February & March Catch-All

[spiritwalks]

Who: Vyng spiritwalks and various others
What: Catch-All for February. Closed Prompts (in comments) for now, but am open to adding more!
When: Various
Where: Various

Content Warnings: Listed in subject lines when applicable

Notes:

- Style veers wildly between prose and brackets. Just choose whatever style feels good when responding, and I'll match it ♥

- Feel free to hit me up at jackets or Jansen#8997 for plotting and general chatter...or if you want a starter of your own!

Comments

[jedies]

[ hmm. obi-wan hums. ]

Yes. But be careful as to not let yourself get blown away.

[spiritwalks]

Getting blown isn't such a bad thing. It depends on who you ask.

[How Vyng says that with a straight face is anybody's guess. And yet he very serenely punctuates his words with a slow sip from his straw, before adding:]

Purpose is what gives me direction. The rest works itself out.

[jedies]

. . . But what of your roots?

[ because that seems to be the main issue. all that trauma and pain, buried in the past, threatening to unearth itself. ]

[spiritwalks]

[That gives Vyng pause. If he were a younger person, he would have popped off with some smart-ass comment about roots being overrated. In a different time and place, he still might have made some flippant remark about being a free-floater, babyyyy. Like seaweed or driftwood. It's how Vyng sees himself...and one reason why he has such a deep affinity for birds.

Instead, he thoughtfully stirs the straw for a few moments. And quietly responds:]

In my culture, "being rooted" was a virtue. It means you stay put. Don't question anything. Never change.

[Stagnation, in other words.]

[jedies]

[ ah. that's a rather myopic way of looking at it. obi-wan is not sure he would agree with that. ]

Is that why you struggle to look back?

[spiritwalks]

[The ideal elf stayed in their community, their role, and their worldview. Vyng was a shapeshifter who did none of those things. It didn't win him many friends.]

It means I have a complicated relationship with where I came from. Looking back isn't always helpful.

[jedies]

It may not be.

But is it acknowledged?

[spiritwalks]

I acknowledge my eagerness to let go of that attachment means I've still got a ways to go. The more forced it is, the less attainable it becomes. And in some cases, that eagerness has done more harm than good.

[His title. His name. His shapeshifting. Each sacrifice much greater than the last...until he allowed his own self-loathing to consume him, along with all the creatures who trusted him with their wellbeing.]

[jedies]

[ he nods slowly. to let go, to reach a certain enlightenment is the ultimate goal of a jedi. but not at the expense of their purpose and their very being.

"luminous beings are we, not this crude matter"

and yet, cultural traditions, nuances, histories are kept alive in the jedi temple. no one forsake the clothing of their planets or the customs of their people simply because they've been adopted into the jedi. ]

Freewheeling can be just as dangerous as stagnation.

[spiritwalks]

I have family and purpose. Trading my roots for those things sounded good at the time.

[Maybe he would have eventually returned to his homeland. And if he'd done that, facing his father would have been unavoidable. But that is no longer Vyng's journey to make. Trench is his home now.]

[jedies]

What purpose would that be?

[spiritwalks]

You know, it really depends on when you catch me.

[A flippant answer on the surface, maybe. Vyng's shrug certainly doesn't help. With the same breezy attitude, he starts counting with his free hand, a finger for each example:]

When I'm a bonfire on the beach? My purpose is to keep people warm and consume whatever garbage they throw into me.

When I'm a tree? I hang out. Soak up some sun. Make fresh oxygen. Birds might park on my branches. Or they might not. Who can say? Either way's fine.

When I'm a rock? My purpose is to be a rock. 'Cause, like...a rock isn't trying to be anything other than what it's trying to be lately. You know? I don't need a purpose to justify my existence. I'm a rock, man. I chill.

When I'm a dad, I protect and care for my family. I cook them dinner. Give them lots of veggies. Make sure they don't get a case of the runs. Feed them medicine when they do. Offer hugs. Drop a storm on religious zealots who're chasing them. [As one does, obviously.]

[Vyng's open palm faces upward now, and he meets Obi-Wan's gaze with the ease of somebody who wears change like a fuzzy sweater they're willing to share.]

I'm the Spiritwalker. My purpose is...to be. Whatever others need in that moment. [His other hand, still threaded with Obi-Wan's, warmly grips tighter for a moment.] That's what I become.




[Aaand he could've just said that last bit from the start, he realizes with a quiet laugh. There would've been way less rambling. But that's fine. He got there eventually. Kind of.]

[jedies]

[ obi-wan hums. ]

And what of the things you wish to be?

[spiritwalks]

See, I don't like to be ambitious. I'm more of an in-the-moment kind of guy.

[jedies]

[ wryly. ]

I'm not sure if what I said counts as ambitious.

[spiritwalks]

My standards are very low.

[jedies]

You have standards?

[spiritwalks]

I'll be honest, I'm running a pretty steep deficit here.

[jedies]

It does seem a little . . . free-wheeling as they say.

[spiritwalks]

[Vyng works on his own stuff too, obviously. Obi-Wan knows that. He doesn't feel the need to point it out.

Of course, his natural inclination is to avoid confronting his past. He already spent years wandering across the land in exile, alone — picking up various odd jobs, and drifting onto the next town when he inevitably grew restless — with the direction of a rudderless boat lost at sea. Finding himself in others is far preferable to that, because at least love is a powerful force for growth and change. At the same time, Vyng freely acknowledges the damage he's done to himself and others. By kicking the proverbial can down the road, he's still letting the past own him.

Now it's just a matter of sorting through the pieces and making sense of it all. But progress is rarely linear. He's not holding himself to any timetable. He can't even say what recovery looks like at this point.]

Well, I find purpose in taking care of others. And my connections help me fulfill that purpose. That's all I need. I roll with the punches as they come. The rest works itself out.

It's the same for you, right?

[jedies]

[ obi-wan pauses to consider that. ]

We were more like that in the past. Since the war, we haven't been as . . . helpful as we could be. We're also beholden to the Senate and the Republic.

[spiritwalks]

Politicians told you what to do?

[jedies]

We are still citizens of the Republic. They do have jurisdiction. We have certain latitude but with the war . . .

[ he trails off for a moment. ]

The lines got blurry.

[spiritwalks]

Anything you did...you had to clear with them first, huh. Or face some serious blowback.

[jedies]

Precisely.

I'm not terribly fond of politicians myself, but considering our Temple resides in the capital city . . . we don't have much choice.