Logged August 30, 2001
Logged by Ashton
Titled: The dangers of learning 
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 Characters:
 Ashton
 Moira 
 Tia Jinn
 Rruka  
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DESCRIPTIONS
Ashton
     A powerfully built man whose eyes and smile coincide with his young and 
athletic-looking physique. Averaging these two factors, a guess that the 
human male is somewhere in his early twenties is close to accurate. His light 
brown, almost sandy-brown hair is just longer than collar-length with a slight 
wave at the bottom as if it's starting to curl. He has light hazel eyes, more 
green than brown, but this changes with his mood or outlook. He is rather 
average in height; no more than five foot ten inches tall.
     Ashton is wearing a light blue tunic over a soft white, high-collared 
shirt. The loose sleeve tunic is belted at the waist with a black utility belt. 
His black pants are tucked into a pair of knee-high boots, made of a soft black 
nerf leather. Clipped to his utility belt is a smooth, gun-metal blue cylinder.

Moira
     This Padawan learner is a human female, about 5 foot 5 inches in height. 
She is probably in her early twenties, though something about her makes her 
look younger. Perhaps it's the expression in her blue-green eyes. Not quite 
innocence, but something akin to it. Moira has a kind face, heart shaped with a 
gently sloping nose. She's pale of complexion, not exactly sickly, but not tan. 
One might get the impression that tanning is impossible for her- too much sun 
would surely cause her skin to burn. Her hair is ash blonde and board straight, 
pulled back in a ponytail to keep it out of her way. Her face bears an open and 
friendly look, completely free of any artifice or insincerity. An Ossus native, 
the girl's voice bears the slightest accent, the only remainder of home she 
carries with her. The only other unchanging feature of that girl that is Moira, 
is a ring that she has recently added to her right ring finger. The non-wedding 
band hand. It's a pair of wires, black and white. But they seem to be molded of 
the same material- only upon very close observation do they seem separate. 
She's back in her training robes, and upon first glance it almost looks as 
if a sea of brown fabric has swallowed the young woman. There are several layers 
to the outfit- leggings and a shift underneath, in a beige-brown, then darker 
brown robes over that. There's a sash-belt thing on which hangs a belt clip, 
presumably for her borrowed training lightsaber. When it's there, the lightsaber 
might be recognizable as the red-handled model that was one of Ashton's early 
attempts at making the weapon. Her shoes look to be solid enough, and 
comfortably worn. They're made of some type of weathered brown leather, and 
extend just above the ankles to offer a little support.

LATER THAT NIGHT - AFTER MERINA HAD RETIRED TO HER QUARTERS

Residence Tower Entrance -- Jedi Praxeum Coruscant
    The entrance to the Residence Tower is similar to an apartment 
lobby. A bank of communication terminals is near the entrance so that a being 
may make contact with friends or family without leaving the Jedi Complex. The 
floor is carpeted in a muted shade of blue and absorbs most of the noise to 
create a serene, tranquil environment. A bank of transparent elevators is along 
the north wall, and each clear shaft is elaborately etched and beveled, to 
create a work of art. This exterior tower is used to provide residences for all 
Jedi, save those on the Jedi Council and those Jedi Masters who serve as 
teachers for the beginning Padawan. Any other Jedi, whether Padawan, Knight or 
Master, is welcome to stay in this tower for the duration of their time on 
Coruscant.

Merina has retired to her quarters that Tirol'dyn prepared for her. Finally, 
Ashton and Moira are alone in the central area of the ground floor of the 
Residence Hall. Absently, Ashton steps into the dining hall and finds his way to 
where the drinks are kept. He gestures for Moira to take a seat at a table and 
pours two glasses of his favorite tea. Returning to the table, he places a glass 
in front of her and sits down. "You've been waiting a while to tell me 
something, Moira... what's up?"

Moira takes a seat, though the drink is ignored for now as she starts to relate 
her story. "Well, while I was on Corellia yesterday, I overheard a conversation 
in the spaceport. A Devaronian was talking to a Corellian about some feline that 
had been attacked and taken by bounty hunters and someone who 'fried him with 
weird lightning,' to use the gentleman's words. The lightning man was in a dark 
cape. I stopped to inquire after the creature in question, and they confirmed 
that it was a Trianni fitting Spectre's description. They also claimed he was 
taken off by bounty hunters, and that he was badly injured when they left." 
Moira stops after this is told, and awaits a reaction or further questions.

Ashton nods slowly, listening carefully to the story Moira is relating. He seems 
surprised by the news but not overly worried. What was it about Knights that the 
most horrific news can be told to them and they don't seem to react. "Sounds 
like one of our Sith friends... what else?" he asks, then lifts his glass to his 
mouth and takes a drink.

"That's almost all I was able to get out of them. They wanted to go to the 
Cantina and I wasn't able to convince them to stay and answer more questions." 
In spite of the fact that this might be a discouraging thing to have happen, 
Moi's not really discouraged. Just disappointed she wasn't able to gather more. 
"Their reply as to where they thought he went was the Bounty Hunter's Guild, 
though I'm not sure they really knew. All they saw was him being taken to a 
ship, and fighting to free himself. Also they said, 'the dark guy kept calling 
him stuff.' They couldn't clarify as to what, because they claimed it was hard 
to hear."

Ashton nods slowly, a faint frown coming across his face. "I'm sorry to hear 
about that. I wish Spectre would've given the Council a chance to hear his 
plight before he took off again." He shakes his head. "I wish there was 
something we could do... but that would be up the Council." He stops as he 
realizes something and looks at Moira. "Have you told Tai Jinn of this yet?" 
Something about the way he asks it indicates he hopes you haven't.

"No, I haven't." Moira says. "Kastanje and Grale Gneshtip know a little of it, 
because I ran into them on my search for you last night." The girl takes a deep 
breath, adding, "I thought Tai might try to take care of it himself. And I think 
that's a bad idea, even though I think the world of him. Multiple worlds, even. 
But...well, he's still learning, and if it's as bad as it sounds, it's not 
something any one person can handle. I may be wrong, but that was the conclusion 
I reached after much thought." Looking up at her master, Moira stops. "I felt I 
should come to you before I told entire story."

Ashton rises to his feet slowly. "Still we should be sure he hasn't heard it 
himself." He finishes off his tea and nods to Moira. "I don't want him to know, 
either. Not until I've spoken to Master Phanton and the Council. Understood?" he 
knows there won't be a problem there, but Tai and Moira shared a special 
connection, beyond the emotions they felt for each other and he knew they shared 
thoughts. "You're going to have to shield your thoughts from Tai for a while."

Moira nods, her face solemn as she thinks about how she's going to shield this 
fact from Tai. Do-able, yes, but it'll be difficult. 'I'll just have to be 
vigilant,' Moira decides, and that's the end of that. "May I accompany you to 
visit Tai? He left me something and I've yet to thank him for it." The girl 
stands as well- hey, at the very least she'll have to go up in the elevator with 
Ashton. Her room is on the same level as Tai Jinn's. But she waits for an answer 
to her request before she makes a decision about destinations.

Ashton nods, smiling at Moira. "Come on.... " and Ashton leads the way out of 
the dining hall to the elevator.


Tai's Quarters -- Jedi Praxeum 
      A simple, sparse room with barely any furnishings about it. Indeed, there 
appear to be no furnishings whatsoever save for a lone mat that is set aside in 
the far corner of the room which is apparently what passes for a bed. Other than 
the mat, the only other items in the room are personal effects, but they sustain 
a majority of it as they're scattered around in a messy splattering.
    Upon the ground nearest to the entryway is a large pile of unsorted 
clothes, ranging from Jedi robes to civilian garb that their owner simply has 
not gotten around to sorting as of yet. The clothes pile spreads outward towards 
the middle of the main room and then stops abruptly. Where it stops a new mess 
is found, electronics parts spread everywhere about and disassembled pieces of 
training lightsabers, apparently being forged together in order to keep Tai's 
alive long enough to make it through his training.
     After the training saber however, it becomes completely clean. The walls 
are barren and in a small circle on the floor the carpeting has been removed so 
just the plain wood floor can be scene underneath. The circle is about 5 feet in 
diameter and must serve some specific purpose due to its location in the center 
of the room.

Laying in the wooden circle that he uses for his meditations is Tai, curled up 
in the fetal position with his hands wrapped around his head. His body is tense 
even though his face looks peaceful. Rruka, also present in the room, was last 
seen in the corner of it crying.

Rruka realizes he can't stay here. He has done a great wrong. But he cant leave 
Tai....but he can't help Tai....Everything is his fault. Tears fall from his 
face as he comes back into room. Luckily Tai is unconscious and can't hear him 
sobbing pathetically. He gathers Tai's arms and pulls him toward his bed pad. 
Kneeling beside Tai, he tries to focus on Tai and get as close as he can force-
wise. His focus is terrible from his fear and the result is him slipping into

Rruka had pulled Tai over toward Tai's bed and was sitting by the other Jedi. 
Tears stains mar his fur around his eyes but now there is nothing but silence as 
he sits by the one who used to be his friend.

Ashton raps on the door before attempting to open it, but a searing pain lances 
through the door and nails Ashton. He reaches for the door and opens it 
forcefully and rushes into the room. There is the source... no, two sources of 
pain. "Moira - check the young one..." Ashton says as he rushes to Tai Jinn's 
side. Dropping to one knee beside then two young Jedi, he reaches out and gently 
pulls Tai's body away from Rruka. Even as he touches Tai Jinn, his healing 
powers are already working, flowing through him and into Tai Jinn. "Rruka, let 
him go... I've got him."

Moira enters, following Ashton into the room. She is, for the observant, wearing 
the ring Tai left for her on the non-wedding band hand, her right. One might 
think, upon seeing what's going on inside Tai's room, Moira would freak out. But 
no, she simply looks to Ashton with a 'my word' look on her face, then makes her 
way to the pair. "Rruka, what happened?" She queries, reaching out to take the 
Acolyte's shoulders and draw him away from the unconscious Tai, to give Ashton 
room to work.

The healing of Ashton's touch and the force flows through Tai, beginning to 
counteract the effects of what's been done to his mind. But the process will 
take time to come about, his body capable of healing extremely fast now, but his 
mind still not fully recovered from it's bouts with the Sith. Although he is 
cold to the touch, Tai has beads of sweat that are beginning to develop upon his 
forehead.

Rruka refuses to wake, perhaps because he doesn't want to wake and especially if 
he sees what he did again.

Ashton can feel the healing power spreading through Tai Jinn's body and the 
Force guides Ashton's touch to Tai's mind. Even as the Force works through him, 
Ashton turns his head to Moira. "Remember what I showed you, Moira. Open 
yourself to the Force. Allow it to flow from you and into Rruka. As the healing 
power of the Force circulates through the body, allow the Force to guide you to 
any injuries." he is peaceful and calm. Ashton is a completely serene person 
when he has tapped into the Force to heal. It is perhaps the most peaceful 
moments he ever experiences. "If you feel drawn to the brain though, wait for 
me..." He knew she was on her way, but Ashton had only been confident enough to 
go near the brain in the past few years. And most often, you couldn't heal it 
anyway. The Force couldn't restore sanity. He draws on the Force as he returns 
his attention to Tai Jinn. "Tai... can you hear me?"

Moira drags the Acolyte with her, away from Tai and Ashton. She takes a seat on 
the floor, on one of the un-parts-laden areas, and allows the Acolyte to lean on 
her if necessary. Closing her eyes as she tends to do when trying something 
fairly new, Moira reaches out to the Force as she did back on Ithor. What's 
going on around her no longer matters, apprehension and worry are not relevant 
to what she's trying to do. As she feels the state coming on, she then reaches 
out to Rruka's presence, trying to allow the Force flowing through her to enter 
into the Trianni. Uh oh, brain involvement. So instead of messing about, she 
opens her eyes and begins talking to the Acolyte. "It'll be alright, Rruka. 
We're here, and someone's looking after Tai. You can wake up if you're able 
to..." And Moi holds the connection, the awareness of the Force flowing through 
them both. Just in case there's a change.

Tai continues laying like a cold lump of flesh, his body as non-reactive as his 
mind. The damage isn't severe or spread out, for the young man was lucky... this 
time. Fortunately he'll be able to maintain his sanity. The voice of Ashton goes 
unnoticed within Tai's mind, but the young Padawan's small inner voice can be 
heard now as he begins to recover slightly. But it's not returning a response to 
Ashton.

Rruka doesn't outwardly show any signs of recovering other then a tail twitch.

Ashton lays Tai down onto the floor and sits on the side of his prone body 
closest to Moira. His right hand is touching Tai's left arm, but no more. Doing 
something he hasn't had to do in some time, Ashton not only opens himself up 
fully to the Force's healing powers, but he completely opens himself to be a 
conduit of the Force - channeling the Force to everyone in the room. Moira will 
find her connection to the Force, even shared with Rruka, to be much stronger 
now. In the back of his mind, Ashton can sense the approach of several other 
Jedi.

Hmm. Well, if Rruka is going to reply non-verbally, via the Force, maybe Moi 
ought to do the same. "You didn't mean to, Rruka. I highly doubt you'll be sent 
away for whatever you did. Now, talk to me about what happened?" The tone of 
thought is reassuring, and she certainly doesn't sound like she intends to 
punish the Acolyte. "Really. Staying cooped up inside your mind won't help at 
all, either you or the situation. If you wake up you're not going to be harmed." 
Quite a long reply, to send to someone Moira's only partially familiar with. But 
luckily, Ashton aids the girl in sending her thoughts to the Acolyte.

Twitches come from Tai's hands as more and more of him becomes awake. His 
visions return to what they once were, the conduit between all in the room 
allowing glimpses to come and go of what he's experiencing, not merely seeing, 
but living at that moment. Flashes vary in what happens. Tai and Moira standing 
together, looking between them at something, Ashton standing with a huge smile 
on his face. Phanton held in Tai's arms, the Master's eyes closed and face in 
death. Then lightning - horrible, horrible lightning - coursing and striking 
Tai. Even as it hits, his body arches and racks as it hits pain.

Ashton flinches as he catches shards of the visions but he maintains his open 
channel to the Force. In the back of his mind, his mortal mind wonders if this 
is a good idea. Channeling more power into visions cannot be good. His own brow 
starts to bead perspiration as the visions increase in intensity. The door 
behind them is suddenly filled with several faces - most notably two Jedi 
Scholars. Ashton senses them through the Force but is unable to turn his head to 
make eye contact. In the back of his perception, Ashton senses them both moving 
into the room and a telepathic shield going up., but Ashton's not sure if this 
will help if these visions are part of Tai and not of outside influences.

The visions are of Tai, of his own connection with the force, making them 
unbreakable by the shields. They continue as well, as the lighting dies down its 
seen of Tai completing something and holding it up. A cylinder. His saber. Then 
it continues to shadows and fogs before a bright light hits upon him. As the 
images seem to be fading and getting lighter, the last is of him sitting in the 
room with the others, talking to them. The visions fade, and Tai's mind returns 
to a somewhat normal state, still a bit scrambled but much better than before. 
It will only be a few moments until he awakes now.

The two Jedi who have entered the room are not mere Knight as Ashton might've 
surmised, but Masters. Even as Tai Jinn begins to come out of his vision, 
Ashton's body is sagging from the amount of power that has been pushed through 
his body. One would think he would be absolutely filled with strength from this 
experience, but in truth it was severely taxing to his body. Normally, it was 
fine, but he had just done double duty and he is not exhausted. Still he keeps 
his vigilance over Tai through the Force until he begins to sense the padawan 
regaining consciousness.

Rruka's gold eyes blink open and he looks into Moira's eyes.

Several more long moments pass before Tai's eyes finally blink once, then blink 
again and remain open. Looking dazed and staring at the ceiling, he opens his 
mouth to speak but can't quite yet find his voice, so he closes his mouth and 
remains staring at the ceiling. The presences about him stir the man a bit 
however and he sends out weak waves of the force to alert the others that he is 
alive and ok.

Oh, thank goodness. "Hey, Rruka." Moi says with a smile. "See, Tai's alive, no 
permanent harm done." She glances over at Ashton and Tai, but says nothing as 
the Master Scholars have arrived to help. So, she looks back at the Acolyte, and 
smiles again. Why? Probably because she can't think of what else to do.

Ashton removes his hand from Tai's arm as he sees the eyes flutter. He sensed 
the man coming around several moments ago so tight was their connection. As he 
is always forced to do near the end of one of these channeling uses to himself, 
as he withdraws the channeling from Tai, Ashton falls into quiet meditation to 
absorb what replenishing he can gain from the Force before exhaustion sets in. 
His eyes are open as he looks down at Tai. "Welcome back... give yourself a 
minute to recover, Tai Jinn." Wearily, Ashton's body sags and he ends up being 
supported by one of the Masters who has entered the room. By now, most of the 
other Jedi outside the door have moved on.

Rruka turns his head toward Moi, NOT looking at Tai, "I didn't mean to hurt 
him....I didn't mean to hurt anyone." Tears flow down his face, "And when I 
tried helping him, it only made things worse....it was as if by using the force 
I was making things worse. I didn't mean to hurt anyone. I'd never hurt anyone 
purposely."

The Jedi are running aplenty, and Tai is a bad housekeeper, someone needs to 
remind him to clean sometime soon. Nodding slightly to Ashton as he speaks to 
take a moment to recover. Laying quietly and looking at the ceiling, a small 
breath exhales from Tai before he finally speaks. "Thank you Ashton... how 
long?" How long most likely inquiring to how long he's been in his catatonic 
state.

"Oh, Rruka, we know you wouldn't try to harm someone." Uh oh, comforting time. 
But how does one...ah, shoot. Moira reaches over to put an arm around the 
Acolyte in her best 'there, there' position. "What exactly did you do to hurt 
Tai?" Is the question, but it's neither harsh nor accusatory. "It's really okay, 
it's all about learning. And if you know what you did, you know not to make that 
mistake again."

Ashton shrugs as his eyes close wearily. "No idea... we just walked in on you. 
Apparently the Knights were doing their job and your condition didn't get 
outside these walls... sort of backfired on us." He rubs his eyes tiredly. If he 
wasn't tired a little while ago, he certainly is now. One of the Masters reaches 
down and helps Ashton to his feet. "You need rest, Ashton... return to your 
quarters." This only serves to force Ashton re-open his eyes as he looks over to 
Moira with some concern. "My padawan needs me, Master." To which he gets 'that 
look' as if to ask Ashton if he believed he knew more than the Master. "Your 
padawan is fine right here, Jedi. Go. Rest. Reluctantly, Ashton allows himself 
to be led from the room. The other Master positions herself next to Moira and 
smiles, letting Moira know that she's got some here to turn to now that Ashton 
is gone to get rest.

Rruka frowns, "I disturbed Tai's meditation...and he started looking pained and 
I tried to heal and then he got more distressed and I tried reading him to see 
why he was stressed and then he was more in pain, I tried healing again and next 
thing I know Tai is in such bad shape...."

Tai blinks and tries to speak another thanks to Ashton but he's too tired to 
open his mouth in time, so he lays there and stares at the ceiling. Yet another 
widely embarrassing moment in his life, at least in front of all the Masters. 
Gotta love all the bad things happening to him, but at least it'll make him 
stronger in the long run.

Uh oh, and that's the heart of it. "When Tai meditates," Moira starts, 
"Sometimes his mind is pretty open to the stuff around him. And if you disturb 
him, it can mess things up. If you come upon someone who's meditating, you just 
have to be really careful." Some not-so-sage words of advice from Moira, but as 
she's not real sure what Rruka did to disturb Tai...well, nonspecific is the 
best she can do. She watches Ashton go with a vague look of concern, though she 
rapidly forces the emotion away. Ashton would not want her to worry about him. 
So, she bids him goodnight in simple terms- "Goodnight, master"- and looks 
around at what's going on. Acknowledging the Master with a return smile, Moi is 
clearly aware of and grateful for their presence. "Rruka, do you want me to take 
you to your room? I think Tai needs rest." Moi asks as she too stands.

Rruka sits up and gives Moira a big hug needing one greatly right now. "I hope 
you and Tai will forgive me..."

Rruka shakes his head, "I was just curious. And my curiosity nearly killed 
everyone."

Oof, hug. Well, Moira's got arms, and she uses them to hug the Trianni back. 
"It's okay- no one /was/ killed. And of course you're forgiven. My last mistake 
involved a prisoner trying to escape and holding Kastanje prisoner with only an 
IV and a bed sheet. And I don't think anyone holds that against me. So this'll 
probably just be a very good learning experience." Good grief, time for her own 
meditation, and then bed. "Rruka, I ought to head off to do my nightly routine. 
The Masters here can help if you need them to, I bet. But why don't we let Tai 
get some rest?" She glances to Tai, adding in his direction. "And please, 
actually rest?" It's a request, politely phrased but probably not something Moi 
expects a 'no' to. Taking Rruka by the shoulder- or at least trying- it's to the 
door with Moira.

END OF LOG