Shane's Sorrow
Chapter One: Everyday Proceedings
This is a prequel to my first fan-fic 'Shamo's Shame'. You don't need to have read the afore mentioned story to read this one. In fact, you shouldn't read it until you've finished reading this story, otherwise you might get confused - I still have to edit a few things in my old story as to who are Jedi and who aren't. Thanks and please review - I'd like to know what to fix and what to make even better. :) By the way – I've changed my main characters name from Shamo to Shane – I like it better and it fits into the story more properly.
Shane was finally almost finished her second lightsaber, setting in the five small focusing crystals and delicately fitting the inner workings into the intricately carved and uniquely crafted casing. With a snap and whirl of a soldering gun, the casing was melded shut.
The young apprentice sighed as she turned off the soldering gun, removed her goggles, and leaned back in her chair. Rubbing her rather dry and buggy eyes, Shane leaned back in a cat like stretch and smiled as she felt several spots in her back pop and crackle pleasantly.
"Urgh! Shane, you shouldn't do that, you'll wreck your back."
Shane turned and grinned mischievously at Derrick.
"Fine, you don't get to try out my new lightsaber."
Derrick's face dropped.
"Awww, come on, Shane. I was only bugging you, and you promised I could!"
Shane, also known as Azaria Zemmeck, apprentice and padawan learner to the revered Jedi knight Revii Aelfhald, laughed at the expression on her companion's face.
"Oh lighten up, Derrick! I'm only teasing you," Shane tossed a nearby pillow at him.
Derrick let out an ear splitting shriek and dodged the pillow.
Almost immediately the door opened and two young padawans ran into the room, ready to save someone, only to burst out laughing at the pillow fight in progress.
"Really, Derrick – you shouldn't make Azaria scream so! It hurt my ears and nearly made Iosef spill his tea everywhere," Anaya scolded.
That comment only made Shane laugh harder, "it was not I who screamed, my friends."
The two other padawans looked, incredulously, at the young rodian boy blushing deep green on the floor.
"I was startled," he squeaked pathetically.
Later, once the other padawans had finally left Shane alone and in peace, she picked up her almost completed lightsaber. She had yet to acquire the right kind of grips for her handle. Shane frowned – using a holo of an ancient Haltijan warrior's sword for reference, she had designed the handle of her saber after the hilt of the ancient metal sword, but she had no idea as to what type of material was used to wrap the grips.
Taking up the nearly completed saber, Shane padded out of her room, through the now empty common area, and to her master's door.
Reaching out with the Force first, to determine if she would be interrupting her master, Shane tentatively opened the old fashioned wooden door and poked her head in through the crack.
"Master?"
Revii looked up from the mat he sat cross legged on. He had sensed his padawan's approach and her nudging with the Force.
"Good morning, padawan. I heard a scream not long ago – was that you?"
Shane grinned and shifted her weight from one foot to another, "nay – that was Derrick."
Revii let out a deep baritone guffaw and shook his head in amusement.
"What is it that you wish to ask, Shane?"
The padawan paused, collecting her thoughts.
"I need to get some wrappings for my new saber's hilt... I don't think there's anything like what I need in the temple... could I go shopping?"
"Shopping," Revii repeated, his eyebrows raising high. "Do you know where you need to go?"
A muscle in Shane's cheek twitched and pulled the corner of her mouth into a frown.
"Well... not really. Would you know where I could find some stuff like this," Shane held out the holocron of the sword and activated the image. "I want my handle to look like the hilt on this sword. I just don't know what material that is on there."
Revii reached out and the holocron drifted gently from her hand to his.
Studying the image closely, all the Jedi could do was shrug.
"If it were me, I might have used a type of leather – I think that might be what the bindings are on that ancient piece."
"So can I go," Shane asked hopefully.
Revii cocked his head to the side, "go...?"
"Shopping!"
"Oh, oh – well, I don't see the harm in it. Make sure you have your comlink on and enough credits to pay for anything you might purchase."
Shane grinned.
"Thank you, master," she said excitedly and gave Revii a hug. "I'll be back before evening."
Revii nodded and went back to his meditations as his young padawan rushed out the apartment after gathering a few things from her room.
Shane dashed down the corridor to the turbolift and punched the down button.
Within moments the lift stopped on the hanger floor and Shane, dressed in a set of bottle green and deep burgundy robes, rushed over to the side dock where the speeders were kept. Accessing the dock with a quick hand print scan, Shane went to her favorite craft – happy that it wasn't taken out by anyone else. The sleek Cloud Cruiser C-15 was top of the line, all comforts included, and silvery blue in colour.
Dropping her bag in through the open hatch, Shane again swiped her hand across the sign-out pad held out by a clerk-droid.
"When do you expect to return, padawan Zemmeck?" The droid politely asked.
"Oh, sometime this evening, I'm sure. I'll bring it back in working order, don't worry."
The droid made a movement like a shrug and rolled away.
Shane grinned and climbed into the gorgeous craft, closed the hatchway, and prepped to go. The track that the speeder laid on moved into the clearing and, with no further ado, Shane sped off into the vast cityscape of Coruscant.
Parking the speeder in a well guarded lot, Shane walked the remaining distance to the Haltijan sector's buzzing marketplace. Here, the padawan reasoned, someone would be able to tell her what material to use, and most likely that someone would be in at one of the many traditional weaponry dealerships.
The first she came across had only a young female behind the counter and hadn't any clue about weapons – she was only looking after her uncle's shop.
And so were many of the shops, no one was old enough to have any idea what she might use to wrap her grips with. Of course, for discretions sake, Shane made no mention that she needed the wraps for a lightsaber and not a katana.
Drifting though the little kiosks full of beautiful and vibrant fabrics and cutely made children's clothes, Shane found herself drawn to one out of the way, quiet merchant's stand.
There, among many other things, was a beautifully made katana with a wrapped handle!
With excitement, Shane asked the merchant what type of leather was used to wrap the hilt – the merchant, and ancient and stooped old man, ran his weathered hands over the sword and closed his eyes, digging back into his dusty memory.
"I believe it is Kryllick's skin – the handle is carved from Kryllick's tooth. It is very old – I've had it a long time, but no one wants these ancient weapons. You're the first to ask about it."
Shane smiled, "really – that is too bad, and one must remember a people's history and traditions. I was always so very sorry that I never learned all the wonderful old traditions of our people."
The old man cocked his head to the side, "you never learned any of our traditions? Were you an orphan?"
Shrugging Shane replied, "I'm not sure, really. I looked later for my parents when I went to visit Haltijalia, but I couldn't find them."
"I do not understand, you speak as though you are a Jedi or something," the old man commented, but then he stopped and looked at her strangely. "Are you a Jedi?"
Shane nodded and smiled.
"Indeed – in fact, I am searching for the material to make a grip like this one to design my lightsaber with."
The old man smiled widely and clapped his hands – "good, good! My nephew's grandson went to be a Jedi. Very proud of him, we were. I think I can help you out – I happen to know of another place that sells good Kryllick leather. Find young Isharti, she has some nice leathers."
Shane bowed and smiled gratefully at the old man, "thank you very much."
"You are very welcome, young Jedi."
Shane started walking away when the old man called her back, holding out a wooden case.
"Jedi, I wish for you to have these few things – as a gift. I think you would appreciate them more than anyone would that might buy them. No – don't refuse," the man shook his head when Shane put her hand out facing out and motioned that she couldn't possibly take them. "I want you to have them – please take them and live well. May the Force be with you."
With those words he shoved the box into her hands and darted away into the crowd, quite quickly for an old man.
Shane stood astounded.
With gentle hands, she opened the box and gasped.
Inside were three matching blades of different lengths in ornate sheaths, traditional leather wrist guards, a matching headband, three long flowing pieces of material, and a silver ring with a design matching those on the wrist guards etched into the green stone.
Shane closed the box and, after glancing around for a last look in the direction of where the old man had disappeared into, continued on her way to this Isharti's stall.
Revii was worried – it was quite dark now and his padawan had not yet returned.
'I must check my comlink again, just to make sure she didn't leave me a message when I wasn't paying attention.'
There were no messages.
Revii contacted all of his padawan's friends and they hadn't any idea where she was.
Turning his comlink to the police's frequency, he listened for any accidents involving a young haltijan or a Jedi registered speeder, but there weren't any reports.
Again Revii attempted to reach her comlink only to receive, like before, a dead signal.
The Jedi master reached out with the Force and could feel the connection there and he sighed – they had never reached a level like some other padawan-master teams that were able to fully communicate through the Force.
'I should go look for her – she could be in trouble, she could be hurt or Force knows what,' Revii's mind screamed at him, even though he fully well knew through the force that she was fine. It didn't stop him from worrying though.
Just as the Jedi had made up his mind and was about to go looking for his padawan, she waltzed in though the door.
Seeing the stricken look on her master's face, Shane froze.
"Master? Oh my goodness – are you all right?"
Revii felt as though he would have a heart attack, kill her for worrying him so, die of relief, hug her, cry uncontrollably, and possibly pass out, all at the same time.
"I... oh Azaria," Revii choked on his words, "I was so worried! Where were you?"
Shane felt amazed at how upset her master was.
"I was shopping – why were you so worried, master?"
Revii pointed accusingly at the chrono on the wall.
"You said you'd be home for supper – I waited for awhile, then I left a note for you and went to the gardens to meet with Healer Erin, but I was so worried that I left early and you still weren't home. I was just about to come looking for you when you walked in! I don't know where I would have looked, but I was just about to leave to find you."
Shane hurried over and hugged her master tightly – "I'm so sorry to have worried you, Revii!"
The Jedi knight hugged his padawan back and sniffled into her long hair.
"What kept you so long? Why was your comlink off? Why didn't you leave a message from a public terminal? You could have been dead in some lower level alley and I'd never find you!"
"But Revii," Shane looked into her master's dark green and gold eyes, "I told you that I'd be home in the evening. Why did you expect me home for supper?"
Revii paused.
"The evening? But I was sure that you had said you'd be home for supper."
Shane shook her head.
"No – I said the evening. An as for my comlink – the batteries must have drained out. I forgot to charge it last night and they probably didn't have any juice left in them. I'm so sorry, master."
Revii sighed and released his strong embrace around his padawan, "It's alright, my little lassie. I shouldn't worry so much – I could sense you but my panic took over."
Shane grinned, blinking tears out of her grey eyes.
"You are so cute when you're protective, master."
Revii sat up straight and looked in amazement at his glowing apprentice.
"I can hear you! We can hear one another! I have always hoped that we would be able to do so," Revii sent his thoughts out through the Force to his joyous padawan.
Their bond was now among the strongest in the order.
Three weeks later Shane had finished off the wrappings on her gorgeous new lightsaber.
It had taken quite a few credits to purchase the beautiful leather and more to buy a die that would work on the thick Kryllick skin.
Revii admired the blade he held out in front of him.
The white wood casing was decoratively carved in the shape of some ancient Haltijan mythological dragon and wrapped in dark black leather with small gold threads braided and woven through it all. Graceful tassels hung down from the matching belt that she had designed to carry her lightsaber on gave the illusion of an ancient sword.
All together, the weapon was marvelously crafted.
The blade was an intriguing heliotrope colour, which contrasted nicely with her original ginger-orange saber.
Revii grinned as he ignited it and the blade leapt up with little resistance and a crackle of oxygen molecules being vaporized.
"Wonderful, my padawan; it's just amazing! I have never seen another quite like it, and I doubt there will ever be another as well made as this – even if you start a new trend among the other padawans. You must show this to master Windu, he'd be highly impressed with the construction. You say you used five Peruti crystals? This blade should last you forever!"
Shane practically glowed under her master's praises.
It had taken well over three years for the young apprentice to finish her beloved new lightsaber and was waiting in anticipation to show it off in the dueling chambers.
"Derrick gets to use it first – I promised him over two years ago, and then all my other friends," Shane transmitted slyly, "would you like to take it for a go?"
Revii laughed in his wonderful, deep baritone.
"I wouldn't think of stealing your glory – go have fun, my padawan. Remember that I am going to go get us an apartment, so don't worry."
Both Jedi snickered at the joke.
While Shane went off to exhibit her triumph to the other padawans in the Temple, Revii keyed out a speeder and went about the nearby housing complexes where rooms were available for rent.
The master-padawan team decided that they wanted to spend more time outside the Temple among the everyday people. Shane had finished off taking regular classes when she turned seventeen and now they both wished to spend less time in the silent halls when home from missions.
Revii glanced down at the datapad on the dashboard that listed apartments in the area with rooms for rent – there were quite a few but one stuck out in his mind. It was in an old section, where no new buildings had been built for several hundred years. It was still a nice neighborhood too, unlike some of the other older ones where there were no developments because of the poor inhabitants. This area held many old families that lived in old mansions that they were loath to part with for new, fancy apartments.
The address was managed by an older Gomerigian woman that Revii had met once and was on good terms with. Revii had called the old landlady before he left to tell her that he was coming to view the rooms, so when he pulled up and parked in the lot in front of the building, he was quite amazed that there wasn't anyone there to meet him.
Climbing cautiously out of the speeder and ascending the old stone steps Revii felt a tremor in the Force and didn't get a good feeling from it. But he couldn't tell what this foreboding warned him of.
Just as the Jedi moved to press the buzzer, the door opened and a toady-looking humanoid opened the door and brushed past him without saying a word.
Revii was confused – he looked in the door to see the old woman watching him with an apologetic look on her face.
"Madame? Is there a problem?"
The old woman shifted on her feet uncomfortably and looked down at the polished stone floor. "I'm very sorry, master Jedi – but a man came not ten minutes after you called and asked to see the house. I'm very sorry but he said that he'd take it."
Revii felt knocked for six. He had thought that she would hold the place until at least, he had seen it. It seemed like that wouldn't have been too much to ask, seeing as how he did rescue her husband from a Hutt slave yard.
Revii merely nodded, though, and used a Jedi calming technique to restrain himself from unleashing a heavy string of obscenities. "That's quite alright, Madame."
The old woman smiled sadly and motioned for him to come in the door, "at least come take a look. You can't always be sure of people, and he might not be one of them that you don't want living in your home."
The landlady gave Revii a tour of the old building.
It was a beautiful and spacious place. Shane would love it, Revii found himself thinking almost bitterly.
The old woman promised that if she didn't hear from the toady man again that she'd save the place for Revii and would give him a discount on the already quite low rent.
Revii thanked her and went back to his speeder, where he then, after making sure the old woman wasn't looking, began cursing in all sorts of languages.
Eventually he had to stop, not just because he knew Jedi shouldn't get angry, but because he ran out of swear words.
Revii sighed, started up his speeder, and zoomed off back towards the Temple. He didn't have the heart to look at other places – he could wait and see if this place opened up.