Kancetto Kryze - The Mandalorian Jedi

Master and Padawan

Shaak Ti brought her nine-year-old apprentice, Kancetto Kryze, to a meditation chamber. It was dark, with very few rays of sunlight coming into the room. There were a few padded and comfortable seats in the room. Kancetto was scratching his head after having his hair freshly cut. He felt the weight of the braid. The Jedi temple had many of these chambers. These chambers could be used for meditation by a single Jedi or by a master and padawan to discover more about the Force. Padawans never truly understood meditation until they became padawans. They may have known the fundamental principles as a child, but they never fully comprehended the entire meditation process. Master and padawan would spend hours to weeks meditating together in order to learn the secrets of the Force. Doing such practices together often made for an unbreakable bond between master and padawan. With such bonds being made, it was often found that a Jedi, even if years had passed since the last time they meditated with their master, would find the process difficult after their master died. However, although a Jedi may recover and begin to meditate once again, the experience of meditation will never be the same for the affected Jedi.

"Kancetto, come, sit." Shaak Ti motioned her hand delicately towards one of the seats. Kancetto walked over towards the seat.

"Master, may I ask? What exactly will we be doing?" Kancetto was rather confused. He was thinking along the lines of combat or archival material, which he believed to be his first lesson as a padawan under Shaak Ti.

"Are you disappointed we won't be doing something else, Kancetto?" Shaak Ti inquired.

"I'm not disappointed, master; I just wasn't expecting this. If I'm honest, master, I'm a bit confused as to what we will be doing." Kancetto may have been a tad disappointed, but he still had the tournament loss in the back of his mind. Strangely, it was not racing through his head due to him losing to his rival, Silara. It was most likely because Shaak Ti had made him her padawan that he had taken centre stage in his mind.

"Meditation, my padawan. That is where we will begin. Before long, we will move onto archival and combat studies. Meditation for a Jedi serves as the best way to find out more about the Force." Shaak Ti's explanation had Kancetto's full attention. Kancetto approached the padded seat and sat normally.

"It would be best if you kneeled or crossed your legs while meditating, Kancetto." Kancetto, who had not fully practised meditation, was tutored by Shaak Ti; he understood the core principles as expected for his age, but this was his first time meditating with his master, as well as his first time meditating in a meditation chamber like this.

"Sorry master, this feels new to me." Kancetto was rather nervous and tried kneeling, but finding it too uncomfortable, he crossed his legs.

"You have no reason to be nervous, Kancetto, and you have no reason to apologise." Shaak Ti had sensed the nervousness within Kancetto and tried to relax him not only for Kancetto's sake but also for the purposes of meditation. The voice of Shaak Ti helped Kancetto calm down. Kancetto's nervousness stemmed from the fact that he felt Shaak Ti may drop him as her padawan. Shaak Ti, of course, had not considered such a possibility.

"Master, why exactly do we meditate? When I've seen others meditate, it just looks like they've forgotten how to sleep lying down." Kancetto's nervousness had been replaced with ease, but confidence was now within him enough for him to be sarcastic.

"On the surface, it may appear like we are sleeping, but we are actually focusing." Master Ti explained.

"Focusing on what?" Kancetto answered swiftly.

"Focusing on the emotions that are in our minds, we have to be honest with ourselves about our emotions from what we have experienced and the effect they may have. We let each of these emotions go so we may become an empty vessel for the Force to fill us with peace and serenity." Shaak Ti explained the purpose of meditation. Perhaps, if Kancetto had another master, he would not be able to understand why Jedi meditate, but Shaak Ti was so wise that she could explain it easily to Kancetto.

"If you can, Kancetto, try to lift yourself off the ground using the Force. Then try and hold it for the entire session." Shaak Ti threw the challenge to Kancetto.

Padawan Kryze and Master Ti sat with their legs crossed on their respective seats. Meditation had begun. Master Ti had already made significant progress in transforming her body into a Force vessel. For Kancetto, this represented the beginning of trying to make his body a vessel for the Force. Master Ti's mind was filled with emotion, but she cleared her mind without truly losing the emotion altogether. Kancetto closed his eyes. Kancetto had several emotions going through his mind, much more than Master Ti did, but still he began to levitate off his seat: emotions of pain, not physical pain but mental pain and disappointment from losing the tournament to Silara, hints of jealousy with Silara having bested him when it counted, and emotions of uncertainty regarding his future. Kancetto focused as best he could and tried to block them out, but every time he blocked an emotion out, it would come back. Shaak Ti and Kancetto, both levitating, were mirroring one another. Kancetto tried his best to keep the emotions out of his head, but to no avail. Kancetto and Master Ti were meditating for hours. Hours on end, Kancetto tried to keep the emotions out of his head, and in brief moments throughout his day, his mind became completely clear.

"That's enough meditation for today, Kancetto." Shaak Ti told Kancetto that he could stop meditating. Kancetto was about to speak, but Master Ti interrupted him.

"It won't come to you for the first time. If we keep working at it, we will get there. Just remember, when we go to meditate together, I am always beside you." Shaak Ti reassured her padawan. She had sensed what Kancetto was feeling throughout the meditation. Kancetto looked up at Shaak Ti.

"Thank you, Master."

Shaak Ti put her arm around Kancetto, guiding him towards the door. Kancetto was struck by Shaak Ti's use of the word "we," which made him feel cared for. It made Kancetto feel like he and Shaak Ti were on this ride together. Kancetto initially regarded Shaak Ti solely as his teacher. His perception of Shaak Ti was changing. He began to look up to Shaak Ti as a mother figure.

As Shaak Ti and Kancetto left the meditation chambers, moving into them were Master Plo Koon and his padawan, Silara Lissiri. Master Plo acknowledged Master Ti and Master Ti returned the acknowledgement. Padawan Kryze and Silara ignored one another. Silara had a grin on her face due to her besting Kancetto in the tournament, but Kancetto also had a grin because he felt for the first time in a long time that he was ahead of Silara.