"Try to focus on this rock." Rakine pointed to a rock. "If you can control and use the Force, then you can pick up this rock."
"That's it? Just pick it up?" Rooda chuckled and shook her head.
"But," Rakine continued, "the rock should be floating in midair."
I looked at the rock and held my left hand out to it. I closed my eyes and tried to feel the Force as it coursed through my left arm. I hear Rooda and Rakine gasping in approval and Rooda's voice.
"It's working."
I opened my eyes and saw the rock then floating three feet off the ground. Suddenly feelings of joy start to swirl as I could actually use the Force to lift the rock. But it suddenly starts to wobble in the air and fall back on the desert floor. I could hear Rakine sigh in slight disappointment.
"Learn to control your feelings. First knowing you can use the Force is thrilling, but don't let feelings of joy in your skill interfere with your connection to the Force." Rakine claps slowly in approval. "But you have done well today, Eyt. You are a fast learner."
"Thank you Rakine. But remember it was you who taught me of the Force." I nod at him.
"I suppose that's true." Rakine taps a finger on his chin. "This is similar to what the Jedi did." He muttered the words, "master" and "apprentice" under his breath.
"The Jedi?" Rooda raises an ear. "Are they Force users too?"
"Oh yes." He nodded. "They were the knights of the Republic. Very wise, very powerful, very skilled in the Force and in lightsaber combat. Until Sidious' Order took them out." Rakine lowered his head and with a sudden burst of energy, threw the rock over the edge of the cliff. Rooda and I walked to the edge as we saw the rock rolling down to Kakariko.
"What order?" Rooda asked him.
"Order 66. It was an order that carried out the mass slaughter of Jedi throughout the galaxy. Hundreds of Masters, Knights, and Padawans were left dead. Only a few have survived. Those that did went into exile, to hide from the Empire."
"Were you a Jedi?" Rooda looked at Rakine worriedly.
"I was trained. But now I'm a rebel. I'm neither a Jedi not Sith. I was trained as one in the past, nut now I walk the Grey Side. It lies in between both. I have knowledge of the Force, both the Light and Dark Side of it."
"The Dark Side?" I was curious. "Was the Dark Side what killed the Jedi?"
"Technically yes and no." He sat down in the sand, "Chancellor Palpatine, the ruler of the Republic, was a Sith Lord named Darth Sidious. A wicked wrinkled man who had control of the Army of the Republic, clone troopers, they were loyal to the Jedi. Until Sidious demanded Order 66 be carried out. The clones were made to obey every order so they turned on the Jedi. Killed almost all of them. They either hid in exile or joined a rebellion to overthrow the Empire. As you know, I joined the rebellion."
"Why are the Jedi and Sith such opposites?" I sat next to Rakine.
"The Jedi and Sith are very similar but also very different." Rakine thought for a moment, "Both are Orders of Force users and lightsaber wielders. They have a vast knowledge of the Force but the similarities end there. The Jedi are very calm, selfless people and they care for other people, whereas the Sith focus on their anger, hate, and pride. They're relentless, they're loyal to the Dark Side of the Force and care for themselves only. It so I have heard at least."
"You say you're in the middle. A Grey Side?" Rooda sat down.
"Yes. Between the Light and Dark Sides." Rakine sighed slightly.
"Should we continue the training, Rakine?" I stood up and picked up my darksaber.
"You don't have to, Eyt." He stayed sitting, starting to relax his mind again. "Just relax for now. Training will continue shortly."
I put my darksaber down and closed my eyes. I slowly lifted my hand and felt the Force around me. Rooda gasps in surprise and I hear Rakine's voice as I focus.
"Not bad."
I open my eyes and look at my darksaber, hovering in the air.
"The Force-" I'm surprised but I control my feelings. "That's me?"
Rakine nods. I opened my hand, exposing my palm, and the darksaber flies into my hand, the darksaber igniting in the air and I catch it in my hand.
"Not bad at all. Eyt, I think you're ready to come with me to Coruscant." Rakine stands up.
"Coruscant?"
"Yes, Coruscant. I lived there before the Empire. I haven't been there since. Now I mostly just travel the galaxy, trying to find other rebels to help our cause. Maybe I can teach you the full Force there."
"Can we come with you?" Rooda stands up and holds her lightspear behind her.
"Wait- "we"? I was going to bring just Eyt so he can continue his training there."
"Then, Rakine," I stood by Rooda, "I can't do it. We're warriors. We stick together. Where one goes, the other comes too. It's part of our Zan-Deer tradition. And the Warrior Code. It's all or nothing."
Rakine rubbed his head.
"Fine." Rakine sighs, "She can come. But don't interfere in anything. Eyt has a connection to the Force. I can't train you the same."
"I know," Rooda said to him in her monotonous voice.
Rakine looked to Randin Village and his ship.
"We should get to it then." He Force pulled his lightsaber to him, tucked it in his jacket pocket, and walked back to the village, motioning us to follow him as he walks to his ship and the door opens. Rooda and I follow him and the Zan-Deer watch us board his ship.
"Eyt. Rooda. Wherever are you going?" Tzano came out of his Chief Hall watching us board.
"We're going to Coruscant to continue the training. To protect Randin from invasion." I answered.
"I understand. Please be careful and return safely. I will inform everyone of your departure. And Eyt, we'll make sure to take care of your family while you're away." Tzano nods and waves a goodbye gesture with his hand. I watch Rooda wave back.
"Will we see them again?" Rooda asks Rakine.
"Of course you will," Rakine enters cockpit of ship. "Now sit down and strap yourselves in. The trip through space may be a little bumpy." Rakine flips a few switches and the engines start humming. The ship slowly lifts off the ground as Rooda and I strap ourselves to chairs. And in seconds, the ship takes off and we start to fly up through the atmosphere.
"What's wrong with your mother Eyt?" Rakine asked.
"She has a fawn to take care of on her own." I muttered quietly and Rakine slowly nodded.
As the ship left Zant, I looked back and for the first time, I caught a glimpse of my home planet. Zant was an unreal, beautiful world. The surface of the planet was divided into two large regions. The main land had composed of a mountainous tundra in the north, the dense jungle in the west, and the dusty desert in the east. A large river grew between the biomes and merged into the vast sea in the south, separating the land from the icy continent at the southern pole. It was a wondrous sight.
"Zant," I sighed, "such a beautiful world."
I turned back around and Rakine flipped a switch and in an instant, the ship went buzzing across the stars so fast, they began to look like long white lines. Rooda and I flew back in our chairs, with tight grips on the handles, just to stay seated. Soon the ship slowed back down and Rooda and I looked ahead. The ship flew to a large, round mass of towers and buildings.
"Is that Coruscant?" Rooda looks at Rakine.
"That's it," he nodded as he pushed the throttle of the ship further and the ship accelerated to Coruscant. Rakine was heading the ship to what looked like a large city.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Rakine slowed his ship, "welcome to Coruscant."
Rakine started for a large floating platform in the air and with a flip of a switch, the landing gear came out of the base of the ship and landed on the platform. Rakine got up from his seat and unstrapped me and Rooda. When the door opened, he inhaled and sighed happily.
"God, it's good to be back. Ever since Order 66, I wasn't welcome here."
Rooda and I stepped out of the ship and pressed our hoofed feet against the metallic floor, we looked at each other and knew we were in another world, and it would take some getting used to.
Rakine started walking and he motioned us to follow him.
"It's easy to get lost here so keep your eyes on me, okay?" He walked on to the floating platform.
"Are you excited Eyt?" Rooda looked my way as I looked anxiously at the city ahead.
"I don't know. What if things here are different than on Zant?"
"This is different. But I think we'll be okay." She smiles weakly and looked back at the city in front of us as we followed Rakine into the city.
Coruscant was unlike anything at home. The entire surface was covered in large buildings and everything was completely different than on Zant. Things towered over us as we walked along the platform, members of unexplained species crowded the platform and as I thought, the city bursted with life. Some creatures even began gathering where we were walking, some whispered and murmured to each other and others just stared as we walked up the large platform.
"Focus only on me, you two." Rakine didn't even have to look behind him, and Rooda and I faced straight ahead of us for what lies next.
"Where will we train?" I asked Rakine, curiously.
"That building over there," he pointed at a large pyramid shaped building, with a flat top and five pillars at the top. "That is the Jedi Temple. Ever since Order 66, it has been long abandoned."
"That's where you will train Eyt?" Rooda looked at the building, unamused by its decrepit state. "That place is a mess."
"Because it was long abandoned," Rakine looked back at Rooda, with an annoyed tone in his voice. "The Place has been deserted for years."
"Halt. You three." A voice called out to us as a bunch of men in white armor walk up to us, equipped with blasters.
"Yes, officers?" Rakine looked at the tall guards.
"You cannot enter the Jedi Temple. It is forbidden-" he stopped and his helmet looked down to the darksaber in my hand, then to Rooda's lightspear. "Blast them."
"Duck," Rakine said to us as he drew his lightsaber. The guards started shooting at us as we hid behind the ship for cover, and Rakine used his red blade to repel the blasts and hit them with it. Guards started falling and others kept shooting. He started cutting through more of the guards with his own blade. When one was left, he quickly jumped over the guard, grabbing it by the helmet, and twisting his helmet all the way around. The guard struggled to fix his helmet, and once it faced the right way, Rakine, now behind the guard, tapped his shoulder. And as he turned around, Rakine's red blade had slashed through the guard's neck and his helmeted head and body both dropped to the ground instantly.
"Whoa," said Rooda, speechless.
Rakine deactivated his lightsaber, tucked it away, and looked at us.
"You okay?"
We nodded, knowing that Rakine would help protect us against these strange white guards.
"Imperial stormtroopers. They look threatening but they make terrible shots." Rakine chuckled and motioned us to get back to his side. "Come on." He started walking to the Jedi Temple.