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kiwikipedia · 2 years

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We Are What Family Is

Fandom(s): Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars (Prequel Trilogy)

Rating: K

Summery: Cin Drallig always cautioned Padawans who looked at the Temple Guard in awe, always cautioned them to make sure that it was what they truly wished to do. And yet, he would not ever turn one away if it was what they wished to do. Because family didn’t reject each other, right?

AO3

More Temple Guard stuff because I love them

Cin Drallig always cautioned Padawans who looked at the Temple Guard in awe, always cautioned the ones who looked at him and the Guard as they walked through the halls to the front of the Temple every morning, to make sure that it was what they truly wished to do.

To guard the Temple was important, yes, and it was a high honor to serve as a Guard— in text, that was. In archives and books, it was marked down as a sacred job.

But it was not for everyone.

While Jedi were on the field, The Temple Guard was at home.

Some thought that their job was cushy, easy, and unimportant, that the Temple Guard was full of cowards who didn’t want to see the real battles out there, the real danger. Cin had heard all of those words before, listened with a straight face from under his own Mask while he stood with his brothers and sisters and siblings in silence when he was still just another body for the Temple’s defenses, or when he stood in for another Guard who had been injured when some idiot bounty hunter tried to break in. It wasn’t very often that a Guard was injured and no one was free to sub in for them, but it happened.

The Jedi as a whole were not cruel, but there were those who looked down on the Guard, just like they looked down on the Agricorps and Educorps. A certain Besalisk always came to mind.

Cin, himself, had been part of the Guard before Yoda had suggested his skills were better put as a Lightsaber Instructor. He had taken the mask off, and stepped away, but never allowed himself to forget the feeling of being a faceless Guardian to the rest of the Order.

Being a Gaurd was not as soft and cushy as one liked to think. The Temple Guard were known as the "Iron Wall of the Temple" for a reason. They trained until their hands bleed, set their own bones and dislocations. They learned, they looked down the barrels of blasters so that they knew the impact of a shot and how to withstand with the armor weaved into and under their robes. They trained and fought, actions that were hidden to the rest of the Temple because that's just how it was.

And it was draining in ways that the others didn’t realize. Draining to simply be nameless, to be another number among the Guards with no identity.

He knew that. He knew that the moment he accepted the position of being Head of the Temple Guard, Head of the Temple’s Security, on top of being the Temple’s Battlemaster.

It was because he knew this that he had spent hours late at night setting up a secured com-channel for the Guards to talk to one another freely outside of the one used for relaying work orders and changes. That he had sent for each of their helmets and masks to get refit with sound muffling tech so that their conversations went unheard. He never did know why the previous Heads of the Guard never commissioned for the masks to be altered, but it was no matter.

Still, Cin cautioned Padawans who wanted to be part of the Guard, gently told them that while it was an important job— one that was looked upon with respect in the texts— they must also be prepared to surrender themselves to the fact that they would not become someone known by face or feats.

Some Guards did not even hang on to their names, taking the role of being just a faceless guard to the extreme— even though he made attempts to dissuade them from that path.

Every mask was the same, there was nothing that defined them from one another side from their physical forms. Lofanurra, Cimzo Mes, and Yin’shihen were tall, with robes hiding fur and masks specially made to not look any different externally despite the different facial structures of a Wookiee, a Talz, and Togorian. Various helms were specially designed in the same sense to make space for their extra anatomy— So that a Twi'Lek's lekku weren’t pinched and Zabrak's horns didn’t destroy the material. And those were just a few examples.

Despite that, every mask was the same, every set of robes was the same, the only difference they were allowed were their personal lightsabers within their robes, but even then, they used Sabersaffs and Pikes to remain uniform while on duty.

Cin Drallig knew this, had lived it. And when he took over as the Head of the Guard, the Head of the Temple Security, he opened his doors to the Guards who needed them.

It was strange at first, especially to the older ones who had been a part of the Guard longer than he had and remembered when he was just a Padawan himself, but still, he did it.

It started with Mari Gildow and Ashe Lark popping in one day when Cin was meditating between the classes he had to teach that day, and then staying for tea. And then things changed from there. Sienna Tanneri further adjusted the comlink to create various conversations so that groups could talk or send messages without overlapping, Cin moved his living quarters from where they had been to the Guard's designated Hall so that those who did drop in were comfortable and could remove their masks and hoods without breaking Oath, more and more of the Guard dropped by and stayed for a while— and Serra and Bene found themselves tripping over dozing Guards in the sitting space in Cin's quarters.

But it was good, the aged Battlemaster mused as he stretched, waiting in the small personal kitchen within his quarters for water to boil and looking up when he heard a whoop from the other room.

There was an image of the Temple Gaurd and him in the minds of the Jedi of the Temple, in the minds of the public, and even the Clones.

One that was strong, stone-cold, and harsh.

Silent guardians to the Jedi as they moved about the Temple, faceless figures of uniformity to the Public when they passed the Temple, and a strange, different type of Jedi to the Clones— ones who were more like them than Jedi in some of their minds, only they donned robes with Saberpikes and staffs instead of armor and blasters.

Silent, still, strong, unshakable guardians of the Jedi Temple.

They were intimidating to those who didn’t look at them in awe and often simply blended into the Temple as fixtures that were always there.

Since he took over as the Head of the Guard, Cin just had to hide a chuckle every time he overheard someone whispering about how the Temple Guard were so unreadable, unnerving, and always there.

Because at the same time, Saa Kowa and Lofanurra were tossing around some weird sort of word game that only half of them could understand due to the language barrier and the two of the oldest Guards tossing in words that were hundreds of years old that none of them quite recognized— you tend to pick up various phrases when you're a nearly nine-hundred-year-old Kel Dor and nearly four-hundred-year-old Wookiee.

Thank the little gods for the voice mufflers and internal coms of their helmets, and Cin’s own ability to keep a straight face, or else the rest of the Jedi would’ve caught onto them and their antics.

And even now, the Guards were still at it, tossing words around as a few of them settled on the floor of his sitting-room as they played cards together— until they either had to switch with some of the other Night Guard for their own shifts or until they fell asleep.

He heard Mari mutter something, the blind Guard flopping back as she tossed her cards down.

A losing hand it seemed, he mused as he waited for the tea to finish brewing. Hakra Dorgoa laughed, the Iridonian Zabrak patting his human friend on the stomach as she huffed. The cards all had little divots punched into them, something that was done so she could play as well, even when she told the others she was fine just sitting and listening to them— but Nira Tal had insisted. The red-skinned Twi’lek was always figuring out ways to get around Mari’s blindness, as her Force Sight wasn't strong enough to pick out print and text.

Cin loved the Temple Guard. They were his children, save those who were older than him. But the sentiment of being a family was still there nonetheless.

And so, if the Guards wanted to use his quarters as a place to relax, then he was fine with it as he glanced out the door of the kitchen. And he smiled slightly to himself.

Mari’s long hair that normally was kept tied back when she was in full uniform was loose and fanned out on the floor. Hakra’s was in a loose ponytail, his tattoos visible and horns a bit too long but he wasn’t on until the night shift tomorrow, so he had time to file them down. The Guard's Charhound, Roq, was wagging as he laid happily near the two of them.

Nira was leaning over the Togruta, Adona Haalim, who was looking through her own cards, the two seemingly working as a team instead of playing separate hands. The Guard had an interesting number of House-Rules for their card games.

Ashe Lark, another human Guard whose hair was dyed a pale pink for no other reason than one of the others must have done it to him when he was asleep was next to them both, his green eyes narrowed as he studied his cards as well.

Lofanurra had been reduced to a comfy pillow as the Red Nikto Ner Askau, along with the Nautolan Tacar Anulig and Pau'an Varrom Selon leaned against him with the large Togorian form of Yin'shinhen next to him. Tacar's violet tresses were curling as she looked over her own cards and it seemed as if Varrom was specifically looking for a way to trip up her next move. It was expected from the two agemates though, he supposed.

Bene was stretched out across Lofanurra and Yin’Shinhen, half asleep with her datapad that had what was probably her work for classes tomorrow on it in her hands. Well, she usually finished all of her work on time, so Cin wasn’t worried.

Bene would be thirteen soon, he realized. He’d have to ask Maks Leem what she did for Padawan Malreaux’s lifeday. Serra was… very much a different person than Bene in likes and dislikes.

But Padawan Malreaux and Bene were good friends and had a number of the same interests despite Bene being a year older than him. He was a talented boy, to be chosen as a padawan so young.

Still, it was a sight that made him smile again as Mari pulled herself up, putting the cards back into the deck as Ashe placed one down.

“Don’t make Mari lose all the games you play,” Cin chided as he went back to watching the tea, waiting for it to finish steeping.

“She’s not, Master Drallig,” Tacar huffed, her tresses flicking. "She definitely won the last two rounds."

“I’m not!” Mari said at the same time. “But Yin is definitely cheating.”

“Cheating is not the Jedi way, so why the hell would I?”

“Because you’re a horrible, horrible feline—”

“Hey, apologize to felines! We don’t claim him,” Hakra huffed and Cin chuckled softly under his breath at Yin’Shinhen’s huff.

“Be less loud,” came Varrom's drawl. “The little one is sleeping.” Bene huffed. “‘m not, ‘m awake.”

“Yeah, because of these idiots, go back to sleep.”

His Padawan huffed again and Cin carefully picked up the tray of tea, walking out to the common area.

“Mari, tea,” Ashe said as Cin handed the cup down to her. She blinked, silvery eyes catching the light but she reached up, taking the cup with a hum

"Thanks, Master Drallig."

Cin just hummed in return, continuing to hand tea out to those who had asked before sitting down on the other side of Roq. "Who's winning this round so far?"

Ashe grinned a bit. "Yin'Shinhen was but I think I just managed to pull ahead."

"You wish, but I'm sorry to say that I'll be taking that spot from you, Ashe Lark," Adona hummed and Nira laughed softly as the blue-skinned Togruta set down a card. Ashe scowled and various grumbles and groans came from the other Guards who were still playing.

"That's not a legal move, Adona," Hakra pointed out and she only tilted her head back.

"Is it? Last I checked we were playing with the same suit match rule," she said and the Zabrak groaned, tossing his hand down.

"You just had to get me out, huh?"

“I as well, unfortunately,” Ner Askau sighed, shaking his head.

"You really have nothing you can play? Sucks to suck," Varrom deadpanned and Tacar laughed at the other Guard's offended face.

Mari just hummed, patting Roq as he set his head down on his paws, smoke trailing up from his snout. Cin smiled behind his own cup of tea, settling with his back against the sofa.

Yes.

This was the true face of the Guard, a strange family who played with a whole set of strange House-Rules that not even they could all keep straight. And certainly, he knew that if they were off duty, a number of others would have been here with them, laughing and talking and telling them about something or another that they had been witness to while on Duty— there was no such thing as enough blackmail material after all.

He watched as Tacar played her cards, Yin'shinhen grumbling at the low number before his own was set down.

Perhaps he'd play the next round.

Varrom Selon is the name I gave the eventual Grand Inquisitor because I cant just call him Grand Inquisitor and I’m not gonna ignore a canonical Guard! What do you take me for?

Edit: So I realized I made a mistake when doing the math for whie's age? And for some reason thought he was older than Bene. That's tragic. Whie was 14 when he was killed :(( I'm so sad now

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