A Hopeful's Independant Training

[Herabec]

Jas Torvanis was breathing heavily. For the past two and a half hours, he'd been within one of the private saber training facilities, honing his abilities against one of the new training remotes. The small spherical droid was armed only with a low powered blaster. While certainly not lethal to even a boy his age, missed deflections were certainly an unpleasant experience.

The remote moved swiftly to the left, a tell-tale sign that it was readying to attack yet again, but Jas was ready for it. As the red flash of a blaster bolt seared through the air toward the young Jedi, Jas struck out with his training saber. The collision of red and green beams flashed brightly, the blaster bolt deflecting to the right, leaving a singe in the wall.

Two more red bursts of energy emerged from the remote, the young hopeful again moving to deflect the bolts of energy. The sound of raw energy colliding with energy cracked through the air as the second bolt seared high against the ceiling. Jas however had grown weary of his hours of training, the fatigue finally taking it's tole.

The third blaster bolt collided with his chest, burning his simple robe and sending a sharp jolt of pain throughout his body. The young hopeful finally collapsed to a knee from both exhaustion and pain, having pushed himself to the limit already. Had the remote been an opponent, he'd be dead right now.

I have to improve more, most of my friends have already been chosen by Knights, he thought to himself bitterly. He fumbled with the remote's controls, deactivating the droid before it could resume it's training program before he was ready.

With a groan, Jas stood wearily. The burn in his chest, one among many burn marks across his body acquired from training, throbbed painfully. He figured he had enough training for the day, and headed to the door of the training facility, sliding the door open. He wondered where he would head now? Perhaps he would simply return to his bunk and rest..

 

[Ru the Boatswain]

A young hopeful, no older than Jas knocked loudly on the doorway. "Jas, Master Lorian wants to speak with you. You should go see him outside the Council Chambers. You know where that is, right Jas?" The young man then turned and left. He had other things to do, his job here was done.

Across the monastery Jedi Master Colm Lorian spoke with a Knight, one of his old padawans. They were discussing the late admission of children into the jedi. The discussion was going well and both jedi were coming to a conclusion that many late addition jedi needed different and sometimes more intensive training. The training that usually only masters could provide.

"Goodbye my friend, I hope to see you another time." Colm bowed to his old padawan and found his way to a bench outside of the council chambers. He sat and closed his eyes to rest a moment. Colm was still young but he was getting older, his hair was just starting to show signs of graying and he was losing that little bit of youthful energy he once had.

 

[Herabec]

Jas' curiosity was piqued by this unexpected turn of events. Had he done something wrong? Maybe it was the remote he'd accidentally damaged a few days ago when a blaster bolt managed to return to it's caster. Maybe. What other reason could there be for a hopeful to be summoned by a Master? Whatever it was, Master Lorian was not to be kept waiting.

Brushing off whatever ash he could, he immediately opened the door to look for the messenger, but the other boy was nowhere in sight. He wanted more details, but he supposed it wasn't going to happen. He had a feeling the reason for his summons would become clear very soon. If he was to be punished for damaging Monastery property, it was best to get it over with quickly.

He moved at a brisk pace, an odd mix of a slow jog and a quick walk. He always showed the utmost respect to the Masters who took time to train the hopefuls like him, after all, it was because of them that he no longer lived in the slums. Thanks to the Jedi Masters of the Monastery, he was no longer having to hide anything he found. No longer had to worry about whether or not his mother would get shot that day.

His mother...he often wondered about her. He wasn't permitted to see her any longer. The memory saddened him slightly, but he wouldn't show it. Thoughts of possession, of longing were forbidden to a Jedi.

He finally neared the entrance to the Council Chambers, an area Jas had only visited once when he was presented at the small temple. And there he was, the only person there. He was an impressive sight to behold, as impressive as any Jedi Master was to Jas' young mind. Swallowing hard, he slowed his pace drastically, becoming more of a slow, foreboding walk.

"Excuse me, Master? I was told I was to meet Master Lorian here," he said, probing the older Jedi for his response. He was almost certain that this was the man he was sent to see, but he couldn't be sure. It would be quite embarrassing if he was to mistake another person for a Jedi Master, after all.

 

[Ru the Boatswain]

The man looked at the hopeful for a moment. "Oh, yes. Jas it is good that you came now. I just finished a conversation with one of my former padawans. He was thinking of taking you as his own padawan. First he is off on other buisiness but in a few days he will be back and he can begin training you. Until that time I was hoping I could scold you for damaging training droids." He stopped to clear his throat, "Don't do it."

He smiled and laughed a little, "Alright, stop being nervous. You're a thirteen year old boy, nearly a man. We need to make sure you're up to scratch to be a padawan. How have your studies and training gone?"

 

[Herabec]

Jas' expression quickly became one of elated relief as the Master told him about his apprentice wanting to take him as a padawan. What luck! That's why he was training so hard recently! Though his look of relief became slightly more worried as he was reprimanded for the damaged remote, albeit in a joking manner.

"Sorry about that Master," he apologized meekly. Still, even a small reprimand could not destroy his mood! He suddenly felt energized again now that he knew he wouldn't be left behind. Who was his Master to be? Had Master Lorian's padawan been watching Jas for long?

"My training and studies take up most of my day, Master and I've become proficient when it comes to lightsaber defense," he said. He attempted to keep any pride out his voice as he said this as, despite the amount of burns in his robes, he truly had gotten much better at deflecting blaster fire. At least from remotes.

"In fact, I've spent the last two and a half hours today trying to hone my technique."

 

[Ru the Boatswain]

"Indeed, learning the lightsaber is quite a skill. Something that you should never hope to utilize." He stood slowly and looked down at the hopeful, he was shorter than Colm, but he'd probably end up a tall boy soon enough. "So Jas, what have the other masters taught you. You had some instruction from Master Dewbecca, correct? He usually turns out some promising padawans."

 

[Herabec]

Jas nodded slightly, agreeing with the Master outwardly. Inwardly however, he knew the kind of scum that was out there and wondered if he got the chance... He closed his eyes and tried to let go of those thoughts. The Jedi taught peace, not revenge. It was still a lesson he found difficult to grasp, but he was slowly getting better at it.

The Master's voice awoke him from his calming thoughts however, inquiring into his other lessons. "Well, yes. With about twenty other hopefuls. Most of my other lessons consist of acrobatic training, observational skills, general education.. Sadly, I've not had too much training with the Force itself though," he said, his voice betraying a slight amount of disappointment about that.

"I still have very little control over the Force. I can feel it, but I can't direct it yet."

 

[Ru the Boatswain]

"You are young, your lessons with the force will be few until you have a master. It is quite difficult to become proficient in the use of the force, that is one reason you are given a master."

 

[Herabec]

Jas nodded slightly at the Master. He knew that most hopefuls didn't have much control over the force, but it didn't change the fact that he wished he had already had some training in it's use. The mention of a master however piqued his curiosity yet again.

Who was the knight who had displayed interest in him? He hadn't noticed any Jedi watching him. "Master, what was your old padawan's name? I don't think I've seen any of the Jedi here display any interest in me or my training," he said. The young man was feeling a multitude of emotions; excitement, elation, nervousness, yet he tried to keep them all from his voice.

There is no emotion.. he thought, one of the instructor's voices speaking the code into his head. Even when they weren't perched over his shoulder, their lessons continued to drill into his skull.

 

[Ru the Boatswain]

((OOC: FYI For the sake of you being able to be more apart of the mains tory line, this takes place before the Ospion order arose.))

"It is called Mask. Mask is- as far as I'm concerned- a master of the force. It's body is frail and physically Mask is weak. Mask sees potential in your abilities. I don't know what Mask sees, she," He referred to Mask as she sometimes, Mask wasn't human. "She sees the world from an entirely different angle than we do."

 

[Herabec]

(( OOC: That works out perfectly then. ^_^ ))

IC: Mask? That's a funny name, but a master of the force? That's perfect! And to have shown potential to someone like that..I wonder if that means I could become a 'master of the force' someday too.. Jas thought as he learned about his potential master, his face clearly showing his elated thoughts.

He wasn't too concerned about hiding things at the moment, there were times to be watchful and times to be open, after all. This was one of those times. "Sees the world from a different angle, Master? Is she a Miraluka?" he asked curiously. He knew from studies that the Miraluka was a race of blind humanoids that saw through the force, but without knowing anything of Mask, he could only speculate.

Seeing things from a different angle seemed like something a Miraluka would do in his young mind.