Learning to Crawl

[James Prent]

Unused to natural spaces, and still slightly agoraphobic, James found herself sticking close to the buildings of the Ossus enclave. She was yet to be assigned a master, and wasn't sure how long the wait list was. Certainly padawans and youngling outnumbered the knights and leaders of the Jedi. She had settled in to learning about the Force in the group classes, and was pleased to find that she wasn't the oldest initiate on Ossus. Many padawans were younger, but they had opened up the Jedi ranks to Force adepts of all ages, and some had taken them up on it.

But today was a free day, and she was trying to meditate in the shadow of the dorm building, her back to a tree and facing the wall.

[Adia Issoris]

Adia had continued her run after the rest of the group had finished, as usual. She found the motion invigorating, and meditative. Most stopped at the half hour mark, but that was where Adia hit her stride, even though she sprinted a few times between the slow group and the fast group. It was one of the pieces of military training she held fast to. After the last straggler finished, Adia was left to set her own pace. Her footfalls were light, uniform and rapid. Small differences in her foot structure made running easier and finding shoes harder. She was dressed for the run, with form fitting bottoms and a top that restricted unwanted movement. But she also carried her holsters for a blaster and a lightsaber, along with a belt lined with pouches. She had been taught to train with the equipment she would carry in the field, and that continued to make sense.

She was nearing the end of her route, which doubled as a grounds check. She rounded the dorm, and came to a skidding halt. She took a deep breath.

"James, hi!" Adia said, surprised, since she didn't expected James to show up after their awkward conversation on Dac.

[James Prent]

She opened her eyes, surprised to hear her name, and stared at the redheaded woman. "Oh! Hi!" James got to her feet, brushing grass off of the seat of her pants. "Wow, didn't expect to see you" ever again "...here," she finished lamely.

"Adia, right?" She smiled, relieved to see a somewhat familiar and definitely friendly face, even if she'd only met the woman once over lunch.

[Adia Issoris]

"Right. You've got a good memory. That's a useful thing around here." She said with a warm smile. Adia wiped her brow from the light sweat.

"How do you like Ossus so far?" She asked, and took a deep breath.

[James Prent]

"It's... very nature-y," said James, lamely. "I'm more at home in the city, t' be honest."

[Adia Issoris]

"We don't have Nar Shadda's population density, unless you're counting trees in the equatorial jungles. Besides, I understand you're fairly well traveled, and we're free to come and go as we choose. I've been told it's less restrictive than the Republic Order." Adia explained in an attempt to provide both context and hope.

[James Prent]

"That's good to know," said James, suddenly realizing that by coming here she might have accidentally agreed to stay forever. "I'm really jus' ...looking for answers. I don't know if I want t' be a Jedi - no offense," she added quickly.

"The classes have been pretty helpful," she said, leaning against the tree. "I'm already gettin' insights into what I can do, or might be able t' do later."