Indoctrination (Zereth)

[Hara Kiri]

She felt sick. Consuming Corellian Ale all night was a bad idea, especially when she had to meet with Zereth for her indoctrination this morning. She closed her eyes to make the head spins go away but it only made her feel sicker. She better not throw up, that would just make for a bad start for the day. She shifted in her place and rested her chin on her hands. The sooner training started and ended the better.

[Zereth Lancer]

Zereth strode through the dark halls and passage ways, making his way to the large chamber designated for training. Today he would be instructing the young Hara Kiri; a strange acolyte who's seemingly random attitude caused many to keep their distance, including Zereth. He had overcome the awkward feeling of being around the strange girl and had chosen to help her with her training.

He normally had a set path of lessons set up to teach his apprentices, but for Hara Kiri he had nothing. She was far too random to set a foundation on. He would just have to wait and see how it went. It would be a challenge, for sure. He liked challenges and he was meeting this one head on.

He entered the training vault and wasted no time searching for the purple haired Kiri. Many acolytes looked up from their studies to watch the tall sith knight pass by. Zereth really hated how the acolytes held him in near godlike reference. He would rather they set such high regards on their own master, or at least paid attention to them.

Zereth located Kiri in the corner, alone. "Good afternoon Miss Kiri. Are you ready to begi..." He trailed off, noticing the look on her face, "Are you all right?" He asked. The last thing he needed was a sick apprentice. Perhaps she was just nervous, "Never mind. Are you ready to begin, Miss Kiri.... Do you need to go see the doctor?"

[Hara Kiri]

Her vision hazed and she bent over as vomit exited her mouth. Fortunately, all solid foods had been removed the previous night, but unfortunately multiple homemade hang over cures created in the morning had caused her stomach to queeze. She tilted her head back and stared up at Zereth, his face dark and shadowed as Korriban's star shown behind him.

"Hi." She said uneasily and groaned. "I'm fine, just a bad breakfast."

[Zereth Lancer]

"Well, if your stomach permits then we shall begin at once. Now tell me, Miss Kiri, have you learned anything of the force since you came here?" He asked, "To be more precise; do you know how to access the force, to channel it, to call upon the darkside to energize yourself and open a direct link to the power the force can bring?"

Zereth wondered if his new disciple would ever last through the session in her present condition. Her face changing colors every five seconds, but mostly remained green. He hoped she wouldn't throw up all over the two of them, it would look really bad if he walked out of here with barf all over his shirt.

[Hara Kiri]

"A little." She groaned as her stomach shifted a little. "I can read minds, almost-sorta. I can read a card from a person's mind that I can't see, but I can only get colors." She smiled lightly, never again was she going to drink before a training session. "And I was trying to cheat a casino everytime... so that's the darkside right?"

[Zereth Lancer]

"Yes. Cheating with the force would be considered of the darkside," Zereth said, wondering to himself why he had never tried that before. He shook his head a little and returned to the present, "Mentalics," He said, "That is what we classify such things as reading someone's mind. Given time you could one day be able to probe a person's mind and rip every single one of their deepest, darkest secrets. Its a pity I know very little in that area. If you wish to train in that area of the force you had best go and see one of the other knights or masters who are more educated in that subject then me.

But enough of that. We'll just start at the basics, not go gallivanting off after a more advance subject. Tell me, how do you personally channel and 'hack', for lack of a better word, into the force?"

[Hara Kiri]

She supposed if she knew how exactly, she would have done it long ago and never came to the Sith Order. "I dunno." She said and shrugged. "It just happens on it own when I'm at the casino and I really want to win. I can taste the credits... Oh jeez, I've been so close so many times before." She bagan to lament. "One time I had made almost a thousand credits by reading cards, but I got drunk in the process and lost it all. I wasn't happy about that at all."

She looked at Zereth's face, he seemed uninterested.

She went on anyway, confident that such a thing couldn't be true. "Then another time I shafted some street sabacc player out of a hundred credits... Yeah." She knew she was cool for that, maybe the coolest person all of that day. She looked at Zereth and it finally hit her that he honestly wasn't interested.

"So, um, jeez, what do you think?"

[Zereth Lancer]

"It is not an uncommon occurrence for a force adept to channel the force without knowing it. Such events are usually brought on by high emotions, such as, and most commonly, anger, fear, love, pain, and perhaps in your case; greed. While this method of emotional channeling is effective if used properly, you should never let your emotions take control of you or you may end up in what is most commonly known as a darkside rage. While you can became incredibly powerful during such a rage, your body with be sick and weak afterwards and death is very common at that point. I want you to remember that throughout your training. Now, let us press on. I want you to close your eyes, concentrate, and then think about things that have hurt you; things that made you angry, things that conjure dark emotions. Emotions and memories past, present, future, and imaginary, they will aid you in creating a connection to the darkside. Try it and tell me what you think, but remember not to let your emotions take complete control. Give them the reigns for a little but not for forever."

[Hara Kiri]

She stared ahead with a blank look on her face as Zereth lectured. The information was overwhelming, but she managed to swim though it and make the smallest sense of it. Use your emotions and memories to power the Force.

Memories were not her favorite subject to talk about, let alone think about. She let out a breath and stared ahead into the training grounds. Touch with emotions and memories, something angry or sad. Staying at the Sith Order had been frustrating, the food was terrible, her room wasn't too comfortable, people gave her odd looks (which wasn't different from anywhere else). The previous day was pretty boring, she did nothing but trudge around and look at things. Then she went back to her room and... Her thoughts trailed off as memories from the previous night reenacted themselves.

She must have spent an hour sitting on her bed, staring at the dagger the laid on her dresser. It was a usual ritual for her, about every month she did the same process over again. Each month that she did it it scared the hell out of her. She could never explain why she did it, she simply felt compelled.

She was grabbing the dagger now, squeezing the hilt in her hand until it hurt. She couldn't bear to visualize the rest, and as she sat there in the Training Grounds she winced as the vivid memory passed through her head. The visuals returned to her mind as she sat ont he edge of the bathtub running the hot water. She stared into the white tub, the crimson diluted by the water and swirling down the drain. She reached for the bottle behind her and took a long drink.

Anger flooded her mind, it was Zereth's fault that she was thinking about such things. Why was using the Force so difficult, why did it have to hurt? She glared at Zereth for a moment with a scowl.

Suddenly she found his thoughts inside her head. No, these weren't his thoughts, they were his memories from earlier that day. What time he woke up, what he had for breakfast... She had no idea the Force could provide her with so much in depth detail.

She came to, he eyes focusing on the training grounds again, Zereth standing off to the side. She slowly reclined until she was laying flat on the grass, looking up at the sky. Wow.

[Zereth Lancer]

Zereth could feel the energy coming off her as she connected to the force and its darkside aspect. He could feel her mind running through his. At first he reacted on reflex and started to raise mental barriers to block her probe, but he thought better and allowed her into his mind. He was sure not to let her into anywhere he did not want her. When she was finished and lay down on the ground with her face towards the heavens he walked over and looked down at her, "Congratulations," Zereth said flatly, "You just successfully connected not only to the force but to the darkside. The next step of our journey is learned how to manipulate the force to do our bidding."

He turned away and, with a wave of his hand, caused several small rocks to lift off the ground and flout over to where he and Hara where. He pulled them into his hand and presented one of them to Hara. It was a small smooth, flat rock, the kind you would skip across a pond. It was about the size of half his hand, "With the force one can will things to movement with a thought. You, being a beginner, will have a difficult time accomplishing such a feat, but it will get easier with time until you can do it without thinking," He said as he crouched down and set the rock on the ground.

He looked up at Hara, "Close your eyes, concentrate. Imagine this rock in your mind, picture it to its finest detail and then hold that image in your mind. I want you to imagine a hand in your mind a great strong hand that reaches down and picks up that imaginary rock. This is a primitive way of channeling the force. Working off what is in your mind the force will be manipulated into lifting the rock on the ground before you. Try it and remember to not let anything distract you. Emotions, thoughts, and curiosity are all things that will interrupt and disrupt your concentration."

[Hara Kiri]

She sat up and watched and listened a little more carefully this time to Zereth's instruction. Moving things with her head wasn't exactly what she wanted to learn. She silently wished they could return to the subject of reading people's minds.

"OK, closing the eyes," Was the eyes part really neccessary? It helped in the previous exercise, but still, she felt like a moron. "Now the hand of the Force..." She had to admit, imagining a hand reaching down a grabbing the rock was more difficult than she thought, realistically imagining that is.

She decided she liked the darkside more. It was so much easier to find that dark corner and use that to get everything she wanted. But Zereth said emotions were out, for the time being she assumed.

She opened an eye and found the rock still in the same place it had been set.

Oh right, no thoughts or curiosities. She struggled to purge her mind of thoughts. All thoughts except the rock and herself. She found it difficult to grasp the concept of the rock, devoid of physical features and characteristics. She found it even harder for her to grasp her own self, something that could channel this large hand of the Force.

From time to time her mind was clear but eventually it would slip into thoughtfullness, ruining her concentration. Time seemed to pass by with ease. Finally, it moved and she knew it.

Her eyes snapped open to find the rock a few feet ahead of her. "Wow." She said quietly. "Did it move fast or slow?" She asked, looking up at Zereth.

[Zereth Lancer]

Zereth watched patiently as the girl caused the rock to flout off the ground and move towards Zereth. He wondered how long she could keep it up, and his answer came when she opened her eyes, breaking her concentration and causing the rock to fall back to the ground with a soft plick.

"It was stop and go for the most part," He answered, "But you lack concentration. Your mind shoots off on rabbit holes and you forget to center yourself on the task at hand. Practice will hopefuly cure you of this mental defiency andn allow you to concentrate better and for longer amounts of time. Now, on to the next step," And with that Zereth brushed the pebble aside and pulled out a fresh rock. This stone was bigger then a fist and weight significantly more then the pebble, "Now I want you to levitate this rock. Do it the same way as before, but remember that size only matters in the physical realm. When it comes to your mind size does not matter. if you do not think about this rock being any bigger then the last you will levitate it easily. Try it."

[Hara Kiri]

I've hardly gotten a hold of the first lesson and we're moving on? She wondered if she would be able to keep up with this pace. She feared she would look like a fool in front of the master.

"Alright." She sighed. "Let's do this."

Focus, keep my mind on task. Rabbit holes be damned. Maybe if I see the rock my focus will be easier to concentrate. She stared ahead at the rock and the mental exercise of picking it up with her hands travelled her brain. Inside her mind, there were two paths. He mind was prepared to pick up the rock short of which method to do so with. Do it with the mind, just like last time.

The rock levitated above the ground, though much lower that the previous one had. Holding something up withthe mind, she was now starting to believe possible. Accepting that weight didn't matter was ridiculous, it had to matter, didn't it? Could the Force make gravity not matter?

She shut her eyes instinctively as she tried to lift the rock higher, it didn't seem to budge. She let out a forceful sigh as she opened her eyes and allowed the rock to drop. Staring ahead at Zereth, "I can't do this. I don't even understand how this rock isn't heavier than the other. It hardly makes any sense."

Then again very little made much sense on Korriban.

"Maybe mind moving just isn't my thing." She casually looked away from the master. "It's just stupid rocks anyway. Like I'll ever need to know that."

[Zereth Lancer]

Zereth's eyes narrowed in anger, "You'll never need to know it," His voice was laced with venom was he spoke, "It'll mean everything to do," The rock shot up into the air and shot off across the room at a speed so fast that the movement was a blur. The sound of hard impact echoed hit theirs long before their eyes had finally traced the movement to the nearbly wall. All the walls were either barestone or covered with durasteel for support. The wall closest was durasteel plated and now a large dent was burnt into the metal and bits of rock lay scattered on the ground, "Telekinesis allows you to not only lift incredible weights but also to hurl them at your opponents, crushing them by weight or peircing their bodies with speed. Show more respect or walk out of this training room right now. We have no time to deal with disbelievers. You want to learn and you listen, but you lack devotion and discipline. I can see now that training between you and I will be far more difficult then I had forseen. You need to whip yourself into shape, not just physically but mentally as well," The anger in his voice died down and was replaced with an incredibly serious tone. You could tell he was angry and you could see he was loosing control over it. A very scary thing indeed, "So, now I will be incorporating a system of discipline and punishment for every time you fail, talk back, or disbelieve. For this offense you will run around the entirety of the perimeter of this training room and come back here. Only then will we start our lesson up again.

"Now run."

[Hara Kiri]

Her eyebrows shot up at Zereth's outburst and she struggled to find the right words to respond with, she had none. When he had finally finished, ending with orders to run.

"Run?" She questioned with amazement. "But-" She withheld an further complaints as she saw and felt the anger rise in Zereth. Standing up she glanced around the room, from corner to corner. It wasn't that far, but still... it meant getting up and... "Run." She whispered in gritted discomfort.

She looked back at Zereth hoping he'd call it off. He didn't look like he would. She let out an exasperated sigh as the sound of quickening footsteps echoed in the room. Grumbling, Hara Kiri set out on a diciplinary light jog.

[Zereth Lancer]

Zereth crossed his arms across his chest and waited for his new apprentice to return. It would not take her long, now would it be very taxing if she walked it or jogged. He hardly expected a full out run or spring, although it would have surprised him if she did. No. He would be reasonable this time. Next time, though, would be different. He would get harder with time, giving out more difficult punishments. But it would help her, it would tone her body into something unbreakable. She may hate him for it, but all the more power to her. Hate is what fueled the darkside, and hate would make her stronger. Would she kill him someday in that hate? Sure. That was possible. And Zereth would eagerly await such an end.

[Hara Kiri]

Months later
---
It seemed like in every practice session she had with Zereth she ended up running like the Imperial hounds were on her heels. She recalled having to run during her first session with Zereth and barely making it. Now, her body had adjusted to the strains and her body could weather through much more than a simple run. He was pushing her hard though, no matter how well she adapted, she ended up nearly dying from running.

At last she returned after several circuits, hands on her knees and about to vomit. This was the easy part of the lesson. She could run easily enough, everyone could run, but to operate with the Force was a matter entirely different. She could cut her run time if she could work the Force a little bit better. She knew that, but frack, it was hard.

"So..." SHe panted. "What's... next? Throwing... rocks with... the Force?"

[Zereth Lancer]

Zereth towered over the girl, his muscular arms crossed over his chest, his red eyes glaring down at her in the same way a great tiger looks upon a dying fly, "No, that was yesterday," He said flatly, "We have gone over most of the basics of the force already, and although you have hardly mastered any of them, or even accomplish some of them, I am adamant to move on with your training, rather then stay behind in areas you cannot seem to grasp. I have trained many acolytes in my time, Hara Kiri, but you are the most difficult," Which was good, because he liked a challenge, "Today we move on to something new, something you might be able to grasp: Force Boosting."

"Just as it names states you will be using the force to boost yourself, physically. Force boosting is one of the simpliest forms of the force ever known to the galaxy. With this force adepts have been able to run at incredible speeds, lift three times their weight, and fight at incredible speeds normally reserved for Sand Panthers. With force boosting a force adept calls on the force, storing up it's energy within themselves and then transfering that energy into their muscles, causing their muscles to grow stronger, flexible, agile, whatever it is that the situation needs. There are two ways to do with. One you feed the muscle, making it stronger, and the other way you simply feed energy into your limb. The latter is the idiots way of doing it, as it will wear out your limbs as the muscles are not strong enough to deal with the kind of strain that would result for that energy. The best way is to use the force to strengthen your muscles. It is simple, uncomplicated, and easy. The only difficulty is learning to channel that energy to the various parts of your body and knowing which muscles, when strengthened, will result in what effect. Different muscles, different results. For example: One series of muscles in your legs if strengthened will allow you to run faster, while another group of muscles will allow you to jump higher, and so on and so forth. All you have to do is feed the force energy into those muscles, and the muscles take care of the rest. They feel the energy and feed on it, no commands are needed to be given to them. Do you understand?"

[Hara Kiri]

Vaguely

"Yes." She said. Although only a few words stood out to her. Words like fight, she didn't want to do that today and certainly not with Zereth.

"And where is it you want me to run to, master?" She asked, noting how used to calling him master she was. "Or jump or throw?" Perhaps she could throw with Force enhanced strength and amplify the whole process with telekinetics to make it go extra far... Hmm. She would consider that one day when she was playing sports or something.

"Perhaps I could dance fast?" She suggested.