Private Merely an Aside

[Ala Quin]

She didn't use her 'office' very often. Sitting in a room and meditating, or doing file work, was not Ala's speed. She liked to be out among the Order, interacting and connecting with younglings, apprentices...gardeners. Everyone. But for this, her office would do.

Though it did not feel like hers. Nothing in the room had her touch. She would need to change that soon.

The vision had happened again. The new one. Another of her dying, but this was not the scene she had seen for years, fighting atop a cliff against dark spirits. No, this vision ended when the face of her assailant entered her view. Lorn.

Whoever was causing her this pain, whichever dark Force was sending her this vision, would need to be tracked down. And soon.

Despite awaiting the Padawan's arrival, the hiss of the door opening did make Ala start, just a little. She really needed to get a handle on how easily her mind wandered when the vision began. She quickly recovered her wits.

"Padawan Dinn. Thank you for coming." Ala said, walking slowly around the ridiculously large desk. Her poise was easy, relaxed — hands held loosely behind her back.

"I am all ears." She turned her exposed, elven ear towards her in a show of humour. Hopefully, that would ease the tension.

| Tag: Eloise Dinn |​

 

[Eloise Dinn]

Eloise walked into the office, sat down across from Ala's desk, and folded her hands in her lap. The conclave had ended about a half-hour earlier, in which Ala had attempted to censure Eloise and demanded that she meet with her in private. Despite Amani Serys intervening, Eloise was curious enough about the Grandmaster's intentions that she had decided to go along with it.

So there she was, in the principal's office. Eloise leaned back in her chair, at ease. She'd face consequences from Amani, sure, but Ala? She couldn't touch Eloise. Not as long as her Jedi Order insisted on being a separate entity from Amani's Vonnuvi Jedi Enclave.

The Grandmaster stood up and walked around her desk. Eloise didn't bother to get up. Had she been standing, she would've been a foot taller than Ala. With her sitting down, they were more or less at eye level.

Ala tried to make a joke. Eloise didn't laugh. She was still very annoyed with this chick - hell, part of her was downright hurt at being ordered to shut up and leave at what was supposed to be an open forum, her inflammatory remarks notwithstanding. No amount of elf ear puns was going to make up for the lousy first impression Ala had made on her.

"You're the one who insisted I come here," she replied. "So. What do you want?"

Ala Quin​

 

[Ala Quin]

Ala leaned on the desk and tilted her head, ever so slightly. "Huh."

She stayed that way for an awkward moment, just looking on the Padawan. Deciphering. Picking at ideas on how to proceed. Just generally figuring stuff out.

Finally, she pushed off the desk and then clapped her hands loudly. Her hands stung more than she intended.

She wandered over the curved window that looked out over the Sanctuary. It was a lovely view, but she would much rather be out there with the people of the Order, than in here looking at them. Though, there was someone here that needed her. It was worth it.

"Have you ever heard the story of a Jedi by the name of Wyn Loftin?" Ala said, not turning back to look at Eloise, but keeping her eyes on the people outside the window.

| Eloise Dinn |​

 

[Eloise Dinn]

Eloise watched unblinkingly as Ala clapped her hands hard enough to hurt herself. But a faint smirk curled the corners of her lips. Whatever was about to happen, it was sure to be entertaining.

"No, I can't say I have," she replied, waiting for the Grandmaster to elaborate.

Ala Quin​

 

[Ala Quin]

Ala looked back at Eloise. The little master's eyebrows were raised in surprise. "Oh really? Odd that you have not."

She turned back to look out the window.

"Well. Wyn Loftin was a great scholar. And he studied for Aionomica for some...oh...80 years or so?" She said with a almost joyous musing in her tone, "are you familiar with Aionomica?"

| Eloise Dinn |​

 

[Eloise Dinn]

"No."

Ala Quin​

 

[Ala Quin]

Ala turned to Eloise with sparkling eyes. "Oh, fantastic. You will love it."

And then she turned back to look out over the Sanctuary. A group of younglings were marching in line, and trying not to misbehave. It made Ala smile.

"Wyn Loftin lived in a valley, beautiful and green...but apparently always damp. On Ossus...have you ever been to Ossus?"

| Eloise Dinn |​

 

[Eloise Dinn]

"No."

Ala Quin​

 

[Ala Quin]

"I mean, why would you have been there, dah. There are so many planets in the universe."

She turned around now, leaning back against the window. Her face still glowed with anticipatory amusement. She truly adored this story.

"Now. There was one day that Wyn Loftin was just pottering around his wee little house there on Ossus. And would you believe it? His favourite kettle was missing!"

| Eloise Dinn |​

 

[Eloise Dinn]

Eloise had been willing to give Ala the benefit of the doubt. Up to a point. But once the words wee little and kettle were uttered, she decided she'd had enough of... whatever the hell this story was.

"Is this some kind of joke?" she asked abruptly, then shifted gears entirely, not so much getting to the point as lunging for it. "Look, I get why you got pissed at me. I was out of line. I understand why you kicked me out, even if I think you're wrong for doing it. But kicking my master out? That was fucked of you. She didn't do anything, apart from telling you to stay in your lane and let her handle my misbehavior. But you didn't like that, did you? Being told what to do in your own goddamn temple?"

She shook her head in disgust. "You want people to think you're some sweet and innocent little thing that wouldn't hurt a fly, but you're not. You're a phony on a power trip. You shouldn't be the leader of an enclave, let alone the Grandmaster of the Jedi Order."

Ala Quin​

 

[Ala Quin]

Ala blinked.

And blinked again.

Then waved her hand around in front of her a bit. "Yes, yes, yes. All of those big words. My answer to all of it is the story of Wyn Loftin."

"So...the kettle...oh yes. Wyn Loftin spent three days meditating, just hoping that the Force would guide him to his missing kettle." She put special emphasis on each letter in the word kettle. "He was about to give up home...but when he was doing his laundry, he found it! In his laundry basket!"

Ala leaned forward and clapped her hands.

"His laundry basket! Now...the story doesn't end there..."

| Eloise Dinn |​

 

[Eloise Dinn]

Eloise stood up from her chair.

"Get to the point."

Ala Quin​

 

[Ala Quin]

Ala's eyebrows lifted when Eloise stood up. The Grandmaster seemed to slip out of story mode, just for a moment, and into a more motherly tone and posture.

"Oh, trust me. There is a point to all of this. Patience, Padawan."

And then, she was back in story mode.

"Wyn Loftin was so baffled by his inability to find his kettle — one would think he just needed to do laundry more often, but that isn't really how legends work now is it — that he set out on a great journey across Ossus, led by the Force, to find out why he could have been so inattentive."

| Eloise Dinn |​

 

[Eloise Dinn]

Eloise waited for Ala to finish the story.

Ala Quin​

 

[Ala Quin]

Ala was delighted with the progress that Eloise was making. Her smile spoke to it. Her excitement, though, was mostly for the story at hand.

"So, big journey. Lots of lessons. All that good stuff. Ultimately, Wyn Loftin came across whisper of a well that went down into the planet...I mean down is usually where wells go...but this one went down and down and down..."

She rolled her eyes.

"He called it the Well of Eternal Echoes. Which sounds totally made up if you ask me."

| Eloise Dinn |​

 

[Eloise Dinn]

Eloise continued to wait for Ala to finish, though she was no longer listening to whatever the Grandmaster was saying. Instead she was thinking about how to bring about the downfall of the Sith, and whether or not she should ask that cutie from the conclave Mykel Dawson for his number. He probably wasn't even single, but she wouldn't know if she didn't ask.

Ala Quin​

 

[Ala Quin]

Ala was too distracted by the story telling process to note that Eloise had zoned out. The lesson behind this story had meant so much to her as a young Padawan in the Yavin system that she just knew it would have an effect on Eloise if she opened up to the truth of it.

"Now. Wyn Loftin made his journey all about finding this well. Good luck, am I right?"

She rolled her eyes at the absurd notion of this mythical well.

"He trusted the Force for his provision, taking with him only a single Taboon fruit. Have you ever tried Taboon? I don't think its much to rave about to be honest, but perhaps it would be more your style."

| Tag: Eloise Dinn |​

 

[Eloise Dinn]

"Alright, if I stay here any longer I'm pretty sure I'm going to end up falling to the Dark Side," Eloise interrupted. "That would be cringe and you're not worth it, so instead of doing that I'm just gonna leave now."

She turned, opened the door to the Grandmaster's office, and walked out.

Ala Quin​

 

[Ala Quin]

Ala let out a heavy, audible sigh.

With a few quick strides, she reached the hallway just as Eloise was retreating. She watched her for a moment, lips pursed in thought, before calling out.

"Eloise! I truly hope you take the lesson of that story to heart."

Ala lingered in the doorway, a flicker of doubt crossing her expression. If the girl couldn't grasp the weight of it, Ala feared for how much longer Padawan Dinn would remain on the path of the Jedi.

| Tag: Eloise Dinn |​