[SpringsSong]

Xyshari. Lana.

The idea to visit this desolate desert had not originally sounded good to Xyshari. It had been Lana's idea; a way for her to get some sense of closure with Loq's death. Xyshari was still wary of the idea; her friend who had taught her to see with the Force had been abundantly clear that the only way she would teach her to see in such a way was to promise never to do what she was thinking about doing.

"My love?"

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Lana's voice brought Xyshari back into the present, and she looked over at the Sith. In a slight departure from her usual garb, Lana was wearing a black, cloaked outfit with a hood that she could pull up if the sands of the desert kicked up into a frenzy. Xyshari was wearing something similar, though the cloak was only barely fastened, and Xyshari couldn't help but heave a sigh.

"I'm still not sure about going through with this, ra svet," she said, a nervous whine following her words. "I have to wonder if knowing will... actually help," she said, placing her hand over her heart. Lana knew what was there: a medallion fashioned out of two kyber crystals - one purple, one turquoise.

[SpringsSong]

Lana bowed her head in acknowledgment: Xyshari had told her that, when her first master's other Padawan told Xyshari of their master's death, she had asked him how it had happened, why it had happened, and if the Sith responsible had been dealt with. His death cast a lengthy shadow over her for a long time, and even the bond she formed with her new master was not what it could have been if he had not died.

<But I want someone to know - and you were the only one in the Order that would have mattered.>

[SpringsSong]

While Xyshari did not react physically to the voice, Lana could feel the surprise in her wife's mental demeanor. Lana had only ever heard about Loq from Xyshari - him being a Force ghost kind of complicated matters in actually meeting him. However, she had reacted similarly when he had spoken up through the bond that she had shared with him that persisted even after death because of the fact that Xyshari carried his kyber crystal with her.

"What did he say?" Lana asked.

[SpringsSong]

"He wants someone to know - and that I'm the only one from that life that would have mattered," Xyshari said plainly. "Ti knows I'm headed there now... he doesn't think it's a good idea, but I reassured him that you would be there with me, and would keep me from falling too far."

"And let me guess... if I fail, I'll have to deal with the consequences on the other side," Lana said, and Xyshari offered a nervous chuckle as she nodded.

"He didn't even say it in so many words," Xyshari said. "Just, 'If we all end up dead because of this...'"

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Lana offered a dry chuckle at that remark as they continued to trek deeper into the desert. She'd only had the pleasure of meeting Ti once so far, during a holiday visit to their new home's strange tavern that popped up whenever and wherever it pleased - and Xyshari had already had more than her fill of eggnog after not practicing Curato Salva for a week to "prepare" for it - apparently her habit of performing the action of purging her body of toxins meant she rarely ever got drunk.

"In other words, he's very serious about that," Lana finally said.

[SpringsSong]

"Very," Xyshari said, pulling her cloak around her as she fought off a shiver. The sun had just barely disappeared beyond the horizon, and already, it was getting colder by the minute without the sun's light there. At the same time, both women enveloped themselves with a blanket of Force energy to trap their body heat close to them to keep from getting too cold.

"How much further, my love?" Lana asked. Xyshari looked out into the distance, pulling her hood closer to her face for a moment as she tried to gauge the distance.

[SpringsSong]

"It's hard to tell in this desert," Xyshari said. "There's a distinct lack of identifying landmarks..."

<You're not far from where it began,> Loq said in Xyshari's mind. <A couple clicks to the southwest, just before you hit the canyons of the wastes.>

"Well, we're bound to hit it eventually," Lana said, and Xyshari nodded.

"A bit more to the southwest, before we would hit the canyons of the wastes. That... that lines up with where I found his lightsaber," she said. "The encounter must have begun there..."

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Lana placed a hand on Xyshari's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. She did not say anything, but she did not need to: everything that she needed to convey, she was able to do so through the bond that they shared. All she had to do was reassure her without words that she would be there regardless of what she discovered, and she didn't need to rush herself.

"Somehow, you always know what will soothe me," Xyshari said, her voice wavering slightly. "Let's go. It's just a little further..."

[SpringsSong]

They reached a spot before the canyon wall, and Xyshari stopped and looked around her, breathing in deeply and opening herself to the flow of the Force around her. Lana took a step back for a moment, but she felt something wash over her from Xyshari.

Don't go.

Lana stopped, and then, she walked to stand next to her wife. When she was next to Xyshari, the Cathar smiled as she placed a gentle hand on Lana's shoulder.

"Follow my lead," Xyshari said softly.

[SpringsSong]

Almost as soon as Xyshari finished speaking, Lana could feel a vortex of the Force swirling around them both - Xyshari opening herself up completely to the flow of the Force. She had explained how she envisioned it to Lana once before: like the Force was a mighty river, and she was allowing herself to get swept up into its flow, letting it pull her under and immerse her in it. It was when she did this that she was able to get the closest to peace she could get, minus a few stubborn cobwebs that would not leave her.

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After a few moments, Lana opened herself in a similar way, letting the vortex of the Force sweep her away into its currents. Xyshari's hand was still at her shoulder, and after a moment, Lana felt a small squeeze.

<Close your eyes. Forget the physical world around you. Try to view it through the lens of the Force,> she heard Xyshari say. Lana seemed hesitant for a moment, but she let go after a moment and closed her eyes, letting go of the physical and trying to open her eyes in the Force.

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After a moment, she began to see figures moving around - wisps, at first, but then, more defined. After a few minutes, she saw Xyshari's form - ethereal, balanced, luminous - point over to the distance, where a Zabrak figure stepped out of what was likely a shuttle.

"Is that him?" Lana asked, and Xyshari nodded.

"There was... he left a message saying that he was investigating something on Tattooine, and wanted my help if I could--"

"--be spared. No one else I trust more than you, Shari. Please..." a man's voice said, but there was no response on the other end of the holo.

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Lana felt the same sensation in her chest that Xyshari felt: a painful twist and overwhelming sorrow as the Zabrak put the holocommunicator down. Lana looked over at Xyshari.

"I ignored his message. I heard my holocommunicator, saw that it was his frequency - his personal frequency, not his one for Jedi business - and I ignored it," Xyshari said, looking forlornly at Loq. "...but I can't guarantee what would have happened if I had taken his call. Would we have both died? Would he have survived? Would... we have still met?"

[SpringsSong]

"Well, her last communication that I missed indicated that she was in a remote area... cold, too. Hoth... maybe Ilum. She was rather fond of Ilum... but would she risk being caught on the sacred grounds since she is no longer a part of the order...?" Loq muttered as he made his way towards the cavern. "She also wasn't alone... I heard someone call her 'ona' on the other end of the line," he muttered. Xyshari hung her head.

"I was on Ilum with Ti, studying Juyo-Kos," Xyshari said. "I don't know if it was a moment of clarity or a moment of weakness, but I called him to... try to tell him how I felt."