Ask A Temple Under Construction

[Ke'rena]

Fiana, 12:00 local time, Fiani Jedi Temple

Rena would be lying if they said they weren't feeling a little homesick. Or maybe they wouldn't be, because they were feeling very, very homesick. The Jedi temple, even in its under-construction status with boxes everywhere and constant noise, was amazingly cool and like nothing they'd ever seen or experienced, but they still missed their dads. They missed gathering together around a big bonfire with the village at the end of the week to roast meats and chat and gossip away. The temple left a little lifeless compared to that. Their little soul had always longed to wander out into the galaxy, but even here, still firmly on Fiana's surface, they felt an aching for home.

Despite their aching for their life back at home, there was no part of it that could diminish their excitement to be here. While they knew of the Jedi before they arrived on Fiana, stories about them were like fantasy tales to the teenage girl. They almost seemed like gods to Rena — or like the great heroes of legend — and while they were clearly just normal people with the special ability to connect to the Force, they couldn't shake the excitement of being allowed to become one of them. Of course, they'd still actually have to go through the process of becoming an actual Jedi. But they were here! In a temple! Surrounded by other people who could use the Force!

It was noon before Rena convinced themself to roll out of bed and start their day. After throwing on some clothes, they shoved their fingers through their hair to calm the bed-head and happily skipped out into the chilly temple halls. The best remedy for feeling homesick, they thought, was to go out and do things. Plus, they were kind of hungry and the smell of lunch had wafted its way up into their little dorm room. The cafeteria was already beginning to fill up with others following their noses or answering their rumbling stomachs, so Rena fell in line behind several others queueing up to get their food. After nabbing some sort of sandwich, a cold bottled drink, and a bag of chips, Rena marched off with their tray to survey the cafeteria.

But where did they sit? Suddenly overwhelmed by the idea of having to make such a decision, the yako fiani plopped themself down at an empty table and began trying to (unsuccessful) open the bottled drink.

@spfinx @Logan @StephDLegend

 

[Jett San'go]

In stark contrast to the Fiani, Jett was not exactly thrilled about her current situation. Did she deserve to be shipped off to some fringe jedi temple on work detail? Eh...probably. Was she willing to admit as much? Not on her life. It wasn't like she’d gotten that far with the fighter jet she’d stolen from the temple on Takodana. This whole Jedi-sanctioned detention was just cruel and unusual.

Having arrived on Fiana (and just narrowly weaseling out of a stern dress down by the Master assigned to her disciplinary committee) Jett had managed to dodge her now growing search party for the better half of the day. Despite her reservations, the former street rat had to admit the temple was at least good for one thing- hiding from the consequences of your actions.

And what better place to hide than a cafeteria chock full of a bunch of indiscernible faces and various… cat ears? It was a hard trend not to pick up on when first slinking into the dining hall. Weird, but whatever, she’d seen weirder.

She wasn’t given much time to dwell on it anyway, what with a gaggle of Jedi Masters entering from the opposite side of the room, all with the same worn, exasperated, “I-have-better-things-I-could-be-doing-with-my-time” expression.

Quick to do a full 180, she latched onto whatever distraction she could possibly busy herself with, all in an attempt not to look incredibly out of place. Lucky for her, one just happened to fall in her lap in the form of a stubborn bottle cap and feline-looking padawan. Without missing a beat, Jett quickly sat down, safe from the eye-level of the passing Masters as she plucked the bottle from Rena’s hands and proceeded to twist the cap clean off.

“Hate those things.” Jett muttered, her attention still split between whatever lunch break she’d interrupted and the looming threat of being discovered. “It’s like why even bother screwing on the cap so tight? Why do I need to wrestle a piece of plastic in order to earn a sip of water y’know?”

With her eyes trailing the receding Masters, it wasn’t until her ramble came to a close that she even turned to look at the padawan next to her. “sorry, I uh- just have a lot of passionate feelings on the topic.”

@lizziie @Logan @StephDLegend

 

[L'Veth]

Mucking around the newly established temple had proven to be a lot more boring than L'Veth would have assumed. She figured there would have been a lot to do - and, well, yeah there was but it was all just so lame - but instead she'd been faced with little more than simple errands and carrying around boxes filled with supplies.

Was it too much to ask for a little adventure?

Oh well, at least the food was decent. Grabbing a tray and making her way down the line, L'Veth picked up a couple pieces of fruit, a sandwich, some chips, two cookies and some kind of sparkling water. Figuring she probably had enough to tide her over to dinner time, L'Veth headed towards the tables to find a seat.

It seems like I just run into you everywhere, Ke'rena, L'Veth said in Fiani as she sat next to the small initiate. Twisting the cap off her bottle of sparkling water, L'Veth looked at the other girl that was there and gave her an upturn of her chin, as friendly a greeting as L'Veth could care to muster.

So what are you guys up to today? She asked before taking a large bit of her sandwich, doing her best to chew with her mouth closed.

Man, she was hungrier than she thought.

@lizziie @spfinx @StephDLegend

 

[Kaedan]

It had been a couple of days since Kaedan arrived on Fiana to help out with the Jedi Temple. He had met some other padawans there as well as an initiate who joined while they were there setting up. It was weird being away from his master for so long especially when he had much to learn but this was important and so he was going to give it his all. At the end of it all, setting up a new Jedi Temple was a lot of hard work and it needed people who were willing to put in that very said hard work.

Kaedan had just finished adding another shelf of holobooks to the archive and library. He stretched before he started making his way towards the cafeteria. It was lunch time and he was hungry. He was glad that the temple here had good food unlike the meals he had to endure while at the temple on Takodana.

After arriving, Kaedan got into the line for the food and walked through, picking up a sandwich, crackers and cheese, some fruit, a cookie and the Star Wars variant of a coca-cola. He saw that a table was seated with familiar faces and he walked over to join them. "Hey L'Veth, Ke'rena." He sat down next to the older Fiani and smiled. He turned his attention to the unfamiliar face @spfinx "I haven't met you as yet. The name's Kaedan Javik. Nice to meet you."

L'Veth had asked what they were up to today and a soft sigh escaped Kaedan's lips. "I have been working to get the archives and library fully up to date and functional. How about you?" He responded before taking up his fruit and eating.

@Logan @lizziie

 

[Ke'rena]

"Stupid... plastic... drink..." Rena was just about to open their mouth and wrench it open with their teeth when the bottle was unceremoniously plucked from their hands, opened, and returned. Though surprised, they didn't quite get the chance to feel surprised as their brain immediately began trying to translate whatever it was that the padawan was saying.

Something about the bottle? "Uh, yes!" Rena responded, hoping that their contextual understanding of the conversation was correct. "No! Thank you for helping," they responded in response to Jett's 'sorry', shaking their head. The fiani had a thick accent but was fairly understandable regardless.

Upon spotting L'Veth as she approached, Rena perked up and gave their fellow fiani a happy little wave. "Well I live here now!" they responded in fianan. "And I mean, this is a cafeteria. I bet a hundred people could fit in here, though. How many Jedi do you think will live here after it's finished?"

Switching back to Basic after L'Veth did, Rena shrugged. "I think I must help with the boxes after I eat," they answered deliberately. They glanced down at their food, then picked up the bag of chips. Rather than pull the plastic apart, they punctured it with one of their claws and tore a hole open from there. Their mouth was filled with the BBQ-flavored chips when Kaedan arrived. "These are so good..." They lifted up the bag and squinted at the flavor name. "BBQ?"

When they finally looked up, their eyes glanced past the padawans they were surrounded by to a group of masters. Curiously, they seemed to be staring quite intently at the four of them. Rena stared back for several seconds, then shoved more chips into their mouth and looked over at Jett.

"What is your name?" they asked through a mouthful of chips. "I am Ke'rena!"

@Logan @spfinx @StephDLegend

 

[Jett San'go]

Before she had much time to assess the situation (and how best to leave it) something of an audience formed around the table, effectively trapping her in a web of niceties and friendly faces.

It took everything in her to a suppress a groan.

Under different, better circumstances, she'd have no problem rubbing elbows and chowing down. She was new, friendless, and an entire planetary system outside her element. Long story short, she needed the company. But as an active fugitive approximately twenty feet away from being caught... this newly formed group wasn't exactly a boon.

So, like she often did, Jett put on a fake smile and paired it with a false sense of nonchalance. She didn't need to drag this whole table into her mess...or give them any indication she was in one to begin with, so why not just ride the wave?

"I'm uh- Jane." She responded to the question posed by both Kaedan and Ke'rena, of course lying through her teeth. She honestly didn't know if the Jedi had put out whatever the equivalent to a warrant for arrest was here, but she thought it best not to risk ringing any bells.

Unfortunately, the surrounding Masters had no intention of maintaining her ruse, one Twi'lek breaking away from the huddle in a hasty, annoyed pace. For a brief second Jett made eye contact before averting. Well fuc-

"Padawan Jane is it." The Master arrived at the table; arms locked in disapproval. "Seems like you might be a little lost hm?" With a brief glance sparred at the rest of the group the Master suppressed a sigh. "How about the rest of you help keep your little friend accountable and show her to any of the wings under construction? Though I'm sure she's already snuck her way past any number of them." Pinching the bridge of her nose as if fighting off a headache, the Master looked down at the newly minted Padawan with zero sympathy.

@lizziie @Logan @StephDLegend

 

[Kaedan]

While seated with the others, Kaedan began eating. The first thing he did after greeting the padawans he was familiar with was introduce himself to the new face. It was around that same time that Rena had also done the same and asked Jett what her name was. She introduced herself as Jane. "Nice to meet you, Jane."

Around the padawans were Jedi masters walking around which Kaedan didn't think too much of since it was a Jedi temple after all. A new one at that so it needed to start being populated with teachers, mentors, knights, masters, padawans and initiates. Once he had finished the fruit, he decided to get started on eating the sandwich. As he took his first bite into the sandwich, a Twi'lek Jedi approached the group and spoke to Jane, telling her that she seemed lost. The master then told the group of padawans to keep the girl in check. What was that even about?

Kaedan took another bite, waiting for the master to leave and once they did, he placed the sandwich down. "What was that about?"
@lizziie @Logan @spfinx