Depths of Silence

[Elensa Jari]

Planet Iliabath, Outer Rim Territories

The jungle was eternal, ever-encroaching, never truly still, possessed of a dark energy that felt primal far more than it did artificial: this was the Dark Side as it existed within the natural world, untouched and untainted by contact with the civilised mind. This was the darkness between stars, the predatory urge to feed, a hunger that could never truly be sated. It was a darkness that consumed, and one that would seek out all that might yet offer it a meal. Light and Darkness as the Jedi and the Sith understood them were irrelevant here: no higher philosophies mattered. Only the jungle was real.

Her eternal silence did not offer stillness, for the life present was never to match her muted nature, the subtle rustling of the trees, the leaves and twigs crushed underfoot, the soft breath of animals concealed within the dense foliage, hiding from the oncoming threat that they had detected with primal senses. She was not alone here, not at all: there were predators and prey alike stalking within the jungle, and the young woman knew that a mis-step might draw them to her, a feast in the offing, if only they could subdue her. And is that not the thrill of the jungle?

She would not have come had it not been for the rumours of an ancient place known to the Sith - undoubtedly one that was something the elders of the Order had acquaintance with, but that was but a whisper of a mystery to those at the bottom of the rung. To them, to her, it was an enigma, something that might hold secrets that the Lords might ignore, something they might shrug aside as beneath them, but that might offer a student of her level a considerable advantage, if she was bold enough to take it for herself.

It had not been easy going from here: she only had a vague sense of where her path should lead. The co-ordinates of the place had not been available to her, so it had been a question of using her senses: the Dark Side swarmed around places sacred to her kind, so to find it, she needed to sniff it out accordingly, follow the darkness wherever it led. In this jungle, that was a dangerous proposition: the darkness was everywhere. And it was taking a toll from her, slowly and subtly.

Her skirts had torn at the hem, her elegant attire slashed by stray branches and bushes that were not easily spotted in the gloom of the jungle. Her face was suffused by a faint red blush across her cheeks that spoke to the tiredness she felt, the exertion of simply cutting her way through showing in subtle fashion beneath the semi-transparent black veil that covered her head. She had been forced to use a simple small vibroblade to hack away at the foliage, her lightwhip useless in such close quarters. This wasn't a trek, no simple hack: it was a battle. And I feel like I am losing.

Such was the way of the Sith, though: nothing worth obtaining would come easily, if it came at all. She would either force the jungle around her into submission, or if would force her. That was the simple truth of it.

| [member="Darth Ignus"] |​

 

[Figure In White]

Leos had not struggled as much as she had in reaching where he wanted to go. Knowing animals as he did, being able to communicate with them as he could, made it easier for him to look for paths through dense undergrowth that didn't require him to destroy the natural habitat. Not that he was aware that there was someone out there doing that exact thing. Not many of the others had figured out where to find him on Iliabeth, so he figured he would be alone there.

The Nexus was not the most powerful, but it did allow him to achieve deep meditation. After his encounter with Connor Harrison and Matsu Xiangu on Mirial, he needed to recharge. He needed to think. Connor had killed a bunch of the remaining Mirialans, which had upset him greatly. Dealing with that loss was difficult for him after the horror his people had already endured thanks to the Primeval.

Needless to say, he was tired, but he was also not alone. Arus and Milan rested nearby. The two kept him safe while he was locked in a deep trance. Feeling out around him, he coasted through the Force and the nature of the world. As he did so, he discovered the girl approaching the catacombs. Reaching out, he allowed his dark presence to wash over her, tantalize her, and then disappear, leaving a trail of malevolence behind him to draw her forward. He was curious, but he would remain in his trance all the same.

Milan perked her head up. She had the keenest senses of the two Maalraas. She smelled something but it was far off yet so sheasy lay her head back down, though she kept her eyes open and focused down the path that led to where Leos waited for the girl to come.

[member="Elensa Jari"]

 

[Elensa Jari]

| [member="Darth Ignus"] |​

The sense of the jungle felt brooding, oppressive, as though the entire thing was just waiting for her to turn her back and pounce, to rip her into tiny pieces and feast on her remains. It was an unnerving feeling, one that hung at the back of her mind with little mercy or remorse, a constant assailing of her thoughts that made her even more cautious than she already was. This place simply wasn't right, and that made her certain that she was getting even closer to her destination than she had thought. After all, the approach to a Sith tomb is not supposed to feel light and cheerful. The more oppressive the gloom felt, the more likely it was that she was close.

There was something else, too, something more malevolent, more vicious. The jungle asserted a dark grasp upon her, but it was a natural darkness, one that fought with every step for survival, because that was what the jungle did. It hungered, it consumed, it moved on. This other thing that she felt was something separate from that...something that had picked up on her personally. The sort of gaze a predator might use when sighting a meal, but sharper than that. It was a hard thing to describe, even within the silenced confines of her own mind. Even so, she knew her bumbling exploration had caught something's attention. And that doesn't bode well.

Taking a pause in her stride, her long skirts falling around her as her gait ceased, the young woman took a moment to breathe, and simply allow her sense of inner equilibrium to return, reaching outwards with those ethereal senses provided to her by the Force, looking for the source of whatever it was that so disturbed her thoughts. The vibroblade she carried continued to hum away as she let it rest loosely at her side, her mind pre-occupied with the Force, and nothing more. It was like switching a light on in a dark room: suddenly there was clarity, and she could see.

There were three, and close by. One definitely sentient, carrying that sense of mental discipline that one did not find in animals, but with a evident connection to the other two, which were tethered to the sentient through thin tendrils of Force energy, carrying some sort of compulsion or command - there was clearly a dependency here, but like nothing she'd ever felt before. Whoever it was knew she was here, too: there was an obvious feeling of expectancy, as if they were waiting. For reasons she couldn't explain, that made her feel angry. Very angry.

A clearer map became evident to her mind: opening herself up to the Force prompted it to offer her a path between her and the being she could sense. There was still plenty of foliage in the way, but that much could be hacked aside with stern motions of the vibroblade. Her legs moved now, directing her towards this being that had dared to touch her mind, every few steps requiring her to reach forward with the vibroblade and cut another piece of vegetation sufficiently into pieces that she might push past it.

The catacombs were close now, too, she knew that. The energy of the Dark Side was strong, very strong, in close proximity to the person she could detect, but something separate. This one was there for some reason: perhaps even a rival student, a competitor come to do a little investigation of their own. Someone who will not like kindly to another of our kind. Swapping her vibroblade to her right hand, the young woman reached behind her back with the left, taking hold of the metallic hilt she felt there and pulling it free from the restraint, a long tendril coming free with it, which she rapidly gathered up to rest in the palm of her hand, coiled and ready. Just in case.

She emerged from the foliage looking a little dishevelled: the catacombs were in sight now, the rock worn and ancient, well-hidden by the jungle that had grown up around it, clearly having been there for centuries. At the entrance, the beings she had sensed: a dark-robed person flanked by two...creatures that she could not identify, perhaps both pet and bodyguard, from the way they appeared. A dangerous proposition, if this one meant her harm: to fight three at once would be no simple task.

 

[Figure In White]

Darkness ebbed and flowed. The arrival of the girl only served to agitate it. Milan was first to her feet, bearing her vicious teeth in a feline growl towards the newcomer. Arus, the more wily one, sensed his mates displeasure, eyed the girl, and then disappeared into the shadows, using its latent Force connection to disappear within the darkness. This world was not so different from the one they came from, and they were masters of the jungle unlike any other. If the girl sought to do harm to their master, she would quickly regret doing so. Even if she had a lightsaber, or any variant, the bones of the Maalraas would resist it. She could hurt them, but only one at a time.

The being she saw, robed in darkness, was LITERALLY robbed in darkness. An illusion, granting him monstrosity, and feeding off the energy of the place. In reality, Leos wore his usual armor beneath the shadow. It protected him from danger, and though this world was largely in the purview of the Sith, it was still a dangerous place. Where Sith were concerned, none could be trusted. Leos wouldn't even trust himself, and he'd be wise to do so. Still, the girl, who she was was but a mystery to him. Hapan. He could tell just by looking at her. The bearing. The beauty. The condescension. Nobody else could look down upon someone as well as a Hapan woman could. It was disgusting and yet fun at the same time.

"Who are you to come here?"

He didn't turn to face her. The black monstrosity of writhing flesh didn't need to face her to feel her. The eyes. The eyes like blades. Why was she there? What had she come for? To what purpose did she slash her way through the jungle to reach this particular place. The tomb of a fallen Sith. A place known to few besides him. A place he sought solitude, and to test himself for the future. His knowledge of illusions grew with each day. The stronger they became, the more he could even rival Matsu Xiangu in her capabilities. And when his ship was built? Oh, then things would really start to get interesting for the foes of the Sith Order. The foes of his Reformation.

"Your attitude will not serve you here, be warned."

Leos didn't like to be talked down to, and he knew it would come. Hapan's were like that. The women, especially, were bad. Their disdain for men was legendary. Too bad for them that outside of their petty little Cluster, the rest of the galaxy saw things differently. Even if she was strong, here he was at his best, and she wouldn't like what would happen if she tested him.

[member="Elensa Jari"]

 

[Elensa Jari]

| [member="Darth Ignus"] |​

Who are you to come here? She heard the challenge echo across the distance between them, clearly intended to intimidate her into genuflecting in submissive fashion: the demand of a male who evidently felt that she was intruding on his territory. Who are you to ask?, she thought, observing well enough that the male had failed to identify himself, had not bothered to assert any true superiority beyond the wasteful use of energy he was playing with in order to create the visage he presented to her. Or perhaps he is simply that ugly in truth. At this point, it would not have surprised her: ugly personalities were often wedded to ugly physicality.

All that had served to draw her interest thus far were the two creatures that had served to flank the grotesque monstrosity, sleek and cat-like in a way, though covered in hide rather than fur, and with claws big enough to rip out her delicate throat in a single swipe, if they felt so inclined. That one had vanished from her sight and her senses was impressive: clearly they were bred for predatory instinct, and perhaps she was even now being stalked by the less visible of the pair. Keeping my eyes on the two that remain visible is a distraction for the one that would pounce. Knowing that didn't stop her, of course: invisible to her senses, she had nowere to turn to face the creature that might leap out at her at any moment.

Her grip upon the lightwhip at her back tightened, but she did not unfurl it preparatory to a strike: without knowing where the third one was, and without any overt threat beyond a few simple words directed her way, there was no purpose in lashing out. And if I did, I would make certain that the next sensation would be the feel of those magnificent claws digging into my back as the counterpart of that one pounces. She wasn't particularly inclined to experience that, even though it might end up her fate at any rate.

Even so, she was not aware of having displayed any attitude thus far, unless emerging from the vegetation could be said to have carried an attitude. Perhaps I was holding my vibroblade at the wrong angle, and have offended the pretentious male, she thought scornfully, not knowing but nor really caring what had ruffled his feathers. Men were always so easy to provoke: too prideful without cause, too quick to puff up around others, as if doing so were sufficient to intimidate. Really, they simply make us see how foolish they are: beings that must be guided by a woman to be of any true use. That this one kept pets suggested that he needed to dominate creatures less than himself to feel any worth.

Brushing off a few loose leaves from her dress with the hand holding her lightwhip, she took a moment to make herself look more presentable. It did not do to be in the presence of a man as dishevelled as she felt, but it was unavoidable for the moment. Drawing herself up, she moved closer, noting disdainfully how he had thought to cloak himself in the energies of the Force, as if that would be scary to a fellow Force User. True, he had control that was perhaps beyond her, but that did not make him her superior. He would be very much mistaken to think otherwise.

The creature growling at her was clearly warning her off, but she was not going to be cowed by a non-sentient. Even so, she'd had pets before, and knew that they tended to be wary of strangers until they presented themselves in a non-threatening fashion for them to become accustomed to. Ignoring the preening male, the young woman sheathed the vibroblade that she held in her right hand, returning it to the belt at her waist, then extended her hand palm outward, that the creature might sniff it. Such feral predators hunted by smell, and it was this that they used to identify others with. Perhaps her perfume would prove inoffensive to them, and they might realise that she was not a threat.

As to the other...if he wanted to have a problem with her, she'd show him some attitude.

 

[Figure In White]

"Arus, Milan, ez oztopatzeko."

At these words, the larger of the two Maalraas would move back and resume her position, lying on the ground not far away from where Leos was still knelt down. Arus, being the ever obstinate one, did not reappear. She would have to wonder about him for the time being, but that really mattered little to Leos. The girl was going to be an issue with her nature. Clearly she had come to this place for a reason, and she was not going to just leave him be, which meant that he was going to have to ascertain her true purpose for being there. That didn't mean that he was going to have to baby her, or acquiesce to her idiotic belief that she was better simply because she was a female and he was male. He knew of ways to utterly ruin that thought process, to teach her his dominance, but he wasn't that extreme.

The girl didn't know the kind of power she messed with by challenging Leos. Especially here. Some Sith would teach her a lesson with physical force. In fact, he was certain that most of them would do so. He wasn't like most Sith, however. He prefered shows of power that didn't involve physical force. He preferred to break someone without breaking them. It was kind of worthless to break the body of a potential pupil. You ruined the chance of actually making something of them if they could no longer function. Just something he'd never understood about the more physical of his kind. Needless to say, he had other ways of ruining her.

As such, her steps forward would quickly prove problematic. Likely she'd been expecting solid ground beneath her feet, but as she went to take a step, the ground around them suddenly changed. The forest burned away to nothing. Smoldering rock was all that was left. Beside them, burbling along towards the edge of the plateau in the distance, ran a river of lava. It hissed and popped as one would expect. The heat was intense. They had no shielding from its effects, and yet Leos, who dropped the guise of the writhing monster in order to focus on changing their surroundings, did not seem at all affected by this, even as bits of his armor seemed to spark and sizzle with tiny flames whipped up by wind passing over the boisterous liquid fire passing them by.

Wisps of flame would kick up and land upon her person, starting tiny fires that would feel entirely real. Illusion worked on every facet of the mind, including the pain receptors. As the embers burned, they would soon find skin, and she would feel the heat, the burning of her flesh. There was no escape from this unless she was strong of mind, able to overcome his illusion. Could she be such? It was possible, but he wouldn't know until she tried.

[member="Elensa Jari"]

 

[Elensa Jari]

| [member="Darth Ignus"] |​

The first words that he spoke were clearly not directed at her, though she would not have understood them if they had been, since they were neither articulated in the common languages of the galaxy, nor in her native Hapan, but in some arcane tongue that rasped harshly from his lips. A mangled language for a mangled wreck of a being. It seemed somehow appropriate that he would debase his vocalisations with something so uncouth, lacking the same refinement of language that was present in some many in the Galaxy. Trust a man to depend on something uncivilised.

Before she might take another step forward, to bring herself into potential striking range of her lightwhip, the forest erupted around her, a sudden blazing inferno arising where before there had been but foliage. It was if the entire area had been obliterated with a turbolaser blast from orbit, the vegetation that had not been entirely incinerated now beginning to burn, decorating the surroundings with orange and red hues, fiery and incandescently beautiful in their death throes. Heat struck her in a wave that had emerged from nowhere, striking at her skin through the gauzy material of her veil, an assault about as subtle as the turbolaser blast she had first thought of.

Panic assailed her, noting that such fire might prove deadly in the absence of any obvious escape: and with the male standing there, unconcerned by it, it was clear enough where the source of this sudden change had come. She had never known one capable of creating such a destructive force before, changing a vital, dynamic landscape into a barren wasteland in the space of a heartbeat, summoning forth fiery lava that threatened to incinerate her the way it had done with the environment around her.

She drew a breath, knowing that fear was only ever the primal response, a weak one that you had to surrender to for it to have effect. True, she knew she was in considerable danger, but that did not mean she had to spend those last moments uselessly, or in submission to the fire that would burn her into a cinder. The Force remained, even though everything else had ceased, and she drew upon this now to cool her skin, to lower her body temperature in compensation for the inferno that raged around her. Harder to survive when all you can think is how hot you are.

The sense of relief did not last long, however: the soft material of her dress had caught fire, the skirts being consumed softly by red-hot flame moving over it, no protection at all to the skin trapped beneath it. No scream emerged from her lips, much though she wanted it to, the agony obvious as the pain receptors in her legs found themselves assailed, then incinerated, the flames penetrating deeper down beneath the surface tissues.

There was no escape there, and she fell involuntarily to her knees, only renewing the agony that crawled through her body now, her technique forgotten in the throes of pain, nerves aflame with a jarring level of pain that was beyond what she had experienced even in the midst of an explosion. Her lightwhip fell from her hands, the pale skin turning to a livid red as she watched the heat damage the tissues. At least she had little time to struggle with it before her body gave out and simply let her expire. That much was a blessing, perhaps, freeing her from further torment.

The very least she could do was glare at the one responsible, knowing she could offer her disdain for him in one last futile effort to communicate her feelings before meeting her fate. How could he stand there, cool and collected...Wait a minute... How was that possible? Even with the strongest application of Tapas techniques, he would not himself remain unharmed, and the fact that his pet had not reacted the sudden emergence of a lava fount suggested that...there wasn't one.

The girl scowled, realising that she had fallen for the oldest trick in the book: seeing things that were not there. The heat on her skin and the pain that went with it was shocking, searing through her with destructive lethality, and yet, it was a lie. She realised that now: how could it be anything else? It felt so real, manifest and deadly, and yet it could not be. After all, I would not be alone in meeting my death, were it so. Anger surged through her, a burning of a different kind, returning clarity that forced her to focus not upon the pain, but upon what he had dared to do to her, this arrogant male that thought to play with her mind.

She raised her head, ignoring the sense of her nerves burning, knowing it was a lie, focusing her blue eyes upon the source of her pain, glaring at him through a veil that she knew was not truly burning away and exposing her face to the fire. You have done this, she thought, her anger a pain of a different sort, the type that wanted to burn him into ashes that she might smote beneath her boot. It hurt to move, each tiny motion a wave of agony, but she knew the lie that he was telling her mind, and knew that each sensation, each hurt, was but a projection: how he wanted her to feel. Touch my thoughts, and know the feeling is mutual, she brooded. Feel my pain, know it should be yours.

Given the chance, she'd see that illusion become a well-deserved reality. Perhaps he might know pain akin to hers.

 

[Figure In White]

Leos watched, indifferent to her suffering. The girl was as expected. Breaking her wouldn't be easy, even if he had resorted to more physical efforts. She succumbed to the fires, but even that didn't illicit the cries from her he wanted to hear. The pain she felt was obvious to him, however. He didn't need to reach out to her mind to feel it. The nature of the Force was such that it wafted to him and he drank of it as he would wine from a glass. Her pain was his drug of choice. But then again, he wasn't much into drugs and tomfoolery, as it left the body weakened and the mine in a state of ridiculous turmoil that would essentially make one galactically worthless. Needless to say he would much rather study or meditate than have to entertain violence.

But the girl was fun. Her arrogant attitude made for an easy, justifiable target. Now as she lay there, her skin seeming to burn away, her eyes upon him and boring hatred into his very being, he could only stand there and watch her, not saying a word. Little flits of flame had landed on his own clothing and burned for a bit but dissipated, perhaps to indicate that his clothing was flame retardant. It wasn't really. Lightsaber resistant and flame retardant were different, but how could she know that since she'd not seen the specifications for his armor? She couldn't. As for Milan, well, she was used to a lot of things when it came to him. He was, after all, a Sith.

She presumed to think that it was over, but he was only just beginning. Though she'd deduced that he was the cause of her pain, she had not dispelled the illusion. She merely knew he was the root cause.

That root cause now summoned a fireworm, a creature that thrived within lava. It first targeted him, of his own volition, but he pretended to reach out and redirect it to the girl. It closed on her, swimming through the lava, protected by its scales. Hungry. Oh so hungry. It grabbed onto her, the sensation of fangs would ripple through her body, and dragged her back towards the lava pool. If she'd thought that she'd felt the sensation of death before, it would be nothing like drowning in lava while being devoured by a serpent. Leos had his own ways of being cruel. Unlike his brothers and sisters, however, he preferred to attack the mind and not the body. Distinctions had to be made, and he wanted her intact when all was said and done. Perhaps not mentally so, but even the partitions of the mind could be sewn back together.

Milan, at this point, had perked up at the serpent, and had even growled at it, but she hadn't moved from her position near her master. Arus was still nowhere to be seen.

And to think, his torture of her was only just beginning.

[member="Elensa Jari"]

 

[Elensa Jari]

| [member="Darth Ignus"] |​

Far from disappearing, the illusion revealed, it mutated, turning into something far deadlier, a vast worm of fiery scales and menacing appearance rearing up from the ground, predatory in motion and undoubtedly more than enough to prove her match. Elensa's eyebrows contracted in a scowl, one she directed now towards the worm, knowing that it might not be an illusion, but a real threat that had been concealed by such mentalism, a means of making her feel complacent right before the end came.

Still on her knees, she reached across and forced her burned and raw hand to grasp the hilt of her lightwhip, agony rushing through her as she pressed a finger against the activation stud. The weapon hissed as the nearly-invisible tendril flooded with energy, a white-yellow glow suffusing it across the fullness of its length, exactly as she had intended. Though every nerve in her body felt aflame, she worked carefully to shut out the pain, knowing how great a distraction it might prove if she allowed her concentration to lapse and for that agony to run through her entire body. No doubt such would disable her fully, leaving her at the mercy of the other Sith: and they were not known to have any.

A sudden flick of her wrist brought the long tendril of the whip behind her, another sent it flying forward, striking forward with the speed of a snake, invisible to the eye beyond the burning blur of light it left in the air it moved through, becoming visible only at the moment it struck, all momentum transferred from the lash to the target: one of the crystalline scales that constituted the dangerous fireworm. Lacking the same energetic force of a lightsaber, the whip did not cut straight through the creature to leave it dead at her feet, but rather shattered the hardened crystal, an impact as much kinetic as energetic, hurting it even though she had not killed it.

Before her second strike could be made, the fireworm lunged at her, fangs wide that aspired to sink deep into her flesh, knife-like and undoubtedly deadly. The heat it gave off was more intense even than the lava from which it had emerged, toxic and painful. The worm grasped at her, fangs reaching deep into her side, though any scream that might have emerged from her failed to materialise, the only sounds she could hear being the gutteral sounds of the beast now killing her, though little enough attention was given to such in the wake of the pain that threatened to blast away her conscious senses.

And yet...something was wrong. Sage had inadvertantly taught her something of the Force from their time together, and she had learned how to perceive a mind through the briefest of physical contacts, a method she had used to enable communication from time-to-time. Though it felt like someone had shoved two lightsabers through her stomach, there was an emptiness, something she couldn't quite understand. It was as though the thing which had hold of her lacked a mind: no intelligence, no intent, no emotion. Almost as though it wasn't even there.

The knowledge of the Sith's illusion washed over her in a restorative wave, recognising the touch of his mind on hers: the only one to which she was connected. Having reached out to find one, she had caught a trace of another, and that was the weapon he was using against her. Anger raced through her, a fire that replaced the one he had convinced was eating away at her, burning away the remnants of his illusion. She knew what it was he was doing, and conscious of it, she pushed back, seeking to shake loose any hold he had over her. That a man would dare to touch her mind in such a way was a sacrilege beyond anything she had experienced before, and there would be consequences for that.

Her boots found purchase on the ground as she came to her feet, perhaps a little unsteadily, but with a clear conscious effort, aware of her surroundings once more. She could still see the illusion, felt the heat of the lava and the toxic smell of the fumes that might erupt from it, but illusion was all it was: an assault on her senses to convince her of a lie. But knowing it was a lie, it held no power over her now, not now she had the source of it to hand.

Eyes glaring at him through her veil, she shook her head at him, this Sith that had dared to invade her consciousness. Better to let him know that he had failed, and live with the shame of it. What better fate for a man than to know that a woman holds him in derision?

 

[Figure In White]

Inside his helmet he smiled. She proved to be stronger than he expected. Yes, she was a female Hapan, but she was actually strong, not just someone who thought they were because of the fact they were female. Such a disgusting notion to believe something so trivial as genes and what was between ones legs could make someone better than someone else. Pettiness was an infection. It was such things as this that ultimately made them weak enough for the Jedi to nearly destroy them many years prior. Such a bother.

To be honest, he didn't flinch a smidge at her arrogance. Nor did he say a word to her. She wanted to be strong, but she was still incredibly weak. Her belief that she was inherently better ultimately made her weak. Strength did not come from a belief. It did not come from feelings or thoughts. It could not be conveyed in words. Strength was conveyed through actions and a combination of words, ideas, and beliefs. One alone was nothing. Together they were everything. He felt no arrogance towards this girl. Perhaps a deep dislike for her kind, but not arrogance. After all, she had bested his illusion.

Or, rather, she has bested one form of his illusion art.

The art of illusion extended beyond the realm of false visions. Such as creating several copies of himself which now approached her. By orchestration they possessed the same qualities of being that he did, including the benefits of armor. They would, in fact, be quite resistant to her blade whip. Needless to say, these were not mere illusions, they were manifestations of the Force and were quite tangible. They closed on her while he, the real version of him, stood calmly where he had risen from his meditation.

If she thought he was shaken, she was quite wrong.

[member="Elensa Jari"]

 

[Elensa Jari]

| [member="Darth Ignus"] |​

The illusions shifted again, vanishing as quickly as it had appeared, the scent of fiery sulphur gone now, and sensation of burning against her skin diminishing rapidly, replacing only by the warm humidity of the jungle that surrounded them. Even so, there was a slight chill in the air now, one not born of temperature changes, but that whispered of the dark and remorseless energies that were bound to this place. They sent a shiver running down her spine, and not in the way she might have preferred: providing no relief, instead simply offering foreboding.

The other still had not elected to speak - at least not to her. That he was capable could not be disputed, since he had directed words in some harsh tongue to those little pets of his, but beyond that, he had offered neither salutation nor words of disdain. No challenge, no attempt to splinter what little equanimity she possessed, nothing. He had chosen to allow his illusions to speak for him, working to overpower her mind and overwhelm her senses.

Now, though he sat calmly on the rock he had chosen, several copies of him now stood and moved to surround her, each of them attired in armour that looked both brutally functional and designed to intimidate. Here was one who clearly felt safest when surrounded by moulded metals and padded underlays, guarded against the world rather than part of it. She almost rolled her eyes at such a thought: no doubt he wished to impress observers with a sense of mystique, created by the absence of his features.

The second of the two animals still had not thought to appear, hiding whether in foliage or with whatever natural evolutionary mechanism it had developed in order to render it unseen to her eyes. No matter: she suspected that these illusions would be sufficient a problem for her to deal with, without her having to create others. Though the psychological strain it must take to create and control such a thing must be taking a toll.

Depressing her thumb against the activation stud on her lightwhip, she turned off the weapon, which thinned from a white-yellow beam to a barely visible tendril, allowing her to curl it back in her hand, ready to lash out again if she needed to. The illusions simply closed in, but beyond that, they did not strike, and she felt a measure of security in that, though certainly that might change at any moment.

Her other hand moved in a quick series of finger motions, each flickering in some sort of sequence, one familiar to her, but perhaps not so to the other. Few people she had encountered had ever bothered to learn to sign, and doubtless he was not among them, but there remained no harm in trying. It was a simple enough question: why was he bothering her with his illusions? It remained something of an elusive answer: perhaps he was warning her off, perhaps threatening outright, perhaps amusing some sadistic need to mess with another being's mind. Regardless, he cannot continue this forever.

Sooner or later, he would need to stop hiding behind his Force energies.

 

[Figure In White]

"Hold."

Leos held a hand up to stop the apparitions from attacking the girl. His eyes, however, were focused entirely on her fingers. Each intricate movement was orchestrated for a purpose and after only a moment he realized that it was sign language. The girl was mute or deaf. Some deaf individuals never learned to speak, after all. Speech was learned through the auditory sense generally, so it was plausible. Regardless, she was unable to speak to him audibly. Being as he had no knowledge of how to use sign language, that left only one plausible choice for conversing. She likely wouldn't like it.

A gesture of his hand sent the physical apparitions back from whence they had come. After doing this, he reached up to remove his helm, revealing his green skin and numerous facial tattoos, along with his naturally orange eyes. He regarded her critically, as was his custom. Each situation was a problem to be solved, after all. However, in this particular case the problem had developed into how to speak to her. He knew the answer already, so he might as well do it.

I don't know sign language, I'm afraid. We will have to resort to me invading your mind until you can teach me.

A huge assumption was being made with his statement, but he was confident that he would have such an opportunity with her. If his feelings were correct, this girl and he were going to have a long relationship of the platonic kind. Or the student and teacher kind. That was a better way of describing it as far as he was concerned. Either way, he wasn't trying to belittle her by implying that she would teach him. Contrary to what she might think, he wasn't a male supremacist. He treated both genders with equal disdain.

Think about what you wish to tell me and I will hear it unless you kick me out.

[member="Elensa Jari"]

 

[Elensa Jari]

| [member="Darth Ignus"] |​

​

The violation continued as the young woman heard another mind within her own, a set of whispered words which had not been given form by any vocal cords, instead vocalised through remembered tone, such that she heard his words in the way he might have heard them himself. It was a clever ability, one she had experienced before from others, those who had sufficient power and control to communicate with her in a fashion less crude than a mere motion of their hands. That the other had once again deigned to push through her mental defenses in order to do this remained offensive, but he had clearly proven that he was more powerful, so she could little about it, for now.

As the illusions vanished and the male removed his helmet, the young woman's shoulders dropped in what would have served as accompaniment to a sigh, were she capable of offering one. The lightwhip in her hands remained deactivated, and she took a moment to coil it back into a more compact shape - the way things had changed had led her to suspect she might not require it, at least for the moment. His simulacrums had gone back to where they had come from, and that left simply the two of them, and his bestial pets, though one remained hidden from her.

The way he had spoken had been gentler than she might have suspected - not apologetic, no, but utterly dismissive of the war of minds that had played out between them. She scowled at that, irritated despite herself. He had chosen to play with her like a new toy, and then shrug it off as irrelevant once the young woman had tried to communicate. Playing games with me, still, but changing the nature of them now. The Sith did so often enjoy that, she had found: they enjoyed shifting the boundaries, moving the goalposts, or changing the game outright, never allowing you to settle on a single set of rules. With one sole exception: there are no rules.

"Do you always make a habit of attacking those who share your space?", she asked contemptuously, allowing her thoughts to form into words across the mental bridge he had established with her consciousness. Without his helmet, the male looked far less imposing: olive-green skin with careful black markings tattooed upon chin and cheeks, fiery eyes staring out at her, a close-cropped cut of dark hair that served to match his armour. Taller than she, but not as tall as his armour had led her to suspect, he had a cruel, studious look to him, the kind that might be found on a scientist that experimented on all lesser creatures, paying no heed to their suffering, provided they offered results.

Here was one that was not used to being put in his place, that much she was sure of. She'd met men like him, of course, though few on Hapes: this was the type that did not recognise the fragility of his gender, the kind that saw strength only in terms of what he might overpower, or dominate. And that is the weakest kind of power. Perhaps, if she survived long enough with this encounter, she might yet teach him as much.

 

[Figure In White]

Attacking? If I wanted to actually attack you, then your body would no longer be whole.

She didn't seem to understand that with him being in her mind, he could understand what she was thinking. On one level it was annoying to know that she thought his gender to be weak. She must have been the type to completely ignore science considering there was a lot of it that inherently showed that females were weaker, in general. There were species differences, of course, but in general this wisdom held true. Mental strength varied from person to person, and gender had no bearing on it whatsoever. But when it came to Hapans, they didn't seem to care much about reality.

Milan stood and walked over to sit beside him. He reached out and brushed fingers over the top of her head. Regardless of what the girl thought about him, he was actually rather affectionate towards his pets. To him, they were more than pets. To him, they were companions. Milan was his most faithful outside of Cet, but the dragon was more temperamental and didn't particularly care about the planet they were on. Leos figured it was because the world was not as cold as the one the dragon came from.

You know little and judge much, quite typical of both Sith and Hapan women. I would hope you would rise above such pettiness.

He shook his head at her, as if disapproving.

I was testing you; testing your mental prowess and resolve. Few these days have the strength to withstand such skills, as few possess them anymore. When I sensed your approach I noted your strength, but you are not fully refined. I believe you've had a teacher, but they've left you. Am I correct?

[member="Elensa Jari"]

 

[Elensa Jari]

| [member="Darth Ignus"] |​

Whole? She hadn't been whole for years, not since that day where her world had been pulled out from under her, sense of direction gone, her teacher left dead in an explosion he had not had the clairvoyence to see coming, her voice ripped from her, the blood leaking from between her fingers as she sought to rescue what remained of her life. This Sith was much mistaken if he ever imagined that she felt whole. She was broken, and she knew it. Perhaps this one might have been able to take her life, but if such was his whim, he was welcome to it. She wasn't afraid of that, not at all: what purpose was death but to end the suffering of life?

Still, he was correct to imagine that her teacher had left, as he so tactfully put it. Left insofar as he shed his mortal coil at the same moment as he abrogated his responsibilities. She wasn't really sure she could ever forgive him for that failure, but it didn't matter: her judgment of him was as irrelevant as he was, in hindsight, given that he had no consciousness to concern himself with her feelings. All that mattered was how he had left her: directionless, without goals, with few aspirations, merely seeking something else, and filled fully with anger at the way her life had turned out.

This one clearly lacked her fatalism, cynical in his own way, quick to judge even as he criticised her own judgment, which said a lot about the nature of his gender. Men were ever quick to do that, to seek something they could attack, to criticise, to give them that eternal sense of superiority that was common to those outside the Consortium. They had risen to prominence and ruled over women the way that women ruled over men on Hapes: imagining the other to be the weaker of the two, and thus naturally asserting themselves as being right. Perhaps this one thought of himself as above that, but his prejudices were quick to show in his dismissal of her own. Ironic, in truth.

"Teachers exist only to guide their students down a path which serves themselves," she responded telepathically, her mind straining against the connection that he had forced onto her, irked by it even as she acknowledged the necessity for it. "Their flaws becomes yours, but when their time is done, you are the one left to pick up the pieces," Elensa added with a strong touch of anger added behind the silent words, the intonation within her own mind conveying that clearly.

True, she was lacking refinement of technique and skill, but there was plenty of emotion there, and the Sith she had met thus far had all been quick to observe how emotions were the path to power. She had that much in plentiful supply. Thus far, all this Sith was doing was reminding her of that, stoking her anger like a fire that had been simmering a little too long and was quite ready to escalate to the level of fiery inferno. Best not to step too close, lest it burn you. That would be a pity, indeed.

 

[Figure In White]

Whole, as he used it, meant that she wasn't missing limbs or worse parts. Suffice to say, he understood that she didn't have the ability to speak, but in his mind that didn't mean that she wasn't whole. Why? Because some people were born without the ability to speak. If one asked them whether they were whole or not, they would answer they were. They did not have reason to miss the ability. So she was indeed whole, but it was her mind that was not. She told herself she was broken, instead of simply moving on. Common, and there was nothing wrong with it.

"If you don't mind I'll switch to audible speaking. Don't worry, I can still hear you."

Not that he believed that she was worried. He could all but sense her agitation at him being within her mind. Part of it, he could tell, was because he was male. The other part was resolved around the fact that she wasn't used to having someone poke around in there. He couldn't blame her for that. Still, under the circumstances she needed to accept this and move past it. Lingering would only make things more uncomfortable, which was honestly not his intention at all. Sure, he'd harmed her mind a bit earlier, but out of a necessity to test her resolve. Even a Hapan could be weak.

Rather than have her continue to stand, he reached his hand out and motioned for her to join him if she wished. He left it entirely in her hands whether she did, rather than making it a command. Leos was not a very stringent master, except that he hated to be called Master or any derivation of such. Which, ironically, might prove in his best interest with her. She seemed to quite dislike the idea of him being master over her. Course she would, she was Hapan. Not really a matter of import.

"I would agree with that sentiment. It does seem more often than not to be the case. I was fortunate enough to not have a Master, but trained with a group of others. It worked well enough, but the best students have a mind to learn on their own."

He shrugged and tapped a finger lightly against one of Milan's ears.

"As I said, it is often the case, but not with me and my students. I'm quite a bit different from my brethren as you'll come to find if you become my student. I don't treat my students as toys to do my bidding, but as students to lead the future. Life is finite and I don't believe in prolonging it in the physical sense, so I've no need of indentured servants. If you want to learn from me, you will learn more than the Force, and you'll be all the better for it."

[member="Elensa Jari"]

 

[Elensa Jari]

| [member="Darth Ignus"] |​

So that's the nature of it? She was surprised, but then, many Sith thought to test potential students that way: finding little ways to break them, to see if they might offer resistance, prove themselves resilient, or whether they might crumble beneath the assault and show that they did not have what it might take to go further. She was still angry that he had done so without her consent, engaging her as though he intended to see her pummeled into submission or simply torn apart mentally, leaving her an incoherent wreck, but she had not thought that there might be purpose in it beyond simple sadistic pleasure.

He gestured that she might sit if she wished, but she hesitated to do so for a moment, knowing that he would undoubtedly see it as a submissive gesture: her giving way to his will, rather than making her own choice, free of his interference. You won't win so easily, she thought, knowing that his forceful connection to her own mind might well allow him to pick up the sense of it, but not caring if he did. They were a little past the point where he was likely to find such a thing offensive, and if he did, it was a suitable revenge.

Instead she watched the Sith and his pet for a moment, her blue eyes narrowing beneath her veil as she contemplated her response. She reached behind her and fastened her lightwhip into place in the sheath at her lower back, so that it might remain coiled there should she need it later. She took a few steps forward, finding the ground steady beneath her, continuing forward with more confidence than before...not heading for the Mirialan, but rather to kneel opposite the curious pet that he had resting by his feet.

Slender pale hands reached up to her veil and lifted it over her head, so that her face was fully exposed. Beads of sweat rested on her forehead, remnants of the burning illusion that the Sith had placed upon her, strands of blonde hair out of place, cascading across her face in wild tendrils that she brushed aside idly so as not to obscure her vision. Her deep blue eyes looked staringly at the creature, holding its gaze, knowing that it would be a dangerous thing to lower her eyes now. Predators attack weakness, threaten strength. Cautiously, she reached out with a hand, not to touch it, but simply to present the pale skin before the creature that it might take in her scent and recognise her.

"You don't treat your students as toys, but have no problem playing with strangers you have never met," she observed tartly, making use of the telepathic connection that he had created between them, though Elensa did not take her eyes off the dangerous creature before her - an appropriate companion to an equally dangerous Sith, she felt. "Your words might simply be another game, a trap to lure someone in with a view to taking more pleasure from it."

 

[Figure In White]

"A soldier faces unknown opponents on the battlefield and kills them for ideological reason. The difference is, his opponent becomes dead. You are still very much alive. Among the Sith it's commonplace to attempt to kill ones rivals with or without reason. This place is my sanctuary. You could have aimed for just that. But in reality I sensed something different about you, and wished to test my theory without letting you prepare for it."

Though she had approached Milan, the larger of his two Maalraas, the woman had not flinched. In addition, Milan had not growled either. The warnings from before, she sensed, were no longer necessary. He was at ease and relaxed, and so she remained such as well. These were not thralls. Yes, he'd broken their minds to his will, but that was no different from taming creatures in other ways. The difference was only that he'd used the Force to do it. These two were more than pets, but his guardians and closest companions aside from Cet, but he doubted she was quite ready to meet him yet. He was a more wily one, and, of course, wasn't really in love with warmer climates.

Arus appeared once again as Milan stuck her head out to sniff the girls hand. Remarkably, Arus was standing right there as well, reaching out his nose to sniff her too. That was his gift. Between the two of them, he was far better at concealment. Neither made any move to attack her, both just sniffing at her hand, and Leos remained still as he watched her. Of course he'd felt her momentary disdain, but he disregarded it. Truthfully he cared very little about it. In most senses of the word he cared very little for anything. He feigned it in order to win supporters to his cause, but it was all for its own purposes.

"They could be that, certainly. They could be a great many things. Speculation can lead you down the path to mental undoing. It is wiser to find out and face the consequences, if there are any, than to break your mind wondering what those consequences are."

He smiled, genuinely, as he did take pleasure from teaching.

"Would you like to find out or would you rather speculate?"

[member="Elensa Jari"]

 

[Elensa Jari]

| [member="Ignus"] |​

​

Test your theory? Elensa was having a hard time imagining that, quite frankly, given how he had treated her thus far. Oh, yes, now his manner was civil, but she was not likely to forget his way with her before. You're the type to play with your food before you eat it, aren't you? A typical male, in that respect: inherently possessive, finding pleasure in the domination of others, a means of reasserting that masculine pride that ever compared itself to others as a means of evaluating self-worth. It didn't surprise her, but his words were strangely at odds with the evidence she had observed in the short time their encounter had lasted.

She relaxed a little, the tension seeping from her as the creature - two creatures, she corrected herself, as the other reappeared beside the first - showed no signs of aggression as they sniffed at her hand, a gentle puff of air against her pale skin tickling her slightly, though she was not the type to giggle at such sensation. If they had snapped at her, or acted aggressively in some fashion, her own wariness would have been warranted, but that no longer seemed appropriate. Protective of their master, but otherwise tamed to be benign. The Hapan had to wonder if such a thing was indicative of how this man would therefore treat a student.

The male Sith was correct in some respects: she had indeed learned that some things were better experienced directly rather than speculated upon. After all, did I not imagine that the Jedi path was the correct way to live, until experience taught me the lies involved? The Force had not been kind to her that day, but she had been a fool to ever assume that it might: now she knew better. Would he offer me more of the same? There was a question harder to answer - what she was certain of, if nothing else, was that she would be foolish to extend that same trust to another. Particularly to a man. They had let her down before.

"Is is not your way to break the minds of others?", she asked pointedly, the use of the telepathic connection between the two reminding her that he had shown little compunction about invading hers: indeed, it would not have surprised her to find that it was a weapon he had often used upon his enemies. "Would that be my fate if I failed you in some fashion?" The Sith weren't known for being particularly merciful with those they felt had not lived up to their expectations. "What then would you have of me?"

 

[Figure In White]

He watched her expectantly, and her first comment drew a shrug of the shoulders. It was his way of dealing with adversaries, those that sought to harm him or to hinder his goals, to be certain. And yes, he had broken one of his apprentices before, but it had been for her own good. The girl had been wild, angry to the point of wanting to lash out at him with it. That kind of behavior would have done her no good. Certainly she had viewed herself as better than him, just as Elensa no doubt did, but the difference was in the how. The other had believed herself better by lineage, that she was inherently stronger in the Force. Elensa only believed she was better because she was a woman. Of course neither was correct, but Elensa showed a considerable amount of restraint by comparison.

"No. Not everyone is suited for every task. Failure means you were not suited for the task, not that you are worthless."

Radical compared to most Sith, but then he wasn't most Sith. In fact, he despised most of the Sith for their frivolous nature. They tossed around lives like they were nothing but pieces of scrap flimsi. The problem was, they did so with such regularity that if left unchecked there would not be but themselves left alive in the galaxy. They wanted power over others, but they left no others to be powerful over. The fools didn't understand that true power wasn't in the ability to be stronger than someone else, but in the ability to know when to use that power, and when to not use it. They'd all, well almost all, lost their way.

What that meant to her, well, he didn't know. Time would tell. The simple fact was that she would have to grow older, wiser, and ultimately make some determinations for herself. But, that would be a long time in coming. It was always so. One had to reach a high point in their abilities with the Force just as much as one had to reach a certain point in their understanding of the galaxy and the ways of the Sith. It took time.

"I would have you learn, as my student. Then I'd have you assist me, if you would, in completing a reformation of the Sith. They're in need of some change, and it won't be easy. But that is largely something for your future. First I wish to know what you know, and what you want to know. Then I will facilitate you learning what you want to learn. In turn, you help me. A symbiotic relationship, if you will."

He leaned forward and looked her in the eyes.

"Do you want that help? If so, tell me what I need to know, and we will begin your ascension here and now."

[member="Elensa Jari"]