Revered and Reviled

Patience looked around, trying to remember where she was and what she was doing here. She was lying on a pile of pillows and blankets, snuggling up to Bastila, Mission, and Juhani, and they all smelled like chocolate and alcohol.
Juhani made a soft noise. "I think I passed out," she said slowly, and sat up.
Patience blinked at her in surprise. "How much did you have to drink?"
"Canderous kept bringing more," said Juhani sheepishly. "And you kept drinking, so I did the same."
Patience waited for her head to stop spinning. "I think I had too much to drink."
Bastila made a soft noise, and pulled Patience back down to her.
Juhani laughed softly, and stroked Patience's hair. "She's right, you need more rest."
Patience considered protesting, but instead let Bastila and Juhani pet her back into unconsciousness. She woke later, as someone lifted her from the pillows, to a pair of warm, strong arms.
"Nope, this one is yours," she heard Canderous chuckle. "Unless you want to trade."
"Don't make me hurt you, Mandalorian. Put her down."
"Where?"
"On Juhani, or something. Here, Zaalbar," there was a quiet growl in response. "Yeah, she's still out cold. Just put her in her bed."
Canderous had set her down in Juhani's lap, and Patience watched curiously as the men cleared up the mess in the main cabin. For a moment, she couldn't remember why they had been drinking. Then she remembered – another shared vision, another glimpse of Revan's past. The Star Map on Kashyyk, where the Wookiees were being enslaved and sold for heavy labor on other planets.
She felt very dizzy and hungry, and had a sneaking suspicion that she had been kissing Bastila while Carth was out of the room. Patience put her hand to her head and tried to remember how to remember. Instead, she had a dim vision of the world through a kolto tank, and listening to doctors talk about reconstruction and droids listing all of her internal organs, verifying that everything was in working order. "Shows what they know," she muttered.
"Shh," whispered Juhani, laughing softly, "maybe Carth will go away again, and we can make out some more."
Patience blushed as she remembered playing tricks on Carth and Canderous with Juhani's help.
"I heard that," grumbled Carth. "Why does everyone have to hit on my girlfriend? Why can't you go after Mission or Bastila?"
"You can make out with Bastila," grinned Canderous. "I won't stop you."
Juhani laughed, and helped Patience to her feet.
"What's so interesting about two girls making out anyway?" Patience mumbled. "I don't get it."
"Probably because it always involves you," said Canderous. "Try to convince Juhani and Bastila to make out, and then we can watch. It'll make more sense then."
"Canderous." Carth glared at him.
"We can all watch," the Mandalorian grinned. "It'll be great!"
"Anyway, are you feeling any better?" Carth stroked her hair. "Well, less stressed out anyway."
Patience looked at him. He didn't belong in space, he belonged on a planet, on a farm, his hands dirty, sweat rolling off his back from laboring with the planet, surrounded by his sons and coming home to his loving wife.
"Patience? Are you all right?"
She threw her arms around him, kissed him wildly, hungering for that sense of belonging that holding him always gave her. That sense of home.
Carth drew her to him, holding her tightly, meeting her wild need with his own desire, his own hunger. "You taste like apples," he whispered, "and it makes me want to roll in the hay with you."
"That sounds wonderful," Patience smiled at him, and kissed him again.
Carth finally pulled away from her with a laugh. "We chased everyone away." He looked around the room. "Well, almost everyone. Did you need something, little guy? Or were you just taking notes?"
T3 beeped an explanation, then zipped away.
"Already?" Patience sighed. "I thought Kashyyk would be farther away."

"Czerka again?" said Patience as Carth dealt with the landing permits.
"They're everywhere. They're like gizka." One of the Czerka employees glared at Canderous, and he returned her look. "Oh, try it. Please. I'm bored."
"Mandalorian filth," snarled the guard.
"Watch your mouth," hissed Patience. "At least the Mandalorians fought with honor."
The guard was about to reply, but something in her eyes stopped her, and she drew back.
Bastila took Canderous and Patience by the arm, and dragged them away. "Please do not start anything. At least, not until we've gotten what we came here for. Come on."
"You know," said Canderous casually, "I've been meaning to ask you something, Patience, but I don't know if you know the answer."
"What?" Patience looked at him, craning backwards so that she could see him past Bastila, who didn't stop or move out of the way.
"Are you a Mandalorian? Like, one of the splinter clans, maybe?"
"What?" Bastila looked sharply at Canderous.
"There are a lot of times when she acts like a Mandalorian Crusader, or one of the original Shadows. Very old-fashioned, but still, very Mando." Canderous looked curiously at Patience. "You don't know, do you?"
"Shadows?" said Bastila, confused.
"The Warriors of the Shadow," said Patience softly, her mind dancing off to a half-memory, watching her father sharpen his swords and clean his armor, "the first-born of Mandalore."
"Let all those who stand before us light the night sky in flame!" sang Canderous, in a surprisingly good bass voice, the ancient Mandalorian words ringing through the forest.
"Our vengeance burns brighter still!" she joined him for the last line, and they stared at each other.
"You know the words." Canderous smiled at her.
"Will you please stop that!" Bastila hissed. The Czerka employees were staring at them. Most of them were former Republic soldiers, who had been discharged from the Republic military with crippling injuries - mental or physical - resulting from the Mandalorian wars.
Canderous grinned savagely. "Let them come," he snarled. "If they haven't learned yet not to mess with Mando'ade, we can teach them."
"Don't you ever think of anything besides fighting?" Bastila demanded.
"But fighting is life," said Patience slowly. "Conflict - struggle - that is the only way to grow."
Bastila looked at her. "There is no chaos - there is harmony. Every action that we take has a consequence. If we only focus on conflict as a means to improving ourselves, what do we lose? What becomes of our ability to live with each other? Our ability to work together without reducing every relationship to a confrontation?"
Patience blinked in surprise. "Oh. That's - that's a very good question."
"Don't listen to her," urged Canderous. "You'll end up a boring old Jedi, sitting in a cave, if she has her way."
Patience smiled. "And how do you think I should end up?"
He grinned. "I don't think," he pulled his arm away from Bastila, "I don't think this is the right place to answer that."
Bastila frowned at him. "Your answer either involves guns or being naked, doesn't it?"
"Or both," said Patience cheerfully. "My answer is totally different." She glanced back at Carth, who had finished with the permits, and was running up to join them. Zaalbar and Mission were trailing behind him. "My answer involves a pile of hay, and some babies." She broke away from Bastila, and ran back to Carth.
"Okay, she's got a point there. I can't argue with the pile of babies." Canderous grinned at Bastila, but she wasn't looking at him anymore. She was staring after Patience, her face strangely calm.
Patience bounced into Carth's arms. "I want to climb a tree!"
Zaalbar growled at her disapprovingly.
"Oh, phooey," Patience frowned. "The trees would love it! Nobody normal wants to be sacred and untouchable. They want to be climbed, and have birds nest in their branches, and have flowers and vines grow around them," she paused in her happy babbling to kiss Carth, because he was watching her, and trying not to laugh. "What?"
"They're trees, they don't feel things."
"Nonsense!" Patience exclaimed. "They're alive, they grow, they're touched by the Force. They feel things." She bounced over to the edge of the platform, and looked down. The great trees of Kashyyk stretched high above them, and far below them. "Wow. How do you get to the bottom?"
The Wookiee growled at her, and Patience grinned.
"Well, let's go talk to the chieftain, then. Don't worry, Zaalbar. You'll be fine. We'll explain everything."

"I really love when you explain things," grinned Canderous as the primitive elevator descended through the trees, to the Shadowlands of Kashyyk.
"Shut up!" Patience blushed.
Bastila sighed. "At least we're still heading in the right direction." She shook her head. "Alienating the chieftain - "
"He's not the real chieftain!" burst out Mission, trying not to break into tears again. "He's a - an upsurger!"
"Usurper," corrected Carth gently.
Their Wookiee guide growled warningly.
"You shut up!" screamed Mission. "Chuundar is a liar! Zaalbar is innocent, and it's all Chuundar's fault!"
The Wookiee would have growled a threat at the small, sobbing young Twi'lek woman, but Patience moved slightly before he could speak. Fully aware of what the small Human could do, the Wookiee chose to err on the side of caution, and settled for glaring sullenly at his passengers.
"Patience," sighed Bastila. "Please think about what you are doing, before you do it."
"It's a basket, Bastila. It goes up, and it goes down. We don't actually need anyone to guide us." Patience continued watching the Wookiee, one of Chuundar's adherents. "It's not like we can miss the ground."
"We could fall to our deaths," Carth pointed out helpfully.
Patience looked around, at the interlaced branches and vines surrounding them as they descended. "Unlikely," she said finally. "There's enough time to stash you all safely."
Bastila hid her face in her hands. "Please, Patience, just stop." She put a warning hand on Canderous' arm. "And you, don't start. Just don't."
The elevator continued moving as silence fell over the small group.
"So, how did Revan and Malak get to this Star Map?" asked Carth, trying to break the silence.
The Wookiee growled an answer, his grudging admiration clear even to those who didn't understand the Wookiee language.
"He jumped?" said Patience in disbelief. "What, all the way down?" She looked back up at the slowly receding platforms of the Wookiee city.
Their guide nodded.
"You're crazy," Patience muttered under her breath, and saw a sudden flash of memory - Revan's, but not such a dark one. Malak, sneering slightly, and Revan, throwing down a challenge: Be the first to reach the Shadowlands. The two of them, friends now, still young and daring, laughing at each other. They raced to reach the elevator - dead Wookiees scattered around them, wounded ones crawling away. Malak jumped in, and started the descent process, and Revan jumped right into the trees, running along the broad trunks, leaping from vine to vine. Heart-stopping drops. Foolhardy leaps from branches no thicker than a man's arm. Power and grace evident in every move. Patience opened her eyes, and looked up again. She could see the path that Revan had taken. Through Revan's eyes, it seemed so easy. She could easily do the same, if she chose to. Patience shook her head, and looked at Carth again. "I'm not going that way," she said firmly.
"What?"
"Oh," she blushed as she realized she had spoken out loud. "Nothing."
Carth grinned, and pulled her to his side. He put his arms around her, and whistled tunelessly for a moment.
Patience felt her hair spill over her ears, and realized that he had pulled off her ribbon. "Carth!"
"What?"
She hugged him quickly, then walked over to Mission. "Don't worry. We'll make it right." She wrapped her arms around Mission, and hugged her tightly.
"I want Zaalbar," Mission whispered, wiping away tears. "We never should have come here!"
"But if we didn't come, then nobody would stop Czerka from kidnapping Wookiees and selling them as slaves. We have to stop it, we can't just run away."
"I don't want to lose Zaalbar!" Mission sobbed. "He's - he's too important!"
"You're not going to lose him. Have a little faith," Patience smiled.
The elevator touched the ground. They were in the Shadowlands, the untamed surface of Kashyyk. One of the most dangerous places in the galaxy.
"Oh, look at that bird! Thing! What is that?" Patience ran up to the small animal, which turned its head upside down to look at her. "Wow!"
Carth tried not to laugh, and Bastila sighed.
The little animal fluttered over to Mission, and stared at her as well. Mission tried not to be awed by all the strange flora and fauna. A child of the urban jungle, she had never seen anything like this before. "Hey! That plant tried to bite me!" Mission drew back from the carnivorous plant, and poked it with a stick to make it stop trying to devour her. "Eww!"
"Everyone, stick together," commanded Bastila. "Do not wander off. Patience! That means you!"
"But - the butterfly - " Patience stared sadly as the large butterfly disappeared into the shadow of the trees.
"Get back here!"
Patience sighed, and walked back to Bastila.
Bastila braided Patience's hair and put it up again before they started walking. They followed the rude forest path, searching for the Wookiee that the erstwhile Chieftain, Chuundar, claimed was a Madclaw. Freyyr, the father of both Chuundar and Zaalbar.
The path stretched out into a wide clearing. Patience gasped as she saw an elderly Human male in the center of the clearing, surrounded by a group of vicious predator lizards. The lizards hissed and snarled aggressively, circling the old man. Patience drew her lightsaber and rushed forward, but the lizards had already started their charge.
To her shock, she saw the man flip backwards, a sparkling green lightsaber in his hand. The lightsaber flashed, cutting down the lizards that attacked, and the others scattered.
"Damn lizards," muttered the old man. "They don't ever learn. Now, what have we here?" He deactivated his lightsaber, and looked curiously at Patience. "You might want to be careful, girl. There are more of those beasts in the underbrush."
"Who – who are you?" asked Patience in shock. "What are you doing down here? Nobody said anything about any Jedi on Kashyyk!"
The old man laughed, a little sadly. "There are no Jedi on Kashyyk, girl. Well," he looked at Bastila and Juhani, "there weren't any. Name's Bindo, Jolee Bindo. You've never heard of me."
Patience shook her head. "But you have a lightsaber. And you're not a Sith."
"That doesn't make me a Jedi, fool girl. That's like saying anyone carrying a bowcaster is a Wookiee, just because they're not wearing a Czerka uniform." He smiled at her confusion. "Look, come to my camp and we can talk a bit more. Don't know if you'll all fit inside," he said doubtfully as he looked at the crew following her. "But, you're welcome to try."
She fell silent, and followed the old man down the path to his home, built into the trunk of one of the great trees. This section of the path was suspiciously clear of predators, and she could sense the peacefulness of the Light as she stood before his home, the same sense of safety and comfort that pervaded the enclave on Dantooine.
"Well, well," chuckled the old man. He was dark-skinned, balding, but still sported a moustache and the outlines of a beard. "Welcome to my home, such as it is. Pull up a stump, make yourself comfortable." The hut didn't really have a door, and the floor was covered with sweet-smelling rushes. Jolee gestured to the various flat surfaces in the room.
Canderous sat down on the floor, and looked curiously at the old man who claimed he wasn't a Jedi. Mission and Juhani joined him on the floor, while Bastila sat primly on one of the stumps that had been carved into a rude chair. Patience stood in the doorway, watching, and Jolee finally sat down at a stump in front of the fire. Carth found a crudely carved cup, and filled it with water from a crystal vase on the table. He handed the drink to Patience, and it seemed to wake her from her shock.
"Oh, thank you, Carth." She blushed, remembering her manners. "I'm sorry, we didn't introduce ourselves. I'm Patience Keçrye."
"Of course you are," grumbled the old man, and shook her hand. His hand was firm, and his grip showed no signs of his old age. "And who are the rest of these people?" He looked at Carth.
"I'm Carth Onasi," Carth shook hands with the old man as well. Jolee turned his hand over, and looked curiously at Carth's palm. "What?"
"Nothing, just looking." Jolee turned away, and let the others introduce themselves. "So," he stroked his beard, "Jedi, eh? On Kashyyk? What brings you here?"
"We are seeking a Star Map," said Bastila suddenly. "An ancient relic, that holds the key to whatever power enabled Revan and Malak to create an empire out of thin air."
Jolee smiled strangely, and looked at Bastila, then at Patience. "Following in their footsteps, eh? Well, I figured that's what you came down here for. Not much else to find."
"There's a Wookiee down here, too," said Patience. "Chuundar asked us to kill him, but I don't know if he can be trusted."
"Don't know? Girl, you know full well whether or not you trust Chuundar. The question is, what are you going to do about it?"
Patience sighed. "Every time I go with my instincts, fights start and then Bastila yells at me."
Jolee chuckled. "Well, if it really bothers you, then just do whatever she tells you to do."
"There must be some way to resolve this situation without resorting to lightsabers and guns," Bastila insisted.
"I'll tell you what," said Jolee, "there are some Czerka poachers just east of here. You get rid of them, and I'll help you find Freyyr and your Star Map, and show you a way that might get rid of Chuundar peacefully."
"Oh great," sighed Patience. "A test. I thought you said you weren't a Jedi."
"Don't talk back to your elders, girl. Now get going." Jolee settled himself down by the table, and picked up a battered old datapad.
Mission stood up, and shouldered her bag again.
"Where do you think you're going?" said the old man, sharply.
"Uh –" Mission looked at Patience, then at the old man. "I was going with Patience, to help her."
"Sit your little underage ass back down," said Jolee firmly. "I didn't say I wanted to test her ability to throw people at a problem until it goes away, did I? And you, you can put your Mand'ori ass back on the grass, too. Republic boy? Do I gotta tell you, too?"
"Now, wait just a second," started Carth.
"No, it's okay," said Patience gently. "It's fine. How the problem is solved is just as important as whether it is solved, remember?"
Carth grumbled something uncomplimentary, but sat down at the table again.
Jolee snorted impatiently, and pretended to go back to reading his datapad.
"Just east of here, you said?" Patience asked, trying not to giggle.
"What, you're getting forgetful at your age? Just head along the path, you can't miss it. And what's so funny, anyway?"
"You just want me to get those darned kids off your lawn."
Bastila was too shocked to say anything, and Juhani giggled before she could stop herself. Carth choked back his laughter, but Canderous and Mission burst out laughing. Jolee snorted, trying to pretend that he wasn't holding back a laugh.
"Go on, get out of here. Come back when those poachers are gone." He gave his datapad a little shake, and started reading as Patience left the little hut, with Bastila and Juhani.

"That was… interesting." Jolee looked at Patience, as if trying to read something written on her face.
"What are you, channeling Master Vandar now?" Patience grinned at the old man, and made a face. "I didn't kill anybody, and I still get yelled at and everyone is looking at me funny anyway. I can't win!"
Jolee chuckled. "Easy there, girl. I was just curious. You could have killed them all with no problem, or even used the Force to change their minds."
"But instead," Bastila raged, "you told them a pack of lies and tricked them into letting you disable the barrier keeping the predators out of this area!"
Another group of Czerka employees ran past Jolee's hut, screaming in terror as they ran away from a giant insect.
"Oh, they'll be fine," scoffed Patience. "Serves them right. And nobody got hurt, so I don't see why you're so angry."
"And that," snarled Bastila, "is why I am so angry! You are a Jedi! You're supposed to be protecting people, not using them for your own amusement!"
"Is she?" Jolee looked at Patience curiously. "She doesn't dress like a Jedi."
"Well," Bastila said nervously, "it's a little complicated."
"So is anything worth doing," said Jolee, and took another sip from his drink as the Czerka employees ran back again. "It's the other way, you damn fools." The Czerka employees turned back and ran off again.
"I didn't do it to amuse myself," muttered Patience.
"What was that?" said Jolee sharply.
"I did it to teach them a lesson. They didn't need the barrier to be safe. They have weapons, and they're trained soldiers, but they were cowering behind a machine and gloating about how great they were. Their leader was anyway. The others hated him, and didn't want to be there, but were too comfortable to leave. Look at them." The first group of Czerka employees ran by again. "The guards are laughing. They're enjoying themselves for the first time in months, probably. Their boss is rethinking his career path, and won't be able to yell at them the way he used to. He knows it, and they know it, too."
Bastila sighed.
"Hrmph," Jolee took another sip of his drink. "Maybe she is a Jedi after all. But she's certainly a weird one. Anyway, we should get going." He stood up. "You weren't planning to bring this entire pack with you, are you?"
"Well, um…" Patience looked at Carth.
"Listen, girl, we got things to do. We can't be babysitting every ragtag mercenary and half-pay Republic officer in this section of space."
"What." Carth glared at the old man.
"Look, Carth, could you take this," she handed him the droid parts that they had found just before the Czerka camp, "and go talk to that merchant guy? I'm pretty sure he's up to something shady with that poor tech he has working for him." She smiled gratefully at him. "We'll be fine."
"But what if you need someone to open a lock or something?" said Mission hopefully.
"If I don't get to go, you don't either. Now, scoot." Carth pulled her along with him. "You too, ragtag mercenary."
"I'll have you know, these rags are brand new," grinned Canderous. "C'mon, Mission, we can go hang out with Zaalbar. Maybe set something on fire."
"You, too, wounded kitty." Jolee pointed back to the elevator. "Get going."
"What?" said Juhani in shock. "My wounds are not that bad! They will heal quickly after a short rest."
"We're not going to take a short rest, we're going to head to the Lower Shadowlands. Now, get."
"But – " Juhani looked at Patience in despair.
Patience sighed. "Actually, Juhani, I would appreciate it if you went with them. They might need your help. I don't trust Chuundar, not at all."
Juhani looked startled, then blushed slightly. "You – you want me to protect them? Of course. I won't fail you, Patience." She smiled, then ran after Carth and the others who were returning to the Wookiee city above.
Jolee smiled after the Cathar, then turned to Bastila.
Bastila glared at Jolee. "Not a chance. Don't even think of trying to get rid of me."
Jolee coughed. "You know, you're pretty feisty for a Padawan."
"Come, Patience, let's get going. We still have to find the Star Map and Freyyr." Bastila turned and walked out of the hut.
"Is she always like that?"
"She's being nice to you," said Patience dryly. "She respects her elders."