The Call of the Woods

[Serah Kleor]

Work was done for the day. Serah had made her round and ensured that no dangerous creature would threaten the Kleors' farm. The fourteen year-old girl had stopped by the house to have a quick lunch with her guardians before leaving for the afternoon. Not afar from the farm, woods lined up the bottom of the hills. Her adoptive parents had never minded she took off on her own, often for long hours, since she had arrived at their place when younger. Sometimes, she wondered how it would feel to have only ever known the Kleors, instead of bearing the memories of her biological family. Her heart ached as she quickened her steps towards her destination.

The quiet of the woods allowed her to move around freely, relying on her Force sight with more straightforwardness than if she interacted with other people. The Kleors knew she was half-Miraluka and that her eyes were useless, despite her ability to get a good feel of her surroundings thanks to the Force sensitivity inherited from her birth mother. Force users weren't welcome in this galaxy and her adoptive family had always made sure she wouldn't mention it to anyone, nor come up with any feat that could make others suspicious of her. Uyter was a quiet planet, but one was never too careful.

The wind calmed down as she entered the forrest. She wondered how the world would feel if she had had a mentor to teach her to truly see things through the Force. Her special sight had grown over the years but it was moreso by accident than anything else. She had no problem finding her way around, but much was a bit of a blur. She liked it though and had learned to take care of herself, including in hunting, which was enough to make her feel useful.

Her hand rested over an old tree as she came for a halt at the edge of a clearing. The old bark might feel fragile under her fingertips but there was still much life left in the old-timer. There was discreet and lasting strength in nature. Serah wanted to believe it was the same for sentient beings, but every once in a while she doubted it. She had held on her faith even when it could be a struggle. She believed, no she knew, that her twin sister was still alive. Suri was somewhere in this galaxy. Where, the brunette didn't know, but she hoped that she would see her again one day.

As vivid as the bond between the twins had always been, time and distance had made it difficult to even feel it.

"Suri..." She murmured as she took a step farther into the woods again.

She didn't take a second step though, for something caught her attention. Or was it someone? She couldn't tell but she turned on her heels at once.

[Hobgoblin]

Behind Serah, the woods were on fire.

The fire crackled, soundless, heatless, yet undeniably present. It rushed at her, as though seeking to consume her and then-

-then it passed through her harmlessly and swept on. In those places the fire had been, there was no damage. Not even a smoking cinder existed to show where it had once traveled.

[Serah Kleor]

Fear plagued Serah the moment she saw the fire. She couldn't explain how it was happening. She had smelled nothing, felt no heat, but it was rushing at her and she was frozen on the spot. There was no way she could avoid it. Its vibrant color was overwhelming her uncanny sight. Everything was turning to a blend of white and red, will to live and sentiment of impending death intertwined.

Ironically it wasn't the end of her existence that hurt Serah's soul, but how she would leave this plane of being without having seen her sister again. She didn't want to die before having reunited with Suri. She wanted to see her twin again, longing to make sure that Suri was safe and sound. She needed to know that her sister was happy.

The next instant, she was still standing in the woods and everything was back to normal. She couldn't understand what had just happened. She had sensed the fire, it had taken over her realm of perceptions in the most vivid way.

She hadn't dreamed it but she couldn't explain how this fire came to be.

[Hobgoblin]

The fire roared through the Living Force of the woods, rushing, churning, inhabiting the same space briefly but never harming or consuming anything it touched.

And then it stopped.

It had missed something. Something whispered, something not quite there like a wish repeated across several birthdays or a hope long denied.

The fire focused itself into something smaller and flooded back the way it had come, searching.

[Serah Kleor]

Serah was confused but no matter what she tried to "see", the woods were just as they normally were. She hadn't lost her mind. She had experienced that fire and it was like nothing else she had ever encountered.

The teenager sat down in the grass, her back against a tall tree. She hadn't planned to come to a halt as such, but the way the fire had brought her mind back to Suri made her heart sink again. She only needed a short contemplative break and then she would continue her usual trek.

She suddenly wondered whether this fire was a sign that something happened to Suri. It would make little sense, but she wanted to understand what the fire had truly been.

[Hobgoblin]

There was a dirt path.

itisjustadirtpaththinkitcannot

There were leaves and branches strewn about. Grasses, matted with the effort of being stepped on, but still living. Trees, tall but not too tall. Squirrels ahsquirrelsthisplanethas searching for nuts. Berries tastypoison fallen from bushes in the undergrowth.

A person by a tree.

Thinking about a sister.

ahyouhaveatwinsister

A pair of trees across the path from Suri suddenly developed one large flaming eye each. A voice echoed outwards from bushes in between them. The sound was there, and yet not there at all.

~You are who?~

[Serah Kleor]

Nothing changed and yet everything felt different after a while.

Serah wondered what was up but the fire was back. It wasn't the same but it had the same vibrance, the everywhere and nowhere impression.

She expected the flames to come for her but they didn't. They seemed attached to some trees. They didn't move.

For a moment, Serah wondered whether she had heard something, whether her imagination was playing games on her. No, the voice was there.

"My name's Serah," she replied quietly. "Who are you?"

[Hobgoblin]

~Not important.~

The eyes seemed to think about this.

~Yes. Not Important, am I.~

They refocused on Serah.

~You wished.~

[Serah Kleor]

"But... You are alive..." Serah answered pensively to what the voice said. "Aren't you?"

Although she killed animals to protect her family's farm, she only did it when having no other choice. She always tried to drive them away first.

"Every life is important."

The eyes were little fires. She didn't know what exactly they were, but the voice was real, even if she didn't understand how it came to be.

The next words made her chew on her lips, curious as to how the fire knew that. She never spoke of her sister, but something deep in her soul made her willing to trust the voice. And if it had understood what she felt, what she thought, hiding was of no use anyway.

"To see my sister again, yes."

[Hobgoblin]

The eyes slid left to a different pair of trees, smaller ones, and became smaller themselves.

~A twin sister.~

The eyes slid right, to the right of the original pair of trees, settling on a large pair of fern leaves and becoming smaller still.

~To see her.~

The eyes fell from the fern, rolled along the ground until they reached a small boulder, rolled into their surface, and stopped.

~To receive this.~

The boulder stared at Serah, measuring, gauging.

~What would you give?~

[Serah Kleor]

Serah normally struggled to "see" things in detail, to get a good idea of small items. It surprised her that she could see the fire with clarity even as it grew smaller and smaller. It intrigued her so much. She had heard of the Force when a little girl, since her Miraluka mother had been strong in it. Somehow, she believed that this fire came to her through the Force. She wasn't sure of the how and why, but it didn't matter.

When asked what she would give to see her sister again, she realized that she didn't really know.

"I'd give my life to see her again, but then I'd just harm her even more if we reunited just for me to die. It'd be counter intuitive."

Pausing, she thought more. "I'd cross the galaxy if I had to. I'd do everything I could to see her again." Maybe it sounded like words tossed in the air, but she meant it.

[Hobgoblin]

The boulder stared at Serah, disdain evident on its rocky features.

~For that heart's desire, one with such power is so quick to promise so little, but...~

The eyes slid off the boulder and crossed the dirt path-

~... grant this, Not Important will...~

- and they stopped at her feet gazing upwards at her -

~... if in return, you promise to use all your power and all your life to do good.~

- and then the eyes began to burn hotter and harder, condensing into miniature suns.

~Agreed?~

[Serah Kleor]

What power was the boulder talking about? Surprise rippled off of Serah's aura, for the girl knew she was Force sensitive but didn't picture herself as one with "power". She had certain skills but everyone did. She did the best she could to help at the farm but she didn't picture herself as any sort of special.

The offer that came next was unexpected and the fires made her placate herself more into the tree behind her, for it felt overwhelming again. It was powerful and she felt close to be burnt alive again.

"Agreed." She replied, catching her breath.

[Hobgoblin]

The eyes condensed into tiny pinpricks of light, seemingly ablaze with all the power and fury of a nuclear reaction.

~Witness your consent, the Living Force of this place does.~

Behind the eyes at her feet, the eyes of the boulder reopened. A second voice joined that of its kin.

~Remember this bargain, the Cosmic Force will.~

The fern's eyes awoke and stared at her and spoke her fate with millions of tiny whispers providing an unyielding chorus.

~Always in the Light, shall you walk.~
burn you it shall/consume you it shall not

The second pair of trees awoke and issued its own pronouncement.

~Away from Darkness, always shall you turn.~
fear you it shall/fight you it will

And then the original trees required an additional fate of her.

~Suffering destroys harmony; mend it you shall.~
feel it you must/ignore it you must not

All around Serah, eyes began appearing; plants, rocks, water, berries, squirrels, grass, branches, all gazed at her in recognition of what she was and would be and voiced it back to her.

~To fools, you shall be Wisdom; to ignorant you shall be Knowledge; Shield to the weak; Restraint to the strong.~
your home will forever be the places of peace where life balances life and all are welcomed into one

And then the fire exploded into its original glory, everywhere, omnipresent but consuming not even the tiniest speck, speaking one last final phrase.

~Name you Jedi, I do, and forever will the Light dominate your destiny.~

And then all the millions of eyes fell into the first, pulled by an impossible vacuum to rejoin with each other, empower each other into creating a creature of fire and teeth and claws that clambered from the ground. The creature moved as lightning and before Serah could respond it had one tri-clawed hand pressed against her forehead.

It uttered a single word.

"Awaken."

And then everything was gone and the world was still.

But nothing was the same.

[Serah Kleor]

Serah remembered her mother telling Suri and her how the Force bound everything together. She had experienced it to a degree with her special sight, but never to this point as she was now.

She felt the fire grow stronger. It was powerful and it threatened to break her mental balance, but as everything came alive around her so vividly, she foudn herself at the center of a burning storm instead.

The teenager had never felt such peace and hope since she had been separated from her family seven years before. She felt it in her bones and her soul.

Every word she heard got engraved in her heart and she would remember them, always.

Jedi...

It explained a lot and added to her surprise about how one of them might have found their way to Uyster, which was pretty much the middle of nowhere.

Then she saw the creature. Somehow she knew he was the one who had spoken through the million voices. She saw him with greater detail than she would normally had.

After he spoke, he disappeared and everything seemed as it used to be.

Yet, she felt different. She was different.

Getting back to her feet, she stood in the woods.

She didn't know where she was headed yet, but she had to leave.

A new path awaited her.

[Hobgoblin]

The path back home existed the same as it had. It was there for her to take, to return to her parents.

But something was happening off the path, in the woods to her right. Something that, while it did not call to her, seemed interesting nonetheless.

The decision lay with Serah on whether to heed the call of the woods, or not.

[Serah Kleor]

Serah knew that she needed to leave, and that she'd have to speak to her adoptive parents, for she didn't want to ghost on them if she had another option. They had been really good to her and she loved them.

Musing to herself, she was about to head back home when she felt something. Pursing her lips, she knew something was happening deeper into the woods. The teenager had always been curious by nature, and was the kind to go off the path if she felt she should do it, as now.

Walking quietly but certainly, she headed in the direction where her senses told her to.

[Hobgoblin]

The woods lay still, Serah's quiet breaths the only sound. In the forest ahead, a leaf fell; a few more followed moments later and each falling leaf slipped through the air with the laziest possible speed. A branch dipped. A burrow mound of ants rhythmically performed the tasks of nurturing its hive. Each part of the forest carried out the business of living unhindered by any other part, as though the flame-creature's departure had placed it into a hypnotic trance.

It could have been a trick of her mind, but to Serah the calm felt tangible. Palpable. If she relaxed into it, it whispered, she would feel the most wonderful of sensations: pure, untarnished harmony swimming through her blood like sweet honey, relaxed and slow. All she needed to do was nothing.

Through the calming quiet, a noise echoed. Not far, she could see the parents of a baby sparrowling nudge their child from its nest. Chirps and chirrups sang from its mouth as it fell straight to the ground. Before it impacted, the sparrowling fluttered its wings, creating just enough lift to slow its descent to something survivable.

The bird peered upward at its home and chirped.

[Serah Kleor]

Serah had no idea how where the path would lead her but after having pledged to follow the light and use her gift for good, the woods were unlikely to surprise her more than what had unfolded only minutes ago. What felt eerie was that the normal but lively quietness of the forest felt calmer than usual. The peace was all-enveloping and she felt her thoughts bask into it.

Her footsteps made close to no sound as she progressed through the subtle whisper she had felt tugging at her. She heard the birds before she could sense their shapes and their life vibrating through her sightless perceptions.

She slowed her pace down and waited, her untrained talents brushing against the terror of the baby bird who managed to survive the fall. She hesitated before going to help it back into its nest because she knew certain local species wouldn't touch their offspring if they sniffed anything else on them.

One of the feather parents flew to her and she felt it rest on her shoulder, bringing a smile to her lips. She felt the bird nudge at her and then she carefully crouched to very gently retrieve the little sparrowling. As she did that, she felt its parent saunter down her arm, as if to watch over its baby.