.:In the Wake of the Force:.

In the great hall, there was a celebration. The village of Myrkr had won a great victory against the Garcia that day. Everyone was drinking and laughing and showing off for the women.

Well, almost everyone. Kail slipped out not long after Victor's speech. He wandered around the village for some time; it was freezing outside, and he was only wearing a short-sleeved tunic (what he'd worn earlier that day), but he kept wandering. Eventually he found himself near the prison where most of the Garcia that had been captured were being held.

He trudged inside; the guards didn't say anything as he walked in. At first he wondered why, and then he saw.

"Hey!" He shouted. One of the guards was holding a woman down while the other tried to…

Kail couldn't bear to think about it, and he refused to let it happen. For the first time in six hours he felt more then plain grief; he felt burning, utter rage. His vibroblade was out of its scabbard, and before he knew what he was doing, he threw himself at the first guard, the sword going through his back and, judging by the woman's scream, through his chest and almost stabbing her.

Kail reacted with split second timing when another came at him from behind. He swung his sword over his shoulder while kicking the guard in front of him in the groin. Both guards went down, and Kail stabbed his vibroblade through the last guards' chest.

He was finally able to get a good look at the woman in front of him. She had red-brown curls that reached just-past her shoulders, a round face with fair skin, and bright green eyes like emeralds. She glared at him hatefully, obviously not caring he'd just saved her from being assaulted.

"Vis shar diarè!" She snapped. Kail took a step back, and she stood, also taking a step back. The moonlight caught her face, and Kail saw she couldn't have been more then seventeen at the most. That made him all the more disgusted with the men he'd just killed. "Vis shar diarè, sorta lae fiyal!"

She pointed toward the cages. Kail looked at them for the first time; they were all filled with young woman or girls no older sixteen. Kail's eyes widened in horror when he realized why.

He took a step toward her, and she backed away again. Sighing, Kail thought for a moment on how to show her he meant no harm. Before he could come to any conclusion, he heard voices from outside.

"Where the hell are they?" One said.

"Probably having some fun inside." Said another.

"Well, we can't let them spoil all of them." A third said. Kail spun around, pulling a vibrodagger from his belt. He raised the dagger, aimed and threw in one fluid motion. At the same time, a second dagger flew past him. Both hit the first of the men to enter the prison, on in the abdomen, the other in the throat.

"Al'tari so krei!" The girl cried. She rushed past Kail, pulling both daggers from the dead body. Three feet from the second guard, she leapt forward, driving both vibrodaggers through his chest.

"Lookout!" Kail shouted. But she couldn't understand him, and was hit hard across the face by the third guard, who was at least three feet taller then Kail, and she fell unconscious at his feet.

Kail snarled at the man, who returned the look with even more ferocity, unsheathing a vibrosword from a scabbard on his belt. Kail raised his vibroblade, and struck at the mans' sword, changing direction at the last minute to strike at his chest. The man was obviously a better swordsman then the ones before him, and the fight continued for five minutes.

It ended with the vibrosword cutting an inch in Kail's side, and then going through his abdomen. Earlier that day, Kail would have been both terrified and stunned. Now all he thought of was being with Padme again.

Rick noticed his friend putting down his drink after Victor's speech, and walking out of the building. He moved to go after him, but Alison put a hand on his shoulder. "He needs time." She whispered. No one would've heard her if she'd shouted. They were either too drunk to hear, or they just didn't hear over the exited speech going all through the Great Hall.

Sighing Rick nodded. He couldn't imagine what Kail was going through. The Echani boy was had fallen in love with Padme, and then she had been ripped from his life, killed by a Garcia assassin.

Rick took another gulp of Telosian brandy from his goblet, and gazed at Alison lovingly. "So, have you found what it was you needed to come here for?" He asked. She shook her head.

"Not yet." She said. "But I keep getting the feeling it's nearby. Especially during the battle, something called to me."

"Perhaps the defeat of the Garcia?" Rick suggested.

"Aren't they already?"

Rick shook his head. "They lost a battle today. The Garcia general was captured, but the leader was still back at their camp." He said.

"How do you know that?" Alison asked, taking a sip of her Tarisian ale.

"I over heard Mia telling Torne." Rick answered. "The leader is actually a woman, and she helps the Garcia in battle from their own village." He lowered his voice. "The Garcia leader uses Battle Meditation."

Alison choked on her drink, coughing for a few moments. When she stopped, she turned a shocked gaze back to Rick. "What do you mean? Battle Meditation is a Force power!"

"I know that, but you weren't in the battle. If you hadn't gotten those turrets working, we would have lost." Rick said. "Even without the Force, I could feel the symptoms of Battle Meditation used against me, and when Mia said that the Garcia Empress uses magic to turn the tide of battle…it's just too much of a coincidence to be anything but Battle Meditation, and that means the Garcia have learned away around the Ysalamiri."

Alison gave her boyfriend a weary look. Even without he Force, she could always tell if he was lying or not, and there was no hint of a lie in his eyes. "If that's the case, we are going to be at a serious disadvantage tomorrow."

"What do you-?" Rick never finished his sentence; two young boys suddenly ran into the Great Hall, heading straight for Victor. One of them whispered in his ear, and a look of half-horror half-rage appeared on his face.

"The Garcia, they are escaping!" He shouted. "To the prison!"

"…heris vei lerial!"

Voices', speaking a language Kail wasn't familiar with.

"Shaido lae so jii tih!"

Kail sat bolt-upright, throwing his hands forward out of habit. To his utter disbelief, both the Garcia women were thrown off their feet and across the room.

"Well, you were certainly right about his power." The older of the two women said, in Galactic Basic! As if reading his thoughts, the woman gave him a leveled look. "What, you thought we were incapable of speaking the Outsider language simply because the rest of the Myrkr folk are limited to one language?"

Kail opened his mouth to answer, then snapped it shut again, glaring at the woman, who had to be in her late seventies. And yet she crossed the room so fast and with such grace as if she was no older then his mother.

"Well, boy? Speak!" She snapped. The other woman, and Kail realized once again that she was not a woman, but the same girl he'd helped back in the village prison, stepped forward.

"I brought him here, he is my siya'toh!" She said. She did not falter under the older woman's acid glare. "You will leave my quarters now!"

The older woman eyed the girl for a moment, then her face softened. "You always were stubborn. Like your mother." She walked toward the door, but turned before leaving. "Do not be too long with him. The Gathering begins in less then an hour."

With that, she left the room, leaving Kail alone with the girl.

After a few moments of silence, the girl walked over to a water basin on one of the walls and filled a glass with water. She walked over to Kail and sat on the bed, handing him the cup.

"Drink." She said. He eyed the cup suspiciously. From what he'd heard from Victor, the Garcia, were very sly and good at killing. Then again, this was the same girl he'd saved from Victor's men. The Garcia may have been the ones that attacked, but Victor's men seemed to be the savages he made the Garcia out to be.

"Drink!" She said again. Kail obeyed this time, drinking until the cup was empty, and then handing it back to the girl. He made a move to sit up, and then froze.

"I'm not wearing anything…" He said. The girl didn't seem to find this a shock, although when she found that he was uncomfortable, she did the last thing Kail expected; she stripped of her own clothes.

She saw the shocked look he gave her and returned a look of misunderstanding. "You were uncomfortable showing your body to me, so I showed my body to you." She said.

Kail, who had not been interested in seeing another woman's naked body for the rest of his lifetime, was absolutely stunned, and found himself looking at the girl in somewhat overwhelming detail.

"Well, you need to get up some time." She insisted. Kail gave her a nervous look, and she returned it with a curious look. Sighing, he crawled out of the bed.

"Where do I find some clothes that will fit me?"

"Over by the door." She said.

Kail nodded, and walked over and grabbed the clothes. They were not his; his were probably rags by now, considering how many cuts and the two large wounds he'd received from that vibrosword. He suddenly realized there was not a single trace of any wound on his body.

"How…?"

"…did you heal so fast? You didn't, Mistress Karan healed you with Spirit magic." The girl answered.

"Spirit magic?" Kail asked. The girl nodded, she looked over at her clothes.

"Hei shar mirendè." She said, and her discarded clothes floated over to her and slipped back over her body. Kail had felt a flow of the Force when she'd done that, the chant was obviously her way of touching it. "You are a powerful Spirit Master, you used it when you first woke up."

Kail nodded, understanding. "So, how many of the Garcia-?" The girl hissed. "I'm sorry, that's probably what the villagers call you. What should I call your people? What should I call you for that matter?"

"We are the Shardin, and I am Hannah of the Far Shadow clan, also of the War Priestess Temple." The girl answered. "I aid the Lady Tyu'landra in the art of Spirit calling, the ability…"

"…to turn the tides of battle?" Kail asked. "My friend's mother also has that power, though it's very rare among the Jedi. It's called Battle Meditation where I come from."

"Jedi, is that your clan?" Hannah asked. "Or your Stronghold?"

"Er…" Before Kail could answer, the sound of a gong being struck echoed through the building they were in.

"Forgive, I must leave you for a time." Hannah said. "As my siya'toh, you are restricted to my quarters unless in the company of myself, or any of my Clan Sisters. Do you understand…?"

"Kail."

"Do you understand, Kail?"

"Yes." Kail said meekly. "I understand."

Hannah nodded as if satisfied. "I will return within a few hours. Then we shall talk more of you and your clan, and of your power."

"…and so tomorrow, we shall burn the Garcia village to the ground, and rescue those taken prisoner by the savages." Victor said, and the audience cheered.

Everyone except Rick and Alison, and the rest of the crew; who only cheered half-heartedly… So far they had lost two friends to this good-for-nothing war, and they were not as willing to throw away more lives for it. Nevertheless, they would have to take part in it if they wanted to save Kail. It didn't mean they had to like it though.

"Come on, I need to see if the blacksmith's finished my armor." Rick said, taking Alison's hand. The two of them slipped out the back way, followed by the rest of the crew.

Once outside, they split up, Rick, Torne and Kinraar heading toward the blacksmith (why nobody on this planet had armour custom made by droids was beyond them), while the rest headed in the direction of Alison's private hut.

It only cost a few credits for the armour to be remodeled, even though the job done on it was spectacular, and it was made so that Rick could use the Force while wearing it.

It still resembled Mandalorian armour, but now it was a mixture of turquoise and silver, instead of purple, and the helmet had been remodeled to resemble Mandalore's helmet. Rick smiled as he donned the armour back at the hut, as Alison pulled on her black robes.

"So tell me, why were you kept out of the last battle and not this one?" Rick said; his voice extremely different now that it was filtered through the helmet.

"Simple." Alison said, putting the war mask on. "I promised to stay out of the more dangerous fighting. Of course, by the time that starts, no one will be looking out for me so I'll just have to get involved." Rick was sure she had a smirk underneath her mask.

But the battle didn't begin until the following day, so the two stripped away their armour, and the crew separated to their respective huts.

For five hours after Hannah returned from 'the Gathering', whatever that was, Hannah and Kail discussed the different aspects of the Force/Spirit magic.

Hannah told Kail that the Ysalamiri created a bubble of Force Suppression around themselves; and that some kind of barrier had been set up around the temple to protect them from it, so that they could continue using the Spirit magic.

They discussed the different names certain Force power's had, such as Force Stasis being called Spirit Paralysis.

And they compared each other's strength; just chanting, Hannah was almost as strong as Kail. When he tried to teach her to use the Force without chants, he was sure her midichlorian count tripled and she almost sent of him through the wall.

After that, Hannah began teaching Kail a Force power long forgotten by Jedi and Shardin alike; the ability to walk in dreams. Which technically, Rick and Revan had both gotten halfway to by projecting part of themselves away from their body.

That was the first thing Hannah taught him, and he mastered the ability, at least over short distances, after just an hour of practice.

"You're doing really well, Kail of the Clan Raner." Hannah complimented. "But the time is late, too late to begin teaching you to walk in dreams, though I am sure you will grasp that just as-" As she touched Kail's arm lightly, he was gripped by a vision.

…Hannah ran through the temple, fur cloak falling from her as she ran. Behind her, blaster fire rained down upon the guards of the Battle Priestess Temple. She froze as a figure walked around the corner, a vibrosword in his hand. Hannah backed away, but wasn't fast enough to dodge the sword being driven through her…

With the sharp intake of breath, Kail was free of the vision.

"What? What is wrong!" Hannah demanded.

"I…I get visions sometimes." Kail said. He turned to look at his new friend. "I saw you die." He whispered. Hannah's eyes widened.

"What?" She asked. "Where did it happen?"

"I'm not sure." Kail said. "It was some kind of stone corridor."

"That sounds like the War Priestess Temple." Hannah got up off the bed and headed toward the door. "Come with me, we're going to tell Mistress Karan what you saw."

Before Kail could object, Hannah took his hand and pulled him from the bed (Kail was unsure how she'd become so strong) and all-but dragged him out of her quarters.

"These corridors…" Kail said. "This is where you were killed."

Hannah stopped so suddenly Kail almost went straight past her. "Here, in this hall?"

"Not this one specifically, but these corridors."

Hannah nodded, and then began pulling him again, until they reached the center of the Temple, a room filled with hundreds of lit candles, filling it with light. In the center were six women, all wearing flowing white-silk robes.

Hannah quickly explained what had happened (minus the lesson's they'd been giving each other), and each War Priestess (apparently, Hannah wasn't a full Priestess, and that was why she'd been in the battle instead of using her Battle Meditation) took a place in a circle around Kail. His body jerked; he'd never had a vision forced upon him like they were doing.

…Hannah ran through the temple, fur cloak falling from her shoulders as she ran. Behind her, blaster fire rained down upon the guards of the Battle Priestess Temple. She froze as a figure walked around the corner, a vibrosword in his hand. Hannah backed away, but wasn't fast enough to dodge the sword being driven through her…

Flash!

…Mistress Karan swung her quarterstaff in a flurry of attacks, fending off the first of the attackers. Behind her, the remaining five War Priestess's surrounded the Lady Tyu'landra as she joined her Battle Meditation to the battle…

Flash!

…Rick ignited his lightsaber, stepping toward the young woman before him. She spun her short sword, mocking him. Behind her, two Garcia Handmaidens readied their quarterstaffs for battle…

Flash!

…Victor raised his sword, and shouting a war cry, and the villagers rushed forward toward the Shardin village, and the War Priestess Temple. From the top of the Temple, Kail and Hannah could see their approach. They had come out of no where, leaving no time for the Shardin to send messengers to other Stronghold to call for aid…

Kail gasped for air as the visions ended. He was on his hands and knees, shaking from head to foot, unable to move. Around him, the War Priestess's sighed as they stepped away from him.

They too had exhausted their power forcing the visions out of him, and if the visions were true, it was the last thing they should have done – Victor would attack them, and they had no power to stop him.

Hannah laid Kail on the bed. "With any luck, a night of sleep will get your strength back." She said. She helped him get changed out of borrowed clothes, and into some sleeping garments, then set up a makeshift bed on the floor, draping her cloak over her. Kail went out like a lightsaber, and Hannah was not far behind him.

The following morning, Kail and Hannah were up early. The sleep had indeed helped him regain his strength, as it had the War Priestess's, who were gathering in the center of the Temple with the Lady Tyu'landra, who was preparing to use her Battle Meditation to help them in the battle against the villagers. Kail and Hannah would watch from the top of the Temple for the villagers.

Rick and Alison stood together in the undergrowth.

"Tell me again how we got roped into leading this small force into the Temple?" Alison whispered so only Rick could hear.

"We didn't." Rick said. "We woke up, and suddenly we were leading them. I'm actually not sure why or how it happened." He unsheathed his sword, and Alison swung her double-sword.

"Oh…" Alison ducked as one of the guards passed by. As soon as he was out of sight, they led their small invasion force up to the wall of the temple, and began climbing the ladder hanging from an escape window.

Once there, they split into two groups, Alison leading one, Rick leading the other; neither were very happy and neither would be there if Kail wasn't somewhere in the Temple.

Victor raised his sword, shouting a war cry, and the villagers rushed forward toward the Shardin village, and the War Priestess Temple. From the top of the Temple, Kail and Hannah could see their approach.

They came exactly as expected, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. Hannah cupped her hands to her mouth and let loose a war cry of her own. "Elesto vae Syaron!" A war cry that called for the strength of Syaron – Hannah's grandfather.

"Elesto vae Yusanis!" Kail echoed her cry, except with his own grandfather's name. It was also the signal that the villagers had arrived, the entire Temple would now be on alert. There job done, Kail and Hannah both darted down the stairs.

Kail had realized the night before that, since he could once again touch the Force, he could now use a lightsaber again. During the five hours of talking, Hannah had given him everything he'd needed to construct a new lightsaber.

In the end, he'd tapped into the Force further then he ever had before the manipulated a piece of metal into the perfect cylinder about thirty centimeters long, complete with the emitter matrix, power cell, two power crystals, a viridian crystal, and a focusing lens. The blade and hilt were both perfect and he now had it in his hand ready to use.

And not five minutes after they'd started for the middle of the Temple, they'd been ambushed by six villagers, all of them carrying blasters. Kail's lightsaber deflected the bolts until they got up close, then Kail knocked them all over with a wave of Force energy, stunning them.

"Come on, the less we kill, means the more we will have when Victor's crimes are revealed." Kail said. Hannah nodded, and they rushed past the villagers before the effects of the Force wave wore off. They reached the center of the Temple just in time to help Karan fend off the some villagers. That was, until Kail realized who was leading them.

"Rick!" Kail called. Kail waved a hand and separated his friend from one of the Shardin Handmaidens who were protecting the Lady Tyu'landra. Rick looked shocked to see his friend.

After a quick explanation, and after Kail told Rick everything he'd learned about Victor from Hannah, not to mention what his men had been doing when Kail had been captured, Rick agreed to help find Victor to stop anymore needless killing.

"Well, I changed the direction of two visions." Kail said to Hannah as they left the center room. "Now, as long as I stay with you, and we avoid raining blaster fire, I can keep you alive." No sooner had he said that then about a dozen blaster wielding villagers rushed came at them from behind.

Kail spun, deflecting blaster fire while Hannah began chanting. Each and every one of the villagers was placed in stasis.

"Not bad, for a Garica girl." Kail and Hannah spun around. Victor stood in front of them, and he was carrying – a lightsaber!

"Where did-?"

"I get this?" Victor ignited the orange blade. "Your friend, the boy wearing the Mandalorian armour, had it. He'll have a bit of a headache if he's found in time. Can't say the same about his girlfriend or any of the ones following-…"

Kail had ignited his viridian lightsaber and charged at Victor. The man swung the stolen lightsaber, clumsily, but still managed to block Kail's attack; he'd obviously expected to be able to use the lightsaber like a sword.

Seeing he wouldn't get very far with the lightsaber, he blocked Kail's second attack, and punched him in the side of the face. Kail staggered back, and didn't have enough chance to react before Victor threw a flash grenade that exploded in his face.

Up until that moment, Hannah had been somewhat reluctant to use to Force to its fullest, without chanting, after seeing what she'd done when Kail had taught her to do it. Seeing Kail fumble around blindly for his lightsaber destroyed any such reluctance.

"Big mistake, swine!" She hissed menacingly. She held her arms out beside her, focusing completely on Victor, and thrust her arms forward as if pushing something.

Sensing the power, Kail ducked, and rolled to the side, out of the way of the pulse of energy. Victor had no such warning, and was lifted off his feet and thrown backwards half a dozen meters and crashing from one of the walls.

Hannah rushed to Kail's side. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine. But we need to find Alison and Rick." He closed his eyes suddenly, his need to find his two friend taking over. He unintentionally used the power Hannah had been teaching him the following night.

Kail appeared beside Rick. His friend had a nasty head wound and a blaster shot wound in his shoulder. Alison was lying not far away from him, a blaster wound in the chest.

The way he was, he couldn't heal them, so he memorized the place they were, and returned to his body.

When he got back, he described the place he'd been at.

"That's not far from my quarters." Hannah said. "Can you see okay?"

"Yeah, now hurry up, we need to get to them." He said. Hannah helped him to his feet, and they sprinted down the hall in search of Rick and Alison.

Several hours later, night had fallen, the villagers remaining loyal to Victor had fallen back, and both Rick and Alison had been healed by the War Priestess's.

Victor had admitted to every crime he was accused of, after half an hour with the War Priestess's, and the remaining villagers and Shardin had signed a peace treaty, becoming allies.

But it would not be long before they left. Kail looked across the room at Hannah, who was having a drinking competition with Torne and Hector.

Hannah, who it seemed had drunk a lot in her life, was only just becoming affected by the alcohol, where as Torne had been acting drunk for a while and Hector had already passed out.

Kail sighed, unsure what he was feeling at that moment. Unsure if he was just redirecting his feeling for Padme toward Hannah, or something else. Well, it didn't matter. Tomorrow, they'd be leaving, and he'd never see her again.

For that reason, he retired to his quarters early.