Ask Takodana Preserved Ruins

Shaw watched Myla trace each diamond tattoo along her face. They represented her achievements. Her accomplishments. A physical and ever present reminder the journey she had taken to become the person that she was now, the person that she would be tomorrow. "Wow," Shaw reflected when she had finished, "That's really neat."

Shaw just brushed his fingers off on his pants since they didn't have any napkins and stood up while Myla picked everything up with a flick of the wrist. Crazy to think about how simple every day tasks could become with the force. How often would telekinesis have come in handy back on Coruscant when his mom was making him pick up his room as a kid? He could have just kept on playing video games while his room cleaned itself. Cause that was definitely how that worked.

"You're gonna have to give me the deets on that battle droid you destroyed sometime," Shaw grinned, slinging his backpack over his shoulder again. Lunch break was over, and it was time to hit the trails again! Now that his stomach was full, the teenager was looking forward to seeing these preserved ruins. It was a favorite hang out for some of the padawans, so it had to be worth the hike. @Interdictor

Shaw looked over at Myla as they walked. It wasn't that hard? He kinda found that hard to believe. He had never done anything like that before. She was probably just downplaying it, but... he wouldn't push it. She seemed like she had a lot of stuff to she wanted to keep to herself. Shaw was naturally a very curious guy, but he could respect that. He would drop the subject, even if he was sure there was a really epic story behind that battle droid.

"Hobbies?" he echoed, climbing onto a tree that had fallen across the pathway and doing a little balancing act across it before jumping down on the other side. Did he really have hobbies anymore? Back on Coruscant he and his buddies had spent every spare moment they had together. Hitting the arcade, playing ball in the park, going to the movies, running all over town getting into all kinds of trouble. Since his parents had sent him to the Jedi for safekeeping he had had less and less free time on his hands.

"I like playing video games," he replied after a moment or two. Sounded pretty lame, huh? But it was true. He missed his old console, left behind on Coruscant with pretty much everything else he had owned. "Love being outside. Love... food." That one was probably pretty obvious by the way he had eaten all his lunch and left no crumbs.

Wow. All of that sounded kinda lame, didn't it? Maybe he needed to pick up some new hobbies. Find himself again now that he was in a new place and becoming a new person. "Guess I'm still finding my hobbies," he would wrap it up, mind already drifting toward new hobbies. Whatever those might be.

"What about you?" @Interdictor

Shaw's face lit up when Myla mentioned that she loved training with her lightsaber. "Do you really? Wait a sec. Check this out." He fumbled around in his backpack for a minute or two and then pulled out a training lightsaber. "Buddy of mine just gave me this! Awesome, isn't it?" It was obvious Shaw was extremely proud of the weapon. Not to mention extremely grateful that Caul had given it to him (@Zay ). "We should totally train together! I could really use the practice." He waved the hilt around, imagining it was ignited before clipping it to his belt. Best to keep it handy in case they wanted to get in some training later today.

There were still a lot of padawans that Shaw had yet to meet, but the handful that he had met were pretty cool individuals. People he really looked up to and wanted to be more like. People that challenged him to do better. Be better. A lot of names came to mind, but he would just mention a few of the ones that he had spent the most time with. "Uhhh well Caul—he's the buddy that gave me this." He tapped on the lightsaber. "He's a great guy. Macote's another buddy of mine. You've probably met him or at least heard of him." Dude was a legend amongst the padawans since he had fought and defended Ithor in battle and won.

"Heidi and Prani—they've got some crazy abilities. You'd really like them if you haven't met em yet. Don't believe all the rumors you hear about Prani though," he added. "People just like the pick on her. But she's great." The kind of person that believed in you even when she probably shouldn't have. "Roanoke. Dude has lived a crazy eventful life and has come out on top. Oh, and Zessel. Don't know him that well but bro makes some baller cookies." Shaw's mouth watered just thinking about those cookies.

There were other names he could've mentioned, but he realized that he'd been rambling for a while. He also realized just how many awesome people he had met since joining the order. And there were still a lot left to meet. Shaw looked up and grinned, spotting some old stone between a cluster of trees up ahead. "Hey! I think I see the ruins!" @Interdictor

"Count on it!" Shaw grinned over at Myla when she remarked that she would like to meet some of them. She seemed cool. He'd be happy to introduce them if she didn't run into them on her own first. That was a real possibility as often as they paired padawans up for assignments and training.

Now that their destination was within view there was an extra bounce in the padawan's steps as they climbed over the last fallen trees and skipped over the last stones standing between them and the preserved ruins. Shaw wasn't really sure what he had expected the ruins to look like, but they checked all the boxes. Weathered stone. Overgrown greenery. A silent, secluded little meadow not far from the lake.

"Sure is quiet," Shaw spoke softly, not really realizing he had lowered his tone as they approached the ruins.

Still. That was a better word to describe it. Untouched and yet touched by the memories and lives of thousands of other Jedi that had been here before them. He ducked under some low hanging vines and ran a hand over a cracked stone block. It would have taken some serious manual labor to stack these stones one on top of the other—oh yeah. Duh. They had the force. They could just magic it up there. Sometimes Shaw forgot just how different life was for force users, even ancient ones.

Then Shaw spotted something hanging from a vine a few feet away. A pair of shoes. He climbed up onto a fallen pillar and retrieved the shoes. Looked like sandals. Someone's idea of a joke bringing them all the way out here. Pulling out his dataphone he snapped a pic and sent it to Prani (@Sreeya ). these yours?

Turning to Myla, he said, "Soooo should we meditate or something?" He had a feeling that was why they had been sent up here in the first place. @Interdictor

Shaw stowed the pair of sandals in his backpack for safekeeping so he could return them to Prani if they happened to be hers. Who was he kidding? There was probably a good 99% chance they were hers. Then he sat down across from Myla, but he didn't close his eyes quite yet. He allowed himself a few minutes of rest, taking in the nature that surrounded him on every side. Allowed his breathing to regulate after all the hiking they had done. Then he glanced over at Myla, already in the zone, before closing his eyes and swallowing. He hoped he had more luck meditating than he usually did.

Knight Alhazred had given him pretty good advice. Focus on what you're feeling. Recognize what you're feeling. And then let it go. Focus on what you're feeling and recognize each emotion—a little tired, perhaps, from the hike. Annoyed because some of the other padawans had been stealing stuff from Prani again. Discouraged because Myla slipped seamlessly into meditation like a good Jedi while Shaw typically struggled.

One of the instructors at the temple had said that meditation was about gaining a deeper understanding of yourself, not just about connecting with the force. A deeper understanding of himself... He was tired because he had hiked. Yeah, that one was pretty obvious. The solution? Also pretty obvious. He would need to train harder. Get into better shape. He was annoyed because he really liked Prani. He considered her a friend. He had grown to like a lot of the padawans he had met. Caul. Heidi. Macote. Roanoke. Myla now too! The list went on. He had connected with them. Grown to care for them over the course of a few short months. Discouraged because he had come to the realization recently that he need to do better. Wanted to do better. Be better. He wanted to harness the force. He wanted be the best he could be. Maybe even the best Jedi he could be.

Now came the harder part... letting go. Shaw took a deep breath and exhaled. Mentally giving himself permission to let each emotion go one by one. Making himself an empty vessel. Making room for the force itself. @Interdictor

That was when something happened. Something different and yet familiar. A stirring from deep within him. Coming from a place he wasn't familiar with. A part of himself that he didn't know. That he had never been allowed to know. That he had never allowed himself to know.

It was like that moment in the jungle, when those mutated squirrels had been swarming him and he had panicked and felt something moving in his veins. Brushing against his skin. But this time it was calmer, smaller. Less urgent and less obvious. It didn't brush against his senses in mighty gusts. It just tugged at the edges of his senses. Asking for permission to be let in or... waiting for something.

Shaw decided not to listen to what he had been told all his life. Not to listen to the voice in the back of his head that told him this wasn't a good idea. That said his parents wouldn't be pleased. That they would be upset with him. That he was opening a door that would be hard to close. That he might never close. Instead he just listened to his instincts. Gave in to whatever it was that was pulling him deeper into himself. Deeper into the force. And let go of control. @Interdictor

"Hm?"

Shaw wasn't sure how much time had passed or if any had passed at all. Not until someone said his name and he opened his eyes that is. Then he saw Myla standing near him, staring at him with an expectant look on her face. She wasn't meditating anymore. Then he looked past her, over her shoulder to the horizon where the sun was setting in the distance, somewhere beyond the trees of Takodana. How long had they been up here?

Wait. Had he been meditating too? His brown eyes refocused on the Mirialan standing a few feet away from him. "Was I actually meditating?" he asked, unable to hide the excitement that tinged his tone. If he had, that would be a major first step for him! He felt like he had been meditating, but he wanted to get a second opinion. From someone that clearly knew what they were doing when it came to meditation. Just in case he was tripping or had just fallen asleep and dreamed it all or something. @Interdictor

"Really?" Shaw perked up. He had meditated! Actually meditated for real for the first time! This was exciting stuff. It might have been every day stuff to Myla, but it was quite an accomplishment for Shaw. It was a first step. Hopefully with more and more practice he would get as good at meditating as her. Maybe even as good as some of his instructors! Okay, that was probably wishful thinking, but Shaw was in a good mood.

He reached out to give Myla a celebratory high five, but he had already laid down and was staring up at the stars. His arm swung slowly and gradually back to his side. Well that was awkward. Shaw was all for hiking back to the temple tonight, but Myla was probably right. It was getting dark, and they didn't know their way very well. They probably would have ended up getting lost or, knowing Shaw's luck, tripped and rolled all the way down the side of the mountain into the lake.

"I packed some sleeping bags," he said, reaching into his pack and pulling two sleeping bags out. It had been on the list of stuff they were supposed to bring along just in case. He handed one to Myla and took the other for himself. Then he pulled out some jerky and started munching on it. "Does this count as camping?" he asked. Because if so, this would be his first time camping. Not a lot of opportunities for camping on Coruscant. That's for sure. @Interdictor

Maybe? It probably counted. At least Shaw was gonna count it. Seemed like camping to him! They had sleeping bags. They had jerky. They had... well really that was all they had. But they still had two of the essentials.

Myla didn't seem like she was in the mood for chatting or campfire stories or anything like that, so Shaw just setled into his sleeping bag and munched on his jerky. Now that he thought about it they didn't have a campfire anyway, so they could just scratch out any possibility of campfire stories. "There's lots of food if you're hungry!" he told Myla between bites. Jerky. Chips. Some dried fruit. All kinds of good stuff. Eventually, when Shaw had eaten his fill he laid back and pulled out his dataphone to do some mindless scrolling.

If Myla wanted to chat, he as more than happy to. It just seemed like maybe she needed some time to herself. Otherwise he would probably just barrage Macote and Caul with some memes and then eventually pass out when he was too tired to keep his eyes open anymore. @Interdictor

Shaw waved a dismissive hand when Myla thanked him for the jerky. Not that she could see the gesture in the dark, but he said, "Don't mention it." Seriously. This was all food he had raided from the temple kitchens. It was just as much hers as it was his. "G'night!" he couldn't help but add, "And don't let the bed bugs bite!" Something they might actually have to worry about sleeping outside now that he thought about it. Suddenly he felt itchy all over. Best to not think about all the creepy crawlies hanging around out here.

A silence occupied the darkness between their two sleeping bags after that. Shaw mindlessly scrolled the internet as he had intended, and Myla presumably fell asleep. Shaw hadn't realized how late it was. He was watching a funny video online when Myla screamed.

Shaw didn't know it was possible to jump straight into the air when you were lying down, but he came close to it. His phone fell to the ground in the chaos. Struggling to get out of his sleeping bag, he looked around their little camp expecting to see some kind of wild animal or some escaped serial killer lurking over their bed rolls ready to slit their throats. Instead he saw nothing. "What!? What is it?" Maybe there really were bed bugs. @Interdictor