Hi everybody. Raptor2216 here.
So, everybody, I know this was not on my list of fanfiction ideas I posted in Jurassic Avengers, but after reading a story of a similar premise, I got the idea for this fanfiction. My first Star Wars fanfiction!
This fanfiction is based on kinda the same basic premise as several other fanfictions; namely ones called A Most Coveted Burden, Star Wars: Darkness and Light, and One, Light, One Dark. This story is about a Jedi apprentice who survived Kylo Ren's massacre, and that apprentice's journey through the events of The Force Awakens. I plan for it to be quite different from the similar fanfictions above. Also, for story purposes, Kylo Ren killing all the new Jedi took place 11 years before the events of The Force Awakens, which actually took place 31 years after the Battle of Endor, meaning Kylo Ren is exactly 30 during the events of The Force Awakens.
Well, enough talking. Let's get started.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or places in this story save two of my OCs.
Chapter 1- The Start of the Path
Intro: In the years after the defeat of the Galactic Empire at the Battle of Endor, Luke Skywalker, the last Jedi, began his quest to raise the Jedi Order anew. Building a new Jedi temple on the moon Yavin 4. he searched for force-sensitive children to train as Jedi.
With the formation of the First Order, led by the mysterious Dark-side user Snoke, raising a strong Jedi Order to protect the galaxy became Luke's number one priority. At age 9, his nephew, Ben Solo, born a year after the Battle of Endor, came to train under Luke.
Young Solo possessed incredible potential, but he held too much admiration for his grandfather, Darth Vader. Luke tried his best to train Ben to be a great Jedi, while keeping him in the light.
Despite the great attention he devoted to Ben, another apprentice also drew Luke's interest. She possessed great power, but something else, something unidentifiable, set her apart from her fellows. Little did Luke know that this young apprentice would bring salvation to the galaxy, and peace to his soul.
"Feel the force around you. Let it flow through you. Open your mind to it."
Luke looked down at the little girl before him. She looked at him with her startlingly blue eyes, then turned back to the large rock in front of her. Shaking her head, causing her silky brown hair to wave as if in a breeze, she closed her eyes, took several deep breaths, and went still.
Both Luke and the girl were silent for several moments. Then Luke said, "Now, when you are ready, reach out and lift that rock into the air."
For several moments, she was still. Then, she lifted her hand. The rock trembled, and began to rise into the air. It lifted up three feet, then stopped. For several seconds it hung there, motionless.
"Excellent," said Luke. The girl opened her eyes and smiled. Then the rock wobbled and fell to the ground.
"Now, for the last test. Use the Force to lift the rock up three feet, then move it towards that tree," he said, pointing at a tree in front of and to the right of her, about 20 feet away.
She nodded and faced the rock again. She was still for a few moments, then again lifted her hand. Again, the rock wobbled and rose up three feet. It hung there for a few seconds. Now with her eyes open, she began to move the rock towards three. Luke waited until she had moved the rock very close to the tree, then told her, "Okay. Now, bring it back."
The rock froze, then began to float back towards them, halting right in front of the girl where it had started, still hovering three feet in the air.
"Good. Now, use the Force and throw the rock as far as you can," Luke said. The girl scrunched up her eyebrows slightly in concentration. Then, she pushed her hand forward slightly, and the rock flew away. Luke, only expecting it to go 10 to 20 feet, was surprised when the rock flew over a hundred feet before falling to the ground.
"Excellent job, Ella. Very good work!" Luke praised. He knew she was competent with the Force, but until now, he hadn't known just how much. She turned and smiled at him.
Ella was Luke's favorite apprentice, and among her age group, she was the most talented. Her full name was Ella Starlien. She was born on Tatooine. Her mother died when she was just 4. Luke met her when she was 5 when he went to Tatooine to visit Old Ben's home to see if there was anything useful there. He had immediately noticed she was strong with the Force. For 2 years, he had visited her family until, at age 7, he approached her father with a request to take her on as one of his apprentice's. Ella's father had a hard time letting go of his only daughter, but eventually decided to let her go.
That had been a year ago. Now Ella was 8, and progressing nicely in her early training. For several months, she had been training to harness and use the Force. And now, Luke decided it was time.
"Well, Ella. You have come far. You have learned how to use the Force, though you are far from being a master. Nevertheless, I believe it is time for you to start your real training."
Ella smiled. This was what she had been waiting for. "Thank you, Master Luke," she said, and hugged him. Luke smiled before hugging her back.
Ella had always been the most emotional of the apprentices at the Temple. Emotion was no longer as discouraged as it was before the Empire, but Luke still cautioned the apprentices to watch their feelings carefully, and never let hate, fear, and anger overtake them.
Ella let go and smiled up at her master. Luke smiled back as he said, "Well, we had best return. We have a new apprentice arriving that I must greet."
A few hours later, at dinner, as Ella sat eating with one of her friends in the Temple, Luke came into the room and asked for everyone's attention.
Once everyone was watching and listening, Luke began to speak. "Everyone, I know it has been some time since a new apprentice arrived here. I am now pleased to tell you that my nephew, Ben Solo, has arrived to train here. I hope you will all give him a warm welcome. Come out, Ben."
From behind a curtain on the wall came Ben Solo. He was now 9 years old. He had been sent to train with Luke by his mother as she was worried about the level of admiration he had for his grandfather, Darth Vader. Luke was also worried about this, but he felt confident that he would be able to show Ben who his grandfather had really been, and then raise Ben to be a good, powerful Jedi. Ben had power like Luke had never felt in anyone else besides Yoda, his father, the Emperor, and himself.
In the crowd of Padawans, everyone was giving a polite round of applause. One of the older Padawans came forward to welcome Ben to the Temple. However, near the back of the room, Ella stared at Ben intently. Almost from the first moment after he came into the room, Ella had become infatuated with him. He was one of the most attractive boys she had ever seen, and something about him drew her to him.
Luke soon left, and the Padawans resumed eating dinner. Ben got himself food, then went around to introduce himself. When he reached Ella and her friend, Ella's friend shook his hand politely and was very friendly. When he reached to shake Ella's hand, she extended a shaking hand to take it. When she introduced herself, her voice was a little shaky.
Ben didn't seem to notice and moved on. As they sat down. Ella's friend said teasingly, "Oh. You like him, do you?" Ella went more red than a Sith Lord's lightsaber.
That night, Ben settled into his new quarters. As he went to bed, thinking about Darth Vader again, he did not know that he already had a secret admirer.
Ella deflected the laser bolt. She took a leap forward, then stopped to block three more laser bolts with her lightsaber. Then, she took a final leap forward and sliced down with her lightsaber, cleaving the training droid in half.
"Excellent, Ella," called Luke. In only a few moments, the other apprentices also dispatched their droids.
Luke came down to the apprentices. "You have all done well. Now, I recommend you get to bed. We have a difficult day of training tomorrow, so I recommend you get some sleep."
After bowing to Luke, the apprentices filed out and headed back towards their quarters.
Outside the training room, Ella stopped to think. It had been 11 years since she arrived at the Jedi Temple. She was now 18, and close to completing her training and officially being declared a Jedi Knight. Only 3 Padawans had learned enough to be officially promoted to the rank of Knight. She had learned much faster than many others, and Luke thought, with another year or so, she would be ready.
As she stood there, she reached for her lightsaber. Pulling it from her belt she held the hilt out in front of her. It was a truly unique design. She had built it with a slight curve. However, it was not a curved as most other curved-hilt lightsabers. It gave her better handling and blaster deflection than users of a true curved-hilt lightsaber, but better dexterity in using it than those who used standard-hilt lightsabers. It was a truly unique design, and made her a slight renegade compared to her fellow apprentices, who all used standard-hilted lightsabers.
Ella lifted the hilt up a little, then ignited the blade. It sprang out, a brilliant purple.
Ella was the only student at the Temple who had a purple lightsaber. Luke had a green lightsaber, and all the other students had blue or green lightsabers. Ella's saber was originally supposed to have a green blade, but Luke had given her a different kyber crystal, which yielded a purple blade. He told Ella that from what he knew, purple blades traditionally signified one who had mastered both sides of the Force. Occasionally, they were used by Masters who had extensive knowledge of the force and were very powerful or wise, and knew how to use the dark side to some extent. Luke told Ella that he had seen her use the dark side twice. Unintentionally, but she still used it. He said that he could sense she was gifted with the ability to use the dark side when the need arose without giving in to it, and for that, she deserved a purple lightsaber. He also told her she only the second Jedi in over 200 years to use a purple lightsaber, and the last Jedi to use it was the great Jedi Master Mace Windu.
Ella twirled her lightsaber slightly, gazing at the blade. Since that discussion, she had tried to use dark side again, but had only done it intentionally once. Twice more she had used it unintentionally, and without even realizing at the time what she had done. She felt she was unworthy of a blade of this color, particularly after what she had heard of Mace Windu.
She shook her head. She couldn't afford to think like that. She trusted Master Luke, and if he told her she deserved this color blade and that what it signified applied to her, or would, then she trusted his word. She had to believe in herself. She may not be worthy of it yet. But she could be. She just had to earn it.
She deactivated the lightsaber, and the blade retracted. As she put it on her belt, a familiar voice called out, "Ella!"
She turned around to see Ben walking towards her. She blushed a little. In the first few years after he arrived, she managed to calm her feelings about him. Then, around the time she turned 13, she began to develop stronger feelings for him.
They had become very close friends. They would flirt with each other, hang out with each other and talk, and occasionally show affection (mostly Ella). She now knew that she was in love with him, but she was not yet ready to admit it.
"Ella, would you care to come to my quarters? We can talk and share some stories before we go to bed. I still have some stories from my adventure on Malastare I have yet to tell you," said Ben. "Okay," said Ella, "Let me change first. I'll meet you outside your room."
Ella hurried to her quarters and changed out of her Jedi robes and into a dress she wore at night. She then headed over towards Ben's quarters, only to catch him coming out of a fellow apprentice's room. "What were you doing in there?" Ella asked playfully. "He left his door open. He had a whole bunch of cakes in his room. He was sleeping, and I couldn't help myself but help myself to a few."
She pushed him lightly. "I'm telling him you did." Ben laughed and said, "Will this keep you quiet?" He held up the last cake he had taken. She laughed again and accepted it.
Together, they walked towards Ben's quarters, chatting and laughing. When they reached the room, Ben unlocked the door and they headed in.
"How was training?" asked Ben. "Good. I can't wait until I finally get to become a Knight!" Ella exclaimed.
Ben smiled and walked over to her. "And I'm sure you'll make a fantastic one." Ella noticed his eyes were drooping a little, and realized she getting pretty tired herself.
But she smiled and kept her eyes wide open. "So will you," she said back.
He smiled at her. He gently reached and took hold of a strand of her hair before letting it go. He then looked right into her eyes. The two of them looked at each other in silence. In the silence, Ella felt her heart start to beat faster and faster. She wanted to do it so bad, but she still couldn't get herself to.
Then, he spoke in a soft voice, saying, "Have I ever told you what beautiful eyes you have?"
She blushed and smiled. Then, she replied, "And you're the most amazing boy I've ever known."
He smiled as well. Then, Ella found the courage. She slowly leaned in, and, when he didn't move, she closed in the rest of the way and softly pushed her lips against Ben's.
For the first few seconds, it was just her. Then, Ben lightly kissed her back. After a few moments, they pulled apart and smiled at each other.
Then, she found the courage to do something else. In a quiet voice, she said, "I love you." He looked at her for a few moments, then smiled.
He didn't respond, but the look on his face said all Ella needed. Maybe not so much as she did him, but he liked her back. She smiled, then leaned in again. This time, he leaned forward to meet her.
Their lips met gently. But, this time, the kiss was more passionate, deeper, and more personal. As their lips moved in unison, Ella sighed. This was the happiest moment of her life.
After a minute, they broke apart. As they looked at each other, both realized they were extremely tired. They sat down for a minute and tried to talk. But their drowsiness was too great, and within two minutes, they both collapsed next to each other and fallen fast asleep.
The next morning they woke up next to each other. Ella left so that they could both get ready for their training that day.
As she headed down to the training room, Ella was very happy, but something was bothering her. Near the end of their second kiss the night before, Ella had suddenly had a flash-look into Ben's mind, and sensed darkness. She was worried. She knew he was still obsessed with Darth Vader, and hoped that what she sensed was simply that obsession. But part of her feared that something terrible would soon happen. And that it would be either to or because of Ben.
Hey, everyone. Hope you liked this chapter.
I am sorry, but Chapter 2 will not be in the The Force Awakens timeline. It will take place a few months after the end of this chapter. It will finish setting up the rest of the story.
Please review. I love to read input from my readers. And tell me things you'd like to see, and how excited you are for this.
Have a good day. Raptor 2216 out.
To be continued in "Betrayal, Exile, and A New Future"
