Here's the next chapter update, told from Jaden's perspective. I've had some difficulty in making this happen, as I've had to come up with a means of getting a Sith and a Jedi to trust one another and still be believable. Although my characters' dialog may be in order, I really need to improve the quality of their surroundings and gestures. One thing I've noticed about my writings since I began doing this was that they all end up a bit too generic. I've seen many young authors who really have talent for 'situational articulation' I would call it. I can almost project these scenes into my imagination like it were a movie, but I still have difficulty in accurately portraying what I imagine... feedback on how to do that would be most appreciated.

I probably will be going back to make some modifications, but I wanted to get this posted as soon as it was ready. This is part one and part II is almost finished.

Informal Friends

Jaden

There was something very strange about how we awake from a deep sleep. Sometimes I almost feel as though my mind tells me to wake up before I even open my eyes. Other times, I just phase in and out for hours before really coming to grip with reality. That was about how I felt as I tried to wake myself up, but my head wouldn't stop throbbing. I wasn't exactly sure how; but as soon as one conscious thought returned, it forced me back into the waking world. The last thing I remembered was answering my door to find her... she attacked me before I had time to react. I then felt a surge of energy channel through my body, just long enough to realize it was a stun weapon she used..

Upon finally returning to reality, I groaned in pain and buried my head in my hands. I had trouble accepting where I was, but I could tell I was seated and that I was in a ship. She was in the seat beside me... I almost instinctively felt the need to kill her.

"Easy! Don't go berserk!" she ordered of me.

I probably wasn't in a good mental state, as I reached over to strangle her. "You!"

She brushed my arms away and shoved me against the opposite side of the cockpit. With her biceps pinning me by the neck, she shouted again. "Calm yourself down! Do you want to spread our atoms across the galaxy?"

It took me a moment to realize that we were in hyperspace, but I knew enough not to fight in so closed a space. Just breaching the hull would have been fatal. I really had no choice but to do as she ordered. When she pulled her arm away, I reached for my belt and realized that my lightsabers were gone.

She continued. "I have them. Just hear me out, and then I'll return them."

"What the **** is wrong with you? Are you out of your mind?" I screamed.

As I shrieked at her, Alora subtly raised her hand at me, gesturing me to be silent. It was not a single-finger gesture, but she held her hand as if to strike if I didn't shut up. After finally lowering it, she spoke very calm and confidently. "We're going to do things your way. You came up with a good plan and I've decided to go along with it."

My head must really have been throbbing. What the hell could she have been doing? I looked around and realized we were on board the Raven's Claw as well. Whatever she had in store for me, I knew it wasn't going to be pleasant. Kyle was going to kill me. "Care to explain why you stole the Raven's Claw as well? As if taking me hostage wasn't enough..."

She didn't let me finish. "It was necessary to make your treachery seem more convincing. Tavion knows this is Katarn's ship and she would never suspect..." Realizing she'd gotten ahead of herself, Alora started over. "Tavion will believe that you stole your master's ship while we were on Taspir III. With me to verify you've accepted our offer, Tavion will let us in."

"What in the hell?" No longer was I interested in going through with that plan. After what I've seen of her, I had no wish to go to Korriban, trusting in some psychotic Sith. "I'm not going along with this! I'm taking us out of hyperspace!"

As I tried to disengage the hyperdrive, she slapped my hand away from the controls. We wrested with each other to take control of the situation, I started cursing at her, and then she just withdrew altogether and threw herself back into her seat. As if annoyed, Alora shook her head and focused on the front window. "Will you just shut up for a moment and listen?"

I had no idea why, but I found it peculiar that she would just give up and yield control like that. Right when I had a chance to take us out of hyperspace, I hesitated. Would she have just... allowed me to take back the ship? Whatever the reason, I stopped there and leaned back into my seat. Instead of going for the controls, I set my hands on my lap to indicate I was listening. It probably wouldn't have done any good either way. If she intended to take me to Korriban, I wouldn't allow her to do so. And if I intended to take us back to Yavin, Alora wouldn't just let me take back control of the ship. Obviously we had a conflict of interests, but neither of us were going anywhere unless one of us backed down... and she was the first to do so.

She took my silence as an indication that I was listening. "Your plan was a good one. I've decided to go along with it."

As if that couldn't be more obvious! It didn't give me any more reason to believe her lie. By that time, I've already accepted Master Luke's judgment and abandoned the idea altogether. And I wasn't exactly enthused about being kidnapped and taking Kyle's ship without his consent. "Master Skywalker had already decided..."

"Forget 'Master Skywalker.' Do you want to make Tavion pay for corrupting your friend? I'm offering to take you directly to her, so you can kill her. Isn't that what you really want?"

What could I say? I wanted Tavion dead. I wanted her to suffer for what she did to Rosh, to Kyle, and to me. I wanted to be the deliverer of justice. I wanted revenge. Of course no Jedi could possibly want such things, nor would she imply it. Maybe even I managed to convince myself otherwise, but I told Alora what I believed any Jedi would want. "That scepter has to be destroyed. That is my only goal."

She didn't buy it. "You're lying."

When our eyes finally met, I couldn't help feeling that she probably knew me a lot better than I knew myself. Even as I tried to suppress my darkest feelings, I knew my Jedi training couldn't extinguish an unrelenting hate inside me. Only when I imagined Tavion lying dead at my feet could I feel any relief from the pain she caused to both me and Rosh.

But I had to destroy the scepter she possessed. If the stakes weren't so high, I might have known better than to even consider accepting what Alora offered me. The last thing I wanted was to go further down the dark path, but I was the best chance we had at keeping Ragnos from being resurrected and to destroy the Cult forever.

After an uncomfortably long moment of staring at me, Alora continued. "I know you'd never admit it, but you secretly want Tavion dead. I also want her dead. We can help each other out."

God, her words were poison! It sickened me that I would even consider her! "No. I will not let you seduce me again." Suddenly I felt a rush of courage and determination that I hadn't felt since... and I wanted her to know that I was still stronger. "I don't care if I die because of it! I am a Jedi knight. I will NEVER be like you... or your master!"

Alora's reaction surprised me. She almost seemed... glad that I stood her up in such a way. The twi'lek then smiled and reached down towards the floor to grab something. "Alright then, Jedi knight... I think you're safe enough to have this back."

My lightsaber! She took two lightsabers in one hand, one belonging to each of us. She set the hilt with the red crystal on the seat next to her. In her opposite hand, Alora presented the one with the green blade to its rightful owner. I hesitated for only the briefest of moments before snatching it from her. Given as she took it from me, I didn't thank her for returning it. "And the other one?"

Alora smirked and gestured with her eyes. "In the compartment under your seat, along with one of mine."

I stared at her for a rather long moment. I almost couldn't grasp the nature of what she just said to me, but there was only one way to know for sure. I reached into the compartment under my seat and found exactly as she claimed. Two lightsabers, one belonging to each of us. I naturally set mine on the seat next to me, but I couldn't quite figure out what to do with the red-bladed saber.

With her second weapon in my hand, I took a few seconds to examine it. "Why did you do that?"

She slowly and politely extended her arm across to accept it back, never really answering my question.

If I had to take a wild guess, I think she wanted to give me an impression that we were equals. Like the lightsabers were symbolic of sharing, bonding, or something like that. Partners? A dark mirror to me? Contrasts? I didn't know what the hell that Sith really wanted, but I didn't want her thinking for a moment that I trusted her. In a very rude manner, I just tossed that weapon onto the floor near her feet.

She probably had already thought we were good friends, but that simple gesture made it abundantly clear that she didn't matter to me. When she took that saber from the floor and clipped it to her belt, she started blathering on about 'our plan.' "It's a good thing that Katarn's ship is faster than your X-wings. We should be able to make it to Korriban almost an hour ahead of the others. That will give us time to..."

I interrupted her again. "Let's get something very clear... Sith. Your only purpose is to bring me before your master. Once you've done that, I will decide when to strike. You will not carry a lightsaber. Is that clear?"

She looked at me as though to laugh, but not quite able to pull it off. "Jedi, you're good, but you're not that good. You really think you can take on Tavion without me?"

I knew where she was going, but I really wanted to make Alora swallow her pride. "Who needs you at all?"

She didn't take kindly to that, a sad reminder of her most recent defeat against me. Facing the window in front, she had no intent of being subordinated in such a way. "Jedi, if you want my help, you're going to have to do things my way. If you don't, then we might as well forget this whole endeavor."

Placing my hand on the lever which controlled our hyperdrive speed, I was ready to pull it back. Alora tried not to show it, but I could tell that she didn't intend for me to pull it back. She glared at me in a very threatening way, almost as though to silently warn me against it. I couldn't stand it any more... what the hell was I supposed to do?

Removing my hand from the lever, I looked her directly in the eye. "What the hell are you doing, Alora? Why should I believe that you would want to help us? If you want me to believe you, I demand that you spill the truth... ALL of the truth."

She really didn't get it. "I already told you. I'm doing what's in my own interests."

"I think you've got other motives. It would seem like a perfect opportunity for you to betray your master and take that scepter for yourself."

She pivoted her head around and rolled her eyes to the roof of their sockets. "Think for a moment, girl. Why wouldn't Tavion use the scepter's power on herself? Why squander it to bring back some long-dead Sith Lord?" Alora waited a moment for me to answer with only silence. "That scepter belongs to Ragnos. It has no other master. If Tavion or I... or you were to use that energy for any purpose other than to revive him, it would be useless. I'm told it even has self-defense instincts."

"Self-defense instincts?" I asked.

She just turned to look forward again, clearly unconcerned about it. "I've never seen such things, but then no one's attempted to steal it. I assume it would probably electrocute anyone who tries to lay a hand on it, or some other kind of Force energy discharge."

"Can it be destroyed?"

She just shrugged her shoulders. And like any Sith, Alora didn't bother to speak any more than was needed. It was clear that we wouldn't be talking much.

Unfortunately, I had to know more about this person. I had to be the one to trigger any conversation. And yet... I couldn't think of anything to say. Our ETA was about nine hours, according to the clock on the hyperdrive control panel. We were en route to Korriban at our maximum speed, which was slightly faster than our X-wings. Although we took off later, we would get there first.

A part of me knew we shouldn't have just taken Kyle's ship, but another part of me knew I could blame it on Alora. And yet, there was another part that knew it wouldn't matter if we got the job done. I hated thinking that I could just shift blame away from myself for something I knew was wrong, but I just wanted so much to make up for my sins. If I did this, I could have at least showed Kyle that I was a Jedi to the end.

Still, I was under a lot of tension in that moment. The thought of spending nine hours with that Sith, my guilt, and quite possibly all the hopes of the Jedi Order. All the while, unaware of what would be waiting for me on Korriban. I still couldn't escape the possibility that this was just another trap. If I had any sense, I would have just called this whole thing off.

Why didn't I? I supposed that if Alora intended to deliver me to Tavion, or something like that... she could have kept me sedated for the whole of the journey, but she didn't. Surly that had to mean something. Maybe I was just over analyzing things. But that still didn't change the fact that Alora lead me towards killing Rosh. That was something I couldn't just forget. She was a Sith, and she couldn't be trusted.

And yet... I couldn't help wondering something. I never really noticed before, but Master Luke did genuinely care for Mara. How Alora could have known about that was just beyond me. Maybe she might have indulged a question of two if I just brushed the subject. "How much do you know about Master Skywalker...? He says you've never met."

She wouldn't look in my direction, but chose to stare off into the blankness of hyperspace. "Tavion's told me a lot of things about him." A moment's pause, she continued. "And everything she knew of Skywalker, she learned through Desann. So I would assume the majority of what I know are just half truths based on more half truths."

"And Mara?"

She just pivoted her head again in that way which expressed annoyance. "Do you have a question to ask?"

I waited for a long moment before seriously asking her a question that might have had a very volatile answer. "How did you know about Master Skywalker and Mara? I've been there for two years and I never really thought that they were..."

She looked away again, interrupting me in the process. "He's the only one expressing interest. She either hasn't picked up on it, or she's already rejected him."

Almost gladdened that Alora looked away, I probably had a dumb look on my face. "You got all that from one interaction with each other?"

"Could it have been more obvious? Master Skywalker fears that they'll be too late. That Ragnos will be revived and they'll have to face him directly. He feared watching his beloved knights die before him, but he feared losing her above the others. Even if she would have hated him for it... he wanted to ensure that didn't happen."

I shook my head and pushed the idea out of my head. "No way. Even if what you say is true, Master Luke doesn't allow his personal feelings to EVER get in the way of his judgment."

She didn't seem to care what I thought. Alora just shrugged her shoulders again, still staring out the window. "You know him better than I do. If you asked me, you Jedi don't know what the hell you want. Even Skywalker is not immune to something as dangerous as love. When you invest your heart in someone, you leave yourself vulnerable. Don't they teach you to protect yourself from such emotions?"

I had trouble imagining that Sith as knowing about such things as love and what it meant to care for others. Alora was quite perplexing in the way she shifted from being that cold and heartless Sith to possessing an ability to look deep into people's souls. But she truly had no idea what she was talking about. "In the old Jedi Order, yes. Master Skywalker has since done away with the practice." I waited for her to respond, but after getting only silence, I just spouted something I wished I hadn't. "Do you know what love is?"

She finally looked me directly in the eye, a clear sign that I struck a nerve somewhere. Alora then proceeded to lecture me about it. "I know love a lot better than you do... little girl. Love is a trick that nature plays to get us to reproduce. But it's only an illusion, brought upon by some primordial drive to seek pleasure and avoid discomfort. Only when everything you've ever loved is taken away do you strip away the fantasy and see the galaxy for what it really is."

"And what is that?" I asked, maybe a bit too unsympathetic.

Alora sighed and looked away again. "You realize that sentient beings are just talking animals. Compelled by those primordial instincts, camouflaged by what they call 'morality.' Sentient beings just invented it to subvert unsuspecting victims. Animals don't destroy themselves from an instinctive sense of self-preservation. Sentient beings aren't driven by survival. They destroy lives for... other reasons."

Part two will cover more of Alora's tragic fall to the dark side. Thanks for reading and reviewing.