Kaeshun Guard Hall, Maekardan
Temple Guard Conference Chamber
Paralov 5th, 936
15:34 Commonwealth Standard Time
Master Guardian Haladin Yuzri sat reclined in his chair with four other Temple Guard, waiting at the their table for their next meeting. A fifth Temple Guard stood at the window, watching the passing of traffic and the lives of the people going by below. Their purpose of being there that day? To promote another budding Initiate into the fold of the Hopefuls, the group that the Temple Guard had the faith in to be their next great defenders. This Initiate was to be arriving any moment now, and the waiting seemed to grind at the higher ranked Iromakuanhe in the room.
The dark-skinned Haladin played idly with the rings that hung from the ends of his horns, though a Guard of many years, he lacked patience. Which seemed to ebb through his proximity of empathic sense to his fellow Guard, who began to show their own signs of impatience. The lone Temple Guard behind them, however, kept his back to the others, and the door.
Najat entered the room, exactly on time almost to the very second. Her arms were behind her, hands clasped in the small of her back. She stood near the door, her normally stern demeanor cracked with a slight bit of nervousness - after all, this would likely be the most important ceremony of her life. "Seras? I am here."
Haladin smiled, a row of white teeth contrasting strongly against the darkness of his face. He tapped his hands against his table in excitement.
"Greetings, Al-Haradim! It is good to see you made it, I trust you recognize some of the people here today." Haladin gestured to the two males on his right, "Knights Shazzar and D'nar." Then, he gestured to the females on his left, "And Knight Yuri and Master Feri. The four main instructors who have been involved in your development." Finally, he thumbed to the long Guard in the back who seemed to be disinterested in the meeting, "And that is..." Haladin turned to look at him, and realized the absent member had taken notice yet, "... someone we will introduce in a moment."
"At any rate," Master Feri continued, leaning forward on to the table and folding her hands together, ", today, you are about to make a large step forward in your path to becoming one of our Order."
Feri's piercing gaze set straight on Najat.
"You do understand the importance of this day, don't you?"
The young Initiate bowed in turn to each person in the room, though her eyes set firmly on the unintroduced man for a moment before they swooped back to Feri's face. Though her own eyelids seemed to droop almost sleepily over her eyes, underneath the long lashes she was clearly as alert and awake as any Vanguard frame runner in the midst of combat. "Of course I do, Master Feri. I have been waiting for this day my whole life, and it is a great, great honor to be here in your company today."
"Good to hear that, no--..." Master Feri smiled at the girl, about to carry on. Until Haladin broke in.
"--Yes! Let us continue into this." said Haladin, catching a stern glare from Feri, but ignoring it completely. The three Knights shifted uncomfortably in their seats. The fueding between Haladin and Feri was legendary amongst the training area of the Guard Hall. Ever since the death of the previous training master, Haladin and Feri had vying for the position. To do this, the two fo them had been trying catch the initiative in situations such as this.
"First of all, we will start by saying gratulations to the completion of your training, and we do hope that you will give us satisfactory results in your upcoming missions." Haladin grinned at Najat, reaching down to pick up a small datapad and laying it on the table. "Which leads us to the content of your first mission, Retrieval. You see--..."
"--With the recent advent of Freespacer Xenos, we have come to find our protective graces come down on more than our race." Master Feri picked up, ignoring the frown from Haladin. "Due to the Orbital Elevator attack, our brothers and sisters have been retrieving many of the people who used escape pods during this event. We recently thought we had saved every last one but--"
"--But! It seems one person was neglected in the retrieval. She had left her escape pod, and was thought to have been lost, but recently, we were given word of her survival and her position at a small settlement in the Nuocr." Haladin interuptted, taking charge again, Master Feri's appearing to lose patience. "Your first mission, is to save this Freespacer, and any other Xeno Populace you may come across. We want to ensure the safety of all of the Commonwealth and her allies."
Najat's brow furrowed slightly as she thought. Out in the Expanse, there wasn't much opportunity for interaction with the strange alien races the Commonwealth had come into contact with, and even in the monastery she hadn't personally met any Freespacers or Abwehrans, though she had seen them in passing. She was excited, at least, about meeting a xeno for real - and returning to the Expanse - but wondered at any psychological issues they might have. After all, the attack on the Elevator had been traumatizing enough for the iromakuanhe who hadn't been there; she could only imagine how people who were actually in attendance felt.
"How did she get to the Expanse?" the young woman asked, curiously.
"That is be-be--..." began Knight Yuri, who suddenly felt the annoyance of the two Master Guardian's next to her. Yuri had been Najat's combat instructor, and to see a usually strong face crumple like that would have seemed unusual to an initiate. The sudden silence was interuptted by Knight D'nar, Najat's mental strength instructor, who despite feeling those emotions encouraged Yuri to continue by tapping on the table and gesturing towards Najat, all with his unusually cheery smile. That encouraging smile was usually what unsettled most initiates.
"That is because." Yuri started again, with more strength in her voice, "She fled the elevator in the escape pods provided."
"Oh." One of Najat's hands came up and she rubbed thoughtfully at her chin, oblivious to the silent argument going on around the table. "That makes sense. Has the latent radiation in the Expanse had an ill effect on her? Will she or any other xenos in residence there require medical attention?"
"Likely." Knight Shazzar, the Survival Trainer, piped, far enough to away to not feel the burn as easily as his fellow brother and sister. "The shuttle that you will be sent in on will be equipped with enough medical supplies to keep Xeno stabilized if she succumbs, or if she is to be perpetually exposed."
"I see." She paused once more, a slight flush coming over her dark skin. "...my apologies for asking so many questions. I only want to be prepared, and to do well on my first assignment."
"It is fine!" Haladin waved away Najat's worries with his hand, though, not literally. "It is refreshing to know you wish to know so much, but all you need to know is on that datapad. So! Now we can lea--."
"--Your apprenticeship." Master Feri interrupted, "It is time for you to meet the supervisor of your future missions, and your failsafe."
"I... see." Just in case the world suddenly decided to end, Mridula took a few steps forward to the table and picked up the datapad lying there. Incidentally it gave her a better view of the other guardsmen clustered around the table; she gave each of them a closer look.
Haladin stared at her for a moment, as did the other Guard.
It was quiet, only the sound the Guard in the back silently humming. He had been doing it the whole time, only it was unnoticeable through the conversation. Haladin and Feri looked back at the man, and then back at Najat.
"You know, I think we will allow him to introduce himself." Feri nodded, with a Haladin, for once agreeing with a short nod. The five Temple Guard stood, with Feri laying a small mantleless robe on the table. It seemed the group of instructors wanted little to do with the man in the back as possible as they all gave Najat warm departings on their way out of the room. Leaving the soon-to-be-Hopeful alone with a guy staring out of the window.
During the awkward humming silence, Najat tucked the datapad onto her belt for later review, then retrieved the robe and shrugged it on, wriggling around until it was settled around her. She allowed herself just a moment of prancing about, since the other man wasn't looking. I made it, she thought happily.
After that, though, it was time to see what exactly this guy's problem was. She moved around the table and slowly approached the room's only other occupant, the man who was apparently going to be her master. "Hello, sera," she said, trying to sound respectful while standing a few feet back from him.
The humming abruptly stopped as the Hopeful approached the Temple Guard standing at the window. For a few moments, it was silent, until the man turned his head to look at the girl from the corner of his stony gray eyes. He looked past her at the empty table.
"The fools." He muttered, turning to face Najat. Who would soon come to notice the utter stillness of the man's face. "They left you in here with me, didn't they?"
"Yes. They looked afraid." Najat looked behind her at the door, then back at the man. "Why?"
The Temple Guard looked down at her again, his eyes only showing the attention she garnered. Strangely, it seemed as if his face refused to show emotion, Najat's own empathatic proximity couldn't seem to feel anything coming from him. It was like standing next to a block of ice, a block of ice with a pair of eyes. "I do not know, I am but a Knight of no acclaim. Though, everyone in this place seems somewhat... skittish of me."
Najat was clearly starting to become a bit uncomfortable in this man's presence. She was beginning to think he had no emotions at all. She cleared her throat just the tiniest bit, eyes still fixed on him, and spoke again. "Your presence is intimidating, sera. Perhaps that is why."
The man's head dipped a moment, looking at Najat's feet, and then slowly scanning the Hopeful upward. "You find me intimidating? I am someone you have never met, and we only exchanged few words. There is no reason for you to fear me." He leaned in towards her, his own gaze apparently more piercing than Master Feri's, and even more chilling as it seemed to look through her than at her.
"Yes. There is something about you," she answered honestly, "that makes me feel... naked." She met the older man's eyes with her own dark brown ones, though, and held his gaze.
"Naked?" The man stared her down, apparently searching for something in the exchage of stares.
"Naked." Her eyes were unblinking.
"I do not understand your meaning." He leaned back, in a statuesque manner, his body seemingly stiff in certain points.
"Your eyes seem to see through me." Najat crossed her arms lightly over her chest, the muscles bulging as they flexed. "I am not sure what I think of it, sera."
"Well, you are the first to not act like a scared sandrat in my presence. It is refreshing, to be honest." said the Temple Guard, his voice seemingly sounding approval, but nothing else followed suit.
"I am not afraid of anything." It wasn't a boast, or the young woman trying to puff herself up; it simply sounded as though she was only stating a fact.
"That is a bold statement, especially one of your experience in the field." He brought a fist to his chin.
"I was born in the Nuocr Expanse. There are many things there that would terrify a non-Sund Wakir." The tiniest of smiles tugged at Najat's lips.
Her master's brows raised, breaking the stillness of his face for a moment, before they settled back down.
"The Nuocr is not the only place in this universe that contains the fearful aspects of our lives. There are things you will see that will make the sand-rat sized beasts you bravely faced pale in comparision. Though," The Temple Guard looked out the window, "that is precisely why we were paired together now, wasn't it?"
"Of course. Your company will only make me less afraid." Her small, confident smile grew as she watched him. His words didn't seem to faze her in the slightest.
The Temple Guard that had been conversing with her for that while seemed to be suprised again, and with that he was silent. Her ease with his presence seemed to settle the unease with the newly formed bond. He extended a hand to her, to shake.
"Na'Subir "The Living Statue" Alasur. Though, I prefer you would leave the title out for simplicity's sake." said Na'Subir, revealing his identity. If Najat had been keeping her ear to the floor, she would know a small bit about "The Living Statue" already, due to rumors popping up of his presence at the Guard Hall. The main central idea of that gossip, though, was Na'Subir was someone you didn't mess with, on any sort of day.
Luckily, Najat hadn't been messing with him. She reached one strong hand out and put it in his, shaking it firmly and keeping her eyes locked on his. "Najat al-Haradim. I hope one day I will earn an appellation as good as yours."
With their hands touching, both of them would have full empathatic connection with eachother. Na'Subir felt Najat's pride, confidence, and the small anxiety hidden behind it that she had mentioned other. Najat, however, would feel nothing.
At their touch, though she kept the handshake, Najat nearly recoiled. She had never felt someone with a total apparent lack of emotion. She tried not to let her surprise show on her face as she let his hand go, returning her arms to her chest.
"Did you feel it?" Na'Subir's voice seemingly cold.
"I felt nothing."
"Then hope you never earn an appellation as good as mine."
Temple Guard Conference Chamber
Paralov 5th, 936
15:34 Commonwealth Standard Time
Master Guardian Haladin Yuzri sat reclined in his chair with four other Temple Guard, waiting at the their table for their next meeting. A fifth Temple Guard stood at the window, watching the passing of traffic and the lives of the people going by below. Their purpose of being there that day? To promote another budding Initiate into the fold of the Hopefuls, the group that the Temple Guard had the faith in to be their next great defenders. This Initiate was to be arriving any moment now, and the waiting seemed to grind at the higher ranked Iromakuanhe in the room.
The dark-skinned Haladin played idly with the rings that hung from the ends of his horns, though a Guard of many years, he lacked patience. Which seemed to ebb through his proximity of empathic sense to his fellow Guard, who began to show their own signs of impatience. The lone Temple Guard behind them, however, kept his back to the others, and the door.
Najat entered the room, exactly on time almost to the very second. Her arms were behind her, hands clasped in the small of her back. She stood near the door, her normally stern demeanor cracked with a slight bit of nervousness - after all, this would likely be the most important ceremony of her life. "Seras? I am here."
Haladin smiled, a row of white teeth contrasting strongly against the darkness of his face. He tapped his hands against his table in excitement.
"Greetings, Al-Haradim! It is good to see you made it, I trust you recognize some of the people here today." Haladin gestured to the two males on his right, "Knights Shazzar and D'nar." Then, he gestured to the females on his left, "And Knight Yuri and Master Feri. The four main instructors who have been involved in your development." Finally, he thumbed to the long Guard in the back who seemed to be disinterested in the meeting, "And that is..." Haladin turned to look at him, and realized the absent member had taken notice yet, "... someone we will introduce in a moment."
"At any rate," Master Feri continued, leaning forward on to the table and folding her hands together, ", today, you are about to make a large step forward in your path to becoming one of our Order."
Feri's piercing gaze set straight on Najat.
"You do understand the importance of this day, don't you?"
The young Initiate bowed in turn to each person in the room, though her eyes set firmly on the unintroduced man for a moment before they swooped back to Feri's face. Though her own eyelids seemed to droop almost sleepily over her eyes, underneath the long lashes she was clearly as alert and awake as any Vanguard frame runner in the midst of combat. "Of course I do, Master Feri. I have been waiting for this day my whole life, and it is a great, great honor to be here in your company today."
"Good to hear that, no--..." Master Feri smiled at the girl, about to carry on. Until Haladin broke in.
"--Yes! Let us continue into this." said Haladin, catching a stern glare from Feri, but ignoring it completely. The three Knights shifted uncomfortably in their seats. The fueding between Haladin and Feri was legendary amongst the training area of the Guard Hall. Ever since the death of the previous training master, Haladin and Feri had vying for the position. To do this, the two fo them had been trying catch the initiative in situations such as this.
"First of all, we will start by saying gratulations to the completion of your training, and we do hope that you will give us satisfactory results in your upcoming missions." Haladin grinned at Najat, reaching down to pick up a small datapad and laying it on the table. "Which leads us to the content of your first mission, Retrieval. You see--..."
"--With the recent advent of Freespacer Xenos, we have come to find our protective graces come down on more than our race." Master Feri picked up, ignoring the frown from Haladin. "Due to the Orbital Elevator attack, our brothers and sisters have been retrieving many of the people who used escape pods during this event. We recently thought we had saved every last one but--"
"--But! It seems one person was neglected in the retrieval. She had left her escape pod, and was thought to have been lost, but recently, we were given word of her survival and her position at a small settlement in the Nuocr." Haladin interuptted, taking charge again, Master Feri's appearing to lose patience. "Your first mission, is to save this Freespacer, and any other Xeno Populace you may come across. We want to ensure the safety of all of the Commonwealth and her allies."
Najat's brow furrowed slightly as she thought. Out in the Expanse, there wasn't much opportunity for interaction with the strange alien races the Commonwealth had come into contact with, and even in the monastery she hadn't personally met any Freespacers or Abwehrans, though she had seen them in passing. She was excited, at least, about meeting a xeno for real - and returning to the Expanse - but wondered at any psychological issues they might have. After all, the attack on the Elevator had been traumatizing enough for the iromakuanhe who hadn't been there; she could only imagine how people who were actually in attendance felt.
"How did she get to the Expanse?" the young woman asked, curiously.
"That is be-be--..." began Knight Yuri, who suddenly felt the annoyance of the two Master Guardian's next to her. Yuri had been Najat's combat instructor, and to see a usually strong face crumple like that would have seemed unusual to an initiate. The sudden silence was interuptted by Knight D'nar, Najat's mental strength instructor, who despite feeling those emotions encouraged Yuri to continue by tapping on the table and gesturing towards Najat, all with his unusually cheery smile. That encouraging smile was usually what unsettled most initiates.
"That is because." Yuri started again, with more strength in her voice, "She fled the elevator in the escape pods provided."
"Oh." One of Najat's hands came up and she rubbed thoughtfully at her chin, oblivious to the silent argument going on around the table. "That makes sense. Has the latent radiation in the Expanse had an ill effect on her? Will she or any other xenos in residence there require medical attention?"
"Likely." Knight Shazzar, the Survival Trainer, piped, far enough to away to not feel the burn as easily as his fellow brother and sister. "The shuttle that you will be sent in on will be equipped with enough medical supplies to keep Xeno stabilized if she succumbs, or if she is to be perpetually exposed."
"I see." She paused once more, a slight flush coming over her dark skin. "...my apologies for asking so many questions. I only want to be prepared, and to do well on my first assignment."
"It is fine!" Haladin waved away Najat's worries with his hand, though, not literally. "It is refreshing to know you wish to know so much, but all you need to know is on that datapad. So! Now we can lea--."
"--Your apprenticeship." Master Feri interrupted, "It is time for you to meet the supervisor of your future missions, and your failsafe."
"I... see." Just in case the world suddenly decided to end, Mridula took a few steps forward to the table and picked up the datapad lying there. Incidentally it gave her a better view of the other guardsmen clustered around the table; she gave each of them a closer look.
Haladin stared at her for a moment, as did the other Guard.
It was quiet, only the sound the Guard in the back silently humming. He had been doing it the whole time, only it was unnoticeable through the conversation. Haladin and Feri looked back at the man, and then back at Najat.
"You know, I think we will allow him to introduce himself." Feri nodded, with a Haladin, for once agreeing with a short nod. The five Temple Guard stood, with Feri laying a small mantleless robe on the table. It seemed the group of instructors wanted little to do with the man in the back as possible as they all gave Najat warm departings on their way out of the room. Leaving the soon-to-be-Hopeful alone with a guy staring out of the window.
During the awkward humming silence, Najat tucked the datapad onto her belt for later review, then retrieved the robe and shrugged it on, wriggling around until it was settled around her. She allowed herself just a moment of prancing about, since the other man wasn't looking. I made it, she thought happily.
After that, though, it was time to see what exactly this guy's problem was. She moved around the table and slowly approached the room's only other occupant, the man who was apparently going to be her master. "Hello, sera," she said, trying to sound respectful while standing a few feet back from him.
The humming abruptly stopped as the Hopeful approached the Temple Guard standing at the window. For a few moments, it was silent, until the man turned his head to look at the girl from the corner of his stony gray eyes. He looked past her at the empty table.
"The fools." He muttered, turning to face Najat. Who would soon come to notice the utter stillness of the man's face. "They left you in here with me, didn't they?"
"Yes. They looked afraid." Najat looked behind her at the door, then back at the man. "Why?"
The Temple Guard looked down at her again, his eyes only showing the attention she garnered. Strangely, it seemed as if his face refused to show emotion, Najat's own empathatic proximity couldn't seem to feel anything coming from him. It was like standing next to a block of ice, a block of ice with a pair of eyes. "I do not know, I am but a Knight of no acclaim. Though, everyone in this place seems somewhat... skittish of me."
Najat was clearly starting to become a bit uncomfortable in this man's presence. She was beginning to think he had no emotions at all. She cleared her throat just the tiniest bit, eyes still fixed on him, and spoke again. "Your presence is intimidating, sera. Perhaps that is why."
The man's head dipped a moment, looking at Najat's feet, and then slowly scanning the Hopeful upward. "You find me intimidating? I am someone you have never met, and we only exchanged few words. There is no reason for you to fear me." He leaned in towards her, his own gaze apparently more piercing than Master Feri's, and even more chilling as it seemed to look through her than at her.
"Yes. There is something about you," she answered honestly, "that makes me feel... naked." She met the older man's eyes with her own dark brown ones, though, and held his gaze.
"Naked?" The man stared her down, apparently searching for something in the exchage of stares.
"Naked." Her eyes were unblinking.
"I do not understand your meaning." He leaned back, in a statuesque manner, his body seemingly stiff in certain points.
"Your eyes seem to see through me." Najat crossed her arms lightly over her chest, the muscles bulging as they flexed. "I am not sure what I think of it, sera."
"Well, you are the first to not act like a scared sandrat in my presence. It is refreshing, to be honest." said the Temple Guard, his voice seemingly sounding approval, but nothing else followed suit.
"I am not afraid of anything." It wasn't a boast, or the young woman trying to puff herself up; it simply sounded as though she was only stating a fact.
"That is a bold statement, especially one of your experience in the field." He brought a fist to his chin.
"I was born in the Nuocr Expanse. There are many things there that would terrify a non-Sund Wakir." The tiniest of smiles tugged at Najat's lips.
Her master's brows raised, breaking the stillness of his face for a moment, before they settled back down.
"The Nuocr is not the only place in this universe that contains the fearful aspects of our lives. There are things you will see that will make the sand-rat sized beasts you bravely faced pale in comparision. Though," The Temple Guard looked out the window, "that is precisely why we were paired together now, wasn't it?"
"Of course. Your company will only make me less afraid." Her small, confident smile grew as she watched him. His words didn't seem to faze her in the slightest.
The Temple Guard that had been conversing with her for that while seemed to be suprised again, and with that he was silent. Her ease with his presence seemed to settle the unease with the newly formed bond. He extended a hand to her, to shake.
"Na'Subir "The Living Statue" Alasur. Though, I prefer you would leave the title out for simplicity's sake." said Na'Subir, revealing his identity. If Najat had been keeping her ear to the floor, she would know a small bit about "The Living Statue" already, due to rumors popping up of his presence at the Guard Hall. The main central idea of that gossip, though, was Na'Subir was someone you didn't mess with, on any sort of day.
Luckily, Najat hadn't been messing with him. She reached one strong hand out and put it in his, shaking it firmly and keeping her eyes locked on his. "Najat al-Haradim. I hope one day I will earn an appellation as good as yours."
With their hands touching, both of them would have full empathatic connection with eachother. Na'Subir felt Najat's pride, confidence, and the small anxiety hidden behind it that she had mentioned other. Najat, however, would feel nothing.
At their touch, though she kept the handshake, Najat nearly recoiled. She had never felt someone with a total apparent lack of emotion. She tried not to let her surprise show on her face as she let his hand go, returning her arms to her chest.
"Did you feel it?" Na'Subir's voice seemingly cold.
"I felt nothing."
"Then hope you never earn an appellation as good as mine."
