Winter is Coming (Abbi Odell)

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Abbi Odell"]

Matsu was listenign to her and was about to speak when she felt the floor give way, she spoke under her breath falling down and grabbing the wall as the grip from the witches held her in place. Suspended over the padawan while she placed her other hand on the wall and climbed down. Looking at the hole they were in and she stopped at one of the grates kicking it as sounds were coming from above. Shuffling and scraping in the distance but she crouched down holding a hand out over the padawan while she was pushing force energy of her to soothe the pain. "Shhh... move quickly and quietly." She knew these weren't the shamblers from Faustin that were created but here these ones could be dangerous as she got the grate to move and motioned the padawan through closing it and standing in the run off chute down into a lower level. "This will lead to the drains of the old ruins and the bottom of the mountain."

 

[Abbi Odell]

Abbi was going to have to learn how to do that force healing thing. It was almost like the pain just floated off of her body. Standing slowly, the young Jedi followed [member="Matsu Ike"] lead. There was still a dull ache but nothing severe.

Following the Jedi master, they moved silently down through the grate and into a unpleasant smelling place. "I know this may be a bad time to ask, but what is going on," she whispered trying to be as quiet as possible.

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Abbi Odell"]

Matsu looked at her while leading the way and spoke softly. "We are taking the less scenic way around, while I would love to say the temples are secure they are not, the old sith empire that was here before the jedi retook the world... well they liked to leave traps on traps on traps. In some cases the moment we would find what seemed like a safe area to stop there would be another thing to deal with, leviathans, undead, battle hydras. We have slowly been workign to purge them and restore some sort of balance to this world but it is not easy. That is why discovery is important, we have warriors but if their prey can be hidden in secret chambers it endangers everone. In your case though we are going into Ulic's tomb because it is safer and easier to train there.. sometimes he has even appeared and taught a warning against the darkside."

 

[Abbi Odell]

"Um...okay," Abbi said trying to sound confident but failing miserably. Battle hydras? There had been books on those and from what she could recall they were not very pleasant to encounter.

Briefly thinking back to when she had lasted updated her last will and testament, she then continued forward with [member="Matsu Ike"]. The young Jedi trusted in the master but fear still skittered right underneath her skin.

The pair made their way toward what Abbi could only assume was the tomb of the great Jedi Matsu had spoken about. Abbi had to remember his name so she could look him up in more detail later. As they proceeded the air began to warm slightly which could mean they were approaching the tomb or some horrible monster awaited them with warm breath coming from a mouth full of ten inch fangs.

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Abbi Odell"]

Matsu looked at her and spoke while she walked. "Well don't sound so enthused." It was a joke and as the sewer opened up into an outside area they were at the bottom of the mountain with run off deeper down a small crevice. Matsu was moving towards the sections carved into the mountain leading back up with a nice set of stairs that were recently cleaned and salted. Several jedi standing around in winter robes and gear while maintaining it and what had been statues were around semi broken. "Long ago someone had come and built something grander then the plain grave, these watcher statues were what alerted the things inside the rest of the temple." She led the way up and the large section was an ice cave filled with old weapons and frozen over clothing.

 

[Abbi Odell]

Besides the fact that they were in mortal danger, this was so neat!

Abbi had never done anything like this in all of the academies she been to. Most of them just let the young girl stay in the library all the time. But there was argument that sometimes books could not take the place of actual experience.

Hitching the pack up further onto her shoulders, she trudged after [member="Matsu Ike"] now with raptured intent. There was so much to see, so much to learn from this place. One could spend a lifetime gleaning knowledge from the ancient walls surrounding them.

Resisting the urge to babble, but finally succumbing to her curiosity she asked, "what exactly will we be doing once we reach our destination? I don't mean to sound impertinent but I can't tell you how many times I've had to go through the whole "lift the pebble" routine." Her last mentor had asked her to do that and Abbi's annoyance had caused a slight incident with a boulder. Her parents hadn't been too pleased with that.

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Abbi Odell"]

Matsu stepped inside and the large circular room of the tombs entrance was large inside. With large sections frozen over that were covered in banners. She listened to the padawan and clasping her hands while she stood there. "Well we can always do that if you want but I'd prefer honestly teaching you with some of the more refined techniques I have learned over the years." she was standing there and slid the shura disc saber to be revealed. The interlocked sabers that were in the shape of a z when they were connected. "I mean lifting a pebble is easy and we could go through it, then pushing the feather to teach then some breathing but.. I will admit you have done it several times.. don't want to get bored doing the same things as the children again and again."

 

[Abbi Odell]

"Oh thank the force. That is actually what got me kicked out of the last academy I was in," she said staring at the blades [member="Matsu Ike"] had pulled out. She had never seen lightsabers like that before. The pair must be difficult to wield. Each arm would have to be in perfect control, together yet separate.

"What are those," she asked resisting the urge to touch the new objects. Touching unknown weapons was not a smart idea Abbi had to remind herself.

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Abbi Odell"]

Matsu was looking at her and the weapons around them. "Remnants from the Krath and other cultures around the galaxy. Some exotic like the starblades, some simple like a serrated sword. When I first was in here there was several weapons that were interesting.. One I constructed with my sabers into this disc saber. Following the skills needed by the zeison. There are others though we have worked trying to identify some of them but the weather has weakened some so preservation is more important." She did though have some looks at the equipment and weapons while motioning with her hands. "Are there any you like?"

 

[Abbi Odell]

Her fingers twitched over the various weapons. Some were intricate and some simple, just like [member="Matsu Ike"] had said. It seemed like each one had their own energy. Some flowed while others were jagged. The combat side of the force was foreign even though her past training had been comprehensive. Master Matsu appeared to be the first person to ever believe that Abbi could actually be a Jedi and not just some force sensitive librarian.

By the time she had walked about half way around the room, Abbi's fingertips began to tingle. After a couple more steps the feeling began to give off almost a hum and she reached down for the object. It was a lightsaber hilt but not like the training saber that Matsu had given her. It had a perpendicular grip handle. It was just the hilt, there was no crystal inside to make it actually work. She recognized it as a Tonfa-style hilt. Made primarily for blocking and slashing. It felt right in her hands opposed to the training saber on her belt. "This is awesome," she said quietly.

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Abbi Odell"]

Matsu looked at the tonfa and she held her attention on it, a smirk before she spoke sliding her blade off. "A tonfa blade is a great one, skilled users who are able to use it can do a lot. I like that you are not as traditional. Gives some hope." She smiled before motioning her over and touching the ice wall as she spoke. "Do you know what grows on Rhen Var?" There weren't traditional crystal caves but she had found plenty of places where crystals grew in the ice. She reached a hand in and was pushing the ice aside while she grabbed a piece of it and held up the solari shard. "Something the jedi should be careful with and use to keep themselves on the path of the light." She offered the shard for the tonfa. "You might not like using it but there is power in symbols and the lightsaber is a jedi's symbol. It can save your life even if it is never ignited."

 

[Abbi Odell]

Watching [member="Matsu Ike"] made Abbi realize what being a Jedi could actually be like. The older woman was strong and calm, she was rational yet still felt deep connections to her family. Being a Jedi wasn't all about mediation and fighting the darkside at every turn. Most of the Jedi way was still beyond the young Jedi's understanding but it was something she was going to unravel over time.

Taking the crystal carefully because she had heard horror stories about lightsabers exploding during the assembly process. Having a rough idea of what to do from books and other teachings, she gave Matsu a hesitant smile she headed off to the far corner.

Sitting down and laying out the materials in front of her. The crystal gleamed at her and she closed her eyes.

It took several hours to mediate and assemble the lightsaber. By the end of it she was covered in sweat, the thick clothing she was wearing only made her uncomfortable. Standing up on shaky legs, the newly assembled lightsaber lay before them. Distantly she felt bad for making Matsu wait all this time in the cold but really Abbi was just happy it hadn't literally blown up in her face.

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Abbi Odell"]

Matsu stood there as she was looking at the padawan with a smirk on her face. She clasped her hands while the padawan was going to construct her saber and the time passing had Matsu meditating. The ghostly image within the tomb attracted to the sight while she remained there shifting her senses to watch the force go across her vision. She slowly started levitating while she sat there looking upon the padawan's blade. When she activated it and the blade didn't explode the jedi master remained there and gave a nod of her head before smiling in approval. "Very good." She was looking upon her before motioning with her hand as she sat there. "Very good and now... join me." She looked there while sitting. "Cross your legs, let the force enter your body and slowly feel yourself rise up."

 

[Abbi Odell]

This is all part of being a real Jedi, Abbi reminded herself. Constructing the lightsaber was the most advanced technique she had ever done. Part of her knew it was because she belonged here with the silver Jedi. Something had been off at the old academies. Part of it had to do with her and the other part had to do with those who tried to teach her. [member="Matsu Ike"] was the only person who had every believed in her and now the master was testing her endurance.

Sitting as directed, it took a few minutes to settle down enough for the force to become stronger in her. Abbi was able to get off the ground but was a few inches lower than Matsu.

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Abbi Odell"]

Matsu was looking at her witht he force swirling around as she remained there in the air giving a small boost with some practice to her padawan... Yes she was thinking of her as her padawan. A skilled one who knew what she was doing and it wasn't often the jedi master had one like that... Not since well ever. She trained many but the smartest ones generally left the order on their own path. Usually running to the sith because they wanted power and thought they could become stronger... like Isis who had chosen the darkside and then in her anger and power... then she faced a distracted Matsu and her hand was severed on the ground.

The small smirk on her face though seeing how the padawan was working allowed her to gently press her tongue to the roof of her mouth for a moment before they were sitting there in the air alone. The researchers in the tomb had left and moments began to feel longer while she let the force energies dance along the equipment. The swirling of energy flickering as the force burned brightly for a few moments before Matsu could feel it on the edge of her senses they were being watched while she began to speak and held her hands out with the force dance along it with the small flickering light.

"The galaxy is vast and full of terrors but there is beauty within it as well. There are worlds out there padawan filled with some of the greatest pleasures the body can feel, others with the most horrific horrors of the mind. All of them something you can find and make your own path within the galaxy because following mine would be dangerous and foolish. That doesn't mean I won't guide and help you, teach you as much as you want and try to show you both the wonders and the grotesque so that you may understand fully what there is within the galaxy and beyond." The smirk on her face though showed she rather enjoyed it and the faint ghostly images of the five sisters were dancing just out of her vision. A side effect from her time with them when she was calm.

 

[Abbi Odell]

Abbi let the moments pass then blur into each other. The force was such a strange thing. It was with [member="Matsu Ike"] that the young Jedi was beginning to really feel it. Before it was just something in her but there was very little connection to it. Now that Matsu let her participate in her own training unlike past masters Abbi was finally understanding what her life meant.

"I understand. But what happens if I fail? I have heard of Jedi falling to the darkside but I don't know how to prevent that in myself," she said, worry crossing a pale face. Here floating with Matsu, everything felt so surreal.

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Abbi Odell"]

Mattsu looked at her. "That is a danger everyone faces, we all fall, we stumble. We race ahead and try to learn things about ourselves, pulling back the curtain can reveal the danger just under the surface." She was thinking about ways to explain it better while she was moving just a little. "The darkside is dangerous and something only you can accept. It is not simply giving into emotions it is taking what makes you a person, makes you good and decent into something twisted until you become the very evil you sought to stop.... but it is not that easy. Your sense of morality must become twisted, turned on its head and made into something perverted. That takes something more then many have learned, a weak character is usually what happens. The padawans and masters I have seen turn to the darkside fell because they wanted power, they desired something more then just to protect people. That is what you will have to dig and find within yourself."

 

[Abbi Odell]

What [member="Matsu Ike"] was true. All of the stories of Sith that Abbi had heard followed along that path. Power was at the center of everything for the Sith whereas the Jedi wanted to serve and protect. At the moment Abbi felt no desire for power, she never had. Life for her had been secluded to various academies where only the Jedi way was taught. But what about in the future?

Everyone knew what had happened to Anakin Skywalker. He had wanted to protect those he loved but in the end had destroyed everything that meant the most to him. Did she had those tendencies?

Still floating, she contemplated what Matsu had said. Her mind began to swirl around ideas but never really settling on one. In an instance she lost focus and fell from the air, landing on her butt. "Darn it."

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Abbi Odell"]

Matsu was looking at her student and the thoughts on her were plain to the jedi master she could see it all... Her padawan was thinking about taco's with looked like crunchy shells and lots of cheese.... Best idea since her padawan fell on her butt and the jedi master brought her hand up to her mouth. The back touching her lips to suppress the small giggle. "Are you alright padawan?" She said it with concern just in case but was prepared to teach her student as she went on while touching down on the ground. "That you were able to lift yourself for as long as you did shows something in there. More then I think other teachers who had you sought to foster."

She was standing there and offering her hand before looking around the tomb and the air became still. Cold and she breathed out a line of chilled air while searching. Eyesight shifting and Matsu moved off to the side while she held her hands out parting the ice. Shaping skills at their height while she was shifting the properties of the ice into water and back again until there was the remnants of a sabers hilt. She picked up the pieces and it was more like a protosaber with a guard instead of the metal they normally used. She could feel the rough surface while extracting the smoky grey crystal and the other one that was there.

"Maybe with some more training padawan I will take you to a special place. I went there and touched the universe's heart."

 

[Abbi Odell]

"Yeah, I'm okay," Abbi replied wiping the dirt off of her pants. That had gone better than expected. All that needed to be done was to work on focusing for longer periods of time.

[member="Matsu Ike"] currently was manipulating the ice which was very impressive. Abbi's eyes flicked to the saber hilt that that Matsu was now holding. Was touching the universe's heart literal or figurative? "What does that mean exactly?" she asked curiosity edging the quiet voice. There had been no books that had mentioned a heart of the universe. Some had been filled with flowery language that gave that impression but nothing actual.