New Life (Aria Sihin)

He came through the fog of the early morning, his mind was lost and confused at to where he was. The last thing he had remembered was standing before Dalethria about to ask for forgiveness. Then darkness engulfed his mind and voices spoke to no end telling him they where all dead. Tegan his daughter, Dalethria his master, Vega his brother, and Sorsha the witch all dead.

He continued walking trying his best not to let tears form on his face. It was his fault they where all dead they would not except his tears as there payment for forgiveness. tears would only show them how weak you truly are he thought to himself. He continued to walk aimlessly as the morning fog began to lift from around him.

A city loomed way off in the distance he could see this from the hill he stood on. He continued to walk in that direction still unaware of where he was. The planet he was on was not one he was familiar with, yet I could just have been that his mind was still fuzzy.

As he walked along his mind still concentrating on the past he was trying so hard to push to the back of his mind. How could he have let them all go, how could he have let them die. He would have sacrificed himself for them if he had, had the chance.

As he was walking lost in his own thoughts approaching a grassy valley he heard noises of a fight. He crept low then his thoughts distracted for the moment as he began to move slowly down the hill to get a closer look at the two combatants. Combat had always been a passion of Blade's one that could take his thoughts away. One that could let him relax and let instinct take over. He saw the two combatants now from about a hundred yards away behind a rock. It was an old man and a young woman from what he could see.

For fifteen years, Aria had dreamt of this moment. Fifteen years of training and patience had turned into the ten longest minutes of her life and if she was victorious in combat, it could be her defining moment.

Her opponent was an elder man who looked to be in his late sixties, but the speed and power at which he fought told another story. He was Darth Paladus, Dark Lord of the Sith, her guardian and Master for those fifteen years and tonight only one of them would walk away as ordained by Lord Bane.

They fought in silence, letting the hum and crackle of their crimson lightsabers speak of their rivalry, for everything that was worth saying had been said before. It was a battle rich with grace by the younger woman, flipping and twisting with amazing skill against the older man whose tight movements kept trying to find a way to break her defenses. They knew each other so well that they countered one another with simple anticipation. The superior combatant would be decided on who had the desire to win and once one of them offered an opening, the contest would end.

Exhaustion was creeping into Paladus' features and perspiration had begun to matte his snow-white hair against his skin. Aria smelled victory but her arrogance would not become her downfall. Emotions were impressive tools and they needed to be harnessed correctly. She knew she was far more powerful then her Master ever was, as did he. Paladus saw it the moment his eyes laid upon the five year old girl on Tanaab, that she was the girl from his vision. That she would be his killer.

Yet, still he trained her, laughtering Aria's family before her very eyes in order to instill fear and anger within that precious small frame. Thus giving her the tools to eventually make her a powerful Sith.

Quickly his face grew into shock as Aria's stance shifted dramatically. He was merely countering a move but poorly misjudged her next one. In fact, he should have seen it coming, after all, Paladus was the one that taught her it. Aria focused her lightsaber training on Form IV but he also tried to steer her towards Form V incase strength was required during a fight. Her defensive posture melted into a fluid offensive strike that blindsided him. Her crimson blade snuck between his hands and cleanly disarmed him, weapon and arm up to the elbow.

Aria clearly knew she was the victor but swept him off his feet to be sure, pointing the tip of her blade at his neck while resting upon one knee.

Paladus gasped for air after his initial scream had died down. Ozone filled his nostrils and he could smell his own charred flesh, but regardless of his condition, he smiled at his Apprentice like a proud father, "You are my legacy, my child."

He closed his eyes waiting for the inevitable release that he prepared himself for by training his student, a desire that Paladus didn't have to wait long for. Aria wasted little time in getting to her feet and lopping off his head without any fanfare.

She disengaged her lightsaber and stood over Paladus' dead body in victory. He got what he wanted out of his existence. A student to carry on the knowledge he possessed of the Dark Side and be free of his spiritless life. Anything worthwhile that he had accomplished would be seen through his Apprentice.

As for Aria, her vengeance was complete and now she was the Master...

Blade crept even closer as the fight came to an end, hearing the older mans words. "You are my legacy, my child." Blade instinctively reached for his sabers wanting to join in the fight but he had no sabers to reach for. Then the young woman stood and lopped off the older mans head as Blade was approaching thirty yards.

He was not shocked by the events but rather pleased by them. He could tell just from the events that both participants where sith. Sith the teachings he had followed for so long but where now lost locked away deep inside of him yearning to break free from there cage. He continued to move forward slowly with no rocks left to hide behind. One step at a time he wondered why he was so drawn to the fight that he couldn't stop getting closer.

He watched as the woman stood over the older mans body from only ten yards away. She didn't seem to notice him watching so Blade figured it best to stay at ten yards. It was best to let her revel in her victory before she knew someone had seen it all. Yet Blade could not hold his tongue as much as he tried too.

"It feels great to take ones life does it not?"

She knelt down and pried Paladus' lightsaber from his severed hand, debating whether or not to dispose of the body. Anyone who found it could infer the cause of death but Aria planned to be long gone before that happened. As far as she knew, the Inquisitors weren't near this system and very few Imperials for that matter. If the Empire got wind of this scuffle, they would have a very cold trail to follow regardless. Aria would be gone from Rutan within the hour.

"It feels great to take ones life does it not?"

After she dealt with the interloper. In truth, she had not sensed his presence during the battle, which made little sense. Her concentration was focused upon Paladus but she was always mindful of her surroundings. This male should not have been able to hide from her.

Slowly she got to her feet and clipped Paladus' saber on her weapon belt, her personal lightsaber still drawn. "How dare you." Her voice was oddly calm, but the stranger could hear the underlying anger at his intrusion. A battle between Master and Apprentice was sacred and personal. Having another sentient witnessing the event was blasphemy.

She turned and quickly closed the distance between her and the young man with incredible speed. His age didn't detract at the severity of his crime. The crimson blade ignited once more..

snap-hiss

...And the boy would perish.

She came at him as Blade began to take slow steps Backwards away from her. He was defenseless wish he had his sabers with him still. All he had around him where a few rocks that where to big to lift and grass. There was nothing he could use to defend himself and he highly doubt his hands and feet would do any good against a light saber.

He couldn't use the force still locked away in the back of his mind but was wishing then it wasn't. If it wouldn't have been locked away he would called on it to rip the old mans saber that now hung on her belt away and to his hand. He looked at her empathetically hoping she might take mercy on him but if she was truly sith he knew that wouldn't work. Still he kept back stepping think of some way out of this.

"Could you at least give me a saber, it might actually give me a chance?"

Blade shrugged it was the only thing he could think of that might help him out. He didn't figure she would give him a saber but maybe his plea would at least show her he might know how to use one. He was grasping at straws looking for away out but he was slowly learn his death might be inevitable.

His question took her by surprise for not many sentients in this galaxy knew how to wield a lightsaber. In the split second before the red blade threatened to remove the stranger's head, as it did her Master's, Aria sensed the Force surrounding him and again, was taken by aback.

The stranger's feelings betrayed him. The Force flowed through him as it did with all living creatures, but he wasn't utilizing its power at all. Was it a bluff or was he able to mask his intentions as easily as his presence.

He could see her face clearly now, realizing just how young she was. She looked barely out of her teens and any shred of innocence she might have possessed had been beaten out of her years ago. Her emerald eyes narrowed as if a debate had ended within herself, and with amazing precision, the blade that was inches away from slicing off his head had disappeared, replaced by the hilt cracking against the bridge of his nose.

"Why are you here youngling?" She hissed through her teeth and kicked him squarely in the gut, forcing him to the ground. Paladus' lessons still beckoned, urging her to understand the boy. The Force was perceived differently by every being and it would be a waste to pass up the opportunity to understand its power. Aria had met very few Force users in her sparse lifetime and she wouldn't want to kill the boy yet without knowing which side he served, if he served the Force at all.

The crack to the face knocked Blade off Balance but eh kick to the gut finished it. Then he slammed to the ground bumping the back of his head off of a rock. His nose didn't bleed but blade knew if it took another crack like that it would. It also revealed to Blade that he was no longer as strong as he had once been.

"Why are you here youngling?"

Youngling he thought to himself he was pretty dang old he thought to himself. Then he took in his own appearance in to account realizing his facial hair was still peach fuzz. The hair on his head was still scraggily and he noticed he had lost allot of muscle tone as well. He appeared to be about fifteen and the clothing he was wearing hung on him. Okay so maybe he was a youngling to her.

"Um I sorta don't even know where here is exactly. I was um looking for somebody who might actually be able to tell me where I'm at."

This force user before him seemed a bit different then most he had met in his day. He figured sith or Dark Jedi because her killing that old man wasn't very well Jedi like. But she seemed to honor the dark side more then just using it as a pure weapon like most sith and Dark Jedi he had known.

"I'm allot older then I look too." He said it but knew she more then likely wouldn't believe it.

From his point of view, the boy was speaking the truth. For some unknown reason he truly believed he was much older then what was physically perceived. Aria could have presumed him insane but to judge him quickly would be just as faulty.

Aria was still far from trusting and kept her lightsaber pointing at his Adams apple, standing like a picturesque statue. The control over her weapon was flawless. To be able to hold a weapon so effortlessly after the battle she endured showed of her strength. "You are on Rutan."

She tilted her head to the side curiously, still trying to sense for an impending attack but also trying to solidify his feelings, which were all over the place. One emotion did stand out stronger then all the rest, however. "You are saddened by loss and are lost yourself."

Countless thoughts ran through his head from that simple sentence and it was difficult even for Aria to sift out a tangible meaning, but she managed to latch onto one word.

"Master." Aria had spoken it aloud for him to hear it. She wanted to see his reaction. "You miss your Master." Her eyes narrowed, demanding answers, "Who was she?"

"You are on Rutan."

Well at least now he knew where the heck he was. It was a planet that at least wasn't unfamiliar to him. In his younger days he had been her a few times but now the planet seemed a little less aged much like himself. That added even more to Blades confusion cause if he had indeed died and was reborn wouldn't it have been further into the future.

"You are saddened by loss and are lost yourself."

His mind whirled to know end as that statement struck home. He knew immediately though that she was reading his thoughts not that there was much he could do about it with her saber hissing right his throat. Both statements where true even though Blade didn't want them to be.

"You miss your Master."

Another question that sent his mind into yet another whirl as he thought on his master. Dalethria how he had loved her and yet betrayed her by leaving her side. He left feeling that she might use what she knew against he also left for his own selfish reasons. He couldn't stand not having her so he forced himself into exile away from her begging his brother Vega to tell her he was dead. Yet now she was dead to or at least Blade thought she was.

"Who was she?"

"Why does it matter who she was? She is dead and it is my fault and for my punishment I have to relearn everything I once knew. Her name I can not speak because of what I have done."

She could see it in his eyes, the fear. His past haunted him and the pain of his Master's death stabbed at his heart.

It was a pitiful display.

"You speak as if a Jedi, but I know you better then that." The blade glided away from his throat, but he felt himself begin to lift off the ground. "Your emotions betray who you really are, youngling."

He hovered three feet off the ground with limbs plastered against his frame as if on display. She studied him more critically now, sensing the untapped potential that lay within. It made little sense to Aria how this boy new of the Force with such fervor and had barely enough power to lift a pebble. Perhaps the woman who was his Master damaged his brain in some way before she was killed. Or, she was the one that locked away his abilities. Regardless, she felt that the boy could learn what he lost. The dark side was stronger within his presence. "A powerful Sith you could be again."

Her fingers curled together to form a fist and the youngling felt his throat starting to tighten. "But your emotions have made you weak."

"Your emotions betray who you really are, youngling."

It wasn't as if he had the power to hide them as well as he used so of course he knew they where betraying him. Outwardly he could have hide them but she wasn't looking on the outside he new that. He could feel her creeping around inside his head but there wasn't anything he could do to block it.

He was lifted effortless off of the ground and his emotion swiftly turned to one of anger. He knew she had power but she didn't have to display it so blatantly. He would have spouted off at the tongue but really what good would that do him.

"A powerful Sith you could be again."

"I wi......"

His voice was cut short do to the strangling he now felt around his neck. Blade's rage flared which was no evident by his brightly glowing orange eyes. Normally when he was at calm his eye's only had a hint of orange but now it was clear. He couldn't hold back the thought any longer of wanting to strangle the woman with his bare hands but they where firmly pressed against his body.

"But your emotions have made you weak."

"Pppain hassss al..ays b..n my strrrr..ngest emo..." He tried his best to gasp it out.

She sighed in exhilaration, feeling the hatred flowing from the boy. Already the hint of power that was stored inside him crept to the surface by causing his eyes to glow brilliantly.

Aria thought it divine. She tightened the grip around his neck to the point that he could only grunt in protest. "Your hatred makes you just as powerful, more so in many ways, youngling."

There was no warning when she released control over his body, allowing him to fall to the ground without remorse. "Pain is a pathway to the Dark Side, but it is an emotion that controls you, not the other way around."

She turned off her lightsaber and clipped it next to Paladus'. There was no need for the weapon and Aria was far from defenseless. "Your Master should have taught you that."

First he felt the uncomfortable grasp around his neck getting tighter so he couldn't speak. Then he felt himself falling but it was to late to catch himself before hit the ground feet first. He feel off balance at first stumbling backwards but he caught himself regaining his footing so he wouldn't fall completely to the ground.

"Hatred! Pain always has always fuel my hatred. For pain is something that follows me where ever I go. It is my shadow and everything that comes a crossed it is lost."

Blade was still flaring with anger as he spoke he clenched his fist tightly and stared hard at Aria. He would have let his fist fly but he did not think he stood a chance against her at this point. How he thought he could crush her if only he could use the force.

"Your Master should have taught you that."

"I will teach you a lesson in sith then lady. Not all sith view the force in the same way, not all sith teach it the same way, and not all sith have to kill there masters to become masters themselves."

It started as a small rumble in the back of her throat, and the boy could see her shoulders beginning to shake. When the strength of her mirth could no longer be contained, Aria's lips cracked opened and she laughed heartily.

The last time Aria had truly laughed was when she was with her father. She was being a brat of a five year old, seeing only the negativity in her chores, like cleaning her room. She had moaned and groaned about it so much that finally her father tired of it and declared Aria's punishment to be tickled to death, and it was a fitting sentence for his very ticklish daugther.

But the carefree nature of innocence wasn't heard this time. It was an incredulous tone, mocking the boy's assumptions of her. "I know this, foolish child!"

Aria crossed her arms over her chest, the grin still lining her face as surprise crossed the boy's face. "And they are just as weak as you. Relying on emotions to further their power. They have yet to taste the true power they so called have mastered."

His defiance amused her greatly. She could snap his neck like a twig and end his suffering, but it was that suffering that he clung to. If only he could realize how little he understood the Dark Side of the Force.

That thought caused her mind to race. This had to be more then a chance meeting. The death of her Master and stumbling into another who had walked the path of the Sith could not be coincidence. "Pain fuels your anger? No, youngling. Pain chains you to its power. It is merely an illusion, making you believe you have control when all it causes is a craving for more."

The boy felt an invisible force slam into his chest. The impact was so devastating that it knocked him off his feet. "Do you really want more pain in your life to feel powerful?"

"I know this, foolish child!"

She called him a child this was going way to far, Blade new he was allot older then her and she had no right to call him a child. Oh how he wanted to show her how powerful he had once been, and how lost he was with out that power.

"I'm not a child! Do not continue to mock me I was born before there was even a thought of you!"

He knew she was amused by him which mad his anger swell even more. He couldn't help it he was about to lash out when her force push shoved him away and to the ground. He laid there for awhile before propping his head up to answer her last question.

"Do you really want more pain in your life to feel powerful?"

"How do you stop pain?"

She blinked at his outburst. Mock him? That was not her intent and Aria still did not understand where all this anger was stemming from. It also made little sense as to why the boy continued to believe he was older then he appeared.

It was only a momentary distraction in her thoughts. Aria's words had not fallen upon deaf ears and he was curious enough to ask how his pain could be vanquished.

What Aria offered was a simple explanation. "By unlearning what you have learned."

Only if this boy's perspective about the Dark Side could be changed, perhaps he had a chance to let go of his pain and embrace the anger that flowed through him. She believed it could be done and it would take a long time for him to comes to terms with his pain. His wounds were deep and far from healing.

Aria strongly believed it could be done with the proper teaching, just as she believed that the Force led her to meeting the youngling. He would propose a challenge to her, a far greater challenge then defeating Paladus.

So he wanted her to unlearn everything Dalethria had taught him and several other teachers before her. She wanted him to unlearn the pain that had plagued him for thousands of years. Blade still clinging to a bit of his cocky attitude didn’t think it would be that hard but truthfully he didn't believe it would be possible.

"Your saying a once sith lord must unlearn everything and learn anew?"

He let it be known to her finally that he had once been a sith lord. A sith lord of chaos a title given to him by Dalethria and Sorsha on the rise of the SoC. A title he had great respect for, a title he had earn through countless days and nights of training.

"Who would be willing to teach the rebel sith chaos lord, Blade Ice?"

He posed the question simple because he didn't even know if anyone he had once known still existed. If his name was mentioned in any sith scrolls it was doubtful. Even if where mentioned some place it would more then like mention his lack of loyalty.

"A man that was know to hold no true loyalty, who would teach such a man?"

At least there were a few more pieces to the puzzle explained to her. If what this boy, Blade Ice as he called himself, was saying was true, then there was much greater potential inside him then Aria had first thought. His past indiscretions had to be quite legendary for him to be left in such a shallow state.

Blade Ice, the Sith Lord of Chaos. She noticed the reverie in which he spoke, feeling the pride he buried deep inside his cold heart. That pride should have been nourished and perhaps he could have been rid of his pain long ago.

She also realized what Blade was trying to do and it sounded as if he had said these statements before to other sentients. It was his way to dissuade Aria into taking him on as her first Apprentice. Yet, it wasn't her choice to begin with. She needed to embrace the Dark Side's wishes and accept Blade as her student, just as he would need to accept that she was his Master now.

It would be as much of a test for Aria as it would be for Blade, and she would prove that she was a worthy disciple of Bane's teachings.

"Our meeting was not by chance." She narrowed her eyes and let her arms fall freely against her sides. The night's air had chilled enough for her breath to become visible. "And if your desire is strong enough to become the man you should be," she gathered her cloak off the ground in preparations to leave, "then you must find me."

Blade had already guessed that there meeting wasn't by chance but rather the force had brought him here. He still wasn't sure why the force would bring him here but it had. He still wasn't sure what lesson this was meant to teach him either but he knew he would soon find out.

"And if your desire is strong enough to become the man you should be,"

Of course he wanted his power back more then anything in the worlds. Yet his reasons for wanting it where strictly based on the current circumstances. His reason was mainly so he could teach this woman before him a lesson.

"then you must find me."

Then surprise came to his face as he thought through her words carefully. Did she just offer him a chance to learn again in the ways of the sith. Why would a woman with her beliefs want to take on one like him. Was this maybe just a step towards controlling him and using him for her own gain he had to wonder. Yet he did not let this thoughts drift to far for she had offered and Blade was always one that believed it wrong to deny a lady or possible master for that matter. If she sought to control him she would find herself where so many masters before her ended up DEAD!

"Yes I want the power and if it takes me having to find you as a test I am up for it."

Aria looked over her shoulder and gave him a slight nod of acknowledgement, "Very well."

She turned around to face him fully and began to pull up the hood of her cloak. "Your task is far more challenging then you realize, Blade."

Slowly the youngling started to feel his mind growing cloudy. His senses were dulling and heaviness began to take over his limbs, forcing them towards the ground. "You do not get a head start. You must start from scratch and use your desire to find me..."

Blade collapsed on the ground, fighting off the suggestion of sleep plantedwithin his might by furiously fluttering his eyes open and close. From his vantage point, all he could see were Aria's black boots that were soiled from the fight and her voice was a gentle whisper that lulled Blade into sleep, "To find, Darth Abilus."

The name rolled off her tongue as if that was Aria's name since accepting the teachings of Bane. However, it was not the name given to her by Paladus. To continue to be called the title bestowed upon him would, in a sense, be paying homage to the man that killed her parents. That name no longer held any power over her and it was as dead as Paladus. She wanted nothing more to do with him and cursed his existence since agreeing to be his Apprentice. Now the last vestige of power he had over her was gone.

And now she would be gone from this planet as originally planned, but now events had been set in motion and it was up to Blade to fulfill his destiny .....

Continued here