Beyond - Legends The Thing in the Maw (Syal, Valin, and the Unit) NJO, one-post

Title: The Thing in the Maw
Genre: Horror/Action/Friendship
Timeframe: NJO
Disclaimed: I do not own Star Wars, or these characters.

Author's note: This story is a companion piece to the current Syal/Valin fic I'm working on, Secrets in Scarlet. You don't have to read the longer work to enjoy this one (as it takes place before SiS). This takes place during the NJO, a little bit after the Jedi kids are sent to the Maw for safe keeping.



Valin planned to go off without her. Again.

Syal hunkered down inside Valin’s closet, hidden between his Jedi training tunics and Corellian-style jackets. She hadn’t meant to spy, it just happened that way. She’d really come into his room—she had the passkey memorized—looking for the datachip with his starfighter simulations games on them. Of course, like his grandfather, Valin had no sense of organization whatsoever, and soon Syal’s task had gotten her literally buried in his closet.

That was when she heard the door whoosh open, followed by the sound of two pairs of footsteps. Although she was only twelve, Syal had gotten really good at listening. There really wasn’t anything else to do when the only teachers around, Jedi teachers, insisted the only exercises she was able to learn were meditation exercises.

It was almost as if they hadn’t even met her father.

She started to crawl out from under the mess in Valin’s closet, thinking—rationally—that the footsteps belonged to both Valin and his Ramoan roommate, Bazel Warv. But then she heard the soft trill of a voice, a girl’s voice, and only then did she realize that the secondary footsteps were far to light to belong to Bazel.

Her eyes widened. She hoped they weren’t going to do anything inappropriate in front of her. Booster would be very upset, if that were the case.

Their voices grew louder as they came closer to the closet.

“—just think that she should take a look for ourselves before we bring anyone else along,” said the girl. Syal recognized the voice as belonging to the Jedi padawan, the tall blonde Elna. “You, me, and Bazel. If something happens, you don’t responsible for getting your sister hurt, do you? Or worse, a couple of non-Jedi?”

Something rustled and Valin said, “What’s wrong with non-Jedi?”

“Nothing,” Elna said quickly. “I just don’t think they’ll be able to keep up with us.”

“You don’t know Syal Antilles very well, do you?”

Grinning, Syal edged further back into the closet.

“What if something unexpected happens?” Elna asked.

Valin sighed. “You’re right, of course.”

“I’m right, of course,” Elna repeated.

Then, more rustled and a long stretch of quiet. Syal strained her ears. Several seconds passed before she realized, with mild horror, what the two sixteen-year-olds must be doing. She squirmed. Please, don’t be kissing. Please, don’t be kissing.

She plugged her fingers into her ears, as though doing so could block out that thought, or her motification. Valin was a teenager, and he could do what he wanted, but why did he have to be kissing her?

Syal needed to be somewhere else, anywhere else.

Valin made a noise, a grunt. “Listen,” he said in a breathy voice. “I’ll get some stuff together so we can take off right after class. You should do the same.”

“Sure,” Elna said slowly.

Syal sank against the back of the closet, biting her nails as she listened to Elna’s retreating footsteps. Her other hand touched something hard and ribbed. She picked up a metallic flake from the floor and held it up in front of her eyes—just as the closet door whooshed open and light spilled in, blinding her.

Valin looked down at her, clicking his tongue. His dark hair was in the process of growing too far past his ears, knotting over his hazel eyes like a thick bush. He wore a simple sleeveless shirt and light pants, the hallmark of a Jedi training uniform.

“What are you doing in there, ace?” he asked—his tone curious, not angry.

Of course, he was never angry with her.

“Looking for this,” Syal said, holding up the data chip. “Are you seriously planning to go exploring without me?”

His lips twisted into a wry smile. “Just once. Next time we’ll take you along, I promise. It’s just—I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I’m not going to get hurt.” Syal crawled out of the mess in the closet and dusted herself off. “I’m capable of looking out for myself.”

“You don’t have the Force,” Valin started to explain.

“Which means that I’m some kind of invalid? Plenty of people don’t have the Force and they get by just fine. Just look at your mother.”

Valin frowned. “You’re not going to follow us, Syal.”

“We’ll see about that!”

She stomped out of us his room without another word. It would have been better if she had farther to go, but the room she shared with her sister Myri was only two doors down. She immediately grabbed her bag and began packing everything she believes was necessary for a trip she knew nothing about—rations, a first-aid kit, binoculars…

Myri, Valin’s sister Jysella, and the Bothan padawan Yaqueel, all stared at her with interest.

“Where are you going?” Myri asked.

“Valin’s planning on leaving us behind,” Syal announced.

“Again?”

“He, Bazel, and Elna are going exploring right after class,” Syal went on. “They want to give us the slip.”

“Ugh,” Jysella huffed. “I bet that was all Elna’s idea. I don’t like her at all. She’s such a Sith!”

Yaqueel ruffled her fur. “Where are we going?”

“I have no idea. Probably the caverns. Go pack your things so we can catch up with them right after class.”

---

About two weeks after they arrived in the Maw, Syal and Myri had grown bored of meditation exercises and had created their own competition. Each day, they singled out a Jedi padawan who was earning a lot of praise from their teacher, Tionne, and made it their objective to outperform that padawan.

It wasn’t as hard as it sounded. A lot of the exercises included repetition, the idea being that a Jedi’s reactions in battle needed to be fluid and second-nature, thoughtless, in order to call fully upon the Force. Syal wasn’t unfamiliar with that idea; Starfighter pilots did the same thing, basically. They ran drills and simulations constantly so that they didn’t have to think about jinking and juking in a real battle. It just happened.

So in all seriously, Syal and Myri mastered mediation. They maintained iron-straight poses, soldiering through protesting muscles and fatigue, while other padawans collapsed around them. They executed defense forms with perfect accuracy and always aced the history exams on the tragedies following Exar Kun, Darth Revan, and especially Darth Vader.

The only thing they couldn’t do was lift rocks with their minds.

But then again, neither could Valin or Jysella.

And yet Tionne still wouldn’t give them training lightsabers.

“It’s okay, Myri,” Syal said as they practiced hand-to-hand combat. “Who needs a lightsaber when you’ve got a starfighter?”

“Who needs a lightsaber when you have the element of surprise?” Myri countered.

“Who needs a lightsaber when you’re an Antilles?”

It went on like that for the entire class period. As soon as Tionne announced that they could leave, Syal made a break for the hall. She only needed to look over her shoulder once to confirm that Myri, Jysella, and Yaqueel were behind her.

“He’s taking the turbo-lift!” Jysella warned.

Syal ran down the silver corridor of the Errant Venture’s diamond level and rounded the corner just in time to see Valin disappearing behind a set of turbolift doors. She raced for the next lift, ready to punch the down button, at least until she noticed someone had already lit it up.

The lift opened and second later.

Syal stepped inside with her sister and her friends. “Yaqueel?”

The Bothan shrugged. “I used the Force.”

Syal nodded. “Every second counts. If Valin gets to the scoutcabs before us, then catching up to him will be very difficult.”

“Would it help if we deactivated some of them?” Myri asked. She pulled out her datapad.

Yaqueel’s fur ruffled in surprise. “You can do that?”

“I’m Booster’s favorite.” Myri smiled. “I can do anything on with this ship.”

“I’m Booster’s favorite,” Jysella said.

“Oh, then do you have the deactivation codes?”

Jysella crossed her arms, muttering. Myri deactivated all the scoutcabs so that by the time they reached the sidelock hangar—a narrow hangar bay that housed only the scoutcabs—Elna was pacing the enclosed wall space and Valin had his head stuck under the dashboard.

“I don’t get it,” came Valin’s muffled voice. “It’s like Booster knew what we were going to do and he shut everything down. But I don’t see how—”

Seeing Syal, Myri, Jysella, and Yaqueel, Bazel—the jade-skinned Ramoan—turned up his snout and grunted frantically.

“What do you mean in wasn’t Booster?” Valin asked. Then he raised his head and caught Syal’s eye. “Oh. Should have known.”

Elna marched angrily down the wall. “Oh, no. You lot are not coming with us.”

“Then you’re not going at all,” Syal said. “Only one of us has the codes, and it isn’t Valin.”

“It’s me,” Myri said. She flicked her light brown hair back and put her hands on her hips.

Elna stared at her. “What are you, nine?”

“I’m ten,” Myri said. “And I’m Booster’s favorite.”

“No way,” Valin said. “I’m Booster’s favorite.”

“In your Jedi dreams,” Syal said. “So if you want to go, you have to take us with you.”

Valin ran his hands through his hair, making it even more of a mess.

Bazel gave three short grunts.

“See,” Myri said. “That’s why you’re my favorite. We are the smart ones, aren’t we?”

“Certainly smart enough to keep up with any Jedi,” Syal said.

“Fine,” Elna said. She threw her hands in the air and sent Valin a cross look. “We’ll bring along your shadow. Are you happy now?”

“I’m not his shadow!” Syal said. She wished Elna would just stop it already.

“She’s not my shadow,” Valin said. “She’s my co-pilot.”

He slipped into the cab and motioned for the rest of them to join him. Syal scooted next to Valin, with Bazel on her other side. Elna, Myri, Jysella, and Yaqueel squeezed into the back of the cab. Myri leaned forward, plugged a code into dashboard, and suddenly the cab lit up with glittering lights and dials.

Syal flipped some switches while Valin transmitted another code to open the airlock. With a sharp jerk, the scoutcab lifted, detached, and floated out into the empty space of the cavern. Valin leaned on the throttle and gently guided the scoutcab downward.

Syal watched his hands as he steered, the smooth, confident way that he sat in the pilot seat. Suddenly, she felt glad—relieved—that Corran and Mirax had sent him with the rest of the Jedi younglings to the safety of the Maw. There were other sixteen-year-olds, she knew, who were fighting agains the Yuuzahn Vong. Anakin Solo, that famous Jedi, had been one of them. A Jedi, a pilot, he had done great deeds. And he had been Valin’s age when he fell in battle.

Chewing her lip, Syal reached for Valin’s sleeve. “Can I fly?”

“Oh no,” Elna said, her two favorite words. “You are not giving a twelve-year-old control of the—”

But before Elna could finish her protest, Valin slid over the yoke, rocking the scoutcab just slightly. Syal took hold, let out her breath. With the scoutcab firmly in her grasp, she led her friends deeper into the cavern. It wasn’t quite like flying a starfighter, not that she had done that yet, but it was close.

Bazel grunted.

“She is doing a great job flying,” Valin agreed. He ruffled her hair.

“Thanks.” Syal blushed, wishing he wouldn’t treat her like such a kid. “I learned from the best.”

“Well, I’m flattered.”

“I’m talking about Tycho Celchu, laser brain.”

The tunnel dipped, so Syal drove the nose of the scoutship downward. Myri and Jysella shrieked with delight, but in the pilot’s mirror Syal saw Elna clutching the back of Valin’s head rest. Color drained from her face.

“Okay,” Elna said. “Valin, can you take back—”

“Lighten up,” Jysella said. “Do you know how many simulators Syal has flown with her dad? There’s a reason Valin calls her ace, you know.”

“I’ll bet,” Elna said tightly.

“Antilles don’t crash,” Myri said. “It’s not in our genes.”

Syal maneuvered the scoutcab out of the tunnel, into what seemed like space itself. The cavern’s walls spread out, and blackness spilled over the ship. Valin reached around Syal and flicked the interior lightswitch.

Then slumped over her, his weight pressing down on her. This was so unexpected that Syal bent toward the throttle, causing the ship to swerve erratically. But there was no hiss of anxiety from Elna. The cabin remained completely silent, except for Myri’s exclamation of surprise.

Syal managed to push Valin off of her, and he wilted against the window, eyes closed, a deadweight. Bazel, too, drooped forward, against his restraints, and remained motionless.

“Myri?” Syal asked.

“They all fell asleep—like at once,” Myri said. “What happened to them?”

“I don’t know,” Syal said. “But I’m going to touch down. It looks like there’s a ridge over there.”

“Good thing you brought your medkit.”

Syal veered the ship over and settled it on a craggy rock. The scoutcab shuddered in response. She checked the atmosphere readings first, to confirm that the air was safe to breathe. The doors hissed open, but Syal had to crawl over Valin to get out. No way was she going to get past Bazel on the other side.

“Let’s pull out Valin, Sella, Yaqueel, and Elna,” she told Myri. “Leave Bazel where he is for now.”

Myri wrinkled her nose. “I don’t think we’ll be able to move him.”

They laid their friends out on the rock, and Syal dug her medkit out of the ship. She passed Myri the vitalscan. Just after she had finished loading a dose of stimulants, she noticed that Myri had frozen with the scanner over Yaqueel’s body.

“What is it?”

Myri’s face paled, her eyes widened. “I…I think they’re dead.”

What? Syal scrambled to look at the scanner over Myri’s shoulder. As she looked at the screen, she shook her head in disbelief. A straight line appeared, indicating Yaqueel’s heartbeat, or lack thereof.

“Try Jysella,” Syal said. “Maybe it’s some kind of Bothan hibernation thing.”

Myri swallowed and passed the scanner over Jysella, then Valin. The results stayed the same.

“No,” Syal said out loud. She ran her hands over her face. She could pilot them back to the Errant Venture, but what would she tell Tionne and Kam? What would she tell Booster?

“Maybe it’s a Jedi thing,” Myri said. “They have hibernation techniques, don’t they?”

“What, you think they’re playing a joke on us?” Syal asked.

“No.” Myri cast her eyes around the cavern. “But this place kind of gives me the creeps.”

Syal put her arm around her sister’s shoulders, knowing exactly what she meant. Maybe she wasn’t a Jedi, but she definitely sensed something dark and sinister in the cavern. It had been different inside the ship, where she had been in control. But in the total darkness, anything could happen.

Wait. Wait a Coruscant minute.

“Where’s Elna?” she asked.

Syal and Myri checked inside the ship again, then made a ring around it. No sign of Elna. At least, not until they crouched by the Horn siblings’ bodies again, and a chilling laugh resonated from the darkness just beyond.

Syal stiffened and turned so that she shielded Myri. Whatever was going on here, she was now the oldest, the one in charge. Her one job was to get Myri to safety.

The blackness resonated again, and Elna stepped out of the dark. There was something different about her, something strange. Her head was tilted, her eyes were shadowed.

“Oh, Syal Antilles,” Elna said—though he didn’t really sound like Elna. Her voice held a current of something deeper, more menacing. “I really can’t stand you.”

“Elna!” Myri said. “We need to get help!”

Elna held out her hand. Myri flew backward, tumbling against the side of the scoutcab. Syal shot to her feet.

“Don’t!” she said.

Elna laughed. “Or what? You’ll use your sarcasm against me? I’m so scared. She really hates you, Syal. She wishes you’d just disappear, so she could have Valin all to herself.”

Syal blinked in confusion. Elna’s voice had grown stronger, deeper. “Who?”

“Elna,” Elna said. “I’ve possessed her, you see. Out of all the Jedi you brought down here, she’s the one who hates the most. And she wants you gone. I’d be ungrateful if I didn’t lend a helping hand.”

Elna—or, the thing that was Elna—stretched out her hand. Syal stepped forward, prepared to fight, but then something invisible wrapped itself around her throat. She choked, tried to gasp, and clawed at her neck. Myri groaned from somewhere behind her.

No. Myri. Stay back.

Her vision swam. The thing around her neck tightened its grip, pulled and lifted her off her feet. Syal kicked desperately, strangling, dying—

“Stop,” said a voice from behind her.

Not Myri’s voice. A boy’s voice. Valin’s voice.

Thank the Force. He was alive.

The invisible thing released Syal. She fell to the rocky ground, collapsed, and gasped for breath.

“Elna,” Valin said. He came closer, his boots crunching gravel. “What are you doing?”

“What Elna should have done a long time ago,” Elna said. “I’m going to wipe this pathetic creature from the Maw. Then you will see, Valin Horn, what true power is. It's time to leave the kids behind.”

Valin bent down, set his hands on Syal’s shoulders. “I won't let you hurt my friends.”

Syal’s heart pounded, full of relief. They just might get out of this alive.

Elna’s face twisted. “Step aside.”

“No.”

Elna called her lightsaber to her hand. It ignited with a snap-hiss. “Stand aside, or face the consequences.”

Valin unhooked his lightsaber from his belt, igniting it. The greenish glow cast a stronger light for Syal to see. She scrambled backwards and found Myri crouched beside Jysella.

“We have to get them back inside the ship,” Syal said.

Myri groaned.

“I know,” Syal said. “But you know we have to get out of here.”

Together, they heaved Jysella and Yaqueel back inside. Syal clambered into the pilot’s seat, with Myri as her co-pilot.

“Valin!” she called out.

She heard lightsabers thrumming, clashing, and heavy breathing.

“Take off!” Valin yelled. “I’ll follow.”

Syal gripped the yoke and lifted the scoutcab upward. Valin hopped onto the viewport, then climbed up onto the top of the ship. As gently as she could manage, Syal turned the ship back toward the tunnel.

But then she felt something else land on the top, impact the cab, and heard lightsabers clashing once more.

Myri looked up worriedly. “What happens when we get to the Errant Venture?”

Syal gritted her teeth, steering at a slight incline. “I don’t think that Valin thinks Elna will last that long.”

The battle above them ensued. Syal winced every time a lightsaber sliced at the top of the cab. She tried her best to focus on keeping the ship steady, for fear Valin would fall off.

Jysella groaned and lurched forward. Her head appeared between Syal and Myri’s, along with her incredulous expression.

“What’s going on? Where are Valin and…” She heard the sounds of lightsabers and looked up. “What’s that?”

“Elna lost it,” Myri said. “She tried to kill Syal and now she and Valin are fighting on top of the ship.”

Jysella actually brightened. “I knew Elna was bad news. And she’s not a great swordman…swordswoman…at least judging by all the times she seems to need Valin’s help.”

As if on cue, Elna screamed. Her body flew past the viewport, plummeted down to the bottom of the rocky tunnel. Syal gripped the throttle, slowing, and held her breath. Myri and Jysella waited in silence.

Then the top hatch opened, startling them all. Valin slithered down, closed the hatch, and looked at the three of them with a heavy gaze.

“It’s over,” he said.

---

The six remaining friends endured an series of dressing downs, first from Kam and Tionne, followed by Booster. Valin took the brunt of the verbal assaults and nearly all of the blame. Then the six of them were ordered to disperse. Bazel and Yaqueel were ordered to the med center, while the Horns and Antilles were sentenced to their rooms.

But Antilles and Horns weren’t great at following directions. Myri went to Jysella’s room instead. Syal tried to obey, but being alone in her room gave her the shivers, so she really had no other choice but to seek Valin out.

She found him where he belonged, in his room. He sat on his bed, staring moodily at the wall.

Syal sat on the bed next to him and drew her knees up to her chest. “Are you okay?”

He shook himself out of his reverie and gave her a tight hug. “Are you okay? You really scared me, ace.”

“I’m fine,” Syal said. When he dropped his arms away, she added, “You’re lucky I was there, you know.”

He gave her a startled look. “By letting you come along, I nearly got you killed.”

“First, you didn’t let me come along. I didn’t give you a choice in the matter. And second, if I hadn’t been there, you guys all would have died. Or maybe you’re forgetting how you fell asleep in the pilot’s seat. You would have crashed, Valin. End of story.”

A reluctant smile tugged at his lips. “I can always count on you to be reasonable.”

“What was that out there?”

Valin shuddered. “I don’t know. I don’t think I want to know.” He was silent for a long moment. Then he added, “I just hope it doesn’t come back.”

 

Very good chapter!
More stories such as this!

 

Excellent to see more of how Valin and Syal were before things got waaay too complicated between them. Hopefully now things can smooth out and rectify between them.

 

Thank you! I've got a few more one-posts planned for this "universe." Next week I'll post a short about Valin and Jysella getting frozen in carbonite, from Syal's POV. I'm also working on a short aboard the Errant Venture involving Myri, Jysella, and Doran Tainer.

Smooth out? That wouldn't be any fun. Syal is becoming my favorite character to write. Although Valin's the oldest, she's clearly in charge.