The Definition of a Circle.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei Wu Wei stood upon the tallest spire he could find in the area of the Jedi Temple and the Senate building. It was a delicate thing to balance on a point no bigger than his largest toe. The Force helped him, though. He could almost feel it cradle him about the waist, holding his center of gravity under him as he borrowed its power to enhance his vision to see out beyond and into the buzzing hive of speeders, bikes, cargo skiffs, and haulers.

If he could find it, it would land him something good. He just wish he knew what he was looking for, and what the something good would be. The wind whistled in his ears, calling him back to his task. He centered on the whistle. Soon his entire mindframe was filled with the wind. From there he expanded into the humming of the vehicles' engines, the sounds of open air turbolifts, shuttles-- and there at the edge--feet walking from one place to the next.

He searched the crowds and at last he saw it. A protocol droid painted a shockingly brilliant pink. What a sight. And it was several miles away. What a pity. He'd have to catch it. Nothing like that ever just appeared for no reason.

Wu Wei tilted forward, allowing his center of gravity to slide out from under him. He fell towards the speeder traffic, making use of guard rails and the building's walls to propel him further out into the flooded motor lanes. A large hauler stopped beneath him. Wu Wei landed on it just long enough to spring over to the next one over.

The second hauler sat in the turn lane. Once the signal allowed it to move forward, it took a slow left and merged with the other traffic. He continued to hop from one vehicle to the next, changing lanes and directions willy nilly.

The Force whispered a short cut to him. At once he leapt of the vehicle and towards a set of buildings. He hit wall of what looked to be a set of businesses stacked one on top of the other. His jump landed him in an alleyway. More accurately, it landed him on the wall of the office building in the alleyway. Wei placed his feet against the surface of the building and kicked off of it. Usually such a jump would only place him the middle of the kilometers-high alley. But Wei's ally was the Force, and as Yoda would say, a powerful ally it is. It carried him to the next building, and back and forth as Force continued to assist his jumps.

Meters and meters later, he emerged from the other side of the buildings with the pink droid in sight. It was scuttling along in one of the pedestrian tubes linking the buildings across the street. Wei bounded across traffic and reached the buildings. These were mostly apartments. Each apartment had its own small balcony. Some people sat out reading, others cooking, and some were just enjoying the day.

The young Jedi focused in on the rail of a balcony directly in front of him and jumped with all his might. He stretched as he reached for the rail--stretched his arms, his legs, and even his torso if he could manage. He was just about to steel himself for an impact on the wall when his fingers brushed metal. He closed his hands reflexively and found himself clinging to the balcony rail he aimed for.

Wei re-junctioned the Force into his upperbody. He heaved himself up and shot straight up to the next balcony railing. Using his borrowed upperbody strength, he fired himself from one balcony to the next like a slingshot until he reached the flat rooftop of the apartment building. The droid was now somewhere in the building. It only had two options: go deeper into the maze of buildings or continue to walk parallel to the street.

The breeze blew some of the sweat from his face and he relaxed a moment. In his mind he could envision a park with trees, sidewalks, and benches. He opened his eyes and bolted towards the Jedi Temple.

The Jedi leapt from rooftop to rooftop using power generators, air conditioning units, and sometimes advertising holo-projectors to clear the gaps in between. The temple grew larger and larger in his mind until he could see it just over the tops of some distant sky scrapers.

Minutes whipped past him like the wind until at last he made a startling drop into a garden. Wu Wei knew this garden. It was the odd patch of greenery that led the way to the stairs which in turn showed the path to the Jedi Temple entrance.

He stood and turned around just in time to come face to face with the hot pink Protocol droid.

"May I help you, Master Jedi?" The droid asked.

Wu Wei appraised the machinery carefully. "Perhaps. What are you doing?"

The droid paused. "I'm supposed to arrive at the Jedi Temple with a message. I really can't be delayed. I'm dreadfully sorry, but I'm afraid I must go."

Wei sighed and pulled his glasses out of a pouch on his belt. He polished the lenses apparently absently and asked, "May I please know what the information is?"

The droid shook its head in quick, jerky movements. "I'm afraid you won't be able to without the correct password, sir. I'm to keep the information under impenetrable guard."

Wu Wei put on his glasses and smiled. "Of course. Come with me." He began to walk along with the droid as it shuffled towards the steps. "Are you familiar with much Jedi lore?"

The droid shook its head in the same odd manner. "Apart from heirarchy and codes of conduct, I'm afraid not."

"Do you know about formal Lightsaber duelling?"

The droid's reply was instant. "Yes, I do."

Wu Wei smiled. "So you know the Makashi salute then."

The droid froze in place and began to repeat instructions embedded deep in its programming. "Spoken password approved. Visual confirmation of password needed to continue."

The Jedi stood in front of the droid and drew his lightsaber, thumbing the power on and stood with the lightsaber angled down and at his side.

Wu Wei barely heard the droid say, "Visual confirmation confirmed, proceeding to second security level." Suddenly seven Jedi ignited their sabers with a hiss and circled him.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei brought his lightsaber to a basic stance. He'd be reprimanded for prying and provoking an attack. Then again, a few of his fellow padawans had recently taken to sparring at random throughout the temple grounds. Perhaps this was a part of that group.

"Guys, this isn't funny. I'm trying to figure something out," he said.

His opponents did not reply. As they passed through his field of vision, he noticed that they were all wearing their hoods. Most Jedi never kept their hoods up on the grounds. Something was wrong.

The pink protocol droid apparently had not noticed the seven interlopers. "The third class if form is Soresu. Sum up the philosophy behind it in one sentence."

Wei allowed himself some time to think. His opponents seemed to be content to surround him for now. "Soresu. The calm in the eye of the storm."

The droid offered a deadpan, "Correct."

The other Jedi attacked.

Wu Wei soon found himself in the midst of whirling green as seven lightsabers crashed and clattered against his. His lightsaber was blue, but not like Obi-Wan's lightsaber was blue. This lightsaber beam was an extraordinarily deep blue to the point that it was almost a navy color. He twirled it and turned it around his body, keeping his stance tight and his arms close to him to allow for maximum defensive capability. He was running on instinct. He had only mastered Form I, Shii-Cho a few months ago. His master, Quinlan Vos, had been busy running solo missions for the Council. This of course left Wei to practice his current technique and attempt to learn another lightsaber form from old instructional holos that didn't do him much good. He missed having an actual person around to correct him on stance, grip, etc.

In the midst of the sound of humming, clashing, and crackling the droid spoke up. "Security level three. We have already made mention of the second and third classic forms of lightsaber combat. Please name the other five."

Wu Wei tried to collect his thoughts, but found it increasingly difficult as blows rained down about him. He was barely keeping up with the other fighters. His lightsaber swirled around him, reminding him of the sea. Blue, calm, serene. He locked in on that image and allowed the constant hum of the weapons to crawl in his ears and throughout his body, like the wind did earlier that day.

That was better. Wu Wei could shut his eyes and see all round himself. Each lightsaber was its own item to be micro-managed with ease. Wu Wei knew where they were and where they would be seconds and even minutes later. Now he could think.

"The other five forms are as follows: Form I, Shii-Cho; Form IV, Ataru; Form V, Shien or Djem Sho; Form VI, Niman; Form VII, Juyo or under a more recent moniker Vapaad."

The droid nodded slightly in acknowledgement of the answer. "Please separate the seven Jedi according to Form, starting with the first and moving to the seventh."

Wu Wei sighed. This just got better and better. Where to begin?

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wu Wei considered the various goals of each lightsaber form as he continued to defend himself with his very much novice Soresu technique. Form I was mostly aimed at disarming or otherwise disabling the opponent--usually by removal of the person's saber-bearing arm. So who was going after his hands?

Wu Wei looked at his hands with his eyes, but watched his opponents with the Force. As he parried, he saw a lightsaber flash at his wrist. It was unintentional: most likely the result of overreach. A second saber brushed air by his elbow. The blade's owner stood a bit behind Wu Wei. Not likely at all. Then at last he noticed it--a strong, decisive cut at his left hand. The padawan faced the opponent, sweeping all other blades aside and cut upward strongly--smacking away the offending weapon and knocking the Form I user off balance. One kick sent the Jedi out of the circle of the fight.

"Shii-Cho!"

Form II would be simple. Form II did a good amount of basic fencing. Makashi used parries and thrusts designed to keep Form I users from hacking their hands off. Makashi users also tended to move in lines rather than circles. All he had to do was look for a person fighting with a narrow profile who did very little circling. Or if Wu Wei was very lucky, the Makashi user would show some pomp and attempt to give him the very salute that got Wu Wei in this mess in the first place.

It did not take long to ferret out the person. The Jedi kept moving back and forth in and out of Wu Wei's reach, thrusting with the tip of the lightsaber rather than swinging. Wu Wei dashed the opponent's lightsaber aside and allowed his sword to ride the other one down to the hilt. A quick Force-enhanced shoulder-check sent the twinkle-toes out of the circle of combat.

"Makashi!"

Soresu would likewise be easy pickings, but very hard to move. Soresu students focused all their attempts on blocking enemy attacks. Once the foe wore himself down, it was easy to simply end the combat with a stroke.

The Form III Jedi was easy to pick out. The Jedi never attacked. If the other people had not been trying to cut him down, he'd simply lock sabers and apply strength until the person broke away or fell over.

Wu Wei stepped back a moment and dealth with the other four opponents as he focused his mind. What he had in mind was a long shot, but hopefully it'd be worth it.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wu Wei split his attention very very carefully, allowing the four opponents to fall to his periphery, but keeping the Soresu at the forefront of his attention. At last the crashing of the other four sabers started to sound like a wave crashing on a distant shore. He lunged out with his free hand and Force Pushed the Soresu. The push was not unlike being bumped into by a very large man squeezing into the turbolift. But it was enough. The Soresu's guard dropped a fraction of a second.

Wu Wei burst forth from the frenzy surrounding him and jumped on top of the Soresu's shoulder's slamming the Jedi abruptly to the ground.

"Soresu!"

At last things were getting easier. Four Jedi left. Ataru--Yoda's form--was next. Ataru, the acrobatic, fluid form. It involved much more jumping and spinning than the others. One of the Jedi jumped towards him to close the sudden distance. Wu Wei blocked and felt the style out. Any of the other forms could make use of a jump to close distance on an opponent--Form V especially, which would make use of the aggressive momentum for a powerful attack.

Wu Wei slashed at the opponent's feet. Any Jedi would jump the attack, but the Ataru would make use of the jump to get behind Wu Wei or would twist into a moonsault to add momentum to a cut on her way down. The Jedi gave a short hop, sidestepped, then spun around with a neat slice aimed at Wu Wei's head. The other three slowly circled to surround Wu Wei again, but kept their distance. What were they waiting for?

Wu Wei lunged at the person, thrusting his lightsaber at the Jedi's gut. The Jedi's spin continued another revolution for the block, then came the tell. The Ataru suddenly stood feet together, and gave a mightly leap, somersaulting over his head with lightsaber held out in front. The Jedi was like a great green buzzsaw whizzing over head. Wu Wei ducked. Once the Jedi's feet hit the ground, he swept out with his leg. With no time to compensate for the momentum of the somersault, the Ataru had no time to balance and fell face-first on the ground.

"Ataru!"

Form V. The one made famous by Anakin Skywalker. An adaptation of Soresu, it made use of Form III's defense, but took a decidedly more aggressive approach. Rather than wait for an opening to appear, it sought to make one and then press the advantage. It also came in two brands: Shien, which was a more aggressive blocking style meant for dealing with blasters; then Djem Sho, which involved a more aggressive melee combat.

It would do no good to confuse it with Vapaad. Vapaad was especially lethal. It was also an aggressive style, named after a creature that used several speedy tentacles to slaughter opponents. Form V was a bit slower, with stong staccato attacks that rather reminded Wu Wei of bludgeoning motion rather than actually fighting with a sword.

Wu Wei took a moment to adjust his glasses, then reset his stance and advanced on the last of his opponents. He'd have to do something risky--nigh well dangerous. He'd have to screw up. Not a big screw up. Just something noticeable enough that the Form V person would try to beat him to death with a few heavy handed swings. He'd of course still have to worry about the Form VI and VII foes coming in to take advantage.

Wu Wei stepped up to the trio and started a series of low and mid attacks. He kept his guard at about the same area, keeping away the cuts aimed at his arms, legs, and middle. Then he turned to each opponent one at a time to see which of the other two stepped up to take advantaged of his exposed head and shoulders. Strategic suicide.

Almost directly behind him he could notice green lighting up the corners of his field of vision. He stepped to the side just in time to watch a lightsaber blade plummet through the space he had until recently occupied. Wu Wei watched as the swing pulled the fighter throught he space. Wu Wei grabbed the foe's free hand and yanked the fighter into a nearby tree.

"Djem Sho!"

Two more.

[Wei Wu Wei]

The last two forms left were as unalike as they could possibly be. Form VI, The Diplomat's form, held a little of all the previous five forms. It did not excel at anything. It didn't have any noted disadvantages. In fact, it was so mediocre that Wu Wei grew bored watching Form VI drill holos.

Form VII on the otherhand was incredibly compelling. Vapaad greatest strength was also its greatest weakness. In order to master Vapaad, a Jedi had to grow involved in the fight. The Jedi had to invest in it and enjoy it. A Jedi basically placed his or her toes on the line separating the Light and the Dark and held them there. To use one's inner darkness as a tool of the Light was something all Jedi could respect. Not many Jedi could repeat the feat. So far only Mace Windu and one or two of his padawans had managed to master the feat. Wu Wei's master, Quinlan Vos, knew the basic concept, but was wary about teaching it to his student. Vapaad was not to be taken lightly at all.

Wu Wei was slowing down. It had been no small task holding off these seven people. If they had all been carrying blasters, it would have been no problem. Unfortunately they were Jedi.

The duo seemed to change tactics. The one on Wu Wei's left pressed in close to him with one smooth step and began to crowd in front of him. Vapaad. Wu Wei locked sabers with the Vapaad disciple and pushed against him, shoving with all his Force-enhanced might. The foe flew back several feet, giving Wu Wei just enough time for one desperate attempt at knocking out the Niman opponent.

Not knowing what else to do, he used his limited telekinetic power to throw his lightsaber at the Form VI. The Jedi swatted at the flying blade and Wu Wei jumped behind, grabbing the JEdi by the waist and suplexing him into the walkway. The Vapaad was left.

The two met each other at a full sprint. Their lightsabers clattered together with a resounding crash. They matched one another blow for blow, circling, retreating, advancing. Wu Wei was running out of ideas. They stood on a walkway several hundred feet above the surface of Coruscant. Directly underneath lay a series of support struts and decorative archwork.

Wu Wei smiled. He loved the Force. A quick parry separated him from the Vapaad. A long jump brought him to a balance on the nearest guardrail. Two seconds later his lightsaber was shut off and tucked in his sleeve as he dropped down to grab the arch and swing himself under the walkway and into its support structure. the Vapaad leaned out over the rail and watched Wu Wei disappear underfoot.

Wei had always had a style of moving through places that the Council referred to as "unique." Mainly it involved moving over, around, under, or through obstacles in such a way that a person could reach his or her destinaiton much faster than simply walking or running around. Wu Wei was now clambering through the support work of the walkway towards its far end.

Seconds stretched into minutes, and minutes seemed to stretch into eternity as he climbed back over the guardrail where it ended at the foot of the grand stairway leading up tot the Jedi Temple. Wu Wei took off his glasses and magnified his vision until he could see the pink droid and the Vapaad at the far end, talking from one side of the walkway to the next, looking over to see when he would pop out to surprise him.

Wu Wei crouched low and focused until all that was in his mind was his legs uncoiling into a long locomotive jump. Then the wind whipped through his hair and across his face. As he began his descent, he hit the power on his lightsaber and the blade sprang to life, slicing the air and severing the opponent's lightsaber just at the hilt. He brought his own saber to the Jedi's throat and switched it off again.

"Vapaad."

[Wei Wu Wei]

The message the pink droid had was not actually for the Jedi Council. It was for Wei.

Padawan Wei Wu Wei is to report to the Council pending a final test.

The message carried the smugly humorous tone of his master. Wu Wei would have laughed, but his body ached. He made his way to the Council Chamber, where Quinlan stood at a window overlooking the walkway where the fight had occurred.

"You did a good job. Windu's not going to like you snapping that lightsaber in two. Those were spares we use for training."

Wu Wei shook his head and put his glasses back on his face. "You surrounded me with seven of my peers."

Quinlan shook his head and smiled. "No, I put you up against six of your peers and a Youngling. Didn't you notice that Ataru fighter was shorter? That was a little girl who would have been a galaxy-renown gymnast if we hadn't found her first."

Wu Wei nearly shouted. "You had me fight a Youngling?"

Quinlan laughed. "Don't shout. Jedi are always at peace. And how dare you accuse me of such treachery. That was just a very very short woman. But I'm being serious about the gymnastics career."

Wu Wei tried to compose himself as he stepped into the Council chamber behind his master.

An hour later he stepped out again. The Council had promoted him to Jedi Knight. They had all been quite impressed with his knowledge of lightsaber combat and acknowledged his prowess in combat. Windu had noted his lack of telekinetic ability and a tendency to spread himself out too thinly in his lightsaber study. Windu had also acknowledged that with proper training, he might master Vapaad. Of course, all the Jedi Masters had mentioned that he would do well in their forms. Anakin Skywalker had of course insisted that his ability in Form V could never be outmatched, but that Wu Wei might be able to catch up to him.

Wu Wei had ignored the jab, especially when he was promoted to Knighthood. The "How feel you?" question did not bother him overly much. He had simply answered as he usually did.

"I feel peaceful. I'm settled, and decidedly silent inside. Sometimes I get upset or something, but it never lasts for more than a moment anymore. I like it."

Yoda nodded. "Good. Like it too, do we."

Once they were out of the Council chamber, Quinlan allowed his student to catch up to him. They walked side by side for a moment until they turned down a hallway mostly devoid of other Jedi.

"So, you're a Knight now."

Wu Wei nodded. "Yeah. I'm a knight now."

You know what that means, right?"

Wu Wei nodded. "I get to teach and undertake my own missions. I also get more freedom in how I continue my training."

Quinlan nodded and slowed his pace just the tiniest bit. "It also means that we get to cut your ponytail!"

In one swift motion Quinlan pulled his own lightsaber and sliced off Wu Wei's ponytail at the base of his neck.

Wu Wei instinctively reached for the back of his neck. He wasn't so much as burned except for the slight smell of his hair where it had been severed.

Quinlan kicked the long braid. "Dude, that must be at least half as tall as you are."

Wu Wei sighed. "Yeah. You know, shears would have worked just as well."

Quinlan nodded and offered an impetuous grin. "But not nearly so much fun."

That evening Anakin Skywalker swore his alliegance to Darth Sidious and attacked the Jedi Temple. He and Quinlan were studying Lightsaber holos together. They had just finished watching a holo of Count Dooku demonstrating his Makashi technique. This was, of course, before he became Darth Tyranus. Just as they placed a holo of Obi-Wan's Soresu kata, Anakin burst into the room.

Quinlan was closest tot he turncoat, and leapt at him with great ferocity. "Wei, run! He means to kill you!"

Wu Wei didn't know why he didn't argue, but he simply nodded and ran. He ran up walls and dove over rubble as he made his way to a collection of Jedi starfighters that nearly always ran hot. The Clone Wars had caused many a Jedi to leave at certain times without much preparation. Enemy fighters nearly always loomed outside Coruscant's orbit, so the starfighters were often the most efficient way of getting off planet.

He leapt in one and flew away.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Years later the Rebel Alliance defeated Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader. The Empire was a shambles and the Jedi were slowly coming out of hiding.

Wu Wei had spent those years in hiding himself. He found his parents and joined their business buying and selling imported goods from other planets. He had found himself a wife and married. It was good. The Jedi life seemed like so long ago. Now all he wanted to was to spend the rest of his life with his darling wife and their child.

He walked down the street from the store. As he approached his house, he started to feel the nag of the Force telling him that something was wrong. Wu Wei wished, as he had always wished when he felt threatened, that he had his lightsaber with him.

Soon he found out why he felt so panicked. The door to his house stood wide open and a smell of burning flesh greeted him as he stepped up to the threshold. His wife, nearly ready to give birth to their son, lay unmoving in the floor. A blackened hole had taken the place of her stomach. His father lay on the ground beside her. A blaster bolt had taken away most of his face.

One of his neighbors had been sitting on the porch across the street and cautiously walked over to where Wu Wei stood shaking in the doorway.

"There were some stormtroopers here today. They wanted something they said you or your dad had. Something about Jedi. I don't know. Both of them insisted they didn't know what the stormtroopers were talking about, but you know how the Empire is. Your wife wanted them to wait to ask you, since you knew the store's inventory better than she did. They shot her in the stomach for trying to apparently stall them. I'm sorry."

Wu Wei simply said, " Don't be. Now if you'll excuse me, I want to go bury my family."

The neighbor nodded and went back across the street. Wu Wei carried the bodies out into his back yard and grabbed a spade from the tool shed he kept back there.

He went to the furthest corner of his yard and began to dig frantically, summoning the Force as though he were re-familiarizing himself with riding a bicycle. A minute later he pulled fromt he ground a small box. He opened it. Inside was a silver cylinder. He pressed the button on it and a deep blue light burst from the end of it, creating a blade of pure energy. He thumbed it back off and began to make the hole bigger. He widened it and added depth to it until finally it could hold his family. He laid the bodies in the hole with care, covered them over and vaulted over the fence and towards the local spaceport. The Empire would be back to find him. He had to be far away by the time that happened.

Once at the spaceport he stopped to reflect on his life. He had a future in the Jedi Order. He had purpose and a community of people who he considered his close friends. Then that was taken away by the Sith when they made their Galactic Empire.

Then he managed to find the family he was never supposed to know. He managed to have a relationship with his parents, find a woman who loved him. He had purpose again. People he loved. Then the Empire took that away too.

The events of his life had come full circle, and he stood there in the center, wracked by the turmoil swelling in his chest.