Questions and Answers [blue]

[Mara]

Strangely enough, Xierra was feeling a bit vulnerable at that moment. Even though she was a highly trained Jedi Knight sitting next to her padawan, the odd sensation was there. She had pretty much bared her soul, her innermost thoughts to this boy whom she had known only a handful of days. The hardened Falleen Jedi had opened herself up and let Larkin see the soft, fairly anti-reptilian inside of her. Of all the beings she had been around in her relatively short life, only one had given her the courage to voice her deep feelings, and that being had been her former master. It had taken some time, but Master Revisc had gotten to her; that had been part of the reason they worked so well together. He had known her better than any being had. And now Xierra had spoken thoughts that rarely left her mind, to this boy, her padawan. But despite feeling like she had little to hide, she also knew that she was not afraid of it. Her padawan was bringing out little-used emotions in her, and she couldn’t think of it as anything but good. Strange, but good and needed.

She waited for her padawan to answer, having come to grips with her new personal revelation. It was hard for her to read his Force presence this time, and she hadn’t an idea what he could possibly be thinking. They—she—had already gotten past the misconception that Larkin would be rejecting her tutelage. This time, her words had been to merely clarify her earlier ones. She hadn’t meant for her padawan to get the idea that she wanted to force trust between them, but she was still trying to get used to this relationship. Though she had had a padawan before him, this boy was entirely more complex than Zorn and was challenging her in many different ways. Hopefully he wasn’t just confused but just taking his time to respond carefully, as she had noticed was his pattern. Xierra kept herself opened up to the Force, hoping that some of her confidence in Larkin would penetrate his own aura.

When Larkin answered, Xierra smiled at him, not allowing any disappointment to show on her face at his lack of emotion behind his words. It was just something she would have to continually get used to. This padawan of hers was not one to go about with his emotions on the sleeves of his cloak. She would have to take anything he said and read between the lines for the true feelings she knew had to be hidden there, somewhere. “Yes, I am also glad for it. But I do apologize for what I had initially said, confusing you unnecessarily. I’d promise that it wouldn’t happen again, but I’d be lying. This is something new for me as well.” She smiled again and then stood up, motioning to her padawan to follow her, before continuing down the hall that was clear once again, keeping her gait slow enough for him to keep up with her taller frame.

“Now… I think it’s time we saw about working on this relationship of ours and growing this trust, don’t you think?” She stopped then and looked down at Larkin, her face and body neutral except for a bit of a smile showing on her face through her dark eyes and through her presence in the Force. Knowing that her padawan would be excited to leave Coruscant and get on with his training, she sent calming energies towards him before she spoke again. Eagerness was good, but too much could lead down a rough path. A certain patience would also be needed for his lessons.

Xierra held up a green, clawed hand. “However… first I just want to make sure that we have cleared the air of anything yet uncertain. Obviously I know we cannot know everything about each other right now; we have just started to grow together. But I want us to get started on the right path when we begin your training.” She paused, letting her words sink in. After a few beats, the Falleen started walking again, glancing down at Larkin as she spoke. “If you have any questions, any doubts, anything, that need to be settled before we depart, let’s work through them together now, so that later we will have no obstacles except for new ones that come with learning of the Force.”

[Blue]

Larkin nodded at his masters words, wordlessly accepting her apology. He had already come to the conclusion that there would be more than a few times during their positions as master and student that they would confuse each other with what they said. They had both had different backgrounds and upbringings which would undoubtedly become at odds on occasion, but he was willing to push past it, and he was certain that his master was too.

Master Zalq proceeded to once again stand up and begin walking the halls again, keeping a slow pace that that he did not fall behind. The young padawan's fingers twitched at his scarf, pulling it further up his face against a small breeze that past through the narrow passages. It would not have bothered most others, but Larkin had always been sensitive to colder temperatures, just as his eyes had always been sensitive to bright lights.

He nodded again at his master's next words, concealing the relief he felt at the chance to leave Coruscant. He was eager to at last begin his training, but the thought that he would soon be away from this place and somewhere far more isolated was a joyous one to say the least. He wondered if they would go to a planet with a desert. They were normally sparsely populated.

But then Master Zalq held up a hand, as if she had seen his enthusiasm and wished to stem it, asking him if there was anything else he wished to discuss before they began preparations to leave. Larkin's face remained impassive as he considered things. Could he perhaps chose this time to ask for the chance to pick up a blaster? He felt the absence of a weapon in his hands keenly since his time in the Temples and here he had the opportunity to acquire one. However, it was probably too early at this point. The request may simply confuse his master and result in a longer time on Coruscant, which he did not want.

Besides, it could wait for a little while longer. There would be plenty of time to pick a blaster up, especially if they where going into any warzones.

"No, master. No questions", Larkin replied quietly. The faster they left, the faster they could get on with things. Perhaps Master Zalq would give him something to do while they were in transit. He still had not quite got a handle to space travel and it might go a long way to helping him keeping his mind off things.

[Mara]

(((All right… I think we should be able to wrap this up with just one more post from you, and perhaps I’ll end it after that. But it’s not concrete; if you want to continue more, that’s fine.)))


Part of her hoped that Larkin hadn’t anything more to say, no more questions or concerns. If she was really honest with herself, Xierra knew that was just as eager to get started training as her padawan was. Of course, there were some nerves involved, but that was completely understandable. Though she had had a student before, this one would be an entirely different challenge and puzzle. And even though she had moved pass the loss of Zorn and accepted it, she couldn’t help but be a little reserved at starting the cycle over again with a new padawan. But her nervousness was mostly a good nervousness, and she was excited for what the future might hold for the two of them.

On the other hand, another part of her wished that her padawan did have some more to say. If anything, it would evidence his growing adjustment to their new relationship and his new situation. Xierra wanted Larkin to be able to voice any feelings, concerns, questions without being specifically prompted by her, as the rest of their earlier conversation had mostly gone. She understood that he had had a longer childhood than most younglings before being taken in by the Jedi, coming with extra baggage of family, friends, but he had spent just as much time at the Temple on Rhen Var. And yet any casual observer of Larkin wouldn’t necessarily identify him as a Jedi. The Knight wasn’t sure whether her padawan’s closed nature was purely his upbringing, though. Either way, despite her eagerness to get started on refocusing the boy’s training, she was more than willing to stop and speak to him as long as needed to put his mind at peace.

She felt Larkin thinking as they walked along the hallway. The fact that he wasn’t quick to respond and deny that he had any more questions was a good sign, she thought. Xierra knew that some younglings and padawans got so excited for the next steps in their lives that they would agree to anything before they were ready in order to just get there. And though she could feel the elation in her padawan’s Force aura about the prospect of training, he was taking the time to consider whether there was anything else he needed to know before they departed. Of course, she could chalk it up just to his nature of being careful and thoughtful with his words, but Xierra also wanted to believe that he was actually looking within himself and considering his future. Perhaps she was slowly making progress with him, progress that would only continue with time.

When Larkin answered, Xierra wasn’t completely surprised by it. Obviously he had chosen his response after much thought. She couldn’t feel that were anything else behind his words. There was his underlying emotions, a little excitement about training, but it didn’t seem to be linked to his answer. And if it was, there wasn’t anything she could do about it now. She didn’t want to keep pressing him, forcing him to speak to her about his concerns, his troubles. That would only serve to increase the chasm between them, not fill it. If there were still some things bothering her padawan, they would just have to face them together during his training. Xierra didn’t think anything more could be accomplished here on Coruscant except for walking in endless circles with Larkin.

With a nod, she smiled at her padawan and poured confidence and good feelings through the Force, pushing away anything negative. Now was the time to be positive. Once they reached their destination, she could focus on the more important things. “All right. Good.” Xierra walked in silence for a few moments, unsure of how to continue. Preparations would need to be made, supplies gathered, a ship garnered. The Falleen hadn’t been back on Coruscant long but had still used her old quarters. There were a few items she had stashed there that she would need. Not everything could always be carried on her body. Larkin, too, would have things, those few things he had brought from Rhen Var. She made a mental note to also borrow a training saber to take along, just in case they progressed enough to get to lessons of that sort. All in all, though, she thought they’d be able to depart within a week.

“Now… since there’s nothing else for the time being, we have quite a few things to settle up before we can leave the Temple. Though, most of that falls on me.” She smiled down at her padawan before looking back up again. “However, there are a couple things you could do to prepare. We will have a few more days while I requisition a ship and supplies and tie up any loose ends I have here at the Temple. And most of that time, you will not be able to join me; I’ll be running around all over, and it just wouldn’t be all that interesting. It is ultimately up to you how you spend that time, but I would suggest logging some hours in the library, reading up on anything that interests you. Taking some time to meditate and be alone would be good as well. And then when everything’s ready, I’ll message you when to meet me in the hangar.” Xierra stopped and turned to face Larkin, her scaly brow ridge rising a bit. “Sound good?”

[Blue]

((No, wrapping it up is fine with me. ^_^ ))

His master seemed content with the fact that he had no further questions, which Larkin found relieving. He did not enjoy the idea of being grilled with questions under normal circumstances, but here, where he felt so constricted and enclosed by everything, his tolerance for such things was even more strained. His usually dour mood would become more obvious than before, which, ironically, made people ask even more questions. Luckily, however, Xierra appeared to have caught onto this fact quickly.

The young man nearly tensed up when she mentioned that there were a few things he would be able to do to prepare for their trip, but he swiftly relaxed when she continued, advising him to study, meditate and generally spend his time alone. This Larkin was all too happy to do. He had no wish to being forced to speak to others. Mainly because he was already uncomfortable here but also because he would have very little to say. If past experience was anything to go by, he would end up just standing there, occasionally grunting or nodding when asked something until the other person decided to spend their time doing something more constructive.

Larkin simply nodded his head in reply to his master asking if this was alright with him. He would probably do almost exactly what she suggested to pass the time until everything was ready. After a moment of thought, the padawan saw no reason to not restart his old regime from Rhen Var: exercise in the early mornings, study over food then begin the mental exercises that all younglings were taught until he was hungry once more, then further study followed by physical training after his food had settled.

After a moment of contemplation, Larkin decided to slip in some further basic Force utilization training techniques. If there was one thing that he knew about himself, it was that he was probably the weakest Jedi in the Force that had graced the Temples. If his experience here was anything to go by then he would have to get accustomed to highly populated worlds, and fast. If he was to become a fully fledged Jedi, he could not be avoiding every capital planet that he came across. Even if he was able to stick to more sparsely populated worlds there was no guarantee that any investigations or actions he started their would not send him somewhere else across the galaxy.

All these thoughts flashed through Larkin's mind as he raised a hand in farewell to his master and began to walk back to where he had been bunked. There was very few things that he possessed that was not on his person right now. Aside from spare clothes and a few educational data slates he had nothing. Considering the nomadic existence he was bound to lead once his time as a padawan ended (one way or another), it was best that he did not get used to lugging around lots of gear. If he could not carry it or was not essential to his survival, then it was simply dead weight.

Content that he was ready to ship out at a moment's notice, he switched his attention to what he would do until tomorrow came. When he reached his bunk, Larkin grabbed the data slate with the theory of lightsaber forms on it. As the hours wound on he knew that it was going to be one of those nights were he would not get a ounce of sleep and sighed to himself.

When they left Coruscant, he would not be too dismayed. Hopefully, should he ever return, he would be able to appreciate it more after acclimatising to densely populated worlds.

[Mara]

(((All righties, this thread is now done... I'll PM you the link to the new one when it's up.)))



Xierra knew she shouldn’t have been surprised at the barest of responses from her padawan at her words that they would finally be moving ahead in his training. Perhaps she had just hoped for a more visible show of his excitement. Not that she wanted her padawan overly joyous on the prospect of training—that could lead to overconfidence and other weaknesses—but just a little emotion, a smile, anything from Larkin would have brightened the Falleen’s spirits about what they were about to embark upon. At the very least, she would have thought he would be relieved to be leaving the Temple and Coruscant in general. But he had taken it all in stride. Though she still felt a little energy and excitement in his Force presence, most of it seemed to have been replaced with a steady resolve and focus. Maybe it would change as the day of departure came closer; for now, she would just have to worry about other things.

She raised her own green-scaled hand when Larkin waved to her as he left, off to work on her suggestions on how best to spend his time while she took care of their to-do list for their trip. Though she could never been completely sure in her mind that he would follow through on her wishes, she also did not believe that it was in her padawan’s nature to be intentionally disobedient. If anything about their relatively short time together could speak for the present, Xierra felt certain that Larkin would be despondent if he disappointed her. Now that she had given him a purpose, a task, though mere suggestions, she knew deep within herself that he would do make the best of his time alone the next few days.

And if they were to get started on his training soon, Xierra would have to do the same. After watching her padawan for a few more moments until he passed around a corner, she turned her mind to other matters, sure that if a problem arose, her padawan would contact her. The Falleen turned on her booted heels and headed in the direction towards her first of many tasks on her mental checklist to make sure they were prepared for weeks of training away from Coruscant. She would need to gain permission from the Council before she could do anything else. Then it would be off to requisition supplies and a ship, to gather her few personal items and training materials. She took a deep breath and held it for a couple seconds before releasing it. The next chapter in her and her padawan’s entwined lives was beginning.


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