Mergirl: Callista's Story
By Ambassador Cara Jade
Part 4: Like a Moth to a Flame
Over the next few months, my life became a continual regime of class after class, but I didn't mind. I loved my new lifestyle--the life of a Jedi. I became friends with many of the Jedi trainees onboard, especially Kasidy, Ilios, and Soonta. This worked out well, because Soonta had taken Ilios under his wing the way Kasidy had for me. We spent most of our little free time together, and got to know each other very well. I learned a great deal in my first month, more than enough to clear any doubt in my mind that I was meant to be a Jedi.
But, still, I missed my family. I had tried repeatedly to call home, but no one ever picked up, and I wasn't surprised. We had an identification system on our communicator, and all Papa had to do was not pick up. I couldn't get a hold of Josef, either, probably because he was always with Papa. I thought I missed him more than anyone else.
I'd been on the Chu'unthor for a little more than a month when I received a message cylinder. It had been sitting on my bed all day, I had to assume, because I hadn't been in my quarters since early morning. It was unmarked, but every cell in my being said...
I assembled the cylinder with trembling fingers.
"Hey, Callista," My little brother's image said with a smile and a glance over his shoulder. "Sorry it took me so long to get a hold of you. Dad's still brooding about you leaving. It's been really quiet with you gone. Very weird.
"I hope you're doing well at your school. What kind of stuff are you learning. Like, I understand what the Jedi are and what you do, but how do you--"
"Josef!" My father's voice, gruffer than usual.
"Blast, it's Dad. I got to go. I'll add more to this later."
The recording blinked off for a few seconds, than he came back on. "Okay. I can talk now. Dad and Anela have gone to the mainland for the day. I just wanted to tell you one more thing: I'm not going to join the Republic Navy. I'm talking to a guy who might let me be a mate on his freighter. A pilot! It's perfect! It's what I always dreamed of." He paused, and even through the scratchy, poor picture quality, I could see the elation on his face that even thinking about his new opportunity gave him. "Well," he finished. "I guess that's it. Get back to me, Callie. Oh, and Uncle Claine says hi." He smiled again and hung up.
I shut off the recording and wiped my eyes. I didn't realize how much I'd really missed him until that moment. I got a sinking feeling in my stomach, for the first time really homesick.
"I miss you so much, Josef." I said, even though he couldn't hear me. I got up and walked to the observatory down the hall, with the message cylinder held tightly in my hand. It was usually quiet by this time of night, anyway.
But it wasn't tonight.
Kasidy sat alone in a chair by the viewport, with her feet propped on another. She stared out the viewport without paying attention to anything else.
"Hey," I said to get her attention. She turned and saw me, and smiled.
"Hi, Callista." she said, and patted the chair beside her. "Have a seat."
I sat down next to her and looked out the viewport. We were orbiting a dark planet shot through with golden light, like a bubble of magma whose shell was crusted and cracking, revealing the molten liquid beneath. "Where are we?" I asked, awed by the rare beauty of the planet.
Kasidy smiled. "You'd never been off your homeworld before you came here, did you?"
I laughed. "Is it that obvious?"
"This is Coruscant, that capitol of the Republic. The Masters report yearly to the Jedi Council here."
"Oh." I said. "So, why are you up so late?"
"Every year, the Masters report the progress of their padawans, and the Council will decide whether or not to elevate the padawans to Jedi Knights. Master Altis is down there right now, petitioning for me to become a Jedi Knight. If they approve, he'll send for me to come and take my trial. If I pass that, I will be a Jedi."
"Are you nervous?"
She laughed. "Beyond words!" She chuckled harder, and I joined her. "No, I've been on the Chu'unthor since I was six. I'm ready to be able to go home and show my family what I've become. I haven't seen them for a couple years, now." Her eyes took on a faraway, nostalgic gaze.
I nodded. Soonta had told me earlier that the Masters insisted that their students have little contact with their families, so they could focus on their training without so much distraction. "Do you have brothers and sisters?"
Kasidy nodded. "One brother, a year younger than me. No sisters, though." She looked at me. "What about you, Callie? What did you leave behind to pursue the life of the Jedi?"
I sighed, and looked out the viewport briefly before answering. "Well, what my family is like and what I left behind are two different things. My mother died when I was seven years old, and both my sisters moved out a few years later. I haven't seen them since." I held up my brother's message cylinder. "I have a brother, two years younger than me." I laughed. "He wants to be a pilot. Man, I miss him." I turned the cylinder in my hands.
"What about your father?"
I bit my lip. "I...don't have that quite figured out yet. My father was my best friend when I was little, but my mother's death put a rift between us. He isn't exactly happy with the path I've chosen."
Kasidy nodded. "I can't imagine how that feels, to have to go against your family. Both my parents are Jedi." She looked at me gently. "It must have been hard."
"Oh, it was...it was. But this is my destiny, Kasidy. I know it."
Kasidy looked out the viewport. "The month that you've been here is hardly a scratch on the surface of what you'll learn in your training, Callista. Perhaps someday you'll learn why these things have happened."
"Fire is one of the most Force-full elements. And a paradox in itself: as if gives and preserves life, so can it burn and take it away. It's power can be used for evil as well as good." As Master Crios spoke, a pillar of fire exploded from the floor in front of him with a rush of wind and heat. A collective gasp rippled through the students, and beside me, Ilios laughed.
"Whoa! Now there's a power I can use!" He leaned closer to me. "Use it on Cerante, you know?"
I looked at him with a tolerant smile. "Don't be stupid, Ilios."
Ilios smiled. "Nah, I'd never do it. You know that, Callie."
"Yeah, I know."
"As an exercise, I want you all to practice bringing fire from the air. Visualize it in your mind, then make the vision...reality." The students went to work, and Master Crios sauntered among us, offering help.
"Make the vision reality," I repeated, bringing my mind to a focus that was becoming more natural as the months passed. Mastering the elements was a Jedi's first lesson after they actually learned how to feel the Force. I was having a little trouble with fire and earth, and Master Crios had said that was probably because I had so little experience with them. Controlling air and water, especially, were simple. "Easier said than done," I muttered.
At that moment, Ilios closed his eyes, and a pillar of fire burst into existence. I jumped back to avoid the intense heat that accompanied it. "Showoff." I said as Ilios began moving the fire with his mind, twisting it in knots and making it dance. He opened his eyes and smiled at his own prowess, then he glanced at me.
"Hey, watch this." The flames twisted and warped, and formed a face. My face.
I gasped and laughed. "You're good," I said, wiping my features from the surface of the flame with my own power. I had an easier time of controlling fire that already existed, rather than creating it myself. I lifted the fire off the table into the air, rolling it into a ball. The Force flowed through me, into the very tips of my fingers, and the flames followed their guidance. I turned them in spirals, braids, figure eights. I looked at Ilios with a mischievous smile, before throwing the fire at him. Out of reflex, he raised his hands and deflected it. It careened loudly over the heads of a dozen students--
--and headed right for Cerante. "What the--" he yelped, and raised his hands to shield himself. Had Master Crios not used his own power to bat the fireball to the floor, Cerante would have had cooked sausages for fingers.
"What are you thinking, street rat?" Cerante yelled. "You could have killed me!" The other students were silent now, watching the quarrel with interest.
"Cerante, I swear, man, I didn't intend to--"
"You wouldn't care if you didn't have to deal with me anymore, would you?" Cerante challenged.
"Cerante," I started. "Leave him alone, this was my fault..."
"Shut up, Callista, you're no better than he is!"
"Cerante!" Master Crios said. "All of you! That's enough of this foolishness. Anger is the path to the dark side, my students. Do not forget that."
Ignoring Crios, Cerante pointed an accusing finger at Ilios. "We're not finished yet. You're gonna get some. I guarantee it. Both of you!"
"Cerante!" Crios said again, firmer, though he didn't raise his voice. Cerante finally looked at him, his brown eyes glinting with annoyance. "Master, you must do something about them!"
Crios returned Ilios' stare. He was the Master here, and not about to let Cerante forget it. "And what would you have me do, Cerante? Kick them out, send them back to their homeworlds?" Before Cerante could answer, Crios continued. "What happened just now was an accident, nothing more. It does not warrant your outburst." He turned to Ilios and me. "And as for you two, you are not experienced enough to be playing games with elements over which your control is novice. He looked poignantly at me. "Is that understood?"
"Yes, Master," Ilios and I muttered, lowering our head in respect.
"Cerante, do you understand?"
"Yes, Master," he said penitently.
Master Crios continued in his exercise for another half hour, without incident. However, I stole glances at Cerante every few minutes, and every time, he glared at Ilios, and anger and hatred saturated the Force.
Kasidy was made a Jedi Knight. Master Altis returned to the Chu'unthor with the news a few days later. When he told her, she jumped up and down, laughing, and threw her arms around Master Altis. Or so she said. I was happy for her; she'd dedicated her life to this dream, and now it was hers.
Djinn and the other masters held a commencement ceremony one week later. One hundred padawans became one hundred Jedi Knights that evening. They ignited their light sabers, one by one, creating an arrayed rainbow of power and light. The entire time, I never took my eyes off Kasidy. She stood, half-bowed over her emerald blade, eyes closed. Her presence radiated happiness and satisfaction. At that moment, I wanted nothing more than to stand there one day myself.
Of course, the ceremony was a catalyst that flooded the students with one question that had already trickled into many minds: who would be the next padawans? Ilios and I speculated that Master Altis would choose Soonta Le'yn, but we wouldn't find out for a week, because the Masters took that time to meditate in the Force about the difficult decision they all had to make.
And with the Masters occupied, we students were given the week to ourselves, to pass time as we pleased. Ilios took it upon himself to teach me hand-to-hand combat. He'd used street fighting to defend himself on Alderaan, and he said it helped with conventional fighting techniques to know, "a few low blows," as he called them. Ilios and I stood poised in fighting stances, breathing evenly and opening to the Force. I waited, watched for a single twitch of musculature to tell me what he planned to do. His toes curled, as if to gain a better purchase on the smooth mat we stood on, and I thought, kick.
At that moment, he launched into action and came at me quickly. As I suspected, he kicked first, high and easy to block. I leaned back far to avoid his foot and dropped to the floor, thinking that if I could catch him before he brought his foot down, I'd take the advantage. I swept my legs in a wide arc, hoping to knock his feet out from under him.
Ilios jumped and evaded me. I leapt to my feet and back up as he advanced. "Make your move!" he prompted as he barreled at me like an unstoppable meteor.
I nodded and swung a punch. He blocked it, and the second, and as his hands were busy with mine, I planted my bare foot on his chest and pushed him away, adding strength through the Force.
I put enough of the Force behind it sufficient to lift him off the ground. Before he hit the wall, he stretched his hands out before and above his head, and stopped himself, so he hung in midair. But he didn't lower himself back to the ground. Instead, he kept himself levitated, but came towards me.
"Better get up here, Callie!" He called down to me.
"I don't--I don't know how!"
"Come on, you do! I saw you levitating in Master Acheron's class. Come on!"
I sighed, and hesitantly focused on my own body, my own weight. I really knew what I was doing, but I wasn't very good at it, yet. Nevertheless, I lifted myself shakily off the ground, and Ilios met me. "Call this a high-intensity practice session." He said. "We'll slow things down a bit. Remember master Lien's lesson in fighting? she numbered every move, and you can make thousands of combinations."
I nodded. "I remember." I smiled, a little embarrassed. "I'm not too good with that, either."
Ilios smiled. "I know, but judging from how we were fighting just now, you could be very good at it."
"And you're going to teach me?" I said, arching an eyebrow.
He nodded. "Yes, yes I am." He floated back. "Number three!" he said, and I obeyed. There was a single step advance and a punch. He put an arm up and absorbed it. "Good." he encouraged. "Again!"
Punch.
"Four!"
Kick.
"Two!"
Dodge.
We kept fighting, moving in midair with increasingly blinding speed. After a few minutes, I realized that Ilios wasn't calling numbers anymore.
At that moment, Kasidy walked in. "Hey, guys!" She called up to us. "The Masters have chosen their padawans. They want us all to meet in the third audience hall so they can announce them."
"Do you know where you're going, Kass?" I asked as we trudged down the corridor from the practice hall to the audience room. Now that she was a Jedi, she was free to leave the Chu'unthor and travel the galaxy, following orders from the Senate and settling disputes.
Kasidy shrugged. Zara and I are going to the capitol, at least for now. We leave first thing in the morning."
"Where are you stay?" Ilios asked.
"Master Altis arranged for us to stay at the Jedi Temple."
"Tell me you'll keep in touch," I said. "Tell me all about Coruscant."
Kasidy laughed. "Of course I will, Callista. But only--" she pointed a finger at me. "--if you promise to join me when you become a Jedi yourself. We can travel the galaxy together...they'll never stop us."
"So that's your lightsaber, then?" Ilios said, pointing to the dull silver cylinder swinging at Kasidy's belt beneath her long cloak. Her fingers fell over it, stroking the work of art they had fashioned.
"Yep." She said, smiling proudly.
"Can-can I just hold it for a second?" Ilios stretched out his hand, his finger expectantly bent to receive the silvery weapon. Kasidy chuckled and unhooked the weapon from her belt. She handed the weapon to Ilios, and his fingers closed around the smooth hilt. He inspected it with awe. "What're these little creatures around the rim?"
"They're called Nunas. On Naboo, we kept them as pets. My family bred them."
"You're from Naboo? I would have thought Coruscant."
"No, born and bred Nubian. I could have been one of the Queen's handmaidens, but Master Altis took me as his padawan, and I chose to finish my training instead."
"Wow," Ilios breathed. I remained quiet throughout this exchange, since I really had no idea what the were talking about. We reached the Reception Hall and sat down near the front. On the raised dais, the one-hundred masters of the Chu'unthor sat in four rows, still and with their hands folded.
"The students they'll choose as their padawans don't know they've been chosen yet. The only person who knows is the Master, and every Master knows only who he or she chose." Kasidy explained to us.
"Then it's a surprise to everyone," I said, and Kasidy nodded.
"It's usually a student who's been here for a few years."
More students filed in, and a low hum of mingled conversations filled the air. After a half and hour, Master Altis stood and raised his arms. Almost immediately, the room was quiet.
"Greetings, my friends and students. As you know, we have commended our one-hundred padawans to Jedi Knights. The time has come to replace them, if only in name. We know their influence will never leave us. These new padawans represent some of the Chu'unthor's best, students who have been here many years, excelled in their studies and exercised. As head Jedi Master, I will be the first to announce my choice." He paused for a moment, casting his eyes over the crowd. "I am honored to take Cerante Getufsko as my padawan learner."
"What?!" Ilios nearly choked on his words. A few of the students turned and looked at him as Cerante stood to a round of applause. Ilios had half-risen out of his seat, so he sat down, muttering, " Great. As if wasn't hard enough to live with him."
The three of us watched as Cerante took his seat, looking as smug and snide as I'd ever seen him. He looked over and saw us staring, and gave us a disgustingly holier-than-thou smirk.
I rolled my eyes and turned away. "I bet you're right."
Kasidy nodded. "I think I have to be glad to be leaving tomorrow." she said. "But it won't be as bad as you think. He'll spend most of his time with Master Altis; you'll probably hardly see him."
We both looked at her incredulously, and she shrugged. "Just a different point of view."
By Ambassador Cara Jade
Part 4: Like a Moth to a Flame
Over the next few months, my life became a continual regime of class after class, but I didn't mind. I loved my new lifestyle--the life of a Jedi. I became friends with many of the Jedi trainees onboard, especially Kasidy, Ilios, and Soonta. This worked out well, because Soonta had taken Ilios under his wing the way Kasidy had for me. We spent most of our little free time together, and got to know each other very well. I learned a great deal in my first month, more than enough to clear any doubt in my mind that I was meant to be a Jedi.
But, still, I missed my family. I had tried repeatedly to call home, but no one ever picked up, and I wasn't surprised. We had an identification system on our communicator, and all Papa had to do was not pick up. I couldn't get a hold of Josef, either, probably because he was always with Papa. I thought I missed him more than anyone else.
I'd been on the Chu'unthor for a little more than a month when I received a message cylinder. It had been sitting on my bed all day, I had to assume, because I hadn't been in my quarters since early morning. It was unmarked, but every cell in my being said...
I assembled the cylinder with trembling fingers.
"Hey, Callista," My little brother's image said with a smile and a glance over his shoulder. "Sorry it took me so long to get a hold of you. Dad's still brooding about you leaving. It's been really quiet with you gone. Very weird.
"I hope you're doing well at your school. What kind of stuff are you learning. Like, I understand what the Jedi are and what you do, but how do you--"
"Josef!" My father's voice, gruffer than usual.
"Blast, it's Dad. I got to go. I'll add more to this later."
The recording blinked off for a few seconds, than he came back on. "Okay. I can talk now. Dad and Anela have gone to the mainland for the day. I just wanted to tell you one more thing: I'm not going to join the Republic Navy. I'm talking to a guy who might let me be a mate on his freighter. A pilot! It's perfect! It's what I always dreamed of." He paused, and even through the scratchy, poor picture quality, I could see the elation on his face that even thinking about his new opportunity gave him. "Well," he finished. "I guess that's it. Get back to me, Callie. Oh, and Uncle Claine says hi." He smiled again and hung up.
I shut off the recording and wiped my eyes. I didn't realize how much I'd really missed him until that moment. I got a sinking feeling in my stomach, for the first time really homesick.
"I miss you so much, Josef." I said, even though he couldn't hear me. I got up and walked to the observatory down the hall, with the message cylinder held tightly in my hand. It was usually quiet by this time of night, anyway.
But it wasn't tonight.
Kasidy sat alone in a chair by the viewport, with her feet propped on another. She stared out the viewport without paying attention to anything else.
"Hey," I said to get her attention. She turned and saw me, and smiled.
"Hi, Callista." she said, and patted the chair beside her. "Have a seat."
I sat down next to her and looked out the viewport. We were orbiting a dark planet shot through with golden light, like a bubble of magma whose shell was crusted and cracking, revealing the molten liquid beneath. "Where are we?" I asked, awed by the rare beauty of the planet.
Kasidy smiled. "You'd never been off your homeworld before you came here, did you?"
I laughed. "Is it that obvious?"
"This is Coruscant, that capitol of the Republic. The Masters report yearly to the Jedi Council here."
"Oh." I said. "So, why are you up so late?"
"Every year, the Masters report the progress of their padawans, and the Council will decide whether or not to elevate the padawans to Jedi Knights. Master Altis is down there right now, petitioning for me to become a Jedi Knight. If they approve, he'll send for me to come and take my trial. If I pass that, I will be a Jedi."
"Are you nervous?"
She laughed. "Beyond words!" She chuckled harder, and I joined her. "No, I've been on the Chu'unthor since I was six. I'm ready to be able to go home and show my family what I've become. I haven't seen them for a couple years, now." Her eyes took on a faraway, nostalgic gaze.
I nodded. Soonta had told me earlier that the Masters insisted that their students have little contact with their families, so they could focus on their training without so much distraction. "Do you have brothers and sisters?"
Kasidy nodded. "One brother, a year younger than me. No sisters, though." She looked at me. "What about you, Callie? What did you leave behind to pursue the life of the Jedi?"
I sighed, and looked out the viewport briefly before answering. "Well, what my family is like and what I left behind are two different things. My mother died when I was seven years old, and both my sisters moved out a few years later. I haven't seen them since." I held up my brother's message cylinder. "I have a brother, two years younger than me." I laughed. "He wants to be a pilot. Man, I miss him." I turned the cylinder in my hands.
"What about your father?"
I bit my lip. "I...don't have that quite figured out yet. My father was my best friend when I was little, but my mother's death put a rift between us. He isn't exactly happy with the path I've chosen."
Kasidy nodded. "I can't imagine how that feels, to have to go against your family. Both my parents are Jedi." She looked at me gently. "It must have been hard."
"Oh, it was...it was. But this is my destiny, Kasidy. I know it."
Kasidy looked out the viewport. "The month that you've been here is hardly a scratch on the surface of what you'll learn in your training, Callista. Perhaps someday you'll learn why these things have happened."
"Fire is one of the most Force-full elements. And a paradox in itself: as if gives and preserves life, so can it burn and take it away. It's power can be used for evil as well as good." As Master Crios spoke, a pillar of fire exploded from the floor in front of him with a rush of wind and heat. A collective gasp rippled through the students, and beside me, Ilios laughed.
"Whoa! Now there's a power I can use!" He leaned closer to me. "Use it on Cerante, you know?"
I looked at him with a tolerant smile. "Don't be stupid, Ilios."
Ilios smiled. "Nah, I'd never do it. You know that, Callie."
"Yeah, I know."
"As an exercise, I want you all to practice bringing fire from the air. Visualize it in your mind, then make the vision...reality." The students went to work, and Master Crios sauntered among us, offering help.
"Make the vision reality," I repeated, bringing my mind to a focus that was becoming more natural as the months passed. Mastering the elements was a Jedi's first lesson after they actually learned how to feel the Force. I was having a little trouble with fire and earth, and Master Crios had said that was probably because I had so little experience with them. Controlling air and water, especially, were simple. "Easier said than done," I muttered.
At that moment, Ilios closed his eyes, and a pillar of fire burst into existence. I jumped back to avoid the intense heat that accompanied it. "Showoff." I said as Ilios began moving the fire with his mind, twisting it in knots and making it dance. He opened his eyes and smiled at his own prowess, then he glanced at me.
"Hey, watch this." The flames twisted and warped, and formed a face. My face.
I gasped and laughed. "You're good," I said, wiping my features from the surface of the flame with my own power. I had an easier time of controlling fire that already existed, rather than creating it myself. I lifted the fire off the table into the air, rolling it into a ball. The Force flowed through me, into the very tips of my fingers, and the flames followed their guidance. I turned them in spirals, braids, figure eights. I looked at Ilios with a mischievous smile, before throwing the fire at him. Out of reflex, he raised his hands and deflected it. It careened loudly over the heads of a dozen students--
--and headed right for Cerante. "What the--" he yelped, and raised his hands to shield himself. Had Master Crios not used his own power to bat the fireball to the floor, Cerante would have had cooked sausages for fingers.
"What are you thinking, street rat?" Cerante yelled. "You could have killed me!" The other students were silent now, watching the quarrel with interest.
"Cerante, I swear, man, I didn't intend to--"
"You wouldn't care if you didn't have to deal with me anymore, would you?" Cerante challenged.
"Cerante," I started. "Leave him alone, this was my fault..."
"Shut up, Callista, you're no better than he is!"
"Cerante!" Master Crios said. "All of you! That's enough of this foolishness. Anger is the path to the dark side, my students. Do not forget that."
Ignoring Crios, Cerante pointed an accusing finger at Ilios. "We're not finished yet. You're gonna get some. I guarantee it. Both of you!"
"Cerante!" Crios said again, firmer, though he didn't raise his voice. Cerante finally looked at him, his brown eyes glinting with annoyance. "Master, you must do something about them!"
Crios returned Ilios' stare. He was the Master here, and not about to let Cerante forget it. "And what would you have me do, Cerante? Kick them out, send them back to their homeworlds?" Before Cerante could answer, Crios continued. "What happened just now was an accident, nothing more. It does not warrant your outburst." He turned to Ilios and me. "And as for you two, you are not experienced enough to be playing games with elements over which your control is novice. He looked poignantly at me. "Is that understood?"
"Yes, Master," Ilios and I muttered, lowering our head in respect.
"Cerante, do you understand?"
"Yes, Master," he said penitently.
Master Crios continued in his exercise for another half hour, without incident. However, I stole glances at Cerante every few minutes, and every time, he glared at Ilios, and anger and hatred saturated the Force.
Kasidy was made a Jedi Knight. Master Altis returned to the Chu'unthor with the news a few days later. When he told her, she jumped up and down, laughing, and threw her arms around Master Altis. Or so she said. I was happy for her; she'd dedicated her life to this dream, and now it was hers.
Djinn and the other masters held a commencement ceremony one week later. One hundred padawans became one hundred Jedi Knights that evening. They ignited their light sabers, one by one, creating an arrayed rainbow of power and light. The entire time, I never took my eyes off Kasidy. She stood, half-bowed over her emerald blade, eyes closed. Her presence radiated happiness and satisfaction. At that moment, I wanted nothing more than to stand there one day myself.
Of course, the ceremony was a catalyst that flooded the students with one question that had already trickled into many minds: who would be the next padawans? Ilios and I speculated that Master Altis would choose Soonta Le'yn, but we wouldn't find out for a week, because the Masters took that time to meditate in the Force about the difficult decision they all had to make.
And with the Masters occupied, we students were given the week to ourselves, to pass time as we pleased. Ilios took it upon himself to teach me hand-to-hand combat. He'd used street fighting to defend himself on Alderaan, and he said it helped with conventional fighting techniques to know, "a few low blows," as he called them. Ilios and I stood poised in fighting stances, breathing evenly and opening to the Force. I waited, watched for a single twitch of musculature to tell me what he planned to do. His toes curled, as if to gain a better purchase on the smooth mat we stood on, and I thought, kick.
At that moment, he launched into action and came at me quickly. As I suspected, he kicked first, high and easy to block. I leaned back far to avoid his foot and dropped to the floor, thinking that if I could catch him before he brought his foot down, I'd take the advantage. I swept my legs in a wide arc, hoping to knock his feet out from under him.
Ilios jumped and evaded me. I leapt to my feet and back up as he advanced. "Make your move!" he prompted as he barreled at me like an unstoppable meteor.
I nodded and swung a punch. He blocked it, and the second, and as his hands were busy with mine, I planted my bare foot on his chest and pushed him away, adding strength through the Force.
I put enough of the Force behind it sufficient to lift him off the ground. Before he hit the wall, he stretched his hands out before and above his head, and stopped himself, so he hung in midair. But he didn't lower himself back to the ground. Instead, he kept himself levitated, but came towards me.
"Better get up here, Callie!" He called down to me.
"I don't--I don't know how!"
"Come on, you do! I saw you levitating in Master Acheron's class. Come on!"
I sighed, and hesitantly focused on my own body, my own weight. I really knew what I was doing, but I wasn't very good at it, yet. Nevertheless, I lifted myself shakily off the ground, and Ilios met me. "Call this a high-intensity practice session." He said. "We'll slow things down a bit. Remember master Lien's lesson in fighting? she numbered every move, and you can make thousands of combinations."
I nodded. "I remember." I smiled, a little embarrassed. "I'm not too good with that, either."
Ilios smiled. "I know, but judging from how we were fighting just now, you could be very good at it."
"And you're going to teach me?" I said, arching an eyebrow.
He nodded. "Yes, yes I am." He floated back. "Number three!" he said, and I obeyed. There was a single step advance and a punch. He put an arm up and absorbed it. "Good." he encouraged. "Again!"
Punch.
"Four!"
Kick.
"Two!"
Dodge.
We kept fighting, moving in midair with increasingly blinding speed. After a few minutes, I realized that Ilios wasn't calling numbers anymore.
At that moment, Kasidy walked in. "Hey, guys!" She called up to us. "The Masters have chosen their padawans. They want us all to meet in the third audience hall so they can announce them."
"Do you know where you're going, Kass?" I asked as we trudged down the corridor from the practice hall to the audience room. Now that she was a Jedi, she was free to leave the Chu'unthor and travel the galaxy, following orders from the Senate and settling disputes.
Kasidy shrugged. Zara and I are going to the capitol, at least for now. We leave first thing in the morning."
"Where are you stay?" Ilios asked.
"Master Altis arranged for us to stay at the Jedi Temple."
"Tell me you'll keep in touch," I said. "Tell me all about Coruscant."
Kasidy laughed. "Of course I will, Callista. But only--" she pointed a finger at me. "--if you promise to join me when you become a Jedi yourself. We can travel the galaxy together...they'll never stop us."
"So that's your lightsaber, then?" Ilios said, pointing to the dull silver cylinder swinging at Kasidy's belt beneath her long cloak. Her fingers fell over it, stroking the work of art they had fashioned.
"Yep." She said, smiling proudly.
"Can-can I just hold it for a second?" Ilios stretched out his hand, his finger expectantly bent to receive the silvery weapon. Kasidy chuckled and unhooked the weapon from her belt. She handed the weapon to Ilios, and his fingers closed around the smooth hilt. He inspected it with awe. "What're these little creatures around the rim?"
"They're called Nunas. On Naboo, we kept them as pets. My family bred them."
"You're from Naboo? I would have thought Coruscant."
"No, born and bred Nubian. I could have been one of the Queen's handmaidens, but Master Altis took me as his padawan, and I chose to finish my training instead."
"Wow," Ilios breathed. I remained quiet throughout this exchange, since I really had no idea what the were talking about. We reached the Reception Hall and sat down near the front. On the raised dais, the one-hundred masters of the Chu'unthor sat in four rows, still and with their hands folded.
"The students they'll choose as their padawans don't know they've been chosen yet. The only person who knows is the Master, and every Master knows only who he or she chose." Kasidy explained to us.
"Then it's a surprise to everyone," I said, and Kasidy nodded.
"It's usually a student who's been here for a few years."
More students filed in, and a low hum of mingled conversations filled the air. After a half and hour, Master Altis stood and raised his arms. Almost immediately, the room was quiet.
"Greetings, my friends and students. As you know, we have commended our one-hundred padawans to Jedi Knights. The time has come to replace them, if only in name. We know their influence will never leave us. These new padawans represent some of the Chu'unthor's best, students who have been here many years, excelled in their studies and exercised. As head Jedi Master, I will be the first to announce my choice." He paused for a moment, casting his eyes over the crowd. "I am honored to take Cerante Getufsko as my padawan learner."
"What?!" Ilios nearly choked on his words. A few of the students turned and looked at him as Cerante stood to a round of applause. Ilios had half-risen out of his seat, so he sat down, muttering, " Great. As if wasn't hard enough to live with him."
The three of us watched as Cerante took his seat, looking as smug and snide as I'd ever seen him. He looked over and saw us staring, and gave us a disgustingly holier-than-thou smirk.
I rolled my eyes and turned away. "I bet you're right."
Kasidy nodded. "I think I have to be glad to be leaving tomorrow." she said. "But it won't be as bad as you think. He'll spend most of his time with Master Altis; you'll probably hardly see him."
We both looked at her incredulously, and she shrugged. "Just a different point of view."