Nelkf moved along slowly in the darkness. She had a feeling that she was down bellow the wreck, perhaps even farther then the pit. Up ahead, the tunnel opened up and the humming became louder. She chanced danger and called out. "He-hello?" she called, "Is anyone here?"
The hum ended in a buzzing hiss and a figure moved into the circle of green light her eyes created. "Ah," the figure spoke, "I have waited. Waited since before your lifetime and now finally one of you has come." An old, graying woman with strangely bluish tinted hair stood before Nelkf. Her cloths were simple and old fashioned, her hair in a wild tangle. Nelkf had never seen her before, but felt secure in her presence.
The woman cut into Nelkf's face with her nails. "You need not fear," she said calmly. "Fear is of the Dark side. And as I have said, one of you has finally come."
She's crazy, thought Nelkf. Absolutely quackers. "What are you talking about, lady? I don't even know you!"
"But I know you," This is getting weird, Nelkf thought. "Hmmm. You are strong in the Force, Karlian, but the Dark side tempts you. You enjoy the kill. Resist that."
Nelkf's eyes widened. "You're a Jedi!" she exclaimed.
The old woman smiled and nodded. "So shall you become. Train in the Force. There is a place where you can do that, a world where the Jedi Master Skywalker may show you the ways of your ancestors."
Whoa. Hold it. Me? A Jedi? No. It's impossible. I'm not a mystic, I never will be! "You must be mistaken. I'm just a pilot."
"No. You are strong in the Force. I feel it. You are already learning to sense danger. You have great potential."
No, no, no. This is not happening to me. I don't want to become a Jedi. I don't want to protect the Galaxy. I was trained as a killer. You can't make a Jedi out of an- Nelkf stopped in mid thought, afraid the old woman might be able to read her mind. "I'm sorry to ruin your wait lady, but I'm not a Jedi, I don't want to be, and I never will be."
The old woman pressed a metal cylinder into Nelkf's hands. "You will be. It is meant for you. A gift. Use it well, Karlian, and resist the Dark side."
Nelkf had a million questions, a million protests, but none of them left her throat. She reached out a hand to stop the old woman, but she had disappeared, cloak and all. One thing remained on the cavern floor. Nelkf picked it up and examined it closely. It was a coin, round and silver, with several words inscribed in Basic upon it. Basic she could just barely read, but somehow, the words made sense.
I teach only what you teach me,
Never more, never less,
I am never what you think,
Never more, never less,
The knowledge you will learn is to be learned from yourself,
Nothing more, nothing less,
It is life from which you will learn,
Nothing more, nothing less,
Except-
The words left off, and Nelkf had to turn the coin over to see the last line. Blinking in surprise, she read aloud what she saw there. "The Force."
Nelkf held the coin by the rough string attached to it and slid it over her head. Little did she know by doing that, she shed her old personality and became a Sklinth apart from her people.
"Nelkf! Nel!" she turned to see her two friends thundering down the path. Jax looked relived to see her alright. Cail sighed thankfully and explained. "It's been hours since you came back up, we thought you'd been eaten or something!"
Nelkf stared, stunned. Hours! It had seemed barely a moment to her! "I'm fine," she said at last.
Cail pointed to her hand. "Nel, the cut!"
Nelkf glanced down at her wounded hand. The knife cut, once swollen and bleeding, was now completely healed, not even a scar remaining. In her surprise, she dropped the cylinder to the floor.
Jax watched her reaction and saw the wound had disappeared. "How'd you do that?"
"I don't know. It's..." She retrieved the cylinder from the ground. Her voice came out as barely a whisper. "A lightsaber." A far away look crept into her eyes and she peered into the darkness. "She really was a Jedi."
"What?" now it was Jax's turn to be confused.
Cail shook his head. "Don't talk crazy, Nel. The Jedi are a conspiracy set up by New Republic to scare kids to bed. Like reality and taxes."
Jax gave him a strange look, but said nothing.
Nelkf looked at the coin again. "Maybe the old woman was right. Maybe I am a Jedi."
Suddenly, her vision filled with darkness, and she fell to the floor. Slipping into unconsciousness, the last thing she heard was Jax calling her name. Then, all was black.
