Private The Dog Goes Woof

[R'Ruug]

Jedi Temple, Courtyard
Coruscant
​

//D-Ding~! Correct! The Jerba goes 'moo'!//

R'Ruug smiled, his large frame hunched over a datapad. The screen displayed a happy little animated convor, giving him a thumbs up. The Whiphid was quick to tap his claws against the screen, pressing the large green button to go to the next lesson. A picture of some kind of canine predator species appeared on the screen, along with a series of aurabesh letters. The convor gestured to it with a wing/hand.

//What does the dog go?//

R'Ruug blinked, his smile fading. "I... do not know what the dog goes," he said out loud, peering at the screen a little closer. He was mostly guessing at spelling, at this point. But he was getting a good grasp of what calls different animals made. Chick goes cheep. Nerf goes bleh. But he'd never heard of a 'dog' before.

He stood slowly from his resting position, looking around the courtyard. He'd been in the temple only a day, had been shown his quarters, given a datapad to work on his Basic, and told someone would be here today to help him get situated. Which was good, because he had a lot of questions.

Who was going to tell him what to do? What was his routine? Where was he supposed to work?

What does the dog go?

- Tenn Kalos -

 

[Tenn Kalos]

"Uh… What?" A voice said from behind. Tenn had just arrived, staring curiously at the hirsute boy in front of him. He had assumed R'Ruug was saying something about Shep, the char hound that was standing right next to Tenn. As soon as the Whiphid turned to face them, Shep would immediately begin to sniff away, pacing excitedly around his legs.

"S-sorry," Tenn reached down and tugged at Ship's scruff to get him out of R'Ruug's personal space, "He just likes new people." Tenn was bit more reserved than his hound though. Not that he had a reason to be immediately off-put by this newcomer. Sure he was a bit odd looking (Tenn had never seen a Whiphid before), but he had an unassuming demeanor, in spite of his beastly face and towering stature.

"Oh, right, I'm Tenn. Kalos. This is Shep." He struggled with the greeting. First he raised a hand as if to wave, then put it down half way to outstretch it for a shake. Then he remembered he was a Jedi, tucked it away again, and went for a stiff half-bow. There was a barely-audible groan from Tenn as he stood back up, "You're the new guy right?" Rather atypically for Tenn, he of all people had been selected to help his new fellow padawan learn his way around the temple. Apparently his superiors had decided he was Jedi enough to handle that responsibility now.

R'Ruug​

 

[R'Ruug]

"Oh! OH!"

R'Ruug looked between his datapad and the charhound a few times, pointing at Shep with a sharp claw. "DOG!" He practically barked the word, too excited to make any kind of intelligent sentence. There was no thinking, as the new Jedi took a knee, and offered a Force connection to the beast, his own unabashed enthusiasm mirroring the fiery animal's. Immediately, the questions began streaming from his mind. What do you like to eat? Where do you sleep? What do you go??

But too soon, the pup was reigned in, and R'Ruug diverted his attention to the person talking to him. Standing up again, R'Ruug returned the boy's awkward bow, obviously a little cowed by his own reaction to Tenn's animal companion. "Uh... sorry. My name is R'Ruug. It is good to meet you, Mr. Kalos. I just arrived... yesterday." It had taken him a second to remember his manners.

...

He couldn't keep it in any longer.

"What does your dog go?" After a moment of letting that question hang in the air, R'Ruug flipped his datapad for Tenn to see the children's spelling game on display.

- Tenn Kalos -

 

[Tenn Kalos]

Tenn's neck craned back, his face scrunched up confusedly. What was this guys ideal exactly?

"DOG!"

He looked down at Shep, "Oh. Uh, yeah. He's a dog. Charhound, technically." A shrug. R'Ruug was clearly excited to interact with Shep, and Tenn noticed a flicker of the Force suddenly spark between them. Before he could bring it up, the link dissipated and Shep returned to Tenn's side. The Whipped now introduced himself properly. "Good to meet you," Tenn offered cordially, putting their peculiar first interaction behind them.

Then there was an awkard pause. Tenn had been sent to help R'Ruug, but this wasn't exactly his forte. He didn't know where to start, and it was R'Ruug that broke the silence first, with a strange question. "Huh?" He flipped over the datapad, revealing a children's spelling game. Suddenly everything made a lot more sense. In way, Tenn could find some common ground with a padawan that didn't speak fluent Basic. Sure, Tenn could, but he didn't really like talking to begin with. The physical cues he had become so accustomed to reading as a Lorrdian spoke more clearly to him than any verbal language.

"Um… woof?" Tenn looked down at Shep as if to confirm it from an expert. Shep, on cue, woofed.

R'Ruug​

 

[R'Ruug]

"Charhound," R'Ruug repeated, his lips moving a little after saying the word as he committed it to memory. Charhound, charhound, charhound...

"Um… woof?"

R'Ruug looked to Shep at the same time Tenn did for his confirmation, before flipping his datapad back over, and holding it close to his face. "Woof... W-, w-..." With slow movements, the new Jedi's claws tapped on the screen, until he'd made the word 'VOV'. The convor cawed a negative at him. R'Ruug frowned, but put down his device regardless. "Thank you. I will work on it... later." And by work on it, he did mean randomly mash the small set of predetermined letters together until he got them in the right order.

He was pretty sure the 'O' was correct. Pretty sure.

"Um... I am waiting for someone to show me the temple...?" He didn't voice the obvious question.

- Tenn Kalos -

 

[Tenn Kalos]

'VOV'.

Tenn just scratched the back of his head and shrugged. The game didn't accept R'Ruug's answer, but he opted to just figure it out later, "Sure…" Tenn probably could have just told him, but maybe the Whiphid just wanted to get it right himself.

"Um... I am waiting for someone to show me the temple...?"

Oh. Right. "I'm pretty sure that's supposed to be me," Tenn replied sheepishly lightly smacking his temple as if reminding himself. "Well, my name is Tenn— but I guess I already told you that— Uh, I could walk you around some of the important places? Could start with your dorm." Did this guy even know what he was talking about? "You're ah, bedroom. Er, have you already been to your room?" Tenn pointed towards the residential wing of the Temple, realizing R'Ruug said he arrived yesterday. "If so I guess we could start with the great hall and... work our way in?" Shep was already trotting in place, ready to go.

R'Ruug​

 

[R'Ruug]

The Whiphid shook his head up and down sagely, his mane of golden hair waving slightly in the courtyard's breeze. "That is you. Good." He had already put away his game, after all. For him to continue to pass the time with spelling, he'd have to remember how to turn the device back on.

Then, Tenn started talking about... dorm? R'Ruug was about to comment saying that he didn't know what a dorm was, and when he would be given his, before the Padawan clarified. Recognition lit the taller boy's eyes, and his head bobbing renewed. "Yes. I have been in my room." He'd always shared the barn with the Jerbas, back on the ranch. Having a room all by himself was much quieter.

Too quiet. R'Ruug hadn't gotten the most restful sleep. Both due to the solitude, and the events leading up to his stay at the temple.

"Um... Yes? We can start with that." Tenn was the guide, after all.

Shep seemed excited, at least. R'Ruug smiled wide down at the charhound, then nodded one last time to Tenn. He was ready.

- Tenn Kalos -

 

[Tenn Kalos]

"Oh, ok. Cool," Damn. That would have been an easy thing to start with. Oh well, Tenn would simply have to do his best describing everything else. Shouldn't be too hard, right? "Well, let's uh, go, then," He sheepishly smiled and gestured back towards the temple.

The first stop was easy enough to explain at least, and it led to many other parts of the temple. Tenn distinctly remembered the awe he felt seeing this massive hall for the first time. He was used to the monolithic cityscapes of Coruscant, but to see a single room take up so much space and opulence had baffled him the first time, "Here's the great hall. Pretty big right?" He asked, seeing if it would elicit a similar reaction from the Whiphid.

"This is the canteen. It's where they give us food," Tenn grinned a little as he explained their next stop. When he first arrived, he thought it was a dream. People giving out food for free? He was certain there had to be some kind of catch. There technically was: joining the Order. But that was a net positive in his eyes, "It's pretty good." Perhaps he was biased, but it was certainly better than the scraps he ate on the street.

"And this is one of the classrooms. It's where the masters teach us about… stuff," Tenn shrugged, "Lots of different stuff." They were stopped outside of one of these rooms. Padawans were gathered in a small amphitheater shaped room, and in front of them, a Jedi was explaining something about the galaxy on a holoprojector. "You ever been to a school before?" Tenn asked. He hadn't, until he came to the Jedi.

R'Ruug​

 

[R'Ruug]

"Okay. I will follow you." The Whiphid lingered a step behind the smaller Padawan, shortening his stride so as not to step on the other's heels. He felt a little out of his depth. He'd never really been away from the farm, except to drive the Jerba to market. And even then, being in a place with that many strangers had been off-putting. This was... that, but worse. Far worse.

Though R'Ruug forgot about the feeling when they walked into the great hall. At first, he didn't quite realize where he was, before it was pointed out to him. He looked up, then up, then up... There was a ceiling up there. "This is... not outside?" He didn't quite believe his eyes. "Very big."

The smell of delicious food betrayed their next location. A market!

"This is the canteen."

A canteen!

R'Ruug grew a big smile. "It is good." He probably wouldn't be able to afford whatever smelled like that, but Tenn said they gave the padawans food. Maybe he could ask for the things that have expired?

Finally, they went to the training areas, stopping at a class in session. R'Ruug peered over Tenn's head to watch the lesson, entirely lost as to why they were staring at a ball surrounded by little light flickers. "School is... where you go to learn numbers and letters." There was just enough of a question in his voice to show he wasn't entirely sure. "No. I did not have time." Then, R'Ruug remembered one of his most pressing questions. He looked around, as if expecting to see a ranch in the middle of the temple.

"Um... Where do we work, Mr. Kalos?"

- Tenn Kalos -

 

[Tenn Kalos]

R'Ruug seemed impressed by the sights, which made Tenn grin, as if he himself were showing off. Perhaps he had grown to identify himself with the Jedi Order more than he let on. At the classroom, the Whiphid seemed a bit more curious. "Uh… yeah. Basically. They teach other stuff here too. Like fighting," Tenn shadow boxed a few swings to represent. "Me neither. There… wasn't one where I lived."

"Um... Where do we work, Mr. Kalos?"

Tenn was about to move on, then stopped in his tracks, "…Work?" He scratched his head and looked around, "Uh, we work lots of places I guess. Sometimes we do work around the temple. Sometimes we go to other planets to do work." He wasn't sure if that's what the Whiphid was looking for, but it was about the best he could give him, "What kind of work?"

R'Ruug​

 

[R'Ruug]

"Me neither. There… wasn't one where I lived."

R'Ruug turned his head to the side, studying the little humanoid in a new light. He didn't go to school either? But he seemed so... smart.

"What kind of work?"

"Umm..." The farmhand seemed confused by the confusion. "Work. Lifting heavy things. Helping. So I can stay." Maybe they wouldn't pay him. That was okay. As long as he made himself useful, they would let him live here, right? "I cannot do numbers or letters. But I am a good worker. And I like animals. So... what can I do?"

- Tenn Kalos -

 

[Tenn Kalos]

Tenn gave R'Ruug a quizzical look, "So you can stay?" This guy seemed to have a misunderstanding as to how the Order operated still. He waved a hand dismissively, "They aren't going to kick you out. Just uh, train and… help out I guess?" He was realizing that he wasn't exactly good at explaining it himself either. So he focused on specifics.

"Animals… I'm pretty sure there's Jedi who can teach you about animals. Force powers that help you like… interact with them," That didn't sound so bad, actually. Why hadn't Tenn thought of learning that stuff before. He had an innate connection with Shep as is. "What did you do before all this?"

R'Ruug​

 

[R'Ruug]

Maybe Tenn didn't understand?

"The Jedi will not keep me if I do not do well." R'Ruug countered, a simple, sad surety to his words. "I have nowhere else to go, I... cannot take chances."

The Whiphid knew he had trouble learning. If he couldn't be a Jedi... maybe he could prove to be a servant.

The fellow Padawan's continued thoughts made R'Ruug smile a little. "I heard. I want to learn all about animals. And we already have our secret language." He turned down to Shep, once again reaching out with his feelings, and offering warmth and thanks for the tour.

"What did you do before all this?"

"I was a farmhand," he said, after a moment. "I looked after Jerbas. Then Miss Noble came to save the ranch, and the buildings were destroyed, and the herd was gone, and I decided to leave with Miss Noble, and Mr. Olivant got mad... So now I am here."

That was yesterday.

"Are you from a farm, too, Mr. Kalos?"

- Tenn Kalos -

 

[Tenn Kalos]

"Who told you that?" Tenn asked confusedly, "I mean sure maybe if you did something like… really illegal or evil, then maybe they'd kick you out. But— I don't think you have to worry about that." Was there something specific about R'Ruug's admittance here? Or was it just another example of miscommunication? The boundaries of spoken word were already testing them both.

"I heard. I want to learn all about animals. And we already have our secret language."

"…You do?" The Whiphid seemed to have a similar connection as Tenn, albeit without the history that obviously bonded Shep and his master. Perhaps there was more to be learned on this facet that he realized. R'Ruug explained his history in brief terms, explaining what brought him under the wing of the Order. "…I see…" Tenn replied, not entirely seeing. The question was then put back on him, and the padawan blinked, "Oh… no. I lived in the Undercity— Ah, way, way under ground from here. On the streets with Shep. And before that I lived as a… slave," He looked expectantly at R'Ruug, to see if he understood any of what Tenn was referring to.

R'Ruug​

 

[R'Ruug]

"If I cannot be a Jedi... They will not let me be a Jedi." R'Ruug frowned. What didn't Tenn understand? It was simple enough to him. Olivant wouldn't have kept him around if he wasn't a good worker. "If I fail... why would they keep me?"

That was how the galaxy worked.

"Mhm!" R'Ruug nodded emphatically as Tenn questioned his abilities, his mane bobbing up and down. "It is how I know you and Shep are good friends."

"Oh… no. I lived in the Undercity— Ah, way, way under ground from here. On the streets with Shep. And before that I lived as a… slave,"

A brief look of confusion crossed the Whiphid's face at the idea of underground streets, but the mention of slavery brought a new expression to him. Pain. "A slave is when someone is... forced to work. For no pay." Again, there was that question in his voice, as if he were prepared to be wrong. "I am glad you are no longer a slave, Mr. Kalos. If Mr. Olivant had not bought me, I would have been a slave, too."

"When did you meet Shep?"

- Tenn Kalos -

 

[Tenn Kalos]

"Oh, well… You won't fail," Tenn tried to assure R'Ruug, "It's pretty hard to fail. The Jedi want to help you here." Even worst case scenario he didn't do well in his training, he'd just get recommended for the Service Corps right? And that was still good work.

"How'd you learn to do that?" Tenn asked, kneeling down to give Shep a few scratches. Had it just come naturally to R'Ruug, the same as it had for Tenn? There was a time in Tenn's life where he almost assumed that was the norm. He didn't get to interact with many animals per se in his youth, but he made fast friends with any critters he found. It was only after some time with Shep and the other street urchins, that he realized their connection was distinct. And it was only now, with the Jedi, that Tenn was realizing there could be something even deeper beneath it all.

"A slave is when someone is... forced to work. For no pay."

"Right," Tenn answered, scratching his head. "Thanks man. I'm— glad you're not a slave too." Awkward, but meaningful. Thoughts of meeting Shep were a bit more pleasant, "I found him on the streets too. We actually started by fighting each other for a scrap of leftover food in the dumpster," He chuckled now at the thought, but back then he was so desperate for food he was willing to be maimed by an animal for it, "I was able to get away from him with the food, but when I saw how sad and hungry he was too, I offered to share it. We've been buddies ever since."

There was a pause, before Tenn asked, "You were… bought by Mr. Olivant? Why? Did he pay you?" R'Ruug said he hadn't been a slave, but the circumstances behind his life situation didn't exactly sound ethically above board either.

R'Ruug​

 

[R'Ruug]

R'Ruug just pursed his lips, and nodded. He barely understood anything that was happening. What chance did he have long term?

No one had ever asked him the specifics of his language before. Usually, they laughed and shook their heads at him. R'Ruug paused to think a moment. "I... cannot speak good from here." One clawed finger pointed to his head. Then it traced down to his heart. "So I spoke with this. And that is how they speak, too."

"I thought that was how you two already talked."

R'Ruug listened attentively as Tenn recounted how he met Shep, a chuckle bubbling up from the Whiphid's throat. "You were very kind to him, when it was smart not to be. I see why Shep likes you."

"You were… bought by Mr. Olivant? Why? Did he pay you?"

"Of course. Mr. Olivant saved me from animal-thieves." R'Ruug frowned. He still couldn't remember the name for that. "He paid me enough for everything I needed. Clothes, food... Even brushes for the Jerbas, sometimes." It was more than generous.

- Tenn Kalos -

 

[Tenn Kalos]

Tenn nodded with understanding, "Me too." R'Ruug had described it in a way that was familiar to him, that he'd never really bothered to try and describe aloud himself. "It is," The boy clarified with a chuckle, and reached down to give Shep a few more pets.

"Of course. Mr. Olivant saved me from animal-thieves."

Animal thieves? Something about the descriptor gave Tenn pause. Was it implying what he thought it was implying, "…Why did the animal-thieves take you?" And Olivant saved him by… buying him? Sounded like a transaction, not a rescue. "Was Mr. Olivant ever mean to you? Hurtful?"

R'Ruug​

 

[R'Ruug]

"…Why did the animal-thieves take you?"

"I do not know what they were thinking. I was young." Too young to remember much of the event, though he understood what had happened from Olivant's recountings.

He barely knew what people were thinking around him today.

Of course, R'Ruug wanted to answer in the negative when Tenn asked him if Mr. Olivant was mean. But then, he reconsidered. Yesterday had opened his eyes, at least a little. "He is not... nice. His sons are worse. They call me names, and they used to throw things at me, but they stopped doing that when I got bigger."

"But... he was not mean. Not until I tried to leave, yesterday. Then he was very mean." R'Ruug's eyes gravitated back to the classroom. Back to the lesson. There was fear in those golden eyes.

"How... hard is it? To be a Jedi?"

- Tenn Kalos -

 

[Tenn Kalos]

"It… sounds kinda like slavery, R'Ruug," Tenn admitted. There was just too much that rang familiar to him. And even if it wasn't slavery… it was close enough to be a problem. R'Ruug insisted his master wasn't explicitly mean, not until the end. But his sons had bullied him, at least until the Whiphid grew too big and intimidating to risk their behavior. Figures. "What did he do?" Tenn asked.

They both turned their gaze back to the classroom for a long quiet pause. Then R'Ruug spoke again, his concerned visible to Tenn. The padawan's expression furrowed, and he formulated his answer for a few moments before he could answer, "That's… difficult to explain." He scratched his head, "Some of it is hard. But it's… easy to stay a Jedi. If that makes sense."

"I-it's more like a school than a job. The Jedi are here to teach you. Not get rid of you."

R'Ruug​