The End of Innocence.

[Edric Vanyan]

[member="Darth Arcanix"]

He had just gotten up when the lightning lanced its way across the field and then pierced his body, blinking as he had no defense set up and went sprawling back to the ground as he fell to the ground. But he only laughed, his pain evident, his struggle clear. But he pushed his body to stand up as he shook and stared at her, chocking on the pain as he called out at her. "You... you will die Sith... with my blade in your chest." He reached out and suddenly started leaching on the emotions around him and feeding his aura as his started laughing again, laughing, just laughing. One weak step, another weak step, a stumble, he would protect Felicity and her family.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Glyph"]

"You're persistent, I'll give you that," she said in an undertone. She suspected he was doing the whole leeching emotions thing again, like he did on Coruscant when he fed off her heightened emotions to keep up with her. "But, I don't think you're strong enough to fight me. Instead, why don't you join me? You might even learn a thing or two, gain some power, etc. etc. etc."

She wasn't going to go full on conversion speech, but she could tell now, as he began laughing hysterically . . . almost manically. Well seems someone was a bit unhinged, another interesting tidbit about her opponent. She was highly tempted to finish this now, to show him just what power he was up against and why he failed in his own personal mission.

"Good luck with that," she said, sending a powerful Force push at him, but making it appear out of instinct as she screamed, "Stay away from me you lunatic!"

 

[Edric Vanyan]

[member="Darth Arcanix"]

He grinned and remembered something a certain hammer carrying Silver Jedi taught him as he bolted forward and over the force push as he screamed and came down hard, he was draining the emotions at a much higher rate than last time, using more than one person's emotions this time and not even thinking on them. He just reacted, did what was feeling right and while he was still outclassed for a few moments his speed did increase to a much much higher level than he had been using before. He only needed to hit her once, to impale her in the heart, and he would win. She didn't have her saber, she was at a disadvantage and he had to protect those that he would not see harmed. Even if he missed he would slowly look up at her and speak with a moment of clarity. "And why, would i do that..."

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Glyph"]

"No reason," Taeli replied, dodging his attack, her mind racing towards her obvious conclusion. "Sadly, I've tired of this little charade."

With that said, she unleashed the full power of her command of the dark side, multiple streaks of lightning lancing from her hand towards her opponent. As she blasted more lightning towards him, she continued speaking.

"You weren't strong enough to protect the princess, you aren't strong enough to kill me, you aren't strong enough to save yourself," she said. "You're doing exactly what every untrained dark sider does, allowing their emotions to control them instead of the other way around. I could teach you to control that power, make you powerful enough to protect the one you would lay your life on the line for."

Lightning swirled around her hands as she waited to blast him again, if needed.

 

[Edric Vanyan]

[member="Darth Arcanix"]

His eyes shot faster and he counted one, two, three... move. His first step was inward and around the first streak of lightning that sent his hair on its end and shaking him to his core before he screamed and brought his blade forward and caught the lightning on it and grunted as another blasted him in the leg and unstablized him. He heard her words and let it seethe and boil up in him as he cried out again and let a wave of force energy burst around him for a moment before pushing his legs forward and watching as more lightning came in, this time not letting anything hit him. With his saber, coming staight ahead and holding it at a ready and letting the lightning cascade onto it, the excess energy colliding into him and his already weakened leg collapsing and bringing him to on knee.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Glyph"]

As he fell to his knee, she reached out with the Force, but with a much different attack. Instead of allowing lightning to erupt from her hand, a large ball of ice appeared as she froze the water particles in the air and formed them into the ball. Sending it flying at him, she followed it up with getting in close, launching several Force blasts as she raced forward to beat him into submission now.

Words were useless in his current state, he was too enraged, too full of emotions to think clearly, but he was intriguing her more and more. Actions spoke louder than words, and she would prove she was far superior to him in this regard. She disliked using this method, but until he would listen, she wouldn't be able to convince him to join her.

 

[Edric Vanyan]

[member="Darth Arcanix"]

He watched and closed his eyes. 'Weak... failed... fear... pain... kill...' His mind shouted the words and he shook it as his hand tightened and his saber fell to the ground, hands gripping with the force onto a landspeeder and screaming out as he pulled on it and it slowly shifted. 'Weak... failed... fear... pain... kill..." He screamed out again, shaking his head and shutting his eyes tight before sending the landspeeder flying and right into the ice ball. 'Weak... failed... fear... pain... kill...' Again the words sounded and his body moved on its own as he shot to the side and cried out in pain from his leg, teh landspeeder and force blasts just barely missing him as he slowly stood and spoke the words this time.

"WEAK." A spark, a flame, a snake crawling up his arm as it started the burn, the landspeeder that missed him hitting and crashing through the building that had been behind him. The snake of flames continued its way up his arm, burning trhough the clothing.

"FAILED." A second spark a second flame a second Snake. the same as his sleeves and gloves burned, the flesh on his arms and hand barely spared damage as he closed them tighter and let the flames grow brighter. He stepped forward as he let the flames again grow. He walked towards her on one bad leg and a mind that found itself focused on only one thing.

"FEAR." Again his connection to the fear and now panic around them reached out, pulling and draining the emotions now again as he let the flames reach across his body, this time burning his shoulders as the fire climbed to. His breathing faster, the pain adding to the heat.

"PAIN." The Fire started leaving his body now, falling to the ground, flaring and hitting the things around him. A Tree, a building, his own body now as he stared at her.

"KILL." With that he brought his hands out and hard down, two arcs of flame cutting over the ground and cutting into trees and buildings around them as he screamed with the flames as they rawred as loud as him. He wanted her dead, he wanted her to suffer, he would not let her hurt the people he cared about. "I WONT LET YOU HURT THEM." With that he sent one last blast of fire at her and then collapsed the moment it either passed her and hit her or missed her harmlessly. His body feel, his eyes closed, his movements gone. 'I failed...' his mind said.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Glyph"]

Taeli felt the searing heat from the fire streams he created, but his erratic attack had mostly missed except for a few burns on her arms and legs, and a charring to her dress. Looking around at the destroyed beauty, she almost wanted to weep, but she could sense that many innocent bystanders had been injured or killed in his rage. He would never be allowed back on Naboo if it was discovered he was behind the destruction, and she didn't want to be here when security forces arrived.

Walking over to the unconscious man, she picked him up with the Force and made her way to a speeder that hadn't been damaged. He might no appreciate it, but she thought it best to move him away from this. Using the Force to trip the speeder's ignition, she made her way through the streets of Theed as security forces converged on the area. By the time they started asking question of the survivors and bystanders, she and her prisoner? were on board her shuttle and in orbit.

Setting the craft to orbit for a moment, she went into the main part of her ship and began using the Force to stir his consciousness so he could at least be awake. She hadn't placed any bindings on him, but she was still being cautious. He wouldn't be able to call on the Force readily right now, exhaustion would see to that but they needed to talk it seems.

"So what am I going to do with you?" she sighed, sitting down across from her laid on her cot.

 

[Edric Vanyan]

[member="Darth Arcanix"]

Glyph remained motionless, his subconscious working to repair the damage he had done to himself and working to salvage what little remained of his mind after the break. He was there though, and it would just leave him like this for many more hours and doing nothing. If she looked into his mind only one thing was there, his failure and if he survived this he would get stronger.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Glyph"]

"So why try something foolhardy as that?' she said aloud, certain he would pick up on her words even if he wasn't fully conscious. "I mean, you could sense I was telling the truth about being on vacation and just enjoying the sights, and yet you still felt the need to do something like that. I meant and still mean no harm to the princess or anyone on that planet."

Leaning back in her seat, she sighed again.

"You know, you have great potential, I can easily see that. You're powerful with a very useful ability, but you can't control it. But, I could help you with that, show you paths to powers you could only dream about, but we have to talk about these foolhardy endeavors. I'm not a normal Sith, I'm sure you can tell that, I prescribe to the ideas that made the Sith powerful after the Ruusan Reformations, such as Bane, Zannah, Palpatine, and Lumiya. Patience and cunning are key, controlling your emotions while feeling them course through you. Power enough to protect those you care for, yes?"

 

[Edric Vanyan]

[member="Darth Arcanix"]

His form only shifted as the words pierced through to him and he shook his head before shouting inside his head to get out of it. Problem was she was neither inside his head and nor could she hear him say that from the depths of his mind. She was right though, he needed to get stronger, protect those he couldn't protect in the past. She had a point and he tried to not think about how correct she was but he couldn't toss the wanting to protect them all.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

"Well, I guess we have more to talk about when you get up," Taeli sighed, moving back to her shuttle's cockpit and activating the hyperdrive. With Glyph on her cot, she settled into her seat and decided to just wait until he awoke to continue talking.

The whole situation was strange, but she wondered if it was perhaps a sign from the Force. Her unconscious companion had tried desperately to stop her from going anywhere near the palace, so he must have truly cared for the princess. She didn't agree with what had happened to her, but she hadn't voiced her concerns about it. It wasn't her place to do so, not yet anyways.

'I wonder if he will at least be civil when he awakens and doesn't try and kill me . . . again, but then its nothing personal I guess,' she thought. 'One always has to be on the lookout for treachery from other dark siders, especially once you reach somewhere as high as I have.'

[member="Glyph"]

 

[Edric Vanyan]

[member="Darth Arcanix"]

He would remain in the state he was in for several more hours, slowly sapping back his strength from what ever he could leach off of without any conscious effort to do so. None the less his mind focused on the scars in his mind and repaired them first because without doing so he was going to be stuck like that for a few hours longer than he had waned to be in the first place. Finally when he did wake up he shot up and looked around, both confused and worried about what had happened. Did he actually kill the sith... he was still alive, and not hanging in a dungeon which made no sense if the Sith had lived.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Glyph"]

"So finally awake huh?" Taeli said from the cockpit, getting up from her seat and stretching. "I bet you're wondering why you aren't imprisoned in a dungeon somewhere, am I correct?"

She was sort of enjoying his confusion and worry, but she wanted to put him at ease more than anything else. It wouldn't do to freak him out more than he already was.

"I decided that neither of us could remain on Naboo after our little fight, so we are currently on our way to a neutral world," she explained. "I know you want more power to protect those you care about, but I'm going to give you a gift here. A gift of choice as you will, you can either stay and learn from me or get off and find your way through the galaxy."

She wondered how he would react to her generosity, and to the fact she wasn't acting like a monster. She might have crushed his hand in the past, but that had been before this opportunity presented itself and he stole her wallet.

 

[Edric Vanyan]

[member="Darth Arcanix"]

Was that the sith he had fought, he had failed but why was she talking to him like she was not a monster, a murderer. She could not have thought he would just go ahead and bow to her like she was some god all because she beat him. So much though a smug smile grew on his face as he looked at her and for a few long seconds before leaning forward on his hand to look at her. "And why might i ask should i believe you in saying that you would teach me to protect people. but you really should get that Ego in check. Good job, you beat a kid, now let me bow to you master." He looked at her for a few long moments as he smiled.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

"Ah, now there's the cocky arrogance I saw on Coruscant," Taeli said, a half smile on her lips. "I'm not asking you to bow to me or anything. Yes, I beat you, twice now actually, but if I wanted to rub it in your face, you'd be in chains on a wall somewhere highly unpleasant as I came to gloat."

Arrogance was all well in good, so was cruelty if the situation called for it, but she usually refrained from it unless she had to.

"I know you're an empathy since you fed off my emotions during our fight on Coruscant, so I want you to check to see what I say and if its true or not," she said, her smile growing wider.

"Did I want to or harbor any ill intentions towards the princess of Naboo? No. Am I being genuine in saying I'd be willing to teach you to become stronger? Yes. Am I being genuine when I saw I'll drop you off on the next planet and let you go if you say no? Yes. Have I ever killed an innocent being? No. Those sorts of acts I abhor, I have killed on the battlefield, I've killed criminals, I've killed the people who tried to violate me. But an innocent? No."

He would feel the truth in each of her statements, because that was all she wanted to show him. That she could be honest with him, and her offer was completely legitimate.

[member="Glyph"]

 

[Edric Vanyan]

[member="Darth Arcanix"]

He frowned knowing what she was saying is nothing but the full truth and that is possibly what angered him the most that this woman could be a sith yet have those kinds of feelings. A Sith was suppose to be a murderous and manipulative creature that deserved to be put down... not what this woman was and the more he thought about it the more and mor the hate for what she was grew. "Fine, you made your point... but i really hope you think that you can turn me to believe that you are a God but its not happening." He wasn't accepting, but he wasn't denying her anymore either. Simply a middle ground.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Glyph"]

"I'm not asking for you to treat me like a god," Taeli scoffed. "I'm a bit more down to earth than that, I'm perfectly content being a scholar, a warrior when the time comes, and a teacher. You might say I took after my parents even more than they know."

Turning, she sat back down in the cockpit.

'I'm not asking you to decide now, make your decision when we reach the next planet," she said with a shrug. She could feel the hate towards her growing, mainly because she wasn't what he expected from a Sith. That was her guess at least, but she could live with that. The sort of feelings that would elicit would be useful in turning him fully to the dark side. Patience was key here, that and not being a stereotypical Sith, but that wouldn't be a problem given that she wasn't.

"If you want to rest or eat something, help yourself, we have another hour until we reach the next neutral system," she sad over her shoulder.

 

[Edric Vanyan]

[member="Darth Arcanix"]

He sighed and just looked up at the ceiling before thinking to himself and tapping his hand on his leg before sighing and nodded. "Im fine, not even hungry as it is.." So he lied, not like he would have told her the truth even if she pulled it out of him like a string of babble that accomplished nothing in the end but hey, some people are really just that useless sometimes.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Glyph"]

"Suit yourself," she said with a shrug. He didn't want to be truthful with her, that was fine. He would be hungry after the massive amount of energies he had been throwing around, and the exhaustion, but if he didn't want to partake of any of her supplies, she wouldn't force him. She expected a ton of resistance from him for quite some time, even if he took her up on the offer of teaching ultimately.

Going quiet for a time, she would allow him the time to think about what he wanted to do.