Private First Time?

[Aelys]

// CORUSCANT // JEDI TEMPLE DISTRICT // MARSHAL SPEEDER //
​

"I'm a Jedi man, you don't want to do that." His hands held up, he didn't wear the robes on account of growing out of them. He recalled when he had been leaving Thyrsus, he had thought of leaving them behind, but he figured he'd be able to trade them in since it had been a few years. It was also getting late, so he figured it'd be better to get his return to the Order going in the morning. Looking back on it, he should've gone straight there as soon as he hit planet side.

Limbs restrained on either side by two guys, he took a heavy punch right to the face.

From then on, he didn't remember much, there was the occasional vision of a thrown table and punches being thrown. Aelys could only imagine that he had been the source of the disturbance. Dropping his head to look into his lap, he realized he was only seeing half of what he regularly saw, and he grinned. Leaning back into the uncomfortable seat, he cursed and tried to lean forwards, that is, until he realized the traffic that had been racing past vanished.

"You guys shoulda just held me." He groans out.

Descending towards the Jedi Temple, Aelys recalled the stories he had heard the first time he had tried his hand at being a Jedi. It had been destroyed by the One Sith, defiled, ancient figures of Jedi cast down and replaced by that of long forgotten Sith. Figures important to the Sith Order. Figures that he were glad were long dead. As he scanned the horizon, despite the dimming light of the sun, he could see that the Temple was more or less the same. His stomach still turned, a sensation of regret growing in his gut. Rather, not for the fight, but for not heading straight to the Temple.

Coming to a stop, he groaned again as the cuffs tightened on his wrists as he slid back into them and the sides of the speeder opened and he was pulled out. The vehicles trunk lifted, and he recognized the bag that came out as his own. Opened, his old and dingy Jedi robes on showcase.

"Jedi, right?"

Aelys' features sunk, as if he had just heard some cruel joke.

"Got into contact with someone here. Figure they'll punish ya better than we ever could."

Outside of ruining his own opportunity for first impressions, his pride was otherwise intact. He felt the cuffs come off and free his hands. Of which, he immediately set to rubbing the feelings of numbness from his wrists.

Ryv

 

[Ryv]

A faint rumble echoed through the nearly silent corridors of the Jedi Temple. Ryv slumbered within his office, booted feet thrown atop his desk as he leaned back in his chair. Big Chieftain, the kiffar's BD unit, rested in his lap. The various lights atop its rectangular head were dimmed, likely to reflect it too was inactive. Ryv kept one arm wrapped protectively around the droid while the other propped his head up. Rarely could the Sword find time to relax throughout the day. Having already finished his shortlist of responsibilities, he thought it wise to kick back, pass the time, and waste away the day in their typical fashion.

Hours passed before a knock at the door startled the Jedi Knight awake. He tugged his feet back, lifted the Chieftain, and placed it in the chair as he stood. The kiffar moved towards the door and cracked it open.

"Uh," he sniffled. "Can I help you?"

"Good evening, Ryv," Aldric greeted the Sword and lifted a datapad for him to see. "We've received word a Jedi has been arrested in the city. The marshalls are bringing him to the temple for discipline. I thought you'd be the best option for greeting him. He's, well, a bit of a troubled youth."

"Ahh," Ryv pulled the door open and scratched at the back of his head. "Alrighty, then, thanks, Master. I'll get right on that. Can you let Auteme know I read through her various proposals to the Senate and couldn't find anything wrong with em?"

"Not a problem, Ryv," Aldric stepped inside and moved towards the desk as Ryv turned back. He reached out with his good hand and summoned Resolve from his desk. As the blade made contact with his outstretched hand, he closed his fingers around the cool hilt and lowered it to his belt. He moved through the halls as he clipped it to his side. With each step, the kiffar stretched out his upper body and loosened up. Too long in the chair hadn't done him much favors.

By the time he reached the grand entry hall, he'd limbered up enough to fall into a more casual pace. He offered a smile to any Jedi who looked his way but didn't stop for any one—business to attend to and all that.

Ryv took note of the marshall speeder as its iridescent lights blared in the night air. He sighed and quickened his pace. The kiffar arrived in time to catch the tail-end of the marshall's words. Ryv's eyes rolled into the back of his skull almost immediately, the entire exchange a grandeur showing of protocol and "mercy" by the law. Pointless.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm here," Ryv cut in. "I'll take it from here, officer. You can get back to your patrols."

"Very well," the marshall moved back to the speeder. "Good evening, Jedi."

The speeder veered off after that, its obnoxious lights fading away as it disappeared into the sky. Ryv looked up at Aelys and raised a hand. The Jedi Knight wore a simple tank top and a pair of jeans, about as far from traditional he could've gotten.

"I can take that bag for you if you want," Ryv offered before he snagged it from the Thyrsian and pivoted on his heel. He set off back towards the temple, a nod that direction his only communication for the Padawan to follow him. "You look like you got worked over pretty well. I'd hate to see the other guys who decided a fight with a Jedi was worth it. You mind running me through what happened? We've got a bit of a walk until we get where I wanna go. It'll keep the trip interesting."

Aelys​

 

[Aelys]

Aelys' features partially transformed into a sneer at the law enforcement. In his experience they valued themselves too highly. Turning about to follow their departure and rejoining with the flow of traffic far away, he finally realized someone else was there. His bag snatched up , causing him to drop his gaze and follow where it went before he fond Ryv.

"Huh-? Oh, sure... Thanks." His mind momentarily blanked before dropping his left hand at his belt, thumb hooking through the belt loop idly as he trailed after his newfound retainer. Shooting his free hand up to scratch at the back of his head, he could be heard sighing before answering. "Wanted to find a place to hang for the night and I..." Shrugging, he racked his mind to try to remember the events clearly. "Overheard a couple guys talkin' nice 'bout those Sith in the Arm." Again, he shrugged.

Images of the events leading up to the throwing of fists ran through his mind. Echoes of the words thrown. Anger, bottled up inside burst to life, and all he could remember was swinging. There were trillions of people on the planet, and he had to come across the ones that were Sith sympathizers? His eyes rolled. "Guess... I didn't like it. I mean... I dunno." His second hand dropped to join his second at his belt, mimicking the first and hooking into the belt loops as he looked around.

He had never been fond of voicing his thoughts when he was troubled, even to his mentors of the past in the Jedi and back at home. There was always a yearning to ask for help, but it just felt... Weak. Like people would connect his need for help with being useless. It was a sentiment he never wanted people to have, and despite the want to open up, or even explain himself more, a manufactured ability to shut himself off manifested.

"I'm not even a Jedi anyway - I mean, it's the goal, but you could say I sorta dropped out." Flashing a grin.

Ryv

 

[Ryv]

They passed through the massive archway that marked the entrance to the Jedi Temple. Other Jedi looked in their direction, offering an assortment of smiles, nods, and waves. Ryv returned their greeting with quick nods to some and smiles to others. He veered to the left and led Aelys down one of the many corridors leading away from the vast entry hall. The hall was a lot smaller. Art lined each wall, a mixture of paintings and sculptures. Many of them were damaged. Paintings lacked their corners, with entire swathes of some pieces burned or torn away. Sculptures appeared pieced back together, likely meaning some unlucky Jedi was forced into the puzzling work of reconstructing them.

"Can't blame you," Ryv admitted. "I'm not too fond of the Sith out there myself. Spent the last five years fighting them from Kintan to Bastion. Sith sympathizers feel just as bad as their masters sometimes. Like, what kinda dumbass genuinely can argue in favor of Sith-Imperial occupation?"

He shook his head, visibly annoyed by the concept. "I wouldn't think too much about it, kid. You aren't in any trouble for what happened. I don't much care for the marshalls and their BS protocol. They wanted you disciplined. That's not why I came to get you. You have a gift, one you can probably put to good use, with a bit of training, that is. The problem right now? You lack that training. So, you're a danger to the folks around you. One misstep, and you can wind up like those Sith we hate. Don't want that, do you?"

The kiffar came to a stop in front of a sleek, gray door. He looked back at Aelys as he posed the question and reached out to activate the terminal beside the entry. It slid open and revealed what looked like an adequately sized training room for the pair.

"As for dropping out," he stepped inside and set the younger Jedi's belongings down beside the door. "You aren't alone in that. Some of the greatest Jedi I've ever known walked a similar path. Maynard and Loske Treicolt being some examples. Hell, I spent a few years in the Outer Rim rather than putting time into my training. If your hearts not in it, you'll inevitably waver and walk away from it all. What matters now is whether or not you've got what it takes, and this bad boy..."

He reached out and poked the center of the thyrsian's chest. "Is ready for what that entails."

Aelys​

 

[Aelys]

A lot of the stuff around them was just as he remembered it. When he had last been there, the archway they passed was still in disrepair. When the Imperial Bloc descended upon the Core, it wouldn't have surprised him to hear that they defiled the Temple again. What else was new for the servants of the Dark Side? Nostrils flaring, they entered a hallway that he didn't recognize, and he was sure to look at as much of the surrounding art. Remnants of times past, he looked back forward.

Bastion?

Even tucked away into the life of a nomad in the harsh sands of Thyrsus, he had heard of the events of Bastion. Nothing specific, but, on the way back to the Core he had heard of Kyber Dark. There had been Jedi there. This guy was there? One of those who purged the Sith? His fists tightened. It was a want of his, ever since he had learned of the dark order to crush them. To send them and the Echani Compact that reaped the souls of his peoples long forgotten kin as slaves and labour.

While they walked, his head bobbed up and down every few moments with his words. "Definitely not." Eyeing the gray door, he continued on before locking eyes with Ryv again. "I've spent all my life hearing and learning about what they've done -- the Sith. I hear it and... Can they even be stopped?" He knew they could. The One Sith was, sort of. Collapsing in on itself, probably on account of infighting. Could it even be counted? The Sith just... Returned years later. "I want to be there when they are," he'd add, before heading into the room after Ryv. At the front of it all.

He didn't know if he was ready. He felt ready. He had made the trip from the Inner Rim to the Core because he figured himself ready. But there was a clump of doubt in the back of his mind. He had failed once and it was possible to fail again probably for good.

"I get you." Aelys answered.

He had been scared before, he recognized that much when he had made it back home. The Alliance fell, then allies in the Silvers were preoccupied with the Sith, cut off from the rest of their planets which had allowed the Sith to quickly annex the abandoned systems. Thyrsus was enslaved at the time. He wanted to be with his family. To protect and fight for them. And he did.

"This time, I'm here to stay... And become one of those greatest Jedi you mentioned." Treicolts, or something.

"So, what are we doing here?"

Ryv

 

[Ryv]

Ryv crossed his arms and peered in at the room.

It wasn't the largest or most interesting place in the temple. From one side of the room to the other, it must've been some twenty feet in length. A soft mat covered every inch of the floor. There were hooks on each side of the door, which Ryv noticeably used when he took a moment to slip his jacket off his shoulders and onto one of them. The walls were otherwise bland. It lacked notable decor, color, or scent. Nothing about the space stuck out beyond the lack of anything noteworthy.

"Can the Sith be stopped?" Ryv reiterated. "If I'm honest, probably not the way we want them to be. They're sort of like a disease. You gotta do whatever it takes to deal with it. In this case, this disease is pretty shitty. So, whatever it takes usually means fighting and killing them en masse. Offering redemption isn't awful, but when you're on a battlefield, well, you gotta do what you gotta do."

He strode out into the center of the room, turned on his heel, and dropped to the floor. He crossed his legs and looked up at the thyrsian.

"To start, I just wanna hear your story. Get your name, all that good stuff," he motioned to the open space a few feet in front of him. "If you're gonna be a Jedi, I want to know why. Having the want to accept the mantle is step one. Everything after that is a lot harder. If we're gonna take you on and help you achieve that goal, I want to make sure it won't be a waste of your time or mine."

Ryv unclipped Resolve from his side and set the lightsaber down between them. The intricate hilt was an obvious juxtaposition to the scruffy Jedi Knight who wielded it. Its smooth, metallic surfaces lacked blemishes, whereas Ryv bore dozens of scars along his arms alone.

"Just to makes it easier for you, I'll start," the kiffar cleared his throat. "I'm Ryv Karis, Sword of the Jedi. I grew up on Coruscant and lived here until it and the rest of the Core fell to the One Sith. After that, I took off. Had to get out. Went to the Outer Rim, spent years of my life being a criminal. I used all the skills I acquired through my training to run drugs, bounty hunt, and drag folks back to my boss. I didn't realize what was going on for years, they just lied to me and drugged me up. By the time my former Master found me, I tried to kill myself by overdosing on spice. Didn't work out, thankfully."

Everything he said came out far too casual for some to believe, but there were no visible tells to reveal a lie. Ryv maintained eye contact with Aelys as he spoke, the Jedi Knight's emotions worn on his sleeve.

"Now, I fight. The Sith took everything from me. I'll never get it back, so I'm gonna take everything from them and burn it to the fucking ground. And hopefully, when it's all said and done, there will be some lasting peace."

Aelys​

 

[Aelys]

While the Jedi answered the question, Aelys could only think that it was an unfair question. How many of his Jedi peers had died fighting against the Forces of Darkness? How many of Aelys' own ancestors and kin died for the machinations of the Sith? Over and over again it happened. The Galaxy forgot about the evil, and in another region it'd spawn and before anyone realized they'd have a plethora of systems and be too strong to destroy in one fell swoop. The thoughts brought the turmoil to the forefront of his mind, before he'd stop. "Yeah... That's fair. I don't think I'd be able to redeem a Sith. Calling yourself that? Knowing the history of it all and being okay with it? It's too far."

"I guess I can do that," Aelys replies once the Jedi answered his question. Temporary thoughts ventured to the forefront of his mind, wandering as to how much he should say. "Easy." He lowers down with the Jedi to cross his legs. Hazel orbs lowered to land on the mans hilt. He thought nothing of it. A weapon, nothing more nothing less. Jedi counseled that it meant more, it was an extension of themselves. Construction of his own saber had never been completed. The bond between hilt and user was merely a rumour to the Thyrsian.

Despite his age, Aelys' reaction to Ryv's history was calm, reserved. He was a warrior. Blooded in the harsh Thyrsian deserts against all manners of creatures, even the demons in the caves. Externally, he could withstand even the most scrutinizing of gazes of his Clans Elders. The gift of the Force however, made the facade irrelevant. He felt bad, he should've long been apart of the fight against the Sith. Disappearing back home? The cowards way out, a sentimental side that he didn't wish to possess.

"Well, for me... I spent most of my life at home on Thyrsus. Came from a long line of nomadic warriors," he shrugs. "I came to the Core, back when the Alliance first destroyed the One Sith. Learned a bit, never really had reason to go to the other enclaves and temples, Coruscant had it all, you know? When the Imps and Sith banded together to crush the Alliance I headed back home. I was... Scared at the time. The Alliance collapsed, Jedi were up and leaving everyday. I got out before Coruscant was attacked." Reaching a resting hand up to his head, he brushed the spread digits through his mop of hair and sighed.

"Came back because sitting at home wasn't enough for me. Something ate me everyday. Pushing me to do something, and no matter what I did, who I fought, nothing changed. Coming back to Coruscant? That things that's been eating at me? It's quiet. I think... This is the path that I should be on. Since I left the first time, it's the only thing that's felt right since.

I want to fight."

Ryv

 

[Ryv]

Ryv uttered not a single word as Aelys regaled him with his tale. Almost every Jedi came from tragedy nowadays. For a while, the kiffar considered it a cruel joke, one told at the expense of those left to suffer for fate's amusement. But he's since come to realize that wasn't the case. Jedi were forged in the fires of adversity to prepare them for the lifelong struggle they'd face. War, corruption, and betrayal accompanied them every step of the way. The galaxy relied on them to do what had to be done, yet its people showed no restraint in treating the Jedi as they did. Nothing would ever be enough. Better his kin be prepared early in their lives, rather than later.

Until today, Ryv hadn't heard much of Thyrsus. He knew of the thrysians struggles against the echani for their freedom and way of life. Just as he knew, their people had since become hardy warriors capable of contesting powers much larger than their own. Aelys' story came as no surprise for the older Jedi Knight. He expected something of the sort anyway.

"I don't know much about Thyrsus, if I'm being honest," Ryv laid out to his right, his body's weight placed on his side as he met the Padawan's gaze. "Maybe, in the future, you can tell me more about your home? Hell, might even go visit it one day."

He chuckled for a few short seconds before clearing his throat. "Like I said, I grew up here on Coruscant. Spent my early days as a Jedi training here in hopes of one day joining the war. You know how it was. Skipped out on a lot of the history and meditation lessons, the council wanted to make sure we were ready to go to war the moment a Master took us up. I can't say I enjoyed it all that much. Though, I dunno if I'd change it at this point, either. If it weren't for all that training, I'd of probably died years ago."

Aelys' sentiment wasn't lost on Ryv. He barely escaped with his life when Coruscant fell. If not for the help of a more experienced Jedi and his mother's sacrifice, his head likely would've rolled beside his father's.

"Personally, I haven't always bought into the Force guides us, mumbo jumbo. Maybe it is a living entity. Maybe it knows more than anyone one person can. I don't know, nor do I really care, usually. Moments like these, though? They make me wonder if the Force does have a mind of its own," he looked Aelys over once and nodded. "The galaxy needs heroes, Aelys. Now more than ever. If you want to fight, I won't stop you, but that doesn't mean I'll let you go out there half-cocked, ill-prepared for the shit you'll see. So, if you wanna do this, I'm gonna help you. In turn, we're gonna do it my way. That might sound lame, but I think you're gonna like it."

Ryv sat back up and offered Aelys his hand.

"What do you say?"

Aelys ​

 

[Aelys]

Aelys brushed a hand through his hair at Ryv's mention of visiting Thyrsus. "You like the heat?" His lips growing out into a grin. A moment was taken to imagine how the Sword would look garbed with his jacket on the desert world.

Bobbing his head up and down, Aelys had been the sort to skip out on the history lessons. Patched up versions of history pre-dating the Gulag Plague didn't do much for him. It wouldn't put an end to the wars. Knowing the name of Jedi Master Whogivesafuck wouldn't suddenly wipe the Sith out of existence. Combat, tactics, strategy... They were things the Jedi required in this galactic climate. Pacifists... Aelys' features pulled back, almost into a sneer before he zoned back in on Ryv's words.

"Heroes, huh?" Aelys repeated, quite clearly intrigued. He was selfish and sought renown. Not just for himself, but to overshadow the reputation of the Echani. If he could be the paragon of Thyrsus' warrior capabilities at their finest, he'd have acquired all the things that he first set out for when he made for the first Alliance. "Okay." He replied, slowly bobbing his head as he put the pieces together in his mind. It was a possible future that he saw in that instant when Ryv looked back at him.

The Knight's hand stuck out in front of him.

Aelys' hazel gaze dropped to it and caught Karis' eyes again.

Slipping his own hand into place with the Jedi, Aelys nodded again. "I'm with you... Your way." Dropping his hand after, he blinked thoughtfully. "Do I get a cool title like 'Sword of the Jedi' too?"

Ryv

 

[Ryv]

Ryv grinned at the question and withdrew his hand.

"Do you get a cool title? Right now, no. You're just a Padawan," he hopped up onto his feet and summoned Resolve from the ground. He clipped the lightsaber hilt to his side. "If you distinguish yourself? Yeah, that's completely possible. Might take some time, but if you do what's right and uphold what it means to be a Jedi Knight, anything is possible."

He looked from Aelys to his bag and hopped up to his feet. First, the Jedi Knight summoned his saber from the floor and attached it to his belt. Next, he drew the Padawan's pack through the air and caught it with an outstretched hand. He hefted the bag and returned it to his shoulder before looking back at the thyrsian. A mixture of pride and excitement filled the kiffar's eyes. His first apprentice. To think he'd be standing where men like father once stood, especially after years in the Outer Rim doing everything wrong. It almost brought a tear to his eye. Rather than cry, he reached up to pat Aelys' shoulder and turned towards the exit.

"C'mon, we need to get you settled in. Find you a room and all that. I think Prosperity is gonna be docking over Coruscant in a few days, too. You'll love the station. It's pretty badass," Ryv stepped from the room and turned down the hall. "We mostly use it for evacuations and refugee relocation, but all the Jedi of our order get a room. They make the temple rooms look pretty bad."

As he pointed out other places of interest to the younger man, Ryv inwardly considered what this all meant for them both. Would he be right to bring Aelys beside him to places like Dantooine in the future? Would it be wrong to treat him any differently than the kiffar was? How would the thyrsian fair in the face of the Sith and other galactic threats? Would Ryv be forced to bury another friend? There were too many what-ifs and little he could do about it at the moment. He did know that he didn't want to let Aelys down as Ryv's master did him.

Aelys​