Diluted Thoughts [Complete]

[Xenodoros Stormrider]

Thoughts trailed Xenodoros' mind. The thoughts travelled through the back of his head to end up in the front where he could easily read them. But these thoughts weren't the same. They were diluting in his mind, creeping themselves right to the center of his brain.

"AHH!!" Xenodoros yelled.

He was tired of thinking of the family. Too much drama filled his life. He ached. It created a sharp pain that travelled with every thought. His conscience grew stronger, wanting to kill him with guilt. He had to get away, find new faces, think about something else, meet new people. Being alone made the pain grow stronger.

His icy-blue eyes reflected the sun the shone on the planet of Coruscant. It was crowded. The streets were filled with well dressed business people, curious tourists, joyful children. But there was also the dark side of Coruscant like the sneaky burglers, the vicious murderers, the mischievous dealers.

"I have to get away. I cannot live like this."

[Hadrian Invicta]

What I wouldn't give to see some grass...

It had been a few weeks sense the Greater Jedi Order had accepted Hadrian into their fold. The Jedi Knight Sene Unty had accepted him as his Padawan learner, but he had been called away with some business shortly after and the Padawan was left to his own devices upon the vast planet-city known as Coruscant.

As he wandered about the upper levels of the planet, he observed the passer-bys. There were those with the aura of light about them, those who seemed purely dark, but most seemed to be different shades of grey, not sure where they stood in the universe. Every once and a while he would pick up a slight force signature, usually a latent adept who'd never discovered their abilities or just never decided to do anything about them, though every once in a while he felt the presence of someone who knew exactly what gift they had and that had tried to hone it on their own.

He continued walking down the street, if anyone had been observing him, they would have gotten a treat. As he walked through the busy crowds, he amazingly never touched another creature, people bumping into each other side-stepping one another, but he walked in a straight line and was never bumped, his timing was impeccable. Of course they would have guessed him to be a Jedi, with his archaic robes that he wore, in the style of the Jedi of the Old Republic. Though, unlike his forebearers, he did not carry a lightsaber, he'd not been taught how to wield the force well enough to even build a saber, let alone weild one. Instead he carried his trusty extendable shepherd's rod in the folds of his cloak.

As he turned the corner around one of the infiite sky-scrapers of the Upper-levels, he felt a chill come over his body. It was unnatural, the feeling he'd learn to associate with practitioners of the dark-side of the Force. His hand instinctively slipped within the folds of his cloak and gripped his weapon. He was untrained and would be vastly out-matched by whomever this Dark-Sider was, if it came to hostilities.

His movements became more deliberate as he attempted to scan the crowd and get a fix on who it was that made his skin crawl, with their dark aura.

Where are you dark-sider...

[Xenodoros Stormrider]

He felt trapped. His mind felt as if it were trapped in a tightly sealed box. He wanted to be released, have the weight removed from his shoulders. The planet of Coruscant was vastly populated by Jedi which made it the wrong place for Xenodoros to go, but as long as he didn't create mischief he was safe. He walked through the crowds of people while he looked for something to ease his mind.

"Who in the hell is that?" Xenodoros asked himself as he felt the presence of a light sider nearby.

He knew that he would encounter many light siders there, but this one was in search of him. Xenodoros continued walking, trying to avoid any Jedi encounter. If he did encounter a Jedi, he would probably be so frustrated he would let it all out on him.

"Silly light siders, when are they going to learn not to be so curious?"

[Hadrian Invicta]

This was neither the time nor the place for the young Padawan to prove himself, he was neither trained nor armed. But he would not, nay, he could not let this Dark-sider roam free unchecked. Just as a shepherd does not allow a wolf to roam among his flock unwatched or without attempting to drive it off, so would this shepherd of men, not allow this Dark-Sider to roam amongst the flocks of innocents and not-so-innocents unchecked.

"Excuse me, pardon me, I'm sorry," the tall Padawan’s focus that had allowed him to pass through the crowd unhindered was now directed at finding the source of the disturbance in the force he found. He would not engage the man, unless he made a move to harm an innocent, otherwise he would just trace him and report his whereabouts to someone at the Jedi Headquarters.

[Xenodoros Stormrider]

He felt him in the back of his head; he felt the light sider following him. Xenodoros needed to clear his mind. He began to pace. The young Sith paced through the crowd. He shook his head and his long silver hair waved as he tried to get away from the Jedi. Xenodoros had done nothing wrong… unless they had found something in their files. Xenodoros did not have time for this. He turned at an alley, trying to get away from whoever was following him. As he paced, his blood pressure rose. He began to show signs of sweat. He was breathing harder. Xenodoros came to a halt.

Xenodoros felt forced to lean on the wall. Slowly, he crouched until he sat on the floor. His eyelids felt heavy and he couldn’t feel his body. In a matter of seconds, Xenodoros was unconscious on the floor. The stress he carried on his back got to him. He had not released it and it created a tightness inside that made him fall. His recent encounter with the family, his talk with Destiny, the message he had to give his mother, his conscious eating him up completely was sealed in a box.

[Hadrian Invicta]

Hadrian saw a man dart off into an alley, there was a look of concern on his face.

Found you...

He moved faster, slipping by innocent by-standers, moving with grace and skill. Slowly he turned the corner, what he saw threw him off, the Dark-Sider lying on the ground, his chest heaving uncontrollably. He wasn't sure what to do, so he pulled his shepherd's rod from the folds of his cloak and pressed the extension switch, it quickly took a lenght of nearly 6 feet. He moved slowly towards the man, he tried to read his aura, but it was beyond his abilities to do such a thing, he could just see their alignment.

It was nearly black, which confused him, the Dark-Side seemed to surround this being, yet his aura was not one of pure evil.

He leaned over the body of the man, noticing his weapons he removed them placing them out of reach and sight, in case the man came to.

He lifted the fallen man's head upward so that he did not choke on his own tongue and started to speak to him, trying to wake him up.

"Hello, is anyone awake in there?"

[Xenodoros Stormrider]

Xenodoros was on the ground, eyes closed, unconscious. Stress that bad would kill him if he continued to bottle up his emotions inside.
---
His soul was in another realm, lost, trying to escape life's misery. The soul was in a form of a child. The child was crying, unable to find anyone. The child ran in a mysterious world where there was no floor nor walls. He ran as far as he could but ended up being in the same place. A door appeared in front of him and heard words come from it.

Hello, is anyone awake in there?

The child set his small hand on the doorknob. Slowly, he turned it and a strong light blinded the child.
---
Xenodoros opened his eyes, blinded by the sunlight. His vision was a bit blurry, as he heard the light sider in front of him speak. Xenodoros quickly shook his head took a look at the Jedi. Xenodoros remembered that a Jedi was after him. He panicked and backed away looking for his lightsaber but he didn't have it.

"W-Who are you? What Jedi mind tricks are you playing on me?"

[Hadrian Invicta]

"Jedi mind tricks?" Hadrian asked confused, obviously something was wrong with this Dark-sider or he would have sensed Hadrian was no where near trained nor powerful enough to produce a mind trick.

"No tricks, I was following you, you seemed not well, I watched you fall, that is all." Hadrian said in his soothing voice. "I am Hadrain Invicta, a Padawan of the GJO and may I be so bold as to inquire who you are?"

Hadrian was not about to tell the young man he had his weapon, there was no point for hostility, the Dark-Sider seemed confused, perhaps his conscience was getting the better of him.

[Xenodoros Stormrider]

Xenodoros didn't know what was happening. Had he fallen like the Jedi said? Or had the Jedi knocked him out? Xenodoros was confused, he wasn't concentrating. He ignored the Padawan's question and immediately asked:

"Where's my lightsaber?! Tell me, tell me now!" Xenodoros said in an tone that began to sound angered.

Xenodoros' eyes searched for his lightsaber. It was an important item for him. Not only was it his weapon, but it was an item that he had stolen from Jecht Stormrider, his father.

"Can't you hear me you worthless Padawan? Where's my lightsaber??"

[Hadrian Invicta]

"Calm yourself sir," Hadrian replied with no visible sign of emotion. The dark-Siders insults rolled off him as water off a Mon Calamari's back.

"Did you drop the weapon?" He asked sincerely. He wasn't going to volunteer the fact that he had the weapon, but he wouldn't lie either. It was beneath a Jedi to use a falsehood.

"What does your lightsaber look like?"

[Xenodoros Stormrider]

The words rolled off Hadrian's mouth and Xenodoros realized that there was a large possibility that he could have dropped it. Xenodoros blinked once and cleared his mind to acknowledge what was happening. Xenodoros frowned as his mind kept repeating Hadrian's sentence: "Did you drop the weapon?"

"Did I drop my - Well I obviously don't have it!" Xenodoros tried to tell him as if it were logical that he had lost it.

"...And you know what a lightsaber looks like..." Xenodoros told him, knowing that the Padawan had knowledge of what a lightsaber looked like.

Xenodoros looked around on the floor, then looked up at Hadrian.

"You have it, don't you?"

[Hadrian Invicta]

"Yes, I removed it, so that my head wouldn't be removed when you awoken," Hadrian replied, the Sith might have been well trained, but Hadrian had the weapon and the clear mind. For the moment he held all the cards.

"I don't know anything about you other than I sense confusion and hate in you and you carry a lightsaber, I'm not handing it over any time soon. Now lets talk. I'm in no mood to fight and killing someone is even less appealing to me."

Hadrian was bluffing and he knew it, there was no way he could kill this Darksider. But he didn't have to know that.

"So what's your name?"

[Xenodoros Stormrider]

Xenodoros' first reaction was to burst out and laugh. He kept looking at the Jedi who remained serious. Xenodoros pushed himself up, feeling a little better than before.

"You... You think you're smart, don't you? You think you're going to hurt me with that stick?" Xenodoros pointed at the shepard's stick that Hadrian held. Xenodoros stopped laughing.

"I can easily defeat you without my lightsaber," Xenodoros said, as he approached Hadrian to intimidate him, "But I won't."

The young Sith decided not to do anything to the Jedi because he wanted to distract and amuse himself by talking to the Padawan learner.

"You're lucky I won't do anything to you." Xenodoros paused and backed away.

"I am Xenodoros..." He hesitated to say his last name. If he were to tell his last name, there would be a way to find out everything about him at the Greater Jedi Order because of his brother and cousin.

"That's all you need to know. What do you want?"

[Hadrian Invicta]

Xenodoros obviously had never seen Hadrian wield his "stick" as he had so elegantly put it.

"To help you or destroy you," Hadrian said matter of factly. He had no use for Dark-siders and had no intention of making friends with one.

"As I said before, I can sense auras and yours is plagued with confusion and guilt, otherwise it wouldn't be so chaotic." Hadrian was guessing, but it was an educated guess.

"When I looked you over I saw no signs fo physical injury, I've heard that the Force sometimes can strain the psyche of those who use it for dire purposes," Hadrian continued. "I do not wish to see anyone suffer, even Dark-siders and if I can help you see the light, then I no longer have to consider you an enemy."

[Xenodoros Stormrider]

...if I can help you see the light, then I no longer have to consider you an enemy.

"What in blazing hells are you talking about?" Xenodoros added.

It was as if the Padawan was crazy. He was in front of a dark sider who wouldn't do anything to him and that was far enough to be lucky. But he was pushing his luck too far that he would end up badly beaten.

"Keep talking like that and I'll make sure that stick ends up on your rear end."

[Hadrian Invicta]

"I don't think your in any condition to do anything," Hadrian replied.

"Last I checked you passed out for no appearant reason and without your saber, you couldn't finish the job quickly enough before you something happens again."

Hadrian never understood why people had to be so hateful, but never-the-less, he did not care for this man so long as he was a Dark-sider and was not going to be the most polite of people.

"Now why don't you tell me what's going on?"

[Xenodoros Stormrider]

"None of your business." Xenodoros told the Padawan.

Xenodoros extended his arms in front of him and let the Force flow through his arms causing Hadrian to fall in a few trash bags behind him. Xenodoros let his arms down.

"Now are you going to tell me where my lightsaber is or do you want me to beat it out of you? It would be wise if you told me now."

[Hadrian Invicta]

Hadrian flew backwards and landed in the garbage.

Funny I would think it would be him that should be here...

Though he couldn't use telekinesis yet, he could draw the force on him to move faster and attack with more strength than would be expected.

"I believe you said this would be up my <smallfont color=#FFFF00>-Censored-</smallfont>," Hadrian replied as he moved quickly to stand infront of Xeno, and swept his legs out from underneath him with his Shepherd's rod. It was a good trick, one that would probably only work once, but it served its purpose.

"We talk, I decide your not a threat to anyone, you get it back. You attack me again and I disappear into the crowd and you don't get your precious saber back, understand?"

[Xenodoros Stormrider]

It was funny how Xenodoros had landed on the floor. It was as if he had let the Padawan do that. Hadrian was an odd Jedi.

"Make it quick then." Xeno said.

Xenodoros felt pressed on time for some reason. He felt like the Jedi Padawan was taking up his time. Xenodoros rolled his eyes as he waited for Hadrian to ask some unnecessary question.

[Hadrian Invicta]

"What are you in such a hurry for first of all, don't you enjoy my company because the Force knows I like spending my time with random Dark-siders I find passed out in the street."

Hadrian's jokes were never funny, part of the code he guessed, there is no humor, there is boredom.

"I just want to know why you ran from me, obviously you know that I'm not trained and would be no match for you. Its like you let me find you," Hadrian was serious, the Sith was obviously not fighting him or Hadrian would be lying in a pool of his own blood right now.

[Xenodoros Stormrider]

"I'm in a hurry because I've got personal business to attend to," Xeno lied, "I wasn't running from you. Like I said, I'm in a hurry."

Xenodoros didn't want to tell the Jedi anything. Xenodoros was impatient. Any more and he would blow up in a horrible rage.

"Now?" Xenodoros asked.

[Hadrian Invicta]

"Patience is a virtue, even for a Sith," Hadrian had determined that the man in question was indeed a Sith, quite the obvious detective work.

"Where are you in hurry off too?" Hadrian asked.

He slowly began to draw the force into his body. If the Sith attacked, he would be forced to flee. He was no match for a trained dark-sider.

[Xenodoros Stormrider]

"Like I said... It's personal business." Xenodoros told him, not wanting to tell him anything.

"Don't you have some Jedi meeting or something? Give me the lightsaber and you won't be late." Xenodoros asked, trying to get rid of him.

Xenodoros was getting annoyed by the Jedi Padawan. Xenodoros eyed around. Maybe the Jedi had hid the lightsaber somewhere near.

[Hadrian Invicta]

"But we've grown so close over the last few minutes, don' t you think you can trust me," Hadrian was testing his limits. He respeceted the man's power, but he didn't respect his path in life and if he had the training he'd do everything in his power to eliminate the Sith.

But he didn't.

"I'm now match for you Sith and I know it, it's why I took your saber." Hadrian replied without a hint of emotion. The time for games had ended. He was a Jedi after all.

"I bid you a good day, perhaps someday you'll not always be so ready to fight or maybe I'll be ready to end you." As he spoke he stepped out into the crowd, gripping the saber under his arm he launched it in the opposite direction that he was walking. The Sith could have his revenge or he could get his saber before some urchin took it. Either way he couldn't have both.

[Xenodoros Stormrider]

Hadrian entered the crowd. Seconds later Xenodoros observed the lightsaber launch in the sky. Xenodoros observed it, and extended his arm in the air, Force Pulling the lightsaber to reach his hand.

But once he turned around, he only saw the pedestrians walk towards him. The young Sith was mad. He shook his head and observed the crowds. Hadrian was gone. Xenodoros was fooled by a Jedi Padawan.