Nar Shaddaa

Baesal yawned wide as she entered the enclave after several hours of work.

At least some good was done today She thought as she caught sight of something wildly unexpected. She rubbed her eyesin disbelief and moved closer

''Layne? Daz?''

Sitting in a cleared space in the lotus position was someone who still very much looked like a sith with her armor and dark robes. Her eyes were closed, and it was clear she was meditating; but this person was most definitely Layne Hoshin. Pebbles and small rocks floated around her as she used the act of manipulating them through the force as a way of focusing her mind and drowning out distractions.

That was, perhaps, why she did not answer Baesal. Daz meanwhile, was a bit further of though still within visual range. He was probably checking out the enclave, or maybe working on what looked like a rather advanced and scary looking droid head.

When Baesal's gaze would turn from Daz back to Layne, she'd find the young force-sensitive staring at her.

Baesal's gaze lingered on the droid's head for a long moment as she tried to figure out where it could come from. As far as she could Tell the manufacture was totally unknown to her.

Fascinating

She would soon find out that she was now also stared at

"Hey there Layne...you seemed to have a busy few days"

Such would indeed have been obvious upon closer inspection. Layne looked tired as hell, and there were a few scrapes and bruises that hinted at worse injuries...

...not to mention the lightsaber-sized hole in the armor right where he gut was located.

"Yeah," she said, "you could say that."

A girl of few words

''What happened?'' she decided to ask

''I saw Baras's speech but even if I don't know much about what is going on I am quite certain you are not Magpie''

"I made the mistake of listening to Sylvain," she said. "He had been whining about wanting to take down Baras since we got here. I told him he was an idiot and that he'd lose. I even proved it to myself by dueling Baras. And yet I still listened to him, and we and a few others tried to take him down."

She looked down at the hole in her armor.

"He thinks I'm dead now."

''I only ever listened to Sylvain to hear what bad ideas sounded like.'' despite her barb towards the guy she had an air of sympathy for Layne

She sat nearby

''At least now he won't control you anymore.'' she paused for a second ''Are you joining the Jedi or are you here in search for asylum?''

"I will join the Jedi," she said, as if it had already been decided and the council's deliberations were just a formality.

"If nothing else, I should explore the Light side of the force for a while..."

She looked down at the darksaber, "...the way my ancestor did."

Baesal smiled at that

''Heh, I guess you'll find that the Light Side is not as bad as the Sith make it to be''

She could not help but tap her on the shoulder

''At any rate, glad to have you here''

"I am aware," she said, ignoring the shoulder-tap. "I have felt the lightside a number of times before. First when I helped Gerald Hin pass on into the force, and more recently on Kintan, where I cleansed another wound in the force."

Of course, Baesal might not know what a wound in the force was... they were fairly obscure after all. But they sounded bad, surely.

She tilted her head, both confused and interested

''Gerald Hin? Another Force Wound?'' she blinked

''I thought Gerald was consumed by Zash...what happened to him?''

"Ah yes I forgot," she said, eyes seemingly looking straight into Baesal's soul, "you were there."

Baesal could not help but look away, the memory of what happened still too fresh in her mind.

''Yes...I was'' she finally said

"He told me everything, you know."

She kept staring at Baesal for a while longer, then looked away herself.

"Even Zash didn't know what she'd done, I think. The ritual did not kill Gerald. It turned him into a living wound in the force. He was immortal. But in constant agony. Like a shadow creature, a thing of hate and pain. I helped him move on."

Baesal processed the information

''She did not know or did not care.'' she took a deep breath

''You did a good thing Layne, I thank you for it''

"It was what ultimately put me on this path. The ritual to help him, that my ancestor taught me, required me to call on the light side of the force."

She looked back at Layne

''Could you teach me about these wounds and that ritual?''

"The ritual is something I can't really teach. It's something you'd have to experience for yourself through healing a wound yourself. And besides, keeping it to myself gives me something rare to bring to the jedi."

She looked back at Baesal.

"As for the wounds themselves... as I understand it they normally only form in places where events of extreme suffering have taken place. Like if a great many people were killed at once. It injures the force; creating something like a vergence... only rather than flowing freely, the Force just screams in those places."

Baesal steepled her finger while listening carefully...She nodded

''I see...the ritual Zash made is so horrible that it injures the Force itself.'' she shakes her head ''I understand why Hazzan turned away from the dark then''

"I don't know who that is," she said with a shrug. "Anyway, that's what ultimately led me here."

"Hazzan was the Sith who found the ritual Zash used...it does not matter now I guess"

She scratched her lekku and shrugged

"At any rate, glad to have you here. If you need anything feel free to hit me up. I'll even make you à lightshield if you want one"

"I have these," she said, hands going to the darksaber and shoto at her sides. "Not as defensive as I'd like, though."

"If you want defense..." She got her lightshield and ignited it, having it's silver sheen illuminate the immediate area



"That's your ticket"

She looked at it, intrigued, but also skeptical.

"That's cool and all, but now how I see myself fighting."

''Well...that's the price of defense'' she replied with a shrug