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

Title: A Journal for the Historical Record
Author: ConservativeJedi321
Timeframe: 58 BBY- 22BBY
Characters: Ortatious Aski (OC Originating from A Shattered Minds Eye), other OC’s and canon characters from that series including Depa Billaba, Coleman Trebor
Keywords: Self-reflection, A Jedi's Life, Coming of age, Canon Compliant, Legends Compliant, Single POV, First Person, Family, Friendships, Learning, Loss, War, Across Many Years, Trauma, Serious Topics. ONGOING
Genre: Drama, Humor, whatever I feel like on any given day.

Summary: *Scratching noise* “Record 43257877 to be entered into the Jedi Archives on Ossus upon review by Master’s Solusar and Skywalker. This Item was located by a pair of Jedi operating on the scrap world of Bracca in 45 ABY, in the possession of a scavenger who knew little of its actual contents. Acting on Instinct the senior Jedi present purchased the data pad for a measly five credit sum and used the force to flip a hidden switch granting access to a treasure trove of information relating to daily life of an average Jedi in the Old Jedi Order. It is our hope this item will prove illuminating in our continued quest to fill in certain gaps relating to our knowledge of the Jedi Order of generations past. Heretofore submitted for evaluation.”

Typical Disclaimer: I don’t own Star Wars, obviously. All this is the intellectual property of Lucasfilm and Disney.


942:05:12
Entry #1

Hello, my name is Ortatious Aski. My friends call me Ort. I am 8 years old. I have red hair, light blue eye’s, around 1.2 meters tall last I checked, and I have lots of freckles. I am a Jedi in training. This is my journal. My history teacher Master Ransisis (Spl?) has asked all the people in my clan (Clawmouse Clan) to write “diaries for the historical record”. He seems to think Jedi a hundred or two hundred years from now will be interested in our daily lives. I really don’t know how, it’s not like we’re doing anything different than Jedi in the past, right?

But here I am. Now what to write?

Well, I always start my morning with a hygiene routine like most Jedi I guess. Most people actually. My friend Tom doesn’t like to shower, he will go days at a time without touching water. I’d never tell him but he can smell bad sometimes.

Then we have a morning meeting with Master Jor Aerith. She likes meditation. Like a lot. I hear other clans have different activities every day, play games and have trivia contests. But Master Aerith says starting the morning in “silence and contimplation” can be good for the soul. I don’t know how many of us are actually “quiet and thinking hard” (which is what she says those words mean) but I know some take it as a chance to make up for lost sleeping hours.

Then we have a morning meal. They have Buerbal pie on Taungsdays! Some say it is good to eat a lot in the morning to get the extra energy throughout the day. I don’t know about that, Tom once ended up barfing most of his food up after eating too much.

But that may just be because Defensive education with Master Sinube happens right afterwards and that day he had us doing handstands for most of the hour. It’s usually just lots of exercise, play fighting and sweat. But it can be fun! When people can keep their food down.

Then Math, again with Master Aerith, and Science with Master Katri. She’s a nice teacher. Likes to hand out sticky stars for good work. After that we have history, which is what i’m writing this for.

By this point we are ready for a Midday meal, I think we once had a food fight but that was a long time ago.

Then lightsaber training with Master Yoda. Mostly swinging sticks in front of remotes, practicing blocking shots with the force. I think I am getting pretty good with it. I only missed two blasts in class yesterday.

Then we have an afternoon meeting with Master Jor Aerith where she quizzes what we learned through the day. I like showing her my lightsaber stances. She doesn’t usually seem impressed though. A very hard master to make happy for sure.

Evening meals can be pretty boring. Either a bunch of grains or greens, with a little dry meat for those that can’t eat anything else. They don’t want us eating too much before bed, it’s not good for you.

The rest of the afternoon is set aside for electives and study time. I have two classes, the first is Philosophy taught by Master Yarael Poof. It’s mostly a bunch of questioning, and “moral dilema’s”. Things like “you can only save one of these two people, what do you do?”

I’m pretty good at it, Master Poof likes to confuse us but I think I have impressed him a couple times by coming up with a solution he didn’t think of.

The last class is media studies, taught by Master Coleman Trebor. This involves watching a lot of the holonet! Paying attention to face’s, listening to words. It seems easy, but its actually very hard. I’ve had to stay after a lot to get help from Master Trebor.

Then the day is pretty much done. Maybe a couple free hours to talk to friends or do classwork, but not much else I can say.



942:05:13
Entry #2

Tom says I should write a little about my clanmates. “Nobody’s gonna know what you’re talking about if they don’t know who you’re talking about.”

I think he just wants to see what I think of him. He’s sitting right next to me right now working on his own journal, but I see him peeking at my datapad, he thinks he’s sneaky but he’s not.

So here I go, I guess. Well, besides being smelly, PyleTom Vuton is my best friend.

He’s probably three inches shorter than me, and has been since we were five at least. He’s got short brown hair that he likes to spike up, brown eyes, and a dark tan at all times.

He also likes to get me into trouble, not that I hold it against him. I could have said no, but It was his idea to grab Master Katri’s stickers and pepper my face with them. It was his idea to climb the tree in the training garden when we were told not to, and dropping the bubble bomb in the first floor refresher was all him. He has so many bad ideas, and I do try to talk him out of them, but time and again I find myself going along with him and I don’t know why.

I swear I’ve been stuck with him decoding so many ancient treaties as punishment I can almost speak old Galactic Basic as a second language.

The third member of our group is Rolek Zesr, I won’t even try to spell his species name but he’s got a very flat and wrinkly head. Looks a little like a nut actually. He has orangish brown skin and yellow eye’s. I’m not sure if he would say he is our friend or not, but he sure likes to follow us around

Very quiet actually. Not very expressive. But he’s smart for sure. He’s the one who put the bubble bomb together in the science lab by the way.

Whenever Toms got a plan he’ll join us for the first half but disappear half way through, shortly before the Masters show up to punish us.

He usually seems very proud of himself the next day too. Tom thinks he’s a tattler, and doesn’t want Rolek joining us anymore. But I feel bad for him. Plus, In my experience he talks to the teachers even less than he talks to us so I don’t think he’s responsible for our trouble with the Masters. That's on Tom.

Besides us three there are seven eight other members of Clawmouse Clan for a total of eleven.

• Lillet Twoseas is a blond girl, very artistic, she loves drawing pictures and finger painting.
• I’tvik Thoom is a Nikto boy, not very athletic but probably the smartest person in math, science in history I have ever met. Seriously, he’s shocked a couple of the Masters with the facts he keeps in that head of his.
• Fyr Maton is a Roonan boy, he likes jokes, and some of them can be kind of funny I guess? Sometimes?
• Hyol Htin is an Aqualish, he is Fyr’s friend, they always hang out together and he’s the stronger of the two.
• Depa Billaba is a Chalactan girl, she’s nice.
• Finn Ertay is a green skinned T’wilek, by far the best athlete in our class for sure.
• Khaat Qiyn is from Onderon, she likes to read and play games.

Edit: I almost forgot Kwin Skiel, she’s a Zeltron girl but actually very shy. Almost never speaks, and usually sits off by herself which I guess is why I forgot her.

 

I like the tone of this diary. I love how he claims to want to talk Tom out of mischief but ends up going along anyway.

I enjoyed meeting the rest of the clan and hearing about the various classes.

 

It sure is the diary of a young boy describing the life in his clan and who are there with him.

 

A Shattered Mind's Eye has been on my reading list since forever. I unfortunately haven't been able to make the time to catch up on it yet, but I'm happy I'm catching this diary as it begins, and I'm hoping to keep up here until I can catch up over there.

I'm liking Ort already, and you have the voice of an 8-year-old down pat. Especially his thoughts on meditation but also the fact that he isn't sure how to spell Oppo Rancisis's name, the Buerbal pie on Taungsdays, his mischievous escapades with his friend Tom, who sounds like a scruffy-looking scoundrel in the making, and their maybe-friend Rolek Zesr. I'd be very curious to hear a few of his solutions to moral dilemmas that impressed Yarael Poof; somehow I suspect that a few of those times Master Poof was just trying very hard not to laugh.

And of course, this:

The irony. Oh the irony.

 

Glad you enjoyed it! I have a lot of idea's for where this will go and I definitely want the earliest entries to be laugh heavy!

Thank you for the review, and it is indeed! Though I expect him to grow out of that eventually.

Happy to have you on board @Chyntuck, I confess I may have been over eager in the early phases of The Shattered Minds Eye, I started it right after reading Shatterpoint for the first time and I wanted to get as much out the doors as I could, often posting back to back, Which in hindsight made it quite the behemoth to read fairly early on. If you ever find time I am always happy to have reviews, but I understand how many will struggle to lift that weight.
I expect Ort's story to be fun as well, and a little slower going for a while at least. Truly finding my inner child while writing this is probably 70% the fun. It's always enjoyable trying to find just the right words to misspell and having him jumping at joy for the little things we might take for granted.

In truth the whole Philosophy Class is sort of a relic from The Shattered Minds eye where I made an offhand mention very early on of Ort taking it at the age of four, which maaaay have been a little excessive. (Back then I never imagined I'd have to actually show it!). But fortunately, I do have some ideas for peaks into Master Poofs teaching style going forward. I definitely chose him for a reason.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


942:05:14
Entry #3

I had a weird thought during philosophy last night. Master Poof was going on about how our life experiences influence our morals and I got a little distracted by an idea that popped into my head.

Aren’t diaries and journals supposed to be… you know, secret? Like, some place I can go to write my honest thoughts without worrying about what other people think? I asked Master Oppo (Much easier than his last name), and he promised he wouldn’t read what I wrote “in your lifetime”, which believe it or not does not make me feel better!

He claims that for now he will just check that I wrote something. If that’s true, why don’t I write gibberish? Wada Mada Zing Kong!

Of course, I think he probably could tell the difference fairly easy. The real trouble is that he wants to put it into the archives, which means that its likely someday someone WILL read it. Thats not something I can easily forget! I don’t like being judged.


942:05:16
Entry #4

Sorry I skipped a day, Tom’s just driving me crazy. He and a couple of the others like spending time with the older apprentices. During free time they are always bugging them, asking for stories, what their missions and classes are like and so on.

Normally this wouldn’t be a big deal to me, but I’m pretty sure Tom gets all his worst idea’s from them. One specifically. Joclad Danva. He’s 14, and likes filling our heads with crazy stories, half of which I’m SURE are made up.

This time he is talking about some firework show he saw on Empress Teta and Tom wants to make his own version of it. This is going to end so bad…


.........DATA LOST- RECALIBRATING......


942:06:25
Entry #20

Well our two months of refresher duty is half way up, and Master Aerith seems open to us going on Master Sinube’s mysterious training mission next week. Tom’s excited, but I need to keep reminding him we will only get to go if he stays out of trouble. “But Master T’un looks better with a bald patch anyways!” he keeps saying. Come on Tom! At very least he shouldn’t have released the fireworks indoors.

For now everyone’s guessing where the big trip will be. Fyr wants it to be to Mandalore, but I don’t think that is likely. That world has some issues if the holonet is telling the truth. Lillet wants some place pretty, and Tom keeps going on about Empress Teta. I think Master Sinube is keeping it secret for a reason.

 

Very understandable that he would hesitate to write in a journal if it's going to be read either by an instructor now or later down the line in an archive. TOM is JUST. Incorrigible! Fireworks indoors, whew! I'm not surprised they got two months' of fresher duty!

 

Diaries should be secret and not be put in an archive. And those fireworks inside. It deserves correctional duty

 

I like to imagine it looks a little like the Weasley twins fireworks. Not particularly destructive (Poor T'un) but extremely disruptive.

In my mind at least refresher duty is (One of) the most serious punishments the Jedi can offer short of expulsion.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


942:06:26
Entry #40

Tom’s plotting something I know it. He keeps going on and on about when we will get our own lightsabers. “Master Yoda! Master Yoda! How long now?” “When ready you are, need to ask that question you will not.”

Danva says he’s had his since he was six, but I think he’s just trying to make Tom jealous.

Please Tom, one week, just one week! Can’t you wait until the training mission is done?


942:06:28
Entry #41

Tom says he thinks he knows where the training lightsabers are stored, he claims he overheard one of the temple staff talk about cleaning them off and putting them in the cellar below the room of a thousand fountains.

I’m putting my foot down here, we will NOT get in trouble before the big trip.

Believe it or not I don’t always go along with his skemes. When he has a REALLY bad idea I shoot it down. I remember once he thought it would be funny to streak through the main refectory during evening meal, that was the last time I refused to go along with his craziness. Privacy please if nothing else!

Tom might be reckless, but even he won’t act out by himself. It would probably bore him if he was the only one getting in trouble.

So why do I put up with his silly games so often? Well I guess that’s just what friends do.

And friends also don’t let friends miss field trips because they wanted to play with a lightsaber for five minutes.



942:06:29
Entry #42

Today was a boring day. I swear every one of our teachers is plotting to make the week before the big trip the most tiring they can make it be!

Master Aerith says there is a big test in Math coming up about pie charts. Not nearly as fun as those we can eat. We are learning about the Nhil crisis during the High Republic in History. Everyone's expecting we will need to write a report when the lecture is done. Even Master Sinube has us writing essays in Defense Education: “One page on Tribal fighting styles.”

I wonder if that has anything to do with his big trip? I finally convinced Tom to put off his plan with the lightsabers until later. Besides, the cellar is locked. My friend is pretty good, but he doesn’t know how to break locks (yet). Thank goodness! At very least we can wait until we get back before we get in trouble again. I’d hate to lose a chance to actually leave the temple! See the larger galaxy. Who knows what will happen?

 

I'm back! Sorry for missing an update, there's a lot going on on the boards these days and I'm struggling a bit to keep up with reviews. Before I start, let me just say that I'll definitely get to A Shattered Mind's Eye at some point; I just want to finish working my way through another two epics that I'm already reading before I get started on it, because reading too many stories at once can quickly get confusing.

I can see why Ort would be concerned about someone reading his diary, even in the future, if he's keeping track of Tom's mischief in there... and I loved the "data lost -- recalibrating" interruption in his story to let us know that Tom did make his own version of the fireworks display... indoors... and earned them two months of refresher duty Ort is trying very hard to be a model student ahead of the Big Trip™, but I'm not entirely sure they'll make it there. I mean, between the fact that Tom is itching to get his hands on a training saber (and it didn't escape me that he knows exactly where they're stored) and the teachers making the last week before the trip super-boring, there's bound to be a mishap at some point. At the same time, the one-page assignment about tribal fighting styles is interesting, and the indication that it might be related to the trip is titillating my curiosity.

As a detail, I loved the aside on Mandalore: "That world has some issues if the holonet is telling the truth." That's a major understatement right there!

 

I enjoyed reading of Ort's restraint on pranking before the trip. He has his priorities. LOL on the comment that Tom would find it boring to misbehave on his own.

 

Ort doesn't want to play a prank but that Tom. He can get into trouble

 

Happy you're still interested! I understand how busy the forms can be sometimes. The funny bit in my mind is the mischief he's cataloguing are mostly those items that he got caught and in trouble with already. Imagine if he got away with something! He may second guess putting things in the journal if he did.
Tom and Ort know each other pretty well, and I think they know not to test each other. As far as Tom's concerns there is a world of difference between "I think this is a bad idea." and "No I won't do it and you can't make me!", he's a good enough friend not to cross that line at least. Ort also knows not to hold Tom's leash to tightly for too long because he doesn't want to antagonize the best friend he's got. It's all about equilibrium for them.

Time skips are a convenient way to cover large periods of time, especially when there probably isn't a ton interesting going on during it. It helps that the datapad isn't in the best condition as explained in the original summary.

All the best mischief happens in groups.

They always get in trouble, they just want to limit the worst of their punishments at strategic times.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


942:07:10
Entry #43

Well we’re back, and I’m not sure where to start, or even if I want to say everything that happened there.

Everyone already knows so it's not like its a big secret, but I’m still embarrassed.

The big trip? It was to a world called Felucia on the outer rim. It’s a very colorful planet with house sized coral and fungus. Lilet was yelling with joy even before our ship The Preacher set down. “Be on your best behavior.” Master Sinube said. “We are representatives of the Jedi here.”

We really should have listened to him.

The goal was to learn from the Native Felucians. Master Sinube says they have a different kind of hand to hand combat than the Jedi do. I honestly don’t think most cared, a lot of us just ran off the moment they could to explore the amazing planet. It couldn’t be more unlike Coruscant! Not one skyscraper or speeder in sight! Just colorful funguses and animal hide tents (I think). There was a river nearby too, some weird animals. At one point I swear I heard a rancor. It was awesome!

I DID try to follow the rules. For a little while it was just me, It’vik and Kwin watching Master Sinube talk about the tribal peoples webbed hands, and how they do a lot of slapping. I didn’t exactly understand what he was trying to say.

Then Rolek grabbed my elbow, and pulled me away.

“You will like this.” he claims, as he drags me into a nearby hut. I tried to tell him we shouldn’t be there, it wasn’t our place. But he insisted and casually cracked open a locked basket and began digging through it. I didn’t even know he knew how to do that!

I probably should have gotten Master Sinube, but I didn’t want to get in trouble too. When Rolek grabbed out a pink bulbous plant of some kind I just kind of shrugged. What was the big deal about a flower?

“Nysillin.” He passed it to me. “A healing herb. Go on, it won’t bite.”
It smelled a little like Bacta, but with a smokey edge.
“Can’t grow most places.” Rolek said. “Makes it very valuable.”

So what? Did he think we could sell it or something? We were JEDI, Jedi didn’t own anything, money would be useless to us. Then again, Jedi didn’t usually break and enter either? Rolek definitely has been keeping secrets.

The other boy had an odd smile on his face as he kept looking through the room around us, throwing a blanket into a pile in a corner, digging through a sack full of clothes, and just generally messing things up. “You know the best thing about most medicines?” He looked at me, clearly excited. “They aren’t just for healing.”

I know what you’re thinking and it was my first worry too. Master Sinube gave us a basic drug awareness lesson last year. He even showed us some pictures from his time as a Jedi Investigator. I don’t want to end up like those people! Dying on the street looking for the next high.

I tried to warn him off, remind him of the ugly pictures and said it would ruin his life.

“No, not like that.” Rolek laughed as if I was crazy for thinking he meant THAT. “The natives mix it into a potion they use for rituals. Say they can see the future.”
Where does he get these ideas? Something tells me this wasn’t classwork for one of our teachers.
“If it was bad, they wouldn’t do it.”
Did we really want to find out though? And besides, we didn’t have permission.
One last time I tried to leave, telling him I wasn’t interested and that the others would be missing us.

“Come on Ort, I thought you were cool.”
Cool? Was writing lines cool? Cleaning toilets cool? Translating a thousand year old farming reports? Was that cool? I just don’t want to get in trouble! For once. Please. Can’t anything be easy for me?

But Rolek put the bottle in my hand.

I woke up a day later on The Preacher.

I really don’t remember much of what I saw when I was blacked out. Hyol says it sounded like I was having a nightmare so maybe that is for the best. I just have this one weird image of a pair of spinning blue propellers. They were so fast and blended together, I don’t know what it means though?

Well Master Sinube forced us to apologize for breaking and entering. The Native who lived there placed a hand on my head and gave me a heart attack with his loud and harsh growling sounds. It looked like he wanted to eat me!
Apparently he actually said something like “This child has suffered enough for his transgreshins.”

So Master Sinube must have taken the Native’s advice, because we were allowed to join the rest of the clan for activities the rest of the week. Tom says Master Sinube has had his hands full. He claims one of the girls almost fell into a Sarlaac. But I think he’s just trying to make me feel better.

I still had a weird feeling whenever that Felucian looked at me, like he could see into my mind. Rolek has also refused to speak to me since I woke up. Did he drink the potion too? If so, what did he see?


942:07:13
Entry #44

The good news since we have come back from Felucia is Tom seems to have forgotten about his whole lightsaber heist plan. He’s been too busy pestering me about my experience with the potion.
“Why did you take it?”
“What did it taste like?”
“What was the hut like?”
“What did Rolek do?”
“Did you see the future?”

He seems impressed that this was all Rolek’s idea, and says that he never thought he had it in him. I have to agree. In the past Rolek has gone along with Tom’s half baked crazy idea’s for a few giggles, but he’s never come up with something like this on his own. I have to say, he seemed a lot calmer than Tom usually is when he breaks the rules, and he put a lot more thought in ahead of time! I had never even heard of these Nysilin potions before!

Tom keeps asking me to repeat everything that happened, and I’ve told him most of the story maybe a dozen times already. I wonder if I should mention how Rolek broke the lock?


........DATA LOST- RECALIBRATING.................


942:10:17
Entry #91

Master Poof is giving his yearly Anti-Bullying lecture, and likes asking tough questions like what we would do if we saw two people physically fighting each other. Most gave the easy answers: tell the masters, or try to break them up. I suggested using the force to trick them into seeing the other person as a monster and forcing them to run away. Master Poof enjoyed that suggestion.

In media studies we are learning about “redirection”.

This is when someone who is asked a difficult question answers with a different question as a distraction.

Something like:
“Chancellor Darus, what do you say to the people who claim your taxes are hurting the Outer Rim?”
“What do you say to the kids here on Coruscant starving on the street?”

Or perhaps my own made up example:
“Ortatious Aski, why did you go along with Pyletom Vuton’s plan to fill the temple's washing machines with pink dye?”
“I don’t know Master Oppo, why do you think you don’t look good in pink?”

I should have thought of that response at the time.

 

It feels like Ort always goes along with pranksters and he always gets the worst of it. They either skate through unscathed or plot something worse. Tom's pranks are more on the goofy trying to be funny end of the spectrum. Rolek's feel serious, borderline if not over the edge criminal and he's looking for mood/mind altering experiences.

 

Those pranksters. Always looking for trouble. And those drugs. TROUBLE

 

Oh dear! Ort keeps getting into trouble for his friends' crazy ideas, doesn't he? Like Tom, I didn't know that Rolek had it in him – there's a serious rascallish streak at play, and one that goes somewhat beyond simple "transgreshins" because breaking into someone's home and ingesting what is essentially a drug is in a different league than Tom's innocent pranks. I think that Ort is better off not telling Tom that Rolek broke the lock, lest Tom get any ideas...

I'm taking good note of this. Between this factoid and the fact that Rolek is avoiding eye contact with Ort, I'm wondering if there was more to the potion than meets the eye.

 

Ort really has rotten luck, though I'd say it's only Rolek who manages to get away with things he probably shouldn't, and I'd agree this is borderline criminal at the very least
This tribe of Felucian's are pretty communal which probably helped the kids insofar as anywhere else it would actually be breaking and entering, and thus a very serious offense, but for these people their worst offense might be called "misusing a sacred object." They're not so concerned about private property rights as others might be.

Fun fact: I began each of my OC's with an archetype before fleshing them out over time, Rolek's was "Too cool for school", which Ort might misinterpret for shyness but in fact carries with it something of a stiff upper lip and rather toned-down reactions. Among MANY other things that I intend to develop over time.

For what it's worth, and despite his MANY flaws, I truly don't think Rolek was looking for a high, or mind altering affects. He truly believed what he told Ort- that it's a safe potion just used for rituals. He certainly didn't understand quite the gravity of its use however.

Rolek's got a lot of secrets. He's a lot more hardcore.
As for your second point [Ort Voice]: "But....but...,. but.... He's my best friend!"

Happy you're taking good notes! Naturally can't say much about where it will go, but I really am absolutely THRILLED with the number of small details in all these chapters I have set up to bear fruit later. Sometimes I even surprise myself (Let's just say I am a fair bit ahead of the writing curve here. Some things I am very excited to get to).

As a teacher I know how I'd respond if one of my students would have said such a thing and it would not have been pretty.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

942:10:18
Entry #92

We did it, we did it!

For once one of Tom’s idea’s actually succeeded! Kind of.

Late last night me, him and Rolek snuck out of the initiates quarter and found our way to the nearest refectory. Rolek picked the lock, letting us into the Kitchen where we raided the snack closet.

Dragging back a bag full of sweets, a bunch of us boys stuffed ourselves late into the night.
It’vik wanted to share with the girls, but Tom says they’re icky. He likes to bring up the time one of them threw a pie at the back of my head as a reason I shouldn’t trust them. I’m not sure what to think.

It would have gone off without problem. If we had eaten a little less and hid the wrappers a little more. Master Yarael Poof didn’t seem impressed when he woke us up this morning.

I think he told Master Sinube to have us run laps in defensive education. That’s usually a Benduday exercise, so it's odd we got stuck with it today, a Centaxday right? He’s lucky we didn’t have a repeat of the Buerbal incident. Still, none of us were feeling very well by the end of it.


942:10:19
Entry #93

Masters Yoda and Sinube are pushing us too hard! I swear, it’s like they are convinced if we don’t have a Jedi Knight's strength and speed right now we will die tomorrow! Yoda expects us to block four shots a second (At least), and Sinube is having us lift a lot more weight than normal. I’m not even nine yet! If they keep this up I’m sure I won’t see 10. Please Masters, slow down just a little bit?

I never thought I’d be missing the writing assignments. Are they still punishing us for the whole candy robbery thing? That doesn’t seem right, even the girls who weren’t involved are being pushed to their limit. Khaat collapsed on the common room sofa after we got back and refused to get back up even during elective time.


942:10:19
Entry #94

Now even Master Aerith is demanding we show our toughness! Usually she lets us choose what we want to show during evening meetings, a lot of the others prefer repeating facts from Math, History or Science. But now she says we can only show lightsaber stances or do some exercises. It’vik especially is struggling right now. It’s like the Masters are enjoying tor…


…..DATA LOST- RECALIBRATING…..


943:01:10
Entry #144

Today was a HUGE day. During lightsaber training instead of our normal exercises Yoda brought in a couple other Jedi to show off the lightsaber forms. I don’t think I have ever seen Tom happier! While I do like the idea of swinging a lightsaber, the extreme exercises the Masters have put us all through over the last few months have left me kind of tired of it all.

Don’t get me wrong, it was interesting to watch Master Dooku and Sora Bulq fighting back and forth. I think Sora was winning by the end. It’s just that none of the other forms seem interesting to me? Maybe Nimen? It’s just that they are all so specialized!
Makashi looks fancy, but outside of a lightsaber duel what good is it? And in what world will any of us be having any real lightsaber duels any time soon?
Soresu is just block block block.
Ataru looks exhausting.
Dgem So seems too busy for me. Always redirecting, attack, defend, attack.
Juyo isn’t even worth mentioning.

So where does that leave me? I don’t know.

 

LOL on the candy robbery and a very realistic consequence of eating too much followed by intense workout.

A lot of focused instruction from all the masters on showing strength, toughness, and skills in the details of lightsaber use.

Ort's commentary on the various lightsaber forms is interesting, in that he does not think there's a true need to master them soonish, "we're not likely to be in a lightsaber duel anytime soon), and he doesn't seem to take to any one in particular although there's time for that.

 

Eating too much and that leads to trouble in the exercises.
They are becoming Jedi and will have to use a lightsaber. He will learn which form to use?

 

Candy is sweet but oh so painful sometimes.
It is worth noting the specific comment on lightsaber duals was specifically directed at Form II: Makashi which is entirely dedicated to lightsaber to lightsaber combat, at the expense of many other more practical skills for the era.

I will say it was more than simply eating too much, so many hours had passed he may have digested a lot of what he ate.
The big issue is the fact he was eating absolute JUNK late into the night, especially when he is used to a healthier diet, his body isn't coping with the sugar overload and crash all that well.

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943:01:11
Entry #145

All anyone can talk about today is what lightsaber style they want to study. Tom has been obsessing nonstop about Ataru since the show yesterday. Rolek seems interested in that form too, and the two of them seem to just be assuming I’ll be following them wherever they go. I really don’t know.

Fyr wants to be a little Dooku, I’m pretty sure he is already practicing Makashi at night when nobody is watching.

Khaat made clear she is going for form V, and Depa Billaba says she never even considered anything but Form III. The rest at least seem almost as unsure as I am, though I feel like I’m the only one who has no idea at all which way they will go.


943:01:12
Entry #146

I tried speaking to Master Yoda today to try and get some direction with the whole lightsaber form thing. He is one of the wisest Jedi in existence, but also very hard to understand sometimes. “If lost you are, stop and learn from your surroundings you must.”

Is he trying to say I don’t need to pick a form? I’m confused. Why does he like speaking in riddles so much? This is too much pressure! Can’t he just tell me which Form he thinks would be best for me?


943:01:13
Entry #147

I told Tom I’m not doing Ataru, he was disappointed, but it’s just not for me. I don’t know what the future holds. Master Dooku says I can change my mind later if I want, which is actually a bit of a relief. For now, I'm just going to keep using Shi cho, which actually works out pretty well.

We are not supposed to actually be using any of the forms yet. It’s just supposed to be an “academic study” of them. I don’t agree with Fyr that often but when he complained that reading about the forms wasn’t as interesting as actually using them I was nodding along.

But that is the funny bit. Master Yoda is teaching us Shi Cho anyways! We’ve been learning it for the last six years! My earliest memories are filled with facing the flying remote firing in repeat patterns I learned a million bazillion times by now!

Maybe it’s not the same as the more advanced form, but if I focus on this one I am at least getting more practice than any of my clanmates.


943:01:14
Entry #148

I’ve been doing a lot of reading on Form I, it is actually kind of interesting. Turns out this form is best used when fighting more than one enemy, which I think is kind of cool! It can be described as “wild and raw”, and it’s focus on the zones of combat makes it very easy to target the bad guys weapon, which is what all our teachers say we are supposed to do.

I like the idea. There are a couple warning’s here and there about losing yourself in the chaos of battle, but this is the form taught to us as younglings right? It can’t be that dangerous.

 

about Yoda talking in riddles. I like that he seems to be absorbing the strengths and positives of the various forms and seems to be leaning twoards one or two of them.

 

Learning from Dooku? Watch out. Nice to see them getting knowledge of the various forms.

 

Catching up... It was fun to see Rolek's lockpicking skills put to use to raid the snack closet in the kitchens, although that Ort & Co don't see the problem with that is a slippery slope in and of itself. It seems to me that they got their just deserts (phonetic pun totally intended) with the almost-repeat of the Buerbal pie incident

I wonder why the masters are pushing the initiates so hard on lightsaber training? Or is it simply Ort's impression with the weight of all those snacks still in his stomach? Some interesting choices here, with the demo duel being between Dooku and Sora Bulq, as both of these will eventually turn out the way we know they will. I can totally imagine that Tom and sneaky Rolek would be attracted to the more flashy form that is Ataru; in that, Ort is clearly the one of the lot who's giving the most thought to what he wants to do, going so far as to try and consult with Yoda. And yeah, Yoda's pronouncements can be quite enigmatic, but "stop and learn from your surroundings" is pretty good advice for someone who is trying to learn.

That's a very sensible thought, and one that Tom and Rolek ought to listen to...

Oh darling. If only you knew!

 

Yoda talk is always fun to do.

He's a strict master but a good one. For now.
Really Dooku's perspective here is the most interesting to me.

Oh such foolhardiness must always lead to consequences, here I thought the natural one's most prudent.

I would say it was "on the calendar" either way, a natural prelude to advanced lightsaber training. But After Master Yarael Poof stumbled upon a half dozen boys groaning and coated in candy wrappers one morning he politely suggested to the other Masters they ought to start it a little early.

They were largely chosen as two Jedi of the period who are stated to personally know all seven lightsaber forms. Bulq in particular is stated to have trained almost every Jedi who died on Geonosis (Contributing to his path to darkness). So while their faits aren't up front in my story, I do enjoy toying around the edge's of their personality in hinting where they will eventually end up/

Part of the reason I think Dooku's perspective is so interesting here is because he never really hides his own distaste for Ataru, but Rolek and Tom COMPLETELY miss the point he was trying to sell, almost comically. To make matters worse for him, the only person in Clawmouse clan who actually attaches to his preferred style, Makashi, is Fyr Maton the absolutely least tolerable member of the bunch.
It's no mistake I have Ort call him a "little Dooku" here, though I'm sure the Count would be disgusted by it.

Eh, all lightsaber styles have their use, but you are absolutely right Ort is the only one taking his choice of from very seriously here and Rolek and Tom would do better to sit back and think about it. I just assume no matter how long they think they'll end up in the same place.

This is based on a conversation in Cestus Deception between Kit Fisto and Obi-Wan which I find to be delightfully ironic because this is the form taught to children.
"I should have gone closer to the edge. Released myself into the Force, become more unpredictable. More random."
"That would have been dangerous. Not to your body, perhaps, but to your spirit."
"It is the way of Form I."
―Kit Fisto and Obi-Wan Kenobi discuss Shii-Cho[20]
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943:01:16
Entry #149

Master Aerith wants us to practice force lifts more. We’ve been doing sand levitation with Master Zen for a while now, but a lot of us are still struggling. Aerith began morning meeting today by floating a pretty yellow flower full of round pedals in the center of our group. She asked each of us to pull on it, and it became a bit of a tug of war.

Probably the most fun we have had in any morning meeting in years! A whole competition, each and every one of us wanted to be the one to bring the flower to our hands before the others. In the end I think it was Kwin Skiel who ended up catching it, which surprised me.

Master Yarael Poof has us doing some fun roleplays. He wants us each to come up with our own moral dilemmas and present them to the class. He is even letting us grade our classmates based on their answers to our questions! I don’t even know where to start here. But I think it has to be fun!


943:01:17
Entry #150

Taungsdays really are the best, besides pie for morning meal this is also the day Master Zen takes Evening Meetings to teach sand levitation. She’s a funny little Ortolan who squeaks a lot and has us making sand sculptures with lots of props! Today I made a snowman out of sand, a funny hat and a button nose and all! Ok it was more of a sagging man, half melted and falling to pieces every second. But It is better than my last try for sure! Tom’s trying to make a Wampa. I think it would be better to start with something a little less complicated. He’s got the claws down at least?


…..DATA LOST- RECALIBRATING…..


943:02:20
Entry #181

We are almost done with our big presentation in Philosophy. The presentation is tomorrow. I’m looking forward to it!

Depa Billaba made a Jogan Fruitcake in Cultural studies and handed some leftovers to all of clawmouse clan during Morning Meal today. Kind of makes me feel bad for not sharing the sweats we nabbed a few months back. Then again, with how that ended it was probably for the best.

We’re still learning our lightsaber forms too. Tom really wants to put his into practice, but I’m not so sure. “Of course you would say that.” he responds. “You get to use your form every day.”

Well it’s not the exact same thing. Using it against the flying remote is very different than in an actual fight. Besides, duals are just seremonial anyways. That’s what Master Dooku says. Better to be ready against a blaster than another lightsaber.


943:02:21
Entry #182

We got top marks on our presentation! It went something like this: You are on a public transport full of 500 people that has been knocked off its course by a meteor, life support is down and Communications are down. If you do nothing, air will run out in hours.

We made a whole set with costumes and everything! The best part is putting the answer in plain sight.
This stumped a lot of people! Most simply think the only option that can save anyone is to kill people. Many arguments were had over who to choose. The old? The sick? Random selection?

But Jedi serve life do they not? To kill an innocent, even to save other innocents can’t be justified right?

When all was said and done I offered my answer: Run through the engines and first aid stations and get enough chemicals to mix Hydrogen peroxide and water. I checked before too! Most public ships have the right supplies to create a new supply of air with the right knowhow.

Of course that would buy time, the real question is if we can collect the parts to build either a long range beacon or a number of plant boxes to better recycle the air long term. Maybe not a sure thing, but I’m sure there are other things that could work. Anyone who just assumed we had to kill people got a bad grade from me. Jedi must be far slower to end life!


…..DATA LOST- RECALIBRATING…..


943:03:14
Entry #202

Ok, the plan is agreed. Tonight after lights out Tom, Rolek and I will go to the room of a thousand fountains. I’ve tried talking him out of it. He won't give up . “They are going to want us to show skill in the forms sooner or later, and if we want to be the best we need an early start.”
Somehow I doubt that is how it works, but I supposed its better I go along just to avoid him doing something REALLY stupid.

Wish us luck.


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Also, fair warning that with A Shattered Mind's Eye on Hiatus I may do a few occasional short Monday updates in this story as well so I can keep it on a steady pace to finish when I need to. I have a lot of stuff I want to cover!

 

Great details about the project about how to survive a crisis. Ort is right and resourceful about building a beacon and working to recycle the air.

LOL on the sandsculpting.

Yeah, I guess if he can't talk the pranksters out of things someone has to go along to make sure they don't "do anything too stupid". Trouble is, he seems to always be caught in the middle of it all along with them.

Interesting about the data losses.

 

they are sure learning interesting skills like sand sculpting and how to survive. And not kill.
And what will the pranksters do in the garden?