Mindfulness and Lightning (Xavka Duquo)

[Darth Ophidia]

Standing in front of Xavka with her eyes burrowed into his soul. She could feel how his emotions welled up and readied to explode. It was good, very good, he would be powerful. Her grip fastened on her sabre as the passions appeared to reach a climax, but then dissipated. Was he unable? Inept? No, a crackle of electricity followed and she caught it with the tip of her blade. Still, it was disappointing. Acolytes were hardly able of a powerful current, but this was weak.

Then came the second hand. It was better, more pressure; more darkness. Her blade turned to catch the second stream as well, and she had to employ the Force to strengthen her hands to push back, but she could still break this current. Then came the rest, and it was all she had hoped for. Turning her blade a third time as the two previous arcs were already locked into the magnetic seal of her blade, she caught the last arc and had to broaden her stance to maintain her position. A grin spread across her lips as she pressed her bright scarlet blade against the currents of lightning.

"Good, good! Use your emotions. They are your fuel, the Force is your weapon, and your will commands all."

Those were important words. Once a Sith employed his emotions, there was a chance of being consumed by them. True mastery of the Dark Side meant to be in control of oneself, even when relying on ones passions for strength. If one could walk that fine path, one could tap into a seemingly infinite source of power. Only ones merit set the limits.

[member="Xavka Duquo"]

 

[Xevek Nekonis]

Wrestling with his emotions, straining to control the maelstrom of passion that was stirred up inside of him by the power of the Dark, Xavka continued to channel them through his hands, fuelling the continuous stream of lightning as it emerged under his power. It continued to impact against the humming, red blade of Ophidia's lightsaber, arcing and spitting as it tried to force its way past the plasma, to strike out at the female.

At Ophidia's words of how the Force was his to command, an idea sparked and flared to life in his mind. Focussing further, he sought to increase the power behind his attack while at the same time extending his will into the Force around him and calling it into himself.

With the strands of Force he had called, Xavka wound his will deeper into the stream of blue lightning, tying the steams of Force and his very will within the electricity. Hoping that the idea would work, Xavka flared the arcing stream once more while at the same time directing the pure Force he had wound within it to direct a branch away from the lightsaber and the send it straight for the ground.

[member="Darth Ophidia"]

 

[Darth Ophidia]

A strand of lightning branched off and shot into the ground, the resounding effect was like a small explosion, and Ophidia was forced to jump backwards. As she landed, her hands extended outwards to catch the lightning as it followed. It was not her blade that absorbed the lightning now, but rather she created a void of Force energy to draw the lightning into her hands and absorb the power. As she did, she could feel the maelstrom of emotions that was channelled through Xavka's lightning.

Drinking in the powers of his passions, she gathered his lightning until she felt it becoming too much. Her clothes were starting to singe, and burns were emerging on portions of her skin as she withheld the energy. Then, she let it all burst out in a single storm of lightning. The arcs shot in every direction. Trailing along the floor and shooting into the walls. The sheer amount of power created a resounding thunder, mixed with Ophidia's own outcry of exertion as she expelled the gathered Force energy.

After the display of power, she still stood upright and clear-headed. Turning her head slowly from one side to the other, she took in a brief overview of the surroundings and potential damage. A thin smoke rose from her form as threads of her clothing had incinerated in the blast.

[member="Xavka Duquo"]

 

[Xevek Nekonis]

A feral grin had stretched onto the scarred face of Xavka Duquo as he witnessed his Rattataki Master jump backwards, satisfied that his idea had actually worked. Then, even as Ophidia began to absorb the stream of lightning, Xavka kept it going strong. Two reasons drove his actions. The first was the emotion of curiosity, he wished to see how long he could continue to hold the spitting attack. The second was that he found the action refreshing, using it to purge himself of the fierce emotions that had been welling up within him for months, freeing himself from internal strife and reaffirming his control over himself.

He brought the attack to a stop, though, when he felt a warning shiver through the Force, a warning of a stretch of the same lightning he had been just producing. Taking the moment to once again experiment, Xavka quickly reproduced the same events as before when he first used the Lighting. Welling up passion, now a more controllable amount, he directed it around his whole body, mixing it with the Dark and began to emit Lighting from his whole body.

Just as the large blast of lightning surged from Ophidia, arcs of electricity flickered around Xavka. The bolts that tore from the female's body contacted with his own Lighting and was redirected alongside it into the ground, sparing the Zabrak from suffering the same fate as the training area.

As the roar of thunder echoed around the room, Xavka flinched badly, almost recoiling, as his Astraphobia flared up. While his Astraphobia made him fear thunderstorms, the produced lightning had not triggered it as he could feel the Force within it, giving him the knowledge that it was not natural. However, that could not be said for the thunder that had just been caused.

Recovering from his brief moment of mental shutdown, Xavka copied his Master's actions and took in the devastation that was once the training area. Small craters were melted into the rock from where the lightning had struck, wisps of rising from them like ghostly fingers. The same wisps were raising from the feminine form before Xavka, as well.


[member="Darth Ophidia"]

 

[Darth Ophidia]

Wrinkling her nose as she surveyed the devastation surrounding them, she was impressed with the power Xavka had been able to summon up. Not every Acolyte was able to create such devastation, nor manipulate the flow of lightning in such a manner. Again, he was a promising prospect.

"I think we ought to call that an end to the class. Lest we break more of [member="Darth Pyrrhus"] precious academy. I'd hate to have to pay for the damages."

The potential costs of repairs were staggering, and she would rather not have to pay up. Perhaps the togruta Sith Knight who watched over the academy had been watching all along. Perhaps he was impressed with what he saw, and opted to cover the repairs rather than get in the way of staggering progress.

"I suggest meditation, to contemplate what you have learned. I will find you in time for your next lesson. Rest up, my apprentice."

With a wisp of smoke trailing from her shoulder, the Rattataki turned and walked. As she did, she seemed to vanish into the shadows of the Academy.

[member="Xavka Duquo"]