maskormenace | Intro

[ Not wanting anybody to see his face, Kylo switches the video off before pressing record. He takes a deep breath, not really satisfied with having to do this - he should be able to find out more about this place and find the people he is looking for without any assistance - but this place is large and this seems much more efficient. The technology is outdated, the small device similar to a datapad but much less useful and without a holo function. This must be something that pre-dates his parents, his grandparents, even. ]

This place, I'm not familiar with it. It's not where I'm supposed to be, not even in our galaxy, yet...

[ He pauses, taking a breath, giving himself a moment to gather his thoughts and center himself. There are Force users here, more than one, and he's certain of it. He'll search every city until he finds them, burn them down, kill them all until he finds what he's looking for. However, if anybody can give him any information, save him from traveling through each city until he finds them... ]

Tell me where Skywalker and Solo are. I know they're here, I can feel it.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It was everybody, my entire family lied to me! They kept things from me as a child only for me to find out from one of my mother's political rivals.

[ This is something he doesn't talk about, hasn't talked about in years, and to have all of this being dug back up and discussed so openly with the one person in his family who may have understood what he was going through? It's difficult, to say the least, and Kylo wonders if he even has the ability to stand in front of his grandfather like this, if he even deserves to.

But he continues, answers some questions, dodges others, doesn't give the entire story. ]

My mother and father sent me to train with Luke. I disappointed him, disappointed all of them, I suppose.

[ Kylo keeps his eyes focused on Anakin, struggling to maintain an emotionless expression. He was never going to be who they wanted him to be. As his father said, there was simply too much Vader in him. ]

[To be lied to, to be disregarded and belittled by those who are supposed to care about you most is a feeling Anakin knows and knows well. He grits his teeth, angered that one of his children - a grandchild - has to endure what he did. Maybe Leia and Han's efforts were to protect Kylo Ren and to let him have a rather carefree childhood, but the result is the same. Good intentions or not, it hurts to be lied to on a consistent basis about things that matter.]

How can you do anything but disappoint when you are kept in the dark? [He fights back his rage and smiles, thinly.] Show me what Luke has taught you.

[He nods at the lightsaber, raising his own.]

Use your pain and your anger to make yourself stronger. In a way, that is the gift your family gave you.

[A bitter, bitter gift.]

I struggle with it to this day, everything I went through. She didn't want me to turn out this way, none of them did.

[ The battle is a daily one, something he struggles with unbeknownst to his co-commander, to those he tortures, to those he speaks with, to those he kills. They don't understand, nobody understands how badly the pull between the Light and the Dark hurts. It's exhausting, mentally, physically, emotionally.

His lightsaber crackles in his hand, ragged, a reflection of the man holding it. It's imperfect, unstable, uniquely his.

Kylo takes a step forward, twirling his lightsaber behind him before bringing it over his head with his right hand to meet Anakin's. ]

How is this a gift?!

Does that matter to you? Are you willing to change yourself - how you feel - to please others? You know that won't work forever.

[The dragon will awaken; the furnace will burst free in all of its sweltering heat. Ignoring the core problem only buys time. In the end, due to exhaustion or other factors, those bindings will snap and he will fall into the Dark like Anakin has - and he will find it exhilarating.]

You know where you stand and you have the power to change...everything. The pain you feel is like kindling that keeps your star burning.

[The crash of meeting blades is a soothing sound. For him, at least. His lightsaber is merely an extension of his arm, used for easy defense. Anakin's true power is much, much larger and it can shake the ground and bring mountains crumbling down.

But as this is his grandson, he holds back.]

[ The crack as the two blades meet breathes life into Kylo, his own lightsaber an extension of himself, a reflection of who he is on the inside. He knows Anakin isn't using his full power, that he's holding back. Of course, he can feel it, but he knows how powerful his grandfather is and knows what he's capable of. He also fears, knows he'll never be as strong as Anakin. ]

It doesn't! I know it won't work; I can't change who I am!

[ Never did it cross Kylo's mind that he would somehow be standing face to face with his grandfather, raising his lightsaber against him, learning from him. It's what he's wanted, what he's craved - a true teacher, somebody to show him how to truly use what he was given. With a step back, he spins and his lightsaber crashes against Anakin's again. This time, he pushes back against it, challenges him. ]

I don't know how to deal with this pain and this anger. I continue to feel it, the pull to the Light... I struggle with it, Supreme Leader sensed it. I've had nobody to show me the power of the Darkness.

[The stark, icy blue of his blade contrasts dramatically with the fiery crimson. Anakin has seen this combination before - except, then, both blades were held by him. He smiles, reminiscent, in the glow, adjusting his grip before he strikes harder and faster, changing his angles with powerful efficiency. There is no time to think, Kylo Ren; only feel and draw on the Force to guide each movement.]

No, you can't. More importantly, you shouldn't.

[He meets the challenge with enthusiasm, his grin downright cocky.]

He isn't much of a Supreme Leader if he can't teach you. [Just his opinion, of course. Anakin shifts and holds out his hand, applying pressure to his grandson, pushing him back if he isn't prepared.] I'm not like him. I can teach you; I can show you.

[ With teeth clenched together, anger and hurt in his eyes, he hits back against Anakin, matches each strike with one of his own, drawing on the Force to guide him against somebody who is so much more powerful than he. ]

My father said he was using me for my power.

[ Saying Snoke wasn't a proper master, that wasn't what Kylo needed is something that's been clawing at the back of his mind for some time. He always blames it on the pull to the Light, things trying to draw his focus away from what it should be. It doesn't matter what Anakin says, what his father said, because, as he knows it now, Snoke is the one who saved him, who showed him the path he needed to take and pulled him away from the Light.

Admitting that his father was right isn't something he's ready to do. ]

Please, teach me! Show me!!

[ He pushes back against Anakin, stretches his own hand out in response. ]

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