You've never had a friend like me!

[Irolia Shen]

Irolia had never felt such hatred as she felt right now. Almost like it was radiating from the very core of her being. Eating her from the inside, wanting to burst out of her any minutes and massacre him. Screaming and roaring like a wild beast, Irolia fought her chains to get to him. The person she wanted to tear down again and again till the end of times, sat in the pilot seat. They had been shooting through hyperspace for a couple of hours and all that time, Irolia had tried to get free.

The man could feel the hate, anger, sorrow and so much more explode in a whirlwind of emotions from the young Pantoran. He has watched the little blue creature before him for most of the journey, just smiling to himself. He had never in his life felt this much hate and anger bottled up, ready to crack. One of the things that he found really curiously with the young Pantoran he snapped from the pirate group, was her red eyes. They weren't just red, but piercing red illuminate eyes, which typically came with being completely surrounded by the dark side corruption.

His own was only orange, which by no mean meant weak in the dark side, but her radiating corruption was off the chart. As the ship came out of lightspeed, the big orange-red coloured planet came into view. The man looked over his shoulder and a wide smile formed. "Welcome to your new home" introduced the man with open arms while the ship flew towards the planet.

When they landed on a platform by a huge temple, built into a mountain. The man pulled Irolia by chains out of the ship like a dangerous animal. A couple of temple guards met the man and Irolia halfway and both parties stopped. "What is the meaning of this Shroud?" Asked the middle Royal Sith Guard and looked Irolia over with disgust. "I brought this young girl, however beastly she acts, to be put under training as a Sith Acolyte" Explained the man and pulled Irolia forward so she fell front first to the ground. Irolia screamed at the top of her lungs as she tried to jump her capture, but was quickly knocked down again by a guard.

"This is not how we usually do things, you can't just pick any random for training" complained the Royal Sith Guard with his foot on Irolia, holding her surprisingly down. "When have we ever kept to our own rules fully? Besides, as a Sith Lord, I outrank you buddy" responded the Sith Lord with a smirk. The Royal guard didn't say another word, nodded and made one of the other Sith guards take Irolia's chain. The Sith Lord smiled and waved to Irolia who kept trying to get to him. "Can't wait to meet and fight you for real next time, little girl" called he as the gate closed in front of Irolia.

Irolia's very first month at the academy was spent in a cell, to stop her from jumping anyone or her from escaping. Little by little she vowed to find that man who killed her mentor, even if it took her a million eyes, she would find him. At the end of the month, Irolia cooled down and had a much more calm looking red eyes. As Irolia was let out she got her Academy clothes and was guided to a door. The door opened and she was pushed in by the man, who closed the door behind her.

It looked like quarters of some sort, most likely sleeping quarter, Irolia wagered. It was very simple, two beds, a table and a chair. *What a poor state* she thought. It had been a rather long corridor with many doors as hers, which probably had been for other Acolytes.

@Xorism

 

[Alexandra Thul Drast]

Alexandra had spent the majority of her life between Alderaan and Coruscant and had been fortunate enough to have escaped lasting permanent damage from her time locked in irons. Since Hoth, the young Sith had been declared dead by her family which became poetic as her own family was subsequently snuffed out. It was necessity that drove Alex toward Korriban, the heart of an empire that destroyed her family in the great Sith civil war, but she had no choice.

A faceless husk of a person amongst the crowds made it easier for Alex to become another, she would just be another cog in the wheel of the Korriban academy starting from the bottom. 'Alanah' now using a pseudonym, arrived unceremoniously with another batch of recruits and slipped in to make a new life for herself, at least until she felt ready to reclaim what had been lost to her.

There was no escape from the relentless nightmares that plagued her consciousness occasionally in the night, like clockwork she began to stir and writhe as the torment relived itself over and over in her mind. The horror twisted and her arms bound and unable to escape the punishment until at last, the zenith rose and the hot iron brand violently came down causing Alanah immediately awake in a sweaty panic.

Waking your roommates in the middle of the night did not make her many friends and as quickly as she settled in, she would be moved again. For some months now she had been alone and hiding, avoiding her bed and instead of settling on the cold dark floor until one day the room door opened suddenly. Light burst forward dispersing the darkness that Alanah had been hiding amongst and in the entrance, a strange colored newcomer with a crimson gaze entered.

Alanah waited quietly until the pair were left alone by the guard accompanying her before sitting up and speaking softly with a smile on her face. Hopefully, this one wouldn't be so quick to run away like the others.

"It isn't much but its home while you're here at the academy. Food's nothing to write home about but.." Alanah paused for a moment as her smile drooped momentarily before returning as she absorbed herself. "...there's so much to learn and do depending on what you're interested in. Names' Alanah, but you can call me Lana for short if you like."

@Raven_41

 

[Irolia Shen]

Irolia looked at the direction of a new voice. A girl, not much older than herself, sat on the floor of the room. With her temple clothes, she walked over to her own bed, which was on the opposite side of the room. She ignored the other girl, not feeling at all like talking. Sitting on her bed, she pulled her legs up and placed her knees under her chin. In the rather dark room, her crimson eyes lit a lot more up. Internally Irolia hated every moment of her situation and it fueled her rage. Well, she didn't hate the other girl, she was probably in the same boat as her in some aspect. Probably taken from somewhere and forced into the life of the Sith. Never-the-less she changed into her Acolyte clothes.

Irolia didn't replied back, or say a word for that matter, not even when the door to their room opened and a guard told them to get out. It was the beginning of their first training and was lead with a lot other new students by a guard. A lot of the other student ignored Alanah, still angry at her waking them. The group of students were led through corridors till they got to a big room filled with Electroblade, also called training swords. "Grab a training sword so we can begin" told the trainer, already waiting in the room. "Today I want to see what you all got, so you each will come at me and try to hit me, understood?" Explained the trainer in a very dominating voice. Everyone filled into a long line, waiting to get their turn.

It became very obvious to what kind of training they would receive. The very first student to come at the trainer was a big brute, larger than most of all the other students. As soon as he swung the electroblade in a big swing, the trainer redirected the strike and slammed his own electroblade into student's stomach. Not only did the student receive a rather painfully short shock from the blade, but all air from his lungs was struck out. When the big brute of a student tried to get up, he was struck down in the back and shocked again. "First rule, always go for the kill, next!" The trainer yelled.

The second student, suddenly not wanting to come to the trainer. "Come at me right now maggot, or I will punish you" threaten the trainer. Not wanting to be punished, she went at the trainer, though extremely soft strike to the side, in hope of not getting hit. Unfortunately, he thought wrong, getting hit first in the stomach and then in the face, breaking the kid's nose. "Second rule, NEVER show weakness, your opponent won't. Third rule, punish those who are weak, they are unfit to be Sith" explained the trainer commanding as a Guard came and took the kid to a medic. When it was Irolia's turn, she literally jumped in a fit of rage striking at the trainer's face. He quickly blocked and redirected her strike aside, making her tumble to the ground. As the trainer was about to give another lesson, Irolia had gotten up and struck at the man again. This time the trainer was ready for her and danced around Irolia and performed a series of strikes on her. Each time she got beaten down, she got up and attacked the trainer. Getting annoyed and impressed at the same time by the blue alien's tenacity he had to stop her. He reaches out with the force and froze her in mid-attack and struck her again and again till she was knocked out.

"Everyone look at her, being in a complete uncontrollable and untrained rage will be your doom" Explained the trainer and got another guard to carry Irolia back to her quarter. Even though the trainer had beaten Irolia unconscious, he had not felt such hatred and rager ozzing from a student in a long time and was impressed by how much the dark side radiated from Irolia. The rest of the training was pretty much the same the rest of the day. Everyone coming at the trainer and him beating the shit out of everyone and then telling what to do or not to do. After the training, every student was sent back to their quarters, as neared nighttime.

@Xorism

 

[Alexandra Thul Drast]

Alanah hand waved the indifference as a slow start and rose to her feet as the guards summoned the pair for training yet again. She didn't so much mind the exercise and stretch her legs, it was perhaps also a chance to watch more overly eager Sith get their egos mended as they struggled against the instructor. The blonde was all too happy to sit back and watch the show unfold ahead of her, the two trainees easily knocked down without so much effort.

To Irolia's credit, the girl wasn't about to let herself give up on a small setback and Alanah started quietly clapping, wondering if she would be able to best the master. Unfortunately, despite her best efforts, this did not come to pass as Irolia was then struck out of consciousness without such a strain by their instructor.

Alanah didn't fare much better despite her best efforts and previous experience with a lightsaber. Against a superior foe, it was simply not a question of beating him but rather how she would take the defeat. Blow after blow they exchanged but she was never fast enough to escape the retaliation or powerful enough to do so while being attacked by the force and in the end, her inevitable fall came as she submitted.

Alanah hadn't really gotten used to the beatings or the mind-numbing pain but she supposed it was preferable to death if she wasn't prepared in the future. Between the pair of them, nothing much was said as they prepared to settle in for the night with Alanah moving over to the cold floor where she had a handful of blankets and books organized.

While it wasn't ideal, the coldness pierced her back and made sleeping uncomfortable and helped to reduce the frequency of her nighttime horrors, at least that was the concept. In practice, she wasn't really sure that it worked and that night, it didn't. Barely some hours into the night the stirless woman became slowly animated as the nightmares resurfaced. At close glance, subtle movements became more pronounced as fingertips closed and extended followed by a small twist of her back. Softly speaking, she relived in torment and quietly muttered undecipherable words as if talking to someone that wasn't there as the movements became more visible and her volume increased.

Alanah's face was twisted and exasperated with distress as her body anticipated a repeat once more of the hideous infliction to her chest which her arms moved to protect, subconsciously grasping. By now any chance of hoping that her new roommate wouldn't notice was thwarted by her sudden screaming which ended as abruptly as it began. Alanah quickly adjusted her vision as she opened her eyes and looked for Irolia, not sure what to think or say as the panic still rocked through her torso.

@Raven_41

 

[Irolia Shen]

Despite being knocked unconscious at training, she had recovered not long after she was placed on her bed. The night hadn't been much better for Irolia. She has been hearing the same voices in her head and it kept her from wanting to go to bed. Though it seems she wasn't alone in having nightmares... what a pair of roommates they were. Both having nightmare and both looked on with discontent. Not having any windows in the room made it completely pitch black and impossible to see much in the dark. Only one thing illuminated in the dark, Irolia's deep piercing crimson red eyes. She had been sitting in her bed, legs into her chest, knees under her chin and just looking at Alanah. The blue Acolyte didn't know why she looked at her roommate, but for some reason she did.

When Alanah woke from her nightmarish sleep, Irolia's crimson eyes locked on to Alanah for a bit, but without a word, she laid down. With her back to Alanah, Irolia just looked into the wall until she couldn't keep herself awake anymore. Within 15 minutes, Irolia fell asleep. Fortunate for Irolia, she heard no voices or any nightmares.

The next morning every student went to get breakfast. Irolia was gone before Alanah woke in the morning, though it didn't look like she had switched roommate. Outside of the door to Alanah and Irolia's door, sounded a lot of footsteps as everyone was headed for the canteen. Irolia got a lot of stares from all the other students, most of them were from humans. Most of then whispered alien swearword words at her, as she was one of the few alien acolytes at their generation of new students. Irolia ignored them as she walked through the temple and into the canteen to get her breakfast.

She sat in a corner, eating and minding her own business. The only thing she could think of was to get stronger, more powerful, so she one day can kill the son of a bitch that killed her mentor. One of the human acolytes, some of the same that has been after Alanah, for time to time, went over to Irolia. Standing at the end of the table, just beside where Irolia sat and pushed her food away, "hey you, alien scum, you don't belong here, you got that?" She said in a demanding tone, looking down on the blue Acolyte with disgust, while his friends just found it funny. She clung harder around the fork in her hand, as anger and hatred started to return to her. She was just about ready to bust and drill her fork so deep into the young man's eye that she most likely would kill him

@Xorism

 

[Alexandra Thul Drast]

Alanah lay quietly in the dark room as she shifted and shivered while recovering from the ordeal, its mental toll never quite being something one could become fully used to. Fortunately, it appeared that her new roommate had not heard or seen her thrashing, well at least that was the conclusion she came to after carefully watching Irolia lying still for some time without any serious reaction.

Morning broke over Korriban as the Acolytes began their morning duties, Alanah found herself alone which initially caused concern until she noticed that Irolia's things were still scattered on the bed, indicating that she planned to return. Satisfied with herself, Alanah made her way to join the other Sith for breakfast albeit later than most of them which only further made her stand out against the crowd, so to speak and finding a commotion breaking out nearby as she arrived.

A small crowd had taken notice of the trio bullying Irolia and had moved closer to see if a fight would break out or not, which seemed inevitable if instructors didn't arrive soon to put an end to it. Drawing closer, Alanah spotted her out of place roommate as the recipient of the abuse and was entirely unsurprised to see who the tormentors were. Whether it was out of a sense of compassion, association or perhaps just the fact that they couldn't even be tough enough to harass Irolia without trying to outnumber her, Alanah quickened her pace to arrive at the moment the insults started flying.

Sensing the immense build-up of emotion, the little blonde calmly placed her palm atop Irolia's shoulder in a comforting manner, trying to avoid provoking her. The three bullies could hardly contain themselves, mocking not just Irolia now but both of them. "It's not worth it, trust me. Let's.." Alanah attempted to cool things down between the two groups before the three Acolyte bullies turned hostile and closed in to fight without weapons but instead carried trays of food.

All three tried to throw their food trays toward the pair, hoping that would distract them enough while the distance was closed. The bigger and smallest of the group made their way toward Irolia with the intention of trying to best her in a brawl and prove that she didn't belong in the academy. The more average of the group moved aggressively toward Alanah with his fists drawn ready for a fight, a fight that Alanah certainly didn't want but was happy to win if it meant that they would be left alone by these scum.

"Try not to kill them," she said almost sarcastically, sensing Irolia's intent.

@Raven_41

 

[Irolia Shen]

Irolia felt Alanah's hand on her shoulder and it actually dampened her taste of mind a bit. All of that was ruined when the bullies initiated a fight. Irolia grabbed one of the trays in her hand, but got hit by the other one and felt pain spike in her shoulder. Like a wild animal, Irolia actually jumped the biggest one and knocked him to the floor. The big guy started to scream, as in really scream in horrid pain as Irolia violently continually stabbed him the eyes. The smallest of the three attacking was taken back by the scene. Before anyone of them could react, the biggest of the group, was dead from his injuries. The blue sith rose from the floor and grabbed the smallest by the throat and if it hadn't been for the instructors stopping the fight, Irolia would have killed the kid.

Irolia, Alanah, the kid and the one Alanah fought was slammed to the ground harshly with the force. "What the hell is going on in here?!" Asked the pissed off instructor, looking for the dead student with a bloodied fork in his eyes, to Irolia and Alanah. "I could have known, you two would bring trouble. In my office, NOW!" Commanded the instructor as Royal Sith guards grabbed Alanah and Irolia, violently pulling them after the instructor. Another guard came for the dead student to get rid of him.

The instructor sat in his chair, sending both girls a piercing look. Irolia and Alanah stood with each a Royal Sith Guard behind him, holding them with an iron grip. "Killing another student, IN the open! You both know that is against the rules, you filth" yelled the instructor angry. "You are both to be punished for your rule breaking. You are both to be sent into the tomb of one of the dead sith lords and report to the soldiers there. You will help them with their worthless job of clearing the tomb. And if I hear any trouble from you two, you'll be executed!" Yelled the instructor and on cue, both students were sent off with their punishment.

Irolia wanted to murder the instructor as she was still oozing with anger, which she let out on a dummy they passed in the corridor with a scream. Her eyes had their blood-red illuminating look to them again, which was always a sign when Irolia's emotions took over.

@Xorism

 

[Alexandra Thul Drast]

The fight concluded almost as quickly as it had begun, with the trio being dispatched by the duo in the blink of an eye. One second a fist-wielding thug approached Alanah with an intent to do injury and an eye on her movements, his untrained assault disrupted by her sudden ducking followed by an upswing sucker punch to his throat. Before the bully could even comprehend that his own attack failed, his face twisted and distorted in pain as it reverted throughout his nervous system and toppled the once eager fighter.

Like a deer in headlights, Alanah and Irolia had won but were caught in the act by the staff killing another student albeit only one of them having done so. While the Sith didn't exactly forbid it, they certainly didn't want the floors of the academy awash with the blood of the untrained in some kind of frenzied killing floor. The strong would thrive and the weak would fall behind, dying a cowards death somewhere else in the galaxy rather than in a lunchroom fight. This instructor, however, always seemed to find interesting ways to punish the acolytes under him and today would be no different.

Trudgingly the pair were escorted to a nearby Sith Lord Tomb for their punishment and upon arriving, both were handed a thatch broom and watched as the laughing soldiers poured out dirt across the floor for them to sweep up. If Alanah knew anything about Irolia (and she barely knew anything) it was that this kind of disrespect would result in some kind of optical loss for those involved. Before she could react, Alanah reached to grab Irolia's hand and exerted the force out from her other, free hand to sweep outward and throw the dirt and dust from the ground into the air which would distort the soldier's senses and vision. "Cmon quick, that won't hold them back for long."

Alanah ran deeper into the temple, far behind where a young Sith should venture let alone two troublesome girls. A sense of adventure and the chance to explore overtook her best judgment but it wouldn't take long for them to run into another type of danger. Sith booby traps and puzzles. The first of probably many was a chasm that was far too wide for jumping and filled with bleak darkness and undoubtedly hidden horrors. On their side was a bench the length of an average human with a Sith inscription meant to signify sacrifice, whether this meant the sacrifice in a physical, metaphorical or spiritual sense was unclear.

If this way proved too difficult to pass, perhaps there would be another way deeper into the temple they could find. Alanah looked toward Irolia with a smile as the excitement built for the challenge.

@Raven_41

 

[Irolia Shen]

Irolia was pissed, no, more like furious at their punishment and hadn't kept herself quite all the way to the stupid temple. First, they were pushed in the temple entrees and then they were given brooms... fraking brooms?! If it wasn't for Alanah's quick thinking, Irolia most likely would have attacked the soldiers. One of the soldiers yelled after them and tried to stop the two girls from getting away, but his commanding officer stopped the soldier.

The voices of the soldiers disappeared more and more as they ran deeper into the temple. Echo of creatures somewhere in the temple could be heard, filling the surrounding. Any sane girl would run back scared, but not Irolia or Alanah. Irolia's rage had subsided while they ran deeper into the temple and the blue sith had her normal crimson red eyes again and not blood red when she was angry. Irolia looked back at the corridor to see if anyone followed, which there wasn't. Looking back at Alanah, she grew a bit quiet, "you shouldn't have jumped in..." said the young Pantoran serious. But after a few seconds, she gave the other girl a small smile as thanks.

Irolia looked around them, they were way too deep for any acolytes just starting their training. A sort of adventurous feeling grew in her and she turned to Alanah. "Irolia" introduced the blue girl and walked over to the long bench beside them. She kneeled down, looking at the transcript on the stone. Hm.. had it been Mando'a, would she be able to read it, but Sith language was completely foreign to her. Irolia got her and just sat down on the stone bench instead, she might as well unless her roomie could read Sith language.

@Xorism

 

[Alexandra Thul Drast]

Alanah returned her own sheepish smile at the shift by Irolia and lifted her fingers to brush the blonde locks of hair from her slightly reddened face as she replied "Ale..I mean my name is Alanah. She shifted to look over the Sith script quickly "It translates roughly once spilled together, bonds last eternal - what could that mean?" Alanah's confused face twisted to look around the hallway and with a keen eye, found a small depressed button on the wall. Stepping slowly toward it for fear of activating some kind of trap she then built up the courage and wonderment required to activate it ever tense in anticipation.

Immediately following the nervous press came the clicking and shuddering of internal mechanisms as lights began flicking onto life revealing the once hidden bridge across the narrow path. Every few feet on each side were torched, illuminating both literally and figuratively as two armed droids came to life at the other end of the platform, an obstacle to defeat if they wished to proceed.

Reacting with a slight panic Alanah scanned ahead "I don't see any blasters on them, only some kind of sword...this is going to be a bloody fight alright." She took up position ready to race forward to engage if Irolia was up for the challenge.

@Raven_41

 

[Irolia Shen]

Irolia didn't move from her seat, as Alanah cautiously walked towards what looked like a button. "Sounds like mumbo jumbo to me to be honest, bond last eternal? Old Sith Lords were a weird bunch" commented Irolia and rolled her eyes. The moment she pressed it, everything started to rumble, like a thunderstorm right above them. The ancient stones that the temple are built out of even shook a bit when the mechanism started to twist and turn. Two droids appeared on the other side and a wicked smile formed on her lips. Having a lot of anger and hatred filled up inside also means that it will have to explode on something and robots, seemed just the thing to really get much of her anger and rage out.

She rose from her seat on the bench-type stone and started to walk past Alanah unless she of course followed. The droids walked in a very mechanical with unnatural movements that were made to copy two-legged sentient being. "I'm going to dismantle that piece of walking shab... You hear that droid, you're going to end up in parts!" Yelled Irolia with a stare that could kill as she started running. Both droids swung in a big overhead swing from the left side, down to the right side. Irolia dodged backwards with a few steps and jumped the left droid, tumble it over with a loud thud.

@Xorism