Silverstream was shaken awake by a girl in a light blue headdress, thoughts of stairs and plumbing being ripped away from her mind as soon as they had appeared.
Through blurry vision, she realized that her “assailant” was none other than her new Padawan Katooni, who had gotten up earlier in the morning and was already dressed.
“Master! Silverstream! Wake up! Wake up!” Katooni encouraged her excitedly. She was jumping up and down like an extremely happy child. Silver was tired, but she couldn’t help but smile at her appreciate’s enthusiasm. It reminded her of herself just not too long ago. She remembered when she used to get up early in the morning before the rest of her friends. Now constant training wore her out considerably and she slept like a rock.
“What for…?” Silverstream asked tiredly. Stupid question. She knew why Katooni was up so early. She had promised to begin training first thing in the morning at the latter’s insistence. Sure enough, she was reminded of that promise.
“It’s my first day of training, Silverstream!” Katooni exclaimed, “You said that you would start training me at 6 AM! It’s 7!!” She was continuing to hop in place while poking and prodding at her master.
Finally, Silverstream gave in. She sat up and stretched, yawning loudly. Hopping off the bed beside her Padawan, she smiled. “Alright, Katooni. I’m up. Let’s go.”
“Alright!!” Katooni replied back, pure excitement on her face.
As they walked out of the dorms, Katooni began rambling about how she was going to master every single thing in one week and impress all the Masters. Silverstream couldn’t help but smile once more, again reminded of her innocent days at the School of Friendship. Equestria seemed like a distant memory now, but she still remembered her friends. She would never forget them no matter how much time passed. Thinking about them now made her a bit sad. She tried to cover it up, but unfortunately, Katooni noticed.
“Master Silverstream?” Katooni asked her, concern present in her bright blue eyes.
Silverstream shook her head. “I’m fine. Just…thinking. What do you want to start with? We can try Force levitation, practicing your form, levitation? I probably already said levitation.”
Katooni nodded. “I know something is bothering you. Are you worried about Master Skywalker? He’s doing fine, taking care of the twins.”
“I’m not worried about Anakin, I…” Silverstream tailed off.
Katooni seemed to understand now. She stopped walking, looking at her new Master right in the eyes, “Are you…homesick?”
Through gathering tears, Silverstream nodded. She had to be honest with her Padawan, even if it meant admitting to breaking the Jedi Code.
“Master,” Katooni tried to comfort her, “I understand what that’s like-“
“Katooni, stop.” Silverstream stated firmly, “It’s nothing you should be concerned about. Just focus on learning, okay? You can make me happy by focusing on your training. Does that sound good?”
“Sure, I guess…” Katooni seemed uncertain to drop the subject, but it was clear that her Master wasn’t going to budge.
“Great!! Here we are!!” Silverstream exclaimed, changing the subject almost as soon as it had appeared. They were outside of the Temple now and heading towards the Great Tree, where a familiar face was meditating.
It was Anakin, eyes closed and sitting cross cross on the ground with several pebbles around him all arranged in circular fashion.
“Master Skywalker!!” Katooni shouted, breaking the Chosen One’s concentration almost immediately. The pebbles that were beginning to be lifted into the air fell pathetically to the ground. He glared at the girl, but brightened immediately upon seeing Silverstream.
“Silverstream!” Anakin rushed up to hug his former apprentice, returning to his position immediately afterwards, “How are you doing? Did you get some good night’s sleep?”
“I did!” Silverstream answered, “I’m feeling so much better now that I’m not plagued every night by those Force-induced visions of you turning to the dark side. What are you doing?”
Anakin closed his eyes once more. “One of Obi Wan’s final teachings.” He moved his arms from left to right, vice versa, across, and back down again, feeling the Force flowing through him. All at once, the fallen pebbles lifted up into the air, spinning around him in rapid succession. He clasped his hands together, the pebbles forming various shapes before falling down again. He opened his eyes again, smiling proudly.
Silverstream’s jaw dropped open in shock. Katooni looked really impressed. It was obvious that neither of them had ever seen a feat like that done before.
“Wow! That’s amazing!” Katooni complimented him, “Hey, Silverstream? Can that be my first lesson?”
“Ummmmmmm…”
“Sorry,” Anakin told her, standing up. “But that requires tons of practice. And that’s something only Obi Wan taught me. It’s not mainstream Jedi teaching. In order to teach you, Silverstream will need to learn it, which she can do of course.”
Silverstream laughed. “Probably after we’re done. I’m really curious to learn this thing. What should I teach Katooni though?”
“Just teach her everything I taught you and she’ll be fine.” Anakin suggested, taking his leave and leaving the two to practice their lessons.
Silverstream sighed. “Well, that’s not very helpful. Alright, Katooni. We’ll begin with Force levitation. You already know that stuff, right?”
Katooni nodded quickly. “Watch this!” She raised her hand up and sent a huge boulder seemingly from out of nowhere flying into space, only to land moments later on an unsuspecting Jedi youngling. She cringed upon seeing that.
Silverstream tried to smile despite seeing the damage. “Okay. I mean, it’s a good start. But maybe try to hold it longer and move it out of that boy’s way?”
“Sorry,” Katooni apologized, “I’ll try it again.”
———————————————————————————————————————————————
After practice, Katooni was feeling discouraged. Silverstream had encouraged her to keep practicing on her own, but at this point, she doubted she could master advanced Force levitation.
As she was walking alone, she accidentally bumped into Petro while on her way back to the Temple. Both of them fell over, picking themselves back up.
“Petro!” Katooni brightened upon seeing her best friend.
“Katooni!” Petro replied excitedly in turn. Both of them embraced one another, having not seen each other in a while except for nighttime since Petro had been apprenticed to Master Quanlan Yang, who he downright despised for reasons he had refused to elaborate on.
“How are you doing?” Katooni asked him.
“Eh, you know. Same old stuff.” Petro made a dismissive gesture, “But I’m sure life is much better with you. After all, you always wanted to be apprenticed to Master Skywalker. Did you get to?”
“Nope!” Katooni shook her head, “I got apprenticed to someone else! I got apprenticed to Master Silverstream, the new Jedi here.”
Petro stopped dead in his tracks, a look of shock and betrayal on his face. Katooni noticed this immediately. “Petro, are you okay…?”
Petro didn’t say anything, but Katooni could tell that he was not alright. The shock soon turned to anger, and that anger turned into hate.
“Get out…” he muttered angrily under his breath.
“P-Petro?” Katooni asked cautiously.
“GET OUT!!!” Petro shrieked with all the built up rage he had accumulated in those few seconds.
Wasting no time, Katooni sprinted towards the Temple at top speed as Petro watched with absolute hatred, the feeling of betrayal that he felt insurmountable.
“And so you have betrayed me, sister.” Petro growled, stomping away from the area with his mind filled with a perceived sense of betrayal from the people he thought were his friends.