I know you know I know you know that I know you know now [D6, LM]

[Tyllia Demici]

The sigh that emerged from Tyllia's throat almost sounded like the kind that might emerge from a teacher exasperated by a student's refusal to pay attention in class. Which of course might seem a little silly since Tyllia was clearly younger than Sholua.

"This is what I meant. Not just you, none of the Jedi saw it coming. In their complacency, they all thought the Sith were no more than mere ancient legends. Just as the Sith had intended."

[Sholua Tempes]

"Yes, we knew nothing."

A moment's silence.

"Yet you do . . . "

[Tyllia Demici]

"I know some things, yes," she said. "Not all of us ignored the lessons of the past as the war raged. Not all of us have sat idle these past ten years. Nor did all of our self-exiles began like yours. Mine began with a Sith lord's visit. The man whose will commands the inquisitors that hunt people like you and me."

[Sholua Tempes]

"I've seen a few of those. Inquisitors. I never stopped to chat."

She idly thought what Cartess would have made of this conversation . . . well she'd find out eventually.

[Tyllia Demici]

''They are not Sith,'' she said, ''not true Sith, anyway, I believe. More like tools in the employ of one. Taught only some of the ways, enough to empower them, but not so much as to become a threat to their masters.''

[Sholua Tempes]

"They're hunters and killers. Very little else to them."

[Tyllia Demici]

"That," she said with no apparent judgement in her voice, "is a very small and narrow view of them. Nothing is ever so simple."

[Sholua Tempes]

"I've only ever had a brief and narrow view of them. I preferred to stay as far away as I could."

She nodded to the cylinder at Tyllia's belt.

"Especially as they were likely to have one of those and I don't. Doesn't win a fight by default but it sure damn helps."

[Tyllia Demici]

She wanted to disagree, but clearly couldn't. The lightsaber *was* a superior weapon, after all. So she nodded her assent, at least with that part.

"Do you hate them?"

[Sholua Tempes]

"Hate is a strong emotion and only leads to the Dark Side . . . "

She looked up.

" . . . but that's what you'd expect a 'Jedi' to say. Things are muddled now, I am not sure what I think but I do not think I hate them. Now if you'd asked if I feared them, then yes. I did."

[Tyllia Demici]

"Fear leads to the dark side too, they say," she shrugged, "but like I said, nothing is ever so simple. The Jedi are of the Light, the Sith are of the Dark. Both have caused suffering because of their beliefs. Neither holds a monopoly on the truth. There is no heart which is filled with only one of these things. And there can be no future without both."

[Sholua Tempes]

"Fear, Hate, Anger."

She'd been taught that trinity of sins, long ago.

"Two sides of the Force. Always in opposition. On cannot survive without the other."

She nodded.

"And what of the other traditions? Has the Empire squashed those that not even the Order had absorbed?"

[Tyllia Demici]

She shrugged. "The Inquisition seeks to purge anyone who can touch the Force but that it cannot bend to its will."

[Sholua Tempes]

That sealed what she wanted from this.

"Then if I know of an Inquisitor on this rock I'll be sure to let you know. If I had my way, not one more Force sensitive would fall to them."

[Tyllia Demici]

"I do not imagine myself strong enough to face one of them," she admitted, "I may have the weapon, but I confess I am rusty."

[Sholua Tempes]

"The weapon and the Force are enough . . . . I am sure a Master would say that."

She frowned.

"Bunch of tschad. Weapon skills must be maintained through practise. I'll still advise you of any Inquisitor I happen upon. Call it a courtesy."

[Tyllia Demici]

"Thank you," she said, before stumbling into that awkward part of a conversation where not knowing what to say next resulted in a deafening silence that lingered far too long.

"...So, you and Manny huh?"

[Sholua Tempes]

"He's fun. Not bad on the eyes. Surprisingly effective in a bind."

She smiled again.

"Usually men are just a meal ticket or a place to crash. He was at first."

A pause.

"I like him."

[Tyllia Demici]

"He's... not very bright though... is he? I can certainly see why... he would've started as a meal ticket."

[Sholua Tempes]

"He has his moments, but on the whole pretty dumb."

She grinned.

"When we first met he threw a raw egg into my tip bucket . . . not the best first impression. Good job he's cute or I might have wrung him dry."