Private The Little Padawan Who Could

[Thelma Goth]

Jedi Council Chamber, Coruscant

"Padawan Thelma Goth?"

Feeling as small as a mouse, Thelma craned her neck to look up into the faces of the Jedi Council. "That's me. Why have I been summoned, masters?"

"You have been assigned to Master Kahlil Noble."

Thelma fiddled with the folds of her robes. She was still smarting over the rejection of Amani Serys , and didn't know how she felt about being assigned a new master. She supposed it was necessary... But after hearing the name of her new teacher, her brow furrowed. "Um... Isn't he dead?"

"No. Well... It is a complicated situation. I am certain that Master Noble will fill you in on the details."

The Jedi Masters all collectively turned in the direction of the entrance. Thelma followed their gazes, and saw the not-so-late Kahlil Noble standing in the doorway. She waved shyly to him.

"Hi."

Kahlil Noble​

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"Hey."

Kahlil offered just the smallest of a wave before motioning for her to follow after him. The council had already told them both the assignment. "Lets go get you situated and such. No point in hanging around here." The other masters shrugged indifferently. If it meant Thelma would have a master, why not. He pushed off the doorway and turned to walk out, arms crossed over his chest.

"So, we'll start with what you know and what you've learned. Saber skills, Force, life lessons. Whatever you can think of."

Thelma Goth

 

[Thelma Goth]

Thelma hesitated, looking around, expecting something more. But when nobody said or did anything else, she quickly ran after Kahlil.

Since he didn’t phrase his words as a question, Thelma didn’t realize he had made a request until she had a chance to process what he’d said. “Oh! Um...” Being asked to condense several years of training was quite the tall order.

“I started training when I was three. I think… Uh, my master was Maxim Koschei.” The name was on record as a member of another, smaller Jedi Order. One that had since been wiped out, its members presumed dead. “He taught me the basics. Meditation, channeling the Force, telekinesis, telepathy, lightsaber training…”

Kahlil Noble​

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"Basics. Alright. Who taught you to sew?"

He paused outside one of the training rooms, just before the door opened and a pair of Knights came wandering out, laughing to each other. He just smiled softly to them, dipping his head in greeting. Then walked past the room entirely. They weren't going to start training immediately. They weren't Sith. Instead he led the way to the cafe.

"What's your favorite kind of coffee? Unless you're not a coffee drinker. I'm partial to sweets myself."

Thelma Goth

 

[Thelma Goth]

“The village elders.” The Citadel had been like a little village within its fortified walls. She scratched her head, wondering how he already knew so much about her. Wait… hadn’t he been Silas’ master? The thought of Silas telling other people about her brought a blush to her face, which she tried to hide by covering her cheeks with her hands.

She followed Kahlil into the cafe. The sight and smell of food turned her stomach, but she supposed she had better eat while she could. “Sweets,” she mumbled. Sweets were just about the only food she genuinely liked. Especially chocolate.

“So, how come you’re alive now? What happened there?”

Kahlil Noble​

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"The Force is not all powerful. Some things have a cost. Mine was my freedom. I thought it meant my death, but turns out I'm not actually dead. Valery found a way to free me." That was about as much as he was willing to share. Or, rather, as much as he could. An odd sensation in the back of his head kept him from really being able to talk specifically about it all. Two sweet drinks, mocha, hot chocolate, whichever Thelma preferred, later and they were seated by the window to watch the Jedi outside. Each going about their daily lives. He sat down comfortably, sipping from his cup.

"How do you handle your thirst?"

Thelma Goth

 

[Thelma Goth]

Uh…” Thelma’s brow furrowed as she tried to comprehend his words. “... ‘kay.”

Thelma ordered milk and a cookie, which she proceeded to eat with relish. She wiped the inevitable milk mustache from her upper lip before answering, “I drink stuff?”

Kahlil Noble​

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"Mm. Makes about as much sense saying it as going through it."

He chuckled. Shrugged. Ultimately didn't matter. What did? He took another slow drink, his gaze still focused outside the cafe. Then looked back to Thelma. Speaking just loud enough for only her to hear.

"Like Silas?"

Thelma Goth

 

[Thelma Goth]

Thelma’s eyes widened. Since she didn’t call it a thirst, she thought Kahlil had been asking some kind of weird philosophical Jedi question. But he wasn’t. He was asking about her hunger.

“How…” she began, then stopped. Silas must have told him, even though he promised he wouldn’t. He’d broken her trust. Oh, no, no, no…

Slowly her head drooped like a wilting flower, her long hair falling forward like a dark curtain round her face as she began to cry.

Kahlil Noble​

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Wait what.

Kahlil blinked slowly as she just.. Cried. Of all things she just started to cry. The Jedi Master watched for a couple seconds before setting down his cup and letting out a nervous sort of sound.

"Wo, hey. I'm not- You're not in trouble. It's okay. I just- There's no reason to cry."

Thelma Goth

 

[Thelma Goth]

“But Silas—he told you, didn’t he?” Thelma sobbed. She was a little bit relieved to hear she wasn’t in trouble, but the notion that Silas must’ve spilled the beans still stung. She picked up a napkin and used it to blow her nose.

“Nobody else is supposed to know about that,” she sniffed. “What I am, what I did… It’s a secret. If people find out—”

Kahlil Noble​

 

[Kahlil Noble]

".. Ohh. No, he didn't tell me. I saw it. I wasn't allowed to speak with him, but I checked in when I could. And uh- Yeah."

He cleared his throat before taking another sip of his hot chocolate.

".. Anyway. I figured you'd want to keep it secret. Which is why we're here and not in some stuffy training room. You don't have to talk to me about it, and I won't tell anyone. You're not trapped. But you're not alone either. It's part of the reason I requested you to be assigned to me."

Thelma Goth

 

[Thelma Goth]

“Oh.” Kahlil had seen her feed from Silas? Did that mean he had also watched them kiss? Her cheeks flamed red.

“You requested to be my master because you knew?” That… was actually rather kind of him. Smart, too. And it certainly was to her benefit. Amani had rejected her because she didn’t know why Thelma grew so weak trying to heal others, and Thelma couldn’t tell her the truth.

This was all working out rather well. Thelma dabbed at her eyes, wiping away the last of her tears, then nodded. “Okay, master.”

Kahlil Noble​

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Oh she stopped crying. He bit back a sigh of relief and instead just gave her a smile. Whatever he saw he wasn't going to talk about. It wasn't really his business. And if it didn't actually hurt anyone like it had with Silas, he'd never think on it again.

But, well. There was the danger. He kept the calm smile as best he could.

"So, how do you keep it under control, normally?"

Thelma Goth

 

[Thelma Goth]

“I eat food.” She glanced down at the remaining crumbs from her cookie. “I get some nutrition from it, but not as much as I do when I feed on memories. So I have to eat all the time, or else I start to weaken.”

Restricting her diet like that kept her in a state of near starvation, however. She wore loose, baggy clothing to hide how thin she was compared to her peers.

“It’s a pain, but I manage it… most of the time.” She looked ashamed. “Silas was—We were out in the woods, and we had to fend for ourselves. Food wasn’t readily available for me to snack on and keep my hunger at bay…”

Kahlil Noble​

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"Memories? Well, that's a bit harder to satiate. But if food gives you nutrition, we could find something that's more.. Substantial than cookies." That would be a problem if it didn't work. Eating memories was.. Depended honestly on how much she'd need to live. Not just survive. He didn't want to just help her survive. Kahlil let out a sigh, sipping at his drink again as he watched her. Frowned for a moment.

"You don't have to explain yourself to me, Thelma. I understand. We'll figure something out so that doesn't happen again."

Thelma Goth

 

[Thelma Goth]

“Does this mean you’ll buy me lunch?” she asked, collecting all the crumbs on her finger and then licking them off.

“Okay.” She took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh. “I like Silas,” she murmured sadly. “I feel really bad about what happened. I tried not to eat anything too important.”

Kahlil Noble​

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"Well you like sweets, and I happen to also like sweets. So yeah, I can get you lunch." He snickered at that. Lunch, dinner, breakfast. Second breakfast if she needed it. Whatever she needed at this point.

"All the more reason to figure this out, right? How much do you think you need to eat in a day? How many memories would you normally need to eat?"

Thelma Goth

 

[Thelma Goth]

“Nice.”

She shrugged. “If it’s a strong, vivid memory, I could survive on it for a week without needing to feed again. A less strong memory lasts a few days. Animal memories last a few hours… Food is different.” She rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. Never before had she ever discussed this with an outsider. “I have to eat like… twelve meals per day, if I’m surviving on food exclusively.”

Kahlil Noble​

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Oh, so the memory itself mattered? He sighed a little, but nodded regardless.

"So what if say, someone took an hour of their day to just do something specifically for you to eat that memory. How would that work?" Now he was just spitballing ideas. He didn't know how most of it really worked, but if it helped, well, why not?

".. Oh that's all? Yeah, we could swing that. Actually, why didn't you make a request for more meals?"

Thelma Goth