The First of Too Many

[Rebecca Talon]

Darkness hung low over the dias. Jase'dasis, and friends of a remarkable Cardassian woman stood around her. A woman who grew up on the streets, learned to take care of herself and friends, and became a Jase'dasis.

The torches that circled the dias which held the body of Ja'larin left shadows, and gold that played upon her ashen cheeks. Even the soft fuel oil smell that permeated the area seemed appropriate to the situation.

Ja'larin lay upon a pile of sticks, her arms crossed over her chest. Her kliden held in her lifeless hands. But, beyond that the body still looked alive. Absently Rebecca wondered of this was an undertaker's doing or the ijulna itself, holding off the effects of decomposition.

They were all on the burial grounds of Monastery. Nearly 2,800 meters up on the side of one of the foothills before it met up with a towering mountain range that made the Alps, and the Himalayas down right inviting.

It was cold at this altitude, and the trees that looked very similar to Douglas fir on Earth were twisted and gnarled from the heavy winds that usually brought with them copious amounts of snow and ice, but it was summer here, and for that she was thankful.

She absently wondered what the monks, and masters did do in the winter. Surely they didn't trudge up here in waist deep snow. Did they keep the bodies of their fallen brethren, and wait until spring? Surely not. My brethren, she corrected herself. I'm a part of this now. In a last act that was truly mystifying, Ja'larin named me a master.

[Arisu Lei]

Arisu made her way to Becca and bowed slightly. "Master Talon." she said with a slight smile. "Takes a little getting used to people calling you that now." she sighed and looked at Ja'Larin. "She was a hard teacher but I learned a lot from her in a short amount of time. I think she thought me too frivolous at times, I mean, when we hid out on Earth, I didn't find some ramshackle underground bunker, I had a mansion in Brentwood Cali... granted it was run down but still a mansion with a pool. I managed to use her tricks and get her wet more than a few times. Okay... literally three times."

[Rebecca Talon]

"Needs must. Why should you be uncomfortable in the interim?" Rebbe said with a sad grin.

"We commit our brethren to the ijulna," one of the monks said suddenly. "From the soil of our beloved Cardassia she will become again completing the circle of life." The monk was a tall even for a Cardassian. His raven black hair had long since faded into white, and the shadows from the flames deepened his already hard Cardassian features.

Rebecca and Arisu were only two of a handful of non-Cardassian mourners. They all had Ja'larin to thank for that. Before the late master, only Cardassians were recruited, and they are segregated to the planet of Monastery, content to allow the outside Quadrants do their thing.

The monk accepted an offered torch, "May the ijulna be with you Master Ja'larin." With that he touched the torch to the kerosene soaked faggots and the pyre burst into flames.

[Arisu Lei]

Arisu watched as the flames licked at Ja'Larin's body and closed her eyes. "So when should we ask the others for assistance?" she whispered. "Nick thinks we need Jase to help train and embed in some of the ships and ground forces. If we are facing an all out battle with the Ajem, then we need more than the small contingent we have on Terra Alpha. We may need to start seeking out new Jase."

[Rebecca Talon]

"I agree, but here isn't the place," Rebecca said. "We will need to speak with the Council. We are the only humans in the order, that aren't students. We have to be the voice of the galaxy. It's too easy to pretend what is happening off this planet isn't happening here."

[Arisu Lei]

"Agreed." Arisu put her hand on Becca's shoulder. "We should be on our guard even here. Kind of why I came, besides how I felt about Ja'Larin, I don't think any of us should be off world without a partner. That and Nick would kick my ass if anything happened to you."

[Rebecca Talon]

"Nicholas isn't my mother," she said. "But, yes staying to pairs is probably smart, that I cannot deny. They are clouding the ijulna, and it makes it difficult to sense them."

[Arisu Lei]

"Also a good thing we're not 'just' Jase'dasis trained, we don't rely solely on our connection to the Iljuna to defend ourselves." Ari said with a slight smile. "I must say though... I feel like I'm complete. There always felt like there was some hole, thought it was just me, but it was being a Jase. It focused me far more than any of my other martial disciplines could have."

[Rebecca Talon]

'It gave order to chaos," Rebecca agreed.

After forty minutes the funeral party was starting to dissipate and move down the mountain to seek comfort in a variety of ways. Most would find their comfort in a warm meal, and friends, but some in each other. The lust that comes from the desire to feel alive in spite of the tragedy.

They were almost back to the settlement when Rebecca broke the silence. "After I graduated from High School I was too young to join Starfleet. I chose to earn my first degree
In theoretical physics from a university in Colorado. In many ways this place reminds me of that school."

[Arisu Lei]

"It reminds me a bit of a university in Cambodia that I attended, FSS wanted to turn one of the teachers into an asset." Ari blushed slightly. "I was 19, he was 38... he taught me how to break through nearly any encryption, I taught the geek how to last more than five minutes in bed." she cleared her throat. "Was at the base of a huge mountain, the dorms were actually cabins going up the non snowy side of it. Got me used to working in the cold." She looked at the settlement. "I'm surprised that Starfleet didn't let you in early..."