Grounded

[The Hound]

Since Omni's defeat Turin's headaches and nightmares had gotten worse. Sure, now he could occasionally lift the covers off his bed or open his shower without using his hands and mediating did help but it wasn't enough. The doctors had all said the same thing. Until these headaches were gone he was not to fly as it was a danger to everyone around him as well as himself. Before when he had gone for help he went straight to the Grandmaster. He had offered full training but at the time, being the overconfident pilot that he was, refused thinking that everything would go back to normal. 'Wrong.' he thought. Now he was wearing Jedi robes in the Jedi Temple, waiting for his new Master.

He had only briefly met with her once when he was assigned to her, and he had to admit, he might be a little distracted during his training. With a sigh he looked at his wrist chrono. It was almost time. 'Thank God!' he thought to himself. 'Maybe during this training I'll be able to take this heavy robe off.' he thought wishfully. Taking a seat in the training area he spotted a few metallic balls of various sizes. Closing his eyes he focused , reaching his hand out to them and imagining a hand picking up the balls. They were heavy, that was for sure and quite honestly, he didn't know if he could pick all of them up at the same time. Dropping the largest on the other two floated a little higher. He was starting to sweat. 'No more.' And with that both balls dropped, the metal clank of metal on metal echoed. Very disappointing.
@[member="Feena"]

 

[Feena]

@[member="Turin Val Kur"]

Feena had decided it was time. She'd been busy on the Council, but now that she'd finally settled in it was time to pick up another apprentice. No more excuses. She had her new rank of Master to consider. If she didn;t take the time to train anymore young ones, then was she honestly worthy of the title?

Dressed head to toe in long floor-length robes of a deep cadet blue, she stepped into the room just in time to watch the young man drop the metal spheres. One rolled all the way over to her, coming to a stop at her feet. With a little smile, she bent down to pick it up by hand. She could easily summon it directly to her fingers, but she was past showing off now.

"Turin, was it? I am Councillor Feena Mason," she introduced, setting the metal sphere back in place, "Your new Master, if you are still serious about training."

 

[The Hound]

@[member="Feena"] "Turin, was it?"
His name being called snapped the young Lieutenant back into reality, drawing his attention to the woman that now stood in the room with him. Embarrassing the first thing your new master sees is a failed attempt to lift a few measly metal balls. His heart pounded, he was nervous. Training in the Force was hard business, he knew. How different from the Imperial Knights they were remained to be seen, but for now he would swallow his pride as an ace, or try to, and learn. If he was to fly again, he had to.

Standing up at attention he nodded and answered. "If it'll get me back in the sky Councilor Mason, I am very serious about getting this started." he said, full of determination and bravado. 'The Republic needs its ace back in action as soon as possible.' he thought to himself.

 

[Feena]

@[member="Turin Val Kur"]

Her smile twitched ever so slightly to see his standing at attention like that. Never once had she ever had a padawan that acted like this.
Respectful. It was a nice change. But then, she was also used to training younger children.

"Patience," she said, holding a hand up, "Sit."
She was going to start this how she always started- with a nice long lecture.

"Now, I'm going to begin by explain our lesson plan- yes, lesson plan. This is going to be like school, you see, except with a few more field trips."
Her sunny, friendly disposition faded at once.
"You will assemble in this room every day at precisely 7 am. Not a second late. When I arrive you will be sitting up straight, eyes forward. We will work on your posture if we must.
The day will start with a lecture for two hours on a number of subjects. There will be a brief test after, in which case, you are required to pass with a perfect score. If you should fail, I will administer the test again until you get it right. After that, we shall head to the archives where you shall research any subject I choose for you. I will expect you to write a 3 page essay on the subject due the next day.
After that, a break for lunch. Then the hard work begins."

She waited a moment for him to object, should he dare. There was a reason she was considered one of the toughest Masters to have. It was because, with her, failure was not an option. She would never knight a padawan that was not ready.

 

[The Hound]

'Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad.' he thought. Maybe a couple weeks and he would be up and back into the air. It was something that was relatively prepared for. Its not like he hadn't been on longer breaks. Taking a seat back onto the bench he allowed the Master to begin what he assumed was to be a long lecture, a smile on his scruffy face. The smile soon faded however as the woman's tone and manner changed. It was like a hyperspace jump, first he was surrounded by planets of beautiful creatures ready to take him to bed, the next he was orbiting Nal Hutta, surrounded by giant slimy slugs. 'School? Is she kidding?' she was speaking to him as if he was some kid fresh off the teat.

As the lecture continued his frustration grew more and more. He didn't sign up to learn about how some masked man blew up a moon because he went dark, he came to learn to stop these damn Force induced headaches and nightmares. 'A break for lunch? Tests?' . "What does she think I am? Some kid?" he muttered under his breath. Well. It would've been. In fact, it should have been in his own head along with his other thoughts, however him being the hot head he was forgot to filter his thoughts and the words came out rather loudly, almost angrily. Looking up he realized what he had said with regret as he face palmed-palmed and mouthed the word "Frak!"
@[member="Feena"]

 

[Feena]

@[member="Turin Val Kur"]
"Turin?" she asked suddenly, voice sugar sweet again, "Does this not agree with you? Do you have a recommendation for me, perhaps?"

She was smiling again, kneeling down to look him in the eye. On her face was a mask of sweetness, almost playful. But inside, if he could be bothered to try to sense it, he would realize that she was acting. A test.

 

[The Hound]

He did have a problem with this. It was absurd. Here he was, a man of 27, being forced to partake in 'Jedi History Class' and play student while his friends were out in the sky, possibly dying without him. However, what he should have said was 'No ma'am, no problem.' but what came out instead was: "I do actually." standing he started passing as he spoke again. "I'm 27, being forced to take a Jedi history lesson for kids while my friends are up there" he pointed up, indicating the sky, "possibly dying on the front lines. I'm not new at this either. I was trained to be an Imperial Knight you know. I'm just..." a pause. "A little rusty is all...!" more than a little. A mental sigh of dissaproval at what his big mouth had just done. He would probably be kicked out now, with no training. Then be on further suspension for not following the equivalent to a direct order and punishment for making the Navy look bad. He would never be able to fly again and for what?

Well, at least he had his pride, though probably not for long...

@[member="Feena"]

 

[Feena]

@[member="Turin Val Kur"]

She smiled wider, but it was the sort of smile that a hunter had when she spotted weak prey.
"Very well! If you can pass this one widdle test, I will knight you here and now! If not..."
Her voice went from honey to vinegar in an instant.
"if not, then you belong to me until I decide you are ready to run off and get yourself killed, understood?"
She did not wait for a response. She started to circle him, hands held behind her back. This was the part where most of the younglings she took under her wings broke down.

"There is a reason for what I do, Padawan. There is a reason I make my Padawans study hard with more than just a lightsaber and the Force." she continued, "Tell me that reason."

This was the test.

 

[The Hound]

The question puzzled him. Her circling didn't help either. Closing his eyes he tried to think of an answer, without the distraction of the menacing circling. She was like a Nexu, circling prey. Just a tad unsettling. He made sure to keep tabs on her though-Wait, how was he doing that? He could feel where she was even with his eyes closed. 'Huh, this Force stuff is something else!' he thought to himself. Now to focus again. If he could answer this he was knighted, sure, but even that wasn't what he wanted. He wanted the help, and just because he was knighted would mean nothing if he couldn't even lift a few balls or stop these headaches.

With a defeated sigh he opened his eyes and let his shoulders drop, relaxed. With a humbled smile and a roll of his eyes that said 'I can't believe I'm doing this' he finally said. "Because Nexu fly." Technically it was...hopefully the wrong answer. The way he said it wasn't a sarcastic challenge. It was his way of saying 'Okay, you win. I'll put up with this.'
"When do we start that lecture?" And he was ready to learn and be taught.
@[member="Feena"]

 

[Feena]

@[member="Turin Val Kur"]

Another victory. Feena's smile was all sunshine again. He was willing to continue. he didn't have a choice. Unlike her toher younglings, he was here to learn. He volunteered. She would teach him what he needed to know, he would learn or he would give up and walk away. She did not ever pass students that were not ready.
"We starts todays lecture right now. Sit up straight, eyes forward. You slouch, even a tiny bit and I will stop the lecture and wait for you to correct yourself."
Something that most Masters did not teach- posture was always important, especially in battle.

"Now, let's get started..."
She immediately launched into a very long lecture about the current state of the republic from a political standpoint- something Feena personally was an expert on. Now and then, she would sprinkle in little bits of information that had nothing to do with the subject on hand, running on a short tangent before going back on track. This was done very intentionally as a way to test his listening skills.

 

[The Hound]

@[member="Feena"]
Master Mason ran a tight ship. Of course he was used to it. This wasn't his first rodeo. He had gone through military school and the Knights, and though he wasn't the kind of guy to sit up straight at a dinner table, or take super descriptive notes in class, he knew that he had a job to do. How he did it was often a problem, but he knew business and this was some damn serious business.

Throughout the lecture he sat up and listened intently. Him being a soldier he had no idea the kind of things that went on behind the closed doors of the senate. Honestly, he didn't care as long as he continued to receive his pay and his benefits But even if he didn't care, he needed to pay attention, even to the tangents he suspected. Those were probably the questions that her students missed on the tests. The lecture was dry and dull. 'Power through.' he kept telling himself. 'Power through.'

 

[Feena]

@[member="Turin Val Kur"]

"...And so, that is why my favorite color is purple. Any questions?"
She ended her lecture on that note, pleased that, for once, a student had managed to sit through and listen carefully without going completely insane. Of course, she was also used to dealing with much younger Padawans. Her ladt Padawan had been only 9 when she started teaching him. That was years ago, of course.

 

[The Hound]

His hand raised into the air. Now he did have a question. It went back to earlier in their lecture as well as with current events.
"Why is the bill that senator Samuel has presented such a big issue?" Of course he didn't have all the information. The only information he did have was that he was pushing for the Jedi, most notably the ones that had integrated into the Republic military, give their records to whatever power gets to look at them. He didn't understand why it was such a big deal. He had to do it when he was seventeen in the Empire, and again when he joined the Republic Navy.
@[member="Feena"]

 

[Feena]

@[member="Turin Val Kur"]

Ah... that was a good question. Feena nodded appreciatively at him.
"Wonderful, yes! I am so glad you asked! Actually... I think rather than tell you, that shall be the subject of your essay! That is brilliant! Give me your own opinion on the matter and we can discuss it tomorrow!"

 

[The Hound]

With a sigh and a nod Turin conceded. He would simply have to watch the senate meetings himself, and do a little research on the history of Jedi legislation. With a shrug he looked at his chrono and then back to his new Master.
"Test time?" he asked. @[member="Feena"]

(ooc: sorry for the short post. Bit of writer's block)

 

[Feena]

Oh, this kid she liked. not that he was really a kid. He seemed to be about her age, but still. Student regardless.
"You are my first student to ask for a test, you know that?"
She was impressed, actually. That never happened.
"Here. I'll even shorted the test, simply because I'm in a good mood. 3 questions;
1. How old am I?
2. What is my favorite color?
3. Who is the grandmaster currently of the jedi order?"

 

[The Hound]

It was nice to be praised on the first day, and so soon after his recent outburst...But it wasn't like he wanted to take the test, it was more like he wanted to get this over with as fast as he could and there wasn't any point in beating around the bush. He was a man on a mission after all. Besides, what would @[member="Sophia Walsh"] ever do without him to wax starfighters, and Paladin squadron was as good as dead without him.

A shortened test? Good mood? 'This Master, I like. And not because she's a total babe either!' he thought to himself. The questions were simple enough, only one of them of course had been from the actual lesson, just as he had guessed.
"Too easy! You are-" he paused and reworded his answer mentally. "Master @[member="Feena"] Mason is 29 years old, her favorite color is purple, and the current Grandmaster of the Jedi Order is Master Darron Wraith." Half of his answer sounded like it came straight off of one of those dating sites from the holonet.

 

[Feena]

@[member="Turin Val Kur"]

29. 29!! Feena grinned. How charming.
"Oh, flattery will only get you do far!" she teased, "I'm actually 30."
She motioned for him to get up.
"But it is close enough. Follow. To the archives. You have a lot of studying to do."

 

[The Hound]

Standing up and stretching in his robes, he patted his rear. He wasn't used to sitting in one solid place for so long that wasn't flying about. Following her to the archives he began to wonder what it would be like. He wasn't much for reading, and he didn't expect he would be even by the time his training was over.

Entering the Archives, he was taken aback by the sheer amount of information that seemed to be present. Small droids hovered in the highest sections of the area, organizing and cataloging. He felt like the job would never be completed, especially after Omni's rampage. He was glad that was all done and over with. Looking to his master he awaited instruction. "Did you have something specific you wanted me to look for?" he asked @[member="Feena"].

 

[Feena]

@[member="Turin Val Kur"]

The archives. This was home! This was there she spent most of her childhood, studying, learning, even when her Mastered did not want her to learn. Nobody could keep her from discovering something new!
"You don't remember what i told you your subject would be?" she asked, surprised, "You are to discover information on the bill that Senator Samuel introduced and form an opinion on it. That is your assignment. If you have questions, you may ask me or the master librarian."