Chapter 13: 13. Chapter

We talked through the events of the duel for quite a long time. She was interested in the shield technique I used, and also wanted to try out the saber throwing, telling me that it must be epic. I told her, that it is indeed spectacular, but also warned her to not get ahead of herself since it is a very hard to do skill. I mean, not that hard to do in general, but definitely overcomplicated in actual battle situations. It could give you an edge to surprise your enemy, but the effort to learn it isn't really worth the time, especially if you have other more basic things to learn. She gave me the stink eye, immediately, asking me how is it that I learned it then. I obviously told her, with my nose lifted high in the air, that I learned it because I had already mastered the basics. Which she had to agree to, even if somewhat reluctantly, our duel was still fresh in her mind, the way I countered every slight change in her attack form with my own.

I was getting a little sleepy since we were in bed and there was a peaceful silence around us, but I didn't really want to sleep, so I forced my brain to work out a legitimate question. 

- So what do you do around this time, usually? 

She turned to me with a thoughtful expression. 

- When I am not practicing with master or with some of the other padawans, I used to meditate in the room of the thousands fountains, or in my personal room. Sometimes I go to visit the teaching centrum in the middle of the temple where the younglings learn and hone their skills. It is good to listen to Master Yoda lessons. He never really repeats a lesson in the same way, there are always new elements to it, new stories knowledge given away for free. 

- Master Yoda must be a great teacher, well, he has the experience for sure. 

- Yes, but since the war started he rarely comes by. Even then he seems to be very tired and his face, even as he tries to hide it, is very serious. He used to joke and sometimes even play with the little ones. He is the whole orders grandfather figure, even though nobody ever dared to call him like that. Especially not in public. I am worried about him. He pretends to be alright, but the many jedi who lost their lives, particularly on the first day of the war on Geonosis before the clone troops arrived, takes its toll on him. 

I was taken aback by the emotional maturity of this girl. For me, all of what she said was obvious and logical, but I am not exactly sure if that would have been the case without the inherited memories. Who am I kidding. I didn't even realize that my master was dying till he told it to me, leaving no place for doubt. Is it possible that she is an empath? That must be the case, anyway I should praise her for knowing so much. I lifted my right hand and patted her on the head; the poor girl must have been worried for so long. After she realized what I was doing, her eyes widened as she was looking at me with a surprised uncomfortable but mostly confused expression. Her face was getting somewhat red from embarrassment, eh, children nowadays can't take a praise without getting embarrassed, it seems. That was the exact time when the door suddenly opened and a pair of humans in the middle of a heated discussion walked into the room, only to froze, seeing and sensing the weird atmosphere. 

Seeing Tano's horrified expression, I decided to turn around since I was sitting backwards to the door. While I was trying to turn, she forcefully pushed my hand away; what is it now, it was just a pat on your head, dummy. As I finally turned around I met with a two pairs of familiar eyes. It was just Obi-One and Anakin, Tano's master. Each of tham were looking at us with a somewhat strange and embarrassed face. What? Finally, Obi-One started to talk. 

- Did we intrude on something. I am sorry about that. 

- Look at that master, and you used to lecture me all day long about proper manners. 

- Sigh... I swear that I remember more incidents where you blowed in the door of some spaceship than opening it by using the door handle. 

- Now, now, master, that is just an over-exaggeration. 

Anakin added, followed by a loud smirk. 

I didn't get what their problem was so suddenly, but I didn't really care about it. So, I instead asked, what was the reason for their arrival. 

- Masters, how can we help you? 

They looked at each other, then Obi-One began to talk again as the atmosphere became much more serious. 

- We came directly from the Jedi High Council's meeting; the council has decided to appoint me as your substitute master for the time you reside in our care. You can come to me if any problem appears and we will work it out together. You are at the rank of a padawan learner; therefore you can't be left without supervision. You are not allowed to leave the temple without a jedi knight, or master company until the verdict is done. You can think of this as a test to assess your true allegiances. You must understand that we are in a state of war, and we can't be lenient against unknown force-sensitive sects. My report will have a heavy impression on the council's final decision, claiming you, guilty or innocent in the face of the accusation of being an accomplice in breaking into the jedi archives. If you are proved innocent, we will give you a documentum, that identifies you as a trained force sensitive, and you will have to share more information on your order. Do you understand? 

- Yes, master Obi-One. - I answered hastily. 

Anakin, outright laughed. 

While Master Obi-One furrowed his brows, looking at me with a skepticism, then he sighed. 

- Good, I wanted you to know about your current situation. Now to move to more pleasant topics, I will introduce myself one more time properly. My name is Obi-Wan Kenobi, and not Obi-One... you can call me Master Kenobi if that is easier for you. 

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I nodded as my face began to redden. I totally misinterpreted his name from the very beginning. 

- So since, Anakin has already tested your skills, and I also watched your recorded duel with him, I think we can skip the skill measurement part, but allow me a few questions to fill in the holes.

- Yes master. 

- What is your preferred lightsaber style? 

- Form VI Niman, I mostly use force manipulations to create opportunities. 

- Very good, if you want to practice, feel free to use the temple training fields, for meditation. I recommend the greenhouse or the room with the thousand fountains. If you want to find their locations, I believe Tano, will happily show them to you. 

- Yes, she was really sullen for a while to have nobody to talk to, because I was on a mission and Obi-Wan had no time to spare because of his council duties. - said Anakin. 

Ahsoka took in a sudden breath shouting at his master. 

- Master, stop, don't tell her that! - it was too late - How could you! - she pouted, pretending to be much more hurt then she actually was.

So, Tano doesn't have many friends, if at all. That could explain her unnatural excitement at our first meeting. Hmmm... my eyes wandered to the form of the so-called jedi celebrity. The jealous eyes of the padawans surfaced in my mind at the end of our duel.

So it was not because their master stopped their practices, but because I was stealing their hero's attention from them. Even Rika was shocked when she saw Anakin in the cantina. Ah, the so-called short sightedness and possessing jealousy. It must be even stronger because of the accumulated dark side energies around the temple.

Grief and jealousy, two emotions that should never be underestimated. One of the key flaws in the jedi's teaching, if you always block and numb your emotions, you will never learn to deal with them properly, only to hide them under the carpet. In most of the cases this will work, especially since the jedi usually live peaceful lives. These teachings are only showing their true inadequacy in times of war.

When there is no time to let the emotional traumas calm down, to let them settle by themselves, before it has any chance to heal; there will be another one and another on top of that. This is how you describe the essence of a war, a series of unreasonable tragedies piled on each other in a cruel horrifying act. This was the reason, why so many jedi fell to the dark side under the Mandalorian Wars.

They couldn't handle the feeling of loss, and fear; the dark side always offers what you think you want. That's why it's so dangerous for the shortsighted. It is not something to underestimate. It can give you more power than anything in this world, but that power, is never truly yours. That is how the dark side is. It steals strength, life, memories; it can steal anything and give it to you, yet in the and it is always stolen from someone else. That is why embracing it entirely makes you feel that endless uncontrollable greed. Without truly understanding and embracing this fact, any practitioner will eventually lose itself in the never-ending flow of greed. 

Even the ritual that our order uses to give away our memories to the next person isn't an exception. At first sight, it looks like the technique is able to create something, yet in the and it is only a sick illusion of creation. Since in the process it takes away much more than what it eventually gives. 

A much better twi'lek than me, would never even think of using it even as a tool. I am different, though, what is the meaning of gathering knowledge if I never use it? There are situations, where those techniques will prove their worth. Sometimes the best way to fight fire is by using fire. After all, the next few hundred years are plenty of time to run into a sith. You never know. 

After my newly appointed master's reintroduction, he told me of the basic layout of the temple, and gave me a standard holo-device uploaded with the temple map. Finally, I could go surfing the net, and download some games too. There are plenty of free games if you know where to find them. 

The rest of the day was spent wandering around the temple with Tano, who was eventually allowed to leave, if we promised to not start another duel for the next few days. Oh, and I got another room, close to Master Obi-Wan's room as per tradition or something like that. It looked just like the one I used yesterday, boring and empty.

I watched videos on the net late into the night, then after a particularly funny loth-cat compilation, I placed the device under my bed and turned in for the night. 

- Those stupid loth-cats are hilarious. - was my last conscious thought before sleep finally claimed me. 

 

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