Questioning Questions that shouldn't be Questioned

[D A N T E]

Dante was growing ever more aggravated. His armored fist clenched, the claws grinding into each other as he stared at the corpse, then stood up abruptly.

"Your Order already tried! I know how you work, I know how the Jedi's rules are followed. It's inhumane."

He was furious. A Jedi, telling him that he needed some kind of help from them? Who did she think she was, waltzing in here with her peace speech about truth and aid. The only thing the Jedi have brought him is a hole in the chest, and a soul full of hatred. His eyes burned with anger, but his skin still remained that ghostly pale shade.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Sherasti's rust/orange colored eyelids fluttered open, revealing the serene violet eyes that quietly examined everything before them. They fixed on Dante and she summed him up physically as well as through the Force.

His anger and discontent were as obvious in the way he carried himself and the expressions on his face as they were in his heart. Again Sherasti felt sadness for him. He was obviously hurt, deeply. And he blamed the Jedi for it. She could easily forgive him for that. Even the term 'humane' could be forgiven. Xenophobia was something she'd learned to live with, even when it was unintentional.

"Our rules are for our own use. Right now I simply want to help you. The Force drew me here for a reason, and I don't want to ignore that call. I believe in peace and service to others, even those who wish me ill. Whatever I can do for you I will, even if all you need is a sympathetic listener."

[D A N T E]

Dante calmed himself, letting his breathing slow to a normal, deep, rate. He closed his eyes and turned away from the Jedi. Moving towards the table, he picked it up with one hand and chucked it with all his strength, mixed with the force, sending it crashing into the flashing wall. Sparks erupted from the shattering pane of clear crystal, a flash of light, in the gap, and then darkness.

He needed to calm himself down before he caused this simpleton Jedi some great harm. Defeating a Sith Master wouldn't be a challenge for him, kill all the Jedi wouldn't be a problem for him, beating down every criminal underworld leader to the dirt would be a piece of cake, but this, self control, that was a task in and of itself.

"Listen up Jedi," he spoke through gritted teeth, "you're 'aid' isn't needed. The Jedi are blind. Your Order is just a restriction on another's life. What kind of peaceful Order demands sacrifice for devotion?"

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Sherasti was totally unfazed by the loud crash of the table breaking. Her awareness of the whole situation meant she saw the movement even before it was made. She had no concerns for her own safety. For the moment at least she would be able to tell any attack before it was made. Her real focus was on what words to say.

"In order to serve others," she spoke clearly and melodiously, each lilting word carrying reassurance, "a Jedi has to learn not to serve herself. I am not here for my own ease of mind. There must be something I can do to help. To ease your pain or to help your life. If you wish to discuss the Order, then I will do it. But if you do not wish to speak to me as a Jedi, speak to me as a sentient being."

The Togruta remained still, seated in her cross-legged position with her bare feet on the cool stone of the bar counter. Her robes were billowed out below her and her lightsaber was tucked safely into her belt. She looked incredibly at ease, and if not for her radical difference in coloration from the rest of the room she could have very well been a statue carved of marble.

[D A N T E]

This is why he hated the Jedi. It brought him out of his control. He couldn't think. She filled his thoughts, how she was gone, and how the Jedi had held them back, leaving them with nothing now. There was no going back, and undoing the things that were done. It's impossible. She's gone, and he's here. His way out is away from the Jedi. It's not failed him yet, and his reaction to her presence proved it yet again that the Jedi are the cause of his despair and anger.

"As a sentient being? Who knows nothing but what the Jedi Order has told her. If you lived a different life, then I might be able to consider you just another sentient being, but as of right now, your thoughts are wrapped around peace and salvation."

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

The Togruta's facial muscles tightened slightly. Perhaps a firmer hand was in order. "And yours are wrapped in darkness and bitterness. It is our choices that have given us these views. Had your life gone differently, perhaps you would be sitting here now instead of me. You are the product of your experiences, and I of my own."

Her voice was still smooth and reassuring, but it had a certain steel in it as well. "I am more than just a Jedi. I am also a Togruta. That is every bit as much a part of who I am. Loyalty, society, teamwork, and the hunt are all more than mere words to me. That I believe in peace, and yes in redemption, does not mean I only believe in them as a Jedi. I found my serenity. You can find your shelter from the storm raging inside you."

For the first time since taking her seat, she shifted her position, rising to her feet and looking him directly in the eye. In one respect they stood eye-to-eye, and that was literal. They were both the exact height, though her montrals loomed over his head substantially. If not for the almost-mournful look in her violet eyes she would have been extremely intimidating. Her canine teeth protruded as she spoke a few more poignant words.

"I am not your enemy, and you are not my enemy."

[D A N T E]

Dante watched as she stood up and stepped toward him. It took all his will to not try and destroy her where she stood. How dare she approach me! he thought as he clinched his fist tightly. The Jedi's presence drew closer, and his mind grew thicker. His head pounded, as the thick amounts of blood beat through his body at intensified speeds. He could barely control himself, it was a miracle he was standing there so still.

She stood, at his height, a little taller with the added racial features, and she stared into his eyes. It was if she was saying they were equal, and he was growing ever more pissed off about it. How she thought she could just approach him with such assertion.

"I am not your enemy, and you are not my enemy."

He held his breath, every fiber in his body wanting to cut the female Jedi into indistinguishable parts.

"Your way of life destroyed two lives..." He could barely make out the words through clinched teeth.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Sherasti shook her head from side to side sadly, with angelic serenity on her face. "No, that decision only came from them. We are all accountable for our own decisions. We cannot blame others, not if we want to be honest. In time you will accept this. It is part of growth. And of healing."

She kept eye contact the whole time, telepathically reinforcing her message with her feelings. She did her best to share some of her own serenity with that tortured soul. Perhaps letting peace wash over him would serve both to calm him down and give him hope.

If not, it could simply provoke him. But it was a chance the Jedi was willing to take. She could defend herself against a foe wielding a lightsaber. But she couldn't not try to give the man before her peace, even just a little.

"Ask yourself though, are you ready for this conversation? To talk about what happened will be hard for you. Very hard. But if you make that choice, I will stand by it and not be your judge. I can only be a counselor and a friend, if you allow me. But if you push me away you are the only one to lose." She held up a hand in warning of that fact, increasingly concerned about the fury building up in Dante. Either he would implode or explode. And soon.

[D A N T E]

Dante stood rigged, holding back his right hand from assaulting her. He grinded his teeth, unsure how long he could he stand there before it became too much. Taking this chance to avoid trying to rip her apart, he spoke through gritted teeth.

"I suggest you leave."

Its all he could make out, every part of him wanted to put this insignificant creature out of her misery.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

"And what purpose would that serve either of us? Your anger will still be there, tormenting you. And I will have failed in a chance to help you. I'm sure you need much more than I can provide. But please understand I must try. Cast aside your anger and your pain and listen to my words," Sherasti's lilting and melodious voice appealed. Emotion was injected into it now rather than the complete serenity she'd shown up until this point.

Jedi did have emotions as well. But the Togruta could control them. And right now her pity and sincere desire to help were being yielded to. It was a choice she made consciously to follow her moral compass.

"In your heart you know this is all true. You can never undone what has been done, you can only determine who you will be. What you will be. Let me help you make that choice."

[D A N T E]

It was over.

"I'm a lost cause."

With that, Dante's lightsaber shot towards his right hand, the blade opening up in a crimson light, a hum filling the air as the heat scorched the air. Catching the hilt, and slashing horizontally in a backhand poise, was one fluid motion as he tried to cut the Jedi in half.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Even as he was speaking, Sherasti could sense his attack. Faster than the eye could track, the Force moved through her. She detached her curved lightsaber from her belt and ignited it. The green blade flashed into existence just in time to block the Dark Jedi's blade.

Sherasti disengaged skillfully and took a step back in a single movement. She raised her blade in a Makashi flourish and lowered it to the starting position, angled downward and to her side with her arm extended fully.

The Togruta even bowed slightly, her montrals dipping with the movement. "I warn you, don't make this mistake."

[D A N T E]

Dante felt her block, and it was expected. She disengaged, and with a simple flourish poised herself into a combat stance with which she was comfortable. Dante didn't hesitate, because his stance would be broken shortly.

As the last word she spoke exited from between her lips, Dante brought fourth another furious assault. Stepping forward, he raised his hand, sending an intense wave of force at the Jedi, enough force to send the tables beside her several feet backwards. He wanted her off balance as he charged her, his lightsaber coming at a diagonal to cut across her chest, his left hand prepping another force barrage in case she blocked or attempted a counter. He wanted to keep the Jedi on her heels until she left an opening for injury or fatality.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

The Togruta felt herself sliding backwards under the wave, but she accepted it passively rather than fighting. She simply slid back in a controlled manner, and came to a stop with her blade already moving to block his swing.

He'd started off with a back-handed swing, but now he seemed to be practicing simple Shii-Cho with a personalized style. It wasn't much of a threat to the Jedi, her own agility would easily help her avoid the clumsy style. She was much more worried about the left hand, obviously ready to use some force power on short notice.

The best counter to that was making it a battle of movement. With a sudden spurt of energy she moved into the style of Makashi fully, weaving under and around swings and striking away blows with seemingly no effort, all through a series of small turns, dodges, and strikes. Her own senses as a Jedi gave her an insight into her foe's movements, and her telepathic prowess helped reveal his strategies before he implemented them. It meant she could even position herself where she needed to be in advance, and that gave her a bonus defensively.

[D A N T E]

Dante moved with fierceness. Striking at her, easily predictable. He was furious that this Jedi could confront him like this, and hope to come out in one piece. She was blocking, parrying, and dodging with such ease. Dante began to feel that her defense in swordsmanship would be far more superior then he had thought, he needed another strategy.

He killed Jedi, she was just a personal contract, that's all. Stopping his lightsaber assault, he stopped, stepping backwards and gripping objects around him with the force. Jumping backwards and disengaging, he lifted two tables, and launched two from the ground, creating sort of a box, crashing all four tables into her at once, hoping to crush her with the force.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

True to Sherasti's senses and skills, she detected the objects coming before they arrived. In the split second she had to act, time seemed to stand still for her. She was one with the Force now, and it flowed through her. She took the opportunity to almost leisurely carry out a brilliant tactic.

She reached out into Dante's mind, and imprinted the right illusion there. In this case it was a blinding flash that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It was the power of Force Illusion, a gift the Togruta had been practicing since she was a Padawan. It had saved her life before, and it gave her a chance to outmaneuver her foe now as he was blinded.

She rallied herself, and leaped straight up into the air as the tables crashed together where she had been standing. She continued on in the leap, turning it into a flip and landing on her feet behind her foe. It was arguably the greatest physical maneuver she'd ever made, and if not for the cover of the illusion she likely would have been cut down in the jump itself. She was no master of Ataru, and her control over her body was more limited than most. But she could still produce a few surprises.

She wouldn't simply kill him of course. She'd never yet taken the life of another, and she had no desire to. It was her hope that having him in that position would force him to see reason.

[D A N T E]

Dante was blinded by the light, and his instincts kicked in. Something had happened. Just as the tables crashed into each other, his senses picked the Jedi up, but not from within the confines of the crushed rubble where the tables had wrapped around themselves. She was behind him!

He immediately turned around, his lightsaber poised to defend himself as he faced her. He wasn't about to leave his back exposed to her for any longer then he had to. Neat trick she had, but it wouldn't work again. He stared at her, his body vibrating as it urged to tear her apart. Tables began to shake near her, glasses shattered. He was losing control of himself, the force leaking from him in his strongest field.

Telekinesis.

The cantina shook, bits of lights falling from the roof. He was going to destroy her, even if he had to bring the entire building down on her.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

"Do you see now? The Dark Side can only bring destruction upon everything. Is my death worth your own as well?" Sherasti's violet eyes stared mournfully into Dante. She knew fully well that bringing down the whole building was just as likely to result in his death as hers. And no amount of hate and rage could have blinded the Dark Jedi to that.

She held her her blade in the lower guard position, ready to swing it into action on the slightest notice. But for now she was content to embrace the relative lull in the skirmish. And in his emotional outpouring he himself was laid bare before her eyes.

"Love is a curious emotion," she started slowly. "By itself, it can do no wrong. But jealousy, that was your downfall. You never realized that, did you? Jealousy is to love what revenge is to justice: a twisted mockery." Her melodious and lilting voice steadily gained confidence and strength, rising above the sounds of shattering glass and rattling objects. "We never would have simply killed you. Didn't you learn that? The Jedi do not believe in revenge, and we do not believe in murder. The penalty of death is both of those things."

She lapsed into silence again, her turn to speak had ended. Now she could listen, and she could prepare. If the roof did collapse she would need to harness every bit of her abilities to divert the debris from herself. Now she would save her strength and wait. The initiative lay with Dante.

[D A N T E]

Dante stared at her, the walls cracking as sparks bellowed out from the lights around them, glass shattering. Things began to fall from the ceiling, the dust and small debris sliding along the ground to her feet. Everything was going to be pulled into a central point, her. His eyes gleamed a dark ember, practically black as his fury overwhelmed his force output. The veins in his arms and chest protruded out, his blood pressure rising, and his heart racing.

Tables began to slide slowly, and steel began to bend towards her. A window sized piece seperating and sent soaring across the room towards her, the edge capable of slicing her in two.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

With a strange sadness, Sherasti realized her words hadn't been able to penetrate into his heart. She had no way forward and no way out without violence. The very building itself was being pulled apart, and the fury of it was directed at her.

She deactivated her lightsaber. The time for swordplay was over, and now it was time for force powers. She placed both arms in front of her and envisioned the piece of twisted steel. She willed it slowly to a stop and it clattered to the ground.

But that was only one drop in the storm. And treating the 'symptoms' wouldn't cut it. With the biggest piece of debris stopped, she faced Dante. She extended her arm, and with all her strength she pushed. In order to respond to the force push, the Dark Jedi would have to lose his concentration. And that would allow Sherasti to leave the building safely. Her bare feet weren't exactly suited to the bits of glass and metal raining down.