Ask The Path to Balance: Courage

[Izel Thral]

Izel listened silently as Yulie explained the situation, taking the unmodified blaster and inspecting it closely. Her mandibles moved and antennae twitched as she turned the weapon over in her hands, deep in thought. As the Dathomirian mentioned Wezz she went over to the bloody helmsman and knelt beside him. It appeared he had passed out from the beating he received. The Vratix placed her hands over his face, taking a deep breath and healing the worst of his injuries. Once she was done she stood up and looked over at the captives briefly before looking down at the blaster again. Welding the setting to lethal only? Really?

"Damn fools..." She muttered to herself as she dropped the sickening thing on the ground. Finally she looked back at Yulie, speaking a bit more softly. "I see. You did the best you could. The plan didn't go off without a hitch, but it still worked. Don't worry about the tenth man, I took care of him as well." She paused, antennae drooping a bit as she looked at Yulie. When she spoke again her tone was more contrite. "I'm sorry... I shouldn't have allowed you to do that to yourself." She said, nodding towards the stage. "I should have come up with a better plan... I was just so worried about Isen... I should have worried more about your wellbeing as well." Yulie might have thought that only natural, but not Izel. It shamed her greatly to think she had given more consideration to one person's life than another. Even the apprentice she cared so deeply for. She was a Jedi. Everyone's lives were supposed to matter equally. And in this case especially. She had taken Yulie under her wing as a second apprentice after all. But she couldn't dwell on it too much. There was still work to be done.

"That last man managed to get a message out." She explained to Yulie. "The remaining gangers and Alsuna are aware of our presence. They'll likely be converging on our position. I suggest we make our way to the ship and try to-" Her planning was cut short as some static burst from the comlink on Wezz's belt. As a matter of fact, all the comlinks on all the gangers were receiving a message. It was the voice of a woman.

"Stand down." She said. Her voice was broken and hopeless. "Everyone... Stand down... It's over." There was static after that and quiet. Confusedly Izel looked to one of the captured gangers.

"Who was that?" She asked. The man looked just as astonished as she did. His gaze flicked between the Vratix and Dathomirian in disbelief.

"That was Alsuna." He explained. Even though she was an insectoid, it would be easy for Yulie to tell how surprised Izel was to hear those words, and relieved. It seemed Isen had triumphed. And completely on his own as well. Incredible.

@Zohrael

 

[Yulie]

Damn fools...

Yulie took one last look at the blaster as it clattered to the ground. A soldering iron had scarred the metal surrounding the switch that would have allowed to be set to stun, the mechanism dead center of a stylized targeting reticle. Were it so easy to blame on foolishness alone. There were always people out there who decorated their weapons, usually soft-headed youngsters whose desire to project a certain image surpassed the proper sense of maintaining their equipment.

These people seemed to be forged from something harder. Yulie mused that it might have been something like what happened to the Hississ back on Ambria. The Dark Side elevated its predatory nature into something sadistic; perhaps Alsuna had a corrosive effect on these men. Rewarding cruelty, pushing them to compete against one another into becoming the toughest version of themselves. Art sometimes imitates life.

Or perhaps it was an order, be it from Hobl or Alsuna. Maybe they took a prisoner without that being sanctioned, and someone made sure that it could not happen again. Whatever the cause, it only jeopardized them in the end. Yulie tried to make sure that she would remember that. The Dark Side may be empowering, but also self-defeating.

Yulie was relieved that her efforts didn’t garner a dressing-down, but was puzzled by Izel’s apology. She almost openly disagreed, as to consent to being a sacrificial piece for the greater good, but remembered what she had told the crew of the skiff when she was pleading with them to side against Alsuna. They weren’t slaves, their lives had value, and they shouldn’t work for someone who doesn’t see that.

She didn’t have enough conviction of her own belief to convince them, but now she was thinking about it. There was no comparing Izel to heartless masters who regard their underlings as disposable, but would that really matter if Yulie treated herself that way?

“I’m never doing anything like that again.” Yulie said, trying not to think about being on that stage. Never again would she dance for others. Never again would she call someone her master. And never again would she disregard her own wellbeing so flagrantly. “Let’s just make sure it was worth it.”

There was no time to discuss it, however. Izel quickly explained that the tenth man had been dealt with, but Alsuna was likely aiming the last of her forces upon them. This wasn’t the sort of thing that Yulie could make a plan for, so she just stared bug-eyed at the giant insect, awaiting instruction.

And that’s when Alsuna gave the order to stand down.

“Did we just win?” Yulie asked, just as surprised as Izel. “Or does she just want us to relax so she can take us by surprise?”

@Reyn

 

[Izel Thral]

Izel considered what Yulie said, but shook her head after giving it some thought. "No, that wouldn't make sense." She replied. "She already had a numerical advantage over us. I don't see why she would purposely tip the odds in our favor. Were I in her position, I would have regrouped with the remaining gangers and ambushed us, rather than telegraph myself like that. I think the surrender is genuine." Her attention was then turned to the remaining gangers as they started to crawl out of the tangled tent. The Vratix looked back to the Dathomirian. "Here, help me restrain them."

Once the word got out that Alsuna had given up the fight left the remaining gangers. They put up no resistance, instead begrudgingly accepting whatever the Jedi and her pseudo-apprentice demanded of them. Yulie would get some nasty looks from the prisoners, as they clearly didn't hold much respect for her after the part she had played in the plan. When Wezz awoke he would give a sort of nod of acknowledgment to the girl. It wasn't clear what the meaning was. Perhaps he resented her for letting him get beaten to a pulp and not just shooting Hobl, perhaps he pitied her. He was hard to read. But he said nothing. If Yulie wanted to know, she would need to ask.

Some time later Captain Watam arrived with the other prisoners, explaining that they had heard the news as well and congratulating the two women on a job well done. Despite his hard exterior, he seemed to be warming up to Yulie, and showing a bit more of a softer side when speaking with the Dathomirian. As for the other thirteen gangers, they were nowhere to be seen. In all likelihood they fled when they heard Alsuna's message. Izel could have made an effort to pursue them but decided against it. She was tired, and just wanted all this to be done and over with. She would alert the Umbaran authorities as soon as she had the opportunity. In her mind it was most likely they would scatter to the wind. Alsuna's gang had been dealt a death blow here today. Now all they had to do was wait for Alsuna herself to arrive, presumably in Isen's custody.

Once all the prisoners were collected Izel would have them lined up on their knees by the campfire. On the other side she would sit with Wezz and Watam to wait, the Vratix bidding the young Dathomirian to sit beside her. "You've had a baptism by fire tonight Padawan." She would say with a mixture of pride and regret. "I'm sure the Jedi will be happy to have you, if you still wish to join us." The Vratix had grown to like Yulie, and wanted to see her grow as a Force user. Although she couldn't exactly blame the girl if she wanted nothing to do with the Jedi after tonight. It was a hard and brutal existence, especially now.

@Zohrael @Isen

 

[Isen Ramm]

The two Jedi, one a Dark Jedi and one of the Order, were trudging through the Umbaran landscape with Alsuna leading. They hadn't talked much on their journey. Isen could feel a lot of different emotions oozing out of her. They were all strong and carnal, selfish in their own way. There was regret and anger. She was fighting remorse with a healthy dose of self-righteousness. And there was fear, a great deal of fear. Fear of what the Order would do once she was turned in. Fear that they would simply turn her over to the Sector Rangers. Fear of the unknown...what paths would be open for her?

But Isen thought he detected slivers of hope poking through now and then. He hoped that she would be giving some thought toward using this event as an opportunity to return to society, to turn back toward the Light and live a life dedicated to serving the galaxy. Isen hoped this, but he did not expect it.

The tall, iridescent plants and the constant darkness meant seeing too far ahead was a fool's errand, and Isen started to wonder if Alsuna was walking him into a trap. "How much further?" Isen asked.

@Reyn @Zohrael

 

[Yulie]

Yulie got to work restraining the gangers, satisfied with Izel’s assessment. The looks they gave her as she tightened their knots made her feel small. It was reflexive to wilt beneath those sorts of glares, a response deeper than habit, yet it didn’t affect her work. There was no need to look directly at them while she did her part to secure them, but she wished she could. It would have been a good moment to assert herself, to do away with the mousey image of a slave that she was so good at projecting. It just made the gangers loathe her even more that she was binding them in demure humility.

Wezz gave Yulie a nod and she returned it. The beating he suffered made up for the one he had given her, and the life he took balanced the ledger for the one that Izel was forced to take. If the Law was willing to use their own discretion with these gangers, Yulie would be a witness to Wezz’s better character.

When the Captain returned, he happily found Yulie and congratulated her for her part in all this. Yulie fidgeted with shredded strips of her arm bands when the Captain approached. The Mark was exposed now, and even though he said nothing about it or even allowed his eyes to wander, she felt self-conscious. There was no saving the arm wrap at this point, not after being hacked in half for footwraps and minced by a vibro-blade. Even if the ribbons were tied at the ends, the cloth would be too narrowed to hide the hieroglyphs and it would press uncomfortably into her bony hands.

“It was mostly Izel,” Izel said, downplaying her involvement. There were more praiseworthy things than bellydancing suggestively or vandalizing a blaster. “She fought pretty much all of them at once, and Wezz was the one who took out their leader.”

The Jedi felt worse about his death than Yulie. He brought that upon himself. If he had just listened, or simply waited a couple minutes before trying to force the Dathomirian’s hand, then he’d still be alive. It got Yulie thinking about how things could have played out differently. Protecting Isen was so great a priority that her plan brought them to the base in the shortest possible amount of time, but if they had traveled on foot then the gangers would have been ordered to stand down before Izel would have been able to strike.

Or would it have played out that way? The tenth ganger’s panicky alert might have convinced Alsuna that she had no other alternative but to surrender and give the order to stand down. If she had a full compliment of criminals to summon, what might she have done with such an opportunity? For those who believed in Destiny, Yulie and Izel were in the right place at the right time and this was the best outcome they could have hoped for.

After a brief exchange with the Captain, the prisoners were brought to the fire. They could warm up while they knelt and awaited their fate. Yulie paced, watching them carefully, until Izel bid her to take a seat. Dutifully doing as instructed, Yulie sat beside the Vratix and was surprised that the Jedi were still willing to teach the Dathomirian. Her failings and shortcomings were more prominent in her memory, every death resulting from her inability to stay in control of her situation. Her successes felt like footnotes in comparison.

Silent, Yulie considered the offer. It was far more tantalizing to learn under the guidance of the Jedi when she still had a ship. It was like being part of an old story just to nestle into her alcove and meditate on the secrets of the universe, and she was so starstruck by her walk-on part that she had forgotten how those stories ended. Blood and ashes wherever the Jedi went. They were always a conflagration in those tales, forces of nature if not villains outright. Her home was just collateral damage, and it was but a mote of dust in the desolation attributed to the Order.

This did not matter, though. The Laws were clear. Yulie had to learn how to not suffer emotion, not abide by evil, and use her magic wisely. She could learn from Watam how to be more level-headed, perhaps even become a better person. But he couldn’t teach her about the Force, and the Jedi were better suited for more personalized guidance. Did she even have a choice? Whether she wanted to walk it or not, the path before her remained the same. Hobl would have urged her to reject the offer and prove that she could think for herself.

“He was wrong about me.” Yulie said, gesturing to the Weequay’s remains, now respectfully covered with a clean sheet. “He could only see me for my Mark. I wasn’t a mechanic, or a Force-user, just some girl who knew only how to obey, but he didn’t see me shoot a man-eating plant with a flare gun. My best moments tonight were the moments when I was able to let the Force position me to where I needed to be. When I shot the plant, when I turned the tables on the firing squad. And when I got up on that stage.”

She could still see the boxes through the dancing flames.

“If I never had this Mark, we wouldn’t have been able to get here when we did, and we certainly wouldn’t have been able to defeat them with this many survivors. We saved Captain Watam. We saved almost two full crews who ran the skiffs. We may have even kept Alsuna’s forces too busy to go after Isen in strength. I think the Force needed me to be here tonight, and I think it needed me to wear this Mark. I don't have to be ashamed of it if this is where the Force is trying to position me. I would like to continue learning from the Jedi."

@Reyn
@Isen

 

[Izel Thral]

Alsuna continued limping along beside Isen, playing up her injury so she could continue to lean on the Padawan. As he asked how much further she grinned and looked up at him innocently. "What's the matter Isen Ramm?" She asked softly, again trying her best to fluster the young man. "Don't you enjoy my company?" She chuckled and nodded towards the ridge ahead of them. "Just a bit further."

Meanwhile Watam was speaking with Yulie, and shook his head with amusement at her humble insistence that Izel did most of the work. "You really need to learn how to take a compliment kid." He said as he walked with her back to the fire. Izel was glad to hear the Dathomiran's words. It was a slow process, but she was starting to realize her own ability and potential. And she seemed to have developed some faith in the Will of the Force.

"I will be honored to continue your training." The Vratix said with a slight bow of her head. Watam rolled his eyes.

"Yeah that's great." He cut in. "What about me? You owe me a ship Jedi." Izel glanced at the captain for a moment before gesturing back towards the Kom'rk-class fighter that had previously belonged to Alsuna's gang.

"What about that one?" She asked simply. Watam stopped and turned to look back at the ship, pursing his lip as he considered a moment. He then looked back to the Vratix.

"Kom'rk-class huh?" He asked. "Not bad... Not exactly built for my line of work though."

"You could always sell it." Izel argued. "Or you can join us in the Order as well. We could always use more pilots." She looked briefly at Yulie. "And this way we won't have to break up such a wonderful friendship." The Captain scoffed at Izel's comment at first, clearly trying to hide the fondness he had developed for his crew member, but eventually just shrugged in compliance.

"I suppose she still needs a normal person around too if she's going to be hanging around you freaky monks." He muttered, mostly trying to convince himself. Izel chittered in amusement at his response. The mood seemed to be turning brighter, and the Isen and Alsuna arrived.

Yulie would immediately feel a chill in the air, as the beautiful human woman brought with her a powerful aura of the dark side. Her clothes were somewhat dirty, her hair frayed with a few leaves clinging to it. But her eyes were a captivating golden color that would bore into the Dathomirian's very soul.

"Well... Here we are." Alsuna said, regaining her confident tone despite her circumstances. The Dark Jedi drew herself up to her full height as she stared at the Vratix, ignoring the pain in her injured leg. "I take it you're this stone-cold killer's master then?" She asked Izel before turning her eyes back on Yulie, her gaze both oppressive and intriguing. "I see you make a habit of collecting miserable, broken things..." As Izel stood up and started to approach her Alsuna would then look towards Wezz, quickly putting two and two together. "So you betrayed me huh Wezz? I would rip your spine out but I guess you never had one to begin with."

"Kark you Alsuna." Wezz replied flatly. The Dark Jedi just chuckled in response.

"In your dreams." She said before turning her gaze to the captured prisoners. "And you... Really? You couldn't handle one Jedi and her pet castoff? What am I paying you for?" She squinted as she inspected the suddenly very frightened men. "Where's Hobl?"

"He's dead." Izel answered bluntly as she inspected their captive.

"Aw really?" Alsuna asked with poorly feigned sorrow. "I liked him. Wow... You are big up close." She added as she looked right back at the Vratix, moving her head left and right in the same inquisitive manner as the insectoid. "Creepy looking too, no wonder your kind keep to themselves. You're really sparing the galaxy a horrible scene huh?" Izel ignored her, instead walking over to Isen. Without speaking she would take his injured arm and begin to heal it.

"Are you alright?" She asked him softly. It would be easy to hear the regret in her voice. She was proud of his accomplishment of course, but right now that was buried beneath the shame in allowing him to be left in such a vulnerable position. She saw it as a failure on her part as his master.

@Zohrael @Isen

 

[Isen Ramm]

"What's the matter Isen Ramm? Don't you enjoy my company?" Alsuna said, feigning innocence with her voice, a mocking tone with fake hurt.

"I've already asked, no insisted really, that you join me for a date back at the Jedi temple," Isen said without a missing a beat or looking in her direction. Despite her beauty, her natural charm, her leaning on him and trying to fluster him, Isen had been more or less brainwashed by the orthodox Jedi on Pilgrim's Point. He counted himself lucky today, because while his heart and mind were set on the old Jedi ways, there still was the biology of a young man to battle.

When they reached the camp, Isen was glad to see that her crew actually had surrendered. He was worried that it might be some elaborate ruse, but it appeared that she told them to wave the white flag, and wave it they did. Isen nodded to Izel who, along with Yulie, had managed to capture Alsuna's group. When she approached his master said, "Are you alright?"

Isen gave up his arm willingly, happy to get the sting out of it. Without a hint of a smile or the smallest clue that he was joking, Isen said, "I'm perfectly fine, but you should see the other guy." Izel knew Isen well enough that she would get his humor. The others, probably not so much due to the dry delivery. With the hand that was not hurt he grabbed both of Alsuna's lightsabers and offered them to Izel. "I won't make the same mistake I made last time. Nothing hidden away."

@Reyn @Zohrael

 

[Yulie]

"I will be honored to continue your training."

Yulie smiled. She was always better at recognizing her failings. If the Captain hadn’t reminded her to take compliments, Yulie might have suggested that Izel continue training Isen, a far superior student who was more deserving of the effort. But instead of making a case to have her foisted upon some other Jedi who may not have had better students on hand, she took the compliment.

“It’s got some real teeth.” When the Captain scoffed over breaking up a friendship, Yulie piped up, hoping that he’d keep the ship.

“Slimmer profile, too. If anyone tries to shoot you down again, they’re going to have to work a lot harder.” That thing was engineered with battle in mind. If Yulie was going to be its mechanic, she’d have to broaden her horizons. Making repairs on it wouldn’t be like the Grey Phoenix, wings so narrow and wide would need to be maintained from the outside. That meant getting used to working in a zero gravity environment. As for calibrating weapons, that would require some training. If she could maintain a ship like that, she could call herself an engineer!

She had to giggle when the Captain came around to the idea, but then the air went cold. Motionless, without a breeze to carry the chill, as if the fire stole all the heat for itself. That’s when Yulie saw Alsuna.

Her eyes were a sunset yellow, and looking at them made Yulie want to clench her teeth. The bloody rings encapsulating the golden hue of Alsuna’s eyes were strangely alluring, tempting the Dathomirian to make eye contact when she preferred to look at people indirectly. The Dark Jedi’s gaze pressed down on her, the weight of it pushing against Yulie’s orbital bone.

Sith, or anyone well-studied in the Dark Side, really, were able to conceal their Darker natures and walk in the Light without so much as making a ripple against anyone’s awareness. Yulie, almost completely ignorant to the Force, could not conceal herself so. Such proximity to Alsuna was akin to striking a tuning fork, and the Darkness within her could physically feel it.

Were the Dark Side an object, Yulie’s actions would have given it shape, her emotions giving it texture. It was important for the Sith to learn how to hide it, lest it be seen by their foes. Much could be learned by simply observing the unique constitution of another’s Darkness. And observe it Alsuna did. The black pupils in Yulie’s eyes were open windows; those committed to the Dark Side wouldn’t have the rip certain truths from her mind, bare as it was. Alsuna saw the shape of the tumor inside the Dathomirian’s soul, what Yulie saw was less clear.

Untrained and unstudied, Yulie saw no deeper than the mesmerizing golden hue. Wezz mentioned something about the yellow eyes of a Jedi, but Yulie never saw any eyes like those before. Even on a neutral face they seemed to burn with the wrath of a star on the verge of going nova, and they were beautiful.

When Alsuna looked away, the pressure on the orbital bone was lifted and Yulie looked away. The Dark Jedi thumped her chest, talking down to everyone present, one by one, as if she were sitting upon a high throne. Yulie went quiet when she was afraid—Alsuna seemed to be the sort who got louder. Trying to be in control of the moment, trying to assert herself over everyone before her, but she was the captive and she was injured. Fear. It was fear patterned on the colour of her eyes. An amber silhouette of a cornered animal.

Yulie got to her feet slowly. She had remained seated up to this point, subconsciously avoiding to appear confrontational, but Yulie had to stand up when Isen offered the lightsabers. And she winced when he said ‘Nothing hidden away’. It was always going to be awkward when she’d have to tell Izel about her own lightsaber that lay at the bottom of the lake, but now it was going to be even more awkward.

@Reyn
@Isen

 

[Izel Thral]

Izel was too exhausted to let out much more than an amused huff at Isen's dry response. She finished healing his arm and then took the Dark Jedi's sabers before looking him in the eyes. "I appreciate it." She said in thanks with a nod of her head. There was a pause before she spoke again, as she simply seemed to look over her apprentice for a moment. He had come a considerable way since she first met him on Ajan Kloss. And she had no doubt he would travel much further. "You've accomplished everything I could have hoped for." She said with sincere emotion and pride. "And you did it on your own... I have nothing more to teach you." Saying as much was bittersweet. They had spent so much time together over the past few years that it was painful just to think of what things would be like when he was no longer there. But such was the Will of the Force, and Izel would not stand in the way of Isen's progress.

She turned back to Alsuna just in time to catch a ghost of a frown on her face. A hint of envy in her emotions. Being this close to her, it was fairly easy for Izel to tell what a mess this woman was psychologically, even as powerful as she was. The facade of smug superiority was quickly hoisted up again as the Vratix focused on her, but the act was fairly transparent. "My name is Izel Thral, Knight of the Jedi Order." She introduced herself formally. "And you are under arrest Alsuna Sylias, for crimes against the Jedi, the Republic, and the wider galaxy. Because you have seen reason and surrendered, I will make every effort to see that you and your followers are treated leniently."

"Lucky me." Alsuna said with a smile, although Izel could feel the fear in her. The Vratix looked downward to see her injured leg. It seemed Isen had dealt her a nasty blow to her right shin. Much deeper and he could have severed it entirely. The Vratix looked the woman in the eyes once more.

"Would you like me to heal you?" She asked. Alsuna chuckled, giving her a look that was something between amusement, disbelief and paranoia. She glanced briefly at Isen, then back to the Vratix.

"I'll thank you to keep your hands off me Jedi." She said with a harshness that felt forced. "Just get me some bacta and I'll be fine."

Izel didn't protest, only shrugging before turning back to Watam and requesting that he track some down. It was a fairly big camp after all, they were bound to have medical supplies. "If you don't mind Isen, I'd like you to stay here and look after the captives." She said before looking towards Yulie. "I believe you said you lost something in the crash? We should try to retrieve it now before we depart."

@Zohrael @Isen

 

[Isen Ramm]

"Thank you, Master, but I could apprentice under your for a lifetime and still be taught new things by you." He could tell that she was happy for him, proud of him. It felt to Isen that he was able to do right by his Master who had invested so much of her time into his training. She had exhibited great patience and kindness, matching it with sternness when necessary for his own good.

All the Kiffar Jedi could do was shake his head when Alsuna refused to be treated on her leg, and when Izel asked for him to stay and watch the captives, all he could say was, "Of course, Master."

Isen could tell that Izel was not her typical self. Whether or not that was because she might think that this Dathomirian girl might be trouble more than she's worth, the behavior of Alsuna, or she was upset because Isen's time as a padawan was quickly coming to it's conclusion, he was unsure. As Yulie and Izel were preparing to leave, Isen sat down opposite of Alsuna. "Well, if you wanted my company for a little while longer, you got it." He wasn't looking at her directly as he spoke. His head was on a swivel as he was making sure to keep tabs on all of her crew. "You should have let her heal your leg. That leg would do you more good than your pride."

@Zohrael @Reyn

 

[Yulie]

“Yes, that’s a good idea. Just give me a moment to grab my boots.” They were still back in the skiff where Alsuna’s men kept their stash.

The gangers’ stash was an eclectic hoard of illicit substances and a diverse assortment of paraphernalia to enjoy them. It reminded her of the spice den. The back room was nicely organized, but the transient nature of the customers and their altered mental states kept the relaxation area in complete disarray. Slinging her boots over one shoulder, Yulie habitually shuffled a few canisters around, bringing an iota order to the chaos just like she used to.

Some varieties of spice she recognized, even had an idea of their value. Were she on her own, this stash would be enough to start a little something of her own. Just enough to earn the street cred that she’d need to roll with some real smugglers. Plucking a large bottle of alcohol from a case of mismatched drinks, she spared a few thoughts about the path she walked. Until she fell in with the Jedi, it was always uncertain, precarious. There were opportunities, but she kept falling through the cracks.

She turned the bottle over in her hand. The mirror-like quality of the glass reflected her face. Her nose was straighter than she remembered; that Force Healing must have corrected an older injury. It was clear that the healing process hadn’t finished, however. Dark blotches no larger than the fingernail on her pinky had appeared in half a dozen places less than a thumb’s length away from her eyes. In the next day or two, her skin would tell the story of her beating in much greater detail.

Looking at herself, it was easy to remember why she never bothered getting a mirror. Her features were quite unlike Alsuna’s. More angular, not many smoothed over nicely with soft curves. Bleached-out tones of skin and hair, lifeless eyes, lacking the tones to contrast properly with the shadows or compliment the colours of a setting sun. No wonder the gangers thought her dancing was so funny. Maybe the Jedi would let her get some new clothes, at least. Her pants no longer had pockets, and her arm wrapping had been cut too many times.

Sighing at her reflection, she decided to keep the bottle. Some cultures, she’d heard, had a strange custom of smashing one of these upon the outer hull of a new ship. Something about being good luck, though in her history of employment, it was never lucky to spill a drink. Maybe the Captain was the superstitious sort who’d knock it against his new bird, or maybe he’d rather knock back a glass and toast to their success. His call.

Setting it aside, Yulie put on her boots and was surprised that they didn’t feel squishy on the inside. It could have been any number of reasons that they were finally dry, but she thought it best to thank Izel again for using the Force to accelerate the process. This adventure would have been worse if she had to have endured it while clad in the vegetation she’d found earlier.

With her thoughts collected, she was ready to tell Izel about what had been left behind in the pod. They just had to get some distance away from the Dark Jedi. It already knew that she was a killer, no sense in feeding the woman more information. Considering that the very first thing that lady did was mock everyone around her, she would probably use it to find new ways to jab everyone.

No, Yulie would wait until they were far, far away from Alsuna. It did feel like she was procrastinating, truth be told. The Vratix had erupted on Isen for hiding lightsabers, and Yulie did keep hers hidden even after witnessing that. But she didn’t know if the Captain would boot her off the ship if he could connect her to the incident at Mon Gazza, and she was, at the time, undecided if Jedi could even be trusted. So much time had passed since, however. The deception was maintained even while learning how to meditate, and she was only confessing to it now because there was no way to keep it hidden any longer.

Izel is going to be furious. Yulie thought. I should have mentioned it back on Ambria. Or when Isen turned over Alsuna’s lightsabers.

“I went to Kashyyyk once.” Yulie said. “I think I was eight at the time. Ten? Time was hard to keep track of, and I never was told when I was born. Not actually sure how old I am, to be honest. Anyways, Stormkirk and I volunteered to help out with a salvage job. Usually we’d go in, squeeze into places that grown-ups couldn’t, and scout for valuables. Then we could sell the information to the laborers. This job was on a Venator Class Destroyer.”

She remembered it vividly, how it jutted out of a waterfall like an angry god had plunged it into the heart of the mountain like a dagger.

“The Scrapper’s Guild never got around to hauling it. The way it was wedged in made it real difficult, and then there were the Wookiees. They don’t take well to plunderers. But I think it was starting to leak something into the river and they wanted it gone, so they made an exception to the Debtors. And I think the way the Debtors managed the operation somehow got themselves accredited with the New Republic.”

Although slavery was outlawed, the prison industry had all sorts of loopholes. Profiteering off forced labor was not itself criminalized, and with some economic witchery it could even be considered a feature of the poverty trap. Even if the New Republic launched a full investigation into the Debtor’s prison, it would only result in some resignations and get a mention in a short news cycle.

“Everything was water damaged when we got there, and we had to wear breathers because of the mold. It was looking like a real bust, but Stormkirk spotted something. I clambered over, and it turned out to have been something more valuable than we’d ever seen before.”

The way Yulie spoke of it, that object itself didn’t seem to be the important part of her story.

“He wanted to sell it, pay off his family’s debt so they could get out. I wanted to split the money, mostly in my favor, because then we’d all pay off our debts about the same time and leave together. Just like we always talked about, like we planned. But he wasn’t hearing it. Told me that the Yulie never leave. He was right about that. The company store sells products for company workers, at company prices. We don’t pay off our debts, not with a system like that. We only get out if someone buys our contract.”

Yulie balled her fist, digging her nails into her Mark. He always called her Yola because he knew how much it hurt her to call her Yulie. But on that day, she was just a Yulie. Coming from him, it meant that’s all she ever was.

“So he gets upset, because some Yulie is trying to keep his family from getting out. He grabs our treasure, and shoves me. Think I fell so far I must have hit terminal velocity, but there were so many cobwebs that I hit the ground gently. Couldn’t see anything down there, except their cursed eyes. It was down there that I learned how to bend skitters to my will. They brought me food. And I don’t know how many days later, but I finally get them to web up the wall so much that I can climb out.”

It had been clear for a while that Izel knew something about what happened back then, as to what detail Yulie couldn’t possibly know. Maybe Izel knew all of this. Maybe this completed the picture.

“Made my way back to camp with all the spiders following me. Found Stormkirk, took what was mine, and left him to the spiders.” That last part was a lie, one that she immediately corrected. “No. I made it happen. The Obelisk was right about that. The spiders waited for my command, and I gave it. I’ve been alone ever since.”

She thought that it would be deeply upsetting to tell this story, that she’d be so close to tears that it would feel like she was breathing smoke. But it didn’t, and that felt wrong. Too many years had passed for it to be that raw, and a great deal of it was spent angry at Stormkirk or angry at herself. She just didn’t have the energy to be moved to tears at this point.

“Turns out our treasure was worthless. It didn’t even work. Couldn’t even trade it for a can of beans, so I’ve been keeping it as a memento. We tried to kill each other over it, so I felt like if I got rid of it, then that whole thing was pointless. I had to leave it in the escape pod, but…it doesn’t belong to me. It belongs to the Jedi. I should have said something sooner. I understand if this changes things.”

@Reyn
@Isen

 

[Izel Thral]

Alsuna didn't answer Isen immediately, giving him a somewhat annoyed look before focusing on her injured leg, nursing her wound. Captain Watam returned quickly with a flexploy sleeve that the Dark Jedi Pulled up over her leg. Given how advanced some of the equipment the gang had was they must have been very successful under Alsuna's command. As Isen looked around he would see they were for the most part obedient. Quiet, staying in place, not trying to make any moves despite their clear numerical advantage. If anything they looked terrified, more of their own leader than the people that had defeated them. Watam kept walking, moving on a circuit around the captives with blaster in hand, allowing Isen to focus his attention on the Dark Jedi if he wished.

"I don't understand you people..." Alsuna murmured as she shook her head. She kept her eyes focused on her leg for a few moments before looking up at the Kiffar. "There's being merciful and then there's being an idiot. You have any idea how much you're risking by leaving all of us alive?" She leaned forward slightly, lowering her voice so only the two of them could hear. "If I ordered them to rush you they would, regardless of their chances for survival. You think you and those two morons could hold us all off?" She asked, nodding to Watam and Wezz. It didn't appear as though Alsuna was making a serious threat. More likely she was still trying to wrap her head around Isen's reasoning. Nevertheless, there was some truth in what she was saying.

Meanwhile Izel stuck close to Yulie as they made their way back through the forest, listening quietly as the Dathomirian told her story. It was quite enlightening. During the incident with the Obelisk back on Ambria, she had touched the girl's mind and gotten many images of her history. But they were just that, images, snippets of information from a person's entire life, lacking heavily in context. She knew that Yulie had killed, but now she understood the entire story surrounding it. And the 'treasure' she explained could only be a lightsaber. The Vratix was silent for a few moments after the girl finished, mandibles clicking thoughtfully. When she finally looked at the girl her gaze was not judgmental, nor was there any edge to her voice.

"I'm not going to yell at you." Was the first thing she said. It was easy to see how afraid of that Yulie was, and Izel was too tired to get angry anyway. "But you need to promise you'll be completely honest with me moving forward. Trust is very important to a Jedi. Trust in the Force, and trust between a teacher and student. If we can't trust one another we aren't going to get anywhere." She looked forward again as they continued walking. "The treasure you found is a lightsaber yes? The only other thing I could imagine it being is a holocron, and I doubt you would recognize what that even was on sight. A lightsaber doesn't belong to the Jedi Order as a whole, only to the Jedi who constructed it, and I very much doubt the lightsaber's original owner is still alive. The reason I became angry with Isen on Ambria, and the reason I am warning you now, is because lightsabers can become corrupted with the dark side in the same way a person can. Just being in their presence without knowing how to control them can be harmful. This is doubly true for Isen, because of a certain genetic trait her carries. He can feel the memories of objects by touching them, and so touching a corrupted object has the potential to cause great pain." She paused again, thoughtful. "If the lightsaber is not corrupted I'd see no problem in allowing you to keep it. After all the trouble it's put you through you deserve something in return. If it is... Well, I'll hold onto it for safe keeping. And you can have it back once you've proven you're ready."

@Zohrael @Isen

 

[Isen Ramm]

"If I ordered them to rush you they would, regardless of their chances for survival. You think you and those two morons could hold us all off?" she said quietly. Was she testing his patience? His resolve? Or was she just curious?

Isen sat in a place so that he could swivel his head and eyes to keep an eye on everybody. Despite her comment, he wasn't an idiotic. He took that much of a precaution. For now, he wouldn't look at them to show trust in the other two. He was a little interested to see where she was going with this.

"You tell me," he said, his eyes locking on to hers. "It isn't just those two. It's me as well. You've seen me fight close up. You think I could handle things or not?"

@Zohrael @Reyn

 

[Yulie]

Yulie felt more at ease when Izel reassured her that she wouldn’t be getting yelled at.

“I wasn’t sure if I could trust you when we were back on Ambria. The Jedi don’t have a good reputation where I’m from, and I was in a very vulnerable place when I boarded the ship.” The lies of omission were born of self-preservation, self-serving in their own way but standing apart from more selfish varieties of deception. Yulie clearly hadn’t thought hard enough on the matter to articulate well-crafted excuses, and though she might have been fumbling with her words as she tried to explain herself, the intent was to accept responsibility rather than deflect it.

“Back on Mon Gazza, This guy started making a lot of noise over the holo-net about the Jedi starting a bunch of wars or something. Someone noticed that I had a Jedi weapon hidden beneath my sarong and everyone lost their minds. I barely made it out of there, but witnesses starting telling crazy stories and there was something of a manhunt looking for me.”

If there was any doubt that her trust issues would be an ongoing problem, confessing to this at least signified that she had resolved that skepticism and was willing to be more open. Were these truths meant to prey on Izel’s compassion, Yulie would have made the struggle to survive a centerpiece to this confession. Instead, she found it too unimportant to even mention. Her weeks on sun-baked rooftops in a state of fear and constant hunger had little to do with her secrecy aboard the ship.

“It wasn’t easy finding a ride off-world, so I couldn’t let the Captain connect the stories to me. And with the Jedi’s reputation being damaged by the rumors, I was worried that actual Jedi might want to avenge their honour. By the time I knew for certain that you were trustworthy, it was just easier to keep my mouth shut. But the longer I waited, the harder it was to say anything.”

That was always the problem with lies. They tended to keep growing, often finding greater strength in silence than re-telling. The longer they were permitted to thrive, the more courage it took to uproot them. Putting herself in physical danger was relatively easy, especially for the benefit of another. That Yulie was willing to let herself be emotionally vulnerable underscored that she was finding a new form of bravery on her path to balance. This strength would make it easier to not suffer emotion, and to make connections with others.

She nodded when Izel asked if the treasure was a lightsaber, and raised an eyebrow at the mention of a holocron. It sounded like some kind of projector, but couldn’t see why anyone would bat an eye over technology so mundane. Glowing energy swords on the other hand were able to fill every crevasse in one’s imagination.

Yulie thought back to Ambria when Izel explained the dangers of corrupted objects. The planet itself must have tested his resilience in ways that Yulie hadn’t even considered. The air was wrong on that world, the very ground beneath his feet had held the suffering of countless sacrifices. His mind must have been an impenetrable fortress to stand before the Obelisk with his sanity intact. It came close to shattering the Dathomirian’s and she didn’t even share Isen’s genetic trait.

“There was also some kyber in the lightsaber.” Yulie said, once Izel finished raising the possibility of letting Yulie keep it. She didn’t mean to hide that fact, she just kept it separate from the weapon for so long that she sometimes forgot that they belonged together.

She fished through her pocket for that little secret area where she kept the shards hidden and handed them to the Vratix. Kyber was known for its molecular integrity, surviving great extremes of heat and pressure. A nomadic slave girl would not have been able to shatter the crystal, even if she tried hammering a vibro-blade into it.

The shards were dead, an ominous sign of the lightsaber being corrupted before it even wound up in her possession. It would have taken something terrible make a lightsaber’s heart break, and it bespoke of something foul left behind on Kashyyyk. That it was discovered in a Venator made it a likely relic of Order 66. Then there were spiders, the mold, the poisoning of the river. All symptoms of a Dark Side nexus forming within the mountain. Had a Dathomirian child not spirited away the lightsaber from the planet, that nexus would have fully formed. Kashyyyk was one of the few planets that could heal a proto-Nexus on its own, the Force just needed a little help in removing the offending object.

Even as a child, the girl was playing a part, but each side of the Force had a different role for her in mind.

@Reyn
@Isen

 

[Izel Thral]

Alsuna smiled at Isen's response, chuckling slightly. She leaned back and started to pick the leaves from her hair. "You'd certainly handle yourself well I think." She replied honestly. "I guess it would depend on the timing, and how alert you are. Every skilled duelist knows that with every person added to a fight your chances of survival exponentially decrease, regardless of your own ability. Were we all to swarm you at the right time I bet we could pull it off. I'm not saying there wouldn't be casualties, I know you'd go down fighting. But I've gotten out of rougher situations than this." She maintained her smile, leaning forward again and resting her chin on one palm in a childish pose. "You don't have to worry though. You interest me a great deal Isen Ramm, and if one of us kills the other I won't get to see what finally get's you to realize how wrong you are to think you can win this conflict by taking the high road..." Alsuna's mental instability certainly made her difficult to read. She seemed every part to be speaking totally sincerely with the Kiffar Padawan, but for all he knew she actually could have been trying to lure him into a false sense of security.

Meanwhile Izel and Yulie continued to make their way towards the lake, the Vratix nodding silently to the girl's explanation. "I understand Padawan, and I don't hold it against you." She assured the young Dathomirian. "Thankfully now we can start with a clean slate. No more secrets." As they passed the tree line and walked out onto the dark lake shore Yulie produced the dead kyber crystals, and Izel took them in her hand. "Awful..." She said with a sigh, her tone suggesting she was looking upon a dead body rather than just an inanimate object. Seeing a crystal bled was bad enough. Witnessing such a complete desolation was demoralizing.

The Vratix looked out over the black water, her antennae twitching as she reached out with her Force sense. It didn't take her long to pinpoint the location of Yulie's lightsaber. It was indeed a dark spot on the lakebed below. The Jedi thought for a moment, clicking her mandibles before looking back at the young Dathomirian. "I think this is a good time for another lesson." She started. "I can retrieve the lightsaber easily enough, but I'd like you to try first." She extended her hand palm up, displaying the dead crystals for Yulie. This would be a good place to start, and if it worked they could move on to the lightsaber. It was a greater distance away, but her deep sentimental connection to the weapon would have given her a stronger grasp on it. "Reach out with the Force, feel the crystals in my hand, and will them to move into yours." Telekinesis was one of the most straightforward applications of the Force. Yulie had already shown her improvement with the flare gun earlier. Izel suspected this might have been something within the realm of possibility for her.

@Zohrael @Isen

 

[Isen Ramm]

Isen shook his head at what she was saying. He sat there for a long moment before letting out a long sigh. "Here's the thing, Alsuna. I don't have to question what I would be like if I gave into the Dark Side. I've already seen it. The Force showed it to me in the kyber cyrstal caves on Mygeeto. The Dark Side tempted me with it while there. Everything you're offering me, I've already seen. It's all true. I know it is. I know exactly the power I could wield with the Dark Side combined with my natural affinity for combat, my athleticism, my innate aggressiveness." He shook his head. "I would be an absolute terror. I would leave a wake of death, destruction, and mourning behind me."

He looked at her long in the eyes. "I have also seen what I can become if I commit to the Jedi path, the path of selflessness and honor and compassion." He gave another look over to the men in custody to make sure they were where they were supposed to be before looking back at Alsuna. "I liked the Master Jedi version of me a lot more."

@Reyn

 

[Yulie]

“Reach out with the Force…” She murmured to herself, concentrating on the shards. The intensity of her stare was ever-increasing, but making weird faces did nothing to make them move.

She tried centering herself by connecting to the duality of her environment, bathing her hands in the lakeshore waters before pressing her palms into the sand. Yulie was now touching the wet and dry aspects of Umbara’s surface, a vast, liquid expanse before her and endless wilds behind. The breeze coursed through her hair but was blocked by her boots. She found duality, and through it she was able to center herself and balance her mind upon it.

She still could not feel the crystals, and there was no stance or motion required by the Technique, so the Force had nowhere to guide her and offered no current to move her. Out of options, she reached forward, holding the air in a semi-closed fist and moved it about as if tugging on an invisible line. The crystals did not respond.

“Can you tell where I’m reaching? I can’t feel the crystals. I might not be aiming right.” She wasn’t reaching out. She was trying to, but having turned everything inwards for so long, she didn’t know how. Worse, the only times she had ever realized her telekinetic potential were in moments where her negative emotions were free to lash out. It would be a process to learn how to reliably use the Force in a better state of mind.

@Reyn
@Isen

 

[Izel Thral]

Alsuna kept her eyes locked with Isen's, maintaining a neutral expression as she listened to his words. When he finished she gave a more soft smile. "We all have lofty aspirations of what we're going to be when we're young." She countered. "There was a time when I thought I could be a great Jedi too." Her eyes burned into his, as though she was looking into his very soul and trying to get the measure of it. "We'll see if your vision of your future self holds true..."

Izel watched in silence as Yulie tried to use the Force, her antennae twitching idly. The girl had some strange rituals but she seemed generally centered. Still, Izel could not feel her probing at the Force as was required to accomplish the task. "Close your eyes." The Vratix directed her. "Just take a deep breath and try to feel the Force. Like when you meditate. Feel it in the water and the dirt. Feel it in the wind. It's everywhere and inside you. Immerse yourself in it like you're slipping into a pool." The Jedi would pause, giving her student time to do this. "Now visualize the crystals in your mind. Feel how the current of the Force wraps around them and envelops them. Ignore the distance between you and my hand, or the weight of the object. Focus only on the Force. Focus on the flow that moves between you and them. Tug on it, and alter the flow so it's moving the two of you closer together."

In order to use the Force pull Yulie would have to alter her perspective on the task. It wasn't an interaction between two physical objects. Rather, she had to commune with the energy field that encompassed them and direct it to flow in a way that benefitted her. It would take patience to do so without use of the dark side, like waiting for a favorable wind.

@Zohrael @Isen

 

[Isen Ramm]

"We'll see if your vision of your future self holds true..." Alsuna said to him. She was staring at him, though Isen couldn't quite figure out why. He eyed her back, the competitive nature in him not wanting to yield as if it were some sign of weakness.

"It's what I could become," Isen said, void of emotion. He shrugged a bit with a sigh. "I highly doubt I'll live long enough to be an old Jedi Master." He sported a short grin on one side of his lips, barely perceptible. It wasn't a mischievous grin or one that was saying it to support a some machismo facade. It simply was the truth. "I like the action too much, the scraps, the testing of my mettle." He sighed and looked at her flatly. "One day, as is bound to happen, I'll meet my match, just like you did."

What he said was very matter of fact. He didn't mean for it to be an insult, though it was entirely possible she should take it as a rib. But, for Isen, it was more of a realization- a realization that the Jedi path had was choosing was one that in all likelihood, would hasten his becoming one with the Force. The look in his eyes, it was quite clear that he was resigned to it, and had resigned to it long before now, long before he even realized it.

@Reyn @Zohrael

 

[Yulie]

Yulie closed her eyes obediently and inhaled. She held the lungful of air right until the first moment of discomfort, then slowly exhaled until her chest was empty. These were the deep, purposeful breaths she took at the beginning of her meditations, and so long as she did not have to speak or move around, this cycle would regulate itself.

It had a calming effect, her heart slowing its steady rhythm in kind. Meditations helped resolve pestering anxieties, granting a clarity of mind that could reason with her fears and let them rest. The Force was still elusive, however. It remained at the edge of her radar along the fringes of perception. She managed to immerse herself into it as if slipping into a pool, but only so far as to float on the surface and get carried by the current.

Against the man-eating plant, the ebb and flow of the Force carried her to the exact place it needed her to be, and in the right posture at the correct time. This task was far more complex. The Force could have her dance across the entire ring of Umbara’s equator, but that wouldn’t levitate anything. As Izel explained it, she had to be mindful of the flow between herself and the kyber shards.

“I’m not sure I even feel the Force when I meditate, though. I think it’s like I’m not resisting it? When I fired that flare gun, it’s like the Force was moving and my body was just along for the ride.”

Yulie was visualizing the shards, painting a mental picture for the benefit of her mind’s eye. She’d inspected them so many times over the years that her fingertips still remembered every slant, every rough edge, and how they converged towards their ends. Visualizing them was the easy part, but the image in her mind was made from memory and not from connecting to the shards through the Force. Her tugging motions did nothing to move them.

@Reyn @Isen