The Sword and the Stone

[Arda Breaux]

Atollon

When she arrived, the sun was beginning to set, leaving orange and purple streaks in the sky and long shadows crossed the land, connecting to one another as the night approached. The coral trees seemed to have a bit more green to them, and some of the planet's natural creatures scurried about, looking for a place to settle for the evening also. Arda almost wondered if she should have waited until morning, but Force gods didn't sleep, at least she didn't think they did like her and other mortal beings across the galaxy. Besides she would be up all night, having slept on her journey through hyperspace, she was ready for the next test from the Bendu.

She paused, hearing the song of a creature and turned slowly to see a convor bird sitting in the coral trees, their staring contest lasted for a moment longer before the Jedi continued to the valley of the Bendu. She carefully descended down the ridged edges of the valley, her senses reaching outward in search for the Bendu, though, from what she has learned so far, he showed when he wanted.

In the valley, she waited patiently, closing her eyes as she explored her senses, never really having the chance to do so in the past as each time she had returned, she was in some state of disillusion. Today though, she didn't feel those doubts, she had not felt them as intense as she did when she had first arrived in her last visit. When she did get them, she wasn't intimidated and instead, sought for her own inner exploration, bring answers she could someday share with her students. So with that, she was uncertain of what her final test would be with the Bendu and her youthful curiousness was becoming hard to contain.

@Nefieslab

 

[The Bendu]

Once again she had come.

Once again the Jedi had come to see if she was worthy of the titles that she had claimed out of necessity. She had come the first time due to a lack of confidence in herself, she had come the second time due to a lack of confidence in facing her fears.

With the assistance provided, Arda had managed to find confidence in herself and find the confidence required to prove, to herself, that her fears need not control her.

Through her two visits, she had grown to be a greater person than she had been when she first approached. Now as she approached again, the Bendu rose from the ground as was it’s way. Towering over the young Jedi once again, the Bendu examined her in the Force.

“You approach again, Jedi Master.”

It’s voice was booming by default but, once again, it was devoid of any true sense of emotion. Unlike most of the races with short lifespans, the Bendu had long since managed to find a method of entirely detaching itself from it’s emotions so that when it spoke facts it spoke them without the inflection or bias of emotion.

Still, curiosity mixed with anticipation as it looked down upon her again.

“Why have you come to me this day, Arda Breaux?”

This was it.

Arda had visited the Bendu two times already and she had learned more and been rewarded for her efforts each time. This was her third visit and the Bendu waited with bated breath to see if she would know the true lesson that awaited her on this, her final visit.

@GABA

 

[Arda Breaux]

When she had arrived, the Bendu made himself known as he rose from his spot in the ground, once more towering over her while recognizing her presence. He looked truly god-like against the star-speckled sky that rested behind him and Arda bowed in respect.

"I have returned, Bendu. You said there was another test, where I am to challenge myself as I am made whole, complete and I have found your tests have helped me greatly in leading the Jedi." she explained, "I remember from our first meeting that even if something seems complete, it not necessarily at the pinnacle of its potential and as a Jedi, I know for sure now, I am forever learning, evolving, and continue to face many challenges so either I can guide my pupils, or make sure they never have to face such dangers for generations to come." Arda paused, gathering her thoughts as she tried to figure out what this next test would entail.

"I feel you see more within me and this is why you wish to test me again even though I feel like I know nothing and yet everyone thinks I know everything. Regardless, I am ready for this test, whatever you wish to challenge me, I will give all that I know to that which I do not know." she looked into the large white eyes of the Force god, trying to decipher any clues as to what the Bendu had planned for her, but certainly he was one of the center, unable to determine his intentions or inflection of emotions.

@Nefieslab

 

[The Bendu]

The Bendu stared down at the Jedi before it and mused on her journey.

She had proven herself to be stronger in spirit than many of the shorter-lived races but that was nothing too great in terms of accomplishments. The Bendu had seen and sensed the pettiness of the shorter-lived races for millennia and it had seen just how weak of mind and spirit so many of them were. So many of their vast multitudes were easily swayed puppets, some willing to turn their coats at the drop of a hat.

And some with even less provocation than that.

Arda Breaux had kindled some... interest in the shorter-lived creatures of the Galaxy once again within the Bendu. It stared down at her and raised an eyebrow.

"You presume to tell me when you are ready for my test of yourself?" the Bendu rumbled, "Rather confident aren't we, Master Jedi?"

The Bendu was almost teasing the woman it had to be said.

"You remember the gem. You remember that it was made better by force and fire and pressure." the Bendu stared down at Arda Breaux, "You are the material from what a gem can be forged, Master Jedi, but you must first prove yourself. You must prove to me that you can withstand the pressure!"

With a sweeping gesture of one of it's large arms, the Bendu rammed a truly staggering amount of Force power at Arda's left hand side in the form of a Force Push. At the same time, the Bendu used it's free hand to physically pick up a boulder the size of it's head and throw it at the Jedi Master.

The trial by fire had begun.

@GABA

 

[Arda Breaux]

She was entirely confident she was ready for this test until he questioned that confidence, her brow flinched in thought as she tried to decide if he were teasing her and if someone or something as enigmatic as him was capable of making a joke. Regardless, she nodded, reassuring him...or perhaps herself, that she was truly ready for the trial that she had no idea what it entailed; the first two were not as bad as they were unpredictable, but the wait to know what was coming, she thought that was worse.

He spoke about the gem and the Jedi felt it in the back pouch on her belt, she had certainly found use for it during meditation and she clearly remembered how it was created, the heat and pressure and suddenly, the Force changed around her, the ripples retracted and she felt suddenly alert of the incoming danger as he revealed his final test for her. His large arm had come flying across and the Jedi Master braced, using the Force as a way to cushion the blow, but the power behind it was still enough to throw the Jedi Master off her feet and into a coral tree, the plates breaking from contact as she fell to her knees, noting how much that had hurt. The shadow of the boulder followed, and Arda ducked behind the trunk of the tree, covering her head as the rock took out the top of the tree, crashing into the valley floor meters away from where she stood, breaking into dozens of smaller rock.

The Jedi Master jumped to her feet, the Force rippled around the woman, she was wrestling with a Force god, No one was ever going to believe this story... she thought to herself as she picked up the jagged coral plates, sending them back at the space moose. She didn't bother to look if they landed their mark as she knelt down, her fingers digging into the sand and dirt, pushing with the Force as the ground started to quake, hoping to off-set the Bendu, as she was ready to move again when his attacks came.

@Nefieslab

 

[The Bendu]

The Bendu was not a creature who engaged in combat very often.

Of the few times it had been forced into conflict throughout the millennia, most of them had been to the death. And yet throughout the millennia and the death matches; the Bendu remained. Arda Breaux was a few million years too young to have a true chance at defeating him and that was fine.

Because that wasn't the test.

As the Coral strands were sent at it, the Bendu didn't resist using the Force. Instead it lowered it's head and shook it from side to side slightly, blocking and bashing the coral away with the 'antlers' atop of his head. Not defending with the Force allowed him to use the Force just as Arda was beginning to start her quake attack on it.

It's defense against the quake was to shatter the ground between them, forming a chasm so the earth she was shaking was not connected enough to the ground it was standing upon to unsettle it's footing. At the same time, the Bendu reached into the Force and commanded so of the tough, almost inorganic, roots of the coral trees to burst through the ground Arda was standing on to ensnare her legs to block her from moving.

And to allow his follow up attack of a blast of Force Lightning, showing that the Bendu was, truly, the one in the middle, capable of feats from both the Dark and the Light.

@GABA

 

[Arda Breaux]

As she had pressed into the ground, it shook more than the force she had given it, severing the land between her and the Force entity; she jumped to her feet as the ground separated, her arms extended to gain some balance, but as she stepped back, the Bendu had commanded the roots to hold her in place. The Jedi yelled out in surprise and grabbed the small knife on the small of her back, but there was a change in the Force, like a polarization that sent a chill as the lightning crackled from the Bendu, sending it directly to the Jedi Master who was now a sitting duck.

She dropped her knife and raised her palms, bracing for impact as she poured her strength in the barrier, the violet shield cracked like glass as the lightning burst struck. Crackles that broke through bit and stabbed at her flesh, stinging terribly and nothing like static shocks one would get when the air was too dry. She lost her footing again, falling backwards, the shield dissipating as did the lightning burst and she grabbed the knife, only to realize the roots were as hard as the coral, so instead, the Jedi woman slipped her legs out of her boots, freeing her from the entanglement.

Back to her (bare) feet, Arda decided she was not liking this trial too much as she readied against the Bendu again, taking in deep breaths to keep her mind clear, the light still burned within her as she was determined not to falter in her resolve. Though, she couldn't help to hold back the sass as she spoke between her deep breaths, "Is that all?" she gave a knowingly stupid grin.

@Nefieslab

 

[The Bendu]

The Bendu did not visibly react.

It didn't usually visibly react but even now, while engaged in battle, the Bendu's expression was a curious mixture of blank and serene, as though it had seen all of this before and had come to peace with whatever the outcome truly was to be. It stared down at the now bare-foot Jedi.

"You speak as though you believe you can weather the storm."

She had acquitted herself excellently so far but that was all - so far. So far was the important part of that sentence as Arda Breaux was not yet the victor or even the survivor of the battle.

The Bendu reached into the Force again and the battle resumed.

Using the same technique it had used to heat the stone to forge the gem Arda held, the Bendu began to heat the stone ground that Arda stood upon. It would start out as nothing more than a similar heat to that of sand on a beach on a hot day but it would begin to ramp up quickly.

Without using the Force at all, the Bendu grabbed a coral tree twice the length of Arda and threw it towards her. As it traveled, the Bendu shattered the coral tree with the Force, turning a tree into a large collection of coral shards flying through the air at Arda.

@GABA

 

[Arda Breaux]

Perhaps that was not the best thing to say to a Force god as she looked into the whites of his eyes, he remained emotionless, unable for the Jedi Master to get a solid read on the creature as she backed up some. He questioned her resolve, "The sun and the moon still stands strong even when the storm rages before it." she told him, her fingers curled into her palms to make fists as she could feel the Force agitate under his command. The ground grew warm...then hot where she stepped and she gasped as it were quickly warming too quickly under her feet. She leaped onto boulder, but he had already picked up massive coral tree and threw it at her; the small Jedi prepared to off set its trajectory with her own push, but when the tree shattered into hundreds of shards, she scrambled for cover, ducking behind the stone, trying to protect herself from the shards. They broke and shattered against the stone while others flew around her landing harmlessly into the sands; one even with such force caused the stone to crack, its tip nearly impaling the Jedi as she gasped in startled realization how too close that was.

She jumped to her feet knowing the Bendu was preparing to unleash more, she could run forever, in fact she was very good at running and was certain she could have been a star athlete in the Imperial Olympics if she wanted. However, something about this didn't sit right with the Jedi Master and as she had scrambled to the next point of cover behind a large coral tree, her own words reflected back, it was one of the few pieces of wise advice her father gave her before dying in his own grief. She had her first encounter with Imperial officers on the Corellian streets and while on the verge of tears from fear and anguish, he told her of the sun and moon. She inhaled and let out a long breath, breaking form her hiding spot as she faced the Bendu, the Force flowed through the Jedi, calming the ripples that ebbed from the Jedi as she focused and waited.

@Nefieslab

 

[The Bendu]

Arda was a mouthy little creature, the Bendu decided in an almost abstract way. She was getting good at presenting nonsense as some kind of wisdom however and it amused it so it would forgive her for making little to no sense. It allowed the faintest hints of a smirk to develop before it returned to business.

The business being smearing Arda all across it's planet.

It's attack with the heat wasn't as effective as hoped so the Force was cut from powering the technique any further as the Bendu focused on giving the coral pieces some extra power. The attack forced Arda to cower behind cover and the Bendu allowed himself to feel a slither of disappointment for just a moment before it steeled it's resolve.

When Arda stepped out into the open it capitalized.

Using the Force in two ways, the Bendu warped the air around Arda's head, dragging the air away from her head with aerokinesis. At the same time it used the Force in a time-honored tradition.

It used it as a bludgeon to sucker punch her with a shot to both kidneys at the same time.

@GABA

 

[Arda Breaux]

She felt the air being pulled away and Arda reacted by pulling it back, reversing the intention of the Bendu, allowing her to have a breath that would only be taken away in a different manner. She would feel something strike her hard in her back flank, sending the Jedi sliding forward along the sands before her, her face stung from the friction burn, but it was nothing in comparison to the internal throbbing that she was certain was not going away any time soon. Arda let out a yell, her fingers dug into the sand again, the already broken earth seemed to separate more and as the Jedi Master threw her arm up, so did a column of stone underneath the Bendu.

Something felt different to Arda, and the Jedi Master was certain it was not the blood she was about pee for the next month or so, but the Light was so strong within her, she had yet to feel her own strength and there was something liberating about this. She recalled one of the holocrons she listened to, in particular with a green toad who spoke of the the Jedi of not enjoying fight and the battle, other options were always available; however, she questioned that reasoning, though war was always the last option, what happens when you are born into war, you live in a galaxy covered in darkness, how does a Jedi adapt and persevere in such conditions?

Questions that would be pondered at a different time, but now as the ground would jet upwards in order to send the Force god off-balance, Arda followed with a relentless offense, the sands whipped up around her and throwing her arm forward, sending it directly to bite at the heels of the Bendu.

@Nefieslab

 

[The Bendu]

The Bendu narrowed its eyes as it stared down at Arda.

Once again he had landed a solid hit onto the Jedi and once again she found herself pushed to her limits to get herself back up, to get herself ready to face more punishment. Truly, she probably should have just sat herself down by now but she was doing rather well to keep herself in the race as it were.

Commendable.

The Light was shining through Arda with an intensity that, honestly, excited the Bendu. The Light had been waning in recent years and yet here it was strong and bright within the heart of this young Jedi. It smiled despite the way the Light was twisted to attack him with part of the ground rocketing up to meet it's face.

Letting the chunk of rock hit it's face, the Bendu grunted in mild pain at the hit before waving a hand. Any residual rocks and debris flew to one side, clearing the area between himself and the Jedi.

"Enough."

Looming over Arda, the Bendu stared down into her heart and soul.

"I have seen enough - are you ready to proceed, Arda Breaux, or do you need time to recover?"

@GABA

 

[Arda Breaux]

Arda's extended arm dropped and the sands did also as he called out for enough; her eyes widened slightly and she was frozen in place, wondering if she just made a terrible mistake in angering the Force god. However, her senses told her nothing of such thing and slowly the Jedi Master stood up straight, in fact it was very difficult to stand up straight as her back felt like it was swollen from the kidney shots just moments early.

Through the pain she stood though as the Bendu starred down at her and informed he had seen what he needed, "No, no, I'm good." she nodded, as though trying to convince herself that she could continue, she just needed to walk it off. Stepping a couple steps back, she felt her mind refocus from the ache of her back and to the Bendu.

"I'm ready to proceed." However, exactly what he meant by proceeding, Arda was uncertain, she prepared herself though for another round of hits from the Bendu, the Force cautiously building within her, ready to be on the defense or offense if that were the case. She even wondered if this creature could be beat or if it were a failed objective from the start.

@Nefieslab

 

[The Bendu]

The Bendu stared down at the plucky little lifeform before it and mused upon how odd it was that this creature had managed to find it and had managed to convince it to actually work with her. How she had actually managed to find her way here was something of a mystery but that was one of the many quirks of the Living Force; every now and then it pulled back it's arm and let loose a wicked curveball.

There was no way of knowing ahead of time that Arda Breaux would find her way to face the Bendu and there had never been any certainty that she would have lived up to the potential that it had seen in her when they first met.

"When you first came to me, you were raw." the Bendu rumbled, "You had potential but little else. You were lost, you were afraid and you were weak."

Reaching out with the Force, the Bendu took the gem he had constructed back.

"You took solace, looked deep within, and found your cause and the conviction to follow it." the Bendu thundered, "You were lost but then found."

The gem began to spin in front of the living Force creature.

"You faced your fears because I invited them out into the open." There was a small pause before, "You defeated your fears and walked away without giving into them."

Using the Force, the Bendu reached deep inside of the stone and manipulated it more. It had created the stone with the potential to be a truly powerful Force artefact but Arda had had no way of activating it and the Bendu would only activate it when she had realized the potential he had seen in her.

"You were weak from your life hitting you hard." The Bendu almost smiled, "I hit you harder and you stood right back up. You see, Arda, you came to be little more than a Padawan. You will leave me here today a Jedi Master in every regard... and you will leave her with my blessing."

The gem, now fully realized, floated back to Arda.

"Do you wish to say anything, young Grandmaster Arda?"

@GABA

 

[Arda Breaux]

The Bendu began to speak again, recalling their first visit; she remembered arriving at Atollon and she certainly was a hot mess, she had gone through so much loss, hardships, and trials that very few Jedi (albeit there were few jedi at the time) had experienced in such a short time in the past five centuries. She was unable to see how much those around her saw the strength in her, but the Bendu helped her through it and it was when he had given her stone that he had created in that lesson. It floated from her possession to him and Arda's eyes followed the stone until the Bendu spoke again, recalling her second visit which had been a while since the first, but more recently as she was coming to a cross roads. She had been facing many transitions and once more those who looked up to her did, and though she didn't turn a blind eye, the reality of just how many looked to her was overwhelming.

But yet, she persevered.

The Force shifted as the Bendu manipulated the stone, recapping their current trial and Arda smiled, catching a hint of a smile of his own as he spoke of her returning to her feet after all the hits she took. The gem returned to the Jedi Master's hands and she held it, noting its warmth, but there was something else about it. It took her back to her first lesson, where the gem was first created, to anyone else, one would have thought this gem had reached its pinnacle, but it changed with each trial, just like herself. Arda looked back at the Bendu, clasping the gem tightly and bowed in respect.

"Thank you for all your guidance Bendu, I will not forget what I have learned." she told him and rose back up, "I hope this will not be our last meeting together either."

@Nefieslab

 

[The Bendu]

The Bendu had done it's part.

Arda had become something more than the Jedi Master she had come to it as and she had obtained something that promised to help her in her journey. Hopefully she was able to tell what the artefact actually did. The Bendu was confident that Arda would discover the limits and the advantages of the gem after she had meditated on it for a little while.

It was hardly the most difficult thing the Bendu had ever made.

"You may hope that."

The Bendu smirked as it began to recede back into the earth.

"But I know that this is not the last time we shall meet. Travel safely, Arda Breaux. Until next time."

@GABA