Chapter 5: Test Of Time
I am so sorry for the time between updates. I haven't died, not yet. As a reward, I am posting this and I will post the next which is shorter chapter next week on Mon or Tues. I have had a few new ideas though, and I am looking forward to writing them.
Question, though: I plan to go to Illum, have another chapter where something important happens, then skip to Rey, Sati and Mumba getting chosen as padawans. The options are to go from there to the start of the Attack of the Clones, or do events which happen in that time. If you want those events, can everyone name a few? I'll choose what I think from that meaning we have half a dozen.
I have changed Rey's master, by the way. I am not going to tell you, so it's a surprise. You maybe be able to guess from this chapter, but in the chapter where something important happens, I imagine it will be obvious.
Important: I have changed the style of my writing to be more emotional. I will eventually try and improve previous chapters. Also, I have reduced the amount of times I read through chapters, so I am considering getting a beta reader. It will depend on reception and how comfortable I feel.
Onward! BTW: notice i have a cover? I realised that there were videos on youtube and my phone had a handy screenshot button, soo... as you can see, I am so stupid! (embarrassed laughing face)
Not that you'll say it yet, I do have a few changes to further on in the plot.
Important: I have changed Rey's name to Reynne. I will eventually change it in earlier chapters. I am not sure why I didn't do this to start with, as Rey comes out of that easier then Ryenne.
Over the next few weeks, Rey settled into her routine and got used to attending the various initiate classes during the day. Having never had any sort of school education, (even at the orphanage) made it a new experience and hard to get used to. The classes didn't change much, day to day, except for Tuesday. They had their daily meditation session every evening before bed; Rey and Sati both thought it helped them sleep, others didn't agree.
During the day, they had lightsaber and duelling classes, which were Rey's favourite: she loved the thrill it gave her along with the adrenaline rush. They had classes to help them use and understand the force, which was Sati's favourite classes.
They had technology classes, which were to help them learn to use comlinks and datapads. They also had a stealth class and history session, but those two were only on Tuesdays. Thank the force: both girls were either about to fall asleep through history or murder the teacher: sometimes both.
With the amount they knew and could physically do, the stealth sessions were not that useful currently. Rey had considered sneaking out of the Wookie Clan area, but one of the others had beaten her to it and failed miserably. While she had a much more vast knowledge of the art of stealth compared to that girl, she couldn't see much point in sneaking out.
It would be handy for her to have extra time in the archives, Rey, if she asked the right people, could get passes to take things out. Other than that, she couldn't see an attraction to sneaking out, unless you planned to leave the temple. That was a league of its own, though, and most initiates were not interesting in gambling, drinking, or racing. They certainly wouldn't be able to afford it, even if they were.
Rey wondered if any Jedi engaged in that activity. Even if they were raised on a strict code, she didn't see why not. Everyone rebelled: Rey recalled Leia telling her about a time when she was annoyed with her father, so she went to all the casinos and spent all the cash she had on her. Bail Organa had been torn between furious and mortified, apparently. Leia said she even made a big profit, which wasn't surprising considering she was force sensitive.
Mumba started hanging out with Sati and Rey more, and he quickly became part of the group. Mumba had been orbiting between friend groups, so Sati, who was friendly with him, invited him to sit with her and Rey. He fit in instantly.
In other news, Rey was slowly getting used to the layout of the temple, and she was able to find her way to the archives most days. To get anywhere else, she got lost and usually got helped by one of her fellow younglings, (some from the other clan members had helped her,) Anakin or a Padawan that felt sorry for her. Fortunately, Rey could make it to the archives and back by herself.
Despite the fact she got lost, Rey loved the temple, and it was like a castle to her, just about everything within it filled her with endless joy. The earthy colours with hints of pastel colours, the great wide corridors with a high roof, the big rooms and halls, gold furnishings, the great stairs she was sure were marble: just the all-round grandness and beauty, Rey loved it all, she believed she could happily live here until she died. She felt like a princess in a palace in many ways.
She loved and felt safe and comfortable with the cosy feeling of the Wookie Clan Room. While the resistance wasn't exactly quiet, she had always felt a certain feeling of loneliness; perhaps because she was the only force sensitive.
She suspected Finn was one, have said that, but he never made any effort to talk about it with her, and when she did try to discuss it, he never seemed interested: Connix had always been the most interested of the entire base. Now, though, Rey was surrounded by people just the same as her, and she didn't feel lonely to any extent. She could mention anything force related that was strange or bothered her. She always had a million different answers or suggestions before the end of the hour, here. Rey loved it.
Rey thought to her classes then. She, like most the other younglings, had progressed easily and quickly in the technology class. She felt sorry for the ones who struggled, recalling the cries and screams of frustration: a few had sent their comlinks or datapads across the room, either by throwing it with their hands or the force: someone even put a fist through a wall. The objects in question normally broke when they hit the wall or floor, much to the dismay of the poor knight or master teaching the class.
Rey and all the others who eased through that class were almost up to graduating from it. Her ability to meditate was much the same, though, meaning she was way behind everyone else. They all tried to help Rey, but by now they had all given up, thinking her a lost cause. Boniss teased her mercilessly over it, but all Rey could do was bite her tongue. She had managed to convince Mumba to stop defending her and getting beaten up or into trouble, thankfully, saying it wasn't worth it.
She kept trying to get better, but Rey just didn't improve: her concentrating on that art was just lacking. Sati was the only one who still hadn't lost patience and interest in helping her, but Rey thought, no, knew she wouldn't last much longer. Rey would be left to struggle in class, after that, wishing with all her heart to miraculously get better somehow.
Rey was progressing very quickly in her other classes -despite her meditation struggles- which gave her a certain satisfaction and contentment. She was probably among the best in the force centred classes, due to her having a high midichlorian count. And, of course, Rey knew most of it already.
It was more a matter of just learning to use the abilities in her new body, along with relearning how to do some of the things. Rey was discovering that she had either not been taught some things properly, or had some of the basics skipped altogether, meaning she needed to relearn/learn how to do them, resulting in problems. Rey had formed bad habits that were the culprit to any problems she had, and habits were always difficult to break. It was hard to learn something new and apply that to things she already knew, too.
Despite the fact she was progressing quicker than everyone else, Rey was frustrated that she was finding it much harder to do things with the force compared to her old body. She tried hard not to scream, growl or break anything whenever she was met with that frustration. Perhaps it was due to her age, perhaps it was actually harder than she remembered, or maybe it was due to her being a bit weaker. Whichever option it was, Rey got the urge to scream, cry and try harder. Sometimes her extreme efforts had to be stopped before she collapsed.
Rey's jaw clenched with the lack of progress, and she was sick of returning to her bed every night feeling exhausted with all her muscles aching. They were finally starting to not ache as much unless she pushed them in training.
While Rey had considered going to the training rooms and practising in between lessons, she didn't. The only practice outside of lessons was the little group sessions her clan had, and Rey thought that was enough for now, despite her personal anguish on the matter. Studying and learning as much as possible seemed like a better option at the moment.
Her frustration confused her teachers, and despite the fact they hid it, Rey thought she could sense their worry over her emotions, and many tried to appease her with praise. They had increased it after she landed in the hospital ward, almost damaging her force connection, earning her a good scolding from the staff there. It was apparently possible with overuse, something very unlikely for adults.
After that, Rey had tried to not get frustrated, not keen to be back there or do any permanent damage. But she was so used to mastering everything quickly and finding everything easy, it was hard. Not to mention it was simply a rude awakening.
She tried mentally repeating to be kind to herself, but that didn't help Rey. Same with telling herself it was her age, meaning it would get easier as she got older, not that she needed to find it easy at the moment: it didn't matter. Telling herself what a good job outright she was doing didn't help, either.
That on its own frustrated Rey too. Everyone told her how well she was doing, and she could sense their honesty, so why couldn't she feel the same?! Rey growled right then, causing Mumba -who was standing next to her- to jump and turn to look at her concernedly. Rey had to apologise profusely, making up a believable lie on the spot.
They were playing games in the common room, and until now Rey had been silent because she was thinking. The sudden noise and growl startled Mumba. Everyone had looked at her, all curious to what had upset or angered her enough to growl.
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The next day, Rey was in the archives, trying to find out about the Hidden Force Techniques. So far, she hadn't found anything. While the younglings had no idea what the Jedi knight was on about, Master Ellis, who had taught their latest lightsaber technique class, had mentioned it to them, and Rey was dying to know, wondering if force healing was under it, as apparently it wasn't used in the Healer's Ward. All the other younglings seemed to think the techniques were something they were not meant to learn or would learn eventually.
Rey wasn't sure what to think of Ellis, honestly. She seemed to have similar views to the rest of the council, but was very whimsical and would sometimes come out with outrageous things. Ellis would then apologise and go back to how she was before, spewing out council views. Rey wondered if the woman suffered from a split personality disorder or visions, or wanted to be a good Jedi but not quite succeeding.
"Hello, young one," an elderly voice said, interrupting Rey's thinking suddenly, making her tense instantly. Rey's heart rate hit the roof as she startled and jumped, just managing to avoid helping or any other sound, which was no easy feat. She turned to see Jocasta Nu standing behind her, making Rey sigh, her body visibly relaxing. She really needed to not lose concentration on her surroundings, this was just embarrassing. To add to it, her entire face felt as though it was bright red.
"Ah... hi," Rey said quietly, not quite able to meet her senior's eye. She tried to think of any information she had on her: Rey had very little on the librarian, except for what others had told her.
"You seem lost: are you looking for something?" Master Nu asked in a low kind voice. Not that she needed to lower her voice with how soft and naturally quiet she was. Perhaps it was because of many years managing the archives, or maybe she was naturally gifted a very quiet and soft voice.
"Yes, but it was just something I was curious about: nothing to worry you or me, really. It's nothing important: I'll find it or I won't," Rey said quickly, not wanting to be an inconvenience or bother the elder Jedi. Rey was mindful of the fact some Council Members disliked her, and she wished to have little to do with that portion. It didn't help her nerves she'd never interacted with the woman before.
"Knowledge is power. The more you know, the wiser Jedi you'll become. So please, how can I help you?" the archive manager insisted.
"O-okay," Rey nodded with a slight stutter. She quickly got it under control. "One of my teachers mentioned Hidden Force Techniques, and I was curious about them. So, I came to look up what they were."
"I know about those. No one has ever been able to do master or use more than one of them, not through lack of trying, either. Very few are even able to use one of them. Come with me," she said kindly, starting to walk off and gesturing for Rey to follow her.
"Okay," Rey nodded, following the Jedi master with eager haste.
Master Nu led Rey to the back of the archives where the older information tended to be stored. Throughout the archives were great tall shelves filled with information, the odd group of tables and other things scattered here and there. The further back you went, the more shelves and fewer tables and the darker it got. Rey had never been right to the back, but it was said a special high-security room was located back there.
After what felt like forever, the Jedi master told Rey to sit down at a table while Nu got the correct file out. She placed it in front of Rey and said, "All the information we have is in here. Out of curiosity, do you enjoy reading?"
"Yes, I do. Thank you, Master Nu," Rey said gratefully, telling a half-truth. While Rey wasn't exactly a bookworm, she did enjoy reading and since her arrival at this time, it had been a must. It would be something she would continue to do in large amounts until Palpatine was dead.
"Not a problem, young one. If you ever need help, just ask: that is part of why I am here," Nu said, smiling at her. Rey tried to remember if she had ever noticed how kind the elderly lady's smile was. "I do try to help people who look lost, but I can't be everywhere, especially when there are people who are unable to keep quiet." She scowled, likely recalling incidents with people like Anakin. Rey bit back a snigger at one of those memories.
"Thanks again," Rey said sincerely, using that as a reminder to make sure she remained quiet.
Nu nodded and walked off. Rey turned to her reading material and devoured the information on it. Hopefully, this would satisfy her curiosity. As from what Master Nu said, the information on the subject would probably be limited.
Nu as she walked away, thinking about the Skywalker twins.
To be honest, while they did look similar, Nu, like quite a few other Jedi had thought Reynne Skywalker would be a lot more similar in personality to Anakin Skywalker. Or put it this way, she hadn't expected the girl to appear in the archives as often as she does, not to mention the girl said she liked reading. That just on its own was a rare thing among all the younglings. Another thing she had heard about the girl was she stayed out of trouble, unlike the boy, who was getting into trouble every day.
She recalled just last week how he had taken to the hospital wing after swallowing some machine oil, and Obi-Wan Kenobi had apparently been kicked out while they tried to fix him. It was something that only happened if the Master was stressing too much, upsetting their padawan, or impeding the healer's progress. Nu wondered if the young man was already getting grey hairs from the trouble the male Skywalker caused: she couldn't imagine dealing with a boy like that. Just thinking about it made Nu quite breathless and weary.
For a nine-year-old boy, it seemed an extremely stupid and unlikely thing to happen. She had no idea how Anakin Skywalker did it, Nu supposed it must have been on his face or hands, then he licked it or touched the area. He could have also have eaten without washing his hands properly. Even without serious incidents like that, he seemed to have a new scrape or bruise every time Nu saw him.
Anakin's obsession and fondness for tinkering with droids was probably the culprit to a lot of his misadventures if you could call them that. All in all, Nu was relieved he wasn't her responsibility, as she would have died from a heart attack by now. Leave that dubious honour to someone younger and more able to cope, if you could say Kenobi was coping: which was debatable. He always looked stressed, and Nu knew his friend in the healers' ward was worried about his mental and long term general health.
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"I know it may seem like a little thing, but I thought I should tell you," Jedi Knight Storm Ellis said to Master Yoda, her voice filled with slight apprehension, unease written in her features. She had just been telling him about the frustration she had sensed within Reynne Skywalker during her lessons with her, then her concern and confusion over such feelings.
They were both seated in Master Yoda's mediation chamber, a place where he meditated and listened to the concerns of other Jedi. Recently, a lot of the concerns were about the newest Skywalker. Young Ellis had approached him earlier, saying she wanted to talk to him about the female Skywalker. Yoda had not dealt with Ellis personally before today, but through the others, he had heard about her.
While she had much to learn, Yoda believed Storm Ellis could become a Jedi Master and a Council Member down the track. While young Ellis had some crazy ideas, she was a good Jedi at heart. With maturity and age, she would be a great master and council member.
Storm couldn't help but admire Yoda's meditation chamber, trying not to look around like a gaping fish. It was a small room just of his private quarters and reminded her strongly of the council chamber. The differences were there was only one small window, the floor was all carpeted with cushions and it was coloured in green and a red-brown.
"More to say on the matter, you do?" Master Yoda guessed after considering what Ellis had just said. As promising as she was, very few could hide it from Yoda when they had something on their tongue they wanted to get out, even Mace Windu.
Ellis chuckled, albeit slightly nervously. "No escaping you is there, Master? I didn't want to say it because it seems so silly, but I feel her problems are because she expects more of herself. To be fair, sometimes it's like she had already learnt things: she picks it up so easily! Then others she's like everyone else." Ellis said, looking away from Yoda and sounding a bit unsure. She had a theory which she wanted to tell Yoda, but she feared his reaction: it was the only feasible option in her opinion, but it seemed ridiculous to say it out loud. It was something she would consider but never tell. "I feel Skywalker may have not learnt these things the exact way I am teaching her, but she picks it up so easily: it's as if she has learnt it before. I have observed Anakin Skywalker and read the reports from this short time he was a youngling: they were interesting. According to those, he picked everything up very fast, but there is just something different about how Reynne is learning, or so I feel."
Ellis took a deep breath, then said, splattering slightly, "Is reincarnation or something similar possible?"
"Possible, it is. Proved, either way, it is not," Yoda said with a long sigh. "Meditate on this, I will. Thanks for bringing it up, I give."
"Don't get me wrong, she's probably one of the best younglings we have currently, if not the best, but this frustration, it's concerning. Couldn't it lead her to the dark side? You teach her sometimes, don't you? Have you noticed anything? I also noticed she sometimes closes off her feelings or hides them, which is something she would not have been taught yet, or not to the same proficiency as she is able, considering her time here," Ellis said concernedly. "I learnt that when I became Padawan."
"Been paying attention to her particularly, I have not. Take note in future, I will," Yoda said shaking his head shamefully, feeling angry with himself as he hunched his shoulders.
"Master, we can all make mistakes. We are not perfect, after all," Ellis pointed out. Yoda recalled her master, (he couldn't remember who it was,) had always been impressed with the girl's wisdom even from a young age.
"True what you say, but times one needs to recall such," Yoda nodded. "On your way, you should go. Chosen a padawan, you have?"
"Not yet, I am in the process. Master Windu is supposed to be helping me decide on one, but I am still very nervous about it," Ellis nodded. She really wished she didn't have to choose one yet, as she couldn't quite cope with the idea of looking after a preteen and teenager twenty-four-seven at the moment. She wished she could continue to teach initiates for a little while longer.
She stood up and gave Master Yoda a courtesy bow, then left without another word, leaving Yoda to ponder on the mysterious Reynne Skywalker. If he was honest, Yoda did not understand the girl, her actions left him baffled and wanting to just ask why. She had many good Jedi traits which shined through all the time, except for the times when she got frustrated.
He knew they had discovered they were twins, something that he and the council would rather have avoided happening, but it was not the end of the world. Perhaps it was better this way, putting the attachment aside for a moment. It had cleared their futures a little, and things looked good for them as far as the Jedi were concerned, certainly for now. It also meant they were less likely or were going to be less resentful of the council for not telling them when they did eventually find out.
He had not told the rest of the council the twins knew, believing they could and would work it out. Yoda knew Mace would be upset, even if it was only because of Yoda's lack of reaction either way, but what could they do? Trying to separate them or anything else like that would just lead to disaster, hate and bitterness, something Yoda wanted to avoid.
Some council members, such as Dooku, would be happy. While most of them had been against it, Dooku and two others had been for it, believing they'd find out anyway. They turned out to be correct.
Yoda would wait and see if the other council members worked it out, seeing no need to tell them now: it's not like it was a pressing issue. In the meantime, Yoda decided to try and see if the force had answers to Knight Ellis' worries about the female Skywalker. Her fears were not bothering him exactly, but he was curious and did want to know, which was cause for exploration as much as anything else.
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Rey paused for a few seconds, thinking about her daily routine, for some bizarre reason: it was not like she was short on activities. She got up, had breakfast, went to two or three classes before it was lunchtime. Then she had another class, hang out with the other initiates for a little while, though really only the ones in her clan. Rey knew some of the kids in the other clans, just it was much harder to talk to and get to know them as well as her clanmates.
When the wookies hung out together, they divided their time between chatting, playing games, homework and studying. All in all, Rey liked to think they were reasonable and used their time well. She wondered what the others were like. Rey was willing to be it was not as organised.
Somehow in all that, though, Rey found time to sneak off to the archives to read. She usually ended up chatting with Jocasta Nu and Anakin while there, on the way there or on the way back. Not great for getting much done and that chat usually meant she was late for something, but talking to them seemed to guarantee a shift for the better in her mood. Rey often needed that, as she was often in a solemn mood when she went to the archives, upset she wasn't getting anywhere with her reading to destroy Palpatine. There was a limit to how much political garbage one could read before getting frustrated.
There was that time when talking to Anakin hadn't cheered her up. Somehow, she and Anakin got into a screaming match over revenge, and he was angry at her for all of five minutes. It took Rey a lot longer to forgive him, though still not that long. She wondered why they both even bothered.
Rey's clan normally has two free hours in the afternoon before they had their evening lesson and dinner, sometimes there was a little more or less. After their class and dinner, they got to hang out a little longer before bed. Rey normally chatted with Anakinduring that time, but it was pretty short. Not that she minded, as there was never really much to talk about.
Currently, Rey was walking to the archives, clenching her fists within her robe, (the main reason why she was wearing it,) torn between shouting, throwing something or just sulking. Nothing Rey had found so far-in there however many weeks she'd been here-really gave her any reason to tell people to dislike and distrust Palpatine. There was nothing was for her to suspect him with, apart from the fact she knew who and what he was.
This made her feel rather vexed and irritable, -so dear force, don't talk to her now unless you're willing to deal with it- but she had no idea what to do for achieving her goals except for stalking the senate meetings, reading the bills, and reading every other article she could think of. She also read articles she found on the holonet that might have something: anything, just something to get people to wonder. Especially Anakin: currently, he was her primary concern when it came to putting wedges between the Jedi and the chancellor.
Even with all that effort, though, Rey had found nothing. Rey supposed she just had to wait and work on Anakin in the meantime, hoping he'd believe her and trust her. As a result, Rey felt lost and wished she had been brought here a bit earlier before Naboo was invaded, or a bit later when Palpatine made his big moves, meaning errors were more likely to occur.
There were more rooms for mistakes then, certainly if she was involved. Rey believed she was more likely to find evidence leading back to him, as the bolder the move the more things that had to be covered up.
Rey had been asking the force for advice, but it gave her no direction. All the force had been hinting was that when the time was right, she could tell some people the truth. In the meantime, Rey settled for building a strong relationship with her brother.
After all, there were still many years before the start of the Clone Wars, and while there were events the wannabe emperor had arranged which happened before then, that was the main one. After the blockade business with Naboo, the Trade Federation/Separatist Community didn't do much until just before the was.
Another event that would certainly happen was Padawan choosing, which she did need to concentrate on and work towards. Rey hoped she'd get picked, and she wondered who would pick her if it happened. She didn't really mind who, but she would like to be able to fight in the wars before she becomes a knight.
"Hey, lil' alien! I'm surprised they let you in with a head as ugly as that!" Rey heard the voice of Boniss say. She winced and gave a long-suffering suspire: what was he up to now? From the sounds of it, he was terrorising some poor none-human. Rey decided to change direction to see what he was up to. She honestly wished they did something more with him, as all their normal Jedi Disciplinary action was doing nothing.
Rey sighed again: she liked being a Jedi, but they really needed to open themselves up to other avenues, otherwise, their order will die without Palpatine's help. Just need a few more people like Boniss and it would be a nightmare, unlivable if you were togruta, munn or anything like that. It would cause an in-house war.
As she suspected Boniss was bullying what looked like a very young Togruta: Rey knew instantly it was a girl, thanks to the force. It wasn't just him: the poor youngling was surrounded by him and his friends/cronies. Rey wondered what a girl that young was doing out of the crib. Rey supposed the togruta may have been lured out.
As Boniss spewed more insults at the girl, (purely for being of a different race,) Rey tried to work out the best plan of action.
Running in there was all good and well, except she was unarmed and likely to get injured, considering she was up against a group of boys, some older and certainly bigger than her. Besides, psychically attacking people, no matter the reason, was not the Jedi way, certainly not without trying other means first.
Rey thought it was possible another Jedi could come just as she got involved; she was worried that person would assume or believe Boniss who would likely lie, meaning she got into trouble. Rey's second option was to go and find another Jedi straight off but for all she knew they could wander off or seriously hurt the girl in that time, meaning they got away with it.
The third and final option was to go in there and try and find a diplomatic solution. She would go about it with a conversation, and hopefully convince them to stop, then trying other methods. Not that she was that kind of person.
Rey stopped all thoughts as they pushed and whacked the younger girl. Suddenly, all she wanted was to hurt him, her vision turning red, her blood boiling hotter than the lava of Mustafar. At the back of her mind, she noticed the air shifted to cold and dark.
Rey jumped forward and grabbed Boniss, without realising what she was doing as she punched him hard. Just as she was about to hurt him badly or kill him, (he had started choking,) she realised and quickly released him. She hoped she hadn't committed any lasting damage, as her force choke at the very least was fuelled by the dark side. Rey closed her eyes and sighed: she thought she was beyond this.
"Leave her alone!" Rey shrieked, backing away a little. She felt her breaths increase as she hugged herself: she was scared of them, but now she was even more frightened of herself, not to mention disgusted.
"Why should we? She's the one committing a crime!" Boniss hissed at Rey, trying to intimidate her. Rey stood her ground.
"No, she's not! She's innocent! You are just sick for bullying a kid just because she's not the same race as you!" Rey said angrily, running past Boniss and helping the girl up, trying to calm herself down, pushing her other thoughts out of her mind.
"Her kind shouldn't be allowed! They're carnivores," one of Boniss' goons said in a mean tone.
"So? Has one threatened to eat or hurt you or someone you know?" Rey challenged. When no one had an answer, she said smugly, "Thought as much."
"You know, I think Skywalker here needs to be taught a lesson," the female of the bullies said, narrowing her eyes at Rey.
"Yeah! Let's get her!" another cheered.
"Fine with me. An alien sympathiser is a good enough reason to pick on her in my book," Boniss nodded, smirking.
"Well, this isn't working," Rey muttered, thinking at least she tried: there was something ironic about this them against her situation. She decided to try something else. "HELP! SOMEONE, HELP ME!"
While Rey had been able to hear people walking around, as soon as she spoke she heard hurried footsteps getting louder: someone had heard! Boniss and his friends went running off, but not before a female tholothian rounded the corner, looking immediately puzzled at the scene that greeted her. This was Stass Allie, not that Rey knew it.
Allie had been on her way to the archives when she heard someone calling for help, verbally and through the force. She ran to the location, finding a pair of younglings, (one who should have been in the creche still,) standing together in the middle of the corridor, while what looked like another group of Jedi Younglings running off in the opposite direction. Both of them looked shaken while the older girl looked put off and the younger one looked scared.
"What happened? Is everyone alright?" Allie asked, hoping asking would answer what in the blazes was going on.
The older girl went to speak, but the togruta beat her to it. "Those people were going to show me the room of a thousand fountains, but instead, they brought me here and called me names! They were meanies! Then they pushed me and whacked my arm! This girl came and tried to stick up for me, but they were going to be mean to her too!" the younger girl said rather quickly gesturing to Rey. Allie found it hard to completely understand her, she was guessing a few of the things the girl said.
"Really? That was very kind and brave of you, youngling," Allie said, praising the older youngling for sticking up for the girl who was practically a toddler. It was a Jedi thing to do, but that didn't mean anyone would do it, certainly not until they were older.
Getting the feeling she was supposed to say her name, Rey said, feeling herself go red as she looked to the ground, moving her feet nervously, "I'm Reynne Skywalker: I thought it was the right thing to do. I am so sick of him bullying all the others just because they are anything other than human."
"What's your name, young one? Thank you, Skywalker: do you happen to know his name? That would be most helpful as I will need to talk to his clan master and names are much easier to track people with. I'm Knight Allie, so you know," Allie said officially.
"I'm Ahsoka Tano!" the togruta, Ahsoka, said brightly.
"Boniss is one of his names, I don't know if it's a first or last," Rey shrugged, not even caring. "That's all I have ever heard him called. The only other thing I know is he's not in the Wookie Clan."
"Okay, thank you, Skywalker: that should be enough. I don't suppose you could take Tano back to the creche, could you? It's down near the other clan common rooms, but a bit closer to the wing with the padawan and master quarters," Allie requested, feeling a headache coming on. This needed to be done, but it was by no means pleasant. She always felt horrible, even if the person deserved it.
"I know the way!" Ahsoka cried brightly, a big toothy grin forming on her lips. "I can lead! Please, Miss Reynne?"
"Okay," Rey nodded, looking relieved.
"Thank you. Make sure neither of you gets lost, Tano," Allie called, walking off towards the padawan, knight and master quarters.
Allie wasn't sure what to do despite her decision, so she decided to go and talk to her cousin Adi Gallia about it, as it was a bit less intimidating than telling the whole council. Adi could also tell her if it was the correct thing to do to find the guilty ones and punish them harshly.
Allie also knew it was suggested to let the council know about the younglings, especially about the good or bad deeds they'd done, like this one with the female Skywalker. If she told her cousin, she could pass it on to the rest of the council. Allie liked that idea: then she wouldn't have to stand before them.
"All right, lead the way, Ahsoka. I can call you that, right?" Rey asked as Allie walked off.
"Yep! I like you! I wanna be just like you when I'm big!" Ahsoka declared.
"I'm nothing special. You just become what you want and who you want to be, Ahsoka," Rey advised, wanting to melt from the Knight and Ahsoka's remarks. "You can call me Rey, by the way."
"Rey... that's short," Ahsoka remarked not unkindly.
"Well, it's short for Reynne, but I like Rey much better," Rey explained, her lips twitching into a smile, her spirits lifted with talking with Ahsoka.
"Ah," Ahsoka nodded. The two travelled in silence for a bit, which was impressive considering Rey's previous encounters with young kids. She had always thought they were all chatterboxes with no off switch, until now.
"You know, I don't think I'll ever get used to this place. I can find my way to the archives, but that's basically it. I can't find my way anywhere else without getting lost," Rey moaned as she followed Ahsoka.
"It's easy! I can find my way around! I haven't been allowed out for long, nor here for that much time, but I can! Why can't you?" Ahsoka asked in simple child-like sweet innocence.
"I haven't been here long either, and I think I have a pretty terrible sense of direction. After all, it was all pretty simple before now, I'd go with others until the path was burnt into my mind," Rey said. It was pretty truthful, she thought. She had found her way to the outpost on Jukku by wandering and searching for food and water.
For many years, she would randomly go around the desert trying to find the outpost or her walker home, or she had followed another scavenger back. Eventually, she could find her own way back except for when she went into unknown areas deep in the desert.
After that, Rey had always been with others and having them lead. When it wasn't that sort of situation, she nearly always had the coordinates which put into the ship and off she went. It had been the same as Reynne, which was why now when Rey was thrown into the deep end with next to no help, she got hopelessly lost.
"You must be way, way too old. I was almost too old and I was four when they found me!" Ahsoka exclaimed.
"Yeah, I was lucky to get accepted: I'm nine," Rey said patiently. "But watch yourself, young one: I may be old to become a Jedi, but I am not old, which your tone suggested."
"Cool! You're like that boy who came here a few weeks ago. I got to meet him, too! Though, only briefly," Ahsoka said excitedly.
"Anakin? I met him when I arrived here. We got chatting for a bit," Rey responded.
"Aw, you're lucky. I wish I was lucky," Ahsoka said sighing.
"How's that lucky?" Rey asked raising an eyebrow.
"Just 'cause!" Ahsoka said impatiently. Rey shook her head: she didn't understand kids.
A few minutes later, they arrived at their destination. "We're here!" Ahsoka declared as they came to a normal Jedi Temple door. Not that Rey expected there to be anything different to all the other doors, but for some reason, she particularly noticed this one.
"I'll come in with you to explain what happened," Rey said as Ahsoka made the door open.
"Thanks!" Ahsoka said joyously.
As they entered the creche, Rey thought it was a lot like the first room one came to upon entering the Wookie Clan's common room. It looked a bit more child-proof, not that Rey had any idea about what a child-proofed room was like.
"I'm back!" Ahsoka called, running over to a doorway directly across the room. "Come on!" she said impatiently, gesturing for Rey to follow. Rey complied, feeling a little awkward. She thought she stuck out like a sore thumb.
As they entered the room Ahsoka ran to, Rey saw it looked like a playroom. There were a lot of kids in here, all too young to go into clans, (she had heard it mentioned they were moved there when they were six,) playing around and getting into mischief. A tired woman was trying to take care of them all: Rey felt sorry for her.
"Master Stella!" Ahsoka called, running over.
"Tano? There you are! Where have you been?!" the Jedi, Master Stella, said concernedly, scolding the younger girl as Ahsoka ran up.
"She told me she was tricked into following some of the younglings, then they started bullying her." Stella gasped as Rey spoke. "When I came across them, they were insulting her and pushing her around," Rey said timidly, suddenly very interested in the floor in front of her. While Master Stella did not seem nasty or anything, Rey found herself being weary of her for some reason. She supposed she was worried Master Stella taking a piece out of Rey, particularly when Ahsoka had been missing.
"Oh? Are you all right?" Master Stella said, becoming worried and quickly checking the young child.
"Yeah, Rey helped me before they could beat me up too much, then Master Allie came!" Ahsoka said brightly. Rey wondered if she was bothered by the incident anymore.
"Look at me." Rey obeyed. "You have my thanks, Rey. You're that new youngling, aren't you?" Master Stella asked kindly, turning to Rey.
"Yes, mam," Rey nodded quickly.
"Don't be shy: for some reason, I seem to have the ability to make everyone except for these young younglings nervous, and I'm not sure why or how," Master Stella said, smiling and almost laughing. "I wish I could make them nervous: they might quieten down!" She gestured to the kids.
"Oh," Rey said, feeling relieved. Then she said, "I, I better go now: I don't want to bother you too much."
"That's fine, Rey. If you want to come back, feel free," Master Stella said kindly. Her tone and expression almost went to pleading: Rey guessed Stella would like someone else coming regularly.
"Okay, thanks," Rey said, finally relaxing a bit.
"You will come again, won't you? I want to play and talk again!" Ahsoka begged, looking up at her with big cute eyes.
"Sure: I will," Rey nodded, gulping at that face. She knew she would feel very cruel to say no to Ahsoka, especially when she asked like that.
"Yay! See you soon!" Ahsoka cried happily, dancing around.
"Thanks again, Reynne Skywalker. May the force be with you until next time," Master Stella said, laughing and shaking her head at Ahsoka's antics.
"And you, master," Rey nodded, desperately wanting to escape, overwhelmed with awkwardness.
Rey turned and left, thinking it was a shame she was unable to – and would likely failing to continue down her road for downing Palpatine, but happy she had done some good and seemingly made a new friend. Good deeds and talking to people seemed to be good for the soul.
############################(four days later)#############
From that day on, Rey's life went much the same, with the added addition of visiting Ahsoka. It somehow extended to spending time with the other young children, resulting in half an hour to an hour of talking to Ahsoka and friends. Some days she ended up spending her entire free afternoon period in the creche. Rey was thankful there was a little bit of time earlier in her day to go to the archives.
Rey found she now had a fan club in the younger younglings. They all seemed to love her; certainly, they liked her enough leaving was often problematic. Rey recalled one time when she left when she had to peel the young children off of herself.
While Rey was flattered, she found herself always on edge and unnerved. She went in terrified, fearing she'd never come out again. When Rey explained her feelings to Master Stella, the older Jedi explained it happened whenever other Jedi came in. Especially if they stayed and told stories, which Rey did. Rey felt better hearing that, though she was suspecting she was being set up to be a creche master, judging by how Stella acted and the things she said.
Right now though, Rey was busy trying to find Anakin. It was about time she spoke to him in person again, and now was a better time than any. While she was still spending time in the archives, thanks to her creche visits, she had little free time left for reading or anything else: if Rey got talking to Master Nu, she barely had any time. Today, Rey had spent half an hour in the creche, setting aside the other hour to be with Anakin. Having that time free was no small feat with the children greedy for Rey's attention.
In other news, Master Allie had been true to her word. Boniss and his friends had gotten into trouble, which was glorious as far as Rey, Sati and Mumba were concerned. As far as they could make out, Boniss and his cronies had to stay with their clan master at all times, meaning they were not allowed to go off on their own. Rey was willing to bet they tried to escape a few times, and likely failed considering Boniss, at least, was crap in their stealth class.
By now Rey had spent twenty or so minutes looking for Anakin. She was joined by the utter despair and frustration of being lost, yet again. It was a common theme for her. She wished she had asked Sati or someone to accompany her, as she had no idea how she would find her way back. Maybe Anakin would be able to take her back, or help her find her way back? Rey hoped so.
As she prowled near the room of A Thousand Fountains, Rey glanced around and in until finally spotting Anakin. He was standing near the exit with a youngish man, who seemed similar to Poe agewise when she first met him. He had what Rey would describe as brownie-red hair. Next to him was a man in a hover chair, and he had long brown hair which was lighter than Rey's had been in her previous body.
Finally, the third member of the group: a tholothian. Rey couldn't see the other two's faces, but she could see the tholothian, and she reminded her a lot of Allie. Perhaps they were related? She recalled hearing something like that.
"Hey, Anakin!" Rey called without thinking. Perhaps if she had considered who Anakin was with, Rey would have not spoken out and just waved. If she had thought about it, she may also have walked closer, too. Rey withered under the dark glares a few nearby Jedi sent her.
Anakin, meanwhile, looked around when he heard his name called. He soon spotted Rey, being glared at by meditating Jedi. Oh, finally! She was the one being glared at for a change. It was nice, as it was normally him at the receiving end of their glares.
Anakin quickly started walking towards her, resisting the urge to run. He was trying to be subtle; he kept sending his master sideways glances. He had been bored stiff until now, so Anakin keen to getaway. He knew if he ran, he had no chance of giving Obi-Wan or Qui-Gon the slip. Maybe Master Gallia too, but he wasn't so sure about her, or wherever or not she'd just let him go. Anakin strongly believed Obi-Wan would force him to stay until they left, saying it was good for his patience or something.
"Rey! How are you?" Anakin excitedly said as he reached her. He was positively gleeful, giddy with joy to spend some time with his sister and get away from that boring conversation.
"Good: you?" Rey asked, also very happy about the prospect.
"Come on, let's go a bit further away," Anakin said glancing behind him, hurriedly grabbing Rey by the arm and dragging her off to a nearby corridor.
"Okay... why?" Rey asked, puzzled. While she wasn't keen on the glares continuing, she wondered what the hurry to get away was.
"So I don't have to listen to them talk on and on to Gallia! They have already been at it for at least half an hour," Anakin grimaced, ready to scream. "If we go further away, it will take longer for them to realise I'm gone, hopefully."
"Won't you get into trouble, though?" Rey asked, her features morphing into a concerned expression, her mouth turning downwards.
"Yeah, probably: but who cares?" Anakin said, not sounding terribly worried. Rey was not sure what to make of that, but she didn't ponder on it for too long.
When they had gotten a bit further away, Anakin said, stopping, "Gallia mentioned something about you: was it true you helped a youngling out?" They slide down onto the ground facing each other, on either side of the corridor so others could still pass.
"Yes: her name is Ahsoka. Some initiates hate anyone who isn't human in species; like, really hate them. So, they bully them. This time, they banded together and lured her out just to do that. It was so darn mean. I had to do something, and when they pushed her, I lost it. I almost hurt one badly," Rey said sheepishly, looking away from Anakin.
Then she said, not really thinking, "They decided to pick on me instead, but I called for help and Master Allie came. I have no idea what they would have done if she hadn't come, though." If she had thought about it for a second, she would have decided telling Anakin was a bad idea, considering what she knew about him.
He let out a few huttese curses. "Those slimos! If they dared lay-" Anakin growled in a hiss, fortunately, Rey was able to cut him off before he got too worked up. Not that he wasn't already.
"Anakin, calm down! They didn't do anything, and we're pretty sure they're getting punished for it now. Besides, I'm not fragile, I'm perfectly capable of defending myself," Rey said, scowling slightly at the thought of being treated like porcelain. She hated that.
While Rey did appreciate the gesture, she wished he wouldn't get so worked up about it. The worst they would have done was beat her up a bit, but there was a limit to how much damage they could do: wasn't there? Besides, even if it wasn't Allie, someone would have found them eventually, or Boniss and his gang would have lost interest in her. They were just racist, mostly bark rather than bite, or so she believed. Not to mention they had a short attention span. If they had actually hurt her, Rey wasn't sure how she personally would have reacted.
"I know, but still!" Anakin argued. Rey hurriedly tried to shut him down.
"Look, I get it and I appreciated it, but you can't look after me all the time. Most of the time, actually. That means you'll have to get used to the fact I'll probably get hurt. I was not injured anyway, so no worries!" Rey said, brightening up at the end, trying to lift the mood.
"I guess," Anakin nodded somewhat begrudgingly. He had given in a little, which was all Rey wanted.
"Anyway, anything interesting happening with you?" Rey asked, shifting her position slightly.
"Yeah: Obi-Wan is going to take me to Illum to get my lightsaber next week!" Anakin said excitedly.
"Cool, Ani! I'm so jealous! I wanna go!" Rey moaned, feeling a sense of longing with a pang of envy. While she had liked the Skywalker saber and Leia's, they were not her own. She wanted to make and have her own lightsaber.
"I"m sure you'll get to go soon," Anakin said encouragingly.
"Hopefully," Rey allowed, feeling doubtful about it.
For some reason, she found herself thinking of the time when Sati told her her name was too short for a shortening. "Did I tell you about when I first met Sati? She thought it was weird I had a shortening, as my name didn't seem very long to her." Rey and Anakin both laughed.
"I'm not sure. But didn't you say she had a ridiculously long and complicated name? Saturoria or something, right?" Anakin asked, getting it completely wrong after thinking hard for a moment. Rey, despite herself, couldn't help but giggle at him.
"It's Satiria'meh! And from what she's told me, Zerolians would consider her name slightly shorter than average for a first name."
"Force, how long would a long one be?" Anakin asked, looking like he had just been shocked by a power socket. He had heard a lot about Sati from Rey, and it sounded as though they got on very well and were good friends: he'd be lying to say he wasn't jealous, resisting the urge to pout or silently show his feelings when Rey talked about her. He was jealous of Rey for being able to make friends and jealous of Sati for getting to spend all that time with his sister: Anakin wasn't completely certain which.
"I have no idea, Ani" Rey said, wondering what kind of name it would be. Maybe something like Nataliareinkia'ashben, not that she had any idea how that would even be pronounced if it could be.
"Anakin!" Rey and Anakin heard, but neither of them could place where it was coming from as they could only just hear it. At the same time, Anakin felt Obi-Wan calling him through their master-apprentice bond.
"Kfft! It's my master! You better get out of here," Anakin exclaimed, swearing.
"Are you allowed to swear?" Rey asked, leaning in slightly and raising her eyebrow. "But why?"
"Never mind that, just go- too late," Anakin said desperately, seeing Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon come around the corner. Rey didn't get to ask properly, but she was dying to know why Anakin didn't want her to meet his master. Was he ashamed of her? A pang went through her heart at that idea. She hoped not, Rey didn't think she could cope with that.
Both children jumped up. "Anakin! There you are! Why must you always run off like that?!" The person Rey believed was Obi-Wan said, turning on the boy. While Rey hadn't seen him often, she realised she'd rarely seen Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon apart. Perhaps because Obi-Wan was a new knight and not fit to have taken Anakin on? Or perhaps he was feeling clingy after almost losing his former master? Rey wanted to snigger at that thought: it would be just like a Jedi to feel like that and not admit it. She had observed that was a common behaviour with Jedi from interactions in the archives and hallways.
"Obi-Wan, calm yourself. We were talking with Adi for a very long time: Anakin probably just got bored and when saw his friend here, he decided to go and speak to her," Qui-Gon said, trying not to sound amused. His expression betrayed him.
Obi-Wan looked perplexed. "Huh? Oh, hello there!" Obi-Wan said, seeing Rey. Rey realised he must not have noticed her until then. She bit back a giggle, just looking amused instead.
"Yes, that's right. This is Reynne, the initiate Master Gallia mentioned," Anakin said, introducing Rey.
"Hi! No one calls me Reynne, though: except for my teachers," Rey added. "They all call me Rey."
"Ah. Your surname is Skywalker, isn't it?" Qui-Gon asked, thinking he had heard her name passed around at some point. Maybe with Adi: they were with her for so long he'd forgotten half of what she said. He would have been happy to leave Obi-Wan and Adi to it. Alas, it wasn't appropriate for someone like him to just leave.
Rey nodded firmly, a joyous smile dancing across her lips. "Yep! Reynne Skywalker is my full name, though I don't know my middle name if I have one," Rey said proudly. Anakin meanwhile, was torn between feeling happy or horrified that she had cheerfully told they were siblings: he assumed they would realise that. Anakin wondered if they should mention he and Rey were siblings. He was torn between proudly stating the fact and hiding it, fearing his master preventing him from talking to Rey.
"Well, nice to meet you, Rey," Qui-Gon said, wondering if this was the other child in Shmi Skywalker's limited photo collection.
"Yes, nice to meet you. You haven't been here long, have you?" Obi-Wan said, genuinely not sure what to say. It seemed a bit impolite to shoo the girl away or charge off, but he had no idea what to say to her. He was also feeling a bit embarrassed for taking so long to notice her presence. Even in just the force, she was very noticeable.
"No, not long. It's been a few weeks, but I can't remember the exact number. I get out of our clan rooms quite a bit, though I mostly visit the archives. I like reading articles from the senate and the bills the senators propose: all useful stuff to know," Rey said politely, giving a childish wink. She added, "I still can't find my way around, though."
"Still?" Anakin exclaimed, shocked. He looked at her scandalously.
"Yeah: terrible, isn't it? No one else can believe it, either," Rey said, looking away from the other's eyes, trying to ignore the sheepish look she knew was dressing her face.
"You will eventually," Qui-Gon said encouragingly.
"Maybe," Rey said doubtfully.
"Anyway: good work on looking after your follow youngling, Young Rey. Make sure you keep it up," Obi-Wan said awkwardly, remembering Adi telling them about that venture.
"Thank you, Master. I was just glad I could help her. I visit her and the other kids now, they asked so nicely," Rey said, going red. "Although, I'm worried that lot will take me, prisoner, one day. I couldn't leave one time because they were all holding me down!" She exclaimed.
"At least they found several guilty for that particular event," Qui-Gon said, speaking up. "It must have been hard to muster the courage to face such a large group: I assume you had no weapon of your own."
"I knew it was bad: I got angry and just charged in like a nitwit. Ahsoka can't help being Togruta, and it's not fair! I did do something wrong, though. When they pushed her, I attacked out of anger. Luckily I didn't actually hurt Boniss," Rey said, feeling her contempt over it as her hands formed fists.
"We all do that at some point, young Rey," Qui-Gon said, thinking about himself and Obi-Wan. He recalled talking with Obi-Wan after said he had fought that sith with red vision after the zebrak mortally wounded Qui-Gon. Obi-Wan knew he had attacked out of anger, and they both suspected he had touched the dark side. Even today Qui-Gon was still working through Obi-Wan's shame over that slip-up.
Rey relaxed instantly, feeling relieved at that declaration. "Really? That's a relief," Rey said, beginning to wonder why she had randomly said that to them.
While she knew this was not the first time for her, it was the first time as Reynne Skywalker. Her impression from what the force man had given her was that she would still be Rey Palpatine or whatever she was called in her old life, meaning those same problems and the darkness of that bloodline still run in her, not to mention Reynne wasn't without her special problems. Still, hearing that made Rey feel slightly better. This all gave her hope for Rey and Reynne's future.
"I should probably go," Rey said after a few moments of silence, thinking it would take her a while to find her way back, deciding not to ask for help to get back. As it was, she was likely going to be late for meeting the others in the common room for homework.
"Aw, do you have to leave?" Anakin moaned. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, meanwhile, just nodded.
Obi-Wan shot Anakin a look. "We have training to do, Anakin, so we better be off too," Obi-Wan told him.
"Yes, Master!" Anakin said, perking up a bit. Rey despite herself, found herself wanting to pout as her spirits dropped: not that she was sure why. Was it because he was doing training? Or was it something else?
"See ya. May the force be with you," Rey said quietly.
"You too, Rey. See you soon!" Anakin said brightly, making a smile tug at Rey's lips.
"Bye, Rey: hope to hear more about you soon," Qui-Gon said, smiling at her. Rey didn't know him, but he seemed like a nice man.
"Goodbye," Was Obi-Wan's short and quiet reply. Rey waved, then turned and headed in the direction she thought and hoped the Wookie Common Room was in.
Rey found herself giggling and shaking her head at Obi-Wan: he seemed quite awkward and it was a little amusing to her. She wondered why... was it the whole situation? Was it her? She liked the idea of the latter: making people awkward sounded fun.
When Rey had walked far enough she was out of earshot, Qui-Gon asked Anakin, "When did you meet her?"
"A while back. I found her crying out in the gardens, so I talked to her. We kind of keep running into each other, and after a while, we exchanged commlink numbers so we can talk," Anakin said quickly, leaving out a few details.
"So that's who you talk to every night," Obi-Wan said, noticing how fond Anakin seemed to be of Rey Skywalker. "Mind your feelings, Padawan: I can tell you like the girl."
Anakin realised Obi-Wan (at least) had no idea whatsoever Rey was his sister. How? Surely the fact they looked similar and had the same surname would twig? He wondered if the thought had even crossed his master's mind. "What?! She's just a friend!" Anakin exclaimed, spluttering, horrified at the suggestion. What his master had implied seemed very gross to Anakin, especially when he knew she was his sister. He hoped this didn't come up again, or else he may have to tell them to not have that suggestion brought up again, ignoring any warnings of their 'attachment.'
"Anakin is allowed friends, Obi-Wan. Besides, he is a bit young for that sort of thing," Qui-Gon chuckled, evidently amused and certainly not helping matters. Qui-Gon thought he knew the actual connection between them, but he thought it was more fun teasing the boy.
Anakin was beginning to regret not telling about his connection to her, and wondered if he should end his misery now: he wondered if it would work. He didn't, because if the council knew, there must be a reason why they didn't tell him, Rey, Qui-Gon or Obi-Wan.
"You two!" Anakin moaned. "Can we go, please?"
"Yes, good idea," Obi-Wan nodded, shaking his head. Qui-Gon was right, but Anakin seemed to be very attached to her for a new friend. He was concerned for the boy, concerned it would lead him astray or cloud his judgement.
"Yay!" Anakin said, running ahead, excited to go and get the training out of the way, and more importantly, hopefully putting this weird encounter out of their minds.
##################
Rey meanwhile, tried to get back but got completely lost, again. After a good hour, or what felt like that, Rey gave up and decided to look for help. That was after giving a long groan and cry of frustration alongside kicking the wall—stubbing her toe.
Much to her surprise, Jedi Master Dooku was the one she came across first once she decided to hunt for help. He seemed like the last person she'd just come across, Rey thought even Yoda was more likely; but who knew?
"Initiate Skywalker, what are you doing aimlessly in the halls?" he asked sternly. Rey flinched: she hadn't been sure about him, he seemed stony when she met the council, but so did the rest of them. Right now, Rey thought he was grumpy.
"I'm lost, sir. I can't find my way back," Rey said timidly, suddenly feeling very shy and shrinking back like a scared animal.
"Oh. How can you not find your way back still? You have been here for a month!" he said, sounding unimpressed.
"Yes, I know," Rey said, looking down at her feet, shuffling uneasily.
"Well, come on then: I haven't got all day. Have you thought of writing down markers or leaving them on walls?" Dooku asked as he started to walk off. "As long as it is removable or stick out, it is acceptable to put markers down."
"Err, no, master," Rey said, shaking her head, running after him.
"Well, do consider it. We can't have stray younglings always getting lost, can we?" Dooku said roughly. He seemed very harsh, but perhaps that was normal for him.
Rey decided he was nonsense and unforgiving: either that or he particularly disliked her. "No, we can't," Rey said, agreeing, not willing to dare go against him.
"Have you met the other Skywalker?" Dooku asked suddenly.
It took Rey a while to respond, wrong-footed by the sudden change in topic. "Umm, yeah," Rey nodded, unsure if she should be honest.
"Umming is not becoming of a Jedi," Dooku scolded. But he continued, "Good. Qui-Gon seems to think he's the chosen one, but now there are two possibilities: the prophecy never stated a gender. What do you think happened? Who is the chosen one? You or him? Or both?"
"Err, I don't know," Rey shrugged. She asked, despite herself, "Does it matter?"
"No, not at the moment," Dooku shook his head.
He said a few turns later, "Now, straight down there, then a left turn when you come to the third corridor on the left."
"Thanks, Master Dooku," Rey said, not wanting to take any chances and going for as nice and agreeable as possible.
"Now, do get something done about getting lost," Dooku told her as he left.
Rey felt confused as she stared after him: what a weird man! He seemed unpleasant one minute, then quite nice the next. She shook her head and shrugged: she couldn't work him out. Maybe when she was a bit older or interacted with him in another situation it would be clearer.
Rey walked back to the Wookie Clan, wondering if any of them would be interested in hearing about what she had been up to. Rey started skipping, feeling surprisingly high-spirited and carefree, not caring that it was probably against the rules to skip in hallways.
Rey's good at making friends, isn't she? What do you think? Should Obi-Wan find out in chapters time? Or should I leave it, and have Anakin get the teasing he deserves for this stunt? I know it seems silly, but I couldn't resist. I love writing over-protective big brother Anakin. What do you think of Rey's encounter with Dooku? Who, for those confused, is a short way from leaving. The event leading up to that is about to happen, but it shall be off screen.
I know Anakin and Obi-Wan's relationship is a bit strained and OOC, but don't forget things are a little different and this is right at the start when Obi-Wan has no idea how to handle a nine-year-old and they are not used to each other.
Do you want pockets of viewings from other people's POV? For Anakin and a couple of other characters I will have bits from their POV, but do you want a bit more from let's say Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon? Or people like Windu and Palpatine? Speaking of which, we're two chapters away from Palpatine's first brief appearance.
Question! Should Rey and Anakin just exist because the force decided as such? or should someone have comic explanation that Palpatine manipulated the midi-chlorians? I kind of like that, because it would really make Rey happy (laughing face).
Do people have any guesses as to who Rey is going to be paired with? Admittedly, it's too early to say, but I'm curious. Do you think the likes of Sati and Mumba might wield to the weakness of the flesh? Only time will tell!
Thanks for reading. BTW, if you have played Ary and the Secret of Seasons, please go to my Fanfiction. Online profile (I'm just redroseaurora)/go to the story and support my story for it. It will eventually be on fanfiction .net, assuming they decide to create the category.