Working for it

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The empyrean felt odd.

Cedric was not certain as to how he could best interpret it. He felt the presence of Loske within the Great Ocean's waters, like a lighthouse that had suddenly erupted forth from the ocean's depths. The light with which it cast its surroundings was nearly blinding, and Cedric began to understand the legacy the former Grandmaster of the Jedi Order had left behind in her progeny. Normally he would have been solely focused on that, upon Loske's tutelage, but something else stirred.

If Loske was a lighthouse, then this one was a storm cloud, heavy, hazy, and bustling with anxious energy. It was not far now, just outside the walls of the castle. Cedric's eyes shot open as realization set in - a lost soul had come home, and at a rather odd time at that.

"You're doing wonderfully Loske," Cedric praised as he slowly rose to his feet, patting the young woman on her shoulder approvingly as he walked past her. "I'm afraid I'll have to cut this lesson short, for the moment. Focus on what you've achieved here, and try to attain it at least once per day. That will bring you closer to the Force than anything else." He paused, "We have a visitor, one I would very much like to see. You're welcome to join me if you wish."

Sundara would find armed guardsman flanking the gates of the castle. They did not speak, nor did they move. Cedric would make his way quickly to the courtyard below, the massive gates parting open at his command.

The cowled Jedi Master stood with his hands on his hips, a brow raised curiously, "Sundara," he smiled, "I'd worried you'd perished in the long night."

[member="Loske Matson"], [member="Sundara Nyveit"]

 

[Sundara Nyveit]

The sensation that there was more than what met the eye with this place was ever-present. Like Sundara had encountered it once in a dream, and not the ones that plagued all attempts to sleep in recent times. No, there was no crippling sense of regret or failure, nor the anxiety that something so terribly important was just out of reach, or even if it was within reach, it wasn't hers to take. This dreamscape of reality carried with it a different sort of anxiety, not quite benevolent but at least temporarily lacking malice.

That was before she saw the guards.

While her hand immediately went to the lightsaber, it remained at the hip, stilled when the guards themselves showed no signs of aggression. Her eyes did a quick sweep of the area, both trying to place the area in some sort of memory and keeping a look out of anyone trying to get the jump on her. The Devaronian's brow furrowed, muscles tensing, ready to either bolt or attack as the castle gates opened and a lone figure stood. Familiar, yet at the same time...

"Perhaps such a fate would've been better off in the long run."

​

[member="Loske Matson"] | [member="Cedric Grayson"]​

 

[Loske Treicolt]

Music​

Forge your pact.

An exhale and immobile state offered as enough of an indicator to [member="Cedric Grayson"] that she would not be leaving to meet whatever it was that had perturbed him. Selfishly, she was enthralled by the connection she'd established and didn't trust herself to have this relationship with the otherworldly again.

The Force wanted to show her something beyond the battles of history, more than the valley of the Jedi, more than her mother's footsteps on this planet. And she wanted to see.

A heavy exhale evidenced, and she relinquished the tenseness of her muscles, melting into the support the metaphysical offered. She could feel its tendrils swirling about her, encompassing her holistic being and dragging her forward.

Then splitting her apart.

Her reflection manifested against the darkness, her image one she was familiar with. Then it stretched and melted, spreading into different directions. Another part of her, not a reflection stood amidst the swirl of golden skin and stared back at her. The irises of this reflection turned a startling amber, before curling into white and then total darkness. It took and aggressive step to the left before slowly dissipating into nothing but a whirl of molecules. Another representation of herself stepped from the darkness, looking the exact same but the skin of this version was less golden and more silver. This version radiated calmness, and peace. Less calamity than the other. However, this too, dissolved into a cloud of sparkling dust and remained to hover, twirling in with the dark cloud that had been next to it.

Frowning, Loske was still trying to figure out what was going on. Was she supposed to be interpreting this? Was this a vision?

From the swirl of molecules, another version of herself evidenced, borrowing hues from the former two silhouettes and stepped forward. It seemed balanced. The glow of this version was golden and Loske reached out what she felt was her hand toward the silhouette, attempting to touch it. It reached back out, and two other hands of contrasting colour manifested to reach out as well, creating a kaleidoscopic attempted handshake.

Was this her pact?

 

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"And yet that wasn't what the Force planned," Cedric mused, waving the nearby guards away as he took note of Sundara's apprehension. She had the aura of a starving beast, unsure as to whether he meant her aid or harm. Did she see him as prey, or a savior? Perhaps neither.

For a moment, the empyrean shifted. It warped and twisted itself in such ways that Cedric knew this was its will. That warping extended beyond them, to the apex of the castle where [member="Loske Matson"] meditated. Something awoke in the girl, and it was likely Sundara could sense it too.

"I'm surprised to see you here," he admitted as he slowly walked toward the Devaronian, not wishing to spook her into doing anything rash. "What has brought you to this place?"

[member="Sundara Nyveit"]

 

[Sundara Nyveit]

"It would appear so, aye." Sundara's attention was split between the retreating guards, the figure of vague familiarity, and the patchwork images of visions that came and went as frequently, or infrequently, as they pleased. Said images had always been an annoyance in her life, enough to almost drive a fellow mad. They were visions, snapshots of what might come to be and, perhaps a more recent development, what had already passed.

How was one meant to live, having a sneak peak of what may very well be the future, on top of a glance to the past? The answer was a simple one. You didn't, not easily. There were some things people simply weren't mean to see.

While a shift in the force from the castle itself tugged at Sundara's attention, it was Cedric's words themselves that seemed to snap the fallen Jedi back into a semblance of reality. She stepped back once, maybe twice, as the former ally advanced, muscles having never relaxed from being previously ready to bolt at a moment's notice. Her gaze never quite solidified on any object or individual, as if she herself were still far away. "A vision, maybe. Or just a feeling. It's often impossible to tell the two apart."

​

[member="Loske Matson"] | [member="Cedric Grayson"]​

 

[Loske Treicolt]

Meta and physical fingertips touched, and Loske’s very real, solid bones felt like they melted. Her head lulled as if her neck could no longer support it. Her perception turned to radiating fractals, stained with technicolour. The meeting of the glowing hand, the dark and the golden blasted out into multicolour against the void.

The real world eyes remained shut, but the ones embraced and encouraged by The Force were assuaged open. At first, she couldn’t see anything. What had been so sharp and full of dysmorphic shapes was now nothing than rolling, untouched mists.

Her ethereal silhouette breathed in, and an exhale that caused the mists to roll and turn and create reflections once again. The shapes were vague, and indistinct, with the promise of more insight.

Emboldened, she stepped forward and the silhouettes continued to interact. They looked like they were dancing aggressively, with malicious intent toward one another.

The closer she got, the more clarity she expected. However, as she drew nearer, the vague interactions became nothingness until they manifested with belligerence, racing toward her angrily with the intent to prevent her from pursuing any additional visual gifts. She was propelled backward with such Force that she broke the wall between the empyrean’s world and reality’s Ruusan.

In contest, she extended her hand outward to block the onslaught of aggression, and The Force rallied to her aid. A powerful blast exploded from her palm, contorting the matter around her and causing a crack along the ceramite, although due to it’s construction it managed to withstand much of her reaction. She could see the remnants of her outburst scaling across the stone, seeking a release.

She scrambled to stand, brushing herself off and catching her startled breath. She moved to peer over the side of the cracked ceramite, and saw only a few loose gravels tinkering down to the level below. A few of the loose rocks skittered across the feet of an Essonian, and they looked upward. Not having pulled back in time, Loske was left waving sheepishly as they looked concerned.

She repelled and straightened, giving her taut ponytail a definitive pat. That was probably enough for today.

Pocketing her hands, she descended the stairway to seek out either Cedric or Frank, whomever came first.

[member="Sundara Nyveit"] / [member="Cedric Grayson"]​

 

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"The empyrean's will is rarely malignant," Cedric mused as he momentarily turned his head to peer up at the citadel. He caught site of tumbling rocks, and felt a violent shift in the Force that faded just as quickly as it presented itself. Perturbed, the Jedi Master's brow furrowed.

"I believe one of my apprentices has just made a breakthrough," he mused, a soft smile alighting his rugged features as he turned his attentions back to Sundara. "I'm glad you are here whether it be, vision, feeling, or simple circumstance. If you wish it, I would be happy to help you try and understand it." He parted his lips to speak further, halted, then seemed to decide better of it.

A few seconds of silence would hang in the air as he would turn partway between the fortress, and partway toward Sundara. "If you want to come inside and meet my apprentice, we can get you some food and a place to rest." His tone was warm and welcome. There was no judgement or hidden malice behind his words. There were too few Jedi left in the galaxy. If he could help bring this one back from the brink, then he would do everything in his power to bring it about.

[member="Loske Matson"], [member="Sundara Nyveit"]

 

[Sundara Nyveit]

"And with all rarities, it doesn't have a perfect track record."

Her eyebrow twitched at the mention of an apprentice. Last time she'd been here it was in ruins, abandoned save for herself, Cedric, and a Sith. Now there were guards and apprentice, on top of a castle large enough to merit guards in the first place. Someone had been busy. She scoffed, face tightening to what might be described as a grimace trying to mask itself as a smile. "I don't think it's something meant to be understood." Or if it was, she'd spent too long with too little an idea of how to understand it all, not even considering the question of whether or not Sundara wanted to understand it after all this time.

She considered the offer for several long seconds. While being on high alert had worn off just a bit with the introduction of familiarity, it'd been traded for a medium high coupled with an abundance of suspicion. Still, it was rude to completely shut down hospitality. "Food perhaps would be appreciated. I shouldn't linger long."

[member="Loske Matson"] | [member="Cedric Grayson"]​

 

[Loske Treicolt]

Hurrying down the stairs, one foot after the other, Loske was pretty ignorant to the discussion at the doorway. At the foot of the stairs, she cast a backward glance to the spiralling stone, affirming going down was far less a burden than going up.

Where have you been?

"Nice to see you too," Loske greeted her perturbed droid, kneeling to rest a hand on his domed top. "Right where you left me, and then some." She lowered her voice "I saw The Force."

The etxended snout of Frank's shuddered with excitement. And you didn't vomit?

"And I didn't vomit!" Loske confirmed, her volume returning to normal, spreading her hands out in triumph and standing.

The pair walked in the direction of some voices - [member="Cedric Grayson"] had motioned she was welcome to join him in whatever intrusion he had discovered. "Did you find anything interesting?" The Padawan asked her droid companion idly, as they meandered through the halls. At this point, Loske was mostly relying on Frank to navigate given everything just looked like another stone wall to her.

I found an ancient BRT unit.

"What's that?"

A supercomputer. Frank explained patiently. Another intelligent machine, completely self sustaining. Kaili would love it.

"Did you interface with it?"

Frank's triangular eye glowed. It has full operations of this entire place, and the droid staff.

"That's a yes?"

I cannot confirm or deny, but it should probably update it's firewall.

"Frank!" Loske Gasped "That sounds compromising! You should tell Cedric, or try to help the system level up." Just as she wrapped up that sentence, they turned the corner to see [member="Sundara Nyveit"] and Master Grayson. Frank knocked irritatedly against the back of Loske's legs. While maintaining her balance, she raised a hand as a wave in the Devaronian's direction.

"Oh, hi there." An ankle jut out in retaliation to one of Frank's sturdy legs with a light clunk.

 

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Cedric was pleased that she accepted his offer. Truthfully, he'd expected Sundara to move on then and there. The girl had an uncertainty to her; he was rather certain she was deciding whether or not coming here was a mistake. The Jedi Master would endeavor to show her that such was not the case.

"It isn't, honestly," Cedric agreed as he turned, waving a hand for Sundara to follow him. "But we can always try. Divination is a random beast, but at times she rewards us for our efforts. Come with me, we'll see about getting you some food."

Loske rounded the corner, and Cedric offered her an easy smile.

"Sundara, this is Loske Matson, my padawan," he turned to Loske, "This is Sundara. An old friend."

[member="Loske Matson"], [member="Sundara Nyveit"]

 

[Sundara Nyveit]

The tension never quite left Sundara's person, only redirected itself from physical manifestation to focus, alertness, whatever one wished to call it. "Well, when it rewards you, let me know." In another time, a smirk would've accompanied those words, or perhaps just half a smile. But this was not that time and Sundara couldn't wasn't exactly known for faking pleasantries.

A curious gaze drifted about the area as she followed her old ally, her hand never drifting far from her weapon lest things turn sour. And if drew closer to the weapon still, fingers resting on the hilt as another rounded the corner, though it would easy away again as introductions followed.

"Hi." Her voice was at a comfortable mid-range, though perhaps on the lower side of pitch. A brow raised at the clunk coming from behind the other. Her gaze shifted between the two of them. "Anyone else here?"

Loske Treicolt | @Cedric Grayson ​

 

[Loske Treicolt]

The question probably wasn't for Loske, but she elected to answer it as Frank came whirring around the corner. The clunk noise was probably attributed to him.

"Hi Sundara, pleased to meet you. This is Frank." She explained as he whirred in front of her, resting both her palms on top of his dome to show he was domesticated and not a thread. He didn't love that.

"And otherwise, maybe like, a handful of servant droids?"

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