Portal [Day 1 Early Afternoon]

[Zanja]

Zanja made an effort not to look at all twitchy as she tapped on the door panel of the Gate Master's office. It hadn't sounded like she was in trouble or anything, she just didn't know Master Oblero very well, since the Gate Master didn't teach students or even take on padawans.

"Master Oblero? I'm supposed to come see you?"

The tranquil heartbeat of the Force felt strong in the temple today, which made staying cool a little easier... as long as Zanja remembered to listen, anyway. Even with her mind open and focused, she didn't have much concrete sense of what was on the other side of the door--she wasn't strong enough for that yet--but she could perceive the reservoir of inanimate calm in the stone and duracrete beneath her feet.

[Faily]

There was a brief silence before the stern voice could be heard. "You may enter."

With a hiss-woosh of the door, the offices of the Jedi Gate Master opened up. Kerra Oblero sat by her desk, hands folded infront of her. The white hair had been pulled up into a tight ponytail, and her long horns looked weathered. One seemed to be chipped at the end even, or maybe it had been cut or broken off.



"Zanja, please, sit," she nodded to the chair opposite of her desk.

[Zanja]

Well, that could be more informative. Zanja tucked herself onto the chair and flattened her palms onto her thighs. "Uh, Master Bakash didn't say anything about why you wanted to talk to me." Some deep atavistic reaction to an elder of her species with a truly imposing set of head-spikes made her back straighten up respectfully, before she even had to remind herself to do it.

[Faily]

"It is a matter of our kin - our ways. She is not of us in that regard," she began smoothly, relaxing a little back into her seat. "The Masters have told me you are to face your trials soon..." Kerra paused for a moment.

"Do you have family to see you through your rites of adulthood?"

[Zanja]

"Oh." Zanja frowned slightly. "No. Well, I mean, I have family, I guess, but I don't even know how to contact them."

I wouldn't want Pa anywhere near my rite of passage anyway, if he's still alive. Ma...? She searches her feelings and finds... not much. Not Jedi peace, just regular nothing, at least on the surface. Her big brother? But he'd been so mad at her for running off from work, and then she hadn't seen him for a while even before she left for Coruscant...

"Uh, what do people usually do? Other Jedi younglings, I mean?" It was a question she'd been burning to ask somebody for a while, but in typical Zanja fashion she'd sat on it instead, waiting for an answer to somehow present itself rather than running around broadcasting her cluelessness.

[Faily]

"I see," she spoke in a surprisingly sympathetic tone.

With a shrug, she continued. "Usually, a master or a knight close to the student fill the role of family - to give you your marks. If you feel you are ready to be an adult, to go through with your trials, I can do this for you before you leave Coruscant. It would not be the first time I have done so for a fellow Jedi."

[Zanja]

Zanja thought this over, which meant that her face took on a faintly scowly look for a moment. "I'm ready for the Trials. And it would be weird if I didn't get them sooner or later." One hand touched her face, rubbing at her chin and forehead. "There's been so much other stuff going on, but... yeah. I guess I do want to do that. Before the Trials, you said?" It made a kind of sense. Whether or not she really became a proper Jedi after this, she wouldn't be a kid anymore.

[Faily]

"Before you leave Coruscant, yes. It will be a while before you come back, after all," she smiled weakly. "I will see about finding a proper room for you to recieve your markings, and make the preparations."

"The day after tomorrow, you will be an adult."

[Zanja]

Zanja nodded, trying to project Adult. "Thank you, Master Oblero. I'll, uh, prepare myself. Mentally and all that." She shifted a little in her chair. "Is there anything else I'm supposed to do?" She couldn't really remember much, having been pretty little when her biggest brother went through the rite of passage. She did recall a fair amount of grain alcohol getting consumed by all concerned (except the auntie actually doing the tattoos) before he went under the needle, but that could just be because her dad had still been at home then...

[Faily]

"Some consume a fair amount of alcohol before the process - to dull the pain. I would not personally recommend it, as we do have pain medication on hand if you feel you might need such. There are those who choose not to dull the pain either, but the choice is yours. Neither is right or wrong as such." It probably wasn't that helpful, but it was what she had been told.

"It doesn't hurt that much, I think. At first it does, but you get used to it. Consider it a good practice for meditation?"

[Zanja]

"Okay." Zanja took a deep breath. "I'll be ready. I don't mind pain." Mostly. Depending on how much pain we're talking here.

[Faily]

"If you are interested in the history or cultural story of this rite, I know our library have some very good files on it. It was not something I felt strongly about when I was your age, as I had no relation to our heritage as such... the Jedi was--- is my family and clan, after all," she spoke in a wistful tone, maybe reminiscing of her youth.

[Zanja]

"I could do that," Zanja agreed, gravely thoughtful. "My family didn't really have a lot of time to teach us about that stuff, but if I stayed I guess I would have picked up more by now."

And who gave tattoos to the kids who ran with street gangs, come to think of it? Her crew back home had been all soft-heads, too young for it to come up. Who inked the teenagers in correctional workhouses? Zanja tried to tuck away the confusing mess of conflicted feelings and memories that suddenly came bubbling to the surface and give a nice, calm nod to the Gate Master. "Yeah. I'll go take a look tomorrow."

[Faily]

"Then I will see you the day after tomorrow, Zanja," Kerra gave the young Zabrak an almost matronly nod.

[Zanja]

"Okay," Zanja agreed, unfolding out of her chair. "Thanks, Master. I'll see you then."

/exit, lost in thought...