The second chapter I promised you. Almost at end of book 1, how exciting. Well I thought so. Yeah I know I say this everytime but please RNR!!!!
A few days later Kyia packed sparingly for Coruscant "The extraction datacards have to be signed Anice, there's not much I can do about that".
"But do you have to go on your own?" Anice paced up and down the room "I don't like it one bit. What will you do if you get in trouble? You can't even fly that thing properly"
"Valorum will be there for the signing, and at the temple, well not even you can protect me from Master Yoda. I've had Kayless give me lessons over the past few days, and you know how what a fast learner I am".
"That's not what I meant" The woman put her hands on her hips, more than slightly disgruntled.
"I know. If anything else happens I have the Force, which will put me in a better position than anyone I could bring with me" She replied putting a dress in a case "Why are you complaining anyway, you hate space travel and as you so often point out you are needed here".
"I just don't understand…"
"Yes you do" Kyia turned back to Anice "I'm just not good company at the moment. The space will do me good".
Anice held up her hands "Okay, fine I surrender" she rolled her eyes in a slow defeat "It's not as if I can do anything about it anymore".
The ramp opened wide, threatening to engulf her as she boarded the ship "Right Celestya, its just you and me" She whispered as she sat in the pilot's seat, but could not help but grin as she saw Kayless had left helpful tips on pieces of flimsiplast scattered over the control panel. She punched a few buttons and began the ship's take-off cycle.
At the same time Master Yoda was pacing up and down the council chamber floor, sensing her coming. Master Windu and Obi Wan watched him in interest.
"Kyia is coming. Want to be here, I sense you do not" Yoda pointed at the Jedi Knight. Mace Windu tilted his head in thoughtfulness.
"It's not that Master Yoda" He replied respectfully "I sense it would not be appropriate for me to be here"
"Then you did not part on good terms with the Quelena?" Asked the dark-skinned master, adding confusion into his voice and thoughts that he did not feel. He leaned his chin on one fist interested in the answer.
"Not at all" Was the reply; clearly he did not intend to give anything away.
Yoda closed his eyes probingly "I sense much apprehension, Obi Wan".
"No, it's just I believe" He searched for the right words; uncomfortable at what subtext this could produce "It would not be prudent, at this point in time".
Mace Windu stood up to his full height "You maybe right. In truth you are probably the best judge in this" With a gesture he dismissed him "Go then. Your padawan is shows great promise but he is a difficult student, both of you will need to be focused".
Obi Wan bowed respectfully, relieved "Yes Masters" he turned and left the chambers.
As soon as he was out of the door Master Windu spoke "It is done then, the relationship is dissolved"
"Like this I do not" Master Yoda counted the troubled on his fingers "A stubborn Quelena, the Chosen One and his lovesick Master. Trouble there will be".
Mace moved over to a window over-looking Coruscant's busy skyways. He held his hands behind his back in a air of complete control and unanimity that only a Jedi Master could hope to achieve "Most likely, but that is the will of the Force".
Yoda cracked a smile "A sense of humour it has". He closed his eyes again "Hmmm, Kyia carried something important with her".
"Yes" His companion replied "Knowledge. It is time we gave the same in return".
"Happy she will not be" he muttered, "The truth she will finally know, and at long last a Jedi she will be".
Kyia sighed a deep breath of relief as she emerged from hyperspace safely. Coruscant, notoriously delayed her whilst she waited for permission to make an unscheduled stop at the Jedi Temple.
Master Yoda came to meet her at the landing platform "Talk we must" he said gravely.
"I know", she replied in the same tone "I sense we both have a lot to say" They walked along the dimly lit corridors in silence until Kyia spoke again "I'm sorry. I did not understand what you meant, about fear. But I do now".
Yoda nodded "Understand you do, but conquer you have not. See Master Windu you must" He felt her confusion as she was led into the council chamber where the highly esteemed member of the jedi waited for her.
Mace Windu raised his eyes to meet the Quelena's as she stood in the centre of the room "What troubles you Kyia Levelle?"
"Bad dreams" She replied quietly and without hesitation.
He nodded gently "As do us all. They tear at the very heart of the Republic and the Jedi Order".
"I hope I will learn to master them" She replied, sounding more like a padawan than she ever had in her days with Master Yoda.
"I believe one day you will" He glanced back at Yoda "But the dark side will no doubt play its part, It spreads like a disease and we are all falling under its influence. What do you dream of?"
"I believe" She bit her lip "That they are visions, visions of the future. I've been getting them a lot since the second Sith attack".
"There is another lesson to be learnt here" Mace interjected mysteriously.
Kyia's expression was filled with puzzlement "Another lesson?"
Mace Windu sat down in his chair, letting Master Yoda continue, "Never had visions before, have you Kyia?" She shook her head "Only receive these visions the Jedi do when the Force they can read"
"I don't understand"
"The ability you have" He pressed, "Then why receive these dreams before you did not? Think! Of your training think!" Yoda's tone softened as he saw the epiphany dawn on Kyia "Think a co-incidence it was completion of your trial so soon before die your parents did?"
The Quelena stood stunned, everything fell into place; suddenly she understood "I'm not a Jedi". She turned to him accusingly "You knew that my parents were going to die!"
"Short of time all that I knew" Yoda muttered "Three lives you had to train for, Quelena, guard and Jedi. Important that it was that to the dark side you did not turn".
"Why didn't you tell me?" Kyia pleaded "I've been targeted by the Sith twice, and you just neglected to tell me!"
Yoda raised his voice to silence her "Precisely why I couldn't!" He quietened it back to its usual level "No choice had I. Without that belief conquered you the Sith would have, weakened you it would have. Unsure of your place you were without that burden".
"So what does this mean?" Kyia spoke dejectedly "What am I now?"
Yoda ambled up to her, pulling her down to his level, putting a green hand on her shoulder "A student who more tuition needs".
She nodded
"Knowing this" Mace came in "Are you still sure you wish to leave the Republic?"
Kyia swallowed wondering how much fear played a part in her initial decision, despite what would happen at the Senate, here would be her last real chance of reprieve. Yet the vision stayed in her head, although it could not guide her, it could give her insight "We cannot stay. I may not be a Jedi, but I am still Quelena".
He looked her in the eye "Then you know, this is all the help that we can give you"
Again she nodded. Master Yoda looked upon his padawan with renewed respect, she had learned more with her experiences with the dark side than he had estimated. She had not taken the revelation in anger, but pushed it aside and moved on. No doubt she felt disappointed within herself, but not at the expense of the moment. That was part of the certain knowledge he kept within himself, that whether it was due to Kyia's temperament or his training, she would not fall to the dark side.
"Master Yoda, Master Windu, what I saw, it only comes in flashes but it is of the utmost importance" She closed her eyes trying to re-envisage the dreams "There's nothing too specific but the essence is still there"
Yoda looked at her quizzically "Down, Down, too tall you are, too high" Kyia crouched down lower in front of him, making herself comfortable "Ahhhh better that is!" He reached out to touch her temples, at the same time reaching with his mind to re-open the training bond that once existed between them. "Let me see hmmm?" She closed her eyes. "Good, relax you must".
She drifted at Yoda's beckoning into a deep trance. He looked at Mace, who nodded his approval. Yoda closed his eyes and joined Kyia in her trance, through the bond he witnessed events under a shroud of white mist, a feeling of great turnings like the revolution of a wheel that ends where it begun. Finally the tide of flashing images seized bombarding his senses and ebbed away.
Kyia opened her eyes to see Mace Windu in exactly the same position she had left him in "That was strange".
The other Master saw the urgent look in Yoda's eyes "I suggest we do not reveal this to anyone. We'll make up how this information has come into our hands with the council. I do not wish to put you in more danger than you are already in".
"How" Kyia wondered how they would hide it from the galaxy's most talented Jedi.
"We have our ways" He replied. "What is important now is that you complete your training. Go and sign your datacards. Contact who you need to in order to run what you need to until your return; a padawan must only think of her training but in this situation we see how this is not entirely possible"
Kyia stood and bowed respectfully, she made to go but stopped herself "Anakin Skywalker and Obi Wan Kenobi?"
"Left a few days ago they did" Master Yoda cut in "Urgent was their business"
"Oh" She lowered her head. "I have to be on my way to the Senate".
Many Elphorans had described the building that contained the heart of the Republic as a swamp warrat warren of corridors, in contrast to the cavernous nature of the main room. It was on her way to meet Valorum through these winding that she had an encounter that would stay with both parties for a long time afterwards.
A brunette with her hair up in an elaborate gold coronet, flanked by handmaidens approached her briskly, she held out her hand "Your Royalness, Padmè Amidala"
Kyia nodded "I've heard so much about you, it's nice to finally meet you in person"
Padmè repeated the gesture "I wish it were under better circumstances" She replied honestly, not lingering she came directly to the point "I urge you, do not do this".
"I'm afraid it's gone past that now"
Padme stepped away from her handmaidens "Then it is true, Elphora is a part of the emerging separatist movement"
Kyia shook her head adamantly "We have never been nor will we ever be a part of anything so destructive. I have no ill feeling towards the Republic, it is just not right for Elphora to be a part of it in this current climate"
The Nubian woman's eyes grazed over her with a slight distain "I had expected more of Elphora, I thought it believed in peace"
Kyia sighed and raised herself up, she had maintained her dignity in the senate hall, she would let it falter here "Despite your great achievements you are still young and have much to learn about the greed and corruption in the Senate, it is not peace we have become disenchanted with, it is the Republic"
Padmè tilted her head in slight annoyance "Please Quelena Kyia Levelle, I think I am beyond being patronised. Yes the Republic is dwindling, but how does leaving rectify that?"
"Elphora is leaving because we cannot change things, our voice has been taken away from us, what happens in the senate is beyond our control now"
"So you make your point by creating a fanning the divide in the Senate even more? By encouraging more systems to leave, possibly to join the separatists?"
Kyia sat down on a near by bench slowly "This is exactly my point, the Senate has become so bogged down in procedure and scare-mongering that it has forgotten about the well being of it's citizens. Valorum is tired, I am tired".
The younger woman turned her head away briefly remembering the moment when she declared that she had no confidence in the Elphoran Senator "It was unfortunate Valorum gave himself up to the control of the bureaucrats"
"Do not speak of a man you hardly know" Kyia sneered "If you did then you would realise he could never let himself be controlled by anyone, he did what he thought was right but his actions were twisted by those hungry for power" The Quelena rose "I do not blame you for what you did, I appreciate all too well the paradox of what is right for the planet not necessarily being the right for the Republic, and how it can be manipulated. I wish you better luck than I had. You have good intentions but I fear you will understand too late where they are leading. Keep fighting as long as you can. I hope you are right, I hope the day you understand my motivations will never come." She turned, walking towards her Senator's office, letting Padmè Amidala watch her back whilst contemplating her words.
A few days later Kyia packed sparingly for Coruscant "The extraction datacards have to be signed Anice, there's not much I can do about that".
"But do you have to go on your own?" Anice paced up and down the room "I don't like it one bit. What will you do if you get in trouble? You can't even fly that thing properly"
"Valorum will be there for the signing, and at the temple, well not even you can protect me from Master Yoda. I've had Kayless give me lessons over the past few days, and you know how what a fast learner I am".
"That's not what I meant" The woman put her hands on her hips, more than slightly disgruntled.
"I know. If anything else happens I have the Force, which will put me in a better position than anyone I could bring with me" She replied putting a dress in a case "Why are you complaining anyway, you hate space travel and as you so often point out you are needed here".
"I just don't understand…"
"Yes you do" Kyia turned back to Anice "I'm just not good company at the moment. The space will do me good".
Anice held up her hands "Okay, fine I surrender" she rolled her eyes in a slow defeat "It's not as if I can do anything about it anymore".
The ramp opened wide, threatening to engulf her as she boarded the ship "Right Celestya, its just you and me" She whispered as she sat in the pilot's seat, but could not help but grin as she saw Kayless had left helpful tips on pieces of flimsiplast scattered over the control panel. She punched a few buttons and began the ship's take-off cycle.
At the same time Master Yoda was pacing up and down the council chamber floor, sensing her coming. Master Windu and Obi Wan watched him in interest.
"Kyia is coming. Want to be here, I sense you do not" Yoda pointed at the Jedi Knight. Mace Windu tilted his head in thoughtfulness.
"It's not that Master Yoda" He replied respectfully "I sense it would not be appropriate for me to be here"
"Then you did not part on good terms with the Quelena?" Asked the dark-skinned master, adding confusion into his voice and thoughts that he did not feel. He leaned his chin on one fist interested in the answer.
"Not at all" Was the reply; clearly he did not intend to give anything away.
Yoda closed his eyes probingly "I sense much apprehension, Obi Wan".
"No, it's just I believe" He searched for the right words; uncomfortable at what subtext this could produce "It would not be prudent, at this point in time".
Mace Windu stood up to his full height "You maybe right. In truth you are probably the best judge in this" With a gesture he dismissed him "Go then. Your padawan is shows great promise but he is a difficult student, both of you will need to be focused".
Obi Wan bowed respectfully, relieved "Yes Masters" he turned and left the chambers.
As soon as he was out of the door Master Windu spoke "It is done then, the relationship is dissolved"
"Like this I do not" Master Yoda counted the troubled on his fingers "A stubborn Quelena, the Chosen One and his lovesick Master. Trouble there will be".
Mace moved over to a window over-looking Coruscant's busy skyways. He held his hands behind his back in a air of complete control and unanimity that only a Jedi Master could hope to achieve "Most likely, but that is the will of the Force".
Yoda cracked a smile "A sense of humour it has". He closed his eyes again "Hmmm, Kyia carried something important with her".
"Yes" His companion replied "Knowledge. It is time we gave the same in return".
"Happy she will not be" he muttered, "The truth she will finally know, and at long last a Jedi she will be".
Kyia sighed a deep breath of relief as she emerged from hyperspace safely. Coruscant, notoriously delayed her whilst she waited for permission to make an unscheduled stop at the Jedi Temple.
Master Yoda came to meet her at the landing platform "Talk we must" he said gravely.
"I know", she replied in the same tone "I sense we both have a lot to say" They walked along the dimly lit corridors in silence until Kyia spoke again "I'm sorry. I did not understand what you meant, about fear. But I do now".
Yoda nodded "Understand you do, but conquer you have not. See Master Windu you must" He felt her confusion as she was led into the council chamber where the highly esteemed member of the jedi waited for her.
Mace Windu raised his eyes to meet the Quelena's as she stood in the centre of the room "What troubles you Kyia Levelle?"
"Bad dreams" She replied quietly and without hesitation.
He nodded gently "As do us all. They tear at the very heart of the Republic and the Jedi Order".
"I hope I will learn to master them" She replied, sounding more like a padawan than she ever had in her days with Master Yoda.
"I believe one day you will" He glanced back at Yoda "But the dark side will no doubt play its part, It spreads like a disease and we are all falling under its influence. What do you dream of?"
"I believe" She bit her lip "That they are visions, visions of the future. I've been getting them a lot since the second Sith attack".
"There is another lesson to be learnt here" Mace interjected mysteriously.
Kyia's expression was filled with puzzlement "Another lesson?"
Mace Windu sat down in his chair, letting Master Yoda continue, "Never had visions before, have you Kyia?" She shook her head "Only receive these visions the Jedi do when the Force they can read"
"I don't understand"
"The ability you have" He pressed, "Then why receive these dreams before you did not? Think! Of your training think!" Yoda's tone softened as he saw the epiphany dawn on Kyia "Think a co-incidence it was completion of your trial so soon before die your parents did?"
The Quelena stood stunned, everything fell into place; suddenly she understood "I'm not a Jedi". She turned to him accusingly "You knew that my parents were going to die!"
"Short of time all that I knew" Yoda muttered "Three lives you had to train for, Quelena, guard and Jedi. Important that it was that to the dark side you did not turn".
"Why didn't you tell me?" Kyia pleaded "I've been targeted by the Sith twice, and you just neglected to tell me!"
Yoda raised his voice to silence her "Precisely why I couldn't!" He quietened it back to its usual level "No choice had I. Without that belief conquered you the Sith would have, weakened you it would have. Unsure of your place you were without that burden".
"So what does this mean?" Kyia spoke dejectedly "What am I now?"
Yoda ambled up to her, pulling her down to his level, putting a green hand on her shoulder "A student who more tuition needs".
She nodded
"Knowing this" Mace came in "Are you still sure you wish to leave the Republic?"
Kyia swallowed wondering how much fear played a part in her initial decision, despite what would happen at the Senate, here would be her last real chance of reprieve. Yet the vision stayed in her head, although it could not guide her, it could give her insight "We cannot stay. I may not be a Jedi, but I am still Quelena".
He looked her in the eye "Then you know, this is all the help that we can give you"
Again she nodded. Master Yoda looked upon his padawan with renewed respect, she had learned more with her experiences with the dark side than he had estimated. She had not taken the revelation in anger, but pushed it aside and moved on. No doubt she felt disappointed within herself, but not at the expense of the moment. That was part of the certain knowledge he kept within himself, that whether it was due to Kyia's temperament or his training, she would not fall to the dark side.
"Master Yoda, Master Windu, what I saw, it only comes in flashes but it is of the utmost importance" She closed her eyes trying to re-envisage the dreams "There's nothing too specific but the essence is still there"
Yoda looked at her quizzically "Down, Down, too tall you are, too high" Kyia crouched down lower in front of him, making herself comfortable "Ahhhh better that is!" He reached out to touch her temples, at the same time reaching with his mind to re-open the training bond that once existed between them. "Let me see hmmm?" She closed her eyes. "Good, relax you must".
She drifted at Yoda's beckoning into a deep trance. He looked at Mace, who nodded his approval. Yoda closed his eyes and joined Kyia in her trance, through the bond he witnessed events under a shroud of white mist, a feeling of great turnings like the revolution of a wheel that ends where it begun. Finally the tide of flashing images seized bombarding his senses and ebbed away.
Kyia opened her eyes to see Mace Windu in exactly the same position she had left him in "That was strange".
The other Master saw the urgent look in Yoda's eyes "I suggest we do not reveal this to anyone. We'll make up how this information has come into our hands with the council. I do not wish to put you in more danger than you are already in".
"How" Kyia wondered how they would hide it from the galaxy's most talented Jedi.
"We have our ways" He replied. "What is important now is that you complete your training. Go and sign your datacards. Contact who you need to in order to run what you need to until your return; a padawan must only think of her training but in this situation we see how this is not entirely possible"
Kyia stood and bowed respectfully, she made to go but stopped herself "Anakin Skywalker and Obi Wan Kenobi?"
"Left a few days ago they did" Master Yoda cut in "Urgent was their business"
"Oh" She lowered her head. "I have to be on my way to the Senate".
Many Elphorans had described the building that contained the heart of the Republic as a swamp warrat warren of corridors, in contrast to the cavernous nature of the main room. It was on her way to meet Valorum through these winding that she had an encounter that would stay with both parties for a long time afterwards.
A brunette with her hair up in an elaborate gold coronet, flanked by handmaidens approached her briskly, she held out her hand "Your Royalness, Padmè Amidala"
Kyia nodded "I've heard so much about you, it's nice to finally meet you in person"
Padmè repeated the gesture "I wish it were under better circumstances" She replied honestly, not lingering she came directly to the point "I urge you, do not do this".
"I'm afraid it's gone past that now"
Padme stepped away from her handmaidens "Then it is true, Elphora is a part of the emerging separatist movement"
Kyia shook her head adamantly "We have never been nor will we ever be a part of anything so destructive. I have no ill feeling towards the Republic, it is just not right for Elphora to be a part of it in this current climate"
The Nubian woman's eyes grazed over her with a slight distain "I had expected more of Elphora, I thought it believed in peace"
Kyia sighed and raised herself up, she had maintained her dignity in the senate hall, she would let it falter here "Despite your great achievements you are still young and have much to learn about the greed and corruption in the Senate, it is not peace we have become disenchanted with, it is the Republic"
Padmè tilted her head in slight annoyance "Please Quelena Kyia Levelle, I think I am beyond being patronised. Yes the Republic is dwindling, but how does leaving rectify that?"
"Elphora is leaving because we cannot change things, our voice has been taken away from us, what happens in the senate is beyond our control now"
"So you make your point by creating a fanning the divide in the Senate even more? By encouraging more systems to leave, possibly to join the separatists?"
Kyia sat down on a near by bench slowly "This is exactly my point, the Senate has become so bogged down in procedure and scare-mongering that it has forgotten about the well being of it's citizens. Valorum is tired, I am tired".
The younger woman turned her head away briefly remembering the moment when she declared that she had no confidence in the Elphoran Senator "It was unfortunate Valorum gave himself up to the control of the bureaucrats"
"Do not speak of a man you hardly know" Kyia sneered "If you did then you would realise he could never let himself be controlled by anyone, he did what he thought was right but his actions were twisted by those hungry for power" The Quelena rose "I do not blame you for what you did, I appreciate all too well the paradox of what is right for the planet not necessarily being the right for the Republic, and how it can be manipulated. I wish you better luck than I had. You have good intentions but I fear you will understand too late where they are leading. Keep fighting as long as you can. I hope you are right, I hope the day you understand my motivations will never come." She turned, walking towards her Senator's office, letting Padmè Amidala watch her back whilst contemplating her words.
