Ald had always been a bit strange. He was born to what appeared to be a pair of normal humans. His parents had obviously been expecting a normal human child of similar skin tone, eye color, hair color. A child of their own. What they got instead was a strangely orange infant with orange eyes. A pureblood in name only as he was obviously not a true Sith Pureblood. His parents took him home to raise him as their own until his sensitivity made it too dangerous to continue. So they left him. They took him to the jungles of Dromund Kaas, told him to go hide and they would come find him, and they left. They left him to thrive or die. And he thrived.

Some years later, he was picked up by Imperial officers. “Brute of the Jungle” they called him. He didn’t care what they called him. True, he looked a bit wild with his tattered shorts and shoulder length black hair, but he was mostly harmless with the Force dampening cuffs around his wrists. All was well until they reached Kaas City proper. “You’ll be a slave,” they said. “Harkun has been looking for another group of slaves to kill.” The young teen simply grinned, grabbed the nearest officer’s vibroknife, and killed any stupid enough to try to stop his escape. As he ran away covered in blood and rain, the remaining officers sprayed his back with blaster fire. He kept running and no one stopped him. Blinded by pain and rain and tears, the young teen slammed into the black robes of a Sith. The few brave souls who had gathered to watch the boy’s escape shuddered in unison. The boy was as good as dead. The Sith he had collided with stared down his nose at the boy, but otherwise made no move to reprimand him.

The officers who had opened fire were now running up on the boy. He felt them. He felt their anger and their fear. He wobbled to his feet, gave the Sith Lord a short bow then ran around him, continuing his escape. He made it a short distance before blood loss and hunger caught up to him. He collapsed, panting and full of rage waiting for the next shower of bullets to end his miserable life. None came. He heard the sound of heavy feet approaching him then saw the armored boots of the Sith Lord he had run into. No wonder they didn’t come for him. He was as good as dead already. A vice closed around his throat and he was lifted into the air. The Sith Lord brought him to face level and stared at him with a strange fascination. In that moment, the young teen gathered his hate, his fear, his loneliness, the pain of hunger and blaster fire into his hands and brought the vibroknife to life. The Sith Lord continued to watch as life blinked out of the boy. To his surprise, the boy brought the knife to his own face and began carving a pattern on his skin. The pain from his self-inflicted wounds was enough to give him a burst of energy strong enough to break the choke hold the Sith Lord had on him. He fell to the ground in a heap, coughing and sputtering for all he was worth.

“What’s your name, boy?” the towering Sith Lord asked.

“I no longer have one,” the young teen answered.

“You are a pureblood, but you have no name?”

“I was abandoned in the jungles by my parents. I abandoned my name years ago, my Lord.”

The Sith Lord chuckled quietly. “You know enough to have manners.” The Sith Lord paused then made a decision. “Very well. From this day forward, you will be known as Aldrdinar, apprentice to Lord Inusitus.”

The newly renamed Aldrdinar nodded weakly before his body gave out and he fell the short distance to the wet duracrete below.

Ald sighed quietly and took another sip of his drink.

“Are you quite alright, my Lord?” came the oddly concerned voice of Malavai Quinn.

Ald looked up from his seat at the officer who had appeared like an assassin in the night. He smiled and nodded at the Captain. The Captain gave him a short bow before returning to whatever he considered his duties. Vette, ever the opportunist, jumped over the galley seating, plopped down next to Ald and poured herself a drink.

“You look sad, Ald,” she said quietly.

“Thinking on my past,” replied Ald.

Vette frowned then embraced Ald in a side hug. The Sith Lord chuckled and hugged her back to the best of his abilities. He was happy to have a friend who would hug him when he was down, drink with him when he was happy, fight by his side, or cover his back.

He was happy just to have a friend.