Unna Hi Chaanu

[Unna Hi Chaanu]

Unna left the holding area where the entire fencing team was being held with a heavy heart. She couldn't shake the images of her fellow Jedi being suspended in the air, deprived of food, deprived of hygiene, and deprived of all but the lowest standard of nutrition. The images of the bodies suspended in the air flashed through her mind.

They didn't deserve it and Unna would not feel right until they were free. Sure, that meant the hazing could return. The hazing was unfair, but as Jenna said, it was 3,000 years of tradition and it oddly seemed to shape them for the better. Jenna surely believed it and Unna saw that the more the team had endured, the more they were able to endure in the holding cells.

It did not seem that Auro endured much in the way of hazing, so she wondered how he was holding up. She was unfortunately unable to spend much time with him, since she spend much of it with Jenna and Maya, but the information she got from Maya and Jenna would pay off for him. For all of them.

Even Graff, the one she avoided as much as possible from the day she met him. She did not care for the way he talked to her or Lyssire, but she was starting to get it. That didn't mean she liked it, but she got it. Hazing seemed to be this ritual used to toughen the new kids. It toughened him and it toughened Jenna. Unna could have easily turned her back and enjoyed the peaceful time while they were locked up, but she found peace impossible to come by. She wished the hazing would stop, but this is not how she wanted it to happen. She was willing to help them in any way she could, even if it meant it would go back to the way things were.

Her heart's desire was that she help them all to get out and that they wouldn't pick on her and that they would become friends. She definitely wanted to help Jenna fix her dress in hopes that she could finish tying the knot with Graff. Unna spent much of her life around Jedi, but her parents were not Jedi and she had it in her heart to practice the ways of the Zeisun Sha. Love was not looked down upon like it seemed to be with the Jedi. Even in this universe it didn't seem to be such a big deal, but she guessed the headmaster was just that petty and stubborn to allow dozens of innocent people be unjustly punished, and some even sentenced to death, all over wedding vows? It seemed the real bully in this school was not Graff and the Sabers, but the headmaster himself. Perhaps he could have some sense talked into him. Hopefully Gideon could do so.

That night, sleep did not come easily to Unna. As rude as Maya could seem, Unna missed having her in the room. The image of Maya hanging in the air instead of sleeping comfortably in her bed haunted Unna, as she pondered how to help them out of this. She'd take Maya yelling at her to get off of her bed anytime over the current reality. Unna never questioned how or why she cared so much about what happened to them. She just knew that she did.

[Unna Hi Chaanu]

The Force was strong in the loaf of bread Unna held in her hands. She had just been through yet another experience similar to the one she returned from with the ragged version of her favorite childhood toy, except this time she went to the ghost, rather than the ghosts coming to her and taking her away. She tore into the bread and inside was a frosty colored Force Crystal. The color was the indescribable shade that she used to create out of the flowers on Alderaan to stain her clothing and quarterstaff with. It was as if it was made for her!

She had a fantasy since she was a little girl to take the discblades of the Zeison Sha Warriors and create a marriage between it and the lightsabers of the Jedi. It was her way of applying her mother's life work of studying The Force in all its disciplines. It was to be a tribute to her parents: the warrior and the ranger who dedicated his life to protecting the Jedi, as well as Auro's parents, who she loved so dearly.

Unna took apart her doll, as she had Auro's many years ago and placed the crystal inside before stitching it back up. It will be safe here, she assured herself. She wrapped it in a spare headdress and placed it within her satchel, before heading to the airball field.

Under the stars, Unna looked up, wondering which one Yanibar orbited. I'm the last one, she thought sadly, yet hoping someone managed to escape. I must carry on. Maybe I can revitalize the tradition through airballs. Surely the techniques would help this team, but first I must perfect mine. Unna grabbed a ball and placed it the air in front of her face, then used her mind to will it across the field and into the goal. That was the first time she made it all the way from the other side. Now for the test...could she call it back? Not quite. More practice would be required, but for the first time, she felt the Zeison Sha warrior she aspired to be since she could remember growing within her.

[Unna Hi Chaanu]

The past months since arriving on Fray had been eventful for Unna and her friends. Auro was no longer the little bother, but a young adult like the others and joined the Saber Blades and spent much time with Graff, who Unna wished to avoid. Unna, had a "hard head" between her two hidden horns. To say that she didn't appreciate it when others attempted to talk her out of something she felt the need to do, or into something she strongly was against, would be an understatement. Consequently, she never particularly had the desire to convince anyone else to defy their own wishes. It was for that reason she did not want to stop Ashla from staying behind while she went to protect Lady Baku when she gave her speech. Unna had just suggested it, but it disturbed Unna to see how badly Ashla had wanted to go, yet decide to stay behind at Unna's suggestion. Unna continued to assure Ashla that it was a suggestion and not a decision.

It was for the same reason that Unna did not express her distaste toward Auro's friendship with Graff. Whether or not Unna liked it, Auro was a big boy now and could make up his own mind. This was not something Unna came to terms with easily. He was but a baby when Unna arrived with him at the enclave. During their time there, he grew at double her rate and reached the same maturity level as the rest of the party. No amount of knowledge on the Vurk life cycle could have prepared her for the accelerated transition from the little boy she taught and nurtured to an adolescent who no longer needed her. Most big sisters did not have little bothers half their age who would eventually become a young adult at the same time! While still at the enclave, Unna had time to begin adjusting to the fact that Auro was becoming independent of her quickly and eventually reconciled that she had to treat him like she would want to be treated, which was to accept that he made his own decisions. This is why she did not attempt to interfere with his new friendship and team affiliation at the academy.

In addition to Auro's new path, the others were finding their own ways at the academy as well. Gadeon sought a master to teach him and has parted ways with the others go train with his new master for the time being. Ashla focused much of her time on weapons training. Unna had her own skills to sharpen and found airball as an opportunity to practice. She made new friends, especially in Lysire, as she and her other friends took to their own paths.

The recent mission to protect Lady Baku did not help with bringing them back together. Unna received the mark of darkness while doing what she felt had to be done for the safety of everyone and used the force to kill two assailants by hurling a speeder at them. This formed the bond between Unna and Lady Baku, but demanded much of her time to be separate from the party. Since the task was to protect Lady Baku and Unna was specifically requested, she obliged. She took honor and pleasure in her duty to Lady Baku, who she began to see as a friend. What she failed to notice was not everyone had the opportunity to get to know and trust their charge as Unna did, which did not lead Unna any closer to the diverging paths of the group when Lady Baku presented her with an opportunity to find a lead to the Zeison Sha of this universe.

Detained for a crime she was innocent of, Unna had ample time to think over what she was guilty of. During her face off with Orchid, Unna witnessed the result of not turning back after taking the first step toward darkness. Before, Unna felt that she could not turn back from what she had done, because she could justify the dark act with the lives potentially saved. Like Unna, Orchid was able to justify herself as well. Orchid believed that the Jedi were just as evil as they thought she was. The difference between Unna and Orchid was that Unna kept walking toward the dark. Unna had the choice to keep walking, stay standing where she was, or to turn back and atone.

She closed her eyes and meditated until she was summoned to her trial.

Once her trial was over, she spoke again with master Fa'lynn and made a visit to her friend, the former Lady Baku. She then went to the former Palace of Baku and forced herself to walk to Chun's new quarters with tunnel vision. She couldn't allow herself to be clouded by the emotions that would surely come with seeing her friend's former palace being turned into a military base. It would have ruined the task at hand, which was to discuss atonement with Master Chun

[Unna Hi Chaanu]

Unna took a few moments to breathe (since the next game starts where the last one ended!). How would she touch the life of Cordelia, as Master Fa'lynn had tasked her to do? Unna was definitely discouraged. She'd never been, nor desired to be the most pursuasive of people. Perhaps she could just have Ashla wave a hand in her face and say "you want to be a good girl," as if it was even that easy. This prompted Unna to think back to her impromptu lesson with Master Mika to not rely so much on her force powers. Plus Master Fa'lynn had tasked her to learn about Cordelia without the use of the force. If it were as easy as waving a hand, then surely it would be done by now. That just wasn't Unna's method. She had never even trained her force powers to be used in that way.

Unna continued to watch Cordelia. She seemed to have changed a lot since she had written up to the point in the diaries that Unna has been able to read to. If only there was more time, but Unna poured three days of herself into reading through Cordelia's data pad. She couldn't see the similarities between the girl who had made mistakes and the sassy mouthed girl who stood before her.

Unna held her stoic expression, but with great effort, as she tried to see into the girl who stood before her. So, this is what came of her. One dark act with the best of intentions leads to another, then she just eventually lost herself to the point where she doesn't see anything to feel guilty for, although she had never forgiven herself. At least Unna could learn from Cordelia, even if Cordelia wasn't reachable herself. It was not a path for Unna. She knew she had to turn back. If only she could find a way to grasp Cordelia and bring her back to the light as well.

[Unna Hi Chaanu]

Unna had dreamed for so long about building a weapon that was an homage to her mother, the Zeison Sha Warrior, and the Jedi she traveled with, who her father served for so long. Unna's mother's life work was dedicated to bringing force traditions together and Unna wished to build on this by creating a disk weapon with lightsaber blades. She often pondered the design of it and believed she had finally reached success in her schematics.

Here on Clovis, Unna felt the light of the force amplified. In the solitude of the temple would have been the perfect opportunity for her to craft her dream weapon that meant so much more to her than a means of protection. Except this was not the time to pursue her own dream. Now was the time to help a girl in need, who faced death, and possible even fates worse than death. Cordelia could easily be lost to the darkness. Instead of pursuing her own dream, Unna felt it in her heart that the right thing to do was to help a girl in danger find the path to pursue her dreams.

Unna would spend her time talking to Cordelia and showing that she genuinely cared about what happened to her. It is what Unna believed Master Fa'lynn would have done. She didn't know any details of Chun's atonement, but she believed that Master Fa'lynn likely had something to do with it. Master Fa'lynn seemed to set the best example for what kind of Jedi Unna would like to be in this universe. Although in the beginning, she didn't believe Unna and seemed to think she was delusional when she said she would inform the now deceased headmaster that she needed counseling! That hurt Unna, for Unna only wanted to be believed, yet felt her trust was betrayed. Once nothing ever came of that conversation and Unna never even saw a counselor, she began to warm up once again. Master Fa'lynn was wise and compassionate, and compassion was the most important virtue to Unna.

In the quietude of the temple, Unna felt compelled to meditate on the matter, but she remembered that her challenge was to not use the force to learn about Cordelia. Instead, the normally quiet Unna would talk with Cordelia as much as she was receptive to, which was no easy task to the Iktotchi girl who preferred to be quiet.

[Unna Hi Chaanu]

Unna walked throughout the corridors of The Vengence wearing a fashionable dress with shoes to match her jewel adorned horns. The most shocking thing that Unna was wearing was a smile and she didn't even realize it. Making eye contact without it looking like she was about to shoot ice beams from her ocular cavity was more natural to her and didn't take much effort. She'd just look, smile, and give a friendly nod as she walked past other on the ship.

It wasn't always so effortless. After the trial where the details of the murder plot against her came to light, Unna wanted to stay to herself more than ever, but that wasn't an option. There was just too much to do. Unna couldn't quite understand why others seemed so offended by her desire to just keep to herself and her close circle, but her circle did expand by one. She had a talk with Demaya, which helped her to realize how she could become more of a part of the ship. She began making an effort to people watch and learn more about the influential people of the galaxy.

In her life aboard the Vengence, the most influential people were military leaders, senate members, and those on the council. There was this whole world of influence that she was unaware of. There was only so much she could learn from books, but she sought the answers in the library anyway. What she discovered was the periodicals section. Within the periodicals were beings who held an entirely different kind of influence. To the non-military masses, some of these individuals held even more influence than the leaders of worlds! These people were the celebrities. There were singers, actors, dancers, and others who just seemed to have a knack for dazzling the masses and those masses just seemed to eat up any little nugget of information they could get about these pop culture idols.

Unna became fascinated by how these celebrities and the common people act and has enjoyed and learned from her observations of them. The information she absorbed on these superstars helped a lot with how Unna began to break the ice with the other beings on the Vengence.

It had gradually gone from very few people aboard the ship returning her pleasantries to around half of the people she passed greeting her in a friendly way. Unna was more comfortable going to the lounge and socializing now. She no longer sat alone in the mess hall. She even got along really well at her first hanger party.

Unna arrived at the lounge to watch her favorite celebrity show. Rumor has it that Twi'light could possibly be breaking up. Unfortunately, Unna's holovision time would be interrupted by an unsolicited vision through the force. Twi'Light wasn't the only group at risk for breaking up.

[Unna Hi Chaanu]

Unna ventured to the flight deck of The Vengence to rendezvous with Sola and Duncan for their lunchtime meeting. As she waited, she took her music player out of her bag and inserted the mixtape she had just purchased from Josie. "It really was all about the music," she laughed to herself as she pressed the play button and closed her eyes as she listened to the music and waited for the others.

After the meeting, Unna excused herself from Duncan and Sola to follow Master Stephen to his library. She felt she could gain more insight into him alone than she could in the company of Duncan, who Master Stephen seemed closed off toward. Master Stephen showed Unna the modest library and shared with her the reasons why he seemed so apathetic toward the people of Fray.

First of all, he never wanted to be stationed here. He was supposed to be exploring the origins of the Jedi on Oasis, but was pulled from the task due to being perceived as someone who could work with Guardian Exports without offending the locals of Fray. The only silver lining was being in Baku, which he loved for how it reminded him of Alderaan. He tried to reach out to the people of Fray, only to have a precious one of a kind book from his own personal collection torched. He managed to save it and showed the half-burned book to Unna. With tears in his eyes, he turned the pages to show Unna what remained of the images inside. Unna saw half-charred images of people and worlds long lost to the galaxy. The book was so old that the name of the temple that Master Stephen found it in was long forgotten. Unna could feel his pain through her empathic abilities and tried to give him a comforting hand on the shoulder, despite knowing her efforts would likely be of no comfort.

Once she left the Library, Unna contacted Duncan and Sola to let them know she would be a while. She then ventured to the Garden of a Thousand Fountains. She thought of her dear friend, Tristan, the former Lady Baku. Unna knew she could not find the peace needed to commune with the memory of her friend outside the wall, so the only place she could think to go to connect to the memories was the garden that was built for her. For the first time since Unna first heard the heartbreaking news, Unna took the time to feel the emotions ripping her heart from her chest and destroying it like the vandals destroyed Master Stephen's book. It was the first time Unna let her sorrow flow freely since the death of hers and Auro's families. Tristan was the first and only person she had allowed into her heart since the Enclave. Unna leaned over one of the fountains. Her tears hit the surface of the flowing waters like the pouring rain as she wept for her beloved friend.

[Unna Hi Chaanu]

Unna was always a tall child, eventually growing to nearly 6 feet tall in her early teens. Her height would make her look older than she was, because not too many 14 year old girls were as tall, or taller than many grown men. Despite her towering height and wisdom beyond her years, she was emotionally stunted in many ways. She was socially awkward from having traveled with adults for her first eight years of life. She had been separated from her only childhood friend, Ashla, by the age of three and it would be many years before she saw her again. By the last of the eight years Unna had with her family, Baby Auro had been born, but infants didn't make great conversationalists, although she bonded to him quickly and thought of him as her baby brother.

Further stunting Unna's emotional development was witnessing the explosion that engulfed her mother and godparents, immediately followed by watching her father bleed to death just before crashing near the mountain enclave where she would spend the next 8 years of her life. She had been numbed by what happened to her family, which was the only way she could cope, although her attachments to Auro and Ashla were already formed prior to the loss of her family. Master Nontho and Night Passik did all they they could to coax her out of her shell and she would eventually find her way out to fit in as best she could with the other younglings. Unna was always different though. Her mother was a Zeison Sha Warrior who traveled among Jedi as a liaison who sought to study and create connections between the different force using factions. Unlike most Jedi, Nontho and Passik did not attempt to convert Unna. They helped Her to study the scrolls her mother had passed down to her and hone the skills of her maternal ancestors. Passik even helped Unna to create her first diskblade. Unna grew to adore her teachers, only to see them die as well, along with all of the other younglings, with exception for Ashla, Gadeon, and Auro. Unna was not only a child who survived as all of the influential adults around her died, she also saw the moments that their bodies lost the lives that inhabited them. Attachments were hard to come by.

Once arrived in this new universe, Unna was taken to the Jedi academy on Fray by Master Chun, where she learned to fine tune her Force skills. It was on a mission where she had the opportunity to save a life, rather than watch it be taken. That life belonged to Lady Baku, who she continued to protect until the Lady was stripped of her title and Unna was sent elsewhere in the galaxy. The death of Lady Baku had delayed effect for Unna, which would hit her fully to mourn upon her return to the city, where she would no longer be able to ignore the sad reality. Unna stayed attached to the life she had one saved, although that life had ended. She took a very odd comfort in speaking into the fountains that were constructed as a monument to the former Lady. Unna hoped that somehow her dear friend would hear her through the veil of life and death, so she could know how Unna was doing and how much she was missed.

It was on the third day of Unna's leave in Baku that she would be approached by a new friend, Ni. Something about the Zeltron would make Unna open up to the possibility of a new attachment. Unna would go on what was seeming like a dream date with such a mismatched companion. Unna had planned to save her virginity for someone she connected with on a deep spiritual level, but Ni believed in opening her body to pleasurable experiences and experiencing many people. The differences were more than the two women could withstand in a relationship.

Returning to the Jedi Temple of Baku, Unna was met with the support of Ashla and Master Stephen. Master Stephen would counsel her on attachments, which was one of the ways of the Jedi that Unna had always thought made sense, but for different reasons. Attachments cause pain and losing those you care for is painful. Unna eventually reconciled that her quickly growing attachment to Ni must have had something to do with those Zeltronian pheromones mixing with Unna's empathic abilities.

Unna focused the rest of her stay at the Temple of Baku focusing on what she came to achieve. She came to learn from Master Stephen, who was a Jedi Scholar. What impressed Unna the most about Master Stephen was how he chose to maintain a Jedi Temple that was neither affiliated with the Republic or the OPA. Unna did not agree with the ways of either organization, so she never entertained the idea of taking a master to show her the ways of the Jedi.

Master Stephen, on the other hand, was inspiring to Unna. He was a scholar, he encouraged Unna to never give up her quest for knowledge, and most importantly, he wasn't aligning his temple with either warring faction. After many conversations, Unna began to ask him about the Zeison Sha and other Force traditions, which he seemed knowledgeable of without condemnation. After building trust, Unna confided that she had purchased a diskblade that was made by her own family and showed him the crystal she had found inside. It contained a map with no beginning, but ended in an unrecognized nebula. After two weeks of tinkering with the crystal and a light saber hilt Unna had leftover from the destroyed academy, they were able to activate it to reveal a yellow light whip! Master Stephen did what he could in this time to teach Unna to wield the whip, as well as discuss leads to other crystals like hers. 30 days unfortunately wasn't enough time to counsel Unna in the ways of the Jedi. Unna sorely wanted to have Master Stephen as her teacher, to help her learn to compliment her Zeison Sha technique with that of the Jedi, but Unna's path was not to stay in Baku. Unna would have to settle for the next best thing, which she knew would come to a shock to all. At the end of her leave, Unna would return to The Vengence to unite with her new master.