The End of a Journey Marks the Beginning of a New One

[Eun Hye-Jin]

Eun Hye-Jin
Post 1
Location: Hidden Jedi Temple - Nhai Mountains, Atrisia
[member="Matsu Ike"]

After more than three days of arduous hiking in the Nhai Mountains, she finally found it.

Although Jesse Organa had provided her with a catalogue detailed and complex directions, Eun Hye-Jin had struggled intensely to find the isolated Jedi temple. Over the last few days, she had repeatedly entertained the thought of returning to Xam’Chi and to her cozy apartment, never to deal with the Jedi or the apparent nature of her Force-sensitivity again. However, it was not in her nature to quit or shirk from a duty. Hye-Jin felt compelled to dedicate all of her stamina and energy to the task of becoming a Jedi. If she failed in spite of that, at least she would be able to return to her sybaritic life knowing that she had not quit. Of the many things that she had learned as a trainee and an A-pop idol, she had learned to never give up on a challenge. As such, whenever she had thought of quitting or when the expedition felt particularly difficult, she remembered the oft-repeated words of her overseer from her brief time as an A-pop trainee.

Nothing worth doing is ever easy.

She had silently repeated those words to herself until she finally saw the unbarricaded rock walkways that Jesse had told her would provide ingress into the temple. The dangerous looking structures seemed to be carved directly into the mountain, providing no protection in the event that an individual using the walkway lost their balance and fell. Regardless, Hye-Jin still felt an intense sensation of relief and achievement at having completed her long pilgrimage. Traversing a dangerous walkway would be far easier than the challenges she had overcome in the last few days.

With a deep breath, Hye-Jin sat down near the edge of the cliff face to take in the imposing vista before her. After a few moments, the former A-pop idol stepped onto the walkway to begin the final part of her pilgrimage.

Ten minutes later, she found herself standing before the front gate to the hidden Jedi temple.

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Eun Hye-Jin"]

"Koihim." Her voice came as the temple sat secluded, five larger mountains around them creating a secluded valley with massive trees and rivers. More then that it had been imported trees that were cared for and were now growing massive. Deep forest wroshyr trees with an albino at the center of the valley where the roots went deep and covered parts of the temple. The vertical ecosystem was inspired by the wookiees but more then that it was used by the Wukong and their jedi cousins. The atrisian order developing off of the teachings of the jedi themselves. They just happened to also bring in their cultural aspects like the yovshin and keisei.

The buildings were simple looking on the outside, paneling of oro wood and a paper thin sheet for the windows but there was more to it. Stone workings with intricate interlocking stones, metal sheets and advanced technology to let them retain heat in winter and become cool in the summer months. She had mostly come to help the Wukong setup with the other jedi. Constructing their temples and the pathways through the mountains that were being designed and preserved in some cases carefully with maintenance droids who would maintain them without it being a big industrial design.

"One must be like water in their mind. Water never waits. It changes shape and flows around things, and finds the secret paths no one else has thought about -- the tiny hole through the roof or the bottom of the box. There's no doubt it's the most versatile of the five elements. Nothing is softer than water yet it can overcome earth; it can put out fire; it can wear a piece of metal down and sweep it away. Even wood, which is its natural complement, can't survive without being nurtured by water. We do not fight. It flows around the problem, formless and work to resolve it at first without killing"

She stood there speaking to some of the smaller children though and didn't have to move much. They encircled her in the open area looking out over some of the buildings. The pragoda near them filled with training equipment and hardlight projectors created things for them to fight and to evade. She was also looking at some fo the statues being carved from the cla they had developed. FOrce infused for strength and fashioned like temple guardians. She would have to look into a fe other defensive measures that could be brought out and used. When she noticed someone new the jedi master turned with hands clasped behindher back. "Welcome."

 

[Eun Hye-Jin]

Eun Hye-Jin
Post 2
Location: Hidden Jedi Temple (Courtyard) - Nhai Mountains, Atrisia
[member="Matsu Ike"]

The gate opened seemingly of its own volition. Although a confused expression registered on the ex-idol’s features when she saw that no one was immediately behind the structure, she stepped inside the grounds of the temple with a cautious demeanor. Behind her, the gate closed slowly with a deep thud. However, there was so much beauty and unique architectural artistry for her to take in that the noise only registered as a small blip in her mind. Unlike the harsh urban architectural designs that dominated Xam’Chi, the buildings here were simplistic and somewhat natural-looking. However, there were a few repair and maintenance droids in the temple that floated, walked, or rolled across the ground, each of which seemed occupied with some dull, yet important task.

Among the first sounds to strike her ears was the distinct ringing of a feminine human voice. When she looked in the voice’s direction, she saw an Atrisian woman standing before a small group of children, many of whom had turned to stare at the newcomer upon hearing her approach. Hye-Jin ignored their curious stares as she listened to the words of the Jedi Master.

Water.

During the last few days, Hye-Jin had drank it from streams and rivers after treating it with a purifier. Not once had she thought of its symbolism and philosophical implications regarding the nature of the Force. Even without the full context of the Master’s words, she could slightly understand how the Force could be understood as a metaphor for water, especially given what Jesse Organa had told her only a week before.

As a main dancer, Hye-Jin had been famous for her confidence and presence on the stage. However, when the Master came to a pause and turned to face her, Hye-Jin suddenly felt self-conscious. A distinct flush of crimson came over her cheeks before she lowered herself into a deferential bow. When she arose, a demure smile emerged across her pale and milky visage, before she began to introduce herself.

“Hello, Master. M-my name is Eun Hye-Jin.” The ex-idol nervously fluttered her eyes. “J-Jesse Organa scouted me and...” Hye-Jin paused.

“I’m here to become a Jedi.”

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Eun Hye-Jin"]

The jedi master looked at her, petite compared to some fo the jedi she knew with only a statue of five feet. White kimono styled robes over her tunic and pants. The white materials made from jedi skylar flowing into her boots and hair with small crystal bells that resonated with the force as she walked around and they chimed. "Welcome." The jedi master motioned with her hand for her to join the others who had made space and moved over to a small railing. Overlooking parts of it From here the entire valley filled with the massive trees could be seen and the different parts of the temple. The jedi master turned back and she spoke seeing some of the children.

"Teacher Ike when do we get to use lightsabers?" One of the children spoke and got excited murmurs... the jedi master raised an eyebrow as she walked and her saber was on her hip where she was looking at them. "Hopefully never." She said it and there were frowns the one pointing to her saber on her hip and it was a visible one yes but she had three. A training blade for non lethal combat and practice with them and the two in case of a danger in her sleeves with small slips. "Murder is the only art a swordsman may practice. No ornamental words can change that. Do you want to protect people with murder? You'll slaughter legions so that a few may live."

There were looks from the children and she spoke coming forward and offering a small hand. "I know it is not as exciting but a lightsaber should always be the last resort of a jedi. Even inactive it can deter problems this is true but when it is used then you must be prepared to take a life. To defend those who might not be able to protect themselves... but taking a life even for a good reason, even to save another is still taking a life. Honeyed words about justification might be able to ease guilt, saying you had no other choice can be true when it all fails. You will have a power others cn't understand and that will burden your shoulders."

 

[Eun Hye-Jin]

Eun Hye-Jin
Post 3
Location: Hidden Jedi Temple - Nhai Mountains, Atrisia
[member="Matsu Ike"]

After setting her pack down next to a nearby tree, Hye-Jin joined the class. Though she could not help but to feel out of place because she was an adult among a class of children, Jesse had warned her that she would undergo her first lessons with small children as her peers. However, in spite of her adult appearance, Hye-Jin was chronologically younger than all of her youngling peers, a few of whom were over ten times her senior in terms of chronological age. At times, Hye-Jin wondered what it was like to grow up with a loving family. The ex-idol had never had a real childhood and she had no family, not even by adoption. She was an entirely unique biosynthetic Atrsian human, rather than a traditional clone. As such, her bloodline was entirely her own.

The young children around her made her suddenly conscious of the dreary fact that she was alone in the galaxy. Seeking to distract herself from the gloomy though, Hye-Jin continued to listen intently as the Master spoke. When the topic of lightsabers was brought up by one of the younger-looking students, the woman spoke at length as to how they were weapons of murder and bloodshed that represented a last resort. In spite of all of the information that Jesse Organa had given her about the Jedi, Hye-Jin had not yet seen the fiery blade of an activated lightsaber. While the Master’s warnings were firm, she could still feel a strong aura of excitement around the children in anticipation of being allowed to use a real lightsaber. For her part, Hye-Jin was less excited at the prospect of wielding a lightsaber than she was at the thought of unlocking more creative and powerful ways in which she could use the Force. Before she had embarked on her pilgrimage, she had read a few holo-books for new Jedi which detailed the various powers one could manifest via the Force.

The idea that she could lift far in excess of ten tons with only her mind if she trained herself for long enough was extremely exciting to her. In that sense, she realized that the Force by itself could be even more powerful and dangerous than a lightsaber, if harnessed by a trained mind.

"Master, what...aspects of the Force are you intending to teach us?" Hye-Jin asked after raising her hand. "How does one, become...stronger in it?"

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Eun Hye-Jin"]

She looked at the young girl and raised an eyebrow while she moved. Walking around and clasping her hands behind her back. "The initial training of padawans sees first connection and meditation techniques. Yes you can all feel and manifest the force under some circumstances but you need to be able to have control first. Then from there the early skills just as telekinesis and sensory enhancement. The basic skills needed to go into the caverns here in the mountains." She said it and walked around with a look upon her face of humor. Her hand coming out when she got to the edge of the railing and she lifted it up.

The class was going with her up to another level as the jedi master barely seemed to make notice of it. One hand lifting them and the focus solely on her abilities to rise them up higher and higher until they were overlooking from the edge of the mountain the forests beyond. The sounds of nature and the waterfalls that had formed in parts of the trees itself. There was the massive trunksof the trees that twisted around and with grooves where water collected and had washed away smooth pathways. It created canals and small streams that went from ponds and lakes like a thousand different fountains that went through the valley.

The jedi master pointed for them to be able to see some others, They were moving, two of the jedi in jade robes. The coloring being treated as they worked on them with looms to blend in with the leaves of the trees around them. The jade colored robes were also functional with the materials fitting more of an Atrisian like design. The jedi master was moving them on a kinetic disc of force energy that shimmered around the padawans feet which got excitement in their faces and didn't move. from the spots. She had works shops here as the statues being worked on shimmered with the infused crystals.

"First though a jedi must connect to the force and be able to bring it forth enhancing their mind and senses. Then they work on manifesting it around themselves. Then the world." She stopped bringing them about and there was a training area with different stones around them. Wukong dressed and meditating around them. Different animals they had brought through the forests and jungle to get here and keep around. The marble stone platforms overlooking gave a look on both sides of the mountain itself showing the smaller range of the Nhai mountains that surrounded them.

 

[Eun Hye-Jin]

Eun Hye-Jin
Post 4
Location: Hidden Jedi Temple - Nhai Mountains, Atrisia
[member="Matsu Ike"]

Only when the small children around her released a collective gasp did Hye-Jin realize perceive what was happening. At one moment, her feet were firmly planted on the ground. Then in the next, her body was floating in the air above the temple. She looked on the Master with astonishment in her eyes as the woman manipulated the Force to create a kinetic disc of invisible energy beneath her pupils’ feet. Nevertheless, Hye-Jin did not neglect the opportunity to take in the spectacular view of her surroundings in the Nhai mountains. Massive wroshyr trees transplanted from the forest world of Kashyyyk surrounded the small and isolated temple, many of which provided shelter from the elements. In addition, the temple was far bigger than she had perceived from her view on the ground.

After some time, the Master set the class down in a training area filled with various stones. Hye-Jin glanced at the Wukong and Jedi ascetics meditating in the area and practicing their telekinetic abilities with the stones. The words of her Master echoed in her ears as she watched the monks with a mixture of awe and envy across her pale Atrisian features. In bearing witness to the skill and strength of the monks, Hye-Jin felt as if she had stepped into a fantastical world conjured up in her dreams. Her eyelids fluttered like the wings of a butterfly as they took in the sight of floating stones and rocks, each held in the air by sheer force of will.

“Master...how will we connect to the Force?” Hye-Jin asked after raising her left arm into the air. “Are you going to show us how to...meditate?” The ex-idol recalled reading that meditation was a powerful tool that one could utilize to connect to the cosmic energies of the Force. During her pilgrimage to the temple, she had attempted to meditate in order to pass the time during cold nights and mornings. However, she had only been able to establish an ephemeral connection before losing her focus to one thing or another.

Given her own struggles in attempting to practice meditation, Hye-Jin was extremely eager to learn how to properly execute the technique.

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Eun Hye-Jin"]

Matsu looked at her and raised an eyebrow but spoke with a smile and bow of her head when she walked around. Hands behind her back resting at the small and her crystal bells jingled wih each step and bounce of herself. "Meditation is important and essential to a jedi, to any force user but I can explain it a thousand different ways. I can show you everything that I do to meditate but it is a personal thing. unique to each of you and that is something that you need to be able to find out for yourself... but we can practice and focus here. The early lessons are meant for just that." She stood there stopping for a moment and looked out.

"Now find a comfortable position for yourself. Something that allows you to sit and you won't get nervous or tired." The jedi master sat down raising a rock up and flattening it with the force into a seat she could be in. Formed to her body and Matsu sat down crossing her legs with hands going to her knees as some of the children mirrored her but sat in a way that they would be able to do it for hours. She breathed in deeply though and allowed the force to exude from her body before speaking. "The force is all around you, from the air you breath and pull into your lungs then expel outwards into the world."

 

[Eun Hye-Jin]

Eun Hye-Jin
Post 5
Location: Hidden Jedi Temple - Nhai Mountains, Atrisia
[member="Matsu Ike"]

“The Force is all around you..."

Hye-Jin took a deep intake of air before lowering herself into a comfortable spot on the ground and positioning herself in cross-legged body posture. Then, after closing her eyes, the ex-idol attempted to enter a state of deep relaxation by clearing her mind in order to open herself up to the gently shifting currents of the living Force.

A few moments later, she felt it.

She felt the Force flowing through the small concentration of sapient life around her, extending from the collective conscious of the small children as they sought to open themselves up to the Force as well. She also felt it in the microscopic life forms of the creatures that dwelled in the soil beneath her feet. It was in the various forms of plant life as well, including the rich grasses and flowering blossoms that surrounded her. Finally, she felt it emanating from her Master to an especially potent degree. The ex-idol had never been in the presence of anyone who possessed that level of strength and influence in the Force. However, she could sense that the woman’s connection was pure and uncorrupted by...

The dark side.

It was a tiny and nigh-negligible presence, yet for the first time in her young life, she felt it on this planet. Although it was thousands of miles away and locked in a forbidden place of death and ruin, Hye-Jin could not resist the temptation of its existence. It beseeched her, called out to her with an implicit promise of power and energy. There was something there that could grant her great power over life and death. She could exact her revenge on those individuals who had abused her for her weight over the perceived anonymity of the HoloNet. Suddenly, the pain she had felt in reading their vitriolic comments arose within her once more, manifesting itself as anger and hatred. Her anonymous abusers had robbed her of her career, humiliated her, and finally, destroyed her sense of self-worth.

She would make them pay.

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Eun Hye-Jin"]

Mats reached out and she could feel them, the children were for lack of a better term remaining in their thoughts. manifesting the force around them but not fully able to understand it. The one who had joined them she could feel and she had already found something. The darkside across the world and narrowed her focus. It was quite a feat to barely begin the first lesson of becoming a jedi and already going for the darkside. She found very little detracting from it aside from... her mind reached out and she focused her own willpower into a bubble... then spread it out as the force of will enclosed them.

"Interesting." She said it and was looking at them while the jedi artisans brought some things in front of her. Mostly clothing but there was also holographic displays of tombs that were being built and designed. Meticulously set up for the testing of the jedi and they were looking at creatures that could be within the different tombs. She maintained the force bubble to closeout distractions when she was working with some of the artisans who were fashioning the traps and trials. Jedi sages who studied the code and aspects of the jedi were being used to fashion the trials that would push at them as well so mental as well as physical.

"Good these will serve well." She was checking out some of the children and walking around them with her hands behind her back. Fingers laced together and the soft jingle of her hair bouncing with the crystal bells. Where she was looking and correcting a few of them in their stances of sending calming into their bodies. The jedi master was touching with one hand the areas of the hologram for construction and the different materials. The great wall that had been constructed on the world to contain the nexus of jar'kai was a prime example and this far into the mountains there was much much more coming.

 

[Eun Hye-Jin]

Eun Hye-Jin
Post 6
Location: Hidden Jedi Temple - Nhai Mountains, Atrisia
[member="Matsu Ike"]

Suddenly, the dark side ceased to exist.

With an audible intake of air, Hye-Jin abruptly emerged from her meditation. Sweat coated her forehead as she reacclimated herself to her surroundings, eyes fluttering as they adjusted to the light. Although her peers were still locked in a varying states of deep meditation, Hye-Jin found that she could not return after the interruption. The act of connecting with the faint presence of the dark side had exhausted most of what remained of her stamina after three days of arduous hiking. However, even if she had possessed the energy to re-enter a deep meditative state, Hye-Jin sensed that there was something blocking her connection to it.

For a few moments, she glanced in the direction of the Master, who seemed occupied with correcting the technique of her peers. Although the woman was more focused on helping her peers, Hye-Jin sensed that her lapse into the dark side had not gone unnoticed.

Although the ex-idol suspected that what she had done was against the Code of the Jedi, she could not help but feel drawn to the alluring power of the dark side. The anger and rage she had felt in her moment of transgression had been extremely cathartic to her. When she was cut off from it, she felt a deep void within herself that the dark side had filled in that fleeting moment. It had given her anger a purpose, an outlet to manifest and make her stronger.

Hye-Jin did not know what to make of it, but she feared the reproach that she knew would come for her failure to resist.

The worst part would be the wait.

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Eun Hye-Jin"]

The jedi master didn't move her head when she felt the girl exit the meditation. Instead continuing as if nothing had happened and she allowed them all to stay there sitting as she finished up and stood in front of them. Going into the force around them as she focused her own mind on each of them. They were open and receptive to the force, feeling it and allowing it to radiate off of their bodies before her words came out. "Very good now as you inhale the force feel it in your lungs, push it from there throughout your bodies and out of your fingertips." She watched them and waited.

"Now raise you hands and allow the force to manifest between your hands.. allow it to be pushed outwards and into the air." She was watching them as they worked on it and some of them were doing it, others were concentrating when they finished and sighed as the master spoke. She moved silently standing over one of them as the black haired girl looked up with icy blue eyes. "Momoya it is okay this is your first attempt." She crouched down looking at her though and little Allie was there sittig with her blonde hair. "Mommy." The little girl spoke when she picked her up and the hapan child was in her arms as she stood there.

"Oh Allie what am I going to do with you?" She said it and Momoya sat there turning to look at Jade as her twin was rotating the force energies between her hands and showing her sister. "Like mommy showed us when we were little, rotate our hands and mirror the motion with the force. The two of them started as some of the other children followed it and Matsu spoke looking at them and the others. "Yes, that is a way to do it as well. For those who have not met them these are three of my children. Jade, Allie and Momoya." She went back to looking at them though and motioned. "You are all doing well though."

 

[Eun Hye-Jin]

Eun Hye-Jin
Post 7
Location: Hidden Jedi Temple - Nhai Mountains, Atrisia
[member="Matsu Ike"]

Hye-Jin could only stare idly at the ground as she waited, not wanting to make eye contact with the Master for fear of inciting her reproach. It would have been a relief for the woman to reprimand her then and there for her lapse into the dark side, but it never came.

And so, she waited.

Finally, the Master spoke, but it was only to move the lesson to the next stage. Hye-Jin listened quietly as she explained what she wanted her students to do, while also attempting to not draw attention to her presence in spite of the fact that she was the only adult in a class full of children. Fortunately, the Master seemed occupied with tending to her own children, who were also among the class.

With a deep breath, Hye-Jin closed her eyes and attempted to open her mind out to the Force. However, after seeing the Master nurturing her daughters, a stream of emotion burst forth from her psyche. Envy filled her thoughts as she opened her eyes once more to look upon the Master and her three beautiful children. The reality that she had no blood of her own became all the more painful to bear every time she gazed upon what appeared to be a loving family. A few tears fell unbidden from her eyes as she watched the Master dote affection upon her daughters. Unfortunately, she didn’t realize that she had been crying until she saw the boy sitting next to her staring into her eyes with an inquisitive gaze.

A mixture of shame and embarrassment overcame her emotions in the moment. She wanted to run back to the village as fast as her feet would carry her, before taking the first airspeeder back to Xam’Chi. Instead, she could only hide her face away in shame as she silently broke down into yet more tears.

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Eun Hye-Jin"]

The jedi master listened and she turned her head now at the sound of tears and the sharp scent of salt. Enhancing her senses meant she was able to tell when she turned to look at the oldest one in the group and set Allie down with her sisters. Maintaining a neutral expression on her face and radiating serenity the jedi master moved over clasping her hands behind her back. "Are you alright padawan? I am uncertain what would bring such tears to your eyes." She said it and motioned for the children to stop while moving and allowing them to move to the side as she looked at her.

The jedi master stood straight though while motioning for the other children around to stop and assemble. "Now this is an important lesson as well. The jedi are a group. We are about the group and order not just the individual. Where one of us falters the others must be ready and willing to help them." She said it and looked at them. "Work with each other for a moment, I will make sure the artisans have been helped and return. I want the group of you ready for going into the Agora." She pointed and the temple here on the mountain was well part of it but it was also where one of the trial tombs was being built not the temple itself.

 

[Eun Hye-Jin]

Eun Hye-Jin
Post 8
Location: Hidden Jedi Temple - Nhai Mountains, Atrisia
[member="Matsu Ike"]

“I-I’m fine, Master Ike.” Hye-Jin replied nervously as she desperately wiped the tears from her eyes. “It’s nothing really, I was just...thinking of something else. I-I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have been distracting.” The ex-idol sniffled and closed her eyes as she attempted to repress her emotions. Given her general state of exhaustion and the emotions that she felt wracking her mind, Hye-Jin sensed that whatever trial was next would be extremely difficult for her. The ex-idol had thought that the worst of the day was over after she finally found the temple, but there were still many challenges for her to overcome, if she wanted to become a Jedi.

Nothing worth doing is ever easy.

The words of her former overseer repeated in her mind unbidden. A determined expression marked her features as she closed her eyes once more in an effort to push her emotions away. She didn’t need to forget them, but she did need to clear her mind in order to let the Force flow into her without impediment. After a few moments, she opened them and glanced at the group of children surrounding her before she moved to stand. After Master Ike finished speaking, she took a deep breath and brushed off her pants. Then, she looked to her teacher and spoke up.

“I’m ready, Master Ike.”

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Eun Hye-Jin"]

The jedi master gave a nod of her head for the padawans as she was walking through it. The area they were working on continued to be constructed. A pit leading down into a deeper pool filled with hydrostatic bulbs that would produce for them oxygen areas. The bubbles were set along a tunnel that was being fashioned and flooded with a mixture of stone work. It looked more ancient but the jedi were fashioning them to look like ancient stones that had been set up. In the distance there was a coffin being set up. A jedi who had perished from age and shared their wisdom from Atrisian heritage.

The tunnel as she was leading them over the different pits itself. She looked down and the tunnel gave way coming out in a chamber with a larger pit. The side of it wrapping around with murals being painted and mock weapons. Blades that were dangerous looking but a padded design that would knock you around but take something hard pressed to fatally injure. The blade challenge was designed to test the acrobatic skills where they were working and training mechanisms as corded ropes were set in the roof that could be used to swing and move around to different platforms. Water and anti gravity to slow the descent if they fell.

"One that we have been constructing, a trial as it wer that ties into both the jedi trials and into testing your abilities. So a jedi padawan trying to become a knight or a jedi knight looking to become a master can undertake them as the force presence we are looking to create within will work to test you and bring forth fears or thoughts you might think have been buried." She led them through it as they were going and all of the artisans who were working with the stone gave bows to the master as they checked off the work where they could. "We have also begun in the other auxiliary temples to make similar testing grounds."