Shaak Ti walked in a large circle as she watched the Younglings meditate. Her footfalls were silent and her pace was slow. She did not want to disturb any of them. From years of experience, she knew that Younglings were especially susceptible to falling out of focus if too much noise distracted them.

Shaak Ti had been working with this particular group for a while. Katooni, Pedro, Byph, Zatt, Gungi, and Ganodi had been working extra hard for the past few months training as best as they could. As a whole, they averaged about 13 years of age or just a little bit younger. In a year or two, they would most likely be assigned to a master, where Shaak was certain that they would perform wonderfully.

Ever since Ahsoka Tano had taken them on their Gathering Ceremony, the six had become quite close to each other. Normally, the Jedi advised against forming alliances such as the ones formed between these Younglings, but the next few training sessions had been so astounding that they let the matter be. All six of them had learned how to learn from each other and how to support each other. The results in their training were extraordinary.

Shaak had no doubt that it was from what they had learned out with Ahsoka and Hondo the pirate. She had heard an account from every Youngling and Ahsoka, but what wasn't said showed itself in their training. Shaak didn't know how Ahsoka had done it but the six had made incredible gains since then.

If only Ahsoka had stayed, then she might have been able to be one of their masters. The Council had decreed that her trial could have taken place of her Trails of Knighthood, but she had walked away and not accepted the opportunity. Shaak knew that the Younglings would have loved to be the Padawan of the one who had helped them find their way, but then again maybe it was for the best. After all, she could have only had one Padawan at a time.

The six had also bonded over the debate that shook the entire Temple to its core. They, along with Caleb Dume, were doing all that they could to reassure the other Younglings and Padawans that the Inquisitor wasn't Ahsoka at all. It was surprising to see how they all seemed to unite under such a cause. The only other doctrine they were willing to adopt was the idea that Ahsoka was getting ready to betray the Separatists in disguise, but they wanted to wait and see. Their reasoning was that they wanted to be surprised too.

Shaak wished she had their quiet courage and peace of mind. She didn't have that luxury being on the Council and all. The galaxy was a bigger place than the Younglings and Padawans knew, and that was that. One day, they would learn as much.

She waited a few moments more, then spoke in a soft voice, so as not to scare the Younglings. "Very good, little ones," she praised. "Your focus has never been stronger. You all have grown greatly since the last time I observed your meditation."

The Younglings smiled and stood up. "Thank you, Master Ti," they chorused and bowed.

Shaak opened the door to the practice room. "Go back to your quarters and get some rest. After how much you have improved, you all deserve it."

The Younglings smiled but didn't move. "Master," Zatt spoke up. "We were wondering if we could ask you about a few things before we left."

Shaak stared at him, then at his fellow Younglings. She knew what they wanted to ask about, but was reluctant to respond. Eventually, though, she let the door close and sat on the floor. The Younglings sat in a circle with her.

"I will give you what time and answers I have," she told them, "but I cannot guarantee that I have either."

The six looked at each other, silently deciding who would speak first. They all had decided what questions they would ask, it was just a matter of who would ask them.

Katooni piped up from Shaak's immediate right. "We have had the same vision, Master, while we were meditating. We were wondering if you knew what it meant."

Shaak nodded, starting with a few clarifying questions. "How long ago were you meditating? Was it during a lesson?"

"No, Master," Pedro answered. "It was a couple of weeks ago, and we were meditating on our own. We were trying something out."

Shaak looked at him, then the other five in turn, inquiring for an explanation without a word.

Ganodi picked up the cue. "Padawan Dume was talking with us, and he taught us how Padawan Tano had taught him how to meditate with someone else, instead of just in the same room as someone else."

"Padawan Dume was teaching you this?"

"Kind of. He was more just passing along Ahso-Padawan Tano's teaching, to him. He said that he was sure she would have taught us herself one day if she had stayed."

Shaak was silent. Even in her absence, her presence was still influencing these young Jedi-to-be.

Gungi, from her left, explained. "We had the same vision that we had just now, during our meditation with you."

Shaak nodded and spoke slowly. "What was the vision about, that you all saw?"

Byph was the last to speak. "We saw Coruscant, and it was covered in mold. Black mold, that was really gross. It was covering all of the biggest buildings, even the Jedi Temple. It was inside the pillars and the walls, and the Temple was starting to collapse."

"That was what we saw the first time," Katooni explained, interrupting. "Every time we try again, we see another planet with it. Most of them are Republic planets, from what we looked up, but some of them, we couldn't tell."

Zatt took over. "The mold was everywhere. We tried counting, once. all of the planet we saw in our visions, and every time we meditate together, there's more. Now, there's too many for us to count. We can't keep track of them all."

Ganodi spoke again. "We thought it was a person, at first, maybe the Inquisitor, or one of the Sith, but it was so big, and in so many places, that we figured it might just be all of the Dark Side. After all, no one person can hold that much power, especially a Sith, in the Republic."

They all sat in silence for a minute, then Zatt asked, "What do you think, Master Ti?"

Shaak didn't know what to think. She was astounded, at their ability to see so clearly in the Force, and by what they saw. For a few months now, all of her visions had been clouded, almost as if they were being interfered with. The rest of her fellow Council members had been experiencing the same thing.

But not these Younglings. They did not speak of any cloud, any veil that blocked their sight or muddled up the details. They had reported in very good detail, for so young of Jedi they were. Shaak wondered, who else had veiled visions? Who else saw clearly? Could there be a correlation?

The Younglings waited patiently for her to answer their question. They knew she needed time to think. They had too, the first time they had had their vision. They couldn't even talk about it the first time, they were so confused.

Eventually, she spoke. "I believe you are right, about the mold representing the Darkness, but I am confused why you saw it here, of all places. Did you see a source? Somewhere it was spreading from?"

They looked at each other. That would have been the next question as they didn't exactly know. Gungi told her what they did know, though. "It normally seems to spread from the government buildings, but we don't know why. Every planet we see, it always comes from the government. Even here."

Shaak nodded, trying to conceal her concern. "Did you ever feel like there was something you were missing...like something or someone was veiling you from seeing all of the details? Any...interference?"

Puzzled, the Younglings looked at each other. They all seemed equally confused, so they shook their heads. "We don't think so."

Shaak wanted to ask more, to inquire about the mold, but her comlink beeped to life at that moment. "Master Ti," Master Yoda said. "Request your presence in the Council room, I do. Urgent, the matter is."

She answered it in as calm of a voice as she could. "Right away, Master Yoda." She turned to the Younglings. "I would like to answer and ask more questions, but I am out of time. I want you to ask around your fellow Younglings, see if anyone else has seen a veil, or an interference, tomorrow. I will meet with you again soon."

They all nodded and bowed, before scurrying out of the door Shaak Ti held open for them. They ran off to their quarters and began to converse with one another, trying to figure out the reasoning for the Master's statements.

Shaak sat in her chair, waiting for the last of the Masters to come as she had. She tried to push the Younglings' vision out of her mind, but it persisted all the same.

Mold, black mold. Black mold representing the Dark Side, crawling about Coruscant and the rest of the Republic. Not only that, but it was breaking down their Temple.

Maybe it was the same mold that was veiling her own visions, along with the rest of the Council. She could not see through it, but the little ones could see around it, and look at it directly, through the Force. It was almost as if they were too short for the Darkness to reach them. She chuckled under her breath, then forced herself to focus. She couldn't let the matter press her, not right now. If Master Yoda wanted her at this hour, then there was a dangerous or important problem in front of them, and she needed to focus on that first and foremost.

It was probably the Inquisitor if Shaak Ti had to guess. She had stopped attacking the Inner and Outer Rim and started stealing from systems in the Expansion Region. Large shipments of resources had gone missing, and been replaced only by the Inquisitor's symbol, burned into the site from which she had stolen from. This was similar to her other attacks except the loads were bigger, the resources more valuable, the chances more dangerous, for her and everyone else involved. She was becoming more and more of a threat every day that passed.

No Jedi had seen her, not since Master Windu, Master Kenobi, and Master Skywalker's run-in with her near Xlenia. They had heard a report from all three Jedi but had not had the chance to discuss it as their efforts had been needed elsewhere at the moment.

Anakin, in particular, had been very clear about what he had seen, and the actions taken against him by the Inquisitor. It seemed that he harbored hope no longer for her, which confused the Council. Was this not his Padawan? Had he let go of her completely? Was it possible, even after he had held it against the Council for so long?

The truth was, Anakin was worn out. He couldn't bear to think about the Sister anymore, it was more than he wanted to handle. He had held fast to his conclusion from a week ago, that the Inquisitor was not Ahsoka, but he had tracked her movements around the galaxy, and his prediction was coming true. She had moved from the Inner Rim to the Expansion region, and their time was running out.

In the end, he decided not to tell the Council, not yet. Not until he was sure. They had about a month and a half left before the Inquisitor was due to strike close to home, close to the Chancellor. He kept a close eye on the calendar, watching for the day he was waiting for.

It taunted him, teasing him as though it knew what he was thinking. It shouldn't have, a day was just a period of time between one sunrise and one sunset, but it did all the same and as it grew closer, Anakin grew more restless, more worried. Every night since he had seen Padme, he had dreamt the same dream, the one where he couldn't save Ahsoka. Every night, he woke up gasping through the pain of losing her again. It had gotten so bad that he didn't want to fall asleep. He was just going to wake up anyways.

Then, the night that the Council met, he chose not to. It wasn't worth it. Maybe tomorrow, he would sleep. Maybe tomorrow, he would rest. Tonight, he instead sank into a deep meditation, more like a Force hibernation than anything else. It wasn't the same as sleeping, but at least he wouldn't dream.

As he did, the Jedi Masters sat talking, deciding what ought to be done about the one who threatened the Chancellor.