Slice of Heaven For Some, Slice of Hell for Others

[Ghostie]

Sirius couldn’t honestly say there was a time in his life that was worse than this, besides the day Master Wolf had died. Master Ka had decided after their last mission to go to Shili, her homeworld and the native planet of the Togruta, for training. But not training for her, training for Sirius. He couldn’t figure out why she wanted to come out here, away from the Jedi Temple. The nearest spaceport was hundreds of miles away. There wasn’t a single piece on advanced technology anywhere. In his mind, there was no point to come out here. They could do the same type of training, and more, at the Temple and then have a comfortable bed at the end of the day. But Sirius had been with Master Ka long enough now to know that she did everything for a reason.

In the first few days they had been planetside, Sirius’s datapad and died. The battery and ran dry and the shuttle didn’t have the right receptacle to charge it. It hadn’t been serving him very much anyways, since they had touched down Sirius couldn’t get a connection to the Holonet. He was constantly cleaning his saber, making sure it was free of mud and flora. His glasses continually had specks of mud and dirt attracted to them, as if it was a magnet. And being constantly dirty was a new thing for Sirius, he didn’t like it that much. Needless to say, the rainforest and the young padawan were not getting along, and the rainforest was winning.

However, the local Togruta tribe had been more than friendly. It was a small tribe, consisting of no more than fifty individuals. Sirius found the Togruta culture interesting to learn about. They had customs and habits that he had never heard about, such as eating raw meat, the thimiar. At first, it was unnerving to watch a Togruta kill one of the small rodents with their teeth. But Sirius kept to his own, cooked food and didn’t say anything.

Master Ka seemed to be at peace on Shili. She seemed to be well respected by the tribe from what Sirius could pick out. She seemed to fall right back into step with all the customs of the Togrutas. Sirius was anything but at peace however. The rainforest was too loud, unlike his private quarters back at the Jedi Temple. There were too many noises at night. He couldn’t meditate or sleep with so much noise. The first time he had tried, he walked out of the hut he and Master Ka were borrowing, frustrated. Instead, he had devoted his time from meditation to fixing a decrepit speeder bike in the small village, hoping a menial task would clear his mind. Luckily there had been spare tools on the shuttle.

In a few days, Sirius had cracked. For a padawan would could take apart and build a complex computer without a manual, a rainforest in the middle of nowhere was not an ideal spot to train. He wasn’t his usual, cheerful self anymore. He was miserable most of the time they were training, and too tired the rest of the time to care. No matter how much Sirius tried to fight the rainforest, the rainforest always won. Maybe that was what Master Ka was trying to teach him, there are some things you just can’t fight. The rainforest had been around for millions of years, and it would endure even longer. Didn’t mean that Sirius would just give up though.

Today was the seventh day they had been on Shili, Sirius was keeping track. He and Master Ka were spending their time on this late morning hiking through the rainforest. To where though, he didn’t know. He had simply grabbed his backpack and stored his tools when Master Ka had called for him. They had to have been hiking for half an hour though, maybe more.

They hiked through small ravines and forded a small, shallow river. Over tree roots that stuck out of the ground so they were almost taller than Sirius. It was hot and moist in the rainforest, something else the padawan had to get used to. It was very uncomfortable for someone who had been spending a lot of time in the Temple’s controlled environment. They were deep enough into the rainforest now that only green light shone down from the sun.

Sirius was carrying nothing more than his saber, his backpack, and his glasses. His boots were coated in mud, but they had been like that since day one no matter how much Sirius had tried to clean them. He had forgone all the layers of his Jedi robe and had left his outer robe, as well as the part of the robe that made up his sleeves and a portion of his torso, at their shuttle. This left his arms able to move freely and breath and showed off what muscle he had gained, even if it was a small amount so far, under Master Ka’s training.

The padawan was slowing down, and Master Ka kept her same pace. He needed to stop for a moment, just to take a drink from the canteen in his pack. He stopped and leaned against a tree, and Master Ka walked a few more paces before noticing.

“Just for a moment Master Ka…” Sirius explained, swinging the pack off of his shoulder and unzipping it to grab the canteen.

He took quite a few gulps of water, the cold refreshing water. After he was done, he took a deep breath, and then offered the canteen to Master Ka. It felt nice to stop for a moment, after all, his legs still hadn't quite recovered from their last mission, and the server beating he took at the hands of a dark jedi.

“Do you want some? It’s just water, some of the last cold stuff we had on the shuttle.”

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Master Teer Ka was truly enjoying her time back on Shili, the first she'd had there in easily a decade. It was home for her, and she liked it there. There was just a certain special something about it in her blood, a voice that cried out for it, demanding the fresh air, the blue skies, the green canopies and the red undergrowth.

It was exhilarating to be back on her homeworld, under the same stars she'd been born underneath, and where she'd spent several childhood years. Of course she'd lost track of her heritage for a while, but as a Knight she'd rediscovered Shili, and it had become her sanctuary. Whenever the stress was too much, whenever her burdens were overly heavy, she'd found an excuse to come to native soil and live simply and cleanly in the rain forests and lowland hills of her home.

There were other "Ka"s to be found here, men and women who were related to her, and who greeted her with open arms. It was home. That's precisely what it was.

Teer placed one bare red foot onto a fallen log and jumped off it like a little girl, landing in soft green moss on the other side. It felt so incredibly good to go without her customary boots. They felt so restricting and so confining, but this was liberating and free. Nothing compared to walking barefoot through nature with confidence in yourself. Nothing.

Teer paused for a moment as she detected Sirius lagging behind, without even having to turn her head. A powerful combination of the Force and her ultrasonic spatial awareness told her that much without looking. And it also wasn't hard to guess why.

Sirius was an excellent young Padawan, who she was very pleased with on the whole, but when it came to physical activity in general and nature in particular. For the one week they'd been present on Shili, he'd spent every minute he could working on a decrepit speeder bike and poking around the shuttle they'd come in on. He wasn't pleased with these hikes Teer had been leading him on, and he was having trouble keeping up. It was midday and they'd only covered five miles on foot, if she was alone... Well, she wasn't.

“Just for a moment Master Ka…”

Teer stopped short and climbed back over the fallen log, heading back to meet with her Padawan. As she did, she took off her backpack and set it on the ground, stretching her back. In the process the tan tank-top she was wearing rode up and revealed a very toned red-skinned stomach. Her arms pulled it down again and she examined her pants a little more carefully. They were a very light cargo design in a light olive color. Between those and her bare feet, she looked nothing like a Jedi. Only the double-bladed lightsaber strapped to her lower back gave that part of her identity away.

“Do you want some? It’s just water, some of the last cold stuff we had on the shuttle.”

Teer nodded and accepted the canteen, taking one long gulp of it before fastening the top and handing it back to Sirius. She'd been surprisingly thirsty, but it was true she was neglecting water. They'd skipped refilling at a stream a while ago...

"We'll stop here for lunch Sirius."

Master Ka sat down on a large rock and reached into her backpack, pulling out a native fruit she'd brought along from the Tribal village. She bit into it, tangy juice dribbling down her chin, pulp caught in her teeth. She tossed a second one to Sirius as she swallowed her bite and prepared to deliver her latest bit of instruction.

"Sirius," She began, "This past week I've been working to teach you survival skills. How to find and make shelter, how to find clean water, how to move through dense terrain, how to maintain your bearings, and how to find food. Tonight this all gets but to the test. I've scouted this area out intensely while you've been busy with that speeder bike. It's safe. Which is why tomorrow morning I'm going to leave you alone to find your way back."

[Ghostie]

Sirius put the canteen back into his pack and then looked up to see a fruit flying towards him. He caught it with both hands and recognized it immediately. On their first hike through the rainforest, Master Ka had picked some of the same fruit to share with him. The fruit was hard to describe. It was sweet and tangy, and very filling all at the same time. It was unlike anything he had ever eaten at the Jedi Temple, and Sirius enjoyed it. He looked down at the fruit for a moment and then bit into it, taking a big chunk out of its side. As he did, juice flowed out of the fruit and onto his arm, running down the length of it.

Sirius ate as Master Ka talked. It was true, she had been teaching him to make shelter, and he nodded at this and took another bite out of his fruit. She had also taught him how to find clean water and move through dense terrain, he nodded at this as he chewed on his fruit. And yes, he did remember how to find food and maintain his bearings, that was his favorite part as these fruits were very populous in this area of the rainforest.

But the young padawan almost choked on the next part. Coughing up the piece of fruit he was eating, Sirius was surprised at what Master Ka said. She wanted him to survive in the rainforest by himself, and find his way back to the village. He was surprised and she thought he was ready, only after a week of training. Sirius didn’t think he was ready to do this. Sure, he could do all the stuff she had listed, but to do it all by himself?

“I’m sorry, you want me to what? To survive out here on my own, and then find my way back?”

Sirius paused for a few moments, thinking of all the possible things that could happen out here on his own. If worst came to worst, Master Ka would come back to find him cold and hungry. He didn’t want that to happen. And she said she had cleared the area of dangerous predators, but Sirius still didn’t trust that. From what Master Ka had told him, the predators of Shili wandered where they wanted to. He took another bite of his fruit

Sirius thought for another long moment. He could do all those things that Master Ka wanted him to; maybe he could do this after all. If Master Ka thought him ready, then he could do it. After all, it would just be a day if that. Sirius picked up his pack, ready to leave. He threw the pit of the fruit he was eating out into the rainforest.

“I assume we have to walk further? Starting from here, it wouldn’t take too long to get back to the village.”

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

“I’m sorry, you want me to what? To survive out here on my own, and then find my way back?”

"Precisely," Teer said with a nod. She hadn't stuttered, and her Padawan's hearing was perfect, which was why he could repeat back precisely what she'd just said. And by this time he knew she rarely joked, and never over something so serious.

She also realized it had to seem like a rather tall order to the young human, having to find his way back to the Togruta tribe from the wilderness. The forested hills of Shili at the base of mountains were nothing to be trifled with, but she'd personally checked the land, and consulted with the local hunters. This was a safe area, without an akul in sight and very few of the smaller predators. Positively idyllic really. The odds of her new Padawan dying were very small indeed.

Yes, she was in careful control of this situation, and faith in her Padawan sealed it. He'd make it and survive, she knew that. The question was, did he?

“I assume we have to walk further? Starting from here, it wouldn’t take too long to get back to the village.”

Teer chuckled at that before patting her Padawan on the shoulder, a rare sign of affection from her that meant quite a deal. Master Ka very rarely expressed emotions, and her praise was few and far between. The fact she saw fit to reward Sirius with both a chuckle and a physical touch was really quite rare for her.

"Yes, we'll walk at least for the rest of the day, more likely tomorrow as well. We'll head further up the hills as well, you may find coming back down them easier." Master Ka made a veiled reference to tripping and falling, which had come up before actually. Not on her part certainly.

The Togruta Weapons Master finished up her own fruit, chewing into the pit with her fangs. Unlike humans, Togrutas had stronger digestive systems, and the core of the fruit held a great deal of nutrients.

Now if only there was a forest thimiar to be found anywhere...

Oh well.

"In the evening I may hunt us dinner, which can be cooked."

[Ghostie]

Hoisting the backpack onto his shoulders, Sirius was ready to hike further. After a laugh and and pat on the shoulder from Master Ka, perhaps this wouldn’t be so bad. But still, he had never spent so long outside. It would be an interesting trip.

“Good, cause the raw meat just ain’t doin’ it for me. No offense.”

Sirius took off after Master Ka as she started walking. The hiked through more forest for the most part, but Sirius picked out a few things he could use as markers. One was a small clearing, no more than one hundred feet wide that they passed through. The second ‘marker’ was a tree root they had to walk under, it was tall enough they could do so comfortably. There was no other viable route, so they walked under the root. The third and last ‘marker’ was stepping stones in the bottom of a ravine they had to cross to cross a river. Sirius thought that these landmarks would be enough if he remembered them.

It was getting dark, the sun was setting on their part of Shili. Even though they were heading the same direction of the sun, they couldn’t outrun it. When the sun dropped below the horizon, but there was still some light, they stopped for a second. Master Ka picked some fruit from some nearby vines for them to snack on quickly, and then they continued. They walked through dark, for only for awhile. Sirius relied on Master Ka for the most part while they were walking through the dark, he couldn’t see very well.
They finally stopped, in a small spot that didn’t have any trees, but was still in the forest. It was onto of a small mound, so in case it rained they had high ground.

“Is this it? Looks good to me, from what I can tell.”

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Master Ka continued through the undergrowth, following a westerly route for hours with only the slightest of breaks. They made good time, passing each of the landmarks she'd noted in previous hikes one by one. A clearing, a root, a river. At the last she stopped to refill canteens and water skins, not shirking hydration this time.

Luckily in these jungle hills water was far from scarce, with rivers fed from snowy mountains that towered high above. Sirius might not have known it, but they were very near the highest elevations on the whole of the planet. Somehow she had the feeling that wouldn't impress him nearly as much as a technology store right around the corner.

Well he was out of luck as far as that went, the nearest such places were in Corvala or Cover City, hundreds of miles away. This was the depths of Shili, away from civilization. That old speeder bike was the best he was going to get.

Hours passed by, and the sun above started to fade, though it wasn't visible through the trees above. As the darkness grew, so did the danger. In this particular patch of canopy forest, the dangerous predators came out at night. Luckily for Sirius though, it wasn't entirely dark. Patches of moonlight wafted down from openings in the canopy, and bio-luminescent lights from plants provided a dim glow. However, indisputably Teer was more at ease. The ultrasonic spatial perception her montrals gave her meant not a single foot was misplaced, and there was no tripping. It also meant nothing was going to sneak up on them.

And even if anything tried... Well, the headdress Teer wore was made from the teeth of an akul, the apex predator of Shili. She'd definitively proven she was the most dangerous thing on the planet, and she'd stake her life on that assessment.

Finally they came to a stop in a clearing, and Sirius inquired about a large mound in the center.

“Is this it? Looks good to me, from what I can tell.”

Teer nodded as a response and tossed her pack down to the side, lowering herself to the ground with her legs crossed, staring up at the night sky that was so different from Coruscant.

On that bustling city world there was so much light from speeders and buildings that you couldn't see stars, least of all galaxies or nebulae. But on Shili there a great many sights in the heavens. Looming high above was the largest moon, casting a blueish glow over the land, and then there were two smaller moons at intervals, with another one on the horizon. The other two of the six were constantly visible during the day. And apart from those moons, it was so dark you could see countless stars, and even the tell-tale splotches of distant galaxies.

This was something Teer missed, and which she'd gladly leave Coruscant for.

But there was work to be done now, and she couldn't rest just yet, not for more than a moment at least. And she had one piece of heart-felt advice to impart.

"Sirius," Master Ka began in a surprisingly soft voice, particularly given her normal husky tone, "I've taught you many things and many values so far, about what it means to be a Jedi, a servant of the Order. Well this is another lesson for you, as a person. When you lie down and stare up at those skies, you are seeing something eternal. Cherish that view, and don't let your heart be weary when you see it. Savor it and let it soothe you."

Master Ka rose to her feet and stared off into the darkness. "Gather up firewood and get a fire started, I'll go see to finding us dinner."

The aging Togruta Jedi moved noiselessly off into the night, starting her hunting.

[Ghostie]

Sirius sat down next to Master Ka, and looked up at the sky as she did. Without the noise or the light pollution, or even the buildings and starships getting in the way, the night sky was something truly majestic. Sirius never really had a chance to see it like this. He lived on Corsucant most of his life, and any missions they went on, the planets had the same problem with light pollution. But out in the rainforests of Shili, Sirius could truly say he appreciated this about nature.

The stars and distant galaxies in the sky was one of the most beautiful things Sirius had ever seen. They were innumerable as the people in the galaxy, and each one shined like the crystals of Ilum. And everyone in the galaxy had a shining spot up there to call their own, their home. This was Master Ka’s home, and he knew she felt happy and peaceful here.

“Of course Master Ka, I’ll start on the fire in a minute.”

Sirius called after her as she left. But he stayed seated for just a few more minutes, looking up at the sky. Everyone had a place to call home up there. Sirius never knew where he came from, unlike Master Ka. He knew that being a Jedi meant that the Jedi was your family, and the Temple was your home. But most Jedi could say they were from Alderaan, Corellia, or Shili or somewhere else. Some place to call their own. No, Sirius couldn’t do that yet.

He got up and went into the rainforest, the opposite direction of Master Ka. Sirius remembered what she had said; only take dead wood, it burns better. So that’s what he did. Sirius gathered small pieces of wood to start the fire, and bigger ones to keep it going. As he gathered the wood, he thought of where he might’ve come from. Perhaps Corellia, famous for their pilots and ships? He had always liked flying, and wanted to learn how to. Maybe Alderaan, famous for its art and diplomats? Sirius kept guessing in his head, hoping to find a place where he belonged. He just hoped it was a place he could be proud of.

He came back to the clearing where they had decided to camp, and Master Ka wasn’t back yet. He started making the fire, a simple a-frame, but it would be stable and they could build off it if they wanted. Sirius lined the perimeter of the fire with rocks he had found nearby. Using the flint and steel he had in his pack, Sirius was able to start a decent fire after a few tries, just like Master Ka had showed him. When she got back, the fire was a decent size and giving off quite a bit of heat. Sirius rolled out his bed roll and was sitting on top of it, keeping close to the fire and keeping it going.

"I trust you hunted well Master Ka?"

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

"I trust you hunted well Master Ka?"

Teer was adequately impressed with her Padawan's senses. He'd detected her returning and differentiated her from the wildlife, which wasn't bad for a Padawan. Proof he was learning.

The Togruta Jedi hoisted the small deer-like creature off of her shoulder and onto the ground. She'd stalked it herself, silently and downwind, and then she'd dispatched it quickly with her lightsaber. It was going to be her meal now, as was the way of nature.

"Yes," Teer confirmed as she sank to the ground again, producing a large knife from where it was strapped to her calf. Immediately she slipped it under the skin of the animal and started to skin it, the first step before she butchered it and turned it into meat sized for roasting over an open flame.

On the topic of open flame, he'd done a very good job, and now there was an orange glow casting it's light over the clearing and on her already orange face. She flashed a toothy smile at the situation, the firelight glinting on her fangs as she continued to do her work in silence.

However... Something was different about Sirius right now, something in his aura, in his sense, indicated something was afoot. It was her job to ask and to see to whatever it was.

"Is something bothering you Sirius?"

[Ghostie]

Well yes something was bothering Sirius. He had always been uncomfortable around organs. He couldn’t stand the smell or sight of them. Despite Master Ka’s many tries to get him to hunt and clean wildlife, he just couldn’t do it. He could hunt fine, but it was the cleaning that got him. Sirius had to look away as Master Ka sank her knife into the animal. But for Sirius, he would eat fruit on his way back to the village if that’s what it took.

But he knew that Master Ka wasn’t talking about the animal. He knew that she was talking about something else, something he had been contemplating since she had told him to look at the sky. It was beautiful, but also troublesome, at least for Sirius. Where in the galaxy did he belong? He looked up at the sky and answered Master Ka truthfully, knowing there would be no chance to hid his feelings.

“Yes Master Ka, something has been eating away from me since you told me to look at the sky. It’s beautiful and majestic, just like you said. I’ve never seen it so full; I spend so much time on Coruscant. But it got me to thinking. Every single being in the galaxy has a place to call their own, even Jedi. You have here, Shili. Some have Kashyyyk, or Corellia, or Alderaan, or somewhere.”

Sirius stumbled upon his words now, he wasn’t sure what to say. What could he say? He wanted a home, he wanted to belong somewhere? Master Ka would probably just tell him his family and home was the Jedi now. Or that it didn't matter. But it did to him.

“I don’t know where I am from. I want to feel like you do when you’re on Shili; I want to feel like I belong somewhere. I know that to be a Jedi means the Jedi are your family and the Temple is your home. I know that. But even Jedi have somewhere in the galaxy to go. Not me though.”

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

“Yes Master Ka, something has been eating away from me since you told me to look at the sky. It’s beautiful and majestic, just like you said. I’ve never seen it so full; I spend so much time on Coruscant. But it got me to thinking. Every single being in the galaxy has a place to call their own, even Jedi. You have here, Shili. Some have Kashyyyk, or Corellia, or Alderaan, or somewhere.”

Teer blinked. Was this going the way she thought it was going? Her Padawan, loyal, intelligent, and reliable Sirius Kelrune was homesick, yearning for the home planet he never knew?

That surprised her. It really did. She'd always thought of him as a steadfast rock, loyal to the Jedi Order and perfectly at ease in it, and she hadn't given one bit of thought to human culture. But yes, it stood to reason that he could feel lonely. Even if the humans dominated the galaxy, their culture was hardly monolithic the way her own was. There was a daunting array of diversity there, and Sirius had no way of knowing which was his.

Yes, she could see how that could be troubling.

“I don’t know where I am from. I want to feel like you do when you’re on Shili; I want to feel like I belong somewhere. I know that to be a Jedi means the Jedi are your family and the Temple is your home. I know that. But even Jedi have somewhere in the galaxy to go. Not me though.”

It was.

Teer decided now was the one moment where she most had to set aside her gruff demeanor and her demanding standards, and provide her Padawan a role as a mentor rather than just an instructor. Even a mother of sorts, even though she had no idea if maternal instinct was involved.

It was her duty and her compulsion to provide him with a few words of comfort, even though she was hardly the most silver-tongued woman in the world. Sometimes you didn't need to have untold depths of wisdom, or flowery rhetoric to use. Sometimes you just needed to be direct and genuine. She recognized that time when she saw it. This was it.

She laid down the knife and extended her (clean) bare orange arm over to her Padawan, wrapping it around his shoulder and pulling him up to her side, comfortingly, in an exceedingly rare physical gesture of affection.

Master Ka didn't often show it, but to her Sirius was like a son. The closest thing she'd ever have to a child in the Jedi Order. She was so demanding with him because she wanted to see him succeed, to see him grow into a fine Jedi Knight. She was invested in him and in his future.

"Sirius, every being has a home in this galaxy, and there's one thing every single one has in common. They've all chosen it, and found it through experience. Sometimes we make new homes after we have new experiences. Shili wasn't always home to me simply because I was born here, I had to spend time here and experience it to decide that. You have a long life ahead of you, and with patience and time you will find your place in this galaxy. You will find your home, and you will choose it. I have in faith in you, and you should have faith in yourself."

Teer released her Padawan and busied herself with butchering the newly skinned animal, slicing the meat up into small pieces and putting it onto a leaf to keep it out of the soil.

[Ghostie]

Sirius would’ve normally been shocked by a hug from Master Ka. But it was something he needed right now. How could one being, even a Jedi, feel so alone in such a big galaxy? There were so many different cultures and planets, how could he not know where he was from? Sirius accepted Master Ka’s somewhat awkward hug. Not awkward because of the position, but because he wasn’t used to Master Ka showing physical contact like this. He wasn’t quite sure if he liked it yet, but he needed it. It made him feel less alone.

But Master Ka still remained the voice of reason that Sirius had come to rely on so much. She always had something to teach him about being a Jedi, about combat, or about life even. This time it just happened to be about life, which was not always common.

"Sirius, every being has a home in this galaxy, and there's one thing every single one has in common. They've all chosen it, and found it through experience. Sometimes we make new homes after we have new experiences… …You will find your home, and you will choose it. I have in faith in you, and you should have faith in yourself."

What Master Ka had to say did comfort him somewhat. He could choose his own home; he could find one for himself. He didn’t have to have the same home he was born to. If he didn’t like what he found his heritage to be, he wasn’t stuck with it.

However, Sirius still wanted to know. Knowledge was power, he knew that much. And there was somewhere out there where he belonged. Somewhere where he should be, if he weren’t a Jedi. How could have a good future if he didn’t know where he came from?

Sirius shook his thoughts out of his mind for now and focused on helping Master Ka. He had some sticks from the small wood pile he had gathered that were perfect for roasting the meat. Picking up one of these and peeling the bark of the end, Sirius then skewered a piece of meat that Master Ka was cutting onto the end.

Master Ka was very experienced, and was trying to pass down everything she knew to Sirius before he became a Knight. Whether that was lessons about being a Jedi or lessons about life, or lessons on how best to take out a dark Jedi, it didn’t matter. She was rough, and trained him hard, but after Umbara he knew it was for his own good.

Sirius knew he was lucky to have a Master like Teer Ka.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Sirius didn't say anything in response to Master Ka's words, but she knew they'd done what she intended and not fallen onto deaf ears. Sirius listened. He always listened, and she respected him for it. She also respected the balance he took between obedience and spirit. He had a keen mind and a firmness to him, but he obeyed. He wasn't a doormat and he wasn't defiant. He was a comfortable middle ground. She appreciated that.

He wasn't her first Padawan at all. Orra had been so headstrong, so self-confident. Rash, reckless even. She'd charged into battle wildly, risking her life and Teer's, and the Togruta Master had only barely been able to save her from Dark Jedi. And she'd been unable to save her from an akul on this very world. No, not from an akul. From her own arrogant foolishness.

But that too had been her fault. If she'd only taught the girl better, shown a firmer hand, and made herself more clear than that fate could have been averted. The blame rested solely with Teer at the end of the day, or that was what she told herself.

She looked at Sirius and promised herself it couldn't happen again. He wouldn't fail her, he wouldn't get himself killed or fall to the Dark Side. She had confidence in this young human, confidence he could become a great Jedi Knight, and soon. She'd be proud of him when that day came and his Padawan braid was severed. She'd stand by his side at the Council Chambers and watch, and then she'd congratulate him in a job well done.

But that was still some time away. For now he was just her young Padawan, sitting by her side and roasting a piece of meat over a crackling fire.

Teer folded her legs up, bare red feet resting on each knee, and she put a piece of meat onto her own stick, holding it out to the fire. Unlike Sirius, she didn't have to let the center of the meat cook to a certain temperature to eat it. All she had to do was let the outside brown and then gnaw her way in.

One dead animal later and they were both lying in bedrolls staring up at the night sky, drifting away to the sound of insects making strange and exotic noises in the warm air. She closed her eyes finally and let sleep wash over her, knowing she'd be awake in a few short hours. And then she'd leave behind her Padawan, trusting him to find his own way back with the lessons she'd taught him.

[Ghostie]

Sirius found it easier to drift off to sleep than he usually did on Shili. The bugs and the animals that usually kept him up were not a problem. When he woke up later, he figured this was from the long hike he and Master Ka had undertaken. The sun was low in the sky, indicating it was early in the morning. The fire was out, but some embers were still hanging onto heat. The smoke was the first thing Sirius noticed when he woke up. The second was that Master Ka was gone.

Sirius figured that she must’ve taken off during the early dawn, when the sun was just coming up over the horizon. He was under the impression that they were to hike further. But this was fine by him, the shorter the distance, the better he thought. If he walked through the whole day and through some of the night, he could make it without stopping. Maybe.

There were still a couple pieces of meat left over from the night before. Master Ka must’ve eaten some, but left the rest. After rolling up his bedroll and putting his boots on, Sirius gobbled these up without hesitation. After this, he hefted his backpack onto his shoulders and set off on his long, lonely journey.

On the first hour, Sirius got slightly lost. He had let his mind wander and just went the wrong way. It was easy to not think about where you were going if you just let your mind wander and gazed at the rainforest. With a simple detour, Sirius was back on track in no time.

By the afternoon, after climbing his way through a lot of underbrush and stopping to pick some delicious fruit for lunch, Sirius reach his first marker. Or what he hoped was his first marker. The river with the stepping stones in the bottom of the ravine. Sirius decided to stop for a moment and take a rest. He thought he was doing pretty well so far anyways.

After refilling his canteen with clean water, just like Master Ka had shown him, Sirius had to clean his glasses as well. Climbing through the underbrush had gotten him muddy and dirty, and his glasses were dirty as well. He could walk well with them messing up his vision.

Taking his glasses in hand, Sirius walked out into the river. However, all did not go as planned. Sirius slipped on some smooth rocks and tripped, falling into the river. On his way down, he lost his grip on his glasses and they were flying across the river, hitting one of the stepping stones.

Getting up out of the river, Sirius decided he was not having the best of days. Getting lost, climbing through so much underbrush, and now he was soaking wet. At least his pack was okay, for now at least.

“And I thought this might be fun…”

Sirius walked over to where his glasses fell. He could not see well without his spectacles, so it took him a minute or so to find them. Apparently the force of the impact was enough to knock one of the lenses, the left one, loose. He found it on the rock just next to his glasses. The frame was missing a screw, and this was apparently how the lens came out.

Sirius swore under his breath. How was he supposed to make it back to the village if he couldn’t see? Master Ka was probably going to have to come back for him, and she would be disappointed. Very disappointed. And then he would feel horrible.
He decided to continue on anyways, even if he couldn’t see. Getting lost was better than sitting still in his mind. Perhaps he would get lucky and find his way back anyways.
Sirius reached his pack and put what was left of his glasses inside.

This trip just got a lot more interesting.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Master Ka had woken up early, long before the sun, and begun her walk back in silence. Only for her it hadn't been much of a walk. She'd decided to take it as a physical training exercise, and she'd kept up a steady jog for the past mile, which was no easy feat when passing over forest terrain. Luckily she knew the directions and she knew the landmarks well enough to avoid getting lost.

Moving in a forest was like an art form in a way. It took confidence, it took determination, and above all, it took skill. She was blessed with all that and the added gift of experience. She'd scouted all this territory out very carefully, making sure it was the safe place for her student, making sure death wasn't a serious risk.

She had confidence in him as she ran through the forest, and with each bare footfall on the soft undergrowth her confidence increased. Yes, he was a success of a Padawan, like her last. He would survive, he would endure. He had a destiny ahead of him for sure.

Onward and onward she went, stopping at the river for water, then moving on drew ever closer to the village they were staying at, her familiar comfort zone.

It was midday when she arrived back to them, and she was beginning to feel the results of her exertion. Her breath was short and her legs ached. Even being a Jedi didn't save you the effects of sustained exertion. She clasped her palms together in a gesture of peace and promptly sank into a hammock hung in the shade.

One other Togruta brought her a mug of juice from a local fruit, which she accepted with gratitude and sipped leisurely as she let her tired legs relax.

Now all she had to do was wait.

[Ghostie]

Sirius honestly didn’t know how he was making his way through the rainforest without his glasses. He might as well be blind without them. He had tripped within five minutes of setting out from the river, and continued to stumble through the forest. One time he even ran headlong into a branch, which proceeded to give him a smack in the face. There was now a large red streak diagonally across his face, and a tree in his wake missing a limb which was severed by a lightsaber.

The Jedi Padawan did not have the best attitude at the moment. Who would after stumbling through the rainforest for hours? He was short on energy, and thin on patience. Sirius soon grew tired of pushing his way through underbrush and instead just carved his way through with his saber.

Sirius was still somewhat damp from his fall in the river, and he wasn’t even sure where he was going. He couldn’t exactly rely on his Force senses either. The village was quite far away, and the Force was in everything. It had only confused him when he tried. He went one way and then the other, and just ended up restarting at the river.

Luckily though, he had passed through the small clearing, hopefully the same one he had passed through yesterday. But the sun was getting low in the sky. If he didn’t get back to the village soon, he would have to stop for the night.

Stopping for just a second, Sirius spotted a color on a tree that look out of place. It looked like the same color of the fruit he had been eating all day. It was time for a break anyways, and he was all out of food for the most part.

After eating his fill of fruit, Sirius continued on. He had a good feeling the village was close. Or perhaps it was just a hope. But it was something to hang onto. If he was wrong, he would have to stop for the night. And he didn’t want that.

Luckily, just as the moon was rising in the sky, Sirius breached clearing that the village was located in. The only reason he could tell it was the right village? A big grey object on the outskirts that took the shape of a shuttle. Sirius reached out with his sense to look for Master Ka. All Togruta has some connection to the Force, but Master Ka stood out. Not only because she was a powerful Jedi, but after a couple of months her presence was familiar. Very familiar.

Sirius walked over to where Master Ka was. She was lying in a hammock, not far from the shuttle. She appeared to be asleep, but she could also just be meditating. Sirius was too tired to tell or care. He dropped his backpack next to the hammock and spoke for the first time that day. At least for the first time that wasn’t to himself.

“I’m back Master Ka.”

Sirius spoke up in a hoarse voice. He then dropped to the ground in a position between sitting and lying, using his pack as a pillow.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Teer's black eyes fluttered open and she looked to Sirius, noticing the exhaustion evident on his face, and noticing the lack of his glasses. Somehow he must have lost them, but he'd managed to overcome that and make it.

She'd been lying there for hours, periodically eating and drinking thanks to the donations of the tribe, but enjoying the welcome chance to simply rest. It wasn't a luxury she had often, napping and being, well, soft. But this was, for all events and purposes, a vacation for her. This was precisely her time to do that, to relax, while her Padawan did work.

Of course he seemed quite thoroughly exhausted right now, and while demanding, she wasn't cruel. He'd earned a rest, and the villagers seemed to realize that too, as a child walked over to him carrying a water skin and a bowl. He handed them to the human and scampered off again, giving the Jedi their space.

"Sirius," Master Ka acknowledged, looking up at the moon and gauging the time before she stated her next words. "I see you were delayed."

She slid out of the hammock and abruptly placed a hand to Sirius' face, tilting him in the moonlight to reveal the red streak across his face. Apparently he'd had another run-in with the environment.

"Do you require the services of a healer Sirius?" The Togruta Jedi asked, moving her orange hand away from his face and back to her side, kneeling on the ground next to him and showing approximately the correct level of concern.

The relationship between a Padawan and a Master was probably the closest thing to a mother and son she'd ever experience. And Sirius was definitely her favored son. Of course she was still gruff, and often formal rather than relaxed. But at the end of the day she pushed him because she cared.

[Ghostie]

As Sirius sat on the ground, a small Togruta girl kindly brought him a water skin and a bowl of food. The meat wasn’t exactly cooked, that wasn’t how they ate. But there was fruit as well. Sirius didn’t mind very much, he was exhausted and hungry. He mustered up a smile as a simple thanks to the girl, and started drinking from the water skin right away.

Master Ka got up from her sleep, meditation or whatever she was doing and addressed him as he ate and drank.

"Sirius, I see you were delayed."

"That's the understatement of all time."

Sirius muttered under his breath. It had been a lot more than being delayed. He had practically been blind going through the forest. That lead to getting lost a bit, and stepping into a branch at perfect head height. And falling into a river. Yes, he had been more than just a little delayed. And his attitude didn’t benefit from it.

Master Ka slid from her hammock and put her hand on his face. It was evident that she was studying the nice red mark he had across his face now. She tilted his face so she could examine him in the moonlight, but he wasn’t quite done eating yet. He swallowed a piece of fruit he had in his mouth as she did so, but otherwise stayed still.

"Do you require the services of a healer Sirius?"

"No, a rather springy branch just got the better of me. I didn’t see it in time."

He felt rather embarrassed that a branch of all things was able to get the better of him. He should've been able to see it. But those things happened when your glasses broke in the middle of no where. Sirius didn’t think he needed to tell Master Ka that he promptly cut the branch down afterwards. It didn’t seem to matter, but he didn’t know how she would take to him cutting branches off of trees in the rainforest. She loved the rainforest.

Perhaps this hike was meant for him to appreciate the rainforest and nature as well as teach him survival skills? Well, he could say without a doubt that hadn’t worked. Sirius had developed no love for nature or the rainforest today. Maybe some other day, but not today. He longed for his computers and datapads at the Temple, with his soft bed and controlled climate. And with no branches at head level. Or at least to sleep and then work on the decrepit speeder bike in the village.

She let go of his face and he went back to eating. He was more hungry than he thought.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

"Hmmm," Teer said neutrally as she contemplated the carelessness of being struck by a tree branch. It was hardly the graceful and deadly approach she was hoping to instill, but if his glasses were gone then maybe it was understandable. Which was another thing to comment on as Sirius ate.

And ate.

It was very much as if he was starving, and it was her responsibility to correct that. She beckoned one of the villagers over and spoke to him in the lilting and melodious Togruti language, and he replied. She replied to his reply, and they continued on for a few seconds together before Teer nodded and dismissed him.

"Dinner will be served in half an hour. Save some of your appetite for it. Tonight is a tribal celebration we have been invited to attend. Please do not sleep during it."

Teer lapsed off into silence for a minute before moving on to what she'd really been thinking.

"I see you've lost your glasses, do you have a replacement pair?"

[Ghostie]

It wasn’t that Sirius hadn’t ate all day, but rather that the hike took a lot more out of him than he thought. And the food tasted so good. Perhaps it was the fact he was successful that made the food so good. He didn’t know, or care for that fact.

Master Ka beckoned over a Togruta male and talked to talk to him in a different language. Sirius thought for a moment and remembered that Master Ka had just mentioned it in passing and called it Togruti. He didn’t understand a single word of it, but if it was important, Master Ka would let him know what it was.

"Dinner will be served in half an hour. Save some of your appetite for it. Tonight is a tribal celebration we have been invited to attend. Please do not sleep during it."

Sirius set down the final piece of fruit from the bowl and stopped eating. After filling up like he just had, he figured he could wait awhile. And half an hour sounded like just enough time to take a shower. That was if the shuttle had any more water. If not, he would just travel to the nearby river. It didn’t matter much at this point to him.

"I see you've lost your glasses, do you have a replacement pair?"

"Not… not with me no. They’re back at the Temple. But I have my glasses, and some simple wire from the shuttle and a fusion cutter should be able to fix them."

Half an Hour Later

Sirius ended up heading down to the nearby river to clean himself. He had not felt like waiting for the shower on the shuttle to warm up, and Master Ka had given him a schedule to follow now. The river was cold, but he felt none the less revitalized.

Making his way back into the village, he could tell the tribal celebration was about to begin. The Togruta were all gathering inside the center of the village. Master Ka waited for him just inside the village. They walked to the center together, but Sirius felt a need to ask something.

"What exactly is going to happen at this celebration? Do you have a role in it?"

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

"Due to the planet's rotation," Teer began to explain, "We are now experiencing the shortest night of the year on Shili, a time for celebration, and the ritual is something we have been invited to take part in as honored guests. While you and I were in the woods, the hunters and the gatherers were working to prepare the feast. I am sitting at the right hand of the Tribe's wise woman, and you will be at my right. The formula of the feast will be very simple. There are copious amounts of food in every course, mostly meat, and equally copious amounts of alcohol. You are expected to drink to every toast, and to eat in every course. If you fail to clean your plate or if you do not drink to each toast, you will be..." Master Ka mulled over her thoughts, trying to find precisely the right word to describe the situation. She finally found the right words and spoke them in a rather dry tone that those who knew her well enough could tell was amusement.

"Embarrassing me." She concluded with a hint of a smile on her rusty face. To the uninitiated, she probably seemed vaguely contented or happy, but to Sirius she must have seemed positively thrilled and joyous. Her demanding and strict nature seemed to have been lifted, and there was a light quality on her features.

"This is the only time I will ever tell you this Sirius, so please listen very carefully. Tonight I am ordering you to get drunk and enjoy yourself. There are techniques to remove alcohol from your blood, but I cannot take the time now to teach you. Instead I draw only one limit for you. Do not find yourself mated to any of the young women in this village come morning. Stick close to me and this will not happen."

The stars shone bright in the night sky overhead, and the glow of multiple moons lit up the exotic foliage and the sturdy buildings of the village even as an orange glow came from the bonfire in the center, as others were already settling into the area on low pillows and mats.

Teer gently placed one hand on Sirius' shoulder and looked him in the eye.

"Some would find this highly unorthodox. I find it essential. Now come Sirius. We are expected."