A/N - This is Disney's waterpark, I'm just splashing around in it.

Sirion Lannor - Thanks! Sascha gets what he wanted, though maybe he isn't sure exactly what he is getting into...

And yes, I feel that not having Anakin/Obi-Wan/etc.. not as the main characters is very liberating in terms of where I can take this story. I like to think of this book as something that could work as an actual canon book (though not written as well!) Certainly there is room in the Star Wars universe for the story about Sascha Whitestar. We know that there are 10,000 Jedi Knights in the galaxy as of the Clone Wars, and how many of those 10,000 Knights do we know? Like 100, maybe?

This was a fun chapter to write - I always thought the idea of the first couple days of a Master/Padawan relationship would be fun to explore. One person is an experienced Jedi Knight, having seen tens or hundreds of worlds. The other is a teenager that has basic training but has rarely been outside of the Temple. We also get to understand Aurine better, and she is a fun character to write, just a very confident, lighthearted Jedi.

Reviews, comments and follows are appreciated.

Now to the story!

Chapter 10: Padawan

When Sascha awoke the next day, he was close to being overwhelmed by the urge to run out the door and seek out Aurine Brynar, his new Master. But, the more he thought about it, he realized that it would be foolish to do so. Not only would it seem desperate, it could leave him unprepared for a day that was potentially going to be full of surprises.

This was the first day of his apprenticeship and he wanted to make a good impression, after all, his apprenticeship to his Master would probably last a decade or so. So he felt it was important to put his best foot forward on his first day. After completing his usual morning routine, he looked up Aurine's room location on his datapad, and made his way out of his room. Once he was in the hallway, he almost collided with a clearly overjoyed Neth Enasteri.

"Greetings, Padawan Whitestar," said Neth, giving Sascha a mocking half-bow.

Knowing that Neth's good mood could only have been caused by one thing, he returned Neth's bow, "Greetings, Padawan Enasteri," he replied, "How did you know I was selected to be a Padawan?"

Neth raised an eyebrow, "Um, the massive grin on your face was a bit of a giveaway, plus you almost radiate happiness. It wasn't particularly difficult to figure out why that is."

"Huh, guess I should work on controlling my emotions then." The two smiled, relishing their shared successes, enjoying the special moment.

The two Initiates, now Padawans, walked together down the halls of the Jedi Temple, swapping stories and memories, before having to go in separate directions to meet their new Masters. There was something almost poetic in that moment where he watched Neth walk away down the high-ceilinged hall, it was like his old Initiate life was disappearing right in front of his eyes. He savoured the moment for a second before quickly finding his Master's room. Taking a deep breath, he gathered his composure as best he could and rang the chime.

Almost immediately a terse reply wafted through from inside, "What took you so long?"

Grinning despite himself, he entered to find Aurine meditating in a cross-legged position, having discarded her dazzling green robe for a more demure and traditional beige one. He then summoned what gravitas he could and spoke, "Master Brynar, I accept your offer, I will be your Padawan learner," Sascha spoke the ceremonial words, though he suspected that perhaps Master Brynar was not a stickler for tradition judging by their earlier interactions.

Aurine rose and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, "I am delighted to take you on as my Padawan, Sascha. Let us take the next steps on our journey together."

"I am at your command, Master," he replied dutifully.

Aurine smiled, "Subservient already, well there is one lesson I don't have to teach. Come Padawan, we will journey together," she offered him a playful expression, her green eyes dancing in amusement, "but first we will eat."

Sascha hadn't even realized it, as he had been so caught up in the events of the past few days, but he was starving. He actually couldn't remember the last time he had eaten a full meal. He was also looking forward to being able to see the refectories of the Jedi Knights; certainly he thought that it would likely be an upgrade over the Initiates cafeteria. Just thinking about food that was potentially waiting for his consumption was enough to make his stomach grumble.

Aurine…Master Brynar, he corrected himself, led the way out of her room and towards a turbolift that would take them towards the main levels of the Temple. Still daydreaming about the potential meal to come, he heard Aurine sigh, "On which side of your Master should you walk, Padawan?" Chagrined, Sascha settled in a half step behind Aurine, on her right side. This was the correct position for a right-handed Padawan such as himself to stand, because a sloppy draw of his lightsaber would not impale his Master, and it would allow him to protect her flank should they be ambushed. Not exactly likely in the halls of the Jedi Temple, but he understood that it made sense to drill the lesson into him as early as possible. Even making a mistake, and an uncharacteristic one at that, could not dampen his buoyant mood, making his disposition even brighter, he could sense the quiet joy of his new Master as well.

Aurine paused outside of one of the refectories that dotted the Temple, "You must have been waiting a long time to see the inside of this room."

"Yes, Master," he replied politely, "I'm can't believe I'm going to get inside and not immediately be kicked out."

"Well anyone tries to kick you out, just point them in my direction. I'll sort them out."

Sascha Whitestar decided at that moment that he very much liked his new Master. Aurine entered the refectory and he followed her in. His eyes immediately spotted the food, and he was too distracted to notice much beyond that. He wandered over and grabbed a delicious looking plate of Hawk-bat eggs and waited for Master Brynar to compile her meal, an array of fruits from all over the galaxy.

Much like the Initiates cafeteria, the room was filled with trestle tables and benches, though the furniture in this room appeared to be of a slightly higher quality. In contrast to the bare walls of the Initiates' cafeteria, there were holodisplays hung along the pillared walls to show news from across the galaxy. Normally watching the news would have interested him, but his biggest priority at the moment was eating his meal as quickly as possible without making a poor impression on his Master.

Aurine grabbed a seat at an open table and started fiddling with a datapad with one hand, and eating a blumfruit with the other. He devoured his delicious Hawk-bat eggs quickly, yet trying to keep his manners in front of his Master. Aurine then stabbed at the datapad with an elaborate gesture, evidently pressing a button on the device, "there, you are now officially my Padawan," she said.

Sascha didn't bother covering his surprise, "just like that?"

"Yup, we Jedi aren't particularly big on bureaucracy, we like to keep things simple. Plus, I already got approval from the Council to take you as my apprentice."

Sascha snorted in amusement, "too bad the Senate isn't that efficient." The Galactic Senate, the legislative and executive branch of the Republic had been embroiled in deadlock over the last few years, turning what had been a functioning democratic institution into a body that could hardly seem to pass any legislation. Growing disillusionment with the Senate was becoming a problem for the Republic and thus the Jedi, especially in the Outer Rim territories.

"I suppose that I should let Luminara know the good news," remarked Aurine lightly.

"You haven't told her?"

She shot him a wicked grin, "I want to see her expression when she sees us together, it should be priceless," she cocked her head to one side, "I should record it actually." Mind made up, his new Master then used her comlink to contact Luminara, "Hey Luminara, I'm back from Duro, meet me in the refectory, you know which one,"

"On my way," came the slightly distorted reply from Luminara. Aurine's mirthful grin remained in place while Sascha sat calmly, not sure how to interpose himself into the relationship between the two friends.

A few minutes later Luminara entered the refectory, found Aurine, and then saw Sascha sitting across from her. He watched an array of emotions play across Luminara's olive skinned face, surprise, joy, and relief were just some of the few he could pick out. Aurine burst out in laughter at the Miralian's reaction, causing a few of the nearby Jedi to glance over at the blonde Jedi Knight. Luminara came over to the two Jedi and sat next to Aurine, "Luminara, I believe you know my new Padawan, Sascha Whitestar," said his Master.

The Miralian smiled quickly at him and replied drolly, "We've met." Luminara turned her attention to her friend, "I didn't even know you were back from your last mission, Aurine, and I didn't think you were even looking for a Padawan."

"Well, I wouldn't have found Sascha if it hadn't been for you. The first thing I heard when I got back to the Temple was that Luminara Unduli was desperately lobbying every Jedi Knight in the Order to take on some Initiate I'd never heard of, and I just had to see this Initiate in person. The rest, as they say, is history," spoke Aurine rhapsodically. Turning slightly more serious she continued, "So, can I count on your help in training my new Padawan?

"Of course, I'd be happy to."

"Good, because I am not going to be teaching him that boring Soresu style of lightsaber combat, that will be up to you."

Luminara looked appalled, "Soresu is not boring you just don't understand it…" Sascha watched in amused silence as the two Jedi Knights bickered in the friendly way that only good friends could.

After a while, Luminara and Aurine noticed that they were ignoring the young Padawan to continue their debate. Both Jedi gave him apologetic looks, and it was Luminara who spoke up, "Sorry Sascha, but Aurine and I have not talked in some time with both of us being busy for the past few months, I suppose we got a bit carried away."

He shrugged, "I know how it is, I have friends that are Jedi too." With Jedi in high demand across the galaxy, sometimes Jedi spent months or even years away from the Temple.

Luminara rose, "I have to take my leave, I have an appointment at the Senate that I cannot be late for, though I'm sure we will be seeing more of each other soon enough. Congratulations to you both." Luminara paused, evaluating the two seated Jedi, "a good pairing this is, I think both of you will be very happy with the arrangement."

After Luminara left Aurine finished off the last of her fruit platter, "Well, that was amusing enough. Now seems like a good time to deal with some administrative issues; we should get you a new room, one more befitting a Padawan, and one closer to my room so I don't have to walk through half the Temple to get to you."

"Sounds good, Master, afterward I have a present for you."

"A present?" Aurine's eyes glittered in amusement; "This day keeps getting better and better," Sascha could only nod in mute agreement.

The Master and her new Padawan made their way towards one of the administrative centers in the Temple. Crewed by droids they handled the minutia of running the Temple, such as assigning a Padawan to a new room. Jedi were easy to move around, few had any possessions of note, Sascha himself didn't have any to move, his only real possession was his lightsaber, which was clipped into his belt.

After receiving his new room assignment, he turned to his Master, "I'd like to show you my present now, Master." Master Brynar gave a brief nod, and Sascha took the lead, heading to a cluster of turbolifts and keying in his intended destination, one of the higher levels of the Temple. Sascha could feel the slight confusion of his new Master…and in her place he'd probably be confused as well, what exactly could an Initiate offer his Master? It wasn't like an Initiate could go out and make a purchase from the Coruscant market.

Sascha made his way to the Docking Complex, a hanger that housed many of the Jedi Orders Starfighters and other ships, most of which could be signed out by any Jedi requiring a ship to take them on a mission. There were ships of all sizes within the massive complex, transports, freighters and everything in between. He was looking for a specific ship, but it had been moved since the last time he had seen it, so he brought out his datapad to find out where it was currently being stored. Unable to maintain her silence Aurine spoke, "Padawan, why are we in the docking hanger?"

Sascha found out his target destination, and made eye contact with his Master, "A story, if I may, Master Brynar?" Aurine bit back a look of mild annoyance but nodded.

He started walking towards his destination and began with his story "A few years ago, the people of Sluis Van wanted to make a donation to the Republic to mark the anniversary of their planet joining the Republic. They decided that the best way to show their appreciation to the Republic was to give the Jedi Order one of their newly built ships, as Sluis Van is known for its shipyards. Some say there was also a hidden agenda, there has not been a Sluissi Jedi Knight for more than forty years, and there were some that felt that this offering could 'win back' the favour of the Force as laughable as that sounds. The Jedi Order did not want to accept this gift, lest it set a precedent for systems to curry favour with the Jedi by offering their latest technologies. The Sluissi found an acceptable alternative. The ship would be leased to the ranking Jedi from Sluis Van who would be free to store it in the Jedi Temple, in that way it would be no different than some of the personal starfighters that some Jedi have. That ship is just in the next bay, it's the Emerald Dream."

Sascha finally found the bay where the Emerald Dream was being stored. Sluissi treated shipbuilding as if it was an art form, and he had always found the Emerald Dream to be a particularly beautiful ship. The ship looked like a Spire Falcon waiting to swoop in and grab its prey, it was a predator and near the top of the food chain at that. The best part wasn't just the appearance of course, the Dream had moderate firepower, a topside turbolaser turret, along with two forward mounted laser cannons as its main armament, not exactly overpowering but enough to handle itself. The ship, heavily modified by the technicians in the Temple had an outstandingly powerful set of shields and, as befitted its design it was fast and manoeuvrable. In the hands of a skilled pilot it was a formidable ship.

Interrupting his reverie, Aurine asked for clarification, "The ranking Jedi from Sluis Van? I don't understand Padawan; you just said there has not been a Sluissi Jedi Knight in more than forty years. Whose ship is this?"

Sascha gave her a smile, "The ranking Jedi from Sluis Van is me, Master Brynar. I was born on Sluis Van."

Aurine's eyes bulged, "The Emerarld Dream is your ship?"

He shrugged indifferently, "I mean it's mine in the sense that I'm listed as the owner, but the ship has always just been a part of the vehicle pool at the Temple. It's not like I had any use for the Dream as an Initiate, because I wasn't exactly going to get the chance to fly it on a mission. Now, with my circumstances changed, it might be time to re-evaluate that stance. The ship is mine, Master, but it is also ours now."

"This is…an unexpected present, Padawan," remarked Aurine, pausing to consider this revelation, "you will of course leave the Dream in the Jedi vehicle pool, available to any Jedi that requests to use it." Sascha was surprised, and only managed a nod of agreement. Master Brynar must have sensed his surprise, "You agree, but you do not understand. It is good for a Padawan to listen to his Master, but when you have questions, you should ask them, after all," Aurine flourished a disarming smile, "This is how we learn."

"Master, I think that I understand. The ship is not really mine; therefore, it should be for all Jedi. I just…I guess…I didn't really think this through very well," Sascha finished lamely, feeling rather inadequate. This had not gone at all like had planned it would.

Aurine grinned, "You don't have to impress me with ships or presents Sascha, I picked you to be my Padawan because you because you are worthy, you must accept that. I understand that this is an exciting day for you, and sometimes we do not always make the best decisions. The key is that we learn from them,"

"Yes, Master," replied Sascha dutifully.

Master Brynar turned and made her way back to the main turbolift, "an excellent present Padawan, I hope that one day we will put this ship to good use. But today will not be that day."

Immediately upon re-entering the turbolift Aurine spoke, "Well, I would like to see what kind of mess I've gotten myself into," she said lightheartedly. "How would you feel about a bit of sparring?"

Sascha returned the lighthearted remark, "Surely I can't be that much of a mess? You did pick me as your Padawan after all." He was lifted by the positivity of his knew Master, even though he felt that he may have made a blunder earlier on. He knew that sometimes he could be too hard on himself when he made mistakes, but he wanted to keep that flaw from his Master for as long as possible.

"Sascha, since you appear to be in the storytelling mood, why don't you tell me about your trip to Illum and the construction of your first lightsaber. I assume it's the one you still have with you right now."

He looked down at his silver and gray lightsaber that rested on his left hip, "You assume correctly, Master Brynar." He took a second to recall his adventure to the sacred Jedi world of Illum and started his story. "I was fortunate that I was sent to Illum as a part of my clan, I had always been close with the other members of Dragon clan, and being able to draw on the strength of my friends was certainly an advantage. Master Yaddle oversaw the expedition, and she sent us into the caves to find our crystals. We tried to stay together as a group as much as we could, but Trigg and Doro ran off early on as they were prone to doing, and eventually we were all forced to go our separate ways."

He glanced up at Aurine, "I understand now that the caves are meant to test a Jedi, and the biggest problem that I was facing, and in many ways the problem I still face, was that I was not particularly confident. So of course, when I found the crystal that called to me it was so high up in the roof of the cave that I didn't think I could ever get up there. I almost gave up right there. I sat on the snowy ground and just stared upwards, looking at my crystal in the distance."

Aurine looked surprised, "You almost gave up just because your crystal was far away from you?"

His cheeks reddened, "It was not one of my finer moments."

His Master seemed amused though, "Padawan, while I appreciate your honesty, perhaps you don't have to tell me everything about your past."

He smiled politely, "Duly noted, Master." Sascha continued his story, "for long minutes I despaired in the cold cave, thinking about how all my other friends were going to get their crystals and make their lightsabers and how I wasn't. I thought about how unfair it was that 'my' crystal was so far away from me and would require long minutes of dangerous climbing to reach. Eventually I just gathered what composure I could, and I decided that I would rather die climbing some cave wall on Illum than leave without my crystal. I could see it, perfect and beautiful; it was teal, my absolute favourite colour and a rare colour for an Illum crystal. I climbed the wall, ignoring the cold, ignoring my dislike of heights, ignoring everything else except for that crystal."

"Near the top of the cave, I realized that to get to the ledge to claim my crystal I would have to make a jump across a chasm. It looked so far away, but at that point, I didn't care, I had come so far, so I just put everything I had into that leap…I just barely made it. Afterward I looked back at the chasm…"

Aurine picked up his story "…and you found it wasn't even far at all. It was a leap of faith."

He nodded in assent, "afterward, I almost got lost in the caves, but I never panicked, I knew that if I could sense my friends I could find my way out, and I did. When we were together again, the six members of Dragon clan, we saw that each of us had overcome our own obstacle and gotten a crystal of their own." Sascha smiled to himself, that moment when each of them had shown their crystals to each other had been one of the happiest of his life.

"My friends and I thought the hard part was over, we had found our crystals, we thought that constructing a lightsaber would be easy in comparison."

Aurine sniggered, "How wrong you were,"

"How wrong indeed," Sascha laughed, "we all got very frustrated, I'm sure that was quite common for Initiates trying to make their first lightsaber. Of course, the more frustrated we got, the harder it became to connect the components of the lightsaber together. It was so difficult, the construction of our first lightsaber is what many of us had been dreaming of since the age of five, now we appeared to be so close to the finish line, but none of us were able to cross it." Sascha remembered despairing as he looked at the components of his lightsaber, how intricate it was, how many different nobs and screws there were and wondering how anyone managed to fit them all together, truly it had seemed impossible.

"Eventually Tyra brought the other five of us together and said, 'Look, none of us can apparently do this on our own, so maybe we can to do it together.' So together, as a clan, as friends who had known each other for years, we meditated and eventually what was difficult became easy, and what seemed impossible only minutes ago became reality. I'll always remember that moment when we ignited our lightsabers in unison, it was a total triumph, for we knew as individuals we had weaknesses, but as a group, we were unstoppable."

"You know if this Jedi thing doesn't work out, you should become a storyteller," remarked Aurine with a dry wit. Sascha had gotten so involved in telling his story he hadn't even realized that they had entered one of the many myriad sparring chambers of the Jedi Temple. "So show me what that lightsaber is good for!" Aurine ignited her green blade and leapt in on the attack. Surprised, he drew his turquoise blade quickly and managed a wild parry. Sascha wondered idly if Aurine's lightsaber was on full power, purportedly Jedi Knights had sufficient control over their blade that they would not make contact with their opponent if they did not choose to, He was glad he didn't have to worry about that, his lightsaber was still on the 'burn' setting from the tournament.

He opted for his typical defensive tactics, but after a few moments he realized that his Master wasn't really testing him; she was attacking playfully, with outlandish feints, and trying out the most absurd of tactics. Grinning and joining her, the two discarded the traditional forms of lightsaber combat, to duel in the most un-Jedi way imaginable.

Sascha felt the Force crackle around them, the joy from the combatants seemed to wash over each other, leaving both seemingly unable to wipe the smiles off their face. Neither combatant landed a strike, though neither was really trying to, instead the goal was to force the opponent into the most absurd defence possible. He was enjoying the experience immensely, but Master Brynar called proceedings to a halt reasonably quickly.

Aurine, breathing hard from her efforts, put an arm around her new Padawan. "Well, that was fun; I was worried for a second that you might be dour like Luminara, who wouldn't understand what the point of that was." Sascha was just about to comment that he didn't really understand either, until a flash of insight struck him and he did. He realized that Aurine didn't just want him to see her as his Master, an aloof Jedi just concentrating on teaching her skills to her apprentice, but to see her as Aurine Brynar, light-hearted Jedi Knight. She was demonstrating that while she could and would be his Master and he her Padawan, there was potential for friendship between the two of them.

"Thank you Master, that was a lesson that I hope I will not soon forget."

His Master's lively green eyes danced, "Good, you are dismissed for the day. Tomorrow I must begin your real training, but the rest of the day I leave to you." Aurine gave Sascha an enigmatic look, "I suspect you might be busy. I will see tomorrow when your tasks are completed."

He couldn't keep the confusion from his voice, "Uh, thank you, Master, I will."

Sascha started to go to his room, and by force of habit he almost went to his old room, he actually had to consult his datapad to find where his new room was. He was still sifting for the right screen when suddenly a message popped up on his datapad, which instructed all new Padawans to meet in one of the lecture rooms in a few hours. He wondered what it could possibly be about.