When I reached the top layer of Coruscant with my adoptive brother and Cyla, I was astonished by the sights that filled my eyes. The air I breathed was so clean that I was near confused when I breathed in. Streams of hover cars flew across the sky and the sun nearly blinded me as it reflected so much from these new cars and nice buildings. As Cyla was used to these sights obviously, she was amused about how I was so baffled by it.

Onthant constantly had to grab me by the scruff of my neck to have me keep up with them as I looked in wonder all around me. I can't imagine how stupid I looked to the people that passed us on the walkways as I was so mystified by the sights. Especially me craning my neck as I looked up at the sky. I probably looked like a total fool when I nearly fell over as I looked into the sky because I had lost my balance looking at something so big that was above me.

I had actually brought a holo-camera to capture the sights if I weren't to ever come back to the surface. I got a few photos of the sights and the sky before Onthant would haul me away moments later. He had gotten so sick of this that he just decided to carry me instead. Since I was so small, no bigger than what an eight-year-old should be, he had me sit on his shoulders as I continued to take in the view.

The green-eyed Jedi laughed slightly as she smiled at the both of us, looking so peculiar compared to the rest of the Surface layer people. I took a photo of her and then held my arms out in front of me and just above Onthant to take a photo of us both before I put my holo-camera away in my bag on my back.

"Ok, how far do I have to carry this rat until we get there?" Onthant asked as he turned to the Jedi.

"Hey! I'm not a rat!" I complained.

"Not too much farther," the Jedi assured as she smiled at Onthant. "And it's not too nice for you to call your little brother a rat."

"Yeah! I might become a Jedi, bro," I gloated.

"Call me 'bro', again, I'll break your arm," Onthant growled.

In retaliation, I pulled some of his short hair on top of his head. He let out a yelp of pain and was about to throw me to the ground when Cyla shot a death-glare. It was kinda like what Canto would look like, but her look was a little more...I don't know how to explain it.

When Canto was to warn us with a look, I'd get the feeling that I'd get a beating with a belt. With Cyla, it was more of a look that made me feel like I was going to be punished in a non-beating like the way that somehow would be the same effect of torture.

We both quieted down and Onthant slumped his shoulders as he seemed so fit on getting to beat me up again. I climbed off his shoulders and walked beside him from that point on, but he still had a grip on my arm in case I was to try to wander off again.

When I caught sight of this Jedi Temple, I didn't know what to think of it. It was huge, to be frank. It was a large rectangular building with the walls slightly inclining inwards until they plateaued at the flat roof. There were four tall cylinders, one on each corner and a larger cylinder in the center of the building. Wedges of an additional building were on each face of the large structure.

Cyla led us up to a flight of stairs. There were two tall statues overlooking us as we walked towards the Temple. The statues both had cloaks and they each had the sleeves of their cloaks come together as they each held their hands together in front of their torso. Their cloaks were similar to the one Cyla wore. I wondered if all of the Jedi wore cloaks like that.

As we reached the top of the steps, two figures in full white armor approached us as ignited their yellow swords. Their swords were different. They had two blades, one on each end. They wore a white mask over their face that was in the shape of an oval; two rectangle slits cut out of the face for the eyes. Gold markings decorated their masks and a white hood casted a shadow on their faces. They wore robes also similar to Cyla's, but they were beige and they had wider shoulders and a brown belt was tied around their waists. But, Cyla had the color of rusty brown for her robes, her cloak a dark brown as well as her boots, and her pants were beige.

Onthant was quick to push me behind him as he had a worried yet serious tone of voice, "Hey! Hey! What's the big idea?"

As she put a hand on Onthant's upper chest, almost his shoulder, Cyla assured, "It's alright. These are the Temple guards." Cyla turned to the two guards and said, "I've come with a child I believe is Force-sensitive to be tested by the Jedi High Council."

"The child may enter," the one guard spoke. The two guards turned ninety degrees so we could pass as they faced each other as they kept their lightsabers ignited. Cyla then I walked past them, but as soon as Onthant followed, the guards turned to him and put their lightsabers up. Cyla and I turned to them.

"You may not," the one guard said as they kept Onthant away.

As she let out a deep sigh, Cyla said to Onthant, "I cannot be permitted to bring in a personnel that does not belong to the Order. This is a sacred place for us Jedi."

"Then I don't want to go!" I protested. "I want him with me!"

"Jalo," Onthant began. "You'll be fine. Just stay close to Cyla."

"But-" I began to protest. It was cut short as Onthant interrupted me.

"But nothing. I'll wait outside for you."

I wanted to complain. I wanted to throw a fit. No way this strange lady I just met was about to take me to a strange place without my adoptive brother.

"Go," Onthant assured as he nodded. "You'll be fine, Blondie."

"Will you be ok with waiting out here?" Cyla asked.

"Yeah. Just take care of him."

She replied with an assuring nod.

I looked at Onthant for a moment; as if that was going to change the situation. After the moment passed, I looked to Cyla. She placed her gloved hand on my shoulder and we turned to walk into the large building.

The building was so huge, I nearly clung to Cyla as I felt I was going to get lost. The halls were large and very ornate. They didn't seem new; more like ancient and yet well kept. As it was so long ago, and there were so many things to take in, I don't really know how long I walked until a female nautolan approached us.

She was probably about fifty some years old and was little taller than Cyla. She also wore the same robes Cyla wore, but hers were all a dark brown and he had no cloak. A lightsaber dangled off the side of her belt that wrapped around his waist. Her eyes were a solid dark brown, but they seemed so kind as she looked to me and Cyla.

"My old Padawan, it is nice to see you have returned safely," she seemed to get concerned as she got a better look at Cyla. "What happened to your head?"

I looked up to the human and saw that she did have a large bruise starting to form on her head. I had not noticed it before, but now I wondered how I had not noticed how hurt she had gotten. The young, female Jedi seemed so unbothered by it; as if it was merely a small scratch and not a large bruise on her head.

"I am fine, Master Tanza Fontuca," the Jedi assured. "It was just a skirmish I got into while I retrieved my Holocron from some thief."

"Who is this child? A Youngling from another Temple?" the nautolan asked as she turned to me.

"I found him in the Underworld," Cyla told. "I believe he is Force-sensitive."

"Have you had his midi-chlorian count checked?"

"That's where we're heading to."

"What's that?" I questioned, my eyebrows knitting together.

"They are basically tiny organisms that live in our blood. They allow us to communicate with the Force. Every living thing has them; but the more you have, the stronger you are with the Force," Tanza told.

With a shiver running down my spine, I asked, "So...they live inside me?"

Nodding, Cyla assured, "Yes. They are what makes life possible. It isn't something to be grossed out about."

"If you believe the child is Force sensitive we should get him tested soon," the nautolan looked to Cyla. "I'll take you to the med bay."

I soon found myself in this weird looking room with a bunch of medical beds and crazy technology. The place wasn't nearly as bright as the rest of the Jedi Temple as it was pretty dim in there. I stared at a couple large tubes filled with clear liquid with tubes attached to it and a few lone bubbles rose to the surface here and there.

I looked away when I heard a lady talk.

"Alright, I found one," the doctor of the place said.

I was introduced to her as her name Doctor Rig Nema. She was humanoid, had green skin, gold irises in her eyes, and a gray crown around her head. I wasn't sure what species she was as I couldn't identify it. She held a little hand-sized rectangle that I didn't know how it worked.

I sat on the end of one of the beds and she approached me with the device in her hand. Tanza and Cyla stood by my side as I sat there. The doctor removed a little chip from the box that had a needle on the end. As I saw the metal of the needle glint in the light, I freaked and scrambled away on the bed and my eyes widened.

"A needle?! You didn't say anything about a needle, lady!" I yelled as I distanced myself from the doctor.

"Woah, kid! You're ok!" Cyla did her best to calm me down as I began to panic at the sight of the needle. "You're ok."

"Hey, hey, kid," Tanza soon put her hand on my shoulder. For some reason, as soon as her hand came in contact with me, I felt a little calmer. As if a blanket was placed over my shoulders. "It's alright. It's only going to prick your skin. Hardly draw much blood."

"It's still a needle!"

"I know, but it's not going to hurt you. Have you ever been bitten by an animal?"

I nodded, "A baby convor just this morning."

"And did it hurt you?" she asked.

"Not that badly…"

"This will be even less pain than that baby convor," Tanza assured. "Just don't look at it."

I nodded as I bit my lip.

"Just look at me and just talk," Cyla said. "You won't even know when she puts the needle in you."

I looked over to the female Jedi and I could feel the doctor take my arm in her hand. I couldn't even open my mouth to talk before I felt the needle go into my arm. I yelped and the doctor took the needle and put it into the box.

"Oww…" I rubbed my arm.

"See? All done," Tanza assured.

" I swear, we should just issue these midichlorian testers to every Jedi so if someone finds a Force-sensitive child off Coruscant," the doctor said. She soon went over to a desk with many screens and Tanza and Cyla followed her, and then me.

The doctor seemed wide-eyed as she looked over a data pad and turned to Cyla, "Where exactly did you find the boy?"

"The Underworld," Cyla answered.

"These readings are fairly high. His count is about 12,000," the doctor turned to Tanza. "Higher than the average 10,000 for most Jedi."

"I'll go request a meeting with the Council, see what we can do since he is older than the age we usually admit Younglings into the Order," Tanza said and looked to me. "How old are you?"

"I just turned twelve."

The nautolan looked concerned as she shared a glance with Cyla and the doctor. I didn't understand why though. How young was the average kid in this religion? Would they really trust a kid younger than me with a laser sword? You would think I was young enough; I wasn't even a teenager yet. So...why was I so old to them even though I was twelve?

"Watch over the child for now; I'll go see if the Council could make a decision on this."

The green-eyed human nodded to her before she left the room. I looked at Cyla as I knitted my eyebrows together, wondering why I could tell that she was concerned as well as that nautolan that had just left.

While the Jedi watched over me, the doctor had left as she said that she needed to eat lunch; leaving me completely in the care of Cyla. I got fairly bored and hung off a medical bed as the bottom half of me kept me on the bed while Cyla sat in a chair and seemed so content. I couldn't understand how in the universe she couldn't be bored. I wondered what was going through her mind that kept her from boredom.

As the silence in the room finally drove me to complete boredom, I spoke to the Jedi.

"Hey, how do you know that lady that brought you here with me? That nautolan?" I inquired.

"Master Fontuca? She was my Jedi Master when I was a Padawan learner," Cyla looked to me.

"So a 'Master' is like a teacher?"

"Yes, and a Padawan is the student learning to become a Jedi. The bond between a Padawan and Master is very strong and builds with time."

"Does someone assign you to your Master?"

"Mostly, yes. But, often times a Master and Padawan often meet by fate," Cyla explained. "I was assigned to my Master when I was about thirteen."

"Are you going to be my Master?

"I don't know. But, I am hoping so and so is your brother so you may be allowed to see your brother and Canto sometimes."

As I shrugged, I commented, "Well, I know why he wants you to be my Master if you'll be around."

"Why?" Cyla tilted her head in confusion.

"Because he thinks you're hot," I answered simply.

"He said that, did he?" Cyla seemed amused at this news as she smiled.

"He didn't need to. I know how he looks at all the hot babes by his eyes. And he looks at you like that alright."

Cyla laughed a little as I told her this news. I was surprised that she hadn't figured this out on her own as Onthant's affection was obvious to me. He always would try to like a big, tough, and manly man whenever he saw any girl he found attractive; but end up being nervous on his lesser great days. He had done so since I knew him.

I continued to tell her about the signs of Onthant harboring feelings for her as she seemed to enjoy everything I spilled about this subject. We talked for a good ten minutes before the Jedi called Master Tanza entered the room. He didn't seem to have even noticed any content of our conversation as he immediately stated that the Council wanted to evaluate me as soon as possible.

When I was told I would meet with this "Council" I wasn't too sure what to think of them. Based off of what the two Jedi I had met had mentioned about this Council, I guessed that they were some kind of group that decided what went on in the Jedi community. Kinda seemed stupid to me, having a group or religion telling you what you could and couldn't do with your life.

If I hadn't felt conflicted before on being a Jedi or not, this was the point where I was teetering between the two choices as the eyes of the Council studied over me as one man held a tablet in his hand and asked me what was on the screen as the screen still faced him. He was bald, probably about forty-something, had dark skin, and a scowl of skepticism on his face. His name was Master Mace Windu. The group that sat in a circle around me seemed to study me so intensely; I felt uncomfortable as I stood there in front of all of them. The room I was standing in the middle of was in the shape of a circle and was very high up compared to the surface of the planet. Sunlight from the sun poured into the room as the walls were made of windows; the view of passing traffic in the sky visible just beyond the building as the traffic interwove between other of the twelve Masters sat in a chair around the room as they all stared at me.

I wanted Onthant at this moment; for him to be by my side. I felt like a little child for wanting my big brother to hold me by his side. But, he was the only thing in the galaxy at that time that really made me feel confident, safe even. I had always been used to being a scrawny kid that anyone could push around despite my retaliation. Onthant was the only thing that stood between me and anything trying to hurt me.

"A...uh…" I struggled as I wanted to spit out the name of the item on the screen pointed away from my view. It called out its name to me...but it wasn't coming out of my mouth. I knew what it was, I just didn't know how to say it. "It's big...A ship?"

He confirmed that I was correct with a nod and changed the image.

"A bowl?" I asked, unsure of myself. As I saw the Master's eyes, I could tell I was wrong. "A cup?"

The man gave a confirming nod to signal I was right and changed the photo on the screen again. I bit my lip as I struggled to name the next image. A green man looked to me as he seemed to contemplate something. He was short, green, had pointy ears, and seemed to be well over a hundred years old. Little did I know, he was almost nine-hundred years old and his name was Master Yoda. He placed his hand on his chin as he seemed skeptical of me, but not in a bad way.

"Nervous you are, child," he spoke. "See clearly you will if you quiet your mind."

"Your thoughts...they dwell on someone," a woman spoke as she leaned forward. I later learned her name was Depa Billaba. She seemed to be very nice, I could just sense it. "Your brother, perhaps?"

"I miss him," I admitted.

"Scared to lose him you are," Yoda said.

As I shook my head in disagreement, I said, "No I'm not. I'm not a baby."

A man, whose name I learned later to be Master Tieren Nie-Tan, looked to the short green man, "He seems to be a bit old to be trained. Most Younglings start training at a much younger age."

"How old are you, child?" a togruta woman asked as she looked to me. I learned later that she was Master Shaak Ti.

"I am twelve."

The group of Masters seemed wide-eyed at this news and they began to argue amongst themselves over whether or not I should be allowed to enter the Order as I was so old. I barely remember much of the conversation as there were so many words filling the room at once.

"He is much too old to join the Order!" a male Iktotchi argued, his name was Master Saesee Tiin.

"We cannot let a child with as much connection to the Force be untrained. It is very dangerous for him and those around him," Master Billaba retaliated.

"Most training of Younglings start much younger than the age of twelve, though," Master Adi Gallia protested.

The disputed on this subject lasted a little while longer as I stood in the middle of all of it. I soon interrupted them all as I spoke over the voices.

"I'm fine with not joining," I announced. "I-I don't want to leave my brother."

As the Council quieted down, they all looked back at me. Master Windu was first to ask me a question.

"You mentioned only your brother; what about your parents?" he inquired. "Do you have any?"

I kept quiet as I didn't really want to answer that.

"What is your full name?" Master Plo Koon questioned.

As I let out a sigh through my nose, I admitted, "Jalo Hikra."

Master Shaak Ti leaned forward, asking, "Are you Razo Hikra's son? The co-leader of Black Heth?"

My ager spiked as I let out a shaky breath and clenched my fist at that name. "I don't want to talk about him. He's not my dad anymore," I growled.

"Much anger have you," Master Yoda commented. "Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. Much suffering will occur in your life if you hold so much hate within you."

Little did I know how right Master Yoda was. And how much I wish that I had listened to his advice.

"I don't care!" I snapped. "I just want to go home with my family."

"I heard that Razo had one son and one daughter; I never heard of him having a second son. Who is this brother you have referred to?" Master Shaak Ti asked.

"I was adopted, ok?" I admitted. "By Canto and Onthant Solarburn. They took me in a while ago."

The Council looked amongst themselves before Master Windu said anymore after a long pause of silence.

"You are dismissed."