So now that you've taken the trouble to turn me...(Valirion)

[Sol Invictus]

"...what the hell happens now?"

Surely there is more to this than simply becoming a vampire...if that was all there is, he would be a match for the elders. But he is not. Therefore, it stands to reason that there is more for him to do to attain the vampiric nirvana he seeks.

[Valirion Thorn]

:: I stepped out after listening to the rambling of my apprentice. My armor threading itself into spikes from my shoulders giving myself an arrogant noble lord of the dead aura about me. I smiled, such things were pointless but when you had all eternity to play around, why not?::

What happens now? You have fed have you not? But do you know your own latent abilities? Have you tested them on the weaklings of the light? Have I even seen you leave Roon yet to find some poor sap to kill? You are immortal Sol, now doesn't matter because now is eternity and you have that on your side. But you are foolish, let me show you what seperates the fledglings from their masters.

:: My hand spun back to my neck and drew out my sword, acidic saliva dripping down my back as it is drawn. I twist the handle and bring the blade around, the large eye turning about to view the victim it would taste. It saw Sol and the mouth like hilt slowly moved as if in a smile.::

[Sol Invictus]

"To answer your questions...Master..." Sol begins disdainfully. "I have fed. I do not know what abilities my turning has granted me. I cannot test them if I do not know what they are. And yes, I left Roon before I was turned with the intent of killing a man. But he was a intellectual little whippersnapper, so I let him live."

Sol smirks at the drawn blade.

"I suppose now...I must find my latent abilities or be sliced into sashimi...such would be your style."

[Valirion Thorn]

More like butchered sausage and then thrown to the dogs... yes? Now where is your weapon?

:: The only thing that moved in the blood drenched arena was my bloodless lips.::

[Sol Invictus]

"If I had a weapon, I'd have drawn it by now."

[Valirion Thorn]

:: I smirked as I closed my eyes. My other hand let go of the twisted handle and hovered over the floor of the crimson pit.::

You are sad, you claim you have no weapon but I will secure your physical boundaries of thinking anyways.

:: The bloodied sand of the pit shivered and then cracked as an obsidian rapier with a thicker edge to it than usual was lifted from its tomb. My clawed hand grasped it and the blade set upon black fire. A smile slipped through my bloodless lips as I put my darkside powers into it, bestowing the blade with properties deemed strong enough to match a lightsaber. But I was drained now, I would be performing no more "tricks" for quite some time, even with Roon's multiplier upon my powers, I was wasted in soul, if you considered it that.::

The blade Lanfear, dear Sol, its new name is the title of the lover you shall come to know. bond it with blood and it is yours.

:: I toss it at his feet, the blade still glowing dimly with black fire. It was waiting for him to grab it, so that it would know its master and awaken for his goals... blood!::

[Sol Invictus]

The blade lands buried in the bloodied floor, hilt tilted toward Sol expectantly. Lanfear...lover? He's not sure about that, but the blade before him has an almost magnetic attraction for him. He reaches one hand out and grasps the hilt, the blade's black fire flaring as it recognizes it's master, and attunes it's soul to his. Sol lifts the blade effortlessly; the weapon is nigh-weightless in his grasp.

"Then...let's duel."

[Valirion Thorn]

Deul? You came looking for me without a weapon and now you think you have the honor to ask to deul me? So be it, but if you lose, you'll pay in blood...

:: I smiled, the armor protruding from my back shuddered and then wrapped about me, the metal face plate slung over my eyes and wrapped about my neck. The demonic visage snarled at Sol and then smiled. Sol wold've been a good scholar back at Talon, my old planet, not a noble.
My I brought my sword about and cracked my wrist. My head snapped up and then down, nodding for Sol to begin, he had issued the deul, he would move first.::

[Sol Invictus]

"It is logic, Valirion. By bestowing me with a weapon, you imply a fight. So...let's go, pup!"

Sol steps forward with a quick pace. He calculates and takes a stab at the vampire knight's shoulder.

[Valirion Thorn]

:: Sol is lifted into the air by an invisble hand and slammed into the blood red sand behind me. I turn to stare down at him, his black rapier still in his hand but his eyes at me.::

Respect Sol... respect for your master, or I will treat you like a dog and nothing more.

[Sol Invictus]

"My 'master' you may be, but you're still a young'un."

Sol stands with a slight smile.

"Call it force of habit."

[Valirion Thorn]

:: The apprentice is slammed into the wall, the obsidian coumn shaking ith his impact.::

And your age my all knowing omnipotent "Apprentice"?

[Sol Invictus]

"80. 81 next month, on the sixth."

[Valirion Thorn]

Interesting, an artifact by mortal standards. But you are reborn. Your mortal age meant nothiong to me then and it means nothing to me now, your age of the darkness is what you are now, nothing else.
I will have none of your mortal attachments. They don't exist. I shouldn't have to remind you that you are an apprentice and your loyalty is to the Shrine and to me. Disgrace is not upheld in these shadows and more things than you would expect can come out of them to seal your fate.

:: My clawed hand lifted slowly and a immense force burst hit Sol in the chest, knocking him into the wall again. But this was different, the ability I had learned from Master Soth had inffused some of my force abilities with fire, Sol's garments suddenly set ablaze. My marble face only watched as the fledgling's weakness was set upon him, my violet eyes didn't stir as I watched the singed clothes roast.::

[Sol Invictus]

Sol casts his burning coat and hat aside as quickly as he can, but can't avoid some burns on his face and hands. To his surprise, his hair is not on fire.

"I know where my loyalties lie, Valirion. You don't need to remind me that I am part of this Shrine. But as they say, old dogs are slow to learn new tricks. I will grow accustomed to vampirism in time."

[Valirion Thorn]

No... I have no respect for you right now Apprentice. You will follow me, you are not worthy of a duel with your master until you have learned more. Now follow old dog...

:: Emanating complete and pure arrogance, the nobility of the Shrine Council rolled off of each word as I spoke them and even the turn was filled with disdain to Sol. My armor hisseda I resheathed my massive sword in my spine and headed to one of the stair wells. I briefly stopped to look behind to see if my old dog had followed.::

[Sol Invictus]

Sol simply thrusts the sword into the ground. Valirion, in all his overly-dramatic display so far, has neglected to provide a sheath for it. Sol will deal with that himself. Valirion Thorn...the living...not really living, more like undead....proof that Sol has much to learn about Vampires...he follows.

[Valirion Thorn]

:: Sol and I twist our way through the dark passages of the Shrine until we begin to rise upward, upwards into endless stairways which lead to spires connected to bridges that seemed to have no support.
It was the scenic route by my standards. But I was giving Sol time to think, my intellectual apprentice needed the silence, silence was a tool that could be used to affect one's imagination, push it farther than the reality of their fate meant to go, let him think on his punishment.
We emerged onto a humongeous platform, a landing pad for various parts of the shrine. I led Sol to one of the many shuttles for orbit travel and made sure my "old dog" was right behind me as the ramp closed on us. I merely stepped in to the cockpit and my armor stretched out to touch a console, it seemed to soak into the console and twist into the seams in the metal. The armor activated the ship and I used the force to initiate the procedures to take us a little bit farther away from Roon.::

How long has it been since you've seen daylight Sol? I would expect that since you were so old in mortal terms, you had seen a many a sunrise and sunset? Would you like to see one now?

[Sol Invictus]

On their journey to the shuttle, Sol has but one thought: What the hell is all this for? He doesn't care what Valirion intends to do. The thought that this is to be a form of punishment hasn't escaped him, but he's not particularly worried. Whatever Valirion has planned will show him what his new form can handle. At last they arrive, and the Vampyre Knight asks a rather redundant question.

"I haven't seen the sun since my arrival. I've seen countless sunrises and sunsets. And I could care less about seeing such common events now."

[Valirion Thorn]

You will... and I think you should know, I'm about to show you what your new form can't handle. Learn to gaurd your thoughts better Dog. You shall learn to heel when I say heel and you shall learn to speak and not speak when I deem so. I will break your will and what is left of the mortal soul you hold onto. you are resistant and will come to regret it.

:: My armor laughs silently as I turn and leave the room, one hand snagging Sol by the collar and dragging him with me. We reach a closed window and my armor begins to wrap itself over my body as I release Sol. I chuckle as I push Sol against the closed window.::

Do not move or I will kill you, more pain and slower than you are about to witness to.

:: The armor finished layering itself as I grabbed Sol by the back of his hair and crammed it against the shutter to the window. My irises seemed to widen beneath the demonic helmet as I pulled his head back and then smashed it into the wall repeatedly until I saw blood splatter and dry across the window.::

You shall not scream, you shall not speak, you may only cry.

:: I pressed a button next to the window and the infernal sun light washed through the crack. The face of Sol began to hiss and bubble, fire catching on his skin, vampyres were weak to sunlight, especially those without protection, I could feel my own strength waning as it began to touch my armor. And Sol would cry, my sword shrieked with laughter, he would.::

[Sol Invictus]

The first thing he thinks is how damn bright it is. His eyes water, but he is by no means crying. His skin hisses; he realizes that he is basically melting. Even if Valirion hadn't warned him against screaming, he wouldn't have done it. The old man is to tough and stubborn to give him such satisfaction. The pain increases steadily. Sol pushes the thought of the pain away at first, but it comes upon him the same as the bloodlust in the coffin. He maintains his wits however. Valirion, whether Sol likes to admit it or not, has the upper hand. He suffers in silence, biting his tongue to prevent the curses rising in his throat like bile.

[Valirion Thorn]

:: I stood by the window, even the reflections of the sunlight were annoying me, no matter how well my armor protected me. I watched Sol burn and then closed the window. He might take the pain now but when he realized the nearly permanent damage it had done to his vampiric powers, he would be crying. And this wasn't the last of it, my armor snaked around and drove underneath Sol's spine, into his back.::

You will not move Sol, you will sit here and open the window for a minute every three hours, you will not sleep, and you will not feed, all until I wake up, in two days.

:: I laughed as I walked away, into the sleeping chambers of the shuttle, the leash my armor had attached to sol to make sure he did what was ordered was still attached and it slithered across the floor, I wasn't but seven, six feet away and I would enjoy the music of his screams soon enough in my sleep.::

[Sol Invictus]

If this is meant to make Sol fear or respect Valirion, it has failed miserably. All it does is help to reinforce the old man's first impression of Thorn: an arrogant, egotistical fool of a man who must control others in order to prove to the world that he is worth something. How pathetic. Three hours pass...he's due to raise the window's cover. The old man doesn't move. Why should he needlessly torture himself to sate Valirion's thirst for power?

[Valirion Thorn]

:: I slowly stir in the shadows as my armor awakens me. I begin to move, gradually slipping from the shadows that were so welcoming, the sunlight from before still disturbed me but the fact that my apprentice had not followed through amused me.
I stalked out of the room and the "leash" withdrew from his back.
I loomed over the pathetic fledgling, my armor hissed as spikes seemed to roll off it like water. This one would learn... My hand shot out, faster thanks to force enhanced speed and vampyre abilities, two clawed fingers lifted Sol from underneath his chin.::

You pathetic wretch! You pestilent slime ball!

:: The two fingers dug into his skin as I lifted him above me, Sol's feet dangling above the floor.::

Do as I say or I will feed you to the nightmares of the pure light's shadow!

:: I crammed him against the window and then opened it, sunlight streaming through, burning the both of us, but him more so, I sat in what could be considered his shadow and my armor was quickly trying to cover me as the sunlight hissed upon my flesh. Such glorious pain! I could feel the one blood tear streak as it went down my skin.::

[Sol Invictus]

Sol finally can take no more. He screams, a roar of pain and rage. Damn him! Sol struggles as best he can, but the sun is taking it's toll.

"You BASTARD!!!"

[Valirion Thorn]

:: I held the wretch there for a bit longer, letting him scream his little heart out. Then I took hm by the hair with one hand and tossed the bloody mess into the wall as the window closed. The armor whipped away from my head to show a scarred face of marble. I smiled, my fangs glistening with my own blood.::

What's wrong Sol? I show you no arrogance now, I am merely your scorched master, the one who granted you the gift of darkness. What's wrong?

[Sol Invictus]

The old man coughs violently, raising himself on his elbows, but no further.

"You..."

He cannot speak, his voice is overrun by the coughing of his own blood.

[Valirion Thorn]

Good... We shall return and I will expect you on Coruscant as soon as you believe you are ready.

:: I turned and left for the bridge. We would be back on Roon, the heart of darkness as soon as possible. I was hungry and tired of dealing with impudent fools for some time.::

[Sol Invictus]

Sol collapses once more, the shades lowering as Valirion leaves. In the cool darkness, Sol's injuries become more prominent; but he can also feel the soothing effects of the dark's healing touch. He buries his lust for vengeance for the moment. There is a time and place for all things. This goal, like so many others, must bide its time before coming to the fore...