The Odd Couple
-sparkvallen
All the usual disclaimers apply!
Chapter Eleven
Training Rym Svoby was unlike anything the Jedi teachers of Yavin IV had ever experienced. As Pharinseaya had already known, Svoby could be difficult, stubborn, arrogant and downright uncooperative for her own reasons. The fact that she was especially gifted with the Force only added to the young woman's troubles because she didn't know how to cope with the expectations placed upon her and her only reaction was to lash out and be a further problem.
When it came down to it, Master Skywalker ended up as her teacher for the bulk of her training and refinement. Whether it was because he well knew he'd given Yoda as much trouble as Rym gave everyone or because he had extraordinary patience with the Jedi students in general, no one knew; slowly and with much time spent, Rym Svoby began shaping into the form of the Jedi Knight.
Rym rarely saw Pharinseaya, if ever. With her mission complete to Corellia, she returned to holing herself up in the archives where she could study holocron after holocron, taking in the ancient knowledge of Jedi Masters long passed. The fact that Pharinseaya remained secluded troubled Skywalker to no end; his expectation of the vision was one where Luke hoped Pharinseaya would come out of her shell and take a more active role in teaching and leading at the Praxeum. Instead, she remained internal and withdrawn.
Standing in the blistering, balmy heat of the jungle, Rym awkwardly managed a training lightsaber with a light blue blade as she faced Luke Skywalker's bright jade one.
"You're doing well, Rym, just watch your footwork," he advised.
Rym felt like she was going to trip over her own feet. Her face was a mask of frustration and concentration as she attempted to balance herself just right, prepare herself for the eventual lunge from Luke and hold onto her Force connection consciously.
"Feel the Force," Skywalker urged. "Let that be your first duty. Everything else will fall into place."
"No offense, Master, but tossing things with the Force is more how my connection's always worked," Rym reminded. "Standing and holding a lightsaber isn't natural."
With the Jedi Training and all of the studying that had become a part of her routine, Rym's ability to communicate had vastly improved to the point where she no longer confused people with her sentences.
"Jedi are versatile," Luke responded with a grin as he brought his lightsaber around to attack.
Rym leapt out of his path and instinctively brought her own training blade down on his, pushing it away.
"Very good. You can do it, see?"
She chuckled. "What you're sayin' is that there's hope for me."
They sparred for a third of an hour before Luke extinguished his blade. He bowed to Rym and she returned the gesture.
"I'll need to take back that training lightsaber," Skywalker said.
"What? Why?"
"You're ready to design and create your own saber now, Apprentice. This is your final stage of formal training before you move onto your Knighthood," he explained.
She shifted nervously.
"Go on to the archives now and do some research on hilt designs, materials and crystal placement. You'll find all the research you'll need there."
"Yes, Master," Rym said obediently.
She was uncomfortable with the idea of proceeding to Jedi Knighthood for several reasons. The least of which was that she didn't feel ready and the more personal reason was that she always expected to train closely with Pharinseaya.
Without paying attention to her surroundings much, Rym quickly found herself at the entrance to the archives; it was housed in a large series of conference rooms that the Rebellion had used years before. Rym walked in, feeling numb, and was surprised to find Pharinseaya seated there with a holocron on the table before her.
"Um, hi," she offered.
Pharinseaya turned and beamed back at the younger woman. "Rym! It's so good to see you! How are you?"
"Uh... alright. I hope I'm not botherin' you or anything."
Pharinseaya shut down the hologram Jedi Master in mid-sentence to give Rym her full attention. "I'm so glad to see you! How is your training going?"
Rym hesitated. "I'm... heh, actually here to research my first lightsaber."
"Very good! Luke must be very proud of your progress... as am I then."
She frowned. "Can I ask ya something, Pharinseaya?"
"Certainly. Have a seat."
Rym sat down across from her at the table. Staring at the hardwood grain instead of looking at the Knight, she asked, "How come you didn't train me?"
Pharinseaya realized that this question had likely plagued Rym her entire training, even though she had the opportunity to learn under the greatest Jedi Master of the current age.
"Rym," she said slowly, "I didn't feel I was ready to have a student. I was but a new Knight and still learning really. I didn't feel I knew things well enough to be a good mentor to teach the path to someone else."
Rym looked up.
"It didn't have anything to do with you, my friend," Pharinseaya said. "I hope you know that."
"I- uh. Well, I know now," was what she finally replied.
"Good. I'm sorry if I gave you the impression that I didn't want to train you," she said. "I just didn't feel ready to train anyone."
Rym nodded. "I gotcha. Thanks for sayin' so. I better get studyin' for now. I hope I don't blow myself up tryin' to make my own lightsaber."
"I doubt you will," Pharinseaya said with a laugh. "You're the mechanic after all!"
Days later, after great meditation and toil over the gathered materials, Rym Svoby emerged from her dorm room within the Massassi Temple with a finely polished lightsaber hilt hanging from her belt. She had already tested the saber in the privacy of her room to ensure that it worked properly before displaying the final product to her Master.
Rym actually found Master Skywalker and Pharinseaya together outside the Great Temple, leaning against the cool stone walls.
"It's finished?" Luke asked.
She nodded eagerly, smiling at both of the more senior Jedi.
"By all means, Rym! Why are you keeping us waiting?" Pharinseaya laughed.
Rym unclipped the lightsaber and touched the internal activation stud with the Force. With a snap-hiss, the brilliant green blade sprung to life, castin a glow on her pale skin.
"I didn't blow m'self up," she joked to Pharinseaya.
"I see. You have quite the crystals in there too! What an amazing color!"
"You have done well, Rym," Skywalker said. "And now, this takes you to your final test."
"Uh, what?"
"You and Pharinseaya are to travel together on a mission to Coruscant, to the lower levels," he explained.
Pharinseaya's head shot from staring into the jade lightsaber blade to Luke's face in surprise.
"I have a report from several persons in the lower levels - by way of General Antilles, that is - that there is a Force sensitive living down there," Luke went on, ignoring Pharinseaya's surprised look. "It's said that this person is being treated as a prophet of sorts for visions she has given to those who come to see her."
"Whoa," Rym whispered. Pharinseaya was thinking the same thought.
"If this prophet is interested, she could become a powerful and influential Jedi if the reports are true. Your mission is to travel to Coruscant, make contact with the prophet and discern her intentions in the Force as well as the possiblity of her becoming a Jedi. Rym, this is your defining mission. Should you return successful, you return as the newest Jedi Knight of our Order."
"And if I flunk out?" she wanted to know.
"Then we go from there and decide your fate."
"This shouldn't be all that difficult, at least by how you've described it," Pharinseaya said to Luke. "Or are there details you haven't told us yet?"
"Just that this prophet has an entourage who screens the followers," Luke replied. "Working your way through or past that entourage may be the challenging aspect of your mission."
With that, he bowed from the neck to both women and slipped away into the Temple.
"Well, then!" Pharinseaya said to Rym.
"I... guess we're workin' together again, huh?"
"Seems so! I suppose we should go prepare. The next transport will land tomorrow and we can make our flight connections from there," the senior Jedi said.
