A Jedi Craves Not These Things

[Clara Firestorm]

Clara held the blade lock, but she knew she couldn't for much longer. A battle of strength with Khivas wasn't one she could win and she could already feel her body tiring from the exertion she had put it through.

Her mind raced with options and finally she settled upon a strategy. It was a long shot, but sometimes a long shot is what was needed to win the day. Pivoting in the opposite direction of her Master's blade-hand, Clara suddenly switched off her lightsaber. The sudden loss of contact would no doubt cause Khivas to tip forward, if not outright stumble forward given the strength he was putting into his blade.

Now at her Master's side, Clara reignited her lightsaber but not before summoning a large amount of Force energy. She put every bit of concentration she had into a Force pull, which seized at her Master's lightsaber like an ironfist. Her command to the Force was two-fold: tear the lightsaber from Khivas' hand and deactivate the blade as it came free. Of course, she assumed her Master would find a way to retain control of his weapon. Her sole goal, then, was to forcibly create an opening. After all, if Khivas wasn't going to present an opening of his own, she would just have to make one for herself. Should her pull even momentarily cause him to lose control of his weapon, she knew she would have the opening she needed to make the killing blow.

Bringing her own lightsaber high above her head, she swung down with the last remnants of her physical strength --- a maneuver that would sheer Khivas in two were their blades operating at full-power.

 

[Khivas]

Muscle memory, what people without the Force, and even people with it in occasion, use to fight like an expert. Before Khivas truly learned how to manipulate the Force, he had to fight like an old fashioned soldier, learning by repetition and eventually his body would just take over whenever a fight occurred.

A lot of that muscle memory came from his training with Mandolorian Commandos while fighting on Corellia, and again when he was surviving abroad in the seedy underworld of the crime cartels. Thus is why when Clara ripped the Saber from Khivas' hands (an effective trick, one worthy of praise later), Khivas didn't bother to immediately bring the weapon back to him, in fact every form of combat dictates that should you handle whatever handled you before handling your weapon, so as the attacked came screaming down for his head, ready to split him in two, the Swashbuckler stepped forward, dipped slightly, and parried the actual wrist and hand holding the weapon, pushing it to the side as his delivered two body blows to his padawan's side, pushing her away and giving him time to recall his lightsaber back to him.

"Alright, I think it's break time." He said, turning his weapon off. "You've shown me what you're capable of, and for a Padawan, I'm rather impressed."

 

[Clara Firestorm]

Clara, meanwhile, reeled from the strikes to her side. Her body was sore and her injuries throbbed. More frustrating than her defeats, however, was her lack of progress. She certainly appreciated her Master's praise, but she felt that she had ultimately let him down. She just wasn't good enough yet.

"I am grateful for your kind words, Khivas." Clara said her Master's name with a little more ease than the last time. "But, if I may, I feel that I did not accomplish much. My... technique. It lacked the grace and efficiency you displayed. And you did all of that without using the Force."

Clara knew she was being a tad too hard on herself. She was, after all, just a Jedi Padawan. He was an experienced Knight. To expect to defeat him in the first session would be arrogance of the highest caliber and not at all befitting for one who called herself a Jedi hopeful. She inhaled deeply, remembering her initiate training at the fleet, and allowed the negative thoughts to leave her as she exhaled. Though she was only just now training, she saw how difficult it truly was to uphold the Jedi Code in a practical situation. As she let her feelings go, she felt her body relax. From there, she remembered the lessons Jaleer had taught her back on at the fleet and began to direct the Force into the sore spots on her body, relieving the discomfort and pain she felt there.

Perhaps I'm better with Force healing than I gave myself credit for, she mused as she returned her attention back to her Master.

"A break sounds good." she admitted. "Perhaps we can use it to discuss other matters. I sense I am naive about many matters concerning the Jedi. I would be most delighted if you would instruct me."

 

[Khivas]

Khivas noted that like many learners around this stage of their training, Clara was being hard on herself for not being able to best her master. To this, Khivas couldn't offer much in terms of helping to reconcile the feeling, but he was able to say a few words that he hoped would make her feel better. "Well, don't beat yourself up. I've been using a saber for twelve years nearly nonstop, and a majority of those days spent in life or death combat. Needless to say, I got pretty good with this thing, and you aren't so bad yourself."

Moving in from that, as Clara healed her bruises and sore spots using the Force (an ability she probably was already better than Khivas at), she mentioned that she was still untrained in many things Jedi and wanted to learn more, and it seemed as her newly found master, Khivas would be the best man for the job.

For now, that is. Force forbid she asked a question that would stump him just as much as her.

"Well, what do you want to learn about, exactly?" Khivas asked, hoping for the best.

 

[Clara Firestorm]

"That's a fairly broad question, you know?" Clara replied, a hint of a smirk on her lips. "The galaxy is a fast-changing place. The Jedi aren't exactly welcome in it anymore. The Rebellion may be gaining traction against the Sith, but the Sith are still the larger power in the galaxy. In my studies, I have read that the Jedi used to be diplomats and peaceful moderators in the days of the Galactic Alliance and the Old Republic. Now that we're more or less fugitives, what is our role? Are we just warriors for the Rebellion? Their answer to the Force-wielding Sith and their Lords? Or is there some greater purpose to all of this?"

Clara hoped that her question was in good taste. She often had wondered where the Jedi fit into the grand scheme of things. Although she very much wanted to be apart of the mission to destroy the Sith, she also wondered where else the path of the Jedi would lead her too. Somehow, she knew that the Jedi would not always be the minority in the galaxy. And when that day came, she wanted to be prepared for her role in it.

 

[Khivas]

"Hm, you sound more like a stressed teenage girl than a Jedi Warrior there." Teased Khivas, adding a sly wink with his retort before going deeper into his answer. "

"The Jedi were once Diplomats and Ambassadors, yes, Scholars and Healers as well, but they were also Warriors, but never Soldiers." He said, harking back in his own history lessons. "And today it's not much different. We're still Healers, Scholars, and Diplomats, and of course Warriors. What changed for us is the ruling party of the Galaxy. Sith have a tendency to Force Jedi to focus more on being a warrior above other things."

Pausing a moment to reach for his belt, Khivas grabbed a canteen from one of his pouches and opened it up, letting the water quench his thirst before continuing. "What happened before, what put us in this position, it wasn't the overwhelming might of the Sith, it was a sudden problem with the Jedi, how we went from powerful protectors of the Galaxy, seekers of knowledge and justice, to suddenly fleeing and leaving our allies to fend for themselves at the hands of our timeless enemy. Our old leadership messed up big, and even in recent times they put a massive emphasis on being formally defensive, to remain in hiding even after we got ousted as being alive and well within the Galaxy. Needless to say, it was banthashit, and I'm glad I came back to the order at the right time."

Noticing the oddity of what he just said, and the fact that Clara may not know Khivas' actual story, something many in fact should not know, Khivas looked back to Clara after taking another drink of his water and said "I probably should've mentioned this, but I wasn't even aware the Jedi had an order still until about six months or so ago. And my first real battle as a Jedi was right here on Naboo."

 

[Clara Firestorm]

"It would seem, then, that we both have a strong connection to this world." Clara mused, her voice as distant as her thoughts. "That said, it doesn't sound like you have too much faith in the Jedi Council. The leadership always seems to get a bad rap wherever I go, no matter the organization or faction. Word on the HoloNet is that the Sith themselves nearly had a coup on their hands. The Dark Council vying for power or some such. Regardless, it does us no good to reflect on the shortcomings of the past. A Jedi's mind must always be in the present. At least, that's what the Masters back on the fleet always used to say."

She glanced sideways at Khivas, trying to gauge his expression before continuing on.

"Besides, I want very little to do with the politics of the Order. Become a scholar? Perhaps. But one thing is clear to me, even at my age. We must destroy the Sith. That," she said with purpose. "That, I'm sure, is my destiny. I may be only a single Jedi, but even one candle can hold back the darkness." She giggled embarrassingly to herself, knowing how idealistic she must sound to Khivas. "At least, that's what the old Jedi poets used to say."

 

[Khivas]

As if by fate, a small flashback, the span of mere seconds at the most, played in Khivas' mind as he remembered watching the Sith land on Corellia to wage their war against the planet's resistance forces in full. He remembered that day, remembered how he had looked up at his former master and asked him how it was possible to fight against such immense forces, to which Ayso had only one thing to say.

"Don't you know my boy? Even a single candle can hold back the darkness."

It would seem the Force did indeed still have a sense of humor, and it was ever guiding in life, anyways placing you precisely where you needed to be. And of course Khivas was where he was meant to be at this time, apparently to train and teach Clara here about the ways of the Jedi, both old and new. "Yea, you're pretty much right actually kiddo, so don't think you're too cheesy there with the Jedi poetry." Khivas said with a chuckle. "But our leadership is doing a lot better now, finally taking the war to the Sith for once. It's even in our code, the whole Jedi are protectors bit, and thus here we are, protecting the Galaxy against the Sith. I remember when some people at first said that Jedi are only peacekeepers, and I simply laughed at them, because being a peacekeeper sometimes entails being a warrior as well. And about them Sith....."

Standing up, Khivas took a stretch and loosened his muscles back up before bringing his hands to his hips and continuing. "They did indeed have a civil war, their holofeeds grossly downplayed it. They lost and as far as I know, still have yet to reclaim Korriban, they Empress' palace got totally demolished in a lovely operation, they've lost supply lines, shipyards, and are even now failing miserably to win battles that they themselves would seem to think would be easy victories. If this keeps up, the Sith are going to get really well re-acquainted with the shadow they crawled out of, hopefully for another thousand years. But enough tales of a back and forth tug'o'war, tell me your story, where are you from and all that."

 

[Clara Firestorm]

Clara smiled softly.

"I am from Serenno. The Firestorm family has a Jedi history going all the way back to the Second Hutt Wars. I admit, I myself was not aware of this history until many months ago: just before I returned to the Jedi. During the era of the Old Republic, my family settled there on Serenno. If I remember correctly, the guy who settled it was a former Jedi. One of the first kicked out over romantic relationships or some such. I'm the first Jedi from my family since.... I guess the Clone Wars. Though that could have just been my mother's exaggerations. I'm also among the last of the Firestorm family." At this she paused, her eyes glazing over as she remembered her family. "Many of my cousins became Sith, per Darth Judicar's orders. Judicar himself is missing, but, assuming he's alive, we're the last two of our ancient family."

At this she chuckled.

What humor the Force must have. Here she was, among the last of her noble family, the other of which was a Dark Lord of the Sith. His order, as fate would have it, was on the decline. Her's was ascendant. Perhaps that was the Force's way of telling her she was on the right side of history. Or, maybe she was reading into the situation too much. She couldn't quite tell which it was.

"I don't think it would be a bad thing if the Firestorms were to fade away but... I'd like to do something to honor the Jedi of my family. They say my ancestor, Siri, was a great Jedi Weapon's Master. Given my desire to become a Jedi Guardian, I think I might at least do her the honor of restoring the title to one of her descendants."

 

[Khivas]

"It would seem then that you were destined to be a Jedi." Khivas said after hearing a little more backstory on Clara and her family. "Maybe later I'll hear about how you found your way into the Jedi, but for now I won't press it. To each our own story to tell, when we want to tell it. Welp, since we're looking for a change of topic, is there anything else you'd like to learn about pertaining to the Jedi? The code? How to strengthen telekinesis? Light things in fire with your brainpan? That last one is becoming a personal favorite." Said Khivas as he turned been to face Clara, his time cordial and his eagerness to teach becoming stronger, sure signs that he was getting old.

However, before he could get a response from his Padawan, an explosion rocked the facility he was in, shaking the very foundation and shattering the bay window on the far wall, forcing both Jedi to the ground as the shockwave crashed into them. Dust then rushed in through the broken glass, and it became apparent that whatever blew, blew up big, sending debris everywhere and causing chaos in the streets, as Khivas could sense as he laid there on the ground.

Speaking of senses, his Force Sense was the only reason him and Clara didn't have glass shards in their faces, as his senses tripped just in time for him to set up a barrier, one just strong enough to prevent physical objects from hitting him and his student, but not enough to stop the force of the explosion itself.

Getting up to one knee, Khivas reached back and grabbed the armoring with his hood, pulling it forward and donning his helmet, realizing through the Force that whatever caused this was still nearby, and still had an itching to blow more stuff up. "Clara, Clara!" He yelled, trying to wake his Padawan. She didn't appear injured, but she wasn't fully awake yet and he needed her to be pretty much right that second, so using the Force as Jaleer instructed, he focused his energy on the student and healed whatever minor impact that has jarred her, bringing her back to consciousness.

"C'mon kiddo, we got work to do. You're about to get your first on the job lesson."

 

[Clara Firestorm]

To say she was dazed would have been an understatement.

Clara's hearing was the first thing to return to her. She could hear Khivas shouting for her to come to, but all she could see was blackness. Her sight came moments later, blurry at first until it finally refocused. Almost at once she felt the Force surging into her and, through its perceptions, she could see that it was flowing into her from her Master. Khivas was attempting to heal her or wake her from her slumber. Whatever he had done had succeeded, though it left behind a nasty headache.

"Either a Gungan just dropped the mother of all Boomas," she chuckled weakly. "Or we've been attacked."

Rubbing her head where it impacted the durasteel flooring, Clara slowly made her way back to her feet. Immediately she reached out and touched the Force. Panic was everywhere, as was... pain and suffering and... death. The sensation was soft at first, but quickly became overwhelming as others began to discover what had happened and unknowingly transmitted their agony through the Force.

"Something terrible has happened..." Clara surmised, stating what must have been the obvious. "We should make sure everyone is alright."

 

[Khivas]

"Glad to know your humor survived," Khivas said as Clara weakly cracked a joke as she rose to her feet, "But as we both can grasp, we got work to do, and this was no accident."

Rising to his feet with good Padawan, Khivas looked around the room as he walked over to the window, and sticking his head out as he took in the scene below him. It was indeed as he had felt, with chaos being strewn about the streets and pain filling the air rapidly as the seconds flew by. Knowing that he was experienced enough to block out and work through such strife but his student not so much, Khivas pulled himself back in and placed his hands on Clara's shoulders, trying to help calm her, hello her to focus. "I know you can feel it, all that hurt floating around. As a Jedi you're going to have to fight and work through it, it's our duty to do it, because like you said, people need us. Now let's go."

 

[Clara Firestorm]

Once Khivas gave the word, Clara was in motion.

She left the main training room and walked out into the hall. The people there initially seemed to be alright. They were staggering from the shockwave, but she could feel neither pain nor suffering from them. The heavy feeling of dread she felt was coming from the entrance to the training facility. There, in the reception area, Clara found what she so clearly could sense in the Force. The ceiling in this room had partially caved in and the man who had greeted both herself and her Master was trapped beneath some of the debris. Though she couldn't see much of him, she could see the telltale crimson of blood staining his forehead. She knew she only had minutes to act.

"Khivas! In here!" she shouted.

Dipping into the Force, Clara directed her palm towards the debris covering the man. The durasteel was mentally heavy, but she had moved much heavier objects in the past. The broken pieces of ceiling slowly lifted off of the man's body and Clara tossed them causally to the side, where they were certain to be out of her way. She immediately fell to her knees next to the man. He was groaning loudly and the Padawan could tell that he was dipping in and out of consciousness. Drawing upon her limited training, she again called upon the Force and directed it towards the man's body. The Force naturally sped the man's body's healing processes. In the meantime, she focused her own attention on keeping his pain levels down.

All around her, she could sense others in pain, but the Force was also alerting her to a new danger.

"Master!" she called out, sensing him nearby. "We have to get these people out of here. The roof is still unstable!"

 

[Khivas]

Khivas and Clara had separated for the moment, each one searching the general area to find survivors. A general scan of the area had shown that the target, or at least the perceived target of the bombing, was indeed the training facility for the Rebellion on Naboo. "Son of a bitch..." He said under his breath as his senses continued to trip with the apparent danger all around him.

After sensing that there were no survivors where he had launched his initial search, Khivas ran back in the direction that Clara had headed in, only to find her yelling for his help. As he arrived on the scene in seconds thanks to his gifted speed, he found the men who had greeted them earlier, only one immediately visible as he lay there pinned underneath the debris from the fallen roof, the others close by but obscured despite Clara's efforts to rescue the first survivor by moving the durasteel beams. "Hang on!" Khivas said when he heard Clara warn him about the roof, and as sure as the rain falls from the sky, the roof began to fall and plummet towards the Jedi duo.

However Khivas would not let himself be killed here, not in such a simple, hilarious, and ironic way. "I didn't come this far to die to a falling roof!" He yelled out, raising his hands taking hold of the Force, creating a massive deflection with one hand a barrier in the other, making a field to stop the falling mass from landing on everybody. It was here that Khivas thought that now was a better time than any to teach his student a lesson on the Force (the timing was terrible) and looked to her to say "Clara, focus your mind and call on the Force; Lift that debris and get these people out of here, now!"

It wasn't so much that Khivas couldn't both hold the falling debris at bay and lift the already fallen rubble from the injured so Clara could drag them away, because he could, Khivas' actual skill with Telekinesis had come that far now, but it was that he didn't want to, that he didn't have to. Only so much more debris could actually fall from the roof and ceiling before there'd be nothing left, and Khivas had already grabbed most of it, holding it in the air and pushing whatever didn't need to held to the side. He did this now to make sure Clara would see for herself just how powerful she was, how her own beacon lit up in the Force.

{OOC: If this is ass, I'm sorry, I haven't fully slept in a couple of days lol}

 

[Clara Firestorm]

Clara didn't have to be told.

The instant she felt Khivas 'go supernova', in a sense, in the Force, she too dove in fully. The feeling was like taking a dive into the frosty waters of Mon Calamari with no protective gear between oneself and the water. Her Master's words reached her even as she mimicked his actions. She had to strain a little, since she had never conjured the Force in such a blanketed way before, but the power came and when it did it flowed outward like a large bubble: catching anything and everything that fell from above. The strain was tremendous. Clara felt every singular stone that had fallen from the ceiling and, while she wasn't physically lifting them, their weight was certainly known to her. With a flick of the wrist, she sent the debris hurling off to the side, out of her way. She then directed the power of the Force towards the debris that was blocking the way for their immediate departure.

"Sith's blood, that was like lifting a Hutt...." Clara groaned under her breath.

Returning to the task at hand, Clara ducked down and raised the injured receptionist off of the ground, allowing him to use her as a good means of stability and support. There weren't many survivors. She could see that now. Around her, though, she could hear the creaking of the structure as the academy continued to fall apart. Glancing over her shoulder at Khivas, she voiced what must have been obvious to the Knight by now:

"I have a bad feeling about this."

Clutching her patient tightly to her, she began to walk slowly towards the exit. The injured man was certainly hindering her speed. A few more strides, however, and she was back inside the narrow passage that had lead them into the training facility. Moments later, she breathed in smoke and fire as she exited the building and saw just how much damage the explosion had done. The structure was burning, the roof collapsing in other places. People who had been nearby the structure during the explosion were strewn about the streets in varying degrees of pain. Carefully, she lowered the injured man she was carrying onto the marble streets below.

"Hang in there," she soothed him. "I'll get you fixed up really soon."

As she resumed healing the man, she inwardly hoped Khivas would emerge soon. She wasn't enough, alone, to heal all of these injured people.

 

[Khivas]

As Clara got the injured folks out from under the rubble and away to the relative safety of the hallway, Khivas continued to hold up the debris in the air, straining but knowing darn well he was going to be ok with his later as this was always good exercise, smiling at the fact that he managed to find a sliver of of a silver lining in the dark clouds currently overhead.

When the last of the survivors had been taken out, Khivas let the debris fall away from him, leaving him to stand there in the open area, the smell of smoke and blood tingling his nostrils. As he looked at the devastation, his senses caught a feeling of anger, unfiltered and unbridled, as if something was looking at him with raw hatred. Reaching out further in the area, Khivas located the source of it, and looking up at the open hole in the roof, he saw a figured clad in black staring down at him, and while their eyes weren't visible, Khivas got the feeling that they held nothing but contempt for him.

"So that's where you've been." Khivas said to himself as he charged the Force into his body, letting loose a massive leap the second the assailant turned and started running. The Knight flew through the air in the span of seconds, and as soon as he landed on the roof, started chasing his quarry, running through smoke and embers left over on the roof as he chased down the man who caused such carnage. What was interesting to note was that this person did not radiate within the Force as a Force-User would, yet they managed to run and move with the speed of one, evading capture from a Knight that specialized in moving pretty damn quickly. "Damn he's fast..." Khivas thought to himself as he continued chasing the man down, and as they reached the end of the training facility, the target leaped into the air and activated a grapple hook at the same time as a some sort of jump pack, spreading what looked like wings into the air and flying off. As Khivas went to go jump after him, the Force aiding him in mimicry of the action technology can do, his senses tripped once again, alerting him to the bomb that was slyly laid at his feet, and with lightning fast reflexes, he warded himself from the explosion using his skills at Telekinesis and Barrier, creating a deflection field that saved his ass from turning into the new paint scheme for the roof.

Getting up from the explosion, Khivas looked up and could see the man at the very top of the highest tower in Selton, gazing only for a second before the man turned and leaped again, Khivas losing his quarry to distance and time, realizing that his Padawan was still in the area and needed help, he could sense her distress through the Force. Reaching out to her, and trying to contact her through the Force, a trick Khivas admitted to not only having very little practice with (read: none) and actually disliked, Khivas wanted to try it anyway, to send a mental message to Clara to tell her he was on his way back.

"Sorry Clara, I found the guy that did this but he got away. Crafty little shit, and ten to one, well enhanced through cybernetics. If we're going to catch this guy, I'm going to have to teach you the basics with Force Enhancements. Just hang tight a little longer though, I'll be there soon."

 

[Clara Firestorm]

Clara had to smile to herself as she heard her Master's voice in her mind.

She didn't let it distract her from soothing the injured with her words and her powers, but she had to give them credit. She and Khivas had barley known each other a full standard day and already they had the synchronization of a fully-bonded Master-Padawan duo. Rather than respond, however, she merely nodded to herself and continued on with her duties of healing the sick and the wounded. She could dwell on the future of her training when her Master arrived to instruct her.

For now, the wounded were her priority.

((OOC: Sorry if this seemed short. Just want to give Khivas time to get there.))

 

[Khivas]

The walk back to the relief area was a dismal, bleak march, one befitting a funeral more than anything else. Sadness and pain still lingered heavily in the air, only gaining strength as the death toll rose as the fires and initial strikes made by that bastard subsided, it's thickness acting as a fog that Khivas had to cut through with every step until he found his Padawan, still busy healing the wounded.

Looking at her as he slid his helmet back into it's resting position, Khivas couldn't help but admire that her skills with healing far surpassed his own, and he wasn't exactly the worst at it anymore. "Keep that up and people are going to think you're a regular Sage or Healer." He said to her, "But alas, you wanted to be a warrior, so a warrior's training is what you'll receive. Come, you need to rest for what's to come, and I need to do some research on all of.....this." Beckoning Clara away from the mess. Even if she wasn't a child, if she had been through all of this before, the fact remained that she wasn't quite on the same level as Khivas, or most other Knights for that matter, and to learn what she had to learn for the times ahead, she'd need to be in tip top shape first, and that required rest.

"As I go about finding information on this guy, I want you to study up on some homework I'm going to impart you, and don't worry, I'll be sure to make you practice it before we head off to find the bastard that did this." Khivas told Clara as the two began to move. "Force Speed and Force Leap, and a third, unique trick I've picked up. You can already employ sense on a whim, and rather well at that, and I've seen your strength with Telekinesis, but for the sake of simply being a Jedi, let alone your want to be a Guardian, you're going to need to learn how to let the Force augment your living body. Here, watch me." He said, stopping in the middle of a street near an old ruined building left over from the battle months ago. Raising his left hand and charging his body with the Force, and launched a punch straight into the stone wall, shattering it. "That trick is the pinnacle of augmenting your body with the Force, something I call Force Valor, but to start it, you need to learn how to use Force Speed and Leap, and those are actually pretty easy, if not extremely crucial. To be as blunt as possible, you focus on the Force all around you, and let it flow into your body and you in return channel it's strength. Really that simple. You just need the body built to keep up with it, and we already have that covered." The Knight said, finishing his instruction to Clara.

"Now then, remember what I said. I'll even send you notes in a datapad later if I have to, but for now, practice that on your own; I'm going to find out what I can about our mystery bomber."

 

[Clara Firestorm]

"May the Force be with you, Mast... er, Khivas." Clara let a grin slip as she bowed respectfully. She was going to have to get used to her Master's brashness.

Once he was gone, she she set about the task he had given her. Before she could even begin practicing the Force skills he had assigned her to learn, she would need a place to learn them. The training facility was obviously out of the question and she didn't think training out in the middle of the streets of Theed would be... becoming. She might get a few amusing looks, however. She decided, then, to locate a place of solitude. One where she could practice her skills with relative safety and without being disturbed. She at once thought of a place. Theed was known for its botanical gardens. Though many had been burned during the battle, she knew some must still be around.

As she made her way up the marble streets from the ruins of the training facility, she purposely removed the datapad that was resting in the pocket of her robes. Thumbing through some files, she input a search query for Theed botanical gardens that were nearby her present location. The HoloNet provided her answer almost immediately. Five clicks west of her present location was a still-functioning botanical garden --- the owner of which she had heard of when she had been deployed to Naboo: Theran Karr.

Theran Karr was a friend of the Jedi who had nursed many of their wounded, after the Battle, back to health. His gardens hadn't been hit by the Sith invasion and had acted as the staging ground for his operation to assist the Jedi during the immediately aftermath of the fighting. She brought up the coordinates for the gardens and quickly made her way for them. As she moved, she used her datapad to send her destination to Khivas. The man would no doubt have no difficulties finding her either way, but she wanted to be a good student and keep her Master posted on her movements.

Clara arrived at the botanical gardens almost an hour later. She had to admit, she had become lost while admiring the beauty of the city around her. Upon arriving at the stone archway that signified the entrance to the gardens, she was greeted by a crimson-plated TC-series protocol droid.

"Greetings, human," the droid said mechanically. "I am TC-18, the master's protocol droid, at your service. How may I assist you?"

"It is nice to meet you, TC." Clara smiled and bowed slightly. "I'm actually here seeking Theran Karr. Is he around?"

"I should think so. Do you have an appointment?"

"I'm afraid not. This is a bit of a spontaneous call, but it is of importance. I'm seeking a place to train quietly in peace while my Master preforms some research. I had heard Theran was a friend to the Jedi and wondered if he might allow me to use the gardens for a time."

"I-"

"Hold, TC." a male voice said from behind the droid. "Welcome, Master Jedi. It has been awhile since we've had one of your kind visited these gardens."

Behind the droid, a short, plump man, with sparse hair on his head and a grey beard came into sight. Theran Karr was far from how Clara imagined him to look, but he at least seemed pleasant. The young Jedi could not sense any danger from him, in spite of the recent attack outside of Theed.

"I do hope my droid wasn't holding you up." Theran said, glancing over at the TC-unit. "How can I be of service to you?"

"I do apologize for the abruptness of my visit, Theran. I am seeking a place to center my mind and train while my Master is away on an important mission. Perhaps you heard about the bombing a short while ago?"

"Heard about it?" the fat man chuckled. "You can still see the smoke from here! I should've known you Jedi were involved in that mess...." Theran scratched his beard and then nodded his head. "Well, I hope your master's mission is successful. As to you, as long as you're not practicing your lightsaber on my plants, you're welcome to use the gardens until your heart's content."

Clara could see the grin slip across the man's lips. He was clearly joking about the lightsaber-part, though she wasn't going to carve up his garden. Thankful for his agreement, Clara bowed again respectfully before having TC-18 usher her into the garden through the archway.

"I am most grateful, Theran."

"The pleasure is all mine, Miss Jedi. TC?"

"Of course, sir!" the droid's voice seemed to perk up, wobbling its way in front of them. "This way, Master Jedi."

----​

An hour later, Clara was in deep meditation in the center of the garden.

The garden was extraordinarily peaceful. The gentle sounds of the wildlife, combined with the soft babbling coming from a nearby creek, aided her tremendously in centering herself in the Force. In particular, she meditated upon the instructions her Master had given her. When she felt the Force had adequately answered her queries, she opened her eyes, inhaled, stood, exhaled, and then prepared to act. The first technique she was to learn was the Force Leap. A simple enough technique, in theory.

Diving into the Force, Clara gathered the energy from it into her feet. Nearby, she could see a stone bridge over a small brook running through the garden. With the Force flowing through her, Clara burst into motion, breaking easily into a sprint. To her surprise, the sudden surge of Force energy augmented her speed, causing her to sprint that much faster. That must have been the Force Speed that her Master had wanted her to learn as well.

Simple enough, she thought.

Upon reaching a reasonable distance, she allowed the Force to swell in her feet and legs, using the energy almost as a springboard. The sudden launch surprised her. She realized almost instantly that she had, perhaps, but a tad too much power into her leap. This was confirmed when she found herself landing into the brook... on the opposite side of the bridge. The water was frigid, her tunic doing little to combat the cold. Her head burst from the water seconds later and she inhaled sharply for air. Her robes sloshed annoyingly as she made her way out of the water. Liquid pooled in her boots, soaking her stockings. The young Jedi blew a single strand of her hair out of her face.

"This is going to be a loooong day..." she muttered and then stormed off to dry her clothes.

((OOC: HUGE post. Breaking this up to give you a chance to post and do what you need ^^))