Star wars au part 2
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Amelia finds the first apprentice in the training hall. The temple has a few, fewer and fewer as time goes on, but each one has its own congregating regulars. This training hall is closer to the Padawan quarters. It's popular for training and gives peace of mind for older Jedi to use the other training halls without dealing with misbehaving children.
It's a time of peace for the republic, that should be emphasized. Amelia would like to have the same doubts as Calli about that, but there's not even a whiff of dark news coming their way. With her master on the council, she's usually the first to know if something goes wrong. The other Padawan likes to bug her about it and all they get from her is a shrug.
This time, she's not harassed the moment she enters the training hall. The quiet of the room isn't uncommon, but it's punctuated by the tension of a duel happening. Amelia pauses at the doorway. There's a gaggle of padawans watching from a safe distance. The mats in the center of the room are being used.
Two Padawans. She recognizes one of them as a regular here, but the other one is new. One of the new Padawans, she realizes. She steps into the room to better observe the fight.
The new girl has snowy white hair. Her training saber hisses, parrying against green as she goes head to head with the other Padawan. There’s a massive difference between both sides of the duel. The temple Padawan is the one using one of the traditional academy styles, Shii-Cho. The white-haired girl is using something entirely different from their teachings. She’s wild and scary with rage in every twist of her blade. The longer the duel goes on, the more she bares her teeth. Amelia can feel the crackle in the air. A storm striking down on a raging sea. It's making the hair on her neck stand up. The teenagers around her are uneasy.
She wasn't trained to be a Jedi. That much was obvious.
Amelia notices there’s not an instructor present. That’s against the rules. She frowns, bouncing on her heels and wondering if she should interfere. She doesn’t want to get too close to the fight. She imagines that's why the other Padawans are hesitating.
Thankfully, she doesn’t have to do anything.
“Gura!” A voice calls from the door, “What are you doin’?”
Gura backs away from the Padawan, a hunch to her shoulders. The other Padawan is sweating through their tunic. Both of them heave for air. There’s tension charged, battle adrenaline still fizzling tightly where blades had been clashing.
Baelz looms in the doorway. The youngest of council, she stands about the same height as everyone else present in the room. She’s smirking and rocking on her heels, entirely too childish to look like someone on the Jedi Council. The shock of red hair and the ferocity in her eyes often has younglings running with their tail between their legs. The Padawans around Amelia start to migrate away, wary of being scolded. Amelia has seen Baelz too much to be bothered. More often than not, the other members of council are scolding Baelz like you're too reckless and no we can't install another healing pool. She's a lot less scary when she's sheepishly deflecting that.
Gura detaches from the training mats. She’s stalking towards the door, fire between her teeth. When she reaches Baelz, her voice is low, sharp, and angry. Baelz doesn’t look affronted at all, merely shrugging, before beckoning Gura to follow. Without a backward glance, Gura leaves with her.
Amelia has never been more invested in a mystery.
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Of course, her first objective is to bug Kronii about it. Her master is all kinds of prim and proper and very particular about the apprentices she takes under her wing. She rejects many offers to her. As far as Amelia is aware, she's the first.
Amelia knows the way to her quarters. Kronii spends most of her time in her room, quietly enjoying her time. Amelia smirks. She knows Kronii's favorite pastime is avoiding meetings.
She knocks first. The door slides open, a tinge in the Force following the movement. Kronii's room is spacious, but that's a privilege of her station. Amelia's room is cramped in comparison. Kronii has a living room, a separate bedroom, and a meditation room. Kronii's living quarters are decorated with bookshelves. Jedi aren't allowed possessions, but many of the artifacts along the walls speak different stories and different adventures. Amelia bears one such artifact on her belt.
"Kronster." Amelia sings.
Kronii is lounging back on her couch, utterly unrefined compared to the scary principal aura she exhibits outside her personal space. There's a book on her face.
"Were you trying to sleep?"
Kronii grunts. Amelia snoops around the room. Kronii's latest mission shows itself in the glass urn on one of her mantle pieces. It's stylized in a dialect Amelia can't understand.
"So about those new apprenti-"
"That's none of your business." Kronii drawls. "You'll keep your nose out of it."
Amelia makes a few exaggerated noises, "None of my business? What if I just wanna, ya know, extend a very warm welcome to the Jedi Temple?"
Kronii snorts, "Ame, you get into trouble because of that."
"How much trouble is making a friend?" Amelia asks airly. She picks up the urn and turns it around in her hands. It's scratched in a few places. She hums, pressing on these blemishes with the Force. She rubs her hand over it once and the urn is free of those wounds.
Kronii hasn't answered. Frowning, Amelia looks over her shoulder at her master. Kronii has lowered her book to appraise Amelia. There's a thoughtful expression on her face.
"What?" Amelia asks.
"You may be right," Kronii says.
Amelia tilts her chin back haughtily, "Ohhh, I'm right? Of course, I am. I'm a genius."
Kronii looks at her flatly, "Are you serious about what you just said? Do you want to be their friend?"
Some of Amelia's bravado fizzles in the air. Well, she didn't want to force herself to like someone unlikable, but she'd put her cards out on this one. She didn't want to go back on her word. She was also insatiably curious.
"Sure, why not?" Amelia says. "We're neighboring lineages, I feel obligated to help them along."
Kronii narrows her eyes, "How'd you know about that?"
Amelia grins gleefully, "I didn't. Bae picked up her new apprentice from the training hall, didn't she?"
"She's not Bae's apprentice. Everyone probably thinks so now. Perfect." Kronii swears under her breath. She rubs her face tiredly. "They are more than just new faces here at the temple. Their situation is delicate."
Amelia clicks her tongue. She'd been hoping for something serious and if they were Darksiders Bae would be the best one to train them. If not Bae, who else? "Why not Bae? Calli is taking the trials soon."
"What'd I just say about poking your nose in this business?" Kronii complains. She eyes Amelia balefully, "If you'd like a proper introduction, you'll get one, but not for some time. They need to adjust."
Amelia squints, "You didn't replace me, right?"
"Oh yes." Kronii drawls. "In a heartbeat."
Amelia makes a face. She harumphs and moves the urn back in place. She prods it with the Force and memories occur for her, time itself whispering in her ear. A thief stole the urn. They'd accidentally scratched it in their escape from officials. They were meeting with pirates for greater purposes. A republic spy on the run. Kronii, the blue of her saber as she cuts them down.
Amelia takes her hands off the urn.
"Gura wasn't supposed to be in the training hall, wasn't she?"
"How did you-" Kronii shakes her head. "You know what? You're too crafty. It's giving me a headache."
Amelia almost outright cackles at that. Kronii doesn't let her speak a word of it further, but Amelia has all the incentive she needs to go hunting for sharks.
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