It's About Time (Owyn Deak's Training)

[Raif]

Owyn grinned with a competetive glint in his eye as Shingen explained the next task. Now that he had figured Force hearing out, he wanted to see what all he could do with it.

He opened up to the Force once again, thinking in his mind what a lightsaber sounds like and focusing on that sound. He was surprised, then, when that noise came to him much sooner and closer than he originally expected.

Well of course, an increase in the difficulty was to be expected; Owyn would just have to adapt to the challenge. Keeping his Force-assisted hearing as wide open as possible, Owyn nodded to his teacher.

"I'm ready when you are master. Go ahead and light that saber up."

 

[Void]

Slowly the saber came to a stop, hovering about a meter from the ground. He wanted to really test Owyn so he waited, for over 10 minutes he stood perfectly still, his saber buzzing loudly in front of him. Then without any outward indication he activated it.

 

[Raif]

The next ten minutes were agony for Owyn. He could feel the sweat popping out on his forehead as his mental exertion quickly became partially physically as well. No matter what, though, he stayed focused on picking out the sound he was looking for.

In fact, he was so intent on hearing the lightsaber activate he almost failed the entire activity. He should have known that at his skill level he would have almost no chance of hearing one lightsaber snap-hiss to life when one was already going.

What he did hear, and was in fact temporarily inundated with upon the activation of the saber, was the sounds that occurred as a result of it. He almost tuned them out at first, but the onslaught of hoots, honks and squawks made by nearby wildlife, as well as the rustle made in the foliage as the creatures fled from the noisy shaft of light in their midst, was like a ripple in a pond directing him to his prize.

Grinning slightly with pride in his success, Owyn decided to enjoy himself a bit while he was at it. With the location of the saber firmly held in his mind thanks to his Force hearing, he reached out with his mind and - thanks in large part to his recent telekinesis training - grasped the training saber by the hilt and gave it a mental yank.

The lightsaber bee-lined through the underbrush straight to Owyn's outstretched hand, where he grasped it and gave it a few flourishing swings before deactivating it and staring at it for a second.

"You know, Master, I think I am starting to get the hang of this Jedi thing after all. And I may have been a bit hasty earlier...

Owyn finally handed the training saber back, staring at it fondly as he did so.

"I don't want the lightsaber to be the focus of my Jedi training, but I have to be honest. Those things are really kriffing cool."

Owyn grinned broadly at Shingen, seeing him more as a friend for a moment than as a Master.

 

[Void]

Shingen took the training saber from Owyn and grabbed his own. "Congratulations. It looks like our training for today has been completed. I would like you to go now and find a way you could improve what you have learnt today, then come and see me when you feel that you would like to move on to something else."

He then turned and began to walk back towards the temple. "Do you have any questions you would like answering before we disperse?"

 

[Raif]

"Just one, master..."

Owyn followed Shingen back to the temple as they spoke.

"Do you think the Jedi will get involved with the war? I hear rumor around the temple that things aren't going so well for the Republic, and everyone knows about the attack on the temple at Coruscant. Will we be fighting soon, Master?

 

[Void]

Shingen spent a long time pondering the question. "The situation is not very clear, we will have to wait to see what the council has plans to do. What would you like them to?"

 

[Raif]

"I would not be so bold as to suggest I knew what course of action the Council should take, Master. However, hypothetically speaking of course, I may have an opinion on the subject one way or the other."

Owyn took a look around for a moment to gather his thoughts, then continued on with the discussion.

"There seem to be two enemies facing the Jedi right now; the Hutts, and the Bogan. Now, I do not know much about the Bogan, thankfully, but everything I have heard has made it clear they serve the Dark side. Master, I have spent a lot of my life out in nature - some of that time was not of my choosing, but some of it was. I have witnessed all sorts of acts of violence and predation, but never the sort of evil and cruelty that is associated with the Bogan. I think it is the responsibility of the Jedi to seek out and eradicate that darkness from the universe.

Owyn paused for breath before continuing on.

"As for the Hutts, well, we are the guardians of peace and justice. The Hutts seem to represent the opposite of that. I think we should aid the Republic in defeating them. Besides, with our help maybe the war can be ended more quickly and some lives can be saved."

At that, Owyn finished with his little diatribe and glanced out of the corner of his eye to see how Shingen would respond. He hoped he hadn't said anything out of turn. However, he had been at the temple for many years hearing things and forming opinions. Now was his first chance to really express himself.

 

[Void]

"And then there also all of the smaller groups on both sides you have to factor into the equation but you can take out The Silver Moon, Nuka and me made sure of that." Shingen chuckled a little and stopped walking.

"You seem very passionate about the war, there might be a place within the council for you one day. Have you had any thoughts about the route you will take after our training is complete?"

 

[Raif]

Owyn blinked in a mixture of astonishment and pride; his Master thought he could have a future on the Council!? That was incredible! Owyn was glad Shingen stopped walking, because he needed a moment to gather himself before he could continue.

"Honestly, Master, I haven't given a lot of thought to my training past this point. I was hoping you might be able to direct me onto my next path."

 

[Void]

"When I was at your level I wanted to do something completely different to what I eventually ended up doing, so it is best to keep your eyes open, but definitely look into the council." Shingen started to become very detracted but he was trying not to let it show.

 

[Raif]

"Why thank you, Master, I will certainly keep my options - including the Council - open."

Owyn noticed a slight change in Shingen's demeanor, more by his body language than by his force signature, which the older Jedi could easily hide from his student. Thinking his Master was tiring of their conversation, Owyn felt slightly abashed.

"Is everything ok, Master? I'm sorry if I'm carrying on too much, you probably want me to continue with my training at this point. I will leave you be if that is your wish."

 

[Void]

"No... no it is nothing. I will see you tomorrow. Sorry... I need to go." Shingen began to look very worried and quickly shot back to the temple leaving Owyn behind.

 

[Raif]

And like that, Shingen was gone. There was obviously something troubling the older Jedi, but Owyn lacked the skill necessary to sense what was wrong.

So, rather than worry about something beyond his control, Owyn decided to continue with his training as per his Master's orders.

Looking over at Tikk, who had just scampered up onto his shoulders, Owyn that it was a perfect day for a camping trip...

------------

The next morning, Owyn emerged from the wilderness looking pretty rough. He had spend the night out in the jungle, using his newfound Force hearing to track various animals across the country-side. Then, after several hours and well past sun-down, he used his hearing to hone in on the sound of a large family of bats and spent the night in their cave. The flying rodents were less than happy with his presence, but he tried to not be too disruptive to their lives.

Waking up on the cold stone floor of the cave he felt surprisingly refreshed, as if his time out in nature had recharged his batteries. As he came over a small rise and into sight of the Temple, he tried to spread out his awareness in the Force to locate Shingen. He would more than likely be in the training room, but after his odd departure the day before he could be anywhere.

 

[Void]

Shingen was sat in a training room, it was a much larger room than the one they had been training in and the view was incredible, the current training room had been deemed unsafe because of the shear drop out of the window.

His legs were crossed with his knees almost touching the glass of the window.

 

[Raif]

After wandering around the temple for a short period of time, Owyn caught a whiff of himself as he was crossing a courtyard and almost emptied the contents of his stomach on the stone floor. Deciding Master Shingen would tolerate a brief tardiness in order to cure what could be a health crisis, Owyn used Force speed to hurry to his room and wash up. He then hustled to their training room...

Only to find tape across the door, barring any entrance. A small sign was fixed to the tape, explaining the room was unsafe due to the training accident Shingen had mentioned the other day. Luckily, however, there were directions to the training room being used by his Master for the time being.

Hurrying on his way, Owyn found the new room with little trouble. Upon entering, his gaze was immediately drawn to the view which Shingen currently seemed to be staring at. Walking up to his master, Owyn sat next to him before speaking.

"Nice view, Master. I like what you've done with the place."

 

[Void]

His tone was very flat and sounded slightly sad. "I have not done anything here and can you not call me Master, I hate the word Master." Shingen barely acknowledged Owyn's presence.

 

[Raif]

A cold chill ran down Owyn's spine as he turned and looked over at Shingen. Something was definitely amiss with his master. The young man was temporarily nonplussed, his mouth hanging slightly agape, as he quickly tried to come up with a response.

"Uhh...OK, Mas-- I mean, sir. Is something wrong?"

 

[Void]

Shingen's gaze didn't shift, he wasn't looking at anything in particular just forwards out of the window. Inside he felt hollow inside and was sure it was probably being reflected in his voice. "Nothing you should worry about. What would you like to learn today?"

 

[Raif]

"I'd love to learn what's wrong with you."

As soon as this statement left his lips Owyn turned a brilliant shade of scarlet in embarrassment. He had most assuredly not intended to say that out loud. He stumbled over his words as he tried in vain to cover up his verbal blunder.

"Uh, I mean, uh, how about lightsaber combat?"

Owyn winced as he stared out of the corner of his eye at Shingen; he was sure the proverbial poodoo was about to hit the proverbial fan.

 

[Void]

Shingen floated to his feet and lowered his head. His voice still very quiet and hollow he began to question his padawan. "Do you had your own lightsaber and have you had any previous training?"

He snivelled slightly and turned to face him but when he looked up his bloodshot eyes looked straight through Owyn.