Comfort

[Moonfire]

"Hey, hey. Its okay." Cooed the older Healer with wispy greying curls, gently wiping away the tears that left hot, red trails across the Padawan's pale cheeks. "We all experience loss, its getting past it thats most important. Master Teiko wouldn't want you crying over him." Her voice soft and honeyed, not at all chiding or unkind as a hand ran through the thick silky black hair of the girl's head.

Moonfire sniffled, sitting on the edge of the stiff paper-lined bed as she buried her face into the comforting chest of the old Healer, Amyzon.

"I-I know. It-it's just sssad." She mumble hoarsely, choking back another sob. How could this have happened?

Master Teiko, a gruff and decidedly harsh Jedi Master who had taken the young girl on his apprentice had disappeared on Nar Shaddaa. In the tensions of the war and the so far grim and rather fruitless investigation he had been missing for nearly a month, and the council had little hope of his return. His small, comfortable quarters had been cleared out and his belongings suitably archived or re-purposed as needed. The question of what to do with his fifteen year old Padawan though was still up in the air.

Moonfire wasn't known for sparring, or talent nor mental fortitude. As a hopeful youngling she'd been passed over by many a Master seeking apprentices, only finally taken in by the old Kushiban who had first discovered her as a chubby, excitable child on Ruusan. Old Master Teiko, with a firm hand and a large stick had instructed her in the ways of the Jedi.

And now he was gone.

Another muffled sob as she pressed closer into the older woman, who stroked her hair, giving soft cooing noises at the child as she comforted.

"W-w-whats going to happen to me?" Her little voice asked softly, looking up with red-rimmed eyes.

Amyzon smiled, waves of calming feelings flooded the girl who sighed, basking in the positivity. "Don't worry, dear. The Council will take care of you. Just lay down, find peace."

What a delightful suggestion.

Moonfire laid back against the medical bed, sore eyes staring up at the harsh, artificial lights of the medbay ceiling. It will be alright. Surely.

[Thaddeus]

Balkk strode into the Temple's medical centre purposefully, bowing his head he asked after the Jedi he had brought in a few days earlier. Balkk had been dispatched to lend assistance to a Jedi Knight, and as it turned out when he arrived the Jedi was quite badly injured. Balkk had declined to continue to pursue the mission and instead had immediately returned to the Temple with the badly wounded knight. He was told that the knight was recovering well, but that he still wasn't strong enough for visitors by the Jedi healer. Balkk thanked him for his work and apologised for interrupting, and made to leave.

Before he had reached the doorway once more though he heard the harsh inhalation of breath and the shuddering of sobs that followed. The giant Trandoshan turned and looked around the medcentre, it was mostly empty so it did not take him long for his yellow eyes to find the figure of the young girl. The braid tied with red beads and ribbons marked her out as a padawan. Such a soft little thing Balkk thought gently, for all of Balkk's famed dedication to the way of the warrior as a Jedi Knight he maintained quite the soft spot for the young of the Order. Well for the young of any kind Balkk thought as his memories brought Shorza to the forefront once more.

Balkk stretched out a hand pointing towards the young girl, "May I?" The Jedi Healer looked up from a holopad and nodded at the venerable Jedi Knight, he imagined that the wisdom and calming presence of the Trandoshan may be just what Padawan Esense needed. So Balkk walked over softly, and bowing his head quite deeply one hand going up and pressing against where his heart lay, "I am Sssish Balkk..." He pulled up a chair and lowered himself into it, his great height meant that even seated he appeared to loom, "... Padawan what isss wrong?" He said it in the gentle and calm tones of his Basic, the way most Trandoshan's hissed Basic made it seem menacing but Balkk seemed to weigh each syllable carefully and so the hiss of his Basic was less menacing and more calming.

An older Jedi Healer who Balkk recognised Amyzon returned to the bedside and nodded at him, "Padawan Esense's master is one with the Force now." Balkk looked back at the padawan with a look that spoke understanding and empathy, "Tell me about your master." He smiled, but quickly hid his sharp teeth and forked tongue. He wished to calm and sooth her, not shock her.

[Moonfire]

Moonfire's eyes closed, listening peacefully as the shuffling of movement and whispered conversations of the medbay moved about her. Life moved on. A ripple of a memory worked through her as her breathing slowed, her mind wandered. Life moved on. That was what Si Quan had taught her as a youngling, holding the limp figure of a dying baby bird who tumbled from his nest too soon. The Force moved through us all, the Force was eternal, but life was meaingful, yet fleeting.

Fleeting.

That word tumbled across her tongue as she mulled it over, calmed by Amyzon's touch. She knew that Master Teiko, that she too might become one with the Force someday, but this soon? No.

A soft, hissing, yet surprisingly soothing voice loomed overhead, and sleepily the girl opened her eyes, peering up at the Trandoshan before her. Smiling, in a harsh voice broken by crying she returned the introduction eyes flicking to Amyzon as she explained the situation.

"Moonfire. Moonfire Esense." She said, sitting up again in a fluid, quick movement, inspecting the strangeness of the Trandoshan jedi. Her time with Teiko she'd met and become used to a variety of races and species across, but Trandoshans always seemed one of the more... alien types. Scales and teeth and gleaming eyes. But this one, Sish Balkk seemed kind. Most kind.

"Master Teiko. He was... He was fluffy." She laughed, picturing the small rabbit-like old man. "And stern. Very stern." The girls voice cracked as she spoke, it was hard to think of him.

"I miss him so much."

[Thaddeus]

Balkk watched the padawan's eyes move over his features, he tried his best to keep them soft and welcoming - if Moonfire had known any Lorrdian she would have caught glimpses of kinetic expressions of sympathy and welcome on Balkk's face.

"A pleasssure to meet you Padawan." Balkk never had to try to put sincerity into his words, for Balkk never said or did something he did not truly believe. It was for this reason that whenever he did speak those who knew him listened intently, and when he did act it was with great grace and brilliance for the Force was always with those who trusted in it.

At the name Master Teiko Balkk recalled a rather gruff Kushiban Jedi, he couldn't help himself and chuckled a little when the girl called him fluffy. Balkk's laughs were warm and rolling, and they were exceptionally rare - Amyzon could not recall ever having heard one. "I imagine he did not enjoy being called fluffy..." He had no trouble believe Moonfire when she said he was stern. "A good master must be firm with their padawans." He said it gently and approvingly, though Balkk's notion of stern was far from Master Teiko's not that he knew this of course.

Balkk reached out a clawed hand and with more delicacy than anyone would ever imagine possible touched Moonfire's arm softly. The dexterity it took not to cut a living being with those claws was impressive. As his scaled skin rested on Moonfire's soft skin for a moment Balkk could feel the Force flowing in the two of them, the sensation of a physical connection to the metaphysical was sublime. Patting the arm Balkk pulled his hand back and added,

"We all missss our massters, but though we cannot sssee them they are with usss sstill. All we are, here and now, isss the Force; all of sspace, time, the ssstars and their ssswelling, collapssing, ending, the infinite oceanssss on hundredsss of planetsss where millionsss of riverss empty, all of our ssseparate countlesss free selvesss, none of it purportsss an end to the ever permanent life of life: the Force."

Amyzon looked at the elder Jedi Knight surprised for Balkk was not known as a great scholar of the Order. But she realised in that instant it was not because Balkk lacked the understanding or the insight, but because Balkk spoke so rarely, he preferred the silent meditations of Ilum to the discussions in the Temple, and he always seemed to be off on some mission for the Order.

Balkk did not notice the strange but approving look the other Jedi gave him, his attention was on Moonfire.

"And our masssters live on in their teachingsss, in their ssstudents, in usss." He smiled but quickly hid his teeth once more, Balkk's memory was alight with recollections of Master Pledesin. "If Amyzon allowss ussss would you like to walk with me, you can tell me more about your massster. Together we can remember him and honour him." He looked from Moonfire to Amyzon awaiting a response from either.

[Moonfire]

The laugh. It was rolling and warm and vibrant, like the tickle of the sun across her skin the courtyard. Rumbling and fulfilling, a balm over the palm. Moonfire smiled wide, tiny white teeth contrasting starkly with the sharp, almost menacing grin of the trandoshan. But it wasn't menacing, no.

No. It was friendly. Gentle.

"No," She admitted, a chuckle of her own following it. "He didn't like being called fluffy, but he was. When he was agitated he'd puff up. All his fur would stand right up, like someone zapped him."

Another husky, tear filled chuckle at the memory, but quickly she shoved it away. The girl, as much as she had accepted the news, accepted the end of the investigation, wasn't quite ready to touch on those moments. Those memories. Nor share them. They were hers.

Balkk's words, hissing and yet poetic, rolled over her like the rumble of his laughter. The words touched, like balm across the tender aching that went deep into her the core of her, not dismissing but acknowledging, soothing away the pain that lingered there.

Her eyes flicked to the old human healer, who gave a charming smile, despite her surprise at Balkk's poetics. "But, of course."

A comforting pat of the wiry hand across her shoulder ushered the girl from the cot, to stand still far beneath the gaze of the Trandoshan knight. Suddenly overcome with feelings of awkwardness, not knowing how to start Moonfire stepped back, hands running through the mass of her hair, seeking the braid to stroke like a worry stone.

"I think I'd like that."

[Thaddeus]

Balkk smiled again as Moonfire described how Master Teiko would look agitated. He was glad to see some warmth return to Moonfire's face, and that she genuinely smiled and laughed. He recalled how long he had laid alone in this very medcentre after Master Pledesin's death; how long he had meditated and how long it had taken him to be at peace once more. The relationship between master and padawan was the greatest a Jedi would ever have, and all the wisdom of the Order & the guidance of the Force could not quickly mend the wounds that came when a padawan lost their master.

Balkk looked across at Amyzon, he could see her surprise and her approval. Balkk did not take offence, after all he was responsible for the image of himself among the Order. So he nodded politely at the old human in acknowledgement.

Amyzon looked from the Trandoshan Jedi to Moonfire fiddling with her braid, and nodded her assent. Moonfire was not injured, she had only be placed with the healers so that she could be calmed and find some peace, but Amyzon had a feeling that this walk may do just that.

Balkk stood up from his chair, careful not to hit his head on the medical equipment that hung over the bed. "Well then." He took a step back to allow Moonfire to get out of the bed. He walked slowly, careful to keep his steps manageable for the girl. They exited the medcentre and Balkk lead them along the small hallway up into the great hall that run through the temple. Here younglings run to and from studies, padawans talked to masters, and Jedi Knights wandered and conversed. The whole place was alive, so very alive, and yet despite all that life it was calm and peaceful. Balkk had walked in silence up until now, "So Padawan Esenssse tell me how did you become Massster Teiko'sss padawan?" He rounded a corner and bronzium statues of great masters looked down upon the pair.

Balkk was stopped by a youngling, a Rodian about 12 years old, "Master Balkk, are you heading to the training rooms?" Balkk shook his head gently, "No, I am taking a walk with Padawan Esenssse here." The Rodian looked a little disappointed, but bowed to them both and scurried off. Balkk looked down at Moonfire and offered an explanation, "When I spar with the Temple's battlemastersss the younglingss like to watch..." More than the younglings truth be told, but Balkk did not boast - and in reality he never really notied the crowds. He resumed walking, his hands clasped in front of him in his lap, "Go on padawan, tell me more of your massster." He smiled warmly again, he noticed that Moonfire did not seem to be put off by his smile, and so did not conceal it immediately. The sun was high in the sky, and light bounced of the bronzium statues and busts, and dust danced amid the beams. Balkk enjoyed the warmth, and he felt something. He looked down at Moonfire and wondered.

[Moonfire]

He was tall, incredibly, awe inspiringly tall compared to her rather conservative five foot six. Yet the difference in height and in aesthetics was not disconcerting. No, it was even... comforting. The strength that seemed to flow around, meld and moved in every deliberate step, every precisely executed facial expression was just another show of this control, the effortless restraint.

Stepping back, Moonfire gave a pained smile, hand still writhing and twisting across the braid as they began their walk, booted feet echoing in this particularly quiet part of the temple.

"He chose me." She started softly, voice still raw and edged from the crying earlier. "I mean... I found him, heh. When I was a little kid on Ruusan I found him meditating while I was playing."

A soft chuckle as the memories, still so fresh and bright all these years later, blurred with the rosiness of the fondness came forward. "He was ummm... Fluffy. I asked my mother if I could keep him, like, as a pet. He and my parents spoke and he took me back here. When I was thirteen most of my, uh, friends got chosen for apprentices. They thought I'd be, well... Good with the Agriculture Corps. I like plants."

She stopped, voice breaking as a youngling wandered forward, glassy black eyes full of excitement at stumbling upon the Trandoshan master. Moonfire, relieved for the moment to regain her composure, the tears welling painfully behind her almond-shaped eyes.

The sun glittered brilliantly across the statues, great Jedi off the past. Rarely was a statue erected of a Jedi still among them, too much humility to be honored in life in such a way.

A nod tousled the inky hair, easily picturing the powerful form beside her dueling the battlemaster. She might seen something of the sort if she'd ever wander back in the sparring room without coercion.

"Go on padawan, tell me more of your massster." He rumbled again, the hiss seemed to reverberate with a bass that struck a cord in the pit of stomach, not at all unpleasant.

"Uhh... Master Teiko decided I would be ummm, wasted, on the Agriculture Corps. Well, he didn't put it exactly like that. He said something more like 'I decided to take on the burden of your education and spare the corps your bumbling.'" Her voice hitched up in a sort of manly, yet incredibly high pitched tone. "But with love. He never said it. But you, uhhh... Knew it was there."

[Thaddeus]

Balkk listened attentively as Moonfire told her story, a consequence of Balkk's belief that one should never speak unless it was worthy was that he always listened to others as if they held the same opinion. He could hear the raw emotion in Moonfire's voice, in time peace would return but there was no need to lecture her on the Jedi Code Balkk thought. Better to allow her to express and discuss these emotions so that she may understand them, and see clearly how the Code can bring harmony and peace.

The Service Corps were every youngling's worst nightmare, Balkk remembered it well. But at 55 he knew better than most that those beings in the Service Corps did as much good as the Jedi, and that there was nothing demeaning in belonging to their number. We are all servants of the Force, it guides all of our actions, no one is greater or lesser for there is only the Force. Balkk recalled the lesson of Master Pledesin. At the end when Moonfire mentioned that she liked planets Balkk asked, "Did you and Massster Teiko ever visssit an Ithorian Herdsship?" Balkk thought back to the time he had, it had been one of the most beautiful sights he had ever seen, the great rain forest of Ithor replicated inside.

Balkk approved of Moonfire's reaction, some other padawans may have gushed or asked for a demonstration. But she showed an understand of humility, Balkk's yellow eyes appraised her figure with the keen look of a great swordsman. She looked a little lanky, but he thought that she could become a more than adequate swordsman in time with training... her body though showed the signs of the fact that she hadn't trained thoroughly yet.

"Well I don't think belonging to the AgriCorpsss iss a wasste of anyone'sss talentss. They do great worksss, and are an example to usss all of the harmony that mussst exisst between all life." He said it without condemnation of her master's assessment, as he agreed that she belonged in the Order. As she trailed off almost asking if her master had loved her, Balkk smiled and nodded. "Of courssse he did, a Jedi mussst love all beingsss." They turned another corner and arrived at several great windows that looked out over the city-planet. Balkk walked over and looked out of them, "My massster used to sssay, 'that there can be nothing foreign or alien to you, for assss a Jedi you can sssense that all thingsss are the Force.' Ssshe is with me always through the Force." He looked down at Moonfire, "The wisssdom and love of all the massters." He gestured to the statues around them. "Iss with usss alwaysss." He turned away from the window and resumed his slow and easy walk. "Massster Teiko wasss right, there isss much promise in you Padawan Esensse." He smiled, "What wasss he like asss a teacher?" He wanted to keep her talking, as it seemed that vocalizing the memories were doing her good. And Balkk wanted to hear and learn more about her, that instinctive notion that had appeared in his mind only moments earlier kept nudging him towards something.

[Moonfire]

"I know," Voice a strained whisper. "I know Master Teiko loved. He-He had ways of showing it.

A snack, tucked away in the folds of his robes to be offered when her stomach gave its morning rumble, angered by her chronic skipping of breakfast. A soft pat on the head of encouragement as she pushed and pulled the little stones of her circle in intricate patterns. A fond growl as his cane swatted, firmly adjusting posture, foot placement. He never said it, not like how Mother or Father did, but he loved her. Human girl or not.

The smile curled up, and stayed sweet despite the bitterness that stung hot across her cheeks, an indigo sleeve moving up to whip away the tears before they could fully form.

"And I w-would have been honored to join the Corps, but... I'm glad I'm here." The words puffed behind her cheeks as eyes glued themselves to her feet, embarrassed to show the self-ishness of her own wants and desires. "I very much want to be a Jedi. A Knight. But I'm, ummm, happy to serve in any capacity."

His eyes lingered on her as he spoke of his own master, and she fidgeted in response, blue eyes starting up to meet his as hands fussed over the braid, thumbing the smooth polished beads. A light blush flushing her fawn cheeks at his proclamation of her potential. "Thank you, Master Balkk."

"Master was a rigid teacher... Unconventional is how my youngling instructor, Master Si Quan, described him. He was his Master as well. For the, uhhh, first three months he wouldn't speak Basic. Only Kushiban. He was trying to get me to think outside of my understanding, and to ummm, adapt to the unfamiliar."

She shuffled more as they walked, as though unsure of what to say. "I learned to trust the Force then. And my, ummm... reason." It felt strange, as though defending his curious teaching methods.

"Umm... Master Balkk? What was your Master like?"

[Thaddeus]

Balkk's hand rested on Moonfire's should as she wiped away her tears. He said nothing, just looked down with the understanding and sympathy of many years. He let go of her shoulder with a reassuring pat, "I am sssure you will become a great Jedi, one who Massster Teiko would be proud of." Some might offer such a statement as a simple platitude, but Balkk as always sincerely meant it. He sensed that Moonfire had the compassion and generosity of spirit to become a great Jedi. His clawed feet echoed slightly with clicks and clacks as they walked through the halls.

Balkk listened to how Master Teiko taught, he could not say that he honestly approved of the methods but he did not openly say this. He just nodded and listened. A very different master to his own Balkk thought, but then Master Pledesin had been quite singular or so Balkk thought. He approved though of Moonfire saying that she was learning first of all to trust in the Force. "Trusssting in the Force isss the hardessst thing for a Jedi to massster. Yet when they give themselvesss over completely to the Force then they are truly Jedi."

He looked down on Moonfire as she asked her question, he thought for a moment, he rarely spoke of his master - well truth be told he rarely spoke. "My massster was Lorrdian, do you know of them? Ssshe was wise and that wissdom made her compasssionate, there wasss not a being ssshe did not love." His old and gentle voice took on the tones of great admiration and awe. "Ssshe dedicated her life to pressserving, peacefully where ssshe could, life in the galaxy." They exited into a garden, the warmth touched Balkk's scales and the fresh air filled his nostrils, "All of my virtuessss are from her teachingsss, and any of my failingsss are my own." He wandered out onto the gravel path, feeling the stones crunch under his feet. "Sssshe would have liked you immensssely." He smiled, it was high praise for the Trandoshan knight to give. "Ssshe teachesss me ssstill."

[Moonfire]

Moonfire couldn't help but bask in the praise as they walked the familiar paths of the Halls, taking a route she wandered so often it was near instinct. Yes. No matter what happened, she would be a Jedi one could be proud of. Whatever sort of Jedi that was. Be it librarian or teacher or peacekeeper or anything in between, she'd make them proud.

"It was hard... It is hard." She admitted, shrugging as bright sunshine and slight breeze seemed to draw them from the controlled climate of the Temple. "Trusting the Force, myself. I still struggle with it, with doubts. Sometimes it feels like there's insects, roaming and swarming just beneath my skin, for no reason. Or all the reasons, and every reason there ever could be."

Stepping out into the warmth of the light, the gravel beneath her feet was soothing. The gardens had always drawn her, since she was a chubby youngling with a handful of seeds, pouring love and water over the pale sprouts at every opportunity. There was peace in the gardens, serenity amongst the stillness of ever moving and flowing life. Such intense harmony and life all in motion around her in an intoxicating blur. Some days she'd sit for hours, identifying each plant, rolling through the planets, the climates the optimal growing conditions. It was a focal point, a place to center herself in the moment.

And using that she sighed deeply, taking in the lightly fragrant air of the blooms in a deep breath, eyes closed as she focused only on Balkk, only on his words and the little beams of life about him.

"I've never met a Lorrdian, but she sounds remarkable. I am sorry to have never met her." The gravel skittered as Moonfire nearly stumbled, eyes still shut as the followed after the Trandoshan, focusing intensely.

[Thaddeus]

"Trusssting in the Force is very hard, few Jedi - even great Massterss - ever manage to fully give themselvesss over to the Force." Balkk's hands moved as they always did when he spoke, illustrating or punctuating a point. "For sssome it isss becaussse there isss sso much, the ssheer enormity of the Force is overwhelming and we feel like there isss no way we can trusst sssomething so absstract." Balkk was taking a guess at Moonfire's doubts, he was certain that a number of them also came from the fact that she did not yet trust in her own abilities. But trusting in something as intangible as the Force was always hard.

He stopped walking for a moment, just before reaching the garden. "Closse your eyesss, reach out in the Force but look passst all the throbbing livesss on thiss planet, look deeper, follow the threadsss of the Force down. All the way down to very core, can you feel the Force?" This had been a technique Master Pledesin had taught him years ago. "Can you senssse the ssshape, the flow of the Force there? How old it isss, the Force there hasss been there sssince the universsse wasss sstill hot. Now draw that Force toward you, feel the likeness to what flowsss in you, can you feel how the Force that isss within you is the same - young and old, all one, all the Force." He smiled looking down on Moonfire, "Trussst in the Force, for what burnsss at the heart of sssuns and in the depthsss of planetsss iss within you too."

He resumed walking, and noticed with pleasure that the garden had a vivifying effect on Moonfire. He walked on looking around him, he could feel and sense why the gardens always made padawans at ease. For his part though he preferred the beauty of the temple on Ilum. "Lorrdiansss are humansss, they were banned on pain of death from talking for centuriesss, ssso they developed a kinetic language. My massster taught me it, often we would sssay nothing aloud for monthss." Following the winding path through the gardens. "There isss no need to be sssorry, sshe isss the Force now and ssso with usss all." He nodded peacefully.

"What can you tell me about thisss plant?" He pointed at a small flower, his tone was one of genuine curiosity not of testing. He added, "Massster Teiko he helped teach you about thessse thingss?"

[Moonfire]

A long, sweet scented breathe filled the young girls lungs as she did as the Master bid. Coruscant spun all around her, busy and teeming with life. Pinprick rain drops along the gossamer threads of the Force.

Speeders above shimmered behind her eyelids, the passengers both connected to eachother by the threads the same way they were connected to the ground, the flow of the galaxy around them and beyond them. She could see all there was, and yet it was just beyond her focus. Like a spot both too far and too close to see clearly, a living, breathing contradiction.

Mentally she reached out, to try and stroke the delicate soul-silk, to feel the experience and the movement of it. A entity all its own yet incredibly connected to them all. It was both thrilling and terrifying in its enormity. The threads trembled in her grasp, even those that lingered, spiraling out from her fingers tips connecting her to the vast universe. Blue eyes opened, wide and slanted as she looked up at this new teacher.

"I..." Words failed her, but the pleading look attempting to convey all she couldn't quite put together. Still, Moonfire soldiered on. "I can feel it. I just--I will keep practicing."

Their walk resumed, unhampered by the moment of learning.

"Months without speaking? But wouldn't it be ghet, umm, lonely? I mean, you'd have conversation but, uhhh... Its not the same."

His clawed hand pointed towards a flower, a bloom of the most vibrant cinnabar, covered in a thin veil of yellow-brown freckles across the very center, the stamens a deep indigo. Moonfire leaned close, a smile crossing her lips as she looked it over, though she'd recognized it instantly.

"Bouncer's Breath. Its from Ruusan, my homeworld. The blooms make a nice, calming tea and the leaves can be dried for medicine. They used to say it only grow where a bouncer would whisper kindness and secrets. They bloom in the valleys between the mountains in the spring." Another touch of memory brought a smile to Moonfire's face as she peered, kneeling beside the lovely flower.

"Master Teiko had a soft spot for gardening, we talked of botany occasionally... He liked useful plants, he was a terrible Healer with the Force, but he made so many balms and salves you never seemed to notice."

[Thaddeus]

"It isss beautiful, no?" Balkk smiled at Moonfire's inability to describe it all, in truly did beggar description. "When I meditate on Ilum, I reach out and can sssense the whole sssystem... Nothing foreign to me, nothing that isss not me, for I like the planetsss and moonss are starsss am the Force." He nodded when she said that she would keep practicing, "Asss do we all padawan, asss do we all."

Balkk was not surprised when Moonfire couldn't believe that there were months when he and Master Pledesin would say nothing aloud. He explained gently, "A ssssingle movement of a muscle could ssay asss much assss whole ssentencesss. And how could we ever be lonely, we and everything around usss were alwaysss together in the Force." He smiled a little, "It may ssssurprise you, but I rarely sssay much padawan."

Balkk enjoyed the lesson from the young padawan, listening carefully, and particularly liking the the story of the Bouncers. He had never been to Ruusan. "You know much Padawan Esensse. Perhapsss you'd like to pick sssome of the flowerss and you can make usss ssome tea?" Balkk himself was not a great healer with the Force, he knew the plants and herbs on Trandosha and Kashyyk to use for medicine but for the most part he relied on his connection to the Force to keep him well. "Master Yosssa would be more than happy to talk to you of plantsss and botany." Balkk thought of the Ithorian master warmly, he was a dottery sort but genuinely kind. "You can find him in one of the gardensss."

Balkk kept following the path, ducking to avoid hitting several branches. "Did you and Massster Teiko travel?" He wanted to keep the padawan talking, as she seemed to be getting calmer. He would cast a glance down at her every now and then, as the instinct constantly tried to instruct him. But he wasn't sure yet, and trust in the Force must not be blind his master had told him once. More than just that though Balkk was enjoying the conversation, when he spoke it was rare, and it was rarer still for him to enjoy it.

[Moonfire]

"I would, Master Balkk... But the petals have to dry." She smiled softly, picking a few of the older blooms, ones that had already begun to wilt. She so hated having to pluck them in their prime. It always seemed such a waste to take it in its prime and doom it days or weeks before its time. Taking the hearty flowers she carefully wrapped them in soft, white linen before tucking them back into the pockets of her robes. She'd dry them properly later, she returned to her bunk.

"Perhaps another time, though? Once they've dried?" Moonfire bubbled at the idea. So far their little walk had been most enlightening, and while the disappearance of Teiko weighed heavily on her, the burden seemed... easier to bear now. Lighter, even.

"Not often, Master was an archivist. Much of his work was here in the Temple, or in the old catacombs on Ruusan. We did go to Corellia a few times. The gold beaches were lovely." Her steps were light behind him, as her eyes skimmed across the plants, listing them internally.

Manji, Naboo. Aquatic. Fruit bearing.
Torr's Bane. Arkania. Good for stomache.
Warrior Will. Eshan. Pretty.
Lime Ecstasy. Zeltros. Fragrant. Flashy.

Her eyes flicked back and forth across them before flipping back, just a rapidly to the Trandoshan, still in awe of his size and grace.

"Are you a peacekeeper, like your Master?"

[Thaddeus]

"Ah..." Balkk nodded and watched Moonfire pluck the petals, wrapping them and tucking them into the pockets of her robes. When she suggested that perhaps when they have dried Balkk smiled, "Yesss, I would like that. Tell Mistressss Amyzon in the medcentre when they are dry, and I will come and join you for sssome of your tea." A wind blew by them, Balkk's robes billowing and revealing his lightsaber and its few Lorrdian gems. What required just one of his Trandoshan hands to hold needed two human hands to properly grasp.

"A sssseeker and protector of knowledge..." He offered as Moonfire said her master had been an archivist. "A noble tasssk." So a relatively sheltered time she had had with her master it seemed.

Not that Balkk disapproved his first year of being a padawan was spent entirely in the Temple. "Coronet City isss a jewel, the lightsss from it ssstrike the waters like a sstars." He smiled, in his time Balkk had been all over the galaxy from the deep core to the wild unknown regions.

"How did you help your massster with his work?" Another genuine question, wanting to keep her talking.

He saw her looking up at him from time to time, eyes running the length of his body. He was used to it, few beings matched his height. Her question drew his yellow eyes back down upon her gently.

"Yessss, though I wassss for sssometime the Watchman for Trandossha and the Kasssshyyk sssytem. Then and now I do what I can to bring harmony and peace, did your massster ever tell of Assshla and Bogan?"

[Moonfire]

"I will certainly do so," The girl beamed as the same wind parted her heavy outer-robe, revealing the dark cool colors of her tunic, the red cord that tied her silken obi across her stomach and the lightsaber that dangled from her hip, a small yet ornate piece.

A slim, nearly perfect cylinder of gleaming silvery metal marked only by the intricate vine and leave designs that wove its way across the surface like creeping ivy. A little jeweled insect dangled on a few links of chain from the base, a little talisman she thumbed when thinking of her mother.

Their walk, well paced and refreshing with the cool, sunny afternoon had sufficiently calmed the girl, the thoughts of her Master still on the surface but touching the moment they had shared was less raw, soothed some by the conversation.

"Oh, I'm an alright researcher." Moonfire shrugged. "I'd spend hours in the library learning the stories, helping with identifying objects and preserving them for display and organization in the archives. Mostly I helped Master carry things from place to place." She chuckled at the thought. A glorified pack mule, like most apprentices and interns.

The familiar names of Tython's moons and their associated lore brought a wide grin to the girls face. "Oh yes! They're the moons of Tython, but more importantly they represent the light and dark sides of the Force. Balance."

[Thaddeus]

Balkk looked down quickly noticing Moonfire's delicate hilt, crafted with much affection and attention to detail. Balkk approved, though his own hilt was a simple affair - like the Jedi - with no ornamentation besides the two Lorrdian gemstones embedded in the pommel of the hilt. Master Pledesin's hilt had been a great work of art, all done in silver and electrum with Aurebesh characters woven into the surface. It glittered and shone. When making his own Balkk had thought about copying the style, but he had decided all those years ago that such ornament was unnecessary in something which would be a tool of the Force. Pledesin and Balkk had often talked about Balkk's austerity.

The warmth of the sun ran along his back, and Balkk sighed contentedly enjoying the heat. "I rarely have time to truly wander the archivessss." Balkk inclined his head to one side, "I am rarely at the Temple." The time between assignments Balkk spent almost exclusively on Ilum. Indeed he was there so often that he had welcomed many generations of padawans being lead by their masters to collect a crystal. The droids and Service Corps members who cared for the Temple there had long ago put aside a dedicated room for Balkk. "You mussst sshow me sssome of the relicsss your masster and you dissscovered."

The gurgling of a little fountain could be heard ahead of them. Balkk was glad that Moonfire knew of Ashla and Bogan, the story was an old one but it was becoming less common to be told. For a moment Balkk thought back to when he had told the tale to Shorza, he wondered what the Zabrak was doing, he trusted that the boy was doing good.

"You know the tale? Good. Balance you sssay, how doess the ssstory of Assshla and Bogan tell ussss thiss? And why ssshould a Jedi have balance?" The gentle crunching of pebbles mingled with the noise of the fountain. Balkk sat down on the cool marble of the fountain, his head still above Moonfire's, his yellow eyes rested on her intently. He was very interested in her reply, and so waited and watched, studying every detail.

[Moonfire]

Moonfire settled down on the smooth, polished marble of the fountain, listening at the water sprayed and washed into the little pool behind them. The sun was warm, but not enough to heat the cool, luxurious stone beneath them. Moonfire's feet lifted up a little from the ground from this boosted seat, waving and gently kicking away the built up gravel.

Her voice was soft, but even as she spoke, as though reciting from the many books of the library she poured over between lessons and missions.

"Ashla and Bogan are the dual moons of the Tython and are believed to have been born from core of the planet as symbols of the eternal struggle of the Force, light and dark. To truly achieve peace one must find balance between the two opposing forces. To live a life of extremes, either light or dark, is a life misguided and lacking of serenity." Her tone of recital broke as she looked back up, meeting the yellow eyes.

Fidgeting more at the attentions, she continued, though in the more relaxed alto of her own words. "I mean, if you stray too far to the darkside you'll lose all the sight of all the good and kind things a person can do, and if you become too obsessed with the light you lose the humanity that you fought to protect... Right?" She shifted more, afraid perhaps she'd misinterpreted the lesson of the moons. Even now she couldn't quite understand, in practice, why one wouldn't want to embrace the lightside as much as possible.

[Thaddeus]

Balkk listened to the recital of the story, it was as textbook an answer as the Librarian of the Archives could have asked for themselves. But it was Moonfire's own wisdom that Balkk was more pleased with. For knowledge is just the recitation of facts, but understanding, wisdom, that was more than that. A clawed hand rose and gently stroked his chin, he hissed a little in satisfaction.


"Do you believe it to be right?" Balkk nodded encouraging Moonfire to enquire more.

"Padawan Esensse it is the Force that grantsss uss wissdom, and the Force sspeaksss to uss all. Ssso you no more, and no lessss, than I can hear itsss wissdom. Ssso doess the tale ssseem to you wisse? Do you have no doubtsss?"


Balkk's hands were once more in his lap, folded and resting there on his simple robes. A few Jedi wandered by, they nodded at them and Balkk returned the gesture. He turned back to the young padawan, and once again he felt that same sensation.

But he was not yet ready to fully accept its guidance, no he wished to hear what she had to say about the story of Ashla and Bogan first. For this story encapsulated the very nature of the Force, and so Balkk's own existence and teaching. If he was to heed the guidance of the Force he had to be sure that what he sensed was in harmony with his own, and the nature of the Force.