The heart of the blade.

[Flinx]

Flinx let his ship, the Steady Hand, drift through the first quiet bit of space he had been in for a while. Between the wars throughout the galaxy, and his internal struggle losing the youngest two of his animal companions, Star, the snowbird, and Twi, the shyrak, he had also destroyed his blades in his last bout of freelance work.

Now he sat, the light from the two diametrically opposed kyber crystals eerily lighting his veiled face in contrasting red and green. He meditated there in the special chamber at the center of his YT 2400 in perfect silence while two of his remaining three companions stayed close by. His thoughts reviewed his life up until that point. While he had been fundamentally taught by his jedi mother how to meditate and commune with the force, she had never prepared him for what was soon going to set him on his new path in life.

 

[Flinx]

Flinx floated in that stellar blackness of his mind. Being a Miraluka, he did not have physical eyes like most other species, he alternatively used the force to see his surroundings, but that left him open to the force next to constantly. Like waving an electrostaff on Kamino attracts lightning to a unlucky individual, his open connection to the force left him open to visions and whispers of the force, both with not too varying results to our friend on Kamino.

It was during one such meditation when a bolt from the force overtook his consciousness. He saw the galaxy at large, the swirling mass of stars orbiting a bright core, and surrounded all around by the void of the unknown regions. But unlike with the star charts that he couldn't see because of lack of eyes, he could feel the pull of the force at every inhabited planet and some felt familiar. Dathomir where the night sisters trained him in the arts of a beast mastery, that he later shifted to beast companionship. Myrkyr, where he had spent time shut off from the force. this also was where he met his closest friend, Thanatos, the vornskyr that currently had his head on the lap of his physical form, sleeping peacefully but also serving as guard for him though there were no threats while on the ship. Shadow the female Maalraas stirred softly to groom herself as she sat near the door, her white fur soft from the care Flinx had been lavishing on all three of his companions since the death of two of the smaller of his companions. As Flinx felt the pull of Dxun, he thought of his only female companion and how the maalraas had stuck to the shadows and when he had saved her mother from Trandoshan hunters, the cub Shadow had left her mother and refused to be left behind. Then there was Jack the Jakobeast that he had befriended on toola after a very quick stay on the icy world.

But now he was drawn to another place. He saw planets whiz by but some how he knew their names, like bread crumbs they led him to the planet he was heading for. From the core, from Teyan, to Walalla, past Sakura, and to a planet that Flinx had never heard of. It was a planet half covered in water and the other half green with thick forests and traced over with mountains like hutt tracks. The force whispered the name to him but it was more of a feeling in his being than a sound in his ear. Odessen, the planet's name had a lyrical quality that Flinx could appreciate. He enjoyed the music of it. Flinx felt refreshed when he thought about the planet and it felt good. The force wrapped him in its warm embrace and he felt... right.

But as quickly as the force pulled him to this place, the force yanked him back to his body and once more he was in the cool climate controlled atmosphere of, the Steady Hand. He rose and made his way to the cockpit looking over to his trusty BB-unit. "BB-3, where in the galaxy are we buddy?" Flinx loved having such a trusty droid willing to help him through thick and thin. BB let out a string of beeps and whistles. Flinx nodded, "The Zeltros system, hmm? Well bud, plot a course to Teyan, then there plot a straight course from Teyan, to Sakura. there should be a planet equal-distant between Sakura and Mugg Fallow that is where we are going. Thankfully we stocked upon Zeltros, i would hate for Jake to get hungry, he gets a bit on the gassy."


[member="Seo Linn"]

 

[Seo Linn]

After a beach party on Kashyyyk, Seo had been called on a mission to rescue a fellow Silver. They had met up, defended themselves against the bests of the night on that desert world and returned to the Silvers. It had taken the two of them working together to figure out a way to get off the planet they both ended up almost stranded on. Something in the atmosphere messed with the spacecraft's navigation systems and engines. Probably why nobody lived on that planet.

Getting the needed repairs to her ship, Seo gave thanks to the Jedi for their help and left Kashyyyk behind again. Now she sat almost meditating on her ship without a clear course in mind. She wasn't meditating exactly, but listening to the Force and hearing what it said.

When she was old enough, she had worked at the great library on Lorrd and had been an archivist there. She had studied when and what she could, learned the paths of light and dark, but choose to stay on the side of the light. In ancient times, there had been a people that worked light and dark together. They had been based on Odessen and it was there the Force called her.

Opening her eyes, she stood up and walked to her cockpit to plot the course needed. Seo hit the hyperdrive and returned to the commons area of her ship to learn about what Odessen was like now.

[member="Flinx"]

 

[yancep96]

Odessen System:

BB-3 knew what buttons to push on his master to get him to listen, but that would be too easy. Flinx was in standby mode, hyperspace was the one place he could get away from the neural chatter that he was always going on about. Seriously this fleshy, this blind yammering fleshy that needed this lone BB unit to keep him from killing himself over and over again. But he did what he must for his "Master," now as ordered he was here to wake Flinx up, but he didn't say how. From inside his little ball he produced two small prongs. As he brought the Two prongs together a small electric spark arced between the two prongs. With a quick motion he jabbed the palm of Flinx's hand. Electricity arced into his master's palm and in response Flinx bolted out of his bunk.... right into the top bunk.

Flinx banged his head into the bunk above his. It wasn't so much a bunk as it was where he kept little things he collected. Right now it only had five things on it, a feather, some red and purple dirt in a vile, a dodecahedron shape that glowed when his hand got near it, and the last two were the red and green kyber crystals from his parents light sabers. As he straightened up the items from the bump.

"BB what in the blue blazes, Why did you wake me up?" After a tormenting stream of bleeps whistles and BB brandishing his fusion cutter at Flinx BB stormed off to the cockpit. Flinx looked down and made his way into his copilots seat and felt the ship drop out of hyperspace, even from this far from the planet he could feel the draw of the force, pulling him and warming him to a valley that was bordered on three sides by tall peaks and on the fourth by the ocean. There were two rivers that came from the north east and the south east. They converged and flowed west to the ocean. Something told Flinx that he should not land the ship on the sight but instead he landed on the other side of the mountains on the southeast side of the valley.

"Guys we gotta go." Flinx deftly hooked the old fashioned yoke to his friend Jake. Thanatos came up holding his little stuffed ewok. "Yes boy you can take it with you. BB you got Zero working on diagnostics for the Hand, I want him to be able to tell those pit droids when we get back to Correllia what that rattle is over on that starboard strut. Also I want to see how we can reconfigure the Hand to be able to divert power on the fly. Got that?" BB beeped his response and then rolled off the ramp into the repulser cart. Shadow made her way along the cart as she started to scout ahead. Flinx checked all is supplies and then sat in the drivers seat, he rubbed at the wrappings on his hands, red on the back of the left, and green under the right. He held the box in his lap that he caved from some wood off of a wookie home tree. He sighs and starts to guide Jake up the gentle back side of the peaks surrounding the valley

 

[Seo Linn]

The knight lived on her ship quite often and it had everything she needed. Supplies, bed and various other things that indicated it was more or less her home. It was kept clean and tidy, very little dust and always in top shape for travel. All repairs were done by workers and not herself. Minor things she could do, but nothing major. Seo was not a mechanic, but a Jedi Knight.

As time passed in her journey, she ate when she was hungry, slept when she was tired and studied or listened to the Force to keep her mind occupied. Sitting in the commons area, the alarm went off to indicate her arrival at Odessen and she stood up to return to her cockpit. Taking the ship out of hyperspace, the all too familiar blue turned back into real stars and the planet was below her.

Sending down a transmission, she stated who she was and requested clearance to land. Given permission to land, Seo brought her ship down where she was directed to and landed. Gathering up into her bag what she thought she was going to need and clipping her lightsaber to her hip, she climbed off her ship and made sure it was locked down.

Not knowing what or who was the reason she was called here, Seo left the spaceport and started walking. Closing her eyes a moment, she had stepped out of the way of traffic to just listen. Conversations around her, the flow of people and traffic and the Force. A comment made caught her attention and she opened her eyes to locate where it came from.

An explorer was talking about finding some ruins in the mountains. In them were the foundations of an ancient settlement and it needed to be excavated. Taking this as a clue to why she was called here, she looked out of the city to the mountains around it. She needed to get out of town and outside the walls. That was where Seo had been called and why she was here.

With a clearer purpose now, she started walking and ended up picking a ride up from a farmer that lived outside of town.

[member="Flinx Kalith"]

 

[yancep96]

Flinx slowly made his way up the mountain side as Thanatos slept in the cart and shadow scouted ahead. Jake didn't mind the weight and they were all making decent time. As they picked their way up an ancient path up the mountain Flinx thought he could feel someone else coming, yet when he looked around there was nobody.

After cresting the mountain peak, Flinx let everyone drink and rest as he felt the pristine valley in the force. He could also pick out a set of ruins, their latent energy sending out eddies in the force. "To see this place in its heyday, it must have been a shining beacon of the force." Flinx slowly worked his way down, folloing the creek.

 

[Seo Linn]

Coming from the other side of the mountain, Seo was not aware of his approach. She travelled alone and kept on the move. Taking her time, she did make a good pace and found a path that lead up the foothills. This path would be longer than the approach of Flinx since it wasn't in a straight line and wound through the wilderness. It was clearly man made though, well worn and the further she got along it, the less travelled it became.

Various stops were provided until there was no more path and Seo was forced to find her own route. Taking a look at the sun and making a judgement on travel time, she was confident she could make it to a shelter before sunset. Walking for another couple of hours, she allowed the Force to guide her steps and she travelled at the bottom of a ravine. If there was any sort of straight line of sight between her and Flinx they would have been able to see one another.

He was above her and held the high ground, she was at the bottom, but would reach their mutual objective first. Reaching the end of the ravine, she saw the ruins in front of her and let out a sigh. She had found what she was called here to see and looked about for a location to set up camp.

[member="Flinx Kalith"]

 

[yancep96]

From behind her she would hear a growl followed shortly behind by a whistle. "Hey now Shadow, you know that's bad manners." Flinx would wave and call out, "Sorry 'bout that but Shadow here is my eyes out in the field" Flinx would launch himself from his mountain path and do a small flip before using the force to break his fall, landing right next to Shadow, with Thanatos coming up quickly soon after. Flinx would extend his right hand straight out in front of him even though this new stranger was to his right. "My name is Flinx and these are my companions."

He hoped this new arrival was nice and didn't have a blaster pointed at his head, not that it mattered much. However looking through the force and letting it flow through him, he couldn't sense any malice from the new arrival.

 

[Seo Linn]

If her ears could have rotated to the sounds she heard, that's exactly what would have happened. Instead, Seo actually had to turn her head and look around her. These animals were not native here and did not belong. Her first thought was there was another person from Lorrd here and was trying to communicate with her. That was quickly dashed to the ground though as a person appeared almost flying from above her.

Her hand went to her saber hilt in case he attacked, but she didn't feel he intended to.

He appologized for the growl from Shadow and explained what the role was he played for the Miraluka. Nodding, Seo knew he wouldn't be able to see her expressions. Communicating with him would certainly be interesting because she relied far more on motion and body language than speaking herself. Introducing himself, he held his hand out in the wrong direction from where she was standing.

Moving to stand in front of him to take that offered hand, she didn't get in his way if he wanted to continue walking.

"Seo Linn and I travel alone."

[member="Flinx Kalith"]

 

[yancep96]

Shaking the lady's hand gently Flinx would feel out with the force, "I can sense that miss Linn, i can also tell that you are an adept lightside user and you saber has stayed on your belt, for which I thank you. Traveling unarmed has me at quite the disadvantage, though I do believe I have taken the appropriate countermeasures." Flinx's deep bass voice would seem very out of place with his physical form however he did practice singing a lot on his trips through the galaxy. Singing brought back so many memories for him, Ra cooking for him after he found her in her wrecked ship, his mother singing to him to stop him from crying after he murdered his sith father... but in time he learned that in all things, the force is balance.

"Well now miss Linn, you seem to be a right bundle of Kushiban fluff so I guess I better be on my way, also you may want to do some meditation before going in that ruin, the force seems to be amplified in this valley and it tends to make straitlaced jedi all the more straightlaced. One must never be too ridged lest they snap like an untempered blade"

Flinx would set a hand on Thanatos and start waking towards the temple shouting something to the BB unit in the cart about minding the over hang here before turning back. "Be careful you don't get tunnel vision, Maalraas use the force to nudge ones perception tho where they are not, mine was the best out of her litter." He would then whistle to shadow and she would run up to receive a dried piece of Bantha steak.

 

[Seo Linn]

At least his probe with the Force did not attempt to pry into her mind for Seo had great mental fortitude and he might have had some difficulty getting in. By shaking hands, they would be able to get a feel for the other through the Force and a bit for each other's personality.

"I am a Jedi Knight and prefer that code over that of the Sith, but that doesn't mean I haven't had exposure to only the light, Flinx."

He said he travelled without any weapons and his comment about having proper countermeasures made little sense. Taking in everything he said, she would display her sense of dry humor at his comment.

"Is that a compliment or insult?"

Not one to over explai​n anything, she did not clarify any further on her own comment about exposure. It would be on his head to decide what she meant. Of course if he asked for specific answers, she would give them. What she said though just highlighted more on what he did. Maybe she wasn't as straightlaced and ridged as he thought.

"You talk about tunnel vision as if you understand what it is. I do not mean to personally insult you by saying that. I wonder if the Force guided us to meet here and for what reason."

[member="Flinx Kalith"]

 

[yancep96]

Flinx chuckled deeply at her very closed of, dry humor "Quite frankly Ma'am, I leave whether you take it as a compliment or insult totally up to you. As to your training, you know Ashla well, yet you have only heard of Bogon and the power that comes at a terrible price. so yes I lump you with the other lightside users. Most of the Jedi i have faced are straighter than a lazer bolt and just as accurate, but they let dogma and tradition cloud their perception of the world around them. they are goal focused and like sand people the follow that line with a single minded focus."

Flinx would then circle around pouring a little of his force into the two crystals in his hand wrappings. From what he had heard from the holocron Jedi had described living Kyber crystals as singing to them through the force, if he had to describe the songs of the two crystals he would say his fathers was a march, strong regimented and harsh. It thudded against the back of his hand with a deep base like a second pulse its red glow growing to a decently bright crimson through the blue wrappings. The green one was a lilting melody that swooped and sang like birdsong yet still had a cause and reason behind its lilt. Its emerald hue rose to rival the crimson just a few feet away.

"I have come here to strike a balance with myself in all aspects, to reconcile my past to my future and to forge a new weapon with these of which I must also balance. For I have known both Ashla and Bogon my whole life. now if the force has brought us together for some reason so be it, but while I am unarmed, I am far from defenseless. Now you can either come with me to the ruins and we can help each other, or if you would rather I will go and you can clean up after whatever mess I end up setting off. Things like that tend to happen when I get near ancient stuff."

 

[Seo Linn]

"Well, sir you are mistaken. Yes, I follow the path and call of the Ashla however, I have been exposed to the Bogan. Lump me all you want, but I am not as straight or mistaken as some of my brothers and sisters."

Now it was her turn to make some observations about him. Taking time as she listened to him speak, she wore half a smile and he would feel some humor off of her. If he had sight, there was nothing to show it externally.

"You have nobody to call a friend except these companions of yours. The balance you seek is already there, but you search on because you don't think you've found it. As for arms or not, you are far from helpless. The Force can accomplish a great many things and it is a weapon in your hands."

Seo fell silent and allowed the time for her words to register on him. Short and to the point as much as she could make them. Not something that was common in a Jedi and might surprise him.

"I am here to search these ruins. Called here for a reason. You may or may not be that reason. I guess we will find out."

[member="Flinx Kalith"]

 

[yancep96]

Taken aback by her directness, Flinx was unsure of how to proceed. So he didn't, he stepped out of her way as he pondered her words. "Lead on then Miss Linn and we will see what the force has brought us here for." He went back to his cart and held out his hand to her, "Care for a lift?"

BB would beep and whistle at her and Flinx would elbow his dome, "Watch your vocoder, she is a lady, she is a Jedi knight, and she is not a love interest, yet!" BB stuck out his manipulator arm to the lady and bows his dome a bit.

 

[Seo Linn]

She could tell her words had surprised him and left him speechless. At least concerning the topic of each other. He may have kept what he thought to himself and she did not pry. Seo had strong mental fortitude, but she was no mentalist herself. She read the body language of others and noticed details. Basing everything on her observations, she was rarely wrong.

When he offered her a lift into the ruins, she accepted his hand and climbed into the back of his cart. Looking at the BB droid when he spoke to her, she noticed his arm out to also apparently shake (which she did) and the bow provided. Not understanding droid language, she relied on what Flinx said as a translation. When he added the yet to his comment, it brought a lifted eyebrow of surprise.

"Pleasure to meet you, mister droid. Does he often have love interests?"

Speaking as if she could communicate with the droid, Seo hoped her new companion would continue to interpret for her.

 

[yancep96]

The droid beeped and whistled again. Flinx grumbled, "of course I have had love interests... ok, ok, Ive only had one. Next to a lifetime ago. She broke me... and just for your information you over sized gyroscope I could get a love interest any time I want and i can tell a beautiful lady apart from a Bantha's rear end, one is hairier than the other." Flinx made a mental note to take BB's vocoder out, but he would cause the blasted droid would just build another one.

The ruins seemed to rise from the ground the closer that they neared them, there was a sense of history here as the force flowed more freely and with much more power here.

"So I was led here with a sense I was to reforge my light saber. The only thing is I have two diametrical opposed crystals."

 

[Seo Linn]

It might have been poor manners to get the information about Flinx in this way, but it was just a way to display how easy it was for him to talk to his companions over that of the flesh of an organic person. While he did not exactly translate what BB answered her with, the general idea was clear. He had previously been in love and that it was lost to him now.

Since he was physcially blind due to his race, Seo doubted he would be able to tell the beauty of a person by looking at them. Taking an opportunity to expand on this and before he mentioned his purpose here...

"This has very little to do with an ego or being narcissistic, but am I beautiful to you?"

It was a genuine question and true to what she said, her intentions were pure. If he felt through the Force, he would know Seo was really curious. She would allow him to see her if he wished in a totally platonic manner. He would get the idea of her looks and physical form.

"Reforge your lightsaber here? Odd, then again maybe not. I have an idea and will take you up on that offer to lead. The Force must have brought us together for a reason. Your goal and mine may not be the same, but I have the feeling we will both learn something here."

Closing her eyes a moment, she would listen to what the Force told her. Opening them again, she pointed to the right of the ruins and further down on the other side.

"There is a cave down there where your weapon can be rebuilt. A conjunction of light and dark from the past."

 

[yancep96]

"To be honest beauty to me is different from beauty to most others. I see you as a being of light, not this crude matter you see through your eyes. you are a bright light covered in curiosity, like, for lack of a better metaphor, like a deaf child being able to hear for the first time after implants. The beauty of your personality and aura is nice. And because the force surrounds us so i can get a sense of your size and general shape but not much else, like a thermal scan." Flinx was unsure if the question was leading but decided to answer honestly.

Flinx followed her spectral form's indicated direction, he had sensed all the different eddies in the force, which flowed through him like light does through a lens. "What are you looking for here?" He angled Jake in that direction as the other two slept in the cart.

 

[Seo Linn]

Accepting the answer he provided as being honest and open, Seo tipped her head to the side slightly and nodded.

"Beauty does indeed come in different ways. Thank you."

Letting the subject drop as much as he had the previous line of questioning, she had gotten the answer he wanted to give her. He guided the cart in the direction she indicated and asked what she was looking for here. A sense of loss came to her, not one of personal loss, but more of not knowing the answer.

"I'm not sure honestly. Not long ago, the Force spoke to me and told me to come here. It is how I live, following the will of the Force. When I was in town, I overheard the conversation of a man and he mentioned the ruins here in the jungle and the Force spoke to me again. These are why I'm here, but beyond that I have no idea."

 

[yancep96]

"Well um I do have something that the Jedi should have. I got it a long time from the ruins of the old library on Ossis" He would pull out the polished wood box. " Just please know that this has information on things that modern Jedi have bred out of their dogmatic approach to the force. I've had it for many years so its time I passed it to the rightful owners."

"Do you know of the events of this temple? this was a temple that was operated by the Knights of Zakkul. Thousands of years ago the Eternal Empire, controlled this part of the galaxy, the knights operated as the force sensitive warriors of the emperor of the Eternal Empire. They weren't Jedi, or Sith. They believed the force was a tool, one that could be used for justice. After the fall of the empire they were absorbed into the Eternal alliance. In subsequent years and may schisms later they imploded on themselves. eventually they abandoned the temple here."