2nd Thoughts (Open)

[Rayna Eclipse]

Rayna walked quietly through the massive hall, sticking close to the wall. She passed slowly by a statue of Darth Vader, looking it in its stone eyes. To be honest, the place unnerved her. It was as if someone took everything she stood against and placed it in one location. As she contined her walk she came to a window. For a moment she stopped and looked out it at the garden below. Even something traditionally beautiful such as a garden had a sinister feel to it.

She continued on, still unnerved, unnoticing the footsteps behind her.

[Lucianus Adair]

He had this habit. One, unshakable habit.

Mars stalked with killer silence through the passageways of the Order, and occasionally came across a presence he did not recognize. Gathering from prior experiences on this bent, it did him well to learn the art of the draw-kill, rather than having his weapon always out and ready.

....You know, just in case of something or someone that didn't belong. It was more...accomadating..that way. The deeply knitted instinct of the predator, the hunter of the most dangerous kind was part of his being. This man prided himself on self-control...but not too much pride. He was much, much too young to fall.

Keep walking. Do not fail, little pretty one.

[Rayna Eclipse]

Not having the Force to warn her of trouble, which any Sith would qualify for, made her feel as if she had gone blind. She folded her arms across her chest, holding each arm tightly. She stopped for a moment to gaze at a lightsaber, whose she did not know. Even without the Force, she could see hundreds of lives had been extinguished by it. It almost frightened her.

The hairs on her neck rose as she realized someone was in very close proximity to her. She spun around startled, letting out the slightest peep, pushing one hand out to the man's chest and another flat aginast hers. She was too stunned to let out the initial word that traditionally started a conversation.

[Lucianus Adair]

He looked down at the much smaller hand planted on his...chest.

First time I have ever seen someone plant their hand upward in the shock...

Mars was a tall young man. He had, in recent months, grown to a height of 6'6". The young sith, whose looks gave off nothing as to his actual age, followed down the arm, and connected to a face. A pretty little one.

"Usually, one says..."Hello" or "Greetings..Or perhaps.."Good Day."..."

His eye had cooled to the calm nothingness of the black they were now.

[Rayna Eclipse]

She exhaled. "Hi." And did her best to smile taking her hand from his chest. She glanced at his eyes. "You startled me." She added monotnously, she never was one for emotion.

"I suppose you expect me to introduce myself; I am Rayna." She would have extended her hand, but she was still uneasy around Sith. "And you are..."

[Lucianus Adair]

His deep, quiet voice had a slight growl to it.

"Phoenix Whyte. I am apprenticed to Master Olra'en."

Mars had been a resident of the Order since shortly before his fourteenth birthday. He was now just slightly older than sixteen.

"You are new to this place." He sniffed the air a little. "Your scent is uneasy."

[Rayna Eclipse]

"My scent?" She asked surprised. "Do I smell to you, Mr. Whyte?"

[Lucianus Adair]

"Everyone has a scent....." He paused, looking her over.

" ...you are just unused to this place, and are quite skittish. Your scent dictates that slight tinge of fear. I can smell fear. That will do you no good around here. It will become a hindrance."

He was in need of a haircut. His hair seemed to grow at an unusually quick rate, and it had become bluer each year.

[Rayna Eclipse]

Lovely, he picks up fear like a dog smells bloody meat. She thought to herself.

"We'll you know the saying: 'Fear leads to anger..." She said and took a mental note to adheare to it. "But you know how things go. New place," She met his eyes for a moment. "new people."

"I'm sure your first days here weren't all that easy."

[Lucianus Adair]

"The first days in a place such as this are difficult, yes. I had to prove I was worthy to be an apprentice in this Order. That was not the most difficult challenge I have faced, however."

He reached behind him, to the oversized katana strapped across his back, adjusting it to a more comfortable position.

"From the earliest days of my short life, I have trained in the dark arts."

[Rayna Eclipse]

Her attention was moved from his face to the katana he kept on his back as he adjusted it.

"From the earliest days of my short life, I have trained in the dark arts." He said.

"And you've killed people with that, correct?" She said and raised a finger towards the hilt of the katana.

[Lucianus Adair]

There was no pride nor shame in it.

"I have killed, yes. Everything has a purpose..." He paused, staring down at her inquisitive eyes... "..the question being whether that purpose is at all of any use."

Recently, He had done away with a meddlesome, lesser known Jedi. The man had gotten in the way of Mars' work. The man had to be dealt with swiftly. Savagely. Without regard to the effect it had on the man's relations. This was some of what it meant to be cold.

"There is no place for innocence here."

[Rayna Eclipse]

"So what about your innocentless purpose." She said as she began to walk slowly to the next bust. The cold that eminated from him was beginning to bother her, but then again she would have to learn to get used to it. "Is their any use to yours?"

[Lucianus Adair]

"Culling the herd."

It sounded cruel, yes. But it was just another day, another task, another normal, natural thing for this young predator.

"Refining the gene pool. In case you had not noticed, Rayna, everything revolves around breeding, money and power."

[Rayna Eclipse]

He used her name, she felt slightly unnerved with being on a first name business with a Sith. "I suppose you are correct." She said but knew she didn't mean it. "So I bet you have all three, then?" She said.

[Lucianus Adair]

"I have what I need, and that is enough. And if it bothers you that I use your first name, then perhaps you should have thought to provide your surname in the first place..."

He smirked. She was so nervous.

[Rayna Eclipse]

And now he was seeming a little invasive. He was obviously picking up her surface thoughts which she wanted to hide, but that might give away her true Force potential.

"No, Rayna is fine. I'm sorry, I just..." She didn't know quite how to explain it. "So what about fun." She said with a little more energy in her voice. "Anything you like to do around here? Something fun?"

[Lucianus Adair]

Anytime someone mentioned fun, Mars was slightly annoyed. He usually considered the concept an utter waste of time...when it was fun by any 'normal' terms.

"I train every day, out on the grounds...By myself, with my master or my colleagues. In the latter end of the day, I recline in one of the common rooms, or the library, and read a book I may have recently selected. All things I do are to better myself."

He looked her over from head to toe, as he followed slowly, just behind her.

"And what is it you consider 'fun', Miss Rayna?"

[Rayna Eclipse]

She wanted to smile. She didn't expect anyone there to be so serious in their studies. Turning her head around to face him. "I'm not a fan of 'fun'" She said with little emotion as was her usual dialogue. It was strange to her, how they we alike in this sense; one a Jedi and the other a Sith. "I'll give you this, there's nothing more important that refining one's self." She met his eyes for a second. "Fun is for children." She looked ahead and walked slowly, her hand slipping off a bronze bust of a Sith lord.

[Lucianus Adair]

Phoenix never normally took an appreciation to anyone that wasn't benifitting him in any way, but he found himself thinking different on this case.

"Perhaps you would find it acceptable to join me in the common room this evening for a glass of my Lord's estate wine and some relaxed conversation?"

[Rayna Eclipse]

She faced him for a moment, searching for a hint of an alterior motive. He concealed it well; if there was one at all. "I would." She said with the slightest hint that she was glad he asked. "Care to name a time?"

[Lucianus Adair]

Phoenix just quirked a brow, looking down at the much smaller woman.

"Around eight. By then I should have my evening practices finished, and have eaten dinner."

[Rayna Eclipse]

"Very well." She said and did her best to look up at him while not seeming too small. "I shall see you then." She nodded her head slightly and walked down the grand hallway towards the library.