The Curious Incident of the Jedi in No Time

[Wyl Staedtler]

Time had stopped.

It was a fairly startling phenomena and it was bound to have untold galactic repercussions - there was probably going to be a recession and riots would no doubt break out, because time stopping was pretty high on most everybody's list of 'things so unlikely to happen I'm not even going to prepare for them'.

That was the main problem with adults. They were in no position to run the galaxy because they were never ready for the really scary things that could happen. If it wasn't logical, they didn't want to entertain it's existence. Wyl Staedtler thought that was beyond stupid; in his all-encompassing wisdom he'd come to find that logic was highly overrated.

His point was proven now; he'd been in their quarters for what he'd thought was just over an hour, trying to pass the minutes until his master returned by practicing his Force lifts. That had grown old and he'd moved on to other forms of entertainment. When he'd exhausted them all, Wyl had come to his startling conclusion: he felt like he'd been cooped up forever but what if he had?!

A quick inspection of the cheap chrono hanging on the wall confirmed it. The readout screen hadn't changed since Daria's departure. Wyl spent a good minute trying not to panic - did this mean he wasn't going to grow anymore? What about birthdays, did they still count? Was everyone stuck in this rip in the fabric of time, or was it just him?

The boy's racing thoughts were interrupted by a soft knocking on the door. Wyl let out a started breath; oh no, it was starting already. Looters, in a frenzy of fear over what was happening, who wanted to strip the room of anything valuable and who would probably hurt him in the process!

Dragging a stool over to the door, Wyl mustered up all the courage he had. He peered out the tiny peephole into the hallway beyond. Palpable relief washed over him. He knew that looter and wasn't at all worried. Unless...

What if it's a trap?

Wyl's eyes narrowed and he squinted again through the peephole. "What's the password?!"

[Navaria Tarkin]

Wearing her usual attire of heavy robes and a shawl to cover her face, Navaria Tarkin knocked at the familiar door that belong to Daria Nytherciria. It had been several days since they arrived at Cloud City, allowing some rest for both weary Jedi. Too much had happened since Vortex and the Force finally allotted them some free time to reflect and meditate on the trials they had endured and refocus their efforts with their fellow Jedi.

Much had already happened with the Jedi Master. She had found a young man by the name of Kale, a trained Force Adept that may become her very first student. She wanted to seek Daria's counsel on the prospect since her companion was already training a Padawan of her own. Unfortunately, the Knight was not home. Navaria would have felt the presence of the Miraluka, but there was a presence behind that door. One full of panic and fear, but there was no apparent danger sensed ...

Strange...

She heard the faint sound of metal against metal and spied a curious eye that belonged to Daria's young charge through the peephole. Lowering the shawl that covered her face, Navaria smiled but before she could say anything, the door spoke ...

"What's the password?!"

Her nose compressed inwards in bewilderment. "Password?"

What ever had frightened him was very real, even if it did not make sense to the Jedi. Wyl was a young boy and had a vivid imagination. Patience would enlighten Navaria to the cause of this.

"I wasn't aware that there was one. So I must confess, I do not know it. But I assure you that it is me," she explained calmly, her posture non-threatening in any way - hands quite visible and holding nothing.

[Wyl Staedtler]

A snort sounded from the other side of the door. Wyl was clearly unconvinced - after all, that was just the sort of thing that an imposter would say. He wasn't an idiot; he'd seen the holonews broadcasts like everyone else and knew that Master Tarkin had a duplicate.

The boy tentatively reached out with the Force, prodding at the presence outside. It sure seemed like Master Tarkin but...

"Prove it!" Wyl said.

[Navaria Tarkin]

"I'm sure you have heard how I met your teacher?" Navaria knew for a fact that this was true. All of the Jedi on Cloud City knew of that trying day. "My friend was very ill and attacked a good friend of yours. He was hurt so badly that he needed immediate medical attention, as did the woman, who happened to be his mother. I had been attacked by her too and when I awoke, I was confined to my quarters and that was when I questioned by Daria."

[Wyl Staedtler]

Wyl blinked. That was all true - he remembered the gaping wound in Morgan's chest and Adia going crazy. There had been so much blood!

Seeing as how nobody outside their small circle knew about the incident, he figured this was on the up and up. Wyl hopped off from his stool and palmed the door open. He grinned brightly at Navaria.

"Hi." Wyl chirped, all traces of previous suspicion gone. "M'master's not here right now. If you're lookin' for her, I mean."

[Navaria Tarkin]

"Hello." Her response was delightful and was glad that her story won Wyl over. Navaria hadn't been entirely sure if it would have worked. The inner workings of children, especially suspicious children, weren't always an easy egg to crack, even with the truth spoken!

"And actually I was," she said, removing the shawl completely and looked down at the young boy. "Do you know when she'll be back?"

Cautiously, she searched the small apartment for any other signs of life or deceit and came up empty. Whatever had caused the young Padawan fright was not tangible, and his pleasant demeanor relaxed her suspicions. Perhaps he was playing a game?

[Wyl Staedtler]

"We-ell," Wyl heaved a sigh and stepped aside so Navaria could enter if she so desired. "She said she wouldn't be long, but that was before time stopped."

The boy shrugged casually. "It's probably the end of the galaxy as we know it."

[Navaria Tarkin]

She wasn't sure where her mind should race to first. The knowledge that Daria was late or that Wyl had actually said time stopped.

"What ... wait." Navaria paused and centered her mind and began again. "What in the Force made you think that time had actually stopped?"

[Wyl Staedtler]

"Because it did." The unspoken 'duh' hung in the air. Wyl spread his palms out and shrugged again. "I did everything I could think of to do, and Daria should have been back by the time I was finished 'cause it took me forever."

He jerked a thumb at the wall chrono, face very serious. "And then I checked. Time's stopped. I don't know if it's an isolated event or if it's happening everywhere."

[Navaria Tarkin]

That brief explanation put an entirely new spin on what was occurring. Wyl didn't have the logical capacity to realize that time was an intangible occurrence that was visually quantified by machines.

But try explaining that to a young boy ...

"I can see why you were worried." Navaria went on one knee so they could be eye level, not wanting Wyl to feel he was being talked down to. "But it's not an isolated incident or something happening everywhere."

A hand shifted through her robes until it disappeared into one of her pouches and unclipped her chronometer. "If time had truly stopped in this room, wouldn't this have as well?"

Seconds still ticked away and it showed one hour and twenty three standard minutes passed the time on the wall chrono.

[Wyl Staedtler]

The boy took the device and turned it over in his hands, studying it carefully. This was an unexpected and puzzling piece of information.

"Maybe you're immune." Wyl finally said. The idea was not a comforting one because it opened up the possibility that someone was targeting him specifically. It was an underhanded, nefarious, brilliant scheme. "It could be some kind of wormhole effect. Those are pretty tricky."

[Navaria Tarkin]

"True, it could be. Or ..." She stood up and went to the wall chronometer, plucking it off the wall, and flipped it around. "It could just need a new battery."

Wyl's counter explanation was so far-fetched and out of this world, that it was simply endearing. Until the actual event was fixed, she was pretty sure that he would continue to come up with amazing explanations to educate this silly adult.

Force! Navaria could still vividly remember thinking she was a Trianii cub, growling about and biting at her Master's heels. It tool a terribly long time before a young Lianna realized she did not have fur, nor teeth that could rip through flesh. The power of a child's imagination, or desire to not be different was a difficult battle to win.

"If you have any, do you know where Daria keeps extra ones?"

[Wyl Staedtler]

"Course." Wyl nodded and scampered away to the tiny storage closet near the door. The manager had tilted his head towards it when they'd first arrived, and muttered something just this side of intelligible about emergency supplies being within.

A few moments of rummaging was rewarded by the discovery of a spare power pack. Wyl tore the protective wrapping off of it and sauntered back to Navaria, holding the battery in his outstretched hand. His eyebrow arched dubiously.

"I dunno if it's gonna work." He said, in a voice which clearly implied he didn't think so. Wyl offered a small smile of encouragement to Navaria as she knowingly replaced the battery in the chrono and turned it back on. For a second it remained completely still and Wyl felt his heart hammer - he'd been half hoping that the Jedi Knight was correct and it would be a simple fix - before it stuttered and came to life.

Wyl let out a small chuff of disbelief and looked at Navaria. "You fixed it!"

[Navaria Tarkin]

A wry smile came, but she meticulously set the clock to her chronometer. "There we are!"

Placing it back upon its place against the wall, Navaria looked down at the young Padawan. "Good as new."

[Wyl Staedtler]

The boy's relief was palpable in the small room. Wyl's eyes shone with a healthy measure of admiration.

"Wow, Master Tarkin," He chirped, glancing up at the newly-hung chrono. "I didn't know you were a Time Lord and a Jedi!"

[Navaria Tarkin]

"Oh, Wyl," she placed a hand upon his shoulder and squeezed it tenderly. "A Jedi may be a great many things, but a Master of time? No."

Navaria released her hand and couldn't resist smiling. He was so serious! "I'm not sure if you can understand this but time isn't something that can be controlled. Time is something that we give meaning to by that chronometer. We know that time passes because we get older, but we were the ones that decided how time would be seen. Even if that clock stops, time continues to pass us pass second by second."

[Wyl Staedtler]

The boy stared at her for a moment in blank silence. Then he grinned and nodded.

"Oh, I know. But maybe it could happen." Wyl held his palms out in a shrugging motion. "Lots of weird stuff happens. Unexplainable stuff."

Secretly he wasn't entirely convinced that his original hypothesis was a dud. It made perfect sense that if entire planets could disappear (he'd been reading about galactic phenomenons and unsolved mysteries) then time was a malleable concept. He'd have to talk to Tak. Maybe they could draw up some plans for a ship that could travel through time. Then Master Tarkin would see.

"When I'm a Jedi Master, I'm gonna be able to control anything." Wyl said. He ambled over to the small kitchen unit and fished a jug of namana juice out of the icebox. He held it aloft and shook it invitingly. "Want some?"

[Navaria Tarkin]

Oh to be young again where the naivete of youth veiled the harsh reality that surrounded you. Well, that wasn't entirely true, but the limitless possibilities that went through a child's mind made the galaxy a far more fun place to live in."

Her eyes lit up and she was genuinely enthusiastic, "Namana juice! I'd love some."

Gathering her robes, Navaria found a seat in the kitchen. "It's my favorite drink you know."