There Is Always Another Secret

[Arage Bao]

Sullust, Jedi Temple
[member="Sera Arren"]

"You have to take on a Padawan, Cole." the Grand Marshal replied sternly. He wasn't looking at him, instead the intense gaze was burning through the stacks of paperwork on the table. It seemed that even Rhen could not escape the clutches of bureaucracy. At this point Cole couldn't show any sympathy, though, considering the elder Jedi was trying to hitch him into yet another plan.

"Master Rhen, with all due respect..."

"To state that and follow it up with another argument seems superfluous to me, Knight Katarn."

There was iron and steel in the voice, and that tipped off Cole... this time around he wouldn't be getting out of this. He rightened himself, posture rigid and no longer slouching just a touch bit, a nod came and went - there was silence for a few more seconds, before the Grand Marshal looked back up. For a moment Cole thought to see something other than intense steel in those eyes, but that moment passed as quickly as it came.

"She is already waiting for you in the training room. Corellian, too. Do good by her, Knight Katarn. That is an order."

Cole bowed and left the room without another word, leaving the old man with his papers.

***​

The Jedi Knight entered the training room. She would have been waiting for a few minutes at worst, as the argument with Rhen hadn't been all that long and the Grand Marshal had been expecting one to begin with... a crafty man, but it was that quality that had made him the leader of the New Jedi Order and not someone else.

"Padawan." Cole would greet her with a nod. There was no longer any resentment or reservedness in his voice. "What is your name?"

 

[Sera Arren]

[member="Cole Katarn"]


"You can do this Sera!" Sera said with a large intake of air. The time had finally come for the young Jedi to be given a master. It is the one of the most important events in a Jedi's journey which most should be happy for. But like so many other padawans all Sera felt was extremely nervous. Sera had not been an initiate for too long nor had she left her homeworld too long ago either so the reality of this next big step was hitting her hard.

She had be instructed to go to the training room by the Grand Marshal to await her newly appointed master. Sera paced for a bit, thoughts rushing through her head like a ship making the jump to hyperspace.

"What if i am not what they expect?", "What if they do not like me?", "What if i disappoint them" were among the many thoughts that were eating away at her.

Sera had not been waiting long, a few minutes maybe which seemed like an eternity to her. Sera was stood in the room staring at the floor whilst nervously fiddling with the long sleeves of her Padawan robes when she heard a voice from behind her. Knowing whose voice it was her eyes widened and she turned around quickly bowing to her master instantly.

"M-master! it's an honor to meet you! my name is Sera Arren." Sera said, staring at the floor as she had not rise from her bow yet.

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Sera Arren"]

Nervous. She radiated it in spades: the entire room was filled with the chalant buzz of anxiety, eagerness and just about any other emotion of hope on the spectrum. All in all par for the course when it came to new padawans, Cole couldn't blame her... being new in a bustling location of activity and action could be overwhelming, taking your first steps towards becoming a full-fledged Jedi was another. Sera Arren, he tried to file it away in his mind. It would be a bit awkward if he forgot the name of his first padawan. Something that the Jedi Knight hoped to avoid having to go through.

"At ease, Padawan Arren." he finally responded after noticing she was still... bowing.

"How long have you been here now?"

Cole took a look around the room, spotting some training equipment already. A few mini-replicas of the ancient Muntuur stones, training sabers a plenty, even a drone that would help her with precognition training - seemed that at the end of the day Rhen had tried to make this as smooth as possible for him.

Suppose that was why he was the Grand Marshal.

 

[Sera Arren]

[member="Cole Katarn"]


On the order of being at ease, Sera quickly rose up to meet her master's gaze. Despite now trying (and failing) to put on a confident face she still fiddled with her sleeves anxiously. The age of her master surprised her a bit however if there is one thing she has learned at the Jedi temple it's that looks can be very deceiving.

"how long? i have been at the temple a little over 2 years master" Sera hesitantly replied whilst brushing a few stray hairs out her face.


Two years may seem like a long time to some, but for an initiate becoming a Padawan, it was not very long. Sera watched her master examine the room which caused her to look around too. She stopped for a few seconds to stare at the drone, she must have been so nervous that she did not even notice it. At that moment Sera remembered that this was the man that she was going to be spending most of her time with. This is the man who was going to point her on her destined path. This was the man who was going to make her a full fledged Jedi.

Eager to make a good impression, Sera swallowed the lump in her throat and said

"um, I look forward to serving you and the Jedi order master!"

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Sera Arren"]

Now that made Cole look back to the girl. His immediate reaction would have been overblown and in this situation patience needed to be exercised, because she probably did not know any better than that. Hell, looking back at his own history Cole hadn't known any better either. He took a good long look, reminding himself of her apparent youth, inexperience and the fact that she was simply trying to make a good first impression.

A few seconds passed like that before he gave a smile, fractionally so.

"Padawa- Sera." the interjection of her name was the first thing he did to put her more at ease. "You do not serve me... though I suppose you do serve our Order. But first and foremost you are here to learn how to serve and protect the Galaxy."

Guardians of the Galaxy.

It had been an easier job description when the Republic had encompassed the entire civilized Galaxy. But things were different now, with dozens of nations spawning in and out of existence at a moment's notice, what could a Jedi do in an instable situation like that? Some attached their protection to a singular nation... the Republic, the Silver Sanctum, the Galactic Alliance, and some tried to move around and protect all.

Cole wasn't yet a fully-fledged Master himself, but he knew that protecting a single nation wouldn't be enough for him. That wasn't what being a Jedi was about in his opinion.

"But I look forward to teaching you in the ways of the Force nonetheless. What kind of training have you had already?"

 

[Sera Arren]

[member="Cole Katarn"] (sorry for the late reply. I got really busy yesterday)

The mention of her first name surprised her a bit. She always thought Jedi masters would be rather stern but his familiar tone helped in calming her nerves a bit. This was all so surreal to her. It felt like it was only yesterday when her parents decided to actually give her up and send her away to learn how to control her abilities. A mistake on their part as this had caused her to develop more of an attachment to her home so she was struggling to adapt.

"Yes of course Master" Sera replied quickly to his comment about who she served.


Unaware of whether it was the mention of her first name or just his mere presence, Sera's nerves were beginning to soothe. The tinniest smile crept across her lips as she remembered her friends all congratulating her and some of them jokingly teasing her that they were so jealous. More proof of how important this even is.

"I look forward to your teachings master. I promise to listen well" Sera replied to him. She then went on to answer his question. " I have had basic combat training, lightsaber training, force jump training I have also been told i have shown potential with force healing so i was instructed to study on it"