Private Guidance from the Not-Dead

[Jalen Kai'el]

Guidance from the Not-Dead
Location
Tags: Kahlil Noble

​

Jalen was taking care of Jasper's droid Blip for the week. He was out on a mission and didn't want the melodic BB droid to be lonely while he was gone. Jalen, of course, took on the task with great excitement. Jasper trusted him to do something? It was probably all the validation he needed from his older brother in his life. So, Jalen began carrying the little droid with him as he went between classes and padawan duties across the temple. Blip didn't seem to mind. The astromech was very entertained by the temple, and Jalen himself rather enjoyed the company. He usually spent his time alone.

Unfortunately, given his track record with things like "luck" or "coordination," nothing enjoyable could end without disaster. Jalen was making his way down the halls of the temple, his arms firmly wrapped around the spherical main body of his droid companion. Then, Blip beeped out something in his usual, rhythmic manner. It sounded like... Water?

"Huh?" Jalen remarked with a frown. What in the world was he-

Then, Jalen came to a realization. More accurately, his foot did. A spill, one that had yet to be mopped up as indicated by the various caution signs. The signs that Jalen, of course, was incapable of reading. With a jerk of his torso, the young padawan did his best to orient himself in a way that he would land on his back as to cause no damage to Blip. The boy hit the ground with a stiff thud, which slightly echoed due to the water, which was now all over the back of his sweater.

"Woop?" Blip inquaried.

"Y-yeah," Jalen responded, his face now flush red with embarrassment. "I'm fine."

He was just gonna lie there for a minute. Hopefully nobody saw him. That would be the worst.

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"You alright?"

Kahlil had seen it. Rounded the corner just as the boy slipped and fell. Without any sort of hesitation he rushed to Jalen's side, just glancing him over to make sure nothing had been injured too badly. last thing anyone needed was someone getting hurt from a spill. Grant it the spill was marked, but it wasn't hard to tell why Jalen hadn't seen it.

Inwardly he grimaced. That kind of scar wasn't something a child should have.

"Let's uh, get you to your feet."

Jalen Kai'el

 

[Jalen Kai'el]

Coruscant, Jedi Temple
Tags: Kahlil Noble

​

"You alright?"

So much for nobody seeing it, Jalen thought to himself. He sighed ever so slightly in embarrassment, allowing Blip to roll off his chest into the dry part of the hallway floor.

"Y-yeah," Jalen responded. "I'm good."

This, of course, was a lie. Internally, Jalen was screaming. His track record of not looking stupid was so far a battle he was loosing. Then, he could feel something ever so slightly in the man's aura. He had seen the scars on Jalen's face. The boy felt the inside of his chest sink a little. Still, he accepted the offer to help get to his feet. There was something off about the man he assumed was a Jedi master. Aside from the very clear emotions, there was something else with him... or in him? It felt sort of like Valery Noble , but he didn't really understand what it was. A connection?

"You... feel familiar," he muttered. Jalen then became very flustered, scrambling to correct himself. "I-I mean, th-thank you, sir!"

He really needed to stop talking.

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Familiar?

Kahlil raised a brow, but didn't comment on it. The only logical leap was the boy either met him long ago, or he was talking about Valery. He seemed plenty uncomfy though, so there was no reason to bring it up. Instead he just offered a faint smile. Not that Jalen could see it. Maybe feel it. Seemed he felt more than Kahlil initially thought.

"You have a lot of problems sensing things around you, right?"

Jalen Kai'el

 

[Jalen Kai'el]

Coruscant, Jedi Temple
Tags: Kahlil Noble

​

Problems sensing things around him? That was sort of true, in the sense that there was too much around him to pinpoint on something to focus on. With the Temple feeling so strange and imposing, how could he notice something small like a puddle in his path? It seemed impossible.

"Y-yeah," Jalen admitted with an embarrassed frown. "I suppose..."

It seemed like a very specific question. What was the point to it? Rubbing in Jalen's incompetency? That didn't seem the case. There was an intention of reassurance swirling around the man. Perhaps there was something else on his mind.

"It's pretty obvious, I guess," he shrugged, a tad bit defeated. "You asked cause you already knew..."

Masters did that all the time. Why, he wasn't sure, but it was at least something he'd encountered before. It was just that he felt a distinct lac of disappointment. Something else was going on here.

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"You.. Don't have to be so defeated." Kahlil frowned a little, rubbing at the back of his neck. He'd somehow upset Jalen with just a question. Maybe he should've avoided something so direct?

"I just wanted to offer some help, if you'd like it. Sensing things through everything else is pretty difficult on a planet like this."

Jalen Kai'el

 

[Jalen Kai'el]

Coruscant, Jedi Temple
Tags: Kahlil Noble

​

"I just wanted to offer some help, if you'd like it. Sensing things through everything else is pretty difficult on a planet like this."

Jalen cocked his head slightly to the right. Help? That was something he desperately needed. That and he felt bad for making the situation awkward. Maybe the Jedi could actually help him focus better. It was worth a shot.

"I'd like that," Jalen nodded.

Oh, right. He hadn't given his name. Jalen palmed his face ever so slightly. He had been so wrapped up in how stupid he felt that he hadn't even introduced himself. Not that this was a surprise. Jalen was very easily lost in thought or derailed by anything and everything that could distract him. He had to be sure he didn't give his name twice though, lest he cause another Maran situation. That was awkward.

"Uh, I'm Jalen," he introduced. "I-I forgot to say that."

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"Kahlil."

Names. Right. Those were important. The Priestess' never bothered with names around him. Just another thing to relearn in his time back. For now he just gave a soft smile. Not that Jalen could see him. But he figured the boy could at least see it through the Force.

"You know someplace quiet here? Somewhere you don't feel overwhelmed?"

Jalen Kai'el

 

[Jalen Kai'el]

Coruscant, Jedi Temple
Tags: Kahlil Noble

​

"Kahlil."

The name was... familiar. Jalen was starting to put the pieces together now. This was Master Noble's husband. He arrived before Kahlil had... died? Now the talk around the temple was about him not really being dead... or something like that. He didn't really understand. Still, he distinctly remembered the sadness in Valery when they had first met. Their separation had been recent. She must have really cared about him. It still didn't explain why Jalen could feel her with him. Jasper never felt like any of his friends were with him, or his girlfriend for that matter. What made this situation so... different?

The thinking aside, Kahlil asked if he knew anywhere in the temple with few distractions. One came to mind almost immediately.

"The gardens," he answered. "They're usually pretty calm."

That was a good place.

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"Gardens work. Wanna lead the way, then?"

Which he figured might actually be a problem for Jalen. Finding a way to gauge just how much Jalen knew how to sense the world around him was important. Especially if he didn't know that's what Kahlil was doing. So he kept the kind smile. Laughed, even.

"I don't actually know the way."

Jalen Kai'el

 

[Jalen Kai'el]

Coruscant, Jedi Temple
Tags: Kahlil Noble

​

"O... kay," Jalen nodded, though he was a little confused.

Not know where the gardens were? It seemed strange for a master, but he didn't exactly have the confidence to ask. Jalen shuffled over to the nearby wall, placing a hand against it's surface. Smooth, but there were little dips that gave each area a slight variation. When everything seemed to blend together, Jalen could gauge where he was by remembering patterns in the walls. Like land marks, sort of. It didn't take long for him to reason where they were relative to the gardens. Jalen scooped up Blip and began to set off towards them at a reserved pace, assuming that Kahlil would follow.

It wasn't long before they were at the gardens. They were very hard to miss once close enough. The plant life felt distinct when compared to the rest of the temple. To that end, it was almost like being on another planet. Having grown up rurally, Jalen much preferred it's atmosphere when compared to Coruscant as a whole.

"So..." he began, "What am I doing?"

Jalen was very much eager to hear this advise.

 

[Kahlil Noble]

So that's how he worked it out? Memorizing the grooves on the walls? Kahlil rubbed at his chin as they walked, already trying to think through it all. How best to actually help. By the time they made it to the garden, he still wasn't too sure. Then, the plants. He blinked, glancing around at all the different plants. Their scents. How they felt to touch. He let his hand trail over one of the plants in particular. Just feeling it's leaves.

"You identify the plants with touch and smell, yeah?"

Jalen Kai'el

 

[Jalen Kai'el]

Coruscant, Jedi Temple
Tags: Kahlil Noble

​

"Sort of," Jalen frowned. "A lot of them feel the same... but the size and stuff helps a little."

And he wasn't even going to touch on his poor sense of smell. Something there had clearly been damaged, or maybe it was all in his head. Smells used to be so distinct before... the flames. Now it all blended together. Plants smelled like plants. Food smelled like food. Fire smelled like a nightmare. The basic stuff. Needless to say, he was far more comfortable feeling his way around than utilizing his nose. Far easier for his over-stimulated mind to grapple.

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"Alright. Then.. Which is that one? The first one you can touch, I mean." Didn't matter which. The goal right now was to just see how familiar he was with the plants around them. Then the lesson could begin.

Jalen Kai'el

 

[Jalen Kai'el]

Coruscant, Jedi Temple
Tags: Kahlil Noble

​

"A-alright."

Easy, right? Just touch a plant and feel what it is. Simple enough. Jalen did just that, crouching down and running a finger along the leaves of the first plant he touched. The leaves were slightly pointed at the ends... sort of serrated, but not sharp. It had a very obvious teardrop shape, and the leaf itself had a decent thickness to it, though it clearly wasn't tough material like you'd expect from a more defensive plant. It seemed to be...

"It's a mint, I think," Jalen concluded.

Yeah, that seemed right.

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"Yeah, it's mint."

Okay, good. He could at least tell that much by touch. Which meant.. Kahlil stood up, walked over to the plant. Gently lifted it's pot to move it to a different spot. Not too far, just wanted to change the area and location. Mint. It was still fresh in his mind.

"The Force is in all things. Everything feels different in the Force. Try to find where I placed it using the Force."

Jalen Kai'el

 

[Jalen Kai'el]

Coruscant, Jedi Temple
Tags: Kahlil Noble

​

"R-right," Jalen nodded.

Just find the mint after he moved it. Just as simple. He had this. Right?

Jalen concentrated, remembering the aura of the plant. With a bit of delay, he slowly turned in the direction of the plant. It was very clear. He could feel it almost as if his hand had never departed from the surface of its leaves... for a moment at least. Suddenly, the plant was blurry, shaking violently between the auras around it. Like a napkin caught between two fans, or ferrofluid between two magnets to be more accurate to the sensation he felt before him.

But he couldn't wait forever to point, could he. Jalen lifted his hand, his finger finally settling on a pot in front of him. The empty pot that sat right next to the one with the mint in it.

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"Almost. But you started to panic. Feel, don't think. Trust your instincts." Kahlil raised a hand up to move the potted mint again, this tome to a different spot of the room entirely. Above him, at that. Floating carefully in Kahlil's grasp.

"You can do this."

Jalen Kai'el

 

[Jalen Kai'el]

Coruscant, Jedi Temple
Tags: Kahlil Noble

​

Right. Just don't panic. Everything would be fine. No thoughts, just feel.

Jalen felt everything around him. Each individual blade of grass, potted plant, sleeping insect... even down to the microscopic level. All that didn't matter. He closed it out, feeling for the mint. Pretty soon, it's aura had become clear to him... above his head? Yes, above his head Kahlil was levitating it above his head. Jalen lifted up his hands, reaching up for the pot. Before long, it was within his fingers.

"I got it!" he exclaimed, quite proudly.

But there was something else, something unexpected. He couldn't feel the ground, at least not with his feet.

"Uh... w-where did the ground go?"

He was levitating. It was really only a few inches, but Jalen didn't know. He was blind, after all.

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Kahlil wasn't sure when he started to float, but it was an interesting thing to see. Jedi who got deep into meditation could float, he knew that much. Sometimes they'd float things around them. Jalen was more attuned to the Force than he probably even realized. He chuckled as he set the pot aside and instead focused on the whole levitation thing.

"Don't freak out. You're floating. Just stay calm, breath. Lower yourself. Don't overthink it."

Jalen Kai'el