Private Sand and Solitude

[Amilthi Camlenn]

"<You don't need to bother the girl>", said Amilthi calmly, but firmly, in fluent Huttese. One of her hands was raised slightly as if to attract the woman's eyes. "<You'd really rather have another drink.>" Amilthi finally smiled and offered her the drink that had been Lefwen's.

"<I s'pose... Cheers>", admitted the Twi'lek woman, relenting meekly, and taking the glass, raising it symbolically. She grinned, showing her sharp, pointy teeth, and finally pranced back to her suitor.

The Gamorran, still holding the fidgeting jawa, had been watching the scene and now finally remembered his purpose. He tossed the jawa across the room - into the arms of his companion. The Twi'lek woman gave him a look that said 'weirdo'. There were cheers from other patrons, though, and in short order, the jawa was the object of a vicious back-and-forth that drew everyone's attention and made them forget the rather underwhelming outcome of the confrontation they had just witnessed.

She reached out with one arm, putting a hand gently on Lefwen's back, not quite hugging her, but making clear enough to the girl and everyone else that she wasn't alone. She leaned a bit closer and spoke quietly. "You could have apologised." It was a simple remark, spoken without reproach, but it implied the question why she didn't.

Lefwen Claskier

 

[Lefwen Claskier]

Lefwen sat back down gingerly, her eyes continually flicking up to check what the Twi'lek was doing, and to check that a Jawa wasn't about to fly into the back of her head. She reached out to where she'd put her drink before realising that Amilthi had given it to the Twi'lek. She turned and faced the woman with a frown.

"I know you pride yourself on being mysterious and always having an answer, but dealing with cantina brawls is more my thing," she stated flatly, her voice layered with annoyance. "People don't back down just because you apologise: everyone's looking to save face, to prove that they're the baddest bonzami in the pack."

“It could have worked”, said Amilthi with a shrug. “When you look weak already, it often makes them lose interest. Doesn’t make a person look strong to hurt some weak creature.”

“Some people enjoy hurting weak creatures,” Lefwen retorted, raising her hand to Berrie to order another drink.

“I said ‘could’. The lie was excusable, by the way. It’s the necessary kind - the one I can save you the need for at home. And it is good that you didn’t lie to Berrie”, said Amilthi casually. Somehow it might dawn on the girl that the lack of an introduction may not have been entirely accidental. “You should get some lunch. That whole drink on an empty stomach wouldn’t have done you much good.”

Amilthi Camlenn

 

[Amilthi Camlenn]

Amilthi flashed a smile at Lefwen before she stood up to leave the girl to herself and her sensations and went over to the table at which 'Drenn' and his two companions were sitting. "Hey", Amilthi gave them a friendly, uncharacteristically informal greeting. "Why, hello there." "Hi." The third one didn't say anything, but pulled up a stool next to himself for Amilthi to sit on, which she took, arranging her large, heavy coat.

"What's with the little one? Your sis?" - "Very flattering, but no", said Amilthi, who was a number of years older than she looked, with a wry smile. "Listen, Berrie said I should talk to Drenn. About what's been going on up north."

"Yeah, that..." said Drenn, took a sip from his drink, and leaned forward. "You won't believe it. Me 'n' the boys were speeding over the Bantha Plains, suddenly we see the Pit in the distance, and it looks to us it's kinda... smaller than it used to be. We close in - turns out the whole kriffin' sarlacc's gone! Not just dead or anything. Gone! Like something's dragged it out of its pit. I mean, what the actual kriff?" He seemed to be quite enthused by the mystery. Amilthi listened with raised eyebrows that turned into a frown of concern. If there was something or someone around that could just remove the entire ancient sarlacc, then there were a lot of other things it could also do, and many of them were far less benign.

"Why you askin'?" - "I live up north." - "Sheesh. Better get a gun, lady. A big one." - "Or a husband, if you ain't got one." - "Shut up, Praff." - "Thanks, guys", said Amilthi with a smile, standing up already. "I'll be careful."

"Don't get drunk", she said flatly, returned to Lefwen's side. "In general, but also because we're going to make another trip today. And don't forget to pay attention to how the alcohol changes your perception. Maybe you'll find you can even change it back if you concentrate", she added casually. Somehow she seemed preoccupied.

Lefwen Claskier

 

[Lefwen Claskier]

Lefwen didn't acknowledge Amilthi's order except by taking another gulp of her drink. She was preoccupied, her mind focussed on examining the emotional-wisps that hovered within and around the patrons of the cantina. Usually she had to close her eyes and concentrate to pick up anything beyond the most basic emotion, but to her surprise she found that even with her eyes open she could read people with more depth than she was used to. Berrie, for example: generally she emanated the slow contrails of a calm, confident individual, but there was something else too - similar to sadness in its shape, but different in texture, almost more drawn out. Mourning? No, that would surely be stronger than sadness. Loneliness? Maybe.

She spent a few moments examining a few other individuals near the bar, noticing how complex and subtle the differences were between what she presumed were different shades and strengths of feeling, before letting her sense fall away. Amilthi was still stood beside her in that odd, not-quite-overbearing manner that she so easily adopted. It made it a little awkward to eat the deep-fried gorg she'd ordered, although the taste of something other than thin soup was worth baring with Amilthi's presence for.

She finished the plate quickly and then downed her one and only drink before turning to the Jedi. She nodded over in the direction of the group of men Amilthi had been talking to, "Fine choice in friends you have. Y'know the one on the right is off his speeder on spice, right?" It was the eyes that gave him away, not that Amilthi would know that - delicate flower that she was. "I didn't take you for the type," she smirked. "Where abouts are we going?" She knew the answer wouldn't mean anything to her, given how little she knew about Tatooine, but knowing would at least make her feel less lost.

Amilthi Camlenn

 

[Amilthi Camlenn]

Amilthi ignored Lefwen's comments about the people she had just spoken to. "We live at the end of a high plateau. It's called the Great Mesra Plateau. On the other side of it is an expanse that's called the Bantha Plains because, unsurprisingly, a lot of Banthas live there. You know, the large, woolly animals you saw a lot of in the streets. It's their milk you've been drinking."

She pulled her coat together at the front and slipped from the seat. "There's a big monster that used to live there in the sand. I'm worried that it got replaced by a bigger monster."

"Thanks, Berrie! she shouted over the counter, suddenly smiling, but only for a brief moment until she turned around again and approached the exit with Lefwen in tow.

Lefwen Claskier

 

[Lefwen Claskier]

Lefwen had assumed that when Amilthi mentioned monsters she'd done so to make it clear where they were not going. As such, watching the walls of the canyon zip past as the speeder carried them both into the wilderness was an uncomfortable experience. The twin suns shone high in the sky above them, blotted out every few moments by an overhang or the branch of some spiny tree. It was hot now, and Lefwen was glad that she had packed lightly for their journey. Admittedly, she had rather hoped that the journey would involve more drinking and eating and less monster hunting.

She looked over at Amilthi, who was focussed, apparently with little effort, on driving them through the folded, cracked terrain of the canyon bed. Lefwen studied her for a moment, finding, to her disappointment, very little to criticise. Her eyes eventually fell on the lightsaber about Amilthi's waist. "Don't you think I should have a lightsaber. Y'know, now that we're apparently going monster hunting..." she asked grimly.

Amilthi Camlenn

 

[Amilthi Camlenn]

Amilthi turned to Lefwen with an unexpectedly warm smile. "Do you remember what I said about things trying to eat you? And I assume you must be convinced by now that I'm quite the monster myself."

The mischievous tone in her voice disappeared again almost immediately. "But no. You would end up hurting none but yourself with a lightsaber at this stage. It is a treacherous weapon, it's weightless and annihilates by mere touch. Besides, a powerful weapon such as this creates a great temptation. You start thinking that it will solve more problems than it does, and grow overeager to use it. I don't believe you could resist that temptation. I don't even know yet if you would want to."

Lefwen Claskier

 

[Lefwen Claskier]

Lefwen grumbled something incomprehensible and turned away. Aside from the food, the day was turning into a nightmare. As the canyon gave way to an endless sea of dunes and sand, she caught herself almost wishing she was back at the house. Not that she wanted to practice meditating: meditating was, exactly as she had expected all along, a complete waste of time. She'd found it all too easy to do, which no doubt surprised Amilthi given how much she adores meditation. Maybe that was why the Jedi had brought her out here? Not as a reward like she'd implied, but to try to distract her.

Stuck in a clanky old speeder on some dustball far from home with a jealous old Jedi, today could not get any worse.

Amilthi Camlenn

 

[Amilthi Camlenn]

Amilthi was content to remain silent and leave the girl to her thoughts, which were no doubt unpleasant. It would take quite some time and work from this one before she would experience the peace of a still mind. There was much negativity buried in her mind that needed to come to the surface and dissolved before such a state would materialise. Amilthi wished she could help the girl, but she did not feel in a position to do so. She very much doubted that Lefwen would want to talk to her about any of the issues that exercised her - the insight would have to come by itself.

The journey was lengthy and monotonous, and the cliffs had long ceased to be visible in the distance, endless dunes stretching out disorientingly on all sides, when they reached their first destination. Who knew how Amilthi had even managed to find it with such surety. It was simply a huge, deep hole in the sand, which had already visibly begun to fill in again, the dunes slowly sliding into it and the wind carrying more and more grains of sand to fill the hollow.

Amilthi stopped the landspeeder floating over the middle of it. "This used to contain a sarlacc", she explained, "an ancient creature of the desert that lives a very, very slow life. Once in a while, every few years, perhaps every few decades, some unlucky creature finds its way into the trap that it has set here and serves as nourishment until the next one. This one had grown rather large, supposedly because local criminals had a habit of feeding undesirable individuals to it. Its lair here is known as the Pit of Carcoon."

"Well, let's see", she said, standing up on her seat, and unceremoniously jumped down into the pit. She landed at its bottom as if it had been only a metre's drop, put her hands on her hips, and looked around. On one side of the pit, she spotted something: it seemed that one of the limb-like appendages with which the sarlacc anchored itself in the sand had been ripped off and remained stuck. It was as if it had been left there when the sarlacc had been... dragged out of its pit. Amilthi raised and eyebrow and looked at the torn flesh, pondering.

She shot in the air as if propelled by a tight spring, on a parabolic trajectory that would have landed her quite painfully on Lefwen's lap had she not had the quickness of mind and body to plant a foot on the seat between the girl's sights. "Sorry", she said with a faintly apologetic smile as she stepped over onto her own seat. "I think someone or something dragged it out of there", she stated. "I could see someone being quite sick of it and going to the trouble of getting a barge or ship with enough power. We will have to... ask around." And with that, the vehicle shot onwards across the sand once again.

Lefwen Claskier

 

[Lefwen Claskier]

Lefwen was bored. The journey was taking far longer than she'd hoped and the heat was becoming unbearable even with the wind blowing against them. She'd managed to waste some time cleaning out her hands, spent a little more reading the speeder's scruffy manual she'd found in the storage compartment. She'd even tried to coax Amilthi into playing 'I spy', although after 'S' she'd run out of ideas. She was now sat with her eyes closed and her hands resting on her lap. It was difficult to follow her usual practices with the drone of the thruster behind them, but she persisted: shifting her focus across her body slowly and trying to register how everything felt. As usual, after a few minutes she lost focus and began to think.

She was getting better at notating each thought as it arose and a few patterns had begun to emerge. As best she could tell, she tended to think in terms of escape and imprisonment. She supposed that was why meditation was interesting. Physically, she was imprisoned: trapped on a world she didn't know with a woman she still barely trusted. But, in her thoughts she could escape: live out any life she wished for, return home to Epica and spend days climbing the mountains, or visit amazing sights she'd seen on holo-docs. Perhaps that was the key to meditation? To the 'peace' that Amilthi always talked about? The realisation that that sense of imprisonment was an illusion caused by a focus merely on the present circumstances of ones physical condition.

Feth, she was starting to think in Amilthi-like phrases now too... She stopped herself and returned to focussing on her body once more, carefully studying every ache and pain and vibration. She was sweatier than she had thought, and her back hurt from the lumps in the seat cushion. She let her focus shift to her feelings: she was bored, certainly; a little tired, her eyes feeling heavy and dry; and she was angry. That last one was confusing. Why was she angry? Her mind suddenly raced with reasons: she was trapped on this dusty drakhole of a world with a Jedi, a woman who'd ruined her one chance of getting home and made her lose a fortune in credits; a woman who was worried about being overshadowed by her; a woman who would no doubt betray her at any moment, like everybody else had! 'They'll always betray you, Lef, because you're noth-'

Lefwen's eyes snapped open. Her hands ached and shook, so tight had she been clenching her fists, and she could suddenly taste the familiar iron tang of blood in her mouth. She breathed deeply and wiped her eyes with a sleeve, being sure to keep her head facing away from Amilthi. The scenery had changed now: no longer filled with endless dunes but instead dotted with crags of rock. In the distance she could now see a huge mountain range, and on the foothills closer to them she spotted a bulbous cylinder rising up out of the ground. Their destination, presumably.

After a short while the speeder drew close and Amilthi brought them to a gentle stop at the foot of the hills on which the monastery was perched. Lefwen jumped out of the speeder and landed ungracefully on the soft sand, lifting up her hood as a shield from the strong winds. She trudged through the sand around the speeder to where Amilthi was now stood and gazed up at the monastery. Remembering back to some of her etiquette lessons, she turned and asked, "So these monks, they must be like Jedi, right? Are there any rules we need to obey while we're here?"

Amilthi Camlenn

 

[Amilthi Camlenn]

Amilthi held her coat together at the front and pulled up the large hood. Had the garment not been a lighter shade of grey, it would have given her a sinister appearance.

"They are a group of mystics who went down a wrong path and hit a dead end", she explained as they walked up the footpath that led up to the gate. "The missed the goal completely, but they don't know it, they think they've got it, and somehow they manage to perpetuate their crazy teachings and convince more victims of their nonsense. The rule is: stay close to me."

They reached a large, trapezoid gate in the structure's out wall, the same dirt-brown colour as the rest of the façade. Amilthi frowned invisibly under the hood of her coat. There were long, large scratch marks around the frame. She came closer to inspect them. Suddenly, a large robotic eyestalk jumped out of the wall right next to her head and, unable to spot her, focussed in on Lefwen, apparently adjusting some kind of lense. A voice from a speaker in the wall said something incomprehensible in Huttese.

Amilthi slapped the eyestalk from the side, upon which it suddenly bent around to face her. After a short conversation, Amilthi returned to Lefwen's side and waited. In time, the gate opened, and a Twi'lek woman emerged who differed from the more frequently seen specimens in two ways. She was old and wrinkled, and she wore a loose brown robe that made it absolutely impossible to determine how that age affected a Twi'lek's tissue in other parts of the body.

She beckoned them to come inside, and as they stepped into the darkness of the corridor, Amilthi and Lefwen could see a spider-shaped robot with a spheric jar attached to its lower side, containing what appeared to be a floating brain, scrambling out of the way. It did nothing to reduce the eeriness of the derelict place. Amilthi leaned towards the girl at her side and whispered sombrely: "That is what they think enlightenment looks like."

The Twi'lek woman led them to a salon of sorts and gestured for them to sit down by a low table. Presently she returned with two glasses containing a clear, brown liquid that was hot and smelled like tea. "Welcome. I am Palakwi. How can I be of service to our esteemed guests?", she said softly.

Amilthi picked up her glass and took a sip of the tea. But when Lefwen reached for hers, she lowered her hand above the beverage as if to shield it from her, signalling that she should leave it be.

Lefwen Claskier

 

[Lefwen Claskier]

Lefwen lowered her hand, giving Amilthi a confused and nervous look. There was something foreboding about this place, as though the walls had witnessed more than steel and mortar ever should. Their host, the Twi'lek Palakwi, did not seem to mind the reproach, smiling at the pair of them with her crinkled lips. A silence hung over the group, only broken by the sound of mechanical claws tapping on clay echoing through the constricting corridors of the monastery.

"You are a B'omarr monk?" Lefwen enquired, her voice suddenly seeming unnervingly loud.

"Oh no, my dear. A devotee to the B'omarr order, certainly, but I am no monk. Rather, I ensure that my masters are well taken care of, and I serve as the voice of the monastery," Palakwi replied with another toothless smile.

"The voice of the monastery?"

"Certainly. It would be unsuitable for my masters to take time away from their practices to converse with our honoured guests." Palakwi paused and studied Lefwen with her large, orange eyes, checking every inch of her skull in an unnerving fashion. "Tell me, child, how much do you know of our order?"

Lefwen found herself lost in the Twi'lek's eyes for a moment before finally answering. "I, erm, regret to say that I know very little of the B'omarr Order. I know that you seek enlightenment?"

"The B'omarr Order was founded for that very purpose, certainly. It is well known to all that our galaxy is blessed in its intricacies and complexities, and it is through the B'omarr way that true enlightenment is achieved. With clarity of purpose and focus it is possible to comprehend all things, and it is through these guiding principles, as laid down by the many who trod this path before us, that we seek to better understand this universe and our oneness within it," Palakwi stated with almost rehearsed precision. "Our way is to realise that the oneness of our grandeur is borne not of the flesh but of the mind, and though through the senses we may witness this universe, in truth, true comprehension is available only to the mind unencumbered by the crudity of sensation. Certainly." She concluded, placing her alabaster hands back on the table that lay between them.

Lefwen nodded, her own mind entirely without comprehension. Two exits, one ahead one behind. That thought kept flashing through her head. It would only take around 30 seconds to reach the entrance, which had appeared to have been operated by a mechanism on its right side. She could get out before the Twi'lek or the strange spider-bots could reach her.

Amilthi must have noticed her fidgeting as the Jedi presently placed a hand on her arm. Lefwen looked up at the woman, perhaps feeling grateful for her presence for the first time.

"Is that why you came, my most noble guests? To learn more of our Order?"

Amilthi Camlenn

 

[Amilthi Camlenn]

While Palakwi was speaking, expounding on an ideal whose abhorrence her unfamiliarity with its realisation on any deeper level allowed her not to see, Amilthi drank the better part of her tea, nursing the glass in her lap. Eventually, she smiled, leaning forward to put the glass down again, and still keeping her other hand on her student's arm.

"We couldn't help but notice the marks on your door, said Amilthi, ignoring the woman's question. "Where do they come from?"

"Oh, the outside world throws many slings and arrows at us to bar our rightful escape from it. A vicious beast attempted to intrude upon us, but these ancient walls were once built to protect those who sought freedom, and it cannot breach them. We do not see many visitors come to our door now that it roams the land in front of our gates."

She threw a glance at a spider-legged robot that was suddenly moving past her chair and up the wall, its metal feet making clacking sounds on the stone. When it reached the ceiling, the main part of its body twisted so that the vat continued to hang down from it. Perched up there, it remained motionless.

Palakwi turned to Amilthi again and remained silent. She seemed to be growing slightly nervous.

"Do you know what happened to the Pit of Carcoon?"

"The Pit? Oh, oooh, no... It is a dark place, to be avoided! I have no knowledge of such things." The mere mention of the place seemed to put her in a state of frightened awe.

Amilthi nodded softly. "Thank you for your kind welcome. I wish we could stay for the night, but I'm afraid we must be on our way."

Palakwi looked around nervously for a moment, but found nothing to look at. "Oh, but... please do stay", she said pleadingly, as if the notion of the guests leaving caused her pain.

Hello, young one. There was a new voice in Lefwen's head. It was not Amilthi's, nor her sister's. It was not even a voice as such, it had no tone, no timbre. Merely a colourless, featureless notion of words.

The spider droid's multitude of red eyes shone from the ceiling.

Lefwen Claskier

 

[Lefwen Claskier]

Lefwen froze. Her eyes were wide. Her hands felt heavy. Her breath slowed.

You dwell inside your mind already. Who are you? And yet its the place you're most afraid of. I'm not- Afraid? Child you've always been afraid. We can cure you.

She felt her eyes starting to droop. She was tired. Tired of it all: the scrabbling to make a living, the running, the hiding.

You are weighed down by this world which has been so unkind to you. We can lift your burdens.

She felt her throat starting to close. She needed to lie down. She needed to let go.

You need to let go. Forget what you are. That way you can be free.

Freedom inside her own mind. That was what she'd dreamt of earlier on the speeder. It was what she had always dreamt of. She closed her eyes, her breath now shaking. She felt herself slipping away, her emotions floating into the void, all sensation dropping away.

No. There's something else. She could feel it, like a gentle wind pushing against her, like the weight of light falling from the stars. It danced in her vision invisibly. It pressed on her skin without any presence. It pulsed in her ears silently. It was gentle, ethereal, but present - a pressure that ebbed and flowed against her, around her, within the entire room. Within herself.

Lefwen heard the sound of glass shattering and sprung to her feet, eyes now wide open. The cup of tea lay broken on the table, slivers of clear glass splayed out in a perfect circle around the base. On the ceiling, the spider-bot was coiling and folding, its mechanical limbs erratically flailing as though it had been thrown in a fire, its glowing eyes flashing and stuttering. Palakwi had risen to her feet too, her hands raised in the air as though ready to catch the B'omarr, words of some unknown language shouting and pleading.

Lefwen began to back away towards the door."Amilthi, I think we should leave!"

Amilthi Camlenn

 

[Amilthi Camlenn]

Amilthi, against all probability, was chuckling quietly. "Yes, we should", she said merrily. Taking no further note of the Twi’lek woman or the B’omarr monk, she grasped her student's hand reassuringly and led her, making for the exit with swift steps.

Nothing and nobody put themselves in their way. The walked down the wide corridor leading to the gate unhindered, and at a wide, forceful swing of Amilthi's arm, the cate itself slid open. The sunlight that flooded through it blinded them temporarily, but they did not slow their steps.

Once outside, Amilthi let go of Lefwen's hand. A slight upward curl of amusement still played around her lips as they descended on the path through the steep, rocky terrain back onto the sand where their landspeeder was parked.

“What happened?” Lefwen demanded. Her voice was shaky and hoarse. “What did you do?”

“Nothing”, said Amilthi lightly and happily, as if no explanation were needed.

Lefwen turned on her. “What do you mean ‘nothing’? You broke the glass, you…” She stopped and paced for a few steps. “What happened?”

“No, I didn’t do anything. That stupid monk found out that it was dealing with something much more powerful than itself. You.” Amilthi seemed to take a mischievous kind of pleasure in the fact.

Lefwen stared at Amilthi, the anger on her face turn to confusion. “I don’t…” she stopped and looked at her hands. “I didn’t do that,” she snapped. “I can’t do stuff like that, that’s just for Jedi like you. I’m not a Jedi! I’m just…” she stopped herself. “I’m just me,” she sighed.

“You see”, continued Amilthi undeterred, “the B’omarr monks believe in total separation from the input of their senses. They believe that to truly achieve unity with the universe, one must rid oneself of the distraction of the senses. They correctly identified that attachment to sensations is a problem, but they picked the wrong solution. You, on the other hand, have been doing the opposite, you have been practicing to embrace your body and accept the realm of physical sensations as it is. You have been working on unifying the mind and the body. The work is not done, not by far, but you have taken the first steps on the path. After realising the unity of the mind-body phenomenon, you will be able to realise the unity of that phenomenon with… the rest of the world. You have probably noticed by now that thoughts are only sensations, much like those that come from your body. You perceive them through their own sense door, they have the same status. They take up your attention in the same way, can be engaged or observed in the same way. As your perception becomes more subtle, perceives more and more sensations of the physical or mental kind, you will begin to spot between them also the external world. You will find it taking up your awareness in the same way, flickering into it and out of it again.

“For some people, this takes the form of visualisations, they see the room around them in the mind’s eye with their closed eyelids, even see themselves sitting in it. For others, like myself, it is a non-modal awareness of space. Whatever form it takes - it is the beginning of the realisation that you do not really exist as an entity separate from the world.”

Lefwen listened intently. It annoyed her no end that Amilthi’s lectures were starting to make sense, but they did make sense. “But that doesn’t explain what happened. It doesn’t explain how the glass broke, or why the spider-thing was acting so weird. It doesn’t explain how I can see how people feel or-” she stopped, realising she’d never revealed that last fact before now. “I could feel something. As though I was surrounded by something, as though everything was surrounded by something.”

“For a moment, you realised that the glass is not so different from your finger”, explained Amilthi smilingly. “Why does your finger move when you want it to, but the glass does not? The truth is that it does. It is a fleeting insight, one that you merely had a glimpse of. It will take much arduous work for you to solidify it. I can tell you all I want about it, of course - that won’t help. Only with repeated direct experience will it gradually stick more and more, become accessible more easily, with less mental effort, and eventually, it can become practically permanent.

“That ‘something’ you felt was once again a reflex of the Force. This way of speaking about it makes it sound like it’s some sort of substance, some kind of ‘stuff’ of which there can be more of less at a given point in space. That’s of course not true. The Force is really just the fact that you are connected to your surroundings - but what you sensed was what the realisation of that fact feels like to our minds.”

Again, Lefwen listened carefully. While she had grown better at interpreting Amilthi’s teachings over the time they’d spent together, suddenly it felt like all of it made more sense. She didn’t respond this time, simply taking the words in and nodding. When Amilthi had finished, Lefwen offered up a smile and turned away. “I’m still not great at reckoning on this planet, but won’t it be night time in a few hours?”

The Jedi looked at the sky, where the twin suns were currently hidden by the nearby rock face, but the atmosphere’s colour was indication enough. “You’re right. We should get going”, she said with a slight nod and made for the speeder.

Lefwen Claskier

 

[Lefwen Claskier]

Feet swiftly padded through the sand as the twin suns hung overhead. In the distance, a herd of bantha steadily made their way over the dunes in search of water, and the contrails from landing and departing ships criss-crossed in the blue sky. She felt the dusty wind rushing against her face, felt the warmth of her muscles as they worked, felt the tickle of her hair, tied back to keep from her eyes, as it brushed against her neck.

She came to a stop at the edge of the mesa. Beneath her, spread out like a blanket of gold and yellow, was a great plain of sand and rock stretching as far as the eye could see, the glint of Mos Eisley shining from near the horizon. Lefwen sat down and took out her canteen of water, savouring it as she watched the ships dance above the busy spaceport. For a moment she was reminded of her childhood home, of how she used to escape from her lessons and make her away across the rooftops, through the gardens, and finally out past the security wall and up into the hills which overlooked the star terminal. She noted the thought: that was a happy one.

She sat for a while longer, allowing herself to regain her breath and focus. She was practising running while drawing on the Force, which seemed to help with her stamina and speed. It was a good practice, she'd been told, for building up her ability to perceive the Force outside of meditation. Amilthi had even said she could explore the area surrounding the house so long as she returned at the first sign of danger. It had been a few weeks since their visit to the B'omarr Monastery, but since then Lefwen had found herself feeling far more enthusiastic about learning from Amilthi. She'd been making progress, she could feel it, and meditation was becoming much easier to focus on. 'You still have much to learn,' she heard Amilthi's voice say. She smiled. Perhaps, but she still felt good about what she'd achieved so far. She rose to her feet, checked her compass, and then set off again in a jog back towards the house.

***
​

A great wailing sound broke Lefwen's concentration. She came to a sudden stop, her head casting around for the source. It sounded distant, but not violent, more desperate. The sound seemed to be coming from just beyond a bank of large dunes in the near-distance. She checked the time on the watch she'd picked up on a visit to Mos Eisley. She would be late back... The sound loomed over the landscape again.

The scene that met Lefwen when she crested the top of the dunes was appalling. A herd of bantha lay in the valley, most dead, some dying, others wandering aimlessly between the dead as though unable to comprehend what had happened. Lefwen allowed herself to slide down the dunes and, when at the bottom, cautiously approached one of the dead banthas. From the side she approached the creature had looked intact, as though it had died from old age or disease, but as she rounded the creature's enormous bulk the cause of its death became clear. One entire flank was missing, the flesh dried and desiccated by the merciless heat. As she looked around, it became clear that many of the banthas had suffered a similar fate: limbs torn away, heads decapitated, bones clawed into by some incredible force. It seemed like the attack had happened a day or two before, judging from the state of the injuries, but still some banthas squirmed and groaned as they slowly succumbed.

Amilthi would want to know about this, that much was clear. Lefwen checked her compass once more and prepared to set off, when she noticed a strange object lying on the ground in front of her. It was half-buried by sand, but as she pulled it free and dusted it off it became clear what it was: a scale. From what she didn't know, but it was large, roughly the size of her hand, and it had a strange dark-grey colour to it. She studied it for a moment, before finally pushing it into her pocket and continuing on her journey back to the house.

***
​

Lefwen returned to the house late for her midday meditation session. She stopped just before the threshold, allowing herself a moment to wipe the dusty sweat from her face and come up with the best way to phrase her excuse before slowly pushing open the door.

Amilthi Camlenn

 

[Amilthi Camlenn]

Sitting on the floor, Amilthi basked in the warm glow of the feeling she had conjured. It was an exercise to fan the flames of kindness and goodwill towards all living beings, no matter how despicable one might find their behaviour. It turned out that thoughts of the strange girl she had found herself with was excellent tinder to start from. Amilthi was well aware that she was a troubled creature, and that much darkness lay hidden in her. But it was heartening to see how she was finally taking to the practice after seeing some progress, and how her suffering was eased at least a little bit from it. Amilthi wished that Lefwen should progress further on the path, should find peace and be liberated from her misery - and wished the same to all beings.

It was an exercise best practiced by those who could no longer be hurt - to ensure that they would not hurt another.

Filled with the happiness she wished upon others, and smiling, Amilthi rose from the floor and put herself to work in the house. Lefwen would be home before none, ere the sun would grow too strong for her to keep moving outside, but until then, there was laundry to be done and food to be prepared. Amilthi found that the work felt easier when it was not only for herself, but for the benefit of another. It did not matter that she could expect no thanks for it, and she bore the girl no grudge for it.

***​

Lefwen was running late, but Amilthi had no feeling that anything was amiss. Since absence of evidence was evidence of absence, she was not worried. Perhaps the sitting before lunch would have to be skipped for today. She began to chop a gourd, paying meticulous attention to the feeling of the knife's handle on the skin of her hands, the look of her eyes, her intention to move her arm and wrist, the movement itself, her intention to cut in a particular place, the small adjustments, bare perceptible, she made with her muscles as the knife was in motion... There was a whole universe in this simple process that one could wander around and get lost in.

Eventually the door was pushed open. Amilthi put down the knife very deliberately and turned around to find a thoroughly sweaty Lefwen. She smiled.

Lefwen Claskier

 

[Lefwen Claskier]

Lefwen wasn’t overly surprised to see Amilthi already looking in her direction when she pushed the door open. She had a knack for reacting to things slightly before they happened. She pulled the door shut slowly behind her and blew a hair from her face.

“I know. I’m late,” she began with an affected sigh. “It wasn’t on purpose though, promise. I just got a bit waylaid with something.”

“What happened?” asked Amilthi calmly.

“I was doing my normal route, past the dragon skeleton, up through the whispering dunes, out on to the mesa, you know?” Lefwen was talking quickly, still catching her breath and eager to get to the interesting bit. “Anyway, on the way back I heard this sound. So I went to go and investigate-” she stopped. Didn’t mean to tell her that bit. “And there was this whole herd on bantha lying dead amongst the dunes.”

“What sound?” A concerned look crept on Amilthi’s features. “What killed them, could you tell?”

“Erm, sort of like a wailing sound. I guessed it was one of the dying ones,” she shrugged, before her face suddenly fell. “They were all torn up, like someone had gone through the herd with a tree-cutter.” She paused for a moment, remembering the scene more vividly. “I didn’t see what did it, it looked like it had been over long before I arrived. I did find this, however,” she stated, producing the charcoal-like scale from her pocket and offering it to Amilthi.

The Jedi took it with a serious expression that spelt recognition. She did not even examine it. “I see”, she said sombrely. She raised her gaze again to Lefwen and was clearly trying to hide her preoccupation and trying to regain a bit of her previous sanguine mood. “Well, it’s almost lunchtime. You can skip the sitting, come on, go take a shower instead.” She managed only the faintest of smiles.

Lefwen cocked her head slightly, having clearly expected a little more interest in her discovery. “But don’t you think we should…” she began.

“I will”, said Amilthi firmly. “After you’ve cleaned yourself up and had your lunch.”

Lefwen gave another quizzical look but eventually relented, picking up her shoes from beside the door and heading through the house to tidy herself up.

Amilthi Camlenn

 

[Amilthi Camlenn]

It was only after a lunch eaten in silence, as she was taking away the dishes, that Amilthi spoke again. "I will have to have a look at this beast. It's getting excessive." Despite the flippant choice of words, she sounded sombre. "Stay here and do your afternoon sessions as usual. You'll be safer."

She went over to the large cupboard in the room, one of whose sections also held her small number of clothes, and changed into her black trousers and tunic, a set of clothes very much after the style of traditional Jedi garb, except perhaps for its colour. Lacking a separate room of her own in the house, she showed no shyness or self-consciousness about doing so before Lefwen's eyes. She clipped her lightsaber to the belt and slipped into the roomy black coat. It was unwise to go outside on Tatooine without such protection - sandstorms could always happen.

"I'll be back by nightfall, don't worry", she said, and once again made a feeble attempt to smile at Lefwen while her mind was clearly elsewhere. Then she left the house. Half a minute later, Lefwen could hear not, as she might have expected, the sound of their landspeeder, but the booming noise of the starfighter's engines as it took off.

Lefwen Claskier

 

[Lefwen Claskier]

Amilthi had left so suddenly that Lefwen had no time to interrupt. She stood awkwardly at the door, watching the starfighter launch into the air. The thrusters' exhausts spat up a wave of sand and dirt, and then all was silent.

***
​

The rucksack fell heavily into the vacant seat and Lefwen hopped up onto the speeder. She almost grinned as she wrapped her fingers around the wheel - it had been a long time since she'd last had a chance to drive. She slotted the keycard into the panel and pressed the ignition, holding tight as the battered old repulsors lifted the vehicle into the air. She cautiously tested the flight controls and then, with only a small amount of oversteering and sideslip, sped off out of the canyon.

It took some time to find the same parking area that Amilthi usually used, but soon Lefwen had found it and left the speeder behind. She threaded her way through the narrow streets of Mos Eisley, avoiding the ones that seemed too overcrowded or too dimly lit. It was like being back on her own again, living day to day on the streets of one world or another. Admittedly, she usually chose worlds that were less hot and dusty, but stepping through the backstreets and prowling through the crowd felt warmly familiar regardless of the climate.

After a short time she reached the market place, a huge sprawling mass of stalls and parts-shops that seemed to take up a huge section of the city. Everywhere there were vendors of all varieties: butchers and tanners, machinist and slicer workshops, even the odd pen filled with bizarre looking alien livestock. Voices hollered in every possible language, bartering and yelling prices, and the crowds of customers bustled passed each other. Lefwen breathed in the faintly awful smelling air and smiled, taking in the scene before stepping forward to find herself an interesting stall, barely noticing the blue-hued Twi'lek eyeing her from the entrance of a bounty hunter's enclave.

Amilthi Camlenn