adarkergray | Kenoma

Kenoma

Previously:
Escape From Starkiller Base
At the Monuments of Madness
A Living Weapon

To Jacob's surprise, they made it to Ahch-To's system without incident - but then, it was clear now that the Force was on their side. As per his calculations, they'd dropped out of hyperspace a few hundred thousand kilometers away, just beyond its outermost moon's orbit, and as they headed toward the planet at sublight speeds, he tried to ignore the way his protective instincts were going into overdrive.

However, the closer they got to the planet, the more he couldn't help being aware that everyone there, everyone they were going to see, was someone who'd hurt Kylo terribly, and Force, how could Jacob even begin to justify taking him down there? To put him in that level of danger, in the kind of condition he was in--

He made himself take a deep breath, though the fingers of his free hand were clamped tightly around the hilt of one of his lightsabers. The urge was incredibly strong to tell Kylo that he couldn't in good conscience do this, that there had to be another, better way to defeat Snoke, and they would find it - but, deep down, he knew that if there was, the Force would have shown it to Kylo instead. He had to have faith in his master, and in the Force.

Instead, right now, he had more sympathy than ever for why Snoke wanted to destroy the Force's will - not that he had any sympathy for Snoke himself. That thought was enough to settle his nerves slightly by reminding what they were here for, why it was important, why they could all work together just this once.

Snoke had to die. That was the one thing they all could agree on.

Finally, he calmed his mind enough to push his senses outward through the Force, to see whose presence he could detect. Even this close in, he still couldn't pick up Skywalker, but he could sort out Rey and General Organa from the background energy of the planet. He turned to Kylo. "...Your mom's still here. Do you want me to ask her to leave?"

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Jacob gave Kylo's shoulder a gentle, reassuring squeeze. "Focus on gathering your strength, for now, and we'll worry about the rest once we have a way down into the cave. I'll come back and get you you once all our rappelling lines are secured, so that you don't have to sit around in that cold, wet wind while Rey and I figure out the anchor points." He tried to keep from remembering, or at least letting Kylo realize he was remembering, the last time they'd had to rappel together. They'd been descending into Thuban's lair, relying on Kylo's strength to see them through a confrontation with an unknown enemy, and now...

He pushed the thought down. Now, they were still relying on Kylo's strength, and more so than ever. The fact that his physical strength didn't quite match it right now was meaningless when the battle they were going to fight wouldn't be physical in the first place. In a way, nothing had changed. "Hopefully, we won't be long." He gave Kylo's shoulder one last light squeeze, and added another log to the fire to keep the damp out of the hut before he ducked back out to rejoin Rey.

"Let's go." As he let her lead the way down the slope, toward the entrance to the mirror cave, he took the opportunity to actually look around him, take in the scenery a little; the island was more picturesque than he'd realized, and he could see why, even if this place hadn't been the site of the first Jedi temple, Luke would've picked it to live out the rest of his days. Then, the wind kicked up again, and Jacob remembered exactly why Kylo didn't need to be outside more than necessary. As scenic as this place was, it wasn't exactly hospitable.

When they descended into Thuban’s lair, Kylo felt far more in control of the situation. However, that control was an illusion. All he really had was a vague vision, his master’s blessing and his own instincts - all things that he had now, in a sense. The Force was providing its blessing this time. And his instincts, thanks to the Force wound, had never been sharper.

It was physical strength and stamina that he was lackng. To someone who lived and breathed his role as a warrior, this was harder than anything he’d had to endure. Recovery was painfully slow, and just plain painful. But the gentle squeeze on his shoulder was reassuring. Jacob had faith in his power, even now.

After Jacob left with Rey, Kylo ate almost all of the breakfast he brought. Then he settled back against the pillows, thumbing through the ancient texts until he dozed off.

The hike to the mirror cave’s entrance was definitely a hike - rugged terrain and sharp winds offset the picturesque views and curiously friendly wildlife. They passed a few porg nests, and the birds weren’t even spooked. They were used to Skywalker, she explained, and apparently the rest of them weren’t any different.

Eventually, they reached their destination. Storms had thrown massive amounts of kelp all over the entrance, making the rocks extremely slippery.

“Watch your step. I fell in the first time.” She noted. “There’s a lake down there, underground. Even if we’re repelling, we’ll still have to swim. There aren’t any ledges right underneath the opening.”

As they made their way down, toward the cave's entrance, Jacob could feel the island's energy shifting. One by one, its species ceased to inhabit the zone they were descending through - first the porgs, then the stubborn, wingless insects he had noted resolutely clinging to the plants of the island, then the plants themselves - the delineations between where the various species would grow and where they wouldn't was sharp, and by the time they reached the level above the mouth of the cave there were no land plants at all. A faint scum of algae clung to the rocks, but beneath them, there were only the types of kelp that grew in deep waters.

It would have been difficult to keep the energy of the cave from overwhelming him, had he not known exactly what he was in for. Still, it took some effort to tear his eyes away from the entrance to the cave, and examine the surrounding rocks. At least it didn't take long for him to find what he was looking for. "We can tie our lines off around this outcropping, and drive pitons into the rocks here and here to anchor our safety lines." It was difficult to focus on the task at hand, with the pull of the cave to his back, but every time he found his focus straying, Jacob reminded himself that either he or Kylo could die if he didn't do this right.

At last, all the anchor points were set correctly, and five neat coils of rope - Jacob and Kylo would share the same primary line, but they had separate safety lines - sat well above where the incoming tide or any unexpected storms could get to them. For now, their harnesses remained in the pack, which Jacob shouldered again. "Would you rather stay here, or come back up with me? I'm fine with either." Had it been anyone other than Rey, he realized, he wouldn't have trusted them to stay down here without him. However, she had experienced what was down there before, and come out just fine on the other side. And, he could sense the Force telling him, she was meant to be with them when it mattered most.

Which meant there were things she needed to know before then, but some of them, Jacob wasn't even sure how to tell her, or when would be the right time to do it. It would change things, after all, if she knew that the real victim in this wasn't Kylo, but his children... and all he could hope was that the Force would tell him the right time to pass on that information, or maybe take it out of his hands entirely.

The hike back up was more difficult than it should have been, and he didn't make the kind of time he wanted to. When he made it back to the hut, Kylo was dozing again, one of the books lying open on his chest with his thumb in the middle. Jacob was careful not to lose his place as he took the text away from him and laid it on the desk; then, he sat down next to Kylo, stroking his hair gently until he began to awaken.

Rey hiked a short distance away, to a spot where she liked to practice her staff and lightsaber kata. The ground was firm, but not slippery. And more importantly, she wasn’t close enough to any of the old structures to accidentally damage them. (She’d given the caretakers enough trouble during her first week here to last a year.)

Kylo woke peacefully. He felt Jacob’s aura before he was conscious of it, and it slowly brought him back from his dreamless nap. He felt better, if not a little stronger, and definitely more rested. He hoped that it would be enough.

“Is everything ready to go?” He asked as he stretched.

"Everything's ready." Jacob got to his feet, then moved to support Kylo as he stood up. "Getting down there will be a challenge, but the energy of the cave is like nothing I've ever felt before - well, nothing natural, anyway. You might just be able to draw off of it." Getting back out once they were done was a level of difficulty that he didn't want to think about just yet; they'd deal with it when the time came. For now, he just focused on quickly filling the pack again - he threw in a few water bottles as well as another two containers of the thala-siren milk, a tarp for ground cover, a space blanket and thin cushion to make Kylo more comfortable, and a change of clothing for him as well, just in case Rey was right about there being absolutely no way to avoid getting wet. The pack was waterproof, and with the shape Kylo was in, having dry clothes for him might mean the difference between life and death.

As they picked their way down the trail, Jacob extended his senses through the Force, and was relieved to note that Skywalker and General Organa were still at the other end of the island. He was still debating whether he wanted to give Luke one last chance, or if the risk of his fear sabotaging all of them was just too great; Jacob was leaning toward the latter, but he'd take more time to think about it. They still needed Leia's help, but he'd just have to bring her up to speed later.

"...This way." For now, he wasn't going to go anywhere that was more than an arm's reach away from Kylo. "Let me know if you need to stop and rest, or if you need me to help."

As they made their way toward the entrance to the mirror cave, Kylo tried to guide his mind into the state it was on Xashiri - making each step part of a moving meditation. He reached out with the Force, feeling the energy of the planet, and let that calming natural energy seep into his bones. Cut off from the Force, Luke wouldn’t notice anything, but perhaps Leia might sense that her fallen son was using a very light-sided technique.

Unfortunately, it didn’t prevent the need to stop and rest a few times. But, then again, he had to do that on Xashiri as well and this was far more hostile terrain.

Even as the hike grew more difficult, Kylo refused to tap into the Force wound to fuel him. That energy, he’d decided, was meant for the mirror cave, not for fueling his pride. Instead, in those moments, he held onto Jacob for support and reached that much deeper into the Force. The more he wanted to push through, the more he forced himself to let go. The more he wanted to fight, the more he acquiesced to peace.

Rey watched them for a while, curiously. She could feel what Kylo was doing - and it was the exact opposite of how he felt on Starkiller Base and even when he first arrived on the island. It felt almost like how she expected Luke Skywalker to feel. (And that was a thought she never thought she’d have.)

She waited for them to rest again, and then joined them where the rocks turned slick from the tides.

“Watch your step.” She warned Kylo. “I’m sure you can feel it from here. The way it calls out.”

He nodded, but otherwise didn’t lose focus.

Edited 2018-08-03 03:22 (UTC)

Jacob sensed what his master was doing immediately, and tried to imitate him, moving his focus away from Luke and Leia to take in the pulse of the Force through the planet. He let it soothe him, let the weight of all the concerns he'd been carrying ease from him for just a moment. He was by his master's side, and he was exactly where he was meant to be, and for now he could let that be the only thing that mattered.

Making their way back down to the cave at Kylo's pace made it easier to take in all the little nuances of the Force's ebb and flow throughout the island, to sense the importance, the significance, of each step of the progression down from light into darkness. Where they stopped, too, was significant, and the pauses helped him to adjust to the energy emanating from the cave, so that he could feel ready to meet it directly rather than having to guard himself against it, as he'd been inclined to do while they were setting up the lines.

He dug the three climbing harnesses out of the pack, helping Kylo get his on and hook onto the safety line before starting on his own, demonstrating each step of the process to Rey so she could follow along with her own harness - and then, he demonstrated for her how to run the line out. He checked all the anchor points one last time, before finally leading the way to the edge of the cave. "Rey, did you want to go on down first? You know what you're heading into."

He turned his attention back to Kylo. "...All right. I think the best thing for you to do is just hold onto me, so that if there's a problem with my line, you can let go, and the safety mechanism on your harness will catch you. The water down there is deep enough that I'll be okay if I fall." The shock of dropping several feet into cold water wouldn't be good for Kylo, though, and he didn't know how strong the current was. "You ready for this?"

As they approached, the energy from the cave dwarfed that of the planet itself. It screamed with desperate agony, snuffing out the light like it was a black hole. The Force was dangerously powerful here and it was easy to see why Rey was reprimanded for simply giving in to its call.

However, Kylo felt a connection with it beyond what Rey or Luke ever could. It was like staring into his own soul - a Force wound in a planet instead of a person. Mesmerized, Kylo didn't even realize he was in his harness until Jacob was helping Rey with her's.

"No. You don't know what you're heading into." he interrupted. Again, he closed his eyes and let the Force flow through him without restraint. "You've been there before. But you don't truly know..."

He turned to Jacob.

"...And you won't fall." he found himself adding, as though he were seeing all of their future actions through a vision. "Falling is an accident. In this cave, there are no accidents. Only choices... There is no way back... only through..."

The longer they stayed at the edge of the cave, the more he could feel its energy seeping into every corner of his mind, as his master's awareness of it expanded. It wasn't long before he realized that he had underestimated this place, been thinking too much of what it could do for them rather than what it could do to them. He couldn't allow the mistake to persist. Kylo's words echoed that realization, and when he said that the only way out was through, Jacob took a nervous breath. "...Then we're counting on you to lead us there."

As soon as his master indicated he was ready, Jacob leaned them back over the edge, then hopped off. He let out just enough line to keep them from hitting the edge on the way down, and when they passed the threshold, they were shrouded in darkness, as though an eclipse had dropped suddenly and unexpectedly over the island. Maybe it had, as the sunlight, when he looked back up, had been replaced by a dim coronal glow like full moonlight through thin, wispy clouds. Or maybe that was just a passive effect of the energies here, acting either on the space itself or solely on his mind; he sensed that this was how Rey had seen the place, too, in the very wee hours of a morning when there was no natural light to make it look this way.

When he looked back down, the water was far enough beneath them that maybe, just maybe, they could swing over to the stone ledge just barely in sight on the far side of the chamber without ever touching it. "...Think we can make it? Or should we just go straight down and swim over?"

The energies around the edge were nothing compared to what Kylo felt when they entered the darkness. The Force was palpable in a way he’d only experienced a couple of times before... For a moment, the harness was identical to what suspended him in the Finalizer’s weapons array. A flicker of panic struck Jacob’s mind as Kylo’s energy slammed inward, shielding himself and forcibly reminding himself that he was not a weapon. He was not just a weapon...

Rey felt the sudden silence, and it scared her. But she pointed across the underground lake anyway. “That’s the ledge I swam to. The path that led to the mirror cave...”

“... is not where we’re going...” Kylo choked out. “Hang on... just... The ledge... if we can reach it. That’s fine. I need to acclimate myself to this...”

With each passing heartbeat, he was steadily pulling himself together. The cave was feeding on him, but his own Force wound was feeding on it in return. It was less of a meditative trance and more of a symbiotic relationship - a snake eating its own tail. It was something he alone could understand, and he was certain their survival depended in it.

As soon as he felt that flash of panic, Jacob reached back to try to quell it, but Kylo had already dampened their mental link. Instead, Jacob spoke to him, voice low and soothing. "It's okay. You're not alone, and as long as you're with me, you're safe." He sounded more confident about it than he felt, but he reminded himself that so far, it really had proven to be true. They had survived against impossible odds because they had trusted each other and let nothing divide them when it mattered most.

Still, he didn't try too hard to find his way back into Kylo's mind, not wanting to overwhelm him when he already had to struggle to deal with the intensity of this place's energy. Kylo would reach back out to him when he felt like he could handle it.

Meanwhile, as soon as Kylo indicated it'd be okay for them to regroup on the ledge, Jacob began swinging, letting the line out bit by bit until their arc brought them to the ledge and he was able to get his feet solidly on it. Immediately, he began unfastening their harnesses, and by the time Rey made it down, he was already securing their lines to the stone with a piton. The action was an automatic, well-trained one, almost a reflex finding its way out from beneath the way the cave's energy was beginning to affect his mind as well. More than anything, he needed Kylo's strength, just as much as Kylo needed his.

Kylo was grateful to be out of the harness. However, putting his feet on solid ground felt nothing like it normally would have. It didn’t anchor him as much as it seemed to suspend him inside himself. Inside the Force.

Carefully, Kylo sat on the ledge. He closed his eyes and reached out with the Force. The underground cave immediately came alive. The rock beat with his heart. The water lapped with his breath. In his mind, he saw the mirrors where Rey searched for answers and he saw an endless line of Reys turning into an otherwise empty promise. He also saw what she did not - that there were chambers beyond that one, hidden behind the walls and beneath the water. A maze of mirrors directed and redirected the energy that gathered here.

The more he sunk into the Force, the easier it was to follow it. This was a test created by the Prime Jedi. This was a path meant to be traveled. The journey into the Force is the journey into the self and it was his destiny to take it.

When Kylo reopened his mind, he did so cautiously. Just as Jacob did not want to overwhelm him, he did not want to overwhelm his apprentice with the enormity of it all. An impression of the map came first, something concrete and measurable.

“Rey, what you saw was just a small piece...” he spoke softly, but deliberately. “The real entrance is under the water. Down deep, very deep, under the water.”

Jacob sat down next to his master, leaning lightly against his side. Being able to feel Kylo breathing, to feel his heart beating, was incredibly reassuring, and it helped Jacob stay focused on the present despite the way the cave's Force energy was trying to pull him everywhere else. Then, as Kylo's mind came back into contact with his own, he realized that the everywhere else, wasn't; the waves, the wind, the ebb and flow of the Force through this place, was so disorienting because he hadn't expected it to track their own energies so exactly.

Mirror cave, indeed.

And then, Kylo revealed his impressions of the caverns' layout, and Jacob caught his breath at the unexpected vastness of it. He could also tell almost immediately exactly where they needed to go, and he knew without doubt that he could reach it. Kylo, too, had enough experience using meditative techniques to lower his heart rate and respiration, with voluntarily inducing the dive reflex, that he would be okay if Jacob helped him with the other physical demands of actually getting down there. Rey, though...

He turned back to her. "Already, it's testing us. You're never going to be able to make it down there by yourself - it's too deep for you. I can help you, but the technique you'll need to learn is a little bit... intense. You're going to have to trust me, a lot."

Rey paced the small ledge as they meditated, exploring but never straying very far from their sides. The cave was more disorienting than she remembered it, and the places that called to her before seemed to fade into the background now.

“I do know how to swim.” She started to challenge, but Kylo interrupted her.

“He’s right. It’s deep... perhaps too deep for me to reach without his help.”

Rey acquiesced fairly quickly, and sat down next to Jacob. “Then, what do I need to do to get there?”

Jacob looked over at her as she sat down next to them. "You'll have to hold your breath for probably ten minutes to get through to the part of the caves we need to access. The human body isn't really meant to do that, but it's possible, if you're able to control your autonomic nervous system directly through meditative techniques." And therein lay the difficult part. "It took me months to figure out how to do that on my own. Lord Kylo Ren picked it up much faster, because he's used to having me inside his head. He trusts me there - enough to let me show him how to manipulate his vitals directly." Or maybe the difficult part was asking Rey to have that level of trust in him.

He shifted his gaze from her, back to the water. "I hadn't planned to ask something like that from you so soon, if at all, but it's the only way all three of us are going to get down there." Force knew he wouldn't have liked the idea of it if their positions had been reversed. He toyed with the idea of saying they could go back up, try again another day if Rey couldn't handle it, but their time was too short already. This had to happen now.

Kylo didn’t need to look in Rey’s head to sense her reluctance. He knew the role he’d played in that - tearing through her inexperienced (and yet, surpisingly strong) mental defenses in search of the map to this very island.

“Inside his head..” Rey repeated warily. She let Jacob show her how to resist such intrusions, but she still despised the thought of letting someone willfully in there. “To manipulate his vitals.”

“It’s a gift my apprentice has honed to near-perfection.” Kylo nodded. “And while yes... it can do all the terrible things you’re imagining... the technique has saved my life more than once.”

“You’re asking me to let you control my body. My LIFE FORCE!”

Technically, Jacob was asking her to let him teach her how to do it, but Kylo knew he’d be doing just as much of the actual control as she was. Perhaps more. Rey was powerful, but this wasn’t simple. And being under water wasn’t going to make it easier. A single mistake and anyone could drown.

This is your test as well. If it comes to it... can you manipulate all three of us?

I can do it. And if I don't think I can, we won't go anywhere until I'm certain. This was the kind of thing he was good at, though. If Rey lets me take the first step, I can do it. As long as she didn't decide to fight him while they were underwater, he could keep her calm long enough for this to work.

Her reaction was a little better than Jacob had expected, at least. "That's exactly what I'm asking, and I wouldn't if I could avoid it. I know it's too much." Maybe his absolute sincerity would help her feel a little better about it, at least. "But, Rey, we only have two choices. We can let Snoke keep getting further and further ahead of us, consolidating his-- his resources," and it killed Jacob just a little, talking about his children in such a sanitized way, but he still wasn't sure how Rey would react to that knowledge on top of everything else, "or we can do this while we're already down here."

Which meant they had one choice, and Rey knew it. Jacob reached out to her telepathically, just enough to let her feel the door he'd made for her in his mental defenses. "...Come in when you're ready. The best way to start is probably for me to show you what it feels like when you do this correctly."

Rey glanced at Kylo, and then again at Jacob. In the cave, the sheer presence of all three of them in the Force was overwhelming, and the sudden need to trust these enemies-turned-allies wasn’t making it any simpler.

If you need my power, take it. Kylo whispered through their bond while Rey visibly prepared herself. He closed his eyes, as much a sign of trust as it was inner-focus. Let me be the medium between the cave and the three of us. Whatever it takes out of us, I can take back. It seems... strange, but it’s true. I can do this...

Along with Kylo’s resolve, Jacob would soon feel Rey’s touch on his mind. It was uncertain, a little hesitant, but it was there.

She let out the breath she was holding. “All right. Show me what it feels like...”

She didn’t promise not to fight it - namely, because it was a promise she didn’t know if she could keep.

Jacob placed his hand over Kylo's, intertwining their fingers. I hope it won't have to come to that - not while we're in the water, at least. What we need to do isn't as demanding as my sensory deprivation tank's deep meditation mode, but it's similar in many ways. If it were just Jacob and Kylo, the issue of maintaining the focus required to sustain it while mitigating the draw of energy from the cave would be much less complex; the two of them worked together seamlessly, instinctively. Rey was noise in the circuit.

Jacob would have to be the one to minimize that.

He gently pulled Rey further into his mind; it wasn't her body he would use to demonstrate, but his own. "The first step to making a dive like this is to perfuse as much oxygen as possible into every part of your body. Human free divers with no access to the Force typically do it by hyperventilating pure oxygen, but we didn't come prepared, so we have to use ordinary atmosphere and other methods. The first step is to push as much oxygen as possible into your muscles - it isn't stored very efficiently there, but the point is just to try to keep from cramping up when we're in a difficult part of the caves. Simple visualization can help, because what we want to achieve while at rest is the same physiological changes that occur during exertion - dilation of peripheral blood vessels and increase in heart rate and respiration. There's only so far that visualization can take you, however, since it also causes the muscles to prepare for exertion by using more oxygen. The most effective way to achieve what we need is by using the midichlorians to make targeted electrochemical changes in our bodies. Which is also the only way to do some of the steps that follow, because unlike your lungs, your heart and your blood pressure aren't supposed to have a manual mode."

Blood pressure was what he demonstrated first; he knew what the state he was trying for felt like, and he held the sensation of it in his mind as he narrowed his awareness of the Force, focusing on its presence within his own body. Though he was contracting some blood vessels and dilating others to preferentially push oxygen into his muscles, it was all the manipulation of a single organ, within its natural parameters, and Jacob made it seem perhaps deceptively straightforward.

Had Jacob attempted to use her body for the demonstration, Rey would have closed herself off. Feeling him open his mind up to her again, however, did a lot to build trust. Slowly, but surely, she let him guide her forward.

She understood exertion. She could recognize the feeling in his muscles, and immediately closed her eyes to try and replicate it. As she meditated, Kylo sunk deeper into the Force as well. He followed Jacob’s instructions at the same slow pace, giving Rey an example to follow as well as a chance to practice before entering the water.

“Midichlorians? Electrochemical changes?” Not only was the feeling of controlling blood pressure was more difficult for Rey to grasp, but she was also no scientist. “I don’t understand.”

“You don’t need to understand.” Kylo whispered. “At least, not like that. Right now... right now, you only need to feel. Let your body fall in sync with ours... visualize...”

Between the Force wound, the emphasis he had placed on exploring it and Jacob serving as a strong anchor, this seemed easier to Kylo than it had ever had in the past - even when he practiced inside Jacob’s sensory deprivation tank.

“...you can do this too, Rey.”

“...okay.” She took a deep breath, and tried to let her body relax.

Jacob was taking slow, deep breaths as well. "Remember what I said earlier about hyperventilation? Well, when you don't have pure oxygen to use, I ordinarily don't recommend it - it isn't increasing the oxygen saturation in your body, but flushing out carbon dioxide. The concentration of carbon dioxide, not oxygen, in your bloodstream, is what tells your body when you need to breathe - meaning that if you hyperventilate before you dive, a blackout can sneak up on you very easily. Rey, in your case, you have the two of us to watch you and make sure nothing happens, so if you think the urge to breathe is going to make you panic while you're down there, you ought to begin hyperventilating."

Jacob, meanwhile, would have to strike a balance between what his body was actually capable of and the fact that Kylo's vitals would track his own. He could lower his heart rate and metabolism to the point where his body wouldn't kick over into midichlorian respiration for almost twice as long as it would take them to get down there, but if he went that deep, he risked killing Kylo - either from hypothermia, or just because his weakened body wouldn't be able to pull itself back out of that hole. "Meanwhile, let your blood pressure start to equalize again. That will allow your heart rate to begin dropping, and over the course of the next few minutes you want to keep forcing it down until it's around twenty to twenty-five beats per minute. If you're having trouble getting it down that far, stick your head under the water to activate what's called the dive reflex. And if that still doesn't drop it far enough, I'll need to help you."

Once Jacob was ready to go into the water, he checked back in with Rey and Kylo, monitoring them through the Force. If Rey wasn't adequately prepared for this, he could go back over the steps again, and if that still didn't help... hopefully she would feel comfortable enough to let him do part of it for her.

Rey followed Jacob's lead, visualizing as Kylo suggested, but she was still struggling to take it as far as he needed her to be able to go. It was an admirable first attempt, and were this merely training for the sake of training, she would have been praised. But with the threat of a battle with Snoke looming and the effects of the mirror cave only going to get stronger, there was no time to master anything.

She brushed past Kylo on her way to the water's edge.

"It's all right... if you need him to help you." he encouraged softly. "It took months of training... for me to even be able to do this on my own. And to be fair, I'm still not that skilled at it without a guide."

Usually, Jacob was that guide. Once the Force wound had been ripped open, Snoke did very much the same thing. He brushed aside the unwelcome thought that Jacob's training may have led to Snoke desiring a Force wound in him to begin with. Because at the same time, it helped tremendously in attempting to remain in control of it. And when that failed, it still provided a greater understanding of what it was doing to his body and others around him.

"I think about it telekinetically... like my body is a foreign object... that I can control... That helps."

Rey tried again, sticking her head in the water and trying not to breathe.

She might make it a third of the way there on her own strength - and that was being generous.

When Kylo explained so easily to Rey exactly what Jacob had been trying to get at, in a way that had to make much more sense to her, he felt a surge of pride in his master - and he let Kylo feel it, too. You're still a better teacher than I am. Not that Jacob would let it discourage him - instead, he'd learn from his example, try to adapt a little more quickly to his pupil's needs. "Thinking about it telekinetically is a much more straightforward way to do it, one that might help you a lot. For me, it helps to have all the extra pieces, to know the exact mechanism behind what I'm doing - but that's just me."

He sighed softly as he felt her try it again, and fail. Come here. Come sit down with me. This time, he spoke through their mental link as he pulled her even further into his mind - there was a risk, having her that far past his defenses, that she might be able to find out some truly disturbing things about him, but as long as he kept her within the oasis of absolute calm he'd created within his mind for this exercise, he shouldn't have to be concerned about her even realizing she could do that. We'll try it one more time.

He took Rey's hand and placed it over the center of his own chest as he demonstrated the steps again, trying to make the manipulations of his own circulatory system a little less delicate and finessed so that she could see how they didn't require Jacob's ultra-refined level of control to perform. He took her through each step almost as though she was working it herself, letting her sense the way each of the changes occurred while trying not to overwhelm her. "...Now try it again."

Fotunately, Rey’s focus was too narrow to pry into Jacob’s thoughts. She knew that time was of the essance, and that she was currently delaying them. Understanding this technique was absolutely crucial to their survival, so she swallowed her fear and let Jacob pull her farther into his consciousness.

It was nothing like when Kylo Ren had torn through her mind. At least, it didn’t feel that way to her and Jacob didn’t seem to find her presence there uncomfortable. Instead, there was only calm. She felt his heartbeat slow, his breaths space out, even his blood pressure slowly drop.

“All right.” She nodded, closing her eyes and trying to do the same thing again. She kept her hand over his heart, giving her something to feel and aim for.

When she started to tense up and lose what feeble amount of control she’d been able to muster, Kylo simply whispered, “You’re safe. Let him guide you.”

safe...

The next attempt was more solid than the last. With Jacob’s help, her vitals did actually change. The feeling was surreal - and Kylo was right. Even though it was her own body, it felt more like the rocks Luke had her practice lifting. She felt unusually detached, and surprisingly didn’t fight it.

“You’re safe.” Kylo repeated his mantra. “You’re in control.”

((You're back! Did you get sucked into doing martial arts demos at AnimeFest?
Also my laptop is dead and it's probably the motherboard so I may be subject to phone gmail crapping on my tags again))

Jacob smiled gently as he felt Rey's heartbeat finally move toward synchronizing with his own. "That's it. You've got this. Now, let's try it together - and remember, I'm only here to help. You're in control."

And this time, when they worked the challenge together, he let her show him what she needed, almost as though she were the one instructing him; finally, she let down her defenses enough for their minds to truly join - at least, closely enough for this - and they were able to descend together into the meditative state they needed.

Relax. Stay completely calm, and all will be well. Jacob was able to project that radiating sense of absolute calm, to the point where none of them even experienced the normal shock response to cold when they all slid into the water. There was nothing but peace, nothing but the feeling that they were meant to be here, that nothing could be more natural than the feeling of the chill undertow embracing them and helping them swim down into the network of caves where the dark side held sway. He grasped Kylo's forearm, at first more to keep them together than anything, but as the current grew stronger and the passages grew narrower, it was also to help orient himself, both physically and in the Force - for his own and Rey's sake.

It felt like they were underwater for hours, according to Rey, and Jacob gently brought her heart rate and metabolism back down as he assured her that they could stay under for hours more if she believed in him. Then, the tunnel suddenly widened again, and before Jacob expected it their heads broke through the surface; instinctively, he moved to buoy Kylo up as they made their way to the edge of the chamber.

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