A teacher, gyres and the Winds

In Character Roleplay
#1

Linze knelt in the small meadow, overlooking the river. She had never done this before, but had heard from those she considered a friend that meditation was freeing. She followed the green Twi’lek, 'now known as Padawan Tradana’s words “You must close your eyes, and feel the winds about you.” Tradana said, and so, Linze complied. “Feel the flow of the breeze about you. Listen to the river as it flows. Smell the grass, and flowers under you.” Tradana spoke, her eyes closed as she guided Linze. As she took in the world around her, she focused inward. She listened to the flowing river, to the birds in the trees, the winds upon the grass, and to the words of this strange new being… and the two, sat in the meadow for hours, as Linze introspected, on a guided meditation with Tradana.

Eventually, as the meditation grew, so did something within her. Suddenly, Tradana’s eyes snapped open, and at that moment, Linze felt it. In a hushed tone, Tradana spoke to her. “Come now, child of the winds. You, who are a visitor of this place.” Her voice was calming to Linze, she took in every syllable. “Open now this door, and with firm footing, take your first step on this – your path. Come now and immerse in the flow now seen! Look, and feel that which eyes cannot! Touch the Winds, and let them pull to a path now seen. Take your step, o’ daughter of winds! As you have before, and will once again.” Her chant was haunting, yet something deep within Linze seemed to resonate. Something primal… as if she had been here before – in another time, another life. Yet, still, Tradana continued. “Come, and be a part of this stream. Walk with purpose and with confidence, with wind as guide. Now, eyes truly open. Come now, walk with the winds once more…”

Tradana had finished, and Linze, brought to near tears, had felt the very thing Tradana had spoken of. The soft breeze against her skin, yet now was reality windless. A gale yet caressed her cheek. Linze was stunned at her newfound feeling.

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#2

Tradana motioned to Linze, and she spoke quietly to her, garnering her attention. “I must teach of gyres, how they form. You cannot see yet the stream, but in time you will learn to touch it, effect and change and impart will on the world around. There are ways to this, some you have no doubt seen with wonder and skepticism.”

Linze nods, her mind was racing. Gyres – another new word from her teacher. Her eyes darted under her lids as she considered the words Tradana had used. Yet even still, Tradana continued. “But the winds, they are easy to bend. Easy, to shape to a will that we want. We can grasp and change, but when we do… we do not follow, but forge. Those who grasp the winds take a step off their path. They move to a new one, blind and bereft of guidance. It is in their blindness, that more befalls them. These beings often take more of the winds, to protect and survive. And farther, yet farther afield they tread. Ever away, ever taking more from the winds as they do. Yet, the winds are to be free, and they are to guide. This holding, this bending, forms the gyre. And why their form ravages, and those once calm and kind, turn to rage and lust. To take a gyre, is to lose parts of you.”

Tradana had finished her explanation. She paused, allowing Linze to take everything in… specifically, she had noted Tradana’s tone shift from something sweet, gentle and calming, to dark… it was cold as she discussed the gyre. Something to be admonished.

Still, she continued her explanation after her brief pause. “But, to make a step away, is not to fall. The winds still pull to your path, however far away it may be. These beings of gyre may release it, and be pulled once more to their path. To return to winds, one can heal what once was. You have seen it, in ones as Skyva start, her rage dissipates, and she slowly releases the gyre.” She continues, her words slowly returning to a serene calm. “But you must be vigilant, Linze, for there is nothing a gyre can give that the winds cannot through proper form. Be vigilant of this, and the path you walk will remain clear, even donning the robes you do.” She said with a gentle smile, gesturing to Linze’s Republic armor. The thought just hit her that she had forgotten to change out of it before accepting this offer to meditate. Too late now, as the two had talked hours into the night, and yet dawn broke slowly.

Linze looked into the sky at last, and frowned. She turned to her new friend, and she spoke in a quiet tone. “I am sorry, miss Tradana… I lost the time between us – unfortunately, I gotta run.” She laughed a bit nervously, and Tradana nodded. “Rest well Linze, and may the winds continue to guide you along this new path of yours.”

#3

Days later, as those involved gather around the Jedi’s calming campfire.

Sat there, Keshli - cloaked in tans and greens, with a green Mandalorian helm to support her. A newcomer, cloaked in grays, and her teacher, Tradana. Linze made her way over, to take her seat next to her mentor.

“Greetings Linze.” Her teacher spoke first, words soft as ever.
“Good morning, Mentor Tradana.” Linze said, with a smile. “How do the winds fare?”
As she spoke, Linze’s attention wandered, though she closed her eyes to meditate near her mentor. Still yet, Tradana offered a reply in kind.

“I learn much yet, and practice of my skills. I am contented from what I have learned of this day, and been given a new task to perform.” She spoke, and Linze, not wanting to pry, and merely nodded.

She formed a weak smile to support her mentor, and offered her a reply in kind. “I am glad to hear that.” Linze said, quietly. It was obvious the night before had weighed in on her mind. After all, her friend was just trialed and motioned to be court-martialed. Linze had just fought with her friend, Keshli, over a decision she made herself, and she had come to terms with the fact that she could not trust her own squad-mate any longer. Merely, Linze sighed, as she then chose to stabilize her breathing, and begin to enter her meditative state once more. She listened in on the crackling of the fire, the wind on the leaves above her, and wind amongst the grass.

Tradana’s voice broke the silence not long after, as she spoke to her student. “Something weighs heavy upon mind, I feel.” Her mentor’s whisper took to her ears, eyes still closed, Linze nods, and speaks. “I am conflicted by several things.” Tradana’s voice answered back, “Do you wish to speak and explore them, or meditate in silence and peace?”

Linze was silent for a moment, considering the question posed by her mentor. Does she spill all of her woes unto her, who had been so wise to her previously? What would she say, and what would become of their student/mentor relationship if she ended up not liking what she had to say on the matter? A deep sigh left Linze, as she decided to whisper quietly to her mentor once more.

“I am sad to hear Valaria will be court marshaled still, and that the trial today had been a waste of time and resources.” She starts. She grips her pants and breathes to speak more, “I am also saddened that I lost my temper with a close friend, as well, turning her spiteful.” Linze vented, quietly. The gray figure noticed the murmuring, and decided to take her leave. Her voice came serene, as she stood. “I will be taking my leave now.” And Linze, opened her eyes. She spoke, almost automatically. “May the winds guide you on your path.” Her mentor also echoed the sentiment, “Winds guide your path.”

Against the tree that overlooked the fire, Keshli withdrew a flask from her armor. She took a swig, her helmet slipping back into it’s place as she caps and puts it away.

Her mentor was silent for a moment, and Linze’s mind raced as she considered her possibilities. But finally, Tradana spoke to her once more. “I do not know of trials so of this I cannot speak. You turned one close away? We can speak of this perhaps.” Linze’s eyes open, and for a moment, her gaze falls to the right, to the tree, and to Keshli. Linze frowned, but her gaze quickly returned to the wall before her, and her eyes closed once more as she returned to meditating. Linze’s voice came as a whisper, one of serenity now, much less discontent, as she accepted her feelings towards her friend. “I was displeased by Corpswoman Keshli’s attitude towards her now ex-partner Valaria for discarding their relationship on a whim due to a duel with her brother. In the end, after last night it seems, it had worked out in her favor, and now I have no reason to be upset.” Linze said, with a gentle smile, and somber tone finishing her statement. “But now the damage is done, and I do not believe Keshli and I will be friends again.”

Tradana is again silent, likely as she gathers her thoughts, but Linze will never knew. Finally, after a brief time in silence, she speaks. Her tone is caring.

“The relationships and webs they make catch many. They’re a complex thing, and pull mind and heart in many ways. Family mixed with passion, love with dedication. If she has set upon her spirit this path and believe it true than it is not to us to dictate the path she walks. Our paths are in the end ours alone, we may converge for a time, and take joy in it. Finding contentment and happiness, love even we may. But we must not fight against the path diverging. For you are likely to stray from yours into your darkness from this. And maybe, take those whom have also been accustomed to sharing their path off of theirs as well. It is a painful thing, to let go a thing held dear. But it is better to let leave than clutch with jealousy. For the one clutched will never be the happier for it.”

At that moment, Keshli stands from the tree with a grunt, catching Linze’s attention. A small frown forms over Linze’s face…