Through my Passion is Borne my Strength

[GABA]

“That was expensive whiskey!” she said thinking how many credits it was worth even a shot, “I could have finished it the rest of it at least.”

Ebberla kept quiet, she began picking up on subtle movements in Thaed’s actions that hinted he was using the Force. It still bothered her greatly she couldn’t feel anything beyond herself physically and emotionally. No ripples, no waves, only the wind blowing, if it felt like it. She twisted her hair in her hand and held it up allowing the sweat to evaporate from her neck.

The Sith spoke about his Master and his training as an acolyte and she thought for a moment, “No, I cannot.” She frowned, the feeling of her previous guilt slowly creeping back into her thoughts, she searched her memory for her teachings and the teachings of others. There were faces, voices didn’t match, their names lost elsewhere, her memories were such a jumbled mess and it brought her annoyance.

“Emotions are fine.” Her eyes looking beyond the swamp, then to Thaed, “If a Jedi tells otherwise, you may criticize them.” She paused thinking, “It’s the change I am not familiar with and I understand this, but sometimes easier said than done.”

 

[Sreeya]

Thaed looked at her, noticing her dismay at not having the Force.

"Why do you grieve so much for the loss? Listen, hear, smell. That is what is truly there, and what you naturally perceive, without exploring further into it. Applying the Force takes you beyond what you sense, giving it meaning..but perhaps more meaning than is necessary. Now you can see everything around you simply for the way it is. There is beauty in that."

They were odd words coming from a Sith Lord, and he had looked away by the time he finished speaking. It was clear that he was a lover of the outdoors, no matter how miserable the situation. In the distance, he could hear running water, and his pace quickened slightly.

"I believe we are going the right way. I hear a substantial amount of running water..perhaps even a waterfall. With luck, we may run into a civilization."

He grinned to himself.

"Hopefully not cannibalistic tribes.."

 

[GABA]

She could feel his eyes fall on her as he spoke, she kept her eyes on the ground before her. Every now and again she could feel her boot attempt to succumb to the mud if she happened to put just too much weight on one step. Ebb furrowed her brow thinking, but all she could reply was on his word choice.

“Awfully poetic for someone of your nature to say.” She raised an eyebrow and paused in her steps for a moment in order to yank her boot from mud. The Zabrak had quickened his pace, announcing he heard water in the distance. She picked up her step, catching up with the Sith, she didn’t hear the last of his comment, only thinking about a waterfall.

“Like a real one?” she asked him about the waterfall, seeming slightly excited about the thought of it. Ebberla suddenly realized how ignorant she sounded and under her muddy face, she could feel her cheeks redden. She had been to many places in the galaxy, but nothing took her too far out of a space port or a Jedi temple, even a swamp as such as they were in was quite foreign to her.

 

[Sreeya]

"Someone of my nature? What, pray tell, have you judged my nature to be?"

Thaed did not glance back at her, coming across an elevation. They needed to climb up, with various rocks and stones jutting out to help make the journey easier. He glanced back at Ebberla, grimacing.

"I'm beginning to regret taking that hand."

He wandered over to her, crouching slightly so she could climb onto his back. He couldn't simply carry her as he had before, as he had to actually scale the rocks. Thaed would wait till she hopped on before moving on. He ignored the stench and mud that came off her, though he didn't exactly smell like roses himself. He expertly began to climb, using each jutting rock to haul himself up, the Force allowing him balance with her weight along with his. Thaed continued climbing, sweat beginning to line his body. Even with the Force, this was a strenuous task, but they had reached a dead end, with the only way being up. As he climbed, he could hear the rush of water, even smelling wet dirt from here.

"Almost there."

After what seemed like hours, he grasped the edge of flat ground, finally hauling them both up.

For a moment, Thaed paused, a grin appearing on his face as he set Ebberla down.

"Waterfalls. Real ones."

The water roared all around them, mist rising and soaking their skins, though they weren't directly in the water. Some of them were massive, while others small. Thaed simply gazed ahead, feeling quite at home in the setting. He had always been a lover of the outdoors, and nothing pleased him more than fresh water and pools filled with life.

 

[GABA]

“Not looking to get Force choked, so I’ll let that one go.” Ebberla replied flatly as they continued onward.

Ebberla slowed down her jog, Thaed still a good distance in front of her as they approached the change in land elevation. Ebberla scanned it from bottom to the very top, shielding her eyes from the sun with her one hand as her eyes angled up. She frowned, looking back down at her stump, she knew what they would have to do before the Sith had even spoke. She wiped her forehead with the sleeve of her filthy shirt and Thaed walked back over to her, remarking about her hand and then crouched down for her to climb on his back. She was surprised, she half expected for him to tell her to climb herself.

“I don’t know, I kind of like, it’s not too often I get to be carried around.” She replied hoisting herself onto his back and then he begun to climb. She hung on closely feeling every muscle in his back work to pull the both of them upwards. The sun was hot on her back and head as Thaed climbed, but she took those moments just to feel it, to feel the sun, to feel the Zabrak climb, the shift of his weight, the swoosh of a breeze that graced their faces and shoulders as Thaed would pull them up.

Though as poetic as the Sith may have sounded earlier, Ebberla was starting to understand his point. Perhaps it was her own flaw of being so in tuned with such an outside power or even a flaw of the Jedi teachings to be mindful of the Force. To see things how they are meant something completely different to the former Sage Master now. How could one truly see something as is when the Force could manipulate thoughts and views and even guidance? These thoughts churned in her head as Thaed would bring them to the top onto level ground.

Ebberla would feel the mists soak their bodies, she could hear the Sith take a different tone, and though for the moment she couldn’t see it, she could tell he carried a grin as he announce their arrival. She released her hold on Thaed, a short drop to the ground and walked a few steps in awe to the sight she held.

Real waterfalls. She knew there was one on Empress Teta, but due to her work and travels, never had a chance to visit. But she concluded it wasn’t as magnificent as the sight before her. Her body flinched as it instinctively begun looking for the Force, to feel beyond what she was feeling. She felt agitation from not being able to feel, but then stopped herself, she was feeling, seeing, listening, and even tasting the air. As is.