Private Have No Fear

[Jorah zos Darnus]

As the boy sat there, a Talay krayt dragon seemed to creep from out of the Kashyyyk woods.

It was a familiar. More to the point, it was Jorah's animal guide. Plopping down beside the young Dathomirian, the diminutive krayt dragon rested its head on the boy's leg, as it joined the trio.

The timing was auspicious. As anything dealing with familiars often was. It prompted the boy to consider and then re-consider what Sakadi Marathi Sinvala had asked of him. Like the debates held by the shaman of the Mistwalker Clan, to see beyond the question. Beyond words. Beyond asking. "The conflict you describe is the natural world," the youth surmised aloud.

She asked him to delve deeper into the Force. Yet, Jorah did not believe in the Force.

However, he did have faith in the elder gods. Perhaps her meaning was thus, to reach deeper into his faith? "My people believe that the spirits tend to such affairs," the boy stated finally, raising his amber eyes back up to the woman. "We worship the spirits of nature around us. But the Witches of Dathomir need only act when the balance of the natural world is disrupted."

She asked him about the conflicts he spoke of.

Closing his eyes, the boy murmured, "Terhan zirsla mireth." As he spoke in Dathomirian, the boy rested one hand on the krayt dragon beside him. The friendly spirit wagged its tail as, with his other hand, the boy made a symbolic gesture of touching his forehead, chest, and then lips before uttering, "Yem'shuree par'eva naletnit."

It was a spell. One that enabled his people to ask the spirits for permission to peer into the shadowlands. The world between worlds.

He opened his eyes, yet his pupils were gone. Instead, he seemed to peer outward with eyes of solid white. Among his people, it was known as seeing with eyes wide shut.

"I see people of the Wookiees, the oldest of these spirits stand alongside men in white armor," the boy described aloud. His face seemed confused, his head tilting to one side as he added, "But these men all have the same face."

They found a battle. No. A war? Together? But against what? "I... cannot see what they are fighting," the youth remarked. There should have been another spirit. Except there wasn't.

The boy's head then turned, as though peering around. "There are also men in armor, but different," he stated. Different armor. Different faces. A different battle. "A more recent battle. They are fighting the Wookiees," the youth interpreted finally.

Closing his eyes, the youth gave a sigh as the power of the spell's magic was undone. Blinking several times, the boy glanced back at Aveline Cuiléin and then to Master Sakadi. "I sense that someone died here. In this place," the boy stated finally.

"But I would need to undertake the vision quest to try and communicate with them."

He had not brought the proper regents for that ritual. However, now that he knew of this place, he might return here when he had them. A vision quest and the opportunity to help a spirit cross over was the most sacred duty of the Mistwalker.

 

[Sakadi Marathi Sinvala]

They really knew how to divide her attention. But then again, she herself had asked for this, hadn't she?

Her eyes rested on the newly arrived family for a moment. She was familiar with the Nightsister Clans of Dathomir. She had fought some of the Dark side aligned sisters with varying degrees of success. But the Clans who lived in the Silver Sphere? She knew very little about those. Their spells, beliefs and traditions were a mystery to the Jedi Master. That was why his incantation intrigued her, but made her a bit more apprehensive than usual.

Halfway through his incantation, her attention was drawn back to Aveline. "Do you think you should?" Responding to questions with questions of her own. It was a classic. After giving her a moment to come up with an answer of her own, Sakadi finally continued. "Your ability to sense your surroundings is closely aligned to your connection with the Force. Stay calm, keep your breath steady, and try to keep your mind open to the flow of the Living Force. You'll find that it offers much more than just the whereabouts of ants and birds."

As if she timed it, Jorah began to speak shortly after her advice. The boy had a great gift for his people's magick and in it, she recognized some form of psychometry. It was the closest thing she could relate his spell to.

"You're almost right. Someone should be plural." The Jedi Master was comfortable with this truth. After all, there was no death, only the Force. "This chasm behind me," She pointed with a loose gesture. "Is home to a small nest of Wyyyschokk spiders." The spiders were intelligent and incredibly hostile, but luckily no match for the seasoned Jedi Master, who held them gently in her mental grasp... Although that was not something she would tell the Padawans. "They've devoured enough beings to turn this chasm in somewhat of a Dark side well. Can you sense it?" While it did not possess a strong pull to the Dark side, it was noticeable enough to be felt in the Force.

"Coincidentally, the efforts of these spiders make for great training grounds. Because that is what you came here for, right? To train, and not to talk?"

Aveline Cuiléin Jorah zos Darnus​

 

[Aveline Cuiléin]

Jorah zos Darnus was impressing her. It was clear he was knowledgeable, and strong in the Force... Or whatever he called it. That's how she interpreted it though. He could read the land like she couldn't, and she could only hope that one day she would be able to do the same. Or if not, find an area in which she could excel. It was all about discovering and playing to your strengths, right?

"I... I don't know" she was stumped by the question thrown back at her, and it challenged her to question what it meant to be a Jedi, and everything that encompassed. Did it cover this? She... Didn't know. "To some extent, yes? More so than I can now. But... I don't know" It was a weak answer, she knew, but the only that came to her mind in that moment. When Sakadi followed up, however, it gave support to her own internal debate, and gave her a satisfying answer and focus for the future when she practiced this.

Aveline's eyes popped wide open at the mentions of spiders though. Uh oh. This wasn't going to be a cosy chat about what it meant to be a Jedi like on Commenor, would it? She looked sideways to Jorah. Was he calm? Was he panicking? His reaction had the potential to either steel her mind for the challenge to come, or send her reeling.

Taking a deep breath... And now that Sakadi said it, she could sense the slight whisper of the Dark Side. As soon as her mind connected with it, she felt it prick her like a needle, as if it found a similar vibrancy deep within her and connected with it. Suddenly she felt cold. Aveline stood up, looking between Jorah and Sakadi. "Do we... Do we fight them?" She hadn't brought a weapon. Kark, she really should have brought a weapon.

The sound of rustling and rattling through leaves came closer... Something moved in the nearest bush. "Heeey pretty spider. There there nice spider" Oh dear oh dear oh dear.

Sakadi Marathi Sinvala Jorah zos Darnus​

 

[Jorah zos Darnus]

"They've devoured enough beings to turn this chasm in somewhat of a Dark side well. Can you sense it?"​

The question prompted the boy to reflect on the woman's words. The Dark Side. It was a Jedi term. Jerek Zenduu had spoken of it. It seemed similar to the Witches of Dathomir belief in the Fanged God. An entity of destruction and entropy, the mirror to the Winged Goddess of creation and rejuvenation.​

The spiders were definitely agents of chaos. Predators who spawned only more destruction. But, a necessary evil for the food chain to maintain the balance of nature and keep the species that they preyed upon in check.​

"Do we... Do we fight them?"

An interesting theory. Just what kind of training did the Jai have in mind? To banish the Fanged God was only to create a vacuum.

Nature abhorred a vacuum. As the Winged Goddess spread further, the Fanged One would only come back stronger in response.

"The spirits in this place speak the name of the Fanged God," the boy remarked, returning his attention to the Jedi Master. He sensed it. And what he sensed lent him to add, "I feel only sorrow will be found there."

Jorah's people dedicated themselves to the study of death and life. The Winged Goddess and Fanged God each had a part to play. He would not deny that the Fanged God was the Adversary, merely that the Fanged God's absence would be problematic.

After all, death was a necessary evil itself.

Sakadi Marathi Sinvala Aveline Cuiléin​