Private A Familiar Face

[Starlin Rand]

Jedi Temple, Coruscant

Starlin was an unlikely visitor to the Temple. Scratch that—Starlin was an extremely unlikely visitor to the Temple. He had lived on Coruscant all his life, and at one point early in his training he had been formally introduced to the NJO’s “Circle”, but his relationship with their Order had been… fractured.

Try as he might to shove it all under the rug, he still bore the scars of the rivalry that had exploded with the failure of the Elder Compact and the resulting battle on Dantooine. His master had been part of the Silver Jedi, and she sided with those in favor of the wildly unpopular Compact. Starlin had followed her to Dantooine, where he found himself fighting alongside Sith.

Putting aside the folly of youth or his blind faith in his master, the fact that he had fought on the wrong side—had killed an NJO Padawan, and deprived dozens more of their limbs—haunted him as he walked through the doors. The Temple structure itself was still in the process of being rebuilt following the invasion of Coruscant. He wondered if they would consider his arrival maliciously ill-timed, under the circumstances.

At any rate, he was hesitant to proceed further. So he stopped in the lobby, pacing a little as he tried to pluck up his courage. Some Jedi I am, he thought to himself, marveling at his cowardice. He was still stinging from the welts of Rhis Fisto’s lightsaber during their brief duel on Kashyyyk…

As he began another half-turn, he found himself face to face with someone familiar. Surprise chased his doubts and fears away for the moment, and he immediately exclaimed, “Eli! What are you doing here, man?”

Lief​

 

[Lief]

It had been a few days, but still he found the whole ordeal positively dizzying. Even in its state of restoration, the Jedi Temple of Coruscant was a foreboding beast for any unfamiliar with its winding halls. He'd missed most of orientation that first day, which probably didn't help his cause very much at all. Since then it had been mostly a matter of acclimatizing. They hadn't thrown him head first into everything, and for that he was genuinely grateful.​

​

Soon though classes would start, and his training would begin. It felt like the Tetan Academy all over again. Far worse even than his induction into the Hyperspace Navigator's Guild had been. He'd known what to expect there. Chosen his own schedule of classes, paved his own path. Here everything was so new. So unknown.​

​

With a morning of free time, Eliphas had decided to do what little him had never been permitted; he headed down to the entrance foyer - only taking a couple of wrong turns along the way, that was progress right? - and planned on seeing what Coruscant had to offer.​

​

That was the plan. But plans rarely ever went off without a hitch where Eliphas Dune was concerned.​

​

He'd just got done asking one of the assistants where he could rent an airspeeder (turns out the Jedi had some he could borrow, if he signed it out) when he turned and came face to face with the only thing that had been even remotely familiar with him since coming here.​

​

"Starlin?"​

​

Maybe he shouldn't have been so surprised to see the Jedi here. After all, this was, well, the Jedi Temple. But what were the chances of them running into each other like that? Almost bumping straight into one another... Serendipitous. If you believed in that sort of thing.​

​

In response to his question, Eliphas gave him a slightly sheepish smile. "Uh... Turns out I'm like you." A slightly awkward pause. He blinked. "I mean, I'm Sensitive..." Still didn't answer the question of why he was here though did it? "I uh... I was tested. And then offered a place here..." Another pause.​

​

"I kind of couldn't say no."​

​

A two fold truth. His Father would never have let him live it down. He felt certain he'd have been quietly pushed away from the Family for souring their good name and wasting his potential. But also... Eliphas was nothing if not a boy hellbent on adventure. It was already proving quite the culture shock, of course, not at all what he'd been expecting. But he'd made his bed already.​

​

Starlin Rand ​

 

[Starlin Rand]

Starlin laughed.

"No shit. I tried to tell you back on Alderaan in that hole in the wall pizza place, but you had already left to get Atrisian food instead! Why'd you think I kept calling you my Padawan?"

Starlin had joined the Jedi at age fourteen partly out of necessity, and partly to fulfill a childhood dream. He'd been thrilled, over the moon when Syd offered to train him, even under such dire circumstances—they'd met when both became trapped in a ruined library infested with Dark Side cultists. But Eli sounded a bit less enthused about the whole idea, and that wasn't good. He cocked an eyebrow, resting his hands on his hips.

"No choice, eh? How’d that happen? Trouble with the Tetans over something that happened during the voyage? Your folks pressure you into it? Or are you an orphan with no family or prospects, and the Jedi Order seemed like the best possible option?"

Lief​

 

[Lief]

"You did?" Eliphas blinked, then shook his head in disbelief. "I don't know, I thought you were just fooling around. Being mystical and what not for the townsfolk. I never thought..." He thought back for a moment. "Well, I mean, I never believed it."​

​

Starlin pinned him with a curious look. One that screamed I don't quite believe you. Or something to that effect. Eliphas gulped. Had he unknowingly projected his mind into the Jedi's, as he had with Kal? Was Starlin gleaning his thoughts?​

​

What he said didn't pertain to his exact thoughts though. Starlin was just a good read, he supposed.​

​

"I dunno," he huffed, taking a moment to glance around the foyer as though searching for some answer lost within its walls. "My family have always been so... Pro Jedi. Once pro Republic. Now Alliance... They believe only the good about them." For a second he'd quite forgotten who he was talking to, and where they were. His cheeks flushed. He coughed awkwardly into his hand. "I guess I should have known how it would have ended when I told him, you know? The facts were all there, plain as day. But... It's like there wasn't even a discussion. Just an immediate... decision. His decision."​

​

Feeling himself getting heated as he spoke, Eliphas had edged himself toward the doorway, hoping that Starlin would follow suit. At least then the general din of a bustling city might save him strange stares from other Jedi.​

​

"Don't get me wrong, in the end I made the decision to come here. But if I hadn't? I don't know... I don't know if I'd even really be considered a Dune anymore." He knew that he was blowing it out of proportion. His Father wasn't actually the type to cut his son off. But there would have been disappointment aplenty. Reminders of what he could have done with his life. Of all the good he might have done. Equally as daunting.​

​

"Did it click for you, right away? Did you know you'd made the right decision?"​

​

Starlin Rand ​

 

[Starlin Rand]

"Well, I sorta became a Jedi by accident," Starlin admitted. "But it wasn't something I doubted, not really. At least, not at first…"

Realizing he'd have to explain more to get his point across, Starlin launched into a summary of his origins.

"When I was a kid, I heard all these stories about Jedi Knights. Luke Skywalker especially was my favorite. I loved those stories, and I dreamed of being a Jedi myself, but I never really thought it was possible.

"Then, when I was about fourteen, I got a job as the assistant of an archeologist. I was basically running errands for him. One day he sent me to the ruins of an ancient library on a planet called Zeffo. When I got there, I encountered these droids that were guarding the place from intruders. They were very big, very scary, and they tried to stomp on my head. All I had was a blaster pistol. I thought I was dead.

"But luckily for me, there was a woman there—a Jedi Master. Her name was Syd Celsius. She saved my life, but we both wound up trapped in these tunnels underneath the ruins, which were unfortunately infested with Dark Side cultists. Like, dozens of Oona Zeldas, but a lot worse. A whole lot worse. Syd told me that I was Force sensitive, and if we were going to get out of there alive, I'd fare a lot better if I let her train me a little. If we survived and I wanted to continue, she'd be willing to take me on as her official apprentice."

At this point, he grinned. "I was… really excited, I gotta say. Terrified, but happy too. I agreed immediately. And we survived, and Syd became my master." His smile faded to a thin smirk. "Things got more complicated later on down the line, but I never gave up that enthusiasm. I dunno—I guess I've always been an idealist, in love with the idea of the Jedi and what they're supposed to represent. The guardians of peace and justice. Just because I couldn't measure up, doesn't mean other people can't."

He gestured to Eli. "You said you want to be here. How much do you know about the Jedi? Just in general, so far?"

Lief​

 

[Lief]

Eliphas listened without interruption. That was something he'd always prided himself on, the genuine attention he gave others when they were in his presence, the way in which he tried to soak up every little detail they presented him with. Even if he wanted to pipe up and say something he didn't, he'd hold it until later unless temporarily pressed to do so mid sentence. That happened sometimes, people liked it when they had little confirmations here and there.​

​

This Jedi though, this grinning smirking not-quite-stranger he'd scaled mountains and journeyed across the stars with, wasn't stopping for anyone. And for his part, the newcomer among them was happy to hear it all. Starlin had fallen into his role, and it had turned out more or less for the better. Eliphas had similarly fallen into his Sensitivity, the last thing he'd ever have expected to do was direct a ship into action with mere thoughts alone after all, much less what came after that in the void without stars. But committing himself to this uncertain fate? Well... That had been something he'd thought on long before Valery Noble had come a knocking.​

​

"I uh, guess not that much really," he responded to Starlin's question, "What I saw you do. And the tales I heard growing up. I imagine a lot of that is largely hyperbolic, though. More myth and legend than reality... Honestly, though? I'm... Kind of excited to find out." His apprehension was more borne of the uncertainty and the newness of it all than any real reservations as to whether he'd chosen correctly. That would fade in time he was sure, as would that small slither of bitterness that lingered at feeling pushed to make the decision he had.​

​

After all, he'd have made it all the same.​

​

"So is this where you usually are?" he asked, perking a curious brow, "When last I saw you, we were dropping you off on Kashyyyk. Long way from Silver Space..."​

​

Starlin Rand ​

 

[Starlin Rand]

Eli was indeed a good listener, even though Starlin’s story was a little long. The boy waited until the end to speak, responding to Starlin's hasty question with an honest answer.

"I uh, guess not that much really. What I saw you do. And the tales I heard growing up. I imagine a lot of that is largely hyperbolic, though. More myth and legend than reality... Honestly, though? I'm... Kind of excited to find out."

"Oh, it's all that and more," Starlin said. "Sometimes too much more, in my opinion. I'd have been happy with just learning how to move objects with my mind, and predict the strikes of my opponent before they hit. But I wound up learning how to breathe fire, how to levitate, how to create portals made from sand and to mold metal into whatever shape I wanted it to be. Don't get me wrong, all of that esoteric stuff is wondrous too, but to my knowledge Luke Skywalker and Yoda never breathed fire. They didn't need to."

"So is this where you usually are? When last I saw you, we were dropping you off on Kashyyyk. Long way from Silver Space..."

Starlin's jovial manner faded at once. He grew a little stiff and uncomfortable, though he tried to hide it so that Eli wouldn't feel bad. "Well, not exactly, no. I grew up on Coruscant, and I still think of it as home, but I was a Silver Jedi. The NJO doesn't... uh, doesn't like me very much, I imagine." He rubbed the back of his neck. "As a matter of fact, I came here to ask for... I dunno, an appeal of sorts? I don't want there to be any hard feelings between us anymore. I... it's a little hard to explain."

Lief​

 

[Lief]

From the way in which his expression momentarily broke away from his typical jovial nature - that was, the only way that Eliphas had really seen him thus far - the boy knew he'd unintentionally touched upon a sore subject. He bit the inside of his lip, immediately regretting having asked the question at all. Starlin was honest in his response, but it left him feeling as though maybe he'd pried just a little too much. More than he felt comfortable with, certainly.​

​

"You sound like some sort of dragon," he stated, trying to lighten the mood if indeed he could. Was that the sort of thing he wanted to learn?​

​

His mind drifted back to the Witch of Alderaan. No... No it didn't seem like it was in his ballpark. He wasn't sure if any of the more fantastical elements were for him, in truth. The methods of old? Jedi wielding lightsabers, deflecting blaster bolts, precognition. Moving things with their mind, leaping insane heights... Yeah, that was more like it. Inherently less dangerous and deadly, but still capable of being useful.​

​

To be useful was all he wanted out of this. To have a purpose, a real purpose...​

​

"Am I holding you up, then?" he asked, glancing back through the foyer and in the direction Starlin had initially been moving in. He wanted to ask more, find out why exactly they were on such bad terms, but he knew better than to pry further so he didn't. He couldn't fully banish the thoughts from his mind though, no doubt he'd try to fill in the gaps whenever it came time to daydream next. "I can walk with you, to where you're going. If you'd like. That way you're not going it alone."​

​

He wouldn't be in the room of course, wouldn't be wherever the meeting took place, but it was something. All he could offer, really.​

​

Starlin Rand ​

 

[Starlin Rand]

“I’m known as the Silver Dragon, and by ‘known’ I mean I’m the only person who calls myself that.”

But the conversation had already taken a rather serious turn, so his joke probably fell flat.

“Nah, not really.” Yet even as he claimed there was no rush, Starlin began to walk back inside the Temple. “Sure, you can come along. You can even watch the meeting if you like. It shouldn’t take long, and it might be good for you to see how they handle disputes around here, now that you're a Jedi yourself.”

Lief​

 

[Lief]

"You can make that two people then, Mr Silver Dragon..." In his own way, Eliphas was also hoping to lighten the mood.​

​

When his response came, Starlin's words and actions were antithetical to one another. The boy didn't mind of course, and he followed leisurely alongside the other as he made his way toward his eventual destination. All thoughts of scouring the cityscape were gone, shelved for some other day when he wasn't sidetracked with reunions. ​

​

Truth be told this was much better than that anyway. A friendly face amongst so many strangers. So much unknown...​

​

An offer was made, and at first Eliphas began to shake his head. That was until he was told it could be a good learning experience for him. He pondered for that for a second before making his decision.​

​

"You know what? Sure... If that's okay with everyone else." He paused, as another thought came to mind. "If everything goes well, will I see more of you here?" Maybe that would help with the process of settling in. Maybe, though, it would just be a crutch.​

​

Starlin Rand ​

 

[Starlin Rand]

“Possibly,” Starlin answered with a shrug. “Hopefully…”

With Eli in tow, Starlin entered a bare, hexagonal room containing three meditation pads—the round, lightly cushioned seats the Jedi mainly used for, you guessed it, meditation—and a hologram projector, which currently lay dormant. A Jedi Master, clad in rather old-fashioned robes for a member of the NJO, sat on one of the pads in a cross-legged position.

The Master’s name, according to the documents Starlin had received, was Morgun Jai. He was a dark-skinned man with a bald head and stern features that might have been intimidating if not for the carefully-constructed Jedi serenity that permeated his entire being. Still, Starlin thought Morgun had the look of someone with a deep capacity for fury, merely biding its time before it was unleashed in battle.

As the two entered the chamber, Morgun glanced at Eli questioningly.

“This is Eliphas Dune. He’s a friend of mine, and a new student here,” Starlin said. “I’d like for him to stay, if you’ll permit it, so that he can see how the Jedi handle disputes.”

“This is not a dispute,” Morgun said. But after glancing at Eli again, he nodded and turned his attention fully upon Starlin. “Take a seat, young Rand.”

Starlin sat on one of the other meditation pads, his lanky legs folding somewhat awkwardly into position. Eli was free to take the third pad. Once all were seated, Morgun activated the hologram recorder, made a formal-sounding introduction in which he listed off the names of those present, then began to ask questions.

“Starlin Rand, you were witnessed having taken up your lightsaber in allegiance to the Sith Empire during the invasion of Dantooine. You engaged with members of the New Jedi Order in battle, disarming several, slaying one Padawan, before dueling with Master Cotan Sar’andor, in which you were yourself disarmed.”

Starlin’s prosthetic right hand flexed its fingers at the memory. “That’s true.”

“What was your motivation for these acts?”

“Because of the Elder Compact, which would have suggested an alliance between the Silvers, the Confederacy, and the Sith Empire in order to combat the Bryn’adul.”

“The Compact was never actually ratified,” Morgun remarked.

“But word got out about it, and it had some supporters. Including my master, Syd Celsius.” Starlin chewed his lip. “I couldn’t… I wanted to fight alongside my master, not against her. So I followed her lead and sided with the Sith.”

“You were never formally pardoned for these violent acts against your fellow Jedi. But did you ever attempt to seek a pardon?”

Starlin smirked grimly. “I tried to hand over my lightsaber, in shame and disgrace. I was advised to reconsider, due to my age—I was seventeen. We were also still at war, so I imagine they wanted all the fighters they could get.”

Morgun spread his hands in a shrugging gesture. “Why have you come to seek a pardon now?”

“Because I don’t want this hanging over me anymore. It’s always going to haunt me, what I did, but… I want it known that I tried to make amends. That I regret what I did, and while I can’t undo it, I can try to be better going forward.”

Lief​

 

[Lief]

Hopefully.​

​

If there was ever a place for hope, surely it was here. With the Jedi. Unless all he'd ever heard was false, of course. Or more hyperbole.​

​

The boy remained silent as they entered the room to find an already seated Jedi Master present. It was not what he had envisioned in his mind, and he almost immediately regretted his decision to join Starlin in there. It felt a little more clinical... Odd. And the other Jedi did not seem all that pleased to find another in tow.​

​

He was permitted to remain though. After a second, having quite forgotten his manners, he dipped his head into a bow of greeting. The way he'd seen his Father do when greeting Valery. The way he'd seen a few other Jedi do since being here. He settled into the final seat, and remained tight lipped throughout. Even when his jaw wanted to slacken in surprise at the words falling out of both of their mouths, he held his mouth shut.​

​

You never, ever, fully knew a person. It didn't matter how long you'd been in their company, how many times you'd fought side by side, there was always something new to learn. Something that was kept secret. With that in mind, and given the fact that the pair had only known each other for a short time, these revelations shouldn't have felt so staggeringly out of nowhere. He had no right to feel that way.​

​

Yet it caught him by surprise all the same. That he was now privy to such information made him feel... Wrong. Like he was eavesdropping.​

​

Starlin had invited him in though. He had offered to wait outside. Maybe he wanted someone else to know. To help lessen some of that burden. What would Eliphas know, he wasn't a mind reader.​

​

Starlin Rand ​

 

[Starlin Rand]

Morgun Jai was silent and contemplative for a few moments. Then, he folded his fingers and spoke.

“Have you taken the Barash?”

“Yes. I’ve lived in self-exile for many years,” Starlin replied.

“One more thing—you said that you were recently assaulted by a member of our Order?”

“The Jedi Knight Creuat attacked me on Kashyyyk. There were witnesses.”

“And this attack was without provocation?”

“He said that he wanted me to pay for my crimes against the Jedi.”

Morgun’s expression hardened. “We will deal with Fisto. In the meantime, your appeal for a pardon is under consideration.”

With that, Starlin was dismissed. He stood up and exited the chamber, waiting for Eli outside. His arms were crossed as if hugging himself for warmth against a sudden chill, and he looked at Eli with a mixture of shame and good-natured curiosity.

“Well, did you learn anything? I mean, besides what a bad Jedi I turned out to be.”

Lief​

 

[Lief]

His silent state within the room, as Jedi Master spoke with Jedi Knight, afforded Eliphas ample time to process and consider all that had come to light in so short a span of time. Jedi, it seemed, were sent into a sort of self-imposed exile when they did something wrong? Was that the right of it? More questions tumbled around his skull than he ever thought he'd need to ask. He kept quiet, of course. There was time later for research.​

​

Another important factor was noticed by him. Starlin was not arrested. He was not held up, or carted away in chains. Was that because he'd come here of his own volition? Was it because he'd done this Barash thing?​

​

Not immediate reconciliation. Not an immediate pardon. But a consideration, all the same. Thoughtful, not rushed. Starlin was permitted to leave with some modicum of grace, and Eliphas followed him soon after, leaving with only a respectful bow toward the Master who now seemed deep in contemplation. A peaceful interaction, but not inherently soft.​

​

Outside he found Starlin clinging to himself, as though seeking comfort he couldn't quite grasp at. The boy's expression crumpled some, now that he was out of view of the other Jedi, and he stepped closer as the question was raised.​

​

"I learned much... Though I'd be lying if I claimed most of what I learned didn't bring far more questions than answers." He stuck Starlin with an oddly empathetic stare when he ridiculed himself, and a soft shaking of his head began his answer thus.​

​

"I don't think you're a bad Jedi," he offered, a faraway and thoughtful look in his eye. "I mean, I'm no authority on the morals and laws of the Jedi Order, but... It seems to me you were just a kid following after the one who was meant to protect and guide you. Isn't that a duty you have? To your Master?" His gaze shifted up and to the right as he tried to recall some of what he'd read and learned since coming here.​

​

Not much, to be sure. But respect seemed foremost. And the bond between Master and Padawan he'd noticed was strong in those partnerships he'd observed. Killing a fellow Jedi... Well, he could see where that would bring about cause for concern. But Eliphas didn't have all the details. He didn't know how that fight had gone down. That was between Starlin and the dead.​

​

A hand reached out, settling to his shoulder. Offering up even the slightest bit of comfort he could; whether that would help or not he didn't know. ​

​

Starlin Rand ​

 

[Starlin Rand]

Starlin expected Eli to distance himself from him, put off by the whole experience. It was pretty bizarre that he had even offered to let the kid sit in on the meeting—even after the fact, he couldn't fathom why he had suggested it or what goal he had hoped to achieve. Testing Eli's tolerance, maybe?

Well, if that was the test, it looked like Eliphas Dune had passed. There was no rejection, no distancing, no anger or upset. Just… wait, was that empathy in his gaze? Or was his cybernetic eye acting up again?

"Well, ask any questions you want. Now that the meeting's over, I've got nothing else planned today," he said. A statement more telling than he realized; he'd structured his entire schedule around this appeal, proving how important it was to him. How nervous and afraid it made him.

"That was my excuse, but Eli… my master didn't force me to follow her. She sent me a letter before the battle, telling me I had a choice. Telling me that if I went with her, I'd be putting a whole lot on the line. She wanted to make sure I understood what I was doing, and if I'm being honest, I don't think she really wanted me to follow her…"

He trailed off, seeing in his mind Syd racing across the battlefield to his side after he lost his hand. Tears had streamed down her cheeks as she tore a path of destruction through the GA ranks and raised her lightsaber against Cotan in blind fury. It was the first and only time he could recall seeing her weep. Had it been tears of regret?

Eli's hand on his shoulder pulled him out of the memory. He blinked, then cleared his throat.

"But I did anyway. I followed her, and I cut off Padawans' hands with my lightsaber, and I killed someone, a kid not much older than myself. I was even dumb enough to think I could fend off Cotan Sar'andor. So it's all on me, young or not."

Lief​

 

[Lief]

Eliphas could not claim to know more than the most basic, surface level emotions present upon Starlin's expression. He noted the surprise, but not the cause. He could deduce it of course.​

​

Whatever it was, Starlin brushed it off with his first statement. Willing to answer the many questions Eliphas had cooked up in his noggin. Only in that moment the questions didn't matter. Fled his mind entirely, they had, in favour of listening to all that Starlin said next. The revelation of the letter sent, of how Starlin had made the decision for himself.​

​

In the end though the boy simply shook his head.​

​

"Then clearly you didn't hear what I'd said," he stated rather plainly, his voice was soft though. "You say it's an excuse. I still claim you were doing your duty. Look, I'm not a Jedi... But I know that everything I've ever done was in service of my Father, and my House. Those were the duties I had prior to coming here. Those were my loyalties. I'd have moved mountains for that man if I had to, I'd have done all this even if I hadn't wanted to. Because it was expected, somewhere deep down."​

​

He paused. Eliphas wasn't often one to speak so much without a pause. He tried to be thoughtful in all he said, and sometimes spewing out so much led to rushed thoughts.​

​

"I don't know much about this place. Or how it all works. But I do know that if my Father was going into battle, I'd have followed him too. Whether he asked me to or not. Because that's what you do."​

​

The matter of the dead Padawan still plagued his mind though. That was the one thing he'd taken from it all that did bother him on some level. It had been a battlefield, sure, and deaths on a battlefield weren't inherently murder. Everyone was fighting for their survival. Everyone. Truth be told, what bothered him the most was knowing that the other boy had lived with it for so long. How did one even begin to make amends for that?​

​

Starlin Rand ​

 

[Starlin Rand]

Starlin gave Eli a dubious look.

“I’m pretty sure your dad never sided with the Sith. Look, I won’t discount the foolishness of youth—I know I was dumb as a flying brick back then. Still am, actually. But I really should’ve known better.”

He should’ve sat it out, if necessary. Never come to Dantooine on either side of that battle.

As for Eli, Starlin assumed the kid was just trying to make him feel better. That was a natural empathetic response. Empathy was good. It was a trait that would serve him well as a Jedi. But in this case, it was just… misplaced.

“I appreciate it, Eli, but I really did screw up. I didn’t do it out of duty—my duty was to the Jedi. I did it because I loved my master. She was my best friend, and I couldn’t stand the idea of going against her. But I shouldn’t have let my feelings cloud my judgment like that. It made me do bad things, hurt people, kill someone…”

He pursed his lips. “I know the whole ‘suppressing your feelings’ thing is unpopular now, especially with the NJO, but there is some merit to those old teachings when it comes to situations like mine. If there’s anything I hope you took from my story, it’s that your feelings aren’t always right. Sometimes you shouldn’t follow your heart, or whatever. It’ll hurt, but it’s the right thing to do. Moral duty, and all that.”

Lief​

 

[Lief]

His empathetic approach had run its course, and to press it any further would have been wrong. Would have denied the Jedi agency over his own thoughts and beliefs. So Eliphas pulled back from the conversation itself, though not from the gentle touch he'd laid upon the man's shoulder, and conceded to Starlin with humility.​

​

He hadn't been there. He couldn't know. All he was doing here was grasping at straws and making assumptions, and that was a dangerous path to entangle oneself with.​

​

"Will you be okay?" he inquired instead, voice quiet. He couldn't keep the concern from it, though he did his best to seem anything other than condescending. Starlin had already made it known that the rest of his day's schedule was blank. He tried to urge the man into motion with that in mind, retracing their steps back through the hallway and to that opening foyer if permitted.​

​

Fresh air might do him a world of good.​

​

"I'll heed the lessons of your example," he assured him, sincerity lacing his tone as it so often did with Eliphas. The boy was something of an open book for the most part, wore his heart upon his sleeve and wasn't afraid to show who he truly was. How he truly felt. Some might have seen that as a fault, something to be manipulated, but the Tetan hoped that time would not wick it away from him.​

​

Starlin Rand ​

 

[Starlin Rand]

Starlin was heading back outside the Temple now. Coruscanti air wasn’t exactly fresh—well, that is to say, he’d had fresher. But it was the air of his homeworld, after all.

“Me?” He pointed to his chest with mock surprise. “Psht, yeah. Life goes on.” For him, anyway. Not so much for the Padawan he’d killed all those years ago...

“Good! You’re already on your way to being a model Jedi. Now all you have to do is train really hard, go to war and not die, and convince a Sith Acolyte to help you save some younglings rather than fight in a big battle.”

In that moment it was amazing to Starlin just how little his life thus far had amounted to. His last major battle had been, what… defending the Jedi Enclave on Jakku? The attempted liberation of Lao-mon? He’d been on the losing side in both those conflicts, and had failed to stop the destruction of an entire planet on top of that. Coupled with Dantooine, even his handful of victories against the Bryn’adul didn’t seem worth noting.

But Arcturus Thesh felt more like something worthy. Sure, he’d gone back to Korriban afterwards, but the last time he’d seen him, he hadn’t looked very Sith-y. In fact, he looked pretty shitty, but not being Sithy was still progress, right?

“I win, Arc,” Starlin muttered under his breath, smiling to himself as he gazed out at the city. Turning to Eli, he clapped the kid on the back. “I can’t remember whether I asked you this already or not, but how are you settling in? Do you have a master yet? Do you need someone to show you around Coruscant?”

Lief​

 

[Lief]

Some of the references Starlin made understandably went over his head, and left a rather peculiar expression of bewilderment upon Eliphas' face as a result. Sith saving Younglings... What was he talking about? Either way he seemed a little bit more upbeat now that they were outside, with something of a breeze to grace their warm skin. A front, of course, there was no way it couldn't be, but if he continued to dig he was worried he'd push the man away.​

​

Maybe a little peace and distraction was warranted.​

​

"Do all Jedi go to war?" he asked, unable to stop himself as he peered out over the cityscape himself. Would Eliphas be expected to fight on the frontlines like that? Could he? His stomach was all in knots at the thought of it. Protectors of hope and civilization... He suppose it came with the role, didn't it? At least in some capacity. Not soon though he hoped. There was far too little he knew to be thrust headlong into such.​

​

Head turned toward Starlin as the man clapped his back, and he smiled. "Settling in is somewhat coming along," he stated, "A lot to get used to, of course, and this place is a bit of a maze, but I'm getting there. No Master, no. I don't really think anyone's even really noticed I'm around yet. I just sort of sit quietly in the back." He hadn't really had any proper lessons yet though either. He was only a few days in, they'd start up soon enough.​

​

The question of being shown around Coruscant though made his eyes glint with mischief. That had been the name of the game for today, had it not? "Are you offering?" he inquired.​

​

Starlin Rand ​