Faction [NJO] Knighting — Ara Sheridan

[Valery Noble]

New Jedi Temple

Knighthood
​

Ara Sheridan.

From a young Zabrak who struggled immensely with connecting and manipulating the Force, to a woman whose name now brought joy to many within the Order. It hadn't always been the case, and a rather severe incident had created some doubt about her future as a Jedi, but in the end, it was meant to be. She had completed her training, risen above challenges far too great for many to handle, and grown into a Jedi and friend that others could rely on.

Valery had seen much of that growth, and to now stand here and run the ceremony that marked the beginning of a new journey was quite an honor. So as fellow Jedi gathered and Valery's eyes settled on Ara, she'd offer the woman a proud smile.

...
​

With friends and familiar faces gathered around, Valery stepped forward to raise her violet blade up high above the ceremony, before carefully lowering the blade down to hover just above Ara's left shoulder. "By the right of the council.."

Slowly, the blade shifted to hover just above her head. "By the will of the Force.."

Finally, Valery lowered the blade again, hovering it over the Zabrak's right shoulder. "I dub thee..."

"Knight of the New Jedi Order." ​

With a final salute of her lightsaber, Valery closed the official part of the ceremony before she disengaged her weapon and returned it to her belt. She offered Ara another proud smile, bowed her head one last time, and turned her gaze to those who were gathered in the halls with them. "Thank you all for attending this most important ceremony. Take the time to congratulate our new Knight, and may the Force be with you all."

 

[Ara Sheridan]

When she received the news, she thought that it was a sick prank being pulled on her by someone, to the point where she almost didn't get her good robes washed in time... in hindsight, it was a terrible idea to not put on a jumpsuit when she worked in the hangars. Combine that with her struggle to figure out a routine and those stains stayed where they were for a while.

But all of that was fine. She got the stains out, polished her boots, put on her lucky socks and finally made her way to the chambers, where she promptly began to wrap her head around the fact that she was getting promoted. Her nerves could be classified as ballistic weaponry with how hard they skyrocketed.

Now she stood there, palms sweaty, knees weak and arms heavy, waiting for the right moment to kneel... and missing it by a few seconds as well. Her breathing was erratic and her heart was racing with anxiousness and excitement. It was surreal to think that it was all truly happening to her, after everything she went through and did.

She wrote that dream off almost entirely.

The words rang in her ears along with the hum of Master Valery's lightsaber beside her head. She was luckily able to maintain her shaky balance to not fall neck first onto the blade, that would be embarrassing enough to haunt her even as a ghost. When the time came for Ara to stand, she carefully rose with a beaming grin and a foggy glimmer in her eyes. She still didn't believe that any of this was legit, it was going to take some time for it to sink in.

Ara waited for the ceremony to officially conclude and the Masters to move on before she lunged at Master Valery, pulling her into a tight hug. "Please don't tell me this is some kind of bad prank." She whispered before finally letting go.

Now she had to figure out what the hell to do next. Nobody explained that bit to her...

 

[Miri Nimdok]

By now quite far along in her pregnancy with the twins, Miri remained sitting even while everyone else was standing, making her presence easy to miss among the crowd. She had a only small connection to Ara—they had once been bitter rivals, though they had since made their peace with each other. Her attendance, while not mandatory or even necessarily expected, was symbolic of that peace.

That didn't make actually sitting through the ceremony any less boring. Miri had attended many, many knighting ceremonies in her lifetime, and all of them had been virtually the same. Only the faces of those knighted changed, though most of them smiled and cried and thanked their masters and peers and so on. Nothing interesting ever happened during a knighting ceremony.

At least, until she felt a sudden tightening in her stomach. At first Miri didn't think anything of it. Just another false alarm, they were common at this stage. But then it happened again, only the pain was worse this time.

Wide-eyed, she turned to Kyell. <I realize this is a really bad time, but I think it's happening. Right now.> She glanced toward the sealed doors of the chamber. Tradition dictated that no one be allowed to enter nor leave until the ceremony was completed. <What do we do?>

Kyell Laysel Ara Sheridan​

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Coruscant, Jedi Temple
Tags: Ara Sheridan , Valery Noble , Miri Nimdok

Jasper had a massive smile on his face. He was beaming more than when he had been knighted. He had felt so alone after his knighting, save for Iris Arani and a few of the masters, and his own student of course. So many of his friends were still padawans. There was so much he knew that he simply couldn't share with them. But at least he could now cross Ara off that list. There was more than that though. He was proud of his friend, especially given their very complicated relationship. It was certainly heart warming for her to go from busting skulls and stealing first kisses to a full blown Jedi Knight.

The knight was quick to be one of the first to congratulate her, giving a bow of respect to Master Noble before approaching Ara, after their hug of course.

"I'm not good at this sort of thing," he began, "But you already know that, so congrats and all. I mean it."

Jasper cracked a smile.

"Just try not to break down crying," the knight advised. "Iris will never let me live that down."

Slowly but surely, his friends were moving up. It was an uncertain time full of chaos and death... but they'd have each other. They all would. Even if they wanted to bash someone else's head in. They'd make it out of this blasted war one day. Together.

"We should grab a drink after this," Jasper suggested. "That way I can tell you all the juicy knight info first."

 

[Ara Sheridan]

After finally pulling away from Master Valery with her extensive hugging session, Ara was immediately greeted with a beaming smile and congratulations from none other than Jasper. She was surprised that he managed to make it, but not at all disappointed.

He earned himself a tight hug as well from the foggy eyed Zabrak as he spoke. "Hey, it'll be a rare occasion, seein' me shed a tear." She commented as she pulled back from her hug, looking up at her fellow knight. "After all, a face like that could make an onion cry." She continued with a chuckle and a punch to his cybernetic shoulder. He suggested that they grab a drink, to which Ara nodded in agreement. "Celebration drinks could definitely work... though you got me curious now. Do knights have some super secret book club or something nobody knows about?" She teased with a beaming smile.

Despite her teasing, Ara was increasingly grateful as well as purely surprised over the whole situation. And to earn such praises from Jasper, as subtle as they were, was something she would cherish. Their relationship came a long way, from a very bad blunder and an existential crisis, to an awkward fever session with him asking her out... now this. Addressing him as an equal, after years of hard work and training. People like him were worth cherishing.

But the room soon became odd for her. A hefty dose of distress rippled through the Force, drawing her attention to a corner of the chamber where she noticed none other than Miri. The last person she expected was Miri to attend her ceremony... however, the face beside her was what caused Ara to freeze up for a moment. She said nothing, nor did she move for a good few moments until she noticed the expression on Miri's face.

She nudged Jasper and motioned for him to follow as she made her way over to the couple. "Miri... you good?" She spoke hesitantly, making sure to not pay attention to Kyell beside her. She wasn't exactly sure on what else she could say. "You're lookin' kinda pale, what's up." She continued, studying the woman's face for a moment.

Looking down a little, her suspicion on what was going on began to rise, along with her concerns.

Jasper Kai'el Miri Nimdok Valery Noble

 

[Kyell Laysel]

Location: NJO Temple
Tag: Miri Nimdok Ara Sheridan Jasper Kai'el

Ara's Knighting.

They had talked about it in the past when they were still on better terms, but now the time had really come. And despite everything that happened between them, this wasn't something he'd miss. Miri had already reconciled some with Ara, and he felt that it was time that he would too. Soon, he'd be a Jedi knight himself and it just didn't feel right that they'd give each other the cold shoulder for the rest of their lives.

It was time to move on, either as friends or at least as Jedi who could potentially work together.

Once the official part of the ceremony had concluded, Kyell was waiting to try and talk to Ara, who first spent some time hugging Master Noble, before being dragged off by Jasper. But right as he was about to get up and get her attention, Miri caught his attention and he turned to her with widened eyes.

WHAT

<Can't you just hold-> he stopped himself before asking something really stupid and shook his head, <I uh, we can uh, maybe...> He looked around desperately for answers. Perhaps a healer was present who could guide them away? Or Maybe Master Noble could open the doors, so they were able to leave and get her the help she needed?

Then both Jasper and Ara appeared, drawing him out of his moment of panic, and even though he wasn't the one about to give birth, Kyell looked awfully pale as well. <Ara.. hey.> He blinked and stared down at Miri.

<The babies are coming.> His eyes turned to Ara, almost pleading with her for help. <We need to get her out of here.>

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Coruscant, Jedi Temple
Tags: Miri Nimdok , Ara Sheridan , Kyell Laysel

"Celebration drinks could definitely work... though you got me curious now. Do knights have some super secret book club or something nobody knows about?"

"Maybe," he grinned. "Not that I'll confirm or deny that here."

It was more so real specific stuff that padawans couldn't know. Nothing crazy. It wasn't long before they were off, approaching Miri of all people. The first time Jasper met Ara, she had bashed the other padawan's skull in, which was... super awkward for him. Things were very different now, and it seemed the two were on better terms. He and Miri had been on a mission together recently, which had resulted in the death of a close friend of hers, so he wasn't all too keen about starting a conversation and reminding her of such a thing. But something was off about her. For starters, she was noticeably pregnant, Kyell the father, most likely. Second, she seemed to be in a great deal of distress. Using context clues, he was quick to rub his braincells together and come to a reasonable conclusion, which Kyell seemed to relay to Ara telepathically.

"Holy shit," Jasper gasped. "You're going into labor."

Well, now what? They couldn't have her deliver a child in an unsterile location in front of a crowd. Miri needed a direct path out of the ceremony hall. Jasper quickly grabbed his lightsaber, lifting it into the air and igniting it to draw some attention before speaking.

"CLEAR A PATH TO THE EXIT!" he shouted. "WE HAVE A MEDICAL EMERGENCY!"

 

[Miri Nimdok]

<Can't you just hold->

Miri shot him a look, but luckily he didn't finish the sentence. The pain of the initial contraction had dulled, and she thought she could at least stand up and walk to the door, explain to whoever tried to stop her that she needed to leave, and get out of there. But as she started to rise, another contraction began, immediately forcing her back into her chair. It wasn't agonizing yet, but she just... couldn't really move while it was happening.

Okay. Breathe. Everything is going to be fine...

"Miri... you good? You're lookin' kinda pale, what's up."

"Holy shit," Jasper gasped. "You're going into labor."

Shadows fell over Miri as people began to crowd around her. Kyell was quick to explain to Ara what was going on. Jasper apparently figured it out on his own, but then he drew his lightsaber and ignited it. For one fantastically insane, pain and panic-driven moment, Miri thought he was going to try and use his weapon to perform an emergency C-section or something. Her hands instinctively balled into fists, ready to knock Jasper into next week if he came anywhere near her with that thing—

"CLEAR A PATH TO THE EXIT!" he shouted. "WE HAVE A MEDICAL EMERGENCY!"

Jasper's voice echoed through the chamber. Everyone turned to stare. Miri's face turned beet red as a room full of mostly strangers were suddenly made aware of the situation. She almost wanted to scream.

"Put that thing away!" she snapped at Jasper, losing her temper. "For goodness' sake, couldn't you be a little more discreet about it?"

But at least his little stunt had worked. There was a clear path leading to the exit now. "Somebody help me up, please," she said, knowing better now than to try and make it on her own.

Kyell Laysel Ara Sheridan Jasper Kai'el​

 

[Ara Sheridan]

Saying that the situation was awkward was an understatement. Ara stared with wide eyes at nowhere in particular as Jasper stated clearly what she was suspecting, all while Miri and Kyell were looking equally pale. Miri was giving birth to Kyell's kids on arguably the most important day of her life... and ceremony was kind of throwing a spanner in the works of making this a simple situation.

Luckily Jasper was quick to react and drew his lightsaber to clear a path for them, drawing Ara back to reality in the process. "Jas, Kyell, can y'all carry her? Carefully preferably." She spoke up. It was far from an ideal situation, but they had to make do with what they had. In this instant, one arguably strong guy and a comparatively spineless guy that had to catch up.

Kyell was the last face she expected to see in this situation.

"Miri... hold it in or something, I dunno. Just hang in there." Her terrible advice was followed by Ara doing what she was known for: throwing her weight around to get what she wanted. In this case it was to clear a path to the doors of the chamber, where she resorted to cutting a hole into the door after slicing the lock didn't work.

"Infirmary ain't too far, let's move!" She called out, standing by to help out wherever she could. Perhaps skipping on that part of basic medical training wasn't as good an option as she had initially thought...

Jasper Kai'el Kyell Laysel Miri Nimdok

 

[Kyell Laysel]

Location: NJO Temple
Tag: Miri Nimdok Jasper Kai'el Ara Sheridan

The look Miri shot his way got Kyell's eyes to briefly widen, but he was quick to focus on what mattered the most. Jasper had cleared a path to the exit for them, albeit in a way that also provoked Miri's anger, and that meant it was time to move. Miri asked for help and even before Ara asked him and Jasper to assist, he was already crouching down by her side to gently start helping her up. Together with Jasper, it wasn't too difficult to control her weight, but carrying a person was never easy with how they shifted around.

They could not lose their balance and drop her on accident.

<Ara, can you can call for a Healer to be ready?>

He had watched the Zabrak rush towards the door to slice her way through, but between this ceremony and the general lack of healers, there was no certainty that there would even be someone in the infirmary at all. Kyell wasn't exactly a loud person and Jasper was busy helping him carry Miri, so he trusted that Ara could easily handle this.

He knew that what happened in the past wasn't going to affect things in this situation.

<We're almost there, love. Everything is going to be alright,> he tried to assure her, as he glanced down and offered a hopeful and encouraging smile. The timing of this was definitely not great, and he felt a little bad for Ara considering how important this day must have been to her. But he was also happy that he'd finally be able to see his daughters very soon.

 

[Miri Nimdok]

Though she had asked only to be helped to her feet, Miri found herself being carried out by Kyell and Jasper. It was probably for the best, but between them lifting her up and Ara cutting a hole through the door of the chamber, there was absolutely no way everyone there didn't have some idea of what was happening.

Why did the thought of that bother her so much? To be honest, she was having a hard time remembering between the rapidly quickening contractions.

"Miri... hold it in or something, I dunno. Just hang in there."

"Yeah, sure," Miri hissed between grit teeth, trying not to move or shift around too much. "Sorry for going into labor during your knighting, Ara." She wished she hadn't come to the ceremony, if only to avoid the embarrassment and the hassle... although it was admittedly a little bit satisfying, too. Ara had shot Kyell and given Miri a head concussion, and now she was having to rush Miri to the infirmary to give birth to Kyell's children. Ah, the circle of life.

"There's... several healers around, aren't there? I've met a few. Amani, Iris, Alora... um." She couldn't recall the others, but she knew there were more. "Even if there's not, there are medical droids." But they weren't necessarily programmed as obstetricians or midwives. "And there are other hospitals." Miles away, and air traffic was bad at this time of day on Coruscant. "... I can give birth all by myself if I have to." To twins. Nearly full-term twins. Yep.

Good luck with that.

Jasper Kai'el Kyell Laysel Ara Sheridan​