Dorin
Broom in hand Ko was diligently sweeping the neglected courtyard of his old home. He wanted to keep himself occupied while practicing his breathing, or lack thereof. Getting to the point where he could hold his breath for a few hours while being active. Even longer if he kept himself in a calm and meditative state. Impressive compared to where he was before coming here and learning the skill from his uncle. But still not to a point where either of them were satisfied. If Ko’s mask were destroyed without any way to fix or replace it he might need to go days without it if he was on a mission. After all, losing such a crucial piece of gear was his most easily exploitable weakness.
But Uncle Xojo still hadn’t taught Ko how to detox himself if he did ever find himself poisoned by breathing in oxygen. After all, breath control was only one half of what was really necessary for him. But what was most concerning for Ko, was some of the news circulating around the holonet. Dark forces were brewing outside the borders of the Galactic Alliance. He wasn’t going to allow himself to be away from conflict again while his friends were off fighting and risking their own safety. Not like what happened during his absence from Thule. Where two of his fellow padawans were captured while he was in a medbay recovering from being stripped of his sense of sight.
Knowing that he couldn’t just stand around and wait for Xojo to decide he wanted to sober up enough for train Ko more, the young Kel Dor went to where his uncle was in a deep, drunken slumber. Xojo was sleeping on a couch while Ko stood over him, holding a large glass of cold water. Suddenly splashing it onto his uncle's face. The elder Kel Dor quickly came to his senses. Scrambling off the couch before getting into a practiced defensive stance. Even after many years out of practice, Xojo’s martial instincts as the former senior combat instructor for the baran do was evident. Seeing that it was just Ko he let out an anguished groan.
“Ugh! Why do you keep doing that!? What? What do you want this time?” Xojo questioned his nephew with a frustrated tone.
“War, it’s on the horizon, I know it. I’m not gonna abstain from it here while my friends are risking their lives. It’s been two months now and all I’ve managed to do is hold my breath. I need to know how to detox my body through The Force.” Ko said, standing in front of his uncle, with his hands behind his back. Determined to continue expanding on these crucial Force techniques.
Xojo eased their posture for a moment and let out a sigh. “So those weren’t just nightmares...” He said to himself. “Conflict is brewing, and not very far from us either. An Empire of Darkness. Not the same kind of Empire our family destroyed itself over years back.” Despite being rudely awoken and drenched in cold water. Xojo actually seemed to be taking things seriously now for once. Even with all his heavy drinking, the Force was still pushing through to communicate to him what was coming. It was actually surprising to Ko. “You’re right, we don’t have much time left. Let me get ready, and meet me outside in the courtyard…”
But Uncle Xojo still hadn’t taught Ko how to detox himself if he did ever find himself poisoned by breathing in oxygen. After all, breath control was only one half of what was really necessary for him. But what was most concerning for Ko, was some of the news circulating around the holonet. Dark forces were brewing outside the borders of the Galactic Alliance. He wasn’t going to allow himself to be away from conflict again while his friends were off fighting and risking their own safety. Not like what happened during his absence from Thule. Where two of his fellow padawans were captured while he was in a medbay recovering from being stripped of his sense of sight.
Knowing that he couldn’t just stand around and wait for Xojo to decide he wanted to sober up enough for train Ko more, the young Kel Dor went to where his uncle was in a deep, drunken slumber. Xojo was sleeping on a couch while Ko stood over him, holding a large glass of cold water. Suddenly splashing it onto his uncle's face. The elder Kel Dor quickly came to his senses. Scrambling off the couch before getting into a practiced defensive stance. Even after many years out of practice, Xojo’s martial instincts as the former senior combat instructor for the baran do was evident. Seeing that it was just Ko he let out an anguished groan.
“Ugh! Why do you keep doing that!? What? What do you want this time?” Xojo questioned his nephew with a frustrated tone.
“War, it’s on the horizon, I know it. I’m not gonna abstain from it here while my friends are risking their lives. It’s been two months now and all I’ve managed to do is hold my breath. I need to know how to detox my body through The Force.” Ko said, standing in front of his uncle, with his hands behind his back. Determined to continue expanding on these crucial Force techniques.
Xojo eased their posture for a moment and let out a sigh. “So those weren’t just nightmares...” He said to himself. “Conflict is brewing, and not very far from us either. An Empire of Darkness. Not the same kind of Empire our family destroyed itself over years back.” Despite being rudely awoken and drenched in cold water. Xojo actually seemed to be taking things seriously now for once. Even with all his heavy drinking, the Force was still pushing through to communicate to him what was coming. It was actually surprising to Ko. “You’re right, we don’t have much time left. Let me get ready, and meet me outside in the courtyard…”
. . .
Once outside Xojo was able to see and actually appreciate how well Ko was making the neglected property look. Plants looked watered, dust was swept away and new prayer flags were strung about, replacing the tattered ones that had been hanging on by a single thread. Approaching Ko, his uncle set down a rather large item. “This is how you’re gonna train to detox your body…” It was a large gourd bottle. “Moonshine, made by yours truly.”
Ko gave his uncle an unamused look. “That’s your plan? Do you just wanna turn me into a drunkard like you?” Ko asked, earning a headshake from Xojo.
“Nope… You’re gonna drink this and use The Force to detoxify and rapidly metabolize it from your body. Succeed and you’ll just be dehydrated. Fail and you’ll waste time with nasty hangovers, and most likely damage your liver. The intoxication is to make it harder, you’ll have trouble focusing and thinking clearly.” This was a way to force Ko to learn and become proficient with the ability quickly. Like a trial by fire. If he could learn to detox his body even while under the influence. He would be able to manage it even in high stress situations. In Ko's mind there was a method to the madness in Xojo’s plan.
“Start by meditating, thinking inwards towards your body, your breathing, the blood flowing through your body. Focus on that and the rest should come naturally to you.” Xojo’s explanation wasn’t all that insightful for Ko. Grabbing the gourd he opened the natural bottle. The strong odor quickly rose from it. “It’s only 100 proof. It’s the weakest moonshine I have right now. We’ll work our way up. Be ready to drink stuff that’s basically just biofuel.” Xojo said with a chuckle, which had Ko grimace for a moment at the idea of needing to possibly endure a gauntlet of alcohol poisoning just to learn this ability. Considering that he’d never really gotten drunk before, Ko knew this wasn't gonna be fun. “Also if you wanna it’d be wise to drink plenty of water and not do this on an empty stomach. If you wanna make things easier to start out.”
This was a ‘do or do not’ moment for Ko. He could succeed and rapidly learn and hone this ability. Or fail and waste time hungover instead of being able to fight alongside his friend. Which would be even more shameful than recovering from his blindness…
. . .
The training was grueling, often leaving Ko feeling deathly ill and exhausted. Once he almost suffered a terrible fate. Nearly toppling over the mountainside that his home was built upon. His uncle often took things to an extreme. Demanding that Ko perform difficult exercises. Typically through some sort of isometric training. From performing simple plank exercises to strenuous Horse Stances and more. All to further distract his mind more than it already was while inebriated, and the moonshine kept his muscles relaxed as well just to add to the difficulty. All of it made Ko never wanna drink anything alcoholic again so long as he lived. Ko even wondered if that might’ve been a subtle goal for his uncle. To condition him to be so sick of liquor that he couldn’t possibly end up as a lush like him.
Currently Ko was in the middle of a dead hang. Holding onto a rope as he dangled in the air. Doing his best to focus on his breathing and body. He’d been maintaining his dead hang for a while. Losing track of how much time he was hanging there for. Putting all his mental energy into ridding his body of poison and not falling. Immersing himself entirely in the training. Without even realizing it he managed he’d purged his body and any and all toxins. All he was left with was the terrible feeling of dehydration and exhaustion across his body as he hung there.
Soon enough he lost his grip and fell onto the hard stone ground of the courtyard. Only able to break his fall slightly. Groaning from the impact he sat himself up. As he did Xojo approached Ko, moments later cold water crashed across his body. A bit of harmless revenge for what Ko had done earlier. Despite how sudden it was being drenched in cold water. It actually felt a bit pleasant. Like taking a cold shower after some doing something physically demanding out in hot weather. “Ugh… how much more do we need to do?” Ko asked, expecting more of this terrible training.
“We’re done, you’ve completed your training here with me…” His uncle answered, unceremoniously. Ko simply glanced up at Xojo. Wondering if he misheard the elder Kel Dor. “You managed to detox your body under stress after consuming my highest proof moonshine. If you can manage that, you shouldn’t ever need to worry about becoming ill from poison ever again. Just work more on your breath control. But you don't need to be stuck here with me to practice that.” He further explained. Ko still felt a little underwhelmed after completing this. In his mind he pictured himself feeling a lot more pleased with finishing it. But instead he just felt tired and thirsty, it was kind of a let down. But after spending this much time here with Xojo, could he really expect anything different?
Getting up to his feet, Ko let out a deep sigh. "So that's it?" Ko asked, there was a tinge of disappointment in his voice.
"Listen to me Ko... Sometimes when we're ready, it doesn't come to us in some obvious revelation or flash of insight. It's kinda like growing up. Sometimes you don't realize how much you've accomplished until it's already been done." Ko was taken aback some by Xojo's words of wisdom. Then again since they actually started training Ko, he seemed to have cleaned up their act a lot. Actually putting in a fair bit of work and effort to see Ko hone and master more of his own body. It reminded Ko more of the man that Xojo used to be. When he was an active member of the Sages. Still wasn't a very pleasant or friendly however. His uncle then turned away from Ko for a moment, summoning his cane to his claws before handing it to Ko. "Here, get yourself freshened up and well rested. Tomorrow you should head back to Coruscant. I'm sure you're friends will be glad to see you again..."
