Public First Returns

[Kirieth]

Kirieth felt the ship tremble as the shuttle landed upon the ground. Though there is no emotion, but peace, she couldn’t help but feel a slight tinge of trepidation. Her previous Master had turned rogue and fled, probably the only reason she survived his snap was because she thought his attack was another sparring session, she didn’t even realise he had turned to the Dark Side, apparently he noticed that and left in frustration, or at least, that’s what the other people told her.

“At least I’ll get to see the Temple again.” she muttered to herself.
“What was that?” said the person opposite her. Oh, yeah, she was talking to someone.
“I was… Just saying it’ll be nice to see the Temple again.”
“Uh huh. You’ve said that twice now.”
“Yeah, I was just repeating it for you.”
“No I meant-ugh, never mind.” the guy sighed, and unbuckled his seatbelt, leaving the shuttle as it opened.

She wasn’t quite sure what that guy’s deal was, but she also took off her seatbelt before realising she hadn’t even put it on. She thanked the stars none of her usual bad luck was in play on their way down. She stood up and began walking down the shuttle door, marvelling at, for once, nothing bad happened to her. She promptly knocked her head on a metal beam. “Ow!”

Oh well, could’ve been worse. She peered around, nursing her bruised forehead. Though they were to assign her to a new master, apparently it was going to take a little time. So… She guessed she should just… Meditate or something. Her favourite activity. Ugh. “Oh!” she pipped as she remembered something. She had to go make sure she had living quarters. And off she went, toward the entrance of Silver Rest. There seemed to be some fair few people about. They milled around as she peered at the large trees outside the shuttle. It was a pretty nice place, she liked the air here. Her old Master had preferred City or grimy areas, so much stuff to look at, though, she kind of liked the former too. This place was a bit quiet, perfect for meditation, yes, but meditation wasn't perfect for her. She wasn't really looking where she was going anymore, just mindlessly wandering, trapped in her own world of thought.

 

[Miriam Tachi]

Kirieth


The Silver’s Rest were expecting another batch of Padawans to come in. A spot between her scheduled training had opened up due to another training partner acquiring a nasty concussion during exercise with someone else. Besides that there was always a joy to be had when observing the new arrivals take their first step into their home and something greater. Even when said person would, indeed, bump their heads on their way out of the shuttle. Miriam covered a grin with her hand as she continued to simply observe the new arrivals. None of them seemed all that remarkable, none except the one who had bumped their head. It was this very same kid that her focus would seem to fall upon as the small crowd seemed to disperse.

Miriam had a spot in her schedule, and the kid was clearly new to the place, or so she thought. There were worse times to have their hellos and how do you do. After all, the war with the Sith had begun to boil once more and it was understood that it was just a matter of time before either the Jedi or the Sith came knocking at each other’s door. Miriam had met her fair amount of friends on the field, but such occurrences were rarely as rewarding as those around the temple had been. Then again, few things on the battlefield were things that people truly wanted to remember.

“You’ll bump your head again wandering like that.” Miriam said as she approached the kid to walk by her side. “I happened to see you on your way in.”

In an effort to stop them and keep the girl from accidentally stumble into someone else, Miriam simply began to slow down and waited for the girl to do the same.

“My name’s Miriam, and you are…?”

 

[Kirieth]

Kirieth was yanked out of her daze by someone speaking to her. She stopped, blinking. “Huh?” she asked, looking to her side. “Again?”

Unfortunately, a droid had calculated the time in which they both moved through that particular spot, and hadn’t quite counted on the chance of her stopping. Thankfully it was a high up floating droid, unfortunately, it bonked her in the exact same spot as the beam had, before zooming off with a beep-boop, probably as an apology. “Ow!” she gasped in exasperation and, understandably, pain.

She rubbed her now sorex2 head, wincing a little, before refocusing her attention on the one speaking to her. “Oh, you saw my hit my… Uh..” she rubbed her forehead again. “Aheh, uh… That’s.. A bit embarrassing.” she said with a little smile and a flushed face. “I think the uhm.. Slope-thing was lifting up as I was coming down it.” She slowed down to a halt as the other Jedi, which she assumed her to be, stopped.

“Ah! Uh… I’m Kirieth, Tedun. Kirieth Tedun, uh… Call me Kirieth. I’ve just come here because, uh… I’m kind of waiting to be assigned to a new Master, or until one finds me. Or something like that.” she explained, before remembering something. “Oh yeah! I needed to get my quarters sorted out, though, I guess I could stay a bit if you needed something?” she asked, tilting her head questioningly for a moment, then straightening it up again. “Oh yeah, and… Pleased to meet you?”

 

[Miriam Tachi]

This time around Miriam kept from grinning at the incident. The droid was not what she would have expected, and in perhaps some regard it was even Miriam’s fault that it had happened. She gave the other woman a nod as she realized that Miriam had indeed seen her hit her head on her way out of the shuttle. It seemed that perhaps this Padawan was clumsy, yet as she struggled with the embarrassment she would be met with nothing more than a warm smile and a small bow as she finished introducing herself.

“I assume that’s Padawan Kirieth?” Miriam said and threw a few quick glances around them. “I guess I didn’t really need anything as much as I wanted to welcome you to Silver’s Rest. Many of the new arrivals can have some difficulty adapting to their new surroundings, but I’ve always found that offering them a hand works wonders when it comes to orientation.”

With a sweeping motion Miriam would motion towards a nearby garden and then a taller structure, the dormitories.

“Garden, dormitories,” Her hand raised towards the landing pad behind them. “Landing pad.”

The mess hall was fairly close by as well, though hidden around a corner and across from even yet another open space for sparring. Miriam set her focus on the new arrival again.

“We have most of what a student of the force would need within reasonable distance from each dormitory. Some of the more exotic training equipment can usually be found in the main building, should you have the clearance to use it.” Exotic meaning equipment that generally posed a danger for the practitioner. “And not to worry, while we have a few Padawans that much like you are in need of a master we also have the Padawan Packs which are available for anyone interested in signing up.”

She gave Kirieth some time to process the information before finally Miriam opened her mouth again.

“I can help you out, if you want. Maybe answer some questions, see that everything gets squared away properly before you start your training and stay with us.”

 

[Kirieth]

“Oh! Yes! Padawan Kirieth.” She nods. She followed her gaze, looking around. Apparently there were others arriving here, did she manage to get sent back to the Temple on the same day a bunch of new arrivals had come? That’d just be her luck, though, then again maybe there were different living accommodations for Padawans than there were younglings, her previous master hadn’t really stayed here very often, at least, not enough to sleep. “I guess I haven’t been here in like… Eight years? Maybe more, maybe less?” she squints, trying to remember.

While doing so, she followed Miriam’s motions to look at the sights. “Uh huh?” she replied. She vaguely remembered the place, and she snickered when the Jedi (she assumed) pointed back toward the landing bay, that she had just come from. At least she definitely knew where the dormitories and living quarters were.

Kirieth blinked as Miriam spoke about something, something including padawans and packs. “Padawan packs?” she asked, blinking. Were they a bunch of padawans under one Jedi, or many? She wasn’t too sure. She rubbed her forehead in thought. After a few moments, she spoke again.

“Huh, okay, thanks! Uh… I suppose I should find a way to figure out what’s happening, I thought I’d go to the dormitories or something to acquire my room, then maybe train a bit. I thought about meditating but…” she made a face. “I’m not really all that good with it, I think. I’m more of a… Uh…” she made a few slicing motions with her hands. “-Kinda person, if you get what I mean.” she’d say. “It’s why my old Master picked me, actually, he couldn’t care less how good I was at the force, only so long as I could fight!” she laughed. “…I guess in that sense he wasn’t a particularly good JEDI Master, oh, no, he was a Knight, but he was my master.” she felt the need to clear that up. “I’m curious about the exotic training stuff, maybe I could get to try that out after I get a room?” she hummed.

 

[Miriam Tachi]

Eight years. Now that was a pretty sizable chunk of time to have been gone for. Miriam gave Kirieth a brief look as if to probe the woman for any potential ulterior motives before finally figuring that it was safe enough to assume that she was just a padawan same as every other arrival. The suspicion was mainly for the fact that she wouldn’t seem to be aware of the Padawan Packs, but generally that was easy to understand. It would seem Kirieth had once had a master to follow, but it would seem that said Master would have been led astray at some point down the road.

“Yes, a Padawan pack is like a study group. Padawans coming together to learn from one another. Sometimes they have a master, sometimes they don’t. In times of hardship you’re likely to find that the packs can grow a lot in size, and then vice versa when we are at peace.”

Right now, they were in that middle ground, though the groups were certainly growing.

“Knight Tachi.” A robed man greeted Miriam in passing.

“Master Ifra.” She greeted him back and turned her attention back to Kirieth.

“Oh, certainly. Depending on how far along you are and what your reasons are for usage I could see them granting you access to the more exotic, or unique pieces of equipment. No doubt if you are in fact a better with a blade than more practical applications of the force it might even be the next logical step for you.” Miriam would raise her hand. “Though Master Madoon would be upset if I didn’t mention that what I am referring to are equipment that could potentially kill you if used irresponsibly.”

However, with that out of the way…

“Shall we?” Miriam motioned towards the dorms. “Did you say that you had been here eight years ago? Who was your master? Maybe I remember them.”

 

[Kirieth]

“Huh.” She had certainly been in a group as a youngling, but she guessed it made since that there were groups for padawans too, especially those who haven’t found a Master yet, or when they need to be padawan’d off in large numbers because there aren’t enough Jedi to go around. She’ll never know, or maybe she will, she doubted it though. She nodded along to Miriam’s explanation of them. Maybe she should join a group or something like that. It at least gave her someone to spar with, or multiple people.

Someone spoke to Miriam, identifying her as a Knight. Okay, so now she knew, and the other guy was a Master. She didn’t really catch his face so it didn’t really matter. It was just a name she knew now.

“Humh… Yeah, I think I may go off and see what’s on the bench.” Kirieth hums. “My master was always fond of using a Lightsaber Axe, it hurt my wrist with each strike.” she made a face, rubbing the side of her lower hand by instinct. “Well, I guess I’m going to go there to learn, I’d hope there are instructors telling me how to actually use them, first.” she nodded.

With a gesture, Kirieth started to move toward the living quarters tower, she peered up at it, then to Miriam. “Yeah, I was picked up by a Knight, Pongle Gruul. He’s uh… Not part of the Order nowadays.” Kirieth said with a little bit of embarrassment, it wasn’t a particularly good thing to have one of your teacher’s defect. She rubbed her forehead again. She thought for a moment, then blinked, thinking of a new conversation piece. “Uh… How about you? Who was your Master?” she asks.

She glanced about at the interior of the tower as they entered, she supposed she’d have to walk toward someone that looked like they knew what they were doing, but for now she was listening to Miriam speak.

 

[Miriam Tachi]

Lightsaber Axes. Miriam had to admit that she herself was a bit of a good old, straight up lightsaber kind of person. Granted, her style had always been focused on defense over offense so perhaps it made sense. Axes were, after all, not as ideal for defense as a regular lightsaber blade was.

“Oh, naturally there are instructors. They might just be expecting more out of their students than most other instructors do.” Miriam added to try and assuage any disappointment Kirieth might have felt at the restrictions to the more dangerous stations. Still, the kid seemed to take it better than Miriam was able to read from her. As Kirieth told of her master Miriam couldn’t help but squint as she tried to recall anything about a Pongle Gruul. Sadly there was nothing. She lifted her shoulders and shook her head at Kirieth.

Wait, what did she mean that he wasn’t part of the Order anymore?Miriam frowned for a second as she considered the weight of another Jedi lost to the dark, either the darkness in the force or the big sleep. It wasn’t in her place to ask, that was for those who held any form of rank. However, Kirieth wouldn’t have been here if they considered her a lost cause. Not that anyone was ever truly a lost cause. Even the strongest faltered they said. Miriam had yet to see this much for herself.

“I trained under Master Sadako Katsura since I joined, nearly twenty-four years ago. All the way until my knighthood eight years ago.” Miriam spoke with a fond smile. “She was a woman and a great inspiration. Firm in her belief in our cause, harsh but fair in her training. Always open to questions, always had an answer.”

A warm smile spread on the Knight’s lips as she recalled her childhood. As they stepped into the building it would still linger. Miriam raised her arm to wave at fellow knight and bring him over. A man approached them, his hair running down to his shoulders that were draped in a white tunic. From his looks it would be evident that he had seen a lot of the galaxy at its worst, yet he still remained the same upbeat figure that the people around the temple grounds had come to know him as. Miriam gave him a warm smile as well.

“Padawan Kirieth, this is Knight Lerann.” Miriam bowed her head to greet him and he did the same. “He’s usually responsible for ensuring that the new arrivals find their lodgings.”

“Babysitting you mean.” He said and raised an amused brow. He quickly turned towards Kirieth and gave her a bow as well. “No offense, of course. Most newcomers are simply, well, younger than you are.”

“She isn’t really a newcomer, she’s awaiting reassignment.” Miriam said, not really suffering the jokes.

Knight Lerann mouthed an ‘oh’ and then looked over at Kirieth. “Well, regardless. Do you happen to know which room you will be staying in?”

 

[Kirieth]

“Uh huh, I guess they’d have to, given the whole… Exotic weapons stuff. Do you use any?” she asked curiously, peering at her for a moment. She couldn’t really get any exotic vibes from her. Then again, her intuition wasn’t always the best. Though, most of the other Jedi she knew used only but a regular lightsaber, sometimes two. She wasn’t too sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, then again, it wasn’t her place.

Miriam said a name she hadn’t heard of before, and from her reaction, she didn’t seem to know much about Pongle. She guessed it didn’t really matter, probably the only way other Jedi were going to know about his name was on the battlefield or something. Or if they’re unlucky enough to cross paths with him, he wasn’t the most stable of people, even as a Jedi. At least she seemed to be a lot happier reminiscing about her old master.

An old man then came along. She glanced at Miriam as she bowed her head, and mimicked it. She introduced him as Knight Lerann, the man who makes sure people find aa place to lodge. She wasn’t sure if the guy was here eight years ago, Kirieth almost strained trying to remember, but gave up after a few moments. He made a comment on her age, causing her to blink a few times. “Uhm, I’m…” she was about to begin, before Miriam explained for her.

“Uh…” Kirieth muttered, before digging deep into her robes, producing a small holopad and squinted at it, before turning the thing on. She shuffled through a small bit of information, before finding the information she’s looking for. “Uh.. I think it’s… V-Thirty-Six?” she says, squinting at it again before nodding. “Yeah, I think that’s it.” she smiles, placing the holopad back into her pocket.

 

[Miriam Tachi]

“One of the training droids has a special set of rules that I had someone help me get programmed for it. Heavy focus on defense against faster and stronger opponents, keep my defenses up as best I can. Uses a real blade which makes things a bit more dangerous.”

The conversation moved on, Kirieth provided the designation for her lodgings and Lerann promptly brought out a datapad of his own to look it up. Miriam let the two of them handle it, she was useless with these things. It was something she had sadly inherited from Master Katsura. Technology and Miriam quite simply didn’t really mesh all that well.

“Take the elevator. Third floor, fifth door to the left-hand side of the corridor.” Master Lerann instructed Kirieth and pointed towards the elevator she’d use. “Do you need help with anything else?”

Miriam let Kirieth and the master have their talk while she continued to contemplate what it would be like to have come back after such a long time. The temple had always been home for her. Naturally not just the Silver’s Rest but the temple on Sullust and the one on Ossus before that, but even then she had rarely set foot outside of it except for the times when conflict came knocking and the Jedi were sent to war.

“I can stay here or come with you, if you want.” She offered Kirieth before she went off. “Figured I can show you around the rest of the grounds. Once again, if you want.”

 

[Kirieth]

Kirieth nodded a few times as Miriam spoke, she wasn’t so good as to be able to discern what many people were saying to her, but at least she could at least TRY. “Huh, an actual blade? Yeah, that sounds dangerous.” She said, managing to get a grip on what she was saying at the end. And so she watched the Knight check his datapad, placing her hands together as she tilted her head.

Soon the man began to speak directions, and she hastily put it down on the datapad of her own, as to remember. She looked at the elevator in which he spoke of, then nodded to him. “Right!” she thought for a moment as he asked whether she needed help with anything else. She supposed if she did she could come back and ask later when she went to her room.

She soon shook her head. “No, thank you! I’ll go to my room in a while. Thank you, Sir!” she said, bowing her head in farewell, then turning back to Miriam. “Okay! I think I know where I’m going now.” she double-checked her datapad, made sure it had saved, then stowed it away again. “Oh, I think I’ll take you up on your offer, with the rest of the grounds thing, that is, I can go to my room at any time,” she replied, smiling. “I’m in no rush. Maybe you could show me a thing or two on the training ground?” she snickered, only half-joking. She gestured off, ready to continue their walk.

 

[Miriam Tachi]

The eagerness to get started again was a very familiar feeling. Miriam had felt much the same when she woke up each day as a Padawan and it still continued to this very day. A mind in motion was a mind that expanded beyond what it had previously known, that was what Master Katsura had always said. So, naturally as they began to leave the dormitories Miriam would give the request some real thought until her head finally began to nod up and down.

“If we find the time. It could be a good assessment of your abilities.” Miriam said and led them out into the sunshine once more. “This is one of many open spaces that are usually open for Jedi of all ranks to practice at.”

This particular space wasn’t necessarily the biggest. A small garden offered the comfort of silence as a means to allow ease of mind for prolonged meditation. One of the masters had gone through a great deal of trouble when it came to the arrangement of just about every single bush and tree in this place. To Miriam it seemed almost a little too perfect, as if the focus had been on making it look pretty more than its function. But who was she to argue with the results?

To their right was the now unobstructed mess hall. Miriam raised her arm by her side to point towards it.

“The mess hall. We always ensure that all dietary needs are taken care of. Should you be allergic to anything, you should report that as soon as possible.” And right there, Miriam stopped herself. “But we probably already know what you need. Sorry, much like Master Lerann it seems I am mostly used to dealing with younglings than people more our age.”

“So how about this. Is there anything specific that you would want to find? I am sure we could find it.”

 

[Kirieth]

Miriam gave an answer in the “maybe” section. She guessed she couldn’t push it, though she did get more than enough combat training under Pongle. It was just… Rather hard to actually fight back sometimes, he was a whirlwind of motion even in the slowest of times. She was rather surprised at a guy being that fat moving so quickly in Ataru.

She followed Miriam into the sunshine, peering about. It was pretty bright, the sun was warm, it was a pretty nice day for her to return. “Mhm!” she replied as Miriam talked about the wide-open spaces. “I wonder if there are tree climbing courses for fun…” she mutters, peering at one of them. There probably were; if not in the Temple, then in one of the surrounding neighbourhoods or so, however far they were from one.

She followed the Knight into a garden, it was a bit of a boring place, really, but it was probably great for meditating and so forth, shame she never was particularly good at it. She glanced about, apparently, it was pretty good for practising in, maybe she’d been away from Kashyyyk for too long. She glanced to the right when her guide pointed that way toward the Mess hall.

She thought for a moment, before shaking her head. “I don’t think I’m allergic to anything.” She made a face, trying to remember. She’d have to remember some other time. “Once someone told me I was allergic to bread, but then I accidentally ate it and I was fine, so maybe it was something else.” She shrugs.

“Hummh.. Well, I’m interested in that exotic weapons place? Maybe you could show me around all the kinds of weapons and such? Hrmmh..” she squinted, thinking, looking around. “Oh yeah! A while, while a while ago there was a place on one of the bridges just outside the temple one of the other younglings said I couldn’t cross because the gravity was off, is that fixed?” she asks.

 

[Miriam Tachi]

“Of course.” Miriam said and began to lead Kirieth away towards a building at the very heart of the temple grounds. “I can’t hand out any weapons but I can certainly show you where the chambers we practice with them are. It’s part of safety regulations, I am sure you understand. We had a student grievously hurt themselves with a light-whip once. It was a hard lesson to learn, but a good one nonetheless.”

The tour took them inside of one building and then out again until the main building’s grand courtyard was right in front of them. Like one big garden and plaza thrown into one it seemed to span all the way around the building. The occasional desire path carved into the otherwise green grass where people of all ranks had cut across in their rush to get somewhere else. The stone-laid paths seemed almost new, and that was because they were.

“If it seems that some of these buildings are perhaps a bit newer than you recall, that’s because they most likely are.” Miriam gave Kirieth a grave nod. “We were attacked by the Sith and an up until now unknown enemy. They destroyed a good part of the temple but we have recovered since then. We always do.”

Approaching the main building Miriam couldn’t help but give Kirieth a curious glance.

“You know, only a few padawans are more interested in the weapons of the Jedi over the force.” She said and gave off a warm smile. “It’s not a bad thing, trust me, I am very much the same. It just makes me curious what drives you. What you think it means to be a Jedi and why you have decided to stick to this path before you.”

For Miriam the answer was obvious, but for many others it was not. If she could help ease Kirieth into it, should she need it, then Miriam gladly would.

 

[Kirieth]

Kirieth looked just a little disappointed at the thought of not being able to actually wield the weapons, but she guessed it made sense. Padawans are meant to be learning from their teachers, if they wanted one, they’d have to hope their Master agrees. “Oh, okay.” She says though she did perk up at the thought of a light-whip. Like, a lightsaber that was a whip? That sounded… Interesting. Fun, even.

She glanced around at the sights, the courtyard was pretty impressive, especially compared to some of the places she had been to. Everything just looked and felt cleaner. Smelt it too. Some of the spots she couldn’t quite remember, the stone paths looked pretty new, and Miriam said they were.

She blinked at the information about the attack. “Huh? I didn’t know that!” she gasps. “That’s awful! It’s a good thing they were beaten back.” Kirieth assumed they were since the temple wouldn’t be standing if it wasn’t. She followed her to the main building. “Who was the other enemy, the one that was unknown, anyway?” she asks curiously.

Shrugging, she looked to Miriam. “Pongle was a uhm… Very martial teacher, and I’m not exactly the best at the Force, you see, so if I want to specialise in something, it may as well be one that I’m good at, or have the most experience in, you see?” she says. She tilted her head. “I guess it means to pursue peace of both mind and soul and to guard those who need help.” She says simply, shrugging. Of course, that wasn’t the whole thing. She just wasn’t all that sure her other reasonings were very Jedi-ish.

“But uhm… I kinda just wanna… Be able to test myself against others, kind of? I want to hone skills I CAN uh… Hone.” She says, flushing a bit.

 

[Miriam Tachi]

“Indeed. We’ve ensured that we will not be hit in such a manner again.” Miriam said with yet another confident nod. “The other group were identified as a cult known as the Bryn’adul. We do not know much about them other than that they seem to have a stronghold somewhere in the Outer Rim. They are not seen as a priority at this point. At least not in comparison to the looming Sith threat.”

Kirieth mentioned a more martial education that seemed to forfeit something more ‘metaphysical’ in favor of what Knight Pongle had preferred and that Kirieth had an aptitude for. While it was something Miriam would argue had served to cripple Kirieth’s abilities it was really not in her place to judge. Still, Kirieth had the basics of a good reason to be a Jedi down. Serve and protect was most certainly one of the reasons, one that Miriam herself held close to her heart.

“We all have our strengths and weaknesses, but that does not mean we should focus mostly on our strengths. If anything it means we should do the opposite, though I am fairly certain that’s more of a personal preference than anything else. The tutor always has the last say.” The knight said as she began to lead Miriam up a flight of stairs in the main hall. “Well, we can hone your skills with a blade or any other weapon, but in the end the sharpest a jedi should have is their mind.”

“Not that I wish to insult you, of course.” She said as they approached the top of the stairs and began to move down a corridor on the second floor. “Is there something that has held you back? We have a few members with a weaker connection to the force.”

Miriam stopped before a door at the end of the hallway.

“Or was it mainly the choice of your master to focus on blade techniques?”

 

[Kirieth]

“Hm.. They sound kinda like they’d be from the outer rim.” Kirieth presses her lips together, before sighing. “I feel guilty that I wasn’t there to help out, but I guess I’d just get in the way, huh?” she says. Well, so long as they weren’t seen as TOO much of a priority, she wouldn’t be seeing much of them for now. She wondered what they looked like, the Sith was kind of easier to see. Just kinda... Spooky dark robes and such.

She nodded t Miriam as she spoke about strengths and weaknesses. “Well, I didn’t ENTIRELY stop using the Force, I can at least augment my physical uh… Stuff with it, I can move faster using it, I can still use a simple push, and such, but uh… I gotta use it more like a hammer, than a scalpel, as Pongle said.” She shrugged. She squinted as Miriam said that the strongest weapon they had was their minds, for Kirieth, she had to inwardly disagree a bit.

She followed Miriam up the stairs. “Uh… Huh.” she said, blinking. “I have uh… A bit of uhm… Trouble focusing. I just can’t put my mind to meditation for too long, I try to keep up with my force studies, but I just find myself distracted, and it won’t let me focus for too long, I just have to do something else- anything else, I just can’t.” she shakes her head, some frustration in her voice. “It’s much easier for me to use blade techniques, even if it was hard for me to keep to the forms early on.”

She looked around, they were in a hallway. She didn’t quite notice where they were actually going. “When you were a Padawan, what did you like to focus on, if anything? Or did you uh… Diversify your studies?”

 

[Miriam Tachi]

“No, you wouldn’t have gotten in the way. And given that we run efforts to spread awareness of our cause as far and wide as possible it makes sense that not every Jedi was at hand to defend home. Especially when home was something that we wouldn’t have expected to be the target of such a coordinated attack.”

Miriam let Kirieth talk. So it was more a matter of downplaying what she could do. There was some ability in the force but something she struggled to focus on and learn from. Miriam gave the girl an understanding nod. Not because she herself had such issues but because it wasn’t an unusual problem. At this point Miriam had thought that she brought up the diversity of Jedi hopefuls that Kirieth would have understood that everyone has a place and pace of their own. It was just a matter of finding it. Maybe Kirieth had, maybe she hadn’t, that wasn’t for Miriam to decide in the end.

“When I was a padawan I was given a very wide education at first. We built up the basics in everything and I was allowed to pick the aspects of the force that I found the most fascinating to work with. In my case it was the art of defense, and as a result also offense. Not much of a diplomat, not much of a scholar, I fell more in line with the ideals that a guardian stood for.”

Miriam led Kirieth into a seemingly big empty training room. The pungent smell of sweat and the wet surface of the soft padded flooring was hard not to notice. For a second Miriam let out a frustrated sigh and raised her hand to pull a towel off the walls and moved it over to begin wiping off the floor. It was a pet peeve, really.

“This is where we train. We keep most surfaces padded for good measure but as you can see,” Miriam said and pressed her foot against the floor as if to prove a point. “It can only do so much, and since we’re here…”

“Do you still have a lightsaber on you?”

 

[Kirieth]

Kirieth bowed her head. “Right. I guess I can’t beat myself up too much about it.” Kirieth says, before listening to her.

“Oh, so you mainly specialise in the Lightsaber as well?” Kirieth hums, before following Miriam into a training room. It wasn’t by any means the smelliest place she’d been to, in fact, she didn’t really mind it, but the Knight she was following seemed to, having taken a towel off the wall and wiped over the floor. She guessed Miriam wasn’t quite as experienced in less-than-immaculate environments.

Having a Gamorrean for a Master was icky at first, but had at least a few small benefits, once you got used to them. She reached for a towel with the force, trying to pull one toward her. She took a few moments, but eventually got it bundled to her feet. She bent over and picked it up before going ahead and helping Miriam clean up after the previous trainees of the place. It was a pretty big room, though, with the Lightsaber forms some people use, a lot of space was needed.

She tilted her head, then straightened it again. She blinked at Miriam, then realised something. “Oh! Are we going to spar? Of course I do!” she smiled, reaching under her robes to pull out her lightsaber. It was fairly long for a single-bladed hilt and had a rubber handle with a sharp-looking spike on the end of it. “I wonder which light I’ll get today…” she mutters. She didn’t want to draw it yet, not until Miriam gave the go-ahead. “Have you any rules other than don’t maim, wound or kill?” she asked, somewhat jokingly.

 

[Miriam Tachi]

“I do.” Miriam said and nodded her head at Kirieth’s observation. “I have for the most of my life.”

The kid helped her out when it came to cleaning the room. It was appreciated, not too many seemed to be bothered enough to do such a thing. As they wrapped up Miriam gave Kirieth a warm smile and a nod of appreciation as they began to prepare for what would undoubtedly be a very brief sparring session. The other points on her agenda would come calling eventually and the Knight would have to depart, but before then she could probably show Kirieth a thing or two.

As for the rules of said spar,

“Stick to the saber. No overt usage of the force, and try not to hurt your opponent.” Her head nodded once as she withdrew her hilt from her belt. “For now, I will simply observe what you do. How you act, how you carry yourself. If we have the time after that, I’ll maybe show you a thing or two.”

Miriam ignited her saber to let herself be bathed in its blue light.

“Strike when ready.”