Log:You Had It All Along

Chani sees for the first time..

OOC Date: December 04, 2020
Location: Temple of Eedit, Devaron
Participants: Chani Tahn, Aryn Cole

The sun in the Devaronian sky is close to being all the way overhead, no longer casting intense rays of illumination in through the eastern windows. It is still a source of natural light, and Chani is bathed in it at one of the tables near the windows. Her gaze is not cast out onto the jungle or the scenery present, however, but downcast towards the text of a book found here in the archives. It is held tenderly in both hands, covers pulled apart. Most of the book's pages now left on the left cover rather than the right, indicating that she approaches the end of it given how many sheafs are left to go through. They number less than two dozen, though such a thing is indiscernible given their slender thickness. Her gaze skirts the page before her, reading through the two-columned text with an attentiveness expressing interest.

The hatch nearby opens with hydraulic noise and Aryn walks into view. She looks refreshed from the day before, wearing something more Alderaanian than Jedi, and is wrapped in a light cape that matched her stylish ensemble. Her hair has been transformed to its normal style, with a pair of pretty braids oriented down the wake of her neck. She wears her lightsaber on her belt, and an ornate blaster pistol sits snug within a holster strapped to her thigh. Her hands, like usual, have locked at the small of her back but stay hidden beneath the confines of her cape. "Miss Chani," She announces, stepping closer at a measured and graceful pace.

Chani reads over the last of the text on the last page before finally closing the cover. She stares at it for a moment, but the sound of the door to the archives opening encourages her gaze to go elsewhere. Upon seeing Aryn enter, Chani rises from the seat she's in, dressed now in the soft creams and light browns of the garments she'd selected yesterday from the room levels above this one. Her dark hair is loose, split by her shoulders and draped over both the front and back of her tunic. She holds the book she's just read in both hands, though her grip is light. Like Aryn, she wears a belt with a cylindrilical object fastened to it. The tool the Alderaanian woman had handed to her before they'd parted ways last night. "Please, just Chani. The other way sounds too.." She's not sure how to phrase it. "Formal?"

"Of course," Aryn accepts the adjustment in stride, stopping shy of the table and Chani. She smiles and makes no effort to hide her observation of Chani's new clothing. "You look absolutely singular. You wear the robes well, my friend." She raises her hand and gestures for Chani to join her. "I thought I might share a lesson with you before I leave the system for a few days. Would you mind joining me?"

"Thank you," Chani replies to the blonde's compliment with simple gratitude. At the beckoning of the hand, she steps from between the chair and table, soles of her boots tapping against the temple's floor and dying, muted, before filling the air with too much noise. "I'd like that. Let me return this.." She motions with the book in her right hand and crosses to the shelves where she found it. Its placed back in its spot, with Chani taking the time to ensure that it's not messily slipped back into place. The spin is facing outwards and up, and it's edge as a finger's span away from the lip of the shelf. Turning back with a subtle sway of hair and the flowing parts of her garments, Chani steps towards Aryn to follow her. "May I ask where you're traveling to?" Her arms sway lightly by her sides.

Aryn waits patiently for Chani to return the book, nodding when she joined her. "I am returning home, to New Alderaan. A situation there has required my Lord father to hire help. I am still a dutiful daughter, so I intend to oversee this task to his satisfaction." Aryn walked casually, her hands still locked behind her. Each time she speaks, it's done in a manner where she orients herself more to the direction of Chani though their path leads them out to the corridor and toward the lift. When they arrive, Aryn triggers the prompt for the lift by lightly touching the button with a gloved hand. "It is an expedition into the Droalder mountains. An archeology team has come under hardship and our rangers have lost contact. We hope to find them and figure out what has happened."

Chani accepts Aryn's answer with nothing more than a nod. She follows the finely-dressed noble out of the archives and into the hallway, where their footsteps become more hollow as they reverberate off the stone architecture around them. She's silent, still, as they reach the lift, and it's not until Aryn has triggered it and delivered further explanation that she deigns to speak again. "Be careful," Chani offers not as advice or to caution the woman, but as a hopeful wish of safety for the Princess in her endeavor. "Do you expect that it will be dangerous?" This is nothing more than idle chatter meant to fill the time between their origin and destination, but Chani is nonethless interested, depicted by how her dark gaze rests steady on the blonde.

Aryn was quiet when Chani bid her be careful. Her response consisted of meeting the Naboo native's gaze and nodding appreciatively. When she asked after the possibility of danger, the lift arrived and doors parted. Aryn stepped in and pivoted to orient herself back toward the hall way. She tapped a button to bring them to the waterfall room, which rested at a lower elevation than their current position.

"I always suspect there to be danger. There are all manner of scenarios they might be experiencing there on the ridge. The most common being local fauna. I hope we are able to discover the truth behind this disturbance. For it to reach my Father means it is of great importance."

The lift shut and they go down for a few seconds. When the doors open again, the sound is no longer the reverent or somber silence found in some of the other temple locations. It's filled with the ambience of a waterfall and the flow of a current down below. Aryn steps out and begins to take a path down toward the bottom, the scuffing sounds of her boots lost over the sound of the water.

Chani steps in after the noble and to the side, ensuring she doesn't block the exit to the lift. She turns ninety-degrees, facing the opposite wall and turning her chin towards her left shoulder so that she can gaze outside of it while Aryn cues the lift to carry them downwards. Aryn begins to answer her question, and Chani's chin turns in the blonde's direction. A small hum rises from her chest and throat, expressing itself as a gentle noise of acknowledgment that pairs with the slight forward dip of her head to express understanding. "I hope that you're able to help them if they're in trouble." No sooner have her lips touched together than they open again, and an inhaled breath pulls through them to make her chest rise.

Rather than releasing, her breath holds, and eventually ends as nothing but an exhale. The lift stops and Chani shuffles out behind Aryn, attention tuned into the roar of the waterfall as it echoes. The sound isn't quite deafening, but it is great, and Chani can't help but be awed by it in numerous ways. Rather than study the water, however, she studies the path before her, ensuring her steps are even and careful as she descends the steps in pursuit of the noble ahead of her.

Arriving near the bench that Aryn discards her items onto, Chani watches the noble woman with slightly hiked brows. That gaze continues to follow the blonde as she steps into the pool itself, sinking in the water until its risen up to her waist. When the woman motions for her to do the same, Chani hesitates only a few moments before removing the few items necessary to do so. She sheds her boots one after the other, then follows with the leather belt that is looped in itself and hooked over the tall legs of the boots themselves. Barefoot and left in only her tunic and loose pants, she steps forward and, like Aryn before her, wastes no time in simply committing to getting into the water. She doesn't know if it'll be cool or cold or warm or hot.

The water is refreshing and cool, but comfortable in that it came from outside. There is a current to it, a subtle flow from one side of the pool to the other. Aryn is quiet a moment, orienting herself to stand opposite of Chani. "Apologies, but this is an important lesson." She explains, and smiles.

"I spoke earlier about perspective. That is something we must have as Jedi. How we perceive the world around us will always be enhanced by what we feel. I do not reference feelings like emotions, I mean what we feel around us. The Force is like nature; nature as we have seen it. It can conjure up storms, it can make wind, it can affect the environment in ways we only imagined. The Force is nature; it is the nature that grows beyond the natural processes of a planet." Aryn gestures with her hands as if to emphasize it's more.

"The Force, like this water, has a current that touches all living things. It binds us, penetrates us, and networks in complex ways. How we stand now, in this pool feeling the current represents what you are in the Force. That is how you must learn to feel it. When you place your hand into the water, or as you stand still beneath it, do you feel its current?"

The fabric of her clothing quickly soaks through to her skin, taking on weight. The pants begin to shape against her legs, while the tunic and its undershirt remain vague and do nothing to highlight her frame beneath. The cool water is more a relief than anything else. The humid day seeping in through the stone architecture in the waterfall room brings with it an unpleasant slickness that wants to cling to her skin. Water ripples and shifts around her as she wades in to her own waist. She'd noticed, before, that she and the Princess are basically the same height. Now, without any kind of footware to create any difference between them, that truth is more emphasized. Unsure of why the Princess apologizes, Chani nonetheless remains silent.

"I feel it," Chani acknowledges, thinking it unnecessary to elaborate beyond a simplistic answer.

"Feeling the Force is the first step to allowing yourself to become one with it. If we were to stand against a stream with a strong current, we feel the flow of the water and detect some measure of power from it. Becoming one with the Force is not achieved by standing against the current, though. It is achieved by allowing the current to flow through you; allowing it to carry and guide you." Aryn locks her hands to her lower back again and smiles. "I would like to try an exercise with you that might help you realize that this power, this gift, is inherent to you. That it speaks to you, and makes you react. What you might think is intuition is something else entirely.-- Close your eyes and focus on the sounds around you. Immerse yourself in what is going on in this room. Take your time, use your senses, your feelings, to discover how you perceive things without seeing.-- When you do this, speak the thoughts and details that appear in your minds eye."

Chani nods in understanding of Aryn's explanation. If nothing else, it's a sign that the Naboo woman is engaged and listening. That she understands the foundation being laid, even if she has a significant amount to learn about the topic being discussed. Taking in a deep breath through her nose, Chani lets it out through her mouth and closes her eyes as she does. It's a slightly unnerving sensation to close her eyes while she stands in the current of the reflection pool. Her feet are distanced apart that she has a base of support, so she doesn't move, but the perception that her body is moving is a powerful one. Refusing to let herself get distracted by that physical sensation, Chani tries to do as Aryn bids her by immersing herself.

The sound of the water helps her empty her mind, as if pouring her thoughts out into the reflection pool itself. She doesn't try to do anything. She just tries to exist. To recognize where she is in this moment. She feels it a moment later. A sudden oneness with everything around her that is so powerful that she sucks in a loud breath. It's so overwhelming that her tongue is paralyzed from speaking -- not because she can't move it, but because her mind fails to find a culimation of words acceptable and capable of doing such a thing. She feels swept along. For some long seconds, she's captivated by this sensation and everything with it. "I feel everything!" It feels that way. "I feel the plants and the trees and you. I don't know how, but I can't even see you and it's like I know exactly where you are. I feel like the whole world is.. vibrating." She doesn't know how to explain it, but it's so awe-inducing that she attempts to explain these things to Aryn in a tone that is reverant to the experience.

Aryn smiles. She can feel Chani's presence in the Force. It's as plain to her as the woman standing in front of her. "Good," Aryn says, moving now to give Chani something to track. "Perception through the Force reveals things to you in unique ways. They manifest as a feeling, sometimes a vision; it becomes your obligation to react to that or interpret it into a way that can be communicated. It can be as simple as a bad feeling, or maybe it is a warning from danger. Searching and trusting your feelings will become integral to your survival. It is an edge we Jedi have, and one that is honed by being connected just like you are now. That is the core of this first lesson, Chani." Aryn steps behind her, still some distance apart, and watches over her.

"Perspective."

"I've done that before," Chani explains. "When I was younger, I used to play a sport. Whenever someone would try to attack me or defend against me, I always felt like.. like I knew what they were going to do." Aryn moves, and although her eyes are closed, the Naboo woman knows she's doing it. Like she's watching it happen with something other than her eyes. It's such a difficult concept to formulate into words. "It's like breathing. I know I'm breathing. I don't have to concentrate on doing it, it just.. happens. Like I can't see you, and the moving water makes it so I can't feel you moving, but I know that you are. You're.. behind me?" She's unsure. She's not able to filter most of these sensations through any kind of lens. It's just sweeping over her, letting her feel one thing after the next with no rhyme or reason.

"Just so," Aryn confirms, her voice coming from behind the Naboo native. Aryn smiles, and she moves again. This time, she holds up two fingers and passes Chani by slowly. She is quiet like before, making use of the water to mask her movements and intent. Much of what Chani had explained were confirming the notions Aryn had stated just moments ago. It was inherent and natural, she only had to realize it. Chani's adept focus was something Aryn was quietly thankful for. Finn had been much more difficult to teach.

Chani's breathing picks up as her focus on what's happening around her intensifies. Not used to this and never having done this before, she finds it.. exhausting. She's reluctant to let go, though. To stop this exercise. Aryn begins to move again, and between the waterfall's constant pattering against the reflection pool's surface and the the tug of the current around her body, it's impossible to hear or feel the blonde woman moving. Chani feels it through her senses, though. Like whatever happens in the bubble of perception she's reached out with around herself is like some sphere of influence that she knows what's happening in. It's not the clearest picture, but she knows Aryn isn't just moving. "You've lifted your arm." She tries to hone in on just Aryn. To make those details more vibrant and focused than anything else around her.

"Good, and what about the details of that arm.. my hand?" Aryn slows her movement to a very meticulous walk, almost like she is gliding through the water. She passes beneath the water of the fall, but it seems to matter little to her, like her priority was Chani in those moments. She closes her own eyes and focuses on her influence with the Force. She makes her presence known, succumbing to the current and flow of it all. Details in the room begin to form as her personal bubble of perception expands quickly and practiced.

Chani stands immobile in the same spot no matter how Aryn moves. Her body is starting to tense from standing so still for so long. Despite this, her mind hones the picture in its eye, forcing the details to become less vague and more clear. "You have two fingers up." Her fingers twitch near her thighs, brushing against the thickened fabric that's oversatured with the water covering her skin and tickling against it as it passes through the fibers. She doesn't feel that. It's involuntary little spasms of her muscles in their idleness and in response to the stimulation of the water that passes through the gaps in each one of them. Exposed as she is to the Force.. "I don't know how I ever felt like I'd experienced the world before now."

"Well done," Aryn says, halting in front of Chani once more. "You may open your eyes now, Chani." Aryn is smiling, her hands locked to her lower back before, and she's a bit more wet from the water from having passed beneath the waterfall. "The Force is not a power you obtain; it is not unlocked and you are not awakened to it. You have it from the moment you drew your first breath. It is inherent to you. What has changed is that /now/ you feel it. You only needed to know where to look." Aryn smiled again and lifted her arm to gesture toward the exit. "I believe that a sufficient lesson for now. I would like you to revisit this as you travel; find moments to center yourself and enhance your perspective about your surroundings. In time, and with practice, it will become less exhausting. Then, with training, it will become constant. As Jedi, we seek truth. Like water, we can see the surface with our eyes, but in order to detect what resides beneath, we must learn to /see/ as we were intended. In time, as you learn more about the Force, you will learn how it will aid you in your journey for truth."

Opening her eyes, Chani starts panting as the stress truly catches up with her. She doesn't complain about it, though. As her senses return to a level she's used to, she instead forces herself to concentrate on what Aryn's saying. Like the noble woman said: this is a lesson. Listening to only half of it won't benefit her at all. She finds Aryn's reference to the Force as a pool of water, where her own perception is merely the surface, to be apt. Part of her is also relieved that the exercise is over. She may have succeeded, but it was difficult. Water droplets fall in a near constant stream from her fingers and hand as she lifts it up from beneath the pool, then tapers off slowly the longer her hand is held up to lightly brush at her brow.

"I realize that where you're going, you may encounter some danger, but I'd like to go with you if you'll let me," Chani adds to clarify. "To help with the task your father asked you to look into."

Aryn climbs out of the pool by taking the small staircase. Her lower half emerges, dripping heavily with water. Her feet make no noise as she steps to the warm stone and turns back to regard Chani. Her request to attend the matter on New Alderaan is considered and answered in a moment's reflection. "Of course, though I would see you better outfitted for it. Come. I have armor that may fit you and keep you warm in the Droalder pass." Aryn collected her things and carried them all, to include her boots. Their first stop was the habitation level to change. Then, back to the Rainstorm where they could leave for New Alderaan.

Chani wades out back the way that she came, ascending the gently rising slope that allows her to exit the water. The stone beneath her saturates with water that begins to pool on its surface. Her bare feet make slight slaps against the stone, which feels warm rather than cold beneath them. The jungle humidity is to thank for that. Chani gathers up the leather boots and utility belt she'd discarded on the bench and begins to follow Aryn, mimicking the noble in the fact that she doesn't bother to put anything back on. She leaves a trail of water behind her, worried that she's making a mess, but also taking note that the other woman doesn't seem to give it any consideration. Having just been submerged in water, she supposes it can't be helped.