"With courage you will dare to take risks, have the strength to be compassionate, and the wisdom to be humble. Courage is the foundation of integrity."
—Mark Twain

I found that, for many days after, my training routine was the same. After breakfast, I would meet Master Gi at or near the Sentinel House. While the first day was the hardest, there were days that were worse than others.

The 5 kilometer run every morning sent my untrained lungs into overdrive. Then, as I was handed a stick and told to memorize form after form of lightsaber combat, my arms quickly tired from holding the heavy wooden beam.

Then Master Gi would permit me a few minutes for a meal after a few hours of practice. I would go eat in the recreational room in the Sentinel House, where some of the off-duty Sentinels would greet me and treat me like one of there own despite my age and special sect of Jedi. They would tell stories and I would listen excitedly about their adventures around the galaxy.

They taught me how to move objects with the Force like they were specks of dust. One of them could speak some Huttese, and he helped me with my Basic. They also knew some GSL basics and were happy to teach me so I could communicate better with Yovan.

Master Gi then took me out to the cliffs, simultaneously teaching me how to drive a speeder. She would teach me to meditate for hours. At first, it was difficult. Then, I could hear and feel the lives of billions of trillions of life forms across the galaxy and beyond.

After I had learned, hours could slip past and I would never have known unless Master Gi had not woken me up from my ignorant bliss.

Then, I would return to the mess hall in the Temple, telling everyone about the Basic I had picked up on and trying my best to sign everything as well.

I became more comfortable with the other Padawans every day. They had accepted me into their circles very quickly, making sure they included me in everything they could. Every once in a while, they would take me other places in the Temple.

Niern once took me to the roof, where we could barely breathe, but the view of the stars was just that breathtaking.

Nysa and I would have one-on-one conversations in her room to help me with my Basic, which I did learn very quickly.

Lorna was surprisingly good at doing my hair for me. After I had taken a shower, she would show up to my room, which was right down the hall, and ask if she could try some intricate braid or something of the sort.

I would almost always spar with Chinelo, who was the best with a lightsaber out of all of us.

Surprisingly, after I could finally understand enough GSL, Yovan became one of the most fun people to talk (or sign) to. Apparently, he was into a lot of literature. After a lot of nagging, he got me to read one of his favorite books, The Remarkable Grosli. It quickly became one of my favorite books, as well.

I saw very little of the other three original Padawans. They were completing trials to get accepted by masters.

After a very long, very confused conversation with  my limited Basic knowledge, I found out that the Jedi definition of 'padawan' was different than the Dark Jedi definition of 'Padawan'. For Jedi, the term meant a Jedi who was studying under a master, but, for Dark Jedi, it meant anyone who had not completed their trails to be a Dark Jedi Knight.

One day, after a long training session with some of the Sentinels, Master Gi nodded approvingly at me. "Tomorrow," she announced, "You will join the other Padawans in their training."

I smiled. "Thank you, master." I bowed respectfully. Excited to finally join my friends, I grinned bigger. "What would I do for the rest of the day?" I asked.

Master Gi began walking toward the Temple, where she would take her seat in the Council Chambers and meditate until she was needed again. "You may join them for afternoon meal, but then you may have the rest of the day free."

Excitedly, I ran to tell the Sentinels in the rec room. Noticing my expression, they all looked at me quizzically. "I may join the other Padawans tomorrow!" I beamed.

Tori, a big guy who had an even bigger sense of humor, reached to high five me. "Congrats, kid!"

Lorelei, the one of the only two women Sentinels on Nequek, smiled with her eyes. "You better come back and see us."

I smirked. "And when I do, I will kick your ass with my lightsaber." My language was courtesy of their own, so they could not criticize my nine-year-old ass.

"I don't doubt it." Reg, the Captain of the Guard admitted.

When I had first expressed worry about my lack of combat skills compared to that of Chinelo's and Nysa's, they had told me that the two had been training for nearly four years. Apparently, the half-siblings had trained almost non-stop when they arrived. But Reg had told me that I would catch up to them quickly.

Seeing them so naturally, I had to force myself to remember that these people were Jedi. Still, the solemnity of the Jedi had not passed to this particular brood. They were still innocent of the stingy bright aura that Jedi possessed. Instead, the Sentinels had a wide variety of colors and patterns that sometimes confused me. Many of them identified as Gray Jedi, which explains some of it. Still, the fact that they almost never used specifically the Light or the Dark Sides of the Force unnerved me. They could draw from the Force as if it were simply the Force and not two halves of a whole.

"Thank you all." I said. "I will miss you."

We all bowed to each other as equals. In that moment, they were not Gray Jedi Sentinels who were twenty years older than I, and I was not a young Dark Jedi Padawan. We were simply people, all equal in our own right.

As it should have always been.

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

"Yes!" Neirn waved his hands around excitedly, like someone had given him an energy stimulant that he most definitely did not need.

"Just in time!" Lorna exclaimed. "I've got this thing I want to try with a bunch of different loops—"

"It will be wonderful, Lorna." I assured her.

Nysa was eating a seventh jogun fruit 'in honor of' my promotion. "I'll have to show you where to meet us in the morning. We usually hike before breakfast."

I nodded.

Yovan looked into my eyes, a signal I had learned meant I want to speak. "Will you be training with us tomorrow, as well?" He signed, though the more literal translation was "Tomorrow fight sibling as well?"

Whenever we wanted to refer to us as a group, we used the GSL word for sibling.

I mouthed and sighed, "I plan to!"

He put his hands up, shaking them, the sign for "excited".

I looked around at this group of people. Though I was barely proficient, I felt the Force weaving around us, tying us together like we were all part of a set. It looked like a golden cord that looped around each of us, embodying our minds, souls, and heart.

It was the moment that I knew: while I had left my blood family behind, I could have my own group here.

I felt for the first time liked I belonged.

[A/N:

I know what you're going to say:

It was quick.

It was rushed.

It was too fast.

I KNOW!!!

Tbh I really just wanted to be done with the basic training stuff.

Also, as a warning, I'm planning on skipping a few years (not that many, but enough) to get to some more advanced training and some philosophy and other fun stuff like that.

Also, I wanted to include the Jedi Sentinels in here. I roleplayed a while back with someone who's OC was a Sentinel and it was a lot of fun! I figured that I'd include them. *shrugs*

Also, I wanna brag on shanSWfan and her new fanfic 'Shadows Rising' because it's just as beautiful as all of her writings, and I'm really excited to see where this one goes. Also, Shan has inspired me for a while now to write and rewrite Star Wars fan fiction and I love her to death and I just wanted y'all to know that cause she's a brilliant writer who is gonna go far with her word magic.

Well, after that, I don't really have anything else, but, as always, I wanted I say thank you to everyone! I love you all!!!

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~Art