Private Mind Games

[Kei Westbrook]

Kei looked around.

The mountains of Commenor were gorgeous, especially when you were at the top. You could see for miles, see the skyline of Chasin City in the distance. To stand and look out across the planet was something that Kei wished everyone could experience just once in their lives. He wanted everyone to see how gorgeous the view was.

The young Jedi below him weren't up above the clouds to look at the view however. Kei hadn't invited them to complete the hike just to look at the pretty sites, he had invited them to complete the tiring climb, the exhausting climb for a reason. He had invited them to climb and sweat to join his little games.

He hadn't given any of the young Padawan's any details, other than the news that they would be competing against each other. He had expected them to come up with their own ideas of what the day would entail. He wanted them to formulate in their own heads, wanted them to worry and plan for anything that may come up.

He licked his teeth softly, crouching down to look over to the ledge. The students, the Jedi Padawans were lined up in the little clearing down below the Jedi Master. He had put them there so that he could watch the actions of every single one of the students, could study how they reacted to each challenge.

"Ladies and Gentleman, I hope you're all exhausted following your hike. Now, you may be wondering why I've gathered you here. Simply, you're all going to be playing a little game. None of the challenges you're about to face are life threatening, though they are designed to challenge your abilities in the force, so chances are you'll walk out of this exhausted. Good luck"

He smiled and whistled. With his whistle, three droids would activate from behind the group, their blasters set to stun. All three droids would fire into the crowds, aiming to stun some of the Jedi in front of them. From each side of the clearing, droids would climb up (aided by Kei with the force) and collect weapons, all of them set to stun.

Kei smiled, and wished them all good luck in his head.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

The Mirialan girl whom had been in the same class under Kei as Mathieu looked to the tall Padawan awkwardly as the Jedi Master mentioned that he hoped that they were all exhausted. Mathieu, used to long treks with heavy equipment was not even close to tiring and had even given his class mate a little ride on his back. Hopefully, Kei wouldn't mind, and if he did, the former Mercenary hoped that he wouldn't have noticed. The Zabrak whom they had also met during the first day during that fateful lesson was also there, although she was a bit more standoffish.

Mathieu didn't carry much with him. He did not expect lethal force to be used and so, he had left his trusty blaster pistol at home - in his efforts to become more like what he perceived as a real Jedi, he tried to use it as little as possible. Still, he carried his stun baton on one side of the belt and his practice sword on the other. In addition to that, his substance regulator was still installed with a few different stims at his disposal, just like always. His Ashla's Wristguard still sat nicely on his arm and his EMP-emitter was in his belt-mounted pocket like always. And with the EMP-emitter handy, droids would hardly be a problem.

Mathieu and his two friends stood at the front of the line, meaning that the other Padawans would take the hit before them. Some didn't react at all, frozen by the sudden surprise. Others tried to seek shelter and some did what Mathieu did. They charged the machines. The large Morellian knew that he was a big target but enhancing his speed and running along the flank, he made sure that he wouldn't get hit. Activating his stim pack to temporarily increase his strength through a few simple motions by his wrist, he then grabbed one of the first three droids and turned its fire upon the other two. Natuarlly, the droid tried to resist but soon enough its mechanical components started to moan as it simply found itself overpowered.

Of course, more droids were coming, along the sides but he felt safe with his cover behind the droid that kept shooting - either by programming or him grabbing hold of the stun weapon and squeezing the trigger. Thinking rather quickly, he decided to save the use of the EMP-emitter until later if it would become necessary then. Instead, he used the droid he currently 'held captive' to survive the challenge.

Kei Westbrook

 

[Kei Westbrook]

Kei looked down.

Almost instantly, he was impressed by a select few. Some were using the force to create barriers around themselves, others throwing themselves into battle to conquer the droids. Everyone had a different approach to handling the task at hand.

Those who fell would be removed to a shelter by the droids. They'd be given food and water and be allowed to watch the remaining tasks and challenges in relative comfort. To those who were taken out of the games, they'd realize that sometimes it was probably easier to be taken out.

The droids would continue their blaster fire, continue stunning the students until only twenty remained. Ten had been taken out in the first task, as Kei had anticipated. He was particularly impressed by Mathieu Brion and his ingenuity to use the droids against themselves.

"Congratulations, you all survived"

Almost instantly the droids would stop firing, pausing their onslaught. They would round the students up, lining them all back up into their rows. Kei would again study all of them, watching as they were rounded. He would be keeping his eyes on a particular few.

Some Jedi Knights stepped out behind Kei, bringing targets with them. Kei had brought them in to help his little game, all of them had volunteered to help train some of the newest Jedi of the order, all of them were using the games to do the same thing as Kei.

"Easy enough, the rocks need to hit the target. You all have force potential, so use it"

The Jedi Knights would use the force to start lifting rocks, using the force to throw the rocks towards the students. The first fifteen to hit a target would be safe, the five who didn't would be removed from the games and taken to the waiting area.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

The three friends from Kei's first class had all survived, it seemed. They sent each other happy looks as the Jedi Master congratulated them - even the Zabrak seemed to be in a good mood. Perhaps it was the exercise which had given her a boost in the temper department.

It was hard not to get a little nervous when the Knights stepped out. What could he have in mind that would require so many powerful force users? The man was already proficient in his appliance of the force, being leaps and bounds beyond the capacity of his students. The former Mercenary studied their targets - perhaps it wouldn't have been such a bad idea to bring his blaster after all. Still, he waited to see what was in store for them.

At first, it was unclear why he asked them to use the force, but it would become apparent soon enough as rocks started being hurled at them. Mathieu still followed the tenets of the Soller Navah - do not use the force to affect the outside world. While other students caught the rocks mid-air through telekinesis or redirected them away from themselves - sometimes accidentally hitting a fellow student, Mathieu did his best to avoid getting hit initially.

A strategy started to form in his mind as he needed to not only avoid getting hit but also hit targets from a range. Mathieu started doing what he did best - namely enhancing his own physical capacities, granting himself better reflexes, faster movement and greater strength among other things. Instead of trying to avoid the rocks, he instead managed to catch one of them as it came towards him. The Knight who had sent it looked a little surprised and when Mathieu threw it back, he had to act fast. The Padawan threw it with great force, launching it at the target the Knight held with incredible speed. It risked injuring the person behind it and so it was quickly diverted through an elegant application of telekinesis.

Mathieu let out an awkward "Sorry!" before repeating the process, this time throwing it with less force, ensuring that they could avoid injuries and fatalities. Mathieu was not one of the fastest students this time, but he was far from the bottom of the pack too. He had used the method of enhancing his strength to create dangerous projectiles before - although it was to catch a robber. This was not too different and his technique told the same tale. He was still comfortable with the challenges.

Kei Westbrook

 

[Kei Westbrook]

The rocks and stones kept flying.

Five eliminations later and Kei was down to fifteen. Some of them were highly impressive, some of them clearly hadn't ever used the force before and others were relying on skills that Kei hadn't expected them to rely on, the physical strength a person had.

Kei had applied his mastery of the force elegantly, deflecting a thrown rock before it could hit one of the Jedi Knights who had come to provide assistance. The Jedi Master really didn't want to have to apply a force heal if he could help it, especially for a reckless rock throw.

Once the first fifteen had hit their targets, Kei used a flare gun to call a pause to the activity. The fifteen who had passed would go forward and the five eliminated students were escorted to the waiting area. They were escorted to wait.

"Congratulations, you did well. This next task is going to be even harder, so if you think the rock throwing deal was hard, you've seen nothing yet. You've all got five minutes, I'd recommend you take them to breath and cool off. You're going to go through hell"

Once the students had taken five minutes, drank some water and recovered some stamina, Kei had the Jedi Knight's gather them up into a row. He jumped down from the cliff, graceful as he could with a flip for good measure. He landed directly in front of the group.

He removed a training lightsaber from his belt, holding it up to the class. It was a simple blade, one that some of the group had seen before. They were generally used by the fighting teachers in the temple, used to teach basic form one moves.

"You'll all go five minutes against me. The five who do the best job will pass through to the final task. The ten who don't will join their friends in the waiting area. Good luck to all of you, because trust me, you'll need it. I won't go easy"

The smokey ash blade slid from his weapon. His thumb twisted a knob on the side, turning the intensity of the blade down. It would hurt and burn if it made contact with a student, but it wouldn't cause any damage that wouldn't heal over time.

He tossed the training saber into the group.

One by one, student after student stepped up to Kei. One by one, they went five minutes and one by one Kei tore through them. He was faster, well trained and was switching between styles with speed and elegance, however anyone who was studying the fight would notice Kei's preferred form, Djem-So.

Once every student had taken their five minute beating, only one remained. Kei offered the blade to Mathieu Brion and invited the big man to join him. He was sure Mathieu would be the hardest challenge, where Kei had training, Mathieu had pure strength.

The Jedi Knight who was timing the fights nodded, and the duo began their dance.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

The flare went off and everybody stopped. The Padawan herd had been thinned out dramatically. But the trio from before remained as both the Mirialan and the Zabrak had managed to make their way to the final stage. Mathieu knew them both. The Mirialan mostly used Niman and mixed in plenty of force applications during her fights whilst the Zabrak preferred a weird mix between Juyo and Makashi, making for a rather unique and fierce opponent. Mathieu had sparred against them both, but he had also sparred extensively with the Jedi Knight Cas Tynen who was specialised in Ataru which had become the form which Mathieu was most used to facing.

Needless to say, he was not quite as well prepared against Dejm-So which he saw that Kei seemed to favour. But then, Mathieu tended to either employ Soresu or Djem-So himself, meaning that he was not all that unfamiliar with the form. But the mere idea of facing Kei was daunting. He looked up to the man and remembered seeing him plow through Rakghould back on Taris. And now he was quickly working his way through the Padawans he faced. Naturally, some were doing better than others, but it was still clear that they were all struggling to compete with him.

In a way, Mathieu was probably among those with the best chances when going up against the Master. He had plenty of battlefield experience from his days as a Mercenary and he had participated in many fights as a Padawan too - both during sparring sessions and out in the field. Still, there was so much he had yet to learn and he had many weaknesses which Kei had probably already had the chance to observe. Still, Mathieu did have the Ashla's Wristguard which helped improve his reflexes and make him a little more durable.

Once it was his turn, the large Morellian picked up the training sabre and took a defensive Form III stance whilst slowly advancing towards Kei who seemed to be content letting Mathieu attack first. With an advantage both in height and muscle mass, his initial attack plan was clear, it would not be a series of blows or involve any advanced acrobatics, instead, it would be a quick sideways swing before he even got in range to attack the opponent. The move was not without purpose because he utilised the momentum he had built up in order to quickly bring the sword overhead and then smash it down at his opponent as he took the last step into melee range. The result was a powerful attack which came in with deceptive speed. If Kei tried to defend by engaging in a blade lock, Mathieu would gladly entertain him and keep pushing down on his foe, hoping to completely overwhelm him. But then, he would be rather surprised if the Master would let that happen.

Kei Westbrook

 

[Kei Westbrook]

Kei wasn't hardly surprised that Mathieu remained on the ground.

He was however surprised by the speed of the big man. The sideways swipe was easy enough to deflect, smokey ash blade easily parrying the blade away without much work from the Jedi Master. The overhand swing was something that Kei wasn't expecting, especially the speed of it.

Kei was smart enough to know engaging in a saber lock with Mathieu would only end one way. He instead stepped back, the force guiding his movements. The training blade of the big Padawan would skim past him, giving him a closer shave than he intended.

The Jedi Master took up a Djem-So stance, moving on Mathieu with pure, force fueled rage and power. He moved from the basic Krayt's Crest guard into a quick Falling Avalanche without even thinking. It was a move that he had spent so long working on mastering, purely designed to overwhelm an opponent.

The smokey ash blade slice down and them back up. Kei wanted to get the big man on the defensive and he needed to keep the pressure on. As he attacked through the moves associated with his Falling Avalanche, he would keep walking the Jedi Padawan backwards towards the edge of the cliff, where there was nothing but a few hundred feet until the floor.

Kei didn't have the strength advantage, of that he was aware. He had training however, his moves being fueled by the force. He was always looking three or four moves ahead, keeping his grip on his blade loose enough that he could transition to any other form should it be required.

Mathieu had to act, Kei was interested to see how he would.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Kei seemed to know what Mathieu was playing at as he stepped back, narrowly avoiding the blade. It was unfortunate as he had hoped to be able to use his strength to overpower the Master he was fighting. The Master he was fighting. Naturally, it would not be so simple and while some focused on other parts of life such as diplomacy, engineering or botany, the young Morellian was of the impression that Kei Westbrook was an expert bladesman.

What ensued was a series of aggressive attacks. Mathieu was used to dealing with an aggressive attacker after having sparred so many times with Cas. But there was a big difference between their two styles. While Cas expertly jumped about, attacking from unexpected directions and always repositioned, Kei carried more power to his strikes, often using the momentum created by bouncing his blade off of Mathieu's blocking one to launch another attack from the other direction. The Padawan now had to do more than just throw his blade in between himself and the incoming sabre, he also had to carry enough strength in order to hold back the attack.

The attacks were coming in at a fast rate and with a lot of force, causing Mathieu to fall back on his practiced defensive skills and only slowly backed toward the ledge of the cliff. It was becoming increasingly clear that he was on a timer and with that, he tried to think of a solution. Mathieu swept his blade upwards to counter one of Kei's incoming attacks - but this time, he put some muscle into it and instead of letting his own blade bounce back, it kept pushing. If Kei kept following his Falling Avalance pattern and let his own blade bounce back, he would soon find a practice blade by his throat.

If Kei instead blocked, Mathieu would push on, once more challenging the Master to a situation where their sabres would be locked. Suddenly, however, Mathieu would pull his own sabre back to his left, hoping that the Master would follow with his upper body and go forth whist at the same time sending a kick at him from the right. If it all went through perfectly, the tables would have been turned as the more experienced fighter would have been the one who risked falling from the momentum he already had going forward along with the push from the kick.

Kei Westbrook

 

[Kei Westbrook]

Kei was getting cocky.

In honesty, he assumed that Mathieu would yield to him the moment that he was against the edge of the cliff. He assumed that the young Jedi Padawan would realize that he was outmatched, that Kei as the Jedi Master had the advantage.

He was surprised when Mathieu didn't yield, when Mathieu decided to get on the attack. The sweeping slash upwards that Mathieu used was something that Kei didn't expect, a move he hadn't seen before. Mathieu was starting to impress him more and more as they continued.

Mathieu left the older Jedi Master with a choice, he could either choose to block or continue fighting. Kei quickly decided on blocking, switching from his more attacking Djem-So to a defensive Soresu stance, saber parrying every shot that Mathieu threw towards him.

The saber lock left Mathieu with even more of an advantage, the kick that followed was perfectly well placed. Kei had always known that Mathieu had the advantage when it came to simple brute strength and that was why he refused to let the man get on the attack.

Kei felt his foot slip over the edge of the cliff. He felt himself on the edge and allowed himself to fall. He wanted Mathieu to think he had won, when in reality Kei had grabbed hold of a small section of the cliff face that was sticking out, guided by the force to do so.

Kei used the force to aid the jump that followed, used the force to aid a jump that cleared Mathieu with ease. Kei took up the defensive the moment he landed, inviting Mathieu into the attack. If Mathieu chose to go on the attack, Kei would simply switch from Soresu to Djem-So and Juyo, switching between the three forms to keep Mathieu on edge until the Jedi Knight called time.

If Mathieu didn't attack first, Kei would. Kei would unleash the full power of Vaapad (a form he was still trying to learn, a form he was desperate to learn) upon his opponent, tapping into both his inner darkness and any darkness that radiated from Mathieu.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

It was over. The fight was over. Mathieu saw Kei slip and knew that he had won. Still, the Master was still at risk and so he tried to reach for the man but was a tad too slow, which meant that he would be allowed to continue falling. "NO!!" Mathieu let out a loud holler as he got down on his knees, still trying to catch the man.

Before he knew it, Kei shot up into the sky, sabre still drawn and at the ready. It was almost like facing Cas now. The Morellian got back up on his feet in an instant - he was used to doing the same motion in heavy armour and now that he was dressed much more simply, it would be done at a high speed as he was much less encumbered.

Soon, he would launch an attack of his own - but it was not a standard Djem-so assault which he had practiced. His form included a much heavier use of physical attacks. Sometimes, he created a temporary pressure spike with a powerful one-handed swing of the sabre whilst the other shot out in a jab, other times he would put the strength of both of his hands into use to launch a kick at his opponent. It was a display of Mathieu's reliance on physicality and also something which honoured his past military upbringing and time as a Mercenary.

Kei defended against the attacks expertly, and soon enough, he had turned the tables on the Padawan. First, it began as another typical Djem-So attack but soon, Mathieu could see elements of other forms too. It was a fearsome combination which forced the Morellian into a very defensive style - something which he was rather used to by now. At first, his sole focus was at not being overwhelmed and defending but soon, he started mixing in a few jabs and a kick from time to time, allowing those to serve as his only offensive capability whilst he purely used his sabre on the defence.

As the fight went on, Mathieu felt that the blocks and parries he had to make kept getting closer and closer to failing. Somehow, the discrepancy in speed between them seemed to increase and while Kei kept switching forms and thereby also attack patterns, Mathieu kept relying on his somewhat personalised form 3 defence. It was clear that Kei managed to read him whilst he couldn't even use what little information he had on Kei.

Mathieu was edging nearer and nearer a defeat when suddenly, a Knight called time. Mathieu's eyes were fixed on those of the Master, still prepared for another attack, even a few moments after the other's guard was lowered. Following soon after, Mathieu lowered his training sword "I survived" he said, clearly surprised by managing to achieve what the other students had not.

Kei Westbrook

 

[Kei Westbrook]

Kei was impressed.

Mathieu had survived until the bell, but he had survived impressively. Kei had forced the man into a pure defensive form yet the bigger Jedi Padawan managed to get some very impressive jabs and kicks in. They didn't have enough force to do any true damage, but they came sharp.

Mathieu was clearly impressed at how long he had survived and Kei couldn't blame him. Mathieu had done what most of the other Padawan's had failed to do. Mathieu had managed to do what so many others had failed to do and Kei was impressed.

The Jedi Master deactivated his blade, smokey ash plasma sliding back into it's hilt. He clipped the weapon back onto his belt and looked around the group, a smile on his face. The Jedi Knights who were assisting him brought out the five young Jedi who would be taking on the final task.

"Well done to all of you, you've all made it to the final. There can only be one winner however. To crown that winner, we have one final task. Now that you're all exhausted, you can all go on a climb. The winner of the trials is whoever makes it to my side first. Good luck to everyone"

The instructions themselves were pretty simple, the silence only broken by multiple tiny bangs. The cracks appeared faint at first, but slowly the cliff began to give way. Kei jumped into a back flip, his goal to reach his original position before the cliff fell.

With the young Jedi all plunged into free fall, Kei wanted to see how many would use the force to scale the cliff face from bottom to top. He wanted to feel the force aiding them, guiding them as to where their hands should be placed and where they should go next.

For those unfortunate enough to not hold on to something as they fell, they'd be caught in the force by Jedi Knights at the bottom and would start from the very bottom. The Jedi needed to trust in the force, needed to let it guide them and what a better way of teaching them that than a near death experience.

Okay fair enough, he was slightly insane.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Mathieu seemed to be recovering from the fight quickly. He had good stamina and was capable of conducting prolonged fights, it had been necessary from his days as a Mercenary and it had been good for him to keep in shape during his time with the Jedi. For being a Padawan yet to have been picked by a Master, Mathieu had seen remarkably much action - but then, he had always been quick to volunteer - doing good felt great and he knew that he had the capacity to make a difference.

What happened next was unexpected. Extremely unexpected.

All of a sudden, the large Morellian started to feel the ground underneath him give way but he didn't sense that he was truly in danger. It was odd and it also meant that Kei had probably arranged the explosions as a part of their test. Looking at the Master, Mathieu remained still on the collapsing piece of ground until he started to fall.

At first, Mathieu's arms flailed about wildly as he tried to grab hold of something. But then, he remembered to trust in the force - it had always lead him straight so far and he had no qualms with doing so again. The former Mercenary's right arm caught something rock solid which prevented him from falling further as his feet quickly planted down at the wall, giving him some support. His left arm caught something soft. Mathieu looked down, only to see that he and his Mirialan friend had caught each other.

"Hello there" he said with a smile, seemingly not straining much from holding her weight at all. In truth, it was a strain on his fingers, but nothing which would affect his demeanour. The green Padawan asked for help, still utterly exhausted from the fight against Kei. She was not the physical kind and had relied heavily on using the force during their fight and was now drained. The Morellian smiled down at her "Hop on" before swinging her upwards so that she could climb onto his back.

"Are you holding on tight?" he asked, glancing back at her. Once a affirmative answer was given, he started to scale the wall at a tremendous speed. With his already good physicality, Mathieu enhanced his own capabilities further and this was something he had trained at extensively. Few of the other padawans would stand a chance against the speed at which he climbed, even though he carried his friend on his back.

When they eventually arrived at the top, Mathieu 'took her off' similarly to how he would have taken off a backpack and gently laid his friend on the ground to recover before walking over to Kei. The last challenge had really been up his alley - but it was still quite visible that was starting to tire and while he would recover his stamina soon enough, his fingers and hands would probably be hurting for days. Letting out a heavy breath, the large Morellian looked at the Master and threw a glance at his friend a bit behind him "We made it" he said, including her in the equation.

Kei Westbrook

 

[Kei Westbrook]

He was seriously impressed.

Mathieu had gotten to his side first yet he had proven that he cared about everyone else but himself by assisting the Mirialan to the top. He had carried both his own weight and the weight of the girl from the bottom to the top and that was extremely impressive.

Kei patted the big man on the shoulder, smiling towards him. He was sure that the big Morellian would be happy to know that there were no more tasks, he could recover. He had done impressively well, Kei hadn't expected much but had been pleasantly surprised.

He crossed his arms and waited for everyone to reach the top of the cliff. It took each student a different amount of time. Some used the force, others had struggled their way up and one even had to get a Jedi Knight to assist him in reaching the top of the cliff.

Kei clapped and whistled to get the attention of the group.

"Well done to all of you. I'm hoping you've all learnt something today, other than the fact I'm insane. I'm hoping I've taught you that you can't achieve anything in the galaxy without trusting in the force and trusting in yourself and those you surround yourselves with"

Kei offered a small smile around the group.

"One member of your group has seriously impressed me today. He has many of the qualities that a Jedi should have, he helped everyone at the cost of himself and for that, I can't fault him. Mathieu deserves a round of applause for his actions today"

Kei grinned.

"Now then. I believe it's time to make our way back to the temple. Mathieu, hang around. I'd like a word in private once everyone has started making their way back towards the temple. Use the path this time, we don't need anyone dying, the Jedi aren't there to catch you"

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Kei was smiling, so he must've done something right. But then, he and his mate were the first ones to arrive up the hill so it did not take much imagination to get a picture of what the cause might have been.

Soon enough, the Mirialan got up to her feet and came over to them and one after another, the others started arriving. The Zabrak, grumpy as ever, seemed to have deployed the same strategy as Mathieu and had climbed the distance - but unlike him, they arrived up at the top last of all. Once they were all gathered, they had already fallen into some light chatter until Kei eventually clapped his hand and whistled for them, quickly gaining the pack's attention.

Mathieu had a hard time keeping himself from letting out an amused chuckle upon hearing the Master mention that he was insane. He knew it was not the case. After having studied under him for a few classes, fought by his side back on Taris and even conducted diplomatic talks under his wing, it was clear for the former Mercenary to see that there was nothing insane about him. Maybe he had a slightly more eccentric and unorthodox side, but so far, he had learned much from that too.

While the Mirialan and Zabrak both looked to their Morellian friend upon hearing that the one who had impressed Kei was a 'he', Mathieu remained still - taking out victory in advance was never a good idea and while he felt he knew the Master well enough by now to have a good idea what was in his mind, he also knew that the man could be highly unpredictable. It was a strength - one which had become abundantly clear in their duel. Mathieu's counter when he faced the Form V assault which he was so familiar with was much less of a challenge compared to constantly having to stay on his toes against the mixed barrage of different attacks conducted at the end.

Previously, he had contained his chuckle, but now, his lips formed a bright smile "Thank you, Master Westbrook" Kei was not too fond of being referred to as that - but after just having praised him and in front of the other Padawans, the large Morellian felt that it was appropriate. And when asked to stay, it was obvious that he would do so too.

Soon, Kei and Mathieu were the only ones remaining on the plateau. He threw a careful glance around him and could see some destroyed droids - they had been shot by the one he had wrestled control over earlier. The former Mercenary sighed - in the end, it was only fair that he would stay to clean up his own mess "Want me to clean it up?" he asked, ready to embrace his fate.

Kei Westbrook

 

[Kei Westbrook]

Kei grinned.

He hadn't asked Mathieu to stay behind to clean up, honestly he wasn't cleaning up himself either. It was a problem for someone else to clean up, he had decided that early on. He assumed one of the Jedi Knights would return and use the force to scrub the place up.

He placed his hand on Mathieu's shoulder softly.

"There's a reason I asked you to stay back and trust me when I say it wasn't to clean this mess up. Trust me, this is someone else's problem. Even I can't be bothered to deal with no. No, I asked you to stay behind because I wanted to ask you something"

He had been watching the boy since they'd met. Mathieu had highly impressed the Jedi Master in the classroom, then he had held his own on Taris when they went head to head against the Rakghouls and then again he had impressed during the little course today.

"I actually kept you behind because you're impressive, the potential radiates from you. You stand to be one hell of a good Jedi if you train under the right person. I believe that right person may well be me, you need someone to break you from the rigid stance you seem to have"

He grinned.

"So, if you're willing to take me up on my offer. How would you like to join me as my official, on the books Padawan?

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Mathieu looked down at the hand which Kei placed on his shoulder and then he turned his gaze to the Master. A slow and careful nod was produced as he heard that the cleanup was somebody else's problem. He let out a slight chuckle, not quite sure what to say or how honest to be. Ultimately, he told the truth "Well, that's a relief. Squeezing droid, I'm good at, cleaning up their remains? Not so much" he said, using a jestful tone towards the end.

It was good that Kei was going to ask the question now. In all the chaos that was back on Taris, they never really got to that point. Especially since Mathieu stayed behind to volunteer. He held that memory fondly as that was where he had first got to know Inara beyond just seeing her in a fight. The former Mercenary looked at the Master as he spoke. An involuntary smile started to slowly creep up along his lips, growing wider by each compliment that Kei gave him.

But then he mentioned breaking him out of his rigid stance. It was not completely clear what he meant so Mathieu looked at him quizzically and had just barely got a small sound out "Wh-" when Kei spoke again. Mathieu was filled with joy and excitement as he heard the question. To become someone's Padawan meant that he had a clear shot at actually becoming a Knight someday, and the person who offered to train him was not just anybody, it was the Jedi Master Kei Westbrook. The Morellian reacted immediately and fell down onto one knee, quickly lowering his broad frame and putting his head a fair bit under Kei's. In the lowered position, he bowed his upper body as his head tilted down "Yes, Master. It would be an honour." His voice was brimming with eagerness and excitement but he was clearly trying to control it, trying to appear more composed than he really was.

This was a big moment in his life. Bigger than many others.

Eventually, he stood back up and couldn't help but to put his smile on full display "Sorry, Master, I know you're not too fond of being very formal. I just felt like it was, uhm, you know, uhm, appropriate" he said, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. Mathieu was still treating the man like he had treated him when he was a Master instructor - it was likely that it would take a little bit more time before his demeanour would change to match the more familiar bond between a Master and their Padawan. "Master, I am eager to learn under your guidance. What are we doing first?" He referred to the rank almost like he referred to his betters as 'sir' during his martial upbringing. With that said, we was fully prepared to begin following Kei in his footsteps.

Kei Westbrook