Back Where It All Began

[Connor Harrison]

Connor smirked at her story, the short version.

"A match made in heaven it seems. And from my experience some of the best relationships can evolve from sheer coincidence."

There was no need to go on about the worst relationships too as he continued to wade through the mud and water, which thankfully wasn't as thick as it was originally, but his tunic was going to need a good clean. Looking to the cone of light, Connor kept an arm out to feel for any outcroppings and was surprised when his feet his a slope first, throwing him off balance a little.

"Ok, arms out, there's an incline ahead you'll hit with your feet, watch it."

He edged up, along the not-very-steep incline to the cone of light ahead, but noted the closer he got, the higher the light was up above.

"Well, it's not the brightest. There must be another cavern in here, the water would have eroded rock away if it's been like this for years and years. A sinkhole or something."

He stood on the incline, looking from left to right.

"Give me a second and I'll feel where the water goes, where it converges and, if need be, freeze it in the stone to knock our way through."

As if talking to a Jedi, Connor made it sound as easy as breathing.

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Spoiler

Sorry this took forever! Work completely took away all my time!

"Maybe not in heaven." She laughed, thinking about how much he irritated her when they had first met. His attitude, the way he got under her skin and knew all of the right buttons to press to send her into a tizzy. It made her red in the face knowing how exceptionally good he was at annoying her. "But he's good to me. Maybe too good."

"Oh-Okay." She said in response, her arms extending outwards as instructed, feeling slowly for where the walkway began to rise. As they paused for a moment and Connor told her his plan she raised a brow, slightly bewildered by what his plan was. "Ummm, right, sure. Of course." You can do that? She wondered. It seemed like every time she thought she understood the Force she was again two steps behind, always discovering these abilities others had that made almost no sense to her, yet were somehow possible.

"Just make sure nothing collapses on our heads. I don't know how strong the walls of this place are, and I'd rather not make this my new permanent home, if you know what I mean."

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

While the now slightly soggy Jamie pulled herself up, musing about the Force, Connor was back and forward dousing the rocks with water in cups made with his hands, kicking it up the incline with his boots in a splashy spectacle where the cone of light was.

"If anything…collapses…." he said, now feeling the rocks with his hands, as if listening, ”…I’ll be sure to catch it…if you be sure to…run."

Looking at nothing while he worked, a few seconds passed and the Jedi nodded to himself, patting the rock, and ambling back to Jamie. Now, the easy part – freezing the water.

He held his palm out, summoning the Force from both himself and Jamie to help freeze the particles of water around the rocks and trickling down into the muddy pool. As he had done with the oil lamp in training to accelerate heat into fire, now it was simply to slow down the elements into a temperature to which they simply froze together.

The cracks and faint splinter of ice and rock could be heard if one listened carefully, and the more he fused the water into ice, and expanded the ice itself between the rocks, they started to crumble and pop, with chunks starting to come away and drop down.

"I hope there’s something beyond this wall Jamie…"

Before she could answer, he exhaled and pushed both hands forward with the same energy he had used with the water, only now he violently burst through the fragile rock, smashing the ice in each crack and kicking up dust from the gloomy cavern into the piercing light that streamed in, making him turn away and wince at the sudden brightness.

There was nothing to be heard except rock falling gently on each other form the gaping hole. Connor turned and squinted through the light, brushing his hands together. Now he could see how mucky they both looked, and how high the cavern actually was with the light coming through. The muddy pool rippled behind the pair on the incline.

"I think that did it. Do you?"

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

 

[Jamie Pyne]

The bursting of the frozen rock made Jamie flinch and turn away from the sharp intrusion of bright light from the room just beyond. A hand partially covered her eyes for a few moments to allow herself an easier transition from the complete darkness they had been in for some time. In truth she was rather surprised that nothing came crashing down on their heads immediately after that stunt. The cavern was certainly old, though how old for sure she couldn't begin to guess. Maybe the age itself made it more stable? Who knows. "Wow." She said, brushing some debris away from her dampened clothes and shaking the water droplets that still clung to her hair away. "I'd say so."

"It's beautiful!" There was an indescribable awe in her voice as she stepped through the opening with Connor. Blue eyes shifted ever so slowly from left to right, from the floor to the ceiling where the light pierced through high above. "There are crystals growing out of the walls here. I've never seen anything like this!" What exactly the crystals were she didn't know, but she felt as if they were giving off some kind of energy that radiated through her being. It was a foreign feeling to her entirely. Hues of bright blue, green, and even orange reflected light from all around.

Jamie began to walk towards a small cluster of orange crystals, carefully kneeling down with an extended hand to touch them.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Spoiler

Sorry! I thought for some reason I had posted and was waiting on you - my bad!

Connor let Jamie explore – this WAS her home world after all, and he didn’t feel there was a need to be cautious. There was nothing lurking in these shadows; some parts of the galaxy generally didn’t hide a nasty surprise around every turn.

He looked around, already feeling the warmth drying him. As the eager girl busied herself, Connor took a slow walk around the newly formed hole and peered outside in the light and noted the well-like walls surrounding them, but with tree tops peeking over the warm rocks. He figured this was almost like a make-shift pool that filled up when flooded and fed into the waterfalls around. They’d emerged from the bottom, but now this meant the cavern they were in would be flooded thanks to his work.

With a small wince, but knowing it shouldn’t exactly break the planet’s back, he turned and went to see what Jamie had found.

He knelt beside her and looked at the crystals in the rocks, specifically the orange collective.

"Well, I’ll be," he said as he felt the Force energy within. "Force imbued crystals right here on Naboo."

He nodded to himself and looked at Jamie.

"You ever built a lightsaber before?"

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

 

[Jamie Pyne]

A hand ran across the smooth surface of one of the crystals as it protruded from the cavern's wall. This particular one was yellow, unlike the others, but it seemed to call to her very soul. Something pulled at her to touch it, as if she needed it for some reason. There was a connection to be made to this particular rock.

But why?

"Force-imbued crystals?" She questioned. "What do you mean? These are lightsaber crystals?"

That was puzzling indeed. Jamie had never seen crystals like these, hadn't known of their existence on Naboo. "No. I wouldn't know where to start." Admittedly the girl assumed that these were simply manufactured for Jedi or something. It wasn't quite something she assumed people just made whenever they wanted. "Do these grow all over the galaxy? I've never seen them on Naboo before." She asked, her hand still resting on the one she liked in particular.

"I like this one." With a bit of finagling she managed to free it from the wall, showing it to Connor.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor leant forward a little, inspecting the crystals. They were pure; no sign of corruption or Dark Side energy. That meant they could be used for a manner of things but mostly to give a lightsaber it’s power.

Taking the crystal from Jamie, he held it up to his eyes and looked over it, rolling it between his fingers carefully.

”This isn’t like other crystals I’ve seen before, but they say crystals like this almost call out to Force users in a certain way. I think this crystal led you down here, and you’ve found it for some reason. It’s what Jedi use to power their lightsaber, to emit that blade. Blue, green, purple – it sort of fuses with the user who found it to create a…a bond of some sort.”

He handed it back to Jamie and looked at her.

”Maybe this is part of your self-discovery you were on about, Miss Pyne. You’ve found your crystal. Or rather, it found you.”

There was something rather poetic about that, and he let the words sink in.

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"Huh."

That almost made too much sense. What Connor said seemed as if it explained her draw to that particular piece of rock. For some reason in her chest she could feel the need to take it with her. It was like a part of her had been discovered that she didn't know was ever missing in the first place. It just seemed right.

Jamie examined the crystal once more, turning it over in her palm several times. "It's really very pretty."

The idea that this small rock would be what powered something so magnificent as a lightsaber was baffling. How does it do that?!

"So you mean that the color of your crystal will give the lightsaber that color?" Her eyes stared longingly at her own reflection for a moment, considering what it might look like. "Can you show me how to make one? Is it hard to do?"

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor gave Jamie a sly look, and couldn’t help smirk at her bewilderment. It was refreshing to talk to someone who seemed to want to listen, and showed an interest in things.

”Sort of, yes. The crystal doesn’t power the blade, but it focuses the Force within it to the blade itself through you, the user. It creates a bond and a seminal trust; your weapon becomes an extension of your ability, and your ability becomes an extension of your weapon, right? The colour of the crystal does show when emitted, so this could possibly be an orange blade.”

He reached down for his hilt, and unhooked it, holding it sideways. Safe to say, he was intensely proud of the history attached to this particular saber.

”There is a power cell here,” he pointed, ”which, surprisingly, powers the blade itself, through the focusing crystal which you have and gives it that glow. Then with some special power field conductors to contain the energy itself, it passes through an energy channel, again to stabilize it, then out through the emitter.”

He turned the hilt around, emitting facing outwards of course.

”Sounds complex, and it does take time, but because this weapon is yours, then you take all the time it needs to get it right and MAKE it yours. Unless you lose it like I did and you settle for hand-me-downs. But, yes, if you wanted to try to make one, I can help you for sure.”

Connor smiled again.

”Also, the lightsaber blade itself isn’t directly hot at all. You could have the blade beside your face and you wouldn’t feel any heat generated from it. But you’d know about it should it come into contact with you. It’s such a dense field of energy contained in such a powerful, small chamber that it’s just as destructive in the wrong hands as it can be safe in the right hands.”

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

 

[Jamie Pyne]

The whole idea seemed so complex that it made her head spin. So is this thing alive in some sense of the word? She wondered to herself. Is that what that feeling was when I touched it? A bond? Am I somehow tied to this crystal now and it to me? These were all questions that began to bubble up in her mind, though she did her best to listen to Connor as he spoke. The more she heard though, the more questions she had for him about just how it was made, and what kind of connection it would be between the user and the crystal.

As Connor displayed his own weapon in his hand her eyes followed along. She had seen a lightsaber before, but its' parts and how it was actually construction were foreign to her. Until now she simply assumed there was just a manufacturer of these tools, and that there was nothing really personal or Force related to them, other than perhaps some aesthetics.

"You lost yours before? Will you never find another crystal that feels like the one again?" She almost clung to the one in her hand, for fear that some unseen entity would come snatch it from her very hand at any moment.

"I would love to try and make my own, if you don't mind showing me! Yeah, that would be great!"

There was of course the issue of where exactly to collect all of the parts to make one. It wasn't like there was a Jedi Temple just around the corner, or a lightsaber parts store in the center of Theed. Acquiring the correct parts might be more of a task than the blonde had considered. And that was just the labor. Whatever Force magic behind it was also lost on her.

Jamie carefully placed the crystal into her pocket for safe keeping, before standing back up and brushing away the bit of sand and dirt from her knees. "I guess before we do anything we've got to get ourselves out of this place."

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Standing up, a little stiff in the knees - oh, Seraphina would LOVE him acting old - Connor extended his hand for Jamie to exit through the wall into the light; in more ways than one.

”I lost it during a Sith invasion, a nasty sorceress called Matsu Xiangu and her un-dead horde. I lost my hilt whilst running for my life, so it was sort of the hilt or me. I'm sure it's been found, sold on, out there somewhere. But now,” he fixed the Skywalker hilt to his side, ”this is more than enough to compensate. While it isn't the original I made, I have sinced understood a lot more about the Force and the art of the lightsaber in general. Once you feel totally in tune with the Force, you will be able to master any blade you hold.”

Connor walked up the side of the large well-like rock face they were in, the steep incline wound around the inside which would lead them to the top and, if quiet enough, the roar of entertainment from Theed could be heard again in the distance.

”Keep walking up here, and it should lead to the top, but then I just hope there's a way down. I would have thought so if this is a rain harvesting pool. I also hope there's an easier way down than the route you brought us!”

Carefully, he walked up, but didn't forget her question.

”Watch your footing. And to answer your question, I will be happy to help you. If you have somewhere to go, I can get my kit from my ship and see what we can forge. I've a number of materials for the hilt and spare parts for this one. And then I'll show you how to heal wounds, which is what I was going to do in the first place before you decided to answer your Force crystal's call.”

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"I see!" The sound of Jamie's voice echoed along the walls as she took care in following Connor up the rocky incline towards the top and hopefully to a way out of the cave. "That's too bad about your lightsaber." Whoever that Matsu person was sounded awful! "You said they had some kind of undead army?" That was something she hadn't ever heard or seen before. "You mean like, she raised the dead?" The words rolling off of her tongue made her cringe. There were few things more inconceivably evil than disturbing the dead. "How awful!"

The next few steps were a bit on the scary side of things, as a patch of loose rock gave way, nearly throwing her off and down from the edge. Luckily her balance was still on the other foot and so it was more just a momentary scare than a real chance of slipping off. But that served as a good reminder to pay attention to where she was going.

"Where should we go? I've never made a lightsaber, so I'm not really sure what kind of environment someone needs to actually build it." It wasn't quite like she had a factory on hand to go and bend durasteel or whatever it was Jedi did to make their weapons. "Wherever you think is best I guess." Admittedly, he would know where they would need to go better than she. "Oh! Right!" She remembered she had asked him about healing. "I almost forgot about that after all of the excitement down here." Now there were two things she was equally interested in learning from him.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor stayed close as they walked, noting how much the girl talked over watching where she was going, and his hand jolted out a few times when she had a wobble. Even he had to be careful; the erosion of rock from the rising and falling water levels had taken its toll. While it was generally a secure route, it was still not to be underestimated.

"When you…control the Dark Side of the Force such as Matsu does…." he pulled himself up onto the lip of the well, "…then you can delve into real dark and dangerous arts, such as raising the dead or controlling the near-dead. It’s pretty grim, but we cope with it."

Standing on top, a good 30ft drop below them where they had climbed, Connor put his hands on his hips and looked out over the lush greens and blue of Naboo.

"What a view."

The domed roofs and large palace of Theed could be seen in the distance; the hangars, the altars, the landing pads and mountains. What a marvellous sight. It felt like they had achieved something today.

Connor turned to Jamie.

"If you want to walk back to Theed, I can go to my ship and get my pack and you can do it anywhere – sit on the grassy knolls overlooking the parade if you want. As long as you concentrate, and I have the right materials, then you can make one. Or a prototype at least for when you are ready to make one your own."

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Jamie joined Connor at his side, looking out over the horizon with a gleaming smile. A hand covered above her eyes to protect her vision from the glare of the sun. This was what it was about, her home. Aside from Kurt, this was her whole life. Naboo was what she knew. It wasn't just where she lived. It was a galactic jewel. Hidden and tucked away from the rest of the galaxy, but a jewel nonetheless. The trees, the swamps, the forests and rivers. The mountains and streams and architecture and people. It was all of those things. Beautiful in every way.

"I've never found someplace here I didn't appreciate for its' natural beauty."

She smiled, taking her gaze from the view for a moment to look up at him. "Sure. Maybe someplace quiet. If this requires concentration and focus I'd rather be away from the bustle of Theed, lest I get distracted by something or other."

Now was the simple matter of actually getting down and back to Connor's ship. The girl looked around for a few moments to try and find some decent rocks that could be used to scale the outer wall of the cave back down to the ground beneath them. "There." She said with her finger pointing to a mostly suitable patch of jutting rock. "We can maybe climb down from there. What do you think?"

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor nodded.

"Slow and steady wins the race."

He walked across to the makeshift route down, taking in the dangers, the foot-holds, the grips, the flat terrain they would walk on. Naboo looked er pretty this high-up.

"If you have anywhere you'd like to go, let me know. My ship is outside the Theed wall and we can walk there and fly anywhere or anywhere here you want on Naboo. If you want of course."

As the dynamic duo started to make their way down, it took a while, and it was certainly a bit harder than going up. But he kept talking as best he could to the girl to distract her from over-thinking their route. And truth be told he was looking forward to getting back into the more practical side of what he had learnt over the years, and helping another was what he excelled at. The company was good, the location was good, and the mood was good. That was what he had missed away from the drama.

"I'll see what materials I've got...if you have a particular design in mind...or style...?"

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"I...I'm not sure!" She said excitedly. She didn't even know there were different designs, really. "I just assumed all of them were kind of the same. A hilt and a blade. I've only really ever seen one other lightsaber before yours. And to be honest both look kind of similar." Just how personal could they be made? "What can they be made out of? The only thing I knew of was that they had different colors. I suppose mine will be orange judging by the crystal?" That was rather exciting. She hadn't quite thought about making the lightsaber personal. She was just thrilled to be actually making one. Her jovial attitude increased two fold at that realization.

"Any advice would be welcome. I'm not quite sure what can be done to them."

Jamie thought on the idea of where to go for a few minutes as they continued their path down to solid ground again.

"If your ship is outside of the city, perhaps we can just settle for the quiet outdoors nearby, that way everything is close and we don't have to go looking around for some other cave to go spelunking in."

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

The journey down from the cave didn't take long, but it required less talk and more coordination of feet and hands to avoid a sticky ending for either of the two. Once on solid ground, the walk back towards Theed was filled with conversation about the planet they were on, and Connor touched upon just what she wanted from a lightsaber and how it required a great deal of thought for it would help shape her as a person and act as a beacon for not just her future, but also a representation of her family name that she carried.

"Ok," he said, the city and hull of the ship now in view, "make yourself comfortable. I'm going to find what I have, and then we can get started on your blade."

With a smile, he gave her a small nod as he continued walking to his ship on the city outskirts, a number of others around it belonging to those watching the parade.

Once in his ship, he sat on a large stool and went through his storage cabinets and drawers containing tools, repair kits and materials for lightsaber construction as he learnt that you never should leave without them. It was basic, but it would help give Jamie an idea of what to do, and how to do it, and then the future of creating them was hers. Connor took a power cell, fitted hand-grip, energy circuits, activator, shroud, stabilizing ring and an arc tip along with assembling tools. The metal hilt was basic but it could easily be modified. At the end of the day, if she could do this, she could do it to any hilt so it was just a stepping stone.

Throwing a satchel over his shoulder with the equipment in, Connor left and walked past the bustling crowd, glancing over to the high energy atmosphere of Theed as he joined Jamie a few moments later. He dropped down the bag and knelt opposite her.

"Well, here are the basics. Have a look. Ask any questions. When you're ready, then we'll begin."

He looked down at the bag, and then at Jamie, and smiled to himself wondering just what she was thinking about how her peaceful day had turned into a lecture and practical exam.

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Several meters away from Connor's ship was a rather large stump of an old Cambylictus tree that made for a nice, big seat for the blonde. She gave a nod as he proceeded into the ship, the bustle of Theed's parade not far off in the distance, echoes of laughter and music reaching her ears. A warm, pleased smile painted her expression as she sat, legs crossed and eyes closed, listening to the ambient noises all around her.

Minutes later she heard the clanking of boots against durasteel as Connor made his way down the ramp, returning with a bunch of pieces that were to become a lightsaber of sorts. Her eyes widened at the sheer number of small, intricate parts that she'd need to assemble somehow. A twitch of nerves shot up her back as she realized that this wasn't quite something that someone just clipped a bunch of things together and was done. This process was unique.

Carefully the girl removed each piece from the bag and set them down in front of her, looking them over carefully.

"You're gonna explain how these all fit together right?" She laughed. "I don't think I'm very good with schematics."

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor smiled and held his finger up to stop her.

He reached into the front of the satchel and pulled out a blueprint of his original lightsaber design from the Silver archives and smoothed it out above the pieces she had laid out. The sound of the Theed carnival and the fresh atmosphere of Naboo made this a totally relaxed setting.

"Now, Miss Pyne. Padawan Pyne," he chuckled to himself, "take a look at this schematic and sort the pieces out in order, top to bottom, of where they allign roughly to this."

The Jedi explained what each part was before her and what it did, but didn't say where it went. It was all about observing, reading and understanding the basics.

"Don't forget your crystal. And don't rush. I just want you to identify the pieces you have and understand the schematics. But of course, it's not all about following pointers. The Force, and your crystal, will help you."

It had been a long, long time before he had acted a real Master to someone willing to listen and learn.

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Jamie looked at the blueprint, the very thing she was afraid of. Blue eyes widened. Was that a bead of sweat on her forehead? Blood pressure rising. Oh boy. Her throat rose and fell with a hard swallow. Okay....Okay...Let's just take this one step at a----Oh kark there's so many pieces! The girl bit the inside of her lower lip, nearly to the point of making herself bleed.

Under pressure!

"Okay." She finally said. It was the only thing she could think to say. She was already lost. Reading these things was like reading a foreign language to her. They made almost no sense. It was just a giant picture with words, math, and lines. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh!

"Okay." She repeated, before beginning to slowly organize each piece in her own unique way. Her eyes shifted down to the schematic, and with trepidation began to slowly re-organize those pieces to somewhat look like the picture. There was progress, but it was painfully slow. Each and every time she placed something down she picked it back up again and examined it, as if the piece was suddenly going to shift into something completely different, checking it against the paper before her, before again putting it back down, mildly confident that she had done it correctly.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, there were no pieces left to lay out, and she looked to Connor with a look for obvious defeat, surely she'd done something wrong.

[member="Connor Harrison"]