Greetings, everyone! I'm writing this mere hours after finishing my last exam of the year, so needless to say, I'm in a VERY good mood! And, as a bonus, I've got a surplus of juice in the B.T.I. that I can't wait to pour into as many chapters as I can!
Creativity: Yes, the off-hours have allowed me to replenish stock quite well! Especially with that new padded wheel you got!
Author: And that's not even counting for the fact that Star Wars Day is coming up! Mark my words, I will have at least one chapter ready for Star Wars Day! And hopefully one for the day after (Revenge of the Fifth and all that)
Now then, before we go any further, let's answer the chapter 6 reviews!
Creativity: You say that like there's gonna be more than one.
Author: thanks a lot, killjoy. But there is still a review from one loyal FallenAssassin9! So, here it is:
FallenAssassin9: That chapter was simultaneously really hard and really easy to write. It was easy because I can really easily envision action scenes in my head and I like to think I can think up a good trial as well, but the space in between them and knowing how long to have a trial run for, that's harder. Also, I'd say that next to Fallen Order, Jedi Academy is my favorite Star Wars game. I'm hoping that the next Star Wars game that Respawn makes has a character builder in it, now that they've shown it works. Hopefully EA will keep its money-grubbing insect fingers stuffed in its pockets around Star Wars for a while. As for Garo leaving, I was planning on that since the beginning. I got a feeling there will be… mixed reactions to where I'm going with him, but I'm doing it anyway.
Now then, I think we've kept you all waiting for long enough. It's bloody Star Wars day when this comes out, and it's time to celebrate it! Before we do though, here's the Discord password: xtydzBf
Creativity: And now, it is TIME! LET US BEGIN!
Author: INDEED! Let us proudly present chapter 7 of Star Wars: Twilight Blade!
Arvos wasn't sure how long he'd been stood in place, nor how many times the message had repeated itself. No one had deactivated the datapad and it had looped through the whole message several times, and yet no one seemed to have the presence of mind to stop it. They were all paralyzed in place, their minds constantly replaying the first bit of the message over and over again.
"Hello Arvos, Tala, Alvya… I… I'm sorry. I know that this is a terrible way to tell you this, but… sigh… I can't follow you on this path. I thought I could keep going, persevere through it but… I can't. So… I've decided to leave the Order."
Arvos felt as if everything in the world had stopped the moment he'd heard those last six words.
"I've decided to leave the Order."
It kept echoing in his head. His pulse was pounding in his ears. It wasn't beating fast, but it was drumming rhythmically, deafeningly…
"I've decided to leave the Order."
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, someone broke the loop.
"Why…" Arvos breathed, his breath hitching as he said it.
"Garo… Why?" Alvya asked as a small film of tears began to slowly well up in her eyes.
"…"
Tala didn't say anything, but the question was obvious. Why? Why had Garo left? Arvos couldn't grasp it. He knew that something had been going on with Garo. That much had been obvious. But, to reach the point where he was abandoning the Order like this? To leave them without even saying goodbye to their faces?
Arvos felt as if his innards were trying to compress themselves as his gaze remained rooted to the holoprojector. It was just beginning the loop again.
"Hello Arvos, Tala, Alvya… I… I'm sorry. I know that this is a terrible way to tell you this, but… sigh… I can't follow you on this path. I thought I could keep going, persevere through it but… I can't. So… I've decided to leave the Order." The projection of Garo said before it continued. The pain and regret in Garo's voice was gut-wrenching to them all.
"After the Temple bombing, I was really shaken. I wasn't even really aware of what was going on until I heard that Padawan Tano had been expelled from the order to stand trial before Republic Senate. Part of me was relieved, even… happy to hear that whoever had orchestrated the bombing had been caught, but then Master Skywalker managed to find the true mastermind in Padawan Offee… I saw the confession and… Something changed… I started to see everything differently. The war, the Order and its place in the galaxy… I began to doubt the Order, the Republic and especially myself." The hologram of Garo explained as he took a shaky breath and put a hand over one eye, rubbing it in discomfort before he lowered it and continued his explanation.
"I started desperately looking for something to reaffirm my faith in the Republic, the Jedi and… I just couldn't. Everywhere I looked, I just found more and more that pushed me away. I tried to move past this, tried desperately to trust in the Force that everything would work out, that I'd find something to believe in again, but… I just can't. And I can't force myself to continue down a path that I don't believe in, so I've decided to leave; to find a path I can believe in. I didn't want to tell you all this because I didn't want to cast a shadow over the paths you all choose to walk. I know that this goodbye is unfair to you, but I couldn't face you like this. Hopefully, should we ever meet again, I'll have found my path again… Goodbye…"
The recording looped back to the beginning, but this time Arvos shut if off and let his arm fall limply to his side. It all felt wrong. Everything just felt… wrong…
For as long as Arvos could remember, Alvya, Tala and Garo were there. They were always a part of each others lives. Through ups and downs, triumphs and defeats, they'd always been there for each other; the constant. The center. And now it was missing a piece.
"What do we do…?" Tala asked, her voice barely a whisper.
"I… I don't know…" Arvos answered.
"We should all be here, celebrating our passing the trials…" Alvya murmured, the quiver in her voice only making Arvos and Tala come closer to their own breaking points. Why him? Why now? Why, why, why? The same question, over and over again: why?
Eventually, they finally had enough and turned around, leaving the empty room behind. As they walked away, Arvos just barely heard the clatter of something falling to the ground just behind them and almost didn't bother to turn around until he realized that the weight of the holoprojector was missing from his hands. He turned to see it slowly turning on the ground, spinning on its rim until it settled down. Arvos slowly bent down and gingerly lifted up the device before slipping it into a pocket in his robes.
"What do we do?" Alvya asked once more and just like the other times that one of the three had asked that question, none of them had an answer. They just aimlessly wandered out of the dorms and started to listlessly wander the halls of the Jedi Temple, eventually coming to the main foyer of the temple. Their eyes all slowly turned to look out through the open door of the temple. Just hours earlier, their friend had departed the Jedi Temple through those very doors. It was quite possible, probable in fact, that they would never see him again.
"We didn't even get a chance to say goodbye…" Alvya murmured. Even after all this, Arvos' head was still swimming. Everything had an air of unreality to it, as if he was in the middle of a terrible dream. Maybe this was all a dream. Maybe he'd wake up soon and Garo would be there for morning lessons.
But he didn't. And Garo wasn't. And Arvos could only stand there with his friends, numb pain sitting in their stomachs like a durasteel lump.
The next few days were a bit of a haze for Arvos. They attended their regularly scheduled lessons, they got in some saber practice and they studied in the archives, but it didn't feel like anything was really happening; as if their bodies were just moving along by default. Other younglings had noticed quickly, as had their instructors, though no one approached them at first. The instructors already knew what was going on, though it seemed that they opted to not intervene just yet. They were confident that giving them time to work through their emotions was the best solution, though they had put word out to the council to consider counselling for the trio, given how numbed and unresponsive they had become as of late.
There was hardly any conversation between them anymore, beyond greetings and occasional Smalltalk. They weren't even gathering during their spare time like they used to. They would just bid each other farewell and leave to do something in the temple, be it studying or saber practice. Arvos in particular spent plenty of time in the sparring halls, training on his own. However, it was plain as day to everyone who saw him training that he wasn't really there. He was just going through the motions. There was no intent or energy behind his strikes or flourishes; just bland movement.
After finishing yet another set, Arvos checked the time and resisted the urge to employ some of the choicer words employed by elder Jedi when they thought the younglings weren't in earshot as he realized that he was going to be running late for lessons and hurriedly packed his things and started making his way to class. He was a minute or so late, but punctuality was something expected as a very bare minimum from younglings early in their Jedi education, and it was often frowned upon to not be early and prepared for the instructors once younglings were permitted to roam the Jedi Temple on their own.
Arvos expected quite the lecture for his tardiness, but the instructor, a female Zabrak, was completely silent as Arvos hurried in, trying to make himself appear as small as he possibly could as he made his way to his usual spot with Tala and Alvya. However, instead of a talking-to from their instructor like Arvos had been convinced was coming, there was nothing; just stares from the younglings and a stern, yet sympathetic look from the instructor. He wasn't sure which was more stomach-churning: the oppressive silence or the scolding he'd been anticipating.
The lessons passed without incident and when the end came, the three soon-to-be padawans rose and started to leave. However, they found their progress impeded by their instructor, who gently pulled them aside to have a word with them.
"I know that this has been a tumultuous time for the three of you, and I completely understand why. However, as cruel as it may sound, you need to find a way to move past this. I know you three recently completed your trials to become Padawans, thus you will in all likelihood be assigned to a master and will be placed on the front lines of the war, and you must be present of mind to preserve your own life, and the lives of those who will be placed under your command." The Zabrak informed them with that same mix of sternness and sympathy. However, she wasn't done quite yet.
"I've already made sure that the Council will inform your future masters to be aware of what has happened and to assist you in working through this period of mourning. However, I also recommend that the three of you seek out counselling in the meantime. You three are hardly the first case of this in the Order, and the counsellors well undoubtedly be able to help you move forward." The instructor concluded. The three of them bowed to her silently and filed out of the room. They didn't have anything else to do today, so it would either be more training, studying, or… nothing.
The trio walked aimlessly through the hallways before eventually going their separate ways. Arvos was still mulling over what their instructor had told them (as best he could, anyway) when he ended up in one of the hallways overlooking the Coruscant skyline. The sun was on its descent, but the sky was still bright blue. He could see the lines of speeder traffic crisscrossing around the temple, tiny specs of people in the distance that were bustling about their daily lives, military ships coming to and from the massive Venator class Star Destroyers that floated miles above the city…
At first he wondered where Garo was now. Where was he? Was he still on Coruscant, looking for work elsewhere in the city? was he on a civilian transport to another world in search of this new path he desired? Was he getting directly involved with the war effort, or was he finding a neutral planet to avoid the galaxywide conflict altogether?
Just then, it occurred to Arvos that he was soon going to be involved in that same war. He'd soon be at the side of a full-fledged member of the Order, riding one of those transports up to one of those Star Destroyers and fighting alongside the clones of the Grand Army. It was honestly quite a lot to take in. Despite how prominent the war was to the Jedi, there had been a concerted effort by the Order to keep the younglings away from the war for as best they could, discounting new lessons on leadership and military strategy. Of course, once they were declared Padawans and assigned to a master, then they would be thrust into the war, finding themselves charged with leading and commanding soldiers and possibly leading them to their deaths. Besides, regardless of the Jedi's best efforts, the war was inescapable. Everywhere you looked, there was evidence of the conflict. The warships, the news (that the Jedi weren't technically supposed to get, but it happened), the Jedi that returned to the temple on leave from the war effort, no matter where you went, the war was always waiting to remind you that it was out there.
"You seem troubled, youngling."
Arvos jumped a little bit at the familiar voice as he turned around to see Master Marahl Corvis standing behind him.
"Master Corvis! Sorry, I was just thinking…" Arvos stuttered out quickly, which caused Marahl to chuckle a little.
"A dangerous thing for a youngling." She joked as she started to look at the view Coruscant view once more.
"However, I don't believe you were simply lost in idle thought. What troubles you, young one?" Master Marahl asked Arvos once more. Arvos sighed as he looked out the window once more.
"One of the younglings in my clan, the one I told you about before, has formally withdrawn from the Order." Arvos revealed, earning a look of surprise from Master Marahl.
"I see. Well, there have been a number of Jedi that have chosen to leave the Order over the course of the war, but I've not yet heard of younglings leaving. Do you know why he left?" Master Marahl asked. Arvos nodded slowly as he closed his eyes.
"He left the Temple while me and the others in our clan were participating in our Padawan trials, so we didn't even know he was gone until it was too late. He left a holoprojector behind with a recording the explained that he was leaving and why…" Arvos started to explain, taking a deep breath and releasing it before he continued.
"He said that after the Temple Bombing, he… he started to see the Jedi, the Republic, the war, all of it in a different way. He said he lost faith in the Jedi, and when he tried desperately to find that faith again, things only got worse for him, until he came to the conclusion that he couldn't follow the path of the Jedi any longer…" Arvos explained, a shake evident in his voice throughout the whole recount. Master Marahl's lips had visibly tightened throughout the explanation.
"I'm so sorry, youngling… It's no wonder you are in such an emotional turbulence now." Master Marahl tried to console. Arvos just hung his head.
"I just… I knew something was wrong for a long time. Me, Tala and Alvya all knew something had happened to him after the Temple Bombing, but we didn't do anything. We thought it was just shock from the attack and that he'd recover. We didn't think to speak to him, the instructors, masters or the Council, despite a myriad of opportunities… I just can't help but feel he would still be here if any of us had thought to maybe do something. Maybe he wouldn't have felt so lost… I failed him." Arvos murmured, the guilt and pain in his voice running deep. However, Master Marahl wasn't having any of it.
"Youngling, you did not fail your friend. Even if you had, you are hardly the only party at fault. The war has taken a toll on all of us, even those who haven't yet been thrust into battle. Besides, despite how tight-knit youngling clans can be, you would hardly be the only ones to notice if your former clan-mate was undergoing a crisis of faith such as this, and they would have been in a greater position to intervene. If blame is to lie with anyone, it is with us; Not you and your fellow younglings." Marahl lectured Arvos, who stayed silent throughout said lecture and for some time afterwards.
"… I think my biggest regret is that I didn't get to see him off myself." Arvos finally said after several long minutes of silence.
"I can imagine so. However, you must learn to let go of those regrets, no matter how hard it is. Every intelligent lifeform in the galaxy has had and will have regrets, and those who say otherwise are either liars or very dangerous people. However, we cannot hold onto those regrets, lest they consume us." Master Marahl continued. Arvos wasn't sure where it was coming from, but he could hear tones of regret in her voice. Arvos considered asking her about it, but he thought better of it. It wasn't his place to pry.
"Youngling Moro."
Arvos turned around and saw a human male Jedi knight standing behind him and Master Marahl. He bowed respectfully to Master Marahl, who returned the gesture in kind. Arvos followed suit as well.
"I'm here to inform you that the council has requested your presence tomorrow. There will be a full-fledged member of the Order sent to escort you to the council chambers tomorrow morning. Ensure you are prepared." The Knight informed Arvos before his attention was drawn away by another Jedi engaging in a conversation with him.
"Great, one more thing to be stressed about…" Arvos thought to himself as he turned back to Master Marahl and bowed to her.
"Thank you for speaking to me, Master Corvis. I'll take my leave now." Arvos bade farewell before he hurried off. While he hadn't said anything, his conversation with Master Marahl had helped a little. The pain was still there, but he no longer felt quite so lost.
Master Marahl watched as Arvos walked away as a very small smile played across her face. She could already see a change in Arvos. It was a small one to be sure, but it was one step forward for him.
"You didn't say anything to him?" The Jedi Knight who had delivered the Council's summons asked as Arvos rounded a corner and stepped out of sight. Marahl shook her head, still with that same smile playing across her lips.
"Now, why would I want to spoil the surprise?" Marahl replied as she turned around and strolled away.
Arvos' wanderings eventually took him to the Archives, where he decided to stop to continue his research on that strange sword he'd had those strange dreams about way back when. He hadn't seriously done anything to search for it for quite some time now, so perhaps the Force would guide him to this ever-elusive answer, though he still wanted to have some sort of plan in mind for how he wanted to search with the strange blade.
"Perhaps I should restart my search with the origins of Jedi weaponry and see if I can find any other leads from there." Arvos murmured to himself as he sought out Master Jocasta Nu, who was just finishing up assisting another youngling.
"Excuse me, master. Am I interrupting?" Arvos inquired in greeting. Master Jocasta looked up from the youngling she was speaking to and smiled in recognition.
"Ah, Youngling Moro! Actually, your timing is quite impeccable. Youngling Daran was just asking me where he might find information about Lightsaber design for reading given to him by Master Plo Koon." Master Jocasta replied, smiling a little more as Arvos was immediately hooked like a fish.
"Well, for getting started, I'd recommend Philosophy of Combat by Battlemaster Kar Borol, A Jedi's Weapon volumes one and two by Master Jire Ceride, and Lightsaber Form and Fundamentals by Master Darrge Marle. That should be a good foundation to work from before moving up to the more advanced studies." Arvos suggested. Master Jocasta nodded with a smile.
"Excellent suggestions Youngling Moro, though I hardly expected anything less, given how you've practically read everything there is to read regarding lightsabers that isn't kept within the holocron vault. I'm sure you can handle the rest, Youngling Daran?" Master Jocasta asked the other youngling, who nodded.
"Yes, Master Nu. Thank you Master Nu, Youngling Moro." Youngling Daran replied before hurrying off to find the recommended readings. With the latest youngling assisted, she turned her attention to Arvos.
"Now then, I'm assuming you're here to find one of the few remaining texts that you haven't picked clean of all information." Master Jocasta inquired with a wry grin. Arvos nodded.
"I'm resuming my search for that blade I mentioned to you a few years back and I've decided to start at the very beginning. Could you give me any recommendations regarding all Jedi weaponry pre-lightsaber?" Arvos inquired. Master Jocasta immediately walked over to a terminal and began to sift through the archives index with borderline terrifying efficiency.
"Hmmm… I believe that these will suit your needs nicely." Master Jocasta replied as she handed Arvos a datapad with a list of reading material on it. As Arvos examined it, he could pick out a few items that he had read before, but there was a few items he hadn't gotten to yet.
"This is gonna take a while…" Arvos muttered, though he was still smiling a bit as he went to track down the first item on his list that he hadn't read yet. If he really was only a few days out from being officially declared a Padawan and assigned to a master, he probably wouldn't be able to spend much time in the Archives and search for the mysterious blade. That meant that he was going to make the most of what time he had.
It didn't take him long to find the first item on his list, which was an ancient study of the art of crafting the archaic weapons that the first Jedi used before the invention of the lightsaber. Arvos wasn't sure how he'd missed this study before, though he had missed things in the texts that he had read and reread before, so it wasn't as unbelievable that he'd missed an entire study. After settling down at a desk, Arvos began to read. He had a lot of it to do, and precious little time to do it.
And that's where we're ending this chapter!
Creativity: Huh. I thought we were gonna get to the Padawan section today…
Author: I thought so too, but I think it's better to do it this way. Honestly, I thought we were going to get a lot further into the story in general than we actually are, but I think that this is a good pace. We should get to the end of things by chapter ten by my calculations. Having a chapter that's exploring the fallout from Garo's decision is a good bit of winding down before we jump into the insanity of the plot we have planned.
Creativity: Is there anything we need to address here before we end the chapter?
Author: Well, there is the State of Affairs section we've set up on our main page, though I'm not sure that will be relevant when this chapter goes up.
Yeah, I did finish this chapter in time for Star Wars Day 2020, but I'm not sure it will be up that day. If that is indeed the case, then you should check the State of Affairs section I was talking about.
Well, I think that's where we're calling it for today! Thank you for reading, please review, hope to see you on Discord and we'll see you next time!