Chapter 3: Jedi Training (30 BBY)

Ever since the completion of the first challenge Cindo had been thinking about what happened. The sudden feeling of perfect atonement to the Force he had experienced but mostly he had been thinking about the voice that guided him. A woman that he had never heard before with a slightly augmented voice. Even after hours and hours of pondering he didn't even come close to matching the voice to a face.

A freighter passing very low over the temple broke his train of thought and he remembered why he was on the roof in the first place. Cindo told his friends he was going off to meditate in one of the rooms of the Temple but in reality, he came to the roof to be alone. Sure, he probably wouldn't have been interrupted in one of the many small white-walled meditation rooms, but he didn't like taking risks as if he was found doing what he was doing he could've been expelled from the order.

Cindo pulled the locket his parents gave him from beneath his tunic. The locket which had been undiscovered for three years ate at his soul. He didn't come up here every couple of days to reminisce, he came here to keep the promise he made to himself – to let go. Yet every single time he couldn't bring himself to throwing it away. So, every single time he would leave the roof with the locket still on him and it looked like this day wouldn't be any different than the rest. Another ship passing over the Temple blew his dark brown hair over his eyes.

"Long hair doesn't fit you at all," Lira said from behind.

Cindo nervously hid the locket back in his tunic and turned around. "I know," he agreed brushing his hair to the left. "What are you doing up here?"

"We were all searching for you. It's practice time remember?"

It was nearly the time for their second and third challenge which were conducted at the same time. The second challenge was demonstrating that the younglings had developed enough to where they mastered one of the standard fighting techniques or a technique they made that suited them the best. They would have to use that technique in a sparring match against a clanmate – which was the third challenge. Cindo, Raz'yel, Ahsoka and Lira had agreed to practice together so they could more easily see their mistakes.

"Oh yeah, I completely forgot. Let's go then."

Through the years the younglings were taught all the Jedi lightsaber forms from I to VI. There was also a seventh one called Vapaad, but due to it being very hard to learn alongside it leading many of its practitioners to the dark side it was never taught, and younglings were told to stay away from it. Cindo had gone through every form, reading about them and practicing with them but he didn't feel comfortable with a single one.

He and Lira arrived at the training room. The youngling training rooms were smaller and had matts on the ground which helped with preventing injuries. Ahsoka and Raz'yel were already there at the time of their arrival swinging their practice lightsabers. They weren't allowed to spar with each other yet so the air would have to do.

Cindo grabbed a lightsaber from the rack on the wall directly to the left of the door and moved away from the other three as to not distract them.

Form I or Shii-Cho as it was called was the first ever proper lightsaber technique. Its goal was to target specific zones on the target's body and wasn't specialized for any type of opponent. If mastered the user's movements would be sporadic and unpredictable but getting to that point took time.

Form II known as Makashi was derived from Form I but it focused heavily on one-on-one lightsaber dueling with its precise and minimal movements. The goal of the form was to outmaneuver the opponent with fancy footwork and quick jabs, but the form became impossible to use effectively against bigger groups of enemies unless it had been mastered to perfection by the user.

Form III was the most popular form. Soresu as it was otherwise called was a form that focused heavily on defense and waiting for the opponent to make a mistake. The form was seen as the ultimate expression of non-aggressive Jedi philosophy, yet the almost excessive defensive style was the main reason for its user's defeat.

Form IV or Ataru was the exact opposite of Soresu. It was and extremely aggressive form where the user would close up the gap to their opponents as fast as possible and mostly evade the attacks rather than block them, allowing for quick retaliation strikes.

Form V, better known as Djem So was similar to Ataru only that instead of speed it relied on strength. Rather than waiting for an opportunity Djem So users would create it themselves with powerful strikes that weakened the opponent's defensive capabilities.

And last but not least Form VI or Niman was a form created almost exclusively for double-bladed lightsaber users. The form was practically out of use completely as double-bladed lightsabers had almost all but vanished yet the few users there were kept it alive.

And that was what Cindo had to work with. Six styles of fighting. He slowly went through all the forms except for Niman, slowly going through all the motions and thinking about what suited him the best. He was disappointed to learn that with every single form he felt like something was missing. Even when he thought of a combination of forms and tried them out, something was still amiss, so he decided on adding another lightsaber.

"Hey, Ahsoka," he said. "Can you lend me your practice saber for a bit?" he asked her as she appeared to be taking a break.

"Sure," she happily obliged.

At first Cindo held both sabers normally. Going through the motions, he concluded that it just felt too off, so he attempted holding both in a reverse grip. That didn't go much better as he found himself lost most of the time, so he went to the last option that at the time of thinking about it seemed stupid. He kept the saber in his dominant right hand in a normal grip while having the other saber in a reverse grip. He also shortened the reverse gripped saber's length. And all the pieces slowly began fitting together.

In the beginning Cindo attempted to spread the amount of attacks evenly which ended feeling just as clumsy as his other two attempts. He adjusted by using his reverse grip saber less, only using it for quick slashes and faints every couple of swings, and that was what he ended up with. He still felt that he was way off from using the form he just made up properly but if he put enough time in, the uniqueness of the form would surely provide him with some sort of advantage.

"… So all in all the Jedi Knight role has remained similar if not identical through the entire history of our order, but the same can not be said for the Jedi Service Corps. Dating back around three thousand years ago the group was called Jedi Consulars and they had a very similar job, only that they were placed in specific roles instead of corps where they are assigned temporary roles in the specific corps. There were Jedi healers, ambassadors, diplomats, lore keepers, researchers, seers and many, many more."

"They were some of the brightest and most talented minds of the order. There was even a role called an artifact hunter whose members solely focused on roaming the galaxy in search for ancient artifacts lost to time and war. One of these artifact hunters was even named Barsen'thor, a role only bestowed twice before her."

The instructor activated a hologram depicting a human woman with long brown hair reaching past her soldiers, bearing Old Republic era Jedi armor.

"That's odd…"

"What?"

"I don't ever remember wearing anything like that. And my face isn't all screwed up."

"To be fair it's only half of your… Sorry."

"It's fine. The day that happened to me is the day my eyes finally opened up to the truth. If that hadn't happened who knew if we would've ever met."

"This is the only depiction of her we have, even her name has been lost. Her connection to the Force was beyond anything the order has ever seen. The title of Barsen'thor is only given to the most exceptional Jedi. Our records state that she gained the rank by showing great self-sacrifice – giving away her power to heal and save the lives of many people when she was a mere Padawan."

Cindo read about Barsen'thor in a book detailing the greatest Old Republic Jedi. Her section was different to many others as the information the later he got in her life got more and more scarce until suddenly there was nothing and a new Jedi appeared on the next page. Most of the Jedi's lives were well documented – going as far as the time and place of their deaths but hers cut off more than abruptly.

"I remember you telling me about that."

"I hope you also remember me telling you how much it hurt and that the pain was endless until I could finally stop shielding them."

"You sound like you didn't enjoy being the hero."

"Sometimes there were moments where I started questioning if any of it was worth it."

"That doesn't sound like something a Jedi would say."

"Former Jedi. And I don't know if I even was a proper Jedi when I was in the Order. Maybe under my first Master, Hiram, but when Coruscant fell everything changed. There were these demons haunting me that I couldn't get out of my head."

"I remember you telling me about Hiram. Sounds like he was a great Master."

"He sure was one of a kind."

Being given permission to spar wasn't only a good way of becoming better in combat it was also a necessary test to pass if one wished to even begin the initiate trials. The Gathering where younglings would get their lightsaber crystals and create their lightsabers did not only have that limitation it also required the youngest member of the clan to be nine years of age as the whole clan would attend the sacred event together. So, to not drag their clan down they had all been working hard for the past few months, choosing and perfecting their technique as much as they could.

"A few quick rules before you may begin," Cin Drallig, the Order's battlemaster started. The sparring challenge required that at least one master and two other Jedi ranked Padawan or above observed the event. To Cindo's satisfaction one of the two other observers was Obi-Wan, the man who had helped save him from the bounty hunters. His master Qui-Gon had lost his life a few years prior on Naboo.

"This challenge will be held in a best-of-three format. There will be no direct hits. If a direct hit is unavoidable so be it but if it's not you will automatically lose a round. Don't forget to use your training and use it well. May the Force be with you."

He stepped back in line with Kenobi and what Cindo could only think of as Kenobi's or Drallig's Padawan.

"The first to spar will be Raz'yel and Cindo," Kenobi announced.

The members of Clawmouse clan anxiously stepped away from the crowd and took up their positions with their sabers in hand. From their training together, Cindo was not only able to get his friend's thoughts, he was also able to observe them and their fighting styles.

"Get ready," Obi-Wan said and the two younglings settled into their battle stances. Cindo turned slightly to the right and kept his sabers close to his body.

"Begin."

They immediately dashed at each other. Raz'yel attacked first which proved to be fatal, as Cindo used his right hand to not only block but push his friend's lightsaber further away, leaving enough room for him to comfortably place his off-hand saber right next to his head, granting him a lightning fast round win which was met by cheers from the crowd of younglings.

The combatants returned to their positions and waited. After Kenobi gave them the go-ahead they lunged at each other again. Raz'yel adjusted by keeping a fair distance between himself and Cindo. Cindo began growing impatient as his opponent kept going from the left to the right, dodging and blocking his attacks. At one point he became infuriated by the constant blocking, so he threw himself at Raz'yel with everything he had. Cindo lost his balance for just a moment after a flurry of strikes which allowed Raz'yel to spin off to the right and put his saber right next to his chest which granted him the win.

"Remember, show restraint," the same augmented voice from the bolt deflection challenge said.

The two went back to their starting positions for one last time and when Obi-Wan signaled for them to begin only Raz'yel charged this time. Cindo patiently awaited the fast strikes Raz'yel would throw at him. He blocked each and every swing directed at him while going for quick retaliation strikes and faints in hope of forcing his opponent into a mistake. And a mistake he made, as to Raz'yel's surprise Cindo quickly switched his off-hand saber into a normal grip and thrusted the weapon towards him, forcing Raz'yel to awkwardly twist his whole body to block the stab, leaving him completely exposed and granting Cindo the win.

They turned off their lightsabers and bowed to each other before putting the practice sabers back into the rack and returning to the group. The verdict was be given after all the younglings had sparred. Every member of clawmouse clan successfully completed the challenges not only granting them the ability to spar whenever but also giving the whole clan the right to attend the Gathering when they were old enough to do so.

"Cindo is it?" Cin Drallig asked. He had asked him to stay after class.

"Yes, Master," Cindo replied.

"Your technique – it is as interesting and unique as it is unrefined. What do you say if I help you with it?"

"It would be a great honor," Cindo said bowing his head. The thought of the Jedi Battlemaster himself training him personally excited him.

"He's growing up so fast."

"Don't start crying on me now."

"You know very well that I'm devoid of the ability to show any emotion."

"You tell yourself that, but I could clearly see you smile only moments ago."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

A few days later…

After another hard day of classes clawmouse clan could finally rest. All of his clanmates were already deep in their sleep but Cindo just couldn't fall asleep. Whenever he tried to so weird noises would start playing in his head. Doors constantly opening and closing, footsteps and the weirdest of all, his father's favorite song would play faintly in the background for a couple of moments before disappearing.

Forcing himself to sleep wasn't working so he decided to meditate instead. He got up into a sitting position on his bed and crossed his legs. Putting his hands on his knees he closed his eyes and emptied his mind.


Just a small notice I have to put here.

I'm currently in my last year of school so that means finals and that means that I won't have a lot of time. I had the goal of putting up 1 chapter per week which I have successfully done for 3 weeks, but now it will basically be impossible unless I plan on failing school. So, unless I do everything I have to do way ahead of time, updates in the coming couple of weeks will be slower. Expect maybe one per 2/3 weeks until about the end of June, but from then on I'm free and I'll hopefully still have the motivation to get out one per week.