CHAPTER FOUR

She heard voices. People all around her.

Smoke.

Heat.

Fire.

The trees. The trees reached hundreds of feet into the air. A lush green color.

What is this place?

A stabbing pain in her side. In her neck.

Terrible pain.

She looks down and sees the massive wound to her abdomen. Blood everywhere, soaking her clothes. She can see inside her abdomen, her clothes torn away.

Where was she?

People running and shouting.

A figure… clouded in smoke. Reaching out to her.

Papa? Mommy?

No. A boy. Not much older than her? With eyes the color of a deep blue ocean. So calming. So peaceful.

The pain was fading. To be replaced by an incredible warmth.

Anja jolted upright in the bunk as the chime to her quarters rang insistently. She threw back the covers and got up, walking to the door, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She touched the panel and the door slid open.

Vlaina stood there dressed in loose fitting pants and a tight shirt that exposed her abdomen. She held out the Force Pike. “ Let’s go!” She spoke in her command voice.

Anja looked at her, taking the Force Pike, her head clearing. “ Excuse me. Where are we going?”

“ You’ll see.”

“ I’ll change into something.”

Vlaina took her arm before she could turn back into her room. “ No need for that. What you have on is fine.”

Anja wore a simple white shirt with a pair of tight black shorts. They were her normal sleeping clothes, but were unsuitable for anything else, and certainly not being out in public. “ I must change! I’m not dressed!”

“ For what I have in mind, you have all the clothes you need.” Vlaina snapped. “ Now… will you accept my challenge Jedi. Or retreat to your quarters?”

Anja gripped the Pike tighter. “ Very well!”

Anja had never been so physically exhausted in her life. Her entire upper body was soaked in sweat, the white shirt clinging to her chest leaving nothing to the imagination. Her arms and legs were red with welts from the contacts of the Force Pike wielded by Vlaina. She had battered her for three hours, never stopping, always on the attack, always taunting her. After every taunt, Anja would strike… only to be pelted by her Force Pike. It was frustrating and she had to keep reciting the code in her head to keep from losing her temper and striking in anger.

Twice she had forgotten that she could not use her Force powers and both times Vlaina had made her pay. Her legs bore the brunt of those assaults.

It was only after the fourth hour that she slumped to the mat in near exhaustion. Her only consolation was that Vlaina was also drenched in sweat, but she didn’t seem to be breathing hard in the least.

Anja used the Force Pike to lean on. “ Enough.” She spoke between gasps.

Vlaina knelt next to her on the mat, sweat dripping form her face. “ I’m impressed Jedi.” She spoke. “ I did not think you would last as long as you have. You combine power and speed, but your form is shaky. You will not always have your Jedi weapon, or your Force powers might not work. You must learn to rely on your other skills. They are there, but need refining. We can help you, if you let us.”

Anja looked at her. “ Why?”

Vlaina took a breath. “ You travel with the son of Revan, Jedi Tamari. From this moment forth you are a target. Every bounty hunter in the galaxy is now looking for us. We are only as strong as the weakest part of our armor.”

“ I am only a Padawan.” Anja said.

“ Once you set foot on this ship… you became a Jedi.” Vlaina told her. “ You have skills and powers we could never have. Allow us to help you temper the skills you have neglected within your Jedi halls. You are the weakest link right now Anja Tamari,” Vlaina saw her eyes flare a little and she smiled. “ Let us help you change that.”

“ The Jedi Code…” Anja began.

“ Means nothing outside the walls of your temples. Do you think a Rodian bounty hunter will care for your Jedi Code if you are unarmed and are unable to draw on your Force?” Vlaina asked her.

Anja shook her head. “ No.”

“ Welcome to our galaxy Jedi. Let us help you.” Vlaina asked, holding out her hand to Anja.

Anja hesitated for only a moment before taking the outstretched hand and rising to her feet. They heard the muted voices of others and turned to see more of the Crimson Guard gathering by the archway into the next training room. Vlaina motioned with her head.

“ Come. Gaze upon a true Master in the arts.”

Anja followed her to the archway and they stepped in front of the other Guards. Anja saw Arren on the mat in the next room, and she was sparring with the large Mandalorian that she recognized as her husband. He was speaking to her in a language she didn’t understand, but the meanings were clear. He was calling out directions to her, strikes to take, blows to land. It was an almost effortless dance. And the speed with which she acted made Anja realize just how weak she was. A feeling of helplessness came over her, and Vlaina saw her shoulders slump slightly. She reached out and touched her shoulder.

“ Do not berate yourself Jedi Tamari. Lady Dralor has trained for many years in the arts.

She is far superior to any of us as well. She was trained by her mother, an Echani Master. Only the son of Revan can match her.”

“ What are they speaking?” Anja asked. “ I’ve never heard that language before.”

“ It is the Rakatan language, the language of the Star Forge planet.” Vlaina replied. “ All of us have learned it over the years. It gives us an edge over the enemy if they can’t understand what we are saying.”

Anja nodded. “ Very sound tactics.” She said, her eyes mesmerized by Arren and her fluid movements. It was almost like watching an intricate dance.

Vlaina touched her shoulder to break her from her gaze. Anja looked at her. “ Come. We must do something with your hair.”

“ My hair? What’s wrong with my hair?”

Vlaina took her arm.

Anja stood in front of the mirror in her quarters and had to admire what the Mandalorian woman had done. She had never been able to wear her hair down because of its length, it fell to nearly the middle of her back, so she had always worn it tied tightly in tails or in a bun. Now, however, Vlaina and two other Mandalorian women had spent the last two hours brushing her hair out and styling it in a fashion that would not hinder her abilities to fight. She still had one long pony tail, but the hair was now combed out and silky and tied in four strips of elastic cloth down the length. It would allow her to treat her hair when needed without the fuss of a bun. Several semi-thick strands of her hair alongside either side of her face were now braided, with four beads on each end.

Anja liked it quite a bit and she smiled as she sat on her bunk totally exhausted from the day. It was not even over, yet she felt as if she had sparred for a week at the Jedi Academy. Anja decided she would meditate before going to have dinner with Master Corna. She settled into a lotus position on her bunk and closed her eyes, letting her body relax and feel the Force flow through her, reviving her spirit. She was several minutes into the meditation, feeling peaceful and strong again. It was a sensation she had never experienced. She had never had this type of calm and fulfilling experience before when she meditated and she enjoyed it immensely.

Anja suddenly found herself on the shores of an ocean, the calm seas quietly lapping onto the pure white sand. She could almost feel the sand between her toes as she stood on the small dune.

“Beautiful isn’t it?”

Anja turned her head quickly and standing next to her was someone she had never expected to see.

“ Knight Shan!” She gasped.

Bastila smiled at the expression on Anja’s face. “ Hello Knight Tamari.”

Anja looked around, seeing only the beaches and the dunes. “ I was meditating. In my quarters.”

“ You still are Anja.” Bastila replied. “ And your light brought you here.”

“ Here? How? Where is here? Where am I? What is this place?”

Bastila laughed at the barrage of questions and she reached out to place her hand on Anja’s arm. “ Calm down Anja. I can feel your heart beginning to race. Be at peace. I will answer your questions.”

Anja took a deep breath. “ I… I am sorry.”

“ There is nothing to apologize for. Your reaction is the same as mine was the first time I came here.” Bastila replied.

“ But you… you are lost. In the Outer Rim. We are looking for you.” Anja said.

Bastila smiled. In the Outer Rim, yes. Lost? No. We know exactly where we are going.” She answered.

“ What is this place?”

“ This is the Force.” Bastila spoke, waving her hands around. “ Our sanctuary within the Force. This is where we come to center ourselves. To obtain peace.”

“ We?” Anja asked.

Bastila motioned off to her right and Anja saw two tall men, one older with a little gray seeping into his hair, the other younger and…

“ Revan!” She gasped. “ He told me… he told me he shut the link with my mind! He lied to me!”

Bastila shook her head. “ No. He did as you asked him Anja. He can not sense your presence here. And what small imprint you have created… his father and I have blocked. You came here on your own.”

“ But how?” Anja asked.

“I must apologize to you Anja. This…” she waved all around with her hand again. “ This is because of what happen on Dxun. When my son reached out to you, healed you, the Force bond he created with you is very similar to the one my husband and I share. It was not his intent. He saw only your injuries and that if he did not act, you would die. He did not sense the Force within you, and when he reached into himself to heal you… your own powers manifested themselves quite strongly. They assisted in your healing, but they also bonded with Revan’s and formed this link. When I arrived at the crash site, I saw what he had done and tried to erase any imprint he may have left on you because I wanted to protect our secret. I wanted to protect my family. Many of your struggles since then at the academy have been because of the attempt I made to safeguard the ones I loved. You are extremely powerful with the Force Anja, else you would not have been able to bring yourself here.”

“ So… so he can not sense me here?” Anja asked.

Bastila shook her head. “ No. He has closed that part of his mind, the part that is one with you. You on the other hand are unable to shut off your thoughts, because the connection is so new to you, so your thoughts battered his mental shields continuously, and he comes here to center himself again.”

“ This ability…”

“ We consider it a gift, not an ability or a power. After ‘my’ Revan and I…” Bastila smiled at that. “ After we decided to leave the Order, we would come here often to find the peace that events up until that point had taken away from us. It took some time… but we achieved that peace.”

“ The archives say you were expelled.” Anja said.

“ Yes, I know, one of the many twists to our story that the Council has told. Forgive me if I sound resentful at times, but I blame the Jedi Council for many things. Revan and I chose to leave the Order, we were not expelled. We knew they would never allow us to cultivate our love for one another, so it was a decision we both made. The Jedi Council expelled us only after we told them we were leaving.”

“ I am sorry.” Anja spoke, her eyes falling to the sand.

“ For what child?”

“ For what I called you the first day he came to Coruscant. It was cruel and I let my emotions control my actions. I did not mean them to come out the way they did.” Anja said.

“ Believe me Anja… I have been called worst.” Bastila chuckled. She held out her hand. “ Walk with me.”

Anja looked at where the two Revan’s were standing before turning back to Bastila, who lifted her hand higher. “ Don’t worry, I promise you, he can not sense your presence. Besides… knowing those two, they are discussing some form of military strategy. When they get like that… they are as dense as Boma skin and would not see a meteor falling for their heads.”

Anja couldn’t help but smile. This woman was nothing like the Jedi Archives made her out to be. She fitted her hand into Bastila’s and they began to walk along the beach.

“ Your bond with ‘your’ Revan has given you a unique perspective on many things, and they will assert themselves as time passes.” Bastila said.

“ He’s not… ‘my’ Revan.” Anja said, more quickly that she had intended. She regretted it almost immediately.

“ No?” Bastila spoke smiling, a twinkle in her eye. “ Then why does your heart race whenever you gaze at him? Your breathing quickens when you are in the same room as him. It is the same for him you know. You have the same effect on him.”

“ I… how could you…” Anja blushed. “ It is… uncomfortable that you would know these things. It is not… the Order teaches that emotions are the path to destruction.”

“ Anja… your bond with ‘your’ Revan permeates within ours. And make no mistake… he is ‘your’ Revan Anja; as you will come to see during your journey. We sense what you sense… feel what you feel. I can not explain it. We can close each other out as you can see, but the echo is still there.” Bastila said. “ It will never go away. As many years as you live, you will be linked to my son, and us. Even our other children do not share this bond with us, perhaps because Rev was our first born. He was born the first year after Revan returned from the Outer Rim. At that time… both of us were still attempting to come to grips with the events of our past, and rejoicing that we were finally together. I believe, and I do not know this to be true, but I believe it was due to the emotional state of his father and I that led him to be able to be with us here. And now… you as well.” Bastila couldn’t help but grin. “ It is very pleasant to have another woman here to talk to you know. Men can be so boring sometimes. Especially those two.”