Private Physician, Heal Thyself

[Amani Serys]

Eloise Dinn
Jedi Temple Sparring Dojo, Coruscant​

---

Amani's previous venture with Eloise had its share of bumps. But the mission itself had been a success. The Bothan agent was extracted, and the Jedi were able to make crucial moves in crippling the slaver gang's operations with the information he provided. Afterwards, the Knight and Padawan seemed set to effectively part ways. However, Dinn had not quite left Amani's ruminations. Her initial reaction to the girl's lineage had nearly turned her away from the get-go. But one way or another, Eloise needed a guiding hand if she was going to be a Jedi. Her mindset, and her techniques, were rough around the edges. Most students were, of course, but given Eloise's unique upbringing, it seemed especially pertinent that she have someone who could offer a connection. Even if Eloise didn't really see it as a connection herself, Amani did.

The request had been approved. Now it was just a matter of telling Eloise about the decision. Hopefully, she wouldn't find it… disagreeable. Their first impression wasn't that bad, was it? Perhaps the invitation of a sparring match would make for a nice balancing out, just in case.

Amani waited at the edge of the dojo mat, looking out at the vista of galactic city beyond. It was late afternoon, and the sun was beaming through the skyline and directly into the chamber, casting a particularly bright light. When the door opened, she slowly turned around, "Padawan Dinn? Thank you for meeting me on short notice. How have you been?"

 

[Eloise Dinn]

Eloise spent most of her time in the dojo and was already on her way there when she received a message asking for a meeting… which she ignored, because nobody bothers Eloise when she’s in the Zone.

Opening the door to the dojo, her ears were immediately assaulted by a certain grating voice.

"Padawan Dinn? Thank you for meeting me on short notice. How have you been?"

“Huh?” she blurted, her brow furrowing. “I’m okay, I guess. What meeting?”

Amani Serys​

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani's expression twisted awkwardly, "Um— The meeting I just requested with you? Right here?" She held out her datapad, which had the message still displayed on it, "N-nevermind, I guess. You're here," She pocketed the device.

"I had something I needed to speak with you about. I figured— Might as well multitask, and get some practice in at the same time," The mirialan gestured to the sparring mat, "What do you say?"

Eloise Dinn​

 

[Eloise Dinn]

Eloise took out her own datapad and looked at it. The info on Amani’s screen would change from Delivered to Read.

“Oh.” Raising an eyebrow, Eloise glanced up again. “Okay.”

If Amani were a fellow padawan, she would’ve been happy to fight her. But Eloise was very much cognizant of the fact that the Mirialan was a Knight. There was a pretty significant gap between their skill level and experience. Coupled with how poorly their first meeting had gone, she was wary. What exactly were Amani’s intentions? Was she going to try and take her down a peg or two, so to speak? Humiliate the daughter of Sith who thinks she can be a Jedi?

Well, if that was the case, Amani would meet her match. Eloise wouldn’t be so easily beaten.

She put her stuff away, then returned to the mat with her lightsaber hilt in her hand. After adjusting the settings to lower the intensity, she ignited the green blade. “What do you want to talk about?” she asked calmly, before suddenly lashing out with an overhead strike.

Amani Serys​

 

[Amani Serys]

"Great," Amani clasped her hands together, and gave the girl a purse-lipped smile. A bit of an awkward first step to the meeting, but if it works it works. She stepped back and pulled the silver staff from her back, extending it to full length, "I'll stick with my pike for now. Might be a little different than what you're used to, but all the more reason to start now, right?" It would give them a sense of how they both fought in the field, which would be a key in forming the bonds of apprenticeship. And it would broaden Eloise's experience.

As the white beam burst to life, Amani loosened her grip to let the blade slide mere centimeters from the ground. A practice in control, more than anything. In line with her usual strategy, Amani waited for Eloise to make the first move. The padawan was all too eager to do so, of course. She was spirited, and eager. In response, the mirialan grabbed near the emitter with her other hand to brace the staff, and raised it for a block. She would then simply push off, creating more space between them. Amani was interested in seeing the girl's methods in a controlled environment. Figuring out her moves, her reactions. So for now, the only attack she made was a few warding pokes, just to keep her on her toes.

"Well… there's been a… development, of sorts. Something I needed to tell you," Amani twisted her lips for a moment, waiting for a lull in their spar to continue, "I'll just get to the point; I've talked with the rest of the Council and… you've been assigned as my padawan learner."

Eloise Dinn​

 

[Eloise Dinn]

Eloise eyed the pike, then nodded. “It’s closer to what I’m used to, actually,” she said. The people of Zaathru wielded primitive weapons compared to the rest of the galaxy. The spear, the arrow, the ax and sword—and the pike. Granted, their pikes were made from wood and metal or even sharpened stones, while Amani’s sported a high-tech plasma blade. But the fundamentals of how it was utilized were the same.

Amani had the greater reach due to the length of her weapon. However, the pike was also more hilt than blade. That meant its length could be abused to benefit Eloise.

The padawan struck out, figuring the Jedi Knight wouldn’t make the first move. They almost never did. Some were even overly strict about only fighting in self-defense, causing more problems than they solved. Eloise took the bait and allowed herself to be pushed back, though the quickness with which she recovered made it clear she had anticipated the block.

She was not necessarily an elegant fighter, but she was skilled. Terribly so. Experience had carved its brutal mark into her form, informing every practiced strike. Here was one who had not merely been trained for war, but had actually gone into battle.

Which was why Amani’s toying with her quickly got tiresome. She felt like the Knight wasn’t taking her seriously, wasn’t treating their spar like a real fight. Growing more and more annoyed with those warding pokes, Eloise finally lashed out and seized the hilt, pulling it under her arm and thrusting the tip of her blade at Amani’s torso. It was the sort of brutally efficient tactic one would employ to end their opponent’s life as swiftly as possible.

Alas, there was a snag.

"I'll just get to the point; I've talked with the rest of the Council and… you've been assigned as my padawan learner."

The realization of what Amani had just said came at a critical moment. Eloise blinked, poised to stab the Mirialan through the heart, then quickly shoved the pike away, putting more distance between them. Eyes as green as her lightsaber studied Amani, brow furrowed.

“If you’re trying to distract me, you succeeded. Nothing like a good dramatic reveal to throw off your opponent.” She was silent for some time, within nothing but the hum of plasma filling the gap. Then, she asked, “Why did they pick me to be your apprentice?” It couldn’t have been a coincidence. Either the Council knew or suspected something, or Amani must have requested it. And if she had made the request, the question was still why?

Amani Serys​

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani quickly realized that Eloise's experience went beyond the sparring mat. Her movements, her intensity, reflective survival instincts, not structured rehearsals. The Knight's own experience was still more than enough to outpace the Padawan, but she was impressed that Eloise had gained as much prowess as she had at this stage of her life. And simultaneously disheartened. This girl's upbringing was not a peaceful one.

A moment came where they became closely interlocked, with Eloise seizing her weapon, but was too taken aback by what Amani said to follow through with a crucial attack. Amani wasn't just going to stand there and take it, either. With Eloise grabbing the near end of the haft, the mirialan simply twisted her grip, causing it to become detached. While Eloise was standing there awkwardly holding what was now a shotosaber, Amani freed herself from the grapple, spinning around to sweep the staff behind Eloise's legs in an attempt to trip her. At which point, she would try to use the Padawan's instability to Force pull the saber end back to her with minimal contest, "Sorry, just bad timing."

They both then paused, remaining at a distance. Eloise asked why. Amani inhaled, "I suggested it, actually. I know our first chat quickly fell apart, but… I suppose I see something in you. Something I wanted to help foster. Your potential is real, but rough around the edges, as with any padawan. Only you've come to us with a bit more… experience." She avoided mentioning the history of the Dinn's directly, lest it cause Eloise to shut her down, "There's a lot of differences between you and I. But if you're willing to stick with it— We can learn a lot more from those we are unalike, than those we already understand."

Eloise Dinn​

 

[Eloise Dinn]

Eloise jumped back as she felt the Amani's staff strike against her legs. Having already tossed the shoto away, there would be no resistance from her in getting the piece of the pike back.

So Amani had suggested it, and simply because she “saw something” in Eloise. Potential. Experience. She wanted to help.

Eloise pursed her lips and looked away.

She wants to help.

“Okay,” she said. Not begrudgingly, not angrily, just a neutral affirmative. Would this partnership prove disastrous? She didn’t know. But she did know that most Jedi her age would do anything just to have a master, let alone one who was on the Council. It was considered a privilege, a sign that you were a cut above the rest and were being called to great things. She felt honored to have been chosen, even if she didn’t fully understand why.

A faint smirk crossed her lips as she fell back into a fighting stance, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “Is that all you got?” she taunted, taking another swing at Amani’s head.

Amani Serys​

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani blinked once. Okay. Not exactly excited, but not angry either. That was a better reaction than she expected. The mirialan nodded, and repeated it, "Okay."

The padwan reinitiated a combative stance, the playfulness registering across her face. Amani couldn't help but smirk back, perhaps feeling a bit more comfortable now that the apprenticeship was official, and without ire, "Oh? Haven't had enough yet?" The knight let a bit of her own feistiness show. She ducked under the high swing, and jabbed the butt of her staff at the padawan's foot, then swinging the blade down from the top in a pendulum-like motion.

Eloise Dinn​

 

[Eloise Dinn]

Amani echoed her one-word response. It was okay with her as well. They resumed the spar in a much different tone. Eloise was excited to have a master. She pulled her foot out of the way of the jab in the nick of time, and parried the swing of the staff. Trying to grab it at this stage was a little futile, since Amani would expect the move. Instead she tried to get up close and personal. The staff needed distance in order to be effective, so she would deprive it of that distance.

Her thoughts darkened again. They had not addressed the bantha in the room. “This has nothing to do with your history with my mother, right?” she asked.

Amani Serys​

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani naturally tried to step back as Eloise closed in, putting them in an awkward shuffle. She tried to position the staff forward to push the padawan away, or ward her off with the blade.

Of course, Eloise was curious about Amani’s deeper reasoning. The knight huffed quietly, responding with another quick jab to try and keep her at bay, “I'd be lying if I said that wasn't partly why I took investment in you.” While they were focused on hand-to-hand, Amani tried to catch the girl off-guard with a subtle Force push. Not enough to make her fall, but enough to nudge her back and off-balance if she wasn’t ready for it.

“But you’re not your mother. And I want to see you succeed independently of whatever… expectations or assumptions might be placed on your shoulders.”

Eloise Dinn​

 

[Eloise Dinn]

Eloise pursed her lips. It was probably the best response she could hope for, but it still left a slight bitter taste in her mouth.

She channeled the emotion into the spar, ruthlessly harrying Amani. She sidestepped a jab, catching the staff in a bind. “I hear she’s in prison now,” she said. “And that you—and Alicio Organa—are the ones that put her there.” She shoved the staff backwards. “How’d that happen?”

Her mother almost never left Zaathru these days. The circumstances would have to be dire.

Amani Serys​

 

[Amani Serys]

So Eloise had heard. Amani figured it was likely. As the padawan pushed her back, she detached her saber from the rest of the haft, now wielding them as a shoto and a long baton, "That's right," Amani said, keeping distance for a moment. Then, she suddenly closed in, thrusting her shoto towards Eloise's chest. But that attack was intended as a distraction, so she could push the baton under the padawan's wrist. If her effort worked, she would then pull the shoto back towards Eloise's blade, and twist Eloise's grip so that her saber was knocked loose.

"My husband crash landed on Zaathru, and was stuck there, missing for weeks. Just before I could locate him, he and his bodyguard were in a duel with your mother, and an apprentice of hers." Amani shrugged, her tone dull as she recalled the stressful situation, "Alicio and Kai won. And we weren't just going to leave her there to escape."

Eloise Dinn​

 

[Eloise Dinn]

Amani split her staff into a shoto and a long baton. She struck with the former first. Eloise blocked the blow aimed at her chest, but the latter weapon closed in not long after. Since she was expecting the knight to use both weapons to her advantage, she was able to avoid being struck, but far more annoyingly, the tip of the baton became caught on one of the hard wooden bangles around her wrist. When Amani jerked her weapon upwards, she yanked Eloise’s wrist along with it, eliciting a pained grunt from the padawan as she was violently disarmed.

The humiliating defeat was nothing compared to the flash of fear that passed through her as Amani told the story of how her mother was arrested. Crash landings were semi-common on Zaathru due to the moon gun and other factors, but rarely were there survivors, and rarer still were they ever able to leave the planet. “Your husband is lucky to be alive,” she muttered, but really it was no wonder. Rhiannon always had a soft spot for Alicio Organa , the man who had once been her friend. If she had wanted him killed, he would be dead already. Eloise was just trying to hide her fright at the revelation that Amani and others had been to Zaathru and returned to tell the tale.

Eloise was afraid that their visit would endanger her family, but a more selfish terror gripped her at the thought of their having witnessed the way the "gods" operated on Zaathru. The idea of her new master having any intimate knowledge of her old life filled her with shame and loathing.

“My mother’s only official apprentice is Dev Ossian. My father killed his original master.” She spoke with a clipped frankness, again hiding her emotions. But after a moment’s hesitation, she finally asked in a soft voice, “How long were you on Zaathru?" It was an obviously probing question. She wanted to know if anything more had occurred apart from Alicio's rescue and Rhiannon's arrest.

Amani Serys​

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani twisted her lips, and extinguished her lightsaber once Eloise had been disarmed, "Short one hand. But yes. Lucky…" She reconnected her pike, twisted it in place, and slung it behind her back. The padawan was probably right. Alicio had made strides in his dueling capabilities, but Rhiannon still had years ahead of him as a knight of the Sith. Amani fell silent for a few long seconds, simply studying her newly-anointed padawan. Trying to piece together what was going on in her mind.

"Ossian seemingly fled the scene. Kai almost killed him," The healer explained matter-of-factly. Her eyebrow ticked up when Eloise pried further, and there was a pregnant pause before Amani answered, "Me? Not long. I followed the Force planetside, and brought a task force along with me. We cleared the area and brought Alicio, Kai, and Rhiannon back home." Their excursion hadn't lasted long. But now Zaathru was on the Alliance's radar, "You'd have to ask my husband, if you want more details."

"Why?"

Eloise Dinn​

 

[Eloise Dinn]

Dev was still alive, then. Eloise had no love for the murderous Shaal, but she hung on to every detail Amani offered about the encounter. She had followed the Force to get there? Not too strange, especially if she and Alicio had a bond. The bond between Eloise’s parents had allowed her mother to track down her father even in the Netherworld.

But she had brought a task force with her… “Did you kill anyone?” Eloise asked bluntly. “If there’s a possibility that someone I care about might’ve been caught in the crossfire, I want to know.” But it was apparent that Amani didn’t have the full story. For all her most burning questions to be answered, she would have to go to Alicio.

She retrieved her lightsaber. By the time she turned to face Amani, the woman had already put her weapon away. The spar was over. Eloise clipped her deactivated hilt to her belt and bowed respectfully to the knight.

Amani Serys​

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani shrugged and shook her head, “The fighting was over when I arrived. I can’t speak to what happened prior,” Eloise quickly showed her hand, revealing that she wanted to know if there was anyone she cared about who might have been hurt.

With the spar finished, Amani bowed in return, “You’re a fierce fighter, Eloise. Clearly your experience goes beyond simple drills.”

“But you’re overreliant on that fierceness. A Jedi should be in control of their emotions, and by extension their actions, in a fight.” She offered a bit of simple analysis and critique, as Eloise’s new master. Before returning her thoughts to the Dinns.

“...Who else would be on Zaathru?”

Eloise Dinn​

 

[Eloise Dinn]

Eloise took the criticism in silence. It might seem like she didn't care about what her master said, but she did. She was just hiding it.

“...Who else would be on Zaathru?”

Her eyebrows rose. "I have six brothers and sisters, not counting the golems my parents once called their children. And then there's Daddy, though if you were able to take Mom away, he was probably... away, at the time. Plus all the friends and allies I left behind." She certainly hoped none of them had been there, and it seemed unlikely to begin with that they would've been involved. Say what you want about Rhiannon, she didn't usually drag the unwilling into her wild schemes.

Amani Serys​

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani blinked a few times, but otherwise showed no outward emotion. Six children, plus two kind of sort of golem children? She wasn't even sure what to make of that. Her father was apparently away, though there was an undertone behind the word that seemed to indicate this was both prolonged and more common than would otherwise imply. "I see. Well— Zaathru is a matter that we may have to confront in the near future. In the meantime, we'll go about our training as planned."

"…Do you want to see your mother? We could arrange something, if that would be of value to you."

Eloise Dinn​

 

[Eloise Dinn]

It was clear by the clenching of Eloise's jaw that she didn't like the idea of confronting Zaathru. Her unease stemmed from both a reluctance to face her past, and a lingering desire to protect her family. She imagined the Jedi coming to Sky Temple and taking her younger siblings away. The pain and confusion and uncertainty that would complicate matters...

But it wasn't good for them to stay with their parents, was it? Not healthy for them to be around all that. Never mind that it was all they had ever known at this point, or how much Mom and Daddy loved them...

"…Do you want to see your mother? We could arrange something, if that would be of value to you."

Eloise opened her mouth to say no, then closed it. Talking to her mother might prove useful, at least, in figuring out what to do about her brothers and sisters. “Yeah,” she muttered in answer. “I’d want to talk to her in private, though.”

Amani Serys​