G L E I P N I R

an unopened door

"They will tell you you're useless, if they can't use you."

22 ABY, Summer

Jedi Temple of Luke Skywalker

Third Person POV

Ben sheathed his saber and walked limply towards the picnic table that sat outside of the dusty sparring field. His arms felt like jello once the adrenaline began to wane. He could hear Voe curse at him, pulling herself back on her feet. Her lightsaber wahhh'd as she whirled it around her. She demanded Ben to come back, to go for another round.

He was tired of fighting Voe. She has yet to beat him, and sparring with her grew boring and predictable. Ever since he and Luke had come back from the Jedi outpost in Elphrona, Ben had been craving for more of a challenge. Their brush with the Knights of Ren had been stuck in his mind for the last year. He could still see every movement of Master Luke's body as he danced around like a precise blade, besting all seven of the shadowed warriors until they retreated. He had seen his uncle fight, but never like that... It only made Ben hunger to be as good, if not better than him.

But it wasn't just that... It's what their leader, Ren, had said just before he retreated.

"... One more thing. You said you could sense the shadow in all of us -- That's right. We've all got it. But you know your apprentice does too, right? Powerful. Can feel it. Better be careful, Jedi Man."

The chord was struck loudly. The voice became thicker in his mind since that confirmation. He had been battling the darkness that settled within his mind for as long as he could remember. The voice grew stronger as he grew older, until it finally named itself.

Snoke.

His presence in his mind was both constricting and comforting, like a snake wound around its nest of eggs. Ben once wondered if Luke had been aware of Snoke's presence, but the longer it went on, the stronger he doubted it. Sitting on the bench at the table, he could just make out the form of his uncle a few yards away, sitting under a tree facing Sigyn.

Ben's lips turned into a firm line as he watched him from afar. He felt his jaw click as he burned a hole at her with his gaze. Her eyes were closed, but even from here, he could sense that her attention was struggling on keeping her mind clear. Luke had been spending more and more time with her. Ben couldn't help but resent that.

Master Luke was the only person in the temple he needed to train with. Ben exceeded the skill set of everyone else; no one, not Voe, Hennix, or Tai could challenge him. If he wanted to progress, wanted to reach his fullest potential and then surpass it, he needed his uncle's undivided attention. But his time with his uncle had been hacked in half now.

He pities her, Snoke whispered in his mind. It was so clear now, as if it were next to his ear.

Ben sighed through his nose, keeping his back on Voe so she couldn't see the souring look he was sporting.

He's wasting his time, Ben replied, idly stretching fingers before cracking them.

You want his time wasted on you instead.

I want-- I need to get better. I feel stagnant.

Patience, young Jedi.

Ben winced at the title, feeling it undeserving.