Location: Darkside Cave
It felt like he had scoured the labyrinthine tunnels of the cave for hours, searching through the darkness for what troubled him the most; he had always carried a deep rooted fear of the dark side and what it would mean if he were to follow down its path. On dathomir, among his fellow 'brothers', Coryn had borne witness to the intoxicating nature of the dark side of the Force, and that mere witness of such malevolence and darkness had scared him. The darkness was not a path that he wanted to tread, he had always felt the safest in the light, but even he knew that the dark side would claim its prize - maybe not today, or tomorrow, but it would have what it wanted; that much he could sense in the words that echoed through his mind on a daily basis.
"The darkness takes what it wants, as it shall one day take us and mold us into the very thing that you fear to become." Hair rose on the back of his neck, feet frozen in fear and his connection to the Force crippled by doubt -- Sapphire eyes searched the darkness until they found it, the source of the paralyzing fear and inciter of doubt. Twin, sickly, golden orbs glared out at him from the shadows of the nearest alcove of the cave, a hidden room that he had failed to notice because of his envelopment in his own thoughts.
In a sinister hiss and deadly thrum of energy, crimson light pierced the shadows as though it were a knife cutting a slice of cake, and its sinister light fell upon the face of true hatred and darkness. It was as though Coryn were staring into a mirror, only the mirror would show what he had become - a Sith. He knew that it was naught but a mind trick derived from the sinister energies of the dark side, but even the lightest of illusions could hold the greatest of power if given the proper form.
"N...No..." desperation and realization seeped from the word, as water would seep from a crack in the glass, heavily and without restraint. The dark reflection smiled cruelly at his lighter counter part, evidently enjoying the pain that could be felt radiating from within the true coryn. It was not just the fear feeding the darkness, no, it was his sudden realization that this was a part of who he was - who he could become if the darkness were to take him. It was a possible future, his future, and it was proof that he could turn dark.
"Pee..." a moment of doubt, "....Emotion, yet Peace" surety and strength began to grow.
"Peace is a lie, there is only Passion." seeds of doubt and fear sewing into his mind with every malevolent word. He must resist.
"Ignorance, yet Knowledge." Light begins to clash with the Dark, sub-atomic cataclysm occurs in another plane of existence, mental images of wolves of shadow and wolves of golden light clashing in an endless shadowed pit. The sinking feeling of fear clawing its way back into his mind.
"Through Passion, I gain Strength." a wave of despair rocks the cave around him, forcing him into a deeper state of self preserving meditation, forming mental barriers to prevent the darkness from entering his mind.
"Passion, yet Serenity." words echo of latent power, the wolves of light begin to be forced towards the edge of the pit, to fall into the abyss beyond. The darkness is winning. It cannot be allowed to happen. Brief flashes of good and light begin to take the forefront of his mind, desperation thick in the air of the cave.
"Through Strength, I gain Power." the darkness begins its assault on his mind, stabbing at his mental barriers, clawed malevolence looking for a way in. Shadow wolves swell in size as the darkness grows thicker.
"Chaos, yet Harmony." Flashes of Midvinter fill his mind, the face of Master [member=Coci Heavenshield] and her husband [member=Thurion Heavenshield] fill his mind, the feeling of good and hope as their arms encompassed one another in the symbolic gesture of their love for one another. Light begins to return to the darkness as Hope builds, the golden wolves begin to shine, shattering the darkness that bind them.
"Do Not RESIST!" anger swells in the darkness around him, his mind reels at the sheer magnitude of its power, but he will not cower. He will not be afraid, "NO!!" , the darkness begins to lose its hold over him. A new surge of strength floods his veins, he begins to feel the presence of those on Dagobah with him - his connection to the Force is returning.
"Death, yet...." Sapphire eyes gaze directly into sickly golden pools of hatred, a clash of willpower.
In his mind the golden wolves (representing his Light Side nature) swell in size and begin to force back the shadow wolves (representing his Dark Side). With each step the golden wolves make, pieces of the dark are banished from his mind. The broken, twisted, version of himself falls to his knees across from him - sickly yellow eyes filled with fear at the realization that it has lost. The golden wolves pounce on the shadowed ones, each falling beneath the might of the Light.
"Death, yet the Force." a brilliant white wolf appears on the mental battlefield, and large silver eyes turn towards him and blink intelligently as a voice of the purest goodness enters his mind, "Well done, Coryn Raxis." the wolf turns away from him and in a single step the shadow begins to disintegrate around its feet, and with a final look to Coryn, the wolf bursts into a supernova of white light, obliterating the darkness from his mind and freeing him entirely from its control.
Tears flow freely from his eyes as he find himself aware of the cave walls and his surroundings once again. He over came the darkness, he would not fall to its power today, he would still yet do good in the galaxy and this brought forth a sense of freedom and confidence. He stood and began to turn until a flash of white caught his eye, a light that did not belong in the darkness of the cave interior - a shining light.
He extended his consciousness to his immediate surroundings, and the same gentle voice touched his mind again, though it was quickly fading. "A gift to help you in the days to come. Your journey has only just begun Coryn Raxis. Do not falter in your strength of will, the Light will always be with you -- no matter how dark it may seem." and with that the voice faded from his mind and Coryn grasped onto the object left for him, before turning and making his way to the entrance of the cave and the light beyond.
He passed through the entrance of the cave and came out into the murky swamps of Dagobah, his heart full of hope and his eyes filled with determination. He looked into the palm of his hand, and he found a crystal laying there, and as his mind reached out to the crystal, he could feel the connection that crystal held to the Light side of the Force. It was to be the first of his components needed for his own lightsaber - the first of many trials to overcome.
A representation of his success, and his Hope for the galaxy.
