Lothal Jedi Temple

The next morning found Ferus Olin standing in the middle of the Jedi High Council Chamber with his Padawan standing beside him.
"I am telling you, Serin is ready for the last of his trials," Ferus insisted in frustration at the Jedi Masters in the room who were ignoring his opinion on the topic at hand.
"That remains to be seen," Master Windu stated trying to get the Knight to be silent while the Council made the decision. Ferus was about to retort back when Master Yoda gestured sternly for him to remain silent which he decided to listen to this time.
"We have decided Padawan Starfall will complete the trials at the Jedi Enclave on Lothal," Master Kenobi revealed.
"Masters, he does not need to do all of them. He has already completed the Trials of Skill and Courage," Ferus argued.
"Knight Olin, we are allowing your Padawan to prove himself but if he is not ready you will both be trapped in the Enclave," Master Tinn warned curtly.
"If you are completely certain your Padawan is in fact ready feel free to use a shuttle in the hangar to go to Lothal but we need you to be certain about it," Master Ki-Adi Mundi advised softly.
"He is ready Masters," Ferus said confidently before he turned around and led Serin out of the Chambers. The walk to their private quarters to go pack was silent as Serin became slightly nervous about the possibility of getting trapped on Lothal for the rest of his life.
"Master?" Serin asked.
"Yes Serin?"
"What makes you so sure that I am ready for this?" Serin inquired nervously, worried about the response his Master would give him at the sign of weakness.
Ferus sighed and then stopped to look at his student with a slightly concerned expression on his face.
"Serin, don't listen to the High Council members, they are still angry at me for taking you as a Padawan when they did not want to allow you Jedi Training," Ferus explained, "I have faith in you and your abilities to do this. You will pass your trials," he added as he rested a hand on his shoulder.
This speech gave Serin what he needed to get his full confidence back even stronger than it was before. The private quarters were quiet as the Master and Padawan collected the things they would need for the trip which was not a lot.

The ship landed on a landing pad in front of the Enclave which was only recognised by the multiple tall mounds that came up out of the ground. Serin looked around curiously wondering where the Enclave was and did not realise it was right in front of him.
"Master, how far is the Enclave?" Serin asked as Master Olin came to stand next to him.
"You're standing on it," Ferus replied as he began walking towards the tallest mound.
"But we're in the middle of nowhere," Serin pointed as he looked around them trying to spot a building or entrance somewhere off in the distance.
"This Jedi Enclave was built during times of war, it was designed to remain hidden from unwanted attention," Ferus said, "Now I need you to concentrate with me on this, only with us working together as one can we make the entrance appear."
Serin nodded as they came to a stop on a paved area of ground and took the same stance as his Master. Their feet were in ready stance positions and hands stretched out in front of them with palms facing the biggest mound in front of them. Master and Padawan stretched out with the Force and that's when Serin sensed the hundreds of tunnels underneath them but Ferus pulled his attention back to the mound. It wasn't long before he felt the ground shake but decided against opening his eyes until suddenly the quakes stopped.
"Wow," Serin whispered in awe at the entrance that had appeared at the bottom of the mound where it met the ground. The mound had obviously been lifted up higher out of the ground to reveal the entrance to them and allow them admittance. Ferus led the way through the doorway and upon entering the exit closed up behind them with a loud thud which echoed through the chamber.
"Was that supposed to happen?" Serin inquired nervously.
"Yes."
As they approached the door on the other end of the room Serin turned to look at the engravings on one of the pillars and froze from shock at what he found. A skeleton kneeling in front of the pillar still wearing a brown Jedi robe and the rest of the typical apparel of a Jedi Knight.
"Ahh Master?" Serin asked, pointing at the skeleton and was even more shocked that his Master did not react to the sight.
"This is why the Council wanted me to bring you here to complete your trials," Ferus revealed, "To make sure I was being serious about my decision that you are ready to become a Knight," he added.
Serin felt a sharp draft come from behind him as the three available doors opened to reveal darkness on the other side.
"Which one do we go through?" Serin asked worriedly.
"That is up to you and I must stay here," Ferus answered as he knelt down like the other few skeletons in the room.
"What?" Serin demanded as he felt fear grip him in the chest.
"Remember the Jedi Code and all your teachings Padawan," Ferus advised, "We will not be able to leave until you complete these trials and you must do them alone," he added.
Serin looked between his Master and the three doors before he took a deep breath and faced the doors with only calm. Closing his eyes and focusing on the Force he felt like he was being pulled to the left-hand door and so walked through the archway. Then the door slammed behind him plunging him into complete darkness and the fear came back with a vengeance.
"Master!" Serin called, "I can't see!"
After a few moments of panicking he remembered his Master's advice and took a few deep breaths to calm down so he could think clearly. Once he did the darkness disappeared, not entirely, but enough so that he could see where he going. Three more archways were there in front of him all of which he could not see what was down each of them.
"Who came up with this place anyway?" Serin asked the empty space around him as he walked down the left corridor. Everything was silent until suddenly Serin felt the hair on the back of his neck raise and the sound of malicious laughter reached his ears like an echo on the wind.
"Whose there?" Serin called out into the surrounding darkness as he looked around to try and spot the owner.
"Master Olin was wrong," a voice came from out of the darkness, "Remember the Jedi Code, what a load of bloated puffer pigs in a thunderstorm," he scoffed.
"Who are you?" Serin demanded as he was about to reach for his lightsaber hilts that were attached to his belt.
Then someone walked out of the darkness and stopped to stand right in front of him causing Serin to take a few steps back. The man was slightly taller than him and wore a black robe with a hood over his face to keep it hidden.
"It should have been really obvious," he stated as he lowered the hood to reveal the face of a much older version of Serin. The Padawan froze in shock at the sight of the yellow eyes which should have been grey and at how easily this apparition could pass off as himself.
"You're-You're me!" Serin stumbled on his words which surprised even himself as he had never done it before.
"Your Master has never followed the Jedi Code and now he expects you to follow it. I mean come on wake up both of us know how much more fun it is not to follow a stupid set of words that don't even make any sense," the future Serin stated.
"You're not me, I can't be you," Serin said confidently, "You're filled with anger and hatred I can feel it," he added.
"Say that all you want we are both the same and nothing you do will ever change that."
Serin slid down the wall of the tunnel and sat there on the ground as unwanted feelings and emotions started to try and takeover his mind.
Hatred….Anger…Fear!
The area around him became dark once more until he could not see once again and he sat there; for how long he did not know. When suddenly he thought of his Master waiting for him in the chamber behind him. Ferus had faith and believed that he could pass his final trials and become a Knight and then a single emotion entered him. It was one of hope, courage and will to prove himself worthy of being his Master's Padawan; a Padawan Ferus taught and raised himself against the Council's advice.
"You are a part of me but I will never be you," Serin growled as he rose to his feet and began to approach the apparition, "My Master has watched over me since I came to the Temple and he taught me how to be a Jedi when the Council advised against it," he added as the apparition tried to move away and say even more things to break him.
"I will not fail him."
Then the apparition disappeared, Serin felt like himself again and he never wished to see that side of himself ever again. He took a deep breath and decided to venture further along the tunnel to see what would come next.
"That must have been what Master Yoda described as 'facing the mirror' in one of his lessons last year," Serin said out loud.
It felt like a long space of time where nothing was happening until he reached a fork in the tunnel, one that went left and the other went right. Serin was about to go right when all of a sudden there was this sly sounding voice coming from the tunnel to the left.
"I wouldn't go down there if I were you," it said.
"Who said that?" Serin asked into the darkness.
"Well me of course," the voice responded as a small cat-like creature appeared from the entrance of the left tunnel.
"I don't need your help," Serin said as he continued on his way down the right tunnel.
"Oh I think you do. I know every nook and cranny of these tunnels where as you have only just arrived," the creature said with a great deal of confidence.
"No I am pretty sure I'm fine on my own thank you," Serin snapped, "Now go away and leave me alone," he added hoping the creature would take his advice and leave him alone.
"Ohhh temper," the creature teased, "I wouldn't go down there either this way is much better don't you think?"
"No I don't think that," Serin said as he continued down his chosen tunnel which was the centre one of five tunnels to choose from.
"Well fine then be that way," the creature responded snootily as it disappeared. It felt like a few minutes of silence until Serin reached the next junction of tunnels to choose from. He got the strong urge to go down the one behind him to his left but he heard something coming from the tunnel directly ahead of him.
"Serin! Serin! Come quickly!"
Serin recognised the voice as his friend Galen Marek and it was confirmed when he appeared at the tunnel entrance.
"Galen, what's happened?" Serin asked in concern.
"They're hurt real bad, you have to come and help me get them out of here," Galen begged.
"Who are?" Serin inquired but he had a feeling he already knew the answer.
"Raven, Stret, Gav, everyone else. Come on we have to be quick!" Galen called back to him as he disappeared down the tunnel.
Serin was about to follow when all of sudden he remembered something, Galen did not know his other friends that well so how did he know their nicknames. His old friend had only seen them all once or twice due to being on Tython with his Master all the time.
"It's not Galen," Serin whispered and then turned around to face the other tunnel. Without wasting a second he ran down it into nothing again and didn't look behind him in worry that he might see the dead bodies of his friends following him.
"They are safe on Coruscant," Serin said confidently to himself as he approached another junction of different tunnels. In the middle of the chamber was his Master's body all torn up. Serin dropped to his knees next to the corpse and felt all hope leave him only to be replaced with despair.
"I'm sorry Master I failed you," Serin said, begging for Ferus's forgiveness.
"Padawan," a hoarse voice mumbled and Serin realised his Master was still alive, "You have to move on without me," he added.
Serin frowned and shook his head frantically at the suggestion as a tear rolled down his cheek, "No, no, I can't leave you here to die."
"You must if you are ever to become a Knight," Ferus said, "You-must-go-before-," he added as his eyes rolled back and Serin felt his presence disappear.
"No Master I won't leave you here. This is all my fault, this is all my fault…," Serin repeated the same line over and over again.
After a few minutes of silent crying which the Padawan was sure he had not done since he was a toddler.
"I'm sorry Master…I'm so sorry…," he babbled on as he rose to his feet and continued through the tunnels until he came to a door that opened upon his approach. Serin was shaking from head to toe; a side effect of what he had just witnessed and endured.
"Serin," Ferus said as he approached his Padawan who looked as white as a sheet.
"Master?" Serin asked hope filling his chest as he realised it was real.
Ferus placed his hands on his student's shoulders, "It's okay, everything is fine now," he reassured softly, "You made it," he added proudly.

Serin stood in the middle of the circle of Jedi High Council members, all of whom had their hoods pulled over their faces. Master Yoda was the only one who did not have his hood on but he did have his lightsaber activated.
"Step forward Padawan," Master Yoda instructed.
Serin did as his Master had told him what he needed to do and took the few steps that separated him and Master Yoda and then knelt on one knee in front of the Grandmaster of the Jedi Order. The Masters all moved their lightsabers in sync with each other and then Master Yoda spoke again.
"Serin Starfall, by the right of the Council-," Master Yoda moved his green lightsaber to rest on the right side of Serin's face above his shoulder, "-by the will of the Force," he added as he moved the blade over his head to stop above the other shoulder.
"Dub thee I do Jedi, Knight of the Republic," Master Yoda said as his lightsaber moved back to his right shoulder and then sliced Serin's Padawan braid where it started behind his ear. Serin rose to his feet upon Master Yoda moving his lightsaber away from his head and had finished saying the last line.

A/N: There we go, first of the Padawans to be Knighted. The others are not too far behind. Feel free to leave a comment guessing who you think will be next.

Ashlyn Dubreas.