A New Beginning

[Asher]

“I thought my parents would be here for this.” A young boy asks as his eyes dart around the doctor’s office. This was the first time he was here, the first interaction he had with the people in charge of wherever it was his parents had decided to send him for a while. “They said that I should go here and listen to whatever it was that the people told me to do.”

The doctor snickered. “Well, your parents sound like smart people.”

“The best!” The boy cut in rather ecstatic.

“It’s rude to interrupt people, Asher.”

“Sorry.” Asher scrunched his nose and looked at the floor in a moment of shame before setting his sights on the woman taking his measurements again. “I’m just very excited to be here.”

“Well that’s good! We’re very lucky to have you.” The woman seemed earnest enough for the kid. He liked her already, she was nice. If everyone else was this nice he would like it here just fine.

Of course, unknown to him was the fact that it was mainly an act. Maybe not on the doctor’s behalf, she was a genuinely nice lady, but the truth behind her acts were perhaps not as clear. It was hearts and minds that won people over, and when mixed with a healthy dose of disciplinary action you could easily turn willing children into whoever, or whatever, it was that you wished of them to become.

Of course, also unknown to Asher was his up-until-now latent force abilities. Which wasn’t really all that much of a surprise to anyone that had seen it in action. The way a shimmering light, a bubble, seemed to envelop him in his bed at night only to disappear when he woke up in the morning. Needless to say the kid had abilities he not only had in his dreams, but actually quite literally also only had when he dreamed.

“You are clear, for now.” The woman said and handed Asher his tunic back. “I will need you back here in a month for a follow up.”

The kid held his robes in his hands and gave her a weird look. “Why is it that I have to wear the robes, again?”

“It’s the rules.” She replied with a warm smile that she had practiced for years now.

“Oh.” The kid looked at the clothing provided for him before he put it on again. “But why?”

“It just is, now go. I have more children to check up on.” The lady chuckled and waved the boy towards the door. Asher was in no place to object, being a kid and all.

Once outside he took a look around. The cold Skye air gripped at him and he couldn’t help but cross his arms and shudder as he walked across the courtyard towards his dormitory. Perhaps there were more kids like him around here.

There was only one way to find out.
@Soliel Ishtar

 

[Soleil Ishtar]

It always seemed to be some sort of winter on Skye. Snow flurries carved the sky into an inky gray; so desolate. Lonely. It was a thought that would permeate through the youngling's mind as she would stare out the window.

She'd caught sight of the incoming shuttle, saw the tiny figures of the most recent recruits exit its bowels, lining up in front of Overseer Mire. First appearances were everything.

The next few minutes were spent quietly observing as each of the new recruits were assigned to their respective dormitories. there was no need for separation by gender. No such thing would get in the way here. Everyone was the same. Everyone was equal. Everyone sent to fight for the First Order, for pride and respect of the empire. It was a duty.

At least, that had been what Soleil's parents had told her and taught her to believe.

[member="Asher"] would soon find that his dorm mate was none other than the youngling that sat quietly studying in the small chamber. A girl of no more than eight. Her hair was plaited in a thick, blonde braid down her back, and she wore the standard utilitarian clothing of a Ren initiate.

 

[Asher]

[member="Soleil Ishtar"]

Something about the cold weather just didn’t feel right. Asher trudged along the pathways and looked at the other children as they practiced with their equipment, some of which seemed to take some rather nasty beatings. His eyes widened in surprise, but the scene was shut off as the two childrens’ trainer closed the door for the boy to see. His hands continued to grasp at his arms as he shuddered. This place still seemed pretty okay, and the children in that room had been at least a few years older than him. A shaky smile erupted on his lips as he found the dormitory doors. He stepped inside and was immediately welcomed by the warm embrace of the hard working heaters.

There were kids of all kinds and colors here. He watched as they hung around together, ate together, played -- to a degree -- together. He could see the friendships forming, yet the air lingered with something that was heavy, unpalpable but certainly there. It was like a cloud or a link that connected them all but he couldn’t for the life of him figure what it was. It reminded him of home, how he had felt not too long before he had to go here. A wary look shot out at the door. His parents said he was safer here, but he wasn’t quite sure what he was safe from.

Little did he know they weren’t referring to his safety. They were referring to their own.

Regardless, the kid looked to the ground and shook it off with another smile. He stepped up to the door that the men had instructed him to attend, the room that he would share with another pupil at the academy. The doors opened and he stepped in only to see-

A girl?!

He flinched for a second in surprise. He was sharing his room with a girl?! A girl! Girls were- they were not- they- what?! The boy looked at the girl and took a deep breath before speaking up.

“I am sharing my room with a girl?” Was the first thing that popped out of his mouth. “Was there a mix up? Am I in the right room?”

“A girl? Really? A girl?”

 

[Soleil Ishtar]

[member="Asher"]

At the outburst, Soleil's lips drew into a thin line. The pale hairs of her blonde brows gave a scrunch forward as if [member="Asher"] 's lamentations were a little bit irritating. As if I wanted a boy as a roommate, to begin with!

Her lips twisted and she gave a roll of her eyes.

"Check your dataslip." she said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Confirm the room sigils match those on your dataslip." the youngling then turned her head back to the small datapad in front of her that she'd been studying.

"If they match and it states that your bunkmate is Soleil Ishtar..." there was a small distinct accent to her voice, it was hard to place.

"Then indeed, I am sharing a room with you." another sigh, then her finger slid the next page on her datadisplay.

 

[Asher]

[member="Soleil Ishtar"]

He raised the slip across his face at her indication to check it. Sure enough his name was Asher, he was in the right room and his roommate’s name was…

“Soleil Ishtar.” He muttered.

Eyes darted around the room to see if anyone else was around. “Okay, so, I am in the right room.” He took another step inside and let the door close behind him. “But why would they put me in a room with a girl? My parents always said that girls and boys are best off separated.”

He didn’t exactly know why, of course, but they had. It was a very conservative upbringing and education, if one could call it that. It had, after all, just about begun when he was sent away. He would have to ask them about this when they came back for him.

“Okay, so we are bunkmates. What does that mean?” He gave the girl a curious look over. “What are you reading?”

“What do people do for fun around here?”

“Is it always this cold?”

“Where are you from?”

Oh the questions were just about getting started. Soleil was in for a lifetime of them.

 

[Soleil Ishtar]

[member="Asher"]

It was clear that her new bunkmate held an infinite mass of questions. The serious girl gave another sigh, a slight flash of impatience rushing over her oval face, tiny pert nose scrunching a bit. Will he always be asking questions?

"I do not know. " She answered, then added as a distraction, "That is your bed." her stylus gave a slight point towards the empty bed with the fresh stack of linens on top of it. Beside it was a small dresser, a hololamp, and a few wall connections for charging. Her side appeared just as neat, sparse in decoration and very utilitarian, but neat.

"You will need to pick up your datapad and start your studies. We have a practicum exam tomorrow." Already?!! Yes. So matter-of-fact and full of information. Just not the answers Asher had inquired about in a rapid dash of questions.

"You better do it quickly -- Overseer Akila will be here soon."

 

[Asher]

[member="Soleil Ishtar"]

Would he always be asking questions?

… Oh, yes.

Asher followed the pointed stylus until he saw the linen on his bed and the items he was provided with. He gave the unmade bed a quick look that he also offered to Soleil. He was going to have to make his own bed? Asher Treck, the boy who just got here, would have to make a bed despite not ever having done so ever in his life? Soleil seemed like she had managed but that was different, she was a girl and it was just kind of expected of her. Asher was a boy, a man, he wouldn’t have had to worry about that until at least way later. That’s what his father had said without further explanation when inquired about it.

“A what-icum exam?” The boy gave Ishtar another look with his perked brow. “We have exams? That doesn’t sound very fun.”

“Do all camps have these exams?”

“Who is Overseer Akila?”

“Are you always going to be like this?”

 

[Soleil Ishtar]

[member="Asher"]

The frustration grew within Soleil's little heart. Was he going to ask THIS many questions all the time? The usually reserved and attentive youngling's blonde brows drew tightly together, her blue eyes panning over to meet Asher's inquisitive own.

"Yes, there are exams, both practical and written," she said matter-of-factly. Once again, her head swung back to her datapad, speaking to Asher as if he were a child - even though they both were - saying, "Overseer Akila is in charge of our training."

However, the last inquiry made her brows pinch, "Be like what?" now that bothered her.

Was he really just going to stand there all day and not get to work? He would get in trouble for sure. Get them BOTH into trouble.

 

[Asher]

[member="Soleil Ishtar"]

Now there was a distinct problem with the way Asher had chosen to formulate that question. For one, he was a kid whose vocabulary didn’t include words such as ‘blunt’ and ‘straightforward.’ Second, this was a girl he was talking to and who knew how they would take to things. By the inclination of her brows and the way she looked at him he would only assume that he had hit a nerve, yet with the limited amount of words that he knew of that he could use to apologize with he was left unable to really do so properly.

He took a short breath and looked Soleil straight in the eyes.

“I don’t know… Mean?” He shrugged at his lack of better word hoping that somehow Soleil would know what it was he meant. “I just got here, you are already avoiding me. Or something.”

He grabbed the linen on his bed and proceeded to spread them out over his bed. That was it. That was all he did. Not once had he been taught how to make his own bed, and when he did it was to smooth out folds in the fabric.

“And what kind of camp holds tests?” Asher stopped making his bed and looked at Soleil again. “Aren’t there enough of those in school?”