The Dig

Posted on Tue Jul 16th, 2019 @ 11:44pm by Loren† & Thane & Rusasha Djehuti-Lahan

3,835 words; about a 19 minute read

Chapter: Chapter V: Unbound
Location: Haschel's Home, Vlaand (Caanus)
Timeline: Early evening (local time), after "Friends Under Purple Skies"

OLD

"Perhaps I may be able to help you again," Rusasha offered. "Can you show me where you live?"

Once again, the Ranat's ears twitched. Even with the rapport building between the unlikely pair, it seemed the consideration of inviting the feline into the rodent's home - as destroyed and squalid as it may have been - still gave Haschel a pause for thought.

It quickly passed.

"Yes!" He declared, once more scurrying away into the city, gesturing manically for Ru to follow. "Quickly now! Grimmies will be by soon, and they are not so fond of nice little Haschel!"

NEW

Despite Haschel's promises, the journey to the collapsed apartment block was not as short as first indicated. Intermittently, spatterings of rain had found its way down from the dark clouds ahead, most light from Caanus' primary being obscured by the day's unpleasant weather. The Ranat had insisted on using as many alleyways and concealed shortcuts as possible, paying particular attention to avoid the local constabulary's patrols and security systems.

The day, being shorter than a standard Coruscanti cyle, was drawing to a close, and a cold wind was beginning to grip the streets of Vlaand. Numerous establishments like the Keynesian Arms were dotted along the streets, and for a short time Rusasha had been treated to the sights of a more affluent district, where the natives were dressed in regalia that would have been more fitting on the Core Worlds, sipping multi-coloured spirits from tall glasses outside of cleaner bars and restaurants. Very few noticed the two offworlders, but those that did watched the pair with mild interest or dissatisfaction.

From the short sample of Vlaand and Caanan culture the Jedi Knight was being exposed to, it was clear that both that and their architecture was stark and severe in their style. Grim, melancholic music that sounded as though it emanated from some accordion-type instrument, as if to pair with the gothic aesthetics, echoed from a nearby street to greet them and punctuate the last leg of their journey.

Finally, Haschel paused, and he pointed a claw at the dilapidated structure now facing them. Smashed glass and crumbled bricks were strewn all about the road before them, half-collapsed walls, floors and ceilings had all fallen into one another, leaving little semblance of a building's frame in their wake. Hastily-prepared barricades had been established around the perimeter of what was once an ageing apartment complex, but no authorities stood by to guard the fallen building from interlopers - or to protect over-eager youths from putting themselves in danger.

"This was Haschel's home," the Ranat said mournfully, little ears flat as his eyes regarded the rubble atop his lost hovel.

"This is terrible!" Ru said shaking her head in disbelief at the wreckage. She wondered how many other residential buildings in Vlaand were in disrepair and on the verge of collapse. "I hope no one else was here when this happened. Haschel, are all of your things are under that big pile of debris?"

"Yes," he responded with a sad nod. "Haschel lost many things in the great collapse - many things special to Haschel (and some things special to Tall Ones)." Haschel looked to the tarnished building mournfully, and then back to Ru. "But Rusasha is friend of Haschel's!" He announced, now tugging slightly at her robe. "Rusasha will help Haschel! She has already said so; she has been in many tight spaces before!"

The Ranat's perky, hopeful charm was already starting to grow on Ru, but her ego had no room to inflate given the difficulty of the situation she faced. With heavy bloodshot eyes scrutinizing the severity of the wreckage, and a frown that reflected her inner doubts on what could be accomplished, she stepped forward a few paces and knelt down on one knee to get a closer look. She leaned forward and laid a palm on a part of the shattered brick and mortar pileup and closed her eyes. Her paw clenched onto a fistful of dust and dirt, and she rubbed both paws together in the ash-white and gray dirt. To soil her hands in such a way was, what she believed, a way to commune with the elements she needed to interact with. A Jedi Master fond of gardening once told her, "Dirty hands are productive hands. Always be productive, but remember to never rub your eyes while working."

Willing herself into a meditative state, Ru pressed both paws on the wreckage and called upon the Force to work its power in a subtle, pulsing fashion, combining the techniques of telekinetic push and pull as a way to probe the depth and mass of the fallen debris. After less than a minute, it became clear what needed to be done, and it wasn't going to be easy.

"How fast can you run, Haschel?" she asked as she opened her eyes and took a few paces back to where she previously stood.

A slick grin consumed the rodent's narrow features. "Very fast," he declared proudly.

Ru nodded and lowered herself to a seated kneeling position. She needed to center herself, take her mind to a place of calm and serenity. As she closed her eyes and lowered her head, she took slow, deep breaths as her mind searched memories for a support structure, something good and encouraging, words that could empower to call upon the Force like she never had before.

Master...Loren...oh how I wish you were here right now... Ru thought, stretching her feelings out in all directions, hoping to reach Loren's influence somewhere beyond. I've never had to move so much with my power before. I'm afraid for this Ranat's life if I do this, but there is something about him. Something special. Something...important? The Force must be guiding me to help him, and I don't know why. I feel as though I must do this, but is this worth the risk? I've moved small shuttles short distances before, but this...so much loose debris? The remaining structure around the collapsed site is unstable. Oh....I'm scared. I don't want to lose anyone else, like Jerrol and Nesine. My poor Padawan friends...gone too soon. Have I lost you too, master? Please, I beg your help and guidance. Help me use the Force that I may do some good this day.

She tried to remember something wise and something encouraging that Loren would say. She thought about that day when Loren prepared her for the second attempt at the Jedi Knight trials.

---

"Be present," Loren's voice soothed, her lower-level Coruscanti accent almost concealed under a quiet layer of encouragement for her apprentice. "Be present and open to the moment that is unfolding before you, Ru. Life is made up of these moments, and life is the Force. Don't be deaf to it by being lost in the past or anticipating the future - consular or no."

It was a warm Coruscant evening, and the master and apprentice due were both sat cross-legged in one of the Jedi Temple's many secluded meditation chambers. This one, a favourite of Jedi Knight Loren, had a large concave window that stretched across much of the room, offering a panoramic view of the cityscape beyond. The low setting sun of the Third Republic's capital causing deep-golden streams of light to cast long shadows within the dark room.

Unlike Rusasha, Loren's eyes were open, fixed upon the Cathar with a stern but caring expression, a fine expression of the woman within, who - by almost all objective standards - had aged remarkably well, even in light of her Force sensitivity. "The Trials will challenge your conceptions and yer character; they'll defy your expectations and subvert anticipations. They'll trick you."

Ru's eyes were closed in deep thought, head bowed, just as they would be years later in front of a dusty pile of debris on a faraway world called Caanus. This was the conversation she had with Master Loren before the first failed attempt at the trials, and even then, Loren never gave up on her, never lost hope in her crestfallen Padawan.

"The Force will guide me, master," Ru assured the sage-minded human with the old Jedi addage. "I will not be deceived."

And yet her father, Rynseh Lahan, had attempted to deceive the entire Reborn Order for years by denying Ru as having been his daughter, at least until Loren divined it on her own. In spite of learning the secret, Loren took on Cathar girl as her apprentice and kept the secret. Until that had happened, only Grand Master Quellus, and a select few on the High Council knew the truth, and all had agreed that it was in the Order's best interest to keep Rynseh's egregious oath-breaking fault quiet and never be spoken of again.

"The Force may guide you, Ru, but never forget to give credit to - and listen to - the real voice guiding you in this life." Loren placed a reassuring hand on the Cathar's shoulder and her voice softened slightly. "In the darkest reaches of this galaxy, where the Force daren't even tread, you'll always have your smarts and your conscience. No foe, no obstacle, can ever take that from you. Your strength... comes from within."

That was the difference between Loren and all the rest; the belief in oneself, apart from the Force. The Reborn often stressed reliance on the Force, to trust one's life to it, to give in to its will and its wisdom. Loren wasn't always a maverick in putting the power of humanity above the energy field that affected everything and everyone. The words she had imparted felt as though it was an epiphany, as if she had begun a new journey of self-discovery and wanted to take Ru with her. Sadly, it seemed that it was not meant to be...

---

Two clawed paws were held out, and numerous small chunks of the debris began to slowly rise into the air under Rusasha's willpower through the Force. Under Loren's teachings, Ru didn't use the Force as an act of control over its power, but approached it respectfully as a wordless petition, a humble negotiation of intuition and faith in exchange for the privilege of acting in service to the Light. It wasn't her conscious decision to gesture her paws and move the debris and casting it aside, it was all the Force acting as the conductor of her miraculous display of power.

More and more, Haschel's old basement home was steadily being liberated by the shambled ruins of the apartment building. One wrecked pile was being reduced whilst another to the side was being formed. The dig went on for minutes until the Ranat saw an opportunity to finally dive in and get his lost goods back.

"Pretty kitty! Yes!" He announced gleefully, scurrying forward enthusiastically into the larger-than-Ranat-sized gaps Haschel's new Jedi friend had made for him. Little rodent claws worked furiously at smaller debris and remnants of the apartment (quite futilely, in light of Ru's efforts) as more space was made.

Neither concentrating Cathar nor giddy Ranat had noticed a partial overhang dangling from a few floors up on the verge of collapse. Rusasha had open her eyes as Haschel scurried back to his old abode, an exhausted, yet satisfied grin on her face at a job well done, and was about to gaze up at the sky and breathe her relief just as she saw a large chunk of that upper floor about to come down on the Ranat's head.

The Cathar's heart skipped a few beats, and in the instant she gasped, "No!" she threw out a paw and hurled an invisible shield that narrowly stopped the collapse just shy several feet over Haschel. "Nnngh!" Ru groaned as she fell to one knee, her entire body rattled with a harsh surge of the Force cascading through her with more torrential flow than she'd ever felt before. The suddenness of the Force's last second blessing greatly strained her muscles and applied intense pressure on her bones. Operating only on adrenaline and fear for Haschel's life with almost no mental preparation, she knew she could only hold such power and weight for only a handful of seconds at best before it broke her. "H...hurry!" she cried as it felt like the lower half of her spine was set on fire as she focused all her will and strained heavily to hold the large and immensely heavy debris from crushing her new friend to death.

"Haschel hurrying!" Her diminutive companion declared in alarm, his little arms gripping up his torn tunic in a makeshift bowl shape, coins and other trinkets precariously balanced. Several shiny objects toppled in the Ranat's haste to rush towards Rusasha and escape his impending demise. For a moment, the little creature paused, perhaps instinctively, as he quickly considered returning for the lost treasures. And then, despite the looming danger confronting the mismatched pair, he scurried back to scoop up the baubles.

No...don't get greedy. Don't go back! Ru was screaming in her mind.

Her pleading did nothing to help beyond the next three seconds when it all came crashing down. It wasn't that she gave up, but more like the spigot of power had been closed shut as instantly as it had been turned on. When the debris came down, so did the Cathar, collapsing on her side, and rolling breathless onto her back. Her ears were ringing with such a high pitched whine that it blocked out all other sounds except the intense beating of her heart, and she couldn't move her extremities. She still had control over her eyes, and they were wide with horror. She knew what happened, and once again the familiar feelings of guilt and shame came over like a cold wet blanket; she had failed.

"Ha...Hasch..." she tried to call out with a dry cracked voice as she started to find her voice again. She wondered if the collapse would draw the attention of other nearby Caanans, but none bothered to show; the neighborhood was as neglected as the buildings themselves. "Haschel!" she cried as the ringing in her ears started to subside. "Haschel!" she repeated, but phlegm and thick plumes of dust gathered in her throat forcing her to cough, her bones and muscles sore and aching from the simple gag reflex. She groaned, trying to sit up, but a sharp pain at the base of her spine made her shriek with agony and she fell flat back on her back.

And, to the Jedi's surprise, a series of small coughs could be heard from within some of the nearby rubble. This was soon accompanied by a few tinny scratches and the sound of scrabbling paws. Within just a few more seconds, little rocks were being pushed aside, and the furry posterior of an oversized rodent began to poke its way out of a new hole in the newly-created pile of debris. However, even with the vigorous wiggling to either side as the Ranat sought to break his way back out to his new companion, his scaly tail came no closer to freedom from his rubble prison.

"Pretty kitty help little Haschel again?" Came the muffled and hopeful voice of the Ranat, whose tone seemed no less enthusiastic than it had at the start of their little venture into his old home.

Ru's face tried to muster a relieved smile. "Y-you're alive! Oh, thank goodness."

Breathing heavily, she knew she would have to direct the Force blind, going only by where she heard the very lucky Ranat's voice. Still supine, she closed her eyes from the hazy purple Caanus sky, held up her right paw, and curled her fingers forward to try and clear the way for her friend.

"I'm hurt and can't move," Ru called out to him, trying her best to ignore her pain. "You'll have to help me. Keep digging and pushing. Don't give up!"

"Haschel will keep digging and pushing!" The Ranat confirmed, his hopeful voice taking a more serious tone that she had not heard from him before. His little lungs could be heard working overtime from within the rubble, small pants and coughs accompanying the frenzied scratching of his little claws against the collapsed building's remains. After some time, and the resumption of the day's storm causing rainwater to trickle between the exposed cracks in the fallen structure, Ru felt her new friend's little paws checking her and her injuries over.

He now spoke again, but there was a higher pitched shrill to his worried words. "Magic Rusasha is... is injured!"

Through heavy pained breathing, Ru wiggled her toes and was thankful she still had sensation and control of her lower extremities. She hadn't heard of telekinesis causing paralysis in Jedi before, but anything was possible with the Force.

"My pouch... right hip," she explained to Haschel. "Bacta stim...I need it...ahh!" she yelped out from another unexpected ache. Her lower back felt almost like it was on fire. All her years of training had drilled into her mind to trust in the Force. Her trust was more often than not rewarded, but none of the masters ever warned her about a harmful backlash from using the Force. She started to feel extreme self-doubt and concern. Did she do something wrong? Perhaps she was arrogant in her use of power? Did she somehow offend the Force in some way? Or... was it the dark side that hurt her?

"Yes, yes!" The Ranat acceded happily, hopping over to hurriedly search the Jedi's pockets for the described item. Given his proclivities, it took the sentient rodent little time to uncover the promised stim. However, all enthusiasm and focus seemed to leave Haschel. His dark little eyes now shone avariciously as he regarded the small injector, clasped tidily within his dusty paws. Whether it was for the simple value of the item or from some other narcotic-fuelled reason, Haschel's loyalties could be sensed as being tested within the Force, the vagrant immigrant's intentions plain to detect by even the least-initiated Force sensitive.

Ru could see the hesitation, and she gazed worriedly at the Ranat's eyes. She could see the familiar signs, the gears turning in his furry head. It was the same look she saw in numerous needy and homeless people in Coruscant's seedy underlevels. It wasn't greed or evil, but rather a survival instinct, and a yearning for some pleasure from their constant misery.

"Haschel, I know what you're thinking," she said gently to him. "I promise you...nngh...it's...it's not worth it. Twice I've saved your life. Please, help me. I beg you."

The internal deliberation continued to be waged as some inner conflict within the little mammal for a few more long seconds. His ears twitched occasionally and his claws twisted the injector about within his small hands, although his eyes not once wavered from the prize he held. Finally, he seemed to relent, and Haschel rapidly blinked away the confusion.

"Yes!" He declared again, rediscovering his jovial enthusiasm. "Haschel helps pretty kitty with bacta!" He threw himself down to Rusasha and jabbed the stim into her fur, finding the flesh below. Despite - or perhaps because of - his vagrant nature, Haschel's injection found its mark artfully. "Rusasha-friend... live?"

It didn't take long for the liquid medical miracle to work its magic. "Mmm...yes, much better," Ru replied with a sigh of relief. Still flat on her back, she nodded to Haschel with a strained smile and slowly struggle to pull herself up. "Thank you, my friend. You just defeated an evil that lurked within your heart. You could've ran away, taken the drug for yourself, but you didn't. Do you know what that makes you?"

The Ranat had worn an elated, almost child-like, expression at Rusasha's rapid recovery and the praise being showered upon him. However, he had to pause to seriously consider his new friend's query to him, and he stroked one of his wiry whiskers contemplatively. "Uh... a fool?" He asked, seriously. He had, after all, just passed up on a very rare opportunity.

"No," Ru said as she gingerly sat up, grimaced under the subsiding pain, and then managed a smile for him. She beckoned him come closer with an index finger. "I'll whisper it in your ear."

Haschel eyed the Cathar suspiciously, as if noticing their racial rivalry again suddenly, his head slanting sceptical so that one large black eye was regarding her. Even so, he edged closer and placed his ear against her snout. He wringed his paws thoughtfully as he did.

When the Ranat was close enough, he heard the Cathar lady Knight whisper, "You're a hero." The hushed commendation was sealed with a brief kiss on the side of Haschel's rodent face. Ru almost immediately regretted the show of affection as a few strands of loose fur shed onto her moist lips. She discreetly brushed them off and hoped her gratitude didn't send the wrong message. She was very proud of him, and was deeply thankful to the Force to have someone on Caanus she could trust. It was nice knowing goodness came from the unlikeliest of persons.

Normally, a Ranat's far would conceal his hide so thoroughly that any shift in tone or complexion would be impossible to discern to the average viewer, hidden but to other Ranats and those that knew the Ranat well. In Haschel's case, there were enough bald patches and exposed regions that this was not going to quite be the case. It was a moot point, however, given Ranats were seemingly physiologically incapable of blushing, as that is the exact reaction the troubled Haschel would have had to the Jedi's kind gesture.

"Haschel... Haschel hero?" He queried, dumbfounded, his paw resting where Rusasha's gentle kiss had stolen some of his facial whiskers. "Haschel-hero!" The urchin then declared, a little spring launching him a few inches off of the ground. "Haschel has never been a hero before. Already, Haschel is already like his new pretty kitty friend, helping those in need!"

It was at that moment that the little sentient seemed to remember why they had come to this place at all, and he hurriedly scooped up the bulk of his meagre possessions, although he forced a few odds and ends into the various pockets and pouches adorning Ru, even though she did not give any sign of consent. "Come, come!" He then said, and he grabbed Ru's paw as he had earlier in the day, already dragging away from his destroyed former home, no longer seeming to give any care to the crumpled abode. He was now, after all, a hero - and crushed apartment buildings frequented by vagrants were no place for heroes. No, no.

Haschel the Hero had a Jedi's quest on which to embark.

TBC

 

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