"C'mon Rosh! You're not going to tell me anything? Not even how Kyle lost his comlink?" It'd been days, almost a week since Bakura and the mysterious mission to Naboo, and Rosh wasn't budging one bit.
"Nope, Kyle and I swore we'd never speak of it again." At this point she was convinced that Rosh enjoyed dangling the story over her head, like some private in-joke that she'd never be privy to. She'd let it slide. For now.
They walked together into one of the dueling rooms on the Academy's third floor. Kyle stood waiting below the dueling platform, raising an eyebrow at their approach.
"You're both late."
"Sorry," Jaden said, shooting her best glare in Rosh's direction.
"She was asking about Naboo. Again." Rosh stressed.
Surprisingly, Kyle ignored the subject altogether and asked for their lightsabers. After a moment of readjusting their settings to non-lethal training mode, he gestured to a small lift on the side of one of the dueling platform's stone pillars. Both students stepped onto the narrow space, their arms and shoulders brushing against each other. At the top they stepped onto the high platform with a see-through floor that looked down on the ground several feet below. On the ground, Kyle stood off to the side to watch them.
"You ready for me?" Rosh said coyly, gripping his yellow training saber out in front of him. Jaden rolled her eyes as he adjusted his stance like Kyle told him, then looked to her, waiting.
Jaden flexed her fingers around her lightsaber's hilt, wary of swinging it at her training partner even though it'd just been adjusted to be non-lethal like any other training saber.
"Begin!" Kyle called out. Rosh was the first to move, aiming a high to low swing. Jaden blocked it, returning the strike a moment later. They went back and forth in this same way while Kyle called out instructions.
"Remember your forms, but also know that they can only get you so far. You have to rely on instinct as well as your trust in the Force."
"How do we do that?" Rosh asked, parrying Jaden's side swing.
"I suppose it comes down to another question: What is the Force to you? Is it a safe place, somewhere you find peace? Or is it a power source from which you can draw even more power again and again?"
"I guess the power source doesn't sound too bad." Rosh grunted as he and Jaden locked blades.
Kyle merely nodded thoughtfully. "What about you Jaden?"
"I don't know." She caught Rosh's blade with hers and they locked eyes for a moment before breaking away again. "I guess having inner peace sounds more… well, peaceful."
She frowned when Rosh stifled a laugh and took a risky swing at him for it.
"Is there an actual answer to that question?" Rosh asked Kyle.
"Like I asked, it depends on what the Force is to you. Although one thing to know is when we need to go to the Force for guidance and peace. Or when to go for the strength we need to fight whatever battle has come our way. And most importantly, we need to know when to hold it all in balance together. There's a give and take that comes with communing with the Force. The Sith tended to be takers for the most part, with Jedi keeping to the opposite end of the spectrum." Their master shrugged. "Like I said, it's a balance that we all strive for to achieve." His comlink suddenly started to beep and he called for them to keep going while he stepped away.
Rosh smiled mischievously at Jaden. "Whaddya say we put a wager on this duel?"
"Like what?" Jaden asked.
"Like… the loser has to clean the winner's lightsaber." He took a practice swing at her purple blade and she blocked one handed.
"Or…" She tapped a finger from her free hand on her chin as if thinking. "Loser, meaning you, has to tell the winner, me, what happened on Naboo."
"Not gonna happen. I'm pretty sure you'll be too busy cleaning my lightsaber to listen to some long, boring story about political intrigue." Rosh pushed in close, forcing Jaden towards the edge.
"Hey! Not fair!" Jaden gripped her lightsaber with both hands, pushing against her partner to keep from falling.
"I mean, you're gonna have to learn how to duel in tight spaces like this anyway, so…" Rosh pushed in even closer, their faces inches away between the two crossed lightsabers.
Everything seemed to go still for a split second as Jaden looked with frustrated eyes into her partner's mischievous ones. Something seemed to shift in their stances, their eyes, the longer this went on. Jaden could feel her heart beating faster but it wasn't for fear of falling off the edge of the dueling platform. It was the closeness of her friend and his dark, caf brown eyes, his ruddy cheeks, his smooth mouth…
"Hey! Let's call it a day, I need you two down here stat!" Kyle called up.
The moment passed. Jaden felt the tension snap. She glanced down at her feet, then back up at Rosh. For a moment, he looked as if he were about to try some trick that would technically let him win the fight, then he dropped it. Backing away, Rosh gave her enough room to pass him and they both got back on the lift with no elbow room again. Only this time, they tried to keep each other's shoulders from touching.
Kyle met them at the bottom.
"Looks like I've got an assignment for the both of you. We just received a distress call from a merchant ship that crashed on the planet Blenjeel. They were pulled out of hyperspace when they crossed paths with an Interdictor cruiser. Damn Imps." Kyle spat out the last words.
"Imps?" Rosh raised an eyebrow.
"An old nickname us Rebs gave 'em during the Rebellion days.
"They apparently didn't want their presence known, so they fired on the merchant ship. The merchants managed to make it to the planet's surface and call for help. As far as we know, the planet is uninhabited, so going to pick them up should be a blue milk run."
Jaden and Rosh exchanged looks. "And you want us to go pick up the merchants? By ourselves?" Rosh asked.
"I believe you two are qualified to handle this on your own, especially you Rosh, after what happened on Naboo," Kyle chuckled.
"Seriously?" Jaden's hands went up in disbelief. Kyle continued as if he'd said nothing of importance.
"I sent the coordinates of their distress beacon to your datapads. Take a shuttle, and pick up any survivors. You got that?"
"Sure do Kyle!" Rosh said excitedly.
"Alright, see ya when you get back and may the Force be with you," Kyle said, backing away.
"May the Force be with you," they said in unison without meaning to.
"So," Jaden said, "I'll go get my datapad and meet you in the hangar?"
Rosh nodded. "Sounds great! We have my datapad too, just in case. Will you get it from my room, I'm pretty sure I left it on my bed?" He slipped her a keycard.
"You want me to- I mean, you're okay with me going into your-?" Jaden couldn't believe she was acting like this, even with his permission the idea of going into a guy's room, his room, felt weird, like an invasion of privacy.
Rosh noticed her discomfort and held back a smile. "It's okay, just run in, grab the pad and run out, I promise I cleaned up in there. I wouldn't have asked you if I didn't trust you, you're my friend, remember?"
"Yeah," Jaden nodded. "A friend that won't tell me what really happened on Naboo." She looked him in the eyes and smiled sarcastically.
Rosh laughed, spinning on his heel and heading towards the lift that led down to the hangar. "See you down there."
Jaden stood outside Rosh's room, feeling her cheeks getting hotter and hotter. She nervously glanced up and down the hall, hoping no one would see her going in or out. Why it mattered so much to her if someone did or not was still something she was trying to figure out. Maybe because this was the closest she'd be to a guy before, not that she had romantic feelings for him, it was just… The closeness. The closeness and the trust was something new and unknown to her. Back home on Coruscant, she'd mostly kept to herself, none of the boys in school paid attention to her, she was just the person who went through the motions, kept her head down and did the work. That was it.
No. She straightened up, threw her shoulders back. She wouldn't worry about what to say or how to explain herself. She swiped the keycard over the sensor next to the door and went in swiftly, intending to locate the datapad and then get out. There, it was on the bed like Rosh had told her. Grabbing it up, she meant to just turn and walk out but… On the bedside table, a mess of metal and wire parts, an object in the middle that needed a lot more attention and work.
He's building his own lightsaber already?
She didn't even realize that she'd started moving in closer, reaching out to lightly run her finger over the cool, smooth surface of the work in progress hilt. She smiled, I wonder what color it's going to be. Then she heard voices. Coming down the hall. She couldn't make them out but it might be Goran and Raltharan, and maybe Jacyyn, definitely Jacyyn, she'd recognise that laugh anywhere.
Moving quickly, she raced out of the room, closing and locking it before heading up the hall, nearly running into the boys on her way out.
"Hey, Jaden, what's the rush?" Jacyyn said, then glanced over her shoulder. "Were you just coming from down our hall?"
Jaden hoped they wouldn't notice her cheeks redden, "Yeah," she said as casually as she could muster. "Rosh and I were about to be sent out on an assignment, a rescue mission and he asked me to get his datapad while he gets the shuttle ready." She held up the datapad as proof.
"Oh, sweet, well have fun!" Jacyyn said and Jaden tried not to run as she headed towards the lift. Before the doors closed, she heard their laughter drifting down the hall. That was… embarrassing.
They headed to Blenjeel in mostly silence. Jaden sat in the copilot's chair while Rosh captained it. She didn't tell him about running into the guys, and she never would. As they neared the planet, Jaden noted its similarity to Tatooine.
"The whole thing's a desert!"
"Then let's make this trip quick, I'm still not over the sunburn I got." Rosh directed the shuttle towards the planet's surface, following the beacon to the coordinates Kyle had sent them. But as they entered the atmosphere, they passed a patch of darker clouds silhouetted against the bright landscape and a large bolt of lightning shot out of them, hitting their shuttle. Some of the lights went out, the sound of numerous alarms began going off.
"Hold on!" Rosh shouted, his knuckles whitening on the steering controls. Jaden gripped the armrests on her seat, This sounds familiar.
Rosh fought to keep the shuttle steady, but the truth of the matter was that they were going down and there was nothing to stop it. Jaden braced herself for impact as Rosh pulled on the steering handles.
The landing wasn't near as bad as the one on that first day, but when they got up and started checking around the ship, things went from bad to worse. Rosh stood looking skeptically at the control panel near the main door of the ship that led outside, shaking his head miserably. "Nice work, Rosh. Some rescue mission." Jaden thought he might punch the wall, which wouldn't help anything given their predicament.
"Hey," she said gently, reaching a hand out to touch his shoulder. "It wasn't your fault that we got struck by lightning. You're a great pilot, but Nature isn't something you can avoid all the time."
"Maybe if I was stronger with the Force I could," Rosh muttered, eyes downcast.
Since when did this become about being powerful? She changed the subject.
"I checked out the window, we landed close to that merchant ship. Let's head outside, see if there are any survivors and go from there. Maybe they have some spare parts we can use to fix the shuttle." Rosh nodded, and they silently headed outside, shielding their eyes from the bright sun. They walked carefully across the unsteady sand to a large rock and, after helping each other onto it, looked out over the merchant vessel. It was worse than they thought. Large pieces and small were scattered across the nearby landscape, the ship itself was torn in two, its rear and its helm raised slightly in the air, the parts where they'd broken off from each other sinking slightly into the sand.
Jaden and Rosh cupped their hands over their mouths and shouted, "Hello? Hello? Anybody there? We've come to help you!" At first there was no response, then, Rosh nudged Jaden's arm and pointed. There, in the wreckage, peeking out his head, was a man.
"Hey, you there!" Jaden yelled. "Are you alright?"
The merchant looked around as if someone other than the two young Jedi were watching him. Then he darted out from his hiding place as if someone were going to give him chase, onto the sand towards the rock Jaden and Rosh stood on.
"Oh thank the Force you've come, this place is-" The ground began to shake, the merchant grunted and fell backwards. It was so violent that Jaden and Rosh had to kneel on the rock to keep from losing their footing. All of a sudden, a large, long, creature rose up out of the ground. A worm, with a giant open mouth and thousands of teeth lining its mandibles. With a terrible roar that shook the earth even more, reminding Jaden of the cry of the howlers, it plunged down into the sand, devouring the poor merchant whose last cry was cut off forever. The beast disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. Jaden and Rosh recoiled. She lost her balance and was falling forward, towards the sand and that monstrous, ugly creature. She suddenly felt strong arms grasp her waist and she fell back instead. She and Rosh went down hard, falling into each other and landing roughly in a sitting position on the rock. For several moments they stayed like that, breathing heavily with fear and adrenaline. Jaden realized she was practically on his lap and gently maneuvered herself to sit just beside him, but still very close. Their arms and legs were brushed against each other.
"What was that?" Jaden whispered, voice raw, her face pale. She thought she might vomit. Rosh thought he might too. They looked at each other with an equal amount of fear in their eyes. This was serious, and seemingly so much worse than being on Tatooine with a bunch of Sand People trying to kill them. Rosh slowly stood up, his legs shaking. He reached down and helped Jaden to her feet. They watched the patch of sand where the merchant had once stood, minutes passing, waiting for something to happen.
"Is it gone?" Jaden asked.
"I don't know," Rosh said. Realizing they were still whispering, and holding hands, he slowly pulled away from her grasp and drew his blaster. "I have a theory." Before Jaden could object, he fired several rounds at a spot of sand several yards away. At first, nothing happened, then, a rumbling occurred under their feet, but they stood firm as the ground shook harder. The surface of the sand began to shift and move, and they found they could track the movement of the worm as it made its way over to the spot where Rosh had fired. But it didn't surface. Rosh nodded his head.
"Just as I thought. That thing senses vibrations in the sand above it and probably has a great sense of smell too, hence why it didn't surface."
"And how is that good for us besides distracting it for a few moments?" Jaden asked.
"It gives us enough time to run across the sand and find what we need in the merchant ship," he replied. "Look, I checked our ship and the communications are out. I can try to fix it but it could take a long time before someone comes to rescue us, and then what? They get struck by lightning too? No, I think we can find the parts necessary to fix the shuttle."
"Well, you are pretty good with technology."
"Exactly," Rosh said, some of his confidence returning. "From what I can tell we need five parts to fix our ship and this merchant vessel isn't too far off from the kind of ship that ours is. Look, if you're up for you, you can scavenge the ship and bring me back the parts we need. I'll stay on our shuttle and work on trying to fix the communications array just in case all this fails."
"By 'fail' you mean if I get eaten?" Jaden crossed her arms.
"If you think you can fix the ship, go right ahead and I'll scavenge," he said, crossing his arms too.
They stared at each other in silence. Finally, Jaden relented, it was the best plan and less of a risk for just one to go out and search. And that way one person could be installing the new parts as they came in.
"Okay," she said reluctantly, shaking his hand. "I'll find the parts, but you'll have to tell me what to look for. Also, give me your blaster."
"Why my blaster?"
"I'm gonna need extra ammo in order to distract that thing!" She patted her own blaster strapped snugly at her side.
"Oh, I've got something better than my blaster."
Using their Force abilities to run fast back to the ship helped in their favor, as well as shooting the sand in the opposite direction. They stood just inside the doorway, glancing out at the shifting sand. Rosh handed her a belt from which hung six round objects.
"I found these thermals in the weapons locker," he said. "These will cause some pretty big vibrations on the sand, so use these sparingly."
"Got it," Jaden slung the belt over her shoulder, then a large bag made of strong durable fabric over the other. "I'll try to use my blaster as much as possible." She smiled and poked him in the chest. "I have the feeling you just wanted me to get sunburned too."
"Exactly!" Rosh turned on his heel, a big grin plastered on his face and headed towards the front of the ship. Jaden stepped over the threshold onto the ramp that jutted out from the door.
"Start looking in the main hull of the merchant ship before checking the parts scattered around it. And try to find a power converter first if you can," Rosh called from behind. "I'll get to work on the communications array."
"I'll try!" Jaden answered and stepped close to the edge of the ramp. She unholstered her blaster and fired as far as she could onto the sand, about fifty yards away from the merchant ship. The sand under their shuttle moved at a fast pace towards the vibrations. Jaden shuddered at the thought that that thing had been underneath them the entire time, waiting. She bent her knees, ready to run, counting as the worm moved farther and farther away until it was almost at the site of her blaster shots. Then she ran, focusing her Force power into running fast and efficiently at the rock she and Rosh had stood on. Panting, she leapt from rock to rock, debris to debris until she found herself inside the shell of the merchant vessel. There wasn't much to find, several parts on Rosh's list were missing. Most of all that was missing were the bodies of the merchants. They all got eaten. The raw memory of the last man getting swallowed whole, his last cry and the sandworm's roar. She shivered and moved into another room, where, in the floor that would've been covered by a panel, was the power converter. And thankfully, it wasn't damaged.
Ah, this power converter should do.
Jaden slipped the large piece into her bag. She'd return it to Rosh, then go in search of the other parts.
Maybe some of them had been knocked loose and are close by, she thought.
Getting back to the large rock wasn't hard, it just took awhile because of the weight of the power converter in her bag. She looked out over the empty space between her and the ship, knowing that the sandworm might be lurking underneath its surface. She removed a thermal detonator from its belt. Firing her blaster at a distance she thought she could throw to, she set a time for the thermal to explode, then turned away from the direction of her ship and threw with all her might. It landed a dozen yards away, not too far from the place that she'd shot. She prayed that when it exploded, it might hurt the worm or kill it, but she highly doubted that after seeing its segmented armored body. The ground moved, it was working. As soon as it was close to the detonator, she made her move and at the same time, the small explosive went off, bringing forth a pained roar from the sandworm. Jaden ran faster, just clearing the threshold of the ship as the worm, having realized there was actual prey out on the sand, started following her.
She landed on the hard floor of the shuttle just as the creature rose out of the ground outside and roared. Rosh, hearing the commotion rushed into the room and manually closed the door.
"Jaden, are you okay?!" He hurried to help her up. Jaden brushed herself off and pulled the spare part from her bag.
"One power converter, just like you ordered!" She handed it to him and followed as he went to a panel on the floor, opened it and started installing it.
"Great work Jaden! Now we just need a power coupling, an energy cell and a damper."
"Alright." Jaden leaned over and rested her hands on her knees. "I need to rest for a moment. That sandworm is right outside and I'm not sure it's going to keep being fooled by our blaster shots or the detonators."
Rosh, never taking his eyes off his work, nodded. "Maybe wait five, ten minutes and then head back out. Hopefully it's dumb and will move after a bit. We're not exactly pressed for time here."
"You got that right. How's the communications array coming along?"
"So far not good. Thankfully I don't think I need a part from the merchant vessel, it'll just take some time." He looked up from his work to grin at her. "Probably never thought you'd hear me talk about taking time for anything uh?"
"No." She shook her head. "I think you're coming along nicely with your training. I think patience is a hard thing for everyone, even Kyle. But don't tell him I said that."
"My lips are sealed."
"Like they are about Naboo?" She said teasingly.
"I think it's been enough time for you to get back out there." Though he didn't look up, Jaden knew Rosh was on the verge of laughter. She also knew it hadn't even been five minutes yet, but decided it wasn't worth trying to press Rosh for answers about his mission with Kyle. She made certain her bag and the thermal detonators were secure, then headed back out.
She fell into an easy rhythm, a routine with collecting the parts Rosh needed, and was able to find an energy cell for their ships cooling unit among the wreckage closest to the merchant ship wreck. Next up was a power coupling for their acceleration compensator; this one had been tricky as she had spotted it out in the open on a patch of sand. She'd sacrificed two detonators just to get it and had to relinquish another to get back to the ship since her blaster marks didn't seem to be providing the sufficient vibrations needed to distract the worm. She took breaks in between bringing each part in for Rosh, who'd been doing expert work installing all the spare parts in record time.
Before heading out for the last part Rosh said they needed - a damper that was (hopefully) compatible with their shuttle's hyperdrive motivator; she took an extra long break while he worked on their communications array.
"So," Jaden said. "I noticed that you're building a lightsaber?"
"Oh, you saw that?" Rosh sounded a little embarrassed and pleased.
"Yeah, I think that's awesome, then you won't have to have the training one anymore. Any idea what color it's gonna be?"
Rosh kept tinkering with some wires. "Not sure, it's a delicate process but… I'm hoping for blue, or green, or maybe like a greenish blue y'know? Something in between, like the color of the oceans back home on Corellia."
Jaden had never heard him talk about his home before except to say where he was from on their first day of training. She settled gently down onto the floor next to him, being sure to give him space while he worked. "Did you live there your whole life?"
"I just grew up there. Funnily enough, I was born on Naboo. But I was too young to remember it when we moved to Corellia."
"This last trip must have been your first time back then?" Rosh nodded, but offered no further information and Jaden knew already that he wouldn't answer if she asked what happened there. Instead she tried a different subject. "So, Corellia, was it a nice place to live?"
"I guess so. It rained a lot and we lived in the city, but I still enjoyed some things there. There was this sweet shop my mom would take me to every weekend, they had the best ice cream and glowing treats in the galaxy! Maybe I'll take you there sometime!"
Jaden felt her stomach do a small flip at Rosh's suggestion. Yeah, I'd like that very much.
"And what about you?" Rosh glanced her way with a dimpled grin and a light in his eyes. "Aren't you from Coruscant? That place is the biggest city in the galaxy."
Jaden smiled, "It ought to be, it's the whole planet, and not one bit of its natural surface is showing anymore, except Umate that is."
"What's that?"
"It's one of the highest peaks of the Manarai Mountains. The locals call it KnobHead. I remember seeing it as a child once, in the middle of Monument Plaza. It's forbidden to touch it, but you know what? I did."
"Ooo so you broke the rules." Rosh's mischievous grin told her that he would've done the same thing.
"Yeah, there's this group of monks that looks after it and they're allowed to touch it. They say it helps one 'connect with the planet's inner spirit' or something like that."
"And did it? Connect you with the planet?"
"I don't think so. I feel kind of indifferent to my home planet, and there doesn't seem to be any legend about gaining incredible powers by touching it either." She shrugged. "I guess the place I miss the most is The Hyperspace Lane Cafe. They have the best caf in the entire galaxy and no one can tell me any different." She sighed, then glanced at Rosh with a wry half smile, "Maybe I'll take you there someday. I used to spend hours there, studying for school, reading, or just hanging out with the owner and her usual customers."
"What about your home, where you lived?" Rosh had stopped working altogether, riveted. "Don't you miss your-" He couldn't remember who she'd been raised by, he wasn't even sure if she'd mentioned her parents or not. "-relatives?"
"It was fine. My uncle Orn raised me. He's a nice man, he was the only family I had left. He and my aunt Thisa, they'd divorced long before I came along, but she'd come around now and again to help with my upbringing and they were friendly to each for my sake."
"But?" Rosh sensed there was more, and Jaden almost didn't hear him, she was so lost in thought. He scooted a little closer to her.
"He wasn't the most emotionally present person, nor was aunt Thisa. They gave me food and shelter, and I suppose that's the most some people are even blessed to get in their life."
"I guess that's true." Rosh turned back to his work, but only half focused on it. "My father wasn't exactly the most 'loving type' either. He fought in the Rebellion. Now he works all the time for the New Republic, never has time for me, not like he ever did anyway."
"You know it's strange," Jaden said. "I know Kyle's our master and nothing else, but… I don't know." She released a heavy breath, and spoke so quietly Rosh had to strain to hear her next words, even though they were so close to each other. "I'm scared of disappointing him, and I can't help but wonder if… if that's what it's like to have a dad."
"Yeah, that's it." Rosh spoke in the same tone, his voice dangerously close to crying. "Sometimes I feel like I've disappointed everyone in my life: my dad, even my mom, friends… And now… I just hope Kyle and Luke aren't next."
Jaden quickly dashed a tear from her eye and looked down. This revelation made all of Rosh's actions make sense now.
Without even realizing she was thinking out loud, she said, "Is… is that why you've been acting so confident all the time? That's why you've been seeking Kyle and Luke's approval?"
Rosh looked down, red rimming his eyes, but he would not let her see him cry. Her words had not been said harshly or with a dual tone, but they'd hurt all the same. He moved away from her and set himself to fixing the communications with extra vigor. "No," he said quietly, trying to calm the emotion in his voice. His tone sharpened with his next words. "Don't you think it's time to go look for that last piece?"
"Rosh, I'm sorry I-"
"There's nothing to be sorry for, I'm fine!" Still not looking up, "Now, please, just go get that last part so we can get off this crazy rock!" Jaden stepped back, feeling stunned, then slowly turned and headed towards the back door. Right as she was about to step out she glanced behind her, noticing Rosh shoving his palms against his eyes. She sighed, then stepped out of the dimness of the ship and into the contrasting brightness of the planet.
Jaden fired off more than enough shots to distract the worm. She was upset and if taking her emotions out on a desolate planet with nothing but gross evil sandworms inhabiting it was what she needed to do, then so be it. The creature took the bait and she sprinted in record time to the large rock, gazing around her, wondering where she should look. Instead she sat down and buried her face in her hands. This was the first time she'd opened up to Rosh, to anybody really, and she'd messed it up by insulting him when he did the same. She'd never seen him this vulnerable, he was different, he looked different and… nicer? Not that he wasn't nice already. But he always had some performance of confidence he was putting on, a mask of arrogance that grated on her nerves and patience. But this Rosh… He seemed like the real Rosh and that was the Rosh she wanted to be around more. The memory from earlier when he'd pulled her back from falling into the sand came back with a vengeance. She'd been so frightened and he was right there to catch her. She realized that was the longest time they'd sat so close together, touching. Well, besides when she'd rested her head on his shoulder that first day. But her mind hadn't been very aware at the time.
She stood up suddenly and shook her head. She had to go. She didn't have time to think about Rosh or being so close to him that his arm felt warm against hers. Or when he'd held her hand… Sithspit. These foreign new feelings towards Rosh were getting out of hand.
She decided to scour the area beyond the merchant ship. It was further out than she'd been before but if she could keep to the rocks and bits of debris, then maybe the worm wouldn't follow her. Maybe she'd be safe. But is there more than one worm out there? She shook that thought away and jumped from one rock to another and continued in that way until she was several yards out from the merchant vessel. Several parts of the ship were littered all over the ground, but they weren't within close proximity to the rock she stood on.
I've got to get over there!
She thought she spotted what she was looking for, she leapt onto the only rock closest to the debris field, it was lighter in color than the others with defined segments running around it. She waited, wondering if she should shoot the ground a distance away or just go for it with a Force empowered sprint. There! She spotted a damper she was sure would work.
Now to get over there safely…
The rock underneath her moved. A shift really, and suddenly she felt it was slowly sinking underneath her feet. She reacted. Jumping off the rock, she landed on the ground and tried to set her focus on running towards the damper. She quickly grabbed it, bagged it then booked it towards the larger, more solid rock she'd stood on before.
That's so strange, none of the rocks have done that before!
The image of the rock entered her mind, details that she'd noticed but dismissed. The segmented details on the side…
Oh Stars, it's another worm! I was standing on a sleeping sandworm and I woke it up!
She kept to the rocks and debris as much as possible until she finally landed on the one closest to her ship. She wished she could communicate with Rosh. They didn't have their coms on them and at the moment she wasn't sure if he'd hear her or want to. She pulled her last thermal from its belt and concentrated hard on throwing it as far as she could, aiming for a far out dune that might have been a mirage. The exertion, plus everything she'd done that day and not having drunk enough water, took its toll on her. She ran, seemingly in slow motion towards the door of the shuttle. Then the ground started to shake, causing her to lose her balance and fall to the sand just feet from the ramp.
Rosh heard the deafening roar of the sandworm outside the door, wondering why it'd surfaced if Jaden hadn't run across the sand and inside the ship already. On instinct he grabbed his blaster and something he'd kept to himself in case of an emergency and rushed outside onto the ramp.
Towering above Jaden as she lay on the ground, was the worm, its mouth open, about to strike. He had seconds. Jaden seemed to come to herself and screamed. She tried shooting the creature, but all that came was several desperate clicks from her blaster. Rosh aimed swiftly and threw the thermal detonator in his hand square into the sandworm's mouth. It exploded, causing much damage, spewing slimy pieces of the monster all around them and on them, inciting more awful sounds from the horrid creature.
Jaden was still on the ground, stunned and covered in worm guts, wondering where the thermal had come from. Then she felt strong arms hook their way under her armpits. She was being dragged backwards. She found her footing and scrambled to her feet. Pushing Rosh ahead of her, they made a mad dash the last foot or so to the ramp and inside the ship. Outside of it, another monstrous sandworm rose out of the ground with a roar. Not finding the prey it'd smelled earlier, it decided to turn on the one that lay injured on the ground, it wasn't going to live very long anyway.
Safely inside, Jaden and Rosh leaned against each other on the floor, trying to block out the horrible sounds coming from just outside. They were propped against the wall, breathing heavily, waiting for their adrenaline to settle down. When they'd rested enough to realize how close they were, and both plastered in worm guts, they unanimously moved apart.
"Thanks," Jaden said awkwardly. "You saved my life, I don't know what I would've done back there. Thank you."
Rosh merely nodded and she added, "And I wanted to apologize for earlier, I don't know why I said that, that wasn't nice and please believe me when I say I wasn't trying to-"
"It's okay," Rosh held up a hand. "It's fine, it really is. All's forgotten, I forgive you." He seemed to squirm with that last part and Jaden decided to leave it at that.
"By the way, where'd you get the thermal detonator? I thought I had them all?"
"I saved one just in case, you know, for emergencies. Turns out I was right." There was that smile, that mask of charmed arrogance again.
Then why didn't you tell me? She wanted to ask, but knew that would just upset him again. Instead she found spare cleaning rags for them to at least wipe their faces and hands clean from the slimy worm substance coating them.
Rosh installed the last part in record time and soon they were back in the air, leaving behind that godforsaken dust ball and its cursed creatures. They didn't say much the rest of the flight back to the Academy, and when they did it was forced small talk and forced smiles. Jaden sensed the tension between them wouldn't be easy to cut, even with a lightsaber. She wondered where they stood now and if ever, Rosh would feel safe enough to open up to her, or anyone for that matter, again.
"That's too bad about the merchants. Sounds like those sand burrowers must have gotten them all… Nasty critters." Kyle had stood in the hangar waiting for them when they got back and listened as they told him the whole story, taking turns as they each told their respective parts, of course leaving out the vulnerable conversation they'd both shared. If Kyle suspected that they were holding anything back, he didn't show it and didn't ask. "Glad you two got back safe and sound. We'll let Coruscant know to mark the planet as hazardous. Nicely done." He gestured to the nearby door. "Go, get some rest, maybe a shower first." He held a hand to his nose, gesturing at their clothes, still covered in worm bits. "Then meet me in one of the training rooms first thing after breakfast tomorrow. I think you're both ready for the next stage of training."
Jaden tried to catch up with Rosh as he hurried to get back to his room.
"Rosh, Rosh wait!"
"What?" He slowed down but didn't stop or turn around.
"Rosh, I'm sorry again for what I said back there on Blenjeel."
"This again, it's whatever, water under the bridge."
"Then do you still want to meet on the roof for some Mantell Mix?" Rosh actually stopped and turned around, Jaden nearly stumbled so that she wouldn't bump into him and immediately felt foolish for even suggesting the idea. "I mean… It's kind of our tradition now after each mission." She shrugged and laughed nervously. Rosh's expression was hard, unreadable, but softened a bit. His walls stayed up though.
"I… don't know yet. I'm tired. We'll see." He spun on his heel and continued towards his room at the same fast pace.
Jaden watched him go, feeling even more foolish. Did you really think some silly tradition would matter to him, Jaden?
"Yes, I did," she said aloud to herself.
"Did what?"
Jaden jumped at the voice behind her coming up the hall and saw Arta-Mess and Kalil Streen coming back from the training grounds for some much needed rest.
"Oh, Kalil, Arta-Mess, hey. How was training?" She deflected.
"You can just call me Streen," Kalil stated. "Everyone does."
"Isn't that your last name though?" Jaden asked.
"Yeah, but most everyone calls me by it. Even Master Tionne."
"Oh, well I think Kalil is still a nice name." Jaden offered a kind smile to which Kalil simply shrugged.
"How was training?" Jaden asked Arta-Mess.
The white haired girl lifted a shoulder. "The same as always. Long and tiring."
Kalil nodded in agreement, then said, "What were you saying a moment ago? When we were walking up?"
Shocked that the Zabrak had circled back, not missing a thing, Jaden tried to wave it off. "Oh, it's… nothing."
Arta and Kalil shared a concerned look. Then Kalil said:
"You sure? It didn't sound like it was." Kalil was asking the pressing question Jaden had wished Kyle would've asked that day on the training grounds, the question that she wished, but also dreaded other people would ask when she felt miserable or something was wrong between her and Rosh. She wanted to, needed to, talk about it, but wasn't sure if she really could trust someone to process all that was swirling around in her mind.
"Yeah, I'm fine, just… tired is all. Rosh and I went to Blenjeel to rescue some merchants. It didn't end well."
"For the two of you, or the merchants?" Arta pressed.
"I guess both. We were having to repair our ship and deal with giant sandworms that wanted to eat us and could sense our movement when we walked on the sand."
"Sounds scary, and gross," Arta-Mess said, then brought a hand to her nose. "I didn't wanna say anything but is that smell and what's on your clothes related to the-"
"Yeah."
"Do you wanna get cleaned up first, then come to my room and we can all talk about it?"
Jaden felt a feeling of fear twist her stomach.
Do I want to talk to them, or do I just need a shower and some sleep?
As tired as she was, she didn't want to be alone. Alone was already a scary feeling. She looked up at her friends and said, "Sure, I can talk for a little bit."
Freshly showered and in clean, comfortable clothes, Jaden joined Kalil and sat in Arta-Mess's room for nearly half the night, at first talking about her mission. She didn't go into much detail about what happened between her and Rosh, just that the mission had brought some tension between them, which wasn't entirely wrong, but not entirely truthful either. They eventually got onto other subjects, finding themselves laughing hysterically, and soon Jaden found she was having a good time just in her friend's company. She and Kalil soon stumbled off to their own rooms so that they could try and get some amount of sleep.
It wasn't until she woke in time for breakfast the next morning that she realized she had forgotten to go up to the roof.