Beyond the Rim

Book 1

Chapter 6: Magic and the Force

The small boat steamed up the river, passing smaller paddle boats along the way, below the deck, Ezra and Kanan were meditating, Hera was making minor repairs to Chopper, Zeb and Sabine were above deck.

Ezra and Kanan were doing their best to focus with the water skimming across the wooden hull, and the racket from the pistons of the steam engine.

Kanan grunted and opened his eyes. "I don't think we can really focus in this environment."

Hera patted Kanan on the back. "Well, the force can't solve all our problems, it's a big planet, and with as many people as we seen there could be more across the planet."

Ezra stood up and wiped the dust off his jumpsuit legs. "We've tried reaching out to see if we can find him or his surroundings, but I guess we're not focusing hard enough."

Ezra began to walk out onto the main deck of the ship. Kanan was about to join him, but Hera stepped into path. She looked into Kanan's eyes, full of concerns.

Kanan tried to look away from Hera's gaze. "I know I have a strong connection to Master Khan; I don't know why I can sense or reach out to him."

Hera put her hand on Kanan's cheek and turned his head back into her gaze. "Well, how about to tell me all about Master Khan, and try making the connection again."

Kanan smiled at Hera, as they both sat back down for Kanan to recount his friendship with the Jedi Master.

Ezra saw Sabine clinging closely to the center mast of the boat, with an orange floatation device tied around her, while Zeb was just laying on the deck, enjoying the breeze and the sunshine.

Ezra smirked at Sabine. "You know, the waters are calm, and I think we know this captain knows how to sail around here."

Sabine looked up at Ezra. "I can believe that, but I can't trust the water. When I was in the academy, we had to run drills in the water. Some of the other cadets were jealous or angry at my work, they tried to cut my air supply or keep me underwater. I nearly drowned on multiple occasions."

Ezra whipped the smirk off his face as quickly as he could. "I… I'm sorry Sabine."

Sabine turned her eyes away from Ezra. "It's okay, you had nothing to do with the memory."

Ezra walked towards Zeb, often glancing back at Sabine. He laid down, right next to Zeb and took a deep breath of the fresh air.

Zeb, without looking at Ezra, spoke. "I never knew there can be this much peace and quiet anywhere."

Ezra didn't say a word, he just stared up at the clouds in the sky and the birds flying through the air. He eventually turned his eyes to the riverbanks, they have left the more forested area they were previously, and now they were in a mild plain of tall grass, farmhouses, and orchards.

Ezra was beginning to draw almost every thought of what Lothal was before the Empire took over and began tearing it apart. Only for his daydream to be interrupted by the whistle of a passing steamboat.

He and Zeb looked up to see a large three-story boat, with a giant wheel in the back, paddling it down river towards the direction they came.

Ezra and Zeb stood up to look to where that boat came from, only to be completely caught off guard by a mass of manmade structures of wood, brick, and metal reaching the sky.

"Kanan, Hera, you guys got to see this."

The two adults and Chopper surfaced from the lower decks and transfixed their eyes towards the front of the boat.

Kanan blinked and whipped his eyes to make sure he was not imagining it. "It's a city."

Sabine eventually made her way closer to the others, clenching to the handrail the whole way. "It looks like this could be a financial center, you got farms nearby, fishing, and transportation, usually the basis of a primitive society."

The others hadn't noticed Zeb was looking upwards above them till he notified them. "Uh, so do societies become un-primitive when they build flying machines?"

The others were confused at first, till they looked up. Above them was a large cylinder shape, with a metallic humming as it flew overhead. Several smaller lighter craft with two pairs of wings flew next to it.

Hera began to giggle. "I'm starting to like this place already."

It was not long for the boat to pull into port and dock, before the others could depart and unload, Sabine bolted onto the concrete dock. "Ah, land sweet land."

She began to remove the floatation device hugging her as the others began to unload their supplies from the boat. While lowering one of the speeder bikes, Ezra looked to Kanan. "So, where do we start now?"

Kanan's face sunk low. "Well, we are going to have to find a quiet place to meditate, try to reach out again with the force. This planet is getting bigger the further out we go, he could be hundreds of click away and we could miss him."

Ezra shrugged. "Well, it never hurts to try, let's go find a quiet place."

Kanan began to push the bike but suddenly came to a calm stop, he began to look around, he felt as though something, or someone was calling to him.

Eventually he felt Chopper poking at him. "Alright, I'm moving."

They began to walk though the town, they looked all around them as all eyes were focused on them.

In one of the nearby stores, a man turned to the cashier. "Do we call the sheriff, or animal control?"

The cashier only shrugged; he began turning the dial on his communication device hung on the wall. "Get me the authorities."

The crew continue to walk down the street, they noticed some of the citizens started to emerge from the buildings with weapons, the rebels began to feel uneasy, except for Kanan as he felt as he should walk into a nearby store.

He motioned towards the others. "Guys, follow me." The others did not hesitate to follow him inside the building, as they entered, the door hit a bell, causing it to ring. From the back, they heard a woman call out. "I'll just be a moment."

They looked out the window, they saw what looked like a mob was assembling outside, with farming tools and guns in their hands.

Before they could consider options, they heard the rattle of beads behind them. The saw two women dressed in dark robes, they had brown shoulder bags strapped around them, the older one carried a large staff, while the younger one was wearing glasses.

The older one spoke first, almost unmoved by their appearance, especially with Hera and Zeb. "Good morning, how can we help you?"

Before someone could say something, she looked over their shoulders and through the window, to see the mob that assembled outside.

The woman's smile disappeared; she began to make her way towards the door. "Pardon me just one moment. Amy, get some drinks for our guests here. I'll deal with the townsfolks again."

The rebels looked as she went out of the shop, in front of the mob. She reached into her satchel and grabbed a handful of blue dust.

Sabine looked perplexed. "What is she doing?"

Soon, the woman threw the dust in the air over the cloud, she then raised her staff as it began to glow. Within that moment, Ezra and Kanan felt a strong pull of power, the force.

The woman spoke with a strong voice. "You will go to your homes and forgot what you have saw."

Ezra and Kanan realized, she has a connection to the force.

One by one the citizens began to walk away, others stood on the street, question why they were standing around with guns and pitchforks.

The woman walked back into the shop and brushed off the residue with her hands, back into the bag. "Forgive me for that, my name is Lavina, and this is my apprentice Amy."

The others turned to see the younger woman with a tray of small cups with a brown fizzy liquid inside. Amy raised her hand to wave it "Hello, how are you…"

Suddenly, the tray slipped out of her hands, and the cups began to fall towards the floor, everyone's instant reaction was to try to grab them before they hit the floor. But suddenly, the cups began to float in the air. Hera turned to Kanan and Ezra to see if they were doing it. But once she saw that they were only watching, she saw that it was Amy who caught it in midair, suspending them with nothing.

Emily shily giggle. "Sorry, go ahead, take one, I can't hold them for long."

The crew began to grab the cups suspended in air, Kanan looked towards the two women. "Are you two Jedi?"

The two women looked confused. Lavina spoke first still puzzled. "I don't know what a Jedi is, we are wizards."

Kanan drank from his cup, and once it was empty, he dropped the cup too the floor, only to lift it with the force. "But you know of the force?"

The two wizards looked on as he raised it higher and eventually towards a waste bin, dropping it in.

Lavina looked at Kanan. "It seems you also have the gift and have received training."

Ezra stepped forward. "Is this gift the Force?"

Lavina knelt down to Ezra. "We call it the gift; it was a power from the Three Gods given to us to help the ones who don't have it."

Ezra tried to give Lavina a breakdown of the Force. "Well, we have this gift two, we call it the force, its apart of all living things, and we use it to lift objects with our minds, and we help people."

Lavina stood back up and looked at the entire crew. "Where are you all from?"

Zeb slowly and awkwardly said. "Uh… Space."

She leaned in closer. "Why are you here then?"

Hera crossed her arms. "We're looking for another one of our friends who also uses the force, you wouldn't have happened to know him, a Jon Khan?"

Lavina scratched her chin. "The name is not familiar to me, but it looks like you're trying to find one person out of a population of over a few hundred billion. Perhaps we can offer our services?"

The crew looked at each other and got into a huddle, Zeb spoke first. "I never understood this whole force thing, and now we're being fed a second version of it."

Ezra raised his eyebrow at Zeb, "Hey, it's helped us before, I don't see how it couldn't help us again."

Sabine scratched her chin. "Well, when I was at the academy, they taught us a bit on magic, it's not necessarily the safest method or the most practical. Never the less if it was mingled with the force or anything."

Kanan looked at Sabine. "Those were Sith and the Night Sisters they talked about, mixed it with practices of the Jedi. Just look at them, they don't look like they use the dark side."

Hera nudged in. "She did say there were over a hundred billion people on this planet, so it can defiantly narrow the search."

Chopper started shaking up and down and chipped in compliance.

Hera broke the circle "Its settled, four too two." She turned to Lavina and Amy; "We'll take your offer."

Lavina smiled "Excellent, we just need a few key ingredients." She pulled one of the books off the shelf and began to scroll to the pages. "Here it is, a seeker spell, it will need a compass, a shadow moth, and something he is in, like a photograph or a personal item that belonged to him."

Hera nodded and turned to Sabine and Zeb. "You two go find the two items; we'll wait here and assist them."

Lavina stopped the two before they can exit. "Wait, this is for your big guy."

Zeb turned around, only to be enveloped in a bright pink cloud of dust, Lavina lifted her staff as it began to glow. She then shouted, "Power of The Son and shadow and illusion, bring this illusion to life!"

The dust then cleared, Zeb saw that everyone was looking at him, he turned to a nearby mirror on display, he saw a big muscular human man with purple hair, standing exactly where he was.

"What did you do to me!" Zeb shouted, as he began to rub his arms, thinking it would come off.

Amy giggled. "Don't worry, it's a disguise spell, it washes off, but that will keep another mob from trying to attack you guys. You might need money as well."

Amy handed Sabine a small bag, filled with red paper, with the image of an elderly king on the front, and a grand city on the back.

Lavina opened the door. "You should find the market just next to the harbor."

Sabine began to walk out of the building, but she noticed Zeb was not following her, she leaned in and began to drag him out and he kept staring at himself in the mirror, feeling his face.

The two walked down the street. "I didn't ask for all this force magic shenanigans." Zeb said.

Sabine looked to Zeb. "I know how you feel, they got a long history, but to be tossed right into it is just confusing. I'm a Mandalorian, how am I supposed to know about this force sorcery stuff?"

Zeb looked as some civilians passed him, looking at him awkwardly. "Uh, did the spell wash off in some parts?"

Sabine quickly examined Zeb up and down, "I don't see any…"

"HEY!", the two specters turned around, to see a man dressed in a dark three-piece suit, a brown belt with a holster and silver six shot gun. And on the upper portion of his outer jacket, a silver badge.

Sabine and Zeb turned slowly. Zeb chuckled; "Is there something wrong, sir?"

The man looked at Zeb. "What's with the purple hair?"

Sabine stepped in. "Uh, I dyed it for him."

The man looked confused. "So, your trendsetter from up north, that may also explain your dress, no clue they're going for a tight fit fashion now. Cary on."

The two continued towards the market. Vendors were selling all sorts of items, even trying to push sales. One came right up to Zeb. "Pardon me sir, would you care to by my new revolutionary elixir, makes your skin as smooth as the day you were born."

Zeb politely declined and kept walking. A saleswoman came up with tiny cups of fizzing liquids. "Free sample of our new cherry soft drink?"

Sabine and Zeb just shrugged and downed the liquid. Before they could get much further, a young man stopped Sabine. "Young lady, it seems to me you know a lot about firearms, I got an offer for this revolver, caliber point four five, normally one hundred and forty Crowns, but I'll sell it to you for ninety."

Sabine was temped, she took the pistol from his hand and started spinning and twirling it around in her hand. "Thanks, but I think I'll hold off on your offer."

She handed the pistol back to the young man, but out of the corner of her eye she spotted a stand that sold maps, telescopes, and compass', she quickly turned to Zeb "There, that's the place."

They approached an old man sitting behind the desk under the tent, he looked up at Zeb towering above him. "Can I help you lad?"

Zeb looked at the array of compass' on the table. "What is the best but cheapest you got?"

The man grabbed a brass compass from the Table. "This one is about five Crowns, she just points, nothing really special."

Zeb reached into the bag and pulled out five of the red pieces of paper. "We'll take it."

The man took the money and put it in a smaller box and handed the compass to Zeb. Sabine looked at the old man, "You wouldn't happen to know where we could find a shadow moth?"

The old man stared at Sabine and smiled. "Did Lavina send you this way?"

The two rebels looked surprised as the old man continued. "She always sends people to me who are looking for long lost friends and potential soul mates, her magic works real wonders yakow."

Sabine and Zeb were still skeptical as the man rose from his chair. "But with magic you see, especially with the Shadow Moth, you got to go into the bayous, There the old splinter group practiced the darker side of magic before they were expelled."

The old man started to sit back down. "Something tells me you don't really believe in all this magic religious stuff, trust me, if you want to catch a shadow moth, you got to be a believer."

Zeb and Sabine slowly backed up from the man and dashed towards the shop.

Lavina was holding the picture Kanan had of Master Khan. "I assure you; I won't damage the image."

Kanan gave a sigh of relief. "Thanks, it means a lot to still have that."

Sabine and Zeb then came through the door, with a compass in their hand and worry on their expressions.

Lavina spoke with a bit of confusion. "You're back so early, did you get the items?"

Zeb put the compass on the table. "We got this, but you're going to get the shadow moth yourself."

Lavina crossed her arms. "Is something wrong?"

Sabine commented. "We don't really have a full understanding of this force magic thing you guys keep talking about, and we feel it's better if you or Ezra and Kanan go into find it."

The others looked to Lavina. She looked at others and began to speak. "It's not a safe place for those who have the gift, or the force as you so call it."

The others began to lean in as she continues. "We draw our magic from three divine beings, The Father, The Daughter, and The Son. Their power contributes to our magic, the Son uses darkness for illusions and power, the Daughter uses light for clarity and sight, the Father keeps all things in balance. But there was one group who splintered off, who worshiped a far darker being. They use to be established in the bayou, They've since been driven out by the efforts of the wizards and the military, but some wizards say their evil power still dwells, driving some wizards to insanity, but regular people are able to pass with only minor experience."

Zeb's eyes widen. "So, Jedi cannot go in there, but we can? And a minor experience?"

Lavina nodded. "In order to gain what you seek; you must enter the elder tree there and face darkness."

Sabine and Zeb looked at the others, they saw a bit of shameful begging from Ezra, an assure sign of confidence from Kanan, and approval from Hera, they sucked in their suspicion and gave in. "Alright, we'll do it." Sabine said.

The two waded their way through the marshy waters, darkness was contrasted by the thick canopy above. Zeb blurted out "This is the worst plan."

Sabine elbowed Zeb in the chest. "I'm still skeptical as well about this force stuff, we should be just fine."

The two continued to walk forward until they came to a clearing, and in the center was a great tree, with a hole in its base. The two slowly approached, staring in awe at the tree.

Before they got any closer, Zeb bumped into something, a wooden sign, he stood back and looked at it, the words were not easy to make out. "Sabine, do you think you can interpret this?"

Sabine began to look at the sign. "I can try." She began to compare it with words they had already translated and saw along the way, she took a moment to let the device on her wrist to its matching, and then it got the results. "It says, Danger! Evil lives here."
Zeb chuckled and reached for his bo-rifle. "We're not going to let a sign tell us what to fear."

Sabine pulled out one of her blasters and a flashlight and the two began to walk into the shell of the tree.

The two felt a sudden drop in temperature, the room also seem to have been bigger on the inside, and they began to walk the rough path, deeper and deeper.

Zeb all of a sudden took a deep sniff. "Do you smell that?"

Sabine began to smell the sent Zeb was talking about. "Carbon scouring? The locals don't have blasters."

They began to approach the source of the smell, they reached the point where the odor surrounded them, then in a split second, Sabines light turned off.

Zeb began to panic a little, "Sabine this is not the place for a prank!"

Zeb heard Sabines voice. "I'm not joking Zeb, my light must have malfunctioned, but don't worry, I may have it fixed…"

Suddenly, the room filled with a bright yellow light, in the form of a long blade produced from what was once the flashlight.

Zeb and Sabine stared at the light, and then realized their attire had also been change from their usual combat clothes to lose fit robes, Zeb also saw that the potion that hid his true look had been undone. Before they could start guessing what was going on, they saw their surroundings had change to an Alderaanian ship, its halls burnt and wrecked, and bodies of Stormtroopers and Rebellion volunteers laying on the ground.

Zeb began to panic more. "I don't like this at all, maybe we should turn and…"

He turned around and saw no door behind them. Suddenly, at the other end of the hallway, an opening appeared. The two glanced at each other and began to walk towards the opening. When they came through to the other side, they were in complete shock and horror, to see Hera, Kanan, and Ezra, fallen on the ground, wounded. The group looked to Sabine and Zeb. "Jedi? We are saved! Please, help up!"

They began to limp and crawl towards their friends. Sabine and Zeb felt completely bewildered of what they were witnessing. Zeb blurted out. "But we aren't Jedi, you guys are."

The kept calling out for help, ignoring Zeb's words, they began to grab onto their clothes and almost pull them down into the floor.

The two began to panic as they were pulled though the floor, when their heads were submerged, it was all darkness, then light. The sky was dark grey, the sounds of the local population guns filled their air, large metal shells whistled through the air, as machines crossed over a trench they were in, the screaming of wounded men and women overshadowed some of the passing shots.

"The Jedi are here!" a voice cried out, as it was followed by a mighty cheer. A man in a dark blue uniform approached the two. "Master Jedi, we need your help, demolish their machine guns, and lead our troops to victory!"

Zeb and Sabine did not hesitate, they jumped out of the trench and ignited their lightsabers. "Charge!" yelled the commander. People in dark blue uniforms began to ascend from the trench and ran directly straight. Sabine and Zeb, we are at the front, somehow using the lightsabers, and strangely the force to re-direct incoming projectiles.

They crested into the enemy trench Zeb found a man, wearing a red uniform, he quickly used his lightsaber to disarm him, the man in red got on his knees. "Please, have mercy on me!"

Zeb froze, he looked at Sabine who was looking at Zeb, he saw all the men in blue engaged in hand to hand combat, and then back at the man in red.

Zeb de-ignited his lightsaber. "I'm not a Jedi, but I agree in their ways."

The man in red got up and began to run away. Suddenly one of the women in blue called out. "Here comes the stormtroopers!" Zeb and Sabine looked over the trench to see lines of stormtroopers approaching and firing. The two jumped out and began to attack the stormtroopers. Showing no mercy to the bucket heads. Zeb and Sabine tagged on the last one, and cut of his arms, the stormtrooper fell to the ground. But all of a sudden, his helmet fell off, he was the same man in red they had just spared.

The two looked in utter shock. "You spared me before when you knew who I was, why did you not spare me now?" the man said.

Before they can reason with themselves what they had done, the screaming of a shell approached them, growing ever louder as it impacted the floor in front of them. Showing dark mud all around.

When the explosion settled, they found themselves in Lothal, they checked their attire, and saw that they were back in their normal clothes, and weapons had been restored.

Kanan and Ezra were standing right Infront of them. Kanan looked at the confusion on their faces. "Is everything alright?"

Sabine regained her confidence and looked at both of them. "They use to say the Jedi were keepers of a peace, turned into warriors for the Clone Wars, but it has altered us to think they were only warriors, we expect too much of you guys, but we don't have enough understanding for the things you do."

Zeb begin to add. "It's not easy being a Jedi, there are choices you guys could make that will determine if you stay as a Jedi or find yourself turning into an inquisitor. I guess we're sorry for all the troubles we gave you."

Ezra Smiled. "These are the first steps to understanding the force, is to understand our duty for us and the people around us."

Slowly light began to fill the scene, and everything turned to white. Zeb and Sabine found themselves back in the tree, laying on their backs, it was a lot warmer, but Zeb felt something crawling on his arm, he slowly turned his head and saw a Shadow Moth. Sabine reached for a container and her belt, and quickly put it over the moth and sealed it.

Zeb looked at Sabine. "I guess we really got to listen in when Ezra's taking those lessons."

Sabine chuckled. "I guess we really do, let's go."

Morning came, Sabine and Zeb were trying to recount all they had saw in the tree. Kanan was listening closely. "That does sound like something Ezra and I experienced in the Jedi Temple in Lothal, the force can reveal knowledge and secrets it wants know."

Sabine looked away and added. "If it wanted us to know, what about the part where we saw local soldiers engage with stormtroopers?"

Kanan looked confused. "The force sometimes does not share things in complete clarity, it will be a hurdle we have to cross when we get to it."

Lavina and Amy we are beginning to put the enchantment on the Compass. "Power of the Daughter of Light and Truth, let your grace chart the correct path!"

The compass was enveloped with a bright light, when the light clear, the compass no longer pointed north. Amy handed the compass and the picture back to Kanan. "This compass will now lead you to your friend the more radicle it will turn, the closer you are to him."

Kanan looked at the photo again before putting it back in his pocket. "Is there anything we can do to repay you?"

Lavina smiled. "This is a service to…"

Sabine and Zeb finished her sentence. "To helped those in need."

Amy giggled. "You two might make good wizards"

Kanan added. "Or Jedi."

The two smiled as the crew began to shake hands with the Wizard and her apprentice.

They began to make their way out of town, following the compass as it pointed west.

Ezra was talking with Sabine and Zeb still. "So, you two we're jedi?"

Zeb responded "Yeah, it was like one of the strangest things. If this is what you guys see when you run off to practice every time, count me out. But we'll listen in on your other trainings."

The three laughed as they continued down the road, off to their next destination.

Meanwhile, high above the planet in orbit, a large grey object came out of lightspeed.

"Agent Kallus, we're here."