Control The Uncontrollable // The Acolyte

39. Vernestra

"Thank you for agreeing talking to us Vernestra," You said, walking after her.

"Can't reject speaking to a newly appiotned Master, can I?" Vernestra opened the doors with the force to her control room.

Her words were bittersweet. Though her question was meant ironic, you sensed a certain wishful thinking behind it. She did not desire to speak to you, but she knew better than not to. Vernestra had changed towards you, and you needed to know why. Was it because of Tasi, whatever words she might had fed her or just because she didn't support Gios decision of making you Master. It was not going to be a pleasant conversation, but it needed to be held. You pressed up a smile on your lips.

"Busy days at the temple, huh?" You asked, trying to lighten the mood.

You shouldn't, her eyes were cold.

"Not everyone has time to run around acting detectives," She remarked.

You needed to focus your mind to not attack her right there and then. That, was the bitterness you had been getting from her. You held your hands together, the Jedi robe covering your body. It was new, your whole uniform was. White as the moon, with red embroideries going through. You had a special headpiece made, which was attached to your turtle neck. Which luckly you hadn't needed to use yet. The headpiece was only for combat. You looked over your shoulder up to Elzar. It was best he asked the questions for a while.

"You know why we are here, we are tasked by the council to find the Master of a padawan with the name of Qimir," Elzar explained.

He was being way too polite in your opinion.

"You can check the records, I had a padawan with the name of Imri Cantaros," Vernestra answered like a robot.

You always admired Vernestra's unique ability to be so... emotionless. She was purely pragmatic and tactical. Still, she had a heart, and you could feel it in everything Vernestra did. In so many ways, Vernestra was the perfect Jedi. It was a reason why the two of you always competed growing up. Vernestra however, had the benefit of being conventional in her way of connecting with the force, while you became the weirdo. When the two of you were revealed to have the same color on your kyber crystal, it surprised your whole class. You looked at the ground.

"Newly became knigted, didn't he?" Elzar asked with a smile.

Vernestra nodded. You looked up at her.

"He got knighted late?" You asked.

You had vague memory of Imre, only do to the fact that he became her padawan at the same time as you had been given your padawan Bell. Every now and then the two of you would bump into each other, but for the last few years you rarely saw her or them, since you were normally just jumping from mission to mission. Vernestra famously didn't like flying, and was stationed here. No wonder why a padawan might grow slower in an environment like this, with so little change around.

Imre had been sent to help on a mission, and you remembered him struggling with his emotions. He had a lot of fear in him, and when you tried to help him, he was hesitant. Imre had the same reaction when Bell tried to support him. The fear in him seemed so out of touch with the environment he was in, like it almost was built in him instead.

"He was later," She was short on words.

"While you were the youngest to become knighted in the order," You pointed out.

"We, we were the youngest to be knighted in the order," she corrected your sentence.

Touché. You smiled.

"Imre, he struggled with his emotions," You stated, tilted your head.

Though Vernestra rarely displayed her emotions, you could sense a growing annoyance on the inside. Was it perhaps rude of you to discuss her former padawan without him here? Yes, but in all fairness, she was the one putting up ice fronts and you did not ask the questions without a purpose behind them. Elzar was even drilling inside your head with his eyes. You lifted your chin.

"You did not have a padawan before Imre?" You asked.

You knew she would reference the records, still you wanted to ask the question. A part of you just wanted to hear her say it. It was a slim chance she could've had a padawan before, not likely as it would've only been for a very short time period and her herself would've been very young, but still.

"Does the records say I do?" She asked you.

"No, it does not," You pushed forward a smile.

No surprises there. Elzar kept the conversation going for a short time, before he thanked for the both of you. The list of people you were working through were extensive, and though you felt a little push in a certain person direction, you wanted to be thorough and make sure you did everything by the book. A small nod was shared, and you began to walk towards the exit together with Elzar.

"Master Y/n?" You suddenly heard her say.

You turned around.

"You newly got a new lightsaber," She stated.

"I did," You confirmed.

"May I ask what color you got this time?" she asked.

You laughed low, she was not going to be happy.

"Same color as before Master Rhow," You said.

She nodded. You could see her mind thinking. Not only could you see it, but you could almost hear it. Her eyes went back to you, and she asked to have another word with you alone, without Elzar. You told Elzar to wait for you outside. This time you chose to stand still, not moving closer to Vernestra, but simply standing by the door, waiting for her to speak.

"You still think what they say about our lightsaber color?" She asked.

"What do they say?" You asked back, knowing very well what she meant by the question. You just wanted her to say it loud.

"That it is due to our ability to wield and manipulate the darkside of the force?" She straighten up.

You smiled weakly.

"Do you manipulate the darkside of the force, Master Rhow?" You asked back.

She shook her head.

"Then how can their words be true?" You asked.

If she truly never dwelled into the darkside, Master Rhow had no reason to believe the rumors of your colors to be true. The thing was that she, unlike you cared a lot more what people said within the order. At times, it almost appeared distracting to you how much she seemed to care.

"Do you?" She asked.

Now, that was a question worth asking. A smirk grew on your lips.

"Do you think I do?" You asked. Today you didn't feel like letting her off the hook. You wanted to hear her dig herself out of the grave. Vernestra lifted her shoulders.

"Tasi seem to think you do," She said.

Ah, there it was. Your number one problem. You tried to read Vernestra as she said her name, to get a sense of what she knew, but she was closed off. You let your hands fall down.

"Then I might," You whispered, lifting your eyebrows, before you turned around.