"Pardon me."

"Sorry."

"Excuse me."

"Didn't mean to bump into you like that."

Silus' patience was wearing thin as he had to push through the crowd. Blast it all, it was just his luck!

Really! You'd think they'd never seen a crash before!

Many of them were apprentices who should have been at their studies, not twittering like a bunch of birds. The older ones should have known better.

Of course, you are as curios as they, said a little voice in the back of his head. A thin smile was quickly wiped away as a rather tall - and very well built - youth nearly flung him aside. Silus ignored him as the apprentice turned with a face full of concern.

I have an excuse though. I know the man... somewhat.

The dams holding back his frustration as a boy ran by - the little runt from before, no doubt! - and nearly tripped Silus up.

"That's it," he mumbled. Many apprentices were startled when they were pushed aside by a seemingly invisible hand that wasn't there. Silus, beaming on the inside, walked through the gaps with the the look of complete innocence.

"Really, you people should be careful where you step," Silus told the apprentices and stifled a chuckle. He wasn't able to hold back a smile, though.

His mirth was cut short when he walked right into Vodo. His eyes widened in brief surprise.

For an instant, the air froze. From the silence, it was enough to freeze tongues.


There was history, between Silus and Vodo. Once upon a time, the two had been brief enemies. The battle had been long and hard on both of them. They'd fought with their best, too; not only with the lightsaber, but with words as well. Silus, the old Silus, had used Vodo's own doubts against him.

In the end, neither had really won. Physically, anyway. Silus had no idea what the effects afterward had had on the Jedi.

But it was a long time ago... perhaps he no longer remembered. Or could Vodo ever forget?


"Hello, Vodo," Silus managed weakly. "Keeping well?"

Vodo, from underneath the hood that always obscured his face, stared in serene silence at Silus. He had, of course, heard of the former Sith's arrival on Naboo to complete his transition from the dark side.

That didn't mean he was still comfortable around him.


"Yes, I am doing quite fine..." Vodo said, looking Silus up and down for a moment, reaching out with the Force. He felt no danger whatsoever. Perhaps all that about Silus turning from the Dark Side were true.


He had originally met Silus on Coruscant. Vodo had been pursuing a criminal that had been harassing the spacelanes around Naboo. Vodo had caught up with the criminal and was about to take him into custody to be prosecuted by the Royal Naboo, when Silus, then a Sith Apprentice, intervened.

They fought then, a very long and hard battle, that neither won. Vodo had suffered grevious wounds, and had inflicted them in return.

He thought for a moment, the poorly-constructed lightsaber still in his grip. Leia was still offplanet, leaving Vodo and Kenshin in charge. Perhaps Silus could help?

"I'm sure you are aware of the ship that crashed near here." Vodo began, "There was one survivor."

Vodo lead the way back into the infimary, where Tobal was laying and Irtar standing silent guard, "He was carrying this," Vodo held up the lightsaber.

When the man's clothing was opened, Irtar's breath caught in his throat. The man had a lightsaber. Could this be a Dark Jedi? He'd never meet one but this man did bear some of the signs of which he was told of. The different aura that was more chaotic than the calm aura of the Jedi of the order.

Irtar was in thought about what this might this might mean. Thinking about what this man could possible be when Vodo left the room. Is he a friend? Is he a foe? Irtar hardly even heard the doctor.

"....Irtar!" were the only words the doctors said that got through to him.

"Hrm? What?" Irtar asked as he looked up from his thoughts.

"Could you fetch me that tray over there? We're going to need some more instruments." The doctor asked, he himself examining and working with the body, while the other woman, the nurse it would seem, was busy checking the bacta injector they were using.

Irtar quickly picked up the tray and brought it to the doctor who grabbed an instrument, a scanner by the looks of it, and began to press some buttons on it. The tool whiring and the little screen showing a variety of graphs that Irtar didn't know about.

Irtar went back to where he was at about the same time that Vodo returned into the room, holding out the lightsaber and followed by another man Irtar had only ever seen in the shadows. Irtar nodded to the two of them from his place against the wall.

"Welcome back." the doctor said, looking up for only a moment before returning to his patient. "He's stable, and maybe back on his feet in a week or two. Sooner if we put him into the tank to heal. But I'd need the approval of your order to do so. After all, this isn't my office, I just work here by the grace of Her Majesty. You'll find the forms in my desk, on the third drawer on the right if you want to. If not, then I'd suggest you just let him be for the next while until he can recover."

"Yes, I am doing quite fine..."

Silus breathed somewhat easier. That didn't mean matters were settled, but it did show there was a chance at forgiveness. Silus only needed to work for it.

"I am sure you are aware of the ship that crashed near here. There was one survivor."

Hands held calmly behind his back, Silus followed Vodo into the infirmary.

A pair of doctors - although one could certainly be a nurse; Silus found it hard to tell - were working on the patient with the calm efficiency of experts. Whoever the survivor turned out to be, he was well taken care of.

Silus greeted Irtar with a nod. He'd noticed the apprentice training during a few of the times as he walked the academy. He had plenty of potential.

As for the patient...

"He was carrying this," Vodo held up the lightsaber.

It was, indeed, Tobal.

"I know this man."


Years ago, before Silus had even began his dark fall towards the Sith, he had been nothing more than a common mercenary. He was good, of course, but he was one in millions.

He was a little uncertain of events that had taken place. The only thing he did remember was meeting the man, and being hired before the Jedi attack against the doomed Dark Circle.

Silus had failed the mission, merely damaging the ship he had been hired to destroy. His attempts had been stopped by a Sith, and he was soon captured and imprisoned.

It had been the first among a sequence of events that had finally led him here.


"His name is Tobal," Silus crossed his arms. "A 'Shadow' Jedi."

Silus noticed the apprentice's confusion. "It was before your time. They had disappeared, probably before you even came here. They believe in a balance of the... two sides of the Force. While we walk the way of the light and others the way of the dark, they believed in serving the thin line between them. You could say that led to their downfall, although I have no idea what actually happened."

It was a rough description. Silus would let Vodo explain things better, if he wanted to.

"It has been a long time since I last saw him. I'd thought the Shadow Jedi had faded completely, until now."

He doubted very much that these events were only a coincidence.

"Light and Dark, apprentice. The Force has only two parts, each perfectly balanced by the other."

Kahn's words danced about in his mind as he stared down at the injured man with the long white hair.

Vodo had never before even considered that someone would follow neither side completely, but would seek to balance both sides of the Force.

Vodo cringed as he realized how arrogant he had been. In truth, there was no black and white.

Those were just shades of gray.

Silus looked up at him, as did Irtar.

"I have never heard of a 'Shadow Jedi' before. This is all quite...foreign to me. Perhaps we should ask our friend here?"

Vodo nodded to one of the nurses, "Can you wake him?" he asked.

She began to fill a bacta injector, when the man began to stir.

The doctor was at Tobal's side immidiately, checking readouts and vital signs.

Vodo looked down at the Shadow Jedi as Tobal opened his eyes.

"Don't worry. You are all right." He said, "You are in the Jedi Temple."

Sounds filtered oh so slowly through the dense fog that surrounded Tobal's head. He struggled to regain control of his facilities. He could hear people speaking, and he could feel hands touching him, but he couldn't properly interpret these sensations. The he felt something urgent. A feeling of alarm. Then caution.

Light filtered through his eyelids, and Tobal stirred. He could feel control of his limbs returning, though highly limited. He could understand what was being said now, albeit with difficulty. "Shadow Jedi ... faded .... .. now". There was something familiar about the voice.

His eyes opened. The light was bright, almost painfully so. There was an alien standing above him.

I'm in the Jedi Temple? But...

Naboo.

Jiren.

It made perfect sense for a moment, but different factors came into the equation very quickly, making a mess of the train of thought. Uncharacteristically, Tobal said the first thing that came to mind.

"Am I dying?"

"I have never heard of a 'Shadow Jedi' before. This is all quite...foreign to me. Perhaps we should ask our friend here?"

Of course. They had never been prevalent enough to get noticed by many. It wouldn't be surprising if Silus was the only one that had heard of them.

"You might remember them better as the ones who finally stopped the Dark Circle before they ever really began. But I'm sure Tobal can answer you better..."

Slowly, Tobal began to stir. Silus wondered what thoughts were going through the mans head. It was never good to wake up hurting in a strange bed. There were too many questions that you wanted the answers of. After you found, rarely did they help matters at all. Tobal was safe, at least.

"Am I dying?"

Silus smiled. The question was right to the point. Well, at least the man was conscious now. That was a good sign.

"You'll live. That was a rather poor landing back there. Still, I suppose there's no faster way to the academy."

Silus patted the doctor on the shoulder, which nearly made the poor alien jump.

"You have these two to thank for patching you up."

Irtar was just thinking about the words exchanged between the two. Shadow Jedi? Both light and dark? Was that even possible? What happened to those who walked down the dark path always fell completely? This entire thing just felt so foreign to the lessons Irtar had recieved so far. And what was the 'Dark Circle'? The questions in the young padawans head were just spinning around his head.

That was when the Shadow Jedi, Tobal if Silus was telling the truth, returned to the waking. His first question almost shocked Irtar. 'Am I dying?' How bad was that guy feeling?

The doctor, after his little jump of shock from Silus patting him, smiled sheepishly and returned to his scans. "Well young man, consider yourself lucky." The doctor said, looking at the scans. "No major damage, but you're still suffering from a concussion. Protocol says that I keep you in here for two days to make sure that there's no signifigant damage to your brain. Also, to give you time to recover from your other wounds. So, Tobal is it? Well, make yourself comfortable..."

Irtar still just leaned agains the wall in thought...

Finally able to get away from the ruckus caused by the Academy's mysterious arrival, Kenshin made his way to the infirmary as quickly as he could. The Order could run without Kenshin and Vodo for an hour or two right? Besides, even if he was to only spend a few brief moments, he'd still like some information on their new arrival. Anything. Time was tight for both Knights, but he was sure they could find some time to spare when it came to this bizarre situation.

Stepping quietly into the chamber designated for the stranger's care, the dark haired Jedi was met with the presence of not only Jedi Baas but Irtar and Silus as well. He didn't know any of them too well, but well enough he supposed. For now anyway. Turning at the sound of an unfamiliar voice, Kenshin offered Tobal a slight grin but said nothing. The man should rest up before answering any of the questions he had. He intended to let the 'Shadow Jedi' sleep after he answered Vodo's screening questions.

Standing to slightly to the side, between the bed and the group of gathered Jedi, his voice was only over a hush as he spoke. "So...what have we gathered so far?"

Vodo went to Tobal's side and looked down at him. He drew back his heavy hood, revealing his slightly insectile face. he held the Shadow Jedi's lightsaber in his right hand.

As Tobal became fully alert, and after the two medics backed away, Vodo spoke.

"Not dying, my friend. In fact, you will be just fine, like the doctor said. Your ship crash-landed here a while ago, and we brought you to the Jedi Temple for medical assistance."

Vodo glanced about at the other curious Jedi. Tobal sat up a bit and took a good look at all of them.

Vodo was never one for beating around the bush.

"Are you Tobal Hadul?" He asked, fingering the lightsaber in his hand, "The... Shadow Jedi?"