Vilyam woke with a start after five hours of uneasy sleep, dreaming of the world of Ossus burning into something that was no longer allowed to be green.
He suddenly recalled that he had been initiated into the Jedi Temple located in Ossus City.
A shadow seemed to momentarily fall across his face as the realization dawned that he would no longer have the liberty to speak openly or engage in free conversation with his father, Deon.
After a moment he came back to his senses, and stood up from his bed before walking towards the small bathroom, a bathroom with a toilet, a shower and a mirror.
He stared at his own reflection in the mirror, the young child reflecting back at him with a mess of black hair, his face still bearing a childish roundness, however there was an edge to it resulting from his time farming and choreing.
As he slept, there was a noticeable change in his body; he seemed to grow a little, a small growth spurt that put him around four-foot-three tall. His musculature, while still small and lanky, possessed a definition that was only possible for someone who spent more time working than playing.
Vilyam stared up towards his own sapphire blue eyes, the color calming him from the restlessness of his dream.
"I should go see my Master!"
He said before thinking, I still cannot believe that I am being trained as a Jedi.
He quickly took a shower, washing off the grime and dirt he'd accumulated over the last few days, which then swirled down the drain below.
After that, he stepped out to grab a towel, intending to dry himself off thoroughly.
Vilyam walked back into his room and towards his dresser, opening it to reveal a set of Jedi training robes.
Oh these are kinda rough, do we have to wear these?
He remembered seeing the other younglings wearing similar robes and sighed.
"Guess so, still better than being nude, I guess," he said with a sigh before clothing himself in one of the robes inside his dresser.
After draping himself in the Jedi robe he walked towards the door and as he did so he could make out the sound of wooden swords clashing together.
Opening the door revealed just this, all the younglings and older children were clashing together.
SMACK
CRACK
SWISH
One of the initiates, a boy with fiery red hair, spotted Vilyam and immediately smirked at him before thrusting his off-hand towards the green-skinned girl he was currently engaged in sparring with, causing her wooden saber to veer off its intended path and unintentionally strike towards Vilyam.
The girl with green skin, a being Vilyam would later come to learn was a Mirialan, let out a high-pitched squeal of alarm as she fully grasped the unfolding situation, desperately struggling to push the wooden blade away, but all her efforts were futile.
Just before the blade could land on Vilyam's head, however, it stopped abruptly, mere millimeters from smashing into his forehead.
Just a few feet away, a figure who was undeniably tall but also possessed a noticeably lanky build was observed casually extending his hand forward.
A visible wave of palpable pressure emanated from his palm, creating a subtle disturbance in the air around him.
The oppressive wave of pressure that had been bearing down on her dissipated, liberating the Mirialan girl to once again take command of her training sword.
She then slowly turned her head towards the red-headed human boy standing nearby, her brows furrowed in a deep frown, so thick and prominent that they almost seemed to be engaged in their own separate business.
He responded with a gravely, almost grating voice that seemed to scrape against the ears.
"Initiate Strom, if I see something like this again I will personally introduce your head to the dirt at your feet, and believe me, your relationship will be intimate!"
The initiate named Strom looked away, acting as if he hadn't heard anything only a faint flicker of anger and jealousy in his eyes as he glared at Vilyam's handsome face.
Tch think you are better than me, don't you?
Vilyam's eyes didn't even glance his direction which only served to exacerbate his anger.
The Mirialan girl's cheeks flushed a delicate shade of pink as she stood frozen in place before Vilyam.
He, however, simply scratched the back of his head, feeling rather unsure about how to start a conversation with a girl who was his own age.
"Hi I'm Vilyam Rax, it's very nice to meet you."
The Mirialan girl had her hair in twin buns on both sides of her head and her beautiful dark eyes shimmered as she stared into the sapphire blue eyes of Vilyam.
She held the training sword firmly between her hands, but her grip quickly became slick with sweat, darkening the bright wood and causing her to fumble with it in her grasp.
The wooden blade spun in the air as she attempted to recollect it, but she continued to fumble it until Vilyam grasped the blade with his calloused hand.
"Here you go," he said, extending the wooden sword towards the Mirialan girl.
After shakily reaching out to take it from him, the girl clutched the weapon firmly against her chest.
"T-Thank you..."
She stammered slightly as she was speaking, and then abruptly turned around and started walking the opposite direction rather quickly, heading back towards her training partner, Strom.
How cute... Wish I had gotten her name." As he thought this there was a set of authoritative sounding footsteps echoing through surroundings heading straight for Vilyam.
Master Adega was making his way through the training area, accompanied by Knight Gnossian who stood on his right side, and by an unidentified Jedi draped in a hooded light green cloak on his left.
In a matter of moments, they found themselves standing before little Vilyam.
Their presence, in itself, caused the boy to visibly tremble for a brief second.
However, he promptly remembered that these were Jedi, heroes who would never harm him.
"Young Vilyam, today I will be leaving you in the capable hands of Knight Kadro Vess, he will be teaching you basic swordplay.
Knight Kadro Vess removed his hood revealing himself to be a Zabrak with an intense expression to go with his horned head.
Stepping forward he put both of his hands on Vilyam's shoulders.
"Not bad, this one has worked quite hard in his short life!" He gestured towards an empty section of the training field. "Come, we should get started."
Knight Kadro Vess led Vilyam to the center of the empty area before walking to the other side.
He lightly gestured with his large hand and two wooden training swords begin floating towards him.
After grabbing them out of the air he tossed one towards Vilyam.
"Now, we will start with the most basic of the basic. Attack me and I will show you."
Vilyam took an awkward sword stance that did not have any particular form or style and rushed forward, his wooden blade swinging from above towards Knight Kadro Vess's shoulder.
Kadro Vess held his wooden blade in a defensive posture, the hilt held right along his abdomen with the blade pointing straight up.
As Vilyam's blade came down, Kadro Vess lifted the sword upward at a slight angle, and as Vilyam's blade struck, it began to slide uselessly towards the ground.
At the same time, Kadro Vess thrust the tip of his sword towards Vilyam's neck, pausing mere millimeters from his throat.
Kadro Vess pulled his sword back into the original stance.
"Form I, also known as Shii-Cho, is the first and most widely used form the Jedi have ever conceived and you will focus on this to start your training!"
Vilyam gulped, somehow still feeling the tip of the wooden blade pointing at his throat.
"The form's initial positioning provides an incredible advantage, allowing for near-instantaneous defense from all four possible directions. This strategic placement also makes launching effective counterattacks significantly easier to execute, take the position and prepare yourself."
Vilyam took the stance, his grip tightening as he brought the wooden sword close to his abdomen, pointing perfectly upward.
Before Vilyam had any chance to react to the impending attack, Knight Kadro Vess initiated a rapid advance toward him, mirroring the attack pattern that had already been demonstrated by Vilyam.
He swung his blade downward with considerable force, aiming directly at Vilyam's shoulder.
"Holy sh-"
Vilyam didn't even have enough time to complete his curse before he was forced into a position where he had to either move the blade or risk being struck himself.
Kadro Vess's sword struck Vilyam's defense, and because he did not angle the blade, the force was fully transferred to Vilyam's body, causing him to slide backwards several feet in the grass and dirt before finally coming to a stop.
This guy hits like a like a mud yak! Was all he could think as he recovered.
He once more adopted his stance, carefully preparing himself mentally by imagining all the possible directions from which Knight Kadro Vess could attack.
Knight Kadro Vess nodded appreciatively, "Good, being prepared is a necessity of the Jedi!"
He once again lunged forward, but the blade itself was actually coming from the right side, a wide, sweeping motion that could cleave any living being in two, assuming the blade actually had a sharp edge!
Vilyam reacted on instinct.
He brought his sword up, too slow, too stiff.
CRACK
The impact rattled through his arms like a struck bell, his grip nearly giving way as the force shoved him sideways.
His feet dragged through the dirt, boots carving uneven lines as he struggled to stay upright.
"Angle," Kadro Vess said, already resetting his stance. "You are meeting the strike, not guiding it. Again."
Vilyam sucked in a breath, tightening his grip as he forced his trembling arms back into position.
The stance felt unnatural, too rigid in some places, too loose in others, like trying to hold water in his hands without letting it slip through his fingers.
Angle it… don't just block it…
Kadro moved again.
This time, the strike came from above.
Vilyam reacted faster, lifting his blade to meet it, but at the last moment, he remembered.
He tilted the blade.
CLACK
SKRRR
The wooden swords connected, but instead of stopping dead, Kadro's blade slid along Vilyam's at an angle, deflecting off to the side.
The force still traveled through his arms, but it didn't crush him this time, it flowed past him and causing Vilyam's eyes to widen in shock.
"I did-"
A blur.
Kadro stepped in.
The tip of his blade stopped a breath away from Vilyam's chest.
"Do not celebrate mid-exchange," Kadro said calmly. "That is how you die."
Vilyam swallowed hard and nodded, forcing himself to reset.
They went again.
And again.
And again.
Time blurred into a rhythm of impact and correction.
High strike.
Low sweep.
Left.
Right.
Every movement Kadro made was clean, efficient, almost effortless, as if the blade were simply an extension of his will.
Vilyam, by contrast, was all effort.
His boots slipped in the dirt.
His shoulders burned.
His grip tightened too much, then too little.
Sweat gathered along his brow, stinging his eyes as he forced himself to keep them open.
CRACK
Too slow.
SMACK
Too stiff.
THUD
Too late.
He hit the ground hard, the breath knocked from his lungs as dust puffed up around him.
For a moment, he stayed there, staring up at the sky above the training yard.
It was a clear blue, almost painfully calm compared to the storm raging in his muscles.
"Up," Kadro Vess said.
No anger or impatience.
Just expectation.
Vilyam gritted his teeth and rolled to his side, pushing himself back onto his feet.
His arms trembled as he lifted the wooden blade once more, dragging it into position near his abdomen.
Point up.
Guard centered.
All four directions…
Kadro nodded faintly.
"Again."
This time, Vilyam watched more closely.
Not just the blade.
The shoulders.
The hips.
The shift of weight just before the strike.
Kadro moved, and Vilyam moved with him.
The strike came from the left.
Vilyam angled his blade.
CLACK
The impact slid away.
A follow-up thrust and Vilyam twisted, barely managing to deflect it aside.
Not clean.
Not perfect.
But not useless.
Kadro's eyes sharpened slightly.
"Better."
That single word hit harder than any strike.
They continued.
The world began to narrow.
The shouting of other initiates faded.
The clash of distant training dulled into a background hum.
Even the burning in his arms became something distant, present, but no longer overwhelming.
There was only blade, angle, and
Movement.
Kadro attacked faster.
A feint from above mase Vilyam flinch, but the real strike came low.
Too late.
THWACK
The wooden blade struck his thigh, and he stumbled, nearly dropping his weapon.
"Do not chase the first movement you see," Kadro said. "Shii-Cho is not about reacting blindly. It is about readiness."
Vilyam steadied himself, breath coming heavier now.
"How… am I supposed to tell the difference?"
Kadro didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he stepped forward again.