Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy A Fan Novelization

Chapter Ten - The Arena

PART TWO: THE APPRENTICE

Jaden awoke with a start. She was laying in an uncomfortable position on her bed and realized that she must have fallen asleep meditating. She stood up, stretching and hearing parts of her body crack satisfyingly, easing the stiffness. She rubbed her eyes and glanced at her chronometer on her bedside table which told her it was morning, but too early for anyone else to be up. Then she saw the pendant Rosh had made for her lying next to it, the cord warped neatly around the medallion. She reached out and picked it up carefully as though it were a precious and fragile treasure. She gently ran her finger over the smooth surface admiring the words carved in Aurebesh there. She tied it around her neck.

Still in her clothes from yesterday, she changed into something more comfortable but didn't lay back down. She felt wide awake, the thoughts and information of the previous day racing through her mind. She couldn't stay in her room any longer, she needed air and space outside.

Without any preconceived direction, Jaden turned left out of her room and headed down the hall, intending to go straight to the lift, but stopped, staring down the hall leading to the men's dorm. She made a choice and went straight. She stood outside of Rosh's door, similar to a moment not too long ago, but this time didn't hesitate. She examined the keypad, it was standard, nothing special someone with basic Force or hotwiring capabilities couldn't handle. She let her hand hover just over it, willing its mechanisms and wiring to work and do as she asked it. It beeped faintly, and the door slid open, creaking once. Not too loudly, but in the silent hallway Jaden winced and stepped inside, promising herself she'd leave quickly before too much time had passed.

She walked quietly over to Rosh's bed, which was a mess and hadn't been made the morning he got his assignment to Byss. Without knowing why, she started adjusting the sheets by hand, making it as nice as she could, setting the pillow at the head and fluffing it a bit. Next she moved around the bed to his small table, which was still filled with all kinds of junk and spare parts, but his new lightsaber hilt was missing. He must have finished it and took it with him. But why didn't he show it to me? Guilt and shame filled her. You were too busy giving him the cold shoulder Jaden, that's why he didn't trust you to show something precious he's been working on. And besides, he probably thought it wasn't good enough to compare to yours, he was always commenting on it. He was probably jealous.

"No!" Jaden whimpered aloud. Sometimes her own thoughts were her own worst enemies. She tasked herself with lining the spare pieces on Rosh's bedside table up in neat rows and making it look somewhat organized. She didn't even hear when the door behind her opened until it creaked softly. She froze, one hand still on the last piece she was lining up on the bottom shelf. A male sounding sigh was released behind her.

"I kind of figured I'd find you here since you weren't in your room." Jaden almost sighed with relief, still holding the last scrap piece, she stood, feeling stiff in her back from kneeling for so long. Kyle's arms were crossed, something he usually did when upset about something, but his eyes were soft, just as his tone had been. He let his arms drop to his sides. "How are you holding up?" Jaden held herself together as best she could.

"I miss him, I- I'm just worried something terrible has happened and that I'll never see him again."

"You two didn't part on good terms after Luke's meeting in the Audience Chamber, did you?"

"How'd you know? You left before we did."

"I can sense guilt a mile away. Look, something I learned, when I was heavily tempted by the dark side, is that often, self-hatred, rather than just hatred of others, is often the quickest path to the dark side."