The Darkening: Chapter Four

To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket- safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.

"Hey quick! Someone play some Jys!"

Jysella's face burns as the girls laughter echoes through the hall. She turns around to look at the group of girls walking up behind her, noting the sneer on Kai's face. Kai looks towards the girl on her right, a young blonde human named Keira Mirand. "Oh, look, Jys is getting upset. We better not upset her; don't want a Dark Jedi running around."

Jysella's closes her eyes and feels as her fists clench. She takes a deep breath, as Kai's taunting words come at her from the darkness. "Oh, I'm scared! Jysella is going to hit me again. Come on, why not try telekinesis?"

Merida chimes in at this point. "That's mean Kai, you know she's a clipped mynock of a Jedi, barely able to lift a pebble."

Jysella spins away as the girls once more start laughing at her. As she rounds the corner, she wipes away the tears that had started to flow, even as the laughter echoes down the hall after her. She ducks into one of the training rooms, expecting it to be empty at this time of day, and draws up short when she notices two people in it. In awe, she watches as they fight one another, their blades moving at breakneck speeds.

Then she notices that there are also training remotes activated, randomly firing stingers at either of the two duelists. As she watches dumbstruck, she slowly recognizes who these two are: Ben Skywalker and Jacen Solo. She had heard that their duels were spectacular things to watch, but she had always put the rumors up as rhetoric. Watching them now, she realizes just how wrong she was in that assumption.

Finally with a quick flick of the wrist, Jacen disarms Ben, and has his blade at the younger man's throat. "Kill point."

Jacen shuts down his saber, and helps his apprentice up, and then as one they turn towards Jysella who is still watching them, an awed expression painted on her face. Jacen smiles at her. "Good morning Jysella, did you enjoy our match?"

Startled out of her reverie, she quickly nods her head. "It was amazing."

"Good, because that means it's your turn."

Her eyes widen slightly in surprise. "What?"

Jacen laughs at her question. "It's your turn. You get to fight a duel with Ben. He's become a little too use to my style of fighting. It would be good for him to practice against someone else, and since you're here…" Jacen lets his speech fade off as he continues to watch her, his intent stare making her slightly uncomfortable.

"Okay, I'll do it." Then he smiles at her, and she can feel shivers run up and down her back.

She quickly removes her outer cloak and then steps into the center of the room with Ben there before her. She notices his slightly heavy breathing, and the way he is standing and moving, favoring his right leg. She bows to him, and he does the same thing, then she takes a step back as they both ignite their sabers.

As she watches Ben circle her, she wonders exactly how she is expected to beat him, after all, he is the son of Master Skywalker. Then he lunges in, his saber coming directly at her.

Stepping to the side, she swings her saber, connecting with his, knocking him off-balance. She counter-attacks and he dances out of the way, not bothering to parry her blow.

She feels a surge of frustration and anger as she realizes that he's not taking the duel with her seriously. She takes a step back, and lowers her blade to a low guard, one that starts at her hips and points towards her toes. As she starts to slide to the left, she notices Ben's gaze watching her, trying to figure out what she is planning. Then she can feel the feather-light touches in the Force, as he caresses her mind, trying to find her plan.

Then with a smile, she slams her mental shields against his probe, sending a backlash of energy to him. Ben stumbles back and winces at the sudden headache that appears as she knocks his mental probe aside. When she sees that wince, she moves forward fast, her blade coming up from its low guard in a fast attack.

Ben gets his blade up just in time to parry her blow, but she has already released that blow and has ducked. Spinning around in her crouch, she knocks his feet from beneath him, dumping him to the floor.

She stands back up and darts forward to get the kill point when a wave of Force energy pulses out towards her, throwing her back. She feels herself drop her saber and mutters a curse under her breath. Then she lands on the training mat, four or so meters from Ben. Standing she can feel a twinge in her shoulder and ribs as she looks around for her saber.

She finally catches sight of it, over near the training remotes and she dashes that way, just as Ben once more stands up. She dives and grabs a hold of her saber, just as it has started to shake, for a second she is worried that it will be ripped from her hands by his mental summons, but he finally relents and starts walking towards her.

She reignites her saber, and notices the playful light that has appeared in his eyes. Her eyebrow quirks at that as she wonders just what he is thinking, and then his saber is flickering towards her, and she has to sidestep and parry to deflect the blade out of the way in time.

She attacks with a half-hearted feint, which he doesn't fall for, and then she takes a step back, wondering what to do next. Ben steps in and attacks with a low to high slice, and Jysella twists her blade around to deflect it.

As the blades are about to meet, Ben drops his blade, and whirls around her, ending up behind her, one arm wrapped around her waist, holding her tightly against him, his saber up under her neck. For a second, she wonders just what had happened, and as she played the last scene over in her mind, she recognizes his feint, and how his body was already moving around her when she went to parry his attack. She shivers as his voice is warm against her ear. "Kill point."

A frown flickers across her face, as Ben releases her. It almost feels like he is reluctant to do so. They both look up towards Jacen as he walks over to them. "You both did really well. Jysella that was a nice mental attack when Ben probed you; but you allowed yourself to get distracted at the end."

She can feel herself start to blush both due to Jacen's praise and his intent stare. "Thank you." She steps away from the two, as she hears Jacen's voice again, this time directed at Ben. "You underestimated your opponent didn't you?"

"Yes, Master."

She turns around, and sees the blush that is creeping up on Ben's face, and stifles a giggle. Ben catches her looking at him and smiles at her again. It is a warm, happy smile which Jysella is glad to return as she rushes from the room.

She finds herself in one of the many courtyard gardens scattered throughout the temple, and sits down on one of the benches, playing over in her mind what had just happened.

"You forgot this."

Jumping slightly, she looks over her shoulder to see Jacen holding out her cloak. She smiles up at him. "Oh thanks!"

He sits down on the bench next to her, causing her to wonder what is happening. Stretching out with the Force she is somewhat shocked by his nervousness. "I was wondering if I could take you to dinner sometime?"

Startled, she turns and looks at him. "Are you asking me on a date?"

To her surprise, Jacen begins to blush slightly as he nods his head. "Oh. Uhm. Okay, I'd love to. When?"

"Tonight?"

She smiles as he stands up and bows. "I will see you tonight then." Then he walks away from her, leaving her wondering just what has happened. Neither of them sees Ben standing in the shadows as he watches the two of them. Then like a phantom he slips further into the darkness and disappears.

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Corran is walking past Jysella's room when an odd red glow attracts his attention. Stopping, and taking a step back, he looks into her room, and notices the odd box sitting on her bed. He walks over to it, picking it up as the glyphs on its sides start glowing red. With a start he realizes that he has seen these glyphs before, in a temple on Yavin 4. As he goes to drop the box, a red mist streams out and wraps around him.

Corran drops the box back on the bed, as he starts to cough and choke on the red mist. Falling to his hands and knees, the mist contracts around him; seeping into his skin through his pores, entering his mouth and nose, until it is all gone. With a final cough, his eyes open, and they flash yellow with red flecks for a second, before settling back into their customary green.

Standing, he sees nothing out of place, and walks from the room, deciding that the red glow he had noticed moments before was nothing but a figment of his imagination.