The Gardens

She had no idea how she knew where to go. The place was utterly foreign to her, and even as she felt herself being...guided somehow, she wondered if this was the potential they talked about. She had heard about Jedi...and about Sith. But mostly what the people of Nar Shaddaa knew. Or told her. The Jedi eat children, and the Sith punish them, then feed them to the Jedi. It seemed scary and worked to make her wary of people in a certain attire described to her. But as she grew older, she began to wonder about the verity of the stories. She had a broken lightsaber hilt in her possession, something she held tightly to even as a toddler, when she found it amongst the scraps and junk on Raxus Prime. And someone told her it was the tool of Jedi.

If they ate children, was a lightsaber used to cook them?

She was in a base supposedly full of Jedi. A part of her childhood fears remained, but she was more interested in making enough to survive on, and if the Jedi paid, she'd...do her best to ignore any eating of children she might witness. There were youngsters around that she could see, but they looked like mini Jedi. Maybe they only eat non-Jedi children? But what about this? How was she able to know where her new friend was? It was a...feeling. Something deep down in her gut. She just knew where to go, even if she didn't recognize anything. There were a lot of mushrooms and strange plants here. Everything seemed big. And she was certain she saw a massive creature earlier as they passed over the forest. A massive, unfriendly looking creature. How did they keep that thing out of the base?

She soon saw the blind woman, and her friend. "Amy," said Red, and she held out the bag to her. She visibly shied away from the blind woman, walking in a half-circle to get to the Nautolan without falling in reach of the allegedly blind woman.

How old was the age limit before she'd be considered not a child to be eaten? Perhaps being as small sized as she was made her look younger. That could be problematic.

What did she say??? It took a while to process, and it was already too late, since she was now in the grasp of her "friend", a predator, just like the blind woman. Was she being nice to soften her up? So that when she struck, the short girl wouldn't see it coming? The panic began to set in, showing a little in the slight widening of her eyes. Why was she bowing? What was in the bag? The heads of children? She was being presented to the master Jedi, probably the head cook. Potential...potential dinner? That had to be it. She smiled...or grimaced, brushing strands of hair back, and studying the gardens, seeking an escape path with her eyes.

Oh poodoo, poodoo, poodoo! she thought in quiet panic, she's a child-eater too!

"Hello." was all she managed to choke out before her throat became too dry to speak or scream.

She stiffened when she saw the way Giselle turned her head, like she could actually see. She probably could, Red realized in pessimistic resignation. These Jedi and their magical mumbo-jumbo probably held grains of truth, besides the child-eating. Though nothing was visible to her naked eye, Red had the distinct impression she was being sized up by the blindfolded woman. It was an impression more than anything physically felt. An awareness, or a knowing, and the closest it came to a physical sensation for her was the prickling of her skin, and the urge to shiver, but she kept her stance steadfast and sure.

After that came something else, like a warm blanket over her in a cold night. A loving hand over her when she was frightened by the night and the horrors hidden just out of sight, at the edges of her peripherals. Soothing, comforting. As her eyes fluttered and she re-established the cool calmness that earned her the name of Serenity, she trusted in the words spoken by the woman, and as she allowed herself to be guided towards a bench, she found herself looking at Master Giselle with something other than fear or suspicion.

Hope.

"Yes," said Red, to the question of whether she felt better. It had to have been something the woman did, but she decided not to fight it, "My full name is Serenity Sage, or just Red. I came from Raxus Prime, then Nar Shaddaa. I lived there a few years. Then I travelled to other planets, trying to reach the Core Worlds."

It was the most she had ever said in one go. Perhaps an effect of the Jedi. She seldom said much or felt the need to say much.

Red leaned ever so slightly to one side, away from Amy, but she turned her head to her friend and gave a weak smile. The young alien girl wasn't normally prone to outbursts of excitement or emotion like that. She often internalized everything. Which was why it was a bit of a surprise to her when Giselle had seemingly read her mind. But Amy externalized, from what she could tell, and while she didn't wish to curb her friend's excitement, she had no idea how to deal with it when the emotions was aimed at her. Still the allure of a family that helped each other sounded like a dream come true. She'd lived most of her life looking out for herself, it was almost a foreign concept to her to have a family. But she welcomed it, very much.

She could venture a guess from Giselle's expression that she too was pleased by her choice, and after she had answered Amy's question about a certain Master Kenobi, she was told that she would need to be tested. In what, exactly, she still didn't quite know. And was soon introduced to a most unique being ever.

There was no words beyond two or three that she could think of, namely downright adorable, cute and dangerous. The latter she just felt from his presence. She stifled the urge to reach out and hug him, because she wasn't sure if that would offend the teddy-bear-like being. But she stood up, and unsure of the proper procedure or gesture to a Jedi master, she simply clasped her hands over each other in front of her, and bowed her head lightly, "I am pleased to meet you, Jedi Master Rawkill."

That ought to be polite enough. She would learn the etiquette later.

Kent had recovered from her embarrassment of almost running over a high ranking master. She was surprised that he was asking her to do more than report the event and point in the direction. She was a no one here, she didn't even have a training lightsaber to carry. I can point out where the ship landed, but I do not think I would be much use out there. Most any other padawan would be of more help out there.