(Switching control to just one character and reverting this to a solo thread)
"Yes. It does. While you still cling to your blind traditions, you are a shell of what you could be. And even then, the Jedi will use you as a weapon to fulfill political agendas and nothing more, as they always have. But you learned that when the Republic's Jedi stabbed you in the back, didn't you? Killing you will be a mercy to you. And that's more that I'll be doing for you as a brother then you've ever done for me!"
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The battle had been long and arduous between them. Nick hadn't been interested in Josh's pleas to end this peacefully, and the battle had taken it's toll on the environment. But there they stood. Josh over Nick with his saber still ignited, Nick with his two-handed saberstaff broken in half, the two sides of the saber separated from one another on different parts of the field. Nick stared at Josh with gritted teeth and hatred in his eyes.
"WHY? WHY CAN'T I BEST YOU! DAMN YOU!" Nick would scream toward his brother, sheer frustration, hatred and rage in his voice. "The dark side has always been stronger! I have dedicated my life to surpassing you ever since I have met you, and yet even still, you best me! I REFUSE to be in your shadow, I REFUSE to believe that a Jedi could take down a Sith! The Sith will rule this galaxy, and I will see it through that every Jedi is eradicated!"
Josh stared down at his brother, unable to fathom the words he was speaking. It broke his heart to know that all he yearned for was his death. For the end of the Jedi, the reign of the Sith... All Josh had ever wanted was to reunite with his brother. And now, it was as though his brother no longer existed. But... Deep down, Josh knew something.
"You're lying."
"What?"
"You're lying to me. And you're lying to yourself? I can sense it. You don't actually want me to die... It's what you've misguided yourself to think. But there's something else, under the surface, isn't there?"
"LIAR!" Nick would scream, shooting him a glare. A hateful, defiant glare.
"Your lightsaber is still half intact. I've had my guard down. If you truly wished me dead, you'd have killed me by now."
A pause. No words spoken. And then finally, Nick stared down at the ground. He didn't know how to answer that. His face was a mix of confusion, sadness and anger. He'd never been confronted with an issue like this. He'd always just been able to kill anything that got in his way. He never had time to deal with the emotional aspects of things. He'd only known hate. That was what he had taught himself to know. So why was this so difficult to deal with?
"You claim to want to slay me, and the other Jedi, for the good of the Sith... But you're not doing that job right now. You could have, like the underhanded folks the Sith are, killed me while my guard was down. But you didn't" Josh would remark flatly as he paced around Nick. "Your heart's not in it. I can sense it. I can feel it. And deep down... You know that too."
Nick's head would perk up. He didn't say a word... And then finally he stared at his brother and glared.
"... It doesn't matter. My path is here now. I follow the Sith teachings. I follow the Sith code. It is all I know. Don't think you can corrupt me to your Jedi ways, fool... My mindset doesn't matter. I will forever be a Sith."
Josh shook his head.
"It doesn't have to be that way, Nick. I don't care if you become a Jedi. I really don't" He would explain, as Nick would raise a brow in surprise. "I just want you to be free. Don't you get it? I don't want to watch you suffer anymore!" He would cry out toward Nick, emotion finally beginning to show in his face. He had tried so hard to keep it at bay, but the emotions he had suppressed all these years was beginning to come out.
The same held true for Nick. He stared at him, and the realization came, that for once in his life someone actually cared about him. And he knew deep down what he'd wanted, wanted ever since that day on Dantooine. All he'd found in his life was cruelty and hardship, people who wanted to use him for his power and nothing more. When he'd met his brother on Dantooine, part of him struggled with his duties as a Sith Knight, and the small part of him that deep down... Wanted to be a family. Wanted someone he could talk to, and trust, who cared about him. That conflict was still there...
And finally, it all came out... The tears began to fall from Nick's face.
For the first time, the deadly Sith Knight began to cry.
"I... I can't..." Nick would sob as he stared at him. "I'm sorry... I'm too far gone, don't you get it? The Sith, the dark side... It has been a part of me for most of my life. Her embrace has taken me... There is nothing left, but for me to serve the dark side until I pass on. There's no going back once you've fallen. There never is. And even if there was... I've been at this far too long to stop. It's all I know. It's all I've ever known."
Josh had begun to hope, when he saw the expression on Nick's face, that what he'd wanted for so long, what he'd searched for since that day on Dantooine, would finally come true... He thought he'd found it when he had found his father again, who was in the guise of Phil J. Halen. But Halen died in the battle of Coruscant. The Sith took him away, and he was alone again. The only family he had left was Nick. And just as Nick had... For the first time in years, Josh began to sob as well, tears fell from his eyes. And finally... All of the emotion poured over. Jedi were to suppress their emotions, unlike the Sith. And Josh knew that. But this had been suppressed for far too long...
"You IDIOT! I don't give a damn about putting you on the front lines and making you fight for an ideal you don't care for, like the Sith do!" Josh would scream in Nick's face. "YOU are the one who doesn't GET IT! I've been searching, all these years... Ever since I found out you were alive... I just want my brother back! I JUST WANT TO BE A FAMILY AGAIN!" He would scream, every ounce of frustration, every ounce of pain and sadness pouring out. "I've spent all my life with an Order that to me was my family, because I had none. That Order stabbed me in the BACK! I have people here and there, but... But they always leave me eventually. I have always been told that friends are fleeting... And family is forever. And all I've wanted since I found out you didn't die in that speeder was my brother back. My little brother... Do you know how heartbroken I was when I found you, only to find that the Sith had taken you away from me again? I have fought, scratched and clawed to SURVIVE, because I wanted to find you. Wanted to talk to you. Wanted to tell you about all the things I've seen! All the things I've done! All the people I've met! I wanted to be able to sit down with you, and laugh... And have a good time, and be the big brother that I couldn't be, because ever since I was five years old I've had to live with the "fact" that my brother was dead!
I... I just want... I just want, more then anything else... To have my brother back. To have a family. Please... Please discard this dark path... I don't want to use you, I don't want to hurt you... I just want you to be free of these chains and be your own man. I want you to be my brother again. You deserve a better life then this... And I want my brother back more then anything... Please..."
Josh never begged. Never pleaded. But this was a case that was so different from anything he had ever encountered. A long pause hung as Nick stared, as he seemed to consider, torn, conflicted... And then he finally shook his head.
".... I'm sorry."
"G-GHHHAHAAAAAAA!" Josh would scream out as Nick would strike him with Force Lightning, sending him flying and crashing into a tree. Josh groaned as he sat up, and Nick stared at him, sadness in his eyes. He hadn't wanted to do it, but... He had no choice.
"Please forgive me... But I'm too far gone now. I'm sorry."
Josh would have to shield his eyes as a bright light blinded him for a moment. An illusionary tactic. Taught to Nick by @Circe Savan long ago.
"Nick! Come back! NICK!" Josh cried out as he got to his feet. But Nick was gone. His lightsaber was gone. He'd fled, trapped to his fate.
Josh took a deep breath, wiping the tears from his eyes.
"Too far gone..." He whispered. He whispered it over and over again. "Too far gone..."
He closed his eyes. His decision had been made.
There was only one way to save him now.
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In the years that followed, Josh continued to train as a Jedi, bouncing from faction to faction in order to try and find where he belonged. Along the way, he met people that he grew to trust, such as his to-be lover [member="Shmi Labooda"], as well as re-linked up with [member="Coryth Elaris"], [member="Rasu Gan"] and others. But there was a secret he couldn't tell them. Any of them. He'd gone to great lengths to learn the dark side. To use it, to be able to imbue oneself in it, able to radiate that aura at will. He'd even gone to the woman that had taken Nick from him to begin with, Circe Savan, to help him bring it out. The mental torment that came with it caused trauma that would never allow for Josh to use the dark side again in most cases. He would never be able to be corrupted, but would never be able to use it's teachings either. His mind just wouldn't allow it. All he'd remember was sheer trauma. Sheer pain and suffering. The absolute hate he held for the dark side and what it stood for. Josh was strong in resisting temptation, but that closed the door for good. But one day... He would have to manage to bring it out, one more time.
Now 25, Jedi Master Josh DragonsFlame knew the time had come. He had suffered to learn what he had spent his life fighting. But it was the only way...
He needed to prove Nick wrong. If Josh could radiate that aura to him, if Josh could prove that there was still hope, if there was never a point where one was too far gone... Perhaps he would be able to show Nick the way. If he could just prove that Josh could have gone through all that, and still remained who he was... Then so could Nick. He knew that Nick could do it. He believed in him. He just neeed to be shown the way. Josh had undergone a massive sacrifice, defying what he loved and had spent his entire life serving, in secret, by learning the ways of the enemy. He would never act against the Jedi, of course, but to pursue that path... They'd kill him if they knew. He intended, of course, to have his memory of that suffering, and what he learned, erased when he was finished. It was too painful to keep. And he wanted to go back to the way he was when it was all over.
But for now... He would suffer for his sacrifice. He would suffer from the sleepless nights, the mental and emotional trauma, all that he could, for one reason...
Love.
Love made one do stupid things. This more then any. But Josh was willing to put himself through this to save him.
He just had to save him... He had to.
He'd never be able to fully commit himself to his duty until he did. He'd never be at peace until he did.
He had to.
Now... It was time. It was now or never. Josh had to find Nick and end this, once and for all.
He needed his brother back. This was the only way. He'd gone through so much and sacrificed so much to turn back now.
The final battle had just begun.
[End]