FINE! (Kress/Silas training thread)

[Kressara Thryn]

Breaking into the groundwork for sorcery was like talking in binary to a toddler who stared quizzically back at him. Silas noticed this and changed his approach, which was about the only way he could have kept her full confidence that she was capable of understanding him at all. Nodding, Kressara lowered herself onto folded legs and continued to listen. At the mention of her needing to drop glitterstim, Kressara glanced down at the starry shimmer covering tiles around them. Whether she gave it up or not, she’d be ancient before the beautiful damage of her body finally healed, and she'd never likely recover her damaged nerve endings, but she was trying.

“That’s one of the reasons I have been less…present. The amount I’ve been using daily for well over a year now is nothing one can step down from. I reached a point that meant dying with or without it.” An alarming thing to keep all to herself. She knew precisely what she's done and how far she let it go. “I can tell you’re wanting to scold me, but I did try…before it got to that point. Lorcan helped me through a few attempts, but I kept needing one more hit for one more do or die. Everytime I’d get close, something came up. Nevermind its one of the deadliest and most addictive substances on the market.”

Reminding herself to relax, Kressara stretched her legs out from underneath her and leaned to the side against one palm flat on the floor. Freshly cut ends brushed by her elbows like diamond white fiber optics.

“Quitting now should kill me.” She admitted firmly, looking him square in the eyes, but then her mouth twisted into a clever, devious grin. “Luckily I struck a deal with Sa’ato Mors. In return for help concocting a new antidrug to aid in negating glitterstim’s deadlier aspects while still allowing me to step down from it, I…well honestly I think I just owe him, and favors are my favorite currency. We succeeded and-” Recalling the methods used to attune her body to the antidrug caused no small amount of discomfort to cross her expression. “-If you want proof of my commitment to seeing this through, ask the professor about it.”

The point was, she WAS committed. He didn’t need to worry if she’d give up and fail him half way through the effort. It was hard to teach Kressara simply because she often refused to be taught, but when she did ask, she wouldn’t accept failure.

“You said I need a goal to reach for. I expect you wish to hear something about power, domination of the galaxy…honor maybe? I wish I had that gall in me still, but I feel like I’m running a race on a slow mount that’s been surpassed by others who started running long after I did. Yet, I see so many mistakes they could make. I see people in our order and outside of it who need the protection only a sith can provide and very few who’d have my eye for it. I’ve come to your aid before and wished I had more to offer. I want to follow the new generations of sith well into their lordships. I want to see you succeed as a leader.[/i ]When the next threat comes along, I want knowledge and strength great enough to match the spirit I would bring to a fight regardless of either…and I may pretend it doesn’t irk me, but I’m tired of the entire academy thinking I’m weak. I like proving them wrong with a few broken bones, but I’m growing tired of the endless stream of disrespectful brats picking fights.”

That was the least of her worries, but she figured it would give Silas some relief to know he wasn’t working with an entirely prideless failed apprentice.

“If I were in this for myself, I’d be long dead in a glittery gutter. I want the keys to unlock my own path forward so I can make sure no one else loses their way.”

[Silas Karn]

Silas looked quizzically at Kressara as she spoke with an increasingly curious glance. “Aspirations are good, however I asked for a specific goal. We need a tool for you to hammer upon the anvil of your own mind as it were. Mastery of the lightsaber, the capacity to magnify one’s speed or senses, the augmentation of your ability to leap or strike. A singular task to hone to a degree that surpasses those around you. To word it more properly a passion or drive toward a particular ability or skill, something that you can call your own a specialty that anyone else compared will fall short even if their overall skill surpasses your own.” Carefully reading the expressions from the young acolyte the Sovereign granted a moment for her to reply before continuing.

“For me I had an area I excelled in and a singular overall drive. As an Echani the capacity to manipulate and magnify my senses came naturally and eventually I became unmatched. That was simply a natural talent, as for a drive I was always drawn to singular combat, particularly through swordsmanship. Both of these happened to align allowing my early growth to climb swiftly. However, I have seen many adepts training without aspirations and doing so so ploddingly that it’s frustrating to witness.” With that the Dark Lord became silent. If there was to true advancement it would rely solely on Kressara. While the crow had demonstrated the correct mindset without a proper drive or goal it was meaningless to the Sovereign.