Empathy Chapter 3 "Embrace Pain"

A Weequay stood in the middle of a sparring circle. He had his hands on his hips and a smirk on his face. His head was bald except for a long grey pony tail on the back of his head. He wore dark brown robes that were only a shade lighter than his leathery skin. He was Jedi Master Russtle Quinto, battle master of the Jedi order and the greatest warrior Selenii had ever seen.

Across from Master Quinto, also in the sparring circle, stood the other best warrior she had ever seen, Jedi Master Ray Sebastian. Master Sebastian was a prodigy in both the lightsaber and the Force. Despite him being only five years older than Selenii, Master Sebastian was not only a Jedi Master but a member of the High Council, the youngest member to ever achieve the rank so far. He just so happened to be extremely full of himself as well. His achievements were the cause of this Selenii was sure.

Master Sebastian was a tall and, as much as Selenii hated to admit it, a handsome man. He didn't wear regular robes, instead he wore a plain white pull over shirt and green overalls. His hair was short and brown, and his irises dark grey. In his hand he held the pitch black hilt of his lightsaber with the silver energy blade activated.

Master Sebastian and Master Quinto would often have friendly sparring matches. They had become quite the popular event. They always drew a small crowd of Jedi of all different shapes and sizes, Selenii guessed their was a certain lure to watching the orders absolute best having a friendly competition, and something told Selenii that both of the Masters enjoyed the attention.

Selenii didn't always watch these matches but today she found herself amongst the gathering of Jedi watching. It had been three months since that dreadful dream, yet, she still found herself shaken by it. She was hoping that watching this battle would clear her mind and allow her to enjoy a good time.

Master Quinto took his paired lightsabers, now connected together to form a saber staff, and activated the green blades. Selenii always liked his lightsabers. They were made from an ancient tree from the planet Kashyyk and were, in her mind, a masterful piece of art. He flourished the lightsaber and took a ready stance.

"Ready?" He asked Master Sebastian.

"I'm always ready to beat you, Master." Sebastian smiled.

"I don't recall you beating me the last three times we sparred." Quinto returned the smile.

"Then it's time for me to break your winning streak." Sebastian said. He took his lightsaber in a two handed grip and slid his feet along the ground until he was taking a firm ready stance. The two masters locked eyes, and then, without warning and seemingly simultaneously, they launched at each other.

One could never anticipate how either Quinto or Sebastian would fight. They both had such a broad skill set that they seemed to have an unlimited amount of ways of approaching combat. Master Sebastian was pushing the offensive with a very powerful, foot work based Form that sacrificed grace for brutality. Master Quinto was deflecting his attacks away using a constant twirling motion that drowned his figure out behind a sea of green light. Back, and back, Quinto fled under the assault, but he never seemed strained or worried. Forward, Sebastian pushed with the strength of a rancor in each blow. Selenii thought he looked incredibly fierce.

Then seemingly out of nowhere, Master Quinto tucked the saberstaff under his arm and parallel to his body, and spun on his left toe like a dancer as Sebastian stumbled past him. Whether he had exploited a weakness in Sebastians style or had just pull off the maneuver randomly, Selenii couldn't say, but she did find the move graceful and elegant. Then Master Quinto was on the offensive. He spun his saberstaff in ways Selenii never thought imaginable, he was wielding the saberstaff as though it were a standard lightsaber with two ends but would twist and jump to avoid his extra blade. It was something unlike anything she had ever seen before, it was like he was fighting Sebastian and himself at the same time. Selenii knew such mastery of the weapon would always elude her. Sebastian was visibly struggling to anticipate the next strike. A few strikes just narrowly grazed him. He backed up, spinning his lightsaber in maneuvers Selenii had never seen before as he fought desperately to hold off the offensive. The battle was nearly over, Selenii could sense it, and things were not looking up for Master Sebastian.

But just as everything was looking to be in Quinto's favor, Sebastion charged forward, sliding along the ground underneath Quinto, who was currently flipping through the air, sprung up from behind and slashed Quinto across the back of the neck. His lightsaber was powered down to a setting that would not inflict harm but Selenii sensed Quinto's ego bleeding profusely. Like the show off he was, Sebastian flourished his weapon in a highly complex maneuver that was probably beyond the capability of everyone watching, and took a bow. His face was delighted and Selenii couldn't help but feel happy for him.

Master Quinto stepped up behind Sebastian and put his arm around his shoulder. "You get better everyday my boy."

Sebastian didn't reply to Quinto, to do so would be to show humility, a feat that was far beyond Master Sebastian's capabilities. Instead he turned to the crowd and asked. " Anyone else want to give it a shot?"

Selenii didn't know what got into her. Perhaps she had done something to anger the Force and now it was enacting a terrible kind of revenge, but before she could stop her own voice she found herself saying three dreadful words. "I would, Master."

She wished she wielded the power to erase spoken words from existence, but alas, such knowledge eluded her. It was too late, her fate was sealed. She stepped timidly into the sparring circle.

"Jedi Knight Selenii Laro," Master Sebastian bowed, "It would be my honor to spar with you."

Selenii felt more terrified than she had ever in her life, well, not quite, but a close second. Everyone's eyes were on her. Everyone's dreadfully scary eyes. Master Quinto must have sensed her inner turmoil because as he passed her to exit the ring he whispered in her ear a word of encouragement.

"Center your mind and you will be okay."

Center your mind. She closed her eyes and envisioned the Force, she let it wash over her and race through her. She felt her heart slow to a somewhat normal pace and she opened her eyes. Suddenly everyone's eyes were much less frightening. She took out the silver hilt of her lightsaber and thumbed on the blue blade.

"Go easy on me." Master Sebastian smiled, as he took his silver lightsaber in one hand. He stood sideways, his left hand held behind his back and his right hand holding the lightsaber in front of him.

"I think that is advice best suited for you, Master." Selenii said, and gave him a small nod indicating that she was ready.

Master Sebastian lunged at her, jabbing at her high, low, middle, low again. She never knew where his blade would come next. She fought desperately to keep his blade away from her. All that she could hope for was to not loose immediately. She stumbled backwards, hardly able to keep his blade away from her face. The crowd had to part because she was being pushed back so fast. Then the Force riled within her and the warm face of Master Ferrus filled her mind. That was one of the most beautiful things I have seen in my life time. His voice said in her mind. He was talking about her dancing. Yes, she couldn't fight, but she could dance.

She let the Force flow through her and her movements suddenly became liquid and picturesque. Her retreat stopped dead but her feet kept moving, as did her blade. She twisted, dropped low and spun, did a complete backflip, and spun forward. Slowly she was pushing Sebastian backwards. She continued the dance of combat, flipping and twisting in ways only she could. The Force guided her and all she did was follow. Back and back she pushed Sebastian until they were in the very center of the sparring circle. She jumped straight at him cutting circles through the air. Her blade clashed with Sebastians and his silver sword went flying. He put his hands up in submission.

"Where did that come from?" He asked, her blue sword still aimed at him. "That was amazing."

Selenii deactivated her ligthsaber, held it in both hands in front of her stomach, and bowed respectfully. "Your praise is misgiven, Master. You were holding back."

Sebastian shrugged casually, but in a way that confirmed her statement true. "Only slightly. But I am being completely honest when I say I have never seen anyone fight in such a manner. It was like you weren't fighting at all, it was like you were...dancing." He said, finally finding the word.

Selenii beamed with pride. She knew she was supposed to be humble but in that moment she felt that if a Jedi Master could get away with inhumility, on occasion, so could she. Her moment was short lived, however, a sudden and intense pain washed over her body and she fell to the floor screaming and shaking. She arched her back and her eye color flashed a livid yellow color. She held out her hand desperately towards Master Sebastian, hoping that he could use the Force to put an end to her pain, but from her fingers launched blue sparks. Everyone around her was confused, and unknowing what to do. She screamed in unfathomable pain.

Selenii felt her body lift off the floor and then felt an explosion of Force energy leave her in every direction. She sensed several of the Jedi become injured. He vision began to blur, and grow dark, and as it did a face that Selenii hoped she would never see again floated faintly in front of her face. It was the face of the green Twi'lek from her dreaded dream. The Twi'lek spoke to Selenii and her voice sounded as though a thousand volcanoes were erupting at once.

"Embrace pain." She said and smiled softly, almost lovingly.

The pain that Selenii was feeling intensified a thousand fold and Selenii found herself unable to scream and longer. A furry paw grabbed Selenii's hand and the light side of the Force began washing away the pain in radiant violet waves of peace. Her vision slowly returned and her pupils returned to their normal color. Selenii was looking into the face of the Cathar Grand Master Aigus T'bara.

"It's okay, Selenii." He said and wrapped his arms around her. "It's okay." Selenii wrapped her arms around him, tears streaming from her eyes, shaking, and afraid.