Inheritance


16.

That was scary last night. I mean, not that I was scared, but if somebody who wasn't a Jedi had been there, he woulda been blown away. That Feorian guy was just staring up at the moon, with his eyes all open and not blinking, and the whole place felt really weird. I could even feel Master tense up a bit. The Force told me that – it was wizard, kinda like we're already good friends and I really understand him, even the stuff he doesn't say. That's why I stayed so close the rest of the night. 'Cause I could tell he was nervous or something.

None of the other Feorians would come outta their houses when we went to tell them and finally Master Windu decided to stay on watch, just in case there was more of whatever that was out there… and Master Obi-Wan and me went back to our own house, the one they gave us I mean, and Master tried to get me to go back to sleep but who would want to do that when something so choobazzi just happened? So then we had to meditate – again- but I didn't complain because I could tell that the weird feeling in the Force got Master kinda worked up. I mean a little, not that you could really tell. But he has this serious face sometimes. You'd have to see it to know what I mean.

This morning the whole place is in a big ol' puggooda like that day in Mos Espa when Tarff the beggar died in the street in the middle of the night and everybody blamed everybody else and some of the gutter kids like that sleemo Greedo all went through his pockets looking for money and stuff before anybody could stop them. Speeders came here to the Feorian village from faraway, maybe official government people or something, and the chieftain was all mad and waving his stick around and I thought he was going to shout "Echoota!" at everybody or maybe something even worse, but the grownups all went off to talk with the other people coming from far away and I ended up staying here with the kids.

The Feorian kids are wizard. There's only seven of them in the whole village and mostly they're older than me but it doesn't matter 'cause they think I'm a big chooba bosski 'cause I'm a Jedi and all. They don't get what an apprentice is or anything, so I figured it would just be confusing to explain all that, but it's kinda annoying when they want to see my laser sword and I have to 'splain that I don't have one, not yet. But I will.

And they knew where to get the most rugged breakfast, out of this pit in the ground where it's really cold, like a shipping freighter's refrigeration hold, but without any generators, and they've got tubers and dried meat and stuff all stocked up. It was kinda like Tatooine food and nobody was looking so we had a feast without any utensils or fancy manners or anything. Wait till some of those Jedi kids at the Temple hear about that! They'll prob'ly faint 'cause they're kinda stuck up about being all proper and stuff and they can't even go on a field trip without like a zillion chaperones, and they would never ever raid a pantry.

But me and the Feorians hogged out. It was really good too, and then it was like I was back home 'cause now we're all friends.

They get it. Maybe we could take one of these guys back to the Temple and make him a Jedi too. I know they're s'posed to have midichlorians and all, but I mean does it really matter? I mean, couldn't you just try really hard and if you cared about stuff and you followed all the rules, couldn't you be a Jedi too? Master Obi-Wan says there's lots of Jedi in the galaxy who aren't powerful enough to be Knights and masters and they help in different ways like farming and teaching and stuff. So that's kinda the same. And these Feorians would definitely want to help anybody who was a slave. A lot of them were born slaves, too, just like me.

So then we all hung out in this long house that has these wizard fire pits built into the middle and you could barely tell it's freezing cold outside when you're in there, I think 'cause the walls are made of mud kinda like at home. Isn't that weird? How come the same stuff keeps you hot or cold depending on what's outside? Mud must be more complicated than I thought, more like cybernetic response motivator circuits and less like plain old dirt. Anyway, it's a wizard place and some of them kinda knew about this jabuur-weki thing and they told me some of the stories.

It's not like Ben-Attur-Yavi of the Black Hills at all. It's a whole lot more wicked.

Lorra – he's the oldest, but he treats me like I'm the same age 'cause I'm a Jedi – he knows the most and he kept the other kids in line when they kept adding in stuff that wasn't true but just stuff people make up to scare each other. Lorra knows the real facts because he hides outside the longhouse when the village elders are talking late at night and smoking hashka, which sounds like the piimo weed the Hutts like so much. And he says the chieftain and the other ones know all about the jabuur-weki 'cause it's their tradition.

I learned what that is at the Temple. The Jedi have tradition too and it's way important. Everybody studies it and talks about it and uses it to make rules and stuff. So the jabuur-weki is sort of like that, only bad.

It has jaws that bite and claws that snatch, only it's totally invisible.

The Force is kinda like that, too. Some people don't believe in the Force, and some people think it's only an idea, sort of. But the other day when I was watching Master sparring with the other grown-ups, and Master Muln got thrown across the room, all the way into the wall whammo without anybody touching him, that was pretty choobazzi for something that's only an idea. So that makes sense, sort of. Invisible stuff can really bite. 'Cept Master Windu says the Force isn't invisible, it's all around us everywhere, so now I don't know what to think. Maybe 'cause you don't see the jabuur-weki it's not from the Force. Or maybe it's Dark.

That would explain why Master was so tense last night. He really, really doesn't like the Dark side. He talks about it a lot, that's for sure.

Me and Lorra are going to go listen to the elders right now, 'cause there's like a whole group of them coming back into the village and maybe we can hide here under these bench things and find out more.

Boshuda! Master Windu is with them! Uh oh… I hope he doesn't notice.