Kalu roused awake by a metal ratcheting sound. A solid clanging echoed in his tender head. Reaching up he felt a contusion and dried blood. Running his hand across them, the memories came flooding back. He had killed—so many. He had escaped. He and Z landed on a mountainside. He had battled a spider and some strange creatures, who knocked him out. That brought him to here – wherever here was.

Pushing up with both hands, Kalu rose slowly as to not cause pain to his throbbing head. He used two of the thick metal bars running from the floor to the ceiling to help him to stand. A painful gasp let out of him as he straightened up completely. He squinted at the torchlight. It was dim, but with his head battered and eyes still adjusting it felt like he was a few feet from a star.

After a minute his eyes adjusted and he could take in his surroundings. A total of twelve metal bars, built into jagged stone, separated him from a long hallway with ten visible torches hanging. They were crudely put together—lacking any attention to detail or polished affect. To his immediate right was another cell, except it was empty. All that remained was a pile of soiled rags and spats of blood. To his left it was another empty cell with nothing in it. It looked like no one had been in it for some time. He peered down the long hallway. All he could see was the errant dust floating in the torch light.

He checked his belt for his lightsaber and lantern. Both were taken. He kicked the ground, but knew better than to assume his captors, although archaic, were compete fools. In the corner of the cell laid a blanket littered with moth holes. He staggered over to it. Both legs felt weak, but relatively uninjured. He picked up the filthy smelling blanket and began folding it. Getting it to a nice foot by foot square, Kalu placed it in the corner. He grasped onto one of the bars and gently let himself down on top of it. The ground was still hard to sit on, but the blanket it made it bearable.

He took in a deep breath and the musty air smelled like grime and damp. Taking in another deep breath, he sighed just as deep. What to do now? He looked at his hands and shook his head. Clearly this place had an effect on his powers. It dampened them of sorts. That was the only logical conclusion Kalu could draw after the failure with the spider and those creatures. They were obviously weak minded and should have caved easily to his mind trick. It may have been a different language, but that wouldn't matter because it is all about affecting the creatures thought process and forcing your thought on them. Either way, he had to figure out a way to break through this haze affecting his powers and get out.

His body shuddered as the thought of being unable to regain full power in this place. A deep gargling sound came from his stomach. He hung his head and grimaced at his beaten mind, empty gut and his helplessness. Why did I let it get to this?

The all too fresh memories of the past few weeks came over him like a storm cloud. He thought back to where it all started. News came from the inner-realm that Athuan, his home planet, had been the center of some controversy. Getting the true story from the Senate was as hard as teaching an ant to do tricks. It was hot that morning, hottest day of the year on Coruscant to date. Trying to escape the bog of his quarters, Kalu retreated to the Temple's library to take his mind off his home planet. When he had become a Jedi, he swore to move on from his old life.

He picked up a book he had never read before: The Pattern of Language Volume One. Its basic premise was that a Jedi, opening all facets of their mind, all connections to the Force, could penetrate the barriers of any dialect and tongue, and, in time, learn any language by simply listening to someone use it in normal conversation. The first three chapters focused on studying your subject's manner of speech. This entailed watching and listening to their: tone, points of inflection, word cadence, volume, pauses and a litany of other factors.

Kalu was in luck that a Padawan by the name of Tressic Baru was talking with another just a few tables away. Tressic was from the Noad system and his home planet of Vara spoke a rare language called Gilvarian. It was said that less than five thousand individuals spoke it in the entire universe. This gave Kalu an opportunity to further keep his mind off Athuan and practice this new skill. He listened to Tressic speak to the other Padawan.

The alien had a very distinct pattern of speech that he rarely deviated from. Tressic would riddle off three sentences quickly, then one slowly and then wait for a response. For the better part of an hour, he repeated this same cadence. Kalu could not understand the entire conversation with just this, but the few words he picked up on throughout were: Masters, trials and unfair.

From this Kalu derived the main premise of their conversation. Tressic had spent far too long a time as a Padawan and should have been a master years ago. However, he struggled mightily every time he took the trials. Leading up to them, he passed all tests with ease. When it came for the trials, though, he would get tense and both his mind and movements became stiff and stifled. He and others expressed great displeasure that one should have to formally show off their powers to be given the rank of Master. Of course Tressic never declared this publically. It was a good thing too because Kalu and most other Masters, who had been in life and death situations, knew that the trials paled in comparison to the real thing.

Feeling like he had adequately learned to pick up on this, for the time being, Kalu moved along to the middle chapters. These covered mostly physical cues: hand gestures, eye contact, facial expressions, shifting in posture and even if the person went to the lavatory or engaged in drinking or eating during the course of the discussion.

Kalu set the book down again and listened to Tressic and the other Padawan continue their discussion. This time Masters, trials and unfair came through much more clearly. A few other words became evident as well: emotion, feeling and aggression. Kalu could not put all the pieces together, but he could gather a lot from this. After making a few assumptions based on what he knew of the Varan race, he ascertained that Tressic was talking about his upbringing and makeup. Essentially he was making excuses for his failures. Tressic deemed the trials unfair to his kind because they were taught from a young age to reach out with all feeling and emotion. This of course made it hard for him to remain calm in tense situations. Kalu chuckled at this notion and wondered if Tressic should have been brought to the Jedi Temple in the first place.

The final chapters in the book focused on the most difficult and rewarding part of the linguistics pursuit: using the Force to penetrate the minds of surrounding living things. Of course Kalu did not have the power yet to see into another intelligent beings thoughts—the book did not focus on that though. It focused on non-intelligent to sedentary beings. That could be anything from a mouse, a fly or even a tree or plant.

Someone came up to Tressic and the other Padawan and started talking to them. Kalu ignored them and went back to the book.

He thought the method sounded odd at first until he read on. It detailed how these beings, however unintelligent or incapable of speech, could unlock the language. Unbeknownst to the mouse or tree, they picked up language cues when within earshot of people conversing. The unused paddocks of their simple minds would absorb and sometimes retain words and conversations being had around them. They offered limited amount of storage, but when infiltrated could offer clues to what was being said. This was called Harvender's Secret. It was called this because the first time this method was used was with a Harvender Tree. It was possible with this and the other two studies for a Jedi to grasp basic comprehension of another's language – even fairly quickly. Like anything though, a giant leap in comprehension came quickly, but after this initial spurt, growth was much slower and it would take years to master.

Kalu didn't know if this would work but he wanted to try. Searching around for something to use, he spotted an innocuous green plant sitting in a corner not too far from Tressic. The other person had left them a few minutes prior. Tressic and the other Padawan had stunned expressions on their face.

Kalu grew curious as he worked his way into the life force of the plant. It didn't have a brain in the common sense, but nonetheless its being had a system that kept it alive and could offer something. He closed his eyes and focused on the plant's dim consciousness. A somewhat strained feeling came over him. He felt the plant's struggle as it sat in a pot of dirt that limited its expansion and sun exposure. Delving into its rudimentary senses, Kalu started to pick up Tressic's conversation. It sounded like they were speaking in a tunnel. He picked up the words he had heard the alien use before, but every few seconds another word or two would pop in a slightly different voice. This was the plant's decoding and deciphering of what was being said, adding to his interpreting.

Kalu listened as Tressic went down a new line of conversation than before. The words changed from Kalu's to the plant's ever so subtly and worked almost like a melody. Tressic spoke in the same cadence but with less fervor than before. He rattled off lots of information in a short amount of time. It was hard for Kalu to keep up at times and he had to digest something, then go back to what was being said. He caught a pair of words that made him gasp, but they came so quickly that he wasn't sure.

He focused harder and tried to deepen his connection with the plant. Something resembling the breath stopping words flew by again, but he couldn't tell exactly what was said. Kalu locked on like a vise to the plant's life force and waited for Tressic to repeat himself. The words came again. Kalu jerked back like a lightsaber had impaled him. His hands turned to fists and a surge of anger shot through him. He jumped up and yelled at the top of lungs. Everyone in the library, including Tressic were startled. Kalu threw his chair back and threw aside every table between them. Tressic drew back and trembled. Kalu grabbed the Varanian by the throat and slammed him against the wall. Tressic let out a painful moan. Tightening his fist, Kalu glared into the alien's beady eyes.

"What did you say?" he screamed.

Tressic stammered uncontrollably and looked around for anyone to help.

Kalu backhanded him, causing his lip to bleed. "What did you say?"

The Varanian sputtered and flinched when Kalu raised his hand again. Tressic took a deep breath to calm himself. "Athuan was destroyed."

A metal door slammed shut with a rasp and jolted Kalu out of his memory. His hands trembled as he ran them through his sweat soaked hair. He closed his eyes and took a long breath to the point where it burned. After a few more, his panting returned to normal breathing. Panning around, his situation remained the same—still stuck in the crude jail cell. Far away from Coruscant and the Jedi temple.

His ears perked as he heard two quiet, yet fierce voices somewhere down the corridor. He pulled himself up with minimal pain and crept closer. It was two creatures like the ones that captured him earlier. They looked like they were talking about something serious, but their voices remained low. Kalu put his ear between two of the bars to hear more clearly. He closed his eyes and blocked all other stimuli and focused on their conversation.

Each one spoke in short, harsh tones. Their word cadence was slow, which was good for Kalu. It sounded like a very simple language. Each word they spoke had a distinct meaning without much room for interpretation—again a good thing for Kalu. They didn't pause much, which meant one of two things: either their minds worked quickly or they didn't give much thought before speaking. Judging by his only interaction with them, he tended to believe the latter.

The creatures plowed through their sentences like unyoked oxen. Kalu delved deeper into the Force and hardened his senses, attuning all of them to the words. A sensation like when he ate the sprout trickled up from his stomach. His head swelled at the same time. A gnawing queasiness came from both directions and were moving toward each other threatening to meet in his chest. This haze intensified as he tried to strengthen the connection with the Force.

He held strong and kept his focus on the creatures' conversation. Several words became clear as they sputtered on: Master, Great One, death. It didn't make sense. Kalu continued to listen as their voices became louder. Death. Killing. Ripping. Gutting. More words came to him. He couldn't tell if they were talking about generalities or if they were referring to something specific. Torturing. Killing. Prisoner.

Kalu froze after deciphering the last word. They were referring to him at the end. He thought for a moment, trying to put together all the words they had said that he could untangle. Would this master, great one use ripping and gutting to torture the prisoner? Was this prisoner him or someone else in the vast tower? Surely he couldn't be the only one locked up here.

This is going to feel awful. He closed his eyes, got a firm grip on the force and drowned everything but the creatures' voices out. Then he went to a deeper level. He could not see them, so studying their movements and gestures was out, but perhaps there was something else living in here that he could use. The haze intensified and caused a brick sized piece of bile to move up from his stomach. Kalu fought it as he continued to search for any life form.

A faint glimmer of something wafted across his senses. He followed it and found the source. A mouse. The poor little thing stood on the edge of death. Kalu felt its hunger, its fear and desperation for relief. He wanted to help it, but he couldn't do anything. It took seconds for him to make a complete connection with the mouse.

He now heard the creatures with two brains and two sets of ears. The words came through more clearly as the mouse could actually sense parts of their language. It had probably learned some of the basics over a period of years. Of course it couldn't speak it, but it had some intelligence back in the dark recesses of its mind.

"The Great… Master…" The creatures' words came through as they were speaking now. "Rallying… Capturing."

Kalu dove deeper into the mouse's mind. He found an untapped area that seemed to spark every time the creatures spoke. Locking onto it, he refocused.

"Captured many… Master… Wants more… All… Died" the creatures stopped as the door rasped and jarred open.

Kalu shook out of the connection and stumbled to the back of the cell. Covering himself with the ratty blanket, another creature came into view. It stopped at the front of his cell and clanged a metal plate against it. Kalu pulled himself up and walked to it. In a quick motion the creature opened a skinny slot and pushed through the plate and a small cup. Kalu picked them both up as the guard left and motioned the other two to follow. The door slammed shut and he was alone again.

Kalu's stomach grumbled as he looked down at the food. It had a sickly green color and appeared to be several things mashed together for a meal. It had a smell that would have made him retch under any other circumstances. However, he would take anything now. He dove into the food and ignored its sour taste. It was better than the sprout and now he was ten times hungrier.

It took half a minute to get down to the last bite. He went to scoop it up and paused. Searching down the corridor, he spotted what he was looking for. He threw the last piece toward a tiny cubby at the base of the wall.

"Thanks for your help. Eat up." he said as the little mouse came out and munched on the food.

Kalu smiled as the poor thing devoured its first meal in sometime. He looked into the cup he was given. It had a golden tint and a pleasant smell. He downed half of it in one gulp. It was an ale and a good one. He shot back the other half and felt a soothing sense come over him.

The combination of food and surprisingly good drink settled his head, stomach and the rest of his body. For the first time in a few days, he felt like himself. All the turmoil of everything that had happened since Athuan seemed to drop off his mind. The haze dampening his connection with the Force remained, but he felt better equipped to fight against it if the time came.

He walked around his cell and all his extremities felt less sore. Both legs lost their slight wobble and both arms were ready for anything. He pressed both hands against the bars and leaned in with all his weight. They held sturdy. He felt good, but was still no match for steel between him and freedom.

"Sir!" a beep rang out startling Kalu.

"Sir! Are you there?" Z's sequence of beeps came from somewhere on Kalu's person.

He padded and ran his hands up and down himself. Reaching into a tiny pocket on the inside of his pants, he found the commlink. He cursed himself for forgetting about it. After all that had happened, he figured the creatures would have taken it along with everything else. They must have missed it while searching him.

He clicked the commlink's responder. "Z! I'm glad to hear your voice."

"Where are you, sir? It has been twelve hours since you left. I have tried you on the commlink periodically for the past six."

Kalu chuckled and shook his head. This place must have an effect on everything. "I don't know exactly where."

"What do you mean?"

"Soon after I left you a group of creatures, is the best way to put it, knocked me out and took me to their tower. I am in a cell with no windows, so I don't know exactly where I am."

Z did not respond immediately.

"I am confused as to how you let something overpower you."

"It's not easy to explain fully. There is some sort of haze that looms over this place. It dampens my connection to the Force and most likely kept your communication on the commlink from coming through."

"I have risked damaging our satellite to amplify the commlink's power to reach you now as well as use a frequency never used. It as if you are on the other side of the galaxy. That must be this haze you are referring to."

Kalu nodded and wrapped the blanket around him as the cell grew colder.

"Do you have a timetable of when you might return?"

"It's not that simple. I don't have my lightsaber, my powers are dampened, and I am locked in a cell."

"I see, sir. That is a grim situation."

Kalu chuckled even though he didn't find his predicament funny. "How is the ship?"

"It is in working order minus the parts we need."

"There is plenty of steel here to use to make those parts if I can get you some."

"There is nothing left for me to do with the ship. I am coming after you, so we can get off this planet."

He shook his head. "No, Z. If you get caught then we are both doomed."

"That is unlikely, sir. You can guide me to you and my defenses are not Force based." He thought about this for a moment. Z's artillery was formidable for a droid. He had proved himself several times before. "No. We can't risk it." Kalu sighed because the offer was tempting. "I get the feeling that there are a lot of those things around and a few others beasts I haven't seen yet. Plus, I am working on a way out of here right now. If I can get out and bring you some steel, we can leave this place and never comeback."

"I do not agree with this tactic. You are in a hostile situation and I was built for such intrusions. However, I will remain here with the commlink line open for your directions."

"I think that is best, Z. Besides, it's not like we are rushing to get somewhere. Anybody in the known Republic wants to arrest or kill me. Looks like the feeling is mutual here."

"I find it odd that humans attempt humor during dark situations."

"Well, that's all I have right now. I will keep you informed as I make progress."

"Very good, sir."

"And Z, be careful out there. There is no telling what is scaling that mountainside at all times of day and night. Set up camp defenses and be alert."

"I will, sir."

The commlink went to low static as Z cutout. Kalu clicked its communicator switch off to conserve the battery. It could still receive incoming transmissions, but not send them in that mode.

He went to the corner and rewrapped himself in the blanket. Laying his head on the stone floor, he took in a deep breath.

"Maybe luck will be with us tomorrow." he said as his eyes drifted lazily and closed.