Private Clearing the Memory Palace

[Tann Po'rah]

"A ritual sounds about right," Tann would agree.

From there, Tann would stand and brush herself off. The two decided to push on forward. Tann would come up just behind Mathieu at his side and look around for any signs of something important. The temple was beautiful by all standards. Even the mold and weeds gave it a sort of aesthetic. If Tann were more interested in archaeology then she would find the place to be a goldmine of information. But sadly the girl could not care less as it had no moving parts or gears.

In the next room, they were thankful not to find any more bugs. At least big ones. There were plenty of small spiders that wiggled away when they came near. Nothing out of the ordinary for somewhere so old. What they found was mostly likely a changing room. There were holes in the walls with hangars and even a few of the robes that the cultists had been wearing. Tann walked over and inspected one, brushing off all the dust and cobwebs.

"Looks like you got your wish after all."

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Clearing the Memory Palace​

Hearing the calm hum of the lightsabre was comforting, in a way. Perhaps it was a luxury which all Padawans had before they primarily came to see it as a weapon. At the moment, it was a torch, helping them find the way as the ventured further into the building. Mathieu did not pay all too much attention to the architecture for he chose to focus on potential threats instead. Fortunately, as they got deeper into the building, they did seem to be rather safe.

Soon, the Padawan duo entered a new room. At first, the Morellian's gaze fell upon what looked like an age old locker after having quickly scanned the room. It was already open and with a rather quick look over the marks by its side, it seemed like it had been broken open relatively recently as the erosive effects of time had not yet seemed to kick in by the scratch marks. As he pondered upon why it would be broken into, Tann noted something else.

It was the robes they had seen on the camera feed earlier. "I don't know if I'd call it a wish" he mumbled as his attention snapped to what she had pointed out. Moving closer, he looked at it "There are old. Just like you said" he noted, not yet going as far as to touch them "Got any ideas what rituals they might have conducted?" he said, producing an awkward smile to admit "This is that point where I wish I had paid more attention during class" He was more of a practical learner, and this showcased the weakness of that perfectly.

Tann Po'rah

 

[Tann Po'rah]

"Hard to say," she would say honestly, setting the robe aside. "Something...sithy. I really have no idea. I know nothing about the Sith and even less about the Dark side. At least you have had some classes. I'm still just starting off."

A cold shiver entered the room making Tann shudder. It had gotten really cold really fast. It was just a breeze of the wind, but it felt so much more ominous. Tann gave a look to Mathieu wondering what that was all about. Tann looked back at the robe and was half tempted to throw it on just from the temperature change. But that might not be appropriate. She had no idea what these robes signified. She didn't imagine there would be any other danger to them. It just felt weird to wear one.

"That was strange...wasn't it? Where do you suppose that came from?"

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Clearing the Memory Palace​

Sithy was a good word to describe it indeed. What was not quite as easy to agree with, however, was that he should have a better idea of what they were than him. For in truth, his lacking capacity to truly pay attention during traditional teaching sessions were making themselves well-known in his mind. It was a pity - for in many other regards, the young Morellian was a rather capable Jedi. "I'm sorry" he said with an awkward expression "But I'm not very good at that stuff. I've felt dark presences before but I don't know much about rituals and stuff" it wasn't a painful admission seeing as he didn't care much for prestige. But it almost felt as if he was letting her down - and that was a far less pleasant seat to be in.

It was sudden - the wave of darkness which seemed to storm into the room. The large Padawan's eyes quickly snapped to the entrance, then to the robes they found and finally to Tann. More of him moved than just his eyes as he quickly rose his sabre in a defensive Soresu stance. She asked a question but he would allow it to remain unanswered for a few more moments. With a few careful moves, Mathieu positioned himself between the Twi'lek and the entrance, watching it closely for potential threats. Instead of growing more pronounced, the wave seemed to wash over them rather than drown them and soon, it receded.

"I don't know" he said, looking first to the entrance and then the robes. "Come on, let's move on, I don't think there's anything more for us to find here" he said, satisfied that they had seen all there was to see. While he was silent, Mathieu pointed towards the door on the opposite side of the corridor a bit further down before moving there carefully, keeping his senses honed to scan for threats.

The room they ventured towards was something of a main assembly hall with a U shaped table in the middle with a large amount of other furniture and smaller table sets surrounding it. Pots were plentiful but whichever plants they had once contained were long gone. On the opposite end of the room from where they would enter, was a door leading to the parallel corridor. On the side facing back towards the entrance archive chamber, there was another hidden hatch - this one was hidden under a rug which was still mostly intact.

Once they both stood by the door, Mathieu leaned his hear towards it "Something's in there, right?" he whispered. Regardless of whether something was in there or not, they would still have to go in. With a sigh, the large Padawan looked to her to see if she was ready or not. Once she gave a signal of approval, he would open the door "Laigreks!!" the holler mixed in with the sound of his lightsabre cutting through two of them that jumped at the Jedi immediately. But what looked like a swarm were now approaching fast, all heading towards the door where the two Padawans stood.

Tann Po'rah

 

[Tann Po'rah]

"You don't have to apologize," she said to him. "We can't know everything. Especially when its something evil like this. I wouldn't want to learn about it. The less I know the better. This place gives me the -." Her sentence ended with a phrase in Ryl rather than common.

The cold shiver sent Mathieu into defensive mode. He took a fighting stance and moved in between her and the door so as to protect her. Tann looked at the door as well over his shoulder and waited for something to appear. But nothing did. It was just the wind. As ominous as it felt at least. After a moment of making sure they weren't in any danger, Mathieu would insist they leave the room and continue onward. Tann nodded silently.

As they moved into the next room they found a main chamber similar to an assembly hall. Tann walked the opposite side of the table as Mathieu to cover more ground. The light was less on her side but she could still see the walls and the dark corners. Another chilling wave ran past them coming from the next room ahead of them. Tann shivered again by crossing her arms over one another. Tann moved closer to the door with her companion and they listened for what was on the other side. He mentioned that something was more than likely on the other side of the door. Tann nodded once more in agreement.

Taking a step back, Tann would take out her electrostaff and grip it tightly in both hands. She gave Mathieu another look of approval that she was ready for him to open the door. He hollered that there were more bugs inside making Tann tense. He cit through two of them easily enough but Tann could tell there was a whole swarm of them yet to come. She raised her sword above her head and readied herself to fight whatever got past Mathieu; he had said to leave the fighting to him after all.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Clearing the Memory Palace​

It was fortunate that he was primarily a soresu practitioner who was proficient in warding off a large number of attacks thrown at him within a short timespan. For that was precisely what was required against the incoming horde of Laigreks. The did not fare well upon direct contact with a blade and so, all he had to do was to block their attacks as they went in to bite or slash at them with their claws. All things considered, his positioning was good too, seeing as how he could block the doorway by simply standing slightly behind it.

Still, he was but a Padawan and his form needed more work and practice. It became evident when one Laigrek managed to slip past his sabre and bit down against his armoured leg. It was particularly troublesome because he couldn't devote any time to dealing with it since his sabre was fully occupied by the ones that were still on their way.

Then he made another mistake - instead of keeping his cool, he raised the free leg to peel the attacker off. But instead, it put his balance off enough for another to slip in behind his defence. Fortunately, the large Padawan promptly put his boot down again, right on top of the newly arrived bug. Resting a large part of his weight on it, there really was no escape - although it would keep him distracted for as long as it remained. Still, the numbers by his front was thinning - hopefully, he could refrain from making more mistakes until they were safe from that angle, at least.

Tann Po'rah

 

[Tann Po'rah]

Tann carefully waited right behind Mathieu. She didn't want to intrude, so she left the fighting to him. She also made sure there was plenty of room between her and his blade. The last thing they needed was her losing an arm because she thought she could help out. But one still managed to get passed and bit down on his leg. Tann screamed.

"Mathieu!"

She was about to step in when he took his boot to another. He was still struggling with the first one that had a strong grip on his leg. Tann swiftly moved forward and thrust her blade into the thing's....head? Close enough. It would shock and seize up after legging go of Mathieu. She then brought the blade down and around to knock it back by uppercutting it. Not wanting to get too much more into the battle she took several steps back and held her blade up in the same Soresu style as he had; she'd watched him when fighting so figured it was best to mimic him.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Clearing the Memory Palace​

"Yeah!" he hollered in response as his blade fell down through another Laigrek. Normally, he might not have responded at all, but with so much focus on the fight, he was afraid that she sought his attention for reasons which he could not comprehend at the moment. And so, being open to communication seemed like the best idea for the time being.

Instead of hearing a question or a call for help, what came next was aid. It was good to have someone watch your back - just like Tann was. For even though she was trying to stay away from the fight, the younger Padawan still helped when he needed it - this time by removing and killing the Laigrek that was pestering him by biting down onto his leg armour. "Thanks!" he spoke whilst continuing to swing his lightsabre about in front of him, catching the last attacker as his left boot crushed the one upon which it was standing.

The battle was over - at least for now. That was what he thought when he turned around to see her, at any rate. His eyes quickly scanned for injuries on her but there appeared to be none. A soft smile grew on his lips - for while he had scanned her for wounds, he had also observed her form. It was a mirror of his own defensive Soresu stance "That's looking good" he said with an impressed tone to his voice. "I take it you have spent some time studying Soresu too?" he said, tilting his head to the side before continuing "That's better than most beginners"

Maybe it showed a certain lack of manners, but just after having asked the question, he took a step back into the corridor they had been in and looked into the room ahead. Once he was satisfied that there were no more threats to them, he looked back to the Twi'lek, giving her an apologetic smile as he had turned his attention away from her so swiftly.

Tann Po'rah

 

[Tann Po'rah]

"No problem," she said to his thanks. She was happy to help. And why wouldn't she? What kind of Jedi would she be if she just waited off to the side and watched him struggle? But when he commented on her form she didn't quite understand what he was referring to. "Huh?" she would ask. She'd blink twice while thinking about what he meant before it clicked. "Oh! The form. I just did what you did. I was copying you." She then added, "I haven't had any training. Today's the first day I've ever legitly picked up a sword."

Seemingly calling out to them, another dark wave of air brushed past them. Tann's stance broke and she lowered her blade. The threat was over but that ominous wind put a pall on the air. Tann hated it. She felt like there was a foul stench she just couldn't get rid of. It wasn't quite enough to choke or suffocate her, but it was thick enough to be a rather inconvenient annoyance. Giving Mathieu a look she nodded her head and would move towards the opening in the back. She didn't see anything, and his light from the blade was enough to light the way through the threshold. The adjacent room actually had light of its own. Even though the day was bright and yellow with the sun, the light in here was almost blue. It was dark. It was cold. It certainly wasn't a peaceful light.

Inside the room there were dangers. Nothing moving thankfully. There were roots on the ground coming up from the stone and earth. It broke through the hard rock in several places making it hard for them to walk around easily. Tann carefully stepped over them as if she were afraid they would come up from the ground and wrap around her legs. Maybe it was the shadows playing tricks on her but Tann swore she saw them move.

The tree itself wasn't that large. It was about the size of an average indoor tree. Maybe two stories high. It had plenty of branches though they sprouted no leaves. The tree looked sick. The bark was black and corroded. What caused this was anyone's guess but it could be inferred that the Sith who used to live here were the cause. Tann stepped forward and hesitantly put her hand to the base of the tree. She flinched as soon as her hand touched it.

"It's cold," she remarked while looking to Mathieu. "Like really cold. Do you think this is the stain we were supposed to find? I feel like we need to treat it. But I don't have the first clue as to how."

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Clearing the Memory Palace​

The surprise she displayed was unexpected but it didn't take long before Tann realised what her fellow Padawan was referring to, causing a small smile to grow on his lips along with a nod to confirm what it was indeed what he meant. Mathieu could hardly believe that it was her first time swinging a sword. A chuckle escaped him as he shook his head, wondering what Master Graix had been thinking. Eventually, he spoke "I would question Master Graix's judgement but we've done rather well for ourselves" he said, seemingly rather happy and nodding once more "Your stance looked good, regardless of whether you were just copying me or not. Maybe you should consider learning Soresu further down the line"

Soon, the two of them pushed on into the next room. The eerie feeling which he had had grew even stronger inside. It was as if the chamber was tainted - even the natural light which flowed into the room was corrupted into a cold stream rather than a warm beam. He let out an uncomfortable sigh as the ventured deeper into the room, trying to avoid stepping on any roots. While he didn't feel quite as cold as Tann, Mathieu certainly had a feeling that something was off. It was as if he was in constant danger but nothing in the room indicated that there was still something which could attack him. Soon, he noticed that he was holding his sabre defensively - it didn't make much sense: The blade was still ignited despite the natural light and there was only his fellow Padawan who could possibly attack him. Extinguishing his weapon, he whispered "I will be careful, not paranoid" more as a low mumble to himself than anything directed to her.

Upon hearing her comment, Mathieu started to take off his outer robes and handed them to her. With their difference in height, walking around in them and fighting would become more awkward but they would keep her warm and with the adegan crystal weave, she would hopefully find it easier to centre herself and find peace despite of the environment they were in. Of course, this meant that he no longer had access to the robes - but Mathieu had already come to the conclusion that she was the greater hope of doing something about the tree - she appeared to be a natural while he often struggled when it came to the mysteries of the force.

Only wearing the bodyglove covered by armour plates, Mathieu took a few more steps around the tree but refrained from touching it, trusting Tann's description instead. "I once unlocked a secret gate by channeling what can most closely be described as force light on Myrkr" he said, thinking out loud to share his thoughts with her. "But then, it is a plant, right? Maybe Plant Surge could do something good?" he said, quite unsure of whether it was actually the case or not. He shrugged and looked to her with an almost apologetic gaze "Classrooms were never really my thing" he admitted, hoping that she would realise that relying on his potency with the force probably wasn't the best idea.

Tann Po'rah

 

[Tann Po'rah]

"Well thank you," she accepted his compliment about her saber stance; not that she had any idea what this Soresu thing was he mentioned twice now. A Jedi term obviously. She made a mental note to ask her master about it later.

The light faded when he extinguished his saber, though there was plenty of natural light for them to see without it. Even if the light felt dark and stale. He graciously offered her his outer robe which she took with a generous smile. Shrugging them on she let the long sleeves dangle past her wrists. She was tall for her gender, but he still beat her by several inches. They smelled like him, a sultry and manly smell. She couldn't help but enjoy the scent; men always had that effect on her.

Mathieu would think out loud, mentioning Force Light and Plant Surge. Two abilities Tann did not know how to use. Nor did she even know what they meant or how they worked. She figured it was exactly like it sounded, but that was the basis of what her knowledge gave her. Still, she felt something calling to her. She cocked her head to the side as she took another step.

"Hold on.....I.....feel something."

Tann stepped forward again and raised her hand toward the rotted root. She closed her eyes and let out a long sigh. A mystical energy started to swirl around her: the Light of the Force. Tann let the feeling embrace her, fill her, and reside within her. It told her what to do. It answered her question. It flowed through her actions. The Light gently wrapped around the tree and began to heal it. It started slow, making but a small circle the size of a fist. Then it grew wider and wider until it would start spreading in every direction.

If Mathieu helped, the process would go faster. He might follow in her footsteps and let the Force guide him. Or, he could give her his energy. Either way, Tann would not stop until the tree and all of the sunken roots had become pure again. The air itself seemed to refresh and purify; it literally felt like a breath of fresh air. The plant life beyond the tree would also grow. Grass and weeds alike. The branches sprouted life. Flowers bloomed. The room had gone from a dark and dingy place to one of welcome and full of life.

Letting out another deep sigh, Tann would open her eyes and take a step back. A smile appeared on her face ever so slightly. She didn't want to beam and boast. But she couldn't hide the feeling of joy growing inside her. She'd done it. She'd brought life back to this pitiful and tainted place. This is what it meant to be a Jedi. Tann had taken her first step into following that lifestyle.

"It is done then. The Dark side is gone. I no longer feel that cold sense. You know? Do you think your master will be proud of us? Hopefully that's all he expects of us. I really don't know what else to do."


Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Clearing the Memory Palace​

The robes fit Mathieu rather well but appeared to be way too large on the smaller Twi'lek. His eyes scanned her for a few moments before a smile to match hers grew on his lips. Keeping her safe was more important now than before - for those robes would make it hard, both when it came to fighting and running when they hung down on her like they did.

He had barely finished mentioning the ideas that had crossed his minds when Tann seemed to have thought of something on her own. Mathieu looked to the tree and then back down at his fellow Padawan with a sense of curiosity. While he did stay silent, Mathieu's gaze did convey that he did indeed trust in her abilities. Still, he made sure to stay close enough that he could reach her without even needing to take a step, ensuring that he could intervene if something happened.

Mathieu looked on as she reached out to the root and closed her eyes. It was as if she was allowing herself to become a conduit of the light side of the force and it was a wonderful sight to behold. The large Morellian had been a Padawan for some time now but he was still very impressed by her raw talent and instinct - for she seemed to be doing just the right thing while it would have taken some time for him to figure it out.

Following her lead, Mathieu closed his eyes. But instead of connecting with the tree, he rested his hand on her shoulder. His limb was heavy and grip strong but there was a gentleness to his touch - one reinforced by the peace and serenity which he hoped to share with her as she removed the darkness from the Temple. If all went well, she would channel the light more effectively and be able to pull on a larger pool of stamina when removing the taint.

It was only when she spoke that he once more opened his eyes. A bright smile appeared as he saw how much good she had done "Tann, that was amazing!" he exclaimed, giving her shoulder a squeeze before removing his hand to take a step closer to the tree "You're right, it's as if that eerie ominous feeling is gone" he said, still impressed by what she had done.

"I think Master Graix-" Mathieu didn't manage to finish the sentence before the Elderly Chagrian spoke up - apparently having made his way into the temple already "I am most pleased with your work, Padawans" The tall alien still didn't carry much of a smile, but the voice that may previously have sounded strict and disciplinarian now carried a certain warmth to it. Mathieu let out an awkward chuckle as he bowed to the Master, wondering if he had heard Tann's question at full. "He is not my Padawan" The words the Master said made it rather clear that he had indeed heard the entire question. Mathieu simply looked to Tann with an innocent shrug "Back to Kashyyyk then?" he asked and received a nod as an answer along with a few encouraging words "You deserve the rest. Well done. And to you in particular, Padawan Po'rah. Not everyone has your instinct."

Tann Po'rah Eloi Graix

 

[Tann Po'rah]

Tann barely felt the touch of Mathieu's hand, but she did feel the connection it brought. Her power nearly doubled with his help and the two of them quickly cleared the tree of any rot. The Dark side was gone and peace as restored now. He'd squeeze her shoulder in a friendly manner and she gave him a smile in retort. It really widened when he told her what she'd done was amazing. It was comforting to hear. She'd only done what the Force told her to do. It didn't feel like such a big accomplishment. That was how very little the Twi'lek understood about this new world she'd dove into.

When the master Chagrian appeared and spoke, Tann visibly jumped from surprise. She turned to see who had spoken and put her hand over her heart. He'd quite literally startled her. Mathieu would bow to the man and Tann did the same once she realized she was being disrespectful. The Chagrian then corrected Tann, saying that Mathieu was not actually his padawan learner. "Oh," she said with an embarrassed flush. "That's my bad. I didn't realize...." but she cut off her thought when she came to the conclusion it didn't really matter.

From there, the three of them were to head back to Kashyyyk which Tann as happy to get back to. She had so much to tell her master and she couldn't wait to do so. As she rode her speeder back she was shaking from all the excitement and anticipation. Their time on Ossus was done, but their adventures would continue....

END THREAD​

Mathieu Brion