Part 6: Into the Darkness
Looking out over the pure white scape, Nico mind wandered from one subject to the next. The time that he had been on this planet passed so quickly. The short days underground made measuring time difficult, but had been there for two cold seasons, whatever that amounted to. During that time, he had worked almost exclusively on meditation on contemplation. Mottikazzuk, his master, had been insistent on learning to focus above all else. It was presented as a logical step of being able to stand before learning to fly. Through his mental discipline, he was quickly learning more and more about the force. When he came to this planet, he could barely control his powers, but with teaching came the ability to work with his powers instead of letting them run his life.
The focus he learned carried over into wielding the force in other ways. After a while, Mottikazzuk admitted that Nico had reached a level of control any padawan should be proud of. He could meditate more clearly then most Mottikazzuk had seen, and in that state receive a less cloudy version of foresight. By honing his mental prowess, Nico also became more aware of the force around him. He was able to sense the few disturbances there were, and became cunning at reading the force around objects and places.
Nico had once asked about all the other training jedi were to receive. The ability to lift or push objects with any regular aptitude still eluded Nico, and Mottikazzuk had only responded, “When you learn to totally calm your mind and approach situations with clear insight, then the use of such skills will seem somewhat trivial. Trivial, but not unnecessary. Practice your meditation, and with what free time you have, I will show you what little I know of the rest.”
Apart from learning to control his powers, Mottikazzuk also taught Nico in other areas of study. It turned out that Mottikazzuk had been quite the diplomat in his time, and showed Nico a thing or two. They studied several languages and forms of etiquette. Nico was shown the ins and outs of diplomacy, and how to think of bettering the position for the greatest good. Through these studies, Nico also learned to block his emotions from Mottikazzuk who would playfully try to read them. They would spar like this constantly, yet Nico was never really able to gain the upper hand.
The Star Stealer was fixed before too long. It took Mottikazzuk about a week to repair the broken parts, as he had an incredible knack for fixing things. While he was on the ship, he later told Nico, “It’s a very expensive vessel. It is important to use money properly to help others, otherwise you will still want more and fall poor.” That saying stuck with Nico for a while as he made plans as to what he would do when he returned to civilization.
Nico had been thinking about all of this since the sun rose, and it had been nearly thirty minuets. The sun shown through his hair and cast a shadow to the ground. Nico looked up slightly thought his hair. He couldn’t remember it getting so long. His whole life, he had kept it cropped close and out of his face. He could no longer find a reason to cut it. He then looked at his hand, examining it. His skin had become pale, and his fingers slender. He imagined that he moved with more grace now, as he was more aware of his surroundings and used his better reflexes to flow instead of trudge. The analogy that Mottikazzuk used was comparable to a river, as a river was close to what the force should feel like when it runs its course through a person. His muscle mass had dwindled thanks to the reduced gravity on the planet, lack of truly intense physical work, and a vegetarian diet. He kept his endurance by working the generator and taking brisk walks through the cavern passages, but he had lost mass. He pondered for a moment what Saede would say to him if she saw him in this state. Would she be pleased, or appalled at how feminine he had become. He had tried to use the force to locate her, but it was next to impossible for him to sense anything so well from the other side of the galaxy. He got the impression that she was still alive, but remained uncertain. With a final thought to the home he left behind, he went back down into the cave to start some chores.
Nico was eating breakfast when Mottikazzuk came out of the hut. With a grin, Nico turned to face him. “You sleep too late, old man.”
“Manners.”
“I apologias. I have some breakfast for you.” Nico offered a small bowl. While there was no call to stand on ceremony by using dishes, Mottikazzuk insisted that if was to learn etiquette, he would practice it constantly, least he slip up while, say, negotiating the release of prisoners.
Mottikazzuk accepted the bowl and slowly began to eat. “Have you meditated yet?”
“I have.” Nico took a small bite and chewed thoughtfully.
“And what did you discover?” Mottikazzuk cast a gaze at Nico as they both sat and ate.
Nico could feel his master testing the edges of his mind. He had since learned to keep his guard up at all times and mask his feelings from all but himself. Mottikazzuk was just testing him, nothing more. “I learned a bit more about myself. I thought about how I have changed since I have been here.” Nicodemus paused for a moment before continuing, granting some conversational leverage to his master for courtesy. “I was thinking about the girl I left behind.”
“This was long ago, yet you still think of her? Such affection binds us more surely than any doctrine. Just so long as you do not use your feelings to influence your actions, then there is no harm in this.”
Nicodemus thought on this for a while and finished his breakfast. “Did you ever have such feelings for another?”
“No. Nothing like that. I was not so fortunate. But that is neither here nor there. There is a task for you today.”
“I already made sure that dinner is taken care of and the generator-”
“You will wish it were something so simple. Follow me.” Mottikazzuk set his bowl down gathered a pack from inside the hut. With that in hand and Nico in tow, they made their way out of the homestead and past the small wooden fence.
After walking for only several minuets and taking many twists and turns that Nico had not yet explored, they arrived in another cave. This was much larger than the one they lived in and was adorned with ice formations all throughout. Nico cast his gaze and the light of his small lamp upward, but could only barley see the ceiling. There were giant pillars of ice dividing the room, and in some cases, the ice sickles from the ceiling were just beginning to meet the floor. A blue haze surrounded the room wherever the light touched, and the ice seamed to glow of its own accord when illuminated.
The two picked their way to the back of the cavern over ice formations and between the pilfers. When the reached the back of the cave, they stopped. Nico looked around, and then down at his feet. They were standing on an ice bridge spanning a deep crack in the ice. Without leaving over too far, Nico could see that it went down a very long ways. The walls of the crevice were jagged and looked dangerous. Even thought he didn’t know what was coming, Nico suppressed a shudder, for he had a bad feeling.
“This is it.” Mottikazzuk told him while setting down the pack he brought
“This is what?” Nico said, still looming over the side of the bridge.
“Listen to me, Nicodemus. I have trained you well in what I could, but to complete your training you need to get something. See, this planet is not totally made of ice, there is indeed solid dirt down there somewhere. You will know it when you get there.” All the while, Nico was listening intently, waiting for the catch. “You need to find a gem, Nicodemus. In order for me to complete your training, you need to find some sort of a jewel. You will indeed find such a thing down there.”
“How deep is it?”
“Deep enough. Just don’t fall, and I fail to see a complication.”
“Anything could be down there...” Nico trailed off, looking down into the blackness and wondering just what could be down there to pray on him.
“You will find that so many of our problems are the result of overactive imaginations.” With that, Mottikazzuk handed Nico the pack of supplies. “I will be back at the hut when you are finished. May the force be with you down there Nico.”
As Mottikazzuk was walking back to his hut, he was pleased to see that Nico had begun to meditate on the ice bridge before starting his journey.
Nicodemus had scaled down the wall for what seemed hours. The only light that shown in the inky blackness was a small lamp attached to his backpack. To aid his decent, he was using a long set of picks that would turn even a sheer ice face into adequate handholds. Up to this point, Nico was following a simple routine of digging the picks in, moving downward, and then slamming the picks home again. About forty minuets into his decent, Nico noticed that the ice took on a dull tinge. Upon closer inspection, he noted that it was dirty ice, fine rock was frozen into the wall. Several minuets later, he noticed that he was climbing on the side of a frozen rock face. The rock itself was layered and brittle, so it was easy to dig the pick in, but sometimes difficult to get a firm hold. At this point, Nico took a moment to pause and concentrate. With his mind clear, he could sense a faint presence emanating from below him somewhere. Nico continued to scale downward into the darkness, pausing every so often to concentrate on what he felt was his objective.
Finally, Nico stopped to concentrate and felt that he was very close. He could not describe what he felt, except that with concentration, he could detect a presence, like a beacon, calling to him. He adjusted his position to face this location and stared at the wall in front of him. He dug a pick into the face of the cliff, and with the other pick began chipping at the rock. The task was difficult and time consuming, but before too long, Nico felt that he was very close to his goal. He slung the pick onto his belt and began pawing at the hole he had created with a gloved hand. The rock inside the hole crumbled away, and as it scooped handfuls of crushed debris out of the way, he could not hear the pebbles hit the bottom of the canyon, though he strained his ear to listen. Finally, Nico spied a dirty lump sitting to the back of the hole. It did not look like much, but after focusing on it, he determined that this was the reason he had climbed so far. He took only a moment to inspect the rock before stuffing it into his belt pouch and drawing his other pick, all in one fluid motion.
With some effort, and several rest breaks, Nico spied the ice bridge above him, glimmering faintly in the soft light he carried. With one final swing of his pick over the top of the wall, he pulled himself up and swung a leg onto the floor of the cave. He was out of breath when he returned to the hut, but Mottikazzuk was waiting for him. They exchanged a look and Nico sank to the ground. Nico took some lunch that was offered to him and nibbled on it absently, trying to regain his wind. Finally, he fished the small rock from his belt and offered it to his master. After taking the small stone, Mottikazzuk walked over and fetched a pitcher of water. He rinsed it off and smiled. As the dirt and grime was washed away, a small gem, light blue in color shone from his palm.
“Quite a find, young one. You did very well. I will show you what to do with this once you regain your strength.”
Continue onto Part 7
Return to Nicodemus's Page
Return to Main Page