The Mind's Deepest Recesses

Posted on Tue Jan 29th, 2013 @ 5:52am by Bomoor Thort & Thane & Berry & Kip Hoddai & Morgo Le'Shaad

2,319 words; about a 12 minute read

Chapter: Chapter III: Relics
Location: Ancient Temple, Tython
Timeline: Day Eleven

OLD

"Bomoor should go with you," Thane said, turning to them and giving his close friend a quick glance. "This is a Je'daii temple, after all; you may well need an adept Force user about to get through some of the mechanisms." He threw a thumb towards the Kip and Sev. "I'll go with the gruesome twosome down the opposite way and see if we can find anything." The light deadpan humour on his face became slightly sterner. "But we definitely stay in contact. Every ten minutes, at least. If we can't get a hold of each other, we come straight back here."

NEW

It had been a short while since the two groups had parted ways but long enough for the gruff discussion from Thane's group to die away leaving only the hum of the storm outside to resonate around the empty hallways. His friend had led them away by the light of his violet lightsaber blade, which eerily illuminated the walls with a haunting hue. His own Viridian blade was no longer illuminated as his two companions, Lady Le'Shaad and young Berry, were illuminating the passages enough with their own light sources. However, Bomoor's hilt was still firmly in hand and ready to ignite at any hint of danger.

Berry poked at the ground with her light stick, having flicked it on for more lighting. "Sooo..." She hurriedly glanced over at Shady Lady. "Poking dirt is okay, right?? It's not historical dirt or anything..."

Morgo glanced down at Berry, who was prodding the ground with the blue blade of her lightsaber, which was probably Thane's old lightsaber. She wondered to herself whether it was vanity that had led Thane to create another, more beautiful lightsaber for himself when his old one was still in working order.

"It's fine if you want the smell of burning dirt and sand to follow us around the temple." Morgo said simply, her nose twitching slightly.

Berry's own nose wrinkled slightly as she lifted her light stick. "Yeah, it's kind of stinky..."

Bomoor lifted his head, "She is right Berry. If you are going to keep your lightsaber illuminated, then you should hold it in the basic form that Thane taught you. That will keep you ready and will prevent the unpleasant stench of scorched filth."

The woman lifted her glowing spearhead to illuminate the hall before them, finding it curious that there were little to no writing on the walls of the temple nor carved pictures to perhaps help along the lost Je'daii initiate, in the old days of Tython's temple. Perhaps the lack of signs and directions were meant to be a a test for the young Force-sensitives, to encourage them to spread out with their minds instead of relying on physical guides, and find wherever they were going by feeling with the Force, or perhaps skimming the minds of the more senior Je'daii Journeyers, Rangers, or Masters.

The ancient temple around them was dark and full of shadows, and while the air was close and stale, around them, it was not so stagnant that there was fear of suffocation. The old Je'daii temple was vast enough that there would be air to last them all, and if the small draft Morgo had felt earlier was to be trusted, there were probably open windows here somewhere. From what light the lightspear end of Morgo's cortosis stave could offer, along with the cold blue light from Berry's lightsaber, the architecture of the Je'daii temple was truly beautiful, if worn and weathered by age. Grand domes and carved arches along the ceiling, great stone pillars and the tattered remains of tapestries and banners along solid walls, that perhaps were once colored bright. And sometimes, the beveled pattern of twining vines repeated themselves on the walls. In her mind, Morgo imagined what the place might've been like at the zenith of the Je'daii era.

As the trio made their way down the hall, looking for doorways, Morgo pondered where the switch might be. It stood to reason that there would be a control room, perhaps even a security room where doors could be opened, shut and sealed. Any possible layout of the temple was a mystery, but in modern architecture, basic security like footmen, doors and gates tended to be on the base level. Any room with real operational importance for security, like a master control room, tended to be found on high, away from the possible intruder or mischievous Je'daii children. Perhaps what they were looking for were a set of stairs.

Berry sighed as they walked, squinting here and there. "It's so dark in here." She swished the light stick around before pausing, this time her eyes narrowing to study something. If she moved it to the left, her shadow got longer...and to the right, and it got shorter...she lifted the saber to her face and then stuck a hand in front of it, her hand's shadow long and wide. The part-Aquar's eyebrows lifted as she grinned and made a fish shadow—which consisted of just her hand flat with a thumb poked up. "Swish swish swim," Berry murmured to herself as she had the shadow fish swim across the walls and banner remains.

Morgo ignored Berry's little shadow animals and looked up at the Ithorian, who was trailing a little behind them, seemingly deep in thought. It was difficult to decipher anything from Bomoor's face, admittedly different than Morgo's usual fare of humans. Still, as unfamiliar with alien races as she was, Morgo could read from his body language that something was troubling him—had been troubling him since they'd left that chamber of two corpses, since he'd parted from Thane.

"Thane showed you his holocron, didn't he." Morgo said, looking to Bomoor. It was not a question.

The Ithorian paused for a moment. He should have known that such information would not stay secret from the former-duchess.

"Indeed," Bomoor replied plainly, "Does that concern you then?"

"Not particularly, no." Morgo said smoothly, watching Bomoor closely, "But I'd imagine that for you, it must be a bitter pill to swallow, seeing such a close friend change so, before your very eyes."

Bomoor met Morgo's gaze for a moment before looking away towards the wall, "He has always been this way," he replied solemnly, "It is only now that he has truly been allowed to indulge in this side of himself. It can be a rather restricting life as a Jedi, you know - limits to emotion, narrow points of view... It's not always easy to swallow, especially for Thane."

Even as he denied Thane's transformation, images of the holocron returned to Bomoor's mind. The remnants of Darth Bane and his dark presence once again plagued the Ithorian. Morgo had a point; even if Thane was the same at heart, the influence of the Dark Side from this ancient Sith Lord could be enough to change him into something that Bomoor feared very much so.

Berry's shadow fish paused in the air as she glanced behind her at the two talking. Her brow furrowed as she switched her fish shadow into a chomping shark, before she dropped her hand entirely and twirled the light stick, frowning to the side. Guess it was a bad bad, huh...she bit her lip and looked up ahead at the new room they were stepping into.

She pointed with her saber, eyebrows raising. A wall of swirling steam-looking stuff wafted toward her as she stepped in, and she looked back. "Hey guys, check out this weird cloud on the ground..." The part-Aquar frowned again. "Uh....guys?" All behind her was that same wall of swirling fog, Morgogo and Boomy no where to be seen. Berry's brows knit, and she slowly raised her saber in case it would cut someone if she ran into them (literally). "Guys, where are you??"

Bomoor and Morgo had stopped in the corridor just short of the room but Berry's cry had made them look up.

"Where did Bería go?" Bomoor queried, looking into the room ahead where a slight haze could be seen, "She was right in front of us."

Morgo was a Lady, and did not grumble, but if she could've, she would've, "That useless girl. I have half a mind to just leave her here with her shadow animals for all eternity." She said, eyes scanning their surroundings for a green, hunched moron, "If she outlives her usefulness, I just might."

The pair rushed into the room themselves, very alert for any sign of their young companion. Bomoor felt a wall, "The stone is damp in this room. There must be a vent piping out all this steam here. Oh, come out Beríá! Don't play around in this place."

There was no reply to his call and the dim light made it impossible to see more than a few metres through the gas. Strangely enough, the density of the smog seemed to be much greater now that he stood in the room. The silence was chilling, even the sound of the storm seemed to have abated this deep into the temple, leaving only a ghastly hissing as steam poured into the room. Bomoor walked forward several paces until he thought he could see a hazy figure standing motionless a few steps ahead.

"Lady Le'Shaad is that you?" Bomoor questioned, noticing what seemed to be Morgo's long flowing hair draping like a hood from the figure's head. The figure seemed to turn slightly at the address and then scurried off again into the unknown.

Something was wrong, the group had been right next to each other and now they seemed lost in what had seemed only a small room, "I'm going to find the corridor again!" he called out through the mist, "Try to do the same and we will find another way through!"

He held his lightsaber up and lit it once again, dying the droplets the faintest of green and illuminating the area around him. Suddenly he became aware of several figures standing around him, revealed by the shining light of his blade. Their dark shapes were visible only, but Bomoor was strangely aware of a burning gaze upon him as he stood with his lightsaber held above his head, firmly defensive now at the appearance of these unknown figures.

"Who are you?" Bomoor growled, "Where are Bería and Morgo?"

At first, the sound was simply the trickling continuing, echoes of the pitter-pattering surrounding and closing in about the Ithorian, but before too long, the echoes became deeper. They became louder... lower... and more menacing, and before too long, a resounding low-pitched growl grew up from the stone, which in turn slowly grew into a dark - almost familiar - voice.

"They have come to us," it rumbled softly and with a hint of condescension, "away from your supposed protection and wisdom; they are under our security now... No longer threatened by your childish incompetence."

"Indeed," another growling whisper said, off to the other side, in a voice that was even more familiar than the first. "He was always a poor student, thinking to impress others with his independence but caring nature... I never had the heart to tell him how disappointed I have always been in him... my apprentice." The words were almost spat by one of the shrouded figures. "Even Thane sees how worthless Bomoor is; there's a reason why no one ever looks to him or wants him around."

A long grumbling sigh came from another voice, one more like a gravelly woman's. "Our greatest failure. It's a good thing he is not out here all alone - he simply couldn't handle it. But then again, I think the others know that. It's why they've come to us, after all, and why we're here in the first place."

"Masters?" Bomoor questioned. His head was feeling light and his grip on his sabre weakened as his mind began to put together the shapes of the council members before him, "I am doing as you asked. Do you not trust me with this assignment?"

And then, surprisingly suddenly, a warm breath could be felt upon the back of Bomoor's trunk, as a pair of lips came close. Thane's whispering voice was immediately recognisable. "You are pathetic."

Bomoor froze. Hearing Bane's words once again realised his fears that Thane now agreed with the Sith. That he had discarded their friendship in order to walk the path of darkness. Not only that, but he didn't even have the respect for him to be truthful about it when he had asked.

"Thane..." Bomoor addressed the former-Jedi without turning, "Why did you lie to me?"

"It was your own naivete that had you fooling yourself, believing what you wanted to believe," Thane whispered even more menacingly, and now on Bomoor's other side. "After all, that is the way of the Sith: your delusions are your weakness to be exploited; it is the way of the strong to use the..." Thane gave a short, almost self-satisfied laugh, "...weak...."

Bomoor turned around sharply, an anger inside him was alight but he hardly cared as he looked into the eyes of his friend as his pale lips curled into a smirk of self-satisfaction. Part of Bomoor's mind was telling him this couldn't really be Thane, that he would never show such cruel disregard for the friendship they had built based on their mutual agreements and experience. But there was another voice inside him, an unfamiliar impulse, that told him to give in, to believe in what he saw.

Bomoor brought his lightsaber down to his side and stepped towards Thane but, quick as a flash, the smirking human darted back into the mist leaving Bomoor alone once more but with that continued sensation of being watched.

TBC

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