A Shift in the Force: Chapter Fifty-Eight: Cloaked in the Force
AN: There was a lot of enjoyment with the fight with the Sith Acolytes and Sabé, and also some wanting a bit more of Obi-Wan in the fic, don't worry, Sabé misses him too, but it's still going to be a little while until he shows up again.
She felt the boy through the Force first and then saw him with her eyes. Sabé had taught many classes at the Temple, and he was a hard one to forget. Caleb Dume, the ever-curious, always questioning, never taking anything at face value. Sabé didn't think she'd ever met someone as inquisitive as he was, not even Talik, but the thing that had made her remember him the most was how his Force signature had brushed against hers when she'd corrected his katas, warm and vibrating, seeking a bond, like one between Master and Padawan, and Sabé had pulled back, settling for watching him in befuddlement. She had had her own Padawan, a second one was unheard of, but she still remembered how it had felt the day she'd met Talik, her presence seeking Sabé out despite not completely knowing if she was there.
But here he was now, teal eyes bright and shining with fear, a lightsaber at his throat and Sabé's own hands held her blaster pistols, and she had never been so disgusted in Maw. It so much reminded her of the dream she'd had not long ago, the vision, but she didn't voice that.
"I'm not too concerned about your wrath," Maw mentioned almost mildly, "it's never seemed to do you much good."
Sabé's eyes narrowed behind her mask, but her fingers tightened over the triggers of her blaster pistol.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the second figure, the one holding the lightsaber to Caleb's throat, spoke, drawing his blade closer to tender flesh. Sabé could feel the spike of his fear driving to new heights.
She gritted her teeth, hating being driven into a corner, but she relaxed her fingers; her pride wasn't worth more than Caleb's life.
Her eyes fixed on the owner of the hand holding the red lightsaber to the Initiate's throat, instead. She recognized the Miraluka, of course, Jerec, she'd seen him in the Jedi Archives far too often as a child and he'd always been so eager to direct her in the direction of Sith history, his own specialty. He'd been the Padawan to Jocasta Nu, learning to be a Jedi Archeologist, just as she had, but he'd vanished some time ago on a mission to the Unknown Regions.
"Are you all right, Caleb?" she asked instead, sending reassurance across the Force.
"I-I'm okay," his voice came out a little higher pitched.
"Really, Maw, taking an Initiate hostage? That has to be a new low even for you." She turned her head just slightly towards the Boltrunian. It was hard to equate the Dark Jedi before her with the being that had once stopped her on her way into the Jedi Temple, inquiring as to if she had even considered Jedi Shadow. But that was back when Sabé was younger, more trusting and not nearly so jaded in her views.
"You know what they say about people getting in the way." He gave a simple shrug and anger poured through her veins, searing in her blood.
"Is that what happened to Siri Tachi?" she countered, thinking of the blackened mark on her chest and her back, where the lightsaber had gone right through her, of her sightless eyes. Sabé and Siri had never been the closest of friends, but Siri definitely hadn't deserved to die that way, stabbed in the back by someone she trusted. "Did she just get in the way?"
"She should've handed over what she found," Maw spoke flatly, and Sabé's lips curled in disgust. She might've done a lot of terrible things over the years, but at least she'd never stooped so low as to kill her own allies. "Where's the Holocron, Sabé?"
Sabé swallowed thickly, but her hands were steady on her blaster pistols, and if she were to shift her weight back, she knew she'd be able to feel the blaster Jay-Seven had clasped in his hands. Arthree, on the other hand, remained inside the downed ship, deactivated and hiding the Malachor Holocron within his circuits. "Don't have it anymore, ran into a bit of trouble with House Renliss, I had to use it as collateral to get away."
"Liar," came from Jerec and Sabé tilted towards him once more. "You reek of loyalty to that Bounty-Hunting Guild. You'd never need to offer collateral to them."
"I. Don't. Have. It." The words came out cold and furious, and Jay-Seven shifted just slightly, preparing the blaster to fire. "Guess you came all this way for nothing."
Caleb, you're going to need to move soon, and I want you to get out of the way as fast as possible, echoed suddenly in Caleb's head, causing him to nearly gasp. However, it wasn't necessary because a moment later Sabé ducked down and the hulking security droid behind her fired off a blaster bolt, hitting Jerec's shoulder and forcing him to release Caleb, but not before leaving him with a slice to his shin that made Caleb scream.
He'd lived a very sheltered life at the Temple and pain like this wasn't something he was familiar with, nor was it something he ever wanted to be, and he fell to the hard ground, trying to stumble out of the way. Still, it was difficult work with three people moving quickly and blaster bolts filling the air with sharp sound. He scrambled, his injured leg dragging through the sparse sand as he took up refuge behind part of the downed ship.
Sabé had run out of bolts rather soon, both Maw and Jerec blocking each shot she and Jay-Seven made, and she was forced to pull the quarterstaff from off her back. Caleb's confusion at that moment was greater than his pain, because, as far as he knew, nothing but a lightsaber could block the strike of another lightsaber, certainly nothing as common as a quarterstaff would be able to hold up.
His eyes widened as both lightsabers clashed against it, but Sabé held up against the assault, throwing them back with the Force without even needing to extend a hand. The playing field was level, no one was giving more than they were getting, and Sabé herself was doing a lot of twisting, moving from one opponent to the next without too much effort. It was almost like she was used to multiple opponents, but he knew that her Jar'Kai was meant for more than one opponent, so maybe the odds might end up in her favor.
Then Jerec's 'saber cut Jay-Seven's head off at the neck joint, and it tumbled to the ground, the optical lights dimming as a yell filled the air and Caleb stared in horrified awe as the Force whipped tightly around Sabé and exploded violently outwards in a repulse that sent both men flying.
Talik had said her master was powerful but rarely took the time to show it, but somehow he doubted that this was what she'd been talking about.
The Force had ripped the Jedi Temple Guard mask from her face, and it fell at her feet, and she twisted around, freezing Caleb where he was because, in the stead of the warm brown he remembered, her eyes were a dark molten gold. The sight of them made Maw laugh, and the eyes fixed on him.
"I guess you never could get rid of the taint of the Dark Side," he goaded, clamoring upright, but Sabé did something odd.
She laughed.
"Oh, darling," she said, her voice no longer muffled by the mask and less like the polite way she'd once spoken so clearly during the lessons Caleb remembered her teaching, "you didn't honestly think it was trying to get rid of it that gave me this, did you?" She made a generalized gesture towards her eyes, though none in the clearing had no way of knowing that the color was something she'd only been made aware of just before the crash. "You can't have light without darkness, just because you'd rather drown in the dark doesn't mean that we all would."
"Some of us don't mind blindness," Jerec sneered, trying to attack, her from behind, but Sabé blocked him, throwing her weight against him as they clashed their 'saber and quarterstaff respectively.
"I don't need my eyes to see," Sabé replied coolly, grabbing the hand that was coiled tight around the lightsaber, bringing it closer and closer and Caleb had to duck his head down to force himself not to watch when the 'saber sliced through the throat completely. Bile roiled inside him at the thump of the head falling off the body onto the ground, the rest of the body following after.
He looked up as Sabé tossed the 'saber away, almost as if she'd been burned, the quarterstaff returning to her hand like it had been summoned and she swung it violently at Maw as he launched himself forward, but this time, it seemed, he had a plan.
It felt like there was something pressing down on his injured leg, a pain that Caleb couldn't help but scream of, and it was enough to distract Sabé briefly. Caleb caught sight of a bright flash and the lightsaber slashing forward.
"Master Amidala!" he yelled, and then her body was hanging in the air, Maw's hand like a claw as Sabé clutched her throat.
"You know, Sabé, I really do admire you," he informed her as Caleb's terror shifted to new heights. "It takes serious power and skill to get to where you are now. If only you hadn't been so resistant to giving me what I want."
Then she went slack, sagging in the air and Caleb felt like he was the one choking when she hit the ground. Her eyes were blank and unseeing as Maw walked over her, not even sparing a glance towards Caleb where he was, half hidden against the side of the downed ship, entering it through the opening Sabé had left when she'd first started firing on the pair.
It was only when he'd vanished inside that Caleb balked, because then Sabé blinked and straightened up silently as though she hadn't just been nearly strangled, stepping silently over the ground to where Caleb was still sprawled. She held a finger to her lips, and he nodded.
She knelt down and lifted him into her arms with ease, however, the movement was jarring, and Caleb had to bite into his palm to keep from crying out in pain.
The Force rang suddenly with a scream, one that echoed incandescent rage, belling outwards from Maw and Caleb could practically feel the Dark Side, like a coldness leeching against his skin. Something broke inside the ship, and Caleb looked to Sabé, noticing the bead of sweat making its way down her brow, not from fear, though, from strain, and when he looked down, he realized why.
He couldn't even see Sabé's legs; they'd completely vanished.
Don't move, Sabé's voice hissed in his mind and Caleb abruptly stilled his movements, even as Maw stormed out, looking to the sandy patch of earth that Sabé's body had once been lying in, leaving only her severed quarterstaff in its wake.
Fury bubbled through the air, and the Boltrunian turned to where Caleb had once been but found nothing. He let out another rage-filled scream, but Caleb could've sworn that he felt a trickle of dark amusement from Sabé. Still, they kept to where they were, frozen and unseen even as he walked right up to them, scowling viciously. They would've been had if only he'd come a little closer, but he gave it up to stalk back to his ship, and it was only once it had left the atmosphere that Sabé relaxed.
Caleb opened his mouth, but she cut across him swiftly. "Darling, I will answer whatever questions you've got, but not right now, right now I've got to get you somewhere safe and then grab some of my things, all right?"
Caleb's eyes met her strange gold ones, before drifting to the slash from close to her nose out to her jaw. She'd gotten that one when she was distracted by him; guilt swelled in his stomach. He nodded.
"Hold on," she told him seriously, "and try not to scream."
Caleb wound his arm around her neck as she tightened one arm under his knees and the other at his back, taking a sudden violent leap. Caleb was almost sick to his stomach, but after the initial leap, Sabé stuck to walking up to a high-reaching cave. She considered it for a moment before finding nothing too terribly wrong with it and setting him lightly down.
"Stay here," she said, pulling one of her blaster pistols free from their holsters and replacing the charges, handing it off to him. "If you see anything suspicious, shoot it. Nights on this planet can be pretty dangerous."
"But—?" Caleb tried to tell her that he didn't know how to shoot a blaster, let alone hold one, but she'd already gone.
Caleb was terrified and in pain, and he didn't know what to do. He didn't know where he was; he was utterly lost. At the Temple, they were taught how to think, how to meditate, how to fight, but they were never taught how to survive.
And Caleb had almost gotten Sabé Amidala killed.
Caleb Dume had never felt so utterly weak.
Sabé's face stung, but she was desensitized to pain at this point, largely thanks to Maw's extensive training, and it was the only thing she'd probably ever thank him for. Her ship was down for the count, her beautiful ship, the Dawning that deserved so much better. Luckily, though, she'd landed on a planet where at least someone was familiar with Sabé in some way, shape or form. But it had been some time since she'd been back to Ryloth.
A sigh escaped her lips as she lifted Jay-Seven's head off the ground, holding the dark metal lightly in her fingers, a brief anger spilling into her veins as she closed her eyes and pressed her brow against his. Jay-Seven had been her faithful companion for so long, he'd seen her go from Carina to Sabé to something that was a bit of both, and he'd never had any judgment, though that might've had more to do with how he was wired.
She stood, taking the head with her as she re-entered the ship. She knew that Maw hadn't been able to find the Holocron, or else he wouldn't have been so angry when he'd left. The Force Cloak was a skill that was difficult to manage, even for Sabé. It was a way to manipulate the sound and light around someone or something to render it as practically invisible to the naked eye. It wouldn't have worked so well if Jerec had been still around at the time; as a Miraluka, his sensory skills were exceptional, he would've been able to tell what Sabé was doing a mile away.
So Sabé placed Jay-Seven's head on the floor to pry open one of Arthree's compartments so she could gingerly remove the Holocron she'd so hastily stuffed inside, the pyramid warm and pulsing in her hand. Sabé sighed in relief. Of course, she knew that Maw had wanted the Korriban Holocron and she very much doubted that he'd known of the existence of another on Malachor, he would've just assumed the one in her possession was the Korriban Holocron. Luckily, the Korriban Holocron had been out of Sabé's possession for months now, since Carina had agreed to return to the Jedi Temple, and she didn't want to think about what he could've done with it.
She flicked a switch, and Arthree flared to life, babbling beeps, confusion clear, only to quiet when his optics fell on Jay-Seven's decapitated head.
"We're going to need the reflective sheet," Sabé said, her voice level, perhaps more level than she was actually feeling. There was a wounded Jedi Initiate in a cave with only a blaster pistol to defend himself, a Jedi Initiate who'd just watched her cut the head off an opponent. "I don't want anyone getting to any of the stuff we have to leave behind."
And, for once, the astromech didn't complain, just wheeling off while Sabé collected her things. Her spare clothes were stuffed into a bag with her spare charges and saberstaff that she never used, as well as her own Holocron and the container holding the Shotem Crystals Carina had once found. Sabé hooked the blaster rifle over one shoulder, the neuronic whip at her hip and collected all the food and drink parcels she could find as well as some healing supplies, before zipping the bag shut and hiking it up onto her shoulder before leaving the ship with a pang in her heart. She helped Arthree fix the reflective sheet into the ground, subsequently hiding it from view. If anyone were looking, they'd never find it unless they ran into it.
Sabé lifted her mask off the ground, shaking the sand off from where it'd accumulated by the constant blowing of the wind. It stared blankly back at her as she took up the severed pieces of her quarterstaff.
Then she and Arthree made the trek back up to the cave, where Caleb almost fried Arthree with a poorly placed shot.
"Whoa! It's just me!" Sabé yelled, and she could practically feel his panicked embarrassment; it almost made her sigh. Sabé hadn't dealt with children in such a long time, and Talik had definitely been older when Sabé had taken her on as her Padawan. Ryoo and Pooja had been younger, but Sabé at least had an explainable bond to them, being their aunt, but whatever she sensed with Caleb was very different. "It's all right; it's just me."
She sent a soothing wave through the Force, and it relaxed him enough for him to drop the blaster pistol at his side, teal eyes drifting from Sabé to the astromech teetering at her side before moving a bit deeper in, dragging the bag after him.
"What's that?" he asked.
"An astromech named Arthree," Sabé said, kneeling at his side and getting a look at his leg. "You all right, Caleb?"
Caleb nodded with a grimace. "Hurts," he admitted.
"This is going to sting, but it'll make you feel better, I promise," Sabé said kindly, ripping slightly at his pant leg so she could see his injury a bit better. Healing had always been Talik's skill more than Sabé's, but at least Sabé could manage some of it, and she did know how to provide wound care. She inspected the injury carefully, pressing lightly around the burn, making Caleb whimper. "Sorry, darling, but it doesn't look too deep, which means you won't lose your leg."
Caleb went white, his eyes jumping to mechno-arm she possessed.
"I don't want it to get infected," Sabé continued, ignoring the reaction he'd had. "You could've caught something rolling around in the sand, and I doubt you've had any inoculations against planetary illnesses." She dabbed at it with an antiseptic that made Caleb hiss. "So, how'd you end up on the ship with Maw, to begin with?"
"I, um, it wasn't my plan," Caleb admitted, and a smile brushed across her lips.
"The Force?" she guessed, and all he could do was nod. "Just wait until it starts giving you a lot of visions."
She took out a bacta patch, and Caleb watched her. "What was the last vision you had?"
Sabé arched an eyebrow. "It was a confusing dream about a kid who never stopped asking questions."
"Oh." Embarrassment painted across Caleb's face.
"It's not a bad thing," Sabé assured him quickly, throwing him a smile. "Curiosity is always a good thing to have."
"Really?" His teachers never seemed to like his questioning nature really; they seemed to think it detracted from the lessons.
Sabé pasted the bacta patch against his skin, large enough to cover the injury. "I always thought the Jedi needed more people to question them, that's how progress usually happens."
"People don't really like me questioning everything," Caleb admitted.
That earned him a snort. "Well, of course not, the Jedi Order would have to be driven to near extinction before they admitted that maybe they should've been evolving with the times."
"Is that why you left?"
Sabé, who had been feeling around the edge of her own injured cheek to see how far it stretched, paused. "I left," she said after a long moment, "because it hadn't felt like home in a long time, and I was trying to figure out where I fit into everything."
"Where d'you fit?" Caleb asked.
Sabé smiled. "Come on, let's get you a bit further inwards, so you don't freeze to death in the dead of night."
But she never answered his question.
Caleb was exhausted, and his leg now felt numb, but the cold was worse.
"You're going to freeze, darling," Sabé intoned before stripping off her Corellian-striped jacket, making him exchange it for his thin cloak.
"I can't take it! You'll get cold!"
Sabé arched an eyebrow, leaning her head back against the rocky side of the cave, her eyes shut and her legs crossed. "I'll manage," she said, "but if you're that concerned about body heat, we can always share."
Initiates often sprawled together in their clans, taking warmth and security from each other's presence, so Caleb didn't feel all that uncomfortable about dragging himself closer, settling into the cup of her crossed legs, keeping her jacket tight around him.
"What happens now?" he asked, leaning his back into her chest.
"We need a ship," Sabé said finally, "the Dawning is too damaged to repair with such limited supplies, which means we'll probably need to pay for a way off Ryloth. The problem is there's a lot of rebel activity and slave traders around."
"Slave traders?" Caleb tilted his head back. "There's slavery in the Republic?"
"The Republic has never been very good about eradicating slavery." Sabé pursed her lips. "The senator of Ryloth likes to believe that there isn't any slavery to be concerned with, but Twi'leks are a particular favorite for slavers."
Caleb tried not to gag.
"We'll start walking towards the Tann Province tomorrow," Sabé continued. "I have friends there that might be able to help us get off the planet…I'll get you dropped off at Coruscant and head back to Naboo, hopefully."
"You aren't staying?"
"I'm not stepping foot in that Temple," Sabé said resolutely, and Caleb could swear he felt a trickle of apprehension. "I'm not a Jedi, and I'm fine not being one."
"Is that why your eyes are gold?" Caleb asked instead. He remembered them brown, not golden, not to say it was bad, just…different.
Sabé shifted behind him slightly. "I think it's a bit more personal than that, besides I'm not really someone the Jedi would want in their Order."
Caleb thought about Jerec's decapitated head. "Oh," he said weakly.
"But you will make a fine Jedi, one day," Sabé informed him, leaning to the side slightly to see him, sparing him a smile. "Maybe not in the way you expect."
And Caleb would've asked what she meant, but he was already drifting off, thinking of explosions, the color green, a bright smile that made his heart swell, and a yell of "Ezra!"
AN: Sabé and Caleb will be doing more bonding in the next chapter, right now it's kinda like "You saved my life, and I almost got you killed, but we need each other to get out of this mess, " but I love Caleb and his inquisitive self.
Don't worry, Ezra won't be showing up for a long time in the fic :)
As always: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!
