Make up the fires, and buy another coal-scuttle…

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus was mesmerised by the image of herself as a child. “Yes,” she finally managed. “That’s me.”

“Our summer home on Corellia. We had a place in Coronet and this one near the mountains. I loved that little garden. Although it’s smaller than I remember. Memories are like that, yes?”

As she stared, the image faded and then her head was spinning before it righted itself. The garden had been replaced. It was the barn around the back of the house. They’d come here to celebrate her being accepted to the Academy on Corellia. It was the last time she’d seen her friends. Almost the last time she’d seen her parents. Her siblings. She hadn’t even known about Taeli then and Melori hadn’t been born.

Twenty-four hours after the scene, she’d left home and would never see her family ever again.

She stared at the gaiety of the event, how naïve she’d been, believing it was the happiest day of her life. Looking back, it might well have been the saddest.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

"I told you these were shadows of the things that have been," said the Spirit of Bane, "that they are what they are, do not blame me!"

Connor stayed still as Corvus moved, as if in a trance. This was something from the past, something from her world - a world where she had made her choices, made good and bad memories. This was some hell of a vision. A firework display outside lit the inside of where they stood; cheers and laughter rose, but young Corvus seemed...afraid? Another few flashes, and an almighty bang which made the world go dark around them.

He could only hear his heart.

"What's happening?"

Before Corvus could answer, a glow came from what appeared to be a small room, and laughter could be heard coming from it. The darkness was all around them, and it seemed that the barn was now gone. Just a wooden floor was illuminated, and what looked like tables inside the room, along with the laughter.

Connor took the lead, inquisitive as ever, and stepped forward with his hands out, feeling for any hidden danger, but there was none. He was welcomed by the warmth of the room, and turning, he saw a glowing spirit sat on a stool. The spirit was cloaked in brown, holding a staff and had pale green skin and large ears, with eyes to match. The laugh was infectious, but Connor was too shocked to say anything.

"Y...Jedi Yoda?!"

"Eheheh! Better, Connor, come in and know me!"

The language was almost like a riddle, but Connor had heard enough about this Jedi of the Republic to know he was as important in his time as Sith Lord Bane was in his.

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Being a Jedi did not make you immune to confusion. To seeing things beyond your comprehension and for puzzlement to ensue. There was no mental trickery at play here - their minds were not being affected by the Force, at least not in a way Corvus could understand.

The two images, or perhaps memories, faded and suddenly she was in a place she didn't recognise.

This time she let Connor take the lead. And as he entered the room, she followed. She recognised the voice before she saw him - she'd spoken to his form as a gatekeeper often enough to recognise him.

But given the last two encounters were about her, this time she let Connor take the lead.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

The diminutive Jedi Master of eons gone by sat hunched on a stool, an azure glow signalling his spirit form. Big eyes, big ears and a solemn smile. Connor was mystified, and looked as the pale green imp tapped a cane gently. From glimpsing a portion of Corvus and his history from the Sith Lord Bane, now they were fronted by the polar opposite.

"The like of me before, you have never seen?" Yoda asked.

Connor smiled, as if all defences were lowered. His voice and speech pattern was just as amusing as he had heard.

"Never," he said softly. "Master Yoda," Connor stepped forward, ”my name is Connor Harrison and this is Jedi Corvus Raaf. We were taken to a place by the vision of the Sith Lord Bane, and even before that arrived at a planet we don’t recongise or understand – we saw things from Corvus’s past.”

Yoda nodded slowly and tapped the cane. The small room around them swirled, but the three figures inside didn’t move, however much they wanted to with the dizzying visual trick that was nauseating for a moment before the walls began to bleed out and become replaced with a familiar room – the meditation chamber of the Silver Jedi on Voss, right at the top of the Temple. And they were now in the middle.

Connor didn’t know what to feel and he span to Yoda.

"What place is this?!"

He knew the answer.

"Those who labour for peace and justice, a place for Silver Jedi, this is. Know you, they do. Miss you, they do not."

The haunting images of Masters Thurion Heavenshield and wife Coci, young Nima Tann and Kei were seated in the chamber as the crescent moon shone in from outside. Connor didn’t like what he was hearing, but it was true.

Words that put Connor down. They doubted his return, and his allegiance to the Order itself. After all the chances they had given him, he had let them down, and they were moving on without him. Their faces were serious and stern, but he felt the bond between this new council of Masters and Knights. His seat was vacant. Turning to Corvus, looking equally as confused, but unable to answer the question he needed one to, he then returned to Yoda.

"Yoda, will my position with the Jedi remain?"

Yoda frowned, eyes closing slightly, ears drooping as he rested his chin on his small hands.

"In the council, I see, a vacant seat. Carefully preserved, ready for another. Your position will die, if these shadows remain and unaltered by the future."

Connor swallowed and walked forward, but Yoda tapped the cane again and the visions bled away, causing him to stumble as a new picture morphed around them. It became dark, and bleak, and they were back in the same room, but this time the light was fading and Yoda was wheezing.

"Are spirits lives so short?"

Yoda forced a chuckle, and began to cough gently. "Very brief, my time with you is. Tonight, it ends!"

With a sharp gust of wind that came from below, Connor forced his eyes shut as the room shuddered around him. When he manged to open his eyes, the spirit of Yoda had gone – cane and all. Instead, the glow was dimmer than ever, and a chill was in the air once more.

"Bane. Yoda." He turned to Corvus. "We have one more coming."

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus watched and listened. Whereas she had been the focus of the first two visions, this was entirely for Connor. But then, what she heard was relevant to every Jedi. Every person.

“The future?” She was about to speak like Yoda, but stopped herself in time. “Is uncertain. Always changing. Never set in stone. Master Yoda taught that. It is our choices that dictate what will happen, not a prophecy.”

“Our willingness to let it happen or to stand up and be counted? That is what matters. You are you Connor. Your decisions affect others for sure, but they affect you most. You must do what is right for you — and I’m afraid the greater good. We are not Sith, we are essentially selfless.”

“Focus on what your heart tells you is the correct course. If there is truth between your heart and the Force? Then all is well. Everything else is transitory.”

She looked around. One more spirit? For Connor? For her? For both of them? Time would tell.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Inside, he was trembling. Outside, his right leg was trembling – a nervous tick when he felt anxious and helpless. Corvus seemed to read into everything happening to them; emotions from the past, present and who knew where else, all rolled into the people they had become, and were becoming. Jedi. Not without flaws and history, but able to make a path THEY wanted to tread.

It was then he heard it. A mechanical respiratory machine. Synthetic. Robotic. Steady.

Connor turned, not taking any aggressive stance after the things that had cropped up over this night, and a dark silhouette stood in the darkness of the room, just about able to be made out. Standing over 6ft tall, a number of LEDs lit on a glinting chest plate. The breathing was rhythmic. The glint of the mask was only confirmation of this spirit – this vision – of the Sith Lord Darth Vader.

Connor and Corvus froze and simply stood, waiting for the voice of the beast that resided within; this former Jedi turned Sith who faced redemption and helped bring down the Galactic Empire. Instead, the breathing continued at a steady pace and a black gloved hand rose and pointed behind the two.

In unison, they turned, and behind them had appeared a city, and the breeze hit them both immediately. Warm and humid, and at the bottom of a large set of steps leading to what looked like a large temple.

”Not one I recognise,” he said.

Three figures ran out and down the steps, talking hurriedly and moving straight toward the pair in conversation.

”...saying she was murdered with Taeli Raaf on the way out, and Braith never…

Connor blinked and reached for them, but the young trio were already gone. He turned to the vision of Vader.

”Speak, Sith! No more riddles – what is this? A future yet to be? A future to change? What?”

Vader walked forward and seemed to push the two back, this time they stepped across fresh snow under their boots. A wind howled above, and past them walked another two Jedi.

”Connor will be hunted and destroyed, Grandmaster Raaf. His murderous ways will not be tolerated anymore.”

The voices somewhat familiar, but the faces he couldn’t see. Connor looked to Corvus as the breathing of Darth Vader echoed around them like a loud ticking timebomb fuelling the pressure in the air.

”What happens to us? Surely you’re not going to do anything reckless are you? Or have you? And me. What, you're hunting ME? And then what? Everything collapses around us?"

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

She had recently embraced the whole concept of emotions and feelings, but she was, deep down, more the cold-fish than just her denial of her empathy made her. She applied logic. And the Code was fundamental to that.

She'd just lectured Connor on not being too hasty when considering the future and yet the lure of reading too much into a short exchange was so tempting. Sorely tempting.

She faced Connor, her mind racing. "We are Jedi. There is no emotion. Think on what I just said. A possible future, yes? And what actual facts were revealed? Someone was murdered. It could be anyone. Grandmaster Raaf could be me. Or Taeli. Or Melori for that matter."

"Do not jump to conclusions. I am not dead, and neither are you. I am not hunting you and you have done nothing worth hunting have you?"

"These aren't so much visions as tests. Warnings. Take heed and we shall avoid this possible future. Forewarned is forearmed, surely?" Her voice remained calm and impassive throughout.

She turned to the Sith Lord. "We appreciate your warnings. Do you have anything else to share?" Again, she was measured. She needed to be - for both of them.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

The swell of the darkness was growing around them both, swirling, wind racing around them like a vortex. The vision of the Jedi Temple blurred with the snowy landscape, but the two Jedi stood still, facing each other.

Corvus maintained her impeccable composure – her voice raced as much as her heart, but she was thinking on each word said, processing each image in her mind carefully.

Connor was trying too hard to rid the vision he couldn’t not see, and his mind was clogged with thoughts that were both scary and absurd. He let her voice bring him down as the breathing of the Dark Lord of the Sith grew louder.

”I may have,” he shouted over the wind, ”but not anymore. I’m not letting everything we built be destroyed for nothing!”

Turning back to Vader, invited by Corvus to heed them more warnings, the ominous figure simply raised his hand, and a black shadow crept over him and headed down to the Jedi. In a split second flash, an image of Connor’s face flashed before that of Darth Vader. Then, straight after, the face of Corvus appeared, as quick as a lightning bolt. Turning his head, Connor raised an arm to shield his face from whatever was coming their way – one final breath was heard before they were both winded.

THUMP

The jolt startled him, falling back on hard wood. Opening his eyes, a soft glow of morning light filtered into the empty room they had been in when Bane had arrived. Looking around, they were together, and there were no noises except a bell ringing in the distance and muted squeals of children playing.

He sat up, wiped down his face and exhaled loudly.

”Tell me you saw all that too and it wasn’t some dream,” he said, the relief of being back to some sort of normality evident in his voice.

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus tended to reflect rather than react. It was a core aspect of her persona and allowed her to appear calm as she processed information as opposed to immediately respond to it.

What had happened had happened. "I suspect we experienced the same thing. I'm sure of it. But was it the Force? Or a dream? Or a test?" She shrugged, "That I do not know. What I do know is that it has set me thinking. Thinking that the future is ours to shape and not to rely on destiny or fate to default to."

She smiled now. "And I know we're speaking now, so that's a positive outcome surely? Sometimes it takes something like this to make you realise what's important. And what isn't. About what responsibilities we hold and what it means to be a Jedi."

She smiled again. "Stuff like that. You know, saving the galaxy! And you help sometimes..." And then she giggled uncontrollably.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

He drew his hands down his face, not wanting to be in a strange house on a strange, cold planet in a strange and surreal atmosphere. Still, he was here, and so was she. Awkward, yes, but that had been one hell of an ice-breaker. He stood up, stretching his back, and offered his hand to pull her up.

”A lot has changed since last time, Corvus. I shouldn't even be here yet, and I didn't want the first time I saw you to be some surreal trip in a place between life and death. But, thinking about it, I guess that's nothing out of the ordinary for us.”

His eyes flickered for a second at her.

”Once all this is over - for me anyway - I'd like to come see you, on Tatooine. Alone or not, I don't mind. I'd just like to...bury this, and everything, you understand?”

The wind blew outside and the frost was already building on the sill as the morning light shone in and caught his eye. He turned to look outside and thought for a second.

”I may just retire here one day. Wherever here is.”

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus smiled. "Tatooine? Of course. Come alone or bring a friend, it's entirely up to you. That place has memories for sure, eh?" She acted out riding a Krayt Dragon. "We had fun, right?"

She smiled once more. "Life's too short to have enemies. Especially ones that should be friends. But this place?" She shivered involuntarily. "Way too cold for me. But Tatooine may be too sunny, so something in-between may be the answer for me. But, as corny as it sounds, who I retire with is more important. As it will be with you."

She smiled playfully now. "How is Taeli?"

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

As she spoke, making a good point that this abode – real or not – was too cold and creepy, Connor held his arm and guided Corvus across her back to leave the room and head back down the stairs, creaking as they did and the clock ticking as it had when they entered.

”We did, I have to admit, I never felt more alive and free than when I was trying avoid death with you.”

Outside, the sun seemed to cast a warmth over the town and there was snow peppered on the ground still, but plenty of life in the streets from the citizens who lived there. Were they citizens? Or were they spectres of the Force trapped here making a new life for themselves? What if this has been a vision between life and death for them both, glimpsing what has and may yet become?

Creepy.

”I’d like that. Taeli? Oh, she’s well. Busy, inquisitive, the usual. We’ve just been trying to help each other along and…just seeing what, well, it’s nice to find a friend who…well, l – look, she’s great. She’s a Raaf, so that’s always an appeal but it’s been a hard few months so we’re just probably sick of each other now so…”

He mumbled off. That was a ramble to end all rambles for Connor. Squinting away, he continued, sucking in his pride as a cart rolled by. It felt like another parting of the ways, their lives and fates now their own to make wherever that may be.

”I’m sorry for how I acted on Naboo. You’ve found happiness, and I only want you to be happy, and safe, and to be cared for with the respect and love you deserve. I was selfish and stupid, and I apologise for that.”

He held out his hand.

”You’re my friend, Corvy, and that means a great deal to me. If you ever need me for anything, you know where to find me. Krayt dragon hunts or facing down the Sith. Anything.”

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

At times - most times to be honest - Corvus liked to play things low-key. No fuss, little ceremony. That's how she liked it. Public shows of affection simply weren't her thing.

It wasn't that she didn't appreciate Connor opening up and being so honest. Actually she both admired and was pleased he'd done it. She knew where she stood and it was a good place to be.

But replying was harder. Much harder.

"Thanks. We're friends. Always have been and always will be. Even if we didn't both know it." She smiled weakly. She didn't want to cover old ground - she never did. "We're Jedi. First, foremost and only. Anything else has to fit in with that approach."

"And the next time I feel like riding an untameable beast? Or save the galaxy? I know who to call, yes?"

And she did something she'd never done before. She gave him a hug. As she held him, she said, "None of us are too old to change, eh?"

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Same old Corvy.

He response was fine, and just as expected. However it wasn't the heat that warmed him around the frost, it was her unexpected hug. As she hugged, and held, Connors eyes widened slightly, looking around for a clue what to do. This hadn't been expected at all. At one time he'd have read this as something else and taken it as a sign. Now? Now it was a sign of trust and love of a different kind. A respect he had earnt finally.

He brought his arms tentatively around and hugged her back, giving her a gentle rub with his palm and a soft pat or two.

”Never too old, Corvy. Never too old at all.”

If he wasn't careful, he'd look an emotional buffoon, and so pulled away and took her hands in his for a reassuring squeeze.

”And remember - you're Corvus Raaf first. Jedi second. Everything else has to fit in with THAT approach.”

With a small wink and nod, he parted his hands and stepped back a few steps, before turning, the smile still on his face as he felt a great weight lift from his shoulders. Taking a deep breath in, this was a huge step forward, and it would help be the making of him when he returned to the galaxy a changed man and a changed Jedi. His ship was easy to locate, now not obscured by mist and fog, but a few loose branches from overhanging trees.

It had been a surreal trip, and one that would probably be never spoken of by anyone bar Corvus again, but it had been an eye-opening experience. He always knew she'd change him one way or the other, and this time it felt for the right reason.

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus listened and smiled...as she was prone to do. But there was a spring in her step as she headed back to her ship. She did not like conflict - and even less so when friends were concerned.

She'd trusted in the Force and...once again...it had not let her down.

"The beard," she called over her shoulder as she walked away. "It suite you. You should keep it." And then she disappeared into the darkness, confident in the knowledge that they'd meet again. Soon...

[member="Connor Harrison"]