Stone Speak

[Vereshin]

t H e M e​

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Light mist blanketed a series of asymmetrical rocks spearing from the earth of Malachor V. In between the jagged appendages, Vereshin's Force presence seethed unhindered. A layer of iridescent energy floated above the dust and made the air appear lavender. The air was chill and sent a tremble though the spine of any who traversed within. The signature welcomed approaching footsteps belonging to an Acolyte named Vuleego. On the Sith vessel Vereshin used on his tasks, the young Twi'lek would be presented with spellbooks along with a series of disjointed coordinates leading her to the decrepit world.

With the assistance of the spellbooks detailing the areas of Dark Side sorcery Vereshin practiced, Vuleego would be left to decipher the coordinates and find her way to his location using her senses. He drew her near and communicated his presence through the Force. On this world, [member="Darth Abyss"] apprehended him after he drained the life force of a citizen, before adopting the wayward acolyte as his own apprentice. Now Vereshin matured into a formidable magus and prepared to take an apprentice of his own.

"Come hither." A voice, monotonous and eloquent, yet soft as air called over the landscape towards Vuleego. The swirling mist grew thick and gathered, compacting into fluttering shapes and taking the form of a swarm of bats. They screeched and encircled the acolyte before colliding together and morphing into a sphere of inky blackness. The sphere outstretched and transformed into a man. Vereshin landed on his feet more than a few meters away from the blue Twi'lek with his hands concealed inside the pockets of his coat. He wore his usual gray scarf tucked neatly beneath the standing collar and buttons. Tall, lace up boots covered his feet above black, puffy trousers.

As Vuleego motioned forward, she would feel the ground become brittle beneath her feet, as though the rock threatened to implode by her very touch. Vereshin stood with his hands in his pockets and eyed her down in anticipation. "Close off your perception and feel through your mind." The sorcerer called to Vuleego as he waited for her to approach him. "The eyes are deceptive, do not trust them." Vereshin outstretched his palms and with a mere gesture, caused the ground to implode and crumble into a endless cavern.

The ground gave away between them for miles, leaving each Sith with no means of physical contact. As the rocks fell into the bottomless void, Vereshin disappeared from the light in less than a second. He dispersed into energy once again and reappeared on the other side next to the Acolyte. Extending a hand for Vuleego to shake, he approached her with a coy smile and a polite nod of his head. Whether or not she followed her eyes or stay put, he intended to her teach how to bypass space and overcome physical barriers as he demonstrated.

"Welcome apprentice." Vereshin said as he lightly gripped Vuleego's hand. "I am Darth Sabezt." He offered his official title, a name not known to any within the Sith order apart from his own master and his master before him. "With my teaching you will learn to bypass space and matter as I have shown here." Vereshin released his grip on Vuleego's hand and left a pause between them. "Before we traverse any further, tell me, what areas of the Force are you interested in utilizing?" He asked and allowed the young woman a chance to gather her thoughts.

[member="Vuleeg'okairn"]

 

[Vuleeg'okairn]

Malachor V. Even the name sent chills through her whole body when she received her summons and now that she was actually here, Vuleego could tell that it was certainly just as eerie as she had thought it to be as the chill in the air felt like a hostile attack, but that wasn't even the worst of it. Of course, this wasn't the first time that young Twi'lek had sensed The Force, yet a place like this was ripe with energy and she could feel the history of what on the surface appeared to be a broken and decaying world...was it too late to turn back already? No, just by coming here Vuleego had made an irreversal, ineradicable decision that meant she could no longer coming crawling back to her parents apologising, continuing with The Alliance and fighting the very people that she had come to seek training from. There was no turning back, not now when she was a traitor to The Galactic Alliance.

On her travels, Vuleego had been trying to decipher and decode what concealed messages awaited her in the mysterious "spellbooks" and had got some general idea of what they told her about this mysterious Sith. Part of it even felt ironic. She had spent her childhood trying to convince her parents to allow her to train with the Jedi, that The Force was natural in all living things and not an unknowable, dark sorcery that threatened the galaxy and here she was being given what could be described as a dark sorcerer's tome of secrets.

As she drew closer to her destination, a voice called to her that did not do much to ease her nerves. So soothing yet so empty, so sweet yet the voice itself set off every one of the Twi'lek's survival instincts as they told her not to heed the voice's commands. Pull yourself together, you're a soldier. However attempting to back away was futile as the mist began to transform around her and the form of her new master appeared before her, causing her to let out a nervous gulp of saliva. As soon as he appeared, her hand jumped to her blaster clipped to her hip. Without so much as touching the ground around her, Vereshin managed to cause it to give way. If she hadn't stepped back as she felt it crumbling beneath her, Vuleego felt as though she would've been lost to the darkness forever.

When her master reappeared, he offered his hand in a simple gesture. "Greetings...my master." She attempted to return his calm formalities with the same air of confidence as him, yet her trembling hands betrayed her doubts as she gripped the hand of the man who called himself Darth Sabeszt. Jeez, the guy felt like a villain straight out of some holodisk movie and that certainly didn't do much to ease her nerves. "Yes, Master. I want to bend reality with my fingertips like you, I want to bend the force to my will and prove my strength." Though a soldier, others had looked down her for her entire life, believing that she only got as far as she did within the Rebellion by connections and who her parents were rather than through merit. Now was her chance to prove to the entire Galaxy that she was there and ready to make her mark. "If you will take me on as your apprentice that is, Darth Sabezt."

 

[Vereshin]

As Vuleego trembled before him, Vereshin wrapped his fingers around her hands in effort to stop them shaking. Not that the icy touch of his skin helped at all. He would not communicate to his apprentice that he was nervous himself, containing his emotions deep beneath his exterior and not allowing any nuance to falter. In Vuleego, Vereshin recognized the frightened Acolyte he had been so many years ago. He retracted his hand from her own and stood up straight.

"You are afraid." Vereshin spoke and watched her fidget nervously. "Fear is a powerful emotion, it arouses incentive, fuels the will to survive and strips away all honor." He said while turning around and finding a of short, blunt rocks all facing each other in a circle. With a gesture of his hand, he beckoned Vuleego over. He flipped the edges of his coat over one of the rocks and sat down, waiting for his apprentice to do the same. "You will be my apprentice and I will teach you to control your fear and use it to make yourself stronger. Come, sit." He finished speaking and placed his hands on his knees while sitting with both legs slightly apart.

"Concentrate and watch me closely." Vereshin instructed, allowing Vuleego to keep her eyes open to watch the light surrounding her. "Before we begin with your Force training, you must learn to channel your emotions. They are the fuel which feeds the power of a Sith. I want you focus on all of your fear and anxiety and condense them. Deliver them into your reach and release them into your power." As he spoke Vereshin allowed a trace of his unease to filter through his signature which Vuleego would sense. She was his first apprentice and he had selected based on her good manner and nervous disposition. Traits he shared himself. He followed her actions by channeling his own fear as a demonstration.

"Extend your reach through the Force into the light making your appearance visible." Vereshin did as he instructed and dissipated the energy making up his form. Instead of concealing himself from view, he multiplied each particle and conjured duplicates of himself which appeared to sit on each rock beside him. "Now close your eyes and destroy it. Disperse the energy into the Force and conceal the mass of your form." He said while watching Vuleego apply his directions in practice. Making herself invisible through the Force remained the first step to altering perception on a more advanced level.

[member="Vuleeg'okairn"]