Star Wars
The Roads We Travel
Calorus' P.O.V
(On Naboo)
I wake up with a start as I realize that today is the day that I leave for Jedi training. I have been waiting for so long to begin the training, but my father says that patience is a big part of being a good Jedi. With that knowledge, I was able to calm myself because I want to be an amazing Jedi. Scratch that, I am going to be an amazing Jedi. I want to be like Obi-Wan Kenobi when I grow up (Minus the being murdered by a Sith Lord, naturally).
After stepping out of the refresher, I think to myself "How long will it be until I see my family again"? The Jedi used to take kids from their families at an early age to sever that bond before it became "A problem" but they stopped because it was basically forcing people that are force sensitive to become Jedi. Giving people a choice lessens the amount of animosity which in turn, lessens Sith numbers. "Calorus come on, the Sub-Ter Rover is going to be at the station in twelve minutes!" My father calls. I am so overridden in joy that the saddening thoughts of never seeing my family again leave my mind. "I'll be down in a minute!" I politely call back as I turn off the light to my room.
Since I am just going to be wearing robes from here on out, I am only wearing a black tee shirt, some loose fitting white pants and black sandals. I see my mother when I reach the kitchen and hug her. "Bye my son, you be good" she says. I see tears in her eyes so I try to lighten her mood so I reply "You too, I love you". She laughs and says "Love you too. Now go, and become the Jedi Knight you were born to be". I simply smiled and nodded, I will not let them down. I walk out of my home for the last time and walk with my father to the pickup site.
We arrive and there are a few other kids there. The Rover pulls up and I say to my dad "Goodbye dad, I will see you soon? Won't I"? He nods his head at me and rustles my brown hair "It's not a question of will you see me again, it is a question of when". I smile a little at that and hug him. We part ways and I get into the Rover and take a seat next to a blonde haired girl. "Hello, my name is Sara Iora. And you are"? I look at her and smile because her voice is soft and comforting "Calorus Harnet, pleasure to meet you". She smiles and replies "The pleasure is all mine". Maybe I'm not going to see my family for awhile, but I will make tons of new friends. This is just the beginning, my life will only get more interesting. The question is... Will I be able to handle it?
Kail's P.O.V
(On Tatooine)
I am running my right hand through my jet black hair as I walk out of my house and start my walk to the pickup zone. My dad was supposed to take me but apparently work got in the way. I didn't even get to an explanation; all I got was "You know how it is". I do know though, because this isn't the first time this has happened. But all of that is in the past because I am going to become a Jedi. I will be great like Anakin Skywalker, he was a celebrated hero of the Clone Wars. That's what I am going to do... Lead an army, winning battles and then going home to the praise.
Before I knew it I was there and my thoughts were put to an end as the driver asked "Are you Kail Mara?" I smirk and reply "Yes sir, I am." "Well come on. You're the last one". I step into the Rover and sit in an empty seat; then an annoyingly chipper boy no more than a year younger than me (I'm ten, thank you very much) sat next to me. "Hiya, I'm Harry Cortex; but my friends call me Vex". I look at him for a moment and think "Who invites them-self to sit next to someone?" After my examination, I decide, quickly I might add, that this kid is not worth my time. "Well hello then... Harry." I say with extra emphasis on the name to let him know we are never going to be friends. He shrugs and walks back to the back where he was sitting with the other idiots. I face forward and smirk to myself and think "People like that are so annoying, trying to make as many ^friends^ as quickly as possible so that they can slip by".
We finally arrived to the drop off; which is just another pickup. As we file into the transport starship, I catch a glimpse of my reflection in the mirror and I can see my sapphire blue eyes staring right back at me. I can almost see the powerful man I will become in them. I keep moving and take a seat at a table to my right, and again someone interrupts my train of thought by clearing their throat. I look up and to my surprise it is a beautiful girl staring back at me with her almond brown eyes. "May I sit with you?" I almost have to do a double take, like, someone else with manners is on this ship? "Of course." I say gesturing to the seat in front of me. She smiles a small but radiant smile and sits in the seat.
"Thank you for letting me sit here. I don't like the other kids in our group. They don't have many manners." She says and I just know this will be one of the few people that I will actually get along with. "Not many? They are nonexistent." I say with a smirk. She smiles back and says "Well I was being generous. But exactly right. My name is Rebecca Zenith." I nod and smile at her name and say "Kail Mara at your service".
"All passengers, the ship will stop at a spaceport to let you off and then you and another group from Naboo will head to Coruscant together." The driver said through the speaker. I look at her and decide I might as well make conversation, so I ask "Where are you from"? She said "Mos Eisley, and you?" I nod and reply "Me as well, but I have lived on a farm outside of the city my whole life". She smiles and asks "How was it? To live on a farm, I mean." I think for a moment and decide to reply honestly "It was... Different. Wasn't fun, I'll tell you that." She looked surprised and asked "Why wasn't it fun? Do you not like animals?" I laugh a little bit and say "Animals are cool. It's the people that made it unbearable." She seemed to understand that it was a sore subject for me and didn't ask more questions on the matter.
We were in an awkward silence for a few minutes until she spoke again. "Are you excited to become a Jedi?" I look at her and nod, saying "Very. How about you?" She seems to brighten up at my asking and replies "So excited. So much knowledge will be available to us". I smile and whisper to myself "And power." "What was that?" She inquired, I brush it off playfully with "Sand towers. I am going to use the force to build sand towers." She bought the lie and laughed.
"Attention all passengers, we are stopping for an energy refill. If you have to use the refresher, use it now." Rebecca and I both get up and go into the station where I stand in the boys line and I look to my left to see her in the girls line. One day, I won't wait in lines; people will revere me and let me through first. As my foolish thoughts of grandeur are finished, it is my turn to go into the bathroom. While I'm washing my hands, I start to wonder who else will I meet that is actually a cool person. I wonder how the kids on the Naboo transport are getting along, if at all. They are probably fools too, I should just be happy with Rebecca. I have never had true friends before, so I am embarrassingly happy about that.
As I walk out of the refresher I see Rebecca getting into the transport. I head in after her and sit back in my seat across from her. "Have you ever been to Coruscant?" I ask for the sake of conversation. "No but I can't wait to go." "Me either." I respond.
Calorus' P.O.V
(At a Space Station)
"What is taking so long?" a kid asked. I was wondering the same the same thing so I looked up and towards the man taking us to Coruscant. "We are waiting on the kids from the Tatooine transport. They had to stop for energy refuels, so they are a little late." The driver of our transport said. I nod at the answer and then look at Sara. "I don't think boys and girls can share dorm rooms." I say as a statement to let her know that we are going to have to get other friends of the same gender. She nods yes a little slowly and seemed a little sad "No they do not. I hope my roommate is cool. We will still hang out though, right?" She asks with her emerald green eyes wet from unshed tears. "Of course we will. You are like my best friend so far." I say in a joking manner to cheer her up. She laughs and says "I am your only friend so far." I smile and say "Exactly. No matter who else I meet you will still be my first friend." We hug and then start to talk about ourselves for a bit.
"The pickup from Tatooine has arrived, please everyone come here." The driver of our transport said and we all got into a circle around him. "Alright kids, since we have a bigger group we are going to choose partners for you to sit with on your way to Coruscant." The second the driver said this the whole room resonated with sounds of "Uhh" and "No way" but I figured this was going to happen so I just stood quietly and listened. "Alright, calm down everybody you can still see your friends when you get to the temple." This seemed to placate the group and they quieted down. "Okay." He looked down at the datapad in his hand and started to list the students. About ten minutes later and he was listing the last couple of students. "Henry Cortex with X'el Petaro. Sara Iora with Dana Starfield. Veil Cross with Aze Unari. Finally, Calorus Harnet with Kail Mara." The driver finished and the kids started filing into the bus. A boy with black hair walked up to me and asked "Are you Calorus Harnet?" Something about this kid is off to me but I can't put my finger on it so I just respond with "Yes. I assume that you are Kail Mara?" He has a smirk on his face when he answers "Yes I am. Let's go then, the faster we get to Coruscant the better." I nod and we walk into the bus and sit in the back across from Sara and Dana.
We were just sitting in silence until the kid in front of us turned around and looked at both us. "Hello you two. My name is Aze Unari, I am the nephew of the Grand Jedi Master, Jo'Anna Unari. But you may just call her Master. I think you two will want to make my acquaintance now." The kid named Aze says with an overly confident smirk on his face. Kail and I just look at each other and started laughing and Kail said "Now why would we want to go do something like that? Because your aunt is the Grand Master? So we can gain favor with the Master simply by acquainting ourselves with the likes of you and Cortex over there?" I start laughing more at Kail's response and say "If you didn't understand what my friend is saying, let me reiterate. We don't need or want your company. We will gain the Master's favor by being the best. Now good day." The blood is rushing to his face and he turns around.
Kail looks towards me and says "I think we will get along famously." I nod and reply "Very much so." The flight to Coruscant only took about an hour or so since we were traveling at light speed. As we were getting off of the transport and walking into the court yard we passed Veil Cross vomiting into trashcan. The light speed didn't sit well with him and others as they were throwing up as well. In the court yard was an older human female waiting to greet us.
"Hello students, you students are here because from a young age you have demonstrated force sensitivity. As such, we already have Masters chosen for you. If you will only come in, they are waiting to greet you." We walked in and there were Jedi Knights and Masters in the sitting room. "You will all be trained for different purposes and you will serve different roles. Some of you will be warriors for the Republic. Some will be counselors, some will be archive keepers. But a select few of you will be as we call them 'Sith Hunters'." A Twilek man with green skin stepped forward and asked "Aze Unari?" Aze smirked because the man was a recognized Jedi Master and member of the counsel. The pair walked away and then a dark skinned human with black hair stepped forward "Kail Mara." Kail smirked and stepped forward, this man was also a very notable Jedi Master 'Dex Makarai'. He has led countless battles in the Akari Wars. A blonde human female with green eyes stepped forward "Calorus Harnet." I walk forward and she takes me to an empty training room.
"Hello Calorus, I am Emily Zetra. I will be your teacher from here on out. We should learn about each other." She says with a smile. I think for a moment and say "Hello, I am Calorus Harnet but you already knew that. My favorite colors are white, gold and green." She laughed at that and said "Well that's a start. How about… Where are you from? Is your father or mother a Jedi?" I squint a little at that and think 'How else would they know that I was force sensitive if they didn't know about my father?' "Yes my father is a Jedi." She smiles at this and asks "Is he here?" I am becoming a little suspicious with her even though I shouldn't be and say "No… He is on Naboo… With mother" I decide to tell the truth without telling the whole truth because my dad told me not to tell them anything about 'Protocol 99'.
It was getting awkward for me so I change the subject "Are you on the counsel?" I ask with mild interest because I am still cautious. "Yes, I am. For about three years now. What is your father's name?" I am certain the counsel has put her up to this by now. "Cadius Harnet." I slowly answer. "Yes he was on the Jedi counsel before he up and left to Naboo." She said and I nod and say "Yes he was." She looks at me for a moment and asks "Do you know who your uncle is?" Now I am confused because my uncle died a long time ago. "Never met the guy, he died long before I was born." She looks at me for a moment and then says "Alright then. Dex should be along to show you to your dorm room. I have matters to attend to." With that she started to walk down the hall where I assume the Jedi Counsel room is.
"That was weird." I think to myself as Master Dex and Kail walk into the room. Kail walks up to me and says "Calorus? What's up with you?" I shake the thoughts out my head and say "My Master is acting strange is all." He laughs and says "She's a Jedi, they're all strange and we will be too one day." I laugh and we start walking towards the dorms. "Here is your room. Hope you don't mind sharing. Kail, I will see you at noon tomorrow." We sit in our beds and he asks "What was your Master doing that was weird?" I look at him and say "She seemed to be trying to scoop information out about my family." He scrunches his eyebrows up and asks "Why would she want to do that? Who is your family?" I shrug and say "I come from a long line of Jedi but that's it." He shrugs as well and says "Maybe she was just curious." He says this and we both know that isn't the truth. "Well I am going to sleep. See you in the morning." He says and I just say "Me too."
I go to sleep as well and when I start to close my eyes I see a tall man in black robes. "Hello Calorus." My eyes widen and I ask "Who are you? Where am I?" He turns and looks at me but I can't see his face for he is wearing a black hood over his head and a black scarf over the bottom of his face. "My name isn't important to you right now but know this… By starting on this path to become a Jedi and even more so a 'Sith Hunter', you have made yourself my enemy." I take some steps back as he starts to walk forward "Yes Calorus be afraid. Tell your Master and the rest of the Counsel about what you saw. Tell them that Decatus said hello." I start running away into the darkness as it consumes me. After a while I run into a wall and turn around and he is there. "See you soon Cal" As he says this there is a burning feeling in my chest and I look down to see a blood red Lightsaber jammed into my chest.
I wake up screaming to see that I am alone in the room. "What in the galaxy was that?" There is a knock on the door and I say "Come in." My Master Emily Zetra walks through the door and asks "Are you okay? I heard you scream." I smile and say "Yeah I am. Just a bad dream. Thanks." She frowns and says "About what? Dreams usually mean more than they appear at first glance." I think for a moment and decide that the guy in the dream did tell me to tell the counsel. "I… I saw a man. He was in black robes and he called himself… Decatus, I think?" She visibly paled and he asked "What? Does that mean anything to you?" She nods and says "Did he say anything to you?" I nod and tell her "That by joining the Jedi and wanting to be a Sith Hunter that I am an enemy of his. He told me to tell the counsel that 'Decatus said hello" She nods and says "Get dressed into some robes and follow me." After dressing into some brown robes and brushing my teeth I follow my Master into the hall and ask "Master, who is Decatus?" She looked at me and says "Decatus is the current Dark Lord of the Sith… He is also your uncle." My eyes widen but before I can ask any more questions she walks through an automatic door. I walk through as well and see the Jedi Counsel in their seats.
"Hello Master Zetra. Is that your new apprentice?" The human woman with the Coruscanti accent asks. Master Zetra bows and responds "Yes but there are more important matters at hand. It is as we feared… Darth Decatus has contacted Calorus through his dreams." Every member of the counsel seemed surprised and the lady with the Coruscanti accent said to me "Your life is about to get a lot more interesting." The Twilek that took Aze looked at me and said "He… He is just a boy! How can he save us?!" A female Twilek Jedi sitting on the left side of the room said "He has to. Because if this boy and his friend can't kill Decatus and destroy the rising Sith empire… The Jedi Order and the Republic are doomed." My eyes widen at these words and a thought runs through my mind 'The Path that I take, the road that I decide to travel… Will affect the galaxy. What path will I take? What roads will I travel?'