Sullust Dawn

[Jsc]

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Sullust Dawn​

​

Kai Prefecture
NJO Holding, Sullust

There would be no more holographics. This was all very real. The tall red marble structures, the low glittering turquoise pools. Even the faintest hint of moisture as it condensed against through the green leaves of the tall potted ferns. This was a red desert world. Sheathed in magma and belching white rapid gas. A lava world. Held in check and kept at bay only by the latest in galactic technology. Karen didn't know how it's ecology worked. She knew there were birds, and seas, and plant life. But she never really knew just how harsh or how cruel these creatures might have evolved. A hard world. For a hard people.

It fight the Galactic Alliance perfectly.

Karen Roberts of Denon stood atop the red marble stone of an NJO monastery. Deep in the canyons of Kai. From the edge of this massive public building she could see far, far out across the horizon. A new horizon. A red horizon. Where all the faint wispy clouds seemed to breath with fire. This was home. For now.

Clad in her all-black Gem's Coat. She held her helm under her arm. Waiting out here in dry crispy air for the arrival of an old friend. If... He had decided to make the journey. It had been four months since they had last seen each other. Time has a way of changing things. She wondered if he would still be the same.

.....

[member="Akio Diachi "]

 

[Akio Diachi]

'Nightmares?'

Akio half-winced, half-smiled, 'Something about that.'

'Why do you have nightmares?'

Akio thought for a moment before answering softly, 'There are some things that a being can do that haunt them for a lifetime.Sometimes because they can remember, sometimes because they cannot.'

'Oh.'

'Why are you awake?' Akio asked back.

'I can't sleep either,' Raven admitted. 'Just thinking about dad.'

'Your father was a good man,' Akio commented.'He loved you very much.You and your mother.'

Raven nodded her head as she swallowed tears down, 'Yeah, I know. He liked you.He liked everyone.'

Akio gripped the young girl's necklace in his hands as the conversation echoed in his ears from days ago. Her father was gone, he had watched him die. They had fought protecting the young girl and her mother from Tusken Raiders. He had buried the body with their family in the desert.

"But what could I have done?" Akio asked softly, murmuring in the darkness, "What could I have done to stop it?'

He didn't know all of his past, but finding Dryzl had helped some. He knew he had been a warrior, he knew he was skilled like few others with the blade and dart. He was swift, he was able and he was a fighter in the past. But he had given that way up for what he called peace. But what was peace if you could not defend the weak? What good was it if daughters lost their fathers and women their husbands?

"Your sacrifice will not be in vain," he whispered, setting the jewelry aside.

Akio lived in a rambled hut that he had put together on the outskirts of town. He was still rather poor, rather unimportant. If a house could tell anything about a person, Akio's hut said he was clean, efficient, and naturalistic. He strode out clad in his "loud" armor. He quickly donned his two blades, throwing quills, and ultrachrome monk's spade. Anyone who looked into his red eyes would see something different, just as much as they would feel it. Determination. Destiny. Purpose.

Using his spade as a walking stick to help him navigate the canyon, he made his way towards this new monetary. He looked over it with a quick glance before entering. Even to Jedi, he would probably cut quite an arcane look. Not may wielded that many truly ancient weapons anymore. He was one of the few left.

"Your sacrifice will not be in vain," he murmured to himself as he began climbing the stairs to the top of the monastery. He greated his master with a bow when he reached the top setting his weapons aside at the door, "It is a good to see you again. I hope all is well with you."

[member="Karen Roberts"]

 

[Jsc]

She bowed her head in kind. Smiling. Recognizing the man behind the mask. Ah-h. Those eyes. How familiar. How strange. Indeed. He had changed after all.

"Welcome to Kai Provence, Master Pilgrim. Tell me. How has the world greeted you these past few months, mm? I fear we haven't seen each other in a God's age. Hehe."

Her back was towering straight and the raging sun pour in through the mountains behind her. Filling both of their worlds in fire.

_

[member="Akio Diachi"]

 

[Akio Diachi]

Akio pulled his mask from his face and dusted it clear of the white ash from these local volcanoes. He ran his hand through his messy-ish hair and gave a slight smile. He had--well, he had been very busy.

"The fortunes have smiled on me," he said moving to take his place beside her. Not too close, of course, but close enough, "I have been traveling, searching. I found her. I believe I told you about a woman, Dryzl, who was from my past. I found her. She was looking for me too, and--it felt good," he paused, caught for an un-Chiss like moment of apparent, pure love-smitten humanity.

He swallowed, 'When I was traveling, I found someone. A family of scavengers and we were attacked. The father died as we protected them, and he fought valiantly. But, I can't help but feel that there was more that I could have done. If I worked harder. If I knew more," He looped his thumbs through his cloth belt, "Is this the way the galaxy really is? Murder? Families destroyed for nothing?"

[member="Karen Roberts"]

 

[Jsc]

Such a hurry. Mm. Pity.

"Whoa there. Hehe. ...Slow down cowboy. Goodness me. So dire and anxious already. Tsk tsk. Mmm."

He was already jumping into such deep waters. Truly. And they had just reconnected. Ah well. What a waste.

"Dear pilgirm. Ye of noble heart. Must our present occasion be so quickly tarnished with the anxieties of the past? Can we not simply start with warm greetings and happy hellos? Must you question that which is already answered before you. Shining so brightly as to eclipse all thought. Hehe."

She smiled and rubbed her dark helm against her hip. Poor dear Akio. Such a worryer. Would that she could open those strange eyes that he might see.

"Here. ...Let me start by congratulating you. To find a woman in these harsh times is indeed, good fortune. And there is no better student of mine than thee to accept such a warm turn of fate. May the Force bless you and your relationship Akio Daichi. Companionship is one of the greatest blessings of the Force. Treasure it mightily."

Karen bowed to the sentiment and to the facts. While Dryzl was unknown. Surly he had spoken her name with such feeling. Such vigor. Ahh. Such a heart. It bode well. In many things.

"Now. Save your dire questions and simply reside here with me. Here. Now. In the present of all things."

She turned to face the wide horizon and gazed at it's primal firy beauty. A wonder and a marvel this world. Sullust. Burning so brightly within the Force.

Stillness now. They spoke no more words and were quiet for many a moment then. Simply letting the burning sun rest it's wide gaze upon them. They remained with the world now. Quiet. Present. Alone. Drinking in the stillness of the planet as if in the deepest meditation. Master and Apprentice. Learning without words. Surrounded by creation's forge.

Stillness now. The burning world turned so slowly.

...

As the moment faded and the clouds churned with new glory. Karen anchored the red morning light with her words.

"Ah. There, my Apprentice. Just now. Now, in the stillness of our reunion and in the quiet of our thoughts do I present you with the universe. Look out upon this burning world and see life. See the struggle which presents itself to your eyes. Can you not perceive this planet and it's equilibrium? Does not the struggle of this place strengthen it also? Is not the conflict of it's air and the evolution of it's birds sacred to all matter too."

She smiled to the expanse and looked out at the burning sky.

"Reach out with your feelings Young Apprentice. And you will know what is true."

....

For life to grow. It must push. Even here. On Sullust. The most dire of fire-forged worlds. Life was pushing. Life, was growing too.

Here. There would be no more holographics. This was all very real. The tall red marble structures, the low glittering turquoise pools. Even the faintest hint of moisture as it condensed against through the green leaves of the tall potted ferns. This was a red desert world. Sheathed in magma and belching white rapid gas. A lava world. Held in check and kept at bay only by the latest in galactic technology. Karen didn't know how it's ecology worked. She only knew there were birds, and seas, and resilient plant life too. But she never really knew just how harsh or how cruel these creatures might have evolved. For this was a hard world. A hard existence. Yet, even here. Life was pushing. Life. Was growing too.

~ "Is this the way the galaxy really is? Murder? Families destroyed for nothing?" ~

No young wanderer. There is so much, much more.

_

@Akio Daichi
@Akio Daichi
[member="Akio Daichi"]
[member="Akio Daichi "]

*ooc: huh. @mentions seem dead in this post. weird.

 

[Akio Diachi]

Akio was a worrier. His mind was an active one, never letting him sit still or be quiet. Some would call it an A-type personality, others would just call it restlessness. He could never be happy, he could never let himself just be, even when he was most placated.

Master Roberts talked about how good it was to find someone in these dark times, how good it was to have someone, to find them. And indeed, these were dark times. The Republic was collapsing in on itself, the One Sith was destroying itself, there were rumors of a madman who called himself a god rising in the unknown regions, crime lords ruled and dealt in disgusting displays of perversion. These were indeed dark times.

"Thank you," he said with a half smile, he didn't know about the part about 'no better student,' he was sure there were many better. "I will, always."

Akio watched as the fiery crimson bathed the world itself. It tainted his dark armor, washing it red and clashing with his blue skin. It truly was a wonder to behold. He listened to Master Roberts speak of evolution and the change through conflict. He pursed his lips as he thought it over for a few moments. That would be something to dwell on later too. Conflict was sometimes unavoidable and the seat of life itself. No matter how hard thing got it served the singular purpose of making people better.

He closed his eyes and let his mind and thoughts expand around him. He reached out, touching and feeling everything around him. The hard bitter volcanoes, the scorching hot sun, the fiery intensity of it all. But unlike the barren worlds of Malastare, life still found a way. Life pushed on, just as it had from the moment it sparked into existence from the jumbles of amino acids into existence. Crawling out from rocks, against it all, life still found a way. He thought he could see--or at least--somewhat understand what Master Roberts was talking about.

"We push on," he said at last, slowly putting his thoughts into words, "despite it, despite the fires, we keep going. Because--because there is no other choice. Because its how things are. The pain is real its not an illusion. The pain is there, but it makes us stronger when we overcome it."

He half opened one red eye to look to Roberts and see if he was right.

[member="Karen Roberts"]

OOC

Spoiler

Ah, no worries! The @Mention doesn't like his name like--at all for some reason. It rarely if ever works for him.

 

[Jsc]

Acceptance of pain. Acceptance of life. Good. He had made progress in their time apart. His self-awareness was stronger now. He still had the sense.

"You know Akio. A wise woman once told me, life is not a puzzle to be solved. It is a story to be experienced."

She turned back to him with a smile and walked over to the shallow pool nearer the doorways.

"I love that lesson. Because when I was young I felt that the whole universe was my responsibility. As a Jedi, I felt had to fix things. Fix everything. Fix the Sith. Fix the governments. Fix myself. Ugh... It was horrible. I never gave any time to the present. Always, my thoughts were to the future. Worrying about the battles to come. Or, to the past. Kicking myself for my mistakes. But never did I spend any amount of my thinking on the present. Never gave myself the patience for enjoyment. I viewed the present as a prison. Keeping me from the fantasies of my imagination. From my visions of destiny. The present was always lost to me. This place. Here. Now. Where the Force gives answers. Where our lives take the most meaning. Now I understand. This is the only place that matters."

Karen looked down into the shallow pool at her reflection. She was getting older too.

"Apprentice. If you are to continue your training with me. Here. On Sullust. You must become a master of the present tense. Do you understand what that means?"

She inclined her head to him. Seeing not his clothes nor his weapons nor his mask. She was searching for his fear. Who was his enemy now. What did he rage, and war, and fight bitterly against. Was this whole universe still his cruel master? Or, could it be his greatest teacher. Could not even Sullust be a grand mentor. Teaching a Jedi of the importance of conflict. Of evolution. Of life.

Yes. Life. Life is perspective. And much like the visions of the prophets and the golden currents of time. Life is always moving.

She mused again like a whisper,

"Life is not a puzzle to be solved. It is a story. To be experienced. But what could that mean for him?"

 

[Akio Diachi]

Akio chewed on his inner lip as he mulled the message over. To live in the present, to live in the now, to not live in the past or the future. He nodded his head. He identified with that last part, beating yourself up over the past. He had killed a lot of people. He knew he had been an assassin. Some of the people--probably many--had died without reason. Or even worse, for bad reasons. And the responsibility of the universe--well he could understand that too in a way. He didn't feel like the universe was his to change. He was only one man, and not a very important one at that. But he did feel an obligation for Raven and her family. They had suffered a great loss. And now he felt obligated to fix it.

"It means," his said slowly, fitting words to his idea slowly and carefully, "that we let go of things we have done and things others have done to us. Good things and bad things. We--" he winced looking for the right word, "forgo not what we learned but what we felt. And with the future, we stop pretending like we can change it. We enjoy what we have now, we are content. With our learning, with our gifts, with our provision, but we hold it loosely. Gratefully, but still loosely so that if it is taken from us, we will not try to believe we can do anything about it. We can't.

"We don't let our lack of control of the future remove the joy of the moment. Yes, joy. That is what we live in. Even in pain, feeling something is still a gift because we could feel nothing. And besides, it is a chance to learn, to grow, to change. And even with that, we experience our pains, we experience our pleasures but we don't try to fix it. That's not the point, I think."

His hand idly reached in his pocket and felt the locket of Raven's.

"And that includes mistakes too," he said softly.

[member="Karen Roberts"]

 

[Jsc]

Another old saying came to mind. Forgiveness is a gift, that man might be free. A good reminder. Yet. It is not often God's justice that binds us. Oft times it is only ourselves. Our own guilty held too tightly. Mmm. Karen wondered now if Akio was beating himself up over nothing. Or. Was there some moral fiber that chided him? Some assassin's creed that had been slighted? Perhaps there was some other Goddess and her tribal justice that held him so? A strange culture he felt bound too. Or, was he simply sorry for the past. Unable to let go. Mmm.

No.

She decided it was none of these things. He simply needed time.

"Wel. Time heals all wounds. Yet, we have spoken enough about such things. Come. I distract us from the now."

Karen turned from the pool of water and nodded to the day. Best not to waste daylight in musing.

"Very well then. Come now and tell me, o' pilgrim. Shall we now continue your training into the Force and it's mysteries? Or have you had enough of this old bird and her long winded sooth-sayings eh? Hehe."

Time to get back on track.

 

[Akio Diachi]

Akio had thought a great deal about training more. He knew he needed someone to guide him on the path, to help him see the way to become the man he wanted to be. Some could "self train" or what have you--but he knew that many who did so often fell to the darkside or into quagmires that abounded. He didn't want to be that way. And besides, he was not learned enough in the ways of the Force or the galaxy to do that. There were many things you could only learn from a mentor.

He turned from the water between them and circled around it to Master Robert's side.

"I would prefer to learn more," he said folding his hands behind his back. "I think that now more than ever, I would like to learn."

He had a purpose, a reason to learn and it gave him hunger. An appetite to find out as much as he could to accomplish his mission. Not in the future, but in the now. That was his mission, to learn as much as he could. And enjoy the process.

"Did you have something in mind?"

[member="Karen Roberts"]

 

[Jsc]

She smiled.

"I do."

With a deviant grin she summoned a black stone to the palm of her hand. Rubbing it slowly with her gloved thumb, it began to smoke. Then burn.

"Let's review. Shall we?"

The darkly garbed woman gave a whip of her hand and quickly a floating ball of flame appeared.

"You haven't forgotten how to manipulate fire and ash already, have you? Hehe."

She took a step back and let the burning orb hover all to itself.

"Let's see if you still have the prowess to quench these flames Apprentice. Step forward and purge this sphere. Let us see if the Force still burns within you."

@Akio Diachi

 

[Akio Diachi]

Akio watched as his master committed the familiar task of creating a fire ball. He couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction. He had been practicing and was glad that he was finally getting to show her. He had even used it some to keep himself and those with him safe during his travels through the galaxy.

He took a deep breath, clenching his blue fists as he opened himself to the power of the Force. He felt the familiar tingle run through his body as it started to manifest itself in his physical form. He had almost completely overcome his fear of fire, and a little flame like this didn't bother him so much. The Chiss had evolved from humans on a frost world after all, a fear and mistrust of fire was as biologically natural as the fear of the dark.

He took a step forward, wrapping his mind around the ball of flame. He extended his hand, letting the ball of fire rest just an inch above it. With a nudge from his mind he poked it to the left, to the left. To the left to the left. To the left to the left. Everything it owned........ in a box to the left. Master Roberts could make another one in a minute.

Akio played with the ball for a second, teasing it, admiring it. Then with a quick flex of his fingers and will, the ball disappeared, vanishing into nothingness.

[member="Karen Roberts"]

 

[Jsc]

"Outstanding."

Karen beamed with pride. Not only had Akio shown that he could master fire? He had shown that he could master himself. This confidence that radiated from him had been well earned. Truly. The Force had become his ally.

"Tell me good pilgrim? How did that feel. How does it feel to master the energies of the universe and to know that this great Force, is your friend?"

[member="Akio Diachi "]

 

[Akio Diachi]

The Chiss swallowed, he wasn't one to think about his emotions frequently and he certainly wasn't one to express them frequently either. He folded his hands behind the small of his back, formulating his thoughts into words.

"For the most of the time that I have thought of the Force, I considered it a master," he said after a moment, "that I was the student and it was the teacher. And I suppose, it is the teacher but it is not my master. It is very freeing to know that," he hesitated for a moment. The Chiss had thought it for quite some time now, but he was reluctant to put the thought in words. As a being driven by duty, by demand, by what was expected of him, there was still a slight hesitation to overcome. Perhaps he was free, but not totally free yet.

"That I am the master of my own destiny," he said at last with the same confidence he had before. "And I chose to protect the weak, stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves."

A weight lifted off Akio's shoulders, his ram rod posture became just a hair more human if that was the word. It was as if saying it made it more real. A flicker of life danced in his red eyes along with the determinate resolve within them.

[member="Karen Roberts"]

 

[Jsc]

Karen smiled and opened her arms wide,

"Indeed you are the master of your own destiny. Mm. And so it shall be forever more."

She then drew her sword and held the unburning hilt parallel to her student,

"The Force wills it. You shall suffer my Mastership over you no more. Today you are your own master. Today you are free. Yet one last moment remains."

Her sword gained new life and sprouted like a fountain of brilliant blue flame. Bathing their red dawn in new light.

"...Knell Apprentice."

...

In the moment that followed Karen hovered her burning blade over his shoulder. Knighting him anew.

"By all the worlds and stars alike. And by the will of the Force. Which is in me. ...I dub thee, Akio Diachi, a Knight of the Force. He who knelt an Apprentice. Now rise a Knight. For this promise once made. We now renew. The Force will be with you. ...Always."

She bade him stand with a raised and relinquished her sword back into it's silence.

"Welcome Knight. We who are called to serve, greet you. Welcome."

[member="Akio Diachi "]

 

[Akio Diachi]

Suffer? The word made Akio smirk slightly. He had actually rather enjoyed Master Robert's tutelage. She had taught him a lot about the Force, and even more about himself. He was grateful for her wisdom and her patience that she had shown him through her time teaching him. Akio wasn't one for open displays of emotion, part of it his Chiss nature, the other part the Umbarians who had raised him were very strict about that sort of thing. Some would have broke out in jumping or screams of delight or deluge of words of gratutide, he gave a half bow.

"Thank you, Master Roberts," he said, his few words punctuated with sincerity in every ounce.


Per her command, he took a knee and bowed his head slightly. He rose to his feet, at her order once more and bowed again, "And with you, my good friend. Thank you. I will bear this title with its rightful dignity and the respect it deserves."

A warm, tingling feeling of self-respect strangely mixed with humility and duty settled on him with those words. He knew what he was now, he knew his place, his identity. And it felt very very good.

[member="Karen Roberts"]

 

[Jsc]

Karen beamed with pride. This was why she enjoyed taking students. So that they could one day embrace the Force and all the limitless possibilities that came with it. To make men out of boys.

"Now then. Let us return to your questions. Have you anything else you would request of your mentor, Knight? You seemed to have a few when you first arrived?"

Their relationship had changed, yes. But the more things change? Well. The more they stay the same.

Karen would continue to be available to Akio for as long as he needed guidance. Not the guidance of a Master or of a stern taskmaster anymore. No. But the guidance of a friend and woman with years of experience. That was the change that had taken place. Akio had stopped becoming the student and had now become her guest. Free to come and go, and ask questions as he pleased.

And so Roberts made herself available to him once more. Eager to see just he would do with his young life now.

@Akio Diachi

 

[Akio Diachi]

"I do, thank you," Akio began.

Things were moving in his life, at a rate faster than he had ever seen before. He was still a very poor man, living on the edge of nothing, hunting most of what he found or gathering what little else there was to be found, but he was happy. There was a simplicity in it, and more than that, there was peace. Sure, he and Dryzl were poor as Jedi Mice, but they were at peace. And that was worth more than all the money in the worlds. And now, that peace was compounded with the assurity change brought. It was an irony--the more he changed, the more Akio felt safe. Perhaps he had just been that far gone.

"They say Jedi have the ability to see into the future, to see to other places, to have visions or to know what is to come. I have done some research off and on at Voss and, this doesn't seem to be an isolated incident. It does appear to be overplayed by those who do not know the Force, but I would like to learn how to do this. Can you teach me this?"

He knew he was asking a lot but, he also knew that if anyone could help him see that side of himself or understand that part of the Froce, it would be Master Roberts.

[member="Karen Roberts"]

 

[Jsc]

Karen nodded.

"Teach you, no. Show you the path, yes."

She turned and admired the sun again. Closing her eyes and letting the Force speak to her. Slowing her breathing and, remembering.

"The vision that you seek expresses itself differently to every Jedi. Probably because it is much like dreaming. You see in stories. In faded vision. Your subconscious rises up and tries to make sense of it all. You realize that your eyes, your ears. Your hands and your toes. These frail bodies are not built for visions. Our minds are not constructed to look upon the galaxy without time. We have no facilities for it. No digits and no sense to capture it."

"A Force Vision is as much a translation as it is, a transmission. It was once something else before you received it. It has been changed already, by the time you even begin to sense it. It is beyond you. So... It is important to remember that once you do begin searching the Force for visions and insights of the future? That what you find has been molded and shifted already. Like a poem that was never meant to be read in Basic."

She opened her eyes and turned back again.

"Do you understand this principle Knight? Do you understand that Force Visions may be difficult for you mind to translate because your body is not natural to them? Nor, will it ever be while you still live?"

In truth. The desire to be a Prophet is a foolish one indeed. For such a gift is the pleasure of the Gods. Men and women beyond the veil with different bodies and different sight. Gods who could understand time-and-eternal on a completely different level then mere humans. Even with the Force. No. Akio would never physically have the gift. Because visions were borrowed.

No living creature could take them.

@Akio Diachi

 

[Akio Diachi]

The Blue Pilgrim took it all in, nodding with every sentence. It made sense. The high powers of the gods operated in a plane and sphere above their own. If they came down to speak to us, Akio doubted that they could even be partially understood. He supposed it would be like trying to describe the color red to a blind man or the sound of a beautiful orchestra to the deaf. It would tragically be difficult, if not impossible.

"I believe I do," he said pressing his fingertips together, "What you are saying is we will see as through smoke and mirrors. Never clearly." As adept as his body was to being purely obedient to his will, force included or excluded, it was pure training, it had vast limitations. He was still mortal, and he was ok with that.

"What you are saying then is to tread lightly? To not cling too firmly to the visions that are seen since they are nothing more than contorted shadows and whispers of what is to come?" He didn't want to be a prophet--honestly part of why he was asking was curiosity. But a much larger part was to know how to best act to serve others and live in the light of what his actions would ultimately lead to--good or bad and plan accordingly. That, of course, was the original use of the visions. And he wanted that.

[member="Karen Roberts"]