Night has come, and there's still no sign of Loneva. Without even realizing she's doing it or why, Jori grabs several pillows from her ship and takes them down to her tent. She lays them in a line on the ground, removes her clothes, and climbs on top of them, hoping sleep will come soon. It doesn't. It's only when she catches herself stroking the pillow near her head that she realizes what she's doing. She's pretending it's Loneva. Who is she kidding? She misses the naive little nymph already. But she absolutely will not go searching for her. That would ruin everything.
Kilometers away, Loneva has fashioned herself a pillow out of a large leaf and several large bolls of a cotton-like substance she found growing in the jungle. She's still wearing her daytime clothes. After all, her options are limited. But she can rough it for tonight. Tomorrow morning, she'll wake to Jori gently shaking her and apologizing for provoking her so. Yes, it's all Jori's fault. She really needs to learn how to work with and understand people. Her being such a recluse is no excuse. Head full of smug self-satisfaction, she falls asleep on the dirty ground.
Jori is awoken the next morning by her droid. "Mistress Kanath, are you alright?"
She has learned from the previous day's lessons to be more self-aware and pulls her blanket over herself. "Get out of here, Seetwo! I'm not dressed."
"I do not feel lust for organics," the droid insists, "I merely wished to inform you that the Jedi still has not returned.
"I could have found that out for myself," she growls at the droid, "Now leave me. I have to practice my Force techniques."
"As you wish, Mistress. Shall I prepare breakfast for you?"
She's too angry to give it too much thought. "Just boil and salt a few of the eggs and bring them to me." The droid knows better than to speak another word and walks off. When it's gone, Jori dresses and begins a meditation of her own. Usually her meditations are to help her plumb the depths of her emotion. This time, she's doing something different. Clasping her hands and closing her eyes, she feels the Force emanating from the planet all around her. Most of it has the feel of animals, though she cannot tell the particular ones apart. She focuses in the direction that Loneva ran. Nothing that would suggest a Force user appears to her. She tries focusing even further away for anything, just the faintest trace, and suddenly, catches a small wisp. It's at the edge of the trees. Yes, there it is, definitely sentient, definitely proficient in the Force. There's an infinitesimally small chance that it could be someone else, but it's a chance that can be ignored. She stares at it longer, growing familiar with it. It's a soul in torment-the aura is constantly shifting from one of fear to one of pride. Smooth, then spiky. No, this could not be anybody but Loneva. It's a shade of blue that Jori looks at over and over until she commits it solidly to her memory.
The Jedi awakens with a terrible pain in her back. Simply moving her leg causes her to yelp. She decides to use a muscle-relaxing meditation to alleviate the pain. It works, but only long enough for her to stand. As she looks around, she sees the cause of her pain-her makeshift pillow has completely flattened. No matter, she'll simply sleep tomorrow night sitting up against a tree trunk. Anything's better than spending another minute with that infuriating Sith.
Infuriating? No, that's emotion. That's Jori's realm. She won't spend another minute around someone so...provocative. Yes, that's the ticket. Perhaps all along Jori was trying to do this, to turn her into yet another Sith to overthrow the Eternal Empire and give the Imperials the tactical advantage over the Republic. Everything points to it: the fake reconciliation, the underlying sweetness that was clearly a show, the seduction-though she simply doesn't have it in her to hate the sex-and the attempt to elicit emotion. Sith lie, and that's what Jori has been doing all along. True, she'll have to go back later for her ship, but one problem at a time.
She begins walking, searching for the same fruit they found the first day on the planet. No such luck. Just a few berries and a gourd that turns out to have so many seeds, it's barely edible. Maybe she'll just do the barbaric thing and hunt her next meal. She sees a lizard in the distance, and begins stalking it. She steps on a twig, and the animal scurries away. Throughout the day she stalks one animal after another. Around noon, she's sure that the growl of her stomach is what's frightening them away. She calls upon the Force to sustain her. The strength returns to her limbs, but her stomach still complains. There's no getting around it: she'll have to return to camp. She'll use what Force she can to fight Jori off long enough to get to her ship.
If only she can remember which way it is.
Jori sees Loneva's Force energy waning. It's impossible to tell now whether she'll be able to make it back on what she has left. She gets in touch with her essence. At this distance, it's impossible to send words, or even ideas. A simple suggestion will have to do.
There are no stars out, and anyway she didn't pay attention on her run. A mistake...one that Jori no doubt meant to cause by provoking her. This time, she won't be fooled. She looks for the vegetation that she would have crushed. No sign of it, strangely enough. A fly buzzes around her head, then flies off in a straight line. Unusual for a fly. Maybe the Force is guiding her. She sets off, nothing in her head but a constantly-shifting strategy to take Jori out long enough to get to her ship and leave.
Just how fast did she run, really? No telling, but it was fast. The canopy turns yellow, then pink, then red, then black above her. She reaches out with the Force and discovers that she, indeed, is headed in the right direction. Only a few more kilometers to go. Only...a few...she collapses, her stomach rumbling and her head reeling. So far, she hasn't come across any predatory animals on this planet. Perhaps a little rest won't hurt. The moment she decides in favor, she collapses onto the ground.
"Loneva…" It's not Jori's voice. No, this is a Republic accent. "Loneva, get a hold of your senses, you silly girl."
She lifts her head up. A Cathar's face is staring down at her. "M-Master Tibor."
He grabs her underneath her shoulders, lifting her up. "Am I? Or have you already forgotten what you did to me?"
She looks down at his torso, and sees a gaping hole in the middle of it, through which a little moonlight shines. "It...it's not possible! You died instantly! It was a technique you taught me!"
He smiles, amused. "Have you already forgotten? There is no death, there is the Force."
"You couldn't have stayed on!" she screams. "You were too twisted, too insane."
"Is that really an issue?"
She doesn't know, but she won't say as much. "Why are you here?"
He taps his fingers together. "Am I? How do you know I'm not the product of your hunger and the possibly hallucinogenic berries you consumed?" He does not wait for an answer. "You don't know where you're going."
"I do," she says, "I've found the camp. I can get back as soon as I've rested."
"And then what? Return to the Jedi Council? The one that's been dispersed by the Eternal Emperor and his fleet? Or would you join the Knights of Zakuul, and subjugate your own people? I'm sure they'll accept you, once you've made a full recovery."
"I'll never join them!" she spits. "I swore to protect the people of the Republic, and that's what I'll do."
"How long will it truly be a Republic? It cannot stand against the Eternal Fleet, and will soon become a vassal, as will the Empire," he smirks.
"With or without the Republic, its people are still around. They're what matters, and I will free them, no matter what it takes!"
"No matter what it takes?"
"Yes!" she cries.
"Then do...whatever it takes." Master Tibor disappears in a bright flash of light.
"Loneva!" This time it is an Imperial voice. "Loneva, please, wake up!"
Her eyes open slowly. This seems more real than her vision of Master Tibor. But...the facial expression is wrong. There is no smug smile. It's concerned. When her eyes are fully opened, it melts into relief. "J-Jori?"
"Thank the Force!" Jori pulls Loneva close, embracing her warmly. Are those sobs Loneva hears? "I thought I'd lost you!"
Jori is relieved? This doesn't make sense. She's supposed to be showing her the importance of harnessing her emotion, not falling to her own. Is it possible she was wrong about everything? It wouldn't be the first time. "I'm here, Jori. I'll live." She looks down and notices that, except for a few bandages over her exploration wounds, she is naked. Not only that, she is clean. Jori clearly went to a lot of trouble for this. Sith taught through pain. Loneva decides to accept that Jori is far from a typical Sith.
"Don't talk," the Sith whispers in her ear, "Save your strength for eating and drinking." She lies her down on the pillow. They're in the tent.
"Jori? What happened?"
"I reached out to you with the Force. Your sign got weaker and weaker. I knew you couldn't make it back on your own, so I went out and fetched you, just in time from the look of things." She puts a bowl of water to the Jedi's mouth, and Loneva drinks it. "There you go." When the bowl's empty, Jori kisses her.
There's no mistaking the sincerity of this kiss. Loneva moans softly. "In the jungle...I had the strangest vision."
"Tell me about it in the morning. For now, you need to eat, drink, and get your strength back."