A New Master

[Jiang Winters]

It seemed like only yesterday Jamall Mohatu had met Jedi Knight Koru Arca, who had taken upon himself the task of training the young cathar man in the ways of the force. In reality, it had been a good while ago, and now, it was time for a change. Jamall had received a new master, a new teacher to look up to, to respect, and to learn from as he learned to walk the path of the Jedi. When would he meet that master? He did not know.

And so as per his usual time-killing habit he employed whenever waiting for something, the brown-furred cathar was seated at an isolated table within the Jedi Archives, an array of datacards piled neatly in front of him as he flicked through the contents of one of the cards on a large laptop-style datapad with a folding screen and sleek black case. He was alternating between studying and tweaking the design of his lightsaber to make it more efficient; as such he had two programs running side by side, one to read the datacards he was studying in seemingly random order, another a design program displaying a 3-Dimensional exploded image of his saber which was rotating about slowly. His focus was on the datacard reading program, though, which was displaying a list of various lightsaber-resistant materials.

It was good practical knowledge, and could save his life one day. But at the moment, it was a good, logical way to spend some of his excess time. It definitely beat trying to meditate in the middle of the day, after all.

 

[Storm]

T'Truht had not undertaken an apprentice since his promotion to the rank of Council Member; surprising, perhaps. He'd turned down many applications until now. Surprising once more. Why? The Force had called to him, a magic tug? That sort of summed it up.

His apprentice's name was Jamall Mohatu.

T'Truht found him, reading in the archives. Good. A desire of learning was good in an apprentice; showed intelligence. A Cathar, too, as he'd already known.

"Greetings."

T'Truht rumbled, in his Whiphid voice. "I am your master, T'Truht. As we walk to the training room, please, tell me about yourself. Your life. You. Your hopes. Your fears."

 

[Jiang Winters]

The rumbled 'greetings' caused the relatively tall and well-built cathar to slide his chair back and stand up, then turn to face the whipid who had addressed him. Jamall's dark brown eyes tilted upwards to look at the whipid, and he nodded once at his Master's instructions. He folded up his datapad and picked up up, then left the pile of datacards where they sat as he cradled the datapad under his arm and turned to follow his master. The archivist would hate him for leaving the pile of cards upon the table, but it couldn't be helped.

The cathar fell into step alongside his master as they walked to the training room. "Alright, about myself... To make a long story short, my name is Jamall Mohatu, I was born on Balmorra. My life was fairly average, and I was a complete bookworm, unlike my twin sister Samanya. She was the adventurous one, she loved to take risks and she loved anything that went dangerously fast and went 'boom'. I was, and still am, the calmer one. I prefer to be cautious and to take things slowly, and to examine all my options before embarking upon a venture. I also used to be a steadfast pacifist; I firmly believed, and still believe, that violence should always be the last resort to a situation."

He paused for a moment as he tried to collect his thoughts, as he felt the beginning of his explanation was... Rough, at best. Jumbled at worst. "Anyways, uh, I had to rethink the life I'd chosen for myself about four years ago. I had been planning on becoming a scholar - I wanted to teach ancient history, to be more specific - but my twin sister was abducted by pirates, and presumed dead only a short while later by the authorities who had investigated the pirate attack that had taken her. My sister and I were very close. She meant a great deal to me. As such, losing her was the most painful thing I'd ever known. And it made me want to strike back at those who had taken her. The classic 'descent into darkness' scenario, I suppose. But before I could be consumed by the hate I felt for those who had taken Samanya, a friend of mine who had become a Jedi Padawan came and visited me. I could relay to you the entire conversation he had with me, but in essence, he told me that if I really wanted to make a difference in the galaxy, I should join the order."

Jamall chuckled at himself for a moment, then continued. "Well, at the time I was only sixteen, I was naive, and I knew nothing of the Jedi. I more or less assumed that the Order was a sort of force-wielding intergalactic police force, and that appealed to me greatly, so I came here. As you can imagine, I got quite the shock when I found out just how much grander than a police force the Jedi Order is. After I learned more about the Order and began studying the teachings of the Jedi, my goals and my outlook on my life changed. In short, instead of desiring some sort of misguided vengeance, I now want to do what I can to ensure that no-one else ever has to suffer the same pain that I endured when Samanya was taken. I do not delude myself with the belief that I can defend everyone from that suffering, but if I can protect just a few souls, then I will have accomplished that goal."

The cathar smiled faintly, again in amusement at himself. "Uh, as you can tell, Master T'Truht, I tend to ramble sometimes. It's one of many things I have yet to learn to control. I hope you don't mind." He admitted somewhat sheepishly. In the end, he had to give himself a swift mental kick to the tail-end; why couldn't he just speak concisely, without babbling? Perhaps it was that strange overly talkative habit that kicked in whenever he was around someone of as high a rank as his new Master.

 

[Storm]

T'Truht frowned. Such stories were so common in a galaxy like the one today. The state of the galaxy was not as it should be. It needed addressing, fixing, dealing with.

"I see."

Was all T'Truht said. Time to explore further. "I too have lost much. I know it must be hard. Obviously, your feelings might have been the most natural way. But this galaxy needs control more than anything, with the madness that is infringing upon it."

Did Jamall have control?

"What are your feelings now on the loss of your sister? If you were to meet the abductors, what would you do? If you were to find her again, what would you do?"

 

[Jiang Winters]

Jamall's brow furrowed as he pondered T'Truht's query. It was a good question, but one that the cathar padawan wasn't entirely sure he knew the answer to. But nevertheless, he answered his master's query.

"I don't know what I would do, not exactly. A part of me wants to strike out and exact vengeance upon Samanya's abductors. But the rest of me knows that is not the Jedi way. It is not my way. I... Just don't know. I wouldn't lash out and let my anger take control, but I'm not sure I could bring myself to show them any sort of mercy or compassion, save for what little mercy there is in allowing them to live only to be thrown into a prison." He tackled the easiest question of the three with his words. The other two would be somewhat harder. Once again, he took the easier of the two remaining queries.

"As for what I'd do if I met Samanya again, I think it's safe to assume that I'd bring her back home. But, I know the universe isn't all flowers and roses; it's possible that her time as a slave may have... Changed her for the worse. I guess I'd have to see her again and learn what changes she may have undergone to know what I'd do."

He paused for a moment, then continued speaking.

"I have had several years to deal with my feelings on her loss, though. I went through the usual cliched stages of emotion following her kidnapping. Sorrow, followed by intense anger and hatred towards those responsible, and towards myself for not being there for her. It took a little time and quite a bit of self-convincing, but I've managed to mostly bury those destructive emotions. I still feel hurt by her loss. It's kind of like... A wound that has partially healed, but every so often it's reopened by one thing or another, if that makes sense. I don't think I'll ever be able to heal and fully move on until I've found her."

 

[Storm]

T'Truht nodded.

"I see. Of course, trying them under fair Republic law is what would be needed, despite what you see as their obvious guiltiness. You may also, in such a situation, wish to have a senior Jedi help you on the matter; your personal issues would come into conflict with your work sphere, so to speak. Otherwise, fairly good answers."

T'Truht smiled; he had the feeling this would be a good Jedi.

"Now, onto the more "exciting" aspects, from what the rest of my padawans have seen so far. Utilisation of lightsabers and the Force. We'll start with the Force."

"What do you know of it and what experience do you have of it?"

 

[Jiang Winters]

"I didn't think of that, Master. I'll make sure to remember to be in the company of a senior Jedi if I go chasing after my sister." Jamall replied. Though he had a feeling that if he ever found his sister, it would not be the result of a deliberate search; rather, it would be either luck or the Force that lead him to stumble across Samanya.

"Hm, the Force. Well, from what I know of it, it is a powerful force that is inside us and surrounds us all, binding the universe together, so to speak. And the Force itself is neither good nor evil; it is how one uses the Force that makes it Light or Dark. I think." The cathar paused briefly, then continued to speak. "Anyways, I have received some training in the use of the Force. Not much, though, and virtually nothing on the more advanced uses of the Force. I do have a fairly firm grasp on some of the basics, though. Such as manipulating objects through the Force, or using it to help me perform physical feats that would otherwise be impossible. Such as, say, running faster than normal or jumping farther and higher than I could without the force."

 

[Storm]

T'Truht nodded.

"Good. Yes, the Force is that. Yes, the Force is in all living things and binds all living things together."

T'Truht considered, for a moment.

"Firstly, please show me your abilities in the Force." T'Truht indicated a number of stones, varying in size. "These are for just such a purpose.

"Then, please tell me what you know of the Nine Tenents and the Jedi Code."

 

[Jiang Winters]

Jamall surveyed the various stones briefly, dark brown orbs traveling over each the smooth surface of each one. After a moment, he reached out with the Force, using it to embrace each individual stone and gently them into the air with a smooth motion. While the Cathar was not one to show off, his Master did want him to show him what he was capable of, and so he did.

He sent three of the stones spiraling into the air as though they were miniature starships, the lead stone darting about in loops and rolls while the latter two stones gave chase. The little display went on for a few moments overhead, the stones almost randomly trading places as the leader before forming into a loose delta formation and racing around Master T'Truht and Jamall in a circle, flying at high velocity around them. The display was meant to show that Jamall could control several objects flying at great speed without considerable difficulty, and could also easily use that skill in both defensive and offensive fashions. After all, flying stones did make excellent antipersonnel weapons in a pinch, and if in a large cloud, they could also be used as a weak shield to ward off light weapons fire.

Roughly a minute after the show began, the three stones slowed and moved to rejoin their floating brethren, and then the little group settled to the ground in unison.

With that done, Jamall moved on to the next part of his task.
"The Jedi Code is;
Emotion, yet peace
Ignorance, yet knowledge
Passion, yet serenity
Chaos, yet harmony
Death, yet the force."

"The Nine Tenents are a little harder, because they really can't be summarized.
The First Tenent explains the role of the Jedi Order in the Galaxy. How we are defenders of peace and justice, and how we guard the freedom and liberty of all life, regardless of how important or unimportant." He began, folding his muscular arms - hidden beneath the loose cloth of his Padawan's robes - across his chest. "The Second deals with Emotion and how it may affect a Jedi. The Third deals with love, and explains that it is an emotion to be approached with caution. It also prohibits marriage and provides a rational explanation for the prohibition of matrimonial bonds."

"The Fourth commands that a Jedi respect life in any and all of its forms, and to only take life when it is absolutely necessary. It also makes it clear that the needs of the whole must be placed over the needs of an individual, and that a Jedi must never act solely for personal gain. The Fifth Tenent states that we must protect those who cannot protect themselves, and that we must never strike down a defenseless being. It also says that we should also do what we can to aid the poor and unfortunate of the galaxy if we are in the position to do so, but we must also respect the laws of the Republic and the Codes and Tenets of the Order as we render aid."

The fur-covered padawan let his arms fall to his sides as he furrowed his brow briefly, followed by a smile tugging at the corner of his lips as he was able to summon up the memory of the next Tenent. "The Sixth Tenent shows that we are to follow the commands of the Jedi Council and our Grandmaster. It also says that we may disagree with the Council and their decisions, but never openly oppose them, as there is danger in open opposition. The Seventh is a warning against the dangers of pride and of thinking of one's self as superior to another being, and it also prohibits a Jedi from amassing ruling power or financial wealth to prevent corruption from setting in. The Eighth says to be mindful of all aspects of the Force, and says to be mindful of the present, but 'to look to the past and to the future for guidance'."

"The Final Tenent is, and I quote, 'A Jedi does not fight for adventure or glory. A Jedi fights for the survival of civilization and the survival of the people within it. The greatest Jedi is not the one who defeats an army of thousands, but the one who triumphs over himself. Your importance lies in your devotion to life.'" Jamall paused for a moment after he finished and thought for a moment, his brow furrowing as he did so. "I'm fairly certain that's the ninth tenent exactly. I haven't studied either the Code or the Tenent in over a month, so I might've missed something."

 

[Storm]

"I would not say it defies open opposition to the Grandmaster." T'Truht said, finding his apprentice's view of the Nine Tenents reasonably sound.

"What it says is different."

T'Truht shrugged. "Having an unopposed Grandmaster would be giving too much power to one man. We Jedi believe that questioning is healthy, and open opposition is something that's fine, as long as it's done reasonably. What it says is that the Grandmaster is the senior authority and is, on the whole to be trusted. However, we're all sentients; we all make mistakes. The Grandmaster is not infallible."

"If your aim is to further the Jedi Order, then all is well. If your aim is to spread anger and dissent, then all is not so." T'Truht considered, for a moment, before settling on what to go onto next. Time to delve further into his padawan's psyche.

"Tell me, Jamall. What do you wish to learn of next?"

 

[Jiang Winters]

Jamall pondered his master's query for a few moments. As far as philosphy and principles of diplomacy went, he felt that he was rather well prepared, and that he would be best trained by further experience in the field. For the present, however, he needed training in Lightsaber combat. And he also needed training in more advanced Force Powers; preferably the less aggressive and more beneficial ones. "I'd like to learn how to use the Force to benefit others. More specifically, I'd like to learn powers similar to Force Heal." He replied.

 

[Storm]

T'Truht nodded.

"A good choice indeed." He thought, for a moment. "Although a hard choice. You may not be able to master it at first. First, relax. Let the Force flow through you. Reach out with your mind, through the Force, through pain."

"Meditation helps."

As if to show him, T'Truht sat down into a meditative stance. "Use the Force to heal, to fix. Sense the problems, the pain, the cut. Then fix it."

Almost as if on cue, T'Truht was wreathed in blue-green flashes of light, and he smiled.

"It makes you feel so invigorated."

 

[Jiang Winters]

Jamall sat down roughly one meter in front of his Master and copied T'Truht's meditative pose. He did as he was instructed and began to reach out with the Force, using it to study the aches and pains of his own body. But as a young and healthy Cathar, the only thing he could find was a scratch behind his left ear that he had earned by bonking his head on his nightstand after falling out of bed in the morning. As another padawan had remarked upon hearing of the incident; 'Most cats land on their feet. Jamall lands either flat on his face or on his ass.'

Still, it was all he had to focus upon, and so he probed the small wound with the Force, studying it with that omnipresent power. After a few seconds, he decided to give actually healing it a go, and so closed his eyes, and focused. The spot behind his ear was momentarily set alight in a blue-green aura as the torn skin stitched back together and healed through the Force, and in a second or so, the tiny scratch had fully healed. "At least now I'm safe from papercuts." He thought wryly, as he felt the area behind his ear with the fingers of his left hand. But the point of the matter was, he had the basic concept pinned down, and through practice and study, he'd learn it quite quickly. He was, after all, a relatively fast learner.

 

[Storm]

T'Truht smiled at his Padawan, encouragingly, before reaching out and clapping him on the shoulder in congratulation.

"That was well done, lad. That's advanced stuff; you'll get better with practice. What, however, I did not assess, which I should have done, was your ability with the Force. Excuse me for my error."

With the Force, T'Truht reached out and picked up a set of six silver balls, ranging from the size of his fist to the size of his head. "First, I'd like you to pick these up; raise them. That will take time, at your level, to raise them all at once. Then, keeping your concentration, I want you to spin them in a circle."

He smiled.

"And then move them in random patterns."

 

[Jiang Winters]

Jamall watched the sextuplet of silver mismatched orbs rise up into the air. The cathar padawan's dark eyes studied each sphere, while his ears listened to the instructions laid out by his master. It seemed like a straightforward enough task, but that didn't make it an easy one.

He nodded once to show that he understood what he was to do, then the brown-maned feline alien reached out to those six balls with the Force. He focused on each orb, one at a time at first, causing individual spheres to randomly shake and wobble for a few moments as he focused upon them. He delayed a moment, then focused upon three of the spheres, then once he had them securely within the grasp of the Force, he focused upon the other three. At first, he found it considerably difficult to exude complete control over the remaining orbs, but he adapted quickly and soon all six spheres were hovering about in the air.

Granted, they were wobbling a bit and looked liable to fall from his control at a moment's notice, but at least they were airborne.

"A'ight, here goes nothing." The young Mohatu muttered under his breath. He closed his eyes, and concentrated. As a result, the spheres began to spin about leisurely, circling an invisible point in the air. Their orbital path was rather shaky at first, but Jamall kept at it for a minute, and it gradually became smoother, though their speed was not exactly impressive.

He forced the spheres to break out of their orbit, sending the largest one dropping to hover and skitter about just above the floor while another two danced along in the air, and the rest went slowly flying about as though blown away from their brethren by an invisible -and rather pathetic- explosion.

 

[Storm]

T'Truht nodded.

"Well done; that's the beginnings of what will later be a great power of the Force in you. I too started out pushing around these balls. So did the Grandmaster."

"So have you."

T'Truht pulled the balls towards him one by one, before sending them spinning out in front of his apprentice. Rising, T'Truht stood opposite his apprentice, the balls in between, exactly in the centre.

"I want you to Force push half of them to me, where I will stop them, and Force pull the other halves to you. This is almost the staple Force power of any Jedi in combat, as well as being useful besides that."

"Begin."

 

[Jiang Winters]

Jamall nodded once, focused, and then channeled the Force through one of his fur-covered hands, sending a focused blast of Force energy tearing through the air at three of the balls, causing them to fly through the air, albeit not exactly in bullet-like fashion. He was inexperienced, and in order to gain enough accuracy and control to strike only the three orbs with the Force Push, he had to sacrifice a portion of the strength of the Push.

Using his other hand, he made a pulling motion towards his chest, causing the remaining three orbs to leap back at him. He stopped them all with the Force, and just in time too; one came within a finger's breadth of his chest. "I'm going to need some practice with this." He thought to himself, as he used the Force to nudge the hovering ball of silver to a more comfortable distance from his torso.

 

[Storm]

The execution was clumsy, yet the principle there.

The rest would come with time; Jamall Mohatu, however, had achieved as T'Truht had asked of him. "Good." T'Truht said, nodding. Now it was time for something more practical.

"Lightsabers."

Was all T'Truht said. He extended one large, muscular arm and pointed towards a set of caves some way away in the distance, a heat haze slightly distorting them. "Over there are caves containing lightsaber crystals. Retrieve the one which calls to you; which you feel connected to."

"Begin."

 

[Jiang Winters]

Jamall simply nodded, and then burst off towards the caves at a dead run. He'd been aching to get a good run in all morning -he'd taken to liking exercise, it was good for the body and helped focus his mind- and now that the chance presented itself, if only for a short run, he wasn't going to pass it up. Soon enough, his fast pace carried him into the caves, and the catharese padawan slowed to a stop within the caves and began to look around. As could have been expected, a bewildering variety of crystals were presented to him, a great many of which were growing off a stalagmite in the center of the cave he had entered.

The cathar reached out with the force and focused on crystals almost completely at random, simply letting the force guide him as he moved through the room, searching for the one that 'called to him'. Five minutes passed, then ten, then twenty, as the maned feline searched through more and more crystals. Finally, he stopped, with the stalagmite between him and the cave's entrance. Jamall's dark eyes focused on a single elongated shard jutting out at a sharp angle from the other crystals. The shard was a dark, rich purple, one that seemed to... It was hard to explain. It was as if when he focused on it with the force, it called to him, in a way. After studying it closely for a few seconds, he reached out and brushed the pads of his fingertips across the smooth surface of the crystal.

After running his fingers along the top of the shard, he wrapped his hand around the base and used a tiny laser knife he happened to have on him to separate it from its roots. He brought the crystal up to his eyes for closer examination. "This will do nicely. I should be able to cut it to size, and still have enough of it for a second saber." He thought to himself. Holding the crystal firmly in his hand, the padawan returned to his master, but at more of a jog this time.

"I found a crystal, Master T'Truht." The padawan said in a mildly upbeat tone as he returned to stand just a meter or so in front of his Whipid master. He held his hand out before him and unfurled his fingers from the crystal, and allowed it to hover a good ten centimeters above his palm and slowly rotate about, giving his master a good look at the purple crystal that would become the heart of Jamall's lightsaber.

 

[Storm]

T'Truht nodded.

"Good. If that is the crystal that has called to you, that you have chosen, then it will serve you well. The crystal alone, though, however strong it might be, is useless without the blade itself."

T'Truht pulled a pre-prepared tray to him with the Force.

"On this tray are various components of a lightsaber; I would like you to feel with the Force, attempt to construct the lightsaber in what way you feel best; you will not succeed at first; no one ever does. Practice, however, will lead you to feel the right way."

"Feel yourself as if threading string through a needle hole."