The Dusk of a Soul

[Schwarz]

[Tatooine: at the sunset]

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​

In some cantina in Mos Eisley were the Jedi padawan Cross Vhanler and his former army mate of his home planet Kaikielius, he was called Sergeant Dal Hannser, an experienced soldier, who proved some battles. Now he was away from his planet, due to the imperial rule, and now that planet was under Sith government.

"Very terrible to hear this news ..." Cross sayd in a sad tone, "I hope that someday I will be able to help my family and people, but now ... I still have much to learn, I'm still not a full Jedi, I'm just an apprentice ..." looking to his former partner he completed "A few time ago we were fiercely attacked by Sith, and two of our hideouts were destroyed, now we wander around the galaxy ... again ... looking for a place to train in peace and grow in knowledge"

"Wow!" wide eyed Hannser just took another sip of his liquor and said "Jedi has a hard life, pardner... bah! Thanks I'm not born a Jedi... my business is just strike blaster shots and pilot starships boy... Ah! and drink" with a laugh and a slap on the back of the young Jedi he tried to cheer him "Com'on boy, drink a little, it's good to forget things!"

But Cross just nodded rejecting "No friend a Jedi not drink to forget..." and gave a smile to Hannser.

That night was special for Cross, had long time since he'd like to revisit one of his former teammates, from his home planet. Much was still talked, laughed and cheered together amid many happy and sad stories. Was when Hannser, very womanizing as usual, and already a little drunk too, began to talk to a woman from the cantina, which was tough, but Hannser forced her.

"Come here girl, just a kiss ..."

Cross was trying to convince his friend, but seemed to not work. It was when an armed man who appeared to be a bounty hunter pushed Hannser, telling him to stay away from his girlfriend, and already pulling his blaster would shoot. But Cross stepped forward saying.

"Please don't shoot!! My friend is very drunk. I'll take him away" and strongly grabbing Hannser managed to drag his friend out of the cantina and convince her boyfriend to not shoot. Cross was with his lightsaber under his vest, as well as his blaster pistol, but decided to not fight as always.

 

[Tank]

Tatooine. It had been a while since Bet’aani Cutri had seen it. This would be the first time she’d be setting foot on the planet. She’d met with Jedi on Nar Shaddaa and been taken into their order, but that was years ago. The one thing she took away from her experience on Nar Shaddaa was that Hutt space was a great place to make some extra cash offloading unwanted goods and not attract any attention. That was the reason for her visit now. She had spent several months on Duunir getting in touch with the Force and following the call of Vahl. She’d come into possession of a few Holocrons and needed to make some extra cash before returning to the Jedi full time. They’d suffered greatly here recently and Bet’aani knew that her place was with the Jedi, for now.

She set her KDY R-12 Razorback down on the outskirts of a settlement. She let Aime out of the cargo bay and gave her a pat on the head. She whispered good girl to the Nexu and ordered her to guard the vessel. She placed the small holocron into a ruck sack with other supplies including her blaster. She clipped her lightsabers to her belt and donned her maroon robes. She put the hood up as she entered the settlement and looked for the nearest cantina. As she was entering she saw a potential fight. It had been a while since she’d been in a fight…it had been against two Sith on Nar Shaddaa. There seemed to be two men fighting over another woman. One of the men was visibly drunk and it seemed that he might be shot soon if someone didn’t intervene. Before she could even reach out and push the man across the room with the force another man stood and shouted the man down.

There was something intriguing about the man. There was a pull in the force that led Bet’aani to observe him more intently. He passed by her in a rush to get out the door. There was another pull in the force towards the man. Bet’aani couldn’t get him out of her head no matter how hard she tried to push him out of her mind. She walked back out of the cantina and called out to the man.

“Sir!” She said in a loud voice, not yelling but certainly authoritative and friendly. “Looks like your friend there has had a little too much to drink. Would you mind some help? I have a potion in my pack that cures intoxication.”

Bet’aani attempted to keep her tone friendly and smile throughout their interaction. The force was definitely calling her out to this man. Vahl had something for her to do here. Maybe this man would buy her holocron…

 

[Schwarz]

What a moment for his friend to do that uproar, amid such bad days, where the rewards on the head of a Jedi certainly was very high.

Cross always chose to avoid further confusions. He was just doing everything to not get into a fight, that was his way to solve things - diplomacy - handle that kind of situation as a guardian of peace, as a Jedi.

While he carried out his old friend Hannser, Cross felt the force in him that seemed to alert him - some Force Sensitive person was there. But not yet knew if it was Sith or Jedi, or even someone who was not in any of the two sides. However the truth was that he should need to be careful.

On the street Hannser was still muttering a few words, but he was so drunk that he already had not any strength to get up. Toward them came a woman, fully covered by a cloak. Cross could not see her face, yet narrowly saw her eyes. That woman was indeed very strange, offering to him an antidote that would cure his friend drunkenness.

“Sir. Looks like your friend there has had a little too much to drink. Would you mind some help? I have a potion in my pack that cures intoxication.”

Cross rose up from the ground, where he was lying with his friend, merely nodded to her and thanked.

"Thank you miss, but I think at the moment I cannot buy such a potion, I'll take my friend to rest at an inn. Everything will be fine."

He did not want to further engage with strangers, to not increase the attention of the other people. Thus, he typed a number in his communicator asking a vehicle to the inn, however that would take time to arrive, then they would have to stand there in front of the canteen waiting.

So Cross took Hannser in arms and carried him to a less crowded place nearby, where they could stay. Meanwhile, that woman was in Cross thoughts, she was different - somehow he could trust her - and so he went back to her and asked again.

"Sorry, but who are you? Yeah... the potion. I think my friend will need it. How much?"

 

[Tank]

"Thank you miss, but I think at the moment I cannot buy such a potion, I'll take my friend to rest at an inn. Everything will be fine." Bet’aani was quite taken aback. She’d felt the force pull her to this man, why would he say no to her? She decided to take the ‘potion’ out of her pack anyway. It was really just a flask filled with water, but she’d learned to heal intoxication through the force a long time ago. She’d just need to get close enough to the man to touch him for a few moments. The man fumbled with a comm for a few moments and was soon exacerbated.


"Sorry, but who are you? Yeah... the potion. I think my friend will need it. How much?" Bet’aani smiled as the man turned to her once more.

“My name is Ember. I’m a…traveler.” She said. She hadn’t spoken to another human in a while and she found herself stumbling over her cover story. “The potion is free. I had a teacher once who said, ‘To charge for a service that is free is to destroy the community.’ May I?” Bet’aani asked as she approached the drunken man. She placed one hand on the man’s back and used the other to help him take a few sips of the water. While he drank she channeled the force through her hand. It went through the man’s body and purged the alcohol in the bloodstream. He should start to feel better in just a few moments.

“It takes a few moments to work sometimes, but he’ll be as good as new soon. So what’s your name? I saw your buddy almost got into a tiff back at the cantina.” Bet’aani said as she extended her arm to the man with whom she was speaking. She tried to keep her demeanor pleasant as she interacted with the man. She didn’t know what the force had for her, maybe she really was just helping a drunk make it home. As she put up her flask, her bag fell from her hand and her supplies scattered on the ground. The holocron she was transporting fell near the feet of the man. Bet’aani fell to her knees and began picking up her things. “I’m such a bantha…sorry.”

 

[Schwarz]

Cross considered that aptitude very odd, see a stranger offer something just by kindness. He was really surprised that good people still existed.

Thus merely looked at her, while the remedy was administered to his friend Hannser. When her hands touched his friend, something caught Cross attention - The Force was in her - something was happening, but he kept silent.

When she rose Cross with a friendly face just extended his arm to her, and thanked with a smile.

"Thank you Ember! Still hard for me to accept that there are people like you across the galaxy. All I see is just deaths, betrayals, deceptions, lies and a lot of people trying to kill us, don't you think so?"

But when the woman was returning the bottle into her bag, a disaster occurred, all she had fall on the ground, including a holocron, which drew much attention from Cross.

"Let me help you" so he crouched down and started to pick things up to help her, however the first thing he grabbed was the holocron. He touched it and felt something very bad, an evil presence, a darkness like never felt before what is it? he thought.

Resist the darkside was something that Cross should confront and he would discover in his pilgrimage that the darkside is a terrible thing. No one is subjected to emerge unscathed from his temptations. Even the most strong can fell. He would need to resist and always keep on the light side, as a true Jedi, even if it cost his life.

"Ember, there is something very weird about this thing among your belongs, what is it?" He asked pointing to the holocron.

 

[Tank]

"Thank you Ember! Still hard for me to accept that there are people like you across the galaxy. All I see is just deaths, betrayals, deceptions, lies and a lot of people trying to kill us, don't you think so? Let me help you." Bet’aani pulled her things into her bag until she realized she had everything but the holocron. Hoping that the man would just hand it over she continued on in the conversation. She didn’t want to draw any extra attention to it just yet. If he was going to buy it Bet’aani didn’t want him to thing she wanted it very much.

“It’s been though. Sometimes I wonder how I can stay so cheerful after being born into a galaxy ripping itself apart. But if we don’t watch out for each other than the galaxy is already lost don’t you think?” Bet’aani said. The truth was she could imagine hurting another soul. She knew that joining the Jedi meant she’d have to, maybe even have to kill to preserve life. It was a notion she wasn’t comfortable with and didn’t care to think about, she’d cross that bridge when it came.

"Ember, there is something very weird about this thing among your belongs, what is it?" The man asked. Bet’aani wasn’t sure how much to share, she wanted to sell the item but to fully explain the artifact was to compromise her true self.

“Oh, just a trinket I picked up a while back. This woman told me it could be powerful in the right hands but honestly…it just gives me the chills. I’m looking to sell it if you’re interested?” Bet’aani said probingly. Hopefully the man would take the bait and she could get out of here with a heap of creds before she got into any trouble. “And I didn’t miss that you conveniently ‘forgot’ to tell me your name when I asked.” She added with a smile; hoping to create a personal touch and establish a connection with the potential buyer.

 

[Schwarz]

Cross knew that something was very wrong in all this, the force was too strong at that location, and that artifact was hiding something very dark - something about the dark side. Who was that woman really was a question that Cross needed to answer to himself.

"Oh, sorry ... I was thinking on so many things that we and I personally spent lately ... So I think that I became a little distracted with my manners, forgive me" and getting up again and returning to her that strange artifact Cross continued "Well I'm just another traveler wandering ..."

As these words leave his lips, his friend Hannser was felling better and getting up said "Damn, I'll catch whoever hit me ... huh ... hey Cross who is this little beauty there by your side?" Hannser began to approach them with a naughty look to Ember.

"Hannser, please! It's not how you should treat someone who helps us, you were completely drunk and she helped you!"

"Oh boy. OK, OK"

"Sorry Ember... but as you saw, the name is Cross, I'm just another common traveler from a world now dominated by Sith"

"Annnnnd Hannser is the name girl, the biggest hero of my planet, pleasure!"

"Ahhh ... Hannser ..." Cross looked disappointedly at his friend "let me finish a serious matter, please ..." and turning to Ember continued "... then this artifact, I'd like to know more about it, can you tell me, please? "

 

[Tank]

Bet’aani listened between the exchange between the two men. Although they addressed her several times it was almost as if they were having their own conversation, a routine of sorts. Bet’aani could help but smile at Hannser’s mannerisms. The man seemed like a drunk even when he wasn’t.

"Oh, sorry ... I was thinking on so many things that we and I personally spent lately ... So I think that I became a little distracted with my manners, forgive me. Well I'm just another traveler wandering ..."

"Damn, I'll catch whoever hit me ... huh ... hey Cross who is this little beauty there by your side?"

"Hannser, please! It's not how you should treat someone who helps us, you were completely drunk and she helped you!"

"Oh boy. OK, OK"

"Sorry Ember... but as you saw, the name is Cross, I'm just another common traveler from a world now dominated by Sith"

"Annnnnd Hannser is the name girl, the biggest hero of my planet, pleasure!"

"Ahhh ... Hannser ...let me finish a serious matter, please... then this artifact, I'd like to know more about it, can you tell me, please? "

When they were finished Cross addressed her again. Ember thought it was curious that Cross identified the Sith as the rulers of the Galaxy and not the Empire. Typically only Jedi and other force sensitives saw the Sith as the puppet master behind the Empire. However Hannser acted more like a smuggler than one trained by Jedi. The fact that the holocron had attracted Cross the way it had made Ember thing there was definitely some sort of training in his background related to the force.

“It’s a training device that was used by Jedi and Sith Millennia ago. I’ve not been able to get it working well enough to identify its exact age but with the surroundings it was found in, I’d be willing to guess it from the Old Republic at the latest. I’m not talented enough to be able to fix it so I figured I’d just pawn it off to someone who could. Once they fix it, they’ll be able to learn from it or sell it for a higher price to someone who can. I've been in the Jedi artifact business for a while, these things go for a pretty credit when their working. Are you interested?” Bet’aani asked, hoping the man would take the bait. She had spent so much time on a world filled with Dark-side energy she was immune to what the other man was feeling. Instead she was being taken aback by the light side energy that was beginning to radiate from the man. "I'm sure someone like you, who meets someone like me on the way back from a bar on a normal night would be able to find someone who'd pay you handsomely for something like this once you got it working."

 

[Schwarz]

When Ember informed him about that artifact, that it possibly have been done in the old republic, Cross replied simply saying.

"Well, there are more terrible things in this artifact than just old information... I feel something dark in it, as if something were gasping into darkness and shadows..."

Indeed the Force was showing to Cross that there was something that the woman had passed, which connected her with that artifact. It was very strange, further she was trying to sell him something that even she knew exactly what it was.

"Where did you get this artifact? You seem strangely connected to him... and you are certainly hiding something that happened to you, however this artifact is carrying this dark memory..."

Cross was prepared to anything, that woman had a good chance of being involved with the dark side, somehow, and even if that conversation would lead them to an unplanned point, Cross could not let her leave without helping her and lead her to the light side.

 

[Tank]

"Well, there are more terrible things in this artifact than just old information... I feel something dark in it, as if something were gasping into darkness and shadows..." Ember listened as Cross spoke. If Cross could feel the darkness radiating from the holocron it meant he was attuned to the force. How attuned and how trained was the real question. Maybe it was a mistake to choose him as a potential buyer. The two glanced at each other skeptically for a while before Cross spoke up once more. "Where did you get this artifact? You seem strangely connected to him... and you are certainly hiding something that happened to you, however this artifact is carrying this dark memory..."

“You feel it? Are you a force user?” Ember naturally cleared her mind and prepared for a fight. Ember was naturally peaceful but if Cross attacked she would protect herself until she was able to escape. “I found the artifact on a lost planet. For personal reasons I’m not willing to disclose it, or its location. The darkness is only connected to me through association I can assure you of that.”

Ember was tense and clear minded. She didn’t know what Cross would do next but she would be ready to leap free from the confrontation if Cross decided to start anything.

 

[Schwarz]

Cross felt a high tension coming from Ember, she was definitely hiding something, and the fact that he talked about the dark side prompted in her a certain sense of protection.

So he continued talking to her, but seemed to be thinking with his voice "It's very strange ... I could certainly say that you are connected in some way with this dark force! But you do not seem to be a Sith... "

Cross pondered that surely she was not a Sith, only because a Sith would not be hiding their origins and connections with the dark side that way. Then he continued, "You seem very confused ... I can help you ... I do not know what happened, but you seem to be linked to a dark force that I am not able to discern ... but you certainly need to be helped Ember! Come with me and Hansser to a safer place, we want to help you."

Placing his hand on Hansser's shoulder, Cross looked at Ember and spoke more.

"I am grateful for what you did to my friend, nobody in the dark side would do such a good and kind gesture, you're not in the dark side, yet seems very confused ... it seems that you do not know where to go, or what do you need to do ... Well, Ember, I do not know what happened, but the old things in your life are taking you where you certainly would not want to be ... You feel the Force? I can help you find the true path, the path of light "

After these words the car that would take them to the inn arrived, then Cross spoke to Ember again.

"Come with us, we will help you Ember."

 

[Tank]

"It's very strange ... I could certainly say that you are connected in some way with this dark force! But you do not seem to be a Sith... You seem very confused ... I can help you ... I do not know what happened, but you seem to be linked to a dark force that I am not able to discern ... but you certainly need to be helped Ember! Come with me and Hansser to a safer place, we want to help you. I am grateful for what you did to my friend, nobody in the dark side would do such a good and kind gesture, you're not in the dark side, yet seems very confused ... it seems that you do not know where to go, or what do you need to do ... Well, Ember, I do not know what happened, but the old things in your life are taking you where you certainly would not want to be ... You feel the Force? I can help you find the true path, the path of light." Ember listened as Cross spoke. She didn’t understand what he was saying. He hadn’t addressed what she’d said about him possibly being a Jedi. He was postulating that she was associated with the dark side, but at the same time said that she couldn’t be dark-sided. It was faulty logic and if there was one thing that Ember had learned from that Jedi it was that Sith were known for mind tricks. Ember couldn’t sense any force persuasion coming from Cross but it was possible he was simply trying to confuse her.

"Come with us, we will help you Ember." A landspeeder appeared and it was apparent that Cross and his associate were getting in the vessel and had the intention of taking her with her. Maybe it had been a bad idea for her to confront these two. Maybe Vahl had led her here to confront these two, not to sell them her goods. Ember took a defiant step backwards.

“No. I don’t know who you are and you’ve eluded my questions. It’s apparent that you think you see something inside of me; but apparently your skills are not honed enough to tell the difference between me and this object.” She used the force to pull the holocron back into her possession. She used the movement to hide her activating the cargo hold of her vessel with her other hand. Aime would follow Embers scent and be here soon to back her up if she wasn’t able to get away cleanly. “I’ll be leaving now. I’m glad to see your friend is doing better. But I believe there’s been a misunderstanding here, and I think it’s best if I leave.”

Ember didn’t turn but began to back away from the two men. Away from the city and towards the ragged edge of the cliffs that surrounded them.

 

[Schwarz]

Cross was a little confused with those events, things really were not going as he had hoped. He ended up scaring Ember and causing she to go away. But when Cross saw she using the Force to recover the artifact, he then became even more worried about her. So he quickly walked toward her and persisted in his arguments.

"Ember, do not go, please." and lowering his tone said "I'm a Jedi... I'm just passing here to see my old friend Hannser that a long time I've not seen ... But I can help you! You're lost alone, you need someone to help you to learn the path of Light."

Reaching more close to her, he continued "I just want to help you, you're a good person ... and is dangerous to walk along this galaxy alone ... even with a past experience with something dark that you are hiding."

Cross knew she must have gone through some kind of experience with the darkside, directly or indirectly, she was connected with both sides, at least was how Cross was thought.

While Cross was trying to persuade Ember, Hansser turned his back on them and muttered something to the driver of the landspeeder.

"... Humph... These two kids.... fight over any silly, don't you think so? What's worse is that at this age nor a good spankings we can give ... "

 

[Tank]

"Ember, do not go, please. I'm a Jedi... I'm just passing here to see my old friend Hannser that a long time I've not seen ... But I can help you! You're lost alone, you need someone to help you to learn the path of Light. I just want to help you, you're a good person ... and is dangerous to walk along this galaxy alone ... even with a past experience with something dark that you are hiding." Ember listened as Cross spoke but continued to back away from them cautiously.

“A Jedi would know that possession of a dark object does not make a dark person. I believe it is you who needs help. I know my way, the force is my guide and you cannot make me stray from it. Perhaps it is you who needs to return to the Jedi and find your way. I appreciate your concern; but if you are a Jedi I recommend you work on reading people before you go jumping to conclusions. One day you’ll run into someone who isn’t as kind as I am.” Ember said. With that she turned and began to walk away from the city and towards her vessel in the mountains. She kept her senses open and aware incase the Jedi decided to turn on her for whatever reason.