Chapter 9
The morning was had been quiet. Kyle woke up to find Sariss looking at him.
"Thought you'd never get up," she said.
"Yeah, I'm still not sure I am," he replied. "How long have you been up?"
"Not that long, I would've gotten up to eat, but you're kind of on my robe, and it didn't' seem right to take yours and leave you in a potentially compromising position," she said.
"You waited for me to wake up for breakfast? For a whole half hour? I must be special," he said in a teasing way.
"Shut up," Sariss said. "I thought we agreed that we were going to be more careful. A beach isn't exactly private."
"Don't worry," he said as stood up and kissed her, "nobody will find out."
"You can't know that," Sariss said.
Kyle sighed as he pulled his pants on, and then worked on putting his boots on after, his face passive and brow furrowed. Sariss knew the expression well. The sun was out and it was also easier to see his scars. There were lines from cuts, a few lightsaber burns and the left side of his body was covered with a splatter of burn scars, as if someone threw a bucket of fire at him.
They continued to dress silently, and when they were finished Sariss sat down next to him, sliding her hand into his and squeezing it.
"I know you don't like talking about it, but you've been getting more and more reckless," Sariss said. "Its been happening slowly over the past five years, and it isn't obvious yet to anyone else, but it's still there and I can't help but worry about where it will lead."
He squeezed her hand back. "For as long as I could remember I was sure this was what I wanted to do. Part of it, I'm sure, at least as a kid, was the fact that I could use powers and help people," he said. "I guess most people don't grow up having that, or knowing for the most part exactly what they want to do. It makes things a little bit easier, even if that path leads you down some tough roads."
"And?" Sariss said.
"And I'm not sure I want to keep leading this life," Kyle said. "Anyway it doesn't matter, it's not exactly an easy decision or one I'll be making right away. Let's get back to the dispute talks."
The beach was right next to the small home that had been provided for their mission. It belonged to the Order and was a few stories high with a roof that was in the shape of a dome, similar to the most prevalent style on Alderaan.
They'd rented a speeder, as well as a swoop, a guilty pleasure of Kyle's. He sat in the passenger seat of the speeder while Sariss turned it on and they shot towards Aldera, Alderaan's capital city.
The beach and their house was only about twenty minutes away from the city, the perfect place for a Jedi to deliberate in peace and meditate or train even, without disrupting anyone else.
They were silent for half the ride, but Sariss finally spoke, unable to stop the words from escaping her lips. "You can't seriously be thinking of leaving the Order," she said.
"I'm not serious about it yet, it's just something I've thought about, but I mean, would it really be so bad, besides, Jedi are a lot more lenient and understanding of Jedi and non-Jedi relationships," he said.
"Please let this not be because of us," Sariss said.
"It's not, mostly, but it would be convenient. Trust me I know you'll be a Jedi for life, I can tell," Kyle said. "I just feel like things haven't been the same since I fought Mandalore."
"You can say use his real name Kyle," Sariss said.
"That was his name," Kyle said. "That's who he became, anyway, ever since that fight things have been different. I tried to ignore it, put it behind me at first, but every mission I've gone on, every day I wake up or night before I sleep that change is there."
"Of course it is," Sariss said, "you fought against someone who was like a brother to you, someone you had looked up to for years after you were orphaned, someone who almost killed you, a few times. That would mess anybody up, but you also survived, and part of that is because you are a Jedi. A great one even"
"We'll see," Kyle shrugged as they finally neared the Courts. Their dispute was in one of the smaller rooms, but first they had to park in a reserved spot underground.
They took a lane that curled around the building in a downward spiral for a hundred feet until it opened up into a large area that different vehicles were stored in.
"That's weird," Sariss said, remarking on a group of Republic soldiers waiting near their spot. "We've been hear several times and haven't had an escort before."
"I know," Kyle said, warnings flashing in his mind, causing him to study the group more closely before yelling, "jump, now!"
He yelled the words just as several of the soldier stepped aside to reveal one who had been carrying rocket launcher. He'd holding it low so that they wouldn't see it until they were too close. The soldier leveled it onto his shoulder and took aim, firing the rocket just as the two Jedi jumped into the air.
The rocket hit the speeder and exploded in a fiery flower, sending out shrapnel, some of which shot up and into Kyle's left thigh. He bit back the cry and focused on the soldiers, igniting his lightsaber, the two blades leaping to life at the same time as Sariss' blade, his own spinning to deflect bolts that were now being fired up at them even before they reached ground.
The soldiers had been well trained. They didn't yell in surprise at seeing the Jedi escape from the explosion, but instead spread out and surrounded them before the Jedi could land.
Kyle kept his back to Sariss' as they stood up, deflecting a furious rain of bolts. "I count five on my side," Kyle yelled.
"Four over here," he heard Sariss yell back. "We need to get out of this circle."
"Agreed," he said and they both broke away, Sariss diving down and rolling in-between two soldiers, her blade taking out the legs of the one on the left and deflecting a point-blank shot back into the soldier on the right's face as she stood up.
Kyle went high, running forward a few paces and then leaping into the air, flipping and twisting so that he landed behind one soldier, his yellow blade slashing down and through the soldier's arm, kicking him down and spinning his lightsaber around to take the barrel off the rifle of another soldier, using the Force to launch him backwards, sending him flying into the wall.
By the time he turned around and deflected a couple more shots, Sariss had ducked underneath another spray of blaster fire and came up with her lightsaber, stabbing it into the soldier's side and then quickly sending his weapon flying.
"That makes three, Feral, you better catch up, don't want me beating your score again," she yelled as she deflected another shot.
"Yeah yeah," he said, shaking his head, "it's not a game."
"You just don't want to be the one to buy lunch again," Sariss yelled back.
Kyle said nothing, he was too busy putting his life into the hands of a gamble. Three of the soldier were focusing on him, two of them closing in while one staying back. Kyle threw his lightsaber, aiming with the Force, sending it up in a spinning arc which came down and tore through the far man, and as he relied on his instincts to dodge the blasts without his weapon, focused on calling it back, as well as hitting the button that turned his double-bladed lightsaber into two.
The blades unlocked and returned blade first, each shooting through a soldier before returning to his hands. The two collapsed with holes in their chest as Sariss backed the last soldier towards Kyle, who used the Force to pull his blaster away and yank him off his feet and onto the ground hard.
He then lifted him up, turning the soldier around to face him. "Who sent you?" Kyle yelled.
The soldier was wearing a helmet. Kyle yanked it off with the Force and sent it flying, to reveal a bald-headed man, his face covered in Mandalorian tattoos. He spat at Kyle before yelling, "I hope you burn for betraying the Ordo clan," and then laughed as he pressed a button on his chest.
The explosion was immediate, and Kyle barely had time to enclose the man in an invisible shield, creating a disgusting cluster of blood and destroyed fragments of Republic uniform, before letting it fall and splatter on the ground.
"I think I'm going to be sick," Sariss said.
"Yeah, I think it's best if we skip lunch," he said.
Kyle is standing in a training yard outside of the Academy. He is twelve years old now, and taller and skinnier than before. His once-shaggy hair has been cut short.
He is sweating and finally resting after an intensive workout. His arms are bruised in several places from practicing with wooden sword in the morning. Despite the bruises his teachers are saying he is making great progress. Especially with dueling, though the bruises on his arms make him feel otherwise.
The landing field for the Academy is close by. Kyle sees a ship land, and knows, somehow, that Aries is on board. He had left only a week ago, with his Master, Anslinger.
Kyle rushes toward the ship, and watches Aries walk down it, followed by Anslinger. Something is different though. Kyle can it see in Aries' face. His light-brown hair is long and covers some of his eyes. There is a darkness in those eyes now, and they are far away from the present. He doesn't even acknowledge Kyle. Walks right past him.
Several days go by and Aries says not a word. He remains wherever the trip with Anslinger took him. He eats and he trains but he barely sleeps. The only time Kyle hears him is during his nightmares, which wake him up more than once.
Finally, on the eighth night Kyle finally asks him a question. Aries does not respond at first, but finally words start to form, and he speaks of a village on a remote planet. Anslinger left him there to protect them, while he searched the mountains for raiders.
The raiders weren't in the mountains.
They arrived in the night and there was fire and death and Aries was brought back to his darkest times. He protected the family he was staying with, he had grown fond of the daughter. Many people died that night and still Anslinger had not returned.
Aries was ready the second night. The raiders died one by one and in the end he was covered in their blood and the daughter could not look at him.
On the third night Anslinger returned, collected his student, and left. He hadn't spoken since that night, and now tears were on his face and he didn't know how they had gotten there.
"I'm not sure I can be a Jedi," he said before taking refuge in silence yet again.