Moments of Truth/Part 10

After a predawn workout and a sweaty morning meditation, Narasi stepped out of the Second Chance ' s refresher to find the ship deserted, apart from Gizmo, who lay on his side with his mouth open, his legs gliding through the air and turning him in a circle. Kneeling beside him, she poked his lip; he gummed her fingers. "You okay, buddy?"

"Mmnnrrawwwraawhaaaa…"

She picked him up and set him on his feet, and he immediately slumped backward, legs folding under him. He looked up at her and opened his mouth.

Narasi frowned. "No more of those root leaves for you."

She poured a little water in his mouth, then waited to be sure he wasn't getting sick. She drew out her beacon transceiver, watching Gizmo in her peripheral vision as she tried again to contact Aldayr. She had hoped the transceiver's limitations the first time she tried on Guudria were a fluke, but even she had to admit to herself that if no one was maintaining the s-threads around Circumtore, then out here—about as far from the Core as it was possible to be without leaving the galaxy—there really was no chance. She had to content herself with rereading his last message to her, coming back to H EY BEAUTIFUL  more than once.

Once Gizmo got his legs under him and shuffle-hopped back to his cabinet, Narasi left him some more water and headed out into the morning sun. The trees and crop stalks swayed in all directions as the wind howled up from the valley; the only clouds had gathered on the horizon, but they promised afternoon rain.

Narasi had to jog to get to morning stories on time. A crescent of Guudrian children surrounded an older woman, her fiery hair turning to smoke and her face creased with wrinkles and lines. Several of the children waved, and a few she hadn't managed to break of the habit stood, bowed, and plopped right back down. Narasi let Byffa Wurk's son and Kysee Daibum's daughter pull her hands down so she sat between them; little Poogi Raff's daughter managed to toddle over before she plopped down in Narasi's lap.

"Good morning, Master Jedi," old Gohna said.

"Good morning, Gohna." She looked around the eager little Guudrian faces—part of her amazed by how their strange features were becoming normal to her—and asked, "What's today's story?"

"The Uglavuur and the Waspun!"

"No, Five Fat Foskas!"

"No, the Jedi and the Songbird!"

Their voices ran over one another, but Narasi caught the mention of the Jedi and wondered. Was it some story the Guudrians had made up since the queen and her Knights set up shop, or had the Guudria Jedi told it themselves to help create their little cult? She was about to speak in favor of that option when a little boy yelled, "SNOW WOMAN STORY!"

Narasi felt a ripple of excitement and apprehension flow over them, and Byffa and Kysee squeezed her hands; Poogi, who was drooling a little on Narasi's tunic, did not seem to notice anything and just cuddled up tighter as she said, "'no W'mannn."

Gohna rubbed her hands together. "The story of the Snow Woman is a verrrrrrry scary story, Quess. Are you sure you want to hear it?"

Narasi had spent more than enough time with the Initiates on the Crescentia to know what came next, and she smiled even before the chorus of cheers. Gohna measured them all with her aged eyes, then nodded. "As you wish, children. Let me see…"

The Guudrians scooted closer to hear Gohna's papery voice as she said, "I remember the coming of the Snow Woman, many and many years ago. She came from the stars, her skin white as snow—"

"That's why she's called the Snow Woman!" a little girl exclaimed. Her friends all shushed her, but Gohna shook her head.

"Not just that, Tevi. No, the Snow Woman was cold—everyone who met her felt it, and when her shadow fell on you, you shivered from the top of your head to the tips of your toes!  Her eyes were two dark holes, and she smiled without smiling, for she knew no happiness or love, only the terrible cold."

"Many brave Guudrians tried to fight her, but she struck them down with her evil magic…"

"How come the Jedi didn't stop her?" a boy asked.

"This was many, many years before the Jedi came to us, Daathi," Gohna said. "We did not know why she came or what she wanted, for the Snow Woman spoke her snow words in a terrible cold voice no one could understand. Some believed she sought the evil sorcerer Tu'um in the Cold Lands.  Wherever she went, crops died, animals became sick, and everyone shivered in the cold."

Even Narasi found herself drawn in, and she was surprised when Gohna shrugged. "Then, one day, the Snow Woman disappeared. No one knows what she truly wanted, or if she found it; no one knows where she went, or if she will return.  She could be far across the stars, or…right there!"

Gohna raised a gnarled hand and pointed, and several children gasped and cried out as they whirled around, but there were only a handful of Guudrians going about their business. Gohna chuckled, and several of the children joined in, though most of their laughs were a little shaky. Narasi wondered that they hadn't shared this story over one of the fires at the village festival. Byffa and Kysee had her hands locked down, so she bobbed little Poogi with her legs and asked, "Did you like the story, Poogi?"

"'tory," Poogi agreed.

"Now," Gohna said, "today we will visit Saffa Neekan's daughter, the baker. Make lines, children, make lines…"

Narasi passed Poogi off to her older sister and gave Byffa, Kysee, and several others hugs before they got in line. Springing to her feet, she caught Gohna before she got too far away and asked quietly, "Gohna, that story…was it true?"

"It was, Master Jedi," Gohna said. "I remember it well."

"Did you tell the Jedi queen this story too?"

Gohna shook her head. "The queen and her Knights have many cares, and no time for stories."

Narasi mused on that for a moment before bowing. "Thanks."

"Will you come to the shop of Saffa Neekan's daughter with us?"

"I'd love to, but I have something else I need to do."

"Of course, I understand. Thank you for listening to my story, and for your kindness to the children."

Narasi smiled, but once she turned away from them she felt her frown growing. She doubted Gohna had the words for it, but the Snow Woman sounded like a Dark Jedi or Sith. What kept drawing people down here to out-of-the-way Guudria? Making a mental note to tell Tirien, she went off in search of his presence in the Force, but along the way she sensed Zaella calling on the Force, and she rerouted that way. It was a long walk, out of the village and along a packed dirt road that wound through fields and orchards, but Narasi appreciated the time for moving meditation; it took her the whole two kilometers and change to get herself settled into not wanting to bludgeon the Twi'lek with the nearest hard object.

When she got close enough to hear the gurgle of the river, though, curiosity brought her back to focus. She saw the flowing water through breaks in the hedges and trees along its banks; it was wide enough that two Second Chances could have flown down it side-by-side with room to spare. Following the twists and tugs of the Force, she stepped off the road and onto the riverbank, where she found black boots, pants, and tunic piled between the roots of a tree. When she heard thrashing, she looked out and saw Zaella floundering near the far bank.

"Zaella!" she called, already loosening her tunic. "Hold on!"

"Don't—!" Zaella's head went under, but when she surfaced again, she barked, "Don't help me!"

Narasi froze, torn between the clear meaning of the words and their overwhelming stupidity, but as she debated, Zaella got another burst of the Force and managed to drag herself to the opposite shore. She lay there panting on the ground, wearing only dark undergarments and the leather wraps that held her lekku back. It was a full minute before she even rolled onto her hands and knees and sat back on her bare feet, looking at Narasi across the river.

"Do you even know how to swim?" Narasi shouted.

"I'm…learning…" Zaella called back.

"Moron," Narasi muttered under her breath, then raised her volume again. "How are you getting back?"

"I'll make it…I got here…"

Sighing, Narasi yelled, "Wait there!"

She stripped down to her own undergarments, stuffing her socks in her boots and digging her toes into the loam at the river's edge. For a moment she considered bringing her equipment belt, but the water would short out the lightsabers, and Zaella didn't look to be in any condition to attack her. Taking a breath, Narasi plunged in.

The water was brisk, but not so cold that she needed Tapas to keep herself functional. The current was strong enough to be a challenge, but Narasi was a competent swimmer for a non-aquatic Jedi, and she made her way across the river with only a few moments of hard swimming, grabbing onto the far bank a few meters down from Zaella. The Twi'lek's red skin, beaded with water drops, glistened in the sunlight. The bandages had come off her injured lek, and Narasi saw a rounded nub of red flesh thicker than her thumb where once there had been a gentle point.

She looked away before Zaella could catch her staring. "You know, when most people learn to swim, they don't start with a river."

"Most people aren't me," Zaella retorted, but she was still breathing hard. "Where did…you learn?"

"The Jedi Temple," Narasi lied, though it was a half-truth at worst; she had gotten basic swimming lessons on Zygerria, but only really practiced on Coruscant. "There are pools for Jedi to train in, and for aquatic ones who need it to sleep."

"Of course, how fancy," Zaella muttered.

"Hey, you never know when you're going to be keeping an eye on a former Sith and need to swim across a river to teach her how to swim back."

Zaella glowered up at her, but Narasi snickered, and after a moment one side of Zaella's mouth turned up and she laughed too. As Narasi plunked down in the mud beside the river, Zaella said, "Yeah, all right. Amaze me."

Narasi demonstrated the movements of the front crawl, diving into the water and swimming a few meters out before reversing and returning to shore. Zaella's amber eyes followed her every motion, and the few questions she asked were very technical. She waded into the water with Narasi, who helped position her body parallel with the water's surface and treaded water herself while Zaella fought through a few lengths out and back. Once she'd had a break and Narasi felt confident the Twi'lek wasn't going to drown three meters from shore, she said, "Ready to go back?"

Zaella gazed out across the river, snugged the ties around her lekku, and nodded. "Ready."

They dove in, swimming side-by-side, and though Narasi remained better by far, she was pleased to see Zaella wasn't floundering. She stopped to tread water and regain her strength twice, but Narasi stopped with her, and before long they were swimming again. When they stopped a few meters from the bank and Zaella grinned, assured of her success, Narasi grinned back and splashed her in the face.

"Hey!" Zaella spluttered and shook her head, her lekku lashing the waves around her, but when Narasi laughed, the Twi'lek narrowed her eyes and splashed her with both hands. Forgetting to keep herself above water, she bobbed down for a second, but popped back up like a cork and laughed as well.

When they pulled themselves onto the bank, they lay in the sunshine to dry, both still chuckling. Narasi said, "You're a quick learner."

"They're the ones who survive," Zaella said around a giggle.

Narasi's laugh died off. She knew it was true of Sith training, but the horror of it didn't seem to register with Zaella at all. She didn't want another fight about Sith and Jedi, though, so she let it go, trying to concentrate on the warmth of the sun. "So what made you want to swim the river?"

"I'd never done it before." Zaella shrugged. "I knew what a river was, and I'd seen them, but I'd never really had to swim. Or gotten to swim.  Ryloth's mostly deserts, all the water is underground."

"Aren't the cities underground too?"

"Yeah, but the rivers are way underground. Unless you're digging a well or getting killed so nobody finds you, you usually don't go down that far."

Like having a second little ray of sunshine right next to me, Narasi thought. Zaella turned over onto her stomach, laying her cheek on her forearms with a sleepy smile, but Narasi stayed on her back for the moment. Trying to find a subject of conversation that wasn't the hypocrisy of the Jedi or the thousand different ways living on Tarni Hadan's Ryloth was a waking nightmare every hour of the day, Narasi thought back over her day and happened on an idea. "Zaella…"

"Mmmm?"

"You've…been with guys, right?"

Zaella laughed for quite a while before she got herself under control. Propping herself on her forearms, she snickered, "Yeah, you know…one or two."

"Were any—"

"Hundred," Zaella added cheerfully.

Narasi swallowed, trying not to imagine the circumstances. "Er…yeah. But were any of them…I dunno, special?  Did you like any of them?"

Zaella did not respond at once this time, and when Narasi rolled onto her side to look at her, minding the half-healed burns on her arm, she saw the Twi'lek was not laughing anymore. Her eyes were far away, and when they returned she asked, "Why?"

Narasi knew she was taking a risk—Zaella could betray her to Tirien, which would inspire a whole new lecture—but somehow she doubted Zaella was going to give her away. Not to Tirien, at least. "There's a boy…it's kinda complicated…"

Zaella pulled the leather wraps free and shook out her lekku, then propped her head onto one hand and dug her elbow into the soil. "I'm listening."

Unsure where to begin, Narasi started with Taanab and her constant sniping with Aldayr; it was strange to remember now, and she wondered how she'd found time with the Sith artillery barrages every other day. Then there was Milagro, months of beacon messages, and finally Vjun and their correspondence since. Narasi's skin was almost as dry as her mouth by the time she was done.

Zaella thought about it for a minute. "So you haven't slept with him yet?"

Narasi blinked. "I…what?! No!"

"Is he ugly now, with the cybernetic arm?"

"No! I mean, it doesn't do much for me either way, but—"

"So what's the problem?"

"We had our first kiss the last time I saw him! Isn't that moving kinda fast?"

"Life's short, and you never know when it's gonna end," Zaella replied with a shrug. "Or when you'll lose the chance…"

She turned back onto her stomach and rested her chin on her arms, gazing at the tree roots. Turning to dry her back in the sun too, Narasi asked, "What is it? Did you leave somebody behind on Ryloth?"

"It's none of—" Zaella stopped herself, closing her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, she continued to stare straight forward. "Nykan. His name was Nykan Racor.  Is Nykan Racor, I guess, not that it matters for me anymore."

"Is he another Sith apprentice?"

"Yeah. He's a couple years older than me."

Narasi wasn't sure where to go from there; how did you meet seemed pretty self-explanatory. "Is he a…red Twi'lek too?"

Zaella snorted. "'Lethan'. No, we're really rare; I've never met another Lethan Twi'lek in person, actually.  No, Nykan's this deep green…almost like those trees…"

She pointed, and as she arched her back to do it Narasi saw her dreamy smile. "Cute?"

"And then some. Tall, strong…long, thick lekku…mmmmm…"

She was getting so dreamy that Narasi was growing uncomfortable. "Aldayr too. Not the lekku thing, but he's tall and muscular too."

Zaella laughed. "You don't talk about this much, do you?"

"Including with you? This'll be once."

"Geez, Jedi, no wonder you're wound so tight…"

"Well, Jedi shed attachment, so a lot of Jedi frown on marriage…"

"So? I didn't say you should marry him."

"Yeah, thanks, I remember what you said I should do," Narasi retorted, hoping the sun's glare hid her blush. "But anything on the spectrum—dating, relationships, all of that—it's really disfavored."

Zaella gave her a look. "It's a wonder you know you like him at all, if you're that emotionally stunted."

"Hey!"

Sitting up, Zaella brushed a few specks of dirt off her lekku. "Tell you what: tell me something you like about him. Something that turns you on, something that'd make you tell other girls, yeah, he's mine.  Something that you dream about him that you'd die if Tirien could sense you were dreaming it.  Body, personality, kill count, something."

Narasi sat too, off-balanced by the question. "Well he's…he's really confident. He's Corellian, so it kinda comes with the territory…have you met any Corellians?"

"I've met Corellians." Zaella smirked. "If their performance in the cockpit is anything like their performance in the brothels, that cockiness is way misplaced."

Narasi winced. "Uh…right."

"All right, confident. What else?  Give me something, Narasi."

Thinking about it for a moment, Narasi felt heat in her chest and figured that was what Zaella was going for. "Okay. His eyes…he has these blue eyes.  Not like mine, I mean dark, dark blue.  Almost indigo.  Like…like when you're way out in nature, away from any light pollution, and it's almost full dark but there's a little bit of sunlight in the west—when you look east instead and see the night there?  That kind of blue.  When he moved in to kiss me, I looked in his eyes, and it was like falling into night and hoping there would never be a sunrise."

Zaella whistled and grinned. "Now that's what I'm talking about! Look at you!  You're as red as me just thinking about it!"

Narasi felt her cheeks burning, but she grinned too. "All right, your turn. Tell me about Nykan."

After the words were out Narasi worried they might hurt, reminding Zaella of someone she cared for who was now out of reach, but her fears were misplaced. Zaella's smile twisted. "Oh, it'd be my pleasure. In fact, it was…"

As Zaella regaled her with one of her and Nykan's rendezvous in Lessu, Narasi was glad she was already blushing; it meant she couldn't turn any brighter red. Part of her wanted to grab her datapad and write down some of these words to look up later, but from the context clues she thought Tirien would have an aneurysm if he found them in the ship's HoloNet logs. Zaella seemed to relish dwelling on the details, although the way her eyes went distant now and then and she hummed in the back of her throat, Narasi thought it wasn't just to torment her.

"—and the other apprentices heard me screaming, and I had to lie and tell them my master had sent me down to Guldroq's dungeon," Zaella finished with a laugh.

"Who's Guldroq?" Narasi asked, grateful for absolutely any other subject.

"Lady Hadan's torturer. We'd get sent down there to be punished if we messed up." She smiled to herself. "Guess I don't need to worry about that anymore."

She said it like she had gotten out of attending a holoconference with coworkers she disliked, not being locked in a dungeon to be tortured by some Sith. Trying to match Zaella's casual tone, Narasi replied, "Just one of many benefits of being a Jedi: we have a strict 'no torturing' policy."

She thought her attempt came across a little flat, but it worked; Zaella laughed. "All right, that's a point for you. Oh, and speaking of points…"

She got to her feet, walking toward the tree roots where they had left their gear. "We were talking about sparring…"

She bent down, and Narasi realized she had left her equipment there—including the lightsabers. She raised a hand, and her belt flew across the riverbank. As the hard leather slapped into her hands, Zaella stood, holding a pair of wooden sticks. She lifted them for Narasi to see, but the only thing Narasi registered was the frost spreading over Zaella's eyes.

She swallowed. "I'm sorry."

Zaella snorted. "Bonding time's over, I guess."

"No, Zaella…" Narasi got to her feet and brushed herself off. "Look, I know this is weird, and uncomfortable, and…well, it's like us talking, isn't it? Trust takes time."

Zaella lowered her eyes. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess so."

Narasi strode over and deliberately threw her belt on the ground with the rest of her gear. Zaella followed it with her eyes, then looked at Narasi, who said, "I get that making friends with somebody who tried to kill you—and who you tried to kill—is gonna be weird. There are gonna be gravity mines on the lane.  But I promise I'm trying.  And I'm sorry, really."

Zaella sighed, but nodded. "Yeah, all right." She made a face. "We don't have to hug now, do we?"

"Yeah, no, Tirien and I aren't really huggy people," Narasi assured her.

"Oh good. I can deal with the whole light side, preachy morality thing, but eventually I have to stand on principles."

Narasi cocked her head until she saw Zaella's smirk, and they both laughed. As they got dressed, Narasi found herself thinking of Aldayr, and she watched Zaella with some envy. They were both lean and toned without being heavily muscled, built for speed and agility rather than brute strength. But despite her obvious fitness, Zaella was much curvier than Narasi, and she moved with unconscious, sinuous grace; even the act of putting clothes on might have distracted any males had they been nearby. Narasi contained a sigh.

"I got these from a guy in the village," Zaella said as Narasi snugged the tightener on her boot and reached for her equipment belt. "The Guudrians use them as walking staves, but they're about the right size for lightsaber practice."

She tossed one before Narasi had her belt buckled, forcing her to stop it with the Force a handspan from her face. Reaching up to take it out of the air, she felt the the lacquer on the fire-hardened wood and swung the stick experimentally. "Seems like it'll work."

Zaella nodded toward Narasi's waist. "You wanna take those lightsabers off?"

Narasi knew the right answer, but she felt some compromise was needed. "Tell you what, I'll move them so they're not where I'd reach for them."

She switched the clips to the back of her belt while Zaella rolled her eyes. "All right, whatever. Ready?"

"Wanna do some velocities to warm up?"

"What's a velocity?"

Narasi explained the practice drills, but by the time she was done, Zaella looked as confused as she felt. "Why do you do those?"

"For training."

"But why not just fight? That's what you're training for, right?"

"Well, it helps make the movements natural. Muscle memory, y'know?"

"But fighting does the same thing; you learn how to react to different attacks."

Narasi blinked, thought about it a moment, then shook her head. "Right. No warm up, right into it."

She raised her stick to a front guard while Zaella dropped her sword hand back, her blade across her body and pointed forward. She was just wondering whether to lead when Zaella attacked with a leaping spear. The sticks stood up to the test, each collision a loud crack but none breaking the wood. Narasi gave as good as she got, and they dueled back and forth along the riverbank.

Once she was sure Zaella wasn't going to overwhelm her, though, Narasi dropped back on defense, trying to channel Slejux as she baited Zaella into attacking. She wanted to see the Twi'lek's Juyo assault unhindered by the need to abort and defend, and Zaella rose to the occasion. Once she perceived the change in the duel, she stepped up her attacks, springing from side to side to open new lines of attacks, alternating between stabs and slashes, long and short strikes. Narasi held her off, but she had to bank on instinct alone; Zaella had no pattern and didn't even seem to have a plan other than attack.

Narasi skipped back to brace herself, but Zaella followed with a leaping slash. Just before their sticks connected, though, Zaella twisted hers in a hooking motion, and Narasi found her blade dislodged out of the way. Before she could retreat or even counter, Zaella reversed course and whacked her across the chest with almost her entire stick.

"Ooof!" Narasi gasped; the blow had knocked the wind out of her. She was drawing a breath when Zaella slashed and hit her again on the thigh; as the nerves spasmed with pain and Narasi's knee buckled, Zaella cut at her neck. Narasi managed to catch the final blow, but the force of it drove her to the ground.

"Solah!" she gasped.

Zaella, who was poised to stab her yet again, narrowed her eyes. "What?"

"Solah! It means stop!" Narasi rubbed her chest as she glared up. "Geez, you got the deathblow on the first strike!"

Zaella looked annoyed and baffled at once. "You just stop when you land a blow?"

"How dead do you want me to be?!"

Zaella just rolled her eyes, and Narasi sprang to her feet. Dusting herself off, she grumbled, "Again?"

Narasi tried moving around more, but Zaella adapted at once every time she opened a new line; she bought herself some breathing room with a power blow that knocked Zaella back and almost off her feet, but it was borrowed time. She had to stand her ground rather than retreat, because Zaella cut through her defense whenever she held to it too long, but a ceaseless exchange of attacks left almost no time to strategize.

Zaella sprang over a knee cut, rolled up to a crouch, and swung at Narasi's back. When Narasi parried and countered, Zaella launched herself backward, then in again with a flying slash. This time, however, Narasi raised a hand off her stick and hit Zaella with a Force push in midair. The blow stopped Zaella cold, blew the stick out of her hand, and dropped her flat on her back. As she coughed, stunned, Narasi brought a blow down toward her face, stopping it just short of her forehead.

"Uuugh…"

"The word's solah," Narasi said. "It's High Galactic, I know, but your pronunciation's way off."

Zaella answered her smirk with a look of loathing, but accepted a hand up.

They fought on until they had both stripped off their tunics in the heat and were considering another swim just to cool off. Narasi had bruises in several spots, though she had landed seven blows to Zaella's four. After they had hand-cupped themselves mouthfuls of water from the river and splashed their faces, they sat a few meters apart in the dirt.

"You really are good," Zaella admitted.

"You too." Narasi looked around. "We should do this in a different spot every day. Mix up the terrain."

Zaella just nodded, crawling to the water's edge and lying on her back to dip her lekku into the flow. Narasi let her cool down, but when she sat back up and started toweling her lekku with her tunic, Narasi asked, "That move you did, the first time you got past my guard…what was that?"

"What, the Rock Viper Twist?"

"Is that what it's called? I've never seen anyone use it before."

"I'll bet not, it's a Juyo move. How many Juyo stylists did you say you know?"

Narasi made a face. "Apparently, two."

When Zaella just raised her tattooed-on eyebrows—like everything else about her, they looked sleek and deliberately styled—Narasi explained, "Master Sil Kadych, one of the Jedi Masters I knew, is a Juyo master. And my master thinks Darth Alecto is too."

Zaella's expression was hard to read. "Darth Alecto is a Juyo stylist?"

"That's what Tirien says. And it fits, too—violent, emotional, aggressive, unpredictable…Zaella?"

She wasn't how much of that Zaella had absorbed, because she started at the sound of her own name. "Um…right. So…Darth Alecto never used the Rock Viper Twist on you?  Or Tirien?"

"No, thankfully—seems like it wouldn't have gone too well for me."

Narasi paused, remembering Tirien's concern about Juyo—that rather than capitalizing on her personality traits to make her more powerful, it might draw out the worst in her. Master Fane had said something similar—that she would be open to greater temptation by the dark side after defeating Pavac. It vexed her, but she accepted that they both knew more than she did, and neither did she want to become Zaella's student, if for no other reason than that she was averaging on beating Zaella already without Juyo. It would do more harm than good to set up Juyo lessons.

But it would be foolish to ignore a known flaw in her defense.

"So, the Rock Viper Twist…will you teach it to me?"