Hey guys, here is the next update of this fanfiction.

Hope you have enjoyed the read so far.

Chapter Seven

The Gathering

Six Years Later…

It was the time of the Gathering.

It was something that was being talking quite heavily within their clan. Given their quick advance within their classes so far, and given how talkative Scott had been about the event, Ellana had decided to read up upon what the Gathering actually is and what she had learned caused her to be a bit excited.

It was the ritual that Jedi goes through so that they could built their own lightsabers. Of course, in their training so far, they mostly used the training sabers that they had here in the Temple for their combat training, however, having their own lightsabers is a way of saying that they were no longer just trainees but rising up in the ranks of the Jedi Order and they were even talks of some of the trainee becoming Padawans to Jedi Knights that were interested within their trainings.

Given that she was now thirteen-year-old, and had gone through Ellana was smiling lightly to herself at the thought of having her own lightsaber. She enjoyed using the training sabers as much as the next Youngling but, having her own saber, something that belong solely to her.

There was nothing better than this.

"El, you're done yet?"

She glanced back toward the voice finding Sara Ryder there. The young Terran who had become a dear friend to her during the first time she had arrived at the Temple. Sara had just entered her room dressed in her own tunics with her backpack upon her shoulder. Her hair which had grown long was set in a small bund.

"I am almost done," Ellana answered her with a grin, "Just packing a few clothing."

Sara nodded at her.

"It's almost time," she told her, "We have got to go."

It was almost noon, which was when they said to report toward the hangar bay 3 of the Temple. Wasting no more time, Ellana shouldered her backpack following her friend out of the room. The duo made their way through the hallways of the Temple heading down toward the hangar bay they needed to go and quickly did they find where they need to go.

A bright shining sun was shining through the opening of the Temple and Ellana found that she and Sara where the last one to arrive as the other members of their clan were already there waiting for them.

"And here they come," Aslan said crossing his arms, his blue eyes showing his annoyance, "You guys are almost late. One might think that you're not really ready for this at all."

"C'mon, stop being so stiff Aslan," Sara said rolling her eyes at him, "It's not even noon yet."

"Instructor Leane told us to be here half an hour earlier," the young man said rubbing his nose almost as if he was having a headache just talking about it.

"Settle down Younglings," a female voice spoke out from behind them.

A female Jedi was there, dressed in gold and white tunics as she walked toward them. It was a human woman with soft green eyes and long blonde hair. She had a small smile upon her lips as she was observing them, eyes seemingly flashing and taking them in. The Force around her felt warm almost like she was a miniature sun all on her own. A white and silver hilt hung at her waist, swaying lightly as she walks toward them.

"This is an important stage in your training that you are about to be embarking on," she continued, observing them, "A sacred journey known as the Gathering. As a Jedi, there is no greater honor."

Now that the Jedi knew she had the children's attention, she placed both of her hands behind her back as she stood in front of them.

"I am Jedi Knight Salem," the woman introduced herself, "And I will be the accompanying Jedi upon this mission. Now that everyone has gathered, let's get a move on. The ship that will take us to Jedha is waiting for us, c'mon along now Younglings."

The group followed Salem toward a ship waiting for them at the end of the hangar. It was a cigar shaped transport vessel colored in the color of the Jedi Order which was a white and gold theme and even had the symbol of the Order upon the side. It was of a different make than the ship Ellana remember the two Jedi who brough her here to the Temple.

The front of the ship was almost blocklike in appearance with the windows visible of the pilots that were already visible from within it. The group followed Knight Salem up into the ship and it was visibly larger than Ellana thought. Knight Salem let them straight toward where their rooms were within the ship.

"The girls will be staying here," she told them pointing toward a door, "The boys in the opposite. It is a four days journey to Jedha and back. I will be your chaperon throughout the entire journey. I have heard from Leane that you are a well-behaved group. I will expect you to be as such and not stain his name."

The group nodded at her and Knight Salem gave them a light smile once more.

"Well, I'm sure you can choose your bed," she told them, "I will go tell our pilot to get ready to go."

With that the young Knight walked off and left them on their own. Tara was the first to speak.

"Well, you heard her," she said, "This is us girls."

The quarrian led them into the girl's room. They were a few bunks, five of them in total with sheets already placed upon them. Ellana made her way toward the one at the far end of the room. With a small Force jump, Sara quickly made her way toward the top bunk above her.

"I call dibs," she yelled.

"Hey," Ellana gasped at her friend, "Who said that you had the top bunker."

"Too late," Sara told her with a small grin.

"Seems we'll have extra beds," Tara told them, "With only three of us girls here and five beds."

Ellana shook her head as she placed her back upon the bed beneath Sara's.

"Must be for if they had more girls," Sara said looking around.

"C'mon, let's go explore the ship," Ellana said, "We'll be here for a while if the Knight was any indication."

"Jedha is in the Attican Traverse, right?" Sara asked seating upon the edge of the bed, her legs hanging on the side.

"Yeah, as far I as I can remember from the lessons," Ellana told her, "It's one of the many planets that are associated with the Jedi. It's also one of the few planets that has kyber crystals."

"Nerd," Sara teased her.

Ellana blushed a little.

"Shut up."

The door of their room opened and Scott was there with a light smirk upon his lips.

"What are you guys still doing here?" he asked, "Not going to explore?"

"Scott, what the hell?" Sara yelled, "What if we were changing? Knock first."

"Please," the boy said, "Nothing I haven't seen before sis."

Ellana can feel Sara's annoyance at her brother's nonchalance in the Force and decided to defuse the situation before it gets worse. Scott and Sara could get into some pretty loud arguments.

"Let's go explore then," she said, quickly pushing Scott out of the room by his shoulders, "I'm sure we'll be able keep ourselves busy for a while."

She pushed him out of the room completely and into the corridor again.

"Ellana, what's the big idea?" Scott told her, still puzzled about why he was pushed out of the door.

"I don't want you and Sara to get into another argument," Ellana told him with a light shrug, "You two get louds when you argue."

Scott scratched his cheek, looking sheepish.

"Yeah…that's true."

"Where are the rest of the guys?" Ellana asked as the two of them continued walking through the ship.

"Aslan is getting is bed ready last I saw," Scott shrugged, "Ulush seems to be happy reading up on the history about Jedha and getting information about where we're going."

A grin appeared upon his lips.

"We' re finally getting our own lightsaber," he said, "I'm going to make it similar to the heroes of the past."

Ellana tilted her head.

"You really want to be a hero huh?"

"Of course," Scott told her as if it was obvious to everyone, "Jedi are the heroes of the galaxy. We save people and fight against those who attack civilians and planets."

"Sound like you already made up your mind Youngling."

The two turned toward the voice finding Knight Salem there. The young woman had her arms crossed, a light amusement within her green gaze as she stared at them.

"Knight Salem," Scott said surprised.

"You want to be an hero," Knight Salem continued, both of her arms behind her back from where she stood, "You sound just like a friend of mine."

"Is he a hero as well?" Scott asked.

"You do know that a Jedi only has to use violence as a last resort right?" the Knight said tilting her head lightly, "No, my friend is not a hero. Like all Jedi, we are the defenders of the Galaxy and while in his youths, he did help many people, but it wasn't by drawing his lightsaber, but by helping them find common ground."

"But the Jedi did participate in many battles in the galaxy," Scott questioned, "I heard they fought in the Krogan Rebellions and even during the Rachni Wars."

Salem nodded her head at him.

"The Jedi did," she said, "However it was at the behest of the Citadel Council. They were the ones who started those wars…thought it is difficult to say with the Rachni."

"But they invaded the galaxy, didn't they?" Ellana said tilting her head.

Salem looked at her.

"That's what many believes," she said and for a moment, she seems almost sad but she shook her head, "Anyway, while it is admirable to want to be a hero however, remember that as Jedi, we are not heroes but protectors. Meditate upon that and maybe you'll find a different answer."

With that Knight Salem left them behind, her words mulling over the mind of the two Younglings.

Jedha was a moon that orbit the much large planet, NaJedha. Visible from space, the planet had an earthly dark brown spot-on different part of the world marking the large mountainous regions of the moon. Ellana could see the approaching planet taking the horizon from her spot on her bed which had a window and a viewpoint of the moon visible there.

Seeing that they had arrived, she had alerted the other two to get dressed in their tunics and joining the others at the center of the ship which was now starting it's descended at their destination. Knight Salem was there as well, wearing her cloak over her tunic as she had her arms crossed.

"Get ready Younglings," she said looking at them all, "Now that we've arrived at Jedha, we will be starting the Gathering. Now come along, we're about to land and it's a bit of a walk toward the Temple."

The walkway lowered itself with a loud hissing noise and a wave of hot air washed over them Ellana causing her to gasp lightly. With Knight Salem at the lead, they followed after her and into the planet's surface. It was hot, Ellana remarked and she can already feel the warmth against her skin and she knew she will be sweating soon.

Rocks and sands were all that were visible in Ellana's eyes as she scanned the area that they were in. The wind that was blowing through her clothing was also just as warm as the air around them.

"C'mon Younglings," Knight Salem spoke out, "We still have quite a bit to walk to. The Temple is waiting for us."

The woman then started to walk up the steps toward the direction she had indicated an they followed after her. The group continued to walk in silence thought Ellana could hear Scott and Aslan speaking with Ulush in front of them.

"I knew desert worlds were hot but I never expected it to be this hot," Tara said from beside them.

"Yeah…I can feel myself sweating already," Sara admitted.

"I'd say," Ellana spoke out shaking her head.

They continued through the marked path in front of them until they came by a curve and then the conversation halted in front of them. Ellana looked up at that, wondering why and soon saw it. Built into the side of the mountain was a Temple. It was quite old from the look of it and it was difficult to say just how old given it's weathered look.

Two stone robbed Jedi stood on either side of it, holding their lightsabers in front of them like eternal guardians of the Temple. To Ellana, it looked incredible and it also gave her a sense of the history that the Jedi have with the area and the planet. Knight Salem led them straight toward the entrance of the Temple which was a slab of stone which had a weathered emblem of the Order upon it.

"The door is not going to open?" Aslan asked, curious.

Knight Salem turned toward them.

"To open the door, you will need the Key," she said, a smile upon her lips, "something you already have."

"We do?" Tara said confused, "But you didn't give any one a Key."

"The Force," Ulush spoke out, "The Force is the Key to the Temple."

Knight Salem smiled lightly.

"You are correct Ulush," she said, smiling lightly at the Salarian boy, "With the Force you will open the doorway. Come on now Younglings, Focus and open the door."

Ellana raised her hand and focused upon the Force drawing upon the flow and directing it toward the door in front of them. She could feel the rest doing the same and the Force sang around them as it continued forward and then a grumbling sound filled the air in front of her as she can feel the doorway of the Temple opening in front of them until the grumbling stops.

She opened her eyes seeing that the doorway was now opened in front of them, revealing the darkened interior.

"Very good," Knight Salem spoke out, "Leane wasn't wrong saying that you were a talented group. But now let's go inside for your test will now truly begin."

She led them into the Temple which was suddenly darkened but slowly as they reached inside it was light up by floating lanterns. The walls were carved with ancient writings and script that Ellana couldn't decipher. The which they found after entering inside the Temple. They finally reached inside which was cooler than the outside.

It was a large circular room with high ceiling similar to the Jedi Temple on Odessa. Ellana glanced around herself taking in the room for a few moments before her eyes were drawn toward the person that was seating on the elevated platform in front of them.

Then as they approached, the Jedi looked up toward them with a slight smile upon his lips. He stood up from where he was seating looking at them all in front of him. Ellana find herself recognizing him as the same man she saw when she first arrived in the Temple.

"Grand Master Carlyle," Knight Salem spoke out, "The Moon clan is here for the Gathering."

"Thank you for leading them here Salem," Carlyle spoke out before looking at their direction, "You have come for the Gathering. Harvesting your crystal is what you will be doing within the caves to build your lightsaber."

The man pulled out his own lightsaber and activate it and a forest green glow filled the room.

"The heart of the lightsaber, the crystal is," Carlyle told them, "Your crystal will be attuned to you and you only. Follow the will of the Force you must to accomplish this trial for it is through the Force that the connection is made between you and your crystal."

He turned his gaze toward them.

"You will be tested," he said extinguishing the blade, "Face those tests you must if you want to become a Jedi…to become the Jedi, you will be the future."

Hope you have enjoyed the read.

Next Time: The Gathering part 2

Jacques0 out.

R&R