Shin woke with a start. Pulse hammering in her ears she flailed wildly trying to buck of an unseen assailant. A sudden drop stopped her panicked movements. Lying on the cold steel of the floor her breath slowly equalized. Sitting up she spotted the attacker still entangling her legs. A beige blanket.
Taking a deep breath she cautiously inspected her surroundings. She was in a small room with a bunk bed set into the wall. Along it small doors hinted at the presence of hidden cupboards and at the far side she spotted where a table could be folded out of it. A thin layer of dust clung to every surface but the bunk she had woken up in.
Putting the pieces together she finally realized where she was. The stranger's ship. It explained both the utilitarian use of space and the humming of heavy engines in the distance. That and the almost utter silence she felt.
There was nobody else here. No pedestrians walking in and out of her awareness. Not the agitation of Mrs. Vonn taking offense at everything they did. Nor the cacophony of mental noise her fellow orphans screamed at her every day. It was just her and the stranger.
The thought was exhilarating at first but her excitement quickly faded as she recalled his exact promise. She was no longer cramped with the others into a too small dormitory. Mrs. Vonn would never punish her again for lashing out before the others could attack her. Or sell her of to a gang.
Her stomach rose as she recalled what had happened in that bar. What fate the gang's eyes and words had promised her. The women she shot wiggling on the ground screaming in agony. The bile fought desperately to escape but her body clamped down hard still vividly remembering what happened to children soiling Mrs. Vonn's floors.
Curling up her mind circled around the truth about her new freedom. It was temporary. He would bring her to the next place which looked like it would take good care of her. Then she would be on her own again.
Sitting there she willed the painful realization to become a fact. To remove the emotions from it. Reality would not be changed by her liking it or not. She had figured that out a long time ago.
Standing up she grabbed the blanket from the floor. Folding it careful she replaced it on the bunk using the routine to calm herself. The stranger had fought against a whole gang to save her. He would not leave her lightly. A tremble ran through her hands spoiling the attempt to smooth the creases in the fabric.
Her memory of the fight before the space port was heavily colored by polar opposite emotions. There was awe at the red blade springing to life. How precise the stranger had fought with it. Painting him as an unstoppable force. An inevitable end. A hero. But there was also a deep revulsion to it. The stench of burning cloth and sizzling flesh. The panicked screams ending in a sudden airless gasp. Faces full of despair. A lavender women writhing on the ground in pain.
Taking a deep breath she straightened out the blanket. He had warned them. They hadn't listened so it was their fault. As strong as he was he could've taken them all down. But he let them run away. If she had only been half as strong she wouldn't have panicked. She wouldn't have flinched and the women would've just run past her. Turning away from the bunk she forcefully set the thoughts aside.
Opening the door she paused squinting against the much brighter light in the corridor. Similar to the room it's design was utterly utilitarian. The only decoration being cable conduits running along the walls. Having never been on a star ship Shin had no idea how to tell to where each end of the corridor would led. But in her current situation this was no issue. She just had to listen.
Without anyone else present the stranger's presence was easy to find. To her mind it appeared like an old tree. Wizened by age and elements yet still towering unbowed over everything. Broad branches offering safe shelter under its crown of green. A vivid reminder of the times when the sheer noise from everybody else had driven her into the forest in search of silence. It had always been temporary. Limited by hunger and the chill of the night. Yet she had never hesitated to take it even knowing punishment would wait when she returned.
It was so different from the others she had felt. They just send out whatever rushed through their mind. Be it emotion or an unusual strong thought. Yet it was not like he was bereft of them. They were just distant. Like the muffled sound of leaves stroked by a gentle breeze high above. With enough attention one could try listen to them. Else they easily blended into the background. Like they did in the bar until he met her gaze.
Drowning in a sea of indifference colored by fear and annoyance she had only perceived glimpses. Yet she had decided to trust him. At least enough to get her out of there. Then he had been forced to fight. And she had truly seen him. The coldness with which he had fought the routine. The hesitation when they started fleeing. The kindness in his eyes when he knelt to comfort her.
Walking only a couple of steps along the corridor she reached a small common room. One one end stood a table flanked by upholstered benches. The other one was taken up by a small kitchen its appliances inlaid into the wall. On the floor between them closer to the kitchen than the table a faded blanket had been spread out. Sitting on it the stranger was inspecting the lightsaber he had taken from the red man with a magnifier. Laid out beside him ready for use was a neat row of precision tools.
Shin paused not surprised by the stranger's presence but his appearance. Both the shaggy hair and beard had been trimmed back leaving them uniformly short and orderly. Baggy clothes had been exchanged for more fitting dark long shirt and trousers which contoured the trained body beneath. Without her extra sense she would've never identified the stern looking man as the old slightly unkempt pilot who had rescued her.
"I was not sure what you would like so I prepared some soup." The stranger's causal words snapped her back to reality. Instinctively looking into the direction he had mentioned she indeed spotted a steaming bowl on the table. Lying beside it was a scuffed datapad. "It'll take us about a week to reach the next planet. We can get you your own pad there. Until then you can take mine."
Having taken a step towards the table Shin froze. Her own pad? Thinking she had misheard she looked back. But the stranger had already lowered his gaze continuing his inspection of the weapon. Hesitant to just address him she turned back to the table.
Sitting down she took a closer look at the soup. It was of an opaque deep red with small bits of meat and vegetables swimming in it. Not only did it look enticing but also smelled like actual food and not just hot water. Half the bowl vanished in the blink of an eye before she had to slow down. Yet learned instincts and its taste didn't let her stop until it was finished.
Putting the bowl down she leaned back against the bench. Her stomach was more than full but it was still bearable. Raising her gaze she saw that the stranger was still sitting on the blanket. Having partly dismantled the weapon he was working on one of its components. Turning it this and that way he cleaned it with practiced motions before setting it to the side to get the next one.
Watching him work a question fitted through Shin's mind. Wouldn't it have been easier to do this at the table? A curiosity which was quickly answered by another question as she tried to understand him. Could she have eaten in peace with an unknown stranger directly in front of her? He had given her another choice she could take.
Sliding of the bench she walked over to the stranger. Kneeling down she waited until he finished with another part before speaking up, "Thank you for rescuing me. I'm Shin. Shin Hati."
Blue eyes meeting her gaze the stranger hesitated. Her mind feeling the distant canopy shake then settle again. "Baylan Skoll." There was no question no lie to his words but it was apparent that he hadn't given the name in a long time. "It was you who made the choice. I just did what was right."
"Are you a jedi?" Running away from her the question was filled with the excitement of old tales and heard half-truths.
His response was quick, "No." Clad in somber acceptance like the shadow of a cloud passing before the sun.
Not deterred Shin continued, "But you know about them? How they let things fly and read minds?"
Baylan nodded. "I'm familiar with their teachings and the force." He continued, "While one can indeed affect and perceive one's surroundings with it there is no mind reading." He held out his hand palm down. One of the tools jumped up into it as if gravity had been reversed. "Just people's emotions and at most fragments of their strongest thoughts." Gazing into her eyes he finished softly, "But that can already be too much if one can't control it."
Shin's voice dropped to a chocked whisper, "Can you teach me?" Deep inside a spark of old hope ignited again. A longing for peaceful silence. Salvation from the torrents of emotion she had to listen to for so so long.
"Of course." Placing the tool back down on the blanket he put his hands on his knees. "While mastering the force takes considerable time shunning it only requires focus and dedication." He took a long slow breath. His presence becoming vague to Shin as if he was drawing it in with the air. Like fog clouding her mind's eye the image of an ancient tree lost its definition. The canopy's soothing shade shrunk away taking its protection with it. Sturdy bark thinned to a faint heat haze leaving her exposed and defenseless.
Fingers clenching her knees Shin pushed down on the anxiety wailing in her chest. Forcing her breath to remain calm. Baylan was still there. She could still see him. It was okay. It was okay. Like the incoming tide her impression of his mind solidified again. Muscles relaxing she had to catch herself from slumping forward.
The whole time Baylan's expression hadn't changed. But without him holding his mind back she could feel his concern. It was like the rising sun expelling the chill of the night. A welcome relief but one whose end she could already see. One week. More if she expected to be lucky. Steeling herself she searched his gaze again.
"And if one wants to master it?"
Her words were met with inquisitive silence. Blue eyes mirroring her stare like a calm lake. "Years perhaps decades." Letting the words sink in he continued, "They way I'll walk from her will be one of danger and strife." His gaze grew distant drawn to unknown heights. "A path of strength so that I can do what must be done." Focusing back on her he finished, "Following me there one wrong step could end your life."
She knew he spoke the truth. After all she had just seen but a glimpse of what laid outside her former prison's walls. And that darkness had almost taken her life so much crueler than any death could. This and the later fight had shown her how small how helpless she was.
A frightening realization which even now was bearing down on her like a terrible weight. Urging her to back down to just let him deliver her to a new shelter. To return to obliviousness and forget about everything. It was a comforting thought but she knew its promise was empty. Doing nothing didn't solve problems it only gave them time to grow.
"I still want to go." There was an edge to her voice. Tempered by the knowledge of her own weakness. "I don't want to just wait until the next bad thing happens. I want to be able to fight it."
Sitting there impassively Baylan just returned her stubborn gaze. Neither his expression nor his mind showing any hint that he had heard her. Second after second passed them by. The silence only disturbed by the distant hum of the engines.
Finally he raised his hands from his knees. The partly dismantled lightsaber jumped into the air. With a twist it came fully apart pieces descending back onto the blanket. Just two small crystals remained in the air. Blood red they glinted below the lights. Its reflections appearing like transient sparks dancing over their surface. As if suddenly repelling each other they jumped apart.
Instinctively grabbing the one flying at her Shin was the first to break eye contact. Fingers closing around the rough crystal her senses grew confused. To her skin it appeared cool like a piece of glass. Yet at the same time it also felt like an ember. Its heat lancing out unpredictably as if trying to escape her grip. Starring in wonder at her own fist she needed a second to realize that Baylan had spoken to her.
"What can you feel?"
"Its hot." Saying the first thing come to mind she tentatively reached out to it with her mind. Focusing on the ebb and flow of heat. The kernel of emotion in it appearing like a blazing spark. "It wants something…" Raising her gaze she ventured, "Fuel?"
"Power." He held up his crystal. "Its an impression left by the one who built the saber. Their driving desire." He pointed at her fist. "For now you'll use it to train your mind. I'll teach you a meditation technique to block it out. Then you'll learn how to listen." Putting his own away he continued, "If you can then find where I hid its twin you're allowed to call yourself my apprentice."
While worded like a promise it was a test. Perhaps even just a way to give her enough control for a normal life before he left her. Regardless the small spark of hope in her chest flared up beating in concert with the one trapped in her fist.
"I'm ready."