Before the Saga The continuing, continuing, continuing saga of the Ultra-Stressed Jedi Students

Kirsh settled back in the chair and closed his eyes. The force was easier to touch here. He found the flow and joined it, pushing and pulling at the waves as they eddied by. He found his friend’s force signature quiet and dark green as always and pushed little waves of force towards it, bending and guiding them towards her. In his mind’s eye he could see flames of red where the injuries lay, the bone knitters sitting on them like dark grey stones. Around each break, cold gold threads in the force that An-Paj and Leona would have formed earlier to aid the boneknitters to do their job. Kirsh bent and pulled the threads of the force around the injury and watched with a self-satisfied smile as the red flare died down to a dull red line. He knew that he’d get a lecture from Master An-Paj for it not being the neatest tie lines but he didn’t really care – sometimes being useful was better than being neat.

There was a murmur from the bed and the shape in the force shifted. Kirsh opened his eyes to see Kit stirring.

“Hey ya Kit,” Kirsh said looking down at her unfocused green eyes that stared just over his left shoulder. She managed to focus on his face and smiled blearily.

“You’re very bright and shiny,” she slurred after a moment, “you’re hurting my eyes. Why do you need to be so bright?”

“I made you lunch,” Kirsh managed just to not laugh at his friend’s intense but almost unfocused stare and strange words, “I made it with your new exchange student Eena. It's Eel and veggie stir fry.”

“Yummy but doesn't it need custard?” there was a moment’s silence and Kirsh squinted at her trying to see if she was teasing him. She blinked at him a couple of times and grinned. He decided she wasn’t.

“You’ll like Eena, she’s really nice.”

“Yeah, she’s why you’re so bright. Why you're so moaty and floaty. You like her.” Kit grinned through her slurred words, an infuriatingly goofy grin and Kirsh sighed. Leona had warned him but he hadn’t quite been prepared for it. He knew some people reacted to different medication in different ways, it was part of his healer training after all, but there hadn’t yet been a class on “padawan plus concussion plus plain meds reaction”. Kirsh decided to take Leona’s advice and humour his friend. He pushed gently on what remained of their healing bond, willing her to sleep.

“Of course I like her, she’s nice.”

“Not like that,” the girl yawned, “you really, like-like-like-like-like her. Like like her.” Kit was repeating the word 'like' as if she'd just discovered it for the first time. Kirsh shook his head. Eena was nice but she was friend nice and besides the temple rules said rather a lot about relationships or rather that there shouldn’t be any.

“She’s a friend Kit, and you should be getting some sleep,” he pushed at the word and then girl’s eyes briefly closed. Kirsh pushed up off the bed to tip-toe out of the room but her hand was suddenly clenching his wrist. Kit was staring at him her goofy smile gone.

“There was a woman.” She whispered her eyes wide.

“That was Leona,” Kirsh said taking her hand with his free one. She didn't unclench her and hand and it didn’t budge. For a disconcerting second he realised she was holding him with the same arm she had dislocated only that morning but it didn't seem to be causing her pain. The red lines in the force screamed into life again. Kirsh hushed her trying to settle her before a Master appeared. “Hush now, you'll make your shoulder worse. It was just Leona. You know Healer Leona.”

“No, not Leona,” she said louder this time the words almost tripping over themselves to get out of her mouth, “there was a garden and a woman and she was sad. So sad. There was a war and she didn’t want to go. She left them you see, all of them. Her daughters and her friends and…” her hand tightened around his and Kirsh could see the pain in his friend’s face. He took his hand off hers and instead brushed her hair from her face desperate to calm her. The soft eddies of the force were swirling now. Tears were welling in her eyes.

“It was just a dream,” he said reassuringly, “you don’t need to worry. Sleep now.” He gathered the last links of the bond he’d formed earlier and sent all the calming waves he could down it. He should probably talk to Leona and maybe even Master An-Paj about this but they would tell him that it was just a trippy dream brought on by the concussion and that he shouldn't have let her exert herself.

“There was another war…and Master Zahalin was there…and…she died Kirsh, she died.” His friend was almost sobbing now, her petite frame shaking and trembling. The force roared around her mixing red and blue and green. Kirsh could almost hear An-Paj scolding him about making patients upset. He managed to free his hand from where she'd been holding it and then gathered both of Kit’s tiny hands in his big ones. He stared down at her.

“It’s just a dream Kit. It doesn’t mean anything. Go back to sleep now. Hush.” He poured all his healing training down the link and he felt his friend’s hands go soft in his. He lowered them down onto the bed and gave the sheets a quick tug to put them to rights. He turned and tiptoed from the room. As the door shut behind him he didn’t hear her stir again nor the faint murmur in the enveloping gloom.



“Not a dream. Master Zahalin dies...and I kill her.”

 

Wow. No wonder Kit was such a mess after that, if she already knew it was going to happen.

Btw, I haven't forgotten about or lost interest in this. I'm just fighting a major battle with Darth Real Life. That said, it's in my plans to post a bit of something with Kells today.

 

So, just a heads up, I got started writing something for this, but it might be at least a couple more days before it gets posted, because DRL.

 

That’s alright. I have a literal pile of marking and drafting to do so everything has to be put on the back burner until it’s done. Looking forward to seeing what you write


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Holidays in a week and then I should be able to give this the time it rightly deserves. Thank you to any lurkers and readers out there for being so patient.

 

Found a picture of Kit that @1Yodimus_Prime
made for me about 10 years ago

 

Lol @ that pic. Still working on writing that piece of story for this. It's taking a lot longer than I planned. But I do have kind of a whole arc planned out in my head.

 

Okay, here it is.
I'm gonna do some time overlapping here and write the cooking class from Kells' POV.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You’ve crash landed on an uninhabited planet. You scrounge through the ship and manage to find pepper oil, a selection of spices, some flour and some very old stock cubes which are......some sort of meat flavoured. You also manage to catch some eels from the local water way and decide to make yourself dinner while you wait for rescue."

Kellmaura surveyed her ingredients as she listened to Master Samukay give the instructions and assign the teams. She was paired with Jazz.

"Are there vegetables?"

The question had been on the tip of her tongue as well, but the other girl -- Eena? Yes, that sounded right -- said it first.
While Eena was was effectively arguing for the inclusion of local vegetation in the hypothetical make-do meal, Kells glanced over at Jazz. From the light in his eyes, he was obviously plotting something. She decided that if he proposed some crazy scheme, she'd go along with it, just to find up what he was up to.

"So, Kells, you got any ideas for what we can make with this stuff?"

The tone and expression were unmistakable. Jazz was leading up to something.

Kells idly flicked the salt shaker with her finger. "Does it look like I have any ideas? ................. How about you? Do you have any ideas?"

"Oh, I have something in mind."

"Okay, how can I help?"

"All you have to do is look busy. I'll take care of everything else."

Kells spent the next three-quarters of an hour fiddling with the items at their work station, trying to look like she was doing something when she was actually doing nothing. Meanwhile, aside from checking his comlink every few minutes, Jazz did absolutely nothing, except give most of their eels to Eena. Then he asked to be excused, claiming he needed to use the fresher. Upon returning with about two minutes to spare, he surreptitiously removed a bag from beneath his outer robe, and took from the bag two covered bowls that Kells thought looked suspiciously like takeout containers from Dex's Diner.

Apparently, Master Samukay thought so too, because they were disqualified from the competition. Kells couldn't decide if she wanted to laugh out loud, or smack Jazz upside the head, so she didn't do either, which was probably just as well.

Naturally, being disqualified from the competition, Kells and Jazz had to wash the dishes. Or rather, as she took pains to make quite clear, Jazz had to wash the dishes, while she dried.

 

Cool addition @Cowgirl Jedi 1701

Sorry to any readers for taking so long for an update. Between the end of the school year, cleaning the house for Christmas, celebrating Christmas, cleaning the house after Christmas, everything has been a bit of a mess. I finally finished something today but I wouldn't say it's good.

*

“Well, here we are.” Jazz had walked her back after they’d finished lunch and Eena had helped with the washing up. Kirsh had left early saying that he had a shift in the healer’s ward. Master Fisto had picked up Kel’s which had just left her and Jazz. Eena didn’t honestly know what to make of the ??? padawan, he seemed to be both gentleman and trickster and Eena wasn’t sure if she should entirely trust him. As if reading her thoughts, Jazz looked across at her one hand raised and ready to knock on the door.

“Don’t tell Master Zahalin about the incident at lunch please. I don’t think I could put up with her disapproval.”

Eena frowned. She wanted to ask him why he thought he was going to get away with it but the words froze in her throat. She needed people to like her, not to throw them under a landspeeder. She nodded instead not trusting herself to talk. Jazz smiled and knocked on the door. There was a faint call to enter and door slid open.

Eena stood and stared at the apartment. There were cushions and plush couches and lamps everywhere. It wasn’t what she’d expected a Jedi’s apartment to look like. She’d been expecting empty rooms and bare sleeping maps, not this comfortably cluttered space. Master Zahalin looked up from where she was reading a data pad, a cup of caff balanced precariously on one arm of the lounge.

“Not what you were expecting?” Jazz asked grinning at Eena’s surprise. Eena shook her head.

“We aren’t all monks living in some desert for years,” he chortled. Eena felt a surge of annoyance at his mirth at her ignorance.

“To be fair Jazz, some of us are. This is probably not the norm either Eena,” Zahalin said rising from the couch and heading towards her, hands extended in welcome. “There are Jedi who believe that any object brings attachment but I think that a life without little comforts means that there is not a lot worth fighting or striving for.” The Jedi master shook her head slightly as if getting rid of a thought. “Anyway, welcome let me show you your room.”

Her room was much simpler than the living space. Two single beds, a desk and an overcrowded bookshelf was all it contained. One wall was covered with pictures and posters hung in a rather haphazard manner as if they had been taken down and put back up in a hurry. The other wall was empty.


“You’ll be sharing with Kit when she is released from hospital,” Master Zahalin explained mistaking the silence for disappointment, “unfortunately we didn’t have the space for you to have your own room. I asked Kithera to clear off half the bookshelf for you but apparently,” the Jedi Master raised an eyebrow at the shelves overflowing with books, “that meant that she merely needed to cram them into half the space.”

Eena nodded. Not sharing a bed with her sisters would be strange, plus having a desk and a bookcase to herself almost seemed too much. She turned and smiled up at Master Zahalin’s rather apprehensive face.

“This is wonderful. Fabulous even. Thank you so much.”

Master Zahalin smiled looking instantly relieved. “Well, we should leave you to unpack. Jazz, you are probably running late for sabre practice. Eena I’ll make some tea and you can tell me about your day.”

Eena smiled again and headed towards the bed under the empty wall with her bag. Jazz must have been lingering because she could hear the older Jedi reminding him about sabre practice.

As the door slid closed behind them Eena sat down on the bed and opened her pack. Beneath the jumble of clothes, books and toys her brothers had decided they couldn’t live without were her two prized possessions. Eena reverentially lifted up the first one. The tiny statue of the Goddess Tiviali, that her sister had given her looked up at her with painted wooden eyes, it’s hands holding the traditional platter of food. Eena placed the statue on the bedside table and mumbled a quick prayer of thanks. As she dragged the second item out a flutter of paper caught her eye, a letter had been stuck to the back of the framed photo of her family. Eena placed the photo down next to the statue of the goddess and peeled the letter of carefully. It was written in her sister’s hand writing. She was barely aware of Master Zahalin’s voice calling her name as her breath quickened and her fingers fumbled for the seal. The door swished open and Eena shoved the letter behind her back, trying not to let the guilt show on her face. Master Zahalin frowned at her and tilted her head to one side.

“I see you take my padawans’ approach to unpacking,” she said gesturing to the mess of clothes that surrounded Eena. Eena felt her face blush for what must have been the hundredth time that day and looked down, secretly glad that Master Zahalin had come to the wrong conclusion. “Come and have tea and we’ll get back to unpacking later,” she offered, “then I think it’ll be time for your first sabre training session.”

Eena nodded and watched the Jedi turn back towards the living room before hastily stuff the letter into her pack. She got up and followed the Jedi into the living space, the feeling of the letter still burning on her fingertips.

 

Two updates in four days is almost some kind of record. If you are reading along give us a shout out so that we know that you are there!

***

“No, not like that. It’s a training sabre, not a smashball racquet.”

Eena felt herself blush more furiously, if that was indeed possible, then she had all afternoon. What Master Zahalin had promised would be a relaxing half hour or learning basic lightsabre drills had turned into half an hour of Eena discovering just how uncoordinated she really was. It was hard to concentrate on where to put her feet when the letter was hidden back in her room. She tried the move again, the one the Jedi Master had made look so smooth and effortless, only to spin around, lose her balance and end up face down on the mat.

“I’m sorry Eena,” Master Zahalin said squatting down beside her, “I’m afraid I’m not a very good teacher.”

“Or I’m not a very good learner,” Eena countered pushing herself up onto her knees.

“By all accounts you’re a very good student at school.” Master Zahalin gave her a perplexed look as if not understanding.

“Did you look at my physical education mark?” Eena asked, “I like sport, I really do, but I’m not very good at it.”

There was a long drawn out pause in which Eena reflected on all the times she’d failed her physical education lessons. Her teachers had always said they’d never understood how she could be so bad at sport when her brothers and her sisters were so good at it. Eena glanced down at the ground. Who would have guessed that it was going to be her lack of physical prowess that would bring her family down?

“I suppose the only way to be a proper Jedi is to be able to do all fifty katas,” Eena sighed studying the carpet and trying to find that calm space she’d touched so briefly that morning.

“That is kind of quite a big part of Jedi training to be honest,” Zahalin said with a small smile, curling her legs around so that she sitting cross legged in the same pose that Jazz had done that morning, “but there’s quite a bit more to it than that.”

“Like?” Eena asked feeling the frustration rise, “doing all fifty katas while standing on your head and wielding the lightsabre with your right foot?” The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them.

“Like listening to people, and helping others. Like settling disputes and getting people to see beyond what they think are their own limitations. And, yes, on occasion doing all fifty katas while balancing on your head.” Eena looked up at the last bit and caught Master Zahalin’s bemused smile. The dark-haired master reached down and undid her boots, sliding them off and putting them neatly to one side. Then she 1stretched and stood, extending a hand to help Eena up, “but you got it wrong slightly. To attain true Jedi Mastery you must defeat your enemies while wielding the lightsabre with your left foot.” With that Master Zahalin sprung away and into a handstand. Her lightsabre, which she had left on the floor floated up and landing on top of one foot. Eena giggled at the sight of the Jedi Master upside down, her long hair tracing the floor, while she juggled the lightsabre awkwardly between her bare feet. A second later the lightsabre was on and then Master Zahalin was waving at Eena while balancing on one hand before collapsing in an ungainly heap on the floor. This time it was Eena’s turn to help the other one up.

“I’m much too old for that,” Master Zahalin said rubbing her hips. “Shall we try something less strenuous?”

Eena went to protest that it wouldn’t matter what they tried she would be hopeless at all of it but Master Zahalin shook her head stopping her words before they’d even started.

“We aren’t leaving here until you can do at least the first kata,” She said. Eena’s training sabre flew to her grasp and she offered it to Eena who took it.

“I hope one of the Jedi kata’s is being able to sleep standing up” she said frowning, “because I get the feeling we’ll be here for a very long time.”

 

Short one. Hope it's okay. Hopefully it'll get me past the writer's block I've been struggling with.
*


Eena stared into the darkness and sighed. She’d been tossing and turning for what seemed to be hours but sleep seemed to evade her. It was too quiet without the murmurings of her sisters and the room felt big, empty and cold.

Master Zahalin had left just after dinner saying she had at attend a meeting and wishing Eena a goodnight. Eena turned over again, flipping her pillow and hoping that the cooler side would somehow coax her to sleep, but it did not. Sighing in frustration Eena pushed herself up and switched on the light. The letter from her sister was still sitting where she’d tucked it away safely inside the covers of a book after dinner. As she Eena unfolded the letter, she had a sudden longing to be home with her family. Eena carefully held the letter in one hand as she pulled the doona up and around her shoulders to cut out the cold night air of the bedroom. The entire temple was too cold, Eena reflected, and too silent she already missed the hot, humid air of her home planet, the noise of her siblings, the village and the animals. Comfortable Eena opened the letter again. Her sister’s normally small, neat handwriting was crammed onto the page as if it had been written in haste.

Eenie,

I’m sorry I couldn’t come to see you off, Aunty has so many jobs for me to do before my coming of age that I can’t seem to get any time to myself. I wish I had seen you off and gone to the Jedi temple. It would have been great to get off world for once.

Aunt has organised for me to meet another young man. He’s an off-worlder and his father runs the company that is interested in our water. I’m not sure that it’s a good idea but Aunt says to wait and see. The grandmothers are pressuring me to marry him by the mid-rain as it will ensure our future. I hope you can find a way out of this for me, find someone sympathetic to our cause. I don’t know how long I can do this for. I know it’s expected as the first daughter that I will marry who is picked for me, but I just feel so lost at the concept of living life without Ferrin.

I cannot stay long to write. I will see if I Etta will carry it for me when she comes tomorrow. I think I can rely on her to be discreet. Both of us know what will happen if we this fails and we are discovered.

Love forever,
Your sister
Elly.​

Eena stared at the note for several minutes. She thought about screwing it up, shoving it deep inside her bag where it would never be discovered, where their plans would be safe but she couldn’t do it. Instead she folded it neatly then unclipped the back of the holo of her family and slid it in the space inside. Eena slid back into the bed and stared at the wall. She didn’t know how was going to save her sister – all she knew was that she had to do it for all their sakes.

 

Hey guys - for anyone out there whose reading this - what would you like to see happen next? Tomorrow is a new day in the temple so what kind of things would you like to see the characters get up to?


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Not ignoring this, I promise! "Tomorrow" we should have lightsaber class.

 

Oh gracious goodness! @Kit' this is so fun!!! It feels like an RPG I love Eena and Kit already and as for Master Zahalin giving the initiate master what for

 

Spoiler

Name: Eiko Kamu From: Noori
Age: 17
Gender: Female
Height: 5'7"
Appearance: Typical of Noorians--honey complexioned with unique gold/green striped eyes. Her tawny tresses fall nearly to her waist.
Brief Notes: Eiko is a student from the Noorian Academy of Arts. She is adept at painting and music. She also likes to cook. She has a high empathy score on her personality tests.

---

Eiko entered the lobby of the Jedi Temple. It was very much like any reception area on a thousand worlds -- and she went up to the check-in kiosk and smiled. "I am here for the exchange program." She proffered her data-disk with her name and origin information.
"Just let me know where I need to go, please." She said courteously.

 

And much like 20 years ago, I stumbled upon this after it is up and going and have just gotten caught up. Bravo!! I love it so far. I suspect that T'lor and Gi'den will make an appearance at some point here depending on DRL. If I have the time line right, they would be at the very beginning of their master-padawan pairing. Feel free to drag them in if you need them before I get a chance to do something with them.

 

Welcome onboard @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha! Can't wait to see where Eiko goes

Long time no see @K'Tai qel Letta-Tanku! It would be amazing if T'lor and Gi'den could make an appearance and join the crew. It's been a lot of fun so far and I think the party is just beginning

Unfortunately the new school year has brought more work then I think I can handle. The class stuff is percolating in my head but I haven't had time to put it on paper yet. Definitely will make time for it next week but if someone else wants to run with something go right ahead.

 

T’lor walked through the quieting halls of the Jedi Temple. The arrival of the exchange students had thrown the usual decorum of the Temple into disarray. It had been the noise of the students as they headed to Intergalactic Cuisine that had broken through her concentration and reminded her that she needed to put the frustration of hyperspace route calculation aside and get to class herself. She had arrived, out of breath, to hear that sniveling gundark Rujeno give one of the girls in the exchange program a hard time about her appearance. T’lor hadn’t caught her name, but she made a note to keep an eye on her and step in if the sleemo continued to give her grief.

She’d been paired up with an exchange student from Gatalenta, Theodin Xixhal, who asked to be called Theo. Theodin, he said, sounded like someone who had it together, which he claimed was definitely not him. T’lor’s observations of him during class suggested that wasn’t true. He seemed unfazed by the assignment, quickly devising a recipe that she tweaked as they went along. Between the two of them, they had managed to make a dish that had been edible. After Intergalactic Cuisine, she’d gotten Theo to his next appointment, a check-in with one of the mathematics teachers to discuss his placement, and then headed to the Archives in search of a quiet place to continue wrestling with her astronavigation homework. She’d finished just before dinner. T’lor caught up with Rani in the dining hall, heard about Kit’s misadventures with the pole from Kirsti, and met a couple more of the exchange students. She was now heading back to the quarters she shared with her master, Gi’den Dway, tired and ready to turn in early. Tomorrow’s first class was lightsabers, and she struggled enough as it was. She didn’t need to add exhaustion to the mix.

The quarters they currently occupied happened to be one of the layouts that had an additional sleeping alcove tucked just off the main living space. Since it was just the two of them, Master Dway had set the space up as their meditation space. T’lor walked in to see the meditation cushions and candles piled in the corner of the living room. “Master, why is the…”

“Ah, T’lor. I’m glad your back. Bring me that spare bedding from the table, would you?”

T’lor picked up the bedding and walked into the small room. She stopped at the door. There, standing by the bed was Theo. He smiled at her. Her master was finishing moving a chest of drawers in place. “Theo, this is T’lor.”

“We met today in class,” Theo replied. “Hi.”

“Hi. I’m guessing this is for you.” Handing the bedding over to Theo, T’lor turned to her master.

“Ummm, Master, I thought we weren’t hosting an exchange student.”

“Change in plans, padawan,” Gi’den responded, turning to face her. “Theo was supposed to be staying with Padawan Holden, but they have been sent on mission that will last beyond the duration of the exchange program. Master Chirwe asked if we would host Theo in their place. Since at the moment we happen to have quarters with extra space, I said yes.”

T’lor didn’t know what to say, so she simply made a slight bow in acknowledgment. “In that case, welcome Theo. I’ll go make room for your stuff in the bathroom."

 

I will pick up on this in the next bit but I thought it would be good to get something out there before it got too long. Thank you to @K'Tai qel Letta-Tanku for helping me when I got stuck. Don't worry @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha I'll make sure that Eiko joins them all at sabre practice (unless someone else wants to do that bit).

***

“What are you so happy about?” Jazz asked as Eena sat down next to him at the cafeteria table. “Mornings should never be happy times for anyone.” He frowned, yawned and took another sip of what looked and smelled suspiciously like caff.

“Don’t mind him,” Kirsh said joining them, his plate piled high with food, “mornings just aren’t for Jazz, “

“That smells good,” Eena said ignoring Jazz and looking at Kirsh’s plates, “Master Zahalin was out all of last night and I wasn’t sure what I could help myself to in the kitchen. Can I get breakfast here too?”

“Sure, it’s over that way.” Jazz said pointing off towards a long line of padawans and Masters chatting quietly, “that’s if the chonk over here hasn’t eaten everything.”

“Hey!” Kirsh said full fork heading towards his mouth, “I left stacks there.”

“Which time? After your firsts, seconds or thirds?” Jazz flicked a lazy hand towards a pile of plates near Kirsh’s elbow. Eena had originally thought they’d been left my previous Jedi but the blush that was creeping over the blonde boy’s face said otherwise.

“I’d better get up there then,” she said standing and smiling at Kirsh as he blushed more fiercely.

“Make it quick,” Jazz warned her, “we all have lightsabre practice this morning and Master Fisto doesn’t like it when you are late.”

Eena felt her stomach drop. Lightsabre practice. She didn’t know how she thought she was going to avoid having to learn to fight seeing as that was a lot of what Jedi did. She had been so wrapped up in getting here and making plans on how she could get help that she hadn’t actually thought about the practicalities like learning how to fight with a light up sword.

Her thoughts must have been evident on her face or Jazz was reading her mind again because he stretched and yawned before adding, “I’m sure Master Fisto will go easy on your Eena. You’re not going to be expected to go up against anything too hard.”

Eena nodded and headed towards the line suddenly not feeling very hungry at all.

*

By the time she got back there were more padawans at the table talking. Kirsh was still there finishing his last mouthful while surreptitiously sliding Jazz’s untouched toast onto his plate. Jazz was in an animated discussion with another padawan, a girl a little younger than her. Beside her stood a boy, looking awkward. No padawan braid, Eena noted, so he must be an exchange student like her. Eena smiled at him and he smiled confidently back.

“I’m Theo,” he said sticking out his hand as she neared. Eena went to shake his hand but realised that it was never going to work with a plate in one hand and a cup of juice in the other. She stopped still not knowing quite what to do next.

“Um, Eena.” She tried putting her plate on the table with a loud clack and putting her own hand out to shake his.

“You made that awesome meal in galactic cuisine yesterday, yeah?” Theo asked. Eena nodded and sat down quickly.

“Yeah, it was a team effort though,” she said looking at Kirsh. The Jedi grinned at her his mouth full of toast.

“Cool. Cool.” Theo glanced at the other padawan who was still talking to Jazz and took a seat too. “So, you liking it here?”

“Yeah, I…” Eena glanced at her plate cursing the fact that she always seemed to be stuck for words. How would you describe this place or experience to anyone else? How could you possibly find the right words. “Um, it’s great…um…”

“Sorry, I’ll let you eat.” Theo said mistaking the reason behind the pause. The boy fell silent. Eena bit her bottom lip and closed her eyes, trying to remember the breathing exercises that Jazz had taught her yesterday. Everything felt overwhelming. From waking up in a strange place and finding it empty, to the quite hubbub of the Jedi going about their morning meal, to the idea that she was going to have to fight people she didn’t even know, it was all too much. Eena’s body couldn’t decide if it wanted to run as far as possible or hide under the table and never come out. Kirsh broke into her reverie, nudging her gently.

“You going to eat that?” he asked reaching towards her plate. Almost on reflex Eena reached out and slapped his hand. Her eyes grew wide as she realised what she’d done.

“Oh. I’m sorry.” It was all she could manage. Kirsh was rubbing the back of his hand, a look of surprise on his face. “It’s a reflex.” Eena felt the words she couldn’t find before bubbling to the surface in a rush to escape, “my brothers always try to pinch my food and it’s the only way to stop… Oh I’m so sorry Kirsh. Did I hurt you?” She suddenly realised that Jazz and the girl standing next to him were laughing.

“You deserved that Kirsh’of,” the girl said laughing and prodding Kirsh’s shoulder. She turned and looked at Eena and then bowed slightly, “I’m T’Lor. You must be Eena. Don’t worry about Kirsh, he’ll survive.”

Eena tried to smile, wishing that the ground would open. She’d slapped a Jedi and they’d all laughed about it. How was she ever going to fit in if she went around slapping people? She felt her face heat with embarrassment.

T’lor’s face turned slightly more serious as she regarded Eena more seriously. “With reflexes like those, I’m curious to see what you think of lightsabre practice. Those reflexes will be an asset.”

Eena smiled shyly at T’Lor, “I don’t think it’ll help. I’m too worried about getting hit.”

Jazz burst out laughing, “Don’t worry about that Eena, it’s not like T’Lor will actually land anything. She couldn’t hit the broad side of a Kryat dragon.”

T’Lor punched him but Eena could see she didn’t really mean it.

“One day I’ll beat you Jazz and then you won’t know what hit you.”

“If you hit me I’ll be so surprised I’ll probably fall over from shock.”

“Uh guys, we need to get going.” Kirsh said quietly, “We are going to be late and we probably should collect Kells too. She’s heading this way now.”

Eena looked around for Kells. She hadn’t see the girl since yesterday’s galactic cuisine. She spotted the red head making her way through crowd of other Jedi towards them veritably bouncing from foot to foot in excitement. Beside her Theo cocked his head on one side and stared intently at the approaching figure. Wondering what he was staring at, Eena took in Kells’ appearance – jedi robes, jedi cloak, training sabre and – her thought pattern was interrupted by Theo.

“Is that a sword?”

“Yes, it’s a sword,” Kells said now close enough to hear Theo’s question. “It’s a more elegant weapon for a more civilised age.”

“And you know how to use it?” Theo asked incredulously.

“We train with them at Battlesmear,” Kell’s answered, “I figured it can’t be too different from a lightsabre so I might as well bring it along.”

“Sounds great,” Kirsh said putting one giant hand on Jazz’s shoulder and the other one on T’Lor. Eena found herself trapped between the three Jedi as Kirsh started pushing them along trying to get the group out of the mess hall, “but it won’t be much help to us if we are scrubbing the ‘fresher because we’re so late.”

 

I'm just gonna continue from above. I'll probably put it up as an edit to this post sometime tonight or tomorrow.

 

Sounds awesome @Cowgirl Jedi 1701! Can’t wait to see how Kell’s goes in lightsaber class

 

Eiko had enjoyed an evening meal in the Temple refectory. She heard the buzz about Kithera and the verbal dressing down of the Initiate Master by Master Namia Zahalin. She could not wait to meet this particular Master. She reminded Eiko of instructors she had had at the Academy. Fierce and outspoken out of deep caring for the students under their tutelage.

She reviewed the itinerary of the prior day. There apparently was a culinary class. She hoped before her time was up she could participate in that delightful experience. She had a recipe for a chocolate custard with a flaky crust.

 

And here it is. I hope it's not too awkward toward the end. I'm kind of garbage at writing action.

----------

Kells laughed. "No duh, so let's get going."

The group arrived to the class with about three minutes to spare, and as they entered the room, Master Fisto's already cheerful face broke into a broad grin. "Well, it appears that we're all here now. Excellent! I'll give everyone a few minutes to go through some katas, and then we'll pair up for sparring."

Kells heard Eena mutter, "Well here goes nothing," and she gave the other girl a warm smile.

"Eena, I have a feeling they give points for effort here. Just do your best."

Noting that Eena seemed encouraged by this, she checked that she had enough space and began the first kata, humming a lively tune to herself.

Several minutes later, Master Fisto clapped his hands for attention. "Alright, I think we should all be nicely warmed up now. Is everyone ready to get started? Good! Now let's see, who will I put together today? Miss Plum, I noticed you are struggling, but please don't be too discouraged. I don't expect perfection, I only expect to see everyone doing their best. You may work with T'Lor. I believe she will be very helpful to you."

The two girls smiled at each other as Master Fisto continued. "Miss Solo, your katas were very nearly flawless. Quite impressive, considering how recently you learned them."

The rude Twi'lek boy that had been hassling Eena in the cooking class the day before slid up next to Kells. He sneered, "Teacher's Pet already, I see."

"Better than being a Hutt's pet.", she shot back.

"And Rujeno," Master Fisto crowed, "it seems you have just chosen your partner for today! Have fun!"

After pairing up the rest of the students, the Nautolan master was ready to begin the real work. "Kellmaura, Rujeno, I believe I will allow the two of you the privilege of going first!"

Rujeno glared at Kells. "I'm going to have so much fun kicking your shebs," he hissed, "and that fancy sword is toast!"

"Actually," she returned snarkily, "it's beskar. Toast doesn't make a very good blade. Shall we begin?"

Rujeno rushed Kells, a snarl curling his lip, but with a bit of quick footwork, she made his momentum work against him, and the moment he was off balance, she turned and went on the attack, until he was hard pressed to fend her off. His eyes were quick to spot the first mistake she made, and he took advantage of it, but she'd noticed her mistake as well, and evaded his attack neatly. Then a quick sweep of her leg took his feet out from under him, knocking him flat on his back. The next moment, before he could move to block her, the point of her blade hovered at his throat. He knew she had him and shut down his training saber. "Alright," he ground out through clenched teeth, "I give."

With a small flex of her wrist, she touched the cold metal to his skin. "I'm sorry, I didn't quite hear that."

"I give!" He yelled.

"That's what I thought you said." She stepped back and sheathed her blade with a flourish.

 

Backing up just a little bit....

---

Theo followed behind others as they left the refectory for lightsaber training, his mind reviewing the morning thus far. He’d awoken to T’lor gently nudging him.

“Wake up. If Master Dway finds you still in bed when he’s ready to head to the garden, you will regret it.”

Theo had sat up and stretched. “How long of a reprieve do I have? Enough to take a quick sonic to wake up?”

T’lor had looked at him thoughtfully. “Probably. I’ll stall since this is new for you, but don’t get used to it.” She left his alcove. Theo heard her making noise somewhere in the apartment. He had gotten up, grabbed a set of robes, and headed into the bathroom. He wasn’t quite sure what to make of T’lor. She seemed nice enough, but it was obvious that his arrival had her a bit out of sorts. He had quickly showered and dressed, walking into the common room to hear T’lor talking.

“You didn’t tell him last night that rising with the sun daily is an expectation, which by the way given the day he had yesterday might not be an altogether fair one today. You can’t expect him to just know. He’s not a Jedi. He’ll be here in just a second.”

“Padawan…”

He had flushed with embarrassment. T’lor was defending him. He cleared his throat.

T’lor had turned towards him. “See, what did I tell you?” she had said, still staring Master Dway down.

“Enough, padawan,” Gi’den said to her, his eyes holding a warning that she was treading on very thin ice. “Good morning, Theo. T’lor here reminded me that I failed to let you know that every morning begins with meditation at dawn. I apologize for that oversight.”

“I apologize as well, Master. I should have asked last night. It won’t happen again.”

Gi’den had taken a deep breath and exhaled. “We’ll all endeavor to do better. Come, let’s go to the garden.”

They had walked into the quiet of the Temple. “Do you skyfare?” Gi’den asked Theo as they walked.

“Yes sir.”

“I think some of the Gatalentian Jedi have a dojo that is rigged for skyfaring. If they do, then some of our morning meditations can occur there instead of the garden.” Gi’den looked over at T’lor. “I would like to learn more about it. I think it might be a good practice for T’lor and I to add to our regimen.”

“That would be quite nice, actually. I had reconciled myself to the fact that I probably would have to find a different form of practice while here in the Temple.”

T’lor looked back and forth between Theo and Gi’den. “Would someone like to fill me in on what exactly skyfaring is?”

Gi’den spoke, “As I understand it, it is an aerial form of moving meditation.”

Theo had grinned. “That is a great way to describe it. It’s purpose is to train flexibility in both the physical body and the mind.”

T’lor didn’t respond to that, but looked thoughtful. She had remained that way all the way through the morning meditation and their stop at the refectory to get breakfast. They were some of the first there, but were soon joined by others he recognized from the previous day. Since he and T’lor had finished their meals, they gave up seats to the newcomers. He’d tried to engage Eena in conversation, but mangled it badly by trying to shake her hand before she had a chance to put her food down. He’d covered it up by saying something about letting her eat, but he’d been mortified at how his lack of manners had caused her discomfort. Kells arrived just as they were heading to class with a real sword and the assurance of one who knew how to use it well. Theo sincerely hoped he would not be paired with her today. Skyfaring gave him discipline, but he knew nothing about swordsmanship.

His attention was brought back to the present as they walked into class. He saw another girl without a padawan braid who he didn’t recognize from yesterday standing off to the side watching the group enter with interest. He walked over to her.

“Hi, my name is Theo.” He stuck his hand out. She took it and gave it a shake.

“Hi Theo. I’m Eiko.”

“I didn’t see you in culinary class yesterday.”

“There was an issue getting checked in. I didn’t make it to that class.”

T’lor approached. “I don’t want to interrupt, but you guys should probably find a spot. Master Fisto likes us to be ready to start immediately.” Turning to Eiko, she said, “I’m T’lor.”

“Eiko.”

“Nice to meet you,” she said, scrambling toward the front of the room but off to the far side.

Theo found a spot toward the back of the room. The katas were relatively easy to follow, and he felt himself relaxing a bit. Then Master Fisto started pairing them up. He was paired with the padawan who had been giving T’lor grief about her lightsaber skills or lack thereof.

“Don’t worry. I’ll go easy on you for now,” Jazz said. “Do you remember the first kata we did?”

Theo nodded.

“Good. You are going to do that kata, but now you are going to hold a lightsaber at the same time.”

Theo took his hilt from his belt and ignited it. The blade sprang to life. He swung it experimentally to see how it handled, and then took the opening position. Jazz called out the positions. Theo moved into them at the same time Jazz moved into a complementary position. Theo quickly realized they were practicing attacks and the corresponding blocks. As he got the hang of it, Jazz sped up the transitions between poses. They were starting to have fun when they heard a commotion and a voice yell out “I give!”. They both stopped and turned to look at Kells with her blade at Rujeno’s throat. Jazz looked over at the exchange student appreciatively.

“That just put a target on her back.”

“I thought Jedi didn’t seek revenge.”

Jazz lowered his voice. “We don’t, but that lesson hasn’t sunk in for some of us.”

 

@Cowgirl Jedi 1701 - Awesome and I think that Kells definitely has painted a target on her back even if Rujeno won't be likely to face her in combat.
@K'Tai qel Letta-Tanku - Love it. Poor Theo - he and Eena can be awkward at each other for a while. Will be interesting to see what happens with Theo and T'lor next and just how much trouble those two can get themselves into.