Well hello,

Welcome to A Different Dawn.

I've had the idea for this story floating around my head for a while and I thought I'd try and bring it to life. As much as a story can be anyway. So with that in mind I'd appreciate it if no one flames me too badly, constructive criticism is more than welcome though. Lastly, I did move around some characters' ages to make things fit better. With all that out of the way, let's see where this story goes.

Rewritten version (I moved, got a job, started grad school, got covid, lost motivation, came back and realized I already wanna rewrite so here we are)

ALL NON OC CHARACTERS ARE OWNED BY WHOEVER OWNS THEM, WHICH IS NOT ME.

First Chapter

25,810 BBY

Ten year old Izara Skywalker walked as quickly as he could through the stone halls of Padawan Kesh or the Je'daii Academy. His dark green eyes were alight with excitement as he made his way to his sword training class.

As much as he enjoyed learning about and using the Force, sword training was his favorite part of the day. Walking out of the last doorway, he broke into a jog making his wavy black hair bounce on his head. Slowing down as he came to the end of the paved paths towards the fields used for sword practice, he scanned the crowd of initiates for familiar faces.

Spotting an auburn head Izara called his friend, "Lanoree!" Gray eyes turned to meet his as Lanoree walked to meet him with a grin on her face.

"Hey Izara, I see you managed to survive Master Ruhr's lecture in one piece today," Lanoree quipped.

Sighing in response, "Barely, I don't know how a Wookie ended up with a voice better fit for lulling babies to sleep!"

Shaking her head with a wry smile on her lips, Lanoree replied "It is pretty funny, anyway I hope we get paired up to spar today, I want a rematch!."

Izara responded with a playful smirk, "Think it'll be any different this time?"

Right as Lanoree was about to respond to assure him it would be, the door to the armory swung open and Master Madog stepped out.

The Cathar Master cast a long shadow as he walked towards the initiates, standing at six and a half feet. "Hello Initiates, are you all prepared for class today?" he rumbled.

Meet with many voices responding "Yes Master Madog." a slight smirk of mischief appeared on his face. "Good, because many masters and rangers are planetside at the moment so we will have an audience for practice today. Everyone grab a practice sword!"

Izara felt the force begin to buzz with a mixture of everyone's nerves and excitement as they all moved toward the armory. He steeled himself and looked at Lanoree. "Well, this is what we've been training for, you ready?."

Lanoree responded with a small smile, "Yeah, totally we'll be fine! We've trained hard!"

Picking up a blunted practice sword and making his way back outside, Izara saw a few older Je'daii making their way to the edge of the practice field.

Master Mador grabbed everyone's attention back as he said "You know the drill young ones, warm ups and then prepare for sparring!"

Izara closed his eyes and sank into the force as he let his body run through the warm up routine he had done hundreds of times by this point. While he was warming up he began to feel the older force signatures around the field, curious to see if any stood out from the others.

One signature just popped up on the edge of his range, making their way to the field at a sedate pace. Izara was debating about examining it a little closer when Master Madog broke his concentration, "Line up young ones, time to show your potential master what you can do!"

Lining up with the other initiates around the sparring ring Izara went between watching the fights and practicing his sword patterns in his head. After watching a Rodian and Wookie clash swords for a few minutes Izara looked to the opposite side of the ring where the rangers and masters gathered.

His gaze was drawn to a Je'daii that looked to be around his late teen years with dark brown hair, fair skin, and brown eyes. Izara realized the man was the strong force signature he'd felt earlier. His eyes widened minutely and he quickly turned his head as the man had turned to meet his own stare with an uninterested gaze.

Before he could think any more Izara heard Master Madog shout, "Skywalker! Arian! You're up!" Izara walked to one of the starting spots, took a breath to calm his nerves and centered himself as best as he could.

Looking across the sparring ring to the Kiffar boy standing across from him, Izara sent him a small smile and a bow, then moved into his opening stance. His opponent did the same, with that Master Madog yelled, "Begin!"

Izara dashed across the sparring ring, looking to gain control of the spar from the start, he began with a compact overhead swing that was blocked. Expecting this, Izara used his momentum to flip over his opponent, aiming a horizontal slash at their side. .

The Kiffar blocked and tried a jab at his sword hand that Izara side stepped. Seeing that the taller boy overextended on his swing a bit, Izara launched a flurry of strikes at the other boy's wrist and sides. His opponent began back pedaling, clearly on the defensive. However Izara was able to break the other boy's guard and flicked Arian's sword out of his hands with an upward twist of his wrist. Holding the sword to his opponent's chest, Master Madog called, "Match, Skywalker!"

Breathing lightly, he stepped away and lowered his sword. Meeting the other boy's disappointed eyes, Izara smiled and said "Good match Arian."

Arian huffed good naturedly, "Thanks but it'll be a good match when I can actually make it last longer than a minute" Before he could respond, the Kiffar turned and walked back to the sidelines.

Walking back to his spot on the sidelines, Izara thoughts were already going to his next match.

He turned at a tap on his shoulder to see a smiling Lanoree, "Good match Izara, that was quick."

"Thanks! Part of me wishes I'd let it go a little longer, I hope Arian doesn't feel too bad"

Lanoree shrugged, "Maybe but it also could just be more motivation for him to work on his skills."

"That's true," Izara responded, "Anyway, do you have anyone in particular you want to be your Master?

"No, I'm just focused on getting a Master in the first place."

"That's fair," before Izara could continue, Master Madog's voice rang out across the clearing, "Brock! Demorey! You two are up!"

Lanoree muttered heatedly, "Demorey! On today of all days?! She's barely picked up a blade outside of class!"

Izara snickered, "Have fun showing your skills in a ten second fight!"

Sending the slightly older boy a playful glare, Lanoree turned and made her way towards her starting spot.

Turning his eyes to his friend's match, Demore sent a sloppy thrust at Lanoree who quickly disarmed her opponent in one quick move. After Master Madog called the match Lanoree walked back towards his side. The rest of class passed quickly as they each sparred twice more, winning both, and bet on who'd win the other matches.

Master Madog dismissed them for the day. Talking with a few other initiates about the matches of the day as they walked back, Izara made his way back to the cafeteria, scarfed down his meal and made for the showers.

Feeling refreshed, Izara decided to walk around the temple before going to bed, knowing he was too excited and nervous about hopefully being chosen as a padawan to be able to go right to sleep.

Walking aimlessly and in his thoughts, Izara turned a corner, narrowly dodging a taller figure as he snapped to full awareness.

Noticing it was the youngish Je'daii who was watching the sparring matches earlier, Izara's eyes slightly widened. Lightly bowing, Izara apologized, "I'm sorry master! I wasn't watching where I was going!"

His brown eyes narrowed, "Yes quite clearly Initiate, try and be more aware of your surroundings."

"Of course Master, I'll just make my way back to my room." Izara responded

Nodding slightly, the young man responded, "Good night initiate."

Turning, Izara hurried back to his dorm room. Changing into his sleeping robes he fell on his bed and ran his hand through his hair, and mumbled "That definitely didn't help my chances of getting chosen with that guy."

Rolling on to his side Izara did his best to put his recent encounter with the unknown Je'daii out of his mind and eventually drifted off to sleep.

After waking and going through his morning routine, Izara walked to breakfast with Lex. Izara and the other human boy separated to get their food. Going to his usual table, Izara heard Lanoree sit down across from him.

Glancing up, he spoke "Hey Lanoree"

"Hi Izara, ready for the day?"

"Yup, very ready for this week to be over so we can get our finals done with."

Lanoree looked at her friend hard for a second, "That doesn't sound like your usual self, you're usually upbeat about finals, what's up?"

Sighing a bit he responded, "I was walking around the temple before I went to bed last night and ran right into a Ranger, he was watching our spars earlier too."

"Ohh, scared you might have messed up your chance to become his Padawan?"

"Yeah, and he's strong too! His Force signature stood out from everyone elses' there!"

Lanoree's eyebrows raised on her forehead, "Yeah? What did he look like? I wasn't trying to sense anyone then."

"He's pretty tall, shaggy brown hair, brown eyes, kinda pale, probably almost twenty"

"Doesn't really sound familiar, either way even if he doesn't pick you there are a ton of other Je'daii out there! Don't limit yourself to just one!"

Izara's spirits rose a bit, "Yeah you're right, what would I do without your guidance Master Brock."

Lanoree smacked him on the shoulder, "Keep up the sass and you'll find out Padawan!"

"Cocky," the older boy muttered around a piece of fruit.

"What was that?!" came the expected growl from across the table.

"Nothing!" Izara quickly answered. "Have you heard anything from either of the Fenn Twins?" he asked, aiming to quickly distract his female friend.

Still giving him a bit of side eye, Lanoree answered, "No, you know that if something exciting happened Jake would have holocalled us and went on and on about it the moment he was allowed to"

"That's true, I can't wait to visit the other planets in the system!"

"Me too! We need to be prepared for whatever the settled planets can throw at us once we become padawans."

"We will be Lanoree! We've trained hard and we'll each have a Master to make sure we don't get in too far over our heads. Don't worry too much"

Taking a breath before responding, Lanoree said "I'll try, I guess I'm getting ahead of myself anyway. We do need masters first anyway"

"Yup!" pausing for a moment to finish his food, Izara continued, "I'm leaving for the week-long final I told you about for my survival class today. So please don't train yourself into the ground while I'm gone, okay?"

With just a bit of pout, his gray-eyed friend responded, "Okay" quickly adding, "But only because I know any Masters won't want an exhausted looking padawan!"

"Works for me" he shrugged in response. Standing up Izara added, "If I don't see you before I go I'll see ya in a week!"

"Have fun Izara."

Je'daii Master Quang-Jang's Chambers, Anil-Kesh

Master Jang walked into his chambers to see his communicator blinking. Answering the call he saw a smaller blue version of his former apprentice swirl into view.

"Master," his apprentice bowed

"My former-padawan," Master Jang bowed in return while smiling. "It is a rare occurrence for you to call me. How is life in the field?"

Smiling slightly in return, "It has treated me well Master. I am actually at Padawan Kesh at the moment."

"Oh? And why is that?"

Grimacing slightly, "My sword was broken unfortunately, so I requested Master Madog to forge a replacement"

"I see, however I suspect that this is not the only reason you have called me?" Master Jang asked with a raised brow.

"That's correct Master," the former padawan responded slowly. "You see there is an initiate, the force is pushing me towards him"

"In what way padawan?"

Sighing a bit, "The Force is quite insistent that I take this child as my padawan"

"And yet you do not wish to do so?"

"No of course not!" the former padawan's voice raised a bit "I just turned 20! I have only been a Jedi ranger for just over 2 years!" taking a breath and calming slightly, he grumbled " Plus I don't really like kids and I would prefer to have more field experience before taking a padawan."

Smiling slightly, Master Jang responded, "That may be what you wish my former padawan, but it does not appear to be the wish of the Force. Which will you prioritize?"

"The wish of the force master."

"Then I believe that you have the answer to your dilemma, yes?"

"Yes master" adding on, "Master, the council?"

"Allow me a few days, I believe I can convince enough of my fellow Masters, particularly if this is the will of the Force."

"Very well, thank you master"

"Of course young one, I will contact you when you should bring the matter of your potential padawan to the council"

"I'll be waiting to hear from you. May the force be with you master."

"And with you as well Daegen."

Je'daii Council Chambers, Akar Kesh

"Master Jang, you have called this session please begin," said Master Telaat.

"Of course, Masters, the reason I have called for you all is I wish to discuss my former padawan taking a padawan of his own."

"You believe this to be a good idea? That he is ready?" Master Vor'Dana asked.

" Daegen tells me the Force urges for a specific child to train under him. He says he has felt this very clearly, and after meditating on the matter I have felt the Force urging me to support his decision."

"And what is the name of this child?" Master Ketu inquired.

"Izara Skywalker"

Master Ketu frowned, "That child is strong in the Ashla and Bogan, Master Jang. Your apprentice still lacks the ability to find his true center in the Force. You truly believe Ranger Lok is fit to train this child?"

"Still uncertain, Daegen's future is." Master Gral added in his backwards speech.

"That is true, it is. But I believe this child will help push my apprentice to a more desirable path than many of the council believe he is currently on. In this case the master will likely learn something from the apprentice."

"And how sure of this are you Master Jang?" asked Master Sek

"As sure as any of us one can be when dealing with the Force and the future. The Force would not have pushed him towards a padawan without good reason."

The council members looked at each other, many closing their eyes and searching the Force for answers.

"You are conflicted and have a clear personal connection on this issue Master Jang," said Master Mi. "You will need to sit out deliberations on the matter"

"Very well Masters" he bowed and left the room.

The tall stone doors closing shut behind him Master Jang sat down to meditate and wait for the council's decision.

Some time later Master Jang felt the council inviting him to return through the Force.

As the stone doors opened Master Jang made his way back to the center of the council chamber.

"Come to a decision, this council has Master Jang," began Master Gral. "Allowed to train Initiate Skywalker, Daegen will be. Under strict watch the pairing will remain. If going poorly, the relationship is, separated they will be. For 2 years the rules these are, if going well all is, no longer necessary this will be."

"I understand, thank you Master."

"If that is all, we can conclude this meeting," said Master Mi.

Everyone nodded

The Masters' holoprojections flickered out as Master Jang turned to leave the chambers and call his former padawan to inform him of the news.

Once back in his chambers Master Jang entered Daegen's holo number and waited for his holoprojection to appear.

Smiling a bit he wondered how his apprentice would take the news that the council actually accepted

1 week later, Padawan Kesh

Izara Skywalker smiled as the golden spirals of Padawan Kesh came into view over the horizon.

Smile widening slightly further, he felt the pair of force signatures that almost seemed like one sometimes, the Fenn twins are back.

Wanting to run the last stretch of the way to the academy but knowing Master Mercia would not approve, he instead poked his two friends force signatures in greeting.

Brightening as he got 2 playful pokes in return, Izara was content walking back with the rest of his class.

Walking through the gate, Izara waited to be dismissed, said goodbyes to a few classmates he was friendly with, and made his way back to his room.

Unpacking his gear and taking a quick shower he made his way to the cafeteria where he could sense Lanoree, Jake, and Rori.

Grabbing his evening meal and making his way to their normal table, Izara slid in beside his dark blonde haired friend.

Bumping shoulders, Izara said, "Hi guys, welcome back you two!"

Getting three smiles of varying intensity in return, Jake responded "Hey Skywalker, how ya been? You've been explorin Tython the last week I hear?"

Rori added on, smiling "Hi Izara, I'm glad you made it back ok from your training exercise, Tython can get rough sometimes."

Lanoree piped up, "It'd be pretty bad if you couldn't handle Tython after all the training we've done"

"True! But I made it back just fine!"

"Thankfully so." Rori added

"How long are you two going to be at the academy?" Lanoree pivoted.

"Just a few days" Rori responded, "Then I'm off to the Southern forest to help master with an assignment. Then Jakey's going to the capital to learn about politics."

"Thanks for answering for me sis." Jake dryly added.

Rori just smiled sweetly in return.

"When will you two be padawans? You both have gotta catch up."

Jake smiled as he managed to get simultaneous glares of green and gray trained on him.

"Soon enough blondey" Izara responded.

Grinning, Rori added "I can't wait until our cute little friends are padawans, Jakey"

Before the teasing could go any further Lanoree turned to Izara, 'Training after this?"

"Absolutely, in fact I'm done eating, let's go now,"

Izara stood up. Lanoree added "Right behind you!"

As the two young children walked off, through their Force bond Jake said "Their too easy"

"Yeah, but so much fun" came back across the bond

Smirking in response "Totally"

Training Fields, Padawan Kesh

"Meditation first?" Izara asked

"Yup, especially since we just ate" Lanoree responded

Both children sat down cross legged and closed their eyes

Izara sank into the force.

Feeling the Ashla.

Feeling the Bogan.

Searching for balance.

Izara let himself drift along the familiar Force currents of Tython.

Attempting to feel the harmony of the two separate energies needed to live on the planet.

Focusing on the light and the dark he focused on his breathing, suddenly Izara felt a knock on his mental shields.

Coming to full awareness, Izara opened his eyes to see Lanoree standing up.

"You're always such a deep meditator, I've been shaking you for a few minutes" his friend said.

"Yeah, sorry, it just happens"

"No worries, it's good you can do that anyway, most people our age aren't too good at meditating. Anyway, ready to spar?" she asked

"Totally" Izara stood up

Both children unsheathed their dulled practice blades and set into the Academy Sword Form.

Dashing to the mid-point between them, their swords clashed.

Falling into the first sequences of their forms the two danced around each other, testing the other for openings.

Swinging and Parrying.

Dodging and Weaving.

Neither was willing to give, until Lanoree was half a second too slow turning to block and was forced slightly down under the weight of Izara's sword.

Leaning his weight further forward Izara managed to hook the toe of his boot behind Lanoree's ankle

As Lanoree fell forward, Izara stepped back and around her guard. Managing to disarm with a well timed flick of his sword.

Lanoree looked up to see the tip of a sword pointed at her nose and Izara slightly smirking.

"I yield," she pouted

Smiling, Izara sheathed his sword and extended a hand to help his friend up.

Pulling her to her feet he said "That was a good match, our longest one yet I think"

Lanoree smiled, "Yeah that was fun, best of three?"

"Sure"

After the two extra matches which they split, Izara asked, "Ready to head back?"

"Yes, I guess that's enough for today."

After enjoying his evening meal with Lanoree and the newly returned twins, Izara decided to take another walk through the academy grounds before his nightly meditations.

He started slightly when he heard a somewhat familiar voice call "Initiate!"

Turning around Izara was surprised to see the same Je'daii he had bumped into during his last walk through the academy.

"Hello Master." he began before being interrupted.

"Initiate Skywalker, I have been looking for you for the past two days. Have you been away from the Temple?" the older Je'daii asked.

"Yes Master, on the week long final trip for survival class."

The Je'daii responded to the child "Ah yes, it has been some time since I've studied here, I'd forgotten about that."

Straightening up the Je'daii continued on, "Anyway I did not come to reminiscence"

Looking like he was trying his hardest not to frown, the older Je'daii continued, "Initiate Skywalker, since I returned here the Force has been urging me to pay attention to you. I have come to the conclusion that the Force wants me to take you on as my padawan."

Izara felt a shock go through his body, standing straight up he started to say "You're asking" before he was interrupted again.

"I'm saying I had no desire to take a padawan when I returned to the temple, but I am not one to ignore the will of the Force. I'll warn you right now, prove that you are not a fast learner or capable enough to keep up and I'll bring you right back to this academy." The older Je'daii finished speaking with a slight glare.

Izara's heart ignited and his eyes were alight with a spark of challenge in them,"I'll prove to you that I can handle myself," Izara responded with a slight glare of his own.

The older Je'daii's glare turned into a smirk, "Good Izara Skywalker, let me introduce myself, I am Je'daii Ranger Daegen Lok and am officially asking to take you on as my Padawan learner."

Izara bowed , "I would be honored to learn under you Master Lok."

"Very good. It won't be easy. I got your holonumber from Master Madog. I will be in touch in the morning with how we will start your apprenticeship."

Turning to walk away Master Lok added over his shoulder, "Go get some sleep Padawan, you're going to need it."

With that somewhat ominous warning, Izara turned to walk back to his room, though he almost floated the entire way back, not entirely sure that this wasn't a dream.

Once he returned to his dorm he blinked and a huge grin broke out across his face.

He resisted the urge to yell out his joy and then turned to his holocom and started to dial Lanoree's number before he realized what time it was.

Smiling sheepishly to himself, Izara put his holocom down and tried to meditate to calm his mind.

After finally managing to somewhat calm himself enough to where he believed that he could sleep, Izara stood up, got ready for bed, and tried his best to fall asleep.

The first thing Izara Skywalker did when he woke was to send a hollo message to Lanoree telling her everything that happened last night.

He would have rather been able to tell her in person, but he knew this was her busiest day of classes and they didn't share any so he probably wouldn't see her.

Izara spoke far quicker than he normally did in his excitement,"Lanoree! It actually happened! I'm a padawan! Je'daii Ranger Daegon Brok asked me last night! I'll tell you the rest when we get a chance to talk, I know you won't be far behind me!"

Izara ended his message and began preparing for his day with much more fervor than usual as he couldn't wait to start his padawan training!

Just as he had finished his morning routine, and was about to call the Fenns, his holocomm rang. He answered to see the light blue version of his new master appear.

"Padawan," he nodded.

"Master," he bowed.

"Meet me at the sparring arena in thirty minutes. We'll be discussing your training regimen, and how to handle your classes."

"Certainly, I'll be there soon Master."

His master winked out of existence as he ended their hollocall.

Izara finished getting dressed and left the dorms as quickly as he could.

Excited for what lay ahead, Izara made his way through the temple halls and then took off into a steady jog to the sparring arena once he was outside.

He arrived to see Master Lok and Master Madog standing at the center of the arena.

Master Madog greeted him, "Initiate Skywalker, well done on gaining yourself a master." Smile turning even more feline like, "Even though he's the most conniving, sneaky bastard you'll find."

Ignoring the glare now trained on him, Master Madog continued "Which are traits you'll need to survive as a Je'daii, you'll learn a lot under his guidance."

Izara smiled, "Thank you Master." Though he also had to admit he was curious about how the two know each other.

Coughing, Master Lok got his attention, "Padawan as you only have a week before the end of this set of classes, we will begin your training here. Afterwards we will spend most of our time on the move. You will return twice per set of classes for midterms and finals until you are at least 16, possibly longer depending on how your apprenticeship and classes are going. Understood?"

Disappointed at how little he will see of his agemates, Izara keeps a straight face and answers, "Understood, Master."

Nodding, Master Lok continued, "Master Madog is also here to help me test your skills." A scowl appeared on his master's face. "As I have no sword, you will be sparing with him while I observe."

Face smoothing out, Master Lok made to leave the arena but quickly added, "I will be testing the extent of your strength in the Force after your spar, so do try not to completely tire yourself out."

"I won't Master."

As Master Lok left the arena, Master Madog withdrew a sheath from his robes and floated it across the arena to Izara.

He opened it to find his favorite practice sword from the armory. The balance and this sword just felt better than all the others, he couldn't really explain it.

Grinning, Izara dropped into his modified Academy Sword form.

Master Madog grinned as moved into the opening stance of the Rancor Sword Style.

His opponent wasted no time, crouching and using his powerful hind legs to shoot himself right towards his head like a blaster bolt.

Throwing up a hasty block Izara found himself pushed several feet backwards.

Deciding to try his best to dodge or deflect the next flurry of blows so he wouldn't get pushed back with every block, Izara mentally thanked Lanoree for making him work on his flexibility.

Almost getting disarmed due to his inattention Izara focused his all on the spar.

Izara spent almost a minute dodging blows but finally managed to gain some breathing room, Force Jumping to the side of one of Master Madog's heavy blows.

The Cathar Master grinned at him, "Well you're certainly capable of dodging Initiate but can you go on the offense?"

In place of response Izara dashed at the larger master, attempting to use his smaller size to his advantage, he crouched and used the Force to push himself forwards.

Aiming a horizontal slash at the larger master's left knee, the cathar responded by jumping and twisting in the air. Izara ended up being thrown back as he used his sword to block the retaliatory kick aimed at his face.

Deciding to continue taking the initiative, Izara dashed back in, sending a feint high and attacking low again. Getting blocked again he moved into a series of strikes and parries. Failing to land a single hit Izara began using the Force to enhance his speed.

Izara attacked from the left with a diagonal slash but before his strike could connect his opponent grabbed his wrist, spun around and threw him backwards.

While he was flying through the air, Izara twisted to face the cathar and attempted to pull Master Madog toward him. Izara quickly realized he made a mistake when his opponent added his own speed to the Force Push.

Master Madog arrived at Izara's side right as he landed and knocked his sword out of his hand with a powerful downward swipe.

Master Madog quickly helped him, "Well fought Padawan."

Izara bowed his head slightly, "Thank you Master"

Making his way back to the arena Master Lok began, "So I believe I've got a good feel for the current level of your sword skills Padawan, let's move on to testing your Force abilities."

Nodding in return, Izara said "What do you have in mind, Master?"

"The first exercise is quite simple Padawan."

Reaching into his robes, Master Lok pulled out a smooth, circular blue orb that fit in the palm of his hand.

"You and I will stand apart with this orb in the middle of us and we will both pull. You will do your best to keep me from pulling the orb back to my hand."

Walking several paces apart Master Lok turned and asked, "Ready Padawan?"

"Yes Master."

Nodding, Master Lok floated the orb to the middle of them.

Izara used the force to grab onto the floating orb and tried to pull it to his hand.

But the orb didn't budge

Frowning, Izara closed his eyes and called on his full strength in the force.

The orb began to wobble and move slightly in his direction before stilling.

Looking up to meet Master Lok's eyes Izara felt a flicker of surprise be released into the Force.

"That's enough Padawan, that was acceptable for now."

Master Madog smiled, "Not too bad for a ten year old."

Master Lok just grunted and examined the new padawan.

"Padawan, what ways are capable of using the Force outside of the standard Force Push and Pull."

"Well, I am capable of Force Jump, Force Speed, Tapas, some simple mind tricks, and telepathic communication to people who I have a Force Bond with."

"I see, we will certainly expand your arsenal of Force abilities, Padawan, but first we will meditate and work on forming our Master-Padawan bond."

Izara nodded, "Of course Master".

Master Madog spoke, "Daegen I'll be making my way back to the armory now since I've done my part. Stay in contact my friend."

Master Lok responded, "Sure, I'll see you later."

Master Lok motioned for Izara to follow. Both Je'daii moved to the grassy area outside the arena to settle down to meditate.

Izara found his new Master's presence in the Force rather quickly seeing how close they are to each other.

Waiting for Master Lok to reach out to him, Izara lowered his mental shields.

Izara felt Master Lok tap on his conscious mind with his own.

Examining his Master's Force signature, it felt like he was looking at moonlight.

Looking a little closer, Izara noticed that Master Lok's signature was a noticeably darker shade of gray than many of the other Master's around the temple.

Before Izara started thinking more about his Master's Force signature he felt the man examining his own signature.

Izara had to resist the urge to raise his shields, as two people need to understand each other to form a Force Bond.

Feeling Master Lok attempt to connect their conscious minds, Izara allowed the connection to form. Pushing his force presence along the forming bond, Izara felt it begin to solidify.

Izara felt Master Lok's consciousness begin to pull back to his own mind and he did the same.

Opening his eyes, Izara felt a new tug in the back of his mind that represented the Force Bond with his Master.

"That should be enough for now Padawan, meet me here after morning meal tomorrow and we will continue."

His Master stood up and turned to leave

Debating whether or not to ask a question Izara decided to be bold as he felt he could, "Ah Master can I ask a question?"

Turning back towards him the man nodded

"Master I remember from classes that a Force Bond usually takes two to three mediation sessions to form but I can feel ours already, why is that?"

"Not a bad question Padawan, it usually takes that long for two average Je'daii to form a Force Bond. Since both of our connections to the Force are stronger than the average Je'daii our bond formed quicker."

Izara was somewhat surprised at the new information but quickly responded, "No Master."

His Master turned to leave, throwing a "May the Force be with you Padawan." over his shoulder

"And you as well Master."

Making his way back to the Academy, Izara decided to make his way to Jake's room to share the news of his apprenticeship.

Stopping at the door and knocking, he waited a moment before the heavy wooden door swung open with no one near it.

Izara walked in to see his friend on the floor in the living room tinkering with droid parts.

"Would your Master like you using the Force so you don't have to get up?" Izara deadpanned

"Nope but he's not here so I'm good!" Jake looked up to greet his younger friend "Hey, you feel excited, what's going on?" he asked curiously.

Izara smirked and said "Guess who just got chosen as a Padawan the other day?"

Jake jumped up, "No way!"

"Yup" Izara said, popping the p.

"Congrats Izara! You deserve it."

Jake came over to give the shorter boy a one-armed hug and a pat on the back.

Jake kept his arm around Izara's shoulders and smiled, "You know Lanoree is gonna be so jealous of you, right?"

Izara snicked, "Oh, totally! But she'll get over it, just a few months until she turns ten and someone will take her as a padawan pretty soon after I think."

"Yeah you're probably right. Where is Lanoree anyway?" Jake asked

"She's busy with her classes, end of this class set is coming up and she's stressed. Where's Rori?"

"She's down at the smiths, making sure all her gear is in good shape before her next assignment."

"Gotcha, well if you see her before me, let me tell her the news please!"

"Sure thing," Jake removed his arm from around Izara's shoulders and went to sit back down.

"Let me put up these droid parts and then we'll go to the cafeteria and I'll buy you a Wookie Pie!"

Izara cheered, "I'm in! Whenever you're ready blondy!"

Snorting in response, "Let's go short stuff."

Grinning both boys left the room in high spirits