A Pebble Against The Starry Ocean

[4ND-R0]

[member="Abyss"]

"I certainly know of Darth Revan. He's a famous legend among the Jedi, the Sith who was redeemed." She nodded, "But Vader...my masters only talked in hushed whispers about him. All I know is that he was the enforcer of Emperor Sidious centuries ago. I know not what he looks like, or anything like that."

She looked at him with a quizzical look. The Sith seemed to be suggesting something about her visions. She looked thoughtful for a moment, before returning to a line of questioning at him.

"Let's play Malachor's Advocate. Say your....hypothesis about the shadow of the dark side in my mind is this Lord Vader's echo in the force." She trailed off for a moment, "Why would it come to me. I am nobody special. I'm just an orphan from Coruscant. So insignificant my own parents abandoned me to the Lady Amidala's Home for Wayward Children."

That was the thought process that she had. That she was simply another denizen of the galaxy, not worth any glance beyond being a student of the Force.

 

[Darth Abyss]

Abyss thought about he question over a minute. He started to regret that he non of his books or texts with him he could research further. From what he could remember he formed a theory that seemed like it could make senese.

"I can not give you the right answer. I am not not an expert on Vader but there are rumours ... some say that like revan he found redemption in his final hours and returned to the light. I can only guess but the jedi you see could be an echo of someone who like you and vader was torn between light and dark. Maybe it is because something completely different, a part of Vaders story that I am not aware of ..."

Omce again his mind trailed of, his focus had completely slipped from his weird feeling for her onto the mystery of the ghosts that haunted her. Could it really be vader, and if so was there an option to communicate with the dark lord trough her? Suddenly he had an idea, one that would only work if she would allow it and he had his doubts if she would.

"I possess the knowledge about an art that allows me to drain your knowledge, to see the visions myself. But it would require that you allow me to use the dark side on your mind..."

He knew that he was asking for much, but the option to both helo her and maybe communicate with someone as powerful as vader was far to tempting to him.

[member="Allara Ven"]

 

[4ND-R0]

[member="Abyss"]

Allara thought a moment. She looked really pensive and thoughtful, almost in a mild meditation. She had allowed Kiara into her mind once during her brief training on Dagobah. The old master was not able to tell what the manifestations were, only giving the ability for the witch to have some power over them. She nodded to the Sith.

"Very well. Just be known my own mental projection will be there. No funny business." She noted, "And....hostility is to be expected."

She flicked Raksha, who became limp into its snake like form and wrapped around its mistress' waist like a belt. The woman closed her eyes, and began to retreat into meditation, focusing on the force. She did not trust the Sith fully, but she was curious if his knowledge of the dark side could give her some long need answers that have plagued her since she was a little girl.

 

[Darth Abyss]

Abyss slowly ascended from his chair, taking a step towards her. While already channeling his focus, the acolyte moves his hand to her forehead were ot rested for am moment. He wasn't and expert when it came to draining someones knowledge, but he was convinced that he could do it. The complex part of looking into someone mind was breaking the mental barriers that protect it, but she allowed him to do, so he expected close to non resistance.

"I will now enter your mind."

He touched her mind in the force, channeling the energy of the dark side trough his arm into her. He watched the world around him breaking apart, twist and transforming into pure darkness. His body was still standing in the position like before but his mind was now wandering trough the paths of hers.

[member="Allara Ven"]

 

[4ND-R0]

The Sith was brought into a strange netherworld of the Force that seemed to manifest within the Witch's mind. There were two halves to the landscape. On one side there was verdant field of grass, life, and other aspects that seemed to embody the Light Side of the Force. To the opposite side of this seemingly heavenly landscape was its opposite. A magma-filled, volcanic wasteland, not like some descriptions of Hell in various cultures. In the middle sat a mental manifestation of Allara herself, sat upon a gray throne with Dathomiri and Vong-like shapes on it.

"Greetings, Sith." Allara said, looking out into the field before her, "Welcome to my inner madness. The other two will no doubt be in shortly."

As if on cue, two figures emerged from the two sides of the field. From the verdant pastures came a man, dressed in the robes of a Jedi, only pristine white, with a mask like the ancient Temple Guards of old. He ignited a blue-bladed lightsaber and approached the center. From the hellish landscape came another man. Tall, burnt flesh cover his body, and what appeared to be melted, black Sith armor molded onto his body. The dark warrior breathed raggedly, mechanically, and ignited a red bladed saber. The two warriors classed their blades, the crackle of energy between them.

[member="Abyss"]

 

[Darth Abyss]

Abyss looked around him, observing the strange scenery around him with fascination. Everything looked as real as he was really standing there, yet his whole surroundings seemed more than surreal. Looking down at his hands he realized that other than her he his form in this world was slightly transparent and blurry like he was made of smoke.

"This is ... Breathtaking ..."

The acolyte already was making mental notes for how he would put this experience into words. It was unlike anything he had ever heard of, and had no resemblance to the times he sucked out the knowledge of those too weak to resist, and he was already set that this was something that needed to find his way into the texts he sometimes wrote to collect and order the knowledge he gained. His focus slipped to the two figures that appeared, mainly on the follower of the dark side. Now he had no doubts that this was a manifestation of the remains of the dark lord Darth Vader who once brought darkness to the galaxy. Abyss hoped that he would get the chance to talk with the force specter sooner or later.

[member="Allara Ven"]

 

[4ND-R0]

"This is the chaos that I am subjected to every time I try to sleep." Allara stated, "These two fighting as champions of their side of the Force. i can only exert only so much control over them."

The Witch's soul-self raised her hands and seemed make the two warriors cease their battle. "Enough!" came her strong voice, reverberating in void, "We have a guest."

The light warrior was the first to make a sound. "Him? The Sith? He has no right here!" The seeming Jedi said, pointing a finger at Abyss...a golden, mechanical right hand. His voice sounded both youthful yet old beyond its years.

"Indeed." The Dark One agreed, Sith-like yellow eyes staring at him through a cracked, weathered optic lens. "State your business, pretender to the throne of Bane. Then be gone."

Allara sighed. This was the same rhetoric that happened every time she had allowed an outsider into the chaos of her mind.

[member="Abyss"]

 

[Darth Abyss]

Abyss still was focused on the two specters that suddenly stopped their fight on the command of the witch. From what he knew, ghostlike manifestations of the force could be tricky, as they only existed to server a purpose, a purpose he could not safely state. His first words were aimed at what he presumed was what was left of Darth vader:

"Lord Vader. It is an honor to meet you, even in this form. As for my bushiness here ..."

He now moved his head to look at both of them to signal that his words were meant for both of them

"Is to find out why you choose this ones mind for this battle. Legends say you Lord Vader, found your way back to the light side in your final hours. But it seems that was is left of you is the sith you once were and not the relics the jedi inside your armor. About you Jedi I know nothing, but I guess you once feel to darkness and also found your way back to the light. This one ..."

He points at Allara

"Is torn between the two sides of the force like you both were once, so the force manifested itself in form of this never ending fight until she ever chooses one of them or makes her peace with being a follower of the twilight."

[member="Allara Ven"]

 

[4ND-R0]

[member="Abyss"]

"Perceptive!" The Dark Warrior boomed in a bass, mechanical voice, "Yes, we take these forms because we are echoes of the past, distorted by time and our fall into legends. I am the embodiment of her fear, her anger, her trouble with abandoment, her suffering. Her Bogan...her dark side."

"Likewise I am her inner hope. Her kindness, generosity, humanity. Her Ashla ... her light side." The Jedi spoke.

"There is even more reason why we appear as such." The Dark returned to the fray, "Her mother. Her mother, through many centuries, makes this daughter flesh of my flesh. Blood of my blood. We come to her in this conflict because she is indecisive. She feels guilt and unworthiness over her Jedi Master, unable to assume the Light. Yet she damns the Sith for her injuries and that same death, condemning the choice of full darkness. She must choose one, or accept a balance between or this battle shall rage on."

The spirit form of Allara held her head in her hands, looking ready to cry or snap. She lifted her hands, pushing everything away, bringing them back to the real world.

 

[Darth Abyss]

Its like Abyss was sucked out a deep ocean. The visions and sounds became blurred like he was dragged up by an invisible force.

"What ..."

Abyss was breathing heavily, his hand still remaining at her head. He had no concept of the time that had gone by since he entered her mind, and for a second he couldn't remember were he was. The trip through her mind had been surreal, strange and unexplainable. He had touched the minds of other before but it never came close to tbe emersion he just experienced. He would've liked to make some notes about the whole thing, but the vision was ended by the witches anger, so he was more focused on the reaction that would follow.

[member="Allara Ven"]

 

[4ND-R0]

Allara sat there, her face in her hand. Tears streaked her face, and she was mumbling coherently. "No, no no no." She said, every refusal more potent than the last. She was denying everything that specters had revealed, believing it nothing more than lies forged by the dark side. "I am not his blood, his kin. I'm nobody."

She repeated the last words over and over. I'm nobody. She was just a poor little orphan girl that the galaxy did not seem to have a destiny for. She looked to the Sith carefully, attempting to look strong in her moment of vulnerability. "We...don't ever do that again, Sith." She said harshly, eyes still hot with tears.

[member="Abyss"]

 

[Darth Abyss]

Abyss just wordlessly looked at her watching the mental breakdown. What a waste of potential, the specter had revealed that she was a member of powerful bloodline, one that would give her power if she would find the courage to embrace it. A part of him wanted to comfort her, but after vision of vader the sith inside him was once again in control.

"Rise, Allara, force witch, daughter of sith blood. You are not nobody, you just do not know what and who you are. You are still resisting it but the darkness is a part of you like it is a part of me. Embrace it, take the power that belongs to you into your hands. Trust me and I will lead you on the path that you were meant to walk upon."

The sith slowly extended his hand, to offer her help to stand uo from the chair she was sitting own. His eyes were flames of the passion that burned inside him as he looked in her eyes, like a reminder of the dangerous and powerful things he had just offerd her.

[member="Allara Ven"]

 

[4ND-R0]

[member="Abyss"]

Allara looked into his eyes. There, she saw promise in his offer. A promise of learning her path in this world. In this vulnerable state, where her mind was weak...she could his hand against her better judgement. Her eyes shifted into yellow corruption.

"Show me." She said to the Sith before her,"Show me how to dominate the darkness that has plagued my life. Show me how to use it."

She stood up from her seat, using Raksha as a fulcrum. Her eyes gazed deeply at the Sith. She was hungry for knowledge now, like a predator looking over its prey. She did not appear angry, however. There appeared to be some serenity in her movements.

 

[Darth Abyss]

"I will. You just made your first step on a path greater than the two of us."

He looked at her, observing as the darkness inside her began to talk hold like it did inside him. There was desire, there was passion. There was power. The shift in her aura was breathtaking. The twisted chaos that had dominated her mind had gone, and he could feel the cold energy of the dark side flowing through her.

"I am not a master yet, but I can teach you what my master as taught me. You will learn the ways of Darth Ophidia, member of the dark council and the most powerful being I ever meet."

He was now master yet, and he knew that he was far from being a lord. Still he could share with her what his master taught him, passing on the knowledge that he was given by a unbelievable powerful dark lord.

[member="Allara Ven"]

 

[4ND-R0]

[member="Abyss"]

"Darth Ophidia..." She rolled the name off of her tongue. "I feel like I've heard that name spoken whenever I've crossed One Sith dominated space."

She shrugged, not sure where she had heard the name before. She turned to look out the view port. She still saw her ship, malfunctioned and useless, lagging behind in a tractor beam. She sighed, turning to look at the Sith once more.

"The first piece of business, however, is getting my starship fixed." She said to him plainly, "Not that I don't mind this roaming death trap you've shacked up in here, it's just...I paid quite a deal for that flyer out there. Just is a little glitchy is all. But, in the mean time...Since it's going to be some time before we get to the nearest repairman. How's about we start with lesson one?"

 

[Darth Abyss]

Abyss took a look on the ships interface before answering her. The sensors implied that they still had some time before they would reach the smuggler moon. Enough time to introduce her to the path she had chosen.

"Follow me"

The hooded figure moved through the corridors of the ship like a shadow, until he reached a part with enough space for both of them to sit down. He slowly dropped to the ground, crossing his legs, his preferred position to meditate.

"I am sure the jedi taught you the art of meditation, the art of closing ones eyes to see what remains unseen, to find peace and order in the universe around us. Other than them the sith art of mediation is aimed at ones inside. On anger, on hate ... on passion. Close your eyes and listen to my words, focus on all the negative emotions you tried to hide from yourself."

[member="Allara Ven"]

 

[4ND-R0]

[member="Abyss"]

The young witch follows her new Sith companion to another part of the ship. She soon saw him sit down and become cross legged. She followed suit, sitting down in the familiar meditation pose, flicking her wrist. Her amphistaff became less rigid, slithering along her arm and resting itself around her waist. She closed her eyes, going into a meditative state, listening to his words as she did. She focused on the dark emotions. The anger. The Hatred. The Pain.

Flurries of memories swirled in her mind. "You aren't special, girl. You're nothin'. Not even your mummy and daddy wanted ya." The voice of the old woman who ran the orphanage she grew up in. Her arm went numb a moment, flashing to the moment she lost it. Then pain, a old Yuuzhan Vong woman undogoing a bizarre surgery attaching her biot arm. All of these emotions flooded her being. Her aura was pulsing with the dark side. Flashes of moments in her life that she should have been angry when fear paralyzed her, or times she fought against her rage. Now she was letting it out.

 

[Darth Abyss]

Abyss still had his eyes closed but he could feel the darkness inside her, slightly smiling as the woman's aura turned into a maelstrom of anger ripping apart the flow of the force around them. There were few thing he would enjoyed more than watching her elevation to the dark side. Still there was more to becoming a Sith than devotion to the dark side.

"The Jedi told you that the dark side is a shortcut to power. A path for those not strong enough to keep true to the light. Like a lot of things they told you, that was a lie."

He waited a moment to let her think about his words. It was important that she would find the errors in the ways of her former masters to understand his next words.

"We are not the mindless monsters the jedi say we are. A true sith has to be in control, like a jedi. Do not allow the darkness to consume you, control it, use it, shape the galaxy with the power of your will."

Again he stopped, again giving his words the time it sink in. It was time for the most important part of her lesson.

"Like the jedi, the sith follow an ancient code. Some call us dogmatic, but with time you will see that the way of the sith is the only way to truly become a master of the dark side. Repeat my words, remember them, understand them.

Peace is a lie, there is only passion.
Through passion, I gain strength.
Through strength, I gain power.
Through power, I gain victory.
Through victory, my chains are broken.
The Force shall free me."

He made a short pause after every sentence so she could repeat after him.

[member="Allara Ven"]

 

[4ND-R0]

[member="Abyss"]

Allara could feel the presence of the dark side with in her. For some reason...she liked it. It was like letting out years of repressed energy. It felt exhilarating. "Like a lot of things they told you, that was a lie." Yes. Many things that her old Jedi master had told her had proven untrue. For example, the nature of the force. It was neither good nor evil, as the Jedi had pointed out to her. It was a state of being. She heard the Sith begin to speak the lines of his code. She felt the need to repeat him.

"Peace...is a lie. There is only passion." She began. Flashes in her mind of her arm being severed, and the various acts of war and aggression that consumed the galaxy these days. Warriors passionate in their causes.

"Through passion, I gain strength." The various leaders of the galaxy invigorating their people for war. Supporters rallying to a cause.

"Through strength, I gain victory." The banners of a conquering empire as it gains dominion over another planet in its wake.

"Through Victory, my chains are broken." In her mind's eye. Her body retrained to the mental throne she projected.

"The Force shall set me free." The slash of the Dark One's metaphorical lightsaber, freeing her astral self from the throne. Her physical self's eyes open slowly, pulsing a gold yellow with the Dark Side.

 

[Darth Abyss]

Abyss lunges released a single dark laugh. His eyes opened to look directly into hers, meeting her yellow with his own. Being part of her ascend to the power of her true self right in front of him remarked a spiritual milestone on his path to becoming a true sith.

"Rise, daughter of korriban. You are now reborn into the darkness. Some of use make the decision to wear a new name, to show our dedication to way of the sith. The power of the dark side has many forms, and you have to decide which path you wish to walk upon. The sith are not like the jedi, there are no rules to what a sith can reach mastery in. Some are warriors far above any jedi, others lurk in the shadows, scheming and manipulating to reach their goals. Some even choose more obscure and exotic ways like sorcerers and alchemists."

From the cockpit he could hear a noise, a signal that their arrival on the smuggler moon was close. He slowly stood up from the ground, feeling the darkside that filled the air around him, like small pulses of electricity shooting through his body. It was like a drug, a addictive feeling of power and greatness, a feeling like their power combined could rip apart the fabric of the universe itself. A feeling between enlightenment and madness. He extend his hand to help her stand up from the ground, still looking at her with an even stronger fire inside of him than before.

[member="Allara Ven"]