Redux

[Darth Abyss]

Glee Anselm, Ruins of the One Sith Academy

The years had not been kind to the Academy. It was hard to believe that this world had been the last capital of the once glorious One Sith Empire, during the final days when its power crumbled into little more then dust.

Now there were only ruins left, flooded corridors and empty caves slightly below the ocean. It felt like an eternity since Abyss, now Darth Abyss and a Sith Lord of considerable might, had walked through these halls, since he had first meet his master, since he first grasped the power of the dark side and how to command it.

The days of the One Sith were long gone, but despite its ruined state the Academy had remained, as had many of its creations. Soundless steps carried the husk of eldritch metal through the halls that played a vital part in the path that made him what he was, his deformed claws scrapping along the stone walls to get a hold of the faint echoes of his past.

He hadn't come for sentimental reasons, even if the place caused a odd sense of nostalgia for the crippled empire that carelessly threw him into a war that hadn't been his own and forged him to greatness.

Master of dark side had spend years within the structure, teaching and training the tainted arts, and maybe something of them remained. Framed by the last glimpses of light that reached inside, the husk wandered through the countless rooms of the academy, a ghost of a past that was already forgotten.

[member="Caelag Vass"]

 

[Caelag Vass]

Why was she here.

A solid, reasonable question she supposed. She hated the Sith and everything that went along with them. So why was she wandering the remains of a Sith academy. More pertinently, why wasn't she carrying her rifle, and instead wandering with her deactivated lightsaber in hand? All reasonable questions, and none that she had an answer to. All the same, it at least offered her something to think of while her leather boots echoed around her quietly. She decided not to wear her helmet, instead walking with the black hood down, and her ornate eye crown shimmering slightly in the low light when it did catch her form. The rancor leather was warm around her body, and the few phrik plates offered a great sense of comfort to allow her here, in the former haunt of the Sith.

Why was she here again?

She sighed and shook her head, walking through the Dark halls, her vague spot of grey standing out against the oppressive Dark. She was unaware of [member="Darth Abyss"], or rather she was unaware of what a particular Dark spot was. The halls fluctuated, some areas darker than others, the Force flowing with ease. She couldn't see figures, truthfully, and she would have to actually be relatively near Abyss to sense him for what he was, or otherwise let him reveal himself. The Dark was so pervasive she was aware of a relatively Darker spot against the backdrop of the Force, but was yet unable to determine its nature.

Perhaps she should check one of the training halls...

 

[Darth Abyss]

After all these years a black cloaked individual came to the academy on the search for knowledge and wisdom, on the same day that Darth Abyss had felt the desire to go back to the place where it all began. It was the kind of coincidence that could be ascribed to nothing but the will of the force, even if it would not be a meeting of two like minds.

That was what the Mindeater thought when the sensed the drop of grey in the faded darkness of the ruin, when he felt the dim presence that had decided to wander between his memories. In any other scenario the husk would've been ready for violence, ready to devour whatever fool had the mistake to cross his path. This was different, even a blind beggar was able to see that this was a meeting of fate, a meeting with a purpose decided by a power far greater then his own.

"Welcome to the Academy."

The distorted voice of the Sith Lord echoed through the empty halls of the ruin, bouncing of the walls to create a broken path to its creator. All the newcomer had to do was to follow it, and it would lead her into the same small training room where Abyss had experienced his first lesson. There the husk stood, framed by newly ignited torches that illuminated the room in the same eery yellow of red that it held in his memory.

[member="Caelag Vass"]

 

[Caelag Vass]

A disembodied voice in a Sith academy beckoning her to follow it to its source. You would have to be brave or foolish to follow it. Caelag didn't know which she was, just that her leather clad feet were slowly guiding her along its path, and now was when she became aware of it. Of the figure of oppressive Dark, just beyond the wall she now walked beside. To stand out here, where the Force was strong, yes she knew full well it was no mere darksider beyond the wall. She'd come to the conclusion it was, of course, a Sith well before she turned to the entryway inside. And as the Miraluka stepped inside, she could see him clearly against the backdrop. Yes, [member="Darth Abyss"], though she knew not his name his presence was undeniable. A Sith Lord.

She 'stared' directly at him, observing his highly defined form, to be so clear he was drenched in energy... a powerful individual. She was unaware that Abyss had spent great time on her people's former colony world, taking in the collective knowledge left behind. Perhaps it was an amusing coincidence the new lord of Katarr, a similar Lord to the one who devoured it, and a Miraluka stood across the halls here. But these things, while they might be noticed by Abyss, escaped her understanding. "Sith." It wasn't so much a question, as an acknowledgement. She wasn't dead. She could be, if he had wanted.

Her lightsaber stayed inactive, for now. Patience would see her through.

 

[Darth Abyss]

"Child of Katarr."

It was ironic that of all the countless races the galaxy had to offer, a Miraluka was the one that force had brought here. Not only because he had made her dead homeworld his own, not even simply because he had become a twisted mirror of Darth Nihilus that made it dead in the first place. The true irony was that the force had commanded him to guide her path, like his predecessor had done to one of her kind, the one that in the end became his undoing.

"Are you lost, or why do you wander the faded halls of my people? This is a place where the light can not reach, and yet I feel not the taint of darkness upon your soul."

Even when standing in the same room his voice remained the same unnatural noise, a barley grasped whisper near the edges of what common minds were able to fully comprehend. Slowly the husk made his way towards her, not threatening, but still clearly menacing. Abyss knew that erasing her wasn't much of a challenge, but it wasn't why he had called for her. He wanted to know for the sake of knowing, out of genuine curiosity what brought a being like her into a place like this, a question that else would obsessively haunt him if it was to remain unsolved.

"If it is the power and glory of the dark side that you seek, then you will not find it here. This place has died long ago, shadows and ghosts are all that remains."

[member="Caelag Vass"]

 

[Caelag Vass]

"Why?" She repeated, not flinching as [member="Darth Abyss"] made his way closer to her. She'd seen Sith before, she'd fought their soldiers, she'd served in the armies that fought the One Sith when they were a power to be reckoned with. And now she served the people that had broken away from the same army that killed her mother, and who she had wanted only to see removed from the galaxy. So why was she here? She thought on the words quietly, not letting her body motions betray her train of thought.

Why was she here. "Because you are my enemy, and I need to learn to fight your kind. It's simple strategy. I came to learn how your signature weapons are wielded, so that when I next find a Sith on the battlefield, I can fight them, and kill them, and protect the people they came to hurt." The whole truth? Perhaps not, but even she did not understand the full truth. How could she explain that the Force was guiding her, when she herself had yet to come to terms with the thought it had such level of will? How could she explain it was a need for purpose in her companions' deaths, when she had long since accepted they were gone?

But it was the truth. And, of course, the admission she did not know how to wield either the lightsaber in hand, or the sword on her hip.

 

[Darth Abyss]

"Then you want how to wield one of these?"

The husk began to circle around [member="Caelag Vass"], while his right stretched out and the hilt on his belt was pulled into it. Once he had finished his circle he came to a stop in front of her, the blade in his hand jumping to live to further fill the room with a crimson hue. Abyss held the weapon tightly in one hand, the tip of the blade not aimed at the Miraluka, but merely at the ground.

"The saber is more then just a weapon child, it is a extension of yourself, and of the force that flows within you."

He took a few precise steps back while he brought the weapon up, both movement quick but without any sense of grace in them. Then he twisted the hilt to point right at the chest of the woman, with a few meters between them.

"What you need to bring death to your enemies with it is more then just training and muscle memory. When sabers are crossed it is not just a fight, it is a violent, philosophical discourse between two different states of mind. Care to share your opinion with me?"

The hollow laugh of the creature resounded in the room as he made a step forward, following the husk as he raised the weapon for a simple, and easy blocked or evaded, diagonal strike at her. It was not his intention to kill her, there would've been far easier ways to accomplish that. To wield a saber one had to trust his instincts, and the force as an extension of them. Sequences and techniques were of no use to those that had no true connection to their weapon.

 

[Caelag Vass]

Philosophical discourse? What a poetic way to put it. Still didn't change the reality of it, it was still a weapon meant to kill. Put all the nice words into it you wanted, that's still what it was.

Caelag could pick up the minute motions [member="Darth Abyss"] made, and with her thumb she quickly flicked the dual phase switch to the standard lightsaber length. The white blade shot to life as she moved the hilt around, crudely but effectively blocking the first strike. It was extremely evident from how she moved, the way she stepped around the clashed blades to keep her weapon between the both of them, that she was completely inexperienced in swordplay. She was no stranger to fighting in close proximity, with a knife at least, and kept six on her for that reason (among others).

But they weren't exactly useful against Abyss. Lightsaber and metal husk that he was.

She kept the one handed saber up, the white casting the pure glow around her, as if to ward off the Dark exuded from Abyss. "I'm sure you will find my will as firm as Iron." She hummed, the pure blade thrumming in her hand, as she returned an attack at Abyss by thrusting the blade at his leg, as if to try and disable him. Even unpracticed as she was, she understood her weapon would require a thrust and cut based style, and it was at least something she had some basic idea how to do. But with Abyss really being the first person, sort of, that she fought against using the blade she couldn't help but feel like a small child playing with toys.

 

[Darth Abyss]

"Arrogance is deadlier then any weapon."

Abyss made no attempt to even lift his weapon to block the incoming thrust. Instead he simply took a quick step backwards, while raising his left claw into the air. He never had grown to reach the speed and technical perfection of a master duelist like his master had been. In return he had devolved his own style combat, at its very core based upon Form II but altered and mixed with various kinds of combat somwhat unrelated to the art of the blade. What he lacked was made up by trickery and ruthlessness, something [member="Caelag Vass"] had to learn the hard way.

Like he had never mastered lightsaber combat to an absolute degree, he also never commanded the same powerful telekinesis as many of his peers. That limit had forced him to make do with what he had, and taught him to use it as simple, but lethal tool.

As the fingers of his raised claw twisted into a fist, the woman would feel a force pushing her from behind. It was little more then someone bumping into her on a busy street, but considering that she used her own momentum for her attack Abyss assumed that it would be enough to make her lose her footing.

 

[Caelag Vass]

"Only if you lack the ability to carry it out."

Yes, her arrogance had caused her much loss already, and even so her will was rigid as iron still. Perhaps that was one of the charms about her, even as she was dragged through the mud she was resolved to carry out her will and duty. Just as, long ago, she'd fought until her body was bloody and broken, she would fight [member="Darth Abyss"] until the end of this demented training. She gritted her teeth, and started to pull her arm back, to readjust her position.

It was just about then that she felt the Force bump into her. Just as she resolved to return to position, the little nudge knocked into her back. Her momentum still carried her forward, causing her footing to break, a fatal flaw for her combat stance, and she realized she would be tumbling over onto the ground soon. Her Force abilities weren't enough to counteract this change of events, and she felt her feet leave the ground, her body slowly becoming horizontal. She needed a plan, a thought, something to stop this.

Breathe, my little sniper. Take your time, pace your shot.

Yes, yes that was what she needed to do. Listen to mother. Her free hand shot to her knives, drawing one of the daggers and twisting her body sideways. She threw the dagger upwards, towards where Abyss's head ought to be, judging from his presence, though her aim was poor and significantly off from her angle. Hopefully that would offer the opportunity for her to get back and stand up.

 

[Darth Abyss]

"Clumsy."

The moment [member="Caelag Vass"] would take a look at Abyss from her position she would be able to notice to things. One was that the Husk had simply took another step back, without making any attempt to use his upper hand to attack and kill her now that she was already on the ground. The second one was that her knife hadn't reached his head, and instead rested in the Sith Lords right hand. Beating him in a pure battle of blades was certainly possible for anyone with some skill with a saber, but knifes, daggers and especially throwing knifes were his most favored weapon.

Carelessly the husk threw the dagger besides her, making sure to have the weapon fly by her as closely as possible without actually hitting her. The he raised up his red blade into the air once more, waiting in that stance for the Miraluka to get up on her feet again.

"It comes as no surprise that your people are nearly gone, if you are anything to judge them by. Your Iron will, or rather your foolish defiance empowers you, and yet you hold back. Embrace it, allow it to guide your blade, like my obsession guides mine."

Maybe she would now pick up why he had called it a discourse. The blades of the Jedi were most often controlled by compassion and hope, those of the sith by hate and anger. The individuals that belonged to neither side of the force had to find something in between to draw from, a strong dedication or emotion to build their focus upon.

 

[Caelag Vass]

Caelag huffed, and flicked her hand, drawing the knife thrown back from the ground it clattered against, and into her hand. How... how...

How irritating. He spoke down at her, mocked her. Expected from a Sith, but it irked her. She wiped the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand, and took a breath. The white blade was raised between them, taking up another Makashi stance as she tried to ignore her frustration with the Sith Lord and focus on his words. For once, [member="Darth Abyss"]'s kind was giving advice that wasn't entirely condescending mockery, and could actually be useful. Embrace her 'foolish defiance', her will.

Fine then. She spun the dagger around so the blade was held properly for cutting, blade up that was, and tried taking a stance with her feet to be more stable. It felt better to stand this way, come to think of it, but she could contemplate that later. For now, she had a Sith to duel.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Her foot shifted, and she shuffled her feet forward, making a wide cut at Abyss, following it with a thrust quickly as she could. There wasn't all that much an improvement, outside of her better foot placement, at least on any technical level. But in the way of this discourse Abyss wanted? If he was looking for a reason to give actual effort, he might garner that. Her determination, her defiance, only grew firmer in the face of his mockery. Though she felt no real connection to her culture, she could not sit idly by and let him judge them for her own weakness. No, even if she had to break something in herself, she was going to prove to him...

Well, honestly whatever it was she wanted to prove.

 

[Darth Abyss]

"So there is a fighting spirit in you after all. I am honestly surprised."

This time Abyss actually made the effort to properly defend from [member="Caelag Vass"]' attacks. Using a stance very similar to hers he lifted his blade, redirecting her incoming cut to the side while pulling back his left left, followed by a half circle during which is his weight remained on the recently moved leg to evade the stab that followed. Again he intended to use her own momentum against her, a trick she would have to learn if she meant to continue to use Form Two.

"Yet it will not help you to stay on your feet."

Instead of using the force, he simply stretched out his left this time, trying to wrap his claw around her arm and pull her over his right leg that had extend just enough to potentially make her stumble and fall again. It was a raw, simple but once again quite deadly maneuver. As this was a discourse the Miraluka would quickly learn that in his opinion to many sith and jedi alike spend to much time on grace and beauty when swinging their sabers, and way to little on simply killing their opponents.

 

[Caelag Vass]

Her inexperience showed, painfully obvious, as she felt the cold metal hands wrap around her arm. She huffed, again, and quickly moved to stab the arm with the durasteel knife in the opposite hand. Well, he wanted to fight almost like it were really to the death, yes? Then she would feel no pity if it hurt.

But just in case it only found metal... she forced her will through the dagger. She'd been practicing often, and could manage to produce a bit more than sparks now. So, whether the dagger hit or not, for a brief moment it was shrouded in crimson flame.

Before she was thrown over the leg of [member="Darth Abyss"] like some comedy routine. She stumbled, and very nearly fell to the ground flat. But, while the trick was different, it was the same thing as before, and she tucked herself in, managing to roll over and up to her feet rather than make a hard, flat impact.

Which meant that she got up much faster, and offered her own retort. A thrust, and two swift upward cuts from opposing angles. This time she did not put her full weight behind a strike, not intending to let him throw her down again.

 

[Darth Abyss]

It wasn't like Abyss truly felt the burning dagger pierce between his armor plates, but the attack wasn't without effect. While the husk didn't reacted at all, not numb but completely unable to feel even a resemblance of pain, the steel itself wasn't freed from the limits of the physical plane. Where fire touched metal thin black smoke emerged, not from the flame, but from the emerging darkness that dripped through the fine damages left by the burning blade.

"It seems you finally start to understand. Time for the next lesson."

He didn't just meant her footwork, that this time had adapted enough to catch her before she meet the ground, but the dagger that had meet his armor. You could swing your saber in absolute perfection and still lose any battle if you knew nothing else besides it. Combat was a form of art, and only by having a wide collection of skill one could truly overcome another alive.

"Always expect the unexpected."

The husk laughed his unholy laugh once more, while his crimson blade casually deflected the clumsy strikes of [member="Caelag Vass"]. He wasn't the best with the weapon, but defending against someone who had barely picked up the weapon was no task for a sith lord. When the last upwards cut came near his weapon, he suddenly pulled back the saber, and instead brought his left claw in the path of the silver blade. In the same moment the talons extended, almost doubling in size.

They weren't just designed to block lightsabers, but to short them out by the cortosis webbed into them. If it were a fight to the death this would've been the moment for a finishing move, but it wasn't his intention to kill her. Instead he brought his right down in a swift punch, meant to hammer the metal hilt of his saber into her face.