Recipe for a perfect apprentice: Ambition, Respect, and a dash of creativity (XAM)

[SashaKovalev]

He knew he could have waited until a more practical hour of the day. But he didn’t feel like it. It was early morning, just before the sun had chosen its moment to rise. He loved this time of the morning, for all was quiet, and one could think without the distractions of others.

He had spoken with his master the evening before. Spoken with her of many things, but the one thing that now affected him was the fact that he would be taking on an apprentice. This meant that his master had enough confidence in him that she believed he was capable of teaching another – and teaching it correctly. This responsibility he did not take lightly.

He recalled his first few weeks with the order, and how he had been left on his own quite a bit to self train. And while he had worked hard, he had been frustrated quite often. This, he did not want the new apprentice to feel.

And so he was going to begin immediately.

Sasha loved to fly. And whether his apprentice did or not, he’d have to get used to it.

He walked down the hall, for Xam, his new apprentice, lived only a few doors down from his own rather humble quarters. He didn’t bother to knock. Instead he sent a message behind the closed door…..

It was a jolt at first, not gentle, but nothing that would hurt. More of a shock. And then the message.

“Meet me at the landing pad in one hour.” The message was not harsh or demanding. Rather it hinted at a bit of mischief.

There was nothing more to the message, and Sasha smiled slightly. He had told Xam nothing of the fact that he was to be his master, but the apprentice would soon learn.

And then he continued on his way to prepare the ship for departure.

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At the landing pad, he prepared the ship, a slight smile of amusement on his face as he waited for his apprentice to join him. He wore his blaster, and a blaster rifle slung across his back. His lightsaber was attached to his belt.

There was little else they would need. Not for the first lesson, anyway.

His brow hair was slightly tousled, and his violet eyes stared out from unruly locks that were in need of a trim. The usual serious expression on his face had faded slightly, for nothing put him in a better mood than an adventure.

[Xam Feldek]

Xam was sitting in his room looking out to the wonderful garden, he had been reading but had seen enough books for the moment so he wanted a bit of rest.

When he went to take a nap he suddenly felt something cold and then a message echoing in his head..

Meet me at the landing pad in one hour.

Xam stepped a few feet back but soon he came back to normal. This was all weird but he decided to do what the voice told him, in this place you couldn't know what was going to happen.

He opened his cupboard and put his belt on, he took his dagger and attached his lightsabre on it. Then he closed the cupboard and looked in the room, everything was clean and he hadn't forgotten something.

He opened the door and walked calmly to the landing pad, he had to find his way in this new place but by asking to some people he met he was able to find it.

There he saw a spaceship... With Sasha in front of it. He walked towards him and looked questioning.

"Did you call me?"

[SashaKovalev]

He'd felt the presence of his apprentice before he'd reached the landing pad. Curiousity and perhaps a bit of confusion mingled together.

Did you call me? He'd asked.

Sasha pulled the fuel line away from the ship and looked to Xam.

"It's good to ask questions, but some of them, perhaps, you already know the answer to." He replied. His words were not reprimanding necessarily, but rather encouraging Xam to begin his training.

Sasha himself was one who liked to ask a lot of questions. And he saw nothing wrong with it - except that too many questions at the wrong time or to the wrong person made a good display of ignorance. And of curiousity and a willingness to learn, as well, but those traits would not save your life. Keeping your mouth shut sometimes could. And it was best that Xam learned this early.

He walked over to the ramp leading into the ship and beckoned to the apprentice.

"Come. We've got a long day ahead of us. We'll talk on the journey."

[Xam Feldek]

Xam followed every movement Sasha made, would it be possible they went on a mission? Could he be his master? Xam looked questoining but just did what Sasha told him.

He followed Sasha and entered the spaceship, it was bigger than it looked like. Xam loved travelling and flying.

He then thought again about what Sasha would be in his life.

"Ehm, is it possible that you will be my master?"

[SashaKovalev]

Sasha merely smiled, perhaps a little bit in answer to the question.

"We'll discuss that in a bit, Xam. Patience, perhaps, might suit you for a bit." He replied. And then he paused for a moment, unbelieving that he the king of inpatience, was suggesting to another to learn it. He nearly laughed. He had come a long way, indeed.

He waited for his apprentice to take a seat, and then waited a moment for the ship to power up. In only a few minutes, they were well on their way for their journey, the coordinates set for their destination.

Once they were well into space, Sasha finally turned in his seat and looked to Xam.

"How are you finding things here with the Order?" He asked.

[Xam Feldek]

He listened to Sasha and took a seat, once they were in space he looked through a tiny window, he loved the vue of space..

"Things are going well though I do not know many people in the Order.."

He had a few questions but didn't dare to ask them due to the reply Sasha had given him a few minutes ago.. He had to be patient but really wanted to know this.

"Where are we going?"

[SashaKovalev]

He couldnt help but chuckle. Xam asked as many damn questions as he did.

"Where I intend to go, and where we might end up going will depend on a few things." He answered, looking briefly back at a few screens, then back to Xam. His answer had a sort of finality to it and there was silence for a moment before he stood and paced, as he did often when in thought. When he stopped, he didnt look to Xam, but out as space, at the stars as they flew by, as he asked his next question.

"If you were to be a master, to teach someone, what is it you would look for in pupil?" He asked.

[Xam Feldek]

Xam looked at Sasha whom was staring at the stars and thought about the question he had aksed him. He stayed silent for a moment..

"I would search the qualities the pupil has because not every pupil loves to do the same as another one. I would search for what they really want to learn."

[SashaKovalev]

Sasha nodded slowly, then looked to Xam.

"And as an apprentice, what would you look for in a master...?

This he asked without any challenge.

[Xam Feldek]

The second question was based on the same facts of the first one, a relationship between a master and an apprentice should be a win-win relationship where both individuals win something.

"I would seek a master whom could teach me the things I want to learn but also give him sattisfaction and support him."

[SashaKovalev]

His violet eyes registered something within them, and then he took a seat again.

"When I came to the order, I was assigned a master. I felt lucky to have the opportunity to learn from him, and there was much that Lord Dyzm had to teach me. I trained under her for some time, and respected him, yet there was something lacking. It was nothing that was my fault, or his fault, I think we both just had different visions of the relationship."

"When Lady Vader took me on, I realized what it was I had been searching for. What had, to me, been missing. Lady Vader is a woman I admire, respect, and would die for. I made a very, very bad mistake as an apprentice. But she gave me an opportunity to live, and a chance to make up for that mistake."

He pushed back the sleeves of his robes on his left arm. His left hand was artificial, though it was barely noticable unless one was aware of it.

"I cut off my own hand to prove my loyalty to her, and to the order. I do not take the commitment I made lightly. And in taking an apprentice, I would not take that commitment lightly either."

He sighed, checking the control panels once again, then looking back to Xam.

"I liked the answers that you gave to me when I asked them of you in the recruitment center. I like also the answers that you have given to me only moments ago. If you are prepared to make the commitment, I am willing to take you as my apprentice."

His violet eyes looked to Xam. They had so often been easy to read. His eyes were what most often betrayed him. But now, as he spoke, a more experienced sith than what he had been, his eyes were unreadable.

[Xam Feldek]

Thinking quickly, Xam thought about what Sasha told him in the Recruitement Hall, Xam would have to go to a training class but he didn't want that. He wanted to be trained by a master, concidering all the ideas he came to a decision.

"I would be honored to be your apprentice."

He then got to his feet and knelt on a a small piece you could call a passage between the seats.

"I am ready to make this commitement."

[SashaKovalev]

(ooc: growls damn thing..I posted once and lost it b/c no connection to the server..*sighs* Here we go again.)

IC: Sasha appreciated the gesture of kneeling. It showed respect, and was typical of the apprentice-master relationships of the Sith’s past. But it was not necessary.

“Rise, Xam. You have no need to kneel before me. You might be my apprentice, but you are also my brother in the order. I will not ask subordinance of you.”

When Xam had risen and taken a seat once again, Sasha looked to him, and a smile finally broke across his features. This made him look less the severe, demanding master, and more the sith brother and friend. Over the course of Xam’s training, Sasha would be both to him.

And then as he began speaking, his smile faded, and he became more serious once again.

“You are my first apprentice. I will be hard on you, at times, but I will always be fair. Know that the things I ask of you, I ask for a reason. You would be better served to do the things I ask. Question what you do not understand, but do not question why until the end. If, in the end of the lesson, you do not understand why, then I will answer this for you.”

“As your master, I am here to teach you. To help you open the doors to the power that you have within you. If I forbid you from doing something, understand that it is forbidden with your safety in mind. There are some skills that will take time, take the mastery of other skills before you will be ready to use them.”

He stood.

“Now….do you have any questions…?”

[Xam Feldek]

Xam rose, slightly embarassed but then went back to take a seat, the feeling was over in less than a second and he listened again to the interesting words of his now.. master. Xam's speciality was to ask many questions, most people didn't like this.

"Yes.. master .. I understand and I have no questions."

He looked to the his master's expression, actually there was no expression but one in a while he smiled so Xam knew he was happy with this.

[SashaKovalev]

Sasha would not mind questions, so long as they were given some thought before being asked. Foolish questions would receive foolish answers, if an answer was given at all.

Sasha could see the flush of embarrassment of his apprentice. Could feel it briefly, and then it was gone. This was good. He could feel also, perhaps a bit of confusion in the apprentice. Things he was unsure of, but did not yet dare to question. In time, perhaps, he would.

His expression softened slightly.

“Do you know how to fly a ship…?” Was his next question. If Xam did not, he would learn. His master would see to that, for flying skills would always be good skills to have.

[Xam Feldek]

Xam had been travelling alot in huge spaceships but had never been in the cockpit nor flown with one. The idea to learn how to fly such a ship had never crossed his mind before but now they were talking about it, it would be a good thing to learn it.

"I have never flown such an engine.."

[SashaKovalev]

Sasha nodded.

"Switch seats then." He suggested. Nothing like throwing his apprentice into it. He had learned mostly in simulators, but not everyone could be so fortunate. Xam would have to learn the hard way. And learn quickly.

"You might as well start learning now while you have the chance." Sasha added as he settled into the co-pilot seat and crossed his arms over his chest. And then he looked to his apprentice, who seemed both excited and nervous to be sitting where he was.

In detail, Sasha went over the specifics of flying. He'd flown several ships of the order now, and each different ship had been a learning experience. He was a good pilot. It was something that came naturally to him. He'd wanted most of his life to be a TIE pilot with the Empire and had jumped at the chance he'd finally gotten to learn.

As they came out of hyperspace, Sasha checked the coordinates once more. They were on target. And they still had some time on their hands.

"Before we begin with your force training, there is one very important lesson that I want you to learn. and you will it before the day is over." This was all he said, and all he would say about it...for now.

His eyes looked out at the stars, then back to Xam.

"Your father....you told me you got your lightsaber from him. Did he have any formal training that you know of...?" He asked.

[Xam Feldek]

Xam was very enthousiast to take seat in the big chair and looked to the weird screens with buttons and arrows showing the balance of things he guessed. He listened to Sasha and thought for a moment.

"My father was a pilot but he was nor a sith nor a jedi, he got the lightsabre that I have now from a friend-sith of him to protect my family.. When he died he gave it to me but there was nothing to protect anymore."

Xam shook the thought off in his mind and concentrated on the screens again.

[SashaKovalev]

He could feel the sadness and bitterness of his apprentice at the mention of his father. These feelings would be good, later, for they could be channeled into something powerful. When the apprentice was ready. Sasha concealed a small smile. It wasnt that he found pleasure in tragedy, for he didnt. At all. It was rather excitement for the future of his apprentice. Excitement he would not show, for an apprentice did not need to see or feel these things.

"Where I am taking you, you are not to use your lightsaber. You are not to even think of using it." He commanded quietly.

"Now...what do you know of the Yavin system....?" He asked as he stood to adjust something. In time, Xam would learn to watch these things, learn to make it second nature.

[Xam Feldek]

"The Yavin system? I don't know anything about that. What is it?"

Xam looked puzzeled, was it a planet system? Or a pilot system? He had just no idea of what Sasha was talking about.

[SashaKovalev]

Sasha grinned. It was clear that Xam was puzzled, and he wasnt afraid to ask questions.

He sat back down again and leaned back in his seat. He rubbed his eyes almost tiredly before he spoke.

"Yavin is a star system in the Outer Rim Territories. It has three planets: Fiddanl, Stroiketcy, and Yavin. Fiddanl is a hot, toxic world and not worth bothering with. Stroiketcy is lifeless, and believed to be a rather large comet that was captured by the system. And Yavin...."

He paused for a moment and a gleam came to his violet eyes.

"Yavin is itself is a gas giant with dozens of moons. We will be visiting one of those moons, Yavin Four, today. It would be a beautiful planet were it not for...those who inhabit it."

"The jedi have a training center there. And a bar. Our destination is that bar."

He leaned back in his seat.

"Now...using what I told you earlier, perhaps you'd like to prepare for our landing there...." He suggested.

[Xam Feldek]

Indeed, when Xam looked at the screen of the computer he could see that Sasha had already programmed the destination. Yavin 4.
If there would be Jedi on that planet it would be dangerous for Xam, he will have to follow every order and instruction Sasha gave him to survive.

"I see and may I know our purpose of meeting some Jedi?"

[SashaKovalev]

He looked thoughtful for a moment.

"For now, know only that the purpose is to serve a greater lesson, and that we willl discuss when we leave Yavin 4."

"While we're there, I want you to formulate your own ideas. Observe. We are not there to fight." He gave Xam a stern gaze.

"Do not forget this." He added, sending a rather cold sensation through the force. It was intended to put some fear into Xam, for a fight with the jedi on their own planet would not only be stupid, but deadly. He let this sink in before he moved on.

"What do you know of the jedi?"

[Xam Feldek]

Formulate my ideas.. Was it then that he would have to discuss with Jedi? He didn't know but felt suddenly an intense cold sensation. It wasn't the kind of feeling he liked...

"The Jedi are force users who use the light side of te force.. They protect the innocent people and live in harmony with the nature."

Xam could speak about the Jedi just like about the Sith, the Jedi were just the same exept that they used the force on another way..

[SashaKovalev]

A faint expession of amusement crossed his features.

"That is a very good text book answer." He stated. He leaned forward in his seat, pulling his lightsaber from the hilt of his belt and tapping it lightly in the palm of his other hand for a moment.

Think, my apprentice, think for yourself These thoughts, he sent in silence to Xam before he spoke out loud again.

"Now, tell me what you know of the jedi, not what you've been told by a book."

[Xam Feldek]

Xam thought for a moment, could he let go what he really thought of the Jedi? Oh why not.

"They are arrogant people who think they defend the good things but the only thing they want, just like the Sith, is power and to destroy. If the Sith wouldn't be here they would be everywhere and the world would be tremendous.."

He closed his eyes and opened them again, he grinned and looked outside to see if they weren't flying towards a meteor or something.

[SashaKovalev]

He smiled slightly.

This was better. But there was still far to go.

"and how have you come to this conclusion? Have you spoken with a jedi before?" He asked as he stopped tapping his saber in his palm.

He eyed it for a moment, then looked back to his apprentice, gazing evenly at him with his violet eyes.

[Xam Feldek]

Xam had to remember the time when the Jedi came to his house, they used to ask his father questions about the Sith that he knew but he had always refused to talk.

"They came to our home and interrogated my father about the Sith that he knew but he didn't talk and 2 days later he was killed by some murderers.. Coincidence?"

[SashaKovalev]

He considered this scenario, and then finally, slowly, he shook his head.

For a moment, he considered letting this go. This scenario seemed to generate some hatred of the jedi, but it was best that his apprentice not be deceived.

"The jedi are too smart for something like that. Your father would have been more useful to them alive. And they do not kill without imminent danger, that, you will learn today."

"Their visits to your father, however, might have given the killers the chance to strike with the hopes that it would be blamed on the jedi."

"Do not be deceived, Xam, by the way things look, nor by the way they act. When we begin your force training, you will learn that your eyes deceive you."

His words were interrupted by a call over the ship's com from Yavin 4. He stood and answered the call, requesting clearance to land. When it had been granted, he turned back to his apprentice.

"Keep this in mind this afternoon...." He stated, and then gave his apprentice a small smile.

"Now...let's teach you how to properly land this baby."

As they made their way down toward Yavin 4, Sasha kept a careful eye on his apprentice, talking him through what it was that needed to be done, and at times making minor adjustments.

The landing, though a bit bumpy, did no damage to the ship, and overall, he was pleased with Xam's efforts.

"Not bad for the first time." He offered. His words werent as encouraging as the tone of his voice, which carried the pride he felt. Clearly the piloting skills of Xam's father ran in the family.

"You may bring your lightsaber, but be prepared to turn it in at the door." He said as he stood, and began to lock down the control panels of the ship.

(ooc: A few more posts to wrap this up and then I'll begin a new thread at Yogs)

[Xam Feldek]

OOC: ok, I'll check there.

IC: Xam was looking nervous though the landing was not good enough for him, everything he did was never good enough for himself. He always took this position so he wouldn't be decieved when failing.

He stood up and followed his master who was switching some things off and then opened the door of the ship where a small ladder was clapping out so they could come down.

They walked on a landing platform and then arrived in front of a door which opened automaticaly when people were in front of it. I

"I hope we'll reach that bar alive.."

Xam said with a laughter in his words, he knew that he was rather safe now.

[SashaKovalev]

Sasha raised an eyebrow, a wry expession on his features.

"You never know." He replied as they made their way through the landing platform and out to the busy streets.

He remembered the city all too well from his last few trips there. He would never have come back had he not been asked to take on an apprentice. Without Xam, he wouldnt have had a reason.

They walked in silence through the streets, Sasha slightly brooding in his own thoughts that he kept a very tight lock upon.

He could feel his apprentice with him, could feel thoughts he hadnt attempted to read as xam looked about, taking in the city with a natural curiousity.

As they approached the Yog's, Sasha turned to his apprentice.

"Remember what I told you earlier." He reminded, and then they pushed open the doors and stepped inside.

(ooc: This thread continues here:

http://www.swforums.net/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=23357 )