Silent Jedi

Final Preparations

Three of our heroes, Jett, Sorra, and Roi, were busy brushing their teeth in the bathroom of the nursery. Next to them was Etoh, the nautolan who would be joining the Loth Cat clan.

Miss Art stood behind them, keeping a watchful eye. She'd been working double-time with these four for the past few days to make sure their hygiene skills were down-pat.

With only four days until they'd leave the nursery and begin training, they'd need a newfound sense of independence. Although Master Chella would be there with them, her role was simply to guide her clan. Getting dressed, taking baths, and brushing teeth without help were things that needed to get done before then.

They were all doing well, but Jett was still struggling to do her hair by herself. She was insistent about keeping her pigtails.

"Okay, let's see those pearly-whites!" Miss Art said. Her four students gave her big smiles. She checked them one by one and nodded in approval. "Great job, big kids! Now let's get out of these pyjamas so we can take a trip to the garden!"

On the other side of the temple, the Jedi Council was waiting on a woman who was slowly making her way down the hallway. She wore a brown skirt that went to her ankles, and leaned on her cane for support.

She approached one of the sentinel guards and said, "I'm Chella Verdis. I have an appointment with the Council."

The two guards nodded at each other and opened the door. Master Chella walked in and stood in the middle of the room, her eyes narrowing in disapproval. Nearly half of the Council were holograms. Too busy to show up in person for someone like her, apparently.

"Thank you for joining us, Jedi Master Chella Verdis," said Yoda with a big smile. "A pleasure to see you coming out of retirement, it is."

"Well, what can I say? I've already led five clans, and I feel like I've still got one more clan left in me."

"Master Chella, do you understand that this is no ordinary clan of younglings?" asked Mace Windu.

"Neither was yours. Especially because it had you in it," said Chella.

Mace Windu furrowed his brows, and some members of the Jedi Council started to snicker.

"A difficult challenge, this may be for you, Master Chella. We are here to confirm if this is really what you would like to do," said Yoda. "These children are—"

"If I may, Master Yoda," Chella said, putting up her free hand. "I'd like to stop you there. I told the other three the same thing. I don't want to know anything about these children so that I don't form any biases from the beginning. I'll learn about them as we go along."

"Are we able to meet these children, Master Yoda?" asked Obi Wan.

"Yes yes. Of course," said Yoda. "A great idea, that is, Master Kenobi."

"I'll meet them on their first day of training," said Chella.

"Positive, you are? About leading the Krayt Dragons?" asked Yoda.

"Yes. A thousand percent."

"Then lead them, you will. Thank you, Master Chella. May the force be with you," said Yoda.

"And with all of you as well," Chella said.

She turned and slowly left the room, proceeding down the hall and towards the library. There was something she needed to find.

Four days later, Miss Art woke up before sunrise and packed the bags of her four leaving students as she tried to refrain from sobbing. Each student was like her own child, and she was devastated to see them go.

She woke up Jett, Sorra, Roi, and Etoh. The four kids, after much practice, got themselves dressed and brushed their teeth. Jett was able to get her hair up into pigtails on her own, but one was crooked. Miss Art hastily fixed it. She didn't want little Jett looking sloppy on her first day.

The four ate together at one of the round tables in the empty nursery. Everyone else was still asleep. They usually went to a breakfast room, but Miss Art wanted to make them a quick snack before sending them on their way.

Jett swung her feet back and forth as she ate her crackers. She was so excited to start learning how to become a Jedi, and her two best friends were going into the same clan as her. But this was all still pretty scary. Everything was about to change.

"Okay guys, the first guard is here to pick someone up!" said Miss Art.

The kids looked over and saw a big sentinel standing in the doorway.

"Sorra Blythe?" they said, their voice distorted.

"Alrighty, that's you, Sorra," Miss Art said.

Sorra grabbed her knapsack and got a big hug from Miss Art, who was already a crying mess. She wished Sorra luck. Jett and Roi waved. They knew they'd see her in just a little bit.

Guards came back for Etoh, then Roi, and Jett was last. She too, got a big hug and motivational speech from Miss Art.

"May the force be with you, little Jett!" Miss Art said as Jett went to the guard's side.

Jett waved, and the guard escorted her down the hallway and to the elevator, just like Miss Art said. She told Jett that the guard would take her to her new dorm room, where she would drop off her bag.

The elevator doors opened. Jett and the sentinel stepped inside.

Umm...excuse me? Jett asked.

"Yes, child?" asked the guard, who also spoke with a distorted voice.

I wanted to say that I like your really big lightsaber.

"This is called a pike. It's not a regular lightsaber."

The elevator came to a stop, and the two started down a maze of hallways. Jett knew they were almost there when she saw other younglings walking around. They entered one last hallway, and the guard stopped at a room in the middle. He entered a code and the doors opened.

"This is your dorm room, Jett Ranger. Please wait here," said the guard.

Jett nodded and stepped inside. She suddenly started to cough and plug her nose. This soom did not smell good at all. It was so gross and musty, but also very familiar. She hadn't smelled it in a long time, since she lived on Mos Espa. It was the unmistakable smell of...a Hutt.

Jett quickly found her way to the window and cracked it open. Just like many of the other rooms in the Jedi Temple, hers had a great view of Coruscant. There were lots of speeders zipping by this morning.

After getting distracted by the speeders, Jett started to snoop around. The musty smell was coming from the bag left on the bottom bunk bed. She figured her smelly roommate who had gotten here first claimed the bottom, which was okay, because she really wanted the top bunk anyway.

Just as Jett was trying out her new bunk, the door opened. Jett panicked and quickly climbed down. She was expecting a guard to lead her to her first class, not Master Yoda.

I'm sorry Master Yoda! I was just—

"Seeing your new space, hmm? I did the same thing when I was a youngling. Ready to meet your clan, are you?" Jett's head bobbed up and down. "Let us go, then."

Jett and Yoda walked down the hall, up the elevator, and to a big room. This was the auditorium, where sometimes they'd have movie nights with the other nurseries. Jett could hear the voices of children talking behind the door. Yoda pressed a button and it opened.

"Welcome to your first day of training, young Jedi."