From Small Beginnings
Rhonan Tor was born on Cathar, one of three cubs in his litter. His parents were both Shamans of his city-tree; holy individuals of considerable reverence and influence. Ever since Rhonan, his brother Dovun, and his sister Syrine could walk and talk, they were trained harshly by their parents, Elders, and the Tree’s Warriors. Rhonan, being the first of the three to leave his mother’s body, was treated the hardest. Tears were left to fall rather than wiped away by a caring hand. Scrapes and cuts and welts were left to be tended by Rhonan himself rather than a guardian’s gentle touch. There was no coddling in the relationship between Rhonan and his parents - they were training him to survive. The only time there was any closeness among his family was when stories of eras long past were told from the carvings on their city-tree. Tales of Cathar Jedi who fought ancient Sith Lords; heroes of myth and legend. It was in those stories that Rhonan found solace from the harshness of his upbringing. How he dreamed of meeting one of these Jedi, with their boundless wisdom and swords of light; to traverse the mantle of the stars as one of them, cutting down those who would harm the innocent.
With his peers and siblings, Rhonan found camaraderie. They would play and roughhouse among the sprawling branches of their city-tree in the shadow it cast over the land. Armed with twigs and their imaginations, they played out their favorite sagas with great flourish and fanfare.
Alas, these were the dreams of a boy.
The Wild Child
War came to Cathar once more, a Mandalorian raid swept down on Rhonan's city-tree, its people scattered into the spanning savannah. There, they were hunted by Mandalorian Separatists as well as the savage beasts of the wild world. Rhonan, along with a score of his kin, were apprehended within a week of the attack. Caged like beasts, they were shipped to some forsaken moon in the Outer Rim, where the longest arms of galactic law could not reach them - or simply did not care.
On that cold and barren rock, Rhonan and his fellow captives were subjected to crushing physical and psychological torture. Each of them steadily broken for shackles or cast aside for target practice. Secluded in complete darkness, Rhonan was isolated from the others - his cell little more than a cage fit for a tusk cat cub. The only light he saw for weeks was the crackling of an electrowhip in the hand of his tormentor. Rhonan the child broke under the assault. Rhonan the savage was born in order to cope.
In the slave camps, only the strong survived. Rhonan scavenged and, in time, killed in self-preservation. Bonds of fellowship came undone under the pressure of their surroundings, turning blood against blood. In a handful of years, Rhonan was cold, starving, and all alone. The abuse continued, and Rhonan was slowly being devolved into something twisted and horrible. Understanding of speech started to slip, culture that he had only a briefest chance to experience was burned away by searing pain. Instinct became Rhonan’s greatest ally, keeping him alive until the intervention of the Star-Warriors with their swords of light, just like in the boy’s fleeting dreams.
When Rhonan was discovered by a Jedi Master, he was a sickly and emaciated creature who could hardly keep himself upright. Despite his sorry state, he attacked the trooper that opened his cage with surprising physical strength and ferocity. In order to prevent Rhonan from doing any additional harm to his rescuers, or himself, he was stunned and loaded into a medical capsule. With the boy inert, proper medical examinations were in order.
It was estimated that the Cathar cub’s surface body was somewhere around ten percent scar tissue, and that he had been subjected to a broad spectrum of barbaric and inhumane treatment that would break most adults. The Jedi present, who would later become the cub’s master, sensed a great and terrible well-spring of Force power in the boy. At his age, many of the memories of what he had endured could be easily repressed, but that was a band-aid solution. One day, he would need to confront the ugliness of his founding.
Recovery
Becoming a full-time resident at the Jedi’s medical wing for a time was about as exciting as it sounds. For several weeks, Rhonan was bound to his bed, forced to be still while galactic medicine did its work. It was almost a month until he could eat solid food, and two more weeks after that until he started to open up and speak with the Jedi.
In total, it was a rough thirteen months of physical recovery with the assistance of advanced galactic medicine every step of the way. In little over a year, the cub had gone from nearly sub-sentient to almost fully healed. Whether from medicine, the Force, or Catharese stubbornness, what mattered was that Rhonan had recovered, at least physically. After that period, Rhonan was finally considered physically capable of beginning his Jedi training. With nowhere to go and no idea if his kin still lived, Rhonan saw no other option. His childhood dream was upon him, but he wondered if it was worth the price…
Only time would tell…
Initiated
Like all Younglings in the Jedi, Rhonan was subjected to the fundamentals of the Order. However, there was a constant shadow hanging over him. Due to the corrupting nature his time in captivity could have on an individual’s psyche, Rhonan was placed on a probationary period by the Masters. The cub was closely monitored by his teachers, fearing that the dark side lingered far too closely to the cub’s heart.
Naturally, young Rhonan was fearful of the new environment of the Jedi, and the new people he was slow to trust, but they showed him no ill will. The first few weeks, Rhonan remained solitary, not wishing to speak with the other Younglings, or even associate with them, but over time the walls came down. Slowly, Rhonan opened up to those around him, acting more like a child his age. Through socializing with his fellow Younglings and entirely dedicating himself to his studies, Rhonan kept the lingering specters of trauma in the corners of his consciousness.
Rhonan’s probationary period lasted through the majority of his training, gauging if he was mentally fit and properly self-disciplined enough to begin his training with a lightsaber. If Rhonan did not display that he could adhere to the Jedi’s doctrine in the absolute, he would not be permitted to train with a lightsaber, and in turn not have a chance at the Trials. This close monitoring went on for several years, however Rhonan had shown no indication of succumbing to his demons. The boy was resilient and stubborn to the very last, and when asked why his past did not scare him, he simply answered,
“Because if I stand like prey, I am prey,”
Duty Like a Mountain
In time, death once again visited those Rhonan considered family. In the conflict that sparked the Clone Wars – the assault on Geonosis – Rhonan’s master was slain in the chaos of the arena. The great battle-master of the Order laid low by blaster fire. Even with his master dead, Rhonan felt the bitter cold of the man’s shadow. Knighted shortly after the battle, Rhonan was thrust headlong into the war, cast into the Far Rim theater with little ceremony or preparation. Now bearing his late mentor’s lightsaber, he was given the rank of Commander and a battalion of clones under his leadership.
Much of Rhonan’s present expertise in the arts of war were indeed learned on the job, where wounds quickly became the wisdom of age. In but a few short years, Rhonan had shed whatever boyishness remained, becoming a celebrated, if not reviled warrior. Yet, the price of Rhonan’s success was high. More so than his late master, the Cathar had become a warhawk, sharing more in common with the Jedi Lords of old than the monastic Order of the present era.
In light of such reports, the Jedi Council believed it time for Rhonan to take the next step in his journey as a Knight – taking an apprentice. Given the strenuous nature of the war, Rhonan did not have the luxury of choosing a Padawan of his own. Instead, one was thrust upon him, saddled with a youth as opposite himself as one could be.
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