Ask Victims of War

[Sol Kenuk]

He listens, silent and thoughtful, the intensity of his vision like that of wintry hell-fire. Sol feels no pity for the man, no empathy nor kindness, but the negative emotions were something to be built upon, the embers of a small flame fanned into a roaring blaze.

"You're right." Sol adds to Kyo's final statement. "They abandoned you. You made a mistake, and they threw you away like trash. Did they even try to contact you? Did they even reach out to make sure that you were okay? Or to ask for an explanation? They just assumed that you were a traitor, that you were a killer. Didn't they?" The Kel'dor pressed coldly.

"Your Jedi betrayed you, not the other way around. You were their family, their friend, but the moment you made one mistake, you became nothing." Oh, how it felt so bitter to say these things, not because Sol held any amount of Kindness for Kyo, but because he had heard them before. They were the same words spoken to him, at one time.

Sol knows from experience just how effective it could be to hear such poisonous words.

"Painful as these feelings may be, do not let go of them. Why follow the teachings of those that discarded you so easily?" Sol advises simply before he went on, "Close your eyes and focus. Let these feelings stew. Brood upon them. As you once meditated for peace, now you will meditate for strength." Sol crosses his arms, taps his talons against the sleeves of his dark robes.

"Use your emotion as fuel. Let it build within you like a fire. Feed these flames delicately, you'll want to keep control of the blaze if you intend to harness it." It was meditation, but of a darker sort. This was not something the Jedi taught it's padawans. It was something far darker, the meditations of a Sith.

@AdventCore

 

[Kyosuke Yamato]

This wasn't usually a good line of thinking for Kyo. He knew what dwelling on thoughts like these was like. It could be self-destructive for him. Not something he ever liked to focus on, but that didn't really matter anymore. With a deep sigh, Kyo tried to reign back the uneasy bubbles festering in his chest, and set the tray on the table next to him. There was just enough space for him to scoot his lithe hips back, pull up his legs to cross them, and rested his hands against them.

"Yes, master..." The raven-haired initiate obeyed and followed Sol's guidance. He then closed his eyes, and began to tap into the emotions that he'd been trying to bottle up for so long. It burned and churned like a fiery vortex, locked inside a frozen cage. He hesitated. The deep guilt and pain he felt wasn't just from memories he had now. Throughout all his time he'd learned that the baggage he carried was far more than just his own. Perhaps these meditations could help him find who else lurked in his mind...

Kyo took in a slow deep breath. Then held it for a few seconds, and finally released it. He had to temper this delicately, as Sol put it. Something he figured would be easier to do if he knew what memories and events these all linked to. For now he would continue to listen to Sol's guidance, keeping in mind he was now going to be focusing on controlling these flames through strength, rather than peace.

@Nevermourn

 

[Sol Kenuk]

The Kel'dor observes the other quietly, pleased by the obedience that the newfound trainee seemed to show. Just as he was teaching Kyo to temper and control the raging inferno within, Sol, too, intended to do the same to the exile. He was a weapon to be molded, something that, in time, might just make it as a Sith.

The emotions of the other are now bared to the force, and Sol can sense it, the guilt, the pain that festered within the other man's spirit. For now, Kyo was doing well enough. He was building his fire and keeping it maintained.

"The Jedi taught you to follow the will of the force." Sol speaks quietly, "But this is false. The force does not control you. It has no power over your actions. You are not a slave." The Kel'dor adds with cold vocals. It was almost ironic to say such things to a prisoner, forced to obey what the Sith demanded of him. "With the fuel that you will harness in these emotions, you will learn not only to control and utilize what you feel as a source of power, but to do the same to the force." The Sith did not follow the will of the force, no. They dominated it. The force was a tool, a weapon.

"This will be the rest of your day. You will meditate on these emotions, and nothing else. I will return tomorrow, and you will demonstrate how you've progressed." Meditation was rather hands off, for the most part. Sol had given Kyo the kindle, but it was the exile that would have to turn that into a roaring fire.

Sol remains where he is for now, though, still watches the other expectantly. If the prisoner had anything else to say, now was his chance.

@AdventCore

 

[Kyosuke Yamato]

"Yes, master..." The overwhelming artificial light made it difficult for Kyo to focus on the meditation. Nonetheless, he listened to his master's words, taking into account the venom he spat was meant to twist him. Not that what he said seemed wrong necessarily. Kyo couldn't stop thinking about how the idea of following the Force was akin to being a slave. Something he knew all too well. Something he felt was happening to him even now. He wondered if he'd ever truly be free again.

A dozen massive chains appeared from the bright darkness in his mind's eye, wrapping themselves around the internal visualization of bottled emotions that floated before him. He had a lot of work to do if he was going to break these chains and gain access to his full potential.

Control. Power. Foundations for the dark side. Kyo already had a decent amount of control over his more savage and instinctual emotions. Though not nearly as much as he wanted over the rest, it was still enough for him to keep himself going. Otherwise he likely would've already been overwhelmed and given up by now. Something he felt this path could lead him closer to if he wasn't careful. He also had to keep in mind that at any point his remnant persona could fight him for that very control and threaten to end his life early. A twisted sense of saving the galaxy. He wondered if that would be justice.

Kyo began to tap into the dark side, began to feel it. Then the stun cuffs activated as he attempted to take control of it. As soon as the cuffs activated he went to push away the electrokinetic surge that resulted, but found himself unable to resist and guide the currents as well as he had the day before. He seized, and nearly crashed back down to the table.

A few moments later he'd be right back up and at it again, practicing more restraint to keep himself from activating the cuffs while he obeyed his master and would aim to spend the rest of the night doing as he was told, meditating without going too far so that he could keep himself from accidentally triggering the cuffs again. An opportunity for him to practice more control.

@Nevermourn

 

[Sol Kenuk]

Still, he watches, quiet and looming, until Sol thinks he can taste the frayed edges of the dark side. Kyo wasn't pretending, wasn't lying about his intentions. Sol could sense the force as well as ever, and knew that, while the path would not be swift, Kyo was falling. Whether or not that Jedi was still in there somewhere wasn't really up for debate. Sol just had to make sure that Kyo was dragged so far into the dark that he'd never find that light again.

The stun cuffs activate, but the Kel'dor has no intentions of removing them just yet. He still didn't trust Kyo, and it would take time to build that. For now, the cuffs would make for a decent enough consequence of lacking control. The former Jedi would have to learn discipline of a different kind now. Sol does dim the lights of the room though, re-engaging the ray-shield as an added measure of security. If Kyo continued to work towards the dark side without resistance, then perhaps he'd even earn himself a few blankets.

For now, Sol would leave the initiate behind to practice and brood on his emotion as instructed. The real work was just beginning.

@AdventCore [end thread]