Shore
It had been several days since she’d meditated with Skyva and they’d each tied themselves to the other. A thick cord that strung them together, keeping them tied to the surface of the endless depths beneath their feet.
The depths of the Dark Side seemed endless, the water inky as it lapped at their feet and ankles. For all they’d both individually experienced, was this only how deep she’d been? While with the realization came a pang of disappointment in herself, Sarkell saw the potential in it. How much more was there to discover beneath the surface, if only she became strong enough to make the plunge.
To dive was not the challenge, but rather the return to the surface. She knew what it felt like now, to submerge into the complete void below and struggle to find her way back to the surface. Her mind would fill with the sense that if she swam just a little bit deeper she’d find the key to everything she sought after. This was the temptation she had to fight against, and what the cord was for.
It was difficult, the nature of the Dark Side was to nurture the self, it called to forsake others in the pursuit of power. Yet that exact temptation had led so many before to ruin. The history of the Sith told the same story time and time again, of personal greed and corruption that ultimately led to the demise of even the strongest and most established. It was a temptation that gnawed at the ears of every Sith even now, that she did not doubt. How many would fall to it? Only time would tell.
How foolish so many had been. The way of the Sith had always preached movement, progress. Stagnancy was the way of the Jedi, and it was what led to their weakness. Inability and unwillingness to push forward and break boundaries. Yet so many Sith had fallen for that trap in turn. To put so much stake into the idea of a singular right way of being Sith, or a right way of utilizing the Dark Side was against the very nature of it’s being. The Force was not a static creature, and therefore neither could those who employed it’s power.
The Galaxy had become complacent, and progress had slid to a halt outside of the few who truly sought progress and knowledge. So many seemed content to push onwards without regard for the long and rich history that lay just behind them. How many more mistakes would be made that could be avoided had they simply turned around to observe? It could not be left to it’s own devices, and required a guiding hand.
Who would be that hand, or the hands - that remained to be seen. Sarkell would seek that answer like she sought all others. She would not allow stagnancy to curse her, nor would she allow mistakes of the past to be remade. She would learn to swim these depths with the aid of her stalwart anchor - and in turn she’d help her swim as well.
This was only the first step. To learn to tread these waves without sinking.