Before <(*-*)> Wounds of the Heart <(*-*)> Yoda/Jedi Council 83 BBY

Very much, only Obi-Wan's are just attunement to the Force while Tonan's are from his condition.

The next part is just about ready!

PART NINE

The members of the Council regarded each other with tired looks, as if calling on one another
for patience. True, the man who stood before them as he had so many times before was a friend,
but he also had a history that could not easily be ignored. Only two of the members, Yoda and
Delana Merrin, put any stock at all in what Tonan was saying. They glanced uneasily at each
other, as if exchanging identical thoughts. Tonan had been right once before. What if he was
right again?

Tonan had finished the interpretation of his latest vision rather breathlessly and said no more as
he waited for the members of the Council to react. He did not see the look that passed between
Master Merrin and Yoda, so assumed it would be as it had been all the other times. He would
once more be ignored.

As expected, the dark-skinned Zabrak sitting three places to the left of Yoda eyed the Jedi
suspiciously. ?What are you implying, Tonan Reiss??

Tonan chewed his lip for a moment. ?I believe that the attacker of Selia Makay was trained in
the Jedi arts?trained in the Dark Side.?

?A Sith lord, you think this is?? asked Yoda.

?No, Master Yoda,? Tonan said quickly. If he, a mere teacher of academic subjects, declared
he knew of a Sith before the Council did, he may as well have stayed in the Infirmary and
allowed himself to be put into a coma.

?What, then, could account for an attacker who has been specifically trained in the Dark Side??
Delana wanted to know.

?Mmm. Questions, this raises, Tonan Reiss. Where did he learn these skills? How did he
acquire a lightsaber??

?And most importantly, who trained him?? put in the Zabrak.

Tonan sighed. ?I don?t know, Masters. All I know is what I sensed. Ask Master Drucani and
her apprentice. I?m sure they?d collaborate.?

?Unfortunately Master Drucani is unavailable for a further ten days,? informed a human male.

Tonan closed his eyes for a moment, asking the Force for patience. ?But Masters, if there is a
new danger involving the Dark Side, shouldn?t it be put to an end before another Jedi falls victim
to it??

The human shrugged. ?This is conjecture. We don?t know this man is targeting the Jedi as a
whole. According to you, he was specifically going after Selia. Aparrently he found what he was
looking for. As such, I think he?s no longer a threat.?

?But someone using the Dark Side-?

?That has not been proven, Tonan. All we have are your??visions?, as you call them, to go by.
And, if I may, they have not been very reliable.?

?Exceptions, there are, to every rule,? Yoda reminded.

Seeing Tonan?s downcast expression, Delana once again spoke up. ?Assuming what you say is
true and there is a new Dark Side threat out there?what would you have us do about it??

Tonan looked up reluctantly. ?Well..send a pair of Jedi to investigate.?

Delana continued. ?Even if we knew where to look, which we do not, and we knew who we
were looking for, which we also do not, who would you have us send? Most of our Jedi are out
on very important missions and, at the moment, we have none to spare.?

The Jedi standing in the center of the room shifted his feet around nervously. He knew exactly
what the answer would be to his next suggestion, but it was worth a shot anyway. ?Well?I
know Selia could not go alone, as she?s still an apprentice, but?since I know her well now??

The Zabrak frowned. ?No. Absolutely out of the question. You know very well why those
restrictions were placed on you, Tonan Reiss.?

Master Merrin sighed and closed her eyes for a few moments before regarding her friend with
sympathy. ?Tonan, we know of your work with Selia, and have no problem with it. She?s been
without direction since the loss of her master. You have provided her with one. However? the
restrictions stand. I?m sorry.?

Tonan nodded, but there was something new and unsettling written in his eyes-defiance.

The human male saw this and spoke a word

More trouble to come, JUST BRILLIANT
cant wait for the next post

Here's a teaser for Part Ten!

PART TEN
Tonan Reiss sat at the controls, working them expertly. A breathless Selia met him in the
cockpit.

?Master Reiss, What are you doing?? she asked.

Tonan didn?t answer. He kept his eyes on the vewscreen and his hands on the controls.

Selia felt fear close her throat. What was wrong with her friend? ?Master Reiss, you know
you?re not allowed to go off-planet.?

Tonan nodded.

?Then why are you doing this? Don?t you know what the Council will do when they find you??

?I don?t care.?

Tonan?s mode of speech and determined actions worried Selia. She stood beside him and tried
to see his face, which he kept turning away. ?I care. What is so important that you would defy
the Council??

Tonan?s face twisted into a grimace. He sighed, hung his head, then looked up at Selia, looking
her in the eye. ?I don?t know. I can?t explain it right now, but?can?t you trust me??

There was something unsettling in Tonan?s eyes, but at the same time, something that made
Selia curious and a little frightened. But she would get nowhere with Tonan unless he felt he
could trust her. Finally she nodded, letting her shoulders go limp. ?All right. I trust you.?

A brief look of relief settled on Tonan?s face and he nodded toward the copilot?s seat. ?Sit
down.?

Selia obeyed, buckled into her crash webbing, and stared uneasily at the stars. She looked
worriedly at the controls. Already a Jedi was admonishing them, telling them to turn back, but
Tona deftly switched off the comm and tapped coordinates into the navicomputer before easing
back on the controls.

Stars stretched into starlines and the ship leapt into hyperspace.

I NEED TO KNOW MORE
what happens, god you leave me hanging

cant wait for the next part

Muwahahahaha! I love keeping people in suspense!

Glad you like it, Tevase! Don't worry, you won't have to wait anymore, because here's Part 10!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The cockpit was silent for a long while. It was even longer before Selia turned to look at
Tonan, who looked almost as if he had fallen asleep, with his forehead resting on his palm. Selia
knew he was remorseful about disobeying the Council, but the question remained- why? She
moistened her lips and cleared her throat. ?Master Reiss??

Tonan raised his head to look at her.?Yes, Selia??

?Why did you bring me on the ship??

Tonan sighed and leaned back in the his seat. She might as well know- it wasn?t any use
keeping the secret any longer. ?Do you remember when I told you about the dreams I have
sometimes? The nightmares??

Selia nodded slowly. Yes, she remembered well.

?For the past month or so, I haven?t had any?I?ve been able to sleep well for the first time in
years?until the other night.? He closed his eyes and inhaled shakily. ?I?m not sure exactly what
it was, but?I saw a shadow?and it was with two other shadows. You were fighting them,
trying to keep them back, but-? Tonan shook his head. ?The shadow was the man at Ilum. I?I
think he?s trained two apprentices.?

Selia was about to protest, but didn?t want Tonan to clam up if she spoke her doubts. ?Are you
sure??

?About the apprentices, no. About the man? Positive. It was the same cold feeling on
Ilum?the same darkness.? He suppressed a shudder.

Selia felt a chill run down her spine. The coldness, she remembered. It had gone even deeper
than the coldness of Ilum had. But who could train apprentices in the Dark Side? Selia already
knew the answer, and she did not like it. ?Have the Sith reemerged??

Tonan shook his head. ?I don?t know. But if there are two more dark Side users, something has
to be done.?

?Why haven?t you told the?? Selia?s voice drifted off and she had answered her own question.

?They wouldn?t listen,? said Tonan grimly. ?A decision had to be made.?

?Why didn?t you just go alone??

?I can?t take on three Dark Side users on my own. I need help.?

?But why me? There must be someone better qualified to take on three-? Selia shuddered. ?-
Sith.?

Tonan regarded her sadly. ?You were the only one who would believe me.?

Selia?s stomach knotted, and she sighed. Nothing could be more true-or more frightening. If
Tonan was right- and Selia had had little reason to doubt her friend thus far- they could be
heading into mortal danger. ?So?.where are we headed??

?Remember the day in the Archives??

Suddenly Selia was alert. ?The Tapani Sector??

Tonan nodded. ?The Tapani Sector.?

Selia?s eyes grew round. ?But the Tapani Sector has seven provinces, and each of those have
several systems on their own. How will you know where to look??

At this question, Tonan seemed thoughtful. ?I?m not sure?but I?ve decided to let the Force
guide me.?

Selia leaned back wearily in her seat. If Tonan got some harebrained idea of visiting every
single planet in the whole sector, this could be a very long trip.

Hyperspace could be an exceedingly dull place to be, Selia decided, if one did not have
anything to occupy one?s mind with. Since the hold of the transport was far too small to practice
her saber skills, Selia decided to focus on her meditation. Tonan claimed a headache (though not
the kind that troubled him), so he had left the ship on autopilot and gone aft to take a quick nap.
Selia, as a result, had the main compartment to herself. Despite no distractions from the ship,
Selia found she couldn?t concentrate. Memories of her master kept returning to her. They had
been fading in the six months since his death, and that troubled her. Selia ventured deep into her
own consciousness to find them again?

She remembered being brought to Coruscant at the ?old? age of six, having no connect

An idea you say,
good chapter, very good

Since I'm a brat I'm going to post only the first half of part 11, muwahahahaha! Actually, Part 11 is pretty long (9 pages in Word!), so that's why I'm going to post it in sections.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PART 11, SECTION 1/2
Landing did not pose any problems. Reena?s spaceport security- along with most of Reena- had
a high opinion of the Jedi and promised to keep a close watch on the ship. Tonan thanked them
briskly before he and Selia made their way toward House Reena. The problem then was finding
out where Jhey-Den?s old friend was. Inquiring about him directly did little, and Reena?s people
were intelligent enough that Jedi mind tricks didn?t do any good. They were polite about it, but
both Tonan and Selia sensed that there was something else behind their elusiveness besides just
wanting to protect the aristocracy.

Some time later, in the late afternoon, Selia and Tonan stood outside the main gate, discussing
what to do next.

Selia shuffled her feet. ?Well, you didn?t exactly expect them to show us in, did you??

Tonan shook his head. ?Not really.? He began strolling down the city street. The two Jedi
received several polite bows and remarks of ?Good day to you, honored Jedi?, but otherwise went
unnoticed. Selia was wondering what they were going to do next when she noticed Tonan stop in
his tracks. He smiled and turned to the younger Jedi. ?When in doubt,? he said, ?check the
library.?

Selia followed his gaze and started. Just ahead was the famed Reena University. It was well-
known throughout the galaxy for its? courses, students, and of course its? extensive library. ?Will
they let us in?? she wanted to know.

Tonan nodded. ?The library is open to the public. Come on,? he said, striding toward the
entrance. ?Let?s see if we can find out anything about Reena?s elusive Baron.?

The library lived up to its? reputation. Books of every description, including old leather-bound
volumes and some ancient scrolls, lined shelf after shelf. The material books were to be handled
by trained preservation workers only, but they were being meticulously copied onto datapads for
general use. As extensive as the amount of information was, however, it did not make finding the
correct information any easier. They skimmed, scanned, read, and set aside one holo-book after
another for a long time. Not knowing the name of the baron didn?t help. There was plenty of
information about the aristocracy, but most of it went back several generations.

After nearly two hours, Selia was just about ready to quit. She slouched tiredly in a desk chair
and sighed. ?So much for that idea.?

Tonan stubbornly shook his head. ?Just because we haven?t found anything yet doesn?t mean
we should give up.?

?Master Reiss, I doubt we will find anything.? Selia regarded her friend sadly. ?We?ve gone
through every single history of Reena?s Barons- twice! While several users of lightfoils popped
up, there wasn?t a single mention of anyone who was force-sensitive.?

?I know.? Tonan sat down hard beside the younger Jedi. ?It?s so odd, though. In the most
recent records, there?s an obvious gap between barons. It seems to me that something must have
happened to get this particular Baron ousted and then erased from the history books.?

?Must have been pretty bad,? remarked Selia. ?The infighting among Tapani nobles was
almost to the point of being ridiculous. The only two things that would warrant a banishment
were patricide and fratricide- and there?s no record of that for the missing timepoints.?

Tonan?s shoulders fell. Selia was right. The man was all but invisible. If they couldn?t find
anything here?he sighed. They might as well give up. But he hated to give up! That would
mean coming all this way, disobeying the Jedi Council, and bringing Selia into it for nothing.
But surely, there had to be something, some sort of record or news-

The Jedi straightened in his chair. Of course! News! To

A hidden door, this is getting exciting.
cant wait for 11 part 2

BRILLIANT CHAPTER

Heeere's the second half!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PART 11, SECTION 2/2
Selia couldn?t keep from shivering as they entered the musty cavern. Not only was this side of
the planet growing cold with the coming of nightfall, but the feeling of the Dark Side permeated
everything so strong that her very soul was chilled. Her fear grew with every step. It threatened
to overwhelm her until she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. Selia flinched, but when Tonan
looked back at her with a cautious, yet encouraging look in his green eyes, Selia let out a
shuddering breath.

Tonan nodded. ?That?s better. Breathe?feel the Force?listen to it.?

Selia closed her eyes, breathing deeply. The chill was pervasive, however, and she had to fight
to keep it back.

?Remember the Code, Selia?? asked Tonan. He wanted to get her mind off her surroundings
and back where it belonged- on the Force. ??There is no emotion??

?There is peace,? finished Selia.

?Right. ?There is no ignorance-?

?There is knowledge.? Selia let out the breath she had been holding as she and Tonan recited
what they had learned by rote since they were younglings. With every line she felt her tension
drain away. ?There is no passion; there is serenity. There is no death; there is the Force.?

Tonan was gratified that Selia had once again regained her courage. She would need it, if past
history told them anything about the temperament of this Baron Lanith.

The passage grew darker and mustier with every step. Selia stumbled over a pile of debris, and
it became clear that Tonan?s glowrod was going out. He shook it irritably as it began to blink.
Then the Jedi were plunged into blackness.

Selia took in a sharp breath. She had never been in such darkness before. It was almost
suffocating. She couldn?t even see her hand directly in front of her face. Tonan?s calming hand
touched her shoulder once more.

?At least we have our lightsabers,? he amended. Two blades sprung to life with the
characteristic hum. Then, it almost seemed as though there was an echo, because two more
lightsabers were activated directly behind them.

Had Tonan reacted any later, he would have lost his life. As it was, he had to raise his
lightsaber high to deflect the bright blue blade. Selia reacted at the same moment and deflected
an acid-yellow blade. The sabers clashed and sparked, and in the explosion of light, Tonan and
Selia could finally take a look at their attackers.

The blue was held by a young man with shoulder-length blond hair, half pulled back in a
ponytail, thick, muscular arms, and an angry, yet sorrowful look on his face. The yellow blade
was wielded by a young woman, just a touch older than Selia, with a thick black braid extending
to her waist. Both were clothed in black with their muscular arms exposed and looked very
athletic otherwise. Selia couldn?t see any more because the darkness obscured the rest and the
other young woman was already slashing at her arm?then her leg?then her head.

The young Padawan moved faster than she ever had before. She didn?t even have time to
wonder where the attackers had come from, why they were attacking in the first place, or what
had happened to Tonan. She could see the duel of green on blue out of the corner of her eye and
it was impossible to see who was gaining the upper hand.

The female then lashed out with a quick series of side and crescent kicks. Selia was able to
dodge the first two, but the last landed square on her jaw, knocking her backwards several feet.
Selia was stunned, but quickly spat out a mouthful of blood and got back on her feet just in time
to deflect another blow with her lightsaber. She didn?t even think about trying to attack- she was
occupied with just blocking. Her senses told her someone was behind her. She knew it was
Tonan, and took another step backwards until she felt the brush of his tunic. Jedi and Jedi fought
back to the bac

They're dead,
This is getting more exciting as we go on

Who's dead? I know the three Dark-Side users are dead, but....

Oh, are you worried about Tonan and Selia when they get back to Coruscant? Well, they did disobey the Council...

Again, Part 12 needs some more polishing and I'm going to be uber-busy this week...so it probably won't be up until July.

It's finished!




PART TWELVE
The quiet Reenan librarian had snuck a small flask with an alcoholic beverage into work and
had been drinking from it all day, but he still couldn?t believe his eyes when he saw the two Jedi
he had seen go into the same area of the library not fifteen minutes before, come out bruised,
battered, and accompanied by two other Jedi. His mouth fell open when another two Jedi spoke
with the four, then ran back to where they had come from. He looked uneasily at the flask he had
been sipping from, then tossed it away and decided to leave work early.

The trip back to Coruscant was a quiet one. Once the ship had jumped to hyperspace and
Delana had administered first aid to her injured comrades, Kayna could not stop asking
questions. They stopped quickly when her master gave her a stern look.

Selia?s injury was anything but severe, but she submitted to be taken directly to the Infirmary
with Tonan, who was far worse off. He appeared to be asleep during the ride home, but Selia
wondered if he was just giving up. She hoped not. She vowed to keep an eye on him for as long

as she could, even if it meant staying in the Infirmary longer than necessary. Unfortunately once
the cut on her stomach had been wrapped in bacta bandages, she was escorted out and was told
to remain in her quarters until the Council sent for her. She had a feeling she knew what would
happen to her when they did. What worried her was Tonan.

Meanwhile, Tonan had been treated with a full bacta immersion and lay in convalescence. It
had been nearly five hours since their arrival back at Coruscant. In that time he had been treated
and thoroughly interrogated. He answered every question truthfully while doing his best to keep

Selia out if it. He knew he couldn?t keep her from punishment entirely, but his goal was to at
least keep her in the Order. He didn?t even care about himself anymore. He knew what the price
for his rescue of Selia would be, and had accepted it. What surprised him was the fact the
Healers had not just knocked him out straight off.

A group of Jedi approached, making Tonan turn his head to look. Five healers in their
characteristic blue tunics were coming. Tonan knew what they were there for. He lay back down
and closed his eyes, offering up one last plea to the Force that Selia would not have to suffer for
his actions.

Selia, allegedly resting in her quarters, could not stop pacing as the hours passed. She felt
betrayed. It wasn?t fair! Tonan had been right all along- he had saved her life and the lives of
who knew how many Jedi by stopping the Baron. Yes, he had disobeyed orders while doing so,
but didn?t all those rules have to end somewhere?

An image of Tonan quietly accepting his fate and never awakening again entered her mind,
making anger flash up quickly. She briefly gave in to it and slammed the door with her elbow,
fist, and foot until her bad leg gave out and she slid to the floor, her shoulders heaving with her
sobs. She cried without restraint, because even as her anger faded, loneliness took over. She had
already lost her Master. Now she was going to lose her closest friend.

Sobs became gasps, which became whimpers, which in turn became hiccups. Neither Tonan
nor Jhey-Den would want her to be like this. Neither would want her crying on their behaf- and
neither would want her to be angry. Struggling because of her hiccups, Selia closed her eyes and
took in a deep, shaky breath. She held it for a count of ten before letting it out again, then took in
another, and another.

Her hiccups left. Peace and calm returned, and with them a quick feeling of guilt for giving in
to her anger. Selia quickly brushed the latter away as the Force informed her someone was at the
door. She opened her eyes as the person knocked.

At the door was none other than Young Qui-Gon Jinn. His eyes were also red from tears, but
they held a look of disbelief and confusion. ?Um?Padawan

well i suppose that librarian now knows to stay away form the bad stuff
brilliant ending cant wait for the next thing u write