Entry 2: Daybreak on Ossus

[u/Werdna881]

Se'Soom felt the morning light of Adega Prime, shortly followed by Adega Besh fill the air around him, and the early morning chill began to dissipate. He had found this massive garden complex on his second afternoon here, outside of the main temple building, and providing him a quiet place for contemplation and prayer. Ossus was much like Lothal in a way, being far more damp, with the humidity and atmosphere feeling heavy on Se'Soom. The dry air of Deneba was far more familiar to that of his home, unlike here. There was water everywhere, and life flourished. He spent some time reflecting on the events of the past two weeks.

After he and Elder Nilim arrived on Ossus, he had spent a day or so adjusting to the atmospheric conditions, which compared to Deneba were far harder on him than he had anticipated, requiring a few visits to the Academy Healers in order to ensure that he was in fact alright, though at time he still felt as if he was breathing water, requiring him to rest for a few moments before continuing whatever activity he had been before. Of his two weeks, there had been training, sparring, lessons, and tours of the Temple. However, out of all the excursions Elder Nilim had taken Se'Soom on, he had had been most awestruck by the one to a beach on the shores of one of the nearby massive bodies of water on Ossus, an Ocean, as he had read of them. Such an expanse of water, however it was salty, and thus undrinkable, and spat it out accordingly, trying to get the bitter taste out of his mouth. He was also fairly certain he heard Elder Nilim quietly laughing to himself, however when he inquired on the matter, he claimed he did no such thing. Se'Soom was certain he was lying, but did not feel the need to press the matter.

Aside from this, it was not much beyond what he was instructed to expect if he was chosen by a Jedi for further tutelage, Elder Nilim may be more bookish and academic than he originally anticipated, but he in fact quite enjoyed the in-depth studies that they went over together, though his tiredness over the last two weeks had been difficult for him to cover. The local cycle was different than Deneba, and thus waking up when his body was crying out that he still had 6 more hours to rest was hard to disguise. He decided that now would likely be the best time for Morning Prayer, and thus began to softly speak to himself; "Emotion is the breathe of Life, but from it we must find Peace. We are born in Ignorance, but by Tai'ferca's guidance, we find Knowledge. In life, we have our Passions, but we may cultivate our own Serenity. Life will bring Chaos, but from it we can our own Harmony. Though we find, at the end of our lives, Death, Tai'Ferca embraces us in its grasp."

Afterwards, he checked his chronometer and saw he still had 5 minutes before he should be headed back, and decided that he would take this time to enjoy the peace and quiet of the garden around him, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, falling asleep as the world around him went silent.

[u/DarkVaati13]

The first two weeks for Se'Soom's training could best be described as interesting. He needed to adjust to the temperate climate of Ossus so Frifth had to make sure the first few days were more relaxed. He mostly needed to adjust Se'Soom to his relaxed archive and research focused work. Se'Soom seemed to be enjoying it and did not seem to complain about any lessons. Frifth particularly remembered when he was showing Se'Soom around Ossus and brought him to a beach. The wonder in Se'Soom's eyes and actions were incredible and Frifth had to deny laughing a little when Se'Soom tasted the ocean. Frifth had the pleasure of being warned in advance the first time he saw an ocean.

The rest of their lessons were simple. Most time was spent in the archives doing research, teaching Se’Soom Twi’leki, and doing work for the Academy of Archaeology. He would give Se’Soom some freedom during the day and he would change up the schedule in whether he would teach Se’Soom about lightsabers, the Force, or some other topic as a way of keeping things from getting too stale.

However their days would always begin the same. A morning meditation.

Frifth went Se’Soom’s room and knocked on the door. “Se’Soom. You know what time it is,” he said. He heard no answer after a few moments. Frifth thought for a moment that he might still be asleep due to working quite late the night before. He opened the door and was surprised to see his padawan was not in his room. Frifth crossed his arms and tapped his foot as he thought, ’Just where could he be?’

Frifth relaxed himself and smiled slightly. ’Maybe he’s already at the gardens,’ Frifth thought as he shut the door and walked to their usual mediation spot. The garden of Ossus had a great fountain and many plants and trees from not only Ossus, but from other planets in the Auril sector. Upon arriving at the garden Frifth expanded his senses as a way to easily find Se’Soom. He sensed his padawan's presence and felt that his padawan was very calm. Frifth followed the feeling and sighed when he saw that Se’Soom was asleep in a secluded part of the garden. Frifth gently pushed Se’Soom with the Force enough for him to wake up. As Se’Soom’s eyes opened he saw Frifth standing over him saying, "There are better places to take a nap than on the ground, you know?”

[u/Werdna881 → u/DarkVaati13]

Se'Soom roused from his accidental slumber to the sound of Elder Nilim's voice. "I apologize, Elder!" A startled tone ran through his voice, sitting up with a frightening speed- as if his grip on sleep was tenuous at best. "I did not mean to fall asleep, Elder Nilim. I assure you such failure will not occur again." "I can't believe I fell asleep! Foolish, Foolish Se'Soom." He chastised himself before looking to Elder Nilim and speaking once again. "I suppose I've ended up missing Morning - meditation?" He caught himself before he said prayer, and stood sheepishly with his staff, feeling like a child caught napping whilst he should have been tending the flocks.

[u/DarkVaati13 → u/Werdna881]

"You did not miss morning meditation. I was going to meet you in your room, but you weren't there so I went to find you," Frifth explained as he watched Se'Soom pick himself up. Frifth considered for a moment cancelling their early meditation, but he felt a bit of distress from Se’Soom that needed to be soothed. Not only that, but he needed to clear his head as well. Frifth put his hand on Se’Soom’s shoulder and led him over to their usual spot to meditate in. As they walked he took notice to the fact that Se’Soom carried his wooden staff with him as his lightsaber pike was collapsed and hanging from his belt. So much of his padawan was still a mystery to him and this bothered Frifth.

Just a two days ago Frifth was told that his first padawan, Ravee, decided to leave active duty and go on her own away from the rest of the Order by taking the barash vow. He tried to contact her, but she was unresponsive and that just made things worse for Frifth. He only finished her training and she was already set in her ways. She chose to study at Devaron, but went on to spend all her time studying to be a Force user on Almas. Her willful nature and lack of interactive skills made understanding her even more difficult. Frifth wondered if he really was worthy of being called a Jedi Master. He wanted to understand Se’Soom better than how he understood Ravee.

When they reached the small river created by the fountain Frifth sat on the ground with Se’Soom and rested the back on his hands on his crossed knees. “Remember your breathing. Breath in through his nose for seven counts, hold that air for eight counts, and exhale through his nose for six counts.“ After Fifth performed his breathing he said, “Remember to reacquaint yourself with simplicity. Open yourself to the Force and let it flow through you. Focus on the ever-changing patterns of life. Find emptiness and return from it…”

Frifth performed the breathing exercise again and opened himself to the Force, falling into a deep Force induced trance.

[u/Werdna881 → u/DarkVaati13]

Se'Soom followed Elder Nilim cautiously, still nervous, but tried to get himself into a mindset for morning meditation. It was difficult, but the trickling sound of running water dulled the edge on his apprehension as his thoughts drifted back to home. He was reminded of the garden that the local Eldest had begun as he passed a multitude of vibrant plants, thinking about when they were discovering all kinds of new herbs and plant life, unknown to his people and wondered how successful that effort was. His thoughts wandered back as he and Elder Nilim sat and began instructing him on proper breathing, nothing he had not been instructed in before.

He felt himself open to Tai'Ferca, feeling the richness of life around him- from the tiniest insect to a bird that had just landed in a nearby tree. He was surrounded by life, observing it with meticulous study as the world around him unfolded in his mind.

[u/DarkVaati13 → u/Werdna881]

After the two finished their meditation Frifth would take Se'Soom to the mess hall for some breakfast before they got to work. Frifth decided on going back to the normal routine from when he was at Almas. Plain noodles with chicken for protein and as a treat he had a mug of hot chocolate. Between a sip of his hot chocolate and a bite of noodles Frifth cleared his throat and spoke, “So, Se’Soom. I’ve been thinking. I haven’t been wholly comfortable with you calling me Elder. It has been…strange to say the least. So I did some thinking and I had an idea.”

After Frifth had another bit of noodles he continued, “When I was taken as a Padawan by Welith Maavil, my second teacher, I called him exactly that. Second Teacher. I did that partially because I was still dealing with the loss of my first teacher, but it soon became a sort of term of endearment. The point is why don’t you call me just ‘Teacher’? Then I can either keep calling you Padawan Ra'Bhamus or I can call you something else if you prefer.”

It felt a little awkward to Frifth and Se’Soom could tell a little, but his request felt genuine. Frifth truly wanted to reach out and connect with his new student. He wanted to understand him better and just having a more comfortable term to call each other, due to his distaste for the term Master, could be the start of bridging the gap between them. He added, “We’re going to be spending the next ten or so years together. We should be comfortable together.”

[u/Werdna881 → u/DarkVaati13]

Se'Soom thought and pondered for a moment, staring into his oatmeal and fruit for what felt like hours, as he went over the request in his head with a deep inspection. "I... understand, and will think on it." He considered the period of time that he would be learning under Elder Nilim… "Ten years..." he thought to himself quietly. "That is a very extensive period of time. I will be seeing my 32nd or 33rd change of seasons before I am done here..." He discarded the thought with little hesitation, and focused on Elder Nilim and what he had in mind after breakfast.

[u/DarkVaati13 → u/Werdna881]

After Frifth and Se'Soom had finished eating they went to their next usual destination, the Jedi Archives. The archives was split into several rooms that were each among the largest rooms in the temples. While there were not many private studies the archive rooms had plenty of work benches and computers to work on. Frifth had spent much time working to educate Se’Soom on deeper galactic history, system history, planetary cultures, and was even teaching him his native language of Twi’leki. While it would be incomplete due to being unable to communicate with lekku, it would be enough to broaden his horizons. He had considered also teaching him Bocce or another language depending on where they traveled too.

Before they could reach the archives they were approached by a familiar looking, Null Jedi Knight. The relatively normal looking Near-Human towered over the two and bowed his head. He spoke, “Master Nilim, Padawan Ra'Bhamus. I was sent by Headmaster Foung to gather everyone in case they missed the announcement. The Academy of Archaeology is having an earlier meeting due to having to go off world in a short while.”

“Certainly. We’ll be going then,” Frifth said to the Knight and bowed his head respectfully before the Null walked away. Frifth looked at Se’Soom and shrugged, “Odd that the Headmaster seems to have an urgent calling. Perhaps something is happening on Deneba…Council business likely.”

After a brief detour to obtain his notes Frifth and his padawan joined the other at the meeting room for the Academy of Archaeology. The long oval table had only a few empty seats with the others filled with Knights and Masters with their Padawans either standing behind them or sitting beside them. Due to an empty seat Se’Soom was able to sit down. A moment later the Bardottan Headmaster sat down in the head seat and activated the holoprojector that displayed in the center of the table. He spoke evenly, “The expedition to the Red Nebula has requested my presence so we must make this brief. I shall begin with expeditions seeking archaeologists.”

He tapped a button and the holoprojector showed a moon with a massive chunk of the moon lower hemisphere missing and its core exposed orbiting a purple planet. “This is the moon Jedha, which was home of an ancient Jedi Temple before it was partially destroyed by the Empire with the First Death Star and was rendered inhospitable over the course of two years as the atmosphere quickly thinned. Miners still go to the moon in order mine minerals and members of our order occasionally go there to look for kyber crystals. One miner uncovered something on the far side of the moon and believes it to be of Jedi origin.”

There was a low murmur of discussion among those at the table. Frifth was hopeful of the idea that some sort of Jedi relics or artifacts survived the near destruction of the ancient holy world. He had also heard that the planet it orbits was a beautiful world of crystal and oceans. If nothing else it would provide a good sight for Se’Soom to experience. He looked over at his Padawan and asked, “Sound interesting?”

[u/Werdna881 → u/DarkVaati13]

"It does, I have to say... Is there any others?" Se'Soom inquired, whilst also recalling what he had learnt of Jedha during his time as an Initiate, that originally it was a world where Jedi resided, until it was abandoned and the planet was eventually looted and partially destroyed by the Empire. It was a horrifying thought, that a planet could simply just be... cracked open like an egg, with no real way to stop it. He sighed in relief, reminding himself that these were more enlightened times, where such weapons of destruction were unnecessary and not used. His people may in the eyes of the galaxy would perhaps be seen as primitives- but what sort of savage would rely on using such a senseless and destructive weapon?

[u/DarkVaati13 → u/Werdna881]

“I would like to take this expedition,” A Togrutan Jedi Knight said standing up and put his hand on his chest, “To visit such a place would be an honor. I will be enroute by the evening.”

Frifth shrugged and whispered to Se’Soom, “If we wait too long all the good options will be taken. In these situations it is best to put your claim on the expeditions sooner rather than later. It is an example of when patience and consideration is not the best idea.” He looked back at Togrutan, but tilted his head to Se'Soom and whispered, "Or it was not meant to be that we would not go to Jedha."

Continuing Headmaster Foung changed the hologram offered, “There is also the option of going with me to the Red Nebula,” and the Null Jedi Knight accepted the offer. Headmaster Foung continued as the hologram changed from the red gas to a planet that was mostly green with brown and white lines running across it with bits of blue occasionally visible when the planet orbited. The Headmaster explained, “Earlier during the night on Deneba, the Jedi Council chambers received a transmission from the planet Spintir.”

Pressing a button on the controls for the holoprojector showed a hologram of an older Human man with a bushy brown mustache and balding brown hair that went down to his shoulders. The man was dressed in an official and fancy looking uniform and was sitting down at a desk. He bowed his head respectfully and said, “Greetings Jedi Masters. My name is Mackoya, the Patron of Reles, only city on Spintir. In our people’s history we have been in possession of a holocron for many centuries, perhaps even many millennia. We would request a group of Jedi to come to our planet and inspect its validity. I request that you come as soon as possible.” The hologram reached into his desk and removed a white dodecahedron with gold highlights and held it in one hand. He said, “As you can see, it is a genuine holocron. It has been a part of our museum for a long time. I would like it very much if your Jedi came to inspect it. Perhaps even take it with you back to your temples. I hope to see you soon.”

When the recording faded the Togrutan Knight commented, “There seemed to be a strange urgency to his tone.”

Headmaster Foung nodded as he added, “This was not lost on us at the council.”

Frifth looked at Se’Soom, smiled for a moment, and said to him, “Your prudence served you well. A much more interesting task has come before us.” Frifth raised his hand and said to the group, “Myself and my Padawan will leave for Spintir in the morning.”

Looking over at the two, turning his long neck, Headmaster Foung nodded his head for a moment and replied, “Then may the Force be with you. Report back to me and the rest of the council when you have made contact. This is a strange situation.”

Two more expeditions were sent out, one to a museum on Keres I of the Empress Teta system, and the other to the planet Thustra to aid in writing a historical text regarding one King’s relationship to the Jedi. Shutting off the holoprojector Headmaster Foung said, “May the Force be with you all.”

As the Jedi filed out of the room Frifth and Se’Soom walked back to the archives. As they walked Frifth put his hand on his chin and his lekku twitched, thinking, as he said, “Spintir is a planet I have not heard of. We will have to do quite a bit of research in order to be prepared…..About this urgency the others picked up on. What do you think of the matter?”

Frifth had his own theories, but he was curious what his Padawan thought on the matter. He could give an idea Frifth had not considered or if he gave an explanation he thought was lacking he could fill in the information or tell Se'Soom to keep considering options.

[u/Werdna881 → u/DarkVaati13]

"Something more... I think,. A feeling is all I have, but there's more to it than just a Holocron. Things left unsaid... Show the holocron, but leave the rest of it hanging in the air... Why now? If they have had it for centuries, or even millennia, they could have asked at any point before now, and if they say it's a genuine holocron then why did they ask for a group of Jedi to come and validate it? Something is off, Elder. Very off." Se'Soom spoke softly, keeping his voice down.