After Obi-Wan realized that his new padawan was the one who crashed into him. Managing to hit her head in the process and lose sciousness as a result.

  Suffice it to say, he was uandably shocked.

  He crouched down and checked over her small yet well-toned body. He didn’t really realize until now the extent of the girl’s training. It shouldn’t be a surprise since she was actually able to fight with Anakin shoulder to shoulder for a while.

  Anakin was a Jedi Master in every essence, but title. At times, even some of the cil members used to call him like that.

  As he looked over the girl’s body, he immediately realized some strange and frightening signs. Meanwhile, the three jedi shadows were silently standing around them in a triangle formation, watg his as.

  ‘Seriously, what the hell happened here?’ — He wondered.

  As his gaze focused on the girl’s left arm, he was again shocked. Her arm was very pale and her veins were much darker than they should have been.

  , he looked over at her face. There were also bed veins and an unnatural paleness. Her skin was too cold for fort. He tried to wake her, unsuccessfully.

  He forced open one of her eyelids to see if her eyes reacted to the light the way they should. What he saw made him inhale sharply. He let go of the eyelid as he had to force himself not to jump up.

  Before ing to a hasty decision. He decided to double check what he had discovered. He lightly forced open both of the girl’s eyes this time.

  He saw the hurtful truth. Both of her eyes were clearly yellow. Obi-Wa as if suddenly a giant rock appeared in his stomach.

  He took in a sharp breath.

  ‘Why? How could this happen? It didn’t make se all…’

  He watched the girl i with others. He saw that she was genuinely kind and helpful. She even became friends with Ahsoka and Rika. That shy girl would feel if someone wasn’t genuinely kind towards her. Ahsoka had a good sense of people, too.

  One shadow suddenly crumbled to the floor with a painful grunt.

  That made his line of thoughts pause.

  “Would one of you finally tell me what happened?”

  His voice was much calmer now, as he began to process the shod surprise.

  Now he was ba his usual calm jedi facade.

  Sensing that the storm had passed, one of the jedi shadows came to him while the an to use some basic level of force heal on the injured ohey rexed somewhat.

  Since Master Obi-Wan checked over the girl throughly, they realized that she was indeed knocked out without any doubt.

  The masked shadow who came to expin was also a man. There were very few women who chose to bee a jedi shadow. So it was a kind of surprise that one of them actually was a female to begin with.

  “You are already aware of this, but the cil ordered the three of us to tinuously follow the girl. We were supposed to watch over her twenty-four hours a day by switg each other at the end of every eight hours.”

  “Indeed.” — Kenobi nodded, firming the shadow’s statement.

  “Our injured panion saw the girl in the pany of padawan Ahsoka and Rika. He reported that they went to the hall of fountains, preparing for team meditation.”

  “I don’t see anything suspicious about that.” — Kenobi stated, starting to lose his patience again. While the shadow tinued his long-winded expnation.

  “Yes, but while they all were in a meditative state, the twi’lek girl suddeed a powerful wave of malevolent energy from her body. It inated a rge part of the sacred meditation hall.”

  “As a result to such a, all of them were forcefully woken from their meditation. Ahsoka seemed paled and terrified, while the other padawan lost sciousness right away. The twi’lek then began to trol the dark side energies in the room, siphoning them to use another force ritual most likely, or to simply hide the evidehat is all I knew. I was asked by holo call to provide assistance.”

  Obi-Wan, not knowing what else to do, stood up and walked over to the injured shadoas already feelier from the tinuously applied force heal his panion provided.

  He crouched down before him, to speak with him from eye to eye. In the meantime, he also checked over his body, searg for aale signs that could expin what caused so much damage to him. He didn’t have to search for long. The signs were very obvious, and it made Obi-Wan’s already troubled expression look even more sinister and sad. He didn’t even have to ask. He said it as a statement.

  “Force lightning.”

  The injured man only grunted in affirmation.

  Obi-Wan had to take in a few more calming breaths of air before he finally tinued.

  “Tell me how it happened, from the moment you called for reinfort. I want to know everything.”

  “Yes Master...” — The man squirmed in his pfortably. — “I watched the girl as she ed up most of the residual dark energies that appeared in the room. It was at that moment I noticed that her eyes glowed with a bright yellow color. I... I may have acted rashly, but when I saw that she was reag for the unscious padawan... I unched a preemptive attack at her.”

  An ominous thought appeared in Obi’Wan’s mind. He decided to ask, sharply, staring into the eyes of the man.

  “Was this attack meant to deter her or to kill her?”

  “I... the tter.” — The man said with apparent difficulty.

  The events leading to the current situation slowly started to stand together in Obi-Wan’s mind. He tinued with an even more disappointed expression appearing on his fabsp;

  “... I see... Your attempt must have failed, seeing that she is still alive.” — Obi’Wan stated in an accusatory tone. — “You might be a shadow, but first of all you are supposed to be a jedi. A keeper of peace. Yet you decided to unleash a preemptive attack based oion towards a child known to be a member of an unknown force sect with the iion of causihal harm. You will answer for the potential sequences your as caused, but for now, tih your expnation. What did you do after that?”

  The man’s smile faltered. He looked fused, even.

  “I warned her to drop her on and be judged by the cil for deceiving the Jedi Order as a sith.” — The man stated his fidence was waning with every word.

  Obi’Wan facepalmed… sighing deeply. — “I imagi had no effects after almost killing her… or did it?” — He asked sarcastically. To which the man shook his head, just as he expected.

  At this moment, the shadow was sweating profusely uhe pressure of the interrogation.

  “Sh-she said that she was not a sith… but that could only be another lie… You yourself saw her eyes, and aside from that… There are ges on her body that are signs of heavy dark-side exposal. Not eveioning that she bsted me across the room with a force lighting…” — The man added breathless, a sense of disbelief shown across his features. He was clearly not uanding what he had done wrong.

  Obi-Wan sighed with trepidation.

  “That is right, and she will have to answer for her as.” — His eyes narrowed on the man. — “Just as you.” — The man was enraged, immediately arguing back.

  “Master, with all due respect, I only did what I was trained for! As a shadow I am traio elimihe sith!” — He protested vehemently.

  Obi-Wan’s expression darkened as he spoke with barely tained anger.

  “What is the basis of your cim that the girl is a sith? Give me your absolute proof, then.” — He demanded.

  “Her eyes… “ — Obi’Wan interrupted him. — “It doesn’t prove anything… it might as well be a tact lense, you idiot.”

  There was a stifling silence weighing in the air of the dimly lit corridor.

  “Even if they are real… She is a member of an unknown force sect. They might have certain teiques that we would find unorthodox. Even among our ranks, there are few members who are capable of eling the dark side to a certaient. One is sitting among the rank of the High cil, if you didn’t fet.”

  “Master Windu doesn’t have those eyes…” — The shadow hissed. — “You know it as well as I do, master.”

  The two me one ahe silent tensioweehreatening to blow into anument.

  Obi’Wan decided to tinue his previous thought. Ign the shadow's sentehe man was clearly not in the right mind to see to his own mistakes.

  “Certainly, she will have to expin herself in more detail this time around, but this is far from a proper reason to assault her without giving her a ce to clear her name.”

  The man looked to the side, this time uo retort, while Kenobi tinued his rant.

  “It did not pass my notice either, that the girl who is supposedly in possession of such malicious powers and iions… Clearly choose to use only enough for you that wouldn’t leave any sting damage in your nerve system. Or do you believe that a sith’s force lightning is something that you take head-on and then run around basically unscathed?”

  The man’s eyes widened with surprise. He turowards the unscious girl, uainty and guilt mirrored in his eyes.

  “tinue your expnation.” — Obi’Wan told him.

  “For a time she looked genuinely fronted.” — He stated. — “She hesitated for aire miheo my surprise, agreed. It caused me to lower my guard, if only for a sed.”

  “It turned out to be another deception, as she chose that moment to attack me with a sudden bst of sith lightning.”

  “The bst owerful. Someorained in the use of the force would immediately die from it, a padawan too. It melted my force shields like they were not even there, and I was blown away by the sheer power of it.”

  “I crashed into the water of a nearby fountain. Luckily, I didn’t lose sciousness and was able to crawl out of it.”

  “It was around this time that the others arrived. I quickly briefed them in ouation and we began our chase.”

  Obi’Wan was thoughtful. Thinking over the unusual situation. ing to the quick realization that this was not something he could simply handle by himself.

  “I see, now rest. Each of you will be questioned by the cil, throughly. And I expect a writte as well. You take him to the medical bay. The rest will be handled by me.”

  “Yes, I uand.”

  Said the female jedi shadow as she helped his teammate to his feet. They moved away slowly. The burst of adrenaline must have given him the strength to move until now, but as the situation calmed, its effects also weakened.

  Obi-Wan turo the st shadoas still standing here.

  “How did the chase tinue?“ — He asked, eager to get to the end of this.

  The man, quickly realizing that Obi’Wan’s attention now turo him, straightened up and tihe expnation from where the others left it.

  “First, we tried to locate her through the use of the force, but it didn’t work. We couldn’t even find her prese all. It was as if she had vanished.”

  “We ected to the temple security system, and the droids analyzed all the camera’s feed. This way, we could find her. We also realized that she was trying to reach the seveh nding pad, yet there was no ship to pick her up.”

  “We feared that it might be on the way or waiting for her signal. Therefore, we decided to alert the nearby temple guards to close the gate. Even if there was no sign of any ining ship.”

  “Hmm.” — ‘That was a good choice, and it also expined why I didn’t sense her prese all.’ — Obi’Wan thought to himself.

  “Go on.” — He urged the shadow to tinue.

  “After we mao catch up to her. We quickly realized that she was clouded in a swirling dark mist that seemed to follow her everywhere. We could not focus on her presend didn’t dare to close on the uified force teique.”

  “We followed her for a while, then decided to try to bst away the bck mist with a joined force push… The rest… you are already aware of, sir.”

  “… Most certainly…” — Obi’Wan noted sarcastically patting down his wrinkled robes… his boill ag from the ret tumble he endured. What was worst was the sharp pulsing in the back of his head.

  Hearing his rea, the shadow seemed to have a hard time keeping his expression stoic.

  ‘I saw that smirk on your face.’ — Obi’Wan thought, but decided to keep silent about it. However, he could not stop insulting the man, at least in his thoughts. — ‘So you were the reason she crashed into me with the force of a charging tauntaun. You damn bastards. There will be sequeo this…’

  “Cough, yes. I see.” — He stated with a strained expression.

  “Go and bring the other padawans to the cil room.” — Kenobi anded.

  The man nodded, accepting the and and quickly disappearing at the lower end of the corridor.

  ‘Master Yoda must still be there. He used to meditate around this time.’ — With that thought, he g the girl still ying lifelessly on the floor.

  ‘I guess I will give her over to the temple guards for the time being. This matter must be solved with careful iigation. I want to know what the other padawans think of the situation. Then we will ask Nizzal, too, when she wakes, that is.’

  ‘sidering that this is ected to another force sect, we should ha with the utmost care and secreo one else should know about this not until the cil makes its judgment. It’s out of my jurisdi either way.’

  “I might have to carry her…” — He mused loudly.

  At that moment, a familiar weak voice sounded in the corridor.

  “There will be o do that-… cough... I will e on my own two feet...”

  Obi’Wan was surprised by the sight of the stirring girl. Based on her injuries, he didn’t expect her to wake anytime soon.

  Still, she was clearly not in pristine dition. Her on was taken by him and seeing her fused state, he didn’t really feel any threat from the ss. He crouched dowo her, searg the girl’s pained expression.

  “You should y down. Your injuries are uandingly more severe than my own. You know, based on kiiergy iion to the weights of colliding bodies. All that b stuff kids of ye learn in school.”

  Her only rea was an insufferable expression, taking its p her pale features. Eventually, she groaned, pulling herself into a sitting position. Clutg her head in a dazed grip.

  “I am drained and bruised all over...” — She stated, clearly tired from the ret goose chase. — “I think I broke a few ribs.” — She grimaced. — “It’s pretty hard to breathe... ah-h-h.. ouch...”

  She slightly moved her torso into a different posture, her expression softening as the pain subsided.

  “There is no more fight in me, not for today...” — She stated eventually. — “Do what you want, jedi... torture me or whatever... I was already your prisoner from the moment I stepped in here... Do you really think I never realized that someone was following me all day long...“ — She spitted out the words venomously.

  Obi’Wan realized that the girl was a lot more riled up from the experiehan he had initially anticipated.

  That or maybe he was just not used to dealing with children, whose emotions weren’t tempered by the jedi indoation. Anyway, this was a plicated situation, and he wasn’t going to show any weakness in front of a potential sith or dark jedi.

  “Silence!” — He demao which the girl became surprisingly miffed.

  “… Oh yeah?… And what if I don’t shut up? Will you make me? Will you try to cut me in two like your shit-eater friend did… I just wao help Rika, and that bastard attacked me out of the blue! Tell me that she is alright at least…”

  Obi-Wan was about to lose his patience for the sed time one day. He had the audacity to think that Anakin was hard to deal with. Now life has begun to teach him aough lesson.

  Still listening to the girls rant, he had something to ask.

  “If what you say is irue, then tell me, why did you use that dark side teique that caused this entire unfortunate event?”

  The girl seemed to remember something, as her eyes widened with clear abhorrend fear.

  Her left hand began to twitch. It could be the side effect of the lightning teique, or something else: is it because of fear or nerve damage? Her face also turned ashen. Then she finally answered as her eyes wao the ground, failing to hold eye tact with her Kenobi.

  Almost as if ashamed of her own as, she admitted her deeds in a whispering tone.

  “I... had no choice... It would find us... otherwise...” — The shaking of her damaged arm intensified while her pupils expanded momentarily, remembering the se.

  That sentend the clear, genuine fear in the boisterous girl’s voice caught Obi’Wan off-guard. He couldn’t help but press on seeing her mental barriers momentarily shaken by fear and uainty. It was a cowardly act, but he knew from experiehat the girl wouldn’t talk if he gave her time to gather herself.

  “What would have found you?” — He demahe answer.

  The girl seemed to be hesitant about answering that question. Obi-Wan chose that moment to interrupt, and hopefully prod the girl towards speaking.

  “Nizzal, please. I want to help and uand you, but you must speak to me.” — He whispered to the clearly shaken girl in a fident, reassuring tone.

  The girl sighed, nodding weakly. Then she was caught in a fit of wet coughing. This immediately armed Kenobi. Wet coughs like that were never good news. He was about to pick the girl up and run to the infirmary. But she raised her hand, stopping him iion.

  “Sihe cat is already out of the bag. There is no more reason to hide my… abilities. Give me a moment, Obi’Wan, and I will be fine.”

  Kenobi couldn’t help but raise a questioning eyebrow. Ohat was soon joined by another, as he saw a very unusual sight spreading out in front of him.

  There was a thin flow of blue blood leaking out of her mouth and he girl also realized this, but didn’t seem to care.

  “I think that I should still take you to Vokara… Most definitely…” — Obi’Wan stated as worry threateo overe him.

  “Heh, how ironic?” — The girl said. — “You didn’t even notiot even now...“

  Obi-Wahat something was seriously wrong with that solem vindictive expression on the young girl.

  He had only seen that kind of expression on the faces of aged politis, like on his favorite t, and only when he had fallen into arap of his scheming. Seeing that particur sign of assured superiority and satisfa on a thirteen-year-old girl-child was not something he ever wao see.

  He was already cursing himself internally, yet he had to ask.

  “Would you like to enlighten me, what you find so eaining before you bleed to death?” — He asked, unintended sarcasm entering his voice. A bad habit that came to the surfa situations when he wasn’t sure of himself. Giving a mask of fideo him that was meant to cover his vulnerability.

  “The Sith Lord you are looking for is not me, as I have already told to your lesser multiple times.”

  “What do you mean?” — Kenobi asked, unsure what to think about this ued turn of events.

  The girl ti her own pace, uurbed by the man’s interruption.

  “To be entirely ho, I was quite skeptical of his existe least until half an ho. When we had the unfortunate luck of running into him at the start of our meditation session. I… don’t actually know if he is a male though… not for sure… It’s just a hunch.”

  “What!?” — Obi’Wan excimed.

  The girl smirked up at him, enjoying his rea.

  “Wheered into the state of... - cough, cough, cough... cough... - joiation, eared at the bottom of a rge dark energy storm.”

  She stopped to think for a moment, then tinued.

  “I won’t lie. It shocked me as well... I was sensing something from the moment I stepped into your cursed temple...”

  “Watouth, ss…” — Obi’Waured her, in a bored to seemed like a purely reflexive gesture that came to him without thought. He robably having to correeone’s behavior for years for it to bee su instinctive gesture.

  Nizzal g the man. Thehoughts wandered back to Anakin… so he was the culprit iion.

  She shook her head, amused.

  “I meant it in… ieral way. Your temple… is most definitely cursed. With a wide area of ive energy. A dark ritual… It’s very sophisticated… It even fooled me for a time… It is incredibly well hidden, and… Its effect is weak, but in the span of years it will eventually blind your fht and cloud your judgment… Among ht side abilities. You ’t really find it without knowing what to look for, either. You have grown too used to it over the years…”

  Obi-Wan took the opportunity to ask another important question.

  “Oh, tell me then, how did you know what to look for?” — There was a curious glint in his eyes. Projeg a sense of innoce towards the girl.

  The girl looked at him with a fasated expression. Coughed a few times. Then she tinued with a sigh.

  “It is not because I am an apprentice of the sith, as you so happily try to imply... Based on that disgusting expression of yours…” — Cough! — “My order… It teaches both the light and the dark side.” — Cough...

  “That is what grey means… if you had tw brain cells, you would already realize this based on the name I readily provided. Not that knowing about it would make any differehere is no way you tact my order without them willingly allowing it to happen.”

  She spat out a mouthful of blue blood on the floor as she talked.

  Obi-Wan was getting worried about the girl for real now. He decided that the moment she finishes answering this st question, he will have to take her directly to a bacta bath.

  “Our philosophy is to find a baweeects, o... agh... this fug hurts.” — The girl winced, grasping her side.

  There was aing crag sound as the girl groueeth while a few drops of tears began to flow down her cheeks. Then, she gave a deep relieved sigh...

  “...Much better...” — She stated, relief filling her voice, in pce of the ret tension and pain.

  Obi’Wan didn’t uand what had happened for a while, then he realized something. Nizzal’s breathing was stable once again.

  “What did you do?” — He asked, his voice filled with genuine curiosity.

  “I healed my broken ribs... obviously...” — The girl answered.

  “Yes... obviously...” — The Jedi Master noted sarcastically. As if doing something like that at her age was anything to sider normal.

  “I see that you are well versed in force healing... I never heard of a sith that was able to effectively use a purely light-side teique like that.” — Obi’Wan stated thoughtfully. Then added with new yers of suspi.

  “Unfortunately, I recall that I seem to realize very frequently i times how ignorant I could be iain aspects.”

  Nizzal gnced up at the man who was supposed to be her substitute master. To be ho, she was very surprised that the man was yet to point a saber bde at her. She looked every bit like a typical sith. Yellow eyes, dark corrupted veins visible through the uhy shade of paleness.

  Obi-Wan eyed her balefully as he asked the question.

  “What is your rank in your irl...” — He stopped for a sed, adding a quick afterthought. — “And I want to hear the truth now, no more nonsense for yours and my sake as well.”

  Nizzal’s sighed. Rolling from her side to her back, staring at the tall ceiling.

  “... I have already told it to one of you... I earhe rank of a master through my own skills and achievements... It doesn’t matter if you believe it or not, master jedi.” — Stating the st words, she turned her gaze from the ceiling and looked into the suspicious eyes of Kenobi.

  A thick silengulfed the corridor as they held eye tact with each other. Then Obi-Wan asked.

  “How old are you?”

  “Asking a vulnerable girl her age what a presumptuous act from a man of your stature. I expected more from the infamous jedi diplomat.” — The girl scolded. Obi’Wan, to his shock, actually felt a sense of guilt overing him, just before he realized that he was being pyed.

  He couldn’t help but roll his eyes. There was no way that he could read this girl, however much he tried. Oime she was ag her age, theed like a wise matron of all things.

  Well, either that, or he was going crazy, which he definitely hoped was not the case.

  “I was meaning to ask your actual age, girl.” — He finally stated in an insinuating tone.

  The girl blihen rolled her eyes and stated after a short, desding sigh. It was enlightening to see so much ceit on someone who is currently being sprawled out on the arble floor.

  “For the love of…” — “Language.” — Obi’Wan interrupted her warningly. — The girl huffed, clearly frustrated, but too weak to do anything about it. Eventually she said.

  “What does that have to do with anything? I am thirteen, just as I told you...”

  “That’s definitely not your real age, though.” — Kenobi added.

  “My real what? Oh... I see... you think that I slowed down my aging... Why would I slow my aging when I am too young to even hold a lightsaber properly...” — She s the man. While thinking internally.

  ‘Yeah-yeah, I know that I am doing that exactly… What of it?’

  “Slowing down ying? Now that’s… an iing cept… But far from the only ominous possibilities that came to mind, Miss Nizzal.”

  “But, since you are so opposed to those ideas, why don’t you provide a suitable expnation to how you, as a little girl… Oh, five my manners… A master little girl, are capable of having such tremendous insight in the ws of the force?” — Nizzal’s left eye twitched as she heard her newly awarded title.

  “Why don’t you go and die in a dark er somewhere out of my sight?” — Was Nizzal’s only answer.

  Obi’Wan smiled at that. his own cutting sarcasm. — “An enlightening argument, Master Nizzal. One much more suitable for your particur age, I might add.”

  His statement surprisingly elicited an uedly stroion from the girl. Ohat Obi’Wan definitely didn’t expect.

  She blushed furiously. Causing the man to realize that just as the sith, gray lords might share the same weakness of getting easily riled up.

  With a meaningful smirk, he pushed the girl a bit further. — “Aside from your insightful observations, do you have any other expnation? Not that I wouldn’t be happy to share it with the rest of the High cil. Just in case that you wouldn’t want to be further humiliated… Master Nizzal…”

  The girl squirmed with embarrassmeually f herself to sit up again, then with great difficulty she peeled herself off the ground, and stood up. Her features occasionally torted in pain throughout the whole process.

  “Stop it… f-fine, I... I have… I have three hundred IQ… Are you happy now?” — She stated clearly overe by fear and a great deal of embarrassment.

  The corridor was engulfed in plete silenbsp;

  Obi-Wan’s eyes slowly began to tick, witnessing the btant lie as a wry smile spread across his face.

  Then he said in a matter-of-fact tone.

  “You are lying.”

  “… Shut it…” — The girl answered, flustered by her weak lie.

  Obi-Wan suddenly caught her left arm by the wrist and began to tug her along towards the cil room. It was time to get to the end of this whole facade.

  “You have a lot to expin, and this time, we will get to the end of it. I assure you, Master Nizzal...“ — He spoke over his shoulder to the miffed girl trudging along.

  Notig that, the girl wore a ceited expression. He shook his head disapprovingly at seeing the overly proud expression.

  What he didn’t see was that slowly, with each step, Nizzal’s expression morphed into a pained one.

  She eventually tugged on the man’s arm in a stubbesture, stopping Kenobi for a sed.

  He looked back at the girl once again, waiting for her to say something.

  "I am still injured, you know? Slow down... please...” — She added the st word, a sense of desperation seeping into her voice for the first time since Obi’Wa her.

  Hearing the st word, Kenobi’s demeanor softened siderably. — ‘Maybe it wasn’t too te for her. As, that decision depended on the cil’s judgment.’ — Which Kenobi, being part of the cil known all too well, wasn’t known of its flexible nature.

  “Well...” — He began. — “Of course… Sorry about that. I guess I have bee a bit excited.” — He showed her a wry smile, then tio walk towards his inal goal, with measured steps.

  Walking along the familiar corridors in a stifling silence.

  Obi-Wan began to repeat the long-learned mantra in his mind as the minutes passed, preparing himself for the ining predictably unsavory ference.

  ‘There is ion, there is only peace. There is ion, there is only peace. There is ion, there is only peace...’