The continuing Star Wars fanfiction of the journey of an original character mentored by Ahsoka Tano – set before, during, and after Season 1.
Rating: General, Spice Level: None
Characters/Tags: Original Character, Master and Apprentice Relationships, Original Female Character, Original Jedi Character, Ahsoka Tano, Huyang
Chapter 4 – Not Alone
Kendra sat near a pine tree with a view of Fernwood and the sunrise. She shifted her attention to the resting nexu, who lay too close to the north side of town for comfort. Evan had likely seen this mother earlier. The creature nested with four nexu babies there, seemingly uninterested in Fernwood. But a hungry nexu, especially with young to feed, might go after anyone who wandered nearby.
Nexu generally nested for a few months before they packed up and moved on with the onset of summer, so at least this wouldn’t be a long-term problem for Fernwood. Kendra hoped not to be sitting out here in the heat by then.
The town of Fernwood slowly rose from its slumber with the sun. The sounds of doors shutting and children attempting to avoid chores momentarily brought Kendra’s focus back to the present. She could see most of the main road from her vantage point west of town.
A head of red hair bounced up and down north of town as Evan ran through the grass and dotted trees, singing. A warning rose in Kendra’s stomach, though the boy had some distance before reaching the rockier landscape obscured by dense trees where the nexu family lay.
Where is he going? Kendra thought.
Hopefully, he’d stop short of the danger, but Kendra would distract him if not. She’d have to make up a story for being there, but the eight-year-old probably wouldn’t ask too many questions if she gave him something else to do.
She’d visited each day for the two weeks since Edith had set her to practice guarding the town. It was boring, but it gave her time to meditate and think on the lightsaber she now carried.
Had this been Edith’s only lightsaber? Or had her master lost one or more in her many decades of service, and this was the final replacement? In her younger years, Master Edith worked in the outer rim on dangerous missions. By the time of the Clone Wars, she was too old to fight, instead serving the Republic by gathering intelligence from far-flung worlds. It was the only reason she survived.
All Kendra wanted to do since learning of the Force was to serve its will. She meditated several hours daily, trying to learn as much as possible. Edith was a great master, but Kendra knew that earlier Jedi had many other Jedi to learn from. All Kendra had was Edith and the Force.
Kendra thought daily on what she would do when the Force called her master to itself. She couldn’t avoid it after the conversation on the walk home. The thought frightened her. She wanted to leave Celestoria, but did not know where to go. As much as she wanted to see the galaxy, she couldn’t imagine doing it without Master Edith.
Her master was right; Kendra was not ready. Kendra had read and watched everything she could find about the wider galaxy, but knew it would not be enough. She’d never been in a fight, barely sparred with her elderly master, and lost even when she did. She had not spent nearly enough time practicing on her own.
A rumble disturbed her thoughts. She felt it first and then saw it, a low-flying ship approached Fernwood.
Ships did not fly to Fernwood. They went to Timberport, assuming they didn’t go to another city on the planet. Assuming they came to Celestoria at all. They did not come to Fernwood.
Kendra’s heart raced as fear tugged at her mind. She pushed it aside to think and to try to send Edith some type of warning. But her master no doubt felt the ship and probably saw it approaching.
As the ship grew closer, she made out the design. It was another T-6 like the one her master brought to Celestoria!
Is it a Jedi? She thought, or hoped. Or something else?
Edith’s constant warnings came to her mind. There were not many, if any, Jedi left. But there were many Jedi hunters, in theory. They could be standard bounty hunters, or they could be Dark Force users.
Should anyone unknown approach Fernwood, the plan was to separate until more information became available. They’d settled on a location many miles from their hut to meet later. Kendra should go there.
But she lingered next to the tree, eventually settling back to her knees to watch as the ship commenced landing. The wings rotated about the center of the craft and gently settled in a clearing on the adjacent side of town from Kendra.
The light gray vessel had similar red markings to Edith’s ship, but a laser cannon replaced one of the engines at the rear. Many ships were destroyed at the end of the Clone Wars or sold off to civilians. Kendra had never seen one in Timberport.
She held her breath momentarily and then resumed her breathing pattern to help her connect to the Force. The interest in the ship in the village was palpable, and almost everyone moved closer to watch—a few carried rifles, uncertain of the visitor’s intention.
The Force yanked on her mind in a way she had rarely felt then, pulling her attention away from the ship and possible danger there to the nexu. Something disturbed the nexu. Its profile in Kendra’s mind changed suddenly.
Evan.
Something had changed with both Evan and the nexu. The Force called her attention away from the arrival ship and its possible danger.
Kendra hesitated, unsure. Should she go and check on the boy? Should she watch the ship? Or should she go to the rendezvous point established with Master Edith? If Kendra did not act, they could both be in grave danger from the visitor.
But Evan is in danger right now. Kendra wasn’t sure if that was her voice or the Force.
She rose, checked the lightsaber on her hip, shifted the bag at her side, and slung her rifle over her shoulder. She jogged in his direction, staying low to avoid being seen by the people on the ship.
The forest lay silent in front of her. She paused to seek the boy among the animals in the trees, but struggled to connect to the Force as fearful thoughts grabbed at the edge of her concentration.
She’d never fought a nexu, or any of the forest creatures that size. She’d hunted, but the animals were far away. Nobody was in danger. The worst case was she missed, and dinner was less tasty than she’d planned.
Kendra dropped to a knee and took slow, deep breaths. This was not the time to get distracted. The great pool of the Force extended in front of her, and she called on it for information. Plants, insects, rodents, birds, all the forest’s life continued as usual.
She extended her search, sending it toward the nexu nest. The nexu was where she expected it, along with her cubs. They were all lingering in one area, teeming with an anxious energy she’d not detected before. Nearby, she found another life, not quite as bright, not quite as large, but very familiar.
Now, without regard for who might see her, Kendra ran forward. She was less familiar with this area, but her footing remained sure as she increased her speed.
What should I do when I get to the nexu? Kendra touched the strap of her rifle across her chest, but thought better of it. There wouldn’t be enough room that close up, especially if the forest was dense. Her hand dropped to Edith’s lightsaber instead.
She picked through the brush on a straight path to the nest, hoping Evan was okay, that the nexu left them alone, that the new arrival was not hunting her, and that Edith remained safe.
Too many thoughts, Kendra.
Her ears hurt, and she couldn’t hear anything over the sound of her breathing and blood rushing. Everything was too warm and damp.
Kendra slowed to a careful walk and crouched as she approached the area. There wasn’t much of an opening in the forest, but she could see a tightly packed nest across from them. Tree limbs and brush pulled together to form a cave. Inside, four pairs of four eyes watched outside, where a much larger version prowled.
The mother nexu stopped, ready to pounce, eyes directly on Kendra’s position in the trees. She snarled, revealing rows of sharp teeth. Large, sleek tentacles rose on her back, like a dog’s hackles.
To Kendra’s right, Evan lay motionless at the base of a tree. A broken branch above told his fate. He’d fallen off, maybe trying to view the nexu from a safe distance or when the ship roared overhead. However, Kendra did not see any immediate wounds and his chest rose and fall with breath.
Now what?
The nexu reeled back on its hind legs and growled, coming forward in a big stomp.
Kendra’s legs felt like rubber as she held her hands up. “It is fine. I’m not here for you.”
With a snort, the nexu stepped forward and looked at Evan on the ground.
“That’s right. I’m here to help him.” Kendra kept her hands up, mindful of where her lightsaber was attached to her belt behind her back. Could she get to it fast enough? Probably not.
The nexu sniffed at the air, glaring at Kendra. She growled a few more times and flexed her back tentacles, but did not move forward.
“I’m just going to go over to him now.”
Kendra ducked under a branch and slowly moved to Evan, never taking her eyes off the nexu. The mother creature circled and stood between the Jedi and her young. She appeared aggravated, but Kendra thought if she was going to attack, she would have done so already.
Evan lay motionless atop a fallen branch, his head awkwardly to the side next to a rock. “Head injury,” Kendra muttered, more to herself but also in a desperate attempt to keep the nexu calm. “I should heal him here.” She dropped to her knees and put her hands on either side of his small head.
Kendra envisioned the Force as a light whenever she healed. It hadn’t been often, but the instinct was so strong that she’d started using it before she realized it, before Edith had taken her in after her mother died. The light started in her chest and moved through her hands to Evan’s head, where she touched.
She thought about all she’d studied regarding brain injuries and what could be happening inside Evan. The brain could swell inside the skull. There could also be bleeding. She started to panic as the list in her mind grew.
Bile rose in her throat as the impact of her exertion getting to Evan caught up with her, and her stomach turned. Her hands shook around his head, and she pinned her elbows to her side to keep them steady.
The light seemed to hover just outside Evan’s skull while she thought. It wasn’t going as well as it always did with the squirrels. She grunted in frustration.
“Did you seek the will of the Force?” Edith’s words came clearly into her mind.
What did the Force want here? She couldn’t just yell at it and hope it would respond, no matter how badly she needed it. She closed her eyes and forced herself to take slow, measured breaths. Where did the Force want to go?
The answer eluded her as she struggled with worry over Evan’s condition. If she didn’t remember how to heal soon, the boy might die.
“I am one with the Force,” Kendra whispered, “and the Force is with me.”
Kendra sought the light again in her hands, but left her thoughts there, instead of on Evan. She hadn’t thought to apply healing to herself first, but that was where the Force moved. The stress seemed to leave her body, and her heart rate slowed along with her breathing. Tension dropped from her shoulders and jaw.
Then, she felt the light return to her hands and move toward Evan. She followed its progress but did not try to direct it. The healing energy set to work on Evan’s injured head, which didn’t feel as bad as she feared. Settling in, Kendra lost herself in the flow of the Force.
Emotion, yet peace.
Ignorance, yet knowledge.
Passion, yet serenity.
Chaos, yet harmony.
Death, yet the Force.
Kendra didn’t know how much time had passed while the light continued its work. Healing was not instantaneous, and even the Force needed time to help the body heal itself. Distractions called to her in this state, but she forced herself to remain meditating on the boy. Eventually, Evan started to stir, and Kendra snapped back into the forest.
Based on the shadows around her, it had been at least an hour. The nexu mother lay in front of the nest, alert but not as disturbed as she stared past Kendra. Her cubs slept behind her.
“Kendra?” Evan whispered, his eyes opening.
“Evan,” she said. “I think you fell.”
“Oh.” He looked at the nexu and tensed. “Oh no.”
“I think she’ll let us go.” She nodded at the nexu, trying to convey thanks, and gathered the boy into her arms. “We are going to get out of here.”
Kendra stood and backed out of the small clearing before turning back toward Fernwood. She froze.
A woman stood there, far enough back to not bother the nexu, but close enough that she would have seen Kendra healing Evan. The montrals and lekku identified her as a Torgruta, which Kendra had read about but she’d never seen. Her dark boots and pants blended in under a dark gray robe and cloak.
But Kendra’s breath caught at the sight of two lightsabers, one on each hip. This woman was either a Jedi, or Kendra was in trouble.
“You must be Kendra,” the woman said. “I am Ahsoka Tano. Master Edith said you’d be ready soon. I can see she was right.”
Kendra remained still, Evan not quite awake in her arms, uncertain of her next move. This woman knew Master Edith?
“I can explain more, but let’s get the boy to safety first.”
Kendra tightened her hold on Evan. She had no strength left to argue, even if she’d wanted to. Exhausted and confused, but with no other plan, Kendra followed the older woman.
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