Calista sighed at the answer but didn't comment beyond that. She understood that he hadn't been in a good position to buy new things until now. She even remembered struggling with similar problems before the fall of the Empire. But she didn't want Hawkin to go through that again.
“Of course.” she nodded with a smile at his planet request. “There's quite a few planets like that. And the feeling is pretty nice.” she agreed, chuckling at his comparison to being a plant. Though her smile only grew as Dex joined in with his usual brand of banter and listened with interest as the conversation turned to Hawkin’s biometrics.
“Don't let first appearances be the source of your judgment, my Padawan.” she told him gently. “What do you feel from this place?” she asked, hoping he would understand her intent.
Hawkin breathed deeply and closed his eyes and tilted his head.
“A lot of life has been lived here. Good and bad, people coming in and out, thriving business and barely scraping by. But these are feelings.”
He opened his eyes and gently walked to the building and stopped short of it
“You know, there’s a saying. Something about If these walls could talk. Well…”
He extended his hand and softly placed his fingers on it and looked back at Calista.
“What if they could? I could give it a shot, and see what these walls have seen.”
“Very good.” she smiled, having sensed similar feelings but was happy that he was so intuitive already. Calista blinked at his suggestion before nodding thoughtfully. “I suppose you could… it would be a good way for you to practice. I apologize that… well, as I’ve said, your gift is rare and something that I have not come across before.” she explained as she pushed aside the feeling of… she wasn't quite sure. Embarrassment? Shame? Inadequacy as a teacher? Wish I had a holocron… That would be helpful.
“Go ahead. I’ll be here if you need me.” she assured.
Hawkin breathed deeply and pried deeper into the stories the walls could tell. The first memory that could come forward was dramatic. Running clones, blaster fire, and Hawkin was right in the middle of it. He turned around in a circle in the chaos. He caught a glimpse of a hooded figure and a smaller hooded figure being ushered into the building. In curiosity, he followed. He walked into the store in the memory. He saw the familiar robes of a Jedi, and the small figure of a padawan. He saw the family of Rhodians take the child, and grasp the hands of the Jedi warmly. He heard a whisper.
“We’ll get them off planet. Go.”
The Jedi pulled up their hood and rushed out. Hawkin followed through the door, and was greeted with shouts and blaster fire as the Jedi was chased. He pulled himself out of them memory before it could go any further.
He was reeling when he pulled his hand back. His head hurt, his vision was blurry, and he was shaking and swaying slightly on his feet. He looked at Calista, and saw two of her.
“Well, I’ll consider it a success, I didn’t pass out, and there’s two of you now. Double the teaching and knowledge.”
Calista took a step toward him, her brow furrowed and her arms slightly raised to catch him if he became too unstable. “Just give it a moment. That’ll pass.” she said, calmly as she put a hand on his shoulder to both help steady him and let him know ‘which one’ of her was real. “Breathe. Take your time.” she assured. Though she wouldn't deny that she was curious about what he had seen.
Hawkin shook his head and took an unsteady step.
“Well one thing I can say for certain is that these people might like Jedi. The memory I saw was of a Jedi, ushering a padawan here to hide. They graciously took the kid in. Here’s hoping the kid got off world. As for the fate of the Jedi, I pulled myself out of the memory before I could see what happened. I’d rather cling to the hope that they survived, rather than see that they fell to the shots of the clones. There was a substantial amount of fighting on this level. Which is odd. I think. Why would there be blaster fire in a residential and small business sector?”
Hawkin walked forward, and pushed on the door.
“Let’s go in. I’m curious now.”
He slowly wobbled his way into the door, looking more like a drunken star ship pilot, than a Jedi knight to be.
“Easy.” Calista warned when Hawkin stumbled. She was about to insist that he rest more until he told her what he had seen. The news that this Rhodian family had helped Jedi was… reassuring and very brave of them. Especially amid blaster fire when the Clone Troopers were most likely hunting any known Jedi.
“Steady. You still look dizzy.” she informed, keeping her hand on his shoulder, as he headed inside.
Hawking looked back at Calista.
“It’s because I am dizzy. There’s no way I’m walking in a straight line. They’re going to think I’m plastered.”
Dex chirped, and that seemed to get some attention from the back of the store.
“You’re definitely not walking in a line. A cross eyed bantha could walk a straighter one.”
Hawking clutched his head and shook it.
“I am aware Dex. I might go crashing to the floor in a second if my head doesn’t stop spinning. However, I can say this is improvement. I didn’t pass out, and I didn’t see the return of my breakfast. I’m considering it a win, even though there’s two of everything still.”
A small shuffle caught his attention and in a daze he looked up and saw a small Rhodian child.
“Oh hello there. Do you have a chair I can borrow?”
The child backed up in a rush and disappeared.
A teenage rhodian appeared and was holding a short stick in fear. Hawkin didn’t notice the stick.
“Oh hello there to you too. Do you perchance have a chair I can borrow?”
The teenage rhodian lowered the stick and looked at Calista.
“What’s his deal? And what are you? What do you want?”
More shuffling was heard in the back and the mother of the rhodian children peered around the corner. She gasped in disbelief when she saw Calista and disappeared for a few moments before her husband joined her. He smiled and spoke softly. He looked at Hawkin.
“Hello to you too. Let my son grab you a chair. And hello to you especially,”
He then looked at Calista.
“Master Jedi. You’re a sight that I thought I wouldn’t get to see again. The galaxy is finally healing. What brings you to our shop today?”
"Just take it easy." Calista reiterated though she did listen to how he had apparently improved. "We'll work on the double vision. I'm sure it'll get better with practice but we'll start slow… well, we'll continue at a slower pace." she corrected, still helping support him so that he wouldn't crash into the floor as the younger Rhodian children seemed intimidated by their presence.
"Hello." she nodded politely at the Rhodian couple. "We were just at Kotaas's shop and he told us that this was the best shop to get new boots. We just weren't expecting my Padawan to be so… overwhelmed by the Force Echo of this location." she explained.
The Rhodian couple looked at each other in shock.
“A padawan? Are the Jedi coming back? And what do you mean by a force echo?”
Hawkin had sat down in the chair that the Rhodian boy had brought in.
“Long story short, I can see memories of places and things. And boy do these walls have stories to tell.”
The Rhodian couple looked at each other and back at Calista.
“Is this true? What does that mean for us?”
Calista smiled at Hawkin for explaining and nodded before answering the couple’s questions. “It is true, we are hoping to bring a new Jedi Order back to the galaxy. And it just means that we know you helped a Jedi Master save his Padawan when the Empire was hunting them.” she told them calmly, but clearly grateful. “Hawkin’s gift is rare so not even I can see what he does. You are not in any danger.” she assured.
The Rhodian couple shifted nervously.
"We tried to help that padawan. We got him off world, but where he went next is unknown to us. He has a way to contact us, if he ever chooses to. If he's alive or dead, we don't know. We just hope for the best."
They looked at Hawkin.
"Well, we're excited that the galaxy is finally looking up. What can we help you with today? I can only assume boots."
The eldest son looked down at Hawkin's feet.
"Looking at his boots, he definitely needs some."
Hawkin laughed.
"You betcha I need some new boots. I haven't had any in years. My master also needs new boots."
"Do you remember his name?" Calista asked gently, wondering if she had known the Padawan at one point and if there was a chance they could get in touch with him again. Surely, by now, he would have heard of the fall of the Empire and how the New Republic would welcome his return. But she could understand a strong sense of caution after being in hiding for so long.
She chuckled as Hawkin and the Rhodian boy commented on the state of their footwear. "I just haven't had the opportunity to buy new ones until now." she admitted with a dismissive shrug. Though, she smiled softly as Hawkin called her his Master. It was, of course, her title now but she still wasn't sure how long it would take her to get used to it. She would have to… sooner or later, despite how odd it felt for now.
(Big preesh. I’ve been losing it lol. I’m so busy and for what reason?)
The Rhodian couple smiled and the woman looked thoughtfully.
“I remember his first name. Ferren. He wasn’t human, and he wasn’t a young padawan. He wasn’t new, and he had experience, but he needed to get off world. He was Icktotchi. We got him off world, and we haven’t heard from him since. I fear he has died, but we can still hold out hope.”
The man jumped in.
“His name was Ferren Barr, and we got him off world and the last time I got any update, he had gone to Mon Cala. Haven’t heard from him in years and I don’t expect too. He left very quickly.”
The Rhodian boy had gone off to get Hawkin some boots. He had been trying on pairs during the conversation between Calista and the couple and he started to hit it off with the boy.
“Well what do you think of these?”
He held his feet up to the boy.
“No. Those are far too flashy. Solid white boots? You’re looking like someone who went dumpster diving for spare shoes from the storm trooper discard bin. Let me get you another pair. A dark brown. Lots of little buckles and things. They go with anything and they’re stylish, and not to mention, comfortable. As for your fancier outfit, I have a pair of dark sandstone boots that I know will match. I’m not worried about that. You’ll love them.”
Hawkin raised his eyebrow.
“You sure know shoes. I trust ya. And I feel like I need two pairs of travel boots. One for walking around and one for running from trouble. If the running ones could be like a matte black, that would be absolutely cool.”
The Rhodian boy laughed and rolled his eyes.
“For someone who has never really had the experience of picking out boots, you know what you want.”
Hawkin smiled back.
“What can I say? I know what I want 68% of the time, and I do know, for a fact that I want some new boots because my feet are far too big.”
The Rhodian boy called over his shoulder as he went to go get the boots.
“You can say that again, you have giant feet. Even for someone who sees a variety of shapes and sizes of feet everyday.”
Hawkin rolled his eyes.
“Yeah right. I can go find a gungan. They have giant feet too. Even more giant than mine.
The Rhodian boy called from the back.
“Last I checked, gungans didn’t really wear shoes. I would certainly know.”
Hawkin groaned and threw his head bakc in his chair.
“Why do you know so much about feet, it’s kind of weird.”
The Rhodian boy came back with all three pairs of boots.
“Because it’s my job, and now I know about your giant feet. I’ll know your foot size for forever. Now try these on.”
Hawkin sighed and tried on the boots, and they fit amazingly. He looked at Calista and smiled.
“These boots are really nice. You should get uh, what’s your name? You never told me.”
The Rhodian boy polished the pair Hawkin hadn’t tried on.
“It’s Sonto. Hawkin. Your master said your name, so I remembered it, like I will never recover from the horror of your giant feet.”
Hawkin waved his hand.
“Ah whatever Sonto. My feet aren’t horrific. Anyways Calista. Sonto knows far too much about boots, and he definitely knows what type you need. He’s a great help.”
Sonto gave Hawkin the second pair of boots and looked at Calista.
“I really try. But as you can see, I have some really tough customers some times.”
Hawkin looked at him, and he looked at Hawkin and they both laughed.
Calista nodded, grateful for the information but felt an odd chill at the name. “I can't say that I remember him personally, but with this information we have a good lead to pick up a trail.” she thanked them both. But she decided to meditate on Ferren first to prepare for whatever may have happened to him.
She didn't interfere with Hawkin and the Rhodian boy but she smiled at the sense that things were going well between them. And what she did hear was funny. Something about Hawkin having feet bigger than a Gungun… Boys. she rolled her eyes and let out a soft chuckle.
“I’m sure he does.” she smiled back. “I really just need a simple pair of boots. Hopefully, my feet aren't horrifically large.” she couldn't help teasing.
Sonto looked at Calista’s boots, snapped his fingers and ran to the back. He came back with a pair of boots and placed them beside Calista’s feet.
“I think these might work. If you like them of course. And for sure, your feet are not as horrifically large as Hawkin’s over there.”
Hawkin scooted his feet under his chair, and Sonto rolled his eyes.
“Good luck hiding those stompers. I truly feel bad for you. As a deal when you get the boots, I’ll throw in some socks for free. You probably need those too.”
Sonto looked back at Calista and covered his mouth as to where Hawkin couldn’t see.
“Don’t tell him that socks come free with every pair of boots. Best leave him in the dark.”
Hawkin narrowed his eyes.
“Ay Quit spilling secrets! I’ll have you know I’ll go touch the walls again and find out what you said.”
Sonto picked up the boots he has placed beside Calista’s feet, and brought them to the counter.
“Yeah well good luck with that. You almost fried your brain doing it the first time you came in here.”
A mechanical chortle escaped Dex as he was standing in the corner.
“Hawkin I like this kid. He’s funny.”
Hawkin rolled his eyes as he stood up.
“I’m sure you do Dex. I’m sure you do.”
He looked at Sonto, and then at his parents who were watching the interactions take place.
“How much do I owe you?”
Sonto looked over at his father.
“Well, I guess I could give them to ya half off. that’s two pairs of boots, and one special pair, designed by me, for you. You’d be doing me a favor by taking them, If it’s okay with my father. But I’m not going to make the Jedi pay. She’s our guest. That’s the house rules.”
Hawkin smiled.
“Now I like the sound of that. Before I ask how many credits it is, I am going to ask you to talk to Kotaas. He asked for my help. Before yesterday, I was a mechanic. Working on ships and other fine objects, like prosthetics and artificial limbs and what nots. I told Kotaas that if anyone needed a tune up, to head to the senate building. I’d be there frequently. It would be at no charge. It’s a good opportunity to learn about people and to grow my skills in machina.”
The Rhodian father stepped up to the counter.
“I’ll keep that in mind. You have a kind heart young man. Keep that. It’ll serve you well wherever you go. As for the price, call it 50 credits and go about your way. And come back and visit us whenever you like. It seems like Sonto may have found a friend.”
Calista was impressed by how quickly Sonto found a pair of boots for her but smiled warmly as she tried them on. “Very nice.” she complimented, holding back a brief chuckle at poor Hawkin’s embarrassment. She winked at the ‘secret’ before sending a sense of comfort and assurance to Hawkin through their bond.
“He’s right, Hawkin. You need more practice before you use that ability too often.” she pointed out, casting a glance at Dex as the droid finally joined the conversion and silently agreed that Sonto would be a good friend for Hawkin. Though she felt a little… odd when the family insisted that she didn’t pay. “That is very generous of you.” she managed to smile softly at them. She was still proud of her Padawan for continuing to offer his services as a mechanic to everyone. She was tempted to suggest the option of putting up an advertisement but it didn’t seem right to do so. “I’ll be sure to have Hawkin visit Sonto when possible.”
The Rhodians smiled, and Sonto held up his hand for a high five from Hawkin. Hawkin hesitated for a brief moment, and then complied.
"I guess I'll see you soon. Come visit me up in the senate building sometime. Once I know the place I can give you a tour."
Sonto smiled.
"I would really like that. That building has always looked cool on the outside. Always wondered what it looks liked on the inside."
Hawkin counted out 50 credits and looked at Calista.
"I'm going to grab this one. I don't need to spend all of your money today."
He chuckled, picked up Dex, fixed his clothing, and took a deep breath. He waved goodbye to Sonto and the Rhodian family before walking out. Outside, he took another deep breath.
"I guess we drop this all of stuff off at your apartment, and head to my old boss. Time to face that music I guess. And then we head to the senate. I think I'm starting to get a bit nervous. Does this normally happen?"
Calista chuckled a little at Sonto's eagerness to see the Senate building but chose to stay quiet. Just because she didn't think much of the grandiose designs and the cold places no one else noticed, didn't mean that she should disway the young Rhodian.
"I have enough money to pay for what is needed and then some if I wanted." she assured as she let him pay this time before turning to the family. "Thank you for your time and wonderful services." she smiled as she gathered her new boots and walked out with Hawkin.
She sighed and gently placed her hand on her Padawan's shoulder as she easily felt his unease. "It'll be alright. There's no need to worry." she comforted, letting him feel her peace. "I can't say if this is normal or not because I haven't done this before either, and most Padawans of the last order were found at a much younger age than you are. But things change. One day you'll be able to assure your own Padawan of these feelings and they'll be normal then." she told him, hoping that such knowledge would help.
Hawkin relaxed a little bit.
"It helps to know that this is at least a fairly new experience for you too. As for Padawans, I don't even know how old they were supposed to be. but I do know that I am certainly one of the oldest ones. If not the oldest. As for me potentially having a Padawan in the future, that's such a foreign concept. I don't know if I'll ever be mature or even skilled enough to teach someone something that I'm trying to learn very much later in life. It's a lot. But I know that I really don't need to fear the future because it'll lead me to where I need to go. And I guess that's the scary part. Not knowing my future, but knowing it has to go somewhere."
He sighed and adjusted Dex.
"Well, enough of my fifth of life crisis. Time to head to my boss and get my future rolling. If I can't stop it, or even see it, I might as well learn to enjoy the ride. Right?"
He looked at Calista.
“I will admit that you are the oldest Padawan to my knowledge. Before the Empire, most Padawans were young children. I think I was about five when I was brought to Coruscant.” Calista explained, hoping to assure him. “As for you having a Padawan… that is still some time in the future. No point in worrying about that now. I didn't know if I would ever be ready for one of my own either, even before everything. But I am glad to have met you and have the opportunity to teach you.” she smiled warmly.
“That's one way to think of it. But let's drop our new things off first.” she chuckled with a nod. “I’m looking forward to meeting your former boss.”
Hawkin ran his hands through his hair.
"Alright. I'm not going to think about being the oldest or having a padawan. No more spiraling today. Let's go drop off all of these things, and I'm going to straighten myself up and look even more regal than I already am. It's about presentation. I'm going to try and look better than I ever have in my entire life. Especially with the new boots that Sonto gave me.I've only known him for about an hour, but he sure does know everything about shoes. I hope he'll stop by the senate once I start to understand everything that goes on. It might be nice to have a friend around my age. Even though he called my feet giant. That's just a minor thing."
Dex chirped happily.
"I'm glad you'll just stop talking to yourself. I think Sonto is well enough equipped to handle your antics. He seemed to outdo yours with his own. But he'll never beat my comedy. I am far superior."
Hawkin swatted at the droid playfully.
"For a old High Republic droid, you sure have a lot of opinions and ideas. I've never met a droid that can process and, in a way think about things like you do."
Dex let out a low whistle.
"Well I am one of a kind. Just like you're one of a kind with that gold band across your nose. You stand out quite well. Especially when you clean up. Don't let the sun hit you in the right way. You might blind the nearest person that looks upon your face. Either that, or they'll scream in horror. You have a 50/50 shot."
Hawkin rolled his eyes and looked at Calista.
"Gee thanks Dex. Such a morale boost. You have a way with words."
Dex let out a series of whistles and beeps that could only be some combination of what the droid interpreted to be a laugh.
Hawkin took a deep breath and let it out. He wasn't ready for anything new. He had fallen into a routine, and routines are hard to break and hard to get out of. It felt weird, and so did the new clothes and shoes. Things were changing, he felt it. Either within him, or throughout the galaxy, only time could tell. But something different was on the horizon, and it was about to rise.
