Ask Survival 101

[Leon Baudelaire]

Rya was resistant at first but relented once the healing began to take effect. Her shirt had been ripped to shreds. He slipped his pack and blastvest off and offered it to her. The last thing he needed on this disaster of a mission was a sex scandal.

“You’re welcome,” he said.

He could feel Rya’s disappointment with the change of plans, so when she asked if she’d failed he was glad to have the chance to explain.

“Not at all,” he said with an apologetic smile, “It might not feel like it, but you did a pretty great job. I mean you displayed your ability to think in a tough situation, the mud thing was great, you just need to trust in the force. This is going to sound hippy dippy, but think about how you feel while you navigate. Now, apply that same condition to combat. Ya know, kinda like you’re navigating the battlefield.”

Rya took a turn counting the hours by the sun, and Leon shrugged, “If you’d prefer to camp I’m fine with that.” he considered their location for a moment then said, “Let’s press on toward Hōseki for the next hour, when we stop, we’ll have an hour of light left to set up camp.”

Two hours of hiking and camp set up later…

Leon was crouched by the fire stoking it with a stick. Satisfied, he sat back on his butt and leaned up against his pack, crossing one leg over the other. He looked over to Rya, “So, the only thing you’ve been taught on base is a little gardening?”

No bullshit, he’d totally thought she’d been messing with him when she’d said it. He’d have to pull the knight she’d met with aside and have a word, the hell was someone doing wasting time teaching gardening after Ithor. They needed to be preparing for Raze, not sowing seed.

Leon pulled a force puzzle from his pack, and tossed it to her. “Only way to solve the puzzle is to use the force. It looks like a kids toy, but they’re a really great training aid, feel free to keep it, I steal them from the training rooms all the time,” he laughed.

@Pazaakly

 

[Rya]

Rya took the blastvest gratefully, putting the oversized garment over her other compromised attire. The combination of the ill-fitting vest and her slumped shoulders made her look almost as deflated as she felt.

She wasn't able to look him in the eyes at first, but wasn't wanting to seem uninterested either. Her compromise was making eye contact with his chin. It was pretty nice as far as chins go. She could appreciate that he was doing his best to make her feel better about the situation. It tempered her tongue to be sure, keeping the thought of I thought that's what I was doing to herself. Instead she simply said "Your praise is misplaced, sir. I'll do my best to apply your counsel moving forward."

Adding a little more timidly "...but thank you."

For the rest of their day's hike she did her best to keep up and quiet. Even with Leon's efforts to heal her there was still the lingering pains of the day as a whole to contend with. Be them the physical or prideful variety. With the camp and fire all set up she took a seat near Leon by the fire.

She let out a soft chuckle while shaking her head. "Yes, sir. Gardening. I learned which tools to use and how far apart to plant the seeds for optimal growth." Maybe the other Jedi was trying to teach a lesson through metaphor but she preferred her lessons straightforward and with clear terminology. Some actual combat training or lightsaber building wouldn't be bad either.

She caught the puzzle and stared at it for a moment. He was right in the assessment of it looking like a child's plaything. Taking a closer examination she wasn't entirely sure how any of it worked unfortunately. Talking to Leon while glaring intensely into the puzzle she said "Instructions unclear, sir. I'd like a more specific direction than "use the Force". When I tap into it it manifests in many different ways depending on the situation, in my experience anyways. Are you implying that there are multiple solutions to this one puzzle?"

Glancing his direction finally she felt bad that all he could do was watch. Lucky for him she had just the riveting literature to keep him occupied. A report she'd written on herself. A copy of the one she'd sent the Jedi upon her arrival. She unclipped an electronic device from her belt and tossed it his way.

"My credentials, sir." On it he'd find a list of systems in the Unknown Regions that she'd traveled to and from, her marks in simulator and war game trials, and an extensive list of references from her most recent Commander to her primary school teacher.

The device was still one intended for personal use. If Leon snooped around instead of reading the report he'd find daily logs, a shopping list for various mechanical parts that could pertain to either a ship or a lightsaber, and plenty of holos. Most would be embarrassing holos she'd taken while bored on her ship. One holo that was pinned however would be a family picture with her, her Chiss father, and her Vak mother in a speeder.

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

Leon chuckled derisively while muttering, “Ithor was just razed and we’re focused on gardening…”

He shook his head and let the frustration of The Order go with it. Maybe he was missing the context of the lesson. Rya asked him to elaborate on the aide a bit and so he did, “Good questions. To answer your last question, yes. There is always another way, however that lesson doesn’t exactly apply here. This puzzle can only be manipulated by an application of the force.”

He called out to the toy and caught it in his hand. He opened himself to the force and the little cube began to float. The multi color sidings twisting and rotating without his hands being anywhere near the aide. It was solved in a few seconds and it floated there on each side a solid color, then he scrambled it and floated it back into her hand.

A thought occurred to him, and he found himself sitting up and facing her more directly, “Would you mind describing what it’s like when you’re navigating?”

A bug flew into Leon’s face at the same time Rya handed him the datapad and he fumbled it. A lance of panic shot through him and faster than naturally possible he snatched the device from the air. He flashed her an apologetic smile while blowing a curl out of his face.

When he turned the datapad over he frowned. It was a picture of Rya pursing her lips and throwing a peace sign. He looked up to her a little confused then looked back at the pad, this had to be a mistake, right? Leon swiped and the next picture nearly broke his heart. It was a family. Cute little girl and her parents. He felt tears sting his eyes as his own memories flooded his mind.

Leon cleared his throat wiping his eyes and said, “It—Well, I think—I didn’t mean too—” he stammered holding the datapad back to her, screen facing her so she could see what he’d seen. He wasn’t sure what had happened to her, but ever since his vision on Mortis anything family oriented really fucked him up.

“I’m sorry, would you like to talk about it?” no one had ever asked if he’d wanted to talk about his past. He’d spent a long time as a member of The Order and yet totally alone. A small smirk flitted across his lips as he thought about the day he met his Master Hera. He’d gotten his ass beat, but it was the first time he’d felt seen.

@Pazaakly

 

[Rya]

The Great Presence's diverse uses were still surprises to her. Like having something in her grasp being taken by an invisible hand still sparked genuine awe when it happened. It meant Leon had her undivided attention as he solved the puzzle while never laying a finger on it. Unfortunately she was still thinking practically and focused her efforts on trying to memorize how each piece had moved so she could repeat the sequence once she got another crack at it.

Once it was in her hands again she tried moving the pieces by hand with no success. Then she started to stare intensely at it hoping through sheer force of will it would start to be solved. Still nothing. She let out a huff and finally addressed his question that had been hanging in the air for an awkwardly long moment.

Turning to face him head on she said "Navigating normally I don't feel the Great Presence as strongly. But when I'm in a particularly precarious position that changes. Where I'm from, we call it the Chaos, a patch of space that only those sensitive to the Force as you call it can successfully navigate it." She thought in the back of her mind of all the derelict wrecks she'd come across in her travels. Even with the Great Presence navigating that part of space was far from a guaranteed success.

She wasn't aware of the fact that she was doing it, but as she continued her hands were miming as if they were currently on the controls of her ship. Part muscle memory, part channeling the Force to the slightest degree. "I can see the path in front of me several steps ahead of where I am in reality. I see myself vaporizing into space dust repeatedly with any wrong move. It's somehow simultaneously like having an invisible co-pilot and a supercharged engine. Sometimes I feel my hands are not my own, other times I feel like I'm taming space itself."

She suppressed a laugh at her fumbling superior but a smile still crept across her face all the same. How could he dispatch of the death monsters with such ease yet fail to catch a simple datapad? A strange duality for the young man. As she was trying to return her focus to the puzzle she caught the noise of something unexpected. Was that a sniffle? She looked out the corner of her eye and saw Leon wiping away tears. This made her incredibly uncomfortable.

Dangerous supernovae? Manageable. Politics? Bring it. Warzones? Sure. But emotions... Those were something she wasn't used to handling. They belonged in diaries and mushy holovids, not here. She was even more confused when she saw that he was looking at a family picture of hers. How did he find that? And why is he sad? Is this a Jedi empathy power or something?

She hesitated for a moment, unsure what to say but eventually responded "Err... That is my family." Maintaining a very formal tone she continued "Their relationship was not approved of in the familial structure that serves as the backbone for Chiss society so it was kept secret. My appearance meant I didn't set off any alarms as a bastard child. My mother was a pathfinder and was serving as such for a pirate vessel that my father's ship intercepted. She didn't survive the encounter and my father's treasonous actions during the engagement earned him a prison sentence. Hence why I was discharged from service, leading me to this moment."

She very awkwardly scooted across to Leon's side and gave him a stunted pat on the back into a side hug. It was her best attempt at comforting him in the moment. Unsure how to handle the situation further she asked "Do... you want to talk about it?"

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

Leon crossed his legs hunching over and cupping his chin in his hands as he listened intently to Rya’s description. To his surprise as she began to mime her descriptions he felt her dip into the force, Leon expanded his consciousness, allowing it to brush against hers. Kinda like a mental high-five. As he did that he said, “That’s it Rya, you’re opening up to the force right now.”

Baudelaire’s grin split, “Taming space yourself,” he said wistfully, “Okay, that sounds pretty cool.”

He held out his hand to her, “Hold your hand out like this.”

He lifted his left hand palm up facing Rya, “I’m going to push against your hand, when you feel it, try and push back.”

Leon gave Rya his full attention as she told her story. He could empathize for her. His whole life had been stolen from him. The pain both of her parents must have felt. The loneliness. The isolation. Leon didn’t tell her sorry. He wouldn’t waste empty platitudes on a wound like that. Instead once she scooted over and gave him a super awkward little pat on the back, he decided to share.

“It only seems fair,” he said, his voice distinctly lacking the humor it had carried all day. His verdant eyes landed on the licking flames of their campfire and he said, “It’s pretty typical really, parents were killed by Sith Inquisitors when I was like 4-5,” he scowled, “I’m saved by my Uncle, who I found out was actually the guy who killed my parents,” he said scoffing at how ridiculous it sounded, “—and was trained in the basics of The Force, by said Uncle, until my connection was detected by the Inquisition,” he sighed, “So, somehow my Uncle got in contact with a Seeker and boom, I’m a Jedi,” he spread his arms sarcastically, then fell silent.

He let a moment pass and then looked over to Rya and said, “Nice to officially know you,” with a small smile.

“Alright, enough with the sad stuff, what are you a baby or something?” he teased, standing and stretching with a groan. The sky was dark and the light of the flames hid the stars but even so it was a beautiful night. The breeze from just off the coast blew in carrying the smell of salt with it as it rustled the foliage around them. The rumble of distant thunder could be heard from the south. Felwinter peak was behind them and with it the worst of the trials he’d planned to take.

Leon rested his hands on his hips still looking up at the sky and asked, “How good are you at hand to hand?”

@Pazaakly

 

[Rya]

Giving him a curious look, she held her hand out as instructed. She knew about high fives but unless she had misunderstood they were far from effective high-five range.

Then she felt a pressure on her hand. Weird. It wasn't exactly clear how she was meant to "push back", so she thrust her arm out a little further against this invisible force. It felt like having her arm submerged in water and trying to move through it.

She took her turn to listen to Leon's story, all the while so focused that she stared with piercing red eyes that she definitely would've toned down if she had been aware. She still wasn't used to her eyes putting some people off.

The story itself was hard to listen to, not only emotionally, but it was littered with titles and terminology she couldn't appreciate or know the significance of. Would it be rude to ask for definitions in the middle of the story? To ask after?

Erring on the side of caution she just said "Sounds... complicated. Should've known you had experience beyond your years, sir. I envy your training from such an age, but not the price paid for it."

That first part was especially true. Ever since she'd joined the Order she couldn't help but feel frustration seeing so many younglings and padawans far younger than herself. She'd always be at a disadvantage, always two steps behind. For a woman like her it was torture.

"Nice to know you too... Leon." She couldn't offer much more but decided to add "My people generally go by core names to make them easier to pronounce for non-Chiss, but my full name is Ry'anikk. I know, doesn't quite roll off the tongue the same way."

She was more than happy to end their little therapy session, eagerly springing to her feet. Hearing the mention of hand-to-hand she began stretching appropriately as she responded "Although I am a pilot by trade..." Stretching her arms "I'll have you know..." Bending over to stretch her hamstrings "I ranked top of my class in unarmed combat." If he intended to fight with no Jedi tricks or monsters waiting in the wings she was sure this would be a fun showcase of her talents.

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

”Good, now think about the feeling you get when you’re navigating,” he said, watching her carefully to make sure he wasn’t overwhelming her with all this abstract information. “Now, visualize my hand,” he’d wait for her to nod or give some indication she wasn’t totally lost before saying, “Good, lean into the force, allow it to pass through you, down your arm and out of your palm.”

If this application wasn’t clear or she couldn’t grasp the nature, he’d have to think of another way. He could tell she was all brains, things needed an order, they needed a purpose, but that’s not how the force worked. It wasn’t black and white, it was nuanced and alive. Now he just needed to figure out how to explain that without shutting her brain down.

Leon chuckled derisively, “Complicated is a good way to put it, thanks.” he said with a smile.

“Ry’anikk.” he said carefully, doing his best to repeat her name. “I like it. Anytime I need to scold you I’ll just butcher your whole name, and you’ll know you’re in trouble,” he decided, with a sly smirk.

At the mention of combat Rya sprung up. It was so sudden, he thought they were under attack and nearly scrambled up after her when she started stretching. He frowned then realized she was probably still anxious to show what she could do. She’d taken his question as a challenge. His little smirk spread wide, “I see,” he said cryptically.

Leon rose from the ground and stepped over to an empty space at the came. It was still close enough to the fire for them to see, but hopefully far enough away to avoid accidental burns. Baudelaire stood languidly with his hands clasped behind his back.

“Show me.”

@Pazaakly

 

[Rya]

Rya continued following his direction, despite how vague it was at times. It was hard for her to simultaneously reminisce about being in her ship while remaining present in the now. Her determination however wouldn’t allow her to give up now though. She did as he said, visualizing his hand and some kind of power draining through her own. By the end of it she didn’t feel any different, so she was staring at her teacher intently for any sign that she’d accomplished something.

She couldn’t help but give a small laugh at hearing him try to pronounce her full name. It had been a while since she’d heard someone use it, even longer since she’d heard it so comically butchered. But the gesture was nice and she wouldn’t put him down over it in the slightest. Returning the jest she countered “Oh gods, I’ll have to make sure I’m never in trouble then so I never have to hear that again.”

She watched in anticipation as he positioned himself for combat. The excitement was already bubbling up, leading to her bouncing on her toes side to side. As soon as he gave the invitation, her hands flashed into motion. She drew her blaster and aimed right for him. She didn’t fire though, she just wanted to see how fast he could react to that unexpected threat.

She laughed and tossed the blaster to the ground along with the holster. If they were getting into a scrum she was going to afford him as few handholds as possible. She dropped into her stance and began inching forward to feel out his distancing. She paced a lazy arc around him until he was between her and the fire, distant as it was.

She had the size and reach advantage, but every other category would probably go in her teacher’s favor. With this in mind, she opened up with quick jabs in his direction. She was at such a length away that she was more likely to hit his arms if raised defensively than anything sensitive, her blows could at best reach his nose at this distance but she was still getting a feel for the fight before committing to a specific strategy.

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

Leon could feel her pushing back, but the resistance was nearly imperceivable. He was a little perplexed. She seemed to be staring at him as if she had no idea she was doing something. Maybe he needed to up the stakes. A small smirk settled on his face and he released his hold on the force. How in the hell was he going to teach her if she couldn’t feel the force. He thought back to his lessons with his Uncle. He was missing something, but he couldn’t figure out what it was.

He decided to give it a break while they shared their tragic backstories. He’d find another way to coax understanding out of her, even if it killed him.

Suddenly, he was staring into the muzzle of her blaster. A confusion stampeded across his face, cocking his eyebrow as it passed by, but there would be no fear. He’d seen her shoot and she was fine, but she wasn’t good enough to hit him. Then she laughed and tossed the holster to the ground before taking up her fighting stance.

He relaxed, letting go of the force he’d instinctively begun to build, “Oh, so, now you have a sense of humor,” he teased, arms still clasped behind his back as she approached.

His eyebrow remained cocked as she circled him, placing him between the fire and her. Interesting choice, he thought. The only light they had was the fire, and placing him between her and it seemed strange, but he ran out of time to think as she moved forward.

Leon’s arms were still behind his back and her testing jabs merely swiped the air in front of his face, “Top of your class, huh?”

His quip scored a little more commitment and he had to slip away, which was exactly what he wanted. As her punch came in, he slipped back switching feet and aiming to plant a spinning back kick directly into her solar plexus.

He dropped his foot and cut a diagonal angle to the left, hands still held behind him.

C’mon, find it, he thought, Find the part of you that’s missing!

@Pazaakly

 

[Rya]

At his little tease about a sense of humor she shrugged coyly "Can't blame me for wanting to see how fast you can take it out." She said, giving a pointed look at his waistband. It was interesting to her that he hadn't reacted at all externally. Maybe he was using some of that Jedi sense stuff to know she wouldn't actually fire. Maybe he simply didn't take her seriously. Either way, it was clear she'd need to do more to impress him than pull a practical joke.

She found no purchase with her opening swings, to which he continued to chirp at her. He'd have to try harder than that if he wanted to get under her skin. "Nice try, sir. You won't find me so easily rattled by pride."

What would rattle her, however, was an unforeseen spinning back kick to her torso. She hadn't over committed to any attack yet so she managed to dodge a truly debilitating blow, tucking and turning her body so that the kick landed more against her flank and ribs than its intended soft spot.

She brushed off the pain, prominent as it was, and refocused. The cocky bastard still had his hands behind his back, but no use getting miffed about it. Instead, she'd tried to use the unavailability of his arms to her advantage.

She went in for a double leg sweep, swooping low to the ground for two full rotations. She was hoping her long legs would have better chance of knocking him off balance, or that he wouldn't expect the follow up sweep if he jumped over the first one.

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

He kissed his teeth in disappointment as she began to shoot in. Rya was good, but without the force she was at a huge disadvantage. From his diagonal angle Leon skipped backward, her fingers narrowly missing his pant leg, then he jumped. As her second rotation played out she’d realize he was gone.

His left foot would plant itself in the center of her back with the intent of jumping off her and driving her into the dirt, then he would tuck into a somersault and return to the ground gracefully. It was Rya’s turn to be stuck between the fire and their adversary.

Leon’s little smirk settled on his lips, “Navigate the battle, Rya, find the flow and grab onto it!”

@Pazaakly

 

[Rya]

Rya did not appreciated her unexpected serving of dirt as she was temporarily pushed down to meet it by Leon's foot. She got up in a rush to re-establish visual. She definitely didn't like what she saw. He was still looking as flippant and nonchalant as before. Anger was starting to set in. With a hint of genuine aggression she spit her dirt sample in his direction.

"Your teachings sound more akin to motivational quotes, sir." Again with the cookie cutter advice, no tips on her form or stance or anything close to real world critique. Did he not know any of those things? If he didn't, how the hell was she losing?

She lunged at him full sprint this time, telegraphing as if she was going for a tackle, hoping to elicit a side step out of Leon. In which case she'd spin out of the feinted tackle and go for a kick to the side of his knee to buckle him and bring him down.

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

Rya spit mud from her mouth as she scrambled to get up. Even without The Force Leon could tell she was getting pissed. Her irritation bled into a critique about his methods of training and he just shrugged, “I’m literally telling you how to fight me,” he quipped.

Anger inspired her next move. She charged at full speed in his direction. The issue with committing to a full sprint is everything you plan after that is telegraphed. She played like she was closing in to tackle, but her stance was wrong for the grapple, she was too upright, and he spotted the kick coming a mile away. Rather than move back, Leon cut an angle moving toward her at the last moment and then to the opposite side of her kick, putting him behind her. His boot caught the back of the knee that was planted to support her kick.

Her leg would buckle and he would once again pass by unscathed, “Your body was up too high to fake the tackle,” he bounced on the balls of his feet considering whether or not going on the offensive would be helpful or detrimental to their current situation.

No, she had to start using the force. If she didn’t then he’d just continue piss her off. Something that Baudelaire was apparently very good at.

“Stop fighting like a soldier and start fighting like a Force User!” he barked.

He wasn’t irritated but he let his expression say he was. Actually he was having a great time. This little run around was a fun little exercise for him, he just wished he could figure out how to get through to Rya.

@Pazaakly

 

[Rya]

Rya just rolled her eyes at his quip. She wasn't going to waste more breath on the matter. As much as she did want to say that "telling her how to fight him" was a generous assessment of his words to say the least. It was no better than telling a racer to go faster or a pilot to fly better.

Enough of this, enough of the over-explaining and pointing out the obvious. The most frustrating part was she was doing everything right in her eyes. Her attacks were solid, well thought out and had years of muscle memory backing them up. Yet this Baudelaire man could shrug off all her attempts like she was an infant swatting at an adult? For once, she'd actually listen to him. Though not in the way he may have imagined.

She did have some inkling of practice with the Great Presence in an offensive capacity, it just wasn't with a Jedi. If he wanted her to fight like a Force User, it would be her only point of reference for doing so. She reached deep within herself, picking at still healing wounds in her heart and letting the resulting emotional bleed feed into her palm.

It was a method she'd learned from a bounty hunter going by the name of Venatrix, though Rya held the suspicion she was much more than that. Focusing on Leon as an obstacle in her path, she put forth her greatest effort, resulting in a force push sent his direction. Maybe that would finally knock the pretty boy off kilter.

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

Leon felt the force stirring within Rya. The stern expression he’d set broke immediately. She was doing it! She was using the force! Oh shit, she’s using the FORCE!

“Oof!” managed Leon as the wind was knocked out of him and he was sent sailing through the air. Thankfully, the direction in which he’d been launched wasn’t toward the fire. He landed hard on his back, any air left in his lungs decided that that was their queue to escape. He spent a second gasping for breath looking more like a fish out of water than a Jedi Knight, but it be that way sometimes.

Then he remembered Rya!

Leon sat up, grass clinging to his wind swept hair, wearing the biggest grin on his face, “You did it!” he shouted, punching both hands into the air, his expression the literal embodiment of excitement.

“Finally! I was starting to get worried you weren’t really Force Sensitive,” he laughed, while trying to brush the grass from his hair as he got up.

“Tell me all about it!” he said, finally reaching where she was, “Maybe we can reverse engineer the method to make it easier or at least a little less darkside-y?”

Rya’s frustration had been on display all day. He knew manifestations of the force, especially with untrained participants, we’re easily proc’d with big emotions. So, he’d decided to become the most annoying mentor in the world in order to elicit a chain reaction. It had worked, but his final footing was precarious.

Hopefully he hadn’t pushed too hard.

@Pazaakly

 

[Rya]

Finally! She watched him go to the ground with extreme satisfaction. So much so she couldn't help but celebrate with a fist pump to the sky. Some would call it in poor taste given they were meant to be working cooperatively but thankfully he couldn't see it while he lay on the ground.

In the heat of the moment it came across as tonal whiplash that he sprung up overjoyed as he did. It was an incredibly confusing feeling. Not robbing her of her victory per se, but definitely taking some edge off of it. Maybe she had just gotten too worked up too quickly. It had been a long day after all. Still, she had succeeded in something at last. That fact alone let a genuine smile spread across her face.

"Thank you, sir-- sorry, Leon. I was beginning to think I could never please you!" She said, chuckling lightly. Once he came up to her she reached towards him and brushed the rest of the grass out of his hair and added "I'd apologize but you did stomp my face into the dirt so I'd call us even."

She wasn't sure how to explain what she'd done, but she would do her best to walk him through it "I'm not sure what you mean by dark side. My gardening mentor did talk briefly about dark temptations, though I'm not sure how that would apply to me in this scenario."

Thinking back to what she had done she explained "I simply focused inward and thought of the sadness bred by what happened to my family. That feeling of needing to fix things is a strong one. Almost as if when I feel powerless the Great Presence shows me how I can be powerful."

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

Leon laughed, “Please me?”

Then it hit him. Of course, that’s what she’d been trying to do. She was new and from a different walk of life entirely. He’d been so focused on his ego he hadn’t taken into consideration that she might be feeling as inadequate as he did.

His smile waxed apologetic and he bowed his head, “No, you have nothing to apologize for. You had no idea what you were getting into, and things got pretty wild pretty quickly. I’m sorry if I put you in a situation you didn’t feel prepared for,” even though he smiled there was a tinge of sadness in his expression. He reached up and rubbed at the “X” shaped scar on his cheek, “I’ve been there and it’s not great.”

“Oh yeah!” he said squaring off to her a little. “Both of your takedown attempts were textbook, I mean nearly perfect form, but their rigidity made them easy to read from a distance. Plus I was using the force the whole time. It’s why I was able to keep my hands behind my back. If I were just some dude you’d have beat the shit out of me,” he laughed.

Leon quirked his head to the side when she mentioned not really understanding what the dark side was about, “Okay, this is going to be a lot, and it’s stuff you’re going to be beaten over the head with in your normal studies, so I’ll give you the fast and dirty version. Basically, The Force as we call it—” he motioned to himself, “—or Great Presence, in your terms, is a preternatural power that has different aspects to it’s nature, The Jedi follow the Light side of the force. We work to control our emotions in order to be open to the will of The Force.”

Rya went on to explain what she felt during the use of the force and Leon carefully considered what to say, “So, it’s almost like you navigated the battle, found the flow of the force and grabbed on.”

Before she could protest he added, “Everyone’s experience with the force is different. I knew you had previous training, so rather than toss that out completely I was trying to find a way to marry the two ideologies. Granted, I came off sounding like a pretentious douchebag, but we got there in the end!” he laughed.

“Just be careful. Pain is an easy thing to abuse. Pain leads to anger, anger leads to hate, and hate leads to the dark side.” his expression softened and he put a hand on her shoulder, “You can’t fix the past, believe me, I wish you could, but you can. I’m not going to tell you to make peace with your past, but you should,” he let his hand fall away, “Deep seeded pain festers and corrupts. The intent to fix can be twisted into a desire to destroy,” his little smirk settled back on his lips, “The last part is dead on. The Force empowers us when we have nothing left, we just have to listen.”

Then his stomach growled, “Well, apparently, I’m hungry, you want some food?”

@Pazaakly

 

[Rya]

Rya shook her head in disagreement at his apology for potentially making her feel unprepared. "If I was always prepared for the test beforehand I'd never learn how to adapt in real life situations when I won't have the same luxury. I appreciate being pushed like that, it's what I've been missing since joining the Order. Thank you for bringing it back to me."

She did her best per usual to follow along with the mad lib style of explaining their connection to the Force that she should've been used to by now. All this talk of wills, light, dark, nature etc. It was far too much. "It's alright. If I'm to be a Jedi the first thing I should do is convert to proper terminology. Ingrained habit can make it difficult but I'll try to refer to it as the Force from now on as well."

Adding more to her previous question as she was curious she asked "So is this one of those revisionist history cases where because the Jedi have traditionally won more often than they've lot they get to decide what the "good" and "bad" sides of the Force are? I mean no offense, I'd very much like to be on the winning side in any war, simply pointing out the trend."

He did garner a genuine chuckle from her with his little callback to his previous advice during their sparring match. She bade her time until he was finished explaining himself to say in jest "Don't even with me. I've received many notes in my decade plus of study and training. That very well may be the worst direction I've ever been given."

She did start to feel a little uncomfortable with his warning. Even if her logical mind could discern that he meant no ill will with his words, it still felt as if he was critiquing her grief and how she dealt with it. With a little more emotion in her voice than she would've preferred she said "Am I not allowed to hate what's wrong? You can't fix the past but you can certainly stop people from breaking things down the line."

Still uneasy but welcoming a change of topic she said "What do you have to eat?"

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

He shook his head, “If you say so,” he said with a shrug and a smile, welp, he tried.

Leon nodded as she mentioned needing to get caught up on the terminology within The Order, “It’s a lot at first, but once you start to get a hang of the force, it’ll make more sense.”

Baudelaire shook his head, “Nah, this is pretty universally recognized. Waaay back in the day, when the Jedi were founded, there was a sect within that fell to the dark side, at the time there were no Sith. So they were called Dark Jedi. The Dark Jedi utilize “negative” emotions, so think, anger, pain, hate, etc. While the light side is derived from selflessness,” Leon laughed at this, “It’s about balance. Accepting things as they are, not how you want them to be, none of us are impervious to the temptation of the dark side, like do you have any idea how cool Sith lightning looks? It’s awesome. Well, until it hits you and then it’s terrible.

Leon’s eyes went wide and his mouth dropped open clearly aghast, “Well, don’t take it from me, the guy who literally fought you with his hands behind his back,” his grin broke through as he teased her.

“I think that’s an answer you’ll need to find for yourself,” he raised his hands in mock surrender, “I’ve already told you, my personal belief is that “intent” is the largest deciding factor with the force. If you hate something and simply want to destroy it because you don’t like it, then yeah, that’s pretty Sith-y.” He could tell she was a little nervous about this so he added, “No one is expecting you to be perfect, just don’t fly off the handle and kill me in my sleep and I’m sure you’ll understand better in time.”

He cocked an eyebrow at her, “I caught a couple of butterfly fish before we set off, why, what did you bring?”

@Pazaakly

 

[Rya]

Rya still didn't quite see eye to eye on the matter with her mentor but she was just as willing to let it go as she was tired so said nothing more about it. She was looking to avoid coming across as argumentative as much as possible. She did squint her eyes at him jokingly at the idea of killing him in his sleep.

"You know... now that you mention it that does sound like a good idea. And it wouldn't even count as "sithy" as you said since I'd be acting out of altruism." She was still a novice when it came to this level of jest while in the context of a trainer/trainee interaction so she hoped that they were coming across correctly.

She reached into her bag and pulled out her preferred snack of choice and handed one to Leon. "These are the very succinctly named meat-striped fruit squares. Unfortunately they don't make them outside of the Unknown Regions so I'm starting to run out. Maybe I can order them in bulk somehow to Brighthome." She chuckled to herself at the notion.

Whether Leon enjoyed them or not she couldn't predict, but to her they tasted like home. There was nothing quite like it. Every bite was a snapshot of small moments in her life. Sleeping in the same pod as her mom during the long bouts of hyperspace. Challenging herself to sneak as many squares as possible during lecture. But it couldn't all be about the past.

She not only looked to Leon to see what he thought of them, but said "I've never had butterfly fish, but I'd love to try some." A part of her was also curious as to how up to snufff the young knight's cooking skills were. Between his combat prowess and lack of mentorship skills it was hard for her to pin down what he would be good at and vice versa.

Once they'd settle into their meals Rya asked a question on a topic which to her had been the most important since joining the Order. "So... Leon, when do I get one of those weapons? It would've been much easier to deal with those beasts yoou tried feeding me to if I had one like you did." She said, eyeing his lightsaber.

@Zay