Private Pitty the Dead who never Died

[Empor]

It was easy for the eyes blind in the Force to mistake the feral beauty of Halcyon for a place of tranquility. The illusion of peace was quick to find roots in the mind of the ignorant or he fearless, for the dense flora covered much of the scattered hints of the planet's grim realities. The little light that pierced through the canopy illuminated the black waters that bogged inbetween the ancient roots of the trees that gave the jungles the iconic height. The humidity was often trapped beneath the canopy, resulting to white ghostly flows inbetween the dark wood and the green, adding to the natural beauty of the land.

Distant echoes of the wildlife created an inexplicable sense of unease, as if the very jungle had a will of herself. On occasion, tribal drums were heard from miles away, coming from the once numerous tribes of savages and mutants and alien creatures who had somehow failed to adopt any form of technological advancement past the stone age in which they seemed stuck into. Alas, after decades of purges and conflicts with the Imperial colonial troops, the tribes were reduced to a mere fraction of their numbers, their cannibalistic rituals becoming rare enough that their death-worshipping ways were gradually passing to myth.

They were not to blame. For a Force Sensitive, the darkness that shrouded the planet was not a decay in the little civilization that had once existed, nor the result of a single event that shifted the tide. It was decades of corruption, the work of numerous dark adepts and sorcerers who had made the highest peak of the planet their base, the Blackhill Mountain, and acted in such a way the very Nexus of Halcyon shifted to the Dark. Something that was evident on every aspect of the environment, a screaming protest to the reality enforced upon it. The water was filled with toxins that gave it a characteristic dark shade, poisonous to most life forms. The beasts that lurked the wilds had become more and more aggressive, perhaps on occasion to a self-destructive degree.

Down the narrow path between the dense flora, the body of a large rodent being lied against the stone. Its blood, hot and sticky, trailing a limping path from beyond the river, to the place it collapsed, still breathing painfully by the predator's claw.

Across the path, beneath the heavy tree trunk, a beam of white light emitted in the invisible fabric of the Force; A supressed essense, too overwhelmed by the oppressive environment around it to shine as bright as it could. It was rare on Halcyon, to find any form of Kyber formations, much less, in the likes of such...

 

[Master Afarzel]

Among the beautiful nature of the planet, a planet covered by a dark Nexus, a beacon of light was standing. A Master of the Jedi Order, from when the Order was thriving before the war against Zakuul. A powerful Force sensitive with enhanced connection with the Force, like all the people of his species. A Miraluka he was. Living in a cave found into the deep forest, not much far away from the Blackhill’s temple, Master Afarzel chose to remain on the planet where his former padawan, Jedi Master Regus Vor, summoned him to offer his guidance.

The Miraluka are a species mostly attuned with the light side. They are strongly connected with the Force and they use it to see their surroundings. As they do not have eyes anatomically, like most of the other humanoid species of the Galaxy, the Miralukas are watching only through the Force, hence, there is no Miraluka without this strong connection with it.

The connection in addition to their traditional attunement with the light side, have made Master Afarzel this Pylon of light. On a planet like Halcyon with its dark Nexus, the Jedi seemed a paradox. However, he was a Miraluka and a Master of the Jedi Order. So, the dark side aura of the planet and its corruption did not affect him. He and his apprentice, recently found out, that Master Afarzel was strangely way stronger the Force than the average people of his species. After a ritual Master Regus Vor had performed, he found out that something special existed inside his Master. What it was, it remained to be found out.

Master Afarzel recently had some visions from his past. They seemed images from another life. A life full of battles and cruelty. He did not remember any of those battles nor he could understand what the Force was trying to tell him. After he saw them and experienced a hidden part still unknown to him, he turned his mind and became a fanatic pacifist. He believed that the Force would solve any problem the lightsaber used to solve. A noble point of view and one his apprentice, Master Vor, was not sharing with his Master.

The Jedi Master, after his apprentice left the planet for some time already, left the temple where he was staying and found his own place in the woods. He made a shelter in that cave he found and strangely enough, in a radius around his presence, everything was more calm. Serenity and tranquility existed where previously there was an endless fight between predators and their victims. A small lake, a nice water supply for the Jedi, once poisoned and toxic became clean and lifegiving source for every being. This was not the only miracle occurred close to Master Afarzel. The trees changed their appearance also. From sick dark trunks and leaves they got the healthy brown and green color. Even the behavior of the animals changed. When they were coming closer to the Jedi, they were losing their desire to hunt and attack one another. Predators and their preys were drinking from the lake together. Even the light from the planet’s two stars was passing through the trees on that territory. While the whole forest was dark and depressing, on Master Afarzel’s shelter there was light and serenity for every living being.

That day, Master Afarzel had gone for a walk further away from his new home. He reached the path of blood and followed it to end up at the heavy breathing injured creature. He would not let it die in agony. It managed to escape its hunter it seems and be still alive. Once the Jedi came closer to the creature, it turned its head towards him praying for help. It was calm like the injured who finally met his rescuer. The Miraluka touched the creature’s body close to the wound and using the Force he started rapidly healing it. Soon, the creature’s pain went off and it stand on its feet. It bowed its head towards the Jedi Master as a sign of gratitude and left in rush. Master Afarzel felt satisfied after his effort of help and wanted to continue his walk when he felt the strong presence of the Force nearby. He followed that presence and he reached the strange Kyber formation. Where others could see this formation emitting a bright white beam to the sky, the Miraluka could see through the Force an even brighter beam of pure Force and the crystal formation glowing and pulsing like the heart of the living. He walks closer to that wondering what it could be. It didn’t seem like the classic Kyber crystal formation he knew. This was something different. He kneeled before it and extended his hand to examine it though the Force.