Our destination lay in the deep, uncharted wilderness of a southern continent, promising me my first real experience with the southern hemisphere of any planet. This continent remained barely colonized relative to other regions of the planet, but that was deliberate on the part of the Homeworld Alliance and the Jedi Order, for it contained one of the largest undisturbed habitats of the telepathic mour. There were small pockets of mour territory other places on Daramin, but the Jedi were out to protect this one specifically for the purpose of allowing the mour to live without fear of encroachment or extinction. We couldn't even land where we needed to, we had to put down in a coastal settlement and use ground transportation to get further inland. The locals greeted us warmly, their colony small but friendly and populated with a good mix of three of the four Daramindi races. I met my first Hodran at the landing field, his wide, sloped, Neanderthal-like forehead and small eyes misleading - he was actually rather cultured and polite and didn't speak in grunts. Once again, we were led to the private housing set aside for the Jedi teams and left to our own business. "Things should be quiet for a day or two," Qui-Gon mused as he inspected the accommodations. "Every team that takes the mission passes through this settlement, and always reports that there are no problems."

"The colony is small enough that there would probably be few problems, if any, Master," Obi-Wan observed. "Whose idea is it to keep this size?"

"The locals, actually," his Master replied, completing his inspection and turning with a satisfied air. The place was smallish, and rather sterile, owing to a prevalence of pre-built components and not much local color. "Because of the regulations regarding the preserve, no one is allowed to emigrate here randomly. The population only increases naturally. There aren't even any new station staff members brought in unless one is leaving, so that the population remains stable."

There was a small weather station in the colony, nowhere near as important or large as High Point Base but valuable nonetheless. So far, I had been impressed with the quiet and the natural surroundings, even if they did stick us with a colony module that reminded me more of Star Trek than Star Wars. The people here were doing their best to maintain the preserve and not give the Jedi reason to make trouble. "How far is the preserve from here?" I asked, flopping into a chair near the Master.

"It's about three hundred kilometers, by speeder," he answered, glancing down at me. "We will go there tomorrow, and check in on the scientists before going into the preserve ourselves."

"We're allowed?" I persisted.

Qui-Gon smiled. "Of course we're allowed. We must be cautious, though, and not leave much evidence of our presence. Anything we bring in must be brought back out, and we must be careful not to disturb anything."

"I can do that." I used to do that all the time, I thought to myself, remembering the canoeing trips I used to take in high school to the Quetico wilderness in Canada. I knew precisely what he meant, and how I would need to take care of myself in the preserve so as to obey the regulations. "Is there any information around about the preserve? Like...maps or reports or stuff about the mour?"

Qui-Gon nodded. "I will download some information into a datapad for you."

"Cool, thanks," I said as he disappeared to do just that.

Obi-Wan drifted over and set himself in front of me. "Are you excited about this trip?"

"Yeah! I mean...this is totally unlike anything I've ever seen. Telepathic animals - that's very unusual."

"There are a few species in different parts of the galaxy," the Padawan remarked as if lecturing a classroom. "The mour are not alone, but they are unique in that their contact with sentient creatures has been extremely limited. They lived here for millennia without contact, apart from an occasional pirate who needed to hide out here."

That reminded me of the events of the past few days. I looked up at him with a frown. "If pirates and smugglers were landing here way before the Homeworld Alliance existed, why didn't the Republic do anything about it then? Just because they didn't settle down here?"

"The Republic couldn't do much if they wanted to," Obi-Wan replied with a shrug. "Daramin is barely within Republic space, and truth be told, there are thousands of worlds whose people demand a share of the Republic's attention every day. One small world in a backwater sector with no native population wouldn't have even raised eyebrows. It had no representation, and these days, without representation in the Senate, a world hasn't got a chance."

I nodded my comprehension, turning my mind to other matters instead as Qui-Gon returned with a datapad for my use. I thanked him excitedly and got straight to the task of translating the Aurabesh writing so I could read up on mour and their protected habitat. He said he was going out for "information," and left me with Obi-Wan for the afternoon.

None of the data files contained an image of a mour, so I gathered that they were hard to photograph. The basic overview called them shy, wary, precocious, and selective, as they lived within particular territories and would be lost if forced to leave them. Tales of encounters from the time preceding Daramin's colonization were few and far between; very rarely did a passing smuggler or lost pilot see mour when they landed, and the handful of folks who did came to a bad end. Mour were known for a time to be serious killers who defend their territory to the death against any invader. I poured over the scant statistics and bounced them off Obi-Wan, who sat nearby idling away the afternoon. "What does a meter high look like?" I queried.

He held his hand off the ground slightly higher than the arm of his chair. "That tall."

"They can be 'a meter high at the shoulder,'" I read off the pad, "'and up to two meters long for a fully-grown male.' Whoa. That's pretty big. 'A mour's...' Shoot, what's that symbol again?" I paged back to my cheat-sheet in my journal. "Dang, this is harder than learning Klingon. Oh yeah, 'th.' 'A mour's teeth are...' Oh, duh. '...sharp enough to tear flesh.'" I looked up at Obi-Wan again. "Ouch."

"They are predators," the Padawan noted. "The prevailing theory is that their telepathic sense is used for hunting."

My eyes wandered over the datapad screen. "Yeah, that's what it says here. They won't mistake us for prey, will they?"

Obi-Wan smiled slightly, but uncertainly. "I don't think so. Master Qui-Gon said the scientists at the base will inform us of any safety precautions we should take before entering the preserve, but as long as we keep our minds open and touched to the Force, the mour should be able to sense that we are larger and more keen than the animals they hunt."

"You think," I chided him before going back to the report. "After just reading how some poor lost pilot who landed here ages ago got mauled to death..."

Obi-Wan snorted. "Poor lost pilot indeed. That's a polite way of saying pirates."

"Oh?" I raised an eyebrow at him. "People want to pretend they don't exist?"

"Something like that."

I grinned and glanced at the datapad, puzzling out another sentence or two before giving up and shutting it off. "Well, I'll just make sure to keep you and Qui-Gon between me and any mour we find, at least until I know we won't be attacked."

"That's right," Obi-Wan acknowledged. "As long as we're with you, you have no need to be afraid."

Setting aside the datapad, I got up and wandered through the house, running my hand roughly over the top of Obi-Wan's head as I passed by his chair. It was a deliberate attempt at provoking him, and it worked, because I heard him get up and follow me as I drifted into the next room and found a window that looked out on the rest of the settlement. Warm sun splashed in through the window, which framed a perfect picture: a sky of vivid blue dotted with miniscule cumulus, people passing to and fro on the street beyond the transparisteel, and a riot of green where the forest encroached right on the edge of the settlement. I turned and leaned on the wall beside the window as Obi-Wan came up and gave a glance outside as well. "I hope this little side-trip isn't cutting into important things," I said. "Like, making sure pirates aren't landing other places on Daramin."

"I believe that may be among the things Master Qui-Gon set out to do this afternoon," the Padawan replied, his voice placid. "He needed to procure a speeder to get us to the preserve, but I would imagine he may ask around whether anyone here has heard word of trouble in this region."

I gave him a curious frown. "And he didn't want you to go with him?"

Obi-Wan kept his eyes on the view. "He...wishes one of us to remain with you at all times, when we travel to less safe areas of the planet."

I snorted my disagreement with the assessment. "This is hardly a less-safe area. I'm perfectly fine, here! He doesn't need to leave you here to look after me!" I shook my head. "I'm going to have a talk with him when he gets back."

"Are you saying you don't want my company?"

My heart sank, but Obi-Wan turned his head toward me and favored me with a sly smile that informed me his question was a joke. I leaned toward him. "That's not what I meant and you know it." To prove it, I slid an arm around his back and rested my head on his shoulder, squeezing him affectionately. "I happen to enjoy your company very much. I just don't want either of you putting aside something important out of a misguided need to watch out for me. Remember what I said a while ago, about not wanting to come between you and your duty?"

Obi-Wan bowed his head and nodded, the smile still glowing on his lips. "Yes, I remember that well. Don't worry, as far as this afternoon is concerned, Master Qui-Gon had his own needs to take care of and my accompanying him was not necessary."

"As long as you're sure."

"Quite sure."

I slid both arms around his chest and hugged him to me from behind, until his body resisted with a chuckle. I eased up but didn't let go, content to rest my cheek against the back of his shoulders and feel the pommel of his lightsaber prodding my left forearm. This is just too cool, I mused contentedly. I could get used to this.

Qui-Gon did not actually spend much time away from quarters. He came back with news that he had been successful in finding us transport to the preserve, but he said nothing else about his time out. Whether he had questioned anyone or not, and whether he had received information or not, he kept to himself. He was relatively quiet over dinner, simply answering any lingering questions I had about our safari objectives and the immediate plans following it. The sun was setting before I knew it, which I didn't understand until I remembered that we were in the southern hemisphere. Where it was summer in Takra, it was winter here, seasonally speaking. This part of the continent was not so far south as to truly feel winter-cold, however, more like a temperate middle-ground where snowbirds might want to flock to get out of the ice and cold, if they were like me. I had not forgotten the threat I spoke to Obi-Wan earlier, and as I was getting ready for bed, looked for a chance to corner the Master before he retired. Fortunately, he looked in on me just after I had changed. "Are you all ready for tomorrow?"

"Was there anything else I needed to bring?" I asked by way of reply. "What is the weather supposed to be like?"

"It isn't supposed to rain for at least two days," Qui-Gon answered, stepping away from the doorway and coming completely into the room. He had removed robe, belt, and outer tunic, but was still stomping around the little house in pants and undertunic. "You should be able to leave just about everything here, but like I said before, bring along a warm shirt in case we're still in the forest after dark. It will get cold quickly in the evening."

"Got it." I went and pulled such a shirt from my bag and laid it on top to make sure. Qui-Gon nodded his approval and turned to go, but I stopped him with a "Wait." He turned, gazing expectantly at me. "I have to talk to you about something."

He came back in far enough that the door automatically whirred closed behind him. "What is it?"

"Did you leave Obi-Wan here today to look after me?"

Qui-Gon neither smiled nor frowned at the question. Holding my gaze, he said, "It was not necessary for him to come with me on my errands. I have asked him to stay with you where it's not safe, and I will do the same if he needs to take care of something."

"This isn't an unsafe town, though," I argued. "Master, don't feel you have to babysit me to keep me safe, I'll be all right. After all we've been through, I think I've learned a little bit about how not to get captured or hurt."

He lowered his eyes for a moment. "Yes, I understand that. But, we are beginning to go into unstable settlements, mere colonies where the militia has not yet been established, where just about anything can happen. I want you protected."

I stepped close enough to him to take his hand between mine. "But I don't want you to forsake your duty for me. You know that." Pulling his hand, I got him to sit with me on the end of my bed. The housing may have been small, but every room was furnished more than adequately with a huge bed, which sank comfortably beneath our combined weight. "Taking precautions is one thing. Just don't overdo it for my sake. If you both have somewhere to be, I'll be all right as long as I don't leave quarters and have my comlink on me. Right?"

Qui-Gon smiled faintly. "Of course. However..." The smile grew a shade fainter. "...I will probably ask you to stay close to one of us in some of these settlements. I won't lie to you, they can be rather rough."

"Like, Salji rough?"

He looked serious. "Worse than that. I wouldn't be surprised to find a couple of them crawling with pirates. Teams of overseers don't get to some of the foothold colonies very often, so anything can happen between visits."

"I see." I nodded slowly. "Anything you want me to do, you know I'll do it."

"I have no doubts about that." Qui-Gon slipped his hand from mine and ran it through my hair, combing the loose strands back from my face and hooking them behind my ear. "You can relax, though. It will be a few days before we head for any of these colonies."

"Who's worried?" I teased, as I quite honestly felt for once that I was perfectly fine and in no danger whatsoever. "I understand what's going on and where I am. The pirates the other day at High Point were sort of a wake-up call - there's a fine line between safety and trouble and you never know when we might have to cross it."

Qui-Gon's eyes gleamed in the semi-dark. "I can see that anything else I might wish to say on the matter would be wasted breath. You truly are braver than I once thought."

"It's taken me a while, but I'm finally learning," I said modestly.

"You should give yourself more credit," he gently offered. "You have always been brave, but I often fail to see it until you have a chance to prove your worth. I should know by now not to underestimate you, to expect that you know more than you outwardly show." The gray eyes still gleamed with a smile. "You consistently surprise me, that much I know for sure."

Laughing, I shook my head in denial. We both fell silent, having no more to say but not wanting to part company just yet. I sat with my hands in my lap, itching to move them, to reach out to him, but restraining myself for the moment. Despite the levels to which our relationship had been taken, I still hesitated a little, unsure how right it was for me to be making the moves. Yet, he seemed perfectly comfortable just sitting on the bed with me, gazing at me with tender affection curving his lips slightly. I smiled teasingly up at the Master. "Stay with me tonight?"

He held my gaze, but his face sobered. At last, he tore his eyes from mine and looked down at the floor instead. "No," he murmured. "I can't."

Hurt, I stared at him. "Why not? We've done it before..."

"Because," he said immediately, cutting me off. His eyes darted towards my face again. "Because, I would not be able to restrain myself, and limit it to just sleeping."

I felt the blush creeping hotly into my face. He couldn't have said what I think he just said...could he? "Master?" I questioned.

He lifted a hand and gently caressed my cheek with his thumb, smiling sadly down at me. "I don't wish to tempt you into giving up your vow. There are boundaries over which I have no right to step, and I will not give you a chance to throw away what you've promised, only to regret it later."

I nearly protested that I was sure I wouldn't regret it, but he had a point, and my innate sense of conscience agreed with him. No matter how much I tried to justify it to myself in my mind, something deep down kept saying no. And I was content with that. So, instead of speaking out, I just nodded. After a while, I said, "Thank you, Qui-Gon."

Qui-Gon lowered his head and pressed a gentle kiss to my cheek, and then took my hand in between both of his. "Get a good night's sleep. We have a long journey ahead of us tomorrow, and I will be waking you early. Sleep well." He got up from the bed and backed away slowly, letting my hand gradually slide from his. I smiled weakly at him until he left the room, and then flopped back on the bed.

That didn't just happen, I tried to tell myself. He didn't really mean that. I sighed hard in the direction of the ceiling and closed my eyes. That isn't what I meant by "stay with me tonight," though! His words, his tone of voice, echoed through my head as I replayed the moment. A slight tingle of panic awoke in my heart as I wondered whether his refusal was meant for this night, this particular opportunity, or if it was a "from now on" sort of thing. I hoped desperately it wasn't the latter, for sleeping in the shelter of Qui-Gon's long arms and powerful body had become one of my favorite indulgences. Granted, I hadn't done so since he returned from a mission and surprised me when I woke up to find him with me, but I always harbored a desire to repeat the scenario as often as possible. Yet, I fretted, what if he means "from now on?" I don't want to give him up! Memories of nights together, of watching him sleep, the lines of weary age in his face smoothed away in the darkness, of his strong, summery scent enfolding me, made me clench my jaw in anger at the unfairness of the universe. First I declared I don't care, but then amended it to I wouldn't give in, I would be able to resist. But the more my mind wound in circles around it, the less sure I was that I had that ability, and subsequently began to question its necessity. After all, some part of me reasoned, morality was different here and they lived by a different code than I did. Social taboos and mores were not the same as I was used to. And yet, there was a line over which I would not cross, because my personal code was not malleable or situational. A vow was a vow, and ethics were ethics no matter how many star systems I had crossed. If I firmly believed in a God who controlled the universe, I was certainly not out of His jurisdiction yet.

My eyes idly traced the patterns of light dancing on the ceiling, from streetlamps far away filtered through the wind-tossed boughs of a tree outside my window. No, I decided, I have to be careful. I may be free to explore the social customs of this galaxy, but there's one thing I can't do. Not without a very long talk with Master, first. I sighed again, more in resignation than frustration, and rolled off the bed to my feet in order to properly burrow under the covers. That was good of him to see the potential to mess things up and duck out before it got messy. I wish I had that fortitude. Yanking the blankets up to my chin, I snuggled down in my bed alone, wishing for a comfortable form beside me but understanding, finally, that it was for the better. Actions were not without consequences, and I could no longer think of the heart and the body as two separate parts. Desire for one automatically included the other. A new thought tickled me briefly...he's the first man who ever wanted me like that. The first one! Despite my frustration, I grinned in the dark. Reminding myself that morning came very early with this pair of Jedi, I tried to shut my mind off and get some sleep.

*****

Master Qui-Gon was not kidding about waking me early. The sun had not yet risen over the hills when I felt him shake me gently, and after enduring my grumbling for a moment he deftly flipped back the blanket, exposing me to cold air. I glared at him, then out the window at the pale pre-dawn sky, and silently put myself through the motions of dressing and putting my things in order so we could leave as soon as we got some breakfast.

The speeder waiting to transport us came with a driver, so I settled in the back seat with Obi-Wan and curled up to watch the miles whisk by under the growing daylight. The sun came up over the edge of the world while we were meeting the pilot, a smiling Pfandi man, and shone merrily on us the whole way as we passed from the settlement out into the bush along a wide, unkempt path. After nearly two hours of trees whipping past our sight, the path widened into a broad field, and the speeder slowed as we came upon a complex of three squat buildings set apart from the trees. There was one speeder and a couple of repulsorlift bikes parked alongside one building, their antigrav turned off so they rested on the packed dirt. A small radar dish pointed skyward from the roof of the centermost building. There was no sign of life in the complex until we glided to a stop and one of the doors of the center building hissed open; a slender man of average height and bland features stepped out, waving. "Hello!" we heard him call as our pilot deactivated the repulsorlift and the speeder sank low enough to the ground to hop out. "Welcome to the Daramin Preserve."

Qui-Gon alighted easily from the craft and strode to meet the man, hand outstretched. "Doctor Resk, I presume?"

"Holden, please. Master Jinn? It is an honor. I am so very glad you decided to visit the preserve while on your mission."

Qui-Gon introduced his apprentice and me as we joined him, and presented us to Holden Resk, the scientist from Alderaan currently stationed at the preserve to study the mour. I gathered from the friendly and familiar welcome that he and Qui-Gon had already been in contact, setting up this visit. Dr. Resk greeted the Pfandi driver with a joke, which was received with a laugh as the driver excused himself and disappeared into the nearest building. "Have you had anything to eat this morning?" the scientist asked us. "You must have started early."

"We have, thank you," Qui-Gon nodded.

Resk turned to lead the way into the building he had come from. "In that case, we will forego the mess and go straight into the laboratory. My wife is monitoring tracking signals."

We followed him out of the sunlight into the dark shell of the laboratory, the largest center building with the radar dish, through a couple passages to a large room filled with monitoring equipment. A young woman was seated at a console with headphones pressed to her ears, dressed in the same style of tan fatigues as her husband but skirted instead of trousered. She had soft, delicate features and dark hair pulled up into a uniquely Alderaanian hairstyle. So intent was she on her work that she didn't look up until Dr. Resk touched her on the shoulder. "Oh! Hello, welcome," she stammered, putting aside the headphones and standing up. "My name is Dena Resk."

"Qui-Gon Jinn; this is my apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and our friend Stacey Lee." She bowed slightly in response to the Master's introductions. He smiled. "How goes the research?"

"I was just tracking some of our tagged mour," Dena said, almost excitedly as she sat back down. "One of the packs is on the move in their territory, coming down from the heights as the season changes."

"What do you think our chances are of encountering any mour should we go hiking in the preserve?" Qui-Gon wondered.

"I used to think not very good," Holden admitted, "until the last team of Jedi came through here some months ago. Mour I thought too far away to be a threat to them came to them, and they did get to see some - though they stayed a cautious distance away. So, your chances are likely very good, regardless what direction you travel."

"Any information you could provide for us before we go in would be helpful," the Master noted.

Dr. Resk showed him to another console in order to call up information, and the two fell into an intent discussion of the Jedi Master's plans. I felt temporarily useless, and so wandered away from them to check out the laboratory. I couldn't read much that was tacked on the walls, but I could puzzle out just enough. There were large images of mour, some with labels as to external body parts, and maps of the preserve with all kinds of lines and boundaries marked on them. I guessed from the schematics posted nearby that the metal table on the far end of the room was for autopsies, and squinched up my nose as I recoiled from it and went in a different direction. Obi-Wan's curious eyes were on me, smiling a little in amusement at my exploration.

I paused for a long time in front of the basic drawings and images of mour, wanting to be sure I knew what one looked like in case it came barreling out of the underbrush toward me, while listening to Qui-Gon and Dr. Resk discuss planned routes and safety issues. The big picture on the wall by the door showed the creature to be something akin to both a bear and a large dog, with long snout and floppy ears like a hound, but a heavy build and longer, bear-like fur. It had lithe limbs that ended in large paws with blunt claws, and its sleek jowls showed off small, sharp teeth. The few images taken of actual mour in the wild were small and far-off, but even from great distances I could see they had bright, intelligent eyes. I had no doubt that one of them could run down a human even as large and fast as the Jedi, and probably knock the legs out from under running prey with one swipe of those paws. At the moment, the scientist was telling Qui-Gon just that. "Very seldom do they hunt in packs," he said, "more often alone or in pairs. Only when a female is nursing a litter and cannot hunt for herself will the pack actually hunt together. The pack mentality seems to prevail only for social reasons, for the rearing of young and maintenance of their territory."

"Prevailing theory is that the mour use their telepathic sense to hunt," Obi-Wan mentioned, bringing up what he and I had discussed a day earlier. "Is that correct?"

"Dena and I think that is only partially what they use their sense for," Dr. Resk said seriously, folding his arms. "From what we have seen, including in encounters with them ourselves and their encounters with Jedi, their telepathy is truly communicative. The fact that we see them using it while hunting is only part of the picture. They actually use it to identify other creatures, to differentiate between sentient and non-sentient, between prey and predator, and other mour. Dena has long records of observing them identifying mour who had wandered into the wrong territory, and though we are not telepathic ourselves in order to know for sure, our tracked specimens have transmitters which record their brain waves, and those associated with telepathy are active at certain times. They tend to use it much as most predators use scent or hearing, and perhaps to communicate as they hardly vocalize."

"What, then, are the chances they would attack any sentient being, Jedi or not?" Qui-Gon pressed.

"As long as you posed no bodily threat to them or to their young, the chance is slim to none," Dena replied, taking the headphones from her ears again. "They have never even attacked anyone who violated their territorial boundaries. They give sentients a wide berth, I assume they somehow know that they are outmatched. The only records of mour attacks show they never attack unless provoked, unless they feel themselves, their young, or their pack threatened."

"Jedi are particularly safe," Holden added, breaking into a light smile. "Someday I should like a scientist from the Jedi to join us here and verify some of our findings. The one thing I want most to know and can't find out by any scientific means of my own is why the mour are interested in the Jedi. Whether or not they have some connection to the Force."

Qui-Gon gazed at him in interest. "From the records I have, Jedi have verified in the past that the mour are not Force-sensitive."

"Perhaps not, but they still tend to be able to sense someone who is, and that is what interests me," Holden said enthusiastically. "I do have more than enough work, though, so my interest in the Force-sensing abilities of mour will have to come secondary. Our grant from the University will give us another year here studying the mour, but then I will have to go back and try to raise another grant to come back with a Jedi scientist."

The Master shared his smile. "I hope that someday, you get your wish."

The Resks provided us with an insect repellent and full water flasks, as well as maps both holographic and paper, and pointed out the best places to hike. We ate lunch with them in the mess hall, the building to one side where our pilot had disappeared to earlier, and exchanged comlink frequencies. We would be able to contact the laboratory at any hour in case of emergency. Dr. Resk also passed a chip to Qui-Gon for his holopad, explaining that it carried a very rudimentary field guide to common plants, insects, and climate information for this region, in case we ran into something we could not identify. "We don't know yet if any plants are poisonous to humans, but I suggest caution. Don't eat anything. And it is my advice that you not stay in the preserve overnight. If night falls and you are still too far out to hike back safely, call us and I will take one of the hoverbikes out to you."

"I will watch our route carefully, and plan to be very close if not already back by sunset," Qui-Gon assured.

The scientist stepped back beside his wife and nodded curtly. "Good luck."

"Thank you." Qui-Gon gestured to me and Obi-Wan, and the three of us started off, him in the lead, me right behind, and the Padawan bringing up the rear. We crossed the field and headed into the trees, striking a wide path that scored its way more or less straight through the woods until a bend took it from sight.

It was an ideal day for hiking. The yellow sun snuck speckles of warmth between the broad leaves of tall trees, and a light breath of wind stirred all the underbrush from time to time lest we hikers get too warm. I had my long-sleeved shirt along, but for now it was so warm and delightful that I kept the shirt tied around my waist. There was almost no sound in the canopy above us save the tossing of leaves, which made me smile to myself, and very little movement in the lower stories of the forest. Small rodents played tag through the leaf litter, and once Master Qui-Gon reached out a long limb to silently point out a slender antelope picking its way through the woods. It saw us, or smelled us, and looked up with a hard stare that didn't waver for as long as we held motionless. Obi-Wan raised a hand to scratch his neck, and the creature flicked an ear before turning and darting away. Butterflies of varied size and color flitted around our feet, searching for the few remaining flowers that hadn't been withered by the fading season. My head kept turning back and forth to catch every sight and sound of the alien, yet welcoming, forest.

The path was broad enough for us to walk abreast for now, but Qui-Gon, who was navigating, murmured that it would soon be turning in a direction opposite where we wanted to go, so we would be leaving it. "Are there other paths?" I wondered, waving a hand at the small flies that were circling annoyingly over our heads.

"There may be," he answered, "but they are not marked. This, here, was made long ago when some of those stationed at the outpost experimented with introducing tauntauns as riding mounts." His head swiveled back towards me. "Do you know what those are?"

I grinned. "Yeah, I know those." And I thought they smelled bad on the outside!

"It was intended to minimize the need for mechanized travel inside the preserve, which disturbs the mour. But, the mour decided tauntauns made good prey and very shortly put an end to that idea."

"Oops," I smirked.

"The riding paths are maintained, though. And Dr. Resk told me he knows of a few paths in the region we are going into, as he has hiked there often."

"Game trails," I speculated. "Not that I'm opposed to cross-country hiking."

We struck up a narrow path just before our broad riding-way made its turn, and went now in single file, with the Jedi attempting to keep me between them. We were leaving the flatlands and climbing into bluffs and hills, though, so more than once I had to pause for a rest and let Obi-Wan overtake me. The trail opened up now and then, but for the most part the leafy green underbrush pressed in close, and thorny brambles raked at our clothing as we brushed past. After being scratched a few times, I asked the Master if any of the thorns were poisonous or otherwise bad to encounter, but he couldn't find anything in the database Holden Resk had given him. The flies that had pestered us on the broad, sun-bathed path were gone now, and the forest lay quiet in deep green shadow for the most part. It truly was a gorgeous day, and I breathed deeply of the clean, fresh air as we walked, meandering from path to path in a more or less northwesterly direction.

An hour went by without sign of any mour, though our hike was no less pleasant because of it. We had been quietly conversing at the start, as I compared the landscape to those I was more familiar with, but as time went on even I fell silent, and wanted only to enjoy what my five senses brought to me. The Jedi had fallen almost into a meditative mood, their faces placidly blank, eyes slowly scanning the woodland around us. At one point, Qui-Gon paused and looked around instead of consulting his maps, and then glanced down at me. "There is a bluff through the trees here that will give us a good view of the land, if we climb it."

"Let's do it," I breathed, though I was already feeling the incline through my aching thighs and my shortened breath. I was certain to fall behind again if we climbed even further.

Qui-Gon nodded his acceptance and led the way, leaving the path we were on and striking through the underbrush. Thorns grabbed at his robe, but he wrapped his hands inside the flowing sleeves and pushed forward without pause. Obi-Wan followed, holding his hands up to prevent low-hanging tree branches from whipping back into his face. I came last, plodding steadily up the hill, trying not to slip in the mould of fallen leaves that rotted on the forest floor. It was an easy climb, from root to rock, across the shoulder of a ridge. The trees were so thick that we could not see the bluff's top, but now and again patches of blue sky peeped between the wind-blown branches to show us that the climb did stop somewhere. Qui-Gon's calm voice drifted down to me. "The richness of the Living Force is a wonder. I can feel it all around us. Stretch out with your minds, and open yourselves to it."

I tried to, but all I could sense were two minds at peace, the Force-signatures of the two men in front of me. The delight and awe Qui-Gon was feeling came through clearly, so indirectly through him I could sense the vibrancy of the Force. Obi-Wan sighed contently. "I feel it also, Master," he murmured. "There is such power here, it is a paradox. There are places in the galaxy far older, but barren. Here, you can feel the immediacy of life, the need to survive here and now, and yet it feels just as old as the rest of the galaxy."

"That is the life of the trees," his Master said in return, his voice just as low and calming. "Life creates the Force, whether it is a life lived short or for ages. And that is why the Force is both Living and Unifying...it is here and now, and yet it is for eternity."

And I broke my long silence by coughing and blurting out, "Ack, I just swallowed a bug!"

Blue eyes were still laughing silently at me when we finally reached the top of the ridge and passed through the trees into a formation of rocks, which led out to a point that overlooked miles upon miles of low, rolling hills that seemed, from this height, to be the bottom of a great basin, possibly an ancient lake. Our lookout bluff wasn't very high, but it could have been a shoreline in eons past. Other bluffs and ridges peeped through the trees on both sides of us. Qui-Gon pointed down into the fields and forests below us. "All of this belongs to the preserve, and to the mour. As far as the eye can see. It is almost undisturbed, as pristine as it was before anyone from the Homeworld Alliance looked upon it."

"Which way are we heading, Master?" Obi-Wan asked.

"We will stay on this side of the bluffs, I think. If we were to go down there, it would be a hard climb back up to get back to the research outpost, and I think it belongs to a different mour pack's territory than this ground here. I am trying to follow Dr. Resk's advice and stay within the territory of a particular pack they have been studying."

"But we haven't seen hide nor hair of any mour yet," I reminded him as I sipped from a water flask. "Should we be looking for something in particular?"

"Not necessarily," Qui-Gon replied, checking over his maps one more time. "Dr. Resk said the mour are usually on the move, at this time of year they are hardly stationary since their young are grown. If he is correct, they should seek us out when they realize we are in their territory."

I gazed out at the beautiful view spread out before us. "Maybe we should make for water. Most animals have a watering hole of some kind they frequent. River or pond or something."

Obi-Wan was looking at some of the hard-copy maps. "There is a river not far from here, due east. Does this colored line indicate a territory boundary, Master?"

"As far as I know."

"It's still within this territory."

Qui-Gon cracked a brief smile. "We can head in that direction. It would be good to refill our water supply as well."

I gave the overlook one last, wistful gaze and sigh before turning to follow them back down through the trees. Such a lovely day.

We had been hiking almost another full hour and not yet reached the river when we saw the first signs of our elusive quarry. As we crossed wooded hillsides, the underbrush thinned out, and we started to see tracks criss-crossing the leafy ground. Wider game trails opened up, and we turned onto one to follow it through the trees toward the peeps of silver we could see through the tree trunks ahead of us. Wherever the soft earth was exposed among leaves and shrubs, we found clear prints of very large paws. Qui-Gon had fallen completely silent, his eyes narrowed as he scanned the pathways in front of us, his posture alert and searching. Obi-Wan followed him with a more casual stance, ducking under tree branches and glancing back at me every so often to make sure I wasn't falling too far back. A thicket of brambles suddenly reared up in front of us, and Master Qui-Gon picked his way through them and stopped, bringing us to a halt behind him. Now that we were no longer swishing through the foliage, I could hear a new sound - the bubble of flowing water. We had found the river.

The sun broke clear and hot on our faces as we brushed away the last of the tree limbs and emerged on the tumbled banks of the river. It was swift and broad, and the churl of its motion over rocks at its margins was faint. Qui-Gon glanced around, his gaze still keen and hunting, but after a moment seemed satisfied enough to bend down and taste the water. It apparently met his approval, for he beckoned for me and Obi-Wan to come down. The Padawan crouched down on a broad rock and dipped his hands into the river while his Master took the nearly empty water flask from him and uncapped it to refill it. I climbed down last, and sank to a seat in the grass to watch the Jedi shed robes and stand back to relax. "This is gorgeous," I murmured. "I could stay here forever."

"Take your time to savor it," Qui-Gon gently advised, smiling, "for we will have to remember that we have a duty to attend to soon enough."

I looked plaintively up at him. "Not today?"

"No. Not today. Today, we are here."

I shifted my eyes to Obi-Wan, who dropped one knee to the ground and leaned on it, gazing contemplatively across the river into the glens and meadows beyond. "See any flowers?" I teased.

He glanced at me and smiled coyly. "Are you tired of the ones you have, that you need new ones?"

"No," I assured. "It's too late for flowers here, anyway, I guess."

The snap of a twig in the woods behind us made my head whip around and my heart leap up in my chest. Qui-Gon straightened, and stared into the trees, but nothing came out. All three of us watched the brambles at the top of the bank for a while, not daring to look away, but it was apparently nothing. After a bit Obi-Wan relaxed and returned to his meditation on the river, and I looked worriedly up at the Master. "What was it? Was it a mour?"

"I'm not sure," he said under his breath, still staring away. "It was large, but passed us by."

Obi-Wan got to his feet, picking up his robe. "Perhaps we should track it."

His Master looked toward him. "I wouldn't want it to feel threatened."

"If we follow it slowly it may not feel like it is being pursued."

Qui-Gon looked at me. I shrugged my tacit agreement. "Very well," the Jedi Master decided. "But slowly, and keep Stacey behind us."

"Yes Master."

I took one last long drink from the cold, fresh river and made sure my water bottle was full before getting up to follow, treading lightly behind two stealthy Jedi who picked their way carefully to the origin of another game trail. Qui-Gon went in front, navigating by track rather than trail, which he left to strike across country, ducking under low limbs and sidling around the grabbing reach of thorn brakes. Every now and then we heard a rustle of something large and heavy moving through the underbrush, though we couldn't see it, and all of us would pause and hold our breath until the signs vanished. We were sort of following the river, I could see, as flashes of sun on water kept bursting through the underbrush to our right. I was so close behind Obi-Wan that I could keep a hand on his back, using him to buffer me from whipping branches and thorns. Qui-Gon prowled along the edge of a ridge that rose from the riverbanks up through the forest, and suddenly came to a halt, throwing a hand back to us. I couldn't see why at first, but then I heard the rustle and looked up. Over the top of the ridge peered three bear-like faces, their ears pricked and eyes staring wildly down at us.

Without a word, the Master eased his stance until he was standing still, loose, hands at his sides. I hid behind Obi-Wan, but relaxed myself as much as I could. The Force was quiet within me, but when I reached out with it to find out what Qui-Gon was thinking, I could sense a soft blankness in his mind. He was thrown wide open, feeling nothing, putting nothing forward. Atop the ridge, the three mour remained still, only their ears twitching, forward and backward. A fourth furry body, smaller than the rest, burst up from the other side of the ridge and barreled down through the leaves without pausing, hidden by the underbrush until just before it reached us. It had a funny, rollicking gait, very puppy-like, and then it occurred to me: it was an immature mour, a baby, come to either test his mettle against bigger prey or play with us. It slid to a stop about five feet in front of Qui-Gon, and when we didn't move, sniffed the air and let out a pleased grunt. Then, I noticed that the other mour had come slinking through the underbrush, almost silent, and were looking intently at the tall men shielding me. They showed absolutely no sign of attacking as they stopped by the youngster and also snuffled the air, stretching out their short, stubby necks as far as they would go. Master Qui-Gon slowly eased into a crouch, and then extended a hand, palm up.

I heard a long, awed sigh escape Obi-Wan, and saw his shoulders fall back, his head lifting a little. "It's all right," Qui-Gon softly murmured even as one of the adult mour stepped cautiously nearer and touched its nose to his outstretched hand. "I can sense them clearly. They are curious, and feel no threat."

Obi-Wan and I also sank down, and the others came up to investigate. Obi-Wan chuckled a little as the short whiskers on the muzzle of one brushed his palm. "Incredible," he breathed. "They don't feel like a sentient lifeform, but they don't feel insentient either. I sense...interest. Need. They need to see us."

I couldn't sense anything, but I didn't let that stop me. The pup tried out everyone, first licking Master Qui-Gon's fingers, then snuffling Obi-Wan's robe before coming over to me. I let it sniff my hand before reaching to pet it, and to my surprise, it leaned its head into my hand and pressed closer, wanting more. I willingly scratched its perky Sheltie-like ears and giggled as its big puppy-paws patted at my knee. One of the larger mour came close and stuck its nose almost in my face, and I felt slightly nervous as I met its hard, staring eyes and could see the teeth peeping from its jaws. The way it stared at me made me uncomfortable. "I don't know what you're trying to tell me," I said to it, almost sadly, "but I promise I'm not going to hurt you."

Obi-Wan turned to his Master. "Are they trying to tell us something?"

Qui-Gon's brow furrowed. "They might be. I feel a sense of urgency, and yes, of need. But their senses are closed to anything else."

"What does it feel like?" I wondered.

"It is...unclear," the Master replied. "Each presence is distinct, but muffled. Only by opening my mind and being completely at rest can I sense them through the Living Force. Their thoughts are definite, but muted."

"Fuzzy," Obi-Wan offered. "Like looking at a light through a mist. It is there, but its exact definition is indistinct." He began petting the nearest mour, and it let him, though without the youthful abandon of the puppy who had nearly climbed into my lap. The adult's fur was sleek and dark brown, the color of the leaf mould and tree trunks. They didn't smell very strongly like most animals. We sat in their presence for a while, silently patting them, looking into their sharp, intelligent eyes, murmuring encouragement to them or advice to each other. At last, one of them looked squarely at Obi-Wan and became stiff-legged, and I heard the apprentice gasp. "Master," he whispered.

"What is it?" Qui-Gon said, low but concerned.

"They are trying to tell us something. Or...warn us of something." He met the stare of the mour with determined strength. "What is it? I will listen."

Qui-Gon watched him for a moment, and then looked at one of the other mour. I didn't think the creatures really understood their speech, but from the feathery stirrings of the Force I sensed, I understood that it was just a surface reflection of the way the Jedi bent their minds toward the telepathic animals. "If you're trying to tell us something, we are here. We will listen."

They sat in rapt silence while I watched, becoming uncomfortable again. The mour pup sobered up a little and looked up at me with plaintive eyes. I scratched under his chin. "I wish I could hear you," I whispered to it. As if in response, I felt something brush my mind. I looked sharply at Qui-Gon, but he and Obi-Wan were both immersed in wordless communion with the mour. It wasn't coming from them. I looked back down at the pup, and this time it was more distinct. Like a non-verbal "thank you," it breezed through my consciousness and was gone. Then another breeze, this one feeling worried. I petted the youngster reassuringly, rubbing its ears again and telling it, "It's okay. You're okay." The gracious impression flitted by again, and then all went still.

The Jedi eventually stirred, and one by one got up and backed slowly away from the mour. The creatures stood where they were, lifting their heads to look up at the men who had been able to communicate with them, and remained watching us as Qui-Gon touched me on the arm to get me to come along. The pup was definitely sad to see me go, but I waved at it and said, "Don't worry. You're in a safe place. Be good." I walked ahead of the two Jedi this time, glancing continually back to see the mour. They stood like wood and stone statues, gray and brown in the flickering afternoon sunlight, their amber eyes following our retreat. Qui-Gon was very deep in thought, and hardly looked back. After we had gone some distance, I glanced over my shoulder and saw that they were gone. "Did you talk to them?" I hissed at my companions. "What did they say?"

Qui-Gon did not answer. "It was very hard to tell," Obi-Wan said, his voice low and deep. "I need to think about it, first. I will tell you later."

The Master sighed roughly. "We ought to start heading back," he muttered. "The sun will set before we return to the outpost."

I looked up at him as he overtook me and began leading us southward along the river, which sang beside us again. His face was drawn and contemplative, his eyes turned inward to whatever he had sensed from the mour. I was sure I wasn't going to get anything out of either of them until we were out of the forest, and so let my thoughts dwell on the small whiffs of thought that I had been able to sense. Communicating with an animal, understanding it, was an experience to cherish, and what little I had felt would remain with me for a long time.

On to part 45

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