The Welcome Wagon (Open to all)

[Fal Ket]

It had been a relatively short journey, considering some of the other places he'd jumped to and from in the past few years. He'd jumped as many galactic levels as could be jumped in recent times, going all the way from the deep core to the outer rim in a single trip. Sometimes he lost track of just how long he'd spent on a ship. Honestly, though, he didn't mind it at all. It had given him ample time to meditate. This had allowed him to glimpse into the near future, seeing himself on worlds both near and far away. This had been the guiding presence of his entire journey.

The culmination of that long journey had been on Ossus. There, he had witnessed with his own two eyes the truth that the Jedi Order had taught since times long forgotten: Death is only the beginning. Odan-Urr, by all logic, should not have been able to teach him Force Light. Yet, somehow, the old Jedi Master had managed to return from the grave in order to do so. This was proof that, despite shedding his mortal shell, there was still an entity in the universe that carried his presence. Someday, the same would be true of the Kel Dor Master as well.

As Fal Ket sat there concentrating on the events of that meeting, he felt the lurching change in speeds. The shuttle had just come out of hyperspace, he knew, and he would be arriving at his destination soon. Rising from the floor (but not from his meditating position), he floated through the door to the cabin and set himself down in the pilot's seat. There, he went through the procedures of a proper landing. He radioed through to air traffic control both in the city of Coruscant and the Jedi Temple, cleared a route to proceed on and made his way into the hanger. 'Finally,' the master said as the ship's landing gear extended, 'I'm home.'

He allowed the autopilot to finish the landing, heading toward the back of the ship as it made its final approach. Normally, this would have been an incredibly jarring experience. Then again, normally, the speed at which maneuvers were done in starfighters would create enough Gs to kill a man. With the presence of inertial dampeners on most ships these days, it made the ride much smoother, and Fal Ket kept his balance all through the final sequence. He stepped down the exit ramp to find that the hangar bay, save for the ships that were normally there, was completely empty. 'What a welcome wagon,' he thought, and he started heading in toward the temple. Of course, he wasn't disappointed or angry, nor did he have the right to be. He hadn't even announced that he was coming, the only notice the Order had was his call requesting permission to land. Besides, he was just one Jedi Master out of hundreds. What was so special about *him* coming home?

He opened the door leading to the Temple's interior and stepped through...

[Squee]

((Welcome to the world of Squee posting.))


“Good grief, how long does it take to return to your home?” Rayn muttered under her breath. She had a brief sense in the Force as Hiccup’s voice box clicked over to action, ready to provide probably a sarcastic comment. The Jedi Master’s heel clicked as she came to a halt, her head swiveling to pin the HK droid in a calm but slightly warning gaze. Some Jedi would feel uncomfortable with this sort of emotion rolling around another. Rayn, however, was fully aware of such things and the emotions or feelings did not remain around for very wrong, to comfort those around her. When she no longer sensed the response from the droid, the glinting warning dissolved almost immediately. Instead, it was replaced with a small smile and a nod of appreciation. Her pacing continue.

“Rayn, it is only a few minutes over due time. Why are you so impatient?”

Again, there was a heel click and slight scuffing sound as Rayn pivoted on the balls of her feet. Her legs were crossed for a moment before she unhooked the cross foot, gracefully swinging it around from behind and setting it down. Her kind sea green gaze rested on one of her oldest friends, the speaker of the mechanized female voice. A protocol droid known as CJ to Rayn, her earliest and probably most highly considered friend that never left the Jedi Master’s side. If the Jedi Master suddenly received the nerve to jump into a pit of flowing lava, the droid would follow. The HK unit would be more hesitant. Of course, Hiccup was designed as an assassin droid, expected to be highly considerate despite programming.

“Of all things, CJ, for you to forget. I have a class of younglings that are expecting my presence today. Only me, but, my spontaneous decision to welcome another Jedi Master I’ve noted over the last several years has put me at a delay. However, I have no doubt the younglings will be thrilled.”

“You assume very much,” CJ stated, sounding sure of herself. She only got a heart lightening grin from Rayn that failed to do much on a droid’s mood. “How do you know these younglings will be happy to even see YOU?”

CJ had always been a little critical one certain things. Especially on the terms of happiness. Rayn wondered if this had anything to do with the chunk of her childhood that had remained as loneliness. Without arms, she was an odd human form. Even as Jedi younglings, they tend to stare and stumble over words when trying to speak to another that did not look like them. Droids didn’t have such confusing nonsense. And Rayn’s first sentient friend had actually been alien, who even thought she looked like a bizarre human but Rayn didn’t look a think like her anyway, so what had it mattered?

“What younglings aren’t happy to see me? Or, rather should I say, who aren’t as soon as they know my arms were cut off by some wandering, troublesome Dark Jedi; or are after they sense the true nature of my being.”

“Point that maybe be…” CJ began once again.

“Amused: Lady Rayn, there are some heading your way. They are incoming quite quickly and…”

“Yes,” Rayn acknowledged him, “ Thank you, Hic- Now who do we have here?” Her smile was turned down to a little red-headed girl who had clung to one of Rayn’s legs, stopping the Master from pacing any further. Sayda, the girl’s name was, probably no more than four and from the planet Dathomir, if Rayn recalled. More children were pouring from behind the small Dathomir girl, of all species and planets. Rayn was familiar with this group of younglings: even they had to be watched if they decided it would be fun to climb the fountains. The troublemakers, if you would give them that much credit, were quick to obey if found wrong. Well, most of them anyway.

“If you let go of my leg, I can level with all of you,” Rayn suggested lightly, and the girl released her. As the Master bent to submerge herself head level with these children, they crowded around and embraced her in someway.

Rayn was known by several for doing exactly this: stooping to level with any aged child and speaking directly to them. She’d ask them questions, speak of her day, speak of what their future would some day look like. After the shock of the Master having no limbs and plenty of meetings, they would give her some kind of loving credit. In this case with the four or five year olds having a fun tour of the Temple, they liked touching her.

“Though I don’t know why you’re at this level…”

“Te Wan was de firsht to ask if we could see shtar ships,” babbled one of the human boys excited, tripping over his ‘s’s.

“I see. And we’re having fun?” Rayn was rewarded with a few bobbing heads and mutters of excitement. Another simple question rested on the Jedi’s tongue when a small hiss of an opening door alerted her attention to something behind her. Rayn twisted with foot and knee, peering over her shoulder to see Fal Ket, the Master she was waiting for. After consulting the time with the Jedi attending to the children, Rayn said goodbye to her small friends and stood up directly.

Hiccup, who had been lingering in a shadowy part of the hall shifted over into the light more: closer to Rayn and just out of five feet from her. CJ remained off to the side, but highly visible in her gleaming silver plating. With Hiccup standing behind Rayn, it was easy to compare her height, which wasn’t that tall to be exact. The Kel Dor was nearly a foot taller than Rayn. If some thought her droids loomed over her, they weren’t around her long enough with the people she associated with.

“Master Fal Ket,” Rayn greeted, tossing her head slightly to the side to sweep a loose lock from her face. How had that come out of the ponytail she had had so carefully placed and tightened? CJ made a move toward her to help her with the stubborn hair with a mind of its own. Rayn gave a quick head turn toward the protocol droid and said gently: “It’s fine. We’ll fix it in a little bit.”

If CJ could’ve, Rayn was sure the droid would put her hands on her hips and stare at her with a more criticizing mother expression.

Again, that genuine smile pressed across Rayn’s face as she leveled her eyes a bit upward to meet the approaching Kel Dor. “I would’ve expected to see more people here to come see you on your return, with perhaps an overabundance of joy. I find it somewhat amusing that only my droids and I are here to ask how your journey to different –wherever it was you went - … went.” Words, she always seemed to fumble over them in the worst times ever. Her right eyebrow dipped somewhat at the realization of such simple words, and just how confusing things were worded.

“What I meant to ask is ‘How are you’ Rayn style.”

[Fal Ket]

((Only one thing confuses me. In your bio you mention becoming a Master, but the rank still says Knight. Is that rank listing a typo, then? Also, yay for Squee posting ^^))

Thoughts of recognition flooded his mind at once as he looked to the voice that greeted him. Here stood a fully realized Jedi, and one who had managed to become a useful and productive member of that order without arms. Traditionally, the marks of a Jedi were two fold: their unique robes and their lightsabers. He'd never admit it out loud, but secretly he had always admired her for managing to go without what many Jedi considered the more important symbol. She took the old saying, "The Force is the blade of the heart," and gave it a whole new meaning, and the Kel Dor had always been jealous of her for that.

He didn't know as much about her as perhaps he should have. He was only a year older than she was, although she technically had four years of training experience over him. In this he also considered Rayn to be especially lucky, having been trained from birth in the Jedi way instead of coming later into the order, as Fal had. Regardless, when they had grown up, they had been contemporaries of one another. Fal Ket could still remember those youthful days, though he was careful not to get nostalgic or warm-and-fuzzy over it. Such feelings were dangerous to a Jedi.

This is not to say that he wasn't glad to see his old acquaintance again. Indeed, he was most happy that she had taken the time out of her schedule to come and see him. He knew she probably had other things to do around the temple. He may not have known a lot about her at that point, but he was well aware that she was an active teacher and mentor well thought of by her students. For a brief moment, he wondered if that had been the reason she'd asked for the time, but he had no basis to really support such a notion.

All of these thoughts flooded into his mind within the span of just a few moments, before Rayn had even begun talking. As she spoke, the Kel Dor made a conscious effort not to chuckle lightly at the way she minced her words. He had been known to do the same on occasion. "I am well," he decided to reply. "As for my travels, there is too much to tell in one sitting. Suffice to say, I am glad to report that I return as more of a Jedi than I was when I departed." Briefly, his silver-rimmed eyes wandered to the two droids, observing their appearance and manner toward him briefly. The movement was hidden by his goggles, and his attention re-focused on Rayn in short order. "And what of yourself, then?" he asked. "How has life in the temple been these past few years?"

[Squee]

((The ending’s crap, but that’s because I’m tired. And, it was a typo on the profile. Thanks for bringing that to my attention. I meant to change it when I went to rearrange the bio.))

The smile that had been resting on her face for a duration of time had lowered key when she tripped over her words. It was an outward sign of just how she knew that she had messed up some way or form. Her facial expressions tended to make up for what flailing, story-telling arms couldn’t. And therefore, talking to Rayn could be sometimes comical. Rayn had sense of humor to go with it. And so when she sensed the restrained chuckle from Fal, she couldn’t help but let her lips crack into another mild smile.

The smile stayed on a little longer as she said: “I would offer you a hand, my friend, but I seem to be short of two. It is good to hear you haven’t lost your way over the years. Many would have drifted from their training more and more. Staying direct receives a disciplinary honor.”

And that smile vanished once more as an annoyed expression crossed her features and lit up her eyes. Her lips curled as she blew air out forcefully from them, attempting to remove the hair covering the right side of her face. Eyebrows furrowed, and she tossed her head again, making the persistent hair dash to the side of her head. It wouldn’t be long before it drifted back into her eyes, Rayn knew. Her full attention diverted from the hair back to Fal.

“I’m sure the travels and experiences are enormous and would take hours to explain each one in detail.” Rayn bounced on the balls of her feet for a moment. “And I’d like to listen to a few of them, but I have, however, a youngling class to attend to. They’re expecting me, and it’s a new class. Which means dealing with the funny faces all over again.” She was speaking of the shock of an un-armed Jedi. Sometimes Rayn wished she would allow herself cybernetic arms, but if she thought about it long enough, it wouldn’t have done anything to ward off surprise. Mechanical arms or sealed shoulders, it didn’t matter. There were always gaping mouths. And it would just be a weight for Rayn to become used to if she did decide to have cybernetics. She’d survived this long without arms of any kind. There would be quite a few disappointments if Rayn did start depending on machinery to fill in what she wasn’t born with. It was one of the reasons why the Jedi master refused them.

CJ had to be given another quick stare from Rayn, as the Jedi kept tossing her head to rid of the hair hanging in her vision. So motherly, sometimes. No wonder the average teenager gets frustrated with them every now and again. The droids had no particular interest in Fal: their focus was always on Rayn, to either help or defend, or fight in the place of.

“I don’t like to greet you and then leave you. If you wish, you can walk my way until I reach the classroom. I’m not sure if you have anything planned for your return.” Now she spoke more like a Jedi talking to someone of her age. It would be back to simple speak soon enough. That was what had happened earlier; Rayn’s speech had been confused over talking to four year olds and then having to make the mental transition into someone of her own age.

“Perhaps Master Ket would join the class.”

Rayn frowned at the droid, giving a clear ‘Don’t make people’s minds up for them’ message. Or ‘Don’t distract them from the necessities’ kind of thing.

“Hiccup, how long do I have?”

“Answer: Twelve minutes, give or take. …You’re going to be late.”

A tight smile twitched its passage at the corner of her mouth. “I knew I was going to be late today if I came to greet Fal or if I had decided on another course of action.” Rayn was hardly late, which earned her some forgiveness without apologizing. Unless the master teaching the class was a little more strict than usual.

[Fal Ket]

The constant messing of Rayn with her hair brought back a sudden jolt of memory. He remembered his first apprentice, Brenna. When first they had met, she'd seemed generally unconcerned with herself, so far as appearance went. She had always worn her hair tied back just to keep it out of her face, but she rarely if ever messed with or adjusted it. Then, when her affair with his old master had begun, she suddenly took a keen interest in how she looked. At that point, whenever Fal Ket so much as mentioned Master Jorin, Brenna began fussing with the details of her presentation. Fal still felt a bit guilty about how she had ended up, committing suicide before standing trial. What despair must that have been, and had he truly been responsible for it?

The memory of the events surrounding Brennas fall were some of the only ones that still even began to phase Fal. For a slight moment, the recollection of that truly emotional time in his life sent a slight tremor through his Force Aura; However, this was soon corrected. He couldn't stop himself from feeling his emotions, so instead he focused his mind and rose above them. In that state of mind, his emotions would merely exist. They could not influence his decisions in the least. The first time he had done it, he had struggled to attain that peaceful state of mind. However, decades later, he could call it up at a moment's notice.

"Yes, yes," he said as he snapped himself out of the recesses of his mind. He hadn't even noticed when he became lost in his memories, and for a second he wondered how long his emotions had been displayed on his Aura. "When we have more time to sit and talk, I'd be glad to tell you all about my adventures." That he'd used the word 'Adventure' was his own mincing of words. He didn't actually mean to imply all that fun stuff that the word brought to mind. A Jedi did not seek such things in his life, and Fal Ket was no different in that regard. Still, if nothing else, Fal would have agreed that there was no better term to describe what he meant. For lack of a better word, he wouldn't have corrected himself even had he noticed the mix-up.

He stepped forward to walk by Rayn's side when she mentioned her class, even before the droid CJ mentioned that he might join it. However, she spoke before he did. In the wake of her idea, which had in truth been the same of his own, he was unsure of what to say for the briefest of moments. "Yes," he replied, "That is a fine idea. I would enjoy coming with you to watch and, if I am needed, participate in the class." He was, after all, now searching for a new Padawan to pass his knowledge on to. The best way to start on that happy task was to become familiar with Younglings again.

[Squee]

Rayn sensed Fal’s change of disposition, sadness suddenly filling his presence. When one remembered something, they got this somewhat distant glare in their eyes. Because of the goggles, Rayn’s couldn’t see the master’s eyes very well. But the way she could feel his presence brought to her memory that he was remembering something.

“Yes, yes. When we have more time to sit and talk, I'd be glad to tell you all about my adventures. He finally replied after a few moments hesitation. He hadn’t really been in his memory trance for all that long. It was long enough for Rayn to notice as something more than just thinking over what she had said, if he truly wanted to do as she suggested or not. It came with being an in depth Force-user. Rayn’s senses were keen, and they had to be. It aided in her battle meditation or whenever she was on another planet with just her droids. Hiccup could warn her of danger he saw, but that sometimes would not be enough for Rayn. Without arms, it limited her physical reaction, especially the one many Jedi had to deflect anything that came their way. Rayn had to be prepared all the time. The only way she could deflect was funneling the Force through her mind and executing it from there. It required a good deal more concentration than channeling it down an arm and waving it at an object. And she most certainly could not fall back on lightsaber. For obvious reasons.

Rayn didn’t react to his trance. Only to what he said to her. She gave a small nod, her presence and disposition sturdy and secure. As always, she appeared at ease, and radiated that fair calmness. The next smile that was on her face was warm, delighted to hear he would like to come to her class to visit the younglings.

“They aren’t the youngest of bunches. Maybe nine, ten, or eleven. I’m not yet sure myself. I was just asked if I could pay a quick lesson about the Force. It’s a new class, so, be prepared to feel a little shock when I enter the room. I think these children think that Master Rayn having no arms is a rumor instead of fact.” Humor tinted her. She made light of the fact she had no arms. Was it frustrating? At some point or another, yes.

“Let’s go,” she told her droids and turned sharply, a sudden bounce and hurry in her step. Rayn didn’t like to be late. She knew she was going to be anyway. There was no point in making her any more late than necessary. Younglings could be patient, as well as the masters, but masters could be tended to become a little bit worried or impatient as they waited on a guest speaker or visitor. Oh well.

For someone so short and with short legs, she knew how to move. Arms were a useful tool when you wanted to walk quickly, and to keep up with Rayn, the taller person would be having to swing their arms to keep up with her. Rayn had very good legs for walking or running, and she knew how to utilize them for her benefit of walking. She had to lean only slightly forward and push more with the muscles in her thighs than the ones in her calf. Walking quickly standing straight and tall will work your calves. Rayn wanted her thighs, which could endure more for long distances, to be working, not her calves. In turn, she was walking quickly, maybe more than a long-legged person could forth unless their legs were as strong as hers.

Rayn led them down a corridor toward a lift. They were three quarters there when she suddenly stopped, sidestepped so Fal, who was more than likely walking with power to keep up with her, could go past her. She turned, eyebrow raised before she controlled the motion and lowered it, trying to project a authoritive appearance.

“Sayda, I don’t have time for you to play around.”

The little figure stepped from her position in the half pillar’s shadow. She wrung her hands a little nervously and her eyes were caste downward. The girl knew she was in trouble.

“I only wanted…”

“And it’s inconveniencing me.” Rayn didn’t want to hear the reason. She wanted to the girl to understand that her actions were costing another something in return. “Now, where is your master? She’s going to be worried when she turns around and notices you’re missing.”

Sayda’s gray eyes peered upward, wide-eyed. “I don’t want Master Cigal to be worried. I didn’t mean…”

“Of course you didn’t.” The child just hadn’t thought, as many of the youngest children didn’t. Sayda was well spoken for her age and understanding when things are pointed out to her. Just as the average youngling was.

Rayn resisted the urge to sigh, glancing at the lift and then back at Sayda. The class could be anywhere down here. She couldn’t leave the Dathomir girl to find her teacher on her own. And she couldn’t abandon her class without…

“CJ, contact Herum and tell him I might not be able to make it for a little while. He might want to reschedule if I’m as late as I am, or he can move onto a minor subject until I get there.” She didn’t know how long it would take her to find Sayda’s class. As she approached the girl, she seemed to shrink.

“Come on,” Rayn encouraged her, walking by. Sayda’s eyes went to Fal and then she scrambled after Rayn, reaching a hand up to hook her fingers on the Jedi Master’s belt.