Private Astral Express

[Jacen Nimdok]

Professor Nimdok sat aboard his freighter, absently spinning a pyramid-shaped holocron on the tip of his finger with the Force. A day or so had passed since Starlin, Eliphas, and Nimdok had rescued Inanna. The trio were still on Erakhis—Starlin had insisted, using rest and recovery as an excuse, but given that this was Starlin, more than likely he wanted to visit certain places and people before he left.

Sure enough, Starlin had left for the day on his own business, leaving Eliphas to his own devices. Nimdok had already approached the Padawan about learning some other esoteric forms of telepathy, and the boy seemed receptive to the idea. Now all there was to do was wait and see if he showed up at the hangar where Nimdok’s ship was parked.

Lief​

 

[Lief]

Alone, on a planet he knew nothing about, with memories of the rescue of Inanna racing through his mind, Eliphas had felt more than a little lost for the first time in a while. He hadn't shared as much, of course, not least because the feeling had only really taken over right before Starlin was heading out. The last thing the boy wanted was to seem clingy, and truthfully it wasn't as though Starlin remaining would have made much of a difference inherently. Let him head out and do his thing for the day, Eliphas would try to battle through it by himself.

He was no stranger to dealing with his own issues, after all. They were almost like a puzzle... And Eliphas enjoyed puzzles.

This had been what was occupying the boy before Nimdok reached out to him with the offer of further instruction in the ways of the Force, namely variants of Telepathy. Though he'd made the offer in passing, to have it more formally stated left the boy with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. At times he wondered if he was actually strong enough for all of this; that thought had quietened significantly ever since he'd become Starlin's apprentice, but since the events here on Erakhis it had blossomed once more.

In the end he had decided to approach the Professor all the same. Pushed down his concerns and his doubts, compartmentalized the weird memories of drifting through the tumultuous mind of another to be dealt with later, and vowed to simply give it his best shot. After all, what more could he do beyond that?

Eliphas entered the hangar bay and glanced around, taking in the sight of the ship. He was naturally drawn to vessels in general, and even freighters had their charm. The Conestoga was a sight to behold; he whistled in appreciation, and then approached. He didn't head up the boarding ramp, though, it wasn't his ship... It felt wrong to just barge in unannounced.

Jacen Nimdok

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

While Eli hesitated, someone else entered the hangar through the doors behind him. A dark-haired girl in a purple leather jacket stepped in, sucking on a lollipop. Pausing, she pulled the stick out of her mouth and regarded Eli curiously.

“Oh,” she said. “Hey, you must be that guy Dad said was coming. I’m Miri, Professor Nimdok’s daughter.”

She held out her hand. There was some resemblance between Miri and her father, mostly around the eyes and pointed ears. Gesturing for Eli to follow, she led the way up the loading ramp.

“Hello Eliphas,” Nimdok greeted, letting the holocron come to rest in his palm. “I see that you already met Miri—she’s agreed to help us today. How have you been doing lately? Not getting into any more trouble with Starlin, I hope?”

Lief​

 

[Lief]

The hangar door opened and Eliphas span toward whomever it was, expecting it to be Nimdok; well, it certainly wasn't the Professor but they certainly shared a few similarities with the man. The eyes, the ears, yep, definitely a relation of some sort. It took him a moment longer to notice the lollipop in her mouth and by then it had been pulled free.

With that action came a name and confirmation of his suspicions.

"Eliphas," he responded, "Eliphas Dune." Naturally the boy shook her offered hand, and then turned to follow her up the ramp and into the ship itself. There they found Nimdok, toying with a holocron; Eliphas bowed his head respectfully by way of greeting.

"Afternoon, Professor. Thank you for the invitation to learn." He smiled sheepishly, glanced at Miri for a second, then returned his gaze to Nimdok. "Yep..." She was going to help? That left the boy curious, but he knew that as with all things the Professor would be more than forthcoming with information on what the day would entail so he kept those thoughts to himself for now.

The smile became a little more natural.

"Me? Getting into trouble? If anything it's Starlin you should be worrying about" he chuckled, before pausing all at once. Now that Starlin wasn't here, actually... "Uh, Professor? Am I supposed to be calling him Master Rand all the time? I get the feeling he's not too comfortable with it, but... Is it expected? I mean, he is my Master now, even if he was my friend first, and----"

He realized he was beginning to ramble, so he closed his mouth shut and wrung his hands a little in embarrassment while he awaited the Professor's response. Somehow, someway, the boy had deftly managed to avoid the question of how he was holding up.

Jacen Nimdok

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

"Me? Getting into trouble? If anything it's Starlin you should be worrying about."

"Oh yes, I worry quite a bit about him. Has he ever told you the story of how he and I first met?" Without waiting for an answer, Nimdok launched into the tale. "I received a message from someone claiming they were in possession of a family heirloom—a shard of a broken lightsaber crystal. I agreed to meet with this person, and in walked a thirteen year old boy in hand-me-down clothes that were all the wrong size, either too big or too small. He introduced himself as Starlin Rand, demanded that I never call him Star, 'because it's a girl's name', and spun me a crazy yarn about receiving this crystal in the mail, with a note explaining it was his inheritance from an uncle he had never met, and now the Sith were making threats against him and his family. He had hitchhiked his way to our meeting in hopes it would at least divert the Sith away from his dear mother.

"The note also conveniently explained that the fragment had once been part of Meetra Surik's lightsaber crystal. Have you ever heard of Meetra Surik, Eliphas? Better known as the Exile, she was at one point considered the last of the Jedi, following the Jedi Civil War—though as a historian I consider that a bit of a misnomer, since it was really a conflict between the Jedi Order and Revan and Malak, who had by that point already fallen to the Dark Side and become Sith Lords—"

Miri cleared her throat very loudly, which conveniently interrupted the professor's derailing train of thought. "Are you all right?" he asked.

"Yes," she murmured, popping her lollipop back into her mouth.

"Right, where was I? Oh—the crystal fragment was quite a find. Starlin's uncle apparently believed he was a descendant of Meetra Surik, through an alleged romantic relationship she'd had with one of her apprentices, Atton Rand. Rather ridiculous to believe that purely based on their having the same surname, and even then Surik lived nearly five thousand years ago, so sharing lineage with her is essentially meaningless when you take into account how many generations that amounts to, but I digress! Starlin had led his Sith pursuers right to our doorstep. It was an awful situation, truly. Starlin was only a boy, Miri here was just seven years old, and we were all taken hostage. Luckily I managed to defeat them, but I spent a few days in the hospital afterwards, and I was forced to reveal the fact that I was a Shi'ido to Starlin. The little rascal used it to blackmail me into getting him a job. I repaid him by setting up a meeting with his future master, and setting him on the path of the Jedi..."

Nimdok might've gone on, had Eli not asked a question. "The use of 'master' as a term of respect is an old tradition, but not a requirement. If Starlin hasn't said anything to you about it, don't worry. He's still very young, you know—only a few years older than you, unless you are older than you look."

Glancing at the holocron in his hand, Nimdok suddenly remembered why he had taken it out of its protective container. "Ah, I almost forgot. This is for you." He floated the holocron over to Eliphas. "It's a holocron—a sort of knowledge-storing device only accessible by Force Sensitives. We use them to preserve and teach certain techniques. It was made by my mentor, Tammuz Hoole. He was both a dreamwalker and a Jedi Master." Nimdok clasped his hands together in his lap in a gesture that was oddly poignant, his eyes filled with memory. "It's on loan to you, that is. I'll want it back when you've finished with it."

Lief​

 

[Lief]

For all that everyone else seemed to be frustrated by Nimdok's lengthier rants, Eliphas found himself thoroughly lost in them - in a good way. There was something so genuine about it, like this was simply who the Professor was, unabashed and unaware of how those around him seemed irked by it. It was always nice to see someone's personality shine through, to see their passions, and so the boy had always made it a point not to be the one who stepped in and stopped him mid-thought.

Of course, of all the people he'd seen interact with the Professor thus far - and there were only four others - he was by far the one who had known him the least amount of time. A pitiful amount of time, really, for this was only their second meeting. Maybe he too would tire of it in time, but thus far?

Well, he felt pretty bad whenever somebody stopped him.

The boy smiled as he was told the story of how Starlin and Nimdok came to know one another, and found it provided insight to his Master's life he'd never even really known he was lacking in the first place. A little boy looking to help his family, and keep them from harm. Yep, that seemed about right.

"Is he?" the boy finally stated, as Nimdok rounded toward the end of his story, "Related to Meetra Surik, I mean?" He'd said it didn't matter, that with as much time as had passed it didn't make a difference, but even so Eliphas felt himself curious enough to ask. Part of him also wondered if Starlin had ever found the answer to that question...

Talks turned to the matter of titles, and the boy pondered it for a moment before nodding his head. "I just see other people referring to their Masters that way, and I didn't want them to think I was being disrespectful because I'm not... I respect him a lot." Heck, he'd respected Starlin from the first day he'd met him. Admittedly that had been a crazy first encounter, but still... He had a certain vibe that the boy had immediately taken to.

Heck, if he hadn't there was no way he'd have journeyed up a mountain with him - speeder bike or no speeder bike.

Blinking from his recollections, Nimdok roused him back to reality and floated a device over to him. Though the Professor explained to him what it was, and the purpose it served, the boy still looked utterly dumbfounded by the whole thing. "A holocron... I've seen one of those before. Aren't these things, uh, corruptive?" He was hesitant to reach out and touch it, even Mathieu Brion had used the Force when handling the one they'd unearthed back on Ossus.

Well, Eliphas did not know how to move things with the Force yet. He took a half step back from where it floated, sheepishly grimacing at Nimdok as he did. "It's safe to touch, right?" Then he followed it up with "How do I use it?"

Jacen Nimdok

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

Nimdok shrugged. “As I said, it’s been close to five thousand years since Meetra Surik roamed the galaxy, and even then, we don’t know the exact nature of her relationship with Atton Rand. If Starlin is related to anyone, it would be Atton—but again, there’s no way to confirm it after so many centuries have passed.”

"I just see other people referring to their Masters that way, and I didn't want them to think I was being disrespectful because I'm not... I respect him a lot."

“Why not just call him Star?” Miri remarked. She glanced at Eli and grinned cheekily, though her gaze lingered on the Padawan for just a little too long before abruptly looking away.

"Miri is of course only joking," Nimdok said with a slight smirk. "But yes, Eliphas, your master is quite laid-back and unconcerned with formalities. I haven't been teaching for a few years now, yet he still calls me 'Professor' because, according to him, I never lost the habit of lecturing..."

Nimdok's smirk grew into a chuckle of amusement. "Only some of them. This one is quite safe. Go ahead and touch it. I'll even show you how to activate it." Standing up, Nimdok approached Eliphas, gestured for the Padawan to hold up the holocron, then laid his hand, palm down, against the capstone of the pyramid. "You hold your hand here, and much like you would send out your thoughts with telepathy, you send something like 'activate' or 'hello' to the holocron. It may sound strange at first, but..." He lowered his hand. "Well, you'll see. Try it for yourself."

Lief​

 

[Lief]

"That's fair" the boy remarked, finally seeing fit to drop the matter of Starlin's ancestry. Really he'd just found the whole thing curious, endearing even... Yeah, young Starlin sounded positively adorable.

Anyway, soon Miri gave her idea of what he should refer to his Master as and the implications were not lost on the Padawan. All the same he grinned at the notion, and shot her an amused look. Nimdok was quick to shut the idea down, but that just left Eliphas wondering if he'd ever successfully be able to drop it into a conversation. You know, to see if the whole 'No Star' thing still rang true.

Hey, the boy was a man of science after all... Sort of; not really.

With Nimdok confirming that the holocron was safe, he reached out and finally took it from the air. Held it in his hands. It didn't feel bad, didn't turn his gut the way the vault on Ossus had. Not that he didn't trust the Professor to speak the truth, but sometimes experiences were hard to set aside. "It feels... Strange. Like it's pulsating, or something," the boy remarked, finding himself a seat at the table then glancing at the holocron.

Nimdok reached out and showed him where to touch and what to do. "Communicate with an object?" he mused, brows knitting together. But how would he find a presence to latch on to if it wasn't a living thing? Either way, he closed his eyes, rested his hand where he'd been instructed to, and then felt through the Force.

Surprisingly, there was something of a presence to latch on to. Who'd have thought it?

"Oh... Wow..." He swallowed, then pushed forward a little with his mind. Hello, holocron he ventured for, finding it a little less rude than to simply outright demand it reveal its secrets. As he did so, he peeked open one eye to see if anything happened.

Jacen Nimdok

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

Upon activation, a holographic figure flickered into being, projected by the little blue pyramid. At first glance it looked to be an old man, with sagging jowls and long white hair hanging limply from his skull-like countenance. But at second glance his eyes seemed too blue, his fingers too long, his mouth too wide. The veins beneath his thinned skin were dark gray, filled with black blood—this was no human. Tammuz Hoole, the Shi’ido Jedi Master, had imprinted his consciousness into the holocron as its Gatekeeper. He resembled a statue sculpted from ash and clay; in contrast, the gold robe that reached past his toes was almost garishly vibrant, the stiff metallic fabric decorated with colorful scenes from the mythology of his race.

“Hmm…” The hologram rumbled. “It has been a while…” Surveying the three occupants of the room, his gaze landed on Nimdok. “The last time you sought me out, you told me I—the real Tammuz Hoole—was dead. Killed by your bodyguard, much to your grief and shame. I thought that would be the last time I would ever be summoned by you, yet here we are.”

“This is Padawan Eliphas Dune, Starlin’s apprentice,” Nimdok explained, his tone brisk and stoic. “He has some talent for telepathy, and wishes to expand upon it. Will you teach him?”

The gatekeeper turned to Eli, then back to Nimdok. “If this is true—and if it is what you wish of me, nad’yim—I will teach him.”

“Thank you,” Nimdok said, and rather hastily he deactivated the holocron, noticeably expelling a breath he had been holding. Straightening, he regained his composure and said, “Now that you know how it works, you can learn from it at your leisure. And we… had better get to work on teaching you astral-projection. Miri?”

Miri had been watching her father, her brow furrowed with concern. Now she jumped into action, grabbing two cots and unrolling them on the floor. She sat on one, and seemed to be waiting for Eli to take a seat on the other.

Lief​

 

[Lief]

The boy watched their exchange with very clear curiosity, and the slightest bit of concern for the Professor once the Gatekeeper said his piece about how it was he'd succumbed to death. He remained quiet though, not feeling it was quite his place to butt in, doubling down on that trait when Nimdok spoke of his telepathic ability. Truth be told, he didn't feel all that particularly good with it. He just acted on instinct where such was concerned, nothing more, nothing less.

It probably helped though that it was all he knew how to do with that mystical energy, outside of the very situational spells his Master had taught him. Very cool spells, but not necessarily the sort of thing he'd be using in day to day life. At least... He hoped so. Then again every venture out with Starlin thus far had resulted in some form of escalation, so who knew.

Then it was over and the Professor seemed exhausted. Eliphas lowered the holocron, set it on the table for later, and offered the man a small yet kindly smile. "So it remembers things, too?" he inquired, of the device, "That isn't really him, right? Something of an... Artificial Intelligence formed around who he is... Was...?"

Wait, was it really him? Was some guy's spirit trapped eternally within the pyramid? Eliphas looked horrified by that notion.

Either way, pretty soon they were getting down to business. Miri found and rolled out two places for them to lay, and claimed one for herself. All of a sudden her role in this became a little more clear, she was going to... guide him? While Nimdok explained and watched over them? That's how it seemed, of course, but what did he know?

He lowered himself to the other one, taking a seat which more or less mimicked her positioning, and then glanced from daughter to father sheepishly.

"Okay..." he said, to cut the silence, "Quick question, before we begin, uh... Can this kill me too?" After all, no warning had been given last time he'd tried something strange and obscure with the Force...

Jacen Nimdok

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

“An artificial intelligence, yes,” Nimdok replied. He seemed reluctant to speak on the subject—a jarring development from someone who was normally very talkative.

His response to Eli’s next question was thankfully more elaborate: “No, it won’t kill you. That is, unless you were to somehow become cut off from your body, but that is very unlikely, since you are not in a combat situation and I will be here to make sure it doesn’t happen. And you’re actually going to want to lie down for this—unless you normally sleep sitting up. That’s right, you’re going to sleep through this lesson. Easiest day you’ll ever have.”

Once Eli was in a more comfortable position, though, he began to explain at length.

“Essentially, you will put your body at rest, shut out all feedback from your physical senses, and in so doing be able to leave this crude matter behind for a little while. Since Starlin told me you got kicked out of a meditation class, you may have more trouble relaxing into it than you will with anything else. Do you struggle to focus, are you restless, impatient, or…?”

Lief​

 

[Lief]

Alright. Artificial intelligence he could chill with. The look of horror dispersed at once, and Eliphas relaxed in tandem. Nimdok's response to his question also helped immensely in that regard.

Instructed to lie down instead, Eliphas perked a brow then glanced over at Miri on the other cot. "Oh. I was just doing what she did" he confessed, before looking back at the Professor. Rubbed the back of his neck, then set his hands on his knees. Waited a moment more, then lay back. Now all he could do was listen, and strain to look at him as he spoke.

For the first time in his life, the boy actually interjected in the middle of Nimdok's explanation. Not a loud interjection, of course, that would be far too rude, just a general grumble under his breath alongside the word "Meditation?" Why was it always meditation? Then came further cause for groaning.

"Starlin told you that?" he retorted, actually speaking up this time. "Why..?" That traitor. Telling people his personal secrets and all that. Oh the humanity. He flung a dramatic arm over his eyes and groaned. "It wasn't so bad at first" he assured the man, "But then it became all I ever did. No lessons, no growth, just constantly sitting in that fountain room on Coruscant. Honestly, I just wanted to be challenged a little but nope. Hours upon hours of mindlessness... There were little kids doing more than I was."

He grimaced, then he blushed and peeked out from behind his arm.

"I can meditate" he assured him. "Oh, and also, Starlin left out the important part about why I was kicked out - he sent me a couple of com-messages in quick succession. Oh, she did not like that..."

He realized, however, that he was spending far more time on excuses than he was on action so he leaned back again and closed his eyes this time, slowly focusing on clearing his mind the way he'd done a hundred times before. Not so bad in small doses... Of course it didn't help that he felt as though he was being watched on two fronts.

Jacen Nimdok

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

"Starlin told you that? Why...?"

"Because he thought it was funny," Nimdok replied with a shrug. It was typical Starlin behavior, after all. Upon hearing Eli's side of the story, however, the professor cracked a smile. That definitely sounded like something Starlin would do. "Ah, I see. Better silence your comms, then, and you should be fine."

As the boy closed his eyes, Nimdok added, "Incidentally, it's not mindlessness. It's supposed to be 'mindfulness', but the true terminology, and the only one I will accept, is 'no self'. Meditation as a form of asceticism is about emptying the mind to the point where one has no worries, no desires, and therefore is in a state of..."

As the professor droned on, his voice became easier to tune out. At some point, he stopped talking—though not until he sensed no more reaction from Eli. Then, the professor laid down on the floor as well and was nigh-instantly asleep.

Decades of practice had made the entire process quick and easy for him. His consciousness was out of his body less than a minute after he closed his eyes, making its way over to where Eli slept. Miri watched the Padawan from her perch on the cot—admiring him, in truth, though she was also expected to be the test subject in this lesson, and so was waiting for something to happen. She could not see her father's presence, but she could vaguely sense him, as evident by the fact that her gaze wandered in the general direction of where he was.

<Eliphas,> Nimdok said, communicating telepathically. <Can you hear me?>

If the boy responded verbally, they'd have to start over. Telepathically, even in his sleep? Bingo.

Lief​

 

[Lief]

Great. Of course that was the reason why. At first the boy thought he'd groan again, but instead he surprised himself and chuckled. "Sounds about right" he muttered, and then actually reached one arm over to the opposing wrist to tap at his wrist-mounted holopad, a little thing about the same size as a watch. Silenced, and satisfied, he closed his eyes and simply listened as the man droned on.

It was, in fact, rather soothing. No Self was the phrase he used, though it wasn't something Eliphas had ever heard before. It was curious though, interesting, ---

No. No more of that. He breathed in through his nose, out through his mouth, and began the process of trying to clear his mind of thought and distraction. Sank deeper still, until eventually he was no longer meditating at all but sleeping.

There was nothing for a while, during those first initial dregs of sleep which held not even dreams for one to cling to. Just a void. Nay, not even that, nothingness... Not a black wall, just absence of all.

Eventually though something broke through that nothingness, a sound; a voice: Nimdok.

Silence emanated from the boy, before he remembered how to speak. Professor? It had taken him longer than he cared to admit to do so.

Jacen Nimdok

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

Eli’s mental “voice” was suitably weak and dreamy, clouded with sleep. Nimdok reached toward him with the Force, and gave the boy a gentle nudge forward, then let go. It would most likely feel very strange, perhaps even alarming—it was, after all, an out-of-body experience by definition—at least until Nimdok explained what he had done.

<That is what it feels like to project. You’re going to want to follow the same path, only it will be a lot harder for you to do it on your own. Like trying to wrestle with water or wind. But keep pushing, and you will fight your way free. Don’t be afraid of losing yourself, either—you’ll still be connected to your body, just as you were when you dreamwalked…> Such bonds could not be easily broken, after all.

Lief​

 

[Lief]

Alarming was something of an understatement.

To Eliphas the slight push at the Professor's whim was something akin to that feeling you got when you expect another step on a stairwell, only to find you'd reached level ground. A dip in your stomach, a weightlessness that lurched all of your senses into disarray and left your equilibrium off kilter. In a dream sense, it would have been the sort which jolted you into wakefulness.

In fact where his body lay the boy did jump, almost sat upright, but it wasn't enough to pull him from his dream-state. Nimdok provided enough insight to keep him clinging on to that.

Like I'm pushing myself... With the Force?

The boy wasn't entirely certain of whether that was correct, or whether it was something he could feasibly do, but he hadn't come this far to back away now so he swallowed back the lump in his throat and focused. Nothing. And there continued to be nothing for some time as he stood there and struggled to grasp even the mere concept of what it was he was striving to do.

Eliphas frowned, and looked back at the Professor; well, toward where his presence seemed to shine from. He wasn't actually seeing the man yet. I don't think I understand he confessed, still in the very same spot he'd arrived there in.

Jacen Nimdok

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

<Well, perhaps reaching outside yourself is a better way of putting it,> Nimdok replied. <Your goal is to project your consciousness outside your body, becoming little more than energy. You’ll be able to use the Force more freely—it will pass through you easily, and won’t feel difficult or tiring. I admit it’s a little hard to explain beyond that… perhaps it's best to simply think of it as an advanced form of meditation. For now, at least.>

He gave the boy another nudge, this time pushing him a little further. <If you can’t manage it on your own, I can pull you out, and then we’ll work backwards to ensure you learn how to do this. But you need to be able to do it without my help.> Pausing, he added, <To be more specific, you need to be able to reach Miri while in that projected state. Give her a little jolt to prove you’re there, so that she’ll feel it.>

Lief​

 

[Lief]

Oddly enough, this change in perspective given by Nimdok actually made more sense to the boy than it had before. He could project his consciousness outside of himself, that was how he utilized telepathy after all, so pushing the rest of him to follow?

I think maybe I understand... But could he do it? That would be another matter all together. He listened as his instructions were given, he was expected to seek out Miri where she sat upon the cot. That came with its own set of nerve-inducing thoughts, though he didn't feel like sharing them with the class. Instead he nodded to himself.

Okay... Okay, I'll try it again...

Inhaling, exhaling, he cleared his sleeping mind once more and focused upon his consciousness through the Force. Extended that reach outward, and felt his mind drifting alongside it. The rest of him was still firmly rooted in place, though.

Eliphas hoped the Professor would be patient. It took him a little while longer to even move so much as an inch beyond his corporeal form, and when he did the boy jolted in surprise. Both in the dreamscape, and in reality. Still he didn't awaken. He fought to keep hold.

Something small... Yet it had been a tangible improvement. More of that, he realized, was what he needed... More of it. So he tried again, first pushing with his mind, then with his body, forcing the very essence of himself out from the meatsuit and into the strands of the veiled dream. One inch, two... No doubt for Miri it had become a rather boring afternoon for all the time it took him.

No doubt she figured he'd failed.

But then slowly but surely he got the hang of it. No great haste or aptitude, just a slow and forced approach. Clunky, even. Now came an equally difficult part: find Miri. He wasn't exactly familiar with her presence in the Force yet, he wasn't at that level of his training where he was subconsciously picking up on such after all. Two figures were nearby though, that much he could pick up on.

Two figures, one brighter than the other. He moved toward the latter...

Jacen Nimdok

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

Nimdok offered encouragement to the struggling Eliphas. <That’s it! You’re getting the hang of it, son. Just a little further, just like that…>

When Eliphas finally broke free of his mortal coil, becoming a luminous being, it was to the tune of the professor’s cheering—and complete silence in the real world, as a bored Miri idly picked at her sparkly purple nail polish.

<Your perceptions will have altered while in this state,> Nimdok explained to Eliphas. <You won’t see with your eyes, or hear with your ears, or feel with your skin. Your only sense is through the Force, and without physicality to distract from it, it should be much more vivid. Here—can you tell the difference between Miri and I? Not just because I am “brighter” than her. Look for more subtle differences.>

Lief​

 

[Lief]

Like Starlin, Nimdok was very vocal in his praise of the boy's progress. He pushed Eliphas just the right amount, enough to set him on the right path toward figuring it out for himself without expressly holding his hand through it, and once he was free from his bodily restraints he went so far as to cheer. The boy hadn't gotten used to such vibrant shows of emotions when it came to feedback, his father was far more stoic though he of course made it known when he was pleased or proud, just in his own way.

Everything shifted then, it felt different, seemed different. Nimdok explained this as being a result of this new form, that he was forced to make use of only the Force to sense the world around him as opposed to his actual senses. The boy was new to such, beyond reaching out to feel for the minds of others. It was a strange new step for him, but one he welcomed wholeheartedly. Perhaps it would have even been more difficult for him to grasp were he not forced into it by the circumstances of this lesson. It came to him because it was the only way, and in that moment the Force was his ally.

"She's... bored," he stated, in response to the Professor when he asked him to find more specific differences beyond how brightly they shone, "Smaller, too... Over here, right?" He made his way toward the girl, and found himself hovering around the presence of her. It had a slightly different hue, too, playful, youthful. Pinks and purples. Eliphas blushed at the thought, then turned toward the Professor. Oddly, he was more green. More serene and rooted, naturalistic. Whether any of that was actually the why of it he did not know, it was simply what came to mind.

"This is strange" he confessed, as he stepped away from Miri and toward his own empty shell. It wasn't as easy to detect, but the Force still flowed through the cells and so he could pick out the sleeping impression of himself. He did not stray long, and turned back toward Miri instead. "She's waiting for me?" he inquired.

Jacen Nimdok