Lessons

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NOTE: All entries and replies are to be In Character. There is usually a comment thread in the Stories/Journal Comments forum for OOC comments and questions.
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Smallcorners
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Lessons

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Yavin 4

There was no reason to suspect the small Entertainer of anything, she had the right credentials and certainly the talent to be who she claimed to be. Nor did the Imperial Inquisitor that happened to be visiting the outpost at the same time exhibit any curiosity about her at all. Granted she did not get close to him, but then no one did so that was not commented on either. There were only two things of note about her, she was a Nautolan, and she traveled with a mahogany colored grand wrix.

The presence of the cat probably explained why she seemed willing to be on the planet alone as she carried no visible weapons. One of the guards warned her to stay close to the outpost, perhaps moved by her polite and timid demeanor, or her young age and full skirts. Entertainers, especially musicians, were not often found on the planet. It would be a shame if something snatched her up before she had a chance to play for them. She smiled prettily and retreated from the gate, returning to the small tavern to play the horn and a small flute she carried varied with songs in a rich contralto.

Eventually they let her stop playing when it became apparent her energy was spent. She explained that she did not have an astromech so needed to do all her flying herself and really had to rest, but she also promised to return the next afternoon to play some more. They escorted her to her ship, as she firmly declined company with explanations of a loving and presumably jealous fiance. Nor was she that kind of Entertainer. The lights within the ship were turned off soon thereafter and those still awake at the outpost turned to other pursuits.
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Smallcorners
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Re: Lessons

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Eti woke up a few hours later, it was full dark and raining which suited her perfectly. She dressed without turning on the main lights, her large eyes not needing them with the dim lights that usually inhabited ships kept on during night mode. As the ramp silently lowered she grinned at the remembered comments about her supposed lack of landing skills that set her on the edge of the parking field and turned towards the outpost instead of away. She let Nasha pad down first, if anyone was watching they would think she was simply letting the cat out.

The singer allowed another few minutes to pass and when Nasha did not leave the bottom of the ramp she also descended with a pack, then closed the ship up. She walked next to the wrix's shoulder until they were into the tree line, then she mounted and urged Nasha into a lope. They traveled for just over an hour before reaching the ruins of a temple.

This too was deceptive. Eti knew that underground the complex, while dusty in places, was certainly not a ruin and a mere quarter of a century ago would have been buzzing with normal activity despite what the surface looked liked. She slid off Nasha and approached the wall that she remembered was actually a door. It did not budge. The last time she was here Cari opened it, but then Cari was much closer to what one of them would be than she herself.

Eti studied the door, then stilled herself and centered, painfully aware that not only was there no Cari, she was also lacking Alisyad who had helped to contain the darkness she was seeking help for. Even so she had made progress on that front even if the requested shield to push it back had not been achieved.

The door did not budge, Nasha yawned and it started to rain again.
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Smallcorners
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Re: Lessons

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She was watched with some bemusement. Where others had failed, then flailed with useless anger or despair, the young woman merely tried again. And again, and again. He lost count how many times she regrouped and recentered. It also interested him that she was very careful to not use or disturb that for which she had asked for help with a few weeks ago.

Hers was the kind of temperament that could have had her reaching for that power. Hers was also the kind that would soundly reject it. Stubborn child worthy of admiration, and quietly exhausting herself at the doorstep of a people she defiantly told she would have no part of. He supposed he could not have blamed her, would he have become one of them if the only examples in living memory had been those that indulged so deeply in war they were lost within months?

Yet she showed them courtesy, humility, understanding. The young woman stood for her beliefs, argued with a council chamber shimmering with the ghosts of past masters, then had the audacity to ask for help. Someone, or someones, had been training her right. Despite the stain she fought on her soul, she was light. And she was tiring.

Before he could reveal himself, the cat padded out of the woods and gently knocked her mistress over with paw and muzzle. To his surprise she laughed, reaching to pet the wrix before standing back up and leaning on the animal. Turned from the door, she also walked away from it guided by the cat. There was a small niche where a tumble of the ruins leaned against each other, she crawled into this space the cat laying across the opening. It was not yet dawn, but the sky still held a shift of the light.

Even asleep there was about the young woman a sense of urgency and need. She was also determined and had hope. She believed, cared, loved. She feared too, but not the kind that bred the sort of desperation that would drive one down dark paths. Just what was he going to do with her?
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Re: Lessons

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Eti opened her eyes about three hours later to the sound of Nasha not quite purring, not quite growling, alerted she did not move, instead attempting to sense around her. She did not understand until the splinter affected her how much she truly relied upon the force. Privately she wondered if she had glowed to other force users, especially inquisitors? Alisyad had been insistent that she learn to shield, then wear her 'coat' as much as possible.

At the moment her ability to use the Force was limited and painful, nor was she sure that letting off any of the darkness would be wise on Yavin, there had been tales after all of dire evil in residence at one time. Therefore she was relying only on her natural gifts, and while they were more than what most people had, she experienced some frustration. Currently all she felt was Nasha still emitting that odd growl.

"Let me out, Nasha." She applied some pressure to the wrix's shoulder, only to have the animal lean back into her. "Hey! You are going to squash me, you goof, let me out!" Eti pushed harder on the cat to no avail. "Idjit." She sighed then centered herself before delicately drawing on the Force and attempting to 'see' what had the wrix riled.

Eti stilled, there was a theory, mostly joke to some, that cats could see ghosts. Clearly what Nasha was reacting to could not be called much of anything else. "I see him, Nasha, let me out. We've met, sort of..." This time the cat relented and moved out of the way freeing the small Nautolan from the niche. She crawled out then stood in the light gloom that was Yavin's morning in the forest to confront the figure sitting on a piece of debris.

"I recognize you, flute master." Eti spoke in Huttese to the Klatooinian ghost, her manner curious even though she kept one hand on Nasha. "I have the flute, is that why you are here? What is your name?"

The ghost chuckled, replying in Huttese. "Impulsive child, brave, not quite polite enough, strong willed." He studied her a moment, not moving from his perch. "And you still seek help." He waved a hand towards the door to the underground chambers.

"I still need help." The answer was simple, honest, quiet.
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Smallcorners
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Re: Lessons

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"So you do, I was called Des'Keas once, very long ago. Before it seems my people decided to speak Huttese instead of our own language." He looked down at his hands a moment. "I am aware of the contract that placed my race into servitude, I do not agree with it." He looked back up at her. "And you, child, I have heard your name, but have not been told it. This is a very fine distinction, but one that to some cultures is extremely important, the offering of a name."

She sat on the ground and leaned up against the cat. "I am Eti. Eti Cipavo if you want the full name on record, otherwise I am a Conrads." She grinned, her eyes alight with mischief. "Though I will be a Rivet, or some combination thereof. We have not actually discussed that, it seems the least of our worries."

"You have many worries and frustrations." He rose and walked towards her, his form fading as he got closer, though she could still sense him and Nasha turned her head to follow the sound of the voice. "But no anger, a temper, yes, but nothing that simmers." She could not see him, but she got the sense he kneeled before her, at eye level. "That nonsense about Jedi never getting angry truly is nonsense, it is what you do with it that matters."

"You sound like Alisyad." She did not move, being unsure of where he was exactly even if Nasha was staring at a space about half a meter before her.

"Your...You call him your Fisherman? Interesting. Your Fisherman seems to be a wise man." His voice moved further away and she was able to see him again as he approached his earlier perch. "Why Fisherman? The other one, not a master, still a teacher?"

"Master is a dangerous designation these days, nor did he like the connotations considering his own past." She watched him as he considered the tumbled stone while listening to her. "He likes to fish, I am aquatic, and it took a while to reel me in." Her voice held more than a hint of amusement.

Des'Keas turned to look at her. "You are more than fond of him. This is not especially Jedi like."

Eti sat up straighter, lifting her chin. "We are not Jedi, and he is my father now." She held the semi belligerent defensive stance as the ghost chuckled.

"Relax, child, you made that very clear in the chamber, which is why they resist you now, even if you are more light than some of them ever were." He sighed, then chuckled again softly. "You must be a true handful for your Fisherman. Yes, I believe he certainly is wise in adopting you." The ghost smiled faintly. "There are things that only a father can teach. Sometimes only a father can have the patience, the love, needed to teach." He watched her nod warily. "You would probably break a master."

Eti snorted at that. "Exasperate maybe, but not break!"

He laughed and was rewarded with her puzzled look. "Never mind, child, your Fisherman is wise indeed." He shook his head, then looked at the canopy of trees above them. "Who was the other man?"

"Parodan? He is another father, and yes he teaches me some things too." Her puzzlement deepened as he continued to laugh.

"How many fathers do you have?" Des'Keas turned to look at her again. "Do they all teach you?"

"No, not in the Will and Way, if that is what you mean. I have four fathers, and two mothers because I am sure you will get around to asking that too." She raised a hand to pet Nasha, turning her face away from him.

"Ah, touched a nerve?" He sombered, then nodded. "That is all right, Eti, we do not need to go there today, enough I know about your Fisherman and Parodan for the moment." Then he smiled gently. "I have no intentions of being added to your collection, far too late I am afraid. Nor could I ever be your master."

"I was not looking for another master, I just need help with what was done to me." She continued to give attention to the cat, though the feel about her was of one close to bolting.

"I think once they figure you out, once you figure you out, they will let you back in." He sighed and shook his head. "They may have little choice in the matter by then, even if you scare the pants off some of them." He stepped towards her again, fading from sight. "In there, Eti, is just relics. Ghosts, and connections to people that are close to being ghosts themselves." Nasha turned her head and his outline rippled. "You are very, very much alive Eti, and light, but most cannot understand why you reject them."

Her voice was soft. "Being Jedi is a death sentence." She looked towards where his voice seemed to be. "The most recent Jedi were...lost...in so many ways."

"Hmmnnn... Yes, and no, but I do understand what you mean, how you feel that." He moved away again until his form was once more visible. "I was not always Jedi either, Eti, in fact I did not become a master until long after I made the choice to stay with the order." He resumed pacing. "Few masters ever left once they made it that far, and sometimes becoming a master needed that one understand the options." The Klatoonian ghost paused. "And the opposition."

"Why did you leave, and come back?" Eti left one hand on the cat as she stood up.

Des'Keas stopped, his form turned away from her. "Stories for another time, child, suffice to say I will help you in your quest to return your connection to the Force." He looked over his shoulder at her. "You carry the flute?" When she nodded he smiled wanly and turned to face her. "Use it when you need me, we do not need to be here."

She tipped her head. "You do not need the flute to show up."

"I prefer to not just materialize when you are busy with other things, or people." He grinned at her. "I am sure your fiance would not appreciate me hovering about." She rewarded that comment with a slight flush of her cheeks. "Go home, Eti, after you keep your promise to the outpost. Continue to push out what darkness you can, when we are in a safer place to do so I will show you how to eject it more efficiently."

She nodded as he faded away, then she turned to the wrix. "I guess we are done here, girl, let's get back so you can hunt before the show."
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