Pages 210-219

“You wouldn’t hurt her intentionally, of course, but what happens if you slip up? I just think it would be best if you… if you remained at arms’ length so to speak,” Corran warned.
“I will do nothing to encourage anything more, but if she does I won’t reject her,” Tristan replied, “That would do more harm than good.”
Corran sighed. “I agree.”
“I can hear everything you’re saying, you know,” I said as my eyes shot open and I sat up.
“I thought you were asleep,” Tristan said as he sat up straighter.
“I was; but it’s a little difficult when your pillow starts having a conversation,” I replied pointedly.
“Sorry,” Tristan said sheepishly.
“It’s alright, but I heard something about being inactive on Naboo. I’m not pleased about that. I need to get back to my ship and attack Myrkr while it’s still weak,” I protested.
“By ‘your ship’ you mean the Oblivion, right?” Corran asked.
“Of course.”
“Your title was renounced two weeks after you went missing,” he said reluctantly.
“You’re kidding, right?” I said shakily.
“I’m afraid not.”
“No, no, no, no, no! This isn’t fair! I earned that title!” I yelled in frustration.
“Tori calm down,” Tristan said softly.
I took a deep breath. “You’re right. Life goes on. I’ll just enter back in as a recruit when we get back to Coruscant.”
“We’re going to Naboo, not Coruscant, remember?” Corran asked.
“I remember the Jedi being assigned to Naboo, but I’m not technically a Jedi anymore so I’m going to Coruscant,” I countered.
“You can’t be serious. You just escaped yesterday; are you that eager to go back?” Corran asked incredulously.
“It won’t happen again, you can be sure of that.”
“It won’t happen again because we won’t let you go back,” Tristan cut in.
I decided to completely disregard that comment. “I don’t suppose either of you have a blaster handy, do you?”
“Nope,” Tristan replied.
“Not today,” Corran answered.
“Then I’ll just go hunt one down,” I said as I started to stand and walk away.
“What are you going to do with it?” Corran demanded as he caught me by the elbow.
“Target practice; I don’t want to look stupid in front of the people who used to work for me.” And with that, I pulled my arm away and went to search for the ship’s emergency equipment; there was always a blaster with the emergency equipment.
“Okay, if you can’t talk sense into her and I can’t talk sense into her, who can talk sense into her?” Tristan asked as he watched me disappear down the hallway.
* * *
With my search for a blaster a success I headed to the hangar to use mousedroids as targets. I was a little rusty but I regained most of my former skill relatively quickly.
“You know, you shouldn’t sneak up on people who are using weapons,” I said when I heard someone walking up behind me.
“I’ll try to remember that next time I run into someone who’s not a Jedi,” Orunti said with a chuckle.
I turned toward him. “I’m not a Jedi anymore.”
“Maybe not technically, but you’ll always be one to us,” he said as he used telekinesis to pull the blaster out of my hand.
“No fair, you know I’m telekinesis retarded,” I protested as I went to retrieve my blaster.
“That isn’t my fault,” Orunti said as he floated the blaster above me, just out of reach.
“I can be mean too, you know,” I said as I took a step back and took a deep breath.
Orunti suddenly doubled over in pain and the blaster clattered to the floor where I quickly retrieved it.
“What the krif was that?” Orunti asked in alarm.
“Oh about an eighth of the pain I went through every day I was with the Vong,” I replied casually. “And that isn’t counting all of the pain I absorbed from Skai. I could do a hell of a lot more damage than what you just went through. I stored all of that pain my memory to project at will.”
“But why did you use it on me?” Orunti asked in shock.
“Because you wouldn’t give me my blaster back,” I answered bluntly.
“You’re unstable.”
“You’re a wimp.”
“You shouldn’t have that blaster. It’s unsafe for you to be in possession of any weapon.”
“Fine,” I shouted as I tossed the blaster to his feet, “I don’t need a weapon; I’ve got something none of you can take from me.” He looked at me oddly. “The force and my memories.” I walked toward the hangar door; I could both hear and feel Orunti coming after me. “For your own good, don’t take another step.” He kept coming. “I warned you,” I said as I continued to walk. Orunti screamed in pain and fell to his knees, but his screams faded as the door shut behind me and once I was a good distance away I released the pain I had inflicted on him and made myself disappear within the force. I just had to find a place where no one would come looking for me.
* * *
Corran’s comlink buzzed. “Orunti? Orunti, what’s wrong? What happened?” Corran was instantly panicked when he heard Orunti’s stressed and ragged breathing.
“I’m fine now but Tori’s not,” Orunti replied in between strangled breaths.
“What happened? What’s wrong with her?” Corran asked in alarm.
“I don’t know; I was hoping you’d tell me,” Orunti answered.
“What do you mean? Orunti, what happened?” Corran asked with a little more calm.
“She attacked me.”
“No. How?”
“Pain projection,” Orunti said bluntly. “She’s not stable, Corran. We need to find her before she hurts herself or anyone else.”
“I agree; I’ll see if I can find her first before alerting everyone,” Corran said with a sigh.
* * *
No one would look for me in a droid storage room. I was safe from them. Only one thing bothered me; I didn’t feel guilty and I didn’t regret what I’d done. So oddly enough the lack of guilt made me feel guilty. I should have been extremely ashamed of myself but I wasn’t.
I knew I couldn’t hide within the force forever so I had to come up with a plan. Within moments I knew what I had to do; all it would take was a little luck and a lot of guts.
* * *
“Whoa, Corran, where are you going in such a hurry?” Tristan asked as Corran flew past him.
“To find Tori,” Corran answered as he continued his stride; suddenly Tristan was in front of him.
“What happened?”
“She attacked Orunti then disappeared in the force.”
“Shit, she’ll hide for awhile but she wants to get to Coruscant so at some point she’ll have to get to the hangar,” Tristan said as he fell in step next to Corran.
“So first we need to have people at the hangar,” Corran said with a nod as he took out his comlink. “Jaina… Are you still on the bridge?... Good, I need you to do me a favor. Send a message to all comlinks telling them to get to the hangar as fast as possible and stay there until I say otherwise… I’ll explain later… Thank you, Jaina.”
* * *
Corran and Tristan were on their way to the hangar when they felt my presence reappear in the force. They sprinted toward it and sure enough it was coming from the hangar bay.
* * *
When I snuck back into the hangar bay I noticed that everyone was there, not just the Jedi, but everyone, even the crew. It was easily one hundred and fifty people. I figured I’d blend better if I just walked into the crowd like a few others were doing.
“Tori.” I froze when I heard my name. “We know why you’re here and you’re not leaving this ship,” Kyp said and there were nods and murmurs of agreement.
“You can’t stop me,” I said as I sent a shock of pain through him.
“You forget how many of us there are,” Kyp said as he regained his composure and gestured at the crowd of people, “We will stop you.”
“You will try,” I said as I sent a ripple of pain through the crowd causing them all to flinch and some to cry out in pain. I continued this as I made my way through the crowd toward an XJ7. My progress suddenly halted and I found that I couldn’t move at all. I looked around trying to find the source of my sudden halt when an image entered my head; I tried to ignore it, but couldn’t.
At first I couldn’t tell who I was looking at because their back was turned. After a moment I processed the fact that the person was female and human. She was unfamiliar and yet I got the feeling I had seen her somewhere. Her arm extended and a yellow beam emitted from the lightsaber in her hand. She wore a black flightsuit, not unlike the ones G.A.G. members wore in the book that was based ten years from now. Then she turned to face some unseen enemy and realization struck me. Her features were mine only older and contorted in a deep heated scowl and my eyes were only slightly darker than my blade. Was this my future? Was this what waited for me at the end of my journey away from here?
I took a breath and the image disappeared and I could move but I was now looking at the faces of all the men and women I was trying to escape. All were in pain; most were on their knees or one the floor; some were screaming; others were cursing. My gaze finally settled on the group of Jedi. All of them were standing. Kyp looked more angry than in pain; Orunti had steeled himself and was standing with a blank expression, his hands shaking violently. Skai’s expression, though, had the most affect. She was standing there staring at me with tears in her eyes, with a look of pure betrayal on her face; I had betrayed her.
I released the projection and made a dash for the XJ7. I had to get away. I couldn’t face the people I had just betrayed. I was so determined to escape that I didn’t notice the person standing directly in front of the boarding ladder until I ran into them; the impact was enough to knock me on my butt.
“Didn’t you already try to run?” Jacen asked as he crouched down next to me.
My first instinct was to send a shock of pain through his system but I fought it back. “I have to leave; you didn’t see what I become. I have to get as far away as possible before it happens,” I replied as I stood and stumbled toward the XJ7.
“No, that’s what you become if you leave. If you stay, things will get better,” Corran said as he walked up.
“You don’t know that,” I said then turned back toward the ladder that Tristan was now blocking.
“Maybe we don’t, but wouldn’t staying be worth finding out?” he asked.
“You’re all just saying this to get me to stay,” I protested.
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t telling the truth,” Corran pointed out.
“If I stay you’re all just going to treat me like a little kid.”
“We only want to protect you,” Tristan said.
“And we want to protect you because we care about you,” Jacen pointed out.
“I guess.”
“Do you think we would be here if we didn’t care about you? Plus, we don’t want to lose you again; you should have seen this lot while you were missing,” Kyp said as he gestured around him.
I nodded with a sigh. “Naboo?”
Corran smiled. “Naboo.”
* * *
“What are you doing?” Jacen asked.
“Sh!” I snapped as I continued to edge toward one of the Shaak grazing in the field we were all sitting in.
“Does this qualify as one of the things we’re allowed to save her from?” Jacen asked as he turned to Corran.
“It’d probably be in your best interest not to,” he replied.
“She’s pulling an Anakin,” Jason said suddenly.
“What’d I do?” Anakin asked as he looked up at the sound of his name.
“Not you, your grandfather, before he was Darth Vader. Once he was here and he… he, well, did that,” Jason explained as he pointed over to where I was standing on one of the Shaaks’ backs.
“Woo-hoo!” I yelled in victory then the Shaak started bucking and I started to lose my balance. “Uh-oh…” I muttered then I looked over at the group of Jedi that was my audience. “Help would be appreciated. You forget; TK isn’t my strong point!” I yelled as I used my little TK to root myself to the Shaak’s back.
“Who’s got her?” Corran asked as he turned toward the group.
“I’ll get her this time,” Kyp said as he barely moved his hand and I was lifted off the creature and landed just a few feet in front of them.
“That was awesome! When do I go again?” I asked as I plopped down next to everyone; they sighed. “Oh come on! You guys are such killjoys!”
“Well not all of us enjoy saving your butt every thirty seconds,” Jaina pointed out.
I stuck my tongue out at her.
“Very mature.”
“I never claimed to be,” I countered.
“Geez… Break it up,” Kyp said while looking back and forth between us.

Pg 206-209

Kris was leading a very tired group of Jedi down the hall quickly when all of a sudden she felt a pulse of force energy come from her room; it wasn't darkside energy it was just different energy. When they got to Kris's room they saw me, sitting up in bed, and Orunti slouching against the wall, rubbing his head and neck.
"What happened?" Corran asked Orunti as he walked over toward me.
"No, Corran, don't go near her; don't try to touch her," Orunti warned as Corran got closer to me.
But it was too late; I extended my arm and Corran too went flying against the wall, "Don't touch me." My voice trembled from the boosted power I was receiving from the force.
"Tori, it's us," Kris attempted.
My gaze snapped in her direction. "I know who you are! Y-you're with him! You're all with him! I won't let it happen again! I won't!" I shouted as I shook my head. Everything was thrown back a foot or two away from me.
"It will never happen again; he's dead. He can't hurt you anymore," Corran said as he stood stiffly.
" No... no... you're all lying; all of you! How can I trust you? How do I know you're telling the truth?" I demanded as I continued to thrash.
"Because this is a dream, Tori. You're asleep and you're living a nightmare," Tristan explained and I shook me head; he sighed, "Do one thing for me, close your eyes then open them again. You know you can trust us and you want to, I can tell."
I closed my eyes then opened them again; the haze was gone but I instantly experienced a feeling of vertigo, "What's going on? Why is everyone staring at me?"
"You don't remember?" Jason asked in disbelief.
"Why would she? It was a dream; most people don't remember their dreams," Orunti answered.
"That's right, but Tori, this just proves that you need to tell us about what happened.," Corran stated.
"No," I said with finality, "I already have to relive it in my dreams."
"I entered her dream," Orunti stated, "I don't think she should be forced to tall anyone what happened. I will tell you so she doesn't have to."
"Thank you, Orunti," I said with a weak smile.
As if on cue, Skai wandered in, rubbing her eyes and asked, "What's going on?"
"Nothing, let's go back to sleep," Corran said with a yawn as he retreated back to his room.

* * *

I wandered into the small galley about and hour later, still with sleep in my eyes. I was an unprotected swirl of emotions; fear, anger, helplessness. I sighed as I walked over to the small sitting area.

"You couldn't sleep either?" a voice asked from one of the couches.

"No, I can't stop thinking about it, " I replied as I sat down next to Tristan.

"It's really eating away at you, isn't it?" he asked as he turned toward me with a look of pure concern written on his face.

"Yeah... but before you ask: no, I don't want to talk about it," I said as I pulled my knees up to my chest.

"I wasn't going to ask; all that matter to me right now is that you're safe and nothing can hurt you anymore," Tristan said as he reached forward toward me. It hurt to see me fight the urge to flinch; he pulled his hand back and offered a half-hearted smile.

I knew I had to get over my fear of physical contact soon and now seemed as good a time as any. Once he had pulled away I crawled over to him on the couch and leaned against him.

Tristan smiled at the effort I was putting in to get over my fear. He didn't quite know whether to do something and risk scaring me or to do nothing and risk me feeling abandoned. He slowly moved his arm until it was wrapped comfortably around my waist and my head was resting on his chest. He was immensely pleased when he felt my still stiff breathing even out and watched as my hand that was holding onto his robe loosened its grip. I shifted slightly and drifted off into a deep slumber.

* * *

When he awoke the next morning he found that I was still curled up against him contentedly. He noticed that my hand was still holding his robe loosely and my sleeve was pushed up a bit, revealing the lacerations that ringed my wrists. His breath caught in his throat when he remembered all I must have been through. I shifted slightly and muttered something before settling my head back on his chest. He couldn't help but smile at my cat-like behavior and began to twirl my hair through his fingers idly; he wasn't paying attention when Corran walked in.

"I trust she slept well?" Corran asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"Like a baby," Tristan replied softly.

"I'm glad she can find comfort in at least one of us," Corran said with a sigh.

"It's really weakening her," Tristan stated as he looked down at me.

"Well, she must be emotionally exhausted," Corran figured.

"Some scars are going to take longer to fade than others; I have a feeling she's going to be like this for awhile," Tristan said with a sigh.

"Well then I guess it's a good thing some of us are going to be inactive for awhile," Corran said with a sly grin; Tristan gave him a confused look," I already talked to Luke about what happened and he agreed that she needed time to readjust and that she would need our support so we've all been stationed on Naboo in the lake country."

"That's perfect; I remember her telling me how much she loved Naboo after her first visit," Andrew said enthusiastically. I shifted and frowned a bit before burying my face in his chest.

"Now I'm sure I don't have to tall you how sensitive she's going to be for awhile," Corran said as he watched Tristan reposition his hand around my waist.

"I know, and you should know that I would die before doing anything that would hurt her," Tristan countered quietly as he looked up from my sleeping form.

Pg 200- pg 205

We took off down another corridor only to find it was a dead end.
"Not good, not good, not good," Jason said as he started searching the walls for hidden doors.
"On the contrary, this is very good," Shedao Shai said from the end of the hallway, "I've found the infadels and my lost consort."
Everyone turned and looked at me; I shook my head fiercely and back against the wall. Tristan was the first to turn back toward Shedao Shai.
"I think she wants to stay lost," he said as he lifted his blade threateningly.
"I'm afraid she hasn't got much of a choice," Shai answered with a chuckle.
"Why would you care about her anyway, she isn't a Vong?" Kris asked bluntly.
"I appreciate the mate the gods have chosen for me; even is she was an infadel," Shedao Shai replied with a toothy grin.
"Is," Tristan corrected, "She's still one of us."
"That's where you're mistaken; she's gone through the whole purification proccess. She is a Vong," Shedao Shai countered.
"Maybe by your standards, but the fact that she's over here with us tells me otherwise," Corran said.
"At any rate, I will not allow you to take my mate from me," Shedao Shai said as he drew his amphistaff.
"You really need to quit calling her that," Jason said with a shudder, "It's seriously creepy."
"She is destined to be mine," Shedao Shai said as he stepped forward menacingly. His amphistaff hissed as he cracked it like a whip, "Come Harla, you said you would always follow orders."
I shook my head and hid behind Corran. Corran extinguished his blade and looked toward Tristan and Jason, "Care to do the honors?"
"Of course,"
"With pleasure,"
And with that they attacked Shedao Shai; Jason and Tristan must have practiced fighting together because they were perfectly in sync. Corran nudged me slightly and started edging toward the openning of the hallway. I followed quickly with Jsili riding on my shoulders. Shedao Shai managed to force Jason and Tristan away long enough to lash out with his amphistaff. It wrapped around my wrist and bit down to keep its hold. I screeched as he jerked me toward him with enough force to send me stumbling. His amphistaff kept its hold on my wrist even after Shedao Shai already had my other wrist.
"Now, my dear Harla, you will not be so lucky this time," he hissed in my earbefore swatting Jsili into the wall.
"He wouldn't; nothere," Kris muttered in shock.
Tears pooled in my eyes as he simply cut the rope that was around my waist. The he suddenly hissed in pain; I smelled the odor of burning flesh. He dropped me, as did his amphistaff, and I fell to my knees on the floor; then he turned to face the offender. He glared angrily as he raised his amphistaff high over his head to strike down his attacker.
There was a snap-hiss and I saw brilliant blue cut through Shedao Shai's stomach. He howled in pain as the blade withdrew; he turned to me and fell to his knees. He smiled and ran his hand through my hair before falling over; black blood pooling out of his mouth and nose.
"Don't touch my girlfriend," Tristan muttered as he extinguished his blade.
I slowly rose and attempted to gather my no loose shift around myself. Corran took off his robe and offered it to me; I readily accepted it.
"Thank you," I said softly as I pulled it on and cinched it at the waist and picked up Jsili and allowed her to ride on my shoulder.
"Let's get out of here," Jason said as he waved us to follow him.

* * *

"They're on board; we're getting the hell out of here," Jaina said as she engaged the hyper drive and blasted out of the Garqi system.

"What all did he do to you?" Tristan asked once I was sufficiently calmer than when I had arrived on the ship.

"Nothing unusual, for the Vong, up until today. Today he actually tried..." I trailed off as I shook my head, "And he almost succeeded."

"So he didn't?" Tristan clarified.

"No, he didn't," I replied with a nod.

"Well that's a relief," he said with a sigh.

"It's a relief for you? Ha! I'm the relieved one," I countered.

"Well yeah, but... You know what; it doesn't matter because he's dead now," Tristan said with finality.

"Whatever you say," I said with a chuckle.

* * *

"Yay normal clothes!" I exclaimed as I ran into my temporary bedroom wearing comfy pajamas, "Yay regular, soft comfy bed!"

"Wow, you're really excited," Kris observed as she watched me jump head first onto the bed and bury myself in the comforter.

"I haven't slept on a nonliving bed in two months; of course I'm excited," Isaid as my head popped out from the mass of covers.

There was a knock at the door and I heard Corran's voice, "Can I come in?"

"Yeah, we're good," I yelled through the door.

The door opened and Corran, Jason, Tristan and Skai walked in.

"Did a tornado hit the bed?" Tristan asked sarcastically.

"Uh-huh," I replied as I sat up on the bed with the giant comforter wrapped around me.

"Miss Elysa!" Skai shouted then ran, jumper on the bed and gave me a hug.

"Hey squirt," I said with a laugh as I returned her hug then sat back, "What have you been up to?"

"Training. Oh! And I made my lightsaber," Skai said excitedly.

"Great," I replied with a smile.

"Hey Skai, why don't you go practice for awhile?" Corran suggested.

"Okay," Skai said reluctantly but she went when she got a nod from Jason.

"We need to know exactly what happened," Corran said as he took a seat in one of the chairs.

"Please don't make me say it Corran," I pleaded, "I don't want to relive it, please."

"But we need to know; it's for your benefit. We've got to run what you say against some medical tests to make sure they did nothing to tamper with your memory or if you've supressed some memories," Corran answered.

"I haven't," I said with finality.

"You may have subconsciously," Corran argued. I gave him a pleading look and he sighed in defeat, "Fine but you'll have to submit to the medical tests and a neural scan."

"Okay, thank you, Corran," I said with a smile.

* * * That night * * *

I was sharing a bedroom with Kristen for the night just in case one of my injuries acted up. Kris had volunteered to take the couch so I could have the bed. She kind of regretted it; the couch was not very comfortable. She was just dozing off when she heard my breath quicken and I started muttering. She got up and looked over at me; I was tossing and turning. Kris shook me lightly; I didn't wake up. She shook me harder; I didn't wake up. Now she was worried. She quickly ran out of the room and skidded to a halt in the galley hoping to someone would still be awake. And much to her surprise only Orunti was still awake.

"Orunti, Tori's having a nightmare and I can't wake her up!" Kristen exclaimed in distress.

"I'll see what I can do; go wake Corran up," Orunti said as he took off toward Kris's room.

When he arrived he found me in the same state Kri had left me. He too tried shaking me and saying my name but nothing was working. He took a deep breath and calmed himself; he would just have to see what the nightmare was. He closed his eyes and began weeding through all the defenses I had put up around my mind and subconscious. And in the blink of an eye he was seeing the nightmare from my point of view. I was having a nightmare about what had happened earlier that day. Orunti was experiencing everything I had experienced. Now he knew why I didn't want to relive it; it was horrifying.

Suddenly the images stopped. Orunti opened his eyes and looked down at me; I was staring up at him. My eyes were hazy and I didn't seem to recognize what or who I was looking at; it was just a wide-eyed, hazy, blank stare. I sat straight up and began looking around although it was apparent that I wan't seeing anything that was really there. He slowly reached out and put his hand onmy shoulder. My attention snapped toward him and with one subtle hand movement I sent him flying into the wall.

Chapter Two: Close Encounters of the Force Kind

We continued talking for a few minutes while everyone called their parents and confirmed that they could go then we all set off for Main Event. Once there Laura went and DDR’ed with other people.
“I wanna go in the simulator!” I yelled as I ran and got in line.
“Oo! Oo! Me too!” Jason yelled as he caught up.
Kristen and Tristan followed close behind; and Jason and I insisted on making it more interesting.
“Mkay, so Jason and I will do the simulated flight on the highest level and if we puke you guys don’t have to do it on the level, but—,” I trailed off.
“This can’t be good,” Kristen stated.
“If we don’t puke, which is more than likely, you guys have to do the flight on the highest level too,” I finished explaining enthusiastically.
“Bring it on,” Kristen said confidently.
“Um… Okay then,” Tristan replied with a shrug.
So Jason and I paid and got in the simulator. It started slowly and Jason looked over at me with disappointment.
“Don’t worry, it just takes a minute,” I assured him just as the simulator started to barrel roll quickly.
Jason and I screamed in victory as we realized that the flight wasn’t making us sick. We yelled to make Kristen and Tristan nervous. Little did we know that our flight wasn’t going exactly as planned; a figure stood in the shadows nearby manipulating the simulator’s flight ever so slightly.
Jason and I stepped out of the simulator victoriously, a little queasy, but victorious. Kristen and Tristan looked amazed.
“Dizzy?” Kristen asked.
“Nope,” Jason replied.
“Not at all,” I said triumphantly.
“Guess it’s our turn,” Tristan stated as he gave the guy his card and he and Kristen climbed into the simulator.
“How long do you think it’ll be until they scream?” Jason asked.
“I give it under eight seconds,’ I replied, then suddenly got the feeling that someone was watching me, or rather us. But the feeling passed when I heard Tristan and Kristen scream from inside the simulator.
“Oo, a little low… it was at least seventeen seconds,” Jason said while laughing.
“Hey, did you notice that the image that’s playing on the screen isn’t what the ride is doing?” I asked.
“Yeah, the same thing happened during ours, didn’t it?” Jason asked.
“Yeah it did,” I answered then I swear I “felt” someone shift uncomfortably; weird.
A few moments later Kristen and Tristan stumbled out of the simulator in a highly dazed manner.
“You guys win,” Tristan muttered as he held onto the railing.
“Did you puke?” Jason asked.
“No, but I feel like I did,” Tristan replied.
“Victory!” Jason and I yelled while high fiving
“Now what?” Kristen asked as she looked around at the large variety of games.
“Star Wars!” Jason and I yelled as we ran over to a game that’s console resembled that of an X-wing.
“Me first!” Jason shouted as he jumped into the seat just before I got there.
“Fine, but I call second!” I announced.
There was a weird pulse emanating from Jason; pulse is the only thing I can think to call it. I looked over at Jason then over to Kristen and Tristan, the phenomenon seemingly went unnoticed. Then I felt the same pulse emanating from Kristen and Tristan.
“I must be going insane,” I thought aloud; then I felt yet another pulse; was it from me? No, I would have noticed it before. I again got the feeling of being watched; that was it! Whoever was watching us was the source of the fourth pulse!
“Someone’s watching us,” I stated suddenly.
“Duh, Jason is only beating the high score by like three-hundred points!” Tristan replied without taking his eyes off the screen.
“No, I mean someone’s watching us and they don’t want us to know it,” I said ominously as I scoped the room for potential stalkers.
“You’re paranoid,” Kristen replied just as Jason’s game ended and the screen flashed New High Score and played the Star Wars theme song.
“Way to go Jason!” I congratulated as I patted him on the back.
“Oh hey! I got the high score!” Jason said with evident surprise.
“Weren’t you paying attention?” Kristen asked.
“Not really, I was just trying not to die,” Jason answered with a shrug.
“My turn!” I shouted as I shoved him out of the seat and put my card in.
As soon as I started the game the pulse went away. Well it went away for me; I noticed Jason, Kristen and Tristan all look at each other. I continued the game and had already beat the second place holder and was aiming to beat Jason’s score.
“Okay, I know this is going to sound insane but I feel this weird--,” Jason trailed off, trying to think of the word.
“Pulse? I felt earlier,” I replied as I tried to keep my focus on the TIE-fighters that were chasing me.
“Yeah, that’s it. A pulse, and it’s coming from you three and someone else,” Jason said as he looked around.
“It’s moving,” I said suddenly, the lapse in focus costing me the high score.
“Yeah, that’s weird,” Kristen said; she couldn’t believe she was agreeing with something that out there.
“Oh my gods! What if we all have the force and there’s a Jedi in here somewhere!” Jason said enthusiastically.
We all looked at him skeptically. “Cause that’s really likely,” I said while rolling my eyes.
“It could happen! Maybe… Well, what else could it be?” Jason asked stubbornly.
“I don’t know, but come on! How probable is that? A Jedi showing up on Earth, in the United Stated, in Texas, in Ft. Worth, at Main Event on the exact day we’re here; do you see what I mean? I mean the odds are like off the charts!” Kristen explained.
“I didn’t say it was probable, I’m saying that it’s possible,” Jason argued as he crossed his arms across his chest defiantly.
“And that probability is leaving out the fact that Jedi may not even exist,” I pointed out as we began walking away from the game.
“Of course Jedi exist,” a man said from behind us.
We all looked up at him and Jason and I stood there with mouths wide open. The man looked to be in his mid-twenties; he had dark brown hair an even darker eyes, but all eyes finally fell on the lightsaber hanging from his belt. Jason and I immediately knew who the man was and that he was indeed a Jedi and not as young as he looked.
“You’re… you’re K-ky-k…” I trailed off, and then Jason smacked me on the back, “Kyp Durron! You’re Kyp Durron! The Kyp Durron! Kyp Durron of the Dozen-and-two-Avengers!”
“Yes…” Kyp said; he seemed a little freaked out because of my outburst.

Chapter One: The Saga Begins

I was standing in the lunch line about to pay for my quesadillas when an idea hit me. It wasn’t really an idea per say, more of a “feeling”, but I ignored it and walked to or regular outside lunch table.
“Hey guys I have an idea,” I said as I walked up to the table where Kristen, Jason, Tristan, Lydia, Manisha and Sarah were sitting.
“Yeah, what is it?” Tristan asked as he took a spoonful of rice off my plate.
“We should go to Main Event after school,” I replied.
“Sounds fun,” Kristen said.
“Sure,” Jason replied.
“Fine with me,” Tristan added.
“Can’t, I’ve got rehearsal,” Sarah announced.
“Soccer practice,” Lydia chimed in.
“SAT prep,” Manisha drawled.
“Sorry,” I said as I began to eat, “You know, I think we should go anyway.”
“Hey!” Sarah protested, “Why not just do it tomorrow?”
“Because I have a weird feeling that something is going to happen there today,” I admitted.
“Something like what?” Tristan asked skeptically.
“I don’t know, but something big, something we’ll miss if we don’t go today1” I explained.
“Oo… Tori can see the future!” Jason said in a spooky voice and everyone cracked up.
“So it’ll just be Tristan, Kris, Jason and me?” I asked.
“Looks like it,” Kristen replied.
“Okay, cool, I just don’t want to go alone,” I said.
The rest of the cool January went on completely normal except for that nagging feeling that something important was going to happen that Friday afternoon.
After Chemistry I packed up my bag and for some reason decided to switch my Spanish book with my Star Wars Encyclopedia. Why I wanted it, I had no idea. I also skipped putting Napoleon’s Buttons in my bag and instead put in my copies of Vector Prime and Darktide I: Onslaught which, on looking back, also made no sense because I had already read those and I already had Darktide II: Ruin in my bag.
I walked up to the theater to see Kristen, Jason, Tristan and Laura (who had agreed to drive us) waiting for me.
“Okay, I know this is going to sound weird but I think I know what Tori was talking about at lunch,” Jason said once I had stopped at the group.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“I mean I had this weird feeling for the rest of the day that something’s going to happen,” Jason explained.
“Good! I’m not insane!” I yelled, drawing strange looks from other students.