Adekzeer is meditating on the defender. He tries to focus on calm, and the Force. He wants to retreat back to his new tribe: The Jedi who tell him no attachments, that he must disconnect from the land by wearing shoes, and he must learn to stand alone. Like a human, not a togruta from Shili. He tries. His thoughts drift.

 

He finds himself going back to his time as a Sith acolyte. While Master Orgus Din came to him and brought him back to himself, he already missed his time as a Sith acolyte. During the training he was taught things like passion, using your emotions beyond intuition, and how to be fierce in battle.

 

The Sith seemed to embrace their brethren, like he embraced the members of his tribe. They did not care that he was purely carnivorous, nor his need to hunt for food despite it being really available. The Jedi warned such need to take life could go beyond mere animals. Not the Sith.

 

One of the red Sith said such bloodlust would serve him well in the times to come. He shouldn't run from it. He shouldn't be satisfied on the basic luxuries. No, he must fight for food, fight for survival. Fight like a togruta. Fight as a Sith.

 

Why didn't he choose to stay? He fit in with them more than along the Jedi. The joys of his new tribe calling him back to the Jedi and back to Tython?

 

Thankfully, one of the Sith came with him! Lord Scourge- Claims that Adekzeer's face was in a vision. It was a vision in which he destroyed the Emperor. Him? A lowly hunter...

 

"You are doing that again," a soft but firm voice came.

 

Adekzeer looked up to see Scourge had joined him. He looks at the Sith and asks quietly: "Doing it again?"

 

"Yes. Self-doubting yourself. You should know by now you are more than a lowly hunter."

 

Adekzeer looks down with a shrug. “I am still used to home."

 

"Home? You speak of a place different from Tython? Were you not raised as a Jedi?"

 

Adekzeer shook his head. "I have been a Jedi for four years. I was originally from Shili, the togrutan homeworld. My tribe was all I knew. We did everything together: Hunted, made our homes in the trees, told tales of old, and allowed ourselves to be connected to the world. We often ran about with little clothing and no shoes. Here it's strange, cut off."

 

Adekzeer looks to see Scourge sitting and listening. "Well, Jedi..."

 

"Adekzeer," Adekzeer interjects, "My name is Adekzeer. Though most call me Adek."

 

"Adek, I sense sadness behind your words. Yet, here you are in an order that has cut you off from them? Their ways?"

 

Adek nodded. "Have to wear shoes, often eat alone, and the tribe seems disconnected. For example, they told me to stop trying to connect with people through the Force when I meditated. They stopped me from hunting for my meat, as it was un-Jedi like to have such bloodlust."

 

Scourge shakes his head at the togruta before him. "If I came to her wanting to be a Jedi, Satele would probably have me stop being passionate, stop fighting aggressively, and embrace my immortal transformation as my first steps towards fully embracing the light. To be a Jedi, I would have to stop being the Sith I am."

 

Adek looks around, feeling through his montrals proof no one was in earshot. "Yes. And that is why I... Why must my destiny include going back to the Jedi? Why not train more as an acolyte? At least there, I was allowed to embrace being togrutan. Now I'm back to being separated from my tribe."

 

"And you think as a Sith you would be part of a tribe again?”

 

Adekzeer nods. He looks down and sighs. He then slowly looks up as he feels something simmering around him. He sees Scourge with his hand held up, eyes closed. “This is a taste of Sith power. Do you still want to be Sith.”

 

Adek eyes slide closed as the power surrounds him. The Jedi told him it's something to avoid, yet it feels like the humidity of the jungle trees feeding his need to cool. He cannot go home, yet he senses the dark side as home away from home. He opens his eyes, which seem a light with a lust for more. “I don't know if I wish to be Sith or Jedi. I want more of this feeling.”

 

"I see. Then I suggest changing your focus.”

 

Adek nods. "To?"

 

"For today's meditation, focus your desire to hunt, your lust for the taste of fresh meat on your tongue, and the longing for your old tribe. And then for your dinner tonight, hunt. You will see the difference.”

 

Adek is still as Scourge speaks. He tosses off his shoes to reconnect himself with the environment, the force, and does as instructed. By the time they reach Tython, he is ready for the hunt and prepares beasts for a few meals. His connection to the Force was stronger than it was when he tried to meditate without emotions.

 

He will ask for advice from Scourge again soon.

Yay! A Scourge story I really like how you handled the Togruta point of view and how you showed Adek's past with his tribe and even the mundane things like how he came by his food. I look forward to seeing more.

Yay! A Scourge story I really like how you handled the Togruta point of view and how you showed Adek's past with his tribe and even the mundane things like how he came by his food. I look forward to seeing more.

 

Thanks Luna! I'll be posting more shortly.

Adekzeer is eating his latest kill over a campfire. He devours the barely blue meat in large bites. Blood drips from his mouth. The flesh tastes good, similar to the kind from home. He cannot get enough of it. It's been so long since he last hunted. And by hunted, he means hunted regularly.

 

The council told him to cease, so he ceased. Mostly. In the field in missions, he still got his kills. Kira didn’t understand, and Doc couldn't resist checking the meat for pathogens despite Adekzeer conceding and cooking it thoroughly.

 

Now… now… he embraces it. He embraces the lust, savours each death, and enjoys using The weak of the species to sustain him. Next time, it'll be The “strong”. The Sith’s, and more specifically Lord Scourge’s, advice proved correct. The Force coursing through his veins increased his speed and heightened his echolocation. Is this what the force’s darkside does? Enhances one's nature?

 

Why is it forbidden? Why is it so wrong to the Jedi? He has never felt more alive! Do Jedi deny themselves that feeling too?

 

His old master is gone, so he can't ask. He could not let it be known to the council. If he did, he would be expelled. He would be kicked out of his new tribe. And he didn't want that. Or did he?

 

He was unsure. Can he be a Jedi and a togruta at the same time?

 

 

"You will always be togruta, Adek."

 

Adekzeer looks to see Scourge join him. Scourge was in simpler, flexible robes. He used them when he joined Adekzeer hunting a few times. His redskin shines in the fire. Adekzeer notices that about him daily.

 

If I tell the Council, Adek thinks to himself, I won't be able to look at the red skin anymore because they'll lock Scourge away.

 

Adek goes back to eating. Admiring the red Sith would come later. "Will I? Or is the togruta supposed to fade into the background."

 

Scourge shook his head. "You will always be togruta. I will always be Sith- but that does not mean we can't work together."

 

Adek swallows. "I am unused to being 'I'. In my tribe there is no I and you, but we. We all work together for its good. Including hunting."

 

"Is this why you insisted I join you on some of these fronts?"

 

Adek nods. "What can I say? It is wiser to hunt in pairs."

 

"It is also wise to keep such close tabs on me," Scourge retorts.

 

Adek blushes slightly. "Oh... you noticed."

 

Scourge nods and eats. "It is not unwelcome to have your eyes on me. I sense your curiosity about me, my people, and my physical form. Perhaps in time and training I will reveal it to you?"

 

Adekzeer sighs. "Are you sure you want that? You know my gazes aren't innocent because I'm...I'm..."

 

"Homosexual? Yes. I had an idea from the way you watch me and Doc, and the way you almost never watch Kira. You should know I can't feel attraction anymore, nevermind feel desire or lust for a man or woman."

 

Adekzeer closes his eyes and tries to calm the emotional tide. "It wouldn't matter if you could: The Jedi Council commands against attachment. And if I were to go back home, they would frown on it as it is more traditional for Togruta to take on a mate to make more warriors for the tribe. Though two men together is not unheard of. No use on dwelling about something I can't act on."

 

"Does your village have leaders, like the Jedi Council?"

 

Adek thinks. "Sort of but it is more collective leadership. Everyone in my tribe comes together to make a decision. The only ones left out are the younglings. However, they are still there to learn. To see. To understand."

 

"So not one person actually controls your every action?"

 

Adek shakes his head.

 

Scourge sighs, "Then why care what the council thinks? I understand why your Council controls you. What I'll never comprehend is why you let them.”

 

“Because I joined just as my teenage years ended. I need to prove the Jedi who found me, and the family who sent me with her, didn't make a mistake.”

 

“Did it not feel good to shirk their orders and hunt our supper with me? Does it not please you to look upon me, the male form, with desire? Do you not crave for attachment in ways that may come close to what your village was like?"

 

Adek looks down and nods. "There are some days where I want to try to flirt with Doc, or get close to Rusk. But I stop.Questions like yours haunt me when I hear the Jedi Masters' voices in my mind."

 

Movement from Scourge compels Adek to look up. “What are you…?”

 

The pureblood sith moved in front of Adekzeer. He's close enough that the togrutan male sees the pureblood’s muscles, ridges, and crimson eyes; feels his warm breath; and a surge to close the gap. But he stops. He can't bridge it and further betray the Jedi. Or can he?

 

Scourge whispers, "Close your eyes, and you'll see strength.”

 

Adek raises an eye and then slowly does so. His montrals feel Scourge’s breath come claw, and then feels warm lips against his own. It was light and brief, but good and inviting. Scourge pulls back. “How did that feel?”

 

“ More,” Adek blurts out.

 

Scourge grins and does ad asked. This time, Adekzeer opens his mouth more, and Scourge returns in kind. The taste of Scourge's tongue and breath against Adek's gives him, a Jedi Knight, the audacity to wrap his arms around the Sith’s waist.

 

He embraces the sworn enemy of his new tribe,pulling him almost flush against him, despite Scourge saying moments before the sensations would be one sided. Yet Adek can't find his resistance anymore. Just longing for a deeper, sweeter taste.

 

Suddenly, it's gone. Scourge is pulling back to a togruta reaching out for him. He allows a chuckle, while retrieving the remains of his dinner.

 

Adek's skin is on fire from Scourge's hot breath. He glances to him with a blank stare. “Is it because you can't feel?”

 

Scourge shakes his head. "No. It's because passion easily satisfied is useless. Passion delayed, and allowed to build can set planets a blaze. Hold it in you, let it nurture your connection to the Force. When you cannot resist anymore, come to me and my lips will wet your appetite further."

 

Adekzeer thinks on this while they eventually head back to the ship. He then sees when alone in his quarters that Jedi think; he's supposed to feel. He re-feels the kisses, his glances, and focuses on the features of Scourge that attract him.

 

They next day he finds other Jedi that were corrupted by the emperor. They couldn't stand against Adek’s wrath. He says as they writhe on the ground at his feet: “I always knew you Jedi Masters were soft. Weak. This fate is your own.”

 

When he gets back all buyer Scourge are scarce. Scourge smiles, despite no feeling, and nods: “Well done, Jedi. You're gaining the strength of a Sith.”