Lucid Insanity

[Sreeya]

Andraste released him shortly after coming to her senses. She pulled back from him and turned away, beginning to step away and mull over the thoughts that exploded within her mind. In a sense, she had been there as well. She had seen everything from Vereor’s perspective. Did a part of her exist within herself? That part that stood upon the hill with the flower? She breathed heavily, wiping her tears away. She peered into a small pool of water, gazing into her own reflection. She saw herself gazing back at her, the same sunken eyes. Was she looking at herself or at the girl within her mind?

She was taken out of her thoughts when he spoke, handing her a datapad. She absentmindedly grabbed it, sitting near the edge of the water. She did not notice him leave, still shivering from the hell her mind had gone through. Traces of the chaos within her thoughts lingered, haunting her. She sat there for a long moment, hugging her knees to herself. She stared at the crystals, seeing jagged reflections of herself. Every now and then the light caught a particular way and her eyes flickered to a different color. By the time she looked back, it was back to normal.

After what seemed like hours, Andraste finally calmed down, exhaling quietly. She casually picked up the datapad, looking over the instructions he had left her. It took only a few seconds for her to grab the training saber and rush out of the cave.

---​

She had taken the instructions to heart, practicing like she was told. She had also kept in touch with those she called friends at the temple. Andraste knew she had to finish her saber training in order to advance. Her extra efforts had paid off, her movements much more graceful nowadays.

The sun, as usual, was glaring down on her. She wiped off beads of sweat, though she was more than used to it by now. It had been a quite a while since she had begun her saber training, and she finally had something to show for it. Secretly, she always favored using the Force over the blade, but whining to Vereor never got her anywhere.

“Oy!”

She called out to him when she spotted his familiar silhouette. Andraste still wanted armor like his, though by now she decided it was far too clunky for her. She preferred wearing comfortable clothing that moved with her. She looked down at the training saber, her heart beating quickly. Andraste came to a stop a short distance away from him. She looked nervous.

“I…um… I’d like to spar.”

 

[Rom]

Looking out across the desert, plumes of sand sliding out along inbetween the dunes from the high winds, Vereor pushed his hood back and turned his face upward towards the sky, enjoying the feeling of the sun beating down on his scales. The past few weeks had been stressful, the War taking up most of his waking moments and his nights interrupted by sudden inspirations that he would have to rush to his war room and begin to plan. Above it all though, was the absence of his almost-Apprentice, the acolyte Andraste. She had heeded his words well from what the reptilian Sith Lord could discover, and had acquitted herself well above her peers.

Allowing a feral grin to crop up on his face at the feeling of a familiar Force presence, the Barabel kept his back turned as she yelled for his attention. Tutting under his breath, Vereor lightly pushed a small crest of sand towards her before turning to face her, his eyes alighting on the training saber she held cradled in her hands, the grip showing that she was more than passingly familiar with the weapon. "You'd like to spar, hmm?" Reaching out with the Force, Vereor enveloped her hand with the invisible energy before pulling the saber out of her hand and tossing it aside. Reaching a hand down, Vereor hissed out in what could only be described as glee, "You can't spar with that weapon!" before burying a hand into his cloak and pulling out the sharp curved hilt of the saber that had belonged to a cannibal Zeltronian acolyte before he had killed her.

Shrugging out of his cloak, Vereor threw the hilt forward in a high arc before grabbing his krayt dragon fang saber and activated the crimson bar of plasma, his feral grin widening. Darting forward with his saber held low to the ground, Vereor dragged the crimson blade up along the sand into a rising diagonal slash that melded into a front flip over her head. Twisting midair as he flew over her, Vereor reached out with the Force and pulled a wall of sand towards them, closing his eyes as his tailblade and lightsaber flashed out in a dual strike aimed for her left thigh and her neck. Hitting the floor, the reptilian Sith Lord rolled back and kept his saber raised, his eyebrows raised in an almost mocking manner as he gestured for her to come closer with his middle claw raised lazily.

 

[Sreeya]

Andraste suddenly regretted her words as soon as he turned around. He looked far too happy to be met with a challenge. She almost began to mutter an apology and bring out a whole stream of excuses. A headache? Yes, that was a good excuse to bypass sparring. What if she said it was during that time of the month? Men never asked questions when it came to that. Before she could blurt out an excuse, she found a hilt in her hands. She looked down and blinked.

“What is this..I don’t even..”

She mouthed words stupidly, looking up at him. He wasn’t wasting any time. He had been looking for an excuse to beat her face in and she just gave him one. Well, she wouldn’t make it easy. Andraste’s eyes narrowed in concentration as she watched him prepare his move. She recalled what he had taught her, and she knew that this time half of it would be instinct. Andraste called the Force to herself, clearing her mind. It was a habit she had acquired from meditating before training. It had become second nature, instantly offering her clarity and focus.

As she concentrated on the Force, her breathing slowed. She could see every movement, break down every little action. She could see the slightest ripple in muscle, the blur of the sabers moving ever so slowly. She pushed a foot back, her eyes honing in on the incoming saberstaff. Instantly, she was transported back to the rock he had made her balance on, the one she fell off numerous times. Andraste recalled every motion with the training saber. The real saber felt a bit heavier, but it too became an extension of her hand.

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and opened them again. For some reason he was suddenly holding one saber now. Her jaw dropped, as she could have sworn he was holding a saberstaff moments ago. She tilted her head, wondering if this was a glitch in the matrix. Oh well, she'd have to ask him to teach her that magic trick later.

Andraste watched as he rushed towards her, bringing the blade in from his right. She prepared to meet him head on, bringing her saber up to block his diagonal slash. However, without warning, he abruptly leapt over her. Her saber met thin air. However, she had been around him enough to expect him to spring above her. She whipped around, spinning to her left to follow his movement. Andraste continued the turn, her movement causing his tail to miss her leg by inches. She raised her saber, catching his saber with hers in a tilted perpendicular fashion leaning to her left. Her aim wasn’t as perfect due to the sand abruptly blinding her.

Using the Force as her guide, she applied a powerful push while he was still in the air. This push was applied to his upper torso, meant to not only disperse the sand but to make him fly forward and diagonally off to his right. Meanwhile, her spin brought her to his left. As his tail had aimed for her left, this put his tail out of range just for a moment. Using this opportunity, as his saber would also be out of range, she sliced along his left leg which was closest to her. Regardless of whether or not her attack worked, she came to stand slightly diagonally behind his left flank.

 

[Rom]

Grinning widely as she whirled around having read his intent and managed to dodge his tail strike and block his lightsaber slash, the reptilian Sith Lord allowed himself to be pushed back by the Force and watched with glee as her saber darted out for a maiming strike on his left leg. Reaching out with the Force, Vereor brought something into the fight that he had never brought into a battle with her. From within the folds of his inner robe, another lightsaber flew through the air and slapped into his left hand before activating with a loud snap-hiss, the blade sliding down through the air to catch the strike on his left leg and slapped the blade away.

Falling to the ground and rolling to his feet, Vereor held the two blades in a X across his chest and let out a chilling growl as his Force presence grew, a palpable aura of overwhelming fear pressing outward form him towards Andraste. With her focus on the Force, the aura would not have it's full effect, but dark memories and hidden terrors would rise up in her mind regardless, trying to distract her. Feeling the Force fill his limbs, Vereor charged forward in a burst of speed, pivoting on his left foot into a circle, his right saber and tail blade sweeping out at shoulder and calf height while his off hand saber came around to block her return strike.

 

[Sreeya]

Andraste was completely sure she would land a hit. However, her heightened senses picked up on the tell tale hum of a lightsaber being ignited. She looked up right as his second saber clashed against hers. She was genuinely surprised, never having seen him with a second saber before. Aha! It all made sense now! He magically turned his saberstaff into two individual blades. That had to be it. Pushing that thought aside, she decided that she had to deal with this new twist.

Andraste kept her eyes on him as he skidded back, holding his sabers in front of him. The dark energy pulsated, but instead of working with her, it abruptly made thoughts and fears burst within her mind. She found herself distracted, worrying about her life, about her friends and other thoughts she had tucked away. Within seconds, Vereor had closed the distance between them. She snapped back into attention, directly before he launched his attack. She barely caught his pivot.

As his right saber came zooming in, she quickly tilted her saber diagonally to catch it, raised to meet his height. She ensured her saber was layered atop his. She used his own trick against him, jumping into the air as soon as she had seen his incoming saber. She kept her saber locked with his, using the Force to swing her small frame easily into a half circle arc around over his right side. She assumed that his left saber would have been poised in front of him to prepare for a front counter.

Naturally, he had thrown off her concentration before his attack, which made her motions slightly choppy. As a result, when she flipped, his tail blade sliced through sides of her robes, barely avoiding driving through her flesh yet again. Andraste ignored this and followed through the motion by slicing diagonally down his back as she completed the flip, aimed to land behind his left shoulder. Her saber returned to guard her against his sabers, tail and any other god damned surprises he had for her.

 

[Rom]

Hissing in quiet laughter, Vereor waited until Andraste was just leaping off the ground using the saber lock as a counterweight to propel herself up and around him to engage trakata, deactivating the saber and pivoting around, his left saber coming up to slice at her as she arced through the air and reactivated his rightt saber with a snap-hiss as he extended it forward, the saber meant to impale her as she landed.

Grinning widely, Vereor bared his fangs as he drew more on the Force and hissed coldly, "I expect more of you, Andraste. Show me what you can really do." before lashing out with a powerful Force wave that emanated from the center of his body and flew out in an arc, his inner robes billowing with the growing wind as the Force wave slammed forward towards Andraste, intended to throw her off balance.

 

[Sreeya]

Andraste leapt into the air, but felt her saber abruptly fall through as her support gave away. However, she had closed the distance between them and her left hand was free. Thinking quickly, she hastily grasped his outer robes on his right shoulder. As he had switched off his saber, and she was already in the air with the aid of the Force, she simply used his shoulder to drive her momentum. As a result, she hung onto him as he whipped around, letting go as he began his turn, and spun diagonally as she flew around him. She fell on the ground diagonally behind his right in a low crouch. As he whipped around, his sabers flew right above her. At the same time, she horizontally swung her saber on the ground, aimed to slice through his calves from behind, turning in the direction opposite to his slashing. As a result, his tail would be whirling around in a circle towards her, temporarily out of range, allowing her an opening to attack. Him towering over her put even more distance between his sabers and her on the ground.

Her slice was timed right before he drew in the Force energy for the wave. If he still applied it, she would be thrown back from him, preparing to launch an attack of her own. If he did not use the Force wave, she would follow her horizontal sweep with a diagonal slash that went from her bottom right to upper left, aimed to cut through his lower body.

 

[Rom]

Cursing as she managed to grab onto his shoulder and continue her turn, Darth Vereror abandoned his attempts to attack her and simply focused on getting away from her. Planting his feet down in the sand hard to abruptly end his pivot, the reptilian Barabel flung his arms wide with a primal roar and pushed all of the Force energy he had been drawing on to augment his speed and power out of his body with explosive force, crushing dark side energy pushing out from his body in a 360 degree blast of erratic power that should send Andraste flying off of him.

The minute she was off of him, the tall reptilian leaped away from the position he was in to tackle the young woman mid-air, dropping his right saber into the sand and slamming into her with his weight in an attempt to knock the air out of her luntw, bringing his now free hand up grasp her wrist tightly, preventing her from striking out at him as they slammed into the ground.

 

[Sreeya]

Andraste knew her plan was half baked, but thankfully she wasn’t dead yet. As she felt him plant his feet, she was yanked back to the right, completely losing the momentum for her spin. A moment later, she was abruptly thrown back as his Force energy exploded outwards. She lowered her saber, mostly out of desperation than anything. As she flew back, the end of her saber harshly grazed along his right arm. Though this would have severely injured a human, for him it was no more than a thin cut.

She lost complete control of her motions, unable to do anything but fly back. He seemingly snatched her out of the air, slamming her down into the ground. Andraste coughed as the wind was knocked out of her, throwing her off to where he managed to pin her wrist down. She was stuck, with no saber. She looked up at him, his right arm crossed above her to pin down her right arm above her head. His body was slightly twisted above hers, and for a moment she thought there was nothing she could do.

However, Andraste glanced at his arm and recalled the countless times she had felt her own arm go numb. With a slight grin, she brought up her left free hand, which was out of range, and curled her fingers into a fist. Without hesitating, she slammed it into the bottom of his elbow, right where his ulnar nerve would be. Inevitably, it would make his arm not only buckle but make it go numb and involuntarily release his grip on her. Using that to her advantage, she quickly yanked her saber arm down, curving her wrist to make her saber go through his hand, arm and possibly his torso. It was also positioned perpendicular to the ground in case he brought his left saber in for an attack.

Regardless of whether or not her attempt succeeded, Andraste would quickly roll out from underneath him, rising to her feet on his right side. She would have her saber up for guard.

 

[Rom]

Cursing as his arm went numb for a moment, Vereor seemed to hesitate for a moment before dropping down onto her, his right arm flopping uselessly at his side but his left hand bending and coming up to make a bar against her throat, keeping her from rolling away. His krayt dragon scale armor smoked and sparked for a moment as he fell onto the crimson bar of light, the blade burning through the thick scales steadily before suddenly sputtering and shorting out. Swinging his tail up and over his shoulder until the blade pointed down against her throat, the reptilian Sith lord removed the arm bar and reached down to pry the now dead saber out of her hand, not moving his full weight off of her body as he pinned her on all sides. "Cortosiz weave Andraste. You should always be prepared for such thingz."

 

[Sreeya]

Andraste's eyes widened in horror as her lightsaber fizzled out. She fully believed that it was the lightsaber's fault, not realizing that it was because of his armor. A second later, the tip of his tail blade was pointed against her throat. She was afraid to nervously gulp for fear of having the poisoned tip prick her skin. His words only caused her to grimace. She was too ashamed to look at his face, knowing she had failed.

"Yeah, yeah....damn iguana.."

The last two words were muttered under her breath. With his full weight on her, almost crushing her bones, there was little she could do. She half considered drawing upon the Force to make it explode all around her to throw him off. However, she knew it was of no use. Andraste squeezed her eyes shut and looked away.

"All right, make it quick please."

 

[Rom]

Leaning forward and pulling his tail blade to the side, Vereor lightly pressed the tips of his fangs against her neck, his tongue sliding along her jugular and feeling her pounding pulse. The fear and disappointment Andraste was emanating could be felt clearly through their bond, and it was clear that she thought he was going to kill her. Lightly nicking her skin with the tip of his canine fang, the reptilian Sith Lord abruptly stood up and reached into his belt,a large chunk the large front piece of his krayt dragon armor falling down into the sand next to the young woman revealing the cortosis sheet with a small burn mark and gouge in the metal as well as his own torso, muscles clearly visible beneath smooth black scales.

Reaching out with the Force towards his pack, Vereor caught a small knapsack and dropped it onto Andraste's lap. Hissing in laughter her shell shocked face, the tall reptile reached out with the Force to pluck his saber from it's sandy tomb, clipped both of his personal sabers to his sides and summoned the Zeltron cannibals curved hilt towards him, sliding it into a small holster on his leg, visible due to the cut away robes on his body. Looking down at his right arm, the Sith Lord calmly slapped a bacta patch onto the cracked and charred scales, ignoring the steady stream of blood flowing from the small wound before cracking his neck.

"You passed all of this one's testz. As much as it painz this one to do it so quickly, Niphredil, I must." Coiling his tail around his body, Vereor attempted to look serious and powerful, knowing he must be failing half unclothed with his armor and inner robes in tatters. "I find you worthy of the teachings of the Sith and the right to bear the title, Marauder. That bag contains a few thingz this one thought you might like, az a memento of your succezz." He stated all of this in a nonchalant manner, though the presence of a rare Qixoni taken from the shattered remains of a planet consumed by supernovae, as well as a copy of his personal holocron containing his musings on the Force and the nature of the Hungry One, notes on his saber and armor designs, a biography of his life, and instruction in some of his more powerful techniques of lightsaber and Force combat attested to how much his student and her successful training had meant to him.

Brushing the sand off of his robes, Vereor turned away and looked out towards the setting sun, his tail flicking around behind him in what could either be agitation or just contentment. You could never tell with the Barabel Lord.

 

[Sreeya]

Andraste kept her eyes closed, expecting the tail blade to stab into her throat. She imagined it, the blood spurting out of her like a fountain. The image was beautiful, something she always wanted to see. It would be so much more glorious than the cuts on her arms. She almost wanted to see it, to savor it. Perhaps she could join him in this beautiful moment and celebrate her own death. It was a twisted thought, but a notion she had entertained for as long as she could remember. Andraste opened her eyes halfway, only to see the tail blade shift aside.

That was when she felt him lean in. He was going to eat her?! Andraste grimaced, not having expected this to be her means of death. She had asked him to make it quick! Had she failed that horribly? She couldn’t help but turn away, her heart pounding against her chest as he was mere inches away from her. That was when she felt his tongue smoothly graze along her neck. She couldn’t decide if it was sensual or if he was sampling her before digging in. Regardless, Andraste felt her face grow intensely hot, and the sun above them had nothing to do with it. She shifted slightly when she felt the bite, the fang sharp enough to where it would have easily cut into her soft skin. Andraste remained frozen in spot even when he was off her.

She couldn’t hear his words for a while, only hearing the thunderous pounding of her heart. She had no words to describe the intense moment of being on the brink of life and death, and to have it topped off with something that was almost…tantalizing. Her eyes were wide and she stared off blankly, still dispersing the fog within her mind. The adrenaline rush from battle was beginning to wear off and reality began to sink in. This was amplified when he dropped a knapsack into her lap. It was not unlike when he had dropped bacta onto her when they had first met. She did not open the bag yet, listening to his words.

Andraste looked up in surprise, still not convinced that she was truly ready to be a Marauder. However, she also knew he wasn’t one to joke about such things. As she looked at him, she did not hesitate to take in the sight of his state of attire, or lack thereof. She had to bite back a grin, as he attempted to appear serious at the same time. In her mind, she was too busy dwelling on the feel of his tongue on her.. she coughed a few times, realizing that he had turned away by then. She put the bag aside and rose to her feet, walking behind him. She let instinct guide her, closing the distance between them and abruptly grasping his wrist from behind. Andraste would wait till he turned around to tilt her head and grin.

“I believe you owe me your name.”

 

[Rom]

Turning his head down to look into her eyes, Vereor did his best not to allow any visible reaction he had to the thoughts drifting through their link, most likely without Andraste's knowledge. He almost fell into a coughing fit when a gust of wind blew across the pair and his acute sense of smell picked up on a faint scent that he most certainly did not expect to be a result from him. Shaking his head, the tall obsidian scaled reptile turned his head upward towards the sky, basking in the warm rays of the setting sun heating his body. With a simple statement, the warm feelings from the sun and from his own thoughts disappeared, his body feeling as if he had been drenched in ice water.

His name... silently cursing his own stupidity, Vereor reached a clawed hand up to rub across his eyes, doing his best to ignore the rising tide of emotion and memory growing within him as well as come up with a way to stall his erstwhile apprentice. He failed at both. His powers in the dark side seemed to flutter as his mind was drawn far away, back to the clan tunnels and caves where he had spent his youth. The rattling of bone charms, the hissed stories of the elders to the hatchlings crowded around the central bonfire. The feeling of a rough bone sword in his hand, taken from his first kill of a medium sized mammal about two times his size. The sound of battle cries and war drums as the clan was roused to fend off a surprise attack by a neighboring clan, and the feeling of retribution as he and his hatchmates stood triumphantly at the front of the war party that had retaliated, claiming more than 5 miles of tunnels and hunting ground for their clan in victory.

The warm embrace of his mother. The comradery between his brothers and sister as they competed nightly for the best kill. The stern but kind words of the Longfang. The ever present reminder of the Jedi path, a path he was supposed to have been destined to walk. At the thought of the Jedi though, a furnace ignited within his chest. Rage, hate, envy, despair, disgust, pity and shame all broiled into an inferno that consumed the happy memories of years past and the Hungry One again asserted full control, the burning heat of the Dark Side filling him completely.

Shaking himself out of his trance, the tall Sith Lord immediately looked away back towards the sunset, his eyes blurring for a moment before a single blink cleared his vision. "This one waz once known to kin and clan az Teryn. A name and a person lost to the Great Hunt long ago." Bringing one hand up across his chest, he absentmindedly reached for the other elbow to cross his arms over his chest only to find that his wrist was still held by Andraste, the cool smooth scales gripped within the small hand. Dropping his other arm down to his side, the Sith Lord couldnt find it within himself to pull away from her.

 

[Sreeya]

Andraste almost shrank back when he looked away, her grip on him loosening slightly. However, he did not pull away, lost in thought. She was surprised, as her question had been rather simple. Andraste stepped slightly to the side, watching him quietly. He stared ahead, but she could tell he was far away, and not even on Korriban. She couldn’t tell exactly what was going through his mind, but she had gotten a surge of feelings similar to her own as soon as she had grasped his wrist. It wasn’t often that she was this blatantly aware of their mental connection, as in the past she had only used it to communicate telepathically.

The moment of silence hung between them as he was transported to a different time, a different place and a different memory. She only received snippets of it, but his emotions flowed into her more steadily. She did not release him, looking down and reflecting upon her own past. Andraste didn’t even have a clear memory of her parents other than seeing their corpses. It was a night forever etched into her mind, leaving no room for even the slightest positive memory. She looked up when he finally spoke.

“Teryn..”

She whispered the name. It sounded beautiful, peaceful, feeble and so strangely unfitting for him. She knew then that he had abandoned that identity a long time ago. She knew he felt nothing but pain from it, and part of her regretted even asking him. Andraste stepped in front of him, turning to face him. She did not ask him about his past, raising her left hand to his right. She focused the Force to her hand, gently guiding it instead of forcing it. It was a delicate procedure, but one she had been quite skilled at despite disliking the process. She found draining to be much more appealing. Vereor’s wounds began to close up, staunching the bleeding. She spoke as she applied the healing, keeping her eyes on the wound while casually repeating his own exact words.

“For a Jedi training technique, this one isn’t half bad…”

She looked up at him then, smiling. She withdrew her hand. Despite her mind’s loud protests, she allowed him to get a sense of her feelings. Andraste was no longer the meek young girl that he had found wandering the corridors of the Korriban temple. As she reminisced, her thoughts slowly flooded into his mind. She was much more aware of the weight of her destiny, the path fate had carved out for her and her own role in a prophecy told and envisioned by many. Her fears, her sorrows, her frail grip on her sanity, all of it seeped into his mind.

“…but it does not matter with you. I am Andraste. Just…Andraste.”

It felt strange repeating her name out loud. She looked down at the ground, at her own shadow. It was her enemy, the monster that resided within her. It was chaos, dormant and waiting for a moment to lash out and consume her identity. Andraste’s voice was low, barely above a whisper.

“I do not pretend to understand this and in many ways it scares me more than the monster that exists within me.”

She looked up at him then, having to muster up a vast amount of courage. It was nerve wracking to meet his gaze, and she would have faced a thousand rancors instead of facing such a moment.

“I've found that…sometimes…sometimes you can find home in the most unlikely places.”