Private A New Den for a Found Pup

[Kael Varr Basteil Skirata]

Kyrimorut mountains, Mandalor
Kael looked around his sparse accommodations in the clan home. He had been traveling with Adelle Bastiel for a while after she found him, and now he was here, given a place to stay until all the proper ceremonies and procedures were arranged. First was his Verd'goten, then he would have to take the Resol'nere officially, and then he could be fully accepted into Clan Skirata, and finally, he could be placed in a pack with his sibling Iron Wolves. He was restless, which struck him as odd. For five years of his life, he had trained, worked, and learned to survive and hunt and wait. Now he felt as if his chronometer had stopped one second to midnight, and the fated moment when he could finally feel like a true member of the Empire would never arrive. Finally, he sat down and closed his eyes, calmed himself, and started the methodical, almost zen state of meticulously cleaning, oiling, and maintaining his armor and weapons.

Hours pass and Kael sits in quiet contemplation of how things were going in his life. Of the “Mother” he had found in Adelle, of her quiet yet firm way. He sighed as he went back into meditation. Trying to feel for this force Adelle mentioned. If it truly was the source for his ability then he needed to figure out what his connection to it truly was.

 

[Vytal Noctura]

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Gradually, one step at a time, the pale Witch ascended the mountain path of the Kyrimorut Mountains of Mandalore. it was entirely within her power to magick her way to her destination, but much like that Shaman, Vytal did not believe in over use of one's power. A philosophy that meshed well with Mandalorian beliefs or expectations. Sacrificing the physical health of one's body to become stronger in mystical arts was not wise. The Nightsisters had long since practiced this -- perhaps as long as the Mandalorians themselves.

Along the way, the Witch's emerald eyes fell upon a Mandalorian seated near by. Her progress drew to a halt and she regarded the man for a time. As there was nothing that pressed them for time, she saw no reason for haste. Spirits gathered now that the medium had stopped; their voices a discordant chorus of thought and sense unlike those of the living.

"You feel for the ground with your hands in the air," Vytal announced abruptly from where she stood.

A second later she resumed her trek to draw nearer, but not too near to avoid intruding on their space. "What is it you seek?"

Kael Varr Basteil Skirata​

 

[Kael Varr Basteil Skirata]

Kael heard the newcomer enter his alcove, heard her speak but also heard something else as the very air felt heavier around her. “You don’t travel alone, stranger. What do you mean, ‘I feel for the ground with my hands in the air’?” He would stand, giving her a shallow bow. “I am Kael Varr Bastiel Skirata. I was adopted by Adelle Bastiel. She was helping me get settled after she found me. She also said I was at least noticeable in the force for her to track me down of Concordia… but honestly I didn’t even know what the force was until I met her. I just figured the Manda assisted me in my hunts and the test the Manda placed in front of me to hone my skills.”

@Vytal Noctura

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[Vytal Noctura]

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"I am Vytal Noctura of the Iron Wolves." A relatively recent appointment in addition to overseeing her Sisters on Dathomir.

The pale Witch took another second to regard the man at his full stature. "You seek to find something within your reach, but your focus is elsewhere," she replied at last concerning her earlier remark. "The Manda," which was a more comfortable metaphor than the impersonal Force, "cannot be grasped or found. It simply is."

One hand rose. As her fingers undulated slowly in the air, a ball of green flame appeared over her open palm. "That you know there are spirits around me speaks you have cracked your eyes open. Now you must learn to feel it as part of you. Do not force it. Do not strive for it. Embrace it. Shape it. Form it. Tis an extension of your will, Kael Varr Bastiel Skirata."

"The Manda is everywhere. Tis everything. Tis with you, always. Speak to it. Let it flow through you. Know you can do a thing and do it."

A small smirk tugged at her lips. "Yet, do not try to know your way into the company of spirits before you are ready. There is much else to learn, first."

Kael Varr Basteil Skirata​

 

[Kael Varr Basteil Skirata]

"War-Mistress?!?" Kael would stiffen and immediately be wary of some test. His defences and guarded expression would immediately come up just as easily as slamming on a helmet. However, her words gave him pause. "I spent five years of my life alone, with no other beings around except the Manda. I faced the challenges it placed in my path on a daily basis. However, now I have been uprooted, moved off the plains of Concordia, and brought here, adopted into a clan and an order that all, without fully knowing what my place is. I'm fine with all of this, but it just has me off kilter. I am a ship without a navi-computer. Adelle has been wonderful as an adopted mother, and I'm sure when I'm placed in my pack, I'm sure I will have them to lean on and follow; however, right now I'm listless." He looked unsettled, partially because it seemed as if he was not used to spilling his emotions and thoughts like this.

@Vytal Noctura

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[Vytal Noctura]

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"You did well to survive. Nightsisters of Dathomir learn to survive the wilds of our world as well. To do otherwise would demand they go no further than the edge of the nearest fire. Useful skills and instincts," the pale Witch recognized with a nod. Five years alone was a long stretch if the trials were worthy of note.

"And now you will learn how to become even stronger. To forge a path of your own. But not alone. When you become part of a pack, learn of them and share with them as you have with me. You will find different strength as part of something larger than yourself." As one that taught Circle Magick to Witches, Vytal was a strong proponent of the strength of groups -- but also of the individual.

"But what is it you seek, Kael? Aside from belonging to a group. If you possessed all the power in the galaxy, what would you do?"

Kael Varr Basteil Skirata​

 

[Kael Varr Basteil Skirata]

The War-Mistress had given him pause with her query: What would he do if he had all the power in the galaxy? "To be honest, war-mistress, given all the power of the galaxy, I would end the slave markets, so that no child would be made an orphan, like I was in the first place, and those that are by other means would all be taken in as foundlings and properly cared for, not abandoned a second time as my first founder did. I would not make galactic peace, as that breeds stagnation and weakness; my only wish is that the children of the galaxy would not have to go through what I did."

@Vytal Noctura

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[Vytal Noctura]

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Slave markets? An interesting focus. Such a story would explain his focus on finding a place among them and in belonging.

"Tis the purpose of community to provide shelter and instruction," the Warmaster agreed. "The Mand'alor's own efforts have been to ensure a stable world for all Mandalorians. You would find support here to back your vision, and training to enable it by your own hand." He had chosen wisely to take Adelle's offer to join them if his desire was to provide better for the youth.

As for peace, Vytal had nothing to say. Peace limited distractions from delving into the heart of existence, and the truth of knowledge and power; but it did not afford many choices to use one's knowledge or power. Not that it much mattered. The galaxy was always tearing itself apart and piecing itself back together in time. Kael wouldn't need to want for challenge.

"How readily can you touch the Manda today? Can you levitate a stone? See an opponent's action before they've taken it?"

Kael Varr Basteil Skirata​

 

[Kael Varr Basteil Skirata]

Kael sighed and sought the flame in the void. Using this centering technique, he cleared his mind and focused as hard as he could on the war mistress. He knew it probably wouldn't work, but he tried anyway. He pushed out the thought 'look not at me, look to the wall, the ground, anything but I am not here.' As he did so, he tried to quickly and silently move in such a way that he could seem to have slipped behind her before saying, whether it worked or not, "When I hunt, I can influence my target to see me as nothing more than the background, I'm not changing any part of myself but I can seem to make their perception of me slide past without registering I'm there. I call it, 'look not at me'. I also seem to have better perception and reflexes than what I've seen in other citizens when I would venture into the city near where I stayed on Concordia. However, I don't know if the Manda was the source of those abilities or my lifestyle."

@Vytal Noctura

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[Vytal Noctura]

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Vytal turned to look at Kael Varr Basteil Skirata and gave him a nod. "Tis quite an advanced skill. It requires considerable focus. Another's mind is rarely stationary for long; they shift and writhe under your gaze." She turned slowly to face him once more. "Be wary of those that see with more than their eyes, evaar'la rekr; especially those that are never alone."

A pale hand was extended out toward him. "Would you let me feel as you do when you draw on the Manda?" She sought to understand the technique he used to focus and conjure the power to manifest his will. That he'd come this far on his own was no small feat, but there were fundamentals to his progress she needed to be certain he possessed. Some methods could only lead a person so far before they advanced no further.

 

[Kael Varr Basteil Skirata]

Kael took a moment to think about the War-Mistress's request, her speech troubling him a bit with the way her words weave like a snake in grass. "Most of the time when I touch the Manda, I have to be calm and centered. To achieve this state, I "seek the flame in the void'. Picture the void, nothing but blackness around you save for the flame of a single candle. into this flame youfeed, your anger, your pain, your worry, every emotion that in that moment can be a distraction. Once the flame has burned away all other distractions, only then can you see the Manda and the path forward, only then can I touch the Manda." Kael did as he had said, reaching out, he took a handful of clay targets and took his plasma bow in the other hand. Tossing the targets in his focused state, he drew his plasma bow and fired three shots, all with his eyes closed, obliterating the targets.

@Vytal Noctura

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[Vytal Noctura]

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"And this...cleansed state and survive external distraction?" Vytal regarded the man after his demonstration. "Twould seem familiar with how some Jedi describe their connection to the Force. Serenity. Detachment. Twould be wise to make certain your enemies cannot break your concentration using the same tactics." There was a pause as her emerald eyes watched. "Is there purpose to the flame being a candle?"

Perhaps one method of bolstering that technique would be to increase the size of the flame. If it were large enough nothing to escape it, only the strongest distractions would work. Though, she wondered what the consequences of that would be. Vytal would not dismiss another's approach as wrong, but she would explore it to make sure it met their expectations.

Kael Varr Basteil Skirata​

 

[Kael Varr Basteil Skirata]

Vytal Noctura

Kael thought a moment. "I don't feel that its detatchment, it feels more like putting asside ones feelings in that moment. If I need to, I can use that fire, that focus to cause incredible harm. However, the more I use the fire, the more I feed it, the bigger it gets, the bigger it gets, the harder it is to control. As for why it's a candle, well, growing up on the streets, I usually spent my credits, any I could work for or beg, I would buy only two things, bread when I could get it, and a candle to stay warm and see by. It's something I could understand."

 

[Vytal Noctura]

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The Warmaster nodded. "It hones your intent. Propels it. But you understand there is a thing as manifesting too strongly. Good."

"Your vision is not wrong," the Witch acknowledged, "but you must learn to do it all without thought, without preparation. It must become as instinctive as drawing your blade, or knowing when the strike such that you do not skewer yourself on the enemy's blade doing so."

Vytal's hand waved off to the side to manifest green flame and slowly roll her hand under, around, and then over it without its flames scorching her gauntlet. "There are many ways to learn it." With a flick of her wrist, the ball darted about them in his alcove leaving smaller tufts of floating fire to cast an eerie glow. "Many ways to shape it. If you wish to save others, you must learn to wield this power. For your sake, and then theirs."

So many young ones got ahead of themselves in trying to save the world before they knew anything about it. Sometimes, they were right. Sometimes ignorance was bliss, and bravado surprisingly effective. Vytal, however, expected Iron Wolves to be more than lucky. She expected them to survive. To soar.

"Is there something you would ask of me?" She would leave it open for him to decide the content of what she might speak, if he had an ear to hear it.

Kael Varr Basteil Skirata​