D
DemonTongue
Guest
Original poster
The following day, Zenithar stood from his bed again. He was cleaned, strangely. New clothing again. Silky. Sexy. He liked it, they hugged his body in all the right areas. It was still dark out, but from the looks of it, this planet was in a state of eternal darkness. The only light that could pierce the veil was the lightning that raked across the sky from time to time...speaking or veils....
Zen followed the smell of food once more and found himself in the kitchen to see Sol'tsyri again, she once again lowered her veil before he could see it, and he quickly met the challenge she presented him. He focused the force into his eyes, making them glow slightly. He saw past the veil, seeing her angular features and eyes perfectly, like there was no veil there. "Why do you mask your face?" he said, standing in the doorway. "You are a beautiful woman with a beautiful face, why do you hide it?"
"Beauty means nothing to my enemies and it means less to me," she said without looking at him, "Don't bother with flattery here, Zenithar, it will get you nowhere. Tell me, did you come here to sulk or are you hungry?"
"I came with a thirst for knowledge. Tell me, which code is correct? The Jedi or the sith?" He spoke planely, unmoving from his position.
"Hmph," she hummed.
With several fluid movements she found a seat and took a bite of a light meal. She sat very still and silent. Considering.
"Is this a game?" she asked.
"It is a question, with two answers." he said boldly.
"Far more than two, I should think," she said, "But with only one correct answer. The Sith code."
"For a woman of such phenomenal power, it saddens me that you limit your knowledge and power so much." He crossed the room slowly, sitting down and getting comfortable. "You said that there are far more than two. To a woman with millions of possibilities at her disposal, I can see why you say it, but in the end, there is only one correct answer to my question as to which is the correct code: Neither."
"Hmm," she cooed. A small smile formed under her veil, "That's very cute, Zenithar."
"Cute?" He said, raising an eyebrow.
"Indeed. You are quite charming when you wish to be. However, we both know that is not true. As it is not true that my alignments limit my abilities or my possibilities. Many pupils of the Sith ways are blinded by their own ambitions. I could say the same for pupils of the Jedi Order. However, the Jedi restrict themselves the use of both sides of the Force and you... Rogues, are aimless. With no master and no guide and no code how can you ever hope to find your way through the mystery that is the Force?"
"I beg to differ, I am my own master and the force is my guide. I present that both codes are partially correct and incorrect. For example, the sith code states "Peace is a lie." This is true. peace will never exist. It is a fabrication of the mind used to pretend that something good will come out of war, like mathematics. However, it also states that there is only passion. That is also false. There is happiness, sorrow, rage, love, lust, kinship, loyalty, hatred. The jedi code states that there is no emotion, there is peace. Again, wrong. Emotions are the basis of all that make you, me, that servant cowering outside the door, and everything else, exist. Without emotions, there is nothing. Plus, again, no such thing as peace. It states there is no ignorace, but knowledge, but again, false. Ignorance lies in us all, as well as knowledge. Chaos reigns in every corner of the galaxy, as does harmony in some form. There is death. Katarr and Malachor V are tantamount to that."
He paused to snatch a piece of bacon off of the stove with the force and stick it in his mouth. "The sith code says that through strength I gain power, yet strength is not all that grants power. Kindship, love, teamwork, empires, grant more power than any single strength stat can grant. Through power you gain victory, victory doesn't exist. It, like peace, is a fabrication of the mind. However, both codes mention the force. The jedi: "There is only the force" and the sith: "The force shall free me." This is absolutely true. There -is- only the force. It flows through everything and everyone. Even the walls and the very seat you're warming and the food you're eating. Open your mind and feel the world around you."
"I knew I liked you. You're nobody's pawn. Nobody's fool. But you are still young and lost and naive. Passion and emotion are one in the same. Passion is drive. It is willpower. It is desire. Our meaning to live. There is a passion for life, for happiness, for love, for lust, kinship and loyalty. Our passions lead us to feel sorrow and rage and dispair when they are blocked from us. Strength has more than one face as well. Strength is not only wielded to destroy. We gain strength from our passions, from our loved ones, our allies, our knowledge, our legacies and many other places. The strength to stand up against unimaginable odds. Strength to have the audacity to do what needs to be done. Strength even to back down, retreat, meditate and live to see another day when all doors are shut to you. Understanding all of the strength available to the practitioner is what gives them power. The strength to lift boulders and weild a saber makes you a soldier. A pawn. A fool. Real strength. That is what gives a Sith power. When you have true power over the force therin lies your pivotal testing ground. Therin lies the place where the majority of Sith who have come before me have failed. Victory does not give you wealth, or reigency, or domination, or ownership. It does not prove you better than the rest of the universe. It does not prove you above or authritative over anything. Victory is walking the darkest paths and being tested by the gravest trials the known and the unknown have to offer and not allowing yourself to be destroyed by them. They will destroy easily and often. When you survive, the force breaks your chains. The force frees you. But as I said. The path is dark and most do not survive.'
'There is much you do not seem to know about the True Sith," she sighed sadly, "There is much the True Sith do not seem to know about themselves."
"The same is said of the Jedi and the Jedi say the same of themselves. The Je'daii would be ashamed in us all." He said crossing his arms. "There is much we can teach each other. But...mmm" He sighed happily as he ate another slice of bacon. "This is really good. Tell you what: Go out for a drink with me and I'll show you how to heal your wounds without busting an artery...and maybe work off the veil too, seeing through the force cannot beat the real thing." He winked and stood.
"You'll 'show me?'" she watched him closely, "'Work off the veil?'"
The air grew fridgid.
He stood and stared at her, feeling the energy radiating from her. "You say beauty means nothing to your enemies and less to you. If I suspect correctly, you brought me here to gain my allegience, correct? What if I say I appreciate seeing the face of my employer more than I appreciate the power that they wield? Power does not intimidate me. Freezing the air does not intimidate me. I have seen into the eyes of death and felt the icy sting of death grip my throat until just yesterday. You are eminating power and strength and trying to intimidate a man, nay, a shell that has lost everything and has nothing to lose. You can either accept the offer for a drink and an offer of friendship or spurn it. It doesn't matter." His words were as cold as the air that was freezing around them and he gathered his own strength, letting it drip off of him in globs of invisible energy, meeting Sol'tsyri's and chilling the air further.
With no warning the plate before her shot off the table and shattered against the wall. There was silence between the two of them. She sat back stiffly and spread her long fingers out on the table. She took a deep breath and pushed her shoulders down. The slightest shudder ran down her frame. The Sith stood. There was no longer an invisible wind in her garments and hair. Her movements were no longer fluid, but ridgid like a machine.
"Perhaps I was wrong," she whispered to herself.
He rounded the table and walked with the same weight, barely restrained power pooled around him and he walked with deep booming steps that were not of his own will, but a side effect of the power that built inside of him. He met met his power with hers with staggering force. He met her face with one of a steely neutral, blank slate.
As he neared it begame evident that she was muttering a lost language under her breath very rapidly. It stopped abruptly.
"Why would I waste my time let alone remove anything for a shallow man who does not understand the person whom he is dealing with?" she said before walking around him.
"Because you can have all the power in the world and all the strength and victory you wish to have and to ever have, but it means nothing without respect. You have many servants, yet none respect you. They fear your power, your wrath. If you want my allegience, then earn my respect. I already know that you can crush me without a thought, and I could care less. it is obvious from this building that you are either a very wealthy woman or a woman that holds a rank of extreme honor and power, one you have fought and killed for over decades and fiercely defended. I already know that I am 'dealing' with a true sith. Your status does not impress me, and neither does your servants or fortress."
"If you will not bow to my intimidation and power then why expect me to bow to such displays from you?" she spoke over her shoulder, "I will not bow to you. I may not have earned your respect, but you have not earned the right to be so personal."
"I do not expect you to bow. I expect you to do what no sith before you has ever done: Smile."
The tails of her dress whipped around the corner as she left the kitches without another word. The help would clean up the mess. She would focus on not tearing down the building and creating more work for them.
---
Confused and not fully awake he could not respond to Marquis even if he wanted to. Iisska hissed at him when kicked but could not quite find his bearings or figure out where he was and no amount of prodding would help. Something snapped inside him when he smelled it though. It was maddening, and energizing. He snapped up on all fours, mouth slightly open and nostrils flared, sniffing a bit before locating the still bloody steak and all but throwing himself on it. He was ravenous. After a moment or two he sat with crossed legs and bulging cheeks. He sighed happily.
"Holy shit," Iisska managed to spit through a full mouth.
His wide, alert eyes shot around the room and up and down Marquis. He swiveled around where he sat and continued to take bites out of the steak that were way too big. He examined the places where the worst of the wounds he had suffered had been healed. Even the amazing powers of Kolto could not prevent a few scars in the worst cases.
"Whew! So this isn't the afterlife then!" he laughed before a look of worry came over his face and he gasped sharply. The look of worry became a look of stunned, pained, panic. A horrific surge of gagging, stuck breath, high-pitched breathy whistling and retching spewed forth after he breathed in a chunk of food. The gagging and stomach convulsions soon became violent coughs. He seemed to catch something in his mouth, chew it with a sneer and swallow it again before cleaning the drool off his chin.
"STERLING!" The Togruta bolted up suddenly and jammed the t-bone between his teeth. He grabbed the droid by both shoulders, "Did you get the stuff!? Did I get the stuff!? The crystal, the saber... thingy! The hssiss junk, that mother fucking son-of-a-bitch with the gross teeth and the black face whatever!? Wait I don't think that was actually a thing. What am I talking about? Sterling... How long was I in that tank? Are we still on Tatooine?"
Zen followed the smell of food once more and found himself in the kitchen to see Sol'tsyri again, she once again lowered her veil before he could see it, and he quickly met the challenge she presented him. He focused the force into his eyes, making them glow slightly. He saw past the veil, seeing her angular features and eyes perfectly, like there was no veil there. "Why do you mask your face?" he said, standing in the doorway. "You are a beautiful woman with a beautiful face, why do you hide it?"
"Beauty means nothing to my enemies and it means less to me," she said without looking at him, "Don't bother with flattery here, Zenithar, it will get you nowhere. Tell me, did you come here to sulk or are you hungry?"
"I came with a thirst for knowledge. Tell me, which code is correct? The Jedi or the sith?" He spoke planely, unmoving from his position.
"Hmph," she hummed.
With several fluid movements she found a seat and took a bite of a light meal. She sat very still and silent. Considering.
"Is this a game?" she asked.
"It is a question, with two answers." he said boldly.
"Far more than two, I should think," she said, "But with only one correct answer. The Sith code."
"For a woman of such phenomenal power, it saddens me that you limit your knowledge and power so much." He crossed the room slowly, sitting down and getting comfortable. "You said that there are far more than two. To a woman with millions of possibilities at her disposal, I can see why you say it, but in the end, there is only one correct answer to my question as to which is the correct code: Neither."
"Hmm," she cooed. A small smile formed under her veil, "That's very cute, Zenithar."
"Cute?" He said, raising an eyebrow.
"Indeed. You are quite charming when you wish to be. However, we both know that is not true. As it is not true that my alignments limit my abilities or my possibilities. Many pupils of the Sith ways are blinded by their own ambitions. I could say the same for pupils of the Jedi Order. However, the Jedi restrict themselves the use of both sides of the Force and you... Rogues, are aimless. With no master and no guide and no code how can you ever hope to find your way through the mystery that is the Force?"
"I beg to differ, I am my own master and the force is my guide. I present that both codes are partially correct and incorrect. For example, the sith code states "Peace is a lie." This is true. peace will never exist. It is a fabrication of the mind used to pretend that something good will come out of war, like mathematics. However, it also states that there is only passion. That is also false. There is happiness, sorrow, rage, love, lust, kinship, loyalty, hatred. The jedi code states that there is no emotion, there is peace. Again, wrong. Emotions are the basis of all that make you, me, that servant cowering outside the door, and everything else, exist. Without emotions, there is nothing. Plus, again, no such thing as peace. It states there is no ignorace, but knowledge, but again, false. Ignorance lies in us all, as well as knowledge. Chaos reigns in every corner of the galaxy, as does harmony in some form. There is death. Katarr and Malachor V are tantamount to that."
He paused to snatch a piece of bacon off of the stove with the force and stick it in his mouth. "The sith code says that through strength I gain power, yet strength is not all that grants power. Kindship, love, teamwork, empires, grant more power than any single strength stat can grant. Through power you gain victory, victory doesn't exist. It, like peace, is a fabrication of the mind. However, both codes mention the force. The jedi: "There is only the force" and the sith: "The force shall free me." This is absolutely true. There -is- only the force. It flows through everything and everyone. Even the walls and the very seat you're warming and the food you're eating. Open your mind and feel the world around you."
"I knew I liked you. You're nobody's pawn. Nobody's fool. But you are still young and lost and naive. Passion and emotion are one in the same. Passion is drive. It is willpower. It is desire. Our meaning to live. There is a passion for life, for happiness, for love, for lust, kinship and loyalty. Our passions lead us to feel sorrow and rage and dispair when they are blocked from us. Strength has more than one face as well. Strength is not only wielded to destroy. We gain strength from our passions, from our loved ones, our allies, our knowledge, our legacies and many other places. The strength to stand up against unimaginable odds. Strength to have the audacity to do what needs to be done. Strength even to back down, retreat, meditate and live to see another day when all doors are shut to you. Understanding all of the strength available to the practitioner is what gives them power. The strength to lift boulders and weild a saber makes you a soldier. A pawn. A fool. Real strength. That is what gives a Sith power. When you have true power over the force therin lies your pivotal testing ground. Therin lies the place where the majority of Sith who have come before me have failed. Victory does not give you wealth, or reigency, or domination, or ownership. It does not prove you better than the rest of the universe. It does not prove you above or authritative over anything. Victory is walking the darkest paths and being tested by the gravest trials the known and the unknown have to offer and not allowing yourself to be destroyed by them. They will destroy easily and often. When you survive, the force breaks your chains. The force frees you. But as I said. The path is dark and most do not survive.'
'There is much you do not seem to know about the True Sith," she sighed sadly, "There is much the True Sith do not seem to know about themselves."
"The same is said of the Jedi and the Jedi say the same of themselves. The Je'daii would be ashamed in us all." He said crossing his arms. "There is much we can teach each other. But...mmm" He sighed happily as he ate another slice of bacon. "This is really good. Tell you what: Go out for a drink with me and I'll show you how to heal your wounds without busting an artery...and maybe work off the veil too, seeing through the force cannot beat the real thing." He winked and stood.
"You'll 'show me?'" she watched him closely, "'Work off the veil?'"
The air grew fridgid.
He stood and stared at her, feeling the energy radiating from her. "You say beauty means nothing to your enemies and less to you. If I suspect correctly, you brought me here to gain my allegience, correct? What if I say I appreciate seeing the face of my employer more than I appreciate the power that they wield? Power does not intimidate me. Freezing the air does not intimidate me. I have seen into the eyes of death and felt the icy sting of death grip my throat until just yesterday. You are eminating power and strength and trying to intimidate a man, nay, a shell that has lost everything and has nothing to lose. You can either accept the offer for a drink and an offer of friendship or spurn it. It doesn't matter." His words were as cold as the air that was freezing around them and he gathered his own strength, letting it drip off of him in globs of invisible energy, meeting Sol'tsyri's and chilling the air further.
With no warning the plate before her shot off the table and shattered against the wall. There was silence between the two of them. She sat back stiffly and spread her long fingers out on the table. She took a deep breath and pushed her shoulders down. The slightest shudder ran down her frame. The Sith stood. There was no longer an invisible wind in her garments and hair. Her movements were no longer fluid, but ridgid like a machine.
"Perhaps I was wrong," she whispered to herself.
He rounded the table and walked with the same weight, barely restrained power pooled around him and he walked with deep booming steps that were not of his own will, but a side effect of the power that built inside of him. He met met his power with hers with staggering force. He met her face with one of a steely neutral, blank slate.
As he neared it begame evident that she was muttering a lost language under her breath very rapidly. It stopped abruptly.
"Why would I waste my time let alone remove anything for a shallow man who does not understand the person whom he is dealing with?" she said before walking around him.
"Because you can have all the power in the world and all the strength and victory you wish to have and to ever have, but it means nothing without respect. You have many servants, yet none respect you. They fear your power, your wrath. If you want my allegience, then earn my respect. I already know that you can crush me without a thought, and I could care less. it is obvious from this building that you are either a very wealthy woman or a woman that holds a rank of extreme honor and power, one you have fought and killed for over decades and fiercely defended. I already know that I am 'dealing' with a true sith. Your status does not impress me, and neither does your servants or fortress."
"If you will not bow to my intimidation and power then why expect me to bow to such displays from you?" she spoke over her shoulder, "I will not bow to you. I may not have earned your respect, but you have not earned the right to be so personal."
"I do not expect you to bow. I expect you to do what no sith before you has ever done: Smile."
The tails of her dress whipped around the corner as she left the kitches without another word. The help would clean up the mess. She would focus on not tearing down the building and creating more work for them.
---
Confused and not fully awake he could not respond to Marquis even if he wanted to. Iisska hissed at him when kicked but could not quite find his bearings or figure out where he was and no amount of prodding would help. Something snapped inside him when he smelled it though. It was maddening, and energizing. He snapped up on all fours, mouth slightly open and nostrils flared, sniffing a bit before locating the still bloody steak and all but throwing himself on it. He was ravenous. After a moment or two he sat with crossed legs and bulging cheeks. He sighed happily.
"Holy shit," Iisska managed to spit through a full mouth.
His wide, alert eyes shot around the room and up and down Marquis. He swiveled around where he sat and continued to take bites out of the steak that were way too big. He examined the places where the worst of the wounds he had suffered had been healed. Even the amazing powers of Kolto could not prevent a few scars in the worst cases.
"Whew! So this isn't the afterlife then!" he laughed before a look of worry came over his face and he gasped sharply. The look of worry became a look of stunned, pained, panic. A horrific surge of gagging, stuck breath, high-pitched breathy whistling and retching spewed forth after he breathed in a chunk of food. The gagging and stomach convulsions soon became violent coughs. He seemed to catch something in his mouth, chew it with a sneer and swallow it again before cleaning the drool off his chin.
"STERLING!" The Togruta bolted up suddenly and jammed the t-bone between his teeth. He grabbed the droid by both shoulders, "Did you get the stuff!? Did I get the stuff!? The crystal, the saber... thingy! The hssiss junk, that mother fucking son-of-a-bitch with the gross teeth and the black face whatever!? Wait I don't think that was actually a thing. What am I talking about? Sterling... How long was I in that tank? Are we still on Tatooine?"