She sensed him when he was still halfway down the hall. Putting down the book she was reading, she called out "Enter!" as she felt him approach the door.
Ainar entered, looking solemn. "Are you ready, Padawan?" Nodding, Callista rose and drew on her robe. Her twin lightsabers hung at her side as she followed him from the apartment. It felt a little odd to be carrying both. She was a little nervous about meeting the woman. General Dinn, head of Galactic Defense. Taking a deep breath, she released her nervousness, letting the Force replace it with calm.
The transport let them off in the wide plaza that fronted the Galactic Defense building. Making their way across, they paused at the checkpoint. "Identification please," the sentry asked in a bored voice. Ainar straightened. "Master Ainar Algeron and Padawan Gseran to see General Dinn." The man straightened as well.
"Ah, Master Jedi, you are expected, go right in." Both Jedi bowed, and passed through to the lifts. The ride up to Arie's office was short, but filled with silence as both kept to their own thoughts. Reaching her level, they exited, and stepped out into the office foyer.
The young woman sitting behind the desk straightened when she saw the two Jedi. "May I help you, Master Jedi?" she asked.
Ainar bowed. "Please inform General Dinn that we are here to see her." Nodding, she keyed the intercom. "Excuse me, Ma'am. There are two Jedi here to see you."
"Please send them in, Ensign."
"Yes, Ma'am, right away." The receptionist nodded to them. "Go ahead."
Callista followed Master Algeron around the desk. Entering the office behind him, she paused and bowed to the general. "Good Day, General Dinn."
Arie remained silent as the two entered and the girl greeted Arie.
She rose from her desk, gray uniform bedecked in military ribbons catching the sunlight from the massive panoramic window behind her desk. Arie walked around her desk, her hands behind her back as she studied the girl.
"You may leave, Ainar. Thank you." Arie said quietly, sensing a small ripple from Ainar, but then calmness from the Jedi. She knew Ainar had expected to stay with Callista on her first day with Arie, but she wanted to talk with the girl alone.
Ainar made a half-bow towards Arie and excused himself from her office.
Once she was alone with the girl, Arie circled her once, silently looking her over, sensing her through the Force.
"Do you know what pain is, Callista?" Arie said after some silence. Callista nodded in reply.
"When someone hurts, caused by an emotional or physical wound." Callista replied.
"That is the textbook answer." Arie replied quietly as she outstretched her hand towards her left boot, her tikki blade flying into her open hand.
In a flash, Arie snatched Callista's hand up with her hand and ran the tikki blade across her palm, bringing a sharp wince from Callista and blood from the cut.
"General!" Callista protested, trying to pull her wounded hand away.
Arie looked at her hard and set the knife on her desk. Her right hand still holding Callista's wounded hand; she placed her left hand on Callista's temporal cranial lobe.
Immediately the pain Callista felt from her cut ceased. She looked down at her hand and watched as the cut on her hand sealed up and disappeared, as though she had never been cut.
"You see, young Padawan, that pain is merely a signal response from nerve endings to the brain. Pain is only in the mind. The mind makes it real. We deflect the signal, and pain is felt no more." Arie explained to Callista.
"This is your first lesson. How to master pain. Then how to deflect it. Much like mastering fear... I'm sure Ainar has taught you that lesson, has he not?" Arie asked.
"Yes, master." Callista replied.
"Good. Follow me." Arie said, her tone lightening a bit as she led Callista from her office to a connecting adjacent suite. They entered the room and Callista was amazed to find shelves upon shelves lining 3 of the 4 walls, filled with books, ancient texts, and scrolls, holos, data discs, and charts.
Callista also noticed a display case on the wall, housing several lightsaber hilts, but noticed that Arie did not carry a lightsaber on her uniform belt.
"You will come here every other day for a lesson, 3 times a week. You will meet me here in my suite, unless I am indisposed. I will inform my receptionist to expect you. If I am late or tied up in a meeting, you will begin reading my books." Arie explained.
"Which ones?" Callista asked.
"Start with this wall and work your way around the room until you have read every book, text, scroll, and chart on healing techniques." Arie informed the girl.
Callista sighed heavily. Learning to become a master healer was going to require a lot of work as Callista was now beginning to see.
"Now, for the rest of the afternoon, I want you to practice mastering pain. Cut your hand, cause a bruise, break a finger, until you can master the pain and heal these small tests of pain. From there, we will move onto something of a larger scale... I will take you to the infirmary once you have mastered the basic techniques." Arie continued.
"Alright, master." Callista agreed.
"I must take leave of you now; I am due in a conference with MJAG." Arie informed Callista as she began to leave Callista alone in her office.
"Master..." Callista turned quickly.
"Yes?" Arie asked, pausing at the door to look at the young girl.
"I'm sorry about your husband..." Callista sympathized.
"Stories about my life will come later, for now, study." Arie returned, exiting the office.
~She has the talent. Let's see if she can master the skill. ~ Arie said to herself, smiling as she walked down the hall.
Watching the General depart, Callista wandered slowly around the room, taking in the sheer volume of books and materials. Glancing down at her left palm where Arie had cut her, there was not even a scar to be seen.
Her mind still whirled with the implication of what had just occurred. The pain had felt so real.
She thought back over what had happened when her hand was cut. Arie had placed her hand on Callista's left temporal lobe. Picking up Arie's tikki blade from the desk, she pricked her finger experimentally. Concentrating, she was able to follow the path that the pain signal sent to her brain, locating and blocking it out.
The blood stopped welling out of the small cut, and it sealed, like it had never even happened. 'Ok, that worked. Something else now.' She took the hilt of one of her sabers in her hand. Holding it the reverse of normal, she whacked herself soundly across the shin. Grunting with the impact, she was able to shunt the pain aside and turn it into energy, which she then used to heal the purpling bruise.
She continued this for about an hour, progressively stepping up the amount of pain with each injury. She thought a minute. 'What would really test my ability?' She hesitatingly reached up and grasped her right shoulder. She shoved hard, almost passing out from the pain before she remembered to put up her block.
Holding the arm still with her left hand, she rose slowly from the chair she had been sitting in. Making her way over the door, she turned around so that her back was to the frame. She backed up, knocking her right shoulder solidly against the door frame.
She sat down hard, gasping from the pain. Her block had not been strong enough. She refocused past the pain, strengthening her block until the pain dissipated. Placing her free hand over the muscles, she focused the Force, bathing the wound in healing energy. She could almost feel the muscles repairing themselves.
She rose shakily to her feet, the adrenaline still coursing through her. She wandered over to the near wall of books, glancing over a few of the titles. She had not heard of a great many of them.
Running her hand along the books, she felt impressed to pick one up. Her hand stopped on the spine of a leather-bound volume, whose title read, "Pain Suppression and Force healing." 'How appropriate,' Callista mused, a small smile forming.
She withdrew the heavy book from its spot on the shelves, lugging it over to the couch. Sitting down, she placed it across her knees and began reading. There were many things that she had learned in her training with Manna, but some were new to her.
She was not sure when she fell asleep, but she woke up several hours later to find that someone have closed the book, marking her place, and covered her with a blanket.
Callista once again found herself in Arie's study. The receptionist had let her right in, commenting, "The General should be along shortly. She left instructions for you in the study."
Callista smiled briefly. "Thank you, Ensign." Entering the office, she made her way into the study. There was indeed a note on the desk.
Callista,
My apologies for not being able to speak with you the other day regarding your lesson. You did well. Today, I would like you to continue with the book you started, and work on honing your sensing skills. I know Master Karrde has taught you how to do this.
Keep up the good work,
General Dinn
Smiling, Callista well remembered just how Steffan had taught her. The release she had felt upon her full release into the Force. The book she had been reading still lay on the low table in the study. Settling onto the couch, she picked up the book and began to read once more.
It was not long before she heard voices in the outer office. Arie's receptionist was speaking to someone. "I'd like to speak to Padawan Gseran, if I may..." a male voice said. Looking up from the text she was reading, she saw Master Karrde entering the study.
"So, how is your studying going?"
Smiling, Callista closed the book she had been reading. "It is going well. Although I haven't seen much of General Dinn for a few days..."
"I'm afraid that the General has to deal with 'other' matters," Steffan said as he sat with her. "Even though you've been through much study, there is a lot in the galaxy that requires her attention...as well as the rest of us."
Nodding, she thought a moment. "Isn't it a bit odd for my study to be self-directed though?"
"Not really," he told her. "Some study better in different ways than others." Steffan smiled as he thought on that. "Not that I'm saying that you are, Callista...but your skills as a healer seem to grow by leaps and bounds than anything else."
Blushing, she looked down for a second. "It's almost second nature to me, a matter of instinct, really..."
"It's as I've always told you, Callista. We are called upon for different things. My skills are with the sword...your true talent lies in the healing arts."
"It seems like all I ever do is read books, isn't there another way to learn?" She paused, blushing again. "I'm sorry, that was very forward of me..."
"With healing," Steffan began to say. "I'm afraid there is only one way to learn and test other than the books. I hope, though, that you'll never have to be called upon for that. But..." He looked off out the windows. "I feel that it may happen."
Frowning, Callista gazed back at him. "What do you mean?"
"In meditation, the council is getting premonitions that there may be very trying times ahead," Steffan stood and walked to the windows. "I can't fully explain the things we have felt, Callista, but I feel that your skill is to be called upon a lot."
"But surely you can't mean..." Her voice trailed off as the implications of what he had just said hit her full force.
"I don't know for sure yet," he said as he turned to her. "We are trying to fully understand it ourselves. All I can ask is that you continue studying...possibly help with teaching some of the younger healers."
"And what of the other teachers? Manna? Arie?"
"I've asked Manna to do what she can," Steffan told her. "But Arie is constrained by her duties to the New Republic." He sat back down to talk to her. "And I feel that some of the trouble we will face will come from those she has to answer to."
Her face slackened in shock. "Not another Palpatine situation..."
"I don't believe it is the same," he assured her. "No, the powers behind this lie outside the Senate. But with the Bothans pushing their agendas, and their skill in political posturing, they are definitely in league with something stronger."
"Should I discontinue my studies with the General so that she can focus more?"
Steffan shook his head. "She has access to material that you would not be able to find at the Temple...particularly this." He called a book over from the wall and set it on the table. "Her personal journal of techniques."
Callista thought a moment. "How would you suggest I go about helping to teach the younger healers? Most of my time is spent here..."
"I think that you're well enough in your other studies that we can arrange some time for that."
"Alright." She got a mischievous look in her eye. "Do you think she would be mad if we had a little saber practice in here?"
"I have confidence in your control of the saber at this point," Steffan told her with a smile. "But I don't think her personal study is the appropriate place."
"Where would you suggest?"
Steffan had to smile at that. She may be learning as a healer, but her heart still lies in the sword at times. "The observation platform," he told her as he got up. "I will expect you at sundown."
"I will be there."
Steffan sat on the ledge of the observation area, hood over him and eyes closed as he waited there until he felt the presence behind him. "A few moments late," he said softly as he remained sitting there. "But one cannot predict nature."
Callista bowed as he turned to face her. "My apologies, Master Karrde. I had a few things to attend to."
"As I said, timing wasn't important," Steffan said as he remained sitting there. "Are you still up for that lesson?"
She nodded, and came to sit next to him on the ledge. "I am."
He nodded softly and turned to look at the cityscape below. "Clear your mind of thought... relax yourself before we begin."
Settling herself on the ledge, she gazed out at the cityscape for a few moments before letting her eyes drift closed as she sank into the Force, finding her calm center. The sensation of riding a great current was there once again.
Steffan sat there, considering some of the feelings he was picking up from places all over the planet. "Sometimes, the best way to end the battle...is never to start it."
Turning to look at him, she asked, "How would one accomplish that?"
"I've have tried to study that for some time," he told her as they kept looking. "One would be so well accomplished that no one would want to chance certain defeat in engaging them. I would think these people could learn from the lessons of the past, but they never seem to. They always believe that they can take on anything...and always cause chaos."
"They fight for the glory of battle?"
"No," Steffan said as he closed his eyes. "People who fight for glory also know where to find it off of the battlefield by protecting others. It is something my people understood centuries ago. All anyone worries about now are themselves...how they stand to gain from the suffering of others."
She thought a moment on that. Again she remembered her classmates' derisive laughter at the misfortune of others. Her heart ached whenever she saw someone in need.
"It is important to know how to defend yourself and others in battle," Steffan told her as he sat there. "But what is more important is to know why you go into battle. And that is the lesson I wanted to teach."
"To defend those who cannot do so for themselves."
"And sometimes, it's more then just the battlefield," he said softly. "It also happens on other types of battlefields. And that is some of what Master Arie has been dealing with."
"The Senate and the military?"
"There are many levels...sometimes we're not prepared to face all of them...but they do come. And in my own personal way, I feel comfortable fighting in combat...you have the advantage of knowing who your enemy is."
She thought over that. "But with a political body such as the senate, your enemy is not as apparent..."
"Exactly. Luckily, that is one you'll never personally have to face." Steffan smiled at her.
"I'm glad of that."
He grinned at her. "Well, now that that particular lesson is done." She grinned back at him, rising to her feet.
Pulling her twin sabers from her belt, she turned to face him.
Steffan nodded softly and drew his lightsaber, and ignited the blade. He stretched out and set himself into his guard. "No limits this time."
Nodding, she let go into the Force, setting herself in a mid guard, one saber raised over her head, while the other one pointed towards Steffan's midsection.
Steffan changed his stance, letting his saber go lax in one hand while the other stretched out and motioned to her as a taunt.
Instead of falling for the taunt, Callista began circling him slowly, her sabers held ready. She could feel him calculating moves in his head. He waited, circling with her, both of his hands back on his lightsaber as he paced slowly around her.
Staring into his eyes, she readied herself. She let her eyes drift closed, reaches out with her senses instead. Testing her senses, Steffan eased in slowly, touching the tip of her outstretched saber with his, waiting for her reaction.
She batted it away, coming in with her second saber, scoring a hit on his left arm which left a red welt. She pressed on, working to break past his defense. They drew in close, each fighting for center, their sabers a blur.
Steffan found the opening and parried one blade aside and struck a touch to her mid-section. Before she could even come up for a counter strike, Steffan called a second hilt from his hiding place and began to fight her with two sabers of his own now.
She grunted, blocking the pain, and refocused on the battle. 'Two against two now...this should be interesting...' She backed off a step, feinting to the left, and then came in high with her left saber, while her second blocked a low strike from his.
He countered the next strike and whirled around with the motion of the block to intercept another attack of hers. Steffan stood his ground and lunged once, waving his sabers in a move that would've bisected her, but she scooted back away from the strike and they just stood there, facing one another.
She gazed at him, her breath coming fast in her lungs. She still rested in a guard position, waiting. 'I shouldn't have put it past him to have a second saber...'
Steffan nodded and stood straight, relaxing his stance. "Always expect the unexpected. Always mind your surroundings."
She nodded, lowering her saber, and relaxing. "Thank you, Master."
"Well done," Steffan said as he returned his to his belt and nodded to her again. "You're improving."
"I was a bit surprised when you pulled the second saber, but I should have known better."
"Well, you never know what you're going to be hit with," Steffan said as he regarded the other lightsaber he used. "You just never know."
She looked at the saber he held, "One of yours?"
"No," Steffan said as he closed his eyes. "It was one of my friends..."
She felt the anguish coming from him. "I'm...I'm sorry…"
Steffan shook his head. "You noticed the red blade of the lightsaber." He handed it to her for her to sense the spirit of the saber.
"A classmate of yours...Welt...turned to the Dark..." she trailed off, noticing the tears in his eyes.
"Aye," Steffan said as he sat down and began to tell her the story.