Seeking Council from a Grumpy Old Person (Dagobah)

[4ND-R0]

[member="Kiara"]

"I know how. Just haven't since I was a little girl." She commented. She set the clay lump down gently, grabbing a piece of it. She grabbed some of the dirt from the ground, molding it with the hunk she had in her hand and started to shape it. She continued to pull pieces from her lump, adding dirt to give texture. When she ran out, the form she was giving it was a basic vessel shape. At any time, clay could be added or removed to make it anything from a bowl to a vase. Allara stood and went back to the pool, retrieving more clay from the edge. She returned once more to Kiara, moving the clay to where she was working, continuing her sculpting.

 

[Kiara]

[member="Allara Ven"]

She stayed mostly silent - staring at her fire and the clay molding as it was being created. After a few long series of minutes, she stood up and pointed to the fire. "Dry your vase, then it will go into the ashes so it can cook." Before letting an answer make itself into the air, she turned away and headed to her dirt hut to fetch her own pottery.

It wasn't a decent day for a fire - but then again, almost no day is here in Dagobah.

 

[4ND-R0]

[member="Kiara"]

Allara finished shaping her vase, and lifted the vase with telekinesis. She had it levitate over the fire, carefully turning it with the Force so that each side was evenly dried. She was rather confused about the ashes, though. She simply placed her vase under the fire's wood, where a heap of still warm ash was falling. She hissed in slight pain as a flame briefly licked her hand. She immediately placed the light burn into the cool mud nearby. From there, she kept waiting patiently for her teacher to return. She kept watch on the vase, covered in hot ash, so it did not shatter.

 

[Kiara]

[member="Allara Ven"]

Time traveled quickly as Kiara returned with her own vase. She sat down criss-cross once more, then twirled the vase gently in her hands. Hers was lined with various markings - most of which weren't in basic. "A vase is a carrier for water, and small materials. Made from the ground, and carrying ground." She said, putting it down right next to Allara. "What does yours do?"

 

[4ND-R0]

[member="Kiara"]

Allara stared at her vase a moment before answer. "The same as any vase, I suppose. Currently, it's an empty vessel, molded and shaped. Hardened through fire and heat. But, purpose has not be given to it. It awaits to be filled with contents." She kept her watch on the vase, carefully pulling it from the ash with the Force. Heat pulsed from it still, ashy residue falling off of it. "It's also too hot touch at the moment with one's bare hands." She brought it towards herself and the teacher, keeping it away just enough to let it cool in the wind.

 

[Kiara]

[member="Allara Ven"]

"You're wrong. It's just a vase. Sure a good thing to have around when you need to transport liquids, but you over thought it. Now what creature looms behind you?" There was no creature immediately there, besides a few insects, but there were a few larger beasts a few kilos back.

The hermit put down her own vase and stared into the fire, slowly pushing her fingers into the open flames a few moments before taking them back without so much as a wince in pain - or a blister of heat to show the damage.

 

[4ND-R0]

[member="Kiara"]

She felt through the Force. "Trick question. There's numerous creatures behind me. Insects in the air, snakes slithering. Possibly even an elephoth thudding its way through the swamp." She sighed once more. She was probably over thinking it. "But I can't say for sure without looking behind me." She, too, stared into the fire, mesmerized by the dancing flames. She was in awe of her current teacher, however, noticing how her hand being unscathed by the fire. The young witch assumed that these questions were some sort of test for her.

 

[Kiara]

[member="Allara Ven"]

"Were you looking for creatures, or life?" She looked up for a small moment, then looked back down into the fire. "Even these flames can be considered life to those wanting it to, or in other times, they can be considered a nothingness and disregarded." Shoving her hand back into the fire, she looked up to Allara with a small spark in her eye. "Disregarding life can lead to severe consequences," and once more sliding it out, the added, "but if you can make it come natural, you can create your own surroundings and know what is important for what you need to both survive - and improve yourself. Now take your vase and tell me what it is again."

 

[4ND-R0]

[member="Kiara"]

"It is a vessel for survival. It is a tool made from the earth, meant to carry precious, life-saving water. Or to carry other things needed from nature to survive." She said, "Mud to create a shelter from adobe. Stones for a path. Anything you need." She looked her vase over. "The vase itself is made of life. Organic materials." She stared over at the old woman with hopeful eyes. She was starting to understand the message. Life was not only plants and fauna. It included the earth, air, water, and fire that shapes these things.

 

[Kiara]

[member="Allara Ven"]

"And this life all works together to help each other out. The air, to let you breathe, the water, to help you mold, the fire to make it all solid. Together you are a part of life, and forever creating more, even in death." She looked down at the ground, slowly picking up a crawling ant-like creature on two of her fingers. "Fighting or not. Disregard even one piece of life and you will die, but spend too much time pondering on what every little leg of an ant can do to you, and you will perish to your own foolishness."

The ant was tossed to the side, and Kiara picked up her vase and started to the home. "Tonight rain will come, and the living creatures of sentimental form will hide in their shelters. You will need to create or find one for yourself, or be drenched in the nature that you wear."

 

[4ND-R0]

[member="Kiara"]

Allara nodded to the old woman. She moved around the swamp, not straying too far from the camp that Kiara had stationed herself at. She walked a little ways, before coming to a cave. A cave that made her feel uneasy. She moved away from it, to an adjacent tree that had large roots making a sort of cover. She hid there at nightfall, hearing the piiter-patter of raindrops on the ground until started pick up. She had Raksha in her hand, now relaxed, petting along its ebony scales. With the night, she closed her eyes, letting her per amphistaff coil around her arm to rest. The thought of the cave inspired a fitful sleep. The visions had returned once more.

A dark figure wielding a red blade clashing with one of green. Fire. Hatred. Then serenity. The Force pulling at her from both sides. Until the darkness lashed with a seared, burnt face of nightmarish purportions.

She jolted awake, breathing heavily.

 

[Kiara]

[member="Allara Ven"]

Small lavaish sensations in the Force reached out and attacked Kiara while she laid awake on her dirt bed. She never liked to sleep while it rained, because of the peaceful sound it gave her, but right now she was wishing it would go away. One of the many reasons she didn't normally train people anymore was because of this - the location near the cave gave some others bad nightmares, some of which even effected her.

Rolling to her side, she continued on the list of reasons why not to let people visit her. Number 102: Allara's nightmares, before falling asleep completely herself, to waken at the morning chirps of toads feasting about on their prey, and the rain dribbling to a stop, only leaving to nature it's remains.

 

[4ND-R0]

[member="Kiara"]

Allara heard the rain fade. She walked out, making Raksha a staff so she could have a walking stick on the newly wet earth. She walked her way back to Kiara's camp, standing patiently as she awaited the older woman to return from her hut. She had questions about that cave she came across when finding her temporary shelter. The place reeked of the Dark Side. She was even curious if the wise woman was even willing to help her still. She did not know if her nightmares travelled through the force.

 

[Kiara]

[member="Allara Ven"]

It took quite some time for Kiara to come out of her hut, nearly dressed in a new spot of dirt somewhere on her robes, and a little more fuzz where her straight hair once used to lay. She slowly came to the campsite she made the night before, leaning onto her staff gently as she poked at the cooled and rained down ashes. She had a new lesson that could be taught.

 

[4ND-R0]

[member="Kiara"]

"Good mirning, Kiara." The force witch gave her elder a polite bow before standing straight once more. She stood patiently for the teacher to address her and begin the lesson for today. "I wish to ask about the cave. The dark side seems to pour from there like water from a stream." The young woman wanted to press the matter further, but chose not to for the sake of listening to her new teacher.

 

[Kiara]

[member="Allara Ven"]

After a few long moments of idly poking the ashes, Kiara stood up again and leaned on her staff, nodding her head. "Water can come in many different approaches, just as the Force. Rain, falling from the sky. Seems harmless enough, but it robs the fire of life, such as the fire can rob the water of life if it were in a different form." She pushed a small bit of ash away, then moved across the small camp to look around. "Though water can also be the other side. Extinguishing what may be the dark side all together. What do you think water means?"

The hermit turned to look at Allara with soft eyes, this time not giving her much chance to answer the riddle as she moved to prepare another vase of it's rain water.

 

[4ND-R0]

[member="Kiara"]

"Water is the flow of life, of the Force. It can come in many forms, and can wash away impurities, or extinguish fire." She watched the hermit, "But water can be poisoned or corrupted." She kept still as the old woman move about the camp. She was very curious of what the next training would be. She was beginnig to learn patience with the hermit's crotchety attitude and moods. She was very interested in the themes she was bing taught. Yesterday was analogy of earth. Tody seemed to be thematic of water.

 

[Kiara]

[member="Allara Ven"]

"No, it's just water. You can clean water," She said, knocking against a vase filled with rain water, "but you cannot say you are removing only bad. So much good can be found in a single drop, if you look close enough." She moved away from the vase and back to the fire. "In order to cleanse your water, you will need a fire. The water has killed the life of the fire, and in return, the fire will not cleanse it. You must seek out new fire, or stay and ponder what water has done to the fire for the rest of your life."

Smacking down her staff once, she straightened herself out. "Go, find the wooden materials not yet corrupted and soaked in the rain water. Find those that had hidden themselves or found shelter, or struggle to extract the impurities of those already ruined. You will need to clean your water today."

 

[4ND-R0]

[member="Kiara"]

Allara nodded and walked her way out into the marshy forest. The task at hand would be difficult because of the new rainfall. She went around to different trees and hiding holes to search for the wood. Once again, she passed along the path near the cave of the dark side. She became apprehensive and moved far out of its way to continue her search.

The Witch continued her search for many minutes for wood. She eventually returned to the camp with a few, meager piece of wood that had be caught under things and managed to stay out of the rain. They were mostly just really large sticks and branches. “This was all I was able to find that wasn’t touched by the rain.” She said, “And the Jedi nor the Awoken taught me the techniques to pull water from porous wood.”

 

[Kiara]

[member="Allara Ven"]

Standing over the fallen fire, Kiara looked up to Allara as she came up with the sticks. It was kind of impressive - but the last time she had to actually gather from after-rains was when she nearly first moved here and didn't have a giant wood supply hiding somewhere else. "The few without corruption, the ones of unknown history, make a fire with them." She said plainly, pointing to the ground.

"Far in the galaxy, many of these people wait. Surely they may have been rained down upon before, but it is not important. What is important, is how they can work in your favor, and how you can make them better." She took a single wooden stick, soaked in wood, and began to bang it against a rock to get dribbles of water out. "Focusing your attention on the wet ones may prove to take longer, and less worth than you put your effort into."