"Are you all right, Anakin?" The question came from a mildly concerned Dark Woman, as I felt much of the organic detritus atop me being lifted away with the Force. Unfortunately, my Master's telekinesis could do nothing about the thirteen cue-ball sized seed-partners adhering to various parts of me. I could have easily bounced to my feet, or used the Force to lift myself up, but I was concerned for the safety of a couple seeds stuck high on the back of my left leg, and a third just above the back of my right knee on the opposite leg. Most of the others dotted my chest and stomach, but one was adhering to the right side of my neck in a way that was downright painful.
"I'm unhurt, Master, but concern for the many seed-partners presently adhering to me is making it difficult to rise on my own. I could definitely use a hand up." I hadn't replied until I'd considered my various options as my Master undoubtedly would have wanted me to do in the absence of real danger, but asking for her help in getting to my feet seemed the simplest solution. It was also the option that seemed least likely to offend the natives overseeing this ceremony. This morning upon rising, we'd been lead into this chamber with no explanation beyond our presence inside this room being an integral part of the ship-fashioning process. Instructions to remain where we were upon reaching the chamber's center had followed, as our guides exited the huge stone room and closed the doors behind them. Only for hundreds, if not thousands of these seed-orbs to subsequently rain down on the both of us from somewhere above us. Once the rain of seeds had finally stopped, the doors had quickly reopened, and our guide had reentered the room accompanied by another Ferroan to explain the seed-partners adhering to the two of us were those which had chosen to become part of our ship-to-be.
While my Master's strong hands caught me beneath each arm and hoisted me easily to my feet, I caught the surprise and excitement roiling off the pair of aliens in waves. While the woman came up beside Dark Woman and began persuading the powerfully adhered seed-partners to drop from the Jedi Master's body into her waiting hands for subsequent placement in the large rectangular dark green cask she carried beneath her right arm, our guide Fallnir explained the reason for their surprise and excitement. His deep tenor taking on a respectful, almost reverent tone as he did so.
"We've very seldom seen more than three seed-partners adhere to one client-designer. Not even the oldest of the Jhentari Shapers will have heard of thirteen choosing one client, and certainly not when a collaborator-client was also chosen by an additional seven seed-partners. Twenty of Zonama Sekot's children joining together can only mean a vessel of truly great significance is about to be created. You should both be honored to be touched by the Potentium so." Fallnir looked and sounded like a man in the grip of a religious experience, and a glance at the woman who'd just freed me from the seed tugging on my neck revealed pretty much the same reaction in her.
Instinctively, I closed myself off from the emotions of the Ferroans. Their religious awe had felt cloying, almost suffocating to me, and I wanted no part of it. I hadn't missed Dark Woman's small frown at the mention of this Potentium by our guides, and made a note to inquire about it. This was a woman who could remain as tranquil as a cloudless summer sky while savagely drubbing me into reddened and blistered incoherency during lightsaber training, so anything which troubled her was worth knowing about.
Dark Woman offered a diplomatic platitude which seemed to satisfy our expectant guides, and then we were off to a design library to meet with one of these mysterious Shapers. I was carrying the big wooden box full of seed orbs, of course.
"Before enlightenment: Chop Wood, Carry Water. After Enlightenment: Chop Wood, Carry Water" I wryly murmured as we walked. Low enough the Ferroans ahead of us wouldn't hear me, but just loud enough my Master would. She shot me one of those too rare, ever so brief grins I pried out of her whenever I'd surprised her with a bit of wit one definitely wouldn't expect from a twelve year old, so I answered with a grin of my own and a bit more spring in my step. Convincing her to relax and enjoy the process of training me was always an uphill battle, but one I never stopped fighting.
My Master controlled the pain Aurra Sing's fate continued to cause her, well, masterfully, but with every day that passed I could see a little deeper into her feelings. Sensing more clearly the struggle between her reason which continued to (rightly) declare Sing's tragic fate had always been beyond her power to prevent, and a constant stream of guilt and regret that murmured to her as effectively as emotion always did against reason. Looking at my Master's too brief smile just then, it was as if a veil I hadn't even realized was obscuring my vision had suddenly fallen away. Granting me a clarity of insight so sharp it was an exquisite pain, as the myriad "onion layers" of constantly shifting emotions which had always before refused to coalesce into a meaningful picture became as easy to perceive and extrapolate intent from as numbers were used to perform basic arithmetic.
My head swam, and I nearly stumbled as I quickly wrenched my focus away from my Master's emotions. I had peered deeply enough for my sight to be a kind of violation, but it was more than that disquieting realization which made my stomach churn. I'd watched and listened to scenes where Jedi and Sith did exactly this to friend and foes alike countless times in my old life, but somehow I'd never internalized the reality of such a capability. Vader picking Leia's existence from Luke by sharpening his focus on the young Jedi's fear for and desire to protect his sibling took on entirely new overtones, now. Ones which made me feel naked, as I realized my Master, Master Jinn, and likely even Obi-Wan had all been able to read me just like this until Dark Woman had ground the necessity of keeping my Thought Shield raised so constantly it had become nearly as involuntary as breathing. Something she'd done by gleaning everything embarrassing she could from me each time I permitted my Thought Shield to slip, then throwing such purloined secrets back at me as humiliating barbs to encourage me to greater diligence regarding my thoughts and feelings.
It was the closest I'd come to hating her. Until she'd quietly informed me one day "If you mean to make a Jedi Guardian, as you have so often told me, then there is no more necessary a technique to be mastered than the Thought Shield. A true master of a great many Sense abilities can invalidate tens of thousands of hours of lightsaber training with a single glance, or a moment's concentration, if you cannot keep your thoughts, feelings, and intentions to yourself.
It was only then it occurred to me my own perceptions were apparently piercing my Master's own Thought Shield without difficulty. Sending a chill down my spine, as the implications spooled out before me. My own Sense-based abilities had obviously just leaped forward. Dark Woman had warned me that due to my entry into adolescence, I would soon experience profound changes in my connection to the Force as my training continued, but this was frighteningly abrupt. It also made me wonder even more about the fuzzy webs of glowing fractal lines I'd been perceiving in people, places, and things at random for weeks now, but no additional insight into those webs seemed to have arrived just yet.
Fallnir and the woman (Linnae, I'd finally teased her name from her via the Force because I always felt awkward asking people for their given names) had just lead us through a four-way intersection, when another Ferroan man came hurrying up to the pair from somewhere down the rightmost fork. He conferred with Fallnir in hushed tones for perhaps thirty seconds, then hurried back the way he'd originally come. I couldn't help noticing how anxious and unhappy the man had seemed for someone delivering a message, but quickly found out why.
"Before you meet with the Shaper who will be working with you for the remainder of the project, our Magister requests a brief meeting with the two of you." Fallnir's tone making it clear that the word "requests" was being used in place of "demands" only to maintain the appearance of good manners. The tall, powerfully built middle aged man did seem genuinely apologetic over this turn of events, but it was clear we weren't being given a choice.
"We would be delighted to speak with your Magister. Wouldn't we, Anakin?" Dark Woman courteously responded. It was a less than subtle nudge, but I reminded myself again that she saw a twelve year old when she looked at me.
Still reeling from a stunning immersion in the web of connections between my Master's deepest emotions, motives and intentions, I struggled to frame a suitable reply. "It, it would be an honor to meet the man who began all of this." I offered with a great effort. Using my teacher's lessons to ground and center myself before continuing. Fallnir was so happy the strange clients were going along with the demands made of them, he simply bobbed his head gratefully and began leading us through the complex's many twists and turns once more. This was followed by us marching up several flights of honest to the Force stairs. Literally the first I'd seen in this galaxy. The three of us eventually fetched up in front of two great double-doors. Each elaborately carved with symbols which seemed to mean something to Dark Woman, but were all just nonsense to me. Opening the rightmost door, our guide saw us through the portal, then closed it behind us as he departed.
The room was essentially a large, tastefully appointed office. Very much in line with the living and natural meets the constructed and planned vibe the rest of the Middle Distance embraced. The far and leftmost walls had long planters containing small trees or large bushes put together in aesthetically pleasing patterns that seemed based on a theme of uniting the plants in growth. While the rightmost wall of the chamber was actually entirely covered in some kind of blue-green climbing ivy that was itself covered in little, round, electric blue blossoms each the size of my fingertips. Only the wall just behind us was reasonably free of plant life, as it had a large display monitor of some kind that showed the city in overview. Slowly panning left, right, back and forth to focus on different elements of the community.
It was the figure in the center of the room my attention quickly returned to after this glance around, however. Ostensibly, the figure gave a convincing impression of being a tall, fit, fair skinned human man in his late thirties or mid forties. One with straight brown hair stopping at the collar of his simple white tunic, whose light blue eyes were alert and focused on the two Jedi that had just entered.
"You're an illusion of some sort!" I blurted abruptly to the figure whose gaze had fixed on me as soon as I'd begun to speak. Feeling my Master's confusion, subsequent surprise, then her irritation at being gulled by the artifice as she gave me a pointed look before returning her attention to the supposed Magister.
"Leor taught me much in the process of shaping me to be his Potentium. Enough I should have had no problem convincing one as young as you I was his son. Who are you?" The phantom's statements and subsequent question were delivered directly to my mind, and for one brief instant I once again had that sense of something incomprehensibly vast digging about. Trying to penetrate my mind and see what was in there.
"My name is Anakin Skywalker, Padawan learner of Jedi Master Dark Woman. It's she you should be engaging in telepathic dialog, Mysteriously Vast Psychic Presence" I replied with a bit of irritable sass in my voice. I didn't care for anyone trying to end-run my Master because they thought the twelve year old an easier conversational mark, and it genuinely offended me to see her disrespected. It might be grating to never be the primary focus of a conversation, but damn it, she was my Master!
The illusion of a man turned his attention to the older Jedi then. Offering a slight bow with his counterfeit form, then replying in a silent voice we both could hear. "Forgive me, Master Dark Woman. There was no disrespect intended. I was simply surprised to be discovered by one so young. Though now that I find myself unable to penetrate his mind short of using force that would damage him, I cannot tell you why I should have found it so surprising. I am Sekot, you see. What you would call the mind of the world you are standing upon."
I stood bolt upright as the words made sense of the immensity which had touched me. Feeling my Master's shock and surprise being brought expertly under control, as she responded in a tone as curious as it was courteous "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Sekot. Though I'm understandably curious why you felt the need to meet with us under false pretenses. If we have said or done anything to give you cause for worry, I would be happy to discuss the matter and demonstrate we have no ulterior motives you might find objectionable."
The "man's" face took on a somber cast, as what was apparently a sentient planet replied "Leor assured me there was no evil in the universe. Simply broken and misguided people perpetuating a cycle of suffering they themselves had been born into. He convinced me I was the guardian the Force needed, and for a time, I believed him. When he passed, I was saddened, of course, but his son seemed as if he would grow to become an able enough Magister."
"Then the Far Outsiders came and tried to take what the Ferroans, Jhentari, and Langhesi would not have me give. I was told it would be good, if I raised up my ships and lashed at the Outsiders as they lashed me and killed my new Magister, but it wasn't good. It might have been necessary, but it wasn't right, and it accomplished nothing besides. The invaders would have swept all opposition I could offer them aside, but Vergere persuaded them to withdraw. Although I cannot say how she might have managed it. Beware those who so scarred me. They are cruelly unreal, savage, and cunning as the offspring of the mutant bora are cunning" Sekot continued in an increasingly heavy, careworn manner.
I felt Dark Woman's attention focus like a laser on Sekot's mention of the missing Jedi Knight we were here to find, but held my peace. It was difficult to simply stand here and listen as things played out, but I worked my way through a mental exercise to center and ground myself while I continued to listen.
"You say Knight Vergere persuaded the invaders to withdraw, but that you've no idea how she managed it. What happened after she went to the attackers?" Dark Woman asked simply. Obviously wanting to let Sekot go at his/her/it's pace.
"Vergere had implied some sort of deception might avail where force would not. Once she took one of my ships to reach their great-ship, the invaders withdrew in short order. Their fleet vanished from this system no more than an hour after she left me. I cannot tell you anymore about the circumstances surrounding our deliverance, but Vergere did leave a number of messages with me for different eventualities. I gave my word I would display the appropriate one to anyone who came after her."
I could feel the momentary flash of disappointment in the tall, lean, silver haired woman beside me, but her voice was calm as she inquired "Could you show us the messages Knight Vergere left with you, Sekot? They might give us a clue as to her whereabouts, or provide some insight as to your attackers. I'm sure there are details we might be aware of that you aren't, and vice versa. Details which might provide additional context for statements Vergere made."
The illusory image of the middle aged man suddenly disappeared. Replaced by a tall red and blue feathered alien with a pronounced raptor's beak and unnerving blood-red eyes. Her voice was surprisingly soft and cultured for such a fierce-looking being, as her image addressed the room. I couldn't help noticing how worn the alien Jedi seemed. She reminded me of a stag I'd once seen brought to bay in a box canyon by a pack of hounds in my old life, though I couldn't say why.
"If you are watching this message, then the Order has sent you to ascertain my fate and determine what happened here. I do not have much time, as I still need to prepare other messages for other eventualities, so I will need to keep this brief. The aliens who attacked Zonama Sekot possess a level of technology superior to the Republic's on a number of levels. I realize extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, so I will refer you to Sekot. There is ample photographic evidence to conclusively prove only a handful of ships caused all of the terrible damage to the planet's northern hemisphere. During a horrifyingly brief period of hostilities, no less. I intend to do everything in my power to prevent the attackers from continuing to press their still-ongoing assault, and fear that will involve methods Master Cho Leem most definitely would not approve of. I suppose I must have found success in this endeavor, if Sekot is in any position to convey my words to you."
Vergere paused, the plumage covering her head and neck growing gray as the Jedi Knight continued in an even more serious tone. It was as if she were a magistrate handing down a death sentence. "I regret my being the bearer of such grave tidings, but if there is one thing of which I am absolutely certain, it is this. Provided the vessels I have witnessed attacking Zonama Sekot are not simply the final remnants of an otherwise extinct civilization, our present-day Republic is in no condition to contest with these savages in a galaxy-spanning conflict. Their grasp of biological technology similar in some respects to the extraordinary ship-building here on Zonama Sekot is something the Republic simply has no answer for. Pray that the Far Outsiders leave our galaxy behind, for they must originate beyond the Great Barrier, so alien they are in every respect. I cannot stress this final bit of counsel enough. If you have seen no sign of the Far Outsiders since my disappearance, they must not be sought out! I would advise you to warn the Republic of the danger, but I'm sure the Order realizes by now that there is a much more immediate and equally existential threat to the survival of the Jedi Order and Republic both."
The words she spoke froze my blood, because I finally knew why all of this seemed so familiar. Vergere was talking about the thrice-damned Yuuzhan Vong! One of the most sadistic and vile species of demons ever to people an all too real nightmare, the Vong were pain and death worshiping locust-orcs. Xenophobes who sought to destroy all conventional technology so no one could effectively resist their terrifying mastery of biotech. The Vong were so horrible, their very existence created a justification for the existence and use of super-weapons like the Death Star, Starkiller Base, or Centerpoint Station. Lacking any presence in the Force, these death-cultists were a Jedi's bane and a Dark Siders natural allies. Gleeful war-criminals of the highest order, the Yuuzhan Vong saw nothing wrong with atrocities like germ warfare and the total annihilation of planetary biomes.
My hands tightened into fists as cold fury welled up in me like the icy gusts which stripped away a body's warmth in mere minutes during a whiteout. Even before this new life, I had always ascribed to the view that the only morally acceptable target of genocide was a species mainly comprised of genocidal war-criminals. If there were a big red button labeled: Kill All Yuuzhan Vong Everywhere, I would press it and then sleep the sleep of the virtuous afterwards. Any species who had literally enshrined conquest and genocide specifically as joined tenets of their damnable True Way was not in point of fact a sentient species any longer. They were nothing but a plague upon any galaxy with the misfortune to be infested by such monsters. I didn't care they had the potential to change. I only cared about the unspeakable destruction and carnage they were certain to cause in the grip of what amounted to their racial insanity.
I felt Dark Woman's regard then, so I struggled to wrestle down my wrath as her concern pointedly washed over me. I reminded myself again and again and then again that the Yuuzhan Vong weren't slated to return in any force for more than fifty years. This was the angriest I'd been since being reborn, but ever so slowly I regained my equilibrium, and finally my calm.
Vergere's message had continued. Forcing my Master's attention from me in the process. Something I didn't need the Force to recognize, as my memory sharpened and brought into sharp relief details which had remained beneath my attention until now.
"I have made a number of mistakes. Some of them quite recent, and one in particular quite bitter. It is this grave misjudgement which prevents my simply naming the threat you should be focused on. Were I to point and declaim There, there is the Sith, I would make others answerable for my folly, and thereby doom the hunt before it even began. Instead, all I can offer is this. I have the strongest of all reasons to believe that the darkest shadows of tomb-worlds or near-nameless points throughout the Outer Rim are no longer where one should anticipate picking up the enemy's trail. Quite the opposite, in point of fact. The galaxy is changing, and some are changing with it more effectively than others. Not the most immediately applicable bit of advice, I recognize, but keep it in mind, or face the consequences of disregarding my counsel."
The image of the Jedi Knight fell silent for several moments. A speculative expression somehow communicated even by her alien visage, before she replied with some urgency. "I'm all but out of time, so you may tell my old Master this in repayment for all that she did for me. The shroud of the Dark Side has indeed grown to become an obscuring veil, but I know for sure and certain where there's a blade sharp enough to part it. Look for the solution on Circarpous V. There, I was supposed to find the prize within the Temple of Pomojema, but I pass my discovery along to you. Seek, and you shall find the clarity required to unmask the foe. Now, I go to do what I must. May the Force be with you all, because you're going to need all the help you can get."
Despite having remembered that this "Jedi Knight" was the enigmatic and unscrupulous former Sith Apprentice responsible for unleashing Darth Caedus on an unsuspecting galaxy decades from now, Vergere's words surprised me thoroughly. I knew my Master wouldn't understand why the Fosh couldn't name the Sith Lord if she knew his identity, but it was obvious to me. Immediately prior to journeying here, Vergere had tried and failed to kill Palpatine. She was more than clever enough to realize the likely consequence of that failure, however. There was no way for her to know that Sidious didn't have evidence of her attempted assassination, so she'd remained silent due to the disastrous consequences if she'd guessed wrong about that. It really would have been just like Sidious to sit on such footage against the day of such an accusation. No, the Fosh had correctly recognized the Jedi needed more than the word of a fallen Knight. Even if they didn't know about her fall.
Something like The Kaiburr Crystal of Mimban. A relic capable of multiplying the power of any Force-user by a thousand! If anything in this galaxy could permit a master of the Light Side to pierce the Dark Side shroud that Sidious and Plagueis had engineered to blind Jedi precognition, it was the Kaiburr Crystal.
It was a clever plan Vergere suggested. I would be the one to know, because it had been a key component of my plan to prevent the victory of the Sith and the destruction of the Jedi. A plan I'd concocted long before finding myself a resident of the Galaxy Far Far Away.
Vergere's image vanished, and was immediately replaced by the image of the man we'd first seen. Dark Woman opened her mouth to request Sekot show us the other messages Vergere had alluded to, but the world-sentience cut across her in a regretful manner before she could ask.
"I gave Vergere my promise that I would only play the message most appropriate to the listeners and their circumstances. Please, do not ask me to betray the confidence of the one responsible for protecting my people as I could not. Keeping my word is all that I can do for Vergere now, so keep my word I shall." Sekot's silent voice was just as courteous as it had been, but there was an underlying note of firmness that hadn't been there before.
Dark Woman didn't immediately respond. Apparently searching for some tack she could take to elicit more information from the living planet. I knew we'd reached a dead end, but I also understood why my Master couldn't just write Vergere off as I'd had reason to do. Finally, she quietly and courteously inquired "Without asking you to violate any of Knight Vergere's confidences, is there anything else you can tell us about the Sith? She might have made an oblique reference to another person or place in passing, or mentioned something else she intended to do before the crisis required she visit the enemy flagship. We're very concerned about her, you understand?"
The image of the middle aged man frowned in response to these words. A pensive expression clear on the artificial features when Sekot silently replied "Nothing that might provide a clue as to Vergere's present whereabouts, but as for anything to do with these Sith? She made a comment about evil being exactly where anyone with eyes to see would expect to find it, but no. I've no idea what she meant in specific, or even if her observation really concerned your adversaries or mine."
It was everything I could do to avoid choking on that comment. The fallen Jedi was doing everything but trailing breadcrumbs to Palpatine's very door, yet remaining just obscure enough for her intent to be missed by those who didn't already know the answer to the riddle.
Perhaps sensing she'd reached the bottom of the well, Dark Woman's subsequent questions were simple approaches to the same subject from different angles. None of which resulted in anything more from Sekot. Eventually, the world-consciousness firmly changed the subject himself. Looking in my direction with his illusory self, as he stated aloud for the first time "The two of you should be getting back to the design-library. My dreams have become ever more troubled. Turbulent and shadowy they've been, but I see you in them again and again. I'm supposed to be a help to you, so I'm helping as Leor would have wanted. You won't have greeted the wind yet, but you will. Go and envision your gleaming angel. Go, while there is time remaining for the raising of angels. I wish that things didn't have to change, but change finds us all, eventually."
It was a dismissal, and we would have taken it for one even if the illusion hadn't vanished so abruptly an instant later.
"What did you make of all that, Apprentice?" Dark Woman inquired of me as we were walking down the flights of stairs we'd so recently climbed. Her manner presented it as a teacher offering up a lesson via the Socratic method, but I thought there lurked a bit of desire for a second opinion within the open-ended question.
"I think we would do well to remember Knight Vergere is a Fosh, Master. Her people adore wheels-within-wheels type stratagems, and often talk around a point, but this is more than that. She's hiding a great many things, but I'm convinced she spoke truthfully and accurately concerning the points she made in a declarative fashion. I believe her when she says she knows the identity of the Sith Lord. Just as I believe her when she said that it would be a disaster for her to be the one who pointed out the Sith. I don't think she would have made such a point of saying so, if she didn't have an alternative solution to offer. Whatever's on Circarpous V in this Temple of Pomojema is extremely important" I replied without a moment's hesitation. Having had plenty of time to think while my Master spoke with Sekot.
The tall, silver haired, blue eyed woman's expression grew reflective as she considered my response. "What about Sekot's statements? I notice you focused entirely on the content of Vergere's message. Was there a particular reason for your decision to avoid attempting an analysis of it's almost certainly precognitive dreams?" Her questions gave away as little as her absolutely neutral tone as we came to the end of the stairs. Fallnir was waiting a discreet distance away for us to appear, because he immediately raised a green hand by way of greeting as he began his approach. Before he drew close enough to hear me, I quickly answered the Jedi Master's questions.
"I don't consider myself qualified to analyze my own brushes with precognition, Master. Let alone whatever glimpses of the future a sentient being so different from myself might be having. You've driven home the point that overreaching is just as bad as underachieving again and again. Plus, I've worked very hard to persuade you I'm trustworthy enough concerning my studies that you can safely treat me as if I'm a bit older than my twelve years. It would be stupid to begin ignoring you concerning primary tenets, and cause you to reconsider that position. You know how curious I am." Everything I said was the absolute truth, but it wasn't every bit of the truth.
"Yes, well, I believe taking Sekot's advice would be wise" Was all Dark Woman said in response. Her eyes had grown hooded as Fallnir drew near, so I didn't comment on the fact she hadn't specified which bit of the world-sentience's advice we should take.
-------
Four days passed faster than I would have believed possible. Initially, I couldn't get the fact that Vergere was directing us to the same solution I'd had in mind for so long, but the designing of an entire starship soon proved enough to fully occupy my attention. Especially now that we'd completed the design, and were being met at the end of a rather scenic river journey.
"Is there something of particular interest among our fellow travelers, Anakin?" Dark Woman's question was asked in an annoyingly knowing manner. One which tempted me to round on her and snap "Are you sick? The girl's only twelve or thirteen!" Except I couldn't give vent to my outrage, because I appeared to be only twelve.
Instead, I replied in a long-suffering tone. "Master, I have decades of study still in front of me. I don't have the least little bit of time for the female of the species. I noticed the admittedly cute redhead is Force-sensitive when we boarded the boat, so I decided to see if I could sense just how strong her connection to the Force is without getting any closer. Aren't you always telling me there are opportunities to learn all around me?"
Seeming a little surprised by the nature of my reply, Dark Woman's follow-up query was offered by the detached instructor. "How would you assess her connection to the Force, then?" She seemed a little put off that I wasn't behaving like an adolescent boy embarrassed to be caught checking out a pretty girl.
"Her connection to the Force is quite strong. Strong enough it's a shame the Seekers missed her." My reply was analytical, but I could do better than that with my recent progress. I found myself smiling as a particular tidbit drifted up to me with a gentle, prolonged trill of the Force's song.
"She's discovered quite the rapport with the local birds. It's probably the most adorable use of the Force I could imagine. Like something out of a child's holo-film" I murmured just loudly enough for my teacher to hear. Not realizing in the grip of a deeper empathy I wasn't yet in full control of that my words were more appropriate for a bemused thirty-something uncle. Rather than those of the twelve year old ex-slave who'd spent his entire emancipated life in the company of precisely two women and some training-droids that I actually was.
I felt my Master start beside me. The Force a warning hum as I sensed her own empathy sharp as a scalpel touch me with a gossamer sensibility. It took my every bit of skill as I realized my mistake to remain an untroubled enough channel to hold to a Thought Shield being scrutinized speculatively. I wanted to sigh in relief as I felt the next thing to the Eye of Sauron retreat, but didn't dare. I knew Dark Woman could work her way round me to get at my real feelings if she really cracked her mental knuckles and took it to me, but I doubted she'd be that crass without more cause than me speaking in an oddly mature manner.
"You've kept up your Thought Shield admirably, Apprentice." Was all she said after a moment's reflection. "It will serve you well when we journey to the Temple." The reminder I was going to be subjected to the scrutiny of the Order soon was a test of my nerves, but I weathered the knot in my guts and smiled at the weathered Jedi Master. For such a brutal instructor, Dark Woman could be so quintessentially considerate about important things. She knew everyone was going to watch "The Chosen One" like a hawk-bat, and how private a person I generally was. In typical Dark Woman fashion, she left my fate in my own hands wherever and whenever she felt it appropriate.
The girl in question suddenly glided up and interrupted our intermittent conversation. Her shiny, wavy black hair, blemish free emerald skin, and expressive sapphire blue eyes came to a pleasing visual sum. Giving hints of the beautiful woman to be inside the young maiden. Her stormy expression was presently marring those good looks, however.
"It isn't polite to stare at and whisper about someone. Especially when you're somehow prying into my memories! I think I would like an apology!" The girl's tone was frosty as she glared at me reprovingly.
I started to look to my Master for a solution, then I stopped myself. The Savage Savant who beat, blistered, and otherwise battered me certainly wasn't going to shield me from a bit of adolescent pique.
Turning to face my accuser squarely, I bowed to her, and in my most contrite tone offered "Please accept my sincerest apologies, miss. I should not have pried for the sake of my education. You have the loveliest feelings, I quite forgot myself."
The fire in those bright blue eyes persisted several moments longer, then an almost quizzical expression replaced the angry frown. "You're both like Lady Vergere, then? I would have thought you'd look more like her than me, then."
I thought about how best to answer that. "I don't have any more special powers than you do, miss. It's the Force which connects all living things providing access to what you're calling special powers." It was a good answer, but the slight frown on her cute green face revealed my answer hadn't really conveyed a lot of useful information.
"That's what Lady Vergere said, but it didn't make anymore sense when she said it either. I'm Jabitha, but my friends call me Wind. What's your name?" Jabitha asked me after a few more seconds.
"My name is Anakin Skywalker, Padawan learner to Jedi Master Dark Woman. Which is a very formal way of saying I'm the one she is teaching how and why to use the Force" I replied with amiable warmth. Meeting the girl's eyes and shaking my head as Dark Woman gave me a taunting grin as she glided away.
"Is the Force anything like how I make myself more attractive and acceptable to the birds?" Jabitha excitedly inquired of me once the imposing form of my Master seemed to have drifted out of earshot.
With one hand around the eight-sided pendant on the chain around my neck, I concentrated intently and lifted a globule of water from the river passing beneath. It hovered as a shining orb between the two of us, as I distractedly lectured "What you are seeing is not some power of mine to lift the water and hold it in a discrete sphere. My Master has taught me how to use my inborn connection to the Force to persuade the Force to lift and hold the water for me. That's not quite the gist of the matter, but it's as close as I can get in a brief conversation."
Sweat trickled down my brow as I divided one gleaming ball of water into two, and then four marbles of moisture glinting in the sunlight. "With an enormous amount of practice, one can improve your capacity to influence the Force. Allowing one to accomplish more with it as one's understanding of it's ways improves. With the Force, the impossible can become possible." The four orbs I'd carefully arranged in a gentle downward facing arc suddenly came apart into a field of mist. Creating a brief but pronounced rainbow, as the tension of intense ongoing concentration drained out of me. It was the best punctuation of my statement I could arrange on short notice, but Jabitha's delighted smile made it worth the trouble.
"Could I learn to do that?" The question was inevitable, and caused me to glance in my Master's direction. Dark Woman was studiously not looking in our direction, as she appeared to be meditating.
"Close your eyes and focus on nothing but my voice" I replied after a moment's consideration. Again, those hoping for an Orthodox Chosen One were going to be disappointed.