Coming Together {Tal, FZ}

”Ohforce, ohforce, ohforce….I’m gonna be late!”

Sock…where was her other sock?! There! No? ”You’re not a sock?!” The rolled up cloth was tossed back into her bag without even realizing she’d need it in a moment as she scrambled back over to her bed and searched all around it. Top, in the sheets, under the pillow, on her hands and knees around the floor and under the bed, down the sides of the mattress...”Oooo…I know I put them both here!”

Despite the flurry of frantic flailing as she searched for her wayward sock, the room itself was amazingly immaculate. How she could possibly lose a sock in such a place was a real show of talent. Everything had its place, nestled in its own nook or niche or drawer and not a bit of trash about…well, except the small waste bin where trash was meant to go, of course. For half a moment her flustered mind entertained the absurd notion of it having become sentient and crawling away. That didn’t stop her search, of course…she knew the sock was neither sentient or dirty enough. She’d just washed it yesterday, after all.

”SOCK!”

The triumphant shout managed to make a passing jedi pause in confusion just outside the padawan’s door before shaking her head and moving on once again. On the other side of that door, Elys hopped up and down on one foot as she pulled the sock on hurriedly, not noticing (or caring) that it was on inside out. It was just a sock, after all…

Darting across the room, she slid the last few inches to her boots, snatching them up as she plopped back onto her rump against the floor and pulled the first one on. Nimble hands laced them up before pulling the lace covers over and buckling them down. The other boot was on in record time and she was up and moving again, leaving a trail of water drops from newly washed hair that she hadn’t bothered to dry.

”Ooooo….I knew I shouldn’t have run today! Shoot! Belt!”

Back to the bed and she was whipping the leather strap all covered in pouches around her waist and cinching it closed over her robes. Nearly wrenching her neck, she looked back over her shoulder at the time that was ticking away. ”Gonna be late, gonna be late!” She patted herself down thoroughly, checking for any more wayward clothing, from underwear to boots and belt, all the way up to things she couldn’t remove…like her hair. Giving her head a good shake, water went flying everywhere, followed by a swift tousling from her hands to get more of the liquid out.

…That’s when she noticed…

”My sash!”

…And off she dashed again.

Now, her exaggerated sense of urgency was…a bit, well, exaggerated.

Only a few days ago she had been a student with no teacher…and then she’d met Locke. It had been a blessing and a half for the poor girl’s very bruised ego and dreams, he had even said that he would take her as his second padawan. Now, just the other day a flimsy had been found slipped (very mysteriously) beneath her door. Intrigued, she’d read and reread the note and then set about poking around. Locke, however, was a very slippery man (not that it surprised her in a temple full of jedi and dealing with an investigator) and he would not be found. Jazen, too, had been missing in action.

It was all very suspicious.

…Not really, but she liked to think it was, it made things fun.

The time, date, and place were swiftly settling into place and with her dreams hanging in the balance, the girl was prone to exaggeration on if she thought she was going to be late for what could be a very important meeting.

Hence the…everything…

Scrambling out of her small refresher in a blur of motion, sans sash, she practically tumbled over her satchel.

”AH-HAH! SASH!”

Another triumphant exclamation, another stopped jedi.

If she’d thought about it she might have started keeping track. Buuuut, she didn’t and so she wouldn’t. Instead she was busy tying the silky blue cloth around the area where any human’s eyes should be. Of course, she was miraluka sooooo, cloth covering for her! Anyway, she didn’t mind it. The cloth felt nice and seeing through it wasn’t a problem. She didn’t even notice it being there half the time any more. Hefting up her satchel over one shoulder and heading for the door, she paused half a moment in hurried debate.

To pistol, or not to pistol…that was the question…

Grabbing the Hawker sidearm, nestled comfortably in its holster, she snapped the thing onto her belt, grabbed her pike and hurried out the door.

Her flight through the temple was quite the sight for anyone she flashed past. If there was one thing she was good at, it was navigating the temple at high speeds without causing any damage. From all her wanderings through it recently she knew the passages and halls and stairs and lifts to take (and at what times) to avoid the majority of the people milling around. Of course…things had to go against her today. The force was nothing if not a teacher of patience…and she was quite the stubborn little apprentice at points.

Patience was not a virtue she had at the moment.

So, she took walls…and railings…and lept over tables…squeezed behind pillars…anything to avoid the press of crowds. It made more than a few elderly masters call after her to slow down and younglings scatter to avoid the mini-comet that was Elys. It wasn’t until she was caught by a knight that she managed to calm down (just a little) and walk calmly away…before turning a corner and jogging the rest of the way to the lift before squeezing in with the others going down to the processional way.

Turning an ‘ear’ to the force and taking some calming breaths, she decided that maybe she wouldn’t be late after all, and that it might behoove her to…calm down a little. So…she was soon bouncing and swaying to a beat that only she could hear, a smile plastered to her face. The jedi behind her exuded amusement and confusion, even earning a soft chuckle from a padawan not much older than herself. As the lift came to a halt at the bottom she was so enveloped in her personal force-powered sound track that she nearly didn’t exit it. The press of people behind her had her moving, though and she waved happily to the others before going about her merry way.

Locke wasn’t incredibly difficult to find, perched as he was…dressed as he was…on the base of one of the giant bronzium statues lining the grand entrance to the temple, and to her…well, to her his presence shown like a small sun. It pulled an excited grin to her face and she pulled her presence in as much as she was able, trotting up on the opposite side of the statue from him so he wouldn’t see her before popping around with a cheery ”BOO!”

”Hi Master Locke! I hope I’m not late! I was so worried I was going to be late I’m not sure if I am late or not any more! How are you?!”

Sunshine and excitement, that’s what she was right now…sunshine and excitement.

…Poor Locke…

Drip, drip, drip.

The sound made Jazen twitch his ear towards its source, his eyes following where his ears detected the sound to be coming from. Which, was it were, was right between his own feet. Which made sense, considering the three drops of water that had landed there had come from his own face. With the simplest of headshakes, Jazen tossed more and more of the drops to the floor, his eyes switching back up to eye the more important item in the room.

Or rather, try and eye the several more important items in the room. All around him, a stretched circle of remotes hovered there, deftly silent in the vast open space of the training room, a silence that was punctuated at the moment only by his slightly above normal breathing...and the sound of his sweat dripping to the floor below. It wouldn't last, this eerie silence, not when he clicked the device in his left hand to bring the remotes back to life. Or when he brought to life the weapon that rested firmly in both hands at the moment, his body calmly adjusting to his ready stance.

For a few moments more, he stood there, unmoving, unfaltering, letting his senses come back to bear on the task he was about to perform. Six remotes...was something he was use to by now, both through the harsh workout routines they gave him. And the memory of those stun bolts and dense balls smashing into every part of his body. He wasn't the only one who practiced with this many at once, not at all. But having a three/three split of bolts and hammer was something he was sure was his own trick. And it had proven useful in helping to practice both saber and using the Force in combat. A form, he knew, that he would need to be well versed in one day if he ever wanted to survive the trials of this galaxy.

Taking one last deep breath, Jazen clicked the remote in his left hand and dropped it quickly back into his pocket. Then he snapped his saber to life, the icy blue blade illuminating his sweat covered face and the hard focus in his dark blue eyes. Eyes that focused on the now hissing balls that danced and circled around him, the small hiss of little verniers almost dominating the buzz of his lit lightsaber.

A subtle push from the Force in the back of his mind guided his first move, a quick swing to his side to catch the bolt that erupted from the remote there. Then another move to catch the one coming opposite him. Another warning from behind had him spinning around to evade the ball launching his way, a quick nudge with the Force to send it off course and keep it from correcting itself to track its prey. And with that, the whole scene went into overdrive.

Jazen's icy blue saber danced around him in quick blocks and parries, Jazen ever so conscious of making sure to move as little as possible from one block to the next. It was what Soresu called for and the reason he had decided to use this practice exercise this morning. The whine of blaster bolts quickly joined the humming of his saber and the hissing of the remotes, as did the thump of his feet as they moved with a purpose to always keep him in the best position to catch the next strike. His focus spread out to watch for the beater remotes as well, adjusting his stance to avoid their kamikaze slams into him or redirecting them with the Force when he felt the danger close. And the Force always warned him of the impending danger, though with the two kinds of remotes, Jazen had to be quick on the draw to discover what kind of attack he was dealing with.

Something that he wasn't always able to do. A bolt here, a thud there, a bite back groan of pain. By the end of his routine, his body ached from the areas where he'd been hit the most and his robes were drenched with sweat. Using the Force to steady his mind and body, to bring his breathing under control, Jazen clicked the remotes off again and returned his saber to his belt, letting his mind repeat the session several times in his head. Where he had gotten hit, where he had done the best and done the worst, what to do better next time.

Thoughts that were interrupted by the beeping of a device in the corner. Turning his head to the source, Jazen moved over to his other items and removed the small beeping comlink there. The comlink he'd set to beep when it was half an hour before the meeting time. Looks like I finished just in time.

Gathering his things and returning the remotes to their places on the wall(minus his beaters, those were his own), Jazen disappeared into the now active halls of the temple.

Shortly before noon, Jazen was back out into those halls, his pack firmly secured onto his back. A quick shower to erase the labors of his training, tossing his dirty robes into the basket for cleaning and replacing them with fresh ones and a quick check of the items he'd packed earlier this morning had been the reason for the return to his room. And with that done, he just needed to get to the meeting place in time. Glancing at the chrono on the wall as he passed it, that task seemed to be the one that would be the most trying.

When he'd woken this morning to find that flimsy from Locke, Jazen had been surprised, if only by the strange way of his Master telling him where to be. Usually he came straight to him or signaled him with the comlink. A note was something new..and maybe it just meant something else was going to happen. Something that Locke, in all his lovely tricks, wanted to show in a method that matched the event. So if the note was a surprise, then perhaps the reason for the meeting would be a surprise and change to the norm like it was. Then again, that might just be him over thinking things, as usual.

Finding his way through the halls wasn't hard; Jazen was, if anything, a master of making his way through crowds. With the practiced ease of years of doing this, Jazen slid between groups of walking Jedi, darted into the open spaces wherever he could see them and made his way past the Jedi that were walking like they're feet were covered in slime and sticking to the floor. Before he knew it really, he was doing this at a bit of a run, always passing an "excuse me" or a "sorry" as he suddenly cut someone off, gaining the attention of more then a few others as he quickly found the lift to the Professional Way below appearing at the far end of the hall. He heard one of the older Jedi mutter something as he passed, something that sounded like "....second one to do this today", but he didn't pay it any mind. For that lift was looking like it was about to close.

With a final burst of speed, Jazen propelled himself towards the doors and turned himself sideways...just in time to slip between them as they began to close. Smiling a bit, he turned to look at the small group of younglings and their teacher who filled the lift already. The younglings were smiling...she was not. Giving a small smile that quickly faded, he quickly apologized and rode the lift down in silence...and trying not to remember the lady behind him now burning a hole in the back of his head behind him.

When the lift doors opened, Jazen was quick to get out and away from the death glare he'd been getting, quickly moving to the side to head towards the location on the note. Thankfully, it wasn't too far from the lift at all.

And to his surprise, he didn't just spy Locke there. But someone he'd met a few times recently; Elysia. Or rather...should it have been a surprise? After all, he'd heard her say something a while back about a possible event that was about to happen. Could this mean it was true?

Either way, it was a very welcome surprise at that, one that had him moving to reach them twice as fast as before. As he came closer, he gathered the power of the Force into his legs and with a single shove, launched himself into the air. His target...the out stretched arm of the statue Locke was resting against. A target he had no trouble in reaching, placing both hands firmly on it before rolling on and dropping over the other side, landing opposite Locke and Elys. Smiling, he bowed his head lightly to Locke and then to Elysia as well.

"Phew...that was a good way to wake up tired muscles. My apologies for being late, if I am. I got held up by a very scary youngling trainer. Oh, good afternoon Master, by the way...and to you as well Elys. I gotta admit; I'm surprised to find you here as well.

Though...considering the whispers I've been hearing, I shouldn't be too surprised. After all, the whispers came from Elys herself. Of course...I'll keep to myself till I hear it straight from the horse's mouth...which would be Master Locke's of course."

A few quiet minutes passed. All the while, Locke sat there, perched comfortably on his statue while he waited for his students to arrived. He even hummed a little tune, the melody of which came from an old hymn he'd learned when he'd been studying High Galactic as a youth.

Some other Jedi passed by, probably returning to the Temple after going out to Force only knew where. As she walked along, she noticed Locke and glanced up at him, giving him an odd look as if a Jedi sitting on the foot of one of the great old masters was an odd thing. Locke merely offered a toothy smile in return and nodded while waving off a lazy salute with two fingers. In spite of herself, the Jedi chuckled, shook her head and continued on into the Temple in a swirl of brown robes.

Locke chuckled as he settled back against the statue's ankle. "What good is living if you can't enjoy life?" Old Tiino's words echoed in Locke's memory. "Have some fun. Don't be so wound up like you have a lightsaber stuck in your ass. Life's too short."

Even now, years after he'd passed the Trials and come into being a well-off Knight, the thoughts of former Master's words--and his oh-so-sage ways of saying things--made Locke smile. Don't have to worry about me, old man. I'm still living life just fine.

He glanced up at the sun, then down at a small chronometer he dug out of one of his coat pockets. It was time. The two students should be showing up any moment now...

And there, as if on cue, was a flutter of a presence he recognized. Elysia. Figured she'd be the first one here.

Her presence faded as quickly as it appeared. Locke both grinned and lifted a brow at once. Hiding, was she? She held her presence down well enough to make it easy to look over if he wasn't really paying attention. On a whim, he looked deeper into the Force, and searched for her specifically. Sure enough she was there, a little light in the Force that was nearly bursting with eager energy. Locke chuckled under his breath.

Yeah, that's Elys.

It seemed she wanted to play with him. He didn't consider himself above having some fun, so he decided to play the part. When she burst out from behind his statue with a boo, Locke jumped and yelped in surprise, looking frantically around until he 'found' the Miraluka girl standing at the statue's base.

"Elys!"

That was about all he could say before she went on with an exited rush of words. He just laughed to himself and smiled at her. "Hey, kiddo. You're just on time, actually. And I'm well enough, though you know us old folks can't take surprise very well." He smiled and winked at her. "Bad for our heart. And our bowels. And I don't know about you, but I would very much like to continue having a healthy colon."

Around the time he finished, he felt Jazen approaching, and looked up to see the kid leaping through the air to the statue. Once his showing off was done, Locke bit down the urge to make a biting joke and simply nodded to him. "Afternoon, Jazen. You unfortunately are late. By..." He glanced down at his chronometer. "Approximately four seconds. Your punishment is forthcoming." Hopefully the lazy smile and tone of voice would show he was kidding.

As Jazen went on, Locke lifted his brows. There'd been word going around about what was coming? That was more than a little surprising. His stormy grey eyes flicked briefly to Elysia and then back to the snowy-haired boy. "That so? Well, then I suppose you both already know what I've called you here for, right?"

There simply weren’t words for how pleased Elys was that he was surprised…or, more likely, that he was playing along with her. She wasn’t sure she cared which one was the truth, but if it was the latter she had to hand it to him, he was a pretty good actor! Grinning, she shoved her satchel out of the way enough to put a fist on her hip and shift her weight to one leg and her pike. A laugh was his reply to his teasing comments, since there really wasn’t much time to do or say anything else before Jazen arrived in a very presumptuous leap and landing.

”Show off,”she muttered, a little smirk tugging at the corners of her mouth. It was difficult to resist the urge to stick her tongue out at him playfully, but she managed. Locke’s teasing of Jazen was much more interesting anyway, and had her tongue well stuck behind her teeth as she grinned impishly. She waved a bit at his greeting and hitched her bag up her shoulder a bit, listening. However, her smile faded swiftly…

”Wait what?” Her brows furrowed and she actually managed to frown a bit. She knew for a fact that she hadn’t breathed a word of Locke’s decision to anyone. That simply wasn’t the way she worked. Until something was official she didn’t talk about it…Ayani had taught her that much.

”One of the best and wisest things you can do in life, Elys, is to not speak on something until it’s official. There’s no use in starting rumors, or passing along information that is uncertain…it could cause panic, trouble in a mission, hurt others needlessly…among other things. Only if something could present a danger should you speak up about such things, and then only to the proper authorities or people responsible”

It had been a lesson she’d learned fairly quickly, once she had actually ended up hurting one of her friend’s feelings by doing that very thing. ”You’ve heard what from whom, Jazen? And what do you think I told you?” She could feel Locke’s eyes flicker over to her and she wondered if she was now in trouble for saying something she hadn’t. A mixture of frustration and intense anxiety flooded through her with that thought. I CAN’T be in trouble already! Oh please tell me I’m not in trouble! I swear, if I found out who started those rumors I’m going to have a good stern talk with them! This is TERRIBLE! Who could have known!? I didn’t even tell Jiria!

Locke’s question seeped into her thoughts somewhere along the line, but now she really didn’t know what to say. Did she say yes? Would he think she spilled this secret before she should have? If she said no she’d be lying though, sort of. Was this even supposed to be a secret? Wait…why didn’t he tell Jazen before this? After a moment she shifted her weight from one leg to the other and looked between Locke and Jazen before speaking tentatively, even a bit timidly. ”I have a bit of an idea, yeah…now anyway…sort of?”

Another half moment of silence and then she couldn’t bit it back any more.

”I didn’t tell anyone I swear, Master Locke! Oh man… I promise, Ma—Ayani, she taught me better than to say anything about something unofficial. I mean technically…but I wasn’t going to…ugh…”

Her forehead immediately found its way into her palm. Hard.

Jazen looked at his Master would a look of surprise, then that surprise quickly unfolded into a playful smile as he caught wind of the teasing Locke was giving him. Putting on a mask of feigned hurt and surprise, it took a great deal of willpower to keep from smiling outright as he spoke.

"Four seconds! Why, that’s one more second later then last time….I must be getting fat or something. Please don’t punish me Master, I promise I’ll only be three seconds late next time…or three seconds early.” Finally, Jazen let his charade falter and let his grin finally crack through, from ear to ear. He chuckled slightly, then shrugged his shoulders in further reply. ”Sorry about that, I got caught up in my morning routine. I would have been here on time exactly but well, youngling trainers are still scary…even when your not a youngling anymore.”

Jazen’s ear twitched to a sound from Elys, prompting him to turn his attention in her direction. Though he couldn’t be sure what it was she’d said, he caught her smiling slightly and figured it had something to do with his entrance. In all honestly, he’d done it because he’d wanted to see if he could do it…and the waking up thing wasn’t a lie either. Still, it was probably a little excessive for a simple meeting…he’d remember to do something much better for next time.

The surprise on both their faces when Jazen said he’d had a hunch what this was about from rumors caught him by surprise. Locke he could understand; it was something that no one save him, some members of the council and Elys herself should have known. But Elys surprise was a bit more confusing. Shortly after he’d met her for the first time, they’d teamed up for a day to help monitor a group of youngling’s with a few of their fellow padawans. While she had never said for certain anything in detail, she’d teased him in a way that day that had the gears inside his mind clicking. His last Master, Tylan, had told him information was always the key to any battle and no matter how useless something may seem, remembering it for later might play a bigger part then he’d first thought. As such, Jazen had clung to that information Elys had teased about that day and seeing them grouped together and no master in sight for Elys, only two conclusions could be made.

”You don’t remember Elys? Back when we were paddy sitting with the others, you wouldn’t stop making little teases like. “Who’s Master Jazen? Could have sworn Locke had more then one.” It may have meant nothing at the time but I kept it locked away up here..and seeing the situation now makes me think it was worth it.”

Shrugging, he turned back to Locke and shook his head slightly from side to side. ”Like I said, I have an idea, a guess, but I’m not gonna go jumping through hoops until you say it Master. If my guess is correct, don’t fault Elys for it, most people wouldn’t have even considered an alternative meaning behind those words. Far as I’m concerned, she told me nothing and I’m just freaking her out for no reason. If I’m wrong, then well….I’m sorry for being an inconvenience. So…what is the reason we’re here out in the sun?” He heard a slapping sound as Elys brought palm to forehead, prompting him to reach over and pat her on the shoulder lightly, sending her a little message through the Force.

Should have kept my mouth shut till AFTER he told us whatever he needed to tell us. Then at least I don’t make us both look bad, only me.. I owe you something for this…first favor achieved Elys..

Locke's gaze moved calmly between the two youths as they reacted to his question. Elys, the poor girl, freaked out, or at least suddenly felt a lot more stressed than he'd expected. She wasn't in trouble, after all. He'd just been curious about what had happened.

Her answer came fast, all bubbling out at once. Apparently Jazen saying whatever it was he said was the source of quite a bit of stress. Needless stress, in this instance, but stress all the same.

When Jazen started speaking, Locke looked over to him and listened, even though the boy gaze of his usual winding answers that took a few moments and said entirely too much before he actually got to the point. One day I'll have to talk to him about that.... Locke mused as he gave a simple nod.

Then there was the little silent aside to Elysia. Locke wasn't actively trying to pick it out, so all he got were impressions, but that was something else that would need to be worked on. He didn't mention anything about it though. Not now.

"Well, it's nothing to worry about," he said calmly, even companionably. He gave a little shrug and smiled, glancing at Elys. "I was just curious."

"In any event," he continued, leaning forward from the statue's ankle and bracing himself with his hands on the base's lip on either side of his hips, "I figure the reason I brought both of you out here should be pretty obvious by this point. Any guesses?" His grey eyes moved between them, from Jazen, to Elys, and back to Jazen again.

"No?" He said before either of them could voice an answer. "Well, I guess I'll have to tell you. Shame, though, Jazen--I thought you'd know after being together for so long. There's a cheesecake tasting going out at this place on the edge of the District, and I can get more food if I bring you two along."

Without saying more than that, he hopped down from his perch and started walking down the Processional Way, motioning for the two students to follow him. "So come on, come on, time's a-wastin'."

Locke kept the facade up for five more seconds, keeping his presence in the Force neutral to keep from giving his amusement away and glad that his back was to the two of them so they couldn't see his smile. Then he stopped, scratched thoughtfully at his beard and looked back over his shoulder.

"Well, damn, I just remembered the cheesecake tasting was yesterday. Really should keep up with these things in my day planner. Pity I never use the damn thing." That was a lie.

"But don't worry! I do have news for the two of you." He turned around, looking back up the steps at them with a warm smile on his face. "Though I guess it's not news anymore at this juncture.

"But yes, Elysia, it's true, you've found a new master." Locke grinned. "Some fellow named Locke Nemsee. Tell me once you run into him. Hear he's a dashing fellow."

There was nothing to remember. She hadn’t even hinted at anything as far as her new apprenticeship and she knew it. Who knew, maybe Jazen had dreamed it all up…the force did have a way of making people dream some strange things. She simply shook her head and turned her attention back to Locke. He didn’t seem angry, but that didn’t stop the stress and anxiety she felt about the situation. Jazen’s attempt to get a message through to her was met with a thick barrier, fueled mainly by that anxiety and consternation, rebounding it rather than allowing it through. For all intents and purposes she was deaf in that arena for the moment…not that she would have wanted a favor because of this anyway.

“Well, it’s nothing to worry about, I was just curious.”

That didn’t ease all of the stress, but it certainly had her relaxing quite a bit. At least she wasn’t in trouble, which was great news. Still, that had been quite a scare and it would take a few minutes for her to unwind all the way.

“…pretty obvious by this point. Any guesses?”

Shifting a little, she debated giving an answer…until Locke cut off any chance of doing so. Tilting her head slightly, she gave him about as curious a look as a miraluka could give. Why did he ask and then not let them answer? Well, that was answered for her also. Locke’s reply to his rhetorical question caught her off guard and caused a smirk to slowly spread across her face. He had to be teasing them, right? As he hopped down from his seat on the base of the statue and started toward the outside, she began to wonder about that conclusion. He was joking, right? Confusion and a cautious amusement etched their way through her presence as she tentatively started to follow him.

As he paused, scratching at his beard and looked back at them she couldn’t help but allow that smirk to become a smile, and then a grin. He was teasing them! And he’d almost gotten her with it too! Chuckling a little, more at herself by this point, she shifted her weight onto one leg, propped a hand on her hip, and leaned just slightly on the pole of her pike. ”I’ll be sure to let you know when I meet him…but from what I hear from the other masters he’s just a big goof ball who likes to tease his poor unprepared padawans. I’m not sure if he’s a very nice man for doing that…but I suppose he can’t be all bad.”