Private Stone the Crow

[Saan'an Gaelor]

Coruscant, 07:12 Local Time
Jedi Temple, Archives
Aeris Lashiec
​

The Council really had their work cut out for them. Too many problems, and not enough Jedi. Not nearly enough Jedi. It was no wonder, then, why they assigned him a mentor and expected him to sort it out himself. Normally someone would have to pick him. Assuming anyone would pick him in the first place. One could call it luck, in that case. Saan'an wouldn't have to keep hoping he was doing well enough for someone to notice.

This new method of paring had a glaring potential for misfire. Not one moment went by where he wasn't thinking about it. What if they paired him with a saber jock, or some geezer in the agri-core? Saan'an didn't want to dare believe the Council would make such blatant oversights, yet he couldn't help but worry about it. The proclivities of his determined mentor could make or break his advancement without a single option for recourse.

Every step carried him searchingly around the archives. Glances went down to the datapad in his hands and back up. Nerves didn't let the face stick in his mind for more than a few moments. Memory was a fickle tool. One head of blonde hair caught his gaze, made him look down at the file he was given. Double take. Same person. Ah, chit, this is it.

"Uhm-" he croaked inarticulately. Eyes darted down to check the pad again. Despite his rolling baritone, meek timidity resonated as he asked "You're Aer- Knight Lashiec?"

 

[Aeris Lashiec]

Saan'an Gaelor

There was no getting used to the role as ‘Consular’ in the Circle, or so it felt like. When she had accepted the seat there had been no illusions as to the challenges that such a position would entail, but then Aeris also had no real expectations of it either. It had just sort of been dropped in her lap, and she took the stick that she had been handed and ran with it. One moment she was in a discussion about how to further the cause, the next she was sorting out late returns or at worst seeking them out.

Lucky for her, this was one of the few days she had in which there was a possibility for her to just sit down and catch up on her books again. How many days had it been since she bookmarked that one visually tantalizing scene, again? It felt like weeks. All she had to do now was wrap up this one section, one final row of shelves, before she could go back to what she did best.

And then, a voice. Aeris shoulders tensed for a moment as she held back the curse on her lips.

The voice was deep-ish, yet soft. Unfamiliar. Newcomer? She turned around with a wide smile and looked at the man who had approached her. Not someone she was all too familiar with. Might have seen them around, but given how books were easier to read than people were…

No, he was definitely intending to speak to her. Aeris slowly nodded at Saan’an before she continued to stuff the shelf. The weekend, short as it would be, was just around the corner now.

“That is me.” She said and began to put the books into place along the bottom shelves. “Although, I think the other librarians are more able to help you at the moment. I am a bit indisposed.”

 

[Saan'an Gaelor]

Saan'an tried to hold back his wince. Success was an almost. Aeris didn't look like a saber jock. Wasn't a geezer either. Couldn't have been more than, four, five, maybe six years older than himself? So far nothing seemed like a disaster waiting to happen. Would it last?

"Oh, I don't need help. I'm- uh-" Saan'an shook his head, forcing some confidence into brain. "Saan'an. Padawan Saan'an." Offering out the datapad, he presented the documents front and center. It wouldn't take much inspection to figure out what it all meant.

"Council mandate sometimes dictates pupils by assignment," he explained. Though, she probably already knew that, didn't she? Fluffing up the impact of revealing that he's her problem now. "I thought the meeting would be arranged but they left it up to me to figure it out."

Just spit it out.

"So, according to this council directive, I'm your Padawan learner effective today."

Too forthright? How else was he supposed to drop that on an unwitting librarian?

 

[Aeris Lashiec]

Saan'an Gaelor

Not here to help? Aeris stopped for a second to try and figure why he was even here then. No books, at least none that she could recall which were in need of returns. As he went on about the mandate that she very well had voted on, Aeris held back yet another sigh as she pushed against her knee to stand back up again. Her eyes met with the other man’s with a raised brow that was soon joined by the other.

Rewind that for a moment, did he just say…

Her hand tore the pad from the hands of Saan’an as she proceeded to mull over the details. Sure enough , her face was right there, the sign off from the council was right there, and more importantly it had a planned out standard set of coursework and reading, dictated by Aeris herself, right there as well.

How the hell did this happen and why was she not informed? Her brows furrowed for a moment as the promised weekend seemed to shift ever so further away from her by the second. Who the hell even signed this?

Auteme.

Wait, no, that wasn’t…

“That was what she wanted to tell me.” Aeris groaned and dragged her hand across her forehead. “The whole… Yeah, okay, that makes—”

She stopped and readjusted her robe, tucked the hair back behind her ears and made herself just a little bit more approachable as that old smile of hers crawled across her lips again, from one cheek to the other.

“Hello, Padawan Gaelor,” She said and started again. “I am Knight Aeris Lashiec, your new master and the chief archivist of the New Jedi Order.”

Her hand extended. “It is a pleasure to meet you.”

 

[Saan'an Gaelor]

That went well, I think.

Obliging, Saan'an grasped the offered hand and politely, gently shook in return. A cursory bend of his hips added a bow to the pleasantries. "Likewise, Master." Passing the initial drop and introduction coupled with Aeris' efforts toward the affable settled prefatory nerves to a manageable level.

Did she say Chief Archivist?

Relief. Excitement, even. For a moment, Saan'an felt guilty for having ever doubted the Council's Judgement. No more worrying about misplaced expectations. At least, for the most part. Despite spending so much time in the corner of the temple, Aeris was little more than a vaguely familiar face turned mandatory mentor. They had passed by one another, maybe, but until now they'd never met.

Hard to know exactly what to expect from someone you didn't know. First impression and occupational title did make it all look promising, though.

"I'm sensing you may have missed or misunderstood a notice about this? I apologize for my precipitousness, I wasn't given any other tasks for today. Hopefully this interruption isn't impeding your current duties?"

 

[Aeris Lashiec]

Saan'an Gaelor

Master.

The word echoed through and across the entirety of her mind with equal parts terror and joy. She herself had known the joy of having a master, or several, spread across short periods of time in recent history. To now be one of these masters, to be responsible for someone’s education on a more personal level beyond just staring at a spreadsheet and determining which fables taught younglings good morals…

“Oh, yes.” Aeris nodded as she snapped herself out of her daydream. With her hand extended towards the small trolley of books she motioned for Saan'an to give her the book that laid resting at the very top. “That this happens now might as well be for the best. After all, it has been a few hectic days. Between the Perl Investigation, the people returning from the frontlines, and books getting lost... “

Her head shook and she let that finish the sentence for her.

“If you didn’t know how to sort and rearrange libraries before, I will make short work of that.” Aeris grinned as her teeth bared with a chuckle. There was at the very least some form of mirth and positive spirit in the middle of all the negatives she had listed. “Actually, why don’t you grab that copy of ‘Jedi Treaties from 84ABY to 90ABY’ and put it back in its proper place?”

Call it a test of sorts. A very, very simple one, but as good of a start to their master-apprentice relationship as any other. They would be doing this a lot in the coming days, weeks, months, or maybe even years if the Force and fate itself allowed it.

 

[Saan'an Gaelor]

One at a time, he handed over the first few books that were still in reach after his new Master's initial gesture. The investigation and ongoing conflict were things he was aware of, but far from anything he'd been deemed capable of being involved with directly. Though, from the sounds of it, she probably was with both. Which would likely mean he would as well sooner or later. Only one of those two things scared him.

“If you didn’t know how to sort and rearrange libraries before, I will make short work of that.”

"Aside from the occasional reshelving chore I haven't done much sorting," he admitted. "But I know how the system works." Enough browsing and book borrowing could acclimate anyone to the organization method.

“Actually, why don’t you grab that copy of ‘Jedi Treaties from 84ABY to 90ABY’ and put it back in its proper place?”

Lithe fingers wrapped across the spine of the synthleather tome. Saan'an gave his Master a nod, turned, disappeared around the other side of the shelf she was working. From the small gap of clearance in the shelf, Saan'an could be spotted slotting the book into the proper place without doing so much as double checking.

His image disappeared behind the crack, reappearing around the corner he'd turned initially. "I mean no disrespect, Master, but as far as tests go that hardly seemed determinative of anything," he jabbed knowingly. Mock-critisism. A weak, awkward smile beamed volumes of his efforts to overcome the social consternation of their circumstance.

This whole time he'd been trying to forget he was speaking, apprenticing, for a councilor so suddenly. Given the fact that she hadn't met him somewhere, his impression that it'd been a decision made separate from her worked wonders in pretending her position wasn't as big a deal. Even the Consular of Serenity didn't know everything. However, echoes of his informality made him vividly aware of that reality once again.

His hands got clammy.

"I, Uhm- I know you must have a lot of things to attend to quite regularly, given the occupations you hold." Shoving and slotting books away into their places while he spoke made it easier to keep going. "I imagine any apprentice would have a lot to learn from just one or the other. May I ask what all will be expected of me?"

 

[Aeris Lashiec]

Saan'an Gaelor

To think of all the possibilities that this opened up. Maybe she could establish a book club, get the other Jedi interested in reading to gather and share notes on their favorite authors. The idea had crossed her mind before, and while nothing had stopped her from doing that before either…

Okay, so maybe not. Saan’an was technically ‘just’ her ward, something that was solely her responsibility and privilege to tutor on a more personal level. Whatever extracurriculars that entailed for the student wasn’t exactly up to her beyond encouraging those activities that she herself found to be particularly important.

At least he was polite, as indicated by how he carried himself and spoke to her. The word ‘Master’ grated on her a little, but she imagined that would disappear over time. Force knows she only just made Knight after all.

“I will make room, Saan’an.” Aeris said, her eyebrows rising to truly add some manner of decisiveness to her words. “You are a priority now.”

“As for what I expect, I will be entirely honest with you…” She said, her mouth agape for but a moment before it closed and she began to shake her head. “I am not much of a fighter. I would sooner be in here making sure that all this knowledge is kept safe than I am likely to be out there in the fields getting stabbed for what I believe.”

Controversial to some, but a point that needed to be raised as early as possible.

“I will expect you to learn how to defend yourself, how to maintain a healthy body and a sharp mind, but beyond that I really do not expect much more. I want you to be the best you that you can be, and to faithfully serve as a beacon of what it means to be a Jedi.”

And then it begged the return question, didn’t it?

“... What do you expect of me?”

 

[Saan'an Gaelor]

“I will make room, Saan’an. You are a priority now.”

Don't compromise just for me.

The words wouldn't come out. Assertiveness' never came easy to Saan'an, and certainly not while face to face with a Councilor. His Master. How could anyone make room with that many obligations? Suddenly he began to feel she might eventually find his appointment to her cumbersome.

Violence not exactly being on the charter did soothe those concerns somewhat. Saan'an's biggest fear in apprenticing was being seen as dead weight. He could hold his own here, archiving, studying, researching. However, the same couldn't be said when it came to fighting, killing, and winning. He didn't share his sister's talents for those things.

“... What do you expect of me?”

Saan'an flinched whilst returning another book to the shelf. Aeris hadn't asked him to keep going, but it kept him occupied. Made the introductions easier, while inadvertenly painting Aeris a picture of his eagerness. "I don't know-" Serving the question back to him wasn't a move he'd anticipated. "Truthfully, I was only probing." So he could prepare. So he could stop worrying himself with the possibility of being shipped to some force-forsaken battlefield. "Nothing you haven't already told me, I suppose."

"I won't disappoint you."

 

[Aeris Lashiec]

Saan'an Gaelor

“Not knowing is the first step, I suppose.” Aeris said as her disappointment in the answer showed itself for a little longer than she had hoped. “And you know that it is okay to have your own expectations.”

“I mean, maybe you expect me to teach you how to write better, or how to go hand-to-hand with a pencil-wielding assassin, or just be a good listener when you need one. Your input allows me to give you the direction that you need in order to make it on your own eventually.”

Hopefully that would get Saan’an racing through his thoughts a little to try and think of something. It was the first meeting that the two had so it made sense that he was uncertain for now, but in the end Aeris would need his input too.

“So, how about this,” She said and took one of the books at the top, a worn tome filled with micro-sized biographies of famous Jedi through the ages. “Have a read through this book if you haven’t already, and write down the names of a few Jedi that you feel inspire you or that represent what a Jedi is to you.”

“Once you do that, report back to me and I will put together a plan that lets us both delve into who they were and what they did, and how you can learn to do what they did or are currently doing.”

“Does that sound like a good first test,” Her lips split in a wide grin as if to poke just a little bit of fun at him. “Padawan Saan’an?”

 

[Saan'an Gaelor]

Feeling her dissapointment made him nasueous. "I shouldn't have asked a question I wasn't prepared to have turned to me," he acknowledged. "I apologize."

If it hadn't been so sudden, he might have had a chance to consider. Notice was a luxury in sparse supply as it stood now. Time was too precious.

Saan'an took the tome, turned it over in his hands. Oh yes, it was one he'd read before. Though it had been years, some names still stuck. Markre Medjev, Jocasta Nu, Mander Zuma, among others. Given Aeris's behest, Saan'an would read it over again.

“Does that sound like a good first test, Padawan Saan’an?”

That smile gave it away before the emotional inking did. She was messing with him. A crack formed across the lower hemisphere of his face, lips parting like a reflection. Free hand rubbed his arm with embarrassment, only a small scoff reflecting the shared humor. "Yeah. I- I've already read this, but you're the Master here... I'll give it another go."

 

[Aeris Lashiec]

Saan'an Gaelor

“No need to apologize.” Aeris quickly added with a reassuring smile and sweep of her hand before her as if to clear all the worries from a big table. Was it social anxiety, perhaps? A desire to please people around him? While it wasn’t necessarily a weakness in character it was most certainly something that — if left unchecked — could prove counterproductive for him. With this in mind Aeris quickly squared away a few exercises for him to undertake. Topics to add to the new routine she would have to set up for him. All she needed was to find some way to add more fuel to that confidence.

“Good.” Aeris responded and glanced at the other books in the pile. There was a tome at the top, a potentially very stupid choice, but one that she felt inclined to make. Lying at the top of the pile now was a list of fallen jedi and what had caused them to fall to the allure of the darkness. Aeris held it in her hands and gave the book a lookover before she glanced up at Saan’an again and then the book.

Maybe now was not quite the time. As good as it was to understand the why of the dark in order to help not fall prey to it, such a lesson wasn’t really something you brought up on the first meeting with a new student.

… Though maybe in the realm of third or fourth meeting. They had some time to figure this out together.

“Say,” Aeris said and put the book down. “Given who I am, and what you and I will be doing I also want you to pick up at least three more books from the library, books of your choice, on other topics that you might enjoy.”

“Call it a memory exercise. If, or when, the Order collapses it will fall upon people like you and me to remember what is essential information, where to locate it, and why.”

 

[Saan'an Gaelor]

Saan'an raised an inquisitive brow toward his teacher. "Any three?" he asked. Shouldn't a memory exercise of such import focus on that essential knowledge to begin with? Maybe, but Aeris was the teacher here, so it would be out of turn to try and 'correct' a method. Scratching at the back of his neck indicated he might have had a reservation or two.

Nevertheless, he chose three books as instructed. Among 'any topics' he might enjoy included; One on linguistics, another on spaceborne organisms, and a final book on Epochian history and culture. Saan'an showed them, named them, and shoved them under his arm. "Memory exercise," he echoed curiously. "You'll expect me to recite the key points of these from memory?" came his inquiry.

"Or will you quiz me on the details?"

 

[Aeris Lashiec]

"Well, I said call it a memory exercise, Saan'an. That does not actually make it one." Aeris grinned as she looked at the choices he made. "Language, biology, and history." Was that a proud smile that took her grin's place? "Excellent choices!"

"Annnd, no. I will not. This is me giving you something to do while I set up the actual quizzes and trials and what-nots."

"Actually, how about you get started on your reading and I will give you a call once I have something in place. Does that sound good?"

Saan'an Gaelor