The day began as usual – with Drallig's groans. As it turned out, even this can become accustomed to. Usually, it started in the last part of sleep, closer to morning, when he had the best dreams: that beautiful princesses and queens loved him, that the whole Galaxy listened to his wise advice, that he led the High Council of the Order… In short, standard dreams for any boy his age. I had similar dreams when my mind was at his age. Only the irony of these dreams is that, if the Force wills it, only a percentage of all boys who have such dreams manage to realize them in any form. Dreams and visions hardly interested me.
Well, I dream of fighting some young Palpatine in a tropical paradise, so what? It's just a product of my sick imagination. I can't even think about fighting someone like Sidious, let alone using Ataru, which, in my opinion, is almost hopeless. I need Soresu. First of all, then, maybe I'll study Makashi, for more effective combat against lightsaber wielders. But Ataru? No, definitely not. Although I don't rule out that after that I'll study some elements of this form, if I live long enough. Speaking of swordsmanship… We've been waiting for this day. We returned with our lightsabers like triumphant generals. With a victory that most of the Temple's population doesn't care about.
We have lightsabers, we have comprehended the Force, for the most part. We have also mastered many other disciplines. The tedious time of younglinghood has arrived, when you await a Master. And the easiest student in our Clan for many will be Fimor. Yes, him. Why? It's simple: Fimor is a theoretical dogmatist. He is interested in studying the philosophy of comprehending the Force, but not swordsmanship or the Force itself. During the canon, it helped him, as I understood, to attract Qui-Gon's attention. I, on the other hand, will be a very difficult student, if only because it's easier to list what I don't know than what I do. And yet, I'm not even a seasoned MC.
Despite the abundance of abilities, I didn't always win, occasionally getting beaten even by Cin. Much of what I know needs to be translated into the category of "applicable at any moment," not when I'm focused on training. This, by the way, is what Yoda was doing, forcing me to use Force Techniques at any time. Therefore, my Master must either have broad capabilities, surpassing my entire arsenal in the number of possibilities themselves, or have far fewer presumed abilities, but a much better understanding of them. Ideally, it would be Yoda himself. His skills are great, the depth of their understanding is beyond doubt. If Yoda were my master, I would achieve incredible flourishing. But alas, the Great Master deigns to be busy with Council affairs. And this is true – Yoda missed classes many times, simply sending me the manual on Force Techniques that we were supposed to practice. Either the Senate bothered him again, or sometimes he flew away somewhere… In short, the best possible option had no time for me.
And Padawanhood is not just "I will teach you a bunch of Techniques," as Yoda does with me, adding skills and deepening my understanding of existing ones. A Master must pay attention to the student, preferably travel with him. And Yoda mostly sits in the Temple. Many short-sighted smart alecks would say: "But Yoda was Master Dooku's Master!!! Why did he have time for Dooku?!" And I would answer: "Shut up, idiots." The format Yoda used for Dooku is similar to mine. Yoda only honed Dooku's lightsaber skills, and the initial training was carried out by Teym Cerulian. Now Yoda is honing my Force abilities. And my Master will bring the direct practice to me. All that remains is to wait for him.
So… Today. It was special only because today Knight Roan will do what Drallig has desired from the first minutes of his stay in the Temple. More precisely, from the first minutes when he learned about Swordsmanship forms. To learn something other than Shii-Cho, which has already bored everyone… It got on my nerves because it didn't solve the problems I set for myself… Shii-Cho, in my opinion, is an ineffective style. To achieve anything with it, only a master of this style can, but how much time must be spent to reach such an indefinite rank. Master of Style – is not an official title, because the requirements for it are absolutely vague. In fact, you have to prove that in this Style, only eggs are better than you.
"AAAAAAH!" Drallig jumped up, waking up Gol and Fimor… And even Yoda's faintly felt aura, as it seemed to me, was distracted from his morning meditation.
"What happened?" Fimor jumped up.
"Wau wav war (Damn savage! Woke up half the galaxy!)," Gol grumbled discontentedly.
"Eh… My dream went too far… I was saving a princess, but she turned out to be a Hutt princess! Hutts… They're horrible… And the reward…"
"Shut up," I interrupted his nonsense, annoyed that he distracted me from meditation. "And anyway, you saved the princess. Do you really object to the reward? Princesses certainly know how to be grateful. What's wrong with being rewarded?"
"Are you an idiot?!" Drallig exclaimed, too loudly. "I saved… a Hutt princess, and she… she…"
"Was the dream that realistic?" I asked. "Then it was clearly a Force vision. You are destined to have sex with a Hutt woman. You should be happy about such an exotic experience, because everyone prefers Twi'leks, Togruta, and Zeltrons. But Hutts are something new, unexplored. Your experience should be immortalized in the annals of the Jedi Temple."
By the end of my answer, Gol and Fimor were holding their sides, laughing.
"Light! This can't be a vision! It can't be, can it?!" Cin asked me, looking at me with such pleading eyes while I threw on my clothes. "Come on, say something! You're the best at navigating the Force!"
"Hmm, who knows," I mused, scratching my chin thoughtfully. "There is still much unknown in the Force, young Cin. Many mysteries are hidden in darkness."
"No jokes! Don't impersonate Master Yoda!"
"Well, if I'm being honest... It most likely was."
"It?" he repeated.
"A Force vision!" I exclaimed, raising my head. "The great and mighty Force has bestowed upon you, its pathetic and worthless servant, like almost any insectoid slave, a vision in which you save a princess of the Hutt clan, and she thanks you for it."
"No… No-no-no!" Cin clutched his head, and how I understood him. Judging by everything, the princess decided to thank Cin "against his will" and clearly not with chips with bearer bonds. "This can't be! Light, how can I avoid this?!"
"How?" I asked, puzzled. "Well… The future is constantly in motion, so visions don't give a definitive answer. That's the first thing. And second, be careful, Cin. Because by trying to avoid the future, you might very well reach it, and it could even get worse…"
"Worse?" Fimor asked. "After what Cin told us, I don't know what could be worse."
"For example, Cin might accidentally save twin princesses…"
"Wao waw (Not too bad)," Gol chimed in.
"Of the Hutt clan," I finished.
"NOOOOOOO!" Cin screamed. "I won't survive this… Light! You'll tell me everything!"
"Unlikely. Today we start studying new forms of lightsaber combat, and I'll be busy mastering Soresu."
"So you want to study Soresu too?" Fimor asked. "I thought you'd choose Ataru."
"It has little defense," I informed my friend. "And you remember I don't like pain. The less defense, the more chance I'll expose myself."
"Warrru uaw waer (Personally, I think the Fifth Form would suit me)," Gol informed us.
"I completely agree with you. That form is ideal for your species, I'm sure you can even surpass Cin in it. In the future…"
"Speaking of Cin. Are we waiting for him?" Fimor asked. "We have breakfast now, and then an introductory lesson with Knight Roan."
Cin, judging by his sobs, went to the shower, so…
"He'll catch up," I shook my head. "He needs to calm down."
Maybe I should tell Cin that Force Visions mostly happen to those who lean more towards the concept of the Unified Force? Cin himself is more about the Light Side. Visions are rare for such individuals… But even so, one needs to prepare their mind, go through many meditations, and attune oneself to the fact that all of this will be quite spontaneous. In other words, Cin had an elementary nightmare. Contrary to the opinion of a small portion of Star Wars fans, Jedi don't have visions all the time. Not even that, they are rare for the most part. It's also true that for this, one needs to have incredible potential in the Force, or substitute it with their skill. Cin's potential is above average, and his skills in this area are zero point zero… Therefore, he was incredibly flattering himself when he spoke of a Vision. The chance of him seeing a Force Vision with his current skills is about the same as my chances of winning against Vitiate right now. That is, theoretically, I could strike his body with a lightsaber, but practically, Vitiate would kill me while I was still approaching, with a single movement.
"Let's go," I nodded towards the door.
The girls were already standing in the corridor, waiting for us. Despite the jokes, rivalries, and other youthful charms, our clan was generally friendly. At least, our age group. We could joke around with each other, but if someone from other groups or clans decided to tease us a bit, we would immediately band together and fight back. By the way, the girls were… Beautiful. Daily physical training, the Force… Multiplied by the fact that girls mature earlier than boys. As a result, at ten or eleven years old, Versaria, Maru, and Rela looked at least thirteen or fourteen, precisely when a clumsy girl finally transforms into a young woman. Slender bodies dressed in Temple robes, but even that didn't stop us from looking at them. Versaria Ekhz was originally a crude gossip, who loved to put down her interlocutors with insults. Rela is the daughter of a slave freed by a Jedi. A Twi'lek… Beautiful, flexible, and slender, they made excellent Jedi and pairings for harems. And Maru, a Togruta, who had a bit of clan upbringing, like "survival in the wild." A kind of miniature Shaak-Ti.
"Master Leyla promised to send us to Knight Roan after we pass the test on Shii-Cho," Versaria chuckled. "And where is Cin?"
"He's self-organizing," I replied calmly. "Under a cold shower."
"I wonder why?" Vers asked curiously.
"Vers, calm down," Fimor stopped her. "Cin has something to think about, and it doesn't concern you."
"Yes, yes," her friends agreed, nodding. If before they formed a trio of gossips, now they had become more or less calm and cooled down a bit. Unlike Versaria…
"I promised," Master Leyla's voice reached us, "that you would start mastering other forms of lightsaber combat immediately after passing the tests on Shii-Cho and assembling a lightsaber."
As always, an attractive blonde with golden hair and blue eyes. Fimor even froze slightly… Is it possible… It's too early, of course, although we Jedi have been engaged in physical training since childhood. Most likely, they provoked Fimor's early hormonal surge. And I've been looking at the girls lately too. And it affects them… It will be hardest if my Master turns out to be a woman and from a race that generally attracts me. And I'm attracted to… Twi'leks, Zeltrons, Miraluka, Togruta, classic Sith, Sephi, humans… In general, it will be difficult. Not to fall in love with a beautiful, presumably young and healthy woman? Although, if they give me Yaddle, or someone else from that song, then it's not so bad.
"But it so happened that after passing the tests on Shii-Cho and assembling a training saber, it was decided to send you to Ilum, given your good results…"
"Good?!" Cin's voice was heard. "I was tearing my last pants, Master…"
"I'm glad for your feat," Leyla smiled. "Shall I inform the quartermaster to give you a few spare ones?"
"No," Cin deflated. "Just…"
"Just?" Leyla asked, tilting her head slightly. "Did you want applause? They are needed by actors and singers, and you are a future Jedi Knight. Our training is excellent, guys, but you must understand one simple truth that I told you. What did I tell you?"
"There is no limit to perfection," we said in unison.
"Correct. A Jedi must always learn something new. A stagnant Jedi is a dead Jedi. Especially you… So similar, so different. You have your own peculiarities, which you must develop and improve yourself."
"Everything is clear, Master," I informed Leyla.
"You understand, but you don't accept," Leyla shook her head. "The big world will teach you. Or you won't live to my age."
"And how old are you…"
After receiving a painful jab in the ribs from me and Fimor simultaneously, Cin shut up, looking at us with indignation. Asking a woman her age? Even an inexperienced person like me understands perfectly well that asking any woman about her age is, at the very least, impolite.
"What, what did you say?" Leyla smiled, paying attention to him.
"No," Cin grumbled, "nothing."
We just saved him from imminent death. Maybe it's worth letting Cin finish his sentence just once, so the girls could teach him a little about life. Then he would understand, instead of looking at me with such condemnation…
"Oh, fresh meat!" Roan exclaimed joyfully when our Clan joined the lightsaber combat training in full.
In the huge hall, which could clearly accommodate at least a thousand sentient beings, there were a large number of younglings and… only five knights.
"I'll explain only once! There are five instructors here for lightsaber combat training. Each of them specializes in one specific form," he said, nodding towards four Jedi. "I myself can help those who have decided to master Shien/Djem So! Weigh your decision carefully, newcomers, because everything depends on your style! It's not easy to change styles during training. It's easier to master one style, and then try to master a second one!"
The joining of new students is not a very frequent occurrence. All clans fly to Ilum around the same time – after passing the training lightsaber tests. Occasionally, those who didn't fly to Ilum but passed the tests join. In any case, according to our informants from the older younglings, Roan has been repeating the same phrase for as many years as he has been a Master of Battle whenever "newcomers" enter the hall. This does him credit, as he only delivers such a speech when there are newcomers in the hall. He himself understands who is coming for the first time and who is not.
"I am Shisk Ari," introduced the Nautolan, a tall Jedi with green skin. "Those who wish to continue perfecting Shii-Cho, come to me."
Next, a tall Sephi introduced himself, whose chestnut hair was braided in the signature hairstyle of my people. Personally, I never liked it; my hair wasn't particularly long because I kept it cut.
"Shori Umbar," the man bowed slightly. "I will guide you on the path of elegance and precision – Makashi."
"I am Zest," introduced… a Zeltron? And why is he a man? It would be better if he were a woman. "My form is Soresu."
"I am Loli Ricarda," introduced a slender woman standing nearby. "Those who wish to master Ataru – come to me."
And Niman, as I understood, is studied from holocrons. And mainly by adult Knights. Not to mention Jar'Kai…
"Greetings are over!" Roan proclaimed. "Let's get down to business! Each of you choose a Master and go learn. And be attentive. Lazy weaklings will die in the first conflict. The first part of the training is aimed at practicing the basics, movements, and warm-up. The second part of the training is sparring, including between adepts of different styles! Disperse!"
Yes, he's used to commanding. Zest, the master of Soresu, gathered many younglings. This is because Soresu is popular now. The Sith are "destroyed," and a huge number of sentient beings use blasters. For Soresu adepts, it's paradise now, because even a prepared group finds it incredibly difficult to defeat a knight who uses Soresu in combat. Because the basis of Soresu is "moving meditation," which expands perception to incredible heights.
"Now I will show you the basic movements and tell you about the philosophy," Zest smiled.
It seemed that Rela, who had the misfortune of going with me, like many girls, was captivated. Zeltrons are excellent empaths and… hedonists, who place physical, i.e., sexual, pleasure almost above all else. There are few Jedi among them, because Jedi kill from time to time, and Zeltrons are pacifists. But the girls were unlikely to care about that; they looked at Zest's pink skin and swooned, while he lectured and demonstrated stances and transitions.
"You also need to," he looked at us sternly, "master moving meditation. It is with this that all these stances I showed you will begin to play with new colors."
So…
"For now, use training sabers," Zest noted. "This applies to newcomers. I will assess your progress and then decide what to do with you and whether you can be admitted to training…"
So much time has passed… Cin Drallig looked at me, holding his saber in the classic Djem So stance. My clanmate's eyes burned with determination. What were we doing now? The Youngling Tournament is approaching. And if before I didn't pay much attention to it, now I, and everyone else, trained to exhaustion. After all, the successes of peers are the best motivator… And Fimor's seemingly unremarkable successes motivated even me. What were his successes? In Qui-Gon, who, as soon as Fimor turned eleven, took him as a Padawan. And now he had every chance to become a Knight before anyone else. Which Drallig could no longer forgive and began to literally tear himself apart. He almost forced me to train with him, pestered all the knights, begging them to take him as a Padawan… And now I wonder, who will cool Drallig's ardor? Because with his current character, he's more likely to fall to the dark side than live to the events known to all, becoming a Master of Battle.
I stood in the classic Soresu stance, concentrating as much as possible on Drallig. Training sabers mean we can strike without hesitation. In addition, we can only fight with such sabers without instructors. Combat sabers should only be used under supervision… Zest taught me a lot, although… I wouldn't have managed without Master Yoda. It was he who taught me Moving Meditation.
Cin broke first, although his style dictated that he should attack. Catching his saber attack, I deflected it aside, and with a second movement, made a thrusting attack. Cin dodged, moving aside, and swung at my torso. I blocked again. He launched a whole combination of attacks, showering me with a hail of blows that I deflected. And he…
One of Cin's blows, even despite the block, hit my shoulder. From the pain, I gritted my teeth and, as quickly as possible, applied Crucitorn. Out of anger, I started counter-attacking more often and made several more mistakes. This is not the elegant style of Makashi; Cin was pushing through my defense, and counter-attacking? The basis of Soresu is to wear down the opponent. The counter-attack is delivered at the very end and is often fatal. But Cin didn't even get out of breath while fighting me. In the end, we locked in a hard block, and Cin began to press me, forcing me to drop to one knee.
"Now I will defeat you," Drallig almost spat in my face.
I focused on one moment. Only one thing would help me. Because even my foresight was blunted by Cin Drallig's increased speed and aggression, and also by the fact that he too had begun to master foresight quite well.
Now! Instantly deactivating my lightsaber, I lunged to the right. Cin was overcome by inertia, and the fraction of a second was enough for me to reactivate my lightsaber and perform Cho-Mok, landing a serious blow to Cin's legs.
"Agh, fuck!" Cin exclaimed when the training saber immediately burned through both his legs. "Hutt!"
Yes, it was tough. For the last couple of months, I had been literally dying in Soresu training… What's surprising is this: everyone noticed my diligence in mastering this form, but Zest said from the beginning that with my build and physique, I should have mastered Ataru. Why would I need a strong attack if I have perfect defense? In any case, I perceived Form Four with a degree of skepticism, even though Yoda himself told me that I had all the prerequisites to become an excellent master of this form.
"Oof," Drallig held his legs. Even through the layer of clothing, he felt the training saber.
We've had so many sparring sessions with him. I even think it's harmful. Because I'm used to him, to an adept of the Fifth Form, and I've sparred little with adepts of other forms. Will this come back to haunt me? Quite possibly, so I need to work on it. But first – the Youngling Tournament, in which we will definitely participate.