Do I Wanna Know?

[Horus Tempest]

Spoiler: OOC

Social, Death Disabled. Open to anyone who has a reason to be there.

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The winding open streets of a Jedha market where a far cry from the energy filled corners of his freighter. The feeling of walking on solid, albeit sandy, ground was actually quite pleasing. His form was just adapting to the pressure of deep space as well, so that alleviation also felt too wonderful to describe. It had been a while since Horus had set foot on Jedha, after having practically disappeared in search of his brother. Unfortunately, he had found nothing of value, and returned as quickly as he dared. He knew the Alliance would still recognize him - and hopefully little had changed in his absence.


His pace began to pick up speed as his left arm gently unfurled the cloak that unraveled it. This was a pathway to Jedha’s central marketplace, and beyond that, the Temple. Horus semi expected to run into members of the Alliance nearby and catch up on some of the recent events he had missed. And hopefully snag something to do, of course, unless the situation struck him to take back up teaching. He would need to officially take on a student eventually, instead of avoiding the whole procedure. Horus was clad in his usual gear, a clear brown cloak gently laying atop them. His sabers still hung by his side and rarely if ever left.


Pausing by a nearby stall, he quickly purchased a bottle of refreshments with a sprinkle of credits, opening the lid and taking a swig. He paused, looking around at the relatively crowded space with a gentle smile. Despite him, his gaze shifted upwards to the sky. His smile began to fade, his gaze reverting to the scenery about him as he gently stroked his beard.


“What to do, what to do…”

 

[Eisa Swan]

As rare as the times were when there was the chance to return to Jedha, it was perhaps equally as rare as it was being spent aimlessly wandering through the streets and taking a few hours to simply just walk away from the temple, and slow things down from the often busy schedule that she had tried to keep up with. If it wasn't training padawans, venturing off gathering Intel, running flight drills or just keeping up with the paper work for just star squadron alone, there would undoubtedly be something else that will have called upon her for time and attention.

Lately it had mostly been the case that her activities had been within the background, focusing on planning of operations, scouting out territories and just keeping as under the radar as much as possible. She didn't need her connection to the Force to know that there was a storm coming, the verse had undergone a rapid shake up and change as of late. And as much as many others of the Jedi would look to meditate and dwell on what the change will bring to the Force, the ashen haired Jedi wasn't really one for meditation. She would rather go back to her roots and mingle within the crowd, having found that the simple act of people watching could give her the clarity of the current mood of the galaxy around her, the look of unease and worry in the eyes of the innocents around her, were as big a tell as reaching out and reading the currents of the Force.

So here she was, sat against the surrounding wall of the market, sipping away at a cup of the local tea, watching and obersving the moods of those around her. That was until her bright emerald hued eyes fell upon a rather tall, dark scraggy and somewhat familiar looking figure. Purchasing a bottle of liquid from a near by vendor, taking a few swigs and casting his gaze upwards to the sky and lamenting about what he was going to do.

A wry grin crossed her features, as she observed for a moment, allowing the figure to dwell on his ponderings for a moment longer. "Surprised you've not resorted to just plowing a ship head first into the thick of it and writing a song about it" Eisa called out from amongst the crowd, before rising up onto her feet with a chuckle, thinking back to the first mission she had been partnered with the man on. Back in the day when her hair was a bright yellowy orange, and they were little more than fool Hardy teenagers that had some how, been drafted into the rebellion and just let loose, how they didn't end up getting killed was a question only the Force could answer, but if memory served her correct, she did get shot up pretty bad in that caper.

Stepping out from the moving crowd, the ashen haired Jedi slipped in from the mans peripherary. "Horus, its been too long" Eisa cheerfully spoke out as she leaned in for a hug, although her hair colour had changed, her lack of height hadn't and was still dwarfed by the dark haired man, even after what must of almost been a decade passing.

 

[Horus Tempest]

A familiar voice broke him out of his wonder and gave him the exact answer he’d been seeking. What’s more, he recognized that voice, his head turning to catch a glance of the familiar small frame of Eisa Swan. Her hair had changed hue to a deep white, but most of everything else remained the same - especially the bubbly attitude. Horus was immediately brought back to their first mission together, and as he remembered his hand pulled at the hallisket strapped across his back. He had, in fact, flew plenty of ships into plenty of objects where they clearly didn’t belong. And as expected, Eisa likely knew that.

“Eisa, please. I’m classy, I sing the song while I crash my ship. We’re alive, aren’t we?”

He smiled, rubbing the back of his hair, remembering when they where both just wee Padawan under a Jedi Master, most of which had vanished or been slain. Things had changed since then. Horus might have been traveling but he was up to date and aware Eisa had gone on to become a Jedi Master and the leader of Star Squadron. In the meanwhile, Horus has left in search of his twin brother and information concerning his homeworld, a fruitless venture. He wasn’t exactly in the best condition either. Seeing Eisa was both unexpected and pleasant. She was safe, and doing well, and that made Horus’ heart lighter. There was still a lot going on, and even back in those days of absolutely secrecy they had been in danger. Here, however, they could laugh and joke and prod at will. A friendly face after a long journey.

”Though from what I hear, maybe I should leave the flying to you from now on. I hope you’re doing well.”

@Plebometer

 

[Eisa Swan]

A light chuckle escaped the ashen haired females lips, as Horus corrected her on the sequence as to how he carried out his crash and ballad proceedure. "of course, should have remembered, though its been a good ten years since we were wild teens running wild" Eisa chuckled with a playful shrug, her bright emerald eyes scanning the taller male up and down. Her gaze settling on Horus as he continued to comment on whether the flying should be left to her.

A coy smirk curled at the edge of her lips, as she shook her head with a light laugh. "well it depends really" Eisa responded initially before pausing as a hand moved up to the back of her head before nervously laughing. "if you want to keep your food down, perhaps it might not be best to let me fly" she continued, knowing all too well that she had a tendancy to fly larger ships like her brig as if it were her fighter. "Can take fighter pilot out of the fighter, but you can't take the fighter pilot oita this short ass" she added with chuckle, as her hands fell off to her side with a playful shrug.

"though you're keeping well by the looks of things" the Jedi master continued after a moment of brief silence. "where has your travels taken you? Last I heard you were headed out to the unknown regions, hopefully you found what you were searching for" she added before trailing off for a moment, her brow furrowing slightly as a pensive look crossed her features. "Or has the currents of the Force called you back?" Eisa questioned, knowing all too well that to quote a folk singer - the solar winds be a changing.

 

[Horus Tempest]

He couldn’t help but smile at her jovial and welcoming attitude. And from the way she spoke in response, he surmised he was correct, she may have matured.

But she had yet to change. She was still just as open and happy as the day they’d met. Plus, from what he’d gathered about having to keep his food down, perhaps they weren’t so different when it came to flying. He, too, took his freighter for insane rides and maneuvers that it was obviously too old to handle. It held together, evidently, and he kept it under good care and a close eye. Laughing at her comment, Horus shot back.

“Depending on the cooking, that could be a blessing in disguise...”

Horus’ hand gently raised his drink and finished it before setting it down, gently smiling as Eisa went on about to inform the Vahla that you could take the pilot out of the fighter, but not the fighter pilot out of her. For his part, he wholeheartedly agreed. Her hair may be pale as snow, but she was as fiery and confident as any pilot he’d ever met. He knew that if they got into a conversation about ships it would probably last for hours, and he suspected Ms Swan was in possession of a far superior vessel. His eyebrow raised as she told him he was looking that he was keeping up well. His hair had become slightly overgrown and his beard had fully grown in, his robes and armor didn’t exactly look the best. Though his frame had become leaner and more muscular, and his face was more lively. He was weathered. Though Eisa wasn’t wrong, he was holding up alright, slightly concerned but otherwise alive. With the war peaking and entering a change of course again, and his own brother missing, Horus was becoming increasingly concerned for those he cared for. Eisa then asked where he’d been and where his travels had taken him - the question he expected most to ask as he became more involved.

”I went in search of my homeworld, or remnant colonies of my people. I also tried to find my brother, Azran. It took me to the fringes of deep space, at the edges of the known maps. Ran into some weird anomalies out there, some freaky space wraiths or something. Unfortunately… the journey was pointless. Azran is gone with the wind, as are my people scattered. I returned to help the Order again.”
@Plebometer

 

[Eisa Swan]

Intently listening to the taller figure, as he spoke of his recent sojourns into the depths of the dark voids beyond the more frequently traveled regions of space. The ashen haired Jedi couldnt help her jovial expression upon her features to wain a little, as Horus spoke of his attempts in vain to find the remnants of his people as well as his brother, Azran. A sigh passed the Masters lips as her gaze fell to the floor in thought, before she reached a hand up towards the taller man's shoulder. "I'm sorry to hear that" Eisa spoke as fingers softly gripped Horus' shoulder. "Truely I am" she added as her gaze moved to meet her fellow Jedis.

In a way she could relate to what she had thought Horus to have gone through, well to a degree, whilst she had known no siblings or faced the disappearance and loss of her kin. She wasn't a stranger to have lost those nearest to her, her family and former crew mates from the Grey Swan, all executed at the hands of the Sith Empire. The thoughts and sympathy towards Horus' plight, although not being said were carried through the aura that surrounded the Jedi master, whilst the fate of Azran and the Vahl may currently be unknown, there was fortunately nothing to say that they were forever lost. "But don't give up hope, the winds may have carried them out of reach, but their course will one day change, and you'll surely see them again" Eisa softly spoke out, hoping to reassure the Jedi Knight - though a part of her felt that Horus would have already realised the fact that when the time comes the Force would reunite him with what he had lost.

A light smile briefly curled on the edges of Eisa's lips, though the pensive gaze to the floor and her furrowed brow belied the fact that her mind was in thought. Horus had returned to assist the Order, as much as she was glad to have heard the revelation, the ashen haired Jedi couldnt deny the gravity of what that bared down upon her contemplations. The war against the Sith Empire had near enough drawn to a close, with the page looking to turn onto an even darker chapter - the Mandalorians had declared its intentions to rid the Galaxy of the Jedi in addition to the Sith, vowing to destroy all that stood in the way of thier crusade.

Whilst it was comforting to know that another had returned to help carry the light of the Force, there was the unspoken dread that she carried that Horus' return might be ill fated. "I'm glad you've returned to the Order" Eisa spoke out, breaking the silence that fell over her. "Its Just a shame its come at a time that the Darkside has chosen a new avatar to herald its malicious intent" she added with a long drawn out sigh, before shaking her head in dismay - mentally cussing herself out for being all doom and gloom.

"Kriff sake Eisa!" the Jedi cussed under her breath, before rolling her eyes in frustration. "Would have hoped your return would have come at a brighter time, you know? One where we didn't have to use our lightsabers and abilities as weapons" she added with a light sigh and shrug to her shoulders. "perhaps I'm just growing tired of all this conflict, and hoping for the day to come that Jedi like me are no longer needed" she added with a slight frown, her mind reflecting to the recent implorings from the long Absent Master Drast, calling for the order to focus on becoming teachers, healers and guides - rather than what the Ashen haired Jedi had come to see herself as.

 

[Horus Tempest]

His amber eyes dimmed temporarily, but just as quickly lit back up as he temporarily averted his gaze. Part of Horus knew that Eisa could empathize, and she wasn’t wrong - the Vahla where likely still out there. Though the vast majority of them weren’t likely hesitant to rejoin the Galaxy at large, and with good reason. However, winds of change or otherwise, his species would survive. Be it through him and the few Vahla about, or the descendant, offspring and half-Vahl would carry the genes onwards and into the future. Besides, he figured he was needed once again on the front, to teach and fight as he could, to keep people alive.

”Don’t be. They are with us, even now, surely wishing and end to this war.”

Horus’ smile began to return as the aura of concern that surrounded him began to return to its uplifting and jovial routes. Though his senses indicated that Eisa was getting slightly more serious. As both Jedi and negotiator, Horus had hoped the alliance with the Mandalorians would ensure cooperation and peace following the wounds of the Sith Empire - something he’d heartily celebrated - but it seemed not to be so, and the war would only renew. Renew under a newfound offensive led by the Mand’alor their people. He knew the history of the crusaders, and recognized theirs was a violent and warlike culture. It contrasted starkly with the peaceful ways of the Jedi, causing Horus concern that it would require him to enter combat, instead of passing on his knowledge in addition to fighting. But Horus knew he could pass on his skills regardless of whatever war raged on. He was confident that the Order would succeed.

”It is good to be back. I’m concerned, but we have dealt with worse.”

His eyebrows shot up as his face grew slightly concerned following Eisa’s swearing. She went on to say she wished that he didn’t have to return to violence. Horus agreed. He had been affected, directly or otherwise, by war since he’d been a child. Eisa also seemed to share his views on what the Jedi were meant to be - peacekeepers. They were never intended to be soldiers, or fight in wars, and it seemed the Order at large was tired of the fighting. Though Horus knew he would fight until they won, he empathized. His head shook, however, when she continued on to how maybe the future would hold a time Jedi like her weren’t needed. Jedi like her? There wasn’t a time the Order needed a Master more than now, and Eisa was far more than just a fighter. Of course, the Vahla expected she knew that.

”Jedi like you? I hate to break it to you, Miss Swan, but something tells me we’ll be needed for a while yet.”

 

[Eisa Swan]

"Mores the pity" Eisa sighed in response, her head shaking lightly in resignation her hand moving up to rub at the nape of her neck. "Though you can't really blame a girl for hoping for a brighter tomorrow" she added as a brief smile was forced at the edges of her lips. Before faltering as she muttered under her breath. "especially with the path battlefields we've walked through"

Pursing her lips in thought the ashen haired Jedi master looked over towards the Vhal for a moment, a light smile curling on the edge of her lips. "Some day I would like to be able to help bring life into the Verse for once, rather than ending it" Eisa spoke out, her voice lightening away from the slightly morose tone she had previously held. Her bright emerald gaze panning over the passers by that were going about thier business within the Market streets around them, fixing briefly on a near by tool vender and viewing from afar if there was anything that might peak her interest.

Shrugging slightly to herself as she couldn't see anything of note on the merchants stall, her gaze moved up towards Horus once again. "I'd even be happy to take a step back and retrain as a Healer, to see the Force be used in its purest of Forms ya know?" the ashen haired Jedi continued, before nodding towards the winding Street that lay ahead of them. Gesturing for the taller Knight to accompany her on the walk back to the Jedi Temple, figuring that it had perhaps been quite some time since Horus had last set foot within its Ancient halls.

Casting a sideways glance up towards Horus shaggy features, the Ashen haired Master cast an inquisitive look towards the Knight. "What about yourself? If tomorrow would see there is no need for us to fight. The Vhal and your brother are safe and well.." Eisa spoke out before pausing slightly for a moment to be certain that the Knight had heard her over the lively crowd around them. "then what would you do, what would be your place within the Order of you did not have to fight in a war"

 

[Horus Tempest]

”No, no I can’t blame you for being a dreamer...”

He smiled, looking down momentarily. His eyes flashed towards he as he heard the words beneath her breath. Eisa was right. They’d caught their share of trouble and dealt with their responsibility of threat. But it was ever forward, ever onward, always was. Maybe it always would be this way. But was that so bad? The Jedi Order was evolving, as it had in the past, and it would only continue to evolve. Eventually, they would have no choice but to return to peacekeeping instead of fighting. And that is a transition that could be difficult. Life was significantly less complicated when you weren’t worried about protecting your opponents and the people they may harm. His eyebrow raised at the thought of refocusing his abilities and pooling them into life, as she had mused. To him, the mysteries of the Force where too numerous to count, and a chance to continue using its mysticism to change weaponry into livingry was one he’d take any second.

”I think that we as Jedi have a lot more to offer the Galaxy than we’ve been able to so far. Maybe, after this conflict quiets down, we can focus on regaining trust stolen from us.”

The Vahla agreed wholeheartedly. His abilities in the Force where stronger than any individual skill he had amassed, and although he was better with illusions than first aid and healing, it was nonetheless a vital and sought after skill. There was other aspects of life a Jedi once had the ability to help with as well - mediation, diplomacy, spirituality. The history of the Order was rife with these fields meant specifically for Knights and Masters who dedicated themselves to the betterment of the Galaxy in accordance with deep pacifism. Whether that passively allowed the destruction and purges of the past or not was irrelevant - that is what Jedi were meant to be. No Knight was meant to be at war for their entire life, no Padawan should be captured, hunted and afraid. But, alas, Horus knew he’d do whatever was necessary to get the Jedi back to a place they could afford deeply instituted pacifism, even if that meant living and dying as another of the nameless Jedi (or in his case, Vahla) Knights.

”I think that, with time, we’ll shift back into the guardians we are supposed to be. Personally, I’ve never felt a fervor to protect quite like this.”

He put it plainly and not in any descriptive way, but it was an accurate statement. His travel, his time away, had only solidified in his mind and will the task of protecting what little he’d worked to build. Many of the people he’d become close to where gone, some he had once considered romantic had died. His siblings were missing, his Master was one of the few remaining of their original ranks, his fellow classmates had mostly if not all fallen in battle. Horus, like every Vahla, was naturally empathic and sentimental. Though Horus followed Jedi teachings earnestly and didn’t allow his empathy to get in the way of his duties, it did provide him an almost unending drive to just keep going. He was prepared to lose everything he believed in, he was however unwilling to just allow such things to be lost. While his thoughts allowed him pause, he noticed Eisa’s gaze shift ahead of them. He found his boots slowly moving forwards as the smaller lass guided him towards the inner workings of the Jedi Temple.

”I’d likely end up protecting what knowledge the Jedi have amassed, and continuing to uncover and helping the Galaxy as a whole as best we can. Until this Mandalore fiasco is over, though… I’m not so sure that’s an option. What’s worse - I actually trusted them.”

 

[Eisa Swan]

As the two Jedi progressed in their path through the winding streets and past the outer gates of the Jedi Temple, the Ashen haired Master listened intently to Horus, as he responded back on what he would see himself doing as a Jedi should there no longer be the need or even the occasion arising when the Order would not be embroiled within a looming conflict with the Mandalorians, or another galactic power that would rise up and start banging the drums of war. Her pace coming to a sudden top at the mention of protecting what knowledge the Jedi had amassed, her bright emerald hued eyes narrowing in thought for a moment. Seemingly for a moment her gaze lingered over the ground before her for a moment, until as if waking out of a daze the Master's gaze turned to meet Horus' directly.

"Speaking of preserving knowledge" Eisa spoke out tentatively, a hand moving up towards her chest and burrowing through the collar of her top, before fishing out an aged silver pendant with a small emerald hued crystal, that reacted not to dissimilar to a Kyber cryster. "I might need your assistance on a few things, if you are willing to indulge me?" she continued after the pendant was removed from out of the confines of her clothing, before gesturing with a slight twitch of her hand to rock the suspended gem. "I have been putting this off for a while now, but I feel in light with the current shift in the currents of the Force...." the master continued before trailing off in her words, mostly in part to the gravity of what the Mandalorian's proclamation for their coming crusade may bring "It would be best committing the contents of this memory crystal into a holocron"

Taking a cursory look around her, her eyes falling upon the towering structure of the Temple reaching up into the sky above. Her lips pursing in thought as her mind was cast back to her training and the secluded crypt that Leah Reach had taken her Padawans to as part of their training and the search for securing the components to fashion their lightsabers with. Mentally the sight of the towering structure reaching up into the clear sky up above, shifted into the visage of a looming and foreboding mountain range en shadowed by a relentless storm.

"If I may, I would like to request that you act as my anchor, whilst I meditate and channel the contents of my memory crystal and bind them within a holocron" Eisa spoke out as her gaze moved away from looking up at the summit of the Jedi Temple, her bright emerald eyes holding a firm contact with the taller Jedi's amber hued irises. "I intend on doing this in the relative solitude and isolation of the Crypt, Whilst it's quieter there and free from distraction, The Force storms that engulf the planet can disrupt the flow of the mind's transition into the currents of the Force" she continued, before her lips curled into a bemused expression before she shook her head with a light sigh "The last thing that need is to have my consciousness lost in the Storm" she added with a light chuckle.