-It was like this, for a start I struck them with a -lightning that made them spasm in their pce, sadly they shook off the effeexpectedly quickly… So I did it again, then Lily jumped in, and whipped their sides with her appendages. She is a lot more nimble than it meets the eye. Turns out she also has a strong neuro poison coating her appendages... It retty useful.

  She praised Lily with a tented smile, as if she was a master talking about her prided pupils. She was either purposefully ag like an adult with the ability of a god like actor, or her actual age had no corretion to how she looked like. Barriss was starting to lean towards the tter. She has heard rumors around the temple of a child much wiser than her age over the st two years after all.

  The rumors fred up about two years ago… and also retly. It didn’t take a genius to figure it out, as that was the time the possible existence of the Grey Order first appeared in the rumors as well.

  Was it a o way. Kalifa also reacted to this girl when she first saw her in the pany of Grandmaster Yoda. She said something about her age, that she looked the same as two years ago.

  The girl acted like Yoda’s equal... Of course she did. Based on the Darth’s words, she was also a grandmaster. Was her outward look a mere illusion? Or did she really look like that? Maybe she was immortal… or somehow mao slow her aging that much. Such abilities seemed quite useful to Barriss, especially after her ret dah death. She would really love to learn how to elongate her lifespan. Unfortunately, there roblem. The girl o teach her willingly, as she had no realistic way to foreone who could fight off a Darth alone…

  While Barriss was lost in her newly gained uanding, the girl in front of her didn’t realize the slightly possessive glint passing Barriss’ eyes as she tinued her description of the battle.

  -So that was it, hehe… In the end, when they ’t move, killing them is pretty easy, especially if you have a lightsaber at hand. Good job with killing that one on your own once more. It is a genuine achievement! How did you even mao do it?

  Barriss looked at Nizzal and said.

  -Squashed it with a stactite, it didn’t see it ing.

  She nodded, while fiddling with her left lek.

  -Hmmm… good thinking. Inexperienced ones, like these, tend to ignore forents that are not directly pointed against them. Do not try that with an adult spe though…

  We heard a disgusted dull shriek appearing just behind us, and we immediately turowards the source of the sound.

  It was caused by perhaps not so surprisingly Kalifa, who was the root of the ruckus once again.

  -What are you shouting at?

  Barked Nizzal frustratedly.

  -Do you want to lure even more of those damn things here?

  She tio scold her while both of us walked in their dire.

  She moved backwards, with disbelief mirrored in her eyes, as she stared towards a slightly hunched form, kneelio one of the dead Tuk'atas.

  Seeing this, we also stopped and stared at the familiar form of Lily. Her back was turowards us, and she seemed kind of occupied at the moment.

  We stared at her silently.

  Then the sounds of chewing reached our ears…

  Nizzal walked closer and looked at her from the side with Barriss standio her. Just as we already suspected, based on the noises, she was really eating the raw meat of these disgusting things!

  Barriss immediately stepped back a few times while ag simirly to Kalifa’s earlier behaviour. Nizzal, however, didn’t react at all to witnessing the gruesome sight.

  At this time, Lily already looked up at us with the same curious gaze that was so uo her. She smiled lightly while being coated elbow deep in the red blood of the Tuk’ata.

  -Ah, do you want some? It’s pretty good actually… If a bit chewy, thanks to all those muscles.

  Barriss was the first one who spoke up after the awkward silehat followed Lily’s question.

  -… Wha… what are you doing Lily? It might be poisonous… even if it isn’t, why would you eat it raw? You will bee siot eveioning that the meat is tainted by your own neuro poison…

  She blinked her golden eyes with a mixture of i fusion.

  -I am naturally immuo my own body’s toxins and most other poisons on that note. I never got sick from eating raw meat either. I have always been doing that; I think it’s fine, and I am pretty hungry… so… if you don’t want to eat it, may I use it in a different way?

  -…are, are you sure?

  Asked Barriss, not sure what to believe hearing her ahen she added.

  -What did you mean by using it differently?

  Lily leaned her face to the side and said, while closing her glowing yellow eyes.

  -This pce… I feel that it’s vast, silent ay. Not good for a main hive… but a small hat I make here… no… I o. Too many dangers lurking around...

  She opened her eyes tentatively, then asked.

  - This cave... might be a good start. May I?

  Barriss froze. She clearly didn’t know what the heck she was talking about. Thankfully, in the middle of her fusion, she felt a warm hand touch her shoulder. She looked tht and saw Nizzal standing by her side.

  -She is a zerg, Barriss… let her be. She could probably eat the bridge of a battleship without any serious sequences.

  Barriss nodded absentmindedly as she listeo Nizzal’s following words.

  -Oh, and yeah… you go ahead Lily… as long as you keep your family in close check.

  Nizzal’s eyes narrowed dangerously, fog on the form of Lily. A golden glint was dang across her otherwise pink eyes, simir to the lightning that runs over a dark cloudy sky. Leaving deep rumbling behind, hanging in the air as a signal of its ret pass.

  Both Barriss’s and Kalifa’s eyes widened slightly at the foreboding sight. Oher hand, Lily ended up nodding with ued fervor, as if her life was on the lihought Barriss, and when she gnced back at the disturbing eyes, she gulped silently as the thought crossed her mind.

  Maybe… it was…

  In the meantime, Kalifa, the ever brazen girl, seemed to suddenly calm down. She shook off her exasperation and stood up. It had to be said that she was still gawking at the as of Lily.

  Nizzal looked betweewo of them and noted loudly.

  -Kalifa, it‘s better to make peace with the thought of eating tuk’ata, as I am afraid that there is not much else to eat around here.

  That seemed to hit the girl where it hurt the most. As she stepped backwards with a disgusted expression and shouted with protest.

  -There is no ce I am going to eat that disgusting thing!

  This mao force a chuckle out of Barriss and Nizzal. That further annoyed Kalifa.

  -So, what are we supposed to do now?

  Asked Kalifa. After we stopped smirking at her. She was standing sideways in her usual “cool pose,” as she teo call it, whehought nobody heard her.

  Nizzal poiowards Lily, with an amused expression. The rest also looked at Lily as a result.

  -Uegh… What the heeeell!!!??? You said you won’t release those bugs in front of me ever again! You lier!

  Shouted Kalifa, while c her mouth with her right palm.

  Lily blinked in surprise, and looked at Nizzal, fusion written across her features.

  Nizzal waved lightly, trying to defuse the situation.

  -It’s all right, I told her to do that… We ’t survive in this pce with our current gear… well, at least you ’t I might just manage if I was alone. Sigh… Now, stop givihat helpless gre… I don’t pn on leaving you to your own devices. Kids are meant to be protected after all… And sihings got to this point, her help is essential for our survival here.

  Kalifa walked up to Nizzal at a quick pad grabbed her robe just under her neck. She slowly pushed her against a nearby wall then asked from the smaller twi’lek girl with an annoyed gre.

  In the meantime, Nizzal lifted her hands to the side in a harmless gesture while waiting for what Kalifa was trying to do with all this tough act.

  -I have had enough of your secrets. Calling me a kid like that is the st drop in the gss... Like, look at yourself, you are even smaller theh half a head!

  An awkward silence filled the cave as the two girls were staring at each other. In the background Lily was eating in blissful ignorance while also feeding the armada of shield rvae usually hidden inside her body. Some of them after finishing their meal started to morph into egg like things, but nobody realized the ges just yet.

  Oher hand, Barriss anig in her pce. She couldn't believe her eyes, she always khat Kalifa was a bit loose in the head, but walking up and threatening someohat strong was just beyond her expectations. And all that for a stupid reason like being called a kid!

  Not sensing or pletely ign the series of emotions which Barriss was going through, Kalifa tinued her questioning.

  -Either you start speaking and tell us who the hell you are, or I ain’t going to spend another damn moment in your pany. I saw how your eyes flickered to yellow just now. That meant I was not imagining stuff in the middle of the battle against the tuk'ata either, and you really had a pair of glowing yellow eyes. Having yellow eyes is ohing, but seeing them ge in front of me is a pletely different matter. Tell me, right now… are you a Sith, or not, and don’t dare to lie!

  Nizzal seemed to take ihreats with the ess of an untouched pond.

  She sighed and nodded.

  -Okay… just as I said it earlier… I am not a Sith, and I never was. I am someone who has learned, and still actively learns, both light side and dark side based knowledge and teiques. As a side effect, my body shares many simirities with the Sith, who el the dark side. To name a feles, my skin also pales to a uhy degree when I use too much dark side energy, my veins also b from the corruption that seeps into my skin, and my eyes, as you have noticed will also ge if I use too muy abilities based on the dark quality of the force.

  There was a moment of silehen she added.

  -However, I am not a Sith. Since I do not share in their beliefs, or at least most of them. As another point, do you think I would allow you to manhandle me in such ways if I were anything simir to them? I thought that we were already over this…

  Unfortunately Kalifa, didn’t let go of her right after that expnation.

  -One more thing.

  She stated. Which caused Nizzal to sigh. She was getting frustrated by the situation.

  It was at that time Barriss decided to interrupt the exge. She stepped in, grabbed Kalifa by her earlobe and started to pull her away with signifit force.

  -Stop that, you idiot!

  She scolded the human girl, loudly, who was so taken aback by the unfoldis that she even fot to defend herself in any meaningful way.

  What was going unsaid was the series of carefully chosen curses that Barriss was silently unleashing on her partially retarded rade.

  Is she trying to get us killed? She saw her fighting with that Darth half an hht? Right? How is she walking up to her and demanding such things out of nowhere?! What if it turns out that she is a Darth? She would probably just cut us up and that’s it. The fact she didn’t do it should be enough… why is she so stupid for force's sake?

  Barriss could swear that she was surrounded by a bunch of people with the mi of a horde of lemming heading into the sea to it mass genocide on themselves.

  Like seriously… what did this idiot pn to do if she says that she is an actual Darth?

  Barriss gave an apologetic smile to Nizzal, who was left by the wall, feeling fused.

  -Sorry for the behavior of this lemming… I mean… Kalifa… she was dropped on her head when she was younger…

  - Wha-…?

  Kalifa was about to protest, but Barriss scolded her right away.

  -Shut the fuck up.

  Kalifa gulped, and closed her mouth tightly. She could swear that she saw a yellow glint passing Barriss's blue eyes.

  This left the versation a bit more awkward than it was necessary… In the end, Nizzal could only answer one way.

  -…I-I see…