Through Different Eyes

[Amilthi]

Rhasru idly strolled through the halls of the Atleen Gallery high up in the sky of Taris. He enjoyed coming here occasionally when they had new exhibitions, naturally without paying at the entrance. Such was for those with lesser abilities. The golden afternoon sun entered through the windows, somewhat to his annoyance, as it distorted the colors and made some paintings altogether unviewable because of reflections. On the other hand, it was sometimes interesting to see one and the same work at two different times of the day, if he could afford the time.

He wasn't wearing his customary dark gray robes. In a place like this, they would have caught attention. Instead he was dressed entirely in black, a tunic and pants, his lightsaber, which he would never have parted with, stowed away in a sheath of equally black cloth hanging on his belt. It was inconspicuous enough to not immediately catch anyone's eye, and whoever inquired would have his mind diverted quickly. Some other Sith were missing out on so much by cultivating appearances that made it utterly impractical to visit places like this gallery.

As he entered a new room, the Sith paid no attention to the handful of other visitors that were there. This room was hung with drawings, all of them monochrome, but not all in gray. As he wandered slowly along the wall, he took in first impressions, but didn't linger. He wanted to be excited, and if a picture didn't enthrall him on sight, it wasn't good enough.

The fifth drawing on the left wall did catch his attention, though. Rhasru stopped before it, put his hands behind his back, and looked at it. It was black and white, showing a destroyed cityscape with some dead bodies, all of which were naked. One of them, somewhere to the lower right, but clearly the heart of the picture, was that of a beautiful women with the only flaw that her left leg had been smashed. The reason why Rhasru was standing here and examining it was that it confused him: he didn't know what he thought of it.

 

[Sohndann]

The same gallery just happened to be carrying another Force-sensitive being. And unlike the Sith, this Force-sensitive being had paid. Because he wasn't evil. More and more these days, Krakua needed to be in high places. It made him feel far away from everything else, and that was a most welcome sensation. Especially in these times, when a lot of the values he had upheld were being called into question. Most notably by the Sith. It just made Krakua angry. Why couldn't the galaxy be the way it was before?

A lot of the pictures in the gallery made Krakua think. Not just "what the heck is this?". Being in contact with the Force had expanded his once-limited understanding, meaning he was able to find meaning in most of the pictures. The one of the two men on opposite sides of that strange-looking bedroom stood for the duality of the Force. Or perhaps it meant something to do with an old prophecy Krakua had read about, making it historical. The one of that strange-looking Zabrak looking person with no nose took Krakua a bit of time to work out, and even then, his interpretation was very loose. Perhaps it was to do with the loss of freedom for a lot of people during the reign of the first empire.

Yet there were two pictures that Krakua couldn't wrap his head around. One was of a human looking creature being chased by a spherical object that Krakua wasn't able to interpret. The other just took Krakua's mind and bashed it with a brick. Hundreds of bodies, all naked, with a beautiful woman in the right side with her left leg gone. It was definitely a strange picture, and Krakua could tell that another looking at the picture was having the same problem.

"It's very good, isn't it?" he said aloud, hoping to draw the attention of the other. "I wonder what it stands for."

 

[Amilthi]

"The universe doesn't care if you're pretty", Rhasru answered simply without averting his gaze. It was as much a statement of fact as a formulation of the meaning of the picture, and it was precisely that which made Rhasru ambivalent about it. It was a truth that not everyone saw, and so spotting it was commendable; but expressing it in a work of visual art was a questionable thing to do. The drawing was well done technically, but it wasn't actually beautiful; and knowing that that was just because it wanted to get this ugly, if true, message across made it appear somehow tainted.

"I suppose the artist figures himself something of a cynic." Only now did Rhasru turn his head to look at the other man. A faint, wry smile showed on his face at first, but he quickly resumed a neutral expression. Something here was unusual, or rather someone. Rhasru looked over his vis-à-vis. His attire wasn't too elaborate, it seemed like it was meant to fit into the most kinds of situations at once. For the present occasion, the coat was a bit unusual. He might just be talking to the individual that caused the feeling he was having. It wasn't danger per se that he was sensing, the feeling was more like one of anticipation, prompting him to be watchful. He looked around in the room quickly. Two people were leaving, only one other person remained here, one that he knew had been here when he had entered. Rhasru's eyes returned to Krakua, and as if the looking around had never happened or required no explanation, the Sith waited for and observed the other's reaction to his words.

 

[Sohndann]

"Perhaps." Krakua nodded, speaking slowly and not taking his eyes off the picture. Now that he had heard someone else's opinion on it, he could see what they meant. It was particularly reflected in the way that none of the bodies around the woman were actually showing their faces. It was a pretty admirable interpretation. Only a very learned mind could have made it so. Krakua had the feeling that this man was fairly well learned, even if the rather simple clothing suggested otherwise.

"Now, I interpret it as a message of survival." he continued, forming his opinion based on the fact that the woman was the only one standing. "I think it means that no matter how bad a shape we are in," he noted the woman's missing leg. "there is always hope for the future." he then went on to expand on his theory. "The most noticeable of those bodies is the woman. The only gender capable of carrying children. In this particular picture, she may or may not be pregnant, it's quite hard to tell."

 

[Amilthi]

Rhasru looked at the man as if he were an utter imbecile. Judging by his words, he probably was. "Every woman may be pregnant at any given time and it's hard to tell", the Sith remarked dryly. He paused for a moment and then added in a rather more conversational tone, but still somewhat matter-of-factly: "If, however, you are correct and it was the intention of the artist to express some such naive thing, I will say that the work must be regarded as a complete failure."

From a slightly more deluded individual than himself, Rhasru might have expected an interpretation along the lines of finding beauty even in the ugliest situation. But this was just preposterous and immensely annoying. If he had asked where the sign of hope was supposed to be in the picture, the man would probably have answered that it was the destroyed buildings because they could be rebuilt. The Sith wondered briefly if the slight disturbance in the Force that he was feeling was an effect of this man's lunacy. Probably this was some spoiled brat from a family rich enough to afford an entirely useless son who spent his time going around and pestering people believing himself to be original.

But maybe the sensation Rhasru was having was an indicator that he would in fact soon do something original and insane. The Sith's frustration abated slightly at this thought. It might be worth sticking around to watch.

 

[Sohndann]

"Nothing wrong with hoping for the future." Krakua said, with a hint of weariness in his tone of voice. "And it wouldn't be hard to tell, if a person was skilled with something like the Force. But, only the Jedi have such knowledge." the deceit wasn't his best, but he was fine with playing the civilian for now. Hopefully, this other hadn't worked out that he was an ImpKnight. And he would very much like to keep things that way.

Although, it may just be nothing, but Krakua could sense the presence of the Force, or, more accurately, the dark side. It was possible that it was just Krakua's slight irritation at this person, or it could be something more sinister was at work on Taris. Krakua was more inclined towards the former, and that this man was just irritated at him.

"Looking at it a third time, I wonder if anyone has stopped to count the number of bodies. Perhaps that has some real-world parallel, like a date."

 

[Amilthi]

It was curious that this man should mention such a remote possibility as using the Force to determine whether someone was pregnant. Perhaps he just wanted to seem smart and subtle. What was even more curious, though, was that he would reference the Jedi as the only ones able to do that even though he was right now standing on a planet in the middle of the Empire. But then political dissidence was probably en vogue in the circles that this useless individual frequented.

"I haven't, and I'm certainly not going to, either. I don't care for obscure messages that artists may encode in their works in an attempt to appear intelligent."

Rhasru looked in the direction of the picture again, though not directly at it. His attention wasn't focused on the images his eyes perceived, but on the notions the Force conveyed to him. There was still nothing definite, just a feeling that he should observe this man.

"As for hoping for the future, if I desire something to be the case, I find it more efficacious to make it so than to hope for it to come about."

 

[Sohndann]

"I imagine that you would." Krakua nodded in agreement. "You look like someone who would enforce their will." Perhaps you're the reason why I can sense the dark side on this planet. Could it be you? It was through minor effort that he stopped his suspicion showing on his face. He didn't want to give himself away now. "As for me, I'm fine with hoping for the future. After all, no action could come without hope."

 

[Amilthi]

"Of course. What else would you do? Have others enforce their own will against you?" Rhasru wasn't going to hide his outlook; an outlook that he thought should be considered the norm throughout the Empire And indeed, he spoke as if it was entirely unremarkable. Of course, if the man he was talking to was of the kind he suspected, then he was probably used to having his will enforced for him, allowing him to entertain the illusion that he disavowed such views.

The room was now completely empty except for the two of them. Rhasru still felt this urge to further observe the man he was talking to. "I'm not going to argue about whether hope is a prerequisite for action. Such quibbles over semantics are quite pointless. In any case, this drawing is not about action in any way. Look at them - the people in it are passive victims. Not the most desirable position, I would say."

 

[Sohndann]

"Then it is a depiction of suffering?" Krakua raised an eyebrow at this. "Interesting theory. And so many historical events to attach it to. The Hyperspace Wars, the disappearance of the old Jedi order, and..." he cleared his throat. "I heard through some interesting rumours..." What a lie it was. "...that the Imperial Knights were slaughtered by dark Jedi. Perhaps this could be it." He didn't want to give too much away. His cover would be blown if he did.

"But these are just rumours of course." he laughed, just for a second, to dispel what he had just said as a simple rumour. "They can't be true, can they?"