Hi there everybody, here again with yet another chapter of Walking a Tightrope. Unfortunately my schedule is far from consistent, so you shouldn't expect every new chapter to be as quick as this one, since I'll only really be able to work on them on weekends.

But while you're waiting for a new chapter I will also be suggesting things that you can read/watch in the meanwhile. This chapter's suggestion is SF Debris, an excellent reviewer who mostly reviews Science-Fiction related materials, he does reviews of Star Trek, Babylon 5, and even has a few reviews up for various episodes of The Clone Wars series, so check him out, I highly recommend him.

Walking a Tightrope Chapter 2 (V. 1)

Unknown Space 50 BBY

Once Chiida had been escorted away from the clearing where he had landed his ship he was ushered into a small transport, which soon lifted off and shot towards the city, heading directly towards the large, metallic spire which loomed in the center of the city.

"Attention tower, this is transport Fifteen, we have taken the individual into custody and are bringing him in. We request that you inform the elder of our arrival, we'll be in her office shortly." The helmetless man said, and by now it was quite clear that he was in charge of this small group.

"This is the command tower, you are cleared to land at the secondary hangar. We will inform the elder of your arrival." A voice responded, crackling through the speakers, yet even through that distortion the nervousness in the voice was clear.

The shuttle pulled into a hangar roughly halfway up the tower, and Chiida was quickly escorted to an elevator. Only he and the unmasked guard stepped in, and the guard quickly pressed a series of buttons on a pad, causing the doors to hiss shut and the elevator to rocket up at a remarkable pace.

"You aren't concerned about being the only one to guard me on the way up?" Chiida asked curiously as he raised a brow. The guard simply shook his head.

"We are heading directly to the elder's offices, even if you managed to subdue me and regain your lightsaber you wouldn't last half a minute against her." He responded, and for the first time a small grin seemed to spread across his face. "Besides, unless the Jedi have changed drastically, I doubt you'd be willing to make the first move."

"I suppose you're right on that count, although I wonder if an exiled Jedi can be considered a 'proper' Jedi if the exile was partially voluntary." Chiida mused as the doors slid open and they stepped out into a waiting room. The room was rectangular and lined with couches, the floor was covered with a thick, red carpet, presumably this was some sort of waiting room for visitors. At the opposite end of the room stood two guards, who were clad in red, plated armor and wielding odd looking polearms, he recognized it vaguely from a book about old weapons that he had read once, it was a Lanvarok.

"The elder awaits." One of the them said, their voice artificially deepened by the filters on their helmet, making it impossible to tell whether the speaker was a man or woman. The two guards stood aside and the door slid open, and Chiida was led inside.

The room that they entered was very sparsely decorated, there was a large, round table which dominated the center of the room, and judging by its surface it was probably meant to display holographic images. The opposite wall was a massive window, which looked out over the city, and a simple wooden desk and chair sat in front of the window. There were a few potted plants scattered around, but other than that there was no ornamentation, even the white walls were completely bare. It was clear that this was a room meant for work and nothing else.

Sitting at the desk was an old, red skinned woman wearing simple, black robes. Her gray hair was pulled back into a bun and she had steepled her fingers together was peering over them at Chiida, her yellow gaze completely unflinching.

The former Seer shifted uncomfortably as his guard walked over to stand by the woman's side and handed her his lightsaber. She took it and her gaze finally broke from Chiida's as she looked down and turned it over in her hands a few times, before igniting it, causing its sky-blue blade to spring out.

"Thank you, Kaval, you did your duty well, but you may leave us for now, I am in no danger from this Jedi." She said, her voice sounding remarkably smooth, it was odd to hear such a youthful sounding voice coming from such a wrinkled, elderly face. Kaval simply nodded before quickly leaving the room.

The elderly woman turned the lightsaber off and placed it on her desk, before motioning for Chiida to come forward, which he did, walking around the rim of the projection table so that he could stand in front of her desk.

"…You know what we are." The woman said bluntly as her gaze returned to Chiida and he nodded uncomfortably.

"You're Sith." He said, and he silently wondered why his voice suddenly sounded so quiet. "At least, biologically, you are." He said, seeking to fill the silence.

At his response, the old woman let out a short laugh. "It seems you've got a bit of a brain between your ears, good. That means we might actually let you live. So tell me, young man, what exactly brings a Jedi to our planet, which we have kept so carefully hidden for so long?"

"Well, I am Chiida, a seer of the Jedi, or at least I was. This all began several years ago…" Chiida said before launching into his story, about how his ship's engine had malfunctioned and how he had stumbled upon the planet, how he had sensed its great presence in the Force, how he had foreseen that its inhabitants would have a role to play in the fate of the galaxy, and how he had been exiled from the Jedi for his teachings. It was at the mention of his exile that the woman raised a brow.

"And what exactly was it about these teachings that the Jedi found so objectionable?" She asked curiously. Chiida flushed in response, this woman reminded him of many of the stricter instructors back at the Temple, and it had been a long time since he had been in the presence of someone who made him feel so young and inexperienced.

"Well, as you may have guessed I am skilled in the art of perceiving the future through the Force. It is hard for me to perceive fine details, but general trends are easier, and I have been able to see the ebb and flow of the Light and Dark sides for centuries to come, although the farther I go into the future, the more imprecise my predictions. However regardless of when I look, I always come to a point far, far in the future, possibly millions of years from now, where I can perceive nothing. I am unsure of what that means, it could mean that it is the limit of my abilities, and I simply cannot see any farther than that, it could mean that the Force itself dies at some point. But regardless, when I considered the latter possibility I began to wonder what that would mean. If the conflict between Light and Dark will ultimately be rendered meaningless by the death of the Force itself. The history of the Jedi has many instances where we stood by and let others suffer for fear of falling to the Dark side, but I proposed that if the struggle between Light and Dark is meaningless, then we must instead focus on doing good, and only be concerned about falling to the Dark because that will lead to suffering for others." He explained before sighing wearily. "As you can imagine, that wasn't exactly a popular theory, I had quite a few people call to lock me up in a cell, thinking I had gone mad, and perhaps they were right." He said before noticing that a smile had spread across the old woman's face. "What are you smiling about?"

She only chuckled softly in response and shook her head slightly. "My boy, had you been born amongst us you would have made a fine Sith." She said as she stood, and Chiida was surprised to see that she was only about five feet tall, a fool foot shorter than himself, she had projected so much power when sitting down that he had failed to actually take note of her height and had thought she was taller than she actually was.

"Come, young Chiida, and let me show you something. You have told me your story, so I suppose it is only appropriate that you know ours." She said as she walked towards the projection table and tapped on a few buttons. "Request acknowledged, please provide vocal sample." A robotic voice said, projecting from a small speaker in the table. "Elder Qonu Zeama, of Fortaz." There was a pause for a few seconds before the robotic voice responded. "Elder Qonu of Fortaz city, recognized, you are cleared to view this message."

The holographic display suddenly sprang to life and a grainy projection suddenly sprang to life. It was of a Sith, and judging from the ornate robes he was wearing a very influential one. This Sith also had the facial tendrils that Chiida noted were absent from most of the Sith that he had seen.

"This is Prophet Telas, if you are seeing this message, then hopefully you are one of my people and we have found a safe planet we can call home, and you are simply viewing this for historical purposes. If not, then I must assume that my people have died and implore you to not replicate our folly. The Sith Empire is dying, I can feel it when I walk the streets, the fire is gone and soon we will be swallowed by the Republic. We thought ourselves strong, but in our arrogance, we did not see the rot which was eroding us from within. The Dark side has fractured us, led to us stabbing each other in the back for power while we ignored the threats around us. It was folly to give ourselves wholly to one side of the force, and now we are paying the price. But though the Empire is perishing, we cannot perish with it. I have gathered my followers together from all corners of the Empire and we are prepared to depart. My agents have told me that the Republic will push against our borders, and this time I know they will break through. In the chaos we will depart, and find a home for ourselves, we will hide, and hopefully the galaxy will forget us. Do not look to the Dark or the Light, my children, the path which we must walk is a tightrope between the two. Both sides will tempt you, but you must remain vigilant, in the balance we will find the strength and wisdom to persevere. The Force is one with us all." He said before bowing his head, and the holograph flickered off.

"Telas was wise to tell that the Empire was dying. When it finally collapsed he and his followers fled, tens of thousands of humans and Sith departed from the Empire and we made our way to this region of space, where some of us had foreseen a sanctuary. It was then that we found this planet, and we named it Uostas, haven, in our tongue. We have remained hidden for centuries, only occasionally do we send out scouts to keep track on the state of the Galaxy, and to pick up translators so that we can learn proper Galactic Basic in addition to the language of the Sith. Over time the humans and Sith interbred to the point that now nobody is purely Sith, but there is also nobody who is purely human, although we do retain most of the appearance of our Sith ancestors, and we have kept their name." Qonu said as she turned to face Chiida. "Now do you see why I smiled? Your teachings of moderation between the Light and Dark are quite similar to what we strive for, to maintain a balance between the two so that we might mask the weaknesses of one with the strengths of the other." She said before tapping a few more buttons and the images of several other Sith sprang up, each one of them dressed similarly to Qonu. She bowed to the rest of them, and they returned the gesture. "So, young Chiida, let us see if the rest of the honored elders will agree with my assessment of you." She said, a playful sparkle in her eye.

Uostas 26 BBY

Luckily for Koshiv Chiida it seemed that most of the other elders were willing to give him a chance to live amongst them, although he would naturally be kept under watch for a period of time to make sure that his intentions were genuine. He was allowed to live in the house of Kaval Zeama, the guard who had led the team who retrieved him. Apparently, Kaval was actually the son of Elder Qonu, although it was also clear that he had earned his position as head of the Elder's guard through skill rather than nepotism. In fact, it seemed like he had actually had to work harder to get where he was than anyone else, since Qonu expected the best from her son. Kaval's wife, Sitras was a very accommodating woman, with long, dark hair and very delicate features. She had mostly taken up the responsibility of teaching Chiida about the history of the Sith ever since they had arrived on Uostas, although she had to take a break from this responsibility after she became pregnant several years later.

The resulting baby, who they had named Nitai, was an absolute bundle of energy, and as he grew up he had quickly become fascinated by the stories that Chiida would tell him about the rest of the galaxy. Like most of his species, Nitai also quickly displayed the ability to use the Force, and after some negotiating with his parents on the boy's behalf, it was decided that in addition to the typical instruction he would receive at school, he would also receive training from "Uncle Chiida," as the exiled Jedi was affectionately referred to by the young Sith.

The boy was now ten years old, and Chiida watched with a slight smile on his face as Nitai used the Force to manipulate several rocks as part of a training exercise. They were currently out in the yard behind the white, two story, wooden house that the Zeama's occupied. The task itself wasn't that difficult on its own, the challenge came from the fact that R2-S1 was using his mechanical arms to toss pebbles at Nitai, who had to keep moving to avoid them while manipulating his own rocks.

"Alright, Nitai, I think that's enough for today." He said, as Nitai thankfully dropped the rocks, however while the young Sith was standing there and catching his breath he was hit in the cheek by a pebble, causing him to glare at S1 as the little dried laughed, or at least that's what he assumed the rapid low-pitched beeping to be.

"You're advancing rather quickly. I hope you haven't been staying up all night again." He said, and Nitai's face darkened, the relatively subtle sign of a Sith blushing. "I've told you, you're still young, you've got plenty of time to learn this, but going without sleep just isn't healthy." Chiida said as he shook his head slightly. Nitai wasn't a natural with the Force by any means, he was rather average for a Sith. However, one thing that did set Nitai apart from his peers was his relentless drive to improve and his seemingly unflappable nature, even when he failed he just got right back up again and started trying again immediately, with none of the hesitation or despair that some other students might feel. It was actually quite refreshing for Chiida to see a student who was so eager not only to learn, but to correct his own mistakes.

"I know, it's just that sometimes the time gets away from me, and I've been so excited ever since grandmother said she'd talk to the other elders about our request." He said, causing Chiida to chuckle. Ever since Nitai had been old enough to speak he'd been asking about if he could go off planet, in particular he wanted to join the Jedi Order, not necessarily to become a Jedi, but so that he could learn everything that they could teach him. Recently Chiida had gone to Qonu and had asked her to propose the idea to the rest of the elders who led the Sith.

"Speaking of your request, guess what I discussed in our meeting today?" A familiar voice said from behind him, causing Chiida to jump.

"Gaah! How many times have I told you to stop doing that?" He asked as he spun around, his eyes quickly focusing on the familiar grinning face of Qonu. The old woman was a master at masking her presence in the Force, and had a rather nasty habit of showing up right behind people in order to frighten them.

"Grandma!" Nitai chirped happily as he ran towards the elderly Sith and practically tackled her, wrapping his arms around her and tilting his head back to look up at her. "So, what did they say, can I go, can I go, can I go?" He asked, practically bouncing in place.

"Calm down Nitai, hop any more and they'll feel you on the other side of the planet." She laughed as she placed a hand on the young boy's head, running it through his long, dark hair. "They said that they will let you join, but only under certain conditions. The first of which is that you can only go once Chiida thinks that you're ready. There are a few other provisions, but other than that they have approved your request. And you'd better be thankful, I had to pull a lot of favors to get this approved." She said as she pinched Nitai's cheek playfully. Chiida was certain that was true, the Sith were always nervous about the possibility of being rediscovered, they were the last of a species that had historically been a thorn in the side of the Republic, and nobody was certain that if they were to reveal themselves, that they would be treated fairly and equally.

"Yes! Did you hear that uncle Chiida?" Nitai said excitedly as he separated from his grandmother before then running over to S1. "I'm going to go to space, S1!" He said excitedly as the astromech chirped in response. "I've got to go tell mom and dad!" He said before running towards the back door of his house and heading inside, his excited shouting still vaguely audible through the walls.

"The Jedi are going to have their hands full with him." Chiida said with a slight chuckle before turning back to Qonu. "But you didn't just want him to go out in order to see the world, did you? There's something more to this."

Qonu just smiled. "First impressions can be very important, I think Nitai would be a good introduction for us, even if the galaxy doesn't know just who they're being introduced to at first."

"I'll do my best to prepare him, but once he's out there it will be all on him. But it's getting late, why not stay for dinner? Sitras is cooking tonight." He suggested.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world, my son's decent, but Sitras could bring the dead back to life with her food." Qonu said with a smile as the two walked towards the house.

Uostas 22 BBY

"Yes, I made sure to say goodbye to everybody at the academy." Nitai said as his mother fussed with his robes. He was standing along with Chiida, his parents, and his grandmother, in one of the main hangars of the spire, with Chiida's ship docked behind him. "I thought we would need a crowbar to get Batek off of me."

Nitai had aged rather well, and was something of an object of desire for several of his female classmates at the academy. His physical training regimen had stripped most of the fat from his body and he had the sleek, muscular build of a runner. Like most Sith he also possessed naturally sharp and well-defined features that gave him an almost predatory look, which was generally considered a plus in the minds of most Sith. He had cut his hair short and it was pulled back from his face, letting his yellow eyes stand in stark contrast to the crimson hue of his skin. He'd stood about five and a half feet tall, which quite above average for his age. More frustratingly though, he had picked up his grandmother's habit of suddenly showing up behind people

"Well make sure you write home to tell us how you're doing, and don't cause too much trouble for the Jedi." Sitras said as she straightened back up, trying, and failing, to look like she wasn't about to cry.

"Are you certain you don't want to go with him?" Kaval asked Chiida as they watched Qonu make sure that Nitai remembered the cover story they had rehearsed to explain his appearance to the Jedi. The older Zeama's once dark hair had started to gray rather quickly, mostly due to the stress of his job, but aside from that he looked remarkably similar to how he had when he and Chiida had first met all those years ago, that seemed to be a shared trait amongst the Zeamas.

"I'm certain, I'm still exiled. Besides, it's a long way to go just to drop him off and come back, and it will be good for him to make this trip on his own." Chiida said as he saw Nitai approach them.

"I'm going to miss you two." Nitai said, his eyes getting misty as he wrapped his arms around his father and surrogate uncle. The hug lasted for nearly a full minute before he separated and went to make his way up the ramp that led into the shuttle.

"Oh wait, one more thing." Chiida called as he kicked R2-S1's leg. "I think it's a shame that S1's been stuck on one planet for so long. So take him along with you, it'll get him to actually do his job for a change." He said as the astromech beeped indignantly before wheeling up the ramp to sit beside Nitai. In truth the idea had actually been S1's, but Chiida knew that the little droid was far too prideful to suggest such a thing on his own.

"I'll make sure to take good care of him." Nitai said with a smile as he few tears escaped the corners of his eyes, happy that he would have at least one friend with him on his journey. He waved to his family as the ramp closed and he headed to the cockpit, firing up the engine with a button presses before lifting off and shooting out of the spire and up into the sky. It didn't take long before he was no longer staring at a blue sky, but rather the inky void of space.

"S1, set coordinates for Coruscant, it's gonna be a long trip." He said, the astromech beeped and began inputting coordinates, and for the first time ever, he saw space stretch out before him as his ship jumped into Hyperspace, the black void quickly being replaced by streaks of blue and white. He stared at the mesmerizing sight for hours, until eventually he fell asleep in his chair, probably not the most dignified way to spend one's first night in space, but it was a night he would remember vividly for the rest of his life.