Dust

[Cedric Grayson]

A heavy sigh fell from Darius' lips.

The fires of Eol Sha's lava pits certainly weren't helping with his mood. The Jedi Knight had discarded his coat in favor of a sleeveless tunic in order to cope with the heat, but it wasn't doing much to help in all honesty. Sweat dripped from the knight errant's brow as he marched through the wastes outside the ruined castle. The lands on either side of the ruin were filled with nothing save for the occasional hut or blown out building. The colonies of Eol Sha had been more or less forgotten, being left to degrade in the intense heat of the world after its colonies were depopulated.

Other colonies had sprung up after the fall of the Galactic Empire, but they resided on the far eastern side of the world. The flight to the nearest town was at least an hour out, and the castle itself suited the fledgling remnants of the order particularly well because of this. No one was going to be bothering their initiates. Few would even know of the structure's existence in the first place.

Cursing the planet's heat, Darius marched his way back toward the hanger that had been prefabricated on Ession before being placed on the planet's surface. His exercises done for the day, the knight errant stumbled into one of the two hangers that housed the order's vessels. They were large enough to host a small number of ships, mostly personal vessels, and they were air conditioned.

The Jedi Knight collapsed into one of the chairs that hung from the hanger walls just as a vessel cleared the hanger's heat shield. Within came a student, one of many that would hopefully arrive in due time. Darius drew in a deep breath, did his very best to gain control of himself, and rose to his feet. The shuttle would only be carrying one, but one was enough.

 

[yancep96]

Flinx had picked up a coded message from a man named Darius. Flinx hoped that this man wasn't a fraud like so many others. He had bb-3 pilot his ship just inside the heat shield with the guns to the inside incase they needed a quick getaway. After all was stowed and locked up Flinx donned his leather pauldrons. bb-3 told him that It was still hot but Flinx was used to the heat, or at least the parts of him that weren't burned to numbness were. Flinx stashed his sabers on his belt and stepped out to meet this Darius.

 

[Cedric Grayson]

Darius had not expected a Miraluka.

The knight errant folded his arms behind the small of his back as he appraised Flinx. The lack of eyes made it difficult for Darius to determine an age, though he suspected the fellow was rather young. He adopted a welcoming smile as the stranger made his way off of his shuttle, and bowed forward slightly as he approached.

"Hello, my name is Darius Sedaire," the knight's smile grew into something more genuine. "I take care of things here. We don't have many students yet, so it's a bit quiet," Darius shrugged. "So far as I know, I'm one of the only Jedi Knights here, but I can teach all the same."

Can you really?

Darius offered a hand. "You're mister Kalith?"

[member="Flinx Kalith"]

 

[yancep96]

Flinx felt out the cool flame of a person in front of him. He hadn't been around the person enough to tell if this [member="Darius Sedaire"] was good bad or indifferent but Flinx needed the training. "Yes I am Flinx Kalith, and if its all the same to you I would like to get something to eat"

 

[Cedric Grayson]

The hand went ungrasped, and Darius let it fall to his side. It was of no matter. The customs of humanity were often lost to aliens, even to near-humans. Miralukans tended to fall in that category when it came to anything physical. The knight errant cracked an amused little grin at his blunder and shook his head, his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. "Then eat we shall. I've got some lunch in the fridge. Going into the enclave while I'm doing my workouts is tiresome."

Darius lifted his shoulder in a slight shrug as he led the Miraluka over to the refrigerator in question. A few moments later, and the Miraluka would be offered a ham sandwich. Not the grandest of meals, but Darius supposed that it was better than going hungry.

"It's nice to meet you Flinx," Darius murmured as he settled down on one of the benches, patting the spot at his side for the Miraluka to sit. "I know your race is inherently sensitive to the force. I also know a great number of the them have allied with the myriad pockets of Sith Lords."

Green eyes flickered over to Flinx. "This enclave might one day serve as a seat of teaching for the Jedi Order. Right now though, it's little more than a ruin. I have big hopes for things Flinx," Darius took a hearty bite from his sandwich and mulled over his words as he chewed. "But I can teach you however you like. This is a place of learning, and it is not exclusive to members of our...well, fledgling order."

[member="Flinx Kalith"]

 

[yancep96]

Flinx sat next to the knight and munched on his sandwich being quiet. "I'm sorry I missed your handshake earlier its just I have trust issues. especially with other force sensitive males. Should we ever train without our shirts you will see why. My father was a sith and kinda ruined my trust for anyone." Flinx sat chewing his sandwich which was so much better than the nutrient paste he had been consuming for the past few weeks. "As to my alliance, I have walked both paths."

 

[Cedric Grayson]

Darius just shook his head. He met the Miraluka's sightless gaze with one of sympathy. Though Flinx might not be able to read his expression, he could likely feel the empathy Darius held for him all the same. To be raised by Sith was often a rather gruesome process. The Sith, at least the sort that were most common in the galaxy, rarely had any sense of compassion. A child needed love, and the children of Sith Lords tended to be very broken indeed.

Still, Flinx seemed more or less capable of existing without throwing a murder tantrum, so perhaps things had not been as bad for him. That, or he'd simply gotten over his problems some time ago. Shrugging, the knight errant rose back to his feet, his sandwich more or less finished.

"So did our leader in his final days," Darius mused. "I'll teach you what I can, though it comes from the lens of a Jedi. I am nowhere near as intolerant as many of my brethren, but I still hold to the old teachings." The knight-errant offered Flinx and hand, then withdrew it as he recalled the miraluka's words. "Did you want to begin your training today?"

[member="Flinx Kalith"]

 

[yancep96]

"Yes Master Darius, the sooner the better. Yes While my father was a sith, My mother was a Jedi. she was a scholar from ossis. She is the one who gave me this." Flinx pulled out his wooden hilted lightsaber. "Whereas I also took my father's blade." Flinx pulled out the saber with the greater krayt dragon tooth at the base. "With these tools I wish to bring balance to the galaxy. Now where shall we start?"

Flinx looked cool, if not cold in his heavy robes and leather paudrons, despite the heat. Flinx waited for the master to show him to where they would begin his training. He was unsure what this [member="Darius Sedaire"] planned to teach him first but he was sure that it was going to be a long road ahead.

 

[Cedric Grayson]

Green eyes fell to the twin blades. They were both of a particularly exotic make, one that was lost to the young Darius. His gaze fell to his own blade - a rather simple thing bound in nerf leather that suited his grip particularly well. He snorted to himself, evidently still rather sure that his weapon could hold up to the task if it was required of it. "Seems like your parents had a bit of a rebellious streak," Darius pointed out as he moved to lead Flinx out into the ash-choked field between the enclave and the hangers.

The heat was choking, and hot magma moved in sluggish pools in the tiny canyons that divided the field. Sweat already bristled upon Darius' exposed arms and forehead, but he paid it no mind. The heat was a purging thing; it reminded him of home.

"A balance is important, yes," Darius mused, "The force itself is balance. Without the ashla, there can be no bogan. There are times when calling upon your emotions is a requirement after all." Darius mused as he came to stop near a lake of molten rock. The knight errant stopped at the lip of the lake, his arms folding behind the small of his back.

"What do you know of the force, Flinx Kalith?"

[member="Flinx Kalith"]

 

[yancep96]

"No much Master. Most of what I know of the force is instinctual. I see with the force and I can see the force's effects on creatures and objects. I can fix mechanical devices with the force but again its all on instinct, not with any measure of control." Flinx looked down ashamed that he couldn't give his master the answer he was looking for.

 

[Cedric Grayson]

Darius gave the Miraluka a simple nod. he had not expected all that much by way of an answer. The majority of the students that had come to this enclave lacked knowledge of the force beyond the rawest of basics, and even those had been a rarity. The formerly errant Jedi Knight had grown rather accustomed to giving explanations and his teachings to young folks, and the insights provided by his reading made those explanations that much easier.

"The force is a river that flows through all of us, and some of us have the ability to use it." Darius began. "It is a refleciton of ourselves. Our thoughts, our emotions, our desires - all are reflected within the force. The force grants us great power in return for these things. Powerful emotions bring strong reactions, but they often poison that river and he whom drinks from it in the long run. Peace and stability take longer to create ripples, but they keep the water pure."

Darius turned to face Flinx. "Those are the basics, but there's a lot more to it. I'm sure you know of the seemingly eternal conflict between the Jedi and the Sith?"

[member="Flinx Kalith"]

 

[yancep96]

Flinx chuckles, "Seen it? Master, I'm a direct product of it." Flinx had been the child of a Sith and his Jedi captive. He had also been the one to strike his father down. Which was part of his struggle with the darkside.

 

[Cedric Grayson]

"But of course," Darius snickered, his arms folded about his chest. He knew of few individuals that were the result of a similar union, though all were going to remain unnamed. Oaths had been sworn to keep the names of such children hidden so as to protect them.

As the magma bubbled, Darius spoke.

"Everyone knows what the force is, but very few understand it. We've all heard it spoken many times: may the force be with you. But what does that mean, truly? What is the force? A question for the ages, but one I feel like I can answer adequately enough to suit your education."

"The way it was taught to me is that the force is a great ocean. If flows over all things, and surrounds a trillion tiny islands. We all live upon those islands. The average person ignores the ocean around him, content to deal with his own issue upon the island itself. Some of us are curious, and might dip our feet into its waters. Through that, we come to understand that all things - this galaxy and every other galaxy - are connected. Every action creates a reaction. Every person affects everyone around them. Every island either preserves or pollutes the waters around it. Overtime, these actions coalesce into either great pollution and the distortion of this ocean, or the preservation of its purity."

He paused for a moment to catch his breath. "Those that call themselves Jedi have always sought to dive into its depths. It is there, from the depths of this ocean, that we learn of its currents. It comes to be a core part of our very being. We feel its presence at all times, and we take note when the currents change. As we grow more attuned to those changes, we learn to control them. We direct them in the way we see fit to accomplish tasks in the material world. Jedi encourage to currents to move in their natural flows, though in the directions we intend. This is what one would call the Ashla: the Light. Sith force the currents in whatever way they see fit, out of their natural passage. This accomplishes similar things within the physical world as per their design, but the currents are broken. The ocean is polluted. This is the Bogan: the Dark."

"There are other force sensitive orders scattered throughout the galaxy - this is just what I know. You should always seek to learn wherever you go, even from those others would say should be your enemy. Knowledge is debate and the pursuit of cooperation. Taking up arms against another simply because he believes in a different way to interact with the Great Ocean and the Ethereal only causes further strife."

He paused once more. "Any questions?"

 

[yancep96]

Flinx ponders his masters words. I really didn't have an answer cause honestly that is what he saw through the force.

"Master why must the sith and the Jedi fight, doesn't this pull and tear the force apart? Is there any hope of sith and Jedi coexisting without a war?"