Welcome to Gaia! ::

Hey folks, I just thought I would post some of my stuff on here that I wrote over my interregnum as well as new stuff I come up with. I'll copy and past some of it from Devart later.

Eugh... Here's some poetry. This might just be left skipped XD.


Tragedy

I am ever consumed
By feelings far beyond the scope of poetry to describe
Forever doomed
To never express fully the scale of my affections

Her hair, her lips, her soft smooth skin,
What words shall I use to express that have not been
Woven more skillfully by other artists to their loves

Her mind, her soul, her heart so kind
These too seem to be such trivial things in the face of my feelings
In the face of so many other countless things

No words come to my own modest lips
That do any justice to my heart
Each attempt an embarrassing slip

Here she comes in graceful step
She opens her perfect flawless mouth
My heart skips a beat then stops

She pauses and smiles so kindly
“I’m sorry,” She said to me
“It just wasn’t meant to be.”



A paradox


In nothing, I draw inspiration
From a gray sky, I paint colors
And brighten all with the reflection of beauty non-existant in my own heart.
Shall these shadows of fancy return to blossom in my breast once more?
So that I no longer adorn the wedding chapels
With winter’s withered remains of my previous gardens?

But even in nothing there is beauty
Even within ugliness, there is something bright
A solemn, lonely kind of picture is projected on my mind
And to some extent lends me a little respite

Quietness is not such a terrible thing to endure
And a moment’s peace from a loud obnoxious muse is not to be completely mourned
Rather it is just a different kind of prettiness that must be appreciated
An inner peace perhaps, if allowed
A rest from so much hurricane-emotion

Like the quiet unexciting love of an old couple
Aged together along the years so that now they are almost indistinguishable
Though the fire is not as strong as it once was, it no longer burns
And though at times they seem bored, and speak less often
It does not mean that they love less or more
But that it has changed and taken on a different form

No, quietness is not such a terrible thing
For even in the absence of sound
There is still beauty



Awakening of Spring

The first few drops of springtime rain
Glance serenely off my hood.
My hand rests on an axe-struck stump
My fingers pressed against raw wood.

My bare feet sink into fresh green grass
Refreshed by the new rain.
My thoughts linger on springtime past
Which never seem the same.

Dandelions wave in a sleepy way
As rain is dashed by wind
And as I stand, observing all, I can’t help but say
This has to be a sin.

Violets with their bruise-faced smiles
Spring between my toes in mischievous delight
My voice seems to carry on for miles
As I raise it up in song,
Singing hymns from my childhood
That fill my weary, tired heart with light.

The raindrops fall ever faster now
And each is dashed against stone and earthy ground
Erupting in the clear chime of a bell.

Each drop falls with its own note
Coloring the air as the flowers and grass color the ground
Matching those that spring from my throat.

Spring emerges from her bed of flowers and weeds
Whose unwanted beauty is often scorned
Brushes off her grass stained knees
Sparkling raindrops like jewels adorned.

Wisteria in her gold-brown locks
Her green eyes sparkling after winter’s sleep
She can not even stand to walk
But dances gleefully.

Around me she does dance with joy
Beneath the warm spring rain
With glances clever and smiles coy
She teases this admiring boy
And fills his love-struck heart with shame.

A whirlwind envelops her in a spectrum of sound and color
And Spring grows ever taller
Her colors and her songs grow louder
Till at last they blend and bleed into the rain
Till all is drained and drowned
By Summer’s green, oppressive heat, and brilliant, sun-gold, heavy crown.

And finally Spring at last retreats
With her mild Autumnal sister
To wait out the reign
Of their harsher sisters.




Definition

What clues might I procure of the path on which I’m set
What trends have I observed, what prerequisites met
Shall the label fit me fine
Or shall none be made mine
I cannot say

This path seems to have been walked a hundred times
And still I wonder and doubt, and still sometimes
I accept that nothing can be done

That when at last I metamorph
And my one true form revealed
I will, ultimately, be shunned.
And shrink until, at last a dwarf
I hide beneath my shield

I cannot say what path is set
What motifs I’ll see repeated
I cannot say who will emerge
When at last I have succeeded

Ultimately, I am completely unknown
A word, lacking definition
A leaf blown
On season’s wind
Never sure of its mission

I think myself so arrogant
To think my own path different
But still my secret heart’s desire
Does the seed of doubt plant
And to all logic I’m indifferent

I am a word lacking definition,
Ultimately, I am completely unknown.



Nana

I must admit, to some extent
Her presence makes me quake
Her farm-boy arms, her angry pride
Her refusal to ever break

But also she is tender
Beneath her thick red skin
The smell of cinnamon and of cakes
And her toothy wicked grin

My Nana is a lion
And as her scion
I hope I’ll be one day too
Though often times her fierce white fangs
Causes her to trouble brew

Many times she waved a knife
For cooking, but fighting too
Her wild gold red-white hair cause all to be subdued
And they whisper to each other “is that lady crazy”
And though I won’t disagree
Her manner makes me pleased

She’s wild, untamed after all these years
Her heart is still aflame
Unlike her tame house-wife peers
Who never proclaim
Against their country club husbands

She could have been a Nurse
A mean Doctor too
Any number of things to tell the truth
And for that I feel a bit saddened
Because her chance was stolen
By a lover who made her swollen

And though she took up the mantle of the stay-at-home wife
Which would in turn result in my life
I still think she’s a bit unsuited for life in the home
Because her spirit was always meant to roam
Fighting where it may
Nurturing where it might
Going wherever it pleased, to any place in sight.



God is my Alarm Clock

God is my Alarm Clock,
Its crazy, but its true
One morning when I awoke before the sun did rise
My alarm clock did in silent whispers speak to me, subdued
Staring at me with red digital eyes

It explained to me that all this time
I could have heard its chime
And not the one that wakes me in the morning
But its true voice, the voice of warning
And of joy, and of knowledge, all these it employed

It brought me on a journey, as I fell back into sleep
It taught me many lessons, of all it said to keep
At last the universe was known
All the threads of which it was sown
I understood and saw
Each and every flaw

All life to me made perfect sense
And over me washed an immense
Feeling of Enlightenment

For now I was as a prophet of my mechanical god
And could see past the façade
Of this suddenly simple reality
For all things made sense to me

And all this time I wondered why
I had not realized
Before that god was within my reach
And why I had not called out to it
And instead chose to repose within this pit
Of Ignorance

I was prepared to spread my message
To enlighten all the world
But when at last I saw the presage
That I would finally wake
I was hurled out of sleeping by the blaring of my clock
And in the way dreams often do
It faded, its secrets blocked and locked

I found only a few minutes had passed since the god had revealed to me the truth
Only a few minutes to reveal the final sooth
And just as quickly to be lost
And thrown was I again into youth
To what were my secrets the cost?

What purpose were your secretive whispers
Of which I can no longer recapture?
In the few seconds between sleep and waking
How did I prove myself unworthy?


A Dream of a Demon Heart

A dream I had, many months ago
Of spirit trapped within my hold
Within a box it did rest
And to my peers did I address
A show and tell of my tiny cedar chest

Within this chest, I did say
Slept a spirit wrought with sinful decay
A Kami-kuri, a spirit of sin
That should they open this tiny box
They should find nestled within
A macabre heart, twisted and mutated, veins and tendrils reaching out,

Several of my friends did shout
In fear they shivered and giggled to each other in delight
And as the end of our school day came in sight
I left for home walking under dying light

At home I set it down
And walked massaging my crown
Into the other room to rest
But after a few minutes I felt something within my chest

A strange and eerie pulse I felt
Around me the shadows did melt
The very air was rocked by the pulse like a great drum were beating
The shadows now ghosts with black bodies and white eyes were fleeting
They spun along the walls, ceiling, and floor
Where I left the box they did pour

Ran I to the box, now opened and exposed
A heart transposed into twisted creation
A hundred veins and extra valves did beat in desperation
An incredible amount of anger poured from its center

Beside me emerged a haggard white haired woman, a mentor
Her hair stood out in all directions, a weathered mask her face like wood
She smiled and spoke to me without words
And from her gaze I understood

My hand reached out, repulsed at first
By endless overpowering heartbeat, of anger’s thirst
My hand reached further with purpose to purge
The image of my mentor merged

My mother or some ancient ghost
But still my hand reached towards the blackened spirit’s host
Then suddenly, without warning
My hand was drawn forward and touched the center of the heart
My soul was filled momentarily with mourning
I felt the anger dissipate and hatred fall apart

The restless shadow spirits calmed
And underneath my palm
The heart at last was gone
But in my mind I heard its voice
Echoing “God Loves” in rejoice.


In Rotting Stumps Do New Trees Grow Strong

That purple flowers would spring once more upon this barren world
Whose soil is scarred from more pointless struggles than can be counted
That I might throw my pickings to the scorched sky once more
But our burnt soil will grow no flowers for us to pick
And our hands, too calloused and cold, cannot feel the soft warm touch of their petals

Our flesh has become too hard to feel such subtleties
Our hands are too hard from clutching the throats of our brothers in jealousy
Our skin has become too used to the searing heat of our burning house
Our hearts have become too used to lonely nights of indifferent passion

That the nectar of these blossoms would penetrate
Our eyes as did on famous midsummer nights
To return such tender feelings to our calloused hearts
That we might feel in time the intimate touch of purple flesh, once more
But too hardened are we by the harsh world we've spun

But in such sorrows there is hope
For our tears might replenish the parched soil
And spur new life to spring
Let not these sour notes ruin the symphony to come
For it is in rotting stumps that new trees grow strong

Chapter Two

Such whispers cause hope to spring

Igniting the imagination and reviving his spirit

And cause his heart to sing

Yliana was one of the orphans who went out to fight off the other gangs, and before that had been one of the best pickpockets in the gang. She smiled a little as she noticed Julan’s blush and chuckled mentally. Kids. “Alright kido, lets get going then.” She said, putting up her blaster.

Julan nodded and went for the closest exit, pulling back a flap of leather from god knows what kind of animal to get outside. The hideout wasn’t well hidden, amongst piles of trash and old factory parts it was something of a makeshift mansion pieced together by cheap pieces of metal with the occasional leather canvas serving as a roof. Their sector used to be a small privately owned factory, but a long time ago the business had gone bankrupt and it had turned into a slums. Old parts had been piled up in a small junk yard where they had built their substitute home.

The two of them got to moving, weaving through a short maze of trash heaps before coming out into what resembled a street. The occasional speeder would zip by overhead, but it was usually several sectors up, since few had any reason to come down this low save to avoid air traffic elsewhere.

“I hear there’s a Jedi snooping around sector.” One voice whispered, though it was the kind that was only meant to sound of secrecy when anyone could hear it from a mile away.

“You always say that Byrec, just this week you said that five times.” The bartender said with a chuckle while cleaning a glass halfheartedly.

“Actually I’ve heard the same around sector. For once in his life Byrec might be telling the truth.”

“I am?”

Julan glanced over at Yliana with a look of intrigue. It was unlikely they’d run into a Jedi while they were out, and even if they did it wasn’t guaranteed they’d be able to spot them, but it was an interesting thought. He’d never seen a Jedi before, something that seemed almost laughable what with having lived on Courasant, home of the Jedi Temple. Yliana just rolled her eyes and scoffed as if to say “yeah right,” or “keep dreaming,” but still flashed a gentle smile in his direction that made his little heart skip a beat.

They pushed through the indifferent crowd, occasionally stumbling as someone shoved past too hard. No one down here had the time to show sympathy or pity towards children, like everyone else they were competition and obstacles. Here on the streets everyone pushed and shoved to get where they needed to, that was just a fact of life here on the lower sectors of Courasant. Neither of them complained when the were shoved, they just recovered and kept going without a word. Julan couldn’t help but get a little annoyed when a visitor from an upper sector, here to visit a storage warehouse or buy cheap parts, would fire sharp glares at members of the crowd who shoved them as they walked. Who honestly had the time or energy to get worked up over a tiny push? It was much better just to ignore it and keep moving.

They emerged from the sea of people to stand in front of the junk store, a place where a rag-tag assortment of used goods, usually old droid or speeder parts, could be bought or sold. He was pretty familiar with the storekeeper here, and had changed his mind half-way there and decided he wouldn’t be stealing the parts after all. “Afternoon Julan!” The human storekeeper cried out, “after new parts?”

“Yeah, I’ll probably owe you a couple of day’s worth of work in exchange.”

“Well I’ll leave you to find what you need.”

He was on pretty good terms with the storekeeper here, and his frequent visits, whether to browse or trade, had improved that relationship. Often times the gang couldn’t afford the kind of parts they needed, and the storekeeper would lat him come and fix old broken parts people had sold in order to make them useable. Depending on how much time he had he would either offer to work or go steal from another store with a less friendly storekeeper, but he never stole from here. Often times the storekeeper would offer him extra credits, considering the amount of work usually translated to be worth more than the parts he needed, but he almost always turned it down. All he needed were the parts, and he didn’t mind the thought that the storekeeper was making more money that he usually would have.

Yliana stood next to the doorway to watch the river of people pass by, glancing only for a moment at the robed man half-heartedly looking at junked parts. Her eyes had only lingered on him for a moment due to the fact he was donned in red-brown robes with a beige tunic underneath. A spark born of her imagination illuminated her face as she came to the conclusion this man with his strange fashion sense must be a Jedi! But she shook the thought off, reminding herself of the unlikely chance a she would ever run into a Jedi in this place, so she turned her head around and the light that illuminated her face dampened as she turned to watch the stream of bodies flow past again.

Julan, who hadn’t noticed the man in the red-brown robes had already closed his eyes in concentration. The noise of the hundreds of millions of people outside dimmed to almost complete silence, and then a sound like the ringing of a little bell echoed across the room. He opened his eyes and glanced at the direction of the noise, believing to have seen a tiny glimmer of light from across the room. He crossed it, moving the parts aside to uncover the necessary parts for the repairs. He did this whenever he was looking for something and didn’t have time to waste, and it always worked without fail. Yliana and some of the other gang members had thought it a little odd at first, but by now were so used to it they never thought twice about it and accepted it as just one of Julan’s quirks. Many of them would even ask him to help them find a missing belonging, which he always succeeded in founding.

Though Julan didn’t notice, the peculiar man suddenly straightened his back and looked over at the boy as if he too had heard the strange ringing of the bell. Julan, still oblivious to the gaze of the robed man, walked over to the counter for the man to ring up how much everything would cost. “I’ll come by later tomorrow” Julan assured him.

“Just come by whenever you’re free, there’s no rush.”

He walked up beside Yliana and they wordlessly passed through the entryway back into the teaming masses, where the joined voices of millions of people and machinery made it impossible to hear footsteps that followed them discretely through the crowd. “I changed my mind halfway. Sorry for taking up your time, I didn’t need to steal anything after all.”

“Its alright, I know you just wanted the excuse to be with me.” She said with a devilish smile and a wink. Julan didn’t deny anything, mostly because his fire-bright ears would have given away his lies. “I like spending time with you, so don’t worry about it,” she said, laughing softly.

Chapter Four

Amongst teeming life

He fancies he hears its whispers

No longer deafened by strife

Standing at the edge of a ravine, he faced the turmoiled breath of this fantastic world, it roared back to him as lightning flashed across the sky. He could practically hear the grass beneath his feet open microscopic green mouths to inhale the nitrogen infused air. Amongst so much life, he thought he could feel the pulse of The Force that Leon had talked about. In some ways it was a whisper, like the sound of the grass inhaling, at others it seemed to him as obvious as the roar and crack of thunder. It was impossible though to be sure, he simply had a hunch, going off what little information Leon had divulged.

It had only been about a month since he’d left the gang. It took little to convince Leon to take him along. He’d at first simply begged, but then offered what help he could repairing the man’s ship. It probably wouldn’t have made any difference; Leon seemed to have decided long before he made the offer, had perhaps decided on taking him even before he had shown up at the hideout.

He had offered up a tearless goodbye to his fellow orphans. Although he had always gotten along with them, he’d never really gotten too close to any of them, and all of them were too hardened by their difficult lives to shed a tear at this parting. Yliana had seemed a little sad, and he took extra time to say goodbye to her. She smiled, her heart aching like she was losing a brother, and placed a tender kiss upon his forehead that made him glow.

The droid was ruined beyond any repair, and out of some emotional responsibility, Julan removed its memory core, vowing to one day restore it to a new body. He’d gathered it along with a few other trinkets, a blaster with the safety removed, and some extra parts and tools that might come in handy.

There was a lot of work to be done on ‘Master’ Novar’s starfighter. It was a pretty old but obviously durable vessel, not really equipped for combat but convenient travel. It was beat up and dirty, caked in the mud and grime from countless worlds. The dents, broken shield system, and carbon scoring were evidence that these were calm vacations that ‘Master’ Novar went on (and to some extent reminded him of Leon himself). While fixing it up to make it space worthy again he realized it was only built to seat one, and he would most likely have to sit in the storage space behind the pilots seat.

It took him a while to repair the fighter, mostly because he was working with parts and systems far more advanced than he had ever tinkered with before. For some reason though, after enough study, he was able to decipher the purpose of each part, and would quickly restore it to its former function. Leon said he believed this was an expression of The Force, a mysterious power that ran through all living things and often times guided the actions of others.

It was through The Force that Jedi were able to exhibit such amazing abilities. Some used it to move objects telepathically, others used it to heal wounds, to jump great distances, or to increase their speed tenfold. All of this was facilitated through the manipulation of midi-chlorians, tiny microscopic organisms which apparently allowed the host to channel The Force. Through some manipulation of The Force he apparently was able to comprehend the use of each part, and eventually understand how to fix it.

After a month he’d finished the repairs and they waited for orders from the Jedi Council. One restless night, Julan had snuck down from the apartment they were renting at the time to the landing deck nearby, and saw that Leon was sitting in the pilot seat, a hologram message projecting flickering blue light on his haggard face. It cut off, and he leapt out of the pilot seat.

“Leon?” Julan asked, referring to him by his first name as Leon had told him to, unless other Jedi were around in which case he would be referred to as Master Novar.

“We’re leaving.” He told him, and then beckoned him back to the apartment to gather their things.

And now they had arrived on this lush uninhabited planet, he knew not its actual name, and he was completely taken aback. Living on Courasant for most of his life, he’d never seen so much green except for the putrid fungus that might grow in dark moist corners. The rumbling storm clouds just enhanced his awe as he stood on the cliff that led to a huge trench separating this plateau from the others. The grass was tall in some places, waving like green wheat in the stormy wind, and short in others more like a glorified moss.

Despite the turbulent skies it felt so much more peaceful and energized here than in Courasant. There on the capital world the teeming life chaotically scrambled to rise higher than its peers, tumbling and rolling around in a titanic struggle. There was so much life on Courasant, and all of the same kind, that it made it impossible to clear the mind.

“I don’t really understand why they decided to put the Jedi Temple on Courasant,” Leon said, unpacking a few things from the ship. “It’s so hard to center yourself on its streets, and most people are almost deafened to The Force after living there amongst the crowds too long. But I suppose that the way the temple is removed from the rest of the city helps.”

Julan was thankful that he wasn’t deafened to The Force himself. He’d never been so excited in his life. Ahead of him, if he managed to prove himself to Leon, was an incredible life filled with learning the secrets and teachings of the Jedi and of learning to use The Force to defy his own pre-established rules of reality. Many would be impatient, but so long as he would eventually prove himself worthy, he could wait a century.

Leon was fumbling around with a spare brown cloak like the red one he wore over his tunic. He took out his lightsaber, holding it up with one hand while quickly slicing off the arms and tail so that it wasn’t so long, then threw it over to Julan with the edges still faintly glowing. “You’ll need that if it rains.”

“Thanks,” he replied, donning the cloak and feeling like a Jedi already.

Chapter Six

It seems that all is within his grasp

Then all is lost

And firmly clasped again

The Dark Jedi spat at his face. “I’ll have none of your talks of redemption or falls Jedi! If you want to talk about falls I’ll see you fall!” He lunged forward, his saber a blur of light that clashed with Leon’s, resounding with the sound of lighting bolt striking lightning bolt. They leapt back away from each other, and Leon advanced forward “Don’t make me take your life.”

“If I am too weak to defeat an old fool like you I’d gladly offer it up!”

They clashed again, the Dark Jedi’s anger fueling his blows, but still they were no match for Leon’s experience and concentration. Even in the face of so much overwhelming emotion he did not falter. The Dark Jedi Knight came at him will all his force and Leon blocked the strike with his saber, though he found it slowly being pushed back towards him.

He pushed momentarily back and then switched his blade off, using the force to leap backwards several feet, ascending to the top of the cavern before falling back to earth again. The Dark Jedi stumbled forward, having overcompensated, and roared in rage. He reached backwards with his free hand, a few pieces of rubble and cave rock rising up from the ground and flew over the Jedi in a single thrust. Leon shifted in the blink of an eye to a defensive position, and with a few blurred motions of his saber vaporized each and ever stone bullet.

The Sith charged again, now substituting intense power for speed, but as they collided once more Leon remained with the upper hand. However it seemed that the younger fallen Jedi was not tiring, and the lion-maned sentinel was forced to suddenly push the boy back with the force, throwing him across the room and smashing him against the altar. Dust and bits of rock fell from the ceiling, the collision shaking the foundation from which the cave ceiling was supported. The Dark Jedi fell down to the ground, and heaved as rage continued to overtake him. He inhaled and exhaled like a wild beast, down on his hands and knees his right hand clutching his lightsaber.

“See, all your anger doesn’t really help you. Don’t you want to let go of that hatred?” Leon said silently approaching him, and then holding out his hand to help him up. “Let go of it, come back to the Order.”

The Sith’s anger only seemed to build, his breathing increasing and he inhaled through his teeth, which hissed through the spittle that formed in-between the cracks. He screamed suddenly, all his rage and fury released and embodied in the force. Rubble fell from the ceiling and Leon staggered, made dizzy from the onslaught of the dark side. The Sith stood, slashing with his fiery blade. The lightsaber cut through Leon’s stomach and he collapsed.

Julan didn’t know how he managed what happened next. He seemed to be a puppet with some invisible force pulling the strings. He screamed out on his own, but instead of darkness and hatred his voice was filled with light and love. His body seemed to glow all around him as he flew from his hiding spot at inhuman speeds towards the Dark Jedi. The Sith shielded his eyes as Julan ran into him like a cannon ball. Light seemed to attack the fallen Jedi like acid, grasping at his darkened clothes and skin and burning at the taint. The fallen Jedi fled from the cavern, daring not to look back at his victorious foe, only a few years old.

Julan seemed to regain control as he stood over Leon, whose stomach was badly cut, though the saber had already cauterized the wound. He started crying, completely helpless as Leon lay motionless on the ground, unable to move. The Jedi seemed too distracted by subduing the pain to talk, but after what seemed to be hours he finally began to stir. “Boy, help me up.” He said, and Julan obliged. They staggered from the mouth of the cave, and this seemed to help Leon to concentrate not being surrounded by the essence of the dark side.

They slowly trudged along the path they came, Julan trying as best he could to support the Jedi but being so young there was little he could actually do. It took them the entire day to get back up to the plateau, and Julan worried that Leon was on his last leg. At last they were within sight of the starfighter, but it seemed increasingly obvious Leon would not have the strength to pilot it back home. They needed medical attention as soon as possible.

As night quickly approached on dusk’s heels and they grew nearer a single star fell from the sky, moving across the horizon until it changed direction and sped straight towards them. It slowed as it neared, turning to the side to reveal it was a starship, a small cruiser. Its lights flickered on Julan’s (now dry, though the tears left noticeable marks on his face where the salt had dried) and Leon’s pain twisted face. Two robed figures emerged from it shortly after landing, and ran to them frantically. One of them was a Bith Jedi healer, and bright aqua light flew from him as he approached, surrounding Leon, whose face suddenly lost its tension.

Chapter Eight

The time at last has come to set her wheels in motion

She is rejected for her sin

Driven by unbridled emotion

Kale Besand sighed as she shifted the blaster rifle across her stomach, cramped in a nook where a tree limb sprouted up against the trunk. She glanced into the thick chemical haze that swirled around the colony, her well trained eyes darting about as she searched for movement. The fourteen year old looked out of place there, the heavy blaster rifle seeming so familiar in her hands, her black eyes juxtaposed against blonde hair betraying her aged soul.

Something stirred and her eyes shot to the spot, she could feel it, like an echo reverberating off her skin. She leaned forward, her back shifting from the trunk to the tree limb and fired a volley of blaster shots into the mist. There was a howling as one of the mutated creatures screamed out, but she had already switched position again at the sound of a snapping twig. “Nice shot,” Vash Cee, one of the older boys from the colony said as he stepped forward.

She didn’t reply except for a short “Hmph,” and slowly eased herself out of the tree, her well defined muscles flexing for a moment as she hang from the branch before she let herself drop to the ground. “Here,” she said, chucking the rifle at him without so much of a glance.

He watched her as she passed his eyes drifting down her slender body, noticing her newly acquired voluptuous figure. “You know the Jedi are coming today,” He said, hoping to start a conversation with the girl before she left.

“Really?” She said, her eyes narrowing as she walked off into the mist towards the colony. Of course she knew, she’d been planning for it for months, years even. She ran through the forest, hearing the sound of rain bouncing of the strange vegetation. The acid rain bounced off her skin, hissing as it fell on her skin. Though it stung, she didn’t pay it any attention at all, refusing to let the pain hinder her at all, in a place like this, you learned to deal with life’s hardships.

She pushed open the door to her miserable home. Her mother was in the kitchen, cleaning Force knew what while her father sat silently at the kitchen table, fixing some stupid gadget of his. Without a word she moved towards the rest room, her parents looking up in alarm. She stepped into the shower and turned it on, letting the somewhat dirty water wash away the acid, though it stung the now raw skin.

She reminded herself as she felt the grime of the day be replaced by the grime of the tap water that this was all going to be over soon. She seemed to release some of the tension now, imagining how wonderful it would be to train on Courasant or even Dantooine. She had learned everything she knew from an old ex-Jedi who’d fallen in love with one of the colonists and had left the order to be with her. She had died from exposure to the toxins in the air. What an idiot. She had since then thought of nothing else than to join the order and learn the ways of the Jedi, to escape this place and not be forced to inhale its foul air any longer.

This place made her sick. How her parents could sit idly by, content, she had no idea. The world had been the home of a very important chemical plant, one of the largest in the galaxy. An accident had destroyed the plant, and left the planet’s atmosphere devastated. The flora and fauna had mutated due to exposure to so many foreign chemicals which had formed a thick mist that covered the entire planet and resulted in acid rain. Some company had offered substantial pay to colonists who agreed to help steadily clean up areas of the planet to prepare for a second plant.

It was a miserable existence that she had been born into. Except for the occasional excitement of an attack from one of the mutated beasts the lurked in the mist there was little else to look forward to. She had devoted herself to the watch at an early age, standing for a few hours at the border of the colony and shooting anything that got too close.

She hated it, but never complained. Despite the way her lungs ached with every breath for clean air or her skin burned when acid rain fell from the murky sky she never complained about the hardships of colony life, just the incredible pointlessness. She hated her parents who sat there, completely devoid of ambition, happy to simply be together in this miserable place.

She let herself forget her frustration for a moment, glancing over at the flashing clock before stepping out of the shower and throwing on some clothes. The lack of pattering on the roof revealed that the rain had stopped. She had spent more time than she thought brooding in the shower, if she didn’t get going she would miss the Jedi examination.

“I’m going out,” She said, as her parents watched her leave. They both gave each other a worried gaze as she slammed the door shut. She hadn’t told them she was going to try and join the order. How could they understand her desire to escape this place, to escape them and pursue something of worth? It was none of their business.

As she proceeded to the clearing that served as the colonies temporary landing pad small children came out of their homes with their parents in tow. One boy’s mother and father rested their hands on his shoulders as he walked, speaking words of pride and encouragement. “Give me a break,” she said to herself, pushing through the steadily growing crowd towards the line of young children.

She could see the two Jedi at last, and her heart began to pump with anticipation as she approached. They were using some kind of machine to take blood samples, most likely measuring for a midi-chlorian count. It seemed that most of the children hadn’t fared very well so far, but she was confident that she would do differently.

At last she was next, and her she shuddered in excitement, her gaze turned skyward with relief that she might finally escape this pointless, disgusting place. She barely felt the p***k of the needle as it took a blood sample. “Hmmm. Interesting,” one of the Jedi said, and for the first time she felt absolutely elated.

“Let me speak to you for a moment my friend,” one of the Jedi said to his companion, and they walked off together to talk to each other. Their voices dropped to murmurs, but she could still make out their words, filtering out the chatter and whispers of the crowd.

“Her midi-chlorian count is impressive…”

“But?”

“Do you sense her aura, it is obviously tainted by the darkside.”

“Perhaps the hardship of surviving in this place… It wouldn’t be the first time such a thing happened.”

“This is true. Surely we can’t risk her coming into knowledge of The Force.”

“Perhaps there is a chance to save her from the darkside.”

“I don’t think we should take the chance. In any case, she’s already much too old, the chance that a conclave would still take her in as an initiate is extremely small at best.”

She felt a shadow fall on her heart, and a boiling simmering heat enveloped her as they approached her. She gazed into each of their eyes, so apathetic and uncaring, so ignorant to the hardships of living on this colony, completely ignorant to the shining future they were denying her.

“We’re sorry, but you don’t qualify for initiation into The Order.”

She turned around without a word, her rage enveloping her as she ran into the woods. She wished that she had had her rifle with her so she could shot those Jedi so the only thing that was left was the carbon burns of their shadows pressed against their stupid starship. She began to run towards the outskirts, she was so angry, so furious that she couldn’t stand to go back to her pathetic parents. She wanted to take up one of the guard posts. She wanted to kill something.

Something was moving in the mist now, and she stopped in her tracks, feeling the reverberations of a presence there, something larger than its physical being lurking in the darkness. The man moved forward, though he was still hard to see at this distance. “So, you would follow the path of a Jedi?”

She narrowed her eyes at the man, the mist clearing somewhat so that she could see he was wearing robes not unlike those of a Jedi. The cape though was a strange addition to the uniform. She didn’t answer him but shifted her stance so she was ready to fight him. Aggression leaked from his very being.

“Allow me to suggest a more appropriate path for you, one where your innate talents will be appreciated and applauded.” He reached out his hand in a regal matter; like she was royalty and he were helping her into her carriage. She dropped her guard and took his hand, smirking as her dark eyes shinned.