Temple of Karabor

Of course. Matthew couldn’t get three feet out of his room before he heard a familiar voice strike his ears with a sense of urgency. The funniest part of it, though, was that the boy had been in enough sorts of colorful trouble in his past. Things he would hate for any of the Knights to find out about him. Despite all those experiences, though, nothing sent more adrenaline through his veins, his heartbeat racing, than Ashara’s voice calling out to him and echoing off the walls of the empty corridor.

Aww, kriff…

It’s not like he could ignore her, though. With the galaxy’s best poker face -- or at least the best one that he could muster, Matthew offered boyishly charming smile in Ashara’s direction as he closed the gap. He hoped that he was controlling the shakiness in his knees for her not to notice.

Ashara... Hi... he fumbles. He would have immediately transitioned into some sort of smooth correction that she should call him Matt, but her revelation silenced him faster than a blaster bullet through his brain. O-Oh, you have a padawan, huh?

Of course Kalene had to be Ashara’s padawan. He could have smacked a palm to his face if Ashara wasn’t standing literally right there.

Is she, uh… about yea high, flowing dark locks, a stunning honeyed gaze, and perhaps the most innocent creature to have graced the galaxy? he asks, painting a rather particular and sensualized portrait of Kalene. He then chuckles as he goes on to say the unthinkable after a description like that with, I can’t say that I have.

Matthew exhales a nervous sigh, knowing right out the gate that Ashara wouldn’t let him get away that easy. He leans a shoulder up against the wall and looks up at Ashara with a sense of dismay.

Alright, no, I’ve seen your padawan, he mutters, shoving his hands in his pockets. I asked her to show me around the Temple, and… well, as you can see, that… wasn’t able to be arranged. She needed to, uh… pass out…? Probably a little overwhelmed by her, uh, training?

Training. Sure. He’d go with that. If there was one fault that Matthew had, it was his inability to lie to a pretty face. The Force knew how many times he got into trouble in the past by not keeping his mouth shut when he needed to. With a little improv wordplay, he did his absolute best not to allude to the truth that happened moments before.

Zion admired the slowly setting sun as he waited for the ladies of KYBR to show up. His patience rewarded a few moments later as they arrived. He turned around, a smile still on his face. No doubt they expected him to go into some series of long boring lessons. Something he had no intention of doing
I have no intention of boring any of you with basic lessons on how to use the Force. I may be an old man, but I do not wish to waste your time covering things you already know...
His expression shifted then, the smile fading a little. There was important information to cover, and he was going to have to take a leap of faith trusting them with it. However, given their varied presences within the Force and that they had not yet given him a reason to be cautious of their intent, he would continue to trust them. At least until they showed otherwise
No, what I wish to discuss with you all is a little more serious. Our Order is young, and our numbers are few... There are more students than there are teachers. Those experienced and knowledgeable in the way that the Knights should act and react... We are neither Jedi nor Sith. Our ways are our own, meant to encourage us to maintain the balance that the galaxy so desperately needs between the Light and the Dark... You all seem different, and yet you create a harmony together...
He let out a sigh
As boring as this may seem, I ask your patience and participation. Your powers set you apart, but I need to know that once I grant you knighthoods, that you will act in the best interests of the people we protect and this Order that we are all apart of. Something I intend to make easy on you all by ensuring we keep no secrets from those we protect. Does this seem fair so far?

Zion watched as Bekka stepped forward from the group to speak on all of their behalf's. Reaffirming all their commitment to learning about the Knights and their desire to try fit in, should the Order fit with their agenda. He felt a wave of relief pass through him, as his smile returned once more
I would ask forgiveness for an old man's wariness... I have waged battle for far too many years, and will, on occasion, underestimate the strength and will of youth...
He gave a short bow then, before lifting his gaze as the moon started to appear in the east, while the sun continued to set in the west
Given the time, I will keep this explanation as straight forward as possible: You are each familiar with the Force, the Light and the Dark... Such aspects of the Force exist. But there is a spectrum of life in between them, in which we all exist. Seeking to maintain a balance between Light and Dark. But where others believe that one side must be utter destroyed for balance to be maintained, they could not be further from the truth... Light and Darkness must exist in equal strength, for balance to be achieved. You cannot have one, without the other. Life cannot exist if either side is overwhelmed. That is what we seek to achieve.. A balance between the light and the dark...
Zion motioned from the setting sun to the rising moon then. The two celestial bodies sitting in perfect harmony across from one another in the sky. He then motioned to Kindra, Yuri, Bekka and Raine
Your group is a perfect example of this. Light and Dark, The shades in between... That is what we fight to protect. Many of us stride within the light, while others stride within the dark, working toward the same goal. Let yourself fall too far into the light, and you can commit atrocities just as easily as someone that slips too far into the dark. The ancient Jedaii Order saw the truth of this. And while I would not claim we are by any means a true return, the philosophy remains the same...
He paused a moment, letting them absorb the information. Perhaps they had heard it before, or such was the first time they were hearing it. Once he gave them a moment, he continued on
To that end, we will move against any side that has set the scales too far to one side or the other. And right now, the First Order and the Sith seek to cloak the galaxy in darkness. It is they, who we fight against. But we do so on our terms... We do not have a code like the Jedi or Sith, instead, we follow three basic principles: Honesty, Valour and Loyalty...
Be honest to yourself and others, for honesty is the fastest way to prevent a mistake from turning into a failure. By being honest, we can fight together and overcome whatever challenge we face... Stand strong in the face of danger, no matter the foe. For the cost of failure is all life... If you stand, we will stand together. We pledge ourselves to balance and life itself. We protect those that cannot protect themselves. If you commit to a task, see that task through to the end...
Zion stopped for a moment, certain he had perhaps talked for a little longer than he had intended. His gaze shifted between the four women then to make sure each of them had been following along. Letting them take the moment to ask him any questions or make any comments they might have

If Matthew wanted to run, the constricting grasp of the Force around his body would have made it very difficult to do so. Even if he could manage to shatter her hold on him with his own Force abilities, it would take a clear mind for him to do so -- something he didn’t quite have at this exact moment in time. When he's lifted into the air, Matthew whimpers, nearly begging:

Ashara, I swe-

But not like begging would do him any good. Still, he had a chance to salvage this, right? Then again, those gritted, sharp teeth of hers weren’t exactly reassuring. It was odd, though, that he could even fathom how adorable she still looked as angry as she was...

Taking in as deep a breath as he could manage to settle his erratic thoughts, Matthew manages to get something of a rational answer out to Ashara’s exclaimed question that was clearly more of a demand for an answer than a request.

She’s safe. I swear. She’s just in my bed.

Yeah, rational answer. Not quite. He didn’t realize how damning of an answer that was, too. At least, not until the words came out. He was sure Ashara would take that the worst way possible, so he backtracks before she has a moment to crush him. Or bite his head off -- either figuratively or literally.

We were talking. She fainted, and I, uh... I panicked. I didn’t know what else to do…?

He cringes as he awaits the worst reaction possible from Ashara. This was going much more horribly than he could have ever predicted. He had been through a whole lot in his short life. Usually, talking his way out of fiascos was his forte. From actually managing to make a girl faint into his arms, though, to this rather risky encounter about it with a woman unlike anyone he had ever met -- Matthew was definitely far, far, far out of his element.

---

Zeo chatters excitedly with some repetitive beeps to Kalene’s attempted communication with him. It was a shame that the girl couldn’t understand him, but the droid seemed to appreciate her attempts. Although his master -- friend? His programming confused whatever the boy was to him at times -- had simply asked that he watch out for her until she was awake, now that she was, Zeo had completed his duty and was free to do as he pleased. It wasn’t against his programming to interact with the world around him, and this girl seemed friendlier than any other hooligan the boy had previous intermingled with. If his programming could compute with it, she seemed friendlier than even the boy himself.

However, there was a language barrier. A trick that the boy had picked up over the years of having Zeo. The girl didn’t have a shot at learning it in a few minutes, and the boy had decided against a vocal synthesizer ever since he picked up on the binary language. Zeo’s circuitry, however, managed to find a solution to the problem in exactly 0.003 seconds. He rolled around the girl, before nudging her onward with his front, third wheel. Hopefully, she would get the hint and look in line to where he was trying to nudge her towards, to find Matthew’s belongings piled in the corner.

Among those things, an old yet handy datapad.

Ashara nearly relented and began to lax her grip on Matthew. A reasonable explanation and she had proven her point. That is, until Kalene's frantic words broke through the wall. The Force once more rushed through her and into her grip on Matthew. No longer simply gently holding him aloft. She was squeezing him. She closed her eyes and tried to peer through the door, but her anger and fear were clouding her vision.

=Ashara=
What is going on in there!?

She swung Matthew around so he could open the door with one hand, but she was still not letting him go.

Ashara's golden eyes settled on Kalene and a wave of relief rushed over her. Immediately she relinquished her hold on poor Matthew and ran into the room and embraced her padawan. As she held the young woman, she channeled some of her own energy into the girl, just in case she was still feeling weak. After a moment she let go of the girl and knelt down to look her in the eyes.

=Ashara=
Kalene, are you okay? I was worried for you.

For the moment she seemed to compleatly ignore the droid and the boy, focusing fully on her young charge.

Matthew exhales a sigh of relief as Ashara’s grasp on him breaks free. The boy slumps against the wall as her figure rushes into his room to take hold of her young padawan. With his hands on his knees to keep himself propped, he takes another beat to exhale, his gaze lifting to the ceiling as if to ask the Almighty Ones why they dared to make fun of him in such a cruel fashion. With another sigh, though, Matthew pushes himself back up and, as calmly and cooly as he can manage, takes charge in joining the party so-to-speak happening in his bedroom -- a point he notes to use against that Zion Morviael one of these days.

Hey there, Kalene, Matthew nearly responds, seemingly exhausted and out of breath.

Placing a nervous hand on the back of his neck, he forces a welcoming smile and banishes all of his earlier panic from his face, to no avail. His smile was replaced with a quizzical look soon enough, though, as Kalene's explanation leads to him to find all of his stuff scattered about. Ashara’s outburst already took its toll on the poor boy. Panic was now easy enough to race through. It would show well enough on his face as he rushes through the doorway and waves a hand over his scattered belongings. Using the Force in a display that appears as easy and natural to him as breathing, the boy brings each piece to float simultaneously into the air to find their places among the far corner, before they would settle back into the place in the time it took to exhale.

No worries…! he laughs, the last thing to find him being the datapad, which instead found a home within his left hand. Easy enough taken care of.

Zeo whirls sadly before turning and rolling back to the other corner, away from the rest of the group. Before anything could be said about the droid, though, Matthew breaks back in with a nervous persistence.

So… as you can see, Miss Varik here is safe and sound, so… if you ladies don’t mind… Could we, um, move this happy little reunion to the other side of my chamber’s door...? I don’t mean to be rude, he corrects hastily, I just… still… wanted to explore the Temple tonight. That is, the flash of his brilliant blue eyes turns to Ashara, if I’m still… welcome to do so after this… minor fiasco…

Matthew laughs as nervous as ever as he braces himself for whatever weighty silence may come at the hand of his judge, jury, and executioner. He might be young, but he wasn’t stupid enough to believe that he was out of the woods just yet. Out of all the nonsensical occurrences he had been through in his short lifetime, this one definitely would be a story he would carry for the rest of his lifetime.