Nar Shaddaa

Haydriss had mentioned she wanted to award something special to those who had secured her victory in the Kaggath, and Shaisha finally managed to find an open slot in her schedule to meet with the Sith Lord.

Hands folded behind her back, the female pureblood waited patiently to see Lord Haydriss.

The Sith Lord stepped out of her research lab to meet the pureblood. "Good evening, Shaisha Vreysk. Follow me." She turned about and headed toward the same dark chamber that she had took Jo'ren to. "How did you defeat Lord Nemerosch? I heard the accounts but I want to hear from the source."

"Good evening, Lord Haydriss," Shaisha replied politely and followed Haydriss inside.

"I took the first strike against him, my lord. He foolishly did not consider me a threat and I attacked him, aiming for his hand, enough to cause some injury through his defenses and forcing him to let go of his weapon." She was both annoyed at how he had gone for Hala instead of her or the other Sith, and also proud that she had turned that tactical error against him. "He fled to a higher vantage point, outside of my reach to follow... so I disabled him with a stun grenade and he fell to his death. Not a satisfactory way of ending a Kaggath, I must say, but it was more prudent to ensure a victory rather than giving him the chance to slip away."

"I imagine my master will finish Darth Laishen in a more satisfying matter." Haydriss gestured for Shaisha to sit where her accomplice had sat. "How do you handle dissatisfaction? Do you refuse it entirely or do you endure it?"

"Refusing it is senseless," she shook her head. "I think about what caused it, and I seek to change it - learning from it, growing stronger from it. I don't endure it, I intend to break its chains with my strength."

"Fascinating. You are more reserved than your accomplice, Jo'ren. Is that a strength in itself or does it hold you back?"

Shaisha mulled it over for a moment before deciding to be forthcoming with the one who was supposed to be teaching her.

"Being reserved is simply another mask to wear. That I wear. I am disciplined, yes, but I'm not with rage or wrath." Her tone indicated that there was certainly a storm brewing under the surface.

"A mask you must find useful. One that helps you deceive. What would happen if you abandoned this mask of yours?"

Even now, she felt that she was guarded. "Similar what would happen to you, I imagine, my lord. You wear a mask, you seem disciplined and in control..."

She thought of the ones who would cause her rage to rise. Her father for distancing himself... no, that was anger, not rage. She thought of Baras, who had moved her on the board like a pawn; of the Emperor, who had controlled her like a puppet, the master of the Dark Side who controlled by casting others in chains.

Vitiate, who would take even the little she had left from her if she could not stop him.

Tenebrae...

"... It is a power," she closed her eyes as she let the fires of the forge deep within her blaze to life, "hate, anger, revenge, keeps it burning... it waits for me to unleash it upon those who I desire to destroy."

Lord Haydriss began to laugh more fully. "How amusing! I do not need to taunt you into recognizing your fury." A pause. "To withhold your anger and allow it to fester is an incredible gift. When it is ready to be unleashed, you can annihilate what is in your path."

Shaisha bared her teeth, something between a snarl and a grin. "I have a lot to be angry about."

"... Teach me to harness this power, Lord Haydriss."

"Everyone does." Haydriss herself felt a wave swell up inside her but she dismissed it. "You will disband your reservations and have only destruction fill your mind. Disregard any premise of civility when it is not required. The very air will chill about you to reflect upon your rage."

The young pureblood nodded, allowing herself to fall deeper into the undercurrents that was the vast depths of the Dark Side. It was like harnessing the power of the Dromund Kaas thunderstorms, that she had touched once as a child during happier times...

A childhood that had been taken from her.

As if a lightning bolt struck, her rage ignited at the lust for revenge as Haydriss' guidance allowed her to fully tap into the feelings she so often kept locked away. She was the daughter of the Wrath - the legacy of Scourge.

It wasn't quite the same as the power she had tapped into during the fight with Nemerosch. This was something unlocked deep within herself.

"I can feel it." She felt as if the Dark Side was burning through her like an inferno, and she surrendered herself to the blinding sensation.

Lord Haydriss paced about. "You are more furious, certainly, but I question if you truly understand my teachings. And I do not appreciate wasting my time."

Her eyes flared with a crimson hue rather than their usual golden shade, and a nearby chair was flung... somewhere in the vicinity of not-Haydriss (because Orokos doesn't like a flair for the dramatic). Though even the miss at Haydriss didn't deter her in her wrath as she began to advance with a predator's certainity towards the Sith Lord.

"Come closer then if you doubt me..." she snarled.


---

D4 EE Fluff Move power roll: 1eF 1 Light Side


Meh, silly fluffy rolls... Bad Orokos!

The Sith Lord backed away further to the edge of the room, a hand by her lightsaber. "Excellent. The darkness hangs over you, Shaisha Vreysk. Your next task is to learn how to reel that destructive power back."

I could kill her now. Yes... do it. Kill her. Kill her now. Do it.

Shaisha wasn't quite sure if it was her own voice in her head, or someone else's, but it was so tempting to sate her bloodthirst by killing Haydriss. The female pureblood approached a few more steps closer to the retreating Sith Lord.

Reel it back. Control it. Harness it. Like harnessing the lightning of Dromund Kaas. Control it... don't become Zeno on Yavin...

A tremble passed through her body as she inhaled deeply, and she realised she was gripping the hilts of both her lightsabers. The sensation passing through her sparked an idea of what to do with Siqsa. Her gloved hands eased their grips on Chwûq and Siqsa as she took another deep breath to regain more control.

"Do not doubt me," her voice was as cold as the blasted tundras of Ziost.

"I never doubted you, Shaisha Vreysk. I only needed to draw that murderous instinct out of you." She lifted her hand away from her saber and folded her hands in front of her. "It is a dangerous technique to teach," she mused, "Jo'ren Rath reached forward to seize my beating heart. He did not but I could sense his intention."

She bristled slightly.

"I see you learned to stay out of arm's reach... clever girl," Shaisha said with a dry tone.

Lord Haydriss gave a curt nod. "You will need to continue harnessing this technique. You have made great strides but there is still room for mastery."

She took another deep breath to quell the fires.

"... I will continue to do so. You have opened me up to a new power, and for that I am grateful."

Some of her 'mask' was slowly coming back. "With your continue guidance, well... I will make sure my master does not try to use the Kaggath as a favour to be called in with your master." It was not her usual style to let favours be so easily cashed in, but Haydriss was powerful and knowledgable in things she was not, and if Shaisha could access that instead, then more power to her.

"The power will serve you well. It is admittedly limited in scope as there are many situations where caution and control are necessary." She bowed her head in gratitude. "Excellent. I am sure that will please my master to hear." A pause. "Do send Darth Vowrawn my best wishes. I tend to avoid parties so I do not often have the pleasure of being in his presence."

"Like with any other weapon, it is a matter of applying the right one to the right situation," she agreed with a nod.

"I will do so next time I speak with him. It will probably pique his interest." And she figured the old geezer would probably just be delighted to hear the outcome of a Kaggath with his apprentice involved in the victory.

Lord Haydriss nodded. "It appears you understand the lesson." She looked to the exit of the meditation chambers and then back to the pureblood. "Do you have any further inquiries, Shaisha Vreysk?"

"..."

"How did you learn this technique yourself?" she asked, rubbing her neck.