Cherice Training II: A Moonlight Stroll

[Jehova Eaven]

Jehova stood outside the door to Cherice's room feeling for her presence.

[Cherice St_Hilare]

Cherice was sitting on her bed, holding up a rag doll as she admired it. The toy was her latest trophy from her feeding - a memory which she would relish. The little girl's soul was so sweet and innocent ...

Suddenly she felt a powerful presence, and curiously she looked at the door. Somebody was standing there, waiting. Reaching out with the Force, she realized it was Jehova and slightly wondered what he'd like. Sliding off the bed, Cherice placed the doll on her bureau, then made her way towards the door. Her fingers slipped around the knob as she pulled it open, facing him.

" ... Yes, Master ?"

[Jehova Eaven]

Several weeks had passed since their first training session together. Every minute of every day was spent training and refining her skills until they were at their absolute peak. The training was give and take, each day that she strengthened, his strength and ability to control his latent energies grew. Tonight would be her final training session, then she was to go out into the world and cause chaos and destruction just like the rest of the Sith. He sighed at that thought and spoke.

"Its a nice night. I was wondering if you would like to join me in the gardens."

He imposed his will upon her, not enough to cause any real pain but enough so that she couldn't refuse.

[Cherice St_Hilare]

Jehova's "offer" surprised her, but nonetheless she gladly accepted.

I wouldn't mind."

Cherice stepped out into the hallway with him and closed the door behind her. Even though she had lived within TSO's walls for quite some time, she had never strayed into the gardens - not even to look around.

As the two began to walk down the corridor, she clasped her hands behind her back and remained silent.

[Jehova Eaven]

He held out his arm and walked with her down the halls. Down the stairs, left, another left, and then a right out a small gated door. The garden was just as he left it, the plants were currently growing as he wanted them to. When he had first arrived at the order he had found a large unkept outdoor garden. The plants were all dying or dead, there was more dust than soil, and the walls were covered in rust.

"What do you think?"

He grinned as he continued to stroll down the wide main path.

[Cherice St_Hilare]

As she walked along Jehova's side, her blue eyes absorbed the beautiful surroundings. Luscious, green plants decorated the sides of the path while a few blossoms bloomed. A light aroma of their petals was in the air.

"I find it amazing."

She had actually expected the gardens to be a place of weariness and of rot and decay, but to her delight it wasn't so.

[Jehova Eaven]

"It still requires a little work. I'm currently working on putting in a fountain."

His free hand danced as he maneuvered a large slab of stone on to another in a circle in the middle of the path. He smiled as it landed in place and then pointed to a chair. "Lets sit down, I want to see you try to move those stones onto the fountain. You do know how to do that?"

[Cherice St_Hilare]

"Of course," she scoffed slightly, her blue eyes somewhat mischevious.

Taking a seat in a chair, Cherice crossed her legs and glanced at one of the several large stones laying about. Almost as easily as Jehova had done it, the stone rose into the air and floated on top of the other rock.

At the same time, another chair was pulled up for Jehova.

"Won't you sit with me ?"

[Jehova Eaven]

Of course she had done it, it was a simple task. A slight chuckle escaped him as images of children playing could be seen through the trees.

"Come on, lets go."

He held out his hand to her as he continued to walk through the trees to where the children were.

[Cherice St_Hilare]

If he wanted to continue to walk, why had he told her to sit down ? A slight pout formed on her plump lips as she slipped her slender hand inside of his and stood back, walking by his side. She had seen the children playing, and canted her head to the side.

"Jehova .. Why are they playing ?"

[Jehova Eaven]

His hands danced back and forth. Almost at the same time, the children started dancing around them in a circle. With a swish of his hands they disappeared and then reappered again.

"They are playing because I told them to play."

[Cherice St_Hilare]

"Do you miss the sound of life within these walls?"

It was a sudden question, and she awaited his answer.

[Jehova Eaven]

He said with a smile, almost matter of factly.

"Of course, life is the source of our power. A greater source is the death of those lives."

He continued to walk forward, stopping in front of a withering, aged tree.

"Poor thing...."

[Cherice St_Hilare]

"Imagine at how much it's seen ... Will you let It's Life Essence seep away until it's an empty vessel?"

Her brow furrowed slightly as she watched with curiousity. Never had she seen so much ... "compassionate" nature, if it was what that could be called. Indeed, this man could teach her much about the galaxy - known and unknown - if he saw it fit to teach her more.

[Jehova Eaven]

"Of course not."

His eyes were concentrated on the exact center of the tree. He didn't really want to kill it, but he would not waste his energy on attempting to revive it. He then turned his head towards her.

"I want you to destroy this tree, I want nothing left."

He would plant another one in its place, one that could survive the atmosphere on Corellia.

[Cherice St_Hilare]

She looked sideways at him before placing a hand on the tree. Closing her eyes, Cherice took a deep breath and summoned all of her energy, bringing it into the palm of her hand and then releasing it.

She felt the tree tremble underneath as the force made it begin to fall apart. The branches quivered and began to snap off, the whithered leaves showering the ground .. until all that was left was the stump. Withdrawing her hand, Cherice locked her eyes onto it and concentrated on the Force, ripping its roots out of the ground. As the stump fell back, she dug into her pocket and pulled out a pack of matches.

Sure, maybe it seemed a little too modern, but it did the trick.

Taking one out, she struck it against the box and it lighted on fire. Since the wood was dry, it would easily catch onto fire and burn until it was nothing but smoldering ashes. She threw the match down and watches as the stump caught on fire, then spread to the branches.

However, she realized that the other trees and plants could meet the same fate and put up a Force block around the burning debris. Yes, that would be sufficient enough.

Turning back to Jehova, she waited for further word.

[Jehova Eaven]

He shook his head. Apparently he didn't explain himself correctly, or perhaps he needed to elaborate more. Maybe an example would serve a far better purpose than words.

"I wanted you to destroy the tree like this."

He looked at a large boulder sitting near the castle walls. With a mere thought, the boulder began to levitate into the air and then began to shake as if to mirror the furious typhoon raging within his mind. His anger began to build upon itself, anger begot more anger. The rock began to start cracking and almost looked like it was imploding. Within seconds the boulder was nothing but splinters and then nothing but ash and the storm stopped.

"Reach out with your feelings, it is only in this way that you can truly achieve mastery of yourself."

[Cherice St_Hilare]

Well, so she didn't do it perfect. At least he had taken the time to show her how things should be done.

"Then I apologize for my performance," she said, bowing her head slightly.

[Jehova Eaven]

He wouldn't punish her this time, it was his fault after all. He held out his hand to her for her to take. They would continue the training on the training grounds to avoid any real damage to his garden.

"Lets go, and hold on to me tightly."

[Cherice St_Hilare]

Cherice bit onto her lower lip as she slipped her hand into his. Clinging onto it tightly, like he asked, the Succubi wondered what was going to happen next.

[Jehova Eaven]

He held her close and spread his massive wings. With a few flaps they took off into the sky. Soon they were over the tallest tower of the keep. Jehova was struggling slightly with his extra burden though. It had been a while since he last had to fly anywhere.

"There," he said as he pointed out with his free arm. "thats the perfect spot."

The area he was pointing to was barren and brown. No real sign of wildlife save a few felled trees. The ground was cracked from the lack of irrigation and the sky was starting to turn grey with ash.

[Cherice St_Hilare]

Her eyes widened a bit when she felt her feet lift from the ground as he flew up. She was beginning to get used to the strange sensation of weightlessness when he pointed down to the ground. It was ugly, to say at the least, with the dry, cracked ground and the nothingness.

Remaining silent, she waited for him to land.

[Jehova Eaven]

They landed with a light thud onto the soft ground. After a few seconds he let go of her arm and retracted his wings. They were sore from the sudden exertion but that pain could be ignored for now, for her sake. This would be her final test with him, and he wasn't going to go easy on her.

"See that tree?" he pointed at a dead tree on the horizon.

[Cherice St_Hilare]

After he let go of her, Cherice took a step back and rubbed it gently. His fingers left red marks from holding onto her so tightly.

"Yes, I see the tree ..."

[Jehova Eaven]

Jehova raised his arm violently. Almost immediately the tree was ripped from the ground and started twirling around violently. After a few seconds the twirling began to slow down to a stop. His arm dropped but the tree did not, instead it began speeding towards them. Jehova looked upon her with a stern look on his face and then back at the tree. It was now out of his control, even if she attacked him the tree would not stop.

"What are you going to do now?" he thought.

[Cherice St_Hilare]

She watched as the tree's roots ripped from the dry earth and spun in the air violently before stopping - then flying towards them. She knew it was Jehova's work as she gave him glance, catching the stern look on his face, and then looked back towards the tree. There was no relenting in its speed and, realizing there was hardly any time left, did the only thing sensible.

Lashing out with the Force, she slowed down its speed to gain a little more time, and then pushed Jehova to the ground, landing on top of him. The tree barely missed them, flying right above Cherice, and its branches caught on her skin and gave her several cuts. Heaving herself off of the Ambrellian, she concentrated on the tree, focusing on the pent-up anger. Also drawing up the old emotions of hate, grief, and pain, she finally released everything, and the tree's stump began to crack. Shaking slightly, it then stopped and fell the ground motionless before the smell of smoke began to drift towards her direction. The roots caught on fire, and then it began to travel throughout the rest of the tree.

[Jehova Eaven]

His ribs made a horrible cracking noise as he hit the ground. He held back a groan, luckily for her there appeared to be no real damage. Meanwhile his apprentice had taken care of the tree, it had served its purpose. He had already arose to his feet and disappeared into a shroud of darkness.

[Cherice St_Hilare]

Turning her head to look back at Jehova and finding him gone, she sighed. He was nowhere to be seen, leaving her in the middle of nowhere, and she wasn't getting into the best of her moods.

"Jehova," she called out, knowing that she more than likely wouldn't get an answer.

[Jehova Eaven]

((Bah, I'm not going to finish this.... You're promoted.))