The depths of the planet Shika were a maze of urban
streets and alleyways hidden in the shadows of giant buildings. The sky was
perpetually dark and gloomy from the industries, and a thick layer of smog
blanketed the entire world. No one who wasn't forced to would choose to come to
this barren world of crime and runaways, and Luke Skywalker wasn't pleased to
be here himself.
If
it wasn't that a few of his shuttlecrafts were deteriorating and in need of new
parts not commonly found, he would never have ventured to the industrial
planet. Truly there was no need of him here, if the local governments couldn't
contain all the crime.
He
walked through the dusty alley, neon lights aglow that led to bars and other
sad pastimes. He had just passed one such place when a shout rang out-
"And
stay out!" A portly man in a white apron roughly threw a bundle of rags out
into the streets. Luke caught a glimpse of midnight-black hair before she
tumbled and fell into a storm drain.
"No
money, no food." With that, the man walked back inside his dingy restaurant and
slammed the door. Luke jogged over to where the poorly dressed girl had fallen
and helped her to her feet.
"Hey
there," he said gently, as he felt her draw away from him in suspicion.
"The
Force is strong with her," he thought. He couldn't see her eyes or her face,
for it was covered by a grimy brown cloak, which hung over other clothes as an
effort to keep warm.
"Do
you want something to eat? I have some food back on the ship..." He felt some
of her suspicion lessen, but she was still stiff and wary.
"Please,
come with me," He said persuasively, and tried to lead her away. She stiffened
at his touch, but allowed him to lead her to where the Shadow Chaser was waiting.
Luke
bade her to sit, and left to retrieve a meal for them both. It was about time
for midday meal, and he had not yet eaten, either. He would get the parts for
the ships later.
When
he returned, he saw that the humanoid girl had removed both her filthy brown
cloak and the violet scarf she had worn around her neck and mouth to keep out
the smog. She had shiny, midnight-black hair that fell to her waist, and clear,
piercing blue eyes. Her skin was ivory, as clear and free of impurities as a
porcelain doll's. A tiny gem, small and
diamond-like, lay mysteriously at the outer edge of each eye. Luke set a
sandwich down in front of her, as well as a drink.
"It's
not much," he said, "but it's all I've got."
"Thank
you," she said, her voice as crystalline as the jewels on her eyes. She took a
grateful bite of the sandwich, and followed it with a drink of the juice.
"Do
you live with somebody? Do you have a home I can take you to? I'd be happy to
do it, if you like," he said, although part of him already knew the answer.
She
gazed at him with her sapphire eyes.
"No.
I am alone," she said.
"Oh,
I'm sorry," Luke said, then asked, "What's your name?"
She
glanced at him, as if surprised by the question.
"Actually,
I'm not sure. I can't remember anything about when I was younger. I mean, I
remember waking up here on Shika one day about a year ago, but before that it's
all a big mystery. I don't know my name, where I was born, or even how old I
am.
"People
around here call me the Kat, though. They say it's because I look and act like
one, so I guess I'm Kat. That is, until I can find out who I really am."
Luke
hadn't expected this much information, but as soon as he heard what Kat had
said, he knew she was to come with him to Yavin 4. He could feel it in that background
music of the Force that sang through all things.
"Kat,"
he said gently, "I am Luke Skywalker. I run an academy for Jedi on the distant
moon Yavin 4. You can accompany me, if you like, and you can learn with the
other students there the ways of the Jedi." He saw her pause in her dainty
eating, thinking over his offer carefully. She had been on her own long enough
now to distrust anyone who offered something, for he or she usually wanted
something in return.
"The
only thing I want is that should you choose to learn the ways of the Jedi, you
would serve the galaxy and protect it using the Light Side of the Force."
She
watched him, all her other senses trained on what was happening around her,
prepared to flee or to fight.
"What
have I got to lose?" she thought, "But if he is who he says he is, and I
believe him, there is so much to gain."
"All
right," she said at last. "I will come with you to your academy and learn the
ways of the Jedi."
He
smiled at his new trainee. "I think, Kat, that you have made the right
decision."
"I hope so," she thought silently,
turning her attention to the meal in front of her.
"Ten
minutes until landing," Luke informed his newest trainee. She sat behind him in
a passenger seat, her crash webbing buckled around her, and played absently
with a pendant made of black onyx.
"This
necklace is the only clue I have to my past. I don't know why or even how I
know, but I simply do," she thought, her gaze trained to the viewports.
Before
she had realized it, the ship had landed on the jungle moon of Yavin 4. Luke
disengaged the computers and opened the entry hatch to allow both him and his
newest student to leave the vessel. She didn't have any belongings, so when she
strode off after him she helped him carry the supplies he had gone to Shika in
search of.
Kat had just grabbed one of the metal cases
when six students came running out of the large temple: two girls, three boys,
and a ginger-furred Wookiee. One young man was pursuing one of the girls with
what appeared to be a water-squirting device. Both another boy and the Wookiee
were chasing another girl, with red-gold hair done in ornate braids. The last
boy was clutching tightly a handful of balloons, which, too, were filled with
water. He threw one at the first boy, with dark hair a shade lighter than
black, but it missed. It hit Kat square in the face.
"Jaina,
Jacen, Zekk, Raynar, Tenel Ka, Lowie, what are you doing?" Luke asked of
his students, as five more came zipping by with water guns.
"Blaster
bolts! Sorry Uncle Luke," one of the boys said. He had curly brown hair that
fell in his brandy-brown eyes as he surveyed the Jedi Master and his companion.
Luke had persuaded her to remove the filthy garments she wore and take a
shower, plus wear one of the spare jumpsuits he had with him. She still wore
the brown cloak, draped mysteriously about her shoulders.
"It's
okay. What's going on?" Luke inquired of his students.
"Well,
Tionne thought that it might be educational, and fun to have a play
fighter battle with water guns, and it kinda went from there," the brown-haired
girl said.
"So
everyone's enjoying a water fight, then, Jaina?" Luke said, as he was squirted
with water from behind. He whirled around to see a gently smiling Tionne, water
pistol in hand. He rolled his eyes and indicated Kat, who was standing
nervously behind him.
"This
is Kat. She'll be joining our classes from now on."
"Hey,"
the brown-haired girl, who Kat now knew as Jaina, said, "I'm Jaina. These are
my friends Zekk, Tenel Ka, Lowie, Raynar, and my twin brother Jacen. Welcome to
the Jedi academy."
As
soon as Kat turned her sparkling blue eyes to the temple, she felt an intense
sense of foreboding. A chill swept down her back and she felt a tingle at the
back of her neck. She shook her head and forced it out of her mind. Forcibly,
she turned her gaze to Jaina's, and pulled the stifling hot cloak off.
Her
waist length raven-black hair fell behind her like a waterfall, and the light
of the sun glinted on her eye gems. All the young trainees looked at her in
wonder, from her tiny frame to her porcelain-perfect skin.
"She
looks just like a fairy," Jaina thought.
"My
name is Kat. It is a pleasure to meet all of you," she said in a voice of
liquid silver.
"Well,
Kat, there's still a lot of academy to show you. I'll see you all at dinner,"
Luke said to his other students, before ushering Kat inside the doors of the
Great Temple.
Kat
was amazed by the ancient architecture of the temple. She stared at the stone
walls and their carvings, wondering who could have made them. She could
remember nothing except Shika. The cold streets, the mean and menacing shop and
tavern owners who had seen their share of runaways and had no use for teenage
humans...
But
then, she wasn't completely human. She knew this, although in most respects she
looked like one, she simply felt different. And others sensed it too. It
didn't matter what she looked like, she didn't feel human. That was fine by many of the alien races of the
galaxy, although for some reason, her eyes seemed to unnerve people. And she
didn't think it was her natural jewelry.
"This
temple was created along with others by the ancient Massassi," Luke explained,
having sensed his student's curiosity. "They lived here thousands of years ago,
before this moon was renovated and used as a secret base by the Rebel Alliance.
And after the Empire was destroyed, Tionne and I, you'll meet her in a minute,
used it for our Jedi academy, to bring all sorts of youths with strengths in
the Force and train them in the ways of the Jedi."
He
watched his newest trainee as her crystalline blue eyes were clouded over by
deep thought and a type of aching, longing sadness. "I wonder what it is, young
one, that bothers you so," Luke thought.
"I
know I'm supposed to know what he meant by the Rebel Alliance and the Empire,
but I can't remember. I can't remember anything at all!" Kat thought silently.
"Kat,"
Luke's voice brought her out of her reverie. "This is Tionne. She will be one
of your instructors during your time here." He indicated a silver-haired
humanoid woman with mother-of-pearl eyes.
"She
is different..." Tionne thought, "There is a strange energy about her... I will
talk with Master Skywalker later."
"Hello,"
she said to the tiny raven-haired girl.
"Hello,"
came the crystalline reply.
"Welcome
to the academy. I am sure you will both enjoy yourself and learn much during
your time with us."
"I
am greatly looking forward to it," Kat said, her lips curved in a smile.
"I
shall see you tomorrow, then, for lessons." Tionne smiled back at her newest
student. Luke glanced down at the tiny girl. For someone who was suspicious of
strangers, she had a lot of charm.
They
were crossing another, older hallway when Luke saw Kat stop and unexpectedly
stiffen. A chill wind was blasting through the corridor, unusually cold for the
time year and the jungle heat. She shook suddenly, as if trying to shake off an
unpleasant feeling.
"It's
all of a sudden so cold." Kat thought, as the icy breeze ruffled the silky
strands of her dark hair. Then she heard the scream.
High-pitched
and piercing, it was. It was unmistakably a woman's voice, a woman who was
crying out in pain and terror. She turned her gaze, frightened, to the stone
wall opposite her as a salty odor assailed her nostrils.
There,
pooling on the floor and dripping scarlet from the ceiling, oozing over the
stone in a crimson wave, was blood. At least it appeared to be blood, for when,
aghast, she turned her ashen face to Luke's, it seemed as if he had seen
nothing out of the ordinary.
"Did
you hear that?" She asked, her voice barely above a whisper and holding a
tremor.
"Nothing
in particular," Luke replied, giving her a reassuring smile, "It was probably
just a jungle creature."
"A
jungle creature..." Kat repeated, "Yeah, it was probably just an animal." She
looked at the wall again, and it was clean. It held no evidence of pooling
blood.
"It
was probably just my imagination that I saw blood. It was a long flight and there's nothing there now. I'm just
nervous about being in a new place, that's all," Kat reassured herself
silently, "Nothing to worry about."
"Are
you all right?" the Jedi Master asked his trainee with concern. There was
something amiss with the girl, he knew, but what exactly he wasn't sure.
"Fine,"
she lied, putting every ounce of her being into the word. Luke looked at her,
knowing she was lying, but decided not to press the issue. It was clear to him
that something had terribly frightened the girl.
"Perhaps
I should show you to your room. You can rest there for a while and then join us
for evening meal."
"All
right," Kat agreed, but shivered silently. Something was seriously wrong here,
she knew. She could feel it seeping through the ancient walls of stone and
wrapping itself around the academy like a shroud of darkness and evil feeling. Surely someone else within the temple could feel it, Kat
thought, if these were all Force-sensitive beings. Why did it not bother any of
them?
She
was still deep in thought when Luke led her through the ancient Massassi temple
to her room. A small bed sat in the corner, beside a window covered only by
thick drapes. The temple had no need of glass in the moon's jungles. Across the room and opposite the door sat a
small desk, beside it a doorway leading to her private refresher unit. Anyone
else might have thought the tiny chamber cramped, but Kat was overjoyed. For
one who had never had so much as a blanket that she could remember, she suddenly
had a room all to herself. She was amazed.
Looking around,
Kat felt a feeling of intense gratitude towards Master Skywalker she couldn't
express. If he hadn't found her a couple days ago, she would still be foraging
for food and fighting for a place to sleep. Now she would have regular meals,
and the constant hunger-ache in the pit of her stomach would fade. She could be
clean, with fresh, comfortable garments instead of grimy rags that left her
perpetually cold. And she had the opportunity that so few of the lone teens on
Shika's desolate surface had- to learn. She could learn to control and
use the Force, to become a Jedi Knight and have a future.
"Thank you," she said, her voice choked with
emotion. This was the greatest thing anyone had ever done for her, and she
would be eternally grateful to Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. He smiled gently
down at the tiny girl who barely reached his waist in height. In a way she was
lucky, but the Jedi Master had long learned there was little hope in luck. He
knew she was meant to study under him with the other trainees and one day
become a Jedi Knight, else he wouldn't have encountered her and recognized her
power so quickly. Yet, as he understood Tionne had also sensed, there was a
strange, underlying energy coming from the young girl. One that he could not
understand with the Force, or simply did not know how.
"You're most
definitely welcome. Now then, why don't you rest for a while? Evening meal
isn't for another three standard hours." She nodded quietly, and entered her
quarters. When she was inside, Luke shut the door and walked away to find
Tionne. He had to speak with the silver-haired humanoid about Kat. As she was
the most knowledgeable with the ancient records and such, she might know
something, or be able to find out, about the bizarre energy surrounding the
tiny child.
Not quite ready to
retire to sleep, but tired nonetheless, Kat laid herself down upon the soft bed
and drew the blanket up around her, reveling in its warmth and soft texture. Oh,
to her, this was luxury at its finest. She could barely imagine anything
greater. Sitting there, on her very own bed in her very own room, she felt as
if she had been plucked from the depths of poverty and thrown into a new,
wondrous existence.
A jungle breeze
fluttered in through her window, heavily laden with the scents of the moon's
rainforests. The spicy aroma of the blueleaf shrubs filtered in with the
others, as well as the sounds of the creatures living within the jungle's
foliage. With a contented look upon her features, Kat inhaled its perfume, and
for a moment, just a moment, she was inclined to leave the room and explore the
jungle, take in sights more grand and majestic than any she could have before
imagined.
Three standard
hours later, after much strolling around the small room and lazing on her bed,
Kat stood and prepared herself for evening meal. There would be many other
students, she knew, and she had to
get over her distrust of strangers, especially if she were to make friends. Friend.
That was a word rarely heard in the dingy alleys of Shika. There it was
everyone for themselves, fighting for what little food and water there was,
battling disease and poor health from unsanitary conditions. You learned to
survive alone, or you died. That was the way of things.
But no, not here. Here, no one worried
about simple survival; they were well fed and happy. They had the time to
indulge in activity, or the peace of mind and spirit to communicate with others
and form the bonds of friendship. She quickly ran a brush through her ebony
hair and acknowledged her too-thin frame in the mirror. She might be thin, but
she had done better than the others, including her own little sister.
Melody had been
her name, or at least that was what Kat had always called her. There was always
a song coming from the small auburn-haired child, and Kat sorely missed her
voice, full of laughter and hope, despite their lowly status on the streets.
She had always seemed to know more than Kat, was not seemingly afflicted by the
memory loss Kat had. Whenever she would ask the girl a question, Melody would
smile, and with a toss of her fiery red hair, say, "You'll find out one day,
silly. You always do."
Simply thinking of
the child brought tears of grief to Kat's jeweled eyes. Not long ago, the girl
had contracted a deadly disease. She had suffered through horrible fevers and
racking coughs, her entire body convulsing with the pain. Two days after, she
had died, leaving Kat alone and lonely on Shika's barren streets. The black
onyx pendant she now wore had once been Melody's, the only thing they owned
that had any value. Yes, they could have sold it and used the money for food,
but Melody had loved it so, saying it was a part of their secret past, and Kat
couldn't bear to take it away. Now, she kept it close to her heart so that she
might be closer to her sister, and remember everything they had shared.
Not bothering to
wipe the tears from her eyes, Kat picked up the pendant and held it close to
her face, looking at it in memory and wonder. Gently she rubbed its surface as
she bit back a sob caught in her throat, her delicate-looking hands caressing
its cool, dark exterior. Then, composing herself, she let it fall back on the
chain around her neck, wiped the remaining moisture from her face, and walked
out the door.
Jaina sat alone
with Zekk at the table for evening meal, since Tenel Ka was running
calisthenics, Lusa and Raynar had gone off to some waterfall in the jungle,
Lowie was out on his T-23, and Jacen was studying some interesting new pet.
They were both still sopping wet from earlier activities as they contemplated
their food.
"Jaina?" Zekk
said. Jaina looked up in surprise. "What?"
"I think your bread's getting soggy," he
indicated the now mushy roll on her tray. Her hair had lain across her shoulder
and dripped steadily into the food.
"Eeww. Yours
doesn't look much better," Jaina pointed at his also-moist roll. He touched it
with his fork, and it disintegrated in the way of wet bread.
"Yep. Definitely
soggy."
"Hey, isn't that
the new girl?" Jaina said, looking across the room where Kat sat alone, eating
her meal.
"Yeah. She looks
pretty lonely. What do you say we invite her over and cheer her up a bit?" Zekk
asked his friend, watching Kat out of the corner of his emerald eye.
Jaina grinned.
"What are we waiting for?"
Zekk rolled his
eyes firmly to the ceiling. "Somehow I knew you were going to say that."
Flashing him that
infamous lopsided Solo grin, Jaina stood and pushed her chair away. With a
determined stride, she walked over to where Kat sat eating her evening meal.
"Hey," she said,
"I'm Jaina, and that's my friend Zekk." She indicated the dark-haired lad
across the table, who smiled and waved. Kat allowed some warmth to come into her
sapphire gaze and softly returned their welcoming smiles.
"Hi. I'm Kat," she
said, by way of introduction.
"Why don't you
come over and eat with us? That way we can talk some more and get to know each
other a little better." Jaina grinned at the smaller girl, who, feeling hopeful
for the first time that day, smiled warmly in return.
"Thanks."
She stood, gathered her tray, and followed Jaina to where Zekk sat,
contemplating his wet and mushy meal.
"Hi,"
he said, "I'm Zekk."
"Hi,
Zekk. I'm Kat." She smiled. Already,
she was making friends!
"Where
are you from?" Jaina asked cheerily, in between bites of her meal.
"For
the past couple of years I've been on Shika," Kat answered.
"Really?
Tell us about yourself. Of course, if you want to," she added hastily,
after seeing the look of pain on Kat's face.
"Jaina,"
Zekk said gently, "Perhaps you should say something about yourself, first."
"All
right," she turned to Kat, who was listening with interest. "My name's Jaina
Solo. I have a twin brother named Jacen, and another younger brother named
Anakin. My parents, Han Solo and Leia Organa, were heroes of the Rebellion
along with my uncle, Master Skywalker. Now my mom's the Chief of State of the
New Republic. Famous family, hard to live up to." She shrugged. "But that's the
way it is."
"I'm
an orphan," Zekk said softly, looking into Kat's sapphire eyes and seeing
something like kinship. A type of empathy. "I've lived most my life in the
under-levels of Coruscant."
Kat
sighed, and began her too-short tale.
"I,
too, am an orphan," she said, "at least, I suppose I am. To be frank, though, I
simply cannot remember anything at all past two standard years ago, and
anything past a year is fuzzy in my mind. I have- had," she corrected,
"a sister. She died a little less than a year ago on the streets of Shika."
Jaina
paled slightly. Curiosity had overcome her, and she hadn't been prepared for
the information she had received. Zekk too paled. He hadn't expected what he
had heard, either.
"But
the past is over," Kat said suddenly, with conviction and resolve in her voice,
"All we can do is work towards the future, and it does no good to wallow in
pain and self-pity when there are so many others less fortunate than we."
Zekk
glanced at Jaina, who returned his stare with slightly raised eyebrows. She
hadn't expected this, either.
"Hey,"
Jaina said, "I think your room is next door to mine. After dinner, if you like,
I can show you mine and let you meet my brother and our other friends."
"That
sounds like a great idea. Thank you," Kat replied, smiling.
"No
problem. Speaking of which, here comes Jacen and Tenel Ka." She indicated one
of the boys Kat had seen earlier, with his slightly curly hair and brandy-brown
eyes. Beside him stood a tall girl with red-gold hair and cool gray eyes, clad
in lizard hide armor. Jacen was talking excitedly to the warrior girl of
Dathomir about a new creature he had found.
"I'm still not completely sure what it eats. I think it's a
carnivore, though, because it hasn't even touched any of the plants I put in
its cage... Hey Jaina, hi Zekk." Jacen waved at his twin sister and the young
man sitting across from her.
"Hey
Jacen, this is our new friend Kat," Jaina said, as her brother and Tenel Ka
approached.
"Hi.
Welcome to the academy," Jacen said, "My name's Jacen, and this is my friend
Tenel Ka." He pointed at the girl
beside him.
"Hello,
friend Kat," she said to the new student. Kat smiled in return.
"It's
nice to meet you, both of you."
"Isn't
that Lowie?" Jaina said, looking past the newcomers at the door, where a tall
and lanky ginger-furred Wookiee had walked past, another, darker Wookiee at his
side. Curious, Jacen turned around to see for himself.
"Yeah.
And, hey, that's Raaba!" Raabakyysh had been Lowbacca's greatest friend on his
planet Kashyyyk, and had nearly died during her dangerous rite of passage. She
had allowed her family and friends to think her dead and had instead joined the
Diversity Alliance under Nolaa Tarkona. After Nolaa's defeat at the Emperor's
plague storehouse, Raaba and her leader had disappeared.
"Really?"
Jaina asked. "I guess we'd better leave the two of them alone for a while,
though."
"Yeah,
I guess you're right," Jacen said. "Hey! Anyone want to see this amazing new
creature I found in the jungle? I've never seen anything like it!"
"Sure,"
his twin replied.
"Why
not?" Zekk said.
"Hey
Kat, why don't you come with us?" Jacen said to the shy girl.
"Thanks.
I'd love to."
"Well,
that settles that," Jaina said, grabbing her tray. "But first, let's clean up."
She indicated Zekk's and Kat's empty trays. Nodding, they picked up his or her
own and returned it so that it could be cleaned. Then they followed Jacen and
Tenel Ka upstairs to Jacen's room.
There,
lounging on the bed was a golden creature whose coat was broken up by large
black rosettes. Its green eyes scanned the room lazily, but settled on Kat. It
sat up then, its green eyes not moving from their lock on Kat's blue.
"Isn't
it amazing? I think it's a feline of sorts, but I'm not sure," Jacen said
excitedly, running his fingers through his dark brown hair.
Kat
felt the room around her begin to spin, and it was the strangest feeling she
possessed. It seemed as if the great cat's eyes were peering into her own, as
if it sensed some recognition there, some common tie.
Why do you hide within
the skin of the two-legged ones when there is so much more to you? I can
smell it, faintly, but the scent is
there.
Jaina felt the hairs raise on the back of her neck as she heard
the creature's low growls and strange sounds. She looked over at the others,
who too felt some strange fluctuation within the Force. She turned her gaze to
Kat's, only to see that the beautiful girl's blue eyes had turned golden, and
that she was speaking in the same growls as the cat.
Who are you? How is it that I can understand you, a jungle
creature? What do you mean the 'skin of the two-legged ones'? I am
humanoid, I am meant to walk upon two
legs.
Are you so sure? I am a jaguar, one of
the great cats of the jungles. My name is Rishika, and Yavin 4 is my home. As
to why you can understand me, that I am not quite certain. But you carry the
scent of the jungles, of the cats.
Jacen and the
other young Jedi Knights exchanged confused glances. There was something
strange going on.
"Kat?
Are you all right?" Jaina said. Kat looked up, the trance broken and her eyes
back to a normal blue.
I know you, Mica. In time, you will know me.
Kat
understood those last words, turning bewildered eyes on the spotted cat. It
nodded once, an almost sentient gesture, before standing and leaping through
the open window and into the rainforests where night had fallen.
"Fine,"
she said to her worried friends, "What happened?"
"You
don't remember?" Jaina asked incredulously.
"That
creature was growling, and you were answering it in the same sounds. It was
like you two were speaking a separate language," Jacen said eagerly.
"It
was kind of creepy," Zekk confessed.
"That's
odd," Kat said, "How can I speak a language I didn't know I knew?"
"I
don't know," Jaina said, "but Uncle Luke or Tionne might."
Just
then, the chime rang down the hall to signify five standard minutes to
lights-out. The friends split up down the different hallways, but Jaina and Kat
walked together because their rooms were adjacent. When they came to their
doors, they said their good-nights and retired to separate beds.
Kat
quickly changed out of her jumpsuit to an over-large shirt and snuggled up between
the covers of the bed. Her onyx pendant still hung round her neck, and her
raven-black hair, which fell in a wave of silk to her thigh, was pinned back in
a single braid. It felt strange to her, to be able to sleep in her own bed, to
have her own room, when her thoughts drifted back to the jaguar. Mica, he had
called her. Was that her name? And how could the spotted cat have known it?
She turned over in
the bed, pulling the soft blanket to her chin, and prepared to close her eyes
and give in to the oncoming sleep. And then she heard the roar. It was the
same, deep voice Rishika had spoken in, and she felt compelled to meet it.
Silently, the shadows of the night wrapped around her, she shed her human-like
skin and crossed out the window, her eyes glowing golden once more.
The next morning,
she awoke at the sound of the alarm, telling students to get up and prepare for
the day. Blinking her eyes drowsily, Kat realized she was cold. Looking around,
she saw that she was on the floor of her room, in front of the window. Except
she didn't remember leaving the bed.
She stood,
stretching her muscles to ease the stiffness, and found blood. Blood had soaked
the front of her shirt, and pooled on the floor. A half-eaten carcass of a
woolamander lay mere feet from where she had lain.
At the sight of
the carcass she nearly screamed, but used the calming power of the Force to
keep her panic in check. It terrified her, to be covered in blood and to see
the dead body of the animal so near. Looking around, she noticed large paw
prints in the sticky red liquid, tracked around the floor.
"I bet it was that
jaguar," Kat thought, glancing at the make of the track. "Well, I'd better get
this shirt off and clean up its mess." She pulled the shirt from her body, which
was dirty with dried blood. Turning on the shower in her own refresher unit,
she let the shirt soak in the water until most of the blood had left the
fibers, and then climbed in herself.
Once she was
finished, she looked once more at the mess in her floor. Sighing, and still
shaken, she picked up the carcass gingerly and laid it in the waste disposal
system. Then, with a wet rag and soap, she scrubbed the floor and removed the
blood and paw prints. Hurriedly, she once more arranged her ebony hair into a
single plait down her back, and left the room.
The other young
Jedi Knights were eating morning meal when Kat arrived, looking tired and very
much worse for the wear. Grabbing only a small fruit, for she found herself not
very hungry, she sat down heavily at the table where Jaina and Jacen and their
friends sat.
"Hey Kat," Jaina
said, "I'd like you to meet our friend Raynar," she indicated a boy with spiky
blond hair who sat in-between Jaina and the ginger-furred Wookiee. "Raynar,
this is Kat." Raynar smiled shyly, and Kat grinned back.
"Oh, and this is
Lowie," Jacen said, indicating the lighter-furred of the two Wookiees. "And
that's his friend Raaba," he pointed at the chocolate furred Wookiee female
beside him. Both Wookiees gave Kat warm-throated barks and welcoming growls. A
silver miniaturized translating droid hung from the syren fiber belt on Lowie's
waist.
"I must say," the
droid said, "It is a pleasure meeting you, mistress Kat. Allow me to introduce
myself; I am Em-Teedee, translating droid fluent in over sixteen forms of
communication."
"I wonder if he speaks jaguar," Kat
thought wryly.
"Hey, Kat, you
don't look too well." Jaina pointed out.
"I had a visitor
last night. Some creature, and I'm guessing it was that jaguar of yours, Jacen,
killed a woolamander and left the carcass in my room."
There was a great commotion then, as many
students stood and gasped in fear and amazement at the opposite wall, where
words had begun to form.
Die, Witch!
The short message
had been written in blood, and at the base of the wall sat the woolamander
carcass Kat had tossed into the waste disposal system minutes earlier. She took
one look at it, then recoiled in horror. The other young Jedi Knights tossed
nervous glances amongst themselves, shaken by what they saw. All at once, a
loud murmur broke out.
"Quiet!" said a
commanding, authoritative voice, as Luke Skywalker walked forward to examine
both the wall and the half-eaten corpse. As he bent to study the writing, a
great gallop of hooves was heard as the centaur girl Lusa strode into view. She
glanced at the message on the wall, and her eyes grew wide. Quickly she scanned
the faces in the hall, her gaze residing on Kat's mysterious eye gems.
"Witch!" She
cried, her voice filling with an instinctual hatred that had been part of her
species for thousands of years.
The bewildered
students looked amongst themselves, and stared hard at Kat, trying to make out
what made her a witch.
"Can't you people
tell a Kamali Enchantress when you see one? I thought their kind had died out
years ago, but I suppose there's one left."
"Kamali
Enchantress? What is she talking about?" Jacen asked his twin, who shrugged.
"Look at the eye gems! They are the
symbols of the magic. Their kind preyed upon us with their witchery, killing
hundreds of us each time the sun went down, so that we lived in constant fear
for centuries. Then, for some unknown reason, about twelve years ago they
disappeared. Until now, that is," the centaur girl finished, her tail swishing
with the force of her anger at seeing her species' natural predator.
"I'm sorry," Kat
said, her voice tainted with indignation and choking with something like
sadness, "but I don't know what you're talking about. If you'll excuse me, I've
lost my appetite." She stood and turned to leave, but stopped cold. Jaina
looked past her friend, trying to see what she saw, but saw nothing.
Meanwhile, what
little color had been in Kat's features faded quickly, and she began to tremble
and shake, as her eyes focused on something no one else could see. A woman,
bloody and mangled, stood at the bottom of the stairs leading to the classrooms
and dormitories. Her raven-black hair was knotted, and her eyes stared
sightlessly into Kat's own. She looked pitiful, her skin pallid and pasty, as
if she had been submerged in water for a long time. Her mouth opened and
closed, and a horrible shrieking echoed through the halls.
"What do you
want?" Kat called out, more bravely than she felt. The ghastly spirit raised
one putrid, rotted finger and pointed it at the terrified child, and
soundlessly mouthed something. At that moment, Kat lost consciousness and
collapsed on the stone floor.
