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View attachment 2364
Name: Vit'al Sythani
Race: Echani/ human
Age: 34
Height: 1.87 meters
Weight: 95.2Kg
Faction: The Fulcrum
Rank: Elder Venator/ original member
The Look
You would notice Vit'al. He has stern features; black eyes, an angular face, long braided hair, and the physique of an acrobat, but it was not for this you would notice him. It is his bearing. He moves with a particular grace, a smoothness. Every piece seems connected to the other and all moving at once, yet rarely would you catch a move wasted. His muscles hang slack, yet awake, as though a crocodile just watching you pass while it makes up its mind. Always standing at 6'2", his exact hieght, without puffing up or slouching down. Vit'al is a martial creature and knows his body well. In fact, to refer to them separately would be wrong. He exists in coordination.
He clothes himself simply, but takes pride in the neatness of his appearance. Usually A low cut sandy tunic, with no sleeves, tucked into a very loose, high waisted fisherman's pant, cuffed into the top of high black leather moccasins. Vit'al enjoyes comfort, and his freedom of movement was better protection than amor. He did have pride in his jacket, though. A fur lined, hooded leather jacket in deep burgundy, his favorite, the color of peasant wine.
View attachment 2368
View attachment 2367
The Virtues
Vit'al is martial artist of the highest caliber. He is a Master of Seresu, and Yuzu Quan, a martial form focusing heavily on use of the body and force powers he helped his mother perfect, which combines Echani Martial Art with Niman, and a little Ataru. The force flows through his veins more freely than blood, an he is excedingly skilled in it's physical application. In superb shape, his pure strength comes not from sheer muscle, but knowing how to use what he has. Naturally he is also very lithe and he has an intellect to match. He has his father's academic mind, and an iron will honed through the same years of training and meditation as his body and spirit.
The Flaws
Though wise in the force, he has little social experience. Vit'al was over educated in isolation most of his young life. He refers to his parents only as "teachers", and by the time he was around other people he was aware of his advantages, and was not shy abouting pointing them out. Had he perhaps been inclined to to become the strong silient type, this could be manageable, but he usually insists on pointing out to anyone he hears the futility in their logic, the faults in their plans, or the inanity of their opinion. He is direct, unappologetic, and has very little concern for peopl'es feelings. Though this does not come from a place of judgment, their are few who can stand to invest in a long conversation with him.
While he enjoys speeders, someone once tried to teach him to pilot a space craft. After the third try Vit'al declared it useless, as he would be better moving it through the force.
He also is woefully useless with a blaster, more by choice than design.
Vit'al does not believe in peace, he believes in balance. This does not involve sparing life any more or less than it involves taking it.
The Gear
View attachment 2366
The Story
View attachment 2365
Love & the Force:
Some say Master Pelgrim Sythani left the Jedi Order over his beliefs. One the order's most academic members, a historian, and renowned master of Seresu, Master Sythani was believed to be a favorite for the high council. However, Pelgrim was also known for his radical politics. As a student of the archives, and suspicious of the great peace in the glaxay, he was known to question the Jedi's politcial involvment. He was was very outspoken against the agressive tactics becoming common in the order, and was particularly concerned with the extreme leanings of their theology, believeing that it was possible the Jedi could create an imbalance, allowing the Sith to rise. He lobbied for reduced policing from the order, and it was for these reasons he claims to have left. Most still believe that was all there was to his exit. Those people never had the honor of watching him duel Master Ung-Loo.
Ktara Ung-Loo was of the Echani. Tentative at first when taken by the Jedi, the other Echani Jedi knew to continue training her in the ways of their people. Eventually, Echani Master Utilli became hers, and Ktara Ung-Loo became of the fiercest Knights in the order. She combined Niman and Ataru with Echani martial arts, fighting with a ferocity of fists, and the force. Once a Master in her own right, Ktara served as Battlemaster for a time. Though the stories vary, it was a dare that sent her to challenge the older Master Sythani. Her agressive martial and force focused form against his perfected Seresu. The intial duel, it is said, lasted over an hour. The second nearly two. By the third they were dancing on air.
The other Echani Masters knew well what they saw transpire between the two. After their intial duel, theyo spent many long nights together finding the common ground between seeming opposites. Ktara had not questioned the order before, perfectly content with her role, but she began to understand what Pelgrim saw. By the next year, they had both left the order on amiable enough terms, though many were stunned by the departure and blamed Pelgrim's theories as seditious. They settled in Naboo, Pelgrim's home planet, and in exhange for occasional consultation, bartered for a large patch of land in the Gallo Mountains, where they founded an animal sanctuary. A year later, it became the place they would raise their son.
The Greedy Pupil:
Overlooking the lake country, every dawn since he learned to stand, Vit'al Sythani would mimic his mother's medatative Echani kata's. In the late morning they tended to the animals, and in the afternoon his formal education began.
Pelgrim and Ktara were at a loss in the begining. They knew they would train him in the force, and the force was strong withing him; but how should they train him? As they would youngling? They were presented such a unique opportunity, to raise him freely with force; they knew they had to seize it. But, without the order's discipline or other younglings around, they found one lesson particular challenging: patience. Vit'al was eager to learn, and threw quite a forceful tantrum when denied the answer to a question, or the floating crown of pepples and flowers around his tiny head. In the end, afters years seperated from the order, their pride in Vit'al got the best of them.
And so it went, two masters and one pupil. The days were spent practicing Echani, meditating, formal schooling in academic topics, training, and caring for the variety of beasts in the Naboo wilds. More and more often, little Vit'al was treated to watching his parents duel. He could not have known of the restlessness that spurred them on. Indeed his insatiable lust for knowledge, and adorable aptitude for trouble had been a keen salve for the small cracks begining to form between Pelgrim and Ktara. While Pelgrim's exploration of the force in their new home seemed to make him more reclusive, Ktara wanted only to open up and conect more to everything outside of herself. All their ferocious dueling was just as often an attempt remember the passion they shared. Pelgrims impenitrable defense grew tighter and tighter, while Ktara used her saber less and less, learning to deflect his attacks with the force alone, and lashing out with force infused kicks, blended with telekentic barrages. Vit'al couldn't have understood the fragilty looming behind the martial display. But he watched. He watched, and he learned.
Eventually, however, his parents knew it was time for a change; for themselves and for their sons continued learning. They decided the family would split their time between the sanctuary, and the city of Dee'ja Peak.
Civilized:
Playing the role of occasional counselor, scholar, and tutor to Naboo nobility was a welcome change for Pelgrim, and greatly appreciated by the community, as attention from Jedi was rare, active or not. Ktara would sometimes be asked to lead training sessions with the gaurd, but these were met with mixed reactions, due mostly to the presence of her 9 year old son. First of all, it had taken them months to break him of his whimsical and flagrant use of the force in public, which made a lot of people deeply uncomfortable. The other reason was the fact that Vit'al would participate in training, and noone seemd able to keep lay him out.
Other than proving himself superior to these adults, and acesss to new archives to browse, Vit'al did not appreciate the time they spent in the city. He found most people he encountered to be idol, undereducated, and worst of all: petty. Particularly the adults. He prefered the honest simplicity of the animals, the wilds, and some younger children. It was nearly impossible for him to communicate with anyone his own age.
Eventually he learned to behave at least, and Plegrim took his boy on a few diplomatic trips as part of his education, sometimes off-world. As long as he had enough room to move, Vit'al was suprised to discover he enjoyed the adventure of space travel. The promise of new worlds was exciting, even if he didn't care for it's day-to-day life. Still, it did begin to give him some perspective; something he did not beleive he was getting from old emissaries in endless circular conversations about nothing. These were the leaders of their communites?
By 11, his parents had made another decision. For almost a year he had been able to manage a few surprise hits on them when he joined their sparring (a practice already a few years old), and was learning to adapt their various forms and turn them against the other. It was clear the training saber Pelgrim had made would no longer cut it, something Vit'al had insisted upon since he was 7. So for his 11th birthday, a trip to Illium was arranged.
Taking Sides:
The trip to Illium became Vit'al's first encounter with the Jedi. He had long since known of the Jedi and Sith and read a great deal of their history, but they seemed far away from him until now. Truly he never had to face the reality that there were others who weilded the force outside his own family. Yet here they were.
Pelgrim had no desire to even risk such a thing, so Ktara was the one to bring the elated Vit'al. She took him to a rarely touched cave, small, and where Vit'al's would be better tested. Lo and behold, one of the Battlemaster's former students was there, a Master in his own right, and with a strong padawan of his own. The exchange was brief and civil, but the opposing Master made perfectly clear his feelings about the circumstances of their meeting. Vit'al distinctly heard the word "traitor", and was on the recieving end of a mortified look at the realiization of his relationship to Ktara; a look that turned to gross disaproval when the topic of their mutual purpose here was broached. Was this the Jedi? Were these the sentiments of the prominant order of force users in the galaxy?
Vit'al boldly postured toward the Jedi Master in his mother's defence, but she ended that with barely a flexing of her palm. Never had he felt such commanding energy from her. It was not like on Naboo when he had to control himself to avoid frightening people, this was something else..."not yet". The Padawan opposite him seemed to experience something similar with his Master, and now noticed Vit'al. As their eyes locked, Vit'al felt an astonishing wave of understanding come over him. Pain, percerverience, knowledge...Echani. He was an Echani, Vit'al sensed it in his body, and knew the older boy knew it as well. They were alike...and in more ways than the socailly challenged 11 year old could place. Meanwhile, their respective chaperones had apparently reached a surprising decision. The two boys would face the cavern together.
Both seemed unable or uninterested in words for most of the trail. More than that, they did not need them. As Echani they read each other's movements in subtler ways than words would have served, and both their Masters were visibly stunned and proud when they emerged from the mouth of the cave in mere minutes. Vit'al thought he detected a hint of smugness in his mother's grin.
They left on warmer terms, and Vit'al thought he over heard the padawan being told to keep this between them. The Padawan. Jubei. A friend. Still, Vit'al was deeply affected by the realization that he and his family were outsiders to the Jedi. What were they then to the Sith? He wondered, not knowing that in a few short years, he would learn that lesson too.
This excursion also brought Vit'al closer to his mother, and it was she who got him started with his crystal meditation. He was so committed to fashioning a perfect crystal, he put forth one of the most patient and amture displays in his life to date, and meditated for over two months while he contructed his lightsaber; isolating himself with research and focus, and barely speaking to his parents. What he never saw was that his parents barely spoke to each other during this time either.
During the following years, training became less and less a family affair, and more of a shared custody arrangment. His father brought him along with his academic and diplomatic work int Dee'ja and beyond, and Ktara, who suddenly seemed willing to participate in off-world military operations, exposed Vit'al to active combat situations, and real investigative work. He and Ktara had also long since begun work on perfecteing their fighting form of Yuzu Quan, which utlized a mastery of force barrier, telekenetics, and body control to attack and defend even against lightsabers and blasters, though Vit'al still insisted on weaving his yellow blade into the form. This brought Vit'al and Ktara even closer together, while Pelgrim seemed only to treat his son as more of an intern, even refusing to reveal the true nature of some of his research. Still, pelgrim grew jealous of katar's relationship with their son, and by the time Vit'al was 15 the two openly argued in front of him, and by 17 it was more frequent than not, broken up only by his frequent and forecful insistence on sparring. Which, inccidently, became hard to refuse now for the two parrents of this now grown and imensely powerful son they had reared. To make things even more tense, bothe parents had stopped holding back, and neither were able to take him down. Ktara was stunned, but proud...Pelgrim, on the other hand, was terrified.
Love & the Force part II:
Vit'al was 18, when the family was asked to step back from Dee'ja Peak. The rumors of who, and what they were had become too much for the city to bear, and it had been heard that Jedi were coming to investigate. This message was delivered to Ktara and her son upon returning from what was apparently their last adventure with the gaurd. A part of Vit'al suspected it was the result of a recent affair with a noble-woman, but that did not need to be discussed with his mother. Besides that it made sense, that had spent the better part of 2 decades on Naboo, and half of that regularly involved in the goings on of Dee'Ja Peak. Vit'al's friend turned to his friend Jubei from so long ago... had he turned them in? No. This only made sense. They returned to their homestead to inform Pelgrim, but found only a note "Away for research...Pelgrim." It was months before they agreed he needed to be found.
They could sense him, every so often, like a sharp and sudden knife in the stomach. It took every last ounce of grace they had with Dee'Ja to let them trace Pelgrim's research in the archives. He had taken or destroyed a great deal of whatever he had been studying at home, but eventually his son put enough pieces together. The trail led Vit'al through a variety of ancient stories involving ore that enhanced a users force sensitivity. An ore steeped in the dark side. Lignan. Eventually Vit'al and Ktara reeached the same conlcusion he must have, traded their last favor for the loan of a ship, and headed for the Phaegon system.
As soon as they entered the system, the disturbance was palatable. Thick waves of darkness, like Vit'al had never before been exposed to. It frightened him at first, but as Ktara traced the source to the moon Phaegon III, Vit'al meditated quietly to understand this foreign energy. He could feel his father in it, that was certian, but the power, the "dark side" slowly became more comfortable. Like a new garment you just aren't sure how to wear yet. Something different. His new fascination would have to wait however, for even as they landed, they could see the cloaked figure of pelgrim emerging from the small camp at the base of his own shuttle. He was radiating so much force he was practically glowing, and it was readily apparent all that energy was terribly unstable.
"The stones here!" Pelgrim's voice was hoarse and greedy as he greated them. "The force pulses through them...I know you feel it Vit'al, my son." Vit'al could find words, but Ktara could.
"You've been here to long Pelgrim, their power is controling you, making you mad."
Pelgrim's eyes grew soft again just for a moment, his ghostly complexion flickered with color.
"We've discovered so many of the force's secrets... together...it's true nature. This is my gift...for both of you...take it!"
He flicked his wrist as a small crate of unrefined ore flew toward them with blinding speed, yet perfect control, and landed with emphasis at their feet. Vit'al could feel them call to him, but he found his tongue first.
"Father, please. Come back with us... this place...it can't be meant for us."
"Oh my son... It's been so long since we dueled, as a family, you always love too.... let us at least enjoy ourselves while we are here..."
Vit'al was frozen, paralyized by his emotions for the first and last real time of his life. His father cleared the 20 meters between them in a blink of an eye, and a green crackling blade bore down on him like the judgment of gods. He could feel the heat of it singeing his hair, as his mother's blue saber intercepted and flung it back. After a few more moments of stunned silience, Vit'al joined the fray. He and his mother combined could still not puncture his father's defense in this state. He was somehow able to shrug off their telekenetic attacks and tear through their force barriers, laughing with disturbing glee all the while. Time lost all meaning and hours seemed to pass before finally, a love born of combat came to an end, as Vit'al witnessed his father's blade drive through his mother's chest.
Pelgrim fell to his knees, weeping. He reached for Ktara, but with her last ounce of strength she shrugged him away. Her last breath was for Vit'al, who cought her, himself trembling with emotion. "My son..." she smiled, "be still". And he was.
A calm settled over Vit'al that echoed through the force. Pelgrim could see his resolve, and instantly began to plead with his son, but it was futile. With a shift of his weight, Vit'al called forth a hunk of earth and heaved it at his father. A press of his flattenned palm sent another, and the sharp thrust of and elbow with a swift raise of his knee, another and another still. Pelgrim, still under the influenc of the Lignan, manged to sheild himself from being crushed as the effortless barage of earth drove him back. Panicked, he lashed back at his son, half mad, and fearing for his life, but without igniting his own saber, Vit'al caught his father's saber with his bare hands, a thin force barrier shrouding them. Pelgrim was stunned, as Vit'al wrenched it from his grasp and thrust an open palm inches from his father's chest. The strike was never intended to hit pysically: it was the pilar of telekenetic energy that crushed Pelgrim's ribs, and sent him soaring backward into the face of the cliff behind him.
The limp, but living body of Pelgrim rose from the pile of rubble, suspended like a ragdoll.
View attachment 2364 View attachment 2365 View attachment 2366 View attachment 2367
Name: Vit'al Sythani
Race: Echani/ human
Age: 34
Height: 1.87 meters
Weight: 95.2Kg
Faction: The Fulcrum
Rank: Elder Venator/ original member
The Look
You would notice Vit'al. He has stern features; black eyes, an angular face, long braided hair, and the physique of an acrobat, but it was not for this you would notice him. It is his bearing. He moves with a particular grace, a smoothness. Every piece seems connected to the other and all moving at once, yet rarely would you catch a move wasted. His muscles hang slack, yet awake, as though a crocodile just watching you pass while it makes up its mind. Always standing at 6'2", his exact hieght, without puffing up or slouching down. Vit'al is a martial creature and knows his body well. In fact, to refer to them separately would be wrong. He exists in coordination.
He clothes himself simply, but takes pride in the neatness of his appearance. Usually A low cut sandy tunic, with no sleeves, tucked into a very loose, high waisted fisherman's pant, cuffed into the top of high black leather moccasins. Vit'al enjoyes comfort, and his freedom of movement was better protection than amor. He did have pride in his jacket, though. A fur lined, hooded leather jacket in deep burgundy, his favorite, the color of peasant wine.
View attachment 2368
View attachment 2367
The Virtues
Vit'al is martial artist of the highest caliber. He is a Master of Seresu, and Yuzu Quan, a martial form focusing heavily on use of the body and force powers he helped his mother perfect, which combines Echani Martial Art with Niman, and a little Ataru. The force flows through his veins more freely than blood, an he is excedingly skilled in it's physical application. In superb shape, his pure strength comes not from sheer muscle, but knowing how to use what he has. Naturally he is also very lithe and he has an intellect to match. He has his father's academic mind, and an iron will honed through the same years of training and meditation as his body and spirit.
The Flaws
Though wise in the force, he has little social experience. Vit'al was over educated in isolation most of his young life. He refers to his parents only as "teachers", and by the time he was around other people he was aware of his advantages, and was not shy abouting pointing them out. Had he perhaps been inclined to to become the strong silient type, this could be manageable, but he usually insists on pointing out to anyone he hears the futility in their logic, the faults in their plans, or the inanity of their opinion. He is direct, unappologetic, and has very little concern for peopl'es feelings. Though this does not come from a place of judgment, their are few who can stand to invest in a long conversation with him.
While he enjoys speeders, someone once tried to teach him to pilot a space craft. After the third try Vit'al declared it useless, as he would be better moving it through the force.
He also is woefully useless with a blaster, more by choice than design.
Vit'al does not believe in peace, he believes in balance. This does not involve sparing life any more or less than it involves taking it.
The Gear
View attachment 2366
The Story
View attachment 2365
Love & the Force:
Some say Master Pelgrim Sythani left the Jedi Order over his beliefs. One the order's most academic members, a historian, and renowned master of Seresu, Master Sythani was believed to be a favorite for the high council. However, Pelgrim was also known for his radical politics. As a student of the archives, and suspicious of the great peace in the glaxay, he was known to question the Jedi's politcial involvment. He was was very outspoken against the agressive tactics becoming common in the order, and was particularly concerned with the extreme leanings of their theology, believeing that it was possible the Jedi could create an imbalance, allowing the Sith to rise. He lobbied for reduced policing from the order, and it was for these reasons he claims to have left. Most still believe that was all there was to his exit. Those people never had the honor of watching him duel Master Ung-Loo.
Ktara Ung-Loo was of the Echani. Tentative at first when taken by the Jedi, the other Echani Jedi knew to continue training her in the ways of their people. Eventually, Echani Master Utilli became hers, and Ktara Ung-Loo became of the fiercest Knights in the order. She combined Niman and Ataru with Echani martial arts, fighting with a ferocity of fists, and the force. Once a Master in her own right, Ktara served as Battlemaster for a time. Though the stories vary, it was a dare that sent her to challenge the older Master Sythani. Her agressive martial and force focused form against his perfected Seresu. The intial duel, it is said, lasted over an hour. The second nearly two. By the third they were dancing on air.
The other Echani Masters knew well what they saw transpire between the two. After their intial duel, theyo spent many long nights together finding the common ground between seeming opposites. Ktara had not questioned the order before, perfectly content with her role, but she began to understand what Pelgrim saw. By the next year, they had both left the order on amiable enough terms, though many were stunned by the departure and blamed Pelgrim's theories as seditious. They settled in Naboo, Pelgrim's home planet, and in exhange for occasional consultation, bartered for a large patch of land in the Gallo Mountains, where they founded an animal sanctuary. A year later, it became the place they would raise their son.
The Greedy Pupil:
Overlooking the lake country, every dawn since he learned to stand, Vit'al Sythani would mimic his mother's medatative Echani kata's. In the late morning they tended to the animals, and in the afternoon his formal education began.
Pelgrim and Ktara were at a loss in the begining. They knew they would train him in the force, and the force was strong withing him; but how should they train him? As they would youngling? They were presented such a unique opportunity, to raise him freely with force; they knew they had to seize it. But, without the order's discipline or other younglings around, they found one lesson particular challenging: patience. Vit'al was eager to learn, and threw quite a forceful tantrum when denied the answer to a question, or the floating crown of pepples and flowers around his tiny head. In the end, afters years seperated from the order, their pride in Vit'al got the best of them.
And so it went, two masters and one pupil. The days were spent practicing Echani, meditating, formal schooling in academic topics, training, and caring for the variety of beasts in the Naboo wilds. More and more often, little Vit'al was treated to watching his parents duel. He could not have known of the restlessness that spurred them on. Indeed his insatiable lust for knowledge, and adorable aptitude for trouble had been a keen salve for the small cracks begining to form between Pelgrim and Ktara. While Pelgrim's exploration of the force in their new home seemed to make him more reclusive, Ktara wanted only to open up and conect more to everything outside of herself. All their ferocious dueling was just as often an attempt remember the passion they shared. Pelgrims impenitrable defense grew tighter and tighter, while Ktara used her saber less and less, learning to deflect his attacks with the force alone, and lashing out with force infused kicks, blended with telekentic barrages. Vit'al couldn't have understood the fragilty looming behind the martial display. But he watched. He watched, and he learned.
Eventually, however, his parents knew it was time for a change; for themselves and for their sons continued learning. They decided the family would split their time between the sanctuary, and the city of Dee'ja Peak.
Civilized:
Playing the role of occasional counselor, scholar, and tutor to Naboo nobility was a welcome change for Pelgrim, and greatly appreciated by the community, as attention from Jedi was rare, active or not. Ktara would sometimes be asked to lead training sessions with the gaurd, but these were met with mixed reactions, due mostly to the presence of her 9 year old son. First of all, it had taken them months to break him of his whimsical and flagrant use of the force in public, which made a lot of people deeply uncomfortable. The other reason was the fact that Vit'al would participate in training, and noone seemd able to keep lay him out.
Other than proving himself superior to these adults, and acesss to new archives to browse, Vit'al did not appreciate the time they spent in the city. He found most people he encountered to be idol, undereducated, and worst of all: petty. Particularly the adults. He prefered the honest simplicity of the animals, the wilds, and some younger children. It was nearly impossible for him to communicate with anyone his own age.
Eventually he learned to behave at least, and Plegrim took his boy on a few diplomatic trips as part of his education, sometimes off-world. As long as he had enough room to move, Vit'al was suprised to discover he enjoyed the adventure of space travel. The promise of new worlds was exciting, even if he didn't care for it's day-to-day life. Still, it did begin to give him some perspective; something he did not beleive he was getting from old emissaries in endless circular conversations about nothing. These were the leaders of their communites?
By 11, his parents had made another decision. For almost a year he had been able to manage a few surprise hits on them when he joined their sparring (a practice already a few years old), and was learning to adapt their various forms and turn them against the other. It was clear the training saber Pelgrim had made would no longer cut it, something Vit'al had insisted upon since he was 7. So for his 11th birthday, a trip to Illium was arranged.
Taking Sides:
The trip to Illium became Vit'al's first encounter with the Jedi. He had long since known of the Jedi and Sith and read a great deal of their history, but they seemed far away from him until now. Truly he never had to face the reality that there were others who weilded the force outside his own family. Yet here they were.
Pelgrim had no desire to even risk such a thing, so Ktara was the one to bring the elated Vit'al. She took him to a rarely touched cave, small, and where Vit'al's would be better tested. Lo and behold, one of the Battlemaster's former students was there, a Master in his own right, and with a strong padawan of his own. The exchange was brief and civil, but the opposing Master made perfectly clear his feelings about the circumstances of their meeting. Vit'al distinctly heard the word "traitor", and was on the recieving end of a mortified look at the realiization of his relationship to Ktara; a look that turned to gross disaproval when the topic of their mutual purpose here was broached. Was this the Jedi? Were these the sentiments of the prominant order of force users in the galaxy?
Vit'al boldly postured toward the Jedi Master in his mother's defence, but she ended that with barely a flexing of her palm. Never had he felt such commanding energy from her. It was not like on Naboo when he had to control himself to avoid frightening people, this was something else..."not yet". The Padawan opposite him seemed to experience something similar with his Master, and now noticed Vit'al. As their eyes locked, Vit'al felt an astonishing wave of understanding come over him. Pain, percerverience, knowledge...Echani. He was an Echani, Vit'al sensed it in his body, and knew the older boy knew it as well. They were alike...and in more ways than the socailly challenged 11 year old could place. Meanwhile, their respective chaperones had apparently reached a surprising decision. The two boys would face the cavern together.
Both seemed unable or uninterested in words for most of the trail. More than that, they did not need them. As Echani they read each other's movements in subtler ways than words would have served, and both their Masters were visibly stunned and proud when they emerged from the mouth of the cave in mere minutes. Vit'al thought he detected a hint of smugness in his mother's grin.
They left on warmer terms, and Vit'al thought he over heard the padawan being told to keep this between them. The Padawan. Jubei. A friend. Still, Vit'al was deeply affected by the realization that he and his family were outsiders to the Jedi. What were they then to the Sith? He wondered, not knowing that in a few short years, he would learn that lesson too.
This excursion also brought Vit'al closer to his mother, and it was she who got him started with his crystal meditation. He was so committed to fashioning a perfect crystal, he put forth one of the most patient and amture displays in his life to date, and meditated for over two months while he contructed his lightsaber; isolating himself with research and focus, and barely speaking to his parents. What he never saw was that his parents barely spoke to each other during this time either.
During the following years, training became less and less a family affair, and more of a shared custody arrangment. His father brought him along with his academic and diplomatic work int Dee'ja and beyond, and Ktara, who suddenly seemed willing to participate in off-world military operations, exposed Vit'al to active combat situations, and real investigative work. He and Ktara had also long since begun work on perfecteing their fighting form of Yuzu Quan, which utlized a mastery of force barrier, telekenetics, and body control to attack and defend even against lightsabers and blasters, though Vit'al still insisted on weaving his yellow blade into the form. This brought Vit'al and Ktara even closer together, while Pelgrim seemed only to treat his son as more of an intern, even refusing to reveal the true nature of some of his research. Still, pelgrim grew jealous of katar's relationship with their son, and by the time Vit'al was 15 the two openly argued in front of him, and by 17 it was more frequent than not, broken up only by his frequent and forecful insistence on sparring. Which, inccidently, became hard to refuse now for the two parrents of this now grown and imensely powerful son they had reared. To make things even more tense, bothe parents had stopped holding back, and neither were able to take him down. Ktara was stunned, but proud...Pelgrim, on the other hand, was terrified.
Love & the Force part II:
Vit'al was 18, when the family was asked to step back from Dee'ja Peak. The rumors of who, and what they were had become too much for the city to bear, and it had been heard that Jedi were coming to investigate. This message was delivered to Ktara and her son upon returning from what was apparently their last adventure with the gaurd. A part of Vit'al suspected it was the result of a recent affair with a noble-woman, but that did not need to be discussed with his mother. Besides that it made sense, that had spent the better part of 2 decades on Naboo, and half of that regularly involved in the goings on of Dee'Ja Peak. Vit'al's friend turned to his friend Jubei from so long ago... had he turned them in? No. This only made sense. They returned to their homestead to inform Pelgrim, but found only a note "Away for research...Pelgrim." It was months before they agreed he needed to be found.
They could sense him, every so often, like a sharp and sudden knife in the stomach. It took every last ounce of grace they had with Dee'Ja to let them trace Pelgrim's research in the archives. He had taken or destroyed a great deal of whatever he had been studying at home, but eventually his son put enough pieces together. The trail led Vit'al through a variety of ancient stories involving ore that enhanced a users force sensitivity. An ore steeped in the dark side. Lignan. Eventually Vit'al and Ktara reeached the same conlcusion he must have, traded their last favor for the loan of a ship, and headed for the Phaegon system.
As soon as they entered the system, the disturbance was palatable. Thick waves of darkness, like Vit'al had never before been exposed to. It frightened him at first, but as Ktara traced the source to the moon Phaegon III, Vit'al meditated quietly to understand this foreign energy. He could feel his father in it, that was certian, but the power, the "dark side" slowly became more comfortable. Like a new garment you just aren't sure how to wear yet. Something different. His new fascination would have to wait however, for even as they landed, they could see the cloaked figure of pelgrim emerging from the small camp at the base of his own shuttle. He was radiating so much force he was practically glowing, and it was readily apparent all that energy was terribly unstable.
"The stones here!" Pelgrim's voice was hoarse and greedy as he greated them. "The force pulses through them...I know you feel it Vit'al, my son." Vit'al could find words, but Ktara could.
"You've been here to long Pelgrim, their power is controling you, making you mad."
Pelgrim's eyes grew soft again just for a moment, his ghostly complexion flickered with color.
"We've discovered so many of the force's secrets... together...it's true nature. This is my gift...for both of you...take it!"
He flicked his wrist as a small crate of unrefined ore flew toward them with blinding speed, yet perfect control, and landed with emphasis at their feet. Vit'al could feel them call to him, but he found his tongue first.
"Father, please. Come back with us... this place...it can't be meant for us."
"Oh my son... It's been so long since we dueled, as a family, you always love too.... let us at least enjoy ourselves while we are here..."
Vit'al was frozen, paralyized by his emotions for the first and last real time of his life. His father cleared the 20 meters between them in a blink of an eye, and a green crackling blade bore down on him like the judgment of gods. He could feel the heat of it singeing his hair, as his mother's blue saber intercepted and flung it back. After a few more moments of stunned silience, Vit'al joined the fray. He and his mother combined could still not puncture his father's defense in this state. He was somehow able to shrug off their telekenetic attacks and tear through their force barriers, laughing with disturbing glee all the while. Time lost all meaning and hours seemed to pass before finally, a love born of combat came to an end, as Vit'al witnessed his father's blade drive through his mother's chest.
Pelgrim fell to his knees, weeping. He reached for Ktara, but with her last ounce of strength she shrugged him away. Her last breath was for Vit'al, who cought her, himself trembling with emotion. "My son..." she smiled, "be still". And he was.
A calm settled over Vit'al that echoed through the force. Pelgrim could see his resolve, and instantly began to plead with his son, but it was futile. With a shift of his weight, Vit'al called forth a hunk of earth and heaved it at his father. A press of his flattenned palm sent another, and the sharp thrust of and elbow with a swift raise of his knee, another and another still. Pelgrim, still under the influenc of the Lignan, manged to sheild himself from being crushed as the effortless barage of earth drove him back. Panicked, he lashed back at his son, half mad, and fearing for his life, but without igniting his own saber, Vit'al caught his father's saber with his bare hands, a thin force barrier shrouding them. Pelgrim was stunned, as Vit'al wrenched it from his grasp and thrust an open palm inches from his father's chest. The strike was never intended to hit pysically: it was the pilar of telekenetic energy that crushed Pelgrim's ribs, and sent him soaring backward into the face of the cliff behind him.
The limp, but living body of Pelgrim rose from the pile of rubble, suspended like a ragdoll.
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