Jedi Council Forums - The Ugly Duckling - a youngling Yoda, angst, H/C, short story (updated 7/16) (complete)

Jedi Council Forums » Fan Fiction » Before the Saga »

Post Reply | Active Topic Notification | Previous Active Topic | Next Active Topic

Pages: 1 | 2 - ~~Previous~~ | Next | Reload

Author	Topic: The Ugly Duckling - a youngling Yoda, angst, H/C, short story (updated 7/16) (complete)
Alasse_Earfalas Registered: Mar '08	Date Posted: 5/22 10:35am Subject: The Ugly Duckling - a youngling Yoda, angst, H/C, short story (updated 7/16) (complete) - Date Edited: 7/16 4:11pm (6 edits total) Edited By: Alasse_Earfalas
	Title: The Ugly Duckling Author: Alasse_Earfalas Timeframe: about 887 BBY Characters: youngling Yoda, OCs Genre: angst, H/C, short story Keywords: Yoda Summary: A young Yoda has an emotional breakdown and receives help & comfort from an unexpected source. Notes: I know there's that story about Yoda being trained on Dagobah by N'Kata Del Gormo, but since there's already a discrepancy with the place (GL said that Yoda had never been to Dagobah prior to the Jedi Purge), I figured that the rest of the story could be taken as non-cannon as well. Enjoy! “I have your assignments all graded,” the instructor said from the front of the class. “I must say that on the whole, I am very pleased. Use the comments I gave you as tools to improve your later assignments.” She began routinely passing them out by row, setting the students’ essays face-down on their desks. She paused at the last desk in the front row, eyeing the youngling who sat there with obvious disapproval. “See me after class,” she said with a sigh. His long, green ears could hear the giggles and snickers that seeped from his fellow classmates’ lips. His cheeks flushed with embarrassment. Slowly, he lifted up the top right-hand corner of the flimsy with his three-fingered hand. He winced, immediately setting it back down. It was even worse than his last assignment. He waited after class for all the other younglings to leave. It was lunch time, and he would be the last one in line. Again. “Yoda,” the instructor called from behind her desk, her voice somehow soft and stern all at once. “Come here.” Yoda reluctantly slid off his low chair and moped over to the side of the instructor’s desk. He stood and listened to the same old speech about how he really needed to work on his grammar and how important it was that a Jedi be able to communicate with the outside world. The instructor handed him yet another grammar worksheet to complete and sent him on his way. The worksheet was almost as big as he was. Yoda walked down the large hallway to his quarters, where he would drop off his things before heading to the dining hall. He struggled to carry so many large things at once. It made him feel clumsy and awkward, especially when he dropped something. He hugged the walls of the hallway to avoid being stepped on by the many Jedi who were on their way to lunch. “Hey, shorty!” Yoda fought the urge to respond to the unpleasant nickname his classmates had given him. He wanted to quicken his pace, but he knew that doing so would only increase his chance of dropping something. His sharp ears picked up the sound of their gaits as they came ever closer. “Hey shorty,” they teased as they caught up to him. “What grade on the assignment, did you get?” Their voices were mocking and cruel. “So bad was it, that even bother to grade it, the instructor did not?” Yoda’s fists clenched the things he was carrying ever tighter. Why couldn’t they just leave him alone for once? Why didn’t any of the passing Knights or Masters stop them? Was he just so different that it didn’t matter that he was being put down, teased, and mocked on a regular basis? Was he the sole exception to the Jedis’ rule of fairness and compassion towards everyone? Yoda walked the rest of the way to his quarters, his classmates belittling him all the way. The door slid closed behind him. Tears began dripping from his eyes as he set his things down, being sure to put everything in its proper place. His room was the only part of his life that wasn’t in chaos. He kept it that way on purpose. He needed his quarters to be a sanctuary from the rest of the world, a place where he could hide from the disapproving eyes of, well, just about everyone. He lit the few candles he kept out and plopped onto his tiny sleeping mat. He used the Force to turn off the lights and close the shades on his window, so that the only light in the room came from the candles he had lit. He was the only youngling in the entire Order who was allowed to have candles, as far as he knew. None of the other students were responsible enough. The teasing had caused him to lose his appetite. He hugged his knees to his chest, his forehead resting on his knees, and the tears dripping onto his robes like a leaky faucet. He felt so alone. He was the only one of his species in the entire Jedi Order. He had no friends, no one to turn to for comfort. He had tried many times to make friends, but everyone was so preoccupied with teasing him about his height or his grammar or his big ears that they never saw the loneliness he felt. It didn’t matter that he was way ahead of everyone else in his Force and lightsaber classes. In fact, that almost made it worse. The others would always complain to the instructors that he was “showing off”, to which the instructors would respond by telling him to “tone it down a bit”. No matter what he did, he would never fit in. He had a midi-chlorian count higher than anyone else on record. That was supposed to mean that he would be a great Jedi some day. But right now, with the way life was going, he couldn’t see it. He would always be the weirdo, the misfit, the loner. No Jedi would ever want to take such a loser like him as their Padawan. He had a few years before his thirteenth birthday, the day when his fate would be sealed and his long life sentenced to the Jedi Service Corps. Still, sometimes he wished the reassignment would come sooner. He wanted this agony to end, and he didn’t really care how it happened. He sat there for hours, sobbing, dreading the few trips he had to take to the refresher. He had other classes to go to, but he wasn’t at all in the mood to attend them. If he was going to be alone, he might as well be alone where no one would bother him. He skipped dinner as well. He was very hungry by this time, but he didn’t want to face the mean students and the instructors of the classes he had missed. Perhaps if he stayed in his quarters long enough, he thought, they would all just forget about him. He waited until it was very late, late enough that all the Jedi would be sound asleep. His candles had burned almost all the way down by now. Wiping his tears, he got up, blew out his candles, and quietly stepped out his door. The hallways seemed even larger now that they were empty. Blue light from the full moon fell through the open windows. It was so beautiful, he thought as he made his way towards the kitchen. Younglings weren’t normally allowed in the kitchen, but Yoda had been in there a few times before and no one had minded, so he figured grabbing a late night meal wouldn’t be so bad. The kitchen and dining hall were both devoid of anyone to bother him. He got a few things from the cooling unit – mostly meat, and some rice – and made his way back to his quarters. He set his food down on his small desk. The tears returned as he began slowly eating. Why didn’t anyone want to be his friend? Why was he so different? Maybe he should just run away. No one liked him anyway, it’s not like anyone would miss him. Maybe he could just go back to his home world, back to his family. At least he would be accepted there. Or… would he? A bitter reality clenched his heart. His parents had given him away. Some stranger had come to their door and asked them to give up their newborn child, and they had done it. They had sent their child far away to an unknown world, probably never to see him again. Why? He couldn’t eat anymore. He wrapped up what food he had left and set it aside. His moist eyes caught sight of the grammar worksheet and the datapad that had the instructions for the assignment that was due tomorrow. Might as well get them done, he thought. The grammar worksheet didn’t take long. He knew his grammar was “backwards”, but that was how the words came together in his mind, so that was how he wrote and spoke. If he used “correct” grammar, it didn’t feel like himself. He set the completed worksheet aside and reached for the datapad. For this assignment, it said, you will write about anything you like. Think of it as a journal entry. You can write about your other classes, something that interests you, or even your friends. You can even write a story if you like. Just take a moment to think about what it is you want to write, and put it down. Yoda stared at the datapad for a moment. A journal entry, hm? He set the datapad aside and pulled his large notebook and small pencil onto the desk. He knew exactly what he would write about if he were writing a journal entry. The words poured from his pencil like a fast-flowing river. He wrote about the endless teasing and the loneliness, the pain and despair, the confusion and isolation. All the emotional turmoil that racked his soul came cascading onto the flimsy. A few tears dripped onto it, but he didn’t care, because the instructor probably wouldn’t care. She’d just give him a low grade because of his grammar anyway. He was done trying to improve. He was finished with trying to conform to someone else’s mold of what a Jedi should and shouldn’t be. He didn’t want to be a “good student” anymore, not by their definition, anyway. He just wanted to be himself, and he wanted people to accept him for who he was. He decided to save the instructor the time and trouble of grading his assignment. He went through and marked all the “grammatical errors” that were a part of his voice, taking off the appropriate number of points for each one. The total ended up being the lowest grade possible, and his lowest grade ever in any of his classes. He put it in the upper right-hand corner and circled it, just like the instructor did. He again wiped the tears from his eyes. He suddenly realized how exhausted he was. Better turn this in tonight, he thought, so that a late deduction, it will not get. He decided that he wasn’t going to go to any of his classes tomorrow. The lightsaber tournament for the younglings was in two days, and he needed to spend all of tomorrow in his quarters so he could purge the pain from his soul. He drug the worksheet and writing assignment down the hall to the looming door of his writing class. He slipped them through the crack under the door, then went back to his quarters. He placed the leftover food in his own, small, personal cooling unit, then crawled under the blankets on his sleeping mat, and drifted off to a dreamless sleep. -----signature----- Padawan of TrulyGhent & LilyHobbitJedi I O.B. The Young Grasshopper http://boards.theforce.net/Message.aspx?topic=28829920 "The One Below" Emerges http://boards.theforce.net/before_the_saga/b10475/28281112
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
NYCitygurl Title: Railroad Baroness of SFFBC, C&G, and NSWFF Registered: Jul '02	Date Posted: 5/22 10:59am Subject: RE: The Ugly Duckling - a youngling Yoda, angst, H/C, short story
	That's so sad!! I was trying really hard not to cry Poor Yoda! I just want to give him a really big hug. -----signature----- "We Earth Men have a talent for ruining big, beautiful things." ~ Master of padawanlost, Ultima_1 and Jedimaster_JainaSolo
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
p_stotts Registered: Jan '01	Date Posted: 5/22 11:23am Subject: RE: The Ugly Duckling - a youngling Yoda, angst, H/C, short story
	Such a sad story. You're doing a great job of portraying the angst without going overboard. This is very unique. I've never thought about what Yoda's childhood in the Jedi Order would have been like, but he is a rarity, so he would feel out of place. Can't wait to read more! -----signature----- If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans for your life. Proud master to Gkilkenny! Stories in my bio. 9/19/2008 is National Talk Like A Pirate day in the U.S. Everyone else join in too! Arr! Avast ye landlubbers!
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
Quigonjecca Registered: Jul '07	Date Posted: 5/22 6:27pm Subject: RE: The Ugly Duckling - a youngling Yoda, angst, H/C, short story
	Awwww, poor Yoda! There aren't enough stories about a young Yoda. I always just thought he'd have been awesome from day one, but I think your portrayal is more accurate than mine! I really like it! -----signature----- Voted Best New Author in the 2008 Saga Awards! "Dark Child" http://boards.theforce.net/the_saga/b10476/27658856/p1/?14
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
wolf_kenobi Registered: Nov '07	Date Posted: 5/25 7:57pm Subject: RE: The Ugly Duckling - a youngling Yoda, angst, H/C, short story
	I can't say I have ever been much of a Yoda fan, but I can completely sympathize, having been a teased outcast more times than I can count. Kids can be really mean sometimes, even Jedi in training. Poor Yoda. -----signature----- Is God willing to prevent evil but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God. -Epicurus Proud Vegan
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
Alasse_Earfalas Registered: Mar '08	Date Posted: 5/27 8:03pm Subject: RE: The Ugly Duckling - a youngling Yoda, angst, H/C, short story
	Thanks everyone! Here's the next... um... chapter? Sure, that works. Jedi Master Vich walked to the door of her youngling writing class, a small stack of books and datapads in her arms. She unlocked the door and stepped inside, but stopped when her foot rested on something other than the smooth floor. Her eyes flicked downwards at the flimsies she had accidentally stepped on. She squatted to pick them up as the door slid closed behind her. Assignments that had been slid under her door almost always meant that the youngling who they belonged to was going to be absent or late that day. Curious as to who would be missing from her class, but not wanting to drop the things she was carrying, Master Vich set the books and datapads down neatly on her desk before she sat down and read the name at the top of the page. “Yoda…” This surprised her. Yoda may not have perfect grammar, but he was still the most diligent and determined student in her class. He had even come to class sick a few times. This early warning sign of an absence sent up a huge red flag in her mind. The conversations she had with her fellow instructors the previous evening made her all the more worried. Yoda had apparently skipped not only all of his afternoon classes, but both lunch and dinner as well. All of the instructors had been worried about him. To have such a good student suddenly skip so many classes, not to mention two whole meals, was a very bad sign. She quickly graded the grammar worksheet. This was one thing that had always been a mystery to her. Yoda always got a perfect score on these worksheets, but he never applied the things they taught to his other assignments. She set the graded worksheet aside and reached for the writing assignment that was due that day. A stinging chill shot through her body. There were correction marks and point deductions all over it. Did… did he correct this himself? The handwritten grade at the top of the page told her that he had. As she skimmed over the assignment, she was astonished to find that every single correction was exactly where she would’ve put one. But if he knows where he’s made errors in his grammar, she thought, why doesn’t he fix them? Now thoroughly confused and quite worried, she began reading his assignment. The stinging chill she had felt earlier steadily grew to a heavy boulder of guilt. Tears welled up in her eyes and glided down her face as she read his heartbreaking account of the things he was going through. The other instructors and she had all known that Yoda got teased by the other students, but none of them had any idea that it was this bad. She felt like slapping herself for being so harsh on his grammar, now that she saw why it was “backwards”. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined that Yoda would have an emotional breakdown like this. Jedi Code or not, this needed to be addressed. And she knew just the person to do it. A small smile wriggled its way onto her face. I’ll make a copy of this and take it to him after class, she thought. Perhaps it will change his mind about not taking a Padawan. *** The blond-haired human gazed out his window. The sky was crystal clear in the afternoon sunlight. His blue eyes followed the speeders as they zipped to and fro. For a split second, he imagined himself in the driver’s seat of one of those speeders. But he quickly shook the fantasy from his mind, knowing full well that he would never be able to live it. After all, it is awfully hard to drive a speeder when you don’t have any legs. There was a knock at the door. “Come in,” he called. The door slid open. He turned just in time to see it close behind one of his best friends. “Hello, Master Vich,” he chirruped. She smiled warmly at him. “Spending some more ‘quality time with the Force’ are we, Master Kooz?” He grinned. “You know me,” he said as he slid off the window ledge and walked on his hands towards her. “I already went for my walk today, so I figured I’d take a break for awhile.” Master Vich sighed. “It isn’t healthy for you to sit in your quarters all day like this. You need to get out and do something.” He raised his eyebrows. “And what in the Force do you possibly think I could be doing that I can’t do from this room?” She shrugged. “Maybe you should take a Padawan.” He almost glared at her. “Uh, no, I don’t think so. We’ve already been through this. A Jedi like me who is physically incapable of going on missions should not take a Padawan. If I did, I’d be sentencing the kid to an apprenticeship of boredom. Not to mention he or she wouldn’t get any of the priceless experience that comes with those missions.” She glanced down at the assignment that was in her hand. “I think this might change your mind,” she said quietly as she handed it to him. He sent her a doubtful look before reading the name at the top of the page. “Yoda?” he said, his voice dripping with skepticism. “Isn’t that the little green kid with the record high midi-chlorian count? I thought he was the top student in most of his classes?” “He is.” “Well then he should-” “Just read it, Kooz.” Her soft voice only showed the tiniest hint of annoyance. Kooz let out a heavy sigh. He was going to say that Yoda should be trained by a more able Jedi, one that went was very wise, very skilled, and very experienced. I would probably just hold the kid back, he thought. He reluctantly began reading, immediately noting the absurdly strange grammar. His face grew more and more soft as his eyes moved down the page. He started having flashbacks of his own childhood, of all the times he had been teased because of his missing limbs. The only major difference he could tell between his childhood experience and the lamentations of this youngling was that he had always been defended by the older Jedi when he got teased, whereas Yoda apparently wasn’t getting any help from anyone. His eyes were on the brink of tears by the time he finished. “Where is he now?” he asked quietly. Master Vich smiled. “Probably still in his quarters. I slipped the graded copy of that assignment under his door earlier today.” Kooz sighed. “I’ll definitely be paying him a visit, but I’m probably not going to take him as my Padawan.” He handed the assignment back to her. She almost grinned. Probably not, eh? “Thank you, Kooz,” she said as the door slid open. “May the Force be with you.” “And with you,” he replied as the door closed behind her. *** A knock at the door interrupted Yoda’s meditation. He opened his eyes and gazed up at it. Reaching out with the Force, he could tell that it wasn’t any of his classmates or instructors. Still, he didn’t want to be bothered, so he stayed quiet. Another knock. That was strange. Normally if no one answered after the first knock, you were supposed to leave them alone. Perhaps mistaken me for someone else, they have. He could feel that his assumption was wrong. Whoever was out there wanted to speak to him, and they were obviously determined to do so. A third knock. Every knock thus far had been exactly the same. They were soft and quick, urgent, but not demanding. He wondered why whoever was out there wanted to speak to him so bad. Know, they obviously do, that in here, I am, he thought logically. Otherwise, left by now, they would have. He decided it best to let them in, but he didn’t want to get up or raise his voice. He reached out to them with his mind, hoping to send them the message that it was okay to come in. He heard the door slide open almost instantly. What he saw both surprised and confused him. The man looked like a human in all respects, except that he appeared to be missing his normal human legs, and was walking on his forelimbs like a Dug. His robes designated him as a Jedi Master, but Yoda noticed that he wasn’t carrying a lightsaber. “Help you, may I?” His voice was quiet and a bit timid. The Jedi Master glanced around Yoda’s quarters as the door slid closed behind him, as if he was looking for something. Finally his gaze shifted back to Yoda. “Did you get the assignment Master Vich dropped off here earlier today?” he asked, his voice calm and warm. Yoda nodded. “On my desk, it is.” He had seen master Vich slide it under his door, and since he already knew what the grade for it was, he had just used to Force to levitate it to his desk. He didn’t need another painful reminder of how much he didn’t fit in. The Jedi walked over to his desk and looked at the assignment. He shifted his gaze between Yoda and the flimsies, his face not showing one speck of emotion. Yoda swallowed. “From the Reassignment Council, are you?” The Jedi shot a look at Yoda that was hard for him to read. Suddenly he burst out laughing. “Oh, I’m sorry Yoda, how rude of me. No, I’m not from the Reassignment Council. My name is Master Kooz. I’m just a good friend of Master Vich.” His gaze shifted from Yoda to the flimsies and back. “Did you look at this? After Master Vich dropped it off, I mean?” Yoda shook his head. “Already know what the grade is, I do.” “Oh?” Maser Kooz cocked an eyebrow. “Which grade?” Yoda sent him a puzzled look. “What mean you?” A warm smile grew on the Jedi Master’s face. He picked up the flimsies, placed them under his chin, and walked on his hands to where Yoda sat. “The grade you gave yourself,” he said as he released the assignment from his chin hold so that it fell into Yoda’s lap, “wasn’t the grade that Master Vich gave you.” The assignment landed face up. Yoda stared at it blankly. The corrections, point deductions, and low grade he had given himself had all been crossed out. Next to the crossed out low grade was a bolded new grade – a perfect score. Yoda sat there for a long moment. He was overcome with so many clashing emotions that he didn’t know what to feel. He felt elated, confused, surprised, doubtful, shocked, and so many other things all at the same time. He’d never felt like this before. It was so strange and new, and he had no idea how to handle it. Master Kooz sat next to him on the sleeping mat. “You’ve never gotten a perfect score on a writing assignment, have you?” Yoda shook his head. Master Kooz was quiet for a moment. “Do you think you deserve it?” he asked, his voice still calm and warm. Yoda’s gaze shifted away from his assignment. He honestly didn’t know whether or not he deserved it. On the one hand, he knew that his grammar wasn’t “correct”, and that a good part of the overall score of the assignment was based on conventions. However, his “bad grammar” was part of his voice, something that he couldn’t change without making the assignment sound like it had been written by someone else. “Know I do not, if deserve it, I do.” “Why do you think Master Vich gave you that score?” “Know, I do not.” “Come on, think about it. What are some possible reasons for her suddenly ignoring your grammar and giving you a perfect score?” Yoda thought for a moment. “Perhaps, sorry for me, she feels.” Master Kooz gave an acknowledging nod. “That’s a possibility. However, I happen to know Master Vich well enough to know that she doesn’t grade based on emotion. So that rules that out. What’s another possibility?” Very confused and a little frustrated, Yoda decided to read through the assignment, even though he really didn’t want to. He could feel the tears returning as he read. Need this today, I did not. “Why not?” Yoda’s head whipped to face him, then slowly turned back as he realized what had happened. “My thoughts, you heard.” Master Kooz smiled. “Obviously. But you still haven’t answered my question. Either of them, actually.” Yoda sighed. “Trying to prepare for tomorrow’s tournament, I am. Difficult for me to focus it is, when…” His voice faded. “When what?” Master Kooz’s voice was that of a tender parent. Yoda was quiet for a moment. When he did reluctantly respond, his voice was just above a whisper. “When this bad, I feel.” There was silence for a few minutes. The temple chimes sounded, signaling the hour. “It’s dinnertime,” Master Kooz stated. He glanced at Yoda, then gently yet firmly placed his hand on his back. “Why don’t you come eat with me?” The offer caught Yoda completely off guard. He didn’t know how to respond. Part of him wanted to go, but part of him was afraid to. He didn’t want to face his classmates, who he knew would pounce on him the instant he came into view. Nor did he want to face his instructors, who were probably going to lecture him about skipping class. But then again… No one had ever asked him to eat with them before. If he refused this offer, it might never come again. This might be his one and only chance to have a friend, even if it wasn’t someone his own age. Besides, no youngling in their right mind would ever refuse a Master’s offer. “Okay,” he said quietly, nodding slightly. Master Kooz smiled. “Come on, then,” he said as he walked to the door. Yoda slowly stood up, placed his assignment on the desk, and followed the Jedi Master out his door. -----signature----- Padawan of TrulyGhent & LilyHobbitJedi I O.B. The Young Grasshopper http://boards.theforce.net/Message.aspx?topic=28829920 "The One Below" Emerges http://boards.theforce.net/before_the_saga/b10475/28281112
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
NYCitygurl Title: Railroad Baroness of SFFBC, C&G, and NSWFF Registered: Jul '02	Date Posted: 5/28 3:09am Subject: RE: The Ugly Duckling - a youngling Yoda, angst, H/C, short story (updated 5/27)
	Very sweet!! And this one didn't make me cry -----signature----- "We Earth Men have a talent for ruining big, beautiful things." ~ Master of padawanlost, Ultima_1 and Jedimaster_JainaSolo
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
p_stotts Registered: Jan '01	Date Posted: 5/28 8:08am Subject: RE: The Ugly Duckling - a youngling Yoda, angst, H/C, short story (updated 5/27)
	Ugh, Alasse! You're as bad as me when it comes to leaving readers hanging. The good part is, it makes me want to read more. The bad part is there isn't any more to read right now. Post soon, because I truly love this story. I like how you're matching a handicapped Jedi with youngling Yoda. It will teach him a great deal about not judging himself based on the preconceptions of others. Great job! -----signature----- If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans for your life. Proud master to Gkilkenny! Stories in my bio. 9/19/2008 is National Talk Like A Pirate day in the U.S. Everyone else join in too! Arr! Avast ye landlubbers!
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
LilyHobbitJedi Title: Apples to Apples and 20 Questions hostess Registered: Aug '05	Date Posted: 5/28 9:39am Subject: RE: The Ugly Duckling - a youngling Yoda, angst, H/C, short story (updated 5/27)
	What a beautiful story so far Padawan. As a person who once was teased mercilously by cruel kids, I can can totally relate to what poor Yoda is going through. I'm happy to see that there is a chance he might get a Master. Wonderful job! -----signature----- Proud Master to eboneya & Alassë Eärfalas! Everybody Lies- House/SW Crossover! http://boards.theforce.net/the_saga/b10476/28032689/r28039379/ A Light In The Darkness http://boards.theforce.net/the_saga/b1047
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
Alasse_Earfalas Registered: Mar '08	Date Posted: 6/28 6:06pm Subject: RE: The Ugly Duckling - a youngling Yoda, angst, H/C, short story (updated 6/28)
	Sorry for the wait! Here's the next (short) chapter! Yoda stayed close to Master Kooz’s side as they walked down one of the main halls of the temple. He was pleasantly surprised to find that their natural gaits were the same. Normally he would have to trot just to keep up with a Master’s walk. Yoda suddenly realized that they weren’t heading towards the dining hall. “Where going, are we?” “Meh, I don’t really like eating in the dining hall,” Master Kooz replied indifferently. “It’s too noisy and crowded. We’re going to eat in my quarters.” He turned to face Yoda, who had a puzzled look on his face. “I call the chef on my comlink, order my food, and he brings it right to my door.” “Oh…” Yoda was now very glad that he had accepted Master Kooz’s offer. Now he wouldn’t have to worry about being caught in the disapproving glares of his instructors and mocking glances of his classmates. Soon they were walking through the door of Master Kooz’s quarters. “Wait here,” Master Kooz said as the door closed behind them. “I’ll go order our food.” Yoda nodded. He watched Master Kooz as he disappeared into a small side room, then turned his attention to the rest of his surroundings. Almost everything in this room was built lower to the ground, which made it much less intimidating than the rest of the rooms in the temple. He walked towards a small round table in the middle of the room, sat on one of the two short cushioned stools, and patiently waited for Master Kooz to re-emerge. He sat there for quite a long time, staring blankly at his hands, his mind returning to the unanswered question of his perfect score. Why had she ignored his grammar? It didn’t make any sense. He tried to remember what he had written. An entire paragraph had been devoted to explaining his “backwards” grammar. Maybe… “Our food’ll be here in a few minutes.” Master Kooz hopped up onto the other stool, immediately noting Yoda’s body language. “What’cha thinkin’ about?” Yoda was quiet for a moment as the words pieced together in his mind. “The perfect score, she gave me…” He lifted his gaze to meet Master Kooz’s. “Because I explained myself, was it?” Master Kooz raised his eyebrows, hinting that Yoda was on the right track. “Could you be a little more specific?” Yoda thought for a moment. “Explained my… my grammar, I did, and why speak and write this way, I do. Take that into account, did she?” A small, yet warm smile grew on the Jedi Master’s face. “Mm-hm,” he said, nodding rhythmically. “That’s half the reason.” Yoda sent him a confused look. “Half?” There was a loud knock at the door. “Ah, our food’s here.” Master Kooz hopped off the stool and hobbled over to the door. He returned a moment later with two covered dishes of food levitating beside him. The dishes and their corresponding utensils were gently lowered to the table. Yoda slowly lifted the lid on the dish that was in front of him. A whiff of the beautifully delicious scent of his favorite dish shot towards him. He inhaled it deeply as the rest of the lid fell onto the table, instantly reaching for the spork that lay beside it. Master Kooz had to use every ounce of restraint to keep from gagging. What in the Force is that? It looked like some sort of meat stew, but it smelled worse than Bantha fodder. This is the kid’s favorite meal? You gotta be kidding me! Quickly, he opened the lid to his own dish, using the Force to keep the two scents separated. Ah, much better. The two ate in relative silence, each of them thoroughly enjoying their meal. Yoda kept reflecting on his assignment. Get it, I do not, he thought as he took his last bite. The only reason why bad scores I usually get, my grammar is. If my grammar she ignored, a perfect score, I would easily get. How only half the reason for my perfect score, can her ignoring my grammar be? “Ah, so you do understand.” Yoda’s ears immediately perked up. “Hm?” Master Kooz swallowed the bite that was in his mouth. “You understand that your grammar was the only reason you were getting low scores in the first place. That’s the ‘other half’ I was referring to.” He wiped his mouth and put the lid back on his now empty dish. “You done?” Yoda nodded. Master Kooz used the Force to pull Yoda’s dish towards him, then tossed both dishes across the room and into a square hole in the wall. “That hole goes straight to the kitchen,” he explained to an obviously bewildered Yoda. Yoda nodded in acknowledgement. He looked at the Jedi Master for a moment. “What happened to your legs?” he asked as respectfully as he could. A huge grin swept over Master Kooz’s face. I knew he was gonna ask me that. He shrugged. “They just didn’t come out with me, I guess.” Yoda was instantly curious, which was something he hadn’t felt in a long time. “Born this way, you were?” Master Kooz nodded. “Why robotic limbs, do you not use?” To Yoda’s surprise, the question actually resulted in a slight look of pride in the Master’s face. “They don’t work. Robotic limbs rely on impulses from the brain, but since my brain knows I don’t have any legs, it can’t send impulses to robotic legs.” He paused for a moment. “You know, Yoda, I used to get teased a lot by the other younglings because I didn’t have any legs. At the time, I thought they were just being mean. The only reason I could see for them teasing me was because I was different. But you know what?” He leaned forward, his elbows resting on the table, and his chin resting on his fists. “Later on, after I’d become a Padawan, I learned that most of them teased me because they were jealous of me. I would always be praised more than everyone else when I did well in my combat classes, because my instructors thought it was harder for me, and that I therefore I needed the extra morale boost. My peers didn’t like that I was getting so much more recognition than the rest of them, so they would bash me on everything I did wrong.” Those words seemed to cut right to Yoda’s heart like a lightsaber. He could feel tingling shivers crawl up his spine. It made perfect sense. His classmates teased him about his grammar and appearance not because they were different or strange, but because there was nothing else they could tease him about. “Master Kooz,” he asked quietly, “when stop teasing you, did they?” Master Kooz let out a small sigh. He knew that question all too well, and he knew that the answer would either bring great relief or great despair to young Yoda’s heart. “When I became a Padawan.” The look that slowly enveloped Yoda’s face was of neither of despair, nor of relief. Rather, it was of something that Master Kooz would’ve never expected – resolve. The little green alien seemed to age years in a moment, suddenly grasping a look of maturity and determination that he had never seen in one so young. Yoda looked up at Master Kooz, a small, grateful smile on his face. “Thank you, Master Kooz,” he said respectfully, gratitude dripping from his words. “Return to my quarters, may I?” Master Kooz suddenly felt like he’d been slapped by someone much older and wiser than he. “Uh, sure.” He continued to stare blankly at Yoda as he slid off the stool and walked to the door. Yoda turned back to Master Kooz as the door opened. “May the Force be with you, Master Kooz.” Kooz smiled. “And with you, my friend.” He gazed at the door for a few moments after it closed. Hm, he seems pretty well off. Maybe I don’t need to… He grinned. Nah, I’ll do it anyways. Every little bit helps, after all. The next post is going to be the last (unless the characters and/or plotbunnies decide otherwise...). -----signature----- Padawan of TrulyGhent & LilyHobbitJedi I O.B. The Young Grasshopper http://boards.theforce.net/Message.aspx?topic=28829920 "The One Below" Emerges http://boards.theforce.net/before_the_saga/b10475/28281112
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
NYCitygurl Title: Railroad Baroness of SFFBC, C&G, and NSWFF Registered: Jul '02	Date Posted: 6/28 6:47pm Subject: RE: The Ugly Duckling - a youngling Yoda, angst, H/C, short story (updated 6/28)
	I like Kooz I hope he can help Yoda - poor guy. -----signature----- "We Earth Men have a talent for ruining big, beautiful things." ~ Master of padawanlost, Ultima_1 and Jedimaster_JainaSolo
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
p_stotts Registered: Jan '01	Date Posted: 6/30 10:14am Subject: RE: The Ugly Duckling - a youngling Yoda, angst, H/C, short story (updated 6/28)
	Wonderful post! I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it, especially the master's thoughts. So...what is Yoda thinking now? I hope the plot bunnies bug you to write a longer story. At the very least, you should write a sequel. Thanks for the p.m. -----signature----- If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans for your life. Proud master to Gkilkenny! Stories in my bio. 9/19/2008 is National Talk Like A Pirate day in the U.S. Everyone else join in too! Arr! Avast ye landlubbers!
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
LilyHobbitJedi Title: Apples to Apples and 20 Questions hostess Registered: Aug '05	Date Posted: 6/30 10:41am Subject: RE: The Ugly Duckling - a youngling Yoda, angst, H/C, short story (updated 6/28)
	Kooz smiled. “And with you, my friend.” He gazed at the door for a few moments after it closed. Hm, he seems pretty well off. Maybe I don’t need to… He grinned. Nah, I’ll do it anyways. Every little bit helps, after all. Aww, how cute. I love Master Kooz, he definitely seems like he would be the perfect master for Yoda. Great update! -----signature----- Proud Master to eboneya & Alassë Eärfalas! Everybody Lies- House/SW Crossover! http://boards.theforce.net/the_saga/b10476/28032689/r28039379/ A Light In The Darkness http://boards.theforce.net/the_saga/b1047
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
Alasse_Earfalas Registered: Mar '08	Date Posted: 7/4 12:34pm Subject: RE: The Ugly Duckling - a youngling Yoda, angst, H/C, short story (updated 6/28)
	Thanks to whoever nominated this for the 2008 Before the Saga Awards!!! x1,000,000!!! Okay, so I was going to combine this post and the next (ie. last) post, but this was such a good cliffhanger that I just had to keep it separate. Golden beams of sunshine seeped through the slanted blinds, causing Yoda to wake. He lay there for a moment or two, allowing his body to fully awaken from a wonderfully restful sleep. Today, the day is, he thought as he sat up. Need to impress a Knight or Master today, I do. A Padawan, I must become. Stop this teasing, I must. He started the day with his usual meditation. He found that it was much easier to focus on the positive this time, on his goal to do well enough to be chosen as a Padawan, rather than the mocking voices of his classmates. The awesome power and perfect calm of the Force swirled around him. He could feel its strength flowing through his veins, its presence in the air he breathed, its will whispering to his soul. Nothing in the entire galaxy could be more relaxing, more calming, and more invigorating all at once. He recalled all of the lightsaber moves he knew, going through each of their motions in his mind. Finally, once he was absolutely certain that he was completely ready, he opened his eyes. They caught hold of a Holocron that lay on his desk. It was a dodecahedron with pentagonal faces. Yoda blinked. No, he thought as he stood up. Is… is that… He took a few steps closer. Sure enough, it was the infamous Great Holocron, the one that was said to contain more information than all of the other Holocrons combined. How into my quarters, did this get?! He spotted a piece of flimsy sticking out from underneath it. He carefully moved the Holocron to read it. “Ask to speak to Master Vandar. Your friend, Master Kooz”. Yoda looked up at the Holocron. So… snuck into my room last night, Master Kooz did? Hm… He set the flimsy down and picked up the Holocron. It opened almost instantly, revealing a Twi’lek gatekeeper that he didn’t recognize. “Greetings, young one. What do you wish to know?” Yoda took a moment to examine the gatekeeper. He seemed like a kindly enough Jedi. “Speak to Master Vandar, may I?” The gatekeeper smiled and nodded. “Of course.” Yoda watched as he fizzled and disappeared. He had only opened a Holocron once before, and that was in an in-class activity. Opening the Great Holocron was a privilege that was rarely granted to younglings. He was very curious as to who this Master Vandar was, and was also a bit nervous as to what to say once he appeared. The Holocron flickered again, this time to reveal the Jedi Master Vandar Tokare. Yoda froze. He… he’s… Master Vandar chuckled lightly. “I see you are surprised by my appearance,” he said through a smile. Yoda couldn’t stop staring. “The same species as me, you are…” Master Vandar’s ears raised at this, and a look of quiet joy came over his face. “So I am. Is this the first time you have seen one of your own kind?” Yoda nodded vigorously. “Then be grateful, for you are now enjoying a privilege that I never had as a youngling.” He was quiet for a moment. “You may ask me anything you like. I will be more than happy to tell you everything I know.” Yoda had so many questions for this gatekeeper, but he didn’t know where to start. The first chimes of the day sounded. “Very much time to talk, I do not have,” he explained. “Getting ready for the youngling lightsaber tournament today, I am-” “Oh? There is a tournament today, you say? Well, I will always be available for talking. You need to prepare for this tournament.” Yoda gave a quick and respectful nod. “Thank you, Master Vandar. Speak to you later, I will.” “May the Force be with you.” “And with you.” The Holocron closed. Yoda was quite certain that he had never felt as happy as he did now. He gently set the Holocron back on his desk. Thank you, Master Kooz, he thought as he walked out his door. Just the morale boost I needed today, this was. His pace was quicker and lighter today than it normally was. His eyes and ears were alert instead of drooping. A small smile replaced the usual half-frown. Today was a good day. It wasn’t long before he reached the room that was being used for the tournament. As he approached the door, a very bad feeling suddenly started eating at him. It was so strong that for a moment, he felt like turning back. He shook himself. Turn back now, I cannot, he reasoned. Need to participate in this tournament, I do. If I do not, have to put up with their teasing for another year, I will. This logic didn’t comfort him completely, but it was enough to allow him to walk up to the door. He sensed the presence of all but a few of his classmates in the room behind the door. However, he didn’t sense the presence of the instructor that was in charge of the tournament. Something about that deeply worried him. Very, very cautiously, he got close enough to the door to trigger it to open, his guard raised to its greatest extent. Everything looked the way it normally did. His classmates all appeared to be getting ready for the tournament. But the feeling in that room was definitely much different. The door closed behind him. He heard it lock. He could tell without looking that one of his classmates had locked it manually. As if on cue, everyone in the room stood up, and pulled out their training lightsabers. “Going on, what is?” Yoda asked, trying to find a tone that would make him appear neither afraid, nor stupid. Yoda could somehow feel that this had all been rehearsed. “Every single year,” a brown-haired human boy said, “you win this tournament. You never even give us a chance to fight back. It’s not fair that none of us get a chance to show our true skills and abilities. So, this year,” he said as all the lightsabers in the room ignited, “we’ve decided to make sure that we get that chance!” There was no time to think. The entire group charged at once. Yoda leaped into the air, then immediately came down by the opposite wall. He jumped and hit a pressure point in the human girl’s arm as she swung around, forcing her to release her lightsaber into his waiting hand, then smacked her forehead with its hilt to knock her out. He sent a Force wave out from where he stood, throwing the first few rows of students back and buying him precious time to hopefully reach the lock for the door so he could escape. The students recovered from the Force wave much quicker than he anticipated. Soon he was being attacked on all sides. He now wished he had heeded the warning the Force had given him earlier. At the very least, this fight would tire him out, which would cause him to be much less effective in the tournament. Speaking of the tournament, where in the Force was the instructor?? A lightsaber swung dangerously close to his skull. He had to stop distracting himself with his thoughts. He preformed another Force wave, which granted him enough time to clear his mind completely. He reached out to the Force, allowing it to have complete control over every muscle and bone in his body. It was all a big blur after that. The few times he got burned by a training saber were barely noted in his mind. The Force was directing his every twitch and move. Yoda had never relied on the Force so heavily during a fight before. He could feel himself flipping and spinning, but beyond that, he honestly had no idea what he was doing. Suddenly, it all stopped. He was standing, facing the locked door, breathing, trembling, sweating. He felt faint. His classmates lay unconscious behind him. The door was somehow unlocked from the outside. He could sense the presence of a few Jedi Masters waiting just outside the door. He saw the door open, the Jedi Masters hurriedly enter. Master Kooz was one of them. He looked into Yoda’s eyes. “What happened here?” he asked, his voice grand, warm, stern, and soft all at once. Unable to speak, Yoda responded with a thought. Attacked, I was… The world went black. -----signature----- Padawan of TrulyGhent & LilyHobbitJedi I O.B. The Young Grasshopper http://boards.theforce.net/Message.aspx?topic=28829920 "The One Below" Emerges http://boards.theforce.net/before_the_saga/b10475/28281112
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
wolf_kenobi Registered: Nov '07	Date Posted: 7/4 1:18pm Subject: RE: The Ugly Duckling - a youngling Yoda, angst, H/C, short story (updated 7/4)
	Evil cliffie, this is. Resolve it soon, you must! -----signature----- Is God willing to prevent evil but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God. -Epicurus Proud Vegan
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
JediKaren Registered: Apr '07	Date Posted: 7/6 11:03am Subject: RE: The Ugly Duckling - a youngling Yoda, angst, H/C, short story (updated 7/4)
	more more more! -----signature----- Bring Light Into Darkness Reaching Through Darkness: http://boards.theforce.net/beyond_the_saga/b10477/28415147/p1/?0 Healing Hearts: http://boards.theforce.net/before_the_saga/b10475/28282728/p1
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History

Pages: 1 | 2 - ~~Previous~~ | Next | Reload

Jedi Council Forums » Fan Fiction » Before the Saga »