The tiniest flicker leads the way

[Rianna Organa]

[SIZE=12pt]Rianna was listening, “When I was on Coruscant with the Republic Jedi uncertain at times of how to teach self-healing, a small nick with the edge of a knife does help to provide focus when learning, though it is not recommended that a student injure themselves to the point where they need to see a healer” She moved slowly when she was thinking and at times her hands would move as she thought about a process, or a teaching method. “Self-healing is about knowing yourself, seeing the force as it connects you to everything else and being able to identify where it is you fail to connect.” She gave Ian a half smile, “a darkness so to be speak that is usually the injured area waiting for reconnection. It is difficult, but once that is mastered healing others seems to come so much easier.” She exhaled and remembered the days of her youth when she had to remember all those things, and how difficult it had been. “I will teach you Ian that is one of the skills that I am most proficient at, there are others”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]She didn’t want to think about the skills she used for those patients in a coma, the dream walking that allowed her to see them talk to them, and sometimes bring them back to a state of conscious. No she didn’t want to talk about that skill right now.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]She thought about the plant, “I would want the plant myself, I use herbs often when dealing with cultures that are not quite as advanced, they are more comfortable seeing something they can explain rather than a pill or droid which frightens them” A root would be quite the way to go, extracting the oil from it and putting it into her med kit, or experimenting with the healing abilities that she would enjoy.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Rianna was walking through the ship now headed for the cockpit and the pilot’s seat, “Do you know how to pilot a ship [/SIZE][member="Ian Milàn"][SIZE=12pt]?” She asked before they continued their discussion on self-healing, and then eventually to the botanical.[/SIZE]

 

[Jon Burke]

[member="Rianna be Ar'klim"]


Ian nodded thoughtfully as Master Ar’klim spoke about healing. Kevin’s approach had been different; using force sight to see the smallest of the body’s structures and then using the force to speed the natural healing processes in damaged areas. Perhaps combining the two approaches Ian could come to a better understanding and develop the skill to a useful level.

Ian cocked a brow and smiled when she said she would like to keep the Reeksa root. “My former employers didn’t let me slip any out of the lab with me when I left, Master Ar’klim. If you would like a sample, I’m afraid I would have to return to Felucia; although it shouldn’t be difficult to obtain if you do wish it. I made contacts on my last trip that should be agreeable to helping me once again.”

“I have a certification for non-commercial flight within Corellian airspace.” This meant Ian had passed the qualifying tests to be allowed to use the company’s small ships and takeoff and land at any spaceport in the Corellian system. In the busy airspace of Corellia, that was generally the most hazardous portion of any of the trip he had been on. His ship’s computer squawking those credentials when he entered a new system almost always granted him unassisted landing privileges.

“I feel I am a capable pilot. I’ll admit that I tended to let my ship’s R9 unit do most of the piloting as I preferred to sleep or study when I was on long flights by myself. After familiarizing myself with the controls of this vessel, I could probably assist you if needed.”

 

[Rianna Organa]

[member="Ian Milàn"]

[SIZE=12pt]Force sight is an excellent way to see the body’s structures and using the force to speed healing. Rianna had read a journal of Bariss Offee once she talked about a time during the war where she was stationed to field unit, and each day she went in and literally feed the force into the bodies of the injured. It would help to weave bones together but it never completely healed them, the name of the Journal was MedStar II Jedi Healer.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Rianna had understood that healing did not mean that everything was always fully mended by the force it was merely a tool that promoted healing. The combination of knowing how a body works, and what the injury is a healer can help to heal the body.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]“I think having some on hand, the reeksa root would be beneficial, do you agree?” She wanted to know his mind, his thoughts. Knowing these things would help her to know him, understand him. It would become a benefit for him as her learner to know his beliefs.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]“I think it is always good to know how to fly, you never know when you will be called upon to do so, think of all the times Obi-Wan Kenobi had to fly a Jedi fighter.” She looked at him, wondering how much he knew about Jedi history.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]“Let us prepare for departure” Rianna slipped into the pilot’s seat, and then pointed Ian to the co-pilot navigation position. “Can you program our journey to our first stop, please” Rianna began flipping switches to bring the ship to life. [member="Ordo"] was a wonderful designer when it came to the structure of the Thranta. She hoped that young would like her riduur.[/SIZE]

 

[Jon Burke]

[member="Rianna be Ar'klim"]


Ian sat down next to Master Ar’klim in the navigator’s seat. He activated the nav computer and pulled up the route laid in for her journey from Mandalore to Corellia. He flipped to the settings screen and checked the mass to power ratio of the ship. That was an indicator of how near a vessel could safely approach gravitational wells when traveling off the hyperlanes.

“Is our first destination to be Balmorra, Master Ar’klim?” It was the last stop she had made prior to arriving at Corellia so he hoped he had guessed correctly. It was relatively simple to plot a reciprocal course based on her prior passage.

That done, he began to ponder her other question.

“I think having a supply of Reeksa root would be invaluable. Not necessarily for a Blue Shadow Virus antidote; but, to determine what other viral infections could be treated with it. The Felucian Shamen were keeping it for a purpose and that was definitely not to treat the Blue Shadow Virus. I had hoped to investigate and see what they were treating, but, I had to leave before I could.”

It was a nagging worry to him… what had happened to Seren and her mother. He had been forced to leave Felucia by the local authorities when the trouble started concerning the canister of biotoxins. The last he heard her father had disappeared and Seren and her mother were having to vacate their property. Then he had lost touch with her. Returning to retrieve another sample of the root would possibly serve two other purposes… to determine what the shaman was treating with the root extract and to try and get a lead on where Serendipity had been forced to go. He would like to know that she was safe somewhere.

He waited for her to confirm their destination to be Balmorra before he locked the routing into the computer.

 

[Rianna Organa]

"Yes [member="Ian Milàn"] Balmorra first, I have to see my sister and speak with her. Perhaps you will be able to meet some of my family if they are about" Rianna knew they had to do something to raise credits, and she and Arianna had been discussing how the Organa family could raise credits. It would help them to start over again.

There was also the world not far from here that Arianna spent over a year stranded on with [member="Togashi Yokuni"], also known as Garith Darkhold. Garith was father to Arianna's children. Something else that they did not tell too many people. It would seem Arianna had repeated history when she became pregnant. He was a Sith though it seemed when it came to Arianna he sought to protect her with all that he possessed. Odd, how the emotions could reek such havoc.

"Well then, we should see about getting some so that we can determine what it is good for." Blue Shadow Virus containers had been found, and put away fear of allowing it to spread frightened many, but what frightened Rianna was that someone had the containers.

Perhaps they were each lost in their own thoughts for the moment, Rianna came back and soon had the ship ready to depart. "Ready?"

 

[Jon Burke]

[member="Rianna be Ar'klim"]


Ian rechecked the nav computer screen. “Course from Corellia to Balmorra laid in, Master. Waypoints verified and locked. Ready to depart, at your command.”

As it wasn’t his ship, he left the course as a simple retracing of her inbound plot. If he had been calculating a route for his.. well, his previous employer’s… small freighter, he would have cut some of the angles a little closer to the gravity wells of the star systems they would be passing and trimmed about an hour off their hyperspace transit time. Since it wasn’t his ship, he felt obligated to comply with its owners’ implied wishes. Perhaps when she knew him better she would give him the latitude to make such decisions.

“If MandalMedical has a small ship I can use, I can go to Felucia and gather some samples. It’s much closer to Mandalore than Corellia.”

Ian watched as she prepared the ship for departure seeing that she was very much at home in the Pilot’s seat of this vessel. He smiled when she asked if he was ready and replied, “I am ready, Master… or should I say, Oya! ?”

 

[Rianna Organa]

"I think we can arrange for a small ship to be used, my riduur [member="Ordo"] might have an idea of what we can use." They moved past the clouds and broke free of the gravity well, and soon were on their heading to Balmorra.

"How are your meditation skills Ian?" She would now begin to ask the questions to know where to focus some of his training. Rianna was a firm believer that to be refreshed especially a healer required calm and quiet, and the ability to reach a deep restful meditation.

 

[Ian Milàn]

[member="Rianna be Ar'klim"]


<< As you can see, Master… I am very good at illusion. Begone, Jon Burke!! >>

“Meditation, Master?”

She would ask about that first.

“Well, Keven did train me to meditate. He showed me how it can revitalize quicker and better than sleep under the right conditions. But, to be honest… it’s not something I carried forward when he left. I really didn’t want to have anything to do with Jed and using the force for a very long time.”

“More recently, I’ve been using some of the skills I learned when they can be of use when I’m working… such as levitation. But, meditation I haven’t even considered for years.”

Ian knew meditation was a basic jedi tenet. But for years that fact alone was enough to make him avoid it. He supposed she was about to explain the errors of his ways.

 

[Rianna Organa]

Rianna had to remember that Ian was still experiencing hesitation the history he experienced would continue to play into his training if she did not show him he could trust her.

"Meditation is a key element for a Jedi. As a healer I meditate a lot to keep my connection to the force strong." What could she say to him. "Do you drink tea?" 180° turn, agenda build trust.

Rianna was renown for being a tea drinker. Why not see if her new padawan was to. Common ground. That's what she looked for.

[member="Ian Milàn"]

 

[Ian Milàn]

[member="Rianna be Ar'klim"]


“I suppose another problem I have, Master, is that I don’t fully trust the force. When I meditate, it’s like I’m shutting down my body’s senses and depending on what I perceive through the force. Would I recognize a kinrath sneaking up behind me while in a meditative trance? I don’t know and it’s hard for me to put it to the test.”

He grinned and added, “I suppose if I were in a meditation chamber deep within a jedi stronghold, I might be more able to relax. Most places I’ve been aren’t that forgiving.”

He cocked his head to the side in curiosity when she mentioned tea.

“I’ve been known to have a cup on occasion. I guess my favorite is Kopi, but, I like a good pepper tea when I need a pick me up or a h’kak or jeru after a hard day to relax. What do you drink?”

 

[Rianna Organa]

In time she thought he will come to trust the force and his own presence within it, if she ever met this Kevin he'd get a piece of her mind. Her husband would be proud of her that day standing up to someone who took advantage of a situation.

Rianna wished there was a way to wave her hand and take away the dark shadow that had been left behind on Ian. In time everything would heal. This she already knew.

She smiled at the thought. "I love tea, something strong with a little bit. Sometimes I like something horribly sweet to go with it"

"Will you try something for me. Would you just close your eyes calm your mind and tell me what you see?" This exercise was about perception.

She wanted tea, "I will make us each a cup while you talk to me" Rianna put the autopilot on stood up. "Ok?"

[member="Ian Milàn"]

 

[Ian Milàn]

[member="Rianna be Ar'klim"]


Ian actually shuttered. He stared out the forward viewports a moment before he could compose a response. She was asking him to do that which he dreaded most.

“Master,” he finally said softly. “Before I do this, may I tell you of an experience I had on Mustafar.”

He took her head cocked to the side curiously to be her assent.

“A few months before we moved to Corellia, a Mustarian friend of mine and I slipped away from the compound in a speeder bike. We went south. I wanted to see the ruins of the old jedi temple.”

“When we were nearing the area that we thought held the temple, we came upon an encampment of the Blackguard. We were scared to death. We had always heard horror stories about them growing up. As it turned out, they were quite cordial. Or, so it seemed“

“They asked what we were doing so far south and were surprised when we told them I wanted to see the jedi temple. They told us parts of their history, especially the parts about seeking knowledge about the force and force artifacts. They showed me their prize possession – a sith holocron.”

“They took us to the old temple and offered to show me one of the things the holocron could do. I was curious and they seemed to be nice so I agreed.”

“It was easy, they said. Lay in the center of the temple, hold the holocron in both hands, close your eyes, and relax… and see what the force reveals to you.”

Ian couldn’t help himself. He stood and paced back and forth in the confined space of the ship’s small bridge as he continued.

“I saw starfields and began soaring through them, past system after system, faster and faster until I reached a certain blue star. My journey was done on a red planet beneath a blue star at a temple nearly exactly like the one my body was resting in on Mustafar.”

“There was a big difference though and I felt it as soon as I reached the area of the temple. If the temple on Mustafar was built to serve the light, its twin on the red planet was built to serve the dark. I was drawn to its center, to a place that would correspond to where my body waited for me in the Mustafarian temple. There in nearly the exact place my body would have been, was a slowly pulsing orb of darkness. It was beautiful in a way, a translucent black and gray tumbling and rolling like thunderclouds trapped in a bubble. And I knew what it wanted. It wanted me to free it by taking that same position in the temple, having it claim me and using my connection between the two worlds to allow it to leap to Mustafar.”

Ian sat back down and swiveled his chair to face her.

“I ran. I fled back through the stars, back to my body on Mustafar. I didn’t tell them what I experienced but they knew something happened to me. They tried to get me to join their brotherhood and become a seeker for them. When I told my father they wanted me to join them, that’s when he decided we should move. Far away where I could be safe from them. But they still claim me. From time to time, in different places, one will approach and identify themselves to me as a Blackguard. They tell me they are waiting for me to return and fulfill my destiny.”

“Now, whenever I close my eyes and relax, letting the force take me where it will, I always retrace that journey. It’s always the same. I’ve even tried to identify the systems to find out where that blue sun is. But, I haven’t been able to identify enough reference points on the journey and can’t locate it.”

He looked at her hoping she understood. “I’ll take the trip again for you, Master, if you wish it. Someday, though, I fear I won’t be able to escape the allure of that dark sphere.”

 

[Rianna Organa]

Rianna listened this was something she was not aware of and she wondered how long it would have taken to get this information from him. "I do not wish you to take that journey, right now" No she needed time to prepare for such a thing.

Blackguard, it had been quite some time since she had heard that term. A darkness loomed over that sect Rianna needed time to once again grow familiar with the group, and their ways. Were they still active, and was there an idea of where, and what their agenda was today. She wondered if someone outside of the Republic and the Silver would have this knowledge.

"Instead how about a breathing exercise, to relax you" and me she thought. It would seem young Ian here was destined for something funny how he reminded her of Aiden Merritt, she wondered how he was and if he married the Duch'a yet. She had seen the announcement, ah but that was for another time.

"One other thing Ian, when you were there with the Blackguard, did you take anything from there with you?" Souvenirs were often taken, but had he stopped long enough, or perhaps one of the guard, had slipped something into his pocket while he explored with the holocron.

She would need to keep [member="Ordo"] apprised of all this in case one day the Blackguard should decide to visit Mandalorian space.

[member="Ian Milàn"]

 

[Ian Milàn]

[member="Rianna be Ar'klim"]


Ian blushed and looked at Master Ar’klim like a deer caught in headlights… or possibly like he was putting pieces together that weren’t entirely appealing to him.

“I did, Master Ar’klim. A Blackguard elder watched everything that transpired from a distance. When I started to leave he came to me and gave me a medallion. He said it represented the other side of my destiny. “

Ian had dropped his bag inside the doorway of the bridge when they entered. Without conscious effort, he levitated it to his hand and began rummaging through the contents.

“Ah! Here it is!”

He looked at his new master and admitted, “I only just now put it together… It’s Mandalorian isn’t it?”

 

[Rianna Organa]

[member="Ian Milàn"]

Rianna looked over, she smiled broadly as she moved closer, "That Ian is a mythosaur, and yes it is very mandalorian" Rianna reached out to touch it but stopped short of doing so she did not want to touch upon it unsure if her psychometry would produce images and emotions that she was not prepared for.

Slowly she withdrew her hand without touching it, "it is quite the piece of jewelry Ian" Rianna's foresight had given her an image not quite like this but one that said he had something, this was it.

But even from this small distance she couldn't help but feel there was more to it...that it may have been part of something larger. Something tickled her senses, something like the Mand'alor's armor. The first. She wasn't sure of how that tied. Was it...again she would need to talk to [member="Ordo"] on this.

"Did he say anything more about how he got it?" That would be the clue wouldn't it.

 

[Ian Milàn]

[member="Rianna be Ar'klim"]



“He didn’t say, Master. I know they were obsessed with collecting things from all across the galaxy. Holocrons and force artifacts primarily but anything they were curious about and wanted to study.”

He took the fine chain off the mythosaur and held the head in his palm.

“I can’t exactly explain it but I get the impression of incredible age when I hold this… and… I don’t know any better way to describe the way it makes me feel other than… homesick. But not for anyplace I’ve ever lived. More for this…”

Ian levitated the mythosaur head between them and began slowly feeding it with the force, spiraling up and around and around the medallion until it slowly began spinning. Ian increased the flow and the rate of spin increased, faster and faster until it was just a blur. But then the blur began expanding as a sphere of light until it was almost a meter in size.

He saw Master Ar’klim’s look of concern and smiled, “Don’t worry. It’s almost complete. I learned it would do this by accident when I was just a kid. I always wondered where this was.”

The question of what this was soon resolved as an image began materializing on the sphere. As fast as the mythosaur head was spinning, the sphere made slow, almost leisurely revolutions. What presented was a globe like representation of a planet complete with oceans, land masses with topography demonstrating deserts, plains, mountains and… storms making their way across the planet’s surface.

Ian grimaced when he saw a thunderstorm working its way around toward his side. ‘Aww, man… not lightning again…”

But his wish went unheeded as a miniature lightning bolt lanced down and struck the planet surface and bounded on a reciprocal course and struck him in the center of his chest.

“Ouch!” he exclaimed rubbing his chest with one hand.

“Master, before I stop it, can you recognize the world? I’ve never been able to; of course the references I’ve been using were more elementary. Perhaps a more advanced set of astrogation charts would be more inclusive.”

Ian watched the world spinning around slowly almost mesmerized. Whenever he saw this he had an ache inside that told him he really didn’t know where his true home was.

 

[Rianna Organa]

Rianna was mesmerized she watched the mythosaur as it turned the force simmered and wavered as the sphere formed the air in the ship seemed electrified. Rianna raised her hand the ripples of the force reaching out.

The planet formed as it spun slowly before them sensations of familiarity washed over her. "I've seen this but not recently" Rianna looked at Ian again, "yes charts, we need charts"

Rianna headed back towards the holo table, she quickly began thumbing through charts. She looked at Aiden, "when you get that sensation what else do you feel?" There was a reason, a familiar tie that spoke to Ian it would pull him to it as events and time allowed him to experience what was needed until it was time. Fate was waiting.

She waited as she held three maps in cue one could be what he was looking for the problem would be if the image was not what it looked like today. The timeframe was key.

[member="Ian Milàn"]

 

[Ian Milàn]

[member="Rianna be Ar'klim"]


“Oww! Stop it!” he said needlessly as another lightning bolt zapped him on the hand this time.

"When you get that sensation what else do you feel?"

Ian smiled rather sheepishly and answered, “Promise you won’t laugh… I know it’s a silly notion but I feel like this world and I love each other; that we belong to one another. It’s like these…” “Ouch!” “…lightening strikes are the only way it can reach out to me. And I… I feel like I could continue filling this with the force until we both blow up into a sun. I feel so strong when we are connected.”

Ian’s smile turned into a scowl and his eyes glazed; open but seeing nothing. He actually growled.

“No!”

On a portion of the spinning miniature world a darkness appeared; a small spot at first but then it began expanding.

“No!” Ian shouted, a fire burning in his unfocused eyes. “I won’t let you have it this time!”

He bent his elbows and raised his hands as if in supplication calling more of the force to him than he ever had before. He fed it freely into his world and the spinning sphere began having the appearance of an over inflated ball, straining at its seams. The darkness was pushed back initially but rebounded and began expanding more rapidly.

“NO!!!” …Ian fed the sphere even more of the strength of the force.

“YOU…” …and more.

“CAN’T...” …and more.

“HAVE…” …and more!

“IT!”

The sphere was now glowing with the brilliance of a pure white sun. The darkness was burned away completely. Suddenly those “seams” yielded and the enormous volume of the force that Ian had fed into the sphere rebounded back through him. He was thrown back against the bulkhead behind him and slumped down to the deck unconscious. The mythosaur pendant flipped end over end and landed on his chest as if claiming him.

 

[Rianna Organa]

[member="Ian Milàn"]
Rianna could feel the summoning of power, the convergence of the force as it swelled between Ian and the image produced by the mythosaur.

What she had not expected was the reaction of Ian his seeming calm disposition was suddenly beginning to become a battle of wills.

What was it, what had he seen before that he had not told her about.

But this planet, she knew this planet and she knew that within the three charts that she had gathered lay this planet.

Suddenly Ian was thrown against the wall, "Oh My!" Rianna immediately moved from her position at the holo table over to Ian.

She put her hand on his forehead there was no damage other than he was now unconscious. The med bay droids came from their part of the ship, "Master Jedi"

Rianna moved back, "He's ok, put him on a table, and watch him. Record all bodily functions for review" The one thing that Rianna right now focused on, the force and how Ian had used it. Complicated by an object that clearly had a purpose that was hidden from Rianna.

Rianna followed the droids as they carried Ian into the med bay. She stood against the wall, watching him as she tried to reason what she knew of the force with what she had seen.

 

[Ian Milàn]

[member="Rianna be Ar'klim"]


Ian slowly blinked his eyes open and was once again very confused. He was face to face with… what? A quick glance around revealed a room he was unfamiliar with; but, recognized as a med bay. Looking back at the optical sensors intently studying him in the person of the med bay droid, Ian realized what it was and where he was.

He sat up slowly finally seeing Master Ar’klim and breathed a sigh of relief. She was apparently unhurt by the recoil of the force. He felt as if he’d been run over by a stampeding herd of bantha but she seemed unfazed.

“Are you all right, Master,” he asked to seek confirmation.

He rubbed his back where he felt a bruise forming and groaned slightly. What had happened? He looked at Master Ar’klim and asked, “Did you see… anyone?”

For the first time he had actually seen his adversary in the contest for the mythosaur’s world and he hadn’t been happy.

“In the past, I haven’t been brave enough to challenge him when he begins his spread of darkness over the world. This time I couldn’t allow that world to be shrouded in black. I fought back,,, and you saw the results.”

Ian was very pleased that his effort had expelled the darkness this time. He was stronger and tied to that world felt as if his strength just continued to grow. But…

“I saw him this time when I challenged him rather than retreating.”

He looked Master Ar’klim in her eyes with a look of concerned confusion. “Master, it was me.”