Isolation

[Xandra Etanial]

Xandra stepped into a large room filled with people and looked around. She had followed her father here, but from there she had been on her own. She knew no one and generaly kept to herself. How long had it been? She wasn't sure at this point. No way she could tell, and she didn't care. Quietly slipping to a corner away from the other patrons she sat down and slipped(sp) into her own thoughts.

[SashaKovalev]

The High Roller was one of his favorite places to be. It was always busy, and it was easy to come here and fade from existence among the throngs of people going about their own business, enjoying their gambling trip. This evening was hardly different from the others, with the exception that he nearly tripped over someone who had sunk down in the corner as he made his way toward one of the higher security exits that Sith Order Members had access to.

Normally, he might have been slightly grouchy about it, but this was a ship of the sith order, and the purpose was to get people to have a good time - for the better time they had, the more money they would spend - directly affecting the wealth of the order.

So instead of scowling, he looked down at the individual, a curious expression in his violet eyes.

"Are you rebelling against chairs?" He quipped, an amuse sparkle making his eyes look a bit brighter against his tanned skin.

[Xandra Etanial]

"Perhaps," Xandra replied somewhat cooly, standing up, and looking at the man who had stumbled over her. "Or perhaps I'm mearly avoiding the gaze of other patrons in the nearby area."

Her cold, dark brown, eyes seemed to be sizing up the man, "Are you rebeling against the light?"

[SashaKovalev]

He scoffed at this idea, shaking his head slowly, his eyes rolling slightly in sarcasm.

"No, I dont waste my time rebelling against the light. I bother little with it unless it gets in the way."

"Why are you avoiding the gazes of others?" He asked directly, quickly learning the lesson that she was sarcastic, and would retort with a smart aleck remark if it suited her.

His arms folded over his chest, perhaps slightly defensively.

[Xandra Etanial]

His asumption was correct and she did smirk, though it was more at herself than him. "Perhaps beacuse I do not know the others here and I wish not to be seen," she replied.

"Or perhaps it is to make the first person who stumbles over me to ask questions, it would appear I failed at the first though," she muttered the last part to herself.

[SashaKovalev]

His face remaining passive, he stared at her with his odd violet eyes.

"Perhaps you might want to decide which it is you prefer. The first you seem to have failed miserably to accomplish, and your methods are more attention getting than anything else. If you wish not to be seen, why not get a room and hide, or wear a hood over your eyes." He smiled slightly.

"Or simply sit at a slot machine and waste away your credits." His eyes moved to glance at a woman who was patheticially putting coin after coin into the slot machine, wasting away her hard earned credits, and achieving exactly what Xandra perhaps sought - to be left to herself.

"On the other hand, if its the latter, you've done well for yourself." He added, his voice still rather neutral, though there was a hint of amusement perhaps.

"Now, which is it so that you might be accommodated...." His hand came to rest casually on his lightsaber, out of habit, not any sort of meaningful threat, though some might have taken it that way.

[Xandra Etanial]

Xandra watched his movements carefully, though she had little traning at this point she senced no danger and seemed to ignore it.

"The only reason it seems to be gathering more attention, sir, is beacuse you actualy stoped and asked questions," Xandra replied in a wry amusement of her own.

"I'd rather waste my time here than waste credits infront of those slot machienes. There's much more to be accomplished away from them."

[SashaKovalev]

Sasha shrugged.

"I think most would ask questions of a girl sitting on the floor in the corner of the room. Its rather abnormal behavior, unless you've had a bit too much to drink, or....other substances."

And then he chuckled, amused by her words.

"And what are these great deeds that can be accomplished away from a slot machine? The amazing feat you've accomplished so far of sitting in a corner doling out sarcastic comments?" He asked, an eyebrow raised in question.

[Xandra Etanial]

"Thinking, for one," Xandra replied, half seriously half sarcasticly. "However you've supplied(sp) a rather interesting battle with words that has proved quite entertaining as well."

Her dark eyes sparked with a slight amusement as she crossed her arms, shifting her weight from one leg to the other.

"I had actualy planned on using a chair after a few momments," she commented dryly. "But it would seem that I've ended up in a conversation before I could get to that point."

[SashaKovalev]

He rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, thats me, the champion of word battles..." He replied, his voice heavy with sarcasm as well. Though his sarcasm was hardly antagonistic. He sighed softly as the hand that had been resting on his lightsaber came to rub his forehead idly in thought.

"You were going to sit in a chair in the corner?" He pondered this, shaking his head slowly.

"You know there's better places to be alone on this thing...." He added by way of suggestion.

He grinned.

"Places safe from conversations with the likes of me, even. Though I dont suggest you think too much there...it might suck the sarcasm out of you, and then where would you be?"

[Xandra Etanial]

"The likes of you are better than the likes of others," she replied with a wry smile. "Besides, you solved the boredom problem, now if we can just solve the 'What the heck am I doing here?' problem we'll be all set."

[SashaKovalev]

He chuckled, naturally amused by her. This made his features soften, and he looked every bit the eighteen, almost nineteen year old kid that he was.

"The question of what the heck you're doing sitting here in the corner, or what the heck you're doing on this ship?" He teased.

He offered a hand to help her to her feet.

"I think the answer to both is having less fun than you could be...."

[Xandra Etanial]

Xandra accepted his help and stood up, "You're proably right," she replied. She didn't look more than seventeen or eighteen herself, pushing some of her long, dark violet hair behind her shoulder.

"Having fun is not one of my strong points."

[SashaKovalev]

As she got to her feet, claiming that having fun was not one of her strong suits, he merely shook his head and refused to accept this.

"Then we'll have to work on that, wont we...?" He replied with a mischievious sparkle in the depths of his violet eyes.

"Come on, its less crowded on the upper deck..." He suggested and began to walk in the direction of one of the illuminated exit signs.

"You come here with anyone?" He asked as they walked.

[Xandra Etanial]

"No," Xandra replied, following him. "I'm afraid it's hard to go anywhere with someone when you don't know anyone to begin with."

[SashaKovalev]

He nodded slowly in understanding.

"Well, now you know someone." He replied.

"Im Sasha." He said, introducing himself. When she had introduced herself in reutrn (ooc: Im assuming she'd going to, if not I'll edit) he grinned.

"So what are you doing here?" He asked, referring to the earlier dilemma.

"So far as I understand, you dont like people, you think gambling is a waste of time....." He wasnt asking to be rude or to interrogate her, rather is was conversational as they continued through the rather large casino area of the ship.

[Xandra Etanial]

OOC: she would of, don't worry.

IC:

"I never said I didn't like people," Xandra replied, still following him. "I just don't like people I don't know."

"I came here with my father then he vanished again," her voice held a hint of anger and bitterness as she spoke.

[SashaKovalev]

He shook his head.

"I would think you'd like the people you dont know better than the ones you do. That way you dont know what to dislike about them...." He commented lightly.

He actually rather liked people. He liked the company of others, Sith or not, and could often be found frequenting bars or other social establishments.

He picked up on the anger and bitterness in her voice, despite how restrained it was.

"Do you need some help finding him?" He offered. He knew the commander of the ship, Javus Parr, quite well. In fact, Javus had been the one, along with some of the other pilots of the High Roller, to teach him how to fly a ship. And he knew Parr would do him the favor of helping this woman if necessary.

[Xandra Etanial]

Xandra half shrugged, "Doesn't matter. It's not like he's actualy been involved in my life much."

"And why should I trust the people I don't know if I don't trust the people I do?"

[SashaKovalev]

He shook his head.

"I didnt suggest that you trust those you dont know more, I suggested that you might like those you dont know a little better. Theres a difference." He replied, the tone of his voice perhaps a bit more serious.

As they neared the exit door, he pushed it open and held it for Xandra to pass through. He nodded towards the stairs. They cold have taken an elevator, but this was the better way to avoid crowds of people. Most were too lazy to bother taking the stairs.

He followed her up, speaking with her as they went.

"You dont sound like you care for your father all that much...." He commented, leaving this open for her reply, or dismissal.

[Xandra Etanial]

"I don't," Xandra replied simply walking up the stairs. "At this point the only thing that flows between us is blood, now that my mother's gone."

[SashaKovalev]

He understood the loss of a mother. Too well, perhaps. And her comment about her father somewhat angered him. Only recently had he discovered who his father had been, and he thought she was damn lucky to still have a father.

But before he shot his mouth off, he considered his words. Her father, he knew, could be a real jerk. And perhaps her hateed of him was warranted.

"Blood can be a pretty strong tie." He stated, his violet eyes staring at her, and then away the rest of the trip up the stairs.

Once they hit the landing, he opened the door for her. It led out to a balcony that overlooked the room below. Lush plant life crawled through the railings, and along the windows that alowed a view of the stars as they passed by.

"So if you hate him so much, why dont you make a life for youself instead of following him only gambling cruisers?" He asked. It wasnt said with any sort of insinuation that she was stupid for not having done so before. Instead it was asked in the rather relaxed, easygoing manner that he seemed to have. Almost as if it were a math situation to be worked through.

[Xandra Etanial]

She half smirked, "I didn't follow him here. I only followed him to the Sith."

From there she took a deep breath and looked out over the balcony at the plants and tried not to sigh, "Although right now even that seems like a dead end."

Unwanted anger and frustration seemed to come from her as she answered. She had had minor training before she came here with her Father, but not enough.

[SashaKovalev]

Ahhhh....so this was why she had come. He felt it rude to intrude on the thoughts of others, and did so only when necessary. Even now, he did not try to read her thoughts.

He smiled slightly and shook his head.

"Not everything is as it appears." He replied. He leaned on the railing, watching the people down below.

"Why do you seek the Sith?" He asked, turned back to her for a moment, gazing at her with his oddly colored eyes.

[Xandra Etanial]

"I have nowhere else to go," Xandra replied. "I certinly wouldn't be cought dead with the Jedi. I can barely control my anger at times as it is."

She looked at him, "Besides, the Sith give me the best advantage at learning my abilities... And a chance to get back at my father for what he did."

[SashaKovalev]

Revenge. This he certainly could understand. It was something that lately had been haunting him, driving him to release his anger in ways he had been slower to do in the past.

He would not ask what her father had done. This was for her to share with him if she so chose.

"Have you had any force training before?" He asked, stepping back from the railing and taking a seat on a nearby couch.

[Xandra Etanial]

"Very little," Xandra replied. "Most of my training was in just about any type of weapon you could get your hands on on Coruscant."

She pulled off a ring from her finger and placed in her her palm. From there she used the Force to lift it a few inches above her hand. "This is about all I can do," she shrugged before setting the ring back down on her hand then put it back on. She wasn't showing off, just showing him how little training she had. Even the little 'trick' she had just managed was a challenge for her to do.

[SashaKovalev]

He watched her as she performed her little force trick. He could feel the concentration as it rolled off of her, and he understood just how little training she had had.

"You were taught nothing of being able to sense the presence of other force users?" He asked as he kicked a foot back up onto the coffee table in front of the couch.

He appeared to be rather at ease, and in for a long conversation.

[Xandra Etanial]

"No," she replied simply, resisting the urge to punch the railing. It angered her at how little she could do, how helpless around these people she really was. She had the advantage against someone without the Force, but anyone with any training was more than a match for her.

"As I said, at this momment the Sith seem to be a dead end."

[SashaKovalev]

"You might want to stop thinking so much, and begin to feel, instead." He suggested, a finger tapping idly on the arm of the couch.

With this, he sent a nudge through the force in her direction, the distinct darkness of his signature in the force settling around her.

"Using the force is much more than moving objects...." He added, a slight smile of amusement briefly crossing his features.

"It's feeling it course through your veins.....tapping into it for power..."

"Do you truly feel this is a dead end?" He asked of her, violet eyes not questioning now, but demanding.

[Xandra Etanial]

"No," Xandra replied, picking up the changes in his eyes. Even with the little training she had she was still perceptive. Her dark eyes met his, unintimidated. "I just have yet to find my way along that path."

Or a way to learn, she thought to herself.

[SashaKovalev]

He sighed. He was an impatient kid in general, and certainly patience with others was not always his strong suit. It was something he was working on, though. And he had begun with his apprentice, trying to be patient with the sixteen year old, for his master had been patient with him, but at times he had been unable to do this, and his apprentice had paid the price.

"Why are you so sure you haven’t already found the path, and all you have to do is open your eyes....or your senses to better follow it?" He countered. He stared at her for a moment, then looked away, out the window at the stars passing them by.

He took a deep breath, releasing it with a sigh before he looked back to her.

“If it’s the Sith you seek, you’ll run into a dead end, or down the wrong path until you learn to open yourself to the dark side of the force. The Sith Order will not require experience, but they will require that you be able enough to learn.”

“Perhaps able enough to feel the presence of one when he’s sitting right in front of you.” He added.

[Xandra Etanial]

"It is also one thing to be able to feel those around you all the time," she replied and looked out over the balcony again, "and being able to block them out."

[SashaKovalev]

His violet eyes narrowed slightly. It was the Sith she sought, yet she was choosing to be picky about which one she found? Her cockiness was….would in time be a good trait. But right now, with the one before her, it would get her nowhere.

He’d dealt quite enough lately with Inu, a rather troublesome member of the Order, and he wasn’t looking forward to dealing with others.

The young knight pulled his booted foot off the coffee table and set it on the floor. And then he stood from the couch. He had intended to walk away. She wasn’t worth his time, and he wasn’t about to bring trouble to the High Roller. He might have been able to do this had his temper not been so short lately.

Instead he used his abilities in the force, using the darkside to pull her from the railing, and closer to him. Close enough that his six foot two frame stood above her.

“Your confidence is endearing, but if you don’t learn the difference between that and cockiness, you might find your search over before it’s begun.” His voice was low as he spoke, and a hand came up to cup her chin.

“Ignore me if you so choose…but you will see me again….” He added. She had angered him enough that if she joined the order, he would specifically request to be her master. They were a family there, and he would teach her this quickly. One did not treat their potential family as she had chosen to treat him.

[Xandra Etanial]

Xandra's eyes sparked to life at his reaction. She had achieved exactly the reaction she had been looking for. "Thank you," she said in her own quiet tone of voice, a hint of respect there where there hadn't been before. "I will keep your words in mind when I return."

[SashaKovalev]

The difference in her tone was subtle, but to the one that had been listening to her all evening, it was distinct. As was the spark of life that had come to her eyes.

He stared at her for a moment longer.

"You would be wise to keep them in mind more often than that." He replied, the expression on his face set.

And then he released her, the pull of the force gone, and his hand dropping to his side.

He turned away from her and walked over to the balcony, looking down below, his thoughts unreadable.

[Xandra Etanial]

Xandra didn't respond, she mearly crossed her arms when he released her and fell deep into her own thoughts. If only you knew, she thought to herself. If only you knew the things I've gone through to get to this point. I'm not as disrespectful and cocky as you think. Only to the point of getting my point across or the reactions I seek.

She hoped he didn't listen to her own thoughts as she went over and leaned against the wall, her thoughts going from there their own way, drifting off into nothing.

[SashaKovalev]

He didnt turn to look at her. He could feel her presence there, along the wall. He hadnt bothered to read her thoughts, for he had been deep in his own. Brooding as he stood there.

On the surface he could feel a bit of resignation from her. As if she were angry with him, or perhaps saddened by something.

"Why are you still here?" He asked, still not turning to look at her. It was not asked in anger, nor did it indicate that he wanted her to leave. Rather, it was asked because he wished to know.

[Xandra Etanial]

Xandra shrugged at his question, even though he couldn't see her, then turned and walked out the door. She had done enough damage and proably hindered her chances getting anywhere enough for one night.

[SashaKovalev]

He could feel her leave, and still, he did not turn to see her go.

He waited a few more moments, deep in thought, and then he finally turned and left the balcony. With deliberate steps, he made his way down the stairwell, and through the throngs of people at the slot machines, and tables.

He paid little attention to those around him as he headed down to the docking bay where the Sith were allowed to keep ships if they so chose.

He'd had enough of the High Roller for this evening, and intended on heading back to the Order.