Sor-Jan Xantha
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Account name/tag change pending. Ignore the Master rank.
The Force Praxeum
Illaria • Commenor
Everybody assumed that Jedi kids were these special little monks.You had to be serious all the time when you were a Jedi.
You had to be peaceful all the time when you were a Jedi.
You had to be quiet all the time when you were a Jedi.
The truth was... none of that was true. Jedi kids were just kids. They went to school like ordinary kids. They played like ordinary kids. They got in trouble like ordinary kids, because they were ordinary kids. And they played games like ordinary kids.
And just like other kids who went to school and played games, sometimes they played other kids from other schools.
Just, maybe their games were a little different.
The name of the game: Force Ball.
There were two goals, on opposite ends of the playing field, which was divided into three segments. Two solid turf end zones, on elevated platforms, and a middle field that was composed of wooden posts that were spaced irregularly apart. A fall from the end zones or the middle field resulted in the player remaining out until the end of the current play. A ball was the primary object of the game, passed from one end to the next with points awarded for placing it in the opposing team's goal. A player could use any method of advancing the ball, though was forbidden to touch the ball with any part of his or her body. Only the Force could be used.
Now, there were as many variations to this core rule set as there were Force Traditions in the galaxy. These were Commenori rules. The play commenced once the advancing team had put the ball in motion, and the ball had to remain above ground. If the ball touched the ground, the play ended and the ball passed to the opposing team. Additionally, there were four training orbs moving randomly about the field. Two on either team. Red orbs on the visiting team, blue orbs on the home team. Two players from each team acted as Guardians, wielding rattan training sabers to shield their teammates from low powered stun bolts.
The player assigned to the goal was the Consular. Their range of movement was limited, but they were permitted to use their body to shield the goal.
The players advancing up and down the field were the Sentinels.
Bottom of the first half. The Yutani Mynocks against the Commenori Tauntauns in a close 12-15 match. Commenori had the ball and was advancing across the middle field.
The interception happened so quickly, if someone in the audience had blinked then they would have likely have missed it.
The Sephi was a most unusual player. While most coaches encouraged their charges to never take their eye off the ball, this one never had his eye on the ball. Instead, his gaze seemed vacant, as though it were a thousand yard away.
He moved with the grace for which his race was notorious, the interjection appearing as two parts sports and one part dance. Weaving his arms from left to right, circling around, as though working to keep the invisible tides of the Force in motion, the boy skipped across the top of two wooden posts as he shot the ball back over toward the home team's goal.
The end zone was open. Only the Commenori consular and one of the Yutani guardians were on the platform. The Zabrak boy in the Yutani kit took his eye off the training orb he was guarding, turning to add his own featherpush to the momentum of the ball, and re-direct the path toward the Commenori goal.
The Sephi boy who'd made the interception was instantly ecstatic. A broad smile split his face, as he jumped up from the wooden post toward the end zone.
Which was when he smacked right into the training orb.
He could see things through the Force. He couldn't see like normal people could, but he could see things through the Force.
...that list just didn't include droids. Which was why he wasn't a guardian.
Missing the landing, the child made a grab for the platform. His fingers just shy of the turf as he fell to the cushioned mat beneath the playing field.
The second half concluded with a 17-15 win for the Commenori.Which, wasn't disappointing. At least, not to the Sephi. It had been a close match because the Commenori were a good team to play against. Plus, the younglings from the Yutani Temple and the Commenori Temple were often visiting one another, so it wasn't like there wouldn't be another opportunity to play them again.
The raven-haired space elf was still in his Force Ball uniform. A more athletic version of the standard youngling tunic, being more akin to a jersey. It was colored blue to denote that he was part of the visiting team, though the Aurabesh markings identified him as one of the Clan Mynock younglings from the Yutani Jedi Temple.
The boy was seated on a terrace, looking out on what had been one of the gardens. And to him, it still was. The Force was still there, in the grass and the trees. It was a tranquil sight to behold. The faint reality of light existing against a backdrop of darkness.
He was utterly oblivious to the actual scene. The Praxeum had been the focal point of an attack. The garden burned. It's walls damaged. But the child didn't see any of that.
Behind him the Zabrak boy played with a Mon Calamari, the pair running loudly. The Sephi was being quiet, legs swinging idly as they hung over the side of the terrace.
It fluttered into view from out of his peripheral vision.
What, he couldn't have said. Couldn't have described. He didn't know what it was, merely that it was. It had wings. Tiny, ephemeral things. It floated before his face, then trailed out into the garden.
Hopping down from the terrace, the boy strode out into the garden. His hands were held out in front of him, as his feet slid rather taking a normal step. His eyes were faced forward, but it was clear that -- while he was looking at something -- he was not watching where he was going. Nor could he have.
And whatever something was, it wasn't physical. Those peering into the material world would see a boy chasing air, as what he saw was a spectre. An echo of a whisper traveling through the Force. Mayhaps, at one time, a Force ghost. Or a disturbance. Or merely a confluence of energy.
[member="Lady Kay"] | @The Jedi Order | @Commenor Systems Alliance
