- Present time -
- Planet: Coruscant -
"Shall we start then?" Ki-Adi-Mundi starts the meeting.
"Yes. Put off the issue, we cannot," Jedi Grandmaster Yoda agrees.
"So what was the issue? Why was the High Council called?" Master Katri asks.
"Something to do with a youngling, this meeting has, hmm?" Yoda asks.
"Indeed. Once again, it seems that a member of the Bear Clan, Garp, has caused trouble. I believe that's the fifth time this week? This can't continue like this. We are the Jedi Order, not a playground," Ki-Adi-Mundi says.
"Ah, Monkey D. ... yes, I remember. Quite an energetic young boy," Tera Sinube, an old Cosian male, chuckles.
"Maybe, Master Braylon, can tell us more about it? Was it you who introduced that maelstrom into the Order?" Ki-Adi-Mundi asks.
Yula Braylon initially served as a Jedi seeker, searching the galaxy for initiates to recruit into the Jedi Order. During that time, just before she was given a position on the Jedi High Council, she found the young boy, Monkey D. Garp, in the Outer Rim.
"I did indeed find, Monkey D. Garp. But I must admit, and Grandmaster Yoda knows this, that I didn't find him initially. I was told about the young boy," Yula Braylon says.
"Then who told you about him, Master Braylon?" Master Katri asks.
"It was Master Fay, Master Katri."
"Master Fay? She contacted you and told you about the boy?" Katri asks, surprised.
"No. She contacted Grandmaster Yoda. And he told me about it, after which I travelled to Kaddak and found him," Braylon explains.
"Yes, contacted me, Master Fay did. Tell me about the boy, the child Garp, she did," Yoda nods.
It made sense. Apart from Yoda, only Tera Sinube know Master Fay in person. They are simply that old.
"So what happened this time?" Ki-Adi-Mundi asks annoyed.
"Well, it would seem he collected all the pillows and started a fight with them... in the food hall."
"Hehehe... energetic the youngling is," Yoda chuckles.
The old Jedi is familiar with Garp. Everyone is familiar with Garp and his antics. It is hard for an Order as stiff as the Jedi to contain the spirit as powerful and free as that of Monkey D. Garp.
"What shall we do with him, then? This has been going on for far too long now. He plays pranks on other students and the teachers, he starts food fights in the food hall, he runs through the halls, falls asleep during meditation, never practices with training lightsabers and doesn't listen to a word the Masters say. No matter the punishment, he doesn't care. At this rate, I believe there might be nothing we can do, except expel the boy," Ki-Adi-Mundi says.
"Malicious, young Garp is not. Filled with energy and happiness, he is. Always looking for adventure, hmm. Expel him, we will not. With a small child, our Order will get along."
"Then what do you suggest, Grandmaster?" Katri asks.
She also heard about the mischievous ball of energy that was Garp. He usually had a big smile on his face, and if he didn't, he made sure to change that. He ran around, climbed the walls, and went through the entire Temple. The only lesson he seemed to enjoy was the sparring class, where he trained. But as a young boy, there weren't any lessons that truly did what he wanted. Yoda saw a solution to this problem.
The ancient Jedi wasn't worried at all. He could feel the purity of Garp's soul and the great happiness he spread to all children. His attitude was contagious. The children liked Garp, at least most of them did. But it was very unlike the Jedi Order to express their happiness like Garp did. He was free with his emotions, and that was a very big no-no for them. Many Jedi didn't know what to do about Garp.
"Talk to young Garp, I will. Find a solution, to teach the youngling, not difficult it should be."
"How exactly did the youngling even enter the Order if he doesn't like what we do?" Master Katri asks if you are interested. "It seems as though he wouldn't ever agree to join."
"Ah, well. I can tell you how that came to be," Master Braylon starts. "It all happened three years ago."
.
- 3 years ago -
- Planet: Kaddak -
The Jedi Master Fay walks through the plains of Kaddak. The city of Silver is quite a distance behind her already, and she is moving towards the sea now. Something has pulled her to Kaddak. The near-human female Fay is already centuries old. She passed the Jedi Trials and became a Jedi Knight. After she became a Jedi Knight, Fay felt a call from the Force, towards a nomadic life, away from the Galactic Core. She couldn't leave, though, since Jedi Knights had little autonomy.
After attaining the rank of Jedi Master, though, she decided to leave the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. She refused to take a Padawan, choosing instead to roam the galaxy wherever the Force guided her. Throughout the following centuries, she rarely had reason to travel back to the galactic capital, preferring to go where she felt needed, as her connection to the Force was strong and allowed her to remain youthful as long as she didn't die from different causes.
As time passed, and Fay was seen less and less on Coruscant, her exploits in the far corners of the galaxy soon took on a legendary status among many Jedi students. However, a number of the older Masters knew that the legends were actually real, and they paid close attention when reports were received from far-flung planets of deeds done by a mysterious Jedi matching Fay's description. The Jedi Order was strange like that. They were proud of her achievements and saw them as part of the Order's achievements, but refused to do the same and rather enjoyed their station on Coruscant.
Fay's time in the field, whether on the most remote rural planets or those closer to the Core, helped save thousands of lives. She is known to have resolved many conflicts and wars by flooding peace and love into the hearts of those gripped by hatred. Throughout the hundreds of years she mediated wars on any number of planets, she never once used a lightsaber in physical combat. Indeed, it was believed that she never even carried one after her initial training.
That's the reason she is here today, here on Kaddak. The Force called to her. Something told her that she needed to be here and bear witness at least. It was unlike anything Fay had ever felt before. She could feel the conflict on Kaddak, a truly lawless planet in the Outer Rim. But it wasn't like there would be a terrible drought or storms, or even a war coming. It was something else—a strong presence in the Force.
.
Fay makes her way through the trees and arrives at a small river leading into the sea just a short distance away. She then comes across a small tree house where two boys are playing together and laughing. Fay senses the happiness coming from these two and knows it to be true. She smiles. It is rare for her to find children, especially on a planet like Kaddak, who can be so happy and unbothered by the problems surrounding them.
"Ah, who are you?!" one of them shouts.
"She surely wants our treasure!" the second one says.
"Run!"
The two suddenly start to run away, but then stop as they see someone exit the jungle. Fay was just about to call out to them and calm them down when she also felt the reason for coming here arrive. She looks to the trees, where she sees a young boy come out. But he's not alone. Over one shoulder, he carries a chest, which seems to be too big for him, but he manages to hold it. And over the other, he has some form of a pipe. And all this, while riding a Nexu.
[Picture]
Both of them have bumps on their heads, speaking of a fight between them. The Nexu looks defeated, while the boy has a big smile on his face.
"Garp! You did it!"
"Bahahahahaha, of course I did."
"Is that a treasure chest?" one of the kids, a boy, asks.
"Woahh! What's inside it?" the second boy asks.
"I don't know. I hope for food!"
"Hehehe, Garp always wants to eat food."
"Wait! There's a woman. Look, she's still there, Garp."
"Hmm?"
Garp looks at Fay, and for a moment, he feels something. Fay does too. For Fay, who has such a powerful connection to the Force, Garp shines like a beacon. He has a very strong soul and spirit, and his presence in the Force differs from any race. And that makes sense. The soul of the original Monkey D. Garp, fused with that of the human child on Kaddak, and the amalgamation is far stronger than either of them initially. Garp walks forward and looks at Fay.
"Who are you?" Garp asks.
"My name is Fay, and what's your name?" she asks.
"Garp. Monkey D. Garp."
"What a funny name. Did you fight with that Nexu?"
"Yes. I won, Bahahaha."
"But you're hurt."
"Eh, this is nothing," Garp shrugs.
"It's not nothing. Here, allow me to help you," Fay says and touches Garp's cheeks, using the Force to heal all of Garp's injuries.
"Ooohh, Garp. You're fully healed," the boy says.
"Very cool. How did you do that? Are you a witch?" the girl asks Fay.
"No. I'm a Jedi," Fay explains.
"A Jedi? What's that?" the girl asks.
"Idiot, those are famous in the galaxy. They have glowing sticks," the boy tells her.
"Really? Do you have such a glowing stick?" the girl asks with wide eyes.
"Haha, I do. But I don't have it on me. I no longer use it," Fay explains.
"So what are you doing here?" the boy asks. "Are you lost?"
"Or did you fight with the gangs in Silver?" the girl questions.
"No, I'm here because of Garp. The Force told me to come here," Fay explains to the children.
"The Force? What's that?"
"It's the energy all around you. It allows the animals and the people to live. To eat and sleep. It is full of wisdom and knowledge."
"Really? Wow."
"And what do you do?"
"Here, let me show you," Fay says, lifts up the two children and makes them float in the air.
"AHHHHH!"
"YUHUUUU! Coool."
"Hey, Garp, look!"
Garp, however, is no longer there. He has started to skin the large boar he killed today and has made a fire to cook the meat. He looks at them and laughs, finding that funny. But when he's hungry, he doesn't care about anything else. So he will eat first and have fun later.
"Food! Garp makes the best food. Do you also want to come?" the girl asks Fay, and the Jedi Master nods her head.
Seeing Garp hand out the large pieces of meat makes Fay smile.
"Say, Garp. As I told you, I'm a Jedi and I was led here by the Force."
"Mm-hmm," he says absent-mindedly.
"There are many more of us in the galaxy, in the Jedi Order on Coruscant. Wouldn't you like to go there?" Fay asks.
"Coruscant?! That's the nicest place in the galaxy, right? I heard about it. All the rich can go there," the boy says excitedly.
"Ohh, that would be nice, to leave this place for a while and see a new planet. Wouldn't it, Garp?" the girl adds.
"Hmm, yes! I would like to go on an adventure," he nods.
"Ah, but you see. This would only be for Garp. He is the only one who's Force-sensitive. Only children who are Force-sensitive are allowed to join the Jedi Order, I'm sorry," Fay says, making the others sad.
"So what do you say, Garp? Do you want to-"
"NO!"
"Huh? No? Why not?"
"I will go with my friends or I won't go!" Garp says.
Suddenly, he stops and looks around.
"Hey, where's Sumari?" he asks the others.
"We don't know. She didn't come back today. We thought she was with you."
Garp stands up and looks around. He closes his eyes as if he were thinking and then opens them again. Fay feels something. It was as if Garp did something just now, but she couldn't say what it was. Garp jumps up and shakes the boy.
"Where did you go today? Did you go to get food?" he asks.
"Y-y-e-e-s..." he manages to say.
"Where?"
"Near the Jandoli, where they throw away the good food. Sumari said she wanted to make something good for us today."
Without another word, Garp just runs off, back to the city.
"Garp! Wait! You can't take them alone!"
"Where is he going?" Fay asks, confused.
"Garp's going to find Sumari. The Jandoli club has a tasty restaurant, where we sometimes get some food that they throw away. But it belongs to the Cross Gang. They control that part of the city, and if they have Sumari... that's bad."
"Alright. I will help Garp. But you two stay here and wait for us, alright? We will come back soon."
Fay starts to move. She runs after Garp and is surprised by how fast he is. She can tell that he is no older than 5. But he is very tall and strong for his age. And now, she realises that he's also fast. She follows Garp as he rushes through the city of Silver and to a particularly lawless area. They arrive at the cantina, the kids told her about and Garp, much to Fay's surprise, just crashes through the front door.
*BOOOM*
Everyone stops what they are doing and looks at Garp. He raises his right fist and holds his biceps with his left hand. In a loud voice, he addresses all those in the cantina right now.
"SUMARI!! WHERE IS SUMARI??" he shouts.
"Huh? Who brought the runt in here?"
"Haha, what is this? Did the Slayers send us a new recruit?"
"Huhuhuhu" "Hahahaah"
Garp feels Sumari's presence and shoots forward, runs up the stairs and into a room, once again crashing through the door.
"SUMARI!"
"Garp!" a young Twi'lek girl cries as she sees her friend.
"Well, well, well... look who it is. Garp, the fist or whatever. We were just asking your friend about you. But the poor fool didn't want to tell us where you were, so we had to be more... convincing. Hehehehehe," the tall man says.
*BOOOM*
Garp's fist impacts the man's face. And never in his life had the man experienced something like that. His head shoots to the side, making his body follow and smash into the wall. And then, chaos ensues. The goons in the room take out their blasters and start firing at Garp, who rushes through the room and punches each of them, cracking their skulls and breaking bones. He is angry, and not just the Jedi can feel that. Before Garp can make it to Sumari, though, someone grabs her by her lekku and points his blaster at her.
"Stay back! Or I'll shoot the girl!"
Garp tries to do something, but it is too late. He sees the blaster shot make its way towards Sumari. Fay decides that it is enough and uses the Force to stun the blast before it hits the young girl. She then pushes all of the men and women in the room against the wall, knocking them out. Garp sees this and looks at Fay, nodding his head thankfully. He walks towards Sumari, who has several wounds she got from the interrogation.
"Garp, I knew you would come," she says.
"Of course!"
"May I have a look?" Fay asks and kneels next to Sumari.
She holds her hand over her body and starts to heal all of her wounds using the Force. Sumari looks at Fay in astonishment and gratitude. The three then return to their camp outside, in the jungle. On the way, they talk about the day and what happened. How they had met Fay and what she told them about the Jedi Order, and wanting to invite Garp. Sumari looks at Garp with narrowed eyes when she hears that he refused her offer.
"You have to accept, Garp. This is your chance to leave here."
"I can leave later on. I don't want to go there alone. You are my crew," Garp says as he takes another big bite out of his meat.
"I understand that. But if you don't go, you may never make it. We can take care of ourselves."
"No. I don't want to."
"What if something like today happens again, Garp?" Sumari asks. "What if we don't make it? You don't know what could happen."
Garp thinks about this. She is right. That was close today. He's not yet strong enough to do it on his own. And there aren't many ways to train, since no one is as strong as he is. He looks at Fay, who is strong, he can tell. He feels her power. If there are more like her, then he could use them to train and then come back.
"Hmm... but what about you?"
"We can take care of ourselves," the others say.
"If you feel better about it, Garp. How about I stay with them for a while? I could accompany them and ensure they learn how to care for themselves. Would that help your decision?" Master Fay asks.
"I don't know."
"Come on, Garp. You have to say yes for us. This is our chance to see one of us leave this place. To see the galaxy."
The night passed on with the four children and one Jedi Master talking and trying to make Garp accept. He hated nothing more than to be confined somewhere. He wanted to be free and to travel the galaxy on his own. But he understood that it might be beneficial for him to train first. The original Garp wouldn't have done this, but this wasn't the original anymore. The situation had changed, and the reality had changed. He may be powerful enough to protect himself quite well already, but the others... not so much.
So if he wanted to cover their weaknesses, he would still have to grow further.