Onderin Starlisk

Jaren smiled when the child reacted with such delight to the training sphere. He took the ball and stood up. "You should try looking in the mirror while performing telekinesis," he suggested. He addressed the class momentarily. "Continue practicing, students. You seem to be making excellent progress." Then he gestured to Scorpius to stand as well and headed over toward Darex. He handed the plasteel sphere to the Master's son. "Welcome, Master," he said. He gestured at Scorpius. "Scorpius, this is Grand Master Darex Trevelian. Master, this is Scorpius Tenshu, one of our promising new students. I'm sorry to hear about what happened with Master Kirlocca. "What brings you to Rakata Prime?" Jaren was hoping that Darex had come to take a padawan--in fact, that was why he had invited Scorpius to meet the Jedi Master. But he didn't want to put words into Darex's mouth.

Onderin gave Ads a knowing smile when he figured out just what had happened. "It seems that you have a pretty good grasp of it already," he said. "There will definitely be times to practice, and you have a long career as a Jedi Knight ahead of you. For now, let's keep covering new topics so you can get the basics down. Then you can spend some time reflecting on everything and practicing until and after we arrive on Dathomir." He shifted slightly. "When you want to stretch out with your feelings and touch things in the Force around you, you sort of expand a sphere of presence, or perhaps a sphere of influence. In order to hide yourself from the Force, you essentially do the opposite. Pull your feelings in and make them as small as you can. If you can get it suitably small, I won't be able to feel your presence at all." He remembered fondly some of the different ways he had taught this lesson. Back when Sabian had been just a boy, and they had played hide and seek using their Force senses. Onderin thought of the times with a slightly bittersweet taste as he remembered just how attached he and Sabian had become. The padawan had become like a son to him, and he had been like the father the boy never had. Those had been good times... but the nature of the relationship hadn't been right for a Jedi and his apprentice. He had slowly drawn back from Sabian after that... thankfully, things had worked out. The Jedi Master brought himself back to the present. "You won't be able to use the Force to enhance your senses or manipulate your environment, but you will be hidden from it. When it comes to enemies who use the Force, this is a more important part of stealth than actually being quiet. Try it now."

"Let's teach you some more abilities," Onderin decided. "One other thing that's important for a Jedi is being able to hide his presence in the Force. Like it or not, the Sith are a significant presence in the galaxy, and avoiding detection can be terribly useful, whether you're trying to avoid a fight or get the drop on one." He seemed to consider. "This technique is closely related to shielding one's mind from Force probing or Mind Tricks," he continued. He paused for a moment and seemed slightly confused. "Did we finish talking about Mind Tricks?"

((I would train you, but Onderin currently is training Ads-Gop Flif and is trying to juggle a bunch of other things on top of it... )) Jaren was once again impressed with the ease with which Scorpius caught and returned the ball. As he caught it back again, though, he didn't fail to notice the shimmer in the man's eyes when he drew on the Force. He frowned, returned the ball, and waited to see if the hopeful's eyes would do it again. When they did, he caught the ball and didn't send it back right away. "Your eyes seem to be behaving oddly when you draw on the Force," he said. "I've never seen anything like it." There was something very unusual about Scorpius Tenshu, that much was certain. Jaren wondered just how involved he should get.

Jaren smiled encouragingly. "You seem very gifted in telekinesis," he said. He put up a hand and floated the sphere back to himself off the ground. "Some Jedi find certain techniques much easier than others. Ah, the other students are arriving." Sure enough, there were a group of other hopefuls approaching. Most of them were the same group from the previous night, but there were a few extras. A couple of them threw smiles Scorpius' way--after what had happened last time, they were glad that he had decided to persevere and give it another shot. "Welcome and good morning, students," Jaren greeted them. He opened the bag and withdrew several of the colored spheres, laying them out in front of himself in an arc. "Today we're focusing on telekinesis..." He proceeded to give some basic instruction, then turned his attention back to Scorpius once he had finished. "Let's test your control. Catch the ball with the Force," he instructed. Then he picked up one of the soft spheres and tossed it toward the young Jedi.

Onderin gave Qaela half a smile. "Dangerous and foolish only if I believed you were waiting for a chance to betray me," he responded. "I think we're a little bit past that, aren't we?" Though the Jedi Master did wonder for a moment if he could say he trusted her. So far, he had managed to make sure their goals never conflicted directly, and he suspected that had kept things from getting unpleasant. He supposed he would rather not find out what kind of enemy she would be to have... and that perhaps trust wasn't necessary for their continued cooperation. He looked back at Ads. "Qaela's lesson had some merits, but a Jedi must always consider carefully whether it is appropriate to violate another's free will," he explained. "A mind trick can have repercussions on an individual if what you are asking of them is significant. The best things to ask for are things that they might normally do anyway, so that there is less of a cognitive dissonance. You can play on someone's apathy or disinterest, perhaps. I recommend using it only when you cannot achieve the results without it. "You can feel free to practice on me. Just, uh, keep your requests reasonable," he added with a smile.

Of course, mind tricks. Onderin was pretty good with them, but he tended to not rely on them. In his experience, most sentients were pretty reasonable beings, and he could accomplish things without using the Force to change their minds about something. That said, there were other times when it was utterly essential if results needed to be quick or to get out of a sticky situation. Sometimes it could prevent a fight, and that was a worthy application indeed. The Jedi Master didn't fail to notice how Qaela began to channel her spell as she took over the lesson. He examined her warily through the Force as she gave her explanation, and warded his mind against the echoes of the technique that she was focusing on Ads. The things that she was saying had a certain self-gratifying edge on them, and her examples of when to use a mind trick were not exactly Jedi-appropriate, but her explanation was largely correct. The key was making the request seem reasonable to the influenced mind, and through careful focus being able to read their surface thoughts and deeper. There was a careful moral boundary that Qaela eschewed, but Onderin decided he would let her finish before he made some additions. He was beginning to wonder just what she would try to convince Ads to do when suddenly the spell had been turned upon himself. He began to shore up the barriers that he had started to put in place, but quickly realized something. He didn't have anything to hide from her, unless she was trying to pry some Jedi secret out of his mind to give it to the Sith... and this would be a poor time to try such a thing, trapped with two Jedi aboard a ship in hyperspace far between systems. Just before her technique finished, Onderin willingly dropped his defenses and allowed her to ask her question. "Yes," he said simply. "But if such feelings developed, I could never allow myself to act on them."

Jaren gave Scorpius a dubious look when the man said he didn't intend to build a lightsaber. This particular hopeful needed a Master very soon. He personally didn't think it was practical at all to go unarmed, especially given that the Jedi had enemies who would provoke a fight on sight; additionally, the Jedi were called to keep the peace and defend innocents from harm. There were simply some situations where force needed to be met with force, even for someone determined to resolve a conflict peacefully. But that wasn't Jaren's job. He wasn't the combat instructor. He raised his eyebrows in surprise, however, when Scorpius easily called the sphere to his hand. He had seemed to do it with the same ease of an experienced Jedi Knight. Jaren blinked. "Can you do that again?" he asked. "See if you can float it around you or something. I haven't seen telekinesis come that easily to someone in my whole life."

Onderin quietly let Ads handle Qaela's offer. He trusted that his apprentice knew well enough the lure of the dark side and the dangers of drawing upon it. There was an amusing parallel in her offer to inflict self-injury in order to demonstrate healing it, however. Keiran had done the same thing once to give Onderin a real learning situation, and Onderin himself had done the same for at least one of his previous students. They probably thought he was as crazy as he had thought Keiran was. Alas, one of the other trademark lessons he picked up from Keiran would be lost on someone as already comfortable with telekinesis as Ads was. Presently, with just a short dip into the healing trance, Ads was able to make progress on a scar he had. It definitely demonstrated that he had at least the fundamentals of the technique. He could always work on it further on his own sometime. The way it revolutionized a Jedi's need for sleep, Onderin knew he personally had leaned heavily on it at times. "I think the bulk of things you still need to learn to become a Jedi Knight are related to how--and when--to use your lightsaber. Soon we'll need to go somewhere for you to build one, such as Ilum or--" he caught himself. Tython was another suitable location, but he didn't want to even drop that name in front of Qaela. "Well, or a couple other places where crystals occur naturally like Dantooine. "But again, this ship is just too small for people to be waving lightsabers around. So, in the meantime, is there anything specific you would like to learn that you have seen other Jedi do?" he asked. He glanced over at the Nightsister as well. "My offer is open to you as well, Qaela."

Onderin considered. "The biology is actually unimportant," he finally said. He was no physician himself, and although he had picked up on some of the basics of what made Force healing worked, he hadn't known them when he had first learned how to enter the trance. "The Force is a much better teacher than I could ever be. It is created by and sustains life, and we are symbiotic with it. You could easily say that healing is the most fundamental Jedi technique." He paused. "Think about it this way. When you manipulate an object with telekinesis, you don't think about the physics. The forces applied to an object will determine exactly how it seems to float through the air, and the mathematics behind it could be quite complex. Yet all we do is visualize the end result and it happens," he explained. "I can guide you to help you find these techniques, to introduce you to important concepts and draw links back to other things you can already do, but ultimately you will need to explore the Force yourself in order to unlock the end result." The Jedi Master closed his eyes again. "Try again, and clear your mind of questions. You will find that they only impede you."

Jaren sat, meditating and observing Scorpius thoughtfully in the Force. He felt the calm, then the disturbance and anguish, then the return to the serenity that the man progressed through. It was a remarkable experience, as Jaren had long ago learned to turn away from the suffering to the point where he was out of practice at finding it. But it was humbling as well, because it was important to be able to feel what was wrong with the galaxy--without knowing the evil and danger that still lurked, where could a Jedi receive purpose? "You have done well," he finally said when Scorpius made his way back. The telekinesis was a nice touch, too, but it was uncontrolled. "When you draw on the Force, it will obey your commands. A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense. As long as you draw on it passively, with a clear mind, you may command it. Sometimes, especially in battle, you will find it controlling your actions as well, if you allow it. This will be an important concept when you start learning about lightsabers, since some of the basic feats we learn are impossible for someone without the Force." He paused. "You started to perform a little bit of telekinesis. That's the best thing to practice to start learning control," he said. "While you are drawing on the Force, focus on an object and visualize it moving around. "Here," he said, producing a blue plasteel ball from the bag he brought with him. "Trying picking this up with the Force and bringing it to your hand."

The Jedi Master maintained his amused look. "You seemed to pick up the trance itself pretty well, but next time try picking out your phrase before you get too deep and holding onto it. It will then be possible for it to wake you even if it is merely spoken," he instructed. "For now, let's move on to a very closely related technique--the healing trance. This can be used to greatly augment your body's natural healing abilities. If you should be injured, you can recover in hours what might have otherwise taken weeks." Injury, unfortunately, was a part of most Jedi's lives. As powerful as they could become with the Force as their ally, the little mistakes and imperfections started to add up in no-holds-barred, life-or-death combat. "Used for much shorter durations, you can simulate a full night's sleep in minutes. Touch the Force again, and once again recede within yourself. But this time, instead of slowing down your body's processes, speed up the ones related to healing. Your very cells will begin replicating at amazing speeds. Just make sure you don't speed up your heart rate... that would probably kill you." Onderin wondered briefly if prolonged use of the healing trance would have the effect of extending a Jedi's life. He imagined that a Jedi did not age while using the technique, so theoretically spending tremendous amounts of time using it would simply add on to lifespan. He wasn't sure if the healing trance could actually reverse the aging process, however. That didn't sound like a particularly Jedi-like pursuit anyway... it was too self-serving.

Onderin smiled. At least Ads hadn't lost himself completely. But he wasn't entirely correct. "Your job is being a student of the Jedi Order, remember? It's a hard life, but one you have given yourself to. Let's get back to it, shall we?" One of the things Onderin liked to know about his padawans was why they wanted to become a Jedi. It was a simple question, but one very difficult to answer. A Jedi's life was full of struggle, and a lot of times there was no apparent payoff. Some joined because they felt like it was the right thing to do, because they wanted to serve the galaxy. Others had a specific impact they would like to have on the galaxy in their mind, and they worked toward it. Some wanted to preserve the tradition and integrity of the Order itself. Onderin... he wanted to make the galaxy a better place. He opposed the Sith, he had fought and eventually toppled the Empire, and he helped maintain the uneasy peace that had come.

Onderin could feel the frustration and conflict within Qaela as she left the room. It would be a long, hard journey for that one. It was going to take more than words to show her the truth, but as long as they remained together, working toward similar goals, she would get the chance to witness that. The Jedi Master didn't know what was going to happen on Dathomir, but he suspected it was going to changer her destiny or his for the better or for the worse. He could sit and plan and try to mitigate the potential for disaster to strike, but that would be a betrayal of what he was trying to show her. He was going to wait and he was going to trust the Force. The right thing would happen there, whatever it was. And if it didn't work out the way Onderin hoped, he would move on. He knew better than most that not all battles could be won. He was brought back to his lesson by Ads speaking his phrase. Slightly amusing, especially given that Ads probably hadn't had a formal job in quite a long time. Now the padawan slipped deeper and deeper into his trance, and Onderin could sense his presence fading. The young man's body was almost completely at a stand-still, a perfect application of the trance. "I hate work," he said. Nothing. "I hate work." Ads wasn't coming out of the trance. Onderin frowned. Perhaps the technique needed a little bit of work after all. He wasn't certain at all how to pull Ads out of the trance. He stretched out to his padawan in the Force, trying to visualize the trance in order to cut it off. But he couldn't see it in Ads the way Ads could see it himself. So he reached deep into his mind and planted some words. "Ads, it's time to wake up! You'll be late for work!" Hopefully, they would find their way to him somewhere down there, to wherever he had retreated.

((Think nothing of it. RL takes priority sometimes.)) As soon as Jaren was finished setting up, Scorpius had picked out a mat. The Jedi Knight was glad that Scorpius was so eager to get back into it, especially given the bad experience of the night before. The journey was different for every Jedi, young or old. Some had greater barriers to overcome than others. But by the Force, Jaren had seen incredible things as the Force itself willed hopefuls to overcome these challenges. "Very well," he said, taking his place at the front and sitting on the mat there. "Begin by clearing your mind. The events of last night are important to drive you forward, but when you draw on the Force, you can let yourself fade away. The energy field is there, a current within you and all around us. It surrounds us and penetrates us. When you're listening fully to the Force, there is a purpose there, a clarity that we cannot achieve on our own. It is the background hum of the universe, and in order to hear it, we must be at peace." Jaren cleared his own mind as he had learned, and reached out with the Force. He surrounded Scorpius with it, trying to make it easier for the man to draw upon it. Once he established connection the first few critical times, it would come easier and easier to him. "Soon, you will be able to draw upon and release the Force as easily as you breathe in and out."

Ads was getting close, intuiting the proper technique as Onderin had anticipated. He, too, neared it, but did not embrace the trance because it would be rather unfortunately if both of them lost themselves to it. It wasn't always the easiest thing to get out of, and often Jedi had someone speak a key phrase in order to emerge. That would be the continuation of this lesson. When Qaela spoke, Onderin was slightly irritated, since it could disrupt Ads' concentration, which was critical in these first learning steps. But he spoke to her, keeping his voice low to facilitate Ads' focus. "The boat will reach destination because the river is willing," he answered. "If you want to build a hydroelectric power plant, you do not build it in the middle of a field and divert a river miles off course to arrive there. You build it on the river. A Jedi will go where the river takes him. His own goals are secondary." The Jedi Master hoped the words would help to focus Ads as well as shed some light on what it meant to serve the Force for Qaela. "Ads, as you slow your perception and descend into the trance, focus on a phrase or sentence. Before you're all the way in, tell me what it is. You'll find I can use it to pull you back out."

It seemed that Ads had his fundamentals down, but needed some lessons in technique. That was roughly what Onderin had anticipated, although he had rather hoped the padawan had a good start in those as well. From the way he had handled the ritual that had restored Qaela's children, he seemed to have a good intuitive understanding of the Force and the ability to take an abstract concept and turn it into tangible results. This was the essential skill he would need to quickly master everything Onderin threw at him. "I believe that lightsaber training is important and should happen soon," he said. "But we'll need a bit more space than we have here. Let's see how quickly you can learn a few useful techniques like trances." He threw a quick glance at Qaela. "If you would like to join us, I believe you asked about the way we heal. These things are intrinsically bound." Onderin sat down on the deck, crossing his legs and resting his hands on his knees and turning his full attention back to Ads. The position wasn't quite as comfortable as it was when he was younger, but he was accustomed to it. "First, you must quiet your mind. Remove from the equation your doubts, your history, where we are, who I am. Then you can draw upon the Force. It is here, in this place, generated by all living things." The Jedi Master touched the Force himself, opening his mind to it. It was like he had been deep underwater and was surfacing for a breath of air, and in the process he could suddenly see the vast world around him. It was a different experience in hyperspace than it was on a lush world, but no less spectacular. "The Jedi use multiple kinds of trances," he said, his own voice sounding as though it were coming from far off to him. "One is the hibernation trance. With it, we can slow our vitals to nearly a halt. Our heartbeat slows and we can go for long periods without food, water, or oxygen. You can even use this technique to survive limited exposure to vaccuum. "To discover this technique, turn your attention inward. You will find that the Force itself will show you the way when you know the goal." The Force was a much better instructor than Onderin himself. Words could only go so far, but the techniques of the Jedi were the techniques of the Force itself. Just as the lightsaber was connected spiritually to a Jedi, crafted by the Force to serve as an extension of the Jedi's body and will, so too were these techniques intrinsic to practitioners of the light side.

Onderin was a little bit puzzled by Qaela's response, and he wondered just how honest he should be. It wouldn't do to drive her away or jeopardize the potential and truly desireable chance for peace with the Nightsisters. But the truth was that he considered practitioners of the dark side to be broken. He knew the things that they had done, and he had experienced the draw of the dark side. He knew how emotion could drive someone to recklessness, and with the power of the Force the amount of damage they could do to everyone around them was tremendous. He believed that even a dark sider who believed themselves to be well-intentioned could commit unspeakable acts in a moment of anger, even if they were horrified by it later. There was a fundamentally different approach he had taken to his dealings with Qaela compared to her own. She had been learning what a Jedi truly was, with no intent of changing him. But he was trying to change her--he might even say trying to save her from her course toward inevitable destruction. Was that the correct approach, or would it be better to accept what she was, that she would not change, and plot the course forward to see just how he could relate to that? The Jedi Master knew the answer. He wasn't kidding anyone. Doing the right thing was often the opposite of doing the easy thing. He would try to accomplish as much good as he could in this situation. It would start with securing peace and keeping the Nightsisters safely separate from the Sith, and it would end with Qaela's redemption or their parting of ways. He met her eye. "It may possible," he conceded. "I have not yet spent sufficient time around dark siders to know if I am so capable. Perhaps I have known too many Sith." Onderin turned toward Ads the Sane, trying to transition out of that conversation and into the next. "So, Ads. I have been told that you are fairly far along in your training," he said. "Perhaps you could summarize or demonstrate some of the things you have learned so far so I can figure out what you still need to learn. Maybe Qaela could stand to pick up a few techniques along the way."

Jaren gave a sad smile. "Worse crimes than yours have been forgiven in the past," he said. "When someone embraces the path of a Jedi and sets himself aside, it can have a profound effect. And the Order takes care of its own." The Jedi instructor picked up the mat he had been meditating on. "My first morning class is starting in about half an hour. I should get set up for it. If you want, this would be a good time to get some breakfast; otherwise we can start early and add the other students as they arrive." Finishing gathering his things, Jaren headed back to the Temple courtyard and started setting out the meditation mats and objects for telekinesis training just as he had the night before.

Onderin grimaced slightly. There were going to be some non-trivial cultural incompatibilities that were going to pose a unique set of challenges between the Jedi and the Nightsisters, if things proceeded as Qaela seemed to have in mind. Such things were far from Onderin's own ideas of how the negotiations on Dathomir were going to resolve. It was probably a good idea to be up front about that so Qaela didn't get the wrong idea. "Okay, first," he said, "that's not really the way we do things. A Jedi's first allegiance must always be to the Force. Attachment is discouraged in the Order because it applies a bias to our actions, and central to the way a Jedi operates is that he or she acts passively. That is also why an alliance between the Nightsisters and Jedi could never work... the Jedi do not form alliances. Jedi do not have political standing. We do not take orders from the Galactic Alliance, but often serve them because their goals are similar enough to ours." He paused. "What will work is negotiating peace between the Nightsisters and Jedi. There is no reason for us to come into conflict unless the Nightsisters were active in the galaxy, working against our goals. Any peace treaty must have an enforcement mechanism[check out this neat article for more reading!], of course. Blood may be a convenient and classical way of doing this, but it's culturally unacceptable among most of the races that make up the Jedi Order," he continued. "Ultimately we'll have to find something else, whether it be accountability from a third party or perhaps a resource we can share." Onderin would have to spend some time considering the possibilities before the trip ended, so he at least had something to present to the Nightsisters if they seemed willing to hear him out.

-- Incoming recorded message for Gren Sairdonga from Onderin Starlisk (encrypted) -- "It's been awhile, Gren. I hope this message finds you well, wherever your travels have taken you. "Something dangerous is stirring in the galaxy. If you watch the holonet, you'll see that Bothawui has seceded from the Galactic Alliance and is declaring war against the Imperial Remnant. What the news is not covering is that there is a... malevolent presence behind this. What I believe is a powerful practitioner of the dark side is influencing individuals and worlds in what seems to be an attempt to start a war. One of the members of the Jedi Council has foreseen this war and claims that it could poison the Force itself. "As a result, he has requested that the Jedi not get involved at all, and therefore I may end sidelined. I know you are Force sensitive, and that I began to train you to command your potential, but I do not believe that you will be in danger if you were to involve yourself in this coming storm. I need someone I can trust inside this conflict. My feeling is that you are equipped to make a significant difference in the outcome of this war, and that we will both have an effect if we exchange insights as it evolves. We fought for a long time to bring the galaxy to the level of peace it has reached now, and we cannot allow that peace to be shattered in its infancy. "Let's stay in touch. Good luck and, as always, may the Force be with you." -- End of recorded message --

When Scorpius drew back his hood, Jaren was stunned by the similarities he had to Mage. He started mentally guessing at the relation when Scorpius continued. "What you describe is the greatest challenge of Jedi in a time of war," he said once the man had finished. "The galaxy has been at war for a long time, and many Jedi have fallen to the dark side all while rationalizing it away in the name of the greater good. Even some of the greatest Masters of our Order have struggled with this, and there were some who fell so deep they never came back. For a long time, we fought to try and find a new way, a way to cure what decades of war had done to the Order." He paused. "We were trying to treat a symptom instead of looking for the root cause," he reflected, staring off at the sunrise. "Now that the war is over, we are starting to realize that we had forgotten how to follow the Force. We had been so caught up in trying to win that all too often the ends justified the means, and we forgot what it meant to keep the peace to the point where we only propagated the conflict." Jaren looked back at Scorpius. "We must learn from our mistakes. When we choose compassion and put aside our ambition and our anger, only then can we see clearly. It would be easy to argue that both your commanding officer and Mage deserved to die. But in neither case was the right thing done."

When he had made the jump to hyperspace, Onderin remained in the cockpit for a few minutes while Qaela went off to speak with Ads. He was slightly wary of leaving the two of them alone together for long, not able to be certain if she would have a negative effect on him, but she certainly wouldn't be turning him to the dark side in the few minutes it was going to take him to accomplish the two tasks he had before he could join them. The first thing was a report that would find its way to Sabian's desk. He explained his reasons for being on Bothawui, he explained the Force presence that incited the Senator's suicide, the secession, and the riot, and he explained the circumstances of their departure. Thankfully, the Chief of State was a Jedi Knight and would fully appreciate Onderin's insight on the situation. It was something that the Holonet wasn't covering, and indeed it was particularly important that the news did not get wind of the Force manipulation that was at work. Even if such news could make the Sith look like the villains again, he couldn't imagine it would go over well with the Bothans if they were told they were being manipulated. The second thing he drafted up was a comm that would be sent out to an old friend as soon as they dropped out of hyperspace. So far, the plan was to take Kitt's advice and stay out of the war directly. However, he knew good men who would not be bound and kept away from the action. If he could get in touch with them early, they could exchange insights as the conflict grew. It would at the very least be good to know that he had someone he could trust on the front lines, keeping things from getting out of hand. Once both were finished, Onderin headed back to the lounge area and caught the last sentence of what Qaela was saying to Ads. He paused and blinked, but decided not to say anything until Ads had a chance to respond, lest he arrive at the wrong conclusion.

((I had actually been waiting for you to post, Ads.)) Onderin listened with interest as Qaela finally filled in the important blanks she had left empty since they had met. He had heard of the witches of Dathomir, and had guessed at one point that she might be one of them. The Nightsisters specifically were a little more esoteric. It vaguely rung a bell, and Onderin decided that he would at some point look them up in the archives and see what he could learn about them. But from his interactions with Qaela before, as well as what she was telling him now, he assumed that they were dark siders. He saw little reason for a Jedi to do as much damage as he did unless it was perhaps in self-defense. In any case, he was relieved to hear that he had improved Qaela's perception of the Jedi and considered them more honorable than the Sith, especially given that she had emerged into the galaxy with the negative perception of the Order that had been propagated by her people due to that mysterious event. He suspected it would be considerably harder to convince her that the dark side did not serve her ultimate interests, but there was still time for that. Even if he was unable to do so, forming peace with the Nightsisters could divert a potential enemy in the future. Even if he went there and found that they were the most despicable of sorts, the least he could do would be to keep them from allying with the Sith. Finally she asked if he could trust her. He found her to be constantly on the edge of doing something drastic. She gave herself frequently to displays of emotion and let herself grow angry at almost any slight. In many ways, he found what Kirlocca had said about her and her instability to be quite believable, given the circumstances she had been in at the time. And yet in the last few weeks she had proven herself capable of overcoming her compulsions as long as she had a clear goal in front of her. Protecting and helping her children had been sufficient to keep her focused so far, and it was clearly in her best interests to make sure what she proposed for Dathomir went smoothly. "Yes," he finally said. "You've given me no reason so far to think you cannot be trusted on this. And peace between the Jedi and Nightsisters seems to be in both of our best interests." Actually, the Jedi would be the primary beneficiaries. The Nightsisters had been in no particular danger from a Jedi attack, as Qaela had observed. But this would serve as an assurance to them that such wouldn't happen in the future. Onderin lifted the shuttle off the ground and got the navicomputer working on plotting a series of jumps to Dathomir. By the time they were in orbit, he had realized that it was on the opposite side of the known galaxy. "It looks like we have some travel time ahead of us," he said. Making sure everyone was strapped in, he got the shuttle started on the journey. ((Whoever wants to post next, do so in the Space thread please. It's a good opportunity for some training!))

Onderin stepped carefully between Qaela and the approaching mob. "Stretch out with your feelings," he told her. "There is something or someone influencing these people. But we cannot get involved." Not if Kitt was right, and the way the Force felt made him start to believe what had been said. "It's time to leave Bothawui." He gestured to her and Ads and they headed for the ship. He was somewhat pleased that his instincts had proven correct and Qaela had indeed come back after he had let her go. He wished the circumstances would have been slightly different, but the outcome was the same. There was still much that they could accomplish for her sake, if only she was willing to listen. They quickly made their way to the shuttle without being harried further. The mob seemed to start to disperse when they saw that the humans were out of their reach. When they were aboard, Onderin gave Qaela a chance to get her children situated, then went to the cockpit. "Where to?" he wondered aloud. He needed to report what was happening here to the Galactic Alliance, but he didn't need to go to Coruscant in order to do that. He could write up a report in hyperspace and send it in... with his contacts, he could make sure it landed on Chief of State Devanus' desk within an hour of transmission. He wanted to go somewhere where he could teach Ads and see if he could get Qaela to take her first steps in learning about the light side, but she probably wouldn't react well to a Jedi Temple. Nor would a Temple react well to her, he imagined. Maybe somewhere quiet, like Corellia. Or maybe Qaela would make a suggestion.