awe n. 1. A mixed emotion of reverence, respect, dread, and wonder inspired by authority, genius, great beauty, sublimity, or might

Oh, and when she opened her mouth to speak, the Force just tremored about her very being as the words passed from her mouth to the ear. The Force was very strong with her. As the Padawan stood, gazing intently at the woman as she addressed the five of them, but then the strangest thing happened: Adai heard her voice echo in her mind. Or... was it her voice? Because if it were her voice, then that meant she was speaking, and if she were speaking, then she wouldn't be able to undesrstand her... but she did. So maybe it were a string of thoughts that articulated exactly what she wanted to get across.

Adai knew exactly what the woman was telling her through this non-verbal communication. Perhaps a series of images and universal thoughts were used to convey the syntax and structure and emphasis that one would normally already translate in their brains when someone was speaking to them in a common language.

Adai found herself bowing with her captors when the woman was finished. Who exactly was she? Adai caught her name in the stream of consciousness that was their conversation: Galadriel.

And before she could even begin to comprehend the buzz just from being in the presence of that woman, Galadriel, she was ushered from the flat by the guards and led down the hundreds of stairs that made up the winding staircase. The day was wearing on, she knew, but the light of the sun barely reached them, and... and... (she had a tough time putting her finger on it) time just seemed to... come to a near halt here. That was something she noticed as soon as she set foot in the forest.

They walked a bit down a few paths, and across a bridge, and just as Adai thought that maybe her captors were taking her back out to the forest, she heard voices from a small pavillion nestled between three magnificent trees. Upon closer inspection, she saw a fountain in the middle, and in the arms of the roots of each tree, there were beds and small tables with platters of food, water and whatnot.

She noticed gentle, lamenting voices in the air, as if there was a chorus singing a hymn somewhere far away in the forest.

But Adai was suddenly stopped, and the leader of her captors gave a quick and slightly cool farewell before walking off with his group, leaving her there at the entrance to the pavillion. Adai slowly tread down the path, careful not to make any noise for some reason. Creeping around the corner of one of the trees, she got a good, inconspicuous look at eight familiar individuals as they were laying out their things in the wonderous living space. She was suddenly very intruiged by these people; their postures, their mannerisms and behavior... all of it seemed to interest her beyond her reasoning.

Adai closed her eyes and reached out and felt them again With two of them, curiosity; with another, hopelessness; three others radiated with protective minds; another felt sad, but determined; and the last... the last one she couldn't read.

She opened her eyes and ducked away back around the tree so that she was hidden from everyone in the pavilion. Adai was deposited there, so that meant she had to stay there? She sighed. She didn't want to share a living space with complete strangers. That was ridiculous! Especially if they were all male... that would just be too awkward. Adai would refuse to stay there.

She turned and peeked back around the tree at the two small humanoids sitting on the ground as the other members of the company busied themselves. She watched them for a moment before deciding to do something particularly stupid: send them a message.

Come here, she thought, guiding the cerebral command to where they sat. She watched them and almost laughted as they looked around in confusion. She knew they knew it was her, and before long they got up and went looking for her. As much a fun little game that could have turned out to be, she decided against it, and instead, directed them towards where she hid.

Behind the tree on the far side of the pavilion.

Adai watched them run over the grass as they finally saw her. When she wass right next to them, she finally saw how small they really were. They didn't have shoes on, and their feet were built differently than normal humans.

She had to shush them when they both started talking at once; to her and each other. The one with lighter hair pointed at her saber hilt and said something in an eccentric manner. The other one lightly smacked him on the side of the head and scolded him, she assumed.

After a moment, they both stopped and looked to her, waiting for a reply. She decided to prove to them she didn't have a clue as to what they were saying by saying something in Basic.

"Look. I can't understand you. I don't know your language, I don't know where I am or how to get back home. I do need help in getting fuel for my ship that crashed in the mountains that way," --she pointed westward here-- "and I don't think that your planet is advanced enough to provide that, so I'm staying here and I'm going to see how things turn out. If I have to stay here for a while, that's fine, I can manage. But If I get rescued, that would be even better. No offence to your adorable little planet, but I really need to get back to Coruscant. They might give me the boot from the Jedi Order if I'm gone too long."

She stopped there, and carefully watched the faces of the two characters. They just looked at her, and then to the ground. One looked at though he were thinking about what she meant, and the other looked as though he were thinking about what her not knowing their language meant. The slightly more introspective-looking one finally sighed and said something to his friend, before turning back to her. He looked her up and down and said something again, before walking behind her and pushing her out from behind the tree down into the openess of the pavilion.

Stop! What are you doing? She sent the thought urgently. But before she could hide in the cover of the foliage, her little friends had called to the others of the company.

"Looks like your presence isn't going to remain unnoticed," Adai mumbled to herself.