Recovery

[Seth Darkserpent]

Seth examined his stomach in the medbay. The Emdee droids had cleaned it and patched it up with synthflesh. This scar was different then all his other scars. His other scars were emotional and memorial scars. This scar was an actual scar. His first scar on his new body. Only then did Seth realize that he had barely ever bruised his new body. His skin was weak, but would return to it's natural color in about a week with daily Bacta treatments.

Failure, Seth thought to himself. He had experienced more failure. Seth knew what he was capable of. He knew his limitations and when a battle had ended. The Sith had expected to lose when he discovered Vis's and Jeseth's strategy of teaming up. He was quite amazed at how long he lasted in the fight. He knew if Jeseth wouldn't have weakened his body with Force Lightning, he would've lasted longer.

Seth stare across the room at his armor. A slave had been nice enough to polish his armor and sword, as well as mend his cloak. He noticed the gauntlets were nowhere to be found. Then Seth realized that they had been crushed in battle. He would have to forge newer and stronger gauntlets.

"What is to be done with this horrid life of mine?" Seth spoke to himself, searching within for answers. "What does the Dark Side ask of me?"

...... He was met with complete silence. Even the voice in his head would not speak. Seth was too tired to react in anger. He could barely move his neck. Even using the Force was tiring.

Seth felt a presence nearby. He pressed one hand down on the bed and managed some leverage. He wondered who was coming. He couldn't quite make out the Force signature due to his weakness.

[Gav Mortis]

Gav hated medical facilities, he found them so depressing and agitating. Beads of sweat were trickling down his brow as the intense heat climbed inside the facility, not one window was open. How people were supposed to be treated here was beyond him. Navigating his way through countless corridoors with a strong, sterilized air to them he came close to Seth's room.

He felt a weak dark presence in the force, a mere shadow of a presence on the other side of the door. He entered to find Seth lying somewhat awkwardly on his bed after trying to sit up straight. Gav smirks then moves over to his bedside and taking a firm grip of his weak shoulders alters Seths position so that he is lying down again.

"Your body is your temple, never take it for granted. You need rest, be still" as he spoke his hand rested on Seth's forehead and in that moment Seth's anxiety and mental discomfort subsided a considerable degree so that he could relax.

"How are you? How do you feel after todays events?" asked Gav curiously as he took a seat next to Seth's bed.

[Seth Darkserpent]

Seth stared at the ceiling able to relax a bit more. He still felt the pain, and the throbbing of his bandaged skin. Seth's eyes were a dim orange. No longer did they shine brightly like they used to. Perhaps when Seth was fully healed, his eyes would shine again.

"Ma-Master Gav, I am..fine. I feel that I have learned a lesson. I overestimated my skill."

Seth let his head slump to the side as the memories of the day he had just had flashed back into his head. He had gotten a good glimpse on Jeseth's fighting techniques. Seth was cursed with a photographic memory. It came in handy at times, but he usually remembered bad events.

"I am eager to continue training under your wise tutilage, though my current state of health forbids me to do so."

Seth felt a small pain under his bandaged chin where Gav had kicked him just after he awoke from his unconsciousness. He could still feel the burning pain in his left arm. He remembered how he had allowed it to catch on fire during the fight.

[Gav Mortis]

"Seth," he began with a sigh, "One day, you will learn that training is not just about fighting and the physical. True power comes from here!"

He tapped his finger lightly on Jeseths head, "Knowledge, wisdom and experience are some of the fundamental keys to the growth of a Sith disciple like yourself."

"You will have the knowledge to discover the history of the Sith and will be able to adapt their ancient conjuring techniques to summon the deeper regions of the Dark Side.

The wisdom to make priorities and have an equilibrium of control and anger. Whilst most importantly, the wisdom to know the worthlessness of the lives of others.

In time you will also gain experience to know that there is no such thing as failure."

Gav could see that all this was not entirely registering with Seth due to his weakened state and so Gav leaned over and placed his hands on Seth's temples and closed his eyes.

"Focus. Search for a place within, find the darkness and embrace it and in that instant you will heal. Come with me..."


OOC:

Translation: A dark meditation in which Gav will begin to teach you about the Sith. :)

[Seth Darkserpent]

Seth nodded, listening to his Master's wise words. He had forgotten that physical prowess meant nothing compared to the mind. It reminded him of a quote he once heard. "The most potent weapon of the oppressor, is the mind of the oppressed." The mind was truly a marvelous device, and soon he would learn how to control his, and bend it to his will.

Then Gav finished, "Focus. Search for a place within, find the darkness and embrace it and in that instant you will heal. Come with me..."

"Yes my Master." Seth replied. The weak creature closed his eyes, as he had done many times before. He delved deep into his mind, letting the darkness embrace him. He could feel it pass through him, and enter every orifice on his body. He felt it around him, encompassing him like a dark ball of energy.

Seth entered the meditation locking on to and following his Master's Force signature with his mind. He let the Dark Side fully take over, achieving a fair amount of mental stability for the time being. Seth followed in the darkness.

[Gav Mortis]

Suddenly the concious world around the two fell apart and collapsed beneath them, leaving behind an unending void of darkness into which they were pulled. In that instant they could hear every raised voice, all acts of violence and the sound was deafening, it roared chaotically. The two were overwhelmed with every dark emotion and thought that was taking place at that moment; it fueled them to go on.

They spiralled into chaos, being pulled deeper and deeper into the Dark Realm of the subconcious. Eventually, Seth realised he was alone in this void but was firmly held onto Gav's presence in the Force and so with time he was able to drown out the ambient noise and hear Gav's voice over all of them.

"Believe it or not Seth but this place does not exist in the Dark Side, it is a part of you and me. This is the darkness within, feel the immense power awaiting to be unlocked. Words cannot describe what you feel now but perhaps you are aware of your true potential."

Seth felt incomprehendable strength, to be in it's presence made him feel like he was actually being crushed by it's unbelievable power; and here was Gav telling him that it was all his strength.

"When you are able to control this dark might you will unleash your true power. But be weary, in time it will consume you and unless you are strong enough it will destroy you. You become power but it has consequences. I choose only those whom I feel are capable and posses enough power to train; you are one of those people Seth!"

Gav probed Seth and felt his inner turmoil, here his feelings had little protection which allowed Gav to understand his disciple more. He also felt his physical pain.

"Seth, it is believed that it is not in a Sith's nature to heal themselves, that is not true. As Sith we are able to nullify pain by overpowering it with our subconcious will. However, a Sith is able to channel the power within and use it to aid the healing process. This power can be manipulated to take the form of an internal fire which when burns increases the bodily reactions, for example healing. Unfortunately, this leaves a Sith very drained of physical strength and the greater the injury, the greater the drain. Do you think you are able to do this? If you do it successfully, you will be in a coma for roughly a day. If you fail at doing it, you will suffer a massive cardiac arrest and die. Are you willing to take the risk?"

[Seth Darkserpent]

Seth pondered on the question for a moment. Death, he had felt it once before. At the time he was weak minded and had a crumpled body. He still managed to transfer his life essence with his newfound hate for this Jedi who beat him. He was on the brink of total death, but he survived. Dying again was not on Seth's agenda.

He felt the blood course through his veins. He felt the unbearable power around him. He could feel it.

He stared into the black maw that surrounded him. He knew his Master would not be found. Seth took a step forward and clasped both hands at his side belt.

"Life is about taking risks. By joining the Sith, I risked my future. Being taught by you, I risk my life. If we were to avoid taking risks, then we would be nowhere. I would not learn such a magnificent technique."

Seth put one hand on his chin and pulled off his mask just to reveal his mouth.

"Therefore I am."

[Gav Mortis]

Waiting in the knowledge that this was such an important issue for Seth; life or death and he knew that Seth would make the right decision and had confidence in his abilities. Otherwise he would not have chosen him.

"Therefore I am"

Inwardly, Gav grinned with satisfaction at Seth's answer. He was growing already and with time would become a great Sith, he could feel it but now was the moment of truth.

Excellent. A life that risks nothing is worth nothing...

Now what you must do is accumulate all of your hatred, aggression and anger then allow it to expand and take shape within. You must focus the darkside within to an unstable level and bend your very enmotion to your will. Taking the form of energy, you must force this throughout your body and channel within your very bloodstream to the injured regions of your body. The energy will supercharge the reactions occuring within your body at that point and your bodily processes will dramatically increase in speed thus draining you of all ohysical energy but the result will be almost instantaneous healing.

Now Seth, do it!

At that moment Gav channeled his very strength of will to Seth in order to aid him and allow him to continue through the ordeal. This wasn't going to be easy.

[Seth Darkserpent]

This isn't going to be easy, Seth though openly. He was already weakened and using the Force would take a lot out of him, but if a new technique was to be learned, he would risk his current health.

Seth relaxed, staring into the darkness of nothingness. He focused on thoughts, present, past and visions of the future. He visioned possible deaths and failures, feeling the pain in his chest return from Naga's demise. The battle replayed itself in his head like a recording. Lightsaber against lightsaber, crossbeams crushing bones. Blood dripping here, blood dripping there. Naga's body was weakened by the experienced Jedi Master. He'd done a considerable amount of damage to her himself. Then he made a mistake. He let his rage cloud his decision. He tripped over her and felt the lightsaber enter his chest, already melting his insides.

Seth blinked twice. He had already gathered a considerable amount of dark side energy around him. He felt the hate swirl around him. He could feel it accumulate in his chest. Then the sound of drums began to beat in his head. He could no longer bare the sound. Seth's face formed a scowl. He had finally grasped control on his emotions somewhat, allowing himself to feel pain and hatred. Hatred for his enemies. Hatred for those who could not handle the truth. They would all die...

Then he felt the hatred expand through his body. Like blood it flowed through and found it's way to his bruises and cuts. It filled his stomach, along with his arms and legs. It was like a dark flame inside. Then Seth felt as the dark side energy took it's course. It was as if everything inside was burning and heating up.

"ARRRRRRRRGGGHHHH!" Seth bit his lower lip and began to twitch. He could feel the hatred from his master too. He chanelled it, called it to him. The energy surge looked as if it was electrocuting him. Then he stopped and everything went black. Seth had gone into a coma.

[Gav Mortis]

Gav marvelled at his apprentices manipulative skill over his dark emotions, his degree of control seemed to have improved. Seth had succeeded and although now laying in a shallow coma his physical injuries had almost completely dissipated.

"Very good Seth!" he said to the unconciouss body before he stood and left the room. Making his way down the corridoor Gav felt another presence and found himself being diverted towards Jeseth's room (http://pub23.ezboard.com/fthesithorderdiscussionchamber.showMessage?topicID =534.topic).

[Seth Darkserpent]

Seth's eyes opened. The room light was dimmed. He stared at the white ceiling above, recollecting what had just happened. Memories of the technique Gav had just taught him flooded back in.

The Dark Jedi took note of something. He was different now somehow then he had been a few hours ago. Seth looked at his sleeve and watched it roll up, using the Force. The bruises had stopped swelling. He no longer felt any pain, anywhere.

"Master Ga--" Seth's head shot up. No one was in the room but himself. He wondered how long he had been asleep. Seth stared at the chronometer beside his bed.

TWO DAYS?! He thought to himself. He had been in somewhat of a coma. Nevertheless, he could not feel any major or even minor pain in his body.

Seth was still a little tired, but he easily shrugged it off. The Dark Jedi walked over to the closet, grabbinh his gauntlet and armor. He slipped everything on quickly. Seth quickly ran out the door without a trace. He had things to do.