What the Sith!

Looks around, sneaks in, posts, and disappears

Firetrail: Thanks, Vash will show up multiple times in the series and Jay will "get" Vette after the fight.

Guest: I'm not limiting him as much as reminding both Jay and the audience that he isn't invincible or perfect. He still can do stupid shit, he still can get angry, but it also shows that he grows from his imperfections.

Godskeybladewarrior: saksfdjasklfdj;aisfjaskld;fjaksf :] ok

Boris Yeltsin: Thanks

Thedarknesswithin96: Grammer issues . . . NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. I'll look at it later I guess.

Arc 1 Korriban

Chapter 9: Preparations

6 Days and 7 Hours Before Official Fight

"HEY!" Jay shouted while banging on the metal door, "TREMAL, OPEN THE FUCK UP!"

Though it took a few seconds, the door did slide open with the groggy overseer showing more than Jay would have liked to have seen.

"Christ!" Jay said trying to shield his eyes from the man's near nudity, "CLOTHES MAN, CLOTHES."

"Keep it down, will you." The grumpy overseer said ignoring, "I'm trying to sleep here boy."

"Well fuck you," Jay spat out as he rustled out several pieces of paper, "I need you to build me something."

This got Tremal intrigued for the boy had never once asked for help. Grabbing a pair of glasses, he looked at the plans before him and raised an eyebrow.

"We have something like this," he began, but Jay interrupted the overseer rudely.

"No, you don't. I need it made of fucking Phrik or Mandalorian iron."

The overseer looked at Jay like he was crazy, "Has your mind gone through the gutter? Those things cost a fortune."

"And I don't give two fucks. Get it made or fucking DIE or better yet, tell the guys that are gonna make this that you're gonna kill them and then I'll kill them in HELL."

Jay turned away swiftly after that and the overseer stood there stunned. As rough and uncouth as Jay had been, the presence the teen had emanated was glorious, powerful and it made the man shudder in the doorway. Or maybe it was the cold, he didn't know. Either way, Jay had certainly left an impression and Tremal looked at the plans.

Measurements for Gauntlets, Leg guards, and arm guards were all there, but the weapon made him curious. As he looked at the schematics more and more, the old Sith nodded in amazement. Yes, offense and defense was there, but the one thing that this weapon did was the one thing that a blaster, bomb, or a saber would not be able to do.

Shock and awe

Needless to say, Tremal got to work immediately.

5 Days and 18 hours Before Official Fight

Vette had been sitting comfortably, legs crossed and back towards the ground, in her jail cell as she usually did when waiting for Jay. He was pretty late actually; breakfast was starting to turn into brunch and her appetite tended to wane around that time. Her stomach gurgled as if to complain to her. Vette chuckled at her spoiled stomach.

"Pampered much?" she said to herself.

Being fed the way she was should have been a crime. She had full course meals three times a day served by one of the weirdest Sith she had ever seen. Though, to be fair, he was a pretty crappy Sith Lord; needed a lot more the doom and the gloom to even compare to one.

That being said, she had to admit that things were going a lot better than what she had in mind. Even now, things were starting to settle to the point where her torture sessions seemed to come infrequently and last much shorter than before. Whether it came from her mind or whether these shortcomings were real, things were looking up.

Clumsy footsteps resonated down the hall, grabbing her attention instantly. They were rushed and, for a moment, it sounded like someone had tripped but quickly got up. As she looked up to the doorway, the metal wall slid opened and in came Jay tripping over his own foot and tumbling towards her cell.

Naturally, she snickered, gradually building to a loud laugh, as she shook her head at Jay's less than subtle entrance. Before she could give a snarky comment, the Sith threw the food he had held in his hands through the bars, all the while getting up closer to her.

"Sorry, can't stay long, gotta run, cya, bye, adios amigo."

And Jay was off.

Vette sat there confused but felt determination ebbing from the Sith.

"Something's up."

The jailor, Knash, came in hearing the commotion and looked at Vette.

"Food?"

"Yup," she said handing one of the pies she had received.

"Where's the kid?"

"Busy, apparently. Don't know with what, though."

"Heard he's gonna be a Sith soon," Knash took a bite out of the meat pie, "End of the line for us soon. No more delicious, delicious damn food."

Vette nodded, but was in her own little world. "Yea."

5 Days and 18 hours Before Official Fight

Jay had been in the very room where his hopes and dreams of being a super bad ass that didn't need a weapon were dashed. Rapid taps on the ground were made as his jump rope hit the ground, came up, and hit the ground once more. Honestly, he was sort of surprised that they had this, but then again, like other forms of high-intensity workout and unlike sports, the conception of a jumping in place with fixed intervals would be easy to formulate for any high tech culture.

He used jump ropes before and he had to admit, it was a bit difficult to get back into the flow of things. However, with his determination at the ready and his dedication set, there was no turning back. Still, it didn't mean that Jay was incapable of feeling surprise, especially when the five that had watched his failures yesterday had sprung back, still giving off an aura of eagerness.

They entered, keeping as quiet as they could as Jay jumped or twisted his arms back and forth. Like silent little soldiers, they stood in testament to their willingness to serve and Jay felt off about this.

"I didn't expect you guys to come back." Jay said still going unfazed. The force and his own instinct kept time on each jump and regulated the rope's speed when he needed.

"One failure isn't gonna stop us from helping you," Phyne said confidently. Jay smirked slightly, but questioned her nonetheless.

"Well, I'm shit at Lightsaber combat. I can't hold a god forsaken Lightsaber to save my skin."

Jay felt Phyne doubt roll in; even without looking or the force, he almost felt her confidence start to falter. Teeno, on the other hand—

"Sorry, Jay," He said, "You ain't gettin' rid of me at least."

The teen stopped jumping turned around. Teeno wasn't joking and, despite not being the brightest bulb of the bunch, the guy could exude confidence. Jay crossed his arms as he asked the big man.

"Then what's your real reason why you're helping me." Jay began, with some genuine curiosity, "Any other Sith would've high tailed their ass away from me after that fiasco."

The group in front of Jay grew silent and the teen could once again feel their nervousness rise. Something was obviously up and even Teeno was reluctant to speak his mind. Jay almost wanted to brush off their motivation or their backstory like he would in a game, but then Vasharas' words came back to him. No, he couldn't do that now. . .

Teeno finally came forward; looking at the wall across from himself like a soldier would when asked a question by his superior officer.

"Well, the reason why I'm here is cause that bastard, Vemrin, killed my sister and I want some revenge."

Jay blinked; a sister huh? Was the big man lying?

. . .

No, he wasn't. There was no wall that stopped Jay from feeling Teeno's surface thoughts. Rage, determination, vengefulness, respect; they were all there for the teen to see. No deception lined any of the words that he had spoken and it was clear that the man was determined to make his words a reality. Turning to the others, Jay looked at them intently and spoke.

"You guys got something with that asshole too?"

The others were hesitant, at first, but after Phyne nodded, the others followed in her steed.

"It was my friend," Phyne said, "I had known him ever since we were little."

"Brother," followed another person.

"Friend as well," another said.

Jay felt his consciousness wrap around his heart, tightly binding it and making his chest hurt a bit. How foolish of him to ignore their plights. Vasharas was right, he was being an asshole. This would no longer be a game to him. As he softened his eyes, the group shuffled uncomfortably in place, unaware of what he would do or say. But as he sighed, a smile brightened his face to let them know that it was going to be all right.

". . . I don't know what to say," he began respectfully, and they froze up, "because I don't know how you feel about Vemrin. I've never really lost anyone I've cared for or have had someone die on me. All I can really say is that I'm sorry."

The group nodded their head, almost waiting for something bad to come out of his mouth.

However . . .

"But on the other hand," Jay continued, "If there is anything I do know, it's that I can always get behind some good ol' fashion fucking VENGENCE."

It was then, that all five looked up to see Jay's confidence radiating towards them. His devilish smirk and his empowered posture gave them all a sense of what they wished for all long time, victory.

"Let's get started."

Five Days and 12 Hours Before Official Fight

Depression was the official theme for Vasharas that afternoon.

She was tired, mostly from her mind's inability to keep her sisterly-self from acting out. She almost wanted to hit herself from yesterday's incident with Jay and how she had been. Granted, he had been very foolish and almost selfish in the way he spoke, but she did lash out fairly angrily as well.

Still, Jay had been unusually unsettling to her. The cursing wasn't really the issue, but rather the feelings she felt when he said it. Vasharas had always suspected very powerful force users to have powerful emotions as well, but this had been very strange. It was almost less like she was angry at him, but rather more so that she was angry alongside him.

Hmm, strange very strange indeed

In any case, she wanted to at least check up on the teen, she had heard rumors of some mental breakdown in the library that had occurred sometime after her meeting with him and others that spoke of his somewhat frightful and restless sleep that night. Had she really caused so much in him; she had to know.

So there she was, on the path that many other Acolytes had seen the teen take with his newly formed group. Perhaps it was one of the caves he had travelled through during his "cave runs" that he had always bragged about. She didn't know what to expect when she made it over to one of the paths, but what she didn't expect was Jay to be throwing up on his knees.

When Vasharas had finally looked down at the cave entrance, as she was about to follow the spiral path that led downward towards that crevice, a switched flipped on in her as caught a glimpse of the acolytes from earlier, looking walking towards Jay almost as if they were ganging up on him. From the higher angle she had been at, they looked as though they were ready to pounce on the teen. Going on full alert, she took a leap down towards the group and pulled out her training blade as lightning sparked from her hands.

"LET HIM GO," she snarled as her voice echoed off the walls. Her eyes blazed with fury and her hands glowed with white lightning.

The group turned around, holding Jay by his arms. She was about to go on the offensive and tear the attackers to shreds, but when she looked closer, Vasharas felt a twinge of embarrassment rise up from the depths of her mind. Upon closer inspection, the Sith Pureblood realized something off about how they were restraining Jay.

First off, the way they held his arms had been by the hand. Proper restraints dictated that they should have grabbed his legs, but they did not do this nor did they grab his forearms and hold them behind him. They also had an arm around his back as if to support Jay's upward movement. Then, last but not least, there was Jay's face. Shock was prevalent throughout his expression as he stared at her. He almost seemed like he was crazy or taking something entirely out of context.

Which, by this point, she probably was

"Holy shit," he said, "What did I do to piss you off now?"

Vasharas stayed in her aggressive stance, but her expression had stayed as well. It did not help hide her embarrassment and as she began to weigh her options, the red skinned vixen couldn't find a proper excuse to mitigate her outburst.

So she loosened herself and sheathed her blade. Vasharas opened her mouth, but closed it as the words escaped her. Scratching the back of her head, she coughed twice before reverting back to her usual expression.

"Uh, well then," she began, "That was embarrassing."

At first, nothing came out of Jay's now confused face, but after a second of contemplating, he started to snicker.

"Oh shit," he said, "You thought they . . . that's actually kinda funny."

An Acolyte behind Jay, one that was not Phyne nor Teeno, "She's not going to kill us, right?"

Jay turned his fellow Sith, "Oh, no-no-no-no, don't worry buddy. Just ignore that little thing and help me up."

They nodded and once Jay was on his feet, they let him go and moved a bit away, almost as if he was diseased with something. Jay smiled nervously at this, but he didn't say anything as Vasharas was still there. The Sith Pureblood didn't look too happy, or proud mind you, of her latest outburst, but he was still unsure. Of course, he did have some thoughts, he wasn't stupid, but Jay wasn't just about to jump on her and act like nothing happened.

Besides, he was a guy and if he was on a completely different thought process, then she flipped out. You know women, well at least in a guy's perspective. Women can have those vulnerable days and times where they could get exceptionally ticked off. Hell hath no fury like a woman's scorn and Jay wasn't about to destroy about to let his hot headed-ness destroy anything.

'Ho boy,' he thought.

"So, um," Jay said nervously, "How's it been?"

Vasharas looked back at Jay, she had been looking around as if to find an excuse, "Um, oh yes. Well, . . . ah, forgive my previous outburst . . . not the one here, I meant the one back at the academy."

Jay nodded his head, somewhat ashamed that she of all people was apologizing.

". . . I'm . . . sorry too, for being an idiot." Jay was frowning. Gosh this was embarrassing now. Actually, now that he thought about it, he wasn't talking to some character anymore. He was apologizing to a woman that had expressed a clear and distinct interest in maintaining a friendship with him.

'GERD DERN IT,' His inner spoke as it mentally shook him back and forth, 'Hold yourself together Jay! You've gone as a fucking woman to a con for crying out loud.'

"Are you . . . better?"

"Yea," Jay shook his head up and down, "Definitely, I didn't mean to get angry . . . at you. I was . . . um . . . just off that day."

A smile formed on Vasharas as she heard this and Jay felt comforted as well. The two looked at each other for a minute in silence, as if talking would break the peace between them. Then Vasharas looked at Jay's "assistants".

"So why were you on the ground in the first place," Vasharas asked. She looked behind Jay and confirmed his stomach contents on the ground.

He followed her eyes and looked behind him. After a "gehh," he moved in Vasharas' view, though she could still see some, "Um . . . da—"

"Training," Phyne said.

"TRAINING," Jay shouted nervously and he shot a glare at Phyne. Vasharas raised an eyebrow.

"What did this training entail to require you to throw up?" Vasharas said rather confused and accusatorily.

Jay struggled with his words in her presence. Impatient as ever, Teeno did what he did best, speaking bluntly.

"Jay wanted us to spin a rock as fast, as we while he sat on it, and so that he could get used to spinning in the air and landing on his feet."

As soon as Teeno finished, Vasharas stared at Jay, exasperated with Jay.

". . .WHAT?! Why . . . how . . . WHAT?! HOW DOES THAT- HAVE YOU BEEN SPINNING LIKE SOME CIRCUS DANCER THIS ENTIRE TIME?!"

"WHOA! SLOW DOWN, THERE'S MORE TO IT THAN THAT!"

But she wouldn't have any of that, almost immediately she cracked her knuckles as her face proclaimed the amount of absolute fury her womanly justice would commence on Jay's ass. His right eye twitched and in a few moments, Vasharas began to chase Jay around in circles.

"FUCK- FUCK YOU TEENO!"

The acolyte shrugged, "Just run a lot, sir!"

Jay's eyes widened and he looked back. Oh god, her hands were lighting up again and he made sure to dodge every bit of pain and fury she shot out.

Phyne simply watched with her fellow acolytes and commented, "So how long do you think this'll take?"

Teeno was about to say an answer, but it seemed to slip after Jay started getting a bit fancier dodging. Once he began to lift rocks and jump around on his floating makeshift platforms, Teeno dropped his answer and shrugged.

"Beats me."

Phyne slapped her face, "Teeno."

Half an hour later

"So let me get this straight," Vasharas said as she looked her friend incredulously, "You are learning to spin so that you can . . . get used to spinning and landing properly."

Jay nodded, not speaking as his cheeks were swollen from Vasharas' vicious attacks. Her slaps had been like winds of unchecked maelstroms that tore across his face, leaving behind red marks of battered lands. Luckily, Phyne had been applying some medicine and using the force to ease the pain, while Teeno and the others stood in wait.

"Murhk-burrff," Jay began, but Phyne cut him off.

"Careful now; this force healing stuff is delicate work, so don't talk too much."

The teen narrowed his eyes, but responded with nothing. Of course it made sense, what with Vasharas and all being the big sisterly type. Honestly, he was a bit flattered that she'd take the time to care or be afraid enough to kick his ass, much like Dillan did. At that, he grew slightly depressed and conscious of her feelings. All he could do was sigh, until the next wave of pain hit him and then he'd feel grumpy again. The cycle continued until he was healed.

"Well then," Jay said rubbing his cheeks, "Thanks for that."

"You're welcome," Vasharas said snidely. A smirk crept onto her face.

Jay smiled himself, "Yea, well it's been a blast, but I think I gotta still keep practicing."

"Spinning?" Vasharas said, "You're still going to do that after all my hard work?"

Jay laughed, "Mmmm, yea, pretty much."

Vasharas scoffed, but her happiness was still apparent. She simply waved the teen goodbye as she headed for the road out of the pit like opening of the cave. But just then, a part of Jay nagged him, as if he had forgotten something . . .

'OH SHIT,' he thought to himself.

"VASH WAIT!" Jay said hurriedly. The pureblood Sith turned abruptly. "I forgot to ask you something!"

She nodded, "And this is?"

Jay directed her attention towards a large rock. Nothing really special seemed to go on, until he lifted the boulder with his mind and said, "I need everyone for this and I've been meaning to check something out."

Moving around the floating boulder, Jay levitated the rock so that it situated itself in between Vasharas and Jay's assistants. Once they all positioned themselves, Jay spoke as he braced himself.

"I need you guys to push the rock towards me and use as much force, heh, as possible to get it towards me. Don't hold back one bit."

Vasharas was unsure of his motives and, from the looks of the others around her, she could tell Jay's assistants were uninformed of this new idea as well. However, compared to forcibly spinning him till he jumped off and landed on his feet, this plan seemed far saner than his previous stunt. So without any questions, she simply shrugged and began pushing the rock with the acolytes. To her surprise, it held still.

She could definitely feel the others put their efforts in, no doubt every one of them could lift the rock by themselves, but no matter how hard of an effort she did not even once hear the voice of the rock as it rubbed against the ground. Of course, that would mean that Jay, himself, was holding off on the six of them single handedly in equal terms. That was powerful indeed.

In the end, the rock began to form cracks and soon enough, the boulder was crushed between the might of the acolytes. All contenders were breathing heavily and they looked at Jay, impressed. Jay on the other hand, simply shook his head.

"Ok, now try to force me to move with the force."

And now here Vasharas felt the need to speak up, "Excuse me?"

Jay shook his hands, "Nothing crazy, just force me to float or something."

At this, everyone looked less likely to turn down Jay's request. It seemed simple enough and even as Vasharas tried to find some negative aspect to his challenge, nothing came up. Sighing again, Vasharas watched as Jay go down on his knees and began to meditate. This came up as a surprise to the Pureblood as she had never seen him so serious about this, HELL, she had never seen him even meditate properly before.

But here he was, confident and studious as ever, determined to do . . . something with his experiment. It took a while for him to finish his exercise, breathing in and out in a hypnotic and consistent pace, when he suddenly spoke out.

"Alright guys, go ahead."

Vasharas nodded, and began to try to use the thread she had with the force to levitate Jay. Her intent wasn't to hurt him, so she held back in using her abilities. Nothing happened.

Curious at this, the Sith looked around at the others to find that they were confused as well. She simply shook her head; perhaps they had cancelled each other out due to their lack of focus. A bit more power and some more concentration would do.

Nothing happened.

She frowned, confused and intrigued by what Jay was doing but somewhat challenged at the same time. This time she used more of the force and in turn, she could even feel the others upping their own efforts in levitating him.

Nothing happened.

This time she simply let out as much as she could; even feeling a strain on her own mind start to form. As the others did the same, the area around Jay started to feel the force of their powers and do strange things. Pebbles lifted above Jay, winds began to pick up and pelt dirt at the teen, even the ground began to crack. But alas no matter what they did, Jay remained unaffected and continued to be so as the rest of them gave up.

For a couple seconds, Jay kept his eyes closed in focus, but it opened soon after in a calm and deliberate manner. He breathed in and he breathed out and stood up with a need to stretch his legs.

Vasharas wanted to ask how he had done it, but then Jay held up one finger.

"One more," he said as he fumbled through his pockets. When he pulled out what he wanted, Jay showed off a piece of string, about three feet long, as it dangled downward and in the wind.

"Vash," he said slowly, "Can you try and just pull this out of my hand?"

Vasharas complied immediately without hesitation and the result had been the same. The string did not move or get pulled out of his hand. It just stayed there to dangle.

Satisfied, Jay nodded his head and began to climb the same rock that he had spun on before.

"Alright from the top guys."

Vasharas was stunned, "Wait, no stop. How?"

Jay gave a confused look, "Hmm?"

"How did you not lift up and how did the string not fly out? Did you develop something? Did you find a way to empower yourself? TELL ME!"

Jay stood there, perhaps pondering whether or not to tell her. Eventually, however, a trollish smirk came across his face.

"Well now," he said mischievously, "You'll just have to wait and see."

He earned a slap for that comment.

"Ow!"

Five Days and Four Hours Before Official Fight

Vette was bored, unbearably bored.

She hadn't realized how much she had relied on Jay for entertainment ever since he had appeared. Sure, she had food, but it was lonely with no one to talk to. None of the newer prisoners said much to here or to each other. They had no idea what was to come and she wasn't going to get a peep out of them.

But back to Jay

Ah yes, Jay Valus, a strange conundrum made up of webs and strings attached to all sorts of falsehoods and gestures. She didn't know what to feel about him, but since she had the time to simply sit down and think without him entertaining him, she did have a lot on her mind.

On one hand, the teen seemed genuinely concerned about her and thus the gestures like bringing her food, talking to her made it more and more prevalent. On the other hand, Jay seemed distant, like he was hiding something from her.

Vette had seen all kinds of people, from backstabbers to beggars to rich folk to slaves. She had seen Jay's sort before. He was the kind of guy that like to look and talk to things that he was interested in, because . . . well cause he was that kind of guy. He would dissect them, juice out all that information he so desperately wanted and just throw them away after. It was inevitable, she could see that today.

Perhaps this would be the day where Jay would simply disappear, never to speak to her again. Hell, he was gonna be a full on Sith anyways, so why would he ever come back to her. Yup, sigh, she couldn't help but be depressed at the thought.

. . .

And then after that thought, Jay crashed down from the ceiling right in front of Vette.

Stunned and frightened, she pulled back from Jay's groaning and still form. Jailor Knash came in expecting a fight, only to find the teen lying on the ground in pain. Somewhat relieved, the old man gathered Jay up and left the room, rolling his eyes. By this point, Vette had taken a look at Jay's face.

"Hi," he said after a long breath. Vette answered back with just a twinge of shock.

"Jay."

The two sat in their prospective areas of seating, Jay's seat being a chair while Vette's still being a prison cell. Vette didn't really know what to say or think. Here she had been, thinking that he'd just leave her when suddenly he came crashing down through a vent or something or other. But was this just a gesture or was it ACTUALLY sincere . . .

Well, Jay was the one to answer that, luckily.

"So then, Vette," he began, "I guess there's no easy way to say it so I'll just drive this conversation."

Vette nodded, listening intently as he continued, "As you know, we've been talking for a month now and, you know, we've gotten to know it each."

Jay paused and from the moment he looked down, Vette swore she saw something that no Sith would have. Was that . . . honesty?

"Well, I know you're not stupid," He said, looking at the ground, "You probably know that we've been . . . talking, but not really talking-talking but I think I've gotten to know a lot about you."

She nodded, somehow this seemed a little bit different from what she thought he was doing but she would let it slide.

"Both of us, haven't really gotten personal, and I know it's not really your fault cause . . . well, you're stuck in a cage for Christ-sake."

Hmm, Christ-sake, catchy, perhaps she would use that later.

"So I think I have to be honest." Jay said nodding in place, "I don't want to be like this and I don't want to keep secrets, because I think that its bullshit. I've been acting like a dumbass and I've been a cunt to you for just . . . extracting you for information."

Well SHIT. That was new. But before she could say anything Jay stepped towards her cage and got down on his knees.

"So, um Vette," he began, "Will you marry me."

The twi'lek's eyes widened as she heard this, shock grabbing the very core of her being. Marriage . . . with a Sith. Then, like any woman would, a billion thoughts came to her at once as she took in Jay's words at face value and she stayed there, with an expression of absolute shock. But as she came to, she snickered. It was small at first, but slowly, it began to overtake her very being as she kicked her cage and coughed out a single sentence.

"FUCK YOU JAY HAHAHAHAHA, you actually got me there for a second."

But Jay's face did not change, it actually softened into something akin to heartbreak. Vette slowly felt her feelings turn from happiness and laughter to guilt and pain.

"Oh," Vette looked around in embarrassment, "Oh, I'm so sorry. I thought – I thought you were joking."

He looked down, saddened by her response.

"It's . . . fine."

"No, no, no, no," she said reassuringly and desperately at the same time, "You're, You're a good guy, Jay. I didn't mean to say that I wouldn't like to marry you or someone else would like to marry you or somet—"

"BECAUSE I WAS FUCKING WITH YOU, AHAHAHAHA," Jay said rolling back in laughter!

Vette felt her shock nerve feel overworked, for it had been the third time it had expelled itself. Nevertheless, the Twi'lek felt red hot fury as she grabbed the nearest

"YOU JERK!" she said throwing a meat pie at Jay.

Jay face formed a smile as he wiped off the pie, "HAHAHA, and you were stupid enough to fall for it for a second."

Vette still looked angry, but gradually, she began to laugh harder and harder, until the both of them were equally as giggle happy. The two laughed and laughed, letting their voice completely take over their emotions. But eventually, both Sith and Twi'lek became quiet and let the air grew still.

"Yea," Jay said, now a bit more seriously, "That was fun."

She nodded and looked at Jay. He still had that saddened look on his face.

"So you were serious," she began finally, "About calling yourself a cunt."

Jay looked up, waited for a few moments, and smiled, "Well . . . yes. I have been an idiot."

Vette shrugged, "Least the food was nice." But Jay waved off her comment.

"But it didn't mean anything. All I did was bring you food and I didn't really give a crap about anything else. Like a fucking moron, I just did what every other Sith did, put you in a god damn cage and kept you as far away from me as I could."

Those words hit home far harder than anything she had felt during her torture sessions. Vette gulped and he continued.

"I really haven't talked to you though and I have been avoiding things. So I don't know what to really say about that."

He paused yet again as he coughed for a second, "But I'm thinking that, if I really do appreciate our . . . co-existence thing, I'd tell you that I'm about to graduate and leave Korriban."

Oh, so this was what was bothering Jay. She could almost see the regret in his eyes when he would say those fateful words of "sorry" or "goodbye." Her depression got the best of her then, showing on her face with no effort to hide her inner thoughts. Obviously Jay caught on as the next words did not come out as quickly as before.

"Um, yea." He started off, "I don't know what I can do about you right now though."

She curled up more and more, "Its fine. I'm used to it by now."

Jay seemed to nod to himself and slowly the confidence that had earlier left him came back.

"So I was thinking," Jay said finally, "When I kick this guy's ass and I get accepted as an apprentice, I was thinking about getting you off this god damn rock."

Vette's eyes almost beamed at this, surprised sure but still excited as ever.

"Wait what?"

"Yea," Jay nodded, "Talked to the jailor, said that you're actually on hold cause of Baras or something. Since I'll be his apprentice, I'll be able to get your ass out of that danky cell of yours. So what do you say?"

At first, she thought this was another joke, some other ploy to get at her face, but the more she thought about it, the more she felt the hope rise up within her. Though she didn't know Jay fully, what she could say was that there was some aspect that she had admired in him. It was the part of everyone that whispered to do good or to help others and she was sure he probably had something like that. However, until that moment, she hadn't thought much of it. She merely believed that Jay's façade of a face had been put up just to mess with her mind and to torture her.

But there right then, it was if a veil had lifted and she could finally believe in innocence again. She smiled with the teen.

"Well then, I guess it's Vette, at your service."

Four Days and 13 Hours Before Official Fight

"So according to the statement given today," Phyne said as she read off a data pad, "The fight will occur at the Broken Rock Plateau. From what I've gathered, there won't be any Acolytes allowed in the area to prevent interferences and the fight will be broadcast instead to the academy."

Jay just nodded his head as he continued to jump rope vigorously. Sweat poured down from his brow and he was starting to tire.

"Yea . . . and?" Jay spat out while focusing on maintaining his jump rope rotations.

Phyne cleared her throat, "Ahem, well if you really want to know, about twenty or so Sith will also be watching you at the arena, some of them even being a part of the Dark Council."

The teen kept to himself at that. The Dark Council, huh? Baras really wanted to show off his new toys didn't he? Jay had figured the Sith Lord had been up to something with this other than a clean and easy way to get an apprentice. Not only would he have a lot to show for, but all the other Sith would know of his apprentice's potential.

Jay scoffed, hell, if his life wasn't on the line and if Vemrin wasn't such an asshole, Jay would have just completely messed around.

The teen stopped with his exercise and began stretching out his aches. Almost immediately Teeno, came up to Jay with a clean towel and the dark haired teen took it with a nod. He sat down, letting the towel soak up the salted liquids before speaking.

"So did Trem-y say anything about my package?"

Phyne shook her head, though he didn't actually see her do so as he was still wiping his face.

"No, there's still no word on the package, I'm afraid. Vemrin's been keeping strangely quiet as well. He's not the type to do this."

Jay just waved the comment away with his hand like he was waving a fly away from his face.

"He'll keep quiet, I doubt he'd touch me and neither would that pig-slave he's got."

Phyne giggled slightly, "Pig-slave, now that's a first I've heard of for Dolgis."

Standing up, the teen acolyte stretched his legs and motioned for Teeno. As larger acolyte came closer, Jay looked around Teeno and remarked, "Hey what's that over there."

As the large man turned, Jay prepped a kick just for Teeno as it made contact with a fairly sensitive location on the male anatomy, the crotch. Needless to say, Teeno was groaning on the ground as Jay crouched down to flip Teeno off with both fingers.

"That's for getting me chased by a rampaging woman for half an hour, BITCH."

The man was short of breath, but could still speak, "Well sometimes . . . oh . . . sometimes you got to let the truth out."

Phyne sighed at this, "Well sometimes you're a little too blunt Teeno. Honestly, I don't know what to do with you. Jay."

The teen looked up and nodded as she left with the others. Teeno was still lying on the ground but Jay quickly held out his hand for his larger compatriot.

"You ok?"

"No."

"Good. Take my hand man, and walk it off."

Teeno did so, and Jay pulled up the blunt acolyte onto his feet. The man limped slightly and Jay grimaced, probably hit him too hard there. Teeno, luckily, wasn't spouting off curses like Jay would have and perhaps that was something the teen admired. Despite Teeno's bluntness, there was always a kinder side to the man.

"Jay," he began, grabbing said teen's attention, "how do you do it?"

"Hmm," Jay said with a confused expression, "Do what?"

"You know," whoa, Jay was taken aback, Teeno was being, *gasp*, SUBTLE, "People of other . . . genders."

At first Jay just gave Teeno a weird look, but then, out of the blue, the thought hit his head.

"Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh, shit . . ." Jay nodded his head a smile curled on his lips, "You like Phy—"

Teeno motioned for Jay to stop, "SHERT ERRRP!"

Jay gave this notion more thought, "Holy shit, you are as subtle as fuck. Seriously, I had no idea that you like her."

At that, Teeno's expression turned down under as the depression hit him, "Well apparently she doesn't know either."

Understandingly, the teen patted Teeno's back, "It's fine man, I bet she'd like you too."

Teeno gave Jay an unamused expression, "You're joking, right? She always says how blunt I am or acts like I'm dumb. I mean, I like being like that, it's simple you know? How am I supposed to . . . court her?"

Jay shrugged, "Well you good at anything else than talking, cause clearly you ain't a comedian."

Sighing, the big man shook his head, "I don't know. She doesn't really seem to even think I matter."

"Oh, don't be stupid man. I mean, she stuck around with you for this long— actually how long has she associated herself with you?"

"Two years?"

"TWO YEARS? Holy shit, and you think she HATES YOU? Dude, she's into you man. No girl like her stays with a person that they hate or constantly criticize unless they're into you. Come on think about it, it's like they're . . . they're – um."

"Fixing me?"

Jay blinked, "YEA, yea. That sounds about right. Yea, she wants to fix you and why would she want to fix you?"

It took a few seconds for the man to comprehend what he was saying, in fact, it was taking quiet a long time for the man to talk.

"Yo," Jay said, "Anyone in there."

Teeno nodded, "So . . . she does like me?"

"Yuh, huh," Jay was smirking at this, "But don't let it get to your head. It doesn't mean you can act like a dumbass constantly in front of her. What you need is a fucking . . . courtship ritual. YEA, that should do it."

"You know," Jay's hands spun in front of him, "Asking her out on a date?"

"Wazzat?"

Jay thought his ears deceived him, he almost flipped, "He-ji-mah-wahh? What's dating? How do you not know what in the hell dating is? It's being romantic, doing stuff for your girl, letting her know that you mean the entire FUCKING UNIVERSE TO HER!"

Teeno looked down ashamed, "I'm sorry Jay, this is getting hopeless." But Jay wouldn't have any of that.

"THE FUCK? HOPELESS? YOU FUCKING CRAZY? NO, NO. I am going to get you with her if it's the LAST FUCKING THING I DO ON THIS MOTHER FUCKING PLANET ON THIS MOTHER FUCKING PLANE?"

"What?"

"DON'T FUCKING ASK QUESTIONS," Jay snapped and Teeno abruptly clamped his mouth, "Now then, you good at ANYTHING that ain't related with Sith shit or with talking."

Teeno looked away from Jay's penetrating glare and thought long and hard. Jay could help but feel Teeno's mental mechanisms working their heart out to find SOMETHING that would get him closer to Phyne. For a moment, however, even Jay started to feel like he wouldn't find anything. Then, like a boat stuck in a raging storm seeing the guiding light of a lighthouse, Teeno eyes widened as he gleaned a startling revelation.

"Oh!" Teeno exclaimed, "I REMEMBER!"

Jay raised an eyebrow, "What? WHAT? TELL ME!"

The large man spoke slowly, "When I was a kid, my mum taught me how to make Li'tesn out of horns and bone."

". . ." Jay stood silent for a moment, "And a Li'tesn is?"

"Instrument, you know, like a flute."

"Then why didn't you just say it was a fucking flute?"

"Because it isn't, it's different and its more simple, but it makes just a good a music as those fancy billion credit overpriced crap that appears on the markets. My mum also taught me how to play it and I kinda did until . . . well."

Thought Teeno did not finish the sentence, Jay was already nodding to Teeno. Both of them already knew what had happened and it did not need to be said. For Jay specifically, it started to hurt more now that he was listening to Teeno.

For all his life, Teeno had been slowly bred to kill and destroy when in reality he was far too gentle and simple for that. A gut feeling tore at Jay, almost telling him that Teeno was not very likely to make it to Sithhood.

"ALRIGHT THEN!" Jay said in finality, "play that mother fucking flute of yours."

"Li'tesn."

"Whatever. Fucking play a ballad and WIN PHYNE'S GOD DAMN HEART WITH YOUR MANLY MUSIC."

Teeno nodded, but still seemed off, "Just a problem then, where the hell am I supposed to get a Li'tesn."

Jay froze, he clearly hadn't thought the plan that far ahead, "Um . . . can we buy one?"

"I don't think they ship to KORRIBAN."

Jay grit his teeth, looking at the ground as he realized his stupidity, "SSSssssss, yeaaaaaaaaa, that was stupid wasn't it."

The bulkier of the two simply shook his head, "I mean, we COULD . . . or at least I could, make one. I just need a horn or bones though and the only ones big enough that I could use are Terentatek bones and horns. Where the hell are we gonna find a corpse or even a live one?"

As soon as the words Terentatek came into his ears, his face began to grin the biggest smile that he could ever make. Gathering himself, Jay pat Teeno on the back and said, "Oh, I know where I can fucking find some god damn Teren-tah-whatever the fucks. Come on, let's move."

Teeno gave an exasperated and astonished look as Jay made it to the door, "W-what about your training!" Jay turned to smile at Teeno.

"Fuck training," he said, "besides, what's the point of living, if you can't live for something at all."

With those words, the seeds of determination and courage germinated in Teeno's mind. Future thoughts came forth as a new future for Teeno came forth to show a path towards tomorrow. Yes, he would get a Terentatek horn. Yes, he would make a Li'tesn. Yes, he would practice like there was no tomorrow, and YES HE WOULD COURT PHYNE.

"LET'S DO IT!"

"FUCK YES!"

And thus they bolted towards the Tomb of Marka Ragnos.

Two Hours Later

Busy, nervous, scared, excited, oh yes, Phyne was all these things as she walked down the halls of the academy. The word of Jay and his new comrades had spread just as she had anticipated, like an unruly virus that infected every discussion that existed. Questions like who they were and what they were doing were popping up like wildfire. Honestly, she didn't like the attention, but that was how the academy was. Once a big event like Jay's fight started, there was no stopping the rumors that spread.

Some of them, in fact, had spread about how Phyne herself was whoring herself out to Jay, in a desperate attempt to get his favor. Since, of course, that wasn't true, she didn't give much a care about what they said. What she did care about was what Teeno thought of them.

Of course, he probably didn't hear the rumors, as he wasn't the type to gossip or whisper behind people's backs. That was more of an Inquisitor thing, one that she had quickly grasped and used to her own advantage when she had begun attending. That didn't mean she hated it, however, she was just willing to use it herself.

But anyways, back to Teeno.

She couldn't understand what kind of enigma Teeno was. Teeno wasn't dashing or bold or strong or wizened or cunning or swift or even interesting. Teeno was just simple, as simple as any person could be. She almost hated his simplicity and how he'd act so blindly sometimes.

But, perhaps, that was the reason why he was so appealing. As an inquisitor, she had to deal in falsehoods and lies everywhere and would probably never see honesty in others for as long as she lived. Even with Jay, she had some nagging feeling that he was hiding something or being deceptive with her.

Teeno was different

Since he was so readable and so easy to look through, Phyne had no trouble understanding the oaf. He lived by his heart as he said, and things were always straight with Teeno no matter what. So was it trust that made her feel this way with Teeno or something more?

She shook her head. Really, at this point, it didn't matter. Phyne was far too busy not dying to try and talk with Teeno. Being a Sith came first over all else and Jay needed her help.

But where was the teen? She had looked everywhere the dark haired acolyte and he was no-where to be found. Honestly, how did he expect her to do her job when he was disappearing from the academy whenever he had the chance? He only had four days for crying out loud!

Eventually, her search had made it outdoors where the sun beat down upon her. She didn't know where the teen was and at this rate, Phyne wasn't sure if she was going to find him at all.

Then she saw something, a rocking white rock moving closer to the academy. She didn't know why she looked at it in the first place, but Phyne simply stared. For a time, it stayed as an undistinguished mass that drew up dust behind it and when it came closer, she couldn't help but gawk.

"Is that . . . is that TEENO AND JAY!?"

Yes, she wouldn't mistake Teeno for anyone and the black haired teen behind him was certainly Jay. What in the world were they holding?

"HOLY FUCKING GOD!" she heard Jay shout out, "HOW FUCKING HUGE IS THIS FUCKING FLUTE OF YOURS."

Teeno obliged Jay with an answer, "IT'S NOT A FLUTE, IT'S A LI'TESN!"

"WHY THE FUCK DO WE NEED SOMETHING AS HUGE AS A TERENTA-WHATEVER THE FUCK CLAW!"

If Phyne had been drinking something, she would have spit it out faster than she could ever exclaim how stupid they were. But then she realized something, the word the thing he had mentioned.

Li'tesn

Teeno had talked about it before. It was some instrument that he had learned to make and play when he was young. Curious now, she moved down towards the two forms of Jay and Teeno to intercept them before they disappeared once more. They did not hear her move closer towards them, and Phyne got a kick out of seeing them jump.

"Holy—" Jay said as he rocked back in surprise. He barely held on the claw when Teeno let go.

"PHYNE!" Teeno tried to hide the horn with is body, but failed miserably as Jay fell backward. The dark haired teen was cursing under his breath, both at the horn and Teeno. Jay's "treacherous" partner was quick to ignore him.

"Teeno," Phyne said over Jay's voice, "You look well . . ."

There was a blush on the taller man. Any compliment she had given always seemed to fluster him, "Thanks . . . you too."

A quiet came between them, only broken by Jay's constant ramblings of anger and hatred. Teeno didn't know how to begin, stuck between asking about her feelings for him or speaking about his feelings for her. Phyne didn't know how to begin either and more time began to pass as Jay felt the horn start to crush him. Finally, it was Jay's own words that got the conversation going.

"As much as I love listening to the fucking wind, CAN YOU JUST SAY YOU LOVE HER!"

Phyne felt her knees buckle at this notion. Teeno liked – no- loved her? Her heart had begun to race as she imagined his love for her. Teeno was just as nervous, but unlike Phyne, he was no longer frozen. He pulled Phyne in for a hug.

"I love you Phyne," Teeno said in a hurry. Phyne was stunned at this, but as time passed, she grew flushed and warm inside herself. It didn't take long for her to accept the hug and give a hug of her own.

"I . . . love you too Teeno."

Thus they stood there, cycling into a swirl of happiness and joy. Both Teeno and Phyne didn't know how to go further and they simply stood there, happy as ever. While this happened, Jay was still struggling under the oversized horn.

"Lovely," Jay said unamused, "Now then, GET THIS THING OFF OF ME!"

Four Days Before Official Fight

Teeno had finally finished carving out the Li'tesn, fitting in his hand as the rest of the piece rested on his chest. He hadn't really needed the entire bone, but, seeing as it was the only one that had been similar enough to the Li'tesn's usual material, he had simply accepted it. He had taken longer than usual to carve up his instrument and it was late now. Night had taken over and the cooling winds battered the walls of the academy. Knowing he would not be disturbed, the large acolyte put the ocarina-like flute to his mouth and played.

It came out as a shrill echo, but Teeno expected that. He had been rusty and the Terentatek bone was hard to cut with without proper carving tools. Still, he was satisfied with what he had gotten and it was nice to see his hard work finally show off his effort.

Taking the borrowed laser cutter on his table, Teeno made quick work of his mistakes. In another couple minutes he smoothened out his instrument and patched what had affected the sound. When he played again, the Li'tesn's voice came out like the chirp of a songbird. Emotions began to well up as more notes came out. Memories of old – of his mother – had risen back. He had remembered battering them down before as they had slowed his progress, but now he wondered whether it was all worth it.

Could he even get beyond an Acolyte? His future hadn't given him much to think about, but now with Phyne and Jay at his side, he was starting to think more about being stronger. He'd also have to be smarter, not just for himself, but also for Phyne. Plans and plans began to form in his head as he smiled and it didn't take long for him to begin playing an old song.

The song was called the Sleeping Serenade. His mother had taught him at an age when he realized his father had left them. He had been lonely; Teeno's mother was hard at work to keep them alive and well. When she taught him the song, she had told him where she had learned it as a reminder to live to the fullest.

I could have been so much more as an instrumentalist, but I chose you and I lived my life to the fullest. You are my hopes and dreams my Teeno, don't let reality hurt you like it did me.

When he had found out he had force capability, he had left for the Sith training. His mother had been thrilled to see him rise up, last he remembered of his mother was her tears as he left. Just like his father, Teeno was leaving his mother out in the world. Honestly, he wondered if she was still even alive.

By the time he finished, Teeno finally taken hold of his emotions and looked at his instrument. He would survive, he would be stronger, and he would have a future for himself. Life was not to be his crutch for his dream would be there to support him. Happy and content, he put down his instrument and when to his light switch.

But just as he was about to turn off the light to sleep, he heard his door open. Teeno wasn't fast enough to turn and face his attacker and he was quickly knocked down to the ground as darkness consumed him.

Three And a Half Days Before Official Fight

The usual schedule began as usual when Jay woke up again, though he had woken up earlier today. After a bit of physical training, the teen was more than happy to go and get some morning grub. But something stopped him, a verily large something mind you, that blocked his way to his haven of sacred food.

Standing right before him were droves of acolytes trying to get into the very hallway near the mess hall. Jay was a bit stunned, but it was soon obvious that this crowd was not here because of food, no. Luckily for Jay, people were quite loud enough to listen in on.

"Hey, did you hear?"

"Yea, who was it?"

"I don't know, but I heard it was messy."

"A hit? Who did it?"

"Where? Who?"

"Hey, isn't he a friend-of that guy?"

There was a pause as almost every acolyte began to turn towards him. The attention was off-putting, made more so by the fact that everyone seemed afraid to go near him. When he took the first step towards them made them jitter. What was with these guys?

"What the hell is going on?" Jay asked suspiciously. He continued to feel said suspicion as almost every acolyte in front of him clamped their mouths shut.

His eyes narrowing, the teen did the only thing he could do. A small show a force, him throwing a push that dented the metal wall to his right, nearly made every one jump with him included. He needed to look strong though, so he kept with the attitude nonetheless.

"I said, what –"

He took a step forward, the crowd back up.

"-the fuck-"

Another step sent some even tripping on their heels.

"-are you guys TALKING ABOUT!"

At the end of his final sentence, he slammed another force push into the opposite wall. The sea of acolytes moved out of his way, each squishing into the other to stay as far away from the angered teen as possible. He honestly felt like Moses for a second before one acolyte stepped up.

This one was nothing special, fear lining his face just as the others. However, given his older looks and the carefully crafted training blade on his back, Jay could tell that this one was perhaps more experienced than the others.

"Um . . . I- I'm sorry?"

Jay rose an eyebrow at this. "For what?"

"For . . . for -"

The pause started to hit Jay hard. Wait, who . . . was one of his friends hurt? Jay looked towards the hall, reading the markings and widening his eyes. He cursed under his breath.

"TEENO!"

Jay was rushing through the crowds of other acolytes starting to flood the halls.

Acolytes were technically allowed to watch other acolytes get evaluated when they were being treated medically, but Jay and Phyne had managed to convince the medical droid otherwise. The wounds were bad, debilitating and nearly lethal as the droid had called it. Broken bones, removed fingers, and even multiple seared wounds indicated an attack by someone with a lightsaber, but the manner had been deliberately made to ensure Teeno's survival. Every moment he watched Teeno get a piece of his body sewn up or healed, it was another second he had to look at the message before him. Jay knew Vemrin's finger prints, mostly due in part because Phyne had informed him of such things. Phyne watched for most of the procedure and even as Jay left, he could see her eyes getting puffy from all the tears.

Before long he was at the old man's office. Tremal should have gotten the package by now. He had asked for it three days ago and now . . . well now he needed it more than ever.

With two careful knocks, Jay waited for the man to open the door. The overseer gave an honestly shocked look.

"Strange, I thought you'd be more . . . vocal."

"Where's the thing I asked," and right there the mood turned quite cold. No games, no funny bits, just . . . darkness. Tremal was quick to turn to two large metal cases.

"They're there and-"

Jay didn't even let the man finish before he lifted the boxes. They practically flew out the door as Jay turned right around. Tremal would have said something, but some part of him felt off. It was the same sort of feeling he got when he was around Sith Lords and their unpredictable temperament, but worse in many ways. Jay wasn't supposed to be like this; he was supposed to be the idiot that had just as many good things going for him as there were bad.

Now . . . now there was only darkness

And the darkness was writhing around him.

"Good luck, Jay . . . you will need it."

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