Nix was used to be called a lot of things. As a ship’s mechanic, she hadn’t exactly had the highest of social standings, and her current, technically unemployed state, hadn’t exactly set her up to present the appearance of a valuable member of society. Despite that she was pretty sure that when the large dancer had called her ‘Unclean’, he hadn’t meant it as a commentary on her hygiene habits.

From how the rest of the dancers reacted she didn’t have to wonder at the scale of the offense she’d been charged with. Most flinched at the term and backed away, the shadow of ingrained fear washing over the faces. A few, either the braver or more aggressive ones, stepped forward though.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you,” she said. “Your dance looked familiar though and I wanted to see it up close.”

Enough people either didn’t believe in the Force, or didn’t understand it at all, that Nix stuck to the parts of the truth that weren’t likely to raise even more concerns in the already agitated group.

“She is possessed, get away from her,” one of the younger dancers said.

“Not possessed, just curious,” Nix said, holding up her hands in a placating gesture.

She glanced around to see if Ravas was either the source of their “possession appraisal” or might have any wisdom to share on the subject. Nix could feel her friendly Force Ghost lingering nearby but she was out of sight and possibly far enough away to not hear the conversation.

“I do not see possession,” an older dancer said. She was human as far as Nix could see and was stooped with age but the Force was strong with her and she moved more freely than someone of her years might normally.

“There is no Shel-parv,” the large dancer said. “But look to her eyes. They are haunted by its shadows.”

The older dancer rapped the large one on his right bicep.

“My eyes haven’t failed me, Tovos,” she said. “This one is a fountain of Xah.”

“A corrupted fountain,” Tovos said.

Nix wanted to object to that, but even without the Force’s guidance, she could tell that silence would serve her better.

“Maybe,” the old dancer said. “You should get back.”

“We can’t let something corrupted run free in our home,” Tovos said.

“We won’t,” the old dancer said. “I will speak with her. And the Xah decide what is to be done from there.”

“Honored Jolu,” Tovos said, both an acknowledgement and a protest.

“Is the Xah telling you to oppose me?” Honored Joul asked.

Nix had never heard of ‘Xah’, but from the research she’d done prior to galavanting off into the galaxy to try to discover other Force using traditions, she knew it was common for different peoples to have different names for the Force, and different relationships to it.

As far as Nix could feel the Force had no particular feelings on the outcome of the meeting she’d precipitated. She was tempted to nudge it, or ask for a bit more guidance but if the dancers could sense the use of the Force, even small efforts like when she’d exerted to break her fall then she didn’t think they would react kindly to her try to manipulate the outcome of their discussion even a little.

Not that it Tovos seemed inclined to react kindly to regardless of what Nix did.

Honored Jolu’s question drew Tovos’ attention aware from Nix, and Tovos’s fear-spiked anger soured when faced with the fear of opposing his elder.

“No, Honored,”  Tovos said and stepped back.

“Good. We were close to done anyways. Head back to the enclave. I will join you there when the Xah tells me this issue has been dealt with,” Honored Jolu said.

Most of the dancers seem relieved that the problem which had dropped in on them was someone else’s issue to deal with. The one’s who’d stepped up beside Tovos however made it a point to glare daggers at Nix and didn’t turn their back until they were on the far side of courtyard and beyond striking distance.

In theory.

In practice Nix was reasonably sure she could have thrown her lightsaber and guided it to slice them all down, but those kind of thoughts were ones she offered a bemused smile too and let flutter out of her mind like the silly butterflies they were.

“I’m not sure if ‘thank you’ or an additional apology would be more appropriate here,” she said instead of precipitating mayhem.

“Neither,” Honored Jolu said. “I would appreciate an explanation of what you really wanted though.”

Jolu was standing with her hands crossed in front of her and Nix didn’t sense any ripples in the Force to indicate that Jolu was intending to strike out at her. Jolu was, in fact, remarkably still both in body and in the Force, which puzzled Nix a bit. Usually people’s emotions jostled the Force around them to some degree.

On the other hand though, Nix reasoned, this was an aged Force user who’d managed to live through the Imperial purge of the Jedi and other Force users. Honored Jolu likely hadn’t lived long enough to reach an ‘Honored’ status because she was clumsy with the Force.

“I’m looking for peoples who survived the Imperial purges. People who understand and use the Force, and unless I’m mistaken you were using the Force in that dance,” Nix said, deciding honesty was the safest tool in her arsenal. It wasn’t, but sometimes the Force offers guidance in what it doesn’t share she later understood.

Honored Jolu’s expression didn’t exactly shift but Nix still felt a hard wall of resentment rise between them.

“You are Jedi,” Jolu said.

“I’m Nix.”

“You carry a lightsaber.”

“It’s a gift,” Nix said. “And a tool. Nothing more.”

An unpleasant smile cracked Jolu’s face.

“Tools have many uses. That has one. It is a weapon.” Jolu didn’t seem to be afraid of it, and if there was anger there it was buried under too strong a mastery of the Force and too many years for Nix to fathom its depth.

“For some,” Nix said and unclipped the hilt from her belt to offer it to Jolu. They were too far apart for Jolu to take it but a Force user of her caliber could easily telekinesis it away from Nix.

Except Jolu did not.

“The last thing I used this for was to separate a landing strut connector that was misbehaving,” Nix said. “It wasn’t the perfect tool for the job, but it got it done and probably saved me ten minutes on the repair. Before that I used it to section lengths of tubing for some heat ducting. Technically it wasn’t the right tool for that either, but the Stantech cutter I have is just trash. Its plasma beam has such poor regulation the cuts never wind up joining to anything well. Which makes sense, if you’ve ever used Stantech stuff. Their epoxies are great but the rest of the line is garbage. Which is why they throw the cutters in for free if you order enough tubing, and when you’ve got a budget like I had, free looks pretty good even if its trash.”

Nix paused.

She was rambling.

She did that sometimes, and somehow they’d gotten onto the subject of ship repair, which was a weak spot for her. 

So she shut up.

Because people usually preferred that.

Honored Jolu however…Nix couldn’t tell what the old woman preferred? Jolu didn’t look mad or exasperated. Just confused.

“Sorry,” Nix said. “It’s not just a weapon though. Want to see?”

Psychometry was a fairly common Force skill but it occurred to Nix that not every Force user would necessarily be able to read the truth of her words from the history wrapped around the blade she carried.

Also the lightsaber had definitely been used as a weapon in the past.

The distant past, probably long enough Nix thought that the lives it had taken would be such faded echoes that they wouldn’t stand out.

A belief she hoped was also true for herself.

“We do not treat with Jedi,” Honored Jolu said at last, retreating it seemed to the comfort of whatever orthodoxy the dancers subscribed to.

“I’m not a Jedi,” Nix said. “I’ve read some of their texts but I didn’t learn about the Force from them. Well, not from any living Jedi at least. I grew up on my own, and was practicing with the Force without really being aware of it until about a year ago. Now I’m looking for other cultures which know about the Force because the Jedi clearly had some questionable views on it.”

“You’re not lying,” Jolu said. “How curious. But are you telling the truth?”

Nix threw a puzzled glance at her.

“Wouldn’t the one indicate the other?” she asked.

“Not in the slightest,” Jolu said. “You’re skilled enough with Xah, and unclean enough, that you might be able to cloak partial truths to sound sincere and complete, but unless my old eyes deceive me, you’re not malicious, simply mislead.”

Nix wasn’t sure how to take that. Compliment? Insult? She suspected their cultural frames of reference were simply so misaligned that despite sharing a common language they were not communicating clearly yet.

“I don’t understand the ‘unclean’ label your people place on me?” she said. “Is it because I’m an outsider?”

“It is because you bend the natural flow of Xah to your will,” Jolu said. “You corrupt and taint the harmonious flow of destiny and place yourself as its master. It is one of the greatest evils we know.”

“Using the Force is a great evil?” Nix couldn’t imagine a Force sensitive culture that could hold that belief. 

“Your name for it gives away how you’ve been mislead,” Jolu said. “You call it ‘the Force’ as though it was nothing more than power. Something with which to move people and things. Something with which to claim dominion over others as the Jedi did.”

“The Jedi didn’t…?” Nix began to say.

“The Jedi scoured the galaxy when they ruled. They took children from parents. They forced their rules and their beliefs on all others, either for their own reasons, or under the orders of the Empire of the Republic.”

“The Empire came after the Republic though? It was the Sith, or one Sith I guess, who tried to control everything and claim dominion over the galaxy.”

“Sith. Jedi. They are two symptoms of the same disease,” Jolu said. “Neither could coexist with others. Neither could tolerate being anywhere but in control. In the time of my people, in my own lifetime, Jedi and Sith came for us both, but it was not the will of the Xah that they destroy us.”

“So you fought them?” Nix asked, wondering what sort of trap she might have walked into.

“We do not fight. We do not oppose. We listen. We are moved. We follow the will of the Xah and it protect has protected us.”

“By keeping you hidden,” Nix guessed. While she could imagine Jedi speaking peacefully with a non-violent Force sect, the Sith Inquisitors who stalked the galaxy under Palpatine’s rule would have been far less tolerant of any potential enemies they came across.

“We listen. We are moved. When enemies approach from one side of the river, the Xah leads us to the other. When monsters stalk us in the darkness, the Xah reveals shadows even the sharpest gaze cannot pierce.”

“But it didn’t lead you away when I dropped down on your dance,” Nix said. “That has to be a good sign, right? Proof that I’m not your enemy?”

“Not proof, but it does raise a question which must be answered,” Jolu said.

“So how do we find the answer?” Nix asked.

“Will you surrender your weapon?” Jolu asked.

“Sure,” Nix said and tossed the unlit hilt to her. 

“Then follow me,” Jolu said. “We will go before the Council of Elders and listen to what the Xah tells us of you.”