A Modest Proposal [Mooney]

[Almsey Belmont]

He'd been called into the Jedi temple about 4 hours ago with no idea just what the council wanted with him. He'd arrived, on time. But fashionably late. The council expected him to report the moment that they came a calling. Well he was in the middle of a meeting with one of his lower city contacts and if they continued wanting valuable information then they were going to need to wait. Suffice to say they weren't too pleased with him when he arrived. Not that they could actually reprimand him for being late but the scowls on their faces told all.

So it had been their pleasure to brief him on a certain case that required investigating. At first, being the personal Jedi super detective he was. He assumed that this was going to be his case. But no, what they had called him for, wasn't to investigate this. They'd already sent out several teams. His job was to take care of the inevitable after thought left by one Jedi's disappearance. The Padawan.

Even now. Squatting outside in the main hall, he was thinking over just how his heart had almost stopped when they told him that he was getting another Padawan. Well. They didn't outright tell him that he had to take her. But it was implied, like most things within the order. After his failure with his last padawan. Almsey was rather nervous about the premise of taking on another one. However, he knew that as a knight. One of his duties was to train the next generation. He told the council he was interested. Read her file. And told the Masters to send word to her to meet him at the main hall.

So here he was now. Trying to hide his nerves. Waiting to see just what this girl was like.

[Moonfire]

That Padawan in question was one Moonfire Esense. She wasn't the most capable of her class, but she was certainly determined. As she walked through the halls of the great Temple the last words spoken to her Master Teiko, the old Kushiban who had been her mentor replayed in her head.

"I'll be back soon, Moonfire. Keep practicing." The rabbity old man said, almost affectionately before she embraced him. A stern look flashing across his face before leaving. The gruffness of his voice so clear in Mooney's mind another wave of grief went through her. It had been too long, he must be gone.

A soft sigh fell from the girl as the echo of her boots bounced around her. The Temple felt strangely empty despite its usual hustle and bustle of Jedi and people wandering past, friendly hellos tossed back and forth as the padawan was lost deep in thought. The council had called earlier that morning, their voices filled with sympathy.

They were assigning her a new Master. Only temporary, they assured her. Until Teiko was found, though she still needed to continue her training in the meantime.

"If they knew they were going to find him they wouldn't just assign me to someone new..." She scoffed at the idea. Tucking a black lock of hair behind her ear, she wandered forward the Main Hall looming all about her. Scanning the hall there was few people, mostly chatting amongst themselves, only one seemed out of place. Squatting at the entrance, the man appeared to be a Jedi Knight and waiting. A man that matched the description the Council had given her. A flush of anxiety moved over her.

What if he didn't want her? Teiko had hardly wanted her about, tagging along after him. Now this stranger who knew nothing of her was force to take her on halfway through her apprenticeship. What a burden! A wave of nerves washed through her, nearly paralyzing the girl. With a gulp she approached, cautiously.

"M-m-master Almsey?" She stuttered quietly, trying desperately to get control of herself.

[Almsey Belmont]

Almsey wasn't too great at sensing things. In fact a few of the subtle arts of the force were difficult for him. But it wasn't hard to sense the shaking wreck of nerves that was approaching him now. Then again the girl just about mirrored his feelings concerning this whole situation. But he swallowed it in his gut and looked up as she said his name. Master Almsey. That sounded strange to him. Foreign. Most just refered to him by his first name. Or even by his second. Belmont. But never with the Master prefix in front.

Then again thought this girl was going to be his padawan. " Master Almsey?". He shook his head and grinned. " Last time I heard someone call me that was a hot twilek girl in chains on narshada....and trust me...she wasn't a slave...least not in the literal ways of thinking...". It was of course, a joke. Jedi were forbidden to have such coupled interactions. The girl seemed as if she needed a bit of humour in her life and something like this could easily break the ice as well as impose some self confidence. He stood up straight and looked down at her. Moonfire Essense. An odd name to be sure. But strangely beautiful.

She was tall for a girl her age.But still short compared to her would be master. " Your a lot cuter in real life than in the picture...".

He said in a musing kind of voice. Walking around her in circles. Apparantly examining her. To her this would likely appear that he was checking her out. And this was the image he wanted to give off. But in truth he was checking out her physical conditioning. Seeings just where the muscle was in her body. Knowing such things would help greatly with training schedules. Almsey's style was to work on weakness the most and have some time attributed soley to strength work. Built up an overall average in your weakness whilst buffing your strengths up to their highest potiental.

" So I assume you already know the score. Your going to be my new Padawan".

He gave a grin and winked at the girl again. " Looking forward to it?". And there we had the icebreaker between Padawan and Master. He'd got a rough idea of her physical shape, but next would come a judgement on her personality. As well as a way to relax her, the whole fliration thing was good in getting a judgement on a persons personality as well as their mental state. Such things you had to know when your main sortie of missions concerned investigation. Would she be a firecracker? Serious, but blushing? Or would the nerves relax, but the blush make her shy?

Or would she be none of the above. He was kean to find out.

[Moonfire]

" Master Almsey? Last time I heard someone call me that was a hot twilek girl in chains on narshada....and trust me...she wasn't a slave...least not in the literal ways of thinking..." His tone screamed of joking, but the teenaged girl couldn't control her face. It was nice to be joked with that was certainly true, Teiko had never been the joking kind, but joking of such.. suggestive things? That was different.

A bright pink covered the pale Moonfire's face, heat radiating from it in great waves as she tried to control herself enough to use her voice. Rendered speechless, Almsey went on.

" Your a lot cuter in real life than in the picture...". To this she couldn't suppress a hoarse chuckle, still trying to regain the ability to use her voice. "T-thank you." Was all she could muster, the blush still deep. Her eyes followed as Almsey walked in circles about her, checking her from every angle.

As her finally stopped before her the dark haired girl was finally able to pull herself together, the blush almost completely gone. Grateful for the break from her embarrassment she steadily was able to pull the shreds of her control together once more and began to speak.

"I'm most excited to start training again." Her comment neutral, for she truly didn't know how she felt. To be taken in by such a ... strange Jedi, after her years with Teiko, it was almost surreal. Thinking and acting like he was gone.

[Almsey Belmont]

So, as for her reaction to the flirtation. She seemed to burst into blush, but managed to recover her composure enough to speak. Enough enough to thank him for his comments. To him that said a lot about her as a person. There was nerves in there, an insecurity. But at the same time there was also strength and a good level of control. Her reply to his last flirtatious remark. Neutral. The answer of a Jedi. Good. Stretching a tad to get the knots out of his muscles.

There was however a reminder in her action. The girl seemed to be still under the hope that her master was alive. Although for the life of him he couldn't understand why. He'd read the file on both Moonfire and her previous Master, the one who had gone missing. Teiko. From what he could tell, the guy was a grumpy old bastard. But still, that time together made a bond that wouldn't be broken or bent easily.

Her hope wasn't completely without merit. Jedi did usually disappear for months at a time. But ones with Padawans usually took the young Jedis with them. Or at least left a note as to where they were going. Thoughts already played about in Almseys head as to the fate of her old master. Death or darkside. Semed to be prevelent. But in his experience, making such guesses wern't good. They formed an opinion and clouded judgement to a mind that needed to stay neutral to absorb all evidence. Admittedly the council didn't say whether she'd be his padawan for any length of time, or until her master returned. But again...what didn't need to be said was usually hinted at.

But, the Jedi wasn't the kind of person to break hope. Particularly if this one was going to be his new student. All he could do was try to form his own bond with her. And if the news of death came. Be there to lighten the shock. Such things had a way of turning...nasty. Of planting the seed of anger. " Good to hear, just so you know though my training may differ from your masters methods...so I'll take you in slowly to the routine, don't want to rush you....whats done fast is usually done wrong...". He gave another light smile. And then held out his hand for a hand shake.

" Well Moonfire. Its good to meet you...and who knows...by th time Teiko gets back you may have a few new tricks to show him".

[Moonfire]

Smiling softly she extended a hand as well, shaking gently. "Very nice to meet you as well, Master Almsey. I appreciate you taking me on so suddenly." Blue eyes bright as she turned up to look him, the warm hand still clutched in hers for a moment. "I'm sure Master Teiko will be most pleased to see my progress upon his return." A decisive nod given as she broke out into a grin.

Moonfire was no fool, quite the opposite in fact, but she was an eternal optimist. Despite the circumstances of Teiko's disappearance, she felt sure she would know if he had died, felt something in the Force, even if Sense wasn't her forte. Tucking a lock of hair behind her ear she nervously fidgeted with the long padawan braid on her shoulder, fingering it lightly.

"So, Master Almsey... If I may be so bold, you seem to know a lot about me... What can you tell me about you?" Her voice was soft, almost cautious. A natural curiosity was born into the girl, and the chance to learn something about the tall man before her was too good to resist. "What will our training be like?" her voice holding an edge of excitement as she thought it over.

[Almsey Belmont]

He tried to hold his smile, even as it faltered upon her asking if she could know a little about him. This was going to be akward to say the least. So he had to quickly think up just what knowledge about him was availble to the public and put his own spin on it. " Of course...now lets see...I'm 29 years old....I love spicy food...the occasional drink....". Again with the joking tone. But it was really all stalling tactics till he finally got his head around just what he was going to say to her. " Hehe...just kidding...lets see....". He took a seat next to a fountain and patted next to him. A gesture for her to sit as well.

" Well, I was found on Tatooine by the order as a baby. They didn't take me in because they sensed potiental, I was part of a group of babies found...".

That part was true, and most of what he would tell her was true. Just removing a few of the dirtier details. Like on example, how he had been found with other babies in tatoonine...but it had been in a Hutts torture chambers. A result of a sick experiment to see if humans when exposed to constant pain since infancy could prove to be better soldiers. " I was taken in by one of the nurses here at the temple...given a name....I was found to be force sensative...and was taken in for training here.....I later found out that my mother is actually somewhere around this temple...". He scratched his head. " My true mother that is.....She was a Jedi....although I stopped trying to find her even before I was taken as a padawan...". Crossing his arms he let out a sigh.

Cutting off from family as a Jedi was hard, but he'd never had a family to cut of from. " The circimstances of my...conception...were apparantly painful, so for her, and my own protection. She remains anonymous...". He seemed to have gone off on a tangent, so with a light note off that depressing subject he moved onto another. " I defeated a Dark Jedi in my test of the flesh....and was given the other two before obtaining knight status..". He shrugged.

" Overall I'm rather...unpopular...with other Jedi because of my...excentric...methods....but I'm one of the councils best investigators...".

Of course, he had left out in that little story that the Dark Jedi had been his former master. And that killing her had damaged his relationships with her friends, most of whom where Jedi Masters themselves. But then, it wasn't a good thing to tell this girl. Might give her the idea that her former master had turned to the dark side. Which although possible. Would be heart breaking for her.Finally off the subject of him she asked what training would be like.

" Oh, well early in the week I thought we'd start off with some basic force training methods. Moving onto light physical training, and before you go to bed...a few problems for you to muse over to help train your investigative noggin....". He poked his index finger playfully in the centre of her head. " Mid week will be lightsabre training, I'll be teaching you, primarily the Makashi form....that'll give you an edge in lightsabre to lightsabre combat...". He closed his eyes. " Finally end of the week we start off with some lightsabre training in the morning, then heavily force based training in the afternoon, followed by a duel with yours truely in the evening to see how your improving...". The next part made him grin. And was something taken from his own masters book.

" The weekends...you can have off...what we do...is up to you".

[Moonfire]

Moonfire listened quietly with great interest. His own life was so radically different from her own. Parting with her parents had been difficult, they had even moved the family to Coruscant to stay closer to her, something they were asked specifically not to do. She couldn't imagine having a mother in the Temple and not seeking her out, having a mother that didn't even want her. What a sad thought.

Her eyes scanned over the Knight, taking in his expression and manner. The way he seemed to struggle for a way to explain the messier details of his life, sighing and shrugging. He was a peculiar man, with what seemed to be even more peculiar past and didn't want to go in much detail. Nodding her head gently as he ended his life synopsis, the girl decided then that she would try to wrangle more detail out of him later, if he wanted to that is.

Perking up the tension seemed to break as Almsey laid out the plans for training. And with it the girl brightened up, relaxing, even emitting a light giggle as he poked the center of her forehead. Her fingers went for her braid again, running them gently over the surface, the cool silkiness was pleasant. Suddenly another question struck her, demanding to be asked.

"Have you had any Padawans before me?.." Her voice louder, more at ease now. "And feel free to ask my any questions if you'd like. I'm sure you know plenty though from whatever file on me they gave you"

[Almsey Belmont]

She was starting to get a bit more confident, this was good at least in his eyes anyways. However what he didn't expect her to come out with was her quetion. Did he have another padawan before her. Who boy this was going to be a difficult one to explain. " Yeah, I did have one...". He scratched the back of his head rather nervously. " There was a bit of a conflict of interests....shes training with another master now...". At least, when he'd last checked up on her she was. For all he knew though she'd went back to being a healer in the past couple of months.

" Oh, really its not that much of a detailed report...".

He removed a datapad from his side pocket and handed it to her. It was a just a basic rundown of her strengths, her weaknesses. And a technical review of her history, birth parents and master. But there was one question that he thought to ask. " Well...there is one question I'd like to know the answer to....". He bent down, bringing himself to eye level on her. Hands folded behind his back.

"...Do ya like icecream?....I know this great place....I'm buying...".

He stood back up, relaxing his shoulders slightly. In reality though he had little to ask the girl that probably wouldn't be revealed in time and at a ore comfortable rate. He'd rather she tell him when they'd established a more firm bond with one another as opposed to feeling...required. To talk about herself. Likewise, he'd probably open up to her a lot more after they'd gotten to know each other a bit.

And with him. Well there was a lot to open up.

Why he never bothered looking for his mother. The truth behind being found by the order. The story of having to kill his master. Although the latter he hoped he'd be able to leave until her master was offically declared dead and she had gotten over it. Well. Over it enough for the story not to effect her.

[Moonfire]

Griping the datapad in hand she looked over the spread of information. Details about everything in her life, everything to be known anyways, laid out in an easy to read format. Even comments made by Master Si Quan from her youngling years.

Moonfire is a very dedicated young lady, her fierce determination and loyalty will make her a valuable member of the Order later in life. Her nerves though will be her downfall, they must be worked with.

Her nerves, she all but chuckled. She understood the issues with her self confidence, with her inability to perform properly on the spot. In theory she was a great Jedi, in practice she was hapless and bumbling. An issue she was terribly aware of, though she hoped in the 2 years since Si Quan had added the comment that the Padawan had grown past some of that.

Her attention turned away from the datapad, drawn to the eyes of Almsey kneeling before her. A smile cracked across her face as he mentioned ice cream. An electric jolt of happiness crackled through her, she all but lept up to hug him then. "Ice cream? That sounds like a fine idea." Her voice bubbling over with excitement. If there was one thing about Moonfire, it was that her spirits were easily lifted. Simple joys in life made all the difference to her.

Standing up tall next to him, the wrapped fingers handed over the datapad, before bowing lightly jokingly inviting Almsey to lead the way. "After you, Master."

[Almsey Belmont]

He felt the shift in her disposition go from mildly nervous/relaxed to hyper super happy.It seemed that he hit the nail on the head with that guess. The girl was into ice cream. But more was that she seemed a little too happy about it. He wondered if her old master had ever taken her out as such. Well, he was something new if that wasn't the case. Training sessions would be hard during th week. When they wern't on missions that was. But at the weekend she'd be free to do as she wished. Well. Within the restrictions imposed by the Jedi. Not as if he could allow her to go visit her parents.

" That might be an idea actually"

Not taking her to visit, but rather paying a visit to them himself. Inform them that he was her new master, progress reports on how she was doing and such. There was no rule within the order that said he couldn't. The padawan had to stay away from their family. But there was no rule against the master keeping in touch. Still it was a little bit of a rule bend and he'd likely be repremanded for it. But it was still a thought to keep in mind for later on. She let him move on first. To lead the way. He thought of being gentlemanly and insisting that she go first. But of course. Then the thought occured to him.

She didn't know where the ice cream place was.

He nodded. Walking ahead of her down to the public transits. Glancing back at his new Padawan he felt that he could easily grow to like the girl. But there was a lot that lay ahead of them. And this was only the begining.