Closing the Gap [Matsu Ike]

[Lorieth Faeryn]

When the shuttled landed on Shri-Tal, Lorieth let out a shriek of excitement. Soon she would be reunited with her adopted mother, [member="Matsu Ike"] in what seemed like forever. Lorieth had a girly-ness to her that had always been present, but right now it was exemplified. No one in the galaxy mattered more to her than her mom. She had been there as long as she could remember and she didn't want anything to separate them. Even these times where her mom had to leave for important business was hard on the pink haired girl.

But now she was within hours of seeing her again. Running from the shuttle, Lorieth bound onto the loading bay and took a deep breath of the planet she had spent so much time on. It was almost euphoric for here to be here again. Childhood memories rushed into her head, filling her with excitement of the adventures her and her mom would be having soon. Chartering a taxi lift to the Aoi temple. Mountains and forests and plains compromised most of the planet, which Lorieth loved, it was all she had known growing up.

When finally the temple loomed into site, Lorieth felt an almost sort of relief wash over her. More so than when she stepped off the shuttle. Zooming to a stop, Lorieth leaped off of the taxi and ran onto the steps leading towards the temple. She spent a while wandering around inside just getting the feeling of home back. She greeted many old friends and had a huge smile on her face the whole time. After a while she decided to go for a ride. Her old pet Jun-la was in the field near the temple, grazing. It was beautiful, white with small black stripes. And it smelled her long before she screamed its name. "SHUKI!" she yelled as they ran towards each other. Lorieth vaulted onto the back of the animal, turned her self around and fell flat on its back face forward. Running her hands through the beautiful animal, she picked out little bits of vegetation that had gotten in there from Shuki's rolling around. And she continued doing this for the next few hours, just grooming her beloved pet. Long gone were the memories of riding, she just wanted to cuddle and play with the animal.

[member="Matsu Ike"]

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Lorieth Faeryn"]

Matsu's head shot up, the carved and polished stone home under the temple and within the honeycomb that held the jedi's rooms of supplies. They had fixed it up and she was rolling over the covers now. Rising up when she felt the familiar sensation within the force of Lorieth who had returned home, a wider grin on her face before she moving to the doors. The sound of them opening to reveal the rest of the living and dining area, rooms off to the side and hallways leading to other rooms filled with supplies before heading to the secured lift heading up to the temple proper. Her sarashi was covered in a light sheen of sweat while she moved stretching her limbs while they popped.

The enjoyment of it while she leaned down brushing something off of her feet activating the cleaning droid. The sounds of it starting while she went back into the bedroom and stood there looking over what she had, there were cloths and she started getting them on. The clean white kimono going over her with geta sandals she could wear while holding her equipment pack with her rabers under her arm. The long hair loose and at her ankles while she was walking. A ribbon going to the ends to keep it in a small ball with a grin she was moving into the lift to head up to find her. There was the sound of the lift ascending as she clasped her hands behind her back until it opened showing the jedi temple.

She moved through it going towards the sections of the temple that had the stables and went up to the ground level allowing her to see the sun outside. Her attention and focus was on the padawans walking around her and the energy cage activated over the entrance down to her home. Then the doors opened, the sun pouring in on her pale skin while she looked towards the Jun-la's and other creatures they had. SHe noticed the stall with the large creature was gone and she was moving swiftly as she walked towards the entrance to the stables looking out when she stopped. Hands behind her back and eyebrows raised up a little when she sensed her and moved stopping near the creature letting her voice come out softly. "Welcome home padawan."

 

[Lorieth Faeryn]

The voice of Lorieth's mother rang in her ears. Her hand stopped mid stroke on Shuki's fur. Not only did the voice enter her head, the familiar feel of her presence enveloped her. It was so familiar, so gentle, so...home. Home was the word that best described her mother. Nearly every memory she had was of the woman standing behind her. It felt like it had been much too long since she saw her. Calmly, she rose up, feeling the warmth of the sun's rays on the back of her neck. A cool gust of wind temporarily relieved the intense warmth.

Abruptly, Lorieth whipped around. And there she was, her mommy. Standing ever so shorter than Lorieth, she was just as she remembered. She stared into the older woman's deep brown eyes, nearly tearing up. Her legs started pumping as she broke into a dead sprint, headlong towards [member="Matsu Ike"]. Before she tackled her, she stopped. just barely in front of her. "Mommy!" she practically screamed at the top of her lungs. She opened up her arms wide, expecting a hug. Just in case her mom didn't feel like contact on this morning. She just smiled and smiled, waiting to see if she would get a hug.

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Lorieth Faeryn"]

Matsu listened to her and looked her over, a nod of her head at the sight of her arms opened while she moved forward. Her arms opening and feet quickly moving on the ground with the force with muffled sound. She got within a few inches and brought her arms around blinking her dark eyes while she wrapped her arms around. She felt the muscles in her body relax wrapping it around her. "It is good to see you my dear." Matsu moved her hand and set it into the girls hair while she rubbed a little backing away and looking up and down over her. "Now how have you been doing, I want to hear everything because I have been having fun."

There was a smile on her face though while motioning and the jedi master let er senses expand outwards throughout the planet sensing the life energies around the lake and mountains. Matsu motioned to the path as she clasped her hands behind her back offering a bow of her head. "I am glad to see you are healthy and safe at the least." Matsu walked down the pathway watching the trees as the different creatures of the planet were there, the small mouses and the hounds that were running around. The smells of the trees ou here with nature s well as the sounds of water on the shores.

 

[Lorieth Faeryn]

Lorieth straightened up from the hug, the sense of relief finally washing all the way out of her. She was finally back home. As she started down the path with her mom, she began chatting. Words just spilled out of her mouth as she recounted the few adventures she had gone on and the people she had met. She just kept rambling and rambling. Finally she reached the end of her tales. "And then I ended up in Voss-Ka. And these men said that they wanted to take me back to their house and show me their collection of datapads, and when I got there all they did was look at me weird. They didn't even have any old datapads. Nothing! So I left. I was quite disappointed. But oh well. What have you been up to?"

When she finished talking she took a huge breath as if she hadn't breathed the whole time. Which she may well not have. But by this time they had gotten really far down the path and the forest was growing dark and dense around them. Here it was cool compared to the heat of the day in the plains, and it felt quite nice. The toes on her bare feet curled in the dirt with each step. Lorieth relished the feeling of the soft ground beneath her feet.

[member="Matsu Ike"]

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Lorieth Faeryn"]

Matsu listened to the stories and tales... then turned her head slowly as she listened to the last part and her eyes were wider in amusement and surprise at the recklessness of it and how she had just walked into danger. She wanted to scold her but it was also amusing and she couldn't protect her forever... just long enough as the jedi master thought about what she had been doing. She had gone on several adventures and recounting all of them would be a hard thing as she was speaking. "Well I have been exploring and discovering what I can. From a lost city with the republics jedi grandmster to an ancient artifact from before the republic."

She continued to walk and stopped feeling the heat and relished the feeling of it. Her arms extending while she was in the light clothing but she lightly kicked off the wooden sandals on the ground as she stepped into the dirt and sand picking them up and securing them on the back of her belt. She moved a little just moving around as her feet were in the sand just enjooying the feeling of it before she held out a hand for the girl. "Though it sounds like you have been up to quite a lot as well and I am glad to hear that. As much as I would love to protect you and have you in the house all day alas I need to let you enjoy your life... I'll just have to live forever to watch over you then and be ready when you hopefully decide to become a jedi."

 

[Lorieth Faeryn]

Lorieth felt almost disappointment as her mother told her about the adventures she had been on. How fun it would have been if she would have been there! But that couldn't be helped. She understood the danger of some of those things. And then as Matsu started fretting over her and talking about protecting her, Lorieth started to giggle. "Oh mommy! I can protect myself. I wasn't in any danger at all. If anything would've happened, I would have just done those cool tricks you taught me!" Then to show her, she started doing some martial arts moves. Her fists became rock hard and she flashed with speed and agility.

"OH!" she yelled, "I forgot to mention. I have been thinking about becoming a Jedi. And I think that maybe it's time that we begin training for that. I saw some terrible things during my adventures that made me quite sad. I want to be the one to help fight against those things!" she jumped with excitement and turned to stand in front of Matsu. On the outside, she seemed giddy and jubilant, but she knew, deep down that it was time for her to step up to her mother's teachings. It was time to take the path that she was destined for. And to show her mother this, she even tried to make her face look serious. Which only half succeeded as she had to stop herself from giggling at such a silly expression.

[member="Matsu Ike"]

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Lorieth Faeryn"]

Matsu stood there and paused for a moment watching her as she was seeing the combat techniques. Matsu wasn't above admitting she had taught some of the teras kasi training for hand to hand combat. She had spent the time to learn it and teaching it to her children to defend themselves from force users and from non force users. She listened to the girl more as she thought about what she was saying and hearing the words that she wanted to be a jedi had Matsu excited almost o the point of wanting to fly into the air and do loops while she was standing there listening to the rest of it.

Matsu paused then turning back around to look at her and raised an eyebrow as she watched her face turn more serious and the jedi master was letting the force energies come around them into more of a whirlwind of sand and leaves. "Well then we shouldn't waste, jedi padawans train from when they are very little with the training." Matsu was with her while she let the energies settle down rubbing her hands together. "But you are my daughter and that means you have something special for yours. You have years of me teaching you and family that cares for you. All that is left is what kind of jedi you would like to be?"

 

[Lorieth Faeryn]

Smiling at her mother's happiness, Lorieth's smile came back, her mother was happy, so she was happy. Knowing her mother wanted this for a long time, she just couldn't resist anymore. She was ready to make Matsu proud. Turning from her mother, Lorieth began to pace a little. "Wellllll, I was thinking about a few things. I know I want to be able to fight and be in the front lines when it's needed. But..." she paused. This moment was important. She had actually put a lot of thought into this. Finally she turned back. "I want to be a Jedi Healer. I want to master the Force better than anyone!" She finished this sentence with a high pitched vengeance in her voice, but a smile on her face.

This decision came to her a while back while she was adventuring. It just seemed right. For her at least. Witnessing people dying and not being able to do anything about it was hard on the young girl. She figured if she could save lives, that would make so many lives so much better. It was what she needed to do. And she just hoped that her mother would be happy with her decision. Lorieth knew that she had made her mother happy just by wanting to train, but now it was time to make her proud of her decisions. That is what she hoped for.

[member="Matsu Ike"]

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Lorieth Faeryn"]

Matsu was looking at her and listening to it, that was a tall order... well not the master of the force since that was easier to teach since they had holocrons with many masters who knew the mysteries and the neotikan of light and secrets. It made it easier to learn despite the whole main holocrons of the order. She wasn't blaming their disappearance but she knew how much knowledge had been lost with that while going ahead and looking at her daughter. "Well there will be a lot of work you still have to do and it will not be easy, good training, solid training never is. If another jedi tells you it comes easy then I wouldn't recommend their methods."

Matsu though was already thinking of some things they could do to help teach her and this planet wasn't the most fitted to the situation, sure it was a great place to learn but you needed to have previous experience to survive in the honeycomb of tunnels with dangerous creatures while she was putting her hands behind her back. There was the moon and the twilight sepulcher but that had dangerous sithspawn and worse creatures in the tunnels below. No she would have to do this the old fashioned way and explore the galaxy with her daughter teaching her as they went throughout ruins and jungles, across desert and snow covered tundra to learn the jedi way.

"We'll begin now though, run home and pack your stuff for a long trip. Then meet me at the ship."

 

[Lorieth Faeryn]

Lorieth hung on to every word her mother spoke, making sure to miss nothing. This was going to be a really fun time. Lorieth would be with her mother for a really long time, learning how to help the galaxy. Maybe even the universe! It was all so much. Lorieth was so excited that when she spoke it nearly all came out as one word. "Yes mommy! I love you mommy! I'll see you at the ship mommy!" and with that she ran off. Her feet pounded on the ground, her arms pumping, the adrenaline filling her veins. They had ventured far into the woods and it would take a while even to run back. She gave a short, sharp whistle.

Within a minute, Shuki came barreling at her. "Hey girly!" she said smiling. She hopped on and told Shuki to go home. At once, the Jun-la took off, much faster than Lorieth was able to run. They were back at the temple in no time. Walking Shuki into the stables, she quickly gave her food and water and a good petting. "I'm gonna miss you darling," she whispered with a slight frown. She hadn't had much time to reconnect with the white beast, but such was the price that one must pay.

Her room was a mess as usual. Just as she had left it. Quickly she grabbed a bag and started stuffing clothes and important things in it. Then it got full. "I don't know what all to pack!" she felt frustrated. This was going to be her biggest adventure she had had in a long time and she was out of packing space. Desperate, she sat down and tried to meditate like she had seen her mother doing sometimes. But this wasn't to connect with the Force. It was just to clear her mind and collect herself. She rose up again, unpacking everything out onto her small bed. Then, carefully, she started placing everything back into the bag, attempting to create as much space as possible. Finishing repacking all the original items, she put in the last few other things she wanted to grab with the space she saved.

Sighing with relief, she hefted the pack up and started towards the ship. It had been a while since she had set out with Matsu like this. But this time it was much different. This time Lorieth would be learning and experiencing the things her mother had always told tales of. It would be a grand adventure that she would not soon forget. She hoped it would never end, but deep down, that pink haired girl knew that all things must come to an end eventually. And with that thought, the ship finally entered her view. Standing proud, it was just beckoning her to go on an adventure. "I'm here!" Lorieth shouted, not able to see her mom.

[member="Matsu Ike"]

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Lorieth Faeryn"]

Matsu watched her run off and she stood there for the time as she was letting the force energies around her envelope.... Slowly as the air came in and out of her lungs until she was rising up into the air with the wind wrapping around her. Matsu looking out across the lake and forest as she was moving quickly towards the large hanger they had with the open roof going down a couple of the levels. It gave her a chance to work on a few things as she sent a message to the ship to start up for them. She had her equipment to grab and her pck as she landed in the hanger and took the lift down into the house.

Matsu started grabbing some packs and some of the pieces of equipment for her belt and that they could all use, as well as what she really was looking for with the attention on her gear. Slowly now when it was loaded up the jedi master was going towards the ship and could see her daughter was there ready to leave. The time to get back and get packed was quick before she was pointing with her hand towards the larger sections of it all. "Welcome to the Harlequin, our home away from home now." She looked towards the best part of it all and entered letting the ship close and maps activate with holographic displays.

"We have much we can do and see now, so if I gave you a question.... Where in the galaxy would you want to explore?"

 

[Lorieth Faeryn]

Lorieth set her bag on the ground. "There is only one way to decide this fairly!" she announced. Undoing the straps on her bag, she looked up. "I will reach in to where I put a lot of my clothes and whatever type of clothing I pull out dictates what kind of planet we go to." Her hand plunged down into the bag and shifted toward the clothes. Quickly, she withdrew her hand. A big, heavy coat unfolded from her hand. It had fur around the hood and wrist areas. "Somewhere cold! With snow!" she didn't really know all the planets that had a cold enough atmosphere to be covered in snow.

And that sounded fun, too. It would be a pretty harsh environment, one that would show Lorieth a harder style of life. And she needed that; to experience new, and hard aspects of living. She shoved the coat back into her bag in a rather messy fashion and hefted it onto her shoulder. "So! Where are we off to!?" she smiled at her mom as she started walking toward the cockpit. She dropped her bag outside the door of the small room. And walked in, turning to stare at her mother.

[member="Matsu Ike"]

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Lorieth Faeryn"]

Matsu looked at the clothing and method she used to choose how to travel around. "The snow it is." Matsu was looking at her and she had the circlet while she brought up the map and nodded. "I know just where to go and you'll be able to train there with some of the different things there." She offered a smile letting the ship leave for the Hoth system and the planet there while she was also laying some of the things out for them to work with. "Now go and put your things in the cabin for yourself and I am right across the hall from you." Matsu was moving around the map room and showing it in the holographic display. "THis is Hoth, an ancient world where there was a temple on long ago and facility but we'll likely not be able to find it. For now we'll stick to the reconstructed echo base by the protectorate. We'll even be able to get you something special."

 

[Lorieth Faeryn]

Sighing, Lorieth picked up her bag again and walked it to the cabin, listening to Matsu as she went. Throwing the bag onto the bed, she whipped around and walked out, heading back to the holo map. She studied it, staring at the display. Even from just this crude map, Lorieth could see how cold it was. "Woah! It's like a desert! But cold!" she stated, pausing after she said it, realizing the sheer idiocy of the sentence. "But hey, I swore I heard you say something about getting me something about getting me something special while I was in my room. What was all that about?"

The idea of something exciting made her face brighten up drastically. Whenever something exciting came from her mother, it was usually fairly interesting. "Out with it!" she shouted, giggling. Slumping in a chair, Lorieth looked expectantly at her mother.

[member="Matsu Ike"]

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Lorieth Faeryn"]

Matsu was looking at her and something exciting was always in order, you had to look at a few things she might give to you here or there. The smile on her face though had the jedi master holding out one hand as she brought to her hands the golden bracelet. "Well there is this, a jedi item you can use for the cold and the heat. It will keep you warm." Matsu set it down for her and looked around while seeing the room with a nod of her head. "You shall have fun and with everything set up and ready we can begin the first lesson a jedi must be able to use. Focusing the force throughout your body." Matsu was standing there and changed a little mostly so she was out of the heavier outer robes and into the lightweight training robes with one saber on her hip and the other a training blade her daughter could use until they built her own. "You'll get to enjoy some of the early lessons of the force."

 

[Lorieth Faeryn]

Lorieth had been told of the circlet that her mother often wore. It shielded anyone wearing it from nearly anything environmentally dangerous. Perfect for Hoth. "A Sasori Circlet..." she whispered in amazement. It was a wonderful gift. Not only would it be useful for years to come, it came from her mother, a gift that would forever be priceless to her. Standing up, Lorieth shed her outer layer. A lesson she had learned from her mother was to always be prepared for training and wear a thin training robe underneath. Her breath leveled and became calmer as she looked up into Matsu's eyes. "Very well," she said, with a serious face, "let's begin. What shall I do first?"

[member="Matsu Ike"]

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Lorieth Faeryn"]

Matsu was looking at her and motioned with her head towards the more open area with the map room turning off as the ship jumped to hyperspace. The chrono over the doorways showed the travel time to Hoth while she was looking at the girl and setting the circlet on her wrist with a smile while she was patting her shoulders. "The first lesson is focus and serenity. Making your body relax and feel the force throughout." Matsu backed up a little watching her for a moment while she brushed at her own robes while pressing her own stomach. "The force comes from everything around us, it is an energy field both within and around that you can feel and control but only so much. Your every breath can bring it within you, pump it throughout you and empower you. I want you to breathe deeply and hold it, focus on the air as it fills your lungs and feel the force as the air circulates to bring oxygen to your blood and through your body. Then exhale and repeat it."

 

[Lorieth Faeryn]

Taking in the words, Lorieth repeated the steps in her head and memorized them. Of all things to remember this was the most important. Her first lesson. A stepping stone to what would soon be great power. But that power, as with all power, needed to be guided with responsibility. Before that power came to her though, she would need to gain some basic understanding. Lorieth spread her legs to about her shoulder width and cleared her mind. The Force was always there. At a young age Matsu taught her how to feel it. But now it was time to grasp it. All the breath drained out of the young girl's lungs as she prepared to reach into the air to feel the Force that was around her. Then, calmly she let her lungs fill, the breath entering through her nose, slowly calmly.

As the air entered her body, her mind allowed to Force to come with it. Acting as if the Force were just as vital as oxygen, she allowed it to fill her. It entered her stream and became prominent. It felt closer than ever before. Feeling it around her was one thing, but the way it was with her now was completely different. Then as her lungs filled to capacity, she held it for a moment, allowing the energy to reach every corner of her body before slowly, the air trickled out of her mouth. She did this two more times, letting the Force fill her and become a part of her. When finally she finished she opened her eyes and looked up at Matsu. "I feel kind of light headed."

[member="Matsu Ike"]

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Lorieth Faeryn"]

Matsu continued to watch her and gave a nod of her head while she was watching and feeling it within the force. Energies coming to her while she expanded her senses outwards to work with the girl. Attention on melding and helping her understand. "It is alright, this is something that can take time to accomplish and with it you can learn the best ways that you'll be able to focus. All jedi must find their own way to focus and find inner serenity." She had a smile on her face though showing her daughter while she stood there and holding her hands in front her herself. Energy shimmering across her body as the force wrapped around her letting the hair blow in the breeze with the small bangs that had gotten loose in the excitement before she was pushing the force out from her body with a shimmer along the length of her body of blue light. "When you can feel it, push the force outwards. Through the muscle and bone into the pores of your skin and then beyond to wrap around you like a glove. It will relax you, it will embrace you and it will keep you serene."