A Most Unusual Relationship (Ninjabot)

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Xell took it better than she thought. It was still a trial for him, and he wasn’t happy. He was especially displeased that she’d plucked Orren’s words from his mind. The Togruta hadn’t been especially comfortable doing it, but it was important to draw the connection between his words and his deeds. He had to reexamine what he had taken for granted, and he had to trust in her judgment. Sherasti had no doubt her firm moral foundation had earned her this assignment. She wouldn’t let Master Pedara down. And she wouldn’t fail Xell.

“Just remember this Padawan, not everyone following the dark path is doomed to stay on it. They joined it because of a weakness. You have an obligation to them too, to protect them from themselves.”

His thought process was still far from where she hoped it would be. He saw Orren’s actions possibly saving others, but he didn’t seem to understand how his former master had condemned to death so many more he might have been able to save. He saw protecting the weak as contrary to not being judge and jury to others. He didn’t differentiate between where you didn’t want to go and where you couldn’t go. All options were still on the table for him. Her goal was to remove some of those options, to change his way of thinking and to change the way he saw the universe around him.

It wouldn’t be easy, but if Xell Rayner was to become a Jedi Knight loyal to their ideals he needed to learn it. If Sherasti failed him now… Sometimes the dark kernel inside could sprout with the full conviction it was doing right. Xell wouldn’t ever knowingly fall to the Dark Side, but he had the potential to slide into it one bad decision at a time. The way the Council feared Orren might.

The Togruta knew it was her responsibility to forestall that possibility and keep him strong in the light.

She switched onto a positive note to end their discussion, even when she had something hard to say she couldn’t let it end that way. Sherasti placed both of her red hands on his shoulders and looked him in the eye with a smile on her face.

“Xell, with the force as your ally you will become a strong Jedi. I will teach you everything I can, and when the day comes for you to become a Jedi Knight I will stand at your side and greet you as my equal.”

She couldn’t resist the impulse and gave him a small hug, though she did keep it one armed and to the side so as to avoid any of the physical contact Xell didn’t react well to.

“Now, we really are done for today Padawan. You handled yourself well, now you can do whatever you’d like. Relax for the rest of the day. Tomorrow, meditation and telepathy. Maybe even more saber practice if you feel up to it.” Sherasti returned to her cross legged position in the chair, closing her eyes and looking extremely peaceful. It was hard to believe she was carnivorous from looking at her.

[ninjabot]

"Now we really are done for today Padawan. You handled yourself well, now you can do whatever you like. Relax for the rest of the day. Tomorrow, meditacion and telepathy. Maybe even more saber practice if you feel up to it."

Xell crossed his arms and leaned back into his seat. "I'd like to hear abit about yourself Master Sherasti. You're the youngest master I know. There has to be a story behind that. I'd also like to know how you learned that awesome move back there! The illusion you pulled off! I'm not sure what all Master Orren could perform. He kept me away from his missions. Said they were too dangerous." Xell thought his childish fan musings would ease over the uncomfortable air left filling the room. If he could make her smile, maybe she'd be more forthcoming with her information.

Xell thought back to old training holos in the enclave library. There was a plethora of feats that could be performed by the Jedi, but the only ones he had heard of were extensions of the basic abilities they were trained in. The ability to throw one's lightsaber as a projectile and return it like a boomerang seemed to be merely telekinisis refined. Using the force to propel one at high speeds or vault them high into the air both seemed to require the same amount of mastery.

The illusions he witnessed however were on another level. He couldn't liken them to anything at all, except maybe telepathy. Could that be the secret? Implanting lifelike images into his mind so that his brain couldn't differentiate the real Sherasti from the fake ones? But they seemed so real!

Whatever the logic behind the illusions were, Xell wanted to learn it. He was of the opinion now that he wouldn't learn fighting techniques anymore. Just "not-fighting" techniques. More passive abilities to help him staul, calm, or disable opponents without actually doing more harm than necessary. It's the only way to fully earn Sherasti's trust, and guarantee he himself doesn't become drunk with power.

Xell thought back to his training with Orren again. Was everything he taught him flawed? And what would be the long term repercussions? The more he thought, the more confused he became. He placed it in the back of his mind and awaited Sherasti's story.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

“About me?” Sherasti was surprised, but pleasantly so. She really did like Xell, and had no problems sharing about herself. But no one really asked about her past.

“Well, to begin with I am not a Jedi Master. Only a Knight who happens to be your master. If I am ever honored with the title, it will be at least a decade from now. But if you really want to know about me, it can’t hurt.”

The Togruta thought back to the past. Naturally her childhood came first, with memories ranging from her father singing her a Togruti lullaby to picking pockets and gathering scrap metal.

“I was born on Abregado-rae, far from Shili. My mother died during childbirth and left my father to raise me. We were lonely and very poor. He worked long days and nights, and I gathered scrap metal in the streets. I even picked pockets. One day I picked the wrong pocket, or the right pocket you could say. A Jedi caught me, and sensed my connection to the Force. All Togruta have a connection of varying strength, but mine was exceptional. He took me to Coruscant with my father’s permission, and I began training.

I met my master, Hult Pedara, as a Youngling. I had an, uh, accident while saber training. I lost my grip on my saber and, well, accidentally hit him with it. I was mortified and thought I would die. Luckily for me he was amused. He took me as a Padawan three years later and we traveled the galaxy together on missions. It was mostly diplomacy, but from time to time it was punctuated by the sort of thing you could call ‘exciting.’ I almost died on Pantolomin when I was your age. Someone attempted to assassinate a politician, with the result that I was thrown across a room by a thermal detonator and hit the wall. It shattered my entire arm and put me into a coma. Master Pedara stayed by my side non-stop until I was awake again.

I became a Jedi Knight only last year, but I’ve been very, very busy since then. I helped instruct a Jedi Master in form II lightsaber combat, made a goodwill visit to Ukio, mediated a diplomatic dispute, and met a very tortured soul in need of help.”

Her mind flashed back to the insane Aleena grey Jedi, Halc Greimer. She hoped he was still there at the Temple, fighting the good fight and working to restore his mind. But she wouldn’t be surprised if he wasn’t, his destiny wasn’t clear to her.

Sherasti brought her thoughts back on target and decided to mention what she could about producing illusions through control of the Force.

“Force illusions are an extension of your telepathic abilities, you must be able to visualize every detail in your mind and project it onto another person. The less strong they are telepathically compared to yourself the more successful you will be. It really isn’t much different from using the force to persuade others once you find the ability within yourself. Instead of implanting a suggestion, you implant image, sensation, and sound. This is a very rare power that not all Jedi can learn, but if you are interested I can try to teach you.”

The Togruta made the offer wholeheartedly, it would be good for the boy to learn new tactics to match the new outlook she was working to create in him. And he seemed more receptive now. Her words had soaked in precisely the way she wanted them to. Xell was confused yes, but he was searching himself and had been pulled out of complacency. He was reexamining what he had learned. Orren would have been very displeased, but Sherasti Rin was proud of her new Padawan.

She’d started to accept his… eccentricities now. In much the same way Master Pedara had accepted her own. She cringed internally on the thought that Xell would have to put up with her own. Sherasti had so far done her utmost to eat away from the human, he was a rather sensitive soul and the Togruta diet would probably disturb him. Her habits were normal for her species, but to Xell they would be as foreign to him as his addiction to holonovels was to her. It would be a learning experience.
“Never doubt that I’m proud of you Xell. I’ve only known you for three days, but your progress has impressed me. I hope we’ll grow closer together in the next days.”

[ninjabot]

As Sherasti's story unfolded Xell found himself paying close attention. It was written all over his face. He was happy that she was able to find a master she could believe in. One that accepted her for who she was. That's what Orren was to him.

Or atleast, that was what he thought.

The story continued, and Xell became distraught at the story of her arm injury. It sounded so painful! He grabbed hold of his elbow as she described the shattering of her arm. It wasn't a newly found empathic connection, but simply him being squeamish. He didn't like hearing of people in pain, and he naturally felt it in his own arm in the form of a simple cold chill.

He shook the thought away as she continued her story.
The amount of work she was apart of after only a year of knighthood? It was jarring. He hoped he would be skilled enough and varied in his profession that he could spread as much good will as she had. He was even more surprised to realize that his master was not a master class Jedi. The difference in skill between the two of them was immense. She had to have been some sort of prodigy or... or some genius.

It didn't matter much to him that her age was only 6 years greater than his own. If the Order felt she was good enough of an influence to guide him on the right path, who was he to judge? Either way, he was more excited about the concept of learning of the illusive powers Sherasti had access to. He had all the time in the world to get to know her, but he had to fasttrack his growth. He needed to.

The lesson was brief. He wasn't far off in his assumption. It was indeed a telepathic ability. Sherasti seemed heavily oriented in the ways of the force rather than physical combat, so it made sense. Things were going well. She must have picked up on his eagerness to adapt her combat philosophy and thought of it as a step in the right direction. Still, Xell could not shake the feeling that Orren would be disappointed at this revelation. He stopped thinking about it when Sherasti praised him.

"Never doubt that I'm proud of you Xell. I've only known you for three days, but your progress has impressed me. I hope we'll grow closer together in the next days."

And that's all it took to break his newly found confidence. His cheeks reddened. His pace quickened. His voice cracked and squealed like a steaming teakettle.

"Grow... closer?"whimpered Xell.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Sherasti face-palmed. “Not in that way Padawan, unless it happens in your dreams.”

“Which isn’t an invitation to dream about me,” the Togruta added hastily. Every time she thought the infatuation was dying off it seemed to resurrect itself like a phoenix. The terrible thing was that she wasn’t promiscuous. Her robes weren’t made of some skin-tight material and cut low. They were rather typical, though with a dress on the bottom half instead of pants.

Was she leading him on? She certainly hoped not.

The Jedi shook her head from side to side, marveling at the undaunted hopes of teenage boys.

“Just go take a cold shower and read your novel. If you need me- for some sort of emergency that is, I’ll be meditating in the forward crew quarters.”

Sherasti rose and paced out of the main hold they’d been training in, her robes rustling softly with the movement.

[ninjabot]

Sherasti face-palmed. "Not in that way Padawan, unless it happens in your dreams."

Xell's jaw hit the floor.

"Which isn't an invitation to dream about me."

Should've made that clear three nights ago when the dreams started...

Sherasti shook her head. Xell cleared his throat and rolled his eyes away from her in shame. It was a bad feeling atfirst, but still seeing her in such an unpracticed, natural state was endearing. He was happy that she wanted them both to grow closer though.
Xell smiled and twiddled his thumbs as he shrank back into his seat.

"Just go take a cold shower and read your novel. If you need me- for some sort of emergency that is, I'll be meditating in the forward crew quarters."
Sherasti left the room, wondering whether she was indeed drawing on Xell's advances. It was true that she wasn't acting overly alluring. But why couldn't she accept that there was more about her to be attracted to than her physical form? Xell shook the thoughts from his head and stood up to go find his own quarters.

Hours later...

Xell rolled back and forth in bed. The earlier mutterings in his sleep about handlebars and grunts about fangs were replaced with whimpering about apologies and weakness. Who he was apologizing to wasn't obvious, but as loud as he was it was evident he felt terrible about something he did in the past.
Jet black hair. Blue eyes. Pale skin. The dream was more vivid this time. Rather than watching Orren launch her out of the building, he saw him bury his saber into her heart.

"Orren!"

Xell lept up from his bed in a cold sweat. He redressed and walked back to the room that he and Sherasti trained in earlier. He wouldn't be going back to sleep any time soon, so he decided to put the time to good use. He sat down in the middle of the room, attempting to avoid waking Sherasti by sneaking and, calming his breathing he activated a telekinetic excersise.

Xell lifted his lightsaber up. He began spinning it vertically, then horizontally. He maintained this excersise while lifting one of his books. He began spinning it in the same fashion. Next he attempted to lift a piece of fruit and, as he did so, the sight of Orren murdering the girl returned. This time, it was a blue saber piercing through the girl. Her scream was louder. And as Xell looked closer the man performing the execution was he himself.

"NO!" screamed the Padawan. The lightsaber, book, and piece of fruit all flew in seperate directions like a hawk-bat from the depths. The fruit smashed against Sherasti's door. The saber clanked against a nearby table. the book landed in the piping above him. Xell whiped the sweat from his brow and began pacing back and forth.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Barely a second or two later the door hissed open and Sherasti sprinted out of her quarters, igniting her lightsaber and scanning the room as her lightsaber lit up her features in the relative gloom of the ship’s night phase.

The green glow cast light over much more of her figure than she would ever have let Xell see willingly. Her breasts were mostly visible behind a small dark yellow halter top that also exposed her midriff, and her incredibly long red legs were visible leading up to rather nondescript navy blue panties. Her lekku gracefully sloped down and matched the contours of her body.

It was clear why she dressed in innocuous robes. If she didn’t no one would be able to think straight with a tall, curvaceous, and exotic woman around distracting them.

“What is it? What’s the matter?” She asked in an urgent voice, unable to sense any danger but certain something was seriously wrong.

She’d been fast asleep, but the sudden screaming from the main room had jolted her into full wakefulness and she’d leapt into action. The sound of something impacting on her door and the clatter from the room had been an additional call to action. She wasn’t about to let anything happen to her Padawan, and she could sense he was distraught immediately. Something was wrong, but she didn’t know what. And gallingly she couldn’t sense another presence in the room. Could there be a force-cloaked Sith or Dark Jedi lurking the shadows somewhere? One disguised and hidden so well even her own spatial senses and hearing couldn’t detect him?

[ninjabot]

Xell heard the door to Sherasti's room open. He expected her to be upset thanks to his racket, so he rushed over to meet her only to find a pleasant surprise.

"I'm sorry master. I was training and-"

Xell's eyes took in the sight he had saw in his mind over and over for the past few nights and put his imagination to shame. He was a little disappointed though. For one, he was being made to think that his attraction was misplaced. Any male... anything, would be mesmerized by her form. It was cruel of her not to acknowledge the power she had over him. Over men. Then again being raised as a Jedi she likely didn't have to deal with this sort of reaction alot.

"I uh... you..."

Xell's book fell from the cieling and slammed hard against the floor. The sound was startling but Xell heard nothing. He just... watched. His eyes darted down to the floor for a look at the total package before shooting back up to pay attention to her face and avoid an abrupt end to his little peep show.

"What is it? What's the matter?"

"mumble mumble... dreamy... mumble training...tek'nisis... bewbs."

Xell couldn't muster a full sentence. Instead his mind reverted back to the dream he was having earlier. Well, the one before his nightmare. It consisted of Sherasti demonstrating her Force Illusion again before showing him more practical ways of using the technique. In his dream the other two Sherasti were very, very friendly to eachother. They helped Real Sherasti with her stretching excersises. Even helped her wash off afterward!

That actually wasn't something he needed to be remembering right now. Xell fought hard to clear his mind before attempting to leave. He started walking away and... stopped. And stared. Then he jumped as if he realized something (which was that he should stop staring at his master), and started walking away again. Quickly.

"NoproblemsorryfortheruckusnightnightmasterSherastisweetdreams!"

He walked as quickly as he could hoping Sherasti would be none the wiser.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

"mumble mumble... dreamy... mumble training...tek'nisis... bewbs."

The Togruta powered down her lightsaber at the word ‘dream.’ There was nothing to worry about. In fact, it seemed strange she’d even worried at all. In fact-

Sherasti’s eyes widened as she realized she was practically naked in front of Xell. Automatically she folded her arms over her breasts, as if she could somehow cover them up adequately. She was positively mortified, and the stripes on her lekku had gone from a relaxed navy blue to a vivid sky blue. In short, she was blushing. If she’d been able to form words they wouldn’t have been able to make sense.

Xell seemed flustered too as he babbled "NoproblemsorryfortheruckusnightnightmasterSherastisweetdreams!"

The poor Padawan kept trying not to stare and failing. It was humiliating for them both. Sherasti followed his progress away from her with her eyes. Only after he entered his own quarters was she able to respond.

“Sweet dreams to you too…”

The Next Morning

Sherasti Rin sat cross legged in the center of the main room, meditating. There was a lot on her mind, mostly last night’s bout of abject humiliation. She was filled with the kind of anxiety she hadn’t had since her Trial of the Spirit, and it was damaging her perpetual aura of serenity. She was quite full of turmoil. Yes, she accepted she was an attractive woman. But she was also a modest woman. And she felt a little… violated.

It wasn’t Xell’s fault though. He hadn’t chosen it any more than she had. And Sherasti was worried it might hurt their relationship. Would he still respect her now? Would either of them be able to look the other in the eye?

The hiss of a door opening and the sensation of footsteps approaching indicated Xell was awake and up. Sherasti simply didn’t have the heart to probe him telepathically. They needed an honest talk. A talk where both of them actually vocalized their thoughts.

“Xell, we need to talk. Join me please.” The Togruta’s voice was much calmer than she was. She knew it was her task to be a rock, if she wasn’t stable then Xell couldn’t be confident in her. And if he wasn’t confident in her, he could lose confidence in anything.

Her violet eyes fixed on him as she motioned him to sit on the floor across from her. She did her best with facial expressions to show she wasn’t mad. But it would be obvious to anyone she was definitely still embarrassed. She didn’t even bother attempting to hide it. Openness was what they’d said they were going to have from day one. They’d wound up with that being a little bit too literal. But emotionally she would level with him, and hope he would level with her. No secrets.

[ninjabot]

Xell stepped out of his room to find Sherasti. He cleared his throat and made his way over to her. She was fully clothed, which was fine. He'd had his fill of naked Togruta throughout the night.

"Xell, we need to talk. Join me please."

Nowedon't. stammered Xell as he poured a drink from the refrigerator. He mulled it over before deciding to honor his promise to be honest with her. They had avoided this for a while so he was positive this was just a small hurdle to hop over before he could continue his training in earnest.

Xell made his way over to where Sherasti sat and sat across from her. The light blue stripes of her montrals showed him her true emotions. Telepathy wasn't needed. He felt horrible. Here she was doing her best to be the ideal guardian and this hurdle was ruining it. They had to get things squared away as soon as possible. Not just so she wouldn't fail him in the eyes of the Order... but so that he wouldn't think ill of him.

He wanted Sherasti to be comfortable. He wanted her to succeed in her ascension to masterhood. But he wasn't helping. If this incident made things considerably difficult between them the Order would regret their decision. Xell would not let that happen.

"Hey... before you start I just want you to know that this has nothing to do with our earlier promise being broken. Nothing's changed between us. There isn't a sentient being that wouldn't be wierded out in the same scenario. It's just they can act on it. We however... can't."

The Padawan waited for his words to sink in. Then he took a deep breath and pressed on.

"There are no secrets between us. It's obvious we both have greater things to focus on anyway, right? No big deal. And... I'm sorry. For staring."

Xell smiled and chuckled before realizing it probably wasn't helping. He cleared his throat and went silent.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Sherasti nodded, trying to show she appreciated what Xell had to say. He realized there were more important things at hand. And she realized he was a teenage boy who couldn’t help himself.

“Apology accepted Xell, but I’m worried what you saw might have furthered your attraction to me. You understand you can never love me in the way you would like, and that is very mature of you. Even if I permitted it, that kind of attachment isn’t acceptable for a Jedi. If we fought a Dark Jedi tomorrow and I were in danger, your personal feelings for me could interfere. And if I were killed they could lead to the worst. You must learn detachment.”

She sighed deeply, wondering how exactly to put her thoughts into words. It wasn’t an easy task. Her mind and her instinct told her different things. But with an uncertain trial coming up she couldn’t simply allow time to cure the problem. She had to take the initiative, and it was going to be awkward. But he had to confront his fears.

“I have an unusual training task for you. If you can touch me without your feelings getting in the way I will be satisfied that our… relationship can be proper. I know full well how absurd it sounds, but I don’t see any way you can overcome it without facing it. Come here next to me, and simply hold me close. Confront your feelings instead of burying them. Let them wash over you and not rule you.”

She thought back to something the Jedi investigator Locke had mentioned to her at the Temple what seemed like ages ago. The Jedi Code had once said there is emotion AND there is peace. Certainly it was more balanced, and increasingly the Togruta believed it was more correct.

Yes it would be awkward for them both. But it would, if it went as planned, make Xell more at ease with her physically.

And if it didn’t work she’d go down in history and Xell’s opinion as some provocative harlot. It was a gamble she'd take though.

[ninjabot]

Xell tilted his head. Even someone as socially inept and naive as Xell knew the difference between love and lust. Sherasti certainly had a high opinion of herself didn't she? The Padawan prepared to quell any misconcieved notions on Sherasti's behalf. It was awkward, because one would think that it was her place to be quelling his advances. But it was his job to own up to his mistakes because he was the one making them both uncomfortable.

It was then that she asked for an embrace, to test his ability to will through his libido. An awkward task, but necessary he thought.

"Well... okay. I guess it makes sense. But if you wanted a hug ya shoulda just said so!" joked the youth. He stood up before his master and took a step forward. Then, he embraced her in a simple, and brief, hug. It was warm. They were both likely hotter because of their embarassment. Still, he waited for his master to decide when they were finished.

"Um... by the way Master Sherasti. I like you, that's obvious. But... don't think I'm trying to whisk you away and marry you or something. Physical attraction is just that. Physical attraction. Infact I can't help but think this is all for naught, as while I won't be becoming bound to you emotionally to the point of love... it won't change the fact that our vows of detatchment are the only reasons you're still dressed right now. Um... no offense."

And they both just stood their awkwardly. He doubted she liked that realization, but she could tell Xell was dead serious. For a socially awkward introvert Xell was giving off a dominant aura that was no doubt similar to that of a male rancor during mating season. As if at any moment things were gonna get rough in a good way. But he didn't act on it. The boy cleared his throat to draw attention to the amount of time they were sitting with their arms around eachother.

"I'm thinking that's good enough, yeah? Emotions all out in the open, and nothing bad happened!"

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

“... it won't change the fact that our vows of detatchment are the only reasons you're still dressed right now. Um... no offense."

Sherasti’s jaw dropped, and after a moment she laughed out loud.

“No, no, no force no! I’m not interested in you Xell, its not like that at all. I don’t mean you’re somehow disgusting, but I honestly don’t have a physical interest in you. I’m your master.”

She shook her head in amusement at her Padawan, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. “But it is good that you know when an attraction is merely physical, Padawan. Knowing that nothing can come of it is even better. Maybe I was worrying about nothing.”

The master reclined against her apprentice, finding the physical contact to be much less awkward than she’d thought. He was handling it surprisingly well, and she didn’t feel the slightest bit promiscuous. The knowledge that he didn’t want a relationship with her was a major burden off her shoulders. She turned her head slightly to look at him, one of her lekku dipping down onto his chest in the process. “I was worried you wanted a relationship with me,” she said frankly, “and I was terrified of giving you mixed signals.”

She pulled away from him after Xell suggested she’d made her point and he’d passed the test. Apparently she had made her point well, because he did pass the test. No sleeping beast was awakened, and his self-control had held up admirably in a trial that many Knights might have failed.

“You must think I’m self-centered and egotistical to assume you wanted a relationship with me. I don’t always understand human emotions; Togruta are much more social. Physical attraction and the desire for a bond overlap. For a moment, I thought you were one of my own people instead of a human. That was an error in my judgment.” Sherasti apologized.

She stood up again, carrying out her customary sash-soothing motion and stretching. They’d been in a light embrace for almost an hour, and she had stiffened up somewhat.

“You won my respect today Xell. Your self control is very strong. If you can apply it to the wisdom of the Jedi Code and to what you know is right, you will not fall to the Dark Side. I am certain of that. You can controlled your emotions perfectly, letting them wash over you and pass you by. Well done.”

She patted him on the shoulder respectfully. “No more training today until you decide. You may set the agenda.”

[ninjabot]

"No no no force no! I'm not interested in you Xell, it's not like that at all. I don't mean that you're somehow disgusting, I just don't have a physical interest in you. I'm your master."

Xell raised a brow. He was sure she was downplaying her obvious attraction to him because of her title as his master. Surely she was as taken by him as he was with her. Right?

"It is good that you know when an attraction is merely physical, Padawan. Knowing that nothing can come of it is even better. Maybe I was worrying about nothing."

Xell couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. She was a bit too comfortable with shooting him down. Especially with the laughter. That didn't help. He chalked it up to their vow of detachment. It was a coping mechanism.

Surely if we were both trapped on a dying planet and no one would hear of our heresy she would give in. Surely.

The embrace grew closer and Sherasti showed signs of relief. Xell stilled his storm and simply allowed her to enjoy the moment. She stood up again, carrying out her customary sash-soothing motion and stretching. They'd been in a light embrace for almost an hour, and she had stiffened up somewhat.

Xell had stiffened up aswell (giggity).

"You won my respect today Xell. your self control is very strong. If you can apply it to the wisdom of the Jedi Code and to what you know is right, you will not fall to the Dark Side. I am certain of that. You can control your emotions perfectly, letting them wash over you and pasy you by. Well done."

"Thanks master. Looks like I'll be a knight in no time."

Sherasti then gave the Padawan permission to decide the day's agenda. He mulled it over in his head before smiling and coming to a decision.

"Okay. As a Jedi I won't always have access to my lightsaber, but I'm never unarmed aslong as I am in tune with the force. I want to strengthen that connection. If force illusions come from masterful control over your telepathic powers, I want to see how far I can advance myself in the force. Maybe I can pull off something like that... or something even cooler!"

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Sherasti nodded as she flexed her injured arm, which was almost always a little taught. A mechanical arm would have functioned better, but this was natural. She was perfectly willing to use technology if need be, but not to have it be a part of her. Wryly she wondered how much more exuberant Xell would be if she’d been a cyborg on top of everything else.

“Force illusions may not be your specific gift, but I will be on the watch for any kind of special ability that manifests itself. And who knows, maybe you’ll unlock the potential yourself through deep meditation. Spend the day meditating, and I will keep a close watch over you.”

With her telepathic and sense abilities, she would be able to keep close tabs on him from anywhere in the ship. And if he lowered all his barriers, she could observe his thoughts without interfering with his meditation. He might not like the concept, but it was in-line with their no-secrets philosophy. And that meant he’d agree to it.

Of course Sherasti would use discretion and only tap into what was relevant, and what Xell was focusing on. She knew better than to delve into his thoughts about Orren. They were personal. And his thoughts about her? They were no longer something she had to worry about.

“Simply open your mind, and I will monitor you throughout the day.” Her stomach rumbled and she realized she hadn’t eaten breakfast.

She excused herself and went back to her quarters to eat one of the thimiars she’d brought along in private. Their journey was over halfway done now, and they’d be at Orren’s destination soon enough, somewhere amongst the Rishi Maze. And a trial would be waiting.

Once again Sherasti Rin hoped both she and her new Padawan were up for the challenge. If they weren’t… Who knew what to expect then?