Be Equipped for Every Good Work

[Kiskla Grayson-Matteo]

Teta had brought many things to light.
One being that the Jedi were severely outnumbered.

This of course meant that more should be trained to meet a threat that was innumerable and therefore immeasurable. But that didn't mean Kiskla was going to switch gears and enter a business of training soldiers, producing cookie-cutter killers with a plasma sword. That is not what it meant to be a Jedi. In fact, this was to be the last resort. Kiskla was a redeemer, she was interested in the benevolent betterment of the galaxy.
Having this interest meant she would pursue her causes.
[member="Maria Natalja"] was one of them. She swore that the former witch was one of the sources of negative emotion she had felt on Teta, and she was making it a personal promise to reach out and address the concerns of the members within her order. The Order. As Grandmaster, the line was difficult to define.
So, Kiskla made her way to the main academy on Ossus. Maria was not yet ready for Tython, and the Kiffar was making adjustments to make the learning curve not terribly steep.

She didn't look like much of a Grandmaster, nor even a Jedi with her clothing that looked more suited to spacers, and her long blonde hair was swept up in a loose bun. She was in simple black attire, as it was the tradition of her people. Black meant people couldn't see you bleed. Further, Kiskla hadn't slept since the liberation. Too many loose ends that needed addressing.
So, she currently sat on the back steps of the Ossus courtyard, turning over a holocron in her hands while she waited for the arrival of the witch she had met on Umbara. Consider it a status call.

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

[member="Kiskla Grayson"]

Maria was one of the very few who made the surprising turn. It was not too difficult to fall to the Dark Side of the Force, but it was a lot more difficult to become one of the Jedi after spending your whole life on the other end of the spectrum. But that was exactly what Maria was doing. She was not completely pure, not at all, she still tended to show some kind of dark presence which she was trying to get rid of through training and meditating. Her home on Umbara had a meditation chamber, even though she only spent a little time on the planet as most of the times she was either with the Padawan Pack or training somewhere. And that day was definitely not an exception.

She had come to the Ossus Jedi Academy to meet with the Grandmaster Grayson again, probably to train. Maria was wearing a maroon Jedi robe which was not too typical in the Jedi Order as most of the robes were brown or even black, not red. But it was definitely better than the black tight dress she had always worn when she was still the Witch of Arx Mortis.

The memories of the citadel still haunter her as she had done something not a single Jedi should ever do. But it was inevitable, she had to do that. There had been no other way to do it as she had still been quite a Darksider when it all had happened. Nightmares of this terrible event haunted her nearly every night.

She had wandered around the academy as she had come quite early that day. It was a wonderful place, really a good place to train at. Typically, she had managed to use only one training room and even that had been somewhere near the entrance, not too far away like some places of this academy were.

Soon she managed to find the way to the courtyard, though. "Greetings, Master Grayson!" she spoke when she had reached the courtyard and noticed the Master sitting there.

 

[Kiskla Grayson-Matteo]

Kiskla smiled into the edges of the holocron, although she didn't turn to greet [member="Maria Natalja"]. "And to you, Padawan Natalja."
The precursor of Padawan had caused her much disdain when she had been training. That's because she had taken the title for granted. Maria, on the other hand, had given up a former life in order to be deemed as such.

It should be an honour.

"I'm glad to see you alive after Teta. That was more devastating than I expect anybody planned for." Herself included. Nerve gas?! Still, she cut right to the chase: "What do you think could have helped you during the liberation. Knowing what could have put you at an advantage above your enemies?"

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

"Indeed, it was a horrendous liberation and I am surprised I am still alive," Maria spoke while going through her memories of the invasion. She remembered the possession, the whale, and the monster who had come to them afterwards, amongst all the other crazy things. Maria thought it would be her last liberation as she was still a Padawan and it was so easy to turn her to the Dark Side again. Strangely, she had survived this liberation. There was not much actual corruption going on, at least not on her. But mental suffering had been there and that is why she was so worried about her fellows.

"I think the power which could have helped me doesn't even exist. All my friends, even my fellow Padawan... they were all possessed or... corrupted during the liberation. Would have there been a Force ability which could protect other people's thoughts against the evil, I would have given everything to have that." She looked down. She remembered how they had been suffered.

"But I guess if I had been a better lightsaber duealist, I could have stood against the Sith who were about to fight us."

 

[Kiskla Grayson-Matteo]

“It does exist, Maria.” Kiskla said flatly as she rose to stand. She angled herself at the bottom of the steps to look back at the light-haired girl with a somewhat expectant look. It was understandable that Maria would feel something akin to ethereal queasiness on Teta — she had just turned her back on the dark side and then thrust herself among some of it’s most powerful wielders. Her cousin included. “But it’s not a Force ability.”

This was where Kiskla hated how she sounded. Usually she spoke bluntly to avoid drawling pedagogical preachings, but to speak to someone’s heart one usually had to appeal to the romantics of thought — which meant drawl. “Walk with me.” Kiskla gestured, her long legs moving in measured steps against the concrete of Ossus’ immediate courtyard. The holocron slipped into one of the pouches on her multi-faceted belt. A small breeze passed through the leaves of the flora that outlined the perimeter of the academy, swirling around the ankles of the two Lightsiders and ruffling Kiskla’s blonde hair as they walked against the crispness of it’s blows.

“The most fortified of mentalities comes from understanding. As you well know, the dark side is a tempting realm, an uninhibited realm of licentious tastes and abilities — the promises made there are often not kept though — no matter how beautiful it may sound.

When I told you what you were getting into on Umbara, I wasn’t lying. To protect yourself, and your friends, you must truly believe that what you stand for is correct and right. That’s how the Sith sound persuasive. They believe in their cause — no matter how deceitful their words may be, they are reinforced by total dedication to propaganda.

I’m not saying that The Jedi are on a foundation of propaganda, but we are established on a cause of justice and understanding. You were on Teta, from my understanding, to protect a culture and a civilization. You were there as a guardian of those who couldn’t move fast enough, who weren’t resilient enough.

We’re gifted with The Force, and use it to the advantage of others.” Finally, Kiskla stopped talking and turned to look at [member="Maria Natalja"], smiling softly “-Once you understand why you do what you do, why you’re a part of The Jedi, then you can protect your own mind.

As for the minds of others,” she simpered and gave a small wink “-That comes from inspiration. Be that person to look towards, someone that radiates purity and knowledge of self and purpose.

It’s so easy to get lost in this galaxy, and when someone extends their hands and offers kingdoms, no matter how corrupt the kingdoms are, it’s easy to second-guess yourself.

Make it difficult. No, make hesitation impossible for yourself. You’ve already made a transition once. Find yourself, and find why you made that change to avoid constantly being lost in the ebb and flow of The Force and it’s many, wondrous facets.”

She closed her eyes for a moment, recalling that Maria had suggested she pick up a light sabre form.

“Do me a favour. Collect those that you were with on Teta that you said were feeling corrupted. We will go to Dagobah: It’s one of the purest places in the galaxy, where you can communicate directly with The Force without hinderance.

On the way, we will take my cruiser and I’ll teach you some forms for defence.” Yes, as a Councillor Kiskla had been gifted a training cruiser for the betterment of herself. When she and [member="Tamara"] had taken to the stars to revisit Dathomir, she’d made some slight adjustments to it — but now it could surely be used for a larger crew size. That’s what it had been designed for, anyhow.

“I’ll meet you at the hangar in three hours. I assume that will be sufficient time for everyone to conclude their active studies — and round everyone up. I also have things to tend to.”

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

It had been more than two hours from the moment when the Grandmaster of the Jedi Order and Maria had been separated, but Maria was still unable to contact any of the people who had been with her at Teta. It was really a shame; she would have wanted all of them to be with her, but now it looked like she would have to go back to the Master alone. Had all of her friends really been captured after she managed to escape. She had thought all of her friends would try to save themselves, too, but... maybe they hadn't managed to escape? It was really a shame. The girl would have wanted to help them so much, but she realised her personality still featured a part of the Dark Side. She was a bit selfish, trying to save herself before anybody else. Weren't Jedi supposed to save others before dealing with themselves?

Sitting on a bench, Maria thought what to do. She seemed to have no chance to gather her mates, but she really didn't want to let her Master down. She had to do something, quickly. If she went back to Kiskla without her friends, telling her of how she believes they were captured and how she selfishly escaped, she would probably get a punishment. But on the other hand, maybe they could gather more Jedi and try to save the ones Natalja had been with on Empress Teta? It could be a dangerous but fun adventure.

Yet she understood Jedi would never do anything like that. WIth all the people who had gone to the Dark Side, Maria doubt Jedi would foolishly go to the One SIth space to save the few captured ones.

She sighed. It was rather difficult to find a way to tell that to the Master. She felt like there is no right way to tell the Jedi of the situation.

Rolling a stone in her hand was the only thing which managed to calm the woman down. Otherwise she would have probably just lost herself and felt emotions again. The bad emotions. Anger, hatred, sadness... everything like that. And she knew all of that would lead her back to the darkness. It was not what she wanted, she had to protect herself against the dark. Or just think of other things. Either way, it was difficult to stay on the right path, the Dark Side was so tempting, so interesting.

So intriguing.

All of her live had she been there, now it was difficult to find anything interesting in the light side. All of the memories, all she remembered, were of the darker times. She kind of even missed the old times when she worried about ruling the Arx Mortis citadel in the darkness of Crystalsong. Now she was so far away from the planet that she had no need to worry about anything which was connected with the things she had done on the world.

But... Then she remembered what she had done. She remembered how she had set the building on fire, killing hundreds of innocent souls. The flames got higher and more powerful in her memories, the cries, the shouts, the screams of her slaves filled her ears, all she could feel was anger. She was angry at herself. Because that's not what a normal person would do. Maria had already kind of turned to the Light Side of the Force when she had set all of her fame, all of her power, on fire. Killing people was a dark thing to do.

How?

Why?

She cried. She couldn't find the answers to the questions.

The hour passed somehow, Maria crying on the bench, almost hysterically panicking. Thankfully she had been alone there, otherwise somebody would have done something about it. But she had needed a moment of two to think about what she had done, to be alone for once and let go of her past, maybe. But it had been too difficult to do that. Having done so much bad at once made a person bad for the rest of their life. Probably all of her slaves had died in the fire, she had thought they wouldn't manage to live in freedom. But she should have just let them go, not trap them into something Natalja's father had gifted her.

Walking in the hangars, she was trying to clean herself up with tissues and a bottle of water. She had to look fine when she was supposed to meet the Grandmaster. She couldn't show emotions.

[member="Kiskla Grayson"] (I'm so sorry for the delay)

 

[Kiskla Grayson-Matteo]

"You're alone." Kiskla observed -- not that it was that astute of a sentence. She'd received the reports late about the tragedy of Teta, and just how many Padawans had not returned. It was devastating to say the least, and something that would be addressed with urgency. But first, Kiskla had promised to teach [member="Maria Natalja"] that which she requested to learn.

Her shoulders were against her personal Jedi training cruiser, Crimson III. [member="Maria Natalja"] was projecting an ethereal tapestry of conflict, which made the blonde frown with concern.

"It's not your fault, Maria. I promise you this. But you're in no condition to travel, and with the updates I keep receiving from Teta, I'm afraid we have less time than ever. Would you mind continuing the lesson here? I'll teach you what you'd like to know about lightsabre techniques -- but first you have to tell me what you already know."

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

[member="Kiskla Grayson"]

Grayson's voice was the first thing Maria noticed and soon she turned in the direction it seemed to come from. She noticed the woman probably leaning onto her ship. Maria set her steps towards her, his heart beating faster than ever before. She was afraid something bad was about to happen because of her coming back alone. She had been given an order to bring others with her but she had failed.

She sighed.

"I'm alone."

Then she listened to the Master's speech and only nodded as an answer at first. Then she put the tissue she had been holding into her right pocket and the bottle of water soon followed. "I have learned the very basics of Djem So only. Of its aggressive movements and complex techniques, but I haven't managed to succeed in using it. It is more difficult than anything else I've done."

 

[Kiskla Grayson-Matteo]

Kiskla quirked her brow at [member="Maria Natalja"]'s response.

"You learned Djem So without any foreknowledge of Shii cho?" This was a foreign concept to the Grandmaster. She'd been trained to be a weapon, going through all of the forms in a mostly chronological order. As it was, they mostly built on each other anyways. It wasn't until she finally learned Vaapad that her skills were truly honed.

Nevertheless, she shrugged. "Let's see what you know then, of this Djem So in application.

I'll see if there are ways to add on to your knowledge without reverting you back to the basics entirely."

At this, she gestured for the Padawan to ignite her blade (assuming it would be on a training intensity).

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

[member="Kiskla Grayson"]

"You learned Djem So without any foreknowledge of Shii cho?"

"My former Master - the Dark Side one - started with teaching me Djem So," Maria said quietly while nodding to the Master. That was interesting. The Padawan had no idea of the lightsaber forms or in which order they're learned, she had thought it was completely up to the Force-user to figure out the way they are to be learned. Guess she was wrong. At least about how things work in the Jedi Order.

Then she saw the gesture her Master made.

And she almost collapsed.​

​

It was the time to reveal the lightsaber she had been using for her whole time in the Jedi Order. But there was no time to be ashamed or feel discomfort. She had to train.

Maria took her saber with her left hand from the hilt which was attached to the maroon Jedi robe (as always), and then sighed before pressing the red button, which, in this case, seemed to be even laughing at him. Well... were the button a human being, it would have laughed. With her heart beating times faster than before, she pressed the button to ignite the saber

... of red colour.​

 

[Kiskla Grayson-Matteo]

The Grandmaster's physical features did nothing as the crystal within Maria's hilt extended and filled the small space with blood light. [member="Maria Natalja"] was bathed in crimson highlights, and Kiskla have a slow nod. "Hm."
As communicative as Kiskla was, she could be quite cryptic herself when it came to her pensive intake of the information given to her.

It was undeniable that the former Zambrano had been a Sith. Having a weapon to reflect her past was not to be overlooked though--- in fact, it could be most insightful for Kiskla, a master of Psychometery. But a crystal did not reflect it's wielder. For example, Kiskla had been trained as a Jedi Guardian initially, as Maria had been trained as a Sith. Through time, she understood she was better suited as a Consular, with her Force prowess. Her crystal still reflected a blue hue, traditionally representative of a Guardian.

But, it would be interesting to see if the weapon had any affect on Maria. If it did, Kiskla would address it. Either way, the girl would likely need an upgrade soon.

Maria was likely feeling quite awkward at this moment, so the youthful Grandmaster applied that logic to taking a lighthearted approach to encourage the demonstration of Djem So: "Let's see what that thing can do."

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

[member="Kiskla Grayson"]

Maria nodded with a feeling of something she'd call a combination of shyness, embarrassment and clumsiness. She then looked down and put her right leg forward, the left one a bit back, and took the saber tightly into her hands. She knew her moves were really clumsy and rather awful, but thankfully practitioners of Djem So weren't looking for precision or elegance, but relied on their strength. At least a lightsaber form which would compensate her awful use of the weapon. She wasn't born to wield a weapon; in fact, she was raised in quite a pacifistic family, until Maria's dad told her about how Zambranos are mongers of war and have to learn the usage of both the Force and lightsaber.

That was the only part of being a Zambrano Maria hated while still living as a member of the family.​

​

Then her eyes turned towards the ones of Kiskla's and the former cute innocent view of Maria's turned into an angry gaze full of confidence. The fact that the form was aggressive made Maria more aggressive than she typically was. Maybe using it again even resurrected a part of the woman she hated - the Sith darkness.

"Fight," she whispered.​