(I don't own Star Wars, obviously, so credit to George Lucas etc. Also credit to Darkness1 for the concept inspiration.)
Chapter 1: The Beginning
Life lesson number 104: if you like your life and see a pair of Jedi staring you down for no apparent reason, run away. Very fast. In fact, even if you don't like your life, run away because it is about to change forever.
I, of course, only learned this in hindsight. There I was, standing like an idiot near a docking pad on Nar Shaada watching two robed figures exit a transport. Then, like a synchronized swimming team, they turned in unison and stared right at me. Now I don't think I'm anything special; just your run of the mill street urchin. Needless to say it was a bit eerie to have two Jedi staring at me.
Looking back, I should have taken that as my cue to exit stage left. Or right. Or any exit because usually when Jedi study someone like me, it means we're in trouble. Instead I did the second dumbest thing I could have: I stared back.
One was a man, mid-30's, fair-skinned with short, spikey black hair, dark eyes, and a lightsaber (duh) at his side. The other was a woman, maybe a year or two younger, long blond hair, icy blue eyes, and a staff, which was unique. Underneath the typical brown Jedi robes they wore typical clothes; the man a red and white combination shirt with black pants, the woman a beige tunic with a green border and tight pants. Although, lightsabers aside, there was nothing intimidating about them (certainly not compared to the characters I deal with on a daily basis), there was something about them that radiated power. It was an indescribable aura. So naturally I did the absolute dumbest thing I could have done.
I decided to say hi.
Normally I'm opposed to meeting strangers, especially strangers that have connections to the law. I kind of live on the dark-gray side of the law, if you catch my drift, but there was something about these two that drew me like a magnet.
"Is there something I can help you with?" I asked, coming up to them.
Neither answered, but instead had some sort of wordless exchange that I've heard Jedi can do. That's when it happened.
It was like I saw it before it happened. I get that sometimes, like a premonition, where time doesn't just slow down for me, but I see things before they occur. I've never quite been able to explain it, but that gift is what's kept me alive so far.
In a motion smooth as Alderaanian silk, the man drew his saber and slashed at my head. Anyone else would have been decapitated, but because I knew it was coming, I had my cortosis-woven vibroblade up in time to block the strike.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" I shouted, stunned at the sudden and totally unprovoked attack. Around me, a couple people stopped and stared, but most kept going, not wanting to get mixed up in "Jedi-business."
"Have any doubts, Jaden?" the man asked his companion.
"None anymore, Rosh," the female, Jaden I suppose, answered. "He definitely has it."
"Have what?" I demanded. "What's going on? Who are?"
"We have some business to attend to here," Rosh turned to me. "But we have much to discuss with you. Could you meet us in the cantina in four hours?"
"Why? This too conspicuous a place to kill me?" I lowered my blade, but did not sheath it.
"We have no desire to kill you," Jaden attempted to soothe. It didn't work.
"Could've fooled me," I retorted.
"It's…complicated," Rosh shared another "look" with Jaden. "And we really are on a bit of a time budget. Please meet with us. It could change your life."
I shrugged. Other than my head, what did I have to lose? It wasn't like Nar Shaada was paradise. "Sure, why not?" I answered.
"Good," Jaden gave a relieved smile. "Oh, what's your name?"
"Revan," I told her.
Life lesson number 105: if you don't want your world rocked, when a Jedi asks you to meet with him (her), just don't go. They have a habit of changing the way your world operates forever.
In fact, life lesson number 106: avoid Jedi at all costs. Period.
Had I known what I know now, I would have stood the Jedi up. Of course had I known what I know now, then it would have been moot. Jedi have a way of telling you stuff that makes your life a lot more complicated and that once you find out, you wish you had never known. But of course if you had never known it, then you couldn't have said no to finding out. See the problem?
In other words, I showed up.
"We're glad you decided to come," Rosh said from his seat. "We were worried you might not."
"Let's just say my curiosity was piqued," I answered, crossing my arms. "Now would one of you please explain why the hell he tried to cut off my head?"
"I wasn't trying to kill you, but test you," Rosh replied, a hint of a smile forming at the corners of his mouth.
I was even less amused. At least if he was trying to kill me, I could protest my innocence. Instead he was just toying with me.
"And if I had failed your test?" I questioned.
"You would not have been harmed," Rosh replied. "A little shaken perhaps, but not harmed."
"Comforting," I snorted. "So what was I being tested for?"
"Please sit, Revan," Jaden gestured to the chair across from then. "We could be here for quite some time."
I probably should have blown them off, but I didn't. Instead I sat down.
"Tell, what do you know of the Force?" she asked, her Hoth-like eyes boring into me. It was like being under a microscope.
"Well," I replied slowly. "It's a mystical energy field made up of life. It connects everything together. For most people it exists largely unnoticed. But there are a few that, for whatever reason, develop a connection with this field. They have the ability to manipulate it into doing their bidding. In return, it guides them. Those who follow it for good, for the betterment of others, follow the light side and are generally Jedi. Those who follow it for evil, their own advancement at the expense of others, follow the dark side and are generally Sith."
"That's a rather simplistic answer, but essentially yes," Jaden repressed an amused smile, which didn't exactly help my mood.
"Condescension aside, what does this have to do with me?" I asked a moment before the pieces clicked into place. "Oh you've got to be kidding me!"
"No, we're quite serious," Rosh replied, stone faced. "You have an unusually strong connection to the Force, even for one who is Force-sensitive."
"And this justifies swinging a lightsaber at my head?" I exclaimed, nearly exploding out of my chair.
"It was a test of your reflexes," Rosh explained. "We sensed a strong, but unrefined, presence in the Force but couldn't quite be sure if it was you. If you blocked my slash, then it was you. If you didn't…Well, like I said, you were never in any real danger."
"You couldn't think of a better test?" I glared across the table at them.
"Admittedly, it does seem a bit extreme," Jaden allowed. "But it was effective. The Force is certainly strong with you. That is why we are offering to take you to the Jedi Academy to be trained as a Jedi."
Dead silence.
"Wait, you want me to what?" I asked after finding my voice again.
"We want you to become a Jedi," Jaden repeated. "We think you have great potential."
"Assuming I say yes, which is not guaranteed," I replied slowly, "why come to me now? Aren't you guys supposed to figure this stuff out when I was a kid?"
"Normally, yes," Rosh confirmed. "But the Yuuzhan Vong War, especially with their anti-Jedi campaign made it dangerous for us to identify potential Jedi the last several years. In addition, you live on Nar Shaada, which is easy to get lost in. With this much life in a compacted area, your presence in the Force was easily masked."
"I'm not going to lie to you," Jaden added. "The war has decimated our ranks and so we are desperate to rebuild them. Of course someone with your potential would've been taken anyway. But we have few teachers and our new facility on Ossus is still being finished. And we are having to force students to take a much more active role than we'd prefer. Training will be far tougher than it normally is."
"Kind of like the good old days, huh?" Rosh gave Jaden a nostalgic look. Jaden just rolled her eyes.
"So what do you say?" he asked, turning back to me.
I stared at them dumbfounded. My world had just been turned upside down. I mean, me? A Jedi? Really?
"I don't know," I answered truthfully. "To be honest, it's a lot to process."
"I understand," Jaden nodded sympathetically. "The life of a Jedi is not an easy one. Learning to use the Force opens to the door to a whole new universe, but with it comes a heavy responsibility. A Jedi's life is often one of hardship and sacrifice, a lesson the Vong painfully reminded us of."
A grim, but sad look crossed each face as I imagined them remembering comrades who had died. I was still just a teenager, so the war hadn't really been a big deal for me. But even I was aware of how hard the Jedi had been hit by the Vong. It had not been pretty.
"I need time to think," I told them.
"Understandable," Rosh nodded. "We don't have room to take you back with us but there is a transport picking up prospective students. With Master Luke's approval, it will be at this docking platform in exactly three days. If you're willing to join us, then get aboard."
"Okay," I answered idiotically. What else was I supposed to say?
"I hope to see you soon," Jaden smiled softly as she and Rosh rose to leave. "Good luck and may the Force be with you."
I nodded dumbly as they swept out. Staring hard at the table I realized that the next three days were going to be the most important three days of my life.