Ask Pranks on Yavin

[Atias Zaldreell]

It was very early in the morning. The corridors of the Jedi Temple on Yavin IV were silent and empty. Only a few Jedi that used to wake up early would occasionally pass there, walking toward his activities of the day. No Padawan could be seen. They were still in their bedroom, taking advantage of the few hours of rest they still had before they had to go to class for the day.

However, Atias had decided to not copy his fellow Padawans and had woken up early today. Like a loth-cat, he moved silently through the corridors, being careful to not be seen by any Master or Knight. He was carrying a bag full of items that could make him in trouble if he was caught carrying them.

While he was careful to not be seen, Atias also moved fast. He needed to arrive at the gardens before the other Padawans woke up. He wanted to settle a prank for Doson Ukrad, a fellow Padawan. He was arrogant and rude with everyone, the half-Morellian wanted so badly to take this arrogance out of him.

Ukrad always boasted of his abilities as a Jedi and of his appearance, mainly his hair. This way, Atias had planned a prank that would specifically his hair. He had gathered everything necessary to make a paint bomb and would leave it at the branches of the tree where the arrogant idiot used to meditate every morning before breakfast.

When he arrived at the gardens, the half-Morellian moved fast toward sone pushes. He only needed to prepare the paint bomb and leave it on the branch, then he would stay hidden behind the bushes waiting for Ukrad to arrive. With a small push of Force, the other Padawan would find himself with multicolored hair.

@Nefieslab

[/justify][/abox3]

 

[Crix Aran]

One of the things Crix missed about being a Padawan was a fairly regular sleep pattern.

As a Knight with a major duty to defend the Temple at Yavin IV, he found that sleep was often something that didn't come to him easily. Instead he spent time tinkering on defence droids and chatting with the Temple guards and pilots - spending time taking inventory. It was all very important, very adult and very dull in a way that the young man had to think was probably a good source of meditation. Half the tasks were repetitive but not overly complex after all.

A task that he took very seriously, however, was making sure to take the time to look for infiltrators. Spies and assassins who would attempt to sneak through the defenses set up around and within the Temple to do harm directly to the Jedi as they rested, while they thought they were safe. It was why he had initially started following a trail after he had found that a store room had been raided.

It was a lazy kind of following that was only so because he could tell that only small amounts of potentially dangerous materials had been taken. By the time he had started sneaking after Padawan Zaldreell as he started to assemble something in the bushes, Crix was reasonably certain that the boy was not an enemy agent but he was breaking some rules.

Instead of going in like some kind of Jedi Master and demanding to know what he was doing, Crix instead used the Force to mask his presence... and knelt down beside Zaldreell, cloaked in the Force, as he started assembling the device. Tilting his head to one side, he let the cloak go and remained silent as the Padawan worked diligently... when he needed partially done, Crix noticed that he needed something to hold down one of the edge...

And reached out and placed his finger on the edge to keep it in place, allowing Atias to reach for some ducktape. He grinned at the Padawan.

"Hiya. Whatcha making? Pipebomb?"

@LouJoVi

 

[Atias Zaldreell]

After he found a bush that was larger enough to hide him, Atias started to assemble the parts of the paint bomb. It was going to be something simple, nothing too complex. He had learned how to make this one in the Holonet by using materials that could be found in any home. In this case, with things that he could find in one of the Temple’s store rooms.

He worked on the bomb for some minutes, carefully manipulating it with his hands. He could feel some drops of sweat rolling down his forehead, but he didn’t dare to move to remove them. The last thing that he wanted was to drop it and end up covered with paint. The worst thing that could happen to a prankster was to end up the victim of their own prank.

The paint bomb was nearly finished, but he still needed something to something to hold down one of the edge. Atias moved his head seeing the ducktape that he had brought. He only needed to reach out and grab it. However, to do it, the Padawan would need to let go of the bomb, risking it to explode.

While he debated what he should do, Atias saw a Zabrak appear out of nowhere next to him. This made the half-Morellian yelp and nearly drop the bomb, thankfully he was fast enough to not allow it to happen. Sighing with relief, the Padawan turned to look at the man. He recognized him as Jedi Knight Crix Aran, who had participated in the defense of the Temple against the Sith. Now he was probably in trouble.

However, Atias was already used to nearly getting caught while setting pranks. He had learned how to avoid punishment. Rather than showing fear or shock, the Padawan opened a large and bright smile toward the Zabrak. “Good morning, Master Aran! You are up really early today.” then he turned to look at the bomb at his hands. “This is for an artistic project! I read about the neo-modern art style and decided to try it. They use paint bombs to better spread the colors.” his smile continued on his lips, never faltering. He wondered if Crix would believe on this lie. This wasn’t even the craziest one that he made.

@Nefieslab

 

[Crix Aran]

"Ah the lies of youth..."

Gods and Force above and surrounding them but did he really just say that? Ugh he was absolutely becoming old now. There was no mistaking it and he hated it and wanted it to stop. Placing a hand on Atias' head, he ruffled the Padawan's hair because he could and because it looked like the Padawan had taken care to use some product on it to get his hairstyle.

"Alright so I've made paint bombs before. Remind me to tell you the story about Master Hannibal, the hairspray and three gallons of Naboo Royal Blue paint... in the Grandmaster's bathroom." he paused before shaking his head, "Or maybe not. Too much swearing for young ears. The point is that this?"

He gestured to the device.

"Is a prank bomb, not an art project. A pretty decent one too, actually." he pulled away from the Padawan and sat down heavily on the grass, eyeing the kid up and down before gesturing with a hand, "So if we're saying I've called your bs... this is the part where you tell me why you're making improvised explosives in my Temple."

After all, technically he should ask... paint could be replaced with acid in such a bomb and go from harmless prank to terrorism pretty quick so he wanted to keep on top of this.

@LouJoVi

 

[Atias Zaldreell]

Atias silently prayed for Crix to believe in his lie. He didn’t want to start his day by receiving a punishment. The half-Morellian only wanted to make an innocent prank, no one would get hurt with it. Well, maybe Ukrad’s ego would suffer some damage. However, it wasn’t a bad thing.

He maintained his smile even when the Knight ruffled his hair. It was annoying because it gave the impression that Atias was a Youngling and also destroyed what he had made with his hair. The half-Morellian had spent a good time making it on this hairstyle and now the Zabrak ruined his effort.

Then, Crix finally said that he didn’t believe what Atias had said. It was only after hearing it that his smile had disappeared. The Padawan wasn’t used to having his excuses and lies being called out. He had no idea of what he should do next. Perhaps like a good Jedi, he should accept his fate.

“Wait, what's this story with Master Hannibal and the Grandmaster?” he asked, while Crix sat on the grass. He was curious to know more about it. If it was about pranks, this was the type of story that Atias liked the most. The half-Morellian could even try to replicate it another time. With his own special touch, of course.

Sighing dramatically, Atias sat down on the grass, facing the Zabrak. “Fine, you caught me. I was going to make paint bomb for a prank.” he stared at Crix, a smirk appearing on his lips. “But I’m only going to tell you the details if you tell me this story about the Grandmaster’s bathroom. You can omit the swearing, I don’t mind.”

@Nefieslab

 

[Crix Aran]

He grinned.

"I said remind me to tell you... I meant later." he joked a little bit and eyed Atias ruefully, "Nice try."

If Atias had genuinely been trying to distract him from the point at hand or had just, actually, been excited to learn more? He couldn't say. What he could say was that he appreciated the fact that the Padawan didn't continue trying to lie about the prank. He had been caught, Crix knew what he was trying to do and there was no shame in admitting the truth now. Some, other, Jedi that he knew might like to complain that the Padawans always went around behind their backs and lied to keep out of trouble... he wasn't seeing it.

Still, if all it cost him was a funny story about his Master?

"Good deal."

Leaning back slightly, Crix grinned a little bit.

"Alright so the thing you need to know about my Master to understand why this prank worked? He loved to try different blends of tea. I don't know why - leaf water to me but whatever." he waved a hand, "Point is I found a tea from some planet in the outer rim. Tasted like raspberries but made your vision blurry. Gave him some before he went to sleep and he woke up barely able to see anything - thought it was a poison or something and asked me to help him clean out his eyes. But oh no! His bathroom door is locked tight! So I led him next door to the Grandmaster's rooms and head for her bathroom and told him she kept some medical supplies in her medicine cabinet... boom!"

He grinned,

"Paint bomb goes off, coat him and the ENTIRE bathroom in blue paint. I'd hidden behind the door at this point and then?" he laughed, "Then the Grandmaster comes up demanding to know what was going on. I let her in and Hannibal is just standing there, dripping paint all over her bathroom and he just kind of looks at her for a minute before deciding he was gonna cover for me... he picks up some of her hairspray goes "found it" and walks out while she's just gaping. Spent the next three days deliberately using her hairspray right in front of her during important meetings."

He scowled ever so slightly.

"Had me cleaning blue footprints off half the floors in the Temple..."

@LouJoVi

 

[Atias Zaldreell]

When Crix agreed with the deal, Atias’ smirk became a smile. This was going to be interesting. He never knew another Jedi that liked to do pranks, most of them used to be so serious all the time. The half-Morellian wondered if the Zabrak would like to share tips with him later.

While the Knight told his story, Atias was paying close attention to everything that was being said. Midway through it, the Padawan had started to control himself to not laugh. His face was contorting while he tried to remain serious. When Crix finally finished, the half-Morellian couldn’t hold anymore and started to laugh. He laughed so much that he even fell with his back on the grass, while holding his stomach.

After a few minutes of laughing, Atias finally calmed down. He sat again, while removing some tears from his eyes. “This one was good! I can only imagine the face of the Grandmaster when it happened! She is always so serious, maybe it made her lose her composure.” maybe he should try to do something like that at some point. He wondered if it would make Knight Valtiere react.

“Well, I think that now is my turn.” he said. A deal was a deal, after all. “There is a Padawan called Doson Ukrad. He is arrogant and thinks that is better than everyone else. He also had a type of obsession with his platinum blonde hair.” he gestured to the paint bomb, while a smirk appeared on his lips. By this point Crix probably already understood what he wanted to do. “So, I was going to help him by giving some colors.”

“Alas, I was caught and now I’ll not be able to do it anymore.” Atias crossed his arms, while once again he was sighing dramatically. “Unless, you want to help me do it.” probably it would be absurd for a Knight to help a Padawan prank another one. However, it was worth trying. The guy pranked his own Master and the Grandmaster of the Jedi Order, the half-Morellian doubted that titles would stop him.

@Nefieslab

 

[Crix Aran]

"If you want to see Alex laugh you have to go all out." [/I]he advised the young Padawan with a faux serious nod, "She sees many pranks during her day to day duties - its just that most species try to pretend that they're attempting politics rather than dumb jokes."

Listening to the Padawan as he explained what the prank was for, Crix could understand why he had wanted to do it. There had been Padawans similar to that when Crix had first joined the Order and he had done his best to try and avoid pranking them because of one simple thing his mother had taught him growing up.

"Do you know what the difference between pranking and bullying is, Atias?" he asked the Padawan, more serious now, "A prank is something that even the 'victim' can laugh at because you scale it to what you know they'd find funny. I pranked my Master hard because he found pretty much everything funny. If you scale it to the degree that you know that they'll hate it? That's when it starts heading into bullying."

He grinned.

"So instead we'll teach him a lesson about hubris and arrogance. What, would he say, he's the 'best' at amongst your age group when it comes to being a Jedi? Force use, lightsaber combat - whatever it is, challenge him to a contest in a week's time." he nodded to Atias, "And I'll teach you during that time so when the time comes you school him. A lesson is taught, you get the satisfaction of not only bringing him down a peg but stepping up the ladder yourself as well. What do you say?"

@LouJoVi

 

[Atias Zaldreell]

What Crix said about the Grandmaster made Atias laugh some more. The Padawan disliked politicians, believing that all of them were untrustworthy and only did things that would benefit their own interests. “I can see that. I don’t see much difference between them and a bunch of clowns!”

However, his laugh soon stopped when Crix talked again. Atias turned to look at the Zabrak, a frown appearing on his face. He was reflecting about what the other had said. Ukrad would really hate his prank, it would leave his hair colorful for at least an entire month. It would be a perfect punishment for his arrogance.

But Atias wasn’t a bully. The half-Morellian hated bullies, he would not do something that would hurt someone this way. Ukrad himself acted like a bully sometimes, if Atias did his prank he would end being like him. He would hate himself because of it. Then, he looked at the paint bomb, suddenly it wasn’t funny anymore.

When Crix asked if he wanted to be trained by him, Atias stared at him with wide eyes. “Do you want to be my Master?” his expression disappeared, being replaced by a smile. “Of course! I accept!” he said excitedly. The boy couldn’t believe that he was going to have a Master.

“I can’t wait to start to learn things so I can show to Ukrad that he isn’t the best Padawan ever.” teaching humility to the other Padawan was better than forcing it with a prank. Then, a smirk appeared on his lips. “Since you are going to be my Master, can you also teach me some of your pranks? You seem to know it well, Master.”

@Nefieslab

 

[Crix Aran]

Oh boy.

Oh no no no...!

OOOOOH no!

Or... maybe?

His initial reaction to Atias assuming he meant to become his Master, rather than just teach him some things to help him along as he had planned, had been a little bit of panic mixed with surprise. Externally his only reaction was a raising of both of his eyebrows as he let Atias motormouth his way through his excitement. The initial reaction, however, began to fade pretty much straight away.

Clove was beginning the Trials in earnest and he had every confidence that she would succeed and become a Jedi Knight who would be well-loved and well-respected both within and outside the Order.

So why not?

Why couldn't he take on Atias as a Padawan?

By the time Atias was asking him about pranks, Crix had come around to the fact that this was a happy accident. He hadn't set out to gain another Padawan but he would be lying if he tried to claim he didn't love the whole idea of it by the time he'd thought it through. Atias reminded him of himself when he was younger actually.

Which meant a bit of housekeeping.

"First rules of being my Padawan; no running away to volcanic planets on ill-advised rescue missions. No trying to have sex with Jedi Shadows. No going on coffee dates with high ranking Sith, knowingly or unknowingly."

Gotta try and steer the boy clear of some of his mistakes after all.

"But yeah I'll teach you some pranks - you can practice them on Clove. Sebastian and Luxor don't really have a sense of humour, they'd likely try and concuss you." he declared before poking Atias in the forehead, "You got a lightsaber yet, Oh Padawan of mine?"

@LouJoVi

 

[Atias Zaldreell]

Atias excitement with Crix being his Master disappeared when he felt the panic and surprise coming from the Knight. If he already changed his mind, that would be the fattest case that the half-Morellian even saw. The older Jedi didn’t even see his abilities with the Force, not even knowing that he had Psychometry.

Before he could ask the Zabrak if he had changed his mind, Crix started to talk. For Atias’ delight, the Knight was settling the rules that he should follow if he wanted to be his Padawan. The half-Morellian noticed that some of it were very specific. Going to coffee dates with high ranking Siths, he didn’t even like coffee.

“Understood! So I can run away to oceanic planets on ill-advised rescue missions, try to have sex with Jedi that aren’t Shadows and go to tea dates with low ranking Sith, knowingly or unknowingly.” Atias said, a smile appearing on his lips. It was obviously a joke. Not because Crix was going to be his Master, he would escape from being teased by the Padawan.

The half-Morellian’s smile grew when he heard Crix agreeing to teach him to make more pranks. “Ok! I’ll remember that. Is there anyone else that isn't good at dealing with pranks?” the last thing that he wanted was to do it with the wrong person and end up stunned. “Also, this Clove is the same girl that had her spine broken by a Sith during the attack on Yavin IV.”

When Crix asked if he had a lightsaber, Atias smiled and moved to pick it. Pulling from inside his robes, the Padawan would the familiar cylinder shaped object to his Master. “There isn’t much time since I made it.” he activated it, revealing the yellow blade. His favorite color.

@Nefieslab

 

[Crix Aran]

"A tea-drinker? Gross, get out."

It was a quick shot back with just as obvious a joke behind it as Atias' own comments. After all, if his Padawan was going to have jokes then it only made sense that he did too! He was going to be the Master, after all, and that meant he had to teach Atias some stuff. Some of that was going to be his own style of joke-telling too no doubt.

Probably a lot of bad language too.

"All the other stuff is fine I guess." he continued to joke before grimacing slightly at the reminder of Clove's injury, "Yep that's her. Clove is my first Padawan but she's going to be taking the Trials soon and becoming a Jedi Knight."

He believed in her and her spine was coming along nicely. Crix still thought he should have added a small jetpack to it but he had been told that it was a "gross misuse of Order funds". Probably just sounded like too much fun more likely.

"Oh a shiny new one huh?" he grinned, taking Atias' hand in his own to turn the hand so he could observe the blade, "Alright not badly constructed at all. All your own work? Very nice, kid."

Crix stood up and bade Atias to follow him.

"'kay so next question. Humility time too I guess - what do you think you need the most help with? Come on, no wrong answers here and no threat to your new title. Lay it all out for me, kid."

@LouJoVi

 

[Atias Zaldreell]

Atias scoffed playfully with Crix comment about the tea. “Don’t you like tea? It’s far better than the dirty water that people call coffee. Maybe I’ll be able to make you taste some of it when we start our training.” maybe the half-Morellian could help his Master learn to like it.

Clove was going to become a Knight soon. Atias would need to be respectful around her when they meet each other, but it would not stop him from doing some pranks with her. He had the approval of his Master, after all. The half-Morellian would be careful to not be discovered by her when he does it. As a Knight, she can send him to receive a punishment.

“Thanks! Yep, I did it. I went with other Padawans of my class some months ago to collect our Kyber Crystals.” Atias still remembers how excited he was on this day. This was probably one of the moments that he waited the most to arrive. The other is going to be when he becomes a Knight. “I picked some pieces that the Knights gave to us and used the Force to make it.”

Then, Crix asked what he needed help the most. The easygoing demeanor disappeared and Atias became serious. He was reflecting about what the Zabrak had asked him. While he knew what he was good with, the half-Morellian barely thought about the things that he didn’t know how to do.

“I think that I have problems with meditation and it affects my capacity to use my healing abilities. It’s difficult to concentrate.” he stopped to think some more. “Oh! I could also use some more practice with dueling too.”

@Nefieslab

 

[Crix Aran]

Crix had tasted a lot of tea.

The reason he didn't drink it anymore was because his Master had been a real tea drinker, someone who loved all blends of the stuff, and Crix associated it with him. It was also why the ship that Atias would be spending many journeys on was stuffed with various different types of tea. He was free to use any of them but Crix himself would not be partaking in them.

"Expresso is life, kid."

Lightsaber construction was something that Crix rather enjoyed talking about - he had made two of his own after all and one he'd had to make entirely by hand rather than the Force. Turned out the Force tended to want to use actually purpose-built components and not the remnants of a blaster rifle he had adapted and modified to suit.

Go figure.

"Well my Master was something of a duellist so - guess what - you're gonna hate the sight of the training room before we're done." he grinned, "And that's just the one on the ship!"

Leading Atias back to the hanger of the Yavin Temple, Crix tapped away at his datapad, sending off a note that he was going to be taking his new Padawan off-planet for a bit.

"Ever been to Dxun, Atias? You're gonna love it. So many friendly creatures!" he assured his Padawan before pausing at the bottom of the ramp to his ship, "You're about to meet Sebastian and Luxor now, kid. Do yourself a favour; don't stare at Sebastian's legs and don't joke about masks around Luxor. Ready to meet the crew?"

@LouJoVi

 

[Atias Zaldreell]

”Dude, only by hearing you say it I’m already regretting going to train with you!” Atias laughed. The Padawan didn’t mind needing to train so much, he wasn’t lazy. He was very well prepared for it. Since he made his lightsaber, the half-Morellian couldn’t wait for the moment that he would have a Master. If he was going to complain of training so much, it was only part of his life as a Jedi.

Atias followed Crix out of the garden and toward the hangar of the Temple. He couldn’t believe that his training was already going to start. The half-Morellian had thought that Crix would have waited to start it tomorrow, giving them time to prepare things to carry with them for a trip. However, he wasn’t going to complain. He was too excited to find anything bad about it.

“I never went there, but I remember that it was one of the moons of Onderon.” Astrography was one of his favorite classes. Atias could remember the names of several planets and moons, even if never visited them. “Since I didn’t have a Master, I wasn’t allowed to leave the Temple. Only if it’s part of a field trip.”

“Ok! I’m ready!” Atias said, while he waited for the ramp of the ship to be lowered. He wondered what was the problem with these two. Why would he stare at someone's legs? While he waited for the ramp to be lowered, the half-Morellian noticed that he had carried the paint bomb wth him all this time.

“What should I do with it? It was difficult to put all the pieces together.” he showed the bomb to his Master, before a smile appeared on his lips. “Do you think that we could make a prank with Clove using it? Or maybe we can try this neo-modern art that I mentioned. It’s really made using these bombs.”

@Nefieslab

 

[Crix Aran]

Ah the kid had never been to Dxun... oh he should probably stop throwing his Padawans in the deep end with training missions to Dxun but he really wasn't going to be doing that anytime soon. It seemed like it had worked so far so he was keen to see if it was a trend or if he had just lucked out with Clove.

Hopefully he'd find out before some local wildlife tried to kill Atias.

"If you throw that thing at me, we're gonna have words, kid. Words with you hanging upside down from the ceiling."

The gruff voice came from Sebastian as the human trotted into view at the top of the ramp. Trotted being the right word for his eight mechanical legs carrying him with all the inhuman grace of a spider. Sebastian's lower half had been upgraded by Crix enough time that he had to consciously make an effort to make noise with those legs of his these days.

"Atias, meet Sebastian. He's our co-pilot." he introduced the large human man before patting Sebastian on the chest to encourage him to move out of the way, "Big softy."

Sebastian scowled and crossed his arms, using his legs to rise to his full height - somewhere between seven and eight feet tall with his mechanical limbs. Sat in the cargo hold across from them, a pale-skinned woman who might have been human sat in hushed silence as she carefully polished a mostly intact Temple Guard mask.

"That's Luxor, our gunner." he introduced her, "Quiet girl. Big into knives and masks and Clove. No - not like that."

Crix grinned as he placed his hands on his hips.

"You ready to get stuck into the business of saving the Galaxy, Atias?"

@LouJoVi

 

[Atias Zaldreell]

Before Crix could give him an answer about the fate of the paint bomb, Atias heard a male voice. He turned to look from where the voice was coming and saw what could only be described as a spider-man. This person had the torso of a human, but his legs were replaced by eight robotic ones, giving it the appearance of a spider.

Then, his Master told him that this guy was Sebastian. When he heard that, Atias remembered what Crix said about staring at the man's legs. The Padawan immediately stopped staring at the legs and looked at him, a smile appearing on his lips. "Hey! It's nice to meet you! My name is Atias and I'm Crix's new Padawan." he showed the paint bomb to Sebastian. "Nah, I'm thinking about using it with Clove."

After they entered the ship, Crix showed Atias another member of the crew. This time it was a woman called Luxor. The Padawan didn’t know how to talk with her, she was silently staring at him and it was unnerving. He felt that she was capable of doing things with the knives that the Zabrak mentioned that would make him regret pissing her off.

The half-Morellian smiled and waved at her. "Nice to meet you." by waving, the Padawan nearly dropped the paint bomb. It would be terrible for everyone if it had happened. Deciding to avoid an accident of happening, Atias put it inside the backpack that he was carrying. Before meeting with Crix, the boy was using it to carry some of the itens that he used to make the bomb.

His attention returned to Crix. "Of course I'm!" he was so excited to start his training with his Master. Atias has dreamed about it several times. It would make him closer to becoming a Jedi Knight. "I hope that you are prepared to get stuck with me until I become a Knight, because I'll not give up on our training!"

@Nefieslab