Star Wars VIII: Stand of the Republic

08: Discipline and Patience

Thick clouds perched themselves above the island, keeping the majority of the sunlight for themselves as they drifted by slower than a Terneesian snail. The island shaded by the hovering clouds had few places of flat ground, being mostly jagged peaks and windswept rock, but on a small plateau near the edge of a cliff, Rey and Luke sparred.

Rey yelled in pain as the wooden stick struck her forearm hard enough to make her drop her own training sword clattering to the stone under her feet.

"Not good enough," Luke reprimanded sternly.

"I'm not used to a sword," Rey protested, rubbing her sore arm.

"Do you think your enemy will care what you're accustomed to?" Luke questioned. "Having only what you're used to is not always an option. Being prepared means having the ability to use whatever is available."

Luke motioned with his hand, causing her wood sword to leap from the ground and hover in front of her until she took it.

"Again," Luke commanded. He lashed out with a number of quick swings, driving her back. When one of Rey's blocks was not in time, he scored a painful impact against her shoulder. "You just lost your arm, again."

Rey took her stance and braced for the attack, but when it came, it wasn't what she'd been expecting. Luke gestured with his free hand and an invisible pull on her ankle threw her off balance, drawing her focus away from Luke and his sword. Luke used the distraction to charge in, striking her wood blade aside before hitting her in the hand to make her drop it. Continuing the attack, he landed a blow across her collarbone that smashed her to the ground painfully on her back. The end of the fight reminded her of when she'd trained with Sentis and he'd dropped her in a similar manner.

"Dead again," Luke told her. He turned away in disinterest. "I really thought you had potential, but I'm beginning to think I was wrong."

Rey grabbed up her weapon and lunged at Luke's back with a scream of frustrated rage, but Luke spun around as if expecting it and easily blocked the attack.

"Giving into rage leads to the dark side," Luke warned. His previous gruff and demeaning attitude was gone, replaced by a neutrality of one in complete command of himself and the situation.

"You were testing me again?" Rey questioned, lowering her training weapon in confusion.

"Did you think testing would stop at any point in your training?" Luke asked in return. He clasped his hands behind his back, holding his sword vertically along the length of his spine. "In life, testing never ends. The only things that change are the form the challenges take and the person or situation responsible for bringing them to you. Every day you must respond to things, and the manner in which you do so will reveal the person you are."

"Sentis tried to keep me from letting frustration control my actions," Rey remembered. "I don't seem to be doing a very good job."

"As long as you're still working on the issue and not letting it continue unchallenged, you'll get there eventually," Luke promised.

"Were you always so disciplined?" Rey questioned as she used the end of her wooden sword to scoop underneath a towel draped over a nearby rock, lifting the towel up to where she could use it to wipe the perspiration from her face and arms.

"Absolutely not," Luke denied. He held out his robotic hand to her. "If I was, I wouldn't have this."

"What do you mean?" Rey asked.

Putting his hand behind his back, Luke gripped the wrist of his organic hand with his mechanical fingers while turning to examine the horizon.

"It was during my Jedi training," Luke went on. "I'd learned my friends were in trouble, and I ignored Master Yoda's warnings and went after them anyway. I thought the fact I could feel the Force would be enough, even though I couldn't control it as much as I wanted to believe I could. I paid a heavy price for my lapse in judgment."

"How did it happen?" Rey inquired carefully, moving to stand beside him.

"Vader wanted to convert me to his side," Luke explained. "If he'd been actually trying to kill me, I wouldn't be here."

Rey thought back to a fight of her own.

"Kylo Ren wanted to recruit me," she told Luke. "He nearly killed me when I said no. My friend Finn was smashed into a tree. I don't even know if he's alright."

Tears welled in her eyes as her previously controlled emotions threatened to overwhelm her. Luke placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I understand your concerns for your friend," Luke began. "However, you have a larger responsibility than to one person. Do you think it's been easy for me to stay here on this island while the First Order attacks and slaughters the Republic I fought to build?"

Luke's mechanical fingers flexed unconsciously as he talked.

"Patience is something I've had to learn," he went on. "Painfully so at times, but I've learned. Now, it's your turn. Hopefully, teaching you about my mistakes will allow you to gain the experience without having to pay the price I did."

"You said it wasn't easy for you to be here while the First Order was attacking the Republic," Rey reminded. "Then, why are you still here?"

"I know it may not seem this way, but I'm protecting the Republic," Luke answered.

"How can you be protecting them from here?" Rey persisted.

Luke smiled slightly.

"Walk with me and I will show you," Luke instructed. He flipped his training sword around and tossed it over to a pair of rocks where it wedged itself tightly. Taking a brisk pace, Luke followed one of the trails weaving its way up the mountain. Setting her own sword down near Luke's, Rey hurried to follow him.