Chapter 2: Initiation (33 BBY)
To become a Jedi was to forget your past life. Everything from your family, friends, the things that belonged to you, all those things had to be left behind to become a Jedi. For the people that were already Jedi this might've seemed understandable and not too drastic of a measure to take to protect the galaxy but for a 5-year-old child who had just lost his parents it was completely different.
Was he just supposed to let all the memories fade into nothing?
For the other younglings who were taken from their homes on their parents' accord at a younger age than his it was different. They would feel proud of joining the order and through years of hard physical and mental training their memories of their family would fade into nothingness only to be replaced with a lifelong oath to the order, but Cindo had formed a strong bond with his parents as he was taught that family was the most important thing in life. And that was the only small consolidation – Qui-Gon had told him that the Jedi would become his new family. But it still didn't wipe away the things that happened a mere day ago.
The ship they travelled on landed on top of a large building and the trio emerged out the door on its left side. Cindo was so mesmerized by the endless kilometers of large skyscrapers and traffic just gliding across the sky that he failed to notice the five large spires that were on the roof of the building. On Dantooine he had seen nothing but his and a couple of other villages. Coruscant on the other hand was an endless sprawling metropolis. He couldn't have helped but gasp and forget everything for just a moment so he could enjoy the breathtaking view.
"It is quite mesmerizing isn't it?" Qui-Gon said, standing next to him on top of the stairs that led down to the floor of the landing pad. "Come."
They took one of the many elevators downwards into the building. The doors moved to the side, revealing a hallway so enormous you could probably park a decently sized freighter in it with next to no trouble. Decorating this hallway were banners, tapestries, pottery, small statuettes and paintings.
"You can go Obi-Wan. I'll take him to the council," Qui-Gon said.
"Of course, Master," his Padawan answered with a bow of his head.
Qui-Gon led Cindo through many similar exquisite hallways. They took another elevator, this time up. They arrived in a half-circle shaped with two long windows, one on each side winding the entire way up to the wall where a single door was.
"Where are we?" Cindo asked. He was so mesmerized by everything else that he forgot to ask a basic question.
"The Jedi temple," Qui-Gon answered. "Your new home." He walked past Cindo and walked through the doorway with Cindo following closely behind.
The room they entered was identical in shape and size, the main difference being the twelve chairs that were evenly spread out in a nearly full circle starting at both sides of the doorway. A human with dark skin and a Zabrak stood by one of the windows discussing something.
"Master Jinn."
"Master Windu, Kolar," Qui-Gon greeted back.
The two Jedi Masters approached the middle of the room where Cindo was standing.
"Potential younglings are to be given to the Temple creche," Windu informed him with a raised brow.
"This one was not on the list," Qui-Gon said.
"Hmm… What is your name?"
"I'm Cindo," he answered.
"He's of correct age but I sense emotional turmoil within him. Fear and sadness," Windu analyzed.
"There was an unfortunate event. He got abducted by some Mandalorian bounty hunters. His mother tried to protect him but her and his father both got shot by them."
Even the shortest of summaries of what happened on that forsaken night a mere day before shook him to his core. He would've… He wanted to break down and cry but it was a moment where he needed to remain brave, after all that was what his parents taught him – to be brave.
"A most unfortunate event," Kolar sympathized. "Cindo listen to me. To become a Jedi is to let go of yourself and your emotions. Your current life will be replaced with a life of learning and keeping peace across the galaxy. There is a danger in lingering on past dark events, so I ask you, will you be able to forget what happened? Are you willing to let your past and your family go?"
Those were hard questions for anybody, but for Cindo they were nearly complicated enough to where he didn't understand most of them. But what he was able to figure out was that this was his opportunity to start anew, with a new family and new and different challenges. But even if he didn't think about it there was only one answer. He had no family left and nobody to go to.
"I will try," Cindo answered.
"Do or do not, there is no try," a voice from behind him suddenly said. Cindo turned and saw a small green creature with pointy ears walking slowly towards them with the help of a walking stick. "Answer the question again you shall, yes," he added.
"I will forget, I promise," Cindo said.
"Promise not to us, but to yourself, you should. Now go, your clan, waiting for you it is."
1 year later…
"There is no ignorance, there is knowledge."
The Jedi code, the philosophy that was at the heart of the Jedi order. Every Jedi was required to know it by heart but not only know how to recite it but to know what each of the five precepts meant. Cindo had been reciting it as many times as he could, trying to get an understanding about what it means. The soft orange light coming from outside the Temple warmed his face and helped him focus.
"That's about the thirty-sixth time you've recited this today," Ahsoka mocked him. She was standing where the door was, on the opposite side of their clan's room.
Cindo was part of the Clawmouse clan. After his evaluation by the High Council he had been brought to the Temple creche and given over to the Jedi caretakers. He had thought that for a boy like him – a human with some features of the Togruta species-like slightly orange skin tan and sharp canine teeth that had been passed down through his family for generations, he would get mocked by everyone. His expectations did not meet reality to his relief. Ahsoka had been the first to approach him and quickly she became Cindo's first friend in the order. For the other eight younglings in the clan it had taken some time for him to get to know them. He had been given new attire – a tan tunic, a leather belt and leather shoes.
For the most part he had been following every single one of the instructions he had been given except for one – to give away all his personal belongings. Cindo had no problem giving away everything he had brought with him except for one thing, a necklace with a locket his parents had given him for his fifth birthday, only a few days before they were murdered by bounty hunters. On the first day he had been asked to forget his past, but for a young boy shaken by the death of his parents such a thing was impossible to do. To just forget the people that had brought him up and taken care of him, to forget the people that are the reason he exists, it was impossible to do. He heeded the warning Master Kolar gave him about the past, yet he could just not forget no matter how hard he tried. So, he decided, that instead of focusing about forgetting he would work hard, giving it his all and then through time hopefully forgetting about everything. But he knew that wasn't a possibility until he got rid of the locket, but there was still time he kept telling himself.
"The code is the reason why the Jedi exist," Cindo reminded his friend. "Or at least that's what they tell us."
"They tell us to be good and do good. What's so hard to understand about that?"
Cindo had to admit Ahsoka had a point. No matter how deep a person's understanding of the code was it really boiled down to just that, only missing the don't let your emotions guide your actions part.
"Nothing really. However I find that thinking about the simplest of things deeply and trying to form your own understanding of why they're perceived the way they are broadens one's horizon," Cindo explained.
Ahsoka laughed in response. "You talk like a politician."
"It's hard not to pick something up from the dozens of speeches we had to listen to in politics class."
"True," Ahsoka agreed, shrugging.
In his short life on Dantooine he didn't receive any proper education. Schools were few and far between and were quite costly so the parents of children that lived in the villages decided to educate their offspring themselves, so there was a varying amount of intelligence in each village. Cindo had learned mathematics and the rules of Galactic basic alongside some things about the wildlife on Dantooine and of course, farming. However in the Temple they had many more subjects and they were taught in way more detail, even to the point where you would think that what they were teaching was completely useless.
One of these subjects in particular stuck with Cindo as interesting and quickly became his favorite class – history. He just found something immensely satisfying about the past, whether it was how planets and species were discovered, how hyperspace travel began, how the Jedi and the long ruined Sith order battled for control of the galaxy multiple times. These were the events he found immense interest in learning about them.
"Do you want to do something fun or…" Ahsoka began before being rudely interrupted.
"Hey Cindo, I got the books you wanted," Raz'yel, a Pantoran from their clan said. "Oh hey, Ahsoka," he added after noticing her.
Although Togruta genes had been a part of Cindo's family for generations he had never seen a Togruta until he met Ahsoka. He found her odd, but he quickly got used to her, yet Raz'yel who was a Pantoran, a near-human race, still freaked him out. It was mostly due to the fact that he had completely black eyes, a feature that still made Cindo uncomfortable. Otherwise Raz'yel was a completely normal Pantoran, having the usual blue skin adored with white and yellow markings and short white hair with the slightest hint of purple you could easily overlook.
"I guess that answers my questions," Ahsoka said rolling her eyes.
"Don't worry," Cindo assured her as Raz'yel passed him the holobooks. "I'll just put these away and we can go do something."
"How is he progressing?"
"He's doing fine. He's been doing well in all his classes and from what we can see his eagerness to learn knows no bounds."
"And he has also become quite the little historian."
"That is good to hear. Are you suppressing his Force signature as I ordered?"
"Yes Aloysius, we are doing everything we can, but this bloodline connection only allows us to do so much."
"It will have to be enough for now."
2 years later…
It was a day like any other. Practice, practice, practice and of course classes were the schedule for today as they were for any other. As the members of the clan grew older they learned more and more sophisticated things in their classes. They went from solely training against training droids, learning how to even wield a lightsaber, to slowly going through each fighting technique with their instructors to nearly being at a point where they could begin sparring with each other. Nearly.
To be able to spar younglings had to go through a process which began with the thing they've been doing for years – deflecting bolts from training probes. And as an extra obstacle they would be blindfolded and left to rely on their atonement to the Force which should've at this point in their training be good enough to get them through the first challenge. Daily meditation requirements helped them improve their connection, so this challenge showed the instructors who had been meditating and who had been focusing on the things they shouldn't have.
The Clawmouse clan had been called up to the training rooms in the morning to undergo the first challenge. The ten-youngling strong clan had been the top performing one out of all five that were in the same age group. Seven of his clanmates who conducted the first challenge had finished it successfully and now it was Cindo's turn as Jedi Master Kit Fisto called his name.
Lira, the Rodian member of clan Clawmouse, passed him the practice saber and helmet that acted as a blindfold. Cindo put on the helmet and tightly gripped the practice lightsaber with both hands. He didn't want to admit it to himself but he was nervous.
"Breathe," a quiet female voice in his head suddenly said. "Trust in the Force. Do as you were taught, let it guide you."
He took a deep breath and relaxed his grip a bit. He didn't recognize the voice but he did as he was told. He opened up to the Force and as the probe buzzed high up into the air, he too lifted up his saber. With every blocked bolt he felt himself working alongside the Force. Every movement of his arms and legs was in perfect sync as he deflected the incoming projectiles with ease until the rain of bolts stopped.
Cindo had done this exact exercise dozens if not hundreds of times in these three years but he had never felt so light and powerful in his life. It felt as if the Force gave him complete vision and understanding of the entire room and every single thing in it. From his fellow clan members that cheered for him after he had finished the challenge to the probe slowly descending back to the ground, to master Fisto's satisfied smile, he could see and hear all of it with the helmet on. It was truly an odd sensation.
"Impressive I have to say."
"He has potential we can't deny that."
"No, we can't."
11. 07. 2019 Update
- Fixed grammar and sentences
