Tag #27 – Through the Looking Glass

"There he is!"

Daniel reached past his barriers and tapped into the Force, boosting his natural speed as he darted ahead of the angry crowd. Bolting around a corner, he made an enhanced leap up onto a cloth canopy.

Quickly, he flipped backwards to land on the solid roof across the street and ducked down. Beneath him, the crowd ran down the street, yelling obscenities in regards to the human.

Once he was sure they were gone, he flopped onto his back and glared at his companion. "I thought you told me what I said was a compliment," he growled through clenched teeth, ignoring the freezing rain pelting his face and chest.

Blue transparent shoulders shrugged. "I lied," she said, looking not at all apologetic.

He sighed, rolling over and standing up. "Revan…what did I actually say?" he asked in resignation.

Revan tapped a finger against her lips in thought. "Something about smugglers' questionable parentage, and the quality of their skills."

His eyes widened in disbelief. "And you had me say this why!"

She grinned. "Just wanted to see how you'd handle it."

Daniel squeezed his eyes shut and smacked himself in the forehead with the butt of his lightsaber a few times in exasperation. Sometimes I really, really regret taking this job, he muttered mentally.

He'd been planet-hopping ever since his thirtieth birthday, when the shimmering blue spirit of the ex-Sith ambushed him in a narrow alley on the edge of Cairo. Taken aback at her odd appearance, he had no choice but to listen to her tale about the Force and the Jedi that used it. Then she told him that he had the ability as well, and that she wanted to train him as one of these Jedi warriors.

At first he thought she was just a hallucination, but when she directed him to an ancient-looking, pyramid-shaped ship buried in the desert, he couldn't help but be convinced. Thus had he taken control of the ship, and left Earth for good, with only Master Revan by his side.

The past five years had been spent exploring the galaxy under her direction. Building his lightsaber had proven less than easy, as most of the parts required weren't native to his galaxy, but he'd managed to jury-rig a working tool with equivalent parts. The casing itself was made of parts from a ribbon device, wound tightly into a tube. Most who saw it thought he was a god, or a god-slayer.

Not these smugglers.

"I can't believe you did that," he grumbled, vaulting over the edge of the roof to land on the next one, his teacher floating placidly along. "Did you want me to have to kill them?"

"No," Revan countered, drifting slightly ahead and turning around to face him as he made his way towards their ship. "I wanted to know that you could handle a situation such as that without resorting to violence."

"Well now you know," he replied, lightly landing on the ground just outside the spaceport. Daniel drew his cloak around him, putting the hood up to escape casual glances.

He almost made it to the landing pads when a trio of presences made themselves known surrounding him. Three matching weapons aimed straight at his chest. "Hand over your valuables," the leader screeched in the local trader's tongue, rain dripping from his dozen head-tentacles.

"And if I don't?" Daniel asked calmly, not moving.

Large black eyes squinted at him. "We kill you, and take what we want."

Daniel sighed, rolled his eyes, and took out his lightsaber. The leader grinned in satisfaction, lowering his weapon and holding out a hand for the shiny gold trinket.

He screamed in surprise and pain as the raging sapphire blade activated, slicing cleanly through his wrists. The other two thieves gasped, firing wildly in his direction. Most of the shots didn't even come close, but those that posed a danger were deflected immediately. Eventually they realized they weren't even coming close, and fled in terror, leaving their leader quite literally disarmed and writhing on the ground.

"Nice," Revan commented as he boarded the ancient tel'tak. "They didn't even hand you your ass on a plate this time."

Daniel scoffed, throwing himself in the pilot's chair and throwing his hood back. "You know, you lose one bar brawl…that was over four years ago! How can you still remember that?"

The ex-Sith smirked. "I have a good memory," she drawled.

Her student was only paying partial attention now as he fired up the engines and blasted off, easily avoiding the startled shots from the ground that futilely attempted to shoot him down. "Cross that planet off our list of safe havens," he said once they were safely in hyperspace.

Revan laughed, lounging in the copilot's chair without ever actually touching it. "Our list of safe havens is…what, three planets?"

Daniel blushed, and side-stepped the accusation. "So where to next?"

Revan grinned. "I know a nice little place called Abydos…"