Do not follow where Fear leads

[echo_of_a_jedi]

Who: Meetra Surik and OPEN
Where: Between Sagittarius and Pisces Wards
Summary: The Exile does her best to fight despite her fear. Good thing she has an OP weapon.
Warnings: Lightsaber combat vs. SCORPIONS. Also freaking out.

"There is no emotion, there is peace."

Someone holding a glowing blue sword appears in the evening walking back to the Pisces apartments to defend them. Ultimately, her nature refused to succumb entirely to fear, even if she could have kept to the rooftops to return to the safety of her apartments. She needed to help these people.

"There is no ignorance, there is knowledge."

Of course, under the effects of supernatural fear, she's not terribly efficient at killing the scorpions, fighting far too defensively, but the blade cleaves through one or more of the bugs easily, cleanly with every swing.

"There is no passion, there is serenity."

Meetra wasn't normally one for rote mantras, but repeating the simple Jedi Code over and over gave her something to focus on and let her connections to the Force guide her, rather than the personal fear that was always threatening to overtake her mind. It still didn't prevent the nearest scorpion from lodging its stinger into her arm, earning a yell of pain. Was she poisoned? She hoped not. She wasn't sure she could remove it with her mind in this state.

"There is...no chaos, there is harmony! Vima, come forth."

The visual echo of the older Jedi appeared in a swirl of robes, and healed the damage of the sting, leaving Meetra to only worry about the potential of venom. Even if the Persona of her couldn't heal her fully, Vima Sunrider was an inspiration. The instructor of Battle Mastery, the woman who could turn any tides...that woman's memory was part of her, and that gave Meetra strength too, even if her 'Patra' spell did not.

"There is no death," she said, a little too loudly, before picking up a scorpion with her mind and hurling it at crushing speed into the side of a dumpster. "There is only the Force!"

And then she began again. "There is no emotion...!"

Comments

[ghost_shield]

There's a man here, at the ground floor. His knees are shaking, his face is pale, and yet somehow he and his Persona are attempting to distract the creatures and assailants while herding innocents in the building.

Come on, Nick. You've felt worse fear before. You felt it every time you got even close to someone demonic back home. You can deal with this, right?

Honestly, he's not sure. It doesn't help he hears voices in his head, whispering, screaming. But then, he's "heard voices" for years. The dead are crying for help for their living loved ones. He has to do what he can.

Even if, uh, it's not really a lot. He can't focus very well, so the best he can do is buff up other folks' defenses with Anubis, hustling in and out of the building. He's not so lucky on one run, though, and one of the scorpions manages to pierce just enough.

He reels, feeling ill immediately. Shit...

[echo_of_a_jedi]

Meetra saw a man stumble out of a building, getting hit by a scorpion, and she immediately recognizes one thing. The one thing she actually was afraid of, back during her...experience in Ludo Kressh's tomb.

The thought that her decisions, or indecisions, might continue destroying people as they had before.

She cut off her chanting of the mantra and forced her mind into focus, connecting instinctively to the person in front of her. His mind was as shocked and fearful and reeling away from the Force as hers was, and there wasn't anything she could do about it. She could, however, feel the poison in his blood. Such a small amount could be removed easily with the Force, a simple trick...and it was. Meetra held out her hand and focused, using the Force to negate the scorpion's sting, venom and all.

Of course, all that internal monologue and action was over in a few seconds, then Meetra rushed up to meet the staggering man and make sure he didn't fall. "Are you alright?" she asked, still on the lookout for encroaching bugs.

[ghost_shield]

He blinks. The panic and fear is still there, but the poison isn't. He looks over at her. "I... y-yeah, I'm okay for now. Did you...?" He blinks, then shakes his head. "Wait, I can't stay here thinking about this, I've gotta...!"

He stands forth, watching for any more innocents. But he looks even more unsteady on his feet, if that's possible, and his Persona looks similarly anemic. And yet, there he is.

[echo_of_a_jedi]

Meetra sighs and concentrates, letting Vima do the work of healing both herself and the man of their wounds.

"She tells me she can remove normal fear, but it won't work on what's going on right now," Meetra says, having tried that several times before now. Instead, she reaches out and takes the man's arm reassuringly with her left hand.

"We both want to help, but you need to get back under cover, alright?" she says with the conviction of a trained soldier speaking to a civilian in terms they'd hopefully accept.

[ghost_shield]

He grips his chest a bit, half expecting the familiar burn. The feel of her hand helps a bit, at least. "But I... I can't just sit back and do nothing! I... I can use Personas too! I've gotta..." His eyes are wide and wild; the internal battle going on in his head must be pretty fierce.

[echo_of_a_jedi]

"You're not armed, and Personas can act at a distance. You can't help anyone if you're dead," she explained bluntly. "Get somewhere safe, and you can back me up, alright?"

[ghost_shield]

Back up. Support. Support. Ah. Yes. Right.

"I think I get the picture." He starts casting something. Meetra will suddenly feel a lot more durable. Marakukaja, eh?

He nods to himself. "Right." He looks to the Persona. "Okay, thanks. I think we should try her out for a while, okay?"

The Persona nods for a moment, and disappears as Nick summons something else. Something much more... you THINK it's an Angel, anyway...

"Yeah, uh, don't mind her dress sense. She's still helpful."

[echo_of_a_jedi]

Meetra shrugged. She'd never known a silly outfit to prevent someone from fighting.

"Alright, but let me go up front. I have a lightsaber," she said, gesturing with the unignited hilt. "And if I freeze up, just run. I'll follow."

[ghost_shield]

"Roger." He swallows, and steels himself as best he can. If she can work through the fear, then gosh, so can he. Fear's nothing new, right?

Even overwhelming, head-swimming fear.

He follows after her, prepared whenever to cast the light healing spell his Persona possesses.