Jacen walked among the expectant Aing-Tii in the village that he was assigned to live in. He was unnerved by their stares, and he knew that they were all hoping, in one way or another, that he could help them either avoid or outright stop whatever their late prophet predicted before he died.
Only a few hours earlier, the Aing-Tii Sanhedrim vessel had dropped out of hyperspace over the aliens' homeworld, and from there, Tadar'Ro and his fellow monks allowed Jacen to take the Solo Quest out through the larger ship without any teleportation. They did, however, send him coordinates for him to land on the planet, and Tadar'Ro had elaborated that it was the village in which Jacen would be staying.
Now, though, Jacen felt lost without Tadar'Ro as his guide; not so much about where he had to go physically, as he was told by Tadar'Ro over the Quest's comm where his hut would be upon landing, but he felt an ineffable feeling of being completely unlike anyone else here. That feeling was heightened as he looked out at the Aing-Tii around him who all wanted to know how exactly he could help them; and it was exacerbated even further when he felt their anxieties through the different "colors" of their Force spectrum.
Thankfully, not a single one of them attempted to actually come up and talk to him, regardless of whether or not they had a translator device like Tadar'Ro did. So Jacen's walk from the Solo Quest, which he set down in the woods on the outskirts of this village, to his small yet comfortable, cozy, and still somewhat roomy hut was an otherwise uneventful trip.
Jacen then set himself down on the thin mat that was prepared for him in the center of the hut and released a breath that he hadn't realize he'd been holding in. Here he was now, back with the Aing-Tii, with no idea what to do to help them when he wasn't clear about what kind of threat they, and possibly the rest of the galaxy, would be facing in the near future.
So what was next now? Simply sit here and wait for Tadar'Ro or whoever else to come and see what could be done? Or perhaps meditation?
Meditation. Yes, that did sound like a good idea, Jacen thought. Couldn't go wrong with a little meditation, right?
So Jacen folded his legs, closed his eyes, and opened himself to the Aing-Tii's spectrum of the Force, sinking himself into it. And as he did, the anxiety permeating his mind over that vision on Dorin was one that melted away; he was becoming one with the Force, though not to the extent of the oneness he experienced in his fight with Onimi.
While Jacen no longer believed in either the light or dark sides of the Force, he could still perceive them as part of the spectrum. But they were not so much separate or polar opposites from each other as they were intertwined with all the other aspects of the Force spectrum; the spectrum itself seemed to be fluid and ever-changing, with aspects of the Force that were represented in different colors simultaneously weaving in and out of each other.
Still, Jacen understood just how little he really understood; of course, his Jedi training was a big part of that. And yes, while he did understand how the light and dark sides could possibly be intertwined - his training under Vergere certainly elucidated on that information - he didn't understand what all these other colors meant, or how they intertwined with the light and dark sides as well as the two of them did with each other. His brief learning under Tadar'Ro the first time he was on the Aing-Tii's homeworld never elaborated what the rest of these colors necessarily meant.
Nevertheless, Jacen saw through the colors and perceived that Tadar'Ro was coming. So he dropped out of his meditation, bringing himself back to the physical, mortal plane again, and opened his eyes in time to see the Aing-Tii guide open the door and walk inside.
"Pardon me, but," Jacen said, "why didn't you knock?"
"Ah, yes. It is a custom in many cultures, such as your own, to knock. We do not do that here; if we want to let others know of our arrival, we let them know through the Force. And if the recipient is willing to invite the guest, there is no need for the guest to knock."
"The recipient doesn't feel intruded by such use of the Force?" Jacen asked.
"It depends on how deep such a use of the Force can be. Generally, however, we do not feel intruded upon. Do you, Jacen?" Tadar'Ro inquired.
"Not really," Jacen answered. "I thought I simply sensed you."
"Well, of course you did. But you were willing to invite me in; therefore, there was no need to knock."
Jacen smirked. "How fascinating your culture's thoughts are on manners, Tadar'Ro. Though I have to ask: Is there anything you don't use the Force for?"
"Eating, drinking, and breathing," Tadar'Ro said, "among other regular activities."
"Gotcha," Jacen acknowledged. "So I guess you came over to ask how I could help your people?"
"And the galaxy, yes," Tadar'Ro admitted.
Jacen shrugged. "Well, go ahead. Say or do anything you feel's necessary, Tadar'Ro."
"Actually, I was hoping you would have that, Jacen."
Jacen sighed. "I was afraid you'd say that."
"Come now," Tadar'Ro said. "Surely, there must be something that you feel is within your power."
Jacen shook his head. "Honestly, even though it's probably got nothing to do with what you want, I was actually kinda interested in learning what all the colors mean."
"The colors? Oh, you mean the spectrum," Tadar'Ro stated. "Very well. I am willing to help you understand more of that; perhaps it may even lead you to the answers that our people seek."
Jacen nodded. "I understand how the white and black in the spectrum are the light and dark sides of the Force respectively. But can you tell me what a color such as blue is in the Force?"
"Blue is a state of calm," Tadar'Ro explained. "If it were to be taught among the Jedi Academy, the blue side, as it were, would be more helpful to the white or light side of the Force. It can help center a Force-user such as a Jedi, or Aing-Tii monk in our case, with inner peace and tranquility.
"But it can even aid in the dark side as well; it can help center one such as a Sith to do horrible things, to leave out any and all empathy for other sentient beings, to accomplish his or her ends in a calm, rational manner. By itself, of course, blue is simply that; calm.
"Unlike the red of rage; obvious how it can fuel a dark sider such as a Sith, but red can give just cause to the morality of a Jedi. Red gives a Force-user the ability to be appalled by an atrocious transgression, such as the genocide of an entire people or species. Without rage's red, how could one possibly be motivated to do anything in the face of what could make an ordinary being furious?
"Yellow is that of cowardice; it can prevent one from doing a valiant or courageous act and make one into a fearful, pathetic specimen. But the yellow of cowardice is what can motivate one to get out of a situation that he or she could not possibly surmount; it would be completely understandable for a Jedi to turn and run in the wake of an army of Sith, wouldn't you say, Jacen?
"Green is that of envy; again, while it can lead one into doing greedy, selfish things for themselves, a dark side trait evidently, it can also be used to help others. Green can also have the inverse of envy, which is that of pity; one can be envious not of others, but for others because of what those others lack in comparison to those who have so much more. You can see that through charities and in charitable people.
"Purple is actually one of the two colors of courage, and it is of the calm courage. Where blue and purple are similar in hue, purple is where one can be reduced in fear in what one has to do for him or herself and/or others. Orange is the second color of courage, but it is of the passionate courage, one motivated entirely by feeling, as if it were the red of rage tempered by some of the yellow of cowardice.
"Pink is of lust; to lust after one who cares for you is good, as you may help your loved one. But it can also be destructive; for that reason, it was why the Jedi Order banned romantic attachments prior to their fall by Palpatine's hand.
"Brown is of regret, of things that were expunged either for one's good or one's ill. Regret can make one either sorrowful for an unjust action that he or she has committed and convince them to repent or seek redemption, or it can make them feel unjust for a rightful action that they committed; like you, Jacen."
That stung, but Jacen kept his expression and Force-presence tight.
Tadar'Ro continued. "And all of these colors? All of them have their own distinct, unique shades of their own, nuances that I believe I may even be unaware of."
"So is grey the compromising shade between white and black? Light and dark?" Jacen asked.
While Tadar'Ro couldn't smile, Jacen felt him smile through the Force. "Indeed. Where an action by itself can be both good and bad depending on the circumstance."
"Just as when I killed those Bothans," Jacen remarked.
Tadar'Ro felt regretful; an undercurrent of brown appeared in a faded blur in Jacen's Force-vision as he looked at the Aing-Tii. "Do you feel like you have learned enough for today, Jacen?"
As bad as Jacen felt... "Yes, I do believe I have."
"Then I will see you tomorrow," Tadar'Ro told him, a faded blue of calm now in Jacen's blurred Force-vision. "And, hopefully, we might get closer to what can possibly help us."
Jacen nodded. "I hope so, too."
"Goodnight, Jacen."
"Goodnight, Tadar'Ro."
And with that, Tadar'Ro was gone, and Jacen was left to sleep on the surprisingly comfortable mat.
In his dreams, an aura of light pink surrounded Danni's face, while an aura of green surrounded Tenel Ka's.