The Minds of Princes

Posted on Thu May 3rd, 2018 @ 6:51pm by Thane & Bomoor Thort
Edited on on Sun May 6th, 2018 @ 9:05pm

2,684 words; about a 13 minute read

Chapter: Chapter V: Unbound
Location: Red Raptor, at hyperspace
Timeline: After "The Power of Princes"
Tags: Thane, Bomoor, Force Lightning, Mind Probe, Meditation

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Closing his eyes, Bomoor conjured up the mental image of a feminine figure he and Thane both knew from one of their missions as Padawan learners. She was relatively young, but full of a sad responsibility. He tucked her away in his mind.

"I am ready," he stated.

"Very well," Thane replied as he raised his hand up close to Bomoor's elongated head. "This will undoubtedly be unpleasant, and may very well hurt. Whilst you'll have to persevere, you must let me know if it truly does become too much." Of course, with Bomoor's talents, he felt certain the Ithorian would do well in resisting him or overcoming such pains, but the Human's concern for him still led him to make the comment.

Satisfied, Thane closed his own eyes. Unlike from when they had been meditating, immersed within the currents of the unnatural sensations of hyperspace the galaxy in normal space beyond, he now focused solely on the pair of them. As ever, Bomoor's presence was familiar, the contours of his pattern within the Force unmistakable to him. However, just as was typical during their duels, the Consular had thrown up substantial barriers about him, ready for Thane's mental assault.

Of course, nothing was perfect.

At first, Thane probed gently towards Bomoor's mind with thin tendrils of the Force picking their way across his defences, like water trickling across cracked glass. Eventually, it would find the weakness and slip through, almost unbidden.

Sweat began to return to the Human's brow as his focus intensified, determined to find his quarry. Long moments passed, until finally the chink was discovered, and Thane - almost unwittingly - stumbled across brief flashes of a large familiar room, chiselled from ancient white stone and adorned in regal finery.

Almost immediately, having evidently detected Thane's brief success, Bomoor called deeply on the Force and restored the mental barricades, forcing the Caanan into a form of retreat. Not yet cowed by the resistance, the former Jedi Guardian let the dark side well within him in support of his power, and gritted his teeth as he now pushed harder, his own stubbornness unwilling to beaten by Bomoor's.

In response to the shunt into the Ithorian's mind, Thane's fingers flexed further apart and his hand grew closer to Bomoor's head. Although both men's eyes remained shut, Thane heard Bomoor jolt backwards slightly, his defiance still strong, even if requiring a deeper draw upon the Force.

Whereas before Thane had envisioned the technique as water trickling, he now imagined a simple confrontation, where he was aggressively trying to smash open the ancient doors to a temple Bomoor was jealously guarding. Although it had not been his intention or expectation, he found himself instinctively frustrated at his old friend, angry and determined to discover whatever kernel of information he had elected to secrete from him.

"Show me," he hissed in an almost unnatural voice, willing his opponent to accede and finding himself more inclined to allow pain to become bigger factor in the 'negotiations'.

The ever more forceful tugging on Bomoor's mind was becoming uncomfortable for him; Thane had his nails dug in after his initial success and it instinctively set the Ithorian's emotions into a mild panic as he pictured an enemy outside a gate he was frantically trying to close. He attempted to override these baser emotions by conjuring up further mental barriers between his secret image and his infiltrator.

He did not realise as he retreated into himself, but his heart rate was elevated and his breathing had become very rapid. He was numb to all but the thought of protecting this image and the distaste for allowing someone to breach his mind. But he held steady against the attack and began to feel his opponent's own defences weakening as they scratched away at his barriers. Leaving those barriers in place, the consular was able to peer through the cracks and straight into his opponents unguarded mind.

It was a commonly-overlooked component of the mind probe, was that it required a link to be established first before any probing could proceed; and a door, once opened, could be walked through in either direction. Through the Force, he stepped through, realising that he was compromising his own secret in order to peer at Thane's, but he was somehow deeply drawn to the thoughts that emanated out from that doorway; once you quietened the raging frustration of the surface thoughts, there was a quieter and much-darker voice that called out. It was not Thane's own.

He loves you, you know, came the tearful voice of Loren. Master Sotah. Just as I love you.

Immediately, panic gripped Thane in his entirety.

Although he had now found his prize within the depths of the Ithorian's mind, deep sorrow and pain clutched at Thane's heart, and fear became him. With that surge of emotion, the aspirant Sith trudged up great barriers of his own, thrusting the unexpected invader back as best as possible, furious at not just the recollection of that memory, but also his oversight in allowing Bomoor to enter his mind and the risk of exposure - an exposure he was not yet ready to reveal to the consular.

Using his fear and ferocity to build up as many obstacles as possible, whilst dragging back the vision of a dying Loren deep within the roaring embers of his deep-set loathing, Thane was firmly on the defensive. Looking to restore his previous advantage, he began pressing forward without restraint into his friend to turn that around, scorching away Bomoor's own defences with as much fury as he could muster. Physically, his hand was shaking, and the objects that the pair had previously been manipulating earlier during their session began to quiver, crack and shatter.

The sheer force of wills between the two friends was becoming a dangerous spectacle. Sweat dripped heavily from Thane, and small sparks of electricity began to crackle between his fingers as his hand grew closer to Bomoor, even as the Ithorian - himself also visibly shaking under the sheer strain of the endeavour - remained carefully positioned, arms not shifting.

As a low growl began to form in Thane's throat, he had forgotten all sense of restraint against his friend as the dark side began to wind its way about his being, willing him forward to victory against the remarkable resolve of Bomoor.

But then, suddenly, a new feeling gripped him.

In the midst of the burning shadows of the dark side, a beacon of light suddenly erupted inside him, purging the anger and furore that had been dominating him. At the immediate alien sense of serenity, his eyes shot open. A thin glimmer of molten gold that had been hiding beneath his lids slipped away into his pupils, like water draining away within a sink, revealing his natural ice blue colouration. And with the unexpected calm, his hand dropped away from Bomoor's head, and the dynamic of their contest shifted.

Although having been pushed back by Thane's furious barriers, Bomoor still felt as though he was standing at the fringes of his friend's mind. He felt that same calming rush too and imagined himself being flushed down into a whirlpool, out of Thane's mind and into another that was across that vast reach of space, back towards the gleaming Galactic Core. His own anguish was washed away as he found himself standing on a shoreline staring across a vast and shining sea, coloured slightly by a twilight sky that seemed the colour of some rich tropical fruit.

He had never been to this planet; it felt wild and untamed, fresh and exciting. He wondered if this was a memory of Thane's, although the way the view looked made it somewhat different to the other memories he had glimpsed. In the corner of his eye, he saw movement and then came to realise who's thoughts he was tapping into.

An odd, old-fashioned looking watercraft was moored up at the dock and, walking along the boarding ramp and onto the vessel was a familiar golden-green skinned young woman, who strode towards an odd assortment of sentients who awaited her patiently aboard; it was Berry's crew. The ship was comprised of some patchwork of tropical wood and powered by two large downthrusters to propel it through the glistening ocean; it looked rather ridiculous to see such a ship in today's age but, as Beríá stood aboard it, it seemed somehow fitting.

He watched for a moment and then, without warning, Berry turned around to look at him directly. Bomoor was not sure if it was his own brain, warping the vision or whether their recent companion was aware of his presence in her mind. She looked at him blankly for a moment and he wondered if she still held some resentment towards him but the moment passed and, with a smile, the woman frantically waved her hand in the air in an enthusiastic farewell. As she did so, the tide lapped around Bomoor's ankles and the damp sand and sea absorbed him once again and he found himself washed away once again, through Thane's mind and back to his own.

It did not feel as though he had crossed thousands of light years. Such was the nature of Thane's Force Bond: distance was irrelevant as their beings were intertwined on a quantum level.

Bomoor opened his eyes and saw the surprisingly crystal clear pale blue eyes of his friend looking back at him. Thane was heaving heavily and Bomoor realised he was doing the same, "I... saw Bería...", he began,the vision of Berry swallowing the brief glimpse he had of a distressed Loren, "...your Force Bond. I can reach through it in your mind."

Not responding immediately as he also permitted himself time to recover, Thane wiped away some of the sweat that drenched his face, smearing the slick moisture across his tired features.

"Yes," the Caanan accepted, his tone sounding half like an admission. For the most part, the alien sense of serenity and obscure goodwill had once again slipped away from him, a tired intensity much more familiar to him having returned. Although he was arguably not as positive as he had been when under the sway of the part-Aquar's incessant and puerile happiness, he certainly felt more collected at himself at the reprieve.

"Although she has returned to her true friends on her own world," Thane went on, gently gathering the Force to him to rejuvenate himself without too much exertion, "I'm still subject to her whims and the occasional salty mouthful of fish."

As Thane spoke the words, he had ambivalent feelings towards the matter. Despite what may have transpired between him and his once and brief informal student, he wished her no ill-will. Of course, he also did not wish to suffer her changeable and impulsive moods, even if occasionally well-meaning.

It was distracting.

That, and he did not want the wilful Berry to glimpse his own mind and machinations.

He grimaced as he considered how Bomoor himself had almost discovered the full circumstances surrounding Loren. "I think it is only right, for both of us, that we find some way to sever the bond," Thane said to his friend. "She clearly has no desire to be amongst us, and you'll forgive me for wanting to be free of Bería tantrums. I've enough of those myself."

Now that Berry had said her final farewell to the pair, it seemed wrong for Thane to always have a foot in her world and hers in his. Bomoor thought about the implications of what Thane was asking.

"Force bonds like this are poorly understood, even after millennia of such connections: your bond to Bería is particularly deep, given the physical manifestations you experience," Bomoor thought back to the Jedi archives as he continued, "Severing the Force entirely would certainly do the trick, but we could not guarantee that your sensitivity to the Force would return afterwards, even if done with great precision. Perhaps there is some other way, but it will require some looking into."

Catching Thane's eyes again, they were not as watery blue as a moment before but still were clear in the dim room, "I would like to do this for you though, my friend. You will simply have to permit me some time to get it right."

Thane gave a slow nod. There were many documented cases of Force bonds throughout the history of the various Jedi Orders and sects. It was one of the few pervasive subjects Grand Master Quellus' order had not sought to purge in some way, although some of the minutae had been lost to time, of course.

Well-known to all, however, was the tale of Meetra Surik - the Jedi Exile - and Darth Nihilus, both being Force practioners who had become apparent wounds in the Force due to their nature of both forming and breaking bonds, and how they could each feed and nourish others through their supposedly natural talents.

Whilst he was keen to be rid of his bond, which in itself had been a matter of great interest to him, being one of the chief reasons he had initially been drawn to and fascinated by Berry, he was not keen to sever his connection to the Force in its entirety, to become as he was in Jericho - to become nothing.

Equally, he ran the risk of being subjected to whatever ludicrous experiences Berry subjected herself to - and he was not beyond expecting her to one day suffer a terrible ill. Thane had no desire to be dragged into the waters of Velusia - as cerulean and bright though they may be.

"Thank you," he said to Bomoor, now feeling a slight chill dancing across his skin, goosebumps crawling up beneath the drying sweat and leaving him feeling sightly elsewise. "I will also see what the holocron has to offer; it was handed down through several generations of Sith Lords, so perhaps some wisdom was gleaned during the centuries."

The pale Human waved his hand towards the switch embedded next to the cabin's door, the slightly yellow hue of the outdated bulbs flickering to life after a brief pause. At first, Thane's eyes narrowed as they adjusted to the new light, having been suspended in near darkness for several hours with his fellow former Jedi.

He surveyed the room, examining the marks and objects scattered about courtesy of their venture, as well as how ragged the Ithorian appeared after their exhausting endeavour. As well as physically and spiritually drained, Thane was emotionally drained, the toll not only from the exertion but also what thoughts and feelings had been dragged to the fore by their training - thoughts and feelings he was keen to keep buried, but that he ultimately appreciated proved the worth of what they had been trying to achieve.

"I'd say we accomplished a fair bit in our short time," Thane observed, now starting to step slowly towards the door, deciding that any tidying could wait until they were more rested.

Rising with the same weary pace as his friend, Bomoor nodded, “I have placed Darth Krayt’s holocron in the vault room, alongside Bane’s. I am not sure what experience Krayt had with Force Bonds, given how his philosophy was not to be attached to any particular acolyte, but it may be worth asking that his gatekeeper as well.”

Moving to pick up a fallen box, but then feeling himself lose balance slightly, the Ithorian resigned to follow Thane’s approach of tidying up later and moved towards the doorway as well, “Let us rest for now though. You need your strength for starting our new companion’s training, since you volunteered to teach her first yourself.”

He added in a dry, resonant tone, “There will be time enough for bending the will of the Force later.”

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THANE
▬ Force Telepathy Increase
☼ New Ability - Force Absorption

BOMOOR
▬ Force Telepathy Increase
▬ Force Absorption Increase

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