The Road

[Riamah]

To say Ra had been neglecting her apprentices would be putting it nicely. She had barely greeted one of them and he really had a lot of potential. Now things had calmed down for her and she felt she could devote some time to teaching him.

Requesting him to appear at Bast Castle, she waited for him in the library. If he didn't remember how to get to this room, Vincent would escort him. She was confident he would know the way though.

She wore what was comfortable and was in casual clothes. Looks could be deceptive though and Ra was far from weaponless. Mainly it was the two sabers she had up her sleeves and knives in her boots. No weapons were visible though and she hoped there wouldn't be a need to draw the hidden ones.

Of a neutral alignment now, she still leaned to the dark. Using her abilities to accomplish good things instead of bad, she walked the line. Whatever path Rann choose, she would guide him and not push him one way or another. Training would happen and he would be free to decide where he went with his course in life.

[member="Rann Thress"]

 

[Rann Thress]

Rann struggled to remember the layout of the castle but found his way to the library in quick enough time, by his account anyway. As opposed to [member="Riamah"], Rann wore comfy loose fitting robes. They felt much like pajamas, he often thought, but they were comfortable, fitting, and allowed him to move freely in combat. His lightsaber, as ever, rested on his belt, swinging slightly and bouncing against his thigh. As he entered the Library he took the time to bow, showing respect for his master. The first few weeks or months he had spent here on Vjun were a bit of a blur, but not once did Rann regret his decision to remain here. He had learned a bit regarding saber combat, but was eager for more instruction which brought him back to the meeting at hand. Rann did not know why Ra had summoned him here nor why she had worn such informal clothing. He thought that he would find her beautiful were it not for her immense power and, to him at least, intimidating presence. Perhaps, he thought, that made her even more beautiful.

"You've summoned me, Master?" He said, raising from his bow and standing with his hands behind his back. A sense of discipline had been instilled in him since he had arrived, but he had yet to lose his smile. For that he felt grateful. He smiled at Ra as he awaited her response and his orders.

 

[Riamah]

Silently watching as Rann entered the library, Ra waited for him to finish bowing and addressing him.

"There is a time and place for such...uh, signs of respect. In private, please just call me Ra and you certainly don't need to bow like that. Please, have a seat."

She sat in one of the two chairs near the fireplace. These were much more comfortable than the ones at the desk and provided a sense of familiarity for those chatting. They were resting facing the fire, but angled so whoever sat in them could look at each other. On the table to the chair for Rann were a few books. Pointing to them, Ra tilted her head slightly to look at him before she spoke again.

"Do you know how to read? That might not be the best way to ask, but if you are unable to read, those books won't do you any good. Inside of them are various codes and even some skills I have found to be of great use. I am also curious as to what you already know of the Force and what you want to accomplish in your life."

A single hand raised and pointed to herself and lowered again.

"When I was about your age, a man took me under his wing and taught me how to be a businesswoman. That was the life I wanted for a long time and I got it. Still do that from time to time. Now though, there is a movement that has begun and you are a part of that. What role do you want to play in the great game of the Galaxy?"

[member="Rann Thress"]

 

[Rann Thress]

Rann smiled again and made his way to the chair opposite [member="Riamah"] and sat.

"I'll work on that. Thank you."

He looked at the pile of books on the table and nodded. "Yes I do know how to read. And by all means be blunt. I don't think I could outwit you if my life depended on it, so a straight question will be met with a straight answer."

He turned to look into the flames when Ra asked what he knew and wanted to accomplish. He thought about it for several minutes. the first question was very easy to answer: Not much. The second question was very deep and difficult to answer for him.

"I would love to know more about the Force. What I do know is basic, if that. But.... what do I want to accomplish? I don't know. I'm alive, so far. So I'm accomplishing quite a bit." He chuckled lightly and looked at Ra, his face becoming stern after a second, "I don't know. I don't want to be forgotten. I want my life to mean something. I don't have grand ambitions to conquer the galaxy and rule for eternity or become some all powerful wizard with unlimited power at my fingertips. I want to be something, sure. But my ambition isn't so... defined... yet. If that makes any sense."

He took a look at the books and looked back at Ra. He was curious what she wanted from him. "Forgive me, but what do you seek out of me? I mean no disrespect, but what am I to you? What I seek from my existence is all well and good but you are my master and I'm not exactly eager to look for a new one so you ARE my master. So what you seek for me, what training you can give me will, I feel, define who I am for the rest of my life. Am I a soldier? An Assassin? Some wayward soul?"

He rubbed his hands together and looked back at the fire, "Please don't take me the wrong way. I am incredibly grateful. More then I can express. But... with Jedi It's simple. You're being trained so you can train. But that's not what it is here. I'm being trained with a purpose. What is that purpose?"

 

[Riamah]

A simple nod was given when Rann stated he could read. It was one less thing Ra needed to teach him then. When he went on to request she be blunt for it would be easier to give answers to, she gave him half a smile.

"Oh I'm not all that great with wit, now and then yes, but I am quite normally quite blunt. I would never make a good diplomat."

Vincent would bring in drinks for the two of them and hand them out only to leave again. This was done with very little noise and it gave Rann the opportunity to think on how to answer her. Some of it was pretty generic and what she expected from him.

"Sadly so many people that want to be remembered never set out to do that. It does make sense. How do you want to accomplish your dream?"

Taking a sip of her drink, she set the glass down on the table next to her chair and thought on his questions to her. Steepling her fingers, the tips lightly touched her lips for a moment while she formulated her answer. Some of it sounded odd even to her, but he had just told her to be blunt. Odd or not, she would answer him.

"What do I seek out of you? You are my legacy in a way, Rann. My knowledge is yours to take and turn you into who you want to be actually. Each person has strengths and weaknesses. So far only you know what those are. Today I would like the opportunity to get to know you. I can then decide where I feel you would be the most use to me.

"I am a trained assassin. So if you so wished to learn how to be one, I could train you as well. However, I am not a military commander as such, I could not train you as a soldier. Besides, they rarely make a name for themselves. You will be trained with a purpose once it is discovered."

[member="Rann Thress"]

 

[Rann Thress]

“I don’t know enough to have any real requests for what my training would be. I would be honored to be trained as an Assassin, however. It seems logical.”

He took the drink and thanked Vincent before taking a sip.

“I do not seek power. I hope and pray I am never in a position where lives or planets or the galaxy depend on me. I know that. I suppose being here, serving a goal is the only thing I can think of that would help me accomplish my want to be remembered. No statues or monuments. A page or two in the histories would be nice.” He chuckled a bit at his joke.

His thoughts then dwelles more on the prospects of being an assassin. It would be his job to end lives. He thought back to the only people he has killed so far and if that was something he could stand experiencing again and again. He sighed.

“I won’t lie. Being an assassin was not what I had thought I would ever be as a child. Taking lives, any life, for some reason beyond me seems cold. But I will do that. I will be what is needed of me before all else. I am here, and I am ready to serve. So allow me to train and serve as an Assassin under you.”

 

[Riamah]

"I do not seek power either, yet...here I am, leader of a movement and have power within it. What I always sought was knowledge. With knowledge comes power though, so that is something to keep in mind, Rann."

He said yes to being trained as an assassin and that was something Ra could certainly help him with, but she had the feeling that wasn't where he was going to be strongest. It was a place to start though.

"The end goal I have is destroy the current sith empire. I would like to think that someday, I'll also get a page or two."

Smiling just a touch at his truthful statement on that he had never thought of being an assassin growing up, she hadn't either.

"It is cold, but sometimes needed. Take a read through those books next to you. They cover various codes and ways to go about learning. Return to me when you're ready to continue and you have made a decision on what route you want to go in."

[member="Rann Thress"]

 

[Rann Thress]

Rann took [member="Riamah"] 's advice and went back to his quarters with the books she had given him. He spent the next few days reading and, on occasion, re-reading through them. Once he felt satisfied that he had gleaned what he could out of the books, he sent a message to Ra that he had made his decision.

Rann decided, in his heart, that the high road looked nice but wasn't practical. The Force led him here and did so for a reason. The Force had delivered him to Ra, who herself was a trained assassin. The answer was clear to Rann. This was his calling. Any hangups he felt he would have he knew he would get over.

He sat down in the same chair he was sitting in just a few days before and decided against any drawn out melodramatic reveal. He opted instead for a shorter direct to the point answer.

"I will be an assassin."

 

[Riamah]

Between the time they had parted and when Rann sent the message that he was ready to meet again, Ra had been preparing to start teaching him. It was clear he lacked most basics so that would be where she started. As things progressed and on the chance he might know something already, then they would advance onto the next step.

Like her master had been there for her when she was a child, she would be next to Rann as he developed. The relationship would be business and no sympathy would be shown to him. She wasn't an evil person in nature, but Ra was not very empathic and would not show him much emotion.

She was waiting in the library, in the same chair as before. No books or anything next to her this time.

"Very well. Now what path do you feel called to? Sith, Jedi...or some other one entirely?"

[member="Rann Thress"]

 

[Rann Thress]

Rann had thought of her question for a couple minutes. He certainly *looked* the part of the Sith, what with his darker clothing. But he didn't feel any particular way about a great many things. However, he didn't particularly care for the ideas of the Jedi either. He didn't believe too much in either doctrine, but at this moment he knew that what he sought was power. It was step one to any and all of his goals. He needed power to accomplish a mission as an Assassin. He needed power to be able to defend himself against any who would take his life. He needed power to make any sort of difference int he galaxy.

So he thought about it. The Jedi live to serve the Force more than they have the Force serve them. The Sith bent the Force to their will, using it as they saw fit. As of now, he definitely agreed with that mindset. He wasn't evil, at least he didn't think he was, but he knew that in this place he needed to be strong and cold.

"I... Sith. I do not think I want to meet the Jedi who could take life as I plan to and maintain that what they do they do for the Force. I believe a darker path must be taken for me to reach my goals. I can't look at what lay before me with stars in my eyes. I need to be ready to face it. I need to be able to beat it."

[member="Riamah"]

 

[Riamah]

She silently nodded for a moment when he answered her question. Before Rann could really start to learn how to be Sith, she felt he needed to know some basic things. The first thing was the code itself.

"Peace is a lie, there is only passion.
Through passion, I gain strength.
Through strength, I gain power.
Through power, I gain victory.
Through victory, my chains are broken.
The Force shall free me.

"Memorize that and think on the meaning behind the words. What does it speak to you?"

He wanted power and would be dangerous as he developed. For as long as Ra could remember, all she ever wanted was knowledge and not power. However, with knowledge came power.

[member="Rann Thress"]

 

[Rann Thress]

Rann sat there and thought on the words of the Sith. He decided against thinking too deeply about their meaning, opting instead to go quickly with what he thought they meant rather then what [member="Riamah"] might want to hear.

"Peace is a lie, there is only passion. That, to me, means that at no point is the battle over. I am never safe. Ever. Because of this, I must always be ready, I must always be able to draw on my emotions. I must always be passionate about being stronger.
Through Passion I gain strength. The more I feel, the more I indulge my emotions, my rage, my sadness, my hatred, the stronger I become. The more determined I become to destroy my enemy.
Through Strength, I gain power. This one to me is pretty self explanatory. The stronger in the dark side I become, the more immersed in my emotions, the more power I gain.
Through Power, I gain victory. The more powerful I become the harder it is to kill me. One would hope, anyway."

He chuckled a little bit and continued, "Being stronger, being more powerful, being better all help me win. If I am powerful, I am victorious.
Through Victory my chains are broken. When I win, I am no longer paralyzed by fear and weakness. Through my victory, I know I am the stronger. I know I am powerful. I know it is all worth it. I know the ends justify the means.
The Force shall free me. The Force shall free me from that which scares me. Losing, Death, weakness. Through the force I can stop these things. I will MAKE the Force make me better."

He felt something inside him stir as he finished what the code meant to him. Something distant, yet unable to be ignored. He felt a shift inside him, some small thing. A slippery slope, if it meant what he thought it did.

 

[Riamah]

"You have a great deal of insight that many people lack. Your opinion is quite valid. Most people only think on the surface and you took it a step further, Rann."

Right now he walked the fine line between light and dark, which was what she was on as well. A tip in one direction or the other was all that was needed and this conversation was giving that to him. There wasn't a thing Ra needed to do, he was doing it himself.

Wearing a small smile, her eyes glittered slightly and Ra nodded.

"What chains bind you right now that need to be broken? Let's work on those."

Getting a person to focus on themselves was key to being sith. It wasn't something Ra was very good at personally, but she could certainly help others to be that way. Looking at him as they sat next to the fire, she waited on the answer he would provide. Training within the Force would be a much longer process, but this opened the door for them.

[member="Rann Thress"]

 

[Rann Thress]

What chains needed to be broken? Rann was unsure. At this he was stumped. The code said victory. But Ra was looking for something.... more. Something personal. What else was there he needed to work on? What would make make Rann a more "finished" product?

"I need to be able to kill my enemy. That's step one. That's what's important. The confidence to win. I don't have that. I've learned a lot since I got here. But not nearly enough combat skills. I need to be able to kill."


The skill to win a fight was what took center stage in Rann's mind. He knew this was what he needed to work on.

His thoughts, however, did drift to other things. From what he read, the Sith drew their strength from the Dark Side. And the Dark side was fueled by negative emotions. Hatred, sadness, fear.

Rann did not hate anyone or anything, but the lack of his own strength.

Rann did not feel sadness, but for the separation from his dear friend, Aren.

Rann did not feel fear, but for the fear he was not strong enough.

Huh. It seemed to him that he had a one track mind. He knew what he needed. Rann needed to be stronger.

[member="Riamah"]

 

[Riamah]

There wasn't much Ra could say to his answer. A simple nod with her arms crossed and taking a moment to have a sip of her drink. Setting the glass down, she stood up and motioned to him.

"Follow me. I can teach you how to fight, but you have to find the confidence to win."

What his other thoughts were, she did not know because Rann didn't give voice to them. If Ra knew them, then she might be able to cater his lessons a bit more. As of right now though, all she knew about was his desire to learn how to fight and win.

[member="Rann Thress"]

 

[Rann Thress]

"How do I draw on the darkside? Is it.. just being angry? How does that work?"

He asked as he stood up, following his master. He was ready to learn how to win, but he didn't know how to call on the Force. If the Force was his tool he needed to know how to use it as well. And being able to draw upon the darkside was integral to that.

He was eager to learn how to fight with some skill rather than flailing around like a butcher. Rann didn't have the dream to be a graceful fighter, but a brutally competent one.

"Could you teach me how to strike fear in my opponent? Let's say I had to face some other force user. Being able to kill them fast is nice, but if I can't I need to learn how to beat them in a long fight. So... I don't know.. I was imagining a way of fighting that was scary. Do you know what I mean?" Rann asked. He felt himself opening up more to [member="Riamah"] and that made him a bit uneasy. He was happy to come out of his shell, but he didn't know her motivations yet.

 

[Riamah]

As they walked, Ra tilted her head slightly to show him she was listening to his new questions. Before she gave voice to her answers, she shook her head. Not stopping in their walk, she broadly motioned to the castle around them and stopped outside of a large door.

"This castle contains what is called a Dark Side nexus. Have you noticed the atmosphere here? I might no longer be a sith, but that does not make me weak, Rann. What you seek within the Force is for you to discover how best to accomplish what you desire. To draw on what people feel to be the Dark Side is not only to just be angry because well, even Jedi get angry. First, I think you need to learn more about using the Force and fighting. Then we can get into the finer details of the Dark."

Opening the door, it led to a large training room. Unlike the Sith, Ra did not train with live weapons. Along the walls were practice weapons to choose from and a few deactivated battle droids. Picking out a wooden sabre, she swung it around a few times and pointed to one of the others for Rann.

"Here I will teach you the basic forms and katas of fighting. These are the backbone of your physical training with a sabre."

[member="Rann Thress"]

 

[Rann Thress]

Rann nodded his head and continued, keeping pace with [member="Riamah"]
"That makes sense, thank you."

He then thought of what Ra had said about the castle and the dark side. He felt what he could only describe as a distant cold. It was throughout the castle, and he felt it earlier, even next to a roaring fireplace. A constant feeling of extremely slight cold.

He walked into the large room and followed Ra over to where the practice weapons lay. There was a fair selection of wooden sabres but as he looked at them, he could barely see any difference between them. One might be longer than the other, a little thicker, longer handle but these differences were barely noticeable to his eye. He shrugged and grabbed the one closest to his reach. After swinging it a bit, getting a feel for it's weight, he nodded and unhoocked his lightsaber. He put it down on a nearby table and walked out into the middle of the room. When he got there he took a minute to gaze around the room, observing the battledroids and other objects decorating the walls.

He looked at Ra and mimicked the stance she had taken. He was eager to begin learning how to fight as she did.

 

[Riamah]

Over the next few hours they had together, she covered the first two Forms of combat and their katas.

"Shii-Cho is the first Form every student learns and some never move beyond this. It was developed in an age when some people still used swords, so it can combat both swords or lightsabers. It is also called the Way of the Sarlacc and Determination Form."

Ra went to explain its movements and displayed the knowledge she had of the kata for this Form. Once she was positive Rann had the basics down, she moved onto the second Form.

Picking up a totally different looking wooden sabre, she tossed one to her apprentice. Taking on a new and odd stance, she started going through the kata for this one. Doing the same for Makashi, she showed what she knew of it.

"This is Makashi and is known for its fancy footwork. Made more for duelists, this might be something for you to focus on. It does not rely on strength though."

[member="Rann Thress"]

 

[Rann Thress]

Rann was sure to absorb every bit of information from [member="Riamah"] during their training. He studied her movements and tried to match them as best he could. He felt he got a pretty good grasp of the Shii-Cho form.

When Ra threw the wooden Sabre at him he caught it with his offhand and looked at it. He looked at the first Sabre he had picked up and walked over to a wall, setting it down before returning to the floor and adopting a similar stance to Ra.

“Makashi? This form is for duels? Yeah I think this is something I should focus on.”

He adamantly studied her movements, hoping to soak in as much as he could about this form in particular. Rann had already decided to dedicate much of his free time to perfecting this form after this session.

“I did read some text about the Ataru stance. Is there anything you can show me about that? Not that I’m trying to rush you.”

Regardless, Rann was happy to keep practicing this form before starting another. Already he had felt he had learned so much.