Private Born for One Thing

[Inosuke Ashina]

Born to face the greatest fear of all...
Henna Ashina ​

"I think that is enough for today," Inosuke declared. Concern broke slightly through his usual vacant expression the form of a raised brow. Himself and an initiate he'd been teaching helped another to their feet. The Sullustan had firmly knocked his head on one of the obstacles. "Take him to the infirmary, please." With a nod, the uninjured initiate shuffled off, lending his shoulder to the Sullustan. All participants lingered quietly, an impromptue intermission to their training. Obstacles continued to spin, lift, and oscillate, indifferent to the entire class having stopped traversing them.

Inosuke raised an open hand, closed it gently into a fist. Controls to the course became seized through the force with the gesture, causing all obstacles to sink until the ground was perfectly flat. "Return your harnesses to Master Saratt, then you are dismissed." Normally exercises wouldn't end on account of one energy, but this was the fourth this week. Initiates were getting younger, less experiences, and initially capable by the day.

Several minutes later, when the initiates had gone, the two teachers had the chamber to themselves. "None of them are meeting adequate standards," Inosuke mentioned, tone devoid of the disappointment the statement implied. He slipped bare feet into sandals, threw a mundane Jedi vestment over the short legged and sleeved training attire. While closing the garb with a belt he said, "It was recommended I should pass them on effort to make room for the next wave of students, but I believe that would be a detriment to their success."

Finally, a large brown robe settled over his figure. Inosuke rested a gaze inexplicably removed from his usual indifferent fortress by at least one degree onto Henna. "May I ask for your counsel in this decision?"

 

[Henna Ashina]

Henna's gaze moved from the knight to the tattered harnesses she had been folding and tucking into a crate. Her thumb brushed the rough, dirty edges. A look of dissatisfaction had taken to her face now that the students were gone, but not for the students themselves. It was circumstance that frustrated her; the vicious cycle that seemed doom to repeat itself once more.

"They are tools." She said, emphasizing the folded pieces of cloth before finding a spot for it with its brethren.

The master moved away from the small pile still calling for attention. A brown robe similar to the knights, trimmed with a golden thread, settled around her feet as she leaned against the crate.

"Of the force, of the order, of the Alliance and its people." She continued when she made eye contact once more. "However, an untempered sword will break when it sees battle- as I fear our wards will."

The smallest of creases took across her brow bone as duty and empathy crashed. She had been called cold and calloused, especially for one of her paths, but even she could not accept sending children to war without question. The battle with the Empire had shown what could come.

 

[Inosuke Ashina]

"Tools," Ashina echoed.

Unwavering, steely eyes returned contact with a serene intensity. Contemplative silence reigned over the acoustics of the training chamber. Like a stone, Inosuke merely stood. One look was granted toward the door the students had left through, as if giving them another consideration. Still staring at the empty threshold, Inosuke declared, "They are not ready."

Yet, so many more needed to learn. There were too little Jedi and they possessed far too little time. Inosuke had no off days and very little downtime as of late. Every shred of effort went toward the others, the Initiates, Younglings, and Padawans. Without an apprentice of his own, his attention could be divided. Sometimes temptation told him take one on and lighten the load. He never acted on it, they needed him doing this.

"I have spent many of my free hours meditating on the destinies of these initiates," Inosuke confessed. Jedi weren't permitted to mettle with fate. Peeking at the pages was a dangerous game. A sigh escaped him, a display of emotion so rare it might as well have been a cosmic event all by itself. "Do you often contemplate Ashla's will?" he asked bluntly.

 

[Henna Ashina]

"Rarely," Henna replied, the sharp edge catching even herself off guard. She worked to soften the next words. "But even the most devoted have their occasional doubts. We must work to see it through, but in times such as these, every choice becomes a loaded one, able to drastically change the futures you see. Eventually, trying to navigate to the right one, at every turn, makes your wonder if there is any right one to begin with."

Her inner-musings voiced has brought a small smile to her face, despite the heavy topic. Abruptly, it vanished, as Henna shifted then rose. The master moved back to her earlier task, the ghost of troubles settling into the lines of her face once more as she fussed over the equipment.

"Come, help. Idle hands make for a fretful mind."

She beckoned him with the statement, then took an exaggerated care as she began folding.

"As I was saying, there are a million choices we make a day, and possibly a million possibilities that we choose, though rarely an ideal one. Each changes the future, a million different paths diverging from each point. Examining the possibilities rarely helps; our minds cannot comprehend the full scope, nor can we understand Ashla's will. We can only do what we think is right in each passing moment, and listen to the whispers from Ashla when she sees fit to guide us, and pray we understood correctly."

Her gaze fell to him, looking for comprehension, and hoping it brought the knight some small comfort.

 

[Inosuke Ashina]

"Come, help. Idle hands make for a fretful mind."

Mother used to say that. Ever impassive, Inosuke didn't inflect the memory on the visual plane. Small, deliberate steps carried him to her side. Even in something as simple as folding equipment, every motion he made was direct and utilitarian. One could say droidlike were it not for the inexplicable grace that carried every motions.

Henna's gaze wasn't mutual. "-And if we did not?" he questioned. "If her will is our guidance to them, it would be no different than if they had been born for it." Born to perish in such an untimely fashion. Unwitting, bright-eyed hopefuls to the slaughter. The very idea verged on breaking Inosuke's demeanor into a conniption. Still, he remained devoid of any indiciation. Still, hands continued to fold, as if the conversation was secondary to his task. "I do not wish you to think me unfaithful, Master Saratt, but I find such a destiny hard to envision from a loving cosmic force."

Once again, monotone betrayed the severity of his words.

"Enemy never rests. Bogan clouds our path at every turn. I sometimes fear that very haze has led us to weaving a perversion of the will we are dedicated to fulfill."

 

[Henna Ashina]

A silence fell as Henna considered. The fact she could not instantly deny such a dark thought made her hesitant to reject it at all. Though she knew the shades of grey surrounding the subject were infinite, she had seen black declare itself white just a single year ago, from mouths within their own order.

"Unfaithful? No." She finally said, releasing her bottom lip from the grip of her teeth. "Perhaps the most faithful of us all, for sometimes, it is not the answer that enlightens, but the question itself-- as a wise master once said."

As she nestled one of the few remaining harnesses in its place, she did not pick up another. Instead, her hands reached to grasp the crate, as she leaned forward intently.

"Darkness is not a fickle thing. It has found a place in many aspects that may be seemingly normal now- the powers we are blessed with, the aspect of the blade, and yes, even the ever-living crusade- but these were perhaps a source of trouble for masters similar to ourselves, long ago. The only thing we can be sure of is ourselves. If that is what the force is telling you Inosuke, and you feel it is right, then you must work to change it. Be her tool."

 

[Inosuke Ashina]

"If that is what the force is telling you Inosuke, and you feel it is right, then you must work to change it. Be her tool."

Inosuke nearly flinched at the use of his first name. Master Sarratt had rarely him as 'Knight Ashina' since the expedition. Sudden penchant for friendly informality was still taking some getting used to. Especially from a colleague of the differing sex. Ashina folded the last of his share, shoved it aside. "Thank you, Master Saratt, your insight has been... helpful." A genuine claim, though admitting someone else's thoughts had influence on his own didn't make the words form any easier.

"One of Clan Ashina's principal wisdoms... I am not certain how to say it in the language we share. The closest I could translate is; Death is Destiny." Although the cryptic aphorism sounded grim, it was the most optimistic of the Ashina virtues. Inosuke did not bother to explain what it meant, that death was the only certainty, and everything in between was the path you carve. Removing the interpretive void would defeat the very purpose of that wisdom.

"I cannot make that choice for them. It must be their own." It was likely clear he spoke of war, and by extension, death. Warriors are those who are prepared to perish, his father used to tell him. "They are not prepared," he added ambiguously.

His mind was made up.

"I will not pass them."

 

[Henna Ashina]

The closest I could translate is; Death is Destiny."

Henna frowned deeply. There was more than he was saying to it, that she was sure of, but the words pulled at a sense of foreboding deep within her bones. As her mind processed them, a flash of a memory, but not one of her own, floated before her as though she were living it herself. The smell of iron and blood and cauterized fleshed filled her nostrils. A shrill scream came from her side. A familiar site, ravaged by fire and war. As quickly as it came, it was gone again. Death is destiny.

She attempted to center her mind, focusing instead on the knights voice. His decision grounded her. The frown was replaced by a momentary flash of white and warmth.

"I stand behind your choice, Knight Ashina. The circle will have to make due with those who have completed their trainings. Though, the choice is now their own, I cannot say I do not fear for them too. I myself was not knighted until I was of an age where the emotional throws of a younger mind had passed. We have done all we can for them, as have their masters, but it seems too little still."

Henna moved gracefully, sweeping from where they stood to the wall, where a bench welcomed her.

"I do wish they would have considered more carefully before striking out once more. It hasn't been so long since our last war finished, and we lost too many, to both the darkness and death. The worst is still yet to come." The last sentence escaped unwarranted, stated as fact, rather than opinion. Henna's demeanor showed a slight surprise, yet somehow, she knew the words to be true.

 

[Inosuke Ashina]

"What other choice do we have?"

More direct than usual, the inquiry almost had a resonance of its own. Inosuke followed, but did not join Henna on the bench. Statuesque, he stood equidistant from where she began and ended up. "Darkness always comes," he asserted. "Inevitable. Strife within the Force is the oldest constant in the universe."

"Yet," Inosuke continued, "We cannot not allow a new threat to fester." Bogan would never be defeated, quenched, or sated. That was balance, wasn't it? Dualities were co-dependent. "Consideration is a luxury to invest within innoxious matters." It went without saying, this was not an innoxious matter. Once again, Inosuke recalled the old words. "Time is a slow, insidious killer, Master Saratt. Hesistation is defeat."

Another one of the Ashina wisdoms. Their signature adage. However, despite the significance, Inosuke didn't elaborate.

 

[Henna Ashina]

"And reckless impulsivity is deadly." Henna replied quickly.

Her shoulders rose from a slight slouch as she spoke.

"It goes beyond individuals. We are fewer in number than other orders- and the other most prominent accompanies us in battle, this time. We move into the lions den, with forces still wounded. If we fall, who stands against the darkness then? Surely, even another year would have it's value."

I suppose this is what happens when teenagers are in charge. Henna wrinkled her nose at the thought. As a free mind, she valued the breaks in tradition from what she had known, and what had come before that... But it was not without it's downfalls.

"I suppose it matters little now; it has been decided, and will soon be set into motion. All we can do is prepare for what comes after."

Prepare for blood and loss.

 

[Inosuke Ashina]

A slow, deliberate exhale blew from Inosuke's nostrils. "I apologize, Master Sarratt. I did not intend for this conversation to become so contentious." Turning to face Henna square, Inosuke offered a slight, reverential bow before shifting on his heels again. "Thank you once again for your help today," he said as he strode towards the door. In reference to the class? The discussion? Both? Yet again, Inosuke didn't elaborate.

Once in the doorway, he lingered with his back to the chamber. Prepare for what comes after? That sentiment replayed in his head. What about what's coming now? he wondered. Was she prepared? Sarratt the Scholar swinging a saber? He'd wager on probably not. About-face. Scratching hisses against his sandals and the floor reverberated. "Those who would may not have otherwise, may very well find themselves in the fray soon. Either by directive or circumstance. Thus, we must all be prepared."

"Are you?"

 

[Henna Ashina]

There was little time to offer a curt nod before he was off. She allowed herself a moment of bewilderment, reconsidering the conversation. Had it been contentious? To her, the challenge and discussion of assumptions and beliefs were welcome. She turned, collecting her things, but glanced back when he stopped. His next words surprised her. Her eyebrows raised in an unasked question- did he feel the approaching storm as well?

"I-" Henna stopped, thought. Pride, however temping, was ignorant. "Not as well as I ought to be." She admitted.

The confession was accompanied by a deep frown, though she turned away once more as it formed. She gathered the leather satchel from its place on the bench, and the bottle beside it. The tome she had brought to pass the time at the beginning of class was picked up and stashed away in the bag. Each motion was slowed, as if the master were stalling. In truth, she was; the problem he had laid before her was not one she wished to solve. Yet his words rang true, and this was not something she could shy away from for another fifteen years. Finally, she turned to face him, striding towards where he stood.

"Perhaps you can aid me in resolving that?"

 

[Inosuke Ashina]

Inosuke offered a nod. "So long as you do not believe it unbecoming of a Jedi of your stature to learn from a Knight," he posed the condition as if he expected it to be. Inosuke disregarded that he had thrice refused the rank of Master. What the Council perceived as merit mattered little in the face of who actually held what title. He wouldn't have dared endanger her repute making the suggestion himself.

"In that case, I would offer my assistance. Although it would be improper to have you training with initiates and unoccupied Padawans." Which was the farthest extent of whom he instructed recently. Ashina's regard intensified, eyes narrowing as he considered. Any training space wouldn't work, would it? Anyone who saw would have to assume she was the teacher. If they knew any better, though, they wouldn't buy it.

"Any evening you possess the time, find me, and I will teach you." Figuring out where could be saved for later.

 

[Henna Ashina]

Henna tilted her head, her mouth shifting into an amused grin. The New Jedi Order was not a place for those who valued traditional hierarchy; her orders came from knights, and a padawan's counsel could always have its value. Besides that, she had seen him in action, his graceful, deadly skill far surpassing those of her own title.

"If a knight can teach me best, then I shall learn from a knight." She stated, matter of factly.

A pen had been her sword, a book her shield, but those tools did little on the eve of battle. She was not necessarily ashamed as such; her mind had served her far more than her hands, so she had never had the time to devote. Yet, times were changing.

"I do appreciate that small sentiment. The gossip would spread like wildfire amongst the students." She stood next to the doorway, waiting to depart. "Thank you, Knight Ashina. I shall see you soon, then."