This area is covered in long blades of grass and wild flowers. It was said that a forbidden love began here once upon a time......

It is very peaceful with only the calls of the Shaak herds and the slight roar of the surrounding waterfalls.

Ayanna and Kalin continued on, away from the roaring lakes and instead into the long grass fields, swarming with large Shaaks that groaned and ran from them as they neared. She felt extremely nervous and uncertain about everything that had happened, and also Kalin's sarcastic comment didn't make it better, but she decided to respond to it nonetheless.

"Well, she asked about the Dark Side, what attracted me to it, and if it was 'easier', so I told her the truth. That it depended on the nature of the person, well in my opinion anyway. For a cruel person by nature, the dark side is easier, but for someone who is good hearted, it is not so easy..." She looked to him worried, wondering if she had said the right thing, "What happened with you and.... Her....."

Kalin sighed, "Not much. We just decided that it wasn't time to kill each other... Yet."
Kalin thought of what she said of the Dark Side. It was pretty basic, but it was accurate.
"Well did she show any interest in the Dark Side? Not that I want to see her getting seduced nor do I want to see that girl killed if she dedides to stay in the light. She's not my apprentice, she's not my responsability."
He still thought that Alluria was dooming the girl to her death by teaching her the Jedi Arts.
"Alluria thinks you're keeping secrets from me. I have been worried myself, cause you've been acting strange since we left Coruscant. So is there something you wish to tell me?" Kalin asked not as bitter as he previously acted. He asked it in a manner that made him sound genuinly concerned and indeed he was, however he still felt bitter and angry about everything that happened after they left Coruscant.

Ayanna paused for a long time, so long that she even wondered if she could speak at all. She knew that they were being listened to, from the comlink that was in her pocket, "How does Alluria know if I'm keeping secrets or not. She doesn't know me nor I her. You sure she's not just trying to worry you unnecessarily?" She bit on her tongue, she hated this. She knew if she told him anything then it would be too late, she could not predict what would happen. For all she knew the comlink could be capable of exploding, killing her at least, she didn't know. But she knew they were already being tracked, a dangerous position in itself. She didn't know however if Yuli had other spies after her on the planet itself,. She doubted whether she would be that devoted into keeping an eye on her, but then again it would not surprise her if she found that out either.

"I'm not keeping anything from you, you know I wouldn't do that unless my life depended on it. And you know it's not..." She then did something strange, though he was walking and not looking at her, she took his hand to stop him, and looked straight into his eyes, saying nothing but shaking her head slightly. As though to imply something were wrong, or that what she said was not true. She looked to him, frustrated, sad and scared, now looking him eye to eye, it was clear she hadn't slept a wink since they arrived on Coruscant, and how could she with all this in her mind. Despite her strange action and stare, she continued to speak, "Don't trust that Jedi, she's trying to sway you...." She then shook her head again as though she didn't mean what she said. But she then let go of his hand and continued to walk.

She felt the vibrating in her pocket again, that made her jump slightly. She took it from her pocket and turned, merely holding it in her hand to show Kalin, she looked helpless, but she was trying to tell him something without wording it. She placed it back in her pocket, and then continued on.

"Where should we stop, for your training...." Her voice was shaky, she was trying to act 'normally' but evidentially in her actions she was anything but.

Kalin didn't know what was going on, but he knew that Ayanna had found herself in a difficult position. He didn't know how, but seeing the comlink, he knew someone else was listening and if she didn't want to betray who, then she probably had a good reason. He tried to stay cautious so he communicated once more through the Force with her.
"Ayanna, nobody can hear us if we communicate this way. But something happened on Coruscant when I broke in the Imperial Palace, didn't it? Someone is watching us. Tell me who. Use the Force... Use your mind to communicate with me."
Kalin didn't feel bitter anymore nor disappointed, but he was deeply worried about the danger Ayanna had attrackted to herself.

Ayanna shook her head, she was too tired but perhaps if she rested it would help her. Even though it was now pitch dark, she sat herself down in the long grass. It had not been a great day, what with her worries and then this Jedi business, it had completely deflated her.

"I need to rest, I'm going to lay down here." She said loudly, which was clearly not for him but for the comlink.

She tried to focus her mind to speak with Kalin, but she was terrified of the consequences,

"Kalin..... I'm in real trouble.... Serious trouble..... With.... Black Sun..."

It was difficult for her to conjure those words through the Force as she was not so skilled as he was,

"If I openly tell you..... What's going on.... They said they would kill..... You...."

She said the last word very reluctantly, cause she wondered if she should have lied and said her life was at stake rather than Kalin himself, but for her it was Kalin who mattered the most to her. And as a Sith apprentice she should not care if her master were to perish, that was natural in the Sith teachings. Everyone stabbed everyone else in the back, but that was not her nature.

If Ayanna had trouble with Black Sun, she must have encountered either Prince Xizor himself or one of his vigos. Kalin was sure this could be solved once he would contact his master about it. The question was if it would be safe enough to do so.
"What does Black Sun want with you. Who did you meet?" He asked through the Force. He was almost bewildered why Black Sun would threaten her or him. They never interfered or had any problems with Black Sun. Though he did have a small history himself with dealing with Black Sun by order of his master.

She took a deep breath, still looking at him sadly, she was certain that only tragedy would come from her telling him this,

"It was.... Kidnapped on Coruscant, Kalin. Taken to the lair of Yuli Vlasta. She told me that Prince Xizor had a mission for me. And that if I did not accept, they would destroy everything I hold dear, or if I told anyone, or tried to run from it."

She lowered her head, feeling ashamed that she had gotten herself into this, and also that she had kept it from Kalin as long as she did,

"I was told that I had to kill.... Lord Vader.... I told them I wouldn't and more importantly couldn't. But she was.... Insistent, threatening me. Giving me the comlink to monitor my position..... I'm.... I'm so sorry Kalin..."

She spoke as a tear fell from her eyes, she felt like a failure,

"I could not get rid of it.... Otherwise they would know.... She told me yesterday, that I was to go back to Coruscant, on my own if necessary.... Request an audience with Lord Vader, then kill him..... Some kind of vendetta that Xizor wants settled."

The words spoke through the Force, though the whole time her head was lowered as tears dropped from her eyes,

"I didn't know what to do. I knew you already didn't trust me.... Then this had to happen.... They threatened your life.... I didn't know what to do Kalin...."

The idea of Ayanna killing Lord Vader sounded ridiculous at first, though because Ayanna wasn't that strong in the Force yet, she would be underestimated and not seen as the first to kill Vader, so she would be the last one to suspect to kill him.

"We'll try to solve this. You stay in the distance. I'll contact Vader and notify him that precaution has to be taken. To make sure of your own safety I will tell him that we have no idea yet who wants him dead and that he'll have to leave it us to figure it out. That will buy us time to figure out a solution to this mess."

Kalin did not blame Ayanna for this. Black Sun was a powerful organisation, so falling in a trap like she had, was no shame.

"Maybe we'll have no choice but to face Yuli Vlasta again. I would rather give up my own life, instead of seeing Vader dead. You know his destiny... I know mine. I'm just not sure how I can ensure your safety if we do decide to visit Yuli Vlasta again."

Ayanna still had her head lowered,

"I don't care about what happens to me Kalin.... It was you they threatened. She tried to tempt me that with Vader being dead, you would be the right hand man of the Emperor, on and on she went. I'm scared Kalin, if you tell Vader, what if they find out sooner. Anything could happen. She said that the Empire would never firstly risk their connections with Black Sun, and secondly would never believe me.... What if Vader doesn't, it is all a bit ridiculous. But that's what they wanted, that I was the least likely, she said it several times."

She looked back up at him, stretching out her hand to take his, even if it wasn't seen as proper for Master and Apprentice,

"I hated keeping this from you, I was too afraid of what would happen. Like I said, I know you have been suspicious of me even before now, but I did not know why. That's why I only became more scared. And...... I admit, the situation with the Jedi only made me more reluctant."

She tried to be careful with her words as she was not ready to admit she had been jealous of what was going on between them.

Kalin doubted. Maybe contacting Vader wasn't the best idea. But something had to be done. Then he dedided to visit Prince Xizor alone. If he took Ayanna with him he would draw too much suspicion. Or she could disguise herself, but they couldn't just leave this alone. One day Ayanna would have to attempt to kill Vader for real, so someone was at least doomed to die and most likely her.

"We will have to face Prince Xizor itself. It's very dangerous, but I think we have no other choice..."

Indeed there was not much choice in what they could do to solve this problem. They were far outnumbered and they couldn't count on help of the Empire or the Sith. The most stupid idea crossed Kalin's mind and that was asking help of Alluria. No way would he do that, besides what could she do to help?

She shook her head,

"This is my mess, I should be the one to fix it. Surely there is some way for me to intimidate Vlasta. Do you really think she would be able to kill you? That's what I doubted, if I knew either way I would be able to plan and prepare easier. Can't we kill her? As a warning to Prince Xizor to stop this plan of his? It would be effective but would it cause a galactic problem between the Empire and Black Sun?"

She was not sure if Kalin would know all the answers to what she said, but it was worth asking nonetheless. She finally began to speak aloud as she knew it would be no interest to anyone who was listening. They were no doubt listening out for specific words and names.

"Can I ask you something Kalin, you and Alluria. Did she.... Were you and her?....." She stuttered, "You know what I'm asking." She said frustrated and a little annoyed in her tone.

Kalin was surprised why she suddenly changed the subject. Was the comlink bothering her? Or was she feeling too weak to communicate further through the Force. Nevertheless he answered her question.
"You want to know if we had something once? Yes many years ago. We both knew that we had potential to either become Jedi or Sith. I wasn't very interested in either of them. She was determined to become a Jedi and was even willing enough to give up our love for it as attachments are forbidden. I cursed her for that. That is why I wanted to hurt her by turning to the opposite side. She became a Jedi. I joined the Sith Academy because she pushed me there. Now she says she won't forbid any attachment for her padawan, but that is not what happened for us. She gave up our love for her duty... For weak attempts to resurrect the Jedi, which I always thought to be a hopeless cause...."

Ayanna seemed disturbed by his honesty, but it was what she did want to know, "So, if she now says she won't forbid attachments to her padawan, does that mean you and she.... Well, that you are she will be lovers again?" She asked this question with a heavy heart, and it worried her as she had admitted to Alluria's padawan that she in fact was in love with Kalin. She nearly hated herself for saying it, it was somehow easier to tell her than someone she actually knew. She felt comfortable in telling her but now it could be very dangerous. If the padawan would tell her master, which was not impossible, she would be humiliated and ashamed.

"I wouldn't mind if you did.... I'd be happy for you..." She said looking down as she played with some of the long leaf grass strands that were around them.

Kalin almost had to laugh at the questions Ayanna was asking.
"Hmmm, no my past with her is dead and so is my love for her. Deep inside I still care for her maybe, but nothing more. We could never become a couple again. I have no desire for going through that trouble again with her. Besides she might grant her padawan attachments, but I think she herself is still bound to the rule of having no attachments. She knows it's dangerous and indeed it was. Well back then that is. Now I don't care either way. But I would only become a couple again with her when I see a bantha fly right in front of my very eyes."
Kalin believed what he said was true, but was it truly. Were those hidden feelings just innocent or was there more to it. He did not know, but he didn't wonder about it any longer.

Ayanna bit on her lip, she wasn't sure whether she was glad to hear what he had to say or not. Didn't make much of a difference as she had never told him how she actually felt about him. She looked back at him,
"Well, I'm just saying that if you eh, if you and she did get together again then, well I wouldn't stand in the way. Not that I could but well I mean I wouldn't become an obstacle..... Well not that I would be but, well I wouldn't object.... Even though it's not my right I..." She stopped herself as she was sounding like a maniac, "What I'm trying to say, very badly, is that I would give you both..... Space. Like I said, I'd be happy for you. You deserve to be happy." She swallowed, feeling nervous, "She seems nice, for a Jedi I mean...." She groaned at herself, she sounded like a punk teenager, but it had already been said.

Kalin finally laughed a little, "Okay, let's cut with the 'couple' nonsense. Me and her will never be. It's just impossible. Thanks for letting me now you wouldn't stand in my way, but really it's unnecessary. It's most unlikely I would attach myself again to any woman. It would have to be someone very special, very... LIke me I think. But yeah I think we have other issues we have to solve. I want to get focused again on the training and on other matters." He said referring to the issue Ayanna had with Black Sun. Communication was very difficult, but there were other ways to communicate without them being able to hear Kalin and Ayanna talking. It was certainly a much bigger issue than Alluria was, cause Kalin couldn't deny that despite what happened back there over the fields, he still felt something for her. It was very small, but it was there.

Ayanna didn't say anything in response to what he said, "If you need to do your training then here is the place to do it."

She then spoke with him through the Force as it concerned Black Sun,

"I received a message on the comlink, I should check it out."

She began to stand up and walk away from Kalin, though not too far as it was dark, and the Shaak's were pretty big and intimidating, even for her. When she was far enough away from him, she started up the comlink to hear Vlasta's voice. despite her distance from Kalin, she hoped that he would be able to hear the message that she had, but still she had to keep it realistic that she moved away from him.

"So you had a run in with a Jedi? This could prove very interesting. Maybe it would be a decent idea to get loverboy and her rekindled again so that you can flee to Coruscant. You cannot stay on Naboo for much longer, this would be the perfect opportunity for you to make your attempt on Vader. The next I hear from you, you'd better be on your way to Coruscant!"

Ayanna clenched her teeth at the sound of it, she didn't like being ordered around. More than anything she wanted to throw the comlink onto the ground and crush it under her foot, then sure enough go to Coruscant, but to collect Yuli Vlasta's head.

She sat herself down in the long grass again, still a few yards away from Kalin. She wondered if he had been able to hear the transmission or not, but she wasn't sure whether to bother him with it as he had come here for other purposes.

Though it was difficult, Kalin picked up everything that was said by Yuli Vlasta and he did not like what was being said. He felt there was no choice but to attack Black Sun through the source, namely taking out Prince Xizor. Slowly he developped a plan to meet him on behalf of the Emperor. The only question was if it would be believable that he was speaking for the Emperor himself. Would Prince Xizor fall for it? He was no fool and Black Sun was a very poweful organization, so to understestimate them would just be plain stupid. Kalin spoke giving a fake excuse to return to Coruscant.
"Ayanna, I just got word from Lord Vader. He wants me to immediately return to Coruscant so I'm afraid you'll have to say goodbye to your deer green planet... For now."
Kalin made sure Ayanna would notice he was just acting so the comlink wouldn't pick up anything suspicious. But they both returned to the Thranta hoping they could solve this matter once they would be back on Coruscant.