Knights of the Light [White Flame Origins]

[Au'Rus Rhaeyns]

RUUSAN
JEDI VALLEY

Au'Rus was lost. Although the great canyon of the lightside nexus was not an unfamiliar place, she herself was in an abyss of chaos. She had lost, so much. Her master, Boolon Murr had passed away without her seeing he him one last time and now her home, Coruscant, was awash in the darkest pits of evil. She had heard that even the Jedi Temple was erased. This sorrow and guilt weighed heavy on Au'Rus' shoulders. So much so that upon arriving to a Jedi obelisk with the carvings of ancient teachings impressed on its stoney surface, Au'Rus collapsed onto her knees.

Her brown robes flapped in the sudden drop and her pruple robes dirtied by the mud of the rain that feel from the previous day. She had come to the Jedi Order to protect and serve. But who did she save? Who had she protected? Au'Rus knew the answer. No one. But, it wasn't just her. The Republic had lost so much. Why? Thought Au'Rus. Why has Ashla forsaken us this much. The Miralukan thought back to her days at the Force Enclave in her homeworld. Something must change. Something must spark the light again.

Au'Rus rubbed her face with the water of the rain trying to purify her thoughts with the raw sensations of nature. She flung her head back and looked up into the obelisk trying to decipher its secrets.

Something must change.




[member="Lisette Kuhn"] [member="Jeela Tillian"] [member="Tomas Raynor"] [member="Ceska Starshield"] [member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[H3xle]

[Aboard Tempest]
[Over Jedi Valley - Ruusan]


"Damnable Hutts." Tomas cursed, though there wasn't anyone around to hear him. He flew his Cabur class patrol ship in a search pattern over the Jedi Valley on Ruusan. He had been given a tip as payment for delivery of goods. The goods were completely legal, medical supplies for a planet nearby that a Hutt who had been described as a 'Decent Guy' had been in charge of receiving and dispersing. Tomas's heart was in the right place when he had been told that no money would be coming, but he could find some relics at Ruusan. The Hutt even gave him a set of scanner parameters that would surely find him something to pay for his services. "Even the decent ones are slimy, arrogant blow hards."

He pulled the ship up and around, flying lower in the hopes of getting some actual readings on his scanner. He increased the gain on the scanner and began his next pass. A few moments later, the scanner began to bleepity bo like a malfunctioning R2 unit. He pulled the monitor closer on its swivel and peered at it while keeping one eye on his flight path.

"An obelisk...drat, Jedi'd like as not spit me and feed me to some Jawa's if I pilfered that and tried to sell it to them. It is still erect though, so maybe there'll be other salvage nearby." He said to himself, his voice echoing strangely in the cockpit. He pushed the scanner back and settled the Tempest on a nearby hillock. He powered down and locked down the controls before exiting and locking the cockpit. He checked that his slug throwers were clear in their holsters and pulled on his jacket as he moved through his ship to the boarding ramp. Once down it, he keyed in some numbers on his communicator, raising the ramp and locking his ship. He might be described as jealously protective of his ship, but he didn't mind that. He oriented himself for a moment, then began to descend from the hillock. It was actually a fairy nice day and the scenery was quite beautiful. He began to whistle tunelessly as he sauntered down the hill towards the obelisk he had picked up on his scanner.

@Au'Rus Rhaeyns

 

[Au'Rus Rhaeyns]

[member="Tomas Raynor"]

Au'Rus pushed herself up and moved gingerly to the obelisk. Reaching out with her white gloved fingers she caressed the stone. As a Miraluka she possessed no eyes but the Force helped her see. The obelisk through her eyes was a great white flame that shot up from the Ruusan soil. It gave her strength and warmed her soul. The landscape of the Force was a swirling mist of energy. Au'Rus thought that it was like the galaxy itself, awash with various energies of good and evil working against one another.

We demand so much from you. Au'Rus spoke through her mind to the Force, We demand your power and your allegiance. But what do we give in return. What is it you demand of us...Ashla.

Au'Rus' meditations were interrupted when through her Force powered Miralukan eyes saw the approach of a stranger. One whose appearance in the Force was muted. In a recoil she retrieved her hand and turned to face the stranger. Her pink Miralukan mask faced the older man. Au'Rus' voice for a moment struggle to speak, she hadn't expected to speak to anyone in her solitude. "Can...I help you?" Au'Rus muttered with a neutral but strict tone.

 

[H3xle]

@Au'Rus Rhaeyns

Tomas hadn't expected seeing anyone. He was as off his guard as he ever got when not in a bed or a bath. He was looking around and enjoying the moderate walk to the obelisk when he heard a woman speak.

"Can...I help you?"

"Whoa.." His voice let out the single word as he came to a stop and crouched, facing the direction of the voice right shoulder on. In less time than it took to utter the single syllable by surprise, his right hand gun was up and pointed directly at the woman. His eyes traced a moment later, looking her over in threat analysis. She didn't seem very threatening, but she was standing in the Jedi Valley and if he wasn't mistaken, was a Miralukan. Almost all of them were force sensitive in some way. She was fairly attractive though... "Well...never let it be said that I don't like surprises. You just about scared me witless."

His smile, which could be heard through his deep rich voice, was genuine. He didn't think her a threat, but one could never be to paranoid when it came to force users. He kept his gun pointed at her for the moment.

@Au'Rus Rhaeyns

 

[Jeela Tillian]

Voss had grown stale. The itch was back, nudging at her feet and leading her mind down strange pathways. Dreams had become unusual, but a common theme ran beneath them. A road had been set for her and time had come for her to resume her oddysey. So she packed her bags and departed, catching a ride on a Silver Jedi ship carrying students to Ruusan. Technically she was also a student, but she was and probably would be, an eternal outsider, cast out by her home and far too stubborn to return.

And now she was out here, following the same itch that had led her to Voss and then the Silver Jedi temple, walking all the way. Except now it led away from a temple and towards an obeslik, or perhaps even further. She hitched her bag further up on her shoulders and marched towards it, jaw set. She would find where her path lay.

 

[huggin_munnin]

The Valley of the Jedi, Ruusan

From Sernpidal she had wandered for a number of days aboard her cargo ship before coming to Ruusan and the Valley. She had known the Force had spoken to her, that her dreams were in fact visions of what might be and what could have been. She was no great Seer and yet she knew beyond any shadow of doubt that they were not just mere dreams. It had been time to return to the Light as the Force had told her without words.

She had spent many hours of her journey here meditating and opening herself to the will of the universal energy field. It had eventually given her glimpses of the Valley on Ruusan though she hadn't known that exactly at first. Ceska meditated upon her grief and rage at the loss of her beloved mentor too. Her Master would wish her to carry on as a protector of the weak, a Guardian of justice. He would want her to find comfort and solace in the Force and to not succumb to her emotions and the Dark Side.

So now she was here, walking towards what the Force had shown her

[member="Jeela Tillian"]
[member="Tomas Raynor"]
@AuRus Rhaeyns

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus sat on the steps of the Academy. It looked almost complete from the outside but inside there was a still a lot of work to do. Simple but mind-numbing work. Like working out how many toilets or radiators. How large should the canteen be?

When she'd renovated Ossus, life was simpler. She had more time for a start. And her focus was on removing that which was redundant and updating that which was obsolete.

Here there seemed to be so many more decisions - and she wondered why she agreed to oversee the work. Because there was nobody else to ask was the honest answer. So she did what she always did - she served. She shirked no responsibilities and carried out whatever tasks were required - of her, or anyone.

Her eyes were closed and she was Meditating. She was continuing to practice heji tal. She could now balance control and sense and only had to figure how to add alter and she knew the Meditation would provide even deeper inner peace, knowledge and serenity.

[member="Ceska Starshield"] | [member="Jeela Tillian"] | [member="Tomas Raynor"] | [member="Au'Rus Rhaeyns"]

 

[huggin_munnin]

There was a familiar presence which caused Ceska to stop. She had been walking towards the Temple's main building having seen it in the distance when the feeling came to her. A sensation of nervous anticipation came over her but she continued forward, for it was the will of the Force. She couldn't explain it but Ceska Starshield knew to follow it's guidance now.

It was several minutes later when a familiar sight took her. There was Master Corvus on the steps and she had to steel herself for what lay ahead. Starshield understood that she must atone for what she'd done. Though the Rodian smuggler had attempted to drug and rob her months ago, killing him had been unneeded. Killing except in the last extreme was not the Jedi way.

Then, in a moment of anger and panic, she had attacked and kidnapped another Padawan on Mon Calamari. He hadn't had any quarrel with her and had tried to talk her down. Though she'd left him alive on Nar Shadda with creditchits in his palm, it was still wrong. She felt deep pangs of regret as she approached the Master. Kneeling before Corvus, she bowed her head as she spoke.

"Master, I have come to submit myself to the judgement of the Council. I have broken faith with the Order. I have kidnapped and killed when in anger when I could've spared his life."

Corvus Raaf knew the rest, how she had fled from Ossus full of grief and anger at the death of Ceska's beloved Twi'lek Master. She had heard the Padawan's venomous words too. Ceska unhooked her lightsaber hilt and placed it on the ground at the Grandmaster's feet, awaiting what would come. It was the will of the Force that she accept her fate.

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus opened one eye and then slowly the other. She’d sensed the Padawan’s approach and now she’d allowed herself to embrace emotions - given the swift admittance of guilt - she sensed genuine grief and regret.

“Ceska,” she used the Padawan’s name, for she was familiar with the case but believed this was not a time for formalities. And then she patted the step next to her, as if to indicate she wanted the Jedi to sit beside her.

“What matters most is the future not the past. That might surprise you to hear. I’m not here to hear any confession, or absolve you of any crimes. There is always due process in these matters.”

She left the Padawan’s saber on the ground, not making any move to pick it up. “Taking a life requires a legal review. That is outside of my hands. But it is also a step towards the Dark-side - only off-set if it was absolutely necessary. Your approach to what has happened and what you intend to do in the future will determine if the Order will speak at a trial in your defence.”

“You see it is not typical for a Jedi to judge another. Rest assured, you can speak to the Council if that is your desire. And you can share the facts and tell us what you wish. And we can advise you accordingly. For advice is of greater value than punishment. Not that I am saying anyone is above the law. No Jedi is - it’s part of the Code after all.”

“And despite whatever you have done, or think you have done, I do not expect you to kneel before me again. We are both Jedi and in my eyes equal. Bowing out of respect goes both ways. I am only a Jedi Master because I have disregarded my own sense of self-importance and embraced the will of the Force. Please never forget that.”

“Now, please speak - tell me what you wish me to do for you.” Her voice remained calm and soft throughout, her face gentle, with no hint of anger or disappointment.

[member="Ceska Starshield"]

 

[huggin_munnin]

Ceska blinked and looked up at Corvus a before she picked up her hilt and rose to her feet. There was a moment's hesitation before Ceska sat on the step. She seemed to look more inward than out as she spoke.

"I...I left Ossus some months ago with a Rodian. He was a smuggler but I was angry and distraught over my Master's death. He...attempted to drug me, but I felt something wrong. He was going to rob me and...I don't know what else. I lashed out and killed him in anger when I may have been able to spare him. At least, I think I may have...maybe he really was just going to rob me."

The apprentice shook her head slowly and sighed as she closed her eyes.

"I wandered for months and ended up on Sernpidal. I left my anger and grief drive my actions but...something happened and I was unconscious. I saw through the Force, things that might have been."

She looked the Master in the eyes and her own shone with intensity as she went on.

"I am certain they weren't just dreams. I did...horrible things, causing suffering and killing more than I could even remember. I killed Jedi too and I took their lightsabers as trophies. I was a monster."

"I knew I had to go back home. The Force spoke to me and told me this and I knew what it was, I just...felt it."

She nodded to herself and her voice took on a certain intensity, a note of fear and pleading entering too.

"Please, help me. I don't want to be that monster, that killer."

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus listened. If there was one things she was good at – it was listening. So she sat quietly and patiently as the Padawan picked up her saber and took a seat next to her. And she avoided using the Force. This was to be a simple conversation between two Jedi - no more and no less.

The story was complex – they usually were, and never as black and white as the teller first imagines. Already she’d softened her story from definite murder to potential self-defence – and with mitigating circumstances – especially for a Padawan.

“Let me tell you a story. There was once a Padawan. She was tricked into wearing a Sith ring. It didn’t control her but it affected her. The Padawan had an exemplary record up until that point. If her saber hadn’t cut out at the crucial moment, she would have decapitated a defenceless Sith. But I’m told that despite that episode, she turned out OK. We all make mistakes. I made a serious one back then, but I learned from it.”

“It’s what we do with what we’ve done that truly counts. The future is fluid, Master Yoda always said this. You may have seen what might have been, but it hasn’t happened yet. Knowing what you know, you have the chance to change that possible future. You must trust the Force. I can and will help you, be assured of that – but you must place the greatest of trust in the Force.”

“A wise Master once said to me that the Force will never let you down. People will let you down, Governments will let you down and even you will let you down. But the Force will never let you down. Trust in it and you will be fine. And any help you require from me is a given. You have my word.”

“So, what would you like me to do first?”

[member="Ceska Starshield"]

 

[Au'Rus Rhaeyns]

[member="Tomas Raynor"]
Au'Rus watched the stranger recoil and hold out his gun in shock. Au'Rus raised her hand and exuding a calm aura she spoke softly towards the man, "Please." she countered, "This is a place of peace, I will not harm you." Lowering her hand she spotted another new comer to the obelisks and the academy it was apart of. Au'Rus bowed to [member="Jeela Tillian"]. As she did so the force swirled and the presence of one truly embedded in the light was upon them. Au'Rus, with the force as her eyes turned and caught sight of the force figure of [member="Corvus Raaf"], the Grandmaster of the Jedi Order.

Sensing the grandmaster and someone who appeared darker in the force, but yet seemed to fight it ([member="Ceska Starshield"]). Au'Rus whispered through the force to Raaf. I did not know you were at work here. I shall take my contemplation somewhere else. I don't wish to cloud the academy with my brooding sorrow. Au'Rus rose and looked to her two on lookers. Turning to Jeela she nodded and with a posed look inquired to their presence. "What brings you to Ruusan lightsider?"

 

[huggin_munnin]

The Padawan blinked in surprise, having no idea the Grandmaster had had that happen. She was slow to reply, deeply contemplating for several moments before she made her reply.

"I want to fight against the darkness, it's everywhere and it's spreading," she began "It seized me in it's clutches and it almost totally enveloped me."

"I don't just mean the inner darkness, the anger and grief we all have. I was angry before but never like this."

She looked again into Corvus' eyes and went on.

"I think it's the Sith who are corrupting everything and they have to be stopped, Master. How many are like me, who were on the razor's edge but won't get that second chance?"

Ceska's voice picked up in intensity and her eyes reflected this change, blazing with zeal.

"Who else will they hurt, how many will they kill and how many lives will be destroyed. We have to stop them and not just defend and be pushed back like the Order has been too many times. We have to take the fight to them!"

Starshield's litany was cut off as she felt another presence, her eyes leaving Corvus' and scanning the distance. Perhaps it was coming from the obelisk as it seemed the logical place for this Light Side signature. The Padawan looked the obvious question at the Master. Ceska knew Raaf's connection with the Force was stronger than her own, especially in esoteric things. Perhaps she knew...

[member="Corvus Raaf"]
@Au'Rus Rhaeyns

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus listened and was about to speak when she heard a voice…

‘I did not know you were at work here. I shall take my contemplation somewhere else. I don't wish to cloud the academy with my brooding sorrow.’

It was evident Ceska heard or at least felt something. “It is someone else in need of advice I suspect, and in time I shall speak to her if she wishes.”

Corvus searched for the source of the message and brushed her mind lightly. ‘We are all Jedi and we all have an equal right to be here. Where better to contemplate than this very site? I would be…disappointed if you left on my account, but please do not feel that to be pressure, you should do what is right for you.’

Then she turned back to Ceska. “Your sentiments are admirable. To fight the Darkness is not in and of itself to be a Jedi. How you fight it defines you. If you fight it and honour the Code, you shall remain on a Light path. Deviate from the Code and we start to walk what we think is the same path but sooner or later the darkness will envelop us. The Code tells us this. History tells us this.”

“Do you know how many references there are to the Sith and the Dark-side in the Code, its tenets and pillars? In truth none. We are guardians of peace and for as long as the Sith violate that peace we must deal with them. And deal with them we shall. And we shall do so by continuing to uphold our Code.”

Corvus smiled an empty smile. She showed off various marks about her body. Her ankle broken twice by Darth Vornskr, various scars on her legs and ribs. Terrible scarring on her left shoulder from the Voxyn attack and on her back from Force Lightning. The scar below her bottom lip from Balaya’s Force Whip and others she’d forgotten how she’d even got them.

“We may be peace-keepers, but we are not pacifists. We do not shirk from the fight when it is necessary. And I remain, I believe, true to the Code.”

[member="Ceska Starshield"] | [member="Au'Rus Rhaeyns"]

 

[huggin_munnin]

Ceska nodded silently at Corvus' reply and continued her silence as the other Jedi answered her. The Padawan observed the Master's numerous injuries and all of her scars with a grimace. Not out of fear of pain, for a Jedi was trained to bear great pain, but at these impressions left by the Dark Side. Her words were noble and no Jedi could disagree with them but...they were not enough.

She frowned and slowly shook her head.

"You are right, of course," she began "We have to stay with the Light, but...the Sith are an abberation. I can feel it, the suffering they cause. It has to be our purpose to oppose them, for their existence is...unnatural, wrong."

"The Code is our guide but I don't think it should define us entirely. We ARE peacekeepers, but we should right these wrongs. Act and not react, stop this evil before it can do more!"

She was gesturing unconsciously, emphasizing her zealous words.

"I respect you, Master, and all the Council, I hope you know this," she said "Your intentions are right but your actions are not enough."

Her firey words were classic Ceska, full of zeal and passion. Some Masters had frowned on this, saying her passions skirted too close to the Dark Side. Her own Master had merely smiled and nodded in true understanding as he too was once full of the same fire as his apprentice. He knew her well, and understood like no other being ever had. That had been part of why losing him had been so hard, losing the one she had come to think of, if unconsciously, her father.

Some of her words were driven by a certain fear, but not one of death or suffering. No, Ceska Starshield was afraid of the darkness that had almost consumed her. It was there, whispering to her as she knew it would be always. Her external conflict with the Dark Side reflected her internal struggle.

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Au'Rus Rhaeyns]

[member="Corvus Raaf"] [member="Ceska Starshield"]

The soft words of Corvus persuaded Au'Rus to come closer and hear the words she had been speaking to ah young but dark force-user, one who appeared murky the flames of the force that vibrated in the miralukan's vision.

The speech by the current grand master reminded her of the time she was at the temple at Tython, right before the great disaster that feel upon the Jedi and the Order. The Jedi were lost, splintered. But the Force is one and holds its existence as such- even when it is manipulated by the cults of the light and dark. The visions she received in the Tython temple became more vivid in her memory now.

Something came over Au'Rus and she rebuked the Grand Master's words with a sudden zealousness. "And yet we are broken, scattered. The Code true and pure and is the will of Ashla but we as its stewards are flawed. Decadent in the force, thinking that our mastery over the force gives us the privilege to perverse it with ideology."

Au'Rus paused and rose a hand to her lips. But, her true thoughts were revealed. Au'Rus became serene in her sudden confession and held to her new found beliefs. ​"The Jedi Orders must experience a Reformation. A purification! We must reject all this superficial sects and must be brought back as one. A single order of the light!...Only then. Only then can we save this galaxy. Only Then."

A bright passion burned within Au'Rus. A righteous flame, one that was stoked by the fires of the Tython visions. And in its climax she lunged out with arms open and proclaimed to everyone gathered at the academy her visions.

"I have seen it! In the flashes of light in the force on Tython. Ashla spoke to me!" Au'Rus spun about to face everyone. "It is her wish. The JEDI MUST BE REUNITED. A REFORMATION MUST BE LIT! THE FORCE WILLS IT!"

 

[huggin_munnin]

Beneath her consternation, the Padawan intuitively understood the truth. The proclamation had stunned her with it's heretical message against the Order. Her first reaction was to defend the Order because...because why? Because it had been all she had ever known, what she defined herself with? Instead she chose to remain silent and she looked to the Grandmaster.

The words spoken could not be denied, not the words spoken with Foresight. The Force never lied but it's message could be twisted. She detected no duplicity in this one's words. Therefore, she looked for the guidance of a Master to help put these words into context, an instinctive reaction.

@Au'Rus Rhaeyns
[member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus nodded as Ceska spoke. Much of what she aid was perfectly true. But aspects she felt the need to discuss. Not challenge, not argue with, but discuss.

“Evil is an aberration. War is an aberration. If you saw a militant Jedi fighting a pacifist Sith, you need to ask yourself, who is the victim? A Jedi honours all life.”

“I was taught that the Code is like a set-meal, not a buffet. You have to eat it all, not pick and choose which parts you like. So is there a specific aspect of the Code you disagree with?”

And then she looked up as the newcomer spoke. She heard the words but did not fully understand them. Perhaps she was too far removed form what was being described. This, more than the words spoken, worried her.

Yet there were many elements of truth in what she said. Corvus herself was part of a small group that was looking to rejoin the fragmented and disparate Orders that were dotted around the galaxy.

Corvus wondered if she could use some of the words when she met the Masters of the other Orders but was less comfortable with the passion it was spoken with. Serenity is what differentiated them from the Sith. It was a dangerous path this Jedi wished to tread. For she may be strong enough to resist the pull of the Dark-side but surely not all who heard her calls would. It was, to Corvus, as if the Sith had come recruiting.

Aware there was an expectation to respond, Corvus remained seated and spoke quietly but clearly.

“There was once an Army of the Light. Brought together to fight an army of the Sith. There is merit, if we look at what history has told us, to consider such a mechanism again. It was only disbanded because the Jedi foolishly wished to believe all the Sith were dead. And had Order 66 been better executed, perhaps the boot would have been on the other foot. But if history has taught us one thing, it is this. In a thousand years Jedi will be fighting Sith. We are here to bring balance to the Force.”

“This does not mean we do not do everything we can to end the Sith’s presence. Of course not. But their deaths are not the only solution. In the very recent past we have redeemed more than one Sith Lord. But again that is not enough. Your resolve is to be admired but tempered with a word of warning. Passion and aggression. These are not Jedi ways. They are a sure path to the Dark-side. I cannot and will not tell you what to do or how to behave. But if you believe in what it means to be a Jedi, you will follow the Code. The day we stop doing that will be the day we have already lost in our fight against the Sith.”

[member="Ceska Starshield"] | [member="Au'Rus Rhaeyns"]

 

[huggin_munnin]

"No, Master," she said emphatically "The Dark Side is a wrong that must be righted. There could never be such a one, a pacifist Sith Lord."

"I cannot honor the life of one who the very Force cries out against. I feel the suffering they cause when I reach out!"

The Padawan had risen to her feet and made a deferential bow of her head to the Miraluka before she gestured to her.

"She is right, we must come together and be strong again. The Sith Lords have great power, I know it because I felt it and we are not strong enough as individuals to defeat them. As for the Code, it speaks of Peace, Harmony. Those very things cannot and will not exist when the Dark Lords continue their tyranny."

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus turned her attention to Ceska, “I would caution you on your focus on absolutes. Not all Sith are intent on killing and not all that call themselves Jedi are solely peace-keepers. Sometimes labels can be useful but other times obscure the real truths. Remember the Vahla? A race driven to the edge of extinction. And by whom? The Jedi.”

“I am not saying you should not oppose the Sith. Surely I have made myself clear in this matter. But there are challenges we face other than the Sith, and we should not turn a blind eye to those.”

“But if you believe in peace and harmony, serenity and knowledge then I have faith you will make the right decisions. Nobody can walk your path for you – only you can do that. Keep truth between your heart and the Force and whatever you do, you will have honoured the Jedi Order.”

Corvus was not here to preach, or argue or dictate another’s journey in life. The path of a Jedi took different people in different directions – only the destination remained fixed.

[member="Ceska Starshield"] | [member="Au'Rus Rhaeyns"] | [member="Jeela Tillian"] | [member="Tomas Raynor"]