pilot was, and by that point in time her assailant had already noticed her there in the bay. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled for a moment, concern for the air control coordinator rising within her, but much to her relief and no doubt his he was bade to leave without consequence though not before staring at her. She gave the worker a small nod of her head, assuring him that all was well, before her gaze fell to the other.​

​

Her brows furrowed at the sight of him.​

​

"Veiere..?"​

​

But that wasn't possible, was it? Vei was dead, long dead, and besides this man was much younger than he had been. What sort of trickery was this? Whoever it was, they were stepped in corruption - enough to make her nose instinctively want to wrinkle. She didn't permit it to, of course, she breathed in a steadying breath and lifted her chin up in defiance.​

​

"Well, you have my attention" she stated plainly.​

​

Valen Arenais ​

 

[Darth Ahriman]

"Veiere..?" The female's knowledge of the fallen Jedi Master was confirmed immediately upon their encounter, and her curiosity soon piqued as she likely realized that it couldn't possibly be her old associate.

The Sith Apprentice didn't initially respond, however, but simply bid his time and slowly closed in the distance between them until they were but a few meters apart, a slow and gradual approach in order to gauge whether or not she was to draw upon her lightsaber if she did indeed possess one.

"No, but he is the reason for our meeting today" Valen replied, words laced with resentment towards the mere mention of the name and how quickly his appearance had apparently invoked the case of mistaken identity. He was, after all, a perfect imitation on the outside.

"I have come seeking answers. Information about this Jedi and everything surrounding his life. I know he has been killed, dead for some time but that does not deter my need to understand who and what he was" Valen elaborated, offering some clarity to the abrupt and intimidating nature of his arrival, interfering with the woman's otherwise peaceful day.

Given her experience and friendship with the fallen Jedi Master, it would not likely be difficult for Asha Vynea to suspect the Sith Apprentice's truthful origin. Clones were a well-known tool for war in Galactic History and even a product of personal use for those wealthy enough, for whatever their reasons. The Dark Side pooled around the man before her, there was no essence of light nor a hint of balance within his aura, simple and pure darkness that shone through the crimson glare in his eyes. Corruption of the very soul.

"I need to know everything you know about this Veiere Arenais, and his family" Valen insisted, not being one for hearing the word 'no' by those, not of his former Master or his superiors within the Kainate hierarchy. "...Cooperate and I will be gone from here, leaving you to continue doing...-Whatever it is you're doing here" he gave a dismissive wave, caring nothing for her personal life and only about his target of inquiry.

 

[Asha Sar'andor]

Though the woman carried two lightsabers on her person, she reached for neither at the slow and somewhat predatory approach of the other. If he was looking to intimidate, she did not outwardly seem to rise to it. She did not shy back, or seek the defenses placed upon her belt, she simply held her ground and regarded him.​

​

Was this how Veiere might have looked if he'd found a different path in his youth? If it had been the Sith who sunk their claws into him, and not the Jedi? Corrupted and filled with malice... It was dripping from him even before the words were uttered, but more so then. Resentment lay heavy in the air between them, and further fueled her understanding of what stood before her now.​

​

A clone. Seemingly one who had not realized he was such until... recently. This pain that was masked by intolerable rage and prompt entitlement to her time and information was fresh, and it left him with an insatiable hunger.​

​

It was, in many ways, a gaping wound. All too observable for one such as she.​

​

He wanted to know not just of Veiere but of his family too. These were the terms to her continuing on with her day as though nothing had happened. An urge to laugh rose up within her, and was squashed as quickly as she recognized it for what it was. Instead a scoff was all that escaped in its wake.​

​

"That is not my business to speak on" she remarked, one of her slender brows raising in challenge to all that he had come here for, all that he had said thus far. "There's plenty about him on the holonet, all of it very much public information. You won't get from me anything you can't find there."​

​

Stated in such a matter-of-fact fashion that she all but shut down discussions entirely. She wanted to turn, to leave him there in the hangar, but instinct bade her not to turn her back on him. Danger senses were flaring already.​

​

Valen Arenais ​

 

[Darth Ahriman]

"Your reluctance is understandable, but do not insult my intelligence, if I wished for baseless information I would not have come so far to track you down" Valen replied coldly, staring back at the woman with suspicion and scrutiny knowing full well she could offer him more than any Holonet article.

This was the mentor to Caedyn Arenais, a fact uncovered through that which she had suggested, however, the Holonet couldn't tell Valen who Veiere was as an individual, not how he worked or what ambitions he had, his ideologies and his passions. What drove him to be who he had once been. "You knew the Jedi far greater than most I suspect, given that the future of his child was placed in your hands" he spoke dryly, impatient with her apprehension and yet fighting to keep himself composed, not relenting to his typically violent methods of interrogation.

"You're right to keep yourself guarded but I have not come with the intention of harming you" he informed Asha Vynea. Mercy that few would have been given were they to find themselves on the receiving end of his visitation. Valen was a tried and true warrior of the Kainate, and the former Sith Emperor. He had walked numerous battlefields and from every life taken, he had consumed the spiritual essence of his opposition, a symbiote to natural life feeding upon the purity of natural energies expelled in their dying moments. He had been trained to become a harbinger among soldiers, an Inquisitor tasked with the assassination of Jedi among hostile forces. The darkness that surrounded his presence was palpable.

"I need to know who he was" Valen's voice grew stronger as he repeated his desire for information on Veiere Arenais; "Statistics are useless to me, I need to know what he felt, what drove him, what he sought out in life and where he came from.." Valen added further, his words hastening as he seemed desperate for answers, frustrated that these were not concepts that he could understand without seeking out the experiences of others.

"The man is dead, there are none to speak for him. You have no reason to keep this from me" Valen demanded almost childly. Born of the machinations of Sith Science, bred for a purpose and then thrust into slavery of a relentless cult following, zealous traitors to the Empire under the leadership of a disgraced Darth, Valen knew nothing of childhood nor the nurturing of paternal upbringing; his earliest memories were of a life caged, beginning at the age of fourteen. Social norm's eluded him for the most part, save for the nature of service and obedience to his mentor and that of the Kainate.

 

[Asha Sar'andor]

"I do not fear that you will harm me" the woman interjected, as he sought to assuage her of any concerns she might have about her personal wellbeing, "But if you think that I will willingly hand over information on the Arenais family you're sorely mistaken." With their parents dead, the twins needed someone willing to stand in their corner unflinchingly, even if they were now adults in their own right.​

​

She would not be the one to fail them, this she would make sure.​

​

The more he spoke and the more he acted, Asha came to realize that he was as untamed as he was volatile. The type of Sith who had been given no restraint where it mattered, yet had been caged all the same. Testy, feisty, he did not mince words, and he certainly acted as though he was entitled to that which he sought. He had come here expecting he'd get answers, but the method in which he'd approached it?​

​

Well...​

​

That certainly left a bad taste in her mouth.​

​

"Well, which is it?" she inquired, once he was done demanding her words, "Do you seek information on Veiere, or do you seek his children?" One there was little harm in giving, not least if it provided this clone with some semblance of comfort and identity. Far be it for her to deny one such in the hopes of appeasing a man long since dead. But the other?​

​

Oh... The other she'd defend until her dying breath.​

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Valen Arenais ​

 

[Darth Ahriman]

"If and when I choose to speak to Veiere's son, I will find him on Kashyyyk" Valen replied, disclosing his knowledge of Caedyn's ties to the Silver Jedi; "It was he who discovered me, freed me and yet also kept the truth from me. You can be rest assured I will be seeking him out sooner or later...-But for now I want to know of the Father". As for the Sister, Valen had not yet sought to track down Loreena Arenais-Valhoun , nor any detailed information about her. His past history with Caedyn and the Silver Jedi while brief, offered some understanding of the Jedi Knight, yet still lacked in priority compared to discovering who it was that Valen had been cloned from.

"Veiere Arenais" Valen reiterated, his hands moving to be held behind his back, standing and studying the woman intently; "A Jedi Master, he was killed by Lord Prazutis on Bimmisaari. He a former leader of the World of Commenor. Details the Holonet provides but lacks any personal clarity. I want to know who he was, not what he did", it wasn't mere desire but a need to understand. Valen believed that in understanding who Veiere Arenais was, he might better identify with and come to understand who he was in himself, an individual, not just a clone. Not just a tool of someone else's purposes but his own being.

As a civilian, Valen had risked entering a war-torn world in order to seek out the Sith Empire, someone within their personnel that could lead him to become one with the Sith Order, his objective to learn more about Darth Prazutis and the history behind the Cult of Typhojem. While Prazutis had remained with the Order, the Disciples as the cultist traitors had called themselves, had fled into hiding upon Arcadia-N-30. What Valen had planned to do would however be hindered by Zeptepi Zambrano 's mentorship, refusing to allow him to seek out the cult until years later when she was certain of his training and ability to defend himself. After years of silently thirsting for the blood of the cult, he had found the truth and yet that only led him to more questions, a truth that seemed so out of reach even now.

It was agonizing. The pain and mental suffering of the soul not being able to understand itself, a life whose purpose had been predesigned by lesser minds; the only appeasing aspect was knowing that they had died painful deaths for their actions. For giving him life, he had taken theirs. Slowly.

Asha Vynea

 

[Asha Sar'andor]

Once more she found herself lifting her chin, though this time there was added confidence to the act; her gaze bore into his, a certain fury she'd not seen fit to express in what could possibly have been years rising to the surface. He spoke so dismissively of her Padawan, yet at the same time his words seemed some thinly veiled threat.​

​

Was it even veiled?​

​

Asha shook her head.​

​

"No." Her jaw tensed, and for the first time since spotting him in the hangar bay the woman took one firm step toward him. Unflinching, emboldened, she looked right through him, deep into the depths of his being. "I do this for you, and you leave them alone. On Kashyyyk or wherever else they may come to roost. Those are my terms, and Force help you if you seek to deceive me. They've been through enough, I will not aid you in furthering their suffering."​

​

There it was, laid out before them, her cards were now plainly in view. He could have Veiere's memory, or he could have the children; he could not have both.​

​

Not that Asha would permit him the latter regardless.​

​

Valen Arenais ​

 

[Darth Ahriman]

The Acolyte had no interest in bidding thought to future events, he was focused on the here and now; Asha Vynea's words were enough to alleviate some of the annoyance churning within him, his tone of voice marginally softening as he responded in agreement, "Very well then".

Like it or not, Caedyn owed him some answers as well. An explanation regarding the Jedi Knight's reasons for not telling Valen the truth before he had gone off and sought out the Sith Brotherhood. Even so, their meeting could wait and it wasn't something that the woman before him needed to be involved in.

If it came to a confrontation with the woman further down the line, the Force would certainly help him; time would eventually tell. Her concern for the Jedi Masters' offspring confirmed a close personal attachment to the family, meaning that as far as possible targets were concerned, he was in the right place.

"What can you tell me about him?" he asked stoically, burying his sense of unease in having to rely on the woman's generosity for a change. The whole 'not forcing someone to do what he wanted' felt more difficult than he felt it was worth, yet the woman could potentially be more help further down the line.

 

[Asha Sar'andor]

Asha wasn't all that convinced he would keep his word, and why should she be? He'd been brazen this entire time, hyper-focused on his odyssey. It seemed as though nothing would keep his thirst for knowledge at bay...​

​

Mayhaps, she reckoned, it was time she reached out to Caedyn. After... Once all of this was over. It had been too long, she'd been trying not to interfere with his new life and his progress, she didn't want to be just another reminder of the past, so she'd kept her distance.​

​

She was beginning to realize what a mistake that was.​

​

"I will know" she stated firmly, "if you break these terms, I will know."​

​

It wasn't even a threat at this point, it was a promise. For all the pacifism inherent within her, there were lines and limits to her patience and peaceful ways. Valen just happened to have a direct route toward one of them.​

​

With a slow inhale she braced herself and called upon the Force. She would be true to her word even if he might not be to his. She would not stoop to his level.​

​

"Tell you? Nothing." She waited a moment after saying that, gaging his reaction, before putting herself one step closer toward him. "But I can show you." Her eyes never wavered from his.​

​

"You will set your weapons down over there, or I shan't bring you with me." She gestured toward the boarding ramp of his ship; there was no wavering in her voice or her gaze. These were her final terms.​

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Valen Arenais ​

 

[Darth Ahriman]

The flow of power that emanated from the woman suggested that their time would consist of more than mere talking, the Force rising to her whim and subsequently causing Valen to prepare himself for the chance that she might instead choose to attack him; violence never came, though she now had his curiosity. Intrigued as to what it was that Asha Vynea had in mind.

Her request for Valen to disarm and distance himself from his weapon was sensible, given the nature of their proximity and his inherently dark, aggressive composure. His right hand moved to draw back upon the black robe that draped over his right side and with his left hand he reached across to detach the Lightsaber from his utility belt.

"As you wish..." Valen complied, turning partially and tossing his weapon carelessly across the bay to land with a loud clatter of metal against the pavement floor, showing complete disregard for the state of the hilt; "Do be warned, however, if you raise any such a weapon against me while I am unarmed, you will not find an easy victory to be had here" he cautioned her, knowing full well that she could easily be seeking to gain an advantage over him. The Sith had taught him much, yet his faith in others had been crushed long before he had joined with their cause. They had only reaffirmed his distrust of people, taught never to allow his guard to drop in the presence of others.

Both hands now moved to push his black robe back, exposing his black on black Tunic and the belt of which now held no sign of a weapon or tool to be used against her. The Dark Side was his only remaining weapon, and though it bristled beneath his skin and whispered vicious and vile suggestions to him, Valen stayed the course and allowed Asha Vynea his restraint, interested to see what it was that she could offer him.

 

[Asha Sar'andor]

Asha waited in silence even once the hilt had clattered far behind him.​

​

She had never done this under coercion, in fact it had once served as a route away from such restrictive and oppressive terms, but on the off chance that he kept his word she had to at least try and protect the children.​

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Well... They weren't children anymore. But that didn't matter. Didn't change the fact that she had an obligation to them.​

​

Exhaling slowly through her lips, she regarded him in a different light now that he was defenseless. "What is your name?" she asked of him, realizing all at once that he'd never seen fit to give it.​

​

That was simple curiosity, though, and a desire to have some way to actually address him during what came next.​

​

Asha extended out a hand, palm facing upward, and closed her eyes; the Force continued to flow readily around her, though in that moment its presence in the air seemed to become a little more tangible. "Place your palm in mine. Do not remove it. You may hold it in your grasp if you feel as though you might need to..." Some people were known for flinching and flailing. Breaking the connection could have disastrous consequences.​

​

She'd make sure to keep a read on him. If push came to shove, she'd just hold it there.​

​

Valen Arenais ​

 

[Darth Ahriman]

Since discovering his origins, Valen felt as if his very spoken name was like pouring salt into an open and festering wound for how much it resembled the name of the Jedi Veiere Arenais. When Asha Vynea asked of it, the Sith Acolyte gave silent pause, apprehension not for the fact that she had asked, but rather the discomfort and resentment for the name itself. "I am Valen" he answered after a time, his words spoken quietly, temporarily distracted by his thoughts and feelings on the matter.

Glancing down to the womans' hands, Valen again hesitated to comply. Sentient contact wasn't his strong point and it felt like an embarrassment to think that he could be seen holding hands with this woman. With any person for that matter. "What is the point of this?" Valen asked, his words laced with scepticism, not yet convinced the act was all that necessary; and yet he had come here for a reason and she seemed ready to oblige him.

Frowning to himself, withholding a scowl as he did so, Valen reached out to place both palms face down atop Asha's own. Perhaps it was foolish of him to trust the woman, for who knew what abilities and talents she was capable of. Whether or not he would come to regret doing as she'd instructed.

Through the mysterious ways and magics of Pom Stych Tivé and the Nightsisters of Dathomir, and that of his Master Zeptepi Zambrano , he had learned of great and unorthodox magics, sorcery and opportunities he had never expected. What equal and incomprehensible abilities were known to those, not of the Darkside of the Force. What was this one capable of?

"This had better not be some trick".

 

[Asha Sar'andor]

"Valen" she mirrored, setting the name to memory. It's close proximity to the name of his originator did not go unnoticed by her, nor did the way in which he seemed reluctant to even utter it. For a moment a frown fell over her expression, soft and seemingly not directed at him at all. At what though couldn't readily be deduced.​

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"Names have power, but only the power we allow them to have. We can also choose our own, though the standard is to remain with that which we were assigned at birth... Don't let a name hinder you, you are more than the sum of its parts."​

​

Whether he actually cared to hear any of that she didn't rightly know. Soon his skepticism was leveled more at her request for contact than anything else. "Contact is a necessity, lest you find yourself lost within the grounds of the Force. I imagine that's not what you're hoping for, so I ask that you heed my caution and keep hold."​

​

When he did comply, it was with both of his hands. She stared down at them for a moment, before blinking and shaking her head. However he wanted to do it, she supposed. Typically it was one hand, but who was she to judge.​

​

With the Force already flowing around her, she reached out to envelop him in her presence too. Joined in the Force at least for a time, she closed her eyes and began to breathe a steady yet deep set of breaths. The air around them seemed to shift and change, and for a moment it felt as though it was all folding in around them.​

​

Then, where once a hangar lay about them, something new began to form. No ships, no control tower... A room. A room was forming around them, some part of Veiere's past making itself known as Asha wandered through the strands of time with the visitor trailing behind. He couldn't see the web as she could, but he could witness the effects of it with his open eyes.​

​

Back, back, back, the scene shifted a few times, mostly in a blur, one room, another, some outdoor space, then finally she paused on a point in Veiere's history that seemed like it might show some of what the man wanted to see.​

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What it entailed though they'd have to find out together...​

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Valen Arenais ​

 

[Darth Ahriman]

"Names have power, but only the power we allow them to have. We can also choose our own, though the standard is to remain with that which we were assigned at birth... Don't let a name hinder you, you are more than the sum of its parts."

Valen's gaze ran cold almost immediately as Asha Vynea tried to counsel him. She was not in the position to be trying to advise him of the nature of his namesake when she, for what he presumed, was born of natural circumstance and knew nothing of his past experiences leading to today. He was all too tempted to lash out with words of warning, yet of the two of them, he was the one that had come to this forsaken place with a need; at the end of the day, she stood to gain little from her compliance with his demands. His jaw tightened, choosing instead to bite down, clenching his teeth and swallowing his pride for the time being.

Pushing past the subject of his name, Valen awaited the woman to begin her ritual, uncertain of what to expect yet never removing contact. Surrounding them both, the Force grew in near physical form, shaping a corporeal presence and shifting, reshaping and forming the environment around them anew before his very eyes. While his left hand left that of Asha's, his right hand sought to grip her own so as to ensure they did not lose hold of one another, the Sith Acolyte's eyes wide and daring as he watched everything that the Force allowed them to see.

[Source]

"What is this?" Valen asked, no longer found himself standing within the Hangar's landing bay but now completely immersed within another place entirely. He couldn't recognize the locale, nor the people that appeared to be seated at individual desks with holo-terminals in front of them, their gaze all focused on the front of what appeared to be some sort of classroom. Turning, Valen's breath escaped him as he saw the vision of Veiere Arenais standing at the head of the class.

"Our lesson today will be an engaging one, and your task or overall goal is to come away from this class with new insight on the Code. I will be expecting everyone to give their views on the Jedi Code, but remember that we are all different and here within my lessons, there is to be no scrutiny".

"Can they see us?" Valen asked, glancing back to Asha Vynea, his words completely lost of the former hostility that he had spoken with, now completely entrenched within his disbelief and intrigue for what else lay ahead of them.

 

[Asha Sar'andor]

He didn't like what she'd said, Asha could feel his spiked emotions through the Force and for a moment the hairs on the back of her neck prickled as her danger sense flared. She didn't reach for a weapon, nor did he, but there had been a moment there where she genuinely came close to drawing upon some sort of defensive tactic. A reminder if nothing else that a darksider without their emotions even remotely in check was nothing to trifle with.​

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Still he settled enough that they could commence with the flow-walking. As they came upon the place in time that felt right, Asha enveloped the both of them in something of a muted bubble in the Force, keeping them disconnected from what lay around them while still being able to observe it. She knew the truth, she knew that interacting here willfully through the Force could leave impressions and tamper with the timelines. She also knew how to mitigate such.​

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As such, when he asked his second question she shook her head. It wasn't a lie, with the precautionary measures she put in place they couldn't be detected at all. Even if she hadn't they'd have to purposely interact, but she wasn't risking that. Not knowing how fickle Valen's emotions were.​

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"No, they can't sense you." His earlier question was something she only saw fit to respond to after the fact, once Veiere's lesson had commenced and the clone seemed a little less on edge. "You're viewing a snippet of his past. You asked to know who he was, as a man... I can think of no better way to do that than by seeing him as he was. We can see more, when you're done with this. Just let me know, and I'll move us on."​

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Valen Arenais ​