Lost in the Dark

[Darth Abyss]

"You came to this place to seek knowledge. Something seems to drawn you to places and objects of great force ... like me. Even before I became Abyss I was a seeker of ancient and powerful knowledge. The father of the man I once was, sold artifacts and relics with a connection to the force. Over time I learned to sense them from far away ... I can hear them calling for me, echos from the past ... and I can teach you how to hear them."

What he offered to teach hear was a technique he discovered himself, a secret he would not share without a reason. Having her as an ally could be useful as her knowledge, like any knowledge, was worth more than his wish for revenge ... for now at least. Giving her the power to discover even more ancient knowledge was not more than a tool, both to gain her trust and to give her a skill that would amplify her ability to discover even more knowledge for him to devour.

[member="Mara Sedaya"]

 

[NightSister]

Mara gave a short, harsh laugh.

"Why? I defeated you and humiliated you, I am a witch and you are a Sith; you want me dead. You, unlike me, are fueled by hatred and vengeance, and a man who feels such emotions towards someone, who bases their morals and principles around them, does not teach them valuable skills without an ulterior motive. Tell me what that ulterior motive is, then perhaps I will learn from you."

[member="Abyss"]

 

[Darth Abyss]

"Yes you are a witch. That means your are not aligned to the light and especially not to the jedi. The sith and the witches are not enemies, so we don't have to be either. I see value in having you as an ally. Your knowledge hss avlur and I value knowledge over all."

It was a relatively simple explanation, but also the truth. He had no reason to keep his intentions secret. Either she would accept and gain his knowledge or she would decline and he could keep his secret. Both scenarios were acceptable for him.

[member="Mara Sedaya"]

 

[NightSister]

"The Sith and the witches are not enemies," Mara said, trying to hide her confusion, "but am I not yours?"

All the same, she extended her hand in a symbol of alliance - no, not alliance, that was too close, too permanent. Allegiance, perhaps. The mutual agreement that each would learn from the other until one decided not to do so anymore. Temporary, perhaps, but not altogether useless.

[member="Abyss"]

 

[Darth Abyss]

"The way of the sith is to gain power to finally achieve victory. One very effective way to gain power is by gaining knowledge. So yes, we are not enemies."

After a moment of thought he shakes her hand, a gesture of respect he would deny most people. He knew that she did understand that this was not a permanent alliance but he did not intend to end anytime soon. Once again he takes place on the ground in his meditative position, gesturing her to sit down as well.

"Sit. It's time I teach you the skills to unravel the secrets of ancient times."

[member="Mara Sedaya"]

 

[NightSister]

Sighing quietly as the allegiance was sealed, Mara shook his hand firmly and sat down, taking a meditative position as she waited to see what the Sith would show her. She had never been taught by a Sith - she had been taught very little as it was - and half expected it to become one of the half-lesson-half-beatings that Sith were notorious for. He certainly had the temper for it. Still, she could handle pain if that was his teaching method, and it would be worth it if he taught what he claimed to be able to teach.

[member="Abyss"]

 

[Darth Abyss]

The sith takes his lightsaber from his belt laying it down on the ground in front of him. He raises his hand into the air and he uses the force to pull two small rocks into it. He starts talking while laying the stones besides the lightsaber:

"Close your eyes."

He shuffles the objects in front of him, placing the lightsaber on the right side.

"In front of you are three objects, one tied to the force and two that are nothing but dead pieces of stone. Extend your senses, listen to the echos of the past. Every individual that is force sensitive can sense another force user with ease. Objects are similar but still different enough to require some training and knowledge to sense them properly. You can sense a living being by searching for a flow in the force, like a river. Objects on the other hand are like a lake, the force does only flow slightly trought them. The power they hold is instead a manifestation of force, keept and focused inside them."

He stops for second, mostly for the dramatic effect of it, something his master tends to do in her lessons.

"Now. Pick up the object that holds the force inside it."

[member="Mara Sedaya"]

 

[NightSister]

Closing her eyes reluctantly, Mara reached out with her mind and pulled at the strings of Force power lingering in the dark atmosphere. A certain thread stood out as not belonging to the Dark power of the cave - still dark, but in a different way, as though it was the embodiment of pure rage. Considering the events of the past few minutes, that was likely not far from the truth.

Reaching a hand out Mara extended her Force power to where the object she'd located in her mind was sat on the rocks, lifting it several feet in the air then letting it float slowly back down.

[member="Abyss"]

 

[Darth Abyss]

The acolyte nods slightly in approval as the lightsaber touches the ground again.

"Good. That was the simple part. Most people with a connection to force feel at least something when close to objects that hold force within. The hard part is locating them from far away. Its a skill you won't learn after a few minutes of training. With time you will learn to listen, to sense echos that are from ancient times, buried on planets lightyears away from you. And with any echo you hear it will get easier until you can hear then calling from the boarders of civilisation and beyond."

[member="Mara Sedaya"]

 

[NightSister]

Mara listened to the Acolyte's teachings, doing her best to listen and not appear as amused as she was at the whole situation, but frankly the lesson was too straightforward to hold much interest to her once the practical bit was over - she held her intelligence in too high regard to still be interested by such a simple lesson.

"Alright, alright," she said, opening her eyes and getting to her feet. "What's next?"

[member="Abyss"]

 

[Darth Abyss]

He was slightly disappointed that she cut him of like this. While, like most force users, he intended to keep his knowledge secret, passing on his knowledge would help to keep the things he learned and created alive on beyond his own live. The sith, still sitting on the ground, remains silent for a moment before finally opening his mouth to speak to her.

"Whatever you desire. I will stay here to seek the remaining secrets of the cave, and bath in the power it holds. You can stay and we can share our knowledge or leave. Whatever you choose, we will meet again if the force intend us to."

[member="Mara Sedaya"]

 

[NightSister]

"So you have more knowledge to share after all," Mara said with a hint of smug triumph. "In that case, I think I can stay a little longer."

Admittedly, she was totally unaccustomed to Sith methods of teaching but whatever knowledge there was to acquire could be acquired through whatever method so long as it was acquired. As long as she didn't have to nearly be killed again, Mara really didn't mind.

[member="Abyss"]

 

[Darth Abyss]

"It depends. Like before, my knowledge will cost you some of your own."

Normally he wouldn't give away his secrets so freely, but the fact that she was a nightsister was enough to keep his attention. The different sects of force users and their unique philosophies always fascinated him. While info on the jedi and sith was relatively easy to come by, knowledge about the smaller and more exotic groups was rare. The little bits and pieces about them he learned from books and texts could not satisfy his hunger for knowledge.

"Anything in particular you want to know?"

[member="Mara Sedaya"]

 

[NightSister]

Mara considered the offer. The knowledge she had to offer was extensive, but her requirements for giving it away were high. The Sith would have to teach her something quite useful in order to obtain something in return.

"Can you use Force Fear? I've been meaning to learn that for a while. Let's say that if you teach me that, I'll show you...I could show you how to do a Force Choke." That was something she was relatively good at and reasonably certain that he wasn't, or he would have done a better job of either spotting and deflecting or breaking hers earlier.

[member="Abyss"]

 

[Darth Abyss]

"Yes. I can teach you how to provoke fear in others. Its quite a simple technique for a shit to learn. You need to be completely open to the dark side to do it."

He stops for moment to consider her offer. The skill she offerd would be useful in combat, but it was also something widely known to most sith, including his master. He wouldn't waste the option to learn form a nightsister, so he he asks her to consider teaching him something different.

"For what you have to offer in return ... I would like to learn another skill. I have read at least a dozen books were the nightsister are mentioned. Most of them included description of your skills to control animals. I would like to learn how to do it."

[member="Mara Sedaya"]

 

[NightSister]

Controlling animals...Mara knew how to use the ability, but after mastering the technique had had no reason to use it. Hopefully that wouldn't matter.

"I suppose that's a fair deal. However unless you have any animals to hand that you've been hiding somehow, then it might be pretty difficult to go beyond theory. It's similar to controlling humans, but instead of mind tricks, which involve speech, you have to do it all non-verbally - unless the animal speaks the same language as you. You have to look into its eyes, reaching out with your mind, and if it looks like it's listening then with your mind you tell it very clearly what you want it to do. It's not hard, but you do need a good bit of willpower - and patience."

[member="Abyss"]

 

[Darth Abyss]

"Patience". The way the witch stressed the word made him chuckle slightly. It was true patience was a something most sith had not, but for someone that had to learn the ways of the force from books and texts it was a skill that was crucial. For him a theoretical explanation was more than enough to understand, even if what he just learned would require training. He thought about his answer, thinking of a way to teach a follower of the twilight who to create fear in others:

"Invoking fear in others is as simple and complex as manipulating minds in any other way. It is almost natural to create fear if you try to twisted someone mind with the force of the dark side ... But its effectiveness does not only depend on the force. You need to scare them not only with the force but with your actions and words, the force is only the tool that will push them over the edge."

[member="Mara Sedaya"]

 

[NightSister]

Mara raised her eyebrows at the Sith's explanation of creating fear. Scaring people with her actions was not something she needed a lesson on, but it was hard to invoke fear that way without it becoming one's general way of being, and that was something Mara was keen to avoid. With the Force, the fear needed a base, but could be almost entirely created.

"I am aware of that," she said drily. "What I was asking for was exactly how to use the Force to, as you call it, push others over the edge."

[member="Abyss"]

 

[Darth Abyss]

"Open your mind to force. Search for the fear inside it, how it feels, what motivates it. With a mind trick you can tell people what to think for brief moment, placing one of your one tought inside their heads. Now just do that with fear."

It felt weird for him to explain. He had no real talent for mind tricks but fear felt almost natural for him since he started to use the force. Maybe she would have to try it herself to see how it works.

"Now do it. Make me fear you."

[member="Mara Sedaya"]

 

[Tanith Alde]

@Abyss @Mara Sedaya

She had finally been watching the two for long enough now. It was always a curious thing, watching another describe the various effects and powers of the force, to try and teach them. Everyone had a so varied way of doing it, but perhaps that was for the best. Was there truly a "Right" way of doing it? She wondered at herself

But there was only so much value in a lesson given in comfort. True learning came from adversity, and a need to use the skills one was being taught, there was no reason to shelter someone from this.

Safiriel, ever the teacher, decided now would be a good time to test the two young apprentices before her, not that they necessarily were hers. She would teach anyone that desired to learn, and the two clearly did.

How the two dealt with the mysterious black robed figured approaching would tell her much about the two, though Mara would likely be able to recognize her despite it.

Either way, Safiriel was now openly approaching the two, a whispering weave of darkness cloaking her to add to the woman's already frightfully dark presence