Private Day 82

[Jem Fossk]

Silas Westgard
Spintir | Dawn Temple
Day 82

The north entrance wall was complete now. She had done that. There was a small bit of pleasure in seeing its straight edge stretch across the courtyard. She had never tried to build anything before. She was surprised at how simple it was.

Simple, but not easy.

The back breaking work had taken over a month. It would have been quicker for Valery to hirer a crew or use the force, but then Jem wouldn't have had the pleasure of knowing she had done that all on her own. A quick glance up showed her Valery would be back soon. She'd show her too.

Jem gave a satisfied nod at the thought and turned from the wall, stopped short by the sudden presence of a boy at the gate. "Oh." She hadn't felt his approach, and while visitors weren't unheard of they were typically ones that she knew. She cleared an uncomfortable tickle in her throat, then asked.

"... Are you lost?"

 

[Silas Westgard]

The way up to the Dawn Temple was not an easy trek, to say the least. Not that he was forced to walk his way up, but he chose to as a way of not being lazy and getting himself more fit as a whole. He was sent by Master Valery to check up on a troubled Jedi named Jem Fossk, who had been placed there to rebuild the temple and connection to the light side of the force. There was no way he could say now, considering how much Valery had done for him already.

Silas finally reached the freshly rebuild Northgate after a long walk and saw a woman approach him. He was unsure if it was the girl, considering he had never seen her before. The name rang a bell, but he still had to make sure since he was staying with her. Glaring at the curious woman, he gave her a respectful nod and bowed as a way of introducing himself.

"Lost? I guess you could say that. I'm looking for a Jedi named Jem Fossk, who has been placed here to rebuild the temple. Master Valery sent me to spend the day helping her with repairs, do you know her by any chance?"

Jem Fossk ​

 

[Jem Fossk]

Jem crinkled her nose.

"No. I know a girl name Jem though; no jedi's around here." It was clear, despite her protest, that she was the girl in question. She held her hands out to the warmth of the fire at her back and considered the situation with be more seriousness.

She squinted into noon sun shinning over the top of the finished gate.

"I mean, everything is finished here today but... you can help me clean up after some soup if you'd like?" She gestured to a simmering iron pot, filled to the brim with left over veggies, meats, and other assorted material.

She had had a second bowl ready for valery when she was ready, but since it seemed like she'd be a bit longer...

"Did she say when she'd return?"

 

[Silas Westgard]

"Is that so?" he replied to the woman with a smile, full well knowing it was Jem he was speaking to now. As far as he knew, she had recently been saved from the brainwashing that had cursed her mind. Valery wouldn't have sent him up here unless she knew it was safe to do so, and there was no way he was going to argue against her judgment.

Behind him, the noon's sun was brightly shining over the newly built gate. Silas turned around and gazed at it for a brief second, admiring the view they had from so far up.

"Soup? well, I can never say no to that" he said with a thankful nod to the woman as he began to walk over to the fire behind her, only stopping when she asked when Master Noble was going to return "I'm afraid she didn't say, but my guess very soon if she has got me to come to see your progress" he said reassuringly.

Silas turned back around and finally sat down next to the fire, his stare waiting for her to join him before he even dared grab some food "Oh, and allow me to introduce myself. I'm Silas Westgard, a good friend of Master Noble and the padawan of her husband Kahlil" he said calmly, raising one knee of the floor to lay his arm on.

"From the looks of things you seem to have made fine work of the North Gate. Master Valery was curious to see if it was finished by the time I got here"

Jem Fossk Valery Noble Kahlil Noble ​

 

[Jem Fossk]

Jem crinkled her nose. She was starting to feel like a one man freak show. Maybe she should start charging for tickets.

"Yeah, well, it is," she answered briskly. She was never known for being the friendly sort. Loyal, yes, but prideful and at time mannerless. Jem silently grabbed a bowl and sloshed him a serving, bracing for a day of unwanted questions. All she wanted to be was normal, but that goal post was moving further away with each day.

The force soured slightly at the sentiment.


"Didn't realize ex-sith could have padawans."

 

[Silas Westgard]

Silas shrugged slightly when she replied with the less than friendly response, brushing aside as she came over and sat herself down. Seeing that she had got her food, he went ahead and poured himself some soup of his own. The padawan sat back and gulped down a spoonful of warm soup and looked at Jem thoughtfully.

She didn't seem the most fun type of person to be around. It wasn't a bad thing, nor did it make her a bad person. Sometimes it just made it harder to understand them as a person better.

"Well, I didn't either until Master Kahlil took me on. He's a good man who has proven himself time and time again to have turned a new page in his life. Anyone can change, you've just to believe in them and provide them time to untie themselves from the strings that controlled them"

He looked at the woman and gave her a warm smile, something which was getting harder for him to do as time went on.

"Tell me, are you prepared to do that?"

Jem Fossk ​

 

[Jem Fossk]

Jem bristled at his forwardness.

"Listen, no offense, but I don't know you," she told him, her mindfulness over her tone growing thinner by the minute. In a life before this one, she would have already snapped at him, but Valery Noble had been working hard on having Jem express herself instead of reacting. She doing it a bit poorly here.

"I don't like being checked up on by a child, and I don't want to spill my guts to a stranger, so just-- chill it alright?"

"Eat your soup," she grumbled, shoving a mouthful in.












"And stop judging me."

Silas Westgard

 

[Silas Westgard]

Silas was about to have another spoonful of the soup when the woman spoke rudely to him once more. His brows raised slightly from the unwelcome tone, leaving him to lower the spoon back down into the warm liquid below. The padawan knew what he was getting into before he came, so it wasn't entirely a surprise the way he was being treated.

"Have it your way miss, after all, I've only just come here to simply check on you from the orders of Master Noble" the boy shrugged before finally gulping down another piece of soup.

"You have every right to not tell me, and I'll respect that. But please, do not accuse me of judging when you are doing so yourself. I may be young, but I have the intelligence to know what's right from wrong" he said sternly back to her with a rough gaze.

"Speaking of heat... Is there any more fuel for this fire anywhere?"

Jem Fossk ​

 

[Jem Fossk]

Jem's eyes fluttered in a subtle roll. "Over there," she directed, spoon pointing towards the wood pile and dribbling soup as it went. Jem hunched over her bowl and shoveled a few more bites in, trying to ward off the mountain chill and probing questions alike.

She couldn't believe Valery sent someone to check up on her. I mean it was called for, but still. A child? Jem's grumbled ran circles through her mind, occupying her like a hamster on a wheel.

At least the wall was done. It looked rather good from this vantage point. Except for that one brick that laid crooked....

"I am just tired of feeling like a spectacle," she relented, folding to the tension she had created. "s'nothubg personal." She tipped the whole bowl into her mouth.

 

[Silas Westgard]

Silas nodded from the reply and carefully got up to grab some wood from the pile. The woman seemed to have developed an attitude during her time with the sith, but as mentioned before it wouldn't bother Silas by the very least. Valery sent him because she trusted Silas to do the job, not because he was a child or whatnot. Silas knew how to look after himself, and he wasn't that innocent farm boy like he was some time ago.

Picking up a pile of wood he moved it over to the fire and dumped it on top, giving it some much needed fresh fuel to burn on "Who says you were in the first place?" he said with a shrug as he say back down, gulping down another spoonful of soup.

"In my eyes, you're just like any other normal person. So please, don't think I'm treating you differently because of your past," he said respectfully before putting the spoon down to pour the rest of the soup into his mouth. Silas placed it back down onto the floor and looked straight at her, a slight frown appearing on his lips

"In some ways, we are both in a similar state you and I, confused and trying to find a reasoning..."

Jem Fossk ​

 

[Jem Fossk]

Her own frown caught as she looked up and beheld him.

"What do you have to be confused about?" It was once again, harsher than necessary. Jem had always been a temperamental padawan, but the darkside still managed to seep in and shorten her fuse if nothing else.

She could hear the hostility in her voice, but it wasn't until he was vulnerable himself that she was able to soften enough to be aware of it.

"I mean," she self-corrected, checking her tone. "You have a master-- You're not fallen. I saved the galaxy for you. What's there to be confused about?"

 

[Silas Westgard]

"I have a lot of things to be worried about, some more than most," he said to the harsh sounding girl, always stern in the way she spoke. But yet again Silas kept patient and didn't react, it was unnecessary to raise his tone to the girl after all she went through. Right now she needed calm and comfort, not the aggression the sith gave her.

"Sometimes, when you think your someone you're entire life things can get flipped on its head. Unfortunately, I had a dose of that recently," he said emotionlessly, the reflection of the fire burning in his eyes.

"Even if you did save me, I'm still struggling with my own battles..."

Jem Fossk ​