Beyond - Legends Saga Before the Saga Zoochberry Cobbler (Kessel Run Challenge 2023)

You had me at "Just call me 'Buckets of Blood'". I'm a little weird. I'm glad Indeera is getting better.

 

I'm enjoying the sense of Mother Nature healing someone whose health suffered for a very long time ...

Yes, drink it in, Indeera!

Even more cheeriness from one who's anticipating a change necessitated by her health. Such a nice interlude to read in an unfamiliar era to me ... so High Republic is 10k years *I'm guessing* prior to my familiar ROTS-ANH period? One thing I appreciated as an indicator of time passage was the use of docking rings for starships, seen in AOTC, I think, and then vanished by the time of ANH. It was a small thing, but indicated ~Progress. Does High Republic show such indicators, or ... ?

 

The Universe Through Seaglass

“Are your antiques running away now?”

“No, of course not. They’re very happy here. But, this one I think you might like as a memento.”

Maz hands Finn a piece of seaglass that glints amber-orange in the light, and he looks at her inquiringly.

“Do you sense anything in the Force from this?”

“Hmm,” he closes his eyes and concentrates with more ease in the oddness of it all than he had with the crystals. “Actually, there’s kind of… nothing there. To the point that it’s strange.”

“Precisely!” She grins with glee. “This glass came from – well, who knows. A bottle, a piece of an old-fashioned glass window, a spectacularly ugly vase that someone accidentally knocked over the side of a luxury watercraft during an altercation…”

“Nothing you know about.”

“Nope! But anyway, the point is that this glass rolled around in the waters and sands of a very highly Force-saturated sea for decades before someone retrieved it. And now its – memories, I suppose – have been smoothed away by the surf and it has sat undisturbed in this nice taozin-silk cloth since it arrived here.”

“I feel like Han would say that’s not how the Force works, but you’re the expert here. So this is like the opposite of the kyber crystals, sort of?”

“Ehh, not quite but it doesn’t really matter right now. What does matter is that this seaglass is something of a blank slate, but we can make it “record” for lack of a better term and I think that would be a fabulous way to celebrate this occasion.” She takes the seaglass piece and concentrates, imbuing it with the emotions from the combination of Finn’s presence and the kyber song that still echoes in the room. He watches with interest, seeing the result but not the way it’s done – learning that sort of craft would take many years, though she thinks he may well be one with the knack and wouldn’t that be phenomenal? When it’s done, the seaglass radiates sparks of blue-green from within as she places it in Finn’s hands. He cradles it carefully, sensing the amber-captured memory of that first kyber song, and smiles.

“Thanks, Maz. I don’t know what to do with any of this Force poodoo, but it’s good to have something to remind me of the good in it, I think.”

She smiles, thinking of the seaglass pieces she wears in an amulet around her neck. They’ve worn to tiny pebbles over the ages but still bring her recollections of some of her most precious days. Her young friend can certainly use more reminders of happy memories and there’s no time to start collecting like the present.

*

“Pish tosh. Of course I’m sure that there’s a kyber crystal in there! I’m not an amateur.” Maz gestures emphatically and goes back to chipping away at the barnacle-encrusted lump she and Finn are leaning over to see. He looks at her dubiously from behind the safety goggles, and she sees swathes of worried stonefruit-orange and hopeful amethystine dancing around him along with a dozen other hues of emotion.

“Well, there’s something weird in there – ”, and he glances at the faint phosphorescence of the formation, “ -- but how common is kyber in a random undersea lava-rock?”

“Not.” Chip, chip, chip. “But it is hardly ‘random’, or it wouldn’t have broken off at a touch like that. There are reasons why this area was used to cache things that we didn’t want the Republic or the Empire finding. There was… an incident on Eiram a couple centuries back. And then much later a volcanic eruption happened in this area. It all left a sort of, ah, disruption in the Force here. There are spots like this all over the Galaxy, so nothing too suspicious. But it made certain things less likely to be noticed. Perhaps those events were also a catalyst for the forming of this kyber, if it formed itself naturally -- as I suspect it did.”

“See, I thought you’d just been hiding your loot in an undersea deathtrap for fun.” Effervescent motes of fuchsia and burgundy amusement float through the air like dust and her corrective lenses, unique as they are, catch the variations for her to see. (There’s a bit of actual dust in Maz’s workshop too, really. It adds character.)

“Oh, but I was! Diving is one of the great joys in this galaxy, and the blue hole cave systems of Eiram’s western isles are a stunning natural wonder. The close quarters cut down on the size of the wildlife, too.”

“Uh huh. That’s why the cave walls were shaking and there was a distinct glug glug in the Force… in an area of Eiram that you said was not currently tectonically active. Sure, Maz.”

“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.” She ignores Finn’s skeptical look and his following rueful laugh. Bet-Sii has grown into such a majestic creature. But there are some things people are just happier not knowing.

She gives the mineral formation another tap with the fusioncutter on its most delicate setting, and a section that her chiseling has weakened finally crumbles away. Sparkling blue-green light pours out of the interior like juice from a pallie-fruit.

“Now we’re getting somewhere!” she cheers, and Finn smiles, carried by her enthusiasm and his own curiosity.

Another few careful nudges and the “lump” of lava rock splits open fully, revealing an interior of luminous crystals. She pushes the halves of the opened geode towards Finn. “An excellent job if I do say so myself, you may compliment me at any time.”

“That is definitely something.”

“That’ll do. Well, go on! See which one is for you.”

“... I don’t know --” A smoky vapor of dark blue self-doubt surrounds him, and Maz wonders at it. True, he’d only accepted Skywalker’s lightsaber from her before during a time of great emergency – but still. It’s not like he’s never been near anything Force-related in the intervening year-and-change, as their trip to the treasure cache recently proved.

Then again -- as far as Maz knows -- he has only dealt with kyber crystals that were already housed in an existing weapon.

“That thing practically glued itself to you, Finn. It’s your responsibility now. Congratulations! Good companions, kyber crystals. Don’t need a litter box, for one thing. Of course, you don’t have to use any of the crystals if you choose not to. And there’s no rule what you have to make of one – turning them into fancy letter-openers is just what the Jedi and Sith do. But they are in your keeping. You should at least be aware of their connections to you.”

Finn nods, and she sees that willingness to jump into the unknown that has always been a part of him deep down -- even from the first time she looked into his eyes and saw the haunted look in them. He picks up one of the geode halves and holds it for a moment. The light from within it flares like a torch and he pauses for a half-second but it’s not hesitation this time; she can see the moment when the Force innate to the crystals calls directly to his own Force connection, and the soft glow of lavender-grey peace that envelops him before he becomes fully absorbed with the kyber’s song. An incandescent display of colors sparks in the air, slowly merging into one – a deep oceanic blue-green, almost teal in hue. Finn carefully sets down the geode and she sees that he is holding a crystal of that same blue-green that has separated out from the others. He holds it to the light and she can see that blaze again as it catches against the interior of the kyber.

This sort of thing is really one of the reasons for her out-of-control collecting habit. Sure, it keeps her busy and she can make use of some artifacts herself, but being able to see people spark to life when they find the thing that is meant for them (or could be meant for them) is a true magic that she will never be tired of.

“This is -- a lot, Maz. I’m not sure what I even want to do other than see the Galaxy and help with putting it back together the best I can. All of this Force stuff is so much more complicated; I’ve seen the worst of how some people use it. And it took a real toll on Rey, with Kylo Ren and Exegol and somehow Palpatine, why, and all that, though she’s been more like herself lately. I’m not sure that I want that kind of power, though I’d like to be able to be there for her and I know she’s hoping I’ll learn with her. She hasn’t mentioned it lately, but I can kind of tell she’s trying not to badger me into it.”

Maz tssks under her breath and hops up on the table so she can look the Human in the eye easier. “I’m not a Jedi and never have been – well, except for that week, phew, that was not for me. But anyway, one thing I’ve learned from watching all these millennia is that communication is important and Jedi are often not very good at it. Especially with each other; they can sense a bit about each other and assume the rest a bit too easily. I recommend talking to her, though it’s up to you.”

“Hey, I talk to Rey!”

Maz snorts. “You sure do, but not much about the Force from what I’ve seen. Nor about some other conversations that you might have.”

“MAZ!”

“It really is prudent to use words sometimes, you know.” He really is just too fun to wind up. And Maz knows him and Rey well enough to sense that it will work out quite well for those two, one way or another. She looks around for a convenient distraction to rescue the Human from this conversation, since he looks in need of it and she’s not entirely without mercy. A glint from the shelves above – aha! She climbs up, scurrying into the chaos of the storage areas above and returning to earth with a leap once she’s found what she sought.

*

The waters of Eiram are as blue as she recalls and bluer, scintillating through the lenses that have only gathered perception as time goes by. She is glad to be swimming again; this was a much-missed escape from the world during the rise of the First Order. Even as she’d tried to stay out of things (knowing she’d somehow fall in it anyway), there had been too much to do to keep ahead of events and she hadn’t been able to relax enough to really want to go into the waters where she’d be more vulnerable to potential enemies.

Finn swims along beside her, obviously comfortable with the diving equipment. She is definitely going to have to prank him back for “falling” in the water when he “can’t swim”, an act that she is both embarrassed to have fallen for and more than a bit delighted that he pulled off so easily.

The young Human has great piratical potential if he doesn’t decide to go the route of the Jedi or some other calling. She’s glad to see him get into a bit of mischief; the tiredness he’d carried with him from the end of the war seems to be falling away bit by bit. It’s a joy to see him have the confidence he’s gained through his adventures, but she’s glad the cost hasn’t been a permanent case of over-seriousness. It’s an all-too-common affliction among Force-sensitives as they grow into their abilities, and one that doesn’t get less frustrating for how many times she’s witnessed it.

A school of kornipaks flurries around them as they descend towards the trove she left here, and Maz hopes that it hasn’t gotten all messed up since the rise of the Empire. (Adorable critters, but overly prone to grazing on anything and everything with their little ocean-goat teeth.) She never had made it back before the First Order happened, and only now does it seem like a good idea to retrieve these treasures.

 

A delightful piece about collecting glass and other treasures. The water is giving such pleasure in this, revealing the treasures, hidden there by barnacles

 

"is that communication is important and Jedi are often not very good at it."

Ain't that the sad and sorry truth.

Fantastically done, @Kahara

 

Most excellent finish to the Run! I especially liked the diving buddy relationship they've got going on; it's unique, I think. Immersed in possible danger, getting through it with enough skills and experience ...

The joy of learning and teaching, well expressed.

What a strange feeling that would be ...

Loved the impishness here!

 

The Universe Through Seaglass
There's so much that I love about this fic! The title, to start with.

I love the banter between Finn and Maz, and she comes across as such a sweet, fun, eccentric elder lady. The idea of her dropping out of Jedi training after a week made me laugh; she is obviously too much into just enjoying life. Beautiful imagery, and I love the worldbuilding you've created with this Force-obscuring seaglass.

Well done!

 

Gorgeous details about how Maz perceives things associated with the Force and I enjoyed the banter and warmth between she and Finn. There's a friendly camaraderie there.

 

I'm going to politely ignore your week 10 fic because I haven't touched the High Republic material yet, but I have all those books and comics sitting on my shelf and I'm planning to read them in the coming months, so you can expect a return visit from me when I'm done with them

On to The Universe Through Seaglass! Like Ubersue, I love the title. It made me anticipate all sorts of beautiful Kahara imagery, and I was not disappointed

You built such a fantastic relationship between Maz and Finn here, with the combination of mentor/pupil and best buddy elements I was really disappointed at how little the ST used Maz after establishing her as an eccentric elder being who, one would expect, has a lot to share in that particular context, and you really brought her to life here.

So, first: the tone. That "nope" sounds exactly like something Maz would say, even in a conversation about the mystical aspects of the Force And then, her explanation of what this rare and beautiful object actually is, how the flow and erosion of time turned a piece of junk into something precious, and how she can use it to make it personally valuable to Finn – and with that reference to the pieces of seaglass she is carrying around her neck, it's as if she is giving him a part of herself. Which, metaphorically, she is actually doing by sharing her knowledge, her wisdom but also her whimsicality, to help him not take his Force powers too seriously.

More It's just so Maz, bringing all this Force mumbo-jumbo down to earth.

More more There's a crack!story about a Jedi instructor trying to corral Maz into the Temple that needs to be written here.

More generally, I loved how you elaborated on Maz's hoarding habit: on the one hand, you gave it meaning, because these are objects that she expects to be able to share, on the other hand, you made it complete lunacy with the idea that she has stashes of stuff in the strangest places. It was a great way to develop this character!

Thank you for keeping us readers happy and entertained with your stories for the past three months, and congratulations for completing the challenge!

 

The Universe Through Seaglass - as everyone else has said, what a beautiful title!

This is beautiful, love every word!!! I especially love how Maz can see emotions as colors. Grat character exploration here. And I love the lore about the seaglass and the crystals.

This is such a great character insight!

So true!!!!