Within two Destinies (Star Wars fanfiction) Book I½

Chapter One

NINE YEARS LATER

Mace Windu squinted through the viewscreen of the small, sleek craft, a transport on loan from the Senate. Mist swirled around and below him. He could not see a landing site.

"Anything?"

With zero visibility, his Padawan was using instruments to pilot the transport. That, and her sure connection to the Force. Over the years, Ashlyn had become an expert pilot. Really, she had always been good at piloting anything, but she would never admit that. As merely three years went by since she had landed in a world that was but fictional in her own, the nineteen year-old only got better, even better than most expert pilots in Coruscant. Mace Windu would be the first to admit it... well, probably after Yoda himself, but he would be of the first.

"Not yet. The mist will clear in a moment," he hoped. He knew that the craggy peaks of the ice mountains were close. The trick was to find a landing site.

"And then will you tell me why we're here?" Ashlyn asked.

"All in good time."

Mace noted that the mist was beginning to thin. Patches of a lighter gray streaked through the clouds. Suddenly, as the craft lowered, the icy peaks appeared, looming out of the clouds, a flash of silver against a sea of gray. Mace consulted the coordinates for his destination, then searched the crags for a likely landing spot. All he could see around him was the blinding white of ice and snow. He knew that the seemingly sheer mountainsides concealed ledges and hidden caves. Sheets of ice made for treacherous possibilities.

At last he spotted a ledge that was protected from the wind. It was clear of snow and he saw only isolated patches of ice. It would be a tight fit, and there was always the danger the craft would slide on the ice straight off the ledge, but he knew his Padawan could do it.

"There," he told Ashlyn, and gave her the coordinates.

The girl looked at him, surprised. "Really?"

"You can do it."

"I know I can do it," Ashlyn said in her usual confident tone. "I'm just wondering why you want me to."

"Because it's an easy climb to our destination from there."

Ashlyn flipped switches to begin the landing procedures. "And I know better than to ask what that is."

Mace sat back and watched in admiration as, with cool nerves and a steady hand, Ashlyn expertly maneuvered the ship into the tight space. She set the ship down as gently as if their landing pad were a nest of kroyie eggs. There would be just enough room to activate the hatch and clamber out.

Ashlyn looked out the viewscreen at the sheer icy cliffs surrounding them. "Can you tell me what this planet is, at least?"

"..." Mace watched his Padawan's expression carefully.

Ashlyn turned and gave him a skeptical look when he did not answer. "Please tell me you know what planet this is." Again, he did not reply. "So, you're telling me you brought me on this planet for a mission, and you don't even know its name?!"

"We are not here on a mission," Mace continued. "It is a quest. It is here that you will gather the crystals to fashion your own lightsaber."

Ashlyn's sober face cracked with the grin that Mace had come to look forward to seeing, a smile that radiated pleasure and hope.

"Thank you for this honor," she said. "But I already have one. I've also got those lightdaggers or whatever... still haven't found a right name for those..."

"But none are your own," Mace said.

Ashlyn merely nodded. Then, she looked at him and pursed her lips. "Shouldn't I be evaluated or something before I get to do this anyway?"