Chapter Text
Speeders and lifeforms rushed to and fro around the the massive Jedi Temple of Coruscant, like a stream rushing around a stone in a riverbed. Inside the temple, though, was its own swirl of activity and life. Thousands upon thousands of Jedi walked the temple halls, some running late to their destinations, others enjoying a leisurely walk in their spare moment of peace. Others trained in the dojo, some swift and deliberate in their spars while several classes moved slow in their katas in a repetition of discipline and endurance. The refectories were busy always, with chatter filling up the large halls in a titter of several different languages and well-fed happiness in the air. In more secluded areas like the Room of a Thousand Fountains, Jedi breathed slowly through meditation and swam in the cool waters, bugs and tiny critters teeming all over the room, the living force nearly bursting through the many entrances that led to it. Several floors away Jedi studied texts new and old in the grand library, its shelves filled with tomes and data pads, their contents reaching farther back in time than the temple beginning. Between everything, a light that pulsed with life resonated and could be felt from being to being.
Yoda sensed all this and much more, but the Grand Master came back to focus on the room he was in. A fragile peace finally settled over the initiates as they all had sunk into their guided meditation with ease. Ease, a relative term compared to earlier attempts this week, Yoda thought with some amusement as he could feel the flicker of concentration wavering slightly like a ripple across the students. Smiling softly to himself, Yoda sent out a calming wave. They settled down, most of their youthful energy contained even as their minds started to slow down.
The minds of children always refreshed Yoda for they did not dwell on darker thoughts for long. They were quick to brighten and moved to the light of the Force naturally. He was proud of them all and let it permeate the Force quietly. He got up and walked silently around the room, gently nudging some into a straighter position, others into a more comfortable one, all done with his gimer stick. The room was dark, the shades drawn down to keep the bright light of the midday out. Slowly, Yoda made his way around, pausing briefly in front of a young, red-haired human; the Force around him was clouded, but not because of their own doing.
Seven year old Initiate Obi-Wan Kenobi was trying extraordinarily hard to let the Force flow through and around him like Master Yoda had said. But he was getting a bad feeling--something kept him on edge and he was restless. Obi-Wan could feel the calm presence of his clanmates and Grand Master Yoda, who he knew was near. He managed to wade further into the Force, his unease still there but it was slowly being released further into this meditation.
Obi-Wan felt like he was in the light; he could feel the Unifying Force and feel its tendrils of the universe that drifted and changed always as the present moved forward. Suddenly the Force changed and Obi-Wan felt pain. It was white hot, but that was nothing compared to the absolute anguish and sadness that followed it. Flashes of a hangar, people in white armor, some friendly, some foes, a red light, a red saber, a red world, fiery and hot. Loneliness. Despair. Regret. The feeling of the stars above but un
Obi-Wan didn’t know why he felt so much--this vision was unlike anything he’d suffered before and that worried him even more. The emotions he had felt seeped too strongly into the Force and his clanmates were affected by it, feeling its brutal intensity as well.
Yoda could tell the clan was done with their peaceful meditation. Their emotions were tied to each other so freely in the Force that they could feel the emotions from Obi-Wan acutely. Though, Yoda noted, they weren’t from Obi-Wan himself. A Mon Calamari to Obi-Wan’s right opened her eyes, her meditation overwhelmed by the emotions in the Force, and she started to cry. One by one the younglings all opened their eyes and started to sniff or cry, the emotions too much for them to siphon off into the Force properly. The lights in the rooms flickered just a little bit, scaring the Initiates even more. The Clan Master, who had sensed the turmoil, walked in and gave a small noise of surprise before running in to help the young Force sensitive children. Even they could feel the change in the air and gave Master Yoda a questioning look, but he shook his head, at a loss for once in a very very long time.
He turned and looked at Obi-Wan who was the last to open his eyes. They were shining with tears, little shoulders shaking: his frustration and own sadness from what just transpired finally coming through as his own emotions. Slowly, the Grand Master stepped forward and placed a comforting hand on top of the young Obi-wan’s head before giving into an uncharacteristic hug to comfort the boy more soundly. The little boy’s arms wrapped tightly around the small Master’s waist. Yoda would remember this day well and the feeling of loss that hung in the air over the crying clan. He couldn’t forget it, that acute pained that echoed from somewhere else, across the stars and galaxies.
Far, far across the universe in the Mid-Rim there was the remote planet Ruusan, or only in lost legends there is, as shifting nebulae have obscured paths to it in time and long fought wars have been forgotten.
Down below its lush surface was a large chamber that had seen far better days. Its walls sloped upwards, rough and uneven, chipped and cold. Small brush and vines grew up the many crevices and small cracks it offered. Stone furniture hewn out of marbled rocks were scattered about and broken in the hall covered in dust that had not stirred in millenia. Ever so gently it all was illuminated by a large blue, almost white, Adegan crystal that hovered above a shallow pool. Moisture hung heavy in the air and water beaded up along the crystal’s facets . Slowly it inched down the side and over small imperfections till the crystal tapered to a point. The drop hovered, still for just one moment, before it dropped onto the forehead of a youthful, ginger-haired man below.
Wake up, the Force commanded.
His eyes scrunched up and the still spell on the room broke as ripples wavered out in the water around him. A few moments passed but bleary eyes opened, blinking at the soft light that illuminated the chamber.
Ben Kenobi had awoken.