Ask [Phindar] Two Means Trouble

[Maura Starwalk]

"I don't think I've ever been to Phindar before!" Maura's hands, for once not sticky, pressed up against the viewport glass alongside the side of her cheek and forehead as she strained to get a better look at the scenery below. "Look at all this jungle! It reminds me of the time I accidentally crash landed on planet with Rusaan." Turning to face Atias, Maura very seriously added, "There were sneople."

The transport shuttle continued to zip over top the endless lush jungles, quickly diverging on the capital city Laressa where the two padawans had been sent for their mission. The city would come into their view before long, and the snow-white of its modern architecture would stick out from the surrounding greenery like a sore thumb. It very quickly caught Maura's attention, at least, and she turned her eyes that way.

A protocol droid entered the cockpit area. « Padawans, » it began robotically. « We will be arriving in less than five minutes. Please gather your belongings and prepare for landing. »

Hearing this, Maura jumped up from her seat and immediately pushed past the droid to head into the back and grab her stuff. She hadn't brought much other than her lightsaber and her datapad, and it wouldn't be long before she'd returned in time for the ship to land.

tag: @LouJoVi

 

[Atias Zaldreell]

Atias had barely paid attention to what Maura was saying. The half-Morellian had spent most of the time staring through the window of the shuttle with vacant eyes. His mind was in turmoil with everything that had happened during the past weeks. He couldn’t believe that Crix had died.

Even when news arrived that the Zabrak had been captured by the Sith, Atias was still confident that his Master was going to escape. He was incredible and resourceful, if there was someone that would be able to trick the Imperials and come back unscathed, this guy was Crix.

However, when he felt Crix’s presence in their Master-Padawan bond disappearing and being replaced by silence and emptiness, Atias knew that he was going to never see the Zabrak again. While he knew that his Master was now part of the Force, the half-Morellian couldn’t avoid being a bit sad.

Weeks after Crix death, Atias had stopped doing pranks. He now spends most of his time doing things that would maintain his mind away from thinking about the Zabrak. The half-Morellian dived in his studies and spent any free time meditating. Hoping that this way this sadness would be supressed.

When he felt Maura’s eyes at him, Atias turned to look at her. “What is a sneople?” he asked, frowning at his fellow Padawan. Perhaps by talking with her, he could distract himself. He was getting tired of remembering the good moments that he had with his Master. They would always be followed by the bitter reality that they were never going to happen again.

After the droid warned them about the landing, Atias followed Maura to pick his things. He had brought only the necessary to spend some days in Phindar, so it was a small bag. “So, how are you going? Is Master Voran teaching you cool things?” he smiled, while trying to focus on the moment, rather than thinking about Crix.

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[Maura Starwalk]

"Sneople are people with snake bodies. They ssspeak like thisss," she answered, falling into a short fit of giggles at the end. It would seem Maura was completely oblivious to any sorrow Atias held with him, thanks to his handling of the grief and her absolute lack of emotional awareness.

When she got back up to the cockpit, Atias proceeded to ask her a question about her training with her master which completely set her off.

"Yeah she is!" At any chance to talk about her master, her training, or her training with her master, Maura jumped on it faster than light. "Now that I'm getting older I get to go on more missions now and learn more advanced topics! I'm hoping since I'll be sixteen soon she'll let me go with her on more of her stuff. Last time we went on a mission together I was like ten years old and it was kind of scary. She had to fight this giant, Dark Side-corrupted governor on New Alderaan and I had to fly a ship back to save her!"

« Please take a seat befor landing, » said the accompanying protocol droid. Maura did as asked and sat down before continuing to chatter away.

"I hope she teaches me cool fighting moves! Onderon was the first real battle against the Sith I've ever been in, and I won! I was very stressed during that fight though, since it was a lot more...real that I was expecting it to be. I mean, I've fought people before, but I've never fought someone that wanted to kill me so badly... I took his lightsaber though, so it was worth it. He didn't even use it though! He used a spear!"

The ship landed shortly after her rant ended, and outside the viewport they would be able to see a bustling spaceport filled with a crowd of aliens, but mostly the native Phindians.

« I will give a summary of your mission, » began the droid again. « You two are to meet Mori Mallasn at the Laressa School for Troubled Students. She is a friend of the Jedi's and believes that your presences may have a positive impact on the students. »

tag: @LouJoVi

 

[Atias Zaldreell]

”Snake people, being called sneople. This makes sense.” he said, while thinking about what she had said to him. Maura wasn’t only good with pranks, but she also could think in good nicknames. The two had some things in common. He smiled, thinking that this mission was going to be fun.

When Maura started to talk about her Master, Atias’ immediately regretted having asked that. He wanted to let go of his memories with Crix, not continue remembering them. “This is really cool. Grandmaster Voran probably deals with things on another level if compared to the Knights.” he said, while focusing only on what the girl was saying to him.

He stared at her in surprise when Maura mentioned that she had participated in the Battle of Onderon. The half-Morellian was surprised that her Master allowed the girl to go, she was so young. “There is always someone weird. At least he didn’t fight using an energy whip. But you should see by the bright side. Now you have a new lightsaber that was never used. ” he smiled at her. “I believe that Master Voran can help you purify it.”

“By the way, I went to Onderon sometime ago. I visited one of its moons, Dxun. I even adopted a ruping chick. My Master said that it would teach me responsibility.” Atias said, while mimicking Crix's way of talking. Immediately he remembered that the Zabrak wasn’t alive anymore and the fun that he usually had by doing it disappeared, being replaced by melancholy.

Thankfully, the protocol droid had returned. While it talked, Atias suppressed his feelings and focused on the mission that they had in front of them. Being in a school wasn’t going to be easy. He could be considered as smart and a good student, but people never said that he was a good influence.

While he prepared to leave the ship, Atias turned to Maura. “It seems that we are going to be the teachers today. Are you prepared to face the kids, Master Starwalk?” the half-Morellian joked with the situation. “If they end up being a bunch of imps, we can always use the Force to make a distraction and then proceed with a strategic retreat, or as people say, we flee.”

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[Maura Starwalk]

"Yeah. I bet she could," Maura repeated, a grin spreading across her lips when she did. What Atias didn't know was that she had purified the Sith's lightsaber. Even with Master Voran's help, it had been the hardest thing she'd ever done. But she did it, and she was one step closer to becoming a knight.

The girl had no want to speedrun her knight trials though. Even though she looked forward to the day she could cut off her braid and be declared "Knight Starwalk", the whole process of purifying the Kyber crystal had given her a bit of a new perspective. She had a ton to learn if she was ever going to be like her master one day, and Maura didn't want to rush through any of that.

Easier said than done, of course, especially knowing her own general lack of patience.

"Master Starwalk and Master Zaldreell, the traveling Jedi professors!" she declared with a giggle in response to his statement. "...and, if need be, masters of escape as well." With that, Maura skipped off the ship into the Laressa spaceport. Maura was wearing actual Jedi robes instead of jeans, a t-shirt, and a cloak for once, and she had her master to thank for that (@Valen Pelora). Apparently, her funny t-shirts weren't "proper". Though Maura didn't see the big deal, she'd not felt the need to rebel against that particular wish of her master yet.

"Sooo the GPS coordinates seem to be the city center, so let's head that way." Maura wondered if they should walk or try to rent a speeder. Though, considering her meager monthly allowance, decided walking was a better idea.

tag: @LouJoVi

 

[Atias Zaldreell]

Atias laughed with Maura, while thinking how being called Master sounded so strange. He never thought about being one. It always seemed to be a hypothetical future that was so distant. Now that Crix was dead, even being declared a Knight any time soon also seemed to be improbable. Being honest, the half-Morellian wasn’t much in the mood to be Knighted. He understood that there were still many things for him to learn.

The half-Morellian followed Maura out of the ship. The spaceport was like any other, with people waiting for their ships to arrive. Some were with their families, while others were alone. When he heard the girl talking, Atias turned his attention to her. Like his fellow Padawan, he studied the possibilities of reaching the school “I brought money. Let me check if it’s enough to pay for transport.”

After saying that, the half-Morellian checked his credits. It wasn’t enough for a speeder. “Well, I’m short of funds.” he frowned, while counting the money that he had. They would need to rent one of these expensive self-piloting ones, because he was still learning how to pilot a speeder. Unless Maura knew how to do it. They could also pick a cab, but it would be better if they saved money for use one another time.

“We can go walking there, but we can stop to eat something while walking. What do you think of ice cream?” he said, before smiling at her. He loved ice cream and doubted that Maura would deny the opportunity of having some of it. This would also make their walk more pleasurable.

With that decided, the two Padawans started walking toward the school. If Maura agreed with his suggestion, they would stop in an ice cream shop that was located in their path toward the building. In front of it there would be a square where a small crowd was gathering to listen to some type of speech. There was some flags with the words 'The True Path' spread around the place.

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[Maura Starwalk]

"Yeah, I love ice cream!" Since they weren't taking transportation, the padawan had no qualms against spending a few credits on a nice cold ice cream cone. "I wonder if they have any fun flavors here?" she wondered aloud. After all, the Phindians were a reptilian race. "I hope there are bug ones!"

Sure enough, there were bug flavors. "Cricket Crunch... Spider Sherbet... Vanilla..." Maura read off the first three items before trailing off into her thoughts. She squinted at the small print, bent over to read, then suddenly stood up straight when she decided which one she'd have. "Cricket Crunch, please!"

After handing over the few credits, and after the both of them got their cones, Maura turned to walk off with Atias with her ice cream in hand. She opened her mouth and took a bite, sinking her canines straight into the cold cream. She immediately regretted it, and her entire face cringed as brain freeze assaulted her head. "Ow, ow, ow! Brain freeze..." Luckily, the ice cream was pretty good.

"Ow... hey, what do you think all that's about?" She pointed over toward the crowd and a couple of signs and flags labeled 'The True Path.' They were gathered around a Phindian man maybe in his mid-life wearing a neatly ironed white button up and a nice pair of slacks. He spoke passionately, but Maura couldn't quite pick up what he was saying. "Should we go check it out?"

tag: @LouJoVi

 

[Atias Zaldreell]

Atias’ blinked sometimes when Maura mentioned that she wanted an ice cream with bug flavors. At first he thought that it could be a joke, but the other Padawan seemed to be serious. However, the half-Morellian didn’t think that a bug flavor was something bizarre. The Galaxy was really diverse, so it had a good number of different types of food. He was surprised because it was the flavor that the girl wanted. From someone of her age, he would have expected something like chocolate or even strawberry.

When they reached the ice cream shop, the two Padawan chose their desserts. Like how she had said, Maura immediately went after bug flavors. While she tried to decide what she wanted, Atias turned to look at the crowd in the square. He wondered what all these people were going to do there and what was that ‘True Path’.

After the girl decided her flavor, one made with crickets, Atias went to choose his ice cream. Since he wasn’t in the mood to try new things, the half-Morellian ended up buying one of strawberry. “Maybe I’ll try one made with bugs when we finish doing things here.” he said to Maura, while paying for the sweets in the cashier.

Before they walked outside, Atias saw a poster and smiled. “I have an idea! If we survive the school, we could celebrate it with this one.” he pointed at the poster. It was the announcement of a jumbo cup for three people with twelve flavors of ice cream. “We can have six of bugs and six simple ones. What do you think?” he was probably going to regret that while trying to eat the exotic flavors, but he would give it a try.

“I dunno. The people at the school are waiting for us.” he answered Maura, while watching the Phindar talk to the crowd. “We can walk near it and listen to what it’s all about. It’s in the middle of our path, after all.” Atias shrugged, while eating some of his ice cream. It was really good. He thought if Crix would have liked it, but soon dismissed these thoughts. He was part of the Force now.

If the two walked close to the crowd, they would be able to hear the Phindar speaking to the crowd. “Brothers and sisters, today I came here in the name of the Church of the True Path to tell you all the truth! The Force is part of every creature and thing in the Galaxy. It give us life and guide our path! This way, it can’t be manipulated!”

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[Maura Starwalk]

"Twelve flavors?!" That was a ton of ice cream, but she was up for the challenge. "Sure!"

"Yeah... you're right," she grumbled after he figured they might be late. The padawan took another bite of her cricket crunch ice cream, then turned her head away from the gathered crowd and back toward the road in front of them. Her long ears still caught the Phindian's words, even if she was looking his way.

"What do you think he means, 'it can't be manipulated'?" she asked Atias as they passed by the crowd and continued on their way toward the school. "That seems...wrong," she added with a chuckle. She wanted so desperately to know more, but the padawan kept herself walking forward. Discipline Maura, she kept telling herself.

The padawan shook her head firmly and concentrated on wolfing down her ice cream. With no regard to the brain freeze she'd experienced not long ago, the girl all but inhaled the sweet treat.

"If one follows the Truth Path, they can even find life after death!"

tag: @LouJoVi

 

[Atias Zaldreell]

”No idea. Probably it’s some craziness of a new religious movement.” Atias said dismissively. However, the words of the Phindar really sounded wrong. He felt as if these words were referring to the Jedi, which was stupid because they don’t manipulated the Force. It was their ally in the mission to help people in the Galaxy, not an instrument of their will.

While they walked away from the crowd, Atias was able to hear some more of the Phindar’s words. He couldn’t avoid shaking his head when it was mentioned that through the True Path someone could find life after death. It was stupid way of wording what really happens. When the life journey of a sentient being ends, they became part of the Force.

“Hearing the words of the True Path, you’ll understand that the Jedi and the Sith way of understanding the Galaxy are wrong. The Force must be free!” these were the last words that the two Jedi would hear before they were too far away from the crowd. However, Atias would be thinking about it for some time.

“When we finish in the school, maybe we could give a look in this Church of the True Path. I have a bad feeling about them.” he whispered to Maura. These people seemed to be really suspicious and worthy of being investigated. With that in mind, the Padawan finished his ice cream.

After walking for sometime, the two arrived at the school. The building seemed to be nice from outside, lacking the appearance of prison that many of the schools had in Commenor. The windows even lacked the steel bars. “Are you prepared to face the children? It’s going to be a big mission.” he said playfully. However, Atias was also a bit anxious with what they were going to do.

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[Maura Starwalk]

"Yeah, I agree. They aren't even making any sense..." Maura shook her head. Whatever. There were more important things at hand, like the mission, and her ice cream! The padawan wolfed down the rest of the cone, then wiped her mouth with the inside of her sleeve and hurried up to keep pace with Atias.

"Wow, this is a nice school," she said aloud, saying what they both had been thinking. "If this is a school for 'troubled students', then maybe they aren't that badly troubled," she commented. Although that being said, the Jedi temple school was pretty nice and she still used to get in trouble a lot. The girl turned to look at Atias, grinned and replied, "As ready as I'll ever be! Let's go!"

The inside of the school was just as nice as the outside, with shiny tiled floors and big windows that let in lots of natural light. Immediately in front of the front entrance was a desk with a middle-aged Phindian woman typing at a computer, and behind her was a set of glass doors that led into what looked like an administrative office. To their left and right were two hallways, the left one which turned sharply to the right after only a few meters, and the right one which extended down into a locker-filled hallway with a few loitering students.

"This place has a second and third floor too, I think," she whispered to Atias as they approached the desk with the lady. Clearly, this place was pretty big.

"Can I help you two?" Once they got close enough to the desk, the middle-aged Phindian looked up at them and adjusted her small-lens glasses as she spoke.

tag: @LouJoVi

 

[Atias Zaldreell]

"It's really nice. I never saw a school like this one. When I lived in Commenor, this type of place seemed to be so oppressive." it was no surprise that children didn’t like going to school. Most of them were more like prisons than a place to study and learn. Maybe others across the Galaxy could be more like this one.

“Yeah, I don’t think that troubled children would study in a place like this one. I always thought they would go to a reformatory.” the half-Morellian said, while following Maura inside the building. The interior of the school was also very pleasant, with well maintained walls and a clean floor. If he hadn't been told the place had been around for a few years, Atias would have thought that it had been built very recently.

As soon as they crossed the front entrance, the two Padawans came face to face with a Phindian woman. She was seated behind a table and working on a computer. Seeing what seemed to be the entrance to an office behind her, Atias concluded that she was some type of secretary.

“Hello! My name is Arias Zaldreell and this is Maura Starwalk. We are the two Jedi that had been invited to visit the school.” his answer made the Phindar smile and rise from her seat. At least she seemed happy to seeing the two.

“Welcome, Jedi! I’m Secretary Tori Odrum. Headmaster Mallasn warned me that you two were coming. She is waiting in her office.” after saying it, the Phindar walked toward the door that was behind her and then gestured for them to follow. “She’ll give more details about the mission of this institution and about how you two can help.”

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[Maura Starwalk]

Maura followed the Phindian inside the office, still looking around as she did. A few of the workers looked up, flicking out their tongues like snakes in the way Phindians often did, curious about the two children. Non-Phindian children were probably a rarity at a school like this, as any foreign exchange or immigrant children probably attended private schools in the even nicer parts of the city.

When they reached the office, the secretary knocked, and a voice called out from inside. "Come in!" The secretary held the door open for Maura and Atias to file in, and she let it softly close on its on as she waddled her way back to the front desk.

"Welcome, Jedi. I am sso glad to finally meet the two of you." Like the secretary, Headmaster Mallasn was somewhere around middle-aged, but rather than a pair of tiny glasses, she wore a floppy, wide-brimmed hat with an oversized fake flower glued to the side. "I believe the two of you will have a possitive impact on the sstudents here. They have been quite resstless lately."

tag: @LouJoVi

 

[Atias Zaldreell]

Atias followed the Secretary toward the office. He wasn’t someone shy, but the half-Morellian couldn’t avoid feeling nervous with the situation. It was going to be the first time that he was going to teach a bunch of students. Not only that, but he was also going to do it in the name of the Jedi Order. The Padawan feared that he would end up giving a bad impression, which was something that the Order couldn’t afford these days.

The Phindians staring at him weren’t helping the half-Morellian calm down. He knew very well that they were only looking at these strangers that had arrived, but Atias felt as if they were studying him. It only made him more nervous. He wondered if Maura was feeling the same.

When they entered the office, the two Padawans met with Headmaster Mallasn. The vision of the middle aged Phindian immediately made Atias forget his nervousness. He ended up needing to control himself to not laugh with how funny the woman looked with her hat and the fake flower on it.

“Hello, Headmaster. I’m Atias and this is Maura. We are happy to be able to help.” he said, while a smile appeared on his lips. “We hope that our presence can help them get calmer.” if it wasn’t for his sudden shyness, the Padawan would probably teach them how to make several pranks.

He wasn’t the best example of a Jedi, Atias had his moments to cause problems. The Padawan was never caught doing a prank, but he ended up going into detention due to other factors. Hopefully Maura was going to be better than him, even if only a bit eccentric. "Can you describe the class that we are going to teach?"

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[Maura Starwalk]

"Well, you won't be teaching the classses anything. Insstead, I was hoping you might sssimply relay sssome ssstories or ssomething you think might help them change their view of the world. Perhapss a challenge you've overcome, perhaps."

Maura listened while the lady spoke, her head tilted a few degrees to her left. So they were supposed to be motivational speakers? That was a bit of a cause of concern for the girl, as she was far from motivational. At least, she'd never tried to be motivational in her life. The closest she got was trying to get Layla to try new things, but she'd really consider that pressure more than anything else.

"Uhhhh yyyeah that sounds like something we could do," the girl responded after a bit too long of a pause. "I like telling stories, anyways." Now that she thought about it, she didn't have to be motivational, did she? She could just tell a story about something she had to overcome! ...which was what the lady had suggested in the first place. Good going, Maura.

"Wonderful. If you're both ready, I will bring you to the first class."

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[Atias Zaldreell]

The half-Morellian felt relieved when the Headmaster said that they weren’t going to teach. He had no idea about how he should give a class to a bunch of children. A person don’t became a good professor in some hours, it takes many years until someone was good with this profession.

However, giving a motivational speech wasn’t exactly easy. Usually it was something that a Master or a Counselor would do. A Padawan would never do it under normal circumstances. Atias had no idea of how he should start talking with the children.

“Yeah, I can do that too. It’ll be a pleasure to help.” the half-Morellian said, after hearing Maura answering the Headmaster. He also felt how his fellow Padawan wasn’t so sure about what they were going to do. Maybe by working together they could figure out how to make a good motivational speech.

With the approval of the two Padawans, the Headmaster guided them through the corridors of the school. While he walked, Atias could have a better vision of how the building was inside. Like the outside, it was also clean and well maintained. The walls were colorful and with educational posters with fun cartoon characters. It all give the place a comforting feeling.

“We arrived.” Headmaster Mallasn said, before opening the door of the classroom. Atias stared at the scene that was being hidden behind it. There was a cacophony of conversation and screams from the students, while a poor Phindar professor tried to teach them. The half-Morellian looked at Maura, wondering if they were really prepared to do that.

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