The gentle thrumming of the speeders' engines came to a halt. They had traveled over rumpled woody terrain, which now opened on wide fields that sloped further down to the north and east. By the side of the road stretched the placid waters of a small pond, and across from this view sat a dilapidated country inn. Riannath dismounted, and walked apart from the group, gazing at the open fields beyond a scruffy fringe of bramble. Davai followed her. Geordi came along as well, though he held back a bit, seeing the scholar joining his commander. As he left the squad, he made the call. “Quick regroup, then we continue on. Be ready to move in five!”
Davai had caught up to Riannath at an outlook. An old birding platform stood slightly above the lower growth at the woodland's fringe. From here they could see the land falling to a dark dell, then rising again in soft, deep green mounds. Beyond, a further horizon showed in jagged blue peaks that touched the sky. Both of them knew that somewhere out there, between the hills, lay the river valley.
“We'll camp down there tonight.” Riannath said, indicating the thicketed defile. “There we'll be better protected, and I don't think that land is as populated as the woods here.” The pond hamlet was not much to look at, but they had passed through quite the settled area on their way from Five Trees. The woodland townships here benefited from close relationships with the numerous local cities. This close to the Metro areas, rural places like this one became just one of the options for local living. Many residents came from nearby cities with a desire for an outside life. They found like-minded individuals and founded small communities that began to dot the primary woodland roads. A single official township might have ten or more of these impromptu villages, each with a slightly different flavor. Davai enjoyed seeing the diversity of the rural villages, though it was different from the back of a military speeder.
“Tell me more Davai. You know so much it would seem of the workings of the world. I have my knowledge, but it is about people, not the powers of the universe. I would know something more about how this reality functions, if you can tell me. I want to be prepared for what you say is to come. I want to be able to guide my people through it.” Riannath's gaze remained mostly on the horizon, only flicking to the brown-robed scholar for an instant.
By her side, Davai smiled, and then let out a soft sigh, his gaze also resting on the far-off mountains. “I suppose it will be important for more people to know more about all this. They know...you know, about systems. Systems created by us humans and put in place to help control our world. I'm sure that you, Commandant, are well-versed in all the rules that we keep to maintain and build our society. But there were rules here before we humans came and made our own.”
Davai continued, knowing he had the Commandant's full attention. “Our reality exists in a dualistic format. I don't know if that is a necessary construction, or even a permanent one, but it has operated dualistically for as long as we have had knowledge of it. In every aspect of life, we can see a shifting balance between polarities. Whether they are called order and chaos, feminine and masculine, yin and yang, social and military, or spiritual and secular, everything exists in balance on one or more of these dimensions. When you tune in to the energy of a place, or a situation, or a simple temporal object, you can feel its balance; its relationship to the various poles of the world. Now, often where we find balance, we also find tension. With such a myriad of influences on the subject, there are undoubtedly contradicting tendencies. Many teachings show that some sort of 'middle path' is the correct way to approach the world, but often, usually actually, the person attempting this comes up against a paradox. The two polarities they are trying to mediate cannot simultaneously exist, creating a sense of tension. The tension causes the collapse of the person's consciousness back towards one of the polar states as a way to avoid internal conflict. Incidentally, this usually creates an energetic release, and these releases are the sources of the world's creativity, both for good and for ill effects.
“Through practicing equanimity though, one can train oneself to exist within the middle of that balance without triggering the same paradox effect. When you are more able to hold that larger perspective without collapsing your energy, the middle path starts to feel more and more peaceful. Support the contradictions without them threatening conflict. From there you can then help foster the healthy balance of the world as it seeks to eventually free itself from duality altogether.”
“So there is a goal to it all? A direction that reality is naturally moving?” Riannath cut in.
“In a sense,” Davai responded, realizing he may have said more than he intended. “but not in any sort of intentional terms. It's like we're all part of a very slow-motion explosion, and far enough into the future, it should eventually resolve.”
They were both silent for a moment, then Riannath spoke. “Well, that was certainly quite informative Davai, thank you. This has given me a lot to think about. I'll have to meditate on the subject as well.”
Davai turned to walk with her back towards the resting squad. “It is good you have a practice. Mindfulness is the first step towards understanding these things. We have all the students learn it first thing.” They came face to face with Geordi, who had been waiting a few paces back. Riannath gave the sign for all clear, then continued on to address the rest of the crew.
“We'll camp down in those thickets tonight, then we make for the river valley in the morning. Stay alert everyone, this is now a code-yellow expedition. I'll have further information at our morning briefing, as well as some new deployment instructions. Now let's move.”
