by Cavan Scott
They duel more, lightsabers crackling.
Each [strike] in the text indicates where their lightsabers meet.
LENE:
And as for that lightsaber. A curved hilt. I haven’t seen one of those in a while. [STRIKE] Do you know who else had a curved hilt? [STRIKE] Darth Sakia. By all accounts, she was quite the swordswoman.
DOOKU:
I knew it. [STRIKE] You are a Sith.
LENE:
There haven’t been Sith [STRIKE] for a thousand years.
DOOKU:
They haven’t been discovered, you mean? [STRIKE]
LENE:
Ha. I like you, Dooku. A good fighter. [STRIKE] Brave. Willing to go toe-to-toe with a [STRIKE] Dark Lord. Or should that be Dark Lady? [STRIKE] I never know.
DOOKU:
[STRIKE] I won’t let you win.
LENE:
And what exactly will you do? Summon the beast you heard in the collection? [STRIKE] The beast you hear now?
DOOKU:
(SUDDENLY UNSURE) I…I didn’t hear anything.
LENE:
Are you sure? [STRIKE] You’ve locked it away. [STRIKE] But it’s still in there. In your memory. I can feel it.
DOOKU:
Stop it. [STRIKE] You’re evil. [STRIKE] And I will stop you.
The fight intensifies, Dooku forcing Lene back against the railing as he strikes again, and again, and again.
YOUNG DOOKU: (HOLO-NARRATION)
I don’t know what came over me. I’d always been so careful to keep my emotions in check, just as I’d been taught, but…I couldn’t control myself. I hacked at her time and time again, forcing her back to the edge of the balcony. All I could feel was her anger. Her rage…at least, I thought it was her. I couldn’t think, I could only act…and all the time, her convor flapped around our heads. Cawing. Screeching. Ready to claw out my eyes, anything to protect its mistress…
LENE:
(DROPPING THE ACT AS SHE REALIZES HE’S LOSING CONTROL) Okay. That’s enough, Dooku.
DOOKU:
No, it isn’t.
He’s becoming frenzied.
LENE:
Dooku. Stop. [STRIKE] Stop! [STRIKE]
YODA:
(FIRM) Stop.
Yoda’s sudden appearance stops the fight dead.
YOUNG DOOKU: (HOLO-NARRATION)
The voice stopped us dead, our lightsabers centimeters apart. His voice. He didn’t shout. Didn’t yell. One word was all it took.
LENE:
(BREATHLESS) Master Yoda.
DOOKU:
(OUT OF BREATH) Master Yoda…Kostana…She’s a Sith…
YODA:
A Sith, you say. Hmm. Sure of that, are you?
DOOKU:
She admitted it herself…She was talking…about Darth…Darth Sakia…
YODA:
Sakia? There was no such Sith.
DOOKU:
How do you know? We can’t have known them all.
YODA:
But know Kostana we can. Reach out with your feelings.
DOOKU:
I did.
YODA:
No. Reached inside you did.
DOOKU:
What?
Lene extinguishes her lightsaber.
LENE:
Go ahead. I won’t resist. Tell me…have I been touched by the dark side, Initiate?
We focus on Dooku’s still-ragged breath for a beat and then…
DOOKU:
I feel…I feel nothing.
YODA:
Dooku. Your lightsaber.
DOOKU:
I’m sorry. I…
He extinguishes his own blade.
DOOKU:
I was so sure.
YODA:
Jumped to assumptions, you did. As Master Kostana expected youto.
DOOKU:
This was all a test? The way you goaded me? The book?
YODA:
Book?
DOOKU:
The Bestiary of Cal-something.
YODA:
(SIGHS) Caldoth. (TO LENE) Return that to the Archives you should. Along with young Teradine’s holojournal. You it was who hid it in the dormitory, I assume?
LENE:
Master Yoda. Dooku saw something down there. We need to know what it was.
YODA:
What’s done is done. Repressed the memory, his mind has. The way he should. The way he has been trained. Much darkness dwells in that collection. That he felt something, surprising it is not. But gone it now has. And gone it will remain.
DOOKU:
(SOFTLY, GUILTILY) I heard it roar.
LENE:
Dooku?
DOOKU:
A great beast. It was…terrifying.
YODA:
Hmm. Meditate you must. Cleanse your mind. Help, we will.
LENE:
Ignoring the past as always.
YODA:
Not the time, now is, Master Kostana.
DOOKU:
I don’t understand.
LENE:
It’s quite simple, Dooku. I believe the Jedi must be prepared for a Sith uprising, whereas Master Yoda thinks such preparations are—
YODA:
Unnecessary.
LENE:
See what I mean?
YODA:
Gone, the Sith are.
LENE:
Yes, but what if we’re wrong. What if reducing them to a footnote of history is playing into their hands. Younglings like Dooku should be trained to identify and combat their relics—relics that are still scattered across the galaxy.
YODA:
Found more you have?
LENE:
(HESITATING) No. Not yet. But they’re out there, I know they are. It’s all right for you and the Council, sitting safe in your spire. Something’s coming, Master Yoda. I can…
YODA:
You can feel it.
LENE:
(SIGHING) If we could just examine the prophecies…
YODA:
Unknowable, the future is. Only to the dark side, prophecy leads. To doubt and fear. An old argument this is.
LENE:
(SIGHS) An argument you always win.
YODA:
What was it you used to call me, hmm, when an Initiate you were? What do you call me still, when you think I cannot hear?
LENE:
(SLIGHTLY EMBARRASSED) I don’t know what you mean.
DOOKU:
She called you an “old goblin.”
YODA:
Ha! Old goblin. Yes. Old, I am. Seen much. Understand more than you think I do, in my safe spire. Come here, young Dooku.
DOOKU:
(UNSURE) Master?
YODA:
Look into your mind, I must. To see if justified, Master Kostana’s fears are.
DOOKU:
Will it hurt?
LENE:
No. Just relax.
YODA:
Yes. Relax. Relax.
There is a moment’s silence and then…
LENE:
And?
YODA:
No lasting damage, there will be. Strong in the Force, the boy is. A great future he will have.
LENE:
(SMILING) I thought the future was best unknown.
YODA:
Evident, some things are, whether prophesied or not.
DOOKU:
I’m sorry,
Master Kostana. I could have hurt you.
LENE:
(LAUGHS) Probably not. But you’re good with a lightsaber. You’ll make someone a fine Padawan someday, Dooku. A fine Padawan indeed.
SCENE 26. INT. THE WINDRUNNER. DOOKU’S CABIN.
Ventress rifles through the disks.
VENTRESS: (NARRATION)
And then it began, Dooku filling message after message with news of Lene Kostana. Of her increasingly frequent visits to the Temple. Of her work, her theories, even her damn convor.
The young Initiate had found himself a hero.
She slips another disk into the reader.
KY NAREC: (GHOST)
You could stop, you know. Haven’t you learned enough to complete your mission?
VENTRESS:
I’m nothing if not thorough.
KY NAREC: (GHOST)
Are you sure that’s all this is? Perhaps I was wrong to keep you on Rattatak? Perhaps you should have trained at the Temple, with a clan of your own? Is that why you’re so…fascinated?
VENTRESS: (NARRATION)
I ignore him, continuing through the disks. He’s speaking nonsense, though I can’t help but feel a sense of thrill as I come to what is obviously one of the most important days in the young Initiate’s life, the culmination of years of hard work…
A hologram activates.
VENTRESS: (NARRATION)
Dooku is older again, only by a year or so, but his eyes have lost none of their hunger. Their ambition.
DOOKU: (SIXTEEN YEARS OLD, HOLO-NARRATION)
I’m sorry I haven’t been in contact, sister. I have been preparing for the tournament. It’s tomorrow, in the training gallery. I haven’t slept for days thinking about it all. The rumors are that some of the Masters are ready to take their Padawans, that they’re coming to the duels. If that’s true…and Lene is there…Do you think she’ll choose me?
VENTRESS: (NARRATION)
I want to mock him. To jeer at his youthful enthusiasm, but Ky is right, no matter how hard that is to admit. Try as I might, I can’t stop myself from imagining what it would have been like to stand in that chamber myself, skin prickling with anticipation, waiting to see what the future held…
SCENE 27. INT. JEDI TEMPLE. OUTSIDE THE TRAINING GALLERY.
Atmosphere: The babble of excited younglings.
SIFO-DYAS: (SIXTEEN YEARS OLD)
Where is he?
ARATH: (SIXTEEN YEARS OLD)
What’s the matter, Sifo? Worried His Lordship won’t turn up?
ZANG: (SIXTEEN YEARS OLD)
I’d like to see you call him that to his face.
ARATH:
Who? Dooku? I’m not scared of him.
SIFO-DYAS:
Yeah, yeah, Arath. We get it. You’re not scared of anyone.
ARATH:
You bet I’m not.
ZANG:
He’ll be here, Sifo. Don’t worry.
ARATH:
Sure about that? Three credits says he won’t show.
Footsteps as Dooku runs up.
DOOKU:
(RUNNING UP) Have they started yet?
ZANG:
Should’ve taken that bet.
SIFO-DYAS:
You’re late.
DOOKU:
I know.
SIFO-DYAS:
You’re never late.
ARATH:
We thought you’d chickened out.
DOOKU:
I was practicing. I’m still not happy with my riposte.
SIFO-DYAS:
Says the guy who aced lightsaber class for, oooh, I don’t know…
ZANG:
…the last ten years!
DOOKU:
You know what Braylon says. You can never be too prepared.
ARATH:
What does she know? Stupid old mynock.
ZANG:
Arath!
ARATH:
Well, she is.
SIFO-DYAS:
Ignore him, Zang.
SINUBE: (OFF-MIC)
Hawk-Bat Clan.
DOOKU:
This is it.
SINUBE: (CONT.)
Enter the arena.
SCENE 28. INT. JEDI TEMPLE. TRAINING GALLERY.
We follow the Initiates in. They gather in front of the Masters.
SINUBE:
Younglings. From the anticipation in your faces, I see you know why you are here today.
BRAYLON:
A ceremonial lightsaber duel to demonstrate your aptitude in the Force.
SINUBE:
A tradition of the ages. But one that changes with every year. As you have learned with Master Radorm, tournaments of the past have been held underwater.
BRAYLON:
Or in zero gravity.
SINUBE:
Do you remember the year we held it in a simulated hurricane? That was exciting.
BRAYLON:
Yes. Thank you, Master Sinube. This year, as ever, we sought guidance from the Force. You will be glad to know that the contest is to be held on dry land.
SIFO-DYAS:
Thank the stars.
BRAYLON:
However, you will all be blindfolded.
SIFO-DYAS:
Oh no.
DOOKU:
Shhh!
BRAYLON:
Your eyes can deceive you. As Jedi, you must rely on your feelings. You must rely on the Force.
SINUBE:
An extra benefit of the blast visors is that you won’t be able to see your potential Masters studying your every move.
DOOKU:
So it’s true…
ZANG:
(WHISPER) No pressure there.
YODA:
Interfere the Council will not. Sacred the bond between Master and Padawan. Guide us all, the Force will. Focus, you must.
Yoda strikes the floor with his cane.
YODA:
Let the tournament begin.
VENTRESS: (NARRATION)
I listen as Dooku describes dropping back with his fellow Initiates, huddled in groups around the walls. He paints the picture so vividly, I can see myself standing alongside him, shifting nervously while still trying desperately to remain nonchalant…
The Initiates gather around the walls.
SIFO-DYAS:
(GROANS) I feel sick.
DOOKU:
You’ll be fine.
SIFO-DYAS:
Who are you looking for, anyway?
ARATH:
Can’t you guess? Master Kostana…blessed be her name.
DOOKU:
(PUSHES HIM) Shut up, Arath.
ARATH:
Hey!
SIFO-DYAS:
Cool it, you two.
DOOKU:
I just thought she would be here.
SIFO-DYAS:
Perhaps she doesn’t want a Padawan.
SINUBE: (OFF-MIC)
The combatants will be chosen by the Force.
Braylon picks up a small round stone from a large container in front of her.
BRAYLON: (OFF-MIC)
Each Initiate’s name is inscribed on one of these Vagni stones.
She throws it back into the container.
BRAYLON: (OFF-MIC)
We shall pick one at random, using only the Force. Come forward when your name is called.
The stones whirl around in the container, rattling together as if they’re being stirred.
SINUBE: (OFF-MIC)
The first combatant is…
ARATH:
Let me see.
DOOKU:
Quit shoving!
The stones stop stirring as one is chosen.
SINUBE:
Initiate Dooku!
ZANG:
You’re first.
SIFO-DYAS:
Congratulations. I guess.
BRAYLON:
And his opponent will be…
The stones start churning again.
DOOKU:
Please let it be Arath. Please let it be Arath.
The stones stop.
BRAYLON:
Initiate Sifo-Dyas.
SIFO-DYAS:
You’re kidding. I don’t stand a chance against you.
DOOKU:
Of course you do.
YODA: (OFF-MIC)
Forward, the combatants will come.
SIFO-DYAS:
Just promise you won’t go easy on me. I don’t need any favors.
DOOKU:
Don’t worry. I won’t give any. May the best man win.
SIFO-DYAS:
That’s what I’m worried about.
VENTRESS: (NARRATION)
Dooku describes taking to the arena, the two of them turning to face each other, hands resting on their hilts. I can imagine what was going through Dooku’s mind as he attempted to focus, his eyes darting around the gallery, searching for the woman he had pinned his hopes upon. How his heart would have sunk as he realized she wasn’t there, how he would force himself to concentrate, staring deep into the eyes of Sifo-Dyas.
And they say the Sith are cruel…Pitting a child against his friend and expecting them to see it as an honor, just as Narec welcomed his exile on Rattatak.
The Jedi are fools, each and every one…
YODA:
Masters Sinube and Braylon—apply the blast visors.
Sinube walks over to Dooku.
SINUBE:
(QUIETLY) There’s no need to worry, Dooku. You’ve always been my finest student.
DOOKU:
But Sifo…
SINUBE:
Ah-ah-ah. None of that. Jedi must concern themselves only with the will of the Force. Remember what Master Niobaya wrote.
DOOKU:
“Do not let attachment cloud your vision, not of possessions…”
SINUBE:
“Nor people.”
DOOKU:
“There is only the Force.”
SINUBE:
Only the Force. Right then, on it goes.
He slips the blast goggles over Dooku’s eyes.
SINUBE:
There. Can you see anything?