Note: All of this time I typed 'Letta Trummond' and didn't realize that it was wrong. The correct spelling is Letta Turmond. I mean, to you use a cliché statement, 'better late than never'. That being said, I will not go and change all of it to the correct way any time soon, since she is not one of the main characters and her use is almost gone.
- Relentlessness unforeseen! Jedi Padawan Menson, Temple Guard Hector and the allied senators seemed to be heading towards with no roadblocks. Some frustration? Yes, but not much. Now another person wants to immerse oneself in this action sphere. -
Chapter 16. Who outthinks who
13:00, 5 days 5 hours till the Vote.
"Good day, Katooni. I'm happy to see that you're back on your feet after the Event."
"I appreciate the sympathy, Oswald. I really do."
The young tholotian female got up from the partition, which separated the pathway from the water.
"If you're wondering that I escaped, I can assure you that I was allowed to leave just this morning."
"And if I still doubt you, you would point me towards Master Sinube for validation."
"If you still doubt me."
The blue eyed human male was getting mixed signals from the Force about the Youngling directly in front of him. It seemed that something had changed with her. One would expect some type of change in a person's character after being hospitalized for at least a day. Oswald understood that, although that was not the aspect, which troubled him. Both sides of the Force were distributing their corresponding nature. While the Force sensitives remained unmoved for a very brief time, the water drops of the waterfalls achieved an illogical appearance – the falling of the drops became slower.
"Ok, let's leave your release of the Med Bay alone."
"I want that."
"Alright …"
Oswald takes a few steps forward.
"What's your reason for being here, Katooni?"
"Quite obvious, Oswald."
"Tell me."
"I was waiting for you." – She answers in a remarkable speed.
This fact doesn't go unnoticed. He immediately changes his approach in this conversation.
"Why? I don't remember organizing a meeting with you in the Room of a Thousand Fountains."
"No, you didn't. I decided to come here on my own beliefs."
"What are they focused on?"
She shows a face of worry.
"On the sensed Force user with a strong dark side presence."
Menson did anticipate the recent reply. To be honest, it was the most predictable one.
"How do I fit in to this picture?"
The worry now changes to dissatisfaction.
"Need I remind you that I told you of it against …"
"Wait!" – shouted he.
Katooni was caught off guard by this cut off.
"What?"
"I sense someone is …"
Oswald closes his eyes and extends his right arm. Fairly swiftly the unknown signature is detected. The 12 year old reads the situation almost perfectly, acts in a similar vein as the 19 year old. While moving the palm to his right side, the signal of the signature grows stronger. Not long after the direction becomes clear. Suddenly Mundi's Padawan open his eyes.
"There you are."
Katooni opens her eyes; the unknown being realizes his predicament and sprints off behind one of the fountain's partitions. At that moment more than 20 meters (66 feet) was the gap between them. Oswald generates an idea to close the gap. The human male bends his legs a bit & with both extended arms to the ground Force jumps through the air. The tholotian female doesn't stay behind, runs after the other two. When one hits the ground, the other is already near an opening. A dash ensues after from the 19 year old. At the entrance to the Room, he turns a corner and quickly ignites his green lightsaber.
"Stop!"
The unknown being had disappeared from view.
"That's concerning."
Soon Katooni arrives on his left.
"Did you see him?"
"Sadly, no. He got away."
She turns his head towards Oswald; the green lightsaber is turned off and put back on a belt.
"What is going on?"
"I'm guessing we have become targets for someone."
"Targets? That's not good, Oswald."
"I agree, Katooni. Until further notice, we should not have a conversation in the Room of a Thousand Fountains."
"Yes. He or she might come back."
"I'm not sure we can continue this topic."
"What?! Why not?"
"Since that person found us here, who's to say he won't find us anywhere?"
She returns her head to a normal position.
"Someone knows a lot about us."
"Correct. Any place that I vote on may be too dangerous."
Awkwardly, the Jedi Youngling smiles.
"Don't worry, Oswald. I know a place that this someone will not have thought about."
After several seconds of consideration, Menson decides to follow Katooni to the acclaimed 'discreet' location. Another piece within the puzzle might have just come through the door. It was Mundi's Padawan's best bet to find out, what Katooni knew and what were her goals.
Almost 2 o'clock in the afternoon. The ante-room to the Jedi Council's chamber was again the staging area of a talk between Jedi Masters. This was nothing out of the ordinary. The captivating aspect was the subject matter the assembled beings were discussing.
"So you were already focused on Padawan Menson before the incident with the Youngling?"
"Right, Shaak." – Eeth Koth validated her claim.
"I'm not sure, which one of us came to the conclusion, that a watchful eye on Mundi's Padawan was a necessary action."
"That barely has any bearing on the situation at hand, Tiin."
"Point taken."
"The more days pass, the less determinable his goals become."
"Are you assuming he's been tainted by the dark side?"
"Hard to say, Shaak. Oswald's ability to anticipate the coming events is of a great nature. Therefore, catching him off guard becomes no easy feat."
"With all that in mind, we must make sure the continuation of the legacy of the Jedi Order is in-tact."
The trio of Jedi Council members nods in agreement. Out of them, Eeth Koth seemed to be the most skeptical of Oswald's stance within the Order. Doubts were nothing new to living subjects in the physical domain. How one dealt with them was one of the criterions, which showed maturity. As it corresponded to Mundi's Padawan, Koth would always remind himself of the conversation in the War Room on the day that Letta Turmond was Force choked. Prior to it, he and Mundi had come into contact with him and his two friends in one of the training rooms of the Temple. There 'the male' stated the non-wanting of facing an opponent in battle, who had far better odds to win. At that moment, the words had no negative impact on Eeth's view of Oswald. Yet the same day they met again, this time in the War Room. Mundi mentioned Letta Trumond's Force choke to Menson. The latter male took some time to recover from the shock, and then his verbal reaction was the key. 'This is highly strange, Masters', the Jedi Master remembered them ideally. Several hours passed before Eeth mentally arrived at a mysterious place.
"On the same day, the same Padawan laid out to opposing character traits. First – caution, when he stated that an avoiding of poor odds in battle was his tactic, second – secrecy, when he reacted to the news of the bombing suspect's death."
Very soon Koth realized that his take on the matter was a bit flawed.
"No, that's not it. It is not two different character traits; it is how he expressed his caution in both situations. In the training room the alertness was clear, while in the War Room – hidden."
From that moment the Council member was very skeptical on everything that had a direct connection to Oswald. Tiin & Ti expressed less of it.
"The sentiment is shared. Right, Koth?"
"Absolutely, Tiin."
The togrutan female was satisfied with her colleagues' positions. Quickly she crossed her arms near her waist and asked:
"What's our next move?"
Before continuing their exchange of ideas, a familiar Force presence was arriving with the turbo-lift. They knew for a fact the identity of the being, furthermore, knew that silence was the best action. A few second pass and the lift's doors to the ante-room open.
"Greeting, friends." – Ki-Adi-Mundi says.
"Greeting, Master Mundi."
The cerean male walks over to the trio.
"I assume the 2 o'clock session has not been postponed."
"Indeed, it hasn't." – stated Tiin.
"Has anything worthwhile transpired for you?"
"Unfortunately, yes."
"If you don't mind me asking, who does it affect?"
Mundi takes more than a dozen seconds before responding.
"My Padawan."
"What of him?" – asks Koth.
"He has been … struggling a bit. The visions, their strain of them has made him a liability, by small, in the battlefield, by large, in the War. So I decided to let him have a break."
The trio of Oswald's action's skeptics raised their level of concern another level.
"So … you … let him do … what exactly?"
"I let him go on a vacation for 7 days."
"Has he already left?"
Ki-Adi's displeasure with Koth came into effect.
"What are you saying, Koth?"
The Zabrak male immediately realized the shift of atmosphere around them. Luckily, Shaak Ti stepped in.
"Nothing negative I'm sure, Ki. We just want to remind you that the Council wants to have a meeting with him before his departure."
Mundi felt a small amount of relief.
"Not a big problem. He hasn't left yet. I can bring forward this topic to the other members of the Council after the 14:00 session."
"Good idea, friend. Now …"
Tiin shows them the doors into the chamber.
"Shall we go? It is time after all."
The four Force sensitives nod and fairly quickly abandon the ante-room. During their talk, Tiin's communicator shots up a weak signal of red.
Less than five minutes later. The Jedi Temple was not just living quarters, towers and hangars. They also had storage rooms or warehouses within the Temple. To a living being, some sort of supplies, in accordance, their storage is a necessity in the physical world. In one storage room, there were a lot of containers, boxes placed within it. Some were colored in linen white, some – in jet black, some – in iris purple. Even a so-called 'mountain' was seen. At that location, you would be hardly pressed to hear a conversation going from the top. Though, it was true.
"I appreciate that you haven't told any Jedi Master about this, Katooni, but you do understand that you did lie to Shaak Ti on your own."
The tholothian female knew what kind of repercussions could commence if she were to contradict her previous statement to Shaak Ti. Strangely, she pursued her goal, despite the risk, fear or pain aspect of this decision.
"You're right, Oswald. I did. However, that doesn't mean it will stop me."
"Alright. What is your goal here?"
"To find out, what are you going to do about that dark side presence."
"Who said I was going to do anything about it?"
"I don't know. Maybe your unwillingness to die?"
If Menson's sink of distractedness toward the dialogue at hand was still running, the latest question shut it off completely. A wave of dark side was felt through the Force. The alleged transformation of Katooni had possibly led to a different share of light and dark.
"I must warn you, Katooni, as a friend. If you continue down this path, there is no guarantee you will survive. Do not underestimate the things that I have decided to take part in. They are neither for the obedient, nor the naïve."
"I did have some time to think about this, Oswald. That is most likely the only good thing that I got out from the experience at the Med Bay."
"So what did you settle on?"
"That you are very hard to figure out to the end."
"As I told you, this is not for the fool hearted Force sensitives. It is for those, who are able to thrive in adversity."
"Second thing was your distrust in the Jedi Council. I know they have broken your trust."
The two Force sensitives locked their eyes for a couple of minutes. The feel of the space around was flooded by sternness.
"Since you assume that, you have to ask yourself this: 'Who am I loyal too?'."
Katooni felt a sudden shift in Menson's Force presence.
"I … can't … answer that, Oswald." – The Youngling says with a substantial quantity of doubt.
"You can't or you don't want to?" – Oswald asks in a half concerned, half mischievous way.
The 12 year old showed great courage in reestablishing a confident speaking tone.
"I can't answer that right now, however, I'm with you if you are committed to finding out, who is this strong dark side user."
"Are you sure, Katooni? How can I be sure you won't betray me?"
"Guarantees and sure things are a rarity, Oswald. You of all people know this for a long time."
"Correct. But I still need assurances from you."
The human male juggles, stretches his arms a bit.
"If the tracking of the dark side user goes against the wishes of the Jedi Council, who takes the high ground?"
"The tracking." – She answers without hesitation.
"Good. How far are you willing to go to find out the truth?"
"As much as I can in the hopes of protecting my peers, you, Ahsoka and any Force sensitive from him."
"Then …"
Oswald extend his right arm, bents it in a way, that the elbow and above part is in a 45 degree angle upward.
"… Do you swear your life on you words?"
About a minute of silence passes. In that time Katooni takes into account the advantages and disadvantages of this agreement. The advantages: finding the truth, calming oneself down, strengthening the relations with Oswald. The disadvantages: losing Oswald as a friend or ally completely, probably experiencing severe pain if betrayal is chosen.
"So? What do you say?"
Katooni extends her right arm, copies the same layout of it and connects her palm's skin with his.
"I swear on my life that: a) the tracking will not stop if the Council would want it; b) I will do as much as I can; c) will not betray your trust."
"Splendid. From now on, we are partners in this operation."
Their hands separate.
"What's our next move?"
"When is your next class with Master Sinube ?"
"At 3 o'clock."
"Mhmm. Then this is what we'll do. I've succeeded in getting some time away from the Jedi Temple. This will hugely improve our chance of not being caught in doing something 'unauthorized'."
The last word came to fruition in the world with a noticeable trace of venom.
"And you believe that I could go with you?"
"Yes. This is where your commitment to this task will be tested."
"How so, Oswald?"
"During you class with Master Sinube, Katooni, you must prove to him that you are exceeding his expectations. If convinced, he would not object to your departure with me."
"That's all good, Oswald, but I doubt the Council will approve of this."
"Rest assured, partner. I'll handle the Jedi Council, you handle Master Sinube."
"Deal."
"Then let's get started."
They both smile and end their conversation. Both Force sensitives were aware of the fact, what game they have just decided to play. Little does Katooni know, for Oswald this game is not new, it's more, how you would say, an 'extra level' or 'extra layer'.