Chapter 1: Growing Pains

28 BBY…

The training room was filled with the sounds of sharp energy collisions as tiny Marksmen-H combat remote droids zoomed around the helmeted heads of several short figures. All of them were children, most likely around the ages of eight and nine, and all were wielding small blades of light, attempting to deflect the small blasts of red light the tiny ball like droids fired at them.

Before them, the small hunched green form of Master Yoda was talking to a tall Jedi standing beside him, his short blonde hair and slightly scruffy chin of stubble bright even in the dim light.

"I would not have brought this to your attention if it had not been so concerning." The man said, his sharp brown eyes narrowed with concern "The disappearance of one of Chancellor Palpatine's own advisors usually would not have concerned me. It is not uncommon for determined Politicians to use criminal means to further their ambitions, especially Palpatine's enemies in the Senate. He is after all in favour of being re-elected again. Had it not been for the fact that the same bounty hunter that was assigned to track his advisor, has also been responsible for the death of two of my informants both of whom have links to said advisor, I would not have reported as soon as I have."

"….hmmm…a matter most troubling, it is" Yoda nodded grimly "Disappearance of advisor on the eve of Republic election, coincidence it cannot be. More behind this than what we see before us, I fear…" the old master shut his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Disturbance I sense in the force. Clouded, the answer is, by the dark side. Clear your mind Soren, and find answers you might. Meanwhile, ponder this new information I will"

"Thank you Master Yoda. You have been of much help. I shall leave you to train your younglings" the Jedi, Soren, bowed respectfully before turning his back to leave to room.

Yoda's eyes softened with pity as he saw the small rolling limp on the man's left side and heard the faintest clunk of metal hitting the floor with every step.

As soon as Soren was out of sight down the corridor, Yoda turned back to his class, who had dutifully continued to practice their lightsaber training whilst he had been talking to the other Jedi knight. Knowing that they were unaware the conversation had ended, he chose instead to observe their progress calmly and patiently, his yellow eyes roving over two students in particular.

One of them, a male, Yoda observed, with dark steel blue skin covered in a small set of white initiates robes, was quite skilfully blocking every single one of the blasts aimed his way.

Beside him was another young male, only he was human and slightly taller, stockier and tougher in build. Like the blue boy he too was able to block the blasts though not without the occasional slip up here and there.

Even so, the human boy moved with much strength for one so small, a trait he, the child, knew all too well. Though he was far from humble about it.

Indeed Yoda could not help but frown as he watched this particular student bump into one of his fellows, a much smaller and slighter female with shimmering pale silvery blue skin.

"Hey watch it" the boy snapped only to yelp as his droid finally managed to break his streak by hitting his toes with a small beam.

"Great! Now look what you made me do?!" he hissed to the girl who timidly made to cringe away with a small mumble of apologies.

It was so quiet that barely anyone could hear it.

Not even the boy she had bumped into could hear her.

"Typical." He rolled his eyes scathingly as he turned back to his droid which had paused in its blasting whilst his attention had been diverted. "Just stay out of everyone's way where you belong mumble-mouth"

"Hey leave her alone!" a voice snapped and everyone turned to look at the blue skinned boy as he lifted his helmet from his vision. When he did they were all met with a pair of angry yellow eyes glaring fiercely out of a blue face framed by eight short slicked back tentacles. All of them were actively flaring out. The effect was such that when combined with the shrinking of his sharp pupils, most of his classmates shrank back a little.

However the human boy from before just sneered as he lifted his helmet, to reveal a pale face with blue eyes and brown hair.

"Why not? All she does is mumble? It's not like she can actually speak can she, Zuma?"

"I said leave her alone" The blue boy Zuma growled as he made to stand between the human boy and the small helmeted figure of the silver girl.

"Zuma don't" she mumbled fearfully, her voice soft and a little squeaky as she reached out to put a hand on the blue boy's shoulder.

The human boy only smirked derisively.

"yeah Zuma don't show off in front of your sister. Wouldn't want mumble mouth to be embarrassed again would you?"

"Shut up Coryn!" Zuma hissed and this time he bared his teeth, sharp small razors poking out of dark blue gums.

"Ahem" an elderly voice coughed.

Both boys flinched as if whips had been slapped on them as they both slowly turned to face the front.

As soon as he caught their full attention, and that of the entire class, Yoda shut his eyes and shook his head.

"Coryn, Zuma, anger you take out in class on one another, very disappointing. Very unbecoming of Jedi, this is"

"Sorry master" both boys mumbled as they were fixed under a stern stare.

"Accepted, your apology is. But heed this now, younglings. To feel negative emotions, natural to all living things, it is. But, learn to overcome the negative feelings you must, to be a Jedi. If only to protect others, and not just ourselves"

Yoda's eyes flickered from Zuma to his sister's spot, only to find that it was empty, her small training saber the only thing left that could determine her previous presence.

The old master shook his head with a soft sigh as everyone turned to see what he was looking at.

A couple of children gasped as Zuma pinched the bridge of his slightly flat nose. A fair few others even sniggered, however these were quickly shut up by a young Torgruta female with orange skin and white and blue head-tails standing close to where the girl had vanished.

"Hey shut up! It's not nice. Maybe if you weren't so mean she wouldn't be so quiet."

"Oh can it would you Tano" Coryn snorted softly "Just because you're friends with the unlucky Symphs-"

"Hey! We're not unlucky-" Zuma began to snap but he was cut off by a very stern.

"Enough!"

To say that the room had gone deadly quiet would be an understatement.

Barely anything breathed or moved as Yoda walked towards the children. He was shorter than them by more than a head and yet, such raw power he emitted even as he walked, that all of them shrank back slightly, heads bowed respectfully.

As soon as he was close enough he nodded once to the Togruta before turning to Coryn his voice grave as he spoke.

"Even though to be mean, is not truly in your nature. Your feelings clouded by frustration they are, make you act harshly towards those you envy. That for certain, I know. Nonetheless Coryn, Ahsoka is right. Nice it is not, to tease someone, for being different as they are. If you wish to be a jedi, then see past differences, you must learn"

"yes master Yoda" Coryn looked down at his toes his cheeks reddening with embarrassment, but already Yoda was turning to Zuma.

"And you Zuma. Care for your sister you may. Protect her, you might want to. Noble causes, they are both. But learn to calm your mind, first, for both your sakes hmmm?"

Zuma nodded, though his was more reluctant as he looked out the door, where another adult Jedi Knight was currently peering through.

It was a man, or at least a tall masculine figure was standing in the long Jedi robes of a master. None of them could see his head or his face for a hood was cast over both, damp from the rain that was storming outside the window.

However where the children saw the newcomer as strange and slightly intimidating, Yoda instead smiled gratefully.

"Ah Zivon…what help may I be to you?"

"Actually I was wondering if I could help you" a smooth deep voice spoke softly from under the hood's shadows. "I felt both a disturbance in the force and great distress. Is there something wrong?"

"Ah yes" Yoda shook his head sadly. "My student that would be. Few words exchanged in class. Very upset she was"

"Would you like me to find her?" Zivon asked quietly though it seemed by his tone that he already knew the other master's response even as he nodded.

"Symph she is. Skin light blue. Young like the others in my class."

"Very well then I shall make haste." Zivon nodded under the hood.

"We'll come too-" Ahsoka blurted out as she and Zuma stepped forwards but Yoda shook his head.

"No young one. Stay here, your friend and you must. Calm your minds so that you may comfort your sister, when she returns."

"But I'm also a Symph" Zuma pouted stubbornly. "I can sense where she'll be. I'll be able to help."

Though they couldn't see his shadowy face they could tell Zivon was smiling gently as he knelt down to be at eye level with the young symph male.

"Whilst your offer is very noble young ones, I must agree with master Yoda. You should stay here and let your anger sooth, for if your sister senses it, it might frighten her more. But do not worry. When I find her I shall bring her back to you safe and sound. You have my word."

Zivon stood up and turned to bow towards Master Yoda, who nodded back respectfully as the other Jedi knight made to leave the room.

As soon as he was a fair way down the corridor, Yoda turned to his class of younglings. Nearly all of them were in awe, but there were some, those who had laughed earlier who looked rather scared. The human boy Coryn was looking especially sheepish as Zuma and Ahsoka glowered fiercely at him and his small gaggle of friends.

Seeking to diffuse any tension the old Master gave a small cough and smiled warmly when his students all turned to face him.

"So many visitors. Popular I must be today hmm?" he said and some of the children giggled.

But Zuma still looked very anxious.

Yoda's smile softened.

"Hard though it may be young one, trust master Zivon and wait patiently, you must. For a promise made that cannot be kept, a Jedi does not."

"Yes master Yoda" Zuma muttered though he still felt very reluctant.

However he could also feel somewhere in the back of his brain a loneliness that was not quite his own.

Master Zivon was not a Jedi many people took lightly. His demeanour, though sometimes grave and authoritative, was never harsh or cold. And he not only walked and fought, but also spoke too with such composure, poise and grace that often left many people in awe as they listened to his rather straightforward and logical wisdom.

In short. Zivon Aq'vas was the near epitome of the perfect Jedi knight. Or so everyone thought.

Truth be told, he was not feeling so composed now as he searched high and low for the missing youngling.

He had been at his search for half an hour now with absolutely no sighting whatsoever of the small symph girl. Wherever she was hiding, she was hiding really well.

He shuddered to think what would happen if a distressed youngling did not pay attention to their surroundings.

The Jedi Temple was a large place with many vantage points and hidey holes that may be meaningless and easy to avoid for adults, but potentially dangerous for small children. Also there were other people about.

Not that he doubted the morality of any of the Jedi or the temple staff but still…Symph children, especially force-sensitive ones, were almost as rare as hen's teeth these days.

Indeed Symph's themselves were considered an exotic find on the underground black markets in the Outer Rim, and for good reason.

Symph males usually were strong intelligent fighters, good for a show in the sparring ring. But it was the females that were the ultimate prize for their power over empathy was truly a weapon that was not to be trifled with, not even by a Jedi.

Zivon shook his head out slightly as he took a deep breath to calm himself and his small bout of nerves.

Oh what am I worrying about? No one here would dare hurt one of the students. Perhaps she is outside…the storm has calmed for now…

And he was right, for even as he looked outside a window the sun was beginning to shine down through the storm clouds.

He paused to watch as the bright rays hit a small fountain in the courtyard below, a small fountain where something was swimming. Something with tentacles.

"Ah…" Zivon nodded in understanding before chuckling to himself "I see…should've known"

He quickly turned and made his way down the nearest steps to the ground floor, not even pausing to apologise as he accidently bumped shoulder's with a rather grouchy teenage padawan who was walking with his equally irritated but still much calmer master.

"Hey watch it!" the young teen, a tall boy with short brown hair and blue eyes, growled only to be stopped by his master's stern voice:

"Anakin."

"Sorry master, it's just sometimes-agh", the teen Anakin growled down to the floor and his master's face softened slightly.

"I know, I'm feeling pretty tired myself and that wasn't an easy mission. Even so do try to be mindful of your emotions. If you want to be angry at something, use a pillow."

In spite of himself Anakin couldn't help but smirk.

"I will keep that technique in mind Master Obi-Wan"

Obi-Wan Kenobi rolled his eyes fondly.

His padawan could certainly be quite cheeky at times.

"Little one, what are you doing?"

There was a loud splash as the little silver blue Symph girl surfaced only to come face to face with the tall hooded form of the Jedi Master.

He watched calmly as she spluttered:

"M-master…I-I-I-I'm sorry I-I-I-AH!"

She squeaked as her delicate webbed hands slid on the stones of the fountain's edge.

"Here" the master swiftly swooped down and lifted the now soaking wet child out of the fountain and set her down securely onto the ground.

She blinked in surprise as she caught sight of the hands that had held her. They were webbed like her own, but larger and a dark greyish tone with dark nails and faint dark stripe like markings going up the arm.

But even as she caught sight of them disappearing into the folds of his robes, small flashes of amusement and gentle concern that were certainly not her own flashed through her mind.

"Who are you?" she whispered and she felt through the strange small corner of her brain, the smile on the face above grow slightly wider as the older Jedi lowered his hood.

His sharp dark blue skinned face was marked with the similar even darker striped lines that he had on his arms. Some of them were so long that they also extended down the eight lightly moving tentacles that fell just to the level of his chin. The girl gulped as she saw that they were swaying of their own accord towards her as he himself made to crouch down to her eye level.

She bit her lip, bracing herself for a stern reprimand for her actions, however the eyes that looked at her were nothing but sympathetic as the older symph murmured.

"My name is Zivon Aq'vas. What is yours young one"

"Zizita" the girl, Zizita, mumbled softly, not quite meeting his eye "Zizita V'spar"

"Zizita" Zivon murmured thoughtfully "Like the Symnarian Zizita sea shells?"

Zizita nodded mutely her cheeks blushing a darker shade of blue as she looked down to her toes.

"It is a fitting name" the master made to smile kindly down at her though it was quick to fade slightly.

"Then I am right in guessing you are the very Zizita that master Yoda is missing from his class?"

Zizita nodded again though this time it was very sheepish indeed.

"I'm sorry sir" she mumbled through tremulous lips "I just…I couldn't stand it. They were all laughing at me. Both on the outside and inside"

"Outside and inside?" Zivon quirked a brow and Zizita nodded again.

"Inside their heads master. I can feel them. They think I'm weak…they think because I don't speak well that it's funny."

"And what makes you think that you don't speak well?" now Zivon was truly puzzled. The girl was a little shy it was true, but she didn't seem so timid. At least to him she wasn't.

But even so Zizita was bitter as she muttered.

"Because I mumble a lot and…and whenever I talk they laugh at it as if I'm sort of joke. It's not fair!" she suddenly blurted out and Zivon pursed his lips as emotions hit his brain hard.

Anger, bitterness, jealousy, but worst of all was the loneliness. The sheer isolation the girl felt was such that it almost made him wince with sympathy.

Instead Zivon held out his hand, palm facing up to the clearing sky.

Zizita took it gingerly and gasped as images and feelings began to race through her.

But these feelings somehow felt strange as if they were being viewed from the end of a long tunnel.

A small dark skinned symph boy sitting alone watching longingly as other children played. Then it flashed to a vision of the same child sitting in the archives pouring alone over holo-books. Then another flash and the boy was a few years older. In fact he seemed to look almost exactly as the Jedi before her did now, save for the fact he did not have any of his striped markings and his face was perhaps less stern and his body slightly leaner and gangly. Once again he was alone as he meditated in a spare classroom, other padawans and masters walking past talking busily.

Then suddenly the image was gone.

Zizita blinked as Zivon slipped his dark webbed hand out of hers and placed it on her clothed shoulder.

"Remember this well young one, you were brought here by the will of the force just like everyone else here. For what reason, I do not know. But for now know this: just because you are different, it doesn't mean you are inferior."

A small comforting smile grew on his face as he stood up.

"Now come, let us get back inside. Your brother is most worried"

Zizita nodded doing her best to not stare in awe (a task at which she was failing), as she timidly made to follow the Jedi Knight back inside the temple.

Towards her future.

Tadaa! First chapter up! yay!

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