This story is dedicated to the dreamers who step into a new world and risk it all on a roll of the dice. The events in this story were played out with my group under a wonderful DM who shared this world with us. Each moment of this story was dictated by a roll, good or bad, and led to a finale over a year in the making. I hope you enjoy it.
Star Wars: The Flames of Infernis
By: Alex, Ashley, Corey, Sam, and James
The sand scorched the flesh of the Miraluka as he wandered through the desert planet in search of scrap to sell for food. He rubbed his bandaged eyes, following just the faint glimmer of light he saw in the distant. Being a Miraluka he saw differently than the rest of the world, and in the distance he figured there was a chance he could find something. He was scrounging around the broken wreckage when he was nearly blinded by two figured who radiated pure force energy.
"Would you like us to show you how to see with new eyes?"
The boy was led by the two men one named Wolf Saizen, a Zabrak, and the other a Twi'lek named Shado Vao to a starship they called the Secret Runner. Upon boarding the vessel the young Miraluka was greeted by sounds of crying and some of high pitched laughs. Before he could truly adjust Shado Vao quickly left to go fly the ship while Wolf Saizen was left to baby sit. He led the boy to the kitchen area as the others were hungry.
The boy had barely begun to get his bearings when two new lights appeared, female and both…very, pink.
"HI! I'm Luca, this is Anoxa who are you? What are you? Are you blind? Can you see me this do this?" There were two of them, Zeltrons both the same age and both smaller than him. Luca was the one on the right, and Anoxa the one on the left. Despite their same age, Anoxa was slightly taller than Luca, her skin a slightly lighter shade of pink.
"I'm…I'm Vicker. I'm a Miraluka what are you? Who are you?"
"I just said that! I'm Luca and this is Anoxa!"
"Hello! We're Zeltrons! Are you part of our field trip too? Well I don't actually know if this is a field trip anymore, but they promised us cookies!" Anoxa said with a wide smile.
"Yeah, but we still haven't seen any!" Luca huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "Oh! Vic! Before we forget the quiet one here is Serephina." With that she pointed to the human girl with brown hair reading in the corner with a data pad. The girl looked up, waved and then went back to her book. "I think she's blind in the voice department."
"You mean mute?" Vicer suggested.
"That's the one! So Vic, did you have parents that you were kidnapped from too? Cause I'm fairly certain we're never seeing them again." Luca laughed, but there was a bit of nervousness and fear to it as well. She was fairly certain they were all about to be forced into some sort of labor thing or school and then be sold off and or killed! Death to all of them!
Anoxa seemed to realize at the same moment that their parents did not know where they were. They were supposed to be on a field trip when everything took place and now…now they were in space several days away from their home world and their parents and they still hadn't gotten cookies. Seraphina was still ignoring them for books when everyone watched as pots and pans began to float around in the air. The few kids that were crying stopped as all eyes watched Wolf Sazen who masterfully spun things around to distract the kids.
"Now, dry those eyes," he smirked. "We're making cookies!"
"Cookies with space magic!?" Luca asked excitedly.
"Well, not entirely. This is the force," he explained.
"Space magic!" She shouted eagerly. "Can we do that?"
"Not yet, but give it time you just have to-"
Luca threw up her hands and focused on what he was doing as suddenly one of his floating plates shot out of the air and embedded itself into the wall. "I'm a space wizard!"
"Me next! I want to try! I want to try!" Anoxa said and held her hands out but a dumbstruck Wolf Sazen gently took her hands.
"No! No, no," he told her with a smile as he looked Luca who was grinning widely. How a child who had no idea what the force was managed to do that was beyond him. Truly this was a special lot. "For now just watch me do the space mag- I mean, watch me use the force. All of you will properly learn to use it in time."
"The force?" Vic asked him.
"Yes, the force is the power which binds all living things. It is what helps you to see young one, and allows me to move these objects."
"So you're a magic space wizard," Luca whispered in reverence. "And we can become space wizards too!"
Clearly he should have opened with that… Next time when you're "recruiting" children, start with the force and work your way into wizards. He sighed a bit as he began to prepare a meal for them. When did it come to this? Kidnapping children to create a new generation of Jedi? How far the order had fallen...
He made a dish of some of his native foods and passed them around to the children. Some people took to it like the taller Zeltron and Seraphina, the Miraluka seemed to have some trouble and the smaller Zeltron was acting like it was poison. He could tell she was going to be a handful and before she could start anything he waved his hand as he moved behind her. "You love this food."
"I love this food," Luca whispered, almost mesmerized as she began to eat.
Space magic one, children zero. Wolf Sazen smiled to himself. Perhaps this wouldn't be so bad after all. Four days passed on a ship full of children traveling at light speed through the cosmos to their secret base and Shado Vao did not leave the cockpit the entire time. Sazen was tired and growing ever closer to the dark side dealing with children who were just starting to tap into the force. Thankfully, they arrived and he guided the children to some of the windows to watch as they flew toward an asteroid.
"We're going to die!" Luca said as she grabbed Anoxa protectively and pulled her head down as if to shield her with her small frame.
"What? What's going on?" Vic asked, completely unaware of the enormous asteroid they were about to crash into.
"The wizards are going to kill us!"
"We're flying into it," Seraphina said as she pointed to the small opening.
Luca nearly dropped Anoxa. "You can talk!"
The small ship flew through the asteroid and dodged rocks and metal as it entered into an enormous opening where colossal ships were docked together, forming an intricate base of sorts as the ships themselves were repurposed into homes, schools, and training areas.
Vic pressed to the glass, as never before had he seen so much light in one spot. "It's beautiful..."
"It's okay," Anoxa shrugged, obviously not seeing what he was seeing. She then reached up and tugged on Wolf Saizen sleeve. "Can we eat now?"
Youth was wasted on the young. "Not now, now we show you your new home."
Once the Secret Runner was docked, the group of kids were led by Sazen to a chamber hall where they were greeted by an older looking man who was blindingly bright to young Vic. "This is grand master Skywalker."
"Children, I am so pleased to meet you," he smiled. "I can sense that you all have great promise within you to become great Jedi."
"Jedi?" Anoxa asked.
"Space Wizards," Luca whispered.
"So, you're all Jedi?" Seraphina asked, seemingly the only one of the kids which knew what was going on. "And you...you're a Skywalker?"
The Grand Master smiled. "I am glad to see that some young ones still know about the Skywalker line and the Jedi."
"This is cool and all, but when are we going back to our parents?" Anoxa asked.
Skywalker knelt down and placed his hand on her shoulder. "I'm afraid you won't be going back. We are your family now."
"So...this is a kidnapping," Luca said slowly as she confirmed her worst fears.
"What did you think it was?" Seraphina asked.
The two Zeltron's shrugged. Really and truly, they hadn't put too much thought in it. They had mostly been having fun, which is what Zeltron's do. Consequences be damned!
"Come; let Master Solan show you around." As Grand Master Skywalker said that, another master came to them and smiled. He took the children and began to show them around, wanting them to grow acquainted with their new home. He showed them training rooms, bed rooms, and a gardening area where fresh food was grown. He took his time, making certain they felt comfortable there before showing them to their rooms. Seraphina and Vic each had their own rooms to themselves, but the two Zeltrons wanted to share a room as they couldn't bare to be separated from each other. Once they had claimed what room they desired Master Solan let them explore on their own, only instructing them not to go into any rooms which were locked. He wasn't worried though as the children couldn't get into them anyways.
With some freedom, they began to explore this strange place that they now found themselves in. The four children had formed a bond during their starship ride, and had decided to remain close to each other as they explored the new place. They went from area to area, taking the time to try to remember it. At least Seraphina did, the other three were content in using her as a map on how to get back to their rooms. They had come to a few locked doors, but it wasn't until they came to one with symbols on it that Luca made them stop. "Let's open it!" Luca grinned.
"But it's locked," Vic said.
"Exactly! Let's open it!" She held her hand out and closed her eyes. She was starting to get a good idea about how this magic worked. She could feel the door starting to push open, but her brow furrowed as she couldn't get it quite open. Anoxa reached out and slipped her hand in Luca's as she mimicked her movements. Together they felt the 'magic' within them begin to focus on the doors. There was a strain as clearly the door didn't want to open for them, but their powers intertwined as together Luca focused on the right door and Anoxa focused on the left as the doors slowly began to open with a hiss.
"Look! We did it!" Luca raced inside like a blur while Anoxa and Vic slowly entered after her. Seraphina watched them for a moment, shook her head and then slowly started back to her room.
The room was a training room of some sort. It had a lot of black mechanical orb things and a locker on the far corner. Luca was the first one in and she grabbed one of the orbs and shook it curiously. As soon as she did the thing hummed to life and took off into the air.
"Cool! Look at it!" she smiled and watched as the thing twisted around and suddenly fired a bolt into the locker, blasting it open and dropping what looked like handles onto the ground. It then focused on the child who activated it and fired a blast at her. Luca barely managed to dodge it out of pure shock. "Hey! That's not nice! Stop that!"
It fired again and again, scaring Luca who kept dodging it. Anoxa saw the items on the ground and remembered seeing the Jedi with them on their belts. She used the force and pulled it into her hand. For a split second she was excited as she plucked it out of the air, but then as she went to activate it she stared down at the handle with a frown. What did she- There was a loud shocking sound as she suddenly hit the ground.
"Anoxa!" Luca yelled. Vic was shocked at what just happened and he moved to help the small girl, but when he did the orb fired at him.
Luca held her hand out and the weapon shook on the ground for a second before it flew into her hand. Through sheer luck she activated it in a fluid motion and began to wave it around as she focused the device on her. "Hey! Leave them alone!" She lunged and swung at it, batting the orb away. "Grab her and get out of here!"
Vic didn't need any more encouragement. He grabbed Anoxa and pulled her out while Luca kept the thing at bay. One of the shots from it grazed Luca's shoulder, causing her to whimper in pain but somehow she held onto the weapon to defend herself. As the orb went to fire again it was suddenly cut in half as a true lightsaber was swung through the air. Luca watched in awe as Salon saved her. She was about to thank him and praise him when she remembered Anoxa. Quickly she rushed out to her where Vic was shaking her, trying to wake her. Seraphina was there as well, the reason that Solan had been alerted to what was going on.
"Is she going to be okay?" Luca asked with tears in her eyes.
"She is unconscious and will have a headache, but yes she will be okay little one," Master Solan told her. He picked up Anoxa and led Luca with him as well as the others to the medical bay. Anoxa was gently laid down for the medical droid to look over and the other two were told to go back to their rooms while young Luca was taken to some of the masters to speak with about her using the force. Luca waved sadly to her friends. The wizards were going to punish her!
Anoxa woke up with a headache which pulsed through her entire skull threatening to split it in tw. She remembered a fight and then pain and darkness. Slowly she opened her eyes and stared up into the emotionless and horrifying face of a medical droid.
"Are you satisfied with your care?" It asked her as it held a needle up above her and moved to press it to her face.
Anoxa's scream could be heard throughout the asteroid. The small group of kids moved in to check on her as she sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the droid. "Are you okay?" Vic asked her.
"That thing is trying to kill me by making me well!"
"It's just a medical droid," Seraphina told her. "You got a bad zap from a training saber."
"But you're okay now. So everything is okay now. Everything's okay," Luca nodded quickly. Her eyes were wide and she looked a bit scared, but she wouldn't talk about what the master's said to her.
"Can I get out of here?" she asked in a whisper while the medical droid was looking at something else. Quickly the children slipped her out of the room.
The next few days were allowed for the kids to fall into routine. They had adjusted to their new home somewhat and had spent time with the other kids. There were a lot of kids there actually as more and more masters came with more children. Eventually though, Master Solan called them to begin their training to start on the path of the Jedi. He sat down in a meditative pose and instructed the children to do the same. Vic seemed the most natural to it, getting comfortable and falling into a rhythm. Anoxa was the next and finally Luca. Seraphina got in the pose...and was reading a data pad.
"Meditation will allow you to focus on the force," he explained without opening his eyes. "The purpose of this is to enter a meditative state so that you can see the force."
"What if we can already see it?" Vic asked.
"Then, you learn to see it better," he smirked.
For a few days, that was all that they did. For Vic, the meditation seemed to come natural to him as he had no problem sitting still for hours upon hours and focus on the force. He seemed to be adept at whatever was required of the force. No matter the technique it seemed to come to him as a second nature, much to the envy of his classmates. Even Seraphina, when she was forced to do it, gave way and found that sitting quiet and focusing on the force, was not much different from reading. For her, it was a breathtaking experience as for the first time she saw a bit of what Vic saw. She saw beautiful lights radiating from everyone there. Colors so sparkling and different, that even without seeing their true form she could tell everyone apart from just their aura.
"It's amazing," she said as the four of them sat down to eat. "Vic, what you see is amazing."
"For me, that's just life," he shrugged, but smiled just the same. Always take a compliment from what you assume to be a beautiful girl! "I think that's why it's so easy for me to use the force. It's always been a part of me."
"I want to see the colors," Anoxa said with a pout. "But sitting still for hours is so boring, I don't know how you guys do it!"
"It's not that bad. When you start doing it and really focusing, the hours just seem to disappear," Seraphina explained. "I've read some books on meditation and the force. They say that if you focus enough you can even see the future."
"I wanna see the future," Luca said slowly.
"Then you have to meditate," Vic said with a nod.
The girls looked together and sighed and after lunch they took their seats and this time really focused. That day, nothing happened, but with each passing day they eventually began to relax more and were able to sit for longer periods of times. Being empaths, whether they knew it or not, they were slowly learning to draw upon the relaxing nature and calmness of those around them.
Anoxa was the next to be able to see the colors and nearly broke her meditation when they began to appear. Seeing them was like seeing the world for the first time, and afterward that was all she could talk about. Luca took another week before she caught up to the others and was able to experience the same thing. It was an odd sensation, seeing the world through colors and the force; and all three of them had a new appreciation for Vic because of it.
As they grew more and more accustomed to using the force and meditating with it, eventually they did in fact begin to see visions. At first it was just small things, glimpses of actions that they took place in, things that people were going to say to them. Very rarely did they ever see anything that transpired more than hour or perhaps a day away from their natural time. It was rather surreal and exciting to be able to see brief glimpses of what was to come. That little bit of power spurred the children further to using their powers when not in class. Luca and Anoxa in particular became rather good and using this far sight ability, especially when they held hands and focused together.
"Bet you we can find out what's going to happen tomorrow!" Luca said brazenly as the four of them sat together in the library. Really, Seraphina was in the library and the other three decided to bug her.
"Give it a shot. I bet you can't!"
Luca was never one to back away from a challenge so she grabbed Anoxa's hands. "You ready?"
"Yeah!"
They closed their eyes and meditated for a while so that Seraphina could read in peace and Vic could go try to talk to some of the others girls that were there. As the Zeltron's focused on the future, the two entered a rather deep trance. They had been practicing it so much, their bodies fell into a unison with the force and for the first time they actually did see past that day.
The girls seemed to walk along the hallway of the one of the classrooms. There was fire and screaming and they smelled something in the air but couldn't tell what it was. The room was getting hotter and the screaming was getting louder, so much so that the girls covered their ears to try to block out the sound. From the fire and the chaos they saw blood splatter the ground as a master fell dead at their feet. Looking up from the blood soaked ground they saw a form with glowing red sabers walking toward them. Though they couldn't make out a form, they did see several lightsabers activate at once as another form entered the fray. Seven light sabers floated around and moved in unison as the two forms locked in deadly combat. The girls huddled together, the blood from the other dead master soaking their feet as they watched the one with the seven lightsabers begin to falter as each one of his blades was destroyed. Finally the figure with red blades sliced through the other and as his body hit the ground the girls snapped out of the daze, each one screaming as if they were the ones who had been stabbed.
All eyes looked at the two girls as they had turned pale and were breathing heavily.
"You okay?" Vic asked as he walked back to them. He could tell by the way that their aura had changed that something was wrong.
"We...we need to talk to Master Solan," Luca said as she held her stomach, feeling very sick all of a sudden.
She stood, still holding Anoxa's hand as the two of them hurried off.
"I wonder what all that is about," Seraphina mused. The two of them were always a little off to her, but she had never seen them scared before. She looked to Vic who seemed to share her concern for them. The little Zeltron's were a few years younger than them, so they felt a bit protective of them. Without saying a word, they nodded to each other and headed after them to make certain they were okay.
The girls had wandered around for a bit before they found Master Solan. "Master Solan!" Anoxa said quickly when she saw him. "We saw something! Something bad!"
Solan looked to them in confusion. "Easy there." He knelt down so that he was at their level. "What happened what did you see?"
"We were using far seeing," she started to explain.
"Because Vic said we couldn't see to tomorrow!" Luca added.
"So we did what we usually do and meditate together."
"Because we are stronger together!"
"But this time when we meditated something happened. We saw something awful. There was blood and fire and screaming."
"People were dying and there was some dark figure with red lightsabers!"
Solan tried to keep his expression calm, but the girls could feel the change in his mood as if a deep sadness had overtaken him. "It is okay girls," he assured her. "You are safe here."
"But the vision..." Anoxa said softly.
"These visions are not absolute. They are but things which might come to pass. The mere fact that you have seen into the future can alter it. Thank you for telling me this, if you see anymore visions like this let me know." He smiled at them and rubbed each of their worried faces. "Go and play, okay? We will keep you safe."
"But...who are the red lightsabers? Why would they hurt people?" Luca asked.
"They're the Sith," Seraphina whispered from the door where she and Vic stood, having overheard everything.
Vic looked to her, curious about them as well as they hadn't been covered yet. "Sith?"
She nodded and looked to their master. "To everything there is a light and a dark side. Like two sides of the same coin."
"If the Jedi are the light side," Anoxa began.
"Then the Sith are the dark side," Luca finished as she looked to Master Solan. "Master, the Sith want to hurt us?"
"They do little one," he said softly. "But that is why you are here. We are going to train you, to make you strong in the force so that you can defend yourself."
"But why do they want to hurt us?"
"That is a complicated question, I'm afraid. The Sith and Jedi have been enemies for as long as there has been a light and a dark side. Our ideologies are different, our beliefs are different, and we are different."
"But even though we're different, why can't we get along?" Vic asked.
"Because people are stuck in their ways, but perhaps that is something you children can change. Do not worry about what is to come. Go get some snacks and rest. Tomorrow will be a busy day and worrying solves nothing." He waved them off, wishing he could give them more comforting words; but the truth was, that these children would likely see horrors that they never would have because the Jedi had entered their lives. These children's lives were in their hands. Their fates had been altered because of the actions of the Jedi. What good could the Jedi be if they were destroying the lives of innocent children?
One by one the kids left, but Luca stopped at the door and looked back at him. "Master?"
"Yes Luca?"
"Will one day we have to kill people?"
Solan's jaw dropped slightly. No. That was the answer he should have given. That was the answer he wanted to give her some comfort and tell her no. A Jedi wasn't a killer. A Jedi was someone who protected others. Someone who brought peace. Yet in this day and age to survive a Jedi had to fight. A Jedi had to kill. There was no place for pacifists in the Jedi order...not anymore. Still, as he looked into this child's wide eyes he hoped that perhaps that could change. "Grow strong Luca, that way you don't have to," he smiled.
Whether or not Luca understood the meaning to his words, she nodded as if she did and then hurried off. Solan sighed and relaxed once they were gone. He waited a minute to collect his thoughts and then hurried to speak with the Grand Master.
For a while, this was their life. Days turned into months as their training progressed all under Master Solan's watchful eye. The home sick young children soon became strong willed youngling who were developing their own personalities and ideas. They were growing stronger in the force and more powerful every day, a fact which he was all too proud of. Though he refused to admit it, he had grown fond of his first batch of younglings to train. They were his favorites, even though they could be trying at times. They were his First Order, a nickname which he had often called them in secret, but something they had overheard and had taken a liking to it. They wore that name like a badge of pride. The older they got, the more their personalities shined through in everything that they did. He had no doubt that they would surpass him in power and one day prove to be masters themselves. They had grown accustomed to their life with the Jedi, and in time they had truly become a part of them. Eventually after years of practicing with the force and training their bodies, the pupils were brought before a door which they remembered all too well.
"The forbidden door," Luca whispered to herself and shuddered at the thought of the masters all staring at her with their haunting eyes.
"Yes, the forbidden door," Solan smirked. "But today, it is no longer forbidden. Today you finally take your rightful step toward becoming Padawans. To that degree you will each be given a training saber which you practice with. You will train until it becomes a natural reflection of who you are." He glanced at Luca who stared at them. "Even if you don't like violence, a lightsaber is a tool just as much about defending someone as it is about attacking."
He picked up for sabers and set each one in the hands of his students. "Go ahead, give them a try."
Luca activated hers immediately and moved it around with incredible ease as if she was born to use one. Solan watched her with an approving nod as she gracefully flipped it and twirled it around her body, already acting as if it was an extension of herself. "It's lighter than I remember..." She still didn't like it though, she didn't like what it had done or could do.
"That is because you have become stronger." He then watched as Vic and Seraphina activated theirs almost at the same time. Neither had held one before, so they didn't take to it as naturally as Luca did, but both seemed to catch on quickly. He watched as Vic took a very aggressive stance to begin, but then paused and shook his head as if he reconsidered. Seraphina, however, twirled her blade around, getting a good feel for it.
"I like it," she said with a firm nod. "This...this feels right."
"Good," he smiled. He then placed his hand on Anoxa's shoulder as she had yet to activate hers. "Go ahead, Anoxa. You will do much better this time, I promise."
Anoxa was hesitant to use one again, she wasn't about to get hurt again! She didn't want to see the medical droid ever again! Slowly she held her arm out, far away from her body as she activated it. Letting out a sigh of relief when nothing bad happened she began to carefully move it around.
"Now that you have gotten acquainted with the basics of your training saber, I will show you the cadences and we will begin your training with a blade." As he said this he activated his very real lightsaber and began to show them the beginning moves. He was a bit amused by the group and how they worked together. Luca seemed to pick up the lightsaber very quickly and as soon as she learned a stance she moved to help Anoxa master it. Seraphina did much the same with Vic, assisting him much as he assisted her when it came to force powers. Each of the children seemed to have their specialties to some degree; and when one of them fell behind rather than leaving them they worked together to build them up. He knew the day would come when they would be split apart to train under different masters; but he intended to speak with the masters as he strongly believed this group would work best with each other...after the proper training of course.
A few days of training and promises not use them let the young padawans carry their training sabers with them at all times to prepare them for the responsibility of carrying real ones. It was on one of their rare off days when Anoxa was wandering the halls looking at the new kids which were coming in. She saw a small Rodian boy who had a bruised cheek and was crying.
"Hey, what's wrong little guy?" Anoxa asked as she took a seat beside him.
"N-nothing," he said in between sobs.
"It's okay, you can talk to me, I promise." As she said this, some of her pheromones moved around the boy to try to calm him. "I'm Anoxa, what's your name?"
"Kobak."
"Kobak, that's a cool name. Want to tell me what happened?"
"Some older kids were bullying me. They called me weak cause I couldn't fight back."
"What!? Someone was bullying you? Who? Where are they?"
"I don't know. They left, but one of them was a Twi'lek."
Anoxa didn't waste any time, she scooped up the young Rodian and searched for her friends with the force. Vic was off with some Twi'lek girl he was 'close' with, Seraphina was in the library studying new force techniques and combat techniques, and Luca was meditating in her room. She gathered each of them together, at this point panting from running all over while carrying the Rodian. "He got bullied. We need to help."
"We should tell the masters," Seraphina, always the voice of logic said.
"Or, or...we could find them," Luca said with a fire in her eyes. She smacked her hands together and nodded. "Yes! We will find them and bring them to the masters ourselves! C'mon!"
Before anyone could object she had already grabbed their hands and were pulling them along. "I don't even know what's going on anymore," Vic sighed.
Before they could get too far though, Anoxa saw Shado Vao and her eyes got big as she held Kobak close to her. He was a Twi'lek! "Is he the one that did this to you?" She asked in a hushed whisper while she eyed him suspiciously.
"N-no," he told her, looking at her and wondering why she thought a master would beat him up!
"Are you sure? You can tell me."
"I'm sure!"
"Well then...he's okay I guess," she huffed. She was about to walk toward him to explain to him the situation when Luca realized she and Kobak had dragged behind. Before she could do anything, Luca had grabbed her and pulled her along.
Vic used his extra sight to look through the walls before finding a group of padawans which seemed to match Kobak's description. He guided the others to them and upon drawing closer they saw the boys had bruises on their knuckles, obviously they were there from being in a fight.
Anoxa stepped forward. "Did you hurt him!?" She held out Kobak, dangling him in the air to indicate who she was talking about.
"So what if we did?" The Twi'lek asked with a huff. "He's just a brat."
"Brat!?" Anoxa sat him down and activated her training saber. "I will show you who the brat is."
The other boys reached for their training sabers as well. As soon as they did Luca held up her hand. "You will drop your weapons and turn yourselves in." Her eyes shined briefly as she felt the force mix with her pheromones and seem to wrap around the young boys. While it was invisible to all but Vic, he could see the arching pink lights wrap around them and encompass them as if a blanket of her thoughts and suggestions consumed them.
All at once the boys dropped their weapons and began to walk off to find a master.
"Yeah, that's right. Walk away!" Anoxa said as she tugged on the Twi'lek's lekku. That pain was enough to snap him out of Luca's amateur trance as he turned around and punched her in the face, breaking her nose. As soon as he did, Vic's saber smacked him in the back of the head, knocking him out.
Lucak looked down at Anoxa who held her bleeding nose.
"M-medical droid?" she asked with teary eyes.
Luca nodded solemnly. "I'm sorry Anoxa..."
After their success in solving the mystery of the bullies, Kobak became an additional tag along in their little group. While he was much younger than they were, they all treated him like one of them and Anoxa was always protective of him, often causing more harm than good to protect him.
As their training progressed in lightsaber forms, Solan finally pulled out the black orbs of death which they were all too familiar with. "Today, you will practice with these. As you are aware, they fly and shoot stun bolts. While painful, they are not deadly. Consider the zaps and incentive to do well."
Anoxa cowered as she saw them. She was just getting to the point where she was comfortable with these weapons and now they wanted her to fight that? Before she could protest, Solan had activated four of them and had them each target one of the students. "Have fun," he grinned and Seraphina could swear he almost looked pleased at the fact that they were about to suffer.
Blaster bolts began to rain down upon them, and some fared better than others. Seraphina in particular seemed to have a rather easy time predicting where the shots were going to come from and block them with her lightsaber. Though the more Solan watched her, the more he wondered if it was due to skill with the force, or because she was predicting the way the training bot would react and where it would fire. Either way, it was still impressive. As his eyes traveled over the others, he became alarmed as he watched Vic.
Vic blocked a few of the blasts, but as a few hit him his face scrunched up in anger. Before even Solan had a chance to react, Vic raised his hand up and a wave of pure force energy crushed the training bot and slammed it into the ground. Solan felt a cold shuddered as he stared at the now teenage young man. Vic had always had an affinity for the force, learning new techniques easily and mastering the basics of it to such a degree that he often helped others. But this time he drew from something darker, as if he could sense there was more out there than what he had been shown.
"Vic," Solan said as he walked amongst the fire toward him. "Why did you do that?"
"Because this is stupid," he huffed.
"Why?"
"We're going to battle, aren't we?" He looked up at him and his voice softened. "These are my friends Master...why would I spend time learning how to deflect shots when I could just destroy what was hurting us? Isn't that the easier way?"
"It might be the easier way, but that does not mean it is the right way," he told the boy as he placed his hand on his shoulder. "Your force powers are something to be admired, but with that power comes a choice to use them for good or evil. That feeling you possess right now, that tingle in your chest is a bit of darkness within you."
"Does that mean I'm bad?" he asked as his hand went up to his chest.
"Not at all," Solan promised. "It just means that you have felt the pull of the dark side, and now that you know it's call, it will be a part of you. But, even though it is a part of you, you can still be good. You can still walk the light. Whenever you feel that pull, resist it. Remember that more often than not, the easier way does not like to strength or power, it just leads to weakness. True power, is overcoming something and persevering." He nodded to the others who were blissfully unaware of what was going on. "Look at them. You want to protect these girls?"
"Well, yeah, of course."
"Good. Then follow the light. The darkness doesn't save lives, it only takes them." He activated another testing droid for him to spar against and much to his delight the young man began to spar with it as he was suppose to.
Another few years passed and eventually came the day where they were to spar together. A mere friendly test so that they could try out their abilities and fighting styles on each other. The young kids had become powerful young teenagers and in that time of training each one had developed along their own path. Solan had watched each of them and found it curious how this bunch seemed to shy away from the normal patterns of young Jedi. Seraphina spent most of her time studying the ways of the force and had tactical knowledge and combat. She would make an excellent Jedi Archivist, a keeper of the knowledge, if this was another age of Jedi; but this was war. She tempered her knowledge with combat training, often working on her own to harness her lightsaber abilities.
Anoxa was always Anoxa. Her fear of lightsabers had long since passed and from speaking with other masters the young one seemed to already know the path that she wanted to take. She hated seeing the weak picked on, and she thought that by growing stronger she could protect them all. She wanted to be a sentinel, and excel in purging the darkness from the world. He knew that her heart was in the right place, and within those smiles and laughter there beat the heart of what could be a great and powerful sentinel. With the right master, she could be molded into something the dark side feared.
Vic had heeded Solan's words the best that he could. While he still felt the darkness within him, he focused on the force. While he was decent with a lightsaber, his true power lied within the force. He spent all his free moments studying new techniques and new abilities. He would fight with the force, and bring a reckoning to whoever stood in his path. As long as the young man could remain on the side of the light, then Solan had no doubt that he would probably be more powerful than even some of the masters when it came to the force. He would watch as Vic would meditate for hours to gain a deeper understanding of the force. Though he also noticed that the young man was also starting to notice the females more...which were causing his studying to lapse on occasion.
Then there was Luca. He watched her and to him she was a mystery. Headstrong and determined to do things her own way, she had raw power in the force the likes of which he had never seen, but she didn't have the control that Vic had to properly master it. She was exceptionally skilled in lightsabers, and yet as he watched her she trained in martial arts. He had no idea how to instruct her in that, as he had never known a Jedi to use fists instead of a lightsaber. So she took it upon herself and devised a combat all on her own, an impressive feat for someone so young. She channeled the force into her attacks, allowing her to fight and not kill. She was resolved to be a pacifist in an age of war. He hoped that for her sake she was strong enough to make it a reality.
He brought them together staring at the teenagers with a smile as he prepared them for their sparring lesson. Seraphina was matched with Anoxa and Vic was matched with Luca. Seraphina did not choose to spar, however, feeling that Anoxa would just get hurt in the fight, and did not wish to hurt her friend.
Luca and Vic, however, thought it would be fun to spar. As soon as it began, Vic who was far more comfortable using the force than wielding a saber tried to take Luca's saber from her for an easy victory. He reached out with the force and got a smug grin on his face as he felt Luca's lightsaber fly out of her hands and toward him. He caught it with ease and was about to remark on why she let go so easily when he realized the small girl had already closed the space in between them in that one second. Before he could even react her fist collided with his chest and his frame buckled beneath the impact as he was sent crashing into the wall behind him. As soon as he landed she was right beside him to look him over. "You okay?"
"Can't...breath. So tiny, yet so much pain!" He gasped as he held his chest. He had expected his power in the force to make this battle over quickly, he'd never expected to be hit with a physical attack like that. Clearly there was more he needed to learn about close combat fighting.
Solan's jaw dropped slightly, not expecting the fight to be over that quickly. It seemed that while Vic did indeed have the superiority in the force, he worked under the assumption that without her lightsaber she would admit defeat. Were it any other Jedi he likely would have won with that attack.
Luca patted his head and looked from Seraphina to Anoxa. "Who wants to go next?"
"I don't see the point in sparring," Seraphina shrugged.
"C'mon, Anoxa, let's spar!"
Anoxa finally agreed and readied her saber. She quickly slashed at Luca, coming close several times to hitting her, but Luca didn't attack back, at least not at first. She smiled at her friend and kept encouraging her until Anoxa finally connected with a hit to Luca's side. Luca hissed in pain and stepped back.
"Sorry!" Anoxa said quickly.
"It's okay! You did good. This just really hurts!" She pouted, but Solan told them to continue. The next time Anoxa swung, Luca stepped up to her, and compared to what she did to Vic, she gave Anoxa a little love tap, pressing her open palm against Anoxa's chest and simply shoving her into a wall. Luca grimaced as Anoxa groaned in pain. "Are you okay?"
Anoxa gave her a thumbs up while whimpering.
"Alright, Seraphina, no more putting it off. Spar, it will be good for you. You are very skilled with sabers, but you need to experience fighting someone besides the training droids.
Seraphina sighed but nodded. She activated her saber as her and Luca began their match. Out of all three matches this one lasted the longest. Vic relied on the force more than a saber, and Anoxa was still working through her fear of them; but both Seraphina and Luca seemed completely at ease with them. Their blades connected several times, before Luca went in to finish Seraphina off. However, Seraphina had watched the previous matches. She saw that rather than attacking with a saber Luca always went in to punch them, so she was ready. As soon as Luca made her strike Seraphina lunged at her, side stepping her attack and smacking her full body with her training saber, causing Luca to crumble to the ground.
"Very good, Seraphina!" Solan said proudly.
Seraphina knelt down by her friend. "I didn't hurt you did I?"
"That was so awesome!" Luca groaned as she held her side and flashed her friend a pained smile.
Days passed some more and the teenagers founds themselves with a free day. Luca spent it in the training area, running around in next to nothing as she flipped, kicked, and punches targets which appeared. The training was meant for lightsabers, but her fists were infused with the force, allowing her to hit with enough force to send the targets flying back. She was drenched in sweat and landed with a huff as she watched the targets realign. She had to get better. She had to get stronger. With that thought she pushed herself to go another round.
Anoxa and Kobak sat together as he was asking for help in some of his classes. "So, this bottle thing about moving the air out of it, I don't get it."
"It's okay. It took us forever to get it to. We had to have Vic help us a bit in the beginning." She held out the bottle and focused and Kobak watched in amazement as all the colored air was pulled out of the bottle by the sheer skill of her ability with the force. She made it look so easy, and her smug grin made him all that much more amazed by her. "See? It's not so hard. We'll practice until you get it."
"Thanks! With your help, I've been doing a lot better."
"Anytime you need help I'll be there for you," she said as she rubbed his little head. "How are you doing with the training sabers?"
"Good. Sort of. I haven't really found a style I like yet."
"Give it time. It will come to you, or if it doesn't, just make your own. That's what Luca is doing." She paused and checked the time. "Speaking of which, are you hungry? Luca should be finishing up and now and we can all grab something to eat before your next class."
"Sure!"
While they went to find Luca, Vic and Seraphina were off on their own, having told the others that they were busy studying. In reality, the two were harboring a fledgling romance. "Shh," Seraphina whispered with a smile as Vic laughed softly as he held her in his arms. "If you're too loud we'll be found out."
"Relax, no one will be coming this way. It's fine." Before she could protest further he leaned down and kissed it, silencing her with ease. "All too easy," he whispered as she smiled back at him. It was puppy love, they both knew that, but they were going to enjoy the moment while they had it. Solan had already all but beaten into them that Jedi do not love. There was no marriage or life together. There was just duty to the Order and the force. But one thing the two Zeltrons had taught them all was that you could always find time for something that makes you happy, even if it is forbidden.
When Anoxa and Kobak found Luca, she had just finished showering and was getting dressed. "Food time?"
"Food time," Anoxa nodded.
They walked to eat and were talking amongst themselves when Kobak finally spoke. "Do either of you think of your families?"
There was silence as the two girls looked at each other with slightly pained expressions. They knew what the right answer was to that, and then they also knew the honest answer.
"Sometimes," Luca admitted.
"Do you think they worry about us?"
"I don't know," Anoxa told him. "We were so young and we've been gone for so long. I think they still love us, of course, but...I mean, there's no easy way to say it..."
"They probably think we're dead," Luca sighed.
Kobak's eyes got wide for a moment and then he nodded. "Yeah, I kind of thought that as well."
"One day, maybe, just maybe we can see them again," Anoxa told him. "You could come to Zeltros with us if we ever do. You'd like it there. There's no better place in the galaxy than Zeltros."
"Really?"
"Yep. It's the best. Whatever you want is there. All the best food. All the best drinks. All the best clothes. It's just the best," Luca told him with a nod. "My family owned a fashion store. I never wore the same thing twice."
"Of course not, you'd be the talk of the planet if you did," Anoxa teased as the two laughed at the fond memories of their home.
"We missing anything important?" Vic asked as he and Seraphina finally joined them, both having grown accustomed to the girl's eating habits and knowing just where they'd be.
"Talking about home," Luca said. "Thinking about our families. You know, all the stuff we're not supposed to do."
"At least you guys have good memories. I know it sucks to be taken from your families, but for me, this was kind of the best thing that ever happened. I was alone in a desert fending for myself. Not the best place to be for a kid. What about you Seraphina, what about your home?"
"It was normal, I guess," she shrugged. "My parents were very wealthy and influential where I came from. But because of that they weren't home a lot. They had some rival who weren't exactly fond of them; so I wasn't allowed to leave home without them. Needless to say, I didn't really have any friends. That's why I read so much. It helped to pass the time. I guess that's why I read so much now."
"But you have friends now," Vic quickly said.
"I do, good friends; but I fell in love with reading. When I'm reading and alone I can still imagine hearing mom's voice or the smell of dad's coat as he would hug me. It's the small things I try to remember and that I miss the most."
With time and some more training the four of them had finally come to the point that Solan stood before them. "I have taught you all that I can, it is now time for you to be selected by masters who will train you further and take you down the path to becoming knights."
As he said four masters who had been watching them train stepped forward. One of them, they all recognized as Shado Vao, the pilot who had brought them here. "Vic, you have shown interest in the way I fight." As he said this he summoned his lightsabers and had them floating around him. "This style is just as much about defense as offense. I have seen you training and I know that anger sometimes gets the best of you. I will train you to remain at peace and to defend that which is precious to you."
A Nautolan named Master Tao Sen stepped forward and looked to Anoxa. "Young one, you have a lot of energy and potential. You care about others greatly and wish to punish wrongdoing in the universe. I will harness that potential and instruct you further on how to purge the darkness of the Sith from our world. Under me, you will learn strength and how to fight against anything that stands in your way."
A human, Master Ezra, then stepped forward and smiled to Seraphina. He was a very old man, using a cane to get around, and yet his eyes seemed just a bright as a young man's."To the girl whom knowledge is more dangerous than any lightsaber, I will train in the art of the Jedi Order, its history and knowledge as well as lightsaber combat. What you lack in aptitude with the force, we will make up for with powerful martial skills which will let you cut your own path."
Finally a tiny Drall stepped forward and stared up at the little Luca. He was clothed in a simple robe and used a cane as well, though within the cane was actually his lightsaber. "For someone so skilled with a lightsaber you prefer the path of the pacifist. To let your words solve the problem and when they are not capable you have trained your fists to do the rest. I see in you someone who denies their greatest potential for fear...but I will train you in the ways of my Order, and from me you will learn a new path which will help you for the days ahead."
There was silence from the students, some in awe, some in excitement, and then there was Luca. "My master is so adorable!" She started to run to hug him when Solan held out his hand.
"Sleep," he said as Luca crumpled to the ground.
Master Splyn'Ter, the Drall, looked over at him as Solan shrugged. "Don't look at me like that. You will grow to love that ability."
"Seems you have your work cut out for you Splyn'Ter," Vao smirked as he took Vic. "Come with me, padawan. Your training begins now." He tossed him a lightsaber which he had made. "Give your training saber back to Solan, today you learn how to fight for real."
"Do I get a real lightsaber now too?" Anoxa asked her master who laughed.
"No! No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No."
"Wow...nine 'no's'...that's...that's not demoralizing..."
Seraphina sat her data pad aside and bowed to her master. "What is first?"
"First you will follow me to the hangar. We already have a mission." As he said this he handed her a lightsaber as well.
Both Vic and Seraphina bowed to Solan as they handed him back their training sabers. They paused as they looked to each other and then to their friends. This was it. This was the end. They were finally going their separate ways and yet none of them felt truly ready. "Goodbye Seraphina."
"Yeah, I guess it will be awhile before I see you again," Seraphina said softly.
"Too be fair, I never see you," Vic smirked to which Seraphina groaned.
"No, that's cool. You two just do your thing. I'll see you guys later," Anoxa said, arms crossed under her chest feeling left out from the goodbyes and not understanding why.
"Oh! Right! Bye Anoxa, tell Luca goodbye too...if she ever wakes up."
"You would really think she'd become immune to that by now," Vic mused. Before they could say anything else their masters urged them on and then they departed.
While Anoxa pouted, Splyn'Ter was dragging and unconscious Luca out of the room. "Bye Luca," she said sadly before she turned to her new master. "So, what's first?" She finally asked.
"First, we see what you're made of," he grinned maliciously as he cracked his knuckles. Anoxa instantly shrunk back from him. Couldn't she have gotten the old guy or the tiny, furry master instead?