Dante-Raven: Thanks! I am glad you want to learn more about Seja. I based him off of Kenshin Himura from Rurouni Kenshin by the way. The character Callista is based on Tomoe Yukishiro, Kenshin's first wife. As you can guess, Callista is a Mandalorian. Just like the Echani, they have beautiful women.
Alice: Thanks for the review. We have much to discuss about our combined fic, I have thought of Seja's battle with Sion(who is covered in bandages before he faces Seja, to suppress his power and make him seem much, much weaker than Malak). Can you email me what you have of the next chapter?
ApocSM: Thanks for the review; I am glad you like my fic.
Trillian4210: Thanks for reviewing. I think I have to explain a few things though: Seja's 'merciless' killing of Vako wasn't evil, or the Dark Side. The wounds he gave Vako were mortal, he'd have died anyway. He did it to ease his enemies suffering. If Seja was truly heartless, you see, he wouldn't have asked the witnesses to give Vako and his companion a proper burial. Second, Seja's killer mode, the whole golden eye thing, are different from the Dark Side. Dark Side users have dark golden or amber eyes, Seja, when he has his killing mode up, has just plain golden. There were no doubt Jedi's, who were chosen by Revan, to be assassins in the Mandalorian wars; it would be an excellent tactical maneuver in a war.
Chapter 3: Traitors and Sheaths
Iziz, Beast Inn
Seja and Roland met it a back room of the Inn. General Vaklu was summoned to hear what the Slayer had to report. In the back room, Seja told them his theory that a traitor was in Republic or Resistance ranks.
"That's so?" Roland asked, and Seja nodded, "So, critical information is being leaked. But all the Mandalorians know is about the 'Slayer' so far."
"This is preposterous! Why would someone betray us? Betray our cause?" Vaklu yelled angrily, looking at Roland.
"Mistrust, money, doubt, there are many factors, but yeah, that Mandalorian Assassin set me up," Seja replied, grasping his lightsaber, "There is a traitor among the Republic, or the Resistance…'
"It might be...Mr. Jalata is supposed to attend the meeting tonight…and the Mandalorians festivals of victory are going on tonight…but, the Mandalore Honor Guard got him…" Roland told Vaklu and Seja, his eyes narrowing.
"Will you need me to guard you then?" Seja asked his commander, who shook his head.
"No, leave this up to me. Vaklu, it is better you stay in hiding for now, if there is an attack, the Republic and the Resistance can't lose both leaders," Roland replied, starting to walk out of the room, "You take care of yourself, Kimura."
Seja walked his commander walk out the door, and started to fear for his safety. Even though he was now a weapon for the Republic, he made that choice, and Roland fully warned him of the consequences. Roland, like Okih, had become a second father to him during these months at war.
'But from here on out…Mr. Wann will be the main target of the Republic and the Resistance…' Seja thought as he started walking out room with Vaklu at his side, 'We have to find this traitor soon, or else the war effort is doomed!'
Later that day, Seja was in his room with the new girl, Callista. He was sitting on the window sill while she ate her dinner on the table he had brought out for her. He was looking at her eat, and she looked up at him.
"Yes…?" she asked, looking over to the young man.
"Well, I want you to forget about last night…" Seja started, refusing to make eye contact, "And I'd like you to be on your way."
"Am I bothering you here?" she asked, looking at him sharply, "Mrs. Sann seems to like me here."
"…your family will be worried, right?" Seja retorted as a bead of sweat appeared on his face.
"If I had a family to go to…" Callista countered, closing her eyes, like she was in pain, "I wouldn't be getting myself drunk every night, would I?"
Seja gulped, and thought, 'Ooh, smooth one…' and then he closed his eyes, trying to maintain his Jedi composure, "Well, we might not be able to care for you now…"
"Then why don't you finish me off?" Callista responded, looking at him, "Like the Dark Jedi you were last night?"
Seja paused for a second, and shook his head, "Think what you will, but I am no Dark Jedi. I kill for a time for people to live peacefully. It's like I don't kill regardless who it is. I kill the Mandalorian Armies. But even if the conquered peoples are my enemies, I will never attack one that isn't armed."
"So you'd kill good and bad people just because they are armed?" Callista asked him, stunning him again, "And if I had a blade or blaster in my hands now, you would…?"
Seja's mouth opened slightly, "Well…"
She picked up her tray, and started walking towards the door.
"Someday, if you ever find the answer to this question, let me know," Callista told Seja simply, and walked out of the room, the door swishing behind her.
Seja stood there, still a bit stunned, and then he realized that Callista was leaving. He raised his hand in vain.
"W-Wait! Are you planning on staying here?" He asked as the door finished closing , and he slapped his forehead, "Yeesh…everything seems so strange…or is it the strangeness becoming normal…?"
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Iziz, Beast Inn, Two weeks later
"So if I had a sword or blaster in my hand now, you'd…?"
Seja sat in his room, brooding on the windowsill. He was still contemplating Callista's question. He had his eyes half closed, staring at the wall. His lightsaber rested in his hand, and he remembered the day he constructed it.
The question was etched into his brain as he thought, 'Two weeks…'
Suddenly, his door opened. He looked over to see Callista standing here, her hair covered by a shawl and she was holding a broom.
"Could you go away for awhile? I need to clean the room," Callista requested unemotionally.
A sweat drop and annoyed look appeared on Seja's face, and he closed his eyes, "Hey, I didn't ask you to."
"Well, Mrs. Sann asked me to," Callista retorted, walking forward with the broom in hand.
Seja stepped back, his hand on the desk, and he thought, 'Callista misunderstood, has she moved in or what?' and then he saw a datapad resting on the desk and picked it up, "What's this? A random datapad?"
"Ah, that's my daily diary. Please don't read it," Callista replied, sweeping away at the floor.
'So she has moved in…' Seja thought, bearing his teeth, and he started to walk away.
"Just to be sure," Callista quipped as she put the datapad into the bag she had slung around her shoulder.
Seja growled, and walked out of his room. Silently, Callista chuckled, and began her cleaning work.
While Seja was in the hall, he ran into Ergot, "Yo, Kimura!"
"Mr. Brutus…" Seja mumbled, walking toward the officer
"Hey, what's wrong with you? Arguing with Miss Callista, maybe?" Ergot asked jokingly, before Seja grasps his lightsaber and his eyes shift to golden yellow, "Okay, okay! Jeez, calm down kid!"
"What do you want?" Seja asked plainly, putting his lightsaber back onto his belt.
Ergot pulled out a black datacard, "Tonight, take care of this."
That night, Seja attacked a group of Mandalorians who were guarding a general. He leapt high into the air, and slashed one to ribbons leaving an explosion of red blood. Every time a black datacard arrives, blood showers on the streets of Iziz that night. Seja cut down many of the Mandalorians, slicing their heads clean off their necks, cutting their heads in half from cheek to cheek, or from their heads being sliced in half vertically. It is a blatant repeat of retribution from the Republic, and the Force.
Later that night, Seja was in the washroom of the Inn. He had taken off his blood soaked robes, and had put on the old Padawan robe he used to wear. Still washing his hands, he didn't know that someone was in back of him. It was Callista, and she looked on silently.
"At this point, do you still plan to kill people forever?" Callista asked as Seja dunked his hands back into the water.
He didn't reply, and she bowed and walked. Her question vexed him still him, he did not know how to answer her. Would he have killed her if she'd been armed? Would he have killed others, witnesses, if they had been armed? He didn't know.
Iziz, the next day, Starport Cantina
At the Starport Cantina of Iziz, Ergot and Roland met with Mr. Solo Jalata, more accurately, Admiral Solo Jalata, to inform him of the suspected traitor. They also told him of their new mysterious tenant.
"…well she speaks very politely, but no matter how she seasons her cooking, it isn't Iziz brand," Ergot reported as he ate his noodles.
"But since her writing is similar to Mandalorian, she could be from a Mandalorian family, right?" Solo asked, and Ergot shook he head as he put a dumpling in his mouth.
"Well, I mean, she probably hasn't had contact with the outside world, or other worlds for that matter," Ergot replied after he swallowed.
"So, Callista is unlikely to be our spy?" Solo asked again, and Ergot nodded as he closed his eyes and plopped another dumpling into his mouth.
"Whatever the reason, she left her family, her clan. She was a lost kath hound with nowhere to turn…" Ergot replied simply, his eyes still closed as he swallowed the dumpling.
"Well, we're still not sure about that," Roland added, and he looked at Ergot, "How well does she influence Kimura…?"
"Nothing bad, however…"
"Yeah?" Roland asked again.
" Some are saying his sword skill is dulling…" Ergot finished, noticing that Roland's eyes narrowed.
Iziz, Beast Inn, later that night
Callista was in her and Seja's room, sewing some cloth together. She cut the thread with her teeth, and heard some knocking at the door.
"Yes?" Callista asked, looking over at the door as it swished open.
"Excuse me," Roland bowed respectfully, "May I interrupt you for a while?"
"If you need Mr. Kimura, he's gone out tonight," Callista replied, still holding her needle.
"Yes, I know, I am his boss," Roland said politely, stepping forward, "I coordinate everything that does."
After a while, and a few cups of tea, Roland told Callista what was worrying him about Seja. Placing their cups down, Callista looked at the Republic commander.
"'Disorder'?" Callista asked him,
"Solo and I, along with other Republic officials, learned much from our drill instructor, a master duelist and swordsman," Roland replied, an eye overshadowing his features, "But he was executed in a mass execution that was kept very quiet. He taught that this era, nearly thirty-seven years after the Great Sith War, would be thrown into disorder. But, to be successful in retaking this era, saving the Republic, we too must be thrown into disorder. Not minding disorder, that is our motto, other than the Force. That motto is the strength that drives the Republic right now."
"Well…" Callista started as Roland started heading for the door, "Having said that, what do you expect me to do?"
"Well I don't expect you to do much, I just thought I'd tell you what we are all doing here," Roland replied politely, and he began to walk out the door, "Excuse me…"
Callista just sat there, digesting all what she had heard. Here eyes then shot to the table, where her diary was. She walked over and began recording what happened this day. Unknown to her, Seja had returned and was washing his hands in the washroom. Right as he was about to leave, he dunk his hands back in the water bowl.
Iziz, Beast Inn, the next day
Seja had spent the day resting in his room. The previous night's assassination took a lot out of him, and he needed to recover. Callista had respected this, and left him alone for the day and did work around the Inn. He needed his rest, and she knew it. And now the sun was setting again, and she began to walk threw the halls.
"Thank you, you're done for the day," Chezial told her, as she took a bunch of empty plates into the kitchen.
"Okay…" Callista replied politely with a bow, and she put her apron and shawl on the wrack near her, and put her broom next to the counter.
She made her way up to the room, her soft footsteps being barely heard by the customers. Turning down the hall, she took a deep breath, and walked towards her room. She typed in her key code, and walked threw with her eyes closed. Her eyes widened as she saw Seja, still on his windowsill, napping. He…didn't look like a killer or a Jedi then. She looked at his features, and noticed that his lightsaber was resting on his hip.
'For the new era comes a code minding disorder…' Callista thought, as she picked up a blanket, 'But…looking at his face, I can see a boy who hasn't grown up yet…'
She began to knelt down to Seja, placing the blanket over his legs. He shifted position, and she looked at him. Curiosity then began to nag at her, and her hand slowly lifted up to his scarred cheek. Suddenly, his eyes opened, revealing feral, yellow pupils. She gasped; Seja grabbed her lapel and ignited his lightsaber. He placed it near her throat menacingly, and the heat from the weapon made perspiration appear on her forehead. Her eyes were wide with fear and her mouth hung open, as she looked into Seja's killing expression.
Seja's pupils returned to their bluish hue, and he realized what he was doing. He pushed her back as he threw his arm down which contained his lightsaber. Callista looked at him in fear as he panted, trying to gain control of his movements. He looked down at the floor as he turned off his lightsaber.
"I'm…sorry…so sorry…" Seja gasped, looking down at the ground.
Callista was surprised at the apology, and she looked at him with compassion. He continued to pant, sweat forming on his brow and face, and he gritted his teeth.
"I brag about not killing people, civilians, but I almost just did that…" he said with disgust as he still tried to regain his Jedi calmness, "Please leave. If you don't I might actually…"
Callista bent down to pick up the fallen blanket, and held it in her hands. She prepared to put it over him again, and Seja was shocked.
"You need help, to calm and suppress this madness," she told him softly, and Seja's hand lifted up, "So I will stay here for a little longer…"
Seja looked up at here, his blue eyes practically shining. He put his hand on the blanket, and grasped it slowly. He sat back as he put it over his legs.
"Still contemplating my question…?" she asked him, as he continued to look at the flooring, "The answer is 'no'."
Seja continued to look at the floor, and he took a deep breath, "No matter what the circumstances, I vow I will never hurt you…"
Callista's eyes softened even more, and she blushed slightly. Her lips started curling up into a small smile.
"Not you…not ever…" Seja vowed, and he looked out the window to see the sun set.
"And, I will be your sheath…" Callista told him, "I will help you calm this madness…"
Seja looked up to her, and he nodded thanks. She returned the nod, and went over to sit near the desk. The sun finished setting, and the lights of their room automatically turned on, and the sound of fireworks echoed behind them. The Festival of Victory, a Mandalorian event, would be starting soon…
To be continued…
A/n: Sorry if this chapter is a little short, but I hope you like it. I tried to capture Seja's inner struggle, between his killing Slayer personality, and his Jedi self in this chapter. In later chapters, Callista will open up to him, tell him about her family, etc. but this will be later. Oh, and may the Force be with you when reading this.