To pass a night in the ship

[Shadowkeeper]

The spaceport bustled with the usual humdrum. People scurried about, some more frantic than others. Occasionally someone's temper would flare and cargo cases would be upset in the ensuing arguments.

One such argument erupted between a port worker and a droid near a ship headed offworld. Aquino had watched the worker from his hiding place in the middle of pile of boxes being carried onto the ship. The worker didn't look as though he possessed even average attendance, and became quite perturbed when his droid assistant failed to understand an obscenely uttered command.

Railing against the droid with even more obscure profanity, the worker began to agitate the droid, knocking its packages to the floor and gruffly pushing it about. With the worker's back to him and with the droid quite occupied with its rather large antagonist, Aquino saw his chance to crawl aboard the ship.

Aquino couldn't bear the thought of remaining on Coruscant any longer. Every day was a desperate fight for survival. All of the promises of the politicians to clean up dodgy areas and assist the underprivileged youth were neglected as soon as the elections were over. Aquino's faith in whatever sort of system was running Coruscant had shriveled into jaded cynicism years ago.

If anyone was going to make a difference in the life of Aquino, chances were he'd have to make the differences himself.

He wasn't given to trusting anyone, so in solitude he had formulated his plans to leave Coruscant. Aquino's swarthy and lithe form was easy to hide in the shadows: years of experience in evading law-enforcement on Coruscant had trained him well. Slipping from box to box in order to avoid being seen, Aquino made his way into the hold of the ship. He darted behind a wall of packages that had already been brought in and there he waited for the ship to take off.

He really didn't care who was flying the craft or where it was going. Surely any place would give him a better chance at life. And even if he found other hardships to endure, surely it would be better to die on any place except Coruscant.

And surely he'd be able to escape the detection of the ship's owner, just as he had escaped the detection of the port's worker.

[Zeke]

"Yeah, tha's the last of it."

The hold doors slowly shut themselves, and Aquino can hear conversation from the far end of the area.

"Pops, we gonna leave on time? That anal guy cost us some time beating his droid up like that."

The speaker is a young man, 19 years of age, with a long ponytail and a green cap atop his head. He's talking to an older guy with blonde hair and a black outfit.

"Zeke, m'boy, that's how delay, confusion, and hardship are caused. It's why I've taught you to be happy. Now let's get your Padawans down here. You've got some spare time to train them."

There's a low click, and the man's voice booms out over the ship. "Padawans of Zeke are to meet in the cargo bay by order of the Captain. Any failing to arrive within ten minutes will not be attending dinner tonight. That is all."

The Captain's footsteps recede from the hold, but Zeke can still be heard walking about and talking to himself.

"First, I gotta see what Destiny knows, and then I can start with her an' Ariel. Janus and Rognan can help out, or something...mebbe I'll start teachin' 'em to fight. Ah well, big deal. There's time enough to decide."

[Shadowkeeper]

Aquino suddenly grew fearful. Originally, he had not cared whose ship provided him a ride offworld, but now that he knew that Jedi were in the area, he suddenly and desperately cared.

What if they discover me? thought Aquino. Why, I'll--I'll--I don't know! What will I do?!

The stow-away tried to curl himself into an even tighter ball in order to avoid detection. As he thought about what he was doing, his attempt to conceal his presence seemed absurd. He knew that the Jedi could sense emotions, and merely altering his physical position could mask the sudden and powerful jolt of fear that passed through him.

All he would be able to do would be to remain as silent as possible and hope that the Jedi were inattentive. If that plan failed, his only hope was that he would either be discovered too late to be removed from the ship, or that tolerant and merciful Jedi would discover him.

[Zeke]

"...and once they all share a set of skills, I can have them drill each other...I could shut out all the lights in here and make them play a Force hide-and-seek game, like I did with little Lime. Lime...hm...wonder how she's doing? I haven't seen the poor little girl in forever. I hope they're taking care of her. Jeez, where's those Padawans?"

[Ariel Kendryck]

Ariel was a now fairly long-term resident of the ship and, unlike the others, knew her way around so was the first to arrive to Zeke’s gathering. A little wave from Jhony and she threw a hug around him – he was becoming a father of sorts to her during her training.

“What’s shaking, Ze-… Master?”

[Rognan Dar]

Rognan was taking a a look around the ship when a voice came over the speakers.

Padawans of Zeke are to meet in the cargo bay by order of the Captain. Any failing to arrive within ten minutes will not be attending dinner tonight. That is all.

Oh great, he thought to himself, now I am being timed on how I dont know where I'm going. And if I fail.....NO DINNER?! Rognan started a slow run, franticly trying to find his way to the cargo hold. He took many a wrong turns, and stopped at a screen to look where he was and where he needed to go.

Everyone in the cargo room saw a white blur as it ran past the door. Then a head poked in, and gave a embarrased grin. Rog was wearing a all white, jedi garments (explaining the white blur). He bent over infront of Zeke and tried to get his breath back.

"I'm......not late....am I?"

[Janus Riddyl]

Janus was outside the ship when he faintly heard the message over the speakers inside the ship. He had ten minutes to get to the cargo bay, if he could find it.

He ran up the boarding ramp while tucking his wings behind his body. If there was one thing he hated the most about space travel, it was being enclosed without any room to stretch his wings out. But Janus was sure he could handle it if only for a few days.

While making his way through the corridors of the ship he managed to find a map of the ship on the wall. He traced his finger on the map to the cargo bay and began to walk in that direction. Before he knew it he had found the cargo bay.

[Destiny Stormrider]

"No dinner?! I'm starving here!", Destiny whined when she heard the announcement.

She felt a bit worried because she had the habit of being late: late for her first training session, late at the last Jedi gathering. The young girl walked cautiausly in the ship's hallways and tried to find her way but failed. She simply ended up where she started.

"At this rate, I'll never make it on time! And that means no dinner!"

She had just finished thinking out loud when Destiny remembered her first meeting with Zeke: he had introduced her to Force Boost which could help her right now.

"Alright, how'd it go again? Yeah: concentrate on mom and on my legs...mom...legs" Destiny kept repeating those two last words and calmed herself down. Then she tried running while boosting her speed through the Force. It took her some time before she could do it again.

The Stormrider has gone through half the ship when she finally arrived into the cargo bay. She had one little problem though: she didn't think of stopping on time and bumped into Ariel.

"I'm awefully sorry for that!", she mumbled a scared expression on her face.

[Shadowkeeper]

Aquino kept as still as possible, barely allowing himself the luxury of breathing lest the slightest sound should give him away. With increasing trepidation, he kept track of the number of people boarding the ship. One...two...three...four! And that didn't even include the Master!

Aquino felt the blood drain from his face as his fear turned into terror. Would he have to fear these Jedi? He knew that Jedi could generally be trusted, but not all Jedi were servants of those around them. There were stories about evil Jedi that terrified him; as he began remembering snatches of the stories, it felt as though a cold sliver of ice were traveling down his spine.

He certainly didn't want to tangle with any Dark Jedi.

Then again, Aquino wasn't sure how even the kindest Jedi would react if he were found hiding in the middle of cargo boxes.

Aquino took a shallow breath and exhaled slowly and as softly as possible. The tension was nearly palpable.

[Zeke]

Zeke pulls Ariel to her feet, not giving time for apologies to go around and throwing an arm over Destiny's shoulders.

"Destiny, just under the wire, and just the girl I wanted to see! I know exactly what these three know, as I've trained them myself. I'ma put you on the spot and ask you what Lance has taught you."

[Ariel Kendryck]

Ariel chuckled somewhat dizzily as she was knocked over and quickly yanked back up to her feet. Glancing around at the others – some of whom she recognized, particularly the angelic man – she smiled lightly and waited for some briefing from Zeke.

[Janus Riddyl]

It seemed Zeke wasn't going to give a briefing until he was finished talking to Destiny. Who knew how long that could take. He decided to pass some time and walked over to Ariel, "So how long have you been traveling with Master Zeke?"

[Destiny Stormrider]

"Well, the day before I met you at the Academy...it was my first training. I..we...well Lance introduced me to the Force. He taught me to feel it, sorta. He was trying to show me Force Pull and Force Push but I wasn't concentrating much so we ended there."

Destiny felt bad talking about what she had "learnt" because she was sure the others knew more than her. She looked at them and felt inferior.

[Zeke]

"So you can tap into it, which means you can use it. I taught you Boost that day, so you need to learn Sense and Telekinesis...we'll start with Sense. The other three know this one, but they'd do well to practice. You three go hide yourselves. Destiny, you come with me."

Zeke leads her to the far end of the cargo bay, taking a seat on the floor next to a wall of crates. On the other side, the stowaway sits unnoticed by the Jedi.

"Okay Destiny. To Sense things, you need to call the Force and stretch it out around you. Remember, the Force is your partner in crime, as Dad would say, so don't push it too hard. Ask it to show you what's there, and it will. You can try it in a minute; I'm going to go hide, and then I'm going to shut the lights off."

Zeke stands and brushes the back of his pants off.

"The goal is to find me. If you find one of the other Padawans, don't sweat it; everything is just more experience for you. And so's you know..." Zeke pauses and raises his voice so the others can hear him. "They have to find me too!"

Zeke snaps his fingers, and the cargo bay is plunged into darkness. The game is on.

[Rognan Dar]

"Oh, come on Master Zeke. You know that I will find you. Though....the cargo might get in the way."

Rognan was confident. Maybe to confident. But he knew how good his sensing was. It was one of his best skills. That and telepathy. He was going to play Zeke's game, and he was going to beat it. But he waited for a minute or five. To give the others a chance.

[Janus Riddyl]

Janus stood up and looked though the dark as if he was going to see something. unfortunatly there wasn't a clue as to where anybody went. He fell into the Force allowing it to guide him and show his surroundings. Because he wasn't very skilled with the Force yet he could only see a few feet circumference around him. It wouldn't give Zeke's position away but if he walked around a little he was sure he would find him eventually.

[Ariel Kendryck]

Ariel had played this game before and prided herself on knowing the cargo bay like the back of her hand. Quickly setting off, with the Force acting as a warning radar for obstacles around her, she called out:

“Don’t you think I have an advantage here, Master?”

[Shadowkeeper]

Oddly, the darkness felt comforting to Aquino. He was hopeful that since the Jedi were looking for one another, he would go undetected. Feeling as though he could relax just slightly, he took in a deep breath and let it out slowly.

He could remember prayers of his people--particularly those used in moments of great distress or peril. Aquino had never really judged himself to be very religious or even philosophically inclined. But here in the bay surrounded by Jedi who, as far as he could tell, were unaware of him, he suddenly felt the urge to go through the calming exercises he had learned from his Clan so many years ago.

Fear is the illusion, faith is the Way, he chanted in his mind. Fear of all is fear of nothing, and where there is nothing, there is no harm. Nothing real can be threatened, nothing unreal exists: herein lies the peace of our hearts.

Aquino sat in silence, his eyes closed against the darkness of the room, trying to become aware once again of "the interior eye" as his elders had taught him. After a couple of breaths, he continued.

The past is behind us, the future before us, and only the present is held in our hands. Fear is the shade that melts in the light: its way is not known to itself or the world. Look to the past with the light of our hope, and find that fear's shade has quickly departed. Look to the future, and find the present extended. Look to the present and know you are strong.

[Zeke]

Zeke shoots a telepathic message over to Ariel. Speaking will give his place away more easily than a tiny burst of Force.

Yeah, you've got an advantage. If you should find one of them, rather than me, I want you to give them a clue or a tip to help them along. Like, you might wanna tell Rognan that he's by the food stores, and to watch out for the sharp left he's about to find.

[Destiny Stormrider]

Soon after the game began, Destiny tripped and fell on the ground. F-damn! Exactly my luck! She sat down comfortably and looked around. Everything was dark, she couldn't see anything at all. The young girl was hoping she'd cheat a bit but there was no hope for that.

Alright, let's try the Force user way. Destiny closed her eyes and concentrated on the Force. It was hard at first because she was very stressed but finally she was able to make it. She started seeing light colored spots around her.

"Interesting..."

[Janus Riddyl]

Janus thought he had the hang of it now. He could see through the Force, so he thought. He mistoke a person for an object beneath the floor and ran directly into them. "Oh, I'm sorry... Whoever you are." He said hoping that maybe it may be Zeke he ran into.