Interlude: Year 2 (Patreon)

Interlude: Year 2

Nari

It was dark in these forests, and not just because of the absence of light.

The Force here felt dark, as though it was cast in deep, black shadow, and it only grew worse and worse as he descended further into the depths.

Descending with him were a dozen others. Many he knew only in passing, some he knew as acquaintances or friends.

Two standing near him on the platform were none other than Cere Junda and K’Kruhk, both senior Knights to him.

Standing in front of all of them, his back turned to the collection of gathered Knights, was Master Plo Koon.

The Kel Dor seemed to loom large in the shadowy gloom of the forest. He was always tall but in this setting, he seemed towering.

Nari leaned forward, whispering as low as he could: “What’s going on?”

Cere heard him, turning to look over her shoulder, as if to verify the speaker’s identity before looking forward ahead, K’kruhk didn’t move, but he too must’ve heard.

“Some sort of test,” Cere whispered back, “at least from what I’ve heard.”

A test? Nari felt his features scrunch up in confusion. It couldn’t possibly be Masterhood. He’d been a Knight for scarcely a year now. And Masterhood was granted on the basis of you training a Padawan who himself became a Knight. There were no other requirements. So- What else could they be testing for?

To establish another enclave? That was more reasonable, but each enclave was entrusted to three Masters and thirty senior Knights upon their founding. He was certainly no senior Knight with just one year since he ascended from Padawan.

“A test for what?” someone else who Nari didn’t recognize whispered.

Cere shrugged helplessly.

The rest of the descent was quiet after that.

It felt like an eternity, how long it took them to reach the forest floor.

When they did, they were greeted with another surprise.

“Master Plo,” Master Windu greeted, bowing, the warm glow of lumen sticks brightening the clearing where the Jedi Master had been waiting. “Knights.”

Master Plo stepped off the descent platform, inclining his head in respect. “Master Windu.”

K’Kruhk and Cere followed after him, and Nari was almost shoved forward by those behind him in his stupefied hesitation.

His boots clumped into soft, muddy earth. The sound of it seemingly more like wet squelches than footsteps.

The Knights fanned out, about a dozen of his contemporaries offering their respectful greetings and bows.

Master Windu panned his eyes over each of them.

“I thank you all for coming,” the Jedi Master said. “You’ve been called here for one reason and one reason only: training.”

There was a ripple of surprise across the gathered participants. A Mon Calamari with an almost purple-blue tinge to his skin was the one who asked, “Training, Master?”

“As Knights,” Plo-Koon cut in, “you are expected to face the dangers of the galaxy. To defend the innocent, even if you’re frightened to do so. I will not mince words with you: the Sith have returned to the galaxy.”

Now Nari felt it, the ripple of something the others – and he himself – would never wish to admit to nor recognize: genuine fear.

“As Jedi, it is our solemn duty to face this growing darkness,” Windu declared. “This training will push you, test you, and hopefully better prepare you should you ever meet the Sith Master or the apprentice that now stalks the galaxy.”

Another Knight – this one he recognized as Bultar Swan, Master Plo Koon’s old Padawan – stepped forward.

“What must we do?”

Master Plo nodded in her direction.

“There are hidden objectives in this forest,” Plo declared. “A victim in need of rescue, a ‘weapon’ to be retrieved, a holocron to be retrieved or destroyed, and a ship with valuable intelligence on board that the Sith cannot be allowed to reach. These four objectives lie to the north, south, east and west of this clearing. There are a dozen of you. You will search in teams of three.”

That couldn’t be all of it, Nari knew.

A moment later, Windu confirmed his suspicions.

“While you search for these objectives, you will need to contend with the elements of this place –  the flora and the fauna – and any of you can be beset at any time by the one we’ve designated as the Sith Master, or the Sith apprentice. You must defeat them, or flee safely from them. If you cannot do either, or allow your objectives to be compromised by the Sith, you will have failed the test.

“Are our companions predetermined? Or do we choose them?” K’Kruhk asked.

“We will not choose for you, this time. But know that any Jedi must be expected to work with those beside them in a moment of crisis. You may not have the luxury of choosing your companion should this situation fall to you in the wider galaxy,” Plo explained. “How you adapt, how you handle it… that is just as important, perhaps, as ultimate triumph or failure.”

(X)(X)(X)

In the end, he did stay with K’Kruhk and Cere; perhaps they took some pity on him, clearly out of his depth as he was, or perhaps they simply wished to remain with people familiar to them, like he did.

Either way, he stayed with them.

They ventured east.

The forest floor was so dark he felt… choked. Smothered. K’Kruhk lit his green blade, and Cere did the same, not because they were under threat but because it was just so black and still, and the light barely chased away the shadows of this place.

He could hear critters moving in the underbrush, the distant calls of predators and hooting calls of birds or other wildlife.

This place really was an alien entity unto itself.

Still, they pressed forward, and before too long, they even got a clue as to their objective.

“I know I’m gonna have to say something, but it’s scary…”

He didn’t recognize the voice but it was female, and close, almost distracted. Not what he imagined a ‘victim in need of rescue’ would sound like.

Then again, it was a test.

“It’s not exactly the scary feeling we can just punch, partner.”

They gravitated towards the voice, and listening to her words, he had to wonder just who she was talking to… or how. The word ‘partner’ did stand out to him. But again, he doubted that this would be how the Sith Master would address the apprentice.

“Oh, someone’s coming. Ahem. OVER HERE HEEEEEEELP-”

Nari may not have been an expert per se… but this was likely the worst acting he’d ever heard.

As he, Cere, and K’Kruhk hacked their way through the underbrush, they found a blonde Knight, smiling brightly as she waved from her place on the forest floor.

She was sitting crosslegged, and a big sign with bright red letters was held up in her other free arm. On it was the single word: Rescue!

Again… Nari wasn’t an expert, but… really?

“Hi hi,” the blonde Knight called. “So you guys came to save the little old me?”

“That is the objective Ms. Dallon.” K’Kruhk commented carefully.

“Great!” the blonde woman, Dallon apparently, chirped. “We can start running now or would you all like to fight first?”

Nari’s stomach did a fluttering flop in his gut.

Figh-

The saber came sailing out of the shadows.

Bright, burning red, it was blood spatter across the gloom. Cere’s green sword slammed into it, sending it sailing off course before it was recalled, the curved hilt falling firmly into the grip of a black armored warrior marching out of the shadows.

Nari fumbled for his own blade, Cere and K’Kruhk taking up defensive stances in front of the larger man.

The ‘Sith’ didn’t hesitate, and Nari was surprised and disturbed to find that, even though he was looking at the man, he still felt almost invisible in the Force. A blank absence moving through his sight.

The blade, however, was real enough.

The red sword danced in the armored warrior’s grip, smoothly snapping between K’Kruhk’s and Cere’s green ones. The warrior held the curved hilt in a single hand while they both held theirs in firmer, two handed grips. But what he lacked in power to break through their defenses, he made up for in speed. The red sword was a blur in the air and Nari found he could scarcely track the sword, let alone hope to contend with it. Both Cere and K’Kruhk were clearly struggling to find an opening between the furious flurry of strikes and deft parries; even in the uneven forest floor, the man’s footwork seemed impeccable.

“Get her out of here!” Cere demanded, leaping to defend a blindspot in K’Kruhk’s defense, the two of them driving the Sith warrior back between their tandem bladework.

Right! The victim!

Nari’s eyes snapped over towards the still sitting blonde; the woman was smiling his way without a care in the world.

She was the objective. Saving the victim was the purpose of the Jedi, not killing the Sith!

He felt guilty, cowardly almost, leaving the other two to fight their clearly stronger adversary, but then pragmatism won out.

He holstered his saber back onto its place on his belt, rushing forward to reach the training ‘victim’ to escort her to safety.

He knelt down in front of her, undoing the magnetic restraints around her wrists with barely a nudge of Force power. “Come on! We have to-”

Her hands moved, and before he even recognized the pain a blue blade, set to stun, was carving a line across his stomach and chest. The lightsaber pulled free as he gasped, collapsing onto the forest floor.

W-what!?

He struggled to move through the spams, his whole body seizing and convulsing as his muscles locked up.

Still, he did stare at the woman, her blue sword casting long shadows across her face.

“What are you doing!?”

He heard Cere’s voice, confused and horrified.

The woman smiled.

“Nothing says the Sith have to be obvious about being a Sith.”

She cut a line through the air with her blade, and lunged forward.

Nari couldn’t move to see the battle, but they all knew: it was over.

(X)(X)(X)

Taylor:

“Your acting was appalling,” I heard Obi-Wan comment with a sigh, shaking the sweat out of his hair. The ‘Sith armor’ in the muggy humidity of the Shadowlands was not a particularly pleasant example of proper attire, regardless of Anakin’s suggestions otherwise on the sole basis that it made you look “wizard”

“Hey, I let them know really fucking clearly that something is seriously not right with the ‘victim’ they had to rescue without giving the game away or even being the least bit suspicious. How is that not top notch acting!?”

“The Sith are augur’s of rage and hatred. They will not act like a… what in the universe did you call it? Valley Girl?”

“Not with that attitude! Besides, what was I supposed to do? Play the angry ‘tall dark and stoic’? That is shit acting! Absolutely no effort whatsoever. Where’s the villain banter? The cruel mockery of the heroes' efforts? Put some pizazz in your work!”

“Yes. Clearly when I fought my two encounters with the Sith, my mind just blanked out on that ‘banter’ part of said encounters.”

“That sounds like a tragic case of a ‘you-problem’.”

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to smile or roll my eyes at their bickering.

So instead, as I reached the door, I opted for a very obvious and very loud clearing of my throat.

“Ahem.”

Immediately I felt the change in Vicky’s Force signature, warmth and joy that, while not absent before, wasn’t present for the others either.

“Tay!” she called happily, floating over towards me,; though, oddly, I noticed her hesitate for a moment before hugging me. Was something wrong?

A question for later. I reciprocated the gesture before turning towards Obi-Wan as he walked closer. He was still dressed in armor, mostly. The helmet was gone, and the gauntlets were removed, but other than that, the jet black armor covered him from head to toe.

“How did it go?” I asked.

The senior Knight sighed, shaking his head. “This group was… less than ideal,” he lamented. “Beyond K’Kruhk, once the other two were caught by surprise from Victoria, the fight was essentially over. And K’Kruhk himself was far too passive a combatant to do more than drag out the inevitable. He did try calling for help, but I don’t believe he realized the other Knights were dealing with their own ‘Sith’ until he was already exhausted.”

Much the same as I’d heard for the others.

Disappointing.

This little project was four months old, and the Kashyyyk Enclave was barely older than said project.

This training was something pushed for by Master Piell, Master Windu and Master Mundi above all others. Piell because his encounter with the Sith years ago had deeply shaken him, Windu because of his own stance on combat training, and Mundi because he genuinely believed that every Jedi needed to be ready to fight the Sith at any moment if needed.

I suppose even a broken clock could be right twice a day.

Yaddle was opposed to it, as was Master Plo Koon, but they were in the minority and, frankly, I disagreed on their stance.

If you knew you were headed into a fight, wanting to hold to your principles was admirable, but if Emma and Winslow had taught me anything, it’s that that was a slow way to lose.

Windu had called for our help in organizing it. Not just because Vicky and I were the biggest advocates for an enclave on Kashyyyk, but because of our particular combat strengths. Obi-Wan, as the only Knight in the order who had fought Sith and the only Jedi of any rank to have fought Sith twice, was called to lend his expertise as well.

His dominance at the Makashi dueling form only made him even more appropriate as an instructor.

Anakin, who’s own power seemed to be growing by leaps and bounds these days; even as a Padawan, was usually the designated “Sith Apprentice”. So he,  Obi-Wan and Vicky often did the runs with the Knights.

I’d heard of Yoda coming to play the role of either a Sith or a victim, once. But Vicky was fuzzy on the details on how exactly that went.

I could guess, though.

Especially since she couldn’t stop snickering for a solid week.

But I digress.

As for myself, I was… encouraged – strongly encouraged – to only train with the select few Masters who wished to… master their fear.

I thought they were coddling the Knights a bit overmuch, but given that the insects I had at my disposal were Shadowland native insect species, I didn’t exactly argue the  point.

For now.

After all, I still hadn’t gotten full approval for becoming a Creche Master.

“At this point, I’m not exactly surprised,” I sighed.

Of all the Knights that had come through this training, only two really held up well, combat wise: a man wearing a full head covering mask and wrappings around his arms, named A’Shrad Hett, and Aayla Secura, one of our closer… acquaintances? Friends? Vicky made friends easily but I never had that skill, so I wasn’t sure. She’d apparently learned quite a lot from Obi-Wan’s friend, Quinlan Vos.

Obi-Wan himself could hold up in a fight, he adapted quickly and thought outside the box when pushed into a corner. But he did have some blindspots that could be exploited, particularly with his preconceived notions. If you did manage to surprise him, then he was well and truly blindsided, and that’s when he struggled.

As for he rest of the Knights… I know Vicky and I were hardly playing with a fair hand, so to speak, but even taking that into account, it was… dismaying.

I opened my mouth, ready to speak, when Vicky slid up beside me, her arm coiling around mine.

“Come on!” She said, smiling. “We can talk about work later. Mr. Wan, here, needs to get cleaned up, and we haven’t been back in forever! Let's go see all our friends!”

I felt something brush across her mind: excitement, and a touch of what I’m pretty sure was nervousness.

It made me curious, but the impish smile on her face told me there wasn’t anything… serious… to worry about. I trusted her enough to know she’d never do anything like pull a mean spirited prank, but shenanigans – in her book – were fair play.

I raised an eyebrow. “You’re up to something,” I accused with a leery eye.

Her smile didn’t dim. “Always!” She tugged at my arm, urging me to follow. “Come on, let’s go. Maybe Obi can learn to act while we’re gone.”

“I swear, between her and Anakin…” the knight lamented, shaking his head as he turned and walked off, having had his fill of Vicky for the moment.

With nothing better to do, I followed.

Truth be told, it wasn’t a hard choice.

I did love Kashyyyk.

I’m sure Vicky would make a joke about me liking it for the absolutely insane variety and positively deadly capabilities of the local insects… and she wouldn’t be wrong.

But it was a bonus.

I loved Kashyyyk because it was simple, beautiful… honest.

The forest, the creatures, the people… The wookiees didn’t believe in lying. And they couldn’t afford to ignore problems like so many other people did.

Where most people felt that this place was dangerous, me, I almost felt like I could let down my guard here; a rarity. I only ever felt that with a select few people, one of which was currently hanging off my arm. I didn’t feel that way about a place, let alone a society.

When the Jedi Council had been discussing where to open the last of the enclaves, I used every last inch of my influence to get the enclave here. Debating the merits of it with Plo and Yaddle, from its strategic position to the political ‘points’ it would give the Jedi to reward such a long standing friend and ally like the Wookiees, who had always stood beside Jedi in their many, many conflicts throughout the long history of the Order without ever once asking for anything in return.

I’d even had Vicky spread rumors that I wanted the enclave on Dantooine reclaimed, the primary ‘rival’ for Kashyyyk’s place.

I’d hoped the rumors would encourage Mundi, Tiin and Piell to reconsider any support they may have had towards that place in the debates.

Luckily, it worked.

Jedi Master Sinube and Jedi Master Billaba would be the ones to lead this enclave for the next half decade, just like Master Gallia and Master Tiin had been assigned to Zygerria beforehand. Rancisis and Windu had been tasked with overseeing a secret Enclave on Bogano. Only Master Yaddle had been entrusted to lead an Enclave on her own on Alderaan. Even Master Plo had been handed his enclave with the co-leadership position held by Master Koth on Ilum.

The only wild card left was Mandalore, and I couldn’t even begin to guess on which side that coin was going to fall.

Still, Mandalore and its enclave weren’t my concern. Beyond Clock, Militia, her family and Alexandria on the planet, I had no ties there to speak of. I suppose Obi-Wan and Anakin were attached enough to it for me to care peripherally, but that was the extent of any sort of concern I might have had.

As we walked out of the large ‘tree house’ (that had zero right to be called anything as diminutive as a house when it was the size of a fairly large building) that served as the Jedi Enclave, I set my eyes onto the village of Karrashkirt. Jedi Knights mingled with the Wookies, helping with repairs as they held large tree limbs aloft with telekinesis, practiced some light combat forms across the courtyard, or even did as little as simply conversing.

Some of the Wookiees recognized us, nodding respectfully in some cases and in others offering pats on the head.

Needless to say I felt rather conflicted about that but I suppose we were just kids to them, and we might always be given the sheer size and age difference between us.

Vicky accepted it with good grace and even cheekily rose up to ruffle the hair atop one Wookiee’s head she’d become friends with. Chewbacca, if I remembered his name right. Attichitcuk’s son.

He laughed, the closed lipped smile on his face and amused twinkle in his eye saying he understood.

With a parting pat on the shoulder he walked off, leaving Vicky to let her feet touch the ground again.

I looked at her, the smile on her face, and it made me smile in turn. “You’re happy,” I remarked.

The smile slipped, surprise replacing it as she turned towards me at the remark; then it came back, wry and curious. “I usually am?” she ventured, hesitating a bit, unsure as to what I was getting at.

I shook my head. “You’re… positive. Easy smile. But, I don’t know. Not like this, usually. I’m glad. It’s nice.”

I finished my rambling sort of explanation. Her arm wrapped tighter around mine as she let out a sound that might have been a laugh. “Come on. I think our favorite spot’s free.”

Our ‘favorite spot’ was a quiet overlook, the place where we, as in the two of us together, first met Yoda. Standing by the large wooden safety railings, anyone would swear they could see the whole of Kashyyyk, an endless sea of green stretching out to the distant horizon.

Vicky could always get a better view flying… but I think she liked the normalcy of it. Or maybe the nostalgia.

We made our way over; curiously. I noted through my bugs that quite a few of the Wookiees quickly conglomerated around the Jedi nearby, calling them away, though none of them came towards us which was… odd.

I turned my head, curious as I opened my mouth to say something, when Vicky poked me in the side.

“Don’t worry about it,” she smiled.

Now I was curious. But I trusted her, so I kept following.

Reaching the overlook platform, I could feel jittery nervousness in her Force signature.

“Vicky?” I asked, her name carrying my question well enough.

She offered a nervous laugh. “You know… I’m usually the one on the receiving end of this. Is this what guys go through all the time?” She looked away, mumbling to herself, “Shit, this is nerve wracking. “

I… was confused.

“Vic-”

“I love you.”

The words spilled out of her mouth, cutting me off. Her eyes were determinedly staring up at the sky.

I felt something in my chest make a strange jump, and at the same time I tried to pump the proverbial mental breaks on this car. When the car decided to derail, flip over and crash in a rather spectacular pile of flaming wreckage.

Somehow, I’m fairly sure said flaming wreckage was laughing at me.

“Huh?”

Something in my voice must’ve broken the tension, or maybe ratcheted it up because I saw Vicky’s shoulders shake, a laugh that wasn’t quite a laugh sneaking its way past her teeth.

She turned to me, still smiling, a gentleness in her eyes that I’d seen before but… it perhaps felt different this time.

“I love you,” she repeated, turning to face me fully and urging me to do the same as she  reached down to take my two hands in hers. “I have for a while.”

Given that the proverbial brakes were shot, I at least tried to grab hold of my mental steering wheel, hoping to find my footing again. “You sure this isn’t like a lack of options or something? We’re living with a bunch of celibate monks.”

It occurred to me, somewhere distantly that maybe, just maybe, I hadn’t quite gotten over the self image issues left over from Winslow. That a lifetime and a half suddenly didn’t leave the cutting words and barbed taunts nearly far enough away.

Vicky’s features grew sad, and I felt the slice of hurt across her mind.

“I’m not that shallow,” she said. “I get it if you don’t feel the same wa-”

“I didn’t say that!” It was my turn to blurt out the words, realizing half a second later what I’d said and half a second after that I… understood and perhaps meant what they implied.

The hurt that had been slowly creeping on the lines of her face disappeared like morning mist, replaced with a tentative sort of hope.

Now I was the one looking away.

“I’m not… used to this,” I said.

I wasn’t.

My memories from before, with distance and hindsight, my relationship with Brian hadn’t been like this. I’d like to think it wasn’t just the two of us latching onto the nearest source of comfort, but that had been a big part of it.

So this, someone saying that they loved me, not that they needed me…

I was very much out of my comfort zone.

Vicky’s fingers squeezed mine, dragging my thoughts back to the present. “I know,” she answered. “I know you. So I know,” she affirmed.

I turned my eyes back to her, opening my mouth before hesitating.

“I… don’t want to hurt you,” I said. “If- If this doesn’t work, if I’m not-”

Her hand reached up, a finger pressing to my chin almost in a shushing gesture, but not quite.

She smiled. “I love you and I am sure. So I’m willing to try, if you are.”

I’m not sure if I could speak so I forced my neck to cooperate to let me nod.

She started to smile, really smile. It lit up her face in a way that made her glow.

Then, a thought.

“Vicky…” I began. “Did you… recruit the whole village to play wingman for this?”

The glowing, beautiful smile was replaced by a sheepish grin and an embarrassed flush to her cheeks. “I didn’t want anyone interrupting,” she admitted.

I felt my own smile tugging at my lips, a laugh beginning to bubble up in my throat as the fond thought flitted across my mind.

You idiot…

“And…” she continued. “I didn’t want any Jedi getting a conniption if they managed to see this.”

“See wha-”

Her hands rose, the fingers of one threading through my dark hair at the back of my head, the other coiling around my waist. My brain realized what was about to happen a split second before I felt her lips on mine.

I didn’t get sparks or fireworks or any of those sensations that romance novels went on about at the first kiss. But regardless, it felt good like something uncoiling in my chest, a knot I didn’t even know existed as Vicky’s tongue invaded my mouth, contesting with mine in a dance I’d almost forgotten.

She was better at this than me. Not a surprise, but I made a mental note to not let this stand for long.

Her emotions poured over my mind and with barely a split second’s hesitation, I allowed my mental defenses to fall away.

Love was there, above everything else. Then, the crackle of nervousness, joy, the physical thrill, and the sexual hunger, and that did send sparks down my spine.

But what I didn’t sense was doubt.

Like she’d said, she was sure about this.

About me.

In hindsight, I think that’s when I fell in love with her too, even if I didn’t fully realize it just yet.