ixi......Valis......ixi

[Valis Korriban]

Valis Korriban paced in the room that he had been told to sit in. He couldn't belive it. It was as if the fine sands of Tatooine were still in his hair. He could feel it in his fingertips as he ran a hand through his short cropped dark brown padawan's cut. He had done something terrible. Something that had come deep within him. He had reached out with his feelings toward an assailant who was attacking his Master and another Master of the Order. What should have been a gracious union of the force had turned into something that was as black and twisted as Tortugas Root. He had felt the force wrap arround the assailant's throat, felt the force begin to squeeze, slowly cutting off the air supply of the would be attacker. Felt his eyes water as the oxygen was forced from his trache....

He snapped out of it, breathing for air and drawing his attention once more outside the window of the Jedi Temple. His dreams had become so vivid now. It had been nearly three weeks since he had been told by his Jedi Master to return to the Temple from their excursion in Tatooine. Valis had done wrong...he had acted in anger. He threw the covers off of him, swinging his legs from beneath the blankets of the sleep couch. He rested his head in his hands and wiped the sweat from his brow. Three weeks and no response from Jedi Master Nova Darklighter. What were they doing? Waiting to see if he would pop? He stood up, reaching for his coffee colored tunic top and threw it over his bare chest. He walked toward the window and rested his hand against it. The cold glass fogged slightly at his warm touch. His dark Blue eyes peering through the early morning light of The Capital City of Courascant. That was it, he was at least going for a walk. He was tired to sitting in his room. Tired of waiting for the Jedi council to shake their finger at him and tell him how his actions would lead to the dark side. They kept telling him to trust his feelings, to listen deep within, but they didn't know. They didn't know what his feelings really yielded. He fought his emotions every day. Yes, a brisk morning walk would clear his mind. He had to speak to a friend he had made a long time ago. Someone who knew the intricate life that came from living a life of duty. He fixied his tunic to him, laying the dark brown leather tabards across his shoulders and slipping his belt arround him. His boots were slipped on as the tops of them came to rest just inches below his knees. He made his way to the door, holding his arm out as his lightsaber snaked to hand. With a simple flourish he fastened it to his belt clip and made his way out of his room and down the halls toward the Speeder Bay in which the temple housed several of it's interplanetary transports. He nodded quietly to the droids that were methodically doing maintenance on the various speeders. Slecting a simple one, gunmetal in color with red adorned markings, he piloted it out of the hangerbay and streaked out over the vast sprawling city heading toward the Senatorial District.

(More to come in Part 2)

[Valis Korriban]

(Part2)
Valis's Transport came to rest on the landing platform of a beautiful veranda over looking the sprawling networks of living quarters that made up the Senatorial quarters. He stopped and took a deep breath as the canopy of his sleek speeder slipped forward and up. Gathering his robes arround him, he stood in the seat and stepped out onto the beautiful "Waterstone" marble terrace. The Lights of the quarters were off as the shades had been drawn.
"I can hear you thinking" A Voice said to his left.
Valis turned, head and face concealed beneath his volumnous dark brown hooded robe. There standing before him was a woman, arms crossed, dressed in a grey jumpsuit, silver clasps adorning the shoulders that yielded a beautiful grey and white streaked cape. Her hair pulled back in a beautiful sleek pair of odangos. Valis bowed his head as he took a step back and removed his hood.
"I'm sorry Mistress Blaze, I did not expect you to be up this early."
Blaze shifted the weight to her other hip and grinned,
"Then you planned on waking me up at this early hour?"
Valis stopped himself before he said anything more that was stupid.
"I know you have duties to Senator Organa, and I wouldn't have come to you if it had not been important." He took another deep breath before he began to pace arround the veranda. His boots clicking softly against the marble tiles. "I've been sent back from my last mission. Because I havent been the Padawan I should be."
She looked to him questiongly before replying,
"Valis, you know I am no longer affiliated with the Jedi Order, my feelings on their beliefs conflicted with that of my own." She came to him and rested a hand on his shoulder. "What is it? What did you do?"
"I do not belive Master Tailon will be my master for very much longer." He replied with a look on his face that did not hide any bit of his feelings. "His lectures on how I should be hit home, they do, but for some reason..." He paused as he turned to look at her once again, "For some reason, I cannot shake his feeling that there is something large about to happen."
Blaze touched her chin with the tip of her long fingernail.
"The Jedi Order listens to the will of the council, not the living force." She sat down on the railing that was closest to the drawn shaded window. "That is why I left."
"I don't understand Blaze..." Valis began.
"What I'm telling you is this Valis," She stood up once again and placed her hands on her hips before making a large circle of the landing dock...."Do not close your eyes or heart to the living force, if it tells you something is wrong, then something is." She came to stop next to him as the two of them overlooked the rising sun of Courscant. "Even if the Council believes that it is a momentary lapse of the force. You are strong, and you are a good person. I shall never forget your actions on Sulica Mai. Those people needed you, and you dove headlong into the fray to save them." She rested her hands on his young shoulders. "You don't regret that do you?"
"No, I don't" He lowered his head, "But I do regret going against my Master's wishes." He raised his head to look at her before releasing a deep breath. His eyes lightened up as he thought of another reason he had found himself here at Senator Organa's veranda. "You have been my friend for so long Blaze, You are Organa's personal body guard, what news of Sabe?"
Blazes expression changed slightly. She new the news She would give him now would shatter him. Honestly, she didn't know how such a young Jedi could find himself so captivated with a Senators aide.
"Valis," She began. Her heartstrings were pulled sharply as he leaned his head in with anticipation. "There was an assassination attempt of Senator Amidala's life on Dantoinne....They didn't get The Senator...but they thought the did.."

(to be continued in part 3)

[Valis Korriban]

(Part 3)

The look on Valis's face was that of someone who had carried the weight of the universe on his shoulders and suddenly that universe had come crashing down on him.
"No..." He started as he took a step back, eyes blinking in astonishment. "It cannot be, I would have felt her pass into the force...I would have felt it through the force..." He backed up, lips curling in a display of utter pain and sadness. The unseen tendrils of the force reaching out into the space arround him, curling into the roots of the very superstructure.
"Valis," Blaze started forward, hands comming up to touch the young man's trembling shoulders. "You must understand, you have a duty, so did Sabe..." She kept moving forward as he backed up. She could feel the tremors of the force rooting themselves deep within his heart.
"No!" Valis growled as he brought his hands up to block the gloved outstreached hands that were comming toward him. "I should have felt her!" He felt his bare hand gripping at the nothingness that was beside him as he turned and strode quickly toward his speeder.
"Listen to me Valis," Blaze said loudly, loudly enough to get the angry youth to stop and turn. "If you take the path that I fear you are about to take, you will become the very thing that you pledge your life to protect against. Anger, Fear, Agression. It will take you to a place that neither you wish to go, nor I will follow you to." She crossed the space between them in a mere few steps. It was there that she caught a glimpse of the anger in his eyes. "But first," Her hand came up in a sharp slap that caught Valis full on the jaw. His face swung to the side in a wicked crack. There he stopped and slowly turned to look at his friend. "you will come to your senses."
Valis blinked and took a deep breath, the hit had stung. It made his eyes water as he slowly lowered his gaze from her.
"You are not as stupid as you act sometimes my friend." She stated bluntly. "If revenge is your motive, then I will not be a part of it." She put a finger to his chin and raised it so that he was looking dead straight at her tuquoise eyes. The slits that gazed back at him were nothing less than feline in structure. "But....if you wish to get to the bottom of your late love's death..." She smiled softly, "Then perhaps I can be of assistance to you..." She smiled again as she saw the look of the young Jedi Padawan she had grown to love as a brother infront of her become the very symbol of composure once again. "We will do this right." She said, "She will have justice."
Valis nodded and felt the calmness of the force once again overcome him. Perhaps the training of his Master was paying out. Perhaps with a little guidance and the love of a friend, he would turn out to be a great Jedi Knight after all.
(Continued in part 4)

[Valis Korriban]

(Part 4)

The soft blue atmosphere of Naboo was comforting. It's rolling lush green hills joined gently with the massive forests which led to the Gungan inhabited areas of marshlands and vast lakes. The large tranquil bodies of water fed into fast running streams and rivers which exploded with thunderous beauty as the raging water fell into the various networks of waterfalls that surrounded the beautiful capital city of Theed. It seemed that Naboo was far, far away from the Clone Wars. Yet, the threat of the war was very real. It came knocking on the doors of the citizens every night. Every day they were reminded of it as Chancellor Palpatine's grip grew stronger and stronger every day. It was a necessary grip though. Palpatine had led the Republic out of a state of emergency and into a full out war. News on the Holonet pictured the war as a valiant display of democracy pushing against the seperatist forces of Count Dooku. Children Watched as Jedi Master Jauhzmynn stood at the forefront of an enclave of Republic Arc Troopers overlooking a vast battlefield on Malqufire 5. Even Valis nodded as he watched the recent update from his spot aboard Blaze Andromeda's personal ship, "The Ephermial Sword"
"Wow..." Said Valis as he watched the holonet with interest. "Master Jauhzmynn and Master Em-Bor just pushed back the seperatists on Malqufire 5." He turned to look at his friend who sat in the pilots seat with a none too impressed look on her face.

"Did the Holonet say how many lives were lost on that system?" Blaze said, eyebrows furrowing as she brought the ship down to a landing platform among the busy freighters and transports of Theed City Space Port.

"No." Valis replied, his voice lowering at her comment. She was right, there was much that the Holonet didn't show or say. No matter what side you were on, the propoganda always claimed that you were the victor. He pushed back from the console and stood up streaching his arms and legs out. "It was nice of Senator Organa to let you off to help me..."

"I would have felt better Valis, if you had confered with the Jedi Order on this outing..." Blaze turned setting the landing clamps of the sleek alabaster ship. "Instead, you left word by recording in your quarters. How long would it take for them to figure out you are gone?" She stood up, adjusting the black jump suit that she wore. Her low slung hip belt which held her blaster strapped to her leg rattled slightly as she walked past him. "Nevermind that," she said gruffly as she removed two satchels from the small storage compartment behind the Pilots seat. She tossed one to him and nodded. "I suggest we first seek out Sabe's family and speak with them."

"What good will that do?" Valis asked as he stood, the whirring electro-motors in his leg becomming evident to Blaze for the first time now. Her pointed ears twitched slightly.

"When did that happen?" she asked pointed to his right leg, which was, at the thigh all the way down, cybernetic.

"On Geonosis." He said as he touched his leg out of habit. "One of the colums in the arena came crashing down as Master Tailon and I were running, he lept over, but I was caught by the blast and my leg was crushed under the colum." He shook his head, "It's my fault really," He said as he made his way toward the lowering plank at the rear of the ship. "I should have been paying attention."

"Everyone was hurt in that fight Valis, whether physically, or emotionally." She said quickly.

"But I," Valis stared.

"Never look behind you Valis, keep what you have learned, but don't dwell." She said as she moved quickly down the plank and into the crowed of people comming forth from their transports. Valis Picked up the pace, keeping next to her as they made their way out of the unloading zone to charter a speeder for their business on Naboo. They found one after a little looking and 2500 credits later. Bags strapped to the back, they thundered out of the City of Theed and through the countryside to where the Ubu family's House came to rest on the outskirts of the Lake Country.
Valis felt the sorrow begin to creep back into his existance. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. He tried to push it back, to make it leave his existance for good. Blaze had kept him occupied with other things, had kept his mind moving and busy since they had met on Senator Organa's Terrace. But now, it was un avoidable. He would have to face the facts that she was gone, that she was no longer with him. His instincts and training had told him to let her pass, not to mourn her joining of the force. To rejoice that she was one with the universe now. As easy as Jedi Master's make it, it is not an easy task, try it. Their relationship would have been a forbidden one. Which would have resulted in an explusion from the Jedi order, and shame on the Ubu family.

"Valis..." Blaze said as she tapped him out of his silent reflection. "we are here..." He turned and looked to Blaze and bit his lip. "I am here..." she said, "I will not leave your side.."
Valis looked once again to the large house nestled beyond the gate, it's stone work colums and large floor to ceiling windows. He felt the silent resolve settle in his stomach as he slipped out of the speeder and made his way past the gates, and up the winding pathway of stone to where Sabe Ubu had once lived. Blaze watched him go and turned away, silently brushing a tear from her cheek.

"That is why the Jedi are forbidden to love Valis.." She whispered to herself...

(Continued in Part 5)

[Valis Korriban]

Picture of Valis and Sabe