Jedi Adept: A Path in the Dark - Ch. 6

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Tionne Solusar pulled her hair back and tied it into a knot at the base of her skull. She slowly moved down the hallway, her thoughts darkly focused on Tahiri fleeing the Jedi and subsequently disappearing from her apartment.

It hurt that Tahiri had chosen to flee the Jedi, but part of her understood her reasons. Tionne sighed as she turned the corner, and continued down the hall, her hand trailing lightly over the marble mosaic on the wall. Her fingernails clicked as they slid off each piece of marble and struck the thin line of grout.

Finally, she arrived at her destination. She stared at the simulated wood grain door, a lump forming in her throat. She had helped train hundreds, if not thousands of Jedi hopefuls, yet she found herself scared to enter this room.

To face the daughter of the Jedi that she viewed as her own daughter.

She closed her eyes, and inhaled deeply and then slowly exhaled; blowing out all the fears and the frustrations, the anxiety. Feeling more centered, she opened her eyes and looked at the door again.

Tionne knocked softly. Receiving no answer, she frowned slightly and wondered just how hurt and damaged Noelani was by the events of the past few weeks.

Punching in her Master's override, the door slid open, revealing the darkened room beyond. The rectangle of light revealed a smattering of clothes thrown haphazardly around the room, and the rumpled bed. Tionne looked around, and noticed a mound on the bed the right size and shape to be the girl.

"Noelani, I know you don't like this, but we're leaving for Ossus now."

There was no response, and she frowned again. Sighing, she walked over to the bed and pulled back the covers, revealing a deactivated dueling droid. Tionne frowned at the device, and surveyed the room one more time.

Cursing under her breath, she spun from the room, and walked out, pulling her comlink from her belt as she did so, and opening a connection to Kam.

"This is Kam."

"Kam, Noelani's missing."

"Kriff, she really is Anakin's kid," he replied. "Have you told anyone else yet?"

"No, I called you first."

His sigh was clearly audible over the weak connection. "All right, I'll be up there soon. Get a hold of Kyp and Cilghal and… and try to get Luke there as well."

"I will," she replied and snapped the comlink closed. Staring at the device for a moment, she turned and looked back at the room Noelani should have been in. Part of her wondering if this would have happened if the Council had just let Tahiri continue to train her. That part knew Tahiri would not have left the Jedi if they had.

Discovering the truth of Noelani's parentage should have been a joyous occasion. Instead, it seemed as if more pain and more misery were being heaped upon the Jedi due to it.

She frowned as she realized that Noelani's birth should have been a joyous occasion fourteen years previously, in the height of the Vong War. Feeling, unaccountably old and worn, she turned away from the empty room, and started walking towards the turbolifts.

Opening the comlink again, she called Cilghal to tell her what had happened.

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She walked through the gloom and dampness of the undercity. Hunger gnawed at her, even as her feet ached from all the walking she had done. Dark green slime coated her legs, clung to her hair and was smeared across her right cheek and forehead, placed there when she absentmindedly wiped her face hours ago.

Skittering movement flickered at the edges of her awareness, but she had long ago stopped worrying about what they were. The first twelve hours down here she had jumped every time something moved in her peripheral vision or screamed in the darkness.

Now, she didn't have the energy to do that. Her prime concern was focused on finding something to eat. The second thing she cared about was finding some clean water in which to wash the gunk off of her body and clothes.

In that daze she walked, ignoring her surroundings, ignoring the flickers of warning from the Force.

Which meant that when she was attacked her guard was lowered, and she was unprepared for it. Out of the darkness, a massive fist slammed into the side of her head.

The force of the impact knocked her from her feet, and spinning, she fell hard onto the ground. She slid forward, and into a pool of black sludge which splattered onto her face.

A surge of adrenaline shocked awareness of her surroundings back into her. Sputtering, she lifted her head from the puddle, and felt a flicker of warning in the Force.

She rolled to the right, just as a pair of feet slammed down into the spot where her back had been moments before.

Looking up, she saw a nightmare staring at her. She opened her mouth to scream, but only a weak whimper emerged. She guessed that at one time it had been human, but years of pain and depravations had stripped it of any semblance of humanity.

Then she noticed the yorik coral sprouting all along the creature, granting it a hard carapace like appearance.

Shocked at the hideous appearance, she merely stared as its clawed hands reached out and grabbed her shoulders, lifting her off of her feet. She whimpered as the thing pulled her forward and sniffed at her.

Then its tongue slicked out and licked her. She felt the cold, clammy tongue slid up her face; felt the jagged scratches of coral that were sprouting from its tongue in two places.

She squeezed her eyes shut tightly, the fear a heavy knot in her stomach, souring it as she fought to keep from throwing up.

Then she was thrown over his shoulder, a motion which brought realization back to her. She had no idea what he had planned for her, and had no desire in finding out either. Reaching down to her belt, she grabbed her saber and ignited it.

With a snap-hiss the blade flared into existence. The bright light of the blade hurt her eyes after so many hours in the dim light of the undercity.

The creature yelped in surprise, and dropped her.

Screaming, she slashed forward with her blade, and with a sickening thunk one of the creature's arms fell to the ground.

It howled in pain, and turned from her, fleeing into the darkness.

She dropped to the ground, sitting there in the sludge and slime, staring off into the distance. Finally, she deactivated her blade, and let it slip from her fingers. It clattered to the ground, echoing loudly in the close confines of the undercity.

Then she put her face into her hands, and began to cry.

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Jacen yanked off his helmet, his anger flaring brightly as he stared at Tahiri. Calmly, the young Jedi slowly removed the pieces of her pressure suit. Her eyes were glazed over and distant as she frowned. For a moment, he wondered what she was thinking, how her actions could have impacted his plans.

Then he pushed those concerns from his mind, and savored the taste of his anger. Felt the burn of power which it granted him. He turned on the young blond and snarled.

"Kriff Tahiri, are you a karking idiot? Didn't I tell you that we couldn't change anything?"

She did not respond, merely continued to stare off into the distance, her mouth slowly moving.

His anger flared brighter. He slapped her face, hard.

Her head snapped to the side, her body tensing with the sudden movement. Slowly, her head turned back towards him. He noticed a line of bright, red blood at the corner of her mouth as her lips compressed into a thin tight line. Her eyes were hard chips of frozen viridian.

Her voice was low, guttural, as much Yuuzhan Vong as Tusken Raider. "Don’t you ever, ever, kriffing touch me again."

Jacen stared into her hard eyes, and kept a tight reign on his emotions, refusing to let the joy at seeing her like this to be seen. "Then answer me. What were you thinking? I told you that we couldn't change anything."

Her lips pulled back into a snarl, as she jerked a thumb at her chest. "That doesn't matter to me, Jacen. Besides, we didn't change anything. Anakin's still dead."

He stared hard at her for a moment and in disgust ran his hand through his hair, pulling on it for a moment. "That doesn't matter Tahiri. We changed the past. We don't know what waves that will create in the present."

Tahiri watched him her eyes flickering across his face, and then she turned away from him. "I… I know. I just… I couldn't not kiss him again. I couldn't. Don't you understand?"

For a split second a smile crossed his face. Perfect. "I, I do understand Tahiri, and I'm sorry for slapping you. It's just that you were lost in your own world, and we needed to talk about it. Especially if you want to do something like this again."

Her head snapped back towards him, her eyes wide and shocked; her hair whipping around her head. "Again?"

"Yes. Again," he replied with a small smile. "You do want to go again, don't you?"

She began chewing on her lips, as her eyes glazed over, taking on that far away look once again. "Yes… Yes, I want to go see him again."

"Good," he said cheerfully, then he leveled his finger at her, and jabbed her on her shoulder. "But next time you have got to listen to what I tell you. Do you understand me?"

Slowly her head moved up and down, as she chewed on her lips. "Yeah… yes."

He watched her, as she worked through her emotions and thoughts. Finally, after a few more minutes, she focused on him once again. Some of the coldness had left her eyes, replaced by wariness.

"What's in it for you?" she asked.

His lips twisted into a grin. "I need a helper."

Her eyebrows twitched, as if she were trying to keep a frown off of her face. "A… a helper?"

Nodding, he stepped into the cockpit of the shuttle, and dropped into the pilot's seat. With practiced ease, he began inputting the coordinates for the rendezvous with the Anakin Solo. He heard the whisper of her feet on the bare metal deck, and replied to her question. "Yes, a helper. Ben's fairly… useless to me as he is still grieving for his Mother, so I need someone else here with the Guard to help me."

He looked up from the Navicomputer to watch her slide into the seat next to him. For a second he admired how she moved; the compactness of motion, perfect poise for a scrapper like her. He opened himself up to the Force, and touched her presence. Her emotions and Force presence were locked up tight as she chewed on her lower lip. "What exactly do you need from me?"

"I need you to learn from me," he replied as he turned back to the viewport. "I need you to lead my men; to carry out my orders. Basically, I need you to replace Ben."

"You… you want me to be your apprentice, don't you?"

He felt his heart skip a beat, surprised at her insight. He arched an eyebrow as he turned to face her. "What makes you say that?"

She slowly shook her head. "You want me to replace Ben. Isn't that what you're offering?"

He watched her for a moment; wondering if she suspected his true identity. "You're a Jedi Knight. What do I have to teach you?"

"Flow-walking."

It took all his control and will power to keep the frown off of his face.

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