Normal Beings Do This Over Drinks

[Zenas Codrey]

Zenas Codrey and Darth Acera stood in the ruins of an illegal night club, facing one another squarely, each body held with perfect poise in a lightsaber combat stance. Zenas, for his part, stood with his weapon overhead, blade pointed down and behind him, dominant leg trailing. Djem So had served him well, and would continue to do so.

They did not circle each other. Neither cared to waste energy or risk their footing stepping over the bodies of the patrons who they had slaughtered to make their sparring ground. The air was thick with the smell of ozone, charred wire, sweat, and blood. Sparking sound and light equipment momentarily brightened the dimly-lit space, threatening to set fire to the dead revelers' clothing. Zenas didn't give a damn about it. He was having fun.

A sheen of sweat stood out on each combatant's brow, grins of bloodlust and smirks of triumph were the only things giving their faces expression. Zenas advanced a half-pace, digging his foot under the severed upper body of a Twi'lek, and kicked the remains in Acera's face. He chased the grisly projectile and swung his saber down in the mighty Falling Avalanche strike, only to find Acera's blade rising up through the corpse to meet it. They stood with blades locked, each applying just enough pressure to keep the other from gaining dominance, and talked.

“What started you down the Dark path, Acera?” he asked conversationally. “What possession did you lose? What betrayal did you suffer?” He grinned as they sprang apart, traded a lazy series of strikes that had no killing intent behind them, and jeered at her. “A woman like you doesn't attach to a Lich like that because he'll be a good husband and father someday.”

[Darth Acera]

She had allowed him his indulgences, allowed him to flex his mental desires in the slaughter of those who now lay scattered around them. She had accepted his need for action, and provided accordingly.

Her body, now in concert with his, moved to block and parry. She held him at bay with a touch of curiosity to her movements, studying his body and how he controlled himself. It was such a departure from Vega, yet the familiar notes of malice were still seen. Where Vega's had been so wild and mad, Zenas maintained a modicum of control over himself and how he moved. It was almost a breath of fresh air, and the elder Lupine allowed herself a small amount of enjoyment from this exercise.

At his queries, she offered a cheshire grin, rocking back only a small bit to place weight upon her back leg while still keeping her body mass centered. Shoulders squaring back, her body angled in such a way as to afford him a smaller target, her saber held low and behind her, pointed at the ground yet ready to sweep up in a block or strike.

"You ask such a simple question, yet demand an answer so complicated."

She shook her head only slightly, her eye still upon him.

"It is such an intricate web of what drives a person, and what pushes them to make the choices that they do... "

Her blade came around in a cautionary arc, blocking the swing of his own.

"... it so very often falls upon ideals and desires, and what an individual gauges as the best way to achieve those things."

The Sith lunged forward then, bringing her saber around in a sweeping cut that - while meant to cleave him in two - she still knew he would block.

"Do you not agree?"

[Zenas Codrey]

"Indeed." Zenas smacked his lightsaber against hers and turned in to shoulder-check her. She met him with her own and they collided, spinning past each other, swinging, to cross blades again. "Then what ideals and desires thread your web together? What do you require that you cannot reach on your own?"

She was a wily opponent, fighting in a style too conservative to satisfy Zenas. He struck right, left, overhead, holding back some power to establish rhythm, then on the fourth repetition went for the overhead early. She stopped him cleanly, as he knew she would. It seemed she wouldn't be "trained" to anticipate any movement easily. Zenas appreciated the challenge.

[Darth Acera]

She held herself in check, making sure that her movements were controlled and precise. It was a tightly woven tapestry that she wove with the pale yellow of her blade, and one that hid the true power within.

"I require so much," she gave a cryptic grin, "... survival being the most important."

It was a blatantly veiled answer to be sure, and one that begged deeper questioning. For now, she would continue her answer accordingly.

"Individual survival is one thing, but a continuation of one's bloodline takes precedence over all... over even the one."

Her stance, once so cautionary and conservative, now began to shift. It slowly transformed into something more fierce and exotic.

"Even when it is only the one that is left, the continuation is all that matters, even at the cost of the one's soul."

[Zenas Codrey]

Zenas grinned. Now they were getting somewhere. He struck back against her, meeting blows with blows, increasing his speed and strength through the Force, looking for the proper level to unbalance her and transform his defensive position into an offensive one.

"Continuation? Tell me you didn't choose that wretched corpse for a partner!" He laughed, long and hard, swaying back as he almost broke his own concentration and lost his nose to it. He brought his torso back up and held his lightsaber above his head, angled down. Her next blow slid off it like rain on a roof, but she stepped through and avoided his counter-stab with a neat twist of her body. Now they stood back to back, trying to rotate to strike the other. A sudden thought struck him. "You're not bearing the continuation of your bloodline now, are you?" His voice was almost worried, carrying the slightest hint of sympathy.

[Darth Acera]

"And if I was?"

Not exactly an answer, the Lupine turned his question back around to him while injecting weight to the possible consequences that either a yes or a no might yield.

"The choice an individual makes in regards to their continued survival is never one made lightly... " her head angled to the side as his blade came up and across, passing by her ear with inches to spare. In response, her body turned in a tight pivot, her own weapon driving inward toward his center of mass.

"Was the decision to pursue your current path one made without thought?"

[Zenas Codrey]

"If you were, I'd call you a damn fool," he answered as she evaded his stab and he dashed aside a reprisal of her own. "I don't even have to kill you if you're carrying a child; a strong enough blow aided by the Force could be enough to crush out the life you'd bear." He grinned maliciously. "Accidents do happen." She pushed on with a question of her own.

"I thought to gain skill or weaponry to kill someone who'd robbed me of my life's greatest pleasure. I did not, however, consider what was meant in the offer of power that was made to me, or how long it would take."

[Darth Acera]

She grinned wolfishly at that, choosing to press in with a particularly vicious series of swipes and slashed that sent him backpedaling in defense.

"You did not consider," her voice escaped her lips in a hiss of sudden, controlled vitriol as she repeated his words.

"... which is why I am here and you are there."

Her tirade subsided only long enough to allow him a moment to collect himself. The threat against her unborn child had done well to raise her ire, and the Sith allowed him to only but glimpse her flash of anger.

"The path that you and I chose is not one that is easily traversed in any short amount of time.

"Did you truly believe that you could achieve even the beginnings of such power offered by the Sith without trial or tribulation?"

[Zenas Codrey]

What did humans call this? Pushing buttons? Yes, that's exactly what he'd done; found a sensitive topic and jabbed it hard. So she was carrying a child. The idea of it dug deep into Zenas's heart and stirred his memory. He clamped down on it and offered her ferocity in return, turning his backward slide into a stable, immovable stance.

"Sith!" he spat, recalling his early training as she finished her question. "Sith, Sith, Sith! Always with you, SITH!" He punctuated each repetition of the name with a blow from the lightsaber, stepping to slowly take back his lost ground. "I knew nothing of Sith! My old Master was Jedi, fallen far, consumed by darkness just as we are, now. When he offered me power, weapons, I imagined a vibroblade, a blaster, or that he would go and kill her for me. I never once imagined such as this was possible!"

They hammered the lightsaber blades together so ferociously that they sprang back several steps. The pair stood staring at each other across the divide, recuperating lost breath. "Had I known that this was what was offered, I'd have chosen it regardless. Such power as this is worth any trial. It will earn me all that I'm due, in time. I know it."

[Darth Acera]

His physical and verbal tirade she bore with stoic grace, and when they separated she allowed herself a moment of guarded rest. It was something that he'd said in the midst of his raging that took her interest, and with a keen eye the Lupine swept her saber back in a twirl, letting it fall to point at the scuffed floor. Her stance remained alert, and she pulled inward of everything around her, taking it all in with her senses."

He was like a crouched sandpanther, waiting for that singular moment of distraction to take over its' prey before pouncing to deliver the final stroke. In his eyes she saw hunger and determination, each fuel for the need for power. Power to do what, she had not yet ascertained, but in time the Sith knew that all would become clear.

But still, the question remained to be asked.

"And who, may I ask, is 'her'?

[Zenas Codrey]

He hadn't meant to do that. He raised his weapon, pointing across the space at her, mind trying to process a response, weighing the consequences of telling truth or falsehood. He found the center between the extremes and went with it.

"A human woman brought discord and treachery to my family, breaking it apart and leaving me abandoned and alone. I sought the means to eliminate her and restore my family."

[Darth Acera]

"Back to family," she intoned almost lazily.

His inadvertent slip had been enough for her slide her fingers in, and time would allow her to gently pry open the outer shell of his mind. She would expose his drive and ambition, but she also knew that to do so would require a careful and cautious touch.

"It is such an important part of who we are," she went on, "... it puts fear in our hearts for their safety and prosperity, and instills in us the desire to strike out at those who would seek to take all of that away."

The Lupine's stance shifted, and she twisted her body so that she fully faced him. She stepped forward on a path that would take her across the divide between them.

"You could not protect your family in years past; if I offered you kinship now, could you protect that?"

[Zenas Codrey]

He lowered his lightsaber and smirked, facing her directly as well. "I could, but as the one making such an offer, isn't that ultimately your decision to make?" He hefted the lightsaber, listening to it hum as he held it up for them to look at. "With this I can defend or destroy anyone or anything I choose. Or anything you choose, depending upon circumstances."

He was beginning to feel a strange attraction to this woman. Not romance or lust, but something building from this common need. Family. Camaraderie. A need for allies. He knew she likely could not be trusted, but she may well be the closest thing he could find to what he wanted...for a while, at least.

[Darth Acera]

"Perhaps my offer then is placed accordingly into hands that - though full of raw talent - are still so undisciplined."

The distance between them closed even further, and the Sith kept her movements fluid and graceful, stepping over detritus and bodies alike. What littered the ground mattered nothing; it was the one standing before her that held her attentions.

"You are willing to do as I ask, and for most that would be enough. I am not most however."

Her words hung in the air for only long enough to be heard before she went on.

"What you agree to, you must do so because it brings you closer to that which you strive toward. You wish to belong, and to have ones who depend upon you. I can give to you that which would draw you in and demand your protection all the same."

And at that, she narrowed her broken gaze.

"For as much as you distrust the mother, you must distrust the father far more."

[Zenas Codrey]

"And who is the father, dare I ask?" he answered. He smirked, laughing briefly and half-heartedly. "Do you intend the child to know him?" Zenas had never known his father personally...never seen his face, heard his voice, and by now could no longer remember the man's name. He powered off his weapon and folded his arms. "And what is my role to be with regard to him?"

[Darth Acera]

"In regards to him?"

The Sith moved close, her own saber disengaging. She kept a hold of the hilt, resisting the desire to simply clip it to her belt.

"Your role is to watch him and listen to the words he speaks. What he tells you will always be spoken in half-truths... " she saw the look in Codrey's eyes and gave him a smirking answer.

"And what I tell you too will at times be shrouded, but I can promise to you that I offer all of my knowledge."

Her overall answer was cryptic to be sure, but clear enough all the same.

"The father will use you as nothing but a tool. The key is to listen to his words unspoken and pull from them that which will give you strength. From this you must draw your power."

[Zenas Codrey]

Zenas had never been tempted by the act of sexual intercourse himself, but even he knew that women like this did not choose partners like Ziost's ancient Sith Master. The thought of it burned his mind and produced an involuntary shudder in his body.

"Tell me you're only saying it because of my earlier jest," he groaned, though he knew without doubt what she'd said was truth, however circuitous and vague its presentation had been. "Why him, of all this universe's creatures? Is it for his power? Do you believe the child will carry his Dark strength as it grows up?" He rubbed his eyes. "Of all the advice and cryptic admonition you've given me, only this single aspect confounds me."

[Darth Acera]

His genuine confusion caused a strangely foreign smile to grace her features, and the Sith clipped her sabre to her belt as she moved past him and towards the arching doorway that would lead to the outside. She beckoned him to follow.

"What I do, and the choices that I make, are for the purposes of continuation. The strands in the web that leads to those choices are numerous and far too many to explain in a single day. Be satisfied enough that I did not make my decisions lightly."

They drew near to the door.

His own words of family struck her, as did his own generalized explanation of what happened to his. It was this curiosity that drove her next question.

"You say that a human woman broke apart your family."

She looked sidelong at him.

"Tell me of your family."

[Zenas Codrey]

He held the door as she passed him and hooked his own weapon to hip as he followed her into the street. He didn't want to tell her, but in truth it was something he longed to discuss. He had not spoken of it freely since Milek Tomberlin released him from apprenticeship on Zeltros so many years ago.

"It is a story short in the telling," he grumped. "My mother was kidnapped from my clan by slavers late in her pregnancy. The stress of the event somehow pushed her body into labor. The ship was caught by an Imperial Interdictor and a combat medic delivered me in the slaver's brig. The Imps took us to a planet called Naalol, where they gave my mother temporary lodging, but no work and no means to return home to Shili. She made a life there, but longed to return to the homeworld and our clan. She never was able to make contact with my father, whose name I no longer recall. When I was six or seven she began a bizarre relationship with a human female that I did not understand." He gave a quiet, rueful laugh.

"I still don't understand. I hated that woman. Still hate her, too. I didn't know what mother would want with that person, when she had me there. Certainly I needed no one else but her. I found them engaged in an...intimate moment, one day, and took it as a treachery. I ran away from home, calling upon the Force in my anger and grief, and was discovered by a fallen Jedi. He promised me the power of revenge, and I accepted. That is all."

[Darth Acera]

She took in his brief telling with stoic silence, listening carefully to each word that he spoke. It seemed that his existence from the moment he was born was one of no satisfaction. On this she fell upon.

"Such a very succinct tale you tell of. It is unfortunate, the circumstances that took you down your path, but fortuitous all the same. It has made you powerful."

She folded her hands in front of her as they walked.

"Answer me this; the woman that drove you and your mother apart... what will you do to her when you find her."

[Zenas Codrey]

There was no pause between the question and its answer. He was so quick that he almost cut her off before she could finish asking.

"I will flay the skin from her body, burn her, electrocute her, carve obscenity into her flesh, hack her into so many worthless pieces, and burn them so completely that not even her ashes will remain."

His fists and jaw clenched tighter and tighter through the response until he finally went silent. The thought of it made Zenas want to lash out, to hurt or murder someone, but with no targets around he walked silently, festering in his rage and his hatred.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

The swiftness with which he answered was not lost on her, and s'Il cast a sideways look to him, half amused.

The true face of Acera became muddled, and then unrecognizable as the mask was once more put in place. Away from the carnage and prying eyes, it was allowable.

"You have thought this through quite extensively it appears," she remarked, her amusement self-evident.

"This is not something that has rested idle with you, that much is evident."

They continued to walk, and she went on.

"But to find this woman... it has not proven as simple as that, yes? How is it that she's eluded you for so long?"

[Zenas Codrey]

She changed a bit in the silence following his outburst. He studied her face in the flash of the moment, and for a few moments afterward, trying to preserve it in his memory. He wondered briefly who she was when she was not Darth Acera, when she took the topic of his failed search and pressed it into the spotlight.

"No, it has not," he grumbled. "I started where I began; on the last planet in which I'd seen her. By then, the local Imperial garrison had wiped her record from their data. She and my mother had both long since moved, and the records with them. After a decade or so the records are removed to prevent overcrowding servers and databanks and whatever technology...I'm not sure, the man I interrogated screamed it as such a rate I could only half understand, then pissed himself and fainted. At any rate, it was clear that there were no clues to be had, so I slew him and tried to move on." He shrugged. "She has never been on Zeltros, Coruscant, Storinal, Alderaan, or Dantooine. And that's just to start." His frown deepened and he cracked his knuckles, flexing his hands as the need to bleed his anger swelled against his self-control. "Shili is not under the Empire's control, so I never looked there. They wouldn't send her to a planet where the Rebellion has pushed the Empire out."

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

From her peripheral vision, the Lupine caught him watching her slight shift. In time he too would learn to use such talents; to show his true face and the mask that would keep him hidden. It was a necessary skill the every Sith had to know. It ensured their survival and allowed them to exist in the shadows.

All the same however, she listened keenly to his words. It was clear that he'd put effort into his searches, and gone to great lengths to find the object of his ire and hatred. He'd remained a driving force that was not to be denied, and only faltered when his clawed hands could no longer grasp at the dangling ribbons of withheld clues. It was not uncommon, nor was it surprising. s'Il gave a nod.

"You dedication is to be commended," she murmured in thought.

"The Empire holds a great many planets still; do you intend to search every one of them?"

[Zenas Codrey]

"If I must," he muttered, folding his arms defensively, though he did feel genuinely pleased with the compliment. "Interrogating Imperials has only gotten me so far, and earned me some unwanted attention with their Inquisitoriate. So far, their Agents and the Bounty Hunters who have sought my reward have been little more than good combat practice." They approached a main thoroughfare and Zenas sighed heavily, shutting his eyes and letting the Force work through his montrals. No one about but themselves. Good. Zenas turned and walked along the street, unsure of what more needed to be said. A review of his terrible planning and tracking skills was not something he wanted to do.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Some hours later...

They had made their way through the at first sparsely populated streets, but as the pair moved ever onward and in to the more centralized locales of the city, the press of bodies around them began to increase. It was the natural camouflage of the Sith, to become one with the masses and indistinguishable from the rest. Moving fluidly throughout the living mass, both wove in and about those around them as if they were a part of the thriving throng of beings that made up the lifeblood of the city.

The Lupine directed Zenas to a small side cafe, her own features unreadable and yet tranquil and serene despite the horrid activities and actions they had both partaken in hours before. She was as a patient undercurrent, hoping to coax and tease the potential from her student until he became a tidal wave of power. In helping him to realize his own vengeance and bring it to fruition, she knew that to do so would be the key to truly unlocking his potentials. The boy held within him a great gift, and she would help him to realize the depths of what he could achieve.

As they sat at one of the tables that rested within a cordoned-off area outside of the cafe proper, s'Il settled herself comfortably. So far removed from the evil that she had demonstrated before, she looked no different than any other woman who was out and enjoying the opportunities this day had to offer. Which was a half-truth even unto itself. Only, the opportunities that she was enjoying were far different than that of those around her.

A server appeared at their table, and she ordered water for the both her and Zenas. Before he left, the server left two menus with them.

Finally breaking the long silence that had fallen between them as they'd walked, s'Il took up the single-side paper menu.

"To search every planet would be folly, and you would die before finishing even that task."

And again she brought to bear the conversation that had stalled. It was with deliberate intent however, and hr next question was just as probing as it was to encourage the young man to search deeper within his own self.

"You must take yourself back to the beginning. Your mother - what was she like as you grew up... ?"

[Zenas Codrey]

Zenas was uncomfortable being out in the open, and it showed. Crowds would hide him well enough, but they also hid his adversaries; Inquisitors and Bounty Hunters looking to bring him to justice, whether for patriotism or paycheck. Sitting at the cafe was worse; at least in the crowd he'd been mobile. He let Acera lead them to the outdoor dining area, and then took the initiative to choose their table. He sat at one with his back to the cafe's wall, nearest the slightly-propped door marked "EMPLOYEES ONLY", from which the sounds of cooking and cleaning could be heard. Sharp cooking implements made excellent Force-borne projectiles.

He sat, cross-armed and sullen looking as Acera became someone else, a woman anyone might think of as "normal". Heh, she was anything but, and to be out doing something so ordinary as this with her struck Zenas as bizarre, almost absurd. The idea of her roaming around the downtown on a man's arm brought a half-smile and chuckle to his face, and the sudden mention of his mother helped it stay a little longer.

"She was a sweet woman, caring for everyone, even people who hated or disdained her. She was a professional worrier, always concerned when I'd come home with bruises or scratches. She taught me all of my school knowledge, save for the year when she tried to put me in an Imperial public school. She was supportive, stalwart, and compassionate. And she was very sad and lonely, all the time."

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

His initial discomfort was plain to see, and s'Il watched him with a scrutinizing gaze. His posture, the angle of his shoulders, the expression he wore, all of it. Each minute word that his body telegraphed came together to speak loudly of his misgivings and desire to be elsewhere.

It was the half-smile and the chuckle that piqued her curiosity the most however, and both had seemed to appear suddenly in the midst of his obviously aggravated state of mind. The emotion was furthered as he spoke of his mother, and the Lupine leaned back in her seat as she listened. It was a change to hear him speak with such words, when only a small while before his voice had been laced with vitriol and hate. The change was swift enough, and it gave her a renewed hope that Zenas would be able to learn how to shift not only his tones, but his entire behavior and body. This new display was enough evidence of his untapped talents.

The server returned with their waters, and left once more to give them time to choose a meal.

Relatively alone once more, s'Il rested her hands in her lap as she looked across the table at her companion.

"How you speak of her, I can see why you wish to have her back. This desire of yours to enact revenge," she took a small sip of water, "... is it to bring your mother back and return to all of what you just told me, or is it simply to punish?"

[Zenas Codrey]

He drained his glass in one pull, realizing he was thirstier than he thought. Certainly it was a punishment to the human woman who had wronged him. He considered it could also be punishment to his mother, to have this valued person taken away. It would show her what she'd done to him, all that time ago. Then she'd realize how wrong she was, and they would be okay again. He set the glass down.

"Why not both?"

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

This made her smile faintly, and she took a sip of her own water.

"Indeed, why not do both? It is good that you don't limit yourself to one or the other, when your abilities allow you the opportunity to do both."

He was already coming to the realization that he would never need to confine his decisions, and it was something that gave her much satisfaction. Her broken gaze settled upon him from across the table, and she allowed her approval to span the small distance between them.

"Your natural instincts will serve you well on the journey you've set yourself on."

The Lupine gave him an affirming nod to punctuate her words.

But there were still more questions she wished to ask.

"When you finish this crusade, will you leave your mother broken and alone?"

[Zenas Codrey]

Zenas barked his short, loud laugh, briefly disturbing the ambient noise into quiet. He waited for the other patrons to return to their conversations.

"What point would there be to all that I've attempted if I do that?" he asked. This form of Acera was full of surprises. "I have no intention of leaving her alone when I have found her again." His brief smile quirked back down into his usual frown. "All I've ever wanted is my own small family back."

He didn't like feeling so vulnerable before her, and instantly regretted saying what he'd said. But nothing is without risk, and this new face of hers required a similar form of trust. Unless it was ruse to draw out his vulnerabilities. He folded his arms and stared moodily at his empty glass. "I expect you understand," he added. "Or that you will soon enough."

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Her answer was withheld for the moment, as their server returned to take their lunch order. s'Il ordered for the both of them; meals that were uncomplicated and straightforward in terms of the nutrition contained in each entree. Once they were alone, she finally continued.

"Oh, I understand the sentiment and desire well enough."

She took a sip from her water, inwardly lamenting over the fact that she would not be able to enjoy a glass of wine for the duration of her pregnancy. An annoyance, but certainly nothing that she was deeply upset over.

"I have another, you know. A girl."

He had displayed a deeper reason for his pursuits, and she in turn gave to him knowledge beyond what he saw on Acera's surface.

"I know well enough the desire to keep one's family close."

[Zenas Codrey]

Zenas was hungry, but didn't recognize any of the menu's dishes and didn't know which he'd enjoy. It was just as well; Acera made the order for him. The waiter gave Zenas an odd look, and the Togruta returned it with ferocity so that he retreated quickly. The news of Acera's daughter was less astonishing in the wake of the realization of her pregnancy and her own strong values regarding family. With the feeling of surprise growing dull in his heart, he found it easier to keep a tighter thread on the conversation and not blurt half-formed responses that sounded like fool's blabbering.

"Is she excited to be a big sister? Mother used to tease me about having a little brother or sister for me to play with, and I found the thought detestable. I wasn't at all ready to share," he smirked, remembering with some shame how petulant he'd sounded in his protest, and how his mother had laughed at him in spite of herself as she'd cuddled his distress away. "Will I meet her?"

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

At that the Lupine sent an odd look his way.

"She seems more concerned over how a baby 'fits' within a womb."

There was a short silence then, as s'Il considered his last words. It was certainly not anything that she'd initially intended - to introduce him to her daughter - but upon further reflection she considered it acceptable.

"If you wish to meet her, then I see no reason to deny that."

She took a sip of her water as their server refilled Zenas' own glass.

"She behaves as any eight-year-old I imagine. It is my feeling that her father spoils her, but I can never be sure; when I was her age I was living at the Jedi Temple, so I have no real reference to begin from, I suppose."

[Zenas Codrey]

Darth Decepis spoils his daughter. The image of the crumbling Sith Master bouncing a toddler on his knee was so far beyond anything Zenas could imagine that he found it impossible to try. Damn. He wondered how hard it'd be to look Decepis in the eye when next they met.

"My Master was a sour and angry man, hurt by treason and bitter over the relationships and possessions he was never allowed to own by this Jedi Temple. I wonder if it is the fate of all who passed through its doors to come to this place, angry and jealous filled with passions for the people and objects that ought to belong to them."

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

At his conjecture, the Lupine laughed aloud.

"Jealousy is not always the reason that Jedi have turned, my Friend. Many step away from the Jedi path because they feel they are doing what they must to protect. Some turn because they crave power. Others because they sought knowledge beyond what was available to them. Each man or woman that has 'fallen', as Jedi call it, does so for different reasons. What you Master desired, he could not find in the halls of the Temple.

"I myself found all that I needed within those walls, and was content with that... "

She trailed off then, and looked up as the server returned with two plates, setting the first down in front of Zenas and the second in front off her. Making sure that both costumers were satisfied, the young woman once again retreated to tend to her other tables.

s'Il took up her fork after making sure that her napkin was laid in her lap.

"My decision was made much later, and far removed from the Temple. In fact, the experiences that I had there were wonderful in their own way, and I am glad to have been a part of it. I learned much."

She took a bit of her meal, chewed, and swallowed.

"Of course nowadays I find myself learning much more, with each new lesson building upon the last. There is so much ancient knowledge to still be uncovered."

A moment of silence passed before she settled a curious look to him.

"You wish to hone your skills in battle, that much I know. But, how deep do you truly want to go down this jakrab hole?"

[Zenas Codrey]

Her experience was so opposite that of his Master that he stopped chewing to dwell on it for a long moment. He honestly didn't know how to answer her. What in the universe could have changed her, if her experience had been such? He would ask later, after she'd exhausted this line of talk regarding him and his own path of continual self-improvement. He swallowed his mouthful and drank his water.

"Jakrab hole" was clearly an allusion to her Sith Philosophy and training. He knew that a pair of Sith had annihilated the Jedi Order. If only two were required to accomplish so much, he'd be a fool to decline, wouldn't he? But if he accepted, what rules and constraints would he need to follow, or be cautious in breaking? How might he be manipulated within those rules? Of course, it dawned on him just then that his rather simplistic goals made him easily manipulable to begin with. If there was more power to be gained this way, he would take it.

"As far as I can get, until one of us expires," he answered evenly.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

An astute observation, and one that she accepted with a knowing smile.

"The rules of the past are always to be minded as we take our steps into the future."

Her meal, so recently set before her, was momentarily ignored as she went on.

"But if we cling to such ancient dogmas and regulation, we would ultimately meet the same fate as those before us. We must build upon and improve rather than hold rigid."

The fork she held hovered over her plate, and her voice fell only slightly.

"The two, in my estimation, can certainly accomplish what armies and vast numbers cannot, but it is those multitudes that we rely on to bend to our wills. The core must expand as all things must, and in frank terms, the two cannot survive without a cadre of others who dwell within the sphere of the older ways."

In a roundabout way it was the Lupine's own way of saying that she rejected the notion of the Rule of Two, and in so doing her offering was clear - become a part of the core.

[Zenas Codrey]

Zenas had only ever worked alone, and had often rejected the notion of forming temporary partnerships and alliances in the past, even at the cost of furthering his personal goals. It was becoming clear to him that such tactics could no longer be possible. He must grow and expand, just as she had stated that the Sith must. He found the idea of being a face in a crowd to be distasteful. He wanted to be at the center of events, on the leading edge of Force techniques and power. But all the laconic Togruta could muster up for his new ally was a simple "Agreed." A moment of silence filled with eating let him generate an equally short, simple, and terse follow-up. "What do you propose to do, and what shall my role be?"

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

She chewed thoughtfully, swallowed, and picked up her drink. Her eyes locked with his over the rim of her glass as she sipped, and once it was set down, s'Il allowed herself to lean back in her seat.

"Your roll in all of this is what best suits your talents. You obviously have a particular slant to combat and battle - it is perhaps wise to set yourself firmly upon that path. Become the hand that reaches out through the stars to stamp out any obstacle that rises up in the face of the true will of the Force.

"We are all bound to follow the ways that come most easy to each of our own tastes and desires."

She folded her hands in her lap.

"It is a choice that can never be made quickly, but it is one that is often enough hinted out throughout. I myself have not yet set myself upon the tasks which are right for me, and I do not fret over it. All is revealed when it is supposed to be, and not before."

A wry smile.

"And many times, the journey to enlightenment is every bit as satisfying as the moment you gain that knowledge."

[Zenas Codrey]

So, an enforcer would be his likely role. It was one he fit easily, and had performed well in his past. He hadn't considered it a position for much growth, though his old Master had often spoken about how Jedi had used combat forms as a sort of active meditation, letting the practice and movement ease them into a state of reflection, where some managed to find wisdom and knowledge. Perhaps he could accomplish such as that, though even performing drills alone had never cleared his mind of thought. Rather, movement had sharpened his focus upon his passions; what did he want, what did he need, what could he be capable of with regard to those things.

He suddenly found that her words bore truth. He had indeed already experienced small instances of what she described. He was sure his epiphany showed plainly on his face...the way she was looking at him gave him that distinct impression. Only a few minutes into his partnership--such as it was--and he was already learning lessons. Zenas supposed this was how she intended to draw him into her service. He couldn't help admitting to himself that it was working beautifully. "So why do you feel that you've not yet found your vocation in the Force? It seems strange to think that I, with my lesser experience, may have reached my purpose ahead of you."

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

"In a way I have," she answered thoughtfully, "... though I suppose it is not a traditional role; but it is a role all the same."

She reached for her glass, took a sip, and returned it to the table.

"I am a scholar by blood, and have chosen to be much the same in my later years. That does not mean that I am unskilled in the forms of combat, but while my own instincts lean to battle, the core of my being is the pursuit of knowledge and the preservation of that which came before. To learn from such ancient times and apply them to the future while being mindful that they must be altered to accommodate the evolution of all around us."

She held up a small baked onion, no bigger than an eyeball.

"What we learn from the things that we study is that the subjects of our fascination have layers," her free hand reached out, delicate nails deftly peeling away a single layer of the vegetable.

"Each time we peel one layer away, another is presented."

The onion was put back on her plate.

"Unlike an onion however, life and what it has to teach us has countless, innumerable layers to peel away and discover. It is never-ending.

"And despite the perpetuity of it all, I still choose to continue learning and gathering every bit of knowledge that I can. Which, I suppose is an extension of waging violent acts; there are often times when the smallest bit of information can cut far deeper than any blade."

[Zenas Codrey]

Not unskilled in combat, she said. Understatement. Her analogy regarding the onion's layers made some sense to him. His old Master had once explained the mentality of combat and knowing an opponent's mind with a similar expression, though with a multi-stage circuit in place of the side-dish. He also had pointed out that such a system could potentially have infinitely many layers, and had expressed that in combat one ought to be able to consider an action as a single level and then think of several answers to form the next layer of the sequence, in order to prevent an opponent from achieving a simple answer and reaching the next level of the circuit. So he comprehended her meaning with regard to combat, and supposed that such was her meaning when she spoke of information cutting deeper than blades. He almost answered to that regard, but realized swiftly that to do so would be to ignore the old lesson she'd presented in this new form. He thought it over deeper, eating and drinking to cover the stutter-step of his thought processes.

Knowledge that cut deeper than a blade. More than physical weaknesses. More than knowing how to rile an opponent to distraction and frustration with wordplay--not that he ever engaged in it much, himself. What, then? How to emotionally cripple a person? How to manipulate them? He thought that he could do such things in combat, to drive an opponent into a place of weakness. It was all he could think of, and it frustrated him. "I already know how to manipulate a person to a state of weakness in physical combat," he said, feeling no choice but to voice his own experience in the matter. "Though I expect there must be more, given the content of your brief lecture. I suppose that a person who had mastered such control of information could create scenarios in which a loss would be impossible, in any aspect of a fight or plot for power."