She hadn’t realised how weak Renso had become until they had to actually help the elderly Sith Master to his feet between them in order for him to lead them down the passageways that seemed to climb even further down into the tunnel network. Renso’s fierce insistence that the Xiis were stronger than any contingent of soldiers Saresh’s Alliance could possibly throw at them left a sour taste in Aria’s mouth, the Champion for once utterly silent while the Sith and Yerbol exchanged verbal blows. 
Aria took the crystals as Renso held them out to her, turning both halves over in her hands as she examined them more closely, though her interest in the crystals would be quickly diverted when Renso collapsed to the ground. They tried to help him to his feet once more but this time instead of accepting their assistance, the Sith alien weakly shoved them aside and shook his head. It had only been two weeks, so while they had been expecting Renso’s condition to deteriorate neither of the duo could have predicted it would occur so swiftly. 
“Wait, but...what do we do now?” they’d taken his teachings on board, but were they REALLY ready to start actually teaching others? She was somewhat doubtful…
Renso’s sides fluttered weakly as he tried to utter a few last words of wisdom, but the syllables could hardly leave his lips and after a few more painful breaths the former Sith Master’s body fell utterly still. 

The silence that now hung in the chamber seemed to permeate right through into her bones. Every rock took on a humanoid form, taking on a sickly grey-blue palor in the pale white glow emitted from the crystals resting in her palm. The shadows were full of ghastly crimson eyes. She closed her fingers tightly around the crystal, trying to block out the glow and redirect her thoughts before she let the fear become too deep-rooted. They had to keep moving. They had to stop the Xiis. Had to figure out what to do on their own. Exhaling a shaky breath, she turned back to Yerbol and murmured. 
“I wonder what will happen to him, now, if he wouldn’t become one with the Force?” they would never know, only able to put his physical body to rest alongside his former comrades, and wish the late Master the peace he finally deserved. 
With no more reason to linger on a moon full of creepy Whispering forests full of disembodied spirits, they returned to the ship and convened in the cockpit to discuss their next move. Renso had mentioned the Xiis leaving Wild Space, and that their sole purpose after reawakening was to destroy everything in their wake.
“We gotta warn people, Bol.” At least, she thought, it would be easier to get people to believe them this time around.
_________________

[several hours later] 

The duo once again stood before the Council of Elders, looking from one stunned face to another as they waited for one of the older Force users to say something (besides “well, this is deeply concerning” which they had heard one time too many in the past hour or so!) about the information they had just presented to them. It had been very difficult to explain the events that had occurred on Nuncata, to explain that Renso had been very much alive when they had arrived and had deteriorated from ill but coping fairly well to his eventual death in only a couple of weeks, but somehow they managed to communicate it all along with the former Sith Master’s warning and his encouragement that they should continue to pass on the teachings of unity and trusting in the Force after he was gone.
“Perhaps we shouldn’t tell Saresh and the Alliance.” Ailel put forward, prompting everyone’s attention to turn directly to her. 
“Master Ailel, have we not learned the damage that keeping secrets can do?” Aria frowned dubiously at the older woman. 
“If we tell them, it could spark panic, and they may attempt to deal with the threat in the very way this Master Renso has warned you would only lead to more genocide.” Ailel countered calmly, hands folded neatly in her lap. “I’m not suggesting that we keep it from them permanently, only that we withhold the more specific information until we are better equipped to offer them a way counteract it.” 
“‘Better equipped’?”
Cheriss sat forward in her seat, her chin propped up by the palm of one hand in what the rest of the Council fondly referred to as her “thinking pose”. 
“Then we cannot delay setting up an academy, or teaching more young Force users, any longer.”
“An academy?” Aria eyed the Masters before them suspiciously. Just how much had they planned and discussed without her and Yerbol? 
“It’s only in the loose stages of planning.” Cheriss protested with a knowing smirk. “We planned to run it past you both as soon as you returned from meeting with this Renso figure.” 
“With the refuge programme being so widely accepted, a lot more Force sensitive youngsters are appearing, but since both Tython and Korriban were destroyed there are no real sites that can be used as training facilities for them to be trained in using their abilities.”
“We didn’t want to rush into things.” Cheriss continued. “But perhaps it’s for the best to ensure that there is a foundation for our new teachings to be passed on to others in the future. This is what he wanted you two to do, isn’t it?” the Dathomirian questioned Aria and Yerbol. “Become teachers of his refined philosophy, that we discovered on Quensu.”
“W-Well yes but...we’re only twenty something and-”
“Have been through enough to have the experience to teach younglings. You might not be Masters yet but you are more than capable of being tutors, and Force knows we could use the back up if these ‘Xiis’ are moving fast enough to have reached known space already.” 
Aria exchanged a glance with Yerbol, sighing softly as she nodded in agreement. 
“So what do we tell Saresh instead, then? I imagine it’s going to look suspicious if we just start asking them to send us Force sensitive children without any explanation at all…”
A chuckle of amusement came from Ailel, the Master answering:
“Simply that we want to continue her previous successes and begin setting up a proper Order again. Some of us AREN’T twenty something anymore and we aren’t going to live forever, you know.” 

“So, if we’re going to set up a proper Order...what are we going to call it?” Matthew enquired, his eyebrows knitted together in a curious frown. 
“Something in High Sith.” Aria blurted out before anyone could have time to suggest anything else that would be too close to the old titles. To clarify, she added:
“We owe Renso that much, the teachings were his to start with. We should take a name in their language, to remember them by.”
Ailel seemed slightly wary about the proposition, but only because High Sith was such an obscure language in comparison to Basic and the other alien dialects that were widely known. “Nobody would know what it meant!” she proclaimed. “They might think it’s weird.”
“That’s the point, Ailel!” Cheriss chided, her features splitting into a grin as she nodded in agreement. “It would be different, people wouldn’t forget it in a hurry. I think it’s a fine idea, and I know Roan would have supported it too if he was here.” 
Attentions were turned to Voldon and Matthew again. 
“What do you think of the idea?”