Hoth: Blood and Ice

[Layne Hoshin]

"You would have to ask others for that," she said, "All I have seen is my past. And glued the pieces of it to what others have seen. It fits. And it seems too much of a stretch to think there's somehow some totally new emperor, just as powerful, coming to haunt us from somewhere else entirely. That would be too random, and the Force is not random. Everything is connected."

[Aphr Ahaya]

"The Force does usually have a way with these things" Aphr sighed, leaning back and stretching "mmh....I don't think anything else will fall out of this head looking at the same notes. I'll just trust the Force to guide my visions."

She looked at her caf, all cold and sad now.

"...and maybe make a new caf."

[Layne Hoshin]

"All will be revealed soon enough," she said.

Mostly she was just talking about her own obsessive push toward that objective.

[Aphr Ahaya]

"You seem slightly more calm now compared to when you walked in here. Guess something you saw helped?" Aphr said with a small chuckle "let me know if you find anything else out, I think it's beyond time for people to start sharing information, as so many people have small pieces that could fit together."

[Layne Hoshin]

"I am not calm," she said.

All of the emotions were still there. The enormity of what she'd done just hours earlier. The choice. They were simply...kept in check. Perhaps. Or...

"...I am simply focused."

[Aphr Ahaya]

"More calm, not actual calm. You were the second blizzard of Hoth when you came in. Don't know what happened but don't be blinded by it, or your focus will be for naught" Aphr closed her datapad "want a caf? Mine is cold so was going to get a new one."

[Layne Hoshin]

"They didn't call me the Little Wrath for nothing," she said, some of that blizzard seemingly kicking up again as the righteousness of her chosen path was seemingly called into question by others again. And when it was already too late, too.

"Let's see if the Caf keeps it that way or not."

[Aphr Ahaya]

"Caf does a good job at something at least" Aphr commented as she stood, picking her datapad up as well to pocket "this base is not Twi'lek proofed, I'm still freezing. Also Little Wrath? That's a terrible name, sounds like someone was trying to mock you. What's with Sith and these awful nicknames?"

She went over to make some caf.

[Layne Hoshin]

"Some used it as a term of mockery yes, I'm sure. People who were upset that *I* did something noteworthy enough to get noticed enough to get a nickname in the first place. It felt like that was what Korriban was all about, at least back then. Making sure you got noticed."

[Aphr Ahaya]

"It hasn't changed" Aphr commented, waiting for the water to get somewhat hot "people are desperate to get noticed, and get the attention. I only was there for a few months and it was surprising how much students both tried to keep betraying each other and how often I got ignored. Was for my benefit of course so I'm happy to continue being overlooked."

She looked back at Layne.

"Personally I don't care if people want to rate my achievements. The only person that matters there is myself. Trying to fight for peoples approval just gets you hurt or worse people aim for you."

[Layne Hoshin]

"Not just students. The overseer assigned to our class," she said, eyes staring up at the ceiling as if she was remembering, "she almost killed me the day I showed up there. Didn't like me for one reason or another, tried to goad me into attacking her just so she'd have an excuse to take my life. I don't think she expected my punch to actually land, though. Not the last time she tried to kill me either."

Her gaze came down again.

"Yours was the better path."

[Aphr Ahaya]

"I think the overseer forgot I existed until the end of each class. Might be why I finished top of my class, everyone was focused on fighting for the moment and I just kept to myself and kept looking forward."

Aphr poured the first cup, then started on the second.

"I'll let the Laynes of the world take the credit" she turned back with a grin, "do you like yours sweet?"

[Layne Hoshin]

"Bitter," she said, probably predictably so.

"Sounds like you would have made a good apprentice for my old master," she followed up with, neglecting to mention that he was her new one as well. "He told me of the Lolthian spider, once. How he had learned from their lifecycle. Born into broods of hundreds of spiders that erupt into a frenzy of violence as they free themselves from the egg. The strong eating the strong. But it is not the strong that survive the slaughter. It's the patient ones. The ones that wait as everyone else tires themselves out."

[Aphr Ahaya]

Should have guessed....

Aphr added some sweetner and cream to hers, but didn't add anything to Laynes. Just bringing the two drinks over.

"Interesting, that does sound quite like me" she chuckled "who was your old master? Lord Zhorrid is certainly not like that, we are quite different in how we act but it complements well I think."

[Layne Hoshin]

"Darth Baras," she said, which might certainly be noteworthy in the sense that he was in charge of this whole operation on the Imperial side.

"...Zhorrid. That is the... what was the term... high Arcanix?"

A name that was stupid as hell, she thought. And she'd hated how that ritual Zhorrid had conducted and she had partaken in ended with Zhorrid calling her sister in the manner they'd done. Still... they seemed to be a person of some importance. Might as well take the opportunity to learn a bit more.

"Tell me more about them."

[Aphr Ahaya]

"A student of Darth Baras huh? I heard that's supposed to be a tremendous honour. And The High Arcanix yes" Aphr nodded "she's...focused. Very, very, very focused. Entirely devoted to her new role, spending a lot of time diving deep into the Unknowable Dark. Often taking me with her."

Aphr didn't comment about how little she enjoyed that.

"Her extreme focus is quite impressive though."

[Layne Hoshin]

Honor? Who could possibly think being *his* student was an *honor*?

There was a small crack in what passed for her composure at that.

"It all sounded like overly religious nonsense to me. The Sith were nothing like this in my time. Mysticism had its place, but it didn't dominate everything so completely."

[Aphr Ahaya]

"In your time huh? I didn't realise you were that old" Aphr chuckled "the Empress is very big on this and it's swept over the Sith lands with incredible speed. I would recommend getting used to it."

[Layne Hoshin]

"Careful," she said, half friendly half daggers, "not *that* old. Just old enough to be able to say I remember things being different."

She sighed.

"Participation is mandatory, then?"

[Aphr Ahaya]

"Well, not mandatory, however consistently skipping out on something that the Empress is very fond of may hinder progress. Which of course might be ideal if you don't want to progress and prefer to slide under the radar" Aphr offered with a small chuckle "maybe until you've got a grip on this brave new religious world?"

[Layne Hoshin]

The girl seemed to be making assumptions about her new allegiances, probably based on last night. Though they happened to be correct, unfortunately.

"I am not one to slip under the radar, myself," she said, "But anyway... as someone who doesn't sound like a fanatic about it, how would you explain the core tenets? How does it differ from simply living by the Sith Code?"

[Aphr Ahaya]

"Mm...That is a good question" Aphr said, having never thought about it "I guess it doesn't really. They look to the Unknowning Dark for strength and power. If guided by a High Arcanix who has studied the Unknowing Dark and leads the rituals, you can see even deeper into the Dark and find what you need."

She took a sip of her caf.

"At least that's how I see it, and how Lord Zhorrid explains it."

[Layne Hoshin]

"So, what... they're just... adding hokey ritualism to it for no reason?" She sounded skeptical. "Maybe they're just compensating for not being decent with a lightsaber?"

[Aphr Ahaya]

Aphr looked amused.

"I've seen Lord Zhorrid fight and she is very strong with that side of the Force but please allow me to be there when you suggest that to her."

She followed up with a shrug.

"They're adding ritualism because the Empress supports it, and because the Lords have taken it on. I'm not going to say I understand it, but I'm content for them to focus on that."

[Layne Hoshin]

"Perhaps I will," she said, knowing; or believing; there were probably only a handful of people in the galaxy who could rival her skill with the lightsaber.