Private These Are Your First Steps

[Darth Sibilus]

MOUNT. VIRYZEYR
PANATHA​

Lord Sibilus had immediately returned to Panatha after his business on Muunilinst, awaiting the return of a newfound prospect from the banking world. He was old, older than he would have preferred for a new apprentice, but the Lord of Order was far from one to shirk from a challenge. He would have to break him, discover his deepest fears, scope out every twist and turn of his labyrinthine memory and unravel it. Torture it. Only then would he reassemble him as a tool for the Sith Empire, for Darth Sibilus. And what better place to begin that process? A place where the ground itself trembles in fear of the fire; the air thick with ash and brim and terror.

When the Muun would begin his search, Sibilus did not know. When he would find him, even, remained obscured by the Force. It wasn't for the Epicanthix to delve into the future with certainty, his precognitive abilities had always been just out off-mastery, but he knew that he would come. One day. And so, preparations were set in order. If Darth Argentum wished to parley with his new Master, he would have to prove his strength and cunning to the Sith Lord through a series of challenges. Only with his passing would Sibilus' interest truly pique.

The day had come, the Force finally giving him clairvoyance enough to predict his arrival. It seemed he had found the Sith Lord, awaiting him on his homeworld of Panatha. With this information, he trekked alone through the worn paths of Mount. Viryzeyr, a stratovolcano of over 2000 metres, shaking the ground with apocalyptic might as magma, ash and fire burst forth from the volcano with the hatred of Nereus himself. The volcano mirrored the Epicanthix people; ancient folklore spoke of how Nereus, the God of all Gods crafted the holy site from the same clay and stone as he made the Epicanthix and the two shared a connection. War, destruction and power.

Darth Sibilus was near the crater of the mountain, his robes tattered and burning from the arduous ascent to the peak. The air was thick with sulphur and poison, but the Force sustained his lungs. His skin was blackened by ash, burnt by stray embers. Here, he meditated on the Dark Side, levitating several feet above the air, legs crossed, rotating slowly. He was completely engulfed in the Force, the rhythmic rocking of the earth not a concern for the Sith. This time, he was not dressed as an Epicanthix, but as a Sith. His robes were black, a simple tunic with thick rancor leather boots and assorted trinkets on his utility belt. No lightsaber hung from it, and his hair tumbled down to his shoulders, whipping around in the thick, boiling hot air. It would be some feat for the Muun to disturb his meditation upon the mountain.

 

[Darth Argentum]

Finding Darth Sibilus had proven not as easy as expected. First he'd left his homeworld for Bastion. They'd certainly known who Sibilus was there. But it took several days to find out the Sith Lord wasn't present.

Apparently he took his privacy seriously. So it was a hypothesis that next brought him to Panatha. No one knew of a Sith Lord called Sibilus' whereabouts on world. Few even knew exactly who he was.

Next he tried asking after Lord Rapux. Yes, beings knew who he was. Finding his estate proved quite easy. But he was also not present. Yet his servants knew who Maro Dansk was.

Sibilus had told them he would be on Mt. Viryzeyer waiting for a Muun of his name. How he'd known Dansk would find him so soon hadn't been mentioned. The Muun could only surmise that a Sith Lord knew much.

But they'd warned him it was an active volcano. Thus he'd outfitted himself with an envirosuit and respirator. He'd also secured transport to the foot of the mountain. It was there that he began his climb.

In all, it'd taken him almost two standard weeks to come here. So in spite of the arduous climb, he refused to let the mountain beat him. It took some hours and much sweat. Yet he finally conquered the climb.

Maro had overcome the climb to the top. But he was still filled with a sense of trepidation as he rounded the final corner before the volcano's maw. Suppose Sibilus was merely toying with him? He wouldn't put it past a Sith from all that he'd heard of them.

He was blasted by a wave of immense heat even through the envirosuit. Before him was the angry red sea of lava. And the unmistakable sight of the Sith levitating above the fiery mountain's blood. His Dark Side aura radiated even more than the heat to the Muun.

It was with awe that the aspirant viewed the Sith's meditation. Such power was terrible and yet wonderful to behold. The spun black cloth of his robes smoldered and yet the Lord was himself unharmed. So not even the fury of a volcano could harm one full of the Force....

Dansk awaited the pleasure of Sibilus. He could sense the other's deep concentration and dared not to interrupt. He knew he would be addressed in due time as somehow the Muun also knew his presence was known.

 

[Darth Sibilus]

He could sense his new apprentice's - yes, apprentice's presence. His arrival was hearkened to him by the Force as he meditated on the Dark Side and on Darth Argentum 's potential role at his side. The rise of opposition to the Sith Empire, however unlikely a true rebellion and overthrowing of the Emperor had troubled the Sith Lord. Should the Sith plan be compromised, again, it was important that one had contingencies to preserve their hold over power. He sensed the rise of older traditions on the horizon, and whether the event would come to pass it had truly troubled him.

As the fires of the volcano raged beneath him, Sibilus' eyes opened, sulphuric orbs of deep hatred and corruption swirling in a white sea of indifference. Slowly, deliberately, his feet touched the ground, gaze unblinking and unholy. "The Dark Side surrounds us here, apprentice." he spoke finally, now a stride away from the Muun. A cruel smile stretched across his blackened face, and he turned around to observe the destruction around him. "Can you feel it?" he asked, inquisitively. "Can you sense the Force here? This place, this mountain, is strong it."

"Tell me how you found me."

 

[Darth Argentum]

The Muun watched the Dark Lord almost casually descend back to the stony ground. He was forced to look up into the malevolent eyes. It was unusual for a being to be a head or more taller. It only served to emphasize the difference in their levels of power.

That he was addressed as apprentice filled him with relief and excitement. But also a sense of fear. Truly there would be no going back now, he knew. Never again could he be an ordinary being. Somehow he knew he'd been selected by the Dark Side too.

"Yes, Lord Sibilus," Dansk replied after a moment as he took it in "It feels like...it's everywhere."

He meant those words. He'd felt the Force here and there. In certain beings, especially Darth Sibilus himself. But not all around him as in here. Not even Bastion where he'd thought it'd been strong. It felt there like the Dark Side was present.

But here it surrounded them. It was a cold fire, a bottomless well of dark ichor. It filled him and exhilarated him in a way no amount of credits ever had. He understood what it felt like to be alive.

"I...I...," he replied as if drunk for a few seconds "I first searched for you on Bastion, Lord. You'd mentioned it in our first meeting."

He shook his head and gathered himself before going on.

"They told me you were not there. So I thought for a time. It was possible that you'd be anywhere but I thought of Panatha."

"It is your home world, as you came to me as Lord Rapux. Somehow I knew it was the right choice."

"When I arrived, when I asked for you as Darth Sibilius, few had heard of this name. But they knew you as Rapux. I found your estate and your servants...they directed me here. All the while, as I drew nearer, I began to sense your power."

 

[Darth Sibilus]

He was impressed to say the least. Resourcefulness and cunning were essential should Dansk live his life as a Sith. One was always going to possess a certain quantity of raw power, strength and command over the Dark Side, but what set a Sith apart from any pretender or weaker Dark Side practitioner is their ambition, their drive and their focus. As Sibilus had already privately expressed, these qualities should serve him well if his dark thoughts came true.

"I sense the Dark Side in you..." he snarled now, breathing deeply as though he were daring the mountain to suffocate him, relying completely on the Dark Side and his silent passion to fuel his very survival. "Is it as strong as I detect?" the Lord of Order asked, a hint of malice palpable in his voice. The air thickened once more, the respirator reduced to a crumpled, useless slap of metal and the envirosuit quickly began to fail as toxic gas leaked towards the Muun. "You do not need training to know what to do, Dansk. Use the Dark Side, feel the power of this place infiltrate your very being. The Force surrounds us. It is your tool, so use your tool and overcome your mortal body." he shouted over the screaming of the volcano, a crescendo of power as the Sith and the mountain both roared to be heard.

Should he succeed in this task, perhaps then he could take him as his apprentice in earnest.

Darth Argentum

 

[Darth Argentum]

With that, the Muun found his respirator rendered useless. His eyes went wide as he watched it fall to the stony ground. Fear seized him again as the hot sulphuric vapours assaulted his olfactory senses. Breath came more rapidly as he eyes shot up to the Sith Lord again.

But there was no pity there as his hand reached up for help. No mercy in those eyes. Just malice and cruelty. A man who watched the suffering of another being. There was the same expression on the face of Darth Sibilus as if he'd crushed an insect underfoot.

The Muun fell to his knees as he began to gasp for clean air. Panic seized him as he then fell to his hands.

Not like this...not like this....

Tears welled up in his eyes then. Not tears of sadness, but tears of impotent rage. His vision had begun to pinhole by then....

He'd fallen into a fetal position. Tears streamed down his long face. It brought to mind how his hated former employer had died. How he'd just fallen to the ground and died like the weakling he was.

It brought back all the memories of his youth. Of his childhood. Full of cruel Muun society scorning him for being non-clan. All the feelings of inadequacy and powerlessness.

NO! NO! I WILL NOT DIE LIKE THIS!

Rage, pure and white-hot consumed him. He was going to die on his feet. No, he was going to live. He was going to live and those who'd hurt him were going to suffer. They were going to beg for death.

By then the Dark Side had flooded into him in a way he'd never known. Tears still streaked his face. His yellow-green eyes were wild and his teeth were bared in a snarl of purest hate. The Muun began to push himself up to his feet.

He staggered upright. His breath was still ragged but it came.

"You dragged me here, Darth Sibilus!," his words roared in a voice not his own "You came to my world and you ripped me from it!"

He breathed heavily as he stooped forward. He'd begun to froth from his lips. It was like the Dark Side had begun to speak through him. Maro hardly registered his own words.

"Then you would let me die! No! I will not be cast aside so easily!"

Dansk took an unsteady step forward and thrust out a long-fingered hand, stabbing a finger towards the taller man.

"Darth Sibilius, show me the way to power! Guide me!"

 

[Darth Sibilus]

The Muun's agony was met with harsh indifference by the Epicanthix, a nonchalant and emotionless gaze resting upon the creature Sibilus had reduced to a quivering, weak beast. An outstretched hand was met with the cold acceptance of helplessness, and Maro Dansk's existence was utterly dependent on Darth Sibilus' whim. He could save him, reach out and apply the same effects of Detoxify Poison onto Dansk, but he needed to see this final test of character, of strength and resolution.

"Pathetic." he murmured, but he imagined the words fell on deaf ears as they tumbled into the dark chasm, drowned out by their surroundings and the torturous pain inflicted by asphyxiation. Though were there was once disappointment, glee and delight sprung up from a deep well within the Epicanthix's core as the waves of anger, deep-rooted, raw, untamed emotion radiated from the Muun. The Dark Side was tangible in his very existence - some creatures were born with a disposition for the Force, destined to follow the guidance of either the Light or the Dark. It was clear to Sibilus that his new apprentice, just as the man himself had been, was inherently attracted to the Dark Side of the Force.

"I will do more than rip you from your world, Maro Dansk. I will tear you apart and reassemble you in my own image. I will find what you desire, so that I can deny you it. I will seek what you love, and make you destroy it. I will be the architect of your future."

The finger that Dansk jabbed into Sibilus' chest was deftly broken. "You belong to me now. But I will show you the way. Now, you must accompany me back to Caordos and you can begin your training, my Apprentice. Your dedication and strength has impressed me, but you are not Sith yet."

Sibilus extended the ability he used to preserve his lungs and other systems vulnerable to the volcano to his apprentice, before setting off on the long and arduous climb back down Viryzeyr where a transport would be waiting to take the duo back to Caordos.

Darth Argentum

 

[Darth Argentum]

Dansk screamed out in agony as Darth Sibilus snapped his finger. He clutched it to his chest, doubled over in pain. But the Dark Lord's words cut through his suffering. And his breathing too had begun to ease.

He felt a sense of hope through all of his suffering. But he also somehow knew he would grow to hate this being. Even more than he did in these moments. The Muun would long for the Epicanthix's blood spilled, his throat ripped out.

For now, he'd been accepted by a true teacher. Maro followed in the wake of the Sith, hand still throbbing. Now he would learn true power. Not just scratching the surface.

I will learn your secrets, Darth Sibilus. I will learn them well and then turn them against you....