When reporting to the Council and updating them on your mission, the Council once again made you and Anakin aware of your duties and the importance of your collaboration on this mission. You both had to hold back an eye-roll at their statements and constant lecturing, but they were the ones on the Council, so you both made sure you were respectful. 

Afterward, you both went to sleep in your respectful spots. 

During the night, you remember going to sleep fine. There were no dreams nor nightmares—no depictions of you being killed by Anakin, or, by the Force, being fucked by him. It seemed to have been one of the most restful nights you had experienced in a long time. On the other hand, you weren't so sure about Anakin.

In the morning, you both woke up and began to pack for the day's journey. During this, Anakin seemed quite grumpy, as he would tie up his utility belt in a hurry, snatch items from his sack and tuck them hastily to his belt with grunts and mumbling curse words to himself. His under-eyes appeared quite droopy—you suspected that he didn't get much sleep. 

After packing everything, you, Anakin, and Artoo make your way out of the hut.

Instantly, you're met with a gloomy sky—dark clouds loom over the village, and sounds of thunder echo in the distance. Bare trees and dry land complement the air—it seemed that the morbidity of the land continued to grow.

"Looks like the land got worse overnight," mumbles Anakin. He steps beside you, and the dry dirt crunches under his boots.

You nod, looking at the skyline. As much as you hated to admit it, he was right. The essence of this land is rapidly dissipating.

"We need to work quickly if we're to save these people, " you respond, pulling your hood over your head—the smell of rain seemed to be getting stronger. 

"Agreed."

With that, Anakin pulls his hood over his head, and you both make your way through the village. Today's duty was to visit the monks—or the supposed Jedi—the people had made a fuss about. You and Anakin realized you needed to talk to someone from the village who may know more about these anomalies than the local villagers might. 

Eventually, you make your way through the village, passing by all of the locals who rushed in and out of their homes, quickly making their rounds through the village before it began to storm, and soon arrive at the stone hut that lies at the edge of town. 

Anakin looks at you out of his peripheral vision before nodding his head to the door, and you get the signal to knock. Slowly, you raise your fist to the door and knock cautiously, as you felt a sudden strange presence emanating from the hut. 

"Come in!" 

You raise your eyebrow at the gravelly voice, but, nonetheless, you place your hand on the doorknob to twist it open, but before you could, Anakin quickly grabs your wrist. 

"Anakin—"

"Don't you sense that presence?" Anakin half-whispers, his eyes are sharp and filled with concern. Your eyes widen at his reaction, mostly because you've never seen him this cautious in the face of danger, or some inconspicuous threat. 

You narrow your eyes at him and snatch your wrist away before leaning close into him. "Anakin, do you think we have a choice? We either go inside or aimlessly search Ancem for these anomalies."

Anakin's hard gaze slowly falls, and he moves his wrist away. "Fine. Just make sure you're prepared."

You huff, rolling your eyes at his dramatics before grabbing a hold of the doorknob again, and slowly twisting it so that the door creaks open, ever so slowly moving. 

When the door opens all the way, all that you can see in front of you is an incredibly small living space: A large, round table, placed chiefly in the middle of the room, surrounded by pillows that were strewn on the floor, shelves that lined the walls with what looked like ancient Jedi artifacts, and then secluded behind all of this was a fireplace that crackled with life, and an iron pot hung above it, surely cooking something. Then, sitting among the pillows, were the four monks who all looked at least a few years before putting a nail into the coffin. 

You blinked, unsure of how exactly to come inside, when it was just this small seating area surrounding a large table. 

"Please!" 

You look over to the monk who gestures at you—who you didn't even realize could see you as he appeared to be blind—and see him wave his hand at the array of pillows, telling you to take a seat. 

You look over your shoulder to see Anakin to see his reaction, and he seemed just as clueless as you were, as he had one eyebrow raised and his lips pursed. Regardless, you sigh and choose to make your way into the tiny living space and crawl over onto a pile of pillows and sit yourself down, while Anakin follows behind you, sitting across from you at the large table.

"Welcome, Jedi," one of the monks says, his voice more gravelly than the last. "It is such an honor to have Jedi such as yourselves find us in Ancem."

You and Anakin both bow your heads before you turn to your right to return the greeting. "Thank you, and thank you for the warm welcome. " 

It was strange, you noticed, the people in this town. There were mixed feelings among the locals about Jedi, and you figured the monks of all people would've been hesitant against meeting the two of you, especially from this strange presence you were sensing within the hut. 

Another monk chuckles. "Of course, we are no strangers to Jedi. So, why have you come to visit us? Why must the two of you come to visit us four ancient relics?" 

You and Anakin let out a light chuckle, but before you could speak, Anakin is quick to cut to the chase. 

"Well, we want to know who you are, first of all. We heard you were possibly Jedi, or, so-called monks, from amongst the townspeople. Who are you, and what is your significance to this village?" 

The monks exchange glances with one another, exchanging silent words with one another. You try to quickly peer into their minds or sense their intentions, but all you see is a blurred line between them and the Force—it was like they were purposefully trying to keep you out of their minds. 

"Hmm. It seems we can no longer keep our identities hidden, considering Jedi from the Jedi Order have come to seek us out," mutters the one on the left, with a white, whispy beard. "You see... We are Jedi ourselves."

You and Anakin exchange glances quickly, your thoughts already exchanged before either one of you can say anything. Jedi? Impossible. You would have been informed by either Yoda or Windu if there were Jedi already on this planet. 

You furrow your eyebrows, letting out a nervous chuckle. "That's... That's impossible, we would have been already informed by our superiors if there were Jedi already located here." 

The one across from you who sat next to Anakin lets out a light laugh. "Oh, yes, true. However, we are not true Jedi. We are not the typical Jedi within the Jedi Order, no. You see, the four of us took the Barash vow—we are Barash Jedi." 

Almost instantaneously, you and Anakin make a face of realization. The Barash Jedi weren't Jedi you came across often. They were Jedi who took the Barash vow—which was an oath to completely disengage from the Jedi Order, and remove themselves from everything but the Force itself—No wonder the both of you sensed a strange presence—it was the fact that they were Force users, and you weren't even aware. Still, what are Barash Jedi doing on Ancem?

"Wow, no wonder we weren't informed of your presence here," you tell them, amazed. The old masters surrounding you let out a light chuckle before you could continue. "Say, if you're Barash, what are you doing out here on Ancem?"

The master with the whispy beard speaks up, "Well, we arrived here about one hundred years ago before this place got torn to bits by the anomalies. This planet is extremely Force sensitive, so the four of us figured it would be best to settle here to hone our skills and to be as close to the Force as possible."

You look away from the master and look at Anakin, briefly. For a minute, you could feel a slight change within the Force, his anger seemed to grow more prominent by the second as the Barash Jedi gave the two of you more information. You narrowed your eyes at him, giving him a silent warning that he shouldn't get angry at a time like this, considering the two of you were only four feet apart, and soon, his anger would feed unto you. 

Anakin, of course, ignores your warning and speaks anyway, a slight annoyance in his tone. "You're Jedi and you know about the anomalies? Why haven't you done anything about them? You're Barash Jedi—you protect the Force, so why haven't you done anything?"

The one who appears to be blind—the one on the right—narrows his eyes at Anakin. "Oh, trust me, we have. These anomalies have only appeared recently, possibly within the last thirty years or so. It wasn't until about a year ago that these anomalies had become so strong, which I suppose is when your Jedi Master had noticed the vergence within the Force and had just recently now sent out the two of you to look at it."

That makes sense, you think. Most of the Jedi are out running missions for the Clone Wars—it's very rare to get a mission like this nowadays, so you figured that the Jedi Masters hadn't had time to schedule a mission like this until recently. 

The master that sat next to Anakin affirms with a grunt. "Hmm, yes. In fact, we are the sole purpose this entire planet hasn't collapsed, yet. For years, these anomalies had been slowly building, feeding off of the planet's life force, and we've been counteracting their parasitic powers with the Force—which is why we haven't left this hut in decades."

You raise your eyebrows, amazed at the power these guys held. You slowly start to wonder if you'll ever reach this level of power. 

"So, how exactly have you been counteracting them with the Force if you've been inside this hut for so long?" Anakin asks, still a bit annoyed. 

The same master responds, "We are feeding the anomalies our life force. Since the four of us have a considerable amount of life force,  we are feeding it to the anomalies, instead of them taking the lives of the natives and the nature that surrounds it. If we leave this hut, we are putting ourselves at risk of a quick death, considering the state of our now very fragile bodies."

"Yes, if we are to leave, we have the chance of losing the connection to the anomalies we have forged. Even now, we are at risk of losing our connection because we are talking to you. Well, the both of you together puts us at risk," the one with the whispy beard confirms, but you raise an eyebrow at his infliction. 

"Sorry, this may be slightly off-topic, but why did you say that the both of us together puts you at risk?" You gesture between you and Anakin. 

He raises an eyebrow before exchanging glances with the other masters. "The bond you share with one another—it creates a knot in the Force, does it not?"

Simultaneously, you and Anakin raise your eyebrows, sitting in complete shock at what felt like a sudden intrusion on your personal lives. How could he know? Was it that apparent, in the Force? Was Anakin's anger so apparent that the others were picking up that you were being fed that anger?

"I...Uh... Yes... Our relationship does create a knot in the Force, yes," Anakin replies, running a hand through his hair. 

The master nods. "Precisely. Your dangerous, erratic knot in the Force is knocking our connection into an unstable connection. If you're around us for more than a few hours, this whole planet might be wiped." 

You swallow thickly. "Then, tell us how we can defeat these anomalies, so we can get out of here. We don't want to hinder you from subduing the anomalies because of our knot in the Force." 

Gods, were they that frail? You knew these Jedi looked rather lifeless when you walked inside, but you hadn't known that their life force had been drained that badly. 

Each of the Jedi at the table rubbed their thumb over their chin, pensively. The one on the right spoke up before the others could. "Yes, that. That is where the difficulty lies. We've been studying these anomalies for decades, and we haven't found much on how to destroy them, other than to subdue them with our life force."

You huff, having to withhold a groan. 

"However, we have recently found out where they originate from. They originate from a cave system, that lies deep within the planet. The cave system is about one hundred and five kilometers west of here. The cave system is extremely Force-sensitive, which is considered why they'd originate from there. We suspect that once the cave is closed, then they should disappear, but we're not entirely sure. Master O'Ohan here," he gestures to the man sitting next to Anakin, "Has another theory that these anomalies can be crushed through just the sheer power of the Force. He believes that if a power, or a vergence more powerful than it were to override these anomalies, then they should be crushed, considering the fact that they need life force to live, it would be possible to be crushed by life force. "

Master O'Ohan nods, grunting. "Hmm, and it seems you two could be the perfect vergence this planet needs, considering the knot between you two." 

You couldn't believe your ears for a moment. It was like someone was telling you that the hatred the two of you shared could actually be useful. Nevertheless, you nod, heeding the words of the older Jedi. It seemed this mission was going to be more of a pain in the ass than you originally planned it to be—you didn't think there'd be this much of having to work with Anakin. 

"Understood," You nod, rising to your feet, and Anakin follows suit. You bow, and so does he. "Thank you, masters. We will keep you informed of our mission." You go to pull out an extra commlink from your satchel in your utility belt, but one of the masters waves it off. 

"Do not involve us with your Jedi Order affairs. We will continue to do our part of protecting the planet's life force, and you will carry out your mission, whatever that may be. "

You nod, removing your hand from the satchel. "Right. Well, thank you again."

"Of course, young Jedi. We wish you well on your journey. May the Force be with you."

"May the Force be with you, masters."