The Meek Will Inherit

[Uri Aureleos]

Uri placed himself among the blades of grass in the gardens of Ossus Academy. His master favored the meditation pavilion. He favored the gardens. The sounds of birds chirping and the nature around him reminded him of his home on Agamar. He could still see the monastery as he shut his eyes. He wasn't that small twelve year old boy any more. He wasn't a youngling nor was he a padawan. His heart beat grew more rapid as he remember his knighting ceremony.

Your period of service is now over, my young Padawan. Now you join our ranks as Jedi Knight.

He was already pressed with the question of when he would take his first Padawan learner. When? Who? Uri wasn't sure. Not yet was all he knew to answer. The force was a funny power. Uri retained the faith that it would guide him to his padawan in question. A lot of padawan were older. He feared that he might get a padawan older than himself that would resent Uri's young age. Now was not the time to dwell on what if's. The force knew which Padawan needed Uri and what Uri needed in his first Padawan.

The dawn was just breaking over the horizon. Early in the morning before anything else Uri sat in seiza and meditated. This day was no different. He established a deep trance in the force feeling his own signature connect to the flow of the planet and to every other living thing close to him. It was at this moment he opened his eyes again. Today. Today would be especially important.

His eyes surveyed the gardens. He was never really alone no matter where he was in the academy. Around him were several other jedi most being padawan. Some meditating under the trees as well. One reading. A few practicing different force powers even two partaking of a spar with training sabers. One of them maybe? Uri patiently stayed in the position he chose for meditation. Surely one of the padawan would catch his eye.

[member="Nathaniel Ayers"]

 

[Nathaniel Ayers]

Why did he always have to be late?

Always. Always! One of Nathaniel's teaching Masters had told him it was simply a fact of being a seventeen-year-old human male; but that just sounded like an excuse. All the young man knew was that he was perpetually running five minutes behind. Cursing in three languages, Nathaniel sped through the Temple on Ossus heading for the gardens. He tried not to think about why he was going there...it would surely just lead to another disappointed master and angry superiors. There, he'd done it, he'd thought about his long list of ex-Masters. Just the thought of it stressed him out; it was truly his last chance this time the council had made that really quite clear. Every past interaction he'd had with his past teachers, the council, conversations he'd had in the this hallway...they all came crashing through his mind at once, unbidden and unwelcome.

Through the whirling cascade of images, Nathaniel turned a corner, through the graceful archway leading to the Ossus gardens and sloughed headlong into a tree he hadn't noticed amid the tide of memories that had assailed him. The small man was sent reeling backwards onto the ground. He could hear the snickering of other padawans scattered around the garden as they laughed at his foolishness. With a groan, grinning with embarrassment and amusement at his own stupidity, Nathaniel heaved himself to his feet, bowing dramatically to his peers a couple times before looking around for someone old enough to be a teacher.

Everyone in the garden was either his age or a little older. Senior padawans at most. He'd literally missed his last chance because of a tree.

"I'm wasn't that late!" He said, plopping himself down on the ground, next to a young man with bright blond hair and a cheerful expression. "We need scooters or something for the hallways, man. It takes forever to get anywhere! I was called to the council, they told me I was supposed to meet some Knight named [member="Uri Aureleos"] in the gardens for teaching. FIFTEEN MINUTES IT TOOk ME to get from the council chambers to here and he he already bounced. You didn't see him, did you?"

---

OOC: Nate totally thinks Uri's a padawan so he's chatting to him with zero idea who he is.

 

[Uri Aureleos]

Uri's attention drew away from the padawans in front of him at the sudden thump of the tree next to him. A younger man. Not much younger than Uri. Most of the padawans around them stopped their activities to gawk and stifle laughs at the boy's clumsiness. Uri clapped once then gave them all a stern look. They quickly silenced their laughter but didn't remove their eyes. The tree hitting padawan was probably to disoriented to notice Uri's gesture. Uri grinned however at how the boy now bowed to his peers. He didn't attempt to slink away. It was admirable that the boy wasn't afraid to face the laughter of others.

Uri moved over slightly as the boy threw himself at the ground. Uri could only smile over at him as he gripped about being late and the size of the academy. The academy was pretty large but Uri couldn't remember ever being late. He was usually on time or early. He didn't mind the wait he was very patient.

Uri was starting to understand why this boy was upset however. He was here to meet a knight named... Wait. Uri didn't know he was supposed to meet a padawan. This was his regularly scheduled meditation time how did the council. His master. She knew Uri didn't have a padawan. She also knew this was the time that he set aside for meditation. It didn't help that she was also Grandmaster of the Jedi Order. She chose this... No the force chose him. She was just the messenger. But what was Uri suppose to teach him? Maybe the one thing his master and himself are known for.

"Patience, padawan. Why not meditate with me?" Uri switch to sitting in full lotus taking a deep breath and closing his eyes. "This knight will find you. What is your name?"

[member="Nathaniel Ayers"]

 

[Nathaniel Ayers]

"Nathaniel..." Nate let his voice trail off as he stared suspiciously at the very yellow young man next to him. No padawans call each other "Padawan". For the most part if they were around your age, they knew your name. This guy though...it was all Nate could do to keep from snickering uncontrollably. "I think I already found him, uh...sir...?" Nahtaniel had been about to use a proper title to address the young man sitting next to him but couldn't do it. It just didn't fit. He was like two years older than Nathaniel himself, if that much. He couldn't help himself, he opened one eye and peered at Uri.

"Seriously? You're Uri?" Nathaniel couldn't keep the astonishment and suspicion out of his voice. Sure, the guy felt disciplined in the Force...but so did Nathaniel. "How in the world are you a Knight?! You're like my age, a little older maybe? Was the Council just super desperate or something?"

It only took a split second for Nathaniel to realize that he was talking to his new Master like he would to any other padawan in his year and a look of abject horror crossed his face for a second before he managed to stammer, "Uh, I mean, that's not to say they couldn't have been desperate for a genius...?" Nate cringed as soon as the words left his mouth. He sounded like every example of how to fail at saving face. Alas, there was really nothing else he could do at this point.

[member="Uri Aureleos"]

 

[Uri Aureleos]

Uri listened to Nate but he also focused on the force and his meditation. This was the time he set a side every day to meditate. Right at dawn just as it started to get daylight. Nathaniel made it a little harder to focus but Uri was able to find the happy median. If Uri didn't have any faith in his master or the council, he might just find this as a joke. He assumed his padawan did. Being a nineteen year old knight wasn't a complete shock as he made it seem. The grand master became a master of the order at the same age. It was never about ability for Uri however he wasn't in a rush to advance in the rankings. He had his place just as the pupil before him did as well.

Uri opened one eye looking at his padawan from the corner of his eye as Nate asked if he was serious and the Council was desperate. Uri wondered if it would be impolite to give the padawan back without even trying. No. No. Uri was picked for a reason. That reason being that he was a calm and patient being. Unlike Nate. Who seemed to be the opposite.

"Have no doubt. Doubt leads to failure. You may doubt me, but I will never doubt myself. And you may doubt yourself, but I will never doubt you," Uri smiled at Nate. "I recommend meditating at least three times a day. This will help you to gain focus and a deeper connection to the Force. The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together. I do so more but I would recommend meditating before each meal. Food then becomes a reward in a way. I will be here before the meals for sure if you wish to join me in meditation."

"You may call me Master Uri. We will have a bond as Master and Learner so there isn't a need for last names and formalities. I may not be an actual master but I will be your teacher. Sound alright, Nathaniel?" Uri shut his eye back. "Training will only be as hard as you allow it. I will help you in what ways I can."

"For now we start with meditation," Uri took a deep breath. "Find tranquility in the Force. Feel the Force to flow through you and around you."


[member="Nathaniel Ayers"]

 

[Nathaniel Ayers]

[member="Uri Aureleos"]

Biting his tongue, cursing his luck to have found the only nineteen year old Jedi Knight who talked like an ancient master, Nathaniel settled into a cross legged position and closed his eyes. Meditation was easy for him, it was one of the few things that provided him with an escape from his cursed memory. He remembered the sound of the Ocean, of the space between waves crashing against the rocky cove. He breathed in as waves crashed against the rock and breathed out as they rushed back to sea.

Like the tide he remembered--a trick one of his first teachers had told him--the Force came like the rising tide to his call. It ebbed and flowed as it rose within him, rising higher, filling his small body to bursting and still Nathaniel let more of the Force flow into him. The experience (as it always was) was rapture. The young man could feel everything. He could feel the way the Force bent and rebounded in little ripples off the forms of the other padawans in the gardens. He could feel how it still and flowed gently, with order and clarity around Uri. He could feel the subtle eddies in the current of life around him as his power grew, as the Force hastened to his body.

The air seemed to grow warmer, the sunlight felt brighter and the grass and trees grew as the Force flowed--tamed and controlled with gentle discipline--into and around Nathaniel's body

 

[Uri Aureleos]

Uri took another deep breath. At least, Nate could meditate without issue. Uri learned meditation at a young age so he never understood how older padawans couldn't focus enough to do it. This was one milestone Uri didn't have to worry about at least. Uri wasn't sure how long Nathaniel had been at the academy. In his six years, Uri was quiet as a youngling and didn't spend much time with the other padawans. Since the last galactic event he hadn't spent very much time on Ossus. To tell the truth, he was just now getting back into the swing of things at the academy.

"Tell me about yourself, Nate. How long have you been at the academy?" Uri kept his eyes shut relaxing in meditation and the Force.

[member="Nathaniel Ayers"]