The Journey into Darkness, an Acolyte's Journal

[RulithBarakis]

After

 

 

Naven set aside the datapad that served as his journal and then leaned back in his chair, staring at the little machine. In a sudden rage, he picked it up and threw it at the room's far wall, putting the Force behind the action. The datapad shattered into hundreds of pieces, and the Sith Apprentice put his face into his hands and did one last thing before he allowed the Dark Side to win within him.

 

He cried.

 

If he were to be caught showing such weakness, then he would have been killed. He didn't care, though, knowing that if he didn't get his grief out now then he wouldn't be able to harness the hatred beneath it and focus on becoming more powerful than Darth Jakquez. He'd never before felt such an intense, burning emotion, aside from when he and Keyra had kissed. Hatred was a powerful thing, indeed.

 

After a while, the pain within him settled, and the anger, the rage and hate, began to boil. Unable to control himself, the room began to shake. For a second, Naven was surprised, but once he realized he was the one doing it, using the Force subconsciously in his anger, he laughed and let the dam within him that had been holding back the Dark Side for so long burst. His desk was lifted from the ground and slammed into the ceiling, where it broke in half, spilling the contents within its drawers all across the floor.

 

The shards of the datapad that had been his journal began to swirl, tearing other pieces of furniture or further shattering after striking something too hard to cut. His bed began to shudder, and slowly lifted off the ground. His robes snapped and swirled in the wind around him, and his new lightsaber would have flown from his hip if he didn't want it to stay there.

 

Deciding to try something, Naven raised his hands, and immediately, the chaos in the room froze. Everything hovered in the air, aside from his robes, which settled down upon him once again. He slowly clenched his hands into fists, and the result was a terrible screeching sound as the furniture around him began to crunch up and break apart. His bed was suddenly shrinking, the two halves of his desk were grating against each other, and everything else was simply falling apart.

 

Then, Naven dropped his hands, and everything simply fell back upon the floor. Gasping in sudden exhaustion, he stumbled forward and fell onto what was left of his bed. He'd never felt such power coursing through him, but it had been extremely tiring. Still, though, he laughed, his whole body shaking from it.

 

Suddenly, the newly appointed Sith Apprentice heard clapping, and his head snapped up. Darth Ravek stood in his doorway, a smirk upon his features. His long, thick horns were both sliced off at the halfway point, a remnant of a duel long past most likely. He was tall, for an Iktochi, with a muscled build, and his sharp, predatory teeth were showing as he grinned.

 

"Impressive, my Apprentice, impressive," he chuckled. His voice was low, and grating, and everything about it seemed to further enhance the power that seemed to emanate from him. Naven had no idea how he hadn't noticed his new Master's entrance, as he immediately felt that strange physical pressure that seemed to follow the Sith Lord everywhere he went.

 

"You... you saw it all?" asked Naven, unsure of what to expect from the Sith Lord. Ravek chuckled again.

 

"I saw enough. That hatred... it's a very dangerous thing. I chose well when I picked you to be my Apprentice," he replied, before striding across the room. A double-bladed lightsaber hilt was held in his right hand, and as Darth Ravek neared Naven, he activated one side of it. Eyes widening, Naven knelt before his Master, not sure what was about to come.

 

"When one advances from Acolyte to Apprentice, there is what you might say a... ritual. To cast away your old life and identity, you must take on a new name, and therefore a new life. Tell me, my Apprentice. What would you have your new name be?" asked the Sith Lord. Naven could feel the heat of the Sith's lightsaber, and knew that Ravek held it close to his head.

 

Then he began to search within himself. His life as an Acolyte was over. There would be no 'escaping the Sith'. Keyra, the only love he would most likely every know, was dead, killed by an incredibly powerful Sith Lord. He lived now on his hatred. On the promise of revenge. He looked up at his Master, who looked down on his Apprentice with a wry smile, and he spoke his new name.

 

"I am Vraedil," he said.

 

Ravek nodded and placed his blade first a few inches from his Apprentice's right shoulder, then his left.

 

"Then rise, born anew, Vraedil, Apprentice to Darth Ravek."

Edited April 15, 2012 by RulithBarakis