Ask Your Light Is Slipping

[Sol Kenuk]

Quite some time had passed since Kyo first began to poke his fingers into the inky depths of the dark side. Sol had been ever present, even when he was merely watching his prisoner, a looming and choking figure that demanded submission. Through cold guidance, the Kel'dor had worked to pull the former Jedi ever further from the shining light. Now, it seemed, there was some satisfaction in what he had accomplished with his prisoner. Ultimately, keeping the man bound and caged would only prove to be more of a hindrance as the hours ticked by. Sol could not complete the other's transformation, so long as Kyo was still unable to truly delve into the darkness itself.

So, today, he made his way down the winding halls of his stronghold, another breakfast held gently within his claws. The hum of the ray-shield was as strong as ever, as the Champion finally stops outside the cell, peers into it's depths with wandering eyes. The lights were dimmer, and the exile had even earned himself a thin mattress and some blankets for his makeshift sleeping place. Reward versus punishment, an accomplished method of breaking even the strongest of wills. Physical torture could be so archaic, after all. Controlling the mind was far more effective. Sol disengages the shield, and offers the initiate his breakfast. Before the other could eat, however, Sol would snatch at his wrists.

"Today, we'll be doing something different." Sol advises coldly. And with quick, decisive movements, the Sith disengages the stun cuffs, and removes them from the prisoner's wrists. "Eat quickly."

@AdventCore

 

[Kyosuke Yamato]

Despite the fact he was falling to the dark side, Kyo couldn't help feeling a bit better about his situation. He wasn't necessarily proud of what he was doing, but he knew full well obedience and reward were far more compelling a reason to submit versus the idea of resisting and being eventually punished to death. Not only that, but the raven-haired initiate was beginning to think he might actually be able to control it.

When Sol entered, Kyo calmly opened his eyes. Even the nightmares seemed to be coming under his control. That, combined with the dim lights and more adequate bedding, made it much easier for him to finally get some long needed rest. He never thought the dark side would be capable of helping him sleep better, and yet here he was, feeling more refreshed than he'd felt since he could remember.

"Yes, master." The initiate had a slight tone and expression of surprise when the cuffs were removed, but ultimately he reigned that in. It was a clear sign he was being rewarded again, not something he would question. He gave his wrists a soft rub, still feeling a bit of discomfort from them. He froze for a moment as he felt outward through the ethereal essence. This was it. No more shock for tapping into the Force. He could attempt escape now, but he was making decent progress with these ideas of control. Perhaps the dark wasn't quite as bad as he feared, as he'd been led to believe by the Jedi.

Kyo looked back up at Sol. The trepid trembling and shy mannerisms were almost completely gone now. He had more confidence, felt he could maybe overpower his master, but then again why would he do that? Freedom? What good would that do him? No. Kyo knew his best chance for survival, for understanding the dark side and refining his control, was to stay obedient. To stay with his new master. And so Kyo obeyed. He nodded at Sol, and began digging into his breakfast with newfound fervor.

@Nevermourn

 

[Sol Kenuk]

His cold gaze is intense upon the other as he eats. Sol knows well enough that if Kyo intends to escape, now would be his opportunity. The stun cuffs were off, and the cell was open. Ultimately, the Sith would respond with lethal force, and he doubts the exile would get far. In a way, this was an offering of trust between the two. They shared somewhat of a history, and now they would share a future, provided Kyo didn't struggle against it.

"When I captured you, you tried to fight back. You used something I've not seen before." Memories flicker back to the stormy day on Raxus, where his hatred and fury had overwhelmed the golden stream of electricity that his prisoner had used to lash out. It wasn't Sith lightning, no. It was something different, something that the Kel'dor did not have experience with.

Regardless, it made one thing clear. Kyo was not some bushy-tailed and bright-eyed new acolyte without a clue as to how to fight or wield the force. This was man that was already trained to fight, and potentially, to kill.

In other words, the easy stuff was over now.

"Today, you will accompany me to a small training arena I have here, in the stronghold." Sol advises smoothly, before he went on, "I'm going to teach you Sith Lightning." If Kyo could already manifest some sort of electricity, then it was only a matter of corrupting that with darkness. The meditation that Sol had made the other endure and practice for the past several days would finally serve it's purpose.

@AdventCore

 

[Kyosuke Yamato]

Sith Lightning....

Something the initiate was already familiar with, having taken a couple blasts of it in the past. Something he felt he probably wouldn't have much difficulty learning, as he already knew the less powerful light side rival of the ability, Electrokinesis, which was no doubt the ability Sol referenced as something he'd not seen before. Everything else he did that night was rather ordinary, aside from when he grabbed the Sith's pestilent lightsaber.

"Yes, master." Pretty much all he said now, not wanting to open up much more than he already had or say anything that might displease Sol. However, this seemed like a point where sharing a little more information might benefit both of them. He made short work of the meal and wiped his face clean before setting the tray aside. Then he got up and obediently stepped toward Sol, keeping his head down and hands at his sides.

"I'm not sure, but I think if I twist my power into Sith Lightning, then I'll lose the ability to do it, and..." He continued, ready to follow the Kel'dor to their next destination. "...I think I'll lose so much more... The ability to grow food faster, to heal..." The thought of losing the light was starting to feel like a piece of him was about to be gone for good. He couldn't just let that go without giving it one last chance.

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather keep me around as your own personal healer? I could help you grow your own food here in your stronghold or wherever you want... I could still be useful to you and the Empire, if you let me stay with the light side..." One of his dark blue eyes poked out from behind his raven bangs as he looked up at Sol, ready to stop speaking at any sign of his master commanding him to cease.

Kyo wasn't even sure whether or not he could still operate alongside Sol and retain his alignment to the light, but he felt he at least had to try before he just gave up and let it go.

@Nevermourn

 

[Sol Kenuk]

Cold eyes pierce the exile as he speaks, words so venomous to the Sith. He wanted to heal, to grow food. Well, he could do that all the same without the force. There was no room for the light in the Sith order, no room for it in the Empire. Sol would not have his head on the chopping block because some foolish initiate thought that he could play both sides.

In truth, the Kel'dor had been rather soft on the man thus far. The first few days might have been rough for young Kyo, but ultimately, his obedience insured that for the most part, the prisoner had been unharmed. Perhaps the exile had grown bold as a result, had forgotten the stakes. A simple reminder would be enough, Sol thinks. At least for now.

So, he says nothing, merely points his talons at the other man and aims a short stream of hateful electricity. Sith Lightning was a torturous thing, and with enough duration, it could also be fatal. For now, Kyo would live. The shocking burst of agony would be short-lived, a mere few seconds. A painful reminder.

"You will not play both sides." Sol speaks simply, his words like frost and his eyes like fire. "If you want to heal, you will learn to do so with tools. If you want to grow, pick up a shovel. There is no light here, no Jedi among Sith. You do not get to call yourself my student if you do not embrace the dark. I would sooner end your life. Perhaps I'll enslave your spirit instead." A bluff, but spoken with such confidence that Kyo might not even realize it.

The Kel'dor had occasionally toyed with the idea of trapping the spirits of his victims for his own gain. It was not something he had the power to do just yet, though. For now, the Kel'dor looms over his prisoner with a wintry aura and a callous gaze. To Sol, Kyo meant nothing. It certainly wouldn't hurt the Champion to have to kill the exile. He wouldn't grieve the man's loss.

@AdventCore

 

[Kyosuke Yamato]

The raised talon tipped Kyo off to what was about to come. His muscles tensed, then relaxed as he intently calmed himself and focused his sense on the malicious energies that twisted under his master's control. Without resisting, the initiate simply took a deep breath, clenched his jaws, and analyzed as the Lightning struck.

"GHH!!" Kyo grunted through his teeth, trembling and shaking from the blast while the twisted energies jolted across his body. He did his best to continue focusing on it, studying the power even as it dropped him to a knee. He panted heavily, and felt his muscles jerking in the aftershock from the shear strength of Sol's short stream of Sith Lightning. It felt like twisted electricity, fueled by hate and control. The pestilent stench of the dark side was palpable, though he'd been getting used to that again.

"Yes..." He gradually caught his breath and kept his gaze on the ground. "Master..." Kyo hadn't meant to play both sides. Ultimately he knew he'd have to choose one over the other. He would likely have to give up on the light side altogether. One could never use both at the same time, he knew this. It didn't help that others in the Empire would no doubt still label him a Jedi, even if he was exiled, even if he did join their ranks. That, and Sol accepting only those who chose the dark were things he was in no position to argue with.

For now Kyo obediently nodded, stood, and steadied his breath as he readied himself to continue following his master to their destination. He wouldn't push the subject any further.

@Nevermourn

 

[Sol Kenuk]

The electricity arched from his pointed talon and into the frame of his victim. Kyo offered no resistance, though it would have been rather unwise to try regardless. Sol's expression is cold and entirely distant as the Initiate realizes his mistake, and now it seemed that Kyo had learned a valuable lesson. The light would not be brought up again. Sol didn't want to hear it, didn't care to listen to such mewling. If the light was such a strong thing, then why was Sol standing over Kyo now, clearly the stronger?

He turns on his heel, gestures for the exile to follow, and makes his way down the winding hall, away from the cell. No doubt Kyo's eyes would be roaming the stronghold, would see the few droids that were scattered about, and the scattering of living supplies that one might find within a normal home. Eventually, through a wide set of doors that hissed when they opened, the Kel'dor leads his newfound apprentice into what was akin to an empty, circular room. The lights flicker on with a buzz, and various training weapons lined racks against the walls. It was as good a private training arena as Sol could create, for now. Regardless, it would serve both of them well enough.

"You know how it feels to be hit with Sith Lightning." The Kel'dor points out with dry vocals. "But you do not understand how it feels to wield it yourself." A simple enough fact, drawn from the logic of Kyo having been a Jedi. Still, he does recall the strange, golden electricity that the other had summoned. That was part of the reason Sol wasn't starting with the easier stuff. "The meditation that you have learned is the first step. Now, I want you to do it again. Draw forth all the emotion that you have learned to gain strength from." Sol would watch.

@AdventCore

 

[Kyosuke Yamato]

Kyo obediently followed along, sneaking glances at the lonely stronghold of his master to look for any exits or anything else that might help him escape if things didn't work out with Sol. It was less than he expected. This was no Sith fortress or starship. There were no other guards, just droids. Curious. Sol hadn't taken him to some fortified Sith base?

"Yes, master." The raven-haired initiate simply replied upon hearing his master's command. He'd drop his speculations on where he was being kept for now, realizing it would be best to focus on the task at hand rather than to be distracted and upset Sol. Yet, Kyo still couldn't find himself able to give up the light.

As he began to meditate controlling his emotions again, Kyo felt the struggle to choose between the two sides beginning to rip him apart. The conflict inside him made him unbalanced. He closed his eyes, hung his head, and tried to feel for the dark side, knowing it was what Sol wanted. But it was not what Kyo wanted. The light churned in his core, slipping and ready to fade if the exile finally gave in and twisted his forte with Electrokinesis to its corrupt counterpart.

Outwardly he tried to remain calm and ready, but internally a fire burned. The closer he got to this pivotal moment, the more he began to realize he'd be giving everything else up. For what? A little power? To please his master? The indecisiveness nearly paralyzed the young man as he continued to struggle with the meditation, and awaited the next step in Sol's guidance.

@Nevermourn

 

[Sol Kenuk]

Sol's eyes rest upon the Exile, cold and bitter, devoid of emotion even as thoughts whirl within. The force is more perceptive, and with it, the Kel'dor reaches out, probes at the man as he begins to focus, tries to feel all that Kyo felt, and more. There was a struggle, a sensation of indecision, and Sol tilted his head, peered at the other with an air of impatience. Sol had made the man practice the meditation for days, and now it seemed he was struggling with the emotions that the Kel'dor had intended to be used as fuel, not as hesitation. Had he moved too soon? But then, Sol thinks, what is too demanding for a prisoner of the Sith? Kyo had been given a choice, to fall or to die. Perhaps it was cruel for the Kel'dor to hurry the process along, but it'd be equally foolish to think that the Sith even cared.

So he speaks, dry vocals like glacial ice, "Focus. Or I will make you focus." The threat hangs like poison in the air. Sol had not brought Kyo into the training room to play games. "How do I make you feel? I defeated you, taunted you, dragged you here and tormented you. Is that not enraging? Direct your power upon me, Kyo." The Kel'dor demands, and he is already ready to defend for the electric barrage that may come. "Hit me with all of the cruelty that I have showed you. Do you not seek vengeance? Now may be your only opportunity." Sol was not quite goading the Exile into another fight, but with any luck, the probing would prompt anger within the former Jedi, and the prisoner would seize that feeling to unleash the darkness upon his cold Jailor. Sol knew he'd be able to absorb the blast.

@AdventCore

 

[Kyosuke Yamato]

A heavy breath escaped Kyo's lips. Each of Sol's venomous taunts meant to spur on him into action hit him like a thermal detonator.

"How do you make me feel?" There was an anguished twist of confusion across the Exile's expression. He focused deep down on the festering feelings that boiled deep beneath the surface. "Weak..." His head hung, raven bangs covering his dim blues. "Useless..."

A heavy weight fell upon his shoulders. "I..." The ex-Shadow's left palm raised a few feet from his chest, fingers curled up and slightly spread. He tried to ignore the swirling conflict in his core while he summoned the last bit of light he'd been holding on to, causing a pair of white sparks to jump between the fingers.

Then the source of the pain he'd been feeling since the moment he came into this world flashed across Kyo's mind. Ruusan. Falling from his crumbling ship. Blurry faces of long lost loved ones haunting his first moments of existence.

The dark side began to gather around the Initiate. He squeezed down on the pain that pierced his heart. The hazy memory of a long haired blonde came clear into his mind. He didn't understand why he hurt so much when she came into his thoughts, he barely even remembered anything about her. Her, the purple Twi'lek slave he think he trained on Endor, the emerald nautolan who used to be his own Padawan. He'd failed all of them and so many more, just like he failed Sol.

Kyo felt his heart sink, and let a shaky breath as he closed his dark blues. His left hand formed into a fist and shook with tightened muscles. The anger and anguish he felt at himself coursed through his blood and bent under his will to control the overwhelming emotional trauma and pain that lurked within. Maybe it was better he didn't remember any of them or his family, since he could no longer hold back his overwhelming suffering.

"I..." This time the distress in his voice was clear as it grumbled through clenched teeth. It was clear as he struggled to control the unbottled emotions, most of which he didn't even understand.

Then the Initiate reopened his eyes, a faint gold sheen flashed across the surface of his once bright blues, leaving behind a pair of blackened blues. Any trace of the light side or electrokinetic energy that had been arcing across his fingers shifted along with the swelling tides, twisted by the dark side now under Kyo's control. His heart beat heavy and fast, then his glare shot over to Sol, and so did his curled fingers.

Sith Lightning bolted from the tips of Kyo's extended hand, crackling through the air as the ex-Shadow channeled his hate and anger through the splitting streams that streaked through the space between him and Sol. It wasn't a short burst, as Kyo would continue to channel this newfound rage he'd been bottling for so long.

@Nevermourn

 

[Sol Kenuk]

He could sense it, the light, crackling within the Initiate like a dying blaze, embers that shimmered with a weakening glow, stubbornly clinging to the boy's spirit in a moment of pure desperation. Trauma cuts through the soul, bleeds the mind with sensations of hopelessness, of grief, and loss, and failure. It frays upon the edges of thought to coil like a viper around what little hope remained. Sol can sense the shift, and his eyes glow with a blaze of silent satisfaction, the pride of his expression akin to that of a snake.

Good, the Kel'dor thinks, as the final shifts begin to topple all that the Exile had learned as a Jedi. The Dark Side blossoms like a thorned rose, glistens within his eyes, flickers within his spirit. It devours all that the man once was, and leaves something new in it's place. Something that had snapped and broken in it's weaknesses, remade with a greater strength.

The Lightning surges past Kyo's fingertips to arch with biting fury toward the Sith, and he raised his pointed talons, draws the force into his palm as the electricity dissipates within the dark force summoned by the Kel'dor. Finally, at long last, Kyo had fallen. Sol allows the stream to crackle for a few long moments before his vocals snap through the air like ice, "Enough!" Sol speaks thunderously, and the force enhances the baritone of his vocals until they were akin to a deafening clap. The command was clear and ringing. "It is done. You have overcome your past, and you are stronger for it. All that you were is gone, you have formed yourself anew. Kyo the Jedi is dead." The Kel'dor's speaks boldly.

"Welcome to the Sith, Acolyte Nox." The name change was fitting, Sol thinks. "But your training has only just begun. Before you is a difficult road. You will follow it dutifully, or you will die. Do not fail me." The warning rang ominously through the room.

@AdventCore

 

[Kyosuke Yamato]

Kyo's Sith Lightning ceased as soon as Sol's voice boomed through the air. The Initiate slowly lowered his arm, his seething storm gradually falling as the realization of what he'd done was beginning to set in. Kyo was never the Shadow he claimed to be. Though he had retained and retrained several abilities with help from Yuri, he was only a fraction of the Jedi he used to be.

The images of those before him crumbled to dust and faded away. Yuri's face remained for a moment longer, the look of disappointment twisting like a knife in his chest before she too finally fizzled away. He had to make himself believe those people didn't matter to him anymore. It was now best for them if they remained forgotten, lest he be forced to hunt them down for some twisted sense of vengeance or power. For the Dark Side.

He lifted his chin. His onyx gaze watched his master, cold and still. The light and hope that once flowed in them was gone. A null expression was all that remained.

"Yes, master..." Nox replied in a dull tone, closed his eyes, and lowered his head. So he had a new name and identity now. Now there was no going back. He was going to have to keep these unbottled emotions in control if he was going to keep up this ruse. If it was even something he could consider a ruse anymore. Part of him had only intended to remain obedient to his new master long enough to escape, but the rest of him was beginning to think he might be able to control this new power.

The Acolyte leveled his charcoal eyes with Sol once more. The churning storm of emotions still festered in his chest, and though he didn't really care for the bile of Dark Side that left him feeling disgusting, he also couldn't deny that he needed the outlet to unleash some of this strife he'd had since the moment of his genesis.

"I'm ready for the next lesson." He spoke calmly, though he still struggled deep within. Something he'd probably suffer from for quite some time, but something he could use for now to play his new role as Sol Kenuk's Sith apprentice, Nox.

@Nevermourn

 

[Sol Kenuk]

The Kel'dor's eyes hover silently upon the other man, judgmental and cold, piercing like the blade of a knife. A single slip up would be enough to doom the other for eternity, but for now, Nox had earned some respite from Sol's bitter wrath. The presence of the other was a weight that even the Kel'dor did not quite desire to face, and just as Nox had unleashed his emotions with a storm of rage, the Kel'dor thought that he required much of the same. There was a connection between the pair that Sol would not dare to voice, but nonetheless, that burden was present upon his shoulders.

Breaking Kyo to the Dark Side had not rid him of the weight, but it had given Sol some relief. Often, in his past, had he stayed awake at night in the Academy, brooding over all that he lost. The Jedi had never come for him, had never pulled him from those pits of despair. Inevitably, it was the Dark Side that had drawn Sol back into life. But here was a man who had claimed otherwise, who had stated that he had looked for Sol. It was a dangerous rabbit hole for the Kel'dor to dwell on, and so he simply refused. Opening those wounds again would be akin to ripping a Band-Aid off of a festering abscess. But regardless of how much Sol tried to ignore it, it seemed that Nox was not the only one changed by the encounter between the two.

If such a thing were even possible, the air around the Kel'dor almost appeared to grow colder. His expression was stone, and his eyes were ice. There would be no room for weakness, not when he was so close to claiming all that he had ever desired.

"There is a great deal that I will be able to show you that other Sith will not." A simply spoken lie, but with Nox still firmly placed upon the Kel'dor's hook, wheeling him in was all but guaranteed. "You will seep yourself within The Dark Side, you will learn the power that it will offer you." Sol's eyes are alight with corruption as his talons point toward the floor, "And you will learn things that most other Sith will never claim to know." A demonstration, in a way, as the Kel'dor boasted his power. The electricity sparks from his claws and into the floor to form an expanse of crackling light that stopped mere inches from the other man's boots. Lightning flood. As rare as it was beautiful. And if Nox trained well, he too would have such power for himself.

"There is no turning back." Sol's vocals warn quietly, an echo of what had once been said to him all those years ago. Perhaps it was poetic, in a way. Stolen from his home, twisted against his will, tortured and broken until there was nothing left of the Padawan he had once been. And now, despite all the pain those memories still caused, Sol had renewed the cycle once again. Perhaps one day, Nox would do the same.

@AdventCore [end thread]