Chapter I
Voolvif Monn reluctantly followed suit as Master Chandur led him down one of the temple's many long halls to his class. Chandur always preferred teaching his students the art of Lightsaber forms in one of the temple's outdoor courtyards as opposed to a classroom. The freedom of the outdoors, he felt, aided the young students in understanding the freedom granted to them by the power of the Force and the presence it had in all of their lives. Turning a corner, the durasteel doors separating the inside of the temple from the outdoors slid open with a heavy clunk. And right there before him, the Shistavanen Jedi Knight saw something that seemed straight out of a nightmare.
The children of Master Chandur's class stood before him, scattered around the courtyard in conversation. Upon their teacher's command, they turned and arranged themselves into two uniform lines of ten. Monn supressed an instinctive snarl and followed the elderly Jedi to address the young students.
"Good afternoon, young Jedi." Chandur greeted them with a bow of his head.
The echoes of twenty young Jedi, all around the age of 13, sounded around the courtyard. "Good afternoon, Master Chandur."
Chandur smiled. "Be ready to take notes, young ones. We have a guest to our lesson today. I'd like you all to welcome Voolvif Monn." Monn stepped forward, forcing a slightly toothy smile to the young Jedi who greeted him respectfully. Monn turned his head slightly in order to quietly address Chandur.
"How exactly am I supposed to select a Padawan out of this group?" He asked. "Sit here and watch you teach until I see one who takes my liking?"
The old man turned to face him and laughed. "Oh my dear friend, I am not teaching these students in today's lesson."
Monn looked at him, slightly confused until a slow realisation spread across his face.
Chandur knew his former student had realised exactly what was going on but felt he should still clarify for him. "You are going to teach them." Chandur chuckled, indefinitely pleased with himself.
"I'm sorry? You expect ME to teach these younglings?" Monn barked in disbelief, his brown fur seemingly increasing his physical size, an intimidation method used instinctively by Shistavanen.
"My friend, how are you supposed to know which youngling is ready to be your Padawan if you do not get to know them yourself?"
Monn growled at the Jedi's rhetorical question.
"When the right youngling presents his or herself, you will know." Master Chandur turned back to address the assembled younglings, now talking amongst themselves. "I want you all to listen very closely to Master Monn, he is going to be teaching today's lesson." The sounds of awestruck younglings erupted from the group as the almost two-meter tall Wolf-man stepped forward, slightly more accepting of the group as Chandur's last sentence rang through his mind over and over.
"Listen very closely to Master Monn"
'Master Monn'. He had finally done it. His lips curled into a pleased smile, his long teeth protruding from his mouth.
Some time later…
Master Monn walked over to where Master Chandur had sat himself during the lesson. He had observed Monn's teachings closely. He had given a lesson on his preffered Lightsaber form, the importance of the weapon to a Jedi and even gave a short lecture about his race. As one of the only Shistavanen Jedi in the whole order, the younglings were transfixed by his tales.
"I'm proud of you, Master Jedi." Chandur smiled as Monn approached him. That word ran through Monn's head again: 'Master'.
"Have you made a decision yet?"
Monn turned to look at the group of young force sensitives. Though he hadn't been entirely sure during his lesson, he was now certain. He gestured Chandur to lend his eyes to the top left corner of the courtyard. A young human boy of about 13 years, the same age as most of the younglings in the class. Throughout the day, Monn had observed him. The way he wielded the training blade he had been given was different to the other students. He made great sweeping strikes and spins, with an elegance typically associated with users of a double-bladed Saberstaff. He was also very strong in the force, Monn had sensed this as he had entered the courtyard several hours ago with Master Chandur, though he hadn't been able to place the youngling who was emanating it.
"Ah, him." Chandur pondered Monn's decision briefly. "Choenn Takar. Found by Master Fisto on a visit to Abregado-Rae. Didn't have the best living conditions so his parents were willing to give him up to the Jedi Order to ensure his future."
"He's strong in the force." Monn muttered, not turning to face Chandur until he had finished. "You have felt it? He has the potential to be a great Jedi."
"Sounds like you're quite taken by him." Chandur chuckled. "He can be reckless, I have observed this in many a lesson. But he has a certain degree of raw elegance when wielding his weapon that cannot be matched by any other student of mine. Not since that irritable young Shistavanen boy all those years ago."
Monn gave out a soft laugh at the old man's comment. He had grown accustom to these kind of remarks by most of his fellow Jedi due to the nature he inherited from his race.
"Being strong in the force does not make him easy to teach. Do you feel you are up for the challenge?"
The new Jedi Master looked at his potential student, standing in a corner of the yard twirling a training sabre over his head and around his body in great, sweeping movements.
"I can teach him." Monn finally spoke. "He will be a great Jedi, I can feel it."
Chandur smiled and gave his former youngling a pat on the shoulder. "Then there is not a moment to lose." He slowly rose to his feet and called the other younglings over.
"That will be all today, young Jedi. You have each taken another step towards becoming true Jedi. Can we all thank Master Monn for coming down specially to teach us, too?"
Amongst the voices of the younglings, Monn heard that of his new student. As the others were leaving, he called after him.
"Choenn. Will you please wait behind?"
Slightly confused, Choenn obliged and stepped back into the courtyard. He wasn't sure he was in trouble, he had been on his best behaviour today, no pranks on his fellow students.
"Walk with me, youngling." Master Monn gestured to him. The youngling stepped into line alongside the tall Jedi.
"Am I in trouble, Master Monn?"
The wolf laughed. "No, Young one, not today. I have another lesson for you."
Choenn was confused by this. "Master? I don't understand."
They continued walking along the edge of the courtyard, through the garden. Eventually, they came to a fairly large tree. The long, arm-like branches of the tree reached out toward the Jedi Temple, each one covered with a sleeve of pink blossom. Each courtyard in the temple's grounds featured one of these trees. Each was planted to allow the Jedi to maintain a strong sense of inner peace and aid them in establishing their affinity with the living force. Even here on the busy, metropolis world of Coruscant, the trees could grow and blossom despite the bustling world of city life going on close by.
The Jedi Master stopped in front of this tree. Choenn looked down at the floor. He could see a small circle of round stones in the area in front of the tree. He looked around the immediate area some more. Wind chimes hung from the tall tree, but there was no wind. He watched as Master Monn stepped forward and sat down in the centre of the circle.
"A Jedi must maintain a constant connection with the Force. It isn't a case of controlling the power, but also letting it control you at times. Our connection with the Force is a counterbalance, we share control of one another. We must first allow ourselves to lift the smallest stones before we can shift the heaviest boulder." The newly anointed Jedi Master shut his eyes. Choenn watched intently as silence fell across the courtyard.
Suddenly, what felt like a gust of wind rushed around the two Jedi. Choenn knew better than to make assumptions, he knew that the Master sat before him was calling on the power of the Force. The youngling could feel it. It was everywhere. It gushed from the cracks in the ground and was emitted by the yard's garden. He looked ahead. The tree seemed to burn with the sheer power of the Force that was being drawn out by the Jedi Master. The ring of stones positioned around Monn began to lift higher and higher into the air. Choenn felt a sense of awe and pure majesty rush over him.
The stones began to gently lower. Once they had touched the ground, Monn opened his eyes and stood once again.
"For your lesson, I want you to do the same." Choenn was shocked. There was no way he could pull off the same feat as Master Monn had just managed to, he was only a youngling after all.
"Allow the Force to guide you. Let it control you. If you allow it to let you lift the stones, you too could lift the boulder."
"I will try my best, Master Monn." Choenn was nervous. He had never used the Force to this extent before. What if he failed? What would the Jedi Master think of him? He might never advance past being a youngling.
He sat down in the centre of the ring, just as the Jedi Master had done. Taking several deep breaths, he shut his eyes and began to concentrate.
"Let yourself become one with the ground." Monn said softly, trying to guide the young Jedi. "Let the plant life become a part of you. Allow the Living Force to guide your movements."
Choenn couldn't tell if he was shaking from his nerves, but he could feel something beneath him. It was as if the ground were trembling under a great earthquake.
Master Monn watched in awe as the stones began to lift higher and higher around the youngling. They reached the height he himself had achieved. But they kept rising, higher and higher still until they were almost level with the top of the tree. Choenn felt the power come over him even stronger, allowing it to guide his actions. Monn felt a rumbling in the floor beneath him. Turning around to face the garden, he saw it. A huge boulder, previously unseen by himself or the youngling due to the thick foliage covering it. It too was rising into the air. Higher and higher it climbed. A sound echoed out from behind the youngling. Monn listened as the wind chimes attached to the tree began to sing their song. Still there was no wind, only the Force.
Upon hearing this sound, Choenn opened his eyes to see all of his work. With one final wave of pure energy, he felt the Force shoot up above him, causing the branches of the great tree to shake and the blanket of pink blossom to fall onto the ground around the two Jedi. Once the stones and the boulder has been lowered back to their original positions, Choenn stood up to face the Jedi Master.
"I have never felt the presence of the Force as strong as now, Master Monn." Choenn was almost hysterical. Monn smiled, he was still only a young child, of course.
"The Force is very strong with you, Choenn." Monn placed a hand on the young Jedi's shoulder. "That is why I brought you here."
Choenn tilted his head to the side. He wasn't fully understanding the weight of what Monn was saying.
"I wish to take you on as my Padawan. So that I can train you in the ways of the Force myself and you can, one day, ascend to the rank of Jedi Knight." Choenn's face was covered in an expression of pure glee.
"You mean I can make my own Lightsaber and learn how to do everything you can?" He could barely control himself. Monn chuckled at the young boy's enthusiasm.
"Precisely." Monn assured him. "I see already that you are up for the challenge. I will inform the High Council of this decision."
"No need, my friend."
Monn turned to see Master Chandur strolling towards him. "I have already alerted the Council to your decision and they agree to allow you to train him."
Monn couldn't help but smile. Chandur could always tell when Monn was ready to do something before even he did. Perhaps that is why he came to the library earlier, Monn thought.
Turning to face his new Padawan learner, Monn could see he had already composed himself and calmed down. He gave bow to the young boy, who returned the gesture.
"That will be all for now, Padawan."
"Thank you, Master."
Monn watched as Choenn walked away before leaving himself with Master Chandur at his side. He sighed internally.
"So much for being solitary."