[SpringsSong]

"Trust me when I say this - you do not want to see an angry Thyrsian," Xyshari said. "And he... was not happy. He let us know how he felt about us running off... we didn't talk for quite some time after that," she said. "But... I couldn't keep doing it. Without curato salva, I should be nearly dead. My people typically only live to be eighty, and I'm not very far off," Xyshari said. "I... wanted to make the best of what time I had left with someone I cared about."

"Ti," Lana said.

"That's what I was prepared for, yes," Xyshari said. "To travel the galaxy with my brother."

[ 3BPs awarded ]

[SpringsSong]

"Could he have ever been more, do you think?" Lana asked. Xyshari laughed.

"Me and my Padawan," she murmured. "No, it would have felt too weird, I think. I watched him grow up from the time he was maybe ten years old, or thereabouts. I was content with him being my brother," Xyshari said. "That... kind of love is singular in and of itself. He didn't even flinch the first time I mentioned that I loved him - he already knew. Or he thought I was speaking from a place of mourning, since that was the first time I mentioned loving him - after Loq's death."

[ 3BPs awarded ]

[SpringsSong]

"Either way," Xyshari said. "I was content to explore the galaxy with him. To be as... normal as I could be. To learn to be a normal person along with him," Xyshari said. "And we did - but then I ended up back in the fray all over again, like I always do."

"But it allowed us to meet," Lana said.

"Yes, there was that. But we still need to have a serious discussion about the damn pirate cover," Xyshari said with a shake of her head. "Had I known I was supposed to be a cannibalistic pirate captain, I wouldn't have worn my Jedi combat armor!"

[ 3BPs awarded ]

[SpringsSong]

"Theron said it needed to be ridiculous for it to work!" Lana said. "'Nobody will ask twice about her if we spread a rumor that she's a cannibal,' he said. I told him that you would never go for it. He said you'd improvise and be able to manage. Considering you let that... thing go that challenged you for the fact that you killed his brother go?"

"Yeah, he was wrong," Xyshari said. "Did people really expect me to eat him?" she asked, gagging visibly, even in her mask. "Honestly."

"I know. I pointed that out to him after the fact," Lana said.

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[SpringsSong]

"Yavin was... better, even if things were tense," Lana said. "I... know he asked you to set up the sensors to spy on us. I heard you tell him that we needed to set the example by trusting each other. I expected you to take his side for half a second, after he revealed that I... let him get captured."

"And he was still sore over it when we got to Odessen, five years later," Xyshari chuckled. "Honestly, I can't understand why he was so upset over it. You did what you felt was best, and it got us the results we needed."

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[SpringsSong]

"But no, I wasn't going to take his side. If I were in your position, I would have done the same thing - and I wouldn't have told him about it. And I would have done everything I could to make sure that he didn't find out that it was orchestrated, as far as it could be orchestrated. It's not like you were a Revanite sympathizer, after all."

"No, I wasn't," Lana said. "Not after Arkous led me along like he did. He was grooming me to follow him, I just know it... but he was sloppy. When I found out about his meeting..."

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[SpringsSong]

"You knew what needed to be done to preserve both the Empire and the Republic," Xyshari said, looking at the viewscreen. They were nearing the system that Ilum was in, she could tell. She offered a soft sigh. "I should cover some basic Council Guard etiquette with you, if we're to make you a convincing guardsman."

"Yes," Lana said simply, chuckling softly afterwards.

"First of all, no talking," Xyshari said. "Talking lets people hear speech patterns, and speech patterns can identify a person almost as much as their fingerprint, or their presence in the Force," she said. "Second, conceal your presence in the Force and shield your thoughts at all times."

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[SpringsSong]

"So if I want to talk with you, do it with telepathy," Lana said, nodding.

"Third, carry yourself confidently. You have trained for this, bled for this, maybe even almost died for it by the end of your trials - you have stared death in the face and won. You would give your life for the council member you are assigned to defend," Xyshari said. "In fact, chances are that, in a simulation, you would have died, depending on your choices."

"Did it happen with all of the guards?" Lana asked.

"One failed the first time because she didn't defend the council member first," Xyshari said.

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[SpringsSong]

"That's basically everything I can think of," Xyshari said. "It's not that hard... but it took a lot of dedicated training, and it was all done in secret. Nobody was to know that you were a Council Guard except for the Gatekeeper, First Warden, and Master Guardian... and, well, your fellow guardsman. They knew your potential before you knew them," Xyshari said, looking out of the viewscreen.

"Was Loq one of those guards?" Lana asked. Xyshari chuckled, and Lana could just tell she was smiling fondly.

"He wasn't just one of those guards," she said. "He was the one who brought me to Ilum."

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[SpringsSong]

"I don't think I've heard this," Lana said, leaning forward in interest as the ship came into the orbital station.

"Well... I was allowed to go back to the temple grounds on the condition that I absolutely not fall asleep until I had been cleared - concussion and all," she said. "I had closed my eyes to meditate, when suddenly, I felt this firm tap on my shoulder. I suspected it was one of the healers, so my knee-jerk response was to open my eyes wide and nearly shout 'I'm awake!', and then I realized there was a guardsman standing beside me."

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[SpringsSong]

"They didn't say anything, just motioned for me to follow them. I did, although I was apprehensive of doing so. But I'd seen the Guard at every major event that we had council at, so whatever I was being taken to, I had a feeling I would be coming out of it alive," she said.

"And they brought you to Ilum?" Lana asked.

"Yeah," Xyshari said. "Wouldn't say a single word, and I knew better than to ask. I knew that I would... know, sooner or later. But first, I had to prove that I'd be capable of becoming a Guardsman," she said.

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[SpringsSong]

"So when did you find out?" Lana asked.

"It was after I had succeeded in one of the trials of the guard... or maybe two," she said. "I sparred the gatekeeper, and while I did not win, I did not fail the purpose of the trial - which was to show that I would not back down," she said. "We were back at the tower with another trainee, and the gatekeeper turned to the guardsman there and ordered that they unmask."

Xyshari paused, and she opened her mind to Lana. She would reach towards the Sith, projecting the image into her mind of the memory of that day.

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[SpringsSong]

The guardsman gave a firm nod, and would twirl his pike and plant it firmly on his non-dominant side. With his dominant hand, he would push the hood of the robe back and unfasten the catches on the helmet. It would hiss quietly as it de-pressurized, and he would lift it away, revealing the face of a young Zabrak. He had dark brown skin, reddish-brown hair that was spiky in most places, and one longer section pulled into a ponytail at the back. Dull horns adorned his forehead, and his skin was decorated with black tattoos - customary for his people.

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[SpringsSong]

Lana could feel Xyshari's shock in the memory. She could also feel a word form in her mind as she formed a mental link with the Zabrak, pushing the word over the bridge.

"Vysok?" the question had been. Through Xyshari's eyes and memories, she knew that this meant "Champion" - his rank. The Zabrak nodded and smiled at her.

"It's me, my friend," He'd said to her. "I'm proud of how far you've come."

The memory faded, and Lana would turn towards Xyshari, who was humming softly to herself.

"You were surprised," Lana said.

"Wouldn't you have been, if you found out that someone you looked up to was a part of something you were training for?"

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[SpringsSong]

"Well, yes, but..." Lana began.

"The fact that we had that place we could go to... probably wasn't always the best," Xyshari said. "I remember having to tell him that a council member was dead. I told him at the very tower we're going to," she said. "He was devastated - he was the one that had been assigned to protect him. He didn't even know she'd left the temple grounds," Xyshari said. "I think he blamed himself."

"Even though it wasn't his fault?" Lana asked.

"Because it was how we were trained," Xyshari said. "We were to give our lives for those people."

[ 3BPs awarded ]