Training Wing

No sooner than after Jair finished speaking with the Grandmaster did he hear a ‘woosh’ followed by a clatter behind him. He turned around to find Mark running after his lightsaber hilt. Judging by how fast it was rolling on the floor, the kid must’ve made it move pretty quick.

“Looks like you almost got it.”

“So you can call your lightsaber to you when you are calm... and focused through the Force. But when you are sparring, you have a hard time calling it to you...”

Jair mused out loud as he started working on the support ticket to send out for the broken droid.

“I’ve had that problem before too. Almost everyone struggles with that at first. I wonder why?”

“Well yes. But that alone won’t solve your dilemma, will it? If you are in a serious duel, you can’t just sit down and start meditating whenever you need to, can you?”

Jair chuckled slightly.

“Don’t be too hard on yourself. I’ve seen you practice. You have a talent for lightsaber combat.”

Jair turned around to face Mark before replying.

“Yes, for sure. But that also makes it easy for us to rely too much on our skills, and not enough on the Force. Next time you practice, take it slower than usual. Always bear in mind your connection to the Force. If you stay focused on your connection when you spar, you will not find yourself taken off guard when you find yourself needing to use the Force. Or rather, you will find yourself using the Force even in your movements with the lightsaber. At all times.”

He turned back around to finish putting in the report for the support ticket.

“Almost done with this thing.”

Jair found himself humming a tune as he finished up his report. He though nothing of it. It got stuck in his head a lot. It would actually make for an oddly good lullaby if he didn’t think so himself. No matter, he continued to finish the report.

“What? What are you- oh I’m sorry I must have been humming to myself again. Didn’t really notice it even. Didn’t mean to distract you from your practice. It’s just a little tune that gets stuck in my head sometimes. Thought I had made it up cause I never heard it anywhere. Why do you-“

Jair turned around to find the boy staring at him wide eyed and slightly pale, filled with shock and wonder. He certainly wasn’t expecting such a curious reaction from the boy.

“... ask ...? Are you ok, Mark?”

Jairs jaw dropped slowly...

“Your... mother sang...”

The notes of the melody now echoed loudly in Jairs mind. Visions
of that strange dark place flashed before him once more followed instantly by a vision of a crimson haired woman cradling a baby. She was singing the same song... and there was another woman with her. But neither of them were the boys mother. The song grew louder and louder until his vision faded and he found himself flat on his back on the training room floor.

“Ugh, do we have to do this again?” complained Viv in tired exasperation, resting her hands behind her head.

Walking side by side with her was her Master, Kalli Caelum Starflight, otherwise known simply as Master Starflight by the rest of the Temple. The older woman offered a hint of a giggle as a slight smile brightened her features.

“Of course we do,” Kalli encouraged. “You won the last spar, so by our rules, the loser gets to choose the next spar.”

“Yeah, but that was just yesterday... Give a girl a break…”

Despite Viv’s complaints, Kalli’s heart was set on another duel today, and what brought the two into the Training Wing. Running into a hurried Master Crawford, though, Kalli offered her quick apologies to the man as he hastened out the door. Something seemed… off about him. More than usual, at least. That much both of the women could see. Viv easily enough shrugged it off. The man was odd to her anyway. Kalli, however, kept a close eye on her surroundings. Upon seeing the boy who still stood within the Wing, the older woman lifted up a hand to halt their progression into the area.

“Tell you what,” Kalli murmured, turning her body towards Viv but her eyes still keen upon at the boy. “We’ll have our rematch tomorrow. Why don’t you go to the library and brush up on your studies there?”

Viv narrowed her eyes skeptically at her Master, turning her attention rather conspicuously towards the boy, back to her Master, back to the boy, and back to her Master again. With a defeated shrug of her shoulders, though, she simply agreed and turned to head out. She would’ve rather dueled than go to the library, but she wasn’t about to admit it after all of her earlier complaints.

Once the room was clear, Kalli smiled warmly towards Mark as she approached him.

“Is everything alright, young Padawan? You look as though something puzzles you.”

Young Padawan. Kalli was familiar with this one. Mark Shadows Sorrows. An interesting child who studied at the Jedi Temple. She had kept her eye on him for some time, although keeping her distance for several reasons. However, today, the Force seemed to grant her an opportunity to change that. Although she was wary, again for her own personal reasons, none of it showed in her otherwise welcoming and gentle expression.

Kalli tilted her head in a small display of curiosity as she listened to Mark’s explanation. In an ideal situation, she would request that they continue this sort of conversation in a place more… peaceful, such as the meditation gardens. A place dedicated to ease the mind and release the more troubling emotions that could enter a young padawan’s head with such a strange occurrence as a Master passing out before him. Perhaps she should have instructed Viv to go check on Master Crawford instead of resuming her studies… or perhaps she would seek him out later.

“Mom’s song?” Kalli reiterated as a concerned question. “Could it just be possible that he knew your mother?”

And thus her delicate work began, the whole reason she had watched the boy from afar up until now. His mother. His history, otherwise known or not to him, which she had yet to make sense of. Still, Mark's explanation couldn't justify why he had passed out, though. Just from a song? As concerned for Jair’s health as she was regarding any and all of the Master’s of the Temple, it was a blessing that he didn’t appear to be in any sort of critical condition.

“At least it wasn’t something as severe as a training accident,” Kalli chuckled in quiet amusement. “Passing out in the training wing typically is from something a bit more serious. If it will help ease your mind, I'll personally check on Master Crawford momentarily... but first, I wanted to check in with you and see how you've been progressing. My name is Master Starflight, and it's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance, Mark.”

She uttered his name after a brief pause, knowing that they hadn't been formally introduced up until this point. Nonetheless, she introduced herself with poise and confidence, and of course a gentle smile in hopes to not alarm the boy.

Kalli watched and listened to the boy as he continued on about his concern for Master Crawford and the events that led up to his passing out in the Training Wing moments ago. Her gentle smile quickly faded away as a concern now appeared to shimmer in her eyes. No longer pressing Mark for information about his advancement, Kalli knew that the only thing she could do now was quietly listen and attempt to offer what little advice she could. It was a mystery how Master Crawford could make up a song that meant so much to Mark. However, she now deemed it was the appropriate time to guide the two from the Training Wing and continue this conversation in a more peaceful environment. Perhaps, then, the Force might reveal its workings in the matter, to which Kalli could only assume was the case.

“The Force works in mysterious ways. Perhaps we should wander the meditation gardens for a moment. Sometimes, if you open up your mind and listen, It will grant you something of an answer you didn’t have before.”

Tapping her nose knowingly, Kalli allowed her smile to play at her lips again, especially with the boy's sudden rush of an introduction, as she urged the boy to follow her. He was young, and still had much to learn, but there came a point where she couldn't blame him. Viv had her own traits that many frowned upon, but there was a time and a place for everything. Something that Viv had quickly learned, and something she was sure Mark would learn as well in due time.

She knew she couldn’t force him to heed her advice to come with her to the meditation gardens, and thus she would remain behind if he so wished to remain here in the Training Wing. Still, she hoped her encouragement would be enough, especially with the possibility of finding some sense of answers. Her true goal, however, was to help the boy find peace in this rather sudden turn of events, opening up a realm of the unknown to him. She could still see the boy’s concern and hundreds of questions for Master Crawford glimmer in his curious eyes, though, and thus she added with an encouraging nudge of her hand behind the boy's back.

“And afterward, we can check upon Master Crawford together, if you’d like... but I think we should give him just a little bit of time to gather himself from such a fall.”