3: Provisions and Infatuation

Once on the main street, camouflaged in one of Lilly's father's suits, hats, and scarves, Vader stepped across the street paying no attention to the honking cars that just barely avoided him. Across the street was an arsenal-supply store, for in the window, the dark Jedi could see all sorts of armor and even light-sabers!

He stepped inside the empty shop and used the Force to slam the employee's head onto the counter while he took two light-sabers (a labeled red one for himself and a blue one for Lilly). He also approached one of the many revolving stands of apparel and took a black suit that matched his own as a special treat for his young accomplice. Who said that Sith did not have a generous streak? After all, if he was going to allow Lilly to help him, she would need to think, act, and dress like a fellow Sith. Come to think of it, she would need a different name too. "Lilly" did not exactly inspired fear into the hearts of men. She would be the first female to ever earn the rank of Darth and so the name would have to be perfect.

Vader thought about this the entire walk back to his hideout, which was the tree house Lilly had pointed out to him from her window. He hopped up a few rungs of the ladder at a time and continued to brainstorm names while he waited for Lilly's return from "church" (something very odd in which you would meditate and ponder the Force while a Master spoke to you, was how Lilly had explained it).

Growing restless, he held up his light-saber and tried to activate it. When he found it would not cooperate, he felt inclined to simply toss it through one of the walls, yet something then happened that was quite odd. As it tipped in his hand, a long red shaft extended from the handle. Vader quickly pulled it away from himself but found that it emanated no light and made no noise. Taking a chance, he touched the tip and found it cold and solid. He glared at it, making it crumple and twist until it resembled a crushed tin can.

When a small blue vehicle approached the house, Vader sat back in the far left corner of the tree house and blended in with the shadows. Lilly would be coming up shortly, after changing from her Sunday attire and making sure Arden was no where in sight. He had not seen her since their first meeting and was eager to learn more about her so that twisting her mind could be accomplished with greater ease.

Her small face finally appeared from behind the curtain that covered the entrance to the tree house. She crawled inside and sat at the opposite corner from Vader. They spent nearly an hour simply talking. Vader adopted a teacher-student tone and asked her all about herself, something she seemed to greatly enjoy talking about. Finally, he handed her the outfit he had stolen and she accepted it with enthusiastic gratitude and adulation. Lilly pulled it over her shorts and tank-top when Vader surprised her yet again.

"I have decided a name for you, my new apprentice."

She smiled unbelievingly. "Y-you consider me your apprentice? Master, I can't believe it!"

He waved it off and continued. "From this point forth you shall no longer be Lillian Ashwood." The girl was almost shaking with anticipation. "Starting now, you will be called Darth Initria the First. You see, there has never been another female Sith. It is a great honor, Initria, don't let me down." She assured him he wouldn't and proceeded to tell him what had occurred that morning after her sister had taken her into her room. Vader listened intently and congratulated Initria on her quick-thinking to ask Obi-Wan all of those questions.

"I thought they would be helpful, Master," she said, her eyes oh so slightly beginning to turn a darker shade of blue. "Shall we go after them?"

Vader shook his golden-haired head. He told her that the others had probably suspected something and would undoubtedly have some sort of plan ready. That was what they needed, Vader said, a plan of attack. It was then Lilly suggested something that in Vader's eyes was absolutely perfect...

The Dark Lord smiled with a chilling delight. "How do you think of these things, my dear Initria?" She replied that she had seen a lot of movies, what, er, holograms. Vader declared that her plan was the one they would use, only with a the exception of a few minute details. The plan would be taken into action tomorrow so he could properly train his apprentice in hand-to-hand combat should the need arise, and it would need to be at a time when Obi-Wan did not know where Vader was. Also, Vader would bring one of the false light-sabers with him to further intimidate Kenobi.

"So it is set," he said with a smile that his apprentice thought both terrible and most handsome. "But what shall we do about Arden?"

Initria went cold. She had no idea they were to do anything with her sister! The girl told her Master this and Vader's face turned ghastly.

"Do not concern yourself with her, my servant, for she is the enemy no matter what your relationship had been previously. Obi-Wan will have undoubtedly turned her against you by now and she will show no mercy. I will not tell you to kill her, Initria," Vader said, taking her chin between his robotic pointer finger and thumb. "I will simply ask you where your loyalties lie; with some Jedi scum who doesn't even love you, or your wise Master who cares for you very much?" He stared into his eyes, and with that sparkling smile and the intimacy of his touch, Initria was won over. She did not love her sister.