Wake Up

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

A heavy snort followed, the Lorrdian Jedi Master brushing back her bangs away from her face. He always had little quips to add. It was the keystone of his humor. "Is that what you tell yourself every day?" Kira would tease, sticking out her tongue at him a second later.

"Mmm... perhaps." she added continuing their conversation. Honestly she understood where Devin was coming from. Knowledge had a way of ensuring that their children were protected and that they were not without any disadvantage when dealing with the Darkside of the Force. However, she understood why a majority of it was kept away from the younglings and the padawans at the Jedi Order. If Kira knew some of the things Soliael and Cameron had taught the children, well, she wouldn't have been too happy about that.

"As it is, there are already several dozen thoughts on just how a Jedi Order should train their padawans. If it isn't one schism it is another"

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

Soliael shrugged.

What Kira said was very true.

The Jedi school was as split as that of...well anything. In the end the Jedi were a religious organization, there was no two ways about it, and that inevitably meant things were going to fracture through schism and different shifts. Soliael knew that better than most people, and he didn’t just the Jedi for it, especially because of one simple fact.

”The Sith are the same way.” He told her. ”Everyone has a different opinion on how things should go. Every once in a while one side gains more traction, but its comically similar to what happens with the Jedi.”

It was weird really, almost reflective. ”Everyone thinks their way is the best.”

He shrugged.

”Of course they don’t know that my way is actually the best.” He offered Kira a smirk as he flipped another page.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

"There's my husband." the blonde would sass right back with an amused quirk of her lips. "Ever so humble." oh she understood where Devin was coming from. They had, afterall, raised four children in that joint mindset of making them fully aware what was right and what was wrong. It was the only way that they would be able to make the right choices for themselves.

Kira may not have come from a tight knit family -- or really any family - but she was practically raised by the Jedi Order. Whatever they'd done to raise Esme, Draith, Khayrhi, and Nohei had been without prior knowledge of how to raise children or what would be the best outcome.

"We did well though." the conversation in her mind came up as she finished his sandwich. She meant of course how they raised their kids.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

”We did.” Soliael assured her.


Their kids really were models of perfection, or that was how Soliael saw it. Each of them was powerful and gifted in their own way, each of them knew what path they wanted to walk and where they wanted to go. They were smart, intelligent, and knew enough to get along in the galaxy without hurting themselves or others.


He was proud of them.


”Time will tell though.” He said quietly. ”I trust them, but eventually one of them will…”


It wasn’t a pleasant thought. ”Come across something. I think we’ll have to be ready for that.”


Most likely MIcah or Aela. There were many Sith Holocrons and artifacts in the galaxy, and while his kids knew enough not to mess with them...some...some just couldn’t be avoided. Soliael knew that better than anyone.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

"Yes well... Micah is always getting into trouble." well, more like he was always wandering off and diving into things. He was the one child that had the bulk of the wanderlust and an endless curiosity. They were not wrong as at that moment Draith was tumbling into trouble with a sentient Dark infused sword.

"Nohei is better now." a thought to Esme came next, their oldes. "And Esme is at least learning to relax. I was always worried that she wouldn't be able to connect with others."

While Aela was a brilliant child, her personality had a tendency to make her appear to be rather introverted. She was sweet and quite vocal with her family, but around others it took a bit of warming up.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

He smiled at her. There was really no need to be worried about...well anything.


The darkside corrupted, yes, but there were ways...means of surviving it. Half of his family had fallen or used the darkside most of their lives and they survived. Soliael was confident that if his children did fall...well there was something to pick them back up again. His hand reached out and gently rested on Kira’s knee.


”Let’s not worry about it.” This wasn’t the time.


”We’re on vacation.” He told her. ”Nows not the time to think about the kids.”


His fingers teased against her skin. The kids were all important to them of course, but right now...well they really were on vacation. This was not the time to worry and think about the dark it was time to be happy and full of joy. That's how he saw it at the very least. If anything went wrong the kids had their Tattoos.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

Kira gave a small laugh, reaching over to lay her own small one over his. She gave it a light squeeze.

"I know," she added, leaning over to press a kiss along his bearded cheek. He had crafted the special ink so that the kids would each have a small mark that would allow their father to find them anywhere in the Galaxy if they activated it. Esme and Draith took it to a whole new level with large tattoos while Khayri and Nohei kept it small.

"Here," as a small rumble ran through their bellies, handing him his sandwich.

"Eat and rest up. I'll look over where we can travel to next. "

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

Soliael began to eat without much ceremony, beginning to munch on the sandwich with short order and smiling slightly as he did so. Despite the rather...well disappointing trip into the Temple he found that he quite liked this world. The animals were noisy and somewhat and somewhat annoying but aside from that...well it was nice.


Calm.


”We’ll have to keep ourselves on a timer.” He said quietly.


”We can’t spend all our time on one world.” The Rishi Maze was an entire galaxy of course. ”There’s still lots to see.”


He supposed that a planet like this would likely be a rarity. It was startling that they had found something on the first world that they came to, amazing that they could have even discovered something like this in the first place.


Perhaps it had been the force guiding them, or perhaps they were just lucky.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

"What you don't want to wander aimlessly as we go from one side of the world to the next?" There she was again, being sassy. Kira knew it too with how much her eyes twinkled with devilish glee. Really, there was little that would wipe away her cheer.

"I thought you wanted adventure big guy!" She teased him as she took two slices of bread and began building her own sandwich. Another chuckle and she added a suggestion.

"Maybe three days or so in each?" Any longer and they would be having an extra long vacation with the unknown amount of worlds yet to be discovered in the Rishi Maze.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

”I do want to adventure, very much so, but the Rishi Maze has a lot to see and if we spend all of our time on one planet, we’re not going to see much.” Three days per planet was a good number, especially because it could be shortened if they ever stumbled upon a world that just had...nothing.


Hopefully the probes would lessen the numbers of those worlds though.


”Three days per is good.” He said quietly. ”Though if we find a graveyard world or something lets just skip over it.”


He smiled.


Ultimately, where they went, what they did, and how long they stayed was entirely up to them. They had plenty of time, and for now, they were in no rush. He just wanted to make sure Kira didn’t try to stay in one place too long. She could get easily distracted by pretty rocks and such.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

"Three days then," the blonde Jedi master agreed. Which meant they had one more day left on this world before they traveled to the next. Time to decide where to go.

"Then did you want to try the lake, the caverns, or any of the smaller settlements the probe found?" At least there hadn't been any pirates. Small miracles forbthat. Taking the datapad from her satchel, Kira let her fingers slide over the screen to bring up the scouting details.

"All look very interesting. Seems the cave has more crystals."

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

”Well.” Soliael began as he took the last bite of his sandwich. ”I think I’m going to read the rest of this first.”

He pointed to the Journal .”Then we can decide in the morning.”

They had no idea what had caused the Jedi to abandon this place, and Soliael hoped desperately that the journal would have some sort of clue or word on why. If they found something out, well it would affect where they would go and what they would do. His curiosity at this point was just about dying to know what had actually happened.

”Unless you really want to see something?” He asked inquisitively. Soliael couldn’t decide everything on this trip after all.

That would just be rude.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

"Well I was just tossing out their the options," Kira replied, finally biting down into her own sand which. Devin could take the next meal if he wanted anything hot. The Lorrdian chewed thoughtfully. Honestly she was in no rush. The caverns seemed interesting but there still wasn't any rhyme or reason why the inhabitants suddenly got up and left. That bugged her.

"I'm easy. I'm interested in the caves because of the crystals but I already collected a few." Otherwise for now they were in the dark about what happened. It was up to Devin to tell her if he found anything interesting.

"We can just rest for now. "

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

”Well, then I’ll finish the Journal.” Soliael said as he slowly leaned over and wrapped his arms around Kira, pulling her across the ground in tiny scootches until she was sitting just a little bit closer to him. ”And we can decide in the morning.”


He was a fairly fast reader after all.


The Journal was pretty big, but that was to be expected. Soliael presumed that much of the girls life was recorded within the leather bindings, though just how much she told still remained to be seen. With an odd sort of eagerness he read on, feeling only awkward when the young Padawan brought up...boys.


He frowned slightly, shook his head, then read on.


”The Master of the Temple seemed to be a Twi’lek.” Soliael told Kira as he flipped another page. The fact wasn’t too interesting, there had been plenty of Twi’lek Jedi Masters over the years, but he thought she’d want to know.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

Kira managed to settle herself down against her husband. One of the benefits of him being so large was that he made a very comfy and warm place to nestle against. The steady rhythm of his breathing along with the lulling beat of his heart were comforting sounds for her. It wasn't long before she began to doze off.

When Devin spoke it came through the filter of her half conscious state. Snuggling close, Kira gave a small yawn and said,"mmm that's nice. Any name?"

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

“Kyral.” Soliael said. ”No last name though.”

Why would there be?

The Padawan only mentioned the Jedi master briefly, and even then it was either in complain or praise. The Journal wasn’t written as a historical piece, but rather a first person view into the life of those at this Temple. ”He was apparently very strict.”

That made him chuckle.

Jedi and strict went together like peanut butter and chocolate, though oddly enough his wife was a rather large exclusion from that.

”There were about two hundred Jedi here total.” He flipped another page and read on. ”Most of them students.”

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

"I doubt they were the ones who built this temple." Kira added. Students and a few masters were hardly the sort to be responsible for such construction. Likely that had come from hundreds of years of work before.

"So this was more of an academy?" that made more sense for the Jedi Master. Kira was part of the Jedi Academy network and she would often teach classes for the Academy. While she used to spend her time on the Ossus Temple, after they were married, Kira came to live on Borleias. After that classes came and went depending on need

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

"I suppose so." Soliael said as he flipped another page.

"Maybe a place for more 'troubled' students." That was becoming more and more apparent as he read through the Journal. It made sense in a way. What did you do with people that didn't play well with others? You sent them away. "Those padawans who had more difficulty learning at the other Temples."

He frowned for a second, then read on. "Apparently, they sequestered them here to try and get them to touch more upon the peaceful aspects of the force."

Again it made sense. If you didn't play well with others, then you shouldn't be around those others.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

"What?" Now that was news to Kira, and to be honest she wasn't sure how well that set with her. The Lorrdian wasn't used to the thought of sequestering the more 'troubling' students away. She didn't see any reason at making any divide with the younflings. For her they were all equal in her mind; unique and different in personalities but should be treated the same.

The thought that students had been treated differently here bothered her even if the surroundings were beautiful. Her brows set forward in a frown, and she added," that's terrible. I mean this is Rishi Maze. While I'm sure many could think this is pretty it is still very isolated and in another Galaxy to boot."

Yup, Kira was annoyed.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

"They were worried." He explained to his wife.

Kira might not have liked it, but it made an odd sort of sense in a way. At least from a Jedi perspective.

"Apparently the students here showed an inclination towards the darkside of the force." What exactly an 'inclination' meant Soliael had no idea, but the diary clearly described that a lot of the students had anger or rage problems. That others were incredibly powerful in the force but moved too rapidly, and that still others showed things that would mark them as downright Sith by some. He frowned for a second. "I think this was supposed to be like a school for troubled kids..."

As odd as that sounded. He flipped another page.

"Isolation was the point." The stance was rather hardline. "It's so their ideas didn't spread to other younglings."