A Second Chance [Fal Ket]

[Aertan]

The sun had just finished setting, and the golden light washed away from the Jedi Temple's spires. Two figures slowly stepped out into the cool evening air, and onto one of the temple's smaller balconies. They sat down on small cusioned seats outside, situated around a small chess table. One of them, the Miraluka padawan Kayl, sat closer to the entrance to the temple opposite the other padawan, Aertan. The two engaged in slow-paced game, which carried on for around a half-hour.

"Check." Aertan said, moving a little silver soldier up one tile.

Kayl, looking over the board moved his black king forward, closer to the pawn. Aertan countered by moving the knight up two, left one.

"Check." said Aertan again, smiling. Kayl sat at the board for what felt like an hour. He was just about to give up when he noticed a lonely bishop on the other side of the table. He sat up abruptly, moving the piece to take the knight.

"Checkmate." Kayl exitedly announced. Aertan was dumbfounded by his mistake. Kayl, for the second time this week, had beaten him.

"Loser cleans up, as usual. Right?" checked Kayl, standing up from his seat.

"Well, unless you're offering." retorted Aertan.

"Which I'm not. Good game." Kayl said warmly.

Aertan stood up from his seat, and put the chess case onto his chair, which he left open, to put the pieces and board into. Meanwhile, Kayl had decided to abandon Aertan holding the case, and was walking back inside to get something to eat. Aertan quickly finished putting away the remainder of the pieces into the box, and, putting it under his arm, ran down the hallway after his friend.

Kayl was already walking down the stairs as Aertan reached the main hall. Many footsteps were echoing around the room, but none were as fast paced as Aertan's. As he was running, however, he ran into one of the Jedi who had come back from the archives. The elder grabbed him by the arm and stopped him in his tracks.

"You might disturb someone, you know. Just because you have nothing to do these days doesn't mean that you have the right to disturb others. Now, move along. At a steady, slower pace."

Obviously the master was refering to Aertan's curret lack of a mentor. It was a low blow, considering it was coming from a Jedi, but Aertan didn't let it get to him. Instead he calmly and quickly descended the stairs, and onto the main floor. As he had been running, his robe had become askew, and managed to slip under his boot. His toe managed to get wrapped in the lower cut of the robe, and he tripped, landing flat onto the cold tile, and sending the chess pieces all over the floor.

Lucky me... Allright masters, let the chastising begin. Aertan thought to himself.

[Fal Ket]

The chess pieces were sprawled across the ground. Before Aertan even had a chance to pick them up, a set of footsteps sounded down the hall. The timing was almost too coincidental, as if it had been on cue. The sound of the footsteps told any listeners that the shoes the walker was wearing had hard leather in their soles. The volume told them that the weight put down upon them was that of an adult. Sure enough, an adult in Jedi garb rounded the corner in short order, just as the sounds had foretold.

A Kel Dor made his appearance, showing no signs that he was planning to even stop. Had he continued, his course would have carried him over the top of several chess pieces, and while it probably wouldn't do any serious, lasting damage, the full weight of him could threaten to chip a few. However, before he got to that point, he stopped in his tracks, lowering his gaze to the floor. "My my," Fal Ket said through his breathing apparatus, "We are clumsy today, aren't we?" Through his tone, it was tough to tell whether he was being serious or sarcastic.

As he looked on, a few select pieces from the entire set started drifting into the air. The Jedi Master looked at each one in turn as it levitated, examining each of them with curious regard for exactly what they were. Of course, he knew what chess was and he knew basically how to play. However, he hadn't actually played a game in many decades, and most of what he knew came from watching others play anyway. Regardless, as he looked the pieces over in turn, Master Fal Ket saw a chance to pass on something of a theological lesson.

"Allow me to pose a question to you," Fal Ket began. "Say the chess board is the battlefield, and the white and black pieces are fighting for control of it. Now say that the white is the Republic. In that instance..." One particular piece floated out in front of the Kel Dor, who reached a hand out to take it in his fingers. "Who does this piece represent?" he asked. He looked over it for a few moments more before floating it across the area, letting it rest finally in the air before Aertan. The piece in question was the White King. A predictable question, considering the circumstances, but a necessary one none the less.

[Aertan]

Aertan listened to the question as he stood up. He figured that the scattered chess pieces were less important than a Master adressing him with a question which could affect the way this Jedi viewed the young padawan.

Aertan, thought long and hard on how to answer the question. He had several correct answers, but his answer could either deem him as one who doesn't think, or worse, deem him with traitorous ideals. However, he couldn't just stand there and say nothing to the Kel Dor, so he vamped until he came up with an idea of what to say.

"Interesting question, well, it all depends on how you view the battle, who you are, and whether the king is an actual person, or a representation of great deeds and ideals."

Answer the way I would. Aertan imagined was Vorta would say if she was talking to him about this question. Somehow, he felt that she was watching him, so he responded to himself. Thank you. But... I think I'll just tell him every answer I have. He then thought to himself that he was probably losing it, but that's didn't really matter at this point in time.

"There are many answers, with all due respect. For example, the king could represent the war hero who has saved many lives, and leads his men proudly. On the other hand, he could be a commander whom the opposing side hates with a passion. He could be a warlord, whom all those who obey him do it out of fear. A keen tactical mind, most valueble to the Republic. An injured man in need of protection. The concept of the chess kind is very nebulous. Of course, he could also be the man behind the scenes. The puppetmaster. Deciding how those beneath him will die so that he may sitcomfortably at home, while those other men are sent to their deaths. How you view the king really depends on your outlook. With me?... I'm not sure what I see. Right now, I see a piece of ceramic, which needs to be put back in the case before I go have dinner."

Aertan took a breath, as he realized he was talking abnormally quickly with the Jedi. As he stopped, he got his first good look at him. He was a Kel Dor, that much was certain, but his skin was a deep crimson in colour. From what Aertan knew of the Kel Dor race, such a skin colour was extremely rare. Much moreso than something such as a Lethian Twi'lek. He was wearing a more extravagant cloak in comparison to the other Masters. He was most certainly new to the temple, or had been around at a point in time which Aertan didn't remember as well.

After a short moment of silence, Aertan looked inquisitively at the Kel Dor. "Why do you ask such a question, Master Jedi?"

As he asked this, the unmistakable smell of smoked nerf came from somewhere within the temple. This cause Aertan's stomach to growl extremely loudly. He subtly patted it. Hopefully, he'd be able to get some food into it soon. He hadn't eaten since late that morning. He quietly uttered, almost to himself, a quiet 'excuse me'. He then looked back up at the Kel Dor, keeping calm eye contact.

[Fal Ket]

Clearly, he had thought this answer out, and Fal Ket didn't just say that because he had taken a while to answer. He had given him a complete list of several possibilities. It showed more depth to the boy than he had expected to see, as he was more ready for him to say that the king represented the Chancellor. In a way, he had given him the same concept toward the beginning, talking about leaders and war heroes. However, he hadn't quite hit the nail on the head yet, as far as the lesson Fal Ket was trying to teach, and so he addressed each of his answers individually. Each one was, of course, an opinion, and so of course they were up to debate, but Fal Ket wanted to shed his own personal views on the issue.

"Your initial response shows quite a bit of insight. It is good that you are willing to think outside the box. That kind of improvisation and creative thinking will serve you well. Indeed, it depends on what you are willing to consider, including ideals and groups, not just individuals." He nodded his head before continuing. "Now, the king, I would say, is not a tactical mind at all. The King doesn't do any thinking whatsoever, he just moves where the player tells him to. It is the player behind the chessboard who represents the commander of the troops in this instance.

"You were getting closer for a while there, when you mentioned the injured man in need of protection. Consider that the game of chess revolves around manipulating the other pieces around the King. The game does not end when the King is taken, it ends when the king is threatened in such a way that the commander cannot bail him out. The question then becomes, what is so important that the threat of losing it completely is enough to stay the Commander's hand? In truth, the King can indeed be a variety of things depending on exactly who the player is.

"In my case, I feel that there are very few things worth elevating to that level, where sacrificing other pieces is all right to ensure no threat is present. The foremost among those things happens to be the citizens of the Republic." He drifted the King back into its case, placing it perfectly in its position, face-up, looking to the youth. He wished his smile could be seen beneath his breathing mask, but hopefully his tone of voice was making up for the lack of expression. "My point is simple. If you're not exactly who the King represents to you, it's very important for you to figure it out. Who, or what, are you willing to make grave sacrifices in order to protect?" At that, he turned and began walking toward the cafeteria. "Think about that while you clean the rest of the pieces up, and when you've decided what exactly the King is to you, I would like you to come and find me. I am very, very interested in seeing where this conversation leads you."

[Aertan]

As he finished picking up the pieces, Aertan couldn't help but feel slightly stupid at his own answer. In retrospect, it seemed thought out, but the answer the Jedi had given was unexcpected. He essentially told Aertan that the king was something that you proctect and value, which you would make sacrificies to save... Not only did he say what, which refers to either a possesion or, more likely, a concept, but he also said that the thing to protect could be a who... Refering to love. What an un-Jedi thing to say.

One of the younger Jedi walked by just as Aertan folded up the board. She had recently been knighted that month, and was good friends with both Kayl and Aertan. The young padawan tapped her on the shoulder to grab her attention.

"Hmm...? Oh, hello Aertan, what can I do for you?" she said, turning toward him.

"Hi Dalila, I have a question for you. Do you know who that was, exactly?" Aertan inquired.

"Actually, I do. His name is Fal Ket. He's an old Master returning from, I think a three year abscence. Why, did he say something to you?"

"Yeah... He did. At any rate, I must go get some food. I'm starving."

"You do that Aertan. Have a good evening."

Aertan nodded at her as he continued to walk towards the smell of the smoked nerf. There was food in his near future.

***

Later that evening, Aertan had nodded off in his quarters, when he realized that he was supposed to find Jedi Master Fal Ket in order to continue the discussion on the chess piece. As odd as that was to hear in his own head, Aertan was not about to refuse the will of a master Jedi.

He stood up, quickly putting on his robe, and stepped into the corridor, walking at a brisk pace. He encountered Dalila a second time when he emerged in the main room, who waved at him.

"Ah, Dalila, good. I need a favour. Could you please tell me where Master Fal Ket is right now? I need to speak with him."

"Third room from the southern balcony. With the older youngling group."

"I owe you Dalila. Thanks."

Aertan retraced his steps from earlier that night, and walked towards the sight of his fateful chess game. He passed four empty rooms before seeing a room filled with quiet younglings, eagerly holding their training sabers around a number of hovering remotes. They were standing around a short Twi'lek Jedi, listening to him for instruction. He almost passed this room over when he noticed a red figure standing by the window. Master Fal Ket.

Aertan slowly came into the room bowing slightly to the residents of the room. Two of the younger jedi waved mischeivously at Aertan, but were quickly brought back to attention by the master. Fal Ket said nothing as he approached.

"Um... Hello, Master Jedi? I apologize for my lateness, I was distracted. Should we speak elsewhere? I wanted to hear more about your ideas behind the king. I brought it, in case."

Aertan presented the little figure to him in his left hand.

[Fal Ket]

Fal Ket turned from the other practicing, young Jedi when Aertan entered the room. He remained silent as he spoke, letting the young Padawan say his piece. When he opted not to, Master Ket gave a small sigh. He was right, of course, it would be most practical not to interrupt the training that was going on here. However, if these younglings couldn't keep themselves up with the minld distraction of a simple conversation, they didn't need to be Padawans out in the field yet. He understood, however, and so he nodded to Aertan. "Let's move our conversation out into the hallways," he prompted, moving out of the room.

As they left the room, Fal Ket addressed the porcelain figure in Aertan's hand. "What matters in this conversation is not the physical object of the king, but the concept behind it." With that, he clasped Aertan's hand around the king he was holding, then lowered that hand to his side. "Something so precious that you're willing to make a great deal of sacrifice, whatever it takes, to keep it safe." He took a quick break to mull things over in his own head for another moment. Had he presented everything he needed to drive this lesson home fully? He was convinced that he had.

He continued with that mindset, eager to see what the Padawan had decided. "I take it that you have thought about this and come to some sort of conclusion. Therefore, to start this discussion, I would like to present those thoughts to me. In your mind, what does the King represent?" This was it. Depending on his answer here, he would know whether or not he had taught this lesson properly. Rather, it would tell him if Aertan was prepared to move ahead in his training. There were many answers that could mean many things, and there were quite a few that would satisfy Fal.

When they had met earlier, Fal Ket had been fairly certain that Aertan would be his next Padawan. He'd already heard a deal about the young trainee whose master had succumbed to a lethal disease. That reminded him of himself and the way he lost his master part-way through his Padawan training. The age was even to similar to how old he was then; Aertan was only a year older than Fal Ket had been at the time.

Having met him in person, he could tell many more things about him. Given the way he payed attention when Fal Ket spoke, he was eager to learn. Given his well thought out responses, he was intelligent and able to learn. This answer would tell him one way or the other whether he was applying himself to actually doing all that learning. There were several answers that was the kind that he expected to hear, which would mean that he would need to train Aertan within the temple for a little while before taking him along on missions. However, there was another that he hoped for that would prove him a genius ready to continue with the more advanced parts of training straight away.

Eagerly, Fal Ket listened to see what the young apprentice had to say.

[Aertan]

The fact that Fal Ket had asked the question a second time indicated that he was looking for a diffrent answer. Aertan supposed that he could ignore the Republic metaphor and focus on the central idea of the question: What was the thing which Aertan valued the most in the world, and would stop at nothing to protect it?

For Aertan, there were only a few things which he valued more than anything. The first would be his memories of Master Keikodi. Those would stay with Aertan forever, so, although of great value, were not in any true danger. The second would be his purpose in life, but again, there was little way to protect that. Destiny would fall as it was laid out to. Finally, an answer presented itself.

"The king, to me, represents my own ethical and moral beliefs. My ability to make my own decisions for the greater good, and my concept of right and wrong. My own moral code. If I was ever to do something terribly wrong, even if asked by my highest superior, if it went against my own beliefs, I would refuse, no matter what the consequences."

Aertan sighed softly, hoping that he had answered the question at least somewhat close to what Fal Ket wanted to hear. As far as he could tell, the master was quite analytical, with much wisdom. The same was true for Aertan, but he hoped that Fal Ket and Aertan had the same mindset when it came to questions like these.

Aertan once again opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it and simply sat back in his chair, taking a small breath.

[Fal Ket]

The test was over. He hadn't shown genius by figuring out exactly what the trick was, but he had definitely displayed that he was ready for further training. It was an outcome he had honestly not expected. In fact, he hadn't even factored that possibility into his calculations. That wasn't to say he wasn't pleased at what the Padawan had come up with. In fact, more than anything, this answer had proved that it was impossible to truly predict a being whose future was in motion, especially one connected to the Force.

Now that the game was over, it was time to reveal the trick behind it. "I feel I must apologize," Fal Ket began. "I have done everything I can to try and deceive you, throw you off. I even lied to you once during the course. I've been testing you, you see. I wanted to evaluate your preparedness, see how far your training had come under your former master. At this point, I feel safe in saying that you have learned your lessons very well. Master Keikodi taught you very well indeed." He decided to explain everything from the beginning. He owed the young Padawan that much.

"When I first heard of your situation, it sounded familiar. I was the same as you at about your age. My first master, who had tried to focus me on lightsaber combat training, was killed in the line of duty. Because of that, I was left without a master for a brief time. That was why I decided to meet you the first time, and I thought up a test for you. To see how well your philosophical training had progressed, I decided I would give you a test. I didn't know what form it would take until I saw the chess pieces, and that's when it came to me.

"In the game of chess, the King is something that is protected at any cost. I asked you who it represented to you, wondering if you would name something from your past - namely, your old master. I even lied by naming the citizens of the Republic as 'The King' in my book to solicit a response. You've proven beyond a doubt that you are indeed still following the way of the Jedi in that you did not name any physical thing.

"You see, in the life of a Jedi, there can be nothing so important that any sacrifice on its behalf is justified. In other words, the 'King' doesn't actually exist. It is good that you hold your morality in such high esteem, but even that morality is merely an aspect of yourself. It is not something that you need to protect, as long as you remain on guard against the Dark Side." He took a brief pause there, allowing the Padawan to consider what Fal Ket had just told him. "Congratulations," he stated in conclusion, "You've done very well with this test."

[Aertan]

((OOC: I didn't want to bunny you, as you seem to be more aware of how you want this to play out, so I apologize for the short post.))

A huge flood of relief washed through Aertan's mind as he heard that he had managed, to a certain extent, impress the master Jedi.

"You heard about me before you saw me in the hall? Who did you speak to about it? Very few people know the full story about me and Master Keikodi, especially how she tought me. Actually, not even many of the council members know that. How did I come up in conversation, anyway?"

Aertan then realized that he really shouldn't be questioning how the master had heard the story. He acutally had one more question for Fal Ket, but decided to not push his chances any further.

After a moment's pause, an older Jedi who was tending to the younglings in the other stepped onto the balcony. Her silver hair shone brightly in the moonlight. She wore an elegant white robe, and had a cane in her right hand.

"Pardon me Master Fal Ket. The younglings are going to be attempting some controlled lightsaber combat, but I feel that they may need a demonstration on some basic form. Maybe some more advanced forms to inspire them? I would ask you, Aertan, but I already know your answer."

Aertan let out a smile, and slowly stood from his seat. He felt his belt for the two lightsabers on either side. Their cold, smooth surfaces were pleasant to the touch, and almost beckoned Aertan's hands to them. Tempted to fiddle with them, he quickly closed his robes, cutting them off from the outside air. Aertan's restlessness with his hands did not remain at bay, and he started to twirl the folds in his robe. He sincerely hoped he could demonstrate some of his skills to an audience.

"That would depend on whether we are finished our discussion out here. It's up to the Master here."

[Fal Ket]

Fal Ket smiled as he considered the apprentice. There was still more he wanted to figure out more about the padawan before he made his decision official. This was a perfect opportunity to get another tidbit of information from him. Through a demonstration of lightsaber skills, starting with Shii-Cho, would let Fal Ket know for absolute sure just how far he had to come before he was ready for knighthood. "Yes, yes, quite," he decided to say, "We're finished with our little conversation. Now, if you'd like to come with me, young Padawan, we can give a demonstration in Shii-Cho."

He made his way into the room. Before giving the demonstration, he decided, he would give a short lecture. He'd hated listening to lectures as a youngling, but as he had grown older he had learned to truly enjoy them. He stepped back through the door and turned to face the class. Smiling would be pointless, with his breath mask blocking the view of his mouth, so he instead jumped straight into the lecture. The lesson today would be complex angles of attack, not too complicated without boring them with simplicity.

"I'm sure you all know the bare essentials of Shii-Cho," he started. "There are nine basic angles of attack and the same basic angles of defense: High, low, left, right, the four angles in between and the thrust right in the center. In combat with a normal sword, these would be the only angles of attack available. Once you chose one, you would have to commit to it totally in order to make an effective attack. However, in a lightsaber, it's slightly different. Since the blade has no weight, small motions made with the handle can allow you to change angles of attack with very small hand motions."

He prepared his demonstration. "Now, to demonstrate this concept, Padawan Aertan will attack me from a high angle of attack. At the last minute, using a very small hand motion, he will abruptly change his angle of attack and strike from a different angle. I will read and block the attack with a quick redirect of my defenses. I want you to pay attention to the way Padawan Aertan redirects, and the way in which the defenses are adjusted to compensate." He nodded to Aertan, holding his yellow-bladed, masterfully crafted saber in the basic Shii-Cho ready stance.

[Aertan]

As they entered the room, and Fal Ket gave a quick introduction to their practice, one of the younger padawan, a Feeorin boy named Dynnh, waved enthusiastically to Aertan. With Fal Ket standing beside him, he abruptly stood straight, and mouthed 'Pay attention, quick!' to Dynnh. Luckily, the boy sat up and was at attention. Fal Ket either didn't take notice or didn't interrupt himself and continued the explanation.

Shii-Cho was a form which Aertan had hoped he would have not had to worry about for some time. To him, the mastery of Niman was much more interesting, because the use of Niman on a deep level was something not many Jedi Aertan had met would have expected. It was normally used for the diplomatic Consulars of the order, and Aertan aspired to be unique in his interperatation of the Jedi Arts.

However, Fal Ket had offered to give a demonstration in Shii-Cho, and that was what he would get. It wasn't even that Aertan disliked the Way of the Sarlacc, but he found it rather plain and uninspiring. And, since they were younglings, they would probably want to replicate what they saw in front of them soon. Anything with real lightsabers was impressive to them. The thought of the younglings' willingness to learn and duplicate whatever they viewed made Aertan crack a smile.

When Fal Ket turned to him to begin, he activated his beautiful, yellow lightsaber and held it in basic Shii-Cho position. Aertan activated Ascended, its deep blue colour filling the twilight room. Aertan also sat in the ready position, but said form did not stay static for long, as Aertan took a swing at target zone 3 on Fal Ket. Within an inch and a half from the tricep, he quickly reversed directions and switch from zone 3 to zone 6, taking a swipe at the calf. The Masters reaction was swift, and only barely made contact with the blue blade before another direction change occured. This time, the move was much faster, and was a direct strike at zone 1. By this time, Aertan had made enough attacks to show that he was ready for a couple of counterattacks. To invoke one, he took an attack at point zone 1, which he then changed to zone 1. From there, Fal Ket could probably preform a counterattack.