Born to a rich family, Tenel Ka had always been attuned to the Force. Her mother was Teneniel Djo, a Dathomirian witch and Force-user, while her father was Prince Isolder of Hapes. Teneniel did not want Tenel to forget her Dathomirian roots, and so allowed her to dress in the scarlet-and-green reptile-skin tunic of a female Dathomirian warrior.
At this time, Luke had already set up his academy on Yavin Four, and Tenel chose to further her Force abilities by training there. Since she was a warrior, Tenel was physically very strong, and did not like to rely on the Force too much. For her the Force was something she used only as a last resort, and she preferred to solve things with her muscles than her mind.
Tenel did not want her heritage to be common knowledge, fearing that she would be treated differently from the other students. Only Luke knew, and he promised to keep it a secret. Usually Tenel was alone, but she eventually made friends with Jacen, Jaina, and Lowbacca. The three young Jedi found this humourless warrior fascinating, and wanted to know much more about her.
Exploring the jungles was a great habit of the four. They would spend hours trying to find bits and pieces that could occupy their eager minds. Then one day they found a remnant of the Battle of Yavin. A TIE fighter had crashed on the planet, and it was a dream come true for the four Jedi-to-be. Jaina started fiddling around with the fighter, performing repairs where necessary, and even adding a hyperspace module to it. Unbeknownst to the four children, the TIE pilot, Qoril, was still alive and hiding in the jungles. When his fighter had been repaired, he rushed the children, taking Jacen and Jaina prisoners. Tenel and Lowie ran blindly into the jungles, and escaped. Lowie’s translator droid, Em Teedee, was rescued by Tenel Ka after he had been knocked off Lowie’s belt, and he directed her back to the academy.
There she explained what had happened to Han and Chewbacca. They rushed off and managed to save the twins, but Qoril escaped in his fighter, engaged the newly-installed hyperdrive, and jumped out of the system. This incident was only the beginning for Tenel Ka.
Sometime later she started to have nightmares about the Dathomirian Nightsisters, who were users of the Dark Side. Her nightmares were made reality when Lando informed Luke that the twins, along with Lowbacca, had been kidnapped by the Imperials.
So began the search for the children, a search that would take Luke and Tenel to a planet called Borgo Prime, and then on to Dathomir. There, they disguised themselves as candidates for a new group of Nightsisters, and found themselves being transported to the Shadow Academy, a school for Dark Side users. Tamith Kal was in charge of the academy, who herself was a Nightsister.
Luke and Tenel were transported on the Shadow Chaser, a ship built specifically for such a purpose. Built with quantum armour, the ship was virtually indestructible. A mind trick by Luke, however, led to the Chaser’s pilot ending up in an escape pod, while the ship carried on to the Shadow Academy on autopilot.
Upon arrival, Tenel Ka and Luke found the three children already making their own escape, and they all met on the docking bay. The Shadow Chaser was the nearest ship to hand, eventually they made it back to Yavin Four, safe and sound.
Luke is perplexed about the Nightsisters and the Shadow Academy, and fears that Tenel a may be susceptible to their calling. Physically strong she may be, but how mentally strong is she? Could the Dark Side be beckoning?