"We each contain the potential for great good or great evil. We each hold the shadow of darkness... and the flame of light. Our destinies are not set, and life offers no guarantees. It is the choices that you make...that will determine what you become. It is not who raised us or who our parents were that determines our paths. The Emperor cannot reach out to you from beyond the grave-but neither can those you love make your choices for you. You will become what you become because of your choices...because of what you do."
Prologue
-- Ikrit to Anakin Solo and Tahiri Veila (Anakin's Quest)
Eleven year old Noelani Darklighter was scared.
In her hand, she held the small message cube which had been delivered to her from the Jedi Temple a few days ago. An invitation. A summons. It was both of those things and more. She had been invited to go to the Jedi, to train to become one of them.
She squeezed the cube slightly, and stepped up to the rim of the sunken pit which formed the main courtyard of her home. Standing at the edge, she looked up and watched as the twin suns of Tatooine started their inexorable march towards the horizon.
The first dipped down towards the edge, gaining a hazy appearance as it set.
Noelani could not help but feel that this was her life. A sun that was setting.
"It is both a blessing and a curse, is it not?"
She turned at the voice, finding her adoptive father standing there. From her earliest memories he had been there for her, a hale, hearty man, slightly overweight with a bundle of snow-white hair often pulled into a tight tail by a small band of leather. But in the past two years, he has lost that weight and now carried a slightly gaunt look to his frame.
For the first time in her life, she realized just how old Huff Darklighter was. The realization was like a shot in the gut, as she fought to keep a frown from her face.
"How do you mean, Papa?"
He gestured towards the small cube in her hand. "The opportunity. How amazing it would be to become a Jedi. Yet to accept that opportunity means to leave everything you have ever known here."
She chewed at her lip for a second, and then nodded her head.
"I don't wanna leave you."
She saw Huff's kind smile and remembered how often it had been turned her way. "I know, Little One, but you've been given a wonderful gift; the ability to help the galaxy. You will always have a home here, but I think you owe it to yourself to take the opportunity. "
Slowly, she nodded her head, and turned around, to watch Tatoo II finish setting, with Tatoo I just beginning to cross the horizon.
"I… I understand, sir."
"Good, I have someone I want you to meet."
"Oh?"
Huff smiled at her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, drawing her away the edge of the pit and towards a seed shaped spaceship; a reddish-orange blob, with odd protrusions on either side. Walking down the ramp towards them was a tall woman with flowing silver-white hair, dressed in simple brown robes. The material seemed to flow with her as she walked, the wind picking up her fine hair and tossing it about her head slightly, almost giving her the appearance of having a halo.
She stopped a few paces away from Noelani and Huff, and bowed slightly. When she straightened, Noelani noticed that she had pearl colored eyes, which seemed to shine with an internal light of their own.
"Hello, Noelani. I am Jedi Master Tionne Solusar. I was in this region and thought I would stop by and see if you had any questions or if you had made a decision to come and train with us."
Noelani glanced up at her father, and then back at the woman, nodding her head once quickly.
"Yes. I guess I'm coming with you. I, I guess I'm going to be a Jedi."
Tionne smiled warmly at her, saying, "That is wonderful news, Noelani. I am certain that you will become a wonderful Jedi."
Noelani smiled hesitatingly not quite certain how to respond.
A few days later, Tionne's starship, which Noelani had learned was called the Lore Seeker, was breaking orbit, dropping into Ossus's atmosphere.
Noelani smiled as the ship kissed the atmosphere, slicing through it, and then shedding speed until it finally dropped to a rest at the base of a massive stone structure. The white marble shone brightly in the silver-blue glare of the single sun, and Noelani could not help but feel a sense of awe settle over her.
Tionne turned to her, a smile coming easily to her face. "Welcome to Ossus, Noelani."
Noelani smiled, and then followed Tionne out of the ship, and she took her first breath of a world which was not Tatooine. It was a cool, crisp scent, a smell that was not pleasant, but not one that was unpleasant either. She sniffed again, twitching her nose as she tried to place the different scents that hung on the air.
Before long, Tionne was opening the door to a long room, with small divided cells spaced evenly down either side.
"This is the dorms for your age group." She walked about a quarter of the way down and pointed towards one of the cells. "This one will be yours."
Noelani nodded her head. "Thanks, Master Tionne."
Tionne smiled at her, and turned to leave. "The rules are on the terminal, and I will see you in class tomorrow."
Then Noelani was alone. She sighed, dropping her sack by the small chest which was provided. She looked around the partition, noting the desk and the terminal on it, the set of shelves set above the desk, and of course the cot and footlocker resting at the end of it. Finally, she threw herself onto her assigned bed, wrapping herself around her pillow.
Though she had never been an outgoing child, she had never felt quite this alone in her life either.
She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to keep from crying. Not wanting that to be the first thing that those in her age group noticed about her.
Taking a deep breath, she finally noticed a new sound around her; someone walking down the center aisle, coming towards her. She opened her eyes and lifted her head slightly and watched as a young Bothan girl bounded around the corner and darted into the cell across from hers. Noelani looked at her closer, noticing the simple white tunic and dark brown pants she wore, admiring how it seemed to flow perfectly with the tan of her fur.
The Bothan dropped a couple of data chips on her desk, and then turned around, a bright smile came to her muzzle as she saw Noelani and she bounded across the aisle.
"Hey! I'm Kor Res'sal. You must be the new girl. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Noelani leveraged herself up from where she had been curled up on the bed, sitting on its edge and looked up at Kor. "Yeah. I guess I am. My name's Noelani Darklighter and I'm from Tatooine. Is it always this quite in here?"
Kor laughed. "No. There're usually a lot more people in here, but most are having a lesson right now, and those that aren't are studying."
"Oh. I see."
The Bothan grinned at her. "Come on, it's almost dinner time."
"Oh. Are you sure? I mean, I don't want to impose."
Kor laughed again. "Of course I'm sure. We're going to be Jedi together; we might as well be friends also."
"Friends?" Noelani smiled happily. "Yeah. I'd like that."
Kor bared her teeth in an imitation of Noelani's smile. "Then it's settled. We'll be friends."
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