Hanma Schism Part 3
Duo sat down in the captain's chair, his father beside him in the co-pilot's seat. Heero sat down behind Duo where he could see over his shoulder. The earlier comment about knowing how to fly the ship if Duo became unable to do so had stayed in his mind.
Though in all honesty, he suspected that he'd be surprised if the ship got off the ground in the first place.
His master sat beside him, an amused smile curving his lips when he met his former apprentice's gaze. Heero wondered what Odin found so amusing, but then, Odin did have an odd sense of humor.
"So Heero," Odin asked as the ship's engines roared to life, "What do you think we'll find in the temple?"
"It's hard to say," Heero replied after a moment, his eyes never wandering too far from the man in front of him. Duo seemed completely unconcerned by the strange coughing sounds the engine was making. One of its quirks? "It should have most of the usual traps... and more, especially since the Hanmas might have been concerned that the Jedis would attack them."
"True," Odin nodded. "Not to mention some things might have moved in as well..."
Heero frowned, it was hard to imagine an animal succeeding in surviving where humans had not- but the temples had been made to repel intelligent attackers. Animals, acting on instinct, might survive where humans failed.
Scythe began to shake as she lifted off the ground. Heero felt that it might be prudent to hang onto something, lest he vibrate out of his chair.
To Heero's surprise, once Scythe was in the air and moving forward, the vibrating ceased. She also was managing to move very quickly, and didn't seem inclined to fall apart at the higher speeds.
He decided mentioning these discoveries to Duo would not be prudent.
"How long?" He asked Maxwell.
"Not too long. Scythe has a pretty good top speed." Duo answered instead, turning his head slightly to grin at Heero over his shoulder. "Getting through the jungle might be a bit tricky, but we'll manage."
Heero discovered, a little while later, that Duo had a gift for understatement. 'A little bit tricky' apparently meant that Scythe had to go down into the jungle on the fringes, as the overhead canopy had laced itself together too tightly for a ship to get through. Scythe then had to dodge around huge tree trunks to reach the heart of the jungle where the temple lay.
A saner captain- like Fujimiya, whose ship fell back early on, would've taken it slowly. Duo maintained his breakneck speed.
After the fourth near-miss, Heero pried his fingers from where they had been embedded in the seat and opened his eyes. Why weren't Odin and Maxwell concerned? They sat, chatting away, speculating on the layout of the temple, ignoring the way that Scythe was nearly impacting with a tree every minute or so.
What was he missing? Heero closed his eyes again, the better to concentrate, he told himself, not because Duo's piloting was giving him a minor heart attack.
He forced himself to relax, let his training take over, felt the pull of the force from within himself. He felt tugs from Master Odin, Maxwell... and Duo?
He opened his eyes again in pure shock and stared at the back of Duo's braid. Duo was using the force! Damn it! No wonder he wasn't hitting anything!
Why hadn't Heero noticed it before? He should've been able to sense that Duo was force-sensitive before this! And if he could use it- why hadn't Maxwell sent Duo to the Jedis to be trained?
He glanced to the side, caught the smile that Maxwell was directing at Duo, and realized why. Maxwell had been training Duo himself.
He caught the eye of his own master, who was grinning at him, and raised an eyebrow. Master Odin had been waiting for him to see it. But why hadn't he noticed it right away? Had his arrogance blocked him from seeing?
He looked away from Master Odin and gazed at the floor instead. This whole mission had knocked him off-balance. He had passed the trials, thought himself truly ready to be a Jedi Knight, but all he was discovering was that he had more than ever to learn- had he truly been ready?
A hand appeared in his vision. Master Odin had leaned forward in his seat and waved his hand in front of Heero's eyes. "Heero? What troubles you?"
Heero looked up into Odin's concerned gaze and wondered if he should admit his weakness to his master in front of the other two...
Arrogance again!
"I wonder if the council made a mistake," he said softly. Odin frowned at him for a moment- Jedi did not question the council lightly- and then understanding dawned.
He opened his mouth to speak, but Scythe made a sudden 180 degree spin in the air, and then began to drop quickly.
"We're here!" Duo announced cheerfully as they touched down. He had been focused on flying his ship and was unaware of the unhappy young man behind him. "Told you Scythe could make it! You shouldn't have doubted me, Heero!" He looked back over his shoulder; grin fading as he took in Heero's expression.
He had been teasing- why did Heero look upset? And he was surprised to see Heero get to his feet and bow his head to him. "No, I shouldn't have. I apologize." Heero bolted from the cabin.
"Huh?" Duo blinked and got to his feet. Odin was frowning, his father looked concerned. "What's with Heero? My flying didn't scare him, did it?"
Neither one of them answered him, only looked at each other, clearly concerned.
Duo snorted and left the cockpit. Apparently. He'd have to go to the source.
Heero was by the storage bins pulling out the packs they had planned to take into the temple with them. He still looked distressed, which worried Duo.
"Heero? What's wrong?"
"What makes you think something's wrong?" Heero countered and gave him one of the packs.
"Because that was not like you back there."
"We just met Duo. How do you know that?" Duo snorted and shook his head.
"Please, give my observation skills some credit! I'm sure you think that I couldn't come close to a Jedi Knight but..."
"I don't think that!" Heero snapped and Duo blinked. That was out of character too. "I don't think that you are less skilled just because you are not a Jedi! I'm not..." Heero paused, closing his mouth tightly.
Duo stared at him for a moment, wondering what had happened to make Heero like this.
"Heero?" Master Odin stood in the doorway, Master Maxwell behind him.
"Sorry Master, we're almost ready." Heero moved past Duo and handed the other two packs to Odin and Maxwell. "They are already loaded, I'll just grab the navigation instruments..."
"Heero," Master Odin said again, placing a hand on his arm, making Heero meet his gaze. "Self-realization is welcomed, but you also need to trust in yourself."
"Yes Master." Heero nodded and then continued out the doorway.
"Will someone tell me what's going on?" Duo frowned.
"Heero is doubting himself." Odin answered.
"That's not good," Duo took a step towards the door. "Why?"
"Because of you, son." Maxwell grinned at the look of surprise on Duo's face.
"I knew you'd throw him off balance a bit," Odin shrugged. "I wanted you to- Heero needed a bit of shaking up. The temple is a wonderful training facility, but it doesn't prepare one for some realities. However, instead of a little off balance, you've made him doubt himself."
"How?"
"I'm not sure. He finally noticed that you were force-sensitive, but that alone shouldn't have made him question the council's decision to make him a Jedi."
"I'll talk to him." Duo grabbed his pack and went looking for Heero.
He found the other standing outside, pack on his shoulders, looking at one of the other ships.
"Heero-" he started, but Heero didn't even turn to look at him.
"Is Master Odin coming? He needs to see this."
"See what?" Duo looked at their surroundings. The temple was a hundred feet away, surrounded by abandoned ships. Damn, they were going to find a lot of bodies in the temple if all of these ships had been fully manned.
"That ship," Heero pointed to a small, silvery looking craft.
"What is it?"
"It's a Sith ship."
TBC...
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