Shadows of Bankor

Vaya arrived at the TBD after the show at the bistro in a low mood, depleted by the absence of lights, music, alcohol, and company rather than being buoyed by the memory of it. On an underthought impulse, she went to seek Qareme, in the lounge of the ship or her small cabin.

It was in her cabin that Qareme could be located. She was sat cross-legged on the floor, eyes closed apparently in meditation. Her walking stick laying in front of her.

Too mopey and tipsy to want to go to bed, Vaya grumbled as she realized her mistake, and went to find Qareme. Hesitating at the last, she finally knocked gently.

Do Padawans have bedtimes?

"Enter" Qareme said softly, not moving nor opening her eyes from her cross-legged place on the floor.

Vaya opened the door, and became suddenly self-conscious. It's not like she was worse than a little tipsy and sweaty, but she felt strongly the implicit judgement of finding the other woman spending her evening so... aescetically.

"Am I interrupting something?" she said, it coming out wry by habit.

"Not at all, I was just meditating on what is to come" Qareme opened her eyes, looking up at Vaya "you may join me if you wish. However I sense you have not come to meditate with me?"

Vaya gave a shrug with one shoulder. “Not tonight, thanks. I’m pretty bad at it, despite Petrus’ best efforts. Too much going on up here,” she said, tapping her bare head with a fist. She bit back a joke about how Verse would be good at it. Wrong tone to approach Qareme with. “You, uh, want to talk a walk? Nice night out.”

Qareme rose, picking up her walking stick and nodding. "I cannot speak for Petrus, however I am certain I could teach you, despite your many thoughts. Another day perhaps" there was a nod and a smile "let us go and walk."

“Yeah, thanks.” They walked out on to the night sands, lit by one-and-a-half moons altogether. If you approximated. Vaya struggled to find a way to start … whatever conversation she had come here to have. Or had she just come for company? If even I can’t say why for myself, no wonder it’s hard to figure out what to do.

Qareme was rarely a conversation starter. She was quiet, thoughtful, calm. The scene was a nice one though, and she enjoyed it while they walked. Eventually, the woman spoke.

"Thank you."

"Sure, anytime," Vaya shot back without thinking, followed by, "Sorry, what?"

"I said thank you."

Qareme looked at the smaller woman.

"You have given something back to the Jedi that has been lost for a long time. I know you had your own reasons for the venture, but it means a lot to us. So thank you."

“I guess.” Vaya’s next step kicked way more sand up and forward than any of her previous ones had. “Was it really lost, if Her Grand Guardianness Malvik and Master Surra’s magnificent crystalline simulacrum knew exactly where it was the whole time?”

"Master Malvik and Master Surra may know its location, but as they stated they were awaiting the council. Unaware of its destruction, they would have been waiting forever. Whatever your feelings are towards the Jedi, or towards Master Malvik, you have done us a great service" Qareme gave Vaya a smile "you will always be considered a friend of ours."

Vaya tried to overcome her mood to offer Qareme a genuine smile, and a genuine reply. “Thanks. And sorry, it’s just…” she stopped and looked out over the gentle waves. “It’s not what I expected. It’s much, much better. Objectively. Two living witnesses to thousands of years of the Order’s history.” She made a wobbling eh kinda gesture with her hand on both ‘two’ and ‘living,’ including Master Surra in the count. “A place designed for the explicit purpose of training you guys. An archive. A fully functional secret moon base, kriff.”

"When we are granted the rare opportunity to learn from those who have lived before us, it is one to be grasped with both hands. Although from what I have learnt, I do not believe it is suitable for all Jedi as a training platform" Qareme was thoughtful for a moment "the Sixth I mean, not the training in general."

"What do you mean?" said Vaya, genuinely confused. "You don't like this whole Sixth Line thing?"

Qareme shook her head.

"They are a unique Jedi order, who do not function under the traditional Jedi rules. I am concerned with what their methods may be, seeing as Master Hin had not heard of them either. That is all."

"Ah." Vaya started walking again. A light rain that had been going off an on all night began again, and Vaya tilted her head back to catch some drops on their face. "Well, pardon me if it's speaking out of turn, but I don't like them."

"I had a feeling you were not fond of them. May I enquire as to your dislike of them?" Qareme gave Vaya a curious look "I will not be offended."

Vaya rolled her shoulders like she was working out a kink in her muscles, and turned her face away from the rain to look disconsolately at the surf.

"I don't know. I might be displacing some other things on to them." She looked back at Qareme, and moved on quickly from that thought. "But doesn't it seem... not great, to you? To put service of a state, any state, above... everything else the Jedi believe?"

"That a Jedi master was involved, including the Grand Master as well as them expecting the Council, says to me that they had the blessing of the Jedi Council at the time" Qareme commented thoughtfully "and it was so far in the past, we cannot say that it was not needed."

There was a pause, before Qareme continued "however I am concerned also. I do not know what they had to do on behalf of the Republic. Until I know the full extent of their actions, I will not pass judgement. Doing so without all the information would be to dismiss an important Part of the Jedi history, and the Jedi have lost so much already."

Vaya shook her head. "Maybe they didn't end up crossing any lines, maybe they ended up doing a lot of good. I guess I just thought of the Force as..." she made a gesture with her left hand as if grasping something to her chest, then releasing it and fluttering her fingers. It's not clear if even know what she's trying to indicate by it. Frustration was evident on her face.

"The Force is more than just Light and Dark, Sith and Jedi, good and bad. The Force is life, it is energy. It is feelings, emotions. How different individuals use the Force shows more about the person than it does the Force itself. A Sith is not evil because of the Force. A Jedi is not good because of the Force. It is difficult to explain" Qareme frowned "if a person has an angry nature or is afraid, the Dark Side of the Force moves closer to them as it is drawn to those feelings. If a person is calmer in nature, the Light side of the Force is drawn to them. The Sixth...I do not know. It is more ambiguous because they use the Light side but it seems not the same way that the Jedi normally would."

Vaya seemed to get more articulate, given Qareme's words to build on. "That's what worries me. That's all about individuals. Sure, governments are made of individuals, but institutions, especially ones involved in politics, have a way of grinding issues down so small that no-one has to sign off on the evil personally. Plenty of that going on, even before they changed all the flags four years ago.

"But the Force is... should be... sacred." She made a face, like the phrase tasted as mawkish as she clearly thought it sounded. "Nothing's more profane that what people with power do to hang on to it." She shook her head.