Private A Spell to Make the Flowers Grow

[Corazona von Ascania]

Ukatis Jedi Enclave
Isobel Serraris ​

The Ukatis Jedi temple was no grand structure; it was a building of ancient stonework, an abandoned castle that had lapsed into disrepair and was slowly being reclaimed by nature.

When the Jedi came, they scrubbed away the mold and mildew, but otherwise left the native flora untouched where they could. Dilapidated walls were repaired, unstable flooring was restored, and gradually, the temple became an edifice that lived in relative harmony with the land it served.

Picturesque farmlands rolled behind the building, serving as a means for the Jedi to grow their own food - excess was funneled back into the local community, and Cora delighted in trying to cultivate specialty crops at their request.

Though a modest portion of the tilled fields were dedicated to the tending of medicinal crops, it was the cloudberry harvest which held her attention. This was the first crop of something special for the little agriworld - a foreign fruit, grown on their own soil.

When Isobel arrived at the temple in search of its caretaker, she would be pointed toward a patch of deep, blue-green vines that rose high into the air.

"Oh, yes," Cora murmured as she moved through the tangle of creeping plants. The cloudberries hovered overhead, pale spheres that glinted with caught sunlight.

With a gentle wave of her hand, one of the vines lowered itself, bending in an almost serpentine fashion before the Jedi.

"These are coming in nicely," she decided. A quick inspection of the berries revealed some red blushing near the stem, a sign that they were not ripe. "But not quite yet."

A few steps would carry her into the midst of a slightly older crop that would be ready to harvest.

"I do hope they taste good," she admitted in a hopeful mumble. The sweet fruit was a part of a multi-pronged attempt to get the countryside a little more comfortable with off-world crops.

That, and she’d suddenly developed an odd appetite for cloudberries over the past few weeks.

 

[Isobel Serraris]

A SPELL TO MAKE THE FLOWERS GROW​

Location — Ukatis, Jedi Enclave
Tags — Corazona von Ascania
Paraphernalia — Lightsabers, Robes (without armourplates)

The beauty of Naboo could hardly rival the Ukatian landscape; the greenery, the flowers and the unique architecture. . . Though it was her first time visiting the planet, a silent vow had already been weaved within her mind: should the winds no longer call her back to Shiraya's Sanctuary, she may yet settle down here. Make her home somewhere in the grasslands and create her own garden--one of similar grandeur as the Serraris' Memorial Gardens, with more opportunities for the common people to visit. But as a Padawan her story was only in its first act, the path forward remained as fickle as the spring weather.

Under the careful guidance of the Force, the young Nabooan was led through the fog that blanketed the endless fields of grass. The cold grazed past her skin through the bodyglove, forcing a brief shiver to run down her body. Yet soon, it was not the cold that made her hairs stand upright, but another presence--the stone towers that cast a certain shadow over the land below. Its peaks heralded the sight of the rest of the Jedi temple, with plants and vines painting the castle's stonework in a beautiful arrangement of green. From the first glimpse it was clear that the caretakers had tended the flora with great admiration and care. An almost forgotten art in a galaxy that yearned for more metal and industries. To see such colour planted a bright smile on her lips, unwilling to yield to the demand for composure, as she made her way towards its half-built entrance.

It did not take long for one of the Jedi to silently guide her toward the creeping vines of blue and green, as well as the figure standing vigil over their growth. With mesmerising golden hair that glistened like sunpetals in summer, and a serene voice that reminded her of someone familiar. "Not all flowers... or plants, bloom as swiftly as the other. In my experience, the ones that grow the quickest, wither twice that pace." Isobel softly interrupted as she inched closer, her gaze falling upon the vines. "Forgive me for the rude interruption" She inclined her head out of respect, her smile faltering in turn. "Are you the caretaker of this Enclave?" A period of silence followed her words, while her eyes trailed over the ruin-like state of the Enclave--its architecture having surrendered to the call of nature.

​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

The Force shifted, whispering of a new presence like a gentle wind rustled leaves.

Cora turned, the edges of her lips already lifted into a warm smile. The Ukatis enclave had been established to support the native population, but when those outside of the little agriworld came to learn - or teach - it enriched them all.

"There is nothing for me to forgive," she mused with an incline of her head. Now that she'd turned fully to face the girl, Cora spent a moment in quiet observation. Pretty, polished, and well-mannered. She carried herself with all the grace and poise of a young Nabooian aristocrat.

The blonde dipped her head a little further than before, a gesture of acknowledgment.

"That I am. Jedi Knight Corazona von Ascania."

Straightening, she beckoned Isobel closer. A knowing sparkle twinkled in blue eyes, having recognized a fellow botanical enthusiast. "Come, my dear. I could use some help with the harvest - especially from someone with an affinity for plant life."

With a subtle curl of her fingers, one of the tall vines would sweep low, offering a ripe cloudberry to the young Serraris.

"Cloudberries aren't native to Ukatis," Cora explained. "I wanted to see how they'd fare on our soil. Naboo and her resources have been particularly helpful in opening up the opportunity for Ukatis to grow more than what we're used to."

A thoughtful hum passed her lips as she observed the Padawan.

"That is where you hail from, isn't it?"

Isobel Serraris

 

[Isobel Serraris]

A SPELL TO MAKE THE FLOWERS GROW​

Location — Ukatis, Jedi Enclave
Tags — Corazona von Ascania
Paraphernalia — Lightsabers, Robes (without armourplates)

A Knight... A Jedi Knight. Her appearance itself spoke volumes about her experience with both the Force and the fights that came with. It instilled a level of awe within her, the type that made her incline her head once more in respect--in honour. Yet the title was not the sole echo throughout the interaction, her name, von Ascania. Could it be? Her mind wandered through libraries of memories and thoughts, from the gleeful to the sorrowful, including her stumbling and gossiping with another 'Von Ascania'. ""It is an honour to meet you, I am Isobel..." She smiled, her mind still trying to determine whether the two were family or no. "Serraris." The Padawan added, before taking two steps closer to the vines.

She inspected the vined plants, and as one slithered down, she tried to study it up close. These berries lacked the red colouring at the stem, so they must be ripe. Isobel carefully reached out and plucked one from its stem, some of the juices landing on her fingertips, staining them a dark shade. "The soil here appears healthy and the light side does them favours as well. From what I have learned, the dark only breeds hostility in nature, opposed to," Her other hand waved towards the rather friendly flora near the enclave. "This." She then hesitantly raised the berry to her lips to taste it. Cloudberries were rare in and around Theed, or well, she had never seen or heard of them. While some fruit smelled acrid or overly sweet, this one seemed to balance it, and the taste of it was not too unpleasant either.

"Indeed, ma'am, Naboo is my home. If this enclave ever requires any aid with their flora or trade, you need only call and my family shall be willing to act." The offer came naturally, for it was oft-given to Theed's nobility and merchants--The ones with the ambition of sprucing up their estate or enter a business of alchemy. Her mind instantly drew forth other options that may flourish in this climate. "Shuura seeds are easy to come by, and I think Hsuberries may serve well for healing." The girl rambled as she studied the harvesting grounds, before her gaze eventually found Cora. The question from before lingering impatiently on her tongue, waiting to be spoken.

The Force shifted lightly around her, its thorns sharpening--not from anger, but from the uncertainty that whatever she might say could be wrong. It was a poor defense. "This... it may be foolish to ask, but are you possibly related to Lysander von Ascania ?" Her brown eyes glittered dimly as she recalled their clumsy merriment at the recent masquerade. A nervous giggle followed, defusing her own words. "There must be countless people sharing that name, I. . ." The words died on her lips. "Forget it, my lady."

​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Cora looked on as Isobel tested the cloudberry, measuring the Padawan's reaction. A slow smile played along the curve of her lips.

"We tested a shuura crop not too long ago, but the yield was poor." She lifted a finger to her chin, tapping once in idle thought. "Mm, higher quality seeds might do the trick. I'll have to pick your brain about the particulars of their growth cycle. I think they could thrive here, if given the proper attention.”

Cora's gaze shifted from the noble Padawan to the plots of tilled soil that swathed the valley. "Hsuberries!" She mused, a touch of enthusiasm brightening her tone. "I hadn't thought of those. They'd make an excellent addition to our medicinal harvest."

"The lands here benefit well from the presence of the light," she acknowledged with a sweep of her hand, panning over the fields. "I'm glad that you can sense that. The cycle of life and death is as natural as can be, and nowhere is it more apparent than in agriculture. That is what we strive to do here in the enclave; to live with the land, not from it."

The mention of her brother's name pulled Cora's focus away from the fields, but it didn't land back on Isobel. Not yet.

Instead, the pleasant calm that had colored her expression drained into something far more thoughtful - and perhaps, even a tad somber. For a few long moments, she gazed into the middle distance where the uneven treeline bordered the hills in a scattered patchwork of fading greens and dusky oranges.

Slowly, she brought her attention back towards the Padawan. This time, her smile was quiet, but her eyes sharper and perhaps assessing.

The fact that Isobel had rescinded her question was not lost on the elder von Ascania.

"You've met my younger brother, then," she sighed. A measure of concern overtook her expression, her voice lowering to a worried cadence. Lysander was still her cherished brother, but he'd been walking a reckless path.

As frustrating as it was, she still couldn't stop loving him. Cora surmised that she likely never would, even if he plunged the galaxy into war.

She took a step closer, her voice deadening further to a whisper that carried between only the two of them: "Did he harm you?"

Lysander might've been her sibling, but Isobel was a pretty young aristocrat with bright eyes and an even brighter path stretching before her - but not one without twists and turns. Cora couldn't help the instinctual wave of protectiveness that washed over her, as if she could somehow guide the girl away from the same mistakes she’d made in the past.

If Lysander von Ascania had left another broken heart in his wake, then Ashla help him.

Isobel Serraris

 

[Isobel Serraris]

A SPELL TO MAKE THE FLOWERS GROW​

Location — Ukatis, Jedi Enclave
Tags — Corazona von Ascania
Paraphernalia — Lightsabers, Robes (without armourplates)

Their love for nature had forged a steady bridge between the pair as they mused on what may yet blossom on this green planet. Though the specifics of the Ukatian climate were unknown to her, the blessing of Ashla was enough for a steady base. A foundation upon which the seeds of flora can be planted and blossom once more. It was similar to how the Jedi must go on, and how they have always acted even when their numbers were scarcer than that of the opposition--even when the balance had been destroyed by the hands of malice. Part of her knew that was how it was now, with the Galactic Empire forcing the Galactic Alliance to its knees. With the New Jedi Order trying to survive with what little they had left. It was a sad reality, but one they must find the light in and persevere where others would be inclined to surrender.

"There must be a way for the Shuura crop to grow here as well, if you give me a little time I can figure it out. And of course, get my hands on some Hsuberries to plant here, it would do me well to know they shall thrive in good care." She reassured and took a step towards the tilled lands, the soil did not seem too dry, nor the opposite. Mayhap they would need some technology to aid them into maintaining this, but such things could always be arranged later. After a moment, the Padawan turned around, and nodded in agreement. "Wise words... Though I've found Jedi that do not find the reason in that, perhaps they have never found the joys to be had in nature. Or are too stubborn to accept it." A soft chuckle left her at the memory of a fellow Padawan being pricked by the thorns of her chambers' roses. They had to be removed on the morrow afterwards for the sake of 'keeping a safe environment'.

The conversation shifted to a tenser atmosphere, as if the thorns once pricking another now targeted her. Though her senses in the Force were amateurish at best, she could feel the change in emotions in the Jedi Knight. The look on Cora's previously joyous face had cooled to something quieter, more composed. Or even tinging on threatening and interrogating, especially when she stepped closer and stared into her soul almost. Isobel's smile withered as swiftly as a flower in the snow, she was inclined to take a step back but kept standing. "Harm me..?" She repeated, trying to make sense of the question. The Lys she knew was kind and charming, the type to listen to what she had to say and refuse her unnecessary apologies. To hear his sister imply something entirely else began to chip away at the image she had of him.

Hurt... someone. He hurt someone? How? Why? None of it added up with how he had been around her. But his kin had no reason to lie and nor did she sense any deception from Corazona's lips. The Nabooan's heart beat a little quicker, her lip began to quiver lightly as she tried to keep ahold of her breathing. Betrayal and deception, the two things she had grown to abhor because of her family's shielding. And to feel it glimmer through once more evoked a feeling she tried her best to mask. "No..? I- Would he?" Isobel took a deep breath, trying to centre her thoughts on the light, yet the shadow was stronger. "Maybe he lied to me then..? He was kind to me, more than once-- well twice." She did not know quite what to say that would make sense of this chaos.

"What has he done..?" She asked softly, her gaze pleading for an answer she would rather not hear.

​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Cora drew in a slow breath through her nose. She tried to keep from wincing as Isobel's visage crumpled in worry, feeling as though she’d just unceremoniously stomped on the poor girl's heart.

As an afterthought, she certainly could've worded that better. The knight's own voice echoed inside of her head, bouncing around her skull with grim finality.

A measure of tenderness slipped into her expression. Alongside it lived relief - so she hadn't faced him on the battlefield. Cora tilted her head back, just slightly, and allowed a sigh to pass between her lips.

"Oh, my dear," she said softly, gently. When blue eyes next fixed themselves on Isobel’s face, they were more patient. Searching, but not probing. "Perhaps I could've phrased that differently. Lysander is…well, he's a teenage boy. Boys his age tend to say - and sometimes do - stupid things."

The truth of who her brother was, of course, was much darker. Cora couldn't accept it, but she tried to understand it. The Dark was a lure, designed to permeate the senses and make you feel as though it had all of the answers.

That, and ancient Sith blood still coursed through their veins.

The blonde let her voice drift into a breeze that rolled slowly past them, rustling the tall cloudberry stalks around them.

"I may not agree with how he's shaped his life, but he still has a sense of honor. Truly, it warms me to hear that Lysander has shown you kindness."

Cora tried for a smile, one that balanced precariously between sincere and worried. Her relationship with her brother had grown complicated, but in a way, it was still remarkably simple. If Lysander liked someone, then he could be their greatest champion.

Her head tilted to the side, a cascade of blonde waves falling over her shoulder.

"Do you believe that he may have lied to you?"

Isobel Serraris

 

[Isobel Serraris]

A SPELL TO MAKE THE FLOWERS GROW​

Location — Ukatis, Jedi Enclave
Tags — Corazona von Ascania
Paraphernalia — Lightsaber, Robes (without armourplates)

Her breath felt more akin to a storm, erratic, its course predicted but uncertain--while her heart beat swifter and louder than a Guarlara's gallop. The words continued to be unravelled within her mind, its threads sorted to make any reasonable conclusion to Cora's words. Mayhap Isobel was overthinking it, that the strange tone had only been surprise or... something else. Her brothers often lied and exaggerated about their feats or blunders about or to one another. This could be the same, and merely some act between the Von Ascanias.

As the blonde-haired Jedi Knight spoke once more, the Padawan tried her best to blink away the unshed tears and hurt in her eyes. Cora's words made sense, if the boys from here were any similar to the Nabooans, they were... strange at best. When she was a bit younger, she did not fancy talking to them, as they always made these insensitive or outright rude remarks. They likely had not changed a thing these handful of years later. . . Nor had she, she still was as slow as a Shaak.

"I... I see, sorry for misunderstanding, m'lady." The girl felt foolish for even assuming it could be something drastic, after all, he had been nothing but polite to her. How could he even lie or deceive her? She fixed her gaze back on the cloudberry stalk, trying to pluck another berry to distract herself.

It had been why she had come to Ukatis.

Consitor Sato, or Plant Surge, she had read of it often in the holocrons, never quite understood how it could work. The Force was light, was life, and all that came with, but to manipulate that and spur on growth... It felt wrong at the same time, for would it not harm a plant's growth cycle? Its life?

Just as she threw another berry in her mouth, she heard a second question, forcing her gaze to land on Cora. Lie? To her? "No." The answer left her without a second thought, or doubt. "If he was in this to deceive me, I would have assumed him to... Act differently? None of my senses noticed any sort of façade, any sort of lie in his words." She said, partially to reassure herself, and also to soothe the worries her Jedi companion may hold.

Her fingers found the vambrace of her Jedi Armour (the one she had been gifted), as she tried to keep herself busy--but careful enough to not send an accidental message/recording to anyone. Once was enough. . .

"I apologise if this may have soured our meeting. . ." A mumble left her, trying to move away from the uncomfortable family talk. There were clearly some things unspoken between the siblings, and she was not the right person to meddle in that.

​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Cora shook head slowly. "You have nothing to apologize for, Padawan Serraris. I was unclear. And perhaps, a little forward."

Such a kind and gentle girl - it pained Cora to see her distressed. Given her own experiences as a sheltered teenaged aristocrat who'd been taken advantage of, the knight found herself particularly protective over young women.

Isobel's words hung between them as Cora stood in contemplative silence. Only her eyes shifted, watching the motion of the girl's fingers as she reached for another cloudberry.

A little spark of pride flickered in the periphery of her mind. This crop has turned out well, it seemed.

"It sounds as though you two get along. Remind me," the corners of her lips curled with a touch of mischief, "to tell you some embarrassing stories about Lysander when we were growing up."

Though her demeanor has cooled, a shadow still crept at the back of her thoughts. Her gaze flicked to the nervous motion of Isobel's fingers toying with her vambrace, finding something faintly familiar about either the motion or her armor's design.

"Nothing is soured except for the unripe berries," she mused. "As for the ripe ones-"

Cora lifted her hand and curled her fingers, beckoning another vine down to eye level. She plucked a berry from its stem, popped it into her mouth, and chewed slowly. An approving hum followed.

"The stalks grow high, so they're easier to pick if we ask them to lower for a moment." As she explained, Cora picked the remaining berries from the vine and deposited them into a burlap satchel that had been slung over her shoulder.

"The Force resides in all living things. Nowhere is it more potent than in nature - extend your senses toward the stalk, and encourage the flow of the Force towards yourself."

When it came to acclimating Jedi to an ability like plant surge, Cora found it easier to teach them to work with existing flora first - before moving on to manipulating growth.

Isobel Serraris