Private Thesis

[Bernard of Arca]

He stared out at the sea, elbows resting on the railing of an airship progressing, in its meandering way, towards one of the Jedi holy sites on Ahch-To. Blue stretched out endlessly in all directions from this vantage point, forming a straight horizon line far in the distance. Only the rare cloud broke up the vast blues. The deck creaked as the wind swayed the ship side to side. It blew gently, barely lifting the Marshal's hair.

The airship's crew was small, most of its cabins were for passengers. Other than Bernard, who was on this trip for Marshal-related reasons, there were a few other guests on the ferry. Most prominently among them was a Jedi. He was unfamiliar to Bernard, but he'd sensed the man's profession when he'd first boarded. The way Jedi carried themselves was different from most people. It was something about the weight that burdened their shoulders, and the shine, or lack thereof, in their eyes that made it easy to spot them at first glance, if you knew what you were looking for.

Despite the clear and easy connection between them, he'd avoided the man. He had chosen instead to pour over case data inside his cabin, but after the tenth hour of reading his mind had stopped taking in the information and he'd found himself wandering out onto the deck. It seemed mostly empty when he claimed the spot near the bow of the ship for himself.

No thoughts came to him as he stood and stared out at the horizon. He'd been there for the past half-hour and not a single one had appeared. The vast blue seemed empty, devoid of anything to create thought from. It simply was. His mind was blank, tired and exhausted. Without the Force to keep himself fresh for days on end, he was forced to rely on breaks instead.

He sighed.

Ilian Kastle​

 

[Ilian Kastle]

Bernard of Arca

Ahch-To.

As a boy, Ilian had dreamed of coming here one day. He could barely comprehend the illustrations of the planet in the dusty tomes of his old Temple's library. A vast ocean, dotted with rocky spires and jagged islands blanketed by lush forests. Knowing only Savareen then, the beauty of the words used to describe the ancient Jedi holy world read like an incredible work of fiction.

They were not.

Ilian had spent almost the entire trip thus far on the prow of the airship, watching the rolling blue ahead of them in a continuous state of awe. However, despite the excitement that he hid keeping his thoughts in flux, he too had sensed the presence of another agent of the Force when boarding the vessel.

As magnificent hues of purple and orange overtake the horizon, the two find themselves together in silence. Just barely catching the exhale, Ilian glances toward the man from over his shoulder.

"Have you come searching for answers or peace?" he asks calmly, his focus returning to the sunset.

Ilian knew his own answer to the posed question. Perhaps, in the end, their meeting here would not be a mere coincidence.

 

[Bernard of Arca]

"Have you come searching for answers or peace?" A voice came from the side.

Bernard's eyes refocused as his mind returned to the present. The sun had begun setting, casting royal purples and fiery oranges over the vast oceans that appeared ever more intense in the infrared-spectrum. Had it already grown so late? How long had he been out here? He took a moment to admire the view as his mind fumbled for answers.

"I'm starting to believe that no journey will ever grant either at its destination in this galaxy of ours," he said. He didn't turn to look. The nature of the question told him enough about who had posed it. The Force was relentless with its machinations, or perhaps his subconscious had led him out here to encounter the Jedi after all despite himself.

More questions.

The wind picked up. The Marshal's poncho lifted like a cape on his back in sync with his chalky hair. Broad sails stiffened as the wind caught in them. It was a long way yet until their destination.

Ilian Kastle​

 

[Ilian Kastle]

Bernard of Arca

The gust tosses the Knight's hair into a mess as he looks out across the rising and falling waves.

He closes his eyes, pushing thoughts away as he takes a deep breath of the briny breeze washing over them. The smell of the ocean was alien to him. He'd walked the Pnakotic Coast only once or twice before, but it wasn't quite the same. Looking out across the Emerald Sea from Savareen's sandy coasts had filled him with wonder and curiosity as a boy; but here he felt tranquility. Escape.

Perhaps that was why their forefathers had chosen this place.

Ilian's eyes open at the Jedi's response. He glances over to him and, after taking a moment to consider the Arkanian's words, pushes himself from the railing and turns his body to lean his back against it.

"I think you might be right," he answers, crossing his arms.

He hadn't found the answers he'd been looking for on his recent journeys thus far, but he had found answers to questions he'd never thought to ask. Words that DARKCOM had spoken cross his mind as his focus shifts from the pale Knight to the falling sunset.

Follow your teachings.​

Search your feelings and look toward the horizon for the bright future,​

never the darkness behind you.​

"Not in the ways we might have anticipated, at least," he adds.

At that, he shifts his weight back to his feet and takes several steps to close the distance between the two.

 

[Bernard of Arca]

Bernard turned to face the Jedi as he approached, but let one elbow rest on the gold-coated wood railing. He'd had seemed a little taller when he boarded the ship, Jedi had a tendency to be.

"Bernard of Arca, Alliance Marshal," he said, reaching out to offer the man a proper greeting.

The ship gently lowered its altitude and continued its journey closer to the ocean floor. A flock of native fauna had been spotted in the distance and the crew had initiated an evasive course change to keep the ship safe. Down here, the sound of waves became more pronounced. A calm shushing that seemed to float closer and further away.

"Answers or peace, which is it for you?"

Ilian Kastle​