Chapter 24: Padawan Skywalker
After Doryn's first morning waking up on Coruscant but outside of the Temple, she always made sure to be back before sunrise. It'd felt so right to wake up with him, but she couldn't risk it again. The Jedi couldn't know and the Kaminoans could decommission Wolffe for being with her. It got even harder when they were shipped out and had even less leeway to sneak off and simply talk or kiss. She just wanted to hear him call her pretty and have his hands running through her fur. Unfortunately, the secrecy they were forced to live in didn't allow for such things so often. Especially with a Jedi Master around. Although Master Plo had been the one to encourage her bonding with the clones, she was pretty sure her relationship with Wolffe wasn't what he'd intended.
Doryn knew about human relationship labels and none of them were right. Lovers was probably the closest to something that felt right but still something wasn't right. Cathar society had casual dating like all societies did, but it was different in circumstances like this. They were meant for each other and when a Cathar found that they were considered mates from their first declaration and consummation of their agreement. Yes. Wolffe was her mate. She would be his until the end of time.
Now, General Plo, Ryn and Wolffe were heading to a war room in the Jedi Temple. It probably hadn't started its life like that, but war seemed to change many things. Apparently. Wolffe only knew Coruscant after the war had begun. These people he and his vode protected had known an existence free of war which was unimaginable to Wolffe. So when Ryn was little she'd lived in the Temple and only known peace and had probably known this room as something else before. Now the room was where they'd find out how they'd win back what was lost the first time on Felucia.
Walking along the Temple roof, to one of the towers, Doryn followed her Master and Wolffe was on the Kel Dor's other side. She'd spent some time meditating at the twisted tree with her Master. It was peaceful. Peaceful unlike many things had been. Though Wolffe coming had snapped her straight away from the Force. She only let herself go in the Force around him when in the throes of battle or in the throes of passion. With Master Plo so in tune to the Force around him, she had to snap away from it like a youngling caught eating mud after being told not to. Though the consequences of her love being known would be much worse than that.
On the roof, outside the tower she was approaching, a young Togruta stood. She was facing out to the organised chaos that often filled the skies of Coruscant. The last time Doryn had seen the girl was before Ahsoka became a Padawan. Now she stood there with the string of beads denoting her position in the Order. "I didn't expect to see you here, trouble." Doryn's words made the girl turn around. When teaching Ahsoka as a soon-to-be Padawan, Doryn had taken to calling her trouble. She was always on the move. "Dory! What are you doing here?" Ahsoka grinned at the Cathar woman before turning to her Master. "Master Plo, they're expecting you in there." Ahsoka nodded respectfully to the Kel Dor. This whole time, the human stayed quiet and ready to follow whatever Master Plo instructed.
Wolffe had known both Commander Tano and Ryn for a while now. For some reason he hadn't expected them to know each other. Especially so well. "I'm Master Plo's new Padawan." Technically she was right. Apparently, some people could be Padawans for longer than Wolffe had been alive. For a process that took years, four or five months probably was a short-ish time. Ryn came next to Commander Tano and gave a small nod toward the tower. Tano's horns reached a little over Ryn's height. Again, he hadn't considered that they'd be the same height. Maybe it was because of how the older Padawan held herself. "Master Yoda said you were going to be knighted." Tano insisted. Wolffe didn't know about Jedi knightings, though they didn't seem like something that would be promised then taken back.
"I refused." Doryn told the younger Padawan. It was true that early in the war it'd been offered to her. With the Knights becoming Generals, it was deemed necessary to speed along certain processes. It was also true that she'd refused. Ahsoka turned to Doryn with her arms crossed and blocked her path. She had the same confused look that Doryn had seen on her when told that she shouldn't hold her lightsaber backwards. "But why?" It wasn't long ago that Doryn also would've done anything to be knighted and be allowed to be the Jedi she wanted to be and not the one Master Tassu expected. Now though, she understood how flawed and far away from it all she actually was. If she were to be knighted, she wanted to do it right. "I will become a knight when I pass my trials and the temple guards deem me worthy." As high as the High Council were, they weren't the ones to knight padawans. It was wrong how they decided to pick and choose the pieces of doctrine to follow based on what suited them most. If the Force willed her to be a knight, it would've willed her to pass her trials. Her problems with the way of life they all shared wasn't today's problem. "Has your Master been treating you well?"
"He's the best." Ahsoka went back to walking next to Doryn as she started to gush about her Master. "I've learnt so much and I even got another saber!" Doryn had taken a liking to the youngling she'd been assigned. Though, it hadn't been particularly easy to control such a confident child. "I was surprised he didn't send you back." It wasn't unheard of. Especially as no Master or Knight had come to enquire about her. There was a long courting process before the clone war began. It was different now. "That's mean."
They got to the door, and it opened. "Little 'Soka, you just have a big personality." Doryn smiled toward the other Padawan. She truly was fond of the girl.
Wolffe watched as the General tensed and thought back over what he'd heard the Commander and Ryn say. The discussion had only been about Jedi Knightings and Tano being General Skywalker's student. Though, knowing his girl, she'd find a way to start a fight. His girl. He still couldn't quite believe it. She was so feisty and definitely a biter. His shoulders certainly knew that. As did his back know how eager she was to use her claws.
The door closed behind them all and Generals Skywalker and Kenobi stood by a holotable on standby. Wolffe heard something akin to a sigh come from General Plo's mask. It probably was a sigh that was just distorted by a vocoder meant to amplify a voice. Like his vode's buckets and the electrical whine that came out at a higher sigh. Either way, Wolffe was ready to hold the troublesome Padawan back if needed.
"Master Kenobi," Plo heard his Padawan say. He just wished to the Force that she wouldn't say what he knew she would say. "And Padawan Skywalker."
"So, 'Soka, where's your Master? Is he on another assignment?" Doryn turned to Ahsoka as she asked. She knew for a fact that her Master and Wolffe were tense, ready for whatever she was going to do. She also knew that Kenobi and Skywalker were looking at her. One confused and the other angry. That same anger Skywalker had had since they were children. She knew it was probably Kenobi that'd taken Ahsoka on. It'd make sense. Kenobi seemed good with unruly Padawans.
"I'm Master Skywalker's Padawan." Ahsoka said, as if she were asking if it was okay. Doryn let out a small snort of a laugh and repeated the word 'Master' under her breath. As if that single word was a joke she meant to remember for later. "When did he pass his Trials?" She quipped and looked at Skywalker. The head tilt and raise of her eyebrow ridge said, 'you ain't shit, Skywalker'.
Wolffe hadn't seen a Jedi get that angry and the speed that it happened was honestly impressive. General Skywalker scowled at Ryn as if she were a separatist leader. "Watch it, Padawan." He spat her title as if it were a dirty word. Wolffe looked back to Ryn and noticed the shift. Her eyes hard and ready to follow pray. Her ears twitching and her nose flaring on each inhale. "Am I less than for not taking the easy way out?" Her frown showed no sadness, only fury and disgust. "For respecting the Jedi ways."
"At least my Master survived."
"How much did you cost again?"
They slowly edged closer, ignoring Kenobi's attempts to make them stop. Ahsoka was just in shock and Plo was just waiting for her to tire herself out. Wolffe was just anxiously waiting for his command to hold her back.
"What age were you when your family got rid of you?"
"If you were a real Jedi, you wouldn't think so highly of such attachments."
Doryn justified the fight to herself with the fact that she and Wolffe hadn't had a chance to get a good fuck out of their systems for the past week or so. That was probably why she was so eager to pick a fight. Also, probably why the fist coming near her to point was interpreted as an attempt at punching. That was when her claws extended, and she struck out. Both her and Skywalker were lucky that he stepped back to dodge the attack. Before she knew it, she had arms around her waist picking her up and dragging her away.
She tried to wiggle out of the hold she was in but didn't use much force. She worked out quickly that it was Wolffe, so it wasn't like she was in any danger. She gave up as he carried her out of the room and onto the Temple's roof. It would've been a better idea to use the tower's lift down into the Temple's main body, but Wolffe wasn't as familiar with the building as she was. She was a Jedi after all. Not that she acted much like one anymore.
"You calm now?" The vocoder's speaker vibrated under her ear and made her fur there feel a little weird. It was the same tone he used when his men were being childish. Doryn found it both kinda hot and frankly a bit embarrassing. She couldn't help the way her lips scrunched into a little angry pout which Wolffe luckily couldn't see. He'd put her down but still held her like she would try to go back in there. She shook her head a little bit. "I still want to punch him."
Wolffe's response to his troublemaker's admission was to quickly turn her around and flop her over his shoulder. He couldn't hug-carry her out of the Temple and he didn't trust that she wouldn't try to go back. His HUD assured him nobody was around on this part of the roof. With the side not holding her legs, he gave her a spank before resting his hand there and then a little lower. "Such a bad girl." He sighed with fake annoyance. Though, on the lift down they had to separate and act as every Jedi and Commander did.
Master Plo's final verdict was that Doryn wouldn't accompany him and the majority of the wolfpack on Felucia. Instead, she'd be going to some icy hellhole with Spitter, Scope, Sprint and Mortar. Supposedly recon on some suspicious activity in the sector. Possibly separatist activity.