No ideals?

No dedication to anything?

The young Rogue didn’t have much time to think as Vodo was on him like a flash. And from beneath a sleeve came what could well be his doom. An emerald flash of light revealed the one thing he’d never seen Vodo ever show might as well use at the temple. His lightsaber. Irtar immediately buckled down and tried to meet every swing with one of his own.

If not for the fact he had been forced to the corner already, he wouldn't have lasted as long as he did. Vodo's style depended on getting at him from many angles and directions, but he could only come at him from one. Irtar struggled desperately to try and keep the old master at bay. His azure blade flying around in a vane attempt to keep that staff and lightsaber from striking home. Irtar pushing himself to the limit, not even thinking anymore, just allowing instinct to take over.

The instinct to live.

And as he was pushed further back, Irtar began to grow more desperate. That blade was getting too close. The pain the odd hit that staff gave him beginning to become too much. It all began to coil up inside of him, like a snake beginning to pounce on its prey. Until he had enough.

Who was Vodo say what he held precious meant nothing?

Who was he to say what he thought was worthless?

Suddenly, it snapped. With a growl Irtar brought to bear his lightsaber. He swung with full force, knocking Vodo’s blade to the side from the unexpected move. Irtar heard a cracking sound as Vodo’s staff collided with his side, but felt nothing. Adrenaline had taken over. Irtar began to swing with gay abandon on Vodo. Swinging with all the strength he had, trying to force that Master back and away.

“Who are you to say I hold nothing dear!?! Who are you, you apathetic bastard, to say I care about nothing!?! Do you think I don’t care about my home!?! Do you think I don’t give a shit about the Hell this galaxy is descending into!?! DO YOU THINK I WOULD EVEN BE HERE IF I DIDN’T CARE!?!” Irtar screamed as he brought his blade unto Vodo, a wet stain beginning to appear where Vodo’s staff collided. He was being driven.

His emotions pushed him. His love, his hate, and his desire. His love of his family and everything he was, his hate of the things that’d threaten them, and his desire to be himself and find his own way down the path. He was just simply trying to last out as best as he could against the Master that came to cull his pupil.

Vodo parried Irtar's strikes with the lightsaber, while using his stick to continually lash out against the wayward Jedi apprentice. His blows were powerful, and he could hear it every time his weapon scored a hit. But Irtar ignored them, he ignored everything.

He was driven by his emotions, and Vodo felt the gnawing fear in the back of his mind that if things got out of hand, and Irtar did allow his anger to control him... that Vodo might have to deal with that in the only way he could.

But something was different. Irtar was being driven by his feelings, but he was not allowing them to control him. He had not been quick to anger, despite Vodo's prodding, and he was, at least for now, keeping everything in check,

Vodo began to allow himself to feel at ease about it.

Yet, driven as Irtar was, he was still no match for Vodo, and the Jedi Master easily deflected and blocked his attacks while contemplating his next move. He had succeeded in his plan to get a reaction out of Irtar, but he had not gotten anywhere beyond that.

His test was almost complete.

He caught Irtar's blade on both stick and lightsaber, and with an almost casual wave of his hand, used the Force to shut off the other's lightsaber.

His lightsaber also dissapeared, and he just stood there, leaning on his cane and looking up at Irtar. He could feel the other's surprise in the Force. And Vodo really didn't blame him. A Jedi Master had come barging into his office, trashed it, and engaged in a tough fight with him and banged him up for no apparent reason. He almost felt sorry for him.


Almost.


It was such a major turnaround that Vodo gave Irtar a few minutes to let everything sink in.

After he did, Vodo grunted, "You passed my test. More or less. But you still have a lesson to learn."

Silence.

That was what was the first thing to impact Irtar.

The hums of the sabers vanished. The sounds of movement and combat vanished. And Irtar stood there, for a moment, saber at the ready though with the blade extinguished. He watched the master carefully for any hint of movement. Any hint of a trap. Prepared to snap his blade back to life at a moment’s notice and continue the combat.

Unfortunately, as the combat passed, so did the adrenaline.

In a flash, Irtar suddenly felt all the pain the adrenaline held back shoot into his brain. Irtar doubled over, choking on a scream of pain as he came down to a knee. His chest felt like it was on fire. He felt a horrible wet stain along his side and the tangy smell of copper had begun to reach to his nose.

Irtar knelt there as his Master muttered something about a test, and lessons learned. Irtar gasped as he gritted his teeth and looked up at his master. He focused as much of his will he had left as to see through the haze that had begun to come over him. It seemed like there was plastic wrap over his eyes and cotton in his ears.

“Good to know ERM!” Irtar tried to force out as another stab of pain shot into him as he tried to talk. He braced himself, his face twisting as he continued. “That…you’re will to cause pain… to teach a lesson…. So Jedi of you….”

Irtar forced a crude mocking grin, before another sharp bolt stole it from him again.

“How about ARGH, you call a, GRAGH… doctor?” Irtar grumbled out as the pain battered at his mind, blocking out most anything.

The hate had passed. The love was distant. His desire snuffed.

All of it was blotted out except for the pain.

Irtar tried to stay as still as he could. The fractured limbs and broken ribs letting their painful melody drown out everything else.

“Shit….” Irtar muttered as it finally overtook him, and he passed out face forward unto the office floor, at the feet of the teacher of this harsh lesson.

Vodo stood, as unmovable as a stone. He stood there for a long time, merely watching his former apprentice lie there. He watched as a team of medical personnel, called by Irtar's secretary moments before, rushed in and gave the care Irtar needed.

The Sinsanganese police followed soon after, and immediately tried to question him. But they were silenced with a wave of the hand and a suggestion from the Force. His lightsaber was still hidden, and he looked ever the frail, old alien being who had annoyed the diner's owners earlier that day.


They ignored him mostly.




Three Days Later - Hostpital


Whack!

The weight of the walking stick crashed down upon Irtar's left foot, which was wrapped in a bandage, although Vodo could not even guess why. As far as he knew, he had never hit his foot...

The young Jedi groaned, and began to stir. Vodo sat next to the hospital bed, near the bacta tank where Irtar had spent the last few days. He was almost fully healed from their battle, which was partly in thanks to Vodo himself. His command of Force healing techniques had expedited the bacta process.

He tapped Irtar again, causing the young Jedi's eyes to flutter open...

Once again Irtar was floating around in the void. His body disconnected from all that was the real world. The pain, the suffering, the death. There was just him, himself, and he. It was yet so peaceful and yet so eerie at the same time, like the calm before a storm.

Do you know how strange it is to breathe and not actually feeling anything going in or out?

Irtar’s consciousness just floated around without a worry. Just going with the flow of wherever the void was going. He couldn’t really care. He didn’t even notice as the pull grew larger. As he was very shortly getting dragged along with the current of the shadow. All of a sudden he began to notice features. Was he in a pipe of sorts? Was this water?

Irtar began to choke as he felt the sickly sweet liquid try to invade them. He heard some shouts from somewhere. Somewhere outside but he couldn’t make sense of it all. Then all of a sudden he was thrown unto a floor. Suddenly, the pain passed, and he was suddenly standing. It was a change of pace from the void.

It was a realm of all white. Just as if it were some massive room with no boundaries other than where he stood. He was afraid to step from where he was, that he was standing on the only little bit of this realm that had a limit. And then he saw a chair, facing away from him. He couldn’t see who was sitting in the chair, but he could see the top of a head.

“We meet yet again young Jedi….” Muttered a familiar voice, that Irtar tried to make out. It was that same one he heard on Operation: Restoration. The Jedi’s face twisted to a puzzled look as he look at the chair. Trying to figure out who this being was.

“Keep your path young one, and you shall find the way
Though keep your heart in line, and from the light you’ll never stray
Remember what you have learned, use it as a strength
Loose sight of what you are and your shadow shall take length

Let emotions fuel your light like the sun of day
Do not seek revenge, for you’ll be the one to pay
Remember what you have learned, use it as a strength
Loose sight of what you are and your shadow shall take length”

The mysterious figure in the chair muttered out as Irtar raised his brow. The figure got up and began to walk away. Irtar couldn’t make out any feature. No matter how hard he tried to focus, it was like a haze was set over him. Like trying to remember a dream….

“Who are you!?!” Irtar yelled at the mysterious being.

“Stop yelling. You’ll disturb your guest.” The figure scolded Irtar, and within a blink Irtar was staring into the face of Vodo Baas.

“AH!” Irtar yelped as he moved up in the hospital bed, stopping quickly as he felt a short stabbing pain from his ribs which were still a little sore. Irtar looked about him. It was a simple room. Some light came in from a pair of closed curtains in the room, catching the particles of dust like small lights on themselves falling through the air.

Reality and memory slammed him into him like a sledge hammer. He remembered the ambassadorial work. He remembered his trashed office. And he remembered the duel he and his former master just fought. Irtar’s expression suddenly changed from shock to one of contempt.

“So. Come here to exchange apologies?” Irtar asked the old master. “Or to rub in the failures of ‘My Way’?”

Irtar grunted as he returned to laying down in the bed, taking a deep sigh as his sensitive ribs reacted to the movement. Once he was back into place he returned his gaze back to the old master. He didn’t know whether to feel contempt or what for him. He had left the Order, true, but was that any right to pummel him into a hospital bed?

“Mind telling me when the Jedi Order allowed Masters to seek out old apprentices and pummel the fracking shit out of them?”

Vodo could not help but chuckle a little, "What Jedi Order allowed Apprentices to abandon it so lightly?" He asked.

He continued laughing for a moment, before leaning back in his chair, taking a small sip of a disgusting-looking liquid that only he could identify. He handed Irtar a cup of steaming stimcaf, "Drink this. You'll feel better."

Irtar did as told and Vodo sighed, "Still haven't understood what this was all about, Irtar?"

He tapped Irtar's bandaged foot with his stick, "I am not quite sure what you are doing on this planet, apprentice, but I know that you are helping these people. They respect you, even I daresay, look to you for leadership. You may be only an ambassador, but you do command a certain authority.

"I very much respect you for all of this. I wish I could have done the same."

He sighed again and took another small sip from his drink before leaning forward a a bit, "However, what you did was wrong. You abandoned the Jedi order without so much as a call to let me know what was going on. Whatever happened on Dantooine aside, you simply vanished, and that is quite unacceptable. If something went wrong there, shouldn't you have come to me? Don't you think I could have helped? I was not just your Master, I was your adviser. I would have helped you. But you turned your back on me and all that you were taught. You abandoned the Order and me."

Vodo said all of this in a tone that was not in the least harsh. His anger had subsided and he had adopted a light tone. He did not wish Irtar to be angry with him, but to understand his reasons.

He leaned in a little more.

"Did you really think you had seen the last of me?"

Irtar flinched slightly when Vodo tapped his foot. He couldn’t remember when he hit the thing either but it wasn’t during the fight. He took the bitter liquid questioningly and gagged when for a minute when he tried to drink the terrible stuff. He tasted like an alluring mixture of raw sewage and gym socks. Irtar made this pained, clenched up face, as he put the drink on the bedside table.

“I had hoped old age would catch up with you before you caught up with me.” Irtar pointed out snidely. “Besides, with all the other apprentices jumping ship I thought you wouldn’t notice.”

Irtar took a deep breath, deciding the master had enough decency to be honest with him, he might as well do the same. Irtar really tried to think of where to start but it was hard to decide where to begin with it. After all, a lot had happened and changed with why he didn’t go to see Vodo. He had often thought of what he’d say in this situation but here he was and couldn’t really think of how to put the ‘why he did it’.

“Because I knew you’d just say ‘you were right.’” Irtar said bluntly. “You’d just preach to me about how it should ‘be an example of why I must let go of everything!’ But like I said, that there made me realize just how much I carried about them all. You never know what you have until you loose it….

It’s easy for a guy to grow up without a family to preach breaking the ties but y’know, not all of us are in a place where it’s that easy! It’s good to know you want to keep the old ways going but you have to realize that those days are gone. You don’t take force sensitives as small kids from their families before they make bonds, you’re getting them bonds and all! You’re getting them when they have some life experience and where you just can’t tell us how to live our lives and expect us to just fucking accept it as the ordained truth!

Yeah, good to know the Jedi Order has wisdom. But it’s wisdom for an age that died with the Old Republic. And THAT’S why I left. We can’t cling to the old ways to fight in a new world. A world full of double-faced politicians and constant war. A place where we just can’t march on with this concept of your padawans just knowing the Jedi and nothing beyond.”

Irtar looked in Vodo’s eyes, with that same defiant gaze he gave him in the office. Not a look of hate, but a look of independence. However young or foolish it must’ve seemed, Irtar was still not detoured from his ideology.

“The Jedi now have homes. Families. Prejudices. Misconceptions. Allegiances. So on and so forth. And I’m sorry if you think it’s ditching out, but I just can’t agree with some of the stuff the Order teaches. And so I’m going out on my own….”

Vodo nodded, and was silent for a moment. He listened very carefully to what Irtar said.

"I agree with you."

He felt a faint feeling of shock mixed with uncertainty come up within Irtar, but he pressed forward anyway.

"The Jedi of the old age clung to ideals that eventually got them destroyed. It was almost like their own code wiped them out. Instead of supporting Skywalker, and trying to help him, they forbade him from having a family, and a life. That was their last mistake..."

Vodo chuckled, "It's almost ironic how we seem to have fallen back to those same rules, and look what it is doing to us. Instead of destroying us, it's keeping us locked away, on a shelf... slowly decaying..."

Vodo sighed to himself and took another long drink from his cup, "It's like we're dying of old age..." A look of genuine sadness crossed his face for a moment, and then was replaced by a hardened look, "But I cannot let that happen. Which leaves me open to new ways of thinking."


"Which leads me to you."

Irtar really just didn’t know what to say. First Vodo had beaten the hell out of him over the Order, and now he’s telling him he’s right. He always though Vodo was at times a little… off, but this took the cake.

It was kinda refreshing to be told he was right for once. That the Jedi were indeed trapped in the past. That the old rules didn’t apply any more but they were still being preached. But for Vodo, without a doubt one of the more traditional masters at the temple to say he was open to new ways of thinking….

“Which leads you to me? How so?” Irtar ventured forward to ask. “Like… I’m not a philosopher or anything like that. What I’ve done is just what feels right to me so far. I don’t know how well it’d work for others.”

Was Vodo asking him to come back and teach or some crap? He wasn’t skilled enough in the Force for anything like that. Was it that he wanted to apologize? No, he’s too prideful for that. Was he trying to appeal to Irtar’s ego to try and get him back? That seemed far more likely. So Irtar decided to take in everything Vodo said with a grain of salt.

“But I’m curious that if you think I’m right you still felt the urge to beat me into a hospital bed!” Irtar grumbled out, more out of irritation than anger now. “You don’t make a guy feel too good when you give him a sound thumping and then tell him that he was standing in the right. Kinda takes away any moral high ground you have in what passed.”

Vodo dismissed Irtar with a wave of his hand, "Pfeh. Everything is a test, apprentice. Have you remembered none of my lessons?"

"Do you not understand what all of this is? Like you must have correctly guessed earlier, I came here to test you. With your new espoused ideals, did you think I would simply allow you to walk around with your skills that might be used for dark purposes?


"As I said, the old ways are dead. In this day and age, I will not simply allow you to leave the Jedi order without some sort of certainty that you would not succumb to the temptation of the Dark Side. I wanted to make sure that you were genuine."

He chuckled to himself, "And if that means "beating you into a hospital bed" then so be it! Perhaps after today's trial, you will remember what I have taught you!"

He sipped from his drink and smiled mirthlessly, "All I want, is to make sure that my time was not wasted. And after today, I do not think it was."

He leaned in close, "You are going to be the prime example for every new Jedi that comes into the fold. You are the one that everyone will want to be like...


"Remember that."