The next morning at breakfast, Hooka and Moss came down and sat at the table. It was a large, long table and at the head was a big, regal chair. The night before it had been occupied by Queen Apailana, but she wasn't here today. Moss looked around. The other Jedi were scattered around the table eating by themselves. Moss didn't notice Trando sitting at the table. In front of Moss, was a plate, silverware, and a wide assortment of food. Hooka grabbed a large bowl and dumped half of a lumpy, yet, good looking meal on his plate. Hooka gave Moss the bowl and began to eat. Moss stared into the bowl and took a significantly smaller portion.
From behind, Zaerqawi came up from behind and tapped Moss's shoulder. Moss spun around and looked at Zaerqawi. Moss wiped his mouth and said, "Oh, good morning."
"Good morning," said Zaerqawi, his tapir like snout scrunching up to try and speak perfect Basic. Zaerqawi handed Moss a datapad. "Take this; it will point you in the right direction to the room. You can come whenever you are finished eating."
"Thanks," said Moss. He turned around and began to eat and Zaerqawi left the dining hall. Hooka growled something. Moss took a good guess as to what he was saying. "No, you can't come. It will be just like last night."
Despite Moss's smaller meal than Hooka's, they finished at about the same time. "Just do whatever you did last night," suggested Moss. He got up from the table the same time Hooka did. "It will be like last night," Moss repeated. Moss walked out of the dining hall and turned on the datapad. The same map came up with the same sort of lines to show the way.
Moss followed the line on the datapad and came to a door. It confused him because he had a little ways to go still. He opened the door and the sight he saw took his breath away. A path, more like a bridge, connected a tower to the rest of the Palace. But on the sides of the bridge was nothing but air. About one thousand meters down was the ground. Moss realized that he was standing over a cliff. Moss looked along the cliff and saw another breath taking sight. A majestic waterfall dumping into a crystal clear river that ran out beyond the horizon, over a great, green plain. The wind was strong, blowing Moss's robes all over the place. The sight made him feel insignificant.
Moss took a moment to take the sight in. He took a deep breath and continued to walk. He came to the tower door and knocked. The door opened by itself, revealing a round room with the walls replaced by windows so the same sight could be seen from inside the room and the bridge.
"Good morning," said Zaerqawi. He continued right away. "Do you know why you are here?"
The last time Moss was asked this he ended up crying and realizing that he was part of the Dark Side. But he already knew that and didn't need to be told twice be two different people. "You said you would teach me new Force tricks."
"Precisely," said Zaerqawi. He turned away from Moss and looked out the window. "You are strong in the Force, and I can sense great potential in you. Luckily for you… No, it was not luck, the Force brought you here. Here to me, where I can teach you things that no other Jedi can teach you."
The way Zaerqawi spoke made Moss skeptical that he was even a Jedi at one time. He could not remember Zaerqawi being in the Jedi Temple, but he had Queen Apailana's trust, and if he was a member of the Dark Side, the other Jedi would have sensed it by now. "Sounds promising," Moss said at last.
"And it is!" said Zaerqawi turning around and taking a few steps towards Moss. "So what do you say?"
"What will you teach me?" asked Moss.
Zaerqawi's silvery eyes narrowed. "I will teach you the little stunt that the Emperor used on you on Bestine."
"But that's a Dark Side power," protested Moss. "That caused pain to me and possibly could have killed me. It defies the Jedi code"
"But it didn't, did it? I can teach you how to not abuse your powers like the Emperor. You will only use it lightly, just enough to stun and nothing more. Besides, look around. The Jedi are no more. It is just a struggle for power between us and the galaxy. Those of us who are weak will have the hardest time, but if we become stronger we will have a greater chance of survival."
Moss thought about it for a while. The first idea seemed logical to him, it was the second that was startling, but if you looked at it from that point of view, it did make sense. But something in the back of his mind didn't agree with his thoughts. "I guess, if only used with no intentions of abusing the power. Ok, I will let you teach me."
A smile crept onto Zaerqawi's face, which made him look freakish because of the Rodian's tapir like snout. "Good." Right away, Zaerqawi started to teach Moss some exercises and tried to teach him how to get lightning to come out of his fingers. They worked all morning until lunchtime. By then, Moss had sparks flying out of his hands.