[Video]

[prophesiedone]

For a kid who grew up in the desert, this is...something. [Anakin is pretty awed by the islands, okay.] The Force is so strong here. I don't know if it's the waves, the islands or...what. But I like it. It's much better than being dried to a husk in the heat.

[Seriously. Excessive sunlight was old when he was a baby.]

Should we be...fishing? What do we use? [Can everyone stop partying so they can, I don't know, eat? Survive? Does he need to punch a shark in the face with his mechno-arm? That might be a great way for him to lose his remaining arm, actually. Anakin, no.]

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[video]

[northerndragon]

Do men from the desert know how to fish?

[Probably not!]

Poles and lines and hooks, though here we might have better luck with nets, and poor luck with our hands alone.

[video]

[prophesiedone]

Probably not well, but I could learn.

[He believes in himself. Most of the time anyway.]

What can we use for bait? Is a net really enough?

[northerndragon]

Bugs, feathers, worms, bits of meat... maybe bits of those crabs that have been about lately. The net would be a great net made of ropes. Someone who's more of a sailor than either of us might know how to use it.

I've only fished in a river, never the sea.

[prophesiedone]

You're one step ahead of me. There were no rivers on Tatooine. [And he never had a chance to fish and relax on any other worlds.] I can swim well, but I'd rather not become some monster's meal.

[He has already tried that. Once. Not in Hadriel.]

First we work on a ship and then, maybe, the net?

[northerndragon]

More than one person seems to be working on some kind of ship. That's a start. Maybe one of them knows how to make proper nets, or maybe one of these gods will give it to them.

[There's something dubious... not scornful, only questioning... about the way he says "these gods." They're not the sort of gods he was raised with.

He continues, with apparently genuine interest,]

If there are no rivers, where did you learn to swim?

[prophesiedone]

I'll use the Force if it's necessary. I can probably hook a lot of fish that way. [But it feels a bit like cheating.]

You don't sound too sure about our gods. [Anakin smiles thinly, without amusement.] Keep it that way. They won't be able to hurt you as much if you stay wary of them.

[Or so goes his thought process.]

I visited other worlds that had large bodies of water.

[northerndragon]

We have other kinds of gods where I'm from. They don't talk to people.

[Or do they?

How do you know if something is a message from the Old Gods?

How does a Red Priest really commune with the Lord of Light?

What does it mean to owe your life to him, whether or not you have much belief?]

The Force... what is it?

[prophesiedone]

Are they dependable? Could you call on them to help you here?

[Anakin hasn't really dealt with gods. Oh there are thousands of religions across the galaxy, but he hasn't dedicated himself to one.]

The energy that surrounds and connects all things.

[northerndragon]

You might, or you might not. You can't know them, but they watch, and they know you. Sometimes they protect, sometimes they punish.

Your Force doesn't sound too much different than the Old Gods. In the North, we think of them as being in every rock and tree and stream. The children of the forest worshipped them too, and so do the free folk.

[prophesiedone]

At least they sound like they're worthy of respect. [He wouldn't expect anyone - other than fellow gods - to understand why they act as they do.]

The Force goes beyond rocks, trees and streams. The Force is inside of us, in the stars and within all we can see and all we can't. I can utilize that energy and use it to do as I will.

[northerndragon]

[SOMEBODY GETS IT. Northmen don't worship trees, as southrons sometimes say half in jest: they worship the gods that watch from the trees, silent and nameless and older than men, and well worthy of any man's respect.

But the last thing gives him pause.]

As you will... whatever you will?

[prophesiedone]

[Gods like that are the sort that Anakin could respect too. Any deities that are connected to the Force are intriguing in his book if nothing else.]

I can lift large objects, find balance even if I am knocked off my feet...

I can foresee my opponent's moves before they strike and sense all of the life forms around me. Even rocks have energy.

[northerndragon]

Are you a priest?

The Old Gods don't have clergy, but other gods... well, I've known a priestess who seemed to have some powers. It was hard to say where they came from.

[prophesiedone]

I'm not, but I was part of an order. [He is torn on where he stands.] The Jedi Order. I've heard some say we look a little like monks with our robes.

[northerndragon]

A monk?

[His mild confusion might indicate that he's completely blank on the concept.]

Are all men in the Jedi Order able to use the Force?

[prophesiedone]

Like a priest, but...in some religions...stricter?

[At least that's his understanding.]

Yes. We have women too. Every member of the Order was born with a special connection to the Force. They are trained from a young age in how to use it.

[northerndragon]

I've never heard the word. Some of my countrymen... and my former countrymen... follow the Faith of the Seven, and they have septons and septas and Silent Sisters. They may be a little like your monks... not every priestly order is so strict.

[It's still strange sometimes to remember that the people living in lands south of the Neck are no longer his countrymen, especially here, where it seems so far away and there are so many people from so many other places that even someone from Essos would feel like a near neighbor to him. It's stranger still to remember the reasons for that separation: him, his sister, the deaths of their father and brother, a crown he never sought but now intends to use to do as much good as he can.]

And women too, in the Jedi Order. [This idea seems to please him.] Once you've learned what you need to know, what do you do?

[prophesiedone]

It varies across the galaxy. I hadn't really heard about monks until I came to Hadriel. [Plain robes, a similarity in dress and demeanor, strict codes of ethics and morality. Anakin wouldn't fit the bill with a monastic order either.]

Yes. All the women I've known are very skilled. [But he sees to their deaths nonetheless.] The idea was we were going to bring order and peace to the galaxy. Sometimes we acted as bodyguards; sometimes diplomats. Our duties changed to fit the situation.

[northerndragon]

Was?

[prophesiedone]

The Order has fallen. [Thanks to Palpatine and himself.] They failed too many times.

1/2 (and it was going so well!)

[northerndragon]

[...]

2/2

[northerndragon]

Did the people lose faith in you? Or did you all lose faith in your mission?

(Oh nooo. Here, let him explain.)

[prophesiedone]

What they required of their members was ridiculous. [Chastity! Ha! Who can do that?] They used me in particular. I am powerful; more powerful than those on the Council. But they denied me what I had earned.

They treated my Padawan even worse! [He grits his teeth.] We were betrayed by them; used by them and I got tired of it.

[northerndragon]

Your padawan?

What did they require of you?

[It doesn't sound like the children who were trained up in the ways of the Jedi Order had much of a choice in the matter.]

[prophesiedone]

A student. Adult Jedi usually train one student at a time unless they are staying at the Temple.

[His lips twitch unhappily.] To never fall in love. To never feel intense emotion or be swayed by it.