(Takes place before the Yavin Invasion)
The halls leading to the Council chamber were quiet and empty in the early hours of the morning. The sun was just beginning to rise, the silence pierced by the leaves rustling in the gentle breeze and the soothing sound of bird call.
As soon as he was able, as soon as he could move despite his injuries, Haldir Eressëa had hurried back home with a heavy heart. Willa Kanz, his very first Padawan, had left him a message detailing her disappearance; why she decided to leave the Jedi Order. It hurt him that Crix had perished – the Arkanian Offshoot was his friend, too – but the Knight couldn't deny that her leaving stung quite harder. It hurt that she didn't ask for his help; it hurt that she didn't seem to want it.
His initial thought was to follow his instincts, to drop everything behind to try and track her down. Willa had become someone important to him – much like Elidan – and it was only fitting for Haldir as her Master to locate her and bring her back. But Haldir was also a Knight, bound to his duties to the Order. She, along with Elidan, taught him that he didn't have to be alone in facing whatever troubled him. The Order was his family, so he fought the desire to track Willa down on his own and reached out to the Council about her disappearance. He could search for her himself but Haldir knew that he wouldn't be able to do it on his own. And as Willa's Master, he had the responsibility to alert the Council about her choice.
He knew he was going against her wishes. But she had gone against his own by leaving.
Haldir cut a phlegmatic yet despondent figure as he limped his way towards the Council chambers. For the first time he was maskless, face exposed for the Councilor he was about to meet to see. In his haste he had forgone all measures to conceal his features as he had been taught, though the circular sunglasses he wore provided what cover it could offer to hide the pain in his pale blue eyes. The Knight was clad in his usual dark fashion, from his black, high-collared top with gold buttons down to a pair of similarly colored dress pants and synthleather shoes. Most of his fingers were still covered in bandages, his top lip still bearing the cut it received where he had been struck by one of his cousins. His left eye was still bruised, pale violet stark against ivory skin. The Knight had cleaned up as best as he could, though he still looked as beat up as when he first sent an urgent message to the Council requesting an audience.
And now he stepped into the Council chamber, gaze downcast and shoulders slightly hunched. Willa didn't want to be found, but it was his responsibility to find her, and to inform the Council what she had done. Haldir just hoped that she would be able to forgive him if he ever found her – or if their paths crossed again.
@Logan