Good Jedi Bad Jedi: Below the Temple

Ch. 4 - Wait Outside

'Wait outside,' Calia's new master ordered abruptly.

'Outside?' She looked around the dingy, dirty alley, pulling her robes tighter to her chest. In just a few hours on the underlevels she felt dirtier than she had ever felt in a lifetime up in the Jedi Temple. ;By myself?' she asked, glancing to the large Merguntan bouncer, with his hunched stance, large body (even for his species), blue scaly skin, and the fish like eyes set on either side of his wide head. She looked back to her Master, pleading, but despite being human, she saw eyes that may have been just as alien as the bouncer's; the bandages he kept wrapped around his ruined eyes just barely visible under the shadows of his drawn hood.

'You'll be safe with Mel. Besides, you need to learn to start take care of yourself.' He turned towards the door of the old decaying building, The Sarlaac Pit, read the holo-sign hovering just over head. He nodded to the Merguntan, Mel he had called him, and reached for the door control, then paused. He tilted his head just the slightest amount, he had yet to look in her direction as he spoke to her, and warned, 'No matter what you hear, not matter what you think. Stay. Right. Here.' Accentuating each word of his warning with a harsh gravity that sent shivers crawling up her spine. Without another thought towards her, he tapped the controls, a flood of smoke and other rank smells rushed out to curl Calia's nose, before he disappeared into the dank light.

Her master had parked the speeder along a quiet street and began leading her through what felt like a maze of streets, her feet aching and constantly short of breath as she struggled to keep with his determined gait. He'd stop at some seemingly random location, talk to some being, or maybe just leave again without saying or doing anything. She had no idea what he was doing or where they were going, and the not knowing only further set he nerves on edge. Now he had abandoned her in a strange place.

Now left alone, for what felt like the first time ever, Calia pressed herself against the wall far away from the strange alien, trying to pull her robe even tighter to warm herself against the chilly evening air. The temperature control on Coruscant's surface were precise and varied, comfortably cool in the evenings and warm during the day, but down here the climate seemed to vary from street to street, one alley sweltering hot, and the next so cold she could see her breath. Outside this bar, or club, or whatever it was; confused, scared, and filthy she wondered if today had just been a bad dream. She fell back on to her haunches, overcome with worry and fear but still too disgusted by filth to let herself collapse completely.

Remember, you are a Jedi.

There is no emotion there is peace

There is no ignorance, there is knowledge

There is no passion there is-

She tried to empty herself, to let the Force flow through her like she had her for as long as she could remember, to remind herself that she only lived as the Force willed it, but she couldn't. The fear and isolation she felt in this cold dark place, so far from the only home she had ever known, the anger and frustration towards her cold distant "master," and the hate. Hate towards the Jedi for playing such a cruel joke on her; a lifetime being told to pursue her passion, then pulling her dreams from under her. This whirlpool of emotions, swirling and spinning around her, more powerful than anything she could remember ever feeling, threatened to overwhelm her.

How could this be happening?

How could this be happening?

Calia alone, outside where her master had left her, kept asking herself the same question over and over again.

How could this be happening?!

How could-

'Hello.' Spoke a gruff, guttural voice in Basic accented with a thick alien pronunciation. She looked up and saw the Merguntan with his wide head slightly turned towards her. 'The Jedi typically doesn't have any company along?' Calia could feel heat around her eyes, and reached up to wipe tears away with the sleeve of her robe. Whether he was curious or just trying to be kind she wasn't sure, but she felt embarrassed to be seen in that state her on first day as a Padawan.