Chapter 15

AN: Hello there. It is I, back with another chapter. It mainly focuses on more bonding between Shmi and Triz, and a bit of a scare. As always I hope you guys enjoy it and leave a review.

Response:

princesselsaamidala22: I still have a few things for Shmi to go through before finding Anakin, so not soon but eventually, probably by chapter 25 or so.

Messorem-Dust: I knew you would like it all. Yeah, it's a perfect place for a sith to lay low and train.

Blaster bolts flew through the air, their intended target doing her best to block them or redirect them back towards the drones hovering mid-air and randomly chaining positions every so often. The round drones kept firing the yellow bolts towards the young lightsaber-wielding Zabrak as she pushed herself to her limits in an attempt to not get hit. Since their arrival on the moon of Yavin 4 Triz took to Shmis and Acina's teachings like fish to water, constantly doing everything Shmi told her to, directing all of her time and focus into her studies. Form I was essential for any lightsaber wielder to know, the upside of it is that it was simple so it was easy to learn. Triz had put all of her time into mastering every move, every jab, and every block Shmi had shown her. The teen had not forgotten the sight of lighting bursting out of her master's fingertips, that was a power she wanted to learn as well but for the time being she needed to focus on the basics. Then as Triz was blocking another bolt from her front, she felt a stinging pain coming from her right tight. She greeted her teeth and hissed due to the pain.

"Pay attention to your surroundings," commented Shmi in a chastising tone. She stood off to the side, watching her student practice with marksman training drones, arms crossed over her chest as she did so. "There will be plenty more pain if you don't."

"Got it, master," Triz said, exhaling and continuing to block or deflect the bolts with the crimson blade she borrowed from Shmi. This continued for a while, Shmi and through her Acina making comments regarding Triz's posture, footwork, and blade work every so often.

During their relatively short time on the moon, Shmi had not neglected her own training, focusing further on her own blade work and continuing to master the new ability of force lighting. Acina was a harsh drill instructor, the fact that they were sharing a body did not help one bit for there was no mute button for all of Acina's encouragement. The ghostly Sith also made Shmi go inside the temple several more times, wanting to get a better look at it. Everything inside was ancient, scriptures written on the walls were in a language Shmi was not familiar with and when she asked her master, Acina simply said that she did not know the language. The interesting thing about the crystal in the center of the temple was that initially, they did not feel anything from it but once Shmi placed her hand on the crystal she felt something, it was faint but it was there, remnants of the force from long ago.

"I have to say something my dear, or else you will forget that I'm even here," the ghostly Sith said when Shmi thought about the last one in the long line of comments Acina made since they landed on this moon. "Now, I think we have spent enough time supervising this poor ballet performance, and is high time to once more focus on your own studies."

"Maybe just a bit longer?" Shmi asked, wanting to help the young teen as much as she could.

"She has been at it for almost two hours, I think the acolyte deserves a break," Acina pointed out. "Not to mention our water rations have been dwindling, it would be wise to send someone to fetch more from the creek."

"You think it smart sending her on her own?" Shmi asked hesitantly. She had her reservations about letting Triz go on her own into the jungle. This place was full of wild animals, some harmless while others not so much. So far they had no issue with the wildlife, they stayed away from them and the ship.

"It's not that far, besides my dear, you can't cuddle her forever, she's training to be a Sith, not a princess," Acina answered.

"Point taken," Shmi let out a small sigh. "That's enough for today," Shmi said in a slightly raised tone. "Take some rest and then go to fetch water, we are low."

Triz stopped her movements just after blocking the last bolt. She wanted to continue, her body might be filling the effects of training but her mind still held the will to go on. Yet, she knew there was no arguing with her master, and that she was right.

"Yes master," she responded. Triz deactivated the blade and gave it back to Shmi, who clipped it onto her belt. She then headed inside the ship to have a drink and grab the water canister. The Zabrak teen took a quick break to freshen up and stretch her muscles. They were stiff from all of the training. She passed the ship's dynamic duo of droids in the cargo bay, they were arguing about something again She picked up the water canister, it was a cylindrical gray thing, with a round hole on the top and a small tap near the bottom. It could easily be filled with fifteen liters of water and had straps for being carried on one's back. After putting it on her back, she left the ship heading towards the jungle but not before having one last glance at her master who was currently practicing form IV with her lightsabers. "One day," she muttered before turning her gaze back to the jungle and the task at hand.

It didn't take long to reach the creek Shmi and she found when they first arrived on the moon. On her way to her destination, she gazed at the surrounding wildness, she had realized quickly just how different from her homeworld Yavin truly was. Yavin had a lot more greenery, Selucami had jungles and tries but not like this. She found Yavin calming in a way, even if she knew the moon had its own set of dangers. An all too familiar laughter was heard and a moment later a piece of fruit was sent flying towards Triz's head. She avoided the fruity projectile by jumping back. Her eyes shot up to where those woolamanders were perched on.

"Not this time," Triz said to them with a confident smirk. "I know all of your tricks and you ain't gonna get one on me again," several displeased noises were heard coming from the wildlife as she continued to walk towards the creek. Soon enough she reached the place, having a look around first to see if there weren't any more of those translucent snakes lurking around. Feeling satisfied that there were none, she pulled the canister off her back, took off the lid from the top, and lowered it into the water. She hummed a tune as the water-filled gray canister.

Triz felt a bit nostalgic due to how much this place reminded her of her own home, but it also reminded her about what she had lost. It was a funny thing, the sight of jungles was calming in a way but also brought back painful memories, a contradiction. She heeded her master's words and used those painful memories as fuel, as motivation to push onward, to get stronger. In the weeks they had been here, Triz thought she had made decent progress with the blade, granted she could barely not get hit during the first ten seconds by those damned practice droids but according to Shmi, she was making good progress. She knew she wouldn't be as good as Shmi anytime soon but she would be one day, all she had to do was train. She always had a good memory, one reason she did so well in her school back on Selucami, so memorizing the move sets of form I wasn't as hard as she thought it would be. Although memorizing the moves and using them in an actual combat situation was a bit different, the earlier stinging pain in her thigh the proof of that. She will have to do better next time and not embarrass herself in front of her master. The sound of a branch breaking caught her attention, breaking her out of her thoughts. Looking towards where the sound had come from, she saw a four-limned, green, reptile creature. It stood about a dozen meters away, staring at her with hungry yellow eyes. It opened its mouth to show a row of sharp teeth and a large serpentine tongue.

"Kriff," Triz thought, starting to panic slightly. "Like the woolamanders weren't enough to deal with, now this. Alright no sudden movements, get up slowly."

Triz moved slowly, almost painfully so as she pulled the canister out of the water and placed it on the ground. The reptile watched her closely as she did so, his head tilting sideways. She tried taking a step back slowly but it was then that the reptile decided to charge at her. In a matter of moments he was upon her and she had just enough time to jump to the side to avoid getting her head bit off. She looked at the canister that was now behind the hungry reptile. She needed to think of something and quickly. Then it hit her, she had a blaster on her.

Triz quickly pulled out the blaster Shmi had given her from its holster but before she could aim it at the beast, the reptile charged at her once again, determined to make her his next meal. Once more she tried to avoid it, this time leaping away from it but at the last moment, the beast swung its tail at her, hitting her in the back, making Triz fall to the ground, the blaster falling out of her hand. Her back hurt but she forced herself to ignore it as she rolled over onto her back frantically looking around for her weapon, her hands searching the ground around her. Meanwhile, the beast continued to get close, its teeth filled maw wide open, ready to make the killing blow. It leaped at Triz, the teen managing to roll out of the way just in time as the beast slammed into the place she had laid a moment earlier. Once more her hands reached the ground until her right hand felt something cold and metallic, it was the blaster. Grabbing it quickly she lifted it up and hastily aimed it at the beast that wanted her dead. Just as it leaped at her once more she pulled the trigger and the noise of a blaster shot was heard. Triz looked on in shock as the beast staggered and a second later fell to the ground, motionless, dead.

The Zabrak teen just stared at it for a long moment, she had done it, she had killed it. Then the thought hit her, she had killed it, she killed something. It was not a person, it wanted her harm but still, she had killed it. She had never killed anything in her life. Her heart raced with fear and adrenaline as she continued to stare at the reptile's carcass. Her breathing was quick, her eyes wide, her heart pumping so hard that it felt like it would burst out of her chest at any moment. She slowly lowered her blaster as she continued to watch the unmoving body of the creature.

Slowly but surely she got up to her feet, her fingers still clinging to the blaster. That was close, too close for comfort. This thing had almost killed her, would have killed her if Shmi had not given her the blaster. Triz took a moment to get her breathing under control and calm herself. She is alive, a little banged up but alive. She needed to return to the ship, that was the best option now. She needed to tell Shmi what happened. Remembering the reason why she was here in the first place, she moved her gaze towards where the water canister was lying on the ground, only to find it smashed. The beast probably did it during the fight without her noticing.

"At least this can't get any worse," she thought and let out a sigh. Her nerves just calmed down enough when she heard bushes rustling behind her. She slowly turned around, holding the blaster in a death grip. What she saw terrified her to her core, all of the emotions from several moments ago came back, now amplified tenfold. There, coming out of the bushes were not just one or two, but four more of those reptilian creatures. Their eyes first focused on her, then on the motionless corpse of the creature she had killed earlier, and then back at her. Yellow reptilian eyes stared at her with hunger in them, their jaws snapping at her.

The teen hastily lifted her blaster, aiming it at the closest of the four creatures, and fired, only to miss the reptile's head by mere cementers. This aggravated not only one she tried to shoot but the entire pack. She was about to shoot again but just as she was about to pull the trigger the one in front opened his maw and let out an ear-piercing howl that was powerful enough to stun Triz, her blaster falling out of her hand and onto the ground. She could not focus, she knew that she was in mortal danger but could do nothing as she felt her entire body being frozen in place, her mind barely registering what was happening around her. The three other replies circled her, ready to jump at her at any moment.

Triz was absolutely terrified, the only other time she had been this scared was when her parents were killed. It seems she was going to join them in the afterlife soon. At least she could take some comfort in that fact. She would get to see them one more time. She could not move, could barely breathe as one of the creatures closed the distance between them. It came close, so close, and opened its razor-sharp jaws, ready to throw the killing blow. But the blow never came as in that moment a figure dropped from the jungle's tree tops, lightsabers at the ready.

Shmi swung her two blades at the creature nearest to Triz, cutting it into three pieces before turning her attention to the rest of the pack. With almost blinding speed she reached the next reptile, plunged her lightsaber into its chest, and separated its head from its neck. The third creature tried to stun Shmi with its howl just like it did Triz but failed as Shmi jumped into the air and landed behind it as it unleashed its howl. The ear-piercing sound was brought to an end once the crimson blade pierced the creature's head and came out of its mouth. Pulling out the blade, Shmi's gaze fell on the last of the reptiles. The creature stared at her for a moment, the hunger that was once in its eyes was now replaced with fear. It knew that it was in great danger but its instincts did not allow it to surrender without a fight. The reptile was prepared to charge when suddenly it was lifted up in the air and flung towards its attacker. The lightsaber blades cut the creature in mid-air, the pieces of the creature's body landing behind Shmi, a lock of shock forever edged into the reptile's eyes.

Carefully looking around for any additional threats and scanning the area with the force, Shmi found no more of these creatures and then quickly rushed over to the now kneeling Triz.

"Triz! Triz!" Shmi shouted as she got closer to the teen. She quickly deactivated her blades and clipped them onto her belt. The older woman knelt in front of the teen, her hands rising to cup Triz's face. "Are you hurt, do you feel any pain?" she asked, worried. The teen did not respond. Shmi quickly gave her once over but apart from a few scratches and bruises, there were no visible wounds or blood. It would be best to get her to the ship to give her a proper check-up. "Can you walk?" No response came from the Zabrak. "Triz can you walk?" Shmi asked again, and once more nothing. Shmi was starting to get worried that the teen had hit her head and had some sort of brain damage. That thought was discarded however once she noticed tears coming from the zabraks eyes. Soon the floodgates opened and tears flowed freely. Suddenly Triz caught Shmi in a tight embrace and refused to let go as she continued to cry and sob into her master's chest. Triz's face rested against the gray metal chest plate Shmi had worn since Columex, It was slightly cold but Triz did not care.

For a moment, Shmi was taken aback by the suddenness of the action but quickly, almost instinctively eased into it. She let the child cry into her chest, her hands moving upward to return the embrace. Shmi let the teen cry herself out, holding her tight the entire time.

"Everything is fine, I'm here Triz. Everything is alright, you are not hurt, no one is going to hurt you," Shmi gently whispered into the teen's ear, trying to alleviate some of the stress the child was feeling. "I promise nothing is going to happen to you, nothing is going to hurt you," She continued to whisper reassurances and sweet promises as the girl sobbed. She didn't know why but she was having a feeling of deja vu for some reason. It felt like she had done this before, more than once actually. Shmi started to gently stroke Triz's hair, continuing to speak reassurances to alleviate the poor girl's mind. After a while, Triz finally calmed down enough to speak.

"S-sorry...I'm sorry.." Triz uttered through her sobs. She had failed in more ways than one.

"Sorry for what?" she asked confused.

"I...I," Triz stuttered as she tried to say something but Shmi cut her off.

"None of this is your fault child, you could not have known that the howlers would be here. If anyone is to blame it's me. I should not have let you go alone, I should have gone with you. I should have protected you better," Shmi said while looking at the terrified child.

"I-I should have...have been able to defend myself," Triz said, teary eyes looking back at Shmi.

Shmi shook her head. "You are still learning, you are still young, you are able to defend yourself, you took out one of them, didn't you?" Triz nodded to Shmi.

"I-I was so scared, I thought that I was going to die, that..." Triz said but could not finish the sentence, instead, she rested her head on Shmi's chest once more, hugging her tightly.

"Hush child, hush, there is no need to be afraid anymore, I'm here," Shmi said in a sweet, motherly tone, moving her thumb over Triz's cheek to wipe over the tears. "Come on, let's get you back to the ship and get a better look at you. There's no point in kneeling in the middle of the jungle anymore."

Triz lifted her gaze towards Shmi's face and after a moment of thought complied. Shmi slowly lifted the teen up from the muddy ground.

"Can you stand on your own?" Shmi asked in a worried tone.

"Y-Yes," Triz replied. The older woman took her arms off the teen and after a moment Triz did the same. She was still afraid, she was still shaking from terror, and she wanted nothing more than to cling onto Shmi again but pushed that thought away, she needed to be strong. The older woman used the force to summon the blaster to her and gave it back to Triz who took it into her shaky hands and placed it back into the holster. Shmi took the first step and Triz followed, the two of them slowly made their way back to the ship. Triz's body flinching at every sound, eyes darting from one place to the next. The older woman could not help but feel sorry for the teen, she should not have let her go alone.

"This is your fault," Shmi told her mentor, her tone angry and accusatory.

"My?" Acina asked perplexed. "How is this my fault?"

"It was you who said to let her fetch water alone," Shmi stated.

"How was I supposed to know that there was a pack of howlers in the area," Acina said protesting her apprentice's accusation. "Besides you agreed to my suggestion, If I am to be blamed then so are you. You didn't need to do as I said, you could have told her to wait but you didn't. I'm not the only one at fault here. Besides you can't cuddle her forever. There are far worse things in the wider galaxy than a few hungry lizards, you know that as well as I. She is training to be a sith, she will come across dangers that will make things she had so far encountered look like child's play."

"That doesn't mean that I want her to be in danger for something as trivial as water," Shmi countered. "I concede that I could have, should have told her to wait for me. If I didn't arrive in time, I don't even wish to think what would have happened."

"She would have been eaten and we would be down one acolyte," Acina said nonchalantly, like it was the most normal thing in the world. This angered the ghostly Siths apprentice.

"How can you be so heartless? She is a child still. How can you just chug it off so simply? She's been with us this entire time, we agreed to help her, you can't just treat her like some disposable droid," Shmi said, her fury rising.

"My words may be harsh but it is the truth of things my dear, harsh truths are always hardest to hear. Also, don't mistake my tone for callousness, I care for the girl as well but I'm not a fool to believe that she won't come across challenges. This encounter with the howlers is just one of many she will face, next time she might not have the luxury of having you being there to save her," Acina told her apprentice using her master tone. Shmi did not like it, she didn't like it one bit but had to accept Acinas words at least partially. She might not always be there to protect Triz but she would do her best. "Another thing to add is that you knew this could happen, it was you who gave her the blaster in the first place. So don't act so surprised my apprentice, you foresaw this possibility as soon as we landed on this moon."

Shmi did not say a word more to her master, silently stewing as she continued to walk through the dense jungle. As much as she hated to admit it, Acina had a point, like always. But Shmi could not help herself, she was just so worried for the teen, she had grown fond of the child and felt responsible for her. She felt sadness and pity for the girl for what she had faced in her short life and was trying to help Triz the best she could. There was also something else there, something she could not quite figure out yet, something familiar yet distant. Maybe it has to do with her former life.

Triz looked towards her master who was sporting a rather serious if slightly angry look on her face. Triz really hoped that Shmi wasn't angry with her. There was a question that she wanted to ask her mentor.

"How did you know? I mean...how did you know that I was in danger?" Triz asked. Shmi blinked and turned her gaze towards the teen. The seriousness and anger were gone, replaced by a calm expression.

"I sensed it," Shmi replied. Triz looked at her in confusion so Shmi decided to elaborate. "Remember how during your lessons I said that a force sensitive can sense people's emotions, especially if there is some kind of a bond there," Shmi said and Triz nodded. The ability to sense people's emotions with the force had completely slipped Triz's mind in all of the commotion. "I sensed your fear so I immediately knew something was amiss and ran straight towards you. I arrived just in time."

"Yeah, you did," Triz said and lowered her gaze. She could not help but feel shame, fear, and dejection. She should have been more careful. She knew that the jungle was full of dangers but was confident that nothing threatening would occur during her quick trip to the creek. How stupid she was, stupid enough to almost get killed. In truth what bothered her the most was that she had so easily accepted her fate, thought that there was no way out, that no one would come to her aid, that Shmi would not come to save her.

"Don't fret about it Triz, you did well, no one is expecting you to win any fights when outnumbered, especially considering that you are at the very beginning of your training," She halted and stopped Triz by putting her hands on the girl's shoulders, Trizs gaze going upwards to look at her mentor. "There will come times when you going to feel helpless and alone, times when you are going to be certain that you are powerless, times when you will be afraid, but never let those feelings pull you down, never let them control you. What happened today could have easily happened tomorrow or the day after that, so there is no point in giving in to despair. What happened, happened. There is no point in dwelling on it further. You are alive and that is what matters, that's all that matters."

Triz stared at her master for a long moment, taking in Shmi's words. She didn't know how long she kept staring, just processing what Shmi had said. She knew that her mentor was right, that what happened earlier could have easily happened another day, and that she should not give in to despondency but she could not help herself. At that moment, as she stared into the beast's eyes, she felt as if she was back on Selucami, watching her parents die all over again. The same type of hopelessness filled her, and it still did.

"The most important thing is to push on, seek to prevail against all odds," Shmi said. Triz finally nodded at her mentor, still feeling dejected but knowing that giving in would only make things worse. Shmi was pleased with the girl's response, she could feel the turmoil inside the zabrak but was confident that the teen would not simply give up after a first stumble. Shmi would also do her best to guide the girl, to be there when she needs her the most.

The older woman gave the teen a small smile. "Let's hurry to the ship, with a bit of luck the droids haven't destroyed while we were gone."

Once the duo made it back to the ship, Shmi immediately rushed Triz into the medical bay where she ran a full body scan. The result of the scan being that no serious injuries have occurred, only scratches and minor bruises. Shmi immediately started applying disinfection to the few scratches, the medical liquid causing her scratches to burn. Triz hissed and leaned away from the small piece of cloth that Shmi was using to apply the disinfection on her cheek. A deep frown was plastered on her face as she glared at the cloth as if it were her worst enemy.

"Come on, stop squirming for a minute, the faster I apply this the quicker you will leave," Shmi chastised the girl. After a moment, Triz sighed and leaned forward, still not pleased not a bit.

"Fine," Triz said and Shmi continued to apply the disinfection, making the teen hiss again.