Ask Onderon Knock, Knock, Knocking on a Jedi's Door

Arctus Friers

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Jedi Order
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Jedi Knight

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Forsythe Crowholde
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He did not hold back when he reciprocated Indy's smile. While the genuine sparkle in his eyes and the gentle upward curve of his lips were reserved for his family, Arctus did not dare try to let this one smile fall short of showing the fragment of that hopeful child he once had been as he gazed at the Jedi before him.

The smuggler's smile turned a little bashful as her comment at being trustworthy, a dusting of pink rising to his cheeks and he briefly averted his gaze like an embarrassed older sibling to hide the sudden color on his face. For the first time in a long while he had no idea what kind of comeback to make, what smartass remark he could add to her words, so he simply shrugged and gave her a tiny grin. For someone who had quite a lot to say almost every darn time, Arctus chose not to even attempt to make a wisecrack. He had to remind himself that the Pantoran woman in front of him was still a Jedi who could probably kick his backside six ways to Sunday. Another reason to respect her and listen to what she had to say.

"He... didn't teach me anything, to be honest," the smuggler replied after looking back to that day he (accidentally?) met Coven. "Other than telling me outright that I'm Force-sensitive, and that, and I quote–" A slight frown as he repeated the words the Sith had told him "– 'you thrum with the cloying scent of the Darkside.'"

A hand found the back of his neck, rubbing gingerly to alleviate the growing tension he was starting to feel at simply remembering having crossed paths with Coven. Arctus appreciated that the man had given the smuggler the chance to choose, really... and in his books that was what someone who wished to be trusted did, especially if they're perceived as threatening or suspicious. Coven didn't bother hiding his identity that time as well.

He'd called Arctus his friend, and while a part of the Corellian shrank away at the thought there still existed a part of him that wanted to give the Sith a chance.

"He told me that I had to learn how to wield or hide it or else it's practically bad news for me. I didn't think of it as such that time because I was... so distressed... but I feel now that he might be warning me. Maybe from meeting more people like him?"

Arctus had always been a talker, and he found it prudent to keep going. He did put his trust on Indy, and she deserved to know the truth regardless if the two of them have literally just met today.

"Coven– The Sith gave me a choice. It's either I learn from him and join his Order, or decline the offer and that he might help me look for a Jedi if I wanted to lern from your people instead. It's odd that he was offering to get to those lengths to help me, and I'm still honestly confused up to this day. I thought the Sith are a manipulative bunch of evil space wizards, but Coven was actually being helpful."

That was what he saw and felt that day. Could he trust on that, though? And with Arctus intent on starting over as a Jedi, could the Sith who called him friend still hold thoughts and feelings of camaraderie?

The hand on the back of his neck moved to his chin, a thoughtful expression filling the smuggler's features as he mulled over the next subject of their conversation. There really wasn't much he knew about this Living Force other than being used by Jedi and Sith to showcase their powers... that, and it was what he thought was his intuition that saved him from accepting certain jobs and meeting suspicious beings.

"I don't really know much about the Force, but the Sith told me that it could be a powerful tool if I know what to do with it. But I don't know, save for the fact that I thought the Force was just this really cool intuition that saved me quite a lot in the past. Like, you know when you're about to take a job but something feels off? It's not paranoia, but this warning– this nudge that tells you to walk away because something bad is actually going to happen."

Arctus blinked, hazel grey eyes finding Indy's golden gaze. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to talk so much." A quiet chuckle slipped past his lips. "Couldn't help myself, though."

@Killa Ree
 

Indy Sati

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Jedi Order
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Jedi Master

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Killa Ree
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So it wasn't so much misinformation, as it was striking a true, and very real, fear into the heart of the man before her. She felt another pang to bring him under her wing, an odd feeling considering he was probably a few years her senior. But here he was, a young man who sang of pain in the Force; who was she to turn him away? There was once a time she was just as at risk as well, though albeit it was a long time ago.

She chuckled at his comment of it being a handy intuition button, giving a slow nod. "It manifests in many ways... for instance..."

She looked around, then up. From the tree closest to them, she crooked a finger, and the tree itself shuddered, a branch dipping slowly to offer a fruit before the man. "It connects us to all living things, and those trained can channel it, wield it to help you in things impossible. Such as..."

The branch rose once again. When the man would look, there would be the Jedi standing there as before. But he would feel a light tap on his shoulder, and the apparition would vanish, leaving the grinning woman at his elbow. "It can heal. It can show you echoes, visions of the near and distant past. It's not a curse, but a blessing that's your choice to learn. And I will give you a choice every step of the way. Any time you feel uncomfortable or unwilling to follow, I won't force you to pursue. You are a good man, Arctus," she spoke quietly.

"And in time, you will no longer thrum with Darkness, as your friend has put it. I'll never ask of you more than you're willing to recieve. That's the Jedi way." She smiled again, but there was a note of seriousness behind those yellow eyes.

@Forsythe Crowholde
 

Arctus Friers

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Jedi Order
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Jedi Knight

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Forsythe Crowholde
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Fear was an ugly feeling. It was sticky, heavy, blinding, and suffocating on a physical level, and when it wasn't? Fear was a reluctant step forward of the spirit, a dread that should pass once he got over it – except there was no advancing, no getting over unless he (and anyone, for that matter) understood why he felt that way, why he had to feel that way. Fear might have been ugly, but Arctus knew that it was what kept him from discarding the Light within him in favor of the Darkness. Fear was something he should hate for ever feeling, and yet he was grateful for it because its existence made him realize that he wanted now more than ever to remain human.

And as far as the smuggler was concerned, being human meant moving forward through the fear and anger and pain. Being human meant feeling the hands of the people he was grateful for on his back, pushing him forward and return to the path that led to what was good and right in the galaxy.

A small yet genuine smile crossed his features once more, gaze finding Indy's as she began to explain the Force in ways he could understand. Hazel grey eyes left her face in favor of following the direction her finger was directed, a look of awe lighting up his previously weary visage as he lifted a hand to pluck the fruit and stared at it with wide-eyed wonder.

“Whaaaa–?!“ Arctus blurted out, almost missing the Pantoran Jedi's explanation. The smuggler was returning more and more to the person he once was before he moved away from home – open, honest, earnest. Comical in his surprise, something that always incurred his younger brothers' amusement. “Okay! Okay, so, uhh... It connects us to all living things – in short, it's everywhere...? Otherwise the tree wouldn't have reacted to you using the Force to help it grow this fruit. Am I making sense? I don't really know much about it, and I can only go with what information I've seen and given–“

His awestruck gaze followed the branch and found Indy, except she was standing beside him, right? Then how did she move so fast–

A tap on his shoulder had Arctus looking at the source just as the apparition vanished. The smuggler looked at Indy, to the spot where he thought he saw her, then back at the grinning woman beside him. Eyes wide and lips slightly parted in surprise, he put two and two together and realized that she had tricked him with an illusion. Looking back on his past smuggling jobs, it would have been a nifty trick to pull but he stopped entertaining further thoughts about it. He had searched for a Jedi to learn how to keep the Darkness in his soul away, not stockpile on Force tricks so he could use them selfishly!

The last thought gave Arctus pause, and Indy calling him a ‘good man’ had the smuggler biting his lower lip to stop it from trembling. He had already decided that he would try his best to fit that description, and yet he found himself being overwhelmed again today. They have just met today and yet here she was, believing that there was good in him – that he was a good man.

It was more than enough for him.

Arctus faced Indy, a soft, trusting smile on his face.

“I look forward to taking this journey and learn from you, Indy. I'll do my best, and I won't let us down. I...“

Not a promise, no – because he knew that promises were meant to be broken.

“I trust you.“

@Killa Ree

Feel free to add a closing post for Indy if you want. Thank you! :D
 
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