The Darkest Candle (Naira)

[Zereth Lancer]

Deep within the training vault of the sith order, in one of the private training rooms that split off from the main chamber, stood Zereth Lancer. He had spent all day preparing the training room for what he was going to teach his newest pupil; Naira Cross. All around the room burned candles and in the center of the room stood a gigantic that burned with such intensity and brightness that the other candles seemed dim.

He had scattered rocks, sand, boulders, pieces of garbage, and debris all over the room and turned it into, well, an accident waiting to happen, really. There was a path that led from the door to the center of the room; where Zereth stood. In his hand he held two poles about six inches long each, these would come into play in a moment. Now he waited for Naira, having already sent her a message requesting her presence.

[Naira Cross]

Naira, having received Zereth’s message, made her way down to the training vault where her new teacher waited. She wondered what he had in store for her first lesson. Would it be simple exercises or possibly something more strenuous? Whatever it was she was sure that she would be able to handle it.

When she arrived, a faint glow came from under the door. Noticing this she paused, and her mind began to wonder yet again. Naira pushed open the door and saw candles all around. In addition to the abundance of candles, there was sand, boulders, and garbage. This chaos definitely took patience and time. The only way to the center of the room was a single path that led straight to a colossal candle… and Zereth.

After taking in all of her surroundings, her mind finale ceased it’s wondering. In Zereths hands were two poles, each relatively small. Naira had no idea why they were important, but she was certain that she would soon find out. She walked up to him, glancing at the poles and said “Interesting.”

[Zereth Lancer]

"Welcome," Zereth said with a bow of his head, "I hope you are ready, for we shall begin at once. I begin the training on my apprentices in all the same way; with a spar. I find there is no better way to find one's weaknesses and strengths other then in a battle." He raised his hands and showed the rods to Naira, "These are practice sabres," He explained, "The are light normal lightsabres only work on a very low setting so that the combatants cannot kill each other, unless they happen to thrust it through the other's eye. They can still burn flesh, but only mildly, but they cannot reflect energy as a real sabre can." He extended one of his hands toward Naira and offered her on of the practice sabres.

Truth be told; TSO hadn't owned a single practice sabre when Zereth had joined. Back then they preferred to kill each other so that the strongest alone will stand, but Zereth disliked this mode of thought and constructed the practice sabres himself.

With a wave of his hand the nearest obstacles moved away and gave the two sith a decent amount of space in which to battle. He stepped backwards until he stood near the back wall of the chamber, "Now attack me, Miss Cross." He pressed the activation plate and the ruby red beam came to life in his hand.

[Naira Cross]

While taking the practice sabre from Zereth, a look consisting of excitement, intrigue and slight deception came across Naira’s face. Saber fighting was not her specialty, however she was more than familiar with her dual vibro blades and some guys out there got a little too familiar with them. Oh well, their fault.

Naira pulled her long brown hair up and out of the way from her face then activated the practice sabre that was handed to her. The beam emitted an emerald green light. She twirled the weapon in her right hand then switched to her left. After a few more maneuvers and she had gotten a feel for the practice sabre. She took her stance.

Her right foot was behind her, bearing most of her weight, her right elbow was elevated and her hands were by her face, gripping the weapon. Bringing it over her head and around towards Zereth, Naira attacked with the practice sabre.

[Zereth Lancer]

Zereth, with the speed and grace of a sand panther, brought his sabre up and held it out to intercept Naira's attack. The blades connected, hissing and groaning as the two energy beams were pressed together. He gripped his sabre tightly in both hands and pushed her blade off to the side, "Against a bigger, stronger foe you can't just attack head on. Movement is your greatest weapon. Moving out of the way, in between, and past your opponents attacks will save you from harm and sometimes put you inside his guard. But you cannot always retreat, you must attack or your opponent will push you against a wall or into a corner, and once there is it near impossible to escape, but I will speak more of that later. Now, attack me again. Be creative and random. A warrior who uses the same five moves over and over again will not dominate the ring for very long." He said, taking a step backwards and holding his sabre in both hands at waist height, the blade pointed horizontally outwards toward Naira and kept his weight balanced evenly on both his feet.

He was testing her, seeing how she attacked, watching her stance, and analyzing every little detail so he can work her out of her weaknesses and increase her strengths.

[Naira Cross]

Why is it that, whatever I do, it never seems to be enough.

This in essence is part of her driving force. All of her life, Naira’s had to prove her self, and her determination to overcome those who she could never satisfy is why she’s come this far. This was no exception. Using her anger as fuel for her ambition she took her stance. She brought her practice sabre out to her right side and angled it down. Her front unprotected as if implying “I am able to stand my ground.”

Springing to life she rushes ahead about to initiate the attack. Raising her saber above her head, she starts its decent towards Zereth, but at that last moment, right before the blades would connect, Naira drops to the ground and sweeps her right leg underneath Zereth to knock his legs our from under him.

Her leg makes contact with his and using the ambition that she had, Naira forces him to lie flat on his back.

[Zereth Lancer]

Sometimes the apprentice teaches the master...

Zereth eyes opened in surprise as he felt his feet fall out from under him. He hit the ground and smiled, "Yes, very good. I fear I have under estimated you, Miss Cross, and for that I would ask your forgiveness." He said as he pushed Naira off himself and rose to his feet, dusting off his cloths. "I see that your have already surpassed this level of training, so we will move on to the next step. Please stand very still." He raised his arms and held them out, hands open, fingers spread. The junk and debris started to shift around the room, creating paths, empty spots, and a clearly hazardous arena. "Now we will work on your footing and similar aspects." He waved his hand to regard the room, "A warrior must always be aware of their surroundings, their footing, and their enemy. Now we will spar again, but this time the ground is covered with things to trip over. You must be light on your feet, always aware of the ground around you, and always be on the look out for a safer pocket of space to move to." Zereth said, casting his eyes down at the ground and then back up at Naira.

"Now it is my turn to attack," He brought his sabre up in both hands and slashed out horizontally with enough power and speed that, with a normal sabre, would cut Naira in half.

[Naira Cross]

Naira was able to block Zereth’s impressive strike but just barely. After she heard the words “my turn” she went on the defense, and brought her sabre up to protect herself. Gripping it vertically, Naira’s blade met with his and she thrust out to the side, steering his sabre away from her. In doing this, Naira stepped backwards and tripped over a medium sized rock that was on the border of a large pile. She fell to the ground landing on her left arm. She rolled over and just looked up to the ceiling. Not hesitating for too long, she quickly got up and took a couple of steps backwards, after making sure that there was nothing in her way first. She held up her practice sabre in preparation to be attack.

“This is going to take some work.”

[Zereth Lancer]

"Yes," He said as he took a step back and deactivated his lightsabre, for the moment, "One cannot simply be shown and know how, one must work at it and it can only be mastered through sweat and blood, exercise and pain. And I do expect you to walk away from this session and drill yourself on what you have learned, or you risk letting your new found skills fall into disuse and forget."

He motioned around the room with his hand, "Do not forget," He said, "The force can be used to sense ones surroundings. Simply close your eyes and let the force be your eyes, your ears, and your guide. It sees things you can never see, give you speed you never had, and strength that cannot be matched by mortals. But never become dependant on the force for your every need, one must be whole in body and force, not just the force. Now, reach out with the force and allow it to be your eyes. Take the room in, the obstacles, yourself, and me. Only then will you be able to navigate this hazard zone."

[Naira Cross]

Nodding in silent comprehension, she deactivated her weapon, stood perfectly still and closed her eyes. She went into herself and reached out with the force to help her find a path through the various forms of fallen debris. Using the force, she was able to hear the settling of the newly moved debris, see garbage spread out behind the next boulder and guide her way through the scattered trash. Having only used the force remedially in battle Naira felt that this was going to be a challenge, but one that she would greatly enjoy and pursue beyond the training grounds.

[Zereth Lancer]

"Yes," Came Zereth's said without moving his mouth, "Feel the force, let it be your eyes. The obstacles can't impede you now, but can be worked to your advantage. Pushing your opponent into a heavily cluttered area can work almost as well as forcing them into a corner. Now, defend yourself."

Zereth launched himself forward, sabre coming back to life and bringing it down towards Naira's head, but he pulled back at the last second and spun around, using the force to find the proper footing, and sent a horizontal slash at Naira's waist as he came out of the spin.

[Naira Cross]

Hearing Zereth’s words in her mind provoked her desire to excel. Her eyes opened in time to see him activate his sabre. Acting on instinct she swerved to the side to avoid being hit from above, then sprang backward to dodge the horizontal strike. Using the force she was able to, maintain her stability and keep her footing, see the debris that surrounded her and her attacker, and use her surroundings to her advantage. Activating her sabre she began to move forward and attack.

[Zereth Lancer]

Zereth turned around to face his apprentice, who had just danced across the debris with the grace of a twi'lek dancer. He let himself smile as the accomplishment. At least knew he had made some sense and that his new apprentice was learning, and quickly at that.

But his smile came to a stop when he found Naira coming back at him, sabre burning brightly. He found good footing and stood there, like a cliff face preparing for a approaching tidal wave. As he attack came, Zereth deflected it to the side with a swift and strong blow; knocking her sabre away and almost causing her to lose her balance and trip over a piece of discarded durocrete, "Yes, very good Miss Cross," He said, moving to his right and finding new footing, "You have grasped the concept much faster then I had anticipated. We will try another test now," He said, stretching out his free hand and using the force to move the debris around; creating a extremely dangerous zone between Zereth and Naria.

Zereth stepped out into this hazard zone, picking his footing carefully, and heading over to where Naira stood "Now, I want you to channel everything you have, all your hate, anger, and frustration; and attack me again. This time without your eyes," He reached into his pocket and pulled out a long piece of thick black cloth. He took this cloth and bound it around Naira's eyes, "Let the force be your eyes, ears, and senses," He stepped back and returned to his original position, about eight feet from Naira, "Now, we will see how much you have learned so far..." He held his blade loosely at his side with his own eyes closed.

[Naira Cross]

With out my eyes… command the force…channel my emotions.

As Zereth concealed her eyes with the cloth, these things ran through her mind. She thought back to her past, how she had been so furious with her mother for leaving her as a child. How she hated living in the church and how provoking it was surviving on the street. Every time she had to struggle, it just enraged her more.

She stood silent for a few moments, recalling those feelings and letting them swell inside; boiling at the surface about to spill over. Then she channeled those emotions and gave them a purpose and direction. Using them to feed the force she was able to see a vague lay out of what was in front of her, but it was no where near as strong as it should be, not if she was going to use it to her advantage. Since failure was just something her past opponents did very well and not something for a sith, she tried again, with more ferocity, hatred and passion.

This time, her ambition was the deciding factor. Her drive to be the best was, after all, the whole reason why she had sought the Sith out in the first place. Using that passion, she was able to see everything in front. In her mind, the vision pulsated as her rage waxed and waned. Now she was ready. Igniting her blade she moved forward, finding careful footing and weaving her way almost effortlessly through the various forms of debris. ‘Seeing’ an opportunity, Naira kicked an empty crate up towards his face, causing him to swerve to the side. Then quickly, she swings her sabre at an upward angle towards Zereths head.

[Zereth Lancer]

Zereth brought his free hand to hit the crate out of the air and away from his body, but that small amount of distraction had been enough for Naira to get up close and under his guard. Her smaller size gave her a slight advantage at this range because Zereth would have to back up first to launch an attack. He didn't have time to bring up his sabre to protect himself and instead jumped backwards, but not nearly soon enough. Naira's blade connected with his neck for a moment. There was a soft sizzling noise as the skin on his beck boiled under the heat of the blade.

Zereth found new, safe, footing a little ways away and then he checked himself, nothing serious since the blades were set on low, but a bright red burn mark was already visable on his neck.

"Yes, Naira," He said, a somewhat happy look on his face, "A perfect attack, incorporating speed, sight, and power in a deadly combination that can only result in victory," He took a few steps closer and deactivated his sabre, "You have learned and adopted this concept with startling speed. I think we are finished with this aspect of the force, but we are not finished here. Tell me, Naira; do you any experience with telekinesis?"

[Naira Cross]

Particularly out of breath she took off the blindfold and looked at her teacher. “It was all… from good… teaching.” Naira wasn’t always the kindest person you would meet but she gave credit and recognized it when it was due. Catching her breath she continued “Telekinesis is something that I have not yet had the pleasure of learning but am anxious to know.”

[Zereth Lancer]

"Well, then this will be the perfect time to learn, Naira." Zereth said and with a wave of his hand cleaned the immediate area around them of all debris; leaving a safe patch for them to work within. Zereth sat down on the ground, folding his legs together and sitting crossed-legged upon the cold floor. He motioned for Naira to join him on the ground. He waited until she was comfortable, or as close to it as one could get, before starting the next lesson, "Telekinesis is the ability to move things by other means than physically. In our case we use our minds and the force to attain this," Zereth stretched out a hand a rock the size of his fist shot out of the debris and landed in his hand with a smack, "Any and all objects can be effected by Telekinesis. Bigger and heavier objects require stronger mental conditions in order to be moved, but in essence all things can be moved," Zereth opened his hand, palm up, and caused the rock to float a few inches above his hand, "Concentration and control," He said, looking up from the rock at Naira, "That is what is required to do this. Nothing else. Concentration; to block out all distractions and center your mind solemnly on the object you wish to effect. Control; to alter and manipulate the force to maintain your control of the object. If anything other then those two occupy your mind, then you will fail. Do you understand me so far, Miss Cross?"

[Naira Cross]

Naira watched as he cleared a space for them both to sit down. Zereth sat down in a cross-legged style and Naira followed, sitting down on the freezing floor. Trying to get situated was a challenge because every time she moved the floor was cold. At last after about a minute she just gave up and sat still. He began and explained what telekinesis was, and even gave her a brief demonstration. It was impressive to see that’s for sure, now here was the hard part; she would have to be able to do that as well. Finally after the explanation, he asked her if she understood. “Yeah, basically keep your focus on that particular object and nothing else. Concentrate. Control. Got it.” She nodded her head in understanding.

[Zereth Lancer]

"Now, the first part of manipulating the force is to channel it. Concentrate on evil things, bad memories, old pains, new ones, punch yourself, bleed your arm; anything that will channel the darkside energy encased within your soul," Zereth said softly, his red eyes started glowing in the low light; a thing that happened when he was either very angry or channeling vast amounts of darksider energy, "The second part; concentrate on the rock," He set the rock down on the ground between them, "Close your eyes, block out all distractions. Picture the rock in your mind and then picture a hand lifting the stone. This art of visualizing is only an aid and eventually you will be able to levitate objects with only a single thought. Now... try it for yourself..."

[Naira Cross]

First part: get furious. She sat silently, thinking about everything that she could to make her angry. Thinking about her past, the hurt that she has felt, how no one ever thought that she was worth or capable of anything, and how that enraged her. All these things, especially the last one, just made her connection to the darkside stronger. Something that, as time went on, was becoming increasingly easier, and that much more enjoyable.

Second part: concentrate. She took one look at the rock, and then visualized it in her mind. Concentrating on blocking out all the surrounding distractions, she imagined it being lifted up in to the air. Naira thought on this for a time, and was sure that it had moved some, if only a couple of centimeters. She slowly opened one eye, as if to peek and make sure that it was floating. Alas, to her dismay, it remained in the same place that it was when they began.

Seeing this, the thoughts of her past began to flood her mind even more so that before.

“You can’t move it. You can’t do anything right Naira.”

“Be careful Naira or no one will want you as part of their family.”

“If you leave, you won’t survive. You’re weak.”

Remembering all of this, she become more infuriated than before and was determined to move that rock. She closed her eyes and used those thoughts to fuel the force, every minute she was getting angrier and angrier. She envisioned the rock moving upwards. Thinking “If that rock hasn’t moved I’ll…” and opening her eyes at the same time, she found that the rock was not the three feet in the air as she had seen in her mind, but 10 feet, and spinning wildly.

[Zereth Lancer]

Zereth had pulled his head back when the rock had suddenly shot up into the air, wobbly erratically as it went. His hand shot out as the rock dropped out of the air, snatching it out of the air before it hit the ground, "Yes, very good. Remember, though, curiosity is a distraction just like all the others. If you must see what you’re doing then let the force be your eyes, as we learned earlier today. I know this will divide your concentrating in half, but if you really must see then it’s the price you will have to pay," He said, tossing the rock over his shoulder and pulling a larger one from the pile. This was larger then a fist and much heavier then the first stone, "Same thing Naira, only a larger rock. It will take a little more concentration to lift, but once you get the hang of it the size won't matter because your mind has matured to the point of acknowledging that rocks are rocks and to lift a rock is to lift a rock, no matter the size. As a master of the force said once; 'size matters not', and that’s exactly how it works. It’s a bit on the border of the jedi viewpoint, but it works so why not steal their secret and rub it in their faces," He smiled a little. Zereth had walked the line of banishment from TSO many times for his mixing of Sith teachings with Jedi techniques, and vise versa. In his mind he was not the one at fault, it was the ones who pointed the finger at him who were at fault. He stole many of his techniques and ideas from the Jedi way, but that doesn't make him a jedi, now does it.

[Naira Cross]

Curiosity had always been a problem for her. It landed her in situations that were never good for her. However, this was something she’d have to sacrifice, if she wanted full control of the force. She saw Zereth bring out a larger rock and give further instruction.

A rock is a rock.

She thought about all those previous thoughts and started feeling the same way was before. Angry, furious, driven. Now all that was left, was to concentrate. She closed her eyes and used the force to ‘see’ the rock before her. She concentrated harder and harder and saw it rise. More controlled now than it was before. Slowly, she saw the rock rise up two feet in her mind. As a way of seeing for herself if she had done it, she concentrated and moved it three feet to the left and set it down. Then opened her eyes. To her satisfaction the rock lay three feet to the left of where it had began.

[Zereth Lancer]

"Very good, now only a final tests remains," Zereth said, pulling another rock of similar size out of the debris and setting it down alongside the one that Naira had just moved, "Now I want you to lift both. You must divide your concentration amongst the two rocks and then lift them. Once you have accomplished this I want you to cause them to rotate around you; like moons around a planet."

He knew it would be quite difficult for Naira to accomplish this, but it was through difficult challenges that people learn things, not through simple activities.

[Naira Cross]

This was definitely the most difficult challenge that she had encountered, and yet, it seemed so simple. Just lift two rocks and rotate.

Lifting up one rock was a little difficult. She had to really call upon the force, but in the end, was successful. Lifting two rocks would be tricky enough, but to rotate them, that was down right demanding. Never the one to give up, she took a deep breath and started to concentrate. Pulling everything in to her, all her rage, sadness, and memories, she began to feel that familiar connection to the darkside. That was the easy part, the hard part was concentrating.

In her mind she could see both of the rocks laid out in front of her. Focusing more and more, she willed the rocks to rise. Once in the air, the one on the left slowly started to sink because most of her focus was going towards the one on the right. Noticing this, she divided her concentration more equally, and they were both level with her closed eyes. Now she started to have them rotate around her. Focusing and calling upon the Force even more, she saw as they began to move around her. Tracking them within her mind, she could see all around her. They rotated two more times around Naira before she set them down in front of both her and Zereth again. She opened her eyes and seemed to come out of a trance. She hunched over slightly as if a great weight had just been taken off of her shoulders. Winded she ask “Will… that… suffice?”

[Zereth Lancer]

"Yes, Naira. This training session is over but there still remains a task for you, a means of using the abilities you just learned. In the corner you will find several large cargo containers. I want to use Telekinesis to pick up all the debris and junk and place them in those containers. Once you have finished then you are free to go. Until next time Miss Cross," Zereth said and then rose to his feet and headed for the door. He picked his cloak up off its hook by the door and fastened it around his shoulders, "Farewell," He said and then disappeared out the door, leaving Naira alone to deal with her final task.

[Naira Cross]

Clean up duty. Oh great. “Thank you for the lesson. Farewell.” She said as he left the training room. Figuring that she had better get started or she’d be here all night, Naira moved over to the wall, sat back down, and tried to get as comfortable as possible. She closed her eyes and started to pick up the pieces one by one and put them in to the containers. Then two at a time, and lastly for her viewing pleasure, she sent the debris soaring through the air in a fashion that resembled a ballet.