The Legion Renewed
Chapter Eleven
Luke awoke from his sleep with a shiver. He felt it again, the cold disturbance in the Force. Very faint, but very near. So near that he could almost reach out and touch it. Another consciousness, unfamiliar, yet he thought somehow that he should know it.
Very, very near.
Like a whisper.
He stood up slowly and took a tentative step in the direction of the feeling. Inside, he already knew where the cold tingling would lead him. He could feel the fear crawling up the back of his neck, but pushed it back to the recesses from which it had come. He had to face it, whatever it was, and confront it.
He followed it out, to the north end of the hut where a large patch of comfortable moss grew in profusion. Briande was asleep, wrapped up in her blanket, but her lips were moving as if caught up in some sort of dream, and she was moaning and writhing as if in pain.
Uncertain of what to expect, Luke knelt down beside her and put his hand on her shoulder. Even through her heavy clothing, he could feel that her body was like ice.
He shook her gently. "Briande-"
"Luke..." she moaned. "Help me, Luke..."
"I'm here, Briande. What is it?"
Suddenly, with a quickness that made Luke pull back reflexively, she gasped and sat bolt upright. Her eyes stared straight ahead with a wild, unfocused gaze.
"Briande, what's the matter? Are you ill?"
Slowly, without focusing on him, she turned to face Luke. "Ill?" Her voice sounded from a million miles away.
Skywalker searched her face worriedly. "You called out to me for help. Help you how?"
For the first time, Briande seemed to take notice of her surroundings. Luke could see emotions playing over her face as she became aware of her environment. Confusion, fear, then embarrassment, only visible for a brief moment before she pulled a mask over everything. "I'm sorry. I must have been dreaming."
"You've seemed very tired lately, as if you haven't been getting enough sleep. Are you sure there's nothing wrong?" He started to reach out to feel the temperature of her forehead, but she pulled away.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I've been sleeping like a rock. Really, I'm fine."
Luke nodded and stood up. "Maybe it was just a bad dream, after all. You're welcome to spend the rest of the night indoors, if you want."
Briande smiled slightly, as if amused by his suggestion, as if Luke was the one who was acting strangely. "I'm not a child, Luke."
No, the Jedi agreed silently. But at the same time, he noted a certain child-like vulnerability about her. Her breathing when she woke up had been heavy and irregular, like that of a frightened child. He wanted to comfort her, but her manner made it clear that she would take offense at that.
Luke nodded. "Good night, then, Briande. Sleep well."
She gave an answering nod and Luke went back inside, aware that most of the chill he had felt in the Force had dissipated since Briande woke up. Perhaps it had been just a dream, like she had said, though he had never encountered anything like that before, not even in his own nightmares.
But he still felt a faint trace of the tingling.
At the same time, Luke felt something calling him back to Briande, as if she herself were actually calling his name. He decided that it was just his imagination. Briande was a very attractive woman, after all, and there was some part of him that selfishly wanted her to need him.
Luke sighed and reminded himself that Briande was merely his pupil, and nothing more.
He just wished he were a better teacher.