Fennex Zeerda
SWRP Writer
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2017
- Messages
- 226
- Reaction score
- 218
Fennex set his pack gently on the ground and bundled his coat around him to ward of the cold. A single shaft of light pierced down from the roof of the cave, and its reflection from the crystal deposits lining the smooth walls cast shifting, shimmering blue and white waves throughout the chamber. It was a stark contrast to the endless waves of reddish sand and brown rock of the surface of Jedha. The first of the rituals which Fennex was seeking to recreate had taken place on Ellora- a world lost to time, even before the war with the Exiles, like so many other ancient Jedi sites. He intended to find the place the records spoke of, but for now he believed Jedha would be suitable alternative for him, which is why he had traveled out here so far from the Jedi fortress at NiJedha, This narrow series of caverns was a small off shoot of the larger, more traveled Kyber caves that the initiates and masters frequented closer to the temple. Fennex had discovered it wandering the surface of the ancient moon during his recovery after Illum. It had seemed to call to him- a place of preternatural calm, and a natural spring of lightside energy even beyond the normal energetic warmth of Kyber Crystal deposits. It wasn't nearly as strong as some other sites that many temples had been built upon throughout the orders history, but Fennex had always felt at ease here.
He settled himself crosslegged on a flat stretch of stone formed eons ago by an underground stream that had long ago settled into a small trickle, which now dribbled over the edge of the stone and into a small pool which then disappeared into the smooth carved rock. Fennex removed his lightsabers from his coat pockets and placed them on the ground at his sides. The matched set was the same ones he had constructed on achieving knighthood, nearly three decades ago. They were well worn, and had undergone a number of repairs over the years. The dull grey weapons were scratched and dented and scored, wrapped in sweat stained leather bands. When he'd first carried them into battle and used them to kill, he was shaken by it. After a while he began to wonder how many they had killed verse how many they had saved. After a decade or so, he stopped wondering. Now, even further along, after countless battles fought, with grey creeping in around his ears and snout... he wondered again.
Fennex removed the first exile saber from his bag and inspected it for the first time since he'd picked it up on Dantooine so long ago it seemed, though in reality that had been hardly a few months. The girl had been little more than a child, but her actions proved her to be something far more dangerous. The hilt was surprisingly simple in construction, he thought- a simple silver cylinder, like something a padawan or initiate would make for their first weapon. He placed gently on the stone floor in front of him, and moved on to the next. This one was from the flamboyantly colorful Rishii he had slain on Coruscant. It was wrapped in cloth, and in two pieces since he had bisected it after nearly being impaled by its dual phase function. The two pieces of the shaft, seperated just below the crystal chamber, were badly burn scored by his own lightsaber and dark purple blood stained the cold metal. He placed both pieces on the cloth next to the other. All of the weapons carefully arranged around him- his own and the Exiles- shared something in common, but Fennex was having difficulty placing it. Many of Exile weapons he had encountered over the years fell into two broad categories, when he took the time to examine them. The first were crude, brutal, and efficient. The second were overly elaborate mockeries, flashy and ostentatious. Both tended to be exemplary of the exiles personality and the way the darkside had corrupted them.
But these... The Knight realized what the commonality was. These were Jedi weapons, at heart. They were simple and elegant, not fancily balanced or outfitted or given over to grand displays. Nor were they designed as brutal weapons of war, even if that is what they had become. They were lightsabers who had once belonged to Jedi. The realization was unexpected, but it didn't shake Fennex like it would have once. He was coming to terms with the reality of the Jedi, and how close the darkside truly was to all of them. It called to all Jedi equally, preying on their baser emotions. That was why the Jedi code existed as it did, in its entirety, he had realized. Many became caught up on the more popular catch phrases, but the entire code mattered, he realized. It was in these spaces that the darkness found its hold, seeping in wherever it could to corrupt the pure hearted. Even in him, he had realized.
The Jedi closed his eyes and centered himself as he had done thousands of times before. His paws settled on gently on his knees, and his breaths came slow and deep. He concentrated on nothing around him except his own mind and his connection to the Force. Padawans spent years learning the foundations of such meditation techniques, and a Jedi could spent the rest of his natural life perfecting it until it came as naturally as breathing. It did not take long for the furry little Knight to enter a trance-like state as his mind emptied itself of all thoughts. Novices often tried to picture, or worse tried too hard not to picture their connection with the Force. Instead, you had to let go of yourself, let go of your thoughts, and let the Force flow through you. It was a difficult concept to teach to those who had not experienced the first steps of it themselves, and even to those who had experienced such enlightenment it could be difficult to reproduce on command.
Fennex slowly faded into a deep trance. The cavern, with its shimmering lamps of kyber, was still and silent around him, and yet teeming with life. The Force treated his body much the same as it treated the rocks, and the beautifully formed stalagmites and stalactites around him. It treated him the same way it treated the slithering granite slugs in the dark corners, the quietly shuffling hawk-bats huddled on the ledges of the chamber, and the microscopic bacteria in the caves cold pool waters. The Force flowed in and around them all, connecting and binding them together. The bacteria and Fennex were one and the same. Beings of the same nature and origin observing themselves through eachother. One.
Fennex let go.
@Mortivica @Faster Than Light