And indeed soon after Kamon spoke his greetings, the bent, hobbling figure of Arix materialized from out of the dense cover the undergrowth of the forest provided. He appeared old, bent, and altogether disgruntled. One could hardly believe that he was little over thirty.

Good evening to you, Prince Kamon Vondiranach. And also...ah yes. Most interesting. It has been quite some time since I have had the pleasure of running into you, Kahn.

The Rogue Jedi spoke through the Force, choosing rather to slingshot his thoughts into the others' minds. As Arix took a glance around, he gave no sign of noticing that it was most definitely not evening, but quite clearly daytime.

On my way here I could not help but eavesdrop on your conversation about my former master, Amalia Azalin. And, assuming I heard rightly, you, Kamon, went on to say that she has fallen to the Dark Side. Is this all correct?

Not even allowing but a few seconds for them to respond, he continued as if their expressions had told him everything.

That is sorrowful news, my friends. Unfortunately, I have not been in contact with any humans for quite a while. In spite of common sense, I cannot help but feel a sense of...guilt. Maybe if I had been around more...

He broke off, and Kamon spoke up a few seconds later.

"You feel that?"

Arix nodded.

It is Malice Dracleu. No Kamon, my senses are no stronger than yours, but I passed on the edge of the city he currently is located in but an hour or so ago, and his presense is stronger and easier to read there. He has made no intention of cloaking it, either because of his foolish pride or...because of the fact that he is quite drunk...

Fallen to the Dark Side? Damn, I never should have left. . .

The Jedi Master's expression seemed to darken for a moment, but it was hard to say whether it was just a trick of the light, or one's imagination.

He was not overly concerned with Malice's presence; he'd dealt with the Sith before often enough, so that the both of them knew well how far they could push one another, knew each other's fighting style- it was hardly a challenge any more, though Malice seemed to feel it was almost his obligation to engage the Jedi Master in a duel whenever they crossed paths. And a duel was not something Kahn wanted right now, not now when his life was complicated enough.

"Indeed, time has passed since we last met, Arix. Perhaps too much time."

Curiously, he didn't pursue the topic of Amalia's chosen path any further, almost as though he were afraid to hear more. Instead, he set his gaze on the horizon, focused on something that wasn't quite in view.

"I sense Malice as well; we have a history of sorts. If he's drunk, he may be too intoxicated to cause trouble. . .or just the opposite."

Kamon shook his head.

"I suspect he wants us to come to him. Not to fight, but to talk. Strange. I've never felt that before. not even from my brother."

He shrugged and looked at the other two. He had just noticed that Arix had said good evening instead of good day. it was in the middle of the day by Naboo time. It struck him as odd that Arix would make such an oversight. He wondered what was going on.

"Why did you say good evening instead of good day, Arix? It's the middle of the day."

Day? Are you sure? It looks quite dark to me, Kamon Vondiranach.

With another gaze around the area, Arix shrugged. His head slowly arched back toward the city. The hood rendered his expression unreadable to the two Jedi Masters, so any emotions he felt went unnoticed unless the Jedi probed his brain.

Are you sure, Kahn? He felt very intoxicated. I'm not sure he even remembers his name anymore....but it is the only town for miles....and its the only major one for even twice that.

Arix's right hand grasped tighter upon his staff, his left moves to help lighten the load. He then stood up a little straighter, as if shrugging some great load off of his back. His hand began moved instinctively toward his empty belt, but he checked the motion.

Damaged in a duel with a lesser Sith, Arix had been able to collect the shards of the crystal and imbue them into the staff he now used as a walking stick. Force runes running all around the sides, it also had many other powers that the mere lightsaber did not possess. It was his greatest peak in the Force. The only problem with that was, it could only go downhill after that.

Well...the road is long, and the evening is fast fading into nightfall. Let us begin, or have you two not completed your acquaintances?

Naboo: Jedi Academy Living Quarters.

Donovin cautiously entered into her room, his eyes falling onto a rather unkempt room.

He should have noticed the signs then. She never left anything unkempt, always nice and tidy.

He'd never seen her unorganized, ever.

Why didn't you come talk to me? Why didn't you come look for someone...

He knew why, she had too much pride.

Now she was gone, somewhere that wasn't.. here.

You can't run away from your heart..

He knew she would be back; after all, it was here on Naboo that her heart belonged.

He set to tidying up the woman's room, wishing that she were taking care of things instead.

The Jedi Master frowned for a moment, not exactly relishing the idea of meeting up with Malice- their past encounters were not the most pleasant, and Kahn wasn't sure if he was quite ready to engage in conversation with the Sith- even if he was drunk, as usual.

However, Kahn reasoned that the reason he'd returned from Tatooine was because he was ready to begin living again, and that meant facing his problems once more. So, he turned his gaze towards the horizon, in the direction of the town.

"No, I believe we've both had ample time to acquaint ourselves, Arix. Let's go."

The three Jedi started walking towards the town, a silence falling between them; Kahn mused to himself, not entirely focused on the task at hand. That his own Master had fallen to the Dark Side- he never would have believed it, had he not sensed it himself before he left Naboo a few months earlier. Amalia was the woman who brought him to the Light, in a time when all he could see was Darkness. She'd always been the one who never wavered, while he fell several times, a source of guilt that had never left him. Maybe this was his punishment, for not being a good enough Padawan- after all, he should have been there for her, not so caught up in his own troubles that he didn't even notice Amalia falling until it was too late. . .but he could do nothing for that at this point- perhaps after they encountered Malice, he could try to find some way to mend what bond had been broken. . .but that would be a difficult thing to do, if Amalia had no wish to see that bond reforged.

Picking through the items sprawled through her room, Cole stored the things he knew of that had their place.

For a brief moment, his hand hovered over one of the Jedi's more private items; it sat underneath her dresser drawer.

Such a private thing was never meant to be left out in the open for just any prying eye, but there it rested.

Her journal.

Something itched at Donovin to pick up the journal and read it. She'd left the writing book unlocked; perhaps she had been too preoccupied with something else at the time to even get the chance to close it up.

He didn't read it, quickly placing the item upon her desk right after closing it up safely.

After a while Donovin gave up on his endeavors, the room in too much of a cluttered state for him to even try and make it somewhat presentable.

He wished she were back on Naboo. He had good news to share with her, news that he knew, despite her own hardships, would bring a radiant smile to her lips.

I sure do miss your smile.

He smiled then, thinking about her.

Giving one last thorough check through of her room, he then exited the building to make his way into town.

He had a few supplies to pick up.

Kamon followed the duo with a silence unbecoming of him. He was rarely silent among fellow Jedi. Especially in this day and age when their numbers had thinned so badly it was rare to come across a fellow Jedi. Even if the person was not of them same order it was rare. One could hear about the exploits on Ossus but one hardly ever saw the enemy elsewhere.

"Kahn, what do you suppose he wants to talk about? I'm picking up the fact that he is intoxicated. Do you suspect trouble?"

He followed directly to Kahns left with Arix on the other side of their fellow Jedi. Kahn seemed determined and almost a bit distant. Kamon was surprised the man didn't want to talk that much. he'd been away from Jedi for a very long time. And what about Arix? There was something odd about him too. Kamon was a bit mixed up.

"From my experience with Malice, trouble is often a given."

Kahn quietly responded, his brow creasing in a light frown.

"I don't know what he wishes to discuss, but in the past, our confrontations have consisted of Malice trying to convince me to leave the Light, then becoming upset and rather violent when I refuse."

Or maybe, just maybe, the Sith would have some more information about Amalia. . .

As much as it hurt Kahn to envision his Master giving in to the Dark Side, he wanted- no, he needed to know more.

The Jedi were close to the town now, near enough that the tips of a few buildings could be seen in the distance.

He waited until the small group of Jedi all passed him by before choosing to reveal his presence by way of the force.

The Zabrak had a meeting with Kahn, whether the Jedi Master knew it or not.

Kahn had questions.. Zeta had answers.

Zeta's thoughts reached out to Kahn, no tone of threat, just opinion.. strangely enough.

You're looking in all the wrong places..

If Kahn chose to seek the Zabrak out right then and there, he'd find nothing but Zeta's force signature to greet him.

Kahn was not ready to hear what Zeta had to say.