SW3
Luke watched both of his fellow Jedi carefully as he followed them out of the infirmary. He could easily sense the outraged disgust and more than a touch of anger from his sister. That such emotions could be felt in a Jedi Knight was one thing, but to sense almost those exact same feelings in a Jedi Master was another thing entirely. The former Jedi Grand Master knew the cause of those violent emotions, and he even sympathized with them to a degree.
When he and the other Jedi had been inside the Sith student's mind, he'd been too busy dealing with the terror the girl was feeling to react quickly enough to block out the memories that had risen to the front of her mind. The knowledge of what her Sith Masters had done to her, combined with the fact that Talon had fully expected he and his fellow Jedi to act in the same fashion disgusted him. Luke felt as if he'd had a ship full of filth hurled in his face.
It was sick and twisted acts of that exact nature which were only one of the reasons that the Galactic Alliance was trying to abolish slavery throughout the known galaxy.
With a slow deep breath, the former Grand Master of the Jedi order drew heavily on the training he'd received from both of his mentors. Still, it was a concentrated effort to dispel the rage that threatened to consume his state of mind every time he thought about what Talon had fully expected them to do to her.
"Now, I understand why you stopped me from making a probe at the source of her fears aboard the ship, but you didn't tell me that she'd been literally raped inside her mind! I can't even begin to imagine what her life has been like, but I'm guessing that mind rape was only a small part of it, wasn't it?" Luke asked his sister in an anteroom of the infirmary.
Leia sighed heavily as she struggled to master her emotions.
"No Luke. It wasn't. She's had to endure that several times every day throughout her entire life! You saw her back in those spare quarters; she didn't even know what an apology is, or that wood isn't edible. For light's sake Luke, I had to show her how to use and operate everything in the refresher, and you know as well as I do that Nerf steaks are one of the most common foods available throughout this galaxy, yet she'd never seen them before! You take all of that and then top the cake with an army of tarentateks that would outnumber every Jedi Knight, Master and even student able to grasp a lightsaber and you'll begin to understand that that child's entire life has been something that the most horrifying holodrama can't come close to!" Leia answered angrily.
"This one has always believed that tarentateks are old legendz. Are you now saying that such thingz are real?" Master Sebatyne demanded in surprise.
"Oh yes, and she'll probably have the nightmares to prove it. Honestly, I won't be surprised if she wakes up screaming; I know I would." Leia said with a shudder as she turned to look through the observation window at the subject of their discussion.
"This one knowz that the girl is far too young for such a mighty hunt, how did she survive?" Saba asked curiously.
"Saba, when I first laid eyes on her, she was covered in so much dried blood from those things that I couldn't even tell she was human. I've seen some of the memories of her life and those of her escape from Korriban. A DNA sample that I had mapped, confirmed what she was up against. So all I can say is that her survival had to have been the will of the Force." Leia said solemnly.
Leia sighed heavily as she ran both hands through her hair.
"I knew that I was asking a lot, Luke. But I had no idea that it would be this bad." Leia said sadly.
"That doesn't matter any more. Here of all places, we know that there is no such thing as a coincidence. So you were right about this being the will of the Force." Luke told his sister gently as he laid a hand on her shoulder in support. "Besides, it's too late to back out now. Like it or not, she's now a part of the order, so what ever problems she has to face, she'll be facing those problems with help."
"This one would also like to offer her help with the youngling. All through her life this one has been taught that the young are the brightest hope of the future. No one, especially a youngling deservez to receive that kind of life, and this one would like to help in making it right." Saba offered sincerely.
Luke nodded in agreement with the Barabel Master. "I think we'll all be working with her Saba. At this point she needs to be shown friendship and compassion more than anything else. She's going to have to make a lot of adjustments in the near future in order to get used to us, and our ways, but then we'll also have to make adjustments as well while getting used to her."
Each of the three Jedi went silent as they each tried to think of ways to help the young girl cope with the whole new way of life among the Jedi. Twenty minutes later their thoughts were interrupted when Cilghal entered the waiting room.
"I've finished with her examination and I have the results from her scans. Her condition is actually much worse than I originally thought. According to her cellular development she's thirteen standard years old." Cilghal began.
"Thirteen? I would have sworn she was no more than nine, maybe ten!" Leia interrupted.
"She appears to be much younger than she is because she's suffered from both severe malnutrition and near constant starvation throughout her life thus far. Her bones are currently very brittle from lack of Vitamin D; caused by a prolonged and complete lack of exposure to natural sunlight. I've given her some injections to help with that, but I want her on minimal physical activity for at least a week until her skeletal structure regains some of its proper strength. That means no sparing or saber training of any kind. I have the droids manufacturing some clothing that will let her tolerate standard temperature ranges. I've also ordered one of them to modify a self adjusting ocular filtration unit that will limit the amount of light that reaches her eyes so she won't be blinded by normal lighting. I also gave her some injections to radically boost her metabolism for the next couple of months, so she'll absorb the nutrients her body has been sorely lacking. Because of that, she'll need to eat more often than normal. For right now, I want her to sleep for as long as she will, but she should have someone she knows nearby when she wakes up." The Jedi Master said in her rumbling voice.
"I'll stay with her until she wakes up. I'd prefer her to have a set of quarters across from mine or next to mine, so I can keep an eye on her." Leia said without taking her eyes off the sleeping child.
"This one will see what can be done in that regard. They may have to place you in to the student'z wing in order to set that up, would that be much of a problem?" Saba asked.
"Not for me, Han might a few objections to staying in the student's wing, but I'll deal with that problem when it shows up." Leia said with a frown as she thought of other areas in which the girl's education might be lacking.
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As her mind slowly drifted towards consciousness, she became aware of four things. First was the soft surface that she had slept on; second was that she was alone on that surface; third was that she wasn't hurting quite as much as she usually did; fourth was that she was wearing clothes that had kept her warm enough not to wake up shivering from the cold. It was thinking about this last fact, which brought the memories of recent events flooding back into her mind.
Talon's eyes snapped open in fright. She had seen how slowly other students had been killed for doing what she'd done. She was about to sit up when she felt a hand rest on her shoulder.
"Take it easy, no one's going to hurt you, and there's nothing to be afraid of here." Leia told her.
Talon was about to try to ask why she hadn't been executed, when the door to the infirmary opened admitting a pair of students, the much younger and smaller of the two crying loudly as he tried to staunch the bleeding from a badly busted nose.
Cilghal was there quickly. "What happened?"
Talon gaped in shock as the older girl explained that she and her friends had been using the Force to play an improvised version of smack ball, and that after scoring, the ball had bounced off the goal to hit the smaller boy, who had only been watching the game, in the face.
Talon watched in silence as the healer patched the small boy up and sent him on his way with a word of warning to be careful for the next few hours. Talon could see the shame on the face of the older girl who had waited through all of the boy's treatment.
"You and the others who were playing like that can take the place of the shuttle cleaning droids for the next three days by way of punishment. You know the rules; games of that nature are to always be supervised by a Master so that accidents like this don't happen. That boy was fortunate that his nasal plates weren't broken. You could have grievously injured him with your carelessness, but I suspect that after cleaning all of the shuttles in the compound, you and your friends won't allow anything like this to happen again now will you?" Cilghal rumbled disapprovingly.
"No, Master Cilghal. We won't." Talon heard the girl answer before she was dismissed.
Talon couldn't believe what she'd just seen. The young boy had been doing what she'd done before she had fallen asleep, but instead of being killed, he was treated for his injury, while the student responsible was in trouble. Back at the Sith academy, injuries did happen, but it was always considered the fault of the one who was injured for not developing better skills.
In complete bewilderment Talon turned to face Leia.
"Why?" She asked in confusion.
Leia shook her head, not understanding what Talon meant.
"Why what? What do you mean by why?" Leia asked as she tried to make sense of the girl's open question.
"Why wasn't he killed for doing that? Why wasn't I killed for doing it? Why did she get in trouble because he got hurt? If she was in trouble, why wasn't she getting hurt?" Talon asked finally.
Leia had to think about the questions, the incident, and the girl asking the questions before she could even begin to think about how to answer those questions.
"She and the others who were playing will have to clean the shuttles as their punishment, because as Jedi, we don't hurt others unless we have no other choice. She and her friends are being punished for two reasons, because they broke the rules, and because their actions resulted in someone getting hurt. The boy isn't going to be punished and certainly not killed, because he didn't do anything wrong. He was hurt, and he was crying because he was hurt. There isn't anything wrong with that, although some males might tell you otherwise, they would still be wrong. You weren't punished for crying because you were also hurt, not physically, but emotionally; again there is nothing wrong with it. Crying is a way of dealing with pain, either physical, or mental. Sometimes it helps you feel better, sometimes it doesn't, but either way, it's not something to be killed over." Leia explained softly as she wondered exactly what she'd gotten herself into.
Talon shook her head, not really understanding any of it. This was not how things were done at the Sith Academy; punishments were instant, harsh, and excruciating to make sure that a student never repeated their mistake. Those actions or mistakes that were considered signs of true weakness resulted in that student being used as target practice for those students who were trying to develop their skills in Force lightning, choke and other offensive skills.
"Ah good! You're awake." The Mon Calamari Master said interrupting Talon's thoughts.
Cilghal turned to a nearby work station and picked up a fair sized stack of clothing that was sitting there and came over to Talon's bed.
"I've had some clothes made for you that will let you be comfortable in normal environmental settings. There are two refrigeration units incorporated into each belt, and this is a self adjusting filter for you to wear over your eyes so you're not stumbling around blinded by normal lighting." Cilghal told the girl as she displayed the items mentioned.
"But, I already have clothes." Talon said in confusion.
Leia chuckled in amusement, while the Mon Cal snorted.
"Those will do fine in your own quarters, but they won't help you at all if you have to go back outside. . ." Cilghal trailed off as she watched the blood drain from Talon's face as the girl went abnormally pale even for her white complexion at the thought of facing that nightmarish heat again.
"You really should learn to relax, and not be so tense all the time. As I said, these clothes have refrigeration units in them to keep you cool in heat that is much worse than what you felt outside." Cilghal chided gently.
Talon gaped at the Jedi while shaking her head in denial. Surely that had to be impossibility! There was no way that she could possibly endure anything that was hotter than what she'd felt upon exiting the shuttle.
The stark expression of disbelief was easy for anyone to read, and Cilghal had had more than a fair amount of practice in reading human expressions. The Jedi Master chuckled in amusement.
"You don't believe me? Or is it that you don't believe that there could be anything hotter than what you felt outside?" Cilghal asked amusedly.
"Are there really places hotter than that was?" Talon asked Leia not really wanting to believe it.
Leia was unable to suppress a snort of laughter at that question as she nodded her head.
"One day, you should ask Luke about the world he grew up on. Take a look at the thick robes and clothing he wears. As hot as it was to you coming out of the shuttle, it's still cold to him." Leia said still smiling lightly.
"Did... Did he live in a lava cavern?" Talon stammered in astonishment. It was the only thing she could think of that would produce that kind of heat.
Leia struggled to keep her composure after hearing that question. She knew the girl hadn't even been taught the words for kindness or compassion, so any type of humor that she had been exposed to would have been of a very dark nature indeed. Still, she was unable to keep her mirth from her tone as she answered Talon.
"No. He did not live in a lava cavern. He was raised on Tatooine, where he was a moisture farmer. That world has two suns, so it's extremely hot there. Ask him about it one day." Leia told her.
Talon shook her head not knowing what to say about that. Then the two Jedi told her to follow them to a small room so she could get dressed, and learn how to use the thermal control units built into the belts of each set of clothing. The clothing resembled a rather thick flight suit, and was lined with hundreds of meters of tubing which circulated warm or cold air to maintain a desired temperature range. When Talon first put the ocular filter on; she noticed that the lights seemed to dim just enough to be what she thought of as normal. Once she had donned the cloak she had scavenged from the deceased student on Korriban, Talon almost resembled any other student at the academy.
It wasn't until she saw Cilghal reset the environmental controls that she noticed any difference. A blast of heat washed across her face and hands, as the temperature climbed back into the standard settings. Talon took slow shallow breaths until she got used to breathing such hot air. Then she noticed Leia frowning as the Jedi looked at her.
Talon was about to take a step back away from the obviously irritated Jedi, when Leia turned to Cilghal.
"Shouldn't that filter be dark or something?" Leia asked the healer in confusion.
"This is a recent development from the Verpine. If it were a standard filter, then yes it would have to be nearly opaque, but the lens of this particular version is actually composed of nanites with a transparent crystalline structure. Instead of simply blocking out the light, they monitor pupil dilation and redirect or diffuse the light as it passes through so that vision remains unimpaired. It is capable of polarizing if needed, but will only do so when indicated by Talon's pupil dilation." Cilghal rumbled happily. "Besides, you must admit, that for a human, her eyes are quite striking."
"Yes they are." Leia agreed.
"I'll want to re-examine her in a couple of days to check on her ossial structure, and make sure that those injections I gave her are working properly. Her bones are far too brittle for my liking right now." Cilghal warned.
Leia nodded her head and then turned to Talon.
"If you'll come with me, I'll show you to your quarters. They're not quite as nice as those on board the Alderaan, but they're still comfortable." Leia said.
Talon nodded her head and followed the Jedi. As they walked past the bed where Talon had been treated; Talon switched her clothing so that she was holding it in her right arm, and summoned her staves to her left hand with the Force. Leia was quick to note that as massively heavy as the two weapons were, Talon was able to avoid damaging any thing nearby without really paying any attention to doing so.
As a Jedi Knight, trained in combat and possessed of more than adequate saber skills herself, Leia knew that such awareness of weapon length and position could only come from countless hours of use, and an intimate familiarity with the weapons in question. Even with everything she had learned about the girl's weapon skills, Leia's estimation of those skills was raised another notch.
As the Jedi led Talon through the Jedi complex, Leia pointed out the cafeteria, recreation rooms, lounge, meditation hall, library, various training rooms, and study halls.
Talon looked around her at everything the Jedi was pointing out to her. She was quick to notice that there were no feelings of anger or hatred constantly pressing in on her as there had been on Korriban. Instead there was a sensation of something that she couldn't define. She was quickly learning that there were feelings that she'd never experienced before; feelings that had nothing to do with pain, fear, anger, or hate, and she hungered to know more about them.
One of the things that really struck Talon, once she was able to recognize it, was that as strongly as she felt the pull of the Force swirling through this complex, she sensed no one in pain, and she felt no misery here, which she thought to be very strange since a lot of those people that she and Leia passed were smiling; an expression that Talon associated with the misery or torment of someone else.
Talon continued to follow the Jedi through the various halls which were filled with windows to let in natural lighting. With her optical filter firmly in place, she wasn't bothered by the light levels, but she was amazed by the sheer amount of open spaces that she could see through those windows.
When they got to the set of small rooms that had been assigned to Talon, Leia opened the door and stepped aside to let the girl enter first.
"Go ahead. These are your quarters. I know they're not much compared to what's on board the Alderaan, but I don't think that's going to matter once you get used to them." Leia told her.
As Talon walked into the set of quarters which had been assigned to her, she saw that they were spacious enough for two beds, but held only one. She laid her specially built training weapons on the floor next to the bed and then put her clothes down on top of it. A light grey carpet covered every square centimeter of the floor. The bedding was a slightly darker tone of grey. Talon was walking over to the window when she heard Leia speak up from the doorway.
"Can I come in?" Leia asked softly.
Talon turned around to see Leia still waiting outside the room, and gaped at the Jedi, not knowing what was expected of her.
Leia knew that Talon had never been allowed any type of privacy, not physical, or spiritual, and certainly not mental, so she had deliberately asked to enter in order to show Talon that these rooms were her private space and that others would need her permission before coming in.
"Well... may I come in or not?" Leia asked while carefully keeping a kind tone in her voice.
Talon looked stricken as she nodded her head not knowing what else to do, but the Jedi Knight smiled as she entered. As the Jedi entered the room she noticed that the girl's attention was once again drawn towards the window.
"There's so many." Talon said in an almost awed whisper as Leia stepped to the window beside her. "In every one of those things. I can sense them, feel them, hear them; all at once. I can't believe that there's that many people here. How do you make sense of it all? Their thoughts are all jumbled together."
Those few whispered comments confirmed one of the Jedi's fears about the girl. Without the mental defenses that were normally a significant part of Force training, Talon had no way of blocking anything or anyone out of her mind.
"I don't know what to tell you about that, Talon, except that I can't hear someone else's thoughts unless I really try, and even then it's not very easy." Leia answered.
Talon's brow furrowed in concentration as she tried to make sense of all the minds she heard, and felt. She gave up after being unable to single out any one of them.
"There are many differences between what you were taught on Korriban, and what the real galaxy is like Talon. All those people that you sense out there; many of them only want the same things you do. A safe place where they won't have to be afraid; to be able to live without being in fear for their lives, and believe it or not; that's exactly what many of them have. Oh, some them will have fears of a different kind, but not fear for their lives, or fear of being hurt. Here on Corruscant, most fears revolve around either economics or politics, and both are something that you'll learn about while you're here." Leia told her.
As Talon nodded her head, Leia could feel the apprehension welling up within the girl's mind. Back on Korriban, the only lessons that Talon had ever come close to enjoying were the saber training sessions as grueling and torturously exhausting as they were. All the other lessons had been filled with various levels of pain and torment.
"When will I start?" Talon asked quietly in a small voice.
Leia smiled and slowly placed a hand gently on the girl's shoulder. "You already have. With some lessons, it's enough to give you the information as many times as it takes for you to remember it. With others, it will be necessary for you to practice until you get it right. We won't punish you for failing, but we will offer help and encourage you to keep trying until you succeed."
Talon didn't have the slightest clue what to say or even what was to be expected of her at this point. On Korriban, among the Sith, she had always known how to gage the moods and attitudes of her Masters in order to avoid being punished or tormented. Not that it was always possible, because the Sith Masters had enjoyed tormenting both her and the other students. Her confusion was evident in her gold colored eyes as she lowered her head and turned back to the window.
Leia watched the girl in consternation. She knew that Talon was going to have some trouble believing the differences in the way things were done here versus the methods that she'd had to endure on Korriban. Leia also knew that some of the adjustments that the girl would have to make might prove difficult for her, but then that was part of life and learning. At least here, she would eventually learn that she didn't have to be terrified of every one she met.
Leia flexed the fingers of her right hand, giving Talon's shoulder a slight squeeze to gain her attention.
"One of the best ways for you to learn how we do things here would be to see it for yourself. Come on. I'll take you to the lounge where you can see most of the activities and lessons that we Jedi participate in." Leia instructed with a light smile.
Talon nodded her head in acceptance and reached out her hands to summon her staves as she followed the Jedi out of the room.
The Jedi Knight felt the disturbance caused by the girl's use of the Force, and turned around.
"Actually, it might be best if you were to leave those here Talon. No one will bother them, because this is your room, and they'd need your permission to enter. Besides, you are under strict orders not to indulge in anything strenuous for a full week. And before you ask, yes, that includes practicing with those staves of yours, or even with lightsabers." Leia chided gently.
Even with everything she knew about the girl, Leia couldn't help but be moved by the fact that Talon was more than a little hesitant to leave the weapons behind. She knew that as far as Talon was concerned, just a few short hours ago, her life had depended on those heavy rods of compressed Beskar.
"I get punished whenever I'm caught without them." Talon whispered apprehensively.
Leia heard the girl's response and frowned as a nasty thought hit her.
"They made you carry those everywhere? Constantly? How long have you been doing that?" The Jedi asked in a suspicious tone.
"Ever since I started my saber training. First it was one made to mimic a single hilt, then two of them, and then later they made me start using these, but the Masters made sure that all of them had the same weight." Talon answered softly.
"They made you carry those all day? Everyday?" Leia demanded in stark disbelief.
When Talon nodded her affirmation, Leia could only gape at the girl in disbelief.
'No wonder her telekinetic skills are so strong!' Leia thought suddenly.
She knew that maintaining a telekinetic hold on any particular object required a certain level of intense concentration, at least until the person doing so developed enough familiarity with the techniques involved to reduce the amount of concentration required. It was very similar in that regard to learning to wield a lightsaber, although one could eventually learn to use a lightsaber without thinking about it, as far as she knew, no one had ever thought that it would be possible to master one's telekinetic skills to the degree that it became an unconscious action.
It took Leia just a few seconds to realize that Talon would be uneasy without her two training weapons, but she knew that the presence of such unusual weapons might cause a few problems by being the subject of potentially awkward questions which were best avoided for the time being.
With obvious reluctance, Talon left her staves on the floor next to her bed. For the first time in several years, she would be without their constant presence. For her, clothing had always been something she wanted to earn to keep out the cold, and even though she was now wearing more clothes than she'd ever owned in her life, without her two training weapons she truly felt naked.
Leia could feel Talon's apprehension, nervousness, and fear through the Force, and even though she knew that Talon didn't want to, the girl followed Leia with a stoic purpose that belied the emotions that gripped her. Leia knew that it wasn't bravery that caused Talon to follow her instructions to leave the weapons behind, but rather fear of being punished.
Leia guided Talon to the communal lounge where she took a seat at an empty table in a corner next to one of the windows. The room was set up similar to a large version of a tap caf, in that there were tables with chairs, recliners, and sofas of various sizes to allow and encourage social interaction; there were even large vid screens spaced about to allow patrons to stay up with the latest news and current events.
Leia placed an order for two cups of caf with the server droid, and waited while it was brought over. She noticed that Talon was near a seat that would enable her to see both what was going on inside the lounge as well as be able to look out the window. As she went over, Leia motioned for the girl to sit down, and took a chair herself.
"Normally Talon, this is one of the places where some of the students and instructors come when they're not in classes so that they can have a cup of caf, relax and even catch up on the news, so they can find out what all is going on in the galaxy. The droids are able to prepare a few light foods, such as sandwiches and pastries if you find yourself hungry, and it's a great place to meet new friends." Leia told her as she sipped at her caf.
Talon stared at the steaming caf in her cup. The dark beverage had a strong flavor that was very different from anything she had ever been given before, but wasn't something that she could gulp down because of the heat. She sat there staring at her cup as she tried to figure out what was expected of her.
While it might have appeared that Talon hadn't paid much attention to the Jedi's words, this couldn't have been farther from the truth. Talon was very aware of them. Just as she was aware of the four younger students over near the center of the room laughing and talking as they practiced their burgeoning telekinetic skills. She was aware of the three female students in the far corner discussing the various traits of some males that they knew, and she was aware of the never ending stream of air speeders that passed by outside in the distance.
Throughout her life, her safety and sometimes even her life had depended on her ability to observe what was going on around her, to notice when one of the Sith Masters was irritated over something or when one of the older and better trained students wanted to take their frustrations out on a younger student. Talon noticed all of these things, in fact, she couldn't not notice them.
Leia studied the Sith child intently as she sampled the caf, and sat there with her gold colored eyes flickering about in various directions as she paid attention to everything that was going on around her.
"What's a friend?" Talon asked quietly.
Leia's jaw fell open in surprise. She might have expected any one of a number of questions from the girl, but she'd had no clue about that one!
"What's a. . . You mean you don't…" Leia stammered in shock as she tried to wrap her mind around that fact that Talon really didn't know what a friend was.
'How in the blazes do I explain what a friend is to someone that's never even heard the term?' Leia pondered franticly as she struggled to come up with an answer.
It wasn't until that instant that the Jedi realized just how bleak and lonely Talon's life had truly been.
'Trust? She won't have heard of that either!' Leia realized suddenly.
The Jedi sighed heavily as she took another sip of her caf.
"Talon, I'm not really sure just how to explain what a friend is to you, because you don't seem to know many of the words that are necessary to define just what a friend really is. It's not something that can be easily explained, but believe me, a friend is something that is well worth having." Leia said after a minute of careful thought.
Talon nodded her head as she accepted the information, even though she wasn't sure what to do with it. Leia sipped at her caf and watched as Talon kept glancing around the room. Leia saw that she wasn't focusing on any one thing, but instead was taking in everything that was going on around her. Various emotions were still pouring off of her in thick waves, ranging from nervousness and apprehension up through fear.
Leia was about to order a few sandwiches when her wristpad beeped signaling an incoming message.
Leia quickly read the message and turned to Talon.
"I need to go file a report on the shakedown of the Alderaan. I want you to wait here for me until I return; I shouldn't be gone more than an hour or two, okay? If you get hungry, one of the droids can bring you some sandwiches and more caf." Leia told her as she got up.
Talon nodded her head, and after the Jedi left, she closed her eyes and yielded to the near constant pull that she always felt, and allowed her mind to drift in the Force. Instead of pulling the Force to her, she reached outwards to it and began to let her consciousness float in the Force. It was something that she had stumbled on just about five years ago during one of the times when she was being punished, and had often done this back on Korriban during the brief rest periods between lessons. She simply opened herself to the Force and let her mind drift in its vast swirling currents. For her it was a way of leaving behind the constant state of fear and pain that she lived in, and was the only pastime that she had.
Unlike a meditation trance, where one was able to will their mind in specific directions within the Force to acquire certain knowledge or visions; Talon was simply letting the Force take her mind to wherever she ended up. She used this as a means not only of escape from her body and the hardships she had lived through, but also as a way of relaxing her mind and gathering a small measure of strength from the Force. She had no way of knowing that the countless myriad places she saw, and numerous lives she felt were actually real. She just knew that letting herself drift within the Force was better than seeing with her own eyes what had often taken place around her.
She found her consciousness flying across the surface of a seemingly endless sea of sand. Dunes far too numerous to count were being driven by winds that she didn't feel but knew were there. She didn't need to feel the heat, to know that that too was also present since the sky on the horizon seemed to be burned to near white from it. She had never experienced anything like this in her physical body, except when she had ridden down from the Alderaan in the shuttle with Leia.
Talon didn't care if what she was seeing through the Force was real or not, she was simply experiencing the surreal beauty of what she did see in the Force. Then, as it had on many previous occasions, a voice spoke to her within the Force. She knew that the voice belonged to a female, but had no idea who it was, nor had she ever thought to ask. As the voice often did, it told her a little information about what she was seeing, and would sometimes ask her if she liked what she saw.
Talon had never talked about what she did during these trances, nor had she ever mentioned the voice or presence that she felt during them; instead she simply accepted it as part and parcel of the Force. Had she been asked, she would have said it was the voice of the Force itself. She couldn't know that what seemed normal to her was actually completely out of the ordinary. Both the strange trancelike state and the presence were normal to her, so she accepted it as just there.
From seas of endless sand, to seas of endless waves of water, and then to a vast expanse of ice that had no apparent end, Talon drifted through the Force visiting several worlds in seconds or minutes. She never knew exactly how long each visit would last, but then she didn't care either. In this state, neither time nor anything else to do with reality had any meaning for her.
Moving through the raw fury of a star's surface, Talon saw for herself the massive eruptions of super heated plasma jetting outward into the vast expanse of space. The near indescribable beauty of various planets as seen from space, and even sometimes other galaxies. All of these things came to her as she flowed through the Force.
It all came to a halt when she felt someone approaching her physical body. She had learned early on not to let herself become so involved in the trance that she forgot herself, because the last time she had done so, punishment had been painful indeed; Sith Masters did not like to give an order twice!
"Since it seems that you're done meditating now, perhaps you can join the rest of us in saber training class." An older man said casually as he walked towards her. He was dressed in tan clothing, with brown eyes and dark hair that was really curly, and a beard that seemed just as curly as his hair.
"I don't recognize you, so you must be new here. I'm Kyle Katarn one of the Jedi Masters here at this academy, but you can just call me Kyle. I'm one of the more informal instructors around the order, so I don't tend to get hung up on being called Master all the time, and you are?" Kyle said with a smile as he introduced himself.
Talon swallowed hard as she realized that he was talking to her. She knew that Leia had told her that she was not to engage in saber practice of any kind, but there was no way she was going to get punished for telling a Master no. It was a choice of getting punished now by this Master, or get punished later by Leia. Talon knew that she was going to get it either way, and there was no way out of it as far as she could tell, so she swallowed again and answered the man's question.
"Talon." She told him quietly not meeting his eyes.
"Okay Talon, if you'll join me and the other students, I'd really appreciate it." Kyle told her.
Talon quickly gulped down what was left in her cup, before setting it down on the table and followed the Jedi to one of the various training rooms. She watched in silence as Kyle paired older and more experienced students off with younger students who were still learning the principals of lightsaber combat.
It took the Jedi Master a few minutes to get everyone set up, and Talon watched with interest as some of the students began light sparring sessions. The older student would launch a strike and then allow the younger student to try to duplicate it. By allowing older students to help train the younger ones, it let each of his more experienced students to learn how to teach, but also gave them a better understanding of their own skills as well. Talon was quick to note that this method also had the advantage of leaving Kyle free to elaborate on what any one student needed to know more about.
When Kyle had things set up to his satisfaction, he walked back over to the order's newest addition.
"Okay Talon, have they issued you a practice saber yet?" Kyle asked her.
Even though it had been years since she had used one, Talon knew very well what a practice saber was. Unlike the ones she had brought with her from Korriban, a practice saber had an intensified electromagnetic containment field, and standard energy plasma contained in that same field. The handling characteristics were the same, but a practice saber wouldn't kill or amputate a limb if the strike wasn't blocked in time.
Talon shook her head nervously as she wondered just how bad her punishment from Leia was going to be.
Kyle motioned to her to follow him as he led her over to a rack holding a dozen or so identical single blade lightsaber hilts. Above each hilt was a spot of color in the shape of a blade. Talon was quick to note that red was not among the colors shown.
"These are training sabers, go ahead, and pick one that you think suits you, the color spot above each hilt shows what color of blade that saber has." Kyle told her.
Talon would have been quick to choose two of them since she had been trained so that she was completely at ease while wielding a weapon in each hand, except that he'd specifically said one. Talon reached out and selected a hilt that while it looked nothing like the one Leia carried; it did have the same color of blade.
Before Kyle could say anything more, Talon thumbed the blade into existence and made a couple of quick quarter slash parries as if she were deflecting a pair of rapid thrusts to her face. Satisfied that the balance of the weapon would be something that she could easily use, Talon deactivated the weapon and turned to face Kyle.
Kyle watched with interest as Talon chose her practice saber. Most students usually asked if there were some meaning attached to the color of the blade, or any of a hundred other similar questions. This student did none of those things. When he saw her make the two quick parries and nod to her self in approval. His eyebrows had shot up in surprise. The moves had been both quick and precise, showing that the girl knew at least something about bladed combat.
"Handled something like that before have you?" Kyle asked her with a grin.
Talon only nodded her head not wanting to say anything, since she knew she was going to get in trouble; she certainly didn't want to make it any worse by possibly saying the wrong thing.
"Okay, in that case, why don't we go over to that sparring circle and you can show me what you already know." Kyle told her as he indicated a spot by the wall near the door.
As Talon headed to the designated sparring area, the Jedi Master studied her intently. The girl appeared to be about nine or possibly ten years old, and given the things he'd already seen her do, he knew she'd received at least some training from someone else. He could easily sense the apprehension and fear from the girl, and guessed that she might have been transferred from one of the other training academies because of some type of trouble.
When they arrived at the marked off area, Kyle squared himself off and faced her, then he pulled out his own lightsaber and ignited it with the blue blade humming loudly.
"Okay Talon, now I want you to attack me." Kyle ordered her.
Talon swallowed hard; so far she had seen nothing to give her a clue as to how well developed his saber skills were. She knew that she'd had to hold back during her training sessions for a long time now, because the Masters hated to be out classed by a mere student, and had tormented her on several occasions for nearly beating them during her training.
"What form?" She asked quietly.
The question surprised the Jedi Master, although he tried not to show it.
"Whichever form you're comfortable with." He responded.
Talon spread her feet into a starting stance with her weapon held in two hands at shoulder level slightly to her right with the blade angled just above her head to her left.
The Jedi Master barely had time to register the fact that this slip of a girl had taken up a classic Ataru stance and apparently planned to use that form against him before she had launched her attack.
The Jedi Master's eyes went wide in shock as Talon's first lightning fast strike hammered into his blade. She had taken her blade up and around to bring it in a three quarter circle to slam into his weapon in the form of a cross body slash that started at waist level and continued up towards his head. He knew instantly that the high speed aggressive style of Ataru was well suited to the girl, just as he also knew that he was way outmatched! The sheer power contained in that first strike was like nothing he'd ever seen anyone deliver. In less time than it took his heart to skip a beat, Kyle had somehow deflected no less than four separate strikes with his lightsaber.
The rapid series of slashes had started low and were quickly working their way higher. So quick were the girl's moves and so fast were the strikes that Kyle forgot that this was a mere sparring session and that she was only using a training saber. Certain that he would be killed if he didn't act fast, Kyle Force pushed the girl away from him.
Talon knew the instant that her blade had made contact with his for the third time in less than half a second that she'd made a serious mistake. She'd thought that since he was teaching this class that the Jedi would be at least as skilled as her now dead Sith Master. With the grim realization that he wasn't, she decided to finish the combination set and step back. She never got the chance.
The telekinetic shove slammed her into the wall behind her. She hit the wall with a painful crack and slumped to the floor. Certain that she had humiliated and angered the Jedi; Talon huddled there fearfully, waiting for the painful punishment that she knew was coming.
Jedi Master Kyle Katarn stared at the girl cowering on the floor in front of him. He really wasn't quite sure what had just happened, but now that it was over and he had time to think, he knew that he'd over reacted. They had training sabers for a reason, and that was to prevent injury to both student and instructor alike while training. He'd seen her hit the wall, and from the way she sat there on the floor curled into a very tight ball, she obviously expected him to do something else to her.
Kyle deactivated his lightsaber, and took a deep breath to steady himself.
"Sorry about that. You really surprised me. I didn't expect anything like that to come from someone so young. Here, stand up so I can talk to you." He told her with a rueful smile.
Talon's left leg, left shoulder, and left hip had started to throb painfully when the Jedi finally spoke to her. As she started to climb to her feet, she felt a sudden tearing sensation in her left leg and she gasped when pure liquid agony shot through her body with the speed and power of Force lightning.
Kyle's jaw dropped in mute horror as a large unnatural bulge appeared in the girl's lower left leg followed by a rapidly spreading red stain across her pants leg. Even though she had collapsed on her first attempt to rise, the obviously serious injury didn't stop her from trying again, and he could only stare in dumbfounded shock as he watched the girl struggle to get to her feet.
Talon knew that she was hurt. She'd been in worse pain than this many times, but never had so much pain been felt in only one part of her body. She didn't know why her leg hadn't held her up, but she did know that she had been given an order that she was expected to carry out, so she gritted her teeth and tried again.
Every student in the room stopped their training when a solid wave of agonizing torment tore through the Force. Some of the more sensitive students were nearly overwhelmed by it and fell to their knees, even as Talon gasped in shock from the pain as she once again tried to put her weight on a leg that couldn't support her.
Kyle was struck dumb by the horror of what he'd done. A student; a child had been seriously injured because of a mistake in judgment! That in itself was bad enough, but to see that same child continue to repeatedly try to stand on a leg that obviously had a compound fracture, simply shorted out his ability to think.
One by one, the students slowly began to recover from the onslaught of pain that was still radiating through the Force, and began to mill around; staring and whispering among themselves.
No matter how hard she tried, or how strongly she tried to push past the pain, Talon could not get her leg to support her weight. She knew the Jedi was still standing there; waiting for her to obey the command that he'd given her. Terrified that she would be punished for disobedience, Talon took a deep breath and was about to try again when she felt a pair of hands on her shoulders, and she looked up at the reptilian features of Saba Sebatyne.
"Stop trying to get up little one! You've been injured, and Cilghal is on her way, so just stay there." Saba told her.
"But, I... I have to. He told me to get up." She answered in a pain filled whisper.
It was her words, filled with pain and fear that snapped Kyle back to himself with a shake of his head.
"That was before I knew you were hurt. So just listen to what Master Sebatyne says. The rest of you might want to wait in the lounge, where someone will explain later." Kyle said as he dismissed the rest of the students to make room for the healers to work when they arrived.
Kyle had no clue as to exactly how this would be explained, but he would have to tell them something to keep their imaginations from running wild.
Talon stopped trying to get to her feet and closed her eyes. The pain from her leg was getting worse, and she could feel the entire limb throb in agony with every beat of her heart.
The students filed out of the room slowly, each of them looking over at the injured newcomer. None of them had seen what had actually happened, but that didn't stop the whispered speculation from starting.
One of the older students, nearly ready to be apprenticed, came over with the emergency medical kit. The boy dropped to his knees and quickly opened the kit and grabbed the canister of numbspray. Setting this to the side, he reached into his robes, pulled out a small vibro knife, and before the injured girl could react to the weapon, quickly and expertly slit her pants leg from the top of her boots up to the knee. Dropping the knife, he carefully pulled the cloth aside before he grabbed the canister of numbspray and applied it liberally.
As the pain began to subside, Talon opened her eyes to see a black haired boy with a swarthy complexion spraying her injured leg with something. Then she looked down at her leg to see how badly she was hurt and froze in horror.
"It's a waste of time and resources to try healing injuries that serious; kill him."
Talon clearly remembered those words that had been so callously and coldly uttered, when a student had received a severely broken arm during a particularly intense round of training. She knew that minor injuries would receive bacta patches, or on very rare occasions even injections, but an injury this serious would take too long to heal, leaving the student unable to train, and was therefore a waste of time, effort, and resources.
Terrified, and knowing that she was going to be killed, Talon swallowed hard as she closed her eyes and waited to hear the order given.
Saba was still hunkered down next to Talon when she sensed a new wave of fear roll across her through the force. She gave the girl's shoulder a comforting squeeze. She didn't know why the youngling was afraid, but then with what she did know about her, the Barabel was certain that it would prove to be a legitimate concern for the girl, but otherwise a nearly groundless fear.
Talon felt a lot of pressure being applied to her leg just above her knee, and she opened her eyes to see the boy using a strip that he'd torn from his robe along with the hilt of his lightsaber to make a tourniquet to stop the bleeding.
"Just keep on hanging tough. Soon as the healers get here, they'll get you fixed up and ready to get back in training in no time." The boy told her with a grin.
"That's some good work, Selar. I'm glad to see that someone's kept a clear head through this mess! You just might turn out to be a decent Jedi yet, if you can ever learn not to carry vibro blades around." Kyle told the boy.
"Not a chance, Kyle! Once a street runner, always a street runner. Besides, that blade sure came in handy just now; and I'd hate to try slicing someone's clothes with a saber." Selar shot back with a slight snicker.
Kyle was about to say something back when he was cut short by the entry of Master Cilghal and a pair of medical droids.
"I don't think this is the proper time for jokes, especially when the injury is as potentially crippling as that one is." Cilghal rumbled ominously after taking one quick glance at Talon's leg.
"Sorry Master Cilghal, but she's so scared that I thought I'd try to take her mind off of this." Selar apologized sincerely.
"With any other patient, that might help, and it was a good try, but next time you should try getting to know the patient better, before resorting to humor. Come by the infirmary tomorrow, and I'll give you a few pointers on proper first aid since you seem to be a fair hand at it. I might be able to put your talents to use." The Mon Cal Jedi instructed lightly to let the boy know that he'd actually done a good job.
Selar flashed a brilliant smile as he grabbed his vibro blade and left the training room.
Cilghal knelt down next to Talon on her left side, which was the spot that had just been vacated by Selar and unslung her medical case. Opening the case, she got out a small medical sensor which had a built in ground penetrating sonar which was excellent for use in resetting broken bones. As she moved towards Talon to set the sensor up, Talon tried to press her self further back into the wall, and all three Jedi felt the wave of fear escalate into terror.
"I'll… I'll go away. I'll do anything… Anything you want. Just let me leave… I'll go away and I won't ever come back… I'll do whatever you want, just don't... Don't kill me… I don't… I don't want to die." Talon begged the healer desperately.
Both of the Jedi kneeling next to the girl froze, while at the same time, Kyle felt the blood drain from his face as he heard the terror and sheer desperation in the girl's pleading. Before any of them could react to what had been said, they were cut off.
"Leia, will you please try to calm her down before she sends half the population of Corruscant into a panic?" Luke asked as he followed his sister into the training room.
Leia eased past Kyle and knelt down between Saba and Cilghal. She didn't say anything as she took the sensor from the healer and aimed it at her arm. Flipping the activation stud, Leia angled the sensor so that Talon could see the small screen.
"It's just a sensor Talon. It can't hurt you. All it's for is to let Cilghal see what's happening inside your leg so she can fix it." Leia told her.
"Why in the blazes would she think that we were going to kill her?" Kyle demanded after he recovered from the pure shock of the situation.
Leia turned to gape at the shocked Jedi Master before turning her attention back to Talon.
"You've seen that happen to someone else, haven't you?" Leia asked Talon softly.
Talon nodded her head in answer, and was about to try to plead for her life again, when Leia put the sensor down, and took both of her hands and held them.
Leia closed her eyes for a split second as she took a deep breath to gather her thoughts and composure. Then she opened her eyes and looked straight into Talon's gold colored ones.
"We don't do that here Talon. An injury is not something to be killed for. Do you think we would kill you if you had lost one of your hands?" Leia asked her after getting an idea.
Not knowing anything about her, Kyle was thoroughly surprised when Talon nodded her head. He got another shock when he realized that he was the only one there who was surprised by that answer.
"Well, I'm living proof that Jedi don't do things like that." Luke said as he started pulling the glove off of his right hand. It didn't take him long to figure out where his sister was going with this, and he knew that the longer it took to gain the girl's cooperation, the more likely it was that infection might set in.
Luke pulled his sleeve back and held out his right hand where Talon could see it easily. Then he used a pair of pressure points on each side of his wrist to open a maintenance panel in the wrist just above his palm.
"I was only a few years older than you are now, when I lost my hand after getting hit by a lightsaber. It was my first time against a real opponent, and I wasn't as ready as I thought I was. They couldn't put my hand back on, so they built me one. It works pretty good doesn't it?" Luke asked her in a rueful but joking tone in an attempt to get his point across while wiggling the fingers of the mechanical hand.
Talon gaped at Luke in shock. Her gaze kept leaping back and forth between the Jedi's face and his mechanical hand. Finally she pulled her left hand free from Leia's grip and reached out to pull the strange appendage closer for a better look.
Luke smiled in genuine amusement as Talon examined the open panel and his fingers. He watched in silence as Talon looked for some kind of scar or seam to see where the hand was attached to his arm. When the girl went to make a curious poke at the center of the palm, Luke flexed his fingers and caught her hand. He couldn't help but chuckle when Talon jumped. Letting go of the girl's hand, Luke reached out and closed the panel, before putting his glove back on.
"So you see Talon, if Cilghal can't fix your leg, then she'll get the medical droids to build a new one for you." Leia told the terrified girl as her brother once again concealed his prosthetic.
Talon tried to swallow the lump of fear that had knotted in her throat, and looked into Leia's eyes pleadingly.
"So, I... I'm not a waste of time and resources?" She asked in a disbelieving whisper.
Of the four Jedi Masters and one Jedi Knight present, only one of them wasn't too stunned to speak, and that one, was not just surprised, but also enraged by the implications of the girl's words.
Saba bared her sharp teeth and sissed angrily, and even as Talon flinched away from her rage, the Barabel spoke.
"This one wants you to listen very carefully. There are only Jedi here, and Jedi help and protect each other. Jedi also protect those that can not protect themselvez. That is never a waste of anything! By staying here with us, you are choosing to be trained az a Jedi; to become a Jedi. That meanz we will protect you, even if we die while doing so. You are here, az a Jedi, which meanz that you are no longer alone in this universe, Little One." Saba finished gently though she had started out with anger in her tone.
Talon stared at the reptilian Jedi in stark disbelief. She could feel the Jedi's anger, but at the same time she could also sense that the Jedi truly meant every last word of what she had said.
"What Master Sebatyne says is true Talon, and while I wouldn't have put it quite that way, it doesn't make what she said any less true. I want to help you right now, by mending your leg, but I can't help you unless you let me." Cilghal told the girl.
Talon looked over at the Mon Cal Jedi trying to read her intentions. This proved to be nearly impossible for her because these Jedi didn't use or even seem to have the same emotions that her Sith Masters had. It was all so confusing. How was she supposed to know what they wanted from her, when she couldn't tell what their feelings were?
"What do you want me to do?" She asked nervously.
"First, I want you to relax while I do something to deal with the rest of that pain you're in." Cilghal instructed as she prepared an anesthetic injection. "Then, I'm going to have to do something that will most likely hurt more than anything you've ever felt in your life. Most beings prefer to be asleep when these kinds of things are done, so they don't have to feel that pain. Do you want to go to sleep so you don't feel it?"
"Why will it hurt so much?" Talon whispered.
"Because I'll have to pull on your leg, and the broken bones will scrape together when I do, but I can't fix your leg with the bones sticking out like that. I'll be using the sensor unit to know when they are properly positioned and then the Force to speed up the healing." Cilghal answered.
Seeing the expression on the girl's face, Cilghal knew that there was no way that Talon would accept a general anesthetic. She also knew from what had been said that Talon had no real reason to believe that she would ever wake up again. She realized that after what the girl had been through, Talon had valid reasons not to trust anyone, and so far, no one had done anything to earn any trust from her. With this in mind, Cilghal made some quick decisions.
"Saba, I'll need you to come around to this side and hold her leg still. This is really going to hurt and she won't be able to stop herself from trying to pull away, and if that happens, it will likely cause more damage. You'll need to hold her firmly but carefully; we don't need to add to her injuries. Leia, I want you to try to keep her calm and as still as possible. I want to get this leg set before we try to move her to the infirmary." Cilghal instructed.
It only took a few seconds for the two Jedi to get into their positions. Talon watched apprehensively as the Barabel got a firm grip on her injured leg. Saba was careful not to use her claws which were sharp enough to rend flesh easily. Leia also watched until she saw that the healer was ready.
"Talon, I need you to look at me for a second so I can tell you something." Leia instructed to distract the girl.
As soon as Talon looked away from what she was doing, Cilghal pulled hard but slowly and steadily. Talon's eyes flew wide as the shock of the pain registered, and her mouth dropped open while she gasped in pain.
"Go ahead and cry or scream if you need to Talon, I know it hurts." Leia told her as calmly as she could manage.
Talon had tensed when the shockingly intense pain hit her, and she did want to scream, but there was one thing she knew she could do to get away from it. In desperation, she used the method that she had stumbled on during the second time she was punished for leaving her training weapons behind; she let the Force take her mind as she fled her body and the incredible pain it held.
Luke was observing the girl's treatment interestedly. He'd received some training in field medicine during his time in the rebellion, but this was the first time he'd ever seen an injury like this in someone so young. He'd been sure that the girl would cry or scream if she didn't pass out entirely when the necessary treatment was performed. He saw the girl tense and knew that she did want to scream, but then he got a shock of a different nature when he could have sworn that he felt her rejoin the Force.
All of the Jedi froze when Talon let herself start to drift within the Force. To each one of them it felt exactly as if she'd just died. Only the slow but steady rise and fall of the girl's chest gave away the fact that Talon was still alive; otherwise there was no reaction from her.
"Kriffing stang! Did she just . . ." Kyle started to ask until he saw that she was still breathing.
Instead of trying to answer that half question, Luke reached out with the Force and tried to detect the girl's presence. He was relieved to sense a small link that still connected the girl's mind to her physical body, but her consciousness had flown elsewhere in the vast energy of the Force.
"Finish what you need to do Cilghal. She left at least some type of connection to her body, so I think she'll come out of it when you get done; at least I hope that she will." Luke informed the healer.
"Where did she learn to do that? I don't even want to think about how it felt when she did . . . whatever that is!" Kyle muttered more to himself than anyone else.
"I'm not sure where she could have learned to do that. It's not a technique that I've ever heard of, but I suspect that it's something she might have developed as a defensive mechanism to intense pain." Luke answered.
"Actually, this isn't the first time she's done this. She used this or a similar method during her escape from Korriban. Somehow she's able to give herself completely to the Force and let it take total control. From experiencing it through her memories, I know that it was an act of almost pure desperation." Leia spoke up.
"Hmmm. If that really is the case, then someone will have to look into this at a later time. Losing oneself in the Force like that can be dangerous, and could possibly cause her to fully rejoin the Force. Someone should summon the council members together for a meeting. You may need to be there as well Leia. You're the only one here that really knows much about her, and given what little we do know; it's obvious that she can't be turned over to someone who's not familiar with her past." Luke said thoughtfully.
"I can't argue with that. If I'd known how good she is with a saber, none of this would have happened." Kyle replied.
"Speaking of which; can you explain how this did happen? I gave strict instructions that she wasn't to engage in any strenuous activities for a week, until her bones regain their proper strength." Cilghal wanted to know as she finished setting the broken bones.
"I told her that. Last I know; she was still sitting in the lounge with a cup of caf." Leia said.
"I didn't have anything to do, so I rounded up the students that were in the rec room and the lounge to give them some saber training. She was still there with the caf. I thought that she was meditating, but now that I think about it, she might have been doing the same thing she's doing now. Anyway, I after I got the others squared away; I asked her if she'd been issued a training saber yet. She said no, and I let her pick one out. She gave it a couple of quick moves to test the balance, and I kind of jokingly asked her if she'd handled something like that before. She said yes and. No; wait. That's not right, she never really did say much of anything; she would just nod her head or something unless she had to speak to answer me. Anyway, I brought her over here, and told her to attack me. Then she surprised me by asking what form I wanted her to use. I basically told her to take her pick, and she did. She dropped into a classic Ataru stance and came at me with a really nasty high speed combo that scared me right out of my wits. That and the fact that there was more power behind her attacks than even Lobacca can deliver. Cilghal, I swear to you, I would never have Force pushed her into that wall otherwise, but I completely forgot that we were using training sabers, and that it was only supposed to be a training session. I might have expected something like that from Luke. If he were in a really bad mood maybe. But there was no way that I would have suspected that someone her age would have saber skills like that." Kyle explained as thoroughly as he could.
Leia sighed heavily as she thought about what she could have done to prevent this from happening.
"It's not your fault Kyle. As far as she was concerned, it probably would have been a case of getting punished by you then, or me later. Sith instructors weren't too keen on disobedience, and given that she was raised to be terrified of Jedi to begin with, and well; you get the picture." Leia responded.
"Yeah, I do. All too clearly, and it's not a very pretty one. But just to try to put this in perspective, can someone fill me in on just how good her saber skills really are?" Kyle asked ruefully.
"I can't speak for any one else, but I plan on taking at least a few lessons from her." Luke said with a slight grin.
"Oh great! Now I don't know whether to feel guilty or relieved." Kyle muttered after staring at the former Grand Master for a few seconds.
"You shouldn't be feeling guilty, Kyle, because this was not your fault! I placed her on restricted activity for good reason. Right now, the strength of her own musculature has sufficient potential to cause a broken bone. She's endured a constant state of starvation and malnutrition which has not only stunted her growth and hindered her normal physical development, but also weakened her skeletal structure. Any strenuous activity on her part could potentially place her in a bacta tank for several days." Cilghal told him as she began wrapping the girl's leg in strips of bacta cloth to cover the wounds where the bones had been forced through the skin.
"Is her condition really that serious?' Leia asked in concern.
"Oh yes! If it weren't for her emotional state; I'd have dropped her in a bacta tank as soon as I found out about it, but for right now, activity restrictions combined with some compassion, and counseling are far more important. Even without the bacta tank, there are treatments that will help so that her bones can gain normal strength in a week or two. Her state of mind is going to be the more difficult problem." The healer replied as she finished up.
"Do you want this one to carry the girl to the infirmary?" Saba asked.
"Not just yet, Saba. I want to give her a few bacta injections to help seal those wounds before we release that tourniquet. Then we can move her to the infirmary." Cilghal replied.
Saba didn't say anything in reply, but instead began carefully searching through the Force, looking for any trace of the girl's presence. The reptilian Jedi Master reluctantly gave up when she could find nothing of the girl nearby and not knowing where to search within the boundless energy of the Force, she knew that she most likely wouldn't be able to find any trace of her without knowing the girl better.