The shielding ritual was complete. Master Yuon was sitting up in bed, speaking coherently for the first time in weeks, and no longer trying to throttle, concuss, or electrocute her apprentice.

Zirsha was aboard the Defender on her way to Taris, in search of a missing Jedi ecologist with reported symptoms suspiciously similar to Yuon Par's dark side plague. Or rather, most of her was. The ritual had left a significant chunk of her energy, her spirit on the ground in Coruscant, wrapped around her Master like a living barrier, separating her from the Plaguemaster's influence.

In those few fevered hours when Zirsha had tried to commit all the collective wisdom of nine ancient masters to memory, they'd spared only a moment or two to warn her of what backlash she might encounter. The "danger of death," part, she'd assimilated easily enough. That was what was expected of a Jedi, after all. That she'd feel diminished and weak after devoting personal resources to walling out the Plaguemaster was only natural (she just wished that exhaustion hadn't also come with a decreased ability to sleep). They hadn't mentioned that shielding Master Yuon would leave her less able to compartmentalize herself.

She found the change to be oddly fascinating. Whereas emptying and opening herself to her surroundings and, by extension, to the Force had been cause for struggle since she'd been a youngling, she now found it easier to quiet her mind and be receptive. She had previously accepted that certain astronomical events created detectable reverberations, or that various planets and moons exhibited orbital ratios that were described as "harmonic." Now, if she stilled her mental chatter, she could hear a literal music of the spheres, with each world, satellite, and sun contributing a unique voice to the aural tapestry. She'd thought of the seers she knew from the youth academy on Mirial as enviable for their ability to access information that she couldn't, but perhaps a bit scattered or flaky. If they had the background noise of the universe in their heads at all times, though, she could see how it might be difficult to focus on mundane details. She was certainly beginning to have a bit of trouble thinking in a straight line.

There were more visions, still in unconnected sensory fragments, but redoubled in frequency and vividness. The Cathar soldier appeared again. Zirsha didn't know who he was, had never even seen his face clearly, but she knew how the curve of his neck fit against her hand, and how the hair over his spine would spike up when she skimmed her fingers along it. She knew the sound of his heartbeat when she rested her head in the hollow in front of his shoulder, and the warm, musky scent of his body. She knew that the intensity of his focus on her made her feel as if she'd been nailed to a wall.

She jammed the heels of her hands against her cheekbones as if that would stop them from burning. She'd never taken a lover, had only regarded her classmates' romantic entanglements as one curiosity of sentient behavior among many. The task of letting those impressions drift across her mental field of view and observing them without labeling or judgment was proving damnably difficult. Sometimes she wondered whether her Masters had erred in promoting her to Knight and sending her forth.

Qyzen stood in the doorway of the utility closet she'd repurposed as a meditation space, and waited to be acknowledged before speaking up. If he noticed that she was turning unusual colors, he charitably omitted to mention it. "Is late. Herald should rest, yes?"

"Thank you, Qyzen. You're probably right." The Trandoshan proffered an arm. She grasped it, unfolded, and rose from her seat.

"Comms for Herald on bridge. Colonel Gaff and Captain Nellex at Taris. Will wait til morning. Good world for hunters, Taris. Gain many points." Qyzen placed one heavy-taloned hand on her shoulder and turned her body until she was pointed aft, toward her state room. "After rest."

"Alright! I'm going." Zirsha suspected that Yuon had given her companion the project of safeguarding her basic well-being. All things considered, that was probably for the best. "Good night, Qyzen, and thank you for your help." He answered her bow with a nod of his own, and continued to watch with lidless eyes until she closed her stateroom door.