I think I have this all figured out now. You know the drill: I write because I must write, but feedback is definitely a perk of this labor of love. George owns all. I'm merely a poor college student, which guarantees you won't get much from me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Matter of Dedication
Raven left the infirmary already feeling her pain abating. Weariness swept over her, and the Jedi Knight checked her chrono. Nat would have already delivered Iain and was probably briefing Ruso. The events of the morning caught up with her, and for the first time since it had happened, Raven realized truly that she could have easily died.
Elep's opinions of Nat lingered over her, and Raven forced herself to consider what her friend had said. The Jedi had no idea what had delayed her partner in following her or Iain. She was certain he would have sensed the flash of instinctual terror from the fall before she had quelled it, as well as the pain of her landing. The pair was somewhat attuned to each other, which was part of the reason they were paired together.
Pausing in the hallway, Raven closed her eyes and reached out into the Force, searching for her partner's signature. He was easy enough to located through the Force, but she couldn't sense much beyond his existence. It almost seemed that a haze had formed around him. Raven frowned thoughtfully, considering. She used to be capable to at least knowing his mood, if not his thoughts or impressions. A baseline notion of whether Nathaniel was tired or bored, hungry or impatient, should have been within Raven's reach. But it wasn't. It was almost as if her partner was withdrawing from the Force.
A disturbing, half-formed idea hedged along the edge of Raven's thoughts, but she ignored it, moving away from the line of reasoning. She had no reason to doubt her partner and doing so would only cause her problems in the field. He had saved her life countless times in this line of work, and she his. Listening to gossip and speculation was not the way of a Jedi.
She went back to her room and stripped out of her torn tunic and noticed that her leggings had numerous slits in them, presumably from the transparisteel. Raven changed those as well, putting both in a small pile of rags she kept for cleaning or other tasks. Eventually, she would strip them and keep them in one of her utility belt pouches for other field uses. She pulled on a fresh tunic and leggings and then pulled the small leather strand from her hair, letting her long, dark tresses spill down her back.
Raven lounged around in her quarters for a little while, enjoying the solitude and the serenity. This had been Nat and her fourth mission with no rest. Now, they were slated for a standard month's rest and relaxation. Raven had intended to use the extra time to work up her saber technique, although her shoulder might prevent her from becoming as good as she hoped. It would take a lot of preparation to be able to compete well in her weight class of choice. The Jedi sighed as she mulled over that situation; she might just have to ignore Elep's warning to lay off the physical exertion. She could be kind to her shoulder after the tournament.
The dark-haired woman rolled her shoulders and received a dull ache in return. Raven pursed her lips. Elep was right though, at least for today. She couldn't do much without running the risk of tearing the muscle while it was bruised or causing some other kind of further injury. Deciding to go to a meditation room for a healing trance, Raven left her rooms.
***
Some hours later, Raven come out of her healing trance to hear voices talking beyond the door to the small room. She sat cross-legged on a small, circular divan. A faint smile curled at the corners of her lips. She recognized one of the voices as her own master, Daré Shioc, although the other was unknown to her. Her master was trying to convince the owner of the other voice that he could knock on the door, that Raven wasn't going to be angry at the interruption.
"I've never met a member of the Intelligence Corps," the young voice said a little shyly, "and I don't want her to think that I'm awful at my katas and sparring. I just want to do well at the tournament. Master Shioc, I really think I shouldn't interrupt her!"
"Emrys, trust me. She's my former padawan. Raven doesn't become upset when someone interrupts her meditation." Raven smiled as she slid from her perch, hearing the amusement in her master's clear, alto voice. The Jedi Knight opened the door to find a young boy standing with her master, who wore a small, knowing smile. "Now, interrupting her sparrings or katas? That's a different story."
"Come, now, Master, I'm not as temperamental as I used to be," Raven replied, her smile widening. She moved into the hallway and gave her master a hug, having to bend over slightly. "At least now I used my words to display displeasure instead of my lightsaber," she added impishly.
The young boy paled slightly, looking nervously at the older Jedi. Daré gave him a reassuring look, ruffling his light brown, cropped hair. "Emrys Teve, meet Raven Suul. Raven, this is Emrys." The two exchanged respectful bows as was customary for Jedi. "He is a student in one of my political science classes, and he has signed up to compete in the tournament. However, the poor boy is afraid he may not do as well as he hopes and asked me to help him prepare. As you know, my words are much more effective than my blade, so I offered to introduce him to you presuming you might assist him." The Jedi Master raised one eyebrow and cocked her head to the side expectantly.
"Of course I would be happy to help him," Raven replied with genuine enthusiasm. Emrys gave her a grateful smile, his dark brown eyes sparkling. "Just don't ask me for help with your more academic classes. I'm afraid that would be a mistake on your part. Also, don't believe everything she's told you about me. Daré tends to exaggerate a bit," the Knight added in a conspiring whisper, punctuation with wink.
Daré gave her former padawan a look and hid her hands within her sleeves. "May you take a padawan that drove you as crazy as you did me," she retorted, an enigmatic smile appearing on her lips. "I must take my leave now, given that I have my own business to attend to. Good day, Emrys. Behave, Raven." The Jedi Master inclined her head slightly then glided down the hall.
"So what division have you signed up for, Emrys?" Raven asked the younger Jedi. He had watched Daré Shioc move down the hall until she had disappeared.
"I'm in the sparring event, smallest weight class," he said a little hesitantly. It was obvious the younger boy was shy in front of her, certainly not as comfortable with her as with her master.
Raven smiled encouragingly. "That's my favorite, the simple man-to-man. Have you competed before?"
Emrys shook his head, looking disappointed. "No, I was sick the last time they were arranged, and the time before that I was too young to compete."
"How old are you?"
"I'm nine, though everyone says I look younger than that, especially when I spar," he said glumly. Raven gave him a sympathetic look. She felt the familiar pang of being out of place, not being like the others.
"You'll grow and learn to fight better, Emrys, have no doubt about that. You'll find your place among the others, and I say this from experience."
He looked at her curiously, disbelief flickering on his features. "You've felt like you haven't belonged? But you're so…" he paused as he searched for an appropriate word, "adept!"
Raven knelt down to look Emrys in the eye. "Emrys, at your age, I could barely lift small objects with the Force and could have been bested in any manipulation by anyone six years. If you keep fighting, one day, you'll be as good as any one your age or better. But it takes work and dedication. No one said it would be easy. I'll be here to help me, if you want."
A faint smile crossed his lips, although he still looked a little upset. "Thanks, Knight Suul."
Raven smiled at him. "It's either Raven or just Ven. Knight Suul is too formal for me."
"All right, Raven," Emrys answered.
Raven stood as she said, "I hurt my shoulder in a mission earlier this morning, so I shouldn't be doing much with it today. Would you like to meet tomorrow morning in one of the practice rooms right after breakfast?" She grinned again as the young boy silently nodded with excitement. "I will see you then."
***
"Take a wider stance."
Emrys cocked his head to the side, looking at Raven with a mixture of confusion and desperation to please. Moving his arms and feet slightly, the young Jedi shifted his weight, watching the Jedi Knight with fear and awe evident in his liquid brown eyes.
Raven shifted a little herself, resisting the urge to chuckle indulgently at his attempt. The boy was obviously trying his hardest to please her, to do what she asked, but he didn't seem to know exactly what it was she was asking him to do. "Do you understand what I mean by widening your stance?" she asked gently, kneeling down to be more on the same level as Emrys.
Hesitation showed in his features followed swiftly by shame. "No, Knight…" he paused, remembering her gentle admonishment from the night before, then corrected himself, "Raven."
"Do I frighten you?"
Emrys shook his head slowly, looking forlorn. "Not you, exactly." He paused, licking his lips in a nervous gesture. He dropped his stance. "I'm afraid that I will be a failure, that no one will take me as a padawan, and I will be dismissed from the Order because I have nothing to contribute," he suddenly said in a rush, turning away to hide his face.
Raven sighed, feeling the echo of his pain within her, knowing his wounds because she had felt the same. She reached out a hand and touched his shoulder, earning a flinch from him. "Emrys, look at me," the Jedi said softly, her voice commanding.
The initiate looked at her, tears running freely down his face. Gently, Raven brushed them away as he blinked, vainly trying to end the flow. "Emrys, listen to me. If you had no purpose for being in this Order, they wouldn't have brought you here in the first place. You are not a failure. You can manipulate the Force well for one your age. Just because you haven't mastered fighting doesn't make you a failure. That fact that you are here, now, trying to amend that proves to me that you have the heart of a Jedi, the perseverance and the determination. Those are more important than twirling a lightsaber."
He watched her, searching her face to find the truth in what she said. Finally, he shook his head, his eyes still damp, and buried his face in her shoulder, shaking from sobs. Raven held Emrys for a long time, until his fears had subsided and his eyes were dry.
"Are you ready to try again, Emrys?" Raven asked gently.
He pulled away and wiped the last of the dampness from his face. "Yes, Ven," he replied with a sad but determined smile. "What does it mean to widen my stance?"
Raven rocked back onto her heels and stood fluidly. "A wider stance means your feet are farther apart. You stand with your feet close, as so, and that makes your balance much more faulty. If you stand with your feet spread out, wider apart, you have better balance. Balance is key to what you are trying to do."
Emrys stood and assumed a defensive position, spreading his feet farther apart. Raven nodded her approval and saluted him with her saber hilt before activating her white blade. Emrys followed suit, his a brilliant yellow. They exchanged a few blows, Raven watching his movements carefully.
"That's not bad," she smiled to him as he parried her blow, "but you need to close your movements a little." He nodded slowly, furrowing his brow in concentration to keep his movements closer to him, protecting his body through his motions.
Raven worked him mercilessly during the first lesson, watching his methods and choosing a few of his weaknesses and strengths to focus on during this round. Carefully tempering her compliments with her chastisements, Emrys began to gain confidence, which caused him to do better. Her suspicion had been that that was part of the young boy's problem.
"That was good work," she told him when they had finished the lesson. Raven gave him a toothy grin, one that shown with pride in his improvement. "If you work like this every day until the tournament, you ought to place well. Shall we meet here tonight to have another bout?"
"I'd like that, Ven," he replied. Emrys was covered in sweat from his work, but he glowed with happiness what he felt he'd accomplished. He stood shyly for a moment, then he moved to embrace her. "Thank you for everything," he added softly, his face buried in her side.
Raven smiled gently at the top of his head, returning the hug and ruffling his hair. "You're very welcome, Emrys." He then slid away, disappearing from the practice room. Raven let out a deep breath, one she hadn't realized that she'd been holding.It's absolutely incredible what a little encouragement can do for someone, she mused silently, and the image of him leaving was superimposed in her mind with one of a little, dark-haired girl who had shed many similar tears.
***
A few days passed pleasantly, between spending time working with Emrys and generally relaxing on her own. Raven spent much of her personal time working on her own technique for the tournament, testing her shoulder to see how far she could push it.
The morning before the tournament, Raven was awakened from a deep sleep by someone knocking at the door. A groan emitted from her lips as she rolled from her sleep couch, her shoulder protesting her workout the night before. Her awareness was amplified as she hit the floor, and another, more audible groan came from her. Begrudgingly, the Jedi admitted that perhaps her healer friend had been correct. She pulled on an outer robe to cover her smallclothes and answered the door.
The initiate before her must have been about six years old. The young girl look at the Jedi Knight, shock clearly written on her face, before she managed to collect herself and remember the purpose in her presence. "Are you Knight Suul?"
"Most days," Raven replied, stifling a yawn. "Depends on who is asking." She ran a hand through her now-tangled long hair, getting her fingers caught in the dark tresses.
"You have a summons to the Council," the initiate said uncertainly, watching as the older woman pulled her hand from her hair with an un-Jedi-like grimace. She thrust a datapad towards the Knight, bowed deferentially, and disappeared down the hall.
Raven moved back within her apartment, her brow furrowed. What did the Council want with her? She skimmed the datapad. The body of the message was that they wanted to meet, although it didn't say why, that evening at 1745 The Jedi Knight frowned; she had promised to work with Emrys one last time at 1830 before the tournament tomorrow.
She set the datapad on the counter and drummed her fingers next to it, thinking. Raven moved to her commlink and put in the code for Nathaniel. The link chimed a number of times, and the Knight indulged herself in a smile, imagining him fumbling for his link, not unlike her trying to answer her door.
"Younam here," the link finally grumbled at her.
Raven grinned again before replying, "I have a favor to ask of you." "This early in the morning, the answer is always no."
"Master Shioc asked me to help an initiate train for the tournament tomorrow. We've been meeting in the evenings at 1830 in the practice area. However, the Council has summoned me to meet with them at 1745. I'm afraid I may not make it to work with Emrys. Will you work with him until I can get there?"
Her partner gave a beleaguered sigh. "Must be the day for those summons. I got one as well, due for 1700. Probably about Iain."
"Probably. So will you do it for me?"
"I suppose."
"Thanks! I'll let you get back to your sleep now. I wouldn't want to keep you up, Nat."
"Something like that." Her link clicked, and Raven knew he had probably hidden it somewhere so it wouldn't hear it go off again. She chuckled to herself at his expense. Then, the Knight threw on a clean pair of robes and headed to the practice area to meet with Emrys to tell him about this evening and work with him for tomorrow.
***
Raven never saw him coming.
She was contemplating the reason for having to appear before the Council, her hands buried in the sleeves of her dark outer robe. Her hair was unbound and falling in her line of vision, as it was apt to do, so she wasn't overly aware of her surroundings to begin with. The only thing that existed to her was the path she knew very well to the Council Chambers and her own thoughts.
And then Nat ran into her.
Raven was startled to say the least, her hand straying to her lightsaber, wrenching it from her belt, before she realized that the threat against her was merely her own partner. It was not her partner, though, not as she knew him. Nat's blue eyes had a feral look to them, one of anger and resentment. He reeled away from her, shaking his head. "Are you all right, Nathaniel?" Raven asked warily, reaching out to put a comforting hand on his shoulder.
He jerked away and eyed Raven carefully before throwing a wild gesture towards the Council. "Hypocrites!" he yelled, raw emotion in his voice. The dark-haired woman couldn't help but draw away from him. He exuded anger and hate, raw emotions that Jedi weren't supposed to hold but meditate away from themselves. Elep's words sprang to her mind yet again unbidden, although at this moment, Raven didn't have a hard time believing them.
"They say that Jedi crave not power or influence, but the twelve of them sit in there holding and seeking more power and influence than the rest of the Order combined! They wish to keep it to themselves, to foster their power and increase it for themselves!" Her partner exhaled sharply and grabbed her shoulders, shoving his face contorted with emotion into hers, giving her a clear view of his wild eyes. "I know of a way to pull more power from the Force, but they don't wish to hear it. They want the power to themselves. Hypocrites!"
Nat released her, much to Raven's relief. He stumbled away, his passionate rage making his steps haphazard. She heard him mutter something about showing them all, but then he was beyond her hearing.
Raven took a deep breath, feeling her heart race within her chest. The fear flooded her, and she dropped to her knees and took a moment to recollect herself. Something within her revolted at the sight of her partner, and she knew that something was wrong with him, whether it was something said by the Council or something he himself had done.
"Knight Suul?"
Raven looked up at the voice to find herself face to face with a page that ushered people into and out of the Council Chambers. An uncertain look was on the girl's face as she looked at the Jedi Knight before her. Raven stood up slowly, visibly recollecting herself. "The Council is ready to see you," the page said, gesturing towards the Chamber.
"Thank you," Raven replied, allowing herself to be lead into the antechamber just outside the formal Council Chambers. The page gave her a respectful bow then disappeared back into the waiting area.
The realization then hit her with full force.
Emrys.
The doors were already closed behind her, and Raven couldn't just leave the twelve most powerful and important Jedi waiting on her. She would have to pray that the meeting was short, and she would be able to reach Emrys in time, before Nat got to him. Raven had never seen him that angry, and she doubted that it would be abated much by the time he was to spar with the initiate. A cold feeling lodged itself in the pit of her stomach.
Force, keep him safe.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Matter of Dedication
Raven left the infirmary already feeling her pain abating. Weariness swept over her, and the Jedi Knight checked her chrono. Nat would have already delivered Iain and was probably briefing Ruso. The events of the morning caught up with her, and for the first time since it had happened, Raven realized truly that she could have easily died.
Elep's opinions of Nat lingered over her, and Raven forced herself to consider what her friend had said. The Jedi had no idea what had delayed her partner in following her or Iain. She was certain he would have sensed the flash of instinctual terror from the fall before she had quelled it, as well as the pain of her landing. The pair was somewhat attuned to each other, which was part of the reason they were paired together.
Pausing in the hallway, Raven closed her eyes and reached out into the Force, searching for her partner's signature. He was easy enough to located through the Force, but she couldn't sense much beyond his existence. It almost seemed that a haze had formed around him. Raven frowned thoughtfully, considering. She used to be capable to at least knowing his mood, if not his thoughts or impressions. A baseline notion of whether Nathaniel was tired or bored, hungry or impatient, should have been within Raven's reach. But it wasn't. It was almost as if her partner was withdrawing from the Force.
A disturbing, half-formed idea hedged along the edge of Raven's thoughts, but she ignored it, moving away from the line of reasoning. She had no reason to doubt her partner and doing so would only cause her problems in the field. He had saved her life countless times in this line of work, and she his. Listening to gossip and speculation was not the way of a Jedi.
She went back to her room and stripped out of her torn tunic and noticed that her leggings had numerous slits in them, presumably from the transparisteel. Raven changed those as well, putting both in a small pile of rags she kept for cleaning or other tasks. Eventually, she would strip them and keep them in one of her utility belt pouches for other field uses. She pulled on a fresh tunic and leggings and then pulled the small leather strand from her hair, letting her long, dark tresses spill down her back.
Raven lounged around in her quarters for a little while, enjoying the solitude and the serenity. This had been Nat and her fourth mission with no rest. Now, they were slated for a standard month's rest and relaxation. Raven had intended to use the extra time to work up her saber technique, although her shoulder might prevent her from becoming as good as she hoped. It would take a lot of preparation to be able to compete well in her weight class of choice. The Jedi sighed as she mulled over that situation; she might just have to ignore Elep's warning to lay off the physical exertion. She could be kind to her shoulder after the tournament.
The dark-haired woman rolled her shoulders and received a dull ache in return. Raven pursed her lips. Elep was right though, at least for today. She couldn't do much without running the risk of tearing the muscle while it was bruised or causing some other kind of further injury. Deciding to go to a meditation room for a healing trance, Raven left her rooms.
***
Some hours later, Raven come out of her healing trance to hear voices talking beyond the door to the small room. She sat cross-legged on a small, circular divan. A faint smile curled at the corners of her lips. She recognized one of the voices as her own master, Daré Shioc, although the other was unknown to her. Her master was trying to convince the owner of the other voice that he could knock on the door, that Raven wasn't going to be angry at the interruption.
"I've never met a member of the Intelligence Corps," the young voice said a little shyly, "and I don't want her to think that I'm awful at my katas and sparring. I just want to do well at the tournament. Master Shioc, I really think I shouldn't interrupt her!"
"Emrys, trust me. She's my former padawan. Raven doesn't become upset when someone interrupts her meditation." Raven smiled as she slid from her perch, hearing the amusement in her master's clear, alto voice. The Jedi Knight opened the door to find a young boy standing with her master, who wore a small, knowing smile. "Now, interrupting her sparrings or katas? That's a different story."
"Come, now, Master, I'm not as temperamental as I used to be," Raven replied, her smile widening. She moved into the hallway and gave her master a hug, having to bend over slightly. "At least now I used my words to display displeasure instead of my lightsaber," she added impishly.
The young boy paled slightly, looking nervously at the older Jedi. Daré gave him a reassuring look, ruffling his light brown, cropped hair. "Emrys Teve, meet Raven Suul. Raven, this is Emrys." The two exchanged respectful bows as was customary for Jedi. "He is a student in one of my political science classes, and he has signed up to compete in the tournament. However, the poor boy is afraid he may not do as well as he hopes and asked me to help him prepare. As you know, my words are much more effective than my blade, so I offered to introduce him to you presuming you might assist him." The Jedi Master raised one eyebrow and cocked her head to the side expectantly.
"Of course I would be happy to help him," Raven replied with genuine enthusiasm. Emrys gave her a grateful smile, his dark brown eyes sparkling. "Just don't ask me for help with your more academic classes. I'm afraid that would be a mistake on your part. Also, don't believe everything she's told you about me. Daré tends to exaggerate a bit," the Knight added in a conspiring whisper, punctuation with wink.
Daré gave her former padawan a look and hid her hands within her sleeves. "May you take a padawan that drove you as crazy as you did me," she retorted, an enigmatic smile appearing on her lips. "I must take my leave now, given that I have my own business to attend to. Good day, Emrys. Behave, Raven." The Jedi Master inclined her head slightly then glided down the hall.
"So what division have you signed up for, Emrys?" Raven asked the younger Jedi. He had watched Daré Shioc move down the hall until she had disappeared.
"I'm in the sparring event, smallest weight class," he said a little hesitantly. It was obvious the younger boy was shy in front of her, certainly not as comfortable with her as with her master.
Raven smiled encouragingly. "That's my favorite, the simple man-to-man. Have you competed before?"
Emrys shook his head, looking disappointed. "No, I was sick the last time they were arranged, and the time before that I was too young to compete."
"How old are you?"
"I'm nine, though everyone says I look younger than that, especially when I spar," he said glumly. Raven gave him a sympathetic look. She felt the familiar pang of being out of place, not being like the others.
"You'll grow and learn to fight better, Emrys, have no doubt about that. You'll find your place among the others, and I say this from experience."
He looked at her curiously, disbelief flickering on his features. "You've felt like you haven't belonged? But you're so…" he paused as he searched for an appropriate word, "adept!"
Raven knelt down to look Emrys in the eye. "Emrys, at your age, I could barely lift small objects with the Force and could have been bested in any manipulation by anyone six years. If you keep fighting, one day, you'll be as good as any one your age or better. But it takes work and dedication. No one said it would be easy. I'll be here to help me, if you want."
A faint smile crossed his lips, although he still looked a little upset. "Thanks, Knight Suul."
Raven smiled at him. "It's either Raven or just Ven. Knight Suul is too formal for me."
"All right, Raven," Emrys answered.
Raven stood as she said, "I hurt my shoulder in a mission earlier this morning, so I shouldn't be doing much with it today. Would you like to meet tomorrow morning in one of the practice rooms right after breakfast?" She grinned again as the young boy silently nodded with excitement. "I will see you then."
***
"Take a wider stance."
Emrys cocked his head to the side, looking at Raven with a mixture of confusion and desperation to please. Moving his arms and feet slightly, the young Jedi shifted his weight, watching the Jedi Knight with fear and awe evident in his liquid brown eyes.
Raven shifted a little herself, resisting the urge to chuckle indulgently at his attempt. The boy was obviously trying his hardest to please her, to do what she asked, but he didn't seem to know exactly what it was she was asking him to do. "Do you understand what I mean by widening your stance?" she asked gently, kneeling down to be more on the same level as Emrys.
Hesitation showed in his features followed swiftly by shame. "No, Knight…" he paused, remembering her gentle admonishment from the night before, then corrected himself, "Raven."
"Do I frighten you?"
Emrys shook his head slowly, looking forlorn. "Not you, exactly." He paused, licking his lips in a nervous gesture. He dropped his stance. "I'm afraid that I will be a failure, that no one will take me as a padawan, and I will be dismissed from the Order because I have nothing to contribute," he suddenly said in a rush, turning away to hide his face.
Raven sighed, feeling the echo of his pain within her, knowing his wounds because she had felt the same. She reached out a hand and touched his shoulder, earning a flinch from him. "Emrys, look at me," the Jedi said softly, her voice commanding.
The initiate looked at her, tears running freely down his face. Gently, Raven brushed them away as he blinked, vainly trying to end the flow. "Emrys, listen to me. If you had no purpose for being in this Order, they wouldn't have brought you here in the first place. You are not a failure. You can manipulate the Force well for one your age. Just because you haven't mastered fighting doesn't make you a failure. That fact that you are here, now, trying to amend that proves to me that you have the heart of a Jedi, the perseverance and the determination. Those are more important than twirling a lightsaber."
He watched her, searching her face to find the truth in what she said. Finally, he shook his head, his eyes still damp, and buried his face in her shoulder, shaking from sobs. Raven held Emrys for a long time, until his fears had subsided and his eyes were dry.
"Are you ready to try again, Emrys?" Raven asked gently.
He pulled away and wiped the last of the dampness from his face. "Yes, Ven," he replied with a sad but determined smile. "What does it mean to widen my stance?"
Raven rocked back onto her heels and stood fluidly. "A wider stance means your feet are farther apart. You stand with your feet close, as so, and that makes your balance much more faulty. If you stand with your feet spread out, wider apart, you have better balance. Balance is key to what you are trying to do."
Emrys stood and assumed a defensive position, spreading his feet farther apart. Raven nodded her approval and saluted him with her saber hilt before activating her white blade. Emrys followed suit, his a brilliant yellow. They exchanged a few blows, Raven watching his movements carefully.
"That's not bad," she smiled to him as he parried her blow, "but you need to close your movements a little." He nodded slowly, furrowing his brow in concentration to keep his movements closer to him, protecting his body through his motions.
Raven worked him mercilessly during the first lesson, watching his methods and choosing a few of his weaknesses and strengths to focus on during this round. Carefully tempering her compliments with her chastisements, Emrys began to gain confidence, which caused him to do better. Her suspicion had been that that was part of the young boy's problem.
"That was good work," she told him when they had finished the lesson. Raven gave him a toothy grin, one that shown with pride in his improvement. "If you work like this every day until the tournament, you ought to place well. Shall we meet here tonight to have another bout?"
"I'd like that, Ven," he replied. Emrys was covered in sweat from his work, but he glowed with happiness what he felt he'd accomplished. He stood shyly for a moment, then he moved to embrace her. "Thank you for everything," he added softly, his face buried in her side.
Raven smiled gently at the top of his head, returning the hug and ruffling his hair. "You're very welcome, Emrys." He then slid away, disappearing from the practice room. Raven let out a deep breath, one she hadn't realized that she'd been holding.It's absolutely incredible what a little encouragement can do for someone, she mused silently, and the image of him leaving was superimposed in her mind with one of a little, dark-haired girl who had shed many similar tears.
***
A few days passed pleasantly, between spending time working with Emrys and generally relaxing on her own. Raven spent much of her personal time working on her own technique for the tournament, testing her shoulder to see how far she could push it.
The morning before the tournament, Raven was awakened from a deep sleep by someone knocking at the door. A groan emitted from her lips as she rolled from her sleep couch, her shoulder protesting her workout the night before. Her awareness was amplified as she hit the floor, and another, more audible groan came from her. Begrudgingly, the Jedi admitted that perhaps her healer friend had been correct. She pulled on an outer robe to cover her smallclothes and answered the door.
The initiate before her must have been about six years old. The young girl look at the Jedi Knight, shock clearly written on her face, before she managed to collect herself and remember the purpose in her presence. "Are you Knight Suul?"
"Most days," Raven replied, stifling a yawn. "Depends on who is asking." She ran a hand through her now-tangled long hair, getting her fingers caught in the dark tresses.
"You have a summons to the Council," the initiate said uncertainly, watching as the older woman pulled her hand from her hair with an un-Jedi-like grimace. She thrust a datapad towards the Knight, bowed deferentially, and disappeared down the hall.
Raven moved back within her apartment, her brow furrowed. What did the Council want with her? She skimmed the datapad. The body of the message was that they wanted to meet, although it didn't say why, that evening at 1745 The Jedi Knight frowned; she had promised to work with Emrys one last time at 1830 before the tournament tomorrow.
She set the datapad on the counter and drummed her fingers next to it, thinking. Raven moved to her commlink and put in the code for Nathaniel. The link chimed a number of times, and the Knight indulged herself in a smile, imagining him fumbling for his link, not unlike her trying to answer her door.
"Younam here," the link finally grumbled at her.
Raven grinned again before replying, "I have a favor to ask of you." "This early in the morning, the answer is always no."
"Master Shioc asked me to help an initiate train for the tournament tomorrow. We've been meeting in the evenings at 1830 in the practice area. However, the Council has summoned me to meet with them at 1745. I'm afraid I may not make it to work with Emrys. Will you work with him until I can get there?"
Her partner gave a beleaguered sigh. "Must be the day for those summons. I got one as well, due for 1700. Probably about Iain."
"Probably. So will you do it for me?"
"I suppose."
"Thanks! I'll let you get back to your sleep now. I wouldn't want to keep you up, Nat."
"Something like that." Her link clicked, and Raven knew he had probably hidden it somewhere so it wouldn't hear it go off again. She chuckled to herself at his expense. Then, the Knight threw on a clean pair of robes and headed to the practice area to meet with Emrys to tell him about this evening and work with him for tomorrow.
***
Raven never saw him coming.
She was contemplating the reason for having to appear before the Council, her hands buried in the sleeves of her dark outer robe. Her hair was unbound and falling in her line of vision, as it was apt to do, so she wasn't overly aware of her surroundings to begin with. The only thing that existed to her was the path she knew very well to the Council Chambers and her own thoughts.
And then Nat ran into her.
Raven was startled to say the least, her hand straying to her lightsaber, wrenching it from her belt, before she realized that the threat against her was merely her own partner. It was not her partner, though, not as she knew him. Nat's blue eyes had a feral look to them, one of anger and resentment. He reeled away from her, shaking his head. "Are you all right, Nathaniel?" Raven asked warily, reaching out to put a comforting hand on his shoulder.
He jerked away and eyed Raven carefully before throwing a wild gesture towards the Council. "Hypocrites!" he yelled, raw emotion in his voice. The dark-haired woman couldn't help but draw away from him. He exuded anger and hate, raw emotions that Jedi weren't supposed to hold but meditate away from themselves. Elep's words sprang to her mind yet again unbidden, although at this moment, Raven didn't have a hard time believing them.
"They say that Jedi crave not power or influence, but the twelve of them sit in there holding and seeking more power and influence than the rest of the Order combined! They wish to keep it to themselves, to foster their power and increase it for themselves!" Her partner exhaled sharply and grabbed her shoulders, shoving his face contorted with emotion into hers, giving her a clear view of his wild eyes. "I know of a way to pull more power from the Force, but they don't wish to hear it. They want the power to themselves. Hypocrites!"
Nat released her, much to Raven's relief. He stumbled away, his passionate rage making his steps haphazard. She heard him mutter something about showing them all, but then he was beyond her hearing.
Raven took a deep breath, feeling her heart race within her chest. The fear flooded her, and she dropped to her knees and took a moment to recollect herself. Something within her revolted at the sight of her partner, and she knew that something was wrong with him, whether it was something said by the Council or something he himself had done.
"Knight Suul?"
Raven looked up at the voice to find herself face to face with a page that ushered people into and out of the Council Chambers. An uncertain look was on the girl's face as she looked at the Jedi Knight before her. Raven stood up slowly, visibly recollecting herself. "The Council is ready to see you," the page said, gesturing towards the Chamber.
"Thank you," Raven replied, allowing herself to be lead into the antechamber just outside the formal Council Chambers. The page gave her a respectful bow then disappeared back into the waiting area.
The realization then hit her with full force.
Emrys.
The doors were already closed behind her, and Raven couldn't just leave the twelve most powerful and important Jedi waiting on her. She would have to pray that the meeting was short, and she would be able to reach Emrys in time, before Nat got to him. Raven had never seen him that angry, and she doubted that it would be abated much by the time he was to spar with the initiate. A cold feeling lodged itself in the pit of her stomach.
Force, keep him safe.
