"Well this is unexpected." Kithera peered over the ledge again and then looked at her master and grinned.
The two Jedi were perched precariously on the top of one of the many stalagmites that littered the cave floor. In the dank darkness of the cave, the only sound was the steady drip of water and the angry scritching thrum of the creature that glared at them from the depths below.
"What's your plan, padawan?"
"Plan Master?"
"Your plan to deal with this beastie?"
Kit shrugged and shot her Master a rather perplexed look.
"I don't know. I'm not good with animals."
"It's not an animal, it's an insect." Master Zahalin corrected. On the floor of the cave below them the insect chittered and lunged up the stalagmite, its long, thin claws scraping against the wet stone. Kithera grinned at her Master even as she warily eyed the movement of the bug.
"Of course you would know that Master. Wasn't paramour thirty-two some sort of bug professor?"
"Doctor Cale Meriet is a Professor of Entomology at the Galactic Zoo. He's certainly not a paramour of mine, padawan." Namia's eyebrows arched in annoyance but her padawan just grinned.
"Not anymore. I think we're up to forty-five by my last count." Kithera shot back. Even in the half light she could see her Master's scowl deepen. Teasing her Master about the number of lovers that she had taken during her life had become a running joke, especially in moments like now.
"He has never been a paramor of mine." Namia corrected brusquely.
"Then remind me to get an eye-check when we get back to the Temple, because I distinctly remember interrupting something not that long ago that was very gross and not particularly Jedi like, Master."
"Maybe you should get a closer look at our guest then." The music around Kithera suddenly changed. She gave a squeal of surprise as the trickle of brass and the undertones of udu wrapped themselves around her and lifted her off the edge of the rock.
"Really Master?" She twisted in the air and stared at her where Master Zahalin sat, eyes closed, hands outstretched; making a show of being in deep meditation. After a moment Master Zahalin opened one eye and grinned.
"We need to get out of here and we need to know what beastie it is. You seem to have enough time to be counting my apparent lovers that I figured you would be the best person to take a look at our fine friend."
The beast roared, reared up and struck the stalagmite hard enough to shake it. Suddenly the music cut out, sending Kithera into free-fall. For one terrifying second she could see the giant horn that sprouted, an iridescent black, from the beast's head coming straight towards her.
Desperately she reached out with the Force and felt her Master's music intertwine with her own. She stopped just above the spiked horn and found herself staring into the many lenses of its giant, black eyes.
The beast chittered again, tossing its head to try and reach her with the point of its horn.
"You alright padawan?" Namia's voice floated down from above.
"Fine, fine." Kithera said, trying to get her heartbeat back under control. "But can I go back up now please?" There was the deep thrum of the ubu again mixed with the lighter and breathier sounds of her own ability and suddenly she was moving back through the air and safely onto the top of the stalagmite.
"What did you find out?" Namia asked as Kithera got her breath back.
"It's definitely an insect?"
Namia frowned. Kithera grinned again, deliberately misinterpreting the look. "It's got six legs. Hard carapace, big horn and it's really, really angry with us."
"Could you feel why?"
This time it was Kithera's turn to frown. "I'm not really great at interpreting bug emotions."
"I thought you said it was a beetle?"
"Bug. Beetle. What's the difference?"
"Well. If it was a bug we'd be safer." Her Master must have seen the frown deepen, "they only eat plants."
"And beetles?" Kithera asked, her face screwing up as she guessed the answer.
"Plants and animal parts."
"So you did learn something from paramour thirty-two."
The sound of the udu and brass swelled again and Kithera grinned and held up both hands in mock surrender.
"I take it back Master, I swear."
"Glad to hear it." The music calmed and went back to its normal steady beat. There was silence for several minutes as the two Jedi watched the gigantic beetle chitter and paw at the base of their stalagmite. Kithera felt herself steadying her breathing against the nerves that threatened to overwhelm her. It was easier to joke and tease than to face the reality that there was no way off this rock except to face the certain death below.
"No signal, so we can't exactly call for help against our foe." Master Zahalin said quietly, fiddling with her comm pack and trying to get a signal. She shook her head and tapped it again. Kithera glanced at her master listening to the slightly worried, warbled edge of brass that signalled her Master was dealing with her own anxiety.
Kithera raised her eyebrows in annoyance and flicked an errant piece of stone from the top of the stalagmite. The two Jedi watched in interest as the insect lumbered towards where the sound of the pebble bouncing against the other stalagmites echoed through the cave.
"What are you going to do if your padawan loves animals?" Master Zahlin asked. At the sound the beetle charged back to its post beneath them.
"I don't know. Can you return padawans?" Kithera asked with a small smile. Silence stretched between the two of them, only filled with the chittering call of the insect. Eventually Kithera spoke, her normal smile gone, replaced by thoughtful consternation. "The idea of me ever having a padawan is a nice fantasy, Master" Kithera said quietly, hunting for another pebble. "It assumes I'm going to pass my trials. It assumes that the Council would ever let me take on a padawan. Most importantly of all, it assumes we are going to get off this rock."
"I'm sure you'll find your trials far less stressful than you imagine." Master Zahalin said watching Kithera pick up another rock and toss it in a different direction. The beetle, its carapace glittering iridescently in the light, lumbered off again, chittering angrily, before turning and charging back when it could not easily find the source of the sound. "And I think you'll find you misconstrue the Council's intentions when they chide you about your behaviour."
"It's pretty hard to misconstrue Master Windu telling you that you're a disgrace to the Order." Kithera said a suddenly hard edge to her voice as she began to chip away at another piece of rock.
"To be fair you had just gotten the entire program of exchange students quite drunk."
Kithera rolled her eyes. "It's not like T'lor and I did that on purpose Master." The stone came free and Kithera started working on another piece. "We had no idea what that herb would do."
"I think Master Windu was thinking of the fifteen or sixteen other incidents you were involved in earlier that year."
"And the fifteen or sixteen in the year before that. I've heard it lots of times Master."
"I think they just want you to live up to your potential. I can see it, they can see it. It's just sometimes you make-"
"Decisions that fall outside of the good order and management of the Jedi Temple." Kithera said in the flat, toneless parrot of a line heard too many times. She didn't have to look at her Master to see the annoyed glance, the Force held all the warning rubbles of udu and brass.
Second stone free. Kithera placed the two stones together and started working on a third one.
"I think sometimes people find it hard to see past your constant desire to move." Master Zahalin reached out and grabbed one of Kit's hands in her own. "I think if they could see past that they'd see what an amazing Jedi you will become. That you already are."
She didn't reply. She had long ago worked out how much she didn't quite fit Master Windu's image of a perfect Jedi.
Instead she slowly and gently untangled her hand then worked slowly, trying to find the weaknesses in the stone. She could hear the brass and udu of her Master and the strange metallic clink and whistle through the Force of the Beetle. She ignored them, shaping her own breathy woodwind notes to find the gaps in the bass echoes of the ancient stones.
Third stone free.
"Padawan, what are you doing?"
Kithera glanced at her Master and frowned. "I'm not quite sure yet. At the moment I'm just gathering rocks. It's a nice diversion to keep myself occupied. Do you have a plan?"
"I was going to slide down the rock to the front of the beastie." Master Zahalin said, the corners of her mouth twitching. "Hold out my hand, palm flat and turn away. Then the beastie would push his head into the outstretched hand. We'd become life-long friends and he'd carry us out of here on wings of freedom."
Fourth rock free.
"Sounds like a great way to lose an arm."
"Hmm, I thought so too." The two Jedi looked at each other and grinned.
Below them the beast chittered, reared up and struck the stalagmite which gave an alarming wobble. Kithera breathing quickened and she briefly closed her eyes, willing herself to calmness and releasing her emotions into the orchestral music of the Force.
"So what's your plan again?" Master Zahalin said quietly, "I think our friend is winning its battle against our rock."
Kithera sat back, pushing the pile of stones into a heap.
"It's very territorial and it's far more interested in sound than movement. There's the exit." She said pointing to a slightly brighter path on the cave floor. "I figure if I can get the rocks to hit the opposite end of the cave and make a lot of sound, then our beetle friend will go and check it out."
"And what do we do?"
"We run Master. We run as quietly but as fast as we can."
Master Zahalin didn't say anything, just nodded her head. Kithera sorted the stones into a rough line and closed her eyes, hearing the beat of the music grow louder. She fashioned and shaped the song so that it carried the essence of the tiny rocks and melded together with her own music. She shifted and played with the melodies until the rocks were rattling on the rough surface of the stalagmite. The music swelled. The rocks hovered for a brief second before hurtling through the air into the dark recesses of the cave. The clatter and thuds as they hit the walls echoed around them.
Below the beast's head came up and it roared with anger. As it lumbered away, Kithera beamed at her Master and launched herself from the top of the stalagmite, throwing herself wholeheartedly into the swelling orchestra of the Force.
"I wonder if he's still looking for whoever made those sounds?" Master Zahalin said, collapsing onto the thick leaf litter that cushioned the jungle floor. Next to her, Kithera was bent double, grinning and giggling as she got her breath back. Her heart was still hammering in her chest from their wild run through the cave.
"I wonder if he's won his battle against the stalagmite. He's going to be mighty surprised when his snacks are no longer on top."
Master Zahalin sat up and pulled her commlink from her pocket. She tapped it twice and then grinned.
"I have a signal again. We should get going. That was a good plan but rather too much of a close call for my liking."
Kithera grinned and reached a hand out to help her Master up.
"So you don't want to take beastie home and let me keep him as a pet?"
Master Zahalin shook her head, eyebrows raised.
"No thank you padawan. I think our lives are quite adventurous enough without adding an animal to the mix."
"Yep, and that's why if my padawan likes animals, she's going right back where she came from."
Master Zahalin smiled in return as she got to her feet. The two Jedi turned and began making their way through the thick jungle to the pick up zone. Master Zahalin reached out and gave Kithera's hand a quick squeeze.
"And when you're knighted and get your first padawan, I'll be there. I'll be cheering you on every step of the way."