Private The Unfortunately Lucky illiterate

[L'yoom Ka]

The Unfortunately Lucky illiterate
with Auteme


Sometime during the Jedi Academy...
​

Students were seated in a circle around the classroom. The room was without a noise. The teacher moved from desk to desk, inspecting the writing of each student one by one. L’yoom Ka, had yet again… written very little. Her eyes would peer to the scroll of paper, hand shaking with a firm grip on her feathered pen. Every so often her eyes would glance up to watch the Teachers next movement, slowly but surely making her way around to each table. She was opposite of her now, inspecting a paper away from her. L’yoom looked down in hopes that she would have written anything more, but it was futile-- There was no improvement. It was over.

At that moment, a hand swiped the paper away from before her. She looked to the side, eyeing another student whose hood was up, their lips silent as they began to scribble down a few words here and there, faster than she could even gather. L’yoom Ka was beginning to panic. The hooded figure shifted slightly to glance up at the teacher and back down to the paper before swiftly sliding it back onto her desk.

She sat there dumbfounded as to what had happened. Her eyes looked over the writing.. Somehow, it looked eerily close to her own writing. It was not pretty, but it worked enough to be legible… The Togruta looked over to them as they stared down at their own paper, arms crossed on the table, waiting. She could not speak, as doing so would be considered cheating.

So she stayed silent.

A few years later…​

The Padawan was asked to remain in Coruscant to work on her studies. It had come to her Master’s attention that L’yoom had been impatient in their studies, having missed valuable lessons that were critical to her Jedi training. She agreed and was now placed in a hold at the Jedi Temple. Her combat skills were in a stable course, but her education had been neglected in many ways. As such, L’yoom Ka was mostly found in the archives or somewhere nearby to focus on what she could… Today, she was having a difficult time coming to the reality that she still, to this day-- could not read.

“They were so focused on what you could do, they didn’t think to ask what you couldn’t do.” As Master Aurik had put it, L’yoom muttered to herself as she stood before a bulletin board.

There was always these things posted on this bulletin board, but she never noticed that they had any important information at all. Apparently this is how other students knew where their classrooms were. Traditionally, L’yoom had just been walking into rooms until she found the right one. The girl had been standing there for a very… very long time. If looked upon closely, could be seen trying to mouth the sound of letters and make words. It certainly was not a flattering sight in the slightest. She was relentless in her pursuit to the Jedi power of reading and writing.

 

[Auteme]

L'yoom Ka ​

"Hey, um, do you need any help?" Auteme tapped the Togruta on the shoulder.

She'd been running errands around the Temple all morning. In part her own studies, but equally preparations for her push for accountability among the Jedi and the Alliance as a whole. As odd as it was, some Senators liked ancient historical context for far more contemporary actions.

It was the second time she'd passed the girl in front of the bulletin board. She recognized her as one of the newest members of the New Jedi Order; an initiate, maybe padawan. She should've introduced herself earlier, but duty called. The work never ended.

Yet it was those short interactions sprinkled throughout her day that made things better.

"If you're looking for a class, I can help you find it," she said. "I'm Auteme, by the way."

 

[L'yoom Ka]

Auteme

L’yoom squeaked from surprise as she turned with a wide eyed gaze toward the girl. She just stared at her for a moment, heart racing as she tried to settle down.

“No! It is good!”

She called aloud, though she looked around and was glad to see not too many people seemed to care. The girl took a deep breath and composed herself as best she could. One thing was certain, the Togruta had an accent, one that seemed a bit at work even still. She cleared her throat and straightened up.

“Auteme. I am called L’Yoom. It is… uh..” She rose up her hand slightly and had several phrases scribbled on each of her fingers. Her eyes very clearly glanced down at it, squinting trying to see the smudged words and make them out. “Good meet!” The girl implored with a dashing toothy grin, proud of her accomplishment.

“I am not in class… Right now. It is not for another time.” *L’yoom just stared at her after that, eyes just wide with a kind of curiosity and innocence. One might wonder how she even ended up here but someone must have thought she could one day be a great Jedi… Right?

“I can not read it.” She finally stated, rather bluntly with a visible drain of the joy she had as she glanced toward the board. “So many new words, it is difficult to say.”

 

[Auteme]

L'yoom Ka
​

Auteme stared at the girl's hand, squinting a moment to make out the smudged words on her skin. The difficulty reading, the middling grammar, the accent- "Are you illiterate?" she blurted out.

Immediately she stepped back in embarrassment. "S-sorry," she squeaked. "I didn't mean to- I mean, that's, that's fine, it's like, super common in parts of the galaxy and cultures, and Togruti- you speak Togruti? It's a great language but it's pretty far from its roots in Basic, and whatever, so it's completely understandable if you didn't learn how to read, and all."

She stopped herself, then took a deep breath. As 'common' as it might be it baffled her that there were people who couldn't read. Given the joy she got reading, it was almost an empty galaxy without that most basic-seeming of skills.

"Sorry. Yeah... um, it's nice to meet you too, L'yoom." She considered finding her a droid with a translator unit, but that was only a temporary fix.

"I know the classes are important, and all, but- big secret, they don't really pay too much attention if you show up. How about you come with me, instead, and I teach you a bit more Basic?"

 

[L'yoom Ka]

L’yoom stared at the girl with eyes widening as she glanced left toward the board, then right toward the others wandering about. She looked back at her. “Partially.” The girl said hesitantly, clearing her throat as she straightened up. Her own Mother was to blame for that. “Mother only focused on the Hunt.” And it was all she knew for much of her life.

“I want to learn. Speaking is one thing. To write and read is another.” She nodded, her big eyes widening as she nodded practically agreeing with everything that Auteme said. Her hands clasped together, allowing her to lean forward a bit as she looked closer at her, like every word was drawing her in more and more.

There was a pause briefly after Auteme reached the end of her thought. “I sit in the archives and stare at the pictures.” She said, confining in the girl. L’yoom nodded again and thought for a moment, glancing back up at her. “Do not learn much from looking. Teach me.”

Auteme

 

[Auteme]

L'yoom Ka
​

Auteme smiled. "Alright then, let's go."

---

However confident she may be in her language skills, Auteme found teaching Basic to be more challenging than ever. How could she teach something so- well, Basic? She understood the theories of how different languages wired the brain differently.

Nonetheless she persevered just as L'yoom did. The Togruta had a genuine interest in learning; though certainly a necessity for the life of a Jedi, Auteme found herself inspired by the padawan.

After around two hours of learning about the Aurebesh (and High Galactic; Auteme preferred that script) she told L'yoom they could take a break. Auteme reached into her bag and produced a platter of fruit. Too fresh to have been stored in the simple fabric satchel, yet she almost forgot to explain -- until she glanced to the Togruta.

"It's, ah- imbued. Stores quite a bit; I like to keep some fresh food inside. Sometimes I'll be, like, deep inside the Archives, and don't want to have to run out to get a meal." She took a few slices of muja fruit, then pushed it towards L'yoom.

"You mentioned your mother -- do you mind if I ask why she chose not to teach you how to read?"

 

[L'yoom Ka]

L'yoom was enamored with the teachings. It was clear she understood some very general idea of basic, but to this extent it was beyond her. The girl happily listened closely and studied every detail and note Auteme gave her. If her increasing knowledge expanded her head, it would be the size of the building at this point. However, this was not the case-- and instead-- Her eyes were almost glazed over from what she had to burrow into her brain. When the break was offered, L'yoom did not hesitate to iterate the phrase

"Yes please"

A sigh of relief came from her as she sat back and recuperated herself, mind swirling with new knowledge. She closed her eyes and relaxed, taking a moment before sniffing the air gently and catching the scent of food. Her eyes widened and that sense of primal need came to her, though she restrained-- simply staring at the food as Auteme explained. When part of it was given to her, she just stared at it-- squinting her eyes before cupping the base with her hand and pulling it up, inspecting it.

With a rather unflattering chomp, she devoured all the slices in one go, munching away as she looked over at Auteme as she asked her a question. Unbeknownst to her, L'yoom actually often ate paper when getting hungry. It was likely due to her dedication to learn her studies, but at the cost of her physical health indeed. It seemed this was very fruitful of a learning day afterall.

"Mother--" She murred, swallowing as she still had her mouth full, "Believed the advanced world weakened the mind, body and soul. Too many convivences." The girl said, licking her lips after at the deliciousness of the fruit. "Thank you." She added.

"The Hunt was all that our tribe knew. Survive." She'd state simply, nodding her head in approval of that idea. "I understood her rational, but in practice.. not sufficient." She'd say softly, frowning. "Was your Mother also traditional?"

Auteme

 

[Auteme]

L'yoom Ka
​

"Well, ah, my-" She paused, collecting her words.

"My mentor- he liked the 'natural' world more. I think I do, too. I like nature, I like getting out and seeing every corner of the galaxy. I like writing with a pencil on paper over typing, even though I do more of the latter." She shrugged. "But technology isn't a bad thing. It's what makes the sentient races so special. Er, dominant, rather. Some people have that drive to keep advancing, keep improving; and that kind of stuff is just part of that.

"Knowledge is power, and- well, not that you should seek power, but I think you should seek knowledge. Being a Jedi is about understanding; having empathy. You just have to keep improving, keep being better so you can keep helping others. As it happens, lots of 'others' are in the advanced galaxy. That's something you might need to face, as you keep growing as a Jedi."