For days Ran sat upon the mountain top entranced, and motionless. After the blizzard, the local shepherds, guides, and even the wildlife discovered and were mystified by the unmoving woman who withstood the below freezing temperatures of the mountain top in little but her personal Jedi Robes. She wore no shoes. She wore no cloak. Her jewelry was cold to the touch but remained unfrozen. Her heartbeat was faint but continued steadily. The locals wondered if they should help her, take her down the mountain and to a doctor, but they saw her lightsaber and the serene look upon her face and left her meditation mostly uninterrupted.
Despite the freezing temperatures and the fact they already had so little, the local mountaineers braved the mountain top again to bring Ran furs to keep her warm. An old medicine woman and local healer washed Ran’s face and body, and brushed the wayward desert sand and snow from Ran’s hair. They took off her jewelry and set it down and left it in a nearby ceramic dish one of the mountaineers had made. At times man, woman, child, and wild animal, all sat in a circle around her to support her on her way back from wherever her mind had gone. While Ran would eventually give back to those kind folk, she would not break her meditation for them. The force told her to wait for the one who would lead her back down the mountain. The one she would bond with through the force. The one who would lead her into a new era. She waited for herself.
After a week of meditation, Ran’s mind traveled to a space deep in the force and beyond her conscious reality. It was in a place that she found bridges connecting her memories. She walked the bridges and experienced pain and longing, joy and contentment, discord and harmony. At the end of this place she met a figure in white and tan robes. The figure turned and Ran stared at them, a reflection of the Knight with some subtle differences.
“Hello, Ran.” The figure addressed Ran.
“Hello, Ran.” Ran said it back to the uncanny mirror. “Why are you here?” She continued.
“I am here for you.” The mirror replied. “I am here to guide you back to the truth.” It said evenly.
“And what is the truth?” Ran said curiously and with a tiny dose of skepticism, her head leaning to one side.
“The truth is that you have become so wrapped up in what you believe a Jedi is, you have stopped being yourself, and you are weaker for it.” The mirror continued, and Ran could see that truth. The realization was slow but impactful.
For a while now she felt out of step. Ran was fixated, even troubled by thoughts of pacifism, non-violence, and Jedi freedom from the conflicts of the galaxy. She was troubled because she was not a pacifist. Ran was bred and wired for violence, by the Sith, but by who was unimportant just that she was. She could also not be free from the conflicts of the galaxy because she cared too much of their outcomes.
“I’ve acted with too much restraint. Restricted myself to the point of betrayal of mind, body, and self. It is not in my being to act this way.” Ran proclaimed and the mirror nodded a confirmation.
“You are a being of power and you must embrace it. Your physical strength, speed, and mind are genetically altered gifts. Use them. You are a wellspring in the force. Show it. The Force is exactly its name and it can be that for good no matter your application. You have been forged in and for the fires of war. It is your destiny to wage it so that burden does not fall to others.”
“My idea of what it means to be a Jedi is wrong. One does not act to be a Jedi. One is a Jedi because they act. I am not meant to be restricted, but adaptable. I am to be myself wholly, and wield the light with all that I am, not restrict myself from the darkness and conflict, or the fear of it.”
The mirror nodded again.
“I once knew this, but somewhere along the way I’d forgotten. I’d forgotten that conflict needs to be met with resolve and not hesitation, that my mercy is much greater than my inaction, and that the greatest threat to peace is not the darkside and those who devote themselves to it, but those that fear wielding the lightside against them and the conflicts they bring.”
The words were spoken not just by Ran but also her mirror in unison. The mirror began to disappear.
“I won’t forget again.” Ran said as her reflection smiled at her, its form phasing out of existence. The veil of the world beyond dropped and Ran was no longer standing but sitting in quiet contemplation surrounded by the local mountaineers and her fellow Mirialans. As she opened her eyes the others began to stir. They celebrated with mirialan words. Some were worried, others were curious, some had faith that the Jedi would return, and all embraced her as part of their community. Ran was reminded that this is what she would fight for. She’d fight for the people of this world and so many others. She was no longer Jedi Knight of the New Jedi Order Ran Serys, The Blade of Selvaris. She was the Rogue Jedi Knight Ran Serys, The Blade of All.
As she stared out into sky and space, Ran promised to be the Blade of All for all beings living across the stars, and also for herself. She was stronger for it.
