Dagobah, galaxy far, far away [NFB]
As Luke wiped the sweat from his eyes, he wondered-and not for the first time-if it had really been worth convincing Yoda to let him learn how to be a Jedi.
He felt like he'd hardly had time to breathe since Yoda's cryptic reply of "you will be" to his assertions that he wasn't afraid.
He'd known about hard work-moisture farms don't run themselves, after all-but the regimen that Yoda had devised left him physically and emotionally drained and the hour or so of sleep he'd been getting each night hadn't exactly refreshed him.
"The Force, it will help you," Yoda had told him for the millionth time when Luke complained. And then one day, Luke had stopped trying to understand why ("unlearning what you have learned," Yoda had called it) and merely accepted.
Training had been much easier when his mind wasn't racing with a thousand questions. He could hold onto that feeling for a good…oh, half hour at a time or so.
Which had apparently stopped a few seconds ago.
"Clear your mind," Yoda barked from his perch on Luke's back. "A Jedi is calm. At peace." He blinked his huge eyes. "Not wondering if his master's brain has curdled through years alone in a swamp, hmmmm."
Luke dropped his gaze, abashed.
"Lightsaber practice, shall we have?" Yoda asked, a trace of laughter in his voice.
Luke sighed. "All right."
He had been thrilled when Yoda had finally shown him how to put his own weapon together, the weeks of concentration that it had taken, the crystal Yoda'd given him that had once belonged a Jedi Master long gone, Qui something, the chance to do anything that didn't involve leaping around the jungle with the Jedi Master clinging to his back and spouting fortune cookie-type advice at him.
When he turned the lightsaber on and was greeted with a green blaze of light-nothing like his father's weapon-Luke had felt a weight lift off of his chest. He'd smiled at Yoda as he came out of the cave and set himself into a defensive posture with the weapon extended.
Yoda'd fallen off the log he'd been sitting on as he giggled. "So certain are you?" he'd wheezed. "Think you know so much of dueling?"
Then Yoda had, not to put too fine a spin on it, kicked his ass.
And had been pretty much kicking Luke's ass in lightsaber combat ever since.
"Make your enemies fight the way you'd like, you cannot," Yoda lectured as he whirled and spun around Luke in a dizzying blur. "The Emporer, sit politely in prime skewering location, he will not." For a moment, Yoda's eyes were very hard. "More's the pity, hmmm."
Luke batted Yoda's lightsaber away with less effort than it had taken him originally. Yoda smiled. "Better," he praised. "Long than three seconds will you now last." Artoo rocked and tootled his own approval.
Luke grinned back, then disengaged from the sparring, moving to lean against a nearby tree.
But something was off. He looked towards a nearby cave. "I feel…cold," he said, sounding confused. It was never cold on Dagobah.
Yoda nodded, looking sad. "That cave," he said, pointing. "A place of evil it is."
Fantastic, a part of Luke's brain grumbled. He reached for his belt that held his blaster-he'd taken it off when he and Yoda had been practicing-but Yoda held up his hand. "Your weapons," he said. "You will not need them."
"What's in there?" Luke asked, buckling on his weapons with a slight frown.
"Only what you take with you."
Oh, that's not ominous at all, Luke's brain commented as he walked towards the cave.
For a while as he walked, he encountered nothing more evil than the slimy insects that thrived in the swamplands.
Then he heard the breathing. He hated the sound of that breathing.
He reached immediately for his lightsaber, green blade glowing eerily in the mist. Darth Vader's red one slammed against it mere heartbeats later.
Heart pounding in his chest, Luke slashed and parried, refusing to let himself think just who it was behind that mask. Months of resentment and anger had just been given a chance to be vented and he finally took a shot at Vader's neck, reveling in the thought of justice truly served. The body collapsed, the head rolled away and Luke paused for a second to wonder if this was another flash of the future he was seeing.
And then the mask exploded and he found himself staring down into his own eyes. All of Yoda's lectures about the dark side forever dominating a destiny came into sudden, stark focus.
It was a long time before Luke came back out of that cave, and when he did all traces of childhood were gone from his eyes.
It might have been the fastest training ever, but he was a Jedi now.
He felt like he'd hardly had time to breathe since Yoda's cryptic reply of "you will be" to his assertions that he wasn't afraid.
He'd known about hard work-moisture farms don't run themselves, after all-but the regimen that Yoda had devised left him physically and emotionally drained and the hour or so of sleep he'd been getting each night hadn't exactly refreshed him.
"The Force, it will help you," Yoda had told him for the millionth time when Luke complained. And then one day, Luke had stopped trying to understand why ("unlearning what you have learned," Yoda had called it) and merely accepted.
Training had been much easier when his mind wasn't racing with a thousand questions. He could hold onto that feeling for a good…oh, half hour at a time or so.
Which had apparently stopped a few seconds ago.
"Clear your mind," Yoda barked from his perch on Luke's back. "A Jedi is calm. At peace." He blinked his huge eyes. "Not wondering if his master's brain has curdled through years alone in a swamp, hmmmm."
Luke dropped his gaze, abashed.
"Lightsaber practice, shall we have?" Yoda asked, a trace of laughter in his voice.
Luke sighed. "All right."
He had been thrilled when Yoda had finally shown him how to put his own weapon together, the weeks of concentration that it had taken, the crystal Yoda'd given him that had once belonged a Jedi Master long gone, Qui something, the chance to do anything that didn't involve leaping around the jungle with the Jedi Master clinging to his back and spouting fortune cookie-type advice at him.
When he turned the lightsaber on and was greeted with a green blaze of light-nothing like his father's weapon-Luke had felt a weight lift off of his chest. He'd smiled at Yoda as he came out of the cave and set himself into a defensive posture with the weapon extended.
Yoda'd fallen off the log he'd been sitting on as he giggled. "So certain are you?" he'd wheezed. "Think you know so much of dueling?"
Then Yoda had, not to put too fine a spin on it, kicked his ass.
And had been pretty much kicking Luke's ass in lightsaber combat ever since.
"Make your enemies fight the way you'd like, you cannot," Yoda lectured as he whirled and spun around Luke in a dizzying blur. "The Emporer, sit politely in prime skewering location, he will not." For a moment, Yoda's eyes were very hard. "More's the pity, hmmm."
Luke batted Yoda's lightsaber away with less effort than it had taken him originally. Yoda smiled. "Better," he praised. "Long than three seconds will you now last." Artoo rocked and tootled his own approval.
Luke grinned back, then disengaged from the sparring, moving to lean against a nearby tree.
But something was off. He looked towards a nearby cave. "I feel…cold," he said, sounding confused. It was never cold on Dagobah.
Yoda nodded, looking sad. "That cave," he said, pointing. "A place of evil it is."
Fantastic, a part of Luke's brain grumbled. He reached for his belt that held his blaster-he'd taken it off when he and Yoda had been practicing-but Yoda held up his hand. "Your weapons," he said. "You will not need them."
"What's in there?" Luke asked, buckling on his weapons with a slight frown.
"Only what you take with you."
Oh, that's not ominous at all, Luke's brain commented as he walked towards the cave.
For a while as he walked, he encountered nothing more evil than the slimy insects that thrived in the swamplands.
Then he heard the breathing. He hated the sound of that breathing.
He reached immediately for his lightsaber, green blade glowing eerily in the mist. Darth Vader's red one slammed against it mere heartbeats later.
Heart pounding in his chest, Luke slashed and parried, refusing to let himself think just who it was behind that mask. Months of resentment and anger had just been given a chance to be vented and he finally took a shot at Vader's neck, reveling in the thought of justice truly served. The body collapsed, the head rolled away and Luke paused for a second to wonder if this was another flash of the future he was seeing.
And then the mask exploded and he found himself staring down into his own eyes. All of Yoda's lectures about the dark side forever dominating a destiny came into sudden, stark focus.
It was a long time before Luke came back out of that cave, and when he did all traces of childhood were gone from his eyes.
It might have been the fastest training ever, but he was a Jedi now.