driftfleet | A disturbance in the Force

Entry tags:

A disturbance in the Force

Who: Greed, Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Ahsoka
Broadcast: None
Action: The Huntress
When: Immediately after this thread, ambiguously dated to when it's done??

[The Philosopher's Stone inside of Greed was an unpleasant place to be and few truly had the strength of will to last their long. That Ling had lasted there for months was beyond unusual. When Ahsoka went inside the stone to find him, she proved less fortunate when lost and vindictive souls dragged her into the torrent. For all that Greed might have been, he lacked the empathy to truly interact and distinguish between the well of souls stored inside him and so she became lost.

It was these very circumstances that led to a frantic Greed carrying the young Togruta woman the short distance from his own room to nearly kicking down the door leading into Obi-Wan Kenobi's own chambers. He didn't say anything, but he'd found himself in a second disaster just as devastating as the one that started all of this. It was his expectation that the Jedi would be able to fix this. If he couldn't - then who could?]

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[ He nods and sits opposite of Obi-Wan. And breathes, focusing on the Force around them.

She'll be okay. They'll make sure of it, or die trying probably ]

[Much as Ahsoka had discovered, the Philosopher's Stone was unlike most anything else in the universe. It was its own condensed world set apart from everything else, though it was more like hell than the heavens. The two Jedi were plunged into a well of innumerable souls. They moved around the outer edges of their container like a river searching for any outlet, but never able to find a way out. In this form they appeared like red ribbons of blood, shadows cast where their eyes and mouth might otherwise be. They might be mistaken only for an illusion were it not for the nearly deafening chorus of wails that went on without pause.

Chief in the center of all of them was a single soul - or perhaps a mass of them masquerading as one entity. This was Greed's true form, an unworldly toothy presence who watched the two Jedi interlopers. When he spoke, his voice came from every single corner of this inner universe. With him was one other soul indistinguishable from the rest, but clearly under his protection.]

By now there will be no telling her apart from the rest of them. I don't know how she figured out how to see their faces, but she was able to find my partner among them.

Ahsoka has other senses. She would have recognized his signature.

[ Slowly, tentative, Obi-Wan reaches out with his own Force signature, sifting through the masses. Ahsoka, can you hear us? Ahsoka! ]

Edited 2016-03-26 02:57 (UTC)

[ It's not a good feeling, being submerged in this. It's tiring from the moment he reached in. Too loud. Too much. All at once. But they are Jedi. And stubborn. Anakin focuses on her, that speck of her signature among the hoard. He hears a faint whisper, someone who sounds like just her behind him.

Ahsoka.

He's not sure if it is her though. Her signature is too faint and everything else was overwhelming. Desperation makes the choice for him; he swears he hears her and he chases after the voice.

Ahsoka!

By the time he realize it's definitely not her, he's not sure where he is anymore. All he knows, all he can feel is something dragging at him. He's swearing in Huttese without realizing and drawing on the Force pull himself out. ]

[Through the Force, these wretched souls reveal their former selves through proximity. What hadn't been Ahsoka ends up being the shell of an old woman clinging desperately to Anakin's arm. She is unclothed, shriveled and emaciated. Though she stares at Anakin with sorrowful and urgent eyes, they are pure white and she does not seem to truly see him. This does not stop her from urgently repeating the same words again and again.

My child. My child. My child.

She is looking for him. Her child. Who she was or who her child was is lost to time. Impassively Greed observes, but says nothing. The identities of these souls has no meaning to him.]

Careful. She did the same thing. Make too much of a scene and they'll all start swarming on you.

[ That makes it trickier. How could they get Ahsoka's attention without stirring up all the souls? Obi-Wan pauses, trying to discover a solution until it hits him. ]

Anakin, use a memory. Something only Ahsoka would know or react to. That'll help us locate her.

[ He chokes back the horror, the reminder of his mother.

Ahsoka. He needs to find Ahsoka. His mind runs through all the conversations they've had, all the angry outbursts and laughs from her--

Their first meeting.

He puts all his energy on it, playing the whole battle over in his head.

You never would have made it as Obi-Wan's Padawan. But you might make it as mine. ]

[There. There's a faint pulse. A vibration along their bond, now thinner than a thread, but there.]

[ Obi-Wan tries to strengthen that connection, channeling the Force into it. Make it stronger, he tells Anakin, strong enough for us to pull her out. The steadier the pulse, the easier it'll be to extract her. But they cannot be too obvious. The souls were restless and Obi-Wan was loathe to hurt Greed in any way. ]

[ He reaches out to her through their bond, abandoning his efforts to shield himself and focuses, trying to feed his strength into hers.

C'mon, Ahsoka. Don't give up on me now.

His sensitivity to the Force always served him well and it takes a few minutes more to pinpoint her. ]

There!

[ But he feels so heavy, practically bound, dragging along souls pulling at the edges of his very being. ]

Can you get them off!?

I'll handle them.

[When Greed intervenes, the effect is much like the other souls. Where the others have taken the forms of people young and old, Greed likewise takes the form of his original body. He begins to pull those miserable souls off of Anakin, tossing them aside lightly without care or remorse. They resist, but it's a futile effort. It only makes room for more to come in.

Each one of them has a different face and a different voice. Some of them are weeping, some of them are begging for a chance to survive, others simply for release. Those who have been driven mad from this long time in captivity have simply begun to laugh.

My son, my son!

I don't want to die, please, I don't want to die!

Mommy? Where are you mommy?

Save me! Please save me!

But there is no saving them. Greed simply follows after Anakin, raking away one soul after another like so rubbish.]

[ Obi-Wan recoils briefly at the sight, his heart going out to them before he centers himself and making sure his connection to Anakin remains strong. Keep going, Obi-Wan says but he's faltering and he knows it. ]

[ It's so loud in here it's starting to hurt. He's starting to feel an indescribable cold.

Anakin push and push, clinging on to that thin thread between him and Ahsoka. He knows-- he can feel her there. If he could tell Obi-Wan or Greed where she is then it would be easier but there no distinguishable landscape, just a steady stream of souls. ]

Hang on. Just a bit more. She's there.

Anakin! Over here!

[Ahsoka's presence gets stronger as Anakin nears it, and there she is, a head and an arm poking out of the torrent of souls.]

[It's where the souls are the thickest, at the very life center of the philosopher's stone. Beyond the wails, there's a solid thumping that echoes around them. It's possible it is merely the heart beat of the host, but it seems to be in time with how the souls expand and condense around this core for which Ahsoka has been pulled into. She's not yet one of them, but time will fix that. They're all clawing at her, trying to pull her in deeper and deeper. A few days like that and she'd be no different than any of them. It was like drowning, but slower and never ending. They were all writhing and clawing away in attempt to forestall a fate that had already befallen them decades ago.]

[ Obi-Wan sends a strong burst through the Force, trying to part the souls with his power. Sweat trickled down into his closed eyes as he tried to hold onto his focus. Jedi were not meant to have the anguish of so many souls closing in on them. It affects their concentration, their ability to sense what's needed.

We better do it now. ]

[ His strength and will doesn't come from any love or hope, but a dark-side emotion that has been at the core of him from day one -- fear. And he is drawing strength from that more than ever. Blast it if Obi-Wan or Ahsoka knows and feels it.

Anakin pulls and push through, and finally reaching her. It's not a physical hold he has on her but it might as well be.

I got you!

Of course, reaching her absolves that fear a little, diminishes it to a point where he can no longer pull himself together.

A little help! ]

Anakin, Obi-Wan, you're making it worse!

[Ahsoka's presence clings on desperately to Anakin's with one hand, her other hand still stuck in the miasma.]

They need calm! Not force!

[Once when they had their own bodies and lives of their own, they could think and feel freely. But so many long years trapped in a stone and denied access to absolution, they had become empty vessels only truly feeling one emotion at a time. Within a homunculus, that emotion was bitterness and anguish. But they were easily influenced. They fed on negative emotions and so it became a magnet that pulled them together. It had been Ahsoka's panic and fear that had caused them to swarm her. But now Anakin offered something else.

Even Greed feels that spike of malevolence. Suddenly it's not just that core trying to pull her in. Soon all of them are rushing in, each of them drawn by this new sensation. Darkness is death and oblivion and they all desire nothing more than that. They feed upon one another, amplifying it in greater number. When Greed tries to intervene, he is simply pushed aside and lost in the chaos. He might have been holding a way back for the Jedi, but the torrent is soon impenetrable to him.

He mutters a curse and tries to force his way back in, but it's no use. The sea of souls has become a storm and there's not much chance of him breaking through now.]

[ Well.

That was unexpected.

Perhaps he should take the lead. But he was floundering as it is, trying to maintain his grip on Anakin and Ahsoka. His body trembles, near exhaustion. But he does not let go.

Anakin, calm your mind. We have her. Now we must be gentle. ]

[ Calm?

Obi-Wan's voice in his head is barely above a whisper. He feels like he's drowning; in the fear, the hate, all those negative emotions--

But we have her.

He grits his teeth and sets an iron determination - they can and they will leave here. Every last one of them. The energy from him dissipates into something else, something he hasn't felt since Mortis. Calm, control, there is no fear. Ahsoka's words finally filters through and he tightens his hold on her as he makes a desperate push and reaches through the souls -- for Greed.

Get us out of here. ]

[Ahsoka tries her best to project calm as well, but at the end of the day it's all she can do just to hold on to Anakin as she feels herself on the verge of fading out of consciousness.]

Wait--

Greed! Do you have Ling?

[She's not having gone through all this for nothing.]

[Greed can do nothing to break through the torrent of souls. Anakin may have calmed, but it's too little too late because he has already been noticed. Greed tries for blunt force by simply trying to tear through them, but it's a useless gesture.

Instead a different hand is able to reach through the chaos and latches onto Anakin's hand. This soul has the same face as the owner of this body. His expression is muted, though his eyes ring of determination. He can feel Anakin's iron resolve. It will be enough. Together they can do it.

I'm here, Ahsoka.

And then he pulls. Having spent over a year living in this hell, he is able to navigate them out. Though the souls collide into him attempting to tear and pull him apart, he continues onward until all of them are free. The effort threatens to break him apart and burn out his soul, so it's only with their combined efforts that he even has the strength to do it.]

[ With one final tug, Obi-Wan drags Anakin and Ahsoka out of there, his posture breaking as he presses his hands against the floor breathing heavily.

Did it work? He couldn't tell. His head was full of sorrow and despair, remnants of lost souls. But the Force answers in the affirmative and he relaxes instantly. ]

[ He re-enforces Ling's efforts and pulls them out. It was reckless and desperate, as many of his rescue attempts seems to be, and he knows without a doubt that there are burn marks dragging across his back and legs, marks he can feel only in his mind.

But they are out. That's all that matters.

Anakin fights for the strength to not fall on his face. Without thinking whether he can or not, he push himself up and over to Ahsoka. His legs still feel sluggish but he holds her shoulders with a grip that doesn't seem real enough yet, not after what they went through. ]

Ahsoka?

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