{CLOSED} Training the blind one

[Black Noise]

Mira Albion sat crosslegged in the training bay of the Sith's folly. She was attempting to focus her thoughts and meditate, but a master was coming to train her today, and she could barely control her emotions. She had her force sight extended far beyond the walls of the room, searching for any sign of her new master. She had been trained once before, but she thought that, what that man had taught her must pale in comparision to what the Knight coming will teach her.

Her dual bladed saber-staff hung at her waist, her body was small enough and the saber long enough that half of the hilt was on the floor. She brushed a little dirt off of her light robes with her heavily bandaged hands. The bandages weren't for healing, but rather, for covering the scars on her hands. She did not yet wear the red armor of an Imperial Knight, as she was not a Knight yet, only a prospect, and did not wish to wear the armor until she became a Knight.

Waiting no longer, Mira stood up and focused all her sight to the door, eagerly waiting for her master.

 

[Xyrael]

It took Jindiao no effort to sense his Prospect's presence in the Force as he approached. Had he a requirement, he would have veiled his presence and lurked towards the youthful girl. But he had no such desire to hide; in plain sight he would approach her and take this opportunity to himself probe into her mind. She was full of emotion, and a dark stain clouded her past. He felt an emotion, a tinge of anger biting up from his gut, as he felt that Darkness touch his mind.

He could see the flux of emotion emanating from her, and as the door whined open, hissing out compressed air as the pistons shuddered, he scowled at her with disapproval. He could sense excitement and anticipation, and a swirl of other thoughts. He needed to determine how the cogs of her mind turned in order to train her.

"Emotions are a weapon," were the first words he stated to Mira. "Without control, they will destroy you. Tell me, Prospect, what emotions do you feel right now? Your honesty is imperative."

 

[Black Noise]

Mira finally sensed her master, she looked at hom through the force, he was not like the other Imperial Knights, he was like her, he had the darkness. She resisted smilimg, keeping her emotions inside, rather than showing them. She answered her master's immediate question to the best of her ability.
"I feel, excited, happy, eager." Hesitating, she added, "fearful."

 

[Xyrael]

The answer was the answer he had expected, and also Mira's first failure. She would experience many, he imagined; Jindiao failed to please even himself. His scowl did not dissipate in response to her answer, instead his brows only furrowed as he moved closer. He could, if he desired, tear her past from her mind violently. But he knew better, though she was tempted by the call of the darkness, she was not yet his enemy. He had not yet been sworn to annihilate her.

"Tell me, which of those emotions is the most dangerous?" he asked flatly. It was, of course, a trick question. All of the emotions were dangerous, and any answer Mira gave would inevitably be incorrect. Mira would not learn by giving the correct answers; those that always won never learned from their mistakes, and would be forever doomed to repeat them.

 

[Black Noise]

Pausing, she considered her answer, her only training was that of which was given to her by a Sith and half Sith. Thus her answer was that of which she was trained to give, and it was instinctive.
"I would think the most dangerous emotion is to be my excitement. I cannot fully control myself in a fight if I am too excited."

 

[Xyrael]

"That is in part true," Jindiao noted momentarily, furrowing his brow as he began to pace in a circle around the room, reflecting on the other emotions the Prospect showed. He, unlike the Prospect, was clad in the armor of the Imperial Knights. He wore a black armorweave cape over his left shoulder, and from his hip the hilt of a standard Imperial Knights lightsaber dangled. For all purposes, he appeared as a carbon copy Knight, and he had no intention to make himself appear any different. "But your answer not sufficient. All of those emotions are dangerous. Fear, I believe, is the most obvious. The fearful often resort to erratic and brash options, and are the quickest to grasp to the easy answers. The happy are ignorant and defensive, and can easily be stripped of their emotions, quickly plunging into their polar opposite - anger. The excited do not exercise patience, as you said, and the eager are just as quick to die. There are many other emotions, every one of them makes you a person, and every one of them makes you weak." He continued to pace, drawing on the spectrum of emotions, from fear and happiness to hatred and empathy, and projecting each into Mira's mind.

He knew that she could not see him the same as he saw her, but that did not matter. She still maintained perspective, and it was that perspective that she would need to unlearn in order to be ready to fight the Sith. He continued to pace the room slowly, probing into the thoughts of the Prospects mind. "Your emotions betray you," he mused for a moment, "and therefore they make you weak. They reveal to me several things, but I would have you tell me of them and not your emotions. Speak to me about your father."

 

[Black Noise]

Mira crooked her head up. Having nothing to look at through her bandaged and sightless eyes, she wpild often let her head drop a bit, only moving it up when she was surprised. She had never told anyone about him, and had instantly begun to wonder how he knew. But her mind snapped back to attention, preparing to answer the question, as her wayward thoughts were wrangled in by her realizing, with the force, her master was on a completely different level than her.
"My father, he was a Sith Marauder, who married an Echani civilian. He loved her, and when she died in childbirth, he blamed me. He would burn my hands to signify that I was too weak, he burned my eyes out when I relied on them fully rather than the force. He taught me the style of Juyo, and now he is dead."
She would not lie to her master, but nor would Mira reveal that she was the one who had killed him. But even as she thought that, she knew that her master must already know her crime as well.

 

[Xyrael]

Jindiao had surmised the truth, but could not care less who had killed Mira's father. That was not the purpose of this exercise. He continued to pace the room, allowing an awkward silence to follow in the wake of Mira's words as his bootsteps filled the void. He continued to pace wordlessly, his own emotions hidden behind an impenetrable wall as he considered Mira's words. Jindiao was curious what emotions Mira expressed over this moreso than what her father had actually done. Her father had been a pathetic and insignificant stain on the universe, and now he was dead because of his weaknesses.

"How do you feel about your father?" he asked amidst the metronome sound of his footfalls, the words breaking the silence of the room. "Do you fear what he did? Do you hate what he was? Are you grateful for his teachings? Again, honesty is imperative, Prospect Mira. I will never punish you unfairly for the truth."

 

[Black Noise]

Mira paused momentarily, her emotions swimming at her master's words despite her efforts to control them. Fear, anger, hate, Mira attempted to push them away, but they still ravaged her at the thought of him. She began answering, her small voice trembling from her anger, and her fists clenched tight.
"Yes, I fear what he did, I hate what he was, and yet... I am grateful for his teachings."
Mira began thinking that if she still had tear ducts, would she be crying now?

 

[Xyrael]

"Do you feel your hate?" Jindiao said mildly as he continued to pace, his fingers tapping the hilt of his weapon gently. He had no intention of killing the Prospect at this moment, she was not a threat yet. "Your hatred makes you weak. Your anger, your fear, they make you weak," his criticism no doubt would sting the self-conscious Prospect. He was here to train her, but thus far he could only see flaws. He would need to remake her to make her strong, before she could fight the Sith and restore the Empire.

He continued to pace the room in circles around the Prospect as he drew his lightsaber and twirled it about in his fingers, toying with it as he focused his mind. "Show me what he taught you, and I will show you how weak he made you."

 

[Black Noise]

"Your hatred makes you weak. Your fear, your anger, they make you weak."
Weak, Mira's blood boiled at that word, the one word her father called her, it made her angry, angry enough to was to see it again. To see the release of life through the force. When Jindiao told her to show him what she had been taught, she needed no futher incintive. She drew out her dual bladed saber-staff, igniting both ends and taking up the stance of Juyo. She dashed forward, drawing on the force to speed up her body, and she sliced out, aiming for her master.

 

[Xyrael]

"Hasty and reckless, this is the power that anger gives you," he words emblazoned with sarcasm as his lightsaber flashed to life quickly, unleashing the silver blade of the Knight to parry the prospect's blade. His blade locked against hers, his hands shifting the angle of his hilt as he sidestepped so that his blade moved around hers and counter-attacked at the Prospect. She was fast, but nothing more than an amateur. "Yes, feel the hate in you," he taunted her, "feel how weak it makes you. It satisfies you, doesn't it? To unleash that rage! To expend energy needlessly!" They were toying with real lightsabers and Jindiao knew that now, more than any point in the training of this Prospect, Mira's own life hung in the balance. Failure in this lesson was not an option.

 

[Black Noise]

Mira quickly spun her saber and body around, half dodging, half blocking her master's attack. Rage was filling her body, she couldn't stop herself as she relentlessly attacked back. An advantage of the saber-staff was its ability to continously attack without hesitation. She was brimming with hatred, but it was not welcome, deep down, she didn't want this anger inside of her, and that made her hesitate and slow a bit.

 

[Xyrael]

Jindiao was using the old Sith technique of Dun Möch against the Prospect, antagonizing her into attacking further. It was a dangerous game, but it was working. "You have no control over your emotions, Prospect Albion. That lack of control allows me to use your emotions against you. Insults, taunts, I've already won half the battle, Prospect. I've convinced you to fight without a reasonable goal. Without an objective, you'll never find real victory," he stated. Her attacks were fast, but her logic was flawed. Only one end of the saber staff could reasonably attack at any moment, and the lightsaber could be easily pivoted from a central location to block the blows. The angles of attack were also predictable.

"Do you know how your father made you weak?" he asked, a rational question that was more rhetorical than anything else amidst the flurry of blows and the jarring sound of sabers clashing. "He made you rely on your emotions. I told you they were a weapon, Prospect. They are a weapon I can use against you," he stated, leaping backwards out of range of the Prospects attacks. He could feel her emotions overwhelming her, and the regret therein. There was hope for her, he knew, but she needed to fall further in order to learn. "Come on, Ms. Albion, show me how weak you are! Come now, come kill me!"

 

[Black Noise]

Mira screamed as she charged him this time, spinning her saber-staff and attacking with both blades. As her master taunted her she became more and more aware of her every flaw, her every mistake, and her every weakness. It only continued to anger her more and cause her to make greater mistakes, deadlier mistakes.

 

[Xyrael]

Jindiao saw the fury and rage in the Prospect, the faintest glimmer of the Dark Side was fueling her attack. He deactivated his saber as she ran towards him, it levitated in air before him as he withdrew his mind into the Force. The room steadily became brighter, the shadows fleeing from the recesses of he ancient training hall. The lights seemed to explode with brilliance, and a cascade of stunningly blinding light grew in the room. He channeled the pure Light side energy into a sphere around Mira, severing her completely from the Dark Side; her rage and hate were now little more than feeble reflections of her emotional self. Nonetheless, she still charged at him, though separated from the Force still berserk.

He capitalized upon her lack of focus, wrapping the Force around her body and lifting her into the air, constricting the air from her lungs and leaving her a helpless wretch left afloat, enshrouded by a pulsing, golden orb of radiant light. "Some say," he began to speak to her, still channeling the Force through himself, "that without evil there can be no good, without darkness there can be no light. I simply think that those advocates simply do not have the conviction to annihilate the enemy."

He once again began to pace around her, "The Darkness has no sway here any longer, Prospect. Remember, the Light dictates where he shadow is cast." He placed his lightsaber back on his hilt and powered down the Prospects own saber, allowing her feet to gently touch he ground. He maintained enough control over her to restrain her, and the golden aura still shimmered around her. "You must learn to accept weakness, and failure. Do not deny it, and do not hate it. Tell me, Prospect, where did you fail?"

 

[Black Noise]

Mira could barely feel the dark side as she charged, yet she ignored the cut off feeling. If only she hadn't ignored that feeling. She could feel the air being restricted at her throat, a dark side power, used against her for the light. She could barely hear his words, but she understood each one. When her master released the hold her neck, and asked for her failure, she barely had to think to know what to say.
"I allowed my emotions to control me, I allowed them to surface in the first place. Above all, I gave into the dark side. I have failed, I understand this, I am pathetic, this too I understand. But if I am not to hate it, what must I do?"
Her voice quivered again on her last few words, she had never been taught anything like what she was learning here. Even though she seemed to be learning it all the hard way.

 

[Xyrael]

"You must learn from it, Miss Albion," he continued to pace, strengthening the power of the sphere of Light around the Prospect. "Every defeat you survive is a lesson that shows you your mistakes, an opportunity given to you to shape yourself into the perfect weapon against the Dark Side." The concentric circles he paced around the Prospect slowly began to tighten around her as he drew closer, until he traced a finger upon the glowing sphere of Light. It took immense concentration to maintain, a concentration he hopes to impress upon his Prospect.

"Allow me to lecture you on the weakness of the Sith, and of your Father. The Sith can not channel the Force itself, instead they require a medium such as emotion. Without emotion, they are nothing, and with emotion... they can often be easily goaded. This is not always the case; once upon a diamond you will encounter the gem of a Sith which has hatred in such quantity that they can control it in pursuit of a greater cause. These Sith are often the leaders of others," he flicked his finger along the light and turned his back on the prospect. "But their power is a lie. They rely on emotion to channel the Force just as much as any other Sith. Learn to channel the Force itself, raw and unfiltered, and you won't be corrupted by petty concepts like Light and Dark, happiness or anger. Within the Force, these emotions are as petty as your body or mine."

He stood like a motionless Sentinel alongside the prospect, his back still turned to her, as he thought how to continue. It had always been Imperial Knight doctrine to hunt the Dark Side, and his own words had undermined that creed. But in his mind, it was not the Force itself that the Knights hunted, it was the perversion of the Force as manifested by the wielder. "You must redefine your concepts behind the Light and Dark. The Light is not within the Force, it is within you. As is the Dark. They are synonymous with good and evil, and when you channel the Force, they influence it. When you use a power for good, truly for the Light - it can never be Dark, no matter how tainted its history. Tell me, what do you think of my thoughts?"

 

[Black Noise]

Mira hung there, her life in the hands of her master as she listened. She thought all the while, musing over every word then entered her head. She needed to know what her master was teaching her, she needed to memorize it. When she asked her what she thought, her answer was not something she needed to think through. However, she added a question in at the end.
"I think you are correct in your thinking. Emotions only cause us to become weaker, easily manipulated, and I have experienced this first-hand. Though I must ask, you say that the Sith use emotions such as anger, and hatred, to channel their power through. This makes them weaker by doing so. But the Jedi, who claim to be advocators of the light, draw upon their emotions from time to time as well, does this make them weak by doing so as well?"

 

[Xyrael]

"Now you're thinking," he said as he released his grip on her neck, looking over his shoulder and casting a wry grin in her direction. His teachings were not orthodox, but neither were his beliefs. He had been changed by the past decade, his experiences had given him a contradictory and paradoxical view of the world. "Yes, because they rely on emotion, they too are weak. But I have not been entirely honest with you, Prospect. It is not the emotion that is weak, it is the satisfaction it gives you to express that emotion. The pleasure you receive from unleashing your hatred when you throw a fist, or the passion you feel when you make love, they represent an ephemeral moment where a gap within yourself is made whole and complete. That is the weakness. To become whole without requiring the fulfillment of emotion, that is your goal," he turned around to face her completely now, nodding with his head. His left eye, scarred and clouded over, seemed to peer nowhere. In a way, he was not so different from the Prospect before him.

"The Force is the Force, just as the energy that powers your lightsaber is energy. People act as focusing crystals, channeling the Force through them, giving 'color' to it as it manifests itself. We are the lenses through which the Force is created in this reality, any imperfection within us is an imperfection within the Force that we draw upon," he stated.

He raised a finger, his grin disappearing, and he peered at her through his one good eye. He knew that she couldn't 'see' him as he saw her, and no doubt his presence in the Force was as steely as ever. "But do not believe the Jedi are weak, Prospect," he remarked, again contradicting himself, but with justification, "for they wield the Light, and the Light compels the Dark. You must realize that there is a difference between the Jedi and the Sith. The Jedi have as a goal the prosperity of the universe by defending life. All life is connected with the Force, and thus the Jedi seek to make stronger the Force. The Sith simply wish to be as children pretending to be Gods, proclaiming to be masters of that which they can not begin to fathom. They think that the Force is their power, but you and I know better. The Force is greater than us, it is ultimate and omnipotent."

He nodded as he continued to pace. Lecturing on the philosophy of the Force was not a requirement of the training of a Prospect - doctrine demanded that the Prospect be trained to fight the Dark Side. But Jindiao knew better, this particular Prospect had an intimate relationship with the Dark Side, a relationship he could not turn a blind eye to. He would need to ensure that this Prospect learned to separate herself from emotion, and harness the Force in its carnal nature, to be truly prepared to fight the Sith. "Tell me, Prospect, what practical knowledge you have of battle."