Star Wars: The Unlikely Hero
--sparkvallen
Disclaimer: Star Wars is copyrighted by Lucasfilm and associated companies - I do not own any of the Star Wars characters, settings, etc.
Chapter Four
The following morning after their class with Master Yoda, Falco Volt and Siri Sarae sat together on a bench as they waited for the one class they shared in this level: Beginning with the Lightsaber. This was the first class in which the younglings were allowed to hold a lightsaber and in truth, they had spent more time going over the mental side of lightsaber combat, learning about the history of the Forms and who had founded them than anything else. Falco yearned to learn of the inner workings of a lightsaber, how precisely the crystals created the blade and such knowledge wouldn't come in this course.
"So what did he say?" Siri finally asked when Falco hadn't volunteered any details about the private conversation he had had with Master Yoda.
Tired after not sleeping well, Falco yawned. "We talked about what I saw."
Siri rolled her eyes. The average hostile Tusken Raider was friendly than he was being! "What did you see?"
"I want to wield twin blades someday," Falco said thoughtfully.
"Don't change the subject, Falco! It had to be important that you stayed and talked one-on-one with Master Yoda," she hissed. "Are you going to tell me or not?"
"I saw something I shouldn't have!" he replied, irritably. "There! I didn't want to see it, but I did! So are you going to leave me alone or what!"
At that, Falco jumped up from the bench, leaving Siri to sit alone. Frowning, he stalked up and down the corridor as they and the other pupils waited on their instructor for the day. He hoped beyond hope that he had no more interaction with Anakin Skywalker - Falco had dreamed of him in the night, imagining him as a Jedi Knight someday. In the dream though, he saw Anakin as still the violent and angry boy he had seen in his Force vision and that scared him just as much as the vision itself. As a result, he had slept poorly and was sullen that this had been heaped on him. Falco didn't know what he would do or say if he did have to talk to the Padawan! He wished that Anakin would get sent off with his Master and be far away from the Temple.
Catching Siri out the corner of his eye as he paced, Falco finally went back over to sit beside her. She sniffed with the Chadra-Fan snort of "Oh, you again?" with derision and Falco sighed.
"I'm sorry. I… can't talk about it right now. I mean… Master Yoda didn't tell me to stay quiet or anything but… it's like I shouldn't say anything, you know?" Falco said. They both looked straight ahead, staring at the wall. "Are you… um… mad at me, Siri?"
Siri worked through a calming breath meditation before responding to his question. "Not anymore, Falco. I just want to be able to help you, if I can. And I didn't mean to push you into talking about what you saw. Not if you don't want to."
"Thanks," he said, letting his eyes slip closed "I'll tell you sometime, maybe… it just doesn't feel right right now. Is that using the Force? Or am I just being a nerf-for-brains?"
Siri chuckled. "You're always a nerf-for-brains, Falco. But it's okay. If the Force leads you to feel you should be quiet, then its best to trust the Force."
Falco nodded more to himself than to his friend but said nothing more.
Getting the drift that even in vague terms, this wasn't a conversation Falco wanted to engage in, Siri went back to the subject he'd tried to change the topic to. "So you would want to use two lightsabers? I'll be doing good if I can handle one."
Falco smiled this time. "Yeah. I'm thinking a blue one and a purple one. Wouldn't that look neat? All… woo!" He jumped up and pretending to be wielding two blades as he stood there.
Siri laughed and motioned for him to sit back down. "That would look dramatic! Especially the way you stood there just now!"
"Do you think other Jedi can have a purple lightsaber? I mean… isn't like, just Master Windu who has one?"
"I guess they could if they want. Are you going to study the Vaapad with Master Windu someday too?"
The Vaapad - they had both learned - was the most complex of all the Forms. Created by Jedi Master Mace Windu himself, the Form was the most brutal fighting style, skirting close to using the Darkside itself. They had learned in their class that Windu and his Padawan, who was also on the Jedi Council now, were the only ones to have learned and mastered Vaapad.
Falco chuckled at the question. "Yeah, like you can so totally see me doing the seventh Form right?"
Siri didn't answer, her eyes catching sight of a Padawan who hurried past them in the corridor. The Padawan was a female, a blonde Human who wore her hair in a ponytail in addition to her Padawan's Braid.
"You noticed the girl who just ran by?" she asked.
"The Padawan? Yeah. Why?"
"That's Spark Vallen. Heard of her?"
Falco thought for a moment, then he started laughing. "Isn't she the one that they made that line up about? 'Spark Vallen: Padawan Most Likely to Behead Herself in Lightsaber Combat'? That was her?"
"That was her," Siri said with a nod. "Think how bad you have to be with a lightsaber to get that saying made up about you!"
"Yeah. That's terrible. The galaxy better hope that she ends up in the AgriCorps even though she's been a Padawan!" Falco teased. "Who'd want someone with a reputation like that, you know, defending you? You'd both get blasted!"
Both younglings rose to their feet and entered their classroom as the instructor finally arrived. It was time to learn in greater detail the history of Form Five on this day…
Several weeks later…
Falco's wish had been answered. Within a few days of his vision of Anakin Skywalker during Master Yoda's class, he and his Master Obi-wan Kenobi had been sent to Bakura for a mission. That was just fine with Falco as he could breathe easier in his Galactic Awareness course. He even tried to pay more attention to Instructor Kel's boring lectures since he didn't have to worry about interacting with Anakin. In this time span, Falco also turned seven standard years old, bringing him within two years of being a candidate to become a Padawan Learner.
The small group lessons continued with Yoda semi-frequently out in the grotto. The Jedi Master helped the six pupils explore the Force more deeply and in ways that their meditations and exercises in class had not allowed for. Siri and Falco loved those nightly gatherings with the High Council leader, feeling they were learning something well and beyond what was normal for younglings of their level. A surprising development to Siri and certainly Falco was when Yoda seemed to take a special interest in her friend. After each nightly session as the other five were sent back to the Temple, the Jedi Master sat and talked with Falco. About what, he never told Siri, but converse they did. She began to wonder if Yoda was grooming Falco to become his Padawan when he was of age.
One evening, Yoda and Falco walked together back to the Jedi Temple. Their pace through the gardens was leisurely. Coruscant's several moons cast plenty of natural light on the paths they walked; Yoda would point out various flora and speak in his usual riddles. Falco did his best to keep up with the Jedi Master's wit and wisdom while purposely slowing his stride so that he didn't rush ahead of Yoda.
"There! Over there, see the Padawan Learner you do…"
Yoda pointed with the tip of his cane toward a dark-haired Human girl who was levitating her training lightsaber a few inches above her palm. She sat on a stone bench and it was clear that her every effort was going into making that hilt levitate.
"Yes, Master Yoda, I see her," Falco replied. He watched her closely, wondering what exactly Yoda wanted him to see about her.
"Powerful Jedi will she be," Yoda remarked.
He hadn't meant to say it, but out the words came anyway. "But she's putting every ounce of her energy into levitating her lightsaber, Master Yoda. Why do you say she is a powerful Jedi?"
His wide green eyes peered up Falco, twinkling with amusement. "Floating a lightsaber shows how powerful a Jedi is, hmm?"
Falco opened his mouth to speak, and then realized how the Master had caught him. He smiled, abashed, unsure what to say now. Yoda smiled then looked out to the dark-haired girl as she practiced.
"Found by Master Qui-Gon Jinn she was. The little girl in blue, called her he did," Yoda said. "Sapharin her name is though. Hmm, yes, powerful Jedi will she be."
Falco looked from Yoda back to Sapharin, the Padawan. He remembered his history lessons about the Order and how Master Jinn had been killed in a duel on Naboo just before Anakin's arrival at the Temple as a Padawan. Because of the link to Anakin, Falco also remembered that Obi-wan Kenobi had been Qui-Gon Jinn's student. He wondered who was instructing Sapharin then.
"Troubled her training has been. Dark times these are, Falco. Trained she did not with Master Jinn though discover her he did. Trained Sapharin has with Master Fisto but now his path takes him from Coruscant and alone she must study. But powerful Jedi will she be." He nodded to himself. "Yes, powerful Jedi will she be."
Falco memorized all that Yoda had divulged about the girl and told himself to greet her warmly if he should ever see Sapharin in the Temple's corridors or in the cafeteria. He turned back to Yoda but the Master had moved along the path without his realizing it. Hurrying along to catch up with him, the Master spoke a startling comment to Falco as he walked at his side.
"To the Wookiee homeworld Kashyyyk must I go soon," Yoda remarked. "Friends there I have with the Wookiees. Visit I must. Travel with me you will to Kashyyyk, yes?"
"You… uh… me? To Kashyyyk? With you?" Falco stammered in reply.
"Answer you did not," Yoda said wryly, looking up at the flustered boy.
"I… whoa. Like, for real? You'd want me to come with you to Kashyyyk?"
"Tease you I do not, Falco. Come with me you will, yes?" Yoda repeated. His eyes twinkled with amusement at the youngling's startled reaction.
"Um… wow. Of course, Master Yoda! I'll pack my bag tonight!" Falco laughed despite himself, bursting with joy that someone as important as Master Yoda was paying such attention to him.
