The seniors of the Berguutfa clan are spending some relaxing time in the room of a thousand fountains. Today is one of those very few days when they have little studying to do so everyone intends to enjoy the time they have to its fullest. The seniors have split up into their group of friends to entertain themselves with whatever they like to do in their free time when they are not studying.
Anakin is sitting together with Shi, Batom, Zak and Hoshi near one of the fountains in the back of the room and they are talking about what they will be doing. They would all like to play a game that would result in them being active but are also aware that this room isn't appropriate for it. In fact, they can all remember the time when they came upon a master scolding a youngling for disturbing the peace of this room. They all remember what they were told yesterday during their Force lessons and wonder what this will mean for the Force lessons of the coming week. Thus they start to gossip about its possible consequences.
"Come younglings. Before you go to the dressing room I want you to go to your place as I have an important announcement to make." Master Tunce says and the seniors hurry to do as she asks. Master Tunce has been their instructor for their Force lessons since the beginning of this year. Anakin has come to believe that you get a new instructor each time you get to a higher ranking in the order. He came to this belief because whenever they rose in their clan they would get a new instructor.
"Good, as you know we have spent the last month going over everything you have learned since joining the clans. I did this so that you will be able to start with a new aspect of Force use with a good basis. Does anyone have any idea which aspect this will be?" master Tunce asks the younglings before her who have been looking at her with a curious expression.
"Alter, master." Alara says questionable. She isn't sure that she gave the right answer and secretly hopes that she did. It is always so embarrassing to give a wrong answer.
"Why do you think so, Alara?" master Tunce asks. She has always preferred that her students think about every answer they gave and why it should be as they say. That is why she always asks her student to clarify their answers if they don't do so on their own. Most of the times her students clarify the answers they give to her questions but sometimes they simply forget it. She doesn't scold them about it as her fellow instructors have done so often enough in her opinion.
"Because it is the only aspect of the Force we haven't learned about. It would be logical that this would be the aspect we will soon be learning about." Alara answers after she has thought a few minutes about how to articulate her answers. Her face is actually flushed as she clarified her answer because she got the hint from master Tunce that she has to clarify her answers.
"That was well spoken, Alara. You are right that starting next week you will be learning about alter starting." master Tunce compliments and waits a few minutes to let the revelation sink in. She knows that she has to explain to them how things will be going from next week onwards. That in all takes but a few more minutes and then she lets the younglings go to the dressing room. They are in time for their next lesson with only a minute to spare and vow among each other to do everything they can to not arrive so late to a lesson ever again.
"How do you think Force training will look like tomorrow?" Zak asks. He knows as well as everyone that they will be having one day for keeping up their skill in the Force powers they already learned while spending the remainder of the days learning what they need to know of the alter aspect of the Force. At least that is how master Tunce had explained it to them. Zak feels highly excited about the prospect of starting to learn about this new aspect and can't wait for tomorrow's lesson to start. As he is among friends he is not afraid to let his excitement be felt.
"I don't know. We have to be patient as the masters always remind us to be." Shi answers calmly. Everyone knows that she is a bit of a stickler for rules but it doesn't scare the others away. They are actually glad she is so that they won't be breaking a rule so long as she is around. Also, she likes to remember everyone about what the masters always tell them to do or not to do. This habit started a few months ago and no one not even Shi know why she started doing this.
"How can you be so calm, Shi. It is always a struggle for me to stay calm when I'm not meditating. It took me a few years to learn how to be calm enough to meditate in the way the masters expect everyone to be able to. Now I only find complete calmness when I'm meditating" Anakin says. He is always busy with suppressing his emotions so as to not let others feel it and hopes that once he is accepted as a padawan that his master will be able to help him with it. He started with suppressing them when he was told yet again to keep his emotions in check and not to bother others with it.
"Well, I always accept my emotions which allows me to release them into the force. That, in turn, allows me to be calm. Master Plo Koon explained it to me like that and also helped me with learning how to do it. Do you want me to help you with it?" Shi asks. She has always liked to help her brothers and sisters with everything she can help them with just as much as she likes the rules and to remind everyone what the masters have told them.
"I would like that." Anakin answers happily. He hopes that he now doesn't have to wait until he is a padawan to learn how to release his emotions into the force. He is aware that it will take some time before he is able to do it successfully. Also, he is glad that someone wants and can help him with it just as he has helped many others during the years with their problems. Anakin finds it difficult to actually ask for help from his siblings and has been aware that that is something he has to work on for one year. He does his best but still finds it difficult to ask for help. What he does find easy is to mention his problem when a similar problem is being discussed. That has gotten him help on a few occasions already. Now he only has to work on asking on his own.
"What do you all think about our lightsaber training for the next few years?" Batom asks.
"I think it will be hard. If we have to learn the basics of three styles then we will be having to work hard. I feel we are now finishing our Shi-cho training so that we can move onto one of the other systems. We will probably be working on the basics of one style for six months as we don't have a lot more time to practise if we want to learn the basics of three styles before leaving our clan." Hoshi says. He has been thinking about it for some time and is glad that Batom brought the subject on. This made it possible for him to talk about his thoughts about it without having to breach the subject. He has actually been wondering how to breach it as he wanted to talk with his friends about it.
"I totally agree with you on that, Hoshi. But that still doesn't tell us which style we will be learning the basics of. We do know that once we leave our clan we will know the basics of the Makashi, Soseru and Ataru styles as our instructor has been telling us that. They all can be the first one and have their difficult parts as we are learning through our paper on lightsaber combat. That makes it difficult to predict which one we will be learning about first. We will just have to be patient." Batom says with a bit of disappointment showing in his voice while shrugging his shoulders.
"That is kinda annoying." Anakin says to sum the feeling up everyone is experiencing on this subject. Just then they all seem to become aware of the current time and without having to say anything to each other they hurry out of the room of a thousand fountains. They quickly make their way to the refractory to eat supper. They don't want to be too late as that will result in a scolding from one of the masters present in the refractory about why jedi are never late and it won't give off the right signal to their clan siblings if the clan leader is late. It will look like it is not bad to be late while in fact, the masters don't want the younglings to late if it can be avoided. This is something which is being pressed into them from the moment they joined the clan.
The next day they are making their way to the simulator room for their first flight simulation. Until now they have spent all the time of this class on learning the basics of ships and flight from texts. Today they will be practicing in how to fly a ship for real. They won't be allowed to go through take-off and landing procedures until they are good enough at flying a ship.
Because of all this, the seniors are highly excited as they are making their way to the simulator room while gossiping about what the first simulation flight will be like. Anakin knows full well that for him flight training is one of the best classes they have now. He really enjoys it and can't wait for the next lesson to start. Also, he knows that he will be enjoying today's flight simulation.
Once they enter the room Anakin can see that there are two simulators available and also that there are two other master present. He wonders why these masters are here. Are they to help them during their first simulation or what? Anakin has no idea and this frustrates him. Still, he tries his best to him de the feeling from the masters. He doesn't want them to catch wind of his feeling and risking a scolding about controlling his emotions.
"Good afternoon seniors. As you can see I have brought two masters here with me to today's lesson. They are here to assist me during the lesson. I can't keep my eyes on everyone so master Plo Koon and I will be supervising one of you during your first simulation while master Gallia will be helping the others with their studying. You only have eight minutes each on a simulator. I will call each of you forward to experience your simulation and I have brought some datapads with me which you will be studying when you are not taking your simulation." Their flight instructor says and then calls two younglings forward.
"Erigian, Alaara, come forward. You will be the first to take the simulation."
Erigian and Alaara step forward and follow their flight instructor and master Plo Koon to the simulator while the others go to the side of the room where the data pads are. They quietly start their studying and when they need help raise their hand to attract master Gallia's attention. When she is at the side of one of the seniors they whisper so as to not distract anyone. Still, it is possible for those closest to the senior with the question to hear everything that is being said. Also, they assist each other with their questions for as much as is possible. Through this, they limit the work master Gallic has to do and ensure that everyone understands the subjects they are studying.
Just when Anakin is deeply emerged in studying a particularly difficult part he hears their flight instructor call his and Shi's name. They both then put their datapad down, after shutting it down, on the table and move to the simulator in which they will be having their first flight simulation. Anakin is pleasingly surprised to discover that master Plo Koon will be supervising him.
Stepping close to the simulator Anakin waits for Master Plo Koon to tell him what to do. He doesn't want to rush into things as he heard from seniors from another clan not to do so. Master Plo Koon quickly helps Anakin in the simulator and explains to him what he has to do. Anakin does so and is quickly lost in the simulation until he is told that it is time for him to stop. He is actually deeply disappointed that it only lasted so short as he would have wanted to spend a lot more time in the simulator.
Then Master Plo Koon quickly goes over his simulation flight with him and he gives him feedback on what he has to think about in the future. Still, Master Plo Koon is pleasingly surprised with how good Anakin's flight skills are during his first simulation. This tells him that Anakin will be a remarkable pilot in the future as there are but few people who show such skill at such a young age. This tells him that he will have to watch Anakin as he grows older and he hopes that he'll be able to teach him a few flight tricks if his future master allows it. Master Plo Koon knows that he doesn't want to intervene in a master training their padawan if there is no good reason for it nor is it allowed for masters to do so. Once they are done Anakin goes back to studying.
The day continues relatively normal until the evening. The seniors are about to ready themselves for bed when master Nagia quickly walks into the room and beckons Anakin to her. Everyone looks at her anxiously as she is rarely so agitated nor hurried. She is always calm when she is with them. For their clan master not to be calm, it is worrisome. As such, Anakin quickly walks up to her and master Nagia says hurriedly
"Anakin, I need you to gather your fellow seniors. Together you'll be guiding your younger sibling to the hidden room I showed you last year."
"Of course master. Is there an emergency?" Anakin asks worriedly. She had told him that the hidden room is only to be used in emergencies at a master discretion. That would mean that there is an emergency but he would still like to know if there really is an emergency. From time to time they would be doing surprise drills. She always tells him that it is a drill when he asks.
"Yes. There is an emergency, Anakin. Now hurry." master Nagia answers agitatedly.
Thus Anakin gathers his fellow seniors and together they guide the remainder of the clan to the hidden room. There they wait until master Nagia comes to gather them. During the wait, they meditate, study and play together simply to forget the situation.