A Spiritual Journey

[Amilthi Camlenn]

Amilthi gave Marina a quizzical look as she retreated to the edge of the ledge. "Really... ?" she asked with obviously feigned weariness.

"But to answer your questions, I am a Jedi, and I'm here on business of my own. The B'omarr monks are a queer order of mystics who for one reason or another refuse to talk to me. They live on Tatooine now, but a millennium or so ago, they inhabited monasteries like this one, here on Teth. Perhaps I will find something here that will enable me to change their minds."

"What?" she said with an amused look, poised to continue their way on the old path. It was certainly not in good condition, and quite narrow, so that one's steps still required attention, but it was much less steep now and their hands wouldn't have to touch the ground. "You think Jedi can't just go about indulging their curiosity?"

[member="Marina DeVoe"]​

 

[Marina DeVoe]

She never heard of B'omarr monks...not that she had been curious enough like most of common folk who entertained their doldrums lives in learning about force based religions when they were clearly not connected to it.
But the order of such monks was not the point at this moment, it were the fact that Amilthi claimed to be Jedi.
"Fine..." Marina responded softly to that revelation...that it were Jedi whom she was in the presence of.

Amilthi elaborated a bit more, as Marina soaked up her words and disposition.
So these structures were abandoned monastery. Marina gave a look over to what was visible of them. Her level of anxiety had run it's course and with a long drawn out breath, she regained her composure.

"How rather would you have expected me to think? " She then said as the Jedi seemed ready to take the lead again. Maybe this time without frog jumping. Not that Marina would have objected, but why show off? Stlil, if the Jedi needed to rush her exploration, then why should she wait for miss slowpoke.

Marina suddenly stopped and took in a deep breath.
" Look, Amlthi... master...sigh....whatever.." She had no idea what to call her or how the Jedi wanted to be addressed. She had run into some pretty weird..or queer ones, as this one described the monks that were a bit off plane.
"I was just taken back is all.." she looked around to aid her in finding words.
"Since the Jedi order had first fallen,seems many branches or factions of Jedi sprouted up all over the galaxy..
Well, not all over the Galaxy..." She knew there were maybe a few thousand withing the trillions of life forms in the galaxy.
" ...but enough here, there to make one even question if Jedi are in this anymore for peace...or...or just...fighting for some forsaken piece of the pie. The force." She adjusted her pack and took a step forward.

"Amilthi..." Her natural self unconsciously made her call her by first name. "...nearly a Millennia ago, a galactic war started because of that very struggle for acquiring that entire piece of the pie. Millions..millions of my people were gone in an instant because of that war." She were meaning her ancestral world of Alderaan now, as it's tragedy were in bedded in her soul.
" Then after everyone reveled in the fall of that sith emperor...another more vile force user emerged and rekindled that very same fire to destroy more worlds....and then more...one after another..." Her emotional levels were up as the senseless carnage that she suffered nightmares of, welled up inside her.

"When?...when is this all going to end?" Marina stopped again. She looked over to the Jedi realizing she were bringing up her own personal feelings on the fight between light and dark forces.

"I'm sorry. " She quickly swiped a tear that escaped her. "I can't expect you to speak for so many others that you have no control of." It's just that it's not at all getting any better anywhere in this galaxy. Honestly..there isn't much a difference out here in the Outer Rims than in the Core. That conflict is everywhere..."

She buttoned up her lips. Clenching them a moment for she didn't really know why she was laying all this out on the girl. Jedi or no Jedi. Marina stopped, knowing all too well her nature of letting it all out.
But in truth the Galaxy hadn't gotten any better, but worse in so many ways, since that first sith emerged as emperor. Then the entire galaxy seemed to have fractured. And it all had been the result of seeking superiority over this thing they called the force.
Marina stood there not knowing what this Jedi was going to say, much less do. If Amalthi were on some personal quest and wanted her to leave, then what could she do?

 

[Amilthi Camlenn]

Amilthi listened patiently and with a serious, but unmoved expression to Marina's word. These were familiar thoughts to her. Sentients were so susceptible to being lured into conflict by pointless goals that it seemed hopeless at times to try to stand against the tide. And those few who had the privilege of access to the Force were often the most prominent in the conflicts that arose, for the entirely natural reason that they could impose their will on their surroundings more effectively than ordinary beings. It was no surprise that the perception arose that it was them who were steering the conflict, even when in truth they were victims of their own nature just as much as anyone, caught up in the delusion that a victory was attainable that would finally deliver them from suffering and bring satisfaction.

"Tell me about it. When is this going to end, you ask? Who knows. My personal guess is 'never'. I'm less sure what the role of the Force is in all this. I'm inclined to think it'd all happen anyway."

"But let me ask you to consider this: what does any of this have to do with us, here?" She smiled faintly.

[member="Marina DeVoe"]​

 

[Marina DeVoe]

What, so non force users can't inquire from jedi as to why the galaxy has been fighting their war for force superiority?...Marina were about to snap back, but something...intuition...the force maybe...or just instinct for self preservation held her back.

No, she dare not go up against a jedi, particularly this one it seemed. Even asking as to why they've been involved in their religious wars throughout history, got her a curt answer. Who was Marina to a jedi, right?....
Again, she had come to an en-passant in her own search for such answers. A short and only move that still placed her on a lone course. It were apparent that Amilthi was another self indulging force user on her own quest for some answers that according to her, had nothing to do with the galaxy in turmoil. Marina might as well have crossed paths with a sith, for she were certainly met with indifference.
And this force user called herself a jedi?
...so be it, jedi.

"Very little it seems...." Marina replied sparingly.
Yes, Marina were put in her place. Like the millions of souls making up the tug of war for the force, they were nothing more than expendable pawns, that littered the galaxy. Seriously, what right had she to ask one of the few key figure heads of a chess game, as to why the pawns were first to be sacrificed in their never ending game.

Perhaps she best just do as she were hired to do; shut the frak up and don't interfere...after all, the jedi only hired her to bring her here, nothing more.

Marina adjusted her pack, putting away the canteen and walk towards the jedi.
Only that she walked past Amilthi, even avoiding eye contact. The path although had seen much better days centuries past, was still the best trek up to the structures. Marina, still a bit spent from that near vertical ascent started her arduous task of footing her way up the rock...one step at a time.

Marina should have known better than to seek answers from a force user, she thought to herself. But her own studies of ancient history and of the conflicts this galaxy had seen, always had the force as the center hub of all the conflicts.
Maybe she'd find some clue to lead her to another, then another as she'd been doing herself in her own quest for answers. That's how normal beings worked. They too had scholars...many more scholars than jedi or sith ever had, and it weren't just the force that they studied...it were everything.

So she climbed, she crawled and even laboriously lifted herself up through the broken and arduous old path, one foot, one a hand and one breath at a time. But it were determination and her own will and strenght that she did so, while the force just seemed to do nothing for her, nor for the countless souls like her. They were after all, just pawns...

 

[Amilthi Camlenn]

Marina's curt reaction brought a frown onto Amilthi's face. She realised that she had left too many thoughts unsaid, abbreviated her line of thought beyond comprehensibility to another mind. Some ideas just became a matter of course after so many years of training one's own mind that one was liable to forget that they could be quite alien to those who didn't spend so much time in meditation.

Amilthi walked behind her, keeping a bit of distance, for a while. At first the path was easy to follow, then it disintegrated as it reached an area of scree. Marina, quite reasonably, avoided it by scrambling up the not very steep rock by one side that offered no major challenge. They gained altitude quickly and eventually spotted the path again. Amilthi figured that they were almost at the top of the plateau now - the monastery had to appear behind the rocks any minute. She caught up with Marina in the place where the path began anew, now practically even.

Amilthi waited a few moments for her quickened breath to slow down again before she spoke, which it did unnaturally soon.

"I expected you would find the thought comforting. There is no reason why we should allow ourselves to be saddened by something far away that we cannot change", the Jedi pointed out gently, somewhat abruptly picking the conversation up where they had left. "It is terrible that there is so much suffering in the world, but by suffering in impotent commiseration, we only make it so that there is even more suffering. Make no mistake - in these matters, I am just as powerless as you are. I have fought in these wars, and I have fought against them - to no avail at all." A sombre expression rested on Amilthi's face while she paused a several moments.

Then she picked up her train of thought again. "The climbing that you so enjoy is an experience that very much puts your attention on the present moment. To live like this every moment is a way to escape the pain that bigger thoughts are apt to bring."

[member="Marina DeVoe"]​

 

[Marina DeVoe]

Her muscles strained so, but her spirit pressed her on. It were so for many such souls who for unknown reasons were lacking midiclorean counts. But lack of those numbers didn't put them on a lower platform of convictions. They just had to push themselves more. Had to find inner strengths and step up their resolve on their own.

Then of course, there was that unknown factor that all humans, force users, force sensitive or not seemed to posses...intuition.
perhaps it were her experiences at climbing that went far back to when she were a child, that sense of feeling that made her a good climber. And for the past quarter hour, despite her not looking back or under her...she could sense the girl...the Jedi, trailing behind her.
At first it were puzzling to her as to why not just pass her by? Surely the girl had shown she could easily scale such obstacles that Marina was challenged with. But most of her mind, say for easier ascensions were focused on the climb.

Still, when she did give a glance, the Jedi was not too far behind to push her, nor impede her climb...just pacing with her.
It took a bit of deductions to come to the realization that the reason Amilthi hadn't taken the jedi rote that she were spotting her...had her back.
At first, this infuriated Marina and she put more determination in her stride. That soon proved to be a bit more taxing than the pace she had first started out with. But she wasn't going to slow down, no matter how tiring her muscles ached her to do so. lucky for Marina it were near the crest of the climb that she had nearly reached her limit of exhaustion.

Finally pulling herself up over the ledge, she lay there utterly spent. "...gasp...gasp..." she reveled in the feeling of her muscles relief. Oh how they felt good just to lay there limp, recovering from the burn.
Marina's peripheral then caught the girl's hand come up and grasping the ledge. "Sigh..." she scooted over a bit to let Amilthi pull herself up and step past her.

Slowly Marina lifted herself up on her elbows, still laying down, catching her breath, before dragging her butt to sit up.
She once more took a so much needed drink from her canteen and like before, offered the jedi some too. naturally marina was sizing Amilthi up. The girl did show some sign of labor, but not anywhere spent like she was.
The small breather although did open up more dialogue from the jedi.
marina were too exhausted and still recovering from interrupting Amilthi...a rarity for a talker like her. But aside from rejuvenating her tired muscles, it gave way to also take in of more the girl's point on the previous matter.

"Well yea...I see what you mean. Couldn't very well climb with so much troubling thoughts..no." She replied, at first avoiding eye contact.

"Don't do anything just laying down like sheep, either..." Marina's eyes meet the jedi. "...even if many of us are just that...sheep to them."
She meant the First order and those of sith religion.
So Ok, the fight were mostly sith and jedi...but no sith fought for them. It were the jedi who would fight for them and the force. They were and had been for the most part, always had been allies to the common populous.
Still, Marina like so many were just tired of the never ending conflicts. The galaxy had not seen any real peace for a Millenia.

"I can be very opinionated...most times." She got up giving a bit of a stretch. yes, it were her way of starting to say, sorry. Of course Amilthi had no personal say or influence in the galactic conflicts, only that she, like Marina and others had to tread through it best they could. No one was going to lay down. Those that did, had already perished or had subjugated under tyrannic rule. Sheep in the slaughter houses.

"Just that I don't meet any ....you know....sigh....jedi, everyday."