Spirit in the Sky

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Kaya Neri"]

Together they finished quicker than he would have on his own.

In a way it was a metaphor of the entire struggle. A war fought alone ended quickly, but not to your benefit necessarily. He rose up and studied her after that joke. The bravado of youth was something to behold. The child was ready to leave everything behind for this.

It was only fair for her to deal with it in her own manner.

"Your help is greatly appreciated." Sardun finally said. From someone else it might have sounded like just words. From him? There was no hesitation. No concerns whatsoever. "We leave within the hour."

The camp was being dismantled right in front of their eyes.

"Kneel, Kaya." He pushed himself up to his feet. The ring at his finger glowing a hue of blue. The Force unfolded within him. A blazing sun suddenly coming into view. "Take the vows and you will be one of us, it will be a hard path, painful."

Standing in front of her, without armour, Sardun seemed larger.

"Are you ready?"

 

[Irajah Ven]

It was nice to hear, but that? That she heard a lot at least. One thing Kaya was good at was showing up when a job needed doing and lending a hand.

"An hour?" That soon? The surprise, and perhaps a note of hesitation, was clear in her voice. She had wanted it to be quick, so why when he said it would be did she feel a way about it? And what, exactly, was that way? It was hard and a little messy. Difficult to parse out. In that moment, she wasn't really given much of a chance to either.

"I- you want me to-"

Kaya had never been very good at following direction. Honestly, she frequently did the opposite of what she was told just because she could. But he'd mentioned this. It shouldn't be a completely surprise.

So why, here, did she hesitate?

A roiling of emotions settled in her chest as she slowly took a knee in front of him.

"Um." A pause. "What.... what do I say?"

[member="Michael Sardun"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Kaya Neri"]

"Listen."

His hand, the one with the ring, settled itself on her head. Resting easy there. Calm. At first nothing happened... and then everything happened. Warmth flooding from it. Settling through her head into the depth of her bones.

She'd feel the potential of a connection taking shape.

His voice, blazing with fire, reared itself in her head. "Repeat them after me. Not with your mouth, with your heart and mind. You will protect those that cannot protect themselves. You will serve the light. Your life will be dedicated to the Order, your brothers and sisters. You will commit yourself utterly to your training. You will listen. You will act. Guardian, you will become." The more of those words were repeated by her, the less structured they became.

They were sounds and feelings of truth.

They sought entry and they asked acceptance. Before they would settle into her core. With every accepted principle the connection between them strengthened.

 

[Irajah Ven]

Weight and light. It took Kaya's breath away.

It was good that she did not need to say the words aloud. She would not have been able to in that moment. Not the sort to find herself often at a loss, always moving forward, always pushing, always pressing. In that moment if he had asked her to speak, she would have found herself mute.

Instead she repeated the words in her mind. What he meant by 'in her heart' was a little lost on her. But as they went, it sunk in and she understood. He wanted her to MEAN them. Just parroting empty words meant nothing.

It wasn't until they reached 'Your life will be dedicated to the Order, your brothers and sisters. You will commit yourself utterly to your training.' that she hesitated. There was nothing Kaya had ever committed herself to fully. At fifteen, this was a step orders of magnitude greater than anything she had done before. The different between a small hop over a stream and a running leap to reach the other side of a chasm- and not knowing for sure if you could even make the jump at all.

A leap of faith, a voice that she didn't know whispered.

The teen could be forgiven her hesitation here. Any sane person would pause, gauge the distance, the depth of the chasm yawning beneath them, how solid the edge on the opposite side looked. In the end though, the hesitation boiled down to none of these things.

If I leap will I make it?

You can't know if you don't try.

The hesitation lasted barely more than a handful of moments. And then, she ran headlong at the edge.

The words repeated. Each step both heavier and lighter than the one before.

Guardian I will become.

[member="Michael Sardun"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Kaya Neri"]

"Rise then, padawan Neri."

And as she rose up, knees straightening out, pressing her shoulders against the heat and light she'd feel that connection solidify.

A bridge. A tether. An understanding.

Every blink broke visual reality for a split-second, but in between those moments of temporary blindness was something else. The light. It was there, it beat like a heavy heart. Thunk-thunk. Thunk-thunk. Over and over again, settling itself between your ears. If she immersed herself in it, she'd realize she wasn't alone. There were others here. Dozens directly around them. Even more beyond. So many more beyond, across the stars, the beats of their heart softer and fainter, but there.

"We protect, we fight, we guard," The voice was an amalgamation of here and there. Sardun spoke the words next to her, but they echoed in that unreal space too. They were repeated as a mantra of belief. It strengthened the collective.

The knowledge of whole.

If necessary Sardun's hand would steady her against that reality. "It can be... disorientating at first." He murmured. If she looked up, she'd see him watch over the camp. VIgil over his people. "But you get used to it. There are other things you will notice over the next few days."

Letting her shoulder go he instead hoisted the tents over his shoulder.

"You will be stronger. Heal better. More resilient. The Light protects, Padawan Neri, remember that."

 

[Irajah Ven]

"Whoa."

There was a lot going on in that moment. Even untrained, Kaya could feel it, roiling through her like a sandstorm. Too bright, too harsh, grating and pushing and blinding. The snap of wind and the biting rawness against her skin, but it was no truly physical sensation. She didn't realize she stumbled a bit as she stood until she felt Sardun's hand steady her.

Kaya had been raised around the concept of the Force, both as a conscious teaching and as a subconscious influence her entire life. The ideas of the Jedi were deeply ingrained, even if she didn't associate them directly. But this was unlike anything she had ever experienced. Rather than the soft, quiet background of peace, this was a blazing heat and shove into steps forward. Toward.... toward what?

Toward something bigger than herself. Into something bigger than herself. She could feel it now, all around. A thousand strands of light. And each one tightened just a little more as she became aware of it.

"Whoa."

There wasn't much else she could say.

Padawan Neri.

And just like that, she was a Jedi. Part of a tradition that spanned backward across time. It made her feel very small for just a moment. And then she stood up a little straighter, head raised a little higher.

"I won't let you down, Master Sardun."

She hoped.

[member="Michael Sardun"]