On first sight Arkas is like a paradise. Clear sky, clean blue seas, white sandy beaches, beautiful islands. The population is small enough to keep civilisation from devouring nature. You gotta watch out for the storms, but still. It's the perfect place to find some peace. Appearances can be deceiving. Not so long ago it was a haven for pirates - and not the kind who do anything except being piratical. Never liked how Holowood romanticises them. There's nothing noble or dashing about scum like that. They built their profits on the backs of slaves, silver and Najim.
Wroshan Base was one of their strongholds. Till the Eldorai drove 'em out. The base has been abandoned and the slaves freed, but they still left their mark. Which makes it the ideal place for some training. It also houses a volcano. Which we are currently inside of. The blazing heat does not seem to bother Rhea much. Being a Rattataki, she is probably used to it. The lava seems to make her uncomfortable. The volcano has been inactive for centuries.
"The Force is not a power you have. Or a tool," I explain. "It's not about lifting rocks, throwing fireballs or mind controlling people. "It's the energy we all share. The Lifeweb binds us through it. It's life, it's balance. This energy passes on with us when we return to the Lifeweb."
She nods curtly. "There is only one Force. No Light or Dark."
"Not in the way the Jedi claim to. There are evil spirits, demons and so on...but the darkness that makes us do evil is our own. Not some entity that pounces on naughty Jedi who don't follow a code that has changed whenever it was politically convenient."
"It was all lies. All that talk about the one true code."
"You won't believe it, but there are Jedi who say you should hug Sith instead of fight them. Because violence is wrong and your own personal halo matters more than innocent lives."
"Oh, I know all about those," she snorts. I am surprised. "Tephrike has a small sect of them. They live in the Ruhewald and consume mushrooms."
"How the frak do these idiots survive?"
"Mother Nature does the killing for them. And they sell 'happy pills'."
"The Vaderites are their customers."
"And the Dominion," she pauses for a moment. "The Grand Inquisitor...he...made me take them sometimes," she admits, speaking haltingly. She shakes her head, as if trying to banish an awful memory. "He would have done the same to you."
I grip her shoulder tight. "He's dead, and in hell where he belongs," I growl. I was too merciful. "And those wacko Jedi belong there with him for enabling evil."
"Jedi Sith. It's just two sides of the same coin. I wish I could stand before them now, and make them answer for all the pain their lies and hypocrisies have caused."
"Me too. Channel that feeling into action now. We can't change the past. But we can use the terrible things that happened to us to rise above them." Time to get back on track. I need to work on not getting sidetracked. "Close your eyes." She does so obediently. She trusts me. Looks up to me. I cannot fail her. "Breathe. Now reach out." Fortunately, she understands that I don't mean literally reach out. It would be really cringey if she stretched out her hand and I had to smack it with a leaf.
"Breathe," I repeat, as her hand touches the stone she sitting on. "Breathe. It's just you, and the Force all around you. Listen to the flow of the lava, the howl of the wind, the ocean, the chirping of the birds outside. All life is connected. Reach out with your feelings and touch the web."
She is deep in concentration. I can hear her steady breathing. It is not easy for her. She struggles to stay calm, but she tries. "What do you feel?" I ask.
"The island. Life," she says calmly. "Death. Decay that feeds new life. Warm, cold. Peace. Violence."
"And between it all?"
"Balance," she says, almost in trance. "Energy. A web."
"And inside you?"
"That same energy."
"You see, all life is connected. We're all part of something greater. Just a small piece of a tapestry. The Force doesn't belong to the Jedi or the Sith, me or anyone else. Can you feel that?"
"There's something else. I hear an echo." Her voice grows agitated.
"Face it. What does it say?"
"It tells me of pain, fire and blood. It's so loud." She clenches her fists. Her body trembles. "It's calling me." Rocks have started tumbling down. A nearby rock bursts into dozens of fragments. Lava rises up from the lake and eats away at the land we stand upon.
"Rhea, come back!" I push against the flood. My shield surrounds us. The lava recedes and the land beneath us begins to float.
She awakens from her trance, panting. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean..."
"What did you see?
"People were held in chains. They suffered. They cried out for justice. But no one heard. What is this place?"
"It used to be a slaver base. Pirates worked their chattel to death."
She breathes in deeply. "Did they get what they deserved?"
"Yeah, they burnt. Before my time."
"When I heard the echo, it was like drowning in fire and blood. I felt strong...yet helpless. How do I get control over this?" she waves her hand around. "I want to burn the wicked. I want to make my oppressors pay. But I don't want to drown in it."
"You know the answer."
She takes a moment. "Balance. I must find balance in myself."
"Yes." I stretch out my hand. A small flame forms inside its open palm. "There's a fire inside you."
"Fire can warm and burn," she says.
"The first step to civilisation was taming it."
"Fury, yet calm."
"Wrath, yet kindness." The piece of land beneath our feet floats across the fiery lake. Lava brushes against it.
[background=Be the eye in the storm, sweeping all before you but remaining at the focal point of it. Be the storm[i], [/i]t be thrown by it. Alright, but how do you suggest I do that? When I get angry I can't control it, but I can't use it unless I'm angry!"
[background="There's no one-size fits all recipe. First of all, you have to believe you can control it. That your the mistress, and not the slave. You have a short fuse." I can feel she is annoyed by that. Whatever.
[background=I carry on. "Statement of fact. We both have. But you control the blast. Meditate. It will help you find that calm centre where you can hear the Lifeweb. Keep your anger close to you, let it fuel you when you need it. You want to be the thermic lance. Precise and deadly, not the time bomb. There will be moments when you absolutely have to let loose without hesitation or mercy. And always remember what you're fighting for. You're a defender of the people, a punisher of oppressors."
[background="Not an oppressor. I seek power to do justice," she finishes, then looks around. "We should jump."
[background=The lava is indeed getting close. "Go." She is a lot more agile and acrobatic than me. In a blur, she has somersaulted and reached the mainland. My bad leg would kill me if I tried that. So I let myself be raised and float. My feet touch down on the ground. "There is a time for contemplation and one for action. You're full of energy. Let's put it to use."
[background=She seems a bit...uncertain. "Here?"
[background="I won't let you fall," I assure her.
[background="That's reassuring. But actually I was worried about you falling." She's getting cheeky. I like cheeky.
[background="We'll see about that..." even as the words leave my lips, she is channelling the Force. Lightning shrieks from her hands towards me. Some strikes me. Some of it is absorbed as it crawls over me, the rest burns. [/font]
[background=I swim in the pain and raise a rock. It earths the blast. Then it blows up when she ramps up the lightning. I send the fragments flying towards her. Some she dodges, others she deflects, others strike her, cutting her with small wounds. Pain only seems to make her grow in strength. Fire and lightning meet as we channel our powers.[/font]