Rafa: is so very not good at meditating.

She can meditate, of course, she can do anyth—she shouldn't think this. She shouldn't be thinking at all. Focus. On. Not focusing.

Aaaargh.

Hm. That girl doesn't seem to fit. Occlus can sense her turmoil, quite in contrast to the other students.

Her master seems to agree.

"Still your thoughts, young padawan. Remember the code."

She almost snaps, but just keeps her eyes closed, breathing evenly.

Fragile, yes, and discontent with the Jedi way. Dislike of the teacher. Weaknesses Occlus can exploit. Do what I ask and I shall set you free.

A tempting offer, as she well knows.

She eventually does slip into the appropriate mental state and start meditating, to her master's exasperated satisfaction.

Still the best prospect of the lot, and strong besides. Maybe even worth keeping, after her purpose has been served. On the other hand, the kill would be all the sweeter for that. Decisions, decisions.

With any luck, the girl will be one of those picked for the solitary assignments this afternoon, and Occlus can be done with this planet.

She in fact is, and she actually manages to hide her glee at being away from the master remarkably well.

Wonderful. And thanks to her Imperial maps of the planet, Occlus can slip away and beat the girl to her destination.

She's not going to confront her yet, though. First, wait and see if she behaves differently away from the group.

She is actually pretty disciplined and attentive. From the outside, the Jedi padawan is fairly unobjectionable. Inside she's just bored out of her mind.

Time to liven up her day.

Occlus circles around and approaches from the same direction the girl came. She stops deliberately repressing her Force presence as she does so, her shadowy psychic weight a counterpoint to her nonchalantly unthreatening gait.

She notices, of course, and tenses up, swirling on the spot.

"Jedi." Smile. "Fancy meeting you here."

"Sith," she sighs. "Why do I expect this is not a coincidence."

"Because you have good instincts. Ones that bring you into conflict with your masters."

"Is that so."

"I have been watching you. You feel constrained, hemmed in by precepts and your teacher's directives. Denied the fullest expression of your self."

"Uh huh."

"Do you deny this?"

"Deny or not deny, a Sith with a spooky evil presence comes to you asking about your emotions—I'm plenty creative. What do you want?"

"A favor for a favor. I can get you offworld without being followed. All I want in exchange is access to the enclave."

"What for?"

"Nefarious purposes. I am Sith, after all."

"I'm not dumb enough to buy the spiel they give us about you-all—it fails at basic human psychology and motivations—so please don't try to act like I'm stupid."

"There is a certain piece of ritual magic I wish to perform. It is... context-sensitive, and your enclave provides the proper setting."