Jolee:

"Alright, old man, what the hell are you doing here?"

It was the dark haired one. Finger pointed fiercely at my chest, I could practically hear her teeth grinding. No discipline anymore, I had a feeling that she belonged to Vrook.

"Why am I here?" I chuckled. "Well it isn't because I like the stink of dead kinrath."

"No offense, but we don't have much time," the Republic soldier interrupted. That poor fool didn't look like he had the stomach for his companions' idea of fun. A damn shame too, the boy was wound tighter than the strings to a Hutt's purse.

"You'll have nothing but time if you don't take what help you can," I told him. "I've been here for many years and know things. Remember that my days of glory are behind me, but perhaps there is something I can do for you. You must have questions."

"Yeah, I've got questions," the dark haired one snarled. This is what the Jedi Order had come to? "Who do you think you are to drag us to some moldy, pissed on log stump? I've got important things to do; I don't have the time to waste on humoring some half-senile bastard."

Definitely a student of Vrook's. I was sure she wasn't without her charms. After all, she did look rather darling with her face all flushed in a livid fury. I was just pleased that she managed to be so snotty and alive despite the weight that she had to have carried.

"Rian, please," the Cathar spoke up. She turned her yellow eyes on me. "Have you any knowledge of Star Maps?"

I stifled my laughter. Careful, I had to know enough to interest them, but not so much as to make them suspicious. I forced a scowl to my face. "Now why would you be asking about a thing like that, hmm?" Agitation flared both from Rian and her Mandalorian friend. I had to play my cards right. "Don't answer. I knew that had to be why you were here. The problems of a few Wookiees don't amount to anything before the concerns of the Jedi. No, you are here for the Map."

"Get to the point, old man," Rian growled.

I took a chance and ruffled the girl's hair with my right hand. The moment it took for her mouth to fall open was time I spent retracting my hand safely. Rian glowered.

"Kashyyyk is an interesting place," I mused. "More so than anyone suspects. If Czerka Corporation knew, the planet would be a strip mine. The Wookiees have their legends that they were not always here, but it is more than that. The trees themselves are strangers."

"You are rambling, old man!" Rian bellowed. "Get to the point."

The soldier stepped forward and placed his hand on her shoulder. The two shared a look before Rian grimaced out at him, but the child had settled down again.

I raised an eyebrow. "What I'm saying is that there are literally walls in your way and you won't find what you need without my help." I spoke slowly, annunciated clearly. "You must do a task for me and then allow me to join with you. I will then remove certain barriers in your path."

"The only barrier I see right now is a mouthy old coot," Rian grumbled.

I was curious as to how long that charade could continue. This was going to be very amusing. "Oh, save it," I snapped. "I know this sounds absurd, but I'm old and entitled to work you around a bit. Besides, the test is simple."

"What does this test entail?" the Cathar asked.

"I'm getting to it," I huffed. "Pushy, impatient lot. Since they began expanding in the Shadowlands, the Czerka have left me alone, for the most part. Until recently, anyway. A group of them set up camp not far from here. Poachers are all they are. I'd like them removed from this place."

The Mandalorian spoke up. "Why not just get rid of them yourself?"

"Don't talk back to your elders, child." I straightened my body up to its fullest height and stared him down. Fortunately, he appeared darkly amused behind his motionless features, but I knew if I kept pushing that one he would try to kill me. "Look, they know me quite well and are always on alert when I approach. The only way I could get rid of them would be violence, which would eventually lead to trouble for the Wookiees. I want them gone, but with as little fuss as possible. They have already caused enough trouble as it is."

"Why would you want to join up with us, anyway?" Rian asked.

"You presumably have a ship," I retorted, my eyes locked on hers. "I've seen all I wish to here. Isn't that enough? I mean, I'm really sick of the trees and perhaps your destiny might show me something new. You never know."

It's difficult to watch the strong ones fall. I could only imagine what Vrook's reaction to it was. What had the Jedi done to that child?

Rian looked ready to strangle me, a failing of hers; I could have kept at that game all day. The Cathar intercepted and forced a pleasant expression to her face. "We'll look into it," she promised.

The Cathar tugged on Rian's arm and the group shifted away from me. As soon as there was a safe distance between us, I began to follow them. I suppose I could have used the Force, sensed their intentions, what they were up to, but that always felt like cheating. Besides, I was old and if I didn't use my back and knees regularly, they'd probably stop working. For as powerful as most Jedi claim the Force to be, it sure as hell didn't do much for arthritis and tendonitis.

They found the poachers easy enough, though I would have expected better from a group that had two Force sensitives and a couple of trained soldiers. The girl, Rian, her energies were off. The anger was there, the fear and the passion, but it was encased in an ignorance that was so willful, I suspected it was voluntary. Maybe it was nothing, but it tugged at me curiously and I didn't like it.

Fortunately, Rian chose to sulk while the Cathar did all the talking. A little Force persuasion was all it took to retrieve the codes to the feeble-minded Czerka lackeys' equipment. Sonic transmitters that kept the Shadowlands' critters from Czerka. I was pleased that the Mandalorian began to disable the transmitters as soon as the Cathar relayed the codes, very efficient. But a part of me would have loved to watch the poachers' faces as katarn swarmed their camp indefinitely.

I slinked back to my camp and left the children to deal with the katarn. Freyyr had given me some jaar the last time I saw the old Wookiee. It was always refreshing to have something to drink besides water and the occasional blue milk, even if jaar was so thick and sweet I could feel my teeth rotting with each consecutive sip. I pulled the large wooden container of jaar out from behind a root as Rian's group joined me.

"Welcome back," I greeted. "I wonder, have you had much luck? Have you done as I asked?"

"The poachers are gone," Rian said.

"I could feel it as you walked near," I lied as I took a swig of jaar. "And I don't sense the smell of death on you. You spared them? Interesting."

"Enough," she snapped. "Have I passed your little test?"

Test? So that's what the Jedi had been doing. Testing to the point where lessons lost their meanings and students merely wanted to pass, not grow or learn. Very interesting.

"If you imagined a meaning behind it, I suppose that's good," I said. "But I don't think such a trivial thing is any real measure of a person."

"If you didn't care about the outcome, why have me do it?" Rian demanded.

I shrugged. "You were here and it needed doing."

The Cathar stepped in. "Will you help us find the Star Map now?" she asked.

"Hang on," the Republic soldier interrupted. "It's my comlink." He thumbed it. "This is Carth."

"Carth, this is Bastila." The woman on the other end sounded stressed through all the static.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Has Mission joined you?" Bastila asked. "I can't find her anywhere on the ship."

"No," Carth answered. "Where do you think she'd be?"

The Mandalorian spoke up. "You won't find her on the ship."

"You and I are going to have a lengthy discussion when you get back, Canderous." Every time a B occurred in Bastila's speech, the static caused an irritating pop. "I found your daughter and now you know something about Mission's disappearance."

"I don't have a daughter," Canderous said.

"Tell that to the droid," Bastila sniffed.

"Mission came on the ship and asked me for weapons," Canderous replied. "I obliged."

"That could mean anything," Carth said. "She could have tried to rescue Zaalbar."

"She could have been taken by slavers," the Cathar said.

"Damn it," Rian interrupted. "Bastila, it's your problem, you deal with it."

"I beg your pardon?" Bastila spluttered.

"We're stuck in the Shadowlands," Rian continued. "We have to save Zaalbar and find a Star Map. You and the tin can on wheels are the only two up there right now."

"We are going to have to talk when you return," Bastila said.

"It's a date." Rian walked over and flicked off Carth's comlink. "Let's go."