Before - Legends Saga - PT Before the Saga A Journal for the Historical Record [DDC_2025]

Super reflections and musings about why the skulls creep him out. It could be a phobia but if others are creeped out maybe it's something else at work. Just when it looks like Depa and Ort are on good terms with her apology, she gets selected as a Padawan and he feels "left behind." LOL Smitten indeed.

 

Creeped out for Jedi hmmm And Depa being chosen and the age of 16 and 13 mentioned. No sending away to other duties after 13 yet?

 

It’s all good advice too! For anyone who doesn’t expect a thousand years of peace to blow up overnight.

A battle worth having though! And a good lesson as well, many could do well to study the art of persuasion.

Anoon Bondara is interesting in Legends because he was introduced before the title was invented, never credited with it, but shown to do work you would associate with it. The point of confusion in my mind is how he manages to train his own Padawan while overseeing the training of so many others in the temple as well. Alas, answers must come in time.

As for Finn, it’s a cursed dream for her, but the skills would certainly come in handy.

I do not consider this to be a spoiler, because it’s never stated explicitly in either of my stories but it is a thread woven in both (Naturally more overtly in one than the other)

If you want Depa’s thinks….

Spoiler

I’ve always felt like Ort’s feelings for her were MUCH stronger than hers for him.
She likes him, but struggles a lot less with repressing those feelings than he does.

Now I’m tempted to make both these things true. Your interpretations are always so fascinating. But I really need to bite my tongue here because I've thought of maybe a dozen responses already and each and every one offers one kind of subtle clue or another, yet seeing as you’ve been so observant so far, I think it better to wait.

I don’t think anyone else in the story has opined on the *specific* skull masks being painted for cultural studies. It wouldn’t surprise me if some find them somewhat off putting, but Ort’s the only one with such a strong reaction so far at least.

I really need to stress here: Ort is once again WAY overreacting. Just because Depa CAN be chosen as a Padawan now, doesn’t mean she will be. As he himself pointed out, not many Masters will be eager to take a kid into the field.

Creepy for an initiate at least, though I can imagine some older Jedi wouldn’t necessarily disagree either.

I for one found Ort’s response to the Givin film VERY interesting.

Tom’s too, though for different reasons. (And it’s not required reading).

Early Legends said 13 was the deadline yes, then the Clone Wars came out and Send 14-year-old Ahsoka was “too young to be a Padawan.”

Canon seems to follow the logic that the deadline is much older, with various sources saying 13-Year-Old Obi-Wan and Qui-gon were also very young to be picked.

My compromise is that 13 is when the Council seriously begins evaluating Jedi to send to the service corps. Most can be picked when they are older, but if you’re an underachieving initiate at 13 years old you have a right to panic.

It’s also worth acknowledging the last entry in last week's post takes place only a few days after Ort's 12th birthday.

Here's another Monday update just cause I think it's an important one _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

945:12:01
Entry #373

I spoke to Master Trebor. I don’t know why, I just trust him. The question on my mind was what you actually need to do to pass the trials. Tom still doesn’t know, I keep asking and he just tells me the same. “I spoke the code and Yoda said I failed.” Did he mess up the code? He says he didn’t.

Depa won’t talk to me at all, and Finn never leaves her side.

So I stayed late after Media studies today and asked Master Trebor if he could explain it to me. He gave me a long thoughtful look, before asking me to take a seat. “It’s not exactly a secret.” He started. “But everyone does need to find their own way, so I’m afraid there is not a lot I can tell you that will help.”

“I just want to be prepared!” I told him.
I don’t want to fail like Tom did- I kept to myself.

He nodded calmly. “There are two parts to the Initiate trials. The spiritual side, and physical side.”

This was already new information for me! I know Tom was asked to say the code, but I didn’t know there was anything spiritual or physical about it.

“These can often be broken into several smaller parts. I can’t predict what you will face, but some of the most common one’s involve reciting the code, stating the precepts, practicing some unique meditation techniques… etc.”

I told him how Tom failed after reciting the code, and he shrugged his shoulders. “Master Yoda is a bit of perfectionist when it comes to the spiritual side of the trial.” He laughed. “I failed my first time too. The goal is inner peace. If you have any conflict at all after completing this part of the trial Yoda will not show sympathy.”

“What about the second part?” I asked.
“Combat. This one is tricky for another reason. You will be expected to show competence in fighting, but not just defeating your foe. You must show a Jedi-like mindset in battle. Most master's don’t care much about the actual fighting.” There was an odd smile on his thick face as he said this. “We Jedi should never want to fight anyways. What is looked for is that you stay calm in the action.”

He then waved his hand as if he were trying to remember something. “In extreme cases they may also ask you to show skill in telekenisis, animal control or doing an hour long handstand.”

I must have looked frightened by this because he backed off a little. “Those are often for more specialized cases. I wouldn’t worry about that if I were you.”

Ok. So now I know. I need internal peace, whatever that means. And I need to keep that peace in a fight.

I’m taking the trials by the end of this week. Wish me luck.

945:012:04
Entry #374

I did it, I did it! I asked Master Aerith to give me the trials and I passed!

It started with a long meditation, like a LONG one. She must have had me there for ten minutes just listening to water coming out of the fountain.

Then she had me say the code, which I expected.

No emotion peace
No ignorance knowledge
No passion serenity
No death the force.

I’ve said the words before, we must have repeated them fifty times during morning meetings when I was younger. But this time it felt different. Like I was looking into my future: traveling the galaxy, meeting with senators, being alone. Learning. Understanding. Figuring out other people's problems with an even hand, and calm approach. All by myself. Away from my friends, away from Depa.

It felt weird. With that I was concerned I may have already failed, but then the droids came out. 10 HKB Baktoid droids using rapid fire blasters.

Two shots hit me, one in the arm and one in the knee. They burned real bad too!

Thankfully Master Aerith let me get back on my feet before she put the blinding helmet on. I could feel my lightsaber in front of me, warding off shots. I swung once, and took a droid out at the knee, the backswing must have taken a couple heads off. I blocked two more shots, and jumped forward entering sequence 11, and moving into sequence 42 cut, swipe, stab, role, repeat.

The droids fell, and then I finished by waving a hand and forcing the last two of them to bump heads. I’ve been practicing THAT move a lot. I’ve been tempted to use it on Tom and Rolek once or twice.

Then I was done. Master Aerith was smiling when I peaked out under my helmet. “Very good. You passed.” She said, very quick and to the point.

“Would you like a nomination for next year's tournament?” She eyed me with an odd happiness in her gaze I don’t think I’ve ever seen before. “You did very well in the combat phase.”

It took me a moment to get my mouth working right before I could say yes.

I really can’t believe it. Things are moving too fast.
But if Depa and Finn are ready why not me too?


945:012:09
Entry #375

Rolek was late for bed tonight, so I went out looking for him. I didn’t want him getting in trouble, or doing something crazy. I don’t know what I expected when I snuck out. Tom was already snoring.

In the darkness of the night the temple can be even more of a maze than normal. The floor patterns can lead nowhere, the massive window’s looking out to a thousand airspeeders passing every moment flashing at odd angles. Giant statue’s glaring down at you as you round every corner, judging your disobedience and wondering why you couldn’t be as perfect as they were in life.

Then there is the odd Temple Guard patrol, but they aren’t usually too focused. Just doing the rounds they do every night, and they never see anything they don’t want to.

So I checked all our normal place’s: the room of a thousand fountains, the archives, the refectory. Rolek wasn’t anywhere we would normally go when we sneak out late. I did manage to dodge Kwin at one point, she was leaving the temple hanger and I don’t think she saw me. Thank goodness! I don’t need the masters after me when I’m on a rescue mission.

Eventually I found myself at one of the odd balcony’s at the end of one of the long halls lined with windows. There I found Rolek, staring out at buildings being passed by endless lines of speeders a thousand meters away. He looked sad.

“What are you doing?” I asked quietly.
“Nothing.” He responded.
“Will the masters think you are doing nothing?” I countered.
“I don’t care.” He said.
“I thought we could trust each other.” I pushed back. “I thought we were friends.”
“Are we?” He asked.

“Well obviously.” I offered an awkward chuckle. “At least since Illum I thought…”
“Didn’t stop you from running off ahead of me.”

What was he getting at? I stared at him for a long moment trying to understand.

He walked away from me and threw his arms in the air angrily.
“Do I need to spell it out for you!?!”
This frightened me, and I looked around for a moment thinking he may have attracted attention.
“You mean the trials?” It was the only thing I could think of.

“Not just you.” He spoke a little more quietly. “Tom says he is going to try again soon. You both are moving on.”

I had never thought he would be hurt by me taking the trials. I was so caught up on Depa going her own way I never even considered the impact on my friends.

“Both of you are going to be picked by a Master and leave me here by myself. No friends. No family. No place to go.”
“You can’t mean that. You have another chance…”
“No lightsaber or future either!”

We sat together there for a long time, he cried, and I tried to be there for him. “I’ve been thinking.” I eventually responded quietly.
“You once told me your mother sold you for a drug fix. You don’t know that do you?”
“What do you think she did with those credits the Jedi gave her? Bought an apartment and got a job?”

“You don’t know her though!”
“They would have let me stay with her. She wanted me gone. Thought I was worth about a hundred credits and a short trip in a speeder.”
I put my hand on his shoulder. “Or maybe she thought you would have a better life here?” “Well she was wrong there too!”

I really don’t know what I could have said. What I should have said.
“Do you ever think of the future Ort?” He asked me eventually.
“Of course I do.” I answered, not giving him a full answer right away. It was only really over the last year I began thinking long term. Where I wanted to be in ten or twenty years. Especially while I was taking my trial. I saw it far clearer what my future holds. What it could hold. If I stayed the true path of a Jedi, or if Depa and I….

No. Rolek doesn’t need to know that.

“I think in ten years you and I will be taking the Trials of Knighthood together.” I told him, throwing my arm around his shoulder. “We will pass them the same day, go on to save the galaxy, fighting pirates, freeing slaves, taking meditative retreats to Canto Bight.” I grinned at the last one.

“Maybe find Toms clown father?” Rolek spoke roughly, just a little humor in his words. A good step in the right direction.

“Yes!” I jumped. “And make him pay us back the hours of grief.”

I let him chuckle quietly at the thought before continuing.

“We’ll take Padawans around the same time too, they’ll be all moody and whiny like Danva.” Rolek forced his hand over his mouth to stop himself from making too much noise. “Then we will create a support group for Masters with troubled students.”

He gave up on holding back now, and his laugh echoed down the hall
“I think our teachers have already done that.”

But I was on a roll! “We will drag our Padawan’s kicking and screaming to Knighthood! They’ll thank us eventually, after they stop cursing us.”
“Will you ever thank Master Aerith?” He asked.
“Don’t change the subject!” I said, suddenly pacing and trying to get a picture in my mind of what would happen next. “Now after that, we will get appointed to the Jedi High Council…”

“NOW I KNOW YOU’RE TEASING ME!” He burst out laughing full scale, and walked back inside, probably expecting Guards to be waiting for him. None were there though.

“No. No I’m serious. We will be on the Council, and every time Tom does something stupid, he will need to report it to us. Then we get to decide the punishment. Do you think a month on illum would be justified?”

Rolek had his hands over his ear holes, trying to stop laughing while he ran away.
“Or maybe make him kiss Lilet?”
“Lalala I’m not listening!”

When we finally got back to the dorm, we found our beds and before he settled in, I whispered quietly, almost as much to myself as him.
“We’ll be friends forever Rolek. I really do mean it. We’ll be rotting together in the elder's care unit before we’re done.”

I hope that's true at least.

 

Good to see him searching for Rolek after he passed his trials. Now Rolek can be laughing again and have a future with a friend like him

 

Wonderful how Ort asked ahead of time how to prepare. That certainly went a long way in his success. I loved his conversation with Rolek, teasing and encouraging both. Ort is truly a sweet huggable cinnamon roll. LOL

 

I'm breaking my normal routine of doing all comments ahead of my Thursday post simply because this one line made my heart swoon and I want to gush on it. I'll do a more complete breakdown in two days, but OMG the feels here hit harder than any point so far. I don't know if I can fully articulate how or why, but thank you, thank you so much for this beautiful descriptor of Ort who truly is one of my favorite characters I've ever created. I wasn't planning on such an emotional rollercoaster when I first created this cast, I just wanted to try to make sense out of Depa Billaba's very convoluted backstory. But the more I wrote them the more I fell in love with them all.

The curse on this whole thing perhaps is encapsulated best by Billaba's own canon fate that haunts every word I write, and the implications along with that how in any reasonable or logical timeline most if not all my own creations are virtually guaranteed to suffer as she and Kanan did. It's just a question of how and when.
If I were a happier go lucky writer, I might bend the whole galaxy to save them from that pain and every day I am tempted to. But that's not who I am.
The story depends on plausibility in my mind, and an author's shield protecting the beloved only leaves it being robbed of its heart and soul. That is my own number one rule when writing, don't let my personal feelings get in the way.

I have been up front, almost blunt, with the reality that the circumstances of this era mean there are very few happy endings to go around. But if I can't find them here, I will write again, because I don't want to leave these kids broken shells. I want them to live as Ort says in his own made-up future, happy, old, and peaceful. Because of the rule above, I can never and will never enter a story with that utopian conclusion a certainty. I will guide them with what little agency I give myself towards that goal where it is realistic, but the characters will do what they want. Because to me they are their own people now.

Each their own special little cinnamon roll who makes me laugh, cry, gag, and scream when they don't do what I know is best. I hope to have many tales to tell with them going forward, and maybe one day I can leave them with one last moment of joy where I can trust they have no regrets. It may not be in the main timeline.

But AU's are far from impossible at this point. In fact, I might even call them inevitable.

 

Yes indeed! I do believe this is the first time Ort has stated unequivocally and without reservation that Rolek is his friend, and I do believe that is what Rolek wanted to hear for a long time before this. One of those subtler aspects of his “too cool for school” persona is deep insecurity, and having real committed friends will do wonders for him.

That doesn’t mean they will do everything together; they frankly still do not have a lot in common. I can easily imagine them getting on each other's nerves if they’re stuck in close quarters for too long! But they can rely on each other, and that is what matters most.

As a teacher I like to say studying is the path to success. One of my own favorite experiences since graduating college is when around a dozen of my students decided to steal my lunch break from me because they were so nervous about a test, and together I just spent the hour helping them study. It showed how they really cared, and there is nothing I would want more from them.

Legitimately an emotional high point for me, another of my favorite entries specifically because it balances the lows with the highs so well. The humor is so childish, but also so real. It gives a good insight into Ort’s hopes and dreams, even if in an exaggerated not so serious way. If someone were to ask me about these characters without reading the whole story, I might just drop this conversation on them because it says so much.

Once again I adore this sentiment, in every way possible it brings joy to my heart.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


945:012:27
Entry #376

Lightsaber training is picking up again, back to three days instead of one, and it will probably be four soon. Master Bondara has been helping me improve my form, turns out the best way to handle a kick is to move with it and stay alert for the backhanded lightsaber swipe. He showed me how it works but I’m still struggling. Fortunately I managed to pull it off the one time it actually counted.

Over the last couple days Loraw has had us testing out our forms against each other again like he did last year, and things went very similarly to last year.

There were a couple points of difference still:
- Depa beat me this time. It actually wasn’t much of a contest at all. I lasted like five seconds, over stretched an attack and she disarmed me.
- Tom beat me too. I was having a rough day, my pride is still bruised. He dodged under my strike and swiped me off my feet.
- I DID beat Rolek, which kind of surprised me. He seemed off balanced, not too aggressive. His blade work was good, but his foot placement was all off. He tripped and I caught him in the belly before he surrendered.

Lilet and I tied this time. I managed to avoid her kick, and turn the momentum in my favor so she couldn’t try it again. She’s small, quick and hard to hit when she wants to be, she turned around my next strike and ducked under my arms landing behind me. It’s only cause I know her so well by now that I managed to avoid her swinging at my neck with a well placed duck and stab, which she twisted past again. Time ran out before either of us could push the other to our limit. She just knows my form too well and I know hers. We’ve fought more times than I can count!

Everyone knows what comes next, and we all want to know who will go to the next Gathering on the first of the new year. I wish them all well honestly, but you couldn’t PAY me to suffer that again. Well, at least not most of it.

945:12:31
Entry #377

Rolek got called again. Tomorrow he will go to Illum with Hyol, Lilet and Khaat. He’s terrified.
“What if I fail again? What if they kick me out of the Jedi?”

Me and Tom are trying to calm his nerves. Well more me than Tom.
I tried listing off every tip I could offer. Every thought that came in my head. I’ve told him my story ten times. Well most of it anyways.

• Stay calm
• Don’t panic
• The caves will trick you, don’t believe them!
• Trust in the force.
• Never say no to a friend's help.

“Don’t be afraid of a fishy bath!” Tom added with a smile. Ok he did offer one good piece of advice. “Things are never what they seem.”
Last time Master Yoda said Rolek needed to learn humility, and I really think he has come a long way towards that goal. But if he has learned that will there be a new test for him? I don’t know.

It’s going to be a big day for Rolek. I really, REALLY hope he passes this time.

946:01:02
Entry #378

While half our class is away, we get to play! Every one of our teachers has given us the day off from normal learning and let us have fun! For the most part. I don’t think Master Aerith knows what “fun” is. She just had us tutoring a bunch of little kids.

Master Katri gave us deactivated pod racers engines to tear apart! Tom was jumping at it with an axe before she even said go! Pulling wires, tearing off the blades, shredding the sheet metal. There wasn’t a lot left by the time I got there. He was still gushing about it before bed.

Master Oppo let us watch a melodrama called “Malcom and Satele.”, it was based on the Great Galactic war but a mushy, lovey dovey version of it. Tom never took his hands off his eye’s after the first five minutes, except for one or two of the major battles. I’tvik kept saying how it wasn’t accurate to history, and I’m pretty sure Fyr just slept through it.

I dunno, it was better than that horror holo about Givin. The acting was pretty good too. I asked Depa what she thought and she just mumbled something about taking notes for a report on the evolution of Jedi tradition later. I don’t remember the Master saying anything about a report though? Maybe I missed it.

Master Sinube put together a mock crime lab for us. We needed to figure out who killed the dummy! I figured out it was Fyr in the first five minutes. His fingerprints were all over the crime scene! Plus he was acting so sketchy! He even forgot to use his usual nicknames! The moment he called me “Officer Aski” I knew he had done it.

Lightsaber training was led by Anoon Bondara, and he had us going at each other with paint balls! Swinging to block them and usually missing. Those things are fast! Not like blaster shots at all! Master Bondara say’s it’s a lot like a slug thrower and wants us to be ready to hold off normal projectiles just as much as energy blasts. Still left bruises.

I overheard Depa tell Finn a joke about how Lilet didn’t know what she was missing with all the paint flying, and thought it was really funny. Maybe I shouldn’t have laughed so hard though, I got strange looks.

 

Ort gave Rolek good advice and hopefully he will pass this time around. I got a chuckle about the reactions to the holofilm Interesting class exercises in crime lab and lightsaber training. Those paint balls sound like they hone skills in a multitude of ways that a remote doesn't.

 

Nice to see Rolek going to Ilum and will he succeed? The lessons were interesting with the demolition of engines, lightsaber training, the movies. And paintballs? Messy after the fight?

 

W00t! Ort passed his trials! Somehow I suspect that the fact he didn't feel entitled to passing was one of the elements that helped, but he's really matured since he began this diary and he's able to picture himself as a Jedi in the future. And I totally agree with WarmNyota that he's the most huggable cinnamon roll. I've said it many times already, he's just a good kid, and that scene with Rolek was the epitome of it. The sentence "We sat together there for a long time, he cried, and I tried to be there for him" just tells us everything we need to know about him, and he certainly knew how to cheer up his friend! (Also, I saw your long reply to Ny's post, and I'm looking very much forward to all the happy-end AUs!)

And now I, too, really hope that Rolek succeeds in his gathering, because his friendship with Ort is growing on me. Meanwhile, I absolutely loved your description of the day when half the class is missing and those in attendance get to play instead of studying. It brought back quite a few memories of crazy things we did in school, although I have to say that a lightsaber fight against paintballs is something I wish I'd got in the real world...

 

Rather similar to Orts own study session ahead of his trial, I think it's good on Rolek that he is taking the lead up to the mission serious enough to receive help from his friends before going again.

I declared before once that Ort wasn’t a hopeless romantic.
Here I may have leaned a little more into that characterization than I had intended. But it fit surprisingly well all things considered.

I’ve heard Sith and bounty hunters alike say relying on slugthrowers is a good way to catch Jedi unprepared. It’s smart for Anoon Bondara to train his students with that in mind.

There is some basis for each activity in the fun games my own teachers had me play in school at one point or another. Paintballs can be messy yes, but the real frustration are the bruises they leave after the fact.

Never underestimate the power of humility when it comes to Jedi! Though peace of mind more than anything is what it takes to succeed at this level.

Honestly this is one broken record I’ll play on repeat until the end of time.

I completely agree he’s a very good kid, though It's worth keeping in mind that by virtue of the format (Diary Entry), some things will naturally be omitted, especially when Ort doesn’t want to talk about them. I say this because I’m acutely aware how ‘perfect’ characters have their own problems, and while his insecurities may peak through at times, he definitely had a couple other character flaws he does not put up front for all to see. At least not yet.

I’m already toying with one right now, haven’t the foggiest in how it will end, but the premise fascinates me. Yet it's also dependent on a number of stories I haven’t written yet so those publications are quite a ways away.

Rolek’s gatherings are perhaps the most interesting to me simply because while he “failed” the first time, in a way he did succeed. Ort pointed out the lesson he needed to learn was humility, and he has achieved that to some extent with his friends' guidance. But it's a double edged sword. The walls he put up between himself and others have been torn down, and now he needs to test his true self. That is not so easy either.

Paintball lightsabers. Oh so messy, but oh so fun. Reminds me of me and my friends trying to deflect nerf gun shots in middle school.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

946:01:05
Entry #379

They’re back! Rolek passed! I’m so happy for him!
He sure looked exhausted, and I would have waited to ask him, but Tom just couldn’t.

The Dressellian explained to us an interesting story, one where he was trapped in the ice caves by himself. Only his own reflection staring back at him. Taunting him.
Telling him he had no friend, telling him nobody wanted him.

I hugged him again. Reminding him it was a lie.

He thanked me. Told me he always knew it was. Deep down.

He walked through the reflection, and there found his crystal waiting for him.

When he smiled, I knew he found his balance.

Even Tom seemed pretty sympathetic given his usual rowdiness. He just patted Rolek on the back and told him he could count on us no matter what, and I couldn’t help but agree.

The natural problem is now they want to celebrate by gluing a bunch of furniture to the ceiling. I don’t know how they plan on accomplishing that, or even if it will stick, Tom says he saw it in a holo show but I’m pretty sure it was an old animation not supposed to be done in real life! Since Roleks on board so I’m out voted. When will the craziness end?


946:01:22
Entry #380

The furniture prank went as well as you might expect. In the end all we could do was a couple small chairs, cushions, and a table in the common room. Master Oppo caught us while Tom was trying to move the sofa. He never woulda succeeded I’m sure it was just too heavy. Oh well, at least we got off with a slap on the wrist. By that I mean we had to scrape all the glue off the ceiling, but we were done by the next day.

Since then everyone is gearing up for the tournament just like last year. Finn wants extra practice and has challenged basically everyone in the clan. I pointed out that we literally just had a dual before the new year but she’s insistent.

So we fought again, under the watch of Master Aerith who made sure we didn’t kill each other. Lightsabers were set to low power, and we began testing each other.

I tried to ward her off by quickly fading between sequences 34, 56 and 71. The last is a new sequence I have been practicing a lot recently. It involves ducking under her attack, forcing it up and swiping my blade down at her knee’s before jumping up with a cut at the neck.

This actually seemed to surprise her and for a moment I pushed her back! But as she retreated she caught her breath, and struck a powerful blow that nearly knocked my blade out of my hand. Then she twirled her lightsaber around, cut me at the elbow, and dragged her blade across my chest.

The red marks left over are like carpet burn except they still haven’t faded in the five hours since.

Tom tried facing her too, but after the first pass she tricked him into overstretching and batted him in the backside. He still can’t sit.

I really don’t know what she is worrying about. Everyone agrees that if last year's tournament had been in a normal field of battle she would have won.


946:01:24
Entry #381

Tom keeps talking about the initiate trials. Says he’s going to do it again later this week, but he’s been saying the same thing FOR MONTHS. I think he’s worried if he fails enough times they won’t give him another chance.

What can I tell him? I’ve already said everything Master Trebor said to me. The thing is I can’t imagine Pyletom Vuton of all people ever having an internal peace. This morning I caught him trying to meditate during math class. His eye’s were closed, and he was humming a lot louder than I think he intended too. Trying to find that peace I told him about. The problem? His foot was twitching, and he was playing drums on the table in front of him with his fingers the whole time! My friend can’t stay still for two minutes let alone ten!

My mind went back to Illum. As Tom told the story, he claims he needed to meditate to connect with a fish and convince it to bring his crystal to him. But I wonder if he’s even capable of doing that! I know he likes to boast a lot, but he’s stuck to that story since day one. Well after his first attempt to make up a better one failed anyways. When I pressed him on it today, Tom insisted it wasn’t the same thing at all. He had tried diving under the water maybe ten or twenty times to pick up his crystal by hand before noticing the fish and making a connection to it.

I thought maybe it was just exhaustion, after so long he just gave up and tried a different way. But that’s not in Tom’s character. He can stay up all night and never seems less energetic. If anything he seems even more crazy when low on sleep, running around and extra eager to have fun. I don’t know how he does it. Last time we stayed up for mischief I fell asleep during science class, and he used one of Master Katri’s scopes to chase Rolek for half the period just to try and zoom in on his boogers.

But as he explains it, the peace he found on Illum had everything to do with that fish, and nothing else. Not tiredness, not peace, not from within at all. Just the fish. That only raises more questions in my mind! Did he learn anything at all? Was it really patience if it didn’t come from within? Really ‘Diligence’ as Yoda said? Was he being guided on a leash? Was the fish some old wise mentor that taught him something he didn’t expect? Or just a dumb fish?

Whatever the case, we can’t repeat it here! I wouldn’t even know where to find a fish on Coruscant.

I asked Master Trebor about it and he suggested a moving meditation. He says different people find peace in different ways, so maybe if I turn on a recording of nature sounds and guide him through the steps: pretending to be tree’s in the wind, waves in the ocean and birds in the nest he will be calm enough to pass?

I don’t know what else to do?

 

Great for Rolek. The gluing the furniture to the ceiling... WHAT? Tom is incorrigible.

 

Rolek made it, yes. And that furniture prank, always Tom and his restlessness and what to do about that?

 

Yay, Rolek made it! I'm even more invested in his fate now that I've read A Mother's Mourning, and I was worried for him. The trial he had to overcome to find his crystal, or rather his solution to it, was beautifully described; he had to overcome his insecurity, and now he knows that he has true friends.

And the furniture prank? These three are incorrigible.

I also loved the more detailed description of Tom's trial in the caves of Ilum that we got in this entry. It's very like Tom to try the blunt, direct and impatient way several times until he realises that the slow and steady road is best, and that's something he would do well to bear in mind if he wants to take the initiate trials. Moving meditations are something I've used for a few characters who, like Tom, are the fidgety sort, and maybe it would work... if he can sit still long enough to listen to Ort's explanations!

 

Yes he is, but that's why we love him.
It really feels right out of a cartoon too.

Worth highlighting, since Star Wars dates can be confusing, that Tom is 14 months younger than Ort.
Orts 12th birthday was the previous “November”, and Tom’s 11th birthday was this past “January.”

Ort has always been the more mature of the two (Maybe less so than he’d have you believe), but Tom is always going to lag a little behind in just about everything just by virtue of his age.

Honestly he’s grown on me too over time. When I first developed the character, he was a throw away, someone who much like Fyr probably wouldn’t go far. But the more I wrote about him, the more I wanted him to succeed.

He’s growing. Still a long way to go, but we all need support along the way.

Wait until you see the story I was just writing about them for a certain challenge as you appeared in my alerts. I think you’ll like it.

Toms another character with a long way to go, but if anyone can get him to listen it's Ort.
Really as I developed his character, his trial began to define him more and more and I loved every second of it.

Also, while I absolutely adore KidTom and could write him until the cows come home, I’m actually very curious to see how he will grow up. He’ll never be a Mace Windu type. But I could see him as the (Good)Anakin Skywalker type.
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946:02:01
Entry #382

He passed, he passed! I don’t know how but he passed! I honestly didn’t think it would work. When Master Trebor told me to perch on one leg and bend over like I was feeding chicks as a mama bird, I thought he was teasing me. It felt SO unbelievably silly, it had to be a prank right? It’s the kind of thing Danva would have come up with.

There is no way THAT of all things would get my friend Tom to find inner peace! But somehow it did. He actually got to move his body, and that alone seemed to keep him from going crazy! He kept his worst instincts under control long enough to get a passing grade from Master Loraw, who also appreciated his lightsaber show from what I heard. Tom refuses to say exactly how his fight went, but I know he’s joining the tournament so maybe he thinks he’s being sneaky.

It’s going to be a long next couple months. Tom wants to practice of course, but he’s very picky with how he does it. He won’t even try against Finn, saying she never fights fair. He also won’t get within a meter of Lilet, even though she told me she’d be happy to fight him, he just puts on a grossed out face when I bring it up. Khaat says he’s just afraid to fight a girl, but he told me during free time today that he is planning a spar against Depa next Centaxday so who knows what is going on there.

I didn’t believe it when he told me. He claims her defensive style will be the hardest for him to overcome and he wants to test out methods around it. He could just as easily fight Kwin or Hyol you know? They have the same style! I just need to remind myself it’s all about preparing for the tournament, he doesn’t mean anything by it and I’m confident he put no thought into his sparring partner this time around.


946:02:04
Entry #383

Depa managed to beat him, but it was a very close match, he says he has a plan for the next time but I’m not sure there will be one. I showed up a little late, but when I got there Depa seemed off focus. Tom nearly got two marks on her, and after his blade came within a hairs breath of marking her neck, she just barely managed to slip under his guard and jab him in the gut, she didn’t even say a word after it was finished before dashing away.

Tom looked ready to hurl after she left too! Not fun to get a training blade through the tummy, I can back that fact up from experience. I wish she at least would have checked on him, what if he had been seriously hurt? I know the weapon was on low power mode, but after a direct hit any one of us would be down for a couple minutes at least.

After he managed to pull himself back up Tom says he thinks she’s weird, and he looked really annoyed as he said it. Then again he STILL thinks all girls are weird. It’s actually kind of funny I think, he’s around a year younger than me but he acts like five years younger sometimes. He’s just so childish! I’ve been past the “girls are icky” phase for a long while now but Tom just won’t grow up.

Master Aerith had him put an equation on the board yesterday, and when Khaat immediately pointed out he got the first step wrong he stuck his tongue out at her and called her a cootie monster. The Master spent a good while lecturing him after that and he had to stay after to write lines about respecting his peers! Certainly can’t hurt him, but It will take a lot more than that to teach my friend anything about any of that.

He’s got more duels lined up over the next week, one with It’vik, one with Hyol, one with Fyr, and even one with Vel-aika and some of the Po’ackster boys. Tom doesn’t love much, I think he considers ‘love’ a dirty word, but I can say with great confidence he LOVES lightsaber duels. He’ll fight every hour of the day if we let him.

But if he can’t do that, there’s one thing he can count on when all else fails: mischief. He’s already throwing ideas around with Rolek and me. I'm not sure what we will do but I’m sure it will end badly. Wish us luck. We’re going to need it.


946:02:12
Entry #383

Seems Tom and Rolek got up to some funny business last night when I was asleep.

First you should know that every morning when we get woken up there is always a stampede to the refresher. Kids want to get to the sinks and sanisteams before they’re all taken and they need to line up and do a nice long practice in patience. Plus if you aren’t the first ones in then you have to suffer the nightmare of a cold water spray! The Temple Steams only got enough hot water for a five-minute cleaning! I’m serious! It’s AWFUL!

Ok, back to the point at hand.

This time when the rush started there was a bunch of popping noises the moment people found their way to the center hall. Apparently late last night the two of them rolled out a thousand plus crackling capsules down the center of the room.

The first people to step foot there were in for a very rude awakening! Loud flashes and prickly feet all over! It definitely didn’t make the morning panic any more organized.

Can’t deny it was funny, but I kind of feel left out. They could have asked me, you know?

I don’t mean to be a complainer. I don’t want to get in trouble, but I DO like to have fun. Is it really so hard to find a balance between the two?

It’s just frustrating. Tom’s always been the biggest Rolek skeptic out there, chasing him around, demanding answers, saying we shouldn’t let him play with us. Well I never gave up on him! I try to be nice, encourage him to open up, and just when I get him to say more than two words to us then suddenly their best buddies without a second guess. That doesn't make sense!

I’m really happy they’re friendly now. I just don’t like them leaving me out of it. Rolek told me it was a last second decision, something he came up with at random after lights out. I was already asleep when they went out and he didn’t want to wake me up. I wonder if he was just afraid of me calling out Kwin?


…..DATA LOST- RECALIBRATING…..

 

The final one is very real to life. You support somebody, are a shoulder for them and then it feels like this is the thanks you get. Freezing out of all the fun. And when/how did Tom and Rolek become BFFS anyhow, Ort's wondering.

 

Tom can do it.
And Tom being involved in the next prank with Rolek, that's not nice for Ort

 

It's very true to RL in that in school settings three kids hang out and they're all close but one is friends to everyone and then they feel shut out and they don't know why.

 

So, Tom the padawan, eh? There's a master out there who is going to have their hands full very soon

The boys-and-girls relationships are getting increasingly complicated as they progress towards adolescence, it would seem. Ort isn't wrong to say that Tom is still very childish about it all, but Depa's reaction also tickled my curiosity. What's going on in her head, I wonder?

And of course, the prank. There had to be a prank! But this is the first time it's Tom and Rolek without Ort, and as Nyota said above it's very true to life that Ort would suddenly feel left out. On the other hand, I'd say that Tom and Rolek developing their friendship independently from Ort is a good thing for their personal growth, but this is all something these kiddos will have to learn to manage...