Chapter 3 – Teaching and Trial

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A couple of days had gone by relatively fast. Barriss had spent most of her time either training of meditating. She still had a ways to go to fully renounce the Dark Side.

Right now Barriss was sitting in one of the larger classrooms in the Temple. She had been asked to join in one of the philosophy lessons and tell the younglings about the dangers of the Dark Side. A strong feeling of nervousness was stirring inside her. She could sense that a few members of the council were watching her through the security holorecorders. They were still wary of her and not convinced that she would be able to resist the Dark Side again. She sighed. Resisting the Dark Side is difficult enough, not to have the support of others makes it even more difficult.

Barriss tried to swallow the lump that was forming in her throat. She looked around the room. The class was filled to the brim. "Probably because of the shortage of teachers in the Temple." She thought to herself. She looked at the younglings in the room. She instantly recognized the group of younglings Ahsoka had taken to Ilum to build their lightsabers. There were also a few other younglings she knew from other classes she had taught before, well, everything.

"As you know from your previous lessons, the road to the Dark Side is well hidden and very dangerous." The instructor was telling the class. It was a female human Jedi Master, Barriss had seen her in the temple a few times, but she didn't know her personally. "Instead of your regular lesson, it was decided to let someone who has personally experienced the Dark Side tell you about its dangers." She said as she looked at Barriss. "oh great, another fan…" Barriss thought sarcastically. "Padawan Offee will be your instructor today. You can ask her the questions you may have." Barriss nodded and moved to the center of the class.

She received a few interesting stares from the crowd of younglings. A number of them still looked afraid, a few others looked a bit disgusted with her. The majority were able to keep a neutral face, but just barely. Barriss took a deep breath. "I don't know if I am the right person to talk to you about resisting the Dark Side, but what your instructor said is true. I do, sadly, know just how dangerous and seductive the Dark Side is." She told the class. "By the time you may realize it's corrupting you it may already be too late." She sighed. "I myself fell prey to its false promises and it attracted a Sith Lord to me. You all know what happened after that. I did terrible things." Barriss shook her head. "Would you have done the same if that Sith hadn't attacked you?" The female Jedi Master asked. "I don't know Master," Barriss replied. "I don't really want to know either. I certainly hope not…" Barriss turned back to the class. "But, weren't you able to tell that you were being corrupted?" A young Rodian boy asked. Barriss shook her head 'no'. "At the time, I wasn't able to. Therein lies the danger of the Dark Side. I thought I was doing the right thing. At first I wanted to change things in the Jedi Order, but the more violence I saw, the more I started to lose my own mind." "If you disagreed with the way of the Order, why didn't you talk about it with your master?" Petro asked her in a confused tone. "Master Unduli was on a solo mission when I started doubting the recent actions of the Jedi Order." Barriss explained. "When she returned, I had already sunk so deep in the ocean of the Dark Side that I wasn't capable of rational thought. I know that I should have discussed it with my master, but I just couldn't think of actually doing it." She shook her head. "I find it terrifying, looking back, at how much the darkness can influence your thoughts." A round of murmurs was heard in the class. Barriss took the opportunity to take a deep breath and relax a bit. Talking about this was very difficult.

"Can you describe the effects and feeling of the Dark Side a bit more?" a young Twi'lek girl asked. Barriss nodded thoughtfully. "Uhm, how to describe it…" she thought about it for a moment. "It's a path loaded with all kinds of false promises. It looks very inviting, you can barely tell that you're being misled. After that, you'll find yourself on a slippery slope leading into a deep dark pit, with no easy way of trying to climb back up." Barriss took a deep breath. "Right after Master Unduli brought me back to the Temple, after Master Skywalker ripped that infernal necklace from me, I tried to meditate. I could feel the Dark Side swirling around me. I felt like I sinking in warm, gooey mud or something. I don't think I've ever been that afraid before." She shuddered a bit. "So…Uhm, How…are you feeling now?" Katooni asked hesitantly. Barriss thought about her answer for a moment. "I'll continue with how I just described the feeling of the Dark Side." She began. "Right now, I see myself lying on a rock on the slope, some ways above the endless pit of darkness. At first, I saw no way of getting back up." She said looking down. "Master Unduli really supported me, reassured me that I could do it." She looked at Katooni. "Do you know what was in the package you brought me a little while ago Katooni?" Katooni shook her head 'no'. Barriss smiled. "It was a letter from Ahsoka." That really got the full attention of everyone in the room. They had all heard of her decision to leave, but no one understood her decision. They were too young for that. "In her letter, Ahsoka said that she had already forgiven me for everything that had happened. I wasn't sure if I deserved such kindness from her, but that's just how Ahsoka is." Barriss chuckled a little. "After knowing that both my master and Ahsoka believed in me, I gained some more self-esteem. After that, I started seeing more and more stones in the slope. Now, as each day passes I find myself able to climb higher and higher, away from the darkness." She said with a smile. A round of whispers was heard once again. "If there is one thing I know that makes resisting the Dark Side easier, it's knowing that others believe in you to be able to. Alone, it's very possible that you lose your self-confidence and give in. With the support of others, you won't have to fight it alone. It helps when you're not alone." She explained. The younglings were all looking around at each other, talking about all kind of things. "All right! All right! Settle down." The instructor said. "That will be all for today's class. Thank you, padawan Offee." Her tone towards Barriss seemed to have mellowed a bit. Barriss gave quick bow. "Dismissed." She told the class and they all left the room, talking about what they had just heard.

;-

After everyone had left the room Barriss let out a deep sigh and sat down in one of the chairs. Luminara entered the room. When she saw Barriss sitting in the chair she gave a gentle smile. "Is everything alright, Barriss?" Barriss looked up at her master. "Yes Master, I'm fine. It's just…talking about that was very difficult." Luminara sat down next to her padawan. "Well, you did great Barriss. I know it was very trying on you, but you were able to inform the future generation of Jedi about the dangers of the Dark Side. It's not an easy subject for anyone, even Masters." She said. Barriss chuckled a bit. She then remembered something. "Master, is it alright if I left the temple for a while? I wanted to visit someone." She asked. Luminara seemed to think about for a moment. "Of course Barriss." She replied. "Thank you Master." Barriss said with a smile.

;-

Lux Bonteri was sitting in his office in the Senate building. He had just attended what had to be one of the most boring Senate sessions ever. He had been very grateful that they moved on to the actual vote.

Now, he was trying to relax a bit. He smiled. Ahsoka had contacted him about half an hour ago. She had looked so happy now that she had found her family again. It had made him very glad to see her in such a good mood. "Excuse me Senator." One of his assistants entered the room. "Yes?" he replied. "There is a Jedi here to see you." Lux looked a bit surprised. "This soon?" he thought. "Alright, sent the Jedi in." he told his assistant. She nodded and went outside. A few seconds later Barriss Offee walked in the room. Lux was a bit shocked. "Funny, I was expecting Master Skywalker." He said amused. Barriss smiled. "Don't worry, he'll probably stop by later." She replied. "Oh great… So what can I do for you?" he asked, gesturing at the chair in front of his desk. Barriss sat down. "I was hoping that you knew anything about Ahsoka…" she said. "What makes you think I know anything about her?" Lux asked in a neutral voice. Barriss gave him a sly smile. "Well, I know how she feels about you, girls talk you know…" Lux looked a little taken aback. "Ahsoka also sent me a letter a little while ago. It was sent via the Senate mailing system, and seeing as you were the only Senator Ahsoka knows that wasn't on Coruscant at that time…" she said. Lux sighed. "Yes, she did come to me." Barriss chuckled a bit. "I knew it." Lux looked a little panicked. "Look, I promised Ahsoka that I wouldn't tell anyone where she went. She needs to sort things out for herself right now." He explained. Barriss laughed a bit at his reaction. "Don't worry, I understand. I just wanted to know if she was alright." Barriss replied. Lux relaxed a bit. "Well, I just spoke to her. She looked very happy so I'd say that she's doing just fine." He told her. Barriss sighed relieved. "That's good to know. I was worried that she might be depressed or something." Lux smiled. "No, she doing fine. We both saw your interrogation and the, uhm, 'interview' you gave a couple of days after that. Ahsoka was very relieved to know that you weren't the one responsible for everything and that you had been given another chance." Lux said. Barriss smiled. "Yeah, me too. After the Council's actions with Ahsoka I was really worried that I wouldn't get another chance. But thanks to Master Unduli I do have a chance to make things right. And I owe it to Ahsoka to see it through." Barriss explained. "I'm just very glad to know that Ahsoka is doing alright." She sighed deeply. She raised an eyebrow. "So, if Ahsoka went to you, is she still with you at the moment or is she somewhere else?" Lux looked a bit down. "I had to return to Coruscant for that vote in the Senate. I would've preferred to stay with Ahsoka, but that just wasn't possible. Ahsoka didn't want to return to Coruscant this soon, so she went somewhere else." He replied. "I see," Barriss began, "Well, I hope that she stays safe and happy." She got up. "Thank you Senator, I'd best be getting back to the Temple now. A few of the Masters in the Temple are still a little bit wary about my, uhm, mental condition…" she said softly. "Don't mention it Padawan Offee," he replied, "And I'm sure you'll recover from this. Ahsoka was adamant about her belief in you. Good luck." He said with a smile. Barriss gave a bow in return and left his office.

;-

Luminara Unduli sat in one of the meditation rooms in the Temple, discussing Barriss' recovery with Master Yoda. "Describe your Padawan's progress, how you would?" The elder Grandmaster asked her. Luminara thought about it for a moment. "I cannot describe it any other way than how she explained it in class earlier." Luminara replied. "Barriss is recovering well from her corruption. Every day her presence grows lighter again. She's really determined to see this through." Master Yoda nodded. "Yes, noticed this I have as well. Doubt her resolve, I do not." Luminara smiled. "Thank you Master Yoda. What Barriss said in class today is true. The fact that so many others doubted her really affected her confidence. Knowing that she does have the support of others is a great help." She said. "Alone against the Dark Side, no one should be." Master Yoda said in a serious voice. "Want to see her interactions in a different situation, the Council does. Somewhere away from the Temple." Luminara looked a little shocked. "You want to send us on an assignment? Master Yoda, I'm not sure if that's the best idea. The violence that is this war caused her to fall in the first place." She said confused. Master Yoda chuckled. "Know that I do, think that repeat that I want to? Hmm?" he replied in his impish voice. Luminara looked a little taken aback. "Working on a different type of assignment we are. No fighting, but rebuilding." Luminara nodded understandingly. "That might be helpful for her." Master Yoda nodded as well. "Decided it is then. When know the exact mission we do, inform you both we will." Luminara got up and bowed. "Alright then Master, I'm going to check up on Barriss." She replied and left the room.

;-

Barriss had gone to the training rooms in the Temple to exercise a bit. The last time she tried to practice she had felt the Dark Side swirling around her, filling her with rage. She wanted to feel free of that again and that required practicing.

Thankfully the room she was in was completely empty at this time. It relaxed her a bit. She ignited her lightsaber, its blue blade comforting her. She went through all of the stances she had learned, fighting imaginary opponents. After a short while she stopped moving. Looking down at her lightsaber she couldn't help but wonder about 'her' fight with Anakin. "I've only ever trained with one lightsaber, so why was I so skilled with two when I was under that Sith's control?" she muttered to herself. She contemplated grabbing a training lightsaber from the nearby cabinets to try fighting with dual weapons.

Before she could do anything else a group of padawans entered the room. Barriss looked at them. There were six of them in total, two Humans, a Rodian, two Twi'leks and a Nautolan. They didn't exactly look very happy with her. Barriss didn't like the feelings she could sense from them. She deactivated her lightsaber and started walking towards past them towards the exit. They blocked her. "Where do you think you're going, padawan Offee?" the Rodian said in disgust. "I'm going back to my quarters if you don't mind." She replied neutrally. "We do mind." One of the Humans said in a threatening tone. She backed up a bit. This definitely wasn't good. They stood around her, blocking her exit. "How come the Council hasn't locked you up yet in a cage where you belong, you Sithscum?" one of the Twi'lek said. "I am not a Sith." Barriss replied, feeling insulted. "You think you can trick us? You think that we care?" The Nautolan asked in a dark tone. "You killed one of our friends." The other Human said threatening. "And now, you're going to pay for it." He said, igniting his lightsaber. Barriss backed up some more, she was getting worried now. "Listen, I…" she began. "We don't care! You got off way too easily for what you did!" the Rodian said.

What no one in the room noticed however, is that they were all being watched.

The Human who had just ignited his lightsaber charged at Barriss. She dodged him and tried to move away. In response to her action, the other Human activated his lightsaber and attacked her as well. Barriss activated her own lightsaber and blocked his strike. Sensing another attack coming from behind she broke the lock and jumped aside. Both Humans stood in front of her, their lightsabers shining dangerously. Barriss took a deep breath and tried to swallow her nervousness. She took on a defensive stance and waited for them to strike. The attack came from behind of her as the Rodian activated his lightsaber and joined his comrades in attacking her. Barriss blocked his strike and moved out of the way to prevent the lightsabers from the two Humans from slicing her. She returned to her opening stance and prepared for their next attack. The form she had learned from her Master was designed to face multiple opponents. She started getting nervous as the remaining three padawans activated their lightsabers as well. Now, there were six lightsabers burning in front of her.

"I'll teach them to mess with me." Barriss was immediately shocked at her thoughts. "They're trying to hurt you, end them…" Barriss could clearly feel the Dark Side surrounding her again, feelings of anger and rage boiling up in her, trying to consume her. "Don't let them do it, strike them down. Kill them!" she shook her head, trying to get rid of the voices she was hearing. She snapped to attention when a lightsaber headed towards her face. She blocked the strike and entered a blade lock with the padawan attacking her. "They are nothing! Kill them! Make them suffer!" The voices were screaming at her. She broke the lock and jumped several meters backwards. She blocked out the voices and tried to focus on the Light Side. She tried to ignore the overwhelming urge to strike them all down in fury and rage. She tried to find several good memories to push away the Darkness, but all she could think of was pain, violence, suffering and Ahsoka. "Ahsoka!" Her mind snapped open. "Ahsoka still believes in me, my Master believes in me. I can believe in me." She thought to herself. Her mind cleared and she once again assumed a defensive stance, feeling more confident now that she had pushed the Dark Side away. She looked at the group and braced herself for their attack.

Barely a second later they all charged her and tried to sliced at her. She moved fast and gracefully, remembering everything her Master had taught her. She was doing well, blocking strikes left and right, dodging other swipes. But fighting six angry padawans wasn't easy. She blocked a strike but one of the other padawans managed to land a blow on her right leg. Barriss grunted in pain as she felt the searing sensation in her skin. A combo attack from behind knocked her lightsaber away. One of the guys grabbed her arm and slammed her into the hard ground, snapping her wrist. Barriss screamed in pain and grabbed her wrist. "And now you're going to pay for what you did!" one of them said. "Wh…" Barriss tried to speak but was silenced by a painful kick in her stomach. She screamed in pain as the group beat her up, kicking and punching her all over.

Barriss whimpered in pain. Her entire body hurt. She could barely see, one of her eyes had received a strong punch and now she couldn't see through it. One of the padawans activated his lightsaber again. He slowly moved it closer to her. She tried to crawl away but two others pulled her to her knees and held her down. Fear filled her as the blade of the lightsaber burned inches away from her face.

"ENOUGH!" A deep voice called out from behind them. The group turned around and saw Master Windu standing in the room, an angry look on his face. "M-master Windu, we eh…" "S-She attacked us and we…" the group stuttered. "I saw the whole thing since you entered the room. What you did is an outrage." Barriss could feel the grip on her shoulders fading away and she fell forward on the ground. Master Windu was yelling angrily at the group, but she couldn't make out what he was saying. She could see some blurry movements and then everything went dark.

;-

"Barriss? Barriss can you hear me?" a voice asked. She stirred slightly and tried to open her eyes. Something was over her left eye. She tried to move her arms but regretted it immediately. She grunted in pain. "Don't try to move, you've been beat up pretty badly." The same voice said again. It was feminine and very familiar. "Who…" Barriss said softly. She opened her other eye and looked around. She was lying in a bed, the Halls of Healing? A figure was sitting next to her. "Master?" she asked softly. Luminara smiled. "Yes Barriss, I'm here." Barriss looked around confused as she tried to remember what had happened. She visited Lux Bonteri, she was training and then… She gasped and tried to sit up. She immediately regretted her decision again as pain shot through her again. "Easy Barriss, just lie down. Don't worry, you're safe." Luminara told her. Barriss could sense the truth in her voice and she relaxed a bit. She laid back down, relaxing in the soft mattress. "I'm glad you're awake Barriss, she startled me quite a bit." Luminara said. "I entered the training room to find you unconscious on the ground surrounded by a group of padawans." Luminara shook her head. "Master Windu told me what happened. You didn't deserve that…" Barriss looked down and closed her eyes. "I felt it Master." She said softly. "What do you mean?" Luminara asked. Barriss looked at her. "I could feel the Dark Side around me, telling me to… telling me to kill them and…" she shook her head. "But you didn't give in to it, did you?" Luminara asked. "No…" Barriss replied softly. Luminara smiled. "I'm proud of you Barriss. Resisting such feelings in a situation like that isn't easy. You did great." She said kindly. Barriss smiled a bit, but her smile vanished quickly. "What about…?" she asked softly. "Those padawans?" Luminara replied. Barriss nodded shakily. "I believe they are in the Council chambers now. Master Windu looked extremely unhappy when I entered the room." She explained to her padawan. "They will probably receive some form of punishment for their actions." Barriss nodded understandingly. "You're in a pretty rough shape. You will need to spend a few days in the Halls of Healing for recovery and observation." Luminara said. "I see." Barriss replied. "Don't worry Barriss, they won't hurt you again." Luminara said comfortingly. "just rest for now." Barriss nodded and laid her head back down. Luminara squeezed her hand comfortably and sent her a wave of comfort through the Force. Barriss relaxed and closed her eyes. Luminara stood up and left her to rest.

;-

That's the end of this chapter. I couldn't really think of anything else to add.

I know, it's not very pretty for Barriss, but I imagine that not everyone in the Order would be very understanding of her position, you know, being controlled/corrupted and all…

My next update will be for Tale of a Togruta. After that, Luminara and Barriss will go on a relief/rebuild mission. Any suggestions for their destination? I'm thinking of maybe Ryloth, seeing as that planet was attacked pretty severely in the series.

Until next time.