Author's Notes: Drakonian, Thanks! That would be TREMENDOUSLY appreciated. Even if you aren't writing anything of your own to post, having a profile will allow this site to send you e-mails on new chapters for the stories that you like to follow. This also means that you will know in less than five minutes after I post a new chapter on this story. That will also allow you to leave signed reviews and I can respond with a LOT more detailed information than I can here.

Talon followed Master Leia through the Temple on her way to her first class as a Jedi. She didn't know exactly how she was supposed to feel about that, but she did know that she was doing what her master and the other Jedi wanted. She was also doing what Lord Vader had told her to do! It was that last part that she didn't fully understand, because Lord Vader had been one of the most powerful Sith to ever live, and yet he wanted her to become a Jedi. She tried not to think about that because it was just too confusing.

The first class she was to take part in was galactic history. That, at least was something of a relief to Talon, because she knew that she had actually learned well the history lessons that she and the others had been taught by Darth Magus. Talon was looking forward to this, because she knew that she could do well and maybe show her new Master just how hard she was willing to work in order to do what was expected of her.

Leia watched as Talon took her seat in the middle of the room and waited for other students to enter. Since there was no one else around just yet, Leia decided to explain some of the rules regarding classrooms to Talon.

"Talon, there are some rules about these classes that you need to know. If you have a question, then you raise your hand and wait until your name is called. Then you can ask your question. If the instructor asks a question, and you think you know what the answer is, then raise your hand, and again, wait to be called on. If the instructor calls on you to answer a question, look directly at them and answer in a way that can be heard by everyone. If you don't know the answer, then don't raise your hand. It's that simple… you can follow those rules, right?" Leia explained easily.

Talon nodded her head, because the rules were very simple and easy to follow.

"Good! Now, when this class is over, I want you to go with the students to the next one. The rules of all the classes are the same." Leia said with a light smile before she left. Leia really didn't want to leave Talon there. She could almost feel the Force telling her that something bad would happen to the girl. Leia brushed it off because she was certain that nothing could happen to Talon, since the girl's saber skills far exceeded her own, and a Jedi Knight would be instructing the class. All told, Leia was certain that nothing could happen before she could get there to help deal with the problem.

Talon sat and waited quietly as the room began filling with other students. Some of the other students who were sitting close to each other began to whisper about various things, but from what she could hear, the most common topic of discussion was the nightmare that had everyone had experienced last night. She sat at her small workstation and waited in silence for the Jedi who would be instructing the class. She had learned through the horrible experience of observation that students were not to speak to each other while awaiting instructors, and she dreaded what she would have to see when the Jedi instructor arrived.

"All right everyone! Quiet down, and take your seats so we can get started." Said the Jedi Knight as she walked in.

The Jedi waited until everyone had taken a seat and gotten quiet. "I believe that there are some of you who I am not familiar with. So allow me to introduce myself. I am Jedi Knight Vaala Razelle. I know it's a big galaxy out there, and that some of you might not know what species I am, so I will tell you that I am Arconan."

Talon took a quick and thorough though unobtrusive look at the Jedi who was instructing the class. At not quite twice her height, she guessed that the Jedi was about two meters tall with solid green eyes and black skin. A rather slender appearance, but the Knight's body was concealed by a long robe typical of the Jedi.

"Now… let's begin. Does anyone know the cause of The Great Hyperspace War?" The Jedi asked the class as a whole.

This was something that Talon knew. Darth Magus had been adamant about teaching the history of the Sith, and making certain that everyone knew that history. Talon raised her hand after seeing that no one else planned to try answering that question.

"You with your hand up; I am not familiar with you, so I will ask your name." The instructor said in a casual though polite tone.

"I'm… I'm called Talon."

"Very well then Talon; tell the class the cause of The Great Hyperspace War." The Jedi said with a nod.

"The Great Hyperspace War was cause by the economic pressures from the members of the galaxy who were imposing various sanctions on the Sith. Since Korriban is a world where everything, including food and water has to be imported, those sanctions were incredibly effective. For several centuries they obtained what food and other supplies they could from Zoist, but it just wasn't enough. When Zoist was blockaded that was almost the end of the Sith. The Sith were desperate and they had no choice. It was either go to war, or starve… they had no other choice, so they went to war." Talon recited easily.

"The war was short and violent with the Republic quickly gaining the advantage. The result was that the Sith were almost completely exterminated. They did manage to gather some of the vital resources they needed from a few worlds but not enough. That caused extreme hardship, rationing, and very careful use of what supplies that they were able to retrieve. The resource shortage was serious enough that any who became gravely injured were killed to prevent the loss of resources that could be put to more efficient use by those who were not injured. That practice was continued out of necessity." Talon finished knowing that she had recalled everything just as she had been taught.

Vaala stared at the girl who had spoken for a moment before she realized that this had to be some type of joke or prank being pulled on her. She took a brief moment to release her feelings in the Force and gather her thoughts before addressing the issue at hand.

"Well, Talon… while your history recital is… interesting… it is also very, very wrong! I will not allow you or anyone else to disrupt my teaching of this class, and I will certainly not have this class mocked while doing so. Come with me." Vaala said firmly before looking at the rest of the class. "I want the rest of you to read about the truth of The Great Hyperspace War. That will be discussed when I return."

Talon got up out of her chair and followed the Jedi. She wasn't sure how she could be wrong when she had recalled that part of history exactly as she had been taught. She was then led to a place where some students were cleaning several shuttles.

"Since you are too small to be cleaning the shuttles, and your left leg is in a brace, you may clean the droids that service those shuttles. You are not to return until these droids are clean. Is that clear?" Vaala instructed.

Talon nodded her head and watched the Jedi leave. She stared at the droids in front of her and wondered what she had done wrong, and why she was being rewarded if she had done something wrong.

Pleena Fisto knew that all of the classes had ended almost two hours ago, but she hadn't seen Talon anywhere. Her new friend hadn't been at lunch, and wasn't in the infirmary when she'd checked in there. Kaldin was still unconscious, but should wake up soon, and Pleena wanted Talon to be there right along with her when he woke up. She'd looked all over the Temple at least five times, but maybe she'd just missed seeing her by a second or two.

'Maybe she wanted some fresh air.' Pleena though as the young Nautolan wandered out onto the large landing pad.

That was when she saw her. Talon was staring off into the distance with a blank look on her face… just standing there. Pleena cocked her head as she tried to figure out what was going on. Looking at Talon along with the girl's surroundings, showed several cleaning rags that had fallen to the ground as if dropped with no thought at all. She walked over while calling the girl's name, but got no answer.

"Talon?" Pleena asked again as she waved her right hand in front of the girl's eyes. There was still no answer, and now, Pleena was getting worried. She put her right hand on Talon's shoulder and gave a light shake to get the girl's attention. There was still no response. She stared at Talon for a moment while she tried to think of… something that would explain why Talon wasn't answering, responding, or even moving.

Pleena took a step back as her concern quickly became fear for the girl. She turned and ran inside as fast as her legs could carry her. Large orbs that appeared to look like polished onyx took in almost everything at once, and she ran up to the first adult that she saw.

"Please, you have to do something. I don't know what's wrong with her, but Talon won't answer me or anything. She just stands there like… like something stole her mind or something." Pleena pleaded desperately.

Vaala Razelle remembered a human girl named Talon who'd been in her first class this morning. She also remembered the prank that the girl had tried to pull which had not been amusing at all! If this was indeed the same girl, then this was possibly another prank. If so, that would have to be stopped at once. Harmless pranks were one thing, but a stunt that caused others to be concerned, or disrupted a daily schedule would not be tolerated. She nodded her head and quickly followed the young initiate who was clearly upset over this. Being led straight to the shuttle pad where the service droids stayed, she could see that they had been properly cleaned, but she also saw the same girl from this morning simply standing and staring at the buildings with a blank expression. She walked over to the girl and called her name to no avail.

"Talon… I am telling you that this is not considered to be funny." Vaala said sternly.

Receiving no response at all, she made a light probe in the Force, and sensed what she was sure was some level of fear, but she couldn't identify anything else. Without a second thought, the Jedi Knight swept the girl into her arms before taking her inside, and straight to the infirmary.

As soon as the Jedi Knight entered the infirmary, Cilghal looked up from where she was examining the young Kaldin. The sight of Talon simply hanging limp in those arms was not something she expected to see.

"What happened?" Cilghal demanded tersely as she indicated a bed for the girl.

"That, I don't know. What I do know, is that this morning this same girl spouted a lot of drivel about how the Sith were pushed into starting The Great Hyperspace War, so I took her to the landing pad. Other students were already cleaning the shuttles, so I told her to clean the service droids as punishment. She might have spent all day out there, I don't know, but a few moments ago, that young initiate asked me for help with her. She was just standing there; completely unresponsive, so I brought her here." Vaala stated quickly.

Cilghal grunted in disgust as she set about scanning Talon with various medical sensors. "For future reference, Talon was raised by… a group on Korriban, so whatever information she's been taught would be a twisted version of reality." She said after a glance at the young Nautolan in the room. She did not wish to be the cause of Talon becoming an outcast among the students.

Cilghal sighed in irritation because she was unable to find much of anything physically wrong with the girl. There was a mild case of sunburn on her face, but that was very minor, and did nothing to explain Talon's condition.

"So she actually believed that what she was telling me was the truth?" Vaala asked.

"Oh yes. I think her instructors wanted to make absolutely sure that none of the students would be able to survive on their own, or with anyone outside that group. Almost every bit of information that she knows is a lie." Cilghal answered distractedly.

"If that's true, then she didn't deserve to receive her punishment." Vaala said heavily.

"I don't know if she did or not, but I need to summon Master Solo, and see if she can get a response from Talon, because there isn't much that's physically wrong with her." The Mon Cal Healer said before doing just that.

Pleena was staying out of the way by standing next to Kaldin's bed, and keeping silent since he was asleep, while the Healer examined Talon. She was very worried about her friend now that she understood that even the healer didn't know what was wrong with her. She reached out and grabbed Kaldin's hand while she watched what was going on.

Cilghal got out a container of bacta spray and treated Talon's face, neck, and hands while she waited for Leia to arrive. She didn't have long to wait; in fact she had just finished applying the bacta spray when Leia entered the infirmary.

"Ah good, you're here. See if you can get some type of response from Talon, because there is no physical reason for her to be in this state, and she responds to you better than she does anyone else." Cilghal stated in some relief.

Leia quickly stepped over to the bed that Talon had been placed on. As she looked down at her apprentice, she could see eyes that were open but unfocused. Thinking that perhaps Talon had decided to go off in the Force as she had done before, Leia probed the girl's mind.

Without actually intending to do so, Leia found herself inside Talon's mind. She was somewhat surprised that Talon was actually present and not off somewhere in the Force. Sensing Talon's presence, she created the room of a thousand fountains, placed herself on a dais, and then did the same for Talon. Just as Talon looked at her, Leia felt an impossibly powerful wave of purest terror crash over her. Far beyond fear, this was a wave of mortal terror of a kind that Leia had never experienced before! Thankfully, she only felt a brief instant of it before her concentration was shattered, and she was returned to her own mind. Leia shook her head as she opened her eyes to look at Talon.

Talon looked up at her Jedi Master and immediately sat up grabbing desperately at the woman's hand reaching out for her. "I… I promise! I promise I'll fight the Guardians for you. I'll go back to Korriban. I'll get the holocrons… just don't… don't make me go back there. I'll… I'll do anything you want… anything!" She begged as tears of desperation and terror ran from her golden eyes.

"Talon calm down! No one is going to make you fight the Guardians, okay? Now just tell me what's wrong. Go back where; where do you not want to go?" Leia instructed firmly as she wrapped her arms around her apprentice in an effort to offer some form of comfort.

"Where… wh… where the droids are." Talon stammered in terror.

"Talon… I'm not sure I understand this properly. Explain it to me, why do you not want to go back there?" Leia asked gently as she tried to think of some way to get through the girl's fear.

"I… I don't… don't know." Talon said as she started to cry.

"Mark me for a fool!" Cilghal exploded. "I should have known it sooner."

"Known what?" Leia asked as everyone in the infirmary looked at the healer.

"Think about for a moment. Where has Talon spent her entire life?" Cilghal asked intently.

"On Korriban." Leia answered in a puzzled tone.

"No… not on Korriban… she spent her life in Korriban! She's constantly been surrounded on all sides by kilometers of solid rock! Now for the first time that she was able to see; she was outside, with almost nothing around her but open areas." Cilghal stated.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Leia asked still confused.

"Agoraphobia. It's an actual and legitimate fear of wide open and therefore unenclosed spaces. Having spent her life deep in the bowels of Korriban, it isn't the least surprising that Talon would be mortally afraid of not having some kind of protecting shelter around her." Cilghal told her.

Leia glanced at Talon who was watching them while still obviously afraid. "If that's the case, then how did she make the flight here?" She asked suspiciously.

"Simple, Talon was enclosed by the cockpit of the fighter craft! That is what kept her fear away… well that and fear of the beasts that would have eaten her alive had she stayed." Cilghal answered clearly.

"Make no mistake Leia, this can be a very debilitating fear…, but it's also one that can be overcome with time, proper counseling, and effort." Cilghal added reassuringly.

"Good! In the meantime…" Leia said as she turned her attention to Talon.

"I will be making sure that you do not get sent outside again. If you do go outside, I'll make absolutely sure that I'm right there with you… understand?" Leia said seriously as she looked Talon in the eyes.

Talon nodded her head as she looked at Master Leia. She could feel the truth of what her Master was telling her, and that allowed her crying to subside.

"I wish to apologize to you Talon." Vaala said as she stepped up to the end of the bed. "First I was not aware that you were speaking what you believed to be the truth in my class this morning. Had I known that such was the case, you would not have been punished to begin with. Second, I wish to offer my most sincere apology for issuing a punishment with such serious repercussions! Had I been aware of your fear of open spaces, I would have called the droids inside for you to clean them there and serve out your punishment inside where you would feel safely protected. Again… I am truly sorry for putting you through that."

Talon looked up at her Master in total confusion. "Cleaning the droids was supposed to be a punishment?"

"Yes Talon." Leia said heavily. "That was your punishment!"

"Being sent outside… making you feel so afraid like you were… that was a mistake, and one that I will not repeat!" Vaala added quickly.

"But… but that isn't a punishment… cleaning droids is how we were rewarded for doing something right. Punishment is getting hit with Force lightning." Talon said softly in confusion.

"That won't happen here Talon. We don't use Force lightning, or choke… instead we punish students by making them clean things they normally wouldn't have to. It gives them time to reflect on what they've done so they don't repeat the action that earned the punishment in the first place." Leia said gently as she pulled back while still keeping her right hand on Talon's shoulder.

"We also do not intentionally place a student in fear as I did to you earlier. Again, I am truly sorry for doing that to you." Vaala added quickly.

Vaala knew that she could never apologize enough for what she had inadvertently done. It was true that she had intended to punish Talon, but she had not intended to place the girl in such a paralyzed state of terror. That was completely uncalled for, and she knew it. Add in that Talon had apparently stood there throughout the entire day, completely frozen in a state of total panic and mortal fear made her feel unworthy of being a member of the Jedi Order. The strange thing was; neither the Healer nor Talon's Master seemed to be angry about the incident. She knew… or rather, she hoped, that when she obtained an Apprentice of her own, that she would be much more vocal in defending her Apprentice than these two seemed to be.

"Master Cilghal… is Talon going to be okay?" Pleena asked in hope as she stood by Kaldin's bed.

"Talon is going to be fine, Pleena. She just received a very nasty scare today that's all. Just like you are afraid of the dark, Talon is afraid of large, open spaces. You have no problem going outside, but that's exactly what frightened Talon so much that she couldn't respond to you. Now before you say anything Pleena, there is another side of that which you need to consider. You are afraid of the dark… and Talon isn't. In fact… Talon needs the dark so much that she can't really see in here without that filter she's wearing over her eyes. It's just far too bright in here for her, and it hurts her eyes badly." Cilghal answered gently as she explained the situation.

"So… she's not scared of going into a dark room?" Pleena asked in surprise.

Leia gave a brief chuckle of laughter at that. "No… she's not. When I go into her room, I have to be very careful where I'm going because I can barely see her bed, the chair, or her workstation. It was always that dark where she grew up."

"Didn't the Sith have glow rods?" Pleena asked as she tried to understand how Talon could live in the dark all the time.

Cilghal and Leia both turned to look at the young Nautolan girl in surprise, while the Arconan Knight gaped at the girl not wanting to believe the accusation she'd just heard.

"How did you know Talon grew up with the Sith?" Leia asked quietly.

"Talon told me." Pleena answered plainly. "That's also where she got her red lightsabers from. If the Sith had taught her how to use them, then she wouldn't have been able to save Kaldin yesterday. Everyone here says that Sith are mean, but Talon isn't. She even showed me and a bunch of others the difference between Soresu and Ataru on the holovids recording of her fighting the remotes. I don't care what anyone says about the Sith in the history lessons… Talon's not like that!" She continued defiantly.

Leia smiled as she leaned toward the young Nautolan girl. "That… Young Jedi… is exactly the kind of intelligence and reasoning abilities that this Order is looking for!" She said in approval.

At that moment Pleena felt ten meters tall and lightsaber proof. She knew very well who Master Leia Solo was, and to get that kind of praise from the former Grand Master's sister meant a lot! She was surprised that Leia was now a Master even though she'd had a bit of time to get over that piece of information. That was when she realized something.

Pleena quickly walked across the infirmary to stand next to the bed that Talon was on, and looked at Talon before looking up at Master Cilghal seriously. "Can I take Talon to the lounge so she can get something to eat? If she was sent outside this morning, then that means she's been out there all day and missed lunch and everything."

"A good observation Pleena, we'll all go get something to eat since it's now mealtime." Cilghal answered.