Xani moaned, rolling over to his body aching and protesting every movement. Through semi-consciousness, he heard whispering and slowly opened his eyes to see three of the kids hovering over him.

Xani shot upright, yelling, "How in the name of Sith did you get in here?"

"We heard you crying and came in to see if you were ok. It was hard to get in the door, but we managed to get in." One of the children explained.

Xani looked towards the door hatch on his tent and saw it torn on one side. The seams were ripped, looking like they were stretched over something large until they popped, then the excess slack sagged to the ground.

Xani groaned again, falling back on his pillow and putting his arm over his eyes. He sighed heavily, "I'll get blamed for this too, I just know it."

"No you wont. We will tell the masters that we had to come and check on you. It was the only way in."

Xani uncovered his eyes, rising up and frowning at the children. "What are you talking about? You 'had' to check on me? And what do you mean by I was crying?"

"You were moaning and we could hear you crying. When we got in here, we found you sick. We've been taking care of you while you got better."

"Sick?" Xani thought for a moment, remembering the sickening feeling he went to sleep with, then looked down at his still speckled body.

"Arna is going to be a healer, so he helped us care for you. He told us what to do and how to use the force to help you heal. He said you were fevered and having a reaction to something." One of the kids explained.

Xani noticed that the itching was gone from his welts, though they still dominated his skin. "It feels a lot better. Thank you all. Where is Arna so I can thank him?"

"He should be back from getting some berries for the evening meal." One of the children said thoughtfully.

"WHAT?" Xani shot up off his pillow again. "How long was I asleep?"

"You've been sick all day. Arna told us that the force would help you to sleep while you healed. He was right. Your fever is gone and you're now better." The child beamed proudly.

Xani began to swear in several languages and threw off his blankets. He stumbled around, grabbing his change of clothes and yelled at the children to get out and give him some privacy.

When Xani emerged from the tent, he yelled for everyone to hear him. "Thank you for helping me today. I feel much better now. However, we're now way behind schedule, so we'll have to stay up tonight to make up for the loss of a day."

Fourteen sets of sad eyes looked at their Padawan Counselor. Whimpering started, followed by a chorus of 'But I'm soo tired.' "But we are sleepy" "I want to go home now" 'We aren't good at this and want to go back to the Temple."

Xani rolled his eyes, 'But you already passed a lot of the criteria and guidelines that was set for you. You all earned you 'Safety and First Aid' honors for helping me while I was sick. You only have a couple more things left and you're done and we ALL can go home."

The kids perked up and shouted with happiness.

Xani calmed everyone down and thought about the next things on the list for his group to do. Use the force to guide you through unknown territory. Co-operation with others. Learning to listen to the force in its natural state.

Xani figured out a plan and started telling his troop. 'After we eat, we are going to pack up our tents and hike back to our cabin."

"How? We don't know the way back!" A small Calamarian girl interrupted.

"Each one of you will be in charge of using the force and leading us back home." Xani smiled smugly, realizing that half of the kids weren't skilled enough to use the force on that level. "Come on. Let's eat and then get these tents packed up so we can start our new adventure."

The sun was barely peeking over the hills when the group finished off their meal and had their tents packed. Occasionally a whimper of protest or a cry of exhaustion would find its way to Xani's ear to which he ignored and pushed everyone to head out for their long trek.

The children followed obediently behind Xani, unknowingly going in the wrong direction.

Xani congratulated himself on his cleverness. Intentionally going the wrong direction and making the kids use the force to find their way home. A part of him didn't want to stray them too far off course. He was thankful the itching and bleeding had stopped, but was unhappy with the bright red welts that still marred his body, and he still held a grudge for the eaten sweets and rations. His mind constantly fought the battle between revenge and compassion.

"Okay. Whose first to lead us home?" Xani asked.

The kids were tired, laden down with packs, eyes drooping, shoulders slumped. They all groaned and sighed, no one volunteering for the assignment.

"Fine. We'll start with the youngest and work our way to the oldest." Xani pointed to a small humanoid male around 4 or 5 standard years old. "Concentrate hard and let the force guide you. Trust your instincts."

The child nodded and closed his eyes, willing the force to aid him. He opened his eyes and pointed in a direction and the group started moving over the rough terrain.

After an hour of stumbling over increasingly rocky ground, Xani appointed a new leader to the group, who started them on a trek in another direction.

Xani kept a constant connection to the force, focusing on their camp and their direction.

Hour by hour passed in the night. The group moved slowly, unknowingly circling their camp site they had started from.

When the sun peek over the horizon in the early morning hours, the troop was nearly falling asleep on their feet. A couple of the smaller children had fell behind a good distance away. Whimpers could be heard, some louder than others. Fatigue was setting in full force and causing the kids to get cranky and moody.

Xani called for a break, telling the kids to rest while he looked for food. All the kids agreed, dumping their heavy packs onto the ground with a dull thud. Bodies soon followed, weighing heavily down on the ground and relishing the break. Bones hurt, legs ached, muscles were starting to stiffen from over exertion.

Xani came back from collecting some berries and found his entire group passed out. He frowned with a sigh, then sat down and munched on the berries as the morning sun blurred from overcast clouds.

After Xani had eaten his fill, he stretched out, propping his head up on his pack and drifting off into a lazy slumber.

A few hours later, Xani woke with a start. The force was swirling around him, sending him senses of dread and warning. He sat up and looked around, counting each sleeping body. All of his kids were accounted for, most piled on top of one another for warmth as the sun already settled on the horizon, though still partially concealed through large puffy clouds. Xanatos could tell that the clouds weren't storm clouds and that they would be safe from rain.

'So what is the force trying to warm me of?' Xani wondered.

Xani clapped his hands, yanking on legs, arms and rousting up his sleepy bunch. In case there was an emergency, he wanted all of the children alert and ready for whatever was threatening.

Mumbled protests and cries began to sound throughout the makeshift camp. Sleepy children rubbed their eyes and pouted, fretting over their rude awakening.

When everyone was awake, Xani instructed them. "When you're more awake, we'll start out towards camp again. I'll going to go and get us something to eat. Stay here and no one wonder off. BE alert and wary while I'm gone."

Everyone agreed and sleepily rose up and tried to remain awake while Xani foraged for food. Some of the children had fallen back asleep and were caroused awake by their fellow campers.

Xani grumbled about feeding the kids, figuring they would be sound asleep again by the time he returned. He found a large patch of berries and began using the force to harvest the berries and fill his out stretched shirt.

The force swirled around him, alerting him to danger. The hairs on the back of his neck rose up and a streak of adrenaline coursed through him. Xani remained motionless, searching the force for a cause of the distraction.

A large bee, the size of Xanatos' palm, shot out from the brush, buzzing in a deafening tone. The bees' hum echoed in Xani's ear as it flew past, causing him to flinch at the expectant impact.

Xani heard the buzz recede and opened his eyes in relief. He exhaled deeply and focused on the force again to obtain some berries.

The force tingled along his senses still, then surged suddenly, giving Xani ample warning as a large, sharp clawed, paw emerged from the thicket, swiping at a laden down branch.

Xani gulped and took a step back, hoping that whatever that was attached to the paw on the other end, wouldn't see him as a threat and would leave him alone.

Xani took another step back, and accidentally shattered a stick. The crackle broke the relative silence and alerted the intruder of Xani's presence.

A large, black Tangarian bear rose up on its hind legs, easily exceeding 9 feet in height. Its broad head was accented by a mouthful of razor sharp teeth, black beady eyes, and large ears that picked up the slightest noise.

The bear raised one of its massive paws to its face, using a 2 inch claw to scratch at its face.

Xani couldn't breathe. He stood perfectly still, hoping the bear wouldn't pay him any attention. His heart pounded in his ears, adrenaline filled his blood as his heart hammed in anticipation, his palms were sweaty, and perspiration dampened his forehead.

The bears' nose twitched, picking up the smell of fresh, ripe berries and brought its massive head down to stare at the source of the delicious smell.

The bear licked its lips as its site centered on Xani. It dropped down on all fours and pushed its way through the thorny thicket.

The berries went flying as Xani screamed in a high pitched, deafening sound, then ran as fast as his legs could carry him. He ran back towards camp, screaming at the top of his lungs that there was a bear chasing after him. A rational part of his mind realized that the children couldn't do anything about the bear and that he would endanger them if he showed the bear their camp site.

Before he knew it, Xani was running through the middle of the camp, the bear hot on his heels. The older children protected the younger ones, watching as their leader sprinted through the camp.

Xani ran as hard and as fast as he ever had in his life. He could feel the bear still bent on catching him and imagined the bears' breath on his neck, allowing him to kick into a higher gear and speed up. Xani rounded a path, then realized he was at a deep lagoon with a high waterfall cascading down and raining a fine mist over the area.

With a force boost, Xani jumped out from the bank and landed perfectly on a rock near the middle of the pond. The spray from the falls mussed his body, covering him in a fine mist that began to wash away his scent and make it difficult for the bear to track him.

Xani remained motionless on the rock, letting the water spray all over him. His icy blue eyes watched the bear move curiously on the embankment, pacing and sniffing the air for its prey. The bear wandered into the water a bit, then rose up on its haunches and continued its search.

After several minutes, the bear gave up, growling as it stalked off into the wilderness. Its grumbles and muffled roars grew distant as it searched out for new food.

Xani sat down heavily on the rock, sighing and wanting to collapse right on the spot. The adrenaline was beginning to wear off, bringing the over-exerted padawan down into a sense of exhaustion. Taking several deep breaths and then focusing on the force to sense for danger, Xani slid off the rock and splashed into the cool water.

The water was deceiving in its depths as Xanatos sunk into the cool water well over his head. He surfaced, cursed and began to swim back to shore, mumbling a variety of colorful metaphors at the bear, the camp, the children, his master, anyone else he thought was responsible for making him participate in this exercise.

Hauling himself out onto the shore, Xani made his way back towards the camp. He found a patch of unoccupied berries and loaded up his shirt once again.

All of this wouldn't have had to happen had he not allowed his pride to get in the way. He hated the idea that all of this came about in spite of his efforts, or lack thereof. If he had only allowed his master to win the saber battle, and NOT have injured him, he wouldn't have gotten lassoed into camp duty.

"Oh the Force can be wicked in its ways' Xani thought to himself.

The children greeted their soaked leader and converged on him, asking questions and making short work of the berries. Xani answered their questions, indulging it about his cunning and style, and telling the children that the bear gave up because it was outmatched. The children absorbed the tale, and the lies, awing over their leader's abilities and instincts.

"Do you think I could ever be as good as you, Xanatos?" Ben asked as they were preparing to head out into the wilderness again.

"I don't know Ben. I'm very good and it would be difficult to compare my prowess to others." Xani sneered, following behind the newly appointed leader of the group to lead them home.

The children tagged along side Xani, asking questions and every once in a while, appointing a new leader to put them on the trek home. Xani indulged their imaginations and quickly built himself up into a wild flight of fantasy about his skills and wits.

After walking through most of the night, one of the elder children was leading the kids through the woods. Xani kept a constant connection to the camp site and snickered to himself as the group trudged through the wilderness, going in circles.

When everyone had led the group and then realized they were lost, fourteen sets of eyes focused on Xani, questioningly and sad.

Xani sighed and rolled his eyes, though the night had concealed his exasperation. "I guess its safe to say that we would never get home by using the force alone. Thank the force we weren't dropped off and left to rely on your wits to get us to safety."

Ben frowned, then spoke up, "I think we should go this way." He pointed off to the left, a determined look in his eyes.

Xani looked Ben up and down and felt the force coming off the youth in waves. Xani grinned and nodded, "Then let's get going." Xani watched and used his senses to monitor Ben, feeling the deep connection to the force the child was emitting and using to guide him.

Ben manipulated the force, surprising himself and his padawan leader. As they were walking, he would point and redirect the group, keeping them on track.

Xani felt himself fill with pride, though he didn't know why. He didn't even like kids, let alone feel a connection to one and feel such joy when the child succeeded. Xani frowned in the darkness, following silently along with his troop.

Morning began to approach, the sun started to peek over the distant horizon, the light battling away the darkness that covered the land. Xani knew they were close, and wondered why they hadn't stumbled onto the camp yet.

One of the other kids squealed, pointing a short distance away. "I see it! There it is!! We're home!!"

The other children yelled in excitement and hurried their pace over the terrain, some running as fast as they could. The made a mad dash for their cabin and scrambled inside, up the stairs, and plopped unceremoniously down onto their sleepcouches.

When Xani entered their cabin, he used the force to determine that most of the kids were already passed out on their beds. Only Ben had stayed behind, walking with Xani and asking the leader if he was feeling better from his sickness. Xani felt a pang of remorse, knowing the child was compassionate and tender hearted and Xani had acted callous towards him and the others.

He made a silent vow to not be so grouchy towards his charges and smiled at Ben, even went so far as to playfully tease him. Xani made a mental note to forget about the stolen rations and snacks and focus on teaching his kids all he could and make sure they be the best at camp. He was going to be the BEST padawan counselor ever and would make sure his children learned as much as they possibly could.

Ben yawned and excused himself, and slowly made his way upstairs to fall asleep. Xani bid the child good night and crawled into his own warm bed. He pulled the blankets up over his head and fell soundly asleep, his mind drifting off into a pleasant slumber.

Outside, the camp started to wake up and prepare for the day. Unknowingly to Xani and his kids, the camp had other plans for the group.