The Legion Renewed

Chapter Five

Luke deliberately slowed his pace so that Briande could keep up with him. Even so, she was lagging way behind, and close to exhaustion. They came to a steep uphill grade. Luke turned back to give her a hand, but she waved him off. She staggered a few more steps, then came to a stop, holding onto a tree for support. She gasped hungrily for air and looked at him.

Luke frowned, studying her. She had come further than he had on his first try at the marathon path, but she had already received some training in the Force. Considering the amount of time she had spent in training-nearly two years, by her answers to his questions, the time when Brenna Brellis first came into power-he had expected her to do a lot better.

"Use the Force," Luke urged. "Feel the life-energy flow around you."

"I can't feel it," she said. "Not now. I'm sorry."

"You are a sensitive," the Jedi said, frowning.

"Yes-" She fought to control her breathing. "Sometimes...I can feel it. But I can't feel anything now..."

Luke sensed...something. Suppression? Regression? Something...he wasn't sure what. But the Force was there. The Force was always there. It was just a matter of being aware. Of opening yourself to it. He shook his head slowly. He couldn't teach her to control the Force until she could feel it.

"All right," he said finally. "Let's try something else. Sit down and close your eyes. Relax. Try to open yourself to the Force."

Briande sat down, staring at him with an unreadable expression.

"Close your eyes," Luke repeated.

She did as he instructed.

Luke waited until the worst of her heavy breathing subsided. "Now," the Jedi went on in a soothing tone, "listen to the sounds around you. Hear them, but don't interfere. Be passive. Feel the life around you, the movement, but don't try to influence it. It's all a part of you, and you of it. Try to feel yourself as a part of it."

Luke waited. Outwardly, Briande's face remained impassive. But internally, he could sense a struggle. Conflicting impulses. He couldn't see what those impulses were.

"What do you hear?" he asked her.

"I hear your voice."

"Nothing more?"

"No."

Luke suppressed his disappointment. "What do you feel?"

"Nothing," she said again.

There was something there, though. Luke could sense it even if Briande herself was not aware of it. But he couldn't say what.

"I'm sorry, Master."

"No," Luke said. Here was another lesson Briande needed to learn. "Don't call me that. You are your own Master, Briande."

Luke had called his own teacher 'Master,' but it had been a title more out of courtesy than anything else, acknowledging Yoda's mastery over the Force. Yoda had never been Luke's master. The tiny Jedi had been his instructor, advisor, and even his friend, but Luke had always exercised his own free will. Mastery implied control over another person, slavery. Luke had never been anyone's slave, didn't want to be anyone's master. He wasn't even a Master of the Force yet.

"What do you want me to call you, then?" Briande asked.

"'Luke' will do," he replied. He took a breath, then said, "Beware of anger, fear, and aggression, Briande. If you're not careful, they can become your Master. Once you start down the Dark path, they can dominate your destiny forever. Remember that."

Her eyes showed no comprehension, but she nodded anyway.

Luke sighed, wondering how to get across what he wanted to say. "Briande, the Dark side is quicker, easier, and more seductive than the good. I know. I've felt it. We all do. But it can be controlled. That's the important thing."

"You've felt the Dark side?"

"Yes."

"Do you feel it now?"

"Yes. But I've learned to conquer it. You must learn how to do that, too."

Briande shook her head. "I don't feel it, Luke. I don't want to feel it, either."

"You can't ignore it, Briande, and you can't avoid it. A Jedi must confront the Dark side, and then go beyond it."

"A Jedi can also be turned by it. You of all people should know that."

Skywalker sat down and ran a hand through his hair. So far, his first lesson was far from successful. He wished Yoda were here. The old teacher had truly been a teacher. He would have known what to do.

"Why don't you-" Luke nodded towards a small trail that led off from the right. "Why don't you go cool off. There's a lake down at the bottom of the hill there."

He needed time to think, to collect his thoughts and figure out what the next step was. Looking back, he saw that Yoda's lessons for him had focused mainly on control. Tapping into the Force, once he knew how, had always been relatively easy. It was the control that he had lacked. Briande, on the other hand, lacked even the ability to tap into it.

Briande looked at him for a second, then stood up and headed down the path.

Luke watched until she disappeared, and then gazed around at the tangled trees surrounding him. It seemed like a long time ago that he'd left Dagobah, though in reality it had only been a few short months since he'd last seen its life-filled swamps. This place was like a home to him, except that the people who had made it a home were all gone now.

"Ben-" he said softly. "I wish you were here..."

But only the whisper of a breeze answered him. And yet, in that whisper was the touch of Kenobi's gentle presence. There was everything here. This place contained the universe in miniature. There was peace here, and war. Death and survival. Mortality and eternal life. And for a Jedi, there was sanctuary and time for reflection.

Just then, however, a sudden scream broke the stillness of the jungle.

Grabbing his lightsaber with one hand, Luke jumped to his feet and ran towards the direction of the sound. He reached the edge of the bog lake and turned quickly in all directions to scan the dark murkiness of the water. He shouted her name.

"Briande!"

There was no answer. He tried again. "Briande!"

Suddenly a gurgle came from the lake, and Luke spun around just in time to see the black shape of a giant underwater creature skim the surface. Not knowing what to expect, Luke splashed into the water to his knees.

As he entered deeper water, the bottom suddenly dropped off and he had to tread to stay afloat-not an entirely comfortable position for someone who was raised on a desert world.

"Briande, where are you!" he shouted.

Even before his words could echo into the jungle, he saw a shaft of light under the water that could only have been from a lightsaber beam.

Carefully avoiding the range of the deadly energy weapon, Luke ignited his own laser sword and dove underneath the surface. Luke was sorry that he had never really learned to swim well-there had been little occasion for that sort of thing on Tatooine-but at least Yoda had taught him enough to be able to maneuver under the water.

Finally he saw her. She was struggling vainly against a tentacle that was wrapped around her. How long had it been since she had screamed? She had to be running out of air by now.

Luke tried to send a telepathic message to the creature, but the thing was in a blood-frenzy. He had no choice but to damage it.

Without another instant's hesitation, he plunged straight for the trunk of the tentacle and, gripping his lightsaber hilt in firm determination, sliced quickly through the snake-like limb, cutting it neatly in half.

The creature gave a loud underwater roar. It started to come after Luke with two more sets of tentacles, then thought the better of it when the Jedi waved his glowing energy weapon at them menacingly. It backed off to where the light from Luke's saber could no longer penetrate the murky waters.

Luke turned around in the water and saw that Briande was still fighting with the tentacle. Despite the fact that it had been completely severed from the creature's body, the muscle reflexes still squeezed it into a tight coil around her. Her lightsaber being useless at such close quarters, Luke was glad she had retained enough presence of mind to deactivate it and attach it back on her belt.

Luke swam over to her and tried to work his fingers under the thick, massive ring that surrounded her. Together, they managed to pry it loose, and Briande kicked desperately for the surface. Luke followed her up, anxious for a gulp of air himself.

As soon as Briande's head broke the water, she coughed and sputtered and choked as she tried to breathe. Luke quickly replenished his own lungs, then grabbed Briande's undershirt and pulled her to where the water was shallow enough to stand.

She recovered quickly, which surprised Luke no less than the surge of energy he now felt moving through the Force. She was clearly frightened now, and angry. She turned back, hand moving to her lightsaber, to finish off the lake-monster while she had the chance.

"No," Luke told her. "Leave it be."

She seemed not to hear him, and took a step into deeper water.

Luke grabbed her arm to stop her. "No!" he repeated.

Briande stopped, startled, and then nodded. Luke felt her rage being pushed back. The first rule for a Jedi, above all else, was to respect life. Sometimes killing was necessary, but only for defense, and only as a last resort.

As Briande buried her anger, Luke felt the stirring in the Force ebb. She weakened visibly, as well. "Sorry," she said, turning slightly away as if embarrassed to have been caught revealing so much emotion. Then she turned to Luke again, and her face was impassive as usual.

Luke was confused. It was almost as if she were two separate people: one strong with emotion and strong with the Force, the other stoic and insensitive. It made no sense.

For the moment, Luke pushed the questions out of his head. He extended a hand to help Briande to the shore. She hesitated, then accepted his support and waded with him towards the bank, letting go of his hand once they were out of the water.

"By the way," Skywalker said with a slight smile, "I think I should warn you that not all of the inhabitants of Dagobah are friendly."

"Thanks," Briande said drily, shaking the water out of her hair.

Luke took a moment to search through the Force. He found the lake creature hiding in a dark corner of the water, nursing its damaged limb. It was in pain, but was not nearly so unreachable as it had been before. The Jedi concentrated momentarily. Luke wasn't a creature-empath, but the thing had been there a long time, and Luke was not its first contact with an outside mind. "It won't bother you again," he said.

"Thanks," she said again.

Skywalker looked at her, suddenly twice as puzzled. He felt a peculiar tingling, so faint he could almost not be sure it was there. It was not Briande's presence he felt, but something cold. It reminded him of Palpatine, in a way, though it was a sensation completely new to him. Almost like a mirror-image of Briande, but distorted by ripples and bendings.

Inexplicably, Luke found his gaze being drawn to Briande's hand. She had wrapped it around herself because, Luke had assumed, the water from the lake had been fairly cold. But Briande was not shivering.

As Luke watched, the little finger on Briande's hand began to twitch minutely. His gaze traveled to her face, but she continued staring straight ahead. She seemed not to notice that anything was wrong.

Luke looked back down at her hand. The finger twitched again, and the cold tingle grew almost imperceptibly stronger.