Escaping the Past (Storm and I)

[Aussie Legend]

The cold air seemed to press against Ojos' skin as he entered the small room designated for him to meet the one with whom he would no doubt learn much from. The Shade Order seemed to be a nice fit now the Jedi Order was a completed chapter in his life. While the idea of a new Master made Ojos cautious, he knew it was well within reason, he needed to be re-trained to the Shade Order, he had accepted that which he could not change.

The final train of thought caused him to smile briefly before the sight of his new Master immediately caught his gaze.

 

[Storm]

Solbacca could remember his training under Belyael Oderyn very clearly; it hadn't been particularly long ago, to be fair. The sand coloured robes that covered Solbacca's body and were befitting of his position of a Shade Knight were comfortable and also brought honour to the great Wookiee, as he stood there, with his arms crossed, in the sun. His twin lightsabers hung at his belt, as he moved into motion towards his own padawan. He'd been waiting for this day for some time, and the nervousness he'd anticipated wasn't there, instead confidence replacing any such feelings. Stepping over to the man he believed to be his padawan, Solbacca's rumbling attempts at Galactic Basic echoed around the entire training chamber. "Ojos Rusa." Basic wasn't Solbacca's prefered or primary language, Shyriiwook of the Wookiees being that, however he still spoke basic fluently, as did most sentients.

"I am your master, Solbacca. What previous training have you received?"

 

[Aussie Legend]

The towering Wookiee now standing before him surprised Ojos a little, he would not have believed the man to be a Shade Knight had he not seen the dangling hilts from the man's belt.

In all his years Ojos had never encountered a Wookiee, let alone one that could speak Galactic Basic, it was quite a welcome surprise.

Ojos extended his arms out either side of him and bowed his head slightly in respect to the Shade Knight.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Master Solbacca." Ojos began, placing his arms back into his robe before him in a semi-crossed form.

Ojos thought back to his training, and more importantly, his Master's death. Ojos shook the thought back, however, and began speaking once again.

"I was trained by a Jedi Knight for four years before my leave, Master, he taught me much about the force and the art of a lightsaber, of course, I've had quite a firm grasp on the force since a very young age."

 

[Storm]

"Show me." Solbacca remembered the times his master had done the same as he pulled the hard, metallic balls about the size of a skull towards him through the air with the Force, dropping them at the feet of his student.

"Move them. First spin them in a circle."

Solbacca considered for a moment. "Then, one at a time, hurl them at me before stopping them an inch from me. Then bring them towards you at an incredibly fast speed."

"And slice them into pieces with your lightsaber."

 

[Aussie Legend]

Ojos unfolded his arms and concentrated on the small spheres before him, using the force to rise the first into the air and spin it around him at an increasing speed, he then did the same with the second and then the third before hurling them one by one at his Master, stopping them roughly an inch away from his chest. Ojos then closed his eyes and moved his right hand beside his belt, calling his hilt to the firm grip of his hand with the force, igniting it immediately, revealing the brilliant green blade within.

Quickly, he swung the blade up before him and called them all towards him roughly a second after one another, keeping his eyes closed as he felt the spheres approaching with great speed. With split second reflexes, Ojos sliced the first in half as it approached him, followed by the second as it approached his head at an alarming speed, ducking under the pieces as they collapsed from the air, his link with them through the force being severed from his mind as he sliced it in half. The third spun towards Ojos immediately after the second, only to have the illuminating green blade cleanly cut directly through its centre and then again through both pieces as they fell to the ground.

Ojos deactivated his lightsaber and closed his eyes, viewing the scattered pieces of the chrome spheres littering the ground around him and hooked his hilt back to his belt.

"How was that, Master?"

 

[Storm]

"Good."

Was all Solbacca said, although his voice held little emotion. He'd seen the same - done the same - in his time, and didn't overly care. That was a basic test. If Ojos hadn't been able to do that, he'd have been able to do barely anything.

So he was passable.

Time for some of the more theoretical stuff. Solbacca still didn't sit, yet he relaxed somewhat as he look at his padawan and asked: "Tell me, what do you know of the Shade Order, it's philosophy and it's foundings?"

 

[Aussie Legend]

Ojos thought for a moment, a vague attempt to work up some words to describe the little he knew about the Shade Order, it was then he realised just how little his knowledge of the Order actually was.

"Sorry, Master, but I don't think I know anything about the way of a Shade, excluding the code, of course." Ojos spoke, clearing his throat.

"My emotion makes me
My knowledge guides me
My passion drives me
My strength enables me
My harmony balances me
I walk the shaded path"​

Ojos finished reciting the code and clasped his hands behind his back, showing he was intrigued to learn, the history of the Shade would no doubt be quite an interesting topic.

 

[Storm]

Solbacca raised one, great, shaggy eyebrow as he looked at his pupil before him. Didn't know much of the Shade Order? "You don't know much of the Shade Order?" Solbacca asked, attempting to keep his voice level. Was this said in some kind of jest? "So why, then, did you choose to join the Shade Order?" Solbacca sighed, drawing the training balls towards him before slamming them together with a deafening crash, leaving only one remaining, which he held, hovering, in the air.

"I expect an answer to my question, but I shall answer nonetheless. We are those who tread the line between the dark and the light. The Jedi may obsess themselves with the so called "light side" of the Force, and the Dark Jedi the "dark", yet the Force has no alignment; it is neutral, and should be used as such."

"As such, we should use all the areas of the Force wherever needed, we should study it in it's entirety. We should not allow ourselves to slip into alignment, but we follow the Force in it's true sense."

Solbacca slowly made the ball in front of him spin, slowly towards his padawan. "From many things one thing can be formed that is, on the face of things, the same as before. Yet this ball is stronger, more charged with the Force, heavier. As such, combining all the areas of the Force into a neutral, level headed way will allow us a greater control."

"Our actions in the Force echo through the galaxy, and the "light" side may have repercussions as dire as the "dark". Therefore, we must tread what some call the "grey" line, between the light and the dark, studying the Force in it's entirety."

 

[Aussie Legend]

Of course, Ojos had figured as much to the dark and light aspects of the force being used to their fullest within the Shade Order, yet he was still intrigued by the 'grey line' aspiration, while being quite a fine line to tread, seemed to be one of which Ojos could keep his balance upon. Still, the little, yet meaningful back ground information now spinning in Ojos' mind was enough for him to gather together an answer to his masters original question.

"I joined the Shade Order because the Jedi Order has become something of which I can not be a part of, As you said, walking the 'grey line' is something I believe in heavily, a pathway to perfection, not power, nor weakness, but to bettering ones connection with the force."

 

[Storm]

"You say you believe in it heavily and yet you know nothing except that I've told you but the code." He was backtracking, here, and Solbacca could sense it. Understandable, of course; he seemed enthusiastic enough, and Solbacca wasn't about to turn away willy-nilly one who wanted to join their order.

"You know of the Shade code."

It wasn't a question, it was a statement. Solbacca had heard him recite it earlier, too. "What do you understand by it? What does it mean to you? How do you interpret it?"

 

[Aussie Legend]

Ojos recited the code in his mind, attempting to put what he gathered from the wisdom of which it was made of into words.

My emotion makes me.
My knowledge guides me.

"I believe the first two phrases in the code suggest while emotion creates power through the darkness of the force, knowledge of that power and how to use it is what guides that power from consuming us."

My passion drives me.
My strength enables me.

"The third and fourth, in my mind, suggest the passion and emotion created in our lives is what drives us to gasp the greatness of the force and the strength to use said power is what enables us all to wield it."

My harmony balances me.
I walk the shaded path.

"Finally, the harmony of both sides of the force co-existing without fear of slipping away on either side balances us as we walk the grey line of the Shade Order."

 

[Storm]

"Good." Solbacca thought that was good enough for now. Now onto the more personal aspects of his student, so that both master and student could truly understand one another, truly work together for the better.

"Tell me of you, your life and your previous training."

 

[Aussie Legend]

"I was born on Coruscant as the son of a rather shady figure, very wealthy, yet every last one of the credits owned by that man were tainted," Ojos paused for a moment, it amazed him that his father had never been seized by the Republic for his crimes, the man was good at what he did, there was no doubt in Ojos' mind about that.

"I never really considered him as my father, however, the slime was rarely focused enough to even recognise me as his son the few times I managed to see him a week." Ojos paused and caught his breath before continuing:

"I was enrolled by my mother into the Jedi Temple on Ossus at the standard age, my mother had made the enrolment several years early, however. I always seemed to have a more advanced grasp on the force then my fellow Jedi younglings while studying at the Temple for those long five years, I must say I was relieved when my former Master took me under his wing upon completion of my course at the temple."

"It took me four years to realise the faulty and corrupt beliefs of the Jedi, it was a week after the death of my mother that I could no longer stay a part of something I no longer had any faith or belief in, I left the order after-- after the death of my master."

Ojos played the scene to which he had seen countless times in his nightmares, the murder of his master by his blade. Ojos shook the thoughts away, weary of his Master sensing the emotion in his thoughts, the murder was one skeleton in his closet he intended to keep under lock and key, forever secret.

"What of you, my master?"

Perhaps it was an odd turn of events for the Padawan to intrude into the life of their Master, yet Ojos was intrigued to learn of the Wookiee's past.

 

[Storm]

"An interesting story indeed." Solbacca acknowledged. He smiled at the rest of what his pupil had said. "Me?" He considered denying him fully for a moment, and then decided against it. "I was born beneath the trees of my home with the mark of the hunter on my brow. I stalk the forest floor and the village tops. I am Solbacca." He would grace him with nothing more; that would be all, for now.

"What's the full extent of your knowledge, with the Force and with physical combat? Show me." Solbacca commanded.

 

[Aussie Legend]

Ojos thought for a moment, there was surely a way to show both his physical and mental grasp over the force, he had some understanding of how Force Lightning was conducted, he had failed all attempts to master it, however.

After a short strain of thought, Ojos ignited his lightsaber, the powerful green blade illuminating his dark robes.

A small table and chairs were set up on one side of the room, they seemed to be of basic design, nothing too heavy for Ojos to grip with the force.

With a simple flick of his wrist, the objects were sent into the air and with another, storming across the room at an alarming pace.

Ojos had moved the objects into a very spread out formation, making it impossible to simply move to his left or right to evade the objects, he would have to use the force to guide him through the objects.

With that thought, Ojos leapt into the air, his feet connecting with one of the seat breifly before pushing off in a burst of energy, the force propelling him forward to the large table soaring through the air, using the same motion, Ojos pushed himself off the table and front flipped over the next chair, the green blade in his hands burning a slight scratch on the edge of the seat as it flew beneath the still-moving figure that was Ojos. For a moment, time seemed to slow as the final chair moving at an alarming pace soared towards Ojos, who quickly brought his lightsaber downwards directly in front of his body, slicing the seat in half and dropping to the floor immediately after, the now destroyed seat collapsing behind him.

Ojos looked at the scene, he had made quite the mess.

"Uh... I'll pay for that." He said, attempting to humour his Master.

 

[Storm]

Solbacca nodded, before chuckling in his deep, Wookiee voice. "Good." Was all he said, succinctly channelling his opinion of what his apprentice had done into one word. It had been impressive, yes, and quite a bit showy too. The Jedi might not have liked that, but Solbacca wasn't a Jedi. Nor, unlike a lot of the Shades in the Order, had he ever been one. Therein lied his strength, his ability not to corrupt the Shade Order. He smiled; some Jedi would see the Shade Order as corruption, therefore he wasn't corrupting the corruption. He smiled. The Jedi were an odd Order. "I didn't mean that, but you weren't to know; I failed to explain it properly." Solbacca stated. "What I wanted you to do was tell me the extent of your previous training, what you know of the Force and lightsaber combat and anything else you feel is relevant."