An Appetite for the Fight [OPEN TO JEDI]

[DeathToll]

Kemp laughed along with Jarak, enjoying this moment of difference. He felt, for this instant, free of his pressuring goals of intense distances. He felt...

But then, from across the large cafeteria, in walked a beautiful girl in Jedi garb. A soft looking brunette with round blue eyes. Kemp froze, staring with half a fruit chunk in his cheek. He watched her walk in and along the wall across from them to meet with some other Padawans as they soon left with all their group out the other door.

Kemp became lost in thought, remembering the girl he had met on his recent trip to the ''Underworld''. Course, she -was- taller than him, and that he didn't favor; but still. She had helped him, and he had paid her. The whole thing was crazy. As soon as he got what he had came for, he ran off to never see her again. He couldn't help but question his need to be the best. But it is all he has. It's all that needs to be done, to show everyone in his past and present...

Kemp frowned, unable to change the way he felt about needing and desiring this need for supremacy; this feeling of towering over everyone.

 

[TriDaan]

"Someone you know?" asked Jarak with a sly grin, as he watched Kemp freeze, following his gaze to the girl across the cafeteria.

 

[DeathToll]

"Hm? No, I.. I was just thinking. Hey, can I tell you something?"

Kemp looked back to Jarak, still his mind of his last mission.

The wheels were turning.

 

[TriDaan]

"Shoot," came Jarak's easy reply, as scooted his chair back into a more comfortable position, before looking back up at Kemp, waiting to hear what the padawan had to say.

 

[DeathToll]

"On my last trip to Coruscant, I killed somebody."

Kemp spoke with a straight face, not with any remorse, yet keeping his voice low as he continued.

"I mean, I've had to kill before, but I'd never used the Force to do it like that. I've had time to go look it up, and I used a Force Whirlwind to burn somebody alive."

Still, he spoke more with an informative tone; there had only surfaced a slight hint of remorse, but as he went on it would become clear that the remorse did not come from something he did. Rather, it came from the things the girl and the other mercenary did. It would become obvious that Kemp is trying to build up to a point.

"This guy had a flamethrower and - he was trying to hurt this girl that was helping me find my way, so I just did it.. But, looking back, the two that helped me were -totally- lawless and even enjoyed the slauter of those lives they took."

Kemp fiddled with his fingers as he looked at them. Kemp had a strange feeling, as if latching onto this idea for purpose's sake. He looked back up to Jarak.

"I want to stop them."

 

[TriDaan]

Jarak pondered Kemp's words for a moment, he could tell the padawan felt more remorse than he let on and he empathized with the guilt he must be experiencing. He chose his words carefully before replying,

"What you did might not have been right, or ideal. But under the circumstances you were at least trying to do right, trying to defend someone in need, even though you may not have given enough thought as to whether they deserved defending. I've come close to murdering a man... not just killing, murdering. I got a small taste of what that would feel like and believe me, it's not what you did. Should you have killed the man? Maybe, maybe not. Did you act out of instinct and a desire to protect? It sounds like it. You need to let go of any guilt you're holding onto. I only just met you this afternoon and you're a fierce warrior, but you're no murderer." Jarak looked into Kemp's eyes as he spoke, for the first time since they had met speaking with a complete absence of humor and a deadly serious, sincere expression. He paused for a moment, again, carefully selecting his next words,

"I don't know the details of what happened, but if your conscience tells you that you have to go after them, then you just have to."

 

[DeathToll]

Kemp smiled with relief. It seemed Jarak understood better than Kemp could have anticipated. Kemp's entire frame seemed to, ever so slightly, sag into a subtle looseness. He pushed back into a tall (for him) straight upright sit against the back of his chair, and fist pounded the table lightly.

"Have you ever thought about it?!?"

Talking like his normal self, back to over the limit volume, Kemp expressed a vague concern for adventure; pausing for Jarak to answer back.

"You know..."

Kemp toggled his head side to side, getting at some bloody knuckled debauchery for themselves to give purpose to their striving lives of moral existance.

"I mean, I know the Jedi stick to the callings of certain missions and what-not, and I know we're on the brink of war - so we should really get to making a difference now in the universe, rather than later?"

Kemp was still being strangly unclear, though referencing his last concerns he exposed to Jarak about the two mercs he had come into contact with. Kemp was beginning to wonder about making a personal endeavor for himself.

 

[TriDaan]

This guys not bad, not bad at all Jarak thought to himself, agreeing with Kemp's statement on making a difference, even though he was not quite clear as to whether his new friend meant more than was obviously stated in what he said.

"I never envisioned sitting around training when I joined the Jedi... I thought it would be more hands on, more practical. I'd love a chance to do something real, something that means more than my own development as a Jedi." Jarak said with feeling, still serious, his usual cocky and unconcerned facade gone as the subject turned towards his most tightly held beliefs.

 

[DeathToll]

"That's it!!"

Kemp shoved himself up into a stand. He wanted to get started right away.

"Men and woman like that need to be stopped! Back home, I tried to make things better for those who suffered. We should train as hard as we can. I want to create a system for catching the lower criminals under the Jedi's radar!"

Kemp had it in mind to make it a personal vendeta of his, to hunt down and catch every low-life and make things better. He wanted adventure and meaning in his life; but also, he wanted to fix other people's homes, the way he tried to fix his own. And he never pictured the palace he was born into as home, but rather the slums in which he spent half of his life.

 

[TriDaan]

Jarak shook his head with disappointment. It sounded like a good idea, but he knew he could not abandon his training on Tython.

"I'd really like to. Unfortunately I need to return to Tython, I'm still weak in several areas, but the holocrons there have been helping me along much faster than I usually learn on my own. Maybe I can meet up with you in a few weeks?"

He hesitated a moment, the vestiges of an idea forming in his mind...

"Hey! Why don't you come with me? My ship's here on "Will Of The Force" and it's only a short trip down to Tython. We can train together there, at least for a couple weeks! If you're up for it we can leave within the hour."

Jarak halted himself abruptly, worried he was coming on to strong.
He was ecstatic at the chance to have a training partner and someone he could relate to to boot and had allowed his enthusiasm to overwhelm him. After a moment, he gave Kemp a sheepish grin,

"Sorry, got a bit excited, I sometimes get carried off by my own ideas. But now that the offer's out there, whaddya say?"

Jarak awaited Kemp's answer, trying to look nonchalant, but seriously hoping the other padawan would accept.

 

[DeathToll]

"Hmm..."

Kemp thought about it, realizing the only thing that kept him on 'The Will' was his Master.

"Ya! I'll go with you now! If only I can come back every other day to meet up with my Master?"

Kemp knew that with the combined training with his Master Augustus, the group training courses on both 'The Will' and Tython on his off hours whether on the ship here or on planet there, he would surely be soaked through with training and be able to reach his goals of greatness!

 

[TriDaan]

"Absolutely!" said Jarak, happy that Kemp was willing to train with him.

"I'd be happy to shuttle you back and forth, we can train together while we're on Tython, I'll spar with whoever I can find when we're on the "Will of the force" and you can learn from your master. Besides," Jarak said, changing his tone to its usual roguish tone and signature grin, "I have no problem letting the blademaster of the Jedi Order getting used to seeing me around as I haul you back and forth." He said, his grin widening. Then he stood, walking away from the table, forgetting all about the dirty utensils ans dishes left there. He beckoned to Kemp,
"C'mon, let's get this show on the road!"

As Jarak had promised they were leaving the 'Will Of The Force's docking hangar within the hour and headed for Tython. This was going to be interesting.

 

[DeathToll]

Kemp got up and began fast walking behind Jarak. But, realizing he wanted one last bite as he passed the desert buffet, Kemp grabbed a knife and stabbed another square fruit piece on his way out.

"Coming!"