SW FICTION: Thoughts of a Perspective Apprentice

Disclaimer: The Star Wars Universe, Jedi, etc. do not belong to me however much I would like them to. It is with great reluctance, then, that I admit that they belong to George Lucus. Kyda and Tenel Malik, I suppose, belong to me. At least I made up their names and some of their thoughts.

I really didn’t put much thought into this fic (especially the end) so don’t expect much.

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Thoughts of a Perspective Apprentice

The last of the training remotes fell to the ground as Kyda shut down her lightsaber. She had been able to block most of the shots the remotes had aimed at her, but her arm and leg were still sore from the few times the blasts had gotten though her defenses. It was a good thing they were set to low power.

Rubbing her arm and carefully sitting down at the edge of the practice room, Kyda let herself give into some of the frustration that had been creeping into her mind since the middle of the last exercise. She shouldn’t have missed any of those shots. She was a senior student at the Jedi Temple, ready to be taken as an apprentice to a Jedi Knight. That is...

Kyda tried to push the thought out of her mind. She didn’t want to think about tomorrow. Yet she knew it was impossible. Her thoughts had been so preoccupied lately with what she saw as her impending doom that she couldn’t even focus on an exercise she had performed flawlessly countless times before.

Tomorrow she was scheduled to duel with another of her agemates in front of Jedi Knight Tenel Malik, who had come to the temple in search of an apprentice. This alone was not strange. Kyda had dueled many times for masters in the hopes of becoming an apprentice ever since reaching the rank of senior student. Just as she would continue doing if tomorrow’s duel didn’t result in her becoming an apprentice. There was, supposedly, no hurry. After all, she still had time. She wouldn’t turn thirteen for another year. Many masters would come searching for apprentices in that time. She was certain that one would choose her. She would be a Jedi Knight whether or not she impressed Knight Malik tomorrow.

Yet, ever since she had been informed of this duel, she had the feeling that the Force was telling her that she needed to be accepted as Knight Malik’s apprentice. Kyda had never met her, not even heard of her before, yet when her name was mentioned she felt a strange connection with this knight. The name and the feelings that came with it seemed familiar to her even though there was no reason they should be.

Tenel Malik was, Kyda discovered, considered one of the more solitary members of the order. This explained why Kyda had never heard of her. She did not often return to the temple, nor work with others. She preferred the freedom working along gave. It was a shock (a pleasant shock in the mind of the Jedi Council), then, when she announced her intention of taking an apprentice.

Kyda knew she didn’t exactly fit the description of the perfect apprentice for Knight Malik. Not only was the knight considered solitary, she was considered to be one of the better duelers in the order. Her missions often reflected this fact. Her apprentice would need to be able to handle themselves in difficult situations from the beginning. They would need to be quite accomplished with a lightsaber. Anything less would waste the skills of the knight.

While Kyda was good with a lightsaber, she wasn’t as good as some of the others. It was possible for her to get distracted and fail at simple exercises as she proved earlier. In fact, Jacen Kendle, the student she would fight in the morning, was much better then she was. He had always been ahead of her in lightsaber skills and agility. She couldn’t escape the feeling, though, that despite all this she was the one who should be picked. She also couldn’t escape the feeling that Knight Malik wouldn’t see it her way. Kyda had always gotten the impression that knights choosing their first apprentice had higher expectations than those who had already trained an apprentice.

Kyda’s thoughts would have continued on this line for hours more, only increasing her nervousness and sense of doom, if she hadn’t be interrupted by someone entering the practice room she occupied.

The woman was tall with long dark blond hair and, like Kyda, human. She wore the traditional garb of the Jedi and had the air of an experienced knight. Coming fully into the room, allowing the door to close behind her, the knight took in her surroundings. When her eyes finally locked with Kyda’s and she smiled, Kyda felt a jolt run though her entire body. In that moment she knew, without a doubt, who the knight was. She also knew that she need not worry about her future any longer.

THE END