The Rolling Hills (Open)

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Time period: 3611 BBY
Location: Dantooine, Jedi Enclave
Participants: Tem Farelle, Varulla'aba, etc?
Other Info: OPEN

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Dantooine. A world of rolling hills and grasses, a peaceful planet of stillness and calm, and the perfect place for a Jedi Enclave, possibly the reason there'd been one for so very long. Off and on throughout the turbulent history of the galaxy, there'd been a Jedi presence there. And for one girl, it promised something more special than Coruscant.

That was privacy.

Varulla'aba was enjoying the blissful time she had alone, away from Nedar, her demanding, unyielding, and unsympathetic master. He'd given her free reign on Dantooine for the week while he did one of his semi-frequent disappearing acts, leaving her behind for whatever unspoken reason he had. Of course Var was suspicious of his motivations.

It was that he didn't want her around. He wanted all the interesting acts and missions to himself, and he didn't trust his under-achieving Padawan to come along with him and comport herself well. She knew that was the truth, and it stung. Not only was she not up to his standards, but she'd never get the chance to prove herself. She was 16, ready to stop being babied, ready for a real cooperation. And yet Nedar held her back, feeding the kernel of darkness at the center of her heart...

The Twi'lek girl sat cross-legged under a tree, bony legs folded up together, resting in a spidery mess. She hadn't grown into her body yet. She was, if anything, an ugly teenage girl. Her body was bony, scrawny. She lacked grace and poise, there wasn't an ounce of padding or curves on her, and she had a face that was downright boring. If not for her headtails and her alabaster color, she might have gone wholly unnoticed. And that wasn't necessarily something she was opposed to. Better no attention than bad attention.

It was about a twenty minute walk from the enclave to a small meditation grove where she sat, just the perfect distance away most people would stay back and leave her alone to her stillness. Or at least that was her hope anyway. She didn't really want to talk to anyone. She wanted to be alone, in the quiet of nature.

Not that she was particularly fond of nature. It was what it was. Moving parts didn't captivate her any more than green grass. To be honest, she wasn't sure what captivated her. She only knew that she found this pleasant, in an almost boring sort of way. She lay back on the grass, lightsaber resting on her lap in case kath hounds showed up, for all appearances asleep, basking in the warmth of the day.

With any luck she wouldn't be disturbed until nightfall. She'd brought easily enough food to last her all day, and she hadn't had so much as a bite of it yet.

[Charlie Sharper]

The rolling hills of Dantooine, calm, serene, and tranquil. Tem knew why he was here, to gain a bit of these qualities in himself. Ever since that dismal mission on Corellia, Heldo worried about Tem's anger. He had shown this when he nearly killed the bounty hunter they were looking for. It had been almost a year and the effects of the change of location were already showing on Tem. He found it easier to meditate and quiet his mind in the stillness on the grassy planet. He felt like it reminded him of another place, a home of sorts among the rolling hills. His early life on Nadiem was all but forgotten by now, but those few memories had lead him to think of Dantooine as much as a home as Coruscant in the short time he'd been there.

Today Tem found himself meditating out in the plains as he often did during his free time. He reached out with his senses, honing his skills with his ability to sense his surroundings. As he reached out he felt the gentle breeze blowing across the plains, the many insects buzzing about around him, he could even reach out and feel the tree in the distance, but it was too far for an accurate image. It blurred and changed as the wind blew, making it impossible to see the complete shape of the tree.

That's when he felt the presence. It wasn't as soothing as his own was, nor was it as calm, but it was...content....in a way. Tem opened his eyes and turned around, seeing a person near the tree. She was obviously Twi'lek, as seen by her lekku. But she was pale in color, uncommon for most Twi'lek. He had never seen her before around the Enclave, but that didn't mean much, Jedi would come and go and a new padawan wasn't exactly unheard of on green planet.

Tem thought she was sleeping, but as he looked past her, he noticed a basket, perhaps containing food. His stomach rumbled and urged him to get up and find sustenance, so he did what he thought would be the quickest way to quell his hunger.

He stood and walked over to the Twi'lek girl and before getting close, called out. "Umm..Hello?" He called to her, attempting not to startle her, though being a padawan she most likely would have sensed him as he approached. "I was wondering if you had any food to share?" He asked slightly awkwardly as he walked closer.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Green eyes flickered open at the sound of a voice, and Var almost jumped. Apparently she had nodded off rather than simply relaxed, and her first instinct had been that her master had somehow showed up again just in time to scold her, as he was so quick to do.

She could practically hear his grating voice telling her off. Sleeping Var? You could be eaten by kath hounds out here. Now is not the time or place to take a nap, and you would do well to remember it young Padawan. Now come along, you're late for your training...

Only it wasn't him waking her up. It was a tall teenager, probably her age, with vivid red hair, pale skin, and dark goggles. And he was asking her if she had food. He was, as she noticed, much better looking than she was. Under other circumstances that might have been enough to make her blush.

It was funny, but she was terrified by her own sexuality. She wasn't immune to the appeal of boys, but she was frightened by it. And she knew that even if the code had allowed it, she would have been at a disadvantage anyway. She was an ugly girl, and she was damaged. One look at her bony body and the scars on her back would be enough to make any man run away, or shudder in revulsion. And if they knew what had happened to her?

No one would want to touch her then.

She winced and forced herself to answer him, vaguely bothered at the intrusion but at the same time almost pathetically wanting a little bit of companionship. She felt like some poor lost puppy in desperate need of kindness. It made her feel ridiculous really, like a silly girl.

It had been ten years since she'd been a slave, since her abuse. Shouldn't she have been over it by now?

Var sighed and stifled her feelings, instead answering the stranger.

"Yes, there's some in the basket right there."

[Charlie Sharper]

Tem looked over at the basket, his stomach urging him to dive inside, but his mind told him there was no reason not to be pleasant. "Thank you." Tem said as he approached the basket. While reaching into the food carrier, he looked back at her. He could see that she was rather skinny, perhaps not well fed. He took out some bread from the basket and sat down on the grass. As he began to eat the bread, he looked at her again, this time he sensed that she was, for lack of a better word, scarred... He couldn't read her mind, in fact far from it, it was one of his worst skills, but he could almost see pain written on her face.

Tem then spoke up. "Would you join me?" he asked offering her a hunk of bread. While he waited for her to respond he thought about what kind of problem she has, she seemed normal, but something told Tem that she was...Well, hurting somehow. He had always been an intuitive boy, force aside, and he couldn't shake the feeling that she needed someone to be her friend. Tem knew what that was like, when he was taken to Coruscant, he felt so lost and unsure of what the future held. Through determination and perseverance however, he found a place among the Jedi, at least until they left the home he had known for the last ten years for Dantooine, he again felt lost and alone. Tem began to find some acceptance of the grassy world, finding that it reminded him of somewhere he remembered, somewhere that he felt attached to. Despite this, he made few friends between his rigorous training regiment and long hours with his master in meditation. Perhaps that's why he looked to make one today. He smiled at the girl and waited for her to take up his offer.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

"Sure, I guess," Var answered as she took the hunk of bread the boy had offered her. She avoided eye contact with him, instead directing her improbably green eyes onto the piece of bread.

It was a little odd he was offering her the food she'd obtained and brought for herself, her food for all practical purposes, as if she was a guest and he was the host. As if it was magnanimous. She couldn't say whether she faulted him for that or not as she chewed on the hearty piece.

Her eyes darted up to look at his smiling face, and she decided she couldn't resent him for it.

But she could definitely feel resentment. She was hardly the ideal Padawan, and she had a dark side to her that she concealed well, because she knew it wasn't welcome. She had a lot of hurt, a lot of pain to carry on her shoulders. Hers wasn't a healthy personality, and she'd never fully adjusted to life in the Jedi Order.

It had taken her all of a month to even sleep in a bed, she'd been so accustomed to a pile of rags in a corner of the floor. She'd gone without making eye contact for days at a time, afraid to make any movements that weren't precisely in line. Whenever rebukes came she'd gritted her jaw and prepared to be met by a fist, but with no such abuse. Slowly she'd realized the Order wasn't filled with copies of her master, and that no one was going to hurt her that way again.

But it didn't make her free.

No, there were so many rules in the Jedi. Ways to think, ways to behave, and even ways to feel. She had the singular disadvantage of feeling in a way she wasn't supposed to, acting in a manner less than what was expected of her, and thinking in unconventional patterns that met with her master's disapproval. Three for three.

Var nibbled at the piece of bread and leaned back against the trunk of a tree, kicking her legs out before her and stretching, one boot resting over the other. She was at a loss for what exactly to say, so she decided to just open her mouth and go with whatever came out.

"I'm Varulla. People call me Var. What's your name?"

(OOC: 1500th post!)

[sparrow]

Zarene stared out the viewport as the ship slowly descended towards the landing pad. This wasn't her first time in a shuttle nor her first time on Dantooine, but there was always something fascinating about landings, watching as the ship passed through the clouds, and the little blips on the ground grew larger and larger into trees and hills and buildings and walkways.

Zarene Yin was about a month and a half away from her thirteenth birthday. She wore the typical brown robes of a Jedi padawan. A typical training saber hung at her belt. She had not yet had a chance to make her own. Next to it was a small stun pistol. That wasn't so typical. But she had shown an aptitude for hitting targets with thrown objects and ranged weaponry even as a youngling, and it was a talent that her master intended to help her explore and develop. She had long black hair tied into braids, and large slanted eyes, one brown, the other a brilliant green. Her mother had always claimed that her green eye was from her father, and that it reminded her of him. Zarene had never met the man before being taken by the Jedi, so could not confirm.

"I have a few errands to run before I take you to meet Master Tensen and we begin some of that outdoor physical training I've been promising. You even listening?" came Master Telvin's voice. Zarene immediately stopped staring at the window and snapped to attention. She nodded her head vigorously. "Yes, sir."

Her master smiled. "It's Ralth, not sir." That wasn't the first time he had told her that, but once again, she shook her head and refused. If there was one thing Zarene had learned from her mother during the short time she had spent with her, it was that superiors and elders should be treated with respect and addressed accordingly, and even though he wanted her to, it still seemed wrong to address him so informally.

"Fine," he sighed. "Have it your way, Renie. Anyways, that means I'll be leaving you alone for a few hours. You can wander around or study or find some other way to occupy yourself. You'll be able to take care of yourself."

"Yes, sir. I was thinking I would go to the grove. Maybe do some reading." She liked nature, and quiet places. Both had been in short supply on Coruscant.

"That's a good girl."

The ship landed and they walked down the ramp together. "See you in a few hours, and don't get in trouble," he said, ruffling Zarene's hair before departing.

Now left alone, Zarene wandered through the hallways of the Enclave. She had trained here briefly during her youngling years before being transferred to the Coruscant Academy, but it had been enough years that she was no longer familiar with the layout. She had to stop for directions several times before she found the right exit that would take her to the grove.

She walked with her datapad containing her reading materials clutched close to her chest as she neared the grove. As she began making her way through the tree she noticed that she wasn't alone. There were two people already there, a boy and a girl. And they were having... a picnic. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize the grove was already occupied."

[Charlie Sharper]

Tem brushed the wild, stray red hairs from in front of his goggles as he answered the question about his identity. "Tem, Tem Farelle." Tem said to the twi'lek as he took another bite of the bread she had offered him. A question popped into his head and as soon as he finished chewing the food, he decided to voice it. "I've never seen you around the Enclave? Are you new here?" He assumed that she was, but he could be wrong, he wasn't the most known padawan in the Enclave, and if not for Master Felnar, he wouldn't know anyone. His master didn't seem like a social butterfly, but he seemed to know and get along well with everyone. Tem felt rather awkward with new people, but he was good at faking being comfortable, and his master had told him to try and open up more.

He felt the presence of another approaching. Tem stood up again to look at the new comer. Tem was undergoing the latest of his many growth spurts and had gone from about 5'2" to 6' in only six months. It was a painful and annoying to suddenly be taller then most padawans, having to worry about the ceiling in certain areas, and worst of all, having to get new robes every month. However Heldo had told him that he was bound to grow, it ran in his family. Tem tried to not let his emotions take control when Heldo said that. He did remember his father and mother slightly, but he never let himself dwell on those thoughts.

His attention returned to the now when he heard the new girl speak. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize the grove was already occupied." Tem looked at the twi'lek and then back at the girl. "Actually, we were just telling each other our names. I'm Tem Farelle." he said, trying to sound welcoming.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

(OOC: Sorry for making you wait, I totally forgot about this thread)

Var looked up at the newcomer, noticing that suddenly this quiet grove had gotten surprisingly busy. Wasn't that just ironic? She'd chosen this secluded place twenty minutes away by foot precisely to get away from people, to avoid all those judging stares. Or the lack of contact.

Tem was strapping, and this new girl was probably three years younger than Var. And much cuter. Dark hair in braids. Her only real flaw seemed to be heterochromia. One eye was green like Var's, and the other brown. On the whole, the sixteen year old Twi'lek was surrounded by people better-looking than she was when all she'd wanted was to get away from everyone. Regardless of how they looked.

Silently she looked up at the blue sky for a long minute as Tem responded to the new girl. The clouds made for a nice distraction, and they were rather soothing. Maybe more people wouldn't be so bad after all.

"Three's company too, might as well join us," the alabaster-skinned Twi'lek said reluctantly with a sigh. Only belatedly did she realize that probably came out less polite than she'd intended, which was a real risk with her. It seemed like every other day Nedar was reminding her to be polite, but it was so hard! There were so many annoyances out there bothering her, and it was hard not to be upset by them.

"I'm Varulla," She added, gesturing to the grass, but not giving up her spot at the trunk of the tree in the shade.

She eyed the datapad the new girl was carrying but ultimately looked back to Tem and answered his earlier question.

"I'm from the Temple on Coruscant, my master is just having me wait here while he goes and does something interesting..."

It was so tempting to add to that sentence. He doesn't appreciate me, he's holding me back because he doesn't trust me to do anything right. If he just gave me a chance I'd shine, I'd make him proud.

She said nothing. The others wouldn't understand. Masters like Nedar were rare, the sad exception to the rule. She was the last pick of Padawans, and it stood to reason she'd get the last pick of Masters. That was just her luck.

[sparrow]

"Oh, okay." Zarene tilted her head to the side slightly as she observed the two. "Wow... you're really... big." She blinked as she suddenly realized that that might not have been very polite.

"I'm Zarene," she said as she said as she sat down next to them, and stretched out her legs in the grass. After so many hours on a shuttle, it felt good.

She nodded as the two spoke their names. The boy seemed cheerful and welcoming. The girl... much less so. They both looked a at least few years older than her. And what a difference a few years could make. She was still a little awestruck about how tall Tem was, and even the one called Varulla was at least half a head taller than her. Sometimes she thought that perhaps she had missed the puberty boat when it had picked up most of the other padawans that had been in the same youngling class with her, though her master assured her that it would come to her in time.

Speaking of masters, Varulla had begun talking about hers. "Oh, that's cool. I'm from the Coruscant Temple too. And master is running some errands so I'm also waiting for him."

[Charlie Sharper]

Tem looked at the newcomer, Zarene, she was obviously younger then Tem and Var, but only by a few years. When she spoke about how big Tem was, he almost laughed out loud. "So I'm beginning to learn, Master Felnar says it runs in my family..." Tem stopped then, trying to clear his mind of the sparse images and memories that drifted to his mind about his former home and family. He had barely known them, but that was the way it should have been, but one memory was harder then most to let go of, someone dying, a man. An important man at that, a sadness always washed over him as he thought about this memory. It was just a picture of a man on the ground in front of Tem's toddler self. A sentence was linked with it, one that he heard for the first time that day, but far from the last time, "There is no death, only the force."

He always thought of Heldo then, the shadow that stood over Tem ran, Heldo saving the boy, like he always did. The sight of the Khil Jedi Master always gave Tem a sense of calm and safety, ever since a day that Tem couldn't even remember.

He was drawn from his silent thoughts when Var mentioned her master, she seemed...Unhappy for some reason, but about what Tem couldn't place, his telepathic abilities were far from that attuned. Zarene was also from Coruscant, Tem missed it from time to time, despite the calm the grassy plains granted Tem, in many ways, Coruscant was still home. Tem told himself he would have to let go of such thoughts one day, and he hoped when that day came, he would be stronger then he was now.

"I used to be from the Coruscant Temple, but Master Felnar feels I needed to get away from there to learn to be more patient..." Tem didn't feel any ill will about leaving Coruscant, while he missed some of his friends in the capital of Jedi affairs in the Core, but he trusted his master. Heldo had yet to lead him astray, and that trust was necessary for a padawan to learn and grow. "He's working on a Council matter at the moment, so I have the day to myself." He added feeling the sudden need to add what his master was doing today.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Var ate a piece of the crusty bread in her hand, uncertain of what to say and do. She was... not social. You could chalk it up easily to her childhood, to the fact when other children were playing together she was indoors sweeping the floor or organizing shelves. Of course there were upsides to that. She'd learned to cook and clean herself, and she had a work ethic. She was good at doing those simple things, which Nedar took for granted and never once thanked her for.

She wondered if her own tone had revealed the bitterness and disdain she felt over her master, something neither of the other two had when they spoke of their masters.

The Twi'lek teenager was jealous of them. Or maybe just envious. There was a line between jealousy and envy, but there was no denying Var wanted what they had, or what she assumed they had. Mentors who were like family, like doting parents. Someone who would compliment her, and thank her for a job well done would be heavenly. Of course the grass was always greener on the other side, and there would be downsides to their situations too, but anyone but Nedar would be better.

Of course doubt always came back to nag at her. Maybe it wasn't him, maybe it was her. Her inadequacies always proved to be a problem, and they'd rear their heads under another master just as easily. Maybe it would have been better for everyone if she'd just been sent to the Corps.

Var reached back into the basket and produced a piece of munch fungus, a staple food of Twi'leks across the galaxy and bit into it, tasting the earthy flavor. Really it was amazing that she hadn't turned herself fat from binge eating out of stress. Maybe she had a level of self-discipline that surpassed her own expectations.

Alabaster hands nudged the basket towards the other two and Var realized what she wanted to talk about. Masters.

"So, do you... like your masters? What are your relationships like?"

[sparrow]

Zarene leaned back on her hands as she sat, gazing up at the sky. It was a beautiful shade of blue, clear save for a few puffy white clouds. No tall buildings, no lines of speeders, just a few avian creatures gliding along peacefully in the distance. It was something she missed on Coruscant. She couldn't help but let a small smile form on her lips. She allowed her body to flop back, so that she lay in the grass, with her arms out at her sides, blades of grass tickling her cheeks.

Varulla asked about their masters, and the question hung in the air for a few moments before Zarene answered. "Oh... I like him, I guess. It hasn't been very long, so we're still not quite done figuring each other out. But he's nice. He's been helping me find books in Epicant." Her grasp of the language was still rather rudimentary. While her mother had spoken it to her on Panatha, her use of it stopped completely when she came to jedi temple in favor of learning Basic. It was only an encounter with Master Took in the Temple not too long ago that convinced her to try to pick it back up again. Master Telvin didn't speak it himself, but he had been quite helpful in locating learning materials.

Zarene got back up into a sitting position, tilting her head slightly as she looked at the twi'lek girl. "So what about your master, Varulla?"

[Charlie Sharper]

Tem looked at the Twi'lek quizzically, did he like his master? His answer was easy, yes, Heldo was like a father to the padawan. As long as Tem could remember Heldo was always there to guide Tem or help him in the right direction. All of Tem's twelve years with the order, the Khil master was always there, letting his presence be felt in the young red haired boys life. Even when he was promoted to the High Council, Heldo still made time to see Tem and help him train, these meetings were less, but still, Heldo made time for it.

"Of course I do, he's like a father to me." Tem looked at Zarene as she spoke, while she stated she didn't have much time with her master yet, she was hopeful. Tem then looked at Var, and the quizzical look returned to his face. Tem worried about her suddenly, didn't she like her master? Wasn't the point of the apprenticeship between master and student supposed to be a good experience?

A sudden thought dawned on the young padawan in that moment: Perhaps everyone wasn't as lucky as him. He knew the life of a Jedi was a difficult one, but what if you had no one to help you through, what if your master wasn't a positive relationship? This made Tem sad, he was concerned for the young Twi'lek.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

The girl asked Var about her own master, turning the question back onto the young Twi'lek in a manner she hadn't intended. Talking about herself hadn't exactly been what she'd had in mind for this situation. In fact, talking at all hadn't been what she'd had in mind. Var had gone into this expecting peace and quiet, and she'd gotten a personal conversation.

And now she faced a matter she didn't talk about, to anyone, except maybe her one friend. But to strangers? How could she just tell them what was so deeply embedded as a worry in her heart? She wasn't used to confiding in others, in telling them her secret knowledge. What if it came back to her master that she'd been speaking ill of him? She'd be in trouble then, subject to a savage lecture and punishments of some form. Most likely she'd never be allowed alone like this again.

But if Var remained silent... They'd know she was hiding something. That left her with an unpleasant dilemma, one where she had to navigate between the two extremes.

"Well," She began uncertainly, running an alabaster hand over her right lekku in a nervous fashion. "My master is very... punctual. He's always... orderly and, uh, confident?"

Var found her efforts at positive description were rather sketchy, when she knew she could easily fill a full journal of things she didn't like. But those weren't the things that were wise to say, they were foolish to say, but she couldn't resist a little honesty.

"I suppose I should feel lucky that I didn't get sent to the Corps..." The look in her green eyes added another part to that sentence: But I don't.

[sparrow]

The girl seemed to hesitate, as if she had not expected that the question she had asked herself would be returned to her. How very odd, Zarene thought, tilting her head quizzically. Zarene had always been a girl of relatively few words. She had never been particularly gifted at the art of conversation. But that had seemed a perfectly innocent and reasonable question.

Varulla talked slowly, choosing her words carefully, as if she trying to dance around some implication that she wished would remain unsaid. "I suppose I should feel lucky that I didn't get sent to the Corps..." she said as she finished.

What an incredibly awkward thing to say. Zarene wasn't sure how to respond to that. "Oh... That's good... I guess?"