A few days pass since the Akul incident, with the two torgruta women being sent to Carvala during that time for their injuries. It is close in many ways, but between the races of those involved, the village, and Zalea, that as much of the wounds that could be saved were.
However time came for them to leave the kolto tanks, and find themselves now resting once more in the village that they originally visited.
During their time away however, Althea’s condition did not improve much. This changed on the fourth day however. As with a scream she finds herself awake in a cold sweat.
Areda was for the most part fine, though her mood was another story. That was in the ground, though around other Togruta she hid the fact well. She was still adjusting to being blind, even with her enhanced hearing she was having to find her equilibrium once more. Worse, she felt guilty she was unable to do more to help Zalea and her master, the latter whom had not woken up.
However, hearing a scream, the small Togruta bolted up and stumbled at first in the direction of the scream. Coming to the tent that housed her Master, as several other Togruta came to check in on the sudden scream.
Zalea has had some emergency, short-notice cybernetics put in. Large, bulky, ill-fitting, but very strong. Their connection points are not fully healed. An entire arm, and a hand and forearm needed to be replaced. She goes from working on one of her arms with some supplies she had gathered from her ship, to hearing the screaming, and rushing over to check on Althea, ducking under the flap of her tent to see what was going on.
The two “see” Althea sit up right as they enter. Her panicked breath auditable for all. “Where… the creature is dealt with right…?” She asks rather softly. Her voice hoarse despite not talking.
Areda was the first inside, looking at her master- well, she looks past her in that way a blind person oft does when they are paying attention to which direction the sound is coming from. She had bandages wrapped around her head completely, blocking off view of her eyes, and was dressed in a brown and orange gown, likely made from parts of the Akul they fought off.
“We defeated it, master.” Areda whispers softly, her lips twisted in a forced smile.
There is the sound of hissing and mechanical whirring as Zaleas robotic hand moves to adjust her headdress, “I knocked it over, and Areda delivered the killing blow. We are safe, the village is safe. We got hurt, but everybody will survive.”
Althea looks over them as the words hit her, only now seeing the damage done for the first time. The guilt is written all over her as she takes it in, “I… how are you both…?”
Zalea glances at Areda, a sudden flash of worry on her faces as she picks up the other Togrutas emotions, before looking back to Althea. “I’m great. We did what was needed. We saved lives. So many, many more would have died without our sacrifices… This is my home. And it really, truly feels like my home after this.”
The smaller Togruta turned her smile in a full one after watching Zalea for a moment, as if the mechanical whirling was telling her just how much the taller Togruta lost, “I am fine Althea, nothing of value was lost.” She says warmly, gesturing every so. She’d take her own guilt and burry it deep for these two. Sides odds are, they both felt guilty.*
It does little to unburden Althea, though it is at this point another stone on the pile. “Let me ask you both again, how are you really? Not just emotionally?”
Areda grumbles and then reaches up, unwrapping the dressing around her head. As the cloth falls free, there is a huge gash across her face reaching from eye to eye. Her eyes themselves were there, though drained of color, barely a hint of blue left in them. She looks on past Althea, beaming cheerfully, “They say I will need cybernetics if I wish to have proper sight once more. I have not decided if I shall do so.” Areda continues to gesture, highly more animate than she usually is.
“I have lost much. And I will mourn it… An arm and a half is no small thing. But sometimes understanding requires sacrifice, and sometimes to gain hope, something but be lost. Pain… Lose… But a deep sense of fulfillment. I gained much. And lost much. I am happy with how things have turned out.” Zalea says softly.
“… I am glad that you both are taking it so well… though I must ask given the situation… how well are you both to fight?” The sorrow in the question starts to appear on Althea’s face. It is clear it is not something she wishes to ask of them at all.
“My equilibrium is a bit off but that’s mostly from having my head rattled. But, I feel I could if the need arises.” Areda paused for a moment, tilting her head, “Why?”
“My new prosthetics are not well fitted, and I’ve lost a lot of my mobility. But they are very strong. My fighting is different, but I imagine my Shii-Cho might actually be better, although I will need to get used to my new strength and weaknesses. I will get by.” Zalea looks down at her hand as it twitches clumsily.
Zalea lets out a sigh as they inform her. “I hope it will not come to this, but I needed to know so since it may very well come to it. I have a large hunch as to why the creature was the way it was. And because of this something needs to be done before… more happen.”
“What do you suspect master?” Areda wanders over towards Althea, sitting next to her and wrapping an arm around the spooked knight.
Zalea moves over as well, placing her hands on Areda’s shoulders, starting to hum to that tune the both hear, attempting her best to calm down what she can feel from the other woman. She looks between the two, “I assumed after this we would leave. Our duty is not done yet, is it?”
“Not yet… It’s a familiar feeling, like a scar walking across the planets surface. It’s pain kept in one place is transmitted it onto other things, breaking the balance into disastrous ways. Unchecked… the pain will grow, and spread like a cancer.” Althea explains lightly as she pats Areda’s head gently between her montrals in an effort to sooth her padawan.
Areda looks upward, as if she was more worried about her master than anything else, “That oppressive sound, it’s around you master. Like it’s trying to drown out your song.”
Zalea moves to sit next to the two of them. “What can we do?” she says simply.
“It depends what is the cause… if it is an individual. We remove them. If it is an object, either we remove it… or we purify it. Akin to what your master does for a living Zalea.” There’s a slight frown to Areda over her words though. “Pay no mind to it. It is what it is, and I am well enough.”
“I guess this means we go back out and explore.” There was slight ache to her voice at this, something that slowly made her heart break. She couldn’t see the planet, all the vivid colors… she wouldn’t be able to read text engraved on the wall, or appreciate the sky. She could feel her eyes water up- except they didn’t really, her body expected the feeling of tears and yet there were none. This did odd things to her smile, as if being slapped in the head so hard had other effects on the normally non-expressive Togruta.
Once again, a worried look is thrown Areda’s ways by Zalea, although how much she picks up is uncertain. There is a sudden sound of grinding gears from her arm, and she idly moves a hand over to crank on something inside the arm itself, causing the noise too stop.“And how to we find out who or what it is?”
Althea thinks on the question for a small time before answering. “Give me half a day… I need a time to think. But I have an idea of where to head at the very least… And I am still taking things in.” The is concern one more as she looks over the two once more, though she doesn’t say any more on the topic. Choosing to instead look over their wounds until the image burns into her head.
“I am going to go for a walk then, Master. I will return soon.” Areda chimes in warmly, squeezing her before standing up and stretching.
Zalea continues to look at her, worried expression still on her face, before looking back to Althea, waiting for a response.
“Normally we would have to look for it by following the taint back to it’s source, but I somewhat feel like it’s calling to me. Which makes locating it a lot easier, if not more dangerous.” The knight says.
“Do you know why its calling you? I cant imagine thats normal.” Zalea says.
Althea simply shakes her head. “I do not know, but I feel it best to find out.”
“Areda seems to be… She does not seem to be doing well. How do you want to handle that?” Zalea asks the Knight worriedly.
“It is not something that will be fixed today, not matter how hard we try. And the more we force things the worse we will make it. She needs both time and support. Both of you do.” Althea says to the taller Togruta.
Areda had left the tent before the too started talking, wiggling her toes in the grass as she slowly trudged along. She made her way to the constant source of noise; the river. She used it as her guide, waving to the fishers who all stared at the now blind Togruta, worryingly.
“Should you be moving about?” the older fisherman grunted after her, causing the smaller Togruta to pause in her tacks.
“I am fine, I promise. I used to practice walking around the enclave with my eyes closed.” Areda says with a cheerful smile, catching a kid into a hug who was about to latch onto her leg.
Zalea glances down at her mechanical bits. “Yeah. I will. And no, it wont be fixed today… Tried to find sense, and lost sight. Seem… incredibly cruel. When will we be leaving for this… outing. not today, you said?”
The old fisherman grunts with a shrug, “Back to work.” he scowls at the kids surrounding the Togruta who all scatter back to their spears to resume splashing into the water to catch fish, “Don’t fall in, the water will blind you and you wont find your way to the surface.”
Areda just nods grimly, staring down at her feet, “I will be alright… Thank you for the advice.”
“Either later today, or early tomorrow. Which ever of the two we feel we are ready for.” Althea says.
Zalea shifts her fully replaced arm, moving it up, down, left, right, curling the elbow. “Not the kind of thing you expect too happen… Feels weird. I assumed we would die, after we had killed the Akul. Didn’t think the village would come looking for us. Its better than sight. Areda lost much. We will need to be there for her.”
“I know the feeling rather well. Yours atleast. Lost my arm because I refused to fight once, somewhat taught me the price of inaction, even if it was for a good cause. But on the bright side I can finally see what you mean by being a dork. We’ll be there for her, just first she needs time for her to come to terms with it.” Althea comments as she lays back down. Trying to relax somewhat.
Areda continues her walk along the river until she finally falls to the ground, sitting on her knees and looking down the river. She sat there for awhile, feeling frustrated. So she just… sat there and listening. Through the river she could see- not in color, not perfectly- shimmering grey and silver that make out the outline of the stuff around her. It was a sense she always had, always often made meditation difficult, something she always appreciated and tried to leverage to her advantage. But, now it was all she had and she knew it had her limits. If not for the river, she’d be rather limited in what she could see currently.
“And I lost an arm due to action. Couldn’t just leave you to face it alone. If we had failed, there would have been so much death. I’ve been preparing myself for personal sacrifice since I joined the navy. Willing to give up your life every mission so that the your squad mates and the republic gets something out of makes… This a bit easier to handle. Even if its not easy to handle at all. And I came here ready some hunt something truly deadly.”
Zalea gives a sigh, running her other metal hand over her cybernetic limb, still testing and feeling it, trying to get used to this new, alien experience, “Not sure I learn a lesson in all of this. Not everything is for teaching. I gave what I could give, to try to make sure people survived. Don’t know what else I could have done.”
Areda finally after a bit stood up and turns around to go back, however there was once more that chime. Only this time it was much louder and easier to make out, no longer being drowned out. Curious, the Togruta walks off in the direction of the chimming- it caused the grey/silver highlights to shimmer blue and white, as if it was something more than just sound. The earth beneath her feet seems to grow warm, as she walked towards the sound.
Eventually Areda comes to a stop having moved away from the river. She was now… near a ravine. She could hear the wind flowing throw it as if it was a natural flute, playing a deep song that makes the silver and grey of her senses resonate with the color of the cliff; a deep red-orange and greens. She didn’t recognize at all where she was anymore, nor how to get back to the river. But part of her didn’t want too, she felt warm here. As if heat from the ground was flowing into the core of her being and leaving her feeling… connected. It was an unfamiliar sensation, and yet despite what she heard and felt, she could still make out that faint star-light like wind chimes.
“I wasn’t trying to give a lesson, just trying to… ease it a bit I suppose. Still not good at it.” She sighs somewhat. “There will be time to reflect on it later. For now I would rather see to both your well being. And to bring you back atleast in one piece.” As she says that she looks towards the entrance to the tent. Her worry still as visable as it was before.
With hiss and the sound of gears clanking, she crosses her arms. She moves to leans against one of the walls of the building, “Mix your worry with faith. She is stronger than either of us consider when we think of her. And this visit has only increased that.” Zalea said to the knight, “If your desire was to bring us back in one pieces, I have already lost a few pieces. But I have gained so much more. Things you might not realize how much it matters. Things I have not talked about as well.”
“This was a journey of discovery. Not a field trip, not a lesson, not a vacation. Choose what you want to discover from this. I think you are discovering something very important. You taking the advice I gave you at the waterfall.”
“She has grown, but my worry is in what way? How has she grown? How will this change her? There are many paths she can take, and I only worry because of how easy it is to go down the wrong one.” Althea paused for a moment, before continuing, “Sandra is not going to be happy at all that you are coming back so. But… I’m not sure -which- advice you’re talking about. It is hard to when you gave so much?” Althea says with a sigh.
The small Togruta sighs softly, a hand placed against one of the steep cliff walls as she walks. Once more she came to a stop, looking up at the sky that she couldn’t see any longer, “Can I do this?..” she asks herself out loud, her voice small among the song coming from the natural wind-instrument, “Can I protect anyone if they’re not close enough to me?.. I can’t do research anymore either…” her toes wiggle across the ground and she turns to walk a different way- but the earth feels cool when she does and this makes her stop.
“I didn’t even…I couldn’t even…” she trails off for a moment, “Its not our fault… If we had ran, we would have died… If we ran, the village would have died…” she sighs softly, kicking a rock, the bouncing of the stone causing red and yellow splashes of here normally monochromed visualization, “I did as master said… I didn’t just play it safe…But, Zalea still lost her arms…” should could feel tears in her eyes, but like before they weren’t actually there.
“I couldn’t hurt it enough… I couldn’t… do enough…for her, or myself.” she rubs her eyes, frantically, “Master looks like she was blaming herself too…” Areda let out a small sob, and she slid to the ground slowly, a wave of yellow rippling forth just as one of the caves let out a load windy-moan, earthy brown wash of color. The small Togruta eventually gets up and starts to turn to leave, “I can’t like this…” she finally murmurs, and starts to walk away- the ground under her feeling cold and fridged as she walks away.
However, before she could truly walk away something inside her makes her stop, as if something deep inside her told her not to give up. That if she did, it would mean actual defeat. That she would actually be letting her master and her friend down. This brought something else up to her, anger. Anger that she was considering giving up, this causes her to stomp the ground, shades of red illuminating the cliff sides as browns intermingle from the ever load cavern moaning.
It’s at this, that she finally notices all the colors that has been flooding her echolocation her whole time within the set of cliffs and ravines. It was the force, what she normal heard as a song, coming through as color. It brought the area to life in vivid detail whenever the area was washed over with sound, this was something she had never experienced before. This got a laugh from the small Togruta, excitement bubbling in her laughter, “There is always something new to see…” she turns back around, walking along the once more warmed ground, “Zalea wouldn’t give up… Althea wouldn’t give up… They wouldn’t give up on me either… So I shouldn’t give up on myself.” So once more she started marching towards the washing of silver and blue among the browns and yellows, following the Star-light like chiming.
“In ways you don’t understand yet. But have a bit of belief in your padawan. You took her on for a reason, didn’t you? Neither of us know. Guessing will only cause us to agonize. I have faith she will come out of this ordeal stronger.” Zalea says.
“And it was the advice to begin to build you happiness off of your students and duty to the temple. You taking your first steps towards doing that right now.”
“Let me handle Sandra. You tried to protect me, and I chose to ignore you. If she is going to be angry at anybody, its me. But we all ended up like this, or an entire village would die. Trust Sandra to understand sacrifice.”
“I suppose so. Alright, I’ll leave that to you, and I’ll check up on Areda once she is back.” It wasn’t much of an answer, but she seems to relax somewhat at that, before tensing every now and then.
As Areda keeps moving on, the chiming gets louder and the ground gets warmer beneath her feet, her connection to the force urging her own quite vividly. She could feel some warmth deep inside of her, feelings of hope fighting off her anger and sadness. She has no reason to give up, “We survived, we survived when we should have died… That alone shows how far our training has brought us.”
Areda stops once more, her hand still pressed to the cliff until she comes across a hole- well a cave entrance. The silver-blue chiming coming from deep inside the otherwise blackness, she enters into the depths as if not put off by the pitch black. The ground under her cooling into a comfortable warmth, as if it was welcoming her.
Zalea’s arm makes another terrible, grinding noise, and she produces some tools from her belt, and begins to change the tension certain parts are held at, slowly fine-tuning it down into something that works and fits better on her body. Her eyebrows furrow, showing very Cleary that her happy optimism is not unbreakable, as she is suddenly reminded of what she has lost, and what she will have too live with the rest of her life. Her cybernetic hand and forearm seem far more balance than the fully replaced arm, allowing her to at least fine tune herself. "Do you expect more fighting?
“I do not expect it, however I cannot eliminate the possibility… it is why I asked.” Althea states.
Areda isn’t aware how far she went into this cave, following the force and the star-like chiming. If she could see, she’d see crystals glistening in the darkness like veins of ore, though no proper crystal formations.
“The force has lead me here… it has presented to me another challenge to face… I have experienced loss… I endured…” she murmurs lines of perseverance to herself, finger tips gliding over veins of crystal; emotions crashing into her as if she just jumped into a river, the veins appearing as a constant glow within her senses. It was enough to make her stumble and come to a stop.
“Do I want to be a padawan?” Areda found herself asking herself, “Will I be happy if I continue?” she looks onwards, finding a near blinding beacon of light, “I hurt… I’ve lost…I will lose more…” But, she could hear Zalea’s voice echoing as she left. About happiness, happy to give for the village, and willing to give more, “Why?” She asks herself, she steps in front of the glowing crystal, listening to the soothing chimes.
“It is the only life I have known… But… I don’t like seeing people suffer…hurt…I don’t like…seeing people end up like Zalea…or my Master, filled with self-blame.” Areda kicks the ground, kneeling in front of the crystal, “I want to protect their smiles… if all I can see is those near me, I would just need to keep everything near me?” she considers and then shakes her head, “No, that is setting up for failure…” at this point, she was sitting cross-legged in front of the crystals, reaching out and making two crystals, one that chimed blue and the other silver- though they melded together to form one color.
“All I can do, is make sure that I can protect everything I am able to see.” Areda finally comes to the conclusion, as she telekinetically disassembles her lightsaber so that the crystals can float into place, “The force only throws at me what I can handle… So surely, I can handle this…” as she comes to her conclusion, the lightsaber reassembles itself.
Zalea continues too fiddle with her arm, her look of sadness slowly shifting to anguish as she tries and fails to make it work better, the not tailor made, not high quality cybernetic failing at the job it was built for, as her fingers go limp, unable to be controlled “Did you feel any loss in connection or ability to lose the force when you lost… what you lost?”
She holds up her left arm as Zalea inquires, pulling on a ribbin that hides a ring around her upper arm. It’s clear that after that ring that the colouring is slightly off of her skin past that point. “I did. Though I learned to work around it, through some creative engineering solutions and training within the force. What you had will be forever lost, but what that does not mean that you cannot create something new”
Once Areda’s lightsaber forms, she feels someone incredibly similar to her master. So much so that she would be forgiven for mistaking them for her master. They hold up the lightsaber to inspect, a strange curiosity could be felt as it is looked over, just like Althea’s, “Not bad for a novice.” The stranger spoke.
Areda looks up, expecting to see Althea, “Thank you Master. I plan to dress it with some of the parts from the Akul we-“ the Togruta paused as the dimming blue and silver washing over her senses outlining not a human but a Twi’lek. She had to run her now blind eyes, everything about her was screaming Althea, her voice even resonated similarly.
“Uh…” then the second warning bell went off in her head; she was defenseless, whom ever Not-Althea-But-Althea was, she had her lightsaber.
Zalea looks down at her arms, letting out a sigh. “We will have to see what I am able to accomplish then… Never did get that meditation it.” She glances towards the room of the building. “Maybe we should check on Areda?”
“Master? I had taken you for a stray. We do often find lots of those lately.” The stranger notes. They begin to pace around Areda, twirling the lightsaber in their hands. The curiosity they had displayed only growing ever more.“And what brings you and this master of yours here little one?”
Althea looks to Zalea with a curious glance. “I suppose we should. Do you know where she would go?”
“I assumed just wandering the village.” Zalea retorts skeptically
The more the stranger spoke, the more confused Areda felt. She could swear it was Althea, the voice sounded familiar- distantly so, as if there was someone on the edge of her memory. But when she tried to focus on it, all she could think of was Althea, “We?” She questioned back, “Learning.” She retorts without much elaboration. The force that was enhancing her echolocation seeming to become dormant now that she arrived to where she needed to be.
In the cave however. The air seems to get thicker as the tension builds. “And what could be learnt by someone like you here?” The stranger inquires, ignoring the earlier question. “And whom is your master?”
The blind woman offers a shrug, “A lot, if you know where to look or how to listen.” the growing tension in the air, seemed to kick up her fight or flight response. Though she showed no anxiety or signs of aggression, instead just looking ahead at the cavern wall, “Like this cavern for instance, a lot to learn here. About the force, about ones self.”
As the Twi’lek kept twirling her staff, Areda’s hearing sharpened and she could make out the sound of wind from the motion allowing her to keep track of where the potential threat was. She needed her lightsaber back, but she needed to be patient and lead her opponent around, “I doubt you’d know them. There seem to be many with their name.”
“You are right about this Cavern little one, I am learning a lot here. But I very much will call that bluff of yours.” The stranger states as she stops. Her presence never leave though her fixation can be felt on Areda. “I can very much sense them here somewhere. And they are quite familiar. Tell me whom it is, and there need not be any accidents in this cave.” She instructs.
Althea gets up finally. Going around the room briefly to pick up items she normally would have on her before leaving the tent to look for Areda. She idly walks around the village in a search for Areda.
Zalea picks her lightsaber up, and clips it too her belt. She leaves the building they where in, looking around for the blue montrals of Areda, which should stand out amongst the other togruta… and finds nothing.
Althea begins to rush around, running for Areda as she resorts to calling out her name to no avail. So she tries again, and again. Until she runs into Zalea, “She’s not here.”
Zalea has stood still, continuing to just look. When Althea runs back into Zalea, her focus instantly shifts to her, “We can ask the people of the village. Unless you can sense her another way.”
“You can work on asking the villagers, I’ll see if I can end up sensing her.” Althea says as she rushes off to the edge of town. Finding somewhere flat to sit and focus. So she takes a deep breath to allow her nerves to ease and… focus.
Zalea instantly swaps to Togruti, and begins to ask the people of the village if they know where Areda went.
Areda puffs her cheeks as her bluff was called, but there was a clue in that. This person knew Althea, she finally tilt her head and turned to face the twi’lek, “My Master is Althea.”
Her heart paused for a moment, but she was ready.
The young kids would direct Zalea to the old fisherman, who was just finishing up hacking up and flaying fish, “She went up the River just a bit ago.” he grunts to her, “I had one of the kids follow after to make sure she didn’t fall in.”
She rushes over to Althea. “She went up the river. A child from the village was following her. Come on,”
Zalea says, focusing preparing herself for enhanced speed as she looks down the river, trying to catch a glimpse of blue.
There is hesitation in the stranger at this before she just bursts into a laugh. “Of course she is. It seems you are a lucky one arn’t you? I have a message for you to give her, if you wish to see her once more.” the Twi’lek states.
Seeing the Twi’lek’s reaction Areda considered for a moment, getting up and looking past the other woman, “Ah… I wondered what happened to you, you were always with her…” she murmurs, “What do you want me to tell her…”
“I will meet her in three months, where we used to sit all those years ago. She will understand my meaning.”
That is the last thing uttered by the stranger as she seems to leave, the only notice Areda truly has of her doing so being the clang of her lightsaber left somewhere in the room.
Areda catches her lightsaber the moment one of the ends hit the ground, pulling it to her and holding it to her chest. The Togruta looks around as if the fact she just disappeared was weird in of itself. She stood there quietly for several moments, before knocking on the wall and slowly moving hopefully out.
Eventually, Areda comes out of the cave, the sounds of the moaning winds lighting up her world. She lets out relieved sigh as she can feel the gentle wind wash across her, taking away rising anxiety. There was a squeal and the sound of a laughter as a child comes out of no where and tackles the blind-woman, who catches her in her arms, “What are you doing here?”
“Dynaroth told me to make sure you didn’t get lost…but I found lunch and lost you.” they chirp, grinning toothfully, a little blood left on her lips from her supposed lunch.
Althea looks over to Zalea as she speaks. “Ah, good.” She says as she gets to her feet. Running on out after her padawan.
Zalea sprints off after Althea, her already prepared force speed leave her shooting after the woman supernaturally quickly, although her arms seem to make it extremely awkward, as their lack of ability to be speed up puts her run slightly off balance.
Althea calls out as they run along once more, somewhat getting more concerned as they run.
Zalea doesn’t call out, but keeps her sprint going, lightsaber being pulled out into her half robotic arm, as she catches up with Althea, running alongside her, her calm, happiness very suddenly replaced with worry.
“This is why I worry!” Althea burps out as she runs along the river. But there is no sight of her along said river. At that she slows down as she looks over her shoulder to see if they had missed something in their haste.
Zalea continues pounding ahead, her montrals not picking up anything in any other direction, just heading off, down the river, trying to spot anything.
“Worry about what, master.” She calls out as she and the child stumble out of the thick of the woods, the kid leading Areda hand in hand.
She lets out a breath as she see’s Areda. “About you… are you alright?” She says as she goes over to check on her but looks off into the distance remembering something. “Zalea! Here!” Althea calls out into the distance.
The Togruta runs up, once again, catching them in the distance with her montral before sight picks them up. She arrives at where they are breathing heavily, as she sticks her lightsaber back on her belt.
“I am fine Master… I was just doing as you suggested, listening to voice of the planet.” The child looks between Areda and Althea confused at that, though she clings onto Areda tightly.
“You actually heard it then Areda?”
Zalea falls silent, watching master and apprentice talk, knowing the importance of this conversation.
Areda nods, tickling the younger Togruta, before letting her go and shooing her back to the village, “It was like…a wind chime, in the background, but always there.” she wiggles about, toes digging into the tul-grass, “It lead me to a cave, to a place where the force was showing me the world more vividly than I had ever seen before.”
“And what exactly did you see then Areda?” Althea asks.
The taller Togruta stays silent.
“A star in the cave. It was like a heart beat.” Areda hums thoughtfully, and pulls out her lightsaber and twists it several times, listening carefully to clicks and metal grinding. A compartment opening to reveal a crystal in the centre of each of the lightsabers. Blue, with a faint sparkle of white like star-light.
“Not exactly what I had in mind when I set you that homework, though not an unwelcome surprise.” Althea states as she looks over the lightsaber, looking then to Zalea for her opinion. “Don’t suppose you managed something similar in my rest…?”
“Managed something similar?” Zalea asks the Knight.
“Discovered things this place as been telling you?” Althea retorts.
“Master.” Areda says lowly, “One more thing.” as she reassembles her Lightsaber, igniting it for the first time- the hum of the lightsaber filling her monochrome senses with blues and silvers. She twists, breaking it apart into two sabers and twirls it around, listening to the hum.
“The second my feet touched the soil I felt it. The sun hitting the grass, and the grass growing and feeding the animals who live on it, providing shelter for the Togruta to hunt in it, for its roots digging the earth, the forests ecosystems, the impact of the togruta village, what each fish did for everything on this planet. Heard it, felt it from my feet, spreading across the rest of her body.” There was a brief pause from the taller Togruta before continuing.
“I did not realize until it was gone, but the Akul was disrupting that. It was not llife flowing into everything us all, it was crushing everything around, starving the Togruta, forcing the forest into silence, driving away the animals that lived here. I can feel that gone, and everything recovers.” Zalea paused for a moment before continuing once more.
“Sandra once told she was never alone, because of the force. I didn’t understand that until we came here. I thought it was because we could sense it. Its because the force is life. Its you, me, the plants, the cycle that makes that all flow and live and work. I am sad about my arm, about my hand. I will mourn for them. But my connection to the force is… Everything. I can feel it all. And I dont think that will change when I leave the planet.”
“Seems you both learned what I had hopped you would from this then.” She states, very impressed with her words. Althea takes the moment to let Areda play with her Lightsaber a bit before speaking again. “Yes Areda?”
“There was someone in the cave with me…” Areda lets her lightsaber deactivate as she combined them back into place, twisting and locking them, “She said… I will see you in three months, in the place we used to sit all those years ago.”
“Did you sense anything from her?”
Althea is taken aback from the statement. Her eyes searching for answers as she over thinks it. “Did you get a look at them at all…?”
“Just a twi’lek… they felt a lot like you… I almost thought they were you.” Areda looked up at the blackness thoughtfully, “They felt familiar though, but I couldn’t place it. They knew you.”
Zalea glances at Althea, her already worried look getting even worse, “Was she sensing a force bond?”
Althea shakes her head slowly. “If you could not see her… we would almost be identical in a lot of ways… Although I thought time would have changed that…” It’s only now that it starts to dawn on Althea what it ment, “Areda she didn’t hurt you did she?”
Areda shakes her head, her necklace dancing about her as she does so, “I thought I was going to need to fight her, but when she learned you are my Master, she let me go.” She pauses for a moment and then tilts her head, “Master is that who I think I was? The one who was always around you back at the enclave?”
Zalea crosses her metalic arms, with the sound of metal clanking against metal, watching them talk.
“I don’t remember her name…” Areda wiggles her toes thoughtfully. “Seela’Vida… and yes she is. I did not expect to see her again… ever.” Althea explained.
“Where did you two used to sit?” Zalea asks the knight.
“Dantooine, by a small waterfall out in the plains. We went there when we did not want to be spotted by the masters.”
“Master, she said “we find a lot of strays”.”
Zalea pinches the bridge of her nose, and mutters something about the force being really mean to her sometimes. “Water falls and getting away from temples.” Zalea says simply, with no other context.
“Are you judging me Zalea? and well… last I saw her, she was following Revan. And that was before this war even started…” Althea says as Areda winces, and then nods as Zalea starts to speak, “No. We do the exact same thing. Not judging you at all.”
“Not exactly the same. There is a lot less sparing and other things I’m not gonna mention aloud with Areda around.” Althea says while looking at Areda. “But I suppose after you saying that… I can see the similarities that you see.”
“I’m not oblivious.” Areda says dryly, looking past her master. “I am sure you held hands and everything.” She puffs her cheeks.
“So. I assume she is no longer a friendly?”
“No… we tried to kill each other. I do not think she’s exactly forgiven me for that.”
“Think we should head back to the village then?” Areda tilts her head as she asks, abruptly changing the topic.
“Rest would be good… and to relax.”
There is a rather horrible noise from Zalea’s full arm, as something very bad happens within it.
Althea looks down at it, a bit a a frown at the horrendous noise. “Do you want… a hand with that?”
Areda attaches her lightsaber to her belt and hobbles along, “I promised I’d help prepare the nights food for festivities.”
“My arms are a real handful, but don’t worry, I have the problem well in hand.” She says cooly, “I’m pretty handy with electronics.” Zalea gestures to her hand, “Unless I get disarmed fighting another Akul. In which case I will need a hand to help deal with the situation.”
“Well… I always have a spare if you need one.” Althea adds with a coy tone. “Though I do not doubt your skill. I just know the struggle first hand when one isn’t functioning properly. It’s a pain to fix.”
Althea then gives Areda a nod. “Shall we head back then? Do not wish to keep them waiting no?”
Areda shakes her head, humming as they walk to light up her path.
A smirk is pasted across the taller Togruta’s face as they walk back.
“I vote we just… cook, eat, meditate in the grass and relax for the rest of this. We came here to learn about ourselves. And we sacrificed a lot. Lets enjoy this a little bit.” Zalea says.
“I like the sound of that, though I’ll work with the hunters while you both do. Help make sure they actually don’t run into trouble for the remaining time we’re here.” The tired jedi adds as they head back.
“No. No you are not. Areda, If Althea attempts to turn the rest of this into work, I vote that we force push her into the village and feed her tasty meat products until she cannot move. We lost an arm, a forearm, and eyesight helping this village deal with a supernatural threat. The Togruta are a hearty people, and can take care of themselves.”
“Agreed.” Areda laughs cheerfully as they move back to the village
Their remaining time on the planet is spent relaxing or aiding in chores, the two younger togruta do their best to make sure that Althea doesn’t exert herself overly much. A feast is had, stories are told, and the village finds respite as balance returns to the wider area.
After a few more days, it is time for the trio to return to their ship and set back off to Viscara.
