Electric Nightmares

[Asaraa Vaashe]

Lightning, it was perhaps one of the most iconic powers in the galaxy, the very trademark of the sith, of all dark side force users, at least all of them that Asaraa had met. But they weren't the only people who had the ability to utilise lightning. Her sword, Kervanos, carried electrical energy up and down the blade, a nasty surprise for anyone who she managed to strike, but technology wasn't the only way a force user on the lightside could harness that power. She'd heard of Electric Judgement, had seen the video's of Josh using it to great effect during the last assault on the Rest, but it wasn't something that was commonly taught, commonly shown to padawans, but she wasn't a Padawan anymore. There was that fact that had been occupying her mind increasingly over the past few weeks, the pink-haired Jedi glanced down at her hands, clenching and unclenching them under the warm Kashyyyk light streaming into the temple. Only, these weren't really her hands, were they? The hands had belonged to the Sith who came before, the Sith whose memories still haunted her when she closed her eyes. She could remember seeing force lightning arching from her fingertips, the screams of her victims as the energy played across their flesh.

It was one of the sights that continually haunted her, one of the sights that left her screaming at night as the nightmare that was the other woman's memories swamped her at night. It was a situation she couldn't leave the way it was, otherwise she'd end up unable to sleep at all. So how do you deal with a nightmare? Move past it? The only way she could think of was to understand it, to find a way to channel this into something she could use. But, this wasn't something she could do alone...so it was time to turn to someone she trusted and who knew both sides of the balance, it was time to find Yuroic Xeraic...who luckily spent this time most days in the gardens of the temple, and hopefully would be there today.

[member="Yuroic Xeraic"]

 

[WelshPsych]

Yuroic had indeed been in the garden. Part of his morning routine, he was finishing his run, today had been a marathon in length. He travelled outside the rest past the secret training spot he shared with Asaraa, he stopped near a wookiee village several miles away before returning. He was sweaty and a fair bit out of breath, exhaling slowly and inhaling deeply. He was calming his body down from the busy morning run. He was thinking of taking a shower when he spotted Asaraa wandering over to him. There was a clear look of deep thought and interest. However, if one was to look deeper, he could see the telltale signs of tiredness and nightmare filled dreams. He had found himself in the past and occasionally now, plagued by his own nightmares, of the horrors he commited in the past. Of seeing people die, people suffering in wars. There was a lot to wake up screaming from in Yuroic's experience.

"Looking for me to shoot the other leg at last?" He teased Asaraa, remembering her constant complaining to her boyfriend at the Winter Ball of his less than orthodox approach to training. "Did you need help with sleeping or something else, little one?" She knew that she could tell him anything, he had made that clear to her, though he rather she didn't come to him with relationship issues. Not that she had, he just feared the day she might. Grabbing his towel from his bag, he wiped the sweat from his face and scratched the back of his head with it, watching her carefully.

[member="Asaraa Vaashe"]

 

[Asaraa Vaashe]

"Something like that," The girl dropped down onto a nearby wall, pulling on leg up so that her foot was resting on the wall, arms wrapped around her leg as she rested her chin on her knee, watching Yuroic with half-hooded eyes. "Maybe not so much the nightmare as memories," she admitted cautiously, "It's like I've got this whole other person in my head, only I don't think I like her very much. Every night when I close my eyes I can see scenes from her past, the things she did, things she enjoyed." Asaraa couldn't quite bring herself to look at Yuroic, reaching out with her mind to pull three pebbles up from the ground, the flick of a finger sending them through an ever increasingly complex pattern, the stone clacking together and apart as she stared at them. "She wasn't nice Yuroic, she'd kill people hurt them just because she wanted to. She's cut someone with a knife 10 or 20 times, just small shallow wounds just to watch them bleed out slowly as entertainment while she was eating. I mean who does that?" The girl finally looked up at Yuroic, "I mean what kinda person could do that, but she's right up here," a finger tapped her forehead, "and when I dream I become here...so yeah a little tired."

A groan escaped the pink-haired Jedi's lips as she lay back against the wall, "The other day I tried to zap a fly that was buzzing around my room while I was reading. I didn't think about it, just you know raised my hand as if I was about to cast lightning...I don't even know how to. That can't be good though can it? just trying to zap and kill things like that?"

[member="Yuroic Xeraic"]

 

[WelshPsych]

"You'd be surprised in how well I understand that feeling. Not to long ago, I had an entirely different life to the one I remembered now, I did things that I never thought I would or could do." Yuroic stated as he watched her and listened. He tensed up when she described the horrors that she saw, the terrible things her body did under the Sith control. Yuroic bit his tongue as he remembered the things he did. "Well, you are looking at a person that would cut, torture and heal his own parents to then torture them some more." Yuroic couldn't help but remember those images of what he did to his parents, the way he hurt them, caused them more and more pain to heal them to stop them dying.

He had become an expert on healing due to that was the only silver lining he had. He gained insight on the human body that he knew hoa to heal people better for it now. However didn't stop his nightmares, the images haunting him. "Well, killing flies isn't a bad thing, they aren't the most pleasant animals." Yuroic tried to tease as he watched her move the stones. "Why don't I teach you how to use Force Lightning or the Jedi version, Electric Judgement." Yuroic commented as he watched her. "That way, you can be in control, know what and how to do these things."

[member="Asaraa Vaashe"]

 

[Asaraa Vaashe]

"Well, no but...aren't you the one who taught me to talk to the animals, I'm pretty sure you should be the one telling me all life is precious or something right?" The girl offered him a small wry smile, scrubbing one hand through the hair near her scalp, "I'm more worried about something else. When does a fly turn into something bigger, a cat, a dog, a kid, a person." Falling silent Asaraa stared down at her hand, fingers clenching into a fist and relaxing. She could almost see the blue arcs of energy dancing between her fingers before she clenched it again. "You think that would help?" The stones clattered to the ground as she turned her gaze, her full attention focusing on the man. "I mean...at least I'd know what it felt like, how to control it I guess." The reluctance was all on the surface, every fibre of her being agreed it was a good idea, the Jedi and the sith in a rare agreement.

[member="Yuroic Xeraic"]

 

[WelshPsych]

Yuroic shrugged, flies were flies, he doubted their importance to the ecosystem bar providing food to spiders, which were important. Yuroic scratched his beard, perhaps flies were important insects than he gave them credit for. "Creatures are important, small and big, however I still eat meat. I kill insects often and I think that killing a fly is not a big deal as you fear. I still think that understanding beasts and connecting with nature through the force is important but you need to not stress over the little things." Yuroic smiled warmly but could see that Asaraa is still stressed and anxious over her powers that she didn't even know that she had.

"I think you want to learn the power, whether or not it will help is up to you Asaraa." Yuroic stated in a firm tone as he rests a hand on her shoulder and squeezes it firmly. "I will teach as long as you promise to be careful with this power Asaraa. Even using the Electrical Judgement power, it is still pushing you close to the Dark Side. So make sure that practice with care and if you feel that you being pulled by the Dark Side, stop." Yuroic was firm on this stance, Asaraa was more Light Sided than he was and he didn't want her to fall down the dark path that he fell as well. "However, we will want to practice somewhere else. Not here." The gardens were not the right mood. "Which do you want to learn? Or did you want to learn both?"

[member="Asaraa Vaashe"]

 

[Asaraa Vaashe]

The girl bit her lip, head tilting to the side slightly as she considered his words, "I guess you're right, I'm just worried about how easy it was," the pink-haired girl allowed as she reached up a hand to scrub at her face before shrugging and offering Yuroic a smile. "Maybe I'm thinking too much about it," she allowed, "It's just every time I think about it I remember everything behind it, I remember how much she enjoyed it. I guess that's the worst thing for me, that fear, it was nothing to her, and the thought was nothing to me. What if that means I'm like her?"

Blinking Asaraa stared down at her hand, clenching and unclenching her hand for a moment as she let her imagination run away with her for a moment torn between memory and imagination before she stuffed her hands into her pockets, looking up at Yuroic. "Umm...both?" Was that a sign of corruption? Maybe but, "maybe it'd stop the nightmares? At least I'd know what it feels like, what I should avoid?" The girl shrugged as she pushed herself to her feet, "So, where do you go to practice something like this?"

[member="Yuroic Xeraic"]

 

[WelshPsych]

Using the Dark Side of the Force could be seen as easy but Yuroic knew that it was in fact a lot more difficult than many Jedi gave credit for. To harness your darkest emotions into powerful and deadly energy, it was hard to control and even hard to conjure. Yuroic found it difficult to use outside of combat for the longest time but he gotten better in time with his training. He could still remember Josh warning him of his path and Yuroic stating he was learning in his own way and needed to pursue this. He was sure that Josh would be very annoyed to hear that Yuroic was teaching this stuff to Asaraa but this was her choice and Yuroic knew she was capable enough to handle it all. If she wasn't, she would get a lot of hassle from Yuroic personally.

"Asaraa but it wasn't just nothing. Here you are, worried and concerned about using such powers. It shows that you are nothing like her, to be this concerned means that you do care and will always be careful using this power unlike her." Yuroic assured Asaraa, placing a hand on her shoulder and squeezing it gently. Nodding his head, Yuroic smiled. "Learning both is very practical. I found that I could use Force Lightning before Electric Judgement, it takes more reserve and understanding of the Force power itself beforehand. However, I am willing to teach both if you are wanting to learn both." Looking around, learning Dark Side powers was not something to do so publicly in the Jedi Temple. Thinking where best to learn, Yuroic thought on what could be suitable.

"There is a place that would be best to learn, Shadowlands territory so could be dangerous getting there." Yuroic mentioned as he guided Asaraa out of the garden. "It is more suitable and very isolated from others. Gives us peace and avoids nosy Jedi, gossip tends to travel fast around here." Yuroic chuckled. "Which do you want to learn first? I recommend Force Lightning, as it was the way the Jedi who used Electric Judgement had knowledge of Force Lightning, while not practitioner of it." Yuroic recommended as he stood by an elevator to the Shadowlands.

[member="Asaraa Vaashe"]

 

[Asaraa Vaashe]

"I mean...I guess it makes sense to practice away from the temple grounds," if there was one thing that was bound to bring the entire order down on your head it was the distinct feeling of someone using the dark side, especially if it happened right in the middle of the Jedi Temple. That would be painting a massive target on their backs, and lead to questions the young knight would me more than happy to do without. That said, the Shadowlands would be a good place to diguise the training, filled with predators and hunters it carried a natural aura of the dark...predators... Asaraa took a hop and skip, danging in front of Yuroic as she span on one foot, her hair billowing out behind her for a moment like a cloak as she jabbed a finger into the man's chest, the ghost of a playful smile dancing across her lips. "On the other hand, if I end up getting eaten by something while we're down there...I'm totally blaming you for that. I'll be super displeased, like I'll have to come back to haunt you...don't think I wouldn't." Her grin turned mischevious, "or you know, maybe I'll just tell Jairdain and leave it with her." The girl offered him a bright smile as she span away against towards the entrance, glancing back at Yuroic over her shoulder, "Coming?" That was one thing about the man, he always had a knack of making her feel better.

[member="Yuroic Xeraic"]

 

[WelshPsych]

Shaking his head, it seemed that Asaraa was back to her usual self once more. Joking and teasing with Yuroic, "hm, well if you can't handle the animals in the Shadowlands then I don't think I have much to worry about from your ghost. I trained you to handle worse than we could face so you will be fine as long as you keep on your training." Guiding Asaraa to the Shadowlands, it was thick fog and there were roars of predators and monsters in the distance as pulling his Lightsaber out, Yuroic held it tightly as he listened to the distance sounds of animals. They didn't seem too close to their destination so Yuroic relaxed a little as they reached the location of his training site.

The training site was set up with animal deterrents using sonic pulses, the opening had books laid around with some artefacts scattered around. Yuroic smiled to Asaraa, "sorry about the mess but I tend to come here when I am looking into the Force and experimenting with Dark Side powers. Don't tell anyone, doubt Josh be happy about it." Yuroic nudged her gently, flick of his wrist, Yuroic tidied the clearing. Wandering into the middle of the clearing, Yuroic looked around and crossed his arms.

"Force Lightning is a focus of anger, hatred and strong dark emotions that bubble under the surface." Yuroic stated, "it is using the electrical energy within your body and expelling it violently." Clenching his fist, Yuroic focused for a moment then released a strong lightning blast that scorched the bark on a tree nearby.

[member="Asaraa Vaashe"]