"Let me go right now, Rand..." Rianna hisses in response, trying to push against his hold on her and hide her fear at the situation. "I was willing to die to escape the Jedi; what makes you think I wouldn't do the same here? Somehow, I feel it would be preferable...certainly preferable to working with the person that ruined everything in my life!"
"You did that yourself!" Rand yells. "You do not fall to the Dark Side simply because bad things happened to you. You choose it! Now you can embrace whatever flaws the Order thought you had. They will make you strong. I can show you such beautiful things and a better way of life, Rianna. I singled you out because I saw greatness from you, and I could always tell you were not cut out to be a Jedi. I want to help you attain power, not squander you like some thug sent to die for me."
Rand releases you.
"You just have to accept what you are. Otherwise, your fate is death. Nobody will take you in or heal your hurts... except those who you are most like."
"There was nothing keeping me from being a Jedi - nothing until you decided to start playing with me as though I were just a toy! A better way of life? Doing what, exactly? Skulking around the fringes of the galaxy? That doesn't sound better to me!" Rianna shouts back. "Nor am I much concerned with power, which if you know me as well as you claim you'd well know!"
She pauses for a moment, leaning against the wall.
"I'll accept that maybe you were right when you said I was broken. But Myraline was also right when she had told me repeatedly to stay away from you...and if there's one thing I wish I had listened to her more closely about, it would be that."
"Myraline Kiros had a darkness within her as well," Rand says. "I suspect she did not remain so composed and mature when she confronted you. A Master's lessons are supposed to be the foundation upon which a Jedi's career is built. You never had the foundation you needed, because you wouldn't heed her training or because her training was weak."
"And what of yourself? You murdered your Padawan - my closest friend - because he wouldn't give in and go along with your madness. Myraline was flawed and didn't always do a good job with my training...but you are even worse. Nor do I believe for a second you won't kill me if I don't follow you. Your track record goes against you."
Just thinking of those two events - Foghren's death so close to when Rianna did her trials, and then Myraline's behavior during their last encounter, the things she had said, and then her death at Rianna's hands - simply angers and depresses her even further.
"I didn't mean to kill Ciira...I hadn't wanted to fight her at all. Nor did I want to fight Myraline...she wasn't herself, she wouldn't listen, and I was just..." She cuts off before admitting to how terrified she had been then.
"Your track record is no better than mine," Rand says. "I've only killed one Jedi...
"It could not have gone any other way. You say you were willing to die fighting the Jedi, but your will to live was greater than that. Otherwise, you would have let Myraline and her Padawan poke you full of holes until there was nothing left."
"If there had been a way to not fight them, I would have taken it," Rianna replies flatly. "But I'm not going to ever not defend myself."
"Why me, Rand? There are likely thousands of other Jedi you could have picked on. You've more or less said my training was botched. My only real skills are my fighting ability. What's so special or great about that? Why couldn't you have just left me alone?"
"There you have it. You do not want to die. You will not let it happen."
Rand smiles.
"I foresaw that you would leave the Jedi Order," Rand says. "You are a lethal swordswoman, Rianna. It is not just your ability to kill that I seek. You have a drive within you to excel; it is apparent in your ability to fight. It can be directed at other things."
"Maybe...I don't even know anymore. She told me on Bespin I was only made a Knight because she encouraged the Council to promote me, and that I had all but failed my trials. Maybe if I had tried harder...but at the same time, if she had recognized my talents were not the same as her own..." Rianna says.
"Of course," Rand says. "Jedi Masters and Sith Lords do not become great because they simply nodded their heads when their superiors asked them to.
"Just keep in mind that you cannot do anything to violate the group's security. We are banding together for, in the short run, survival. We cannot stand alone or we will fail."
"I am glad we have reached an understanding," Rand says. "Of sorts."
And with that, he states that it is time to go! The Mecrossans have tasked Rand with the assassination of an pesky tributary who has stopped paying his dues. Rand thinks Tanic and Gallador will be adequate for gutting the group and is sending them.
"We will focus on your training," Rand says.
-
Now we can make Rianna aware of the damage she was dealt! And what a state she is in.
Your Physical stats are all set to 2 until treatment is extolled.
And currently you are at 30 damage- half of your natural limit, and an extra 5 for thrashing around in the casket. As weakened as you are, your current limit is 40.