This isn't your average everyday darkness, this is...advanced darkness [Sith Acolytes Invited]

[H3xle]

"Woyunoks hadzuska koshûjontû. Dwomutsiqsa!"

Creatures of conjured smoke appeared around the room. Tain, kneeling in a spot that only had one other acolyte nearby, saw three of them turn towards her and cock their heads in a peculiar manner that was familiar to Tain in the worst way. A chill wound up Tains spine as she watched them float slowly nearer, their forms nebulous.

"These Dwomutsisqa...ancient Sith Magic conjured Smoke Demons. Shall be your first test." Hauntruss lent out a hand and the creatures responded with immediate obedience. "I want to see how much of the force you can muster to save yourselves. For only in the very abyss of danger can the deepened submission to dark side be cultivated." Hauntruss than strode up and clasped her hands behind her back. "You no doubt speak of how as a darksider you control you anger and fear....Hiss hiss hiss...When your training is complete...You will know fear. Like no other. All you must do...is survive."

As the Sith Master spoke, the three Dwomutsiqsa that had oriented on her began to shift into a shape that went with that familiar cocking of the head. One moment they are floating slowly towards her, the next they are stepping down from the air in unison, all in the form of her Stepfather. Pasty white skin stretched over a form that was once supremely muscled, and was now a little less so and more bulky due to liquor and food than working out and discipline. All three were dressed alike, starkly white undershirts tucked into the black pants that had once been a part of the mans Imperial uniform. The cuffs on the bottom of the pants, hanging over bare feet, were in a state of disrepair, pieces of thread poking out here and there from holes worn in the fabric. All three strode forward, that sickly, drunken smirk painted on all three faces; knuckles popping as first one hand, then the other were cracked and stretched.

"You cannot be here..." She said as she stood and stepped backward. Her form and face hidden by robe and mask, no one could see the sweat begin to form, nor her eyes widen. She tried to hold onto her anger, and not let the fear grip her stomach. "I killed you. You raised your hand for the last time over a decade ago." Her reasoned speech had no effect on the three forms of her stepfather. She took another step back as they split apart, two going to the sides to pen her in as the one in the center kept striding forward slowly. "My elbow went through your chest. I broke it on the wall behind you and walked away as your corpse was still cooling." The edge of fear crept into her voice, her throat becoming heavier with emotion as she took another step back. "You said you would break my mother for sleeping with her Sith boss...you said you would break me for being born." Her voice went up several octaves and tightened as her breaths got shorter and faster. Her heart started beating harder. Then she yelled, "I broke you! Against the wall and on the floor, beat your family nevermore. Never raise your fist on high, for at my will you did die! Never knowing fear your self, I threw your body through a shelf. And as your blood and body cooled, even mother could not be fooled. For fueeld by anger, hate and fear, my latent power did appear!" At this point, anyone looking at Tain could see the red glow of her eyes through her mask, a biological gift of he who fathered her. Her voice had reached fever pitch and the last few lines of her impromptu poem were screamed at the top of her lung. As she finished, her breast filled with the anger, hate and fear that had suffused and empowered her on that day long ago, she pushed out and struck at the creature before her with the Force. The creature was slammed backward, flung meters into the air and against a pillar. Its form puffed into black, roiling smoke and floated down tot he ground to reform.

The other two slid in on her sides and she felt familiar fists drive into her body again and again. At first, she was taken by surprise, there had only ever been one before. The cracked part of her mind, however, didn't care. It only wanted to defend her being until it could get a shot in. As the fists slammed into her sides, she pulled her elbows in close to her sides. She found the rhythm they had been using, and was able to take many of their hits on her arms instead. She stepped forward, dipped her head into a roll and came up a meter away from them. They moved swiftly back to her side and resumed pummeling her. She let out a scream that rippled with years of anger, hate and fear boiling over. No longer thinking of defense, the young woman turned and grabbed at the smoke demon to her right. Her hands went through air and she stumbled through its form. Instinct had her roll forward again and turn a she stood into a fighting stance. As the rage and fear danced through her mind, she realized that she couldn't physically harm these creatures. Her stepfather would have to be defeated, three fold now that the first one was back on the scene, with only her will and the Force. She went into a dipping, dodging maneuver as she stoked the fires of her hate and fear, preparing to battle with the Force instead of fists.





[member="Darth Hauntruss"] | [member="shuduc macar"] | [member="Elensa Jari"] | [member="Akuma"] | [member="Nulgath Zardai"] | [member="Melori Raaf"] | [member="Sage Bane"] | [member="Wolf"]

 

[Ignatius]

I watched with fascination as Darth Hauntress had continued with the chanting. Becoming louder and louder as she went. Watching as all the others had let their weapons be taken from them. As soon as the servant had taken the weapons I had carried away from me, I almost regretted it. I felt naked. Open. Exposed. Almost as though I were back in my slave days. Standing in a line in the nude with nothing but the cover of my hands to protect me from the men who oppressed many others including myself and my sister. Now, all I had was the force.

I felt a little better about that one fact. That I was able to have an ability that a rare few had. These people who stood in the line with me, all had stories of their own. All having their own trials in which they have to deal with. And a role they have to play within their own, mine, and other lives. I accepted that fact. Knowing that I might have to work with these individuals. However, I showed no notion of having this information. As my size and lack of height indicated, I was merely a child. I am 18 years old. Barely considered an adult by human standards. And I was a child within the force compared to the Sith who created these smoke demons as she spoke.

Saying that we needed to immerse ourselves in the dark side of the force. And all we needed to do was survive. It was in that, the Smoke demons charged us from the line in which we stood. The other apprentices came to do what they needed to do to survive. Many would come at us. All of them aiming to end the natural pulse of life within our bodies. While others came to defend themselves, I charged forward. but as I did, it became my worst fear. A fear unlike any that I never want to have again. I felt angry at the pure feeling of hatred towards the person who stood before me.

She stood just about my height. Raven black hair to match my own. Dressed in rags of a slave. A face that I would never forget. While she stood there, her arms were folded. The look upon her face was none that I wanted to ever see again. I feared this young girl. Yet I loved her at the same time. I hated her, yet I cared for her. Emotions flooded my mind and soul. Filling me with raw power that I could control. As from the teachings of my master, other Sith that I studied under, my passed friend, and the Sith woman who stood in the center of this all, I gathered the force, and used it to fuel myself. Using it to almost consume me in a fit of rage and anger. Yelling a single syllable word that stretched out to seem like 30.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

I continued my run at the demon. Slamming my raging fist into her face. My left elbow followed to slam her in the gut, and a roundhouse kick sending her flying to the side, only to see another one of her step forward.

"Don't do this to me!"

Rushing her again, I jumped in the air, to do a flip kick, using the momentum to slam her body crumpling to the ground. Followed by a third who almost appeared just a foot behind the second. Taunting me with a smirk that only she could make. After landing I came to tackle her, and slammed fist after fist into her face until it looked like a pulp. And in ash, she left me, only for one to be standing over me. And in her voice, only spoke to me.

"I can, and I will."

I used a force push to send her up into the air where I jumped after her. Slamming my feet and legs into her in a fury of rage. I then took her and slammed her to the ground with gravity acting as my ally.

"You will never defeat what you fear."

I could hear her words behind me. I smirked lightly as I used the rage I had within me to spin around. Grabbing her by the throat and lifting her up physically. Her face only amused as I spoke her words. Making her face change to that of realizing the situation she was in.

"I can, and I will."

My hand erupted in the force sending the blast through her neck and separating her head from her body. I watched as the body fell. Becoming ash within my vision. Wondering why I felt this way. And watched as my vision suddenly became fuzzy. Black and white lights flashed in my vision, and I fell to my knees.

[member="Melori Raaf"], [member="Shuduc Macar"], [member="Darth Hauntruss"], [member="Wolf"], [member="Elensa Jari"], [member="Tain Organa"], [member="Nulgath Zardai"], [member="Sage Bane"],

 

[Wolf]

[member="Darth Hauntruss"] | [member="Shuduc Macar"] | [member="Elensa Jari"] | [member="Akuma"] | [member="Nulgath Zardai"] | [member="Melori Raaf"] | [member="Sage Bane"] | [member="Tain Organa"]

With four words of a strange and foreign tongue, Hell was unleashed upon them. A dark and unnatural sensation caressed Wolf's body with fear, the hair on the back of his neck standing on end. It did not matter how much he had mentally prepared himself, his eyes widened with shock as they witnessed bulbous, fiendish creatures emerge from the darkness. He would have preferred to be out in the field of battle any day compared to this. Their eyes were a sickly yellow, their bodies a blood-red and two of them turned their attention on Wolf, their foul lips curling into a cruel and malevolent grin.

To make matters worse, Wolf felt as though he were naked. His weapon had been taken from him, at a time when he needed it most. No doubt this was the point of the exercise, he had to rely on the Force now, on the Dark Side, cultivating a deepened submission to it, as Darth Hauntruss had mentioned. The problem was, Wolf was certainly no adept, the others in the room were far beyond his own abilities, he dread to think it could all end here, as an inexperienced acolyte who was caught far out of his depth. Wolf grit his teeth and pressed down such ugly and useless thoughts.

The Sith Lord uttered some other words in the strange tongue, and suddenly the demons' bodies snapped into action. The two who were looking at him sprung forth, teeth bared and claws reaching forth, intending to tear him apart. His muscles jolted into action, Wolf dived to the ground and rolled to the side, avoiding the demons' leap as they passed by him and struck the ground hard. The two fiends clambered to their feet, a ravenous malice in their eyes as they reeled around to face him once more. Wolf had to act. He pushed himself to his feet, sprinting towards one of the large statues, attempting to buy himself some time in order to come up with a clear plan.

As he ran, his eyes flicked around the room as he noticed the other acolytes' progress. Some were demonstrating very impressive Force abilities, some even slamming these terrible creatures into walls with its sheer power. As much as he longed to be on their same level, now was not the time, he was not going to attain their abilities in a matter of minutes. He had to do things his way, at least for now.

Wolf reached one of the large statues, a towering figure of a long-dead Sith Lord. He could sense the demons were hot on his tail, their gnarled, clawed feet scratching against the stone ground as they pursued him. Wolf darted to the side of the statue, and then disappeared behind it. The demons were close behind, though for a few precious fractions of a second he was out of sight. As Wolf ran, he quite suddenly stopped, turning on his heel and facing the other way, toward the direction the creatures should be coming, his face resolute. The fiends would have expected him to have kept on running, and they wheeled around the statue at a reckless pace. This was his opportunity.

The moment the first demon's loathsome face appeared around the corner of the statue, Wolf leapt forward, his fist hurtling forward with a crunching blow to the centre of the demon's face. The fiend howled in pain and dived away. Making sure to not lose his momentum, Wolf landed on his left foot, his weight shifting as his body turned on it, acting as a pivot. The second demon was moving at the same speed and had no time to change course, coming up right behind the first one. Wolf's right foot came up with disciplined timing, a roundhouse kick that also struck the creature in the face. It let out a shriek and fell to the side.

Wolf regained his balance, panting, as the demons wiped their faces in hot rage. They glared at him now, and began to pace back and forth with a predatory hunger, searching for an opening. Wolf stood ready, his back to the statue as his fists were raised. The demons stood at around eight feet tall, though it was no longer as intimidating now that he knew he could hurt them. Wolf felt ready for anything they could throw at them, his body feeling the familiar rush of being in the midst of combat.

Without warning the two creatures leapt toward him once more. The first one struck forth with a claw towards his head, and Wolf side-stepped just in time and it narrowly missed, clattering against the stone of the statue with force and making the demon growl in pain. The second one snarled and came toward his midriff. At the last moment however, the demon suddenly shifted its momentum and swung low with its claws at Wolf's legs. It took him by surprise and he jumped back against the wall of the statue to try to avoid it, but with the statue obstructing him he could not jump back far enough. The claws ripped through his trousers and cut through the flesh of his left thigh, leaving a gash that was painful though not too deep, eliciting a growl of pain from the man.

It was severe enough for Wolf to lose his balance for a moment, caught off guard. The first demon had regained its own composure and now yelped with delight as it leapt towards him once more, seizing the opportunity. Its clawed hands came around and gripped tightly around Wolf's shoulders, its weight coming upon him and forcing him to the floor. The other creature sneered and as its comrade held Wolf down, it raised its hand in the air, claws extended and ready to come slicing down into Wolf's throat. Wolf stared the demon in the eyes, it could not end here. Anger seized him, frustration surging beneath his skin as he struggled against the creature's immense strength.

I didn't come all this way to be killed by a pair of overgrown fairies.

Wolf cried out in rage, his mind screaming out for the demons to just die and be done with. All of his plans, all his vision, it would not, it could not, end here. A sudden fire stirred up inside of him, as he drew upon his rage and his hunger for victory. The room was thick with the Dark Side, and he would not die here without ever using it. Drawing upon his anger, hatred and fear of these beings, he yelled out again with one last cry.

A primal and untamed wave of the Force emanated from the man as his emotions surged forth into raw power. The demon on top of him was thrown back, as was the one which was ready to kill him. Wolf let out a gasp as he narrowly avoid death's clutches, even if he still did not quite know how to control the energy within him. There was no time for celebration though, he got to his feet as quick as he could, readying himself for another bout.

The demons were not in sight however. Instead, laying just a few feet in front of him was a large and dusty black book. It was at least two feet in length, and a foot in width. Wolf looked with intrigue, he did not understand what was happening. He looked around, and could see that the other acolytes were still engaged in a mighty battle with the fiends. Was this some sort of trick? Wolf approached with caution, for some reason his mind was urging him to go back, to not look at it.

On the front cover were written the words,

Wolfgang Krieger

His mind screamed out at him all the more to stop. But he could not stop now, curiosity gnawed at him. He remembered Darth Hauntruss' words as he had unleashed the beasts, "You will know fear". Perhaps this was it? The beasts were scary, of course they were, but they had not seized him with terror, Wolf thought to himself, a touch of arrogance on his mind. Then stop, for inside you may find real fear. Wolf smirked to himself, Well, I am quite curious to find out what that is. It would be a learning experience, wouldn't it, to know my true fear?

Wolf crouched down, his hands grasping the book, it was warm to the touch. With a deep breath, he turned over the cover, and on the front page were two simple words, written in large writing to take up the page.

What if...

What if? His mind continued to battle against him as his fingers moved and he turned to the next page.

What if morals really do exist?

He chuckled to himself, so this would be some sort of philosophical challenge, to test if his own reasoning and logic was sound? That sounded rather fun to him. He turned the page again.

What if morals really do exist, and you will be held accountable for them?

Wolf shook his head with a dismissive smile and turned the page again.

You will be.

A dark and untoward power then gripped him, and a thousand thoughts seemed to enter his mind all at once. Suddenly he was confronted with hundreds of faces. People he had killed in war, people he had deceived, people he had coldly hurt and let down. Memories rushed to his mind, the lives he had taken, not just because of duty, but out of a cold and ruthless heart, always taking the most efficient option, never regarding weak notions of sentimentality and empathy.

Fear seized him with a most terrible strength as he felt the cold and empty reaches of utter darkness. It was not the empowering darkness that he had witnessed moments ago from the Sith Lord's spell. No, this was an empty darkness. All of his past actions suddenly felt wrong. He suddenly felt like a criminal. Guilt raged within him and iron chains seemed to grip him by his arms, a dark and heavy burden was placed upon his back. He cried out in desperation for it to stop, for the faces to go away, for the darkness to cease.

He wished he could choose to fight a thousand hellish fiends rather than this. Not only to be wrong, to doubt his entire belief system and his motivation for even joining the Sith, but worst of all, to suggest that there was... accountability.

He wished he had never opened that book.

 

[Darth Timoris]

Melori knew what she had to do but the very fear she was drawing down to fuel her Dark-side powers was simultaneously freezing her actions.

Her rational mind found this an easy puzzle to solve. There was clearly a tipping-point where the fear ceased to be a hindrance and became a benefit. Yet the logical part of her mind was not being listened to right now. Instead it was being ignored. It was if the part of her brain controlling all of her decisions had put its fingers in its ears and was singing loudly.

So she had to deal with this through manipulation of the fear alone. The creature seemed unphased by the blue sparks of lightning on her hand and swiped once more at her. Again she ducked, but this time she fell, her footing unsure given the rigidity of her muscles in this state.

As she looked up, she saw the tusks looming closer. She could almost feel its breath on her skin as it drew closer. She wanted to shut her eyes but couldn’t. Her hair was now matted to her brow with sweat, yet she’d barely moved. Her skin was cold and clammy and she knew she couldn’t escape its next move. She was aware her breath was ragged.

Slowly she raised her left hand. Again she fought the desire to close her eyes. “Through passion, I gain strength.” She whispered it at first. “Through passion I gain strength.” It was audible now. “THROUGH PASSION I GAIN STRENGTH.” This time she shouted it and blue lightning arced from her hands and caught the creature full on the chest.

But rather than char, the terentatek seemed to become translucent. As it was hit by her power, it seemed to disappear. Finally...it had gone altogether. As she started to breathe normally once more and rose to her feet, she saw another terentatek coalesce out of the smoke.

This time she didn’t just use the fear – she embraced it, she longed for it to fuel her power. “Through strength…I gain power.” And she held both hands up now and the blue lightning poured into the Dwomutsisqa. She was very afraid – and it felt good.

[member="Wolf"] | [member="Akuma"] | [member="Tain Organa"] | [member="Darth Hauntruss"] |[member="Shuduc Macar"] | [member="Elensa Jari"] [member="Nulgath Zardai"] | [member="Sage Bane"]

 

[H3xle]

[member="Wolf"] | [member="Akuma"] | [member="melori raaf"] | [member="Darth Hauntruss"] |[member="Shuduc Macar"] | [member="Elensa Jari"] [member="Nulgath Zardai"] | [member="Sage Bane"]


The apparitions of her Stepfather continued to close with her, and Tain felt the fear and anger roiling deep within her. It was like a pit of acid had opened in her abdomen, and sent spears of acid through her body with each beat of her heart. She continued to move as she stoked the embers within her, the air around her crackled with dark, malevolent energy, and it had nothing to do with the Dwomutsisqas. Finally having gather up her will and the Force within her, Tain rolled forward through the middle smoke demon and came up in a spin. Instead of brandishing a lightsaber or knives, she brandished her open hands which were seething with dark power. She thrust her hands at the closest smoke demon, bringing clouds of dark energy around the creature and squeezing it down, smashing it smaller and smaller until the creature popped and became motes of dust.

By then the other two had reached her and began hitting her. The red glow of her eyes within her mask turned to the one on the right as its fist smashed the mask off her face. A beautiful young womans face who reddish complexion was only partially from exertion, was shown then. Her eyes still glowed malevolently red, the left one from within a rising bruise. She ducked the next few blows and rolled to her left, getting out of the pincer. She motioned with one hand, like violently parting a curtain, and one of the smoke demons was slammed to the wall with enough force to crack the facade on the wall. She held it there while backing away from the last dwomutsisqa, increasing the pressure more and more until it to popped into motes of dust. That left just one. She stopped moving backwards. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw [member="Melori Raaf"] use force lightning, and a portion of her mind made a note to learn that power. Not being able to channel the fury into electrical arcs, Tain was left with her telekinesis. She slammed her will and the Force into the smoke demon, her fists together top to top, then she pulled them apart and the smoke demon rained down as dust flying in either direction away from Tain.

Falling to her knees, panting with the effort of throwing her will around so much and so violently, she looked around and waited for the next opponent to come at her.