I'll show you light side o' the Force! (open)

[Inu]

Inu huffs into the Academy, hunching his shoulders and pretending not to notice the stares around him. Being a turned darksider's worse than being a rogue one. Rather than belonging nowhere, and having everyone look down on him, he belongs here, and not even THEY want anything to do with him.

He throws back the door to one of the chambers reserved for exercises of the mind and sets up, placing a mat down and activating a spherical droid. The droid darts back and forth, sizing Inu up, but this one waits for a voice command to fire it's little practice darts.

Inu settles himself on the mat and places a hologram on the floor in front of him. When he activates it, his family springs to life, sitting on the sofa back in the little village with happy smiles. Inu gives the voice command (C'mon!) and the droid shoots. Inu slides the hologram aside just in time; the darts would have struck his holographic family.

"The goal..." he mutters to himself, "Is to make a Force barrier to protect them all."

He's going to start small and build; this lightside business is new ground for him. He shuts his eyes and focuses on his family, feeling their happiness, and letting his sour mood wash away.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei had noticed Inu walk in, shoulders hunched. It was as though he were expecting someone to walk up and hit him. The other Jedi didn't seem to like Inu very much. It made Wei worry.

"Who are they to pick and choose who can and can't embrace the Lightside?" Wei asked. Wei did not lecture the Padawans, but instead gave them all a sad look as though they had betrayed him.

Wei got up from where he was and slowly stepped into the room where Inu sat, moving around a hologram. It seemed he was keeping it from the droid.

"Are you all right?"

[Inu]

"To an extent," Inu replies warily, feeling the aggravation creep up on him. Quickly he clamps his mind on an image of Sorreessa and the cubs, sleeping in and looking happy as can be. There's a slight feeling of calm that comes with it, and his body feels lighter, and more energized.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei sat down. "How much of an extent?"

Wei knew what was bothering Inu, but decided it would be best for Inu to say what was on his mind when he was ready to.

[Inu]

"It'd be better if you'd leave me be," Inu replies carefully. "I don't suppose you'd want to be mixed up withan untrustable former darksider..."

Despite Wei's presence, Inu feels he's almost ready to try making a barrier. He just needs a little more time.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei shrugged. "Well I daresay I cannot trust you anymore than I can trust people that have recently joined the Order. I don't exactly know you any better than I do some of these new recruits we have. Two of my Padawans, Kyle Krogen and Neyasha, were each a former gang leader and a former assassin before they joined. But I find them to be quite lovable even though they've been in some bad spots in the past."

[Inu]

"A gang leader and an assassin..." Inu shakes his head. "You do realize that most all darksiders are worse than that? At least those roles can be turned to positive ends."

He feels a swell within and suddenly barks at the droid.

"C'MON!"

It fires, and the dart dissipates before the hologram! Inu doesn't look happy, however, he's leaning forward with his hands covering his face and seems to be groaning about something.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei jerked back with a startled surprise. "And if gang leaders can become leaders of promise in their community, then Darksiders cannot use their same skills to positive ends?"

Wei reached out a comforting hand and placed it on Inu's shoulder. "You are frustrated."

To be honest, Wei was getting a little frustrated himself. For Padawans these days the only thing a Jedi ever did was kill Darksiders. If all the Darksiders were to go to the Light, then who would they have left to do battle with.

"Those other Padawans want to play games and go frollicking off on adventures. They don't want to do a Jedi's work. Do you know what Jedi do, Inu?"

[Inu]

"Ugh."

Inu rubs his head and sits up with a sigh, but he looks paler than before.

"Diplomatics. Defense. Similar things."

He feels as if he may throw up, but tries to steady himself. He pictures Sorreessa, looking worriedly down at him the last time he was sick, and barks another command.

"C'MON!"

The shield goes awry, deflecting the bolt back into his knee rather than dissipating it. The dog-man hisses, holding his head as the room begins to spin.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei is up from his spot and at Inu's side in a flash.

"Yes. We can be diplomats. And we do defend people. But our range of service is much broader than fighting and politics. We set an example. We keep peace. We do that by helping people. We help them to find stability in their chaotic lives. We give them something constant, a rock to stand on so they might not fear during times of trouble."

Wei could feel the turmoil inside Inu. Frustration, anger...the darkside was indeed strong. But the light was stronger.

"Inu," Wei said, steadying the man with his arm, "Your biggest struggle is with yourself. But you need not fight it alone."

[Inu]

"The biggest struggle's in my stomach..." he counters, picking up the hologram and turning it off. He stumbles over and catches the droid after a few attempts, turning it off as he tries to put it in the cabinet. After a few moments of leaning against the cabinet, he manages to define his situation. "Ugh, I feel absolutely sick."

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei watched Inu do his best to put everything away himself. "Yeah, I can tell. Now come on, and let's get you looked at."

Wei wondered for a moment if Inu's attempts at using the Lightside had anything to do with his sickness. Perhaps the Darkside tendencies within Inu were causing him to feel sick.

"I'll help you out, ok?" Wei said, going over to Inu and putting an arm around his shoulders. "You're in no condition to do much of anything by yourself."

[Inu]

"I'm just fine..."

Really though, he isn't. His stomach is churning, his head is pounding, he's dizzy, and he's starting to feel feverish. A chill runs through his body as he tries to push Wei off.

"I'll...I'll be..." Inu pauses, suppressing the urge to throw up. "I'll be fine. I've got a wife to take care of me..."

[Wei Wu Wei]

Inu's attempt to push Wei away was mostly unsucessful. Wei managed to make it so he supported more of Inu's weight.

"You're not going anywhere without me. I'll get you to your wife and she can take over from there. But until I see her with my own two eyes, you're not leaving my sight. Now let's go."

[Inu]

"You wanna walk a few kilometers? She's not coming to get me, y'know. We don't own a speeder."

The spiteful tone he's trying for is offset by the sickness in his chest and stomach. He just sounds pitiful.

[Wei Wu Wei]

"Kilometers, eh?"

Wei stepped in front of Inu and put his feet between Inu's. Wei gently lifted Inu off the ground with his hips and adjusted the man so Wei now carried him piggy back.

"Don't complain." Wei's voice was stern. "If there's one thing that needs to be trained out of you is that stubborn Darksider pride. You're not a burden to me at all."

Wei allowed the Force to flow into his legs, giving them the endurance he needed to take Inu back to his place.

[Inu]

Inu makes a retching sound, but manages to hold himself in.

"You know why the phrase 'sick as a dog' came about, don'tcha?"

[Wei Wu Wei]

"I have an idea about how it came about," Wei replied in a patient tone. "And I expect I will soon find out."

Wei started the long trek back to Inu's house, heading out the door and down the hall.

"You just don't talk, and I'll try not to shake you up too bad."

Wei reached the lobby from the Alter wing, and used the Force to push the doors open so he could step outside onto the sidewalk.

[Inu]

Every step is an exercise in will power. The world around him is spinning crazily, and his stomach is performing all kinds of acrobatic feats in an effort to oust the lunch he had before coming to practice. The distance passes in an agonizingly slow time, and when they arrive at Inu's apartment and get up the steps, he's not able to keep himself in. He goes to the hand rail, leans over it, and throws up into the landlady's bushes.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei heard Inu's stomach lurch, and helped the man to the rail. "Aw, man. That's gross. It'll be all right, pal."

Wei patted Inu on the back, looking up at the building and trying to figure out which apartment Inu stayed in.

"I still don't know why they haven't moved you into the Living Quarters yet. This is getting to be ridiculous."

[Inu]

Inu answers with another loud vomiting noise. The landlady's bushes spin and tilt crazily. He wishes he could lie down.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei tried not to vomit himself at the sound and smell Inu was making.

"We have got to get you inside."

Wei looked up at the building again. "Whenever you're ready we'll try to get to your place."

[Inu]

"Juh...just push the "15" button..." he gasps. His stomach has apparently emptied itself, as he's not vomiting anymore. "She'll come down for me."

[Wei Wu Wei]

"Uh...ok."

Wei looked around the door and found the call box mounted on the wall and pushed the number 15 button.

"Do I have to say something, or will it just buzz up there and she'll come down here?"

[Sorreessa Tarrineezi]

Sorr's ears perk up at the sound, Inu didn't usually use the callbox so her thoughts instantly headed to worried ones. Her thoughts soon race with bad images, wondering what had happened. She looks towards the cubs, they were still asleep in their crib so would be safe for a moment. She looks down the hall towards the callbox, spots him and runs over. Her ears are back in worry and her tail swishes just barely as she looks him over.

"jInu, what happened?"

She's scared at the moment so she doesn't notice Wei at all for now.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei spoke up right away, keeping his voice calm and steady to try to ease Sorreessa's worry. "He's sick. We were talking in the training hall and he suddenly felt very woozy. He wanted to come back here, so I gave him some help. Lead the way and I'll help you take him back to your apartment."

[Inu]

"Ugh...I'm okay..." he mumbles, though not very convincingly. "Gotta lie down..." He spits, making a disgusted face at the taste in his mouth.

[Sorreessa Tarrineezi]

She looks to Wei as she notices him for the first time. "Thanks, we'rrre just down herrre a bjit..." She says quietly with a nervous tone in her voice, her eyes remaining on Inu. She puts one of Inu's arms over her shoulder to help him steady himself better while her eyes are full of worry and her ears are fold back as well.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei held the door open for Sorreessa, and followed them down the hall to help get Inu inside and comfortable.

"I suppose the number on the box is the number of your apartment, huh? So that would make you guys number 15?"

Wei stopped outside the 15th door, waiting for Sorreessa. "If you want, I can hold onto Inu while you get the door open."

[Sorreessa Tarrineezi]

She nods with a worried look in her eyes. When they stop outside their door, she turns to Wei.

"That would be helpful, he's not too heavy forrr me but jit's harrrd to manueverrr..."

[Inu]

Inu leans on Wei as Sorr pushes the door open, stumbling into the small apartment like a drunkard. He leans heavily on the two others, looking around at the spinning, warped world in search of his children. They're not playing in the living space, so odds are they're back in the bedroom sleeping.

"I dun wanna wake the kids..." he mumbles. "Just get me onto the sofa..."

[Sorreessa Tarrineezi]

Sorr nuzzled her husband's cheek with her own.

"As you wjish dearrr...."

She helped him over to the couch with Wei's help since Inu wobbled more and more as time passed. She made sure Inu looked comfortable before her attention turned to Wei.

"Thank you forrr yourrr helpjing wjith my husband but jI'm thjinkjing he needs hjis rrrest now."

She said quietly, trying her best not to be rude about it but she knew her mate needed sleep and her care.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei nodded. "Yeah. I think that would be best. If you need anything at all, please let me know. It's what I'm here for."

Wei gave Inu an encouraging smile. "You hold on, man. It'll pass in time."

Wei nodded to Sorreessa. "I'll leave it up to you for now. Have a nice day."

Wei let himself out and headed back to the Jedi compound. "Hope you feel better soon, pal."

[Sorreessa Tarrineezi]

Sorr soon wanders back over to Inu, sitting on the arm of the couch before leaning over to look him over, her eyes showing worry but also curiosity at the same time as her ears pricked forward and her tail swished at the tip. She moves the hair away from his forehead before putting her hand against it to test his temperature.

"Poorrr dearrr, what jis thjis ajilment called?"

She asks softly, referring to his prior cold that she had no clue about whatsoever but Cardisa didn't have that many diseases really.

[Inu]

"I...I dunno," he admits. "I feel feverish and cold, my stomach hurts, my head's pounding...it's not like anything I've ever heard of."

He coughs violently, rolling onto his side and curling into a ball.

"It didn't start until I began using the Force."

[Sorreessa Tarrineezi]

"Hmm.."

She says while thinking aloud before getting off the couch's arm and lying down in front of him, curling up with him.

"What do you thjink should be done about jit?"

She's not sure of what to do other than try to comfort him.

[Inu]

"I don't know...find out why it suddenly sprang on me like it did, I guess."

He stops speaking as his ears start ringing.

"We just need to find out how I got it..."

[Sorreessa Tarrineezi]

"Overrrexerrrtjion most likely, werrre you trrryjing too harrrd durrrjing yourrr trrrajinjing?"

She asks, ears pricked up towards him and her eyes looking into his, she's worried and not knowing what to do isn't helping.

[Inu]

"I had barely started. There was no overexertion to be had."

He sighs.

"We'll worry over it later...I just want some sleep."

[Sorreessa Tarrineezi]

"As you wjish dearrr.."

She yawns softly then, the warmth of his body against hers is making her sleepy.