Star Wars fanfiction
This has been underway for a while now. Some of you knew about it. This is the most up-to-date version, and I'm going to try not to change this chapter any more... unless it's just necessary. I finally picked names for the father and daughter, so they are no longer ___(short blank) and ____(long blank), respectively. Ummm... any questions or comments or whatever are quite welcome... If you don't want to read this because of its length...
...
...
TOUGH!
XD
(just realized I am in serious need of a Star Wars icon)
A little shadow moved through the night. Although barely able to see, he ran quickly through the trees. His heart raced with his feet, and the foliage stung him as he ran. Behind him, red lights followed menacingly. He didn't know where he was going, but he had to keep moving. He knew he was going faster than his feet had ever carried him before, and he leapt over obstacles that boys twice his age would've hesitated at. Those pursuers drove him to flight he had not previously accomplished. Regardless, though, of the obstacles he hurdled, they remained on his heels. He knew they could overtake him, but they were toying with him. He heard their laughter in his mind such as he had never heard before. Three of them, though he couldn't look back, he could feel behind him. He knew he had to keep moving toward whatever his instincts were pushing him to: some vague feeling ahead of him different from the ones behind.
Then, suddenly, he felt calm. He knew his eyes must have been lying to him, but he swore that an amber light sprang to life before him. So struck by what he accredited to his imagination, he fell to the ground. He looked up in time to see the new light launch into the air and come to the ground between him and the three from which he fled. The lights hummed and clashed, flying through the air as if in some ancient and deadly dance. Then, for the first time, it dawned on him that these were beings. Instead of abstract, featureless lights, he saw his aggressors as sentient creatures wielding beams of light as if they were vibro-blades or some kind of ancient swords. The power with which they fought filled him with fear and awe.
As he watched, the crimson glow faded one by one until only the yellow remained. Its creature now held it by his side, and began to approach the boy. The light disappeared with a hissing snap, and all fell to darkness.
---------------------
Blinding light stole him from his dreams. He instinctively threw his arm up to shield his eyes from the powerful glow panel on the ceiling above him. A blanket was tangled up about his feet, strewn about him just enough to maintain his dignity with this familiar presence in the room. His other arm reached for a more-friendly lamp, and upon its activation, the ceiling-mounted light was extinguished. The functionality of his eyelids regained, he let his arm fall above his head onto his pillow, and he let the feeling of this new person settle in his mind. The genuine happiness he felt emanating from his friend warmed his heart as his mind followed her presence across the room to sit on the foot of his bed. She placed something warm and metallic in his hand, and he instantly knew what had put her in such a good mood. He opened his eyes and held the communicator up in front of his face and looked it over.
"So, this is what you've been so excited about all this time?"
"Yes," she exclaimed, snatching it from his hands, "It's the new Galacti-Comm H-7900! It's only the latest in communicator technology. It can take high-res holograms in still- and motion-capture of up to two hours. It's got all the standard features like text messaging, voice-activation, a programmable transmitter, and the new vital-monitoring sensors that alert the nearest medical center in an emergency. It even keeps up with scores on your favorite sports, if you're into that sort of thing."
"All of that in such a small machine?"
"Yah-huh."
"Impressive."
"I've already programmed your number in," she said as her new plaything stole her attention. He pulled his old, beat-up communicator out of the drawer in his nightstand, held it up and squinted intently at it. He pushed a few buttons then asked for her new comm-ID. The device slid across his nightstand and came to rest against the glow lamp.
"Has that old thing even got text messaging?"
"Probably not," he said, giving it a sidelong glance. "I'd be surprised if it had voice messaging."
She glanced at it, held an expression that bordered pity and disgust, then began pressing buttons on her new H-7900. "Father wanted to talk to you," she said without looking up. "Something to do with the nerf."
He closed his eyes and thought for a moment. "I felt something strange last night, but I wrote it off as a stomach ache." He paused and looked at his teacher's daughter. "It just felt too big to be another saber cat."
"Let's hope it was just a stomach ache, then. You don't give your feelings enough credit."
A moment of silence eased by. She stopped pressing buttons, and he continued watching her.
"The nerf seem to like your new feeding system."
At that her eyes lit up. "Really?"
"Yeah," he confirmed. "Visualize a bunch of adolescent females at a snack kiosk." She smiled widely. "They chatter and eat and chatter some more." He paused and smiled back at her. "They've never been so noisy."
"So," she asked, "what do you think is causing the trouble?"
---------------------
"Hi, dad," Laina said absently as she navigated from a corridor into the dining room without looking up from her new communicator. Conor looked up from where he sat at the head of the table and watched his daughter enter the room with his pupil in tow.
"Lothion," he said, addressing his student, "we have business to discuss." Lothion sat down to his right and Laina took her seat on the left. "I expect you already know the matters at hand."
"Yes, sir. I felt it last night." Conor gave him a look that expected an explanation. "It felt too big to be real. I thought my mind was playing tricks on me."
"Your mind isn't what speaks to you, Lothion," he said sternly before his pupil had drawn breath following his last statement. "How can I get that into your head? The Force doesn't play tricks."
"I'll find out what it is, sir." He rose and turned toward the door, gesturing at a black cloak and an intricate cylinder colored silver and black. The items drifted to him from across the room at his command.
"Lote," Laina said as the door slid open, "be careful, mmkay?" His hard expression softened with her plea, and he placed in her mind a feeling of comfort and warmth similar to what he had felt earlier that morning. Her muscles relaxed under his ability, and she nearly melted in her chair.
---------------------
Humid air enveloped him the moment the door had opened, and now that he was standing out in it, he almost felt like he could crawl back into bed and sleep for a few more hours. The fragrances of morning were strong and persuasive. He yawned loudly and pulled his cloak closely around him as he navigated along the smooth stones that marked the path to the pasture.
His senses made him aware of all the life around him. Small, skittish animals darted from tree to tree in a tireless search for nuts and other good things to eat. From high perches, birds patiently watched the ground for insects while singing in a cheerful chorus. Even the vegetation pulsed with a life all its own that, even with the Force, couldn't be understood. All in all, the entire hike to the herd was incredibly peaceful and relaxing. He never could have expected that the presence of life and nature could be so comforting.
Life had been so mad since his caretaker had decided he was old enough to start learning about his inherited powers. The unusual nature of his training had been explained to him the day it had begun. Someone devoid of the power himself had previously taught no Jedi of the Force, and thus both would have to work that much more diligently. From that day on, his teacher guided him through a program abandoned by the distant Jedi Council for its neglect of the guidance they believed was necessary and could only be supplied by the hand of a Jedi Knight. It was perfect for him and his teacher, though.
Living with the Force had its moments of chaos, but as he moved through the lightly wooded pasture he was fully aware of the rewards that he had been given. Life surrounded him, flowed through him and spoke to him. Out of all the things in the galaxy that he could have become, this, he felt, was the most perfect.
As he proceeded through the trees, he felt the herd ahead of them. They felt nervous and shaken: his mentor had been right. He exited the woods at Laina’s feeding device and found himself surrounded by many scattered pools of blood and bits of carnage. Only a few broken bones remained of the prey that had been taken by whatever beast came through the previous night. The nerf were nearby, probably huddled into a circle, desperate to avoid the transgressions they had witnessed. Some hadn’t slept, and they all seemed tired. He reached for his communicator then realized that he had left it at his bedside table. He would have to get someone to come clean up the mess when he got back to the house.
His feelings would have to guide him now. He scanned the horizon, not relying on his eyes, but the Force. Aside from the nerf, he could find nothing that he searched for: there were no beacons to lead him in the right direction. He walked to the pinnacle of the nearest hill and surveyed the land before him. Hills surrounded him like waves in an ocean as far as his eyes could see. He could see the nerf to the east of the feeder, and he stretched out his senses to feel them. They had caught his scent and begun to move toward him, and he watched them approach. It was then that he spotted the predator creeping over the hills toward the herd. To his dismay, two more approached the herd from different directions, leaving them surrounded. They were lizard-like reptiles, about the height of a man, and many times longer, and they closed on their prey quickly.
He ran for the nerf as quickly as he could, monitoring the minds of the hill dragons to be sure they didn’t notice him until it was too late. The silver-and-black cylinder was in his hand as his legs moved faster than humanly possible. His cloak played in the wind behind him as he was launched in the air toward the closest reptile. It swung its long body around as the black figure descended from the sky wielding a shaft of purple, humming lightning, and it opened its jaws to rend the flesh from his bones. He landed to the creature’s right, splitting its jaw from its skull and slicing its gullet from the back of its neck with his lightsaber. The creature writhed on the ground, its blood sizzling and dripping from the quickly-cauterized opening where its neck had been. He stood erect and faced the two remaining predators. They moved to flank this new, more formidable prey that now held his weapon down at his right side. The dragons watched him intently, their reptilian bodies squirming constantly. The one to his left lunged at him, and in a fluid motion he brought his saber around in an uppercut, cleaving it in two from its breast to the tip of its snout. Before it fell to the ground, the final creature leapt at the Jedi’s back, pinning him to the ground. Its heavy body held him down, and sharp claws tore into his sides and legs. His mind filled with fear and his skin felt as if it were on fire. To his surprise, the creature then released him and snarled defensively, treating him as if he had suddenly become some larger enemy. Lote pushed himself up and sized up his opponent. It acted hurt, and its underbelly looked as if it had been burned. As he stood, blood poured down his legs from the wounds, and the creature filled him with anger. His mind centered on its vitals; breathing, heartbeat, nerve impulses. He felt them all racing with primal instincts, and he felt power over them. He squeezed them slowly, tightly, and felt them weaken and fade until they had altogether disappeared.
---------------------
Lothion opened his eyes and watched the embers flicker across the charred ground that marked his victims' pyre. He noticed the brilliant star on the horizon, slowly eclipsing his side of the planet in darkness. With a thought, the remnants of flame were extinguished, and he stood, swinging his cloak from his lap onto his shoulders. His saber leapt from its resting place on the ground at his feet to his hand at his side. He felt the nerf still uneasy and hiding behind a nearby hill. Their fear wouldn't begin to subside until their feeding area had been cleaned up and the reminders of their decimated herd-mates had faded from their brief memories. He tried to share some comfort with them, but he knew some pain could not be comforted.
He moved toward Laina's feeder and inspected it for damage. Finding nothing in the fading daylight, he began his march back to the ranch.
...
...
TOUGH!
XD
(just realized I am in serious need of a Star Wars icon)
A little shadow moved through the night. Although barely able to see, he ran quickly through the trees. His heart raced with his feet, and the foliage stung him as he ran. Behind him, red lights followed menacingly. He didn't know where he was going, but he had to keep moving. He knew he was going faster than his feet had ever carried him before, and he leapt over obstacles that boys twice his age would've hesitated at. Those pursuers drove him to flight he had not previously accomplished. Regardless, though, of the obstacles he hurdled, they remained on his heels. He knew they could overtake him, but they were toying with him. He heard their laughter in his mind such as he had never heard before. Three of them, though he couldn't look back, he could feel behind him. He knew he had to keep moving toward whatever his instincts were pushing him to: some vague feeling ahead of him different from the ones behind.
Then, suddenly, he felt calm. He knew his eyes must have been lying to him, but he swore that an amber light sprang to life before him. So struck by what he accredited to his imagination, he fell to the ground. He looked up in time to see the new light launch into the air and come to the ground between him and the three from which he fled. The lights hummed and clashed, flying through the air as if in some ancient and deadly dance. Then, for the first time, it dawned on him that these were beings. Instead of abstract, featureless lights, he saw his aggressors as sentient creatures wielding beams of light as if they were vibro-blades or some kind of ancient swords. The power with which they fought filled him with fear and awe.
As he watched, the crimson glow faded one by one until only the yellow remained. Its creature now held it by his side, and began to approach the boy. The light disappeared with a hissing snap, and all fell to darkness.
---------------------
Blinding light stole him from his dreams. He instinctively threw his arm up to shield his eyes from the powerful glow panel on the ceiling above him. A blanket was tangled up about his feet, strewn about him just enough to maintain his dignity with this familiar presence in the room. His other arm reached for a more-friendly lamp, and upon its activation, the ceiling-mounted light was extinguished. The functionality of his eyelids regained, he let his arm fall above his head onto his pillow, and he let the feeling of this new person settle in his mind. The genuine happiness he felt emanating from his friend warmed his heart as his mind followed her presence across the room to sit on the foot of his bed. She placed something warm and metallic in his hand, and he instantly knew what had put her in such a good mood. He opened his eyes and held the communicator up in front of his face and looked it over.
"So, this is what you've been so excited about all this time?"
"Yes," she exclaimed, snatching it from his hands, "It's the new Galacti-Comm H-7900! It's only the latest in communicator technology. It can take high-res holograms in still- and motion-capture of up to two hours. It's got all the standard features like text messaging, voice-activation, a programmable transmitter, and the new vital-monitoring sensors that alert the nearest medical center in an emergency. It even keeps up with scores on your favorite sports, if you're into that sort of thing."
"All of that in such a small machine?"
"Yah-huh."
"Impressive."
"I've already programmed your number in," she said as her new plaything stole her attention. He pulled his old, beat-up communicator out of the drawer in his nightstand, held it up and squinted intently at it. He pushed a few buttons then asked for her new comm-ID. The device slid across his nightstand and came to rest against the glow lamp.
"Has that old thing even got text messaging?"
"Probably not," he said, giving it a sidelong glance. "I'd be surprised if it had voice messaging."
She glanced at it, held an expression that bordered pity and disgust, then began pressing buttons on her new H-7900. "Father wanted to talk to you," she said without looking up. "Something to do with the nerf."
He closed his eyes and thought for a moment. "I felt something strange last night, but I wrote it off as a stomach ache." He paused and looked at his teacher's daughter. "It just felt too big to be another saber cat."
"Let's hope it was just a stomach ache, then. You don't give your feelings enough credit."
A moment of silence eased by. She stopped pressing buttons, and he continued watching her.
"The nerf seem to like your new feeding system."
At that her eyes lit up. "Really?"
"Yeah," he confirmed. "Visualize a bunch of adolescent females at a snack kiosk." She smiled widely. "They chatter and eat and chatter some more." He paused and smiled back at her. "They've never been so noisy."
"So," she asked, "what do you think is causing the trouble?"
---------------------
"Hi, dad," Laina said absently as she navigated from a corridor into the dining room without looking up from her new communicator. Conor looked up from where he sat at the head of the table and watched his daughter enter the room with his pupil in tow.
"Lothion," he said, addressing his student, "we have business to discuss." Lothion sat down to his right and Laina took her seat on the left. "I expect you already know the matters at hand."
"Yes, sir. I felt it last night." Conor gave him a look that expected an explanation. "It felt too big to be real. I thought my mind was playing tricks on me."
"Your mind isn't what speaks to you, Lothion," he said sternly before his pupil had drawn breath following his last statement. "How can I get that into your head? The Force doesn't play tricks."
"I'll find out what it is, sir." He rose and turned toward the door, gesturing at a black cloak and an intricate cylinder colored silver and black. The items drifted to him from across the room at his command.
"Lote," Laina said as the door slid open, "be careful, mmkay?" His hard expression softened with her plea, and he placed in her mind a feeling of comfort and warmth similar to what he had felt earlier that morning. Her muscles relaxed under his ability, and she nearly melted in her chair.
---------------------
Humid air enveloped him the moment the door had opened, and now that he was standing out in it, he almost felt like he could crawl back into bed and sleep for a few more hours. The fragrances of morning were strong and persuasive. He yawned loudly and pulled his cloak closely around him as he navigated along the smooth stones that marked the path to the pasture.
His senses made him aware of all the life around him. Small, skittish animals darted from tree to tree in a tireless search for nuts and other good things to eat. From high perches, birds patiently watched the ground for insects while singing in a cheerful chorus. Even the vegetation pulsed with a life all its own that, even with the Force, couldn't be understood. All in all, the entire hike to the herd was incredibly peaceful and relaxing. He never could have expected that the presence of life and nature could be so comforting.
Life had been so mad since his caretaker had decided he was old enough to start learning about his inherited powers. The unusual nature of his training had been explained to him the day it had begun. Someone devoid of the power himself had previously taught no Jedi of the Force, and thus both would have to work that much more diligently. From that day on, his teacher guided him through a program abandoned by the distant Jedi Council for its neglect of the guidance they believed was necessary and could only be supplied by the hand of a Jedi Knight. It was perfect for him and his teacher, though.
Living with the Force had its moments of chaos, but as he moved through the lightly wooded pasture he was fully aware of the rewards that he had been given. Life surrounded him, flowed through him and spoke to him. Out of all the things in the galaxy that he could have become, this, he felt, was the most perfect.
As he proceeded through the trees, he felt the herd ahead of them. They felt nervous and shaken: his mentor had been right. He exited the woods at Laina’s feeding device and found himself surrounded by many scattered pools of blood and bits of carnage. Only a few broken bones remained of the prey that had been taken by whatever beast came through the previous night. The nerf were nearby, probably huddled into a circle, desperate to avoid the transgressions they had witnessed. Some hadn’t slept, and they all seemed tired. He reached for his communicator then realized that he had left it at his bedside table. He would have to get someone to come clean up the mess when he got back to the house.
His feelings would have to guide him now. He scanned the horizon, not relying on his eyes, but the Force. Aside from the nerf, he could find nothing that he searched for: there were no beacons to lead him in the right direction. He walked to the pinnacle of the nearest hill and surveyed the land before him. Hills surrounded him like waves in an ocean as far as his eyes could see. He could see the nerf to the east of the feeder, and he stretched out his senses to feel them. They had caught his scent and begun to move toward him, and he watched them approach. It was then that he spotted the predator creeping over the hills toward the herd. To his dismay, two more approached the herd from different directions, leaving them surrounded. They were lizard-like reptiles, about the height of a man, and many times longer, and they closed on their prey quickly.
He ran for the nerf as quickly as he could, monitoring the minds of the hill dragons to be sure they didn’t notice him until it was too late. The silver-and-black cylinder was in his hand as his legs moved faster than humanly possible. His cloak played in the wind behind him as he was launched in the air toward the closest reptile. It swung its long body around as the black figure descended from the sky wielding a shaft of purple, humming lightning, and it opened its jaws to rend the flesh from his bones. He landed to the creature’s right, splitting its jaw from its skull and slicing its gullet from the back of its neck with his lightsaber. The creature writhed on the ground, its blood sizzling and dripping from the quickly-cauterized opening where its neck had been. He stood erect and faced the two remaining predators. They moved to flank this new, more formidable prey that now held his weapon down at his right side. The dragons watched him intently, their reptilian bodies squirming constantly. The one to his left lunged at him, and in a fluid motion he brought his saber around in an uppercut, cleaving it in two from its breast to the tip of its snout. Before it fell to the ground, the final creature leapt at the Jedi’s back, pinning him to the ground. Its heavy body held him down, and sharp claws tore into his sides and legs. His mind filled with fear and his skin felt as if it were on fire. To his surprise, the creature then released him and snarled defensively, treating him as if he had suddenly become some larger enemy. Lote pushed himself up and sized up his opponent. It acted hurt, and its underbelly looked as if it had been burned. As he stood, blood poured down his legs from the wounds, and the creature filled him with anger. His mind centered on its vitals; breathing, heartbeat, nerve impulses. He felt them all racing with primal instincts, and he felt power over them. He squeezed them slowly, tightly, and felt them weaken and fade until they had altogether disappeared.
---------------------
Lothion opened his eyes and watched the embers flicker across the charred ground that marked his victims' pyre. He noticed the brilliant star on the horizon, slowly eclipsing his side of the planet in darkness. With a thought, the remnants of flame were extinguished, and he stood, swinging his cloak from his lap onto his shoulders. His saber leapt from its resting place on the ground at his feet to his hand at his side. He felt the nerf still uneasy and hiding behind a nearby hill. Their fear wouldn't begin to subside until their feeding area had been cleaned up and the reminders of their decimated herd-mates had faded from their brief memories. He tried to share some comfort with them, but he knew some pain could not be comforted.
He moved toward Laina's feeder and inspected it for damage. Finding nothing in the fading daylight, he began his march back to the ranch.