A pair of flitting birds bounced between neighboring tree and thicket branches within the copse of dense foliage, musing the surroundings with their respective melodies. The song, a beautiful cadence of high and low pitches made spectacular with the accompaniment of the bird’s mate. Barriss found it enchanting in its own way as she washed the remainder of the thick mud from her robe. Standing ankle deep in the crystal-clear water, she had cast her boots to dry on the small river’s opposite shore after scraping and washing the mud off of them as well. Satisfied that much of the garment was cleaned to her liking, she dipped her hands into the water again to scoop more into her mouth. The water felt cool as it washed down her throat, a purity to it that stood wonders above the filtered liquid she had grown so very used to, and a marvel as it washed the remainder of the tuber root fibers from her teeth and mouth. The peace surrounding her was impeccably intoxicating, the warm late morning breeze gently penetrating the dense colorful foliage with its sweet provocative scents. The enchanting melodies of the colorful birds echoing through the copse only added to the captivating scene about her, solidifying her earlier sentiment that she had never been to a more beautiful place. For the fourth time her mind trailed off to thoughts of her research, the endless hours of holo images and data feeds, accounts from intrepid explorers and those from individuals looking for lost knowledge. Her confusion wearing on her consciousness as her immediate reality varied so immensely from the vast amount of information on this locale provided her directly by Sidious. Had the man not bothered to even look here for himself? And if so, why not provide her with anything close to useful? Yes, she had a destination, if she remembered correctly, but would that be any different than her current location? Would it too present itself differently to her as this place clearly was? She looked down at her toes, watching as the clear water refracted the vision of her bare feet upon the brown and black stones at the river’s bottom. Her olive skin appearing a deep green and black of their own in contrast. The inference within that moment was not lost on her.
“Knowledge and perception can, at times, be at odds despite our best efforts to marry the two into a cohesive thought.” Jedi Master Kense Dumar’s remarks regarding the Penz Thwaulk psychological theory of perception could not have been applied to a better scenario had Barriss scripted it herself. That the thought itself bore into her memory of sessions with the former Jedi was only a testament to her very surroundings conjugated with her abilities of sensitive recall. She could sense something was not as it seemed birthing the memory of the statement, a defensive ability that had, in the past, served her incredibly well. She could not take her eyes off the refracting water as it raced around her firmly planted feet, focusing on the gurgling sound of the water around her ankles. The sound becoming almost overbearing as it began to echo through the small opening within the copse of vegetation, drawing her attention away from it and onto the lack of sound elsewhere. She lifted her head away from her ruminations and out toward Eerie and Quin. The enormous fronds of variegated greenery limited her view, but she could see that they too, had sensed something was amiss. The breeze parted the fronds gently and she noticed that the buzzing and hum of the thousands of insects had ceased completely, the wind bringing with it a slight scent of decay. She tossed her head in the other direction, observing that the pleasing melodies being sung by the duo of birds had also ceased. She noiselessly pulled her feet from the river’s bottom and began to pad toward the shoreline nearest Eerie, careful not to lose eye contact with the beast. The breeze riled up the fronds again and the same scent of decay came with it, a sickly-sweet mixture of old meat and the metallic tang of drying blood. Barriss picked up her pace while remaining as quiet as possible, pushing past the massive fronds without a sound. Eerie turned her head to lock her gaze on Barriss’ as she cleared the copse, a sense of immediacy saturating the orbs as they wordlessly pleaded with the Mirialan to protect herself. Without thinking, Barriss squeaked out a short high-pitched yelp, getting Quin’s attention as intended. When she had both Thumpers staring at her, she motioned to lay down with both hands, mimicking the action herself by kneeling low. She had assumed there would be predators about but was also completely out of her element and found herself resorting to base instinct. She was pleased to see both animals lowering themselves to the ground instead of bolting mindlessly like she assumed they would. Barriss continued walking carefully toward them, her bare feet squishing through the muck that had proven to be such an impediment earlier. Finding that she would make no sound by deliberately dipping her toes first and transferring her weight to the balls of her heels, she took the opportunity to focus her senses completely on sound. Closing her eyes, she continued forward guided by the scents on the breeze. She could distinctly smell the differences between both Thumpers, the fresh scent of the flourishing life around her, but also an almost inaudible growl from beyond the grass line. She reached both Thumpers and stretched a hand toward both of their heads, forcing them lower into the ground, grasping the hilts of both of her lightsabers when she rose back to her feet. She opened her eyes and let them fill the void she had painted mentally. The growl was four meters in front of her, her eyes doing their best to look past the dense blades of grasses without success. The growling ceased suddenly, and she knew that what was to transpire would wait no longer. She lowered herself as far as possible to the grass lined mud while maintaining her balance, her arms outstretched, sabers at the ready. She felt the lunge before she saw it, heard it before it happened and was patiently waiting for the enormous feline to crest the arc of its leap. The brilliance of the sun dazzled her for a split second as it glistened off the creamy white coat of the feline projectile, but her attention was immediately drawn to the massive paws and finger length claws protruding from them. By drawing herself and her companions to the ground she negated the target zone the creature had intended, and it soared two meters above her head, landing silently behind her in the loamy mud. Barriss raised herself and turned quickly to face the beast, making sure she was between it and the Thumpers. She took a second to watch the feline as it corrected its gate and regained its footing, front paws sloughing noisily to escape the ground’s grasp on them. Within seconds the animal had stabilized itself and with its paws spread wide, lowered its head glowering at her. A deep resonant rumble escaped its maw, a growl she felt through the ground. Its eyes locked on hers, a sparkling shade of light blue that seemed to tear right through her soul. She only smiled in response and adopted a defensive stance with both sabers in hand. Barriss watched a ripple of muscles quiver through its sinewy shoulders as it lowered its head even more, its claws digging into the mud with anticipation. ‘You’re beautiful,’ she thought to herself, finding it difficult to deny that truth to herself. The color blend from belly to spine matched the foliage and vegetation around them precisely, a shock of severe white lined its spine from massive head to the base of its tail. Sensing the feline’s next action swiftly approaching, she set her footing and ignited both sabers. They sprang to life in her hands with a sharp crack and hiss of super concentrated energy, shrouding her aura in their red glow, but just as quickly, extinguished themselves with a sputtering lament. Barriss felt a twinge of fear for the first time in a very long time. For a moment she felt defenseless, useless, and vulnerable, a raw nakedness in the face of a natural order. She was no different than the smallest of insects, waiting to be consumed by something bigger. She shook her head as reason wormed its way back into her rational thought, wondering briefly what had brought on the spasm of weakness. The beast was preparing to pounce again after resetting its footing, a wave of bewilderment flashing in its eyes in the wake of Barriss’ sabers extinguishing. She quickly cast the sabers aside and brought both hands before her, ushering in the Force around her. She was astounded when it responded with immediacy, flooding her with intensely focused power the likes of which she had never experienced. The feline made its move and had its claws extended for her throat before its hind legs had even left the ground. Barriss narrowed her eyes and put every ounce of energy she possessed into a massive Force wave, stripping the grasses bare before her, blowing back those grasses to their breaking points at her sides. The wave peeled the enormous colorful fronds of vegetation from their stalks, blew birds from trees, insects and rodents from their hiding places but only managed to halt the giant cat back into its original stance. Barriss felt pangs of fear again as it coursed through her body, the Force energy expended with a blast that should have flayed the hide from the feline’s bones, yet it stood its ground, mocking her.
A miasma of undecipherable whispers crashed through the silence left in the wake of Barriss’ Force wave, spoken as if their source were at her ears. A chorus of chanting, spoken in dozens of dialects, crossed over one another creating an audio nightmare in her mind. She could hear male and female voices, old and young. They came hurriedly, some feverish and angry, others sincere, unreserved. Barriss clapped her hands to her ears to shut out the noise, falling to her knees in the mire below her, squishing mud around her calves and ankles. She could feel something wet on her fingers and pulled her hands away from her ears to see small drops of blood on their tips.
“Let go of what you think you know and embrace your strength young one.” A singular voice rang clearly through the chaotic orchestra yet whispered just the same. It was unhurried and deliberate, meant to break down the cadence of chanting as it softened those whispers with every syllable. The voice was female, a subtle charm within it hinting at a deeper intelligence and an even deeper wisdom, although neither of which Barriss could place. She felt a sudden urge to give in to her fear completely, submit to its whims and cower behind Quin, but her heart would not allow it. She knew she had the ability to overcome a simple predator on these plains, even if her sabers refused to respond or the Force was useless against this beast. Despite the suddenness of the voice, she abated any thought of divining its source for the moment and let her heart guide her actions toward the truth the voice had observed. She flared her eyes open from her prone position on the ground, naked save the simple black tunic wrapped around her body and locked her gaze upon the feline that towered over her, its steel blue eyes cutting into her very being. Barriss cocked her head to the right and planted a thought into the cat’s mind. It responded immediately by backing off, relaxing its muscles, and staring back at her without the glaring clarity they had just possessed. She twisted the thought into an irritation. The feline responded with a massive shake of its head then continued to bob it up and down, as if to break itself free of something only it could sense or see. Barriss forged the irritation into an annoyance, watching again as the cat responded with its paws in front of its snout, swatting at the air before it. She then shaped that annoyance into a vision. The beast turned to bolt away from her with an uneven growl, its claws retracting back into its paws to enable a swift escape. In turn, Barriss escalated the vision into a nightmare. The cat pawed at the ground with each leg independent of the other, as if it were stuck in some mud, its eyes betraying its instincts and reflecting fear. The irregular growls turning into whimpers and juvenile mews. It was projecting outright dread as those simple calls turned into horrific moans, its eyes snapped open as far as they dared. She watched as the animal began to give in to its fear completely, bobbing its head ever higher to avoid being swallowed by the mud it thought it was sinking into. Although she knew she could amplify the effects, she held back, watching, waiting. When the cat succumbed to its fate it lowered its head one last time and she watched its chest widen as it sucked in all the air it could into its lungs. Quin had gotten up and was pacing around the feline through its death throes, looking at it with intense curiosity. Barriss felt that the Thumper knew what was happening but was wordless to explain how. Quin looked to Barriss suddenly and lowered his head slightly, blinking his eyes slowly in the process. The look was solemn and filled with peace. She could not explain the sudden wave of sentiment that washed over her, accompanying his expression, feeling his own compassion for the feline. Eerie had shifted her body toward Barriss and pushed her muzzle under her right hand. Through her touch Barriss could sense the same emotion emanating and felt the unspoken mercy they both were clearly trying to convey. ‘Mercy.’ Barriss thought to herself, “haven’t experienced much of that myself so I may be a bit out of practice.” She spoke to the embattled feline before her. Barriss blew out her breath and released the beast from her mental suggestions, the cat, almost comatose, fell to its belly in a heap. It gasped aloud repeatedly, sucking in enormous drafts of air in the process. Quin watched as he hovered above the animal and seemed to exude pride as he turned to Barriss, covering the short distance, and lying down to her left. All three watched as the cat began to normalize its breathing but hadn’t moved a muscle otherwise, its huge head lolled to the side lazily. Barriss noted that the cat had yet to open its eyes. “Mercy.” She stated, patting the heads of both Thumpers. Both let a ripple of a purr course through their bodies, whether a product of her actions or simply her touch she was uncertain yet the peace emanating from the two was powerful she had to admit. She realized then that despite their earlier acquiescence, they had not exhibited any level of fear throughout her actions. Even the glance through the copse when they had made eye contact, Barriss only interpreted concern, never fear. “Curious.” She mouthed the words as she looked up again toward the feline. Certain that she would have allowed the animal to die, kill itself by all rights as it would have denied itself the air to breathe, she had kindled a thought while stroking the fur of the Thumpers. She pulled herself from the muck, her legs freeing themselves with a sucking sound, and walked slowly to the feline. Its eyes remained closed, but it turned its head slowly in her direction as she approached, clearly in no position to offer any resistance. She placed her hand on the cat’s head, carefully watching as it pulled back its ears and rumbled a slight growl through its sinewy muscles. Within seconds it righted its ears, and she began to scratch at the tuft of soft fur between them. The rumble subsided, ceasing to growl, resorting to a pensive purr of its own. Barriss could feel the tension leave the animal completely as it gave itself to her whims, forcing its head deeper into her fingertips.
The thought of companions of any sort felt awkward to Barriss, a responsibility in and of itself that she had never made the time for. It was only her, had only been her for as long as she could remember. Thoughts of Luminara sped through her mind, of Ahsoka, of Jedi Master Shak-Ti. People she had felt were companions, even friends, she supposed, but that was a lifetime ago, in another age entirely. She had made it a point to differentiate that life from her current one when the Emperor had approached her years prior, freeing her from detainment. Since then, it had only been herself. She looked at all three of the animals surrounding her thinking through the irony, “At least you don’t talk, that would prove unbearable.” She said to all of them with a slight eye roll.
Barriss looked off toward the Tiernvaal far to the east as the breeze picked up again sending a slight chill through her and carrying her loose hair in straight and wavy strands past her face. The effect was almost foreign to her as the wisps tickled her face. She had always pulled it back in some manner to keep it out of the way but maintained its length out of defiance to any that had suggested she trim it, and for no other reason.
Barriss began to ponder the voices that assailed her earlier when she felt the feline’s stomach churn under her hand, turning her attention directly to the immediate, she knew the cat was hungry and nothing more. There was nothing sinister within its intentions, it was only doing what it does, a predilection concurrent with a natural order. She understood exactly why then Quin and Eerie had appealed for mercy, death was a sentence that would have gone against that natural order. She too knew that truth while trying to convince herself in that moment she didn’t care, her heart, however, would never forget. A loud ‘thwap’ broke her concentration and she spun around to see Quin picking a smashed rodent from the ground with his teeth, its neck snapped from the impact of the Thumpers strong tail. He had a torn ear gently pinched in his jaw and walked it over to the lethargic feline, dropping it before the cat’s mouth. ‘So much for subtlety,’ she thought, “What happened to mercy?” She asked Quin, understanding however that the two instances were nowhere near the same. He only nodded in her direction and dropped his body at Eerie’s side with a mild hoot. She turned her gaze to the cat, more directly at its mouth to see if there was any reaction to the ‘food’ before it. It opened its eyes slightly and sniffed at the offering, snapping it into its mouth faster than Barriss could blink, watching as it swallowed its meal whole. She shook her head chuckling, knowing full well it was going to take a valley full of rodents to keep him fed.
Eerie’s rhythmic breathing assured Barriss that the Thumper was sleeping, Quin had closed his eyes in response and prepared himself for a nap as well. She eyed the feline again on her way back from the river’s edge, her boots under her arm, noticing that he too, was also napping the heat of the day away. The sounds had returned to the copse and valley, the insects continuing their orchestrations, the birds resuming their own chorus. Several sounds she hadn’t noticed earlier were present with high pitched screeching cutting through the breeze that had picked up in intensity. Her attention was brought yet again to the whispered chanting and overlapping voices earlier, how their crescendo had caused her ears to bleed. She had been subject to many oddities over the years, but it was the soft dulcet voice that spoke clearly to her that sparked her deepest curiosity. She felt as if she knew who it belonged to but there should be no way for that to be possible.
“You know who I am.” The voice chimed in her head again. Barriss, for reasons beyond her understanding now was not surprised in the least.
“I do.” Barriss responded. “I am here to seek your guidance….Zannah.”