Broken Wings

[Stephanie Swail]

The Great Lake
Voss, Silver Jedi Space

Her satchel by her side, shield discarded on the grass. Stephanie wiped the tears from her eyes and rested her head on hunched knees looking over the great lake before her, wrapped in a security by large mountains and green fields. Behind her over the greenery, the Silver Jedi Temple. Close enough to be a comfort, but far enough away to be distant.

Taking a breath, Stephanie sighed and wrapped her arms around her legs and looked at the still water.

She had messed up; for herself and her future. Her investigation into the Fireman corporation had failed and she had wasted nothing but time. Her studying with the Jedi had failed and she had wasted nothing but everyone else’s time.

She was struggling, but said nothing. No friends, no allies, nothing. Grace hadn’t been seen for months, and it was doubtful the big Grandmaster Thurion would have time for this one.

The future looked a lot less hopeful for the former solider, and she didn’t know what else to do. The water looked inviting.

Maybe it would offer her peace, and she could finally rest knowing she was not wasting anyone’s time.

"Forgive me."

Hesitantly, Stephanie stood, leaving her possessions and walked slowly down the small incline she was on. Her maroon and blue jumpsuit was unzipped down the front, her white vest underneath and dog-tags were all she had from her past-life. She would take them with her.

She wouldn’t fail this time.

[member="Kyra Sol"]

 

[Lief]

"Beautiful day, isn't it?"

Behind the girl, on a slight incline, Kyra Sol stood admiring the lake. She did not look to the Jedi who was stood on the edge of the abyss, she did not initially acknowledge what she had heard, or what she could see within her peripheral. She just stood there, with the wind in her hair. The somewhat salty breeze from the lake stung her facial wound, but she didn't so much as wince. She simply stood.

"Would you believe me if I told you that until a few months back, I had never seen a world like this? No greenery, no pools of water... Just urban sprawl, and desert sand."

She took a step forward, toward the verge of the cliff that the stranger was stood upon. Still she didn't address the situation. Still she didn't look to her, she just spoke in a tone far lighter than usual. Almost sing-song in intonation.

"My first time standing on the edge of water, like this, I thought I was going to drown. It's a horrible feeling, to know that at any minute your life can end. Snuffed out, before you've really done anything. But I wasn't alone, and even when I submerged myself beneath the water I had someone on the sidelines rooting for me, ready to pull me back out if necessary."

Kyra licked her upper lip, before biting the lower. Don't dwell on the negatives, of what came to be. Focus on what he did then and there.

"I never knew until that moment how much my life meant to me, until I felt the cold water over my skin and the warm reassurance of another. It sounds cliche, but I realized in that moment that I could achieve anything I desired... Even if it wasn't the path I had initially set myself. Things don't always go according to plan, friend, but when you make it over the horrid incline, when you stand on the edge of the void and see beauty such as this waiting for you?"

A slight gesture to the divine lake which sprawled out before them, so far down...

"You realize that the only thing holding you back is yourself. The fear to change, to take that first step in a new direction, to see what might blossom if you give it time."

Finally she looked toward the Jedi, a solemn expression on her face, and extended out her right - organic - hand slowly in invitation.

"Jumping won't change anything, you know? It won't make the Galaxy a better place... It won't ensure your deepest dreams and desires come to fruition. All it will do is end the possibility of what could be."

[member="Stephanie Swail"]

 

[Stephanie Swail]

She didn’t want to do it, or she would have. But it was the only w –

Another voice!

The girl jumped, arms reaching out to steady herself with a little squeak of shock. Snapping her head around, she saw another stood just behind her. Faced with an awful looking scar across her head from her…her eye to her head?

Who was she??

Stephanie looked back out and felt her heart beating like a raging rancor in her chest. Now she had a spirit guide? Was she real? She came from nowhere, and now talked about water and taking a step to be brave?

All the words made sense, and it sounded like she had stood here in the past.

Glancing over, trying not to focus too much, Stephanie saw the girl now faced her, hand out to take. She looked at the hand, and then up to the face, and she was very pretty. Naturally pretty, and faced with a wound that looked near fatal, but obviously survived.

Was she real?

"I have nothing, and have nowhere to go," she gasped, "and I’ve failed myself and the ones who tried to help me."

The failed Jedi looked back out to the great lake.

"Are you real? Or just a dead spirit in my head trying to save a worthless boring life?"

[member="Kyra Sol"]

 

[Lief]

"I am very much real" she said, hand still extended though her eyes followed the young Jedi's down to the water below. What a serene grave it would have provided, had Kyra not come to Voss this day... But now it would remain as it was. She was not going to let the girl do this to herself. She couldn't.

"Take my hand, and you will feel the truth."

The poor Jedi seemed at her wits end. She didn't need to see her stood on the edge of a cliff to note as much, she didn't have to be some great Force user. She only had to look upon her to know the truth. She was broken, disheartened... But salvageable.

Kyra knew more so than any other when something was worth fixing.

"I travel the Galaxy in search of broken thing, and I bring them back to my workshop and create from them entirely new objects to aid others. Weapons for defense, irrigation systems for survival... Even silly little trinkets for entertainment. Believe me when I say nothing is beyond saving, friend. Not even a person down on their luck. Failure is the key to success... Nobody makes it the first time, I don't care what lies they try to paint to show the world otherwise. Not one single person got where they are without stumbling."

[member="Stephanie Swail"]

 

[Stephanie Swail]

Was Stephanie salvageable? The girl seemed to think so. She was giving her another chance. Maybe this was her time to be repaired? With a sigh, Steph turned to the girl, reached out and took her hand.

The touch of another was enough to make her gasp, and see how close she had been.

She pulled herself into the girl and wrapped her arms around her, the shock setting in. The colours she was going to never see. The smells. Sights. The life around her.

"Thank you....thank you..." she said, trying not to cry and looking out over the lake.

It was so peaceful. It was a perfect grave...nearly had been hers.

"Who are you, friend? I owe you my life."

With a tight hug, Steph pulled away, forcing a laugh at it all and dabbing her eyes.

[member="Kyra Sol"]

 

[Lief]

She did not move her hand away, she did not remove the hope, she simply stood in place and patiently waited. And when the girl sighed, and turned, Kyra offered an encouraging smile.

And when her hand touched Kyra's, she pulled her from the edge and into a tight embrace. She did not know who this girl was, she had no name, no concept of her place in the Galaxy, she did not know how old she was, what race she belonged to, which planet she was from. None of that mattered. She did not have to know all of that to care.

The woman nestled against her, and Kyra could feel her shudder... Could practically sense the urge to cry.

"Shh, shh... It's okay... Don't hold back, it's okay."

Kyra remained there, while the girl stared out over the lake. When she pulled away, Kyra allowed her to and watched as the poor girl tried to laugh it off, dabbing at her eyes... As though nothing had just happened. That wasn't the best way to deal with the situation, suppressing it, but Kyra would be a hypocrite to say anything. She'd do the same.

"Kyra" she said, "My name is Kyra. And you owe me nothing. Seeing you away from that edge is more than enough."

[member="Stephanie Swail"]

 

[Stephanie Swail]

Stephanie forced another laugh, and a shake of the head. She pressed her hands lightly to her eyes, and rubbed them.

"I will remember your name, Kyra." The girl smiled. "I feel you are one of noble heart and kind nature. Thank you."

She squeezed her hand tight. Then, she brushed back loose strands of dark hair blowing around her face. The view, now she tried to look at it with eyes other than suicidal, seemed far greater than before. It was much more vast. Inviting.

Stephanie turned to Kyra, arms wrapped around her chest for her own comfort.

"Are you…a Silver Jedi? "

Silently, she prayed she was.

[member="Kyra Sol"]

 

[Lief]

Kyra didn't know what to say. She was not noble of heart, she was not kind in nature, she was just... In the right place at the right time. Nothing more, nothing less.

"What about you? What do I call you?"

She watched as the girl stared out across the lake, relief writ on her expression. A light smile spread across Kyra's lips, though the question was one she didn't really know how to answer.

"I'm not a Jedi" she said, "Not really..." With a small frown she tore her gaze from the woman and looked to the skies above. "Someone once thought I could be. Maybe I will be one day. But a path doesn't define you, friend. You define you."

[member="Stephanie Swail"]

 

[Stephanie Swail]

"Hey, " she said, stepping towards Kyra, "the only thing holding you back is yourself remember?"

She smiled sweetly and rested her hand on Kyra’s shoulder.

"If you want to be a Jedi Knight, then you can. I’m sure your friend has faith in you. And look, you just helped me from, that, whatever it was. Kind heart, kind nature. The perfect vision of what a Jedi should be. Selfless. Strong."

Inhaling the fresh air, trying to blow out the cobwebs, she stuck her hand out.

"Stephanie. Stephanie Swail. Here from Coruscant looking to make something with my life and follow in the footsteps of giants. You don’t know any do you?"

Her smile beamed again. She had done all her research and learning on the Jedi past and present – she was going to become one of those names for future generations to remember. She had to.

[member="Kyra Sol"]

 

[Lief]

A grin of mirth spread over her lips, and she gave a tender nod to the Jedi girl. "You are quite correct in that... Which is honestly why I am here, to rectify that fact."

As the woman continued on though, speaking of the qualities of a Jedi, she could not help but internally frown. She did not show her doubts to the woman, after all she had just been through she didn't need more cause for doubt, she simply smiled.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Steph," she said, reaching out to shake the woman's hand. Odd, she'd never really seen a Jedi greet someone that way, but what did Kyra know? Still there was something about her that hinted at some small difference... Perhaps like she, Steph hadn't intentionally fallen into the path of the Jedi. What could she have been before? Who knew.

"Giants?" She grinned to that, and gave one sharp nod of her head, "Oh, I most definitely do. I've seen a whole graveyard of them, giants who laid their heads down to rest and never rose again. I scaled them so triumphantly!" She tipped her chin up to that in mock pride. "A most beautiful place, if you can look past the sand."

[member="Stephanie Swail"]

 

[Stephanie Swail]

Steph’s smile froze, and she had to shake her head a little to comprehend what Kyra said.

"Gi – you’ve…there’s a graveyard of them? Where is this? My goodness…are you serious?"

She looked away in wonder, hand rising to her mouth in silent awe.

"To follow in their footsteps is one thing, but to be surrounded by their sadness and eternal resting place must transcend reality. It must be so over-whelming." With eagerness, she span to Kyra. "Can you show me this place? I need to go."

However, the giants Stephanie referred to were the giants who called themselves Jedi. Grand names she had studied of past and present. A graveyard surrounded by the Force was a haunting, but mind-blowing, idea to see in her head. Little did she know of the Graveyard of Giants on Jakku.

[member="Kyra Sol"]

 

[Lief]

The poor girl seemed utterly perplexed at the thought of a Graveyard full of Giants. Wanting to keep the mystery and wonder alive, she did not rectify what she meant by this, she did not state that it was a place of crashed vessels that pierced the clouds, she simply continued to grin and gave a further nod of her head.

"I most certainly am being serious" she said, with a goofy smile, "It's on this distant, backwater planet known as Jakku. I can show you the world. I have a home there, closed up but there's still things inside. We could spend a little time there if you wish, a vacation of sorts, help clear you mind... Let you get a new perspective?"

Offering her hand toward the woman, Kyra nudged her head in the direction they had both originally come from.

"Say the word, and we'll go."

[member="Stephanie Swail"]

 

[Stephanie Swail]

With a little squeal of excitement, Stephanie nodded and took her hand.

"I’m ready! I have nothing here for me, and I don’t even want to THINK about what…well, never mind. Ok, let’s go!"

She near dragged Kyra away from the drop and back up the incline.

"Oh, wait - "

She turned back and hopped down to collect her shield, grunting as she slid it across her back like a back-pack, and then grabbed her satchel over her shoulder. With a smile, she nodded to her new friend. Friend? Guide? Saviour?

"What are you waiting for – off to the land of the giants!"

[member="Kyra Sol"]

 

[Lief]

The girl's enthusiasm knew no bounds.

For the first time, Kyra willingly immersed herself in the Force and sent through a thought of gratitude to the most ancient of mystical energies for bringing her here this day. For having her approach the cliff when she did, purely to admire the view... or so she thought. Had Kyra known the plans it had in mind, she might have hurried.

Though the calmness of her unexpected task had proven a blessing. This bubbly woman would be down with the rocks and the water birds if Kyra's words hadn't been so carefully chosen.

"Alright then, off to the Giants with us!"

She watched as Steph took up a shield, so odd an object in a Galaxy such as this, before setting off back toward her ship. The Bucket was a bit of an eye sore, but she was Kyra's baby and she wouldn't change it for the world.

From there, there would be just the two of them, Kyne who bounded upon Steph in excitement, and the open roads of space.

[member="Stephanie Swail"]