Tython

[Aira Cadan]

((OOC: Yeah...not waiting anymore...it's been two and a half weeks and others are waiting on me))

 

We didn't have long to chat. About twenty minutes later, I sensed the presence of a Jedi waiting outside the door. Not wanting to intrude and getting the sense he was waiting to speak to her, I slipped out, giving her a comforting squeeze on the shoulder as I did so. "Let me know when the babies are born," I said with a smile.

 

Slipping past the male Jedi whom I vaguely recognized, I headed out through the base. I wandered seemingly aimlessly, just wanting a breath of fresh air. Little did I know that the Force was leading me. A turn around a bend revealed two women, one kneeling in front of the other. The shorter woman I recognized as Xae-Lin, but I didn't know the other. The newcomer answered my question, however, with her words.

 

"Welcome to the Jedi Order," I said, coming up behind the new girl and probably startling her. "Hi Xae. Haven't seen you in a while. Anything new?"

 

There was something about this new girl that struck me as interesting. I turned to her again. "I'm Aira, and this is Xae-Lin. What's your name?"

[Kyrie Eleison]

"Welcome to the Jedi Order!”

[Skye Organa]

It always surprised her, the passage of time going by so quick when she was working and meditating. As a Healer Skye always had patients to see. Some days she would hike back to Ashla and treat patients at a clinic there. Other days the time just seemed to fly past at a great rate of knots.

 

That is how it had been until Darla's message reached through her reverie. It was more like a feeling that Skye had that she was needed by her best friend. As she made her way to Darla and Darex's room, the latter was just arriving as well. The scent of cloning fluids reached her nostrils even before she reached his side. As she greeted him, Skye put her hand upon his arm.

 

"Hi Darex. I'm just about to call on Darla. It won't be long before your children make their grand entrance." Knowing how the cloning process could sometimes go the Healer asked, "Are you alright? I felt your passing through the Force. Do you need anything?"

[Darex Trevelian]

A thin black-skinned Jedi slipped out of the room, and Darex was about to enter when Skye came up. "Hey Skye," he greeted her. "I'm glad to know I haven't missed the birth. Darla would have killed me had that happened."

 

He shook his head in response to her other question. "No, I feel alright. Just hungry." He was also feeling quite down, but he knew that seeing the two most important women in his life would help that. But he couldn't help but think about all those innocents who had died, and there had been nothing he could do to stop Geki from slaughtering them.

 

He shook his head again. "Sorry, just thinking. Let's go see her together, shall we?"

 

He put a hand up to key entry when all of a sudden he remembered something. "Oh, and I don't think you've heard...Darla and I are engaged."

[Xae-Lin Ardel]

She'd wandered towards the back of the compound when seemingly from out of no where a figure appeared on the path before her. Though she sensed no immediate threat through the Force, Xae could tell from the way that the young woman carried herself that she knew how to hold her own in a fight. R2 stopped just behind her and seemed to regard the newcomer for a moment before Aira came around the corner and approached the young woman from behind.

 

Xae's gaze met the determined resolve of the kneeling woman, "You've definitely come to the right place if you mean to join us."

 

Aira's own voice echoed the welcome as well as Xae continued to feel the Force Aura of the yet-unidentified stranger. There was something different about her, knowledge ready to be learned, but still held in trust.

 

Curious, Xae thought to herself. Her focus was drawn from within as Aira asked what she'd been up to.

 

She nodded to the ebon-skinned woman and then gestured her head towards the temple roof. "It took forever, but I finally got the darn thing working. We can now transmit out to the city if we need to as well as pick up signals from there."

 

Then she turned to listen as the still kneeling girl introduced herself. There it was the second time, talk of evil and of destruction. Auros's burning gaze stared back at her in her mind's eye. Yes, there was true evil in this galaxy and it did need to be eliminated, but part of Xae wondered if this girl knew when to draw the line. She looked as though she'd lived a tough life, as Xae's earlier years had been before joining the order at 19. She sensed that there was something of a kindred spirit in the girl. Having spent time in a subservient role herself, Xae found it a little uncomfortable that the girl was still kneeling after all the introductions had been made. Though she doubted the girl needed it she extended a hand outward as a gesture to help the girl to her feet.

 

"Please, Kyrie, come walk with us and we shall get to know each other better."

 

Something in Xae, perhaps even the same thing that she'd felt before on the roof top, told her that she was meant to be connected to this young woman, but not in the traditional Master-Padawan relationship. They were destined to walk similar paths, Xae realized, but right now the elder Jedi was not what Kyrie needed.

 

Aira, I think that you're supposed to be the one of us that takes her as the Padawan. I do sense that there is something that will connect us later, but now is not the time. Do you mind if I tag along though? Xae inquired through the Force to her counterpart. Also, where do they put the bricks? These Padawans just keep getting taller and taller.

[Aira Cadan]

There was definitely a hint of pride in Kyrie's voice as she introduced herself as the top duelist on Nar Shadaa, but I could tell her desire to be trained was genuine. More interesting to me was her profession that she desired to join the Order to destroy the Sith.

 

"You want to join in order to destroy the Sith?" I asked as we began to walk around the garden. "True, fighting Sith is part of our job, but most of the time it's about protecting innocents from both the Sith and other threats. Unfortunately, sometimes that means letting Sith escape in order to save innocents. That was what just recently happened on Corellia--I saw it on the holonet."

 

I didn't know why I was talking. I closed my mouth just as I heard Xae speaking through the Force into my mind. Her suggestion astonished me. Me? Take a padawan? It seemed...well, the more I considered it, the more I felt Xae was right and I was supposed to do so. That was certainly strange. I didn't feel like I had enough knowledge or experience to train another Jedi. But I was a Jedi Knight, and it was part of my duty as a Jedi to train the next generation.

 

I spoke back into Xae's mind. "Perhaps you are right, Xae. But I would be more than happy for you to 'tag along'. I'm sure you can donate a lot of experience that I don't have." I smiled at her joke about height. It was certainly remarkable the height difference between her and Kyrie.

[Kyrie Eleison]

The Jedi, an order of lasting peace, marred all too often by war. These will be your allies and lasting friends. Rely on them, and they will not let you down. The way of a Jedi, let alone an Exorcist, is a hard path, often marked by failure. Those who carry on to the end will be the peacekeepers of the galaxy, and those you can count as the truest of friends. Become strong enough to not tarry from the path of the light, so that you can become a beacon of hope in a galaxy long devoid of it. Always keep your thoughts to the force, so your pride will not cause you to stumble. May the force always be with you...

 

Kyrie rose slowly to her feet, brushing back a fallen braid with her pale hand. Her emerald eyes moved slowly from one Jedi to the next as they began to walk through the garden. A smile strayed across her face as the damp garden air gave her reawakened life, the coolness refreshing her strained and tired muscles. The air was almost aglow with life. She calmly rested a hand on the hilt of her vibrosword, a touch of the handle bringing back waves of memory. Battles won and lost, bitter defeat and joyful victory. Two sides of a credit chit. The two opposing forces of the galaxy, the light, and the consuming darkness.

 

"You want to join in order to destroy the Sith?" asked the Jedi known as Aira, interrupting the contemplation within Kyrie's mind. "True, fighting Sith is part of our job, but most of the time it's about protecting innocents from both the Sith and other threats. Unfortunately, sometimes that means letting Sith escape in order to save innocents. That was what just recently happened on Corellia--I saw it on the holonet."

 

One astringent memory rose from the carefully organized threads of memory, darker than all the rest. It had led to her slavery at the hands of the Hutts, and to her eventual rise in the dueling circles of the planet of rust. The death of her older brother at the hands of the Sith. He had been her protector, her best friend. She had been only fourteen at the time, and so the memory was buried deep under the anguish of her past. Emotion flooded through her unprepared mind, like a river crashing over a dam carefully constructed with time.

 

The Sith had entered their house in the middle of the night, slaying the other occupants for the bloodlust and joy of the slaughter. He had rushed to save her from certain death, sacrificing his own life to save hers. A picture of his body rose to memory, long white hair stained crimson with blood, decapitated and lifeless, lying in an ever spreading pool of blood. His death had not saved her from the agony and abuse that followed. After a week in the Sith's company, they had dumped her into the hands of the Hutts, through which avarice and lust ran as steadily as blood. Fortunately, they had found use enough for her in the dueling circles, the scars left by the Sith left her unsatisfactory for their pleasure. The scars on her body were many, each earned by injustice, more from the abuses of the Sith. A single tear ran a line down her pale face.

 

Was her wish to join the Jedi Order out of the need for revenge? Would she let a Sith go free for the greater good for civilians? No. Those were questions she had yet to consider carefully. Kyrie paused for a moment to consider the conflicting emotions and thoughts within her mind. Revenge? No... Not retribution. She wanted to fight the Sith to save others from the abuses she had suffered, to make sure no other loved ones were lost to evil's murderous hands. Tears still in her eyes, she began to speak, emotion seeping through the cracks in her basic.

 

”œI have come to join the Jedi, for the reason of defending the innocent, to be there to prevent injustice... To destroy what has ruined far too many lives... To be there when no one else seems to care. To be what I wished could have saved me once... As for letting a Sith go... It is unacceptable. Letting one go free leaves further opportunity for them to shed innocent blood. The darkness must be purged from the galaxy... To let one go... Reeks of cowardice."

 

Her emerald eyes flashed with righteous indignation, and sparks of disbelief, but not anger. Her voice lowered into barely a whisper.

 

"Show me to the Jedi that did as such so I may him a lesson... For through his cowardice he has destroyed the lives of innocents. Any blood shed by those Sith he let free... Is all upon his head...”

[Skye Organa]

"Yes I'd say she probably would of, but just the same when she is giving birth, be prepared to be called every name under the sun." Her green eyes were sparkling with mirth as she answered Darex.

 

When Darex told her that he was hungry after the process she nodded, "Do you want me to cook something up for you while you catch up with Darla? I'm sure she will need something as well."

 

As he paused from opening the door to tell her that he and Darla had gotten engaged, Skye's face lit up with the brightest of smiles, "That's great news! Congratulations Darex!" She threw her arms around him in a congratulatory embrace. She was truly happy for her two best friends to be getting married. She would hug Darla once they got inside their quarters.

[Darex Trevelian]

"I'm sure she will," Darex replied to Skye's warning about the birth. He had never been present at a birth before, but he had heard about how painful it was for the mother. He knew he was going to be a nervous wreck when the time came. "Don't bother yourself making food. We can always just grab something at the cafeteria."

 

It was her reaction to the news of their engagement that he had been most anxious to see. Not that he thought Skye would be anything but happy for them, but it was a big deal. He let her hug him in the hallway before chuckling. "I'm just pleased she said yes. Hard to imagine how far we've come in the past years. I'm sure there was a time in her life where this would be the very last outcome she could have suspected. I know that's true for me."

 

He had never thought he would really love a woman like this. Being a Jedi usually meant giving up things like that, due to the often compromising nature of strong attachments. But when he had realized his feelings towards Darla, he also knew that he had to act upon them. He was perfectly content and at peace with this path, and had no doubts that while it may be considered a weakness in him to many of his enemies, he knew that it made him stronger, for it gave him a face to put to the innocents he fought for.

[Xae-Lin Ardel]

She listened to Aira as she explained the need to discern between the desire for vengeance for past wrongs and the actual role of the Jedi in the struggle against the Sith.

 

The elder Knight understood Aira's reluctance in taking on a Padawan, as Xae had stood in her position not so long ago. I'll be happy to help. It wasn't all that long ago that I took my first Padawan in the midst of the Arach'tar invasion. We died in battle and unfortunately it looks as though they weren't able to recover enough of him to clone. Rep Til, as you'll remember went crazy and was lost to the dark side, and now I sense that Trushaun is in incapacitated as well. I'm beginning to think that to be my Padawan is something quite dangerous indeed.

 

There was a hint of mirth in her response, as Xae was the type to see things as being half-full. Those things had happened for a reason, and if she was meant to see that reason then the Force would reveal it to her.

 

Xae looked up at the young woman, newest member of the Jedi Order, sensing very much the young woman's distress and pain of her past. Force impressions flooded her senses so much so that she backed off her own connection so she wouldn't be intrusive on Kyrie's inner thoughts. From the tear falling down her cheek, she knew the pain must be deep indeed for someone as battle-hardened as a Duelist from Nar Shadaa to show any outward emotion, especially a sign that was often associated with weakness.

 

She silently watched the inner struggle as Kyrie dealt with some hard questions about her motives. Finally the woman spoke, surrendering herself to the emotions of her convictions.

 

”œI have come to join the Jedi, for the reason of defending the innocent, to be there to prevent injustice... To destroy what has ruined far too many lives... To be there when no one else seems to care. To be what I wished could have saved me once... As for letting a Sith go... It is unacceptable. Letting one go free leaves further opportunity for them to shed innocent blood. The darkness must be purged from the galaxy... To let one go... Reeks of cowardice."

 

Xae cast a glance to Aira and raised an eyebrow at the last line. She sensed no anger in the raven-haired woman's voice, but the words spoke of a surprising naivety that wouldn't have expected to find.

 

"Show me to the Jedi that did as such so I may him a lesson... For through his cowardice he has destroyed the lives of innocents. Any blood shed by those Sith he let free... Is all upon his head...”

[SithAcolyte]

((occ: Really sorry about my lack of posting. Have had a really horrible time in RL the past few weeks and really haven't had it in me to write anything.))

 

 

Darla accepted the mug of decaf from the woman who'd entered her quarters. She took a long sip, the taste was comforting even though it wasn't the real thing. 

 

 "I'm Aira, by the way. Tell me what's troubling you,"

 

"Thank you." She wiped at her eyes. "Sorry to meet you like this, I'm Darla by the way."

 

After a few sips of caff Darla gathered her thoughts together.

 

"My..." she paused searching for the right word. "My fiancé, the father of children... He's a Jedi. I guess you could say I was once. I'm something else now. To be honest most of the time my grasp on the Force is tenuous. Well, somehow despite everything the two of us managed to work on being together. But I've always known hat his loyalty to the Jedi would come between the two us. It's really close to the time..."

 

She patted her abdomen.

 

"... And he's gone off on a mission for the Jedi. I was horrified that he would leave me at a time like this. The babies might come before he gets back or worse... I have a horrible feeling that he's going to get himself killed. Why would he do this? Why would he run into the face of death when he has so much to loose? I didn't even get the chance to speak to him about it before he left, didn't get the chance to argue with him. He just packed up and left.

 

"It was only the night before that he asked me to marry him." Darla showed Aira  her ring. "Now I'm wondering what the hell I'm doing... Did I make the right decision?"

 

It was a question that she really expected to have answered. Aira was very patient with Darla and for the next twenty minutes she listened to her talk about her relationship with Darex and the twists and turns that it had taken. Aira got up to leave. Darla got the feeling that the other woman had sensed something. Before she left, Aira gave Darla a squeeze on the shoulder.

 

 "Let me know when the babies are born," She said with a smile. 

 

As she left Darla got a sense of something through the Force. It felt like Darex. What was Darex doing there?! There was something slightly different about him. Oh no... Had he died? Was it his Force ghost come to speak to her? 

 

Suddenly Darla started to panic. Had all her worst fears really come true? 

 

On shaky feet she took tentative steps towards the doorway.

[Kyrie Eleison]

Kyrie's emerald eyes flashed in the dim light as the auburn-haired Jedi stepped into her path. Her nail-bitten hands trembled slightly, her mind still seized in the throes of emotion and under the sway of dark memories. She looked down at the Jedi, Xae-Lin, as the woman began to speak, her voice seeming slightly weary, as if about to tell a story often told to disobedient children. Listen Kyrie would, keeping in mind that these Jedi had great wisdom, although their order was seized by inactivity and a lack of the pursuit of justice.

 

"I came from the Great Canyon Tribe of Nightsisters. Not quite Sith, but sadistic enough in their own right. My mother was their leader. My older brother their champion. I faced her in my trials as he left, attempting to escape with his infant daughter. With the help of my fellow Jedi we ended any claim that we had to power there. Auros and the rest of the tribe lived because they are planet-bound and the Jedi do not kill needlessly for that is the way of the Sith. Redemption is an option for some, like myself, though I never really fit in with my tribe because I could see that what they were doing was wrong.

 

Auros and I met before coming here on Concord Dawn where he was trying to corrupt his daughter once more who had been left with some friends there. He killed Tsikala and I disabled him, leaving him little more than a torso and at the tender mercies of the planet's native population. He was neutralized as a threat.”

[Aira Cadan]

I listened to all the young woman had to say. It was clear she felt very passionately about this, probably because of something in her past. I could feel her anguish at her past memories. It drove her, made her strong. But it wasn't the way of the Jedi. That would be something she would have to struggle to overcome. We acknowledge that there is emotion, but we don't let it control us. Kyrie will have to learn that.

 

I spoke up after hearing Kyrie's response to Xae's own story. "True, peace and justice are linked very closely. That is the reason I fought for the Republic as a soldier. We were responsible for taking a hard line against the Sith, against the Empire, and against anyone else who perverted justice for their own gain."

 

I paused. "But there is more to being a Jedi than pursuing justice, or else we would all be soldiers. A Jedi learns to trust in the Force to guide her first and foremost. Sometimes, yes, that means innocents die when we pursue a Sith. But sometimes it means that we let the Sith go in order to save many. We always put the needs of the many before anything; it requires wisdom and training to understand the situations that arise and make the best decision. But as long as you listen to the Force, then your actions will be clear. I don't think the Jedi in this situation with the hospital didn't see the situation clearly; after all, they were two Jedi Masters. Rather, I think they were listening to the will of the Force, and in that instance, it meant letting the Sith go and saving as many lives as possible."

 

It didn't matter that one of the Jedi involved had been my own master; it only meant that I understood the situation well. After all, Onderin was never one to let a Sith go unless it was a special circumstance. After the hard line he had taken for so many years as the military leader of the Republic, no one could say otherwise.

 

I smiled when she mentioned redemption. "Indeed, redemption is something we should always strive for. When we look at our enemies as obstacles to overcome and not people who could still have a bright future, we are lost." I firmly believed that it was only because of this outlook that the war had ended. It was very few people who would not have attacked Captain Zinthos on sight just for being an Imperial and "the enemy". But I had believed the best of her, and the present peace was much better than the war-torn state of the galaxy before this.

 

"Well, Kyrie, I think you have a lot of potential. I would be honored if you would allow me to train you in the ways of the Jedi."

[Darex Trevelian]

Darex felt a sudden flutter of panic from inside, and instantly dropped his conversation with Skye. He keyed open the door, and there she was. She was enormous and her eyes were red and puffy as if she had been crying, but to Darex, she had never looked more beautiful. He immediately swept over to her, gathered her into his arms, and kissed her.

 

He drew back a moment later and smiled warmly down at her. "It's so good to see you again, Darla. And it's good to see you still as large as a Star Destroyer." He winked and motioned at Skye. "It's time for your checkup with the fabulous Dr. Organa."

 

He was really glad to see her again. He hoped that she hadn't spent the whole time he was away worrying about him. Unfortunately, from the look of her red eyes, he got the impression that she had been worried about him. He bent down and whispered in her ear. "You shouldn't have worried about me. I will always come back to you. I swear."

[Kyrie Eleison]

A normal Jedi, like the one standing before you, will never draw their lightsaber, but in last resort. That is the only difference between a Jedi and an Exorcist. Both rely on guidance from the force. Both follow its commands. Jedi seek peace. Exorcists seek the elimination of the dark side. We are what we are because the galaxy wishes it. Because the force guides us all. Peacekeepers and Warriors. Jedi and Exorcists.

 

Kyrie's emerald eyes glanced from one of the respected Jedi to the other, her emotions calming as she concentrated on her emotions, trying desperately to copy what she knew of the Jedi, and to impress her newfound friends. She found these Jedi interesting indeed, and she hoped she could make them into great friends. She placed her bound hands at her sides, and smiled softly as the Jedi, Aira began to speak.

 

"True, peace and justice are linked very closely. That is the reason I fought for the Republic as a soldier. We were responsible for taking a hard line against the Sith, against the Empire, and against anyone else who perverted justice for their own gain."

 

Kyrie's interest was piqued slightly by the thought of this Jedi fighting fullheartedly for the forces of the Republic, but something within her mind stubbornly refused to believe that the woman had been any type of great warrior. She hated the idea that a Jedi so set in the ideals of peace could have ever been anything great. Within her mind, she was horrified at the violent thoughts as they arrived, sweeping through her barriers. Hopefully they couldn't sense such errant thoughts. With a sigh, she swept them aside and trusted in the Jedi's superior wisdom.

 

"But there is more to being a Jedi than pursuing justice, or else we would all be soldiers. A Jedi learns to trust in the Force to guide her first and foremost. Sometimes, yes, that means innocents die when we pursue a Sith. But sometimes it means that we let the Sith go in order to save many. We always put the needs of the many before anything; it requires wisdom and training to understand the situations that arise and make the best decision. But as long as you listen to the Force, then your actions will be clear. I don't think the Jedi in this situation with the hospital didn't see the situation clearly; after all, they were two Jedi Masters. Rather, I think they were listening to the will of the Force, and in that instance, it meant letting the Sith go and saving as many lives as possible."

 

Kyrie bowed her head and accepted the Jedi's wisdom. Although they would still disagree on what the Jedi should pursue, and it would most likely come up further, Jedi had wisdom beyond even her comprehension. Such a mindset of putting the needs of the many before the few were uncommon in the dueling rings of Nar Shadda. Her background of torture and abuse at the hands of the Sith and the Hutts made it difficult to hang back in a dangerous situation. She placed a hand against one of the hanging vines that draped across a section of the path and moved it to the side.

 

"Indeed, redemption is something we should always strive for. When we look at our enemies as obstacles to overcome and not people who could still have a bright future, we are lost."

 

She glanced down at the slime that the vine had left on her bindings and watched slowly as a small creature dug its way out of the gobbets of slime and crawled towards a bit of her exposed skin. With a flick of a finger, she sent it spiraling off into a wall of budding roses. She had given it a chance not to bite her, and for its redemption, but it had followed its nature. Just like the Sith. Nothing more than insects controlled by their baser instincts. As such... They would be crushed. She lifted her emerald eyes from the crusting slime back up to the Jedi.

 

"Well, Kyrie, I think you have a lot of potential. I would be honored if you would allow me to train you in the ways of the Jedi."

 

Joy exploded within her mind as the Jedi announced that she would enjoy and be honored training her in the ways of a Jedi. She immediately raised her hand to her chest and traced a symbol with her hand on her robes and her smile broadened. She bowed her head and withdrew her sword, placing the pommel on one hand and let the cold steel of the blade lay on the other.

 

”œIt would be an honor to serve you and train with you. Consider my life in your hands... Master. Tu autem Domine miserere nobis.”

[Skye Organa]

"It would be no trouble, and besides which, I don't think Darla would feel like going to the cafeteria right now," Skye said then added after Darex had admitted that he had been glad that Darla had said yes to him, "You both have come such a long way." Memories flitted across her mind of when she had first met Darex, then later Darla. They had all come a long way to where they were now.

 

Before anything else could be said, Darex hurried inside, feeling the panic coming from within. She followed him inside, her eyes taking in the greeting between her friends. The love that flowed through and around them was obvious, Skye smiling as she stepped closer to them. The Healer grinned back at him as Darex said 'It's time for your checkup with the fabulous Dr. Organa.'

 

"Hi Darla, how are you feeling?" The first thing that Skye noticed, even before she began the examination was the awareness through the Force of the twins. She glanced at Darex as well as Darla and asked, "Do you feel your children reaching out? I don't think it will be long before it's time. I'd like both of you to send reassurances and make the twins welcome. In some cases with Force sensitive children, you have to encourage them to want to come out. They are used to being in a nice warm environment and might not want to come out."

[Darth Furion]

Standing in a room full of people, in the throws of conversation the world as she new it seemed to spread apart to Xae, like a pool of water on stone floor for which there seemed to be no horizon. The voices of those around her lost distinction and inflection. Movement out of her peripheral slowed and trailed, as if her vision just couldn't keep up. All sense of focus obscured into an acute awareness of nothingness.

 

Only the slow, steady rhythm of her own heart in her ears kept her in the here. Disconnection and loneliness filled her senses. There was nothing here, no one here. Not another heartbeat, not another soul crying out to be understood. Emptiness.

 

For but a mere second Xae had seem to space out, and perhaps that is exactly how it was going to be written off. Humans did seem ever so adaptive at coping with misunderstood and unknown events.

 

In the blink of an eye she had left them all for a world of singular being, and saw in it the end, returning in the same second.

 

But what was seen could not be unseen.

[Xae-Lin Ardel]

”œIgitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum... Peace cannot come to pass without justice, either within my own mind, which is undoubtedly flawed, or even on a galactic scale... Lack of emotion does not create peace. Those who cannot feel emotion, cannot feel anything, and are eternally restless. Justice creates the peace for which you and your Jedi order fight, does it not? As for having a clear understanding of a situation... If the situation had been altogether clear for those within the hospital... Would they have let the Sith go and have been blown up as they were?”

[Kyrie Eleison]

The Jedi order claims to fight for peace, a task it has never truly accomplished. The Exorcists were created at a time when peace was most threatened in the galaxy, when our brethren could not hold back the wave of darkness. That is when we arose from the ranks and began to fight for something more realistic than peace. Justice. Justice is necessary for peace to thrive... For from justice springs civilization. Law and order divides the wilds from the rest of the galaxy. Justice is the bedrock on which civilization is built, and only civilization can restore peace to our galaxy. An unjust civilization is built as if on sand, its foundation as corrupt as the leaders in power. Such will not long survive a storm... That is the job of the Exorcist, to shore up the foundation of civilization the only way possible... By enforcing justice.

 

Kyrie's hands cradled her blade, her nail-bitten fingers feeling the cold caress of the blackened steel and the warm leather of the worn handle at the same time. The feelings were comforting and reassuring, just as they had been in the dueling ring. Her emerald eyes strayed from the Jedi Aira, to the auburn-haired Jedi, Xae-Lin. There was something slightly off about her, her eyes seemingly focused elsewhere, but only for an instant. Kyrie thought nothing about the Jedi's thoughts, believing them simply to be a side-effect of using the force. As she watched, Xae spoke softly and warmly to her in a congratulatory tone.

 

"Then I welcome you to the Order officially again!"

 

A warm smile crossed over Kyrie's face with the Jedi's kind words, and at the Jedi's motion, rose to her feet, sheathing the blade inside the folds of her black tunic with one smooth, practiced motion. With one pale hand, she brushed the small particles of the warm, clinging earth from her leggings as she stepped towards the Jedi, keeping her other hand out in greeting. The Jedi took the hand welcomingly, but not in the same way as Kyrie imagined. The woman's grip was firm yet gentle, and within it, she could feel a power she had not before encountered. Kyrie's emerald eyes found the Jedi's warm blue eyes in the darkness, and Kyrie raised an eyebrow, trying to communicate her awkwardness with the prolonged handshake. Within her mind, instinct began to run through her options of defense and attack, running from one countermove to the other, trying to locate a move that would capitalize on her strengths. Xae's words broke through her confused thoughts.

 

"One doesn't really need the Force to see that you have suffered greatly."

 

Kyrie's mind began to comprehend the Jedi's words, finding within them compassion and pity, something she was not used to seeing in the words of others. All her life she had been spoken down to, or abused in one way or the other. To see the renowned kindness of the Jedi firsthand was shocking indeed. Kyrie's smile froze on her face, her mind unsure how to relay a physical response to the Jedi's words. Before it got a chance to respond, the Jedi forged on.

 

"However, it does confirm for me that the pain you have suffered, you still carry with you and it runs deeply within your being. In order to help heal the galaxy, you must first find the peace and healing within yourself. We are here to help you do that."

 

Kyrie's mind and mouth fumbled for words in response to the Jedi's kindness and perception. She was unaware that she was so transparent in her thoughts and emotions, as to be read without the Force. As she was about to respond to the words, the Rosary around her neck pulsed with a gentle chill, an instant before a strange feeling of warmness sprung forth from the hand intertwined with Xae's. The warmth started in her fingertips and began to creep back through the rest of her hand, driving both the chills of the cold air, as wells as the scars and pain before it. The voice of the keeper filtered into her mind

 

The powers of the force do not just concentrate on battle. Bacta can heal the wounds and scars, a choice you never made, choosing instead to rely on the conditioning of your body, but The Force... The Force... The concentration of the powers of light, within the hands of a true Jedi, can heal more than the body. It can heal the soul...

 

The warm feelings meshed with her flesh, and Kyrie could feel the realignment of flesh and bone, the renewing of tissues, but that was nothing compared to the revelation within her very mind. It was her first feeling of the true powers of the force, nothing like the ghostly powers she had felt in the presence of the holocron's keeper, and it amazed her. Her anger faded slightly from her mind, cleansed, and diminished as the scars on her arm. With the scars, so went her pain, both physical and emotional, not forever gone, but finally under control. She gasped in a breath of the cold evening air, smelling the garden fragrances, and looked down at their two hands.

 

Many of the scars had been erased, leaving her skin much clearer, a pale canvass, only marked here and there by stark lines of sharp white. They were the physical manifestations of her deepest and most terrible scars, caused in her youth by the power of the Sith. Scars of the Dark Side were not so easily cleansed as those from a dueling arena or from abuse at the hands of the Hutts. The memories of her torture and abuse at the hands of the Sith were still raw within her mind, but the revelation of the healing power of the force gave her hope, and let her turn her mind from their vengeance-laden control. Her breaths came in deep and cleansing as the Jedi continued to speak.

 

"Kyrie, I'm in no way saying to forget your past and the lessons that it's taught you. I ask that you open yourself to Aira's teachings so that you can free yourself from the pain. You are the one that can control it, I can sense that you are disciplined and that will help you in your healing and in your Jedi training."

 

The Jedi unwound her hand from Kyrie's grasp and stepped back. Kyrie's eyes focused on the Jedi, her mind still overwhelmed by the event, unable to find words.

 

”œThe Mandalorian's have a saying, 'cin vhetin', and it translates as 'white snow'. The concept is that once a person becomes a Mando'ad their past does not matter anymore, though it is no less a part of them. It just ceases to matter. Do you understand where I'm going with this?"

 

The Jedi's words stirred thought within Kyrie's own mind. Was she willing to let her scarred past fade from her mind? Yes, but her life experience would still mold what she was to become. An Exorcist. An agent of Justice. Kyrie's pale hand found the rosary around her neck and began to fumble with it, just as her voice began to stumble over words.

 

”œYour Mando'ad have wise words... I am willing to let my past fade from my mind as I become a Jedi... But it will still form what I am to become, for with each scar, I have learned a valuable lesson. Long have those lessons guided my path. In pectore, historia vitae magistra...”

[Xae-Lin Ardel]

”œYour Mando'ad have wise words... I am willing to let my past fade from my mind as I become a Jedi... But it will still form what I am to become, for with each scar, I have learned a valuable lesson. Long have those lessons guided my path. In pectore, historia vitae magistra...”

[Kyrie Eleison]

The role of an apprentice takes great patience, for the way of the Jedi is an easy path to stray from. When you look out on the galaxy and see the darkness consuming it... Remember that. The masters of the Jedi Order are renowned for their apathy and length of their deliberation. They will seem content in watching the galaxy burn... Do not be hasty in reaction. We in our haste did not heed the requests of the Jedi Council... We saved the galaxy from certain destruction... But lost our way in the darkness... We... Ended up becoming what we had sworn to fight. Remember patience, and it will save you...

 

Kyrie smiled at the auburn-haired Jedi as they continued walking through the garden, enjoying a cool breeze as it flowed through the fluttering trees. Her eyes rose to the darkened sky and to the swirling clouds above and she began to recognize the patterns of a coming storm. With pale hands, she drew her blackened cloak closer around her body. Xae's words pierced through the strengthening wind.

 

"We should probably continue this discussion inside and arrange for you to have a room!”

[Xae-Lin Ardel]

Xae didn't miss the sadness and pain that she felt through the force, in a way it reminded her of the similar abuse that she'd experienced as a child, but she knew that as she'd been able to push back the pain, so too Kyrie would learn to do in time.

 

”œI suppose I could answer both questions with a simple story... It begins when I was but fifteen. There was once an older duelist that I was paired with by my Hutt masters, a human by the name of Gavi Dalik, a veteran duelist, a free-man, and a ranked competitor from Dathomir. He agreed to take me on for more... Than a female meat-shield. I was forced to...”

Edited June 28, 2011 by Guest

[Aira Cadan]

All that night, I wrestled with my thoughts. Part of me loved the idea of taking Kyrie as my padawan, of training her, and helping show her that there was good in life and that not everything was about war. We actually had some things in common, and I was eager to make friends with her.

 

But I couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right with my decision. So I wrestled with it, examining it from every angle. Finally, I rose and went off to meditate, opening myself to the flow of the Force and releasing my desires to it.

 

When morning came, my decision had been made. Silently I moved into Xae's room. My roommate was just waking up. "Good morning," I told her. "I have something to tell you." I took a deep breath and plunged right in. "Last night I wrestled with my decision to take Kyrie as my padawan. I thought it was the right thing to do. But now I see that I was mistaken. The Force does not mean for me to train her. It means for you to do so. I know that without a doubt now." I gave her a rich smile, but it wasn't without a hint of wistfulness. "My path lies somewhere else. And I have to be obedient to that path."

 

I gave my fellow Jedi Knight a quick hug. "I think I need to leave Tython for a little while. Go out on a mission; do some good. I'll be back though."

[Kyrie Eleison]

The Sith are a powerful force, and in my day they were a plague. The Dark Side is a disease... That spreads so easily amongst the Jedi ranks... Even the ranks of the Exorcists are affected by such turnings, simply because we come into contact with the darkness so often... It attracts us. Like a wampa to a fresh kill. Those who use the dark side are also bound to serve it... And will bear the scars of its use for a lifetime. To understand this is to understand the underlying philosophy of our enemies. They are slaves to their power, corrupted by its evil. If you remove the power and the stains, all that is left is the powerless husk of a former friend, soulless...

 

”œI would like that very much. Now as it's late I think that it's best that we follow suit with Ineira and get some sleep as well."

 

Kyrie bowed her head in acceptance of the Jedi and crossed her legs upon the couch. She placed her pale hands upon her lap and then began to accept the weariness of the day. It was a ritual she had started when she had first became a slave. If she reviewed the day's pain and let it pass from her mind, sleep's deep embrace came easily. She had never slept in a bed, even as a child, choosing to sleep where she sat. It was easier to react from a sitting position, than from lying down. She placed her vibroblade upon her lap and began to speak slowly, from instinct, as the Jedi filed into their rooms.

 

”œI'll guard the door... Get some rest...”

[Xae-Lin Ardel]

As Tython's sun peeped into their window, Ineria rousted and stirred finally opening her sleepy eyes as she stretched when Aira had entered the room to speak to her ba'vodu. Her hair was mussed from continuing to toss and turn the night before, even as her ba'vodu had stayed with her to keep her feeling safe. Of course, the young child thought to herself as she crept out of bed without waking Xae, Xae could be just as baatir about ni buir coming back.

 

Quietly she combed her fingers through her shoulder-length hair, grabbed Tsikala, her stuffed annoba as well as her coloring supplies, and slipped from the room silently. She was good at being quiet, and even better at hiding when she wanted to, and that was what she was doing from her teacher now. The other children didn't understand her, and some were even afraid of her for reasons that she couldn't understand. It had been the same way on Concord Dawn, but she'd hoped with others like her, she'd at least make a friend.

 

She opened the door to the common room and watched Kyrie, spell-bound and silent, before putting down her coloring things and toy and awkwardly attempting to mimic the practiced movements of the duelist with her annoba as her weapon, but still remaining quiet so she didn't disturb the others practice.

 

Part of her remembered this girl had been with Xae and Aira last night, and she was one that Ineira hadn't seen before in the temple. The child wondered who she was and where she'd come from on the front edge of the storms that had shaken the temple most of the night.

 

Storms weren't something that had ever scared Ineria, they were only noisy annoyances that brought fresh puddles to play in, and that was okay by her.

 

What had scared her the night before was the feeling of emptiness and solitude that had gripped her, and the almost-constant image of a man she felt she should know who was constantly beckoning to her. He was the one that scared her most of all and what had brought her to her ba'vodu's quarters.

 

She continued to mirror the older woman as best as she could.

 

~~~~~~

Xae rousted as Aira hastily entered the room with her news. "Perhaps you're right Aira, I have felt a strengthening bond with her, but I had felt our time would have come later."

 

"I think I need to leave Tython for a little while. Go out on a mission; do some good. I'll be back though."

 

Xae returned her hug with the same fierceness and wished her well as she left. She rose from where she'd been seated on the bed and noticed that Ineira had woken up and decided to change into her brown pants and white shirt, both cut close to her body which was something that she usually wore for dueling. She pinned her hair up into a bun and exited to watch Ineira and Kyrie's movements, studying both for a moment for different reasons before she spoke.

 

"Kyrie, it seems that you are to be my Padawan. What do you say to a duel before breakfast while Ineira goes back to her group?"

[Roene Givrah]

Night fell upon the Cerean, the light of the twilit star shined over the tips of the trees as it passed, and his meditation bore no equivocal change in intensity. His mind steeled resolve even beyond the churning of his stomach and the chaotic staccato of the water pulsing thick into the slats particularly designed to straddle the current of its mighty flow.

 

He had been at his meditative stance for hours now, studying the water in his mind. He looked upon it through the force, through a microbial lens conjured in the force and even through varying perspectives. He studied its molecular structure and the energy harnessed through the fury of its pull, trying to deduce the ways in which its temperature changed with the flowing wind.

 

The water flowing around him bore no particular change to the water in the falls, aside from its practiced manipulation and their silent inactive forms. No. There was another difference. Roene could feel the water balling up in his hands a bit more than the water that raged around him. The water in his hands was malleable and posed at the whims of his moving fingers.

 

It was an interesting thing, but felt all the more real as the night crept over the forest and a chill set around him. The Cerean could feel the cold beads of humidity as they bunched on his head and he could feel the temperature fluctuation in both his own body and the bodies of water that floated around him. He brought the flux of energy, although subtly led upon the cold shift of the wind, into his mind as it went. There was a curious simplicity to it that Roene knew all too well through the study of chemistry, but it still intrigued him. How much of my energy would it take to change the physical manifestation of the water?

Roene contemplated to himself and took one of the balls of water for the initial attempt. He stared keenly through the shifting and bending ball of liquid and concentrated more of his own energy through the ball as if to cool it. But instead of a drop in temperature, the water began to froth and bubble. Roene always knew that he could shift the heat in his own body, but it appeared that external heating, akin to a flame and the energy prescribed with such things, could be emulated through the force. Once Roene could feel the extreme heat radiating from his palm the water steamed and rejoined the atmosphere. For a moment Roene's concentration flustered as he tried to re-claim the wild steam and cool it, but it was too late.

 

So, Roene shifted the other ball of water from his left hand and into his right to begin the study once more. This time, instead of infusing the water with energy, he channeled the kinetic energy manifested through the beating molecules of the water into his hand. He tried to displace the energy and even though this felt a little easier than the last attempt, something about his right hand seemed to follow suit and when the ball of water froze, his arm almost felt numb.

 

He could still feel it, but it seemed his hand was mocking the flow of the water's shift in temperature. It was following the water as it cooled, even when his palm had absorbed the molecular energy. Peculiar”¦ Interesting and peculiar”¦

 

Roene let the ball of ice roll off of his hand onto the surface of the roof and watched it shatter through the gleaming veridian ampules of his mind. Then, when he felt sure that it would be really hard to retrieve all of the pieces, he bent down close to the roof and held his open right hand over the shards. He released the energy he displaced from the ball before and observed as the ice shards reoriented themselves into water. The tiny flecks of water tried to sink into the cold stone, but Roene's hand didn't move. He grasped the water in his mind and limbered his hand, moving his organic limb to the graceful flow of the wind around him and, to his content surprise, the water and moisture from the stone seemed to follow it and form a ball once more.

 

It wasn't perfect and some pieces remained on the stone, but Roene's tired smile, showed the pleasance with which he embraced his progress.

 

Then, even though his body pleaded with him to sleep, he settled for intense seated meditation upon the roof to regain his strength and energy.

 

Tomorrow, he would head for the woods.

[Kyrie Eleison]

La Poste Di Falcone! Vom Tag, Kyrie! Bloody Hell girl... You need work. Keep your guard up. Strike from above, in such a fashion you can dismember an opponent. Hold the sword forty-five degrees above your head in that angle. Good. Move your feet girl. There. That's what happens if you don't move. Stop your crying now... Such a cut won't bleed for long with a bacta patch! Toughen up girl... Hah! There you go... Cultivate that rage!

 

Kyrie's darkened memories were interrupted by the clumsy patter of feet, and she turned her head during another technique to see the girl from earlier trying to copy her movements, but obviously getting lost. Kyrie's pale face lit with a warm smile and she slowed her movements and began to sing slower, transitioning to the very basic swordplay techniques, she had learned long ago. She let her own movements become fluid and direct, allowing them to be seen and copied by the Anooba-wielding girl. The song was soft and haunting, matching the movements perfectly. She transferred the words to basic, so that they could be understood and learned.

 

”œStrike swift and true soldier of faith, let your strengths hold true to your Lord. Allow your weaknesses to be covered by the truest faith...”

[Xae-Lin Ardel]

Ineira listened to the woman as she worked to copy the moves as the elder began to intone a rhythm that made the pretty movements easier to follow as the child completed the movements just a half-second after Kyrie. She did her best to mimic the pattern that she saw the other performing and her face scrunched up as she concentrated on the movements and did her best to commit them to memory at the same time.

 

"Kyrie, it seems that you are to be my Padawan. What do you say to a duel before breakfast while Ineira goes back to her group?"

 

Her ba'vodu's voice caused them both to stop, with the dark haired woman falling to her knee, but for Ineira it was only a momentary pause, before she fell back in to her practice of the dance, sometimes adding her own moves here and there while the two women talked, but stopped when she felt a hand on her shoulder, her face bright and smile broad as she breathed deeply from the exertion. With eyes transfixed in wonderment, she watched the duelist bring from within her cloak a dark and slenderly pointed object. Ineira knew enough of a real weapon when she saw one and carefully handled it as she'd been taught while living with the Mando'ade.

 

”œIf I am to be your padawan, then let it be so. As for a duel, I would welcome it... As for young Ineira, you have proved that you are a young warrior. With your mother's permission, I'd like you to have this... As a gift and reward for your training. Fortitudo vestra, ut sint sicut vera cordis tui.”

[Kyrie Eleison]

Yes. You heard me right. Cultivate the rage you feel against me. Rage is a powerful tool in a fight, another weapon in a duelist's arsenal, but one you should use sparingly. That was not sparingly. That was terrible. It will give you great strength, but will blind your judgment and make your moves unpolished. You need to be refined and elegant in Vom Tag, you need to be decisive and strong. There... That was a better strike. That... Was... A poor block, and you paid for it in blood, as you will in the ring. Now would be a good time to harness the strength from your rage... Rage is one hell of an anaesthetic.

 

Kyrie watched the young girl, Ineira, as she spoke, Kyrie's emerald eyes sparkling with a kind fire, proud of the girl's work. Then there was a pause in the young girl's features, like she had been exposed to a memory long buried, and from the pain in her eyes, was not one Kyrie should have awakened. With a pale hand, Kyrie nervously brushed back one of her jet-black braids, as she listened to the girl's response.

 

"You can't have my buir's permisson,"

 

Kyrie winced visibly at the girl's blunt response, saddened by the girl's response. She had not meant any harm in talking to her, but somehow she had unearthed a painful area in the girl's mind. She stuttered slightly as she tried to formulate an appropriate response to the girl's response, but basic fled from her mind. Before she could regain her startled mind, the Jedi Xae-Lin spoke softly, taking the young girl's hand in comfort.

 

"She's my niece. Her mother, 'buir', in Mando'a has been likely dead since the moment the Ineira was old enough to begin to eat solid food. My mother was not known for tolerating rivals well. For that matter neither did my brother."

 

Kyrie nodded slowly moving her hand from nervously playing with her hair, to the rosary about her neck, feeling its cold chill in her hand. It would seem that most Jedi started along their path due to traumatic events of the past. From her untrained eye, she could see the concern in her master's face, as she watched her niece. It was the way of relatives to desire peace and harmony for those related to them. To see one's young pursuing the way of the warrior must be hard to witness. Kyrie's own father had often prevented her from entering into fights, preferring to teach her the peaceful way of a mechanic. Now he was dead, slaughtered by the Sith. Kyrie sighed softly. So was the way of the peaceful to, die at the merciless hand of twisted evil.

 

"You may keep the weapon, but it must stay here with me, understand?"

 

Kyrie smiled as the child nodded her head in happy acknowledgement. Sometimes encouraging joy, even in the spirit of a warrior, was the right choice.

 

"And I suppose if you missed your morning lessons you wouldn't get us into too much trouble, but you're going back with your masters when we're through because as much as you can learn from us, there's just as much if not more that you can learn from them."

 

Kyrie barely concealed a small laugh at the child's look of utter disbelief. She full-heartedly agreed with the young girl's sentiments. Observing a battle was preferable by far to studying ancient scrolls, although one needed both to be well-rounded. Kyrie shook her head as the girl ran away, for she knew she would have to study at some point. Being a warrior was easy. Being a Jedi was not. The Jedi Knight stood and turned back to her, her voice slightly sad.

 

"I'm afraid her teachers and the other younglings aren't quite accustomed to her bluntness. I'm worried about her fitting in here; all I want for her is to be happy and safe."

 

Kyrie smiled at the older Jedi's concern for her niece. It was good to see that the Jedi Order was not completely ignorant of emotional bonds. Within her mind, she began to weigh the words she was about to speak, measuring them carefully. In the back of her consciousness, a storm began to brew, similar to the one that had swept the temple the night before. Within the wind, the ways of battle swirled and formed in preparation of the coming duel. Specters of the past. Old instincts. Old enemies. Shadows and dust. Kyrie began to speak slowly, keeping the storm from overcoming her mind.

 

”œI am sure the Jedi are accustomed to diversity, of species, and mindsets, like Ineira's. Each Jedi is different, for to have a uniform order would be unfitting. She will be happy and safe here, master, for while she is at your side she is loved.”

[Xae-Lin Ardel]

”œI am sure the Jedi are accustomed to diversity, of species, and mindsets, like Ineira's. Each Jedi is different, for to have a uniform order would be unfitting. She will be happy and safe here, master, for while she is at your side she is loved.”