Naboo--Promises

((Character in play: Nidalap Jinn))

Light.

On the distant horizon, he could see it arising; the sun in all its majesty, in all its luminosity, in all its light. Brilliant hues of red and orange and purple spread out across the skyline, a truly magnificent sight.

This sunrise seemed to be more brilliant than usual, Nidalap thought as he watched the spectacle unfold, and nowhere on the planet could it be seen more clearly than from here, on the island he had come to every Sunday since the day he had first come here…two years ago to the day. Perhaps that was the cause of the particular brilliance of this sunrise; or perhaps he was just imagining it was more beautiful because of the significance of that day. It didn’t matter, he decided. What mattered was that it was spectacular, and that he was here to see it.

Suddenly, as though in answer to his question of whether or not this was a special sunrise, the sun seemed to change color, from its brilliant yellow to a captivating green that took Nidalap’s breath away. The flash of green lasted only seconds before the sun resumed its natural color, but the fact remained that it had been there, and he had seen it. He continued to stare out at the horizon even after the sunrise was complete, reflective.

Finally, breathing a sigh of thanks for this seeming sign, the 18-year-old stretched his tall, athletic frame out on the sun and closed his eyes, allowing the sun’s heat to warm his body. And as he lay there, comfortable and relaxed, his mind began to wander…inevitably, as it was the two-year anniversary of his first trip to this island, his thoughts turned to his promise.

“Listen, Nidalap, let's make a promise! We'll do our best to become what we wish to be!! Okay?"

“I’d like that…I’m just not sure what it is that I wish to be…What do you wish to be?”

“Me…? …I’m going to be the number 1 Jedi in history, forever!!”

(Laughing) “I could believe that.”

“Then it’s a promise.”

And even though he had never seen that girl…Dawn…again, he still considered her a friend…and the promise they had made still affected him to this day…much as his promise to his parents, the day they had to give him up to the orphanage, when he was only 8 years old, that he would never let being an orphan hold him back, and that he would remember them…and much as his promise to his caretaker at the orphanage, the day he ran away at the age of 13, to take care of himself and to pursue his dreams, but never to the detriment of others. He had never forgotten these three promises…but he realized he had never completely fulfilled them. He had let being an orphan hold him back, and he had never had time to pursue his dreams, having to turn his attention instead to fighting for survival. His struggle to make it in this world had hardened him and made him the man he was today, but the man he was today was not what his greatest wish was for himself.

In fact, he wasn’t sure if he even knew what his greatest wish was. Dawn had had a lock on it, but Nidalap still wasn’t sure what he wanted to do. And until he figured that out, he could never fulfill his promises.

Nidalap let out a frustrated breath and shook his head, and slowly started to drift away into slumber…

Dawn slowly realized what was happening.

Darn it! Why won't you work?!

After practicing martial arts, she had decided to try to make it to Naboo. But her ship was acting strange.

What's wrong with you?! Oh god... She then saw the small island. And with that knowledge came the realization she was about to crash. Steering the ship, she swerved away from the island into the water.

Climbing out through the sky-light window, she looked at the beach. Peering closely, she realized someone was lying in the sand.

"Hey are you alright?" she called, beginning to swim over.

Nidalap at first ignored the sound of the incoming space ship, knowing that it would continue on its way and land in the city. But it got louder and louder, far too loud for him to ignore, and his eyes snapped open as he realized that the ship was nearly upon him. "Whoa!" he yelled as he scrambled to his feet, but the pilot of the ship managed to redirect its path into the water. A minor tidal wave ensued, resulting in Nidalap being drenched. Shaking his head to clear the water out of his eyes, he headed out and dove into the water, worrying about the survival of the people on board. No sooner had he entered the water, when he heard a female voice...asking him if he were okay. He called back, "Me? I'm not the one who just crashed their ship! Are you alright? Were there any other passengers?" He continued to swim out towards the ship.

Wait a minute... "I'm fine," called Dawn out loud. She had seen him before, but where? "Do you live here? Why were you knocked out on the beach?"

That voice...there was something very familiar about that voice. It was almost as though it was a voice from his thoughts or from his dreams, yet it was real...kinda like a voice from long ago, just not quite familiar enough for him to place it with a face. Well, he would see it soon enough. "I wasn't knocked out, just relaxing," he said, slightly amused that her first assumption was that he was knocked out. Maybe she thought he had been clipped by the ship or something, but that would probably have caused more damage than just knocking him out for a few seconds.

He finally caught sight of her face over the bobbing waves, and it didn't quite register at first. Still, that sense of familiarity was there...and then it hit him.

"Listen, Nidalap, let's make a promise!"

It was that same voice, that same face as two years ago. "Dawn...?" he tried, tentatively. But he was almost certain it was her.

That voice... is that--?

Catching sight of the boy, she let out an excited cry, "Nidalap!!" Pushing herself, she plowed through the waves towards the voice.

"It is you!" Nidalap explained. "I haven't seen you in two years!" What a strange coincidence, he thought, that exactly two years after they had met, the two of them have met again in the very same place as before. Perhaps that meant that his musings were correct; maybe there really was something special about this day. "Here, come back over to the shore. We can talk there." With a smile, Nidalap made a U-turn and began to swim strongly back to shore.

Catching up, she paddled swiftly, moving her arms in a breast-stroke and her feet in scissor kick. "How have you been? Do you live on the island now?" Arriving in the shallows, she stood, shaking droplets out of her brown-blonde hair. She had grown and was now wearing a black tank-top and jeans, though she kept her sneakers. Walking a short way up the beach, she sat against a strange shaped rock that had the appearance of a shark.

Jaws Rock. The name brought a wave of memories. Relaxing, she crossed her arms behind her head.

As Nidalap rose out of the water, giving his hair a toss and coming to a sitting position on the sand facing Dawn, he couldn't help but wonder what had brought her back here...and what had caused her ship to crash. Most of all, he wondered...about the promise they had made. Had she had any more success than he had? "I've been doing fine. I live in an apartment now in the main city and I'm doing alright. So, no, I don't live out here. But I come out here a lot. What brings you out here to Naboo?"

"An attempt to relax...," she sighed, that statement was only half-true. "Hey, Nidalap... how are you doing with your goal?"

Nidalap pursed his lips and turned his head, gazing out at the horizon. After a long silence, he said quietly, "It's hard to work towards a goal when you don't know what it is." Turning his head back to Dawn, he shrugged helplessly and bit his lip.

"Hmmmmm.... I know how you feel...," lost for words, she looked out at some of the last stars. Even those were disappearing. Looking down at her feet, she though of how her connection to the Force had vanished, along with her lightsaber. She had managed to obtain a sword, which she loved with all her heart. But it still wasn't the same. "Nidalap, we're friends right? You'll keep a secret?"

"Yeah, of course." Nidalap said. Although he was sad to hear that she didn't seem to have made progress toward her goal, he felt kind of relieved to know that he wasn't the only one. At least he wasn't alone.

((Sorry, got distracted with another site.))

"Lately... I haven't been able to feel the Force. I don't know why. It's not there. It just isn't. I don't have a lightsaber anymore either...," she trailed off, looking depressed. "B--But I can't let this get to me," she said, shaking her head and putting on a smile, "I'm not going to give up yet." Glancing up at a tree, she pulled out her sword.

It was a full ore sword with a glittering web of silver on the inside. The hilt was the same silver as the intertwining patterns in the blade. Walking up to the tree, she struck out with the sword. Not hard enough to cut it, but still a blow. She was rewarded with the drop of a coconut.

((I may not post any more today to honor the veterans of war))

"The Force?" Nidalap had heard of the Force before...but he never had a complete understanding of what that was. "That's connected to the Jedi, right?" He had heard tales of the Force from his parents long ago, tales about his ancestors, many of whom were Jedi Masters. He had once hoped to become a Jedi himself...but that slipped away as he got caught up in the reality of life.

"I can tell you need info. Here, have a coconut," she says, tossing the item to Nidalap. "Now it's a long story, so get comfy. After it's done, I'll bring you somewhere here that I don't think anyone's found."

Nidalap caught the coconut and tossed it up in the air, catching it, then repeated the exercise. He smiled at Dawn and sat down again, his back resting against a rock. "Somewhere on the island that no one's found? Well, I've been just about all over this island, so that would be impressive."

"Then I'll talk when we get there!" jumping up, Dawn did a 180 and set of into the jungle.

Smiling, Nidalap dropped the coconut on the ground and ran after Dawn into the trees. He felt no danger here; he had been all over the island many times, and he had never caught so much of a hint of a threat. It was probably the most peaceful place he had ever been to.

Arriving at a rock near a small waterfall, she jumped onto the rock then dropped to her knees and slid backwards into a small, almost invisible opening. The crack led down a sandy chute and onto a rocky shelf. Looking up, she shouted, "Down here!"

As Nidalap continued to follow the girl, passing by many landmarks that were oh-so-familiar to him, due to his two years of exploring this island, he realized where she was taking him. After he had found this hidden area, back a little less than two years ago when he was still 16, he had spent quite a lot of time there...but in the past year he had gone there rarely, if at all, because the amount he had grown in the past couple of years had made it difficult for him to fit through the crevice. Still, he had tried it just a month or two ago, just to see if he could still get through, and he had managed it, so he knew he'd be able to reach the rocky shelf.

After a few minutes of struggling, Nidalap managed to force his way through and dropped down on the shelf next to Dawn. "I'm impressed that you managed to find this place, after you told me you'd only been here that one day. It took me months to find it!"

"Well, I kind of... fell." Dawn jumps down, but instead of moving along the normal path, she drops to her stomach and squirms under a small crack in the wall. Turning, she uses her sword to make it larger. Then she comes to a pool. "How long can you hold your breath?"

((Sorry it took me so long to reply.))

"How long can I hold my breath? Why?" Nidalap asked. He remembered what she had done the last time they had met; she had used the Force to pull together the air bubbles in the water, then breathed them for oxygen. Why would they need to hold their breaths if she could do that?

"I know what you're thinking. I can't feel the Force anymore, so you need to take a deep breath," she said, then turned, sucked in air, and dove into the small pool. Pushing fast with her arms, she swerved through tunnels filled with seaweed and rocks, plus multiple tropical fish. Finaly coming to a light, she surged upwards, sucking in air fast.

I must look like a large-mouth bass , she thought.

Then she leaned back and looked around. The pool was in a large cave. It had no holes but strangely, plenty of air. The pool glowed blue and had several gems at the bottom. Around the rocks was moss, which also glowed faintly. Though the moss had its own light. The rocks themselves looked like moon ore.

Looking down, Dawn searched for Nidalap.

Nidalap nodded and watched as she dove in there. After a moment of hesitation, he followed, his powerful strokes propelling him after the girl. He was careful not to pass her up, though, as he wasn't quite sure where she was planning on going. As he spent a lot of his spare time swimming, he had little problem holding his breath, but nonetheless was happy to break the surface. "Wow...you did a lot of exploring on the one day that you were here..." he said softly as he beheld the cave. Not even he had ever been here, and for good reason; how would he have known this was here? She had probably found it through the use of her Force senses somehow.