Chapter Fourteen: N
N is for Night
Elanor has never liked the night.
She has never liked the dark it brings, or the unnatural quiet that comes, or the loneliness that descends upon her when everyone is asleep.
But she is not afraid of the night. She just doesn't like it. There is a clear distinction.
In the two years that have passed since she became his apprentice, Master Kenobi has recently started training her at night, honing her abilities to sense with the Force. He has also blindfolded her, making sure she can't cheat using Force-enhanced senses.
But she doesn't really mind. He does this to train her, and although she doesn't quite like it, she knows that in order to become a full Jedi Knight, she needs to do things like this.
Tonight they have begun sparring at night. He goes easy on her, using only Ataru and Soresu, for this first round. Had he used any of his more advanced forms, like Jar'Kai, she probably wouldn't have lasted more than a half a minute against him.
However, even without that, she still doesn't last too long. He disarms her easily – almost too easily – and she crosses her arms, scowling. She knows he knows she is, because he is not blindfolded and their bond is strong enough that they can sense each other's emotions without too much trouble.
In any case, she can sense the amusement that ripples through the bond from him as he deactivates his lightsaber and allows her to summon hers back. She lets her indignation flow back, and he laughs as he senses it.
Then they begin again.
They spar long into the night, and through the duels he tests her endurance and concentration and skill to the limit. She knows that he is pleased with her skill, but her concentration falters sometimes when she gets distracts or misjudges a blow – but only rarely.
Finally, after one last duel, he clips his lightsaber back to his belt and signals the end. She bows shortly to him, as is proper, and she senses him smile as he comes over and places his arm around her shoulders as they begin walking back to the hut.
She starts to pull the blindfold from her eyes, but he stops her. Confused, she reaches out – only to realize that he wants her to prove that she, after being exhausted by a duel, can still use the Force to guide and support herself.
She sticks her tongue out in his general direction, annoyed. She doesn't feel like tripping over something.
He laughs warmly in her ear at her reaction. He tells her it is something that his Master did to him as well, and that he was just as annoyed as she was, but that she will be fine.
She rolls her eyes, which he senses, but her curiosity is piqued by his mention of his own Master. She knows, of course, that he was an apprentice to the great Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, the man who discovered Anakin Skywalker just before he was struck down by the first Sith Lord to have appeared in a thousand years.
The Sith Lord that Master Kenobi killed.
He senses her curiosity, as well as her unspoken questions, and asks her what is wrong.
She assures him nothing is wrong, but she does ask if she can start bothering him with questions about his own upbringing when he was a Padawan.
He merely shrugs. He is obviously not bothered by the idea, or by her.
It is a strange thing, to question your own Master. Her former Master never liked it and thus refused to allow it. She only could ask questions pertaining to the present or the future, not the past.
But midway through their conversation, he suddenly stiffens and comes to an abrupt halt. All the relaxation and amusement has vanished from his mind, leaving only tension and wariness.
She turns her head in his direction, puzzled. She doesn't sense anything wrong, but she trusts in his instincts, which are better than her own.
And then everything makes sense when she hears three simultaneous sounds.
The rallying cry of a Tusken Raider.
The discharge of a laser rifle.
The snap-hiss of the activated lightsaber of her Master.
As Elanor draws her own lightsaber, she remembers one more reason why she doesn't like the night – you can get snuck up on during it.
N is for Now
Obi-Wan Kenobi can't think of a worse time than now for this to happen.
He will be all right; the Force is on his side and he is used to bullying his way through so many attackers so constantly – he did serve as a Jedi General fighting almost constantly during the Clone Wars. He isn't worried for himself.
He is worried about Elanor.
He knows that she is well-trained – he, after all, has been training her for the past two and a half years – and her blade work is as great as his own. He knows that her connection to the Force is strong and powerful, and she has learned to block out distractions. He knows that they, as Jedi, have the advantage of the Tusken Raiders.
But even so, in their time together, along with training her, he has also grown ever closer to her. Despite their age difference of around two decades, their strong training bond and easy friendship has allowed them to grow close, and he is as fond of her as anything.
So – despite all he knows about her, all of his confidence, all of his pride – he still worries for her.
As he whirls through the attackers, he is careful not to kill, only disable. Ever since he has settled on Tatooine, he has had to drive off attacks like this – unpredictable, sudden, and swift. He does not want to hurt the Tusken Raiders; he simply wants them to realize that he is no threat to them unless they push him.
Which are they are doing right now, since they are threatening his apprentice.
The matter is made worse by the fact that not only is she tired from the long hours of dueling and lack of sleep, but she is also blindfolded – and they have been separated.
The thought motivates him, and he abruptly switches his style from the defensive Soresu to the offensive Ataru. The Tusken Raiders, surprised by his switch, are driven back swiftly from his flashing blade.
He is just melting the weapon of a Raider when the Force suddenly ripples.
He throws himself up into the air and backwards, to gain higher ground and prevent whatever harm his danger sense had warned him about. But as he surveys the convoluted scuffle in front of him, he realizes that there is no danger.
Well, not to him.
The danger came from his apprentice.
Frantically, he searches with his eyes and with the Force for her. He hadn't realized that they had been separated so far from each other, which is a bad thing. He kicks himself for not following the age-old Jedi rule about staying together and for charging of on his own, as he is used to fighting solo now.
Finally, he spots the tell-tale flash of her blue lightsaber and darts in that direction. When he runs around the corner, he understands why the Force screamed such a powerful warning at him.
His apprentice is backed against a solid wall, trapped in by six attackers, all fresh and strong and tall. She, meanwhile, is tired and while she has the advantage of swiftness and a lighter weight, the advantage is mostly negated due to the large number of attackers.
He decides the change that – now.
So he jumps in.
Using his lightsaber, he creates ultimate turmoil as he literally drops into the confrontation. The confusion helps his apprentice, who is able to use his surprise and momentum to catch two of the attackers off-guard.
Between the two of them, they are able to drive off the last attackers. When he is certain that they are gone, he deactivates his lightsaber and returns it to his belt, turning to his apprentice. He strides over to her and pulls her into a quick yet tight embrace, relieved that she is not hurt.
She pulls off the blindfold and dares him with her eyes to protest.
The sight brings a soft smile to his lips. After all of this, it seems, his apprentice can still find the spirit and the energy to taunt him and remind him that she still has that cheeky personality.
Obi-Wan Kenobi used to have trouble with the Living Force, but for some reason, when he is around Elanor, he has no trouble focusing on the here and the now.