may the wrap be with you

A massive, black ship drifts through the void between stars. Arches, towers, monoliths, and sculptures adorn the hull. The empty eyes of stone-carved skulls, larger than a cargo barge, gaze into the endless abyss. Dark windows flicker between columns, shadows passing behind darkening them even more so.

Gut-wrenching, bone-chilling horror fills you as you look upon the ship, and you know not why. All you know is that it is coming for you.

And you cannot hide.

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You awake with gasp, eye-lids fluttering as you claw your way to wakefulness. Your skin feels sticky with sweat – your clothing and the bedsheets damp. In a moment, the current on-duty nurse, a Bith named Runkado D'asso, is beside you trying to calm you down.

You curl up, waiting for the beating of your heart to slow, as she goes to fetch you some food and water.

It was just a nightmare. An actual nightmare. Not like the "dream" you had a few days ago, thankfully. But, every night since then, you have been having nightmares. This is the second time you've dreamed of those Black Ships. Other times, you have dreamed of monsters devouring you. Two nights before last, you dreamt a dream of blood and rage, and when you woke up, you could barely think past the ringing echoes of cosmic laughter clouding your brain.

You have been kept in the Halls of Healing for most of the past week, the medics and Masters unsure of what to do with you. Your injuries have faded due to the ministrations of the medical staff, but it is the events that landed you there that give the Masters cause for concern.

You have heard from the friends and clanmates that visited you that Master Masbau was questioned by the council regarding the incident. He told them what he knew, but as he was only really a spectator, he was cleared of any wrongdoing and sent back to his work. Given that you were the only one injured in your "accident," it appears that there are not too many questions for you either. However, the people who know more detail regarding the extent of your injuries, Master Masbau first and foremost, are curious as to what truly happened.

Over the past few days, you have been debating what to tell him. Obviously, you must tell him what you "dreamt" of. His interpretation of what happened could be invaluable. You knew things in the dream that you didn't know before. Namely, that what you were experiencing was something called the warp. Or the Empyrean. Or the Immaterium.

You suppose that something so confusing, a realm of ever-changing concepts, does indeed deserve multiple names.

Anyways, Master Masbau deserves to know what you saw. Hopefully, he can help you make sense of the monsters, the storms, and that light you were looking for. However, you have decided not to tell him about what you learned afterwards. To be honest to yourself, you're scared. What will happen if he learns that the warp is within you? What will he do? What will he say?

You don't want to be different from the other Initiates. You want to grow up and become a padawan, a Knight, a Master! What would happen if the Masters learned what your eye could do? Would you be prevented from taking the Initiate Trials?

And so, you will keep quiet about it. What he doesn't know won't hurt him. You won't let it hurt anybody.

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A week after the incident, you are released from the purgatory of sterility, boredom, and hospital food. Immediately, you head over to Master Masbau's office to get it over with. Like before, you shift from foot to foot in front of the door, waiting for him to be found by the guards. And, as before, Master Masbau leads you into his office and directs you to sit.

His desk really does seem imbalanced, you think idly. The lack of the clock makes the room seem even more empty than before, and the awful sculpture is worse than ever without something to take the attention off of it. You can just barely see the remains of the clock poking out from the side of the desk though. It appears as if he's been studying the thing, or perhaps just trying to repair it.

Master Masbau is silent, considering you as you sit nervous with trepidation.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, Master. Nothing hurts now."

"Good, good. Looks like your face didn't scar either. Anyways, let's get to business. I'd like to hear your account of what happened."

You sit and think for a few moments, gathering your thoughts before you speak.

"I could still hear you for a little bit – when I started meditating, that is. It helped me get through to the dream. And as you asked me to, I dived deeper. It felt… it felt like I submerged myself in something, as if I had broken through some sort of membrane. And when I opened my eyes, I was somewhere else."

"Somewhere else? As if you had performed a Force projection?"

"No. No, it didn't feel like the Force at all. I think it was different."

"Hmm. Continue please."

"This… realm. This realm that I saw was like an ocean. It was filled with colors, concepts, and monsters. And the monster that I saw in my first dream, it was still there. Looking for me. It almost noticed me but I was able to make myself smaller until it couldn't see me."

At this you notice that you have wrapped your arms around yourself, as if you could squeeze yourself until you were so small that you could avoid Master Masbau's judging gaze. You relax your hold, folding your hands into your lap, and continue.

"It left, and I felt safer. But, I was wrong. There were still monsters all around me, lying in wait in the dark. Hidden behind clouds of warp-stuff and underneath the silt, just beyond my sight."

"Warp-stuff? What is that?"

"That ocean I saw. It's called the warp. Or the Empyrean. The Immaterium. I don't know how or why, but I somehow just knew things. And I was panicking, looking for some sort of light. A beacon I knew should be somewhere in the distance. But it must have been so far away because I couldn't see it at all."

You sit back for a second, looking for his reaction. Master Masbau's emotions are primarily colored by dark-green pools of concern, and streaky-blues of confusion. His true-self is the same as before. You can't see more without opening your warp-eye, but you dare not do it now. Not while you're still telling your story. Carefully, avoiding the mention of your warp-eye, you continue on.

"I messed up when I was looking around for it, and I started attracting the attention of all the monsters around me. They swarmed everywhere. Every way I turned, there were more, and they were all coming for me. I tried to get away, but I got caught by one of them. A huge, disgusting thing with more arms, legs, tentacles, and whatever than I could count. It trapped me in its hands… things. I don't really know what it was that I was imprisoned in. There were fingers, hairs, and bits I couldn't recognize. I couldn't get out, but then it tricked me. It opened up a little hole, and I ran for it, thinking that it had made a mistake. Instead, I ended up just swimming into its mouth."

At this the mild concern you can see in Master Masbau spikes, flooding and driving out his other feelings.

"Child… what happened? How did you escape?"

"I don't really know. Inside the mouth, it had weird tentacle tongue-things. With pointy bits. I think that's how I got hurt in the first place. I tried to dodge them as they tried to stab me, but I got hit right where you said I was injured. But, how is it possible that I could be hurt like that? It was all in my mind, right?"

"I - I have no idea… I have never heard of this happening before. You're sure this didn't feel like the Force?"

"It wasn't the Force. It was the warp."

"You're sure you're not mistaken? It's not a Force vision, nor Force projection?"

"I'm sure, Master."

Master Masbau is silent for a minute, obviously deep in thought. His emotions cycle across his true-self, flaring bright and dimming as he thinks.

"I will have to consult the Archives. Perhaps the answer can be found there. I have never heard of this warp either, so I will have to enlist a librarian to assist me in the search… Ah, but you haven't finished yet. Please, continue."

"Yes, master. I'm not really sure what happened after that. After I got hit, I was spinning out of control and couldn't really see what happened. All I know is that suddenly, I was spat out of the monster's mouth, and the monster was dead."

"Dead?"

"It broke into little pieces and disappeared. When I turned around though, I saw something else. Some sort of miniature sun. Not the light I was looking for earlier, but something else entirely. And for some reason… for some reason it felt like you."

Master Masbau's emotions are painted over with the blues of confusion, before flaring yellow-green in understanding.

"Did you do something to me, Master?" you inquire.

"I believe I did. Yes. When you started bleeding, I applied a Force technique called Force Stanch to slow down the bleeding. How is it possible that that killed the monster?"

You think a bit more about what you saw, before saying, "Does the technique disinfect? Does it purge… corruption?"

"I suppose that's one way of saying it. But, yes. It does. It promotes clotting as well as purifies the area, clearing out anything that could cause infection."

"That must be it!" you declare, excitedly. "The sun I saw — it was pushing away the warp. If the monster is part of the warp, then maybe it was destroyed by the technique!"

"It wasn't a very powerful technique, though. The stronger techniques used in the Halls of Healing can actually heal wounds. This one only helps to stabilize injuries. How could it have even damaged whatever that monster was? Admittedly, I put in more energy than was probably necessary for the situation, but it still couldn't have been that strong."

"I don't really know, but could you try it again? I'd like to see what happens when you use it."

"Use it on what, though? I don't see any monsters around here, and you're not exactly injured anymore."