Kamino, you saved my life with this thing,â Luke said, lifting the lightsaber. âLike youâd been using it your whole life.â
Div shrugged. âLike I say, just something I picked up.â
âWell, I was kind of hoping...â Luke reddened. âYou think you could teach me some moves?â
âWhat?â
âItâs no big deal,â Luke said quickly. âI just figured...I donât really have anyone else who can show me how to use this thing.â
Thatâs what you think, Div thought. He didnât understand why Ferus was so determined not to tell Luke the truth. Why not start training him as a Jedi now, before it was too late?
Like itâs too late for me.
âSounds great,â Div said. âI could use the exercise.â
It wasnât exercise he needed. It was distraction. Pushing himself to the point of exhaustion, and past it. This was perfect.
âThink of the lightsaber as an extension of your body,â he said, repeating the advice heâd been given by the Jedi Ry-Gaul and Garen Muln. âAlways be aware of its position, but never watch your bladeâyou watch your enemy. Your focus has to be narrow and wide, all at once.â
Div showed him Shii-Cho, the first of the seven Jedi fighting forms. He taught Luke the basics, thrust and parry, lunge and deflect. Div cringed as Luke ran through his velocity drills looking like a child waving a stick. But he would learn. Form III, Soresu, was more advanced, but Luke had already figured out many of the basic laserblast-deflection techniques. His movements were still too loose and ranging, making him a wide target for incoming blasts.
Every time Div used the lightsaber to demonstrate, it was more difficult to hand it back. His body remembered all the moves, effortlessly falling into old habits. But it wasnât just the fighting techniques, or the deadly efficiency of the blade.
A lightsaber wasnât just another weapon. Using it, even for practice, meant connecting with the Force. There was no other way to achieve the balance, the necessary equilibrium of stillness and motion. Wielding the lightsaber meant opening himself up to everything heâd shut out these last several years. It meant unlocking a door in his mind that heâd thought was sealed forever.
It was tempting to believe that it wasnât. Ferus seemed to believe that Luke could begin his training even as an adultâcontrary to everything Div knew about Jedi traditions. So why couldnât Div return to his training, reclaim the skills of his youth, fulfill the destiny everyone had foreseen for him?
Even if heâd wanted it, Div felt sure it wouldnât work. Being a Jedi meant opening oneself up to the Force. It meant having trust. It required a degree of blind faith, of innocence, that Div had long since lost the capability to feel. He wasnât willing to let that vulnerabilityâthat weakness âback into himself.
âLike this?â Luke asked, executing a perfect riposte-counterparry combination. He spun around, bouncing lightly on the balls of his feet, slashing the lightsaber across a bough of the nearest Massassi tree with startling accuracy. Not that Div was about to reveal that he was impressed.
âThatâs great...as long as your enemy moves no faster than a tree,â Div said. âAgain!â
Luke swept through the training exercise again, and again, blade flashing, eyes lit with determination. Div couldnât help remembering his own training, many years ago. Hiding out on an asteroid with all those proud warriors, so eager for the day when he would be big enough to fight by their side. They had died for him, all of them. Gave him their one escape pod. Watched him disappear into space and waited to die. Safe in his pod, Div had watched as the Imperials had aimed their terrible weapon at the asteroid and erased it from existence.
All those people, giving up their lives
Div shrugged. âLike I say, just something I picked up.â
âWell, I was kind of hoping...â Luke reddened. âYou think you could teach me some moves?â
âWhat?â
âItâs no big deal,â Luke said quickly. âI just figured...I donât really have anyone else who can show me how to use this thing.â
Thatâs what you think, Div thought. He didnât understand why Ferus was so determined not to tell Luke the truth. Why not start training him as a Jedi now, before it was too late?
Like itâs too late for me.
âSounds great,â Div said. âI could use the exercise.â
It wasnât exercise he needed. It was distraction. Pushing himself to the point of exhaustion, and past it. This was perfect.
âThink of the lightsaber as an extension of your body,â he said, repeating the advice heâd been given by the Jedi Ry-Gaul and Garen Muln. âAlways be aware of its position, but never watch your bladeâyou watch your enemy. Your focus has to be narrow and wide, all at once.â
Div showed him Shii-Cho, the first of the seven Jedi fighting forms. He taught Luke the basics, thrust and parry, lunge and deflect. Div cringed as Luke ran through his velocity drills looking like a child waving a stick. But he would learn. Form III, Soresu, was more advanced, but Luke had already figured out many of the basic laserblast-deflection techniques. His movements were still too loose and ranging, making him a wide target for incoming blasts.
Every time Div used the lightsaber to demonstrate, it was more difficult to hand it back. His body remembered all the moves, effortlessly falling into old habits. But it wasnât just the fighting techniques, or the deadly efficiency of the blade.
A lightsaber wasnât just another weapon. Using it, even for practice, meant connecting with the Force. There was no other way to achieve the balance, the necessary equilibrium of stillness and motion. Wielding the lightsaber meant opening himself up to everything heâd shut out these last several years. It meant unlocking a door in his mind that heâd thought was sealed forever.
It was tempting to believe that it wasnât. Ferus seemed to believe that Luke could begin his training even as an adultâcontrary to everything Div knew about Jedi traditions. So why couldnât Div return to his training, reclaim the skills of his youth, fulfill the destiny everyone had foreseen for him?
Even if heâd wanted it, Div felt sure it wouldnât work. Being a Jedi meant opening oneself up to the Force. It meant having trust. It required a degree of blind faith, of innocence, that Div had long since lost the capability to feel. He wasnât willing to let that vulnerabilityâthat weakness âback into himself.
âLike this?â Luke asked, executing a perfect riposte-counterparry combination. He spun around, bouncing lightly on the balls of his feet, slashing the lightsaber across a bough of the nearest Massassi tree with startling accuracy. Not that Div was about to reveal that he was impressed.
âThatâs great...as long as your enemy moves no faster than a tree,â Div said. âAgain!â
Luke swept through the training exercise again, and again, blade flashing, eyes lit with determination. Div couldnât help remembering his own training, many years ago. Hiding out on an asteroid with all those proud warriors, so eager for the day when he would be big enough to fight by their side. They had died for him, all of them. Gave him their one escape pod. Watched him disappear into space and waited to die. Safe in his pod, Div had watched as the Imperials had aimed their terrible weapon at the asteroid and erased it from existence.
All those people, giving up their lives
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