24 BBY (Two years before Attack of the Clones)
Ronin paced back and forth in a waiting room. He had finished the first part of his initiate trials in learning and memorizing the Jedi code. He was about to begin the latter half of his initiate trials. And he had never been more nervous. If he failed, he didn't know what he would do. The Jedi order was all he had ever known, besides a few fleeting memories of his parents. But his parents were gone. The Jedi were his family now. But what if he failed? No. Ronin knew he had to get these thoughts out of his head. Ronin sat down and crossed his legs, meditating. He focused on clearing his mind of all doubts and fears. He sat there for a few minutes, and he began to exude his brain of thoughts. He was not at complete peace but a little better than before his brief meditation. However, he heard a knock on the door before Ronin could continue.
"Initiate Darius. Your Trials are ready." said an automated voice from an intercom above.
"Well, I guess it's now or never," Ronin said. Walking through the hallway, he noticed several Jedi temple guards passing by. Once they had passed, the hallway was empty. Ronin took a second to admire the craftsmanship of the ancient halls of the temple. It was stunning. Then He arrived at the door. The door itself was massive, with two half-moon-shaped doors and a Jedi symbol at the center of the two. Ronin took a moment to compose himself, then pushed the doors open.
The Trials room was relatively larger than Ronin had been expecting. Still, he made no facial expression to show his mental intimidation at the sheer size of the room. It was large, about thirty standard units wide and fifty long."One single light was on in the center of the room. To his right, he saw a good portion of the Jedi council. Masters, Windu, Yoda, Koon, Tin, and several Jedi masters he did not recognize. However, Ronin did Recognize Jedi Knight Obi-Wan-Kenboi and Master Kit-Fisto near the end of the seats. Ronin waved with a nervous smile over to Master Fisto, who smiled in return and mouthed the words: "Good Luck, Rony." Ronin walked over to the center of the room and waited for what would come. Grand Master Yoda hobbled over to the stand and spoke.
"Mmmmm, Ready to begin the combat trials you are, Youngling Darius?" he said gruffly.
"I am master," Ronin said, standing still but shaking uncontrollably internally.
"Mmmm, then begin they shall," Yoda said as he pressed something below the stand. As Master Yoda hit a button below the frame, The rest of the room lit up as the other lights were turned on. Beneath Ronin, a large blue circle about ten feet wide illuminated the floor. Master Yoda spoke again: "Stay in the blue circle; you must, deflect the bolts, you will." Yoda said. As Master Yoda spoke, several white orbs shot out of the ground—training droids. Ronin thought to himself. As more droids came up through the floor, Ronin drew his lightsaber and held it in front of him. It was a standard single blade, and the hilt was made of pure beskar with a black grip, quite similar to the design of the late Qui-Gon-Jinn's saber. Ronin ignited the saber to reveal a gleaming blue blade identical to the color of the outlined circle on the floor.
"Begin." Master Yoda said.
The moment Master Yoda closed his mouth, the droids erupted into fire. Ronin jumped and dodged but suffered a hit on his right shoulder. And another in his left shin. Ignoring the now stinging pain of the practice bolts, Ronin deflected the incoming bolts right into the training droids. One, two, three, four down. But there were still another three. Ronin deflected the bolts of the two in front of his torso and executed a backflip, slicing the one behind him in mid-air. Ronin then quickly deflected the rest of the incoming bolts into the training droids.
Ronin stood there, nervous at how sloppy he had been waiting for what came next.
"Well done, Youngling Darius." Onto the next stage, you will go." Yoda said.
Ronin began to move towards the door opposite where he had come in, but Yoda stopped him.
"Mmmmn, not out there; the next stage is. In here it will be." Yoda said with a light chuckle.
"Oh. My apologies Master Yoda." Ronin said with a light bow.
"Need to apologize; you do not. Need to start the next stage, you do." Yoda said.
"Ready, are you?" Yoda queried.
"Yes, master."
Two temple guards walked up from behind Ronin and blindfolded him. Seeing that the blindfold was secure, the two guards walked back.
"See the targets not with your eyes, but with your mind and ears, you must," Yoda said.
"Begin."
Ronin heard six more training droids come up through hatches on the floor. He stood there waiting, waiting, and then he could hear the sound of a droid to his right powering up, and he brought his lightsaber up to parry it before it had even shot. The first droid fell to the ground with a clatter, and the remainder began firing at Ronin. Ronin blocked and deflected the bolts in a flurry of movements, then pounced forward, slicing two more droids and sending the rest of the droids against the wall with the force. Before the droids could get back up, Ronin disabled two and blocked a bolt from the third as it began to rise, then fell as the bolt hit its hull. Ronin stood there momentarily, expecting the second trial to end, but nothing happened; then, from the corner of the blue circle, he could hear a seventh droid slowly rising from the floor. Before the droid could fire, Ronin threw the lightsaber at it, slicing it in two. The lightsaber then came back to him, and he stood ready.
"Well Done, initiate Darius. Pass the combat trials you have. Onto the force trials, you go." Yoda said.
From the other side of the room, Obi-Wan leaned over to Kit Fisto.
"That's some youngling you found all those years ago."
"Yes, Ronin's become quite proficient at visualizing things without sight," Kit replied.
"He's a little unorthodox with his form, but when he focuses, he displays an ability and raw talent that I haven't seen since Anakin took the trials," Kenobi said as he stroked his chin.
Back in the center of the room, Yoda continued.
"Through that door, the final trial is," Yoda said as he pointed towards the door Ronin had tried to go through earlier.
"Thank you, master," Ronin bowed and headed for the door. Ronin felt pretty good about the second trial but still worried about what everyone thought about the first. Before Ronin could think any further, the entries in front of him opened, revealing a breathtaking garden with various plants and colorful flowers from planets across the galaxy. In the center of the park lay a pile of huge, misshapen stones the size of a tiny Bantha. Master Yoda entered through a door on the far edge of the garden.
"Beautiful, the garden is, yes?" Yoda said with a smile as he looked up at Ronin.
"Yes, it is."
"Mmmm, balance you must find here," Yoda said as he walked toward the garden's center and sat down.
"Demonstrate, I will," Yoda said as he sat down and closed his eyes. The large stones in the garden slowly rose into the air and began to orbit Yoda. Yoda opened his eyes, and the rocks fell to the ground again.
"Focus on a singular stone; lift it, you must," Yoda said.
Ronin sat down and focused on a stone to the left of Yoda. The rock shook but did not rise. Clear your mind; you must. Yoda said. Ronin tried again but to no avail.
"Again," Yoda said as he walked around the garden.
This time, Ronin was successful in lifting a stone.
"I did it! I..." Ronin stopped as the stone fell.
"Lift it, you did. Lose focus also, you did." Yoda said with a muffled laugh.
"Yes," Ronin said, a little discouraged.
"Mmmm focuses now on balancing two, yes, mmph," Yoda said as he paced around Ronin.
After ten minutes of attempts, Ronin could perfectly balance three stones, each on top of the other.
"Mmmm finish the trials you have," Yoda said.
"Thank you, master," Ronin said, bowing once more.
"Go back into the main trial room; you must go," Yoda said with a smile.
"Will do, master," Ronin said, returning the smile.
Ronin returned to the main room, where the rest of the Jedi were waiting. Master Windu stood at the stand and spoke.
"Initiate Darius, today you have shown great skill and proficiency in the ways of the Jedi. The congregation has decided to let you take part in a Padawan duel. Unfortunately, The other Jedi initiate taking the trials today has failed. As there need to be more graduated initiates to host a tournament, we have decided to alter your final test to become a Padawan. Instead of dueling Initiate Pek, You shall duel Master Kenobi's Padawan learner, Anakin Skywalker. Master Windu said without any hint of expression.
At Master Windu's words, Ronin did an internal double-take. Padawan duel? Now? Against Padawan Skywalker? Ronin thought. How was he supposed to last even a second against the fabled chosen one?
"I sense hesitation in you, Initate Darius, are up to the challenge." Master Windu asked.
Without further thought, Ronin replied immediately: "I am ready, master."
As Master Windu's words concluded, the door at the other end of the room opened, revealing a 17-year-old Anakin Skywalker. Ronin looked over and waved with a sheepish smile. Anakin waved back and returned the smile. Once Anakin had reached the inner circle, Master Windu spoke again:
"For this duel, you two will be using practice sabers."
The two Jedi temple guards took two basic-looking training sabers off a wall in the corner of the room. They exchanged the sabers for Anakin and Ronin's lightsabers.
"Ready?" Master Windu asked.
The two Jedi in the circle said nothing but merely nodded.
"Begin."
Ronin ignited his training saber and assumed the starting stance of Soresu, the defensive lightsaber form III, with his lightsaber held back with his right hand. His left extended out with two fingers pointing toward Anakin, Who assumed a more aggressive stance of Shien, lightsaber Form V.
At the other end of the room, Kit Fisto pointed at Darius and chuckled at Obi-Wan.
"He looks like you," Fisto said to Obi-Wan
"That he does," Obi-Wan said with a slight smile.
Back in the center of the room, Anakin charged over at Ronin, who desperately parried the rapid attacks coming from Anakin. Ronin tried to sneak a left strike to Anakin's left. Still, Anakin moved as if he had read Ronin's mind, blocking and redirecting his strike, throwing Ronin off balance. Ronin stepped back and stood his ground, waiting for Anakin to make the first move again. Again charged once more, Ronin rapidly switched his position, causing Anakin to stumble a bit, as Ronin slipped past Anakin, offering him no resistance. Anakin, however, was much quicker to recover than Ronin had anticipated. He whipped around and began thrusting his practice saber at Ronin. Ronin parried the thrusts, struggling to keep up and unable to make any strikes back. Anakin moved like lightning and broke through Ronin's meager defense, striking Ronin's right shoulder, which was already tender from the bolt it had sustained earlier. Ronin grimaced and stepped back from his opponent. This time, Ronin was the first to charge, which was yet another mistake on Ronin's part. Anakin easily deflected Ronin's strike in a move that Ronin did not recognize and spun his saber in a flurry of movement, causing Ronin to lose grip of his saber, and sending it flying in the air back behind Ronin. Most would have yielded at this point, but not Ronin. Ronin executed a backflip and successfully got hold of his lightsaber, only to be met with Anakin's saber below his face. Ronin looked up sheepishly to Anakin, who had something of a playful smirk on his face.
"Do you yield?"
"I Yield," Ronin said a little belatedly.
Anakin then offered his hand to Ronin, which he gladly accepted, standing next to Anakin. Now that he was beside him, Ronin realized how short he was compared to Anakin, who towered over him.
"Nice job, kid. That was quite the saber work right there." Anakin said encouragingly.
"Thanks," Ronin said, unable to form any word or expression other than awe.
"Good job, both of you." Master Windu said from the pulpit.
Both Anakin and Ronin bowed.
"Initiate Ronin; you have passed your trials and a worthy of the rank of Jedi Padawan, Padawan Darius." Master Windu said with a smile.
Ronin was shocked. He couldn't believe it. Before Ronin could stop himself, he blurted out:
"But I lost."
"Yes, but you have shown us great skill and proficiency in your other trials and your dueling ability. While you may have lost the duel, that does not mean you did not pass your trials. One of the greatest teachers of the Jedi is a failure. You have just shown that you can accept failure. That is a lesson that many Jedi elders than you have yet to learn." Master Windu said this; he gazed over at Anakin and then back to Ronin. "This is also an unusual circumstance; we rarely have an initiate duel with a trained Padawan, let alone a seasoned Padawan such as Skywalker. That Reminds me, Skywalker; you are free to go." Windu said.
"Thank you, master," Anakin said with a slight hint of sarcasm when addressing Windu. Anakin turned to Ronin and addressed him with a warm smile.
"Padawan Darius"
"Padawan Skywalker," Ronin said to Anakin with a smile.
Anakin then turned and walked off towards the exit.
"As for you, Padawan Darius, one of the congregation members here today has chosen to take you on as a Padawan learner. You will have a week of rest before we assign you to your new master. You are now free to go. And may the force be with you." Windu said with a slight incline of his head.