Intensive Training
I am not alone.
Well, of course I’m not alone, I’ve got Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan… and another Obi-Wan, who prefers to be called Ben (don’t ask, I don’t fully understand either)… but now, there are more apprentices like me. But… not really like me. I’m still the first, and still the oldest.
It would seem that I should have the hardest time learning, due to the dark events in my past, and the supposed inflexibility of the mind after a certain point in time… but no. My abilities via the Force get stronger every day – I can sense, through the Force, not only Qui-Gon, but any of the Force-sensitive people around the Enclave, and where they are on Dantooine. My skills with Force telekinesis continue to grow, although my first attempts with them were mostly instinctive – stopping myself when falling out of a tree, halting a knife I threw and bringing it back to me… Gods forbid that ever happens again, I threw the blade at Qui-Gon, reacting purely on my ONI instincts, rather than the Force… but my Force instincts kicked in in time, before he was hurt. He showed great faith in my abilities then, saying that although he could have dodged, he did not, so strong was his belief that I would not hurt him. And he was right… but it scared the kark out of me anyway.
But anyway, the apprentices: two of them are teenage girls, each fifteen years old. Their names are Quellia Sheplin and Mirinah (Miri) Lance. They traveled here, on the advice of a smuggler, with Miri’s brother Tirum as their pilot. Tirum does not seem to be Force-sensitive at all, but Quellia and Miri both show great potential. Quellia, in particular, has shown aptitude in Force telepathy and Force telekinesis – however, she seems to suffer strange periods of confusion and memory loss, and often seems disconnected from the world around her; it may be troublesome with her training. Miri, on the other hand, is very eager to learn, asking many questions about abilities and Jedi lore, and has been attempting to use Force Pull, but with no success; but Qui-Gon and I have both reassured her that she will find her niche.
The third apprentice is only five years old; she is another girl, named Mila Gev. She is very intelligent, to be certain… but still very young, and I’m not sure which Force abilities she’s manifested. Her mother, Mirta Gev, brought her here, through the recommendation of Ben – the woman is only my age, but she has seen much. I could tell that when I met her after she landed on Dantooine – I had sensed their presences, and went to investigate. In revealing that I was in training to become a Jedi, I almost got my head blown off – fortunately, I had remembered my blasters, and shot her weapon out of her hand without trouble. After that, we were able to talk more, reach more of an understanding. Mirta does not want her daughter to specifically become a Jedi (or, conversely, a Sith); she merely wants her to be able to control her abilities. I promised Mirta that Mila would always have the choice to be what she wanted. When mentioning this to Qui-Gon, he suggested that I teach her morals, in replacement of the Jedi Code. Surprised, I agreed; I was under the impression that I was not truly supposed to teach any of the apprentices, since I was one myself. Earlier, I had been rebuked slightly for giving Miri the holocron I had finished with, but I had good reasons behind it; I found her heading into the Enclave, not knowing about the possible Sith traps that might still exist there.
Speaking of Sith… another part of my training has been triggered by the arrival of a Sith Lord, seeking to kill Qui-Gon. Sensing this, I was shocked, because the Sith Lord was none other than Jacen Solo, the young man who had arrived on my island, what seemed like ages ago. He was still handsome… but terrible as well. I rushed to Qui-Gon’s aid, but he urged me to stay in the shadows, and I complied. During the following duel, Jacen struck out at Qui-Gon with Force Lightning… it was the first time I’d ever seen such a phenomenon, and although Qui-Gon absorbed and deflected most of it without serious injury, I could not help but react. Jacen saw me, and stopped his attack – my presence, and the calm front I was putting up, allowed Qui-Gon to regroup, and for the two of us to form a plan. Qui-Gon would attack again, and while Jacen was distracted with that, I would petrify his lightsaber, rendering it useless.
The plan worked well… except when Jacen turned to me, hand raised… and I felt his hand around my throat, squeezing. Half out of self-preservation, half out of wanting the fight to end, I began to petrify… him. I did not make it permanent – I never truly want to do that again. But I’m not sure for how long I have petrified him. Only when the process was complete was I released from the Force choke, and Qui-Gon rushed to my aid. I recovered, but I was hoarse for the rest of the night. Qui-Gon moved the Sith statue deep into the Enclave, and destroyed Jaden’s disabled lightsaber. He praised me for being a great rarity: one who was able to defeat a Sith lord without a lightsaber… and then he suggested I start to make my own.
The research for the lightsaber has been interesting… and I discovered an innovative modification I could add to my blade. With two crystals, I could set up a mechanism which would allow the blade to be used underwater. Earlier, before I had made this discovery, I had requested that Qui-Gon take apart the ancient lightsaber he found before, so that I could study its crystal. He did so, and gave the crystal to me; he suggested I use that crystal as the second (the first, of course, would be my sapphire), but I refused, since the feeling of the crystal suggested that it was truly bound to someone else. Instead, I decided to find out the crystal’s origin, and, with that understand, duplicate its perfection with my own petrification skills. It will be a strenuous task… but I have changed brass to fourteen karat gold, and I know I can make a perfect crystal, one that is truly mine.
Once the mechanism is complete, I will be able to encase it in my own design – I have drawn out one with a spiraling guard, so that I do not grasp the blade by accident during usage. The spiral, simple at first, now seems to me to be requesting to be a snake, something reminiscent of what used to writhe on my head, when I was a gorgon. I intend to make the eyes little chips of diamond, something that will be able to resist the intensity of the plasma. The rest of the saber’s handle is more modern – I’m pleased with the fusion of designs, because that is truly what I am, too – a fusion of Earth’s simpler past and the technological advancements of this galaxy.
However… even as my training proceeds, there is a new urgency to all of our actions. Qui-Gon has informed Quellia and Miri about the Sith attack, and told them that he will be accelerating their training. What is more… we don’t know when the petrification will wear off. We will have to relocate to a new planet before it does, hopefully somewhere more remote. I found a solution – it is a planet called Rinn. It has a temperate climate, no major cities, and is off the main trade routes; plus, there is a patch of what is generally called Hutt Space, in between us and the inner parts of the galaxy. The Imperial presence will be greatly reduced, because the route to get to that area of the galaxy is full of pirates who like to go after the big ships. Qui-Gon approved of my research. We will do one last sweep of the Enclave, getting as much information and artifacts as we can, to take with us on our ship (which I will refer to as Kosmos from here on out, since once I return to Tynnara, I will buy it from the company that I have been renting it from), Tirum’s ship (called the Rogus), and Ben’s ship. Once that is done… we leave Dantooine for good.
I may have my lightsaber finished by the time we reach Rinn – it’s a long trip. But I may not. It’ll probably be wise for me to bring a bag of suitable-sized stones, so I can practice duplicating the ancient silver crystal. I will also bring a piece of the broken mirror that I found inside the Enclave – it holds a power where I can converse with my own reflection, which asks me questions about my decisions in life. It may be useful for me, and for the girls, too, when it comes their time to reflect on who they are.
As for who I am… I am not alone. I have my fellow apprentices… I have Ben, who is both friendly and enigmatic… and I have my love, Qui-Gon, who has pledged his life to me, and mine to him. At night, I never leave his side, and my dreams are as pleasant as my reality. However… I must remember that I am still his apprentice, his Padawan… and I must not overstep my bounds, no matter how I feel, no matter what good it may do. He has chided me about this more than once, and it is a hard lesson for me to learn… but I will. Just as I will learn to control my hunger for knowledge (a hunger so great that it makes my hand cramp up from taking too many notes), and learn how to wield a lightsaber, and so many other things. The view out the window may change… but the training still continues.
