Log:There Is Only The Force

There Is Only The Force

OOC Date: July 30, 2019
Location: Arisnar Academy
Participants: Rey, Aryn Cole

It's sunny, yet there's a cooler wind coming in from the coast. Puffy clouds drift by in a sky that's rich and vividly colored blue (I believe.) The Academy benefits from such a cool day because the students are out and training. Some meditate by the beach, others discuss politics and socio-cultural matters, and some train. Aryn is not among them. Her rare visits to the academy are not made by choice, but requirement. Much of her time is spent with the Resistance, healing those ailed by war wounds and learning more about the living force. Philosophy, for Aryn, was a topic she skipped in university in favor of things far more pragmatic and rooted in the here and now.

The door to the western balcony opens and out steps Aryn Cole. She wears the traditional robes of the Jedi, though in her own style of green and brown. The dark colors accentuate her natural pale beauty and the bright vividness of her blonde hair and lively blue eyes. She came seeking Rey, and after receiving some guidance to her whereabouts, has finally found her. Aryn allows the door to shut behind her, then clasps her hands together behind her back. Rather than interrupting whatever Rey was doing, she waited to be addressed, politely.

Rey is seated crossed legged with her hands on her knees inside of a duracrete planter that is on the edge of one of the balcony's corners. It was designed for plants and it had plants in it recently, until Rey had found that they had gone too long without water and had perished under the heated sun rays from the system's binary stars...

Now, the planter had been cleaned out and given and interior filled with sand. Rey liked sitting in sand... it might get everywhere, but it reminds her of home. She's a fan, if for the effects of making her feel at-ease and more able to meditate properly there-by.

The young woman is in light tan clothing with her eyes closed, her hair is tied back into three braided strips that raise up the back of her head and continued at the crown into a little bun.

A few loose strands along her bangs are dancing across her face in the warm planet's winds. She's at peace...

After a moment though, a smile crosses her lips and she turns to look over her shoulder, shadow now covering her face as she looks away from the sun. "Aryn." Rey says, "Its good to see you."

Aryn is mesmerized by Rey's image beneath the bright glares of the sunlight. The way the sun catches her hair and brightens her smile easily draws one from the scarred Doctor, and she dips her head timidly. "Rey, it's always good to see you. I come with good news for once." Aryn steps forward gracefully and offers Rey something that she's unclipped from her belt. It's a small holo-device, and once activated, it shows the read out of someone's blood analysis; in particular, it displays their midichlorian count. "I believe I've encountered someone else with our particular gift."

The first that Aryn says draws a larger and more pleased expression from the young Rey. She sits up then onto her knees inside of the large duracrete planter filled with sand, so that she might turn around to face the other. Her eyes drop to the holo-device and once she hears whats displayed, and can see it for herself, she reaches out with a hand to accept it so she can hold it up just right for her eyes to focus properly on its displayed information.

"Oh, really?" She asks then of Aryn, her brown eyes darting up to the blond's face. She shows another quick smile before she looks back down. Rey knows full well the difficulties of not only finding someone who is sensitive to the Force, but one who's midichlorian count is at a level that they can actually manipulate the Force, call upon it... and have a personality-type that might lead them to be interested in joining this fledgling young Jedi Academy.

"That is good news." Rey says then as she looks up to Aryn again. "What kind of state are they in?" She asks, of course speaking of mind and body both.

"I'm not sure. She seems to have a good vibe about her, and some natural ability to lead others, not to mention some will to survive; I found she and her crew aboard a crippled vessel adrift in space. They had an encounter with.." Aryn gestures with her hand a moment. "..the same thing we've encountered recently. Only she and her crew defeated it by spacing those infected and blasting them with their mining laser."

Aryn relaxes some, and a little color finds her cheeks again. "She has been kind, and showed no aggression when I arrived to taxi them away from their dying vessel. She goes by the name Palena. Palena Maris. I believe you should meet her, when you're free of course. Perhaps you will be a better judge of character than I am. I just put people back together, afterall." Aryn manages a pretty smile, then locks her hands to her back once more.

As Aryn explains, Rey offers the holo-device back to the other young woman and she moves to stand up in the planter and hop out of it to land on her booted feet upon the balcony's marble floor, only shedding a miniscule amount of sand as she does so!

"Is she with the Resistance?" Rey then asks, going out on a limb to assume that Aryn didn't bring the woman here. "I'm more than happy to meet her once I'm back there with them." She dusts her lap off then with a few quick wipes of her hands and then steps over to the table where her silver metal drinking cup is resting. She reaches out for it.

"I'm quite concerned about that... substance." Rey tells Aryn then. "You mentioned a larger problem that needed to be dealt with that night, and I'm quite curious as to what that is. But... you were injured, so I didn't push it. Are you okay now?" She asks before sipping her water.

Aryn steps back to allow room for Rey, but otherwise doesn't act surprised by the sudden motion. Her eyes stay locked with Rey's for now. "No, she wasn't listed within our database. I revealed to her the gift she possesses by displaying my own influence over the Force, but I'm not sure how she feels about it all. So I haven't mentioned the Resistance, and I've left her in Kaadara for now, until I could speak with you privately."

Rey's line of questioning makes Aryn think quietly. Her gaze averts for the first time, looking out toward the horizon a moment. In her mind's eye, she listens to the terror filled screams of the dead as they beat against the cages of the lift they had taken into the cave on Umgul. "I'm okay," Aryn said, not exactly saying the whole truth. Of course, Rey didn't have to pry much at all to detect that Aryn was haunted by her experiences. "There is a larger problem. Jessika and I tracked down a commercial liner that was chocked full of the infected. Not only could we not destroy the ship, but we've proof that the Sector Rangers picked up escape pods from the vessel and carried them stars knows where. This parasite is spreading, Rey, and we can't control it."

As Rey lowers her cup she sits back on the metal arm of one of the balcony chairs. "Oh, Kaadra..." She says while her free hand goes up to stroke one of the wild loose strands of hair off of her forehead and back to the side of her face it belongs on. "Thats a city on Naboo, right?" She asks, showing a faint smirk. "I thought it was a ship..." She mutters that last part then. She's not visited Kaadara yet up to this point.

A quick shake of her head from left to right is given then. "Nevertheless, I look forward to meeting here. I'll try to wrap up what I'm doing here and head back that way. The students here are progressing well, I think they'll want to start heading out with us more... I mean, they already do, but it might be a safer option soon for them." She shows another quick smile then before she turns and sets her cup down once more.

"This mysterious 'goop' really is a serious problem, yes. I would be remiss to think of it as anything less. But..." She draws in a breath then and places her hands atop her thighs, to lean forward slightly upon them. "How would we even approach it? We seem to know next to nothing about it. These 'Sector Rangers' could be questioned, but I'm guessing they're not easy to find, or not willing to talk to whomever we would present ourselves to be to hold an audience with them..."

Aryn laughs, but it isn't humor. "You're assuming those Rangers are still alive, Rey. This stuff isn't the slow moving substance we saw in Theed. It's concentrated, and it has one thing in mind. The consumption of sentient beings, and terrorizing everything it comes across. It is an enemy you cannot negotiate with, and it's something, maybe the only thing in the galaxy, we must destroy on sight. Rey, I had to kill a man to keep him from infecting our shuttle. I've had trouble sleeping ever since."

The rather heavy context of what Aryn is saying here causes Rey's demeanor to dim a bit. Its dramatic, and its frightening. "Its like a nightmare." Rey quietly comments after a few seconds of lingering silence between them leaving just the distant ocean waves and wind currents to fill the ambiance.

For the next few moments, Rey lightly bites down on her bottom lip in though, a gesture she's done since childhood and one she wouldn't be proud of it anyone pointed out when she did it...

Her eyes glance out at the waters and she has to squint in the setting suns. She then looks back to Aryn and gently tilts her head. "I'll fight whatever it is, whenever you need my help with it. Just let me know when and where... We can hope it stays isolated, and... doesn't spread."

A dark part of her thinks about the military uses of such a weapon, how the First Order would use it, or how the Resistance might even... if they were desperate enough. "It has to be stopped, or sent back to where it came from. Wherever that is... Thank you for rescuing this Palena person, and her crew. I'm sure they were most grateful."

After a few moments following Rey's words, Aryn looks away and nods stoically. "I believe you. I wasn't there to help you in the vault against it. There was something.. evil there. I feel it everytime that stuff begins to attack. It's like this overwhelming sense of despair, like the fight is already over and I should just surrender. I have spent a lot of time meditating, and trying to learn how to mitigate this handicap, but I'm just not strong enough."

Aryn glances toward Rey and nudges her with her arm. "But you are. You're the only one besides Mandalore, who has killed one that I've witnessed. If anyone's going to be by my side when I fight them again; I pray it's you." Aryn looks back up at Rey and manages a timid smile. In this light, Aryn's face is brighter, and the emphasis of the angry scar carved over her left eye is contrasted harshly against her attractive skin pigment beneath the bright blonde hair that's been brushed aside as if to keep the mark unhidden. Somehow, it suits Aryn well, giving her a stoic quality despite her youth.

"They were eager to return to their lives. All of them except Palena. Knowing that she is special has given her pause."

Rey just gently nods her head to the words Aryn speaks, to the desire to have the Jakkuan with her when and if another one of these creatures is found. "I hope to be." She quietly says back before she draws in a breath between her lips and raises her right hand up to press her palm against her brow softly, her eyes closing. "I used the Force in a way that is largely considered to be a darker inclined angle. To create fire on a living creature." She lowers her hand again then and opens her eyes to look back onto Aryn. "It felt... good, too." She shakes her head side to side. "I would do it again, if I were cornered and had no other choice, but instead... I would like to prepare for these sorts of things. The Wookiees here told me that I should keep cryo grenades on me at all times, and I think that might be a reasonable request for you and whomever else you take with you to investigate these... things."

"Of course it was fire that brought the creature to its end, but perhaps its any extremes in temperature that would do the trick. Either way, what I did was something I shouldn't do often... it will make it hard not to use it more frequently as I battle with internal debates on the morality of when and where to use it. We, as creatures, have our weaknesses that we tend to find--or create--reasons to give in to after all."

A half cocked smiled is shown then. "The last thing I want is to start dipping my toes into the pool that Kylo Ren decided to jump head first into to try to solve all've his life's many problems."

"I do not think it's the will of the force that drives you to feel what you feel. It may be a dark technique, something to abhor, but there's something to be said for a technique used for the good of others. Maybe that is where the Jedi got it wrong. To think in black and white, in terms of vanity.. like being clean or dirty. To us, there is only the Force. What we choose to use our gifts for is what defines us as bad, or good." Aryn turns toward Rey and smiles.

"You're a good person. Altruistic, and selfless to a fault. You /know/ in your heart what is good and what is not. What is right, and what is wrong. The force cannot change that outlook. Kylo? Who knows what his circumstances are, but I doubt that it's the Force that is responsible for driving him to do terrible things. Having the power he has may not help things, but I don't believe that using the force in one way or another will lead someone to be evil. I believe evil people make evil choices, and that's just who they are."

"So what if you set fire to an evil goop? It felt good, sure. You stopped a real threat with the wave of your hand. The world, hell, the galaxy was made better for it."

Rey is quietly listening to all of what Aryn says back to her and throughout it Aryn has her rapt attention, with only her eyelids fluttering now and then as those loose strands of hair continue to dance across her face in the ocean winds coming from the west behind her right shoulder.

There are little hints of a smile showing themselves throughout several of the points that Aryn makes and when she finishes speaking, the young Jakkuan looks down to the area before where she's leaning on the arm of the chair. "I just don't want to create excuses to use such a power more frequently..." She shakes her head then and looks back to Aryn. "But perhaps you're right."

She does submit to a smile given to Aryn then as she draws in a deep breath. "You've been with us for a handful of months now, Aryn Cole... and you're already on your way to being a model members of this Academy. If we continue on this route, I see you being a major player in the galaxy's safety as a whole going forward." Her smile turns into a playful grin. "You're well on your way to being an exceptional Jedi Knight, should that indeed by the development we're all headed toward."

Its still partly all up in the air, after all. All of this. They're doing their best with it all, of course, but Rey knows full well that what they have here is still on young and wobbly legs. "Thank you for being here too, it helps, more than I can describe with words."

"It shows character to understand restraint. When something is needed and when something is not. My father taught my brother and I the rules of a blaster. Respecting the weapon and knowing when to use it separated us from being thugs and being responsible. While my brother didn't do so well retaining that lesson, it could be applied to using techniques in the Force as well. You know how to use it, to what extent and purpose, and all those caveats. But knowing /when/ to use it is key, I think. That will be an internal struggle for us all." Aryn manages a smile again, and preens a bit at being commended by Rey. "I believe we all will have a part to play. Even Elrych, though sometimes I wonder," She said endearingly of the Corellian Ace, clearly teasing. -- "I am happy to be here with you. If my presence helps others learn, then I am happy to teach what I know. Who knows, in time people may refer to you as Master Rey. Hahaha. I've always thought I'd make a good side-kick. Or, at least a cute one."

Rey shows a light grin then and she stands up off of her chair. "I don't ever want anyone to call me by that title." She tells Aryn. "If anything, I'd rather remain in the position I am until the Jedi Order is stable enough that I can step away from it." This is something she's never admitted to anyone. "That is my personal goal. I want to recover it to a place that it should be at, and then just quietly slip away."

She gathers up her satchel off of the back of the chair and then picks up that metal cup as she places the strap of the satchel over her arm. "Not out of any desire to disappoint anyone, of course, but simply because... I feel that that is my purpose in all of this." She glances out toward the ocean again and takes another sip of her cup.

"I used to be desperate to know what that position was." She looks back to Aryn, "And now I believe that that is... it. To help restore the light side of the Force, to give it a fighting chance to push back against the darkness. But, I've no intentions to lead it once it is all working, as intended. I believe thats the right and place for others, some day down the line."

Rey starts to move toward the doorway into the school. "Come, lets find some food. I think my stomach is about to devour itself." She shows another light grin then as she starts to walk. "I need to speak to Elrych soon too, but I haven't had a chance... He seems to be going through something. I should make sure he's okay."

"Just don't wear formfitting robes when you see him. His eyes linger." Aryn says, chuckling, following Rey's lead without question. Her admission of purpose is stored quietly behind a non-judging look. Whether Rey knew or not, slipping away would not be so easily accomplished! Aryn was destined to follow her, and when she left, the good doctor would be right behind her ensuring she didn't jump alone into obscurity!