Private Well, Hello There!

[Jun Chiyo]

Location: Coruscant
Tags: Jalen Kai'el
Soundtrack: Tea With the Pansophical

The halls of the Jedi Temple were so much more beautiful than Jun imagined. They were simple in comparison to the galleries on her homeworld, but it wasn't elaborate tapestries and gilded molding that she loved. The humble reliefs and fine stonework were enough to inspire her. She ran her fingers across the wall as she walked, feeling every beautiful imperfection in the masonry.

She appreciated how much history these walls had seen. The Chiyo estate had been plastered a dozen times over, hiding the past and making way for the next generation of secrecy and greed. Not here. The Temple only harbored the collective strength and wisdom of the Jedi who walked its halls before her. She was proud to add her own presence to the harmony.

Jun was so enamored with the sights that she hardly noticed the Padawan stumble into her.

"Oh!" she said with a start, turning to the boy.

"Well, hello there!"

 

[Jalen Kai'el]

Coruscant, Jedi Temple
Tags: Jun Chiyo

​

Jalen's mind wasn't present, as per usual. It was occupied on other things, flooded with the information stored within one of many holocrons he had checked out. Because information was stored with force-sensitives in mind, he could feel it's contents. It was, unfortunately, the only way he could read digital texts without having it read outload to him, which reduced what he could read. Still, it was better than nothing, an he was learning a lot.

If only it could help him pay attention to where he was going. His shoulder collided with that of someone similar in height to him, if not shorter by a little. Almost immediately, Jalen's face had become flush red with embarrassment. First Maran , now someone else? He was making himself look real stupid lately. As a wave of panic washed over him, he tried to recompose himself, getting a feel for the other padawan's aura. The shape seemed more famine, and it was generally humanoid shaped. Aside from that, she was just a smudge. Just like everyone else.

"Oh!"

"Well, hello there!"

"S-sorry," Jalen stammered, quick to apologize as usual. "M-my bad."

He thought about turning his face away from her, but it was probably futile. She had likely already seen his vacant eyes. The same routine was sure to happen. Pity, followed by sympathetic conversation, followed by awkwardness. They all went like this. If Jalen had just been less absent minded, all of this could've been avoided.

Jalen tried to think of something else to say, but nothing came to him.

 

[Jun Chiyo]

Location: Coruscant
Tags: Jalen Kai'el
Soundtrack: Tea With the Pansophical

Jun giggled softly, putting her hand over her mouth to stifle herself.

"Truly, it's okay," she said. She gestured to the motifs carved into the stone beside her.

"I was so focused on the masonry that I forgot to pay attention to my surroundings."

She rubbed her hands together nervously. A blunder like that, standing in someone's way, would have yielded hours of study on the art of poise were she still at home on Atrisia. Thankfully, the only punishment she had to endure was embarrassment. Her cheeks reddened as she realized she hadn't even introduced herself yet.

"My name is Jun. Jun Chiyo," she said with a graceful bow of the head.

She looked to him with piercing, azure eyes. That's when she noticed his unfocused gaze. His eyes were absent of color, portals to a world devoid of sight. Jun smiled softly, reflecting a sentiment of understanding through the Force. She hoped he'd feel some comfort through her energy.

"What's your name?" Jun asked, passing over the topic of his vision altogether.

 

[Jalen Kai'el]

Coruscant, Jedi Temple
Tags: Jun Chiyo

​

Jalen was a bit surprised when nothing came up about his blindness. In fact, she didn't even say anything that eluded to it. In his time at the temple up until now, only a select few hadn't mentioned it when they first met him, or at least reacted to it. What made her so different from those he had met before? It was perplexing. More curiously, she seemed to be doing something in the force, but what he could not say. It was strangely reassuring. The padawan wished that his sight could return, even if only for a moment. Maybe that would help him understand.

"What's your name?"

"J-Jalen," he answered, but became a bit more flustered when he realized he had forgotten his last name. "Jalen Kai'el."

He didn't give it often, but for a good reason. Jalen didn't know his last name until Jasper had found him. The boy had just been Jalen before then. Nothing else. It made it much easier to forget.

"Are you new?" Jalen asked. "You... don't seem familiar."

What he really meant was that her aura didn't feel familiar, but that sounded weird out loud. Or maybe it made perfect sense and he was just afraid of being judged.

 

[Jun Chiyo]

Location: Coruscant
Tags: Jalen Kai'el
Soundtrack: Tea With the Pansophical

She nodded at first, then quickly followed with a verbal response.

"I am. I arrived just a few days ago," she said.

Since stepping off the shuttle, Jun had been greeted with that very question nearly a dozen times over. Stares and whispers usually followed, hushed remarks about her strange choice of attire and her unusual haircut. Jalen's empty gaze was oddly comforting. No matter what she was, his eyes would harbor no judgement. It gave her a small sense of normalcy.

She looked Jalen over with interest, examining his fair features and blonde hair. He seemed to be around the same age, though a bit less mature than she was. He reminded her of her brother, Aiko.

"How about you? Have you been training long?" Jun asked, tilting her head slightly.

 

[Jalen Kai'el]

Coruscant, Jedi Temple
Tags: Jun Chiyo

​

"Not too long," Jalen answered, "I arrived a while ago, but I had to... wait a little bit before I could start my training."

On account of him arriving injured, of course. Still, he had become decent with a blade, and pretty good at healing, at least for the standards of a padawan.

"I know my way around though, for the most part," he told her. "The Temple tells me where to go... it's kinda like the building has a personality..."

Jalen became red in the face almost immediately. That sounded stupid the moment he said it. It was the ramblings of an insane person. A building having a personality? Ridiculous. In this instance, he was the crazy person, and now he was expressing this craziness to a stranger that he had just met, and a nice one at that. He palmed his face ever so slightly in embarrassment.

"Jeez," he winced, "Th-that sounded stupid."

 

[Jun Chiyo]

Location: Coruscant
Tags: Jalen Kai'el
Soundtrack: Tea With the Pansophical

​

“It’s not stupid at all,” she said with conviction.

Jun chose her next words carefully, hoping not to offend him. She rubbed her hand across an elegant motif that depicted an ancient, long-forgotten duel between two Jedi. It was faded, but still discernible; An echo in the Force, reverberating through the ages into her fingertips.

“You see what I do,” she said, referring to the energies that flowed through the Temple.

“It speaks to you, too.”

She smiled at him, trying her best to soften her signature in the Force. To let him know that she understands his experience.

“It’s beautiful,” she said wistfully.

 

[Jalen Kai'el]

Coruscant, Jedi Temple
Tags: Jun Chiyo

​

“You see what I do,”

“It speaks to you, too.”

"...Yeah..." Jalen responded, almost in a daze.

He didn't know how to react. Someone who thought he wasn't crazy? And didn't bring up his blindness no less? It was confusing. Or maybe exciting. Jalen wasn't sure what he was feeling. There was something else that happened in that moment as well. Something unexpected. Jun's aura became more complex. Jalen could feel more then he could before. They were the bare-bones basics of facial expressions, or at least her emotions manifesting as such. It was a relieving point of clarity, especially with how blurry his world had been since loosing his sight.

"Oh!"

Jalen had forgotten something: Where he was going.

"I was on my way to the dining hall," he informed her. "Do you... wanna talk more there?"

The padawan hoped she did. He hadn't been this interested in making friends before now, even with Jasper encouraging him to do so.

 

[Jun Chiyo]

Location: Coruscant
Tags: Jalen Kai'el
Soundtrack: Tea With the Pansophical

Jun nodded eagerly, happy to tag along and learn more - both about the Temple, and about him. She felt strangely drawn to his aura, like a moth to a flame.

She took her place beside him, hoping the closeness would ease the task of navigation. As they walked, she remained conscious of his pace and matched it step for step. Aside from her daily routine of training in the dojo and studying in library, she hadn’t made it around the grounds much. Except for the mighty statues that she boldly scaled with her newfound friend, Aiden Porte . Jun knew exactly how to get to them.

She stifled a giggle, turning her eyes to Jalen. She watched as he felt his way through the halls with humbling intrigue. It must be so difficult to trust the Force as completely as he would, relying on it to guide not just your senses but your very footsteps.

She followed his lead as they walked to the dining hall, close behind as they found a place to sit. Her curiosity was bubbling, but she kept a cool grip on her excitement.

“So,” she said, looking around the hall, “do tell. What are your favorite places around the Temple? Surely you’ve found a few spots that are more than they appear.”

 

[Jalen Kai'el]

Coruscant, Jedi Temple
Tags: Jun Chiyo

​

“So, do tell. What are your favorite places around the Temple? Surely you’ve found a few spots that are more than they appear.”

"Not the archives," Jalen was quick to answer. "They have something in the restricted section that they're keeping safe... but it gives off a dark feeling. I don't like it very much."

That was very pessimistic. Even if it was true, and they were containing some kind of evil deep within the restricted section of the archives, it certainly wasn't the first thing he should bring up when talking about his favorite location.

"B-but the gardens are nice," he stated. "The plants are weird... not like any I've felt off world. The temple changes something about them, but I'm not sure what. Its... very calming."

Maybe it was the Tython and Ilum memorials. Something about the lingering essence of those honored in the gardens perhaps. Regardless of what it was, it was very peaceful for a location so heavily associated with the order's biggest loss of this era. Still, the gardens weren't his regular hang out spot. That would have to be...

"I usually just spend time in my room though," Jalen admitted. "Easier to study... when my roommate isn't around anyways. Have you... noticed anything since arriving?"

Jalen was curious himself how much she really felt in the force. Did having sight make it different? Was she more aware then him? Did it differ from person to person? It was truly interesting, which was something Jalen couldn't often say for many things. Maybe he was just to pessimistic to notice interesting things.

 

[Jun Chiyo]

Location: Coruscant
Tags: Jalen Kai'el
Soundtrack: Tea With the Pansophical

“Have you... noticed anything since arriving?"

Jun thought carefully, rubbing her chin. A particular spot did come to mind, one that would pique the interest of any Jedi with psychometric abilities.

“The Kyber Arch,” she said tentatively, unsure if casual discussion of such a powerful monument was frowned upon.

Were it built on Atrisia, you’d have to pass by with eyes cast down to avoid dishonoring your House, no doubt.

“The Force is strong all throughout the Temple, but it sings to me the most when I meditate near the Arch. I get lost listening to the songs of valor and sacrifice.”

It brought Jun immense comfort to sense their stories encircling her, each of them vastly unique but still sharing a common theme: Humility.

Her wandering eyes came back to Jasper, and a smile formed on her lips.

“Have you visited the Arch before?”

 

[Jalen Kai'el]

Coruscant, Jedi Temple
Tags: Jun Chiyo

​

"Kyper Arch?" Jalen frowned, "I know it... but I don't think I've been there."

It was a monument of some kind, one dedicated to fallen Jedi from some past event. What the event that had caused so much death was, he couldn't say, but he was at least aware of the Arch's significance. He understood what it was that brought her comfort though. The memorials in the gardens had a similar effect on him.

"It sounds interesting," he admitted. "I might visit it... eventually."

If he had the time to. Jalen seemed to be spending a lot of time studying these days. Besides, he needed time to play music It was important that he did that.

"Uh... do you play anything?" Jalen asked.

That was something relatable, right?

 

[Jun Chiyo]

Location: Coruscant
Tags: Jalen Kai'el
Soundtrack: Tea With the Pansophical

​

Jun shook her head, quickly adding, "No, I don't."

There was a brief sense of longing in her voice, but it was soon replaced with a strange mixture of pride and secrecy.

"But... I like to dance," she said in a low tone.

It wasn't that she was embarrassed, but that she'd spent the better part of the last five years hiding her passion for ballet from her father. No matter how elegant her form, or how 'Atrisian' the performance was, dancing was a skill best left to commoners; The First Daughter of House Chiyo would never be seen participating in such plebian activities.

If only he could see her now.

"It helps me focus, to relax and recuperate after a long day of training."

Dance was one of only a few respites Jun found to relieve the stress and demand of being a noble back home. She suspected playing music was much the same for Jalen. Though considering his blindness, she couldn't help but wonder how he developed the skill.

"What instrument do you play?" she asked, her curious eyes looking into his.

 

[Jalen Kai'el]

Coruscant, Jedi Temple
Tags: Jun Chiyo

​

"But... I like to dance,"

"It helps me focus, to relax and recuperate after a long day of training."

"That's cool," Jalen answered with a nod. "I... don't think I'd be very good at anything like that. I'm already clumsy as it is. My brother told me about a fancy party he danced at. He told me he was terrible, but I think he was playing it up."

'There were two kinds of people in this world,' Jasper told him. 'Those who dance, and those who don't.' Jalen did not dance. He was perfectly content sitting in the corner and playing his hallikset. Which, speaking of, Jun asked what he played. That was a much easier question to answer. Not as much contemplation necessary.

"Seven string hallikset," he responded. "Pretty easy to start. I think I heard that they offer classes for it for meditation. I've meant to attend one... but too many people signed up. I don't do well in large groups."

Jeez, that sounded sad. He needed to spin it to be more positive.

"I find it easier to meditate alone anyways," Jalen reasoned. "Less distractions."

That was... better.

 

[Jun Chiyo]

Location: Coruscant
Tags: Jalen Kai'el
Soundtrack: Tea With the Pansophical

​

"Crowds make me nervous, too," Jun agreed, recollecting the countless courtly gatherings she was forced to attend on behalf of House Chiyo.

As a little girl, the gatherings were just fancy parties where she dressed up in beautiful Atrisian kimonos and have her face adorned with traditional makeup. They were fun, even, looking back now. But growing into her early teens, she found the once-enthralling galas to be little more than petty political hunting grounds and paltry courting sessions.

"You must represent House Chiyo with honor," her father would whisper harshly as he nudged her to tables seated with rich men seeking wives.

"I prefer to be alone as well," she said, pulling her mind from the memory of those days.

They were behind her, now.

"Say... what if I went with you to a hallikset class? I doubt I'd be any good, but maybe you'd feel more comfortable if a friend joined you?"