A Learner's Path

[Arekk]

DENEBA​

Sparring Room, Inside the Jedi Temple​

The sparring between Ar'ekk and Arabi had just finalized and they rested in the room, laughing at each other. Something made them feel in happiness, perhaps the display of great lightsaber discipline and that they were actually improving on their techniques. Regardless, their moods felt a lot more better now that they've finally finished the sparring session.

The half masked young man was pretty exhausted and wouldn't get up from the ground until he gathered his breath. His ankle started to ache and by removing his shoe, he tried to move around his foot but it hurted too much.

"The least thing I needed was an injury but I guess I'll live."

It wasn't a common thing for Ar'ekk to injury himself during training but this was a side effect of exhaustion, long trips and overall lack of energy to continue. What he needed in that moment was to heal up and rest finally.

[member="Arabi Cordelle"]

 

[Amber]

Post deleted wrong account

 

[Arabi Cordelle]

It was nice to finally have some camaraderie among the Jedi on Deneba. Up until now she had had very few interactions with the others at large, often having to go on missions by herself. Laughing and sparring with Ar'ekk had been fun and fun was something she had not had for a long time. It made her relaxed and light hearted.

As he removed his shoe, she could see that his ankle hurt him. Her brow furrowed and her ears lowered. She shifted herself to be nearer to him and oh so gently clasped her hand around the injured limb. At once her normally peaceful energy turned to something different. It was still calm, but now purposeful. Arabi looked at him with an intensity in her gaze. "Let me." She implored him. Her hand was warm and the moment her soft fur contacted his skin, he would feel immediate relief from both pain and exhaustion alike. Her touch was a long practiced skill where immediate relief was issued forth before real damage could be ascertained. All in a moment, she could sense what was wrong with his ankle and the immeasurable exhaustion he felt. Had she known how tired he was, she would never have asked him to spar.

Using the Force in this way was as natural to her as breathing. Her healing energy with out with every breath, coming into his body through her hand in small waves, moving further through him with each breath. First, she took care of the ankle. The pain already having subsided, she now cared for the cause of the pain. Next, she moved to the burn left by the training lightsaber, but an injury nonetheless. Lastly, she took the edge off of his exhaustion and then some. While she did not take it away entirely, she did help considerably. Why did she not choose to wipe the exhaustion from him? Perhaps that was a question he would wish to ask.

Finally, her eyes opened slowly and blinked dark amber in the light of the training room. Arabi was once more just at peace. Her ears up as she asked, "Better?"

 

[Arekk]

A soothing sensation invaded his entire body and mind per a wonderful act through the Force, feeling the pain slowly drift away in the heavenliest way possible away from his ankle plus the exhaustion as well. He didn't know much about the Cathar but could realize that she had a very kind soul and was someone who cared about others more than herself which spoke a lot about Arabi as a person.

Wiggling his toes, Ar'ekk nodded to her inquiry as his foot was carefully glasped on her palm. Despite being used to the gentle and soft touch of human skin it was certainly nice for a change to feel her fur touching his foot albeit kinda strange at first. Her attunement with the Force was strong and the healing process was very brief, feeling much better and relaxed as the minutes passed.

"Much better. Thank you."

Thankful of her assistance, the half masked Jedi sat on the ground for a little more trying to grasp for some air. There was no need to rush and head somewhere else, not anymore at least. That was a good sensation.

[member="Arabi Cordelle"]

 

[Arabi Cordelle]

Oblivious to how her fur feels to other people she smiled as he confirmed he was feeling better. Slowly, she let go of his ankle and let the power fade slowly to so as not to be jarring in the separation of the Living Force within her and the Living Force within him. She sat on her knees and looked at him with a bit of curiosity, her head tilting to the side just a bit causing an ear to momentarily flop before perking back up.

"You are most welcome, but why did you agree to spar with me when you were that tired? Its a sure recipe for injury and no wonder I got the better of you." Arabi, having no confidence in her abilities to begin with now felt the loss of what little pride she had gained in defeating him. She would not share this though, in order to not have him feel as if he had wronged her in some way. He hadn't and it was silly for her to feel the loss of pride. What was pride but the downfall of man anyway?

 

[Arekk]

"I always said that if I never pushed myself to the limit, I'd never truly learn anything at all. You defeated me fair and square, though."

A mindset built-in his head at a very young age, Ar'ekk always wanted to seek more than what life had to offer him. Perhaps that's why when the power, credits and greed hit him like a hard brick he couldn't turn away from such dangerous desires until he was taken away and put in the right path again. Still taking that as a learning experience, he continued to move along with his life and turn these situations positively.

Massaging the sole of his foot softly, he grinned back at the Cathar. Despite feeling tired he wouldn't lose that smile upon his face, never did and never will. Part of his personality of course, the good part. Once you've met the ugly one, that's where things took a massive twist of sheer virulent rage.

"Very impressive, I must say."

[member="Arabi Cordelle"]

 

[Arabi Cordelle]

She considered his philosophy of being pushed to the limit in order to learn and nodded. "I suppose that is true enough. I didn't realize how powerful I had become as a healer until I experimented on Kirie Ito of the CSA when she was possessed by the black ooze. That stuff is nasty and biologically, it is not actually bad for someone. It's the Force power within it that caused the damage to one's mind and soul." She had learned much of herself that day and had since been taking short missions in order to heal as many of the afflicted as possible. It left her drained, but when she recovered fully, she was due to set out again for another.

Her eyes fell to his foot that he was massaging. She smiled and blushed at the compliment, though he might not see the blush entirely through her fur. "Thank you. It is my one great gift in the Force. I am glad you are feeling better." Having never been tested by the dark side, she could not and did not understand the depth of darkness that can live in one's soul and she hoped she never did.

 

[Arekk]

"I'm pretty sure you're more than efficient in the work you do as a healer. Many people will and are thankful about what you do and you should feel proud about that."

He considered the work of a healer, specially in combat, to be more corageous and difficult than the one of a regular soldier walking into a certain death. Having to comfort, promise to fix and take care of a wounded person takes more guts than anything you could think of perhaps maybe except taking another people's lives. That's something he awfully know just right and wouldn't want to experience ever again...

"I like to think of myself as a Guardian, a peacekeeper. I've trained hard to become what I am today and can definitely say it has paid off at some extent."

His foot continued to ache despite her work to make the pain fade away. It'd take more than a massage to alleviate the pain. The discomfort had propagated towards his sole now and would affect Ar'ekk's ability to walk but he'd be alright. He was a warrior after all, right? A little soreness can't kill him.

[member="Arabi Cordelle"]

 

[Arabi Cordelle]

Was it childish to wish that she never had to be tested by the Dark side? Probably, but it was a wish nonetheless. Arabi wanted to always do what she could to help others and could not imagine a temptation strong enough to keep her from that work. One could not heal with the dark side of the Force, it just did not work. Still, she was not pure. There were ways she could be tempted but if she kept strong in her faith of healing, perhaps that day would never come. All work and no play did have its disadvantages, but Arabi felt her duty strongly.

Having no idea of Ar'ekk's discomfort as she was not one to pry where it was not asked, Arabi continued the pleasant conversation. His words intrigued her. It was a very different way at looking at the Force. She did not look for payback for her service to the Galaxy. Her integrity was all that she needed in this respect, but that could be a cultural thing. For the Cathar, service in this way was a great honor to one's self and one's ancestors and one did not need repayment. "How do you mean, it has paid off?"

 

[Arekk]

"After the fall of the Galactic Republic, I was lost in life. No place to belong and nothing to strive for. Yet, I managed to reunite with my mentor despite I thought he had passed away when the Sith struck. He showed me that no matter what you shouldn't give up and was given the opportunity to complete my training. Now I'm here."

The road was rough but somehow Ar'ekk still managed to find a positive outcome for his life despite all the occurances of the past. Being tempted by the dark side of the Force was unimaginable yet he really never felt consumed entirely by its viciousness, no matter how strong it was. One way or the other, the man that he once were remained within his heart and body.

Certainly, being strayed away from an awful path was the thing that paid off everything. He was alive and wanted to help anyone that came across him instead of just wanting to run away from everything and never having to face whatever he had to face. It required a lot of help but at the end he found success.

"I was lost for a while in life and did things I'm not proud of, that's when I thought it was going to be my end. But I was brought back to my senses and could recover from it. I'd never go through that again, made a pledge about that and I don't break my promises."

[member="Arabi Cordelle"]

 

[Arabi Cordelle]

Arabi listened with the patience of the wise and the kindness integral to her moral character. She had heard, as did everyone, stories of those who succumb to the dark side. It seemed that all of the Light side were destined to feel the temptation and fall. There were hardly any Jedi older than she was who had not spent time darkening their souls and troubling their minds in a way that would forever haunt them. It was good that they came back from that wayward life to find peace and tranquility again, but it could not have been easy and once tempted, one could easily succumb again.

"Do you think that it is that easy?" She wondered idly, not knowing if he could have an answer to that. "It seems like the dark side is forever dogging one's heels after it has gotten its grip on you." There was a moment when she realized her verbage use of "dogging" could be amusing since she was essentially a cat.

 

[Arekk]

"It's not easy but with experience and learning from such occurance, you can escape its grip. It wasn't easy for me but I was lucky enough to see through the confusing cloud it created within my mind."

Succumbing to the dark side of the Force would've end up in Ar'ekk's demise and led him to become something he solely swore to destroy once, surrendering to its hurtful power. Failing his loved ones was a thought that always crossed his head and wouldn't dare for anything in the galaxy to let that happen, they'd be disappointed of him. Perhaps that's why he didn't stray away from the path of the light and strived to become something greater, if there was such a thing.

He tried to get up from the cold floor but failed to do so as his foot continued to ache increasingly, stinging him like a thousand bees. He had to agree with her that training while tired was a bad idea after all.

A smile was broadened by the young Jedi at the mention of 'dogging', quickly catching up on the unintended joke.

[member="Arabi Cordelle"]