Initium Novum

[Khione Gardner]

The world was silent, dark. Its deadened atmosphere contrasted sharply with the sounds of conversation and combat training which streamed through the air to alight upon the tips of nearby ears during the time of sunlight. Through the calm a night bird, lulled by the swirling lake of ivory, twilled its morning song. Nearby, in the isolated realm of midnight wanderings, the creature’s quiet call pierced the veil of tearful memories. Startled out of her reverie, the pale figure looked around. She’d left her room after the final meal of the day, when the golden sun stood poised to return to its nightly vigil beneath the horizon. Realizing the extent of her exhaustion, she began to pick her way back the way she’d come. She needed sleep. A new phase of training began in the morning.

[member="Tobias Wraith"]

 

[Tobias Wraith]

Yavin IV​

Jedi Praxeum​

Attendants worked on the Jackdaw after he landed, each of them intently focusing on the top-of-the line freighter Silk Industries had gifted him. "Don't worry about the blaster scarring guys, she's going to see more action." Instead of the typical grumbling and mumbling he expected, they simply smiled and wished him well. Either these people are on the best spice known to man, or everyone here is too polite. Making his way out of the hangar, and getting himself checked into the Praxeum had been one of the least favorite experiences of his life. Everywhere he turned, that same startling, friendly attitude popped up. It didn't matter if he was in the wrong place, or if he took a wrong turn in the many hallways that the temple itself had. All he got for his mistakes were friendly smiles, and people offering to help lead him in the right direction. It threw him off his bearings, and he didn't know how to deal with all the positive energy he was feeling.

Working for Hutts had that effect.

Hours of orientation, and a few blood tests had on the agenda. Only one quote really stuck in his mind,"he's got one of the highest midichlorian counts I've ever seen!" The nurse's excited tone, and the hushed whispers that followed as they left him with the others who had arrived. Stares followed him the entire day. What he had originally thought had been a circumstance of his age, well that had been dispelled with a few people older than him. So if it's not me being barely twenty one, is it how I'm dressed? The few holos he had seen of Jedi had shown them wearing robes he would never be caught in, and so far that had held true. Yet, here he was in a simple grey v-neck t-shirt and some brown trousers. His BTI-Woebringer ever at his belt on it's holster as he walked the halls. Few words had been said after that blood test, but he had been assured he would have a "master," whatever that was, on the next day.

So here he was, standing alone in his room.

If it could be called that, it was a simple space with a bed and a desk. "This isn't exactly what Jorus had me excited about," but what exactly were you expecting Tobias? His own inner thoughts mingled with the ones he spoke aloud to himself. Idle hands toyed with the bag he set down, or with the necklace he never took off. Calloused thumbs rubbed over the dog tags and the ring nervously before he made up his mind, he had to explore. Old habits from his days in the One Sith military rose to the fore and he set off as the day winded down, and thankfully alone in the empty halls. Conditioning, experience in combat zones, and training forced him to work his way upwards towards the roof. He wanted to scout the perimeter, he needed to know. Despite the care free demeanor he maintained, his mind was constantly working as he made his way up. It never stopped spinning.

Well, that was until he bumped into the woman walking alone.

"I'm so sorry, new here." His hands came up in the universal gesture for "i'm sorry," as he tried to get around her. "I'm just trying to make my way to the roof, I do apologize."


[member="Khione Gardner"]

 

[Khione Gardner]

Khione listened as she returned. The sound of the whistling wind echoed the restlessness which assailed her each evening. The mornings were easy; she could put the memories from her mind as she strained to strengthen her muscles and master the power with which she’d been gifted. It was at night that thoughts of circumstances she could not change created loops of webbing around limbs that should be heavy with sleep. Instead of seeking her bed, she was pulled as a puppet to drift down the walkways outside. It was there, while she gazed at the untroubled whiteness of the mist and stood still within the moonless night that her gaze turned within and the guilt became too much to bear. She couldn't understand why her husband, so gentle in his love of her, had been the one lost to this world. Her genes dictated that she live a shorter life than everyone around her. Why, then, had she not been taken into a wakeless existence instead of the sleepless one she suffered through without Adam. Why, she wondered, had her consciousness not been taken in place of his.

Turning a corner, she stumbled back as she nearly collided with a figure clad in slate and chocolate. His height took her by surprise and she looked up, astonished both by his presence and by her lack of fear. “Do not worry,” she responded to his apology. “I turned the corner without paying heed. For what are you seeking the roof? I am just returning from there myself if you cannot find your way.”

Her question asked, she examined him and awaited a reply. His bearing was alert, focused, though it appeared that he tried to hide it. Even as his attention was placed upon her, she could believe that a portion of it took note of their surroundings and catalogued them within his mind. Though young, he looked to her as if he bore the weight of a life brimming with difficulties. He had said he was new. She wondered where his life had taken him before this.

[member="Tobias Wraith"]

 

[Tobias Wraith]

Wow, are they all this polite and formal?

That thought kept popping up, and late at night here in the Praxeum it had surfaced. Hands that had balled into fists opened with a little effort, and he rested his weight back on the heels of his boots rather than on his toes. Adrenal glands flared, but he knew to relax in this place. Whatever it was that allowed him to know when to make the right move, or dodge the punch that would take him out wasn't firing on all cylinders. No, that only came into play when he was in danger. Typically he could read someone if they were lying to him, unless he was gambling, then he was horrible at that. If you were so good at reading people Tobias, you wouldn't have had to pay off thousands of dollars to the hutts. Memories of the beatings he had taken for being short on payments a few months came rushing back, along with all the less than stellar things he had to do to pay the debt off.

He shifted his weight, and kept his guard up slightly.

Blue eyes searched the pale face before him, and she looked troubled. Do not ask her, do not. It was amazing the secrets women held, he had run into quite a few who had tried to kill him. Rule number one, do not ask about their feelings. "If you don't mind, I'd like to know where the roof is." He realized that was quite a lame excuse, even as he saw the door she had just appeared from. Putting two and two together, he started to head that way, hoping she would follow his lead. Echoes of their boots on the marble filled the hall, and hopefully soon conversation would follow. Mr. Cross had gone all day having only passing conversations, he wouldn't mind getting some answers on the Jedi in general.

"So, I'm guessing you are a Jedi? My name is Tobias Cross, and I've only met a few today."


[member="Khione Gardner"]

 

[Khione Gardner]

Still reeling from the unwelcome feeling of another's touch, Khione turned to follow the newcomer. She took care to remain a small distance away so as to avoid any further contact, but nevertheless, her mind remained flooded with anxiety. Bright colors created vivid memories inside her mind, and her chest tightened with the sudden remembrance of a terror which had haunted her childhood. Memories of her time in slavery were not often so difficult, but once one added the element of touch, she lost the ability to control her fear. It swirled as a violent wind, merely awaiting the chance to escape from the confinement of time and force of will. It controlled her every interaction and haunted her every attempt at training. It controlled her.

Khione tried to quiet her troubled spirit as she walked with [member="Tobias Wraith"] toward the roof, but her efforts provoked no effect. Despite her attempts, the monstrous fear of the past swept through her meager defenses and overtook her normally calm demeanor. Breathing became difficult, and beads of sweat began to glisten along her brow. A sense of hopelessness bled into the mixture, causing her to stop suddenly.

"I...I apologize," Khione stammered through a mental image depicting her younger self and her previous owner. In the memory, she dangled against the wall, held aloft merely by the strength of his arm. She shuddered. "The day has been long. I only need a moment of rest, and I will then be more than happy to direct you to the rooftops."

Blue eyes frantically searched the corridor until, finally, they alighted upon a nearby pillar. Eyes wide, she staggered forward and leaned her weight against it with her hands on her knees. Tears stung her eyes and she lamented. The attack would pass, as they always did, but she had no way of knowing when. The only person whose touch had never caused her fear lay motionless, his consciousness tied down by injury. He was her only solace amid the daily agonies, and he was lost to her. She was alone, and she feared she would be until she passed on and he, too, was left without a person to care for him.

Wiping away the tears, Khione looked up, hoping that the man had not noticed her dilemma and continued walking, but also needing a comforting presence to provide her with a basis of control. For she feared that without one, Khione Gardner would become nothing more than a walking shell of loneliness and vicious memories.