As the Mountain Stands

[Akio Diachi]

The mountain. It stood strong, resolute, a symbol of the Force's ever-standing existence. A symbol of the ever-standing truth that as thousands of beings had looked upon it in their lifetime, it had not changed. And a thousand more would. Even so, after the mountain crumbled and the world was but dust, the Force would still be. All that is, all that was, all that ever will be was but an extension of the Force.

The Chiss smiled at the thought, sitting in the lotus position on the mountain ledge. Before him the fields of Dantoowine, a wilderness, stretched untamed, untainted. His trance-like state allowed him to see whisps of energy flowing from it, along it. The Force. It moved in strange ways. It was all that was. He closed his eyes and wrapped his fingers around the amulet he had made, taking solace in its touch, allowing it to aid in his drawing of the Force even further. Soon the Chiss was sinking deeper into his meditation, deeper into oneness with the Force.

A few fringe stones around him, that lay scattered along the mountainside rattled before slowly levitating around him.

All that is, All that was, all that would ever be, was but an extension of the Force.

[member="Kiara"]

 

[Kiara]

A new disturbance extended into the Force - just about the mountain's end and trails leading to ground. A young lady - powerfully fueled by the Dark Side of the Force looked up with a set of sparkling eyes. After adjusting her robe and twilring her wooden staff once, she began the hike up the mountain, to find what she was seeking.

However, she came quite disappointed at the results. Instead of treasure - or so much as a single scrap part, she found a blue skinned being sitting down and playing with something. A small sense of curiousity drove the young woman down and closer. "Why are you up here? What good does it do to lay cold in the rocks to wait for nothingness to arrive again and again?" Her feminine voice sounded, to the being.

@Akio Diachi

 

[Akio Diachi]

Her words broke the Chiss from his trance. Slowly, slowly he began to pull himself out of it, making himself conscious of the being before him. Ah, so much lust for power, hunger for success, and material desires. The rocks around Akio slowly lowered to the ground from their hovering state. She would have to learn along her own path how to find true happiness, and that it was not through the gains of the material world, but through communion with the Living Force and doing its bidding.

"Not all those who seek after nothing find it," he said in his calm, peaceful, gentle voice like an ocean wave crashing on the shore, "Nor do all of those who look for something find it either. It is in the search and in the journey that contentment will be discovered. It is not in the answering but in the asking that truth lies."

[member="Kiara"]

 

[Kiara]

"Oh, I get it. You're one of those Jedi monks. So you're just here for no reason then?" With a small scowl on her face she pushed her staff firmly into the ground to support her weight. It was never made to just look nice, that much was certainty.

 

[Akio Diachi]

The Chiss rose to his feet, looking to her at last. The amulet around his neck glowed softly form the recent pull of the Force. His foot caught his own walking stick that had been laying at his feet and pulled it up to his hand with a smart snap.

"I am nothing more than a servant of the Living Force, going as it bids me and doing as it wills," he said humbly. "I am here for that reason. Everyone does everything for a reason. All things," he gave his hand a motion at the world, "happen for a reason, though we often do not know. Even the mountain is here for a reason, you are here for a reason. As am I."

[member="Kiara"]

 

[Kiara]

For a long moment the young woman simply bit her tongue and let the man talk. Once he was finally done spewing out nonsense, she took a look around and let out a long sigh. "Well I guess my reason is to figure out nothing is here. Good job, nothing good came out of that did it?" After a moment, she furrowed her brows barely. "Unless you're saying I met you for some good ol' fashioned reason."

@Akio Diachi

 

[Akio Diachi]

Pain, anger. She was full of these. Hunger, spite, desire. She would learn to overcome these, as he had.

"Spite, anger, these are paths to the darkside," Akio replied calmly, "they are as rainclouds bearing no rain on a barren land. They promise much but deliver none of it, but pain and more pain."

He took a moment to let this sink in before moving to the second thing she had said. He was not a master, but he was wise. Akio had spent his life meditating, training in the martial arts, and coming to serve the Living Force. He was wise beyond his years, that was certain.

"Everything happens for a reason," Akio said at last. "In my experience there is no such thing as luck. We move, we live, breath, and have our being at the direction of the Force. All that is seen is an extension of it, that which is not seen. Indeed, you came here for a reason. Everything happens for a reason."

[member="Kiara"]

 

[Kiara]

"Perhaps I'd like to join the Dark side," Kiara said with a scowl etching permanently into her face. It was annoying he thought he knew her, or the Force for that matter. The Force simply was, not some thing you can study like a series of books and determine what one is better.

"You're just full of it like the last guy, repeating everything you say like it'll make a difference. That's the literal definition of insanity."

 

[Akio Diachi]

Akio gave her a smile. A smile for spiteful words.

"Perhaps it is the definition of insanity," he agreed, "But the definition of foolishness is believing you will be above the consequences. Foolishness is being warned of the consequences and carrying on without regard."

His words were not angry or vindictive, they were calm. Polite. Caring, and compassion were evident in his tone, if not in his face and posture. He had nothing to gain from the encounter; not money, skills, or any material gain. It was kindness and benevolence that motivated his actions.

[member="Kiara"]

 

[Kiara]

Well, that was a proper definition, but Kiara never claimed to be wise in the situations she put herself in either. With a small frown slowly disappearing from her face, she stood straight from her position. "Well then, teach me the ways that you believe will lead to goodness and treasury," she started, turning to face the skies. "All the goodness you go on insanely about."

@Akio Diachi

 

[Akio Diachi]

"And to what gain?" Akio asked. "To gain more? To hold more? The problem lies here. No matter what you gain you will never be satisfied. The motive is where you must start first. You must learn to be content in whatever the Force gives you," the Chiss seemed to go on endlessly, his voice calming, soothing even. "When you learn to let go of the illusion of self and the illusion of gain this becomes easier. For you and I are both manifiststions of the force. In that you and I are both truly the same, as is this mountain."

He halted, giving his pupil a moment to take it all in. "Do you understand?"

[member="Kiara"]

 

[Kiara]

"I take it you're the one not understanding," The red-head started, "someone who believes I've only come for gain and power is truly a fool indeed. It's a surprise you're still out here, surviving on some honky bonky side of this religion we have traits of. Surely I would have expected more from someone who acts so wise, - but no, you just keep going acting as if I've only come here seeking riches or power."

With a small cross of her arms, she leaned against the other side of her staff. "Perhaps I never gave thought that I was a single person in the Force, perhaps you have only just now opened this idea to me. What makes you so very sure that I choose to believe that I am anything, at all?"

@Akio Diachi

 

[Akio Diachi]

"Your answer lies within your question," he said with a calm voice, "you have been angry, every word you speak is laced with condescension; it is not difficult to see this. Except perhaps for yourself," He took a step forward, "If you believed that you and I were nothing more than one and the same, you would not speak so. For to truly feel that is to understand humility--not arrogance. It places all on the same playing field, with none above the other. You, me, the butterflies, we are all the same. You would not speak so to me for you would realize that in doing so you speak so to yourself."

The Chiss took a breath before continuing, "The truth of religion is not found in claiming one is better than the other, but in resting in the the truth as you said, 'teach me the ways that will lead to goodness and treasury.' That was your request. It reflects a desire to gain. When you cease to strive and seek then the seemingly impossible becomes possible. For then you have accepted it to be so. This is what you must learn. To be as content sitting in the cold with hunger for days as you are also content with food and warmth. To be content in life and in death, to be content in all that the Force sends you, this is thing you must learn. Your heart must be purified before you may learn anything else. Otherwise, all that is tacked on shall not stick, or shall be worthless, for it is not rooted in this contentment and rest."

[member="Kiara"]

 

[Kiara]

"So then teach me, if you wish. If you want to spread your word, then teach me how to do whatever it is you're saying." She said with a small cross of her arms, or rather firming her standing post in front of the strange Force being. "I'm willing to learn even if it doesn't give me gain."

[member="Akio Diachi"]