Private Fade To Black

[Arcturus Dinn]

The Iridonian had offered.​

​

And Thesh had decided to accept.​

​

He made his way through the halls of the Academy and came upon the personal quarters of one Arthos Vynea as most of the denizens of this fine world slept. It wasn't that he had intended to seek him out so late, but Thesh was a busy boy, he always had a project he was working on, a training session he was partaking in, or information to devour. He didn't even realize just how late it was until he walked down that specific hallway. It was eerily quiet.​

​

Even so he was there now, and he could sense movement inside. Hopefully that meant the man was inside.​

​

He raised a hand, and lightly rapped against the door. ​

​

There was no time like the present, after all.​

 

[Arthos Vynea]

Rising his head from his meditations he glanced at the door through the two walls as he sensed the boy's presence. Looking over to Ayvari Dorian he spoke quietly before returning to his meditations. "Have the boy wait outside until I finish, and then send him in." It wasn't exactly an order, but he knew she'd do it as he closed his eyes to continue his meditations. She wasn't his subordinate, but they were bound all the same. He treated her as was due her role as a Knight, and with a bit more respect for their time together.

It was another hour before he rose relaxed and untired despite the hour as he spoke to the boy in the next room. Come in, Acolyte, but shoes off first. Waiting silently he watched the boy entered still seated in his meditation position before indicating a spot on the floor near him. The room was darkly lit, and the art on the walls glowed a faint red light giving shadows to the demons and Sith drawn into them. It pleased him greatly and the exact same room was currently being built into his personal ship as it finished in the shipyards now.

He didn't open his eyes as he spoke into the boy's mind there was no need. So, Acolyte, you have enough wisdom to come for the additional aid my young sorcerer, sit and we will began.

Arcturus Dinn

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

It was not the Iridonian who greeted him at the door, but the woman he'd often seen him with around the Academy. She had been there at the lesson too, observing. Curious. He bowed as she gave him the instructions, and took a step back away from the door in order to give the one inside some privacy.​

​

He sank down to the floor, unsure of how long he'd be waiting, and pulled a tome from the satchel he often carried. Thesh did not mind having to wait, it was simply an excuse to cram in more studying. So he did, he pulled open the tome and began to read over a few specific pages. They were not consecutive, but they were marked by thin strands of what appeared to be red ribbons.​

​

Time passed by fleetingly, though he didn't know how long exactly it had been. He didn't mind. Then he stood up as a voice entered his mind, slipped off his shoes, and entered the room. He bowed to the one inside, and then sat across from him. Cross-legged.​

​

Once more his words echoed throughout the boy's mind. Was this how they would be conducting the lesson? So be it.​

​

Thank you for taking the time to teach me, Master Vynea, he said, with sincerity, once more inclining his head into a light bow.​

​

Arthos Vynea ​

 

[Arthos Vynea]

He sat for a moment before pulling three objects towards him from throughout the room. Packed and sealed for moving onto his new home in the stars above he placed them around the boy in a triangle. Open yourself to the force, but this time do not use passion for the moment, simply take it. That is all, do nothing just feel the area around you through the force.

Opening each in turn he paused each time feeling the small feeling of darkness each put out before moving on. The first was faint, and if one wasn't looking for it they might never have seen it, especially on Korriban. The second was stronger, a feeling that left a user of the dark side just a bit more empowered though it was only surface deep, still it was unavoidable even though it lacked the stench of true corruption. The third made the air taste of corruption, the sweet sickly smell of decay and decadence.

Giving the boy time the Iridonian let ten minutes pass knowing the difficulty of avoiding the power of passion. The darkness would blot out the rest, and even a sensitive user of the force would have difficulty seeing past corruption. Standing silently he approached the boy on bare feet, the sound near nonexistent on the flooring. Without a word he planted his foot into the boy's chest and drove him into the ground. Staring down with cold eyes he closed each box again as the feeling of darkness fled the room just as quickly.

"The smell of the dark side cannot simply be crushed down, it defies this method. The air about you will spread dark side corruption as you grow in power, and no matter how hard you seek to minimize your force presence you cannot hide that. Now we will began in truth."

Sitting back down he returned the objects to where they belonged and took a long breath as he bathed in his passions. "The ability to cloud your force presence leaves you less open to attack as you'll keep it the force about you. It does however take constant concentration and strength to hold that in time will become easier. The first of these methods will simply make you appear insignificant to all others, while you won't be hidden weaker minds will simply believe you an untrained or someone without enough ability to matter. Anyone can do this with enough effort, but the true talent lies in sorcery. There lies the ability to appear in the force, but in fact to appear as a Jedi. Master sorcerers were known to keep it up for days, but I believe you have some time to go before that kind of strength develops. Still for a short time it can work against all but the greatest masters. Focus and then I shall talk you through the spell."

Arcturus Dinn

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

Reach out with his senses? No passion, just will?​

​

Thesh felt oddly confident in his ability to do such. Unlike most within the Academy, he was not one so completely fueled by the more negative emotions many grasped onto. Sure he could seethe when required, draw upon his past and truly harness the bogan energies lingering deep within himself, lash out through the Force with brute power, but it had never been much of a necessity for him. The Force came naturally.​

​

Even so he took his time as instructed, closed his eyes, inhaled a breath, and sent his will out to grasp at the Force. To sense the trio of oddities within the room. Each had their varying degrees of presences. With his eyes closed one was difficult to pinpoint. The other two were far more apparent, in fact the final one was so heavy with the darkside that it was rather intoxicating, suffocating some might even say.​

​

All around him the Force hummed and resonated its sweet melody. Haunting, it sent chills down his spine.​

​

It was broken only when the instructor's boot fell upon his chest, knocking him off kilter and to the ground with one precise shove. For a moment Thesh remained where he had landed, eyes slowly opening to look up and observe the Iridonian. Soon enough though whatever lesson he was trying to teach was over, and the items were drifted back to where they belonged. Thesh was free to sit upright, and so he did without balking at the methods shown. He was not a boy with pride to bruise, but the simple act of sitting once more without being instructed to showed that he wasn't one for simply walking all over either.​

​

He had been, once. But those days had long since faded.​

​

He pondered upon the words of the man before him, who spoke of a guise so strong it could - with time - fool even Jedi into believing he walked innocently among them. Certainly it was not something which would aid him against his fellow Sith, but out there in the Galaxy where the followers of Ashla were regarded far more fondly than their counterparts? Well, there it could be of quite some use. Besides, where this new art failed no doubt that which had been taught in the group lesson could come in handy.​

​

Even for a Sorcerer who could not fully mitigate the presence of the darkside.​

​

After all, amidst fellow darksiders it would be easier to blend, to scatter in the way the whiphid had demonstrated. It was difficult to pinpoint one speck of darkness amidst so much of it.​

​

"Yes, My Lord," he said as the instructions were given. Another intake of breath brought him back to the present, and to the Force, as he waited to learn the spell...​

​

Arthos Vynea ​

 

[Arthos Vynea]

He smirked as the boy sat back up and went into his efforts. The boy had missed the point looking, but most Sith would. It was far easier to find the abusive of the situation then to look further. He couldn't even blame him, so many still clung to the worn out idea of beating strength into an Acolyte. It certainly had it's successes he'd admit, but how many failures it had no one would ever know.

"The spell is difficult, perhaps the most difficult you will yet attempt. Even masters of it could only use it a day or two at a time, but they could walk within the ranks of the Jedi and be completely unnoticed. Focus first on your force presence, and then make it a lie. This requires constant effort, and I do mean constant a single slip up will reveal you instantly. You will control your presence in the force at all time to be perceived as a presence of light. It is a delicate operation though. Push the lie to far and you look like a beacon both burning your strength and attracting attention. Push it not enough and a more perceptive eye may see the darkness for what it is. Instead at all times you project one steady, unchanging line continually. I find it helps if you've met one of them. Remember their feel and project it, you're as much making their senses lie as you are putting out the lie. Complicated enough that I have no mastery of the art in truth. Then again I am a poor practitioner of magic in general. Knowledge though still has it's uses no?"

Arcturus Dinn

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

Thesh had no clue what the missing lesson had been, but he got the feeling there was something he hadn't grasped. That was to be expected though, as much as he excelled with certain things there was plenty he was oblivious to. Arthos wasn't going to sit there and spell it out, though, so hopefully some other time the true meaning would present itself. He remained curious about it, but not enough to let it cloud his mind at present. He was here to learn, and that meant paying attention.​

​

"Knowledge has been more useful than application for me, at times," he agreed with a slow nod of his head, if one could not understand the foundation, the concept, they would struggle to build upon it after all. Still he wasn't here to talk such philosophy, so he fell silent soon after. Closed his eyes and tried to grasp what it was he as being asked to do. Or informed of.​

​

As with Art of the Small he focused in on himself, on the flickering presence he held within the Force, and grasped at it. The notion was a strange one, but he'd give it his best shot. To alter it, to focus on it being something that it wasn't. Like an illusion, only set over his very being. Of course he couldn't do it outright, but he had found that core of himself. And that was a start, surely?​

​

He kept his eyes closed, kept his focus strong, and tried to keep the darkness from flowing through him. If he was to do this, he would have to do it without relying upon its corrupting influence. After all, that would be counter-productive when one was actively seeking to portray themselves as lightsided...​

​

Arthos Vynea ​