A/N: For the fans of my A New Sith story, this one shot introduces a young Jedi to this world, a Jedi that will have a great effect on my little Sith in the chapters to come. For you, dear readers, enjoy!
DG
Shadow and Light: A New Sith One Shot
There is no emotion, there is peace.
There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.
There is no passion, there is Serenity.
There is no chaos, there is harmony.
There is no death, there is only the Force.
He repeated the Jedi code as he meditated under a tree in the newly restored training grounds. They had arrived early this morning, working through the bulk of the day. He and his fellow students had worked hard to see this land restored to its former glory. He had chosen to remain behind when the others had left. As one of the few Padawans who had been off world, he had enough clout with the younger students that no one questioned his decision.
It was not enough to simply help rebuilding this place; he wanted a chance to explore it for himself, to truly explore it.
So he had sat and cleared his mind. As he found peace, he found himself floating on a vast ocean of light. Its touch was warm, connecting him not just to this place, but to everything around it, maybe everything in the universe.
So easy he thought, so quickly had he made his connection. Was it him, he wondered, or the power of this place, perhaps the Force was reaching out, offering him its bounty for aiding in the restoration of what had fallen apart over the millennia.
It had been challenging work, challenging but enlightening. After so many centuries, the Force was still strong here, very strong.
This is what we needed, he thought, a place to grow, to heal; it is safe to say that we could never have found such a place on Coruscant.
After the fall of the temple, they needed more than simply a place meet. The attack, the deaths caused by the Sith, they remained an open wound to many who had survived those events.
It was said that time healed all wounds, but for the Jedi, especially those that survived the massacre, the wound remained open, festering.
Time had done little to heal it.
In the greater scheme of things, five years was not that long of time, not when measured against the rest of the galaxy. It was long enough however for scared angry children to become vengeful young adults. Many young Padawans had come of age since the loss of the temple, and many still harbored anger in their hearts, despite the Jedi teachings.
He was not immune to such feelings; thanks to his master he had come to realize that early now. He had spent the last few years working through those feelings, finding his center again, and his sense of Jedi calm.
It had not been easy, so he could only guess how hard it was for his fellows.
As hard as it was, those emotions had to be faced. The Order did not need an entire generation of its members dedicated to revenge against the Sith Empire.
It was that outcome that the council needed to prevent, and in returning to the place where it all began, to Tython, they had taken the first logical step.
It was here that the Jedi Order had first begun; it was on these very grounds where the fledging order had taken its first step to become the guardians of the peace.
He remembered when he had first set foot here, the Force was very strong here, and whispers of the order's past could almost be heard on the winds.
It was for that reason that he had volunteered to help his fellows restore these training grounds. Tython was still mostly a wilderness, and still quite perilous. The natives, the creatures that had been dubbed flesh raiders, were only one of the problems the recovering order had to face.
We can do it, if we remain strong and trust in the Force.
We will restore both this place, and the order.
The Jedi did what they could; they restored the temple here, and went about the business of reclaiming the grounds that had once been there. Training grounds, such as these, were where the very first Jedi had trained several millennia ago.
It was an astounding thought.
It was hard to believe that this place was thousands of years old, that it had likely first been used during the earliest days of the Jedi Order.
The young man smiled.
…and now…it was being used again.
Hopefully, the current order would have the good fortune of their forebears; hopefully this would be new beginning for them.
If the Force was truly with them, then it would be.
As he floated in the sea of light, he reached out with his senses, stretching out with his feelings. He knew that some masters felt that only by completely denying their emotions or controlling them utterly was the only way to truly do their duty.
He did not share those feelings, and neither did his master.
"Serenity is not the absence of emotion," his master had told him once, "Peace cannot be achieved by denying who you are. Fear, anger, even hate, they are not so easily dismissed."
"Then how do I do it, master?" he had asked, "How do I find my center? How do I go where I need to be?"
His master smiled gamely.
"You learn to work through your emotions not give into them. Can someone be truly brave if they have never known fear? You must act in spite of fear. Can you know compassion if you have never seen cruelty? You must oppose it, without giving in and becoming cruel yourself. How can you guard yourself against something you do not understand?"
The Padawan had chuckled.
"I'm not sure Master Satele would agree, master."
"You're probably right, my young Padawan," he agreed, "Fortunately for us, Satele Shan is not here."
He had laughed, but at the same time, he felt a little guilty.
Master Satele was the leader of the Jedi Council.
Her wisdom should not have been so easily dismissed.
For the moment he pushed all thoughts of the masters and their teachings out of his mind. He allowed himself to simply float along with the ebb and flow of the Force. As he drifted deeper into its currents, he let his mind wander. His breathing became more even, it was not sleep, not really, but it was close.
It was from here that he could sometimes touch the world of dreams.
It was here that he had gone many times. It was here that he had made a friend long ago.
He smiled slightly.
It had been too long, he was eager to see her again.
He had known her for years. When he was at peace, as he was now, he often found himself back in the Jedi Temple, back in the room of a thousand fountains.
That room was gone now, destroyed in the Sith attack. All that remained now were ruins. Yet for the briefest of moments, in his dreams, they existed again.
He and his friend had played many a game there over the years, and for a time they had been happy.
He missed those days. They had seemed better, somehow more…innocent. He had been free to exist in a world where he had yet to learn of greed or cruelty.
It was in those moments that she had come to him.
The last time they had spoken, he had felt a tremor, danger perhaps, on her end. He had tried to wake her up, tell her to run. The dream had ended, and he had not been able to reach her since.
He hoped that she was alright. He did not think she was dead. He would have felt it if that had happened. Besides, she had always told him she lived on and agro-world far from the galaxy's center.
What could possibly have come to trouble her there?
So, he went back into the dreaming trying to contact her, it had been many months, but, perhaps…this time…
….he would be successful.
He did not know her name. In truth he had never asked. He had just been happy to see her. Standing a head shorter than him, she had changed much in the last few years. Her pale face dusted with freckles, had finally given up the roundness of childhood. Her small frame remained slender, but had grown more curvy. Her long dark hair flowing down past her shoulders framed a lovely face. Those fierce, yet playful blue eyes always shining when he saw her that gentle mouth of hers always ready to break into a smile...
He shook his head.
Careful there, his conscience chided, there is no passion, there is serenity.
Then he thought of how she looked the last time he had seen her, that tight little nightgown, showing off all the right things, or maybe the wrong things if one stuck too closely to the Jedi Code.
Was it wrong to feel attraction? The connection the two of them shared had been forged by the Force, he did not doubt that. He had spent the last few years denying it, but it remained, and always pulled the two of them back together.
If we have no future, why do we keep meeting? Does the Force have some grand plan for us? Does it…?
Around him the Force rippled, breaking him from his musings.
The Padawan opened his eyes, drawn by a disturbance in the Force.
He turned his head, seeing a plume of smoke rising in the distance.
He frowned.
Trouble?
He was on his feet in moments, drawn to the source of the ripple. He used the Force to speed him along his way, helping him run far faster than the norm.
Danger, he thought grimly, the Force whispered in his ear, lives at stake.
He would not stand idly by.
He had to hurry.
IOI
He arrived to find a scene of chaos.
A large land crawler lay on its side, its several ton frame slowly sinking into a muddy path.
He heard agitated voices, one male, and one female. He could sense terror, terror and desperation.
Using the Force he leapt over head landing nearby the source of the voices.
He nearly caught a blaster bolt for his trouble.
"Whoa! Hey! Don't shoot! I'm here to help!"
The male Twilek holding the blaster kept it trained on him but did not fire. His eyes were cold as he studied the newcomer, ready to fire to protect himself and his mate.
The female continued to jabber in her native tongue, trying to lift the land crawler back on its wheels single handed. She was shrieking for the male to help her.
It was as that moment, that the Padawan realized why.
Beneath the crawler, pinned by its weight was a small orange skinned figure, she whimpered as she reached out, trying to touch her mother.
The Padawan blanched.
Their child, he realized, she was trapped.
He looked at the male, still holding the blaster on him, but also wanting to get back and help his mate free their child.
"I'm here to help," he repeated, "I'm a Jedi."
Hearing what he was did little to put the Twilek man at ease, not that the Padawan should have been surprised.
The Twi'leks had built their settlement on Tython without Jedi or Republic permission. There mountain home a thorn in the side of the recovering order. Ever since they had come, the Jedi did little to aid them, and the Twi'leks had grown distrustful as a result.
Is that any reason to deny help, his master's voice seemed to say distantly, are these people any less children of the Force?
The boy's eyes narrowed.
No, they were not.
He would aid them.
He looked at the crawler, even if he helped the two Twi'leks lift; it was unlikely that they would be able to lift the machine by physical strength alone. The heavy crawler had been too much for the muddy path, too much weight, but at the same time, the mud was the only reason their child still lived, the girl had sank into the ground, pushed down into the mud by the vehicles weight, but it was only a matter of time until the weight shifted enough to crush her.
The young Jedi's hand went to his belt. His newly constructed lightsaber hung there. He might be able to cut the girl free, but…
He shook his head.
No, that would not work either.
He could see the fuel cell, not far from where the girl lay, if he started cutting blindly…
He sighed, and took a step back.
It was to be the hard way then.
He looked at the male, hoping he could at least understand basic.
"I'm going to try and lift it," he said trying to keep his voice calm, "When I do, move quickly, and pull the girl to safety, I'm not sure how long I will be able to hold it."
The Twi'lek lowered his blaster slightly; he looked on the young man before him with doubt. Clearly, he did not think this blonde sixteen year old human was capable of what he saying, if the man understood at all.
The Padawan took a deep breath; he tried to find his center again, the ocean of light.
Stop stalling; his master's voice chided, stop preparing and just lift the bloody thing!
He closed his eyes, and reached out, both with his hand and the Force.
Do or do not, he thought.
There is no such thing as try.
Again he felt the Force, its warm light washing over him, only this time; instead of just floating on those waters, he tried to direct them.
He could sense the male Twilek, uncertain of what he was trying to do. The male pulled his mate away, she was still shrieking, still trying to save her child.
Do not focus on them now, there is nothing but you and the Force, it surrounds the downed crawler.
Reach out to it; expand it beneath the machine…
…Lift it up.
He imagined the ocean flowing around him, its waters flowing beneath the crawler; he pushed those waves with his mind, his will. More began to flow beneath it.
Slowly, it began to lift.
He was not watching with his eyes. Yet, he could picture the scene perfectly; he could see the light flowing beneath the crawler, raising it up like boat.
The panicked cries of the Twilek female stopped. The Padawan could sense disbelief, even from the male; no more did he seek violence he was staring in wonder.
What is so wondrous, the boy thought, I've only managed to life the thing a few a few centimeters!
He poured more energy into it, the Force continued to flow, it was like a river flowing gently out of the mountains, peaceful tranquil. It followed the path he had set.
He sensed no pain from the child, no panic; clearly the weight was no longer crushing her.
"Now," he murmured, hoping the Twilek had heard him.
"Pull the girl out, now!"
He felt rather than saw the man spring forward, pulling his child to safety. She wrapped her stick like arms around his neck as he pulled her close, murmuring soothing words. The girl cried softly in her father's arms.
For the first time, the Padawan opened his eyes, what he saw…astounded even him.
He had thought he had only raised the crawler enough for the man to pull his child out. That was not what had happened, the crawler floated six feet off the ground, rotating slowly like a planet.
The young man's eyes widened.
Whoa!
In that moment his connection to the Force faltered.
The crawler came down with a heavy boom. It had been floating upright when it did, so it came down hard on its wheels, but that did not stop the four people from being splattered with mud. The father shielded his child, but he, his wife, and the young Jedi found themselves caked in a brown sticky mess.
Silence fell over the valley again.
The Padawans face burned as he looked at the Twi'leks; with the exception of the child they were all filthy.
The little girl giggled.
The boy gave the family a sheepish look.
"Oops," he murmured.
The Twilek mother laughed, and ran forward, embracing him. She was jabbering excitedly in her native tongue. The Father wore a hint of a smile himself; he murmured something to his little girl, who giggled.
The Padawans blush darkened, and not for mere embarrassment.
The great hero all covered in mud.
How dashing!
He looked at the smiling woman, despite the dirt bath; she was overjoyed by what he had done.
He may have been a Jedi Padawan, but he was also a sixteen year old boy.
The Twi'lek female was not unattractive, like most of her kind she had a tendency to wear clothes that more than showed off the fact that she was female. He blushed from her attention; he could not help it.
He tried to play cool.
"I'm sorry," he said, "I do not speak your language."
"You do not need to," a soft voice said behind him.
All four people turned to see a fifth standing behind them. He was human slender of build with gray eyes and dark hair graying at the temples, and a bland plain face. He was dressed as simple as he looked. A nerf hide jacket over a black shirt, plain black cap, and pants marked with Corellian Blood stripes.
Had he been seen on the street, most would have thought him a simple traveler, or a spacer between jobs. Then, if they got closer, they might have seen the lightsaber he wore instead of a blaster.
It is then that they would have taken notice.
"I think what you are hearing is 'thank you' that would be fairly clear in any language.
The Padawan bowed his head respectfully.
"Master Jas," he said, "You are back."
Jas Dar Bynn, Jedi Master, and sometimes referred to as the Jedi Rogue, smiled.
"That I am Fenn Shadowstone," he said respectfully, looking at the crawler.
"It seems your time here was not as quiet as I had thought it would be."
The boy, Fenn Shadowstone, blushed.
"No master, he admitted.
"It was not."