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Gold Member
Raven. is offline
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Australia
Posts: 2,591
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Master's Eeth Koth & Tholme, Padawan's Raven & Jas
*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*Epilogue*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*
“Yes, I’m sure,” eleven-year-old padawan Jas Gaan assured her master.
The Human man scratched at his beard reflectively, then carded his hand through his hair which was more salt than pepper these days. “Well, that decision is now yours to make, padawan. You have completed the assigned trials to my satisfaction, and if you want Master Koth to complete the rite you have my support.” He gave her a curious expression, steepling long fingers. “I must admit that your choice, although understandable, surprises me given how keenly you have pursued the rite of passage. Eeth Koth is a busy man and not often in the temple since resigning from the Council last year. You may find yourself waiting quite a while for his return.”
Jas sighed. “I know, but,” she raised a determined chin, “I will wait. It can’t be anyone else, it has to be him,” she resolved, knowing that her master knew about her troubled past and fateful trip to Borleias.
“Very well, let’s put in a request with the Council secretary to alert us when they return.”
A small smile crept to her lips when she thought about the first time she met Eeth, and the weeks spent on Borleias. He didn’t accept failure; his expectations had been high and he had forced her to meet them, whether she wanted to or not was irrelevant. To begin with she had fought him tooth and nail, but he did not give up, nor had Raven despite the xenocentric chauvinism and entirely uncharitable way in which she had treated the human padawan. That seemed like such a long time ago now, so long ago since she had been that disagreeable, angry child covering a deeply-seeded fear of failure and rejection with arrogance.
*:-.,_,.-:*'``'* Discipline*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*
Days stretched into weeks, weeks into months and months into a full year, but Jas did not rescind her decision to wait for Eeth. The now twelve-year-old apprentice had long since ceased in her habitual checking of their communit each time it flashed. They had been on several missions this year, all of which had been successful despite the fact that she had needed numerous corrections. She was still smarting from the latest, her inability to ignore a less than winning personality in their host being the impetus, when they entered their quarters to a flashing communit. It was nothing new and Jas thought nothing of it as she went to her bedroom to start unpacking.
“Padawan, come here.”
The girl sighed, what had she done now? She couldn’t take another dose of his cane, not that Jas was likely to admit as much. The pack was dropped immediately and she was standing before him in a heartbeat, chin held high, arms at her sides and silent as was typical.
“There is no need to give me that look, unless of course there is something more I should be aware of?” The corner of his lip pulled into a slight smile, but the question had been rhetorical so he continued. “You have a message from the Council secretary. Eeth Koth and his apprentice returned to the temple a few days ago.”
Jas was silent, her shock although concealed would have been evident to anyone who knew her. Now that the moment had come to contact Eeth she was suddenly hesitant. What if he said no?
Tholme had been a Jedi master for several decades now, thus, entering his fiftieth year and currently raising his second apprentice, he knew a thing or two about padawans. “I would suggest contacting him with your request sooner rather than later, there is no telling how long he will be at the temple.” He stepped aside to give her access to the unit and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
“Course not. I’ll call him right after I unpack,” came the clipped response. Her hand rested on his briefly; Tholme was a perceptive man even without the aid of their training bond, and Jas knew her confident response wasn’t fooling him.
“You’ve nothing to lose by asking,” he coached, having noticed the slight dent in his apprentice’s armour. He left her to her task.
A couple of hours later Jas stood before the communit, her finger hovering over the connect button for a few seconds before she worked up the courage to press it. Almost immediately a holographic form of the petite human female she recognised as Raven, appeared. Jas cleared her throat to introduce herself again only to be cut short.
“Jas Gaan, it’s good to see you again. Wow, you’ve grown quite a lot since the last time I saw you, and, I see you have become a Padawan learner. I knew you would.” Raven commented, a smile that reached her eyes signalling that she was genuinely pleased to see her. It had been two years since she had last seen Jas, still, she’d recognised the younger Zabrak instantly. Her ten horns were now fully developed, all short, pyramid shaped and stuck straight up from her completely bald head. Their pattern of placement, too, gave away something of her wild origins. She had large breasts and curvy hips but her posture was the same; stiff and serious, reminding her a lot of Eeth.
“I’d like to say the same, but you have not changed a bit,” Jas told the padawan honestly.
“Yes, yes, don’t I know it,” Raven said in a mock indignant tone. “Pleasantries aside, what can I do for you? And, I do hope this is not about a return trip to Borleias. I assure you Master has not lost his touch.”
Jas smiled ever so slightly at that. “No. I think once a lifetime is more than enough for any one Jedi,” she coughed unnecessarily. “Is your master there? I need to talk to him.”
Raven had suspected as much, she could also guess at the reason as fun as it was to tease the kid. She inclined her head and smiled warmly. “One moment.”
A few seconds later Eeth appeared before her. He looked pretty much as she remembered, perhaps a little tired and a bit greyer. Still, his hair was immaculately brushed, shiny and tied into two neat braids that hung long down both sides of his chest. His uniform was clean and pressed, despite the fact that it was just training garb, and his boots were polished to a shine. The padawan found herself straighten slightly and took a breath in; she was no longer that ornery ten-year-old with a chip on her block, after all. “Hello, Master Eeth, it’s good to see you again,” she told him, and after receiving an equally polite greeting, continued. “I am ready to complete the rite of passage. I have succeeded in the trials set for me by my master and I have his permission to seek out a mentor. I’d like that to be you.” She hadn’t realised it, but her gaze had dropped to her hands despite the small smile that pulled at the edge of her lips; it was a proud moment for a young Zabrak, and she knew Eeth would understand the significance of what she was asking of him. She looked up to meet his gaze. “Would you, please? It, it would mean a lot to me.” That was a lot coming from Jas, as like Eeth she had a hard time showing her emotions to others.
Five minutes later:
“Master! He said he would!” she said in as excited a voice as Tholme had ever heard from his typically stoic apprentice. He pulled her into a one-armed hug. This was about as touchy feely as Jas typically got unless she was emotionally distraught which did not happen often these days. “Where and when?”
“He owns the tools necessary, but not the ink colour I want. I said we would find it and bring it to him Sunday morning." Given Jas was still taking classes full time this was her only clear day, and they would need the entire day for this. “I’ll also need you to excuse me from class on Monday and Tuesday. Eeth says it won’t get me out of doing the work, but he’d rather I stay in my quarters whilst my body heals.” Being a Zabrak she would heal faster than most humanoids, but her face was going to be a mess of scabs in the meanwhile.
Tholme nodded. “Two days, yes, we can arrange for that. No time like the present, fetch your cloak and saber, we’ll need to go several levels down to find that.”
Jas complied immediately, her obedience a testament to the effectiveness of Tholme’s training.
He had met Jas in the healer’s wing when she had been on duty there doing extra chores for her creche master. Apparently, the man had taken Eeth’s advice, acquired himself a durofibre rod and clamped down hard on the kid; he would not allow her to regress to bad behaviours. She had been griping about Master Jarlath having put her on bed pan duty, it had tickled the man. The kid was plucky, and she was tenacious, the rest could be fixed. Suffice it to say a week later the ten-year-old was made an apprentice. Like most Jedi, Tholme was a gentle soul, kind and dedicated to the preservation of peace, but he was also…. entirely unwilling to take any of her crap. He had high expectations and reliably forced her to meet them or accept consequences.
Over the next two days Jas met with Eeth after classes to discuss the design and gain his approval which was part of the ritual. Jas guessed it was mostly there to stop less mature Zabrak from making ridiculous choices. Hers was not. It was a traditional design that focused on two themes; her birth clan and the Jedi Order. Jas had been granted permission to learn of her origins for this purpose, but the details were kept to an absolute minimum necessary at Tholme’s request.
*:-.,_,.-:*'``'* Discipline*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*
“You’re sweating, relax, take a deep breath,” the man gently chided as they rode the lift that would take them to the level where Eeth and Raven’s quarters were located.
“I’m not,” Jas said although she had to smile slightly; she was nervous. This was a huge step for most Zabrak: today was her last day as a child in the eyes of her people. Unfortunately, that didn’t carry over to the Order, something Tholme had made very clear before allowing her to pursue the rite of passage.
“You may draw on the Force to manage the pain, or I will help you do so if you wish,” Eeth told her calmly, not pausing in his ministrations as he punctured her skin, only to feel her flinch again. It was painful, no question about that, and Jas was doing very well, but she needed to be still.
“I know, I don’t need it. I’ll not move again,” Jas had her reasons, she saw the pain as part of the trial. By the time Eeth had finished Jas was sweating, the pain had been tough to endure but she had done it. It was done. Jas didn’t want to look, she knew her face would be a bit of a mess, she did, however look at her master rather than at Eeth who was disposing of blood soaked medical cloth. “Thank you,” she told him and stood. Her face really was a mess which was the only reason she did not hug him.
“Come back and see me tomorrow morning,” Eeth said, and gave the girl a rare smile. “You took that well, padawan Gaan.”
This praise coming from Eeth had her smile, although it hurt, so she stopped.
“Thank you, Eeth. I’ll be in touch,” Tholme said and helped his apprentice back to their quarters to heal.
*:-.,_,.-:*'``'* Discipline*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*
Years later Jedi knight Jas Gaan stood tall among her many superiors and peers, her posture stiff and chin raised. The gathering of people who had come to celebrate the life of Jedi Master Eeth Koth was large. So many people were going to mourn his loss: his three padawans, Lakhri, Raven and Lok, were all there, as were the many students, peers and mentors whose lives Eeth had touched. Drex Zareth stood out to her as clearly the oldest humanoid present. She recognised Kaden Lightbane whom she had met during a mission in her final year of her apprenticeship, and gave him a sympathetic expression. Jas had been present when his padawan had taken ill during a mission; despite the man’s strength in the Force, to which Jas had yet to feel an equal to, he wasn’t able to save the boy. He had died on the space ship just a day short of reaching the healers. It had been horribly sad to feel his presence slip from this world and she could only imagine how it had felt for Kaden. Still the man had come to honour the life of Eeth Koth, as had Jas. She was but one being in a plethora of others who had been touched by the man’s life. To her, Eeth had retained his mentoring role despite not being asked to. He had always checked in on her when he was at the temple and on many occasions, he had given her support and advice. This coming from someone who was not her master and whom she respected greatly, gave him a special place in her heart.
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