Right Mind

[Isola Rin]

It wasn't the best weather, it was cloudy, a little chilly, the grass was still wet from earlier rains as it combed over heavily along the ground. Loa found it comforting, her boots off and her bare feet were buried in the stalks of grass while she just experienced the present. She found while her and her Master remained here, the more her uneasiness rose, not necessarily the anxiety of being in the presence of Jedi but of the unknown. She still had guards follow her but we're better at keeping their presence to a minimum or she was just getting used to it. She tried to think positively about it, joking to her Master Silas they were so famous they needed guards for their own protection. Even now as she meditated, it made the girl smile.

Loa hated meditation time, she wasn't sure why she promised Silas she would keep doing it. He could sit for hours, but for her, everything started to bother her within moments. Standing helped, but soon different places on her body begun to itch: nose shoulder, toe, knuckle...Loa never realized how much she itched until she would do this. However, it baffled her as some times she was able to fall into a trance and not move for several hours at a time. The Force was still confusing to Loa, she wished to know it all like her Master. Even with all the mischief she would get herself in, none of it was ever meant to hurt him, she didn't like to disappoint others let alone herself but, to disappoint her Master, it was a hard pill to swallow.

She was curious to where he was in all of the Tython temple. She was certain he could find her easily and every so often she would feel this fleeting brush as though someone were looking over her shoulder.

Loa stood in the silence, enjoying the lack of company as she learned to love the company that was within herself. Though that's when she thought she could feel Silas, she knew his presence but the trick was to pin point him, brush his mind with the thought of his apprentice as she honed her skills in the Force.

Loa breathed in deeply and slowly exhaled, reaching carefully through the Force and between it's lines of interconnected webs.

@Raydo

 

[Silas Rin]

It was early. Early even for Jedi Standards, but Silas had always had to train Loa before the busy mornings around the orphanage. It was a habit of necessity that awoke him in the middle of the night.

Last time he had left his quarters and had been permitted to train with Loa he had been attacked by a Jedi. Perhaps it was meant in jest, but it showed Silas what the Jedi truly thought of him. He was less than. They cared nothing for the things he had done since his exilement from the Order, they cared nothing for his nonviolent reasons for being excused from the Order. None of that mattered when it was placed behind the title of Exile.

He convinced his guards to let him meditate outside in the cool wet early morning air. It was apparent the man meant no harm to the Jedi. He would endure in peace until they gave him no other option.

He sensed the girl’s presence easy enough. She was a familiar thing in the small sea of minds at the Jedi Academy and she had never been one for hiding her thoughts.

“I see I am not the only one who couldn't sleep in” he said sitting next to the girl, pulling his knees towards the chest. She seemed somewhat troubled, conflicted, though she had never been skilled at quieting her mind. “What is on your mind, Loa” he asked

 

[Isola Rin]

She could feel his presence grow stronger and soon enough he was outside beside her, sitting in the grass as she stood quietly, eyes still shut as she waited for him to address her first. When he spoke, Loa peaked open and eye, he knew her better than she knew herself, but Loa also knew there were times that she could still surprise her teacher. However, this morning, Silas was able to read her like a book, she had many things on her mind and being on Tython wasn't helping.

"I haven't been able to sleep since we got here..." she frowned, lowering her arms to her side and opened her eyes. "I'm in awe by what I am shown, but hesitant in what to believe. I try to listen to the Force like what you have taught me, but its different here, I feel like a stone in the river and everything is rushing by but I can't move." Loa sighed, her posture slouched and she sat with huff in the wet grass next to Silas. "I don't like this patience thing, or this waiting thing, or being here thing."

The girl glanced at Silas as she picked at the grass, trying to pull longer and longer pieces with each pick she drew before finding one that left her satisfied, "Plus when I sleep, I'm having dreams again, like I did before I went to Chalacta, they don't feel like dreams, I can smell and feel my surroundings too." Loa's brow furrowed in thought while she tied knots in the grass strands. "I don't know Master Silas, what's going on? Why are we still here? Master Ralaa was there when we left, shouldn't they have found her?" there was worry and anxiousness in her voice; the unknown left Loa on edge, too many questions, not enough answers to soothe the young learner's thoughts.

 

[Silas Rin]

He listened as she spoke, not interrupting as she moved through various topics, all of which spoke to the stress she had been going through. Silas knew he was no friend to the Jedi Order but he had vastly underestimated the amount of contempt they held for him. Would he had done differently had he known? It wasn't an easy question. He could feel the Force having called to him through the kyber crystal to resided many miles away from the Academy.


“Is this not what you wanted though?” He asked genuinely. There was no venom to his words. He had his own opinion of the Jedi but Loa was old enough to decide for herself, he had always encouraged that. She had always been adamant wanting to tasks the Path of a Jedi and while he didn't want that for, he supported her. This is why he had initially begun training her, so she would have a balanced view. Though the Jedi had been quick to denounce his teaching as evil at most and dangerous at best.


“This has always been your dream.” He continued after a silent moment as he gestured to the temple grounds around then “Your answers will come in time. You know the right thing to do when it comes time.” He finally said. He couldn't help but chuckle at the mention of her tired of being patient. She had excelled in so many things in her short life, but being patient was never one of those things.


He shifted topics. “I worry for Ralaa too, but we must have faith in her. She is one of the strongest people I know.” He said reassuring Loa. While he was being honest, his worries went deeper than that. She had always been torn between a life with the Jedi and outside of the Order. This was surely going to end that. He wanted to have faith in her, but his past spoke the whispers of doubt in his mind.


“The Force can often speak through dreams, please tell me what you see in them?” He asked. If she refused it wouldn't be something he would push. The Force’s dealings with her were her own business to share or not to share.

 

[Isola Rin]

She felt like he was been purposely sarcastic about her desire to join the Jedi Order and gave her a defiant look that most teens seemed to have mastered almost in a blink once they turned a certain age. However, Silas shifted topics, addressing Ralaa and Loa knew they both held faith in her, though Loa, for other reasons. His responses kept her thinking, her thoughts more active than they were moments earlier, but she was surprised he wanted to know more about her dreams. Loa was silent for a moment as she tried to think about where to start with her description.

"I'm not sure what I am being shown." she started, "I'm on a world, but its not Andara, the air...smells different and there are different creatures, large ones, it just all feels so far away like its never been touched." Loa shook her head trying to find the best words to describe it. However, she let out a huff, "But what's the point, we're never going to get off of Tython." she let herself fall backwards in the grass, cupping her hands behind her head as she starred up at the greying clouds.

"I thought the Jedi were supposed to be compassionate, trusting, understanding, but when I watch how they treat you..." her voice trailed, and she quieted for a moment, "Like you're diseased and I could be infected too. Is that why they are keeping us separated?" Loa asked, but didn't wait for him to answer, "It doesn't feel very...Jedi-like..." she whispered to Silas, careful not to let her voice trail too loudly, "But," her voice volume returned to normal, "Its not what I thought they would all be, or what it is like to be a Jedi; I want to be good enough to impress the masters and help fight the darkness and just, just to help others. There are others my age who are so much more better, better to help the galaxy than me." Indeed it was her dream to join the order, but Loa could feel the edges of that dream begin to crumble over doubts and curse of the knowledge of reality.