The Second Pillar: Knowledge [Draiya]

[Serena Laran]

Draiya Naaianeya's training had been going well; the girl was a quick study and they had spent many long hours exploring her connection to the Force. It was time to add to her experience, and where better to explore knowledge of the Jedi than at the Jedi Library. Most of it was cordoned off for exploration and sorting, but some of it was suitably shored up and open (relatively open) to the Jedi to use.

Serena signed in at the front desk where the Jedi knight on duty gave her a respectful nod. The Library was guarded one hundred percent of the time. It was a priceless artifact of history and knowledge, and in time would be returned to it's full splendor. Now, however, was not that time. There was dust in the air and sometimes the lights flickered in harmony with construction noises from deep inside it where Jedi and Alliance archivists and engineers were working to make the building safe.

She waited for her padawan just inside the entrance.

[Draiya Naaianeya]

The minutes passed, and Draiya still didn't show for their meeting. As Serena waited alone at the entrance, she began to sense that perhaps she wasn't as alone as she thought. The gentle flow of airborne dust in the changing light seemed to change in a way unaccounted for by the light source or by air.

[Serena Laran]

"Ah," said Serena, noting the way the air shifted near her, and a subtle change of the light. Casting about with the Force she confirmed her suspicion. "You are very talented, Draiya," she said. "Come, reveal yourself and let us go inside."

[Draiya Naaianeya]

The air shimmered and in a snap of distortion, Draiya Naaianeya blinked into view at Serena's side. The evidence of focused exertion released in the sigh of a held breath, and she looked up at her master with unsaid curiosity. Her technique had improved through repetition and focus. Mistakes she'd made out of ignorance or smoothed over beneath pride had been revisited and reconstructed. Even to the first innate talent she'd learned - the ability to not be seen.

If Serena were impressed, she showed little of it. Nevermind that she'd picked her pupil out as if she were hiding behind a curtain with feet exposed. It was a reminder that Draiya's expectation and reality still had distance to go before reaching nexus. There was an intent searching look on the Syragori's face for a moment, weighing whether asking how Serena had undone her was more important than remaining silent for other teachings.

"Thank you, masterr." Draiya accepted Serena's dry praise in equally sedate measure, dark eyes traveling around the entrance of the library before settling on the doorway that would carry them into the great interior.

[Serena Laran]

Her padawan revealed herself, and Serena smiled. "I barely noticed you that time - and only because I was looking for you. How long were you standing there?" She led the girl further into the Library, nodding to the Jedi at the desk as they passed by. She took a circuitous route, bypassing the great chamber where the Jedi Master Ood Bnar resided, his branches reaching to the bits of sunlight that filtered through the ruined dome. The engineers were talking about placing a transparisteel dome on the roof in place of the stone one, but the entire structure would have to be reinforced to hold it.

Their destination... she had none in mind. Any chamber in the Great Library would hold untold troves of knowledge, and Serena intended to allow the Force to guide them to what they would study.

[Draiya Naaianeya]

"About five minutes." Draiya confessed, following her master deeper into the initial high-vaulted chambers inside the library. The ruins were now illuminated with enough portable lamps to provide ample coverage so that those who ventured within wouldn't stumble, and would have adequate light by which to read. The effect filled the rooms with ethereal tracings of light beams, within which a sea of dust seemed to perpetually ebb and flow.

They walked for several minutes, and it didn't seem to the Syragori padawan that there was any aim to it. She began to open her mouth to ask what they were doing, then suddenly paused, raising an eyebrow as her pace flagged behind. That was the point, wasn't it? This was an independent assignment.

Now Draiya stood still between two rows of restored bookshelves, her dark eyes moving from tome to tome. But she wasn't reading the spines. Besides, many of those had faded with age. There was something else here, and it was faint.

"Arre we alone?"

[Serena Laran]

"Not especially," Serena said, stopping and looking at her padawan. "There are other people here in the library. What are you sensing?"

[Draiya Naaianeya]

Draiya's curiosity was beginning to pique, and curious fingers reached up to run against a line of book spines. One of the books' bindings flaked at her touch, and she paused carefully. Her eyes closed.

"I don't know."

Or at least, wasn't sure how to explain it. There was living energy here. Not loud and bright like hers, and definitely not like Serena's radiant supernova. And yes, she could sense other people in the distance, but this wasn't what she was feeling either. It was here, but it somehow wasn't.

A word here. A thought. A memory. Little splotches of color in her mind's eye, like fireflies.

"It's like whisperring."

Which was a stupid thing to say about a library, she realized. But the whispers weren't words, not really. Maybe ideas. Memories.

[Serena Laran]

Serena nodded, putting forth her hand and lightly touching the books before them. "The second pillar of a Jedi's journey, of the three that will hold you up once you are a knight, is the Pillar of Knowledge. This maintains that a Jedi's role in the galaxy cannot be filled without intense study and accumulated wisdom - in the past this was done in the vast Jedi Archives of the Temple on Coruscant."

Her voice grew a little wistful as her memory of the place with it's statues, holoconsoles, and rows of shelves laden with blue lit datapads. All burnt, or stolen by the Empire by now. "Many of the datafiles here are corrupted from age. The actual books have fared better, though they are fragile. And it is here," she gestured to include the entire library, "that you will come every day to study, Draiya. Learn of the past, and the Jedi Knights of the eras recorded here. The history of the Jedi will bolster you as you continue in your own journey in the Force - to either repeat their victories, or learn from their mistakes."

Serena nodded toward the shelves. "Pick a book. Read it between your other duties, and we will discuss it during our lesson time. I have told the knights to expect you here often, so you may come and go as you like."

[Draiya Naaianeya]

It was a rare privilege. Only padawans advanced in their learning were given clearance to study from the old library, and even those usually under the watchful eye of a Knight chaperone to make sure they didn't abuse the tomes. Master Laran was placing a great deal of trust in her, and Draiya reciprocated with a reverent, appreciative nod.

"Thank you, Masterr."

Still, Serena had not guided her course study. She'd left it to Draiya to decide that on her own, with whatever insight she had. That degree of independence brought the Syragori girl once more to the trailing whispers of her mind's eye. She concentrated, carefully attempting to find the connection to these subtle energies the way that she had spun through nature's leylines in the previous lesson a week ago.

see

Draiya startled, her half-lidded eyes wide open once more. A tentative hand again reached to the row of books nearest her. Fingers traced lightly over old spines, and Draiya felt their uneven contours smooth into a tactile blur as she walked past. She again closed her eyes, shutting out her natural sight to best let in her second vision.

"Colorrs in the darrk."

Draiya paused dead in her tracks, her hand resting on a book that looked no more remarkable than the hundreds she had just passed. The Padawan carefully let her fingers slide down the spine. If there was writing there at one point in time, it had faded with the ages. The only discernible mark remaining on the outside of the book was the symbol of an eye, just below where her fingers had made contact.

[Serena Laran]

Serena watched quietly, not willing to break the girl's concentration, but when Draiya paused with her hand on a book she encouraged her to take it from the shelf. "Show me," she said, and her padawan gave her the book without hesitation.

She looked it over carefully. It was not overly dusty, due to being in part of the library that had recently been cataloged. "Master Ohtoo Dako's treatise on Farseeing." She handed it back to her padawan.

[Draiya Naaianeya]

Draiya cradled the book with reverence, looking upon it's aged cover. Despite the many years, it seemed to be sturdy enough to read, albeit with a careful hand.

"Farrseeing?"

It wasn't a topic the Syragori was familiar with, but the more the Padawan thought about it, the less of a coincidence it seemed. Something - be it within the book or the library or in a place she could not see - had influenced her choice.

"Masterr, what is farrseeing?"

[Serena Laran]

"The ability to see through another's eyes, among other things," Serena said after a moment. She looked thoughtful. "I have not met a Jedi who practices this ability, but it does seem like something your talents might lend toward."

[Draiya Naaianeya]

Eyes wide, Draiya cradled the book with each arm. What she'd uncovered then wasn't merely rote instruction that the other students followed. This was special. A unique insight into the force. One that likely hadn't been seen for hundreds of years. Or if this copy were unique to Ossus - thousands.

As she considered the magnitude of that, a fear began to rise in her. One that she knew she must confront.

"Masterr..." Draiya whispered, looking up from the book. "...why me?"

If it was as Serena said, shouldn't this undertaking be done by a Jedi Knight or a Master? A more seasoned Jedi, with more extensive knowledge. But even as Draiya asked, she was forced to face the truth of her feelings. The colors in the dark. Something here, in this very book, had called out to her.

Searching her master's eyes, Draiya needed to know why.

[Serena Laran]

She closed her eyes for a moment. The Force seemed to be drawing a connection between her padawan and this ancient text, but the why remained to be seen. The connection was plain, however. "Why not you? A padawan without bad habits to unlearn." A vision flickered, but it was faint and uncertain...and spoke of a great destiny. She would not tell Draiya of it, yet. Serena opened her eyes.

"Take the book, and read it. We will discuss what you've read every day during our lesson time." She smiled. "I look forward to hearing about it."

[Draiya Naaianeya]

Reassured, Draiya's expression softened into a slight smile. Her master's faith in her buoyed her own want of understanding.

"I will, Masterr. Thank you."

The Syragori girl followed her Master from the library. She didn't get far. At first sign of pleasant sun on her face, Draiya found a spot of ground to sit, and with utmost care, opened the book. Yellowed pages with elaborate script filled her eyes, and Draiya didn't take long to disappear completely into her studies.

Ohtoo Dako was a Jedi Master with innate understanding of the mind's connection to the living world. In a time of peace in the Republic That Was, he explored every facet of that which people perceived. What were the senses? How did they reconcile with the force? Where did reality lie when the senses and the force disagreed?

It began with questions. So many of them. And the more that Draiya read, the more she began to understand that many of these questions were ones that she had grappled over for the past year. What was the force? It was said that it was felt. Could it be seen? Heard? In the expanse of luminous energy, where did the body, the one, and the self reside?

Draiya read, read, and read. She shifted on the ground. She moved under a tree. She took the book under the awning of the mess hall to keep the sun out of her eyes when it began to recede.

[Serena Laran]

The next day, in the morning before Serena's rounds at the hospital, she met with her padawan once more for their private lessons. "I saw you reading intently yesterday," she smiled. "What have you discovered so far?"

[Draiya Naaianeya]

Ugh, how little sleep had she gotten?

Draiya had buried herself in Master Ohtoo Dako's treatise on Farseeing the entire day, and well into the night. She'd somehow managed to return to her dorm room, but with a scant five hours of sleep between that moment and now.

Stifling a yawn, the Syragori girl looked with heavy eyes to her master.

"Most of it was theorry. Philosophical questions put against Jedi fundamentals. Rratherr than deprriving the otherr senses to heighten the connection to the forrce, Masterr Ohtoo suggests to embrrace what we see as a rreflection of the forrce. Combine the two and make them grreaterr."

[Serena Laran]

"An interesting theory," allowed Serena, watching her padawan try to cover another yawn, and then forced to follow suit with a yawn of her own. She smiled, and tsked. "You do still need your sleep, Draiya. Did you read the whole book already?"

[Draiya Naaianeya]

Bleary-eyed, Draiya nodded in affirmative to the question.

"Coverr to coverr. I know I should've put it down at lights out, but I pulled the coverrs overr and turrned on the micrro torrch."

[Serena Laran]

She smiled at the girl's enthusiasm. "Then tell me about it. I haven't read it, you have: can you explain the concepts to me?" Serena nodded toward the book in Draiya's hands. "Too much information at once can be hard to process. You may need to read it over again, take notes, and really ingest the contents." She tapped her temple. "Up here, not down here," she pointed at her stomach with a grin.

[Draiya Naaianeya]

She hadn't expected to be called on the spot, and Draiya licked her dry lips as she shifted her feet. Not exactly prepared for a book report.

"Okay..."

A hand pushed away a few flyaway strands of hair behind an ear, and she made furtive eye contact with her master.

"...so, the way I was taught, and I guess the way most Jedi arre taught about the forrce is that it's a sense in and of itself. Like, with the blind trraining and the rremotes, rright? Don't trrust yourr eyes, trrust in the forrce."

Her hoarse voice cracked a little, and Draiya coughed in a hand to clear it.

"Okay, so that's trrue, but it's not entirrely trrue. What we see, feel, hearr, all of that, it affects us and doesn't exist on an island."

[Serena Laran]

Serena nodded encouragingly and lifted a hand, pulling a bottle of water from the bag at her feet with the Force. She handed it to her padawan. "And what does that mean? To you."

[Draiya Naaianeya]

Draiya quenched her thirst, using the momentary break to gather her thoughts. Returning the cap to the bottle, she wiped at her mouth with the back of a hand.

"It means that when someone experriences something, that it changes them in theirr rrelationship to the forrce. It's a small change, but one who can look forr it should see it."

Draiya considered the best example to start with, and the padawan turned to a nearby shelf, rummaging through some of the items she knew were there. Finding what she was after, Draiya held up the old Jedi testing screen that was commonly used to gauge the force potential of younglings and other candidates.

"Masterr Solomon tested me with this when I firrst got herre, and I failed it everry time."

The Syragori's studious eyes fixed to the screen as she turned the device on, watching images of objects cycle by that were meant to test a Jedi's extrasensory skills.

"What if I failed because my attention was on the device, and not on the teacherr?"

[Serena Laran]

"That is likely," agreed Serena. "Only a child who showed unusual aptitude for electronics might be able to 'read' the screen without paying attention to the one holding the screen."

She paused, adding, "Have you been tested with this device since that initial failure?"

[Draiya Naaianeya]

Draiya shook her head.

[Serena Laran]

"And what did Master Solomon say to you, when you failed?"

[Draiya Naaianeya]

She still remembered the feeling of disappointment on that day. She'd been brought to Ossus for a chance at a new life, only to have her first impression given being that of falling flat on her face.

"He said that it was okay, and sometimes we'rre just gifted in differrent ways."

Which, at the time, seemed like he was just trying to be nice. Draiya didn't realize he was imparting an honest lesson. She shook her head at the thought. No, no, this was changing the subject.

"But I'm saying that I can pass this test now, and that's just the starrt of it."

[Serena Laran]

Serena raised an eyebrow, smiled, and flicked on the testing screen, facing it away from her padawan. "Then show me what you've learned."

The screen began to cycle slowly through a variety of images as Serena looked at them, giving Draiya time to think and identify them if she could. A speeder. An avian in a nest. An astromech droid. A simple triangle. An insect.

[Draiya Naaianeya]

Draiya took a few moments to ready herself, inhaling deeply, then letting her breath ease out through her nose. Her eyelids became heavy, then closed as she embraced her other sight. Immediately, the radiant living force of Master Laran filled her senses, dimming the presence of everything by it's proximity. She'd learned how to handle this, however, and Draiya didn't allow Serena's intensity to overwhelm her. Instead, she stared into the sun, looking into Serena directly. Mindful not to stray and find herself too deeply within her master's mind, Draiya took to the lessons she'd recently learned. There was a connection, hard to sense against the storm of color, but it remained. It was this simple thread that kept Serena grounded to the world around her that she could see.

The Syragori Padawan pressed her tongue against dry lips as she tested the tether. She wasn't entirely sure what she would find. Her study on second sight had been more conceptual than practical, but Draiya believed in the concept. What her senses delivered wasn't literally sight through another set of eyes, but rather a thought. A simple recollection as the mind sorted what the eyes delivered.

"A landspeederr."

A mild look of surprise formed on Draiya's face as she fished the first passing recollection from the ether.

"A birrd. Sitting. A nest."

[Serena Laran]

Serena kept the smile from her face until Draiya had successfully named ten separate images, and then she turned the screen to show her the last one before putting it down. "All correct." She smiled. "An excellent start, Draiya. What would you like to try next?" She could think of a few suggestions, but she wanted to see what her student would come up with on her own to test and stretch this new facet of her abilities.

[Draiya Naaianeya]

"If I can see thrrough anotherr's eyes, and I can prroject my thoughts, then I could keep connected wherre no otherr means might worrk."

The Syragori splayed her fingers over her knees.

"Guide a parrtnerr thrrough a task that I can't see myself orr interract with. Test the limits of what I see, and how much depends on the perrception of the otherr mind at worrk."

It was a strange epiphany for Master Laran to ask her to construct her own lesson. It was as if it made Draiya consider the constraints of what she intended and what she might be able to achieve.

[Serena Laran]

"I think I know ..." Serena's voice trailed off. "Just a moment. Yes, I know how we can do this, but it will take a little time to set up. Meet me back here tomorrow morning, and I will have everything ready. You can have the afternoon off from hospital duties." She smiled warmly. "You are doing well, Draiya. I am proud of you."

The next day, Draiya walked in to find sheets had been suspended from the ceiling, creating two walled off cubicles. Drax stood sheepishly outside one of them, his sucker-fingers trembling a little as Serena explained what was going to happen. "There is a puzzle in here, five hundred pieces. Drax will have all the pieces, while you have the datapad with the finished picture on it. You will guide him through it."

[Draiya Naaianeya]

The moment of praise was taken with a demure "thank you", and a feeling that warmed up her middle. This discovery meant a great deal to Draiya, who was still trying to find herself and her path. It was no small thing to hear her Master's approval at her choice of direction.

The next morning, however, Serena showed exactly what she had in mind. Surprise etched plainly on the Syragori's face, her eyes widening nearly as big as her counterpart's. Drax hooted a few questions in Rodian, and Draiya began to look at the picture. A family at a picnic. Okay, lots of colors, a blanket, a basket, a mom, a dad, and two kids. Easy, right?

Draiya tossed an unsure glance at Drax before she was ready to move beyond the veil. A quick glimpse into second sight confirmed the wreath of living force around him, similar and different from everyone. The Syragori's eyes half-lidded as she took a few measured breaths.

Drax. Can you feel me?

[Serena Laran]

Drax was nervous, but doing his best to be calm. When he felt Draiya speaking in his head, the Rodian visibly jumped. He turned his eyes on her, and nodded. He hooted lowly, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

"Try to keep your mind clear," Serena suggested to Drax, guiding him into his cubicle. "Don't resist. And Draiya," she said, turning to her padawan. "Do not push. If he resists you, then take a step back and give him some space."

[Draiya Naaianeya]

Draiya nodded to her master's words, but didn't reply. She was absorbed in the task of keeping the mental link established. Her eyes fluttered under closed lids, seeing a world of perceived color. Taking a brief moment to crack open her eyes, the Syragori glimpsed at the final product, then promptly closed again.

The bottom edge. There is a pond. Greenish blue water. One edge smooth.

She watched through Drax's eyes as he bumbled through a pile of pieces, grabbing wrong ones before tossing them away.

Not, there. There.

He still wasn't grabbing the piece she could clearly see. Draiya bobbed her head, brow furrowing slightly.

That one. No, higher. Lower. Higher.

[Serena Laran]

Serena sat quietly opposite the cubicles, watching both padawans as they tried to work together. Drax was learning to trust in his teammate, while Draiya stretched her newfound ability to its limits. A five hundred piece puzzle was complicated enough that Drax couldn't figure it out without her help, and after a few minutes of serene silence he clutched at his head.

"Just tell me which one! Your thoughts - they are coming too fast. One on top of the other!"

And with that, the dam was broken. The two padawans bantered and called back and forth, and the puzzle began to take shape. After an hour, Serena called the session to a halt, and Drax and Draiya switched places to see what the other had in front of them.

"Excellent work, both of you." Serena smiled encouragingly.

[Draiya Naaianeya]

She was exhausted. When Draiya opened her eyes at last, her lids felt heavy. Her muscles were taut from remaining in a deliberately-fixed pose for an hour. Beads of sweat dotted her forehead. She shuffled over to take a look at hers and Drax's combined handiwork. When she saw a confirmation with her eyes what her senses had already seen, the Syragori girl's face drifted into a tired smile.

"We...we did it."

Draiya sighed, pushing her face into the palms of her hands, which pushed up her forehead to rub the accumulated sweat up into her hair. She dropped her hands to her sides, but the smile didn't go away.

"I knew we could do it."

[Serena Laran]

Drax rubbed his head with his long fingers, bulbous eyes closing for a moment.

"We did not finish," he hooted softly.

"You got quite a bit done," said Serena. She looked at the exhausted padawans. "Go ahead and take the rest of the day off."

The Rodian padawan didn't need telling twice. Drax hurried out of the tent, leaving them behind.

Serena turned to Draiya. "You do not need to come for your shift at the hospital, if you need more rest. You've done very well - and I am going to write this exercise up for the rest of the Council to look over. It is a remarkable skill."