Qi'Jeivas Kaba'allo's Story

"Alright, alright!" Yelped the teenager who jumped out from behind a pillar. He had his hands raised defensively. "You can put your fire stick down, okay?"

He was a young man, obviously a student of the temple. He also covered the top part of his face with a faded purple scarf.

"I don't mean no harm, got it?" He said with a cringe. "Just hiding is all."

Ahala would look at him and put her light sabers to her side but not off. "These arent fire sticks, they are lightsabers, dont you have yours and what you doing out here at this time of night and why are your hiding?" she asked him as she would look at him. "and who are you? I've never see you before around the temple." she added making sure that he wouldn't try anything to surprise attack her while her guard was down.

"Woah! Slow down!" The young man shouted at Ahala's barrage of questions. He lowered his hands and took a step closer to her, a gesture he hoped would read as 'I-Come-In-Peace'.

"No I don't have a saber, and you've probably never seen me because I do my best to never train under the Masters. Which..." He continued, "is coincidently the reason I am hiding."

Jei crossed his arms, gestured down the halls with his head. "Been trying to stay out of the teacher's radars, ya' know?" He said casually.

A small figure watched from behind one of the pillars of the Temple as the two continued their conversation.

He smirked at her, "Because I don't want to be here." With a wave of his hand he flipped his bangs out of his face. "Anyway, I'm Qi'Jeivas, but people who hate me call me Jei! What's your name, O'-Jedi-to-be?" He asked in a sing song voice.

"Hah," he chuckled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah. It's a bit hard to hide in giant open corridors. Afraid I haven't done much exploring outside." He gestured with one hand to the large windowed wall. As if to imply not just the courtyard of the temple, but of the planet-sized city itself.

Having grown up on a nearly barren planet such as Dantooine, Jei had never experienced anything like Coruscant. The bustling and packed cities, the diverse alien citizens. Or how stimulating it would be for his perception, to use his Force Sight to perceive not only the floors and walls of these grand structures, but also the hundreds of people who pass by him everyday. To say the least, it was a lot to take in.

Jei nodded his head as Ahala spoke, and he couldn't help but smile when she mentioned her mother. It was interrupted however by Ahala yanking his arm and dragging him behind the waterfall, splashing his head in the process.

He was so distracted he didn't even notice the guards until they walked right past the two, who were huddled close to each other. He didn't even respond to her comment, as he was too busy being completely flustered. He stood with his teeth clenched and shoulders locked.

It was only when she laughed with her soft voice that he was jolted out of his nervousness. Jei shook his head, water droplets in his hair splashed on the ground.

"Oh, not really, I guess?" He laughed. "I can't 'see'", he made air quotes with his hands. "Like your people. It's more like," Jei bit his lip in thought. "I just know where things are. Wherever I go, I sorta' know that there's a wall in front of me, or a table to my right. My Ma said it's because of the force. It's guides us and allows us to perceive." He pointed a finger at Ahala excitedly. "If she really focused, like, really really hard, she could tell what kinda' furry creature was eating our Yot Beans 10 kilometers away!"

He laughed.

"Impressive right?"

Jei laughed loudly but quickly covered his mouth, stifling his giggles. "That's was so awesome," he spoke in a quieter voice. Jei climbed out from the waterfall to face Ahala. "I wish I could do stuff like that."

He crossed his arms. "So, you headin' out? Following Master's orders?" He tried to be teasing, but he couldn't help the disappointment that showed in his voice.

Jei stuttered at Ahala's promise to see him again, "Y-Yeah!" He shouted out at her as she ran off.

He pressed himself behind a wall and tried to focus on Ahala and the small man with big ears, whom he had never met before. He heard their foots steps leaving each other and Jei couldn't tell exactly, but he felt as if the Master was looking toward Jei's hiding spot.

Jei shut his mouth tight until he was sure they had gone, and he let out a sigh. He ruffled a hand through his hair and chuckled to himself. Ahala could possibly become his first friend since coming to the Jedi, and he was ecstatic.

Jei had made his way to his room, which he shared with several other students. It was small and cramped but he wasn't picky. Given the circumstances, he could fall asleep anywhere, no matter how uncomfortable.

After changing into his sleeping robes and discarding his veil, he sat down on the bed mat. He remembered what Ahala had said: to find her in the force. He scratched at his head. How could he do that exactly?

He crossed his legs and exhaled. "Meditate, mediate," he whispered to himself. "How do I meditate?" He cleared his throat. Relax, focus. Disconnect with what's around you, and let yourself become one with the force.

He didn't know how long it took, but eventually he could no longer feel the blanket beneath him, or hear the soft snoring of his roommate. He imagined that this was what it must feel like to be floating in space. But distantly there are something there. A sadness he couldn't help but reach for.

He grew closer to her and was kneeling before her. Normally his shaggy bangs, without his mask, would fall over his face and tickle his cheeks. Here though, he couldn't feel the physical. Instead, all he knew was her essence. How Ahala felt and saw herself: trapped and hurting.

"I-" he stammered out. "I'm sorry." He sat beside her. "There wasn't anything you could do to help. You were a child. But I guess knowing that doesn't make you feel better, right?"

Jei's head dropped. "I wish there was something I could do. But I really don't know anything. I can't even lift a pebble!" He said as he threw his hands up and dropped them to his sides.

"Then I think you know what to do," he said, giving a smile to his companion. "Show them what you are, and make them see you."

Jei could admit that what he was saying was not very Jedi-like, but it was the answer he'd listen to. Show your worth to those who don't accept you, and make them deal with it. Jei chuckled. "Besides, I could tell you were pretty tough when you threatened me with your fire sti-" he coughed, "I mean light sabers," Jei teased.

Jei smirked and titled his head, "I swear on all the Gods in the Universe, I've got your back, Ahala." He pointed between the two, "You n' me? We'll be un-freaking-stoppable."

"Besides!" Jei leaned back on his hands, feeling the imagined grass against his palms. "If it doesn't work out, just join the Luka Sene," he said casually. "The Miraluka's Force Order. Way less strict, and-" he emphasized, "They actually let you have relationships... Not that I'm saying you-! You know, I'm just! For anybody! Not me or you- I uh..." He wiped a hand over his bare face and pulled a part of his bangs behind his ear, "Please stop listening to me," Jei stammered out, clearly wishing for a change in topic.

The next morning, Jei was wandering through the halls of the temple. He rubbed his cheek absentmindedly. Even though Ahala and him had met through the Force, Jei could still feel the kiss she left on his cheek, as if it had been real.

Now, under normal circumstances Jei would have been able to sense it. But in his distracted state, he didn’t notice the maintenance droid soaring straight towards him until it had crashed through the window and skidded loudly across the floor. Jei screamed and leapt backwards, stumbling over his feet and landing harshly on his behind.

Just go along with it for a little bit, Ezell. Then just sneak out while everyone's asleep. You'll be back before you know it.

Yeah, right.

Ezell had lost count of how many times she'd tried to sneak out of the Jedi Temple, but every time she got close, there'd be some blasted droid, or padawan, or whoever that would report her to the Jedi masters. She was tired of always getting dragged back, back to the unfamiliar walls of the temple and back to the disapproving looks of the masters.

Ezell currently found herself in a Jedi assigned ‘time-out’. They could call it meditation if they wanted, but she knew better. She sat in the grass of a garden balcony and stared out into the cityscape of Coruscant. Speeders flew past—their shapes a dark contrast against the golden sky, in the distance she could vaguely make out the spaceport, ships coming and going with their cargo.

Down in the city where she used to live, she never got to see this much sky.

She supposed there were worse places to serve out one’s probation.

Her thoughts were interrupted as something flew past her lekku. She turned around to see a small, round maintenance droid scanning the exterior walls. The droid buzzed softly every time it used its scanner, and every few seconds it would make a variety of shrill beeps that made no sense to her.

She covered her ear cones with her hands to drown out the noise to no avail.

Ezell had never gotten along with droids before, and now would be no exception. So, in an instant, she pushed herself to her feet, grabbed the droid out of the air, and hurled it away from her as hard as she could.

Through a window.

Whoops.

Ezell covered her eyes with her arm as the window shattered magnificently. She heard a sharp scream from inside and she knew she was in for another reprimand by the Jedi. Her instincts told her to leave before anyone saw her, but a nagging feeling in the back of her mind compelled her to at least make sure the person was alright.

Oh, drok it.

Ezell kicked at the broken window before she climbed inside. She saw a boy sitting on the ground and the crumpled mess of the droid in front of him.

“Uh- are you okay? What happened?” She exclaimed as she feigned innocence.

Jei had his hand over his chest, his heart beat intense against his palm. He raised his hand and pointed shakily. "The uh-h-uhm w-window," he stammered out, "E-Exploded?"

The wounded droid buzzed and fidgeted on the ground, trying to right itself pathetically.

"I-I don't know what h-happened, it uhm.." He moved his head to face the Twi'lek woman. "A-are you okay?" he mumbled, not knowing what else to say. The poor droid then began to smoke.

Ezell bit back her laughter as she approached the boy carefully. She held her hand out for him to take. “Yeah, yeah I’m alright,” she said.

She hefted him to his feet, then cleared her throat. “Droids, am I right? I guess it just got confused,” she lied. She tried not to cringe when it didn't come out quite as skillfully as she wanted.

Ezell looked the boy over. He must have been a little younger than her, if his scrawny frame was any indication. She didn’t think she recognized him, but she hadn’t really paid much attention to anyone here since arriving. He also looked especially startled, if uninjured.

She gave him a weird look, “’You sure you’re alright?”

"Yeah-no, I'm fine. M' heart's just beating so fast it feels like the engine on a speeder bike," he said with a forced laugh.

His face wrinkled at the smoking heap of metal. He'd never been around when a droid had malfunctioned like this, 'confused' as the strange young woman put it. He didn't know why, but he distantly felt that something about her explanation wasn't genuine.

The two were interrupted by a Jedi who rushed down the halls, a Zabrak woman whom Jei had never met. "What is the meaning of this? You two, start at the beginning." She crossed her arms in a very Jedi-like fashion.

Just at that moment, the droid pitifully burst into flames.

The Jedi woman nodded as the two Masters walked off. She looked over the scene, "If this truly is an accident then I'll let you three go, but you," she said in a calm voice to Ahala, "have to be more careful. I've heard that you have a lot of potential, so you must learn to control your strength." She then pointed a finger at the Twi'lek, her voice turning harsh. "And you, Ezell! You need to watch yourself, I don't want you involved in anymore accidents. Now get a move on."

She then turned around sharply and left without even acknowledging Jei, who had been trying to hide away from the altercation.

"That was so scary." Jei huffed out. He then let out a relieved chuckle. "One of those guys felt intense, he was freaky," Jei said, referring to Master Skywalker. He laughed even louder and leaned against the wall connected to the shattered window.

Ezell didn't bother to hide how little she paid attention to anything the Master had said to her. She was used to this, people who thought they were in charge telling her what to do. Security officers or Jedi, they were all the same.

She did pay attention, however, to a young girl and a older man dressed in all black who had appeared all of a sudden. She eyed them curiously until the boy next to her made a comment that broke her out of her thoughts.

Ezell laughed dryly, though she wasn't really thinking about what the boy had said. "Yeah, he was," she said, then marched right up to the other girl.

The girl looked like a Togruta, though her montrals were small for her species. She looked young, even younger than the Miraluka boy. She was probably a padawan.

"What does he mean I'm you're responsibility?" Ezell asked, her tone short. She knew she sounded rude, but she was more confused than anything else.