FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"How can you preach patience when he is out there now!?" She turned, pacing back along the damp grass atop the stony island. The wind whipped the loose strands of hair about her face and the bottom of her rather long tunic lashed out angrily behind her.

Luke glanced at her wordlessly then returned his attention to the staff she had deposited at his feet at the start of this. He pried at the casing and the electronics beneath with a small metal pick. His iron gray hair played at his vision, demanding attention he would not afford it.

"He killed his father! Without provocation! Your friend, Han Solo, is dead because of that monster and you want to stay here and think!?" Rey clawed at her scalp as she pivoted on her heel and stomped back the other direction. "We came all the way out here to the hutt's hind end of the Galaxy looking for you! You're a Jedi, you're supposed to help people! You're supposed to protect people like Han Solo from the evil that man represents!"

A small short shot up the length of the pick into his old hands. Luke grimaced for a moment but pressed the slender metal rod against where the wire met the metal. At least the thing still had power. He pressed the exposed wiring against the panel within and activated the solder, fastening it in place once more.

As he secured the panel in place and started to pry open another, Rey howled in frustration. She spun about and threw her hands into the air. "He's out there killing more people! He's probably hunting down the Resistance right now and you want to sit here on this island and let him!"

She stopped long enough to jab a finger his direction. Her eyes lanced blaster bolts at him as she began pacing again. "You were the galaxy's savior! You destroyed two Death Stars! You defeated Darth Vader and the Emperor single handedly!"

He glanced up at her once again then glanced down at his work. The focusing assembly had a gunk he didn't recognize gumming up the He used the pointed tip of the metal pick to scrape at it, prying it off in large chunks. He scowled at the grime and flicked it away from the staff's casing as Rey continued on her tirade.

"You are supposed to be the answer to this madness! The First Order fears you above all else! They destroyed the New Republic to locate you!" Again Luke felt her eyes pierce into him as she strode by. "How can you believe someone who was willing to kill his own father, destroy the forces of good in the universe, has any good left in him! He is a monster! He is evil incarnate! You cannot tell me to judge him by what is on the inside! I have seen the inside of that man!"

Satisfied with the lens, Luke fastened the casing in place again and looked up at her. He stood slowly and planted the butt of her staff in the grass. She stopped and glared at him. But he could see the hope welling in her eyes. He saw the same fear, the same worry and indeed the very same longing for his protection that he had the first time she had come to him almost a week prior. It was the same look a daughter might give her father after a bad dream.

She said nothing, nor did he. He locked his old eyes on hers then hefted her staff horizontally between them. He held it steady for a moment and reached out with the force. He felt the inner workings, sensed the activator hidden within the durasteel pipe. He visualized it toggling on. Power rushed through the inner workings. Energy coalesced within the crystal and erupted outward through the unclogged emitter assembly.

With a snap-hiss, a golden-yellow shaft screamed out of the end of the staff, extending a good meter outward before it looped back along itself to disappear into the staff where the energy was recycled and forced outward once again in an infinite loop.

Rey gasped and stepped backward. Her eyes ran the entire length of the weapon and Luke see the shock and surprise written as clearly on her face as he could feel in her heart.

"Even something you have had at your side your entire life has untapped potential hidden inside." Luke deactivated the lightpike and held it out to Rey. "Never give up on those who appear as crude and unrefined. There is the potential for light in all things."

Rey reached out and curled her digits apprehensively around the thing, as though it would suddenly coil and attack her like a Shili venomserpent. She pulled it toward herself but Luke held his grip firm.

"Patience. Rushing to face him will bring only pain to yourself and those you care about."