'My Apprentice'
by Jasmine Larson
Cas emerged from the cave to find Luke's back facing her, but she felt that he knew she was there. "Hey." she said quietly.
Luke turned around and folded his arms. "What happened?"
Cas shrugged. "Nothing"
"Something." Luke insisted.
Cas looked away and hooked her borrowed lightsaber to her belt. "Did you have to tell your Master?"
"Yes." Luke fibbed.
Cas looked up and grinned at him, sensing his dishonesty. "Well, that would have worked if you hadn't taught me how to read minds yet." She teased him. Then she thought of something, maybe, it hadn't been... "Were you singing?" she asked him, hair falling in her eyes.
Luke grinned sheepishly. "Yeah." he admitted. Cas smiled, so, it was him. It wasn't the creature, therefore it was a trick. She had to admit, she was worried it really was him at first, she had never heard anyone else sing that song. She picked up the jacket she had discarded earlier and shrugged it on.
"So, what now?" she asked him, noting that it was soon going to be dark. She had been in that cave longer than she had thought.
Luke smiled. "A test, of endurance."
Cas looked at him skeptically. What did he mean? "What do you mean?" she asked.
Luke unfolded his arms and walked to stand beside her, gaze unshifting. Her eyes met his, maybe this was the test, just how long she could stand him staring her before she screamed.
"Cas, how long can you run?" he asked her, looking her up and down.
"From you? For hours." she retorted.
Luke smiled that handsome smile down at her. "And, why do you think you should have to run from me?" he asked her, edging closer.
"Because you, you, frighten me." She snapped, taking a step back.
"Ah, and why is that?" he challenged, taking a step forward.
"I don't know. You just do."
Just as suddenly as he had begun advancing towards her, he turned around. "Well, I'm sorry about that." he said in his ever-calm, sad voice. He looked over his shoulder at her and grinned.
"Now, to the test. An accomplished Jedi can run for miles, and never become tired, something that took me years to achieve."
She frowned at him. There was no way, run for miles? Well, that was one thing, but to never get tired? That was another. She was getting tired of this, she had little patience for these little games and riddles.
Luke smiled at her, having been reading her thoughts. "I know, seems impossible, doesn't it? But, a Jedi's most powerful ally is patience, something you must gain. And endurance is one step forward, now, let's go."
With that he grabbed her by the arm and set off. He ran in step with her for near a mile, and then let her go. They went for perhaps three more, and she began to grow too tired to move.
"Cas! Go through your calming exercises, relax, breathe." Luke shouted to her. She obeyed, and felt much better. She was able to go for a few more miles, and finally collapsed on the soft moss.
"See, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Luke asked her, slowly sitting down beside her. She looked at him, and to her surprise, he had not even broken a sweat.
"I-I- guess." She panted.
Luke smiled and sat behind her. He began to massage her shoulders and send comforting thoughts to her. She closed her eyes and caught her second wind. When she opened them, she realized it was totally dark now.
"Oh no! Luke, how are we ever going to find our way home?" she asked him, sudden worry clouding her eyes. Luke smiled and stood her up, again wrapping an arm around her shoulders, a gesture that had become more and more common, she didn't even think about it anymore.
"No need." he teased, pointing to their hut, which was only a few feet from where they were standing. Cas let out a small giggle. She took one step forward and fainted. Luke chuckled, perhaps he had taken her too far. He bent down and scooped her up in his arms, walking towards the hut. He couldn't help noticing how right she felt in his arms, so small and fragile. He remembered the first time he had carried her, and that had been when he first met her...
"Really, um, Luke, this isn't necessary." Cas complained as he picked her up and began walking back to his ship.
"Mad' am, I have just met you already I know you are a girl of strong will. You can't walk, you took quite a beating." Luke explained as he wrapped one of her arms securely around his neck. "It will only be a short walk back to my ship, then I promise to put you down."
Luke smiled, remembering. As he recalled, that hadn't been enough to convince her, he had had to talk her into not simply kicking him in the jaw and bolting. He chuckled a little, sometimes she could be so stubborn, that may get her into trouble someday. They were now at the cabin, and Luke contemplated how he was going to open the door. He sighed and swung her over his shoulder rag-doll style, reaching into his pocket for the key. If she awoke right now, she would be pissed, he realized. He quickly unlocked the door and walked in, lying her down on the couch before setting about building a fire.
Soon the fire was crackling merrily as Luke cooked in the kitchen. He loved cooking, even though he had no idea what he was doing. He looked at the instructions on the box of mac-n-cheese. Hmmm, boil water. Luke dug out a pot and put some water in it. Now...how do I get it to boil? He zapped it with Force-lighting and smirked when it boiled. Aha, I'm good at this, now what? Ok...dump in pasta. He picked up the box and dumped the contents in. He also dumped in the cheese packet. He quickly fished around in the madly boiling pot to retrieve the soaked paper envelope. He sighed and set it on the counter. Ok... stir...with what? He clambered around until he found a large walking stick. Perfect. He snapped it in two over his knee and stirred the rapidly growing soggy, mixture. Ok...strain. All right, that's easy.
He picked up the pot and dumped the contents in the sink, and had to quickly scoop them back up into the pot before they went down the drain. It was still a little watery, but hey, nobody's perfect. Ok, all right, butter. He picked up a carton of butter and dumped it all in. Hmmm...maybe that's not enough...oh well. He stirred it some more with his splintering walking stick and felt quite proud of himself. Cas was going to be so happy, she would think he was a wonderful Master. And a fine cook, too.
He finished melting the butter and looked at his soupy glop with pride. Everything was going perfect, must be his lucky night, usually something bad happened. Ok ok, cheese. Well,I ruined that...mustard's yellow. Yeah yeah! Good idea. He flattered himself, getting the mustard out. Ok, they say just a smidgen. How much is that? The size of a small pigeon? He shrugged and dumped the whole bottle in. He stirred in some more with the stick, and dumped about half a jug of milk in. Perfect, wonderful! He would call this little number...Skywalker Surprise. He dumped the yellow goo into two bowls and poured some water. He set up a small table in front of the fire and laid their places. He skuttled over to Cas and shook her awake.
"Gawaaah, what is it?" she grumbled, her vison clearing to see a beaming Luke standing over her.
"Dinner time." he chirped.
She bolted up right and scanned his thoughts to confirm he wasn't joking. He wasn't. "Oh, no thanks Luke, I'll just um, well..."
"Eat eat eat!" Luke snapped, helping her up and seating her at the table. She sighed and took a teeny tiny bite. Her face screwed up in a grimace she forced into a smile. "Mmmmm. Mm, good."
"I'm glad you like it, the mustard was a little old." he said happily, chowing down obliviously.
Cas nearly lost her breakfast. MUSTARD? She offered Luke a tight small and gulped down some water. She frowned, what WOOD she tasted? Where would he get a notion like THAT?
"So, what's this called?"
Luke finished chewing. "Skywalker Surprise." he said happily.
"So, what's the surprise? Bantha poop?"
Luke chuckled. "No, silly. We don't HAVE any Banthas'."
Cas rolled her eyes. Suddenly she spotted a small creature crouching near the door, some sort of dog. She called to it quietly, luring it in. It came to rest by her feet and looked up at her. She quickly set the bowl of 'Surprise' down beside it and tried to act nonchaclant. It sniffed it, and took a small bite. It looked shocked for a moment and looked up at her, as if she had poisioned it. It's eyes widened and it yelped in surprise, and ran for it's life. She chuckled a little, although she felt sorry for it.
"What was that noise?" Luke asked, looking around.
"Oh, I have hiccups." Cas fibbed. "I, I really need to get to bed. Goodnight." without another word she turned and ran to her room, hoping he hadn't caught her resounding thought of, YUCK.
Luke smiled in her direction, she must have had a hard day. Then he noticed her bowl on the floor, still full. Piff, disrespect. Oh well. He got up from the table and piled the dishes in the sink, mentally planning the next days training.
End Of Chapter Three