Food For Thought {Pt.1}

[The Hound]

The cold of fresh water on his face calmed him on nights like these. Recently his visions came in sharper and sharper, but they took a larger and larger toll on his body. He was sweating, he ached all over, and it was all he could do just to stand up, using the Force to bring balance to his body. His cold blue eyes looked into the mirror as he used the sink as support. Taking a deep breath he exhaled slowly. He wished Sophia was here, with him. But he had made his decision, and there was no changing that.

Wrapping himself in robes he made his way barefoot into the night. The cold temple floor calmed him even more. By the time he reached the outside and the dew covered grass graced his toes with their soft embrace, Turin was in a state of complete peace. Taking a seat in the grass and crossing his legs he breathed deeply in, and then out. He felt as if the moon's glow fueled him. The Force flowed through him as he meditated. Meditated on things past, present and future. He meditated on his recent visions. He pondered the identity of the monstrously powerful Whipid...Maybe he would ask Jaxton soon. He began to doubt if leaving without Sophia had been the right thing to do. Should he have gone with her and joined the Templars? Was he abandoning her?

As he allowed the Force to flow through him, his eyes closed and his robes hanging loosely on him, Turin slowly began to levitate into the air. He would stay like this for however long it took for him to find the peace of mind to fall back into a deep sleep.

 

[The Hound]

How could he have just left her like that? So quickly, and with a simple communicator an "I love you."? What kind of Sith spit was he, to leave the woman he loved, the person he cared for most in the Galaxy, alone in her time of need. And for what? So that he could float in peaceful gardens while she risked her life day in and day out with the Confederacy.

Should he have joined simply so that he could keep her safe? Just not fight? His saber form work was weak, unpracticed. The only form he ever paid attention to was Soresu, the most defensive of the forms. He lacked any sort of powerful Force techniques. Ironically his telekinesis which began as his weakest power was now what he relied on in battle in the form of Repulse and the classic push and pull.

Opening his eyes he levitated to the ground and stood, floating up a few pebbles he saw laying in the short, wet grass. The damp stones seemed smooth, his influence rolling over them, enclosing them in a tight Force grip. His imagination and concentration must have gone somewhere unintended as two of the three stones exploded, reminding him of the lack of control he held on his Force Combustion. As the dust settled he tossed the remaining stone. No longer smooth and nearly a perfect oval, the stone was now jagged and distorted due to the small explosions around it. The rock landed with a soft thud some few meters away.

For now, he would forget about the Confederacy as much as he could, forget about the Whipid for as long as he could, and enjoy the cool night.

 

[Jericho]

It's been about a moth since Jericho had been back to the conclave, he had been out training in the forests of naboo. One could say that he was finally, home. While walking into the temple, He raised his hand putting the back of his hand to cover his mouth as he yawned. In his hand there was a bottle of wine and at each side his sabers rested and one on his lower back. He wore his casual brown robe attire, with a slight trim of black on his red armor underneath. His black hair was down and flat enough to partly covered an eye. Finally he could have a "lazy" day in the so called chaos of the galaxy, lazy for him being the term of a lighter training regiment.


Referring to the thought of the chaos, he could understand why people were so hectic in these times, to him it was wasn't difficult due to the fact that he wasn't the type to follow emotions. He was never one to be emotion in a situation, after the freak accident, he just gave his deceased master a salute and left. But he could feel the pain of the other especially Thurion, he could still see and feel the sadness. On their faces, in their hearts. He knew he had to do his part and become stronger to continue to bring light to the galaxy.


But it was a rather slow day for him, since he was just getting back, there wasn't any battles with slavers to be fought and plans to be made to heal the injured. Nothing but to lay on the outskirts of the great temple and it was outside of the gate and under the shade of a tree that he laid and rested, as much as he could anyway. He didn't know where Thurion was and the other masters Jax and Ser were probably off training or gaining more respect and power from their missions and influence but that was just an assumption. While he just finished his own training from naboo, all he could now was sit where he was, doing his usual meditations and personal thinking. He placed a hand on one of his scars on his face and slightly drifted into thought. "My size, stature and overall personality cause a slight fear and intimidation but I am was far from that type of person even thought my tone of voice would say otherwise. Is that a blessing? Or is it a curse? Is it both? When they look into my eyes, is it really like a void? How can I be a force of light and kindness as Master Seren and Thurion, if people fear me?"


His thoughts and rest was short lived as they were interrupted when he felt a force signature that he was not familiar with. "Hmm?" He thought to himself without much sound. He leaned up and looked around making sure he kept his eyes slightly closed to hide the emotionlessness of his eyes. Finishing his wine and placing his cup to the side; he traveled to the source of the energy, putting on his breathing mask in case of battle; an average looking size man laid alone and he was wearing robes, a trained jedi warrior, possibly? Strange, why did he have such a dark force signature? Why would his enemy send someone? But then again he was alone, maybe a wanderer? Either way, he couldn't allow the conclave to be compromised not with all the younglings and padawans here. There was already a death for the conclave family, he didn't wish for anyone else to suffer that pain again. He took out his straight dual sided lightsaber, the color of orange emitted around the darkness of the two people.


"Who are you?" He said in his usual calm and stern of voice. He held his lightsaber behin him defensively but stood in a strong stance of Shien. "Do you have permission to be here?" Though he had heard the terms of a truce between the republic and sith, that was not a matter to him, it was the safety of those of the conclave and things were on edge already.

 

[The Hound]

Turin stood, his gaze rising to the stars, his breath coming out in slow, long breaths. Vapor formed in the chilly night air. This night...it had been good for him. Sliding his hands into the pockets of his robe he turned to walk back to his own room, stopped by a young man he had never seen before, which wasn't surprising for him...He had only been here a short while. A smile formed on his face, quickly turning to a frown of confusion.

Suspicion and uneasiness he could feel within the young man. He had is weapon drawn and ready. He had a quick mental check to see if he had brought his own weapon. Of course he didn't. This place was supposed to be isolated from the wars and fighting and death. Its why he originally chose to come here. "Of course I do." he answered. "Now lower your weapon, I came out because it was so nice. It'd be a shame to waste it."
@[member="Jericho"]

 

[Jericho]

He wasn't deep thought and lowered his hand and looked up high to the stars. The gaze of the glorious stars made him other wise, thinking of home and being in the great city, quickly the thought was put down. His sweet silence and short daze was broken by a voice that made his lean up. He looked at the man up and down. The man was much shorter than he was and looked to be around his age, if not younger than him.


"Hmm..."


He stated calmly, still seeing him to be a very dangerous person. Jericho kept his sabers out and keeps his gaze on to the man. He remained silent for a while longer, enjoying the silence a little longer. "I don't think so sir. If you are true to what you say, you wouldn't mind answering some questions for me." He said in his usual tone keep his attention to the man.


Though Jericho was the type who would enjoy a nice night as the next person. But with recent events, he wasn't going to let anyone pass so easily. "Who do you know here and who are you?" He asked as his first wave of questions.

 

[The Hound]

A sigh escaped Turin's lips, heating the air around him, a thick cloud of vapor forming. Turin had had enough fighting and death to last him a lifetime. This conflict...well it was unnecessary. "Turin Val Kur. I was brought here by Jaxton." His answer was simple and to the point. Shifting his position slightly, he turned back around.

"But if you aren't going to let me in, I will continue to meditate." Sitting back on the ground, he crossed his legs and shut his eyes. Again, he felt lifted into the stars, thrust into the heart of the Galaxy. The feeling set his heart aflutter. There was once a time when he struggled to lift even the simplest things from the ground and when meditation was nigh impossible for the you man. Now however, he reveled in meditation. He did it almost everywhere, though sometimes it led for awkward conversations in public...

 

[Jericho]

Jericho recalled his saber and bowed his head to the man despite the man's attention being on his meditation. If @[member="Turin Val Kur"] knew Jaxton and was welcomed by him that was good enough reason for him, since well Jaxton was the leader. Jericho put his saber on to his belt and turned around and made his way inside. He was going to give Turin and some what warmer welcome to the conclave but he understood the wanting of privacy as he also meditated for the force and otherwise.

 

[The Hound]

~Several Days Later~
The Conclave had been good for him. It was decided. Though leaving Sophia was...difficult to say the least he now knew that they would be reunited eventually. He was more confident in himself and his abilities. He was no longer plauged by nightmares of the creature now known to him as Velok. Meditation and rest had healed most of his injuries, both physical and emotional and he felt great.

He reflected on all of this as he entered a meditation chamber within the conclave. Here, he knew he was safe, but now, just as when he was just a padawan, he thirsted for knowledge. Knowledge he could only find in the Jedi archives, or right from the sources themselves. Sitting in the center of the camber he allowed the Force to flow through him, let it carve a path for him. When he was a child his mother always said, "If you don't have a plan, plan to fail." And now, with no plan and not barley a credit to his name, Turin was failing.

Breathing in deep and out slowly he focused on the future and its many paths. For some reason, Turin had an affinity for this sort of thing, or at least that is what he gathered from the various premonitions he had. But only the Force knew what it had planned for him.

 

[The Hound]

During his troubled time, when he was desperatley searching for a way to rescue Sophia, he had come across an old man...A Jedi Shadow as he had told the then angry and confused Jedi Knight. He had attempted to calm him and bring him back from the brink of death after his clash with G.I.A Special Forces division. But the enraged Jedi Knight, Turin Val Kur would listen to nothing from the old man. He was too angry to learn the things he was being taught...The White Current, and instead was taught the Touch of the Kiin'Dray, a Dathomiri technique that allowed him to stick to almost anything. Since then, he had continued to use this skill, as well as his other skills...But the one thing that he had studied almost religiously, was the White Current that the Elder had attempted to teach him.

He wasn't usually much for illusions and the sort, but he did learn to use it to a small extent to keep tabs on @[member="Sophia Walsh"]. It was hard at first, to concentrate the way he needed to, to immerse himself in the Force like he needed to in order to find the ripples she herself made in the Force. As he sat there now in silence, he attempted to find her again, in the current.

 

[The Hound]

Awaken. Sanisteam. Eat. Read. Meditate. Eat.

Train.

This routine was something he had created more out of neccessity. As he rested and his wounds healed from his close encounter with Bounty Hunters on Courscant and the battle at Bastion he had gotten out of shape and his forms sloppy. It had been nearly a month since then and he was begining to get back into the swing of things.

The sting of stun bolts did that to you when you were training.

The hum of his silver blade brought him out of his practiced trance, thrusting him into a world of darkness, absent of sound. The helmet that sat around his head left him deaf and blind, at the mercy of the training droid that hovered around him, firing weak stun bolts. Despite this heavy handicap he allowed the Force to guide his hand, deflecting bolt after bolt. The sizzle of the blade against the shot each time told him he had succesfully detured another assault, but the shots were coming more frequently now, perfect for training Soresu which required almost continuous movement to work its tight movements to their fullest potential. "Activate combat droid 3"

Focus.

A bipedal droid now activated, programmed with the techniques needed to perform lightsaber combat. The snaphiss of the lightsaber activating filled the room, but Turin of course was deaf. He relied on the calm inside the storm mentality that came with pracitioners of Soresu to focus on his battle precognition, attempting to predict his opponents' movements. Activating his second saber, Turin slid into Jar'Kai, the Force guiding his dual blades, not knowing, yet trusting that he wouldn't disarm himself as the fight dragged on.

Focus.

The blaster bolts from both training droids and the occasional strikes from the third droid grew in frequency. The low humming sound of a swinging blade became almost constant as Turins blades swung and cut through the air. Faster. The linen training shirt stuck to his skin, sweat pulling it tight onto him. Faster. Turning and pivoting on his left foot he faced his droid opponent, disarming it.

Focus.

And with a droid damaged, the other two droids backed off, deactivating the training regiment. The lock disengaged on the helmet, and Turin deactivated his weapons, clipping them to his belt before removing his helmet, dropping it to the floor. Grasping for air, he lifted his arms above his head, resting his head in his hands behind his head. Adrenaline pumping still, he sat where he stood after a moment. Crossing his legs and placing his hands in a very relaxed position in his lap he closed his eyes. Breathing in...and then out he allowed the Force to wash over him.

Awaken. Sanisteam. Eat. Read. Meditate. Eat. Train.

Meditate.

 

[The Hound]

Meditation brought peace to the young Force user's storm of a mind. It was something that he struggled with, almost as much as he did with telekinesis, during the start of his journey. Both of these skills he now excelled at. He had taken the weakest link and strengthened it, focusing almost exclusively in its use he could now perform various tasks. He could also meditate almost anywhere, doing anything. Even his saber training put him in a relaxed state, open to the Force, which was why his battle precognition was so strong. During his early days under Master Feena Mason he shied away from the Force and viewed it as a dangerous tool to be used only when necessary. Since then he had grown into it, allowed it to mold him. He had become a very different person from the ladies man, bad boy pilot of the Republic he had once been.

Back then, the world...Well he felt at the center of it, now he felt the same, but in a different way. He felt more like a single part of the world and when he let the Force take him into its depths, he felt as he could touch the very core of the universe. During these times he often saw things from around the Galaxy at different times. No longer were these visions plagued with hungry Sith lords and powerful Force using terrorists. Now he felt as if by giving himself to the Force, the Force in turn allowed him to see the beauty of the Galaxy, as well as the things that needed to be fixed. Now though as he meditated, he knew he served a different purpose. He wished for the Force to drag him into the current.

The White Current.

The ripples and flows of the Force itself. It was something that he had attempted to learn but was too full of rage and hate to have learned at the time. Since then, despite not being able to find the Master that had taught him the steps, he had found a way to enter the current through studious research and trial and error. Now he was well equipped to enter the White Current and join its flows through the Force. Application of this technique however, would come with time, though through reading and research he had found several uses for it and though he had no subjects to train on, he knew that when the time came, the Force would guide his hand.