"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."
—John Muir

Nysa led me to the Temple. On the second floor, a large, open room occupied much of the space. About forty to fifty people milled around, talking in groups or studying datapads.

The majority of them were human, which was no surprise. In a galaxy where humans maintained more than quarter of the population, it was not hard to be the dominant species in a room. Still, lots of humanoids and other mingled diversely.

Nysa led me over to a table with about six other kids my age. The oldest one seemed about twelve. They all seemed to brighten up as I approached, like I was something they could add to a growing collection.

"Guys," Nysa introduced, "This is Arrai. She's still learning Basic, so go easy on her."

Two of the kids started having a rushed conversation with their hands in what looked like GSL, but I had no references.

"Yovan is deaf," Nysa whispered to me, though I didn't see why is Yovan couldn't hear. "Remind me to show you some basics later." I nodded.

The kid who was not Yovan smiled at me faintly. He was older than me by at least a year. "Hi. I'm Chinelo. Yovan here says to tell that you his name is Yovan."

I looked at Yovan, smiling with my eyes. I did not know what waving meant in Galactic Sign Language, so I just smiled.

Another kid jumped up excitedly, like she was excited about something, and signed something to the group. When everyone else laughed, I cocked my head, wondering what they had said.

"After Yovan got here last year," Nysa explained, "Master Misaki decided that this year's language would be GSL. It's not very different from Basic, so I'm sure you'll pick it up eventually."

"By the way," one of the kids said. "Lorna says that we should do your native language next year, but then it wouldn't be fair because you'd beat all of us."

I smiled, not exactly seeing any humor, but I was glad to know they were willing to learn my mother tongue, if just to include me.

"What is your first?" The girl who must have been Lorna asked.

"Huttese." I answered.

"Ooh! I know that 'hello' is 'achuta'! I'm Neirn, by the way." He had his feet up on the table. Every once in a while, he would use the Force to levitate a piece of fruit towards him and pop it in his mouth. "So, achuta, Arrai."

"Achuta, Niern." I responded.

Nysa appeared with an extra chair and we sat down.

They made small talk, throwing out names I had never heard and places I had never seen. Mostly, I just smiled and tried to memorize everyone's names. Besides Nysa, Chinelo, Yovan, Lorna, and Niern, there were Cressida, Gnana, and Ramone. I spent the time trying to put their faces to their names, thinking of something that would make it click in my head.

After a few minutes, bowls and plates floated toward everyone in a seat. There was mostly fruit and nuts. I noticed the lack of meat. Deciding not to question it, I grabbed a big purple fruit that I had never seen before.

"Joguns are good." Lorna promised me, also signing like it was something out of habit. "They are surprisingly high in protein."

I had no idea what that meant, but I took a bite and enjoyed the sugary fruit.

As I looked around at some of the people in surrounding groups. I noticed that several of them were not eating, carrying on with their socializing like the food was nonexistent.

"So," Nysa began, ripping me from my thoughts. Her mouth was full of small brown seeds. After she swallowed, she began explaining the day to me. "After breakfast I was told to bring you to Master Gi over by the Sentinel House. The rest of us having training at the cliffs today, so we probably won't see you until later."

I nodded. At that point, I was already used to being tossed around.

"What time are you completed?" I asked.

"'Finished.'" Niern corrected. He immediately flushed. "Sorry,"

"No!" I tried to assure him. "Thank you. Please correct me, even so for little things."

He smirked. I noticed that in his wild eyes was a sense of approval towards me. I noticed that his curly brown hair reflected his demeanor well: untamed and uncaring, but fun and charming in its own way. I decided that I could like this kid.

Nysa and I left early, saying our goodbyes quickly so as to not keep Master Gi waiting. I learned that she was the Council member in charge of basic training, and was the one who sat at the end of the semicircle yesterday.

Chinelo taught me how to say goodbye in GSL, a simple opening and closing of the palm. Yovan returned the gesture, and I deducted that he felt bad that I could not understand him. If I had had the time, I would have explained to him that it was only me who should have felt bad that I could not communicate with him. But I had no time to think the Basic words much less try to string them into a sentence.

As I was dragged along the road of Nequek, I felt the sun. It was not as sweltering as Tatooine, but it also did not have the chill of Coruscant. The gravity, too, was less than my native dust ball. I did not tire at all as I walked the roads.

The Sentinel House, as I quickly found out, very close to the Temple. It was a house for Jedi Sentinels, who were the only Jedi entrusted with the secret existence of the Dark Jedi. The Sentinels apparently deeply respected us, offering us support in both combat and in the Jedi Council, though one could argue that they were roughly the same.

The house was much smaller and more homely. It was small enough to be cozy, but it was still as large and dramatic as the Dark Jedi liked.

The two guards at the front immediately let me in, not asking any questions. I walked in just as Master Gi was coming towards the door.

Under her long, skirted robes, she took long strides to reach me. "Hello again, Arrainne." Though her smile was meant to be reassuring, I could tell she enjoyed the strife that came with teaching. "We have a lot to accomplish today."

[A/N:

So, maybe I lied a little when I said that we'd get to the good stuff, but I want Arrai to have friends! I've always thought about giving her Dark Jedi pals to hang out with cause I felt like it would humanize her.

I have some odd aesthetic with deaf people and signing. Don't get me wrong! I'm not making fun of them at all! I love ASL and I think it's the coolest thing! Besides, deaf people are the sassiest, most sarcastic little shish-kabobs you'll meet, and I think ASL is very beautiful. I've used it a bit before, but I'm not fluent. Hopefully I'll be taking a class next year.

I'm trying to do better with character descriptions, both physical and personality-wise. I'm going to add quite a few more OCs to this world.

Also, after a bit of confusion 'Arrainne' is not pronounced like 'AIR-ee-ah-n' or 'ar-ee-OHN-ay'. It's actually pronounced like 'ar-I-ihn' like a feminine form of 'Orion'. And 'Arrai' is pronounced 'a-RI'. Just thought I'd clear that up.

Last, but not least, I've got a cover for a spin-off OR era series with Thraina and Shy-Lee called 'Mortality'. As of now, I'm planning on publishing it after three books (which I already have all my plans for). I want to do a trilogy, alternating between the main and spin off books.

I actually need to know what you guys think about a trilogy for the spin offs. Those are really if-y cause they're Old Republic, but this might be the chance you get to learn more about the OR and see differences between that era and the New Republic/Empire/First Order eras.

As always, I love you all and thank you so much for your comments especially. I always want to hear your opinions about my writing. Comments are beautiful and so are votes!

trehpsilyws,

Peace, love, and
~Art