Brinna and Carth were standing outside of the Ebon Hawk, studying the gathering twilight. Carth was unusually silent and Brinna was bored. She yawned and studied her nails before carefully smoothing a minute fold out of the left arm of her Jedi robes.
"What's wrong, Carth? Kath hounds got your tongue?" she asked him, holding a hand out so that she could study her nails from a distance.
He turned to look at her. "How about a game of Pazaak?" he asked.
"I've already taken all of your credits," Brinna said in a bored tone. "If you lose again, you're going to have to tell me your big secret."
"I'll tell you my big secret right now. It's…"
Carth was interrupted by the sudden appearance of Bastila, who stomped so loudly down the Ebon Hawk's loading ramp that she sounded like a herd of rampaging rontos.
"What are you two doing? Haven't I warned you about emotional entanglements, Brinna? I don't know why I bother with you. You refuse to hear a word I say. And furthermore…"
Brinna zoned out and the sound of Bastila's voice became nothing more than an annoying hum in the back of her mind. After a while, though, she tired of the hum and raising her hand almost languidly, she closed her eyes and called upon the Force for aide. When she opened them again, she turned to see that she had turned Bastila into Lyn, the Twi'lek dancer from Taris, and that Bastila was executing a series of complicated dance moves, much to the amusement of Carth who clapped and laughed to the rhythm of Bastila's movements.
"She's not as good as you, though," he said hastily, in response to the scathing look Brinna sent his way.
"Brinna!" Mission's voice called, floating from the Ebon Hawk.
"What do you want?" Brinna asked her.
"Wake up!" Mission replied and the Ebon Hawk began to waver and disappear.
"What's going on here?" Brinna asked, confused.
She blinked and when she opened her eyes, she saw the blurry outline of her bunk on the Ebon Hawk. She blinked again, clearing the sleep from her eyes and saw that Mission was standing next to her bunk, looking down at her with an amused expression.
"That must have been one interesting dream," Mission said to her with a grin.
"Why?" Brinna asked, sitting up and scrubbing her hands over her face. What a bizarre dream…
"Because you were laughing in your sleep."
"I was?" Brinna asked, and she couldn't help but smile. "Well, I guess you could say it was interesting." She glanced around the room to make sure Bastila was absent before she continued. "I turned Bastila into a Twi'lek dancer I met on Taris."
Mission snickered. "I would have loved to see that."
"It was pretty amusing," Brinna admitted, her smile broadening.
"Here, I brought this for you," Mission said, handing her a steaming mug of caffa.
Brinna groaned gratefully and eagerly took the mug from Mission. "You're a lifesaver, you know that? Thanks for coming to get me up before Bastila could come storming in here."
"Since you've done such a good job of looking out for me and Big Z, I figured the least I could do is try to save you from Bastila."
"Works for me," Brinna said. She boosted herself out of her bunk and went to her footlocker, changing into her Jedi robes quickly, clipping her own lightsaber to her belt and then adding one of the sabers that they had collected from the Mandalorian leader's corpse. She grabbed her mug and turned back to Mission.
"Seeing you in Jedi robes is just so weird," Mission said, wrinkling her nose.
"Oh great," Brinna said, rolling her eyes. "Tell me you're not all going to be treating me like I have the Iridian plague again."
"Nah. This time we figured we'd just all bow down in worship to you," Mission teased.
"Now that's more like it," Brinna replied with a grin. "Come on, I'm starving."
Brinna led the way into the common room, where everyone was gathered eating breakfast and sipping caffa. They all looked up when Brinna entered the room and she handed her mug to Mission before gracing them all with a low bow.
"Mission tells me you all intend to worship me now that I am a Jedi. You may commence," she told them, in a magnanimous tone of voice.
"Jedi or no, I don't think you should expect me to be worshipping you anytime soon," Canderous told her, grinning crookedly.
"Oh come on, Mandalorian. You're not fooling me. I know you already do worship me," Brinna told him breezily.
Bastila and Carth gaped at her and she winked at both of them before turning and heading for the food replicator to claim her own breakfast. She brought her plate to the table and seated herself between Mission and Zaalbar.
"We should leave to explore the ruins as soon as possible," Bastila told her, somehow managing to look like a queen as she sipped her caffa.
Brinna shook her head and swallowed a mouthful of food before replying. "Not just yet. I promised the Masters I'd do what I could about that Matale/Sandral mess, remember? I'm going to go see Ahlan Matale and Nurik Sandral first thing and hopefully resolve their problems. Once that's finished, I intend to look into the rumors Master Zhar has heard about lightsaber crystals here. The ruins may have to wait until tomorrow."
Bastila pressed her lips together in a thin line but didn't say anything more. Brinna sensed her disapproval and could almost read Bastila's negative thoughts through the bond that they shared.
"You're really going to bother trying to settle that petty little feud?" Canderous griped. "Can't you think of anything to do that's more worthy of a warrior?"
"Don't worry about it, Canderous. I wasn't planning on taking you with me anyway," Brinna said brightly. "I thought I'd bring Carth and Mission with me to settle that 'petty little feud', as you called it."
Instantly, Brinna sensed that Bastila was about to protest her choice of companions and Brinna stopped her before she could even say anything by adding, "Bastila, I thought maybe you would be so good as to search the archives to see if you can learn anything about the ruins here. We wouldn't want to go running off into them unprepared. Who knows what we may find in there."
Bastila nodded curtly and immediately left the ship.
"And what are we supposed to do?" Canderous asked, indicating Zaalbar and himself.
"Oh, I don't know. Go see if you can find more Mandalorians. Train kath hounds for the galactic circus," she suggested. Canderous glowered at her and she sighed. "Look, Canderous, let's face it, you're not exactly known for your tact. And no offense to Zaalbar, but not everyone in the galaxy responds very well to Wookies. A Republic soldier and a Twi'lek, on the other hand, will be much more promising companions to a Jedi who is attempting to negotiate a peace between two warring families."
Canderous made a sour face but didn't argue with her any further and Zaalbar quietly growled his agreement with her words.
"Carth, Mission, let's go," Brinna said, pushing her plate aside and rising from the table.
Today is going to be a good day, Brinna told herself with a sense of satisfaction as she watched Carth and Mission suit up. It looked like she might get through the day with a minimum of death and destruction and she was going out on a mission with her two favorite people. Things were looking up.
On their way out to the Matale estate, Brinna, Mission, and Carth ran into a woman named Elise who was extremely distraught over the disappearance of her companion. At first, Brinna thought she was speaking of her husband or lover, so when Elise mentioned that her companion was a droid, Brinna gaped at her in amazement. She exchanged a quick look with Mission and Carth, both of whom looked at her with raised eyebrows and Brinna did her best to suppress her smile as she questioned Elise a bit further.
"Wow, she really misses her droid, doesn't she?" Carth said in a quiet aside to Mission and Brinna.
Mission snickered but Brinna was thankfully able to maintain a straight face as she promised Elise that she'd keep an eye out for the droid.
"I never knew the life of a Jedi was so exciting," Mission commented as they continued on their way. "Settling petty feuds, hunting down missing droids…"
"It's a difficult but glamorous life," Brinna told her, smiling.
They quickly learned, however, just how serious the "petty" feud between the Matales and Sandrals was. Their first stop was Ahlan Matale's estate, where he ranted and raved about how the Sandrals had tried to ruin him from the day they had settled on Dantooine and how they were responsible for the disappearance of his son, Shen, whom Ahlan believed Nurik Sandral had kidnapped in retaliation for the disappearance of his own son, Casus.
Brinna's mood quickly sobered as she listened to the man. She could now see why the Council had been so concerned; the two families each owned large estates and if they were to war with one another, the effect would likely be devastating to the other settlers as well.
She could feel Carth's dislike for the man as Carth sarcastically told Ahlan Matale that it seemed everyone was responsible for Ahlan's misfortunes except for Ahlan himself. Ahlan sneered at Carth and ignored him, turning to look at Brinna expectantly. She told him of her intention to speak to Nurik Sandral, but the man still was not satisfied. He then offered her a bribe and Brinna felt herself bristle as she told him that a Jedi could not be bought and that she would remain impartial. Ahlan didn't seem too impressed with her words and he dismissed them without ceremony, disappearing once more into his estate in the company of a battery of his battle droids.
"Well, settling this ought to be all kinds of fun," Brinna said sarcastically.
Carth shook his head. "I just hope Ahlan Matale is wrong about Nurik Sandral kidnapping his son. It seems like those two are already at each other's throats. What will happen if it turns out that Shen was kidnapped?"
Brinna looked at the Matale estate with a grim expression. "Let's hope we won't have to find out."
The three set off toward the Sandral estate. As they jogged across the plains just east of the Matale estate, Brinna noticed something strange. Several kath hounds were clustered together but Brinna couldn't see what they were after, as the tall grass concealed their object from her view.
"I have a bad feeling about this," she told Carth and Mission, indicating the group of kath hounds.
"Just don't…" Carth began to say, but Brinna used the Force to help her leap over to the group of kath hounds and didn't hear the end of his statement.
Landing lightly on her feet, Brinna had just enough time to see that the kath hounds were all clustered around a body. Though she didn't have time to study it, she had enough time to note that there was no hope for whoever the person had once been. The kath hounds had already eviscerated the body and all that was left was part of the person's torso and an assortment of broken bones.
Naturally, the kath hounds were attracted by the prospect of fresh meat and they turned their attention on Brinna. She danced and dodged her way around them, whirling and swinging out with her lightsabers, hitting the beasts with deadly accuracy. A moment later, Carth joined her, vibroblades blazing, and Brinna could hear Mission shouting as she began firing.
After a few minutes, the fight was over and Brinna used her Force abilities to heal the bite wounds that she and Carth had suffered. Fortunately, none of the kath hounds had gone after Mission and she was uninjured. Brinna was very relieved by this. Though it seemed that no matter where she went or what she did, she was destined to run into combat, Brinna had been hoping that this day would pass with a minimum of fighting and, subsequently, a minimum amount of danger for Mission. She would never tell the Twi'lek the truth, but Brinna was determined to do her best to keep Mission out of combat situations.
Mission joined the two of them, looking at the dismembered body with a grimace. There was an equipment pack lying on the ground and she knelt down and reached for it.
"What were you saying to me before we started fighting these things?" Brinna asked Carth as Mission began to dig through the pack.
"I was about to tell you not to do that leap," Carth said, exasperation clear in his voice. "You are so impetuous, do you know that?"
"Yeah, that's me," Brinna said, with a grin. "I can't help it. It's just such an amazing feeling."
"Yeah, well, keep it up and you're going to get yourself killed," Carth grumbled. "I really hate it when you do that."
Brinna was taken aback by the vehemence in his voice and she couldn't help but blush slightly. He looked suddenly conscious of what he'd said and he turned away from her, putting up the pretense that he was looking out for more kath hounds but Brinna could sense the confused jumble of his emotions.
"Bad news, guys," Mission said, causing them both to jump.
"What did you find?" Brinna asked, turning to Mission and hoping that she neither sounded nor looked as flustered as she felt.
Mission held up a datapad. "It's a journal and it belonged to Casus Sandral."
Brinna felt sick as she looked at what the kath hounds had done to poor Casus. "Well, at least Nurik Sandral was wrong about Ahlan Matale having kidnapped him," she said grimly.
Carth sighed. "I guess we'd better go deliver the bad news," he said.
"Wonderful. And I thought this day was going to be easy," Brinna said.
"When is a day with you ever easy?" Mission asked her.
"Right," Brinna sighed, holding her hand out for the datapad. "Did you find anything else useful?"
"Yeah," Mission said, handing Brinna some gear.
Looking through it quickly, Brinna extracted a Verpine headband like the one she wore and tossed it over to Carth. She stowed the rest of the gear away in her pack.
"Aw, isn't that cute? You match," Mission said in a sickly-sweet voice as Carth put the headband on. He made a face and started heading south.
"Don't make me Force trip you," Brinna muttered to Mission, in a threatening tone.
"What?" Mission asked, her face the perfect picture of innocence.
Brinna lifted her hand menacingly and Mission scampered off in Carth's direction. Shaking her head with a wry smile, Brinna followed the two of them.
They made it to the Sandral estate without further incident. Unlike Ahlan, they were welcomed by Nurik into his home. Brinna broke the news of his son's death to him as gently as she could and he asked her for the diary. She handed it over to him and he disappeared into another room, asking them to leave him to his grief. While Brinna sympathized with him, she also had no intention of leaving without questioning him about Shen.
Just as she was about to tell one of the droids to go fetch its master for her, a young woman came into the room and began to beg them not to judge her father. Confused, Brinna asked who she was and learned that the woman was Rahasia, Nurik's daughter. Brinna knew that Rahasia was speaking so cryptically because she knew something about Shen and she questioned the girl further. Finally, Rahasia told them that her father had indeed kidnapped Shen and that he was being held in the estate. She gave them a key to the side door of the estate and begged them to hurry and rescue Shen before her father did something terrible.
Brinna knew that there was more to the story than she had been told up to this point and she gently asked Rahasia why she cared about what happened to Shen. Rahasia told them that she and Shen had fallen in love and that her brother Casus had even come to like Shen. She told them of the feud between their families. Even though the Matales were not responsible for her brother, Rahasia was terrified that her father would blame them just the same and try to exact vengeance against them by harming Shen. Alarmed and filled with compassion for the plight of the two young people, Brinna promised to rescue Shen and took the key from a grateful Rahasia.
They got into the estate without incident and made their way through it as quickly as was possible, considering their many run-ins with the Sandral droids. When they found Shen, Brinna was impatient to get out of the estate but he refused to leave without Rahasia because he was afraid of what her father would do to her if he discovered the part she'd played in Shen's rescue. Brinna then had to run through the estate looking for Rahasia. Fortunately, the young woman agreed to meet them outside and Brinna and company returned to Shen, who finally agreed to leave.
Once they were outside, Brinna felt all of her impatience melt away as she witnessed the fond greeting between the two young lovers. They embraced almost desperately and then thanked her, Carth, and Mission profusely for having helped them. Brinna had just suggested that they'd best move when Shen and Rahasia suddenly froze. Turning her head, Brinna saw Ahlan Matale approaching the estate, accompanied by a pair of armed droids. She then turned to look in the opposite direction and saw Nurik Sandral exiting his estate with armed droids of his own.
"So much for a quick escape," Brinna sighed to Carth and Mission.
Though Carth stood with his weapons casually at his side, Brinna could see from the tension in his face that he was ready to use them on a split-second notice. Likewise, Mission kept her fingers on the triggers of her blasters, though she had such a casual expression on her face it looked as though she was merely out for a stroll.
As Nurik Sandral and Ahlan Matale confronted each other and their children, Brinna felt her annoyance blossom once again. The two men were using their children like bargaining chips and it was plain to see that neither had any regard for the feelings their children held for one another.
Brinna took a deep breath, willing herself to be calm, and then turned on the charm. Somehow she managed to reconcile Nurik and Ahlan to the idea that their children were in love and even managed to convince the fathers that they should buy an estate for them as a wedding gift. Her performance was so stellar that she amazed herself and a broad smile spread over her face as Shen and Rahasia reacted joyfully.
"I'm a sucker for two kids in love," Brinna murmured to a smiling Carth.
"Amazing," he said, shaking his head.
Mission was grinning as well and she gave Brinna a thumbs-up.
"That turned out so well I feel like anything is possible today," Brinna told Mission and Carth as they finally left behind the grateful Shen and Rahasia, who had enthusiastically invited them to their wedding. "Even finding those lightsaber crystals that Master Zhar mentioned."
"You did a good thing back there," Carth told her quietly, as Mission ran ahead to scout out the area before them.
Brinna hesitated for the moment, trying to decide whether or not she dared question Carth. As they were leaving, he had said something really beautiful to Shen about how he hoped that Shen would find the happiness Carth had once known. But as she looked at him, Brinna sensed that he'd said what he had unconsciously and that he was not likely to respond well if she asked him what he'd meant by his comment.
"Thanks," she finally said. If he thought the pause before her reply was strange, he said nothing about it.
He hopes Shen finds the happiness he once knew… Had he been married?
She didn't find it hard to believe that he might have been. Surely she was not the first woman to have noticed how attractive he was and she doubted that she was the first woman to have found his personality appealing as well. Hell, if she could be attracted to him in spite of her being the object of his paranoia, he would have to be positively irresistible to a woman whom he didn't constantly regard as an object of suspicion and mistrust.
Whoa, wait, she thought. Attracted to him?
Idiot! she told herself.
Of course she was attracted to him and it was probably high time that she admitted it. Mission knew it, so Zaalbar undoubtedly knew as well. Canderous probably knew it. Even Bastila—cold and unfeeling as Brinna thought her—seemed to have noticed that there was something a little more than friendship there. It was high time that Brinna admitted it to herself.
Why him of all men? she wondered, studying him as he raced ahead to catch up with Mission. It's not complicated enough that I'm an old Padawan hanging out with a Jedi ice princess, a bloodthirsty Mandalorian, a morose walking carpet, an overly mature Twi'lek kid, and an indecipherable droid. I had to go and become attracted to a paranoid, untrusting Republic star pilot with a thirst for vengeance. Exploring those ruins is going to be a walk in the park compared to all that!
Yet, it wasn't hard for her to understand why she found Carth as attractive as she did. Physically, she could not deny that he had many, many attributes. She loved his deep brown eyes and it hurt her to see them filled with pain, as they so often were. Her fingers itched to run through that thick head of dark hair of his, to push those stubborn strands away from his forehead. More than once she had found herself studying the way the light brought out the auburn highlights in his hair. More than once she had wondered what his hair would feel like. The light stubble on his face was almost irresistibly sexy to her and she thought he had the most perfect nose she had ever seen. Best of all, though was his smile, the way it made the corners of his sensual mouth turn up…
She blushed slightly as her thoughts wandered and she had to shake her head to clear it. Though her physical attraction to him was strong, the mental attraction she felt for him was even stronger. She loved his dry, sarcastic sense of humor, so like her own. Whenever they playfully argued with one another or exchanged insults she could feel her blood quicken and a smile spread over her face. Moreover, she loved his goodness, his sense of decency, the many kindnesses he had shown to the unfortunates they'd encountered thus far in their travels. When she was with him, she felt happy, safe, warm…as if she'd found a spirit akin to her own.
Why are you torturing yourself like this? You know it can't go anywhere with him, even if he wanted it to, which he doesn't.
The thought made her sad because she was convinced it was true. Even though she'd managed to break through some of his barriers, even though he seemed to enjoy her company, Brinna knew that Carth had his heart locked away and she was positive that she would never be able to touch it.
"Come on, slowpoke!" Mission cried, jolting Brinna out of her melancholy thoughts.
"Coming!" she replied, jogging to catch up with her companions.
Carth looked at her questioningly and though she tried to smile, she had a feeling that it was tinged with something of the sadness, something of the disappointment she felt. She didn't look at him long enough to see if he'd noticed it, though.
Fortunately for her, a distraction soon presented itself in the form of a Twi'lek Jedi who was standing on the middle of a bridge that spanned a small stream. He greeted her and told her that his name was Bolook and that the Council had sent him to investigate a murder. He asked her for her help and she couldn't help but wonder if this was yet another test of her abilities. She agreed to help him and he led her across the stream to where the body lay. The two suspects were standing there under the watchful eye of one of the enclave's droids. One of them looked surly while the other had a pleasant expression on his face and fairly exuded a wish to be of service.
Once Bolook had given Brinna the particulars of the case, she began questioning the two suspects and asking the enclave's droid for help with scientific evidence. By listening carefully to what each man said, Brinna was able to pick up on the small lies that each told and she added all of the evidence together until she presented Bolook with her verdict: both men were guilty of the crime.
She was right and Bolook placed both of the men under arrest. He praised Brinna for her perspicacity but Brinna was even more pleased by Carth's praise, as he told her that it looked like she'd make a proper Jedi after all.
From there, they made their way across the plains and stumbled upon Elise's droid, who was being attacked by kath hounds. Brinna was bowled over when the droid thanked her for saving him from the kath hounds but then confessed that he had purposely sought them out.
Brinna couldn't help but sneak a look at Carth as the droid told them about his fears that Elise was becoming too insular. At first, both she and Carth had been bewildered but also a little perversely amused by the relationship that existed between Elise and her droid. Now, however, after listening to the droid, Brinna understood the seriousness of the situation and she couldn't help but feel badly for having laughed at Elise. The droid begged Brinna to destroy him and though she was not keen on the idea, she agreed and he thanked her profusely. She closed her eyes and turned her head as she delivered the devastating blow and then turned away from the wreckage of the droid.
"Are you okay?" Carth asked softly.
"I'm fine," Brinna sighed. "I just hated to destroy that droid but I think he was right; I think it was the best thing for Elise."
Carth nodded grimly and his gaze shifted past Brinna. He furrowed his brow and she looked at him questioningly.
"Is that a cave?" he asked, pointing.
Turning, she looked in the direction toward which he was pointing and she too saw what looked like the opening to a cave. She moved closer to the black hole and peered inside but to no avail. It was impossible to see more than a meter or two into the tunnel before it was lost in blackness.
"Let me guess; we're going in there, aren't we?" Mission sighed.
"Well, we really should take a look," Brinna said casually, turning to grin at the Twi'lek.
"Sometimes I think you have a death wish," Mission sighed, as she hoisted her blasters from her sides, bringing them up in a defensive position.
Brinna grinned once more before taking a deep breath and plunging into the cave. Carth followed her immediately and she found that his solid presence made her feel a lot more secure. She could hear Mission grumbling under her breath as she brought up the rear.
The inside of the cave was dimly lit but visibility was reasonably good. Brinna followed the slightly winding tunnel that led through the gray stone walls and did her best to breathe through her mouth rather than her nose. The cave was dank and stank of mildew but there was another sourer and more unpleasant odor underneath that she could not identify. After a few more steps, she heard a scrabbling noise ahead of her and she lifted her lightsabers, certain she was about to find out just what was causing that smell.
Sure enough, as they came around the next bend, they were set upon by a trio of kinrath. Brinna made a face as the beasts rushed toward them. If there was anything she really hated, it was kinrath. She was unfortunately reminded why she hated them so much as she didn't duck quite quickly enough and she felt one of the kinrath's razor-sharp stingers graze the side of her neck. She gasped at the feeling of her skin splitting open and gritted her teeth at the wave of nausea that followed it, caused by the poison that the creature had deposited into her bloodstream.
Suddenly, Carth was beside her, the two of them beating the beasts back, hacking away limbs before they could be used to poison anyone else. Mission was shouting and the sound of her shouts coupled with the shots from her blasters reverberated through the cave and added a pounding headache to Brinna's lists of woes. When the kinrath were finally dead, Carth took one look at Brinna's neck and immediately injected her with an antidote kit.
"Thank you," she said, feeling relief as the antidote cleared the poison from her veins. She quickly called upon the Force to heal the three of them and then pressed forward.
The caves were infested with kinrath, as they quickly found out, and antidote kits soon became a dire necessity. They fought their way through the tunnel and finally reached a rounded room at the end. There wasn't much time to look around as they were immediately beset by several kinrath. When the fight was finally over, a thick, noxious stench hung in the air but it was immediately forgotten when Brinna saw what was within the room.
"Crystals!" she exclaimed, walking over to a formation and gently dislodging a pale greenish crystal. It seemed to pulse faintly with energy and Brinna felt a rush of excitement. The rumors Master Zhar had heard held water after all; Dantooine was home to a pretty sizeable collection of lightsaber crystals.
Carth and Mission soon joined her and helped gather the crystals. As they handed them over to her, she felt a burst of impatience. She could hardly wait to get back to the workbench in the Ebon Hawk so that she could start modifying her lightsaber.
"That's the last of them," Mission said, her voice echoing around the room.
"See? My curiosity paid off," Brinna told Mission, a bit smugly.
Mission rolled her eyes. "This time it did. Who knows what will happen in the future."
"You can say whatever you want," Brinna said, with a smile. "At the moment, I couldn't care less. These crystals are very valuable and I'm going to put them to good use."
"As much as I enjoy standing around in a chamber full of dead kinrath, we should probably get going. It's getting late," Carth said, with a glance at his chrono.
"Please. It smells worse than the Taris sewers in here," Mission said with a grimace. Pain flashed briefly in her eyes as she realized what she'd said and Brinna laid a consoling hand on her arm. Carth's lips tightened and he turned away. Brinna knew he was thinking of his missed opportunity with Saul Karath.
"Come on," Brinna said quietly, setting out through the tunnel.
No one said much as they made their way back. Dusk was falling fast and they could hear kath hounds howling in the distance. Fortunately, though, they only had to stop a couple of times to fight the beasts before they reached the enclave.
When they reached Elise, Brinna did her best to break the news gently but the other woman was inconsolable and rushed off toward the enclave in a flood of tears. Brinna felt awful.
"It was for her own good," Mission said firmly, patting Brinna's shoulder.
"I know," Brinna said, with a sigh.
"Think of the poor droid," Carth said, his mouth quirking at the corner.
"Carth!" Brinna exclaimed, shocked. "How can you poke fun at her like that?"
"Wait, wait," he said, holding his hands up. "I'm not such a bad guy! I feel sorry for her, really I do. It's just that her droid was so pathetic."
Brinna smiled in spite of herself. "He really was, wasn't he?" Her expression turned sober as she looked off in the direction toward which Elise had fled. "She'll get over it in time. You're right, Mission, it was the best thing for her. As long as that droid was around, she was going to hang onto the image of her husband rather than moving on with her life. It wasn't good for her."
Was it her imagination or did Carth look rather conscious at her words?
The others were already onboard the Ebon Hawk when Brinna, Carth, and Mission returned. Brinna stopped for a moment to speak to Bastila and was disappointed but not entirely surprised to find that the other Jedi's search had not turned up any useful information about the ruins. She showed Bastila the crystals they had discovered in the cave and the other Jedi's stern gaze softened just slightly.
"Perhaps your time was not so poorly spent after all," Bastila said to her.
"Watch out, Bastila. You keep praising me like that and you just might get used to it," Brinna told her, trying to maintain her patience.
Bastila frowned at her. "Were you able to resolve the problems between the Sandrals and the Matales?"
The thought of their success brought a smile to Brinna's face and she told Bastila the whole story. When she was finished, she could see that Bastila approved of what they had done, although she merely acknowledged what had been done rather than congratulating Brinna, Carth, and Mission on their success. Brinna snuck a peek at Mission, who rolled her eyes and shook her head before disappearing into the equipment room.
"We'll search the ruins first thing tomorrow," Brinna told Bastila.
The other Jedi nodded curtly and then turned and walked toward the bunkroom. Brinna could sense that Bastila intended to meditate and she knew that she was, as always, the cause of Bastila's discomposure.