Chapter 9: Years of (Mild) Torment
The Initiate Trials were usually held at about 13 years of age, so by a chronological metric Beldorion was just in time to take them this year. However, considering the cosmopolitan nature of life in the Galactic Republic, accommodations had been made for the differing maturation ages of various sophonts, so in effect, faster maturing species sometimes graduated earlier, or more longevous species were allowed to remain Initiates until an equivalent age to 12-14 human years was reached. Considering a Hutt as mature by age 75, taking them as half as old as a human was considered reasonable, and he expected to take his trials at about 20-25 standard years. This was an opportunity to meet and grow alongside 10 to 12 generations of younglings, an opportunity to be relished.
After Bink and Ta'gen left the Clan, a kind of unofficial counselor role seemed to fall on Bel's lap, for all that the kids might consider him more of an older brother figure. His experience (both in visions and during the past year) made him an adept teacher's assistant, and the children felt comfortable asking him for advice. This didn't actually mean he had mastered the Academy courses, of course, but only that he had a knack for skillfully explaining those he did understand. Lightsaber fighting hardly ever featured on his visions, so that was one subject he had to work hard for, and the fact he wanted to completely devour everything he was taught meant he had an uphill battle mastering any one subject, when factoring in his extracurricular studies.
Most other younglings, with less of an overachiever streak, tended to focus on a smaller set of subjects, while achieving an acceptable level knowledge in other, unrelated areas, but Bel did his best to convince them of picking one extra subject to improve not directly related to their best ones. It was a difficult process, but next year did see the one youngling from their Clan that took the Trials being taken as a Padawan. He had an impressive showing on lightsaber skills (which he hadn't focused on before) as well as telekinesis and, like Bink, Telepathy. To compensate for the fact his healing lessons got rejected by said youngling, Bel was hard at work trying to entice Icia and Bolb into practicing it. The fact that it helped him refine his own skill played little part on his efforts, but then again, it did play a part.
Bel's own training in Force powers soon included healing his own hurts, once he could consistently heal his friends, and enhancing his body, like Ta'gen had been fond of doing. Telepathy was a convenient power, but he took to it with little enthusiasm, preferring to train on its basics and research more obscure techniques like Phasing and Fold Space. Not that he had any success yet, the amount of Jedi practicing them being in the single digits, but there was information enough that he was confident he'd achive at least a minimum proficiency in them sometime before becoming a Padawan, Force willing. In regards to lightsabers, he had begun experimenting with dual wielding, reasoning that a speed focused style could only benefit from an extra saber complemented by frequent tail strikes. Jar'Kai was thus added to his lightsaber practice, progressing slowly as he could only train it after he trained the traditional forms demanded of him.
What Beldorion realized after the second Trials he attended was that his initial estimate on his graduation age might end up wildly wrong. Being Jedi, his teachers paid attention to his progress and could very well decide to graduate him earlier than expected, and they were unlikely to believe he suddenly stopped learning at his previous pace. In the end, he chose to trust the Force, and continue dedicating himself as he had been. Fortunately, his teachers seemed to both appreciate his help in assisting the younglings, while letting him develop as his pace, so his graduation wasn't hastened. Letting him mature and develop might not have been that necessary considering his circumstances, but it was a gesture they decided to make, and he appreciated it.
Faster than he expected, two years had passed, and little Irsen was no longer the rookie of the clan, having been joined by two new younglings. One came straight from the nurseries, a tiny Human girl called Reca, and a rare Corellian recruit, Naltek Hass, a male Human whose parents (not Corellian natives themselves) had decided against enrolling him in the Green Jedi. Irsen developed apace, having refined his control with rare losses of focus, most objects moving only when he directed them, and achieving progress in meditation, succeeding more often than he failed. He was still too small to do much dueling, but he did look adorable attempting it, so that was nice. Long sessions were spent going over lightsaber katas with him, as he was determined to become a legendary duelist.
Considering next years Trials, they again had only one candidate, Fari Kalleng, a quiet Kage female whose folks had migrated to the Core worlds two generations ago. She had a solid foundation in lightsaber combat, was well versed in Form I, and dabbled in Form VI, with an aptitude for unexpected, subtle Mind Tricks and Force Pushes. Being somewhat of a introvert, she didn't have a close relationship with Beldorion, but they got along well nonetheless. Seeing how she'd likely graduate in a few months, it meant little except Bel wished they had been closer. She looked like an interesting fellow sister, but the impending Trials would soon see them parting, with their next meeting far into an uncertain future. They still found themselves as partners in the library, on those rare free afternoons in which they both went for an extra study session.
When Fari became a Padawan next year, as expected, a happy mood took over the Clan for a few days. Said mood was brutally cut short soon, as Fosterer March informed them Ta'gen had died in a confrontation with pirates in the Rim. Death had touched Beldorion's new family for the first time, and a cold wind blew through the Clan that day. Bel could almost swear the echo of laughter came with it.
Author's note:
To the Hutt, it is said years can pass in the blink of an eye. It's also a established fact of fiction that longevous characters must deal with loss many times more than their short lived fellows. Thanks to Lil Fern for help formatting this chapter