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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Before - Legends The Blue Side of the Force: Book I- Complements (6/14 -An unknown planet and an ACTUAL NEW CHAPTER)

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction- Before, Saga, and Beyond' started by Commander-DWH, Aug 15, 2005.

  1. obi_webb

    obi_webb Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 4, 2005
    FINALLY!!=D= something new for me to read!
    the more i read the more i enjoy Leiraya! i've never heard of a pacifist correlian jedi padawan before! she makes for some very interesting reading.
    at first i was a little dissapointed that we didn't see much of Aiden, but now i don't mind at all. heck, i think i'm just as or more curious to read more Leiraya!
    her and carth will be fun pair to watch!
    oh, and i love the way you wrote vrook and vandar!(the underwater basket weaving line was priceless!) that was the first vandar i read that didn't sound like a YODA clone.
    so as usual, great job and i look forward to more!
     
  2. RK_Striker_JK_5

    RK_Striker_JK_5 Force Ghost star 7

    Registered:
    Jul 2, 2003
    Man, Carth and Leiraya were so cute there!

    I didn't like the grilling that Master gave her. Arrogant fool. I hope he gets either gutted or electrocuted...
     
  3. Commander-DWH

    Commander-DWH Manager Emeritus star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 3, 2003
    JadeSolo: The ring, actually, can probably be gotten somewhere. I picked it up at a local art fair. Initially, I got it because the mobius is such a nifty figure, and I'm a math nerd. And then it inspired me. :D

    padawanlissa: Thank you, and I'm happy to oblige. :)

    obi_webb: Don't worry, there will be more Aiden in the next chapter. And more Leiraya. Heck, there'll even be some Bastila. ;) See what you have to look forward to?

    Striker: Yeah, Carth can be cute when he wants to be. [face_mischief] And Vrook? Don't even get me started on Vrook. He's a character, all right. :rolleyes:

    As always, I appreciate the feedback, and I hope to have a new post for you before too terribly long. :D
     
  4. kotorchick

    kotorchick Jedi Knight star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 11, 2005
    I read Mobius a few weeks ago, and now it makes a lot more sense. I've got a hint to what happened to Kylan, but I'm not saying anything... besides, they would have have to been trained together if he's who I'm thinking he is. Actually, when was Leiraya trained? As a child, or will we find out later? Just being my curious self. I loved Carth and Leiraya together again, and I felt so sorry for her when she was having to deal with those stupid jedi masters acting liked she was an idiot... But i alwasy did like Vandar's veiws on things, and ht's wise to have Aiden learn from everyone on their trip.

    P.S.- Can i be on the PM list too? I read your stuff obsessivly.
     
  5. Darth_Scroobius

    Darth_Scroobius Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Jun 1, 2005
    ?They?re also historically known for somewhat less savory activities, but I hardly think we need to bring that up.?

    Indeed they are, which is why I find it so surprising for their corner of the Jedi Order to be pacifistic. I would have thought the reverse might be true, but I suppose they are intentionally contrasting themselves with their surroundings.

    Master Vrook scowled after the padding of her bare feet against the stone floor was no longer audible. ?I don?t like the idea of letting her influence him. She doesn?t know who or what she?s dealing with.?

    I won't say any spoilers for non-KOTOR people, but this struck me as a very shrewd move on the part of the Council. They surround their unusual student with a moderating influence. I like that there is an intelligent justification for having your OC continue with the gang on their journy.

    ?Well, he and I worked together, Corellian Waterfront Safety Patrol. I always liked working with him, even though he constantly poked fun at my lack of correct usage of hand signals.

    What is it with you and water safety? I mean, at this rate I would be unsurprised if they run into a water safety person on Tatooine.

    ?You mean he just up and left? Some friend.? Carth was unable to keep the contempt from his voice. If there was one thing he had no respect for, it was those who abandoned their friends.

    Ah, but who abandoned whom? It's not as one-sided as Carth is imagining; it's not like he left when she was near death or something.

    A most excellent update.
     
  6. Crazydan

    Crazydan Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Apr 1, 2005
    Good to see that Carth and Leiyrana had recounciled with each other.

    Ah, I understand. No problems with that. I already show my paper to friends from my dorm floor and they all thought it was good. And the due date was last Friday.

    Good luck with all these problems at university.
     
  7. Commander-DWH

    Commander-DWH Manager Emeritus star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 3, 2003
    kotorchick: consider yourself added. ;) And I know precisely what happened to Kylan, though I'm not saying. You're welcome to guess, though, even though I'm not going to confirm or deny anything. All shall be revealed in time.

    Scroobius:
    Well, the simple answer to "why all the water safety people" is that I was working full-time as a lifeguard when I started this fic. :p But I promise she's the last. I actually do have my own evil plot reasons for it, which will eventually become apparent. If you're too impatient to wait for a month or two (or three...), then I'd be happy to give you the gist of what's going on in PM form. Since, you know... I can't really spoil the story for you.

    Indeed they are, which is why I find it so surprising for their corner of the Jedi Order to be pacifistic. I would have thought the reverse might be true, but I suppose they are intentionally contrasting themselves with their surroundings.

    I'm kind of going with the idea that they're individualistic and free-thinking enough to allow for such a faction to pop up. It also has to do with intra-system politics, wars being started for ridiculously stupid reasons that could've been prevented through simple negotiations, and other such things that make the anti-war faction rather large and vocal. But I'll get more into that later in the fic. :)

    Crazydan: Yeah, they're on speaking terms... for the time being.[face_whistling]

    What can I say? Carth will be Carth. :D
     
  8. Crazydan

    Crazydan Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Apr 1, 2005
    Talking about universities, here's one funny thing:

    The name of my Film Studies course's professor is Dr. Malek.

    No, he don't have a lightsaber ;).
     
  9. Commander-DWH

    Commander-DWH Manager Emeritus star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 3, 2003
    All right, school has been crazy for both myself and my beta. I'm making an executive decision and going ahead and posting this- I've gone through and done some revising, and given that it's had a month to cool off, I'm feeling pretty good about it. If I need to, I'll edit in minor changes later, but this is a cool chapter and I like it a lot. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the story. :D

    Chapter Seven

    “Aiden, you’re missing the point of this exercise entirely.”

    “You’re just sore because you’re losing.”

    “That is entirely untrue.” Bastila tossed her head and smirked, the hum of her lightsaber underscoring her words. “On the contrary, I believe I have you cornered.”

    “You wha- ooof!” Aiden sucked in air as he stumbled backwards and hit the ground. Bastila had planted a solid kick to his stomach, and thumbed off her saber with a grin.

    “The point, Aiden, is to realize what your opponent is going to do before she actually does it. Listen closely to the Force, and hear its whispers.” She extended her hand. “That way, you won’t find yourself flat on your posterior regions every time you fight.”

    Accepting her hand, he got up off the floor. “So the Force comes with an interactive combat help guide, huh?”

    “I wouldn’t put it quite like that… but yes, in a sense.” She clipped her saber to her belt. “That’s enough for today, though. You did well.”

    “Thanks.” Aiden brushed the dust off his pants and put the training saber back in the cabinet he had retrieved it from. He really rather hoped to be building his own soon, as the balance in the training sabers never felt quite right. He couldn’t explain exactly why, but his hands seemed to know precisely what they wanted. Could just be something to do with the Force… he’d heard of the bond between a Jedi and his lightsaber. Something unquantifiable that made it operate like the extension of one’s own hand.

    Speaking of bonds… “So, Bastila. The Council said something about that bond of ours, but I don’t quite understand it. Care to enlighten me?”

    She seemed to grow somewhat uncomfortable at the mention of the bond, but she threw a small smile on her face. “It is unusual, to be sure. I do not quite understand its nature, myself. But somehow, for whatever reason, a bond has been forged between us. I can only believe it is the will of the Force. Beyond that, I cannot say.”

    Aiden considered this for a moment. It wasn’t much more than she’d said back on Taris, so he decided to probe a bit further. “So… does this just mean we have a few shared visions, or is there more going on that I just can’t sense because I’m new at this?”

    “Well,” she paused, as though trying to pull the answer out of the air. “The visions are a central part of it, yes. It will probably also result in each of us being able to sense the feelings of the other quite strongly.”

    “Feelings, eh?” A wry grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. “I thought you Jedi didn’t have feelings.”

    “First of all, you’re a Jedi now, too, so none of that ‘you Jedi’ business. Second of all, of course we have feelings. We just don’t let them control us.”

    “Ah.” He nodded sagely. “So mostly we’ll just be stuck having each other in our visions.”

    Bastila shrugged. “As far as I can tell, though I confess that doesn’t mean anything at this stage.”

    “I don’t know how I feel about that.” Aiden crossed his arms and grinned easily. “I mean, you keep showing up in my dreams, and maybe I’d rather be dreaming about someone else.”

    “Me in your dreams? How do you know it’s not you in mine?” She crossed her arms and smirked.

    “I…” he paused. Actually, he couldn’t prove it to the contrary. Not yet. “I’m smart like that?”

    “Nice try, but you’d best try your ‘smartness’ in other areas.”

    Aiden looked at his chrono, suddenly reminded that he did, in fact, have other areas to be in. “Speaking of smartness, I’ve gotta run. I’m supposed to study some philosophy with Leiraya before lunch.”

    “Oh, well have fun with that.”

    Ignoring the obvious sarcasm, he waved jauntily and jogged out of the room. He still wasn’t sure why the women didn’t get along… individually, they were both good fun to be around. Put them together in a room for too long and they’d start snipping at each other until nobody wanted to talk anymore. He could see a lot of similarities between them, though- both were stubborn, and quite set in their own ways. Actually, that was probably the problem right there.

    A cursory glance at the sky revealed that a storm was approaching quickly. Funny, he thought. First bit of inclement weather I’ve seen since we landed.

    He supposed, then, he ought to run.

    * * *

    Few things in the world are more calming than a steady rain shower.

    Not that Leiraya had been through a particularly stressful day. She’d communicated with her Masters back on Corellia, to confer about the slight change in plans. They thought it was wonderful that she was making herself useful in a fellow Jedi’s training, and that she was seeing another end of the galaxy. She wasn’t quite convinced it was all that wonderful yet, but she was also willing to give it time.

    She’d been allowed to run a few searches on the major newsnets, to see if she could find any information regarding her search, but nothing interesting came up. Frustrated, she decided to find a grassy patch outside and sit. Some Jedi needed a dark, bare room to meditate, but she was much more at peace out of doors. It wasn’t long before the storm clouds literally rolled in, bringing a swath of rain across the fields, but she didn’t run inside like many of the other people.

    Instead, she sat contentedly, eyes closed, letting the rain drench her quite thoroughly. It had been a good long time since she’d been out for a decent rainstorm, and she was happy to sit back, feel the slightly cool breeze, and enjoy the smell of wet grass.

    “You’re wet.”

    Opening her eyes, she looked up to see Aiden standing above her. “And you’re not?”

    “Well… I am, but I’m not the one just sitting out in the middle of the plains.”

    There was a slight pause. “I take it you’d rather go inside to talk philosophy?”

    “Yeah, kinda.”

    “You’re demanding.” She scrunched up her face sourly, but got up off the ground. The two of them quickly made their way to shelter, and Leiraya found an empty room. After wringing the water out of her skirt, she hauled her shoulder bag on to the table and yanked out a couple of datapads.

    “So, what exciting philosophy lessons do you have planned for me today?” Aiden grinned, shaking the water from his hair.

    “Colour theory.” She grabbed the stylus from one of the datapads and used it to twist her hair into a barely controlled bundle. “It’s the best place to start, really.”

    Aiden stood there and scratched his head for a moment. “Colour theory… like, art class?”

    “Somewhat, except not exactly.” She plopped down into the nearest chair. “I’m sure you’ve heard about the light side and the dark side, right?”

    “Repeatedly.” He moved to seat himself in the chair across from hers. “I think the Council would tattoo ‘light side good, dark side bad’ on my forehead if they could.”

    “Well, everything you know about black and white, and even grey… forget it. At least for a little while. We’re going to look at a slightly more colourful, and a heck of a lot more interesting way to think about the Force.” She pulled up a colour wheel on her datapad. “The Jedi have this fixation on black and white. More open-minded people will tell you that there are many shades of grey between them. What they fail to recognize is that light and dark are merely the presence and absence of colour.”

    “What do you mean by that?”

    “I mean that, by the scientific definition of how light works, pure white light is no more than the combination of all possible colours, and pure blackness is the absence of all colour. I’ve never met a Jedi who was truly white, and if I ever meet a Sith I sincerely doubt he will be perfectly black.”

    “So wait a minute.” Aiden paused to digest the information. “Is this some sort of power like Bastila’s battle meditation?”

    Leiraya shook her head. “Nope. It’s just a different way of looking at things. For instance, my Masters back home. A very laid-back bunch of people, not given to bouts of temper, or any emotional extremes, for that matter. This isn’t to say they never get angry, but they’re overall fairly calm. They have very blue tendencies.”

    “And what, precisely, makes someone blue?”

    “Blue is a very cool, relaxing sort of colour. If someone feels blue, then he probably has a very free-flowing sort of personality. Not to mention depth, especially hidden depths.” She smiled ruefully. “Not too many blue Jedi around here.”

    “Okay… that sort of makes sense, but how do you feel blue?”

    “Well,” Leiraya paused to collect her thoughts. “I guess it kind of goes the other way around- if I identify someone as being a very free-flow kind of person, I’m going to associate them with the colour blue. You’re not going to close your eyes and see all the pretty colours, even though that would be pretty nifftacular.”

    “Did you just say ‘nifftacular’?”

    “We’re here to discuss the Force, not my vocabulary.”

    “But that’s not a word.”

    “It is now, and don’t try to change the subject. We’re talking about colours here, darn it.”

    “Sorry. Forgot.”

    “No you didn’t, you’re just being difficult.” In spite of her annoyed tone, she clearly wasn’t all that bothered by the temporary derailment of the conversation. “You’re just not used to thinking of things in terms of colour, rather than black and white. It’s more complicated, I’ll give you that… but life is always more complicated than we want to make it.”

    “Okay. So say I buy into this philosophy of colours. What does it matter?”

    “Matters plenty. If you can figure out what colour everything is, and if you know how colours interact, you’re in business. Experience tells me that colours in the Force work much the same way as colours would anywhere else, so it’s just a matter of knowing your theory, and knowing it well.” She shrugged. “It’s always come relatively easily to me, but maybe that’s just because I’m artsy. Are you at all artsy?”

    Aiden snorted. “I think I can successfully draw a stick figure. Maybe. But I won’t make any promises.”

    “Hmm. Maybe this isn’t the best approach… but you should give it some thought. People who limit the world to shades of black and white are missing most of the picture.” She sat for a moment, trying to think of a better way to explain it. Fortunately, it wasn’t long before an idea popped into her head. “Let’s take a look back outside.”

    The two of them stood up and ventured back towards the outdoors. The storm appeared to have passed, and they were left with the usual cheery blues and oranges of the midday sky, streaked with deep violet clouds. “All right. What does the sky make you think of?”

    “Uhh…” He had to stop and think about it, as he actually had never really tried to quantify the colours of the sky. “Well… that strip of clouds on the horizon, the dark purple ones, look kind of ominous.”

    “Good, dark purple often signifies gloom and despair. Anything else?”

    “It’s hard to say… I can’t pick any one thing the rest of the sky seems to represent. It’s… contrasty.”

    “That, my friend, is because blue and orange are direct complements. Gives the most visual punch, and draws the eye. Results in some interesting side properties, but those can wait for later.” Leiraya grinned. “You’re doing pretty good. It takes some getting used to, especially for someone who’s only ever thought about the Force in monochrome.”

    “Try ‘someone who’s never bothered to think about the Force at all.’”

    She shrugged. “The light versus dark dichotomy is pretty prevalent in most areas, even if it’s just some obscure poetry or something. As I said earlier, it’s an easy way to sort things.”

    “But colour is more interesting…” he trailed off. “Is this your own theory?”

    “Goodness no. It’s been passed down through several generations of Jedi where I come from. I always used to think it was why the rest of the Jedi thought we were nuts, but they’re letting me tell you about it, so maybe that’s not the problem.”

    “Do they really think you’re nuts?”

    Leiraya laughed self-deprecatingly. “Well, they mentioned something about my underwater wicker basket weaving classes.”

    “Is that where all the wicker baskets come from?”

    “No!” She put her hands on her hips and mock-glared at him. “Keep that up, and I’ll just get a transport back home. I don’t have to stay with you people, you know.”

    “What’s this ‘you people’ you refer to? Like it or not, you’re one of the crew.” Aiden grinned. “Unless something drastic happens, you’re stuck with us.”

    “Charming.” She smiled sardonically, and turned to go back inside.

    “Hey, where are you going?”

    “Lesson’s over- you can go have fun doing whatever it is you do for training. Me? I’ve got myself a paranoid pilot to find.”

    With that, she strode out of sight. Aiden was left staring at the sky, wondering at what she’d said about colours. He definitely didn’t quite understand yet, but that was true with a lot of things he was studying at present. Checking his chrono, he saw that he had about an hour until he had a session with Master Zhar. About enough time to grab a meal and let it digest sufficiently, just in case there was combat training involved.

    “Work, work, work…” he muttered with a grin. He could definitely be doing a lot worse.
     
  10. padawanlissa

    padawanlissa Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2005
    Great update, DWH=D=
     
  11. RK_Striker_JK_5

    RK_Striker_JK_5 Force Ghost star 7

    Registered:
    Jul 2, 2003
    Nice update, DWH. That color thing is... odd, and completely contradictory to my view of the Force, to be honest. Still, neat explanation. Loved the banter, too.
     
  12. obi_webb

    obi_webb Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 4, 2005
    good job with the executive descion to post this without the beta done! i was anxious to read the next part!
    i FINALLY get what the title of your story means! HORRAY!=D= very clever, i like it! the color theory is pretty similar to a theory i a have about the sides of the Force
    a great update as usual! i got to see more Aiden! i like his line about the council would probably like to stamp lightside good, darkside bad, on his head! [face_laugh]
    if you would, add me to the list of people you pm when you update again! it would be appreciated!
     
  13. Crazydan

    Crazydan Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Apr 1, 2005
    Nice update. Can I ask you something about this color theory? Is that a real philosophy you learned in a philosophy class or just made up?

    Just wondering because my Problems of Philosophy finished the studies of Ethnics (we looked at Plato, Kant, Mill, Nizetche, etc) and Political Science) and now we're starting the topic of God in Problems of Philosophy. Should be interesting.
     
  14. kotorchick

    kotorchick Jedi Knight star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 11, 2005
    Wow. I really liked the color thing, and the title makes a lot of sense now. So happy you updated. I follow your fics consistantly, and it's hard to wait for good KOTOR fiction (or any KOTOR fiction). Though I'm not sure I totally understand the principle, it makes sense in some form in a back water place in my mind.
     
  15. Inara

    Inara Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 30, 2005
    I [face_love] good KOTOR fics.

    I've only just started reading this, but I'm liking it very much!
     
  16. JadeSolo

    JadeSolo Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 20, 2002
    Nifftacular post! Finding out the meaning of the story's title. :D

    Bastila came off in previous posts like this really nasty, frigid wench. But I guess that's because I was seeing her more from Leiraya's point of view. :p Now she seems to have a softer side, especially when it comes to training others. She's no scary drill sergeant.

    And I like the color theory. [face_love] Makes Force philosophy so much...prettier. [face_laugh]
     
  17. Commander-DWH

    Commander-DWH Manager Emeritus star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 3, 2003
    Wow, lots of readers! [face_dancing]

    padawanlissa: thanks, padawan mine. :D

    Striker: To be honest, I don't expect it to be a popular or widely accepted theory. After all, my OC is among the weirdos of the Jedi Order, so the probability of this becoming a commonplace view is... well, pretty low. :p Glad you enjoyed anyway.

    obi_webb: consider yourself added. :) And yeah, I knew I'd have to explain the title eventually, so fwah! There it is.

    Crazydan: Believe it or not, my philosophy of colours is more a product of art history classes than of philosophy classes. I made it up myself as far as the Force is concerned, but colour meaning is a commonly discussed topic in certain circles. In fact, when I wrote my Visitor's Guide for the Allen Memorial Art Museum, I did it based on the usage of colours throughout the different periods of art, and how different artists use it to denote different things. For instance, ultramarine blue was made from a really expensive stone, lapis lazuli, so any person painted with ultramarine blue clothing was automatically assumed to be of great importance. This, of course, changed as materials changed, but yeah. Fascinating stuff, that.

    kotorchick: This all makes a lot more sense if you've taken a lot of art classes. :p I'll do my best to make it clear for those who haven't. Good thing I have non artsy people trying to learn this stuff...

    Inara: Thanks! And I like your username, as Firefly is a supremely awesome show and Inara is cool. :D

    JadeSolo: Yeah, Bastila's not as mean as I sometimes make her out to be. :p And I agree, the Force is so much prettier in technicolour.
     
  18. Crazydan

    Crazydan Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Apr 1, 2005
    Ultramarine blue? Sounds interesting... Why does that remind me of Warhammer 40K?

    Anyway, thanks for reminding me of a class I dislikes just now. No offenses intend, but I just don't find it useful, compared to my Ancient Greek & Romans Studies class. Also... I feels that I don't understand the materials.

    Plus, I thought my Art History didn't focus on the history of art and how it "changes", instead of trying to anaylses artwork.

    The final reason about why I'm not a fan of Art History is my professor. He can be very dull, and sometime, I don't agree with some things he said about, like video games or "modern art".
     
  19. Darth_Pixel

    Darth_Pixel Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Jan 17, 2003
    Wow padawan what an awesome story! I'm a kotor junkie so this is great. I live you you put a new face something so familiar to me. You definitely nail all of the undercurrents to the story that are going on under the surafce that made the game so freakin amazing.

    Course, I already know what's going to happen... ;)

    P.S. Can I get on the pm list if there is one? :p
     
  20. Darth_Scroobius

    Darth_Scroobius Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Jun 1, 2005
    ?That is entirely not true.?

    Or is it:
    That is not entirely true.
    That is not true entirely.
    That is true not entirely.
    That is untrue in its entirety. :p

    ?First of all, you?re a Jedi now, too, so none of that ?you Jedi? business. Second of all, of course we have feelings. We just don?t let them control us.?

    Obi-Wan in ANH: "Stretch out with your feelings."
    Palpy in ROTJ: "Use your aggressive feelings, boy!"

    It has always seemed that Jedi were kind of ambivalent about their "feelings". I like your interpretation, except that it seems Obi-Wan sometimes conflates the Force and feelings.

    ?Me in your dreams? How do you know it?s not you in mine??

    Excellent use of in-game dialogue. I love that line.

    Few things in the world are more calming than a steady rain shower.

    Unless you're in it. Then it sucks. Umbrellas were invented for a reason.

    More open-minded people will tell you that there are many shades of grey between them. What they fail to recognize is that light and dark are merely the presence and absence of colour.

    Your British spellings are not lost on me.

    ?Matters plenty. If you can figure out what colour everything is, and if you know how colours interact, you?re in business. Experience tells me that colours in the Force work much the same way as colours would anywhere else, so it?s just a matter of knowing your theory, and knowing it well.?

    So Leiraya's colour theory is a model for viewing the world. And as the saying goes: "All models are wrong. But some are useful."

    Leiraya laughed self-deprecatingly. ?Well, they mentioned something about my underwater wicker basket weaving classes.?

    Underwater wicker basket weaving classes... for the non-swimmer?

    Excellent chapter. I thought the game glossed over the training to a huge degree. Nice to see more depth there.
     
  21. amidalachick

    amidalachick FFoF Hostess Extraordinaire star 5 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Aug 3, 2003
    I loved "Brains", so I decided to check out some more of your work. I figured I'd start with this one. :D

    And I love it, too! Although I've never played KOTOR, and in fact know nothing about it, this story is great. Leiraya's so awesome! Barefoot people shall rule the world...if this global-warming thing keeps up so our toes don't freeze, that is. :p

    Seriously, this is great. The "Force in color" theory was really interesting. Definitely a unique view of things, and I like it a lot. Excellent work!
     
  22. Lovely-in-Orange

    Lovely-in-Orange Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Apr 21, 2005
    I really like how you've captured the game characters and worked in your OCs together. The banter is great. The colour theory was neat too - of course I'm kinda partial to colours. :D If you do PMs can you add me to the list? :)
     
  23. Commander-DWH

    Commander-DWH Manager Emeritus star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 3, 2003
    Crazydan: I loved my art history prof. Then again, he's crazy and awesome and encourages us to subvert the system whenever possible. Hard grader, but I learned a lot and enjoyed lecture, so it all worked out. And hey, I got a fanfic concept out of it, so how can I complain?

    Darth_Pixel: *bows* Why, thank you, my Master. You've been added to the PM list of d00m, a.k.a. the back of a calendar page taped to my desk. :p

    Scroobius: Hey, I like running around in a good rainstorm. We had a good run of them my freshman year, and we'd all run outside and play frisbee. Good times, those.

    amidalachick: I never thought I'd attract readers with zombies... but hey, whatever works. :p Glad you enjoyed, even if you don't know KOTOR. This is intended to be KOTOR for people who haven't played KOTOR anyway, so with any kind of luck you won't have any problems understanding what's going on.

    Lovely-in-Orange: Consider yourself added. :D Glad you enjoyed, and the world needs more people partial to colours. That way, when I yank out a crazy theory involving them, I don't get funny looks (as much).

    And now, for your reading enjoyment, I give you the next installment.

    This chapter has been brought to you by Procrastinators of Tomorrow, Inc. :p

    Chapter Eight

    “What’s this thing do agai- ow!”

    “What did you do this time?”

    “It bit me!” Leiraya extracted herself from the pit in which she had been tinkering. Since it had been decided that she was to stay with the crew, Aiden had insisted that she learn how to do something useful if she wasn’t willing to fight. After deciding that months of dish washing were likely to make her brain implode, she settled on learning to repair and maintain the Hawk. The first day she’d attempted to learn anything hadn’t gone so well- Canderous hadn’t taken a terrible amount of liking to her pacifistic streak, so almost nothing got done while they argued. At the end of the day, she knew where the tools were, but that was approximately all she could claim. This was clearly not helpful, and thus Carth was relegated to teaching her to repair things.

    “Well, maybe next time you shouldn’t stick your hand in there while you’re tightening it down.”

    “You could’ve warned me.” She examined her fingers, noting a small trail of blood inching its way towards her palm. “I didn’t know it was going to snap shut like that.”

    “Don’t you Jedi have some sort of danger sense to keep that sort of thing from happening?” Carth rummaged through his pockets, trying to find a small bandage. Having no success, he walked over to the medkit to pull a new one out. “At least, that’s always the impression they liked to give us during the war.”

    “I guess… though it’s really not supposed to be a big deal when you’re in the process of tightening a bolt down.” Carth handed her the bandage, and she deftly wrapped it around the abused finger. “Thanks.”

    “Not a problem. And I think we’ll call that enough for today.” He picked up the hydrospanner she’d dropped on the floor and placed it back in the tool box. “Maybe tomorrow we’ll work on putting things back together without killing yourself.”

    “Hey, I’m not that inept.” She sat silent for a few moments, stroking her finger until she remembered something. “You owe me a story.”

    “Pardon?”

    “A story. I told you about Kylan, you promised you’d tell me about… whatever it is that makes you so frustrating.”

    “I’m not frustrating. You’re the frustrating one here.”

    “See? You’re nice until you hear something you don’t like.” She wrinkled her nose in annoyance. “You should really stop that.”

    “I’m not-” he broke off, shaking his head. “I’m not going to get anywhere with this, am I?”

    Leiraya paused to consider. “Not until you tell me your story.”

    “Fine. I already told Aiden, so what the hell… I told you that Malak destroyed my home. Telos, to be specific. It was one of the first worlds to be targeted by the Sith fleet. It was…” he trailed off, at a loss for words. “I can’t even describe it, even after it’s played back in my head a million times over. It caught us completely by surprise. Republic troops.” He laughed bitterly. “Our own men and women. They decided that the Republic just wasn’t good enough anymore. In some ways, I think, they’re worse than even Revan and Malak.

    “My mentor, Admiral Saul Karath, was at the head of the fleet that destroyed the planet.”

    Karath. Where had she heard that name before? “That name sounds familiar…”

    “I’m not surprised. He was pivotal in the Republic Navy during the Mandalorian Wars. Taught me everything I know about being a soldier, and then some. He is- well, he was a good man. I think that’s why it blindsided us all. I can see, looking back, that towards the end he was trying to turn me against the Republic, to convert me to the Sith. But at the time I just couldn’t conceive of it. It couldn’t have been possible. It shouldn’t have been possible.” He sighed. “And that cost us the lives of far too many.”

    She nodded slowly. “I can see how that would be upsetting.”

    “That’s one way to put it.”

    There were a few moments of silence. “Well, at least that explains why you pulled a blaster on me the first time we met.”

    “You try finding a stranger in your bunk and see how you feel about it.” Carth snorted derisively. “There have already been too many strange coincidences on this trip; finding a random extra person was unsettling.”

    “Strange coincidences?”

    “It’s a long story.” He waved the question off dismissively. “But I have no doubt that more will occur, so you’ll see your fair share of coincidence before this is over. Whatever ‘this’ is, anymore.”

    “What was it before?”


    “A mission for the Jedi. Trying to rescue Bastila. Escaping that damned planet.” Carth shook his head. “The objectives are changing so often I can hardly keep track of them. And now we’re stuck here on this Jedi planet with nothing to do.”

    “Well,” she paused, “you could always develop one of your latent talents.”

    “Such as what?”

    “Oh, I don’t know… maybe you were born to be a tap dancer, but you went into the military instead.”

    The sheer ridiculousness of the statement was slightly more than Carth was accustomed to, but it brought a grin to his face. “I somehow doubt that, and I don’t think I need a hobby, but I can take a hint and find something to do.”

    “But not tap dancing?”

    “Probably not.”

    “Oh well, I tried.”

    Carth looked at her curiously. Leiraya was an oddity, no two ways about it. He’d been in the military for so long that he rarely ran into anyone that didn’t support the war. He knew they existed, but they were more of a theoretical entity than anything else. Certainly he never would have guessed he’d end up working peaceably with one. Talk about counterintuitive.

    She noticed his look. “You look like you have something to say.”

    “It’s nothing,” he shrugged and stood. “Good work on the ship- I think we can call it a day.”

    “Sounds lovely.” Leiraya picked herself up and brushed the dust from her skirt. Practical it may not have been, but it was all she had left of home, and was far more comfortable than a combat suit, or those blasted traditional robes. The Council had given her a set of robes after determining she would stay with Aiden, but they still sat packed away in a footlocker.

    Some things weren’t worth changing. Others were just resisted out of sheer stubbornness.

    * * *

    “The grove is out here somewhere, right?”

    “Yes… I think.”

    “Oh, that’s some great show of leadership.” Mission put her hands on her hips and shook her head. “We’ve been wandering around here for a couple of hours, you’d think we’d have found it by now.”

    “The kid’s right, and I’m certain we’ve been going in circles.” Canderous hefted his blaster rifle and scanned the area.

    “How can you tell?”

    “The area’s clear of kath hounds, which can only mean that we’ve already taken care of them all.”

    Aiden sighed. The kath hounds were ubiquitous little buggers. However, he was determined to maintain some modicum of leadership. “I’ll get us there.” Eventually.

    He wasn’t exactly sure why he’d brought the Mandalorian along. Well, that was not strictly true. He knew exactly why he’d brought Canderous. The mercenary, left to his own devices, had taken to creatively disposing of various bands of Mandalorian raiders that had been terrorizing the local population. At first, Aiden had hoped that the warrior had had a change of heart, but as it turned out, Canderous viewed the activity as ridding the galaxy of unwanted, dishonourable Mandalorians. The locals were entirely superfluous. And while he supposed that it did contribute to the greater good, it would be good for Canderous to do something slightly more constructive.

    Still, this did not keep the Mandalorian’s comments from grating on his nerves.

    The Council hadn’t even been terribly specific in its directions. He’d done the runaround for them, he’d memorized the Jedi Code forwards, backwards, and upside down. He’d built his lightsaber with as close to a perfect set as could be asked for, and all they’d told him to do was “cleanse the dark taint from the grove.”

    The Jedi, it seemed, were not only masters of the Force. They appeared to have cornered the market on enigma and general vagueness, as well.

    Rounding the bend, he spied an unfamiliar path. Please, please let this be the right direction… Following the path, he found himself in a clearing with a set of ruins at the far end. In the centre of the ruins sat a lone figure. Reaching out with the Force, he felt waves of anger, hatred, and shades of self-loathing radiating from the person. Cleanse the dark taint from the grove…

    They hadn’t been kidding, had they?

    “Well,” Mission offered, looking about, “this looks kinda grove-like.”

    “Yeah, it kinda does.” Aiden tightened his grip on his saber and moved forward. “Let’s see what we can find, eh?”

    Their advance did not go unnoticed. As the neared the ruins, the figure’s eyes snapped open. Upon closer examination, he could tell it was a female of the Cathar race, and she moved with all the grace of a feline as she stood and advanced menacingly. Before anyone in the group could do or say anything, she wordlessly reached forward, and Canderous and Mission were immediately frozen in place.

    Aiden looked at them, then quickly back at the Cathar, now clenching his lightsaber so tightly that his knuckles were turning white.

    “Why do you disturb me?” Her voice was heavily accented, and her eyes narrowed threateningly.

    “I, well…” Aiden fumbled, trying to pull a sensible answer out of the air. “I was sent to cleanse the dark taint from the grove?”

    Great answer, genius. He could have smacked himself, but he didn’t have time for that.

    “Foolish Jedi, do you not realize? I have killed your kind before, and do not be so silly as to think I will not do it again.” She ignited her blood-red blade and swung it violently towards him.

    Well, Aiden thought, this is going to be an adventure.
     
  24. RK_Striker_JK_5

    RK_Striker_JK_5 Force Ghost star 7

    Registered:
    Jul 2, 2003
    First off, good luck on the paper. I'll be pulling for you.

    Second off...

    The Jedi, it seemed, were not only masters of the Force. They appeared to have cornered the market on enigma and general vagueness, as well.

    LOLOLOLOL!!!!!! I loved that, DWH! At least someone realized that. And poor Carth, to be betrayed by that commander. Hmm, I detect sparks between Leiraya. Heh.
     
  25. padawanlissa

    padawanlissa Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2005
    Lovely update, DWH=D=