Private Trying to Run before Walking

[Aileni Ifor Xeraic]

Location: Naboo - Order of Shiraya Temple
Attire: Large brown hoodie, grey shirt
Equipment: Dathomiri Energy Bow
Tag: Bastien Sal-Soren

The young Night Wolf was adjusting to life permanently on Naboo, previously it always felt like a vacation home, a place he spent part of his time during the year at. Spending a good amount of his time on Dathomir, living with his clan of relatives there. The differences in weather, noise and smells. It was sometimes difficult to adjust since the temple felt a lot more intense as a Padawan than it ever did when he visited with his mother. Making him wondering if she selected quieter days for him to visit to avoid getting him overwhelmed by the various stimuli.

Conversely, being here with his peers, training as an actual Jedi, he was able to actually explore his skills and the abilities he had. From what the early tests he had been doing, Aileni seemed to be a natural with everything they threw his way. Sometimes it felt like deja vu, where he was relearning skills that he had merely forgotten more than he was actually learning something new. It was strange since he had never really explored Jedi training with his mother, she was more insistent on teaching him cultural and exploring various other interests. Stating that he would always have a chance to learn to be a Jedi later, but finding out what he enjoyed in life outside of being a Jedi was just as important.

Now he wondered why she made him wait so long to explore a path that Aileni seemed so naturally gifted with.

"Have you been practicing this form before today, Padawan Aileni?" The training droid asked him once they finished testing his accuracy.

Shaking his head with a slight pant, "no, it is not something I heard of till today." Aileni stated as he grabbed his water bottle to stay hydrated.

"Your results are puzzling, you have a high accuracy for the form, a level more predictive of a skilled user in the form." The droid sounded surprised with the results from Aileni who looked over to the droid and shrugged his shoulders. Not sure what he was expected to say in response to that.

If he was just meant to be that naturally gifted with the Jedi training then was life. "I best get going. I need to find some books to study." Aileni said with a hurried tone, not wishing to stick around too long with the droid while it tried to figure him out.

"I will log your results, so whoever your future Master is, they will see the results of your training." The training droid responded as Aileni left the room.

Breathing out slowly, the young teenager felt weird at times getting praised so highly. His mother, the Dathomiri clan, they seemed much more reserved in their praises than the Jedi. Even that felt overwhelming at times. It also made him feel like being a Padawan was unnecessary if he was going to be so gifted. It was probably why he wasn't overly keen on finding a Master, since he could demonstrate how advance he was and that the basics were not something he needed to cover. But then Aileni would hear his mother's disapproving tutting and remember that everyone had to start at the bottom.

Nothing was given. Aileni still had to earn his place. She always made sure that he knew that much.

His mind lost in his thoughts once again as Aileni still felt torn about feeling too advanced to be a Padawan but also wanting to respect the process and earn his place, it meant that he was not paying much attention to where he was walking. Bumping into someone as he walked, Aileni took a few steps back since it caught him off guard.

"I am sorry, was lost in my thoughts... Didn't... Didn't pay attention to where I was walking." Aileni confessed.

 

[Bastien Sal-Soren]

He didn't expect the temple to feel quite so... alive. Not in the mystical, Force-laden way he'd been warned about—but in the altogether more jarring sense of clashing tones, fluttering robes, and the faint scent of stone and incense. Bastien Sal-Soren adjusted the cuffs of his coat, idly thumbing a button that did not need adjusting.

There were Jedi here, yes. Some of them barely older than he was. Others... children, running with sabers not yet activated, unaware of the weight they would one day carry. He watched a training droid pass him, chirping something evaluative in an unfamiliar dialect. It didn't stop. That was fine.

He wasn't supposed to be here.

Not in the formal sense, at least. No appointment, no escort. Just a name and a legacy that, like most things Nabooan, carried more weight than he liked.

Briana hadn't known he was coming. Brandyn, less so. Part of him wanted it that way. Part of him was already regretting it.

He exhaled softly and turned down another curved hall of polished stone and flickering sconces. Voices echoed somewhere beyond—a youth apologizing for a collision. Bastien rounded the corner just in time to see the scene.

"Perfect." he murmured under his breath, offering a smooth nod as he approached, hands now tucked into his coat pockets, voice polite but unmistakably Corellian.

"Did I walk into a training session or a traffic jam?"

Aileni Ifor Xeraic​

 

[Aileni Ifor Xeraic]

Location: Naboo - Order of Shiraya Temple
Attire: Large brown hoodie, grey shirt
Equipment: Dathomiri Energy Bow
Tag: Bastien Sal-Soren

Aileni spent time apologising to the person he bumped into, handing items over that had been knocked to the ground and once they left. Aileni let out a sigh, he hadn't felt foolish like that in a while. Usually, the young Padawan prided himself on being perceptive and keeping his awareness about him. However, he was adjusting to all the new smells, the new sounds and meeting new people. There was just a lingering sense of being overwhelmed and Aileni found himself more distracted for the past few days that he had been part of the Order. He wondered if his mother had to deal with a similar issue to himself but she always seemed so calm, composed and aware of herself.

A skill that Aileni had yet to discover himself.

Hearing a voice not long after the bumping incident, Aileni looked over, the six foot tall young teenager looked over to the older teenager. He tilted his head at the question, confused by it since there was no traffic in the temple. It wasn't large enough to have vehicles speeding around. Then he realised that it was about the bump with the other student. Aileni also started realising that he hadn't replied in a few moments because he was processing the question and attempting to understand what the implication was.

"Huh... I... No. Just an accident, I was lost in thoughts." Aileni stumbled over his words as he attempted to explain the reasoning for the incident. Looking over the other guy, Aileni didn't seem to get an obvious vibe that he was a Jedi of any real rank. "What brings you here? Are you another Padawan?" His bright green eyes analysing and studying the face of this new person.

 

[Bastien Sal-Soren]

Bastien offered a small, almost theatrical tilt of the head as the younger boy answered—somewhere between bemused and genuinely entertained. The kid couldn’t have been more than fifteen, yet he had the height of someone halfway to knighthood and the manners of someone raised somewhere far quieter than this temple.

“Lost in thought,” Bastien echoed, nodding solemnly. “A dangerous affliction. Claims more victims than you'd think.”

He stepped a little closer now, though still at a polite distance. One hand remained in his coat pocket, the other lifted briefly in a soft gesture of reassurance.

“I’m not a Padawan, no. Just… visiting.” The words were smooth, curated. “Thought I might surprise a few relatives. But I suspect I’ve misjudged their schedules.”

He glanced around the corridor as if mildly annoyed at the lack of familiar faces, then offered the younger boy a warm, practiced smile.

“And you? Sharp eyes, strong frame, a little distracted—are you new to the temple, or just adjusting to the tempo?”

Aileni Ifor Xeraic​

 

[Aileni Ifor Xeraic]

Location: Naboo - Order of Shiraya Temple
Attire: Large brown hoodie, grey shirt
Equipment: Dathomiri Energy Bow
Tag: Bastien Sal-Soren

Aileni wasn't sure what he had of the handsome individual as he stepped closer to Aileni. It was intimidating and there was a slight blush as he wasn't used to this kind of attention from people. Especially from someone quite as attractive as Bastien was. Pausing for the moment, Aileni struggled to find his thoughts connect and form a sentence but he allowed the time to take since it gave Bastien a chance to finish his thoughts. It was curious to have someone not a Jedi hanging around the temple but related to someone here sort of made sense. Aileni would visit when he was younger to spend time with his mother.

"Maybe they are out trying to surprise you?" Aileni offered as a theory for their absence, sometimes family think alike and end up missing each other in attempts to make a surprise.

Aileni noticed the mildly annoyed expression, curious as to why someone would be annoyed at the fact that others would be here. "Oh... I... both?" Aileni scratched the back of his head, feeling very seen which caused him to blush a little deeper. It was an intense feeling to be observed in such a manner. He was used to witches and Night Brothers watching him as he trained. This wasn't an instructor observing him.

"New Padawan but... used to a quieter lifestyle."