Mira was already in a great deal of pain from her accident, so when the lighting hit, she didn't feel the intensity immediately. She was already going into shock from the first injury. But it didn't take long for the electrical current to affect her already-tortured nerves, and then she felt it. Boy, did she feel it.

She had always heard that people in pain often screamed without realizing they were screaming, but she had never believed it until now. She heard someone screaming, and the small part of her brain that still worked wondered who was making such a racket. Then that portion shut down, and she didn't remember anything as everything went black.

The next thing she knew, she felt herself bumping along in someone's arms, but she didn't even have a chance to see who it was before the pain hit and she blacked out again. She awoke once more several minutes later. The pain was still there, but something had happened, for it was no longer overwhelming. She stood and took her place with the others.

Necros watched as Master Vance applied his stern lesson to the impatient and foolish trainee, not unmixed with a sense of dismay. He had wanted to train the apprentices at the same time, and what was going on now would not do at all. He made up his mind as to his next move, and proceeded to carry it out. While he was debating internally what to do, two of the apprentices had scooped up the injured apprentice and made as if to leave. Necros decided quickly to stop them. Extending his left hand, he levitated the knocked out apprentice out of the hands of the two other apprentices, and then with his right hand, send a force push in their direction, knocking them both against a solid tree trunk some ten feet away.

"Did I say that you two could depart the lesson?" asked Necros in a very cold voice. "You have chosen to come here of your own will, and so it is now that you are still here. However, one of the lessons you must learn is to obey your superiors, no matter how foolish those orders may seem. Trust me, there is good reason for that. Now observe, the power of the dark side of the force."

As Necros uttered these words, the two apprentices cringed backwards, perhaps fearing that they too would share the same fate as the female apprentice. Instead, the body of the apprentice that had been struck down was levitating in mid-air, and began to glow as Necros fed force energy into it. Although not visible to the apprentices, the force went to work inside her body, healing her organs and closing her wounds, healing, and perhaps corrupting her mind at the same time. When Necros was finished, her burns remained, although all internal damage had been healed. She would still feel pain, but that was to be the lesson of her foolishness. Necros watched as she regained her composure and rejoined the apprentices.

"Now then. Resuming our lesson from where we left off. I want each of you to this time try concentrating the force in your legs. And this time, don't do anything else unless I instruct you to. Failure will be regarded most harshly. Let me know once you have accomplished this simple task, then we will move on."

Without any warning the Force push knocked Ithron off his feet. Impacting on the tree, he was winded and rolled to the ground struggling for breath. His side must have been badly bruised and by the looks of it, Jehain was in a similar state. Turning his head, he saw the triumphant form of the Sith Knight.

Bastard, he thought.

He had known what to expect and so as the Sith knight said "Now observe, the power of the dark side of the force.", he stood as straight as he could and prepared to feel wave after wave of Force energy shooting through him. It never came. The display he saw, however, was well worth watching. As the Force energy flowed into the girl, she opened her eyes and began to breath normally. It was a startling turnaround.

Then why the hell didn't you do that before we started to carry her off? Ithron thought angrily. Was that another one of your fucking lessons?

Out loud, he merely stabilised himself and made a clumsy silent bow. Already he had realised that a single bow could do this work of many words.

Let me know once you have accomplished this simple task, then we will move on.

Using the same techniques as before, Ithron allowed the density of the Force to accumulate around his legs. He found it easier this time, but inside himself he could sense his own anger, his own frustration and bitterness. In his mind, he could sense them like a flame burning inside him. Carefully, he allowed this flame to transfer its strength to legs. It was similar to standing near the fire to warm oneself. Too near and you'd burn and the heat would be lost quickly. Too far and you'll never get warm. He felt the Force grow brighter and stronger and he smiled. He was getting the hang of it...

Having got his breath back, Ithron walked over to the Knight. His legs felt strangely light as he walked, almost like they were being supported from something. Stopping several paces away, he first bowed to the Sith and said, "Master, I beg to report that I have accomplished your set task."

He kept his voice level, but as he spoke, he wondered if he would have got quite the same reaction from the Sith Knight if he had been a young girl in tight clothing. What do you want with her, Necros? he thought.

Receiving no reaction from the Knight he again bowed and returned to his space.

"Now then. Resuming our lesson from where we left off. I want each of you to this time try concentrating the force in your legs. And this time, don't do anything else unless I instruct you to. Failure will be regarded most harshly. Let me know once you have accomplished this simple task, then we will move on."

Mira wasn't about to deviate from the instructions this time. She hadn't really been attempting to do so the time before - it had just happened. But she would not let it happen again.

Hearing the Knight's words, Mira began to redirect the flow of the Force. Rather than allowing it to flow around her, she began to draw it into herself. Once that was accomplished, she directed its current towards her legs.

This time, though, she did not attempt to hold it. She simply let it flow like a river through her body. Then she began to pull in more and more, still allowing it to flow freely. She became little more than a conduit for the Force.

When she was satisfied with her efforts, she began to halt the movement of the Force little bits at a time, allowing it to remain in the muscles of her legs. Not sure what the Knight wanted, she continued drawing on the Force and gathering it even as she nodded her readiness to him.

Necros observed as the apprentices went about their work, channeling the force through them and concentrating the energy in their legs. Now that they had done this simple task, it was time to move on to them learning how to use their first force ability. Necros glared at one of the apprentices that vocalized his finishing of the task. He briefly used the force to probe his thoughts, wondering if perhaps the apprentice was trying to show off in front of the others. What he got in return was quite annoying and amusing at the same time. Apparently the one called Ithron favored Skygge because she was a female in a revealing outfit. Necros smiled. How sexist of him, but he suppose it was just another weakness in his perceptions that he would learn to correct sooner or later. Probably the hard way too, considering how he was going along.

The Sith knight walked to stand before them, and looked up. Manipulating the force with his right hand, he grabbed a group of about twenty fallen branches from the surronding trees, and held them hovering up about twenty five feet above the ground. He made sure the apprentices saw them up there before speaking.

"Now, it is time for you apprentices to learn a force ability called the force jump. It is merely like a regular jump that you would do, except that with the power of the force, the distance and height of your jump can be increased dramatically. With the force being channeled in to your legs, your next task is simple to understand yet somewhat challening to undertake. It requires the appropriate timing for likeable results. Simply jump up into the air, and while you are still heading upwards, release the force energy you have gathered in your legs. But be careful. Release the force energy the wrong way, and you can end up making your legs explode." preached Necros in his typical attention grabbing cold voice.

Stepping back slightly to avoid the clearing field of what should be an amusing circus, he motioned for the apprentices to begin.

Smiling, Ithron remembered this particular piece of training from the Jedi Academy.

"Today Ithron," Master Cole had said. "We will learn the Force Jump. It's one of the most useful abilities a Jedi can learn. Not only that, but once you have learned the Force Jump, you'll find you have learned a lot about how to focus your mind."

"Yes Master." he had replied, and he had listened patiently while Master Cole explained how to focus one's energy and carefully used the Force to help judge the timing. Finally, he smiled. "I can see you're itching to do it. You may proceed."

Summoning the Force, Ithron had jumped. Moments before the apex, he had tried to empower his jump. Nothing happened. He fell to earth, and just as he was about to touch down, the stored Force energy was released. He was propelled several metres up and to the right - straight into a tree. He hit it head first and slid to the ground; his ego more bruised than his body.

Master Cole had laughed. Not a laugh of the Sith - not a laugh of superiority and arrogance. A laugh of sympathy, of fellow-feeling.

Ithron had practiced in secret, going out to the gardens after dark. Eventually, after a week of practice, he had managed it. He performed it faultlessly when asked to, and Master Cole and had smiled at him.

"Well done, young Ithron. You'll make a noble Jedi...."

Snapping back to the present, Ithron summoned the Force and made the jump. Because of the new power he had learned to control over the past few days, Ithron's jump had a harsher acceleration to it than it had in the past. He flew in the air, over the log and landed gently on the ground, bending his legs to absorb the impact. He had been tempted to do a backflip over the log but knew Necros would not be amused. He was learning....

Later That Day

Ithron was feeling mentally and physically drained from the training that Necros was putting the Apprentices through. No amount of effort seemed to satisfy the Knight running the training. Laying flat on the ground, with his eyes closed, Ithron breathed deeply, attempting to recover his strength.

"Apprentice Ithron." Necros hissed from nearby. Instantly Ithron was sitting up and awake. The Knight laughed, but the sound was without humour. "Master Vance Jas requires your presence at the Temple. I suggest that you make haste. The Master is somewhat less forgiving than I am."

Ithron hesitated, perhaps remembering the ordeal of getting through the forest the first time but one look at the face of Darth Necros suggested that staying where he was would be a mistake - possibly a very terminal mistake.

Ithron entered the forest and ran. He ran past the overgrown trees, over undergrowth and through swamps. Calling up the last reserves of his strength, he managed to get half way back before collapsing. Lying on the ground, spent, he closed his eyes and felt the Force around him.

Help me... he pleaded with the invisible energy that was all around him. Help me carry on.

As though in answer to his prayers, his limbs lightened. He felt the Force, red in his mind, imbue his tired legs with strength. Anxious lest the effect wear off, Ithron ran. This time, he didn't stop until he was in front of the Temple with his lungs almost exploding from the effort and his clothes sticking to his skin by sweat. Suddenly, there came a crashing noise and he saw the girl Mira run into the Temple clearing. She looked as Ithron felt - her clothes ripped and her face bloody. Seeing Ithron, she raised an eyebrow but neither had the strength to speak.

"Apprentices Ithron and Mira. Good." The voice was that of Master Vance Jas. "You show promise. For the present you shall remain here, in the Temple. Be ready to continue your training tomorrow."

The Master turned to leave.

"But....where are the others?" Ithron blurted out, referring to the other Apprentices.

Vance turned and Ithron felt the full extent of the Master's will hit him. "They show less promise. Most likely, they will be disposed of."

Ithron and Mira shared a look.

"Understand this. The Sith have no place for the weak. You two are permitted to continue your training. Yet you are not Sith yet. In the fullness of time, you will either take your places in the ranks of the Order or else..."

The Master nodded to the trees, indicating the fate that awaited Jehain and the others at the hands of Darth Necros.

The relief pouring off the two apprentices was obvious to the Master without even needing to use the Force.

"You have performed acceptably. You may leave."

As the two weary apprentices staggered towards the temple building and the promise of a meal and a shower, Vance watched them go, his thoughts hidden by the carefully blank expression on his face.

End