This chapter's shorter than the others, but I decided to end it where I did 'cause… it was late and I was tired, I guess. And I just realized that Master Vrook died in KotOR II! So goodbye Vrook, hello Vrook clone Chaldrin. Just imagine him as a younger Vrook-like guy. About forty something.

Declaimer: I really hope I don't go as nuts as some authors after a while of saying that I DO NOT OWN STAR WARS ANYTHING and that I am NOT MAKING ANY MONEY off of my story. Okay, just wanted to be clear.

Oh, and sorry for some strange errors in the story; the format on the website didn't like the program I used.

Review please. I like to know what readers think. Doesn't matter whether you have an account here or not, I just want feedback (CONSTRUCTIVE criticism too).

On with the story! (I'm taking too long).

THREE

"And the Council is sending the two of you?" Nadira asked curiously. Emlyn had just finished explaining the Council's assignment and Nadira was staring at her in an odd way.

Emlyn nodded, putting the last of her few possessions in her pack and checking over the room for something she might have missed.

"That could almost qualify as an honor," Nadira said.

"Why's that? I mean, I know it could be important…" Emlyn murmured as she snatched her data pad off of her nightstand. She certainly didn't want to leave that behind; she had recorded the events of the last several years on it, and didn't want it to fall into the wrong hands. She really needed to work on a made up language to translate it into, like she used to do when she was younger. The only problem was that she might forget the language.

"Because you are not even a padawan yet, and still you are sent on the mission," Nadira explained.

"Oh. Well I suspect that it's got more to do with Dustil than me," Emlyn said with a shrug, looking around for her extra saber crystals. She was thinking about changing the color to yellow instead of green. Dustil's was green and she wanted hers to be different. Although his was a brilliant emerald green, unlike the crystals on the planets she had visited. Emlyn made a mental note to ask him where he'd gotten it.

"I do not know about that. He is very talented, we all know that, but I have a feeling that you are just as much involved as he is, Emlyn," Nadira told her.

"Well, it's nice to know that I'm so important to the galaxy," Emlyn said with a teasing smile.

"Very well, make a joke of my words, but do say that I did not inform you beforehand," Nadira sniffed.

"You mean 'don't say you didn't tell me'?"

"Yes, that is what I said."

"Yeah…" Emlyn grinned and pulled her pack shut. She would miss Nadira, and hoped the mission wouldn't take too long. But she was also very excited; it was her first assignment for the Jedi! Her, a Jedi! Sometimes she would wake up and think she was still on Belkadan with the trees above her and the sound of an ocean lulling her asleep or gently rousing her from her rest. She missed the planet, even with some of the lethal creatures that hid there. The view of the stars from the mountains was probably the thing she missed the most. Corusant was nice, but you couldn't see nearly as much of the night sky, which made Emlyn feel very closed in at times.

"I am going to miss your presence, Emlyn," Nadira said, interrupting Emlyn's thoughts.

"I'm going to miss you too," she responded with a small smile, walking over to Nadira and giving her a hug. "I have to go, but I'll contact you as soon as I can," she said, pulling back and picking up her bag.

"Yes. Have a safe journey, Emlyn, and may the Force be with you," said Nadira.

Emlyn nodded and left the room, making her way toward the hangar. When she arrived Dustil was deep in conversation with Master Chaldrin When she drew closer Dustil looked up and gave her a half smile. "Ready to head out?" he asked.

"Yep, got everything I need, and consequentially everything I own," Emlyn replied cheerfully.

"Do not take this mission lightly, apprentice; it is of utmost importance to find out what has transpiring on Tatooine," Master Chaldrin said sternly.

"Yes, Master," Emlyn replied automatically.

Looking skeptically at her, Master Chaldrin bade them goodbye and walked off.

"How long until we leave?" Emlyn asked, turning her gaze to Dustil.

"A couple hours at most. By the way, the Council wanted to see you before we left, so you might want to stop in," Dustil said. Emlyn was wary of the look on his face. He knew something she didn't. Shocking.

"What is it about?" she asked, restraining herself from putting her hands on her hips in annoyance.

"Can't tell you, but I'd hurry," Dustil advised.

"Yeah, yeah. Here, hold my pack, will you? Wouldn't want to look like I'm eager to leave their presence, would I?" Emlyn joked, handing her bag to Dustil.

"Good luck," he said as she walked away.

Emlyn was feeling nervous by the time she reached the Council room; what could they possibly want? Despite liking quite a few of them, Emlyn didn't fully trust them.

"Greetings, apprentice," Master Vandar said after she bowed to the Council, "Meeting to discuss your tests, we are."

"My… what?" Emlyn asked, confused.

"Become a padawan, you will," Master Vandar clarified, "If pass three tests, you do."

Dustil smiled to himself as he fiddled with the hyperdrive on the ship. Emlyn would be undergoing her test right about now. He couldn't wait to congratulate her, for he knew she would pass. Normally an apprentice would be an official Jedi the moment they were accepted, but things were different with adults. Revan had had to undergo tests, and so had Dustil when he'd come for training. But all three of them were strong in the Force, or so the Masters said, so they were special cases.

Just as he finished his modifications to the hyperdrive, Dustil heard approaching footsteps and looked up. Emlyn walked toward him at a calm pace, staring straight at him. "So how'd it go?" Dustil asked.

"It was very well thought out by the Masters, and I have learned many things that I need to improve in regards to myself, but I have passed the tests," Emlyn said calmly.

Dustil cocked an eyebrow at her, wondering if she'd accidentally cut part of her brain out with her lightsaber to be talking like that. It just wasn't… her. Then he noticed the corners of her mouth twitching.

She threw back her head and laughed; a loud, happy sound that made Dustil want to laugh with her. "I passed! I did it! I'm a Jedi!" she laughed happily. Then she surprised him by throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him. Dustil hesitated for a moment before hugging back. Emlyn pulled back and smiled at him. "I mean, I was a Jedi before, but now I can say that I'm Council approved," she joked. She glanced around and her eyes landed on the small ship they would be taking to Tatooine. "Where's our pilot?" she asked Dustil, "I thought we were supposed to be taking off like, now."

"You're looking at him," Dustil said, smirking slightly at her alarmed expression.

"I think I need to meditate," Emlyn said, putting a hand to her forehead, looking horrified. Dustil had no doubt that she was remembering the sessions they'd had in the flight simulator. They had been… lethal, to say the least, with him piloting.

Dustil glared and threw her pack at her, which she caught neatly in her right hand before laughing. "Very funny. Just remember that when you're stranded on Tatooine because your pilot took off on you," Dustil told her. "I'm just bad at simulators. My dad taught me to fly when I was five, and I'm a better pilot than anyone on this planet."

"I will remember your wise words, most supreme Master pilot," Emlyn said, saluting him.

"Just get on the ship," Dustil sighed, trying to look more annoyed than he felt.

Several hours and part of a hyper route later, Emlyn entered the cockpit with two cups of steaming liquid and a plate of some kind of bread Dustil didn't recognize. "Figured you could use something to eat," Emlyn said cheerfully, setting the plates on an empty spot on the control consul before handing Dustil a cup.

"Thanks," he said appreciatively, sipping at the hot tea. He glanced down at the bread; it was brown with dark chunks of something in it, but it smelled better than hot Telosian sausages. "What's that?" he asked, pointing to the bread.

"It's something my mom used to make for me when I was little. If it has a name, I don't remember it. But it's really good, and it'll give us energy," Emlyn said, taking a seat in the co-pilot's chair.

Dustil lifted his slice of bread and bit into it. A barrage of flavors attacked his taste buds. He tasted some kind of nut, spices, a sugar of some sort, and another flavor that he couldn't recognize. When he asked Emlyn about it she said, "It's something called cinnamon, from the planet Terra. It's a very primal planet, and it's now such a protected area that no one can get near it. Got the cinnamon before it was closed off though, my ancestors did."

"Ah, so they were smugglers."

"No! That is not what I meant, Onasi! I just meant that it was found before setting foot there was illegal," Emlyn snapped.

"Someone's not getting enough sleep," Dustil said, eyebrow raised.

"Hey, I…!" Emlyn stopped, paused, and then gave a short laugh. "I guess I am a bit on edge," she admitted.

"Why's that?" Dustil asked, finishing off his hunk of bread. He was tempted to ask for the recipe, but didn't want to find out what kind of chaos he would unleash in the kitchen; he'd never been good at cooking.

Emlyn shrugged. "I'm just a bit nervous about the mission," she said. When Dustil gave her a disbelieving look, she added, "And I don't like Tatooine. Too much sand, one too many suns, and sand people; I don't like them at all."

Dustil snorted into his tea and had to wipe his face when it sprayed all over him.

"I just think they're creepy, okay?" she snapped, glaring at him.

Coughing the tea out of his throat, Dustil tried to say something to her, but choked.

"Shut up," Emlyn muttered, grabbing the plates and marching out of the cockpit. Dustil cleared his throat several times before the tea stopped burning. He sought out Emlyn's presence in the Force and was glad to find that she was not really angry at him. The last thing he needed was for a female Jedi to be mad at him; he'd heard enough about that from his father and had had a few too many experiences himself with woman Jedi.

Dustil closed his eyes and reached out again, feeling the ship. He listened to the hyperdrive, making sure that it wasn't ticking at all, indicating that it needed to be repaired. He listened to the droid, T7 something, and discovered that he had a faulty wire somewhere near his modulator. Then something stabbed brutally at his mind and tore him from his thoughts. What was that? He'd never had that happen before.

Reaching out again, he carefully searched for another presence. Ah, there it was. It was a dark, pulsing blob in his mind's eye. He wondered why he hadn't felt it before. Quickly engaging the autopilot program, Dustil kept his hand near his lightsaber and went to find Emlyn. Something was on the ship, and it wasn't a friend.

Emlyn washed the dishes quickly, not knowing how to use the automatic washer, and made her way to the cargo hold. It wasn't terribly large, but neither was it too cramped to practice with her lightsaber. She had gotten in a lot of practice over the years on her enemies, but only a few of them had been Force sensitive, and she wanted to be prepared if, or more likely when, they met up with the Sith.

Closing her eyes, she reached out to the Force and drew her lightsaber. She started her dance with it, flowing across the room, feeling peace fill her. After a minute she switched of her weapon and just stood, the Force flowing around and through her. She felt around her, the ship, outside the ship. She felt the planets flash by faster than someone could blink, some full of life, others lifeless, some she could not tell.

"Emlyn."

Emlyn's eyes snapped open and caught sight of Dustil standing in the doorway, looking extremely wary. Mentally berating herself for being so busy with outside the ship as to ignore the inside and not sense Dustil's approach, she asked, "Yes?"

"Something's here. I don't know what, but it isn't friendly," Dustil said in a low voice.

Rising quickly to her feet, Emlyn's lightsaber was in her hand immediately. "Did you feel it?"

"Yes, and it's all dark. It's… pulsing, oozing. I don't know how else to describe it," Dustil said quietly.

Emlyn reached out and felt around the ship, but could not sense anything out of the ordinary. "Are you sure?" she asked Dustil, "I can't feel a thing."

"It's there. I think it tried to take over my mind," he said darkly.

Sith, her mind screamed. But no, not every creature of the dark was Sith. "Can you tell where it is?"

Dustil was silent for a moment, and then shook his head. "No. It's like it's moving, but I can't see how that's possible without us noticing."

"Is it cloaked?"

"I can see through cloaks," Dustil said absently, gazing around the cargo hold.

Emlyn's eyebrow's rose in surprise. He as a man of many talents. Secrets too, probably. "Nothing?" she asked after he had examined the room.

"It's here," he whispered, his dark brown eyes flying across the room.

Gripping her lightsaber, Emlyn tried to calm herself and ignore the alarms that were blaring in her head.

'Open your mind.'

What?

'I'll show it to you,' the familiar voice of Lea said.

Very well.

She closed her eyes, and then gasped. She could see! Her sightless vision was fuzzy, gray, and nearly impossible, but there. What is this? Emlyn asked Lea.

'How I see things, now,' she replied, 'Look.'

Emlyn shifted her gaze and nearly screamed. Crouching in the corner of the room was the ugliest creature that she had ever 'seen'. It had warts covering all of its decay colored skin. Its eyes were huge and bulging without pupils, its hands large and knobby. It was humanoid in appearance, but crouched on all fours like a beast. It's mouth stretched from large, pointy ear to large, pointy ear, and had three rows of sharp metallic teeth that matched its razor claws in material.

It looked right at her.

:Descendent of Melyora, you are mine: The voice burned Emlyn's mind like fire, blinding her. Emlyn screamed in pain.

"Dustil, the corner!" she gasped, hitting the ground on her knees, pointing to the creature.

Igniting his lightsaber, Dustil faced the corner Emlyn had pointed to. He couldn't see anything, but he didn't need to; he was hit with the strongest sense of dark Force power he'd ever felt. Rushing at the creature, Dustil attacked. The thing dodged and Dustil turned with it, striking out.

A hiss filled the air as the creature was wounded. Emlyn saw it turn its hate filled eyes on Dustil, who looked calmly back. The creature turned and lunged at Emlyn, who rolled to the side, but felt an iron grip encircle her ankle and send icy, metallic pain shooting through her body.

"Emlyn!" Dustil cried out, dashing to her side. He reached out with the Force and pushed the creature back. It didn't move. He reached out to the Force, lunging with his saber. The thing hissed and deflected the hit, but Dustil pulled out a second saber and struck.

Emlyn struggled to stay conscious as a poison spread through her body from the hand of her captor. She couldn't move from the moment the thing touched her.

Dustil lashed out again and managed to drive the creature away from Emlyn, and he kept going, attacking relentlessly. It attacked from behind him, he blocked with his saber covering his back, the thing attacked him from the side, and he blocked, struck and repeated. Soon the creature was cowering in the corner of the cargo hold, its breaths coming hard.

:You are worthy, son of Morgana, the daughter of Kile. You have won:

Dustil heard the voice inside his head, burning, biting. The creature gazed at him with blank eyes. What was he worthy of? At the moment, killing the creature, he thought to himself. "What are you?" Dustil asked.

:You have defeated me. I will answer. I am of the Xjyn:

"Why did you try to kill Emlyn Trai?" Dustil demanded warily.

The creature laughed, and then died. It collapsed in on itself, began to smoke, and was nothing more than a pile of ashes in mere moments.

"Frack," Dustil cursed, surprising himself with the profanity. He'd thought he'd beaten that habit. He turned quickly to Emlyn and knelt down by her. He checked her pulse and felt a thrill of terror flash through him. It was faint and irregular. She was dying.

Emlyn moaned weakly. She muttered something Dustil couldn't hear. Without hesitation he picked her up and carried her to the med bay, laying her out on the bed. "Hold on, Emlyn," he commanded, not wanting to think of what would happen if… No, she would live. As long as he had anything to say about it, she wouldn't die. And he had everything to say about it.

Dustil ran quick tests over her and found that a foreign poison was spreading through her body at an alarming rate. If it reached her heart she would die. He had no way to stop the poison. Looking around, Dusil knew that even kolto wouldn't save her. He needed an antidote…

Going on a hunch, Dustil raced back to the cargo hold and brushed the Xjyn ashes aside. Below them saw a gleaming liquid-like jewel the size of a pebble. He had heard of poisonous creatures leaving the antidote behind when they died, and he hoped it was true in this case. Picking the jewel up with a scrap of cloth from the floor, Dustil ran back to the medbay.

"Hold on, Emlyn," he said as he ran a fast diagnostic on the strange jewel. It wasn't poisonous, quite the contrary. By the machine's charts it had twenty times the healing power of kolto. He grabbed in and turned to Emlyn, opening her mouth and putting it inside just as her heart monitor went flat.

"NO!" Dustil shouted, putting the jewel down her throat. He saw her body heal itself through the Force, but her heart did not beat. "Emlyn!" Without a thought, Dustil threw himself across the receding thread of Force attached to her body. He yanked at it, refusing to let it go. "Don't fight me," he whispered, and then dove into the Force.

It was dark, and cold; metallic almost. A shadow walked away from him. :Emlyn: he called out to her. She turned slowly, her feet sliding slightly on the smooth, dark surface of the place. Dustil didn't like the look of it.

:Dustil: She began to vanish.

Dustil grabbed onto the thread of her life harder, and pulled. She cried out and spun to face him. :Come back with me: he said:You need to live. You're life isn't over, Emlyn:

:I can't do it. I can't save her: Emlyn murmured.

Dustil didn't know what she was talking about, and he didn't care. :Yes you can! I'll help you: he told her reassuringly.

She hesitated, afraid. So very afraid. :Promise:

:I promise:

Dustil pulled as hard as he could at her life thread, leading her life Force back to the world of the living.

Emlyn gasped, air filling her lungs, her heart beginning to pump blood once more. Dustil opened his eyes and looked down at her in a daze. He'd never done anything like that before. "Emlyn?" he asked uncertainly. She didn't answer, but he knew she was going to make it. He sighed in relief, feeling very tired.

"Thank you," Emlyn whispered, then, with a frown, "What are you worthy of?"

Dustil jumped and looked down at her. "Emlyn!" he exclaimed.

Her violet eyes opened and blinked slowly at him. She stared at him for a moment before muttering, "Let me rest, nerf-herder," with a small smile on her lips.

Dustil took that as another thank you. He nodded and stood up, walking slowly toward the door. "If your sure," he said.

Emlyn nodded ever so slightly before closing her eyes. Dustil was relieved to note that her breathing was slow and steady. She would make it. He didn't even want to think about what would have happened to her if that antidote hadn't been there. Dustil hoped that was what it was. It had halted the poison and dispelled it, and without that she would have died, but what about any side affects? He would handle them if they came. No use worrying about something totally unsure.

Deciding that he would get something to drink and then come back, hopefully finding Emlyn still sleeping, Dustil made one last check of her vitals and was satisfied. Just as he exited the room he felt something odd. He studied it. It almost felt like a… No, it couldn't be. But…

The realization hit him with the force of a speeding swoop racer: He had formed a Force bond with Emlyn.

That is so totally not the way I saw this chapter. Wow. But whatever. It just kinda came out, so here it is.

At first I stopped at "She was dying," but then I wanted to add more, so I did. Hope you liked it. Didn't plan it the way it came out, but that's that, I suppose. I'll update as soon as I can.

REVIEW. Thank you!

Note: I try to let people know if I'm not going to be working on a story for a while, so check my profile if there hasn't been an update in a while. It should say something about it.