Ara-Lai Kaipi

Ara made her way through space, carefully navigating with the assistance of her sword, Sanare.

Ara's eyes narrowed, and she quickly grabbed Faust's charred arm, preparing for another possible onslaught if it would come. She squeezed his wrist tighly, charred skin flaking off as she spoke. "I do not accuse, I speak the truth. You say you're happy with things, that you're not self-destructive, and yet you bruise and batter your own body to this end, all to try and prove a point?" Ara gave the Hunter's arm another good twist to get him to lower back down to the table. The mark on her forehead, left over from her last run-in with the man below her, began to glow a fiery red in time with the beating of her heart. "You say justice is an illusion, but it isn't. It is only an illusion for those who think justice was not served in their own lives, to ones they loved." She didn't let go of his wrist, keeping her grip, and his skin began to return to its healthy state, a bright pink of new flesh. "Hope isn't an illusion, either, and even if you wish to make it disappear, it will always be there, and it will always prevail over those like you." Sanare finally floated back into the room in the human form-projection of itself. Seeing its mother leaning over the Hunter, it ran over, surging its energy into Ara. This threw her healing into overdrive, leaving Faust with new skin on even more of his body, regardless of whether it needed it. "I'm fine, Sanare." Ara removed her hand from Faust's arm, giving the Hunter a curious look over. "I wonder, what would happen if I used Sanare to purge the darkness from you? Would there be anything left, or would it just be your true self?" She snickered. "Either way. Stay down on the table, Vladimir. You can attempt to resume your fruitless 'hunt' after you've healed."

Ara jumped from her own chair, stopping the once-again injured Hunter with her hands, throwing him back down to the cot with some force. It wasn't enough to injure, but it was enough to get her own point across. "The 'winning side' is not important, nor do I care about your own pleasure. Others matter just as much as yourself, even those you know nothing about, not just those close to you." She began whirling around Faust's prone body, patching together what he had torn apart with such ease. "I do not coddle, I do not silence those who oppose me, but I will protect those who cannot do it for themselves from people like you who would seek only to make a ridiculous point by harming them." Ara wiped the blood from his lips with a cloth in a sweeping motion as she healed him once more. "Just because you are not happy with how your life turned out does not give you any right to make everyone else's life miserable, Vladimir. It also doesn't mean that you can never return to your own happiness, the kind that didn't involve sadistic tendencies." Ara leaned over the Hunter, her hands placed on his shoulders, her hair dangling by his face. "You chose your path, just as I did mine. Everyone does it. I know your past, and your story doesn't mean that you inevitably had to end up like this. Nor does it mean that everyone should and will end up like you. This cycle will not end, I agree, but it still does not mean that happiness, virtue, and 'Heaven' are nothing but false hopes in lieu of an empty, torturous Hell." Gray eyes flitted over his face. "We Jedi, and others, can do something about your kind, Vladimir, and I told you that before. We can find justice for those you and others have wronged, and we can deliver on the feelings of hope and elation, of betterment and just living." Finally, her eyes settled on his own. "I have even tried to give you, and your family, that life, if you would allow it, but you continue to reject that gift, even with your actions here." Ara quirked an eyebrow up, giving him an oddly motherly look. "I would appreciate it if you would leave the theatrics to your words, at the least. If you keep opening those wounds, even the greatest Healer in the galaxy could not help you from your own self-destruction."

"The galaxy has it's own methods, it's own ways of healing. Quite frankly, it seems as though everything goes in cycles, like nature itself." Ara pulled up a chair and sat herself next to Faust's makeshift bed, keeping eye contact with the Hunter. "The passage of seasons, the day and night, birth, life and death, they are all cycles. All lives reflect this, as does the life of the galaxy at large. My goal is to keep the good of that cycle longer than the bad, the prosperous longer than the chaotic. That is not an impossible goal, Vladimir, and even though we are all people with imperfect souls, no matter how hard we try, we can still strive to be as good as we can, and to make sure that those who do wrongs are served justice, since they are of course going to exist. Surely that is not a horrible goal, even by your own standards?" She leaned forward on her hands, elbows resting on her knees. "We all have those strong feelings, some just control those urges, those feelings better than others. I am of the thought that you cannot deny having those feelings, to never feel is to be less than human, but you can control your reaction to those feelings." Ara shrugged a shoulder. "The response and control will never be perfect, but that doesn't mean one shouldn't try, no matter the wolves out there who would wish harm and use that to their advantage." "Unlike you and I, the Force has no mind, only those who tap into it have a mind to mold it as we would see fit. Some use it for the betterment of others, some use it to their own devices. The Force's 'flaws' come not from it, but from those who employ it. It is, for better or worse, only as perfect as those who would use it, and humans are not perfect. However, the Sith are no more or less resilient than the Jedi. We merely exist, and we continue to exist, and it is unfortunately easier to take the quick way and utilize those strong emotions that can overpower a mind than it is to concentrate, keep one's self calm, and to overcome those emotions to come to a better solution for everyone involved." Ara waved a hand. "Listen to me ramble on. Is there anything you'd like to drink? IV fluids can only be so nourishing and, well, they don't exactly taste well."

Ara's stomach twisted, her face paled. "I hadn't heard what had happened to Corellia, or that anything had happened at all. I've been away for a while, myself, so I hadn't..." She swallowed heavily. "That's horrible. And you've heard nothing..." She shook her head. "And you recover from being broken in the mind and spirit, just as much as one would from a broken body. It just depends upon how willing the mind is to recover, just as much as the body." Ara pushed Faust gingerly back down to the table. "Speaking of which, sit still, Vladimir. More aptly, lie still. All we did to help will be for nothing if you insist upon trying to get up sooner than you should." "...though I suppose that means someone's going to have to spoon-feed you, or something similar." Ara couldn't help a small smirk; it was a good-natured riff, at worst. She meant no harm by it, and clearly by his own taunting, Faust's own wit hadn't suffered from the bodily injuries he had recieved.

Ara shook her head. "It'll be a while, Vladimir. Even though you're essentially healed, you still need to take some time to actually recover. We may have knitted your broken body back together, but that's not to say your own body hasn't tired from it, even with help." After a moment, Ara looked startled. "Avenging Reagan? Did she...was she killed?" The Jedi was clearly worried, as odd as the situation seemed. Tormentor or not, the couple had had two children together, and to be raised without a mother was an awful thought. "Are the children okay, or did they..." She couldn't bring herself to even speak her full thought.

Ara received notice from her ship via a small "beep" that Faust--or his ship--had tried to send a comm over to her ship. Using the Force goggles around her neck as she worked to heal Faust, Ara had her ship send a comm to the Bhelliom in response to the previous failed message it had sent. "Vladimir, if you wish to speak with me, you may, but I will not have you bothering everyone else around me with what you say. I can promise you that I will not allow any foul play to occur while we heal you, or afterward, and that you will leave as you came." The Jedi had Sanare lend her energy to Skye, making the healing more powerful and more effective. The blade let Ara know in its own way that it wasn't exactly happy about helping, but it assisted anyway. Ara continued her own brand of healing, mixing the Force with her soul's music. "I cannot promise you one of your weapons, however, if it turns out to be one you took from Darla some time ago. It does, after all, rightfully belong to her." The comm paused for a moment--Ara was in the middle of healing Faust, after all, so most of her attention was devoted to that task. "I'm keeping the promise I made to you, what I swore to you, some time ago, Vladimir. I told you I would heal you, if you let me. I keep my word." Ara shut down the comm, but left open a channel for Faust/the Bhelliom to reply solely to her via the goggles about her neck. At least that way, the Hunter wouldn't be able to further aggravate Skye or Sanare.

"Figures." Ara spoke to her ship's console over her shoulder. "Increase the security, top level, and next time a comm tries to come through from anyone, alert me first and give me coordinates and an identity. Block it if it's from Vladimir." The ship buzzed an affirmative, and the Jedi turned back to give Faust a look with a raised eyebrow. "Vladimir, honestly, did you just giggle? How unbecoming for a man such as yourself." She moved Faust into one of the other rooms on her ship, where she often did her own healing. There were plenty of supplies to start the basic surgery, and the rest of it was up to the abilities of both Healers in the room. As she walked, she smirked at Skye. "Kakuto drained himself? I imagine Vladimir might do something similar, if he were to find out it were my blood, at least." Once in the room, Ara situated everything into it's proper place with the help of Sanare. The sword had now taken on a smaller, less obtrusive form, looking everything like a small fairy fluttering about the room, pushing hover carts and tools into place. Once finished, the fairy-sword sat itself on Ara's shoulder. "Mother...are you sure?" For a moment, Ara entered her own mind. Her "other selves" were there, all in different colored robes. She glanced at the far left of the line, where the black and red robed Aras were shackled and chained, but not gagged. "They've been nagging again, I know," the white robed version of herself said with a nod. "Ignore them. You know what is right." Ara returned to the real world. "Yes, I'm sure." She glanced at Sanare and Skye in turn. "Ready to start? I can start taking care of the infection with a bit of, well, singing and Force healing. Start wherever you see fit." The blond Jedi began singing softly, so much so that it was difficult for anyone to hear what she was saying. If one listened closely, the lyrics could barely be made out as the bacteria were removed from Faust's body with every note, lowering his fever. "Set me free, leave me be, I don't want to fall another moment into your gravity Here I am, and I stand so tall, just the way I'm supposed to be But you're onto me, and all over me..."

Ara wasn't sure how to respond to the sudden appearance of Faust. She was, unfortunately, linked to the man, and quite aware of his presence whether she wanted to be or not. Sanare responded immediately, in a much different matter. The sword popped out of it's sheath and appeared in a humanoid shape. She let out loud noises, warning klaxons that almost rattled the ship. "The Hunter! Mother, we must leave!" The sword's spirit darted around the ship, all around Ara. "Leave!" Ara easily snatched the sword out of the air, stopping its mad frenzy. "Calm down. He's in horrible shape, and if need be, I have other abilities that, while he has not seen, he is aware of. Vladimir may be vicious, but he's not stupid enough to try anything. I'm sure of that." She stuffed the sword back in the sheath at her waist and swiftly walked out of the ship. Her gray eyes, however, betrayed her rather fragile mental state. It was unexpected, to say the least, having Faust appear out of nowhere and land on Yavin IV. She finally reached Skye and the others, and made a command decision: "Take him to my ship. I have security in place as it is, being that I've dealt with hackers and the like before. He won't be able to do anything." Ara took in a deep breath, grasping Sanare's handle lightly. "I can promise you that, even when he has recovered. Just...don't mess with his ship. The two are connected, somehow, and even though he's out, I can guarantee you that ship is aware of his condition and his position on the planet."

Ara bowed to Darla, and Sanare hummed softly in its sheath. "You saved my life in that battle against Vladimir. And my eyes as well. Had you not come upon me when you did, I probably would have died on the rooftops." She smiled. "Don't worry about fainting. Memories resurfacing can do odd things to a person. I have unfortunate personal experience with that, so I understand." She was, of course, referring to the time Faust had kidnapped her and drove her mad to the point of becoming a drooling, comatose being, but she wasn't sure if Darla knew that. She looked at Armiena, an eyebrow raised. "A capitol ship? Interesting idea, and it just might work to keep things stable." Ara laughed, a combination of a snort and a giggle. "Despite the ever-changing location. As for a Chief of State, I feel for whoever manages to get that position. I wouldn't want it, myself."

Ara pursed her lips. "Aryian means well, but I'm dubious that talking with the emperor will change anything." She gave Armiena a serious look. "I can promise you that, if you would tolerate my further presence, I will guard you and your family with my life." The Jedi blushed. "I feel...responsible for the three of you, somehow. Like you're family." She tugged at a lock of her hair, eyes avoiding looking any longer at Armiena. "I know that sounds ridiculous, but I am being absolutely serious. I will help you in any way I can. I know you're not the type to really ever need 'guarding,' but..."

((Wow, Rickroll'd in RP. Ouch )) Ara assisted in the disease removal and healing process, lending both her power and Sanare's to the cause. The room was quiet with both Masters concentrating. The disease on the young Jedi was strange, to say the least, and Ara couldn't recall seeing anything like it before. Granted, she was still doing fairly well in healing the poor young man, but she was curious as to the origin of the sickness. "What did you call this affliction? I've never seen it before."

Ara reluctantly left the couple to go assist Skye. Upon looking at the two injured Jedi, she gave Skye a sideways glance. "I've been gone a while, so I'm not entirely up to date. I'd gather this has to do with the Arach'tar, given Amon's word, but aside from that, what hasbeen going on?"

"I'd say that the child has his father's lack of volume control." Ara raised an eyebrow, but smiled. "It's good to see you again, Aryian. Quite the bit of technology in Armiena's arms, isn't it?"

Ara looked rather sheepish, knowing she had inadvertently caused the "incident" at hand via Sanare. She rubbed the back of her neck, wincing. "Sorry about that." Had the baby-droid not quit crying, Ara had thought about starting her own special brand of singing, but she didn't know if Armiena would appreciate her son, simulated or not, being literally sung to sleep with Ara's odd ability. "I've been doing...all right." She moved her hand from her neck to clasp her other hand in front of her. "I took a while to try and think on 'things,' recover somewhat from life, on the whole." Ara's face flushed, and she laughed softly. "I guess you could say I've been hiding, too. Truthfully, I meant to spend time with you, Armiena, to prevent you from going crazy during your own time of hiding, but it seems you've done just fine without me." She paused. "Not that you'd automatically go nuts without me here. It's just that I know what having to be in absolute secrecy by one's self can do to a person." Ara coughed into her hand. "Bounties on your head tend to make being a public figure somewhat impossible." "...boy, I got on a tangent. Yes, I'm doing fine, and glad to see you both again. Let's just go with that."

"I took a bit of a vacation, I suppose you could call it." Ara sighed. "I'm mostly well, though now you have me wishing I had my own child on the way. Not that I haven't wished that for some time..." She blushed. "I'd just need a husband first, and I don't see that happening anytime soon." I can't help it...I've always had that maternal instinct, even without any children. Knowing my luck and how things go for me, though, I'll never get to have one of my own. She watched Armiena play with the "baby," and she couldn't help but smile despite her own melancholy. I suppose I'll just have to deal with being the honorary "aunt," then. "I also took some time to make a few things. I left them on my ship," Ara explained, "and I would have taken them with me here, but Sanare was being rather...excitable." The sword, having remained in blade-form rather than taking on it's usual spirit-being-humanoid shape, piped in from the sheath on Ara's belt, "There's a new baby on the way, Mother! It is exciting!" Sanare let out a soft whistle in the form of a happy children's song Ara had known when she was young. "A joyous time!" Ara grinned again. "Indeed. So, have you been in hiding this whole time? I was quite lucky to find you. I didn't expect anyone to be here, given that most people think Yavin IV is still a pile of dust and debris."

"I figured that would be the case." Ara stepped just behind Armiena, nodding to Skye in greeting. "That, and I was curious as to the sounds I was hearing over the comm. I didn't think you had delivered your child quite yet." The Jedi peered over her friend's shoulder. "That's an amazing likeness. Adorable..." She pursed her lips, eyes twinkling. "This an invention of yours, Skye?"

((And, either way...)) A familiar voice came over an encrypted comm for Armiena. "Hey, Armiena. Long time no see. I was just stopping by for a visit when Sanare told me that you and your sword were here." There was a bustling in the background, and the sounds of a small side argument between master and blade. "Shush! In any case, I decided to, ah, drop on by. Do you mind at all...?"

Ara blinked, her comm startling her out of her small bout of sulking. She glanced down at it, then blushed. "Lovely, just...lovely. Late and and the wrong place. At least I got the planet right." Sanare's head cocked to the side as the two took a turn to take the Yume on a short planetside trip. "Wrong place, wrong time?" Ara nodded, gray eyes gleaming. "The story of my life, Sanare." With that, Ara quickly jetted to the Rebel base.

A ship carrying the Jedi Master Ara-Lai Kaipi made its way into the atmosphere, landing neatly on the planet. Both the Jedi and her blade-familiar Sanare came out of the secured ship. The sword was attached to Ara's belt, but was emitting a somewhat translucent form of a vaguely female form walking by Ara's side. Since their last visit to Ilum, Sanare had become more feminine in form, as if the blade had decided more upon a representation of itself, and it had also become more solid in appearance, though it was still easy to see that the figure walking in step with Ara was clearly not a corporeal being--at least, not in that form. "I think I'm a little late, but better late than never, right?" Ara remarked, more to herself than to Sanare. That didn't stop the blade from replying. "Mother, being late is never a good thing..." "...hush."

Ara's ship finally entered the atmosphere of Ilum, and with a dramatic effect. Granted, the effect was only noticeable if one was within sight of Ara-Lai and her sword Sanare. Upon entering the atmosphere of the planet where it was "born", the blade emitted a fanfare of trumpets and brass, appearing in it's human-esque representation next to Ara. Interestingly enough, rather than being somewhat transparent, the blade had taken on a very solid form, looking like any other human and not just a manifestation of a weapon. Even more noticeable, at least to Ara, was that the sword's representation of itself had become entirely more feminine-looking than it's previous androgynous self. The sword's facial features were softer, more delicate, and it had on a light rose dress rather than tattered and ragged blue and green robes. It's hair, however, remained long and fluctuating in color, much like the blade itself. Upon appearing, the blade's representation grinned and went to hug Ara. "Mother! This is where I was born, isn't it? I feel renewed!" Sanare--who Ara decided she should now call a "she" rather than an "it"--released Ara and began twirling about the cabin. There was still a thin trail of light trailing from the actual sword on Ara's belt and the figure now dancing about the room, connecting the two. "It's beautiful here, mother." Ara laughed. Sanare definitely reminded her of an old friend, particularly in the way she was prancing across the room. "Yes, very. We should probably go meet the others, though," she said finally, bringing the ship in for a landing. Though how I'm going to explain the suddenly-solid sword-woman to everyone, I'm not sure. Securing the ship, Ara went inside the building there and went wandering, looking for either one of the newlyweds or, at least, one of the other Jedi who had been present on Manaan before the exodus.

Ara blinked at the gauntlet and offered a quick apology. Given that Sanare can talk, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. In any case, time to go. With that, Ara went to her ship and flew off planet into hyperspace.

Ara nodded thanks to Armiena's mother, wincing slightly. Healed or not, burns still hurt, and the brain seemed to take longer to catch up on the fact that there were no longer wounds than the body. "I appreciate the help, Miss Draygo." Her words were uncertain; she still wasn't positive as to how the woman would like to be referred to during conversation. "I've met with Force lightning before, and I can say with unfortunate experience that the only thing worse than that is a disruptor blast." It was then that she noticed the gauntlet that Armiena's mother was using to heal the wounds. You tend to take healing abilities for granted when surrounded by Jedi... With her good hand, Ara removed her glasses to peer at the glove. "That's an interesting implement you have. Quite useful, too. Again, thank you." The Jedi left it at that--if either Armiena or her mother wanted to elaborate on the gauntlet's origins, it was up to them. Ara wasn't one to pry. Ara looked to the new bride and the obvious leader of their group. "I'm not sure I've ever been to the Temple on Phu, to be honest, so I'm not sure I have the coordinates. I'm assuming that Hou-Jo is aware of it as well?"

Everything seemed to happen in the blink of an eye, and before Ara knew it, Hou-Jo was gone, and one of Ara's lightsabers gone with him. From her vantage point on the floor, Ara glanced up, trying to catch her breath. Sanare, on the other hand, was glowing a very angry red, simmering in it's sheath. "Why..." Ara coughed. "Why do people always, always steal my lightsabers?" She rubbed her throat gingerly, working the Force through it to heal the damage that Hou-Jo had done, as well as to ease her nerves. "Blast it. I could try and track the thing with Sanare, given the similarity of the crystals, but he's probably too far by now." The Jedi banged her head on the ground before attempting to stand up. However, she instead wobbled and fell back on the ground. "Ah, what a brilliant Jedi I am. Blindsided by a friend, and now unable to stand on my own two feet." She glanced at Isolder, her eyes shining with thought behind her glasses. "I wonder if that blade you mentioned somehow had something to do with this...? Hou-Jo isn't always the most conventional of Jedi, but I would never doubt his alliances until...well, that."

Ara blinked back tears, wiping them away from under the rim of her glasses. Sanare gleamed a beautiful rose color, humming softly. Beautiful...