Chapter Four – Prankster Child
I stood, gaping around the Temple, shocked by the shear size of the place. Yaddle's X-Wing had landed easily next to my TIE fighter in the Temple's large docking bay and before I knew it, the little green creature was standing next to me.
"Impressive, yes?" Her voice carried a hint of a laugh as she spoke. All I could do was nod, however, my eyes still taking in the size of the place. The five towers stretching way above the main building, reaching towards space, it seemed. A pressure release hissed somewhere in the echoing docking bay, signifying a door opening. Master Yaddle prodded me along towards the sound, muttering softly under her breath.
Another green creature, perhaps a bit taller than Yaddle, stood at the front of the group that had come to greet the new arrivals. To the other green creature's right stood a very tall dark skinned man. His face was calm and serious, his gaze never seeming to drift off. Behind him was a black-haired girl, her expression one of sarcasm as she mouthed silently, staring at the back of the tall Jedi Master's head. Reading the girl's lips, I felt my eyes widen and I was suddenly struggling to keep from laughing.
The older girl caught sight of my barely contained laughter and quickly pressed a finger to her lips. Quickly I gave the smallest of nods then turned my attention back to the green masters.
"Welcome to the Jedi Temple you are, Adra Tallon." The other green master, his voice more masculine than Yaddle's, spoke in exactly the same way as she did. It must be something to do with their species and how they looked at Basic. "Assuming, I am, that taking you as her padawan, Master Yaddle is."
I blinked at the small Jedi Master, not quite registering what he was saying. Master Yaddle? My Jedi Master? That would definitely be interesting...
"Yes, Master Yoda," Yaddle's voice responded easily for me. I merely nodded agreement. The human Jedi Master glanced to this 'Master Yoda' once before speaking.
"Welcome to the Temple, Adra. My apprentice, Mirax Halcyon, will be showing you around after you are shown to your quarters. Don't hesitate to divert her attention from causing pranks. I've got enough complaints over her to last me another decade."
I nodded once more, not sure I understood the reason all the Jedi Masters were laughing slightly, but I none the less bowed my head and offered a 'thank you'. Then the masters were departing down the hall and Mirax was muttering aloud to the unnamed Jedi's back.
"Enough complaints over her to last me another decade," she mimicked, face screwed up in annoyance. After a moment, the older girl sighed, releasing a load of pent up energy and then looked over at me, a smile now on her face. "Thanks for not saying anything. As my marvelous Master, Mace Windu, was so kind to tell you with the annoying side remarks, I'm Mirax Halcyon."
Shaking the proffered hand once, I nodded. "Adra Tallon," I said simply.
"Yeah, I know. Master Yaddle and Master Windu have been talking about you for a while. You're an Imp kid, aren't you?"
Grimacing slightly, I nodded my head. "Not by choice, mind you. Last week I fired a blaster at my 'father's' back in front of the Imperial Academy. I would've found a way to desert if Master Yaddle hadn't come."
Mirax nodded, smilingly, and nodding down the high-ceilinged corridor, but continued the conversation all the while. "General Tallon had a kid? Who woulda known. No matter, good job trying to shoot him though. Now, this is supposed to be your room, I guess. Master Yaddle's in the next door over."
Realizing they'd stopped in front of a door, I glanced around for a landmark near it. The large windows were enough. I nodded but made no move to open the door to inspect the interior.
"I'll check it out latter. I really wanna meet some of the other apprentices around here." Then I paused, wondering if I should ask this next question. "Urm, Mirax? How old are you?"
The older girl looked thoughtful for a few seconds, then grinned, looking back at me. "I'm seventeen, going on eighteen soon. And you want to meet other padawans? Alright. I'll introduce you to Bror Afyon. He's Sera Faleur's padawan- one of your master's friends. Anyway, if you like playing jokes at all, Bror always falls for them. What's more, he won't tell your master about them."
The grin now covering my face must've looked goofy, but I couldn't help it. The sound of this 'Bror' was definitely something I liked. Able to take joking? Definitely wanted to meet him.
*****
After a week of living in the Temple, learning to use the Force ability that until recently I hadn't even known I'd possessed, I was already marked down as one of the 'practical jokers' of the Temple apprentices. In truth, I think the list consisted of just Mirax Halcyon and me.
At this rate, many Jedi Masters were telling there apprentices this simple rule of thumb: stay away from Adra Tallon and Mirax Halcyon when they're apart. Run in the opposite direction when they're together.
We, that is to say, Bror, Mirax and I were walking back down the hall, myself using the telekinesis ability I'd just mastered to poke Bror in the back with a datacard, taking full chance to exercise our freedom of an afternoon. Bror was little more than a year older than I was, but already his attitude was something of a younger Mace Windu.
As Bror muttered something about Imperial kids being crazy, Sera Faleur, Bror's master, gave her apprentice an impression of the Mace Windu glare- something I'd seen a lot in the last few days- before going off to find a quite place to meditate. Before she left, everyone was awarded a reason to laugh at the sight of Master Windu giving the perfected version.
The three of us, walking behind the masters, dropped back even farther. Mirax lowered her head and spoke, her voice whispering as if her words were confidential information. "Yeah, he's definitely got that look perfected."
Mace Windu glanced back as she finished speaking and Mirax began whistling innocently at once. Her hands were hooked behind her back, as she looked around at the ceiling. My movements covered by the bulky Jedi robe I was wearing, I handed Mirax on of my last detonators from Bastion. Making a mental note to get more, I watched as Master Windu looked back at Yaddle, continuing their conversation.
Mirax stopped talking, Bror and I stopping with her. The two masters continued down the hall. Bror paused for a moment, watching Mirax roll the detonator over in her hands- it wasn't a powerful detonator, just something for fun- but then he walked off after his master's direction. Once he was out of earshot, Mirax turned to me.
"I'm not that stupid, Tallon."
I shrugged, cracking a grin, and then grabbed the detonator in my firm Force grip. My master had already gone off in another direction, but that left Master Windu walking towards the Council chambers. As the master walked under another archway, I sent the detonator- now counting down from 30 standard seconds- to hover a meter or so over his head.
Behind me, I could see Mirax backing up slowly. No doubt she was worried about pissing her master off. As my countdown his seven, I ducked into the Archive room, letting the detonator fall from my grip.
Quickly gathering my props, I listened to the conversation outside the door.
"I swear I didn't do it!" That would be Mirax. There was a sharp 'click' and the swishing of robes as a hand reached up to grab something from the air. Silence followed and immediately I realize what Master Windu was doing. The code still on engraved in it was an Imperial one. Oh well, my plan would work. There was something like an intake of air and then a shout.
"Adra Tallon!" Ready and...action!
Making sure I wasn't dropping anything, I quickly cast a foggy state into my mind and mixed in some of the things I had learned on navigation from the Academy, projecting a busy mind. Then I walked out of the archives, flimsi falling from my arms as I walked over, a datacard I had been holding tumbling to the floor.
"Yes Master Windu?"
Mirax's voice drifted across my head just as I closed my mouth. I was never that stupid to pull a prank on him. Never.
Yeah, but the benefits of the way I was raised is that I know how to give the blame to someone else. His second suspect would be either you or that Ritril kid, 'cause you both have connections to him and an uncanny disregard for rules. My reply was quick, concise and utterly to the point.
Mirax's face now held an 'I do not' look. Mace Windu wasn't even notice it. My eyes flicked over Mace Windu's face, my expression flawlessly confused until my eyes landed on the detonator in his hand. I 'recognized' it as one of my own and my face abruptly changed into a terrific- if I may say so myself- display of being outraged that someone 'raided' my explosive collection. Mace's expression of suspicion changed to his usual blank mask.
How the Sith do you do that so well? Mirax and I watched calmly as the master strode away.