Mid-Stride in a Way of Life

[Siyndacha Aerin]

Mid-Morning
Pinnacles of Felth
Roon

Finally, after months of rest and relaxation, followed by days of parties, life was returning to some semblance of normality. She had a new job, a job that provided her freedoms the prior one never had, and out from under the critical eye of judgement due to her youth, as well. Her boss - it was strange, he didn’t seem like a boss, but for the technicality of his title as Foreman - was not much older than she was! And he wasn’t a jerk, either. And he seemed to be okay with her company. And wasn’t weird. Or creepy or…

Sindy took a deep breath, and sighed, willing that train of thought away, and looked on at the Pinnacles of Felth, the mild curiosity as to whether they’d make for a good hike buzzing at the back of her mind. To the eye, from this vantage point, they didn’t appear to be terribly challenging in terms of climbing, and would be easily traversed by foot with little to no equipment. In fact, were she so inclined, she could do so today. As she considered her options, she slung her backpack off her shoulder and pulled out a sturdy, insulated water bottle, unscrewed the tightly closed lid, and took a long, slow gulp.

There were other things to this planet that the average person would find of more interest - flame jewels, roonstones, and spice - and while Sindy did find those things fascinating in their own right, gauging the local planetary landscapes for useful hikes and climbs were much more cohesive to her long-term interests, as physical activity was one of the most useful and effective ways in which she reined in her energy, and her focus.

Swallowing with a refreshed gasp on follow-up, she screwed the cap back on to the bottle, and returned it to her pack. Swinging the bag back over her shoulder, looping her arms through the wide straps, she moved forward for a little hiking on the pinnacles. There really was no better way to get a sense for a landscape feature than to be on it, and explore.

@[member="Manu Xextos"]

 

[Manu Xextos]

Spoiler

OOC: Sorry for the wait! Let's DO THIS!

Roon. Vastly becoming part of his new term of knowledge, the Templar Sanctum had given Manu enough to go on to investigate the world. To be honest, it was bliss to get away from his mother @[member="Ahani Najwa"] and her burbling insanity, it was a form of divine happiness to be free of the responsibility of his star destroyer the Brynjar's crew and the list of Padawans he was aiding on their way. Be that as it may, once more Manu found himself hiking up a mountainside and feeling the stirring rhythm of the Light guiding him onward.

There was someone he needed to meet. Not knowing who, what or where, Manu continued on his way breathing in the scenery and letting the general calm soak his weary bones. Hey, it was hard being 835 years old. Still, he bet by the time he was 900 he'd look better than the famed Master Yoda, so that was a plus. The Empathic Master felt the presence of a girl, and figuring it was better to make conversation than to ignore the locals, he strolled over, hopped up onto a rock and stuck his hands in his trouser pockets.

"Beautiful view, eh?" Manu's baritone voice was keen and peaceful, he stood casual and calm allowing his presence in the Force to coat the area with an aura of peace and contentment. Safety, and delight. @[member="Siyndacha Aerin"]

 

[Siyndacha Aerin]

She'd hiked up the none-too-steep mountainside, the bodily work that had been put into doing so making orderly use of the energies in her body. She felt energetic from exercises, always, but they also provided a centering calm that was otherwise a lot harder to attain outside of meditations and this was still much easier, even if it was more time consuming than attempting to slip into a trance. Though, looking at this view made her feel a sense of peace that she hadn't felt, well, ever.

Until, that is, a voice spoke out aside her. She would have almost jumped if she didn't feel so at ease, but she clued in that it wasn't the view that made her feel this. Papa Marezius had done something similar more than once when she had become over-anxious, and even with knowing that, her reaction was within the accepted norms for reactions to this aura... quite simply because it was rather difficult to have an adverse reaction to it, even if she wanted to. Which she didn't, and couldn't. But there was still the matter of who is this guy? Sindy's eyes slid over to @[member="Manu Xextos"], getting a good look at him, before sliding back to enjoying the view.

"Yes." She replied plainly. "It is."

Then she turned her whole head to the side, peering at him through light silver-blue eyes, her eyebrows lifted and her visage otherwise expressionless.

"Come here often?"

 

[Manu Xextos]

"First-timer. Never been on this planet before, and that's a feat of something. Don't know what that something is, but eventually I'll figure it out." Manu smiled over at the slip of a girl, watching the way she eyebrows moved, the curve of her neck, every twitch of muscle was a chapter to glean for the man. Motion, holy motion was life.

"You? Seems like the spot someone would have to discover, you know? Discovered it long?" Slowly the aura of peace began to lift microns at a time. The peace and calm of the place maintained itself, not lifting for it was not unnatural. Maybe there was a spot on the planet he could settle down and meditate around. Plunking himself down into a half-lotus position, Manu heaved a sigh into the surroundings and peered outward, away from the girl.

"Manu Xextos. Are you Chandaari? You look Chandaari."

 

[Siyndacha Aerin]

So, two foreigners, in the same place at the same time. Far from statistically impossible. When he began to speak, she maintained the slightly awkward position of forward-facing body and turned head, but slowly, shifted her whole body to face him as he spoke.

"Same as you. Never been here before... but I think I'd like to come back again."

Not long on the planet, and she figured she could make that assessment. She liked the terrain. She felt the extra helping of calm and peace recede, but she knew it would, and considering it was difficult to emit such an aura for truly nefarious purposes, she made an educated guess that his intentions were good. When he went to sit on the ground, her eyes followed him down, and when he looked away from her and out to the view again, her gaze went there also.

"Siyndacha Aerin. Sindy. Chandaari?" She blinked. Chandaar? She'd never been to Chandaar. But... "I was born and raised mostly on Cularin. But my late mother, and my grandfather, and..."

The thought of why, exactly, was she telling this relative stranger all these things flitted across her mind, but she didn't miss a beat in cadence of her speech.

"...his father before him, and... well. I guess so, but my father's family is from Brentaal IV."

She blinked, pursing her lips, the fingers of her right hand tapping along her left palm as she went back over her words, her brow knitting in concern, the more it occurred to her just how much sense she wasn't making. Letting out a deflationary sigh, she plopped down on the ground as well, stretching her legs out and settling back on her palms.

"So, yes. Sort of."

 

[Manu Xextos]

Manu chuckled, flopping an arm over his knee and seeping in the scenery in comfort. "It's ok, I speak mumble. Had t'learn, when you've got two daughters and one of them thinks the funnest thing ever is throwing innumerable words in, a Dad learns pretty quick. Well, my wife pushed me to, but that's … see? Now I'm doing it, too." The man kept his fiercer nature in a vial on a shelf of his mind. He was not out and about on Roon to linger around being the Force Filled Master, but on this gentle day he felt himself burgeon up with an affable glee.

The view was gorgeous, and the girl looked more and more like she needed a modicum of comfort, or just a good day with something solid under foot. "I'm taking a flail in the dark, guessing your Mom had some Echani in her. Asked 'cause Chandaar's a frame of reference for me now. Have you been on Roon long? Here for the Templars, Sindy?"

The girl's nerves were boiling into a soup of colourful wool yarn, if he pulled on one strand would he get a complete thought? Perhaps if he simply sat and watched and let her gain her own confidence the course of action would be much more clear. @[member="Siyndacha Aerin"]

 

[Siyndacha Aerin]

When he talked about his family, it brought a smile to her face, then pulled a sliver of a giggle out of her. It felt good to know that she wasn't the only one that wasn't all that great with her words, all the time. To hear he had a wife and daughters? Well, she didn't really have any thoughts on the matter. Such things (marriage, reproduction) were so far from her mind - she never thought of them, beyond a minor passing curiosity. But she did wonder what his daughters were like, what their interests were, their ages... those things were always things she thought about, friendships being what they were, for her.

"My mother... I don't remember her. I was too young to remember, but she was pretty. I know that." Had she been on Roon long? Sindy shook her head. "Mm, no. Just today."

But the Templars? She knew from talking to Marek that the Templars were the organization within which she would gain more knowledge and training with her non-mundane abilities - things which she knew about from discussions with her grandfather, but had only gained the barest of basics in, time being cut short as it was due to his passing.

"Well, if this is the place, then... yes. My time here during this visit is as good a time as any for it." Before she headed back, before she got utterly absorbed and terribly fixated on her work. It wasn't in her plans for this visit and such spontaneity was not abundant in her nature, but she knew an opportunity when she saw it. "To get started, I mean."

Sindy turned her head to him.

"How do I... um, where do I go to do something about that?"

@[member="Manu Xextos"]

 

[Manu Xextos]

"Of course she was. Being Echani, she'd look like you. A child is the image of their gender-identical parent. Died young, eh? Sorry about that… Glad to have you here, though so there's a stroke of sun through a dark cloud." Smiling affably, Manu kept his arm slung over his knee and watched @[member="Siyndacha Aerin"] as she shifted and moved. His eyes lost some focus as he thought of Chiara and Divya, now seven centuries dead both daughters had been the jewel of his crown - as all daughters should be of their fathers. Ignorant of her relationship with her own patronage, Manu looked out to the skyline and nodding slowly as she guessed her way into the Templars.

"Usually is, you know. Sometimes we pick the time, others, the time picks us. So tell me, Sindy. What do you know of the Force? Tell me anything, as small or large as you think it is. Tell me that, and I'll tell you where to go."

 

[Siyndacha Aerin]

What did she know of the Force? Whew, that wasn't a small question. She pursed her lips, scrunching them to the left of her face, and considered where to start, and what to say, whether to use her usual words, or to... tone it down a bit. Somehow, she was certain he could follow... and a bemused smile came to her face at the thought of Marek, who sometimes had trouble following her words.

"Well, Mister Xextos. There's a lot of Jedi in my 'family tree', on my maternal side. My mother, I'm told, had no talent with the Force, but my grandfather was a master, told me most of what I know and of the several different philosophical beliefs as to what the Force is, whether it has sides or not, and so on."

She sat up, and brought her hands around to the front, crossed her legs, and dropped her hands into her lap.

"I find it hard to believe that something so... intangible could have restrictive properties, such as sides, but I do believe that it's more a matter of how one uses it, and why. However, I can see why some might think the Force has a light side and a dark side. It's much more clear-cut that way, much more black and white, and I guess that it would be easier to think about, that way."

Sindy took a long breath in, held for a minute, then exhaled. She tended to say everything all at once sometimes, and had learned (more-or-less) to... well, not slow herself down, so much as break things up.

"It doesn't feel like it has sides to me. It just feels like it's there, wonderful and frightening all at once. The things I know that could be done with it? The stories I've been told? It's really daunting, and worrying. " And just as that word was said, she gasped. "Oh! You know... my grandfather left me with his lightsabers. Well, not his his, but they're like a family heirloom. I've taken good care of them. Papa Marezius, my grandfather, told me they go as far back as the Old Republic."

Her face displayed some fondness, then.

"They certainly feel old." She peered at @[member="Manu Xextos"], curiously. "Do you have a lightsaber?"

 

[Manu Xextos]

@[member="Siyndacha Aerin"] had an encyclopaedia growing in her brain and it made the Echani laugh as the girl showed some confidence with her opinions and views. This was good, a young woman ought to know where she stood and how she got there, if she did well, there was little one could do to sway or push in too fragile a direction. Sitting forward, he put both feet on the rock and propped his elbows up on his knees and shrugged.

"Depends on where you get your fuel, Sindy. The Force is vast, and it doesn't easily classify itself, but there are distinctions. Maybe not the political ones we've invented, but one who is fuelled by the Light of the Force find their emotions are present, yet at peace. They see ignorance, yet themselves have knowledge. Chaos is everywhere, yet Order can be found and given. A Lightsider plies the peace and reverence of the Force, its timbre is sweet and succouring like a healer's touch. It nurtures, divines, comforts, and strengthens. It is an ally. The darker you go, the more your connection is fuelled by the untempered anger and rage of experiences we haven't made peace with. It's a cacophony of passions, fears, lashing out and claiming things that well, they're often bigger than we are but there we are all the same. I've tasted both in my time, been moulded by the Light, as it's in the Light I stay. Happens to be I'm a doctor and healer. I move mountains because my faith is strong and I look on others with grace or might and justice. There are others who use their pasts to bring them back into a horrible place and feed off it. To use that pain and hopefully find a level of catharsis in its offering.

I'm still making peace with my pain. Eventually I'll let it go. To each their own, I suppose." The man's hands worked back and forth on each other, fingers slowly coming together, folding in and out as the images of his past and present flashed around his mind and soaked into the chemicals laden in his cortex. There they would rest, as all memories did, and he reached behind his back to float two lightsabers in his hands. One he brought forward and showed the girl, it was white-silver metal and sculpted as all Echani technology was sculpted hundreds of years before with flow and a minute curve. Its' double-handed handle rose in his hand as if ready to float off into the wind and the crystal within sung with the calm grace of the Healer's Light. "This is Nuada, the Protector. She was my second saber, but the first I built. Her crystal came from a Kinrath Queen, who I rescued from poachers, who had thought they could contaminate force crystals by sewing them into beasts. For saving her Hive, the Queen dug into her own body and pulled the crystal from it, and I healed her. Its twin stayed with her until she died. Nuada cannot abide the Dark, and will not activate in the hands of chaos. It is a Healer's Stone."

The sweeping Echani saber drifted to the ground by Manu's feet and lounged softly beside him, the faithful companion. Another lightsaber descended into his hands, tough and resolute. Its' gunmetal grey and black searing edges shuddered proudly, jutting out to slash and maim the air around it with its' heady concentration. The saber itself hummed into the air with a gravel-toned gravity, pulling one into its maze of edges and scars. "Borghan was my first, The Power of Heavens was gifted to me by a Sith, who had come to cleanse himself at my Jedi Temple oh, too many years to count now. Lee gave his life to leave the Sith. Before he did, he taught me of it, the unadulterated Dark and I was happy for his wisdom. Borghan is the mighty arm of the Force, it does not condone mercy, nor patience but strikes firm and hearty. It is a killer's blade and for my part I have used it as thus. So yes, Sindy. I have two. I'd like to see yours, heirlooms are precious and sacred. You're a lucky girl to have them, have you learned their stories?"

 

[Siyndacha Aerin]

He had a lot to say, and with rapt attention she listened. The Force was not so tangible as her everyday works, and in tangible things she found a comfortable way of existing, and straightforwardness. Normally, intangible things were awkward and uncomfortable, but she had known of the Force, and felt it within her reach for long enough that it was tentatively comfortable, and would be more so, had Marezius not died so suddenly. Life and death had their own way, and could not be reliably controlled. Sindy liked control over the things around her, if she could get it. It was stability, and ease of awareness.

When he brought out the first 'saber, his second one as he said, Sindy took in every detail she could see, as the words of its story passed through her ears and into her memory for keeping, and was briefly fascinated by how its stone could not stand the Dark, as the human body cannot stand space, without protection and aids. The second blade, his first, had a different tale, and a dark history, to be certain. They were both beautiful, and she was glad to have seen them. They were the first she had really encountered, aside from the ones that were now her own. She knew that, perhaps, she too would make one that was truly all her own, someday. When [member="Manu Xextos"] expressed a desire to see hers, she felt a brief hesitance, because aside from Token, no-one had ever asked. No-one else even knew, but she smiled, shrugged her backpack off of her shoulders, brought it around to open up the main opening, and went into a deep inner pocket, stretching her fingers to loop around one hilt, pearly white in colour, with black onyx High Galactic script adorning the body. She passed it to him to see, before pulling out another, a twin of the first with the colours switched, the body being the black of the High Galactic script and the white being the script itself, but in High Sith.

"These are a pair, made by twin brothers, ancestors of mine. They were separated when one fell to the Dark when investigating Freedon Nadd, and ending up following him. They made these separately, not knowing that the other had done the same. The dark one speaks of conversion of his brother, and the light one speaks of redemption, but in the end, the fallen brother died at the hands of his twin, when redemption didn't take. The blade of the white one is deep purple, while the blade of the black one is bright orange," She explained. "The surviving brother called the white one 'Burden' and the black one 'Remembrance'."

She smiled fondly, allowing Manu to examine them.

"These blades have passed through many hands, and were thought to be lost once. They were stolen once, too, or so my grandfather told me, and apparently the thief became so unnerved by their presence that he gave them back," she said with a slight bit of strange mirth, but that cleared quickly with her next words. "Together, they feel quite solemn. At least I think they do, to me. Probably because they're in good hands - according to my grandfather, in the wrong hands, they feel different. I guess that's what the thief discovered."

She let out a short blip of a giggle, at that.

 

[Manu Xextos]

OOC: I'm getting back into it, there will be a better post next time! ~ Lizzy.

The hum drifting from Burden and Remembrance pulled on Manu's eyelids and brought his shoulder closer as finally, oh bliss, he was affronted with another piece of his kindred species and fellow force users. He placed Burden in his palm and felt the weight of its stories. In his other hand he held Remembrance, feeling the inner heave of a man who descended hard and whom no love could save. No love could save, but the memory perfected a family line to this very day. The best cautionary tales, Manu was learning, were those which had happened early on. After speaking with [member="Ailyne Viren"], Manu knew the power of his own story had continued past the centuries.

"These are incredible blades. No story is lost, [member="Siyndacha Aerin"]. When we build traditions tied to physical objects, those lasting images take on a quality of becoming. They grow and taunt us. Add them to a great teacher and the universe blossoms before you. I can see your Grandfather was a wise man, think about Nuada, in the Darker hand will not stand. She will fight and the blade will weaken, but the Light will strengthen until the Dark has no cause but to let go. So the blades making their way back, I can see that. Have you learned how to use them, yet? How far did any training you got go?"

 

[Siyndacha Aerin]

"No, I was never taught to use those. Just how to care for them."

The blades... she had not let anyone else touch them, not until now. It simply felt right, like she knew he would understand their purpose, the meaning of the lives of these disengaged hilts. Her hands rested in her lap while she listened to him speak, and watched him look over two of the remaining things of her grandfather's, outside of her memories of him. The discourse [member="Manu Xextos"] brought had the flavour of Jedi laced in it, as had that of Marezius. She had learned much from the old Jedi of her blood, and it was to that end that this man asked his next question.

"Well, so... what do I knw? History of the Jedi. So many stories, doubtless coloured with the direct experiences of my ancestors. My bedtime stories were rarely fictional," she started, a small smile coming to her lips at the remembrance, "but Marezius Aerin taught me what he could manage before the end of old age came, before he slipped peacefully into the Force."

She paused, there. She had seen very little death, and what she had seen was not the usual way.

"My grandfather, Mister Xextos, managed to teach me a few things in the application of the Force. Telepathy, speed, pushing and pulling, a bit of levitation... and to jump really high. But if I can climb it, it's much more exciting to climb it instead. Oh, but there's one thing, and he didn't teach me this, but... I just know machines. I always have. I just know how they're put together, like I can see it, and I know how they should work without being told, and I know when they're angry, and..."

She blushed, and stopped before she rambled too far. She could go on about the things she loved most in life long past the point of conversational exhaustion for most other people.

"I'm actually an engineer by educated profession, because of it."

 

[Manu Xextos]

"Used to tell bedtime stories like that to my daughters. Always hoped they'd really listen you know? That their Dad being around and talking to them, telling stories meant something. Never got to see what happened but I've got faith it turned out."

[member="Siyndacha Aerin"] needed guidance in more than the Force, it seemed. What Manu saw was another of Erryn's Lost Echani his wife had dedicated her reign to bring home: fractured after Palpatine's betrayal & subjugation, the Echani race had all but faded when Erryn took the throne, and within Manu's own lifetime, his wife had begun the process of putting their culture, race and planets back together. Here some seven hundred years later was another of Erryn's lost children. An Echani who needed a home to be brought to and guidance to blossom in her own way. How was Manu to turn the girl away? How was he to leave her? How was he supposed to ask her or offer?

"Friend of mine knew a technomancer back in . . . ages past." Manu smiled, taking the extra seconds to remember those ages past and set them aside. "I'm the same with medicine, with how biologicals work. Always had a sense of what was working and what wasn't in a sentient being, partially from a massive case of early onset empathy but I'm a medical doctor because of it. So, I might know less about machines than a Ysalamiri knows about flying in the skies above Naboo but I get the profession based on natural talents bit."

He searched the Roon sky and picked up a rock, tossing it away off into the distance. "You want to learn more? Lightsaber skills, Jedi powers the Echani way. I can teach you more about your heritage and give you a leg up. Seems to me the Obsidian has a lot of Darkside influences and for a guy like me, I'm looking out for us Light guys. Be glad to have you, even got a ship or two to me and no one to tell me how they work. I'm a bit of a relic."

 

[Siyndacha Aerin]

Sindy nodded, watching the rock fly up and away.

"'Knights Obsidian'. Obsidian is very... deep black in colour. The connotations." She shivered a little, and drew her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them, and resting her head sideways on them to look at [member="Manu Xextos"].

What were the chances, that she could end up learning from someone who was, in ways, similar to her first teacher, her papa, her grandfather? What were the chances of that? He too was not too young, and felt like he knew more than he let on. At least, that was the impression she had gathered, talking to him now. A smile curled her lips, and her eyes closed for a moment, her head nodding in its sideways position.

"I would like that," she said, her eyes opening, a liquid mix of silver and sky, "and I can do that. I do that already for Mister Starchaser."

Her smile expanded to a soft grin.

"It's almost funny how clueless he is. Except that would be mean. Um, to laugh at him for it. I mean. And it's not good to laugh at the boss. So I don't. Usually. Well, I try not to."

 

[Manu Xextos]

"That's why I spend most of my time with my battle fleet, or rebuilding Tythe." Manu winked, the Knights Obsidian was one of those grey areas, he could tell it would be a fine idea if the powers could coexist. The if was a large bullseye painted on the Order's chest. "Hope you like big battle ships and complicated scientific/engineering problems. I sure don't anymore. Tried to use the toaster for a communications device the other day. Laughed my head off until I burnt my hand. The toaster's for toast now."

The Force was a mysterious enactor of fates and passions, which well read played like poetry in the eyes of the many and the few who could but glean the passage of the lines. And to teach a girl who looked to be the age his daughters had once been, before he'd travelled eons away from them? The Light tended to its children, Manu and Sindy were no different. [member="Siyndacha Aerin"] would learn the Echani's ways and the ways of the Jedi while in the bosom of the CIS. He put on a smirk and chuckled. "You can laugh at my techno-confusion if you respect me in everything else. Kind of a trade off, but I'm alright with that. Welcome aboard, [member="Siyndacha Aerin"]. You're officially my Padawan and I take care of my own, so you come to me anytime you need anything alright?"

 

[Siyndacha Aerin]

[member="Manu Xextos"]

Well, that was very good news to her! It was always better when the people around her had a sense of humour, even better when they could laugh at themselves. She could probably teach him a lot (or at least help him understand things), and he could definitely teach her a lot, so it looked like a fair exchange. That and... to be taken care of was, well, nice.

Her lips grew a wide smile, and her eyes became just as wide.

"That's great!" she said, lifting her head up, "and yes, I love those kinds of things. Um, it's all... 'right up my alley'? Stick me with an engine, or... droids. I love droids. Stick me with things like that and I'm pretty content."

She laughed, and laid her head back down on her knees.

"So... padawan, huh? And here I was, thinking I'd come here just for a hike."