A Restless Day...

[Elena]

Three hours had gone by in an instant, and inside the sacred halls of the Jedi Academy's Library, time indeed was a fickle mistress. Elena had studied the former battles of the past, the great villains that once tormented the galaxy, and the legendary heroes that opposed them, hoping to expand her view of the world around her, as well as gain understanding behind the true mysteries of the Force itself. But it was not as easy as she had hoped it was. For every page of history she unraveled from the holocrom, another set of questions always appeared, and with those, the unfathomable inner workings of the Force eluded her. And it took her three hours before her mind overloaded itself, and was forced to take a break.

As she stood outside the entrance of the Jedi Academy, she waved and greeted the other Jedi Padawans and Knights in the vicinity, as well as the few locals that wanted aid from the Jedi Council or, more precisely, Master Solis Fay'den. She had passed a group of young'lings who ran back inside while the Knights in charge followed shortly behind, their bodies exhausted but still moving. She folded her arms behind her ponytail, leaned back slightly to face the sun, and continued on with her walk, while keeping a slow and steady pace.

As she continued on with her slow walk out of the academy, she lowered her head slightly downward, allowing her eyes to see what lied ahead of her. And what lied ahead of her were the flat grassy plains that comprised the majority of Dantooine. The settlements were sparse and widely spread from another, but the community that formed here was a tightly knit one, each person knowing everyone else plus the other guy. Or girl. But from her studies, she knew that this planet was used many times during the Great Sith War, the Clone Wars, and, most recently, the Yuuzhan Vong.

She walked a several meters out of the main entrance and into the courtyard, again smiling and waving to townspeople that generally frequented the Jedi Academy. She then looked for a nearby ledge, hoping to sit down and rest, and when she had found one, she did just that.

As she dusted off the now visible particles off her robe, she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, taking in the cool fresh air as she tried to relax herself. And when she opened her eyes again, she simply gazed about the academy while a thought entered into her mind...

It's been a few days since he left, and I've gotten nowhere in my training or my studies. I'm still an inexperienced Force user, and my lightsaber skills still need a bit more work. Just how can I pass the academy's test? Maybe I need a sparring partner...

She sighed, her eyes closed once more as her head bent forward and down. Or maybe not...

[Talmic Jarac]

7 days before Coriscant

Talmic quietly rested on the cliff face outside the Jedi Academy. He took one last deep breath as he brought hand over hand and scaled the next little space between ledges, so far he had managed to go a whole 75 feet without a break. The shear cliff face outside the academy was something Talmic had always wanted to tackle, not the tallest around but definitely a fatal fall for those without wings. Yet here he was, scaling this thing for no apparent reason other than to train his body.

A scant 45 feet from the top he braced both his feet and kicked off, adding a boost of force energy to it, sending himself up over the top to land in a perfect crouched position. Talmic stood and looked around, only a few citizens and a group of young’ling’s running by, Knights quick on their tails. Talmic almost laughed as one tripped but was caught by another and they laughed it off together, so young yet already they were growing to understand the basics of a good life. Taking one more look he noted a rather familiar Padawan, a bit older than himself making her way into the courtyard. Talmic quickly retrieved his shirt from the ledge and slipped it on, his lightsabers still at his side he hoped she would ask for a spar.

Walking quickly but quietly Talmic grabbed up his cloak and threw it over his shoulders just before the girl that was his equal in rank passed by. She would no doubt think he was no one rather than another Padawan. Talmic knew of her only by name and only by rank, other than that she was a total mystery to him. Talmic circles around a pillar rather quickly and watched as she sat on the edge of the cliff he had just come over. Talmic almost laughed, she seemed so at ease right now, hell even he had to admit that he felt relaxed here at the temple.

Speaking of the temple he had yet to go grab his mission for today, he was due to leave in just an hour and he was sure that he would get chewed out again for being late. Frowning he decided to look at the bright side, at least he had something to do over the next few days, and he was going to Coriscant, plenty of time to meditate on the way there.

Talmic slipped out from behind the pillar without a sound and walked up behind the girl he knew only as Elena, Jedi Padawan. He wasn’t fond of her, he had been taught to push aside his feelings of anger, hate, passion, and even personal love. He had cast those all away so that he might grasp a hold on an unlimited power within the universe. Yet in the end he still felt the need to treat women and their bodies with more respect than that of any other worldly object or being. So he was careful as he approached and came up to her, only three feet to her right he stopped on the edge of the cliff.

“Nice day isn’t it?”

Talmic said turning down and to the left, greeting the women with a warm smile. If she was a Sentinel or Counselor then she would know him for his acts on one particular mission, in which Talmic brought down a Jedi Knight gone rouge.

[Elena]

Either way, I'm going to have to take that Knight's test at some point. If I don't get better now, I'll never make it past that. She thought rather worriedly as she raised her head up and stared at the academy again. And Master Merrick will probably be disappointed that I failed it. A spar would help, or maybe I just need to go to another mission. I'll have to contact Master Merrick then, but he's probably very busy in Coruscant. Of course, he would be. She confirmed it herself. It wasn't that long since the Yuuzhan Vong came and attacked the galaxy. How could I forget...

Suddenly, she froze in place. Behind her, she felt the presence of a living being, and though it was extremely difficult to sense among the crowd of life, Jedi, and Force-sensitives, it was fairly easy to tell that someone or something was approaching her. However, she didn't know who it was. It could have been an indigenous animal to this world, or it could have been one of the younger kids from earlier. Unfortunately, due to her weak skill at using the Force, she couldn't tell which was which.

When she turned around just to see who it was, she was immediately greeted by a young man who was probably around the same age as her, maybe younger. Either way, by his clothing, he was definitely a Padawan, and with the two lightsabers by his side, she guessed that he was a Guardian of sorts. But, He seems oddly familiar... He could be someone I just saw earlier or maybe he's someone that I heard about. I'll have to ask...

When she realized that she still hadn't greeted him yet, she gave off a warm smile of her own and said politely, "Oh hi. I didn't see you there. Caught me by surprise.. ha ha..." She laughed lightly. "And yes, it really is a nice day..."

However, when she turned around and gazed at the beautiful scenery in front of her, she just realized how pleasant the weather was. She then sighed and thought grimly, I didn't even notice that it was nice out. Maybe I really am too focused on passing that test. But after reading and talking to some of the Knights about it, it doesn't look too promising for me.

When she still realized that the Jedi Padawan was still there, she turned around again, smiled as usual, and said, "I'm sorry. I keep forgetting that you're here. Here. Why don't you sit down beside me before I forget you're here again?" She laughed again, mostly to her own absentmindedness. "Anyways, my name is Elena Night. What about you?"

[Talmic Jarac]

Talmic smiled as she talked and took the seat next to her, looking out over the cliff as he did he listened to her name carefully. Turning to her he nodded and then looked back out, taking in the beautiful scenery as he answered.

"Talmic Tarmac, nice to meet you."

She seemed nice enough, all jedi did at first that is. Talmic had run into a couple who claimed to be true jedi but in all actuallity they had been playing politics and saw the jedi knights as an easy in. If she was a councellor then she most likely played politics as well, something Talmic wasn't good at. He had never cared for all that talkign with no action, and days upon days of debate over te issue that needed solving now. More than once he had gotten in trouble with his own master for going off on his own and doing things ahead of their due time. That was Talmic and his master had learned to deal with it.

"So what brings you out to the plaza?"

Talmic said still facing forward, his hands crossed on his chest lightyl, giving him the appearance that he was a bit more grown up than he was. Of course he had alwasy done stuff like this, he was a bit mature for his age after all.

[tinyes]

*a young boy sits in his room reading a boo intitled *force connections the mystery and watches the whole thing outside *

[Talmic Jarac]

((ooc: Tinyes, please for the love of god, pick up your post length to match that of mien and Elena's. You have just killed the thread by doing a one liner.))

[toaster]

After a routine training to block blaster shots I needed some fresh air. Waking throw the yonglings chambers to go out side he sees a young boy siting in his room with a holo book open but is collecting dust as he stairs outside.

'Why don't you come along" he asked the boy but before he respond he continued not really expecting an answer. When he emerged from the enclave he sow another padowan that was trying to act all cool and tough but I knew that kind he was just some little punk trying to empires a girl. Wick I might add is against the Jedi order. Not knowing the girl I decided to leave them alone unless something happened. Going over to a nearer bye fountain I emerged myself underneath the cold running water to meditate.

[Elena]

Talmic Tarmac Elena thought as she continued staring towards the beautiful scenery ahead of her. He seemed nice and polite, a trait she had seen way too often in the academy, especially among the Younglings and Padawan’s just a few years younger than her. For the older, more experienced members of the Dantooine Academy, however, being polite didn’t seem to be a requirement.

”It’s nice to meet you too Talmic.” Elena answered with a superficial cheerfulness that belied her worries. Intellectually, she was fine, but a Jedi wasn’t led by intellect and intellect alone. A Jedi was led by the Force. It was their guiding light, so to speak, with it’s true purpose hidden behind a sea of mysteries. All she had to do was let the Force guide her. And it will lead her.

Unfortunately, she had a difficult time letting the Force guide her every move. And that may have been the cause of her current worries.

When she stared out at the vast plains, feeling the cool, crisp wind travel through her, she glanced back up at the sky, trying to relax and allow her worries to dissipate from her mind. Maybe…Master Merrick is right…I’m just trying too hard. It’s the only thing that’s been on my mind for the last few weeks…

When Talmic asked her a question, she turned back to him, watching him with his arms crossed, still gazing out at the land ahead. She thought about his question for a while, wondering if she should just lie and make up something, or just tell the truth. She didn’t want to be seen as a worry-wart after all.

She smiled and turned to the plains, saying “Well…I just came back from studying in the library for a long, long time and I just came out here just for a break. I was thinking of actually doing a few lightsaber mock duels just to prepare, but…”

She turned behind her, trying to figure out what to say next in terms of her own skills, but she had little to say, other than her constant mistakes Master Merrick poked upon. When she caught a young man standing near the blue fountain, watching them, she focused on him, trying to figure out who he was. It seemed that he was another Padawan, content with watching them from a distance. She simply smiled and gave a slight wave, acknowledging his supposed mysterious presence behind them.

When she glanced back at Talmic, she laughed nervously. “But I’m not that good with a lightsaber. Don’t get me wrong though, I can hold my own in a fight. It’s just that…I need a lot of practice. But, I guess that’s just me.”