Ahsoka, Daughter of the Light (Book 6): Hero

Chapter 3: Training on the Holt

KATOONI ADANA

"That looks impossible," asked a blue-skinned Mikkian female youngling, who Katooni had come to know as Lora Stiletti.

"It may seem impossible," Ahsoka said, "but with persistence and the Force as your ally, you will overcome any obstacle. You will master any path, no matter how difficult it may be. This is only your first test, you will learn more about this once you become Jedi Padawans. If you fail, worry not. You must always get back up and try again. Who wishes to go first?"

"I'll go," Zatt said.

"Good," Ahsoka said. "You may need to give yourself a running start."

"Okay," Zatt said, "I can do this."

After composing himself, he ran and jumped on the wall. Surprisingly, he managed to do quit well, as he managed to efficiently run on the wall. Unfortunately, he fell just short of the platform, and ended up faceplanting on to the top of the platform as the platform's edge poked his stomach. He slid back down and tried to grab on to the edge of the platform, but he failed to do so and dropped onto the floor.

"Oh," said a male Bivall youngling, "Almost made it."

"I'm okay," Zatt said, getting back up on his feet and putting his hand against the side of his head. Thankfully, the fall wasn't that far, being barely a few feet below the level the other younglings were on.

"Good work, young one," Ahsoka said. "That's very impressive for your first try."

The tile Zatt was on lifted him back up to the starting platform, which he got on.

"Who wishes to go next?" Ahsoka continued.

"I'll go!" Asked the Bivall youngling.

The youngling got a running start, but made it only a little past halfway before he fell.

"Umf!" he excalimed.

"Not bad," Ahsoka said. "Keep trying."

"Not even close," said the youngling.

"I'll go next," Petro said, before Ahsoka could say anything.

"Then go ahead," Ahsoka said.

"Right," he said, getting in a runner's starting position, and then running across the starting platform and onto the wall.

He ran on the wall, determined to make it to the end. Unfortunately, he didn't have the speed nor the agility yet to flawlessly land on his feet. However, he did manage to grab on to the edge of the platform, and he pulled himself up without touching the floor.

"Does that count?" Petro said, standing up.

A smile crossed Ahsoka's face.

"Well, I can't say I was expecting some of you to have such good first tries. I'm honestly quite impressed at how far you all have gotten with this so far."

"Most of us haven't even tried yet," said Lora from the other platform.

"True," Ahsoka said.

Then, Ahsoka looked to Katooni.

"Katooni?" she said. "I sense you are anxious. Perhaps you would like to get this over with?"

She was nervous. It looked a little hard.

"I-I don't know," Katooni said.

"Don't be shy!" one of the younglings said.

"You can do it!" another one said.

"Okay then," she said.

She closed her eyes and whispered to herself a little, getting into a runner's start position. It was a good way for a Jedi to compose themselves, and also served as some kind of meditation.

When she opened her eyes, she ran straight towards the wall and ran up against it. Filled with determination, she flawlessly managed to jump off the wall and land on her feet without stumbling.

Everyone, including Ahsoka, was no less than shocked. Even Katooni herself felt surprised she just did that.

"Whoa," Petro said, "that was cool."

Ahsoka looked at her with interest.

"I am... most impressed," she said. "I..."

"Well," Katooni said, "I never would have gotten this far without you."

It was true. Ahsoka had served as a beacon for her, someone to look up to for her training. If it had just been one of the old Jedi Masters, she never would have made it this far, as they never had time for her and her alone. But Ahsoka managed to pay attention to each and every one of them, caring for them all.

As the training session went by, the other youngling tried their hand at the wall.

Some of them couldn't even manage to mount the wall and fell right to the floor. Others did better, managing to get more than halfway across the wall before falling. By the end, some even made it to the end. But few managed to pull of what Katooni had done. It even took Petro a few more times to do a flawless wall run.

From that day on, Katooni lost some fear, knowing that she, along with everyone here, were all going to learn so much.