The next day brought welcome change. After a month's travel through space using unregistered space lanes, the Koniduz made its triumphant return to Nanh. In the darkness of the living quarters, Skar and Shinran were both sleeping safely in their bunks, but their sleep came to an abrupt halt when they heard the ship whine as it came out of hyperspace.

Their eyes met across the room and saw the realization in each other's eyes. Without saying a word they threw away their sheets and ran for the cockpit. Skar found Master Bo-Hi in the navigator's chair, there was a sense of victory coming from the old Jedi Master. Completion and relief. Skar guessed that Master Bo-Hi somewhere had longed as much as him to reach Nanh, to be back on solid ground, to be home.

Kayupa was piloting the ship through the stars. From him Skar read only worry as the Jedi pushed controls and flicked switches. Skar glanced to Shinran and they smiled in unison when they looked out the screen.

Nanh.

The planet loomed close to the screen, filling most of its view and Skar saw the sun shining brightly behind it, just over the ridge. Nanh eclipsed the sun like a giant blue, green, brown and white orb. Skar watched the snowy white blur of vast polar icecaps on the north and south of the planet. He could spot many continents and small island groups dumped in the blue and white water of the planet's seas.

Moving toward the equator from the caps further into the planet came lush green landscapes of forests and plant life. Nature seemed to have the upper hand here, not technology.

Not like Nar Shaddaa, Skar noted.

As the Koniduz came closer to the equator Skar saw brown and gray areas that he knew was acrid desert country. Weird shapes and edges revealed themselves later to be mountain ranges and canyons. The continent of the planet they were heading for had a canyon that stretched all the way from the east to the west of the continent.

"Its called the Canyon of Strength. Probably because it has been around for so long. It goes for miles and miles into the planet's crust," Master Bo-Hi informed.

The ship broke through atmosphere and, after a few minutes of rioting tremors, rocketed fluidly through the white clouds like a comet, and then headed east, out towards the sea. Skar remembered Master Bo-Hi saying their home was close to the sea.

Skar turned to Shinran and they hugged each other, both of them filled with joy. "Home, sweet home." Shinran whispered into his ear.

Skar smiled. "Far from spaceship, smelly spaceship."

Master Bo-Hi nodded to them both. "You'd better get your things packed. We've got some hiking to do over barren landscape before we reach the compound."

Skar and Shinran wasted no time. Rushing back to the living quarters they crammed all they owned into satchels, and wasted no time talking about their excitement. Skar filled his satchel and clipped his lightsaber to his belt, afterwards he tied Kayupa's bandana around his forehead and sat down on the floor by the ramp-lift.

Shinran joined him shortly and they sat staring at the ramp, as if staring at it would make it open faster.

They were shook out of their places when the ship touched ground hard and Skar felt even more exhilarated now. He didn't know exactly why he felt so giddy, he would have thought it was just the relief in knowing he was finally getting off the ship but his feelings told him differently. It was the thought of seeing his new home that drove him to such exhilaration, and to some degree the fascination of seeing a new world as well. All of it very exciting.

Master Bo-Hi and Kayupa, still with the bandage on his head, came down from the cockpit and searched the living quarters for their items. Meanwhile Skar and Shinran glared at them like children waiting for their parents to let them on a ride in an amusement park. Skar knew he was being impatient and to some degree very childish but Shinran's happiness was infectious.

Master Bo-Hi and Kayupa came up to them, dressed in their heavy cloaks and carrying large packs on their backs.

Kayupa walked over to the ramp-control and punched the switch. "Here goes."

The ramp lowered slowly, way too slowly for Skar. Shinran's and his hand found each other without looking and squeezed tightly.

Bright shining light shone through the crack and continued to intensify as the gap grew larger. Skar and Shinran took in every ray of light, bathing in its brilliance. The ramp finally hit ground and Skar, followed by Shinran, jumped to his feet and ran down the ramp, only pleased when his boots hit sand.

Skar threw himself on the ground and rolled around in the sand, instantly noticing how hot it was, throwing it and kicking it like it were waves of water. He held up handfuls, watching as it poured through his fingers and flew away on a gentle breeze. For a few moments he felt like a young boy again, innocent and playful, and it felt great. No outside obligations, no orders or instructions, no expectations he had to live up; nothing. Just pure innocence.

Wanting to share his feelings but not sure how Skar looked to Shinran, to find a smile on her lips as she toyed with the sand as well. Seeing her so happy made him feel warm and brilliant inside. And Skar read the feelings in her as easy as reading her smile. The feeling of safety. He knew that much of his own happiness was actually sprung from hers, for she truly carried more than him. The clouds that frequently hovered over her soul seemed to have drifted and a joy-filled little girl remained. Skar felt good for her. No one could have deserved it more.

His euphoria dying, Skar turned to the Force once again, using its eyes to take in the world, showing it in a much clearer light. The portion of Nanh they were in was definitely a desert realm, but he knew too little about living in a desert to know whether it was a good thing or not. He guessed the heat might become a problem, but on Nar Shaddaa he'd had to deal with muggers and the occasional assault so he figured he could live with sweating occasionally. The sand dunes stretched into infinity, but he spotted valleys running across the land to the east.

Minutes passed as Master Bo-Hi informed more details about the planet for them to remember and told them about the dangers and the creatures that lurked in the deserts. Paying attention with only one ear, Skar started to wish he hadn't rolled in the sand. His pockets, shirt and boots were filled with sand and it seemed no matter how much he padded himself it would never completely fade.

A wide smile on his lips, despite the dry heat and sweat running down his back, he looked at the sun, staring back at him like it was talking to him.

He began to wonder how far from Nar Shaddaa he actually was, but knew it was far enough. And so was the life he'd had so far. The boy had grown into a man. That life was far gone and a new one stood in the door. Time was done for being alone and solitary, now he was part of a group. A group of friends and people feeling the same pride and responsibility as him. Except for Shinran, they were Jedi. Guardians of justice and harbingers of hope.

Master Bo-Hi made sure he had Skar's attention by lifting a handful of sand with the Force, making a small ball of it and tossing it at Skar. Skar took no offense, padding the new sand off with a smile on his face. He was too happy to feel any resentment, and the Master had meant well.

"Any questions?"

Skar nodded. "How far yet?"

"We'll have to split up here," Bo-Hi turned to the others. "Skar and I will go to the temple. Kayupa and Shinran, you two go the monks and get some supplies."

Her smile diminished. "I go with Kayupa?"

Skar looked over to see Kayupa looking at Shinran and giving her a smug smile. A moment of jealousy erupted inside of him, but he decided to quench it. He felt he knew where Shinran was, and Kayupa was hardly in the charming and seductive mode at this time.

Shortly after Skar watched them trod off over the dunes, yet he and Master Bo-Hi hadn't budged. Master Bo-Hi crouched down on the ramp and motioned for Skar to sit down too. Skar fell down hard in the sand and played with it. He allowed the sand to flow through his fingers, running down back to where it belonged with the rest of the sand. The warmth of the sand beneath him was cooking the flesh on his rear, but Skar relished the sensation and even enjoyed the dry air. He figured he might as well enjoy the new sensations before they became torment.

Master Bo-Hi looked off into the sun. "You know many things about your family now."

A darkness swept across Skar's joy, clouding his happiness. The joy was diminished as the reality of his life and situation were reinstated. The innocence he had felt only moments earlier was wiped away as easily as the sand had fallen from his fingers. "I know nothing of real value."

"You have learned the true nature of the Kjoil. They were passionate, loving, emotional men."

"They weren't real Jedi."

Master Bo-Hi's head came up. "They never claimed to be."

He was right about that. The Kjoil had been very loud in their intentions of standing out among the Jedi, never claiming to live for the Republic's goals. They lived to protect, but to protect those they loved. Master Bo-Hi had called the Kjoil "Epigones of the Force" and said that their touch with the Force was one so close to the Force that they were practically born within its power.

But if they were so close, than their nature must also have been the one closest to the nature of the Force. Which seemed to mean, he reasoned, that the Force maybe had more to do with love than anything else.

"Skind…all this time I saw him as a hero, as an idol. Now I know he was a failure. The experiment failed big time. Skind Kjoil was a Sith Lord."

Master Bo-Hi gave him a skeptical gaze. "Is that how you really feel?"

Skar remembered what Kayupa had said; he'd admired Skind. "I guess I admire the courage, his dedication to Selia."

Master Bo-Hi nodded in agreement. "In the sense of good and evil he was evil, but in the terms of love…no one could blame him." Master Bo-Hi rose from the ramp and adjusted his cloak. "He is still a man to admire in my opinion."

Master Bo-Hi started walking across the desert towards the sun and the ramp closed behind them, sealing the ship from intruders. Skar saluted it in jest and began following Master Bo-Hi cross the sand. Skar could still turn and see the Koniduz behind them when he decided since the situation was already radiating with seriousness he might as well add to the composure.

"You don't have the secret to the Jentarana," he almost whispered. The words did not come easy but they filled his thoughts and he felt it was burden he needed to unload before it clouded him.

Master Bo-Hi's feet almost tripped themselves. Maintaining his balance the Jedi Master turned slowly to look at him. His face showed signs of hesitation. "No, I don't."

Skar held out his arms. "And you hope that I do. But I don't know anything about the Jentarana. I have no idea what the key is. But if you think that I can somehow make it pop out of thin air the least you could do in return is to trust me. Don't keep secrets from me."

Master Bo-Hi crossed his chest. "You are wiser than I thought."

"Let that be a warning to you. We're in this together and if you want my help, you got to be honest with me at all times; agreed?"

Master Bo-Hi smiled. "Very well, young Kjoil. I'm sorry for the past. I was only looking out for you."

Skar walked forward, passing the Jedi Master. "Those times are over. I can look out for myself now."

Master Bo-Hi's eyes followed Skar as the Kjoil walked ahead over the sanddunes, apparently very sure of where he was going, even in unfamiliar territory. "I'm sure you can."

The sun scorching his back and the ground baking his stomach, Kayupa scouted from the top of the canyon, his interest being the small ashram community on the canyon floor. Monks scuttled from tent to tent, going about their simple lives. A few beasts of burden were grassing outside the camp. Kayupa adjusted his perception with the Force and counted the minds of thirty nomads in all. He recognized some of them. Great. People I know.

Kayupa stood and looked over at his companion. Before he could stop it, his hand went to his sidearm out of sheer reflex.

Standing next to him, Shinran jolted. "What's the matter?"

Kayupa allowed his hand to move away from the weapon again. "Nothing. I just…have this urge to reach for my blaster whenever you're near." He made a sardonic smile. "Old habits die hard."

She sighed, and the corners of her lips twitched. "You sure know how to say all the right things to a girl, don't you? Quite the charmer."

"My charm has never saved my life, lady. My aim has."

She crouched down on the edge of the cliff next to him. "Its easier to destroy than create, ever heard that?"

Kayupa tightened his cloak around him and began climbing down the side of the cliff. "I've heard it. And its true."

She followed him down and after some involuntary sliding and tumbling, they reached the bottom. "I remember a man who once told me to trust him."

Kayupa felt the sting. Indeed he had promised her that. He didn't like going back on his word, but - No, it was best to see what the future might bring. Things might not be as bad as they seemed.

"I'm not going to hurt you."

"Then why do you act tough around me? Why can't you just say what's on your mind?"

Kayupa shook his head. The last thing he wanted was to get into that discussion now. "Its got nothing to do with you." He looked off toward the camp. "You can trust me. I just got my own problems right now. Something you can't help me with."

She shrugged. "Fine, keep polishing your armor, tough guy."

Kayupa motioned her to walk behind him, as they approached the camp. "Its custom for women here to stand behind the men. We should follow their customs. It'll make bargaining with them easier."

"Sure," she replied but with some scorn to her voice, "should I pretend to be a slave or do women have rights here too?"

Kayupa heard the spite in her tone. "Some of their customs are valid. For instance, women are supposed to shut up while the men bargain." He turned to her, smiling smugly. "I like that custom." Kayupa reached up and ripped off the bandage on his head. Skar had inflicted a wound on him during their talk in the cockpit. A weakness or loss of strength was a bad thing to radiate while bargaining. "If you have anything to say during the bargaining that can't wait, think it, and I'll know."

She looked at him, an unimpressed look on her face. "You'll read my mind?"

Kayupa nodded as he saw a male monk come walking out of his tent and towards them.

"Then hear this."

Kayupa almost stumbled over his feet when he heard her thoughts. He kept his dignity despite her words bringing images to mind that didn't seem physically possible. She's got a filthy mouth. Kayupa turned to her. "Maybe later, lady."

"Stop calling me lady," she whispered as the monk was almost in earshot.

"Whatever the lady wishes," he whispered back in just the last moment.

Shinran knew he was putting up a defense but to her it was only childish and made her resent him more. The monk reached them, bowed to them and Kayupa returned the bow. Forced to silence by alien customs, Shinran could only observe the conversation between the monk and the Jedi Knight.

Kayupa purposely made every friendly move he could think of to convince the monk of their friendly nature. The monk was wearing an old, worn tunic. The man must have been twenty years Kayupa's senior but seemed as young and willing as any of the younger nomads that Kayupa had met. A large gray beard brushed against his tanned chest as he moved his head around. The man had kind blue eyes and completely white hair.

The monk's language was not one Kayupa could talk, but Master Bo-Hi had taught him to search the monk's mind to establish his emotions and from there know what he was saying. And not only his emotions, but also his face sent waves of suggestions through him. Some of worry, some of curiosity, and some of pleasure. The emotions tangled up into words that Kayupa heard perfectly, as if the voice had been speaking directly into his ear, inside his head.

I am Caedmon, a follower of Perfection. Are you Perfect?

Kayupa replied, his words in Basic, but with the help of the Force the monk heard them in his own language. "No, sorry. Far from it actually."

The tanned monk smiled and held out hand towards the ashram, letting out a quick laugh. Would you like to be?

Huddled up inside the primitive tent, Shinran and Kayupa were joined by the monk, Caedmon, along with his two sons and a daughter. Also along for the bargaining were two Priests, they were gurus and the elders of the camp, supervising any bargaining. All of the monks looked the same to Kayupa, ragged but happy. Kayupa surmised that they didn't have anything to be unhappy about. Their lives would the envy of many unfortunate souls and their hedonism suited them as well as their ragged cloaks.

The only ones who never exhibited their happiness were the Elders who never spoke before any outlanders. Their faces were frozen in a grim expression that Kayupa could only interpret as resentment.

Caedmon was a monk in a group that called themselves Circle of Perfection. Apparently the monks were the original inhabitants of Nanh, they engrossed the planet in small ashrams like the one he was currently in. Master Bo-Hi had related to Kayupa that the monks somehow had maintained an equilibrium in their religious interests, everyone believed the same and everyone bowed under the law of the Kamilah. They worshipped the Kamilah, which was the name they gave the vhroniks.

When a follower of Kamilah in the Circle of Perfection reached a certain age, he became an Initiative, who would then have to endure the test of the Kamilah; to step into the cave of the vhroniks.

This was also how disputes were settled; if someone felt unfairly treated they would have to endure the Kamilah, to see if they were entitled to compensation. One would have to endure the Kamilah many times in his or her lifetime, to see if the Perfection was still strong. Surviving the Kamilah meant that the monk was still worthy of Perfection.

It was a harsh way of separating the weak from the strong. One Kayupa didn't approve of. In Kayupa's opinion, not only were their beliefs ridiculous and one-sided, they were stupid and dangerous.

What they really worshipped was the Force, except they were too arrogant and foolhardy to see it. Kayupa didn't think he could allow himself to frown on that, he supposed if someone told him the Force was really something else he wouldn't believe it either. But he knew it to be stupid to venture his opinions about the rituals. It could sabotage the bargaining and their hard earned trust all together.

Caedmon's sons looked like miniature versions of their father. The boys were staring at Kayupa with poorly hidden awe, which brought a slight smile to the corners of his mouth. The daughter looked at Shinran, the way a younger sister would look at an older sibling.

Shinran never opened her mouth and played her role of a woman accustomed to their ways perfectly. With the tension between them Kayupa was happy she was smart enough to know when to set her pride aside and do as she was instructed.

Kayupa cleared his throat. "I know you think of my Master as a friend, despite your differences in the past. He's not oblivious to your life and your philosophy. He respects your beliefs, and he hopes that prior grudges won't disturb future friendship." Kayupa's words were translated to the monks' language.

Caedmon smiled and opened his arms, ever the happy simpleton. The followers of Kamilah are not at rivalry with your Master. There is nothing more desirable than that of peace between us.

Kayupa heard the words as clear as Basic, happy that they told him what he hoped to hear. "Then we are clear. You are willing to help us?"

Caedmon's face changed somewhat drastic, and like physical proof as his thoughts, he looked over at his offspring. Desert brings storm soon, then our cattle will scatter. We don't have much food, and our children may suffer. It will be hard for them to survive. I don't think this choice is one that comes easy.

Kayupa looked over at Shinran, glad to know she'd been able to eat during their trip to Nanh. He suddenly remembered how thin she'd looked when he'd sprung her from prison. Looking over at Caedmon's children he suddenly got a glimpse of them starving, their skin white as paper draped over their bones.

In the end he shrugged off the dreadful image and looked over at Caedmon. "I understand the problem, yet it is something I must ask. The people we care about would suffer as well. If there is anything I or my Master can do that would help your situation we would. Please tell us what we could do to make good on your sacrifice. We badly need these supplies."

Caedmon's blue eyes shone. Jedi are so powerful, yet they cannot hunt their own food.

"I come to you for this favor," Kayupa said with all the best qualities of a diplomat. "Through this exchange of favors, one day you can call upon us for a favor. It is in both our interest to remain connected and dependant upon each other."

The monk looked at his children as if he knew he was about to sacrifice them to death. Kayupa felt the pain inside Caedmon as much as he felt it inside himself. Your Master is friend of my family. We have no rivalry. Never have. He tells me strange things about the paradox we both embrace. He has points I see, and he has mistakes we can laugh at in good humor. Your Master is wise, yet he sets his goal in odd places. He does not see what powers lie beneath this matter. He can control fire, and make illusions appear, yet he drapes his own mind with lies and innuendoes. Caedmon lifted an eyebrow. His fall will be a sad one, but one that could have been avoided.

Kayupa was glad that instant that Shinran had no idea what they were talking about. He bowed his head, not only agreeing with the monk's opinion but also confirming it.

Caedmon rose. I need return to be sure I am not making a bad decision.

Kayupa tilted his head. "What can I do?"

A group of Initiatives had gathered a few miles down the canyon, at the very end of it. Their robes gently waving in the wind, they stood in a perfect row staring into a small dark cave, as if waiting for something to come out to greet them. Kayupa crouched down next to the two Elders and Caedmon behind the monks. Kayupa knew them to be Initiatives, young men on their way to become monks. With an unvoiced but heartfelt curse, Kayupa knew what was going on here.

The Kamilah.

Kayupa leaned over to Shinran, when he thought it was safe to talk to her without Caedmon or the Elders noticing. "We can't disturb them, it would ruin the ritual."

Shinran narrowed her eyes in the hot sun, and poured some water from a flask over her face. "Ritual?"

She passed the water to Kayupa and he swallowed the cool drops. "Inside those caves live the vhroniks, the ones that Master Bo-Hi talked about. Predators. Their pale skin can't withstand the sun so they hide, in caves underground. They're connected with the Force in some way that lets them use it to hunt down food," he said, drying his lips with his sleeve.

Shinran looked back at the Initiatives. "So they hunt those that have a connection with the Force?"

"Not quite. Their version of the story is different. Bo-Hi explained to me how it works with the Force. You see, when I first got here, Master Bo-Hi taught me that I wouldn't have to fear the vhroniks if I was sure enough of myself. The vhroniks do hunt through the Force, but they don't attack those who are at sync with it. So they don't attack real Jedi. Only those who doubt themselves, or those who haven't learned control."

Kayupa flinched. A part of him feared he was a target for the vhroniks. His bad mood would make him into a perfect meal for the vhroniks.

"One monk goes in, if he is strong enough with the Force, or the Perfection as they call it, they won't harm him. However if he isn't -"

"- he's dinner?"

Kayupa nodded with a grim expression on his face. "The test is final. The Elders send in a monk when they believe he is ready to become Perfect."

"What about weapons?" Shinran asked.

Kayupa shook his head. "Weapons are a sign of weakness. A real Jedi wouldn't be afraid to just walk right in, if he was sure enough of himself."

Almost on cue a loud howl cried across the sand coming from inside the cave. The vhroniks have awakened and are ready to eat, Kayupa thought. Him and Shinran got a little closer. Close enough so Kayupa could see the small sets of yellow eyes that glowed inside the cave. There must have been ten of them or more, counting by the set of eyes, Kayupa estimated.

They watched as the first monk stepped forward to the entrance of the cave, dropped his robe and stood dressed in a pair of dirty pants, then he took off his sandals and tossed them away. He left some jewelry outside on the sand next to his robe. Then he walked in, confidently. Kayupa never saw any shred of doubt in his moves and soon the monk was gone in the shadows of the cave opening.

"May the Force be with him," Kayupa whispered.

"How many do this?" Shinran questioned.

"Enough," Kayupa growled, "they come from all over the planet to visit this cave, or others like it. Its so sick," he spat, "sick and wrong." Kayupa heard the animals move around in there, probably testing the monk, to see if he was to die. If he was worthy of being their supper.

Then it came, first the monk's scream, then the roar of the vhroniks, finished off with a gut-wrenching silence. Kayupa thought he heard moaning and growling coming from inside the cave. Fear radiated off the cave, fear and death.

The monk's body was tossed back out, graded as useless. It fell like a rag doll on the ground amongst the monks, but they didn't move. Didn't even bother to look at their dead companion. Yet Kayupa could feel their sympathy through the Force. It surprised him that the monk had not been eaten, merely tossed out. Perhaps the vhroniks had already eaten or maybe the monk's confidence had been so lacking he had been unworthy of becoming dinner.

A new monk started to undress, it was his turn to enter the cave. Beside Kayupa Caedmon shook his head in disappointment. The monk folded his hands and bowed his head. He was the son of a friend of mine. We will mourn his loss. We pray to the Kamilah. We follow its will and abide its rules. It mauls, like you just saw, only those who can't understand the Kamilah.

"Looks like it didn't get enough." Kayupa kept his eyes on the new Initiative getting ready to enter the cave.

A grimace seized Caedmon's face. The Kamilah doesn't always kill for food. Its nourishment comes from a place neither of us can fully understand. Caedmon's eyes narrowed. You have Kamilah in you.

Though spoken in a neutral and emotionless voice, the words he said reached inside Kayupa and touched on the anger he had suppressed, ever since he had first learned of the vhroniks. And before he could stop it, a tidal wave of anger coursed through him, warming his face and tightening his fingers. Their spiteful contempt for human life was wrong and he felt ready to let them know. If he hadn't known it wouldn't help the situation he'd drawn his lightsaber and marched in there and cut the head of every single vhronik in there just to rid them of their ritual.

Instead he glanced at the monk. "You mean the Force?"

The monk's head darted to look at Kayupa, and Kayupa could feel resentment coming from the monk. Beside him he could feel Shinran's confusion as well. She'd heard Master Bo-Hi say that to say the word 'Force' around the monks was an insult.

The Force is not the Kamilah. We know of the Force, but its power is nothing compared to the Kamilah. Caedmon reached out to touch a small pebble lying at his bare feet. Its in everything. Life is the Kamilah. The Kamilah is life. Life could not be without Kamilah. And Kamilah could not be without life.

"Just like the Force." Kayupa muttered to himself.

Caedmon raised his voice. I heard what you said.

Kayupa knew that he should stop insulting their belief but the wave of anger Caedmon had started in him would not die quietly. He felt these rituals needed to stop. It was one thing to die for something you believed in, but dying because of the ignorance of others was disgusting.

"You couldn't have been surprised, I already told you the Force sounds a lot like your Kamilah."

Caedmon lowered his voice again and Kayupa felt disappointment coming from him. The Kamilah is more suited to make you see the truth.

Kayupa smiled. "I'm not an Initiative, so no thanks."

The monk lifted his hand towards the entrance. Nevertheless, the Kamilah is in you. The Kamilah will show you. You may enter.

It dawned on Kayupa that the price for the food and supplies would be for him to enter the cave. His heart froze as Caedmon rose and motioned for him to follow. Kayupa reluctantly followed him over to a new group of Elders standing to the side of the Initiatives.

Caedmon stepped over to Kayupa's side. My bargain with the Jedi is finalized, he will earn the supplies through the Kamilah.

The Elders looked to each other and nodded. The Elders then bowed to Kayupa, signing the deal.

Kayupa hesitantly turned to Caedmon. "What if I fail?"

The monk was silent for a long time, before answering in a very low voice. Then I am very sorry for both of us. Though you will gain the best prize of us both. You will die, whereas I will have to live with the shame of brining someone unworthy to the Kamilah.

Kayupa scowled. "Great deal."

That was when Shinran opened her mouth. "Kayupa, you're not going in - ?"

Kayupa played the part the monks expected from him. He turned to Shinran and pushed her onto the ground. "I'm talking Basic so they don't understand what I'm saying! They just need to see me yelling at you! Please be quiet!"

Shinran didn't seem to like it at all, but remained quiet. Kayupa turned away from her and started walking over to the Initiatives. The monks turned as they sensed him coming. They felt his intentions and stepped aside. The monk whom had already undressed also stood aside.

Kayupa pulled off his cloak and his tunic.

Shinran ran over and stood in his path, blocking him from the cave. "I won't let you do this!"

Kayupa looked through her, seeing only the cave behind her, feeling only the necessity of it all. His eyes were dead-calm as his purpose became clear. "This is the bargain. Besides, I want an answer to a question." He tossed his clothes aside, and combed back his hair with his fingers. "I need to know."

He took a step forward, but Shinran placed a hand on his chest, pleading him to stop. "But you'll die!"

Kayupa wrapped his own hand around the one she held to his chest, nudging it slightly, giving her a courageous smile, before walking past her. "I'm off to be enlightened."

He walked towards the cave and with each step Kayupa began to wonder if Shinran was thinking of him as exceptionally brave or simply stupid and cocky. He could understand if she saw him as stupid, though he felt that this could prove a lot to her. And to him. The most important thing was that he was sure. She might doubt his readiness but he knew that he could. And he knew he would.

As he stepped inside with cautious steps, his eyes searched every corner of the cave's entrance and further inside relying on the Force to warn of any dangers, of which there were lots. It hummed inside him more intensely, the further he got inside. His steps slowed with each advance, caution building up inside him. He knew what he was doing, but he didn't know what to expect.

How would the vhronik ritual in actuality work? Would they sniff him? Would they bite him or would they test him on greater levels? Kayupa snorted to himself. They were, after all, just animals, animals that relied on the Force for hunting, but still just animals.

It then occurred to him that if the whole ritual was false and there really was nothing to it, these animals would attack him certainly. Maybe the monks that had survived going into the caves had done something, unbeknownst to them, that had stopped the vhroniks from attacking. Maybe they'd smelled too much of something, or maybe the vhroniks had just fed.

It was possible that everyone that had ever walked into a cave, had never even met a vhronik, maybe they had just hid around the entrance, waiting for time to go by and step back out as a hero. It would confirm Kayupa's belief that they were all ignorant, stupid and cowards. Not to forget stubborn.

Kayupa remembered the young man he had seen get tossed out of the cave only moments earlier. Well, maybe he wasn't that good at hiding or maybe he was one of those poor souls that actually bought the lies the monks had told them.

He looked back one last time, to find he could no longer see the cave entrance. Hold on to the Force. In order to master the things of the present. The words rang repeatedly inside his mind as a constant reminder of how to act. Kayupa remembered the advice from the training Master Bo-Hi had given him. He concentrated on the words instead of what his eyes showed him. He admitted to himself that he was afraid but didn't let it conquer him. He worked his mind and emotions to dispel the fear. To make it leave his mind, so he could do what needed to be done. He'd come this far, he had to go on.

Kayupa continued inside until he sensed they were nearby. The caves were howling with the wind coursing through the many tunnels, which told him that the cave had more than an entrance. He heard the clatter of rock on rock and then the ambient sound of scraping claws echoed in his ears. He wondered what they might be doing, maybe they could hear him coming as well. It was only to be expected since they hunted through the Force.

As he turned another corner he knew he was in the right place. If not from the sight, then from the rotting stench of old meat and the smell of rust that could only come from old blood. Sunshine shone through a crack in the ceiling of the "testing floor." In the center of the circular room laid bones, gathered as some form of shrine for previous monks. Kayupa noticed the small holes in the walls, about half the size of a human. The room was three times as tall as him and large enough to fit the Koniduz.

As Kayupa slowly walked towards the center of the cave, each little hole lit up with a set of yellow eyes. Small pebbles fell from the holes, as something came closer to the edges. Kayupa saw a set of eyes in every hole now. His hands began to tremble, and every step felt like a mile. He tried to avoid looking back at the yellow eyes, he didn't want to see what they looked like. Their form might strike terror in him and they'd be on him in seconds.

He finally reached the center of the room and stood next to the pile of bones. He took a long deep breath and could feel the vhroniks move around in the cave dwellings, but he never looked straight at them, To be a Jedi, one must have complete control over his own mind, his emotions, and his thoughts. He must maintain his calm through everything. However dire or serious the situation could prove.

He stretched outwards, making himself open to the Force. He let it calm him. He let it straighten his thoughts and calm his emotions.

Almost as a test of himself, he dared to lock eyes with one of the creatures for the first time as it came slithering out of its hole. Half the size of a man, and walking on four legs, its hind legs shorter than the front, its leathery skin made a pale gray almost dead color which filled Kayupa with dread. Their feet and fingers were lined with razor sharp claws, marked with dried blood. The vhroniks looked sunburned and their yellow eyes shone through small rows of horns that looked like eyebrows. A four foot long tail wagged slowly back and forth behind it. A small blade sat at the end of the tail, adding to the lethality of the sharp teeth that laced their jaws.

Two more joined the first one, surrounding him, but more arrived quickly. They jumped from their holes in the walls and landed with feline grace on all sides of him. Kayupa made a quick count and realized he was surrounded by no more than ten vhroniks. They slowly circled him, growling at each other, not really looking at him, but he knew nothing he did went unnoticed.

By reflex his hand started reaching for his lightsaber, but stopped suddenly. All ten of them stopped in their tracks as if time had frozen and stared at him coldly, almost as if they were baiting him. They knew what he was doing, they knew what a weapon was. They were smart, smarter than he would have thought. They moved closer, their breathing surrounded Kayupa, telling him that there was no way out and there was no way he could take care of them all and get out alive.

But that wasn't the point.

I am a Jedi, I can do this without a weapon, I don't need it.

Kayupa reached down, slowly, and pulled the lightsaber forth, he held it so all the animals could see. Their hungry eyes studied him with hints of intelligence, they perched on the ground like a dog watching its owner in curiosity. Kayupa gently threw the weapon outside the circle of vhroniks and heard it land in the sand outside his line of sight. The animals still sat on their hind legs, as if interested in what he might do next, wagging their tails across the sandy floor.

There is no emotion, there is peace.

"Okay, guys," Kayupa said aloud, and smiled to the creatures, "let's see what I'm worth."

Kayupa crouched down into his meditation-position and closed his eyes. Jedi meditation techniques had been handed down through the ages. It was a way of gaining insight and knowledge in the Force. Kayupa felt connected through the Force to the vhroniks, they were different from him in nature, but not in the Force, they both starved after survival, they both had to eat to survive, and they both had to follow their nature.

Everything was connected in the Force. But the most important thing he learned from the meditation was that they were there too, they were inside his mind.

It was true after all that they looked for signs of the Force in their prey, and the fact that they hadn't killed him yet showed that they indeed did not attack like normal predators. He could feel a connection with them, and realized they were more than animals. They were sentient beings, smarter than most creatures he had ever seen or heard about.

The knowledge filled him with some joy, but it was short-lived as he assessed that meant the monks were right. These creatures did not kill for food or sport, they judged the strength in the individual and that meant the deaths of the monks that had entered the caves had not been as wrong as he had previously thought. These were not just savages that killed on whim, there was intelligence and a sense of right or wrong.

Outside his meditation awareness he heard them growl and pull at this pants, but he refrained from moving, he wouldn't let the fear affect him. He was in complete control. He heard one of them roar behind him, but it meant nothing. He was not afraid. They tried their best to shake him, but nothing disturbed his peace.

Kayupa made his mind lighter and sharper, more sharper than he had ever done before. His thoughts and emotions became one and he no longer felt the outside world. He could hear it, but it sounded like a distant thunder. It was not something nearby anymore, it was elusive. It was another sound in a never-ending flow of impressions.

There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.

Gradually his mind became more and more stable; his mindfulness and his control became much clearer. The art of using the Force was not wielding a lightsaber. Instead it was the ability to put oneself in tune with the entire universe, maintain peace inside, and feel the nutriment that existed inside the very life of everything. The true meaning of being a Jedi was the one who could understand the power of life itself.

When the deepest calm is found, there is only the comforting sound of the Force flowing perfectly. In perfect calm, the light is constant and the Jedi acts in accordance with its will. Only when all living things are sensed in his mind, can he be truly called a Jedi. When the mind of the Jedi is unclouded, the Force is at its most pure.

Back in reality one of the vhroniks stood on its hind legs and licked his face with its raw tongue, the touch of the tongue scraped over cheek and chin like sandpaper and stank of rotting meat. The curious creature then proceeded to smell his ear, giving it a kind and gentle lick as well, the way a pet would lick its master to show its affection. Kayupa could feel its kindness and the vhroniks seemed more like playful dogs than beasts. It sniffed though his hair, drawing a snort from Kayupa.

One creature had even begun to lick his palm, slobbering up the salty sweat from his hand. But none of this moved Kayupa's state of mind at all. He knew they were still trying to distract him, and although it may have seemed playful, this wasn't kindness coming from them, it was another ploy to test him. He ignored other thoughts and feelings that would slacken his control.

Kayupa maintained his control of himself and the Force, reading the subtle lines of rules made by others than him.

Somewhere in distance, not the real world but in another distance he was slowly moving towards, came an image. It was the picture of a young boy lying in crib onboard a spaceship. The baby was crying, screaming at the top of its lungs, but no one was there to hear it. No mother, no father. He felt feelings of hatred and disgust. The feelings were directed at the baby but he didn't know why. Everything happened so fast that he didn't have time to learn more, but the image he'd seen vexed his concentration. Why would anyone hate a baby?

"Kayupa?"

Kayupa fell out of his focus faster than was healthy when reverting from the Force's meditation method, leaving him dazed and weary. He turned in his crouch to see Shinran standing in the cave entrance.

"Kayupa, come on!" she cried.

As one, the vhroniks began to move away from him, and started to corner Shinran. She began to back away towards the entrance of the cave. She'd come to help Kayupa, not knowing that he didn't need help and now she had become the target. Kayupa called to them, trying to make the animals return to him, but they were feeding off the uncertainty in Shinran.

Kayupa rose from his crouch and tried to get the attention of the vhroniks back to him. "Okay, guys," he tried to sound as calm as he could, "let's pretend like this never happened."

A couple of them looked back at him, but never stopped moving towards her. He could sense their emotions as they barked at him and understood what they meant. Kayupa had proven himself, but she was clearly not as worthy. As they began to circle her in Kayupa understood he had to protect her somehow.

"Shinran, move!" Kayupa cried but Shinran didn't budge, she was frozen stiff by the sight of the vhroniks.

His fingers opened and his lightsaber came slamming into his grip. It immediately lit up the room with its blue blade.

All the vhroniks swirled around to him and stared at his weapon, growling at its light. He knew he only had to hold them until Shinran made it outside, but he didn't know how. They turned away from him, putting their interest back in Shinran, who looked like easy prey to them.

And then he understood. They wouldn't attack him. The vhroniks trusted him and had confirmed his strength in the Force. They knew he wouldn't attack them, he couldn't, not after what they shared with him before. Not after they'd spared his life. And it was their nature to hunt someone like Shinran.

The creatures prowled closer to Shinran, her stuttering breath amble proof that she didn't have a prayer of being spared. Kayupa's mind raced to think of something to do. They hunted unworthy Jedi and Kayupa was the only Jedi in sight.

The choice did not come easy but feeling the strong pull towards Shinran, he really had no choice at all. Like most people did, Kayupa knew what memories he had to visit to make himself feel angry, afraid or hateful. And since a memory that contained all of those was so close, it flowed to him within heartbeats.

Great currents of wrath swelled inside him as he opened his heart and soul to the Dark Side.

"I'm losing my patience!" Kayupa screamed as he lunged his saber at the nearest vhronik, slicing off its head and sending gashes of blood over the walls. The body fell down with a heavy thump and the others stepped back in shock, and by the look of frenzy in their eyes he knew they could taste his anger. Now he was not worthy anymore, he had opened up to a weakness.

He was now their prey.

The vhroniks growled and scraped their talons on the cave floor.

"Yeah, come on!" he invited with a snarl, then circled and sliced one vhronik in half. The others roared at his betrayal and spread out to surround him. The cave stank of burnt hair and death.

"Shinran, go!"

The vhroniks roared again and two jumped at him with their claws held out. Kayupa ducked beneath their lunge and sliced through them both as they flew over him. Their severed bodies slammed against the fall wall and slid to the floor. He could no longer see Shinran in the cave, but there was little time to celebrate her survival. More vhroniks filed into the cave and soon he found himself forced to back up. He held his lightsaber ready in front of him while slowly stepping backwards.

His back touched wall the second another vhronik jumped for him. He dodged its approach by tilting his body sideways, grabbed onto the creature's neck, while it was in flight, with a free hand and slammed its skull into the wall behind him. Its cranium popped open instantly, splattering blood and brains over the wall and himself.

Ten more had entered the cave by then, and the lack of floor space had inspired some of them to jump into their holes to launch attacks from the darkness, or crawl along the walls, a feat he found very impressive.

Kayupa swirled his lightsaber before him like a shield, intimidating them. He knew sooner or later that ploy would grow useless. With the amount of intelligence he had found in them, he knew that very little tactics would hold against the sheer numbers they possessed. Nevertheless he was prepared to fight until he could no more.

Knowing Shinran was safe brought some happiness to the bitter taste of defeat he felt inside.

More vhroniks tried to break through his defense but were met with quick strikes that crippled them for life. Their only hope was to overwhelm him but it would cost them. Their intelligence belied a strategy to sacrifice their own to get through his defense.

One got close enough to wipe its taloned tail at him like a whip and he dodged it the first time. The second time he'd forgotten about the sharp hook at the tip of the tail, the claw slashed open his pants and right thigh.

Trying to ignore the pain of the slash he'd taken to the thigh, trying his best not to think that his mistake would be his downfall, Kayupa raised his hands up high and carved down through gray flesh, arteries and bones with his sword, crying out in rage as he did. The creature howled in anger, its paws clawing at the floor but its body soon stopped thrashing and Kayupa freed his blade from its carcass.

Fatigue overtook him, and it shocked him how quickly it came. He could feel a cloud of discomfort in his head that was more than just physical pain. His reversion from mediation had happened too quickly, and his mind and body was suffering for it.

Blood was everywhere by then, and Kayupa no longer had any indication on how much of it was his. His face was covered with it, running down his nose and over his lips. The wound on his thigh had made his pants black from the hip down. As he had when first entering the cave, he could smell the rusty scent of the blood in the air. Knowing it was his own this time sent fear through his stomach.

Kayupa firmed his grip on the slippery handle of the sword, also covered in blood, dripping like hot wax from his hands as he moved. More and more vhroniks were filing into the cave, each of them filled with hatred and hunger.

Kayupa stepped forward, his bloodied and determined grin more terrifying than twenty ravenous Rancors. He wasn't going to lay down and let them eat him. He was going out in a blaze of glory, he would let anger and hatred be the wings that carried him from the torment he had suffered.

"Come on!" he cried out in agony.

A single vhronik leaped at him from the left, its claws reaching for him as it flew through the air. Kayupa met its flight with his saber, batting it out of the air and throwing it to the wall behind it in three pieces. Two more followed suit, growling as they came at him. Kayupa slashed off the head of the first to reach him, the weight of its body hitting him and pinning him to the rubble.

The second landed beside him, never missing a beat and came right for him. Its claws dug into the dead vhronik on top of him, and he felt them pierce his chest as well. He yelped but found that the claws weren't long enough to pierce too deep and that no organs had been pierced. Kayupa gathered what strength he had left to lift his legs up and kick away the corpse over him.

The second vhronik jumped back and then came forward, its mouth wide open and going for his jugular. Kayupa rolled away and the vhronik slammed its face down into the hard slab beneath him, teeth breaking off and black blood coursing from its lips. Before the animal had a chance to express its pain Kayupa hacked sideways through its mouth, cleaving its face and brains, sending the top of the skull flying off into the midst of the snarling vhroniks.

Kayupa went down on one knee beside the faceless creature, panting for air, sweat running down his chest, face and back. He felt drained, completely empty, the sounds of the hissing vhroniks merely hazy background clatter he couldn't focus on. All he could give attention was the despair and weakness he felt inside. But what he found inside himself was more than his own feelings. The emotions the vhroniks carried stole into his soul and he felt their disappointment, sense of betrayal, their wishes to shred him to pieces for his deception. He fed on their rage, and although a part of him rejected any feeling that came close to anger he couldn't help but cling to it.

By now he was sure it was the only thing that could save him. His heart told him he had to stop, and all he had ever learned in training told him that it was better to die than live a life influenced by the Dark Side. The problem was he wasn't entirely convinced he was ready to die. He longed for release from the pain and fatigue that had conquered his body, but there were still too many things he wanted out of his life. Many goals he had set for himself.

To die now, in a vhronik cave on Nanh, would be to spit in the face of everything he had ever stood for.

Kayupa raised himself back up, stared out at the sea of vhroniks that all roared, shrieked and ached for his blood. Resolution burrowed itself into his soul and he found that in Dark Side was not only a way to cheat death.

There was power undreamed of.

Kayupa held out his hands towards the vhroniks and spread his fingers wide to point at every corner of the cave.

And then he let go.

Shinran's heart bloomed with relief when she saw Kayupa stagger out of the cave. Seeing the wound on his leg she raced to help him, but stopped midway when she saw the animosity in his eyes. He stopped just outside the cave, his ferocious face smeared with blood and dirt. His right leg was bleeding but the wrath in his eyes told her that he was oblivious to the pain.

He just stood there, staring back at her and then moved his angry gaze out over all the monks.

Defiantly he raised his blue lightsaber up over his head, holding it for all of them to see, then swept it down in a quick slash. The gesture was lost on her but the way the monks stood back and muttered apprehensively amongst themselves told her it couldn't be good. She didn't know whether to fear him or admire him for making it out alive. She wasn't entirely sure she understood what it meant to their bargain or to their religion that he had killed vhroniks, but she was glad he had protected her.

More urgently she wanted to yell for him to move away from the cave entrance before any more of the creatures came out, but the way he stood, the confidence and defiance in his eyes, told her that there was no danger.

The muscles in his jaw tightening, Kayupa finally extinguished his lightsaber. He gathered his cloak at the cave-entrance and nodded to the monks. The monks nodded back to him and bowed their heads.

He then walked over to her and stood before her. "The bargain is completed; the food is ours," he said tensely.

She was glad to hear that, but it was the last question she had on her mind. "What did you do?"

The sun reflected off the sweat on his stained face. "I did what I had to."

Cursing softly beneath his breath, of which there wasn't much, Skar told himself one more time that he surely soon had to be wherever he was going. The sun hammered down on him from all sides, and the air felt like he was breathing the inside of an oven. Waves of heat washed over him again and again, blurring everything more than twenty feet away from him. He couldn't see anything further than that, and all he had to follow was the dark shape of Master Bo-Hi walking in front of him. Skar had taken off his shirt, tied it around his waist, exposing his pale upper body to the merciless sun. He knew he might get sunburns but his mind worked differently under such heat. He could live with sunburns later if it meant he didn't feel like he was suffocating now.

He couldn't comprehend how Master Bo-Hi could stand wearing the heavy cloak, but every time he thought to ask sand filled his mouth and he once again longed for Nar Shaddaa. Nar Shaddaa, where it rained always, where there was always water within reach, where there was shadow everywhere. Skar wiped sweat and sand from his brows, ran his hand down his wet chest and belly, collecting enough sweat that it dripped from his hand. Skar still hadn't resorted to drinking his own sweat, but he found the idea didn't sound as disgusting as it had an hour ago.

Was it an hour ago? How long had he been walking? He looked up to the sun for answer but it only blinded him. Skar cursed again and trod on. He tried to distract his body by thinking of other things, but there wasn't much to block out the heat washing off the sand. Even his boots felt like they were melting. His feet and toes ached with each step, and he was sure he had already contracted more than one blister.

His thoughts went out to Shinran, and he wondered if she was faring as poorly as him. More than worried about her condition, he worried about Kayupa, the ever sullen Jedi Knight who was falling deeper into his own internal conflicts with every day.

Skar in some part had given up on Kayupa, he believed that maybe the friendship he had once sought with the man would never be the same. And the more he thought about it he realized he'd only really had a good friendship with the man a couple of days. Maybe those days were only a phase, maybe what he had seen the last couple of weeks was the real Kayupa.

He hated to think Kayupa's bad mood was a result of Skar getting closer to Shinran, but it was possible. It wasn't as if Skar had been given a chance to talk to Kayupa about it. The only times he'd spoken with Kayupa in the last weeks had been filled with disaster or hesitation. He wanted to know what was bothering Kayupa, if infact it was more than the same worry Skar also carried about their future. If it was about the Jentarana.

Skar didn't know what to think about it, the Jentarana was an awesome power, but it was impotent without a key. Skind Kjoil had taken his secret with him in death, and Skar saw no way that the Jentarana would ever be brought to life again.

But then he had learned never to trust his own predictions. Two months ago he never would have thought he would be where he was now. Only he didn't really know where he was now, and the future seemed to possess as many possibilities as it did pitfalls.

Even Bo-Hi concerned Skar. The Jedi Master had agreed to train Skar when the time was right, when Skar was free of concern and not clouded by his emotions anymore, but the Jedi Master had to have his own agenda for Skar. And Skar had a hunch it revolved around the Jentarana.

Was the Jedi Master intending to use it to launch an attack on the Empire? Skar could certainly understand that, and he even condoned it in part. But to a Jedi it was walking on the Dark Side. It was not the Jedi way to make an attack. The Jedi defended and protected and helped the innocent. They weren't soldiers. But even defending the innocent could be dangerous if it was done through an attack.

Skar cursed once more.

I guess life will always be that way. Even in your most joyous moments you can always find something to darken the view. Its important to stay positive and not worry about the future. All that matters is the moment, its the only vector from which you can shape the future.

Skar looked up, and realized too late that Master Bo-Hi had stopped walking. Skar walked straight into the Jedi Master's back and almost toppled over. His body wasn't used to standing still, along the way he had told himself that if he stopped walking he would never start again. The moment he stopped his body would remind him how tired it was and he doubted he would find the strength to walk on.

Master Bo-Hi looked back at him and grabbed onto his shoulder. "You alright?"

Skar nodded, leaned over and placed his hands on his knees. "How much further?" he asked in a coarsely voice.

"We're there."

Skar looked around but saw nothing but rocks and cliffs. Infact one gigantic cliff stood before them and continued out to either sides of him, like a giant wall in the middle of the desert, and if the Jedi hadn't told him this was their destination, the thought of scaling the wall would have knocked him out.

Then Master Bo-Hi held out his right hand, directing his palm outward. Skar didn't see why the Jedi would do this, except to ward off something that was coming. Skar looked out in the direction of Master Bo-Hi's hand and saw what had been Master Bo-Hi's objective.

The cliff-wall changed.

Out of nowhere, on the side of the cliff a blurred shape the size of a doubled leveled building began to appear. It went from a ragged rock-surface to being completely flat. Intricate patterns emerged around the entrance, slithering like living creatures before solidifying in odd symbols, adding to its majesty.

When the metamorphosis was over, a huge mural of rock was towering over the temple's entrance. Skar didn't recognize or understand any of the symbols, but he understood enough to know that it was old.

And there, in the middle of the beautifully sculptured doorway was the entrance to his new home. A black rectangle leading inside the cliff.

Skar turned to Master Bo-Hi for explanation. "How?"

"Some places you have to believe in to be able to see them. Within the Force there are no lies. The Force can hide anything from you if you don't know that it is really there. If the Force had been with you, you'd felt the power of this temple when we started walking."

Skar's eyes narrowed. "I couldn't see it, isn't that disappointing?"

Master Bo-Hi looked at him. "If you had seen it, I would have been disappointed."

"Why?"

Master Bo-Hi held out a hand. "Because then I would have nothing to teach you."

Then he swept out his hand and it was almost as if he opened a portal to another world. Out in front of the entrance a wide tent appeared hanging over a wooden deck, which made the whole scenario look like some peasant's home. More importantly the deck lead out into a vast lake.

Skar's heart leaped. A beautiful, clear and blue reservoir of endless water that glistened with the sun's reflection. He almost cried and it was the most welcome and beautiful sight he had ever seen. He knew he was being foolish, and knowing that was the only reason he didn't strip right there and dive right in. Skar liked the thought of the water being right outside the door if he wanted to go swimming. And if the last few hours were any indication of the climate to come, swimming would definitely take up a lot of time in his life.

Skar shuffled his feet. "Can I - ?"

"Later," Master Bo-Hi said sternly and walked towards the entrance.

Skar took another look around his surroundings and noticed many places that the Koniduz could have set down instead of them walking across the desert in baking heat. "Master, why didn't we land up there on the cliffs? There's plenty of space for the Koniduz."

Master Bo-Hi half turned, but kept walking. "The walk in the sand was quite a learning experience for you. You've understood more clearly what kind of world you are on," the Jedi Master chuckled. "I shouldn't have to tell you that the best way to learn about a place is to actually go there."

Skar frowned. So walking through miles of desert in scorching sand is knowledge now? This Jedi stuff is gonna be tough.

Shedding off his compounding confusion, Skar reached the temple and stepped inside. What met him made his jaw drop wide open.

"Wow…"

The main chamber had a huge dome carved in the ceiling, with inscriptions written in stone and colorful images of past battles. Every room was carved directly out of the cliff and no wall was not made of stone. Even the floor was polished rock. Skar also saw the circle carved in the floor, directly beneath the dome, where he guessed training transpired. Master Bo-Hi flung out a hand and by command candles were lit on small ledges in the walls and some were burning inside small pots placed around the circle on the floor.

"This temple was built long ago. Smugglers had been using it to storage contraband when I found it, but they haven't been back in ten years. Which means its ours now."

Skar suppressed a question. Smugglers couldn't have made the entrance he'd seen outside, and if it was a temple even before these supposed smugglers had used it, then what was the temple before? To whom was it a temple? Who had sought refuge here? "So, this is where you came before…?"

"Yes," the Master answered. "This is where I planned to teach the Jedi that would survive the Jedi Purge."

"Was the temple as it is now?"

The Jedi Master turned to him. "What you're really asking is if I created the symbols you saw out there."

Skar shrugged. "That's two questions," he said flatly, "but I'll settle for one answer."

Master Bo-Hi bowed his head slightly. "I did not. I don't know who originally designed this temple, or what it was for."

Skar found it hard, but decided to believe him. "Where can I put my things?"

They journeyed on through the temple and were met by more vast tall rooms and chambers, all fitted with murals and sculptures along tall gray pillars that reached all the way to the ceiling. Skar understood it was meant for peace and seclusion. A place to rest and gather ones thoughts. Just the kind of place I've been looking for.

"There are many rooms here. You should give yourself time to walk around the temple, to get to know it better. There are some chambers for different purposes, but you'll realize their purpose once you see them."

Skar dropped his bags on the floor. "Okay, I'll try again. Where do I sleep?"

Master Bo-Hi spread his hands. "Pick the one you find most fit, and its yours." The Jedi Master turned away from him and started walking back towards the entrance, towards the outside.

"Where are you going?"

"Isn't it obvious?" The Jedi Master chuckled warmly. "I'm going swimming in the lake."

Skar frowned as the Jedi Master disappeared down the hallways of the temple. Picking his bags back up, Skar went hunting through the temple, more impressed with every chamber he saw. All of them were cozy and homely, though not quite the size he was looking for. He'd been used to a cramped apartment, and little privacy in the Koniduz, so this time he wanted something with more space. A place he could move around in, without waking someone up or tripping over stuff.

Finally he found a room below the main chamber that he liked. Skar walked into the room and immediately knew it was perfect. It was bigger than the apartment he'd shared with Lwen on Nar Shaddaa, this was actually an apartment in itself. Combined living room and bedroom. A restroom with lots of space and a shower. Standing out from all the other rooms, this one had walls coated with brown wood, Skar didn't even want to guess at where they'd got it, but he figured it would have been the work of the smugglers who had lived here before.

He also blamed them for the soft carpet that was a welcomed change for this tired feet. The living room had a bed big enough for two, a table for dining and four sets of chairs around it, not to mention a couch, draped with smooth red leather. Whoever the smugglers had been, they had been good at decorating.

However he did make some changes, he moved a commode over by his bed and placed his special items neatly on the commode at the foot of the bed. The Holocron stood perched on top of the wooden cabinet and he folded all his clothes into the drawers.

As Skar unpacked his things he looked them over with a smile. Sand-brown pants, a cloak, lightsaber, a tunic, his Holocron. The marks of a Jedi.

Skar found a mirror in a cabinet in the rest room and for the first time he got an image of what he looked like. His short brown hair was thick with sweat and was in desperate need of a wash. Combined with the pale skin he'd gotten from space-travel and the sweat, his face had a pinkish hue. He blamed that on his seclusion onboard the Koniduz the last month.

The beard growing on his jaw he thought suited him, it made him look older, stronger, rougher. He felt more like a man. Skar smiled at his own burly reflection and ran his fingers through the whiskers, combing it more neatly, the sensation tickling his palms. There were spots he would shave, and he couldn't wait to experiment with what kind of style would suit him best. In all fairness he thought he looked like a mean -

His uncle, he realized with a silent shock.

Even more so with the tussled hair and the beard. Skar wondered if his uncle was anyone to look up to, to admire enough that one took joy in seeing any resemblance with him. He admired his choices but didn't like the thought of seeing his uncle's face every time he looked in the mirror.

My uncle, my own blood, was a Sith Lord.

A warning.

Skar pulled out a shaving-kit and set about ridding himself of the beard.

The night outside the tent haunted Kayupa, its very darkness a silhouette of his inner emotions. A portrait of shadows and blackness like the one painted over his mind. A breeze snapped at the corners of the tent opening by his feet, none of the monks were awakened by the sound and Kayupa liked it that way.

Because it meant they also wouldn't wake to the sound of his crying. To let them see him cry would demean him, and he was superior in their eyes now. Not only had he entered the cave and come back out alive; he'd killed vhroniks, something no one had done before.

No one had ever dared venture to the beasts with a weapon. They were afraid the weapon would signify weakness, but Kayupa had come to understand the vhroniks were not stupid animals, they were smart, cunning and wise. They knew what a weapon could do, so they presented him with respect. And he'd killed them when necessary. He'd been judge, jury, and executioner. The monks called him Da'achyuta, the Invincible One. Maybe the next time they went to the caves and found that there were no more vhroniks to test, they would change their minds.

Fools! Their religion blinds them from what really happened. To them I was successful, but I know I failed. I gave in to my - What emotion did I really give in to?

Kayupa looked at the sleeping Shinran on the other side of the tent with the other slave women.

I gave into the greatest feeling of all.

He thought back on the things he had yet to talk with Master Bo-Hi about. The Jentarana being at the top of the list. His connection with the Force had withered since Corellia, when the Jentarana had been stolen. The experience had been filled with negative emotions. Hate, fear and doubt. Hate for the men who had taken the Jentarana from him, his birthright, his destiny. Fear for what would happen if the Jentarana was never recovered, if it was never taken back.

The Jentarana. Almost a more corruptive power than the Dark Side, its darkness still held certain unexplainable irresistible qualities for him. Its terrors were replaced with wonders inside his mind, shining a light in the dark corners of his mind. Where some would step back in fear, he would fall to his knees, like the patient devotee he was. Its power was great, too great, even for the Jedi. But still he craved it, he wanted it, it belonged to him.

Through it was a means to bring back the order of the Old Republic, the way things had once been, as he had heard from Master Bo-Hi.

All his training suddenly seemed to mean nothing. Because he could see, almost touch, the path he wanted to take, and it did not include the Jedi Code. It included going off on his own, to find a way to neutralize the Jentarana. The incident in the cave had opened his mind to alternate paths. He'd always been told that the Dark Side of the Force was corruptive but Kayupa had never felt as clear and pure as he had in its grasp. It opened up many paths for him, but closed just as many.

If he chose the Dark Side, he would have to say goodbye to Skar, Shinran and Master Bo-Hi. He doubted he could and he also knew that if his dreams were to be realized he would need Skar to help him find the key to the Jentarana.

But Master Bo-Hi was in the way of Kayupa living out those wishes. His codes and rules went against what Kayupa knew to be right for him. Master Bo-Hi thought him to be reckless, but Kayupa saw it as courage.

And the Jentarana was the key. It could bring the Empire down, but only at a terrible price. One he wasn't sure he wanted to pay. Skar was also an issue. Kayupa had yet to talk with his Master about Skar's superior Force control and lightsaber skills. He had been better that Kayupa.

But Kayupa blamed that on his bad mood, it didn't know it if it was right, but it saved his dignity. He'd been out of focus and Skar wasn't. There was no way Skar could be better than him. It just couldn't be.

Shinran stirred in her sleep as if she could feel his watching eyes. She awoke and sat up in the tent, as if wondering where she was. It all came back to her in a flash and she looked at Kayupa. Their eyes met, she saw the tears in his eyes, and she crawled across the tent to sit by him. Kayupa remembered feeling a desire to help her but it was long gone now. He had to put himself first. How could he help her if he couldn't even help himself?

"Why are you still awake?" she whispered.

Kayupa rolled over on his back and looked up at her. "I…failed in the cave. I gave in to the Dark Side."

There was empathy in her eyes. "Why?"

Kayupa had wondered at that subject too. Was his control so lacking that he gave it up whenever he couldn't find it fast enough? Or did his sacrifice mean something more? Master, where are you when I need you? Kayupa sat up and crossed his arms over his kneecaps. "I...had to protect you."

She leaned closer. "But wasn't there a way that could have kept you on the good side?"

Kayupa shrugged. "I didn't think. I just went with my gut."

"And your gut told you to kill the vhroniks?"

Kayupa's head came up, but dodged her gaze. His hands went over his long hair and ended at the back of his neck. "Disturbing, isn't it? My first reflex was to use force."

Shinran lowered her voice. "Skar said you'd been acting weird from the get-go. That you've been different. Tense."

Kayupa nodded. "I have been, I know. My world is changing around me."

"How?"

He was surprised at his own words, how easily they came to him. How great it felt to unburden his heart. He knew it was in some part Shinran that made it so easy. He felt close to her, somehow there was something in the past that made them relate easily to each other. And yet there was a friction between them, something that bugged them both.

Kayupa wished he'd just once in his life experienced love on a more emotional level. He'd never had the privilege of saying that he was in love with someone. His life had been lonely, even when others were around. He was private, but it wasn't by choice. It just felt like it was the only way things made sense.

"You, for example. And Skar. You were both rushed into my life so fast that I didn't think about how it might affect me."

"Are you sorry you brought us along?"

Kayupa shook his head lightly and smiled. "No. Skar is necessary for our cause. Very important, but Master Bo-Hi has withdrawn himself so much that I don't know him anymore. And to lose him…I've lost myself."

She understood. "He's like a father to you."

"And where is the son without the father? He's left alone. And unloved."

She moved her body towards him, their faces so close they could sense each other's breaths on their faces. "You said you knew what it was like to be unloved?"

Kayupa nodded. "I was brought up by scavengers and killers, none of them cared for me. But Master Bo-Hi, he loved me, taught me, trained me," Kayupa began to stutter, "he cared, and now he cares only for - " His throat closed in on him as painful emotions came to close to the surface.

Shinran's green eyes were filled with compassion. "You can tell me."

He summoned the strength. "Glory. Redemption." Kayupa knew that was true. Master Bo-Hi wanted a revolution as much as he did, only Master Bo-Hi was too afraid to go for it through the Jentarana. Before victory comes humility.

"What redemption?"

"The story he told you about leaving the Republic behind was the hardest thing he's ever done. He feels failed and useless because his hopes for the future have not come true. He hasn't been able to raise the Jedi Order from its ashes."

Shinran looked down at her hands. Obviously surprised to see them interlocked with his, she pulled back for a moment, but then stopped and tightened her hold on Kayupa's. "And now his hopes lie with Skar?" She shook her head slowly. "You're just jealous."

Kayupa looked at her, studying the lines of her face, curious as to how someone created something so beautiful, only then to leave it in a place where nothing made sense. "I know."

"So you admit it?"

Looking down at his and her hands, Kayupa ran a finger across hers, seeing how the hairs rose on her arm. He even felt the sensation through her, that awkwardness of something that was more than just two people talking. Something intimate. Something only lovers would do. "I admit to know the pieces when I see them. The pieces of the puzzle are scattered, the balance ruptured and bleeding. I have to make the pieces fit back together."

There was intimidation in her eyes, and puzzlement. "How?"

"I have to take a look on the puzzle from afar, to see how it all fits together. I need time to think, time alone. Away from all this."

Shinran finally let go of his hands. "Skar cares for you," her expression changed to worry for a moment as she said his name. But as she looked back up there was mischief there. "Don't worry about Skar. As long as he's with me, we'll be fine."

Kayupa wanted to laugh at her joke, but all he could muster was a twitch at the corner of his lips. "Its not you two I'm worried about."

Skar watched with all the enthusiasm of a man who was seeing a new world for the first time. The sun descended its course, slowly taking into hiding far off in the horizon. Skar watched the sky turn from bright day into dusk, while still maintaining its warmth. The evening wind had the veil in the entrance to the temple flowing, brushing up and down Skar's side as he stood in the opening. He fought the urge to explore the world on his own, despite it being one of his future projects. Right now he wasn't thinking about learning more about Nanh, although it had proved all the more interesting with each moment he spent on the planet.

The reason he'd sought to the outside, other than watching the sunset, was the arrival of his friends. After a day and a half apart, he longed to see them again. Master Bo-Hi hadn't been much of the social companionship since they'd reached the temple. Skar had hardly seen him, but it worked out nonetheless, because it gave him freedom to find himself again, and to explore the temple on his own. What he'd found had given him a better sense of where he was and how the temple connected, but it left him more curious as to who had built it in the first place, and why.

He'd felt their coming and awaited them with the happy expression of a schoolboy. Shinran was the first to show herself, the journey to the monks went unmarked and she still looked radiant. When she saw him her slow walk turned into a sprint over the deck and she practically jumped into his arms. The reunion was warm and Skar felt a special joy in holding her again, to hold her so close. To know she was alright.

She pulled back and her fingers tugged at his chin. "You've lost the beard?" Her fingers moved to his scalp, playing with his newly cut hair. "The hair looks better."

Skar felt his heart pounding against his ribcage, and the intimate way she had touched him allowed him room for a more honest reply. "You look beautiful too."

She smiled appreciatively, then turned and took a few steps past him to look closer at the temple. "Wow. Nice place."

Skar made a shrewd smile. "Yeah, we got a sweet deal. The rent's cheap, own pool, ample space and the landlord's a Jedi Master."

She laughed. "What have you been up to, Skar?"

Skar shrugged, and cocked a sarcastic smile. "This and that. Learning the inner structure of the cosmos, and being at one with the force that holds everything together. Eternal enlightenment and finding the true meaning of life. And I took a bath."

She laughed again and then looked past him to the figure standing behind Skar on the deck.

"Kayupa."

Skar turned and felt ashamed at how he'd forgotten Kayupa was there too. The Jedi Knight stood there like a ghost, looking back and forth between them, shifting the weight of the supplies on his back. Before Skar's feelings managed to manifest into true guilt he felt the deep dark emotions clouding inside him. Kayupa looked sullen, more than ever, giving only a small twitch of his lips before walking past Skar, ignoring him.

Skar opened his mouth. "Hey - "

"You were wrong about the rent being cheap, kid. You'll earn the rent through blood, sweat and tears, most of it in the cause of someone else's goal."

Skar was almost afraid to ask. "How did it go?"

Shinran hesitated. "Okay….I guess. We got what we came for."

Skar looked over at Kayupa for further information but the Jedi was busy stowing supplies through the door. He could still feel the tenseness in him, only now it'd grown. Before it was like a flickering light bulb, but now it was flaming so bright it hurt one's eyes to look at it.

Kayupa finally turned to him, a spark of regret in his eyes. "Look, I'll explain things to you later. For now, get Shinran a room."

"Sure," Skar said. "What did - ?"

"Where's Master Bo-Hi?" Kayupa asked flatly.

Skar found the tone of his voice, and his interruption, discomforting. The way you said Master, like he was a burden to you, Skar thought. "I think he's in his room."

Kayupa nodded once and walked away without further explanation, supplies under each arm.

What the hell is going on here? Skar looked to Shinran for an answer.

She shrugged, a miserable look on her face. "Don't ask. But enjoy what time you have with Kayupa. I don't think he's staying."

Kayupa straightened his cloak and shifted his lightsaber to the front of his hip, before knocking on the door.

"Come in."

Hearing his Master's voice realized what until then had seemed only like a thought. Up until now confronting Master Bo-Hi had seemed so unreal, he never thought he would find the courage to do it. And that he was here, it felt scary and he couldn't believe he was finally going to do it. His heart raced as he touched the pad and the door swooshed open.

Kayupa stepped through and the door sealed shut behind him. Jedi Master Bo-Hi Dzog was standing by a hologram projector in the center of his room, studying hard the image hovering in green before him. Kayupa looked at the hologram and saw that it was transmitting messages from the Holonet, the Galaxy's information source, it transmitted news through the entire Galaxy. Kayupa didn't care for the news, he had too much to deal with already.

Instead he sat down on the end of Master Bo-Hi's bed and interlocked his fingers in front of him. "You said you would talk with me, when we had time?"

Sensing Kayupa's turmoil Master Bo-Hi walked over to stand before him. "We have time now, my son."

Kayupa's heart closed in a cold fist. You wouldn't call me that if you knew why I was here. "I am at a loss, Master."

"What troubles you?"

Kayupa shared his thoughts and feelings. Everything about the Jentarana, Shinran, Skar and the cave. Nothing was left out and the crying came almost instantly. The Jedi Master comforted him but his efforts failed. Kayupa felt too much grief to let anything seep through his fractured heart. He felt so angry at Master Bo-Hi for having not been there. For not having the opportunity to talk about what was going on.

Kayupa blamed Master Bo-Hi for being too involved in Skar to care for him anymore. Master Bo-Hi refused but to no end. The silence that had been between them shielded the pain, but didn't make it go away. Instead it had found root and was now grown into a flower of mistrust. Kayupa wore his negativity like a crown, and he was the king of grudges.

Kayupa took in a deep breath and tried to find a way to say the exact way he felt inside. "I've…lost myself." He had already made up his mind, and it was the best decision for everybody. "Its been too long since I've been able to say I was proud of who I am. Something is picking at me, something undisclosed is coming through. I've searched the Force for ways to calm it, but nothing seems to work."

Master Bo-Hi nodded. "I felt it in you when we left the Jentarana behind, and when we saw the Rebels in space. You're not happy with my decision to leave it behind."

"No, I'm not. I want to go back and get it. I can't…let them have it. I know they can't use it, but it shouldn't be there. We need it."

Master Bo-Hi held up a clawed finger. "Not yet."

"I need it!" Kayupa snapped. "I could feel it when I was inside. The Force called out to me, to take it from them, and use it to do what I was trained to do."

The Jedi Master was unmoved. "War is not our occupation."

"Then what is our occupation?" Kayupa spat, "waiting around for it all to go away?"

Master Bo-Hi shook his head, disappointed at Kayupa's ignorance. "We will do our part for the revolution. Its just not our time yet. Skar must be trained first. We can't ignore the potential in him."

Kayupa calmed down, but the rage would not leave him. And it found a companion in his jealousy. "You mean he'll get you the Jentarana?"

The Jedi Master shook his head. "Whether he does or not makes little difference. But mark my words; Coruscant will be ours again."

Kayupa sighed. "Coruscant. Nothing good has ever come out of there."

Master Bo-Hi's face darkened. "Don't think I haven't read those dreams you have. Coruscant can still be saved."

"That's your ideal," Kayupa said flatly and looked at nothing. "Mine is down a different path."

Master Bo-Hi's expression changed to worry. "What happened to you on Nar Shaddaa?"

"My connection with the Force has dimmed. I felt it after I left the Jentarana. Since then it feels like someone has put a blanket over my head. I can't think straight."

Bo-Hi hugged himself. "What you're feeling is only to be expected. You and I have shared these ideals and dreams for the future ever since I began your training. And, yes, even I waver at times. I've struggled to keep you patient, and I've always reminded you that with time comes fulfillment. You must not give up now. With Skar, we find a new step in the right direction. Its a little one for now, but you've seen what he can do. Its only a matter of time before his training is completed. Then he will be greater than any of us. He will be our redemption."

Kayupa snorted. "Are you serious?"

The Jedi Master's voice turned grim. "You are clinging so hard to the Jentarana that you don't see what is right in front of you. The Jentarana is, and will always be, a tool. Tools are cold and only as good as the one who operates it. With Skar," Bo-Hi searched for the right words, "we will have something even greater! Imagine what power he will possess! Don't tell me you haven't thought of this?"

Kayupa shook his head. "You talk about him as if he was some thing. He's my friend."

Bo-Hi tilted his head. "Is he really?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean, do you still see a friend in him when you see him…with Shinran?"

Kayupa's heart almost ignited with anger, and he realized quickly the anger was not aimed at Bo-Hi, but rather it was a reaction from the mental image in his head. Kayupa pushed the thought away. "Skar is my friend. No matter what happens between Shinran and him, that won't change. Skar is a dear friend to me. I've made no claims to want Shinran for myself. I have been too busy trying to work out more important problems." Kayupa raised an eyebrow. "But its nice to know you have been using your time well, spying on the rest of us."

The Jedi Master made no comment. "And you know that your feelings are affecting him in a bad way."

"He can't focus when he feels that I am in pain, I am standing in his way. Keeping him from his true potential. I don't wanna feel this overwhelming hostility towards him anymore. This jealousy. I don't want to stand in his way, because I know, like you do, that he is important to us. He's the key to unlocking the Jentarana."

Bo-Hi titled his head. "Your friendship to him should matter more to you than his ability to unlock the Jentarana."

Kayupa knew that it did. "It does, but still my sense of duty keeps reminding me."

"Then set it aside."

Kayupa frowned. Did Master Bo-Hi really think he hadn't tried? "I can't."

Master Bo-Hi sat down next to him. "We've had problems and discussions about the Force before. You know that I don't agree with you on the Force being singularly. It is a gift we must use for the good of all beings."

Kayupa scoffed. "I come to you looking for counsel and instead you point my attention to another of my faults."

"I am trying to say that maybe this weakness you feel has nothing to do with the Jentarana. It could be a delayed effect of your…misuse of the Force."

Kayupa stared at him. "Misuse?"

"The brightest candle will always be the first to burn out."

Kayupa supposed there could be something to that theory, but it changed nothing. He still needed time away and alone to figure things out. "I can't use it as strongly as I have before. I need…solitude. To figure out where I'm going and where my life is supposed to be." Kayupa ran his fingers through his hair. "And I can't do that here."

"What?"

Kayupa's throat clogged. "Too many people, too many concerns, too much confusion."

"But you should see their companionship as a blessing, a gain, Kayupa."

Kayupa looked away, feeling only able to say the words when he didn't have to look anyone in the eyes. "I find that I can see a light at the end. Beneath my self indulgence. I can't find comfort here, but I may find peace within the emptiness."

The Jedi Master's eyes narrowed. "What emptiness?"

Kayupa took in a deep breath. "Of solitude, of isolation. I am willing to put myself through anything: pain or discomfort means nothing to me as long as that experience will take me to a new level. I have to search the unknown, I need time by myself. There are barriers I haven't learned to break. However painful it may prove, I feel I must do this." Kayupa looked over at his Master, he felt he had to look him in the eyes when he said, "Master, I resign from the Jedi."

Master Bo-Hi was on his feet in a second. "You can't leave!"

Kayupa rose from the bed and didn't allow any of his love for Bo-Hi to influence his decision. "I choose to take myself away from the Jedi so I can find out what it is I must do to conquer this longing. To help myself, and to help Skar complete his training. As long as I'm around, I'll be a distraction for him. I've thought it through and through, and its the only way that makes sense."

The silence in the room was so thick Kayupa felt like he could actually touch it. Several seconds went by, filled only with the static of the hologram projector. In the end it was Master Bo-Hi who broke the stare. Kayupa felt the grief in the old Jedi, it was so concentrated in failure that Kayupa felt like crying a second time. Bo-Hi had honored him by calling him son, and he did feel like he was abandoning a father.

As Master Bo-Hi sat back down on the foot end of the bed he looked like a gargoyle. A statue of a fallen angel. Bo-Hi started to cry and the tears ran down his yellow cheeks and over his scars.

"Then…I guess it doesn't matter what I say."

"Not really," Kayupa said as he sat down on the floor in front of his Master, looking up at him, at last feeling like the son that Bo-Hi saw in him. "I have to believe that there is a reward to reap for all this. Something to see me through to my path."

"And what if there isn't?"

Kayupa opened his hands. "There has to be. And if there hadn't been I certainly would've walked away completely by now." Kayupa wiped away the tears running down his cheeks. "I still may but for now this is only temporarily."

Bo-Hi looked down at his hands as if he'd sliced one of his own veins. "Such a fool I was to think, " he shivered and his hands started to shake, "that I could actually help you. When I'm really so far from being able to help you. I can't find a way to make you change your mind." The Jedi Master sunk deep into a shadow of his own despair. "I've failed with you as well."

Kayupa shook his head. "No. You can't see another path, because there is no way. I must do this alone. I have to cut away all bonds, sever all communication to this place. Break the umbilical."

Bo-Hi still just stared at nothing, his shoulders trembling with each sob.

Kayupa held onto Bo-Hi's shoulder. "I will return, I promise. If you need me, I will come. Focus on Skar, he's the key, not me."

The Jedi Master's head slowly came up and Kayupa had never seen such pain manifested in one look before. "I know you will find what you're looking for," the Jedi Master whispered in a grim voice, "because I've already seen it. Which is why I shall not look forward to your return."

Neither Kayupa nor Master Bo-Hi showed themselves after Shinran and him had made it back. Skar had waited anxiously for an explanation, and since Shinran didn't want to talk about it, he concentrated on other things. Hours had gone by, with still no sign of Kayupa or Master Bo-Hi, when Skar realized that he hadn't seen Master Bo-Hi since they'd arrived at the temple two and a half days ago. And now Kayupa had shut himself in as well. Shinran and him had dug into the supplies and managed to fix up food for themselves, yet they always wondered whether or not to prepare meals for Kayupa and Bo-Hi.

Starting to feel a little like the unappreciated house-servants, or like children being left home alone for the first time as Shinran called it, they both decided that enough was enough. Skar had marched through the temple, intending to go banging on Kayupa's door for an answer and a very good explanation as to what was going on.

On Kayupa's door was a note to Skar that told him to get dressed for training and be in the Duel Chamber the following morning.

Next morning Skar had donned his training outfit, before going to exercise with Kayupa in the Duel Chamber. Kayupa had let Skar know that he should be prepared for a rough time. Skar allowed himself to think that he was talking about training, yet his warning sense was tinkling.

The Duel Chamber was where lightsaber training would took place, where he would hone his skills with the deadly weapon. The domed ceiling was, like the main chamber, painted and carved with images of Jedi battles. All of them beautiful in detail and exceptional in craftsmanship. The chamber was the size of the Main Chamber, supported by stone girders and strong pillars. The floor's center was one step up, a giant circle surrounded by small candles, all aflame.

Skar whistled as he approached the meditating Kayupa. "This is impressive."

Kayupa's eyes flashed open, blinked and looked around. "Yes. I like it here too. A room that I find much comfort in."

Skar gestured to the ceiling. "What are those?"

Kayupa pulled his head back to look at the dome above his head. "The carvings are all of ancient Jedi-battles, or so Master told me. Some of them are even supposed to show the Clone Wars, but I'm not sure which. War fascinates me, so I like being here. Makes me centered."

Skar smiled to himself. "Yeah, you like being the center of things, don't you?"

Kayupa cocked his head. "From the center your actions expand in circles, in a never-ending sphere of influence. What other place holds so much power?"

Skar nodded, not sure he understood what Kayupa meant. "I thought a Jedi was supposed to end wars, not admire them."

Kayupa smiled. "A Jedi is a warrior, he can allow himself to study the tactics of the past to guide him in the future. Battle is more than just slaughter, Skar, its a tool to settle conflict. And that is a Jedi's role. To end conflict."

Skar caught himself understanding Kayupa's point and lifted his eyesight to look at the carvings. "Kayupa, how can you fight in a war, if you're trying to end it?"

Kayupa smiled and rose to his feet. "I don't know about that, I think you're getting into more detail than you're supposed to. I've seen many people die. But they were all soldiers or warriors. War is between the soldiers of either side, and those warriors protect the people, those who can't fight on their own. Power is only important as an instrument for service to the powerless. By fighting in a war, you're stopping the enemy from hurting those you love."

Skar believed in that. He didn't like the idea of killing, but his instincts told him that if anyone ever threatened the life of those close to him, hesitation wouldn't be a factor. "Do you think wars are generated by fate?"

Kayupa laughed. "Whoever said I believed in fate?"

Skar shrugged. "Do you?"

Kayupa thought about it. "I believe that there are some places in life our skills and talents are more suited than others. To actually say that my life is written in stone…" Kayupa shook his head. "If it really was, nothing I do would mean anything because it would already be planned ahead. I might as well kill myself."

"What's the fun in that?"

Kayupa shrugged this time. "What's the fun in living a life you didn't make for yourself?"

"Guess you're right."

Kayupa looked up at the ceiling. "Wars are not acts of fate. They are caused by people, by institutions made by people, by the way in which people have organized society. As such they can be changed. But we live in a world with so many cultures, so many different ideals that it's becoming increasingly impossible to find common ground." Kayupa looked back down at Skar. "I find no pleasure in taking lives. But it is something I found myself to be good at. On a battlefield there are no names; there is the weapon in your hand and there is survival on the other side of someone's death. The only way I can justify killing, is to admit that I thought I was better than those I vanquished."

Skar unclipped his own lightsaber from his belt, and gently beat it against his thigh in wonderment. "Is that what you believe in, Kayupa? Survival?"

Kayupa shook his head. "I don't know what I'm believe in right now."

"That takes heart to admit."

Kayupa's eyes seemed happier than usual. Whatever had happened in the last day, had clearly opened up some of the tension. "Yeah, well, I'm through hiding from myself. Which is why I've called you here."

"We're not going to train?"

Kayupa folded his hands behind his back. "I called you here to tell you what I've already told Bo-Hi; I'm leaving for a while."

Skar wanted to scream, though he already knew from Shinran that Kayupa might be leaving their group. He'd been able to shut it out, waiting for confirmation from Kayupa himself, but it still rattled his heart. "You can't leave now, you've just come back. I need you to train me. You can't go! I won't let you!"

Kayupa lowered his head. "Shinran must have told you about what happened with the monks. If you know that then you know why I must go. I can't stay here. I've stretched myself too far. My touch with the Force and my control is weakening even now. I become more and more fragile the more I stay."

"But Master Bo-Hi can help you?"

"No, he's at the root of the problem. I must come to terms with my own fears, my own worries, the worries you've seen. Its my choice, and I have to see it through. Without free will no choice ever made, no matter how successful, was worth anything."

Skar thought of Shinran, the passion Kayupa had shown for her. And he thought of the way Kayupa had been ever since he'd returned from the Jentarana. And he thought of the doubt sowed in Skar about Master Bo-Hi's intentions. It all bottled up into one choice; Kayupa was leaving so he could find out what to do about it. "I know why you feel that way, and its nonsense."

Kayupa stepped down to Skar and placed his hand on his shoulder. "If I stay, I will endanger the purpose we are fighting for. I will cloud your mind and keep you from the objective. Your destiny lies ahead, and I'm keeping you from it." Kayupa pulled Skar closer to him in a hug.

Skar was surprised at first, but once the awkwardness faded he felt the need in Kayupa to make this gesture. Skar hugged Kayupa tighter, and counted his blessings. How lucky he was to have a friend like Kayupa, how fortunate he had been to have the life he'd sought for so long.

In the end, there were only very few people that would understand what he was going through, and the one that understood best had to be Kayupa.

"I'm counting on you, Skar." Kayupa pushed himself out of the hug and unclipped his lightsaber from his belt. "I want you to keep this for me. Where I'm going I won't be needing it. And it will also be a sign to you."

Skar accepted the lightsaber. "A sign of what?"

Kayupa smirked. "That thing saved my life a thousand times. You can be damn sure I'll be coming back for it."

Skar smiled. "Okay."

"Listen to your own heart, Skar. That's all I can say to you." With that Kayupa walked past Skar and picked up a satchel by the entrance.

"Kayupa?"

Kayupa stopped and turned.

"Do you even know where you're going? How do you know it won't break you?"

Kayupa smiled sadly. "That's life. We don't know where we were going and we run the danger of being hurt, but that doesn't make us give up. Nothing said to us, nothing we can learn from others, reaches us so deep as that which we find in ourselves. The only thing I know for sure right now is that this is not goodbye."

With that Kayupa turned around and left Skar to himself in the Chamber. Skar stood alone in the chamber for a long time mourning the loss of his friend. Skar felt sorry to see Kayupa leave, but he wished his friend the best of luck in his journey, and found comfort in the weight of the second lightsaber on his belt. He wished Kayupa could have worked out his problems in the temple, together with Skar and the others, but it seemed Kayupa didn't mind being alone.

Then again, Skar realized, there were two sides of being alone. There was loneliness, the pain of being alone, and there was solitude, the glory of being alone. Skar knew Kayupa would think of his journey as glorious, while Skar was left with the painful part.

But he still cracked a smile. There's no future in spending our present worrying about our past.

And it seemed the moment he felt Kayupa leave the temple, all clouds vanished from Skar's heart. He accepted Kayupa's departure and found cause for happiness in the fact that he knew Kayupa would be back.

Removing himself lessened Skar's list of worries, he no longer had to worry about Kayupa's conflicts and what it was doing to their unity. Clarity, like a sun appearing behind shifting clouds, appeared in regions of his mind that until then had been plagued with thunderstorms.

I'm ready to become a Jedi.

Moments later, wanting to fill his time with something useful now that he wasn't going to train with Kayupa, Skar decided to for a quick jog. Events in the past month had sent Skar to a new level of maturity. Of strength. He had goals and he had a responsibility. During his time on Nar Shaddaa he had been given the gift of freedom, he had been free to do whatever, whenever, wherever.

But now, people relied on him to be punctual, to be fit, to be ready and to fulfill whatever task as best as he could. He had been used to a life with no work and no pressure. He didn't have any chores or any duties he had to fulfill back on Nar Shaddaa, so this was very new to him. And very scary.

Especially Master Bo-Hi had great trust in Skar being up for the task of training to be a Jedi. Skar knew Master Bo-Hi had his own reasons for being so hopeful about Skar's training, but Skar didn't think too much about the fact that Master Bo-Hi believed Skar to hold some key to his redemption. Skar didn't want it to influence his way at going about to train.

Skar took it calmly, one day at a time. He gathered up energy that would push himself further, harder and more effective.

Skar jogged through the dunes and took a few laps around the canyons. It was almost noon when he returned to the temple, sweat pouring off him and his breath shallow. He stopped in the Main Chamber, concentrated his breathing and slowed his heart-rate back down to normal. He splashed some water from a flask into his hair and let it run down his neck, further on down his back and splashed some on his throat and face. His breathing was down to normal, when Master Bo-Hi stepped into the chamber.

"Did you enjoy the run?"

Skar hadn't expected to see Master Bo-Hi for some time. With the departure of Kayupa he wouldn't blame the Master some time to mourn. "I thought you wanted to be alone?"

Master Bo-Hi folded his hands behind his back and stared walking towards Skar. "You have me mixed up with someone else."

It came as a surprise to find that Master Bo-Hi's words were a jab at Kayupa's decision. Skar doubted that Kayupa would have left if Master Bo-Hi had told him not to, and he believed that the Jedi Master had condoned partly to Kayupa's departure. Yet some negativity obviously remained.

Skar used his shirt to dry some of the sweat of his face and hands. "Yeah, the run was good. I need to be in shape, for the training. If I am gonna become a Kjoil Knight - "

"You only need to be ready here," he used his fist to symbolize the heart, "and here", he lifted the fist and pointed at his temple. "Heart and mind, the only things you need to control." Master Bo-Hi stepped over and crouched down beside him. "A Jedi, when meeting an obstacle, must face the task with his focus and his understanding, not his physical form. True, a Jedi must be able to complete the task, and having a good physical condition helps that, but the Force will always be there to help you, if you do not possess what the task requires."

Skar snickered. "So you're saying I might as well grow fat?"

Master Bo-Hi boomed with a loud laughter, one that was liberating a lot of tension in him. "No, of course not. I am saying running is good, but never fear that the Force will not be there to help you, making you faster, quicker, leaner, and ready for anything."

"Leaner?"

The Jedi Master smirked. "Well, maybe not leaner."

Skar smiled, looking down at his feet. "Okay."

Master Bo-Hi looked away. "I think you are ready for the training soon."

Skar nodded. "I think so too. I feel ready. I feel like I'm waiting. I'm not stressed, or anxious. I'm calmly letting things come as they come."

"Good philosophy."

Skar looked up. "Are you ready to take a new apprentice?"

Master Bo-Hi sighed. "That question has been my purpose of solitude these last days, to find if I am right to take a new so soon."

"What did you find out?"

"That the answer lies deep within another question." Master Bo-Hi looked at him. "You say you wish to follow the Jedi path. That you want to honor your heritage. I can only admire that, but it drives me into a stalemate. What do you hope to find in the Force for yourself?"

Skar ran his hand through his hair. "Kayupa once told me that he hated his parents, because they'd left him. He felt unloved, unwanted. I've had the same emotions. I grew up with a foster-parent. And when I was young I was never been able to avoid the thought that maybe my parents didn't love me. That they didn't want me. It was only when I was given the Holocron and I saw my mother's wishes, that I understood that they loved me very much, and that they'd been sacrificed to make me choose this path. Lwen had even given up his own life out of loyalty to my parents, so he could raise me. I was loved. I was just too young and too blind to see it."

Master Bo-Hi nodded. "Understanding comes with age."

"Even though the feeling was wrong, I had it for many years, and it has left its mark. When I found out that I was a Jedi, it was reawakened. I thought I wasn't ready, that I couldn't do it. And even if I could, I would be alone. I was the only Jedi. And being the only one, I figured I couldn't do much difference. I didn't think I was really needed. That's what I want to find. That I am needed in this world, and that my time and my pain was all in vain. I wanna make a difference."

Master Bo-Hi held onto his shoulder. "The Force would not be with you if you were not needed. You were put on this path for a reason. You are needed. You've only heard of the terrors the Empire has done, you haven't seen it." Master Bo-Hi's voice became grim. "You haven't heard the screams, seen the bloodshed. Then you would know how much the Galaxy needs us."

Skar struggled to believe those words. "I'm just one guy."

"No, you are a part of something even bigger than the Empire, even bigger than this life. There's no goal you can't reach if you know how to reach for it. The only person you have to convince is yourself." Master Bo-Hi stood and bowed to Skar. "And you seem to quickly forget, that you are not alone and you are not just one person."

Skar smiled. "If you believe something to be real, it becomes real."

"Believing is the hard part."

Skar sighed. "I know."

Master Bo-Hi hugged himself carefully and opened his mouth to talk but nothing came out. He seemed hesitant, choosing his words with care. "And Skar," his voice almost a whisper, "I am one of those who need you. "

Feeling slightly more enthusiastic about his training, Skar retreated to his chamber, showered, dressed and got ready for his meeting with Shinran. Skar met up with Shinran in the Main Chamber and she led him down to the hangar that Skar suspected had originally housed the Koniduz. But scanning the room Skar realized it could house up to ten ships like the Koniduz. Something bigger had been stored here.

Playing on a hunch, Skar reached down to the floor and touched it. The metal surface was freezing under his touch but a warmth came from it; a warmth in the Force. Something familiar. No, not something.

Someone.

"My uncle has been here," he said without thinking.

Shinran stood by two swoops. She turned and looked at him funny. "Which one, the good or the bad?"

Skar rose. "The bad."

"Skind Kjoil?" she asked with a frown. "No way."

Skar licked his lips. "I know. It doesn't make sense."

"Are you sure its him?"

Skar reached out to the Force for answers. No memory of Skind Kjoil ever being on Nanh. Skar scratched his chin. Then he snapped his fingers in sudden understanding. "The Jentarana!"

She leaned up against the swoop. "What?"

"The Jentarana. Remember it was…" Skar kept his mouth shut. He remembered the Jentarana was equipped with Skind's mind. He'd built a Holocron that served as the Jentarana's moral guidance. It ensured that the weapon could never be used for evil. Like a moral compass. Skar waved her off. "Nothing."

She shrugged. "Master Bo-Hi and Kayupa were guarding it. Maybe you just feel him through it. It must have been stored here."

Skar nodded. "Yeah, that must be it." Not voicing the knowledge that his touch had not been of a thing, but of a person. It had not been the Jentarana he'd felt. It had been the man himself, Skind Kjoil.

Pushing the thought aside for later scrutiny, he walked over to her and examined the swoops. Swoops were small crafts, similar to speederbikes. Highly maneuverable, and often used as a racing vehicle. The swoop was basically an overpowered respulsorlift engine pod with handlebars. It had a pair of landing skids mounted on its bottom, and a control panel attached to the handlebars. Skar had seen rivaling gangs back on Nar Shaddaa using swoops.

Because of their speed the basic swoop offered no protection for the rider, and were capable of speeds in excess of 600 kilometers an hour. Skar also remembered contests back on Nar Shaddaa involving the swoops. Swoop racing involved negotiating a swoop through an obstacle course. The course consisted of five or more gravity obstacles which pushed or pulled the swoop away from the course. Often, the obstacles involved dangerous consequences for the racers. It was generally accepted that swoopchasing originated on the planet Omman, the brainchild of bored farmers.

Skar whistled. "Nice machinery."

Shinran straddled the seat and began activating the repulsor. The swoop groaned and the engine roared. Shinran manipulated the controls and the swoop swirled to point at him. She smiled over the handlebars. "Wanna go for a ride?"

Skar nodded. "You've ridden these things before?"

"My father once raced for money back on Nar Shaddaa. He taught me all about them. This is the first time I've sat on one."

Skar found there was no delicate way to ask his next question. "I thought you and your family were homeless?"

Shinran peered at him. "Like I said, it was for money."

Skar looked around. "Where are we going?"

Shinran smiled. "Its a surprise."

The hangar's ceiling cracked in the center in a fine line of bright light. Sunlight. The hangar doors slid apart and the dry air came washing in. Rivers of sand came washing down from the desert above them. The swoops lifted up over the hangar, sealing the doors behind them, and they flew south.

Skar was pounded back in his seat when the swoop first reached 200 kilometers per hour. He'd never flown one before, so he decided to start off slow and kept it at the 200 mark. Which wasn't necessarily anymore comforting. The speed was still immense and Skar held on to the handlebars, careful not to jug them even the slightest bit, since that would send him either flying to the clouds or buried in sand.

Either way, he'd be dead.

Beneath him flashed the sandy landscape faster than his eyes could pick out. The horizon seemed to be rushing to meet him but never moved. The vast sea of sand could only be admired if he looked out to the sides. Sand, dunes and canyons passed by, whooshing by like blasts. He spotted rock formations in the distance, high mountains reaching for the clear blue sky.

As they got further out, the rock formations took on a more deformed shapes. Some resembled hands and fingers reaching out of the sand to grab him and pull him down. One of them looked like a slain dragon fighting to stand, fighting to take one final breath and had then been frozen in time.

Skar flew under a cracked formation of a semicircle, each peak rising on each side of him and should have met over his head, if not the connection had cracked and was now buried in sand. Skar enjoyed the sensation of flying. Feeling the wind in his face, Skar spotted Shinran flying up ahead, dodging rock after rock. He reached out to her and felt her exhilaration in flying; one they shared.

They rode for most of the day, without a single break in speed, enjoying the euphoric feeling of freedom that speed offered them. It was bordering on nighttime when the surprise she had in store for him came up ahead. Shinran had taken him out to where the desert ended, where the continents was severed by sea.

And Skar saw an ocean for the first time.

They dismounted the swoops and strolled the last walk to the cliff. Something about the sight of the world at night from the cliff gnawed at him. It was almost as if he had seen it before somewhere. Yet he couldn't remember where. Skar looked down and saw the water pounding against rock outcroppings , the sound of it like thunder bellowing heavily in his ears. He watched Shinran stand at the very edge of the cliff and he wanted to run and pull her back to safety.

"So this is the surprise?"

She smiled. "Not only for you, but for me too. We've never seen an ocean."

Skar looked out at the horizon where the sun was setting. The clouds switched color and became yellow and purple even further off. The water reflected the glowing sun and took on its bright flaming color. Skar smiled. It really was beautiful.

Next to him Shinran hugged herself, a long lost look of contentment on her face. "I've always dreamt of a peaceful place like this."

Skar stood next to her and slid his arm around her shoulders. "It's hard to find peace inside yourself, but easy to find it around you."

She laid her head on his shoulder. "My father once said; if you ever read something about nature that is longer than a page, stop reading. Its wrong. Nature is never that complicated."

Skar laughed at the quote. "He was right," he rubbed at his ear. "The ocean's a little noisy though."

She smiled. "Its not noise, its the sound of nature. The sound of life, the sound of time passing by."

Skar admitted to himself that the sound of the waterfall became soothing after a while of listening to it. In fact it reminded him of the feeling he got when using the Force. A loud, immense storm contained in a small package.

Skar nodded. "I'm beginning to understand the value of some of life's simpler sides. You don't need money or items to value life, you just have to know what to look for." Skar gazed at the ocean. "My uncle must have felt this way about his home. That's why he was eager to protect it. It was more valuable to him than possession."

Shinran's face changed. "Skar, I understand your uncle's need for protection to his home, but a weapon could never be the right answer."

"Yeah, I know, but it wasn't a weapon."

She turned to him. "You can't create peace through deterrence or fear. Even if you only wish to use it in the service of good, all people will have different opinions of what is right and what is wrong. What your uncle made was an instrument of fear, and it would eventually bring persecution to all those he loved. He set himself out to be strong and to make others cover in fear over what he had made."

Surprisingly to himself, Skar felt attacked. And by the one person he never would expected it from. "What are you trying to say - "

"Don't you see?" She held out her hand. "He didn't accept the differences between everyone in this Galaxy so he made something that he was sure could terrify them all." She turned back to the ocean. "True freedom… cannot exist under a government, in a world filled with guns."

Skar shrugged. "Then why isn't the world like that?"

"Because we are not capable of doing it," she said with a touch of bitterness to her voice. "We can't maintain it, and there are those who would exploit it. Anarchy is an answer but it may not be the answer. It could destroy more than it would save. We have to make the best of this world, filled with hate and laws."

"Well…what more do you want?"

She sighed. "I don't know. Someone to care."

Skar felt sorry for her. Her confusion and frustration over her own life and the world she lived in was killing her and as long as she focused on them she would never be content. Skar was ashamed that he'd not seen that it had grown so intense inside her. He'd been too busy preparing to train as a Jedi to notice it. In some way he thought this was her way of reaching out to him, her way of telling him how he felt.

Skar stepped up behind her and put his hand on her lower back. "I'm here. I care."

She glanced at him. "Do you?" Shinran opened her hands. "What are you doing here on Nanh?"

Skar took a quick glance at the sea and then back at her. "I think…I hope I'm making a difference."

"What have you learned? Have you found meaning?"

"I've found some. As a Jedi I'm needed. I have a responsibility."

She snorted. "I may be wrong but I'm starting to think you're in this for personal glory, not the honorable cause. I think you're doing this for yourself, and not for others. This is something you have to prove to yourself, and not anyone else, right?"

Parts of him wanted to turn his back on her and walk away, but the remaining parts of him would never leave her so. Skar peered inside himself and looked for the answer to his thoughts. To find the question that was so important and so obvious that he didn't even think about it. I don't know who I am. What I'm capable of, what I can do. I don't know why I'm living. I'm pursuing the Jedi faith but am I just doing it to honor my family? Am I so soulless that I'll become a Jedi just to become a Jedi?

No. I'm not.

I want to become a Jedi so I can understand my purpose in life, my own purpose, so I can understand where I'm going and where I am.

Skar nodded. "Yes. That comes first. Later I'll use what I've learned to help others."

"And what about the Jentarana? How big a part does it play in your future?"

Skar walked over to her and took her cold hand into his. "Right now, it doesn't exist. The Jentarana will have to come some place longer down that road when I'm really to deal with it. Right now there's training to be done. I could choose right now what path my life is going to take, but fulfilling my training would leave me with better options. You've got the wrong impression about me. I do care about the world, but I am not in a position to change anything. Yet."

She looked genuinely surprised. "Do you mean that?"

"That's how I feel."

Skar thought he saw a slight color change in her cheeks, a blush. "I'm…sorry."

Skar nodded, accepting her apology. Turning to face the ocean, he clasped his hands behind his back. "One more thing. I will prove you wrong."

She looked confused. "About what?"

"By becoming a Jedi. I will show you a weapon that is made to create peace." Skar smiled to the fading sunset. "Me."

They spent the evening on the cliff, sharing, talking and even some meditating. It had been Skar's idea she tried to meditate, believing it might help her. He had sometimes found meditation to be of great inspiration, although he hadn't learned to link it with the Force yet. He had not learned to use meditation as a means of seeing the world around him. All he had were glimpses that never revealed enough, and revitalization did not require meditation. Shinran had brought a mat for them to sit on, they'd been sitting on the cliff for hours now, trying playfully to connect their minds. Shinran meditated in her own way, with some guidelines from Skar. Though he kept insisting that too many guidelines would ruin would meditation was really all about.

Skar sought his way back to consciousness and as one, they opened their eyes, smiling to each other. Her beautiful face shone in the light of the rising moon.

"Do you feel better?" he asked.

"I feel a lot better."

She leaned forward, resting her forehead on his shoulder. That simple gesture igniting a million thoughts and sensations inside him. The strongest being the feeling of unity. Skar had found a great ally in Shinran, and a friend. With Kayupa gone, they both missed him and that kept them together. He knew Shinran missed him as much he did, but he chose to forget about Kayupa for now and did what the Force demanded of him. Kayupa was on his own by his own choice to regain himself. Skar had no idea on what to do to build a connection with Kayupa again but he decided it would have to wait.

"What's wrong, Skar?" she asked.

He leaned his head against hers, talking into her ear. "I was thinking about Kayupa."

"Do you think he'll be back?"

Skar sighed. He hoped so. He believed so, but it was not really up to him. "Maybe. When he's done fighting. Done fighting the Dark Side."

"The way he's been lately…I guess it was only a matter of time."

Skar nodded. "Yeah, he wasn't really…there anymore. He was too occupied with his own emotions. Now he doesn't feel that he can even trust Master Bo-Hi. He said he didn't know what he was fighting for anymore."

"That's bad in a Jedi. But I think he would have been better off staying with us. He's just like the rest of us now, trying to find himself."

"Kayupa doesn't like groups. He's solitary, untamed. He's too proud to let others help him."

She snickered. "Master Bo-Hi said that too."

Skar thought about Master Bo-Hi instead and his training. "With Kayupa gone, Bo-Hi can take me as his apprentice."

"Do you think he will?"

"I hope."

"Master Bo-Hi has a lot of admiration for you, perhaps even fear. I don't doubt he'd like you to be his apprentice. But I think he's worried about your future."

Skar felt her breath on his throat. "He wants the Jentarana. And he thinks I can get him the key. If he wants it, he'll have to train me."

"Can you get him the key?"

Skar suddenly felt very fragile. "I think…the key…" Skar sighed and looked away. "The key is not important now."

"Power is very unstable," she said, "just like control. I doubt anyone, even your uncle, was fit to be in control of it."

Skar doubted that too. "Remember how Master Bo-Hi talked about the Old Republic and how he'd left the Jedi behind? And the failure with the student from the monks. He's seen a lot of hard choices, and a lot of defeat. A lot of anguish. Sometimes I feel a desperateness in him, to redeem himself. And using the Jentarana to strike a blow at the Empire is one way of doing that."

"Skar, he's a Jedi Master. He knows right from wrong."

"He's a Jedi Master." Skar nodded. "But he's also ashamed."

Shinran wiped a stand of hair from her eyes and pressed herself in tighter to Skar. He adjusted himself so they would sit more comfortably, their thighs touching. She looked up into his eyes, and Skar fell beyond her green eyes into the greater beauty she kept inside.

She shifted in his hands. "You know, Master Bo-Hi taught me a little about the Jedi. They teach each other the skills that are necessary in order for the Force and the Jedi to continue their evolution. When one decides to join the group than the success of the one depends upon the success of the group." She took his hand and smiled to him. "But you are here to find yourself, Skar. You are not here to be part of a unit. You use it for selfish reasons. Master Bo-Hi himself said you were here for personal reasons."

Skar saw her point, she was right. But the way he saw it, at this point there was no unit to be a part of, they were Jedi and they were a unit.

But not a Jedi-unit.

His training would take them there, but not yet. The Force was more to him than a religion, it had become his most loyal asset and he was aching to learn more. But he was still far from being able to use his powers for good. He had a lot to learn about himself first.

Skar held her hand in his. "What is it you're trying to say? You think I'll leave you behind when I'm done?"

Her cheeks blushed slightly. "I don't know. Maybe. Maybe you'll just continue on your own little quest?"

Skar shook his head, but slowly. Their faces were so close their noses might bump into each other. "No, my quest ends here, on this planet. Here I'll find my identity as a Kjoil. I came here hoping to earn powers that would help me bring justice to where it was needed, and find out what my purpose in life is." He took a second to gather his thoughts. "Coming here, I wasn't only looking for myself, but also to know who my family was and I have learned much about their history. I've never felt their love directly, but they went into a lot of effort to insure I became a Jedi. All this information they've gathered, the plan they laid out to make sure I was safe. That love was new to me. And now for the first time, thanks to them and thanks to you and Bo-Hi, I feel at home, I feel like I belong here. All my life I've wanted to feel this way and now I do. I fit here. I achieve more goals here each day than I've ever done before." He squeezed her hand. "We're a family now, Shinran. None of us will ever be alone again."

"I hope not," she said and slowly turned around herself and laid her head in his lap, at first it was awkward and unusual for him but he understood the intimacy and he didn't want to ruin that. He held onto and massaged her shoulders. He smiled, knowing there was no hard feelings between them. No hard feelings at all. Just intimacy.

"And to reassure you, I would never leave someone behind if I felt they needed me. That is also the task of a Jedi."

She smiled up into his face. "That's nice to know."

"There are not a lot of people out there who wouldn't understand people like you and me. But at least we have each other." He looked up and looked over the ocean. "You must trust me, Shinran. The key to any alliance is trust. We must believe we're working towards one common goal. An alliance cannot survive with division." Saying the words, Skar couldn't help but think of Kayupa. He'd diverted. And left out of their alliance. He'd out his own needs in front of theirs.

She stared up into his face. "Are you suggesting we form an alliance?"

He laughed slightly. "I think you could call our friendship an alliance."

Abruptly she rose from his lap and bent down in her knees before him, putting her face across from his. Coming as a complete shock to him, her lips pushed forward and gently kissed his for just a brief second. Skar felt like a small boy again at first, since it was the first time he had kissed a woman. His face warmed and he felt younger than he was. His mind raced with hope that she couldn't feel his nervousness and inexperience in kissing. For the first time he was glad she wasn't in touch with the Force so she couldn't sense his awkwardness. But she really only needed to look at his body language to know that he was not used to it.

He moved his hand around her neck to pull her a little closer. For a second he felt her tongue and he hurried to move his own tongue so they would touch again, but she pulled back fast and the kiss ended.

Skar moved forward to kiss her again but she pulled herself back ever so slightly when he tried, with a delightful teasing smile on her face.

She gently ran a finger down his lips and chin. "Our alliance is strong, Skar Kjoil."

Sasori Dragus beheld his latest terror.

After six months of nonstop working and studying, after blood, sweat, tears brought on by hard work, after so many payrolls he didn't even want to think about them, happy knowing he wasn't the one paying the work crew. After hundreds of some of the Galaxy's best slicers trying, after even trying to use explosives, after typing in at least ten million different combinations. After his near mental breakdown. After his mornings of waking up with a fresh idea, only to watch it fail.

After hundreds of threats and insinuations from Raydoen, they had finally been able to find the right access code.

It had happened an hour ago, while he was sleeping. The men had come get him, and dragged him down so he could supervise. Raydoen wasn't around, for which Sasori was very thankful. The men had been inside the ship now, and were sweeping it for bombs or traps set by the Jedi Knight, but fortunately came up empty.

Sasori lounged in a chair on a platform from which he could see the entire hangar that held the craft they were examining. A cup of caf in jittery hands, he supervised the process with only half of his capacity. He wanted more than anything to go back to sleep, but he knew he wouldn't be able to if he tried.

They were finally making progress, whatever happened within the next handful of hours could decide many things; mostly financial issues. And a part of him enjoyed watching over the crew as they worked to find his answers. There was a certain air of duty and loyalty in the air, and the unity with which the team worked showed him how well he had chosen them. These men were a rare breed; the kind that enjoyed to work.

Sasori was never that hands-on, at least never with something this big. It would take him weeks to go over the craft to find the information he needed. His best crew along with Dr. Oteyu had done all of the examinations. He was a designer first and foremost. His heart belonged to the very early birth of weapons or equipment, the designing process. Physical labor had never given him the same pleasure as a simple pen and a sheet of paper. It had never bothered him, at least not yet, to know that he designed things that killed others.

War was a side affect of his passion for creating and one he had learned to accept. He didn't fear combat or fighting. He had never seen a war, but he had studied information on battle tactics from the Holonet as well as from professional hunters. He was a weapons man, but only in the planning areas. He had studied many battles and many wars, worked out strategies that would enable victory with the lowest amount of cash-flow or victims. In the end war was just politics with bloodshed. And vice versa without bloodshed.

Dr. Oteyu, Raydoen's personal scientist, flown in from Raydoen's castle on Pathfort, came slowly up the stairs to where Sasori sat lounged in a chair on a platform above the workstation.

Dr. Oteyu was a man old enough to remember the Clone Wars, the kind of living relic that belonged in a museum, old as time itself. Kept alive only by stimulus and spice. Bushy white brows stood out on the surface of a face dominated by wrinkles. Perfect white hair was combed back behind his ears, light glinting off the bald spot on top of his head. His wide eyes, it seemed they were always peeled, looked at Sasori and bowed his head slightly.

Dr. Oteyu was big back on Pathfort but around here he answered to Sasori whenever Raydoen was not around. Sasori was not the kind of man to take pleasure with being in command, but seeing the weasel bow his head gave him some joy.

Sasori sipped his hot caf. "What did you find?"

Dr. Oteyu consulted his datapad. Since their breach everything had been carefully analyzed and written down for Sasori's scrutiny. "No bombs, no detectors, no sensors." Dr. Oteyu had the kind mellow voice of a favorite uncle, but venom still seeped through his calculations. "We've breached the outer hull and we've found your weapon."

"Good." Sasori said casually, barely hiding the excitement creeping up his spine like a snake. "Then what is it?"

Sasori was embarrassed to know that all their hard work and labor on this project was surrounding something they didn't even know what was. Raydoen knew, but he liked his little secrets. Raydoen was an intellectual man who liked to study, and that was how he had been able to piece the puzzle together. He had only let them know that whatever man-hour or work they put into it, whatever it may have cost, it would be worth it. Sasori was in no position to question that thought. Nor did he dare.

Dr. Oteyu coughed. "The outer shell and its separate cockpit serves as a dropship for the main weapon. The main weapon runs along the hull and fills most of the interior."

Sasori looked up at the huge ship. It was at least a hundred meters in length and fifty meters in width. The weapon itself must've been huge. "What can you say about the weapon?"

Dr. Oteyu put away his datapad. "Its not a superlaser as you predicted. Not a copy or an old prototype of the Death Star neither -"

"Stop telling me what it isn't and tell me what it is," Sasori had not gotten up in the middle of the night to hear his own ideas be shot down. He wanted answers, answers Raydoen had been keeping from him. He wanted to know what all the fuss had been about.

Dr. Oteyu frowned. "Its a manned vehicle. Only one operator. Bipedal."

Sasori's brows lifted. "A walker?"

"No, far too huge for that. It has a strong repulsorlift. The strongest I've seen on something this big. Situated on its tail -"

"Tail?" Sasori asked.

Dr. Oteyu nodded. "The design is based on some kind of animal. Two legs, two arms, a head and a tail. The main-drive and thrust-unit is in the tail."

Sasori found this information odd. He had designed hundreds of weapons, even some walker variations, but he had never consciously based his work on any living creature. But it sounded interesting and he had a feeling it might influence the way he looked at designing. "And it can fly?"

"Yes, but not in space. That's why the dropship is there. To drop it and pick it up again."

Sasori sipped his caf, the details logged into his mind. "Do you know what it is?"

Dr. Oteyu nodded, a hint of a sly smile on his chapped lips. "Master Raydoen was right. We found a symbol on the right arm that confirms it." The doctor's eyes grew narrow and he looked very pleased with himself. Even his grim voice betrayed his excitement. "It is the Jentarana. It was an ancient weapon created by the Old Republic. Created for peace and justice. The Jedi made this weapon to protect a planet. Its a defense program."

Sasori was shocked. "The Jedi created it?"

"Yes."

"What else can you tell me?" Sasori sipped from his cup again.

Dr. Oteyu scratched his bald head. "Bad news, actually. The cockpit has no controls."

Sasori nearly choked on the caf. "What?"

"The cockpit is without controls."

Putting his cup aside Sasori got out of his chair and stared at the ship. "How the Sith do we operate it, then?"

Dr. Oteyu sounded unconcerned. "Raydoen suspected this. He knows the way."

Sasori turned to him. "How?"

The doctor's eyes would not meet his. "Master Raydoen wants his secrets to remain secrets."

Anger clawed at his heart. "But he's giving me nothing to work with. We're wasting time, Doctor. This weapon is already paid for. And the buyer wants it operational. Trust me, he doesn't want to display it on some gigantic mantle." Sasori looked back at the weapon. "We're dealing with some dangerous people, Doctor. You don't toy with these people."

Dr. Oteyu nodded. "I understand. But Master Raydoen gave me strict commands - "

Sasori sighed and leaned against the railing. "So you're not going to work with me?"

The doctor shook his head. "We wait."

Sasori felt his anger grow. Clutching to his temper, begging for release. But his reason told him it would accomplish nothing. In the end he swallowed his pride. "Fine, let him run this however he wants." He turned and walked for the stairs. "If anybody needs me I'll be in my chamber."

Sasori took one last look at the ship before he left the hangar. The Jentarana, Dr. Oteyu had called it.

Sasori's departure from the hangar had little to do with his anger, and more to do with him wanting to research this weapon, now that he had a name for it, he figured the rest couldn't be too difficult. He'd get the answers his own way. Raydoen's way was too slow, and Sasori began to suspect the slow progress was somehow all a part of Raydoen's plan.

Death abandons no one.

Sasori knew that if he started to research this Jentarana on his own, it wouldn't be long before Raydoen found out. Then there'd be trouble. Though him and Raydoen were working together, the vampire alien always left him with his heart beating and a sigh of relief. Raydoen was a psychopath at best, which made him impossible to work with. He kept secrets even from the people he expected to please him.

Sasori was fortunate enough that Raydoen was never present to supervise the work effort, but whenever he deemed it fit to show himself on Nar Shaddaa, Sasori always felt that old fear creep back into him.

But even with the fear of a repercussion from Raydoen, the thought of this new project had seized Sasori with a will of its own. The Jentarana, a bipedal walker. No, bigger than a walker. Capable of in-planet liftoffs. It gnawed at Sasori that he didn't know what kinds of weapons it was equipped with. So far it didn't sound too impressive and he was a little disappointed. He'd imagined something greater than this. At least something with enough fire-power to take on battleships. But this one was bound for surface-battle.

Sasori smiled as the ingenuity in him came to life, making him feel like a giddy schoolboy.

He could reconstruct it so it could fly in space. Shouldn't be that difficult. Hyperspace capability wasn't necessary as long as it had its dropship. He did however recognize that the dropship was a weakness more than anything else. If the dropship was destroyed the Jentarana would be trapped where it was.

Walking down the corridors of his storage facility, oblivious to the men that passed and saluted him, Sasori began drawing the design in his head from what he'd heard from the good doctor. Fitting in extra mechanisms where they needed it. Built like an animal, tail and all, and he knew that with his modifications it would truly be a horrifying monster to view.

No controls.

Sasori waved that little setback off. Finding it hard to do so Sasori decided to trust that Raydoen actually knew how to control it, as he'd claimed to Dr. Oteyu.

He better, Sasori thought. Time is running out. He'd heard rumors about a new Death Star being built at Endor. The Empire was getting ready to wreck havoc. With the Death Star the Empire wouldn't need the Jentarana after all. But if the Rebels knew, they could surely use it.

Its still not designed for space. But if it can be modified for space, and if it can take on a Death Star, then the Rebels can't resist.

He promised himself as soon as he learned if the Jentarana could stand up to a Death Star he'd think about contacting the Rebels. War was such a dirty game. And Raydoen wasn't the only one who knew how to master it.