A Jedi&#039;s Weapon

Wrenarias · Jan 6, 2020

The question Loske asked her made sense, but Wren considered the words carefully. Trying to explain the ability that she didn't even fully understand herself was... challenging, to say the least. Her lips pressed together into a thin line and her brow knitted closely together, nose wrinkled slightly in thought. Eventually, she settled on a response that she thought would best explain how the projections worked.

"If I'm trying to convey a specific emotion or mental state, such as tranquility or terror, it's not so much that I need to fake the emotion as much as its me deciding what type of connection I want to forge. The effect is augmented when I can sort of... share or send specific memories along with the desired emotion."

She quirked her mouth a little to the side in thought, glancing between Loske and Cedric.

"That said... doing so can be exhausting, as it requires a substantial amount of focus and drain." She added a few moments later, shaking her head.

"It's not something I try to do often..."

Loske Treicolt · Jan 7, 2020

Wrenarias / P Placeholder 0128

Cooooool.

Her head bobbed along while her emerald skinned companion did her best to explain how her unique ability worked. It sounded fascinating, being able to force an impression on someone. As jarring as that experience with the battlefield had been, it was still impressive.

"Fair." She acknowledged the stress of the power. "Thanks for explaining, that's pretty fascinating stuff.

How are you feeling now?"

The spreading meadow started to wane, beautifully thick sprawls of grass started to thin into disparate patches of green against rich soil. The trees remained, although the lines started to recede as if to give space to an upcoming structure. Within a handful of minutes, the trio would see a stone structure up ahead, with a long, ascending stairway to the maw of an ancient-looking doorway which looked like an attempt to be ornate, but was stopped mid-build to focus on function over form. The building itself just looked like a majorly large boulder plunked in the middle of The Forrest.

Placeholder 0128 · Jan 7, 2020

Wren's explanations on her abilities were fascinating. Cedric made a mental note to take the Twi'lek aside and have her record her experiences as an empath for future reading. The archives were woefully light on the topic, and a first hand account would put research miles ahead. He was preparing to ask a question when the trio happened upon an ancient structure.

Cedric halted where he stood, the lightest of smiles touching his lips. This was the entrance to the Forge, and Jedi had walked this path for as long as there had been an order. The casualness of their adventure thus far quickly faded, and Cedric bent his head slightly toward the old ruin in silent reverance. After a few moments had passed, he spoke.

"This is the Forge." He explained, stepping forward to lead the two women to the base of the steps. "It is here that Jedi from every era have come to forge their lightsabers. There will be a test."

His gaze shifted between each of the two women. "Are you prepared for what it may have in store for us?"

Loske Treicolt ,

Wrenarias · Jan 8, 2020

She frowned a little as the forge came into view, brow furrowing slightly. It was an impressive structure, to be sure, and even some one as skeptical as Wren could feel the power of this place.

Her eyes glanced to Loske and her frowned lightened to a faint smile. "I'm tired, but I'll be alright. Thank you for asking, Loske."

Truthfully, Wren was still a little unnerved, but she was doing her best to keep her emotions in check. Seeing the sith again her rattled her and she wasn't entirely sure that it was just a figment of her mind...

"Given what we've already encountered, Cedric, I'd say we're as ready as we're going to be." She responded in a low voice, taking a deep breath and then slowly exhaled.

Loske Treicolt · Jan 9, 2020

There was a lot of hype leading up to this building. Suggestions of peril, conflict, unimaginable trials.

Wrenarias rightly suggested that they were well-prepared, despite P Placeholder 0128 implying otherwise. Loske nodded in animated agreement. "Right."

The stairway itself wasn't daunting, and there wasn't anything particularly foreboding about the building itself. To the east and west of the escalated doorway, large slabs of rocks piled upon each other, as if discarded. Tython had seen a lot of turnover in its time. Such was the woe of a space rock with a level of importance to sentients -- everyone wanted to leave their mark behind. And others wanted to tear former structures down. This looked like it had been a part of both those human intentions at one point.

At the foot of the stairway, she started to take the first few steps and shoved her hand into her pocket to check in on the kyber crystal within. She'd partly expected it to be burning hot or something, woefully, it was still unceremoniously tepid.

Placeholder 0128 · Jan 9, 2020

He had read tales of the Forge many times.

There was always a test, but it varied greatly in form. For some, massive Gundarks had crawled out from the caves nearby to do battle. Others had been forced to confront former friends that had fallen into the grip of the Dark Side. The Jedi Master could only guess as to what would occur for the two padawans, and found himself privately hoping the Forge had nothing for him to undertake. He'd rather observe.

"To utilize the Forge, one must pass its tests." Cedric began to explain as he assailed the steps. The pilgrimage was of great significance for the Jedi Master: to walk where his ancestors had once stood instilled a feeling in his chest that he couldn't properly describe, save for reverent, but that only explained it partly.

The Forge itself looked to have not been touched for decades. Despite its age and the thick layer of dust upon it, it still looked to be pristine. Beneath it sat a chest of marble emblazoned with the logo of the Jedi Order. On either side of it were hallways, and those hallways looked to branch off into even more hallways. Many hallways.

"You must each walk where the you feel you need to. The Force decides our path here. I'll be waiting for you here, should the trials become too much for either of you I'll be ready to help."

Wrenarias ,

Wrenarias · Jan 9, 2020

Wren paused and raised a brow at Cedric, a quizzical expression on her face. It felt a little silly to go traipsing through the Forge to make a lightsaber, when she already had one tucked away inside her jacket. Her brow furrowed and she glanced over her shoulder towards the ever branching corridor with a small frown.

"Right..." She muttered in a low voice, running a hand over the intact lek as she turned to take the hallway to the left.

When given the option between left and right, she always went left.

"What's the worst that could happen?" She added wryly, shaking her head. Of course, she already knew that the worst thing that could happen was a bloody, painful death at the hands of some beast or terror. Something to look forward to, truly.

"Best of luck, Loske. You'll do great." She called to the other padawan, offering the woman a supportive grin and a thumbs up. While her disposition seemed casual and calm, internally she was quite anxious.

She'd never done something like this before, and she was apprehensive to say the least.

Loske Treicolt · Jan 10, 2020

Woah, wait, what? This seemed irresponsible.

Separation anxiety kicked into gear. Her gaze flicked almost desperately between P Placeholder 0128 and

Wrenarias "Oh, yeah, okay you...you too...bye." She would have trotted after her new emerald friend, but the woman had already made her choice to boldly go alone.

With this many hallways, and there was ample opportunity for something really wrong to take place. Especially with all this ominous foreshadowing Cedric was proclaiming. As volatile as Wren had been out in the open, Loske still preferred to walk with someone rather than on her own. She didn't like doing anything alone. That's why she had Frank!

She was about to take a decisive step forward, when she stopped and turned around. "Is there an end? What are we looking for?"

He'd said the Forge would teach them, but were they supposed to wander aimlessly for eons? Meet in the middle? Or was this one of those when you know, you know ordeals.

Placeholder 0128 · Jan 10, 2020

The difference between the two women was made quite clear in those few moments. Cedric gave Wren a confident smile, all he could offer her for this trial, before she went on. He would do the same for Loske, or he would have if she'd not stopped to turn around. Her presence in the Force was like a gathering of sparks traveling through a conduit, all nerves.

He stepped forward, a hand placed upon her arm as his voice took on a more gentle tone. "I can't tell you what you're looking for, only that this place will test you. Trust in the Force Loske, and you'll never be alone."

He squeezed, then drew his hand back. "Besides, I'll be here to rescue you if you get too scared." He offered her a playful grin, hoping the jest would calm her nerves.

The halls within were lit by an internal light that seemed to come from the metal itself. It was a dim luminescence, casting the passageway in a faint silver hue. Wren's passage quickly opened up to a small chamber in which the statue of a a female Jedi Master with her lightsaber drawn and her features hidden by a hood stood.

Then came the voice.

"Sixty years," the apparition formed into view alongside the statue. It was a woman of the same height as the stone, clad in flowing white robes. Her cowl was drawn to rest just below her eyes, revealing aged lips and a broken nose only. "That's how long it's been since a student stepped through those doors. An entire generation has lived and died since last a Jedi walked these halls." The voice was shrill, but not unkind.

"That is what you are, I hope anyway."

Wrenarias · Jan 12, 2020

Wren's gloved fingertips idly traced along the metal surface of the wall as she walked through the oddly lit corridor. For her, being alone was little more than a fact of life. So many had come and gone, leaving her behind over and over until the loneliness ingrained itself into her core. The hollow clip of her footsteps echoing off the stone floor was the only sound for that short time that she meandered through the halls. She found herself wondering how the light source worked, or whether it was all just a product of the Force manifestations here on Tycho. The latter seemed more likely.

Cedric and Loske's interaction in the entrance hall was lost to her, the forge isolating her from the others.

Her hand fell away from the wall as she stepped into the chamber with the statue, tucking away inside her pocket once more. As the woman's visage took shape next to the statue, Wrenarias narrowed her eyes slightly at the drawn lightsaber and instinctively reached for her own that was hidden away inside her jacket.

"I'm not a Jedi yet... I'm learning." Came her simple, yet guarded answer. The twi'lek had always been cautious to not divulge too much information when it came to her training. "Who are you?" She asked.

Loske Treicolt · Jan 12, 2020

Vibin'

This was one of the parts about being a Jedi that Loske deeply disagreed with, and it bred within her malcontent. The inconclusiveness of self. The Force often created more questions than it gave answers. She was being sent into the ether to look for nothing and everything all at the same time.

The second takeaway was pleasant though. Never being alone, and being continuously with the ethereal companion that tied all life together. That was as warming a sentiment as his reassuring touch.

The final jest made eyes roll and she would have swatted away his hand if he hadn’t elected to remove it first. “Hopefully this expression isn’t the last thing you see of me.” She warned, her countenance betraying her displeasure and she two-fingered between her eyes and Cedric’s direction with the universal signal of I’m-watching-you.

And so, with a final decisive step, she walked to the right. A cool, beckoning chime drawing her that away. Also, to make it apparent she was not following Wrenarias. She daren’t look back. Her gait daren’t falter.

Letting her fingertips trace against the walls, she could feel them wanting to reach out and speak to her. The stories of others that had passed through its composition. Loske was moving too quickly to allow any single narrative stick, but she could hear the gentle murmurs and a few anguished cries. Fear. There was fear in here. Typical. From what she’d inherently memorized, fear lead to the dark side. The ultimate no-no. Of course she’d be in a chamber that employed terror as a test. The concept was blasé.

It was another eye roll that brought her back to awareness. She was tens of meters away from her starting point, and the opening of the hallway she’d started at was nothing more than the size of a dime.

There was a profuse pressure in her forehead, and she slowed her pace to react to it while the hallway began to darken forebodingly.

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Suddenly, there was a tremour beneath her feet and all around. It shook at the walls and stone floors. Thin films of silt fell around her. She could feel it on her shoulders. The course grinding sound as stones started to fall and collapse. She leapt backwards to avoid being crushed, and fell backward, scrambling like a drunken crab to get away from the collapsing area. Within a handful of moments, that dime-sized exit was completely obscured by an army of rocks. Panicked, Loske reached out with The Force, wrapping an invisible hand around a few of them and tossing them to the side. Beneath that, another layer of stones was revealed. After a few more attempts, it seemed the whole hallway she’d been walking down had collapsed. Moving all these stones would take exhaustive hours.

She released a shrill gasp, dropping to her knees and looked at the layers and layers of miserable sediment that refused to let her go back from the way she came.

Now she was truly alone.

She’d never been quite so isolated. Her first night of consciousness in the galaxy at large, on Nar Shaddaa, she’d been discovered by Greyson who’d sworn to protect her from that moment on. He’d helped deliver her to The Alliance, where Sarge took her under his wing. From there, Rogue Squadron had been formed and she’d had constant companionship with her wingmates. Frank, of course, through it all, Kaili and Micah, then Isar, and now Cedric. It had only been a few minutes, but the compounded impact of the trial she was undergoing was unbeknownst to her, so every sensitivity was amplified more than what was typical. Those ethereal threads that she could usually feel between herself and the Jedi Master felt frayed, as if snipped. Any semblance of heartbeat in her consciousness was eliminated, and she could only feel her own.

Alone.

If she wanted to get past this, she’d have to come to terms with that insular reality.

Wrenarias / P Placeholder 0128

Placeholder 0128 · Jan 15, 2020

Cedric could only smile at Loske as she stepped into the darkness. There was nothing more he could offer her. This was a test for the two women, and he wasn't about to help either of them cheat. Instead, he drew back to the entrance of the forge, dropping to his knees as he bent his head toward the hallowed halls.

"What is your purpose?" The voice spoke.

"To serve."

"And what does it mean to serve?"

Cedric's brow furrowed as he looked up from the ancient permacrete floor, his gaze meeting that of a small hooded specter. "To defend the people. To rebuild civilization. To protect the Ashla."

The figure stared back at him, its silent judgement louder than any battlefield.

"You speak like the knights of old boy." There was a hint of amusement to that voice.

Cedric cracked a thin smile. "Is that not what I am?"

Silence again.

"It would seem so."

---

"A padawan," the ghostly woman cracked a wrinkled smile. "Oh my, it has been centuries since I have spoken with a padawan." She almost sounded excited. "I am Loranka, and I was once a steward of this place, as so many others were. I reached the path to enlightenment, and thus I may manifest here, when it suits me."

The woman folded her arms behind the small of her back, staring out from her cowl to appraise the Twi'lek. "There are others here as well. Your master, and another apprentice. I sense them," she paused, "That girl has great trials ahead of her, but you," she turned bodily toward Wren. "Yours is a life of struggle. You already know the shadows she faces, I can see it in your eyes."

The smile faded, "What is your name, and tell me girl: what do you know of the Jedi?"

Wrenarias · Jan 15, 2020

The twi'lek cautiously glanced over her shoulder, back down the corridor she'd come from -- only to find nothing but an empty wall behind her. She hadn't heard anything shift to close off the passage, it simply didn't exist anymore. It put her a little more on edge, but didn't quite put her on the defensive just yet. As far as she could tell, this apparition meant her no harm.

She bit her bottom lip, hesitating for a brief moment, before she decided to answer the questions asked of her.

"I'm Wrenarias." She said simply, inclining her head in a polite gesture. There was no need to confirm the woman's suspicions that Wren's life was a difficult one, the scars she bore and the cybernetic prosthetic were testament enough.

"And... from my understanding, the Jedi are guardians. Meant to protect those who need protection, guide those who seek guidance, provide aid to those who need it. I assume there is more to it than that but... that's just my interpretation."

Loske Treicolt · Jan 16, 2020

Still vibin'

Minutes passed with no visits from apparitions (aside from the rocks, but those felt too real to be by way of the ethereal...right?). She remained on her knees, sitting back on her heels with her palms folded against her thighs and feeling sorry for herself.

Trust in the Force Loske, and you'll never be alone.

She felt her brow quirk at the timely recollection of the farewell, and closed her eyes. That's what she'd done the first time she'd meditated and she'd do that now. Exhale. Inhale. The Force was all around her. Everyone that had come in and out of her life (save for Frank) had parts of The Force as their composition. None of them had died. Except, perhaps, Mister Terrik. Abel.

Loske had always viewed the Force as a tool. Something that those who had the affinity for it could choose to wield or not. Something that could be omnipresent, and shared between souls was more than a tool. A hammer belonged to a single carpenter. A sword to a single soldier. There were no tools that transcended ownership. If two people put their hands on a hammer and swung, yes, the blow would be stronger, but it still required coordination. The Force could be used in diverse ways across asynchronous intentions.

If it could be with her at all times, it was more than a tool.

So what was it?

Wrenarias / P Placeholder 0128

Placeholder 0128 · Jan 20, 2020

The figure regarded Cedric with silence. After a minute or so of waiting, the Jedi Master finally turned his head up from the ground below, confusion plain on his face. What was the purpose of this appearance? He'd already passed his trials.

"Why do you visit me old one?" He finally asked.

The being tilted its head to the right in a movement that reminded Cedric of the head-turn of animals when they were curious about something. "To get your measure. The barriers between mortality and the infinite are weathered, son of the Gray. We know what you do."

There was a hint of an accusation to its voice. Cedric's brow furrowed.

"I don't keep my actions secret."

"And yet you seek to build an empire in your own name." The figure paused, "Do you think this is right?"

Cedric did not hesitate. "I know it is."

"Jedi have been forbidden from ruling for millennium now. What gives you the right to usurp that tradition?"

"The old masters were wrong," he peered up at the figure, gaze never leaving its visage. "The Dark Side rules across the galaxy. No republic or other group can stand against them. We must be united under the Ashla if we are to stop them."

"You would say it is not arrogance that guides your actions? Ambition? There are traits of the Sith, as you know."

"As I have said, I live to serve. Arrogance is a trait of the flawed, and one I purged myself of long ago. My position is only held because the people have empowered me to do so, not of my own power. That goes for ambition as well - look into my mind, and you will know this is not what I have ever wanted for myself. This is the greatest way that I preserve the teachings of the Jedi and protect the people. If an alternative that would work reared its head, I would gladly give up my titles, but experience has shown me that such an alternative does not exist."

"And you truly believe that?"

"I know it in my heart old one."

----

Wrenarias was a curious sort. The white-robed woman cracked a wide, near-toothless smile as the Twi'lek gave her interpretation on the Jedi. "The Jedi are all of those things, and more." She leaned down, and though her gaze was hidden by her cowl, one could guess she was staring at Wren's lightsaber. "You carry the mark of a Jedi as well. What a curious girl you are."

She stepped forward, then around Wren, slowly circling her like a shark swimming about its prey, though there was no sense of malcontent coming from her. "A Jedi is more than a defender of the weak, though that is very much what we are at our core. We are the keepers of the Force, my child. You must look beyond this temporary realm, Wrenarias. Our is that of the eternal: that of the Living Force. You must open your mind to the gifts the Force has for you - enlightenment is the path you must walk, and while the road is long, its end will deliver you from the horrors that haunt your mind. To master your demons, you must first master the Force."

---

Loske's experience had been far less animated than that of the other two. At least until now. The empyrean shifted as she opened herself to the Force, and she would feel the arrival of another presence in the room, though it did not coalesce into physical form as it did for the others. Instead it came as a voice, reverberating from all around her.

"Loske Matson," it paused, "Kisla Grayson. Marcello Matteo. Many names describe you." Silence lingered for a few seconds. "You are a vergence. The child of two that have walked the path, and seen its end. Why do you tread the same ground as your progenitors?"

A thin white mist spilled forth from cracks in the walls. It came together in a small floating ball that orbited around the padawan. "It is duty that drives you? A call to the mystical? Perhaps you wish to know your progenitors by becoming one of their kind."

The orb halted in front of Loske's face. "Why do you call yourself Jedi, child of science?"

Wrenarias · Jan 21, 2020

A skeptical expression formed on Wrenarias' face. So far in her life, the Force had only ever really caused problems for her. She didn't consider her empath abilities as a gift, but thought them closer to a curse. Her tongue clicked once in a quiet tut of doubt. Enlightenment seemed a farce. A placation intended to keep her trying to tread water. It felt like someone standing safely on a pier was telling a bound drowning victim, who didn't know how to swim, that all she had to do to survive was swim to the life raft through a hurricane. Simple as that.

In theory it was all well and good. But in practice, as with most aspects of life, things played out quite differently.

She inhaled deeply and then slowly let the breath out in a heavy sigh. The Jedi were all so different than her mentor, Kelina. Words and platitudes seemed to be their preferred methods, while Wren needed action and practicality.

"Right... of course. Why didn't I think of that?" She responded dryly.

P Placeholder 0128 |

Loske Treicolt · Jan 21, 2020

It was a self animating thing. It had intentions and whims of its own, available to those that would respond to its energies. Most everyone could be impacted by The Force - that could be evidenced by bodies scattering from a telekinetic blow. Only some could have a mutual dialogue and reciprocal interaction with the metaphysical.

She was coming to this realization when the room felt less empty. Out of nowhere, a voice filled the cavern. Surprised, she opened her eyes. It bounced from crevice to crevice, seeping through the cracks and quivering at the floor around her knees. Feeling awkwardly vulnerable when it spoke her first and last name, she tensed, though she didn’t rise. Keeping the association of her physical pose with the outreach from what she could only imagine as The Force. The last name Grayson and Matteo were murmured, right after her own. Her last name was literally a fusion of the two family names. It didn’t choose one over the other, like a traditional family. It was representative of her DNA, a medley. A true child was also a medley, but there was an umbrella over a household - typically surname.

Streams filtered around, creating a sphere. Filling the space with questions and curiosities. It likely already knew the answers. Sort of like that demon in the belly of Coruscant. Did The Force give the ability to be omniscient? Pomsty had Force Sight, and she’d seen it too -- but that had been linear and of the existing timeline.

A lot of the questions were asked in rapid succession, and it seemed it only wanted her to answer the last one. The others were maybe just food for thought. She’d answer one, and correct something else.

“I think only one name describes me - it was the first one. My name.” For the first year or two being out of the lab on Kiffu, she’d made her own way. Unaware of her lineage and affiliation with history’s legacy. And she rarely pulled the parent card - unless it was one of her parent’s old friends. Like Avalore. “And I’m not calling myself a Jedi. I’m a learner, student of The Force. Trying to understand what I’m composed of. Much like anyone else that walks through these halls.”

With a furrowed brow, she reached up to touch the pearlescent globe.

Wrenarias / P Placeholder 0128

Placeholder 0128 · Jan 30, 2020

There was a quiet amusement to the specter, though she kept it from reaching her face. This one was headstrong, better suited to a battlefield than a temple. That was a dangerous path to walk, but it was one many of the greatest Jedi had trodden. If the girl would not allow herself to understand the importance of guarding the soul, then she would be made to.

"Because it's too obvious," the specter responded, just as dryly. "Do not turn away from the spiritual aspects of the Force,

Wrenarias ias. They will save your soul," the specter paused, gesturing toward one of the walls as it began to come apart bit by bit, receding into the walls nearby as a path into abject darkness revealed itself.

"See for yourself." The specter pointed a finger toward the path, her cowled gaze never leaving the Twi'lek.

---

"A good answer to both statements." The voice rumbled. The ball of mist bounced around the room, inhabiting each of its corners at one point or another as it appraised the girl. "Understanding of self is the first step on the path to wisdom." One could never know the galaxy without first knowing themself first.

"Now that I am certain you know these things," the ball bounced around again, coming to suspend itself a few feet in front of

Loske Treicolt 's face. "I must ask why you wish to learn of the Living Force. Is it service that you wish to fulfill? To carry on a legacy? To have power others do not posses? Or perhaps it is nothing so grand, and you are only curious about your own nature."

"What say you?"

Wrenarias · Feb 6, 2020

Wrenarias had every reason to think otherwise. The spiritual aspects of the Force had only caused her some sort of trouble throughout her life. Her nose wrinkled slightly at the apparition before her. There was no witty retort given, she didn't think it was worth getting into a philosophical debate with a ghost.

Shaking her head, the twi'lek turned to make her way down the path that'd opened in front of her.

She didn't know where it would lead, but she knew that it was the only way forward.