Jedi Academy

Murah sighed quietly as she looked up on the ancient tapestries that adorned the interior of the tower, which all seemed so far out of reach for her down at the floor-level leading to the many turbolifts and hallways leading elsewhere.

Only a few more days, and then it would be a while until she saw these again.

It was hardly unusual to see the Miralian Master in these parts of the temple, as she often frequented the meditation chambers or the chapel, but on the other hand it was unusual to see her looking so wistful.

A slouching youngling was leaning against the cold stone outer wall of the central chamber, likewise craning her neck upward. There was a lot of history overhead there, and at certain vertiginous moments she could almost imagine the whole thing swaying and toppling down to crush her.

Zanja shook her head, raising a hand to scratch the base of one of her horns. Let's... not. I got enough to worry about.

At that point she noticed the Master, and the peculiarly un-tranquil cast of her face and body language. "Uh, Master Murah? Everything okay?"

Murah blinked a few times before turning her green eyes to look at Zanja. "... Oh, Zanja, my dear. I was lost in thought for a moment. Goodness, you seem to be growing taller by the minute these days."

Her lips pressed into a motherly smile. "I was reflecting on the coming days... of the trials of you and your fellow students."

There weren't people here at this time of day. Well, that's at least what O'vala thought. She was practicing her cartwheels, her flips, all sorts of acrobatic feats. Some might have found it impressive.

At least until she lost her footing and had to take a dive. She was able to roll out of it to prevent any injuries but was basically a starfish lying on the sea floor.

The fact that there were witnesses made it a little embarrassing...

"Oh." So why did you look... worried? "Well, it will be fine. It should be fine." At which point another green person clattered into view and did a dramatic--and to all indications totally unintentional--dive onto the stone floor. "Er..." Zanja glanced from Master Murah to the flattened youngling. At least the best healer in the temple was on the scene?

"The Force will see you through," Murah answered with a cryptic smile, before the young O'vala came tumbing in - quite literally.

"Goodness," she seemed startled at first, but once she saw there was no immediate concern, and who it was, she broke into a break laugh. "Young O'vala - acrobatic as ever?"

O'vala got to her feet and held up her arms in a stretch. "Yup! Acrobatics sometimes comes with the risk of falling!" she declared before doing a forced laugh. Totally normal to just fall over in the halls.

"As long as you know how to get back on your feet, I should not worry too much, right?" she chuckled warmly with some joy to see the young woman was uninjured.

"I trust you two are both doing well? Getting ready for your trials to begin?" Murah looked to Zanja and O'vala both.

"In the middle of the Tranquility Spire, though?" Zanja asked, sounding a bit skeptical.

"Nice roll, anyway," she added after a moment's consideration.

"Anywhere can be good for acrobatics," O'vala said, trying to sound as convincing as possible.

"Uh, I guess I'm ready. Whole life training for this and whatnot."

"Yeah. Same," Zanja agreed with a shrug. "I'm just going to get a good night's sleep tonight, and then... we'll see, right?" It wasn't that the young Zabrak hadn't worried about preparing. But she was as ready as she could realistically be for the parts she knew about, and as for the parts she didn't know about yet... not much to be done there.

"It was similar for me as it is for you now - training your whole life for it and all," she offered. "My mother was a Jedi too - the life of the Jedi and its ways have always been a part of my life, and to follow my mother's footsteps was only natural."

She smirked briefly. "Didn't mean I wasn't nervous too when I was your age, preparing myself to become a real jedi. Though for me, it was always the fighting that made me anxious."

"Huh." O'vala swung back and forth on her feet awkwardly. "I wonder what's in the mess hall today..."

"Tarbin egg omelettes," Zanja, who'd already had breakfast, offers helpfully in answer to O'vala's question. "People are supposed to be anxious about fighting, though, shouldn't they? If it's for real, you wouldn't be happy about it, anyway." Unless you're a proper psycho, of course. Or a Sith.

"Well, sometimes I find some people approach fighting with more ease than I do. Master Jaric and Master Orgus for instance... I would not call them happy about fighting, but they have come to terms with that part of their duties." She chuckled warmly. "It feels like a shame that my master spent so many hours teaching me the Makashi style, and now I don't use it anymore."

"Oh, I like those a lot. I should eat that, at some point." O'vala then bounced around, incapable of standing still for the time being. "Isn't it normal for Jedi to switch around forms sometimes?"

"It's not unusual, no. Some of my peers have mastered more than one even if they have their preferences," she smiled. "Which one would you suggest, O'vala?"

"Oh, uh, I dunno. I'm trying to learn Ataru but I hear Niman is like good for just everything but like maybe too balanced? Or something. Hm."

"Form Three puts protection over attack," Zanja suggested with a diffident shrug.

"All correct," she nodded to their suggestions. "Perhaps I will consider it. But for now, I have faith in my fellow Jedi and their abilities - there is no need for me to worry them by pretending I am a hero if something were to happen."