Lament

[Jairdain]

Time passed different for Jairdain while she was in her meditative state. The distance that might take a person a few days or even weeks to travel, she did with just a thought. It had been a couple of dark years for her since she had last visited Iridonia.

In a blink of an eye, she was there at her old homestead. One she had built from the ground up twice and had it destroyed just as many times. When she was here last, her friend had provided her with a new home and thankfully she hadn't made any new enemies that wanted to hunt or hurt her.

Weather had started to take its toll on her home, but the spirit of the Jedi walked through the door and inside. Dust covered much, but she sensed life here.

Her door opened and a pack of young Zabraks entered. None of them had the facial tattoos indicating they had yet to go through their trials to become considered an adult in their culture. Jairdain was standing in the kitchen when the kids saw her form.

If they could have paled, they would have. Upon seeing what looked like a ghost, they ran. Not screaming though and forgot to close the door behind them. She had corporal form and couldn't close it herself. The Force also wasn't present, but somehow she could see. All in all, it was rather odd, but the Master accepted what was happening. After all, she was on a vision quest and searching for answers.

[member="Renard Duval"]

 

[Renard Duval]

A few long hours by shuttle, and then a couple more by landspeeder. Making his way to the village had taken quite some time, but if the masters asked him to go there, it was only natural for the padawan to comply. Wearing simple robes, hiding his saber underneath, Renard stepped off of the vehicle and had a look around. It seemed like a small, yet peaceful village - well, as peaceful as a Zabrak village on Iridonia would go.

With a few light steps, he made some distance from the speeder. Reaching out, the padawan allowed the force to guide his steps, perfectly content to allow it to guide him. Walking through the village, anyone in his shoes would be able to feel the stares. While they weren't hostile, they could easily make a person feel uneasy when being surrounded by so many who were raised to fight. Metal blades could be heard clashing in the distance as a few people stood inside a fenced sparring area and a few cheers could be heard from time to time.

It was a mystery why he was sent to this relatively peaceful village, but if he was sent to 'bring peace' to the village and what he could, Renard would work to reach the goal to the best of his abilities. Suddenly, a few of the adults looked to the distance as a few children rushed out of a building with scared startled little faces. Renard started making his way to the little kids along with a few locals "Hey, how are you? What happened" he asked with concern whilst going down on one knee, apparently being the first to arrive. His eyebrows furrowed as he heard their tiny voices speak of a ghost or something. "Don't you worry, we'll have a look at it." he said with a warm tone, rubbing a couple of their heads as he rose to his feet again.

A few Zabrak had run ahead to check out the situation before he managed to get there. As Renard arrived at the entrance, a couple of thoroughly surprised, perhaps even chocked warriors came out. The teen's eyes fixed onto both of them confused, readying himself for a surprise, the Duval took a deep breath before entering the house, gently closing the door behind him. There was a peculiar sense inside the house, but he couldn't quite put a finger on why that was.

"Wh- uh- what?" he stuttered upon seeing the manifestation of a woman in front of him. "Who are you?" he asked carefully, having little knowledge of the surroundings. The sparring, or at least what he assumed was sparring, recommenced outside, although this time, the crowd seemed both rowdier and angrier. But at the this moment, that all seemed secondary in comparison to the character he seemed to be seeing.

[member="Jairdain"]

 

[Jairdain]

The adults that had gone to investigate Jairdain's house left just as quickly. They had seen the ghost of one of their friends and assumed the woman was dead. Cries lament started up in the village not long after Renard entered her house.

She wouldn't likely be remembered by the children that had come in, but to the adults, she had been an anchor to the house and their king. In their minds she was gone and their king needed to know. A small envoy set out to inform him, but the cries continued.

She turned when the teen spoke up and asked who she was. Not being able to touch anything, even with the Force was proving interesting to the older woman. To her, it seemed like she was seeing this as if she were in a dream. Normally she was physically blind and used a small wolf to be her eyes. Sage wasn't here with her but it wasn't an issue. With her new sight, even if it was temporary, she was able to look at her guest.

It was clear he and the others could see her. Now to find out if she could be heard as well.

"I am Jairdain Ismet of the Silver Jedi. Who are you?"

Her appearance was a combination of what she would normally wear, but for some reason she was wearing a traditional Jedi cloak. At her hip was also a ghostly lightsaber hilt that lent credence to her introduction. Lifting her hands to hover in front of her face, she looked through them. Lowering them, she looked at Renard waiting on his reply, if he could even hear her.

[member="Renard Duval"]

 

[Renard Duval]

Squinting, he looked at the manifestation. This couldn't be real, could it? He had never seen anything like it before - but then, he wasn't that experienced either. Taking a couple of careful steps forth, the padawan neared the woman, constantly trying to make his eyes refocus so that he could see her more clearly.

Upon hearing her voice, he stopped right in his tracks and held his breath "You do speak" he said with a low voice. Slowly, he begun raising his arm, intending to offer it to her for a handshake. Before long, however, the boy realised how foolish of an idea it was and instead raised it to his chest and bowed "I am Renard Duval" he said, still confused about the entire situation. His eyes briefly went down to her lightsabre and then up at her face again - she was armed. Whether she could hurt him or not was quite the mystery, still, but hopefully, it wouldn't come to that.

Deciding to swallow his fears, Renard kept taking a few more steps forwards until he stood at a good conversational range - close enough for her to stab him by merely turning on the sabre. Naturally, he didn't think he would get stabbed and mostly hoped that his show of trust would be taken well by Jairdain. A second question, "What are you?" escaped his lips - obviously, the teen was quite taken by the situation. Still, all things considered, he remained relatively collected despite the odd circumstances.

Jairdain

 

[Jairdain]

She wondered why she had been drawn to her home on Iridonia first and before any of her others. It might be because this was the first place she could truly call her first home. Back in the days that she had been Sith, the king here had given her this land and she had built her home here. All in all, she had lived here quite a few years, but hardly any of them had been consecutive.

No matter how hard the teen tried to focus on her form, it remained like a ghost.

"I do speak. I'm not dead though, my body rests in a meditative state on Kashyyyk. Pleased to meet you, Renard Duval."

He had given her his name, but not if he had any allegiance to any government. When she stated she was with the Silver Jedi, he did not appear to be upset. This inclined her to think he wasn't Sith. Jairdain also lifted her hand to hover over her chest and returned his bow.

Now seeing eyes looked over his form. Renard appeared to be a human teenage boy. Very likely a Force user, but that might not be a fair assumption to make since the villagers had been able to see her. The young man carried a vibrosword. Something she could empathize with since when she was his age, she had one just like it.

"To answer your question, I can honestly say, I am unsure. This was my home here for a while. Iridonia was my home and I lived here even before this house was built. Not very long ago, I put my physical body into meditation and I'm seeking answers.

"On Kashyyyk, I am a Master. Tutor, friend, mother and..."

Falling silent, she wasn't married yet, but might as well be. Yuroic had asked her to marry him and she had said yes. Before that happened, she wanted to figure out where she was meant to be. That was why she went into the trance and that had brought her here.

"What brought you here?"

Renard Duval

 

[Renard Duval]

His eyes lingered on her form as she spoke, confused, fascinated and most of all, curious. Travelling all over, the young Jedi's eyes soon returned to hers - she was meditating on Kashyyyk? With raised eyebrows, Renard's mouth formed a small 'o' "This is unbelievable" he said with a sizeable portion of truth to his words as it was in fact a rather rare and unusual thing, appearing as if a ghost whilst meditating on a far-away planet. But the teen was rather practical by nature and knew that the force worked in ways beyond his comprehension. He saw her and he believed her.

Even the woman, Jairdain, herself, seemed unsure of what she was. Her explanation told him of where she was and her connection to the place, effectively granting him some insight to what it all was and hinted at how it could be explained. Although it clarified matters to an extent, there was still much which he had yet to understand but her openness was appreciated. He looked around the room, viewing what she claimed to be her home. Renard thought it was rather beautiful but but chose to remain silent in favour of just giving her an approving nod.

She had already said that she was a silver jedi and the fact that she was a master was hardly surprising considering her impressive meditation. Soon, the woman started listing her positions and Renard listened with interest. When she went silent, he patiently waited for her to continue. However, she did not. They wouldn't linger on the topic as she chose to move on to his purpose instead. "I was asked to bring peace to the village" he said simply whilst gesturing towards the village "But I don't know what peace I can bring to something which is already so peaceful" he said, sharing his troubles rather openly. Not being one to give up easily, he raised his shoulders whilst showing her his palms, indicating that he didn't know the answer. "Perhaps I could go speak to them, find out if anything is troubling them or if there's anything I could help them with." His reasoning was calm and logical, but not very reliant on the force which caused him to doubt "Or maybe, it has something to do with you" he said, looking at her for a bit with an ever growing smile on his lips. Maybe he was onto something.

Jairdain

 

[Jairdain]

If she had been faced with such an image when she was his age, that disbelief would have probably been just as present for her as it was for him. At least, she sensed that he believed her. So far she had only told him the truth and Jairdain did not feel there was any reason to lie. And she probably wouldn't do that to him.

Her own eyes traveled through the remains of her home as his did. A layer of dust covered items, but it was still in good condition. As if wanting somebody to come and live here again. Perhaps that is why they were drawn here. She was attempting to find answers and possibly some sort of closure of this stage in her life. She felt it right to offer this home to him. It would no longer be hers then and she would have no home on Iridonia anymore. This would close the door for her here and open it for him.

On these grounds, a great many things had happened and she lots of memories to share about them. Not right now though. Without the Force, she didn't know just how to show him. Intuition spoke to her and she shook her head. Raising a hand, it moved in time with the shade of her head.

"They aren't at odds here really. Part of the reason this home was built here. The Zabrak are a warrior people, but the people of this village are pretty well settled. There really isn't much issue with them doing what their culture dictates. Quite often the wars here are misunderstood by outsiders. Do you think that is what happened?"

That made the most sense to her. Renard was sent here because some outsider witnessed tribal warfare and assumed it was something to be investigated.

"You are welcome to ask around, but I don't think they will provide you with any conclusive evidence of needing help. Are you a healer or know how to grow plants? Maybe an Elementalist? Those kinds of people control the weather."

Jairdain wasn't trying to talk down to him, but not everybody knew of that kind of Force User. In a way, she was all three and one of the reasons she had been welcomed to this world. At that time, she had been Sith and the Kind had been as well. He had kidnapped her and only once he was positive she wouldn't run away, he had given her this home. Then he died. The hold he had on her let go and she returned to the Jedi. On Voss, they had helped piece her back together. Even after that point, she returned here time and again. It was time to put an end to this.

"There is always that possibility. To be sent here for one thing and needed for something totally different. Look around this home and tell me what you feel."

Renard Duval

 

[Renard Duval]

He listened as this jedi, ghost-like in appearance spoke. She clearly understood the way of the locals, much better than many others. He had spent some time reading up on their culture before arriving - it was an important step when wanting to make bonds and ties with people. Especially when he, as a jedi, sought to bring peace to people which he had never even met. His gaze fell to her feet as he considered her question. Was the reason he was sent here just a misunderstanding? After a few moments, he looked back up "I don't think so. I trust that those who sent me knew what they were doing. Why would they send me to bring peace to the village if there was no conflict to be sought?" he spoke, slightly absently as his mind was still going through the options. The young padawan slowly walked towards one of the windows and looked out towards the village in the distance. It looked peaceful, picturesque even. Maybe Jairdain was correct. Not long after, he turned around "Maybe you're right" he said, still unsure of the situation.

"I don't know much of the elements, but I can med wounds." she said before a meek smile formed on his lips "The force is a powerful ally, but I also brought a few med kits." he said with an amused voice. With a hand reaching down for his belt, Renard brought up a med kit for her to see before putting it back again. Although he could heal people through the force, the padawan had always found it safer to also have something more concrete too.

They were having a rather pleasant conversation - much more so than he had expected considering the circumstances. Not too long after, the woman brought up the idea that maybe his purpose was another one. Shrugging lightly, he continued listening with two eyebrows shooting up slightly as he was asked to have a look around the home. "Okay" he said carefully before walking around a table, running his fingers along it's top. Renard's forehead furrowed but he remained silent and continued to explore. Walking into another room he started speaking "Conflict," he said but continued to walk with a slow pace. "pain," he continued, a great deal of empathy clear in his voice "and suffering"

Entering another room, he stopped in the middle. Closing his eyes, the boy reached out - not with his hand, but with the force. His furrowed forehead relaxed "And somehow, peace" he said, with a much lighter tone "serenity" he said, opening his eyes and giving her a confused look, obviously not understanding the strange mixture of contrasting feelings.

Jairdain

 

[Jairdain]

The ghostly Jairdain was as patient as ever. Allowing her guest all the time needed to process her words and answer. It was true that the Jedi most likely were not entirely aware of what happened on Iridonia on a daily basis. Not many outsiders understood everything and if one witnessed a local conflict, they could have thought it much larger. No matter what the cause was, it had brought Renard and Jairdain together.

"A healer is something that is almost always needed here. Many of these people used to visit me for such things. Probably why they were so upset when they caught sight of my form. To them and you, I appear to be a ghost. Thing is, I wouldn't return here to haunt if I were dead."

She had learned how to heal with the Force. Most of her other skills were also Force based. Her focus had been on being a peacekeeper and only knew very little of physical fighting. It was a good thing her partner was the opposite. They could take care of each other and they had a strong foundation.

Perhaps she was testing the Padawan when she asked him to look around. If that was the case, his skill surprised her and exceeded her expectations. This wasn't exactly a pass or fail test, but just her checking to see just how centered he was.

As he walked through the home, she followed him. Everything he picked up on had happened. Conflict and pain had been something early on, as well as loss and confusion. Maybe his skill wasn't strong enough to pick that up or the traces were too faint. Continuing the small walkthrough, he found where she had been at peace.

"This was my bedroom and a place where I meditated when it was storming outside."

The rain was a rare thing on this world, but not unheard of. When it stormed, it was normally a sandstorm. At the time she lived here, she always had a scarf that was used to cover her nose and mouth to keep the sand from suffocating her.

Renard Duval