Beyond - Legends Call and Answer : Post ROTJ. Vara Sol (OC), Jaden Korr, Rosh Penin, Kyle Katarn~ Updated 8/17

Note: I started a story with this OC set in 32 ABY but have found myself unsatisfied with leaving so much of her past unexplained as has happened with Lessons and Memories. So, I decided to change that by addressing the story of how she became a Jedi in greater detail than I had originally planned with my original story.

Timeframe: PostROTJ
Genre: Action, Adventure, Angst
Characters: Vara Sol (OC), Jaden Korr, Rosh Penin, Kyle Katarn, other characters as needed
Disclaimer: This universe I do not own, I just write in it. For the title, I was inspired by the Barenaked Ladies song Call and Answer- a debt that I fully acknowledge.

Summary: Guided by the vision of a life she never imagined and an instinctive skill in finding things, young Vara Sol turns her back on everything imagined and set in place for her since her birth for an unclear path. To join the Jedi and find her destiny will take her down a path both wonderful and perilous, but one that will ultimately lead her to her true destiny as the Findsman: a Jedi who listens to the Force and always answers its call.

---

Well, what do you think of the concept?

 

JK fiction is cool, and I've been waiting for someone to do something with Rosh.

Go for it.

 

First off, Happy Canada Day to all my fellow Canadians out there and ditto to everyone else for equal measure. Now, on with the Prologue.

Prologueiscovery in a field

---

[i]5 ABY[/i]

With her parents away, young Vara Sol was able to indulge in her favourite past-time of running out into the fields surrounding her home on Alpherides and finding objects (both lost and buried) as they struck her fancy. The girl couldn't completely explain how it was that she was able to find what her parents and the servants in their employ regarded as random junk though she had tried. As with Force Sight among the Miraluka, the ever consuming need and drive to find things was as much a relfex action as that unique ability was. Despite their continual frustrations and annoyance that the heiress of a great noble house shouldn't be interested in such an activity, the girl simply couldn't help herself and continued to do it anyways. She had simply learnt to be more discreet at concealing her finds and hid them in her own room, where she would lovingly clean, fix, and hide the random junk that she viewed as a great treasure. At seven standard years of age, she had learnt also of the need to try and control this impulse and attempted to wait until her parents left on business trips elsewhere in the Veil so that she could sneak away from her younger siblings and minders to freely roam the fields. Even if she was barely able to control her impulse, she knew that she had to if she wanted to have her fun at all.

On this particular day, the girl was carefully roaming the fields and felt a pull to location further from home than she had ever been before. The pull toward this object, whatever it was, was stronger than any pull she had felt in the past. It was the pull of something important, something that had been waiting to be found for a very long time. Stopping to tie her boots, which had come undone for the tenth time, she pushed a strand of curly red-brown hair out of her face and straightened the white cloth mask that covered her non-functioning eyes. She was getting closer to whatever it was that had called her here and she knew that she would soon find it. She also knew that she was heading in the direction of a forbidden place that her parents wouldn't want her anywhere near and if they found out about it, Lord and Lady Sol would likely order her confined to her room for the rest of her life.

Since the rise of the Empire, the ruins of an ancient Jedi center of learning had been largely off-limits and the Miraluka had avoided it out of necessity. Showing any interest in them had been taken by the Imperial governor to mean that a given 'trespasser' must be a Jedi or Jedi sympathiser as everyone knew that the Miraluka could all touch the Force effortlessly. Based on these assumptions, these unfortunate souls would then be summarily shot in front of a gathering of their peers to show as the Imperial governor put it: ' This is what happens to Jedi loving scum on my watch'. Having seen such an event just a week before, young Vara was somewhat conscious of the risks but at the moment they weren't foremost on her mind. At the moment, finding whatever was here was the girl's priority and the consequences were the last thing on her mind. She would likely deal with them when they came up anyhow.

She tried to move as quietly as possible and drew up the Force to do so. She had never tried this before but hoped that it would work; she needed to remain unseen if at all possible. At the center of the ruins was the object, whatever it was and it was buried. That was where she would find it and she quickly moved to acquire it. She dug as quickly as possible and luckily she didn't have to wait long to find it. It was a small metal cube, that fit easily in her small hands and as soon as she pick it up, it began to glow in a soft blue light that strangely made the young girl feel comforted and at peace in a way she had never felt before. Hearing something in the distance, Vara quickly pocketed the object before running way from the ruins

 

Chapter 1- Flight and Discovery

---

Commenor, 9 years later (14 ABY)

Rosh hadn't asked for this to happen, he really hadn't. The mission to Commenor was supposed to be a simple matter and serve as his Jedi trials, with his good friend Jaden Korr coming along to help out. Unfortunately, no one had thought to tell them about the swoop gang that was lead by a crazed man who seemed to be out for Jedi blood. Nor had they thought to tell them that he had a great love for explosives, which they had just seen put to use on the ship that they brought with them in retaliation probably for the raid they had carried out on the gang's warehouse. No, he really hadn't asked for that or what had happened next.

The young Corellian and his Kel Dor friend had soon been run out of the hanger where the remains of the ship sat by what seemed like an army of men and women on swoops, forced to separate in their attempt to confuse and escape from the gangsters. Jaden was lukcy: of the most recent recruits of the Order, he was probably the best duelist there was and his ability with two blades was a testament to his skill with a lightsaber. Rosh Penin however, wasn't quite as lucky as his good friend. He was good with a blade and could hold his own in a fight but with at least fifty crazed swoop bikers chasing him down an alley with blasters blazing, he knew that once they cornered him that he was done for. Jaden either had to double back soon to come and help his friend or someone else had to come bail him out. He momentarily calmed him self enough as he was able to dodge down a corner that he could reach out into the Force to call out for help.

[i]Help. Please. At least fifty of them...they have swoops and blasters. Please hurry![/i]

Rosh heard them start moving toward him again, knowing that his trick had failed to loose them for more than a minute. He started running again, hoping that someone had heard his call, preferrably Jaden or some other friendly Force-sensitive. He really didn't need any more Dark Jedi coming after him again either.


[hr]

A young woman, sixteen years of age though she looked a few years younger, examined the debris that scattered across Hanger 43-AA23 in the capital of Commenor. Two Jedi had been here within the last hour when someone, likely a man with a good number of henchmen had confronted them before they preceded to blow up their shuttle. More had soon arrived, forcing them to separate and flee for their lives from the crazed criminals. Not many would have been able to tell all this from the mere sight of the blackened wreckage, but then most didn't use the Force to track down such things either. [i]No wonder I felt drawn here. Looks like they could definitely use some sort of help. And I'm just the girl to provide it.[/i]

As she turn to examine the ground to get a feel for where they had gone, the willowy woman in blue heard a sharp cry from the Force, calling out for anyone to help. She looked around quickly and attempted to swiftly track back where the call had come from before unclipping her lightsaber and starting to run in the direction the call had come from.

As she ran, she heard the call repeatedly in her head and in spite of her nervousness at entering her first battle, she continued to run. Over and over again, the words repeated in her head.


[i]Help. Please. At least fifty of them...they have swoops and blasters. Please hurry![/i]


[hr]

The swoop bikers had finally cornered him in a dead end. He was as good as dead if help didn't hurry up and show itself. Rosh had sensed that someone was on their way but as to who they were, he wasn't quite sure on that one. He also knew that Jaden was on his way too- but he was further away than the other mystery help and still had a number of swoops on his tail. And just his luck too, it looked like the spice crazed or just plain crazed bikers wanted to have a little 'fun' before they killed him. Rosh unclipped his own lightsaber and ignited it, bringing its humming orange blade to life. If he was going to go down,

 

Here's the conclusion to Chapter 1. Hope you enjoy.

---

"I see you decided to start the fun without me Rosh. Whose your new friend with the blindfold?" a familiar voice rasped from behind him.

Rosh, being somewhat preoccupied with a viciously scarred woman who was trying to cleave a wicked looking vibroblade into his skull, nearly tripped into her with shock as he turned to notice that Jaden Korr had finally arrived. He kicked out at the woman trying to regain his balance and his old friend threw her into a nearby wall with the Force. Jaden truly had picked an inconveinent time to finally show up.

"No idea. She just showed up and she's been doing things with that 'saber that might even put you to shame Jaden. I'm just surprised that she can...I think she's blind or something." he shouted over the sound of the chaos around them.

"Probably the 'something'. Gotta be seeing somehow."

The Kel Dor Jedi noted that between the mystery woman and Rosh, the two had managed to at least half the numbers of the swoop bikers that had pursued Rosh for the better part of an hour. Not all of them were dead though; the mystery woman seemed to prefer amputation rather than outright taking a life if she could avoid it. [i]At least we're not dealing with a Dark Jedi then. Someone who thinks they're a Jedi though...wonder where the training came from.[/i]

Jaden decided that the fight had gone on long enough...they were getting tired from fighting so many crazed opponents and exerting themselves so much through the Force. If it went on for much longer, one of lunatics could get lucky and that could prove fatal or himself, Rosh, and even the mystery blind woman who had come to Rosh's aid. So, it was at that moment that he decided to use Force lightening to subdue the remaining swoop bikers. He reached out and blue lightening was released from his fingertips into the remaining swoop bikers. Rosh breathed a sigh of relief and disengaged his lightsaber and clipped it back on to his belt. The mystery woman did not...instead she brought her lightsaber up into a guard position and tightened her stance as she looked up at Jaden, regarding him as if she had clearly seen the Force lightening and viewed him as a potential threat for his use of it. Under most circumstances, she would have been right, given its association with dark side training. Jaden himself disengaged both of his lightsabers and clipped them back onto his own belt, opening his hands in an attempt to show that he wasn't the threat she seemed to think he was.

The woman relaxed her stance slightly but kept her saber engaged, its aqua marine blade casting an unearthly blueish glow over her light complexion and red-brown hair. Jaden couldn't get too much of a read off of her, her shielding was pretty strong. It was obvious that she had gotten some fairly decent training from somewhere and that she had probably had it from a relatively young age given that she looked to be maybe in her late teens at the most, possibly even younger.

For a few minutes, neither side made a move to the other: he and Rosh simply stood there staring at the armed mystery woman and she replied by simply staring back, as if trying to read them as well. Rosh soon tired of it and despite his friend's warning that this might be a bad idea, he stepped forward and offered her his left hand (the mechanical one, obviously as a 'just in case' scenario) to her as a hand shake of thanks. Ever so slightly, the woman lowered her saber and finally deciding for whatever reason to disengage the blade and clip it back on to her own belt. She then reached for the preoffered hand and shook it in return hesitantly, while never taking her gaze off of Jaden for one second.

"I guess I should really thank you. You really saved our nerf hides. My name's Rosh Penin, and that 'deviant' over there is Jaden Korr. Don't worry about the Force lightening, I promise, it's not what it looks like..."

"And what would that be," the woman finally spoke in perfect but strangely accented Basic,"because it looks li

 

Hmmm... Vara sounds like a Miraluka. (durr... guess I should've read the username) Interesting. Thought they all died out, wonder how she made it?

Great job with the start, and I'm not sure if you do pm's but will you please add me if you do?

Thanks, and fantastic job once again!

 

Definitely willing to do a PM list and add you to it. And good that you pick that up. Not sure how the Miraluka in the EU would have faired given Palpatine but I've given a little bit of an indication of how I think that would have went down with the mention of the Imperial governor in the prologue. That is survived but a lot of them randomly killed because of their inherent Force sensitivity. Glad you like it though and I should post Chapter 2 in a few days.

 

Sorry about not updating sooner, but real life can throw complications in the way sometimes. Anyways, I'm going to try for two chapters today for a double post in which Jaden and Rosh put the claims of the mystery woman to the test. Enjoy !

Chapter 2: Putting claims to the test

---

"My name is Vara Sol, of House Sol and I am a Jedi"

Jaden and Rosh were more than a little shocked to hear the woman's claim but through the Force, could tell that was what she truly believed. She definitely was skilled, as illustrated by the fight with the swoop bike gang, and knew the ways of the light side of the Force. But the lingering question remained as to where she had learned these skills- had she come across a Purge survivor who had taken it upon themselves to train her, had she experimented on her own and managed to learn (as improbable as that sounded), or had she found a holocron and trained that way. The possibilities were endless and they needed to get more information as to how to proceed in regards to this Vara Sol. They needed to test out her abilities; it was the only way to get the information that they needed. And they had just the way to do it.

Jaden was the Jedi Knight here, the senior ranking member accompanying his friend on his trials. So far, they had not gone as expected and Rosh was far from finishing them without help. Even with his help, the task was becoming more than both of them could handle. And here was another trained Force-sensitive who could help them, obviously ready and willing to do so. The trials also provide the perfect opprotunity to test their stranger and give them the chance to see if she really was what she claimed to be- a threat assessment if you will.

"That is good then. Rosh here is undergoing the trials but seems a little in over his head," which lead Rosh to give Jaden a dirty look for the comment," spice crazed swoop bikers would be a problem for anyone I guess, but you seem to handle yourself well. Mind helping out your fellow Jedi in a time of need?" he asked watching for the woman's reaction.

Vara Sol, if that was truly the teenager's name, gave them a slight look of surprise as if this request baffled her or made them seem like idiots. The look across her blind-folded face was matched by an equal wave of emotion that emerged from her heavy Force shielding. She never broke her sullen stance once as she spoke.

"That seems an odd request. I was taught that the trials worked another way...you two are nothing like the way I imagined the first Jedi I met would be like. It is a surprise that you aren't already dead quite frankly." she snorted in her assessment for them.

"But I will help you out as you ask. Perhaps it is the will of the Force that I help you, the will of the Force that drew me here. And a Jedi must always listen to the will of the Force."

The woman moved away from the wall and briskly moved to the debris left over from the fight as Rosh was about to confront her for her arrogant belief in her own superiority before Jaden held him back.

[i]She just insulted us, Kyle, Master Skywalker and the entire Order. How can you let her get away with that and let her help us?[/i]Rosh asked his friend through the Force.

[i]Going and doing something will only bring us down to her level. Let's just show her what it means to be a Jedi, earn her respect so that we can be rid of that attitude.[/i]

[i]Alright, but promise me one thing please. We'll try not to go back to Yavin with her on the same ship...I don't think I can take too much more of this.[/i]


[hr]

The woman, Vara as she called herself, immediately set to work examining the debris from the fight as if looking for unseen clues that only she could find. She spent a few minutes examining everything before looking up at her observers, who were simply a little unsure as to what she was doing. They had their own ideas of where to look for the base but hadn't set out yet as they were determined not to leave Vara Sol alone unobserved.

"What are you doing looking through that junk? W

 

Chapter 3: Claims Proven

---

[i]Four Hours Later[/i]

Just as Vara Sol had indicated, the swoop bikers' headquarters had been exactly where she had indicated. Jaden had finally asked her politely how it was that she found things when they had begun scoping the non-descript warehouse and the she quietly had answered.

[i]The same way that I see. Through the Force of course.[/i]

It was that comment that continued to dwell on their minds even after they had finally taken out the gang. [i]Through the Force[/i]. Both of them had heard of completely Force sensitive species that existed in the galaxy, of which there were only two that were only known to exist: the Miraluka and the Nelti. And as Vara Sol didn't look like a shape-shifting sentient plant, that meant that she probably was a member of the former rather than the latter. And the Miraluka it was said were only able to see through the Force, covering their non-functioning eyes with blindfolds and other concealing headgear. Vara Sol wore a blindfold of white cloth that covered where her eyes should be. It just fit too perfectly. But there was a bit of a problem...not many people had seen any of them since the rise of the Empire and the beginning of the Jedi Purges. As a Force sensitive species, they were apt to have been one of Palpatine's primary targets.

So, if that were the case, how had this one lived?

[hr]

After they had filled their report to Master Skywalker from a comm station at a cafe, Rosh had went to order them all caf before he and Jaden had to being making alternate transportation back to the Praxeum. The Kel Dor Jedi settled himself down in a chair across from the near-human woman, observing her through his silver eyes. She calmly stared back at him then slowly seemed to begin staring into space as she cracked her knuckles, waiting for Rosh to come back with their caf.

"So, I take it that you believe me now." she replied as she began tapping her long fingers against the metal table.

"Yes."

"Well that's reassuring. But you still don't trust me, do you?"

"I think I do. I have a few questions I would like to ask you though, if you don't mind."

She sighed, as if expecting this and leaned back in her chair. "Ask away."

"You're a Miraluka, aren't you? I thought you were all extinct."

"Yes and no. The Imps watched us really closely when the Empire controlled the Veil but they didn't engage in a systematic genocide if that's what you're thinking. They did install a governor though who thought that we were a race of Jedi sorcerers and found the need to make examples of what happened to people who sought to use their gifts above and beyond Force Sight. Or at least those he thought did. He reasoning was pretty sloppy too...he shot them for anything from looking at his fellow Imps the wrong way to investigating the ruins of ancient Jedi centres of learning...I nearly could have gotten shot for the latter when I was seven. Lucky for me though that the Battle of Endor intervened and Palpatine fried. They all pulled out of the Veil at that point and left us in peace, thank the Force."

It dawned on Jaden exactly how she must have come by her training at that point. She must have found a holocron and studied it. [i]Lucky indeed. Probably the will of the Force that you found it, just as it was that you came to Commenor when we did.[/i]he thought to himself.

"You found a holocron didn't you?" it was a simple statement of what seemed to be an unspoken fact.

"Yes."

"A Jedi Holocron, I take it."

"No, it was recorded by a herd of banthas. Of course it was a Jedi holocron! Why else would I claim to be a Jedi?" she spat sarcastically.

"Calm down. I meant no offence. So, you taught yourself with this holocron?"

"Yes. And you wouldn't believe how many scraps and dislocated shoulders I got from practicing lightsaber techniques at first. Took me two years before I was able to perfect the use of my natural agility and flexibility in conjunction with the katras. What you saw today is the final result of about 9 year

 

Excellent posts MJ! Far too many great parts for me to talk about them all.

I just had to say, though, that I really like Rosh's nickname.

Thanks for the pm!

 

PM list:
angrybendu1: Glad you like it. I think it should be pretty interesting when Vara comes across the Jedi at Yavin, which will be coming up soon. Especially given the history of one Jedi with a certain dark Jedi named Jerec...I've got an interesting twist with that one but I'm not telling yet.

Chapter 4: Rumors and Facts

---

"What did I miss?" was Rosh's first question when he arrived back at the table, interrupting Vara's story before she had even begun. Her face was enveloped by a frown of annoyance, somewhat to Jaden's amusement, at Rosh's eagerness to know what was going on. It was Rosh's way to be eager and curious...it was what made him such a good friend and Jedi. Vara Sol was different though- she was subtle, careful, reckless in her own way, and probably a little too arrogant for her own good. The qualities that came with a decent tracker and scout or cutthroat business executive. The personality clash was clearly evident.

The Miraluka breathed carefully, clearly attempting to control her annoyance with Rosh and what she probably considered as his 'attitude problem'. "Well, Indajite I was about to explain to your friend here how Miraluka become Jedi."

Rosh leveled her with his own frown of annoyance and replied, "Would you quit calling me that. How would you like it if I started calling you...Findsman. You know, the Gand ritual, all fog and searching for everything under the sun."

"I will stop calling you Indajite when you stop annoying me. And as for the Findsman thing, I will have to throttle you if you ever call me that in the presence of others. I'm a scout and tracker, not a bug." she cooly answered as she drank the steaming cup of caf.

Jaden had to admitt, it was rather amusing watching the two of them engage in their verbal duel. While to the unobservant eye, it might look that the two would never get on, he was quite sure that they would get on in time. He was even confident that they would probably soon agree on at least one thing, if one particular Jedi showed up at the academy: that neither of them would ever got on with Kyp Durron outside of a sparring ring. His reverie was interrupted when Vara finally began to lay out the facts for them.

First, she explained that most Miraluka, while Force sensitive, simply did not become Jedi because they either didn't have the desire to or their families refused to allow their children to be trained. Added to that obvious complication, there were further informal rules that determined who could be trained which necessitated an explanation of the oligarchic nature of Miraluka society. Each noble house, often contained multiple lines of descent in both the legitimate and illegitimate lines, she explained.

"What you have to understand above all is, that it is extremely rare for someone in my position to even be allowed to train and that doing so tends to break nearly all of these rules."

"How's that?" a sullen Rosh had asked.

"I am the first born daughter of the first line of House Sol, which means that I'm inherit the title Lady Sol and technically am expected to go into the family business. Because I'm the heiress so to speak, normally I wouldn't be allowed to train even if I wanted to. Members of the first ten lines of descent, who are the only ones allowed to bear the surname of the family, are also typically barred from serving as Jedi as well."

"So that leaves recruitment typically to illegitimate lines doesn't it? And that explains why you trained in secret." the Kel Dor said as he stroked his chin with a free hand.

"Precisely." she grinned before she downed the last of her caf.

They sat for awhile, seeming to wait for someone to say something. Rosh seemed to have something on his mind for most of that time, but didn't say anything until he too finished his caf. He was thinking hard and to avoid making too many mistaken assumptions, he had learnt to let it sit in his head until he was certain he knew what to say.

"If we take all that as a given, that all this makes you a special case, how in the nin

 

My apologies for not posting sooner...the muse has been rather inconsistent with this piece lately but it's back now. Here's the last part of Chapter 4 and if there are any lurkers out there, don't be shy. Please post and tell me what you think.

---

"You're kidding, right. I mean, who does that but kids who dream of running away to the intergalactic circus?" Rosh laughed as he barely avoided spitting out the caf he was drinking.

He clearly thought that the whole affair of the 'poor little rich girl' running away from home came from one of those fairly bad holodramas that many watched simply for a good laugh. Unlike those arenas of bad acting, this was very real and the teen sitting before them was fairly unimpressed with the young Corellian thinking that her life was funny in any way. Jaden would remember the look on her face and what she said next for many years afterward, ever willing to bring it up to try and keep the two of them from getting into any truly heated arguments.

"Yes, Indajite, I am aware of how it sounds and I clearly recognise now at any rate that it likely was a really stupid move to do what I did. But I still didn't have much of a choice."

"Really?"

"Yeah," the Miraluka groaned as she cracked her knuckles in frustration, "really. My parents decided to speed up their plans a little bit, so I had to accelerate mine. So, I took my own transport and droid, making a run for it. Then I ended up here on Commenor saving one helpless and might I add ungrateful Jedi, as well as his polite friend from death and dismemberment at the hands of a bunch of spiced-out, crazed thugs with blasters and vibroblades."

Rosh seethed for a little bit before he was unable to hold back anymore and started a shouting match with the young woman, who eagerly took part in trading insults and matching wits. Jaden was about to step in a break it up when he thought of something...Vara said she had a ship. A ship, which he and Rosh could use to take them back to Yavin, something that the young woman would eagerly do to find a way to complete her training. While he was himself personally unhappy with her running away from home and Rosh would be less than pleased with being stuck in a ship with her for any long amount of time, it was the only option they had for getting back in view of their own dwindling supply of credits. It had to work- it needed to work or else they might be stuck here for awhile until the credits they needed were transferred to the right accounts.

"You said you had a ship right?" he asked, interrupting the latest tirade.

"Yes. You need a ride I take it?"

"Yeah, if you wouldn't mind. It would be the perfect opprotunity for you to find someone to finish your training. Probably would really look good for your chances too if you presented that holocron of yours to Master Skywalker either."

She thought about that for a moment before answering. "Alright, the [i]Watchman[/i] can easily accomodate a few more passengers. I've also got an old friend interested in training too, so I'll have to contact him first with the corrdonents before we take off. And you keep him," pointing with a emphasis at a still angry Rosh,"away from me and we'll have a deal."

"You've got it." the Kel dor offered his hand, which Vara took and shook firmly, sealing the deal.

"Come to that, where exactly are we going? I don't think you mentioned that yet." she stated evenly as she got up from her seat.

"Yavin 4. Not a problem with that is there?"

"Not really. You do know that was one of Exar Kun's old hideouts though don't you?"

"Yeah, but that's not a problem anyways. First class of Knights destroyed his spirit a long time ago." Jaden rasped.

"Alright. So long as you know. My ship is this way. And try not to touch anything, I'm rather protective of her, taken that I've got everything set up just the way I like it and all."

With that they proceeded to the docking area, Jaden doing everything in his power to keep the two combatants apart. He hoped that his initial conclusion that they woul

 

Great posts! It was good to get the backstory on Vara.

I just hope she doesn't kill Rosh before the next post!

 

angrybendu1: Don't worry, Vara's not going to kill Rosh. I'll probably find some way of having them finally get along before I get them to Yavin.

I plan on updating within the next few days and we'll find out who this old friend of Vara's is and what is pushing him to following her to become a Jedi. I'm likely going to do a double post at that point to try and catch up with where I want to be with this fic unless real life gets in the way. Hope to hear from more of you out there if you're reading.

 

Chapter 5: Arrival

---

The journey to Yavin IV had been for the most part a quiet one. Neither Vara or Rosh had seemed very interested in resuming their earlier tirade against each other, prefering to quietly contemplate their own thoughts or occaisonally talk to Jaden. Vara for the most part seemed to be above all focused upon her ship, [i]the Watchman[/i], seemingly to the point of being willing to give her life for the small but heavily modified freighter. The only points of tension during the voyage had indeed come from her over-protectiveness of her ship, especially when Rosh, in his inherent curiousity, began to poke around it.

One such instance had involved the ship's lights, which somehow were connected by Vara to various sensors or alarms for one reason or another. Rosh had inadvently ended up changing their settings one night, setting off a loud and insistent alarm which sent the young Miraluka into a a tirade that neither of them understood completely. It did however mark the beginning of lessons in Miralukese curses, which young Sol rang off as she furiously grabbed a tool kit and began to fix whatever it was that had been done to her ship.

"Didn't I tell you not to touch my ship?" was her first question after she had finished her work.

"Yeah, but your kriffing settings with the lights leave a lot to be desired. So I fixed it, then the stupid alarms went off. Why the hell would someone tie in the alarms to the lighting anyways?" he fumed back.

"Two reasons. One, no one expects that it would be done, making it harder for some flastaned thief to try and make away with it without me knowing. Second, the way in which you have to tie it in makes it harder to modify, making it easier to track it down and just ticks them off. That's why." she grumbled while jambing him with her index finger.

"You know, some would say that's a sign of paranoia." he shouted back.

"I prefer the term careful thanks. Indajite."

With that she swept from the room, mumbling in Miralukese under her breath in yet another string of curses.

They seldom argued, thankfully for Jaden and were showing gradual signs of getting along better. It also began to seem they were less likely to kill each other. By the time they reached Yavin, they had settled into an uneasy state of toleration which the Kel Dor easily embraced. Much better than having them constantly arguing and potentially trying to do rash things to the other. Much better.

[hr]

The muse has suddenly left me again, so I'll try to finish with this chapter ASAP. We're reaching the crucial point in the story with the arrival of Vara at Yavin and her encounter with more members of the Jedi Order other than Rosh and Jaden. As soon as it comes back to me, I'll post it. I just want to make sure this is done right.