Esinons

Chapter 1

It is morning in the Jedi Temple. The morning sunlight is pouring through my window. I can sense the calm yet bursting force energy from all of the sleeping residents. I roll over quietly in my bunk bed, careful not to wake the sleeping Ahsoka above me. I look over to the clock on our desk. It reads 3:00 am. Too early to get up, but sleep has been hard to find lately. All of the anxieties from training, classes, and my thirteenth birthday creeping up has been building inside me.

My name is Esinons Windcaster. I am a Jedi Initiate here at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. My fourteenth birthday is only a fortnight away and I am yet to be chosen as a padawan by any of the available Jedi Masters across the galaxy. I try to ignore the thought of not being chosen and going to the Agri Corps, but it always in the back of my mind, trying to get the best of me. Because of The Clone Wars, initiates are given an extra year to be selected as a master because there are no initiate trials for available masters to come and oversee the initiates.

I hear a groan above me and the rustle of blankets. Sleeping above me is my best friend Ahsoka Tano. Ahsoka and I have known each other for as long as I can remember. When I arrived here at the Jedi Temple, she quickly befriended me, and we've been inseparable ever since.

I hear a whisper above me, "you awake?" Ahsoka must have sensed my awakening. Ahsoka is one of the most force sensitive Jedi I know, so saying I'm not surprised is an understatement.

"Yes, I couldn't sleep." I reply.

"What's going on?" She asks.

"Nothing. You can go back to sleep." I tell her.

I hear a mumble and the rustle of her rolling back over in her bed. Ahsoka constantly worries about me and my lack of sleep. She knows about my anxiety of not being chosen and being left behind to go to the Agri Corps, but I can only downplay it for so long. Ahsoka turns fourteen in February, so she has almost five more months until her time to be selected runs out. But I'm almost positive she'll be chosen before her birthday. Ahsoka is at the top of our class for just about everything. She is absolutely incredible. I can't imagine her leaving, but I'm trying to prepare myself for the day it happens. I know it will be soon.

I summon the force and use its energy to retrieve my journal from our desk. I find myself writing in it often when I can't sleep. I flip through it to find a blank page to start writing. As I flip through, I can't help but read some of my old entries from when I was a youngling and was starting my training. It's so comforting to me to read old stories I've written down. The journal entry from March 19, 28 bby, when I was 7, reads,

"Today was my first lightsaber combat lesson with Master Fisto. He is so elegant and skilled with his saber. I can't wait for the day that I am just as talented as he is. I am so embarrassed. I was nowhere near as good as my classmates during our lesson. When attempting to take a step forward and strike Bane's shoulder, I fell flat on my face and everyone laughed at me. I'm sure everyone thinks I'm bad, including Master Fisto."

Well, that one wasn't as comforting. In fact, I'm still not as comfortable with saber combat as I wish to be. It's just that every time I attempt to strike someone, I get nervous and back away which normally ends up with me losing the duel. I'm nowhere near as strong as the other initiates in saber combat. Ahsoka always comforts and encourages me after a bad lesson, but she is at the top of our class for her skill and technique of saber combat so it always feels like she is mocking me for not being anywhere near her performance. But Ahsoka is an incredible friend, so I know she doesn't mean that. I just try my best to not become jealous and envy her talents.

Flipping to an open page, I notice my eyelids starting to feel heavy, and I find myself drifting into a very much welcomed sleep.