Padawan, Interrupted (For Skull612)

[julesx]

Prologue

"Avadrie, lay down your training saber. Right now." Master Talanis Camasu's voice wasn't raised in the slightest, but it was icy and firm.

Avadrie Luce, in contrast, was fuming with anger. The fourteen-year-old took another step toward the woman, still pointing her weapon straight at her. "Attack me! Go on! Let me know you mean business! I'll prove to you that I'm ready to craft a real lightsaber."

Talanis took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment before turning her gaze back onto her student. Outwardly, she seemed unfazed by the girl's outburst, emitting a steady stream of calming waves into their Force-bond. In reality, she was growing decidedly more concerned about Ava. She folded her hands, eyes never leaving the child's. "Padawan, the only thing you're proving right now is that you have a lot to learn about what it means to be a Jedi. We are not our weapons. We are keepers of peace and we must be able to control our emotions and strengthen our connection to the Force enough to fulfill our duty. Violence must only be used when everything else fails, and to protect the innocent." She paused for a moment, watching the clearly still agitated girl, wanting her words to sink in. "Do not lose focus, Ava. You are destined for great things, but you have to let the Force guide you. Now... return to your quarters, please, and meditate on this until I come and get you for dinner."

The Padawan scoffed, but did deactivate her training saber and clipped it to her belt. "In your eyes, I will be 'ready' when Mustafaar freezes over." That was the entirety of her reply, and so after she'd spat it in her Master's direction, she stormed out of the room.

Talanis felt defeated as she watched her leave, unsure of where things had started to go wrong. Sure, she had known that Avadrie was not a common Jedi initiate with common needs when she had considered her to become her apprentice. She had kept in close contact with the High Council for the first two years of the girl's training, carefully laying out a plan how to support her unique gifts in the most successful way possible – both for Ava to turn out a confident, empathetic, just individual, and for the Jedi Order to be able to count on her skills to serve their altruistic purposes. It wasn't unusual for Padawans to rebel against their Masters when they came close to knighthood, but the girl wasn't even close to finishing her apprenticeship. The Jedi Master had a feeling it had to do with her past...

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The mug flew across the room and shattered against the white wall in Ava's room with a flick of her hand. Before the bits and pieces of porcelain could fall to the floor, she moved her fingers in circular motions, causing them to spin around. Controlling chaos. Control – real control – was the thing she'd always craved above all. It had always felt like everything in her life had been decided for her. Ava tried hard to live up to the Jedi Codex and Principles, and she did... to an extent. Her heart was in the right spot, it was just so hard to not give in to passionate feelings.

Ava was angry with her Master. It had built up, slowly, with the increasing demands and restrictions and the discipline that Padawanhood brought with it. When Master Camasu had first taken her under her wing, the little girl having been but a youngling in the Temple crèche, she had been eager to have someone in her life she could form a special bond with. Her attachment to the woman grew, all the while she was being taught attachment was forbidden to Jedi. Then, when her tenth birthday had come around and it was determined she was ready for one-on-one training, her happiness had known no bounds. Master Camasu, though... had seemed to have changed. Ava had suddenly been faced with the expectations of letting go of her fondness for the woman, of devoting herself to a single cause, while acting on virtually no wants and desires of her own. There was also the matter of her powers... The girl was oh-so aware of the natural advantage she would always hold in comparison to other users of the Force. It hadn't needed the obligatory midi-chlorian count for her to know, it was obvious in everything she did. Yet... Her Master still insisted she wasn't ready for even the responsibility of crafting her first lightsaber.

Ava needed space. Desperately. She wasn't interested in having dinner with her Master and decided she would go out to a diner instead. Leaving the Temple... Not only was it forbidden for Padawans to do so without consulting their Masters or someone else in case of their absence, it was also frowned upon to spend credits on guilty-pleasure food when the Temple provided its inhabitants with nutrition that was perfectly matched to their needs - both facts that made her feel like it was something she needed to do for herself right now, regardless of how many early bedtimes and free-time restrictions and extra-homework it would buy her.

It wasn't a difficult endeavor. The Temple guards would ask no questions, and it wasn't like any activity inside or outside was being watched. Master Camasu would eventually notice her being gone, of course, but there was no way for her to know where to look for her Padawan. Ava soon found herself wandering Coruscant's underground, cloak tightly pulled around her uniform, scanning the glowing and blinking Basic signs for the right place to eat. They couldn't have... closed the diner?! She let out a groan, glancing from left to right, the painful realization sinking in that she was no doubt lost.

[Skull612]

A few blocks away, atop one of Coruscant's many sprawling rooftops, a man waited. The man couldn't possibly have any idea that his destiny was about to be irrevocably entwined with that of another, a young girl lost in many ways, but he felt something odd all the same. Some kind of a big change was coming. Like he needed the force to tell him that. Assassinations, assaults, espionage, he'd been on several missions for the Sith by this time in his life, enough to know by now exactly who he'd joined all those years ago, but never had he been given orders like this. "There is a Padawan amongst the feeble Jedi order. Like you yourself, she shows great promise with the force. Rescue her from the Jedi's pathetic brand of weakness, and train her in our ways instead." Something like that, anyway, with all sorts of exaggerated hand motions, and a malicious cackle or two. Lord Viral truly possessed a talent for making what ought just be simple commands into long-winded explanations, but he'd grown accustomed to tuning all but the important parts out.

It gave him pause to remember these orders again. He was to raise a Padawan? Why was this order given to him? Just to continue the cycle that began all those years ago when he himself was tempted from the order by a sith lord? "No, I doubt that's all there is to it. It's some plan, or scheme, requiring the others' attention elsewhere. Something i'm sure is far above my station, were I to ask about it." Speaking out loud to himself wasn't an unusual habit for the dark robed man, as the majority of his missions were taken solo. Neither were his somewhat condescending thoughts towards the other sith. They were always plotting, and that simply wasn't his way of doing things.

Right now, for example, his way meant folding up his cloak into a makeshift pillow, laying back on the edge of this rooftop, and catching a bit of rest under the Coruscant air-traffic, until he was sure he'd be prepared for infiltrating the Jedi order and-

An aggravatingly loud beep from directly under his head managed to interrupt his thoughts, prompting the man to sit up and retrieve a small metallic disc from his cloak. His Holotranceiver...only a select few could interrupt him once he'd started an assignment without fearing his wrath, only one of the other Sith Lords. What would it be...a change in his assignment? The man gave a contemplative sigh before activating the device.
Immediately, his eyes were irritated by a bright blue light, taking the shape of a familiar hunched over figure wearing robes not unlike his own. A man easily identifiable to him by the number of wrinkles not covered by the shadows of his hood. The Sith lord, Darth Viral, the man who trained him in the dark arts. Before he could insert his own dialogue, the figure began to relay their message. "Lord Allister, I trust you have already arrived on Coruscant? Then, do show more haste than is typical for you. The girl has already left the temple, the conditions right now are the best we could possibly hope for. Not unlike a boy I met long ago...her mind is clouded in doubt, by an overeagerness to reach her potential. The foolish Jedi virtue of patience has pushed her away, in a most vulnerable state. I've arranged for a welcoming party, to assist your introduction. She's wandered too far from the temple, right into the arms of those with...lets say questionable morals. The riffraff, the scum of the galaxy. This should give you every opportunity you need, in order to-" The man shut the device off himself, feeling a hint of irritation rise in the back of his mind. Of course, more scheming. Damned old fool, he'd just as well as hijacked the mission now.

"All this to make me act sooner...or is it to test the girl?"

He couldn't tell for sure but either way it seemed apparent to him that they weren't so concerned with what happened to the girl, so long as there was no chance of her going back to the Jedi Temple. What began as a mission to steal her away, now shifted to a rescue mission, as he leapt boldly from his roof to the next, letting the force guide his direction.
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Meanwhile, not too far away, the object of the Sith Lords troubles wandered the streets of Coruscant's less hospitable back-alleys, and already dark forces had set their sights upon her. Neon signs in languages both familiar and not offered little in the way of direction, and it wasn't difficult for locals to spot someone out of place.
Soon enough all eyes would be upon her small figure, some wondering what a child would be doing wandering alone. While others rubbed their hands together greedily, recognizing opportunity.

One such man approached her suddenly, a human wearing a rough and worn-out outfit. His hair was all shaved, save for a line of glowing green spikes directly down the middle, and a musky smell preceded his approach. Of course, his most discerning feature was the blaster sheathed at his side. To those locals, it was common knowledge who he belonged to, a gang of ruffians, slavers, thieves. Those less inclined to violence, swiftly started to thin out.

Two others flanked the goon, on his right a Bothan dressed similarly but with a long coat, and making no attempt to hide the blaster rifle slung over his shoulder. On his left, a young Rodian. The first man gave this one a sharp nudge in the side before whispering something indiscernable, sending the Rodian off while he and his remaining friend set their sights upon Avadrie.

"What's all this then?" The man spoke up with a deep voice, and thick accent. "A little 'un like you, out on these streets, why that ain't safe at all, is it Brud?"

The Bothan stepped out from behind him, grinning in an overly-friendly manner. "Sure ain't. Where's your parents, poor thing? You hungry? You should come with us, it's not safe to be alone. Besides, we know all the best places around here to eat." His voice seemed gentle enough, but his fur swayed subtly as he spoke, a telltale sign an experienced travel lot might note.

But the first man was quick to follow up, swiftly stepping around the young Padawan to pat her roughly on the back. "At's right. Down here, in these parts of Coruscant, we all gotta look out fer each other. Don't you worry 'bout a thing now love. We'll take good care of ya. Just come along, we'll get you sorted." The man and the Bothan both take up position on either side of Ava, seeking to lure her ever further into the cities depths.

[julesx]

The dark alleys and the shady figures lurking in them seemed far more intimidating now that Ava had no idea where in the unfathomably extensive levels of the planet she currently was. She recognized nothing around her, least of all any of the people that were out and about. Duh. As a Jedi, especially a Padawan, she had never once left the Temple unless a very specific reason demanded it, and never unsupervised. Her Master had taken her on a couple of missions away from Coruscant. Other than that, there had been a few class excursions to culturally relevant areas, and not much else. It was clear as day that she wasn't supposed to hang around the lower levels, and it seemed to be obvious to locals, too.

Ava tightened the cloak around her body with one hand, the other gripping her training saber beneath it. She didn't really know why she even considered utilizing it in defense against someone if needed – it wasn't as if the small, tuned-down lightsaber could actually hurt anyone. The "cuts" delivered by a swing with the blade stung a little at worst, with a practically nonexistent chance of suffering as much as a bruise. But then again – non-Jedi would not gather as much.

The girl was keeping an eye out for any indication of a speeder-taxi being nearby, so she could simply catch a ride back to the Temple. She'd abandoned her idea of eating out, though she still certainly wasn't planning on meeting her Master for dinner. She would just ask a droid to fetch her food and eat in an empty meditation chamber or something.

When she passed an especially revolting corner, complete with trash and a sewage leak from the stink of it, she suddenly felt a few Force-signatures that stood out among the rest. The individuals they belonged to were fast approaching, a fact she only saw once it was already too late. Ava narrowed her eyes, pulse spiking, and did her best to withstand the intense looks she was given.

"I'm safe alright," She muttered, glaring at the human. "I don't need anyone to look out for me," She added, giving the Bothan the same kind of displeased stare. In all actuality, she was terrified. Where would she get help in these deplorable parts of the planet? Force, she was so stupid to have come out here. So. Stupid.

"HEY!" She yelled, alarmed when one of the men had reached out and touched her. "Get your damned hands off me you slimeball!" She jerked her shoulder away, running a few steps ahead and drawing her weapon. As she'd concluded earlier – Common folk wouldn't be able to tell this wasn't a real saber unless she activated it. Granted, her little display might've just caused a scene, but she wasn't going to just let these dubious strangers take her like she was a defenseless toddler.

[Skull612]

The obvious delinquent and his Bothan companion were quick to share a laugh, whilst the Padawan created some distance between them. "Damn, had you pegged right from the get-go she did! Slimeball, little girl's got a good sense." The Bothans fur bristled as he got a few extra laughs in, earning a sharp elbow from his mate.

"Oh shuddap. Let's just....oh crap, lookout!"

The cut himself off mid sentence as he turned back to the young girl, only to find what looked to be the weapon of a Jedi pointed in his direction. It was his turn to create distance, as he backed himself nervously into a wall. Crap, crap, crap, nobody said nothing about no blasted Jedi! All he knew was to lookout for a little girl in a cloak, no wonder the boss was so adamant about this one.

The Bothan meanwhile, stared the other punk down like he'd lost his mind. "What's gotten into you? Why're you so scared of a little..." A beastlike shriek was heard as he finally took notice of the Padawan and her stance. "H-hold on, we didn't mean nothing by it, honest! We were just...real and truly offering our help. Yeah, we don't want no trouble, not from no Jedi."

His hair stood on end, and it looked as though he might join the other riffraff in getting right out of the young girls path. But then, the fear in their faces grew even further, not at the Padawan herself, but a presence that comes up from behind.

"Jedi? You still don't have any trouble with a Jedi you useless git. Do the lot of you just have Bantha shite for brains?" This voice was rough, belonging to an obviously older man. Trailed by several other delinquents, including the one that had been sent off by the human punk earlier, one would easily assume this the bandits boss, and he cut a much more imposing figure. Taller than the others, his body was openly marred by cybernetic implants, from his left arm to the vividly glowing red eye, that seemed to pierce right through the dark alley to settle on the periled Padawan.

"This, is a little girl. Not a Jedi Master. Least not yet she's not. What do they call 'em...a pad-e-one? Doesn't matter, you're pissin' yourselves over a damned toy, and she knows it. Isn't that right, girlie? I've 'ad run-ins with the Jedi before, and you ain't one. If you were, I wouldn't be smellin' so much fear." Their boss chuckles to himself while slowly crouching down to her level, showing no trace of fear to reach out for her hood and pull it off the top of her head.

"Weeelll, lookie here boys, ain't she a cute one? You're gonna fetch us a mighty fine price, little Ms. Jedi-in-training. There's always demand for young ones, seein' how they get used up so quickly."

The man cackles to himself maliciously again, all the while raising his arm up in the air. A simple snap of his fingers preludes the marching of feet, as even more goons flow into the alleyway, blocking the rest of the girls potential escape routes.

"Leaving your safe little temple, is about to be the last mistake you'll ever make. No Jedi can help you now."

[julesx]

Ava couldn't help but smirk when the men that had previously been so confident and handsy now looked as if they were about to wet themselves. Her heart was still beating fast as she stood there, in a warrior pose, holding out her saber hilt in a way to indicate she could activate it at any time. Relief ran through her when it looked like the threat was enough to get them to back off.

"That's right, I'm a Jedi, and you better make yourselves scarce before I decide I'm done looking at your faces." The girl's conscience told her that Master Camasu would have been appalled to hear her talk like this, but she pushed the thought away. All she wanted was to get out of these parts of Coruscant, whatever it took.

She noticed the change in the thugs' faces immediately and frowned, concerned, when something behind her seemed to turn their fear into horror. The first thing that came to her mind was law enforcement, and she silently begged the Force not to grant her the misfortune of being escorted back to the temple by officers. The High Council would have her head, and she would still have to deal with her own Master after that.

Ava would've liked to be happy about the fact that what came out of the stranger's mouth made it clear that he was not with law enforcement, but the tone and overall gruffness with which he spoke made her extremely uneasy. She turned on her heels, still holding and pointing her saber hilt, and visibly flinched when she saw whom the voice belonged to. No matter how intimidating the tall-figured cyborg was, she quickly decided, she couldn't let him know that she was actually way in over her head here. About to retort and threaten him, too, with her training weapon, she was cut off when he spoke up again.

Her eyes grew wide as he proceeded to expose her little secret to the gathered group of outlaws without missing a beat. Her mind started to race. How the hell did he know? She held her breath as he bent down and removed her hood, giving everyone a clear view of her. Things happened too quickly for her to come up with a plan on the spot, and so she had to rely on her instincts and her training to get herself out of this dead-end. The things the cyborg was cackling about were nothing short of horrifying, and Ava saw no other way than raw violence to protect herself from ending up as a slave being sold on some Outer-Rim hellhole.

First, she screamed at the top of her lungs, hoping to startle not only the man in front of her but the others around him. Next, she finally did activate her saber, producing a small, pale blue plasma blade. It may not have been enough to cut into flesh, but the girl knew exactly where to hit a man to immobilize him, at least for a little while. She thrust her saber forward, right into the cyborg's privates, and used the reaction that followed to duck and squeeze herself through the space in-between him and one of his followers. After that, she ran for her life, deactivating her weapon as she did. She didn't dare look behind herself to see if anyone was following her, but she busied herself by tapping into the Force to accelerate her speed.

[Skull612]

The thugs presumed leader had proceeded to chuckle to himself, his eyes already focused on the closing of a deal that would net him a hefty amount of credits. He'd done right, having his boys follow that tip he'd gotten just a little while ago. Sketch as it seemed, there was no denying it's legitimacy when the results were right him. A bright-eyed young Jedi pup. And he was free to do whatever he liked with her...just so long as his crew made certain she never saw the Jedi Temple again.

He boasted a confident grin, easy enough. No one knew these streets like him and his boys, and this girlie was all talk, no bite. Or, that's what he'd believed. No sooner did he signal his men to step up and grab her, than did she let out a brave shout that honestly caught the seasoned rogue by surprise. You'd have to crazy to try and fight out of a situation like this, with nothing more than a glorified bug zapper meant for training. Perhaps that's why the girls desperate attempt at an escape succeeded, or appeared to, as the gang's boss fell, clutching at his groin with a pained expression.

He wasn't one to let a trick like that keep him down though. Not with all the zero's he'd promised himself for this bounty. "Fuckin' brat, found the one what's still flesh she did. Don't just stand there you daft fools, 'ats our payday there, get after her! We own these streets, she might be fast, but there's no teaching can replace experience." Shoving the nearest punk to him off on the chase, he quickly rallies the rest to give chase, several taking off on side routes through the alleys to catch the lithe Padawan.

"Use your blasters if you have to, but just aim for the legs. Buyer won't pay near as much if'n she's dead!" He shouts to the gang still within earshot, before breaking into a malicious laugh. "You can run girlie, but there's no escape for you now."

All through the streets, the sound of boots on pavement could be heard, splitting up into divergent paths to head off or shift Ava's path. A quick climb over a wall would get a couple in front of the wandering girl here, prompting her to turn down a longer side path there. The punks chasing her looked at it almost like herding a lost beast, each wrong turn getting her ever closer to the dead end they knew was coming up.

Sure enough, Ava would soon find herself face to face with the pure incline of a wall, with no way out other than the way she'd came that was rapidly filling with goons. Up in front, was one of the ones who'd confronted her earlier, the human that had backed off when he fell into her lie about a Jedi. That fear was nowhere to be found in his face now. "Gotcha now, miss Jedi." His words were laced with a dangerous tone, clearly he hadn't appreciated her little act. "Thinkin' you can trick me like that, makin' me look like a fool in front of the boss! Well, who's the fool now?" Without warning, the punk reaches for the blaster at his side, soaking in the moment as he pulls it from it's holster and takes aim at the trapped girl.

"Any of you got issue with this? We don't do something, she'll just try and run again first chance she gets. Best make it an option at's off the table, am I right?" The others showed no signs of disagreeing, a few even joined the deplorable man in this action. It all lasted a moment, but must have felt so much longer. The click of fingers pressing in on triggers, the unmistakable pew, of lasers firing off, the searing hot pain of energy weapons that would inevitably follow.

Except...it never would. Once more the thugs found themselves speechless, mouths agape even at the sight before them. Their blasters had fired, they knew it, the lasers were indeed there. However they were not striking into their target as intended, but hanging in midair, as if frozen in time. Ava was only just given time to process this, before another figured appeared, dropping literally in front of her as though from thin air. A figure cloaked in black, that would turn to face her.

"What danger have you found yourself in, little Mouse? Do you curse yourself, for having to flee? For feeling powerless, against miserable curs such as these? Follow me, Mouse, and you'll never have to feel weak again." A handsome face and honeyed promise were what met Ava, alongside a pair of piercing yellow eyes. He held himself with the same sort of stature as a Jedi, yet something about would feel unmistably different, especially as he turned back to the filthy goons who'd ran Ava here in the first place.

An outstretched arm, that was all it took for him to call the force to his needs, and send the bolts of energy right back into the group that had fired them. Men writhed on the ground in agony, while others reached for their weapons in response. While others still felt too taken by fear to move at all. This, they all instinctively knew without a shadow of a doubt, was a master of the force. Faster than the few who tried it could draw, the man called upon the force again, letting fly several objects from beneath his cloak. The punks stayed their hands immediately, with the looming threat of a genuine lightsaber now pressed against their throats.

"Witness well, little Mouse. This is the power of the force, power that I feel dwells within you. Are you satisfied with merely running from weaklings like these? Do you not resent the fear they pushed onto you? This is your chance. These men would have you shipped off to some far end of the galaxy to work as a slave, or far worse, without batting an eye. What then, would you do now, with the tables turned on them?"

[julesx]

Ava wasn't thinking straight. Her brain was running purely on adrenaline, causing her to run for her life, wherever her legs could take her. Since fight was a ridiculously pointless option, and freeze, flop, and fawn would have done nothing to help her in this exceptionally sinister situation, the only way left to protect herself was flight.

She knew absolutely nothing about these parts of Coruscant, of course, except that one should steer clear of them unless they intended to find or cause trouble. All of the streets and corners seemed to look the same, run-down and lined with flashing signs, and it all blurred into one as she made her way past them.

Ava barely registered the curious stares by on-lookers. She was busy trying to reach out with the Force in order to sense if her followers were still in close proximity, and as she did so, she discovered they were in fact catching up. Panicked, she took a sharp turn, and although she realized her mistake immediately – too late. She was trapped, a huge brick wall that provided no room to jump over it blocking her way. Completely out of breath and heart racing from the strain of the run as well as the fear, she slowly turned around, coming face-to-face with the men that were grinning in satisfaction.

This is it. My life's over. All of the fucking trouble my birth family went through to keep me safe, all of the time Master Camasu spent with me, all down the drain for a single fucking night to prove I'm not naive and childish. Oh, the irony. The girl felt as though the blood in her veins was starting to freeze as she watched one of the thugs pull out his very real weapon, pointing it directly at her. All of her Jedi training evaporated in that exact moment, the moment Ava was convinced she was going to die. No nonsense, no staged combat in the Temple. Cold, harsh reality. Tears shot into her eyes as she listened to the blaster-bearer decide her fate, her saber hilt gliding out of her sweaty hand and making noisy contact with the ground.

Just before the plasma-fire could pierce her body, she squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for it to be over – yet, the seconds trickled on, and the pain never came. Ava wasn't sure if it was her brain tuning out her surroundings in this moment or whether it was actually as silent as it was to her, but the next time she heard something, it was the voice of yet another stranger. Her eyes flew open, immediately struggling to adjust to the brightness of the energy-bolts that still hung mid-air before her.

The appearance of the man she was now faced with sent another scare through her body and she stumbled backward, meeting the hard stone. As scary as his glowing yellow eyes were, she could not seem to look away, entranced by his intense gaze. She could not make sense of the persona right then, whether he was just another criminal or whether he was on her side, but the words he proceeded to say drew her in immediately.

Yes, she very much cursed herself for having gotten herself in such grave danger, and yes, she felt incredibly defeated by the situation. She couldn't know what his strange offer actually entailed, of course, but she watched with a mixture of horror and fascination as the stranger used the Force to deal with her attackers. A Force-user? The fact that he was, while obviously not a Jedi at the same time, was unsettling. She had heard the Temple-gossip about individuals that left the Order to pursue... other business, but she had no realistic clue as to who was standing in front of her, even as he drew his red saber, a color she had never seen before in this particular weapon.

Prompted to answer, while clearly at the mercy of the cloaked man with the strange eyes, she took a few steps forward and looked into her almost-abductors' eyes, one-by-one. Still fueled by adrenaline, her Master and the Jedi teachings were the last things on her mind as she spelled out what she was feeling right then.

"I am angry," she spat, feeling herself getting worked up. "These disgusting creatures were going to take me and do with me whatever asked, for profit. What right do they have to roam these streets and come onto uninvolved people?" Ava could feel her fury at the injustice grow as she imagined all of the things they had probably inflicted on others previously. "They should... disappear," she stated, diplomatically. "So they don't get the chance to hurt anyone else."

[Skull612]

In this tiny alley-way, on the bustling city planet of Coruscant, was it impossibly quiet. Traffic flying by overhead, the people busying themselves with their lives as normal, only streets away, it all faded away amidst the tension in the air for those occupying the confined alley. The panicked moans of Ava's tormentors, and the low hum of this stranger's lightsaber were the focus of all those present. Of course, that same tension seemed to starkly contrast with the calm demeanor of the stranger himself, as he seemingly ignored the "dangerous" men behind him to watch the young Padawan expectantly.

Aside from the lightsaber in his hand, three others had flown from beneath his cloak, each flash of metal now pressed against a different thugs throat, held aloft by the man's use of the force. At any moment, he could activate those sabers and end the lives of these men. He just needed to hear the words. And as Ava began to speak, he simply grinned, deactivating the saber in his hand to crouch down to her eye level. "As well you should be. Anger, little Mouse, is a most powerful force. I've no doubt, the Jedi would tell you to repress such emotions, they fear their own anger. But...why should one ever fear their own emotions? Why...when you could be better served making those feelings work for you."

His hand suddenly extends towards her, grasping her by the shoulder softly. "Allow me then, to be the instrument of your anger, your hatred of these villainous pests. I am Lyall Ronashau, and I offer you the promise that you will never feel helpless again."

As he finishes his sentence, Lyall swings his free hand off to the side. His cloak hanging freely from his arm obscures Ava's vision, but certainly not the reality of this motion. In an instant, three lives are lost, as a red glow illuminates the sides of the alley walls once more. The low hum of several lightsabers fills the ears of everyone present once more, before being overtaken by frantic shouts and boots meeting pavement. The unmistakable sound of a force users weapon swinging through the air follows, preceding several dull thuds. Then, silence, until the bustling city around them comes back into focus, and Lyall's lightsabers return, floating over his outstretched arm to return to holsters visible inside his cloak.

"Do not regret your decision, little Mouse. You've ensured that they will never harm another ever again. If there's something to regret, think of those they've likely gotten to before you, the helpless they've preyed upon. Right in the Temple's backyard at that. Staying in the temple, would you ever guess that just a click away the world would look like this?" Lyall raises to his feet again finally, and swings himself to the side with a grand gesture, revealing to Ava the exact fates of her pursuers. Scorch marks from Lyall's sabers adorn the alley walls, still steaming from wide slashes that cleaved cleanly through wall and man both. All those who were once intent on capturing the girl for nefarious purposes now lay still on the cold cement.

All but one notable exception. The partial cyborg who led them. The sort of man who had no doubt witnessed what happened to his men from a distance and wisely chosen to turn away from the scene. To fight this battle later. If that girl thought she was free just from the arrival of a damned Jedi, she had another thing coming. He wasn't about to give up on this mark yet.

Lyall steps in front of Ava again, this time pulling his hood down completely, so none of his face is obscured. If this was his master, he'd no doubt be using all sorts of deception, or perhaps calling upon the force to influence the young girls mind. But that wasn't his style. He didn't need it, either. For he'd been in this same spot as Ava, so many years ago. He didn't need the force to feel her frustration, or her eagerness to learn. He knew it, firsthand. "The Jedi call themselves just and honorable. Protectors, they fancy themselves. But the patience they constantly push, it doesn't get anything done. It's never the right time for them, you're never ready. You, little Mouse, you have so much potential. I can feel it. Yet, it was almost extinguished right here. What have you really been taught at all? If you go back to the temple, if you tell them what happened here, what do you think they'll say? Will they approve of your decision? Are you really satisfied with waiting until they finally think you're ready to learn how to defend yourself? I offer...an alternative path. Come with me instead, and I will teach you to be strong. To be more than a little Mouse, scurrying about these alleyways where she doesn't belong. What do you want, young Padawan?"

[julesx]

Ava's chest was rising and falling rapidly as she stood there, staring at the men on the ground. The deep red glow of multiple sabers illuminated the dim area, revealing their terrified faces. She was supposed to empathize with them, understand that it may just have been desperation driving them to crime, simply forgive and forget if nothing more. Her conscience and the Jedi-teachings that had formed it were on the brink of breaking through. She pushed back - aided by the hooded stranger's reassuring words. Indeed, her Master would've made her meditate to rid herself of anger, something which had always just served to infuriate her even more. Ava could feel a strange new sensation as she slowly let go of any inhibitions, releasing her current emotional state into the Force and letting it flow through her. This man was protecting her, of course, but it still seemed to her as if she had spontaneously grown by a couple of inches and was now capable of taking on the outlaws by herself.

The state she found herself in felt almost unreal in its powerful intensity, and she was only brought back to the happenings in front of her when she felt a hand on her shoulder. The view of the face it belonged to was still partly obstructed by the black hood, so she simply focused on the area where the yellow eyes she had gotten a glimpse of earlier would've been. "Lyall Ronashau..." She repeated, tasting the name on her lips. It took her a moment to register the rest of what he had said, and when she did, she raised one eyebrow, weary of the cryptic promise... but then—

It was entirely unnecessary for Ava to actually see what Lyall had just used his powers for. It was clear as day, even before the sounds confirming the deaths of the men that had preyed upon her could be heard. Her eyes went wide as realization set in, and she couldn't help but clasp her hand over her mouth as their bodies eventually came into view. One would think a Jedi would've seen plenty of death – a reality of interfering with wars in the name of keeping peace on a large scale – but, as unmistakably obvious by her reaction, the girl hadn't had the experience up until now. In fact, she had rarely left the Temple at all, not to mention the planet for missions. That wasn't unusual in itself, seeing as Masters tended to be protective of their pupils and wouldn't let them in on the real action until they reached the age of about sixteen, but it had certainly been a thorn in her side for a while. Ava knew she could do more, was destined to do more, even at her age – more than Master Camasu allowed her to do.

The decision Lyall Ronashau had just made was anything but the Jedi way. Yet... his explanation for it was so effortless, so smooth, so... logical. It hit the nail right on the head. His words sparked a fire inside of her, one that she was all-too-eager to fan and turn into a respectable inferno. "I want you to stop referring to me as a 'little mouse', because I never will be one again," She declared, bravely holding his strong gaze. "I believe you, Lyall. I want to take that choice of another path you're offering." After she'd said that, she held out the palm of her hand in a silencing gesture. She'd been focused on the man in front of her, believing each and every one that belonged to the group of scoundrels to be dead, so she hadn't checked or bothered to count the corpses. Hence, when something in the Force not too far away started to flicker in warning, it instantly alarmed her. She lowered her gaze for a second, willfully extending her area of consciousness to cover the spot where it had come from – then raised her head to look into Lyall's eyes again, smirking a little. "You missed one."

[Skull612]

The young girls face showed her inward struggle clear as day, the values of her Jedi mentors view on morally correct conflicting against her own take of what was right and just. But for Lyall, the force revealed which side would win over, just as she began to feel the results of her determination. The power, of channeling such emotions for herself, rather than trying to keep them locked away. For a moment, he saw not the young Padawan known as Ava, but a boy he could only recall in his faintest of memories. Remembering his taste of that power.

He couldn't help then, but to chuckle at the girls change in demeanor. Emboldened by the force, she changed before him, from a timid lost mouse, cowering before her pursuers, to something more, brave enough to order he cease the charming nickname he'd given her. And even then, to cut him off before he could speak, as she felt a disturbance in the force around her. Of course, it was in fact a loose end he was already aware of. Still, he had to admit, he was a little impressed. He hadn't thought she'd take the initiative in searching for her final pursuer. He hadn't even needed to point him out to her. That proved her link with the force strong, now she just needed to prove one more thing to him.

"A taste of your potential, and you can order me around? Aren't you the cheeky one." The man takes a step forward, bearing his full height in contrast to the young padawan. His arm falls behind the darkness of his cloak, only to extend back a moment later in Ava's direction, holding out a lightsaber in his palm. "It's Master Ronashau now, and I think you can clean up your own messes. You say you won't be a cute little mouse? Don't tell me that, show me. These men laying here?" He takes pause in his words, to make a broad sweeping gesture behind him, to the bodies his own lightsabers had cut in twain.

"Smallfrys. Their deaths change little in the going-ons of these back alleys. At least...so long as the head of this serpent yet lives. You really want to make a difference, don't allow their leader to escape. Go, employ your anger, your disgust, ensure justice is done. Consider it my test to you. I'll be watching, you have absolutely nothing to fear. Prove you have a name worth learning."