Master and Padawan
chapter 3, the last chapter of this part of Jiya’s story! coming up after this will be j’lena’s story!
22 BBY
She finds herself in a cloud of darkness again.
Jiya sucks in a quick breath and steels herself against the wave of anxiety that comes over her. Hazes of flashing red and orange briefly cut through the dark, rumbles of explosions following closely. She holds back a wince. Among the explosions the muffled sounds of screaming sound out. Jiya squeezes her hands into tight fists and breathes out slowly. The screams begin to become more clear.
“Jiya! Where are…Jiya!” Jayven. He sounds desperate and bewildered.
“Help. Jiya, please. I’m still here.” J’lena, her voice is weak, barely heard over the strange sounds of clanging and clanking.
“Master, watch out!” Jairo. “here’s a terror in his tone she’s never heard before, and never wants to hear again. “No!”
Jiya’s eyes snap open with a gasp, and the haze of darkness fades from his vision and her room slowly comes back into focus. She sits motionless on her bed, her green eyes staring wide at the wall, her breathing coming out in short and painful bursts. Finally, movement returns to her body as she stands slowly from her bed, gathering her robe. For weeks now, her meditations brought the same sense of dread and darkness. Something was coming.
Jiya makes haste in her steps as she walks through the long hallways, willing her hands to ease in their shaking as she ties the sash of her robe. Her eyes search for her Padawan, but her mind felt miles away, stuck in the horror of her mediation.
“I’m here!”
Jiya stops short at Jairo’s voice, seeing his tall form dashing over towards her. He stops by her side, grinning widely. “I thought you’d be in the training room already,” He says, adjusting his own robe and clothing. “I promise, I didn’t sleep in…” He continues as they walk along. Jiya listens quietly as Jairo carries on excitedly, though a slight tone of nervousness tinged in his voice. Today, they’d begin truly preparing him for his Trials. Jairo had countlessly proven himself through the years that he would be a worthy Jedi.
“Master!” Jairo’s hopeless cry echoes in her mind.
“Master?” Jairo’s gentle call follows quickly.
Jiya’s next heartbeat aches as she looks at him. His eyes watch her confused and worried. “Are you alright?” He asks, slowing his pace. Jiya slows her pace as well, and gives him a slow smile that’s guarded.
“I’m fine, Jairo.” She lies. She watches the apprehensive look on his face before she settles a hand on his arm. “I’m only thinking of how it’s been an honor to see you grow all these years, into the amazing young man you are today, and how much you’ll show the galaxy what a great Jedi Knight you’ll be,” This time, she was not lying.
A bashful look covers Jairo and he grins. “I just need to pass the trials first,” He sighs. Jiya nods as they resume their walking. Jiya tries to push her distracting thoughts aside and gave one silent plea to the Force that whatever was coming, her family and Jairo would be spared from it.
*
It’s one of the more overcast days, the clouds heavy with the threat of rain. It does little to stop the busy bustle of Coruscant. Jiya glances over her shoulder once more. Jairo had totally gone from out of her sight. A sigh leaves her as she pulls her hood forward more. It was one of their rare visits into the city. She had slipped her Padawan a few credits, recommending his take a visit to Dex’s Diner, and take a breather after one of his first attempts at a Trial.
“Won’t you be joining me?” Jairo had asked, shoving the credits into his pocket, looking around their surroundings before looking back to Jiya. Jiya had remained quiet, as if mulling her words carefully. His eyes caught the brush of her fingers moving over a hidden letter in her robe sleeve and Jairo cleared his throat. “Actually, I supposed we could use some time to ourselves, huh?” He suggested. His smile was small, but knowing. “Tell them I said hello,” He added before taking his head.
Jiya keeps to herself as she moves along with the crowd, paying no heed to the glares and whispers shot her way. Like second nature, her feet carry her to her destination. A pathway secluded and unknown to many, it leads nowhere here in particular. An advantage for her. Jiya scans the surrounding area, satisfied she was not followed nor any threats revealed themselves, and she lowers her hood.
“Jiya!” J’lena’s voice calls happily. Jiya turns in time to see her younger sister racing for her, leaping into her arms, and knocking them both back. Jiya’s surprised laughter mingles with J’lena as she hugs her close. J’lena grins up at her. “Been avoiding us, Jee?”
“Nonsense,” Jiya responds with a roll of her eyes. “It’s only been what, six months?” She asks teasingly, smiling at Jayven as he saunters over. Her brother, though younger as well, stood a good foot over her. He presses a kiss to Jiya’s head and ruffles J’lena’s hair before shoving her away, ignoring her annoyed exclamation.
“She hasn’t been ignoring us,” Jayven points out, giving Jiya a smile, before looking back at J’lena. “She’s been ignoring you.”
J’lena snorts, “Shove off,” she says, coming over.
“Or what?” Jayven scoffs, stepping toward J’lena.
Jiya gently presses a hand to her sibling's chest. Though she may not have been a constantly present elder sister, she had remarkably gotten the stern look of one down as she peers between them both, a brow raised. Both Jayen’s and J’lena’s bickering comes to a stop.
Jiya shakes her head with a small laugh, earning a chuckle and laugh from Jayven and J’lena. The three siblings gather in a hug. Jiya closes her eyes as she holds her brother and sister close.
“Jiya!” Jayven’s scared scream cuts through
“Jiya help,” Jiya’s helpless sob echoes
A sickly feeling settles in the pit of Jiya’s stomach, and a cold prickles along her skin. Her grip on Jayven and Jiya grows tighter. A light touch to her face brings Jiya back as J’lena’s hazel eyes stare up at her worriedly. “Jee?” She asks, searching her sister's eyes. It wasn’t hard to miss the distress in them“Hey, are you okay?”
Jiya doesn’t answer. She’s unable to, the lump that grows in her throat is almost painful as she swallows back her tears. “I’m fine,” She says finally after a moment. Jiya feels a pang of guilt. Never had she lied so much. “Just whatever happens, I need you two to be careful,” She says, looking between Jayven and J’lena. “But I’ll always be looking after the both of you,”
J’lena shakes her head, “We’ll all look after for one another,” she corrects, “no matter what,” she adds
Jiya smiles, “No matter what,” she agrees.
*
Jairo isn’t sure he’ll ever become accustomed to the crowded streets of Courscant. People constantly pushing by or bumping into him. Did people have to be so blasted rude? He frowns and moves forward down the sidewalk. A short cloaked figure eases by him with a small bump at his side.
It wasn’t like anyone else who had bumped into him. But this time…something felt off. Jairo glances over his shoulder to the figure as they kept walking, almost with a skip in their step. Jairo rolls his eyes and pats his side to check for the credits in his pocket. Courscant was also known for the countless pickpockets. The credits were still there, his lightsaber, however. Jairo freezes and spins around. “Hey!” He cries after the cloaked stranger.
At his voice the stranger pauses and turns slightly, the hood of their cloak still pulled lowly over their head. With a swift motion of their gloved hand, Jairo catches a glimpse of his lightsaber. Jairo’s eyes barely have a chance to widen before the stranger takes off running, "Stop!” He shouts, chasing after them. The usually crowded streets make it difficult to keep up for him. The stranger, however, seems to move through the crowd with ease.
Jairo dodges around a street vendor, nearly losing sight of the thief, swearing when they flung a few stacked boxes in his path. Without missing a step, he leaps over them, pushing himself to run faster. A growl builds in his throat as he sees them dodge into an alleyway. He couldn’t lose them. There was a cut-off to that alley, he just needed to beat them around.
Dodging into another alley, Jairo runs around the corner in time to see the stranger climbing over a few boxes to escape over the dead-end wall.
With a swift wave of his hand, Jairo flings the boxes from under the stranger with force. A startled cry leaves the stranger as they fall to the ground. Jairo is on them in an instant. Pinning them down, he glares at their shadowed face and yanks the hood back. Jairo goes still as Elara’s bright blue eyes stare up at him, her stunned look melting into a smug smile. “Jairo,” she greets in a purr.
“Elara,” Jairo growls back.
The pink twi’lek lays beneath him, a coy look on her face. “You know, I thought you’d be the type to take me out to dinner first,” She teases, grinning at the blush that comes over his tanned face. He moves away, holding a hand to her. Elara lifts a hand to him, pausing when he closed his hand and gave her a look. Rolling her eyes, Elara sighs and holds the lightsaber to him. Jairo takes it and quickly latches it back on his belt.
“What are you doing here?” Jairo asks, turning back to her. Elara stands, dusting herself off, placing her hands on her hips. “Last I saw you, you were stealing a load from the Republic on Rexus,”
“Yes, the Republic locked up my Captain for that one,” Elara frowns. “To think, we were only trying to feed ourselves,” She says with an indignant lift of her chin.
Jairo gives her a deadpan look, “Funny, the repercussions of being a pirate,” he says dryly.
At that Elara snorts, “Oh yes,” She nods, “Because being a high and mighty Jedi Knight- sorry, Padawan,” she retorts, poking a finger against his chest. “Makes you much better than us. Especially you, the ‘delight’ of princesses,”
Jairo pauses, “I- what?” He nearly coughs in surprise. “What did you say?”
Elara crosses her arms. “Jairo Res, you mean to tell me you aren’t aware of your reputation among the galaxy’s princesses? Charming, witty, swooning…” She lists off, hearing how Jairo had been described by the princesses he had encountered. Among some other things. Elara frowns. “Pity I’m not a princess, perhaps then you’d pay me more mind-” She stops short. They were standing close, very close. Elara stares up at him and clears her throat, standing back trying to stand tall in her short stature against him. “As your point of contact I mean,”
Jairo watches her, he does his best not to grin but still the corner of his lips twitch upward, “How about lunch?” He offers. “Both as an apology and you can tell me all about what it is that you had to come to Coruscant to hunt me down,” He says, motioning back to the main sidewalk.
Elara smooths out her clothes and fixes her lekkus behind her shoulders. She walks next to Jairo, taking his arm as he offered it to her. “Well, it sounds important. I’ve heard of some strange dealings happening on Serenno…” She begins to explain.
*
If there was something Jiya had learned in all her years as a Jedi it was that a ‘simple’ mission was anything but. She raises her lightsaber and blocks another blaster fire. From behind her Mar’ci takes down another bounty hunter with ease. “How many more?” Her friend calls out. Jiya swings around, kicking her leg into a bounty hunter’s chest, knocking him down, before knocking him out with a hit to his head.
“At least five now,” She calls back.
Mar’ci scoffs unimpressed, “To think they started out with twenty,” She says, swinging her lightsaber around, and taking on another foe. Lola turns from her spot, waving her hand, sweeping several of the bounty hunters from their feet with the use of the Force. Jiya dodges a punch and strikes her own hit at the last bounty hunter. The three Jedi stand quiet for a moment, assessing the damage done. Mar’ci deactivates her lightsaber, putting a hand on her hip. “So much for an easy search and rescue,”
Lola wanders over, her folded arms hidden within the thick sleeves of her robe. “We were successful in that,” She points out, “the bounty hunters, however, those were a surprise,”
Jiya pushes thick strands of her hair back from her face with sigh. She was thankful Jairo remained back at the Temple to further his studies. Though they handled the plight, the ambush had still caught them by surprise, and for a moment, she had been worried they wouldn’t make it out. “Did you hear how much Jedi are going for these days?” Jiya asks, deactivating her lightsaber once she was sure no threat was coming.
Mar’ci frowns, “500,000 credits, what an insult,” She says, looking at her friends. “We’re worth much more, wouldn’t you say?” She asks, walking with them back to the ship. Jiya casts her eyes skyward and Lola smiles.
The ship falls into a comfortable silence as they take off, Mar’ci at the controls in the cockpit. Jiya sits in one of the seats towards the back. Her mind instantly fills
It doesn’t take long for Lola to come and join her. “You seem distracted,” Lola says gently, crossing her legs. Jiya glances at the blonde and hums.
“What gave it away?” She asks.
Lola chuckles, leaning back in her seat, “We were Younglings, Padawans, and now we’re Knights together, Jiya. I feel by now I have gotten to know you pretty well,”
“It’s been a long day,” Jiya responds, “I suppose it’s catching up with me,”
Lola shakes her head, “I don’t mean just now. You’ve been this way for weeks,”
Jiya dips her head slightly, trying to avoid Lola’s gaze as she tries to think of a proper answer. “There’s something that’s…not quite right,” Jiya begins, her time hushed, almost nervous to speak it out loud. She finally lifts her head to meet Lola’s eyes. Her friend’s gaze is calm, patient and Jiya’s nerves settle a bit. “Don’t you feel it?” She asks. She doesn’t wait for an answer and continues, “Each time I meditate or connect with the Force, it’s like there’s a heavy…” she trails off
“Cloud,” Lola finishes, her voice is quiet but thick with an emotion that Jiya just can’t place. “I’ve seen it as well,” Lola confirms.
They stay silent, a thousand unspoken words passing between them as the air arounds them shakes with a sweeping chill. It’s then that Mar’ci’s slender form appears at the doorway. Gone was the humor from before on her face.
She waves them over, Jiya is on her feet in an instant, following after Mar’ci. “What’s wrong?”
Mar’ci wordlessly points to a hologram message on the ship's comm. Master Windu’s face flickered as he called for all available Jedi to come to aid in battle in Geonosis.
“Genosis?” Lola repeats the planet’s name, “Where is that?”
Mar’ci scowls slightly, “Some forsaken Outer Rim planet,” The tall brunette answers as she punches in the coordinates quickly. “I…” she starts, cutting off, taking a deep breath before speaking again, “I have a bad feeling about this,”
The feeling of dread Jiya thought she had surpassed settles within every inch of her body. Silently she looks forward out the viewport as the ship takes off towards their new destination.
*
Mar’ci was certainly right. Geonosis was nothing but a forsaken planet. Hot and treacherous. The heat of the air prickling into their skin, the sands on the planet's surface stinging into their eyes.
But that’s not what was disturbing the most.
It’s the whirling and clanking of the droids that they fought against.
The same terrible sounds Jiya heard in the darkness echoes presently before her. Jiya strikes another droid down, her eyes desperately searching for Mar’ci and Lola.
Countless other Jedi fill the arena, while countless more fell. Those Jiya had grown with, trained with, even learned from. The chaos of the battle dulls away, till the only sound Jiya can hear is the pounding of her heart and the roar of her blood in her ears. Again she makes a desperate search for her friends, not daring to look at any of the lifeless forms on the ground. She couldn’t. Her gaze stops when she sees Lissarkh across the way. She was becoming overwhelmed and overpowered by the droids. She had also been a Padawan of Master Plo Koon. Without another thought, Jiya dashes through the scuffle. She slashes her lightsaber through the droids.
Lissarkh flashes Jiya a thankful look, using the moment of relief to gain the upper hand she needed. Jiya nods, turning as another droid comes to attack. If she hadn’t been entirely grateful that Jairo had missed out on the previous mission, she was now. She could not even begin to fathom the thought of him in the midst of all of this.
Finally she catches sight of Mar’ci and Lola. They stand back to back, blocking hits and blasts. Relief floods over her. Only for the briefest moment.
A loud explosion erupts from behind her. Jiya feels her body fly back. Her body and mind are stunning with shock, confusion, then pain as she falls against a stone wall.
Her vision is blurred as she opens her eyes slowly. The bleary form of a droid approaching her comes into view. Through her pain she reaches for her lightsaber at her side. Nothing. To her other side, Jiya again only feels sand. It must have flown off her in the blast. Jiya gasps and looks up at the droid as it takes aim at her. A quick blast sounds and Jiya freezes up. The droid limply falls into a heap.
A tall figure in white armor stands before her, his head covered by a helmet. Jiya watches in awe as the armored stranger comes forward. His hand moves to her and she sees her lightsaber.
“You dropped this,” He states shortly. His voice is husky and accented. Jiya nods in thanks, taking her lightsaber. She gazes over him quickly as she stands. Amor she’s never seen before. Was he some kind of soldier? He gives a nod back before heading back into the fight.
*
The battle felt like an eternity.
Jiya barely recalls boarding the ship to leave Geonosis. But she can still see freshly in her mind the bodies of all her fallen fellow Knights.
Lola hovers her hands over Mar’ci’s leg, healing the wound from a hit from a blaster. Mar’ci rests her upper body against Jiya, allowing her friend to run her fingers through her curls. There’s a worn and tired look on Mar’ci’s face that isn’t a familiar sight. Jiya presses her head against her’s silently. Around them, they’re surrounded by the soldiers in white armor. Clone troopers as they’ve come to learn.
It’s not a welcomed silence that falls over the ship this time. It’s heavy and uncertain. The three long friends share a look, their hands coming together, squeezing tightly.
Jiya knows that what had clouded the Force has finally revealed itself. And it would spare no one.
War.
*
Epilogue
Jiya stands at the front of the Jedi cruiser. It was strange, to be out of her usual Jedi attire, covered here and there in armor. But that’s the attire of a General.
She glances over to Jairo as he converses quietly with one of the troopers. As though he felt his gaze on her, he turns his attention to Jiya and gives her a grin.
He didn’t deserve to have his Trials cut so short to become a soldier in this horrible war. But he was determined to serve and protect the Republic. Soon, he’d have his own Battalion to lead.
The 407th Battalion would lead in attacks against the Seperatist army and liberate planets that fell unwillingly under their control. They were Jiya’s to lead and protect.
Sensing a presence by her, Jiya looks up to Commander Tear. His scarred face staring ahead. “General,” He starts, “We’re ready to go into hyperdrive,” He informs.
“Thank you, Commander,” Jiya answers, taking a steady breath. It was their second battle.
Tear glances at her from the corner of his eye. “Try not to lose your lightsaber this time,” he adds, the faintest tone of humor lines his voice.
Jiya chuckles, clasping her hands before her. “Only because you asked so nicely,”
Captain Spike, Splint, and Huck come around, followed by Jairo who stands by her other side. Jiya rests her hand on his shoulder, sharing a smile with her Padawan. Looking forward, she and her men watch as the stars begin to stretch before blurring as the ship takes off among them.
