He really was not built for this sort of thing.
As the green flash of the lightsaber snapped up, there was a loud
hiss as the shadow seemed to recoil back. For a brief moment, the Anzat caught fleeting glimpse of some massive, serpentine shadow -- before it lunged at him a second time.
Sor-Jan went right. The Najarkan wilderbeast went left, smacking into the wall before part of it dropped onto the stairwell.
The stairs, being over eight hundreds years old, and at least that long since their last maintenance, filed complaint at this ungentlemanly conduct promptly. That is to say, the landing gave way as the stairs broke away from the wall. As the catwalk collapsed, the small Anzat was pitched out into the chasm, with the wilderbeast following suit.
The boy's lightsaber went tumbling into the dark, as the boy let it go so that he could snap both hands up to make a grab for the catwalk that had been just the level below.
He caught the edge, his full weight causing his arms to burn as his finger tried to hold fast. The last time he'd been in a situation like this, it had been Tash-Taral. And that had been twenty years ago. If he could just manage to...
Nope. The boy's hands slipped from edge, dropping him back into the chasm.
Sor-Jan might not have been twenty years older,
per se, given the rate at which Anzat matured in comparison to humans -- but he was twenty years
lazier. Qui-Gon Jinn, he was not.
Sticking his hands out, the boy was at least able to send out a Force Push to cushion his landing. Which, didn't mean that it still hadn't winded him. Wincing, the boy grimaced at the pain running through his hands. Holding them up, he could see they were bloodied and bruised from the ledge grab that he'd attempted.
This was the part of Jedi life that he
did not miss.
...and there was still a wilderbeast out there.
Rolling onto his side, the boy was sucking wind as he pushed himself up from the floor. There was a loud metal clang, as the boy spied the wilderbeast apparently tangled into the debris created by the falling stairs. That might at least buy him some time. Enough to at least find where his lightsaber had bounced off to.
Right hand outstretched, the tow-headed boy closed his eyes as he reached out to the Force.
The heart of a Jedi's lightsaber wasn't just about a crystal. Rare as they were, it wasn't enough to simply be a kyber crystal. The difference between the Knights Obsidian or the Sith or anyone else who wielded what they called a lightsaber and the weapon of a Jedi Knight?
The difference was that the crystal chose the Jedi.
The cylinder that he'd constructed so many centuries before sailed back to his hand. A little more scratched. Rotating it around, the boy thumbed the activator and the blade sputtered a few times before the weapon shut down.
It seemed he'd have some
lightsaber maintenance to perform later.
Another loud clang, as the wilderbeast started to excavate itself from out of the wreckage. Which made the boy wonder if there was going to
be a later.
Holding his hands out in front of him, an idea popped into his mind. Not his best idea. Possibly his worst. Maybe not. Thankfully no one was alive today who'd remember what Sor-Jan had been like as a padawan. If he had any good ideas now, it was because he'd used all his bad ones up already.
Reaching out to the creature's mind, the small Anzat gave a reverberating howl, mimicking the cry of a krayt dragon as a Force Horror radiated outward. The wilderbeast recoiled backward. Giving a loud hiss, it seemed to creep forward...
...then thought twice about it and instead shot off to the side.
Which was interesting in itself. Even as he gave a sigh of relief, Sor-Jan realized he was looking at where the foundation of the Imperial Complex appeared to have been broken through.
"Xantha to Vekshi. It looks like some of the wildlife got into the lower floors. My guess is they were looking for heat. Or shelter."
Or food.
