Silonik was grateful he wasn’t going to get in trouble for this and happily bounded away toward the courtyard the ship was in. Once he reached the courtyard though, his pace slowed, his lilac eyes scanning his surroundings for any sign of his friend. The yard was clear for the most part, save for a couple of gawkers that hadn’t yet moved on from the scene, but no Mortor.

Did he go inside the ship? Silonik thought with a frown, noting the hatch to the ship was still open. He didn’t want to push his luck by going inside the ship, instead he sat down and closed his eyes, bringing up the mist vision in his minds eye. To his dismay, he saw no white blob in the ship, or anywhere near it for that matter, that could have been Mortor.

“He’s not here.” Silonik said, his frown deepening. “No white speck in mist vision on ship. Where could he have gone?”

Meanwhile outside the infirmary, Mortor had started firing questions about their odd visitor at the poor man guarding the door.

“Who is he? Where did he come from? Why he crash? How’d he get hurt? Is he a Jedi like us? Is it true you’re clumsy? What’s the air speed velocity of a laden shallow? Was there a lot of blood? I heard he was missing all his limbs. Is he gonna die? If so, who gets his ship? Can I have it? You’re not gonna make us fix the lawn are you?”


(ooc: *whistles innocently*)

Irtar looked at the Trandoshan with a raised eyebrow, and was nearly taken aback by how quickly he fired out questions. Irtar's ramblings even had nothing on this Trandoshan child. After about a minute, the Trandoshan looked expectantly at the Padawan. Irtar got some of the questions at least.

"Alright... I'll answer the ones I know. He's from somewhere in our galaxy. He got hurt from the crash... Hrm... He's not a Jedi like us. The swallow, well, is it Corellian or Nubian? And how much is it laden? And yet, there was bllod, and no there was no limb loss. He'll survive, or he should. His only really bad wound is the one to the head. And I don't know what's going to happen to the ship. And yes, we Padawans will more than likely be fixing the lawns..." Irtar spewed out quickly, the last part nearly a squeak.

Irtar took a quick breath after the quick question answering. He had gone a little too long, and a little too fast. Irtar leaned against the wall catching his breath for a moment and making a mental note of when to cross the line.

"And yes... I'm clumsy..." Irtar said, trying to regain himself. "And shouldn't you be with the other younglings?"

Tobal nodded. "Yes, we went to Ruusan." He emphasized the word, feeling that the Jedi before him felt somehow ... offended by the thought of a Shadow Jedi being on the planet. Why would he be? The Valley of the Jedi had been all but destroyed during Jiren's last confrontation with Thrawn; only small portions were intact enough for even the most desperate of archeologists to justify unearthing.

But perhaps this Jedi did not know this. Tobal winced in pain as he tried to shift his position. His side was beginning to throb, as was his head. Shavit he thought. The doctor had probably managed to get Bacta on his person.

"It, its name was Xireon. Jiren said it was a created being." Tobal briefly outlined the appearance and capabilities of the now deceased Sith creature, as well as what it had done to Mat. He avoided mentioning that Jiren had said Xireon was, in fact, a clone of Jiren himself. There was no use in belittling a dead hero.

He sighed, and winced again. This side wound was definitely going to require some healing time.

"After the battle I made my way to my craft. I do not remember much after that. I must have slept for many hours. I awoke only when the hyperdrive alarm began to sound."

He stopped and looked around, indicating that the Jedi knew the rest.

Vodo listened to Tobal's story in stony silence, completely unmoving. He had put his hood up again, with the cowl of it obscuring most of his face.

"I assume the Valley is all but gone then." It was not a question.

Vodo himself had never been to Ruusan, but the planet was of importance to the Jedi Order. The planet had been the site of the last great battle between Sith and Jedi during the last great war.

He again went silent, in deep thought of the situation. He was inclined to let this Shadow Jedi go on his way. Part of him felt sorry for Tobal, but the other part wished him gone from Naboo, never to return.

Without anything better to say Vodo looked up at Hadul, "But what about you? Just who are you?"

The scene of the crash was slowly returning to peaceful serenity now that the excitement was over. Silus couldn't help but notice the two Jedi apprentices standing there gawking at the ship. While Silonik searched the ship with his 'mist vision', Silus decided to see what these apprentices were up to.

They both jumped and nearly screamed when Silus tapped them on the shoulder.

"Excuse me," he said, "but don't you two have better things to do?"

"We finished our tasks moments ago," one replied nervously.

"And we wanted to see the ship," the other finished for him.

"I see. So you two have finished your tasks for the day?"

"Yes, sir, like I said."

"Good. Then I have a new task for you," Silus took each by the shoulder and led them to the ship. "I trust you both have your lightsabers?"

"Only our training sabers, sir, and we should return those-"

"Doesn't matter what type they are. Put them in an obvious place; your belt, anywhere. Just make sure they are seen. Now I want you two to stand here, and if anyone comes snooping around, tell them this ship is under Jedi investigation. If they won't leave, lie. Tell them it's hazardous or something like that."

Both the apprentices glanced nervously at each other.

"Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir..."

"And stand tall. Act like you've just been knighted and have the whole galaxy in front of you, hmm?"

With that, Silus left the two nervous but able apprentices and began investigating the ship. He couldn't detect any life signs aboard through the Force. From the look on the young trandoshan's face, he wasn't have much luck either.

Satisfied that there was no one on board, Silus closed the hatchway. So, if the little Jedi wasn't aboard the ship, where was he?

“He’s not here. No white speck in mist vision on ship. Where could he have gone?”

"Yes, where could he have gone?" Silus scratched his chin in thought. "I'm going to guess he's interested in the crash, and if he's not around the site itself, it must mean..."

Silus sighed, "... that he's going to try to see the next best thing. Come on, I have an idea on where we can find him."

Silus and Silonik left the exercise yard and headed toward the fountain room. With any luck, Vodo had closed the room off and left a guard at the door.

Mortor grunted at the mention that he and the other apprentices would likely be the ones fixing the lawn.

Shouldn’t you be with the other younglings?

The young Trandoshan snorted in disgusted at that. “We were told to go to the nursery, me not a baby. I’m almost two!” He proclaimed, puffing out his chest in pride.

…

Silonik nodded in agreement and ran after Silus, running mainly on all fours like most Trandoshans his age did. It was pretty much the only way to keep up with the older and longer legged human, without using the Force that is. The young Trandoshan was somewhat out of breath by the time they reached the medical ward. Thankfully Mortor was indeed there, but pestering a poor apprentice that was apparently assigned to ensuring no one entered the facility.

“Mortor!” Silonik hissed as he pounced on his friend. The two tussled a bit before Silonik finally pinned him. “Do you know how much trouble you nearly got yourself into?”

“I wouldn’t have gotten in trouble if you hadn’t tattled!” Mortor growled.

“You would have been in a lot more trouble if I hadn’t told someone!” Silonik countered.

“You’re a big spoil sport and a teacher’s pet, that’s all you are.” Mortor grumbled bad naturedly.

"I..." said Tobal contemplatively.

They sat silently for a while as he pondered the question. There was an instinctive reaction to say, "I am a Shadow Jedi", but at the same time, there was a hesitation. Was he really a Shadow Jedi? There was so much doubt. The experiences of the last few months weighed heavy on Tobal's shoulders; so much had happened that he did not understand.

Finally, he answered. "I am a Jedi."

He didn't elaborate, and the two continued to sit. The water rippled and burbled about them, and Tobal was beginning to grow sleepy. He could feel hintings of a crowd gathering outside the room, and that made him stop mid-thought. He had never been able to feel much beyond an alarm for incoming danger. The passive force, or rather his inability to feel it at all had been his achilles heel.

He looked at the Jedi across from him. Cowled and silent, it was impossible to tell whether or not the creature felt what he did too.

Finally, Tobal came to a decision.

"If permitted, I would like to stay here for a time. I am... searching for something. I could aid in the repairs of the damage I caused, and perhaps learn something from your people."

He stood haltingly, and almost collapsed. Regaining his balance, he gritted his teeth against the growing pain in his side.

"And, if I might," he hissed, "could we retire?"

ooc: Sorry for my absence. Shall we get this thing going again?



Vodo watched Tobal as carefully as a child might watch a small insect with a magnifyer. The man seemed so conflicted on the outside, but through the Force, Vodo could not sense much. It seemed as if there was a powerul wall built around this man that Vodo could not penetrate.

"I am a Jedi."

Vodo, having lived for many decades, was not one that was surprised easily. He was also a being of many talents, one of which was foresight, through the Force.

But for all his foreknowledge, he did not predict that response from Tobal.

"If permitted, I would like to stay here for a time. I am... searching for something. I could aid in the repairs of the damage I caused, and perhaps learn something from your people." Tobal said, looking about the room uncomfortably.

Vodo could sense the crowd outside the door, and he too felt it was time to end this little session.

"And, if I might," Tobal seemed to have much difficulty in speaking, "...could we retire?"

Vodo nodded to the other man, "Certainly.", He picked up his comlink, "Irtar, please show our guest to some quarters."

He turned back to Tobal, "You have much to learn... Mr. Tobal."

And with that, he climbed down from the rock on which he was perched, and hobbled off.

Irtar jumped out of the way of the fumbling and wrestling Trandoshan children as quickly as he could. Attempting to not trip or step on them as they tossled about briefly. Irtar scratched his slightly as he got back and turned about nearly stepping into Silus.

"AH!" Irtar said in surprise as he stopped just short of him and put his hand to his chest. "Uhm, sorry Master Silus. Children fighting and all the excitement I guess I'm just a little more absent minded than normal. Heh heh...."

Irtar's face had taken a slight shade of red and was preparing himself to either get a talking to about calling him Master Silus or nearly running into him or both when he heard his comlink fire up and an order from Master Baas. One of the children seemed to have the other disabled as of the moment, and thus Irtar had no problem hearing the old master.

A moment later, the doors opened and Master Baas came out with the stranger shortly behind him. Irtar was tempted as to ask his Master something but he seemed in thought of something, likely of this stranger. Irtar turned to the stranger and forced up a feeble smile.

"Uhm, hi. I guess I'm supposed to show you a room." Irtar said motioning down the hall for him to follow him. "The last I heard we had a couple openings on the second level. And I'm sure after all the stuff today you'd like a good nights rest!"

Irtar cast a glance at the Trandoshan children in hopes they'd catch it and not open the barrage of questioning that was likely about to escape them.

Tobal returned a wan smile to the Jedi. He really didn't care where, just so long as they got there soon. He was beginning to feel the energy seep from his body. It wouldn't be long before he would have to be carried to his bed, a very humbling experience to be sure. One of the idiot doctors must have gotten some amount of Bacta on his skin, the reaction to the otherwise lifesaving substance was unmistakable.

"It's far more than the events of today that I need to recover from, Jedi," he said softly as they walked. Tobal kept his hand pressed to his side, the wound throbbed as his heart beat. He could feel the other Jedi through the Force; the man was a tidal wave of emotions. Curiosity, eagerness, shame, embarrassment, pride and even a little bit of anger flickered around. It was the usual mix for any sentient being, but that he was able to sense it so ... plainly ... surprised Tobal. This was a new development for him, being able to sense the passive force.

"Thank you for your help, Jedi," said Tobal as they stopped in a small set of rooms. "Perhaps we shall meet again soon."