After his encounter with the Dark Wraith Deonis felt less weighed down by darkness and decided to make his way back to the grotto to see if anything had changed. It was not his first trip out there, in fact he had done several in the past few weeks but this was the first since that darkness left his shadow. Perhaps the place would be more open to him now. Hard to say.

Upon entering toward the crevice that leads into the Grotto Deonis was forced to remove most of his armor like all others who journey here. As it is not a place that allows much space when entering, tight as it is. Moving through the space and into the grotto proper he does feel less weighed down by the lethargy that was once present. That extra pull on his being no longer there.

Feeling less lethargic is a good sign. He prepares himself and sits near the tree and begins to meditate on the area again. He was still struggling to truly understand both sides of the force. Historically it was believed his people had a symbiotic relationship with the dark side. they fed it and it gave them power it didn't corrupt and twist them as easily as it did others who delved into it. Could he also get close to the light, could he achieve a balance between these two forces?

As he sat and meditated for a long while he touched into the peace within this place, the harmony within. Losing an hour of time to this meditation he stirs at the sound of small footsteps walking up in front of him.

His eyes indeed snap open but he doesn't move into a combat roll or defensive stance like he normally would. He simply looks at the creature that made the sound.

Wary of him as it was the small white fox-like creature watched him from atop a stone, a ray of light from the grotto ceiling shining through and warming the stone. As it stood there watching it seemed, best he could tell, ready to bolt at any moment. Curious though, it was.

Deonis made no sudden movements but slowly turned his palm skyward and extended it to the small animal, an invitation. "I am not here to hurt you little one." His deep voice rumbled out.

Stepping forward cautiously the creature approached his extended hand, sniffing at it and then pausing to watch him, before sniffing at it again.

He was very still while creature sniffed him "You are a curious little creature. Are you perhaps hungry?" He asked slowly reaching into his pack and withdrawing a ration bar. He broke a piece off and put it in his flat palm "its not the tastiest. But good for you."

Stepping forward it looked to him, he could feel a greater warmth in its presence. With a quick step forward the creature snatched the bit of a ration bar and ran away a few feet. Stopping back on the rock it put the bar down to chew it properly.

"I wonder." He said before reaching out toward the creature and then using the force to sense its presence to see if he could glean anything additional about its origin or even a clue as to what it was since it seemed more than a simple fox.

Unfortunately only darkness called to him and it didn't feel right to use that power in a place like this. He instead decided to simply continue meditating in the creature's presence and opening his mind, allowing the force to move through him.

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D7 sense power: 2eF 2 Dark Side

Though he couldn't feel much on his own as the dark-infused energies clouded his mind, he chose the path of patience. In that choice he could feel the presence, not from within, but like he was being noticed through the force and from this creature before him. For a second he could feel the entirety of the world of Bellionas- and then the staggering imbalance, as he came back to his own conciousness.

Deonis shook his head taking a slow steadying breath, it was...a lot to take in but he felt now more than ever that he needed to do something about the spirit help bring this area back to a more natural balance. Also deal with the Empire, the sadness, pain, and suffering they bring only halts the balance of the force.

With that knowledge and feeling imparted, he would watch as the creature seemed pleased and then ran off with purpose from the grotto.