- Present time -
- Planet: Coruscant -
Master Yoda is giving a lesson to the members of the Bear Clan. Upon joining a clan, younglings begin their basic training in the Jedi arts. Various tests and rituals are conducted to introduce them to the Jedi Code and their mindset. Between the ages of four and eight, younglings acquire the basic skills of lightsaber combat using low-powered training sabers to practice the deflection of blaster shots fired by small training droids. Naturally, neither the lightsabers nor the droids are lethal.
"Reach out. Sense the Force around you. Use your feelings, you must," Yoda instructs the younglings.
All 20 initiates are wearing helmets to force them to trust the Force to deflect the shots fired by the droid, rather than relying on their eyes. All of them are following this regimen and trying to sense the Force. However, one among them is not doing that, and is looking in another direction. The training droid fires its non-lethal shots at Garp and hits his body. But he doesn't care about it. In fact, he doesn't feel it at all.
"Very good, that was. Meditate more on this, you will. Feel and trust the Force, you must," Yoda says and ends the lesson.
The children thank the Grandmaster and walk out. Only one is still left; Garp hasn't moved. Yoda walks over to the boy and lifts off his helmet using the Force, and sees that Garp has fallen asleep. A chuckle escapes the old Jedi, and he wakes up Garp.
"Huh? Is it over?" Garp asks.
"Over it is, yes. Slept through the lesson, you have, hmm?"
Garp purses his lips and looks to the side.
"No."
"Huhuhu. A bad liar, you are. Good, that is," Yoda laughs, seeing Garp's face.
"Bahahaha, you talk funny," Garp laughs.
"Tell me why you didn't follow along in the lesson, can you?" Yoda asks.
"Urgh, it's so boring. Most of what you teach here has nothing to do with becoming stronger, and I fall asleep following along. I want to go back home. This place is not fun at all," Garp says.
"Hmm, fun, you say? Yes. About fun, the Jedi Order is not. Peacekeepers we are. Fighting for peace and against the darkness in the galaxy is our job."
"I haven't seen anything like that yet. If anything, all I see are monks who talk a lot and don't have the necessary strength to back it up. That woman who told me about the Jedi, Fay, was strong. You're strong as well, and I suppose there are one or two others who are moderately powerful, but that's it. I'm not sure, I'll find what I'm looking for here."
"Strong, you think I am, hmm? Very old and small I am, no?" Yoda asks.
"You're the strongest one I have seen yet. No one comes close to your presence and aura."
"Presence? Sense my strength, you do, hmm?" Yoda asks, interested.
"Mm-hmm, what of it?"
"Curious, this is. Come, youngling," Yoda says and walks out of the room.
"Where are we going?" Garp asks as he walks next to the Grandmaster.
"Training, of course. A lightsaber, you don't like. Meditation, you don't like. But maybe... maybe you don't need it. In different ways, the Force works. Not my place to interpret it, it is."
Yoda has come to understand that there may be more to Garp than meets the eye, or what he heard. The High Council seeks to throw him out of the Order, but that's not what they usually do. Not because of a youngling. And from what Yoda could sense, Garp might have the least amount of darkness in him he had ever seen. There was an innocence Yoda felt and a large presence, unusual for such a young man. And yet, he wasn't arrogant or proud of his strength, which was something the Jedi tried to teach their younglings and Padawans later on. As pride often led to arrogance, and that to a hard fall.
They arrive at a chamber where the Grandmaster usually trains. In a Fibonacci-like pattern, stones are arranged, starting with small ones and gradually increasing in size and weight.
"What are we doing here?"
"Listen, you must, youngling. To train, we are here right now," Yoda answers and arrives at the middle.
"And what are we training?"
"Lifting these boulders, you will. A training to use the Force, this is. Reach into the Force and lift them up," Yoda says and reaches out, using telekinesis to lift up several stones, all weighing up to several tons.
He raises them up and then puts them down again.
"Now you," Yoda says.
"Do I have to use the Force to do this?"
"Lift them, however you want, you shall."
Garp goes over to a boulder and lifts it up with his hands. He is very strong for his age and capable of lifting things that grown men and women couldn't. He lifts the first boulder using only his strength and lifts it above his head. A grin makes its way on his face.
"Bahahaha."
Yoda observes the youngling with growing interest. He has heard of particularly strong species, like the Wookies, but a human with such strength at that age, who isn't even using the Force, no. This is special, and the longer he interacts with Garp, the more he is convinced of that fact. Garp doesn't drop the boulder, though and starts to do a set of squats with it, holding it above his head. For the first time in a long while, does he feel the strain on his body again. He is more of a punch his problems away kind of guy.
"Very impressive, this is," Yoda says and continues to watch as Garp does his exercise.
However, suddenly, one of the smaller stones floats up and approaches Garp. He feels something is wrong and moves his head to the side, just in time to dodge the stone.
"Hey!?" Garp shouts.
"Hehehe, keep your concentration, you must. Lift the smaller stones while you do that, you should try," the Grandmaster tells Garp.
Garp looks at the smaller stones, then at the large boulder. He remembers what Yoda just showed him and nods in agreement. He lifts the boulder again. He focuses on what the instructors tried to tell the younglings for the longest time. He doesn't know what it is, but he manages to tug the small stones and eventually, get them to rise ever so slightly. But he feels the strain on his arms and loses his concentration again, causing the smaller stones to fall once more.
Yoda smiles, seeing this. He is the first one who has understood how to take Garp and teach him. The small Jedi is over 700 years old after all. He has extensive experience working with children. And yet, this is still a first for him.
...
Yoda's smile has disappeared. His 700 years of experience were of no use in helping him understand what he was seeing. Here he was, a young child, lifting stones weighing thousands of kilograms while doing push-ups at the same time. And not only that, Garp was also keeping several smaller stones afloat using the Force. Yoda is flabbergasted at what he is seeing. How is this possible? How could a human child have such a strong body? His connection to the Force is strong, that's true, but this...? Yoda didn't know what to do right now. They couldn't allow Garp to leave the Order, not because of his physical strength and inherent talent for specific Force techniques. No, Garp was this strong and yet didn't brag about it. His spirit was unbreakable, that much Yoda had found out. He might never become the Jedi who sits on the High Council, he may never truly learn how to push his emotions aside, he may forever feel emotions... but they would never bog him down.
Yoda watches as Garp breaks his limit time and time again and only laughs when he doesn't manage to do something. He seems to enjoy this process truly. It is unusual for Yoda, and yet, for some reason, it is a bit exciting as well. Here was a small child who was so full of potential and shone like a bright beacon in the Force. When Garp laughed, it was almost contagious for Yoda. He liked being in Garp's presence. He, an ancient small Jedi, enjoyed the presence of a small child.
Yoda makes a decision, as he sees Garp refusing to give up and pushing on. He will take the youngling under his wing for now and meet him halfway. It is obvious that Garp is not cut out to be a conventional Jedi, but Yoda feels the Force rejoice for some reason, as if it is happy about Garp. He will teach Garp about Jedi values while training him in a way the youngling will enjoy. A small smile makes its way on Yoda's face. The future, which seemed to be shrouded somewhat, looks brighter suddenly. It tells him that he has made the right decision.
Little does the Grandmaster know what headaches Garp will give him in the future.
*Thud*
*Booom*
Garp finally drops to the ground and the large boulder with him. Yoda walks forward and moves the boulders into the correct place again. He looks at the youngling who is breathing hard and sweating profusely.
"Tired are you, hmm?"
"Bahaha..."
"Come with me, youngling. To the gardens, we will go," Yoda says and walks out of the training room.
Garp manages to push himself off the ground on wobbly feet, but he follows along.
"Why are we going to the gardens?" Garp asks.
"Meditating we will. Feel the Force, you will finally do," Yoda explains.
"Urgh, I don't want to do that..."
"Go back to training you want, hmm?"
"...Yes."
"Then meditate you will. Renew your energy, it can."
"Really? I thought it was all that feeling the will of something and all that boring stuff," Garp says, confused.
"Know very little, about the Force you do. Teach you, I will."
"Hmm..."
Yoda was a wise little man. He knew that Garp would never agree to do meditation if he started to go into the details of meditation and talk about the will of the Force and connecting to the cosmic Force. To feel the future and ask the Force for guidance was absolutely not within Garp's nature. Garp would run around the Jedi Temple, following wherever his mood led him. He was chaotic if anything. So, teaching by doing was the approach Yoda took. This way, when Garp goes to meditate, to replenish his energy so he can continue training, he will automatically feel the will of the Force. There was no escaping that.
They reach the garden and sit down.
"Sit down next to me."
"So what now?" Garp asks, stretching his muscles and preparing for another good sleep.
"Meditate we will. Open a connection to the Force, you must do."
"Huh?"
Meditation is a mental technique performed by living beings. By meditating, Force-sensitives can reach a deeper state of relaxation, making it easier to connect with the Force with a clear mind. This technique, which involves opening a connection to the Force, is something even the most senior of Jedi Masters study over a lifetime.
On the other hand, whereas the Jedi meditate to quiet their minds and connect with the Force, Sith Lords meditate to concentrate their anger, fear, and hatred into a pure point of ruthless power within themselves. As meditation is to have a stronger and more direct connection with the Force, it can sometimes affect one's surroundings without the practitioner's conscious control, usually causing surrounding objects, or even the practitioner themselves, to levitate.
"For the basics of Jedi meditation, focus on emotions most present in your mind, you must. Honest with yourself, you must be. The feelings experienced and their effects, acknowledge them, you should. Then, let each emotion go, you must. To become an empty vessel, the goal is. Filled with peace and serenity by the Force, you will be," Yoda instructs Garp.
Garp thinks about what the Grandmaster tells him for a moment. Focusing on his emotions...
Food
No, no, emotions...
Meat
Urgh, this is impossible for him.
Adventure and meat... yeah, that's good.
"Trouble you have, focusing your emotions, I sense. Think about someone you care about, you should. What they mean to you and how they look."
Garp thinks back to the planet Kaddak and his friends there. He misses them and plans to leave soon, so he can return to them. An image materialises in the form of a vision, Sumari, the Twi'lek girl who has accompanied Garp the longest and whom he misses the most. Sumari made very good food...
"Ah, good, youngling. Now, let go of everything you must," Yoda says from the side.
"Let go? Why would I do that?"
"To become an empty vessel, the goal is. Filled with peace and serenity by the Force, you will be."
...
...
"Hmm?" Yoda looks at Garp and smacks him on the head with his stick.
"Ahh, what happened?!"
"Sleep, you mustn't do right now. Focus, young Garp."
"Urgh..."
...
...
"How about some food?"
"...Very well."