ok so this is definitely inspired by @darth-occlus and that wonderful terrible amazing series of the Force as a horror story. Cuz my baby boy Coshbyss definitely doesn’t go through a lot already. :’T
Fear is a tool to be used. So is the Force. Coshbyss has a lot of both.
You learn how to use tools to hone your skill. He never learned the right way of using either. Not perfectly, at least.
When he was made a slave of the Empire, he sort of learned how to use them, both Fear and Force. He figured out how to hide, at least. If he got scared, he’d run for the most isolated corner and wish for everyone to go away. It worked, too, when he feared giving anyone a reason to activate the shock collar. It made everyone go away. He could be alone. He could be lonesome. He was lonesome.
After being introduced into the Empire, he never really learned how to make a proper friend for a long time. Few people seemed to even notice him, much less talk to him. The overseers and inquisitors at the Sith Academy were better at noticing at first, but he feared full fledged Sith the most. But the library was full of material to learn Force anyway, so he made do. He’d go in and find a tome and find a corner to read. He could be alone then, and eventually, people stopped bothering him when he was reading. It was nice.
It wasn’t for a long time that he noticed anything, or thought much of it. The first time it was weird was when he went to buy food for the blurrgs, and the cashier didn't see him at first. It took a few Excuse-Mes to catch her attention. She apologized, though he said he didn't really mind.
The second time was at the vet. He sat in one of the waiting room chairs, stiff and uncomfortable with the bright lights and the weight of a miniature blurrg in a carrier on his lap. Nearly an hour after the appointment was supposed to start, one of the staff members walked by and paused. “Oh, hi there, little guy,” they said cheerfully, walking over to kneel and get a better look. “You must be the blurrg the Sith was supposed to bring in. Where’s your owner?” they asked his blurrg that sat on his lap.
Once, there was a friend visiting. His friend more or less knew about the hiding. He was from ImpIntel, after all. He knew a lot of things, or knew someone who did. He didn’t know where Coshbyss was though. “My Lord?” the chiss called, wandering through the tiny flat. “Please stop hiding? I wanted you to check something,” he said, staring straight past where Coshbyss sat at the table. And despite Coshbyss’ soft I’m-here’s, his small waves, his friend walked straight into the table before blinking. “Oh, there you are. Were you here the whole time? I didn’t see you somehow.”
“I’ve been here for the last half hour,” Coshbyss replied, eyes now wide and a little fearful. “I even responded when you asked where I was.”
“I... I don’t know what happened, my lord. I really didn’t see you there. I barely noticed the kitchen table at all, actually. As if I forgot it was there, or something. As though I forgot you were there.”
When learning a new tool, there are right and wrong ways to understand the basics and fundamentals of its use. You don’t use things a certain way, or else you might hurt yourself.
The Force is a tool, and a powerful one at that. But Coshbyss never really learned how to use it properly.
