I'm a Skywalker too!
By: Tellemicus Sundance
Chapter 04
06:1:19 GrS
Infirmary, Aldera Royal Palace
Leia was practically bouncing with anxious excitement. She and Luke had both been subject to a pretty basic medical examination, which was little more than testing their immune systems for diseases and viruses, eye and dental, measuring their weight and height, and a blood test to map out their heritage and locate family. It was the last test that had Leia constantly shifting, moving, and glancing towards the doctor's door with barely restrained excitement.
She was so excited to know who her mommy was that she was only just being able to stop herself was making useless conversation with Luke about that very subject. Who was her mommy? Was she someone very important? What had happened to her? She could barely remember her mommy. It was only barely a snapshot, so faint in her memory, little more than a flash of lightning, there and then gone just as quickly. But that tiny glimpse had always stuck with her and she did her best to never allow it to fade. Her mommy's beautiful face, red and sweating from some kind of painful exertion, trails lining her cheeks as tears fell from her eyes. With that glimpose, there was also a weak sense of just who she was as a person. So beautiful, so kind, and yet so sad, so heartbroken.
"Leia?" Luke's voice broke her from her reverie. "Do you…Do you remember your mommy? Your…real mommy?"
Looking up at her friend, Leia could see some kind of wishful longing in his face. She knew that he meant the woman who birthed her, not the woman who'd raised her. And she knew that there was some kind of…pain in him as he waited for her response. "Just a little bit. She died when I was a baby. She was very, very pretty, very nice, but sad… Why do you wanna know?"
"I…I don't remember my mommy," Luke admitted, his hidden pain coming to the surface for a moment. "I never knew her. I have no holos of her. I…I know nothing about her or who she was." As he spoke, his eyes grew wet, though he tried his damnedest to not let the tears fall. "I…I don't even really who my daddy was or what he did or why either of them died."
Seeing his pain, Leia got up from her seat and crossed the short distance between them, drawing him into a tight but gentle hug. She just held him for a long moment as his grief momentarily got the better of him. "I think, whoever they were, your parents would've been proud of you. And you'd would have been proud of them."
"How do…How do you know?" Luke asked, glancing up at Leia's face.
"Because I already know them," Leia said, smiling down at his confused expression. "Because I know you. You are kind and gentle and strong. You helped me when you didn't have to. You helped those other slaves escape when you didn't have to. And you have the power to be a great Jedi if you wanted to be. Yes, I think your parents would've been very proud of you."
Luke smiled slightly as Leia released him, allowing him to reach up and wipe his face clean. "Thank you, Princess Leia."
"—off the charts, Your Majesty!" a loud voice was saying as the doctor's door suddenly opened. Both children whirled around to face the noise, seeing Breha's hoverchair floating through the opening languidly. "We must call the Order immediately! It is standard galactic policy and—"
"Thank you for the test results, doctor," Breha interrupted sharply, not speaking over the doctor but with a definite bite in her tone that Leia was all-too-familiar with. "We will speak of this later, but as of right now, there is no immediate need to do so."
"…Of course, Your Majesty," the doctor said, his tone and expression both made it abundantly clear to all, even Luke, that he was far from satisfied and would be pursuing the conversation again later. Glancing momentarily over at the two mystery children, he nodded slightly to them with a slight narrowing of his eyes before shutting his office door rather abruptly.
Sighing heavily, Breha swung her hoverchair around to face the two children. "I apologize for that. Doctor Sitch was a bit…excited about what he'd found."
"What's that?" Luke asked, cocking his head slightly.
Looking between the two children with a strange expression on her face for a moment, as though she was trying to see something between them but was ultimately unable to. Instead, she beckoned them to accompany her back out of the infirmary. As the children followed her down the hall, she said, "The test results are back and they've shown that you two are in exceptional health. Although, we did detect some trace amounts of hyper-energy upon your bodies."
"Hyper-energy?" Luke asked, voicing Leia's question.
"The energy field that allows starships to travel through hyperspace," Breha explained, smiling faintly at him. "It is a very dangerous energy field when people, like me and you two, are exposed to it without protection. I believe that by you two having such trace amounts of this energy on you probably means you were caught within the blast range of an exploding hyperdrive."
"What?!" Leia gasped, horrified. "Are we gonna die?!"
"No," Breha quickly assured them. "I said you only have trace amounts. It will soon fade away in a few more days and you won't even notice it."
Entering a turbolift, Breha hit the topmost button, lifting the three of them upwards. "But that isn't the only thing that the tests have shown us."
"My mommy?" Leia asked, excitement sparkling brightly in her eyes.
"Eh…Yes and more," Breha said, somewhat uncertainly. An uncertainty that immediately caught both children's attentions. Thankfully for Breha's sake of mind, the turbolift reached its final stop at the moment, allowing her to stall for a few moments as they exited it. They entered in Breha's personal study, a room filled with old-fashioned books and holovids, beautiful paintings upon the walls, and a couple of chairs and sofas throughout the room and balcony that overlooked the city and nearby mountain landscape.
"Mother," Leia said in a slow tone that warned that she wasn't going to let her dodge the subject anymore. "Who's my mommy?"
Turning back to the children, she sighed as she gestured for them to take a seat. Though they did, neither of their eyes left her. "The test results were…inconclusive."
"What's that mean?" Luke asked, quite confused.
"It means that though we were able to identify multiple genetic markers for who likely was your mother, we weren't able to identify who your father was," Breha said. "This doesn't happen very often, but it does nonetheless. I'm guessing that your father was probably someone who was born and raised somewhere out in the Rim-worlds. If so, that means that he was probably never treated by a sanctioned Republic medical facility or hospital. So, we don't have anything in our medical base to tell us who he is."
"But what about my mommy!" Leia demanded, starting to get frustrated with how Breha seemed to be avoiding answering that all-important question to her.
"We did find a match for who your mommy was, but it's still inconclusive or perhaps even been sabotaged," Breha said, frowning at Leia's whiny tone, causing the girl to flinch back and glance downward at the silent reprimand. After a moment, she continued, "The closest match we could get is that of Queen Padme Naberrie Amidala of Naboo."
"Padme…Na-berry…Ami-dala?" Leia repeated slowly, trying to sound out the strange name. But that didn't diminish the brilliant shine in her eyes as she finally, finally had a name.
"Queen?" Luke said, rather surprised. "You mean that even if Leia isn't Alderaan's Princess, she still is a real princess?!"
"Perhaps," Breha repeated. "But I'm not finished, children." Once she got their attentions again, she continued, "I said that Padme is the closest match, I didn't say that it was the correct match."
"What?" both asked, simultaneously cocking their heads in confusion. It was something that caused Breha to blink for a moment before a tiny smile crossed her face for a second.
"Padme is a good friend of mine," Breha said. "I've known her for several years. Even if she's ever had a secret love affair, she is still far too young to have had any children your ages." This statement caused Leia to pout very heavily. "However, there are still so many genetic markers between you that it's more likely that you two are actually close relatives of her."
"You mean she'd be my cousin or aunt?!" Leia asked, excited once again.
"Us two?" Luke said suddenly, drawing the two girls' attentions. "What do you mean 'us two'?"
"That is another thing we've found," Breha said, smiling a bit more crookedly. She had a feeling she was going to enjoy this little moment. "The blood tests have shown, without any doubt, that you two are siblings, brother and sister."
"WHAT?!" both children shouted, recoiling in surprise away from Breha before immediately turning and staring at one another appraisingly. Then they shot back to stare at Breha again with obvious disbelief.
"It's true, children," Breha said calmly. "Aside from a few minor differences, your blood tests showed almost identical genetic markers in all the areas that mattered. No matter how or what happened, you two are family."
"I have a brother?" "I have a sister?" both of them asked slowly, unable to really believe it, barely daring to hope that their deepest secret wish was true. For whatever reason, they just couldn't look at each other, for fear of seeing that the other was less welcoming of the idea than they were.
"Yes," Breha affirmed calmly, watching the two. After a moment of silence, the two of them finally worked up enough courage to glance over at the other, uncertainty clear in both their expressions. Then, weakly, Luke gave Leia a tentative and inviting smile, to which she slowly answered with her own.
Nodding with her own smile, Breha cleared her throat, drawing the siblings' attentions back to her. "The blood test has also shown one final, very unique result that the two of you share. And, to be honest, I don't know what to do with it either." Seeing their curious expressions, she continued, "Along with the standard checkups, we also ran a test that is mandatory on all Republic worlds. We counted the midi-chlorians in your blood, to see if either of you had the potential to become Jedi. And the results were…unexpected."
Digging into her pocket, she withdrew a datapad, swiping its screen and calling up four specific charts before showing the two children. "The low count of 5,000 on the bottom left is the minimum required to be accepted into the Jedi Order. The higher count of 15,000 on the bottom right is what's considered very strong. In fact, I do believe that Grandmaster Yoda is one of the very few who has an even higher count than this, about 18,000." Seeing that the two children were following what she was saying so far, she indicated the upper two charts, which were noticeably higher than the 15,000 count. "And these two are the both of you, 22,000 each. You two possibly possess the strongest connection to the Force in all of recorded history!"
The two children just stared at the charts, not truly understanding the enormity of what it was they were seeing and being told. Their experiences with the Force were extremely few, with practically nothing and no one else to compare to. They had sensed the Force. They had felt the weaker but still very dangerous power of that darksider. And they had taken their first baby steps into utilizing the Force. But none of that could truly prepare them for the simple truth that their raw potential was greater than almost any other in the galaxy. So, with such a weak understanding of it, the thought that they were so powerful didn't really affect them with any appreciable impact.
"We could become Jedi?" Leia asked, torn between excited and scared. "But…But weren't all of the Jedi killed by the Empire years ago?"
"What?" Breha asked, confused. There was mention of that 'empire' again. Breha made a mental note to look up any references to any empires in the HoloNet later on. With how many times these two children had been bringing it up, this empire must've had a massive impact on whatever planet or star system it was located in. Putting that thought aside for now, she said, "No, the Jedi aren't dead. The Order is still very alive and doing its duty to the Republic."
The siblings looked up Breha in confusion. Though Luke was simply confused, wondering if Breha thought of the Empire as the old Republic it had been, Leia's mind was starting work overtime. A tantalizing idea, however improbable and illogical it might've been, even to a 7-year-old, was starting to take root in her mind. Was it…possible?
"So, would you two like me to contact the Jedi Order and see if they'll send a representative to take you to the Temple on Coruscant?" Breha asked, her voice neutral and her face impassive. The Jedi Order had been taking quite a few unkind hits and blemishes to its image and reputation lately. Most of those were baseless rumors and illogical expectations, but they were still damaging all the same. But that had nothing to do with her opinion. She didn't want to send either of these two off to join the Order, no matter just how incredible and honorable it might've been to be in the Order. She wanted to get to know these two a little bit longer.
"Yes!/No!" both children chirped. They turned to stare at one another in surprise for a moment, then their eyes narrowed.
Breha could already guess what was about to happen and hastily cut in before the newly-discovered siblings began their first of likely many disagreements and arguments. "Perhaps a question best answered at another time. Since you two have nowhere to go and only a pair of ships to your name, you can stay here for the time being. Let's go and get you set up in one of the guestrooms. You can discuss what to do in the future there."
Turning back to Breha, they quietly chorused, "Yes, madam."
06:1:26 GrS
Spaceport, Caamas
He was in a cantina near the spaceport, fishing for information and observing the activities of the scum of the galaxy. Although Caamas was technically a Core world, the filth and scum always migrated to the nearest cantina to drown their sorrows in alcohol or search for unsuspecting prey, especially on a swamp world as overgrown as this one.
The Hunter had never seen or been to Caamas before it's devastation, but he could now easily understand why his master had ordered it be so thoroughly cleansed of life. The Force, particularly the light side, was absolutely vibrant on this world due to its incalculable numbers of life and living organisms. There were traces of the dark side, but they were so small and remote that they offered no reassurance to the hulking predator who now prowled its surface.
He was taking a short rest break from his search of those two Children he was seeking, as well as his task of securing the future of the Inquisitorius. His TIE Advanced was at the spaceport, being refueled and given some basic maintenance by the port's repair droids. So, he decided to stalk one of the primary unofficial hotspots for criminal activity and black market information. So far, his search wasn't making any progress. Oh, he heard plenty about blackmailing information, kidnappings, murders, and thefts. It was a veritable treasure trove of information that the proper authorities would've begged to have gotten their hands on, but nothing of what he was searching for. It was frustrating, but he had to remind himself that he was in a different time period and the criminals had different concerns and secrets to hide from everyone else.
Sighing, the Fifth Hunter finished his cup of water as he gave the cantina he was in one last cursory glance, idly readjusting his new jacket into a more comfortable position. Though he was disconcerted to do so, the Fifth Hunter had quickly realized that he needed to change his Inquisitorius uniform to something a bit more 'modern' so that he wouldn't be attracting any unnecessary attention to himself. Of his original armor, he kept his chestplate, shoulder pauldrons, and wrist guards, but he'd painted over all the Imperial insignias and wore them over a rugged but semi-comfortable leather jacket. His lightsaber he kept mounted on his back, but he also now carried a standard blaster pistol and dart launcher, loathe as he was to actually use them. But he'd accomplished his goal of seeming to be a run-of-the-mill bounty hunter or smuggler.
Tossing a few credits to pay for his drink, the white Twi'lek stalked out of the cantina back towards his starship. Perhaps he'd have more luck meditating in the dark side to locate either his primary targets or some other random Children.
He didn't notice that he was being followed until he had already reached the spaceport and was walking down one of its long walkways towards his ship. He didn't chance a look backwards, as that would betray him to his follower, but he had a pretty good idea of just who (or more accurately, what) was trailing after him. The person was a great deal stronger in the Force than any other being within the entirety of the city the spaceport was stationed in, easily stronger than even himself in point of fact. And the fact that this presence was practically glowing with life and light told him that he'd somehow gotten the attention of a Jedi; likely a Jedi Knight because while it was strong, it wasn't that strong.
Turning and walking into an empty hangar bay, the Hunter stalked forward into the center of the bay and waited patiently, his back to the entrance as his pursuer rounded the corner and approached him silently. Closing his eyes, the Hunter delved into the dark side, pulling at it and drawing in its power and strength, boosting his confidence as he used it to override his own considerable fear. And he was afraid. Afraid of being killed by some random Jedi before he had a chance to fulfill his master's commands. He knew that he was only an intermediately-trained Force-user who's skill and expertise in the dark side was easily overshadowed by many Jedi Knights of the present era. His own true advantages lie in his lightsaber combat skills (which he invested heavily into) and his weapon's singularly unique functions, something that no present Jedi had been trained to deal with.
"I had wondered when one of you would come before me," he growled out, his fear turning to anger with practiced ease.
"I sense the dark side in you," the Jedi behind him stated bluntly. "But you do not have the depths of darkness that I've heard the Sith possess. Who are you? And what are you?"
"As if I'd actually tell you," the Hunter said, reaching back and grabbing his lightsaber from its holster. "All you'll need to know is that your choice to stalk this predator while it's on the hunt was your last mistake, Jedi." His red blade sprung to life as he spat out that last word hatefully.
"There is no need for violence," the Jedi said, trying to pacify the situation. "I am not here to fight. I just want to talk."
"Good," the Hunter purred out as he turned to face the Caamasi Jedi. "That'll make killing you even easier." With that said, he suddenly leapt forward with all the speed he could muster, which was actually quite considerable when he was in the mindset to actually use it.
The Caamasi Jedi had been wholly unprepared for the Hunter's sudden aggression, just barely managing to unclip his own lightsaber and bring up a simple parry against the stabbing thrust. The Hunter didn't relent, pressing his advantage with all his might. He stabbed fast and swung with all his strength, keeping the Caamasi Jedi fumbling backwards. As he was doing this, he discreetly shifted his lightsaber from single blade into its ring-mode in preparation.
Then, as he knew the Jedi would, he found his thrusts and swings starting to be blocked and deflected with increasing ease as the Jedi adjusted to his aggression. Locking blades with the Jedi, he snarled hatefully into the Jedi's stony face, showing a full mouthful of his sharp teeth in an attempt at attacking his enemy's confidence. Then his snarl changed into a feral sneer as he activated his lightsaber's second blade and spinning mechanism. The sudden and completely unexpected strange new attack immediately caught the Jedi by surprise, knocking him stumbling backwards and around as his own green lightsaber was slapped away and to the side by the rapidly spinning red blades.
Capitalizing on this, the Hunter thrust his free hand forward as he swept his spinning lightsaber away, hitting the Jedi with as strong a Force Push as he could manage. Though the Jedi's shields took most of the Force attack, he was still sent sliding two meters away by the strength of the attack. Spinning the cycling weapon around his back, he expertly switched it out of the cycling mode and back into a single blade as he lunged forward with a decisive thrust. Because the Jedi was still recovering from his surprise as the Hunter's unusual weapon, he was utterly unprepared to stop the stabbing red blade from finding its target in his heart. The Jedi tensed up in pain as a cry of agony echoed through the empty hangar. The Fifth Hunter sneered triumphantly as he withdrew his weapon and watched as his kill swiftly collapsed to the ground, dead.
"That was a rather enjoyable fight," he commented as he switched off his weapon. Seeing the Jedi's discarded weapon on the floor, he reached out for as it jumped into his hand. Examining it, his sneer widened as he said, "I wonder if my master will reward me if I deliver a few trophies to him?"
Clipping the weapon to his belt, he turned and left the Jedi's corpse to be found by the spaceport's authorities or random new arrivals at a later time. Even if he hadn't intended it, he now needed to meditate after this battle, to calm his dark desires and hide his presence from any nearby or far-reaching Jedi Master.
Inner Courtyard, Aldera Royal Palace
Raising his staff, Luke caught the high attack that was aimed for his head but the strength of the blow sent a shock down his arms. Without his instinctive use of strengthening himself through the Force, he almost assuredly would've been lost his grip on the staff as he was pushed back. So focused was he on not losing his grip on his weapon, that he didn't react in time when his opponent suddenly withdrew, only to swing the other end of its own weapon around. This attack was too fast and came from a low angle that he didn't see coming. That was how he got hit in his side under his arm and sent stumbling back in pain, completely unable to stop the follow-up attack that caught him in the side of his face, sending him spinning to the ground with gasps and grunts of pain.
Hearing her brother fall, Leia shot him a fast glance. Seeing him on the ground caused her anger and aggression to spike momentarily as she quickly swung back to her own opponent, jabbing her own staff into its torso as strongly as she could. The unexpected power of the blow sent it stumbling backwards out of the ring. Without missing a beat, Leia raced from her position towards Luke, who was about to be dealt the finishing blow by his opponent. Thrusting her staff forward, she barely caught the attack, heaving upwards on her staff and sending her opponent's weapon flying out of its grasp and high into the air. Acting on impulse, she pushed her one of her hands forward powerfully, sending out a strong blast of Force power that hit Luke's opponent full in the torso. The impact it made against the stone wall some five meters away would've likely broke bones and sent the person immediately to the hospital for treatment, had it not been a droid they'd been fighting. But as it was, the droid's chassis was compressed and dented mightily as its head and arms were broken off from their sockets in its body.
Spinning her staff around as she turned to verify that they were the victors, Leia grinned in triumph. Turning to Luke, she helped him up to his feet with a strained smile. Both of them were panting and sweating heavily, their faces and bodies bruised and bloodied from strikes they hadn't been able to block, and their clothing wet with sweat and dusty with dirt.
"You need to…stop trying to take…the hits, Luke," Leia said, smiling at Luke's unhappy pout. "Sometimes…it's just easier to…dodge them."
"But I'm not as…fast as you," Luke pointed out, lightly holding his aching side with his free hand and leaning heavily on his staff.
Leia shrugged as she turned him around and started lightly beating some of the loose dust off the back of his clothing. Luke was now dressed in a simple blue tunic and trousers with an equally blue belt around his small waist. Unlike his old white desert clothes, these clothes were quite well made and had excellent range of motion, hence why he had taken to wearing them whenever he could. And it seemed that Leia also shared his opinion in this matter, wearing a near-identical set except green in color.
Since it had been discovered that they were siblings and that she was technically no longer the Princess of Alderaan, Leia had adopted several things from Luke. Namely, his Skywalker name and the chance to wear simpler clothes of a style that she desired, rather than what was required of her. She knew she would not miss being everyone's dress-up doll.
Once Luke was as clean as she could hurriedly get him, she backed away and ran her hand over her heavily and ornately braided hair. As willing as she was to leave many of her royal traits behind, she decided that she'd keep some of the more practical hair designs and styles, a small memento of her early childhood as it were.
A light clapping sound above them drew the pair's attention to the balcony that overlooked their little training area. Standing near the center of the balcony was a green-skinned Rodian who wore some kind of ceremonial robes that neither of the children had ever seen before. Smiling slightly down at them, the Rodian nodded as he stopped clapping. "Impressive, children. Quite impressive."
"Who are you?" Luke asked, hurriedly picking up his staff again. He was weary of strangers, something that had been ingrained into him by his uncle and aunt on Tatooine for as long as he could remember. And while many of the people he'd met in Aldera and the palace itself were quite nice, if a bit snooty at his 'backwater background', he didn't trust them to not attack him or Leia just yet.
"I am Bolla Ropal," the Rodian said, moving over to the staircase. As he continued his somewhat slow pace down the stairs, he kept his gaze on the children as he continued speaking, "I am a Jedi Master. I received information about a pair of very strong Force-sensitives who'd shown up here, under unusual circumstances with an unusual story."
"Okay," Leia said slowly, her eyes wide with excitement at meeting a real and breathing Jedi Master. But she didn't let her excitement overpower her wits. "But that doesn't tell us what you want or what you do. Are going to take us to the Temple? Are you here to tell us what's happened to us? Or are you just…meeting us to see if we can be Jedi?"
Ropal smiled slightly at her with each question she asked. "Insightful and inquisitive. You would make an excellent diplomat, youngling." Looking over at the boy, Ropal gained a strange far away gaze to his eyes, as though trying to see beyond the horizon. With the lingering tethers of their connection to the Force still upon them, both Luke and Leia were able to faintly perceive that the Rodian was doing something in it. After only a moment, his gaze snapped back to the present as a confused expression spread across his face.
"Who are you, children?" he asked, more to himself than them. "You have potent strength, yet we've never heard of you. Earlier, you were shining in the Force, cutting away the surrounding darkness with casual effort. And yet now, you have withdrawn and the darkness has returned." The siblings glanced at one another, uncertain of how to respond.
"Are you really a Jedi?" Luke finally asked, gaining Ropal's attention. "I've heard a lot of stories on Tatooine, but everyone always said they were a lot of tricks and lies."
Smiling broadly now, Ropal turned and gestured towards the broken combat droid. With only a minimal amount of concentration and a wave of his hand, the droid was lifted into the air and floated over to the pair. Raising the droid as he drew up alongside them, Ropal said, "I can assure you that the Jedi do not perform tricks or lies. We stand for justice, truth, and peace in the Republic."
"But only the Republic, right?" Luke asked, turning his gaze from the floating wreckage to the Jedi.
"I beg your pardon?" Ropal asked, surprised, lowering the droid down to the ground.
"You Jedi only care about keeping peace in the Republic," Luke clarified, voicing one of many complaints he'd heard about the Order all throughout his young life. "You stay in the Core and Colony worlds, helping those who don't need it while those in the Rim worlds struggle to survive against bandits and pirates."
Frowning, Ropal studied the young boy. It was clear that while he was repeating what he'd been raised to believe, the boy was also genuinely curious to Ropal's answers. "Understand, youngling, that the Jedi Order does what it can. But we number only 10 thousand in a galaxy of trillions. We are too few to protect the entire galaxy. We need the Republic's aid. And, that being the case, we also must obey the laws of the Republic. That makes it tricky to help others who live outside the Republic's influence."
"But you only help Republic," Luke repeated, this time more forcefully. "You spend more time in the Core helping politicians and royals when you could be elsewhere. Like helping farmers who can bare grow enough food, slaves who are under bad masters, and street kids who have no homes."
"We are only 10 thousand, youngling," Ropal repeated patiently. "We do what we can, when we can. But we are still too few." Seeing the rebellious gaze in the boy's eyes, and even the slightly similar gaze growing in the girl's, Ropal decided to change tactics. "How about a lesson in connecting to the Force?"
He smiled internally at seeing their immediate interest. Walking over to the still functioning droid, he fiddled with its settings for a moment, beginning his lesson as he did so. "You have good reflexes, strength, and endurance, but the Force isn't so limited. Reach out with your feelings, trust your instincts, not your eyes, and remember to never attack."
"What's that mean?" Leia asked as he turned back to them.
Walking back up to the kids, he reached down and undid Luke's belt. "It means do not lash out in anger, aggression, or fear. These are negative emotions that can lead you down a very dark and cold path." Seeing their dawning realization, Ropal wondered if they'd already felt the brush of the dark side. It was entirely possible, but somewhat unlikely since he was sure the Jedi would've already felt the presence of a strong enough darksider. Raising up the boy's belt, he tied it around his head, covering his eyes. "Now, do it again. Reach out, feel, don't think. Use your instincts." Beckoning the girl back, Ropal stepped away as the combat droid approached the tense and weary boy.
"But how can I fight if I can't see?" Luke wondered aloud, setting himself up into a defensive position.
"Your eyes can trick or distract you," Ropal stated with certainty. "That is why you were beaten earlier. Don't trust your eyes, trust the Force. Reach out, feel the droid's movements before it attacks, let the Force flow through you."
"You mean it can control us?" Leia asked, watching her brother stepping back cautiously from the advancing droid.
"Partially," the Jedi admitted with a noncommittal shrug. "But it also obeys your commands."
The droid lashed out, catching Luke in the side and knocking him stumbling. Seeing the boy's annoyance and anger, Ropal quickly said, "Calm down. Listen, feel."
Doing so quickly, Luke set himself up again and waited, listening and trying to 'feel'. The droid struck high, hitting Luke in his earlier bruise and sending him to the ground in pain. Quickly pulling down his improvised blindfold, he groaned out, "I'm trying, but I can't! It's too quick! It's not letting me!"
"Do or do not, there is no try!" Ropal said, earning confused stares from the children. "It means that if you don't believe you can succeed and win, then you won't. Believe you can, and you will."
Nodding uncertainly, Luke pushed himself back to his feet and pulled his blindfold back on. This time, he waited, he listened, he believed he could win. He knew he could because he'd faced harder challenges than this, like that space battle he'd been in. And then he felt it…a gentle, almost unnoticeable nudge against his body, telling him to dodge to the side. Allowing whatever he felt to do so, he moved to the side, hearing the swing of a staff pass through the space he'd previously occupied. Then he felt another nudge and went with it, quickly ducking down in a deep crouch, feeling the wind rustle his hair as the other end of the staff shot by overhead.
Reacting quickly, he swung the low end of his staff upwards as strongly as he could. The end of it struck the droid and he heaved with all his might, using the Force to again bolster his strength. Spinning around from the force of his attack, Luke heard a loud, metallic crash behind him as the ground shook from the impact briefly. Grabbing his blindfold, Luke spun around and stared in surprise down at his opponent that was lying face-down in the dirt.
"See?" Ropal said, smiling. "You can do it."
"Way to go, Luke!" Leia cheered, grinning as she ran over to inspect Luke's handiwork.
Looking back at Ropal, Luke nodded his head. "I…I did feel something. Something…pushing me, telling where to go, why and how."
"That's good!" Ropal acknowledged. "Now, you must learn to rely on that for it can save your life in the future."
"I wanna learn something cool!" Leia interjected, stepping up alongside Luke with wide, eager eyes. "Teach me something!"
"Very well." Reaching into his pockets, Ropal pulled out a strange glowing cube slightly larger in size than his fist. The incredible intricacy of the designs engraved on its surface and the almost supernatural glow it was giving off quickly drew the kids' awe as they stared at it. "A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense. And as such, this device is one of the many things we use to store what we learn in. This is a Jedi Holocron, one of many that I've been studying from the library of the Temple."
Taking the cube with a hesitant reverence, Leia glanced from it to him in askance. "How do I get inside it?"
Lowering himself into a kneeling position, he beckoned the children to follow him. "Just like your friend. You need to reach out into the Force, feel, use your instincts. The Holocron only opens when a Jedi is calm and willing to learn."
"Believe you can," Luke advised quietly, watching Leia as she slowly closed her eyes.
After several long moments of silence, Ropal heard something from the Holocron. One of the corners had shifted. Then the Holocron shuttered as three more sections rotated open and the internal glow started to brighten slightly. Another moment passed and the Holocron began to rise into the air. Then the sections separated as a hologram of the galaxy appeared over it. Ropal smiled as he watched the girl hesitantly open her eyes and stare at the galaxy's hologram, seeking knowledge that only she could comprehend since she was the one communing with it. After several moments, the hologram faded and the Holocron reformed itself back into its original shape.
"What did you learn?" Luke asked curiously.
"There are other Temples all throughout the galaxy!" Leia said, glancing over at Luke briefly before returning her gaze to Ropal. "The Jedi used to be much more widespread, thousands of years ago." Though her voice was conversational, Ropal didn't miss the slight accusation in her statement. "They used to help everyone, even in the Outer Rim, before the Senate called them back to the Core."
"We were much more numerous back then," Ropal said, knowing his statements would probably be seen as excuses by the two children but they were still the truth. "The Great Sith War, the Jedi Civil, the Great Galactic Wars, and the war against the Brotherhood of Darkness killed many thousands of us, we've only just recently started recovering from those losses."
There was a moment of silence that passed between them as the kids considered what he'd told them. Ropal stared at the two of them inquisitively. If he was honest with himself, he would admit to being very surprised by these two. Though the message he'd received stated that the children had unusually high midi-chlorian counts, he hadn't trusted that report at face value. He wanted to meet them and develop an opinion of them firsthand, to witness the strength of their connections to the Force in person. But his observations only confirmed what the report had said; these two were incredibly strong in the Force.
For a pair of complete novices, they had learned to consciously feel and utilize the Force so much quicker than any other youngling he'd ever come across before, and he'd seen many thousands of younglings over the years. Their talent and easy connection with the Force was simply unfathomable. With perhaps the exception of Anakin Skywalker, whom he only knew by reputation, these two were easily the strongest in all of the galaxy, and their learning curves were obscenely high and fast. He truly wondered who their parents were.
"Leia! Luke!" a voice called from the balcony overhead. "Dinner will be ready shortly. Go get washed and—Oh! Master Jedi! Wha-What are you doing here?"
Standing quickly, the three of them looked up at the balcony to see Breha floating there in her hoverchair. The expression on her face was calm, if surprised, but all of them could sense the churning emotions below the surface. She was upset about something, though she was doing her best to hide it.
"Run along, children," Ropal said, waving the kids off. "It would seem I've taken up enough of your time."
"I hope we can learn more later, Master," Leia said, smiling slightly at him before she joined Luke in running up the staircase and into the palace to clean themselves.
Once the kids were out of hearing range, Breha spoke up, "Forgive me, Master Jedi, but I hadn't known of your arrival. May I enquire to the reason of your visit?"
"My apologies, Your Majesty," Ropal said as he ascended the stairs in a much calmer fashion to stand before the royal. "But I received a binary transmission from a doctor in the Royal Palace claiming to have found a pair of Force-sensitives and had come to investigate. I had assumed you were aware of this."
"No," Breha admitted, shaking her head as her gaze narrowed in anger. "It would seem that my doctor went behind my back on this issue. I hadn't intended to contact the Jedi Order about those two until they'd had a chance to get settled and…acquainted with the galaxy."
"Yes," Ropal acknowledge, nodding. "I had also heard about that. The unusual circumstances of their arrival and parts of the story they've shared. Very unusual."
"That being the case, I didn't want to contact the Order until I felt they would be able to safely function in the galaxy without being made laughingstocks of," Breha said. That wasn't the only reason, but definitely a fair substitute for the real one. The real reason she didn't want to let them go so soon was because having them in the palace was somewhat how she'd imagined it would be like if she ever managed to have children, her deepest wish. The two children just brought a refreshing breath of new air into the stale, old halls of power and she was hesitant to let them go.
"Yes," Ropal said, sensing that she wasn't telling the whole truth but enough of it. He let it go for now. "Be that as it may, I would like to speak with you about any new things you might've learned from the crafts they flew to get here. Any new discoveries made on their origins?"
Caamas
Eyes snapping open, the Hunter let a feral sneer across his face. He just caught a familiar sensation of a tingling in the Force. Those two Children of the Force, his primary targets, were using the Force again in a substantial amount. And best of all, they were nearby!
The predator had just picked up a scent. Let the hunt begin…
(Author's Note) Heheheheh, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. I'm sure many of you can see a lot of references to the original trilogy training sessions and conversations of communing with the Force. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did! Thanks to animefan29 and Fiori75 for reviewing this chapter!