Jedi Academy

After the work that went into constructing her hilt. Esla trudged back to the Fray Landing Base to grab herself a hot meal. She supposed she could have stayed at the campsite with her rations but with the base being reasonable space away, she could pop in to warm up and grab a meal before heading back.

It was rather obvious she was out of place, the smaller and young girl standing amidst the base soldiers who were getting some grub at the end of their shift. She presented her tray forward and was given an assortment of warm food. Not all of it looked appetizing but it was warm at the very least.

"Ugh, building that thing took way too long!" The complaining miralian ran up to Esla and walked beside her with her own tray of food. "Don't you think?"

Esla perked up from her long-day induced fatigue when O'vala approached her. She gave a small smile and nodded. "Hello, O'vala. Yeah...it took a while but I never thought I could actually build a sword. Oh...I mean, a light sabre hilt. It seems pretty fun but I don't know if I could do that again anytime soon. It's tiring..."

She looked around at the cafeteria full of soldiers. "...Do you want to eat together?"

"Yeah let's eat together. Us Jedi gotta stick together."

O'vala smiled as she walked along. "I'm not sure if I'd say I was tired but I guess it did make my brain hurt after awhile."

Esla bobbed her head and made her way toward a spot where the soldiers hadn't claim. Seeing as some of them were stationed here for a while, she imagined that they had their spots and it wasn't her intention to step on their toes. Eventually, she did find a spot where they could sit facing each other.

"Have you made anything before? I can't say I've built anything before...maybe knit or baked something," she said before taking a seat down with her tray.

"Are you, uh, worried about something?" O'vala let the other part wait for a bit. All this hunting for a seat was a little weird to her.

She blinked at the question after a small sip of water. "No, not really. I guess I'm just amazed that we're getting closer and closer to becoming Jedi. Mmm, after the vergence, maybe this is just minor stuff to make it official. The lightsaber is just more of a badge, maybe?"

"Well, the saber is also how we fight things better. Unless you're not the type?" O'vala leaned back in her seat. Sometimes Jedi didn't fight things!

"I wouldn't mind having a light saber but I don't see myself using it a lot," said with a pensive frown.

"I can fight," Esla admitted before she poked around at the slaw of saucy greens before her. They were probably fresh at some point in time or maybe they were injected with some extra green dye? "I've been practicing a lot actually but I don't really like to fight. It seems to be what I'm okay at."

"I guess none of us are supposed to like fighting. I personally find it fun, though." O'vala munched a bit on her food and then sighed. "That's not really good for peacekeeping."

Esla took a few small mouthfuls of slaw as O'vala talked and washed it down with some water. "I guess I do find it a bit fun too...but yeah, it's not really good for keeping people friendly. I had trouble talking to some of the Killik...Byron seemed to have done well, he seems to be able to do almost anything."

"Sometimes it can really feel like others know what they're doing more, huh?" O'vala played with her food a bit, mushing it back and forth. "Certainly hasn't been what I expected."

"Zizzy was pretty smart and prepared," she nodded soundly, recalling their trip to the market where she ended up buying two thermal cloaks without knowing it. "Mmm, I don't think I really put much use with the rebreather but I'm kind of glad I didn't really have to use it. Just walking through the ocean waters was enough."

"Silas is also very smart too," she also brought up. "He knows his way around electronics and can make things, outfits too. I could really see both being Jedi already."

"And Ares and Byron are so tough." O'vala tilted her head. "I'm glad we're having this talk. Helps me not feel so alone, I guess. It's been hard."

Esla poked her fork at the gravy mixed with some sort of potato plant and meat. As to what meat, she wasn't too sure but it wasn't bug meat at least. "As Knight Farissa said, we're not really alone here or even as Jedi. We're always around each other some way or the Force. But I guess I know what you mean by that. It's not really a competition but I do admire them a lot."

O'vala closed her eyes. "Do you feel that? Like the sense that they always talk about, the connection that we're supposed to feel with everyone else through the Force. I don't really have that myself."

Esla pursed her lip at what she might be talking about. If it's about the Jedi sense in a literal fashion rather than the philosophical fashion, then she might be in the same boat. She shook her head after a mouthful of potatoes.

"Uhm...no, I guess I don't have that sense. I think? I'm told that it can come in different ways and not everyone feels the Force in the same way?" She mused.

"Yeah, I guess everyone is different." O'vala smiled though and produced her lightsaber hilt. "How did it go for you? Making this thing, that is. Well, yours."

Esla gingerly reached for the lightsaber clipped to her belt, it was going to take some getting used to having it by her side. She wondered if it was going to get heavier because of the added crystal or potentially responsibility. It was probably not an orthodox design, mixing the modern and the feudal together as it had a slight handguard like one that would be found on a rapier, not that would do anything against another lightsaber.

"Mmmm, I can't say I've worked with metal or parts before. This is the first time I've done anything like this. I think I got it right..." She said, though they would know soon enough. "I wouldn't say it was easy but the parts just came together when they were in front of me?"

On the other hand, O'vala's was a bulky number. It didn't have much of a bladed-weapon equivalent. It wanted the leverage of two hands to swing harder and was otherwise too long to feel comfortable in one hand. "I had to do so with Silas after the training one exploded. I still can't believe that happened."

The mirialan smiled at Esla. "In your case, maybe it was like a natural calling? Like through the Force? Or have you always been good at like bookish stuff?"