Deerington Inbox

[onerthes]

[A tinny man's voice gives what is clearly a default answer machine message. Vira-Lorr is still figuring the phone out it seems.]
"Hello, we are not available now. Please leave your name and phone number after the beep. We will return your call."
*Beep*

Comments

[survivalthroughhate]

True. That is why the first thing any Force-user worth their salt learns is to hold onto their lightsaber.

[onerthes]

Lightsaber? Your weapon of choice, I have to assume?
I don't think I've ever seen one before, at least not in action.

[She'd only ever gotten a few words with Luke, long ago. Never this far.]

[survivalthroughhate]

It is an elegant weapon, made for those who can take combat into an art form instead of merely being a contest of brute strength.

[onerthes]

I would very much like to see it in action in that case. I can appreciate a certain elegance in combat. A rapier is far more a weapon of finesse, and I prefer it to anything more brutish.

[survivalthroughhate]

Now we are speaking the same language. If one is to fight, it might as well be with grace and dignity. No need to act like a common thug in a bar room brawl all the time.

[onerthes]

I won't fault a barroom thug if that's his style, but he'd better do it well, and too many don't master the art.

There is something to be said for true elegance. I've always favored the rapier because of that. Precision over brute force.

[survivalthroughhate]

One of the lightsaber dueling styles formed long ago was based off the form of the rapier. Not my favorite, but I learned how to use it well.

[onerthes]

It is a style of fighting best served for one on one duels, and for confined spaces. In open combat it certainly has its limitations, though that is what sorcery is for.

[survivalthroughhate]

I know of a Sith who uses it almost exclusively. Somehow, the bastard is still alive despite all my attempts to kill him.

[onerthes]

Then no doubt he is extremely good with his style. Mastery involves knowing the strengths and weaknesses after all.

So, you are not Sith, and yet if I understood what you have told me? There are similarities. Do you stand alone at this time?

[Cause from their discussion he sure as hell wasn't Jedi.]

[survivalthroughhate]

He is one of the most dangerous lightsaber swordsmen I have ever faced. Killing him will be a great challenge.

No. I was raised to be a Sith, but I turned my back on their teachings long ago when my master abandoned me. Standing alone is a good way to put it.

[onerthes]

So, you still carry some of their philosophy, but none of their agenda and make it your own. Would that be an accurate guess about how this has played out for you?

If so, I can't fault you. Going your own way is something I can appreciate in theory.

[survivalthroughhate]

Extremely accurate. Do you have a talent for seeing patterns or have you merely had a similar thing happen to you in your life?

[onerthes]

We forsook and killed the mad gods of our worlds when they sought to iradicate all life in their madness and start over fresh. You could say I have a certain experience with putting in the past the agendas of what once one may have served, but still carrying what was useful.

It also makes me skeptical of all absolutes. Too far to the light, too far to the dark, and only madness awaits.

[survivalthroughhate]

Of that, you are correct too. Those of the Light have become stagnant and complacent due to becoming too insulated, corrupt and arrogant hypocrites in the Force. On the other side, my master and his apprentice stand, having fallen so far into the Dark that they can no longer see a different way.

[onerthes]

When I was a young woman, I was certain that the Light, and Liberty for all were enough, that all we needed to do was keep to the light and everyone would be saved.

A hundred years can teach you a lot. Absolutes are the path of destruction, by one measure or another.

[survivalthroughhate]

I can imagine living for such a length of time would help give perspective on anyone after a certain point. How old are you for comparison?

[onerthes]

Tut tut, asking a woman her age. So rude.

I'm a little over three human centuries in this world, more or less. The Onelthes live, as a rule, around eight of those to perhaps eleven at the outside, without the aide o extensive magic.

By the time we're in our last centuries, most of us have had our fun and are comfortable finding an end to things. A long journey well spent.

[survivalthroughhate]

Ah, so you are still considered young for one of your species. Alas, Zabraks have a comparable lifespan to humans, so there is less time in which to gain wisdom.

[onerthes]

By some standards. Our average life expectancy is a bit lower because many die young. I'm considered middle aged, but that period lasts for many centuries with us.

Some of us, myself included, envy the younger races like yours.
We gutter and flicker for eons. You burn far more brightly.
It can seem a cold comfort at times, but I think to live shorter may be the better fate. To live fully.

But what do they say? The grass is always greener in someone else's lawn?

[survivalthroughhate]

Something like that, yes.

It is the envy of many other species that they die after a bare century of life at the most. For me, I have counted every day a blessing since I was a small child. There has never been a guarantee of survival for me.

[onerthes]

A far more sensible approach.

Relish life that you have, and live in that moment. But you know that, clearly. Only those who do not live so long ever really want to try. It's a lesson you don't learn until time passes.

Your way is the better one, Maul.