Private Eternity in An Hour

[Starlin Rand]

She’d been here before, in this place, only the stakes were so much higher now. There was a home for Inanna to come back to, a family to care for, a people to champion. She pounded against the walls of her prison with the Force, desperate to escape the tank full of Sith poison her master had ordered her to drink, or die—

In the real world, Nimdok temporarily lost track of Eli. The boy had slumped forward, his body unconscious. “Eliphas,” he warned, not sure if his voice would be heard. “Don’t go any deeper, it’s dangerous. I’m going to have to guide you out…”

A crack formed in the glass of the tank, then it ruptured. The liquid spilled out, tainted bitter water. The room was flooding with the stuff, far more than the tank should’ve been able to hold…

"Eliphas, hurry!"

Lief​

 

[Lief]

The boy couldn't hear him, or perhaps he could and he chose not to listen. As the tank shattered and the room began to fill, his previously caution and almost leisurely approach was tossed to the wayside. He rushed forward toward her, even as the water rose, wading through toxicity he couldn't comprehend. Each step seemed to have her further out of reach...

He clenched a fist, closed his eyes, and focused. This wasn't his mind, he knew, but if he could influence it into harming him maybe, just maybe, he could influence it in other ways. Give me your hand he commanded, reaching out; he couldn't see around himself, he refused to succumb to the waves, illusion or otherwise, around him. "I am one with the Force, the Force is with me" he mumbled, from his otherwise still and crumpled form. Inanna, now, we have to leave this place...

Eliphas wasn't the type to take charge, he was happy to follow the lead of others, but in that moment there was no room for it. She was too fragile, too weak, and there was too much at stake. He strengthened his resolve, then opened his eyes and grasped at her. Even as the room flooded, even as they seemed to fall beneath its tide, he pulled back but held on firmly to the woman.

Held on to that light and bolstered what little remained of it.

Fled back toward what little he could remember of his own mind, his own body, and those around it.

Starlin Rand

 

[Starlin Rand]

Starlin was in the unlucky position of leaning over Inanna when she suddenly woke up. Her forehead crashed into his face as she sat bolt upright.

Staggering back, he groaned in pain, clutching his mouth. “Aw, feth!”

Inanna looked around blearily, her gaze eventually landing on Eliphas, whose head was slumped in her lap. For a moment she had a look of confused familiarity on her face, before she lightly slapped the cheek of the boy, trying to rouse him.

Nimdok seemed ready to let the Padawan have it as soon as he awoke. He raised a finger and started to shake it at him, only to hold out his hand to shake instead. “Congratulations, Padawan Dune,” he said. “You’re a natural.”

“How’d he do?” Starlin asked, still dabbing his bloody lip.

“Fantastic! He dreamwalked on his own, saved Inanna, and managed to not get hurt doing it.”

Inanna was still looking around bewildered. “What's going on? How did I get here?” she asked. Gazing down at her necklace, her eyes widened, then narrowed in anger. “Who broke this? I’m gonna knock their teeth in. You know how valuable this piece of jewelry is?...”

Lief​

 

[Lief]

As he drew back, the fragile light expanded and became all encompassing, blinding and brilliant and all together overwhelming. He marveled in its splendor...

And then found himself all at once alone. An abyss, not unlike the one he'd witnessed from the viewing port of Void-Drifter when he'd stumbled upon Kal and his claymen, was all that remained around him. An emptiness that felt all together alien yet familiar.

Oddly, he was not so afraid of it.

He didn't fully understand what he had done, of course. In fact, he worried for the woman he'd sought to free. He couldn't feel her now as he had before. And yet even as that thought arose, even as his worries began to form, he was all at once pulled from the void and back into reality.

His body felt strange. Not his own.

Eyes flickered open, and he saw first the woman. Groggily, he lifted his head which span. Something inside felt a little tender, no doubt residual from the few shards he'd temporarily breathed life into. Then he saw the Professor, and the instructions he'd ignored came flooding back. The boy paled, doubly so when his finger wagged.

But what left the man instead had the boy sitting there dumbfounded. A hand was extended for him to shake, but he was too bewildered to actually act upon it. He... wasn't in trouble? He blinked, and glanced between the trio of adults, trying to comprehend what was happening. It took him a moment more to notice, to actually really notice, that Inanna was awake.

Without thinking, he threw his arms around the woman in utter relief. "Oh, you're okay" he breathed, all at once finding familiarity in his own body again. Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes, and his heart skipped a few beats. "I thought I'd lost you in the end..."

More and more he was piecing it back together though. He pulled back, realizing that she probably didn't want a stranger's embrace, and he glanced over to Starlin and his bloody lip, and the Professor with his unreturned hand shake. "Dreamwalking?" he croaked, "Is that what that was? I was just... I just..." Acted on pure instinct.

There was nothing else to it. He'd seen her, and he'd just wanted to help.. come hell or high water. The latter most literally.

Starlin Rand

 

[Starlin Rand]

Inanna looked uncomfortable, but she patted Eli’s back regardless. “Thanks, I guess?”

“Your brain was asleep,” Nimdok explained. “It tends to happen if you go deep enough into the subconscious, entering more of a dreamlike realm beyond that of waking perceptions. You could’ve easily suffered serious psychological damage, or even been killed, but luckily, you survived! I don’t recommend you ever do it again, at least not without further training, but yes—you did well.”

Starlin blinked, not understanding any of what was being said. Turning to Eli, he simply said, “Good job.”

Lief​

 

[Lief]

Welp.

Maybe he'd been a fool to ignore Nimdok's commands then. Death? Hoboi, he'd not expected that. Good thing he'd kept reminding himself he was safe, even if it wasn't entirely the truth.

"Uh... Yeah... I'll hold off on trying that again. At least until I can learn it some more, without running off and doing my own thing. Sorry..." He was sheepish, but all the same the fact that he'd managed to do something without having to be directly told every step of the way how to do so was... Emboldening?

Pride arose within him, though he was too nervous to really let it show.

Even so they had somehow managed to successfully do as they'd been bid. That was something!

Starlin Rand

 

[Starlin Rand]

Amid all the congratulations, expressions of relief, and confusion, Starlin made a startling discovery.

"Hey, we never got our weapons back!"

Fin.

Lief​