“Wait, you went to the archives?” it was Jason who spoke but the other two were just as intent on Des’s answer.

  “Master Jenk sent me, yeh”. His answer was only met with more silence. “Is that not normal?” They were currently in his room, having found him on his way back from the archives, curious about his absence, they had tracked him down.

  “Not normal, no,” Shofo answered, she sounded distracted, her attention elsewhere.

  “None of us can go,” added Jason. There was a glint in his eyes, “Could You go back?”

  “I could, why, is there something you need?” He wanted to start meditating, he had made a plan, but even without the Force he could tell what Jason was thinking.

  “Force powers, all of them”`his enthusiasm was evident, Des expected the same from the other two but Shofo was still distracted, meanwhile Krit, silent as ever, was furiously tapping away at his holopad.

  Sure enough a message appeared on Des’s holopad. ‘Bafforr trees’

  Seeing his training time draining away, Des tried to think of a way to help and get started on his plan, he Voiced the first idea that came to him. “Make a list. I’ve got to train, I’m behind everyone, I can’t do that if I’m running to the library and back all the time, so use tonight to make a list. I’ll go tomorrow and get everything I can”.

  Krit nodded, easily accepting Des’s plan, Jason's enthusiasm dimmed a little but he too gave his agreement. Shofo however was still distracted, her reaction was beginning to worry Des, while she was often quiet, she was rarely withdrawn as she was now. He gave the other two a look, Jason just looked back in confusion but Krit understood his question. The Ithorian slightly shook his head, indicating his equal lack of understanding. That slight movement was enough to draw Shofo from her thoughts.

  “Scent blockers,” she said.

  Jason and Krit stiffened. Des’s reaction wasn't much better, he knew exactly what she was getting at, why she wanted to know about scent blockers. Rodians did not smell great to most noses, admittedly Des had only met the two, so not a large sample size to draw from, but both were quite distinct.

  Jenks scent was the stronger of the two, it reminded Des of the time he had tripped in a field and fallen face first into a cow pat. His dad was practically falling over with laughter when he returned to their camp site, his mum had tried to chastise him for his stupidity, but the corner of her lips kept twitching up, spoiling the effect. Des had just wanted to wash the taste out of his mouth.

  Shofos scent was more like wet clothing left a day too long. Not pleasant but far from overpowering. When they’d first interacted Des hadn't even registered it, having just finished physical training he dismissed it as a workout funk.

  Right now he wished he was further along in his force studies, if he could sense Shofos emotions maybe he wouldn’t feel so awkward. Instead he’d have to rely on the old fashion approach, asking. “Shofo. Has someone been giving you a hard time?”

  “No, but I can feel them. Well sometimes. They think I smell but they don’t say it”.

  Des had hope there had been an instigator, some arrogant brat that he could track down and reeducate. This situation however was different, of course Jedi, even the young ones would be too polite to comment. Des couldn’t decide if that was better or worse, being able to sense that discomfort yet everyone pretending like it didn’t exist.

  “You shouldn’t worry about what other people think,” it was Jason that said it but Des had been thinking the same thing. Surprisingly though, Shofo shook her head.

  “I can feel what they feel, like it’s happening to me. I don’t want to feel that again and I don’t want them to feel it either”. Her proclamation brought more awkward silence.

  Des couldn’t say if that was the right choice, but it was her choice to make so there was only one response that he would give. “Ok. I’ll find out what I can from the archives”.

  “Thanks gramps,” she moved to gather the other two to leave.

  “You’re going?” Des was caught off guard, them leaving right after that conversation felt weird.

  She nodded, “You’ve got training to do and Jason has a list to make”.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  As she turned again to leave, herding Krit and Jason as she went, an idea occurred to Des. “Wait”, he quickly fired up his holopad transferring all the meditation data to hers. “There are techniques in there for body control, maybe one of them can help”.

  She nodded in thanks, then all three left, leaving Des alone to get started. Before he did he set an alarm for midnight, not wanting to lose an entire sleep. Sitting cross legged upon his bed, he focused on his breathing. He felt the air passing in and out of his lungs, his chest expanding and contracting, then, once he was ready, he let his mind drop into deepest meditation.

  He sought out his connection, the part of the Force that was him. Finding it he split his attention, monitoring both his breathing and the flow of the Force. Compared to some of Jenks tests, it wasn't difficult. As he felt the energy wane within him he breathed out, when it surged he inhaled, if it stilled he held his breath. He didn’t black out but he did desync often, the Force swelling at times beyond his lungs capacity, at other times receding when he had no air left to give. When this happened Des would just start over.

  It was the alarm he had set that ended the session. if he had made progress he couldn’t sense it. Despite that he felt good, hours of communing with the Force still felt magical to him. in all his previous training he’d been dipping his toes, dropping in and out of meditation. Now he could remain within his trance while he worked. It wasn’t advancement, but it was a pleasant consolation.

  The following day he was not assigned a class for meditation, according to his schedule he was being trusted to work on his own. Setting a fresh alarm to give himself time to wash and eat he resumed his practice.

  The day flew by, before he knew it Jason was approaching him with a list far larger than he had ever imagined. Des should have been more clear when he made the offer. He had made it to his friends and thought it obvious it was meant for them. They however saw it differently, “make a list” was what he had said and that's exactly what they had done, only they did it With the full input of clan salamander. He agreed to do the full list only if Jason agreed to handle the distribution, with that decided Des set off.

  Upon reaching the archives he headed straight for the reception area at its centre. Given previous advice and the size of his list, he fully intended to ask for help. As he drew near he realised the central room was larger than he had guessed, bigger even than the hangar he was familiar with. a circular room of grey stone, at least four or five stories tall, and wider than a football pitch. At its centre was a saucer shaped piece of technology Des assumed was the archives central computer. Surrounding it like the rings of a planet was the reception desk.

  He crossed familiar red carpets, heading for the nearest free assistant. quickly explaining his purpose to the librarian, he showed him the list of topics clan salamander had requested. The man smiled indulgently and just as quickly took the list from Des, then converted it to a datacard containing the search parameters. He pointed Des to an open terminal.

  While he waited for the data to transfer to his holopad, he began reading the parts that interested him. First was Shofos scent blockers, the list of options available to her was extensive. From simple sprays to surgical procedures, she would not run short of choice.

  Satisfied, he moved onto the Bafforr trees Krit had asked about. A short way into the first article the transfer completed, but what he did read was fascinating. A Force sensitive tree native to Ithor, Krits homeworld. The tree had the ability to interlock its roots with its fellows, forming a neural network capable of achieving sentience with only seven members. Planet Ithor was one giant forest of them, something that should have been terrifying but the forest, or mother jungle as the Ithorians called it, had uplifted Krits people to the stars. It was a benevolent guiding hand to a species that once worshipped it as a god. He planned to keep a copy of the data to read, for when he could make the time.

  He left the Archives, it hadn't taken long, a little over twenty minutes inside and he was done, if he was quick he could still manage four hours extra meditation.

  When he entered the common room he was prepared, his holopad ready to transfer the data. Jason was waiting for him, along with the rest of clan salamander. He initiated the upload and handed his holopad off to Jason instructing him to signal when it was finished. He then retreated to the corner seating, joining Krit and Shofo.

  “It's good you did this for him, gramps,” Shofo said by way of greeting. Krit gave his usual nod. “He doesn’t get to feel important much”.

  He wasn’t sure how to respond to that, Jason seemed to be in his element though, and enjoying every moment of it. He considered the reaction he was witnessing, ‘The archives didn’t take that long, maybe I could go again’.

  “Your Training?” Shofos question drew him from his thoughts.

  He relayed his experiences with the breathing exercise, unexpectedly she offered some advice. “Focus more on your connection”. He considered it, it was possible he had been too intent on the breathing aspect of the technique.

  “Thanks, I’ll try that”

  It took twice as long to transfer the data as it had in the archives. When it was done Des said his farewells and made to leave, he was not expecting to be thanked by several of his clan mates as he did so. The calls of “thanks Des” were a pleasant surprise. He could have stayed but the excitement of the others would be a distraction from within meditation.

  He returned to his room, set an alarm then began. This time he focused more intently on his connection, giving only the barest slice of his awareness to breathing. He felt that sense of oneness, the separation between himself and the Force blurring. Holding onto that feeling he examined his breath, it was strong, steady and out of sync. He tried altering it as he had before but in doing so lost the sense of unity he had achieved. Refocusing, Des concentrated on his connection, seeking harmony once more. When he felt it he changed tact, this time he did not try to adjust the rhythm of his breathing, instead he merely observed, maintaining the bulk of his awareness on his connection to the Force.

  Something was still off, he could feel it. It wasn’t the technique, but something within Des that was wrong. He could feel himself being led to a conclusion, the experience was different to any previous interaction with the Force, yet through no means he could identify he came to realise his intent was flawed. He sought to catch up with his peers, to push forward and match them, but that was his ego driving him. Unbidden, Master Jenks' words came to mind. ‘Focus on the basics, and build a strong foundation’. Des understood what had to change.

  Reluctantly, Des surrendered his plan to accelerate the process and surfaced from meditation, if he was understanding correctly, the Force, much like the Jedi was counciling patience, if he tried to rush the process now it would undermine his future.

  He took some time, just thinking over the experience, slowly accepting the guidance offered.

  If he could not work on the Force, then he would work on his knowledge. Picking up his holopad he made to resume his studies. If he was being honest with himself, his lessons were a significant part of why he had thrown himself so fully into Force training. He had caught up with his past self. While not true in fields such as history, philosophy and politics, those subjects being the domain of Jedi instruction. For the other topics, Mathematics and science, the lessons now were new, unknown to Des.

  It was as if he had moved onto the next year of highschool. For the first time he failed a lesson, when presented with his forty seven percent fail, there was a flashing icon he had not previously encountered, when he tapped it he was prompted to choose an avatar.

  Hopeful, Des cycled through the options, the list was extensive, from famous Jedi and historical figures, most of which he didn’t recognise, to generic examples of countless species. Whether it was amusement or nostalgia that motivated him he did not know, but he chose a protocol droid for his avatar. Sure enough a six inch tall holograph of a droid appeared at the head of his holopad.

  “Greetings Initiate Cain, I am Holodroid instructor iteration 30449, do you wish to go over your previous errors?”