Forceful Stoicism - (Star Wars, SI)

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50 Years before the Battle of Yavin IV.

It's not an understatement to say that fate has a silly way to put me on the spot after living twelve years as a new individual altogether. Twelve years of being a force-sensitive boy that was found and given training under the creed of the Jedi.

Dester Cormie was but a nameless Jedi Initiate, but I have to admit that I made a name for myself in regard of my calm and serene attitude. My stoicism was anomalous within the eyes and minds of so many Jedi that tried to 'crack' me with some pressure.

The truth was that, when you are given a young body from which you can then develop thanks to the help of an adult mind, you tend to go far with stuff entertaining spiritual training. It was less about having more wisdom, and more about not being a kid afflicted by sugar-rushes due to the forces.

And yes, that is, as much as it pains me to admit it, true.

Kids with the force and without proper parental guidance? There is a reason teachers were strict, but then there's something like 'too strict' so I wasn't giving them much of a pass.

I wasn't spared of being lectured a few times for 'going too fast' compared to my fellow students.

Despite the few hurdles I went through, I still ended up in quite the unflattering position. To many, being selected to a Jedi Master was good news, but the way this unfolded for me was already telling that something unusual was afoot.

First, I wasn't waiting for my Jedi Master alone in the room I had been told I would find the guy - beside me paced back and forth a fellow human Padawan.

Blonde hair kept short, fierce brown eyes, a bit of a short temper and a ruthless warrior that was second to none in our class.

If I uttered the name Komari Vosa, the people of 'now' would just assume I was referring to the snappy blonde that was a Padawan like me.

But in the world of Star Wars the name was underrated as it held a greater importance: the main antagonist of Star Wars Bounty Hunter, Komari came to be known as Dooku's second student, but also his first main failure as a Jedi for the many mistakes she made through the years.

Komari would also be the one that came close to ruin Dooku's plans- her own Master - by almost killing Jango Fett. All the while becoming a different blend of Dark Side due to an unsavory loss to a dark cult of force users.

At this point, Komari was a huffing girl that was hoping that our Master would not turn up late.

I could tell it was actually early without looking at a watch, my senses honed enough through meditation to be focused and aware of the timing. Our Master would be there punctually. And he was.

I knew from the moment he came into the same room as us that Fate (or the Force, really) had decided that it was a good day to finally hand me the first curve ball yet: Jedi Master Dooku was to be my Master too.

As he stepped into the room, Komari was the first one to react, almost gushing over the powerful jedi, an experienced duelist, and known instructor at the Temple.

"M-Master Dooku."

"Initiate Vosa and Initiate Cormie," The man greeted calmly and elegantly, yet hardly showing a smile in that somewhat 'tame' approach. "You two are to be my students from now on. Alas, I will first test you personally to check your skills. Vosa, you shall start first."

The blonde nodded, eyes glowing with delight as she unleashed her blue lightsaber right as Dooku did.

Form II was adopted by Komari and... Dooku did the same. Makashi was aggressive and elegant, for a 'defender' to rely on it meant having extremely honed senses, and Dooku was that and more. Komari struck with dedication, trying to show our Master how strong she was.

But that wasn't the only point of sparring so suddenly.

As I studied the two minutes-long spar between the two, I could tell Dooku was analyzing Komari as she brazenly struck about all over Dooku's flexible defense, barely defending herself in the process and forcing her to give up early on. She had overextended herself, and her poor strategy had led to a poor presentation.

Still, with Komari done for, it was my turn to fight our master.

Dooku kept using his Form II, but I switched to Form III, Soresu. The man raised a curious eyebrow as this was the simplest solution to an aggressive stance- a defensive one.

Still, that invited Dooku to strike first and the clash started with me strictly on the defensive.

I had trained a lot with both training sword and my lightsaber. I knew how to use it in its basic function, but I wasn't accustomed to handle it with the force the same as a Master would. In simpler terms, I wasn't going to win and that wasn't something I envisioned.

Hence why I was playing it careful by blocking and trying, just barely, to memorize Dooku's pattern. And that was proving to be nigh-impossible.

One thing many tends to ignore in combat was how most Masters were known to use the Forms more as guidelines than outright worshiping each step.

I was a rookie, and yet I had to adhere a lot to the forms so that my body and mind were accustomed to those. Even now that I felt very confident with my use of Soresu, being a believer of 'turtle mode', I knew I couldn't keep up that for long and, as I got close enough, I switched to Form II.

It was a new provocation, but one that held itself for a while.

Dooku tried to counter me like he did with Komari, but he appeared briefly puzzled as I pushed back at his attacks by mimicking his own clever solution to Makashi's lack of natural defense power - my offense would shift into defense: my aggressive attacks would be used to push away strikes coming from my sides, forcing Dooku to be a little more insistent about it.

At this point, I was a bit lost in the battle haze, and I felt myself phasing into Form I to try and conserve my energy. Despite being older, Dooku had greater stamina, and I was getting outpaced through the entire spar.

Swords were soon dancing, blue and blue, old and young, master and padawan.

It didn't take too long for the true difference in power was highlighted. I could handle switching rapidly between known form for so long and those switches weren't always effective.

To his credit, Dooku was holding back. A lot. I could feel the pressure, the 'eagerness' to increase the intensity of each strike, but he held back as he knew I wasn't a threat.

In the end, the spar ended in a rather anticlimactic manner. Dooku deactivated his sword and said a single word.

"Enough."

I paused, still tense, but I followed his example as soon as I saw him giving me a stern look. I had lost that spar, but that was fine.

"You both have incredible potential, and I look forward to help you achieve your full might. Yet, for now, I leave you to rest. We shall start training by tomorrow morning."

He came as he left, suddenly and without any fanfare.

But as I retrieved my breath and prepared to leave for the day, I was reminded that I wasn't the only Padawan Dooku had pledged to train.

"Dester!"

Komari's voice was loud enough to fully catch my attention and... I frowned over her giddy eyes.

"Let's spar!"

...

"Komari, I just went through one of the most intense spars in my whole life. I think I will skip for now."

She pouted, arms crossing by her chest. Then she smiled again.

"How about tomorrow? And you show me how quick you are with that Form III?"

I frowned some more, holding back from eye-rolling at that childish approach as I reminded myself that both Komari and I were 12 at this point.

I guess some childishness can be allowed between us.

"Fine."

The ensuing hug was truly unwarranted. And I just worried at how many 'rule-breaking' actions and reactions Komari was going to bestow to both me and Dooku in these tense years of peace.

Definitely going to regret trying to make things work here with what I have in the moment.

AN

Komari is such a forgettable element despite her relevance. That and the fact she has that whole dominatrix appearance going for her.