AMARA O'HERA: backstory

{ EARLY LIFE }

Amara O'Hera was born on 9th of March, 55 BBY. The youngest daughter of Thena and Jaran O'Hera and little sister of Dane O'Hera. She was born on Solysh, a sun in the Star System of Andor. Her family was part of the Calhar tribe, one of the three Tribes of Silorin. Growing up she learned to speak both Galactic Basic Standard and Silrin.

Amara's father, Jaran, was the emissary of the Calhar tribe, traveling the galaxy in the interests of the Silorin. This meant Amara, Dane and their mother Thena spend long periods of time without their father and husband. During this time, Thena homeschooled her two children, as is the way on Solysh until they turn 8 years old. This meant brother and sister grew up closely together and formed a tight connection.

As Amara grew older, Thena started noticing her daughter possessed some strange talents. Plants seemed to grow whenever she spoke to them, objects moved without her touching them and she could read people as though she was reading a book. But, perhaps strangest of all, was the fact that she started talking of strange dreams. Visions of places she'd never visited and people she'd never seen. Thena spoke with the Elders of the Tribe and they confirmed her fears: Amara was Force-sensitive.

Thena was heartbroken, unable to part with her daughter. So, she decided to try and teach Amara how to use her connection to the Force herself. She never spoke to Jaran or Dane about it. But the truth caught up with her when Amara heard her parents arguing one night...

Jaran had discovered a shocking prophecy during one of his travels, believing the words to be about Amara. But Thena scolded him for believing such nonsense. Amara made her way downstairs, never having heard her parents fight before. It upset her and she yelled for them to stop. When neither of them listened, the kitchen knives were suddenly thrown into the wall, though one changed course and pierced Amara's shoulder. She survived the incident but was left with a scar running across her collarbone.

That night Thena realized she could never properly teach her daughter how to use her connection to the Force. She told Jaran what she'd been hiding and together they decided to contact the Jedi Order. Both for Amara's own safety and because of the prophecy Jaran feared. And so Amara left her home and was taken across the galaxy, to the city planet of Coruscant. It was also for those very same reasons they hid the truth about Amara's departure from her brother Dane. Heartbroken and betrayed, Dane ran away from home and joined the Sapphire Sparrows, the shadow army of Solysh and he never saw his parents again.

{ TRAINING BEGINS }

Amara came to the Jedi Temple at three years old, joining the other younglings in training. They began with simple Force Techniques, studying the Force and learning the Jedi traditions. During these lessons Amara befriended fellow Jedi youngling Obi-Wan Kenobi. The two had a taste for getting into trouble together as they enjoyed pranking their teachers and classmates or exploring the Temple past their bedtime.

Amara's favorite classes were the ones centered around meditation and the study of the life force of nature. She developed an interest in plants and her favorite place to spend time was the Room of a Thousand Fountains.

When it was time for the Gathering, Amara was sent to the planet of Ilum to retrieve her very own Kyber Crystal. The ritual required Jedi younglings to find a unique Kyber crystal attuned to their Force presence in the Crystal Cave of Ilum. It was during this test that Amara was first confronted with her worst fear: losing the person she loved most; her best friend, Obi-Wan. Being forced to watch him die because of a choice she made.

And so she became aware of the dangers of attachment, learning the difference between a healthy, selfless love and a possessive, arrogant love. A love that consumed all else and left no place for the selfless way of the Jedi. In that cave, Amara made a promise to herself to never put anything or anyone above her oath to the Jedi. This earned her a yellow Kyber Crystal, entering her into the school of the Jedi Sentinels. Her green fingers and natural connections to people made her fit perfectly with the more practical minded Jedi's.

Though she struggled with the art of lightsaber combat, disliking the violent nature of her golden sword. It was Obi-Wan who helped her through the classes by practicing with her. They often snuck out of the bed to train. Their favorite spot was on the roof of the Temple. And after a while they came to know each other's fighting style inside and out.

{ THE VISIONS }

Due to the rebellious nature of both teens, Master Yoda was careful choosing potential Masters for both Amara and Obi-Wan. Eventually the problem solved itself when Master Denn Val volunteered to take Amara as his padawan. He noticed her struggles with the lightsaber but also saw her great balance and talent of self-reflection. Thus he taught her the form of Makashi, having been trained in the technique himself by his own Master; Ki-Adi-Mundi.

This form relied not on strength, but on elegance and precision. As well as level headedness to stay ahead of one's opponent, something Denn Val thought Amara to be very capable of due to her restraint. Amara excelled in the combat form, though would always prefer to solve matters without her saber.

Amara also connected with her Master because of their mutual love for nature. Both loved spending time in the greenhouse of the Temple. Denn focused much of his teachings on the different properties of plants and the ways Jedi could enhance their use through wielding the Force.

Due to their training as padawans Amara and Obi-Wan saw less of each other than they used to. Though they tried to keep in contact as often as they could. During Obi-Wan's long stay on Mandalore, the circumstances were too dangerous to stay in contact. This meant their communication weakened for a while but their connection certainly didn't lessen. Despite not being able to talk, the two of them learned to recognize and feel each other's presence even when they were on the other side of the galaxy.

It was also during this time, when Amara was 15 years old, that the visions began. Unaware of the prophecy her father had feared so much, Amara simply believed them to be dreams given to her by the Force, as this wasn't at all uncommon amongst the Jedi. Though after a while, she was starting to realize these weren't visions of the future or even the present, but of the past. They grew more intense as time went on and sometimes she could hear a voice calling out to her even when she was awake.

Worried she was losing her mind, Amara spoke to her Master. Denn taught her several new forms of meditation to try and connect with whatever the visions were trying to tell her. This form gave Amara a certain amount of control over her thoughts. Which meant she could choose when the visions were allowed to happen. Though Amara sensed her Master's worries about her condition and so she never told anyone else about them.

Due to her status as Jedi Sentinel, Amara was trained in forming a bridge between the Jedi and the civilians of the Galaxy. During one of these missions, she met Mai Voyrin, who became a close friend and a safe haven. But also someone who often challenged her beliefs and traditions. But Amara loved being a part of the Jedi Order, feeling like she was born to be a part of them and that's what she held on to.

But the past cannot remain hidden forever and once it caught up with her, she had to face the fact that the Force had planned an entirely different path for her...

AUTHOR'S NOTE ⬎

Amara, honey, I am so sorry for the mess your life is about to become. I swear if I could let you live happily ever after with Obi, I would. ;)

Also, yes, I am deliberatly being vague about the prophecy and Amara's visions because I love mystery and secrets lol. If you'd like to know more, please check out my Star Wars fic Apollo!