Crossroads

[Leah Reach]

Life Day was nearing its end. The day was out, the night long set in, although the celebrations continued. Beating of drums, loud and captivating, rang throughout the great tree. From the lush forest floor the star-studded skies above, the festivities of Wookiee, human and all other species alike continued. Torches were relit, bonfires sustained, and a thousand lights remained burning through the night. Dances were gathered and held in the center of the village of Rowrakruk. Food, drink and laughter were shared. In spite of the many ongoing horrors and the war raging across the galaxy, Leah felt at peace. Surrounded by the Force, free from the Sith. To her, it was paradise.

But the Jedi Master knew she could not remain forever. She enjoyed peace, but the return to war was inevitable. She savored the paradise, but as long as Imperial flags reigned, no world was safe. Kashyyyk, most of all, sandwiched between the Imperial Republica and the Old Empire, was at risk. Leah could not escape the thoughts of war or the Rebellion. Never. Even now, the main reason why she came to the pilgrimage was not for the pilgrimage itself, but to discover and meet with many force sensitive hopefuls. Those like Eisa Swan, or Devrim and Toland, and another: Fey.

She knew little of the young woman. Although Leah never unearthed Alliance records to find her, the brief Force connection she maintained gave her the girl’s name. That, and as she observed from afar, Leah committed her face to memory. Now, it was only a matter of finding her. Among the crowd, lost in the many dances, headfirst in a container of wine. There was no telling where she disappeared off to. Not until the Jedi decided to close her eyes, breath, and reach out once more. Submerging into the Force, she felt guided to the edge of the Life Tree. Away from the noise, the source of the celebrations, and to an open air balcony.

Leah opened her eyes and saw her. Slender body relaxed against the verge of the terrace, white hair draped over her shoulder. A specter in the moonlight. Strong in the Force. Before even meeting her, the Jedi Master knew she was a perfect Jedi. Lips pursed, she greeted her in a friendly whisper so as not to alarm her. “Fey?”

@Fey Aadedai

 

[Fey Meraska]

Since the pilgrimage Fey had embarked upon to the Tree of Life, the village of Rowrakruk seemed different to the young Pantoran woman. The moment that she had been pushed from her snowy vision, everything seemed more...connected? That was the only word she could find to describe it. A feeling of unison was tethered to the edges of Fey's mind. Perhaps it had always been there, although now, here, on this planet and in this day it was awakened in the young woman. Fey though it felt like how the stones in the bed of a river must feel; the rush of the water around them yet unable to move with the flowing currents, but wanting to move and dance with them desperately.

She had found a place on a small balcony that overlooked the mirth below, villagers and foreigners celebrating as one family. Games, food and drink were all spectated by the woman constant golden gaze, flickering constantly yet unable to completely join in. It was all a lot for her, seeing the image of her mother along with this connection she didn't know what to do with. She had heard of the force, yes, learned of her tie with it. But it was still lost upon her as to why and what it meant for her. Fey's eyes were slightly glazed as she leaned fully against the rail of the balcony, lost in complete thought.

That was until she was pulled from her pondering by a gentle female voice. The woman, slightly caught off-guard, straightened her back and turned to face the source of this voice. The moment that Fey laid eyes upon the woman, and entered her vicinity, she felt a wave of that strange flowing-water type feeling hit her straight in the face. It was almost a little overpowering, and Fey had to keep from taking a step back to collect herself. It wasn't a bad feeling, just so much at once. She also felt a familiar strange prick on the back of her neck. She had the vaguest feeling that they had encountered each other before, but Fey quickly shook off those thoughts and replaced them with a welcoming smile. "Hello, yes I am Fey." She hesitated a moment, before slightly tipping her head to the side. "Have we met? I can't seem to recall." The blue-skinned woman assumed there must be a reason for the woman to know her by name.
@Leah Reach

 

[Leah Reach]

Question confirmed, Leah stepped closer to the young Pantoran. She didn’t yet recline against the railing, uncertain if Fey was comfortable with her arrival or invasive presence. At her request, the Jedi Master would leave. But for now, she wanted to draw her into a conversation and reveal her true intentions. “No, we haven’t met— but we are now.” She answered, hands clasped together. “My name is Leah Reach, and assuming you are with the Alliance, I am the advisor to Commander Ion.” she made a quiet nod during her introduction, another sign that she meant no harm or ill will. “Like you, I have come to this pilgrimage in search of answers.” A pause. “And more.”

She glanced over to the young woman as she inched ever closer. And in the strange silence, Leah leaned over the railing and looked out to the world ahead of them. While she was known for her many subtleties, the night was long and her journey hard. The Jedi Master would not idle on her true intentions for long. “Tell me, Fey— do you know what the Jedi are? Who they are, and where they are now?” The question was immediate. Although the older woman did not yet reveal their survival to the Pantoran, she aimed to depending on her answer. Little did Leah know that Fey already knew of their existence, of the ways of the Force— for she was a student of Master Luy’s, albeit squandered.

But the female Jedi Master knew not. Despite having personally met with the Feeorin instructor and persuaded him to join her to restore the Order, since then the pair have held little contact. While she knew he was busy training and acclimating new force-sensitive individuals to the Jedi, she knew none of them by name or face. It wasn’t because their training had only just began and Leah was unable to introduce herself. Rather, she had distanced herself from Luy after finding his teaching methods… inadequate. Brimful classes, brief lessons, training with sticks and stones. The older woman preferred another way: not teaching a collective, but instead a more personal approach. Rather than telling students how to survive the Sith, she wanted to show them.

She wanted to show Fey. So long as she was willing, and as long as Leah could likewise convince her to not only join the Jedi Order but to withdraw from Clan Bergruutfa, whatever kind of name that was. Because the Pantoran needed more than one or two lessons to become a Jedi. She needed to know how to reach into the Force at a moment’s whim, how to wield a lightsaber, how to rise up as the first and greatest of the new and restored Jedi Order.

@Fey Aadedai

 

[Fey Meraska]

As Leah stepped closer, the blue skinned woman felt an almost relieved presence sweep in the vicinity of the pair. At the mention of her name and the Commanders, Fey's ears practically perked up. This was an important woman- a Jedi Master, no less. Someone who shared her inherent connection to the force. Fey turned to Leah with rising curiosity. A promise of answers, perhaps. Something Fey had been searching for for a decade.

At the mention of the jedi, the pantoran nodded gently. She had met Master Luy, been called to be apart of his selected few on the shores of Rishi not too long ago. "I know of a force-user, Master Luy... He had requested that I join his class of hopefuls." Fey met Leah's eyes, looking for any sign of recognition. But beyond Master Luy and Rishi, she remained unaware of the plans set into action to rebuild the jedi. "I didn't know that there were more Jedi Masters... just how many are there?"

The woman tapped her blue fingers against the hard surface of the railing they both shared, her mind already brimming with questions. She knew that she had a connection with the force, yes, that much had been made clear by Master Luy. But beyond that- the purpose of herself still remained unknown.

 

[Leah Reach]

Leah raised a single eyebrow. The young woman already knew of her potential in the Force, but also the continued survival of the Jedi Order. She had never met the girl before, nor found her in any of the public Alliance records: but maybe that was the reason. Leah was not the only Jedi Master in her cadre, in the revived Order. There was Aurora and Vuthari, Master Luy and Rayth. All of them were out in search of an apprentice. Someone else to teach and learn the ways of the Force. And they had done so in secret. From what she was told, it seemed the girl was under the guidance of Master Luy. The same Jedi she met on Rishii and persuaded to join the Alliance. The same Jedi she remained uncertain of.

Leah held great respect for the other Jedi Masters, but that didn’t mean she had her doubts. During the meeting on Al’doleem, Master Luy had voiced his concerns. Opinions she did not agree with. His teaching methods were neither so enlightening as they were patronizing. There was more to the Jedi than holding a stick or making rocks float. To survive, they needed to evolve. To evolve, they needed to push themselves beyond the limits they had known for decades. Aurora and Valentine agreed, and Leah was resolved to do just that. As for Fey? In her, there was a Force greater than she knew. A gift, she believed, was squandered under Luy. If the girl ever wanted to unlock that potential, she needed more than a class. More than a teacher or mentor. She needed a master.

“Master Luy… I understand now.” She said and nodded. “But yes, there are more Jedi. More than you may have believed, though not as much as anyone may have hoped.” Her fingers squeezed the railing as she leaned an inch over it to observe the view. “We number no more than five. Not enough to take on the Empire…” She turned to the girl and gave a hopeful smile. “But enough.” The Jedi Master turned her back to the village, devoting her full attention to Fey, and shifted the conversation. “However, I did not know you were under Master Luy. I admit we are rather secretive, not only to the Empire but to one another, yet that is only for our safety and your own.”

She paused before continuing, “But tell me, what do you think about him? Master Luy? You can be honest with me.” Another small beam of friendliness stretched her lips. While Leah may have had her own misgivings about the old Jedi, she was curious on what one of his first students thought. And perhaps, a former student.

@Fey Aadedai

 

[Fey Meraska]

Stopping her tapping fingers at the mention of the remaining number of prevailing force-users, the pale blue woman wasn't all surprised. Surely had there been more than such a small handful the galaxy would not be blinded to their existence. Although she was beginning to get the full picture as to why the Alliance was withholding any information of the existence of such people.

Everything about this conversation seemed shrouded in mystery. Even when Fey had gone to meet Master Luy it had been covert. Actually, Fey was surprised Leah seemed as bold as she was to speak about this in public at all. But as fey slid her golden eyes from Leah to the celebration ensuing below her, she figured that Leah would not have if there had been any kind of threat nearby.

Fey bit her bottom lip in slight indecision. She did not want to badmouth Master Luy, no, rather she had much respect for the Jedi. Meeting him on Rishi had been the motivation she needed to commit herself fully to the Alliance. Not that she had been doubting per say, but the feeling of being set apart from most rebels- having a different connection that Fey had never understood had made her feel alienated from the rest. The majority of rebels were ex-spacers, trained in the combative use of blasters and slicing and piloting.

"Master Luy was wise," The pantoran began, truthfully but cautious. She didn't have a thing against the feeorin. "The hopefuls I was to train beside were kind and respectable. I just felt I didn't fit in with the methods..I guess?"

In all honesty, fey didn't really know why she didn't fit. There was a tugging in the edges of her mind. Something like a distant purpose far from the beaches of Rishi. So she had come to Kashyyyk to satiate the odd pull.

"I guess...I suppose I felt like I was needed elsewhere." Come to think of it, fey realized that that pull was gone now that she searched for it within her mind. Somehow quenched. Fey looked to Leah for her response, hoping that the Jedi could shed some light on her situation. Already she felt accepted in the woman's presence.​

 

[Leah Reach]

Master Luy was wise. Truly, there was no denying that. The Feeorin was the oldest of the Jedi and possessed knowledge and experience years beyond the others. However, age was no guarantee for proficiency or mastery. The fellow Jedi Master was competent and compassionate in every right but Leah did not agree with his methods of teaching or passive beliefs. She was happy to hear that the young Pantoran female agreed and confirmed that the Force was calling her elsewhere. Calling her to Leah. Hope bridled inside her. She sensed the girl’s potential while she embarked on her pilgrimage. She understood how important she could be in the future. She needed more than Master Luy’s schooling.

“Never guess, only know.” She said once Fey was finished. Her words were only one of the many lessons the Jedi hoped to teach her. Aside from the ways of the Force and constructing her lightsaber, understanding what it meant to be a Jedi was above all else the most important. Fortunately, as the young woman had already been instructed by Luy, even if for a single lesson, Leah figured she knew several of the most vital tenants of the Jedi Code. “But yes,” she continued and leaned closer to the Pantoran, full of warmth and camaraderie. “I have reason to believe that too. You are special, Fey. More than you know. I sensed but an inkling of your power during your pilgrimage. And you have more to go. So much more to do and learn.”

“Let me train you, Fey. I can teach you everything you need, and deserve, to know.” Leaning against the railing, she seemed to stretch out her hand. Leah didn’t expect her to take it, but it was a sign of her offer. There were many doubts she may have held. Hesitation was very possible. However, the Jedi hoped to dispel any form of reluctance and assure the young woman there was nothing to be afraid of. “I will speak with Master Luy about you, and I’m positive he will understand. No hard feelings. Even then, you are welcome to continue to attend his classes. We are Jedi, after all. You can always have more than one master— but I hope you may find a Master in me too.”

She smiled again, empathetic, and hoped.

@Fey Aadedai

 

[Fey Meraska]

Fey smiled lightly at Leah's gentle critique. Of course, she had learned that. Guessing had been apart of her nature from birth. fey had always preferred to remain quiet and observe everything around her before acting as to better understand her surroundings. She was fairly gifted in the art of easily seeing through people, as well as being empathetic in most cases. As a result, the pantoran would often remain visibly to herself.

fey's ears practically perked as the older woman beside her continued speaking, her next words causing Fey's golden eyes to flutter open slightly in surprise. Fey had known that she was different, but to be considered special was a feeling she did not know, and somewhat doubted. "So you were there, in the trees, then?" the pantoran had felt something like like being watched before being sucked into the blizzard of her pilgrimage.

And to be taught? The opportunity she had lightly passed up after being called elsewhere by a feeling she couldn't describe. Something like longing for more had pulled her from the beach on Rishi. She had not questioned it. Maybe now that feeling was satiated in this moment for this very reason. And why would she question it now? "I wish to learn more of the flow of the force," the pale blue woman met Leah's eyes fully, willing the woman to feel her sincerity. ​

 

[Leah Reach]

“Yes, I was there.” She admitted, understanding how creepy it sounded the more she considered it. “Only to watch over my students, of course. But what I sensed from you was a strength and power I had not seen much in anyone. I understood then that you needed training, and now, more than mere classes.” The woman offered a reassuring smile at her explanation. Sure, it seemed strange but she had not been alone in her endeavors. Master Blackwood had likewise observed the pilgrimages, and she too had sensed what Fey possessed. However, Leah sensed more than that. She did not just see a potential student. She saw one of the first Jedi Knights of a revived Order. Even now, she still saw it, hidden away under the girl’s shy features.

She was warming up though. Leah could feel it. She shared the same feelings the Jedi Master felt. That she deserved to learn more than under the wings of Master Luy, that she deserved to learn the mysteries of the Force personally than in a classroom setting. With their differing opinions now one, and given Fey’s sincere answer, the Jedi Master knew it to be so. Her hopes confirmed, a pleased smile stretched her lips. “And learn you will,” she responded in kind, propping herself off the railing one last time and looked down to the young Pantoran. “There will be a ship leaving Savareen several days from now. It will take us to a long lost world of the Jedi. There, we can discover an ancient crypt— and begin your journey as a true Jedi.”

She mused the coming days, eager to see what would come. Behind them, the festivities continued, louder as the night began to wind down. Life Day was nearly over. “In the meantime, you should enjoy the celebrations while they last. Breath in the peace before you dive headfirst into the journey ahead.” The rebel ambassador suggested and motioned the young woman to join the others at the end of the festival, rather than to continue to deliberate on the terrace. Leah did not want to force her into anything she didn’t want to join, but she wanted her to relish the fun and freedom. Because it would be a long time before she saw it again, because the road ahead was long and dark.

And as it would be for Fey, so it would for Leah.

@Fey Aadedai