Startled, the great bird picked a low hilltop and dropped down onto it.
Hard to say whether it was the mountain that spooked it… or Paks.
Amir sensed the creature's confusion. Ahsoka was trying to soothe it as well.
"Your jammer, Amir! It lives in the fog—it can't rely on sight alone. It has to have another way to navigate, and it's probably sound-based. Your jammer wiped out whatever signal it was using!"
Amir couldn't help laughing. He patted the bird's feathers apologetically.
It understood what Amir meant and seemed a little crestfallen. That meant they couldn't travel together.
But then Amir remembered a Force technique mentioned only briefly in that manual—something vaguely similar to what he'd seen used for mental influence, but far harder. The "influence" method was basically forcing your thoughts into someone else's mind until they gradually accepted them. This, however, was different: you shoved your Force perception into another being's mind—sharing what you sensed in real time. It required a continuous link.
With that idea, Amir immediately tried it.
Still connected through the Force, the bird began receiving scattered fragments of information from Amir—nearby shapes, movement, the presence of living things. Those fragments quickly became concrete. It began to "see" images—different from normal eyesight, and different from its own echo-navigation. This perception was finer: it saw outlines, flow, life—
When the images turned smooth and continuous, the bird couldn't resist. It launched into the air and darted joyfully through the valley.
"He's flying again—NO! If it can't see, people are going to die!" Paks screamed with his eyes squeezed shut, fists death-gripping the feathers.
Ahsoka, meanwhile, stared wide-eyed. She seemed to realize what Amir was doing.
"How are you doing that?" she asked, genuinely shocked—clearly not something Anakin had ever taught her.
Amir hadn't expected it to work so quickly either. Still surprised himself, he explained the principle.
"So that's how… mental influence… shared perception…" Ahsoka murmured. "That's… groundbreaking. It's difficult. Your control really has gotten a lot stronger."
Amir hadn't felt much resistance during the attempt. "Maybe it's just obscure because no one bothers trying it," he said. "It's not actually that hard."
Most people didn't exactly wake up thinking, I wonder if I can stream my Force senses into a giant bird's brain.
Without breaking the shared-perception link, Amir also used the Force to offset part of the bird's weight. Its speed increased again—but without any jarring turbulence. Once it adapted to the lighter load, it flew even steadier.
Paks finally exhaled, though his hands still clamped down like vices.
Seeing how stable the flight was, Veronica stood up at the very front and enjoyed the exhilaration of soaring. Paks looked at her like she was a supernatural being.
"Eee—" the bird cried, signaling they'd arrived.
Sure enough, in Amir's senses a mountain peak rose ahead, with noticeably fewer living presences on it.
The bird slowed, circled the summit a few times, then descended onto a flat patch near the top. There wasn't anywhere to land at the base.
As they came in, Amir realized the summit held a massive nest woven from branches. The bird landed beside it with practiced ease and let them dismount.
"Is this your home?" Amir asked it.
"Eee~"
"So it really is its nest… we're lucky," Amir said, grinning.
"This peak is flatter, the elevation's good, the vegetation's thinner—and there's a big tree that blocks wind and rain," Paks said, back in full analytical mode the instant his feet hit stone. "Perfect nesting conditions."
"You've studied this too?" Amir asked, impressed.
"Of course. I have a master's in wildlife behavioral ecology," Paks replied.
"Why would you study that?" Amir pressed.
"He has a doctorate in geology," Ahsoka said. "The other master's degrees were just… something he picked up when he was bored."
Amir clicked his tongue. A genius, then. Figures.
"So how do we get down?" Veronica asked.
"This place looks like someone's been here," Amir said, eyeing the surrounding rock. "Some of it looks… quarried."
"The temple should be below," Ahsoka said. "A long time ago, people were definitely active here. No idea why it vanished. Let's search—there might be clues."
So the group began combing the stony summit.
Amir drifted closer to the bird and its lonely nest.
He felt its solitude. There shouldn't be only one of its kind. If they ever encountered others, maybe he could help reunite them.
He reached out and gently touched its beak—
—and noticed something on a rock beside the nest: carvings.
Leaning in, Amir discovered a mural.
"Is that… it?" Veronica moved closer. The image was a green bird silhouette—very similar in shape.
"Maybe," Amir said. "Or maybe its family."
He ran his fingers across it. It wasn't just green pigment—there were shallow grooves etched into the stone.
"This is old," he added. The image had weathered into roughness; erosion scarred the edges of the carving.
"Maybe it really is its family," Veronica said. "The color's too green. It isn't that green."
"Maybe it's still young," Amir suggested. "It might turn greener as it matures."
"There's another possibility," Paks said, joining them. "Its species might have originally lived in forests with thinner fog. After moving here, they adapted—feathers gradually shifting toward a pale mist-white to match the environment."
"A path!" Ahsoka called. She ignited her lightsaber and cleared away tangled brush.
The others hurried over. Stone steps—obviously man-made—descended into the mist.
"Careful," Ahsoka warned. The stairway was steep, and below it the fog swallowed everything, choked with wild growth.
Amir moved up beside Ahsoka to lead.
The mountain wasn't especially tall. Before long, they reached ground level.
"This is better than I expected—nice and open," Paks said, scanning the area. "Clear the perimeter and it becomes a camp."
"Agreed," Ahsoka said, clearly pleased. "It's practically a natural shelter."
"Beep-beep—bzzt!" BD-4 suddenly hopped down and rolled to a rock wall. Its scanner extended, sweeping back and forth.
"This is the entrance."
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🌌 Star Wars: Relics of the Past
📢 The Force Calls! 📢
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