"Coruscant Holonet Transmission: Urgent Report: 53 standard hours ago, Republic Forces received several distress signals originating from outlying systems. All distress signals come from planets outside of Republic space. The Senate is still conferring on how to deal with the situation…"
A wide-eyed Eliatra, now in her teens, stared at the speakers in her room as the voice continued its disturbing report.
"What do you s'pose it is?" wondered Trisana as she nervously ran her hand over her long, flaxen braided hair.
"I'm not sure," Eliatra replied. "Something might be attacking planets on the Outer rim…but why?"
Just then the door to their dorm practically flew open, and a tall, dark-haired boy burst in.
"Did you hear that?" he asked excitedly. "Attacks on outlying systems! Do you think we'll get to go?"
"Orion!" Eliatra exclaimed with some consternation. "You know you're not supposed to be in here…and anyway, if the Republic hasn't even decided what to do yet, there's no way we'll be going any time soon. Even if the Jedi do have to go, they almost certainly won't be sending anyone with half-trained padawans."
"I guess you're right." He sighed. "I'm just itching to GO somewhere. It's been too long since we've been out on a mission."
"I know what you mean," Tris sympathized. "Master Varian's kept me grounded here ever since the whole speeder incident on Corellia." She grimaced.
Eli grinned wryly. "That was your own fault, Tris."
"I was just curious! How was I supposed to know it wasn't that spice dealer's speeder? It could've had stashes of illegal spice hidden in a secret compartment!" she said defensively.
Orion smirked. "Yeah, Tris, all spice dealers keep cages full of bubos, and chirpas, and Tatooine sand-lizards in the back seats of their speeders…"
"He could have had an illegal trade going underneath the guise of an innocent pet shop owner, and the animals were just his cover-up," Tris sulked. "It's not my fault they all decided to get loose as soon as I poked my head in!"
"From what I heard, 'poking your head in' wasn't ALL you did." Orion pointed out. "Sounded to me more like you ransacked the thing."
"Alright, alright." Eli laughed, seeing the look of indignant protest on Tris's face. "Let's not get into an argument here. Come on, we need to go practice that new form if we're going to keep up with Senna and her group in class tomorrow."
"Keep up with Senna?" Orion said. "C'mon Eli, you know you're way better then she'll ever be."
She grinned. "Maybe so, but you and Tris could use a little improvement."
"Hey! Well…maybe I could use a little help on my stance." Tris admitted.
Orion grinned at them, then spun on his heel toward the door. "Last one out to the practice grounds is bantha fodder!"
Eli and Tris laughed and sprinted after him through the academy.
Eliatra woke earlier then usual the next morning, something nagging at the back of her consciousness. Pale early morning light slanted through the window onto her bed, and she closed her eyes again, trying to get back to sleep. It didn't work. Trisana's steady, just-loud-enough-to-be-annoying snore penetrated through Eli's closed eyes. She groaned, rolled over, and stuck the pillow over her head in an attempt to block the noise. Finally she gave up and got out of bed, stretching as she stood on the bare floor of the room. She dressed quickly and began her stretching exercises as she waited for Tris to wake up.
It wasn't long before Eliatra grew tired of waiting. Disregarding what all the masters had always told her –"Have patience!"- she walked over to Tris's bed and shook her friend's shoulder. "Tris! Get up!"
"Unnngh…" Tris groaned and blinked at Eli. "Isn't it a little early?"
"I couldn't sleep." Eli explained.
Tris looked cross. "That doesn't mean you have to keep me from my beauty rest too, Miss Bright Eyed and Bushy Tailed…"
"Just get up. C'mon, we can go out walking over the bridge…" Eli pleaded.
Tris sighed and sat up. "Alright…" she grumbled. "But I know it would be time better spent sleeping."
Eli rolled her eyes but said nothing. Tris had never been a morning person; she would be more agreeable once she got outside.
"So what do you think?"
"About what?" Eliatra replied, a little defensively.
Tris ignored the tone in her friend's voice. "Getting off Dantooine. I'm so bored, here."
Early morning dew sparkled on the long grasses outside the Jedi enclave. The air was just cool enough to be comfortable, but the pale sun in the clear blue sky promised a warm day, despite the earliness of the season. Eli scuffed her feet through the grass, unmindful of the dewdrops getting on her clothes. She raised a skeptical eyebrow at Tris's remark.
"I don't think there's anything you can do to get off until Master Varian says you guys are going."
"Yeah…" Tris sighed wistfully. "Hey, maybe I could stow away on the next freighter that comes through! I bet Orion would go with me."
"And I wouldn't?" Eli laughed.
"Of course not. You're the sane one, you know." She grinned playfully, then sighed again.
"You're right…I'll just have to wait until Master Varian takes a mission off-planet."
Eliatra shot her an incredulous look. "You, being patient? I'd have thought we'd need to tie you down to get you to stay."
"It might end up coming to that if I don't get to go on a mission soon." Tris grumped.
"You could be more grateful, you know. At least Master Varian didn't stick you with the youngest apprentices."
"Eeesh," Tris shuddered. "Nursery duty? Force forbid…I think I'd go crazy if I had to spend two minutes trying to take care of the little rugrats."
They came to a stop at the crest of one of Dantooine's short bluffs. Eliatra put her hand to her forehead to shade her eyes as she looked out over the endless waving grasslands and toward the distant valleys. When she turned to say something to Tris, she realized her friend was no longer beside her, and was in fact dropping below Eliatra's lookout to the lower ground beneath them.
Tris looked up when she saw that Eli wasn't following. "C'mon, I haven't been out this far yet. Let's go see if we can find a cave or something!"
Eliatra hesitated. "I'm not sure there's time…we need to get back to the academy for breakfast."
"Please? Come on Eli, you were the one that dragged me out of bed in the first place! We'll get back in plenty of time."
"Well…" Against her better judgment, Eliatra clambered down the incline to join Tris at the bottom. Tris was already off exploring the new area, which proved to be somewhat rockier then the plains surrounding the enclave.
They had only been walking for about ten minutes when Tris disappeared behind a large rock formation. Eliatra hurried to catch up. "Tris? Wait up f-"
She ran up against Tris's outstretched arm. Eliatra glanced at the other padawan's face, which was suddenly paler than usual. Tris's voice was shaky as she spoke. "Eli…please tell me you put on your saber this morning."
"I did. Why?"
Tris only pointed forwards. Eli gasped as her gaze fell on a pack of kath hounds not more than a hundred feet away. There were two horned kath hounds, and at least eight smaller ones. Tris and Eli backed up slowly, hoping not to catch the hounds' attention, but it was already too late. One reddish-orange head snapped up and scented the air, and the beast was on its feet in an instant.
Eliatra hauled Tris behind her and ignited her lightsaber as the first hound got up and began trotting toward them, closely followed by the rest of the pack. They began baying terribly as they charged toward the two girls.
"Tris! RUN!" Eli screamed. Tris raced off in the direction they had come, with Eli hot on her heels. By the time they reached the bottom of the bluff, the first kath hound was almost upon them. Eliatra practically threw Tris up to the top, and then spun to give the hound a taste of her lightsaber. She was suddenly very glad for the extra practice they had taken with their saber forms.
They're a lot bigger up close then they seemed before, she thought to herself as she frantically stabbed forward with her bright blue blade. The kath hound yelped and dropped back as her saber thrust into its chest.
"ELI! Give me your hand!" Tris cried above the noise of the kath hounds. Eliatra swung her lightsaber at another kath hound and succeeded in slicing off its leg, and then hastily jumped for Tris's outstretched hand. She hauled herself to the top of the bluff just as one of the horned kath hounds leapt up, snarling, to snap at her foot. She yanked it out of the way and lay gasping for a minute.
"Are you ok?" Tris asked breathlessly.
"I will be once we get back to the enclave," Eli gasped, and pointed. "Look!"
Already several kath hounds were running along the base of the bluff, looking for a way up. Eliatra and Tris scrambled to their feet and began running as fast as they could toward the enclave.
The two padawans staggered over the drawbridge that led to the east courtyard of the Jedi enclave. Orion, who had just walked out, saw them and hurried over. "What's got into you two?" he asked with some concern as they approached. "I got worried when you didn't come out to meet me before breakfast in the North courtyard."
Eliatra and Tris glanced at each other and suddenly burst out laughing breathlessly, leaning on each other for support.
"Well," Eli started, "You could say we went out for a walk…"
"And we went a little further then we usually go…"
"And we met up with some company."
Orion looked between them both skeptically. "You mean…"
"Very large company." Tris asserted.
"With big teeth and even bigger appetites." Eliatra finished, giggling slightly at the look on Orion's face.
"Kath hounds?" He exclaimed. "What in space were you doing out that far? I thought there weren't any for at least a couple of miles!"
"Well, we found some." Eli shrugged.
Orion sighed. "Well, next time, invite me along, ok?" He grinned at them, then grabbed their arms and started for the academy. "We need to get to breakfast before people start asking questions. You girls are lucky you got back in time…"
"I don't believe in luck," Eliatra smiled. "Just the Force."
Eliatra suppressed a slight yawn and the urge to fall asleep in the warm midday sunlight. She and Master Austrina were out on Khoonda plain near the academy, working on fighting forms. This particular one was supposed to be particularly good against opponents armed with ranged weapons such as blasters, but the small training droid Austrina had brought out did not seem to be working. Eliatra drowsily watched the older woman frown as she tweaked the parts inside the droid, a long reddish-brown strand of hair falling over her eyes.
"Do you want me to go back and grab a new droid?" Eliatra offered, as her master's brow furrowed.
"No, I think I've just… Blasters!" She exclaimed suddenly. Something burst off the droid and a shower of sparks flickered from the inside. An acrid smell accompanied a small plume of smoke. Austrina scowled. "Well, I never was that good at repair…" she said rather ruefully.
A high-pitched beeping from her belt interrupted her. Eliatra watched curiously as Austrina pulled the comm link off her belt and switched it on.
"Jedi Austrina, this is Master F'Ladgen. Your presence is requested in the council room now."
"Very well. I will be there shortly." Austrina replaced the comm link and glanced at Eliatra apologetically as they began walking back toward the academy. "Sorry we didn't get any training done, Eli."
Eliatra shrugged. "It's alright, there'll be time later. Do you want me to stay and work on my other fighting forms while you're at your meeting?"
Austrina was thoughtfully quiet for a moment. "Actually, I think you should come along. It might not be anything special, but you need to start attending these things. You'll be dealing with the Council quite a bit as you become a Jedi."
"Very well." Eliatra kept her tone calm, but she couldn't help wondering about the meeting. Perhaps something would happen at last…
Orion glanced up at the doorway of the Council chamber as Master Austrina and Eliatra walked in. He raised a curious eyebrow at Eli, who looked as surprised to see him there as he was to see her.
"What's going on?" she mouthed at him from behind Austrina, who was bowing to the few Jedi already assembled there. Eli hastily followed suit.
Orion shrugged and stood a little straighter as Master Khvee glanced back at him sharply.
"Pay attention, now!" the Nautolan master muttered. Orion nodded and looked bland until the Jedi turned back, and then looked over at Eliatra questioningly. She shrugged to show that she didn't know anything, and stood to attention as Master F'ladgen cleared his throat.
"Zhar, where is Master Varian?" asked the elder Jedi.
"Right here." The tall Jedi master strode into the room and took his place on the right of the other Jedi already assembled, trailed by Trisana. She took in her two friends and their masters and her eyes widened. Eliatra shrugged at her and looked back at F'ladgen.
"Good, good, you're all here. A situation has arisen on Coruscant, and I need you three to go," F'ladgen announced, looking at the three older Jedi. Trisana struggled to hide her excitement as F'ladgen continued. "As you all must know, there have been unknown attacks on the Outer Rim, just outside of Republic space. The Senate has gathered on Coruscant to debate what to do, and Jedi representatives from the main temple on each planet are requested to attend. I have chosen the three of you to go, along with your padawans."
"When are we to depart?" Austrina asked.
"As soon as possible. Tomorrow morning should be early enough." Answered F'ladgen.
The Jedi stayed to get the rest of the details about the trip, and then were dismissed from the Council chamber. Orion, Eliatra and Tris dropped back to talk to each other on the way out.
"Coruscant! We're going to Coruscant!" Tris exclaimed.
"It's just a big debate though…sounds pretty boring to me." Said Orion.
Eliatra grinned. "With us there, 'boring' will be the last thing you would use to describe it!"
