7 Chapter 7: Initiate Training 2

First off, sorry for not posting in a while.

Summer's in China are too hot and humid for me to be comfortable doing much of anything, and, while I have time off from school, so does my son.

Back to work now, so updates will be slow, but I'm not letting this drop.

Though I am still uncertain of where to take the story once the current arc is over.

I was lazily floating around one datapad with the Force while I read another on a day-off. A year here was close enough to Earth, though three days longer, but with 7 weeks of 5 in a month, different enough that it was strange still. Additionally, there where three weeks of festivals at were spread out around the calendar, with the Initiate tournament taking place during the Festival of Life.

Today however, was one of three special one-day holidays celebrated by the Republic, which meant no training; though I had noticed that the archives were still full of Jedi who decided to spend their time learning on a holiday. Not that I was any different, mind you.

"Hey, you're Cameron Shan, right?"

I turned from where I was moving around a spare datapad in the air and saw a girl looking at me. Her blue eyes met mine and I noticed she wore her black hair to her shoulders in two ponytails. I thought she was cute for a moment before banishing the thought as I still felt 28, not 8, at times.

I knew she was in Dragon Clan, one of the Initiate clans but I hadn't spoken to anyone in that clan in the 3 months I'd been in the Temple. I'd spent most of my time alternating between following the Heliost and Katarn clans around. That had been the idea of Masters Giiett and Yoda who noted my love to try to hide myself in the Force matched the way I spent the first two months buried in datapads learning everything I could to further my skills.

"Yeah, that's me." I replied, bringing the datapad down to rest next to the datapad I was reading from.

"Hi. I'm Serra Keto." She said with a small smile.

"Hi." I replied, raising a single eyebrow at her in curiosity at why she was speaking to me now.

"So, scuttlebutt is that you're taking part in the Twelve-and-Under Tournament," Serra stated, the corner of her mouth twisting into a small smirk.

"Maybe," I replied, easily seeing the girl's plan before it even began. "What's it to you?"

"Well, I was thinking that I could help you prepare for it." She said, surprising me as I'd expected her to make some kind of challenge or threat about beating me.

I looked at her face, trying to see if there was something else behind her thinking. "What do you get out of it?" I asked, since nothing in her body language indicated anything but a genuine desire to help.

"Nothing really I mean, I'm well beyond you with a lightsaber – I've started learning Jar'Kai – and I'm sure you're not comfortable with using the Force, and I doubt you now much about the History of our Order…"

She stopped when I placed a finger to her lips, making her cheeks to redden a fraction. "Again, what do you get out of it?"

I removed my finger and watched as she gulped a few times and closed her eyes. I mentally smiled at managing to off-balance her so easily. Trying to supress emotions was a dangerous ploy.

She opened her mouth to say something, only to close it without making a sound and I watched as her shoulders slumped fractionally.

"Truthfully, I just want to talk with you." She finally said. "I mean, I'm curious about what you know of your family and how you're dealing with it around here." She paused and looked around as though expecting someone to come out of the woodwork and grab her. "I, I sometimes hear things about what people say about my family."

I frowned a little. "Forgive me, but your family is who?"

"Oh, right." Her expression changed, and the small smirk reappeared. "My granddad is the current king of the Empress Teta system."

"So that makes you a princess?" I asked with a small smirk of my own.

"No." Her smirk fell, as did her shoulders. "I was given to the Order when I was a babe and was removed from the line of succession." She smiled a little as she rubbed her arm, "I may have, uh, looked up my personal files in the archives."

"Aren't those restricted?" I asked. Honestly, I didn't know if they were, but given to the Jedi's stance on attachments, there was no way they would leave data unencrypted about where a baby had come from for the child to find later on in life.

"Maybe." The smirk returned. OK, I was starting to like this girl. She was a Jedi yes, but there were signs of a confidence and drive to learn that I liked. Though, if all the lectures about the perils of the Dark Side were true, that same drive to learn could lead her down a darker road later in life.

"So all you want is someone to talk to about coming from a famous family?" I asked, keeping my face as calm as possible. "Not scouting out the opposition?"

"Well, yeah there is that." She replied honestly, the smirk turning into a small smile. "But mainly it's just to talk with you." She stopped and looked around slowly, before leaning closer and whispering. "I've heard a few of the other Initiates making comments about you becoming one of us at such a late stage. About how the Council is showing favouritism based on your name."

I shrugged. I mean, I heard those comments from time to time in passing but I understood the sentiment and truthfully wasn't all that bothered about it. Doing well in the tournament would silence a lot of that. "They might have, but what else could they do? Throw an 8-year-old out on the streets? How would that look to the public?"

She frowned, and I supressed the urge to shake my head. The Jedi were clearly not even bothering to teach their Initiates about the outside world.

"You think everyone loves the Jedi? That they see you coming and greet you with warm smiles and open arms? I doubt it." I stated, having done a lot of reading on the Order and its interactions with the Republic in the last thousand years. "We should be thankful that most no longer care about the wars with the Sith. To many I'm sure its just two sides of the same credit arguing over who's interpretation is right."

"But the Sith are evil. They maimed, tortures and killed for fun as they gave into their emotions." Serra countered with more passion than I had come to expect from my fellow Initiates. Again, not something the Jedi preached but something I was very happy to see since the members of Heliost and Katarn clans were very solemn; if not a little robotic at times.

"Maybe, but how many regular people in the galaxy truly understand the difference? One in a million? Less? That means that to most the Jedi and Sith are the same thing. We all use the Force for seemingly magical powers, we use lightsabers and are capable of feats beyond that of normal beings." I countered slowly, finally getting the chance to let the theories I'd had for years come out. Theories that were backed up by being here and reading about how the Jedi were seen by the Republic at large. "We preach about the Force in a way that makes it sound like a religion to many. The Jedi take children from their families to, and this is the opinion of some, indoctrinate them in the Jedi ways. While the Sith pick out those with anger in their hearts and use the lure of the Force to turn them to their ways. Again, indoctrination."

I stopped there to give her time to think things through. How she saw this was important to me as I did not want to spend my time around those who blindly followed the words of the Jedi Code and the Council without thinking for themselves.

Yes, I was beginning to regret joining the Jedi and was considering how to get out of this. The long way was to become a Jedi Knight and simply begin to wander the galaxy. That left me stuck here until I was in my twenties and left the chance I missed the events of Episode 1; which hadn't happened as I'd set up a datalink to monitor political events, waiting on Padme becoming queen. And yes, I was curious if she'd look like Natalie Portman who I admit I had a crush on when I was a teen.

The other option was to find a way to be kicked out of the Jedi, or not taken as a Padawan; but that ran the risk of me being dumped somewhere in the galaxy as a child with nothing to my name, not even a lightsaber; which I still did not have. I was stuck using a training saber and I was getting annoyed – though I tried to hide it – at not being allowed to make my own.

"But that's…" Serra began before stopping. "Worrying." She finally finished after nearly a minute of silence. Her smile and confidence were gone, and she was now fidgeting a little, her hand rubbing her forearm in a repeating pattern.

"Yes, it is. But no-one here really seems to care. Even Master Giiett said not to worry about it and trust in the Force." I said slowly, trying to hide my annoyance at this lack of concern about public perception. I was all but certain that the Sith had been altering news feeds to slowly turn opinion against the Jedi over the centuries; just as many companies and governments had done in my old life.

"But if people don't trust us how can we protect them?" She asked, and I felt my face twist in a frown.

"Do they want or need us to protect them?"

"Yes."

"From what? The Sith are gone." OK, I knew that wasn't true but no-one else did. "Are you saying that the Jedi are needed because the average person/being is too incompetent to look after themselves?"

She shook her head." No. But there are times that a Jedi is able to solve a problem that a normal being couldn't. We are here to help the Republic serve the people." Her voice was slowly rising as she spoke as her emotions came through. "We are here to serve the people of the Republic to the best of our abilities and protect them from threats."

"What threats though? The Sith are gone. The Republic spans over half the galaxy, and no other power could truly challenge them. So are the threats internal and not external? If so, who or what are the threats? The average person? No." I shook my head and looked at her carefully as she listened to me rant/explain. "The greatest threat to democracy is the people and organizations at the top. Those who seek to subvert the will of the people to suit their own selfish whims and desires."

"So you're saying that the Senate and business leaders are the enemy?" she asked, confusion reigning over her face.

I shook my head again and sighed. "Not all of them no. But something my grandfather said once was that you should never trust anyone who actively seeks out power."

"Um, wasn't he a former Chancellor of the Old Republic?"

I chuckled at the question. "Yes, he was. But I think he regretted a lot about his time in charge." I paused and thought about the few times we'd talked about politics and every time he had gotten this look like he wanted to go back and change something, though I never knew what and the records of what happened before the Ruusan Reformations were sketchy; especially as the Sith had sacked Coruscant twice between when I'd left and now.

"Honestly, I think most people are good but all it takes for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing." I added, using one of my favoured quotes from before. "It is a being's own mind, not those around him, that lures them to the dark side." I liked that quote I'd found in an older text a few weeks ago in the archive.

Serra, who had sat during the last minute of our talk, rubbed her forearm again as her eyes looked past me, clearly thinking through what I had said.

"Those that seek power are doomed to be corrupted by it." She said slowly, as if remembering something she had heard once but was only just understanding. "I get it now." She smiled, and I again thought she looked cute. "Everyone is a threat if they submit to the call of darkness inside them."

I gave her a smile back and nodded. "Yes. I once heard an old saying that sums things up nicely. It goes; inside each of us there are two wolves. One is evil; jealousy, anger, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, ego. The other is good; joy, peace, kindness, truth, love. The wolf that wins is the one that we feed the most."

"An interesting story, that is. One that holds true just for others not, but as well the Jedi."

I nearly jumped at the voice that came from behind me and spun to see Yoda floating there in his chair beside a snake-like Jedi Council member and Mace Windu.

"Master Yoda, you, um, surprised me." I said and noted that all three Jedi Masters smiled at my statement.

"Yes. Easy to that I did, it is." He said slowly, his eyes shifting to Serra. "To the raised voice of initiate Keto, I found myself drawn. Impressed with how you explained the role of the Jedi to her, am I."

"Indeed. The fable you told is not one I have heard before, but it is a wonderful lesson on the dangers of how easy any being, Jedi or not, can fall into darkness." The snakelike Jedi stated as I searched my mind for his name, coming up empty as he was never named in the movies or cartoons and most of my dealings with the Council had been through Master Giiett. "And while we do appear to not be concerned about the public perception of our Order, rest assured that we have noticed the gradual change that has happened over the last few centuries."

"Master Rancisis is correct." Windu added, giving me a name for the snakelike Jedi Master. "However, this is not a matter that should concern Initiates." He stated, and while I nodded, I had no plan to go along with his warning, and I hoped that Serra didn't either.

"Yes Master." She said without any hint of which way her emotions were taking her.

"Good, good. Leave you to your studies, will we. The opinions of others to the council, you leave should." Yoda stated as he and the other two members of the Council floated away.

"That fable you told, do you believe it?" Serra asked once she was seemingly sure the masters were gone, and we were alone again.

I turned to see her face was now closer to mine and her eyes were focused on me. "I think so."

"But one of the things you mentioned for the good wolf was love," She stated quietly as she shifted a fraction closer. "Do you mean to say that emotions are not a bad thing for a Jedi?"

I smiled. The girl was more curious about things than most and I figured she was going to be a handful for her master later in life. "Well things like anger, jealousy and arrogance are definitely bad, but I fail to see why things like love, hope and compassion are against the code."

She nodded along and smiled, though for the first time it wasn't a prideful smirk, but one I felt that was genuinely happy with what she was hearing. "I know, like why should we reject connections with people if they make us stronger."

"Well, I imagine it's something to do with becoming too attached or dependent on someone, that you'd say or do anything to protect them."

"But isn't that just a sign of love?"

I chuckled a little at the naivety of the girl. Then again, she was only 8, like I was meant to be. She didn't have a few decades of extra knowledge, understanding and feelings to draw on. "It's possessive. I think any kind of relationship should be equal. One where both people are partners in all things. If one person begins to dominate, or exert a will to break their own rules, while claiming its to protect/help their partner, they are straying from the truth of what they feel into what they want."

She nodded along, pretending to understand, but I knew she didn't. She was just far too young to have any real clue. Still, if she was willing to listen honestly and openly to my opinion on the Jedi Code, I wasn't going to stop talking.

"So, um, are you free now?" She asked after a few minutes of comfortable silence as I watched her seemingly contemplate what I had said.

I nodded, and she gave me a big smile. "Come on then."

…

I blocked Serra's blade with my own, only to have to pivot to avoid her off-hand saber. A quick blast of TK sent me backwards across the duelling ring, giving me some separation from the girl.

"You're seriously telling me you've only been learning the lightsaber for a few months?" She asked from across the ring and I nodded. "Damm. Even I didn't pick up the basics of Shii-Cho that fast, and I'm brilliant with a lightsaber." She commented with the smirk that I now knew, after three hours of training – just trying to avoid her attacks in truth – that she was very sure of herself. Though given that I'd failed to land a single mark on her, while I'd stopped counting how many times I'd been hit, though the fact I'd gained a new Skill – Damage Reduction: Energy – and it had levelled up three times told me that it was a lot as a training saber, or one set to a low power level, only did about 15HP of damage told me it was a lot.

"Maybe, but I still haven't managed to hit you yet." I responded, making her smirk grow bigger. "I will one day."

"Keep telling yourself that." She replied as she powered down her twin blades and walked out of the ring.

I followed her and caught the canister of water she tossed my way.

"How are you not sweating?" She asked as I drew closer and I shrugged.

"Never really have." Well, it was actually Player's Body, but I couldn't exactly say I didn't sweat, cut or mark because I was granted powers by extra-dimensional beings for winning an afterlife lottery. That would get me a one-way ticket to the funny farm; or whatever passed for one here. "Just a fluke of evolution I guess." That was my public excuse and I was sticking to it, even if I suspected that a few of the Masters were getting curious about me; beyond arriving from 4000 years in the past.

"Force, you're lucky. Needing to shower is the only downside of lightsaber training. I smell awful." She muttered and I leaned over and took a long, deep inhale of her hair. "What?" She blurted out as I pulled back.

"I think you smell fine." I said, curious if the comment would have any effect on an 8-year-old Jedi girl. It did and I saw her cheeks redden further than just from exhaustion.

"What?" She repeated, and I chuckled as I took a long mouthful of water. While it granted no HP bonus, water was a great way to restore my STAM; a full canister seemed to restore about half of my current STAM and I was curious if this was a set value or a percentage. Once I levelled up and increased my STAM I would find out.

Actually, the lack of clarity on how I levelled up my skills, or how fast that happened was annoying. I was fairly certain that I learnt more when being trained than when spending time by myself self-learning, but there were no hints or indicators as to how much a skill improved during supervised or self-training.

"Serra!" We both turned at the voice and I saw a group of 4 other females approaching. Well two human girls and two aliens; 1 a Twi'lek and the other an Ithorian. "Where have you been?" The Twi'lek asked as they approached. "We've been looking for you for ages."

"Sorry, Aayla. I guess I just lost track of time," Serra said as she moved closer to the other girls.

"Yes, I can see that." The blue-skinned alien commented, her eyes looking me over.

"Ah right. Cameron this is Aayla, Sia-Lan, Jyl and Vhiblul." I nodded and smiled at the girls.

"A pleasure." I said with a smile, taking not of the four newcomers.

"We know who you are," stated one of the human girls with wavy brown hair and blue eyes, a slight sneer on her face as her eyes examined me slowly. "I expected something better."

'Well screw you.' I though as Serra's eyes narrowed.

"Sia! What was that for? You're the one who dared me to talk with him." My brow rose at that little nugget, but ignored it as the girl, Sia-Lan, shrugged.

"I didn't think you'd do it. He's like a lost Kath hound, wandering around here like he belongs. He doesn't." she stated, and I felt the growing urge to punch her. "See? You can feel him giving into his baser instincts. Losing control of his emotions."

"PM," I whispered out and let the neutralising feeling of Player's Mind – which I had shortened to PM – settle over my mind. "Yet I don't." I stated calmly. "Unlike you, I do not judge someone by the cover." I turned and nodded at Serra. "Thanks for the spar but I suddenly feel the urge to stand behind an active hyperdrive engine."

I walked away, ignoring the faint chuckles of the other girls, and moved to head back to my quarters.

DUCK AND ROLL!…

I took the warning and ducked and rolled as I felt a blast of air fly past my body and turned to see Sia-Lan had her hand extended in my direction and I responded with over a decade of military training, mixed with a few months of Force experience, and a flung a Blast at her.

I was surprised when the blast hit her, sending her flying backwards a good 20 metres before she hit the wall.

"Holy shit," I muttered as I looked at my hand in surprise.

"What is going on here?!" My head, along with the girls, snapped to see three males approached. I didn't recognize the lead human, nor the Twi'lek, but the second Human, walking purposefully behind the other two sent alarm bells ringing in my head. Count Dooku was heading straight for me!

I instantly calmed down and was glad I'd already engaged Player's Mind as the three adults approached.

"This moron just attacked me for no reason!" Sia-Lan blurted out and I glared at her.

"I did attack you, but only after you tried to hit me in the back with a Force Push." I countered. "Why else would I feel the Force tell me to move."

"Is this true?" the lead human, who I now recognised as the Temple's Battlemaster – lead combat instructor – Cin Drallig, asked the other girls.

None of them, not even Serra, said anything, though at least the girl I'd spent the last three hours sparring with had the decency to not even try to meet my gaze. I was angry with her for a moment, until Player's Mind took that away, then realised that she'd grown up with Sia-Lan and the others, and so was unlikely to turn on them. Though the fact none of them were willing to tell the truth was a worrying sign if the Jedi were meant to be protectors of it.

"I sense the boy is telling the truth." Dooku said slowly, in that calm, controlled voice that still sent a shiver down my spine. "The girl's emotions are clear to sense while his are remarkably calm for someone so young." His gaze met mine and I felt the need to meet it. After a moment his lip twitched, and he turned back to Master Drallig. "Though this is your arena, and you have the final say."

Master Drallig looked calmly from Sia-Lan to me a few times before he spoke. "Regardless of who started this, both shall be punished." He paused to rub his chin. "I believe Master Tiin has requested help with maintenance of one of the disused hanger bays." While his face was calm, his tone held a more than subtle hint of disappointment at both me and Sia-Lan for our actions.

I felt a momentary annoyance at being punished for the girl's attack, but let it go as it wasn't worth arguing with 3 Jedi Masters over. Not unless I wanted to make my punishment worse.

"Yes master." Sia-Lan mumbled out as she stood, though her eyes were anything but humble as she glared at me for a moment before stalking away.

The others followed, though Serra mouthed 'sorry' to me before she did, which brought the faintest of smiles to my lips.

"This is the child of Shan? The one that you wished for us to meet?" the Twi'lek said and I turned to see that Master Drallig was looking at me with a very slight smile as he nodded at the question.

"Yes. As I said, he has mastered the basics of Shii-Cho was remarkable speed. If he can keep it up, I suspect he will be ready for the basics of Makashi within another month or two."

I watched silently as the Twi'lek and Dooku examined me with their eyes, figuring silence was the safest course of action for now.

"Perhaps this is a sign that lightsaber forms should be restricted to older students." Dooku said slowly.

"No. I've seen students older than him struggle to get the basics of certain forms down. That is not it." Drallig said as he past me a training saber. "Are you willing to see how he performs?"

Dooku shared a look with the Twi'lek before stepping into the duelling circle. "Come boy." He said as he lit his lightsaber.

As I stepped into the circle, I blinked at an unexpected pop-up.

NOTICE:You are receiving one-on-one training with a true Makashi Master.25% increase in Makashi XP gains while training with the master.…

I waved away the notice as I lit my own saber and moved to mirror his stance.

"No. Your feet should be pointing towards me in a straight line. Raise your blade vertically, making the tip rest just above your forehead." Dooku stated and I moved quickly to comply.

…

Three hours later, split in half between Dooku and the Twi'lek whom I learnt was named Bondara and was a master of Soresu for receiving one-on-one training, I walked back to my quarters with a smile.

I had levelled both forms twice and now had the basics to practice before the tournament. Though I was unsure if I would spend the time needed to get them up or stay with Shii-Cho.

Dooku was a stiff teacher. Strict and demanding like any drill sergeant but I had felt more at home with him teaching me than Bondara, who was more nurturing and patient. I guess that was a result of almost a decade of military training.

As I walked back into my quarters, I pulled out my datapad and noticed that I'd received a message.

Curious about it, I closed the doors and opened it; making a small hologram of Serra appear from it.

"Hey. Um, look I just wanted to say sorry for Sia-Lan earlier. She's not happy about the apparent special treatment you're getting from the Council.

"But she's a good person at heart. She's just wound tight about the tournament as she's competed twice before but never done well."

The hologram stopped talking and I watched as she rubbed her arm just above the elbow.

"I, um, I liked duelling with you and was wondering if you'd like to do so again tomorrow, if you want to. Or we can just talk about things, like earlier. Anyway, got to go. Bye."

I smiled a little as the hologram faded. While today had started slowly, I'd seemingly made my first friend, learnt the very basics of the next two lightsaber forms and met Count Dooku, who, while stiff didn't seem a bad guy. Hell, it might even be possible to prevent his fall to the Dark Side, though how I'd do that was up in the air.

Quest Alert!Changing Fate [Dooku]Can you change the fate of the Jedi known as Count Dooku?Rating: AObjective:Prevent the fall of Count Dooku and the rise of Darth Tyrannus.Bonus: ?Rewards:5000EXPPenalties:Dooku falls faster.Possible death at the hands of Darth Tyrannus.Accept?Yes/No…

"Yes." I quickly said, figuring that it was worth the risk. If Dooku never fell, then Palpatine would need a new stooge. The problem was, from what I learnt so far, the resentment felt but the Mid and Outer Rim to the Core Worlds was genuine. Fixing that was probably well beyond me for now, but once I either became a Padawan – or left the Order as I was beginning to chafe a little under their strictness – I would spend some time trying to work out how to fix the Republic; though I was well aware that the odds on ever succeeding there were slim to none. And slim was about to leave the building.

Still, I liked the character of Dooku – more so than the brat that became Vader – so if I had the chance to save him from himself, I would try.

…

Currently my possible masters for Cameron are Giiett, Rancisis, Dooku, Bondara and Fae.

But I am not set on anyone yet [even if I have a preference]