Strangers ── qimir

CHAP. II

A void. That was all that surrounded her. As if the universe had collapsed inward and left her suspended in an eternal abyss. Her heartbeat echoed in her ears, the only reminder of her existence in the oppressive nothingness.

"Ow!"

Kiera's hands clutched her training saber tighter. Her master had landed a hit on her thigh, catching her off guard with her senses dulled. "Your connection is weak, padawan! Focus! Feel the force flow through you so you may sense what is to come!" his voice bellowed throughout the training room.

The padawan closed her eyes beneath her sensory deprivation helmet, exhaling deeply to regain composure. With each passing breath, she sought to empty her mind, feeling the confines of her body fade until nothing remained. Once more, the void returned and cast her adrift in a solitary darkness. She had become nothing again.

When the stick hit her arm, her saber fell to the floor.

"Padawan! What is the matter with you?" Her master's annoyance ignited a fire within her. A sudden flame burst to life within the void. With a heated fervor, she tore off her helmet. "I'm trying!"

Her master stood before her in a fog. There was nothing to be seen but the disappointment in his yellow eyes. Staring up at his figure, panting, Kiera felt smaller than ever before, shrinking whilst he grew in stature. She looked down, ashamed of her eruption. "I apologize, Master Khreen... I am exhausted."

The Trandoshan man circled her as he spoke. "Practice is the only way for you to improve, padawan. You must commit to it if you aim to be a Jedi Knight one day... If that is what you still desire?"

Her head shot up, ready to counter his doubts. But when her mouth opened to speak, it only croaked. She couldn't say yes. She tried again and again but nothing came out. She wanted to say yes, didn't she? She had to. Frantically, her hands clawed at her throat, desperate to dig out the words caught within.

She stopped clawing when she felt an arm snake around her. The scene before her shifted. Her master's eyes were filled with regret now.

The arm around her neck grew tighter and she realized she couldn't breathe. A blaster was placed against her temple and the chokehold she was in prevented her from moving. Panicked, her hands took hold of the arm suffocating her, pulling to no avail.

"Master! Master, please!" she called out to him, an agonizing and shrill edge to her voice as if she had already been screaming for hours. Her master took a step back, holding on to a blurry figure within the fog that she could not see. With every blink of her eyes, he only seemed to get further away.

"Trust in your training, young one, and all will be well," her master assured her as he vanished in the ever darkening haze. "No..." she muttered, the word a whispered protest against her sinking realization. She had witnessed this scene before.

The arm around her neck loosened, but the despair engulfing her was more suffocating than ever before.

"Ahh," a mechanical voice sighed behind her. Her breath quickened. The arm tightened around her neck. "So this is how they reward you for your efforts..." There was a menacing edge to its voice. Straining, she craned her neck to steal a glimpse of her captor. Upon succeeding to turn, her eyes met a set of horrifying teeth fixed into a dark helmet. They widened, suddenly alert. "...Jedi."

Gasping for air, the Jedi shot upright in bed, instinctively reaching for her lightsaber. She wasted no time activating it once the weapon was in her grasp. With its glow casting a blue light and erratic shadows over the room, she scanned her surroundings frantically. Besides the ringing in her ears, the only other sounds to be heard were those of her labored breaths. She reached into the force, seeking any other presence in the room, but found only her own—the void was absolute.