~A Spark of Consciousness~

[Orphen]

It had been a while since Valon Orphen had walked across the botanical gardens of Empress Teta, likewise it had been a while since Orphen had found it within her to teach those around her, she'd been travelling, though she had suffered a loss at the hands of a Sith Pureblood, she was determined to get back on track, the creature, the monster, had taken her light sabre, Orphen took the loss hard, but understood that some things were out of her control, but what was important was her most precious treasure, the Anterres Crystal was undamaged, and unharmed. Having been clasped into its wrist hold at the time of her loss, it had more than likely saved her life, though she could not quite remember the details. She would no doubt have to meet the creature on the battlefield some time in the future, and such a time entailed her to not only be ready physically, but mentally and spiritually as well.

The Light of the Force was docked at a space station above the planet, most of the younger Padawans and younglings on board were allowed to come to the planets surface for a small while, so long as there were no signs of danger. Orphen saw the wisdom in the decision, but all the while, she thought it was risky, to have the future of the Jedi order consolidated and stationed in one location was a dangerous strategy to say the very least, and not one that Orphen was particularly happy with. But as she saw many of them located around the Gardens, she could not help but smile, their wide eyed innocence, even in a time of war and strife was uplifting and warming to the heart. Orphen spent a great amount of time sitting and talking to them, as the dealer she had employed to locate her light sabre crystals had also called in to say he was en route to teta to deliver his next drop off, and receive his next payment. It seemed that today was going to be both productive, and progressive to a multitude of Orphen's goals, and that things were working out for the best.

She still wore her white and silver Rakatan made armour, her hood over her head which her unnaturally arched back lekku allowed for with a much higher degree of comfort than most other Togruta. Her montrals falling down behind her all the while. Within her armour weave coat were small pockets, each bearing their individual, well ordered prize of crystals, her stunning blaster at her hip and finally the ever familiar blade Caris was situated on her back, sheathed firmly as the shard at the pommel of the blade was for once in his existence silent. Orphen had, had time to create and forge a new light sabre with a slightly better grip but otherwise identical to her old one in the time she had been despairing, such did not take her too long to find the pieces she needed, many were common while others, not so. The Adegean crystal lens being one of them as well as several other key components were a little more expensive, which had blasted a small hole in Orphens pocket at the time, making times hard, losing your weapon bought with it a degree of shame which Orphen had to face, by now, long since spent and concluded.

So, it was time for her to take up her reigns as a Jedi knight once again, the Light of the Force presented a unique opportunity to take one of the many younglings under her wing, and potentially move onto the Light of the Force one it had finished loading provisions and refuelling which would take the better part of a day or even two. She'd looked through the youngling registry and many of them seemed accounted for save one which had caught her eye. A young Nautolan girl, whom seemed to have had somewhat of a rough life compared to some of the other kids in the room, and Orphen could relate to that. Orphen's eyes scanned the horizon for Avieiva, her bird as it perched in the tree Orphen had situated herself in the shade of, her legs crossed and waiting. Reaching out to the light side of the force and finding harmony in her resonance with everything around her.

 

[Apollyon]

While the Light of the Force was a massive vessel, when an inquisitive child such as Avery is placed on it for prolonged periods, it began to feel claustrophobic. She had explored most of the areas the Younglings were allowed to enter on the vessel already, she had played with almost all of the items found in those rooms, and she had even gone into restricted areas a time or two just to peek around. However, she was running out of things to do, things to explore, things to learn. So when Avery learned of the day or two they would be spending on Empress Teta she was overjoyed, time to get out and explore her new, temporary surroundings with very few restraints.

After a few hours the Younglings were placed into several transports and taken to the planet’s surface, where they were divided into groups and each group was placed under the protection of a Jedi Knight or Jedi Master for their time on the planet’s surface. While many children were found dashing about in the grassy field playing tag, high in the trees constructing “forts” from fallen or loose branches, or splashing in the lake near the entrance of the temple Avery was not. Instead the young Nautolan was found in the Garden’s taking in these alien surroundings, having been born and raised on Alsakan in the slums of the capital city she was not accustomed to the natural beauty of a planet. Avery took advantage of her time here, smelling, touching, and sometimes tasting plants or fauna, learning as much about them as she could. The entire planet was curious to her, it was strange and foreign in her black eyes yet it still held the most intriguing beauty.

Out of all the wildlife Avery had seen on the planet, the strange terrestrial creatures, the angry and stinging insects, and the wide array of avian species one stood out the most. A single bird that held a strange bright pink color and sang the most beautiful song Avery had ever heard. Avery stood in awe of the animal, listening to its lonesome yet entrancing song as she unknowingly swayed to the unspoken lyrics and the nonexistent rhythm she had created in her mind. A small smile appeared on the young Nautolan’s face as a single compulsion urged her forward; Avery felt the need to touch the bird, to stroke those beautiful pink feathers.

Avery approached the tree, after inspecting it for a few moments she decided that it was far too high for her to climb on her own. With that thought in mind she began to circle the tree, looking up at the branches in hopes of finding a low lying one for her to grasp and pull herself up on. However, Avery failed to watch where her feet were guiding her, she didn’t notice the Togrutan Jedi meditating in her path as such she tripped over the Jedi’s crossed leg and found herself staring at the dirt instead of the pink wondrous bird.

A mixture of surprise and shock overtook Avery; she let out a small yelp as her face collided with the ground. Tear welled up in the corners of her eyes as she pushed herself from the ground, not because she was scared but because of the stinging sensation in her nose and the tiny trickle of blood that leaked from its confines. While Avery didn’t whimper or whine a steady stream of tears began to roll from her eyes and down to her lips which she quickly brushed from her face after tasting the salty properties it held on her lips. She stared at the strange looking Jedi for a moment, still slightly stunned and visibly shaken from the violent collision with the ground; Avery muttered the only words that instantly came to her mind, between her slight sobs and sniffling.

“I-I-I ‘m sorry.”

 

[Orphen]

Orphen reacted with a slight amount of pain when the young girl collided with her leg, reacting with an automatic and unexpected 'ow' as she was snapped out of her calm and contemplative meditation by a small Nautolan girl. Orphen looked to the girl and saw the look of pain on her face, and the small trickle of blood running from her nose. Which, in a brief, solitary and single act, melted Orphen's nineteen year old heart. Orphen's soft eyes recognised and somewhat wondered whether or not this was the person she was only just recently considering taking under her wing, it seemed there was little more than coincidence working here, as the girl had literally stumbled into her lap. Orphen rubbing her leg the pain slowly faded, her discomfort falling into a smile across Orphen's face. Placing a hand on the tree behind her and standing up, Orphen stretched as the girl too seemed to pull herself up from the ground and apologise.

It's fine, please don't worry about it, here...

Orphen said stepping closer to the child and raising a hand to her nose. Orphen did not need to close her eyes to focus on the force, she simply smiled softly as her eyes held aloft in both the direction of her nose as well as her hand and arm, like she was looking at nothing specifically but everything distantly as she channelled the power of the light side of the force which she had done so regularly and uniformly through her arm and down to her hand. The result was like all the others, a feint light both white and blue resonating from her hands and casting out in a small radiant pulse to encompass the girl's nose. The light was not dazzling, but subtle, as Orphen used only the precise amount of force power needed to perform the skill, restitching the wound in the nose and as a bi product any and all previous damage within that area, retinal damage would reverse as well as damage to her skin and soft surface tissue. After a few seconds Orphen lowered her hand and moved to sweep away the young girl's tears.

There, I hope that makes everything feel a lot better. My name's Orphen, It's nice to meet you young one.

Orphen spoke with a lightness and a whimsy in her somewhat tired voice, as she spoke the sun bird which was once perched high in the tree spread its wings and flew down to greet the new Nautolan girl, Avieiva could feel the light side of the force within her, as well as the now flexed light side within Orphen having used a force healing technique became attracted to the energy like a moth to a gentle flame. As Orphen spotted the winged friend of hers she stretched out an arm for her to land gracefully like a trained hawk. Cooing lightly and rubbing up to Orphen's palm like it could see the light side resonance which still hung there, bathing in it like it was light or a physical substance.

And this is Avieiva... I think she likes you.

The sunbirds sparkling feathers on closer inspection were actually radiant, producing what looked to be an incredibly fine dust which fell from its feathers almost constantly, the fine dust was clear and reflected the light like fragments of crystal, combined with the vibrand colours of the birds' wings it actually seemed to glow an amount. Orphen patted along the feathers of Avieiva, which the bird seemed to respond well to, pressing up against her owner's hands like a cat would when it had its ear scratched.

What are you doing here, down on Empress Teta?