Golden Mean

[Ran Aohki]

Qiilura
Farming Village.


The 'Golden Mean' was a concept she had once been taught back on the days when her apprenticeship to the Masters of Tsche had just started and her age was composed by one digit alone. The concept had been easy to understand, it didn't sound complicated nor was it difficult to process. If she had only known that it was far easily said, and almost impossibly achieved. The Golden Mean was finding a balance between excess and deficiency, it was about placing your feet on the middle ground so as to become the embodiment of one's own everything, and make peace with all aspects of oneself. Dark, light, grey...these concepts were the excessive deficiencies. Barring one part in favor of the other only led to the destruction of a part of the being, one that often could not be recuperated.

Sitting in front of a large, golden field of planted crops, Ran allowed her mind to explore this concepts that were at the same time, so familiar and so mysterious to her. Frustration had hit her sometimes, ever since she understood that her darkest parts would never leave because they were inherent and necessary to her nature. And the impotence of rationally understanding something, but have the greatest force of irrationality stop you from accomplishing it made her feel vulnerable, confused and useless. Ran had already admitted to herself, she was afraid of the dark because she was afraid of falling into it and forgetting where the true colors of her gentle heart laid.

The breeze was blowing slowly, and Ran finally decided that all this thinking was doing nothing but making her run around a bush she knew well by sight but that she would never completely discover. So, sitting on a rock as she was, Ran crossed her legs and let her hazel-green eyes be shut away from the exterior world as meditation brought her mind into a peaceful state once again. The warming, healing feel of the Force soaked her body and mind. And truth is she had let her guard slightly down, but Ran had been staying on Qiilura for quite some time now. She had liked the landscaped and the people, and this farming community in particular had proved to her to be welcoming and kind. There was no reason to feel threatened, and if it were...The Force would always be there to guide her.

[member="Jyn Sol"]

 

[Lief]

Gurlanin were quite the odd phenomenon.

As part of her Journey she had studied the shape changing creatures on a purely theoretical level, and had fully intended on them becoming the focus of her Bodhi trials. That had been before their resettling on Aurum, where wants had been replaced by necessity. Instead of immersing herself in the Gurlanin culture she had focused instead on the Togorians who had survived both the genocide of their home world and the glassing of their sanctuary. Just as fascinating, and necessary given the dire state of their species, but there remained a part of her that still longed to reach out to the canine sentients of Qiilura.

Things had finally begun to straighten out on Aurum. Infrastructure was returning, the sick and injured had been healed, and the once ruined City of Azar was slowly growing toward the skies, stark white against its jungle backdrop. A small leave of absence could be afforded, and as such she ventured across the stars toward the Mid Rim... How long had it been since she had been so close to the Core, not including her trip to Coruscant?

It had been about a week since she had touched down. Locating a group of Gurlanin hadn't been particularly difficult, but gaining their trust had been another deal all together. They were wary, generations upon generations of prejudice left them untrusting, suspicious, but perseverance had won through in the end.

Just ahead of her, lost within the golden-eared crops of the farmland, young Elvath prowled. She could see his ears twitching as he neared his quarry, and by this point Jyn knew better than to stand between them and their hunt. In the distance she could see a farmhouse, and through the Force she could sense several presences - yet one stood out above the rest, light and peaceful, flowing in a way that suggested immersion. At least... The way that the emotions were so controlled hinted at such.

Most had a hard time hiding their emotions.

A slight yelp drew her attention from the direction of the stranger, and she noted how Elvath had caught his prey. It looked like some sort of rabbit, not the largest of things she'd seen his kind bring down, but she knew that it wasn't the easiest either. They were fast little buggers, after all, and were known for their hind legs. For one of his first hunts, the young Gurlanin was doing more than well, and Jyn was proud to have been apart of it, even from a distance.

[member="Ran Aohki"]

 

[Ran Aohki]

If she would ever achieve the expectations of her former Masters she would never know. It was often that she felt too confused, too lost. No more discoveries about herself awaited in Endor, now it had become the place she longed for, the place in which everything she holds dear was hidden. Endor became the place most near to her heart, where she felt most comfortable and was familiarized with, the every corner of her Temple and its surrounding villages and woods already known to her. But she would never free herself of the feelings that troubled her if she had stayed. She needed to see and understand, to find a way to being at peace within her own self and not shun a part of herself that the more she restrained, the more it fought to be let out. Fear prevented her from coexisting with it. Ran needed to change, for being tranquil and calm -inherent traits to her personality- was not equal to being at balance.

However, today, sitting in the middle of this golden sea as the breeze caressed her face and the warm rays of sunlight showered her, Ran felt closer to this longed for balance than she had been in a long time. Thoughts flowed freely through the stream of her consciousness, they sped by, nothing was dwelt upon or overthought. Not even in her longest, deepest sessions of meditations had she ever achieved this state of thought. So she became grateful for having found herself at this place, in this moment. The Force danced freely through her, not for all to see but for her to bask in its soothing presence. Her swords were resting idly at her side, also atop of the boulder she was using as a seat and vantage point.

Suddenly, a noise took her from her deep trance and her hazel-green eyes darted towards the direction of the commotion, her instincts starting to kick in. A small smile and a slight shake of her head showed her amusement as she caught sight of a gurlanin young, one of the members of the village. She had interacted with his parents and new him by sight, but never communicated with him. He had skillfully caught a rabbit for himself, Ran would have congratulated him had she had the voice to do so without once again starting the whole ordeal of getting people to understand her, or agree to having her speak inside their minds. Entering others heads without their consent was something she avoided at all costs, she saw it as a far too invasive means, for even if she was only going to speak and never meddled with nothing more, they were still granting her access into the place where everything is kept well hidden.

Her eyes remained on the Gurlanin for some seconds, until a tug in the Force within her made her shift her gaze, accommodating it in the direction of another presence. She could still not see the person, the crops grew far to high, but she knew it was there, as well as he/she might have noticed her too. She gently slid off the boulder and placed her feet softly on the ground. Giving some small paces in the direction that had been shown to her. She did not go further as to directly approach the person, for she knew doing this would entail her starting a conversation...something she was physically incapable of doing.

[member="Jyn Sol"]

 

[Lief]

Elvath was quick to return to her side, lolloping toward her through the grain fields with his catch within his maw. Only when he reached her feet did he drop it, and look up to her with the largest of smiles he could muster.

"Lllook, Jyn," he lisped, nudging the dead creature toward her, "I did it!"

She could only beam a smile in response to him, reaching down to pat him on the head. Her senses were tingling, still picking up on the stray presence nearby that she felt compelled to investigate. But with the little one present, was that wise? Even a calm Force presence could turn to fury if given enough cause... And many on this world were not forgiving of the Gurlanin.

"Very good, Elvath" she coo'd, "Your parents will be proud."

Glancing over her shoulder, she could see two darkened figures set against the backdrop of trees which lined the fields.

"In fact... It looks as though they saw the whole thing. Hurry now, take your kill and catch up with them. I'll be with you all shortly."

Though the child pouted up at her, he had become quite attached to Jyn after all, no doubt because she was odd to look upon when compared to his kind, he picked the creature up within his maw and hurried back through the fields, toward his parents. With the concerns she harboured set aside, Jyn rose up to her full height, and glanced over the ears which swayed in the breeze.

Slowly but surely she made her way through them, careful not to trample any of the crops, sensing the other presence do similar, at least for a few steps, before faltering. Curious... Had the sensor been sensed? Perhaps.

It did not take her too long to reach the outcrop, the boulder which was some paces away from them, and when the visage of a girl came into her sights she bowed her head respectfully toward her.

Friend or foe, she did not know yet. But she did not care, this was a life, and all life should be treated with respect. When did you turn Jedi? She dismissed the thought, and gently smiled toward the woman.

"Hail," she began, settling her gaze back upon the girl, "Forgive me, if I trespass, the little one had tracked its quarry for half a mile before we reached these fields."

[member="Ran Aohki"]