COMMUNITY

When Naasha had arrived in the hotel room, she found the young Twi'lek staring out the large window situated at the back of the room, which afforded its viewer a majestic glimpse of the twilight sky with its smattering of various pastel colors--purples, reds, pinks, and oranges--smeared across the giant apricot orb that was Coruscant's sun as it slowly sank along the horizon and was then quickly swallowed up by the emergent stars that were now manifesting themselves. Dusk quickly morphed into the night, and the stars were now like countless minuscule glittering gems woven into a sapphire tapestry, ushering in the segment of the diurnal cycle in which the ecumenopolis world truly came to life--for the night was the heart of the city-planet, when all of the neon lights, holoadverts, party-goers, and other less scrupulous activities came to prominence.

To those who were from more tranquil worlds, Coruscant's daytime might seem frenetic and rushed, but, to those who were denizens of the densely populated planet, the day seemed tame compared to the sheer chaos that accompanied the evening, and every time the Togruta witnessed the sun set as it had now, Naasha was filled with a sense of foreboding. She knew what horrors were transpiring all about her at this very moment: the drunken and spiced revelers, the criminals preying upon the unsuspecting, and--

This train of thought was always truncated by the realization that the world below--the lower levels of the planet--never experienced a day to evening cycle. In the bowels of the undercity, it was always evening, and the events that occurred in the depths, as Naasha had witnessed firsthand just the other day, had a far higher rate of incidence and were far more grievous actions than the majority of the types of decadence that might occur high within the upper levels, where she stood now.

Sometimes words were never enough to placate a great sorrow such as that which young Ciala was surely experiencing right now. Naasha, as usual, did not approve of Zor'en's brash and irrefutably callous manner in which he disclosed the death of the girl's mother to her, but it was too late for regrets, and now she could only hope to rectify the situation as much as possible.

The Togruta seemed to have forgotten her injuries by this point, and surely this was because, not only had the kolto treatment aided in her rapid recovery, but the white light of the Force's soothing, healing properties had also been mending the torn and inflamed tissues within her back, which felt nearly back to normal, she decided after turning her torso slightly without experiencing the familiar jolt of pain that should have accompanied this action.

Naasha gently reached out with one coppery hand, placing it on Ciala's left shoulder. The girl's pain had, instead of sending her into a frenzied state, left a gaping void in its wake. Naasha could feel this monumental anguish as if it were her own when she allowed herself to, and so she infused the girl with a tranquil wave of Force energy, knowing its ability to soothe one's pain was far more effective than mere platitudes of consolation.

"I left her alone," the girl vacuously mumbled after a few seconds, and Naasha simply allowed her to continue, as she relayed the story of running away from home with a man whom she had "fallen in love," leaving her mother to fend for herself in the harsh environment of Ord Mantell.

When she was finished, the Twi'lek buried her face in the draping sleeve of Naasha's cloak, sobbing uncontrollably for a minute or so. Like so many others, the girl seemed to instantly pick up on Naasha's maternal instinct to care for those around her, and while Naasha was not attuned to the Living Force as Zor'en was, per say, she still respected and cared deeply for the living creatures and beings that were bound together through the life-giving tendrils of the Force.

"Your mother obviously loved you," Naasha assured the broken child, gently placing an arm around her. "She is one with the Force now. No one truly ever dies."

The girl's sobs instantly ceased at this statement, and she slowly raised her swollen eyes to look up at the Togruta's ebony orbs.

"How can you be sure?" she numbly asked, hope rising in her voice.

"I have felt it," Naasha enigmatically answered, but there were no words to describe the sensation of feeling one's life force pass on into the Netherworld of the Force. It was a sensation that was truly indescribable.

"I'm sure your mother would not want you to live in sorrow, little one," Naasha tenderly suggested.

The Twi'lek slowly pulled away from the female Jedi, rubbing her eyes with balled fists, nodding weakly. "I'll... try," she said with a large swallow.

"And you'll succeed," Naasha warmly said, nodding encouragingly.

"I'll be back in a moment. I need to clean myself up... before we depart," the girl warbled, her voice still quavering, as if she might burst into tears again at any moment.

"If you need me, I'm here," Naasha reassured the Twi'lek. The poor child seemed so alone, and there was nothing more painful to the woman than suffering children--like Usay.

"Thank you," the girl hurriedly stated. "Naasha... right?"

Naasha's silvery lips formed a pleasant smile, followed by a slow nod, as her response.

The girl then fled into the refresher, snatching a green towel from a stack by the door on the way inside.

The chime of the front door rang out at the same instant, and Naasha turned to see Usay walk inside, followed by Entoo and Effate, the latter of which who was still in dire need of a thorough maintenance session.

The Togruta quickly approached the trio as they entered, an inquisitive expression on her face. "Oh, Usay, are you going to clean up Effate?" Her gaze dropped to the grimy droid, a slight frown forming on her lips. "We should have just enough time if you start now."

A moment later Lixis entered the room, and Naasha quickly approached her, nodding in greeting. "Lixis, there you are. So you will be coming with us, then?" She smiled knowingly, but she wanted to emphasize the point just the same. "It will be a pleasure to work alongside you again. I apologize if I seemed disoriented before." She barely remembered all of her previous conversation with the young human Knight, which bothered her greatly. Perhaps it had been the effect of what she presumed to be a pain medication she had been injected with before, which, had she been completely coherent, she would have objected to right then and there. She didn't require such nonsense, after all. She had the Force.

"Yes... a quick look will be okay. Then, if we want, we can still go back before anyone starts asking questions and get all mad," Davian offered, and Kahiti immediately agreed to these terms, thinking that the idea was a sound one.

"Astral!" she beamed, trying to imitate the non-Jedi children when they spoke (she had overheard them use this term when they thought something was really good), which always resulted in a tongue lashing from her instructors.

"Come on then!" she cried exuberantly, dragging Davian up to Kai'ali and the droid.

"It's all set!" Kai'ali proudly proclaimed, gesturing to the droid with one hand. "My friend is going to let us on board, so follow me, and don't touch anything without permission."

Kahiti's head bobbed up and down enthusiastically. She would agree to anything just for a chance to get a peek inside.

Cautiously, Kahiti followed the young woman up the boarding ramp, and for a brief moment she imagined herself as an archaeologist exploring an uncharted cave or a tomb, which caused her to giggle with a feeling that surely even the most intrepid of explorers experienced when discovering the unknown.

Much to Kahiti's disappointment, Kai'ali led the two away from the cockpit area, through a winding passage towards the stern of the ship. When the came into a small rectangular room that was approximately about five meters in length, Kahiti came to a stop, her gaze flickering about. Aside from a large metal storage closet anchored to the wall and some white fluorescent lights overhead, there wasn't much to see.

"And?" Kahiti asked curiously, wondering if she had missed something.

"Over here," Kai'ali quickly said, pointing to the closet. "We're going to play a game."

Kahiti's eyes again flared to life with excitement. She loved games.

"You two hide in there and count to twenty. I'm going to hide somewhere on the ship, and then you have to find me. If you do, I'll take you for a tour of the cockpit. Deal?"

"Yes!" Kahiti immediately exclaimed, not even waiting for Davian to answer, because she was so certain the girl would agree. Why wouldn't she?

Kahiti watched with her dark eyes as Kai'ali opened the metal door to the storage closet, gesturing with her right hand for the two girls to enter it. Kahiti practically dragged Davian inside, almost tripping over her feet before settling into a corner within the storage locker.

"When do we start counting?"

The door shut, and with it they were blanketed in darkness.

"Now," Kai'ali called from outside.

1... 2... 3...

Why did sitting still always have to be so difficult?


4... 5... 6... 7... 8... 9... 10...

The sound of a large door hissing shut--the door to the room they were in--sounded from outside.

11... 12... 13... 14... 15... 16... 17... 18... 19... 20...

"Here we come!" Kahiti cried out, reaching for the door panel. But, much to the child's dismay, it wouldn't budge. It was bolted in place.

"Hey!" she whined, panic rising within her. "Kai'ali! We're locked in!"

Luckily, his head didn't seem to be injured and the pain was slowly subsiding. He lets out a sigh over relief, happy his heart had slowed and his fur had returned to its usual shade of white. He stood up and brushed off his robes, which were beginning to become more of a burden with each passing hour. He gazed up at Naasha, who had come to his aid. "Are you well, Master Kilvaari?"

"Yes... I'm fine, just a slight headache. Thank you."

He turned to Usay, hoping the child was to upset. He wanted to make it clear that it wasn't the boy's fault at all, for the padawan had enough to deal with already. He heard Usay promptly apologize and bow, which he had expected.

"Do not worry, young one, it is my fault. Just a bit of shock. I must thank you for carrying me here, though." he bowed to the young padawan.

He looked up at his surroundings, quickly realizing where he was brought. They were back at the hotel room with several individuals standing in the corridor. He assumed the rest were in the room already. He looked over at Zor'en, who had recently addressed him. "Master Kilvaari, you will be coming with us?" He had to think for awhile, making sure he wasn't getting himself into anything he didn't want to deal with. He seemed to be the only one in the group with any healing ability, which could definitely help should someone get injured. He decided he would go, if he stayed on Coruscant and one of the group members died, he would hold himself personally responsible.

"Yes, Master Vendrack. I wish to accompany you on your mission." he said, bowing.

(Part 1 of 2)

The art of comforting another was a deep, deep mystery to Usay. Some were very good at it, but he supposed it would require one to actually understand what the other was feeling, and while the Force was supposedly very good at that, emotions he sensed from others tended to feel more like subject matter or data than actual internal workings he could translate to himself.
He understood the notion of guilt rather well, though. Usay felt guilty if he somehow neglected a duty, or when he accidentally said something upsetting, or when he in any way turned into a bother, instead of a presence made to make everybody else's lives easier. Usay felt guilty very often, but that hardly, as one of his instructors had put it, qualified as empathy.
He had actually been really worried about Usay, saying the boy sometimes displayed callousness not far from that of a Dark Sider, since nothing ever seemed to move him. Usay had tried, but he always ended up examining the anguish rather than experiencing it. That instructor gave up just like the others, it merely took them longer.
Usay drove all teachers to a point where they simply left him alone to sit and listen, never ask anything, barely move, only speak when spoken to, only act when ordered to. This was how Usay felt best, but it was an attitude ill suited for being Master Zor'en's Padawan and, Usay sometimes pondered, probably not a good trait in a Knight, either.

He never thought about the future much, though. Usay always kept his mind strictly focused at finishing the task at hand, and he disliked how his mind seemed to slow and stop when it had nothing to process. When it slowed and stopped it was almost like when he slept, and he had no desire in him to experience the screams and the snap inside more than he had to, unless someone asked him to, naturally.
At least Master Kilvaari had forgiven him his clumsiness as well. Others might say the Master brought his fall on himself by wriggling, but Usay was still convinced it was a test of sorts that he had failed. It would be irrational to think that Master Kilvaari had counted on being dropped, and Masters, in their wisdom, would surely be rational beings.
He could ask Entoo about Master Vryl, of course, but that would be indiscrete, and Usay knew that his perception actually mattered more to him than the truth. Usay needed a form of stabillity, he needed a perfect image to adjust towards, and since no Masters were droids, he would simply have to pretend that they were.

At any rate, Master Vryl now approached with a question, to which Usay simply nodded, and then added that if he got started now, he probably had time to make it. Usay nodded again, agreeing with the Togruta's assesment. The room worried him a bit. It seemed to pretty and expensive, and Effata was rather dirty. He did not like the idea of inconveniencing other servants, so he decided on a course of action.
"Come on, Effate. Entoo, would you please assist me?" he said and made his way across the room towards the refresher cabin as Master Vryl greeted Big Sister.
If anything, at least muck and grime came off a tiled floor better, and Usay suspected he himself would be rather in need of a quick refreshing after he was done. If he looked dirty and tired both, Rancor would probably yell at Master Zor'en again, and Usay did not like it when she yelled.
Once inside, Usay kneeled down by Effate again and asked Entoo to open a panel for him. Before he started on anything else, he needed to make sure there was no dirt on the inside of the droid, but even before that, he had an important message for his new droid. Important to himself, at any rate.
"Thank you for defending me against Knight Silhani, Entoo. That was brave." Usay observed and closed his eyes.

All things considerd, it seemed Effate's hull had kept out the worst, and Usay only had to levitate out a few minor specks and mud clumps, more for good measure than for actual need, and considering he was now working on a conscious droid and not a comlink, Usay supposed speaking would be in order: "You are put together quite well. I think this maintenance and cleaning will be all you need to be as pristine were on production day, more or less."
His voice traced into mumbling as he let his mind follow the currents inside Effate. He came to quite a few stops, and the silhuet of Effate's electrical disturbances were rather blurry. Still, the droid was in much better shape than the comlink had been, and Usay suspected this would prove relaxing rather than taxing in the end...

As usual, when Usay finally removed his hand from Effate and got up and opened his eyes, he had no idea how long he had been zoned out from the world around him, but measuring from the inital state of Effate and the sore, stiff feeling in his mucsles and joints, he suspected it had probably been an hour or more. It was fortunate he was not needed elsewhere.
"Try to spin your motivators. I think I fixed every internal problem. You should feel an increase in overall speed, and it should be easir for you to process data than it has been for a while." Usay said and cocked his head "I am not sure how to best have you cleaned, though. Entoo, how do you usually get cleaned?"
The droids Usay normally fixed were simple droids with no regard for anything but their function, so he was not in fact entirely sure how one best went about cleaning up a droid, giving it a bath, as it was. What he did know was that pouring water on wiring was generally a bad thing, so in the very least Effate would need his sidepanel closed before they proceeded.

(Part 2 of 2)

The bad feeling increased slightly as Kahiti dragged her along to Kai'ali and the droid, but Davian was still stuck trying to figure out what 'astral' meant and paid no attention. Then again, Kahiti often said words that confused her, which was part of the reason Davian liked talking to her. Words were so flexible and fascinating, and to Davian, the entire world would be broken into communication, this first pillar of a comprehensible society. When people spoke in a unique manner, she thought of them as rare creatures to be listened to and admired.
"I would never touch anything." she assured Kai'ali with words of her own, in her normal Coruscanti accent and then politely added "Hello Mr. Droid."
Davian had always been good at picking up on people's accents, but the Coruscanti one was the most neutral at the moment, and when she used a Corellian one she started thinking about her family, and that made her sad. She knew that she did a pretty fine scoundrel imitation, too, which had on one occassion made quite a few instructors rather angry, and Davian had learned a valuable lesson about words and accents and when they should probably remain unspoken.

Davian was slightly disappointed that their first stop appeared to be a cargo chamber of sorts. It reminded her of a time when Djin had locked her favourite toy in a cargo closet on a ship that left, and she never saw it again. Davian had been so upset that she had levitated things in her sleep for weeks, much to the bafflement of the service staff when they came to clean. And her own, too.
It appeared they were playing a game, and as Kai'ali laid down the rules, Davian decided that Kai'ali was like a curvier Djin and not all that much taller, either. Djin always made the games up, and he always won them. Still, they only had each other to play with, and Davian had never cared much about winning, so it was a good match. To Djin winning was very important, so she supposed it was a boy thing.

As for hiding inside a closet, though, Davian was not sure she liked that idea. The closet seemed awfully small and tight, and they had no way of knowing what was usually in there. Maybe a smuggler had hidden something with teeth and claws and really bad breath that did not like it if you stepped on it.
Before Davian could voice her apprehension however, she realized that Kahiti had already agreed on their behalf and sighed to herself. Kahiti was always so brash and eager. Davian supposed that 20 seconds were not too bad, though. If she got scared, at least Kahiti would be there, too, and Djin never cheated, so why should Kai'ali?
Kahiti sat down, and Davian did too, after checking there was nothing teethy and angry to sit on, as Kahiti asked for permission to start counting. Kai'ali shut the door and remarked that they could begin now. Davian swallowed. Her bad feeling was getting very, very loud, maybe because her eyes had nothing to look at anymore.

1... 2... 3...

Davian did not like the dark. There were too much of it, and she was already shivering.

4... 5... 6... 7... 8... 9... 10...

A door closed in the world outside. This had to be what her toy had felt like, all alone in a dark space.

11... 12... 13... 14... 15... 16... 17... 18... 19... 20...

"Here we come!" Kahiti cried out, reaching for the door panel.
Oh yes, finally.
Davian was very eager to get out of the closet, and when nothing happened, no stream of light showed, she felt a numb coldness travel down her spine, as well as a sudden urge to start crying. Why wasn't the door opening?
"Hey!" Kahiti whined, and Davian could feel her panic as if it was her own "Kai'ali! We're locked in!"
She herself stayed quiet. Davian knew that if she started speaking, she would either share in Kahiti's panic or start crying, and she had promised herself that she would never cry around other members of the Order long ago. A good Jedi had to be strong, strong and calm, but she felt like neither.
Surely this was just a mistake. Kai'ali had accidentally locked them in, and omce she realized her mistake, she would come back and let them out before anyone had to fly the ship anywhere. She did not want to be like that toy, lost forever. She wanted to be on Coruscant, in the Temple, be a Jedi.
You couldn't become a Jedi locked in a cargo closet, and what if no one came before they were all dead? It was very, very hard to stay calm, so Davian decided to try and calm Kahiti down a bit before they both started screaming.
"She can't hear us right now." Davian said, forcing all feelings of despair and fear deep down, leaving her voice rather lucid, if a bit higher pitched than she had hoped "But... she will get bored hiding when she realizes we're not coming after her... and then she will go look for us... and... find us... and let us out. My brother always did that when we played this game, because I would never find him, and hiding alone is pretty boring."

This was all true, but as Davian let her emotions run their normal course, she started having a terrble suspicion. Perhaps the bad feeling was linked to something living. To Kai'ali. And perhaps it had not just been a 'bad feeling', but an explicit warning that she had failed to heed. If that was true, maybe Master De'nura's choice words had been deserved after all. She was not a very good Jedi, and she was afraid of the dark.

The green-eyed, diminutive Jedi merely looked at her blankly through all her explanation until she was finished, and spoke just as calmly as he looked. "I like you, Big Sister." Usay then bowed and turned his attention to the approaching Master Vendrack. Since he hadn't given her a similar invocation as he used on Silhani, Lixis began to assume that he had no outward qualms over the source of the Echani's outrage. Though she had to admit to herself it might be on behalf of Zor'en's bias against Silhani.

"Usay," Zor'en evenly interjected, "Take the droid and follow Master Vryl. You might find some tools to aid you inside the room."

Looking, or rather angling his head, at Lixis, he issued her an order as well. "Lixis, would you see to it that Master Vryl doesn't bring further harm upon herself by staggering about when she should be resting?"

She briefly closed her eyes and let a smile cross her lips as she suppressed a chuckle. It was good to see that his positive qualities, like his humor, had remained more or less intact. A reminder of simpler times for her. The two Masters, when not bickering incessantly, were a constant tease to one another. Of course, had Naasha been in the room, the Togruta would have pointed out the hypocrisy of his statement. Some things truly did not change, it seemed.

Nodding and walking past to lead on infront of Usay, Zor'en had to again make an addition whilst glancing at the disheveled Effate. "It seems you still neglect your droids." At this, she let out a small, amused laugh as she recalled finding a myriad of familiar parts just next to a trash compactor one morning. Then she remembered her first droid, whom one day she found crushed under a parked speeder.

Or rather, she had noticed it after unparking the aforementioned speeder. There was no end to Zor'en's amusement on that matter, and Naasha's irritation had been substantial, at both of them. She remembered Kai'ali giggling incessantly and teasing her about her inability to check her mirrors or blindside. Naturally, Naasha had forbidden her to pilot one for months following.

Standing at the hotel room door, Lixis moved to the side and pressed the wall panel to slide the entryway open, gesturing for Usay to take the droids in first. While doing this, she smirked back at Zor'en and shook her head derisively over the matter and turned to walk inside as well, wiping the expression from her face in the process. The last thing the mourning Ciala would wish to see is a stranger grinning like an idiot at them.

Usay had already set up to work on Effate, with the droid beeping at him now and again to let him know when an action was having a beneficial affect. It would be hard pressed to find a time during that process for when the boy did something wrong. Finding no reasons against trusting him to his work, Effate simply addressed Entoo about the latest news on all sorts of mundanities.

Lixis didn't feel the need to check in with the Padawan at work and merely kept on her path to Naasha. "Lixis, there you are. So you will be coming with us, then?" It was a question she already had the answer to, and probably only wanted to be sure. "It will be a pleasure to work alongside you again. I apologize if I seemed disoriented before."

This was troubling to the young raven-haired woman as she pondered Zor'en's order on making sure Naasha had acquired the necessary rest. Though presently, it didn't seem to be the case. A pleasure..? That felt like an oddly clinical statement coming from the maternal figure that was Master Vryl. In fact, the statement of disorientation was making Lixis wonder if the injuries sustained were more than simply a mauled back.

"Of course I will be going, Master. But.." Lixis paused, and a concerned look of scrutiny passed over her features as she took the time to visually study her. "Are you quite sure you are feeling up to this excursion? That is a short span of time to recuperate in, for anyone."

Lixis continued to search for signs of fatigue in the woman. Her entire point in returning to the temple was to make sure Naasha was indeed alive and well. The current circumstances would make all that null and void if the orange-tinged Togruta went and over-exerted herself ten minutes after being discharged from the medical ward.

All the while, Effate was enjoying itself like a Hutt in a mud bath at finally being given a proper seeing-to. As every step in the process progressed it felt closer and closer to what it was like when it rolled off the show room floor. Aside of course from the grime, filth and overall scuffed exterior casing. Regardless, it continually made its thanks and compliments known to Usay throughout the proceedings.