A More Productive Life

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The chilly air of a Ruusan morning greeted Cedric Grayson as he stepped out into the courtyard. Fall had come to grace the Graywall two weeks ago, and the cold it had brought with it seemed intent on lingering. Sharp gray eyes peered out into the dark mountain range that surrounded Cedric's ancestral home. The sun had not yet risen above the snow capped stone giants to the east, and the light that managed to seep through was orange and faint.

Cedric allowed himself a moment's peace as he watched the sun rise over the ancient castle. Not for the first time, he found himself wondering if he had chosen the right path. His injuries sustained during the battle of Gree had been life threatening, but they would heal fully soon enough. Rather than return to the frontlines once he was battle ready, soldier had elected to remain behind for the time being. His men needed rest, and all out military assaults against the Sith Empire had not born much fruit.

They had done their duty in slowing the Sith's expansion for as long as they could. There was no shame in retreating to fight another day, but Cedric still felt an uncomfortable twisting in his gut. The Republic had elected to move to the core just a week ago, and with that move came the introduction of both Mandalorian and Imperial aggression. With the Sons of Ession reduced to a fighting force of barely a thousand, there was little Cedric could do to help them militarily.

Even still, war had not broken out entirely just yet. There was still time to prepare;: Cedric was keen to let someone else work those preparations out for once. The young master had been fighting the Sith since his childhood, and frankly he needed a break to work on more productive matters than warfare. A Jedi's duty was to defend those that could not protect themselves, but there were many other ways that one must serve then simple violence.

[member="Avoim Oeymo"] had named him a Jedi Master. At first, Cedric had been quite apprehensive about taking up that title, but the endorsement of a few other Jedi Masters had helped him to grow comfortable with the title. He had not felt ready, or worthy of such a position. Events during the battle of Gree had changed that perspective.

Freed from his doubts and duties to the war, Cedric had set himself upon a different path. He had always wanted to be a teacher. In his youth, Cedric had dreamed of a time when he might set aside the lightsaber and instruct students on the spiritual aspects of the force. @Cenric Marrus had provided more than enough experience in the teaching of students, though Cedric's padawan was far off fighting for the outer rim coalition against the first order last the master had heard. He intended to use that experience to teach a new generation of Jedi Knights: men and women that could be the protectors of the peace that their predecessors had failed to become.

To combat the Sith, there simply needed to be more Jedi with a grounded faith in the force. Cedric had seen far too many young students fall to the dark side because of weak teachings from their chosen mentors. Having experienced far more than most of his peers, and having redeemed some of the most vile Sith Lords in the galaxy, Cedric considered himself something of an authority on resisting its corrupting pull. He fully intended to spread that zeal to those that would be arriving today.

The hum of a vessel's sunlight engines tore Cedric from his thoughts. He looked up to see the large dropship steadily growing larger on the horizon. It only took a minute or so for the bulbous vessel to find its place on a landing pad in the middle of the courtyard. Cedric was the sole man waiting for its arrival: he'd instructed his subordinates to give the padawans a wide berth until they were comfortable with their new surroundings.

The gangplank to the shuttle hissed open slowly. Cedric remained still as a statue, arms clasped behind the small of his back as he affixed the new arrivals with a small, but welcoming smile. He was clad in the dark robes of an Essonian Knight, though he had chosen to remove the armored portions of his ceremonial garb to set the new arrivals at ease

They had come from all walks of life. He'd sent out multiple invitations to every force enclave he knew of, and he was sure some had come after hearing simple rumors.

"Welcome to Ruusan," his voice was rough like gravel, but warm, "I'm Cedric Grayson. I hope you all had a good trip. Why don't we start with your names and where you're from: why you've chosen to come here."




1. [member="Irella Toldreyn"]

2. [member="Realek Biske"]

3. [member="Eline Djo"]

4. [member="Giddean Kuat"]

5. [member="Kiran Arlos"]

6. [member="Tempest Yore"]

 

[Oghma Infinium]

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Realek landed on Ruusan in the early morning. His voyage to seek out training had finally come to an end, hopefully, at least. From what it looked like, Realek was going to be trained by Jedi Master Cedric Grayson. This sounded reliable enough, and and he hoped it would be.

So far the planet he had landed on was very scenic. It definitely didn't remind him of his home planet though. The place he lived was much more industrialized and dirty, while Ruusan could not be described as that. Of course, Both planets had their quirks and advantages, but Realek would still have to say he preferred Ruusan, as he wasn't the biggest fan of big cities. Good thing he had never been to Coruscant, because he would not have enjoyed his visit.

Apparently, all that want to become Padawans were supposed too meet up in a specific castle, which wasn't very hard to find. If fact, it only took Realek about five minutes to locate it. He entered the castle and searched around. Eventually, he found his way too the meeting place Master Cedric spoke of. It was a balcony.

Realek emerged onto the balcony. Eventually, the balcony had himself, Cedric, and five other individuals on it. They all looked relatively young. While continuing to observe the other Padawans, Realek's thoughts were interrupted by a question from Cedric, asking where him and the other Padawans were from, and a bit about themselves.

Realek responded, "My name is Realek Chivash Biske, of the Anarris royal family. I am a prince, from Anarris, which is located in the Unknown Regions. I have a long line of Jedi in the family, typically faving one every generation. My grandfather was a Jedi. I traveled here for training. That is all I have to tell." He finished.

 

[Giddean Kuat]

He walked onto the platform with the rest of those he was with at this moment. He stood there with the rest of the Padawans as they were greeted by the teacher. He wore his KSF Uniform that was issued to him by his father. It was interesting to think of this new environment he found himself in. It had only been a few months since he graduated the Military Academy and returned home after 12 years, and as soon as he touched his home-world, his family sent him away again. At lease he had a fresh image of Kuat in his mind, that alone was worth the great strides he took in his schooling. He lived to serve his families will and the protection of his Aunt, [member="Kanna Kuat"].

As he waited for the new Master that would train him in the ways of controlling his Force Power, he looked back at the reason he was here. His mind drifted to the most recent memory of his mother, and in one of his rare moments in his life he creaked a smile at their last exchange or words. She recommended traveling here and train under this man, a friend of a friend she put it, this Master [member="Cedric Grayson"].

He wiped the smile off his face as soon as the man greeted them and stood at attention. He did not know much about the chaos that was going on in the galaxy. He had trained on Anaxes for the last few years and the planet received little interference by the outside world so he only knew what was transmitted on regular Holo Feeds. He cared little for the war between the Sith or the Jedi, he was here to learn to properly use his Force Abilities to protect his Homeworld.

After [member="Realek Biske"] spoke up, he stepped forward, stood at attention and place his hands at his side, "Giddean of House Kuat from Kuat, I was sent by the House Head to study the Force and to become a Jedi Peacekeeper."

He stepped back and let whoever wanted to speak up next the stage to do so.

 

[Tempest Yore]

Tempest read the Jedi network-wide call [member="Cedric Grayson"] had sent out. At first she did not realize it was meant for everyone, and thought he was finally reaching out to her to find out how she faired after the fall of the Dominion, and then after waiting for him for months to return to Ession, but he never came; the Sith came though, instead. His wording was rather cordial as she knew him to be, then it hit her that his message held no personal exchange, and she felt shunned by him once again. She deleted the message off her system, brooded many days and nights, until her Master ordered her to go and put down old ghosts once and for all. In fact, Master [member="Syn"] refused to train her further until she dealt with the issue. Her Maser had seen it for what it was, Tempest's first real crush. But for Tempest of 14 years, Cedric is her one and only, and final true love interest ever to be had during her life.

The young Padawan always treated her Maser respectfully, in that she never purposefully hid her feelings from him or did him any sort of liken injustice as to pretend to be someone she is not. She outwardly pouted and when faced with the truthfulness that her brooding just would not subside on its own, she did as ordered and returned a request for Cedric’s ship to be expecting her at their rendezvous point. She did not reply with her name. Upon her arrival, she docked her vessel and explored the amenities of the vast Starship, before boarding the transport to be taken to Ruusan.

Alot had changed in herself since Cedric last saw her. She learned alot about her past which she had never realized before. Her adoptive father had actually murdered her biological father a Jedi Master, and he raised Tempest as his own child, though during the years, he had repented his deed and actually agreed to nurture her in the ways of the Jedi, rather than his more inherent ongoing self serving disposition. She threw away the persona her kidnapper had designed for her, all the frilly white upperclass dresses with petticoats, and accepted the uniform and Jedi robes her Master had special ordered her, still stainless white with a pastel teal sash. And lastly, the name that her real parents had given her, was not Tempest. That was the instinctive name her kidnapper labeled her.

On the landing pad With the others, the short statured Tempest stood behind [member="Realek Biske"] [member="Giddean Kuat"], hoping not to be noticed. Maybe coming here was a bad idea. She did not speak as prompted, but rather worked at concealing her presence through the Force.

 

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The class was relatively small, but then there weren't many left to truly serve the role of students these days. Cedric watched in silence as the students spoke of who they were and were they came from - it wasn't much, but it was enough for the Jedi Master to work with.

"It seems we have some rather important individuals present," Cedric mused, a hint of good humor lacing his words. He did well to ignore the breeze of cold fall air as he paced in front of the three of then, a small smile upon his bearded face.

"Realek, Giddean, your purpose for being here is noble, though I must warn you that my training is far less traditional than that of most teachers. Neither princes nor men of station will be treated any differently than a peasant here. My training will mold you into the Jedi you need to be to protect your people."

He paused, blue eyes falling upon the only woman - well, girl - present. Cedric gave her a knowing nod.

"Padawan Tempest has a bit of experience. Look to her for a bit of guidance in our lessons to come." The grin widened, "Now, before we actually begin your training, I need to know what you've all managed to learn on your own thus far."

[member="Tempest Yore"], [member="Giddean Kuat"], [member="Realek Biske"]

 

[Giddean Kuat]

Giddean listened to his new masters instructions, he was not looking for special treatment. He was the only child of a third born, being treated as nobility was something he never had. The only thing that mattered now was the mission and to do what his aunt wished of him.

"I appreciate your tutelage Master Grayson," The chill of the cold air did not bother Giddean, the warmth of his uniform and being accustom to extreme weather washed away the feeling of venerability. "I have spend the last 4 years at the Anaxes Military Academy and have only used my powers in a military manner such as hand to hand combat, as well as sword combat." He paused to think for a second, "Other then that, I have no knowledge in any other way to use the powers."

He then turned his attention to [member="Realek Biske"]. His eyes were cold and empty of any fainting emotion, "It is my pleasure to work along a royal." Bowing his head he then turned to the other Padawan, [member="Tempest Yore"] "I hope you will assist my training to come, a pleasure Padawan Yore."

[member="Cedric Grayson"]

 

[Tempest Yore]

The Master looked her way and all at once Tempest stopped trying to hide. ’He’s looking at me! He’s looking at me! …. Ooh! Those eyes!’ Everything else vanished from existence in her mind. ’Just as hypnotic as ever,’ regretfully, she noted.

Tempest just stood there frozen, blankly staring back at [member="Cedric Grayson"]. She wan not exactly expecting a remarkable reunion, but it was by far the most impersonal than she ever imagined she would be rendered. Her eyes narrowed as she pursed her lips together and sneered a tad. He must be even a little surprised to learn that she is still alive! At least he ought to be!

Tempest disregarded his likely attempt at flattery, putting her on the spot before everyone, making her seem like someone who can do stuff for people, give advice like an exemplary Jedi. She wondered what he is trying to pull; if he is being snarky, and if so for what reason?

She heard the boy next to her soak it up, and she nodded back at [member="Giddean Kuat"] as he acknowledged her. It seemed a kinder reception than the one ole Cedric Grayson managed. ’What a let down. What a schmok.’ She will get even with Cedric for being a typical man, or so she hears how they are from listening to older women!