A Metting of the Minds

[Jairdain Ismet-Thio]

Upon her return to the Silver Jedi, special attention had been paid to Jairdain. The young woman had been taken captive twice and returned twice. The second time though it was with more questions. Having been a captive of the Sith for a year and corrupted, the questioning was warranted.

Her recovery from her first capture had been of a physical nature, this one was mental. The once shattered Jedi now sat a broken sith. The mending was happening though and she was more confident in what path she was meant to follow. It wasn't fully of the sith or Jedi, but that of her people. A mixing of light and dark.

Having followed both paths, she was on her own once again and it felt right. Getting there fully would take more work though, but it had been suggested she reach out and help people. It would benefit both her and the other. The passing on of skills and knowledge, the talking to them on a personal level and just being herself. To not have to hide what she thought or felt, an ability to be open and honest. A touch of confusion still surrounded the young woman, but it was clearing.

The people coming and going from her life at the moment was surprising to her. Only a few she saw more than once and met new people each day. Having been given now a little more freedom to move about the Temple, she couldn't go far though. At least it was more than being locked in her room.

Sitting in the commons area of the medical ward and while she couldn't see the people moving around her, she could feel and sense them. Her connection to the Force was stronger now somehow and she felt at peace with where she was.

A new person came into the room and she turned her head to regard him with the Force. Moving with a purpose in her direction, she didn't know who he was, but that would be answered soon enough.

[member="Marek S'hadar"]
​

 

[Marek S'hadar]

He remembered when Josh and Cale had brought him into the Jedi Temple on Courscant, armor and claws fused to flesh and bone, a haunting helmet hiding his scarred face. Marek hadn't been captured then, he'd come to them on his own, trying to become something more. He remembered how the younglings had screamed in terror at the sight of him, and how others had scowled at him with acute suspicion. They hadn't trusted him or wanted him there, many of them remained that way until their deaths in one of the wars that followed, and their distaste hadn't been unwarranted, he'd struggled for years.

As he moved down the halls and into the room where [member="Jairdain"] sat patiently in wait, he wondered if he'd made the right move volunteering for this. Their circumstances were different, perhaps Cale would've been the better one to talk to her, but he hadn't seen his twin in years, and he assumed the man dead in all likelihood as much as the thought pained him.

"Jairdain, correct?" He asked, crossing his arms behind his back as he stood at the entrance of the room. "I am Master S'hadar, I've been sent to come see you."

 

[Jairdain Ismet-Thio]

There weren't many people that made Jairdain want to stand and bow to, but for some reason this man did. So going with what felt right to her, she stood and bowed to him. Not in a supplicant manner, but respectful. She was a trained mentalist and this man was stronger even than she. There was nothing she could pick up off him. He was like a blank slate to her. Not that she was trying to pry into his mind or anything.

Coming up out of her bow, she nodded at his words.

"Yes, Master S'hadar. Jairdain Ismet."

Her eyes had returned to the normal violet hue they had from before her days with the Sith. The pallor of her skin might still be pale, there was no way for her to know.

"Please come in if you want."

It being a public room, there were plenty of chairs and seats offered. What she really wanted was a walk outside though. To breathe the fresh air again and feel the life of Voss around her. The walk would also provide a way to speak privately. Not everybody here knew what had happened to her.

[member="Marek S'hadar"]

 

[Marek S'hadar]

"A pleasure to meet you Miss Ismet."

The Jedi Master bowed respectfully in return, entering the room and taking a look around. It was a common area, and even at this time of day as the sun began to set it was likely other members of their order would be coming in an out of the area. He knew what it was like to be in the woman's position, discussing things of that nature wasn't something one wanted bystanders listening in on, not to mention it had been far too long since he'd taken a peaceful walk through the Temple's gardens. "Would you care to take a walk outside? It's been a trying few weeks and I'd love nothing more than to have a few moments of peace." Marek inquired, appreciating how nice it was to be wearing something other than heavy armor for the first time in some time.

He'd taken note of her pale skin, but as her eyes did not burn in a sulfuric yellow or red, he was assured that she was indeed in the receding stages of her involvement with the dark side. It had taken him some time to achieve his normal skin tone after the armor was removed. Despite outward appearances, he still had a fair amount of machinery inside him, synthetic flesh simply covered it now rather than angular plating, but he still could feel the cool metal sometimes, an eerie reminder of his past. Hopefully [member="Jairdain"] would not have to carry any such reminders, but if she did he would help her cope with it as he had.

 

[Jairdain Ismet-Thio]

He took a few steps into the room after returning her greeting. After a brief pause and as if he could read her mind, he suggested a walk outside. She had remained standing after her bow and nodded in answer before speaking.

"I would like a walk outside very much. It is not yet something I can do on my own."

Bits of freedom had been being granted to her as she proved capable and that she wasn't going to go sithlike at a moments notice. Those days were past, but it marred her personality a little. She was no longer the little Jedi that could be walked on, but she wasn't the sith that would just lash out. A new fine edge was on her now. The question was would that edge stay a part of her or get filed down with use?

Moving in his direction, she waited for him to take the lead. Either an offer of an arm or just moving out of the room would do. Being able to see with the Force still allowed her to move like a person with sight. The human contact though was always nice.

[member="Marek S'hadar"]

 

[Marek S'hadar]

"They'll allow it in time, trust me." He replied with a smile, offering up an arm to the woman with a soft smile tugging at his scarred skin. Had she been anything other than force sensitive, the gesture would've been outright stupid, but the woman had become a Knight for a reason, even if she could not see him with her eyes, the force would have shown her everything as it always did for those in need.

"They once couldn't decide whether to imprison me or intensively treat me after the most notable of my many incidents." The man laughed, making light of what had happened in the jungles of Ossus when the Republic had wrestled it from the Sith Empire. He'd been younger, impulsive, and he'd been face to face with a man he'd hated all his life, beyond words and all imagination. Marek was technically redeemed at the time, yes, but it hadn't seemed like it.

If she took his arm, he would then lead her out the corridors and into the open air of the Voss night.

[member="Jairdain"]

 

[Jairdain Ismet-Thio]

Jairdain heard the smile in his voice as he assured her that in time the freedom would be allowed. She knew it would happen as well.

Accepting the offered arm, she listened to what he said next and she wondered at it. Maybe the reason he had come was because he would have a much better idea of how to help her than any other master. If he had been sith and then turned, his knowledge of the path enlightenment could be assistance in guiding her.

Though he spoke with a laugh, the words hinted at something she could imagine.

"What did you do?"

Knowing nothing about him, the walk would give them an opportunity to talk about their respective pasts. It may also help in clearing up the remaining confusion within Jairdain. Having spoke to a few people, it was almost done.

[member="Marek S'hadar"]

 

[Marek S'hadar]

What hadn't he done felt like more appropriate question almost. Marek had been problematic soul for the Jedi ever since he'd come to them, and he could only wonder just how many had thought to call for his expulsion from the order, or worse. He'd been reckless, and a danger to everyone around him because of it, but the Jedi were embroiled in war almost constantly in this age, and he was a soldier, they needed him to fight just as he needed them to keep him on the right path.

"That time I assaulted a padawan during the invasion of Ossus, flung him out of my way so I could have a man I'd sworn to kill at 15 to myself. Ended up losing anyway, and got myself in quite a bad spot with the council." He answered, slowly strolling under under the sky, looking upwards and taking in the fresh air with a deep inhale, clean of the stench of blood and the heat of blasters. "Though that wasn't the first or last time my actions brought me all the wrong kinds of attention." He mused as he let out the breath.

"What about you Miss Ismet? I do not know the details of your story, how did you end up with your freedom to walk about unsupervised revoked?" Marek asked, his voice soft and friendly as he looked to the woman with his arm, a soft smile on his face.

[member="Jairdain"]

 

[Jairdain Ismet-Thio]

As they walked out of the temple and into the gardens beyond, Jairdain also took in a breath of the air. Instead of thinking about the smells of battle though, she just enjoyed the overall freshness of it. The fact it wasn't something recycled and sent through filters of any kind.

Listening to his answer, she could see how it would get him into trouble. There was no heat in his voice and seemed he had accepted what happened. HIs last comment made her look up in question. It was almost an instinctual more to indicate he had her interest than anything else.

"Do you still draw unwanted attention?"

Hearing from somebody that had pushed boundaries, made her wonder just how far they could be pushed. Not that she would attempt such a thing on purpose. Having been sith and been around them, she knew just dark things could get. Not once had she tried many of things they did, but even now the call to return was sometimes still heard.

He then asked what her story was that she wasn't allowed to wonder without supervision.

"Six years ago, my people died. Three years ago I found the Silvers here and joined them. A little over a year ago, I caught the attention of a couple sith lords. One of whom went out of his way to have me captured. The following months, he worked in my mind, poisoned me and then corrupted me to be sith."

The memory of that time of darkness for the Force had been denied to her came welling up. A Jedi alone, locked in a room surrounded by Sithspawn and slowly going mad from seclusion. The taint of the poison and her turning. Krest manipulating her memories so she didn't remember them correctly. His brainwashing of her and her fall from the light.

"Now with my return to the Silvers, they are keeping an eye on me to make sure I don't return to that path I was on before."

[member="Marek S'hadar"]

 

[Marek S'hadar]

"Not really, those who held ill will against me all died fighting the One Sith." He answered plainly, and while one one be forgiven for taking his nonchalance as some form of spite against the dead, he held none, but in the end they were one with the force now, and he was here.

As the woman spoke of poison and manipulation, along with various other tortures all rang familiar as did the name. Krest had a reputation, the damned Zabrak menace had slipped through the hands on many a Jedi. Marek shook his head as she detailed what was done, they had to be stopped, they all had to be stopped. "I'm very sorry to hear that." Marek responded as the two continued to stroll along.

[member="Jairdain"] was just another one of the dark's many victims, unable to stop it from wrapping its tendrils and corrupting everything it touched. The Sith were monsters, he'd been a monster, and it was time to right those wrongs once and for all.

 

[Jairdain Ismet-Thio]

Listening to his answer and turning her head to face forward, Jairdain nodded.

"That was before my time in the galaxy, so I have almost no knowledge of that time. What was it like?"

At her turn to answer him, Marek listened with the same interest she had given him. Granted her story contained more detail than he had given her. When she finished and he replied, she let out a small shrug. There was also a little of a bitter smile on her face.

"What happened can't be changed, sadly. All I can do is move past it."

Letting out a sigh that went through her whole body, she wasn't sure how to continue.

"What helped you, Master S'hadar?"

[member="Marek S'hadar"]

 

[Marek S'hadar]

"It was a dark time, people you trusted with everything suddenly became the enemy by their own will or otherwise," He began, the words stinging as he thought back to one person alone, a person who'd had no choice, a person he'd never been able to save despite that individual saving him in the first place. "It was a time the light side of the force threatened to flicker from existence, and fade away into nothing." Marek concluded, holding himself from adding a 'much like today' to the end of the sentence.

As the two continued along, she indicated that what was done was done, and then asked him how he'd managed such things. From what Jair knew, he had simply been a problematic Jedi, not a rage fueled Sith trapped in a metal coffin of a life support suit. Unlike her he'd grown up a Sith, everything he'd done he'd done because he wanted to, and that still brought him shame no matter how far he'd come. So despite the urge to do otherwise, he stayed his tongue from outright saying it. Then she asked what had helped him.

"I found a purpose in devoting my life to stopping the Sith, to stopping them from ever hurting anyone like you again, or my brother, or m-" He cut himself off, catching himself before it devolved in a full on rant about his traumas. She didn't need to be bothered with all that. Jair had more than enough on her plate.

[member="Jairdain"]

 

[Jairdain Ismet-Thio]

As if she could read his mind, Jairdain finished the sentence for him.

"Much like it is appearing to go now."

She wasn't entirely sure if her fall had been forced on her or if she had gone willingly then. The two sets of memories were both still there. The real one was stronger and part of her. Memories Krest implanted were still there too and wouldn't leave. Even now there were times when she wasn't sure which was real. Now wasn't one of them, she knew what had happened to her, but not why. Not fully at least.

Before he answered her second question, she picked up he felt shame on something. When he did speak, his voice held power to it. It was what had helped him. The desire to stop the sith. She almost wondered if that went to far as even to sacrifice himself in that quest. Would he die for his beliefs? Jairdain had no doubt he would. With the surety and confidence that he spoke with, she let out a small snort. It wasn't contempt or humor. Just a simple expression that it was a familiar sentiment shared.

"You would have gotten along great with my people."

He left what he was going to say off and didn't continue. She wanted him to though.

"What else happened, Master S'hadar? What made you turn into a crusader that it sounds like you are?"

[member="Marek S'hadar"]

 

[Marek S'hadar]

"Pain mostly, manipulation, being raised under the impression Jedi killed my mother, fighting the Jedi for all my life until my brother and Master DragonsFlame pulled me away, a few other assorted things." Marek replied, and while he'd smirked as she finished his thought, and even laughed at her remark about her people his expression became more whimsical as he danced around giving a lengthy explanation that likely would've elicited more painful memories of what he had suffered. The metal meeting and melding with bone was horrifyingly painful, but the pain was gone, but the worst part had been the smell, and that he still remembered vividly.

Looking out across the temple from the walkway his eyes filled with sorrow. He'd killed so many people, cut them to ribbons for stoking his anger and nothing else. Marek had been nothing, less than nothing, just one of thousands of no-name Sith Knight's who'd never reach lordship and instead would wallow in obscurity and the suffering of others for all time. The Jedi may have given him another chance, let him become something more, but they'd never erase what he'd been.

"The point is, knowing I was doing all I could to stop them, to end them. And that helped."

[member="Jairdain"]

 

[Jairdain Ismet-Thio]

When he spoke, Jairdain suddenly saw him as more than a Jedi Master. He had been in her position as a sith as well. One of a number, with no real purpose other than cause pain, agony and dissent among the people the lords wanted conquered. Her hand tightened on his arm for moment as the realization hit her. As proof it could be done, he stood as an shining example.

"Thank you, Master S'hadar. You lived the life Krest tried to force on me."

With his open answer​, even if he didn't include a great amount of details, gave her a better comprehension as to why he had come to speak with her tonight.

They turned and she knew they were facing the temple again. There was a touch of sorrow that came off Marek and Jairdain could hazard at a guess it was due to his past as a sith.

"I'm not a fighter. Instead I focused my learning on the mental aspects of the Force. Is it too late for me be a fighter?"

[member="Marek S'hadar"]

 

[Marek S'hadar]

"In my time with them, I saw old men fight off squads of soldiers to protect their loved ones. If properly motivated, it's never too late to be a fighter." He answered her. Marek was a soldier second, Jedi first, but the two often seemed mixed around. He did not know mediation, he did not know did not know diplomacy, he knew blade and blaster, and he knew them damn well.

For a moment they stood there, with Marek racking his mind with thousands of questions. He had a small army to lead, to strike deep into the dark and shine the light in every damn corner it thought it could hide in. But he was unsure of himself, was he really ready for that? To put everything on the line, and the lives of everyone who'd follow him at risk?

"The only question Miss Ismet, is how motivated are you?"

[member="Jairdain"]

 

[Jairdain Ismet-Thio]

He told her of what he had seen, of old men fighting to keep their loved ones safe. Being put under pressure like that, yes anybody could fight. That hadn't happened to her though. Her people never forced her learn how to fight, they allowed her to focus on her mental powers. Being blind had helped convince them she couldn't fight and she had believed that. Hardly knowing more than basic fighting and what Karl had shared of his Form, she didn't know much.

Jairdain was empathic and could pick up on some of what Marek felt. What it was though, she could not pin point. Only that he had questions and was unsure of something. He asked how motivated she was and for a few moments she pondered the question.

"I was taught growing up that to be dark meant you had to die. So going off the beliefs of my people, I do feel that is still the case. However, I have also been down that dark path and stand here next to you. That darkness is still a part of me, Master S'hadar and I think it always will be. As for how motivated I am, how motivated do I need to be?"

[member="Marek S'hadar"]

 

[Marek S'hadar]

Quietly he took in her words, to become dark was to die, what an odd concept. Marek had found that those who'd had their own brushes with the dark often tended to be the most loyal warriors of the light, once they were brought around of course. He pondered what her culture would've made of him? Was he someone back from the figurative dead? Or had he never really been alive at all?

He'd been four years old when Gallark Morten had slaughtered his mother disguised as a Jedi and begun the process of molding him. Effectively he hadn't had a life before the Sith, and with them he had never valued it, thus why he threw himself at the enemy time and time again. Perhaps a part of him had hoped they'd have cut him down and just ended it all, but they hadn't, instead they made him one of their own and gave him a debt he could never repay.

"I can't tell you how much you have to want to learn, that answer is something you have to find for yourself from yourself." Marek answered Jair, looking to the woman with kindness in his eyes. "But if you think that you have the drive, then I'd be more than happy to try and teach you to be a fighter, hell maybe you can even teach me a few of those mentalist tricks." He smirked, letting out a light chuckle.

"If you want to become a fighter Jairdin Ismet, then I may have a place for you on a venture of mine."

[member="Jairdain"]

 

[Jairdain Ismet-Thio]

His answer was an obvious one and something she had been told in the past. Not about fighting, but about her path. Everything was up to her and only she could make the decision.

Nodded at what he said, she raised the hand not on his arm to cover her heart and head.

"I am a fighter here and here."

Lowering her hand and passing it to motion at her body.

"Here I hardly know anything, so Master S'hadar. I will gladly teach you anything I know of mental abilities. I have to say though, you're already quite strong there. A skill of mine or rather the way I see people is through emotions. You have your mind so well shielded I can barely read anything."

Jairdain had not attempted to read anything more than what was on the surface, the stuff anybody with the ability would be able to pick up on. When he spoke of a venture, she tilted her head slightly.

"What is your venture?"

[member="Marek S'hadar"]

 

[Marek S'hadar]

Marek let out a soft chuckle, Jair didn't seem to think she was capable of being as much of a fighter with a blade as she ever was with her mind, and while he didn't agree he would not force her on a path she didn't wish to tread. "Spent my whole life with people trying to get into my head Miss Ismet, be it so they could beat me before I even raised a hand or just to try and find out more. Eventually one becomes quite good at keeping others out." He replied with a shrug.

"But I suppose it wouldn't hurt to learn a thing or two." He mused, a small smile on his face as she questioned him about his quest. It was something he believed in with every fiber of his being, something he knew had to be done, he was fairly sure the force itself willed it with all the dreams and visions that seemed to come to him. The darkness was spreading like a disease, infecting entire worlds and bringing them under their shroud of influence, subjugating their innocents and slaughtering those who stood against them in any way. He knew that was how they operated from personal experience.

For a moment he pondered what exactly to call his venture, eventually deciding to go with what he'd dubbed it in the first place. "My venture is a crusade Miss Ismet, a mission to be undertaken by the light to burn out the dark infecting this galaxy, and save it before it succumbs to the sickness."

[member="Jairdain"]