Disclaimer: The characters are fully owned by George Lucas/Disney. I earn no money from this, but I have the fun of writing.
...
To Live by the Sword
"Have you heard it?"
"Is it true?"
"We're gonna be real Jedi."
The Bear Clan in the creche in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant was in mild uproar. Nobody knew where the rumor had started. Nobody really knew who had mentioned it first. Nobody even knew whether it was true or not, but they really, really wanted it to be.
All except one little youngling. Obi-Wan Kenobi sat still by the breakfast table and tried to force down his breakfast. Somehow it tasted less good than usual. He had felt perfectly well when he got up this morning, but as soon as the rumors began to swirl his appetite disappeared as dew on Tatooine's mountains. An elbow in his ribcage made him startle.
"Ow, Garen, stop it."
His best friend, Garen Muln, grinned at him: "I just wanted you to wake up. Didn't you hear? We're gonna be real jedi. We're gonna learn how to fight with lightsabers."
"Yeah…" Obi-Wan's answer was definitely lacking the enthusiasm of his life long, well nearly life long, friend through the last four years.
Garen cast him a glance: "What is it, Obi? Aren't you excited? Don't you want to be a real jedi knight?"
Obi-Wan nodded. Of course he wanted to be a jedi knight. That was all he had dreamed about in his young life, all he was studying for and working for, but yet, there was something disturbing about lightsabers. They could cut and burn and when people were cut badly enough they would die and a jedi shouldn't kill people because jedi were good and then it was simply wrong.
"Sure I do, I just don't want to kill people. I don't think jedi should kill anyone."
Garen narrowed his eyes: "But we don't have to kill anyone. It's just that lightsabers are cool and everyone knows that when you're a good 'saber fighter you are a good jedi."
Obi-Wan nodded again, more reluctantly this time. Maybe if they didn't have to kill, it would be all good?
His musings were interrupted by Ali-Alann, the mighty Creche Master of the Bear Clan.
"Everyone, listen carefully."
The noise silenced almost immediately and twenty pair of eyes, well actually nineteen pairs and one single eye as their clan mate Theira was an abyssinian with only one eye, watched the Clan Master with undeniable interest.
"As some of you seem to have found out already, you will have your first class in how to use a lightsaber properly this morning. When you have finished your first meal, please stow away your plates in the cleaner as usual and at be ready by the door at ninth hour. We will walk to the dojo together and there you will be met by Master Cin Drallig. He is usually training the bigger initiates and sometimes the padawans but for this initial lesson he will be the one to train you. Later on Master Yoda will take over your training, but he's indisposed today. "
At ninth hour sharp Ali-Alann led his small delegation of initiates towards Dojo #1. The Jedi Temple had numerous dojos but #1 was mostly used by the smaller initiates. The reason for this arrangement revealed itself when they entered. The rack of training 'sabers was mounted low on the wall and the hilts of the training 'sabers were obviously created for small hands or other appendices.
A jedi dressed in brown tunics stood in the middle of the room when they entered. As he saw them coming he made a deep bow towards them. Instinctively Obi-Wan bowed in answer.
"Come in, and line up against the wall," the jedi master's voice was low and pleasant but still it could be heard in the entire room. "Welcome to your first lightsaber training. Wielding a lightsaber is an art that is known by all jedi, but it is not exclusively done by jedi even though we are the most frequent lightsaber users known in the galaxy today. The learning you will begin today is one important step for you on your path to becoming jedi knights. However, before we begin the actual training there are a few things we need to go through. Does any of you know what powers the lightsaber?"
Three small hands flew up in the air.
"You, there. What is your name? "
"Garen Muln, Master. The 'saber is powered by a crystal."
"Very good, and mostly right. You, over there, what's your name and do you have something to add to initiate Muln's answer? "
"Obi-Wan Kenobi, Master. The lightsaber is also powered by the Force."
"Partly right, as well. Now before we start there is one thing I want you to remember. I will quote this for you now, and the next time you will use these words are when you are chosen as padawans and brought to find the kyber crystal for your own lightsaber:
The crystal is the heart of the blade.
The heart is the crystal of the jedi.
The jedi is the crystal of the Force.
The Force is the blade of the heart.
Can anyone of you tell me with your own words what this means?"
A few small hands were reluctantly raised. Force, this was difficult stuff.
"Initiate Kenobi, do you have an answer?"
"Yes, Master, I think so," Obi-Wan answered, "it means that the crystal, the jedi and the Force should all work together. They all depend on each other, but without the Force there is nothing."
"Well answered, young one. Now, if you please, you will go and find a 'saber that fits your hand in the rack by the door and then you will line up in front of me in the middle of the room."
38 feet immediately stomped towards the rack, the last pair were a bit more reluctant. After hearing Master Drallig's introduction to the art of mastering a lightsaber it seemed a bit more scary, but only a little. Obi-Wan was still reluctant to this new part of his training.
When he came to the rack only two lightsabers were left in the rack, and he pondered which one he should take. Which one seemed least…scary? Well, if he ever was to be a jedi knight he had to do this and resolutely he grabbed the one to the left, the one with a shining hilt. It seemed somewhat more friendly than the one with the black hilt. With a firm grasp around it he hurried into the line with the others.
"As you all are aware a lightsaber can be a deadly weapon, but these lightsabers are meant for training only so they cannot ever reach a deadly power. They will, when they hit you, sting but not harm you. If they fall to the floor they will automatically switch off, we don't want any scorches. Furthermore you will not, and that includes you too Initiate Chun, ignite it unless the instructor has told you to. And you will never turn it towards any other jedi unless it's in an announced duel."
Obi-Wan swallowed hard. Somehow he could feel a lightsaber burn through his midriff. Boy was that gonna hurt if it ever happened for real. He really hoped he wouldn't be in that end of a 'saber. he focused on Master Drallig again.
"Now, you can ignite the lightsabers by pressing the button on the hilt."
He could feel his heart pounding in his chest, then he pushed down the button.
Bzzzzat! A green ray of light zapped out of the hilt and for the first time in his life Obi-Wan felt the tiny vibration in the moment the lightsaber ignited. In awe he looked at the saber. It felt…alive. It was like the Force was focusing on him, no in him, in a way he'd never felt before. He felt…grown up.
"Try to move your 'sabers like an 'X' in the air. Keep distance to the ones besides you. Good. Now try an 'O'."
Carefully Obi-Wan swung his saber in the right pattern.
And something happened. The saber hilt had been a dead thing he considered with some skepticism. In the moment the lightsaber was ignited it felt alive. And even more, it felt like it was a part of him thad had been missing. It felt right.
In the corner of his eye Cin Drallig saw the little auburn haired initiate at the end of the line that had seemed almost scared of the lightsaber transform from being a scared youngling to…something else. Something more confident and…mature, if such a word could be used about a small four years' old. In a whirl of what could be he saw the boy grow into a man, handling the lightsaber with such grace and skill that it was almost unbelievable that the small uncertain child would be the origin of such a combatant. Yet he knew it was possible. He had seen it happen a couple of times before in his career as weapon master, but it was rare.
"Now. line up again. We will start to learn the first kata today. Katas are a form of movements that creates the basic for lightsaber duels and if needed battles. When you master the katas, you will also master your own bodies and finally the duels and battles you will meet in the future. Pull your lightsaber back, in height with your shoulder. Stretch your other arm forward. Keep your weight on the foot on the same side as your lightsaber arm,l ike this…"
Obi-Wan did as he was told. He wasn't sure if he did it right, but it felt right and Master Drallig didn't correct him so he assumed it couldn't be too bad. It felt like he was floating on gentle waves in the Force. The 'saber was his only focal point in the dojo and everything else ceased to exist. It was just him, the green light in front of him and the Force. Nothing else.
Except there was. Due to his intense focus on the lightsaber Obi-Wan didn't see the stroke coming. The Force screamed a warning but too late, Bruck Chun's training saber hit him in the shoulder and the zinging bite from Bruck's saber made him lose his concentration, and his balance. He stumbled and fell. Being in the end of the line he hadn't really noticed how close to the bench in the end of the dojo he had come. He had been fully concentrated on the steps and movements of the kata. His head hit the bench with a low 'thud' and he blacked out.
…
Cool fingers ran over his forehead, and from a distance he could hear a voice - all too familiar for his likings: "He's awakening. Obi-Wan, can you hear me?"
Obi-Wan nodded weakly. This didn't promise too good. Carefully he opened his eyes and the well known face of Healer Shan looked down to him.
Oh, no! Not the healers. Not again.
"Yes," he answered, voice slightly trembling.
"Good," the healer stated plainly, "now, do you know what brought you here?"
"I stumbled and fell."
This was outright embarrassing. Obi-Wan could feel his face heat up.
"Can I go home?" he pleaded.
Force, don't tell me I have to stay. I really, really hate the Halls of Healing because it's so white and there's so much pain in here. It hurts.
"It depends," the healer said cryptically, "how many fingers do you see?"
"Four."
"Good, and now?"
The number of fingers held up in the air changed.
"One."
"Fine, Ali-Alann should be here every moment now, let's just check the burn from the training saber. No, it looks OK. There's a red stripe right now but it will disappear in a couple of days. You have to bear the mark of a wounded warrior until then. You have got a bacta patch on your head. Don't touch it until tomorrow morning, OK?"
"OK," Obi-Wan agreed and brightened. Obviously the healer's weren't about to lock him in. Not this time.
"Is he good to go?" Master Ali-Alann's voice sounded deep and not overly concerned in the room.
"He is. You may bring him home. No fractures, no concussion. He just fainted for a moment. I have put a bacta patch onto the small wound in his head and asked him to leave it until tomorrow. Give him something to eat and put him to bed to rest and he will be his usual active self tomorrow morning."
Ali-Alann lifted the boy up into his arms and strode back to the creche.
Obi-Wan was nicely curled up in his bed when Garen came into the room. Fortunately Master Ali-Alann had allowed him to walk the last few steps into their dormitories and he had been received as something like a fallen hero. The first one of the Bear Clan to fall for a lightsaber, that really was something. Obi-Wan wasn't totally sure if that would be a good reputation to have for the future, but he kept his mouth wisely shut in that matter.
"Wow, that was great," Garen sighed.
"Yes," Obi-Wan agreed, "it was. Did you feel the Force?"
His friend looked at him, slightly confused by the question: "What do you mean? The Force is always there, Obi."
"Yes, but didn't you feel it around you and within you more than usual when you switched on the lightsaber?"
Garen still looked uncomprehending at him: "No? It was just awesome to know I was using a real, well almost real, lightsaber. It made me feel big."
This time it was Obi-Wan's turn to be confused.
"But..? But..? I thought you all felt the same. When I switched on the lightsaber I felt as if the Force and I was one," he tried to explain,"it was much more a part of me than it is in the meditations Master Yoda is teaching us. It felt right!"
Garen touched his bacta patch carefully. "I believe that smack in your head must have affected you more than the healers believed," he grinned,"neither me nor the others I have talked to felt anything like that."
With that he left his friend and Obi-Wan was once more alone.
No one? Was I the only one that felt the Force increasing in strength when I switched on the 'saber? It felt great. I can't wait until the next lesson.
With that conclusion he turned around and fell asleep. It had been a most satisfying day.