Storms of the Eye - A WolfWren fiction

Interlude Two : Baylan Skoll.

Baylan was sitting on the bare metal floor of his cabin, legs crossed, eyes closed. He took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and summoned that particular side of the force he was so privy to. His gift made him see the ancient power differently than his counterparts. For most of them, there was only light and darkness. But Baylan could speak to a much more neutral and secret side of the Force: Time.

He plunged himself inside the tides of the future, navigating a thousand possible fates to come, jumping from one branch of time to another, welcoming every vision the Force offered. So many paths to choose from, but so little that would bring upon the galaxy his preferred vision.

He brought himself to a particular knot of time. One that was just ahead of them, right now. The possibilities seemed to have thinned. A few days ago, passing that knot was not a certainty. But now, he saw that every path led to it. Only one continued past the knot, toward the future he envisioned.

There was a choice, a tipping point. He knew about it, but he still couldn't understand why. The first part of the vision was clear: Sabine Wren, and Shin, together, in a cramped space. Baylan was almost sure he recognized the rugged look of the Eye of Sion's walkways. It looked like one of the many service corridors in the giant ring part of the ship. He drew harder from the force, trying to summon more details.

His apprentice and the Mandalorian girl were there. They wore pressurized suits, walking slowly, uneasy, in the dark corridor. Baylan had already watched that glimpse of a possible future many times now. And he noticed what he always did: the two girl's body language. They stood close to each other, unwary, turning their back to one another without hesitation. They walked closer together than they had to. They seemed tense like their mission was vital, but united in completing it. He could see no animosity in their eyes. On the contrary, when they looked at each other, iit seemed to be...

It happened again. He tried to hang on to the vision but everything turned dark and he got catapulted forward to another scene: a landing pad, towering over a fortress. The landscape was coherent with what he had read of Peridea. Then everything dissipated, and he was back on his cabin floor, sweating.

He sighed in frustration. He had hoped to be able to see more this time. But at least something was clear: the path to Peridea was through Miss Wren survival. Sabine had to be on the ship, had to be on that dark unpressurized walkway sometime soon. Shin had to be there. And his apprentice would need to have gained the Mandalorian trust by then. Some other possible futures showed Sabine dead, or alone in the walkway. Some showed Shin without Sabine in the same corridor. In others, the girls were fighting to death.

None of those visions led to Peridea. They led to futures where everybody on the Eye of Sion was dead or irrelevant to the Galaxy's destiny. Even the ones where Baylan survived didn't lead to Peridea. Only the girls, alive and together in that corridor, sometime soon, would get them to the other galaxy. That was why he had brought Sabine in the first place, why he had insisted Shin interrogated her.

He stood up, pacing in the small room, nervous. It would not be long before Shin realized he didn't need any intel on Ezra Bridger. Elsbeth had shared a complete inquisitorial report on the boy long ago. Shin didn't know that yet, but the girl wasn't stupid, she would eventually find out that her 'mission' was a pretext.

I have to trust the Force. He thought, trying to reassure himself. Trust the vision. That wild goose chase should keep Shin close to Miss Wren long enough for the right future to come. That's what I saw, and it should be realized.

He just had to keep Shin from asking too many questions. Not that this is currently a problem, he thought, bringing up his comlink. He called his apprentice but was met with complete silence.

Baylan hadn't seen Shin all day. He had called his apprentice half a dozen times already, but her comlink frequency would remain silent. Concerned, he walked out of his cabin and strolled to the turbolift. He nearly bumped into Shin, as she was exiting the elevator.

"There you are." Remarked Baylan, surprised, gesturing her to stop her pace. "Care to explain why you have been dodging my calls, my young apprentice?"

Shin opened her eyes wide in disarray.

"What do you mean, Master?" She asked awkwardly. "You haven't called me. My comlink is always on, and it didn't ring all morni..."

Shin stopped, panicked, as she was searching her pocket. She patted her other pockets hastily, mumbling to herself. "Oh, no, god damn it...!"

After a moment she gave Baylan a sorry grimace, looking down.

"I'm sorry Master, I think I have misplaced it. I don't know how that happened, I never put it away. It must have..."

She froze pure panic in her eyes, seeming to realize something. She stepped back into the lift in a hurry, smashing one of the buttons repeatedly. As the turbolift door was closing, she shouted.

"Sorry Master! I will be right back, I just have to... to take care of something urgent!"

Baylan stood still, alone in front of the closed turbolift door, stunned. You didn't take on an apprentice without a few surprises and erratic behaviors on their part but he had to admit: that was a first. Where the hell did she go like that?