To Gain Enlightenment

[Bryce Bantam]

Place: http://starwarsrp.net/topic/94580-the-temple-of-binaros/?hl=binaros
Mission : Training

​

It has been weeks since there first meeting and Bryce had decided to take Faith on as his first student. He had decided to help her by building a foundation. Getting down to a more organic raw from of training focused not on the lighter, yin side of the force but the strength building Yang. For weeks the two had gotten back to basics.

The training was simple, regimented, manual labor. Each day began the same, as the Sun's light began to crawl over the temple the two would wake and begin the day with 5k run around the temple's perimeter. Then after a hardy breakfast, the two would begin the daily chores. With only simple tools, the two would begin to walk the perimeter and cut back the oncoming jungle. With blade and axe the two would cut, chop and pull the overgrown down and into piles to be burned. As the sun was at its' highest the two this day sat under a shade tree as they each waited for lunch to be brought to them.

This is where we begin our next story.

[member="Faith Highwind"]

 

[Faith Highwind]

Peaceful was the simplest way to describe how Faith felt after a day of labour out in the calming nature around the temple. It was a simpler live, away from the darkness that lived in every corner of the galaxy. If it weren't for the dreams that sometimes plagued her at night, she could quite as well be back with the jedi, like in the time before the incident happend. Bryce had become anchor of hope in a sea of darkness for her, even in the short time the two had spent together.

Faith slowly rested her head on the tree behind her, her eyes closed and her body already asking for some rest. She was already looking forward to the meal that was on its way.

"I know I have said it before, but thank you for getting me out of that bar. Don't know what would've happend to me if I stayed."

[member="Bryce Bantam"]

 

[Bryce Bantam]

"Yes you do, which is why you are thanking me." Bryce said trying to hold a straight face but allowing a rye smile to appear as he looked away.

Off in the distance, Bryce notices the slow stride of a familiar friend. Noomay, the resident caretaker for this temple greeted the two in his normal calm and comforting way. Behind him were two other Bereth-Aku which carried the two's lunch time meal. As they began to set out the spread Noomay approached the two to speak.

"Never have we had such dutiful students. It brings joy to my heart to see you two taking such pride in the temples care."

Bryce smiled and returned his words with a simple nod. Bryce trained by an old school proverb. "When seeking enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. When you reach enlightenment, chop wood, carry water." It was a simple but profound statement. Meaning that which got you to understanding should not be cast aside, but should continue to be practiced so the meaning was not lost. This laid the groundworks for his training style, a style he would use to train faith.

"You honor us Noomay, is lunch ready?"

[member="Faith Highwind"]

 

[Faith Highwind]

Faith shared Bryce smile as the caretakers of the temple moved towards them. Only here time here showed her how much she missed her live at the temple, her friends and her master. Oh her master, how much worries she made her with her disappearance. While the memories of her friends felt bittersweet, she only felt shame when she thought about her master. She didn't even had been brave enough to tell her that she was still alive, to scared of the possibility that she would come to find her and endanger herself and anyone else at the temple.

The question of lunch pulled her out of her thoughts. She could almost feel how her stomach was dissolving itself, like the hunger was slowly creating a hole in her. The people her all had been so friendly, so peaceful and tranquil. Her smile slowly faded as she again remembered that she was a danger to all of them, that a simple holonet message could make her into a mindless killer without any prior warning. Sure she had been allowed to travel rather freely by Abyss, but she had seen enough of the sith knight to assume that he wasn't somehow keeping track of her position. What had been left of happiness in her face was once more replaced by sadness and sorrow.

[member="Bryce Bantam"]

 

[Bryce Bantam]

There it was again, that shadow that was never far from the surface. It unsettled Bryce, for it was like a parasite that fed on Faith's happiness.

"Noomay, come over here," Bryce asked his hard-shelled friend. "You ever see something like that?"

Bryce didn't even need to finish his sentence before the older green turtle was staring into Faiths eyes. As he did Bryce asked Faith...

"So tell me about this stuff that Sith Lord you refuse to talk about did again."

[member="Faith Highwind"]

 

[Faith Highwind]

"I don't know what you are talking about, I don't know any sith."

Her mouth moved mechanically, without her mind having any control over the movement of her body and the words coming out of it. Her tone was almost casual, if it weren't for the slight unnatural vibe of it that made it sound like the words of a demon within, merely pretending to be calm and collected. As the last word left her mouth, Faith looked away from both, her face an expression of the emotional pain she had to live through every time her programming snapped in. It violated her mind in a way incomprehensible to herself and others, an watchful eye inside that didn't allowed her either privacy or honesty.

[member="Bryce Bantam"]

 

[Bryce Bantam]

Noomay, the old turtle just nodded, before turning to Bryce and saying. "Bad gugu to be sure."

As the turtle walked away leaving Bryce alone with Faith. He was compelled to press her a bit more but decided that was enough to let the thing inside her know he was still watching. Instead, he nodded to her himself and turned his back to walk over to get something to eat. Taking a large plate of fruits, vegetables and smoked meats he grabbed a shady spot by an old tree and ate with a watchful eye on his new student.

"Better get something to eat yourself Faith, today we start saber practice."

[member="Faith Highwind"]

 

[Faith Highwind]

Her expression unchanged, and only barley holding back tears the young woman got up from the ground to follow her master. The sight of fresh food slightly dimmed the pain inside, but no by much. At least she didn't had to be sad and hungry at the same time. Her hands moved to a plate, collecting some of the fruits on it but skipping over the meat, before following to the spot her master had chosen. She took place in front of him, taking a big bite out of some fruit she hadn't seen before. The taste was both sweet and slightly sour, and highly delicious. This place felt like an oasis to her once more.

"You sure that this is a good idea ... with everything?"

She made herself a little bit more comfortable on the ground, looking at her master with a hint of suspicion. Surely he thought that it was for her best to learn to defend herself properly, but maybe it was time for her to chose another path. One that would help her conquer the darkness within.

"Bryce ... I don't want to wield a lightsaber, or any weapon again. Never again should my hand be responsible for the suffering of others, good and bad alike."

She knew that the path this would set her on would be far from easy, but she never had been so sure about anything in these past weeks. She couldn't stop the darkness within, but she could stop herself from being dangerous. Her right moved to the hilt of her saber, and after a short moment of looking at the weapon, she offered the hilt to her master.

[member="Bryce Bantam"]

 

[Bryce Bantam]

Bryce looked at the hilt a good long moment then took it. It was an honest gesture, one Bryce could respect as pacifist himself.

"I'll keep it for now. When you are ready you can re-claim it. Till then you will still learn to defend yourself and others. Sins of the past and only be redeemed by actions of the future, or they will forever haunt you."

Hanging the hilt on a spare hook on his pants Bryce though long and hard for a moment before the answer came to him. Picking up a branch from the ground it was a good meter long and shaped as one would need from a crude bokken. He handed it to her before picking out another such branch for himself.

"Now if you will not train with a saber, you will train with this. Through form, you will find peace, through piece understanding. Grab the branch in both hands Faith like this, good now follow me."

Bryce began practicing that basic forms of Shii-Cho and expected Faith to follow his lead.

"This is the determination form, the beginning. Let the force flow through your movements, guide them. Allow your mind to open to force and feel it as it talks to you."

Bryce would be insistent and they would practice for many hours together. Both Master and student would perform the same techniques, again and again. Till shoulders and arms ached, and sweat covered their skin. This was the way of Bryce's training. He would do as much if not more than his students. Through form, you will find peace, through piece understanding.

[member="Faith Highwind"]

 

[Faith Highwind]

Thankfully she took the branch in her hands, relieved that he understood the way she was meaning to wander upon. Her master never had set much focus on her training for combat, but still she had been a experienced fighter. Like her master told her, she took the piece of wood in both of her hands, remembering the small bit of training she did have in her time as a padawan.

As she continued her the same set of moves over and over again, she could feel her body getting exhausted again, but also she felt something else. A hint of serenity, a inner peace building up as she focused on her body and allowed the force to flow through it, allowed it to flush away a bit of her sorrows and fears.

It wasn't like swinging a branch around suddenly made her a new person, but the time of silence and physical occupation gave her mind time to rest from the darkness within. Everything reminded her of her time at the jedi temple, and Bryce certainly reminded her of the masters there. Who was that man? He seemed like a jedi, but he also didn't. He was wise and calm, but far less distanced from reality than many of the masters she had meet.

"Bryce ... who exactly are you?"

The question was quite, and her face had a slightly red coloring from the blood being shoot there. He had helped her while knowing what lived within her, so how could she even ask him about his past.

[member="Bryce Bantam"]