Step Into my Shadow

[Johnathon Lynd]

He stood there a piece of midnight blue cloth covering his eyes, everything about him was different, there was a sense of arrogance, a sense of pure control that enveloped his aura. Even his physique was different, his skin tight black athletic shirt clung to his body which showed the outline of an athletic body that he had come to develop over the last few years, his black cargo style pants clung to him as well, all of which marked out the distinct impression that he was not the same person most people knew him as. Then there was the coups de grace, in his right hand hummed a glowing red lightsaber a stark difference from the front he had maintained for the last couple of years, the had noticed the change in his body, but the temple had a gym, one that he was free to use and he had been seen there numerous times, so that was easily explainable. The rest of this however, was not so easily explainable, which is why he was here. As he started to move through the swamp, his boots squishing the muddy earth beneath him, the creatures of the swamp moved away from him one by one, it was if his dark aura was frightening them in and of itself, well almost all of them.

He stopped as he heard the hiss beneath his feet, he looked down and through the midnight blue darkness that enveloped his eyes he saw a single snake, venomous, taking a stance against him, it would not clear the way for a mere human regardless of the darkness of his aura. This was the snake's territory not his. Johnathon moved his foot to tempt the snake with an aura of pure fire, a force sensitive snake? He contemplated the meaning of this, as the snake quickly moved to strike, it's coiled body unleashed all of it's strength, it's fangs dripping with neurotoxic venom, time stopped for the snake as it felt itself frozen, his mouth still wide open but he was unable to move. The reptile began to levitate off the ground in front of Johnathon's face. He held the snake there with his mind as he extinguished his lightsaber and clipped it to his belt.

("Are you scared now? You should be. You think you can kill me? No one kills me, not even you, you slimy pathetic life form. You were going to bite me, lets see you try that now.)

He reached out and grasped the snake, seeing his venom glands with the help of his blindfold he went just a few centimeters back from the base of the snakes head and away from the venom glands, he forced it's mouth closed and brought the reptile to his mouth and bit down hard, blood filling his mouth and dripping down his chin. He pushed the snake away and held it there once again using the force to hold it there.

("How does that feel? I bite you, you don't bite me.")

He spit the blood out of his mouth, and watched as the color of the snake's aura began to fade.

("No, you don't get to die yet, you die when I allow it and only then.")

He suspended the snake's life force for as long as possible, ensuring the vile creature felt every last bit of pain that it could so that it clearly what was happening to it. It tried to twitch and twist in pain, but it couldn't it was frozen and no matter how much it tried to fight against it, it couldn't move. Until finally after several minutes, it was just fighting to make the pain go away, fighting to make it stop, fighting to die. Johnathon's smile tugged on on the corner of his mouth as he patted the snake's head lightly.

("Now that you know I am your god, you may die.")

He allowed the snake to fall, his lightsaber springing to life and decapitating to mitigate any slight risk of bite as the creature struggled. It's head and body fell to the ground and Johnathon crushed it's head with his boot before covering it with mud. He smirked and moved on deeper into the swamp, no wildlife dared to interact with him now as they scurried away from him the same as they would a violent and destructive storm, most of them knew not what it was about him that they feared, they just knew the fear and moved as quickly as their bodies would carry them away from the source of their fear.

The eighteen year old Sith apprentice and Seer found his way deep into the the swamp, it was here that he would find what he was looking for. The dark side of the force swirled around this area, it moved through the trees and the vines, it had made it's home here for some reason and this is where he needed to be. He needed to feel it, he needed to feel the darkness run through his veins like the life blood that it was.

He saw a glimmer in the mud before him, it was a glimmer of pure darkness, he adjusted his blindfold blocking out any natural light, he stared deep into the darkness and felt himself start to move towards it. It was as if it was sucking him in, he planted his feet, but it was no use, they were yanked out from under him and he fell down into the mud and was dragged further towards hit. He reached out and grasped the source of the darkness, which had now turned into a red hot sensation traveling up his arm and throughout his body. He could feel a metallic object pierce the skin of his hand, he ripped the blindfod away and stared at a rose gold and black object in the shape of a pyramid in his hand. He smiled widely and pulled himself to his feet. The object was so clean, it must have been buried in the mud for hundreds of years, but it was if it was as if it had just been suspended in the mud without any ever coming into contact with it.

Quickly he replaced his blindfold and stared at the object, the red glow was pleasing to his mind, this is what he had come for. This was the key that he had been long awaiting, the key to his future, the one that he had seen in his visions. He thought for a moment before opening, an object like this could not go back with him to Coruscant, the Jedi would sense it, he could hide himself from them, but not this, this object was outside of his mental control. He must learn everything he could from it here and now, he must open it.

His hands found the mechanism and a red light shot out and manifested itself into cloaked man standing before him and it began to speak. Johnathon stood there and listened to every word that the figure told him, he clung to each and every word the same way he had when Rain spoke to him so many years ago now. He felt the darkness in his soul begin to grow darker with the knowledge imparted by the cloaked figure....."The Dark Side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities that some consider to be unnatural...."

He nodded and after several hours, of watching the messages over and over again, he was sure he fully grasped it. He brought the object up in the air and sliced it in half with his lightsaber, the object then seemed to implode on itself as black smoke drifted up through the trees and away from the area.

Now it was time to go home, time to be the Archivist, time to hide his true face from the Jedi again...

[Alex Lynd]

The small ship had landed next a similar one that had by the looks of it been here for quite some time, a few days at least. The Padawan nodded solemnly as he exited the cockpit and looked around. The young man's black padawan braid hung over his shoulder, he was not in traditional Jedi apparel, the swamp did not lend itself to Jedi robes. So instead, he wore.a simple brown athletic shirt with matching cargo pant, his lightsaber clipped at his left side on his standard Jedi utility belt.

His blue eyes scanned the area, but he did not need them, instead he treaded lightly in the force and gently reached out to find the aura he was looking for. He looked to his left and took a few steps in the general direction as he felt the force swirling darkly around a presence, a presence that felt different to him, but nevertheless a presence he recognized. Alex a deep breath in and sighed, as he curled his lower lip and disappeared into his mouth. He wasn't sure what he expected when he came here, but he knew what he was looking for and this felt exactly like what he was looking for. He shook his head and started walking towards the presence, the soft ground squishing beneath his boots.

As he went deeper into the swamp he became keenly aware of all the life forms around him and how they seemed to pay him no attention at all, it was as if they were focused on avoiding the presence they all seemed to be able to feel in the force.

There was a noise and he stopped suddenly his feet sliding a bit beneath him on the muddy ground. It was getting closer, he could sense it, he could [ see it. His blue eyes locked on the blindfolded figure that emerged behind a tree and he hung his head, the man's aura was changing in front him and he was doing a job of hiding it to anything and everything except for Alex.

"Johnathon, did you get lost on the way back to Coruscant brother?"

Alex's normally gentle and caring expression hardened as he stared at his twin, his blue eyes catching the hilt of a lightsaber hanging from the belt of the boy he had grown up with, the one whom had until the last few years shared an especially close and special bond with him. There was a since of bitter betrayal in Alex's mouth, one that he could not shake, he didn't have all the answers and he came here fully prepared to give Johnathon the benefit of the doubt, but things were not looking overly optimistic.