Battles Leave Scars

Chapter 6: Mercy

          Caleb willed his knees to stop shaking as Anakin Skywalker eyed him with some look between skepticism and joviality. Despite Caleb refusing Anakin's help, Ahsoka had somehow convinced the boy to let her master join in on a training session. Ahsoka glanced over at Caleb who watched the master and apprentice apprehensively. She had started to notice how cautiously Caleb looked over at her master. He seemed almost afraid to take any action besides walking, and he even did that subjectively. The trio stood just outside the Jedi Temple and Caleb tried very hard to keep all traces of nervousness from his face as Anakin pointed one muscular finger up—and up—and up.

          "Ahsoka told me that you've had a lot of practice with heights. So, how are you going to get up there?" Anakin quizzed the young jedi, oblivious to the shock that crossed the boy's face.

           Caleb slid one fingernail under his thumb nail and flicked up, creating a horrid clacking that grated everyone's, including Caleb's, nerves. He knew that Ahsoka would never assume he would be afraid of heights, seeing as how she had watched him scale to the ceiling of his room without a moment's hesitation. But this was different, and he couldn't say anything about it now, not in front of Anakin. Ahsoka, though, probably would understand, so maybe he should just say something. But what if—and just like that, he was spiraling.

            Ahsoka rose a singular brow at Caleb's nervous gestures and motioned to her master to get his 'lesson' over with as quickly as possible.

            Anakin understood her exaggerated movements and reiterated, "How are you going to get up there?"

              As Caleb's anxious clicking reached a frantic pace, Ahsoka suddenly felt terrible for forcing the outing on him and answered, "Take the stairs?"

             "If you are being chased by a mad Sith Lord, are you going to take the stairs?" Anakin sighed.

            "I'm assuming that's a rhetorical question," Ahsoka replied, crossing her arms over her chest.

           Anakin rolled his eyes at his apprentice and pointed at Caleb, who subsequently flinched. "How do you suggest we get to the top of the Jedi Temple?"

           Caleb looked up at the jedi knight, he contemplated a moment, faced with a question to wrap his mind around, and replied, "You could jump."

         Anakin's jaw dropped slightly, and he scoffed, "Jump?"

         "Yes, Sir."

          "Well, I'd like to see you try."

          "No, Master. Do or do not, there is no try." Ahsoka corrected him.

            Caleb tuned out Anakin's retort and the following banter as he thought out exactly how he could jump from point A to point B. Not that he would jump all the way up a three-hundred-and-three story building; that would be insane.

           "No, feel don't think," Anakin chided, interrupting Caleb's train of thought.

           Caleb did not agree with such a statement at all, especially since Jedi were trained to act logically, leaving no room for emotion. But he realized that Anakin was the one with the experience, and that he should at least acknowledge the master's opinion. "Yes, Master Skywalker."

           Anakin chuckled slightly at Caleb's use of 'Master' and he gently pushed Caleb forward and the boy knew, at that moment, that he would have to jump. Caleb traced his eyes over the massive building once more and leapt up into the air before his feet stuck to the concrete. With the Force as his springboard, he flew up several stories, landing swiftly on a railing. He teetered from it for half-a-second and was off again, flipping through the air. He climbed upward like this, railing after railing, until all that was left was the sheer walls that supported the central, and highest, tower on the temple, which served, not only, as a dueling room, but also, as Caleb's landing pad. He knew for a fact he could make it halfway, probably more, with a single Force jump. But he didn't want to get overconfident and miss. So, in a moment he decided he wouldn't even make it five feet into the air.