Private Making a Friend

[Katherine Holt]

If Katherine thought the Jedi Temple was confusing in its layout, then its library was practically dizzying. She was tempted to accuse it of somehow being larger than the temple itself. Was it bigger on the inside or something?

Apparently it was more a matter of complexity, and redesigning. The library had been the site of quite a few incidents over the years, those of which resulted in portions of it needing to be renovated. The latest having been during the Brotherhood of the Maw’s attack on Coruscant.

During her tour around the Temple, Kahlil Noble had pointed out the library as an ideal place to spend some of her free time. When she wasn’t training or hanging out with others, it was the best place to go if she wanted to learn not just about the Jedi, but the galaxy as a whole.

After all, she did grow up in a rural town far out in the Outer Rim.

So with everyone busy, and having made no friends yet to ‘hang out’ with, Katherine was left to her own devices.

Idly strolling through the library with her eyes glued to the shelves. Kat had no idea where to even begin on reading, so she just browsed until she found something that caught her interest.

And not paying the slightest bit of attention to where she was walking.

Lily Decoria​

 

[Lily Decoria]

Outfit: Jedi wear
Tag: Katherine Holt

Lily was fresh from showering and changing into some style of a Jedi uniform, it was concrete in terms of a Jedi apparel that Lily would stick with nor was it the baggy robes that many wore around the temples. Those had been a step too far. Instead this was the reasonable and fair compromise that she had established with her Master, Briana Sal-Soren .

When she entered the library, her damp hair was tied up and she looked around with a practiced gaze. She had set herself a morning routine of training physically for at least an hour or two before showering, changing and then shifting onto working her mind in arduous studies of holocrons, books and other things that she could explore on the Force, ways to control it and ensure that one did not suffer outbursts. While Master Valery Noble had been able to steer Lily away from cutting herself off from the Force. She was still focused on ensuring that she could never suffer traumatic outbursts again.

As she walked down the aisle, her fingers perused the different books of insight on offer. There were some that she had already read several times, some she had read once and plenty, plenty more that she hadn't even touched. Her mind was not perfect in understanding it all but she knew once she had an interest in a topic, her mind would get laser focused and know as much as one could around a certain topic. At least, it was the experiences she had in terms of how she learnt in the past.

So far, she had learnt a few things about how one approached Force training and how one could be cut off from the Force. However, cutting off from the Force had always been described as a traumatic event that one was never left the same. It was one step that a Jedi never took unless it was absolutely necessary. Some described death as preferred over it. Something that Lily knew she could not imagine and decided upon learning that to seek out more methods on control. There had to be something on Force based outbursts. It wasn't emotional based, at least, she never assumed it was so there was little explanation for why it happened.

While she wondered down the aisle, she stopped abruptly and gave a slight cough to avoid bumping into another woman walking in the opposite direction.

"Hi. I'm Lily Decoria." She introduced herself politely.

 

[Katherine Holt]

I wonder…has there been anyone who's been able to read everything in this library?

The question stuck in Katherine’s mind as she glanced across numerous different books on the shelves. Almost each and everyone was on a different subject matter, although there were a number that were parts of a whole volume.

Suffice to say, the young redhead knew she wasn’t going to be without any interesting reads during her time in the Jedi Temple.

Being too lost in her thoughts, Katherine was startled when someone nearby coughed. She hopped on the spot, turning to face Lily, only at the same time her wings decided to spring out too. Both slamming into the shelves either side of them, although thankfully nothing fell.

The same could not be said for what little semblance of dignity Katherine had left. As it was sent plummeting down through the floor and several levels below. Her cheeks turned red, almost matching the same shade of red as her hair.

Slowly, she retracted the wings and looked up at Lily.

“Hi...I’m Katherine Holt.” She said, with a sheepish smile.

Lily Decoria​

 

[Lily Decoria]

Outfit: Jedi wear
Tag: Katherine Holt

The surprise of wings had Lily take a sudden step back. She had not expected wings to pop out of the woman, Lily took a moment to adjust to the idea of sudden wings springing out of people, that was something Lily did not know other races could do. She made a mental note about it, she was not a fan of surprises so it was good to ensure that she noted the racial traits so she could identify the people with retractable wings in the future. Or at least make sure she memorised Katherine's face to ensure that she did not get so surprised in future.

"Sorry to startle you, I just wanted to avoid bumping into you is all." Lily confessed as she extended a hand to shake with Katherine.

Looking around, "are you looking for anything in particular in the library? I started with the history holobooks. Dense and likely to put people to sleep as they read but great start to understand what the Jedi are about and understanding the trials they have faced till now." Lily admitted, she was still going through the books on history but she liked to switch things between each volume as to not burn out her history intrigue. It was all planned out and heavily researched as an appropriate way of reading so she never felt guilty or wrong for not sticking to the same books till they finished.

"Are you a new Padawan as well?" Lily asked curious.

 

[Katherine Holt]

Katherine had expected the usual fear in response to her wings, but it seemed Lily was more surprised than anything. With a dash of curiosity thrown into the mix too. The Echani gave off the impression that she was fairly new herself. Whether that was being a Jedi itself, or being on Coruscant.

“No no, that’s on me…I wasn’t really paying attention to where I was going.” She chuckled quietly. “Honestly, if you hadn’t coughed I probably would’ve walked straight into you.”

The redhead’s cheeks were still flush with embarrassment as she shook Lily’s hand.

“Well…” Katherine’s voice carried off as she glanced around at the shelves, getting lost in their vastness again. “History would be good, I think. I didn’t exactly come from a place that was well connected, especially not to something like the HoloNet.”

“I am, only just recently joined the Order. I’m one of Master Noble’s padawans.” She said, providing no clarification on which Noble that was. “I take it you’re one too?”

Lily Decoria​

 

[Lily Decoria]

Outfit: Jedi wear
Tag: Katherine Holt

"History is great!" Lily stated with clear excitement. "I started there when I first arrived. I looked at the history of Jedi, Sith and the Force. They were all very dense and long, but there were some interesting facts and then I did a couple deep dives on the holonet for records that not necessarily countered the archive records but offer other viewpoints. You must be careful with that though, there can be some really weird conspiracies and counter-claims online that aren't factual based." Lily explained as she remembered the number of rabbit holes she noted that had little or no historical or scientific basis.

Leading the way, "if you want some links to articles, journals and records that I found then I can send them to you. They can be really good to provide a non-Jedi perspective on the history, especially since that can provide some insight into how outsiders will observe the Jedi." Lily offered as she walked, scanning the aisles as she looked for the history books that she had read. Spotting them, she gasped, "aha! There we go!" She pointed to several different holobooks, "these are the ones I started with."

"Master Noble? Is that Master Valery Noble? I trained with her a bit when I first arrived. She helped me with my Force meditations." Lily explained, unsure if Master Kahlil Noble took on Padawans or what he was like as a Jedi since she held no interactions with him, but he was married to Master Valery so he must be a very strong and good Jedi. "I am a Padawan studying under Jedi Knight Briana Sal-Soren." Lily stated, she knew using just the surname would be confusing since Master Briana had a brother with the same surname and rank as herself.

 

[Katherine Holt]

The Padawan laughed lightly at the sudden burst of excitement from Lilly. “History it is then, I’m like ninety-nine percent clueless when it comes to stuff like the Force.” Although Katherine did frown a little as the Echani mentioned being careful on the HoloNet. “Noted, sounds like you can really get lost browsing on there.”

She followed behind as Lily led the way through the library. Katherine made a conscious effort to keep her wings folded a little more. In part to try and ‘hide’ them, but also to avoid any further instances that had almost happened minutes ago.

Katherine followed Lily’s finger as she pointed to each holobook she recommended. The redhead Padawan made a mental note of their placement along the shelf. She glanced over them for a few moments, before picking one up, one that seemed to contain information on the Jedi-Sith conflict.

“Thank you for the suggestions, I’ll definitely grab more of these when I have some free time.” And with how Kahlil was training his Padawans, sometimes that free time wasn’t very abundant.

“Oh! No-well Master Valery mentored me a bit. I needed help keeping my balance when fighting…” Katherine’s cheeks burned a little out of embarrassment. Thanks to her wings, it took an awfully long time for her to not practically tip over when making sudden movements. “Master Kahlil is my Noble teacher.” She raised an eyebrow at the mention of Briana, feeling like she had heard that name in passing somewhere. “Sal-Soren huh? I don’t recognize it, and yet I feel like I will before long.”

“How long have you been a Padawan?”

Lily Decoria​

 

[Lily Decoria]

Outfit: Jedi wear
Tag: Katherine Holt

Lily nodded her head, "Yeah, it is great and there is plenty to learn here. Getting lost and going down random rabbit holes can be fun when you are in the mood but it can be dangerous." She confessed as Lily knew things could get dark or weird really quickly.

Looking to Katherine, she could tell the other Padawan was hiding her wings and the body language was uncomfortable around them. Lily paused and wondered how best to approach that her wings were interesting and cool. Tilting her head, "I think your wings are really pretty by the way. I bet flying around is an amazing sensation." Lily could only think of saving money on taxis and speeders by flying around to locations. As well and being able to flash them out to make dramatic entrances.

"I use these as part of studying and training, it is important I think to do this kind of studying and I think the Jedi Masters tend to encourage it." Lily pointed out, so that Katherine might be able to do the same and they could study together.

Oh! Master Kahlil Noble, that was interesting and Lily had no experiences with the Jedi Master yet but she knew that he had to be a skilled Jedi Master. "I am sure he would be a great Jedi mentor."

"Not long, couple weeks or so." Lily answered, "yourself?"

 

[Katherine Holt]

Having her wings be called ‘pretty’ had Katherine’s cheeks burning red, although a look of admitted embarrassment soon followed. “I uh, haven’t exactly been successful in flying so far. Best I’ve done is a brief glide, that usually results in me face planting the floor.”

She was acutely reminded of trying to keep up with Capris as they rooftop hopped across Coruscant, only to accidentally ‘glide’ a few times in the process.

“Master Kahlil is great, and incredibly patient with me.” Katherine said, with a slight chuckle. She could only imagine other Master’s might’ve gotten frustrated with her already. “He’s the one who suggested I spend a portion of my free time here, mostly because I came from somewhere pretty disconnected.”

As the pair continued to walk and talk, Katherine got a bit more comfortable with her wings. She became less worried about hitting something, and the wings gradually shifted from being tucked in, to loosening up when there was room to.

“About a month or so for me, although a good chunk of that was focused on me getting used to the wholly new surroundings.” It was certainly one thing to go from a planet you’re familiar with, to one you’re not. It was a whole other thing to go from a fairly mundane village, to a city-planet like Coruscant.

“How do you end up coming to the New Jedi Order?” Katherine asked, her curiosity getting the better of her. Though, as they stepped out into a more open area, the redhead Padawan realised something. “Oh, we should probably find somewhere to sit, shouldn’t we?”

Lily Decoria​