Chapter Text
Dawn light danced inside the modest bedroom, murdering the darkness and awakening Selena Shan. With wakefulness followed a sharp premonition that was indescribable, save for the sensations uneasy and gray. Because of this Selena dressed in her dark robes hurriedly and absentmindedly, for her concentration remained solely on discovering the cause of her anxious sense of the future.
"Master Arren," she greeted when she opened the door to her room. Her Master stood nobly in the hall, and as always her dignified presence filled the empty space more completely than any crowd could wish. She was already dressed in her gray historian robes and a travelling cloak, with her lightsaber securely tucked somewhere among the billowing folds.
Instead of a similar acknowledgement, Selena was welcomed with a typical "good morning" in the style of Arren Kae. "Unlike what many of the Sith and Jedi believe, the Force is not a substance that can be manipulated or controlled. Its gifts are not earned payment, so remember to always treat them properly." It was not warm, but there was familiar comfort in such daily lectures. "At this moment you are blessed with the gift of foresight, so share what you know."
Fooling Arren Kae was impossible. "I don't see anything specifically," Selena told her. "When I reach out, all I feel is unease, and cold, and gray."
They walked in silence from the Padawan dormitories to the courtyard of the small enclave. There was minimal activity within or without. Arren seemed to be processing solemnly as she looked beyond the golden fields of Dantooine that she could barely decipher anyway. "The High Council summoned us to Coruscant," she finally admitted.
"And I suppose it's not to give you the Council seat you deserve."
"No." Curt replies were a habit of Arren's; she did not intend to be rude, but she did not believe in adding unnecessary words.
"Their intentions?" asked Selena.
Arren only smiled. Selena's Master was in many ways a non-conformist, but if she did inherit any stereotypical Jedi trait it was their cryptic nature.
"Something is very wrong," stated Selena, attempting to maintain Jedi serenity. There is no emotion, there is peace, she chanted to herself. She found it difficult to blindly follow such an untrue tenet. Of course every Jedi felt emotions, turning them off was impossible. Denying it only turned good men into fools. "I am supposed to complete my training on peaceful Dantooine and avoid returning to Coruscant, for 'families are forbidden to interact' according to their recent laws. They would not send for me unless something was amiss."
As Arren tied loose strands of her white-blonde hair, she informed her Padawan, "We depart on the next passenger ship at mid-day. Prepare yourself." Her response to Selena's assumptions were answered with a secret spark in her fading blue eyes.
"It has never been my intent," Arren continued, "to lead you away from the mindset of the High Council. Believe me, Selena. They are wise, in their own way, if too fearful of their own shadows. I only wished to train you to be a Jedi Knight unlike the rest, one who can see the Force and the galaxy for herself." She paused for a moment, and graced Selena with a haunting smile. "You are aware of my unorthodox opinions. You are the greatest I have ever trained, and have a destiny prophecies sing of. Use what I taught you always, and remember me."
Her speech was a form of "goodbye", but it was not a goodbye Selena wished to hear.