He wasn't trying to show off. Okay ... Maybe a little. He smirked at the thought of six hours of meditation but didn't travel in it. When they were younger, he was brash, cocky, headstrong, with just enough swagger to get him in trouble. He was quick with his mouth, fast with his fists, and even faster with the blaster. But centuries without Katarine offered him time. And his 'deal' with Muad afforded him the luxury of enjoying the time in relative health and a nearly imperceptible March of time.
Meditation was never an act he enjoyed. He preferred motion and noise to inaction and silence. But over the centuries, he finally began to appreciate it. As well as training. Mind-numbing repetition, mindless forms of lightsaber drills, minuscule movements utilizing telekinesis ... It was all so dreary and boring. Until one day he was sitting in a rolling meadow, observing a bed of ants—a simple meditation exercise.
Ellion always thought he understood ants. There was a queen; they followed orders, and they worked hard. But the truth he discovered that day reshaped his life. The queen wasn't the leader. In fact, no one led. Every ant had its own mind and did its part. When they found food, they shared the knowledge with the rest of the nest, and the ants worked together. When something intruded and threatened the nest, they came together to protect what was theirs, together. They farmed fungi, built massive structures, constructed bridges, and worked as a single unit forged by a simple fact. They were separate, yet one.
The thought took root until Eli realized that sometimes you had to set aside your own identity for the greater good. That didn't erase your uniqueness; it expanded it because you were never alone. The lesson altered his outlook.
While the entire nest could create expansive architecture, it seemed unsubstantial to the outside world. All because they could see things from the ants' perspective.
The ants worked, one grain of sand at a time. As Eli studied them with wonder, he noticed that even something as tiny as a grain of sand could fortify a building, or remove it and send everything else crashing down.
It was the way of the galaxy. When people across the stars worked together, they could build things of beauty and usefulness. And when just one chose to pull at the building blocks, everything could be destroyed.
So Eli decided to be that one ant. The architect. The one who knew the importance of every grain of sand and found the wisdom on how to use it.
That was when he finally unlocked his own potential. Before, the younger Eli thought grand gestures and actions were the way to change the galaxy. But it wasn't, not really. It was in seeing the tiniest of details and recognizing their importance. How training, knowledge, exercise, and meditation could focus his range of understanding to the smallest fulcrum points. Then Eli learned how to activate these fulcrums, or shore up the scales to ensure they wouldn't tip accidentally or purposefully.
Telekinesis became his greatest tool. Big or small, he realized he was trying to influence the external through his internal willpower. Brute force, more often than not. However, size didn't matter. Action didn't matter. Only the intent. To see that he wasn't affecting external forces and random objects. Everything sang the hymn of unity. The Unifying Force. The power he held was not given on a whim. Nor was it used as a tool any longer. It was the Life Force that created all things. A tether that united and bound all into a root system of life.
Ellion grew exponentially more powerful. Even more, he learned control. After every display of strength, the quiet silence of meditation and comprehension doubled. Where once before, he believed a sword and vibro-ax were the answers he needed, yet, Ellion learned the importance of precision and Intel. Power turned to introspection. And then, he was reborn in the fires of the crucible.
He was still the smug, cocky, hard-headed Corellian with the ability to attract trouble like a buzzard to roadkill. And he was more, learning the intricate design of what truly mattered, finding comfort in silence, and realizing that redemption was a hard path available to everyone. However, very few choose to walk it.
He grinned at her words while she leaned into him.
"If that is why you dock my points, then I'm terrified of the points being taken away for what comes next."
He led her down the arched bridge and forward through the gardens. Flowers opened to share their natural fragrance, cherry blossom trees lay scattered about, and weeping willows arched over ponds and streams alike.
"What do you want to see next?"
Katarine Ryiah
Ellion Corsair
