Public The Path Forward

[Juniper Jett]

The tree looked down at her. She felt it gaze deeply, reach into her and judge her. It knew. It knew who she was, what she was and where she came from. As it spoke to them all, clear and heady in their own minds, Juniper was overcome with fear. Fear that they'd tell them all... fears that it could tell anyone who she was. Whilst the tree just seemed content to speak cryptic bullcrap, who else could it spread it to? Panic gripped her, getting deeper and deeper before she managed to control it.

One thing was for certain though. I am not in the business of taking life advice from a plant with ideas above it's station.

It spoke of the others too. Their trials. Their worries. What they could all achieve, if only they opened their hearts to the Ashla. It said it over and over and over again. Repetition drilled in with reasoned pleas. Everything could be better, if only they followed the Ashlan path. Frankly, the whole thing stank. She'd turned her life upside down to get away from one path that was laid out for her, she wasn't about to walk into another. Especially not one recommended by a talking tree of all things.

That wouldn't be the end of the revelations though. A vision of Coruscant, the vast world-city, burning. Hordes roaming and rampaging. Portals, redness, death. As the vision faded, Juniper stood before the tree with her mouth hanging open. The vision had left uncomfortable tingles running through her body. She'd just seen a vision of horror and death... and she didn't know what to do.

"What the hell is that thing showing us?" she turned, asking any of them what they'd just seen. "That's not happened, you're not telling me this tree can show us the future. This is... this is just... what a crock of..." she ranted, looking at all of them there. Cedric. Mikhail. Themis.

An understanding of what was to come?

"I fly a ship. I'm not fighting anything. I didn't come here to be part of some war."

Mikhail Grayson Cedric Grayson Darth Themis

 

[Cedric Grayson]

The Oak fell silent in every sense. The moment Mikhail and Juniper spoke, it withdrew its connection, and the bioluminescence faded to a degree in tandem. Whatever it had wished to impart on them was wholly up to their own interpretations, and it would not further exhaust itself explaining its messages. To connect with the minds of organic beings was taxing enough for the old Oak.

Cedric's expression was one of grim portent. He'd seen this vision before in the early days of his youth. The Oak had delivered it unto him as it had the these two. That vision had driven him to rise above what he considered to be the dogma of the other Jedi, to find clarity in his purpose. The coming end was nearly inevitable, and the galaxy drifted further and further toward it as the atrocities mounted.

The Jedi exhaled a quiet sigh.

"I did not think it would share that with you," he mumbled almost apologetically to the two of them. "The Oak is our greatest seer. It's shared versions of this vision many times throughout the years. The scenery changes, the people, sometimes even the perpetrators, but the result is always the same. I dedicated my life to preventing it from coming true."

His gaze shifted to Mikhail. "You've been charged, as I was." Was all he offered. It wasn't a pleasant quest, for lack of a better term. Many lives had been lost trying to see it to its end. He then looked to Juniper, an almost sad smile coloring his features as he addressed her questions. "This is the war Jun. If you wondered why I took to the drink," he gestured toward the Oak. "This is why. I don't know why the Oak chose to share the vision with you. This isn't your fight." His lips pressed into a thin line, "I'd wager to say it sees potential in you, just as I do. The galaxy stands on the brink of apocalypse. It's slow fall, but a fall nonetheless."

His gaze darted between the two of them. "It's time to begin your training Mikhail, and Jun," his tone took on that apologetic, almost paternal candor once again, as if he were a father explaining to his child why her parents were divorcing. "If you wish to leave, I understand. I don't know if I'll be able to find as skilled a pilot on short notice, but like you said, you didn't come here to fight a war."

He let the words hang there for a moment before sentiment outweighed his rational thoughts. "But you found me in that gutter for a reason. I suppose it's up to you determine what that reason is."

Mikhail Grayson , Juniper Jett

 

[Darth Themis]

Themis went silent at its assessment. It was as she feared. It could see her soul.

Themis didn't like it. There was a lot she had left behind in her youth. She didn't like having her visions cut off the closer she got to it.

Yet, it also said she would be needed in the chaos. Themis, despite having dealt with intense, often highly accurate visions, was highly discomforted having to be told one rather than find it.

But Yes...the Ashla must remain supreme.

Even though Themis was kind of winging it.

Themis turned to Cedric Grayson . Much potential in that one. She could show him a great many mysteries about the Light...

"Whatever it's proclamation, it is clear that there must be those in your corner, Cedric. My offer as a healer to your forces stands..." She told him. She turned to the others.

"The future is always in motion. But that doesn't mean we should ignore what we were told. I don't fully understand it. But something this tied to the Light as this tree would not say a thing if it didn't think it of the utmost importance. And since it said it to all of us, we should take it as a given that destiny will find us, no matter how far we run."

Themis then turned to Cedric again.

"Committing to a Crusade is no easy task. For anyone, but as long as your faith in the Ashla does not waver, I will stand with you, Master Grayson."

Mikhail Grayson

Juniper Jett