To Cut the Sky: Second Phase - The Waxing Quarter (c. 7)

“Master Kero, I do not think it is a good idea.”

“Well why not?”

“She’s unstable.”

Kero smiled flatly.  “Did you discover that when she bit you or just now?”

“Don’t be funny.  You know that I’m right in this matter.”

He sighed heavily, pressing his fingertips together.  “With our numbers can we afford to throw away one so strong?” he questioned.  “Yes, she’s unstable, yes, she’s older than the rest.  But is it that much of a risk?”

The older Jedi closed his eyes for a moment, brows knitting together in thought and exasperation.  For several long minutes he was quiet, and perfectly still as he thought.  The air of the room was warm, and uncomfortably tense.  Kero, wary of breaking it, kept silent, watching Luke without moving.  They were both at it for quite a while before finally, Luke exhaled once again, and opened his eyes.

“All of your points are valid,” he said carefully “And I do want to allow her to remain here and learn.”

“Well, then-”

“But,” Luke interrupted “If she becomes a danger to us, the training will be discontinued immediately.”

The other could only nod in acceptance - it was more than he had hoped for, by far, since he too knew just how much of a danger she could become.  And it would take so little to push her that short distance - she’d already shown that when he’d accidentally walked in on her, and she’d channelled the raw fury she’d felt into sending one of her shoes at his face.  There was no way she ought to be able to have that much power, even raw and unrefined as it was.  He’d attempted to keep that little incident away from Skywalker’s attention, but the act had been caught on the security holograms, and had been flagged.  There’d been hell over that.  There’d been hell over many things.

“Who is to be her mentor?” he asked quietly.

Luke considered that.  “Hmmm...” he mused.  “I think it best that she be trained by all of us for the time being.  Once I am confident that she is...safe...I will assign her to someone.  It will depend on her reaction.”

“What do you mean?”

“Obviously I’m not going to put her with someone whom she absolutely loathes, as it would only cause more problems.” he replied.  “Nor am I likely to put her with someone she gets along with too well - I don’t want anyone becoming attached to each other when she is such a loose cannon.”

“Have you considered taking her on yourself?” he asked quietly.

“Yes, I have.” he replied, and then grinned.  “But given that she bit me I don’t think that’s the best idea.  I’d be one of those ones she loathes.”

“Well she does have a few nicknames for you.”

“Really,” he grinned wider “Such as?”

“Well, she’s called you Skywaltzer, among other things.”

Luke laughed openly, putting a hand to his forehead, and slapping his other hand to the desk.  She had a lot of character, he could give her that much.  “Oh my, she’s quite the little thing, isn’t she?”

“Indeed.  I wish you could have seen the fight that happened when we had to catch her in the Jagg complex.”

“I’m sure it was something to see.”

“Rather violent, admittedly.  But it was a sight I shall not forget.”

“Was it that disturbing?”

“When was the last time you saw the need for someone to be placed in a bacta tank for nearly a week?”

Luke flinched.  “That is bad.  Who did she do that to?”

Kero smiled weakly.  “No, that was her.”

The other winced again, and rose from his chair to wander his way over to the window and look out over the forest.  The wide expanse of endless green was comforting to his mind, and it did much to put him at ease.  “She has reason for being so negative.”

“Yes.  What...do you suggest we do now?”

“Well...from what I understand, little Kari was attempting to teach her to meditate...” he mused softly. “Find her someone to continue that teaching - she needs to learn to concentrate or there will be no point to this whatsoever.”

“I could do it.”

“I’d rather you not, but if you find no one agreeable to the task, then I’m not going to stop you.”

“Understood, Master...”

***

“No, focus.  Focus on my voice, and nothing else, and even then let everything else die away as you reach out to touch the force.”

Tara opened one eye, glaring at the thin medic knight sitting across from her.  She liked Raven, yes, but right now he was irritating her beyond all that was holy.  She wanted oh so much to beat his skull in with something-

“No.  You are distracted again.” came his annoying voice.  “Stop thinking about hitting me with hydrospanners, and clear your mind.”

Sighing in a resigned manner, she closed her eyes again, and she attempted to push everything out of her head.  Amazingly, the blankness came quickly, and she found it a bit of a relief from all the torturous thoughts that had been plaguing her mind for the last four years.  For once, she found a slight amount of peace.  She calmed, allowing herself to drift, and ignoring everything, including Raven’s voice. 

There was something nudging at her mind however, a strange presence.  No, not a presence, more of...she didn’t know how to articulate it, even in her mind, but there was something there.  Something was around her.  It was in her, as well.  And it felt...calming.  She felt like she was melting as it flowed through her mind and she simply drifted, letting it blend with her.

‘Tara...Tara...’

She frowned slightly, the annoying buzz coming back.  Go away.  Let me be, let me be free.  Let me d-

“TARA!”

She blinked, coming out of her thoughts and focussing on the annoyed expression that was plastered to the face of the rather upset Raven Slade leaning up, nearly nose to nose with her.  She stared at him, confused.  “What are you doing?”

“What am I doing?” he sputtered.  “What were you doing!”

“Focussing.”

“I said focus, not vanish!”

She cocked her head, staring at him uncertainly.  “What do you mean vanishing?”

“You dropped right out of the force!” he snapped.  “What did you do?”

“I didn’t ‘do’ anything.” she turned her face to the side, quickly becoming bored of the chastisement she was receiving for doing exactly what he’d asked her to.  He, however, wasn’t finished, and grabbed her shoulders, shaking her.

“How did you do that?”

“Let go of me!” she spat, raking a hand at his face as though she had claws, but catching him only with her fingertips in a light graze as he leaned backward to avoid the full impact.  She hissed at him, baring her teeth and leaning down as she did so, clearly indicating that she wasn’t impressed.  “Do not touch me.”

He held up his hands in an attempt to show non-aggression.  “I’m sorry.” he said quickly, but returned within seconds to the moment at hand.  “But what were you thinking?  What were you seeing in your mind?”

She just shrugged, resettling herself into the position she’d been in before, with her legs crossed and folded beneath her.  “I don’t know - a great lot of nothing, like you told me.”

“Well if you’d been doing as I asked, that wouldn’t have happened.”

Now she was becoming annoyed again.  “What in Spirits are you talking about?”

“You vanished.”

“What do you mean?”

He struggled to find an appropriate method to describe the situation.  Then it came to him.  “I couldn’t sense you in the force.”  Why had that taken him so long?  He must be getting out of practice...ah.

But she just shrugged at him again.  “I still don’t understand.  I felt nothing different.” she informed him.  “Just...” and she shook her head, declining to continue.

“What?”

“Hmm?”

“What were you going to say?  Finish.”

“It’s nothing.”

“Please.”

“I told you, it was nothing.”

“Tara, I thought you trusted me?”

“I don’t trust any of you!”

Angrily, she stood, her fists clenched.  “Just like none of you trust me!”  And with that, she turned away from him.  Flustered, and her cheeks flaming, she stomped out of the room, and the door whooshed shut behind her.  Raven just sat there staring.  He hadn’t realized that he’d been acting so harsh.  That he’d been bothering her so much.

He rose quietly, and stepped into the hallway as well.

She was nowhere in sight.