Author's note: this chapter has been edited to erase some grammar and spelling mistakes

~ 5 ~

The holocron

- A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. So is a lot -

Anakin went to bed with a whirlwind of thoughts swirling in his mind. He still hadn't been made a knight, but maybe Kenshin was someone he could learn from. Perhaps he still had something to gain, and maybe his new Master wasn't so bad. Kenshin was the first Jedi to not blindly scold him but actually ask why he felt the way he did. The teenager didn't fully understand where Kenshin was going with his lectures, but he appreciated the effort nonetheless. Then there was the upcoming mission. It would probably be boring, but it was a chance to get out of the often stifling temple. How the Council had agreed on his new Master taking him along was a mystery. Maybe Kenshin was even taking him against the Council's will. From his first impression, it seemed there wasn't much that would faze the young Jedi.

"They say you're the best pilot in the galaxy. You're flying," Kenshin said while leaping onto the ramp. It was one of the usual Rainhawk cruisers used for most Jedi missions.

Soon, they had cleared the Coruscant atmosphere. A scowl was embedded on Kenshin's face, and Anakin wondered what he could be thinking about. The mission? That was definitely no reason to worry; all they had to do was retrieve a holocron and give two archaeologists a lift back to Coruscant. Anakin was more than glad not to be left at the temple, although he wondered why they were sent on such a trivial mission and why they had made someone like Kenshin his Master. If it was true what they had seen in the archives...

"Master, is it true that you're a Jedi Shadow?"

"Yes."

"What is it like, to be a shadow?"

"I will not discuss this. No matter who you talk to, I'm just another random Jedi Knight. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Master." Now it was Anakin's turn to frown. Not what he had hoped for. But maybe it was not the best thing to start with.

"How did you actually become a Jedi? And how did you attain the rank of Master so early?"

"I became a Jedi by being trained and eventually passing trials."

Now, Anakin wasn't sure if he was serious or just mocking him. His face showed no trace of either. "Uh, yeah, that's sort of what I figured."

"Question answered then," Kenshin paused.

"Who was your Master? You trained with Yoda, didn't you?"

"Yoda was not my real Master. My real Master was killed when I was 13."

"What? Why, what happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it!"

Anakin noticed how Kenshin tensed. Great. He congratulated himself on having put his foot in the wrong spot straight away.

There were many things Kenshin didn't want to talk about—things that still hurt. Kenshin could sense that Anakin was genuinely and innocently curious and wanted to form a connection. But how was he supposed to deal with him? He felt a bit bad; it wasn't the boy's fault that things were what they were and that he was what he was. He didn't want to talk, especially not now. There were reasons why he preferred working alone, and this was one of them. Working alone didn't involve too many social interactions, especially with people he had no idea how to act around them. Unfortunately, this was no longer an option. He was now responsible for the teenager by his side.

"What is your homeworld?" Anakin asked, hoping this would be a more innocuous subject.

"Nanta. A jungle world far in the Outer Rim. You're from Tatooine, right?"

"Yeah, a dustball." Anakin chattered away about the desert planet and the things he did or didn't like about it. At least it was never cold on Tatooine, which was something the boy obviously appreciated. And he hated sand, saying it was coarse, rough, irritating, and that it got everywhere.

"Do you remember your parents?" Anakin asked.

"Sort of."

"Sort of? What's that supposed to mean?"

"You don't want to know."

"But I do."

Kenshin rolled his eyes.

" My only memory of my parents is when they were murdered. Possibly by jungle raiders, I was far too young to understand what happened. For some reason, the raiders didn't touch me. Someone brought me to a monastery in the mountains, where the monks raised me. They once told me I was less than a year old when I got there. It was there where I was found by my Master."

"Oh." His parents – murdered? And he had witnessed it and remembered it as a mere infant? For once, Anakin didn't know what to say. He didn't have any memories from before he was at least two. Plus, the flat, disinterested tone in Kenshin's voice irritated him. He had spoken of his parents' death as if he had told him the weather report.

"And you can still remember that?"

"All that I've just told you."

"But that's... that's horrible."

"Growing up as a slave on a desert planet probably wasn't nice either."

"No, it wasn't. What did Windu and Yoda tell you about me?"

"Not much. They told me about Tatooine, where you were found by Qui-Gon Jinn, and that Master Atal was killed by a Sith assassin on a supposedly diplomatic mission. They said something about you being talented and very difficult. Mace Windu was quite eloquent in that regard."

"They say I'm difficult, huh? And you still accepted me as your Padawan?"

"Everybody is difficult."

Kenshin deemed it better not to let the boy know what he thought about having to train a student. After all, it was really not Anakin's fault, and it was his duty to at least try and be as good a Master as possible to him.

"Didn't you ever seek revenge for your parents or try to find your family?"

"What has been done can't be undone, and of what use would revenge have been? Other than causing more suffering?"

"Who was your first Master? Was it her who trained you in lightsaber combat? I mean, you're fairly good at it, it seems."

"Her name was Aerin Fay. The monks didn't allow her to take me off planet before I was ten, so she stayed on my world to train me in the ways of the Force. It was the monks who taught me the ways of the sword. Master Fay didn't even carry a lightsaber."

"What?"

"She was so strong with the Force, she didn't feel the need for it."

"How did you achieve the rank of Master?"

"On account of particular achievements."

Anakin began to feel a bit frustrated. Obviously, Kenshin wouldn't let on what these achievements were.

"You must be quite proud to have achieved that so early."

"Proud? No. Status doesn't interest me. Knowledge does," Kenshin said in a flat tone.

His master wasn't exactly a chatterbox, but Anakin deemed that this could count as a conversation. It was a start.

"Why did you end up coming back to Coruscant?"

"Master Yoda asked me to come back, requesting I take on an important task."

"This mission? Hardly sounds like a special task to me, Master."

"Not this mission. To train you."

That was interesting. So Yoda did consider him, or at least his training, important. And it was Yoda who had chosen Kenshin—for whatever reason—as his new Master.

"Master? I'm sorry for what I said after the Council meeting."

"If you're sorry, then why did you say it?" The tone in his voice sounded more like he questioned his cognitive abilitities, which pushed Anakin to emphasize his explanation with even more passion.

"I don't see why I wasn't approved for the trials. I was angry. I'm more advanced than all other Padawans, especially in combat, even the ones that are older than me!"

"There's more to being a Jedi Knight than just being good with a lightsaber. Besides, you're good, but by far not as good as you think."

Now, Anakin couldn't help but feel irritated. The young Master had met him a mere couple of days ago and already judged him like that? He renewed his resolve to soon convince him otherwise. Anakin would make sure Kenshin would see his talent. He was over everyone always underestimating him.

"Why does everyone always criticize me? Sometimes I feel like I'm still a slave, only that it's now to the Jedi and not a junk dealer on Tatooine."

"A slave? Nobody forces you to stay and become a Jedi. It is your choice! Your responsibility to make that choice."

At that point, Anakin stopped trying to talk to this grumpy individual…nerfherder…he wasn't sure what word to term his Master with. The rest of the trip passed in awkward silence – with Anakin not really sure what to say and Kenshin being glad to finally be left alone. Anakin tried to sleep, but an undefined restlessness kept him awake. His Master didn't seem to have problems sleeping. With the ship on autopilot, he had his hood pulled over his head and didn't move nor make a sound for the greater part of the remaining time. Anakin ended up being so bored he even started reading the briefing material he had been forced to gather before the mission.

Once they dropped out of hyperspace, Anakin piloted the ship to the exact coordinates the archaeologists had given them. However, there was no excavation site, no people, nothing—just barren rock. Kenshin ordered him to fly a search pattern, and they eventually found the site, but it was far from any suitable landing spot. They found a location above a tall cliff, several kilometers away. Anakin was eager to leave and head straight for the site, the terrain rocky and rugged, with a crevice seemingly leading directly to the excavation site. Kenshin, however, indicated a completely different direction.

"Master, no, we should go that way; it's a lot faster," Anakin argued.

"No, Anakin, wait..." Kenshin began, but the Padawan was already on the move, launching himself down into the crevice. He stopped dead in his tracks as he heard growling from all sides.

Kenshin landed smoothly beside him. "Congratulations, you just found a nest of gundarks, and you weren't even looking."

What were gundarks? Judging by Kenshin's snarky remark, they were something bad.

"Then why did you follow me?"

"I didn't want to miss all the fun," Kenshin replied dryly.

The growling intensified. "Stay close to me. No lightsaber."

Several specimen of said gundarks— theywere,as Anakin could now see, huge, horrifying beasts—appeared from caves in the crevice walls and approached the Jedi. They didn't attack but started closing in on their prey that had so conveniently landed in their midst.

A quick glance told Anakin that while he had smoothly jumped down, the crevice was too deep for him to just force-vault out of it. Kenshin just stood there, eyes half-closed. Why didn't he do anything? As the largest gundark took another step towards them, Anakin ignited his lightsaber. Bad idea! The startled predator attacked. He severed the claw swinging for him, but it only made the beast angrier. The next attack followed so quickly that it was too late for him to avoid it. A force push swept him away, out of the beast's reach, just before it could strike. Anakin jumped back to his feet, ready to fight. More beasts now came out of their caves—the whole pack, however, seemed to focus on Kenshin and didn't attack anymore, as if they didn't dare to go closer.

"Get out of here," Kenshin commanded. Anakin glanced at his fellow Jedi, who somehow—he had no idea how or what exactly he was doing—kept the beasts from attacking. He started scaling the wall, ready to jump back down any second. Bit by bit, the gundarks, even the one with its severed limb, retreated. Kenshin then calmly walked away from their midst and also began to climb up the wall. A slight shiver went down Anakin's spine as they finally reached the top. He was met with a more grim than usual stare from his Master.

"I distinctly remember saying: No lightsaber."

"Oh, you know, Master, that accent of yours is sometimes hard to understand," Anakin retorted.

"You understood me perfectly well. Look—working in a team is something we both have to learn. But it would help if you listened when I give instructions."

"How did you keep them from attacking you? Why didn't you use your weapon?"

"The Force, connecting to living beings—ever heard of that? A lightsaber startles them, as you so wonderfully demonstrated. I didn't want to kill them unnecessarily."

"But they're gundarks! They wanted to eat us!"

"We were the intruders, not them! All forms of life are sacred, even the ones we don't understand."

"So we're supposed to have a heart for murderous beasts, huh?" Anakin muttered under his breath, but not quietly enough to escape another wry look from his Master. Controlling a whole nest of gundarks with the Force was definitely impressive, but he couldn't quite share Kenshin's peculiar appreciation for "the living Force."

They reached the excavation site after an hour's hike and were greeted by a woman, a man following closely behind her.

"Thank you for coming, Master Jedi. We're really relieved you're here! My name is Oara Ker, and my colleague here is Karto Senit. We're in charge of the excavation project."

"This is Anakin Skywalker. My name is Kenshin Kano. What's the situation?"

"We specifically requested a specialist for dark side artifacts— that would be you, I assume?" Oara asked.

"It is."

"Our operations ran as planned. Then we discovered a tunnel to a dungeon. We first thought it might be a storage room, a ceremonial chamber, anything. But when we opened it—I cannot explain this, Master Kano, but we don't dare go inside. It's as if something inside doesn't want us to enter. I know we're scientists and supposed to analyse and think logically, but this spot seems... haunted. We're scared. We hoped you could make sense of this. We have worked with the Jedi Order before, and our contacts at the temple spoke highly of you. I should also mention that there's a pirate base nearby. They didn't care about what we've found so far since it was of purely academic value, but they know about the chamber too. They concluded something of value might be inside and have shown more and more presence. We had to hire some local muscle to keep them at bay."

"Anakin, please stay up here. I'll go see what this is about," Kenshin instructed.

"Shouldn't I come with you, Master? It could be dangerous," Anakin protested.

"That's exactly why I'm going, not you. And you heard there's pirates. It is necessary someone guards the entrance up here."

"But... they have guards, Master!"

"And I don't trust them."

Oara asked, "Should I show you the way, Master Kano?"

"I'll find it," he replied and headed for the ruins.

"Your Master certainly doesn't waste any time," Oara remarked, slightly taken aback as Kenshin disappeared into the temple ruins. The Master was a little rude for her liking, and she found both Jedi on the young side for such a dangerous quest.

Anakin shrugged. "No, he doesn't." He would have preferred to go into the dungeon with Kenshin. There were no pirates in sight, and he didn't see why they needed him on top of the guards they already had.

The chamber wasn't hard to find. Kenshin sensed it, and he also sensed why the archaeologists hadn't dared to enter. The darkness emanating from the aperture in the wall was palpable. There had been Force cults in Vanquor in the past, and many ancient Vanqor priests who built these temples had been Force users, that much he had learned from the information in the archives. They had often built in features and Force traps to protect their temples. He entered and soon found a holocron, simply sitting on the ground. It radiated nothing evil, so why was this place humming with dark vibrations? Deciding to examine it later, he took it and continued his search through the chamber. Eventually, he found a small artifact and picked it up. The dire sensations suddenly stopped, as if dark spirits possessing the object yielded to his touch. He couldn't identify what it was. It was a flat, oblong triangle—possibly a Sith artifact, but unlike anything he had seen before—and he had seen a great many. Runes were engraved on the surface, but again unlike anything he could identify or decrypt. Still trying to make sense of what he had found, he sensed a mildly familiar presence and soon after that heard footsteps—his Padawan. He suppressed a hearty curse; hadn't he clearly told Anakin to guard the entrance?

"What are you doing down here?" Kenshin snapped. "You're supposed to protect the entrance and the archaeologists."

"You took your time. I thought I'd check on you."

Kenshin shook his head. "Did I give you any reason to suspect I can't take care of myself? I think not!"

"I'm sorry, Master, but I was worried. You said yourself nobody knows what would be waiting down here. And Oara allowed me to leave; she said my guard wouldn't be necessary."

Kenshin decided to deal with Anakin's reluctance to follow instructions at a more opportune moment. He handed his apprentice the holocron and said, "I found this. Take it, go back up, and this time, stay there! As I said, I don't trust those hired guards. I'll finish here; I won't need long."

With a sheepish look, Anakin retreated and walked back out. Half an hour later, the dungeon hadn't revealed anything else, and Kenshin emerged from it—to find himself alone. Oara, Karto, Anakin, the guards—everyone was gone. There weren't even marks of a fight. The kidnappers must have taken both the archaeologists and his Padawan by surprise. Barely visible traces led away from the excavation site; he felt them more in the Force than he saw them. The pirates probably knew that he was there, but his advantage was that they didn't know exactly where he was. He found the camp by nightfall, the hired guards sitting around campfires, side by side with the pirates.

"Make no sound," Kenshin whispered. Anakin jolted out of his thoughts and felt someone cutting open the ropes restraining him and the two archaeologists.

"I assume you don't have your lightsaber on you?" Kenshin's voice whispered.

"No, they took it."

"The holocron?"

"I'm afraid they took that as well."

"Wonderful," Kenshin sighed. "The guards next to you will sleep for a while. Take the archaeologists to the ship, and if I haven't joined you by dawn, take off! And take this." Kenshin handed Anakin his own lightsaber.

"But, Master! You can't..."

"Do. as. I. Say! We have no time for this!"

As unexpectedly as he had appeared, Kenshin was already gone. The three of them ran. Unfortunately, Karto stumbled upon a rope and woke one of the reptile mounts pegged next to the camp. A string of Huttese curses slipped out of Anakin's mouth—the moaning of the animal had alerted a few pirates, who were now chasing after them. Blaster fire, thank the Force badly aimed, whizzed past them. Anakin reached for the lightsaber to fend off the shots. He ignited it, and a deep purple blade emerged, the color so unusual it startled him for a second. He knew Mace Windu wielded a purple saber; he had seen it once, but Kenshin's blade was of a darker, stronger shade. Purple crystals were extremely rare and said to only respond to very powerful Force users. In their training, they only ever used training sabers, so he had never seen his Master's actual weapon before. Usually, it would feel weird at best to use a lightsaber that was not his own. Kenshin's weapon, however, willingly followed his hand; it was as natural as wielding his own. Different, but in some way perfect. Anakin counted five pirates. Two were taken out by deflected blaster shots. The other three caught up but fell to quick lightsaber slashes; they obviously weren't well-trained combatants. Oara and Karto sighed in relief as they finally reached the ship, panting heavily and glad to have escaped with their lives.

Now they had nothing to do but wait. Waiting never sat well with Anakin, especially not this time. He didn't feel at ease with the idea of taking off at dawn and leaving his Master behind. Without his weapon, on top of that. He examined the lightsaber hilt in his hand. It was a simple black cylinder, no ornaments, purely functional, adorned only by a few superficial scratches. Eventually, he began to feel drowsy and dozed off. Dawn approached. Finally, his comlink rattled him out of his thoughts.

"Anakin, this is Kenshin, do you copy?"

"Yes, Master, I can hear you!"

"I'm close, but I have company. There's a peak next to the landing site. Have the ship hover 10 meters above that, ramp open. They have a grenade launcher. Everyone stay away from the aperture; it'll be a flying start."

"Master, that's too high for you to jump in!"

"Do what I say! Kano out."

The plan had been to run up the peak—the raiders with their heavy artillery on their clumsy, slow mounts wouldn't be able to follow him up there—and have the ship hover out of reach of their weapons. Kenshin thanked the Force that this particular group of rogues didn't have speeder bikes or anything fast at their disposal and relied on riding animals, moving slower than a human could run. They could, however, take up his trail and had kept too close for comfort. 10 meters would be an easy jump for him; he'd done worse. But no, Anakin absolutely had to question him and decide otherwise. The ship was hovering a mere three meters above the ground, a perfect, easy target for the pirates to take out. Kenshin sprinted and reached out in the Force. The pirate who operated the grenade launcher rode in the middle of the pack that comprised about 20 pirates, and Kenshin sensed he was about to fire. Now, there was only one way. He jumped. Into the middle of the pack. His target panicked as he realized what was happening; Kenshin had to be fast! The blasters still could damage the ship once close enough or hurt anyone inside. One strike with the lightsaber—thank the Force he had found Anakin's weapon—and the grenade launcher was out of commission. He jumped again and ran, trying to bring as much distance between himself and the pack, whirling the blade to fend off blaster fire. 100 meters, 50 meters, 10 meters, a final jump! Turning in the air, the lightsaber still deflecting shots, his own blaster firing away with his left hand, vaguely aiming at the pirates' pack. As long as it kept them busy. Touching the ramp, he crashed hard onto his shoulder. The impact had been substantial, but he kept fending off fire until the ramp finally closed and the ship gained altitude.

Miraculously, all he had suffered was a graze shot to his left leg by a blaster. It was bleeding but not deep, and it looked worse than it was. Karto appeared, followed by Anakin.

"So, I heard all sorts of things about what you Jedi can do, but seeing in action what you just did out there, that was unbelievable!" the scientist exclaimed, before his expression became alarmed. "Oh no, moons and stars, you're hurt!"

Kenshin didn't even take notice of the staggered archaeologist. He struggled to his feet, harshly seized Anakin by the collar, and yelled.

"You fucking, blasted idiot! What the blazes were you thinking? Had I been a split second slower, they would've blasted the entire ship!"

Anakin froze, more from surprise than concern. Kenshin wouldn't actually hit him, would he?

"Master, I..."

"Oh, shut up! Just save whatever bantha shit you were going to utter as an excuse!" Kenshin exhaled sharply and let go of the teenager, who had solidified in shock.

"Here's your lightsaber. I've found the holocron as well," the young Master said, now a bit calmer. The two archaeologists exchanged awkward looks. That was not the language or behavior they had expected from a Jedi Master.

Forgoing to tend to his injuries, the two Jedi took the first round to pilot. Awkward silence filled the cockpit while Anakin thought about what could be the appropriate thing to say. This clearly hadn't gone well. Kenshin finally broke the silence.

"Sorry for calling you a blasted idiot. And for lashing out. That was unnecessary. Please accept my apology."

There words were pressed as if it strained him to say them, but he said them. An older, higher-ranking Jedi apologizing to him, Anakin? That was something new! It was also new to him to witness another Jedi lose it and downright yell at him. He hadn't had anyone yell at him since Watto and his slave days. He reached out but yet again couldn't sense anything at all. It was only a more intense than usual frown on Kenshin's face, sternly fixed onto the ship's controls, that revealed a great deal of frustration.

Not that he was happy either. Running into a gundark's nest wasn't his greatest moment, but he had simply wanted to operate quickly and efficiently. Going down into the dungeon despite being ordered to stand guard? It really was a place humming with the dark side; Kenshin could have been in danger. Then again, Oara and Karto had vastly underestimated the situation, and they would have needed his protection; he should have seen that. At last, the whole ordeal of getting captured, and barely escaping from the pirate's gang. He had to admit, he had blown it!

"You're angry with me, Master," Anakin stated, a rueful look in his eyes.

Angry? More like at a loss over how he should interact with the teenager. His Padawan's hearing clearly needed help. Either that or he needed to communicate with the boy in a different way. Anakin had followed none of the instructions given. At least he had managed to get the archaeologists safely to the ship. Kenshin wondered what he had been doing wrong. He sensed Anakin had had good intentions and didn't lack talent, as far as he could tell after only a few days. He was kind-hearted, but brash, arrogant, and reckless. Not following one's Master's instructions on a mission like that could have gotten someone killed. Anakin needed guidance—the right kind of guidance—and Kenshin had no idea how to provide it. He felt anything but ready to be a Master to a Padawan. Maybe they needed more time to attune to each other. Maybe it had been too early to take him on a mission. Then again, leaving him stuck at the temple wouldn't do him any good. He had been stuck there for too long already.

"You weren't exactly a great help," Kenshin replied at last.

"I'm sorry, Master."

"Are you really? Or do you just say that? I want you to understand that you have to think before rushing to action. And if you don't see the whole picture, then listen to someone who does. It seems your senses aren't that attuned yet."

"And yours are?" he snottily asked.

"Possibly!" Kenshin gave him a stern look. "Undeniably, I have more field and battle experience than you do. You can choose not to take me seriously, or you could listen and maybe learn something. Up to you!" Kenshin pulled his hood over his head and turned his eyes back to the ship's controls. Anakin took it as a sign that the conversation was over and sighed in frustration. He did feel sorry; it was his fault he and the two archaeologists got caught. But how would he learn to make the right decisions if he wasn't allowed to make any?

Karto came into the cockpit and offered to take over. "Get some rest," Kenshin said to Anakin, sounding like an order. Anakin found himself a spot to sleep, but it was very cold on the ship, and he found it hard to settle to rest. Too cold to sleep, he could overhear the conversation in the cockpit.

"You shouldn't be too hard on the boy. He was worried about you, and we allowed him to leave his position! He was also worried you couldn't make the jump; that's why he flew lower than you told him to," Karto said gently.

"He did get you in danger, and he did not follow my instructions. But maybe the problem is with me. I barely know him. We've been assigned to each other not even a week ago, his first Master had died. He's not exactly an average Padawan. He has great talent and potential. He needs someone to guide him, without confining or restricting him. And I am not sure how to give him what he needs," Kenshin said with sorrow in his voice.

"Before all, he's a teenager," Karto replied. "I have a son his age. Teenagers are never easy. Get some rest yourself; I can keep piloting for a while."

Wait, what—his Master blamed himself for how the mission had gone? No, it was his fault. He'd just need to make Kenshin understand that he was sorry and that he was more capable than his superiors thought. He'd need to make Kenshin see that he should be given responsibility, not only be bossed around. He still shivered from the cold as he finally fell asleep.

When Anakin woke up, he must have slept only a few hours, but he felt rested, warm, and cozy. He noticed someone had put another layer as a blanket over him. It was Kenshin's grey coat.

It was early afternoon on Coruscant as they returned to the Jedi temple.

"We'll examine the holocron right away. I assume this interests you?"

"Yes, Master."

In the holocron section of the archives, Master Yoda and Windu were already waiting.

"Open it." Kenshin handed the holocron to Anakin.

"What? How?"

"Use the Force. Focus on the holocron, feel it, you'll see."

Anakin looked doubtfully at the object in his hand and fixed his gaze on it. he had never worked with a holocron before. Nothing happened.

"Keep your focus!" Kenshin encouraged him.

Then suddenly a small clacking noise came from it, and the parts drifted apart, revealing a holographic puzzle with runes on it. Anakin felt a rush of excitement, until he realized he couldn't read what he saw. Pieces of a text? The Masters, he felt, couldn't make sense of it either.

"Encrypted, this holocron is," Master Yoda said.

"What kind of holocron is it?" Anakin asked.

"We don't know. Master Sefar has studied the cultures on Vanqor a while ago; maybe she can help. But she's on a mission and won't return until next month," Windu said. "This might have to wait."

Anakin stared intensely at the projected pattern. Kenshin seemed to sense something was going on in his mind, but Anakin couldn't explain it himself.

"Anakin, we will meet in two hours for a training session. This," Kenshin handed him a datapad, "is the mission report. I need you to review it before handing it in."

"I am to review it?"

"We've both been on this mission, so yes, of course you'll review it."

"When did you even write that? We've just come back."

"I had plenty of time on the ship."

Charged with the report, he decided to spend the two hours in the modest comfort of his Padawan quarters. When he left to walk to the training area, he heard a welcome voice. "Hey Anakin, you're back! How was it?" Running into Kyle, his best friend, was a pleasant change of pace for the day.

"Successful... I guess. We did find a holocron. They even let me open it. But we can't read it yet. It's encrypted or something. We encountered raiders. And it turns out my Master can talk to gundarks."

"Gundarks? What are you talking about?"

"Giant, fierce beasts. I might have stumbled into a nest. He manipulated them into not attacking. No idea how he did that. He said he was connecting with them through the Force. He's a freak," Anakin said, shrugging his shoulders.

"That's called beast control, my Master told me about it. She says it can be learned, but it's pretty hard. Yeah, I mean there's a reason he's the Master and you're the Padawan." Kyle's grin faded as he saw his friend's sad, frustrated face. "Oh, come on, I was just teasing you. I'm sorry. Was it that bad?" he asked.

"I really believe Kenshin hates me by now. I got everything wrong. I mean, yeah, I didn't really follow his instructions, but they never made sense, you know? I just never know what he's thinking, I don't get to make decisions, I don't get to do the dangerous stuff... Plus, he's as dry as dust and as grim as the gundarks we saw."

"If you don't like the look of my face, then close your eyes. Fighting blindfolded might help sharpen your senses," a voice behind Anakin said with a mocking undertone.

"Master! I... I didn't realize you were here already."

Such a creeper! Anakin made a mental note to add 'sneaking up out of nowhere' to the list of things that he did not appreciate about his Master.

Kyle barely managed not to laugh, earning him a dirty look from his friend.

The training again was rough. He just couldn't get anywhere; it was so frustrating. In their last training session, Kenshin had said something about believing in himself and admitting to his weaknesses. Did he have weaknesses? Well, he couldn't defeat Kenshin no matter how hard he tried, so yes, he probably did. But what were they? He tried to feel and observe more, and slowly it became easier to block the attacks raining down on him. Just as he started feeling a little more confident, he missed another strike by his Master's blade and stumbled over his own feet.

"You fought well today," Kenshin said approvingly, while he collected himself from the floor.

"What?"

"You're making progress."

"But you bested me, again."

"Yet you were better today than last time."

Anakin didn't respond. Did his Master really mean that? Had he really just gotten some acknowledgment? He still felt frustrated.

"Oh, and, Anakin..."

"Yes, Master?"

"I don't hate you."

I just don't know what to do with you, Kenshin thought. The Padawan was not the only one being frustrated and at a loss for direction.

It was way past midnight when Anakin jumped awake. He had it! The solution was so easy! So easy, a youngling could have seen it. They had just been looking at it the wrong way. The pattern on the holocron was like one of the turning puzzles he played as a kid on Tatooine. He had to try it right now; it couldn't wait. But the holocron was locked away in the vault, and he didn't have access to the holocron section. The idea of waking Yoda or, Force forbid, Master Windu – no, that was a very bad idea. Slicing his way in by himself? Possible, but the consequences would be harsh if he got caught. Of all the options, waking his Master was probably the least unpleasant one.

He knocked at the door to Kenshin's quarters, no answer. He knocked again, louder, still no answer. "Master, it's me!" If he spoke any louder, he'd wake up the entire corridor.

Half-heartedly, he tried the door opener, and to his surprise, it let him in. He stumbled straight over a boot—Kenshin had dropped them in the middle of the room—making an obnoxious noise as he knocked over the table in the process. "Master!" Still no reaction. How anyone could be so profoundly asleep that he didn't hear that was beyond him. He started shaking Kenshin's shoulder, then jumped away—within an instant, a purple glowing blade hummed to life where his face had been split-seconds before.

Kenshin looked at him in confusion before recognizing the intruder. "Oh, it's you!"

He turned off his lightsaber and stood up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "What happened? What did I miss?"

"I know how to decipher the holocron! We have to try it now. If we don't, I'm afraid I'll forget," Anakin said, hoping the older Jedi wouldn't get mad about being woken up in the middle of the night.

"You have funny thoughts at odd hours of the night. Let's go then," Kenshin stated, still confused, grabbing a shirt and his cloak before following Anakin to the archives.

"Sorry for the lightsaber. Last time something shook me awake like that, it was a krayt dragon trying to eat me."

"You always sleep with your weapon on you?"

"You don't? It's saved my life more than once."

"At the Jedi temple, nobody has tried to kill me in my sleep, so no, I haven't seen the necessity."

Unsurprisingly, the archives were almost deserted, apart from surveillance droids and a temple guard. In the vault, they opened the holocron again. The pattern reappeared, and Anakin rearranged the projection using the Force.

"See, Master? It's their contours. If you turn every other part in the pattern, they fit together."

"You are right. How did you find out?" An impression of true amazement and appreciation was etched on his features.

"It kind of reminded me of a game I had as a kid. You had to turn cards around, but the right ones, so in the end, everything matched together, revealing a story or a poem you could read. One of the deep space pilots had given it to me and my friends, and we played all the time."

"Good job!"

"What does it say? Does the text make sense to you?"

"It's a very ancient language, but I should be able to decode it. What's interesting is that it's from a culture that lived in a totally different system, hundreds of parsecs away from Vanquor, and they were never known to space travel. The Dunari tribe on Nanta, they went extinct two millennia ago."

"Nanta? Like, your homeworld?"

"Precisely. This doesn't make sense at all!"

Kenshin's brow furrowed in deep concentration as he continued to examine the text. Anakin watched him intently, a mix of curiosity and impatience bubbling within him.

"Master, what could it mean? How did something from your homeworld end up here?"

Kenshin shook his head slowly, his eyes still fixed on the holocron. "I'm not sure. The Dunari were an isolated tribe, known for their unique use of the Force. This text might hold significant secrets or forgotten knowledge."

Anakin's mind raced with possibilities. "Do you think it's something dangerous?"

"Any knowledge can be dangerous," Kenshin replied, his voice tinged with caution. "But it could also be a link to understanding more about the Force and its history."

Anakin couldn't contain his excitement. "We need to figure this out. It could be important!"

Kenshin nodded, appreciating his Padawan's enthusiasm. "We'll study it further in the morning. For now, try to get some rest."

As they made their way back to their quarters, Anakin felt a newfound sense of purpose. The mystery of the holocron was like a puzzle he couldn't wait to solve. For the first time in years, there was promise, of adventure and of purpose. And if knowledge could be dangerous, that was a lesson he was most curious about.