Binary Sunsets: The Shmi Skywalker Story

Eight.

"There is only the Force, through the Force I gain purpose & knowledge, from knowledge I find my path, there is only the Force & we are One."

Ancient stones with chiseled faces & weeping eyes hidden beneath the curtain of the waterfall. Ebbri An' klish stood looking out over the raised lip of the overlook into the far reaching sunlit treetops. The way the golden light danced on the wind creating an undulating kalidescope of light & shadow like the whistless swirling of the Iego nebulas. The ancients had chosen their words perfectly when describing the feeling this place somehow encapuslated like an echo held in the prison of voiceless existence. The Force felt less an invisible mystery, blind in the eye but ever present to the spirit, here she could feel everything around her, every connection. The thunder of the waterfall as it rushed beating against the time worn boulders at the feet of the mountain. Ebbri wasn't used to this. The lush humid breath of the island had stolen her air the moment she landed as the new Guardian fresh from the central systems. She'd never felt so small as when she looked up into the expansive sky overhead, she blinked hard against the luminous glow of the light as she exited the ship, & as her feet touched the black sand the strength of each steps reverberation rocketed through her. She found it slighty over powering....but with time she'd managed to acclimate her own inner resonance to its vibrations. She'd learned at the Training Temple how there were certain places favored by the Force where the connection was its purest. But she'd also been cautioned in following the call too deeply for everything in existence has it equal in the Dark Side. After the first weeks Ebbri had discovered for herself the reason for the strength of the Force on this island. Master Wao Thuen had taken her to the Confessional. The heart of the mountain where the Force weilders of the first Je'daii Order came to commune with the living Force receiving absolution & instruction, a practice long out of use.  It was a great honor to be admitted into the Confessional, nearly as great an honor as the final ceremony which had brought her into its presence, it was a request granted by her mentor a student of the Ancient ways. Ebbri would enter the Confessional & taking a piece of the Kyber shell which housed its concentrated essence she would craft her Guardian saber. There was no greater honor than this, Ebbri had felt it was her duty to seek permission to undergo the ceremony, & with the guidance of Master Yoda himself, Ebbri had been granted permission. Standing there high about the world feeling the bright sunlight on her skin warming every nook & cranny of her being, Ebbri reached down allowing her hand to rest against the saber on her harness. The memory was alive like the small jagged golden crystal housed within it the long cylindrical Hiaik Krym metal weapon of her Order. Ebbri had been waiting for the Council to send word on where she was to be sent next. She was ready for the next steps in her journey. The desire to prove herself worthy of her task...but it had been months now without any word. As much as she feared the separation from the island, she knew she would forever be apart of it, the connection would become tempered with age but would never fully fade.

"There is only the Force, through the Force I gain purpose & knowledge, from knowledge I find my path, there is only the Force & we are One."

The soft melodic breathing of the room of JEDI initiates meditating pulled her from her musings.

Master Wao: You often wear that look.

Ebbri: It's unconscious. Truthfully, I have never felt so much at peace as I do here, the Force speaks to me, & the voice is so much more clear than ever before.

Master Wao: What does it say to you?

Ebbri: Patience. But there's something else as well...this tension like I'm standing on the edge of something...steps are fateful things & I don't imagince my next ones will be any different than theirs. But it...

Master Wao: Go on.

Ebbri: It frightens me. Leaves this emptiness in my gut when I think of all there is left to do. Fears are lessons we're only preparing to face, at least that's what my mentor told me, but there's something else. It's something I've wanted to ask, but...I don't want to overstep my mandate here. Since I'm only here for a short time...

Master Wao: Master Rel was a very wise Jedi. It was certainly a shock when I heard he'd taken on a padawan from the Swevi System...Your homeworld is renowned for their abilities to connect to the Force...but while patience is a lesson sometimes we must ask for guidance in interpreting the meaning behind them.

Ebbri: I've seen every room, every hall, walked every corridor of this Temple for months now, but there is something...somewhere here that's calling me. But I can't find it...it's like...it's sounds crazy I know. But it's the same feeling I had since the first day I came here & it's only gotten stronger. More insistant...But I don't know what it means, Master.

Master Wao: I had wondered....Come with me.

Down the stairs Master Wao strode through the patchwork pattern of young faces seated in concentration blind to all else but the call of the Force. Ebbri followed behind steadying her footfalls to match the rhythmic almost melodic tone of her boots on the smooth grey granite floors polished by millenniums of those in who's steps she now tread. The ringing sound of the singing bells intermixed with the hallowed voices of the younglings as they sang the stories from memory out of time.

Master Wao: You are one of only a few who have seen what I'm about to show you. You're familiar with the legends surrounding the formation of the Order of the Je'daii? I assume, Master Rel educated you in the histories, am I correct?

Ebbri could feel the air in her lungs beginning to grow colder, this hallway was familiar, but the feeling rushing through her was something new. She felt herself losing her balance, she wobbling fell against the cold stones of the arched passageway, & as she did she heard a sound she'd never heard before. It was less a voice or feeling, more a clear image of a place bathed in the whitest of lights, the stars blinking brightly all around her, the soft monotone of the vibrations sending shivers through the glassy image she beheld before her. It was as if she'd somehow penetrated the fabric of time & space, & slipped into some other place between it all. Barely able to draw in a breath her eyes grew wider still as the sensation of a strong hand gripping her forearm shook her free of the vision.

Ebbri: What was that? Where...where was I just now?

Master Wao: You must keep up, Guardian. We're almost there...

Master Wao took her elbow in his palm & began easing her down along the corridor. It felt like they were walking backwards, the sense of present & permanence falling slowly away from her with each new step, then suddenly Ebbri looked up in shock as she saw the stone floor evaporating beneath her feet. Nothing but darkness & emptiness, a great void of night beneath her as she shuddered with the whipping breath of this place in between, but still firm Master Wao held onto her guiding her ever forwards.

Master Wao: Don't look down, Guardian. And do not fear what only your physical self tells you in reality, there is more to this world than merely the physcial, & many paths the Force opens to us. Trust the Force.

Reverberating in her minds eye the flashes of things she'd never seen, sounds she'd never heard, voiceless whispers calling out to her in welcome. Then a familiar voice broke through the cacophony of swirling others inside her mind.

Ebbri: Stop! Stop..Master tell me where we are...I could have sworn...I heard...someone...

Then the white hot burn as if a blazing inferno broke apart inside her flesh  swallowing her & Master Wao completely in its embrace. Slowly squinting through tight eyes, Ebbri looked out into a vast courtyard filled with white limestone, a fountain of pale leaves floating on the ground & through the air. And there in the center of the courtyard stood a gargantuan tree, it's leaves blonde like the first sprout of new hair on a baby's head, & pale white as cream curds. Although she could feel the ancient nature of the tree she could not help but marvel at its marless exterior. She turned to question Master Wao again, but shuddered to find herself alone in this empty space. Frantically as she looked around her she couldn't find any sign of him.

Master Rel: Don't be afraid, Ebbri. Everything is alright & you are safe...I've awaited your arrival for quite sometime now.

Ebbri: Master?

Master Rel: Hello, Ebbri. It's good to see you again...at last.