Chapter 3
Rhys had been at the Temple for two weeks when her master had introduced her to her new Initiate clan. The children of this clan were about three years her senior, but Master Yoda was confident that they would challenge and teach her in ways that those her age could not. And so it was that Rhys found herself alone in a group of older children, a padawan among Initiates.
She fingered her padawan braid nervously – after nearly two weeks with the braid hanging by her right ear Rhys still hadn't gotten used to the feeling of the shoulder-length braid brushing her neck. The rest of her long brown hair was neatly twisted into a bun at the nape of her neck. Following her padawan braid ceremony, Master Adi Gallia had shown her one of the best ways to keep her hair out of her face. The Tholossian Jedi Master had been one of the first Council members to openly accept her as Yoda's padawan, and had since shown her many things that the female Jedi did.
Her first lightsaber class had been a disaster. Her quick reflexes and natural agility lent to some skill with the training sabers, but her quick learning had been a bit of a sore spot with some of the older Initiates. They had retaliated with insults and biting comments as soon as the Jedi Master in charge left to tutor another student. Rhys ended up staying in the back of the class and practicing the katas by herself, as no one else wanted to be her sparring partner.
After the class was over and the other Initiates had left, Rhys wandered over to where some of the older Initiates were sparring and practicing for the next Tournament. Combat Tournaments were often used to find masters for Initiates ready to be padawans and to find out who would be sent to the AgriCorps. Rhys looked around in awe at the skill around her, finally settling on a boy with reddish hair practicing a complicated kata alone.
She watched him for a little while, his blue practice saber flashing around him with practiced ease. Rhys was delighted to find that she could determine the form that he was using: Ataru, the fourth lightsaber form that focused on using speed and agility. The boy executed a flawless parry, then flipped away from his imaginary opponent. Rhys clapped as soon as he landed.
He stared at her with an eyebrow cocked. "I didn't realize that I was performing," he said, his accent identifying him as from the Inner Rim.
"You're very good," Rhys said, stepping onto the practice mats, "Are you going to compete in the Tournament in a few days?"
"Yes, you?" He picked up a towel from a rack and began to wipe sweat from his neck.
Rhys shook her head, "No, but I'll be watching with my Master." The boy stopped to look at her much like the other Initiates had, a mix of surprise and disbelief but without the blatant jealousy.
"What's your name?" he asked, studying her face closely. Rhys shrunk away from his scrutiny, shyly bowing her head.
"Rhys Talik," she answered, not meeting his eyes. The boy was quiet for a moment, then made a small sound of approval. Rhys looked at him in confusion.
"You must be Master Yoda's new apprentice, then. Everyone went out of their heads when he left the Temple," he said, extending a hand, "I'm Obi-Wan Kenobi."
Rhys hesitantly took his hand and shook it, "Nice to meet you, Obi-Wan."
"Nice to meet you too," Obi-Wan said, picking up his discarded outer robes and draping them over a small bag, "I'm sorry I can't talk for long, I promised a friend that I would help them with meditation before the Tournament. I guess I'll see you around?" Rhys watched him walk to the doors of the now-empty Training Room.
"Wait!" she called out, causing him to turn around partially and look back at her, "You're not mad at me like everyone else?" Obi-Wan smiled and turned around fully to face the young padawan.
"Why would I be mad at you?" he asked. Rhys shrugged in response. "I think that if Master Yoda decided to take a padawan at such a young age it must be the will of the Force. I may be just an Initiate, but I know that nothing gets in the way of the Force. If it was meant to be, it's meant to be."
Rhys watched him turn and walk through the doors, astonishment etched on her face.
Rhys and her Master usually took their meals in the small room reserved for the Council member's privacy. The day after she had met Obi-Wan Yoda insisted that his apprentice eat in the main cafeteria with the other Initiates.
"Sad and lonely you have become, Padawan," he said, placing both hands sagely on his gimer stick, "Interact with others your own age you must, not just your old Master, hmmm?" Rhys protested to the best of her ability that her Master was not old, but Yoda simply held up a small, clawed hand.
"Old I may be, Padawan," Yoda said matter-of-factly, "Still be among the Living Force when you return, I will. Go on."
Rhys, though unhappy at her Master's command, bowed respectfully and left their shared rooms. She remembered the way to the cafeteria from her tour of the Temple two weeks ago and quickly made her way to the line of Initiates and younglings patiently waiting for food. She eventually received a small tray laden with a nerf patty, a pair of warm pallies, and a carton of blue milk. Once she had gotten her food, Rhys looked around the room in dismay – many Initiates and younglings were already sending hate-laden glares in her direction. She felt her face heat up in embarrassment and looked at the ground.
"Rhys!" The young padawan looked over to the source of the sound, a secluded table by the wall of the cafeteria. Rhys was surprised to see the maker of the noise: Obi-Wan Kenobi, surrounded by several other Initiates around his age. She quickly walked over to Obi-Wan's table, ignoring the stares and looks sent her way.
Obi-Wan greeted her warmly, making room for her between a male Dressellian and a female Mon Calamari. The other two occupants of the table were a pair of humans that couldn't have been more opposite. The girl had long blonde tresses and a guarded look on her face, the boy had short dark hair with long strands on his neck where his padawan braid would eventually be and an amused smirk on his face.
"Rhys, this are my fellow clan-mates Bant, Reeft, Garen, and Siri," Obi-Wan said pointing to the Mon Calamari, Dressellian, and the two humans in turn, "This is Rhys Talik, Master Yoda's new padawan."
To her surprise, none of the Initiates surrounding Rhys gave any thought to the fact that she was an unusually young padawan to the Jedi Grandmaster. Rhys gave a mental sigh of relief as she allowed herself to relax around the five friends.
"I'm a padawan too," Reeft said, showing Rhys the twisted leather and bead braid attached to a headband on account of his lack of hair, "Master Binn Ibes picked me after the last Initiate Tournament. He's on a solo mission right now somewhere in the Outer Rim."
"Yeah, the rest of us are just Initiates, but not for long!" Garen exclaimed, his grin growing wider as his voice got louder.
"Quiet down you big nerfherder!" Siri hissed, pulling the beaming Garen back down, "I'm sure that half the Temple can hear you by now!"
Garen shrugged as he turned back to his food and speared a rather large piece of nerf patty and waved it around in Siri's direction. "Maybe I just need to be louder next time," he teased as Siri batted the food away from her face.
Obi-Wan shook his head with a hand over his face, "Do you both intend to argue about this for the next millennia?"
"Yes…..?"
"YES!"
Rhys tried not to giggle too loudly as the two friends bickered good-naturedly back and forth while Obi-Wan sent her apologetic looks from across the table. Bant, ever the peacekeeper, eventually got them to tell Rhys about the different aspects of Temple life, as she had only been there for a few weeks.
"I don't mean to sound greedy, but may I have your meat?" Reeft asked, gesturing to Rhys' half-eaten nerf patty.
"Still hungry, Reeft?" Garen teased.
"Of course," Reeft said apologetically, "My kind generally eats more than most beings – especially in adolescence."
"Hey, as long as you aren't eating me, I'll be fine," Garen joked, passing an uneaten pallie in Reeft's direction.
Giving Reeft their extra food seemed to be an unspoken ritual among the five friends, each passing some small portion of their meals to the growing Dressellian. He accepted the offerings gratefully, then quickly ate them. Reeft still looked mournfully at his plate once it was empty, but was not quite as sad with the addition of extra food. Once he had finished, the others checked their chronos at almost the exact same time.
"We should probably head to Master Vant's history lesson," Obi-Wan said, standing up from the table. Looking around her, Rhys realized that many of the cafeteria's occupants were beginning to trickle out of the room, heading to their next set of classes or free time.
"What about you, Rhys?" Bant asked as she stood up, "Where are you headed?"
"My Master wanted to meditate again with me," Rhys said sullenly, "He said that it's the foundation of every good Jedi."
"Nah, I'm sure he said it like this," Garen said as he cleared his throat and bent over in imitation of the ancient Jedi Master, "The foundation of every good Jedi, meditation is, young padawan!"
"Said that, I did?"
Rhys tried not to giggle as Garen jumped several feet in the air in his surprise. When he turned around to face Master Yoda his face was almost redder than Obi-Wan's blush of absolute mortification. The six children hurriedly bowed to the Master, noticing his look of amusement as he looked them over.
"Come, Padawan," Yoda finally said, beckoning to Rhys. She hurried to his side, stifling laughter.
"Gee, uh…. Well… you see, Master…. I…. uh…. Sorry, I guess…." Garen stammered out, unable to keep his sheer embarrassment from seeping into his voice.
"Think of it, you should not," Master Yoda said, turning away from the five friends, "Padawan, have a meditation session we do." Rhys tried not to groan as she followed her Master. Rhys turned back once her Master had left the room.
"You were really close to how he said it," she whispered conspiratorially to Garen. His face lost a bit of the blush, if anything Obi-Wan's cheeks grew even redder. Rhys scurried after her Master, trying to hide a growing grin.
Once Rhys had left the room, Garen allowed himself to break out into a lopsided grin.
"You know what, Obi, I think that little girl's gonna fit in fine with us."