Pad-a-wans. Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a- what?

[Avalore Eden]

Ossus
Jedi Temple
[member="Darius Olar"] [member="Johnny Diamonds"] [member="Hal Terrano"] [member="Meeristali Peradun"] [member="Marakai Al'Orren"] [member="Marcello Matteo"] [member="Kiskla Grayson"] [member="Ryan Korr"] [member="Trenchcoat Man"]
If I've tagged you it's because I love you and I would love to write more with you, but you are not obliged to join. If I haven't tagged you it's because I either can't spell your name or don't know you. All Jedi are welcome. I love friends.

Things had been ... interesting, since Coruscant.

Things had been ... quiet.

Cato Neimoidia's usually pleasant atmosphere felt somewhat warmer since her return. Though Avalore had difficulties considering the temple home when first brought there by her former master, Diana Moridena, it now felt like more of a home than any other place she knew. More than the cinders and bricks she'd left behind on Corellia.

It was her temple. Hers. Willed to her by Diana, the place was bereft of life. It needed some living in. It needed Jedi use. It needed to be brought to the prominence it deserved, so when everything had been said and done Avalore invited them to live there. To use the place. To make it worth something. But even still, something was yet missing.

Time spent staring at the empty corner of her room had left the Healer uneasy. Where a crib once sat with little McPuff a shadow now lingered. Avalore dithered, unable to sit still, she'd spent a good deal of time running her usual route, attempting to get back into some sort of flow. Some sort of routine. Yet no matter how hard she tried, it simply wasn't right.

Then Hal made the monumental observation that she needed a purpose. Perhaps it was time for her to consider taking on a Padawan learner.

Turns out it wasn't difficult to achieve either. There was an apparent surplus of unattended Padawans on a list, ever hopeful to be taken in by a Knight or Master, and they waited ever patiently on Ossus.

So that was where Avalore Eden traveled. She invited Hal and Johnny to join, if for no other reason than to get them out and about. It would do both of them good to socialize with other Jedi.

 

[Meeristali Peradun]

Would he go to Cato Neimoidia? That was one purpose of the invitation. At any rate, [member="Avalore Eden"] was coming here, he knew. He hadn't seen her since, well, it had been a little while, and he had every intention of absconding with her, to get some 'alone time' in, however short. They'd only been in each other's company all of once, their first meeting requiring a fair amount of liquor for her to divulge what was weighing on her mind, heart, and soul, and he did... he sincerely had a hope that it was less needed as time went on. There was no certainty, even with how it had ended up last time that this was a thing, but it was something he had been putting some thought to.

He had to admit he didn't mind the thought, if things went that way.

Around the time she was to arrive, Meeristali found himself around the front steps to the Ossus temple, waiting. Sitting not unlike she had been when he had happened upon her, but in a decidedly better mood than she had been in that day, on the steps. Watching. Waiting. He couldn't help but crack a grin when she arrived, getting to his feet and wandering over to intercept her before she reached the steps. There seemed to be fewer and fewer things to smile about, these days, and it was good that she could be one of those things. One of those people.

"Hey," he said, coming close, standing tall, looking down to her. His tail curled about his right leg, and he reached one hand forward on the same side, to brush softly down her arm, "It's good to see you."

Not a word of a lie, it was.

 

[Avalore Eden]

The journey from the starport city to the temple was a hectic one. Ossus was a bitter hive of activity since the encroachment of the One Sith on Republic space and Avalore couldn't say if the increased population was a good thing or not. Regardless of the added confusion, she'd left the city in a taxi speeder and enjoyed a quiet, peaceful ride through the forests to the temple.

As hues of green flashed by, the Healer's mind traveled to the memories of her last visit here. Truth be told, Avalore couldn't remember exactly why she'd gone to Ossus then, but she supposed it hadn't mattered in the end. The time spent here had been cathartic and therapeutic on more levels than she had gambled on, resulting in a curious new friendship. Solemn faced, she glanced a view of the temple top peeking out over the treeline ahead and pondered the fate of [member="Meeristali Peradun"]. The pair hadn't spoken since that faithful day, and though she quite enjoyed the man's company Avalore had made no effort to reconnect.

Was it shame? No.
Was it embarrassment? Hardly.
Was it worry? Maybe.

I can't remember the last time I connected, really connected, with someone like that where it didn't end badly. Anytime I think of people I've met in my life that have come to mean something to me, it always ends in tragedy. I've wondered if I'm cursed or maybe if I'm simply one more person here to fill that cliché Jedi spot. Dead parents. Dead father of my first born. Two dead Masters. I've only just discovered my cousin Benny still lives, must not be long for him, then. Somehow I've survived them all, but this pattern is scarily repetitive. Should I avoid connection all together and save us all the trouble of loss, or should I live like there might not be a tomorrow for everyone else?

It wasn't a question she'd yet come to answer, which only made spying the form of Stali at the base of the Temple steps a hair more awkward.

A hair more awkward for her.

Paying the cabi, Avalore slowly climbed from the speeder. She was dressed much like she had been before, though this time her Healer's robes were new and her clothing fit a bit more loosely than before. A month spent prisoner of the Sith had certainly helped her to lose her baby-pudge, and then some. At least she'd had a week or so to wash off the grime - though the stain of darkside she felt would take much longer to cleanse. Avalore hadn't noticed how much that place had really effected her until she was taken from its cloud of influence. The darkside was far more penetrating and all-encompassing than she ever knew.

With a deep breath she turned to see the man already on approach and gave a wane smile.

How much did he know? How much was he aware of? Should she say something about it or simply pretend it hadn't happened?

Since when was being a Jedi so hard?

Stop it. You're overthinking this. It's really not that difficult.

"Hey," that's better.

She reached up to brush a few stray locks of hair behind her ear, glancing down to the hand at her other arm. Her smile faded somewhat, tightened even, but when she looked back up it returned in earnest, "likewise." Avalore squinted in the sunlight, catching the scent of earth and foliage and skin. A very clear, very brief flash of memory from the jungle caught her mind's eye, so sudden that she wasn't sure it was simply a memory. Avalore's eyes drifted along the line of Stali's jaw, down his neck to the bulk of his shoulder before she realized her wandering gaze and blinked back to the present.


"How...how are you? Do you live here now?"

 

[Meeristali Peradun]

[member="Avalore Eden"]

The hand dropped, the tail unfurled, hanging back in relaxation to a degree. As he stood there, he got a closer look at her, got a feel of her, the senses trained in all forms of skill, able to pick up that the woman before him not only looked but felt different. His brow creased with curiosity and concern over those momentary findings, but the matter of her question came first.

"Fine..." he nodded, as if assuring himself of the fact. She wasn't the only person she hadn't seen much of, or at all, over the past couple of months. Not a word from Mara, even his own master had been scarce. "... yeah, I'm fine. I'm alright."

Could be better. Things unsaid. The informational dark itched something awful. And to the other...

"I'm not certain I live anywhere in particular," he said, with a very, very small laugh. One note, and gone. The brow tried to relax. "You? How have you... where have you been?"

I was a little worried, as if he had the right. As if this wasn't normal for Jedi.

"You... look different."

 

[Avalore Eden]

A frown showed. His words stung a bit, but only because she could so easily relate. Avalore wanted to say as much, to invite him to make his home on Cato with her and the others, but then he remarked on her appearance.

"Do I?"

Feth, he knows.

Avalore looked down at herself, unwilling to see and feel the truth of the matter.

It had only been a month. You weren't even tortured. You were treated rather well, everything considered. It's not like you had been sucked into their ranks for months. Force to fight for a cause you couldn't believe in because refusing to meant death. You weren't brutalized like some Jedi. Burned alive by the living embodiment of everything malevolent and dark.

"I lost a bit of weight..." and I feel like a million bucks - not. I spent the better part of a week forcing myself to do sit-ups in my cell. I call it the jailhouse work-out.

"I've been places. Cato, Teta ... Coruscant." She itched at her neck, hand folding there under jawline, frown deepening.

 

[Meeristali Peradun]

[member="Avalore Eden"]

Teta... Coruscant...

At that, his eyebrows unfurled, tilting upward. He looked back at the temple, then back to her face. Second meeting, and there was still more behind her innocuous words. Layers of more, of... well, at least that was still the same. Some assurance she was still the same, to an extent.

"If you want to talk about it..." he trailed off. An invitation. It was a day for those. "...it doesn't have to be right now."

No judgements.

"You still look good, different."

I thought of you, would that be weird? Too much?

 

[Avalore Eden]

"I..."

Nope, alcohol content not high enough.

Sighing, the barest of appreciative smiles ghosted the Healer's expression, brown eyes turning up to those flickering orange flames. Stali was every bit of how she remembered him and Avalore was sad that she did not know him better. She thought he seemed a bit off, but had nothing solid to compare it to. Just a memory of a man who cared enough to listen and share his good brandy.

It didn't help that knowing what she did inherently made her want to reach out to him for comfort.

You can't use people like that, Avalore. It's not right.

She couldn't help it, she reached to touch lightly at his shoulder. At least that is what she had meant to aim for, but her hand ended up at his chest and the folds of shirt. What had started as a gesture of thanks between acquaintances ended up being something edging dangerously close to an intimate sort of ...moment.

"Thanks, Stali," that smile tried at the edges of her lips again, eyes crinkling with all the thoughts they held, Ava withdrew her hand. She nodded, "I'd like that, uhm... I've actually come to pick up my new Padawan. At the temple."

You know, that temple right there. Duh, Avalore. Girl, are you staring again? Quit.

"I'll be around for a while today, why don't we catch up over lunch later?"

[member="Meeristali Peradun"]

 

[Meeristali Peradun]

[member="Avalore Eden"]

That hesitance, he was familiar enough with. It was understood. It was her, it was part, and the sigh, too. The hand, returning a touch was not at all out of reason, but...

...the hand, at his chest, fingers in the folds, drawing the vibrancy of his eyes down to where it lay. Thanks came, to draw them up again, to draw it all away again. That was some sort of confirmation enough. Of... what?

"Anytime." Of something. "Oh? Well, then."

Would he reach the point of students of his own? When? Questions for times other than now.

Oh, I see you looking. Not pressing it, but. But.

"I would like that, too," a response in agreement. The matter of that hand, of course. That was something. "Lunch, yes..."

He reached for it, slipped a hand of his own around it, and craned down, citric eyes as close as they had been, once before. Face-to-face, linger a moment, then, to an ear...

"...but you don't have to hold back so much with me, Avalorrre Eden," it may as well be said, as he felt it needed, turning his face, nose against the edge of a cheek, mouth so, so close.

 

[Avalore Eden]

Hand.

Eyes.

She felt his breath on her ear and Avalore couldn't say if it was the warmth of it or the sound of that purring accent that did her in.

Avalore Eden could be described as a strong woman in many ways, but there were still just a few instances where she simply was not. Such as certain times concerning certain type of man: that strong, self-assured, bold, willful type that took chances and made things happen that broke down what laughable defenses she attempted to construct around things like will power.

His face lingering before hers, she felt her chest tighten. She waited there, unsmiling, thinking of all the things that happened to go along with not holding back. Things like connection. Things like loss. Despite this, she went with her gut and leaned that last breath away to kiss him. Just like she remembered, he smelled of the forest and tasted like wild rain. The sounds of that running river played through her thoughts an inviting, comforting sort of song.

After a few long moments she parted from him, though the closeness remained, Ava hovered just a hairsbreadth away, "Lunch then?"

Just to be sure we're still adults here and I can pretend I still want to go track down that padawan.

 

[Marakai Al'Orren]

She had loved this place, once.

She still did, if she was going to be honest. In spite of the pain she kept trying to forget, she missed being on Ossus. Missed the jungle and the freedom it had given her to be herself, missed the people she had come to know and respect, and even missed the calm and tranquility of the Temple itself.

Mara had been happy on Ossus, and wondered what she'd done to deserve what had happened.

She shood her head, auburn fur rippling in the dappled sunlight of the undergrowth she stalked through. Familiar scents assaulted her nose, and a cacophony of natural sounds poured into her ears. Familiar markers and pathways were littered throughout the jungle, reminding her of all the time she'd spent simply content in her feline form. She came out of the undergrowth and onto the broad central pathway that eventually led up to the Temple's front stairs.

Sliding back into her human form, the young Knight plucked one of the sweet blue blossoms from an overhanging vine as she walked. The Force dictated her pace, rippling to and fro and gradually tugging her forward to the place she'd once called home. Mara rounded the last bend in the path and the sight of the gleaming Temple greeted her.

She stopped short of the steps, taking in the sight of the pair of beings who stood there locked together in such an intimate pose. Mara felt the familiar tightness return to her chest before she turned and started back down the path, the blossom falling from her fingers. With any luck, she mused, they'd be too absorbed in one another to have sensed her arrival, and she'd soon melt back into the shadows she belonged in.

 

[Meeristali Peradun]

[member="Avalore Eden"] [member="Marakai Al'Orren"]

Oh, that was... well. It wasn't realised just how much it was missed until it happened. He was of a mind to return it with another, but of course... life, such as it was, for a Jedi.

"Lunch..." he confirmed, following up with a soft peck at the corner of her mouth instead, when an all-too-familiar, recently missing scent snuck into his nose. He paused at her face, perhaps wondering if what he scented was just an olfactory illusion... but to be certain, he then lifted his head, to look at the edge where the jungle stopped and the temple grounds began, and still held on to Avalore. Nothing seen but the bushes rustling, but it felt, and it smelt...

...he shook his head. The occurrences were rare, but if she had reasons for turning tail and retreating, it had never been in the interests of anyone to bother her about it, for very good reasons. Sometimes he was sure he still felt the ache in his jaw.

Did she see...?

The immediately-present reality came back to him, and he tilted his face down to Avalore, again. Then, freeing her hand of his grasp, he stepped back, watching the jungle edge again, deep concern wedging into his chest, driving his eyebrows together, and making a line of his mouth.

"I could swear I felt..."

He shook his head, as if to shake a fool idea out of it.

"...must be my hoping."

Surely.

 

[Avalore Eden]

Face sober, Avalore watched him curiously, following his gaze off towards the jungle. She didn't have super-human senses nor had she ever been good at sensing others in the Force. Stali was certainly alone in this endeavor as her current path lead in the opposite direction, much like it always had.

"Whatever it is," she began, recalling her hands to herself and placing them firmly in the pockets of her outer robe, "you're instincts are usually right." This was meant as a more general comment, though for someone such as he, certainly his instincts were far more right than others.

Somewhere off in the distance a bell tower rung in the hour. Feth, always late for everything.

"I'll meet you at your room," this said over her shoulder as she moved to hurry up the steps, more concerned about first impressions with an impressionable young Padawan than what I'll meet you at your room might sound like.

It wasn't until she reached the temple entrance and stood waiting for passage that she realized. Force, Avalore. You could have said steps. You could have said foyer. You could have said mess hall. Could have said anything but at your room. Transparent.

I don't know this place.

User.

I don't live here.

Abuser.

It was the first thing that came to mind.

What would Hal think?

Oh feth.

Frowning, she disappeared inside. Time to find that Padawan.

 

[Darius Olar]

There had been many whispers around the Ossus Temple about Jedi Knights hailing from another world visiting Ossus. Excited would be an understatement, Darius was excited, very but not so much like the rest of his peers where it was obvious, he however, focused on keeping his facial expressions as stoic as possible. He wasn't given much opportunity to leave the Temple in the past, which did nag at his curiousity, he loved meeting meeting new people, learning more about different cultures but alas, he was not one to tag along on big expedition nor was he one with his mentor in particular to take him off world - he had one in the past and that was all, it didn't play out so well, not because the two didn't get along, it was more so because the other no longer desired to be with this Order in particular.

Darius was somewhat of a traditionalist in this regard, he found it best the Order served a body that stood for the democracy of the free people than leaving them to fend for themselves. One of the Knights' in particular, that were mentioned through the various gossiping sessions was [member="Avalore Eden"] - Not much was spoken about her in particular, it wasn't like half of them knew who she was but he was eager to meet this Jedi Knight regardless and those that would follow her. Some said she was from Cato Neimodia, not that Darius had the singlest of clues what the planet was like nor where it was in general.

After a tedious about amount of lightsaber practice with training remotes set only to nip at you, a nip that stung oh so much, he was left to wandering the Temple grounds. He checked his chronometre for the time, the group was either late or something was holding them up, which didn't seem quite right, there was very little in the way of holding someone up on Ossus but regardless of this, he decided to take it upon himself to meet them at the Entrace. His mind often fled to the clouds when strolling, his imagination of what these Knights could do took over, it was more fantasy than actual fact. Closing in on the entrace, his eyes quickly fell down to his torso and the tabbards of his robes, a single crease was enough for him to go bolt eyed, he pressed the palm of his right aginst it while working, motioning it down a few times until it was gone.

But such distraction was unfortunate, he practically strolled right into the Jedi Knight; [member="Avalore Eden"], making sure he didn't in fact knock over her, he shot out both hands and wrapped them around her shoulders to make sure she was fine as well to stop her from falling, he gave her robes a once over and his eyes fell to her belt, no lightsaber? Interesting, it was quite rare to see a Jedi without one but these sort of Jedi, often compensated for it through other means or at least, Darius thought so. Releasing the Jedi Knight, a he ran a hand from the top of his scruffy head down to the back of his head as he gave the Jedi Knight a sheepish smile and a bow of the head. "Err... Sorry about that! Name's Darius Olar - Padawan Olar if we're going to be all official." He continued to smile, straightening out his posture to remain the tad bit impressionable for the Knight. "And what is your name?" He asked out of curiousity, he didn't know what Knight Eden actually looked like and he wasn't exactly one to jump to assumptions. They weren't too far from the entrance after all but any questions as to why she was still lingering by it, after all this time, were questions to be answered later.

 

[Marcello Matteo]

Marcello hadn't been to Ossus in...a while, actually. Following the Sith Empire's loss of the planet to the Republic, maybe? He'd certainly not been around recently when the One Sith made a brief incursion. Memories of his first visit to the planet slipped through the cogs of his memory. He remembered the outright destruction and the lingering taint of the dark side that had very literally contorted the planet's core.

Long strides, determined strides carried him through the halls of the Jedi Temple. As per usual, the Jedi Master stood out given his size and the fact he was always dressed in some manner of casual "civilian" clothing. A brown flight jacket covered the short-sleeved cream-colored shirt that he wore beneath over a pair of khaki colored cargo pants. A duty belt was cinched around his waist, containing the obviously worn cylindrical hilt of his lightsaber and a couple other random things - mostly geared towards being able to fix mechancial issues that inevitably arose at the most inopportune time.

Glacier-blue eyes swept the corridors as he walked. His arrival on the planet two days earlier had been born almost entirely out of necessity. He'd needed to file a report and Ossus was a much more suitable location to do so than the Temple on Tython, government hub of Anaxes, or Rhen Var which he just didn't like. He was so judgmental.

Turning a corner, Marcello continued doing his best to ignore the many other presences he felt drifting in and around the Temple. One in particular, however, stood out among the rest. Not quite so much as [member="Kiskla Grayson"] did when she was practically in the same system as he...but strong enough to pull his attention. The Jedi Master turned yet another corner just in time to see [member="Avalore Eden"] nearly get trucked by a young Jedi Marcello did not know near the entrance to the Temple.

Arching a curious eyebrow, the large Naboo native merely smiled thinly and watched as he leaned against a marble column. Avalore looked pretty good...for just having been liberated from Sith captivity.

[member="Darius Olar"] | [member="Meeristali Peradun"]

 

[Marakai Al'Orren]

- [member="Meeristali Peradun"] -​

​

She cursed under her breath as she took on her feline shape between one moment and the next, clinging to the frustration in an effort to not feel anything else. Mara could honestly say that she did not begrudge them any moment of happiness or comfort they may have found with one another. But standing there and being witness to it brought back too many painful thoughts and memories she'd been simply trying to forget.

So she did what she always did. She ran.

Her feline form tore through the jungle as fast as she could go, heedless now of covering her tracks and moving without detection. There wasn't much point, she mused, Stali was a full-blooded Felacatian and he'd be able to track her no matter what she tried. He'd been the one to teach her how to use her abilities and her feline senses, after all.

She wasn't meant for prolonged speed, so she slowed her run to a more maintainable pace. Her nose told her she was near the lake, so she peeled off of the invisible path and broke through the undergrowth, onto it's shore a few minutes later. Amber eyes flickered to gold and then back again as she glanced around, before perching atop a cracked boulder under the shade of a massive tree.

"Marrrrakai, you arrre an idiot." she breathed bitterly, gazing out at the water.

 

[Avalore Eden]

So distracted with her own self-disgust, Avalore did in fact get fully run-into by the enthusiastic Padawan. The Healer stumbled, brown eyes going wide as she felt the man's hands at her shoulders.

Avalore blinked, sputtered, and held back a decidedly un-lady-like remark as the man's eyes swept down to her midsection. She couldn't blame pregnancy or raging hormones for her verbal slips anymore, no. Time to wrangle that snap-mouth, girl. Oh look, he was just checking out your belt. Admittedly it's a really nice belt. Scoff.

Just as well, the man offered his apologies and his name, to which Avalore was ready to dismiss and be on her way, except for one thing.

"Padawan...Olar?" brown eyes looked him from head to foot and back again, blinking as they found his face, "Padawan Olar?" That couldn't be right. He had to be at least her age. How could he be a Padawan? Well, Avalore, if we think about this logically, you were still a Padawan only two months ago. Apparently you really aren't the exception to the norm.

Brow furrowed in thought, she gave her head a light shake to clear her mind of the confusion and her face of some rather annoying wayward bangs, "Eden," she replied, "Healer Eden, if you'll excuse me I'm running late for the Trainer's Convention. Actually - can you tell me where the training hall is?" Her eyes flickered briefly through the crowd and around the entrance hall, glancing the familiar hulking mass of [member="Marcello Matteo"] and his characteristic smarmy, blond face. Good to know some things really do stay the same.

[member="Darius Olar"]

 

[Darius Olar]

If there was one moment in his life to feel ultimately emberassed and stupid, it would be this moment, he was unlike him to be so unfocused and unaware of his surroundings, to the point where he would nearly run over a Jedi Knight, a healer no less. Darius' eyes were quick to focus and centre upon the females' face, of course, one would not like to be a casualty of a hit and run from a young Padawan, especially one that was more concerned about how his robes were looking more so than what was ahead of him. However, he was quick to push aside any doubts and embarrassment that was lingering, that was no way to make a good first impression, at least he made a first impression that would likely to be remembered by the young Jedi Knight, of course, if this was the same Jedi Knight that was meant to have come from Cato Neimoidia, perhaps, it wasn't the best first impression and he knew it.

Sadly, he couldn't help but feel a bit more disgrunted by the young Jedi Knight's questioning of his title - Padawan. It was something he was particularly disdainful of, given how long he had been with the Order and the fact he's twenty, most of the students his age were already knighted, teaching other students the ways of the Jedi and the Force, Darius... Darius was left in limbo, the inbetween stage of getting a new mentor and fending for his own education as a Jedi Padawan, struggling now and again. Of couse he would, his former mentor jumped starships, literally. Darius did do his best to hide the disdain he felt, by forcing a smile which wasn't something he was particularly good, the corners of his lips were almost positioned unnaturally, which only proved to amuse him, which did infact bring out a genuine smile. "Padawan Olar." he said one last time to make sure she understood.

Burrowing his own, slightly bushy brows as she tried to make out as to why she began to shake her head, they were soon relieved and he continued to smile his pearl white teeth as the other introduced herself and it finally clicked, this was why she didn't have a lightsaber hilt. "Healer Eden? Well it's a pleasure to meet you." He dipped his head once out of respect and greeting before turning about as he gauged the direction of the training hall she was in need of reaching, his eyes did fall upon a certain blonde hulk of mass, very tall, very powerful looking with those defined facial features, well, defined everything, he snapped his eyes away before running a hand through the scruff of his hair. "Better yet, I'll take you there myself. After all this time, I can't remember it on the spot for the life of me." Strolling forward, he rolled his wrist once as he snapped his fingers, not at the Healer but in the direction they were going. "You're from Cato Neimoidia right? Everyone's been talking. Nothing bad or anything, just talking like all gossipy bored Padawans do." A smirk struck his features as he shot a question at [member="Avalore Eden"].

[member="Marcello Matteo"] | [member="Meeristali Peradun"]

 

[Avalore Eden]

"Thanks," Avalore added distractedly, falling in step behind the Padawan. Whatever disdain he had remained hidden. Avalore was not an Empath nor was she a seasoned reader of facial minutiae. She also did not find disgrace in his current situation, given what she knew. Avalore would have happily remained a Padawan for years to come if it had meant the return of her two lost Masters. Time with them had been invaluable and she would never, ever get anymore of it again. Expression tightening with that thought at mind, her eyes trailed off to watch Marcello at his lean. She eyed him warily, lips drawing thin, before returning her attention to Darius as he lead off along the hall and out of the main foyer.

"Yes," the answer came back a bit hesitantly. How odd it was to speak of Cato Neimoidia in such a way, "I am. I run the Jedi Temple there. It's small and new, so I don't imagine there's anything more than gossip to share about it. It's the temple built and established by Blademaster Diana Moridena before she died. It's been mostly empty up until fairly recently."

One day it would be a temple on the lips of every noteworthy Jedi. For now she would settle with it simply being home.

[member="Darius Olar"]

 

[Darius Olar]

Head tilting back ever so slightly as he tried his best to hear out the 'thanks', he was a bit more than surprised that the woman wasn't quite as talkative as he was, well, not many actually were, he was quite the chatty one and some people did find him quite annoying because of this, he knew how to talk a Cathar into changing it's stripes - if the Cathar in question actually had stripes and that was almost possible, it's actually impossible, fact. To avoid being more than just a nuisaince, he went back to the default position that many were used to, speak once spoken to and he wasn't entirely a big fan of communicating like this, but she was new, he was new to her and annoying a Jedi Knight only proved to push back the prestigious trials he was eager to face.

Thankfully, she turned out to be a bit more interesting than he would usually give anyone credit for. The corners of his lips tugged down into a frown as she mentioned the death of a particular blademaster, sure, there was no there, there is the force but death is death, a dead person is a dead person and it was not something he could always wrap his head around. He remained silent as he continued to lead the Jedi Knight in the direction that he hoped was correct, people seemed to moving in the same direction, he maneuvered around them slyly and the noises of students training were becoming evidently louder. "You run the Temple? That seems incredibly prestigious, must be a great honor to be bestowed a responsibility like that." He begn to respect the Jedi Knight more and more, no ordinary Jedi was given the responsibility of running a Temple dedicated to learning, heck, Darius was sure it took a lot to do so. "I'm.. sorry to hear about Master Moridena. Were you two close?" He attempted to snap his mouth shut from spouting out more questions, he didn't hope to create uneasiness by putting out questions that might make the other uncomfortable but alas, curiousity got the best of him.

Having finally approached the grand door that lead into the training hall, he tugged down his robes with both hands holding either side sternly, making doubly sure all creases were at least hidden for the most part. Turning from the door to [member="Avalore Eden"], he shot her a bright a smile as he thumbed back at the door. "Well this is it, you looking for more people to go to Cato? I don't exactly.. have a Master or anything here, so.. just... offering you more choices." Nodding once, he didn't want to make it seem as if he wanted to leave Ossus desperately, but he did, after being with the Order for so long, feeling lost on a world that didn't seem to fit or understand, he simply wanted a place, a place of the Jedi to take him in and finish his training.

 

[Johnny Diamonds]

And that's when Johnny D a came a rolling through like a wrecking ball. Johnny was definitely more happy than most, though Force only knew why. He had his earbuds in as always, listening to that sorta music that just got into your very bones and made you groove as you moved. Yeah, Johnny was definitely happy, but you know, the little Couruscant excursion he shared with Avalore and Hal just kinda reinforced the viewpoint he'd always held; Gotta look on the bright side of every situation. He had his best friend again, and that was good enough for him. So yeah, that rear end of his shook as his legs danced the rest of his body on down toward Ava and a padawan he didn't recognize. Not really all that much a surprise, as Johnny barely knew anyone. Eh, comes with the territory.

So there he was, a-movin' to the groovin' when he did a spin, and ended up right behind Ava, leaning his head on her shoulder. He popped out an earbud, and smiled lightly. "So, Ava, like, who's the new friend? Gonna intro me, or like, do I have to do it myself?"

His eyes looked to Ava, and he could help a massive smile forming. Just like the old days, yup. Life was good!


[member="Avalore Eden"] | [member="Darius Olar"]