[Azura Rayume]

By now, he was used to fending for himself. People usually tended to get good at such a thing after being forced to do so for years, even though the time didn't seem quite as long to him. Days, months, and years all blended together here. He was only aware of the fact that he was being hunted and of the Force.

The first was widely known. Jedi- from younglings to Masters- were an unwanted nuisance to the great Emperor. They could get in the way of his plans and the ways of the Sith. So now he was forced to hide from people he might have trusted in the past just in case they decided to turn him over to whatever battalion happened to be stationed in town.

The other was more than what marked him. It was what kept him sane. His connection to the Force was the only thing that remained constant in his life, though the power of that guiding presence was fading from the world every day. Sure, his sense of it was not nearly as strong as when he had lived in the Temple, but here he also lacked the daily guiding hands of the Masters he had thought of as parents for so long. Now he was relying on himself to keep that touch.

Still, life wasn't all bad. Because of the people hunting him, he had learned the arts of fighting with both blaster and lightsaber much faster than he had anticipated as well as gaining skill in camouflage. Couple what he had learned with the misty forest he had wandered into as of late, he had been fighting fewer and fewer battled. Those foolish Clones couldn't even find him in the fog.

[MillietheWarrior]

Footsteps, so light they barely seemed to touch the ground, echoed softly in the quiet forest. A woman with pale green skin and dark, diamond shaped tattoos dusting across her nose and cheeks moved silently and gracefully through the brush, hardly causing more than a ripple or stir of a disturbance. Her eyes closed, she hardly seemed aware of where she was going, though she neither tripped nor stumbled. All around her, the Force flowed and danced and sang with joy, living, breathing, welcoming. Subconsciously, she reached out a slender hand, fingertips brushing gently against the end of a leaf, feeling the life that wound through the plants and the world around her. She hummed a tuneless song, a basket clutched lightly in her free hand and full of the fruit she‘d picked that morning. Her long, purple dressed brush the ground, pitch black hair bound tightly behind her head.

She could sense her husband, only just waking from a fitful sleep back at their small, quaint home in the woods. A small, fond smile touched her lips as she thought of him, and she reached out to brush at his consciousness with the Force, feeling his surprise and then happiness as he realized it was her. She sent him a wave of reassurance and love, before something else in the forest caught her attention. Barriss immediately withdrew, her eyes snapping open as her senses went on high alert. Her years of Jedi training kicked into gear, and she instinctually reached out with the Force to test the waters, to see who it was that intruded upon their part of the forest. She bent and settled the basket on the ground for later retrieval, her hand instantly falling to her waist to settle on the cool, familiar metal of her light saber, the trinket that never left her side, even after the destruction and downfall of the Jedi order. As long as there was even on Jedi left alive to continue the tradition, then neither the Force, nor the old ways would die with it’s keepers.

This presence disturbed her; it was achingly familiar, yet somehow, wholly unknown. It was just up ahead. Barriss did not dare ignite her light saber, not until she knew exactly what and who it was. As she peered through the underbrush, her steps and movements slight and silent, she caught a glimpse of a young man, dirty, somewhat disheveled, and no more than a mere child. His face was familiar, his Force signature even more so. Barriss decided to take a chance, and stepped from the shadows, watching him with carefully guarded blue eyes. “What are you doing in this part of the woods, youngling?” she asked in a deceptively soft voice. Her hand still rested on her light saber, ready to spring into action at a moment’s notice. “It is dangerous out here…” If he was a Force user, than he had certainly learned to disguise his abilities very well. "Who are you?"

[Azura Rayume]

Ryzen jumped at the sudden, albeit soft, voice. In a swift spin, he turned to face the one who intruded on his quiet, tattered cloak swirling around him with a soft fluttering sound. He ignited the lightsaber that he kept on his belt, the blade humming blue between him and the woman. He could only blame that reaction, as well as the snarl on his lips, on having lived in the wild for so long. No Jedi would be so quick to draw a blade on a stranger back at the Temple.

He mentally reprimanded himself for such a slip but couldn't help but be suspicious of a random appearance this far from civilization. Her use of the word "youngling," though... He hadn't heard anyone call him that in years. Not since his time under the Masters. It might be foolish to hope for this woman to be a Master as well, but she exuded the same kind of calm that they had.

Though he thought it ill advised to go spouting off his name to every person who asked for it, he still held that faint hope that she could be another stranded Jedi. Besides, he had already shown what he was by brandishing his weapon. His name couldn't possibly do any more harm. "Ryzen Kariel," he said roughly, his voice growling out of disuse.

[MillietheWarrior]

Barriss was quite surprised when the boy ignited a light saber and sprang backwards. She watched him calmly, her eyes assessing him with a careful curiosity as they traveled first to his face, and then back to his blade. “A Jedi?” she breathed, a smile touching her dark lips. She stepped back, careful not to provoke the boy into attacking. His name seemed faintly familiar, and she was certain she’d heard it before. Barriss tried to recall, and then remembered seeing both his face and named on the ‘wanted list’ of deserters and rogue Jedi.

Her name and her husband’s name was on there was well. “You are a long way from anything, Padawan,” she said quietly, folding her hands gently across her stomach. “I am Barriss Offee, former Jedi Master, healer, and commander of the Medstar battalion. How is it that you have come to be here? How is it you…survived 66?” She was genuinely curious, head tilted to the side, eyes and voice soft as she frowned at him. “You have nothing to fear from me; I will not harm you or let harm befall you.”

[Azura Rayume]

Ryzen hesitated a moment longer before withdrawing his blade with a hiss. So she was a Master, probably one of the only ones he would come in contact with again. He clipped his weapon back to his sash and gave a slight bow, allowing the formality he had learned to come to light again. It had been years since he had seen someone who deserved the kind of respect he had been so diligently taught.

"Master Offee," he said, a bit sheepish now. "I believe Master Sendi mentioned you a time or two before the Temple was attacked. Please forgive my rudeness. I had not expected to meet anyone this far into the forest, and you caught me by surprise." Though that was no excuse for his actions, he had been on the run for who knew how long, and he was getting jumpy.

Then came the questions. Things he had asked himself over and over again, scenes that played in his dreams. "A Padawan hid me in a storage room when Order 66 was enacted on the Temple. He fought to protect me there and managed to lead the soldiers away from me." A hand strayed back to the lightsaber he carried and sighed. "This was his. I carry it today because he sacrificed himself to save me. I have been running from place to place ever since that day.

"When I came here, I thought I would finally be far enough away from everyone to never be found. The Emperor's soldiers still prowl the outskirts, but they never come this deep. And now I find you."

[MillietheWarrior]

Barriss waved a dismissive hand, smiling faintly, her blue eyes twinkling with amusement. “Rudeness forgiven. It isn’t everyday you come upon someone you never expected to meet, after all. And please, simply ‘Barriss’ will do. I am no longer a ‘master.’ Despite my desire to remain one with the Force, the Jedi are no more. And I suspect we will remain that way until someone takes it upon themselves to restore us to what we once were, long before the war.”

A deep, hidden sadness flashed across her face, and she looked away briefly, as though pained by some long forgotten memory, before her smile returned and she swiveled her head back to face him. Barriss padded forward quietly, and placed a consoling hand on his shoulder.

“You must remember, Padawan, that there is no death, there is the Force. Your savior’s sacrifice was a truly great one, and he would be honored to know that you carry his memory in your heart. Grieve as you will but take heart, for the soul and spirit continue in the netherworld of the Living Force.” She gave a faint tilt of her head, watching him from behind eyes that seemed to ancient for one so young.

“Yes, it seems we are always running. But here, at least for the time, I have found a haven away from the soldiers and the battles and the death that awaits one such as I in the outside world. I welcome you to stay here, with my husband and I, although I can‘t say you‘ll be happy to see him. He will embody all that you fear, youngling.” This time, her smile was amused, as if wondering how he’d take the news that a Jedi master was, of all things in the universe, married, and at that, to something he would fear.

[Azura Rayume]

Ryzen blinked blankly at her for a moment, confused by nearly everything she had just said. She lost him after "always running" because that was the last thing she said that made sense to him. The idea of a Master, any Master, marrying anyone was beyond the scope of his imagination. After living with the Jedi for all of his life as far as he could remember, anything that went against the teachings of his Masters set him a bit on edge. Couple that with the fact that she had said he would fear this husband of hers... He couldn't help but be a bit apprehensive about this arrangement.

And yet... The idea of a warm house and soft bed were more appealing than he could ever have imagined. He had been on his own in the wilds for so long that he almost forgot what a mattress felt like. And a shower. By everything that was good in the galaxy he missed showers. Maybe then he could finally tame his unruly hair into something a bit more manageable.

A quick moment of thought outweighed his apprehension with his desire for comfort, if only for a little while. Though he would have to act carefully during this, he would find this adventure no more perilous than spending countless nights alone in the wilderness had been. And now he didn't have to deal with anything sneaking up on him in the middle of the night. Doors could be locked.

"Lead the way, Mast... Barriss."

((I'm sorry this took so long. Break got a bit hectic and then school started up again and... Well... Finally got some muse today and replied.))