Danali's head was spinning. The time she had spent listening to Master Arraira passed by so quickly and, even when she hadn't had any special expectations, none of the things she had been told she could have ever expected.
The Force? Lightsabers? Coruscant? A Jedi Temple? And she was going there? She, Danali Bretrow, a street rat of Tyrena, could be one of them?
Her mouth was hanging so far open and her eyes were impossibly wide when Master Arraira was making things float inside of the room. Potted plants, the chair, datapads, bags – they all were floating and Master Arraira was doing so with the help of the Force.
And Master Arraira had said that she could do so as well. That she had done so, just before she had passed out. She had then said that Danali had the potential to do more. It was...difficult to believe. But she'd take it. She'd do just about anything to get away from here and the Kind Mother. Jaro Tapal, who had just returned from wherever he went to ask for backup, was chuckling at her expressions. She couldn't blame him for that; she would probably be laughing as well if she were in his place.
"...many years of training to have this measure of control and, even then, I do believe that even the greatest Masters have only ever managed to scratch at the surface of their potential with the Force. Our training with it never ends and every day we find and learn something new," Master Arraira spoke with her eyes closed and her hands resting on her crossed legs. She looked so calm and relaxed.
Danali's eyes darted from the floating chair to the table, then to the datapads and the duffel bag. Then, everything landed gently on the ground again.
Master Arraira opened her eyes and took a deep breath. Then, she smiled at her. "The Force is a wonderful thing and our greatest mystery. I knew to wait in that particular alley for you because I trusted in the Force when it guided me there. Why did you decide to come to us in the end, Danali?"
Danali thought for a moment. "It was a feeling...like, something was telling me to trust you." She shrugged. "I don't know. It doesn't make sense. It was just a feeling."
"It was the Force, little one," Jaro Tapal threw in. "Sometimes it is but a small nudge and other times it is an overwhelming, all-encompassing sensation. But, what you thought was just a feeling, what you believed was just your gut telling you to trust us – it was actually the Force guiding you."
"Oh." Danali cocked her head to the side. It was an odd thing to think about, she had to admit.
The idea that there was something there, created by plants and animals and people, that there was this energy guiding her if she allowed it to...it was oddly comforting, she had to admit. For whatever reason, she pictured a mother holding onto her child's hand while leading her child through a busy street.
Danali's eyes then landed on the long, metallic cylinder both Jedi were always carrying around. It drew a chuckle from Master Arraira, who took it off the belt and held it in front of her, showing it to her. It looked rather smooth, the metallic glint very bright in the lamp's light. She could see a button placed a bit above the middle.
"This is my lightsaber's hilt and this button activates it," Master Arraira explained. "I will show you what a lightsaber looks like, but the very first lightsaber you hold in your hands should be yours, once you have eventually crafted it yourself."
Danali watched Master Arraira as she got off the bed and stood in the middle of the room. She appeared to take great care of everything around her, mindful that nothing was in the way. The Jedi pushed the bag away and the chair and soon there was nothing around her but space.
Then, Danali jumped a bit as a furious hissing sound filled the room, quickly replaced by the steady, monotonous hum she remembered hearing before everything went dark and she woke up here, on this bed. She distinctly remembered that sound and now she knew that it had come from a lightsaber.
The blade was the most fascinating thing, however, and Danali could just not tear her eyes away from it. She had seen swords and axes and blasters and all manners of weapons that gang members carried with them, both the Mother's Hands' and members of other gangs. But this...this was unlike anything she had ever seen before. A bright yellow glow of – of what? She didn't even know!
All she knew was that tearing her eyes away from it was an impossible task. Unfortunately, Master Arraira made the impossible possible for her because, with another hissing sound, the glowing, yellow blade disappeared again.
And I'm going to make one of those?!
"Lightsabers come in all shapes and forms," the lady Jedi said after sitting back down on the bed, her legs crossed again as she was facing Danali. "Double-bladed lightsabers, lightsaber pikes – which are the sacred weapons used by the Temple Guards and a variant of the double-bladed lightsaber. Some Jedi wield two lightsabers, others favour curved hilts. Even lightwhips are known to exist, though I have never seen one and I doubt any other Jedi has in recent history." Master Arraira then chuckled with a gentle shrug. "This is all I can tell you, Danali. A Recruiter from the Temple should arrive soon anyway. They will be better suited to answer any questions you might still have."
Danali nodded, her eyes still seeing that glowing, yellow blade and her ears still filled with that steady humming sound. That lightsaber must have been the coolest thing she had ever seen in her life.
Danali must have fallen asleep again because, when she woke up, she was alone in the room and the lights were turned off. But, she did hear voices coming from just outside of the door.
"...any attachments?" Danali didn't know that voice.
"None that we know of. Her parents had been killed by the gang leader she was forced to work for," Master Arraira answered. "From what she told us, there were other children as well, but she never mentioned any friends. She said that they 'can't see each other'. It is safe to say that they have been kept isolated, even from each other."
"Poor child, but lucky in a way. She just might be accepted despite her age."
Danali frowned. There was a chance they wouldn't accept her?
"Good. She has the potential to be adept in the Force and I would urge the Council to accept her, attachments or not."
"Such are the rules. You know how dangerous a Jedi with attachments can be. Now then, I would like to see her, just to confirm what you have told me."
"Of course."
The door opened with a hiss and the lights were turned on, blinding her. After her eyes had adjusted, she spotted a female Togruta with a bright, green face and yellow montrals and lekku with white stripes. Danali hadn't seen many Togruta in Tyrena, but she remembered one from just before...from before the Mother's Hands. She had embarrassed her mother something fierce that day, asking all sorts of questions. It was one of the few things she still remembered.
The Togruta Jedi looked a bit older, Danali noticed. Her skin and especially her lekku showed deep wrinkles. The door closed behind her, though Master Arraira and Jaro Tapal hadn't entered. Danali was alone with the Togruta.
"I apologize if we woke you up, little one," the Togruta Jedi said softly, a kind smile on her face. She had something about her that just made Danali want to trust her.
"It's fine," she replied and sat up, rubbing her eyes. They still burned with tiredness. "Can I become a Jedi?" she asked worriedly, her mind immediately going back to what she had overheard. "Please. I don't want to stay here."
The Togruta Jedi crouched in front of the bed, coming to eye-level with her. "Don't you worry, little one. I will take you with me and then we'll talk to the Masters. I am sure they'll make an exception for you." There was a moment of silence before the Jedi spoke again. "I am Jedi Master Zahlaah Hes. May I know yours?"
"Danali Bretrow, Ma'am."
"Thank you, Danali. Now, I have a few questions and not all are nice things to ask, but I do need to ask them. Is that alright with you?"
Danali nodded, albeit hesitantly.
"Thank you. May I ask about your parents?"
Danali nodded again, though this time with a sigh.
"Thank you, again. I would like to know how old you were when they died."
"Five."
"Do you miss them?"
Did she miss her parents? She took a moment to think. "I miss my mum sometimes, I guess." She shrugged. "I was all alone in the Kind Mother's place. Sometimes I wished my mum was there."
"And your father?"
Danali shook her head. "Everything that happened was his fault."
"Are you glad he is dead?"
Danali's eyes widened. Am I glad? "No, Ma'am. I just...I don't miss him. The Kind Mother always says that it was my father's fault."
"Master Arraira told me about the Kind Mother. She doesn't sound very nice, does she?"
"No, Ma'am. I-I really don't want to stay here," Danali pleaded.
"Don't you have any friends here you might be leaving behind? Or siblings? Maybe another adult who treated you well?" Master Hes asked, even though she looked as if she didn't believe that last bit herself.
Danali shook her head. "It wasn't allowed. The Kind Mother made sure."
Master Hes pursed her lips. "Very well. Your circumstances are not unique but unusual still. Let us see what the High Council has to say, but I do believe they will grant you permission to enter Jedi training."
"So...I can come?" she asked nervously.
"Yes, little one," Master Hes said gently. "You may come with me."
Danali's whole body was vibrating with excitement. They were on the way to the busy hangar with Master Hes and she still couldn't believe it.
She was going to space. She was leaving Tyrena and the Kind Mother behind and going to space. The whole Jedi thing – Danali didn't want to get too excited about that yet. There was too much uncertainty, too little she knew for sure. Of course, her hope was that she would be accepted, but she tried to not think about it too much. Empty hope followed by disappointment was the last thing she wanted. No, the best thing was to just enjoy the fact that she would be leaving this place and the Kind Mother behind and, most likely, for good as well.
So, she eagerly glanced around herself and the large hangar, at the many different humans and aliens milling about, leaving and entering the docking bays and all of it still at night. Everything was so very busy around here, even as late as it likely still was, that it was easy to get lost despite the many lights scattered all over the landing zone. So, Danali did her best to stick close to the Togruta Jedi.
And when they reached the docking bay reserved for the Jedi's ship and she finally got to see a real spaceship from this close for the first time it really settled in that she was leaving this place for good.
"A T-6 shuttle," Master Hes explained. "We use it for travels like these. Reliable, but unarmed."
Danali greedily took its sleek design in, the white colour and brown details on the wings and the three large thrusters at its back. As they passed under the shadow of its wings and she glanced up, the ship looked like a half-circle. On the bottom half of the ship, there was a ramp leading up and inside the shuttle.
She really was doing it. She really was doing it.
Once inside, they had to climb up a ladder and, after doing so, Danali looked around, spotting five plush, cushioned seats, one large locker and two smaller ones and a table between one of the lockers and one of the seats. Further ahead, she could already spot the cockpit and immediately gave Master Hes a hopeful look, who just chuckled at her and nodded towards the cockpit, a clear invitation which Danali wasted no time to take.
With quick steps, she rushed towards the cockpit, unable to suppress her awe, a gasp escaping her at all the buttons, switches, monitors and levers displayed before her.
"It does look more complicated than it is," Master Hes said, humour tinging her voice.
A gentle hand on her shoulder guided her to the other seat in the cockpit and after Master Hes sat down in hers, she turned to give her a stern look. "Now, I will allow you to sit here because I assume this is your first time on a spaceship. Am I right?"
"Yes, Ma'am!"
"Then all I ask of you is to not press any buttons or flip any switches, no matter how enticing they might look. Feel free to ask any questions you may have, but do not touch anything in the cockpit. Understood?"
Nodding vigorously, Danali strapped herself in and watched with fascination as Master Hes's hands went suddenly busy, pressing buttons, turning switches and pulling levers. The roar of engines suddenly filled the silence and startled her into nearly jumping. Danali couldn't help but grip the handles of her seat once the shuttle started to rise from the ground. Staring out of the window, everything she knew and didn't know, the nice parts of the city she had never seen and the dirty and smelly parts that had been her home – all of Tyrena, all of the aliens and humans, the tourists, the rich and poor, all of it sped past her eyes, growing smaller and smaller in the distance until suddenly, the shuttle veered straight up and everything was gone. No more of the Kind Mother, no more of Tyrena, no more of Corellia.
Just a moment later, the roars of the engines became silent at once and the way the ship moved felt different as well, though she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
"We are in space now," the Togruta said casually, making Danali's eyes widen in wonder.
Danali gasped. I should have noticed.
The stars, the blackness of outer space, everything looked so clearer somehow. When she concentrated really hard, she noticed that there were stars everywhere. Looking up through the cockpit's windows, there were countless stars above her and quickly looking left and right provided the same sight. As far below as she could stretch her neck to see from her position, there was a never-ending sea of stars as well and she had a feeling there would be even more.
There was also something that was different from when she watched the stars in Corellia. "They don't twinkle," she blurted out, prompting Master Hes to hum questioningly. "The stars, I mean."
"Indeed, Danali, in space the stars don't twinkle." Master Hes turned to look at her. "A planet's atmosphere's distortion is what makes a star twinkle. Space has no atmosphere, so the stars you see don't twinkle."
Despite not really understanding what Master Hes meant, Danali felt it safe to assume that planets made stars twinkle. She had to admit that she liked twinkling stars better than these dull ones.
They travelled in comfortable silence for a few minutes, Danali just taking all of the un-twinkling stars in and staring at everything around her with her mouth wide open, when Master Hes broke the quiet.
"Alright, now we will travel through hyperspace," she said, again with that casual tone.
"What does that mean?" Danali asked curiously.
Laughing, Master Hes shook her head. "To try and explain would be too complicated. Just know that it is the technology that allows us to travel from Coruscant to Corellia and back in mere hours instead of years."
The Jedi then gripped a lever and pushed it forward and forward and Danali's eyes widened and widened until she was sure she went cross-eyed. The stars, dull and un-twinkling and everywhere in one moment, were now stretching into long lines of bright lights. They were stretching so much and all the black appeared to be covered in layers upon layers of whites and everything that was so clear a moment ago was now a blur.
"You have had your sleep interrupted many times today, little one. I suggest you try to catch up on some sleep until we arrive in Coruscant."
Now that the Jedi mentioned it, her eyes still were burning from tiredness, the excitement and nervous energy that had kept her going throughout the day was finally emptied of its fuel. So, Danali nodded absently and curled up in her seat as much as she could and closed her eyes, sleep quickly claiming her.