Tabrett was still gone when Aria woke up. Her head swimming from a barely remembered dream, she sat up, her surroundings confusing her for a moment until the events of the past day came back to her all at once. Sitting up, she swung her legs over the end of the bed, letting them dangle momentarily before hopping down and wandering back to the door of Tabrett's chamber. Poking her head out, she remembered Tabrett's admonition to be careful around the other Jedi. She wandered out anyway, her curiosity about the temple overriding her apprehension. The ornate decorations and quiet hallway would beckon any inquisitive spirit, and Aria was no exception.

The hallways were empty and winding, and although Aria only faintly remembered the layout of the temple, she eventually found herself back at the two main ramps that wound their way gracefully up to the second level. Looking back between the temple's entrance and the upper level, she decided that the second level of the temple was probably a safer choice than the forest that waited beyond the temple grounds. Making her way slowly up to the upper level, Aria ran her hand gingerly along the golden handrail, marveling at the craftsmanship that had to have gone into the creation of the reddish-orange ceiling and walls. She also wondered at the empty nature of the building, which had been teeming with Jedi and their padawans when she had arrived earlier with Kyrin. Pausing outside the doors of the Council chambers, she heard murmuring inside and pressed her ear against the space between the large doors, wondering if Tabrett was inside again with the Council.

"You do realize how much trouble you'll be in if they catch you eavesdropping, right?" remarked a voice behind Aria. Whirling, she finally noticed Kyrin leaning against one of the columns along the balcony railing, watching her carefully. Her sauntered over to her, hand resting comfortably on the hilt of the training blade clipped to his belt. She backed away from the door, plastering what she hoped was an innocent look on her face. Kyrin smirked. "Do you go around looking for trouble, or does it just seem to find you?" he asked, hands on his hips. Mimicking Kyrin's position, Aria pouted and glared up at him. "You really ought to be nicer to me. You're supposed to be training to be a Jedi—I was under the assumption that your stupid code said something about being nice to others." Kyrin's eyebrows shot up into his hairline, and Aria gasped and covered her mouth, realizing belatedly that insulting a padawan learner was probably on the list of things that Tabrett had warned her against.

Furrowing his eyebrows, Kyrin continued. "What are you doing here, anyway? It's not like they can train you—you don't have any sort of Force abilities. What does Tabrett hope to accomplish by keeping her pet here for company?" Aria bristled at Kyrin's blatant disrespect of the Jedi master. Stepping up to Kyrin and raising herself up to her full four feet, six inches, she threw caution to the wind and gave Kyrin a shove. He was still roughly a foot taller than her, though, and her push did little to put him off balance. She still did her best to get up in his face and berate him, however:

"I don't know who the heck you think you are, Kyrin, but listen! That's Master Banereaver to you, first off. Second, I got every right to be here—the Council agreed to let me stay. Third, you best be shutting your mouth before I do it for you. I don't care if you're a padawan or not—you got no right to be mean to me!" Standing on the tips of her toes, Aria stared intently at the older child, hoping that there weren't any Jedi around to witness their encounter. Kyrin stared at her just as intently, as though he were trying to assess just how much of a threat the girl posed. His gaze broke first, and he backed away slightly. Aria kept her gaze fixed on him, however, her expression a mix of impertinence and offense. Kyrin inclined his head slightly, apparently yielding.

Aria sunk back down to rest on her heels, hands on her hips. "You don't know me," she said simply, "I don't know what I could have possibly done to make you be so rude, but you best knock it off. Master Banereaver says I have to behave around others, but that doesn't mean I gotta take any grief from you." She chewed on her bottom lip, wondering if she should continue, when Kyrin burst out laughing.

"You're cheeky, I'll give you that!" he guffawed, shaking his head. "If nothing else, you'll make the temple a bit more interesting. Jedi can be so dull sometimes." He stuck out his hand. "I am sorry for calling you Master Banereaver's pet earlier. To be honest, I still don't know why the Council has decided to let you stay here, but that was rude, and I apologize—truce?" Aria eyed Kyrin's hand warily before gingerly shaking it. "I'm not little," she insisted, "you're just older, that's all. My name's Arianthe, but most people call me Aria." She attempted a small smile, but her annoyance at Kyrin's attitude prevented it. She settled on a slightly less aggravated expression instead, her arms folding over her chest. Kyrin eyed her with a certain amount of amusement. "I'm only fourteen," he announced rather smugly, "you don't look that much younger".

"I'm nine years old, Kyrin." Aria quipped. Kyrin's eyebrows rose fractionally before he shook his head. "Where are your parents, if you don't mind me asking?" he queried, "You seem kind of young to be travelling by yourself." At this, Aria's face fell and Kyrin immediately backtracked. "I'm sorry," he said, his expression genuinely apologetic. "I didn't realize… This truce isn't getting off to a very good start, is it?" Aria raised an eyebrow at Kyrin. She looked him up and down and sighed. "It would be going better if you could help me find Master Banereaver—she left before I fell asleep and I don't know where she went—" before she could finish, Kyrin had turned her around and given her a light shove in the direction she had came.

"Come on, then. You should be getting back anyways. Not everyone is going to be as nice to you as me—probably best keep you away from everyone until the Council officially announces your presence here."

"But—"

"The rest of the Jedi will be out of their meeting with the Council soon, and I'll have to leave. Do you want me to help you, or not?"

Aria sighed again. "Yes. Fine. Where to?"

Kyrin smiled at her once before looping his arm around her shoulder. "Just follow me, my young friend…"


Tabrett watched their actions from afar, tensing as Kyrin placed his arm around Arianthe's shoulder. Kezrin's voice superimposed itself over the vision: What do you think? Is he as dangerous as Master Quilb seems to think? Tabrett frowned. "I don't know," she thought, "I am more concerned with his relationship with the child. She's vulnerable—I don't want to see her get hurt by attaching herself to someone that will be forced to give her up". She sighed and started to shake away the remnants of her vision, unfolding her legs and rising from the forest floor. A jibe, Tabrett? Are we still holding a grudge? Kezrin quipped, his amusement evident.

"If I had eyes, I would be rolling them at you right now," the Jedi called out to the empty forest that surrounded her.

AN: And here we've reached the end of Wandering Child! I will still be continuing with a few oneshots about Arianthe's time on Tython before moving on to Tabrett's backstory, so stick around! Also, apologies for the late chapter- I'm on spring break and have been busy taking a road trip and visiting old friends. Hopefully next week's chapter will be on time! As always, reviews and constructive criticism are welcomed and appreciated!