Faction Come What May (SJO)

[Aurelion Nova]

OBJECTIVE - Help his Friends



Where: Training
Why: Helping Others
Wearing/Wielding: Fate & Robes
When: Hopefully in time
With: Kyra Perl Barrien Siegfried Ura Iolar Serena Rylvin Beltran Rarr Okkeus Dainlei

As Aurelion centered himself as best he could it was evident to himself, at the very least, he had taken a rather easy path through this training. If he attempted to confront and delve into the depths of every 'worse' memory he possessed he'd likely never wake up again. His bones chilled at the thought but, even more than this, his heart gripped with sorrow as he saw each and every other student present confront their own demons. Stare their own problems in the eye and what had he truly done? Walked along a path someone else had helped him travel down and, now, he felt sick to his stomach with himself.

Aurelion could sense them all, in the Force, struggling and even reacting to these vivid memories in much the same way he did whenever they surfaced for him as well. Though from what he could feel it felt... fresh for them. Did these people, his compatriots and those he would consider friends, did they not always feel this? Was he, perhaps, even more vulnerable and weak than he thought? His shoulders slumped at this, his singular eye dancing across the features of each of them in turn. From Okkeus' visceral, physical rejection of his past, to Beltran's growling, gruff acceptance of a darkness he held to himself, to Kyra's screams of terror..... he felt a worthless bystander.

Aurelion swallowed thickly, closed his eyes, and made a singular decision. That he would try to do for them what his mother Taozi Fuyuan and his Master Juno had done for him. He could feel them each, intimately and innately, reaching out and 'taking their hands' through the Force. Connecting with each and everyone of them and simply let them know in a non-verbal, intimate, familiar way that they were not alone. That these darknesses would not take them, that there was at least one person who knew the depths of their fear, their anger, their revulsion at their own emotions. He reached out, knowing he could not shoulder all of his own worst memories, and instead, tried his best to help them carry theirs.

Latent Talent Discovered!
Force Sense (Force Bonds, Battle Meditation, Force Empathy)

Currently Using -Battle Meditation-

As Aurelion reached out to each of them, from Okkeus to Ura, from Beltran to Serena, and then from Kyra to Barrien himself he was simply there for them. A singing, flowing, reassuring presence in the Force that would bolster their resolve, their spirits and help them not to feel alone. Aurelion was vaguely worried that perhaps Barrien would see this as him interfering with or cheapening the lesson for his compatriots but... it was a Jedi's duty to help those in need. If Barrien wished to reprimand him for this Aurelion would gladly accept it if it meant saving them from feeling as alone as he was all too familiar with.

 

[Okkeus Dainlei]

"Yes. I liked it. I like it."

Shivers went down my back. I don't know what Beltran Rarr 's bad thought was, but could feel some of it. Relaxing a little after my bad memory, and Kyra Perl 's scream, I searched my memories for some good times I had. Opening my eyes, I was back in the pilots eat of my X-Wing. A huge asteroid field was ahead, and I was letting off the engine. With a smile spreading across my face, the ship weaved in and out of the large rocks. Moving the control yolk to the left, the ship did a barrel roll, barely missing two asteroids collide. Giving it more speed, I raced across the surface of a flatter asteroid. A large hill was in front of me. Engaging the blasters, I blew a hole in the middle as the ship flew through.

From there, I brought the ship upwards and out of the asteroid field. Shutting the engines off, I took a deap breath. A laugh soon followed. Looking out I could see many colorful stars. The light from them reflected off of the asteroids, creating a spectacular view. The color shined into my cockpit, making a beautiful wave of a rainbow.

I opened my eyes to see myself levitating a foot off of the ground. Dropping to the ground I landed with a thud.

"Haha sorry about that."

Barrien Siegfried
Serena Rylvin
Aurelion Nova
Ura Iolar

 

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra wheezed and whimpered, everyone's dark moments so poignant in the force around them. They were tarnished, all of them. She didn't feel a single one of them had the right to call themselves a jedi, filled with such darkness-- She recoiled from it all, unable to comprehend and understand that light and dark lingered inside everything. They were monsters, every one of them.

For a moment she had the flickering thought that the place ought to be burned down.

But Barrien's hands went onto her shoulders, bringing a wash of warmth with them that chased away everyone elses's darkness and let her mind... untwist. Her hands went up, groping over the top of his like they were life vests. She hitched and heaved for breaths, her gaze watery as it bore up at him.

Please... dont let go...

She couldn't... she can't...

His words reached her through the fog of her mind. She squeezed her eyes closed in utter obedience, still hitching for air as she tried to understand this concept of building walls. He may not have meant to, but he severed as her template. Caedyn Arenais had long since been coaxing her to learn meditation through observing his own state of mind.

The girl replicated this lesson, reaching out to Barrien's mind and passively trying to... exist with him.... be him... He had walls, but he had sought to ground her, and she used him to ground her in return. It was a messy rendition of the task he had encouraged her to try, and her path to it was unorthodox to say the least, but she tried.

It was just them there.

No one else.

And he was calm.

Her breathing slowly found a normal pace, her shoulders dropping from her ears. She sniffled and opened her eyes once again, most notably not obeying his task to try the lesson once she had established her walls. Instead she gave him a small, reproachful look.

Across from her, Okkeus dropped to the ground, the tension in the room dispersing with his laugh.

 

[Ura Iolar]

Ura’s body started it shift again, only becoming worse when she heard Kyra yell out. “Kyra?” She looked over at her friend, seeing the.... Poodoo! She had... she had.... Ura could see fear and anger swirling around.... She was feeling everything. Ura went to move a little closer before hearing Barrien say to focus on the exercise, and ask why they remembered these events.

She looked at the Jedi, not sure what to say or do. She didn’t want to focus on that right now. She closed her eyes, the Lervon version of a sigh. She didn’t want to not help, but.... Gah! Couldn’t being a Jedi be easy!? Yeah...she knew it couldn’t. The Lervon then sat down again, annoyance at Barrien leaking through the Force. Why did she remember the crash so well. That was obviously. It was deadly. If she lost part of herself it would’ve been gone. No regenerating like carbon-based wounds. Maybe that was it. At least part of it. But... that wasn’t it. Maybe it was how close everyone came to death. She had almost lost her friends. A Padawan did die in the crash. They almost died on the..... It was dying.... She was afraid of dying..... Of passing before her time, or anyone else suffering the same fate.

She looked back at everyone. There was an ease she felt from... somewhere, but.... It couldn’t help everything....

Barrien Siegfried Kyra Perl Okkeus Dainlei Serena Rylvin Aurelion Nova Beltran Rarr

 

[Serena Rylvin]

Serena watched as Barrien knelt down and took over, trying to calm Kyra. She stared, torn between her worry for Kyra and the relief that she'd felt when he'd taken over. Something like that was beyond her limited ability to try and fix. Instead, she returned to the solitude of her own thoughts, now the situation had seemed to be resolved. As far as she could tell, anyway.

Cross-legged again, Serena closed her eyes. Focused on her breathing. There was the memory again, always lurking just underneath the surface. Smirking at her, waiting and ready to push back into her thoughts. She could almost picture it, a self-satisfied, smug sleazeball of a memory that just couldn't wait to inflict more misery. Ready and raring to remind Serena of the pain of being so youn and so lost once again...

It made her feel a little angry. She knew that was bad, but there it was. Even my own brain hates me.

But she tried to follow the instructions. What happy memories did she have? An orphan girl who'd just been bundled off to the Jedi? It didn't seem obvious to her. There was no bright, shining moment in her life that she could dwell on. No delightful, syrupy-sweet reminiscence that she could call on and that'd set everything right. Did anyone have a memory like that? Frustration flickered over Serena's features as she wrestled with her own mind.

But there's lots of little happy memories, aren't there? A little hint of pride when you came top of your class. When they said you had potential and that you worked hard. The smiles and smirks of the other children in the home, laughing when Razna burst the seams on his pants. Learning to cook with Tamsina, feeling her warm hand on her back as she fried off her first batch. The moment of sheer potential when they'd told her that she could be a Jedi. The lofty, heightened feeling of infinite possibilities that'd existed for just a couple of hours that'd she'd always remember. When she knew she would see the Galaxy and help people, when she knew that even someone like her had a chance.

As they rushed through her conscious mind, Serena smiled. Warm and gentle, breathing slowly and calmly. For the first time in... well, a long time, Serena Rylvin felt at peace.

Barrien Siegfried Kyra Perl Okkeus Dainlei Ura Iolar Aurelion Nova Beltran Rarr

 

[Barrien Siegfried]

Well, she managed to get things under control but it wasn't quite what he had wanted her to do. She was fortunate that he was one of the people who didn't get really angry when someone invaded his mind, especially since he knew the person and what they were going through. Plus it succeeded in calming her which was ulyimately far more important than his personal privacy. She also hadn't gone digging which meant his secrets were still secrets.

And then she was alright and Okkeus landed with a splat and some laughing insued. That was good. It seemed as if everyone was overcoming the trauma of hearing Kyra freak out while enduring their own harmful memories. As always, it would take them some time to really get the hang of it and figure out what they needed to do in order to handle the darkness of their past. At least they were willing to try.

"Good work, everyone," he said, leaning back and looking around the group. "Most of you seem to have calmed yourselves now."

He stood up and walked around the group.

"I want you to pair up and work together. This is a talking exercise. Sometimes to deal with our past we need someone else to help us. I want you to talk to your partner about your worst memory and how to get past them."

Kyra Perl Serena Rylvin Okkeus Dainlei Beltran Rarr Ura Iolar Aurelion Nova

 

[Okkeus Dainlei]

Looking around my room, I thought about who I should pick as my partner. Beltran Rarr looked around the room, trying to find a partner as well. He was a interesting man. After teaching him in my static electricity class, I still barely knew anything about him. I called out his name, hoping he would want to partner up.

"Hey, Beltran."

The man turned his head my direction. Pointing my finger to myself, then to him, then back to me, I hoped he realized I was wanting to partner up. Who knows, he might decline. All up to him.

Barrien Siegfried Kyra Perl Serena Rylvin Ura Iolar Aurelion Nova

 

[Kyra Perl]

(Giving us a jump start now that the invasion is dying down!"

Kyra let out a jittery breath, calm yet still shaken by what had occurred. She felt the room disperse into groups, but force she did not jump to to claim a partner of her own. The girl sat subdued, the reminder of what had occurred to Acaadi bringing back up the concern that she ... wasn't a good person to be friends with.

I mean what kinda friends gets you tortured by a sith, am I right?

She wrapped her arms around herself, deciding at once that coming here was a bad idea. Her bravery felt spent. The girl stood, wiping a tear form her face as she turned to sneak out.

Maybe she wasn't ready to face things after all.

-to interact with Ura Iolar

 

[Ura Iolar]

Ura's eyes went wide when Barrien Siegfried said to pair up. She shrunk back just a little at the idea. The Lervon was just... worried. Would people change how they saw her if she told them. It may've seemed like a mundane fear, but it was a big one for her. She looked around, but then noticed Kyra Perl . She could see the fear and unease around her friend, but at the same time, wanted to say something. Ura looked down for a moment, unsure, before finally speaking up. As usual, it was monotone, but her own worry showed through the Force.

"K-Kyra? Do you... want to... p-partner up?" I honesty, there was another reason she asked Kyra. She was one of the people she didn't have to explain her emotions to. At least one of her friends she knew she didn't have to explain things with. It also helped that she was there, and might understand a little more.

 

[Beltran Rarr]

"Hey, Beltran."

Beltran's eyes moved over to the form of Jedi Okkeus Dainlei who stood looking back at him. The young Jedi pointed toward the Lorrdian and then back at himself, signalling that he wanted to partner up. With a nod, Beltran accepted the offer. In truth, he was grateful to Okkeus for having approached him. Social gathers weren't exactly his strong suit, and it felt strange to approach beings he barely knew or had never even met before.

As he moved over to where the young Jedi stood, Beltran nodded his thanks. "Shall we sit?" He asked, motioning to an area on the ground a little bit away from the rest of the group. As they moved over there, Beltran would take a seat and looking to Okkeus plainly.

"I guess I'll go first," He said, taking a breath. "My memory comes from when I was a child, growing up on Lorrd. I was younger than you at the time. Three gangers..." He paused. "That's what we called the members of the street gangs that infested the part of Lorrd where I lived. Three gangers came to take something from me and...I killed them."

He blinked a couple of times before going on. "It wasn't so much that I killed them that bothers me," He said. "I mean, they probably would have done the same to me if I hadn't fought back. It was that I liked the feeling of killing them. It made me feel powerful. It...still does."

He would go silent for a few moments, contemplating what he'd just said before asking. "And what about you?"

 

[Okkeus Dainlei]

Sitting down on the ground next to Beltran, Okkeus was happy that he agreed to partner up with him. The only other person he knew in this class was Aurelion. Everyone else had been in classes with him, but he didn't really know them. Turning his attention back to Beltran, the man began to speak about his past.

Although it felt a little weird talking to a man that was more than double his age, Okkeus felt that he was connecting with the man. After his story about killing the gang members was over, he nodded my head. At least he could relate to the man.

"Well, my story involves killing as well. But not actually someone per say. Let me explain."

Shifting around a little bit, he hoped that the man was ready for his story. Becuase it sure was an intense one.

"When I was around eleven years old, I was taken over by a Sith Spirt. Long story short, she killed my master and practically made me turn to the dark side. She made me train with her 'physical form' for many years. Our trading was intense. There was nothing I could do to stop her. She gave me many scars, mentally and physically."

Taking a deep breathe, he glanced down at his robotic forearm. He's shook away the thought, taking deep breathes like this class instructed him to. After a few seconds, he continued.

"One day, a group of Jedi came to the planet we were on. She started to attack them. I fought with her since she was now my 'master'. She ended up killing three Jedi before of of them grabbed her. Using some sort of force-light he killed her, but I was still under her spell. Another Jedi came up to me, he said he was a healer. He ended up curing me and bringing me back to the light...mostly. That was a year ago. Now I am here."

Okkeus sat silent for a few seconds, letting Beltran process want he said.

Barrien Siegfried Beltran Rarr Aurelion Nova Serena Rylvin Kyra Perl Ura Iolar

 

[Aurelion Nova]

OBJECTIVE - Partner up?



Where: Class
Why: Learning things!
Wearing/Wielding: Fate & Robes
When: Class Time
With: Barrien Siegfried Kyra Perl Beltran Rarr Serena Rylvin Ura Iolar Okkeus Dainlei

Aurelion was happy and proud of the efforts of not only his classmates but also, albeit hesitantly, himself. That didn't make him a bad person, did it? He shook his head lightly, glancing around idly, as Barrien instructed them all to pair together to continue the lesson. As those familiar with one another began to pair together Aurelion simply sat, waited, and observed. As most everyone else seemed to have selected their partners Aurelion calmly approached Serena Rylvin and knelt down in front of her with a sheepish smile. He was always happy to meet new people and, seeing as how everyone else had already chosen a partner, he shrugged bashfully. "I-I umm.... I guess that means you're my partner for this...."

Aurelion didn't mean to make it sound like Serena Rylvin didn't have a choice in this, rather they were simply the only students without partners left, and he gave her a tiny smile quickly followed by a sheepish shrug. He was.... more than a little anxious about talking about his bad memories, truth be told, and had never 'spoken' about them in the physical sense. The closest he had ever come was reliving them with Juno and Nimue, they had seen and lived them just as he had so their understanding of what had happened was just as keen as Aurelion's own, perhaps even more so. He felt a tight, constricting nervousness in his chest at the mere THOUGHT of sharing such experiences with Serena. It seemed..... cruel.

Thus, to say Aurelion was anxious was an understatement, but he could feel the lingering effects of his own Battle Meditation putting his mind a bit more at ease or, at least, blunting the edge of his enough worry to allow him to talk to Serena coherently. He was obviously put off by the idea and so, inclining his head slightly, Aurelion would nod at Serena. "Do umm... you mind going first?"