The Training of Shao'andre Oedryak

[Thepantheon]

Shao'andre walked casually to the spot he had been told to meet his mentor, seemingly without much thought given to his surroundings. It was the first day he would begin formal training as a Padawan, under a Jedi Knight. Once he got to the appointed spot, he gave a sigh and blinked, looking around. Well, he thought to himself, I guess this is something it'd be best to pay attention to. He stretched, and then settled into a standing position, waiting with a more composed demeanor than before.

 

[Malon]

A metallic hiss filled the room as the door behind Shao slid open. A Nautolan Jedi Knight, clad in traditional brown Jedi robes, strolled into the room behind his soon to be student. He had a slightly drunken walk to him, with his hands flailing somewhat as he moved.

"Good morning." the Nautolan greeted. "I am Jedi Knight Nimm Voddher. I will be your instructor in the ways of the Jedi and the Force for the duration of your time as a Padawan, savvy?"

 

[Thepantheon]

Shao'andre turned about to face his new master. He looked quizzically at the way Nimm walked, and gave a small laugh when he almost stumbled, but bowed his head respectfully at the Knight."Good morning to you, too. I am Shao'andre Oedryak."

 

[Malon]

The Nautolan was visibly trying to sound out the name of his new student, but to no avail. After several failed attempts, Nimm shook his head and spoke, making an unorthodox gesture at Shao in the process.

"Nice to meet you, though, to make it easier on me, I will refer to you as Shao. I hope that is alright."

Nimm strolled over to the giant viewport, out of which one could see the vast plains of Alderaan that stretched on seemingly forever from the Jedi Temple. On the horizon, one could make out the mountains, though they seemed very far away. For a few moments, it remained very silent in the room. Then, Nimm began to speak once more.

"Shao, if I may ask, what do you hope to learn in our time together?"

 

[Thepantheon]

Holding back a laugh as Nimm contorted his mouth and made sounds trying to pronounce his name, Shao'andre decided that formality didn't matter with this master. He waved a head in agreement at the nickname. "That's fine, of course."

He seemed taken aback when the seemingly-drunk Jedi asked such a deep question, but took it seriously, thinking on it for a few moments. He looked down in silence as he thought about what he hoped to learn, and then responded. "I hope to learn enough to use what I learn when needed, but never too much to stop using it."

 

[Malon]

Nimm was somewhat taken aback by the depth of the answer his new pupil had just given them. When he had been a Jedi Padawan under his own master, he had simply wanted to learn how to use a lightsaber. This student would prove interesting....interesting indeed.

"Good answer." the Nautolan replied. "You will soon discover, though, that a Jedi is always learning. Even the Grandmaster herself is learning new things from the Force daily. Keep that in mind, young one."

Nimm swiveled around and staggered drunkenly to the center of the room, keeping silent the entire time.

"Recite for me, my young Padawan learner, the Jedi code as is stated in our archives."

 

[Thepantheon]

Listening to Nimm talk, Shao'andre nodded, but the serious mood was broken when the drunk Jedi moved again, and Shao'andre smirked, hiding it from his mentor.

To the command, he straightened somewhat, and sighed slightly before reciting,

"Emotion, yet peace
Ignorance, yet knowledge
Passion, yet serenity
Chaos, yet harmony
Death, yet the force."

 

[Malon]

Nimm nodded silently as his student flawlessly repeated the words of the code his own master had drilled into him as a Padawan; a memory that made him smile.

"Excellent work, young one. Now then, the Code is the foundation on which a Jedi should base his behavior. However, if one does not understand the meaning of the Code, one cannot base his behavior on it, savvy? Tell me in your own words what you think each line of the Jedi Code means."

 

[Thepantheon]

Shao'andre made an inward note that this man seemed to be able to hold his alcohol well, or was else not so drunk as he looked; he was maintaining a serious conversation while inebriated. However, he didn't seem like he would care about professionalism, so long as Shao'andre acted seriously.

Relaxing, Shao'andre scratched his arm with one of his smaller arms, while answering slowly. "Huh, what do I think? Well... the first one, it's saying that we have to have feelings, we can't be emotionless or we'll stop caring about everything, but at the same time we have to maintain a balance, and we can't let ourselves forget our judgment."

"The second one, about ignorance and knowledge, means we can't... well, we can't ever know everything. Our goal is to become wise and to learn all we can, but we have to know that we'll always have more to learn. It's kind of like what you said a moment ago, we never stop learning, and we need to know that or we'll be too arrogant."

"The third one's next. It's almost like the first one, it tells us not to give in to our passion, because charging in without thinking never helps much. The fourth one is us agreeing that we can't control everything, and that what we want won't always happen, that's the chaos, but the harmony is being at peace with this and making do with what we have."

"The last one..." Here Shao'andre gave a short pause, and bit his lip before continuing. "The last one's saying that no one escapes death, and not even the Force stops us from dying, but when we die, dying doesn't stop the Force, if you know what I mean. We take the force with us to die, and we go with it after we die. And that's what I think our Jedi Code means." He let out a breath and gave a quiet laugh.

 

[Malon]

The Nautolan Jedi Knight smiled, obviously pleased with his Padawan's responses.

"I can tell that you really believe that. Had you not, you would've given the typical answers that we hear around here when asked that question. I can sense the Force guiding you, Shao. You will make a fine Jedi. Always remember that code in times of need. It will guide you..... Now then, we'll do an exercise!"

Nimm suddenly seemed energetic and he bounded across the room in his normal drunken stagger until he was face to face with his Padawan learner.

"Tell me, Shao. Have you ever tapped into the Force, hmm? Have ever experienced its energy?"

 

[Thepantheon]

Taking a step back at the intensity of his master, Shao'andre struggled to find his tongue so quickly. "Woah! I-I, yes, I have. I was a shaman on my homeplanet of Felucia, and we were able to feel the Force, and to use it to heal or protect ourselves or others. But not to any great degree." He sidestepped the disconcerting gaze of Nimm, going to the Jedi's side.

 

[Malon]

The Nautolan chuckled inwardly at Shao's response to his intensity. He then considered what the boy had said. It was no surprise to Nimm that Shao had felt and even used the Force. The Felucian people were well known for their Force-sensitivity. Nimm was becoming more and more intrigued with his apprentice by the minute.

"Excellent. Then you know how to tap into it. The Force is an energy field. It dwells in everything. It dwells in me, in you, in even these inanimate chairs." he explained, motioning to the objects stationed against the walls of the room. "It even exists in those who cannot use the Force. We as Jedi have the special talent to use the Force to help preserve justice in the galaxy. That being said, what is the Force to you?"

 

[Thepantheon]

Stretching his arms now that he was out of the intense gaze of Nimm, the Felucian tapped his foot as he responded. "Well, lots of interpretation questions on this quiz, aren't there? To me, I think the force is really just the power that comes from all the universe. Well, wait, I guess that' not quite right." He scratched his head and gave a nervous chuckle before continuing. "It's the power of the universe, and the power that is the universe. The two are intertwined so much, it seems to me they can't really be separate."

 

[Malon]

"Well I suppose that's one way to put it. The Jedi see the Force as an ally. An inseparable friend, of which we ask to aid us in times of trouble or need. The Force speaks to us, giving us wisdom at times when it thinks we need it. That will be the end of this, 'test', as you called it. And now for our exercise."

"I want you to sit, cross-legged on the floor, and use the Force to lift that chair over there." he said, motioning to a chair in the corner of the room.

 

[Thepantheon]

Nodding to the Nautolan, Shao'andre sat as commanded, crossing his legs slowly. Before he began, he looked at the chair a bit, then nodded and began. He stared forward at the chair, fixing it in his mind, and then raised an arm out towards it, facing the palm upwards, and closed his eyes as he drew upon the Force.

He felt the chair lift slightly, and opened his eyes again, raising it up. He appeared to lift it without any great effort, but after a time he set it down, and while he had not faltered in any way he seemed to be unable to draw upon the Force in large enough quantities to continue. Still seated, his eyes flicked to Nimm.

 

[Malon]

Regardless of the shortness of the display, Nimm had seen what he needed to see. His Padawan could draw upon the Force and even apply it, but could not yet control it in sufficient quantities. Nothing a little meditation exercise couldn't solve.

"Well that was exactly what I needed to know. You did an excellent job using the Force, but it seems that you have difficulty holding that for long periods of time. I am going to excuse you for the day, but in your free time, I want you to practice meditating and learning to call upon the Force in greater quantities. Meet me here tomorrow and we'll resume our lessons." he said.

 

[Thepantheon]

Letting out a ragged chuckle, Shao'andre stood and bowed his head respectfully to Nimm. "Well, then, I'll be here tomorrow, if you won't be too hungover to wake up, Master," he said jokingly but not maliciously, and left laughing to himself.

Returning to his rooms, he intended to start immediately, but once the excitement of training faded, he became procrastinatory, thinking that there was plenty of time, and ate his dinner first. Once he was finished, he forced himself to overcome his laziness, and began.

He sat on the floor and raised his arm towards the table upon which he had recently eaten, lifting it up into the air and holding it there as long as he could. Then he let it fall back, exhausted. Then he did it again. Again. Again. And again...

Morning came, and Shao'andre returned to the room in which he had trained the day before, and waited for Nimm to return. Not intending to be surprised this time, he faced the door, rather than with his back to it.

 

[Malon]

Nimm, however, did the surprising when he popped up behind Shao without warning, having been in the room the entire time meditating. Upon seeing the apprentice's shock, the Nautolan chuckled to himself.

"You need to work on your sight, mate. Today we're going to be covering some more Force exercises, but first I want to know how the meditation went last night?" he asked.

 

[Thepantheon]

Regaining a smooth face and covering his surprise, Shao'andre chuckled quietly. "I guess I do need to work on my sight if I couldn't see you there. My meditation went well, so far as I can see with these eyes, and I think I've improved."

 

[Malon]

"Well, that's what we're here to find out, savvy?" the Nautolan responded.

Nimm gestured for Shao to follow him and then took the lead, leading the apprentice outside of the Jedi Temple and into the Alderaan wilderness. At first, it just seemed like endless plains, but eventually the two came to the edge of a thick forest.

"As you can probably tell, this forest is thick with the Force. This is where you and I shall meet for training from here on out, so I hope you memorized the location."

"Now for the first exercise of the day. At the center of this forest is a pretty vast clearing. I will wait for you there and you must find me, but there is a twist. You will be blindfolded and forced to rely on..,well the Force. Using the Force to guide your steps you must find your way to me. If you follow it faithfully and without doubt, this could be done in hours. If you doubt it, or just ignore it, this could take days. That is all up to you to decided."

With that, Nimm blindfolded Shao and then disappeared into the woods, awaiting his apprentice to find him.