~~ Paying Respects ~~
"Master, can you hear me?" Lucifrey Sol softly spoke to a bacta tank, a hint of heartfelt sincerity in her hushed tone. Her dark and bright blue eyes gazed at the Togruta Knight who had been her master for awhile now. She had had several masters over the past several cycles, but none had quite fueled her youthful spirit like Zakrym La did.
She could barely stand to look upon his broken body. Her pointy ears flickered then hung back. Her tail dropped and nearly swept the ground. Almost the whole left side of Zak's body had been shattered in his fight with a powerful Kilik, and it was a harsh awakening when she saw the horrifying footage herself. She couldn't believe he was fighting alongside a super scary looking Sith one second, and then flying offscreen the next. If she wouldn't have seen the damage first hand, she might not have realized just how bad of a beating he'd taken from that one powerful blast alone.
"I hope you're doing okay... I mean, I know you're kinda not, but..." Luci closed her eyes, released a heavy breath, and lowered her chin. She knew he wouldn't be able to respond, yet she continued anyway. "I'm sorry. I guess I'm a little nervous... The Grandmaster is sending the Jedi across the Galaxy to help out wherever we can, and to work together with all the other factions." There was a tiny bit of relief that sparked in the Padawan's expression. "Which is cool, cuz it means the Galaxy is finally uniting and working together like we've been talking about. I guess you already know that though." And then the hint of happiness that had begun to rise began to fall once more.
"But... It means I'll probably have to fight those bug monsters soon..." The girl's eyes partly opened, while her left hand closed against the core of her chest. "I... I don't know if I'll ever see you again. I really hope I will. But if these things did this to you, then I..." She struggled, unable to admit that she didn't believe she was ready enough to survive what was coming. Especially not without her master at her side to guide her through these troubled times. Luci felt the tears bubble up and tried to shake the thoughts away as she wiped the sleeve of her white and purple dress across her watery eyes.
The blue-horned half-Tiefling then took a couple moments to retrieve a small Dragite gem from her pale utility belt. "You remember when we found this?" Luci took a step back from the glass of Zak's bacta tank and held the item between their faces, even though his eyes were closed and there was no response. The crystal was nearly translucent at its core, with a light blue gleam across half of its edges and a soft magenta hue along the rest. When she turned the crystal in her fingers the pair of colors would shimmer and shift with the light that hit it. "I was really hoping you'd be able to help me build my first real lightsaber with it..."
Luci's nimble fingers coiled around the gem and pulled it close to her chest as she lowered her head once again and shut her eyes to hold back the swelling tides. "But I can't wait anymore. I've decided it's best if I do it now, even if I have to do it alone..." She tried to remain calm and balanced. The tips of her ears pulled even further back while her thin blue tail curled like a fist. Then her grip on the crystal tightened as she continued unenthusiastically. "So I can go join the war against these bug people." A very shaky sigh came from Lucifrey as the images of the Kilik popped into her mind.
"Definitely not something I want to face, but I haven't been left with much of a choice. At least I got to stay with you for awhile and help with the healing a little. But I feel like I need to fight too. To deal justice and avenge you... It's my duty as a Jedi, isn't it? As your Padawan..." Luci's lips trembled and curled up at the center. "As your friend..." She took in a deep breath and held it for a moment before she wiped her sleeve against her face once more and finally turned away from the unconscious Togruta.
"You've shown me that we all need to be brave and do our parts, even if it costs us our lives." Her expression gradually began to calm once again. "So I'm going to do my part to help everyone too!" A wave of determination came over the girl, her ears and cross-tipped tail perked up, and she eventually made her way over to a small workstation in the corner across from Zak. The metal surface had already been cleared, aside from a small leather pack she'd brought with her that was wrapped in a fine white cloth.
"Alright..." She took in a deep breath and released it after holding it for a few more seconds as she tried to control her emotions and recenter herself. "I can do this." A flash of optimism came across Luci. She gave herself a nod with a strong, "Hn!" And then reached for the leather pack.
~~ Focus the Mind ~~
Lucifrey brushed the tips of her fingers across the top of the pack, causing it and the white cloth to unroll across the surface of the desk. Atop the unraveled pack were the rest of the pieces she'd need to assemble her new lightsaber. It had taken her quite some time to finish collecting the rest of the parts, some of which she'd had since she met her first Jedi back home. She still wondered what had happened to the raven-haired youth, along with several others that went missing like her previous master.
The Brylark wood and songsteel metal of the hilt caught a glimmer of light as Luci gently set her fingers upon it. She could still remember when she found the wood on Kashyyyk near the beach and village where she and some of the other Jedi helped relocate the Onderonian refugees. It was where she really met Zak for the first time outside of seeing him around the temples. Luci closed her eyes and tried to let herself be at peace with the idea that at least he was alive and that there was still hope he'd recover. Many others hadn't been quite so lucky lately... Thankfully the Brylark grip didn't need too much adjusting to fit snug with the songsteel hilt and smaller mechanisms that Knight Yamato crafted for her back when he talked her into joining the Order. She hadn't heard from him or seen anything about him in cycles though, and hoped he wasn't another Jedi lost to the war.
Luci's grip tensed against her chest. All of these pieces were significant and sentimental to her in their own ways, gifts and rewards from other Jedi she'd befriended during this wild journey, but she didn't have time to reflect on all of them. She was just thankful she'd had all these people to help her along. A moment later she set the blue and purple crystal at the center of the unrolled pack. Everything she needed was here. The power cell had already been charged, everything was ready. It was time to put them together, and construct her first real lightsaber. She just had to be careful not to mess up and blow it up in her face. Thankfully she'd gotten used to the periodic beeps and blips of the medical machinery that was keeping Zak alive. She found that it comforted her now, even helped soothe her concerns for the critically wounded Knight.
The young Jedi calmly sat down on the desk chair, then effortlessly folded her nimble legs up under their opposite knees while she straightened her posture and rested her hands on her thighs. With a couple deep breaths she then closed her eyes, began to clear her mind as best she could, and let herself fall into the flow of the Force. She drew upon memories of the many documents and Jedi she'd consulted on lightsaber construction in the past. She focused on the attempts she'd made with her with her training saber, the guidance she had and the lessons she learned. Her experiences formed together as she mediated, and soon the image for her new lightsaber was clear.
~~ Assembling the Saber ~~
Lucifrey began to reach out with her telekinetic prowess, calmly feeling for the familiar pieces to bind each in a tranquil grasp. With the image of the finished lightsaber and all of its components still in her mind Luci then began to lift all of them into air. One by one they rose above the desk and neatly floated horizontally before the young Padawan. The blue and magenta crystal gently twirled and cast tiny bits of color on the surface around it, including Lucifrey.
After balancing each of the pieces for a few moments Luci shifted all other thoughts away and focused her concentration on aligning each of the parts. She'd practiced this many times before, and with a steady telekinetic hand the half-Annfyn began to gradually guide them all together. She delved deeper into the swell of the Force, allowing its Will to guide her as she slowly began to slide each of the pieces into and against each other. Then the parts all slowed even further while Luci calmly lifted her right hand, palm up, fingers casually extended, and a sense of tranquility washed over her as she made the tiniest adjustments necessary to the intricate components in order to properly align everything from the tip of the blade emitter to the end of the split saber-compatible pommel created by Yamato. She wanted to make sure the energy would flow efficiently throughout the whole thing, and needed to make sure the simple focusing crystal from her last master was aligned with the Dragite gem she got with her new master.
Then her hand stopped just above the desk, and she held everything in place for one last check before her fingers suddenly curled into a ball, and the parts all snapped together with a soft yet satisfying click into place.
Luci continued to telekinetically hold her newly formed lightsaber aloft, carefully running her ethereal Sense within and around the elegant hilt of songsteel and Brylark to make sure she'd connected everything securely. Her fingers slowly unfurled, her other hand lifted, and both raised up in front of the crystal chamber of her lightsaber with her fingers slightly arched toward their opposites.
"Almost..." She was so close. She could feel it. Her focus connected with the Dragite gem at the saber's core, and then she concentrated to channel every bit of the Light Side she could find to flow into the crystal. Second after second she waited, pouring more and more of the essence into the primary crystal, until finally she felt her connection to it take hold. She felt a pulse from the gem as though it resonated with her, and suddenly she realized it was ready.
The blue-horned Padawan calmly reopened her eyes, holding back the excitement that was bubbling inside her. Her legs gradually unfolded to set her feet on the floor. Then she placed her left hand on the desk and stood to gently grip the steel and wood lightsaber hilt just as her ethereal bind on it faded.
The weight was the first thing she noticed as the lightsaber landed in her hand. It caused her arm to dip down slightly, but actually didn't seem too heavy for her. The length and balance were also comfortable for the lithe Padawan as well. Satisfied, she then took in a deep breath, held the handle a liiitle bit further away, and activated it.
The perky hiss was louder than she expected, along with its soothing hum. The blade though, she had very much been looking forward to seeing how the Dragite gem would cause the color of it to look, and her eyes went wide with a mix of pride and awe once she saw it. Its bright white core was flanked by a light blue glow around the bottom half of its length, which then flowed toward the tip in a flickering magenta gradient from purple along the edge of the midriff to pink at the very end. She would have to adjust the length to fit her short frame a little better, but for now she was dazzled by the prismatic blade.
Luci sharply inhaled, the tips of her ears and tail nearly shot straight up. "We did it! Look how brilliant it turned out!" The cheerful half-Annfyn turned with a big smile on her face and saw her crippled master still floating unconscious in the bacta tank. The smile slowly began to fade, and her hand gradually lowered with the loudly purring lightsaber. "Ah..." She cleared her throat. The medical equipment beeped and filled the awkward silence. "...Guess that couldn't wake you up either, huh?" Her lips shifted to the side as she stared at her broken master."Well... Hope I made you proud." The sincerity in her tone was clear, though it didn't matter. Luci didn't expect him to hear her anyways.
The soft blue and vibrant magenta continued to illuminate the dim lit room for a few moments longer before Luci finally deactivated the blade, which retracted with what sounded like a heavy sigh. She then lifted the handle in both hands and admired the craftsmanship, realizing that this was thanks to the help from several other Jedi, and she owed it to each of them to wield this elegant weapon with great responsibility.
But first, she needed to go test it! Luci would need to make sure all of the functions worked, and that the adjustable power setting was calibrated along with the length. Plus she'd have to set the dual-phase, which would be more for a shorter length since she lacked the extra crystals to extend the blade beyond its current limit. And then after all that she'd have to go for a swim to make sure the waterproof casing did it's job too. Good thing she was looking forward to all of it.
A hint of a devious smirk crept up on the corner of the girl's lips while her ears pulled back and her fidgety tail curled mischievously. She held the expression for a moment, then let out a deep sigh and centered herself once again. With this she was finally ready to push on. Luci swept the newly constructed lightsaber to the right side of her hips, clipping it to her Clone era utility belt before she turned and started rolling up the leather pack and white cloth that had served their purpose.
~~ Farewell ~~
With their final moments together weighing on her shoulders, the half-Tiefling steeled her resolve as best she could, and carried the cloth-wrapped pack over to a counter near Zak. Atop it was a glass vase with a plant in it that she'd collected from one of the rainforest valleys on the Togruta homeworld, Shili. It was a memento she'd left for him, hoping it would somehow help him whenever he'd finally wake up. A flicker of a smile came from the Padawan as she noticed the plant was still alive and well.
Luci then set the pack next to the vase, ever hopeful that he'd remember it once held her saber parts, and that he'd recognize it being empty was a sign that she'd succeeded at the big milestone for both of them.
"Thank you for everything... Zakrym La."
She set her prideful gaze on his unflinching face.
"May the Force be with you." She hoped she could hear him say it back one more time before she walked away. Before they might never see each other again. Luci hesitated as she tried to balance her emotions with her obligations to the Order, and essentially everyone else in the galaxy who hadn't Joined minds with the Kiliks.
For a moment she thought she saw a muscle flinch, or perhaps an extra set of bubbles in the tank than usual, but after another hopeful glance she shook her head and came to the conclusion her tired mind was likely just playing tricks on her.
A weary sigh escaped the Padawan. She waited just a little bit longer before she finally took a deep breath, and started to leave.
Struggling to let herself go she stopped once she finally reached the door, and turned her gaze back to Zak.
"See ya around...!" The brief dip in her voice betrayed her false cheerful demeanor. Luci looked upon Zak one more time before the last of her peppy energy faded along with her final words to him. Then her voice softened and fell beneath her breath as she walked away with her head hung low, and her hand clutched above her heavy heart.
"...I hope..."
Type: Single-blade lightsaber
Material: Songsteel casing with a grip of Brylark wood
Primary Crystal: Dragite gem, blue lower half blade with a magenta gradient toward the tip
Length: 9-inch hilt, 3-foot blade (usually set a little shorter for Luci)
Weight: 0.88 lbs.
Features:
• Split saber pommel (unpaired)
• Dual-phase (for shorter length only)
• Waterproof casing (activates underwater)
• Variable power-setting (from low non-lethal to standard)
• Charging port, clip, lock, safety, and other common functions.
ooc: most of this post is for character development. if you're just here for the lightsaber construction feel free to skip the first and last sections.
@Apollyon