The Boulder Incident

"Hey! Have either of you seen Annie? She was supposed to meet me here 15 minutes ago."

A little startled, Galadina spun around to find out who was talking to them. Though it was an unusual sight, she was not at all surprised to discover a Twi'lek girl about their age from the nearby village--NOT one of the students--running up from the Jedi Temple entrance to catch them. "You mean Dianiss?" she asked.

"Yeah, sorry. Master Dianiss. She and I were going . . . well . . . that's not important. Have you seen her?" Still running, she waved to Dina's friend, who was looking puzzled. "Hi!"

Kendsel looked at the Twi'lek girl and thought he recognized her. "What is her name?" he asked softly so that only Dina would hear him.

Dina looked Kendsel's way briefly to hold up her hand in a signal she hoped he'd understand as hold-that-thought. Meanwhile, she was thinking to herself "Just run towards trouble...or boys..." but held back her toungue. Instead, feeling annoyed, she said "She's PADAWAN Dianiss. PAD-A-WAN. You know, with a braid." and pointed to her own Padawan braid. Then she realized she was being confrontational for no good reason and softened her tone. "And no, I haven't seen her. Have you asked Master Casei?"

Kendsel was still fighting his mental block of the girl's name. "Kirasawa." he said to himself, and it didn't sound right.

"I just came from there, and she told me that Ma..." she caught herself and continued "that Dianiss was here at the Temple at lunch time, but that was 3 hours ago."

"Karekhersan." That didn't sound right either, though it did sound familiar.

"Then I don't know what to tell you. Maybe she's looking for you back at your village." Dina replied before turning to Kendsel to say "It's 'Kariharra'. People call her 'Kari'. 'Kira Carson' is a friend of Master Zedemm."

"Okay, thanks." Kari said, and started off toward the village. Then, with a mischievous grin she added, "And it's PADAWAN Zedemm. PAD-A-WAN."

All Dina could do was let out a long sigh, and continue their walk. Kendsel couldn't help but laugh a little.  After all, Exasperated Dina was just too adorable for words.

"No matter what I do, I can never escape that girl." Dina said, as if resigned to her fate. "We were roommates when she first got here, and not even for very long..."

"I remember." he interjected.

"...and Master Zedemm helps me so much with my training, that somehow everyone thinks I'm her best friend or something."

"I think she's pretty."

Kendsel became suddenly aware that a Miraluka really COULD stare at you...and the experience was not a pleasant one.

"If I didn't know better, I might think that SHE's the reason you took up training to be a Guardian instead of a Shadow...so your room would be in the other wing."

The joke broke the tension and Dina relented as all the frustration came tumbling out at once. "ARGH! It's the way she acts! The way she dresses...there's not a boy she won't flirt with...she comes and goes whenever and wherever she pleases...she has no discipline whatsoever. How can she possibly become a Jedi?"

"She is very powerful."

Dina groaned. "Yeah, and she makes a point of showing it off to everyone whenever she can."

"I've noticed."

"Of course you have...she's a Grand Master at being noticed . . . plus you're a boy."

Kendsel pointed to himself and made a puzzled face as if to say "Who...me?"

"But what really gets me," she continued, "is how the Masters just let her get away with it all and never say anything. If it were up to me, she'd have to wear that braid for a LONG time."

"Well, since it's NOT up to you, she'll probably end up being named Barsen'thor." he said with a sly grin.

She tried to give him "the stare" again, but his infectious smile got to her and she couldn't help laughing along with him as they arrived at his training location. "Yeah, and I'll probably end up defeating the Emperor himself, single-handedly."

"So what is it today?" She asked, getting back to the business at hand.

"Master Annanya wants me to work on lifting something really heavy, so she sent me to this boulder over here by the bridge. She says that lifting small things can be done with just raw power, but heavy things require technique and finesse. So I guess that means I'm going to learn how to stare for long periods of time at an unmoving boulder, . . . with finesse!"

"I'm sure there's a reason. Maybe the smaller things will easier after working at moving a heavy thing. Besides, you CAN lift it. You just have to find a way of reaching out that works for you." She paused, thinking of a way to encourage him. "Besides, I've been there--more than once--when you've broken hardened armor with just a touch. So don't try to tell me you're not strong in the Force."

"That's different. I can see the flaws and the weaknesses, and exploit them. It's the NOT breaking things that always trips me up."

"Yeah, well even Master Satele says you're better at that than anyone else here. There's not a single Shadow Padawan here who didn't hope to be chosen by Master Annanya, but she chose you! I've overheard them talk about you, you know. A 'unique destiny' they said. So get to it!"

As she started walking away, she added "And by the way, I'm doing saber training today, so I'll be just on the other side of the path to keep you company."

"Or..." he responded with devilish look, "...maybe a pretty girl who will remain nameless . . . and pants-less . . . will come by and show me how it's done."

"Don't even joke." She snapped back. Just when she'd forgotten about her exasperation with Dianiss, he just HAD to go and remind her again. "Concentrate, Dina." she thought to herself. "Clear your mind. Don't be jealous. She's just another Padawan. She's not more powerful than anyone else here, and there's no way the Masters would give her special treatment." And with that little ritual out of the way, she began her training--and at the same time paying close attention to the ebbs and flows of her friend's Force aura, just in case.

But something deep in her just screamed out that she was lying to herself, that the Masters really were being easier on Dianiss, just because she's powerful.


She was right.

Well, other than having the whole thing backwards, she was totally right.


It was fairly well known that Dianiss was one of the most powerfully gifted Padawans Tython has ever seen. A few even knew that she'd been born in the Empire, and adopted by the Jedi along with her older brother years ago. But only the highest-ranking Masters on Tython were permitted to see the hidden, encrypted portion of the holorecording that came with her and Zedemm.

"Hello, this is Zarvell again. No doubt you've already seen the message into which this coded message was hidden, so I'll be brief."

"My reasons for sending Zedemm to you, while true, are also a cover story for his benefit. I apologize for the deception, but you'll soon understand its necessity. What you need to know is that Dianiss is . . . extraordinary. I've included as much research as I've been able to accumulate on what was done to her with this message. The thing you must know--and keep secret--is that she is more than just powerful. To the Sith and to the Empire, she is nothing more than a weapon."

"But to me, and I hope to you, she is a beautiful little girl. Inside the Empire she will never know freedom, never be able to break the chains that others would put upon her. So now, for both of my childrens' sakes, I am about to do the most difficult thing I've ever done."

"And so I ask . . . I beg of you . . . to do these three things: First, love and raise my little girl as a Jedi so that she may NEVER know the touch of the dark side. Though it breaks my heart, I will not be able to do this myself. Second, hide and protect her from the attempts to find her and take her back to the Sith, for they will come--again and again. This, too, I will not be able to do myself, though I promise you that I will render you my assistance whenever I can. Third, train her in the ways of the Force until she can learn to protect herself. I trust you will see this third request as your duty to any Force Sensitive. The second request you will no doubt see as in alignment with your own interests."

"As to the first, you will find, as I have, that doing so is its own reward."

"I have also included protocols that will allow you to contact me. Someday, when she is old enough to understand, I will make all of this known to her. But until that day comes, simply be sure that she always knows that her Daddy loves her."

And with that (along with some blood tests and SIS confirmation of some of the details) the Jedi Council on Tython had made the determination that losing Dianiss to the dark side was a far greater danger to the Order than any misbehavior she might engage in. As a result, they really were more lenient with her than they were with the other Padawans.

But not without reason: Dianiss was also the only Padawan in Tython history who had to be constantly protected from a known, determined Sith plot to capture her. And it had to be kept a secret--even from her--so that her training could proceed normally.

As a result, whenever she was permitted to get away with things that other Padawans would not be allowed to do, it was to give a subtle camoflage to the fact that as a Padawan she was never permitted to leave Tython--for ANY reason. And granting her those additional measures of freedom (such as visiting the nearby Twi'lek village whenever she liked) kept her from noticing that in truth she had the least freedom of all of them. And so long as she stayed on-planet, keeping track of her whereabouts was never a problem--her presence in the Force was unmistakable.

And the misdirection worked. She never felt trapped or caged--nor any strong desire to leave--which was the Masters' intention. Unfortunately, it also worked on some of the other Padawans like Galadina who saw Dianiss' attention-seeking antics and flirtatious (even promiscuous, as rumor had it) behavior as un-Jedi-like at best and disgraceful at worst. So if it appeared that the Council was showing favoritism to a gifted pupil because of her abilities, that would at least be believable--even if it did reflect poorly on the Jedi Masters. Such is the nature of sacrifice.


A few hours later, the Tython sun was a bit lower in the sky and the Tython boulder in front of Kendsel was still precisely where it had been a few hours earlier. His frustration was building and Dina could sense it easily.

Dina herself was feeling a little frustrated, as she'd been trying to develop a difficult disarming technique of jumping over an opponent and snatching the saber from his hand without touching the blade. The many failures were proving to be painful, even with a training saber, so it seemed a good time to rest and give her friend some encouragement.

"How are you doing, Ken?" she asked as she sat down beside him.

"How do you think?" he snapped, and instantly regretted it. "I'm sorry, Dina. I just can't seem to . . . I don't know . . . figure out how to get a grip on it." He half-stood just enough to reposition himself so he was facing her. "I've seen you do things like that . . . how do you do it?"

"Hmmm. I guess it's hard to describe." She thought for a moment, trying to put it into words. "It's not about seeing or visualizing it--obviously--or I'd never be able to do it. That's why a lot of Jedi close their eyes I guess."

"It's more about percieving just the details you need," she continued, "and imagining the change you want to cause."

"So . . . how would you imagine it?" he asked, hoping for some inspiration.

"Reach out with your mind and discover the entire rock, it's whole surface, top and bottom." she told him. "Notice where the rock touches the ground . . . and try erasing that place in your mind." She did just that herself, but without any effort at all to move the rock.

He concentrated for a few minutes trying to do what she suggested, but eventually said "It's so heavy . . . so . . . intimidating."

"Come on, Ken. We both have to keep trying. When did ANY of the Masters EVER tell us this stuff was easy?"

"I bet you could do it." He put his hand on top of hers.

She squeezed his hand back a little. "Maybe. But I won't. Because you can do it; and you will do it."


Their little moment of intimacy was interrupted by the sound of footfalls as Dianiss came running by on her way back to the Temple from parts unknown, but stopped in her tracks when she saw Kendsel sitting there. "Hi!" she said with a smile, teasing her hand across his shoulders. "What are you doing?" she asked. His heart rate and blood pressure both went up a bit, the way they always do when a boy finds himself in the presence of an attractive girl.

Galadina knew that smile and heard that tone of voice before, and was pretty sure she knew what was about to happen next.

"I'm trying to lift this boulder, but it's so . . . ." He let out a sigh as a substitute for actually finishing his sentence as he stood up. "I'm starting to wonder if I even CAN do it."

Dina stood too, but partly into a combat stance that put her in a frame of mind of hyper-awareness and of predicting the moves of everything around her. Her prediction for Dianiss alarmed her.

"Of course you can do it! It's easy." And right on cue, Dianiss' aura began brightening.

Acting partly on reflex, and partly on the half-a-plan that began to form in her mind as soon as Dianiss stopped to talk, Dina reached out with the Force to take hold of that moment in time to push and pull on it--"stretch" it, so to speak--to prevent it from slipping away while leaving no room for the next moment to arrive. As she did, she could sense the world around her slow down, or at least appear to. This Force Speed technique was one that she practiced often, as it was a key part of her combat technique. But this time instead of striking with a saber or leaping to an opponent, she instead used this extended moment to focus her concentration on the rock, and do her level best to pull DOWN on it and hold it in place. As she released her grip on "the moment" to shift her full attention to pulling the rock down, she was confident that she had reached the rock before anyone else had. The world snapped back to it's normal speed as the moment she'd held on to shrank away and disappeared, and she steeled her mind for what would come next.

As predicted, she soon felt the rock's weight change from heavy to light to zero and felt an upward wash of Force forming beneath it. She focused her efforts on holding it in place against the opposing Force. The rock stayed put.

What did not stay put, however, was Dianiss' smile. Her expression changed quickly from relaxed confidence to surprise, to confusion, to annoyance, to curiosity, to realization, and finally to indignation. "Really, Dina? Really?" she half-asked, half-challenged. In her eyes was a strange glow that Dina did NOT predict...that she didn't even know was possible.

"Don't." Dina said. "Pl..." but before she could finish "ease", she felt Dianiss' aura brighten further, as if a candlelight in the span of a second became a supernova. The upward wash of Force hadn't weakened at all since it began, but suddenly it took on the intensity of a warship's blaster. The raw power completely overwhelmed Dina's effort to hold the rock in place. And because she was--in the Force--directly in its path, her attempt to hold it in place wracked her mind and body with pain of such intensity that it caused her to scream out without hearing or even knowing that she was doing it, before losing consciousness.

Kendsel felt completely like a bystander in this...aware of what was happening, and at the same time completely unable to do anything about it. All he could do was just stare in a strange combination of awe, horror, admiration, and disbelief as the rock--the one that he had been unable to lift--blasted straight up into the air as if fired from a cannon, knocking him off his feet. Underneath all that, though, was another completely different feeling that frightened him.

In just a few seconds it was so high up that it had become nothing more than a tiny dark dot against the sunny blue sky, hardly noticeable unless you'd seen how it got there.

But unlike a dot in the sky, a explosion of raw Force power like that was immediately noticable to a temple full of Jedi Masters. All who were close enough came running just in time to figure out that the Temple grounds were about to become the site of--effectively--a meteor strike. Simple physics dictated that when it landed, the impact would have almost the same amount of kinetic energy as what was used to launch it--way too much to be able to stop it or substantially slow it down with any sort of control.

The most that could be done in the few remaining seconds would be to "steer" it a short distance to an open location (in this case, the nearby riverbed just east of the grounds in front of the Temple), and clear the impact zone so no one would get hurt.

With only seconds to act, Masters Silvarte and Yollo were the closest by, and they immediately set about pushing the rock towards the river as it fell. Meanwhile, Master Liam Dentiri began calling (and pulling) all the students toward his position at the bridge, in the opposite direction from the probable impact zone.

For Dianiss, at the center of it, none of this chaos existed. "OH MY GOD!!! Dina, I'm SO SORRY!!!" she yelled out to her fellow student who, already on the ground and out cold, couldn't hear it. Her mind was a maelstrom of surprise, regret and self-directed anger that she fought to bring back under control, but the realization of how she'd hurt a fellow student like she did--out of pride and loss of self-control--was the only thought she couldn't clear from her mind. Well, not the only thought....

And as the little dark spot grew and started to take shape and color, Kendsel could only stare. "When it lands, it's going to break into 2 pieces right . . . there." was the only thought in his mind as he percieved a crack in the now red-hot boulder 1/3 of the way through it. Well, not the only thought....

It's difficult to describe the sound made by such a massive object hitting the ground at terminal velocity. In fact, even calling it a "sound" doesn't quite do it justice because you feel it through your whole body--not just your ears. The place where it landed wasn't quite IN the river but right on its western bank, forming a half-crater against the already-sloped terrain. The shockwave was accompanied by a half-dozen other sounds: the breaking of tree limbs, the cracking of the rock into two pieces (one roughly twice as large as the other), the tearing of the sod away from the river's edge, the splashing of the river water, the rainfall sound of that water falling back down. As loud as they were, they were just whispers in the wake of the single pulse that shook the ground.

Mercifully, no one (aside from Galadina) was hurt.

As the moment of chaos passed and the dust and commotion settled, The same thought passed through the minds of both Dianiss and Kendsel at the same time, hers born of regret and his born of helplessness...

"I think I am never going to become a Jedi."