The Company of Trees

[Rosario Perlyn]

"Master, this place is amazing!" Rosario cried elatedly as she emerged from the jungle. Knowing her, Zylah could be sure that the words would have been accompanied by an expressive gesture of her arms, had she not been busy holding her tunic so that it formed a bowl full of pink mushrooms.
It was remarkable how quickly and naturally Rosario had taken to the Jedi's precept of living in the moment, if perhaps not in quite the way it was meant to be understood.

Life in the jungle of Ithor was lonely, with only [member="Zylah Dvale"] and her curious friend Herron Sarat for company. The pair of them was quite the puzzle to the little Zeltron, for despite the familiarity between them that was obvious, they never seemed to touch each other. The past months had precipitated remarkable changes in Rosario's mind and body, and it was not merely because she was becoming what most would consider an adult. Her time was spent in meditation and exercise that was meant to push her well beyond the level of fitness she had naturally maintained as a dancer, and she was exploring hitherto unprobed limitations physical and mental. But the dearth of social stimulation and attention was beginning to weigh on the young girl's mood.

She had her ship at her disposal, but would not dare to ask her master to be allowed to go further off-world than to the orbital habitats of the Ithorians who lived above them; and those, in their peaceful kindness, were alien to her and would not satisfy her longings for she did not herself know exactly what.

And yet is was easy to rouse Rosario from such moments of wistfulness into happy excitement by the mere promise of a novel discovery, and all the more so its realisation; though that itself was apt to give way to disappointment in turn. And so Zylah could be certain that her student's present laudation of their dwelling place would only too soon be followed by lamentations of the tediousness of life here.

With swift steps, Rosario slipped into the kitchen and unloaded the mushrooms onto the table before she brushed off her tunic. Realising that she was dirtying the floor with the soil from her clothes, it dawned on her that her shoes much have made an even greater mess which she would now have to clean up. The place already seemed slightly less amazing.

 

[Elijah Black]

Zylah's face turned over her shoulder and towards the jungle, expecting the young one's arrival. She announced herself well before she spoke. It was not something [member="Rosario Perlyn"] would be chastised on. If anything the fault laid with the teacher for not drilling it into her. But this was home, she wanted Rose to have at least one place where she could feel relaxed and safe. There was a time to be on edge, but this wasn't it. Zylah was here to protect them. And the further along they got in their training, the more attuned Rosario's senses would become. Eventually she would be able to figure everything out on her own.

Rosario's good mood was contagious, and Zylah was all smiles as well. It couldn't have been easy on the Zeltron; adapting to a new life style, and with every new wonder there was a warning label attached. The two girls came from entirely different backgrounds, and she hadn't been too sure how well suited to a life alone in the wild Rosario would be. She hoped she would adapt and come to appreciate it, and for all Zylah knew, Rosario was adapting swimmingly.

The old traditional robes of the Jedi had been put aside, yet perhaps unsurprisingly, Zylah was still wearing the tunics. The Arkanian-Offshoot gave a light chuckle as realization dawned on Rosario's face. "You clean that up, I'll deal with the mushrooms." It was tempting to tell her to leave it, but putting aside responsibility, however small it may seem, was not a habit she wanted to encourage. But, as she carried with her the mushrooms, a few at a time, first to clean, then leave them to dry before putting them away, she also signalled that this was not a punishment, simply the way things were. And they dealt with it together.

"Any new discoveries today?" Zylah asked casually

 

[Rosario Perlyn]

"I don't suppose the 'shrooms count?" replied Rosario light-heartedly. Zylah's company, and especially the fact that her master was helping prepare the mushrooms, comforted her and put her thoroughly at ease so that she dropped any effort at formality or even propriety. The coming and going of the seasons that she had observed here over the last several months, living in the middle of nature, was in fact quite the novel experience, as she had hitherto spent all her life as a city-dweller and, during her captivity, almost entirely indoors.

"I wonder why they're so pink, makes them easy to find. Maybe Ithorians don't see pink... ?" she went on as she moistened a piece of cloth and began to wipe the floor.

Then, embarrassed by her own naive ramblings, she picked up Zylah's question again. "Morning meditation was... morning meditation", she then added, a bit sheepishly. It had been several weeks since the last even that she might have called a discovery or an insight, and Rosario had no idea how quick progress was supposed to be. She was eager to please her master and worried that she would consider her a slow learner, even though she knew that the Jedi trained for many years, often from childhood, to develop their potential.

[member="Zylah Dvale"]​

 

[Elijah Black]

"They count" she replied with a chuckle. Big or small, it was something that had brought some measure of excitement to her day. "Maybe. But I've never heard about that" It could be the case they had a case of selective colourblindness, but she doubted it.

"Ithorians have great respect of nature, though. They preserve and protect it, showing it great care and respect. They have more foresight than many other species when it comes to this, it's unlikely they would let it go extinct. " Maybe she was giving them too much credit than what was due, but in her experience it rung true. "I imagine they balance their need up against the plant's need for survival. Suddenly you can be pink and thrive. I quite like it, anyway" she said in a friendly tone in reference to their colour. It wasn't lost on her that her very own non-shroomy Padabuddy was pink.

They were at a point where formality could be set aside. Zylah was happy to ramble on with her. When the topic shifted to Jedi business, she snuck the invisible Master-hat ontop her silver scalp. "Good" she put the last mushroom down. Hopefully Herron could work some magic with them and use it in a nice dinner at some point.

"Morning meditation doesn't have to be more than just that." There was something to be said about growing too fast too. The rush and expectation that came with it could often become a shortcut to the temptations of the Dark Side. "Patience is a virtue dear to Jedi. And one you can't as easily earn and understand without the struggle of being without it." Now she felt like she was the one rambling and becoming a bit vague. She comforted herself with the knowledge that Rosario would ether find her own meaning in the various lessons, or ask when she felt she got stuck.

Sensing her Padawan's hesitations, she turned, leaning her hands upon the counter as she looked into the eyes of Rosario with what she hoped came across as a comforting look. "You shouldn't strive to wake up tomorrow and be me. You are Rosario, today. And that's good enough. Tomorrow you will be better. And sometimes continuing to try while not improving is being better, and good enough. You've come such a long way already" And it was true. Maybe in the context of todays and tomorrows, the change was slight. But looking back to when they first had arrived her, so much had happened.

"Did I ever show you the abandoned temple here on Ithor?" she asked, at a slight change of pace. She thought she might have mentioned it once, and certainly Zylah had visited it many times. But she couldn't recall if Rosario had been present.

| [member="Rosario Perlyn"] |​

 

[Rosario Perlyn]

Rosario smiled to herself when her master was, once again, seemingly reading her mind and reassured her over a worry she had not voiced herself. To notice when others were concerned was one thing, and not something the Zeltron girl found particularly mysterious - but Zylah had an uncanny ability to then divine the precise thoughts that gave rise to the emotion. Under any other conditions, someone reading one's mind was a scary prospect - but Zylah had a way of making her feel understood and safe.

"We went there when we first arrived here." Rosario thought back to the time many months ago when they had first taken shelter from the turmoil of the world in this remote place. "But I've never been inside. Have you? Is it safe? It could collapse", she remarked, looking at her master curiously with raised eyebrows.

[member="Zylah Dvale"]​

 

[Elijah Black]

"Oh, that's right" she said, the memories coming back to her. She'd shown her the location, the temple from the outside, but they had not yet ventured inside. Perhaps that was why her memory had been blurred on it.

"Collapse? Maybe." she paused for effect, attempting to hide a slightly mischievous smirk but not very well. "An asteroid might collide with it too. Or a ship come crashing down." she snickered briefly "The future is unpredictable and always in motion." Oh man, she really hadn't meant for it to turn into a lesson when she started with the joke.

"We'll prepare, and when that future is upon us we will know what to do with it." in clearer terms, she added, realizing she hadn't exactly answered the first question "The temple seems relatively safe. It's withstood time so far. I don't think it will collapse anytime soon."

Zylah immediately switched from mushroom-storing duty, to grabbing some supplies and putting them into a bag. "Wanna go see it?" Now it was Zylah who held a near child-like enthusiasm in her tone, hoping it would be contagious.

| [member="Rosario Perlyn"] |​

 

[Rosario Perlyn]

Rosario looked at Zylah wide-eyed as her master recounted all the outrageous improbabilities that might befall the temple and eventually, realising that she was making a joke rather than giving a lesson, chuckled.

"Yes, let's!" cried Rosario enthusiastically. She quickly wiped the last patches of dirty floor and jumped up to dispose of the cloth. "I'd better take a coat, hadn't it?" Rosario imagined, perhaps unjustly, cold and moisture inside an ancient temple ruin.

A few minutes later they were standing outside. Rosario had her robe folded over one arm. That shapeless brown rag that she had retained from her short days in the Jedi order was all she had to provide warmth for now, and she was very glad of the jungle's warm climate.

"Master, I have a question", the girl began a bit hesitantly. "Can you actually read minds? I mean what people are thinking."

[member="Zylah Dvale"]​

 

[Elijah Black]

Enthusiasm was high in the air as the duo left the homestead behind and traversed back into the jungle that Rosario had emerged from not too long ago.

Zylah carried with her a bag, launched over her back. It looked round, and pushed to its limits, but it seemed light. She hadn't packed much, but including her Jedi robes added volume. It was probably an unnecessary addition, but one she didn't mind carrying. You never knew when you had to be on the move without turning back. If it came to that, she had everything she would need right here.

"Hmm" Zylah put on a contemplating smile, seeming to enjoy both the observation and the question. "It is possible for a Jedi to read minds. Most of the time we choose not to." she paused for a moment, to give Rosario the opportunity to ponder why herself. "There are exceptions of course, but as a rule we don't use the Force to dominate, manipulate, or otherwise take from others what is rightfully theirs. Even something as abstract as a thought can be considered private property." This was all a reflection of Zylah's own beliefs, and those she had been brought up with. How those values held up in the various Jedi orders scattered across the galaxy she could no longer say.

"My master was an empath. Highly sensitive to the emotions of living beings around her, even as a child. Almost too much so, to the point where it overwhelmed her. But the Jedi Code and the Force taught her how to control it" She paused again, this time not for effect, but more so that she could check herself before she went on another ramble. That, and the nostalgia of it all was threatening to hit her. "I imagine you might have a knack for that sort of thing too, given your heritage and all" Zeltrons, as far as Zylah understood them were excellent natural empaths, able to both read and influence the moods and desires of others. Perhaps for precisely that reason there hadn't been many field trips to Zeltros when she was growing up at the Jedi Temple...

"My point is, being able to pick up on surface thoughts floating at the edge of someone's mind can be useful. It's not mind reading, not as you know it. What you're picking up on are not the thoughts themselves, but their root. It's far less invasive, but almost equally telling."

"Anger, disdain, sorrow, love, joy. These can be enough to understand someone's state of mind, in that moment, without needing to peer into how their minds articulate such feelings."

| [member="Rosario Perlyn"] |​

 

[Rosario Perlyn]

"Hmm, that doesn't sound like reading people's thoughts, not the way I meant it", said Rosario pensively. She pondered Zylah's words for a while as they walked through the forest.

Eventually, she determined that there was something that made no sense to her. "Master, why do you say knowing people's feelings is an intrusion of privacy? It's not an intrusion of privacy to see someone and know what they look like. Why is that any different?" She looked at Zylah with naive puzzlement.

[member="Zylah Dvale"]​

 

[Elijah Black]

Zylah listened to her Padawan's interjections without interruption, allowing her to express herself. Oftentimes listening was even more important than talking, and it would seem Zylah had done too much talking.

"Oh, that's not what I meant. You can easily see when someone is angry. Being able to feel it as well is no intrusion. It only helps you see and understand them much clearer. You can even feel it when their anger starts to build, before it manifests as such."

"And that's what I tend to do. I stay aware, and keep my mind's eye open. Emotion drifts atop the surface of the mind, often eager to get out. It helps me understand them. I don't consider that an intrusion. What I meant as an intrusion is when you go deeper, beyond the outer layers, their abstract appearance if you will. People's thoughts I consider private. What they think, the exact images that involuntarily comes to mind amidst fond and personal memories. Once you go inside there's no telling what you will see. And when you do, you cannot unsee it. In a sense, you risk taking something precious to them, something private, and making yourself a part of it. Worse, have it be tainted with the knowledge that someone else now has seen what they have tried to keep hidden."

Oops. What was happening to her these days? She felt incapable of keeping her speech brief and concise. "Sometimes when you attempt to read someone's minds, you get exactly what you want and expect. But sometimes, especially if you're untrained, it can be hard to filter out everything else. Which is why I would advise against it, unless absolutely necessary. It is, however, preferable to violence."

"But, like I said, sensing for someone's emotions and using that to figure out what they might be thinking I don't think is invasive. It comes natural after a while, and is like another sense. I do it all the time, which is perhaps something you have picked up on?"

She'd let Rosario process all of this and see if she was making sense of Zylah's ramblings, or if she should give it another attempt. In either case, it seemed prudent with a bit of a practical lesson. As if on cue, the predator that had been stalking them for the past few minutes decided to make its move. The small feline leapt up from the cover of the bushes, sinking its paws comfortably into the folds of Zylah's tunic on her shoulder. Prudence meowed triumphantly.

"You've met Prudence, right?" Zylah looked at her furred friend, who nuzzled against her cheek by way of greeting. Someone didn't want to be left alone back at the house. "How about you give it a go?" she suggested, as she stopped walking. Attempting something new was best not done while multitasking.

"We call this ability we've been discussing Force Empathy. Let's take a break from walking. Meditate, connect with the Force. Then look for Prudence here, and try to sense for emotions. Animals tend to have more simple needs and so their emotions are more basic. Hunger, tiredness, happiness, fear"

| [member="Rosario Perlyn"] |​

 

[Rosario Perlyn]

"Mmmmh. I see", said Rosario, her eyes lighting up, happy for the clarity. "Well, I'm never quite sure, master, if you just see my feelings like a normal person or if you actually read my mind", she added with a smile.

The girl listened, with confusion again creeping into her traits, when her master explained the sensing of others' emotions through the Force. She brushed a streak of hear out of her face pensively and then turned to Zylah. "Master, are all Zeltrons sensitive to the Force? We can all feel people's emotions, and those of most other species seem curiously oblivious and blind and cold to us. You're rather the exception."

"Although I'm pretty sure even a human could tell that Prudence is happy now", remarked the girl with a soft smile. "They might miss that she's hungry, but hunting something takes effort, while being close to you will comfort her immediately. Not an unreasonable choice on her part, if you ask me." She grinned at the feline creature and extended her hand for Prudence to sniff at, thoroughly at ease.

[member="Zylah Dvale"]​

 

[Elijah Black]

To that Zylah could only smile back. You will discover it all for yourself in time, she thought.

Zylah's smile remained, until Rosario in what was becoming typical style brought it into a laugh. "Okay, suppose that one was easy." Perhaps this task would be challenging for Rosario, despite what she had initially suspected. For Zylah this ability had not come naturally, so the lines had been clearly drawn. Could Rosario feel the difference from when she was searching with the Force and when she relied on her natural ability?

Prudence was thoroughly enjoying this exercise. She didn't have to do anything. And Rosario smelled new and interesting. As if to communicate her approval, her raspy tongue reached for the extended hand, starting to lick a finger.

"The ability to actually read minds, however, is useful to know. We should practice it" Zylah added and started walking again. Just because she didn't normally advise it, didn't mean it shouldn't be another tool in her repertoire. "Part of being a Jedi is knowing when to and when not to use the Force."

As they walked, she pondered Rosario's posed question. "That's a good one. And not with an obvious answer. Zeltrons' ability is normally classified as a racial trait, and not necessarily linked with the Force. But where do you draw the line? With the Force there's always potential. The Zeltrons' innate ability bares resemblance to what one might do with the Force, but that can be true for many things. If you get a cut, you'll bleed. Give it time, and it will start to heal. Give it days, and your skin will be as good as new, no new openings. You can do this with the Force too, but that does not make it a Force ability."

She paused, glancing over to her Padawan. This was a tricky topic, often filled with vague explanations that never made sense until one had felt it themselves. "The Force is ever present in our lives. It touches everyone, but not everyone are able to touch it back. Some beings, like Jedi, have a deeper connection, which manifests in more ways than one. You can sense emotions, yes, but with it you have the potential to do so much more. Its a gift. And through your heart, it can be a force for good." It was the first time she had attempted to do the talk. No, not that one, but the Force talk. Again, she did not feel entirely prepared. For so long she had been the fighter, and not the speech-giver. But a certain pink person was throwing a wrench in that. But Rosario was a good student, and together they seemed to often find the proper balance in the end.

[member="Rosario Perlyn"]

 

[Rosario Perlyn]

Rosario chirped with delight at the curious sensation that Prudence's rough tongue evoked in her fingers. She stroked the creature's head a few times before turning her attention fully to Zylah.

The continued slowly on their way as the Jedi spoke, and more than once Rosario's attention veered towards some element of the jungle. Once she stopped in her tracks to look out for a bird whose song had drawn her interest, and only when she had caught a glimpse of its blue-and-orange plumage was she satisfied and set upon her path once more.

When Zylah had ended, Rosario looked at her pensively. "Huh", was all she said, enigmatically. Then the continued on their way, her eyes now directed to the ground in part to navigate the roots they had to stop over, but also because it was a natural place to look when one was thinking.

Rosario did not very well understand what her master meant by distinguishing things one did through the Force from things one did otherwise; no more than she could distinguish reading a person's feelings off their face from understanding them in the deeper, directer way that was natural to her species. To her, reality was one unified whole, and it made no difference that she perceived things that others didn't, and was starting to be able to do things that others couldn't. She had no difficulty simply accepting it as a fact that reality did not react to all beings in the same way, and did not feel that it required an explanation or distinction, in the same way that she had always simply taken for granted that the things that kept happening to her were unlikely to happen to other people.

This fact, she was now realising - but the fact that she noticed very clearly that she could not draw the distinction brought her no closer to actually drawing it.

She was embarrassed to formulate her thoughts into another question. But presently she caught sight of the temple's stones through the foliage of the trees before them.

[member="Zylah Dvale"]​

 

[Elijah Black]

"Ah, we're here" Zylah said with a content smile. "Can you imagine what this place would've been like back in the day? Bustling with activity. Padawans training, playing. Jedi going on walks, deep in discussion. And envoys from the local population, approaching the masters with their requests and inquires" it was tempting to get lost daydreaming, or let the warm images and memories from her own time at the Ossus temple to come washing over her.

They crossed over from their more densely vegetated jungle path, into a more open plain. Although most of the temple had been reclaimed by nature, as had its surroundings, the trees almost seemed to have showed its respect to the old Jedi sanctuary by not completely swallowing it whole.

Prudence took a brave leap off the young Jedi Knight's shoulder, and trotted off. These were familiar grounds to her, and she knew Zylah would let her know when it was time to go home. The kitten probably would've been able to find the way back on her own, but it was lonelier that way, not to mention more dangerous.

"Do you feel anything walking here? Don't be in a rush to find out, take your time and let the place speak to you on its own terms." To Zylah it had always felt very peaceful, like a wave of calm washed over it, a soft reassurance that the Jedi of old were somehow watching over them.

[member="Rosario Perlyn"]​

 

[Rosario Perlyn]

Rosario contemplated the picture that her master's description conjured in her mind and felt a twinge of sadness at the place's present state of desertion. It had a calm and peaceful air, embedded in nature, but its lack of sentient life made it so that it did not feel quite whole. "Is there still a lively place like that anywhere now?" she asked, looking at Zylah.

Ignoring her master's advice to observe her own feelings about the place, or at least refusing to voice them, she peered, from a distance, into the darkness off what had once been the entrance. It seemed impenetrable. "So... this time we go inside?" asked the Padawan with a mixture of skepticism and hopeful curiosity.

Suddenly high up in the sky above the temple a source of light appeared and disappeared again in the course of several seconds. Rosario looked up at it, startled, and kept staring at the spot even as the light was gone again, anchored on the spot. In a galaxy full of space-faring civilisations, lights in the higher atmosphere or orbit of a planet were not in themselves an alarming or unusual occurrence. But Rosario, if only perhaps because she was not used to this, was frightened.

After several seconds, the luminosity began to grow again in almost the same spot, though only slowly at first. Her eyes were still fixed on it.

[member="Zylah Dvale"]​

 

[Elijah Black]

“I would assume so” Zylah replied. “There’s no shortage of Jedi Orders around.” and their flirtatious relationship to various interpretation of the Code, some less orthodox than others. Zylah was not as willing to compromise, and this was likely what had resulted in her flying solo all this time.

Zylah waited for Rosario’s response after reaching out with the Force, only she didn’t, and changed the topic. Adding to the experiment in the jungle, she decided she wanted to try to get Rose to exert herself more, but perhaps she would need to push her more.

Her attention was quickly drawn away from Rose, as she too noticed the sudden light in the sky. What was the source of that? She closed her eyes, stretching out with her senses, trying to get a better read on the situation. Ships were dropping out of hyperspace. Big ships, and many of them. There was a concentration of new life forms appearing. Ithorians? It seemed peculiar if so, and Zylah had an eerie feeling about this. Could it be… an invasion? Not Sith, she felt fairly certain of that. But that did not necessarily mean that they were not in danger.

Instinctively her hand had dropped to the hilt of her lightsaber. There were three options that made sense to her. One, get involved with whatever was going on and see if the Ithorians needed their aid. However that would likely compromise their little homestead here, but that was of little consequence. The second option would be to get out of dodge before things got hairy. Option three, continue exploring the temple and see if this whole thing would blow over. It was a little early to cry ‘invasion’ and scream bloody murder. It did not feel like bloody murder was coming. But the future was fickle. Regardless, it was not clear whether it was a Jedi matter.

She pulled out a commlink from within her robes, and tried to reach Herron. “Herron. Herron?” there was no response. “Any idea what’s going on up there? Is the planet under blockade?” That would be a really neat piece of information, particularly in case they wanted to get off.


[member="Rosario Perlyn"]

 

[Rosario Perlyn]

Rosario could feel that her master was alarmed and turned to look at her as if to confirm the impression. Rather than consider the situation herself, she attuned herself to Zylah's feelings about it in an attempt to discern the appropriate reaction. She found much uncertainty around it, but Zylah seemed to relate more naturally to it and without anxiety. A brief pang of worry seemed to pierce the calm while she was waiting for an answer to her message, but soon dissolved.

The Padawan looked up again into the sky, the light had grown larger and she could now actually see it moving with her bare eyes. It was clear that it had to be an object, and a very large one at that, falling into the atmosphere, a lost ship perhaps.

"Hide in the temple... ?" suggested Rosario hesitatly, looking back at her master for reassurance.

[member="Zylah Dvale"]​