Prelude: New Digs - Chapter I

33 Kelona, 19 ABY - Great Northern Desert, Teloc Ol-sen System, Eclorar Sector, Mid Rim Territories

The pair of Jedi had retired to their camp after a day spent traveling through a harsh desert climate and carefully exchanging words - fortunately, only words - with the area's denizens. Akea Oahu and Lilandra Asgarde had spent their first day on Teloc Ol-sen speaking to important members of local hunter community. Although Lilandra, by her own admission, was not always enticed by Akea's community-building endeavors, she was impressed by the tact and understanding with which her master had addressed the fearsome Teloc Hunters in their village. They hadn't made much progress in recovering the Jedi signet ring they'd come to retrieve, but they did manage to obtain permission from the local tribe to explore the ancient caves where they believed the ring to be lost.

For all of the complaining she'd done about the day's earlier heat, Lilandra missed it now. The dry, unshaded climate cooled drastically during the nighttime hours, leaving the sweltering daytime temperatures a distant, fond memory. The two had built a fire and sat close to it, absorbing what heat they could. The cold-blooded Dur Sabon Jedi Knight had coiled himself around the fire, heating nearly the entire length of his body. In lieu of a log or stump, of which there were none in this stretch of desert, Lilandra simply sat in the sand, leaning back into a section of Akea's coiled body trunk. Akea found the arrangement a tad awkward at first, but conceded it was better than the alternatives. Lilandra had joked that Akea was really getting the better deal of the two of them, able to leech heat off of the warm-blooded member of the duo.

They'd stared silently into the flames for some time, exhausted by their first day in the desert and contemplating their own mysteries. A nagging question prompted Lilandra to break the silence.

"Master, would we still go into these caves had we not obtained permission from the hunters?"

Akea thought for a moment before replying to the padawan - he had to admit, she had a knack for good questions.

"Alas, Lilandra, I'm afraid not. We would have found our trip somewhat abbreviated... "

After a moment of silence, Akea let a bit of his underlying humor slip through.

"... Try to contain your disappointment."

For as serious as his demeanor often was, Lilandra had grown to appreciate the subtle sarcasm her master often displayed - she wasn't sure what it stemmed from, but few Jedi displayed it, and she counted herself lucky to be paired with one who did; it certainly helped, even if only a bit, to alleviate the tremendous rigors of Jedi training. She smirked, although did not say anything as she thought about his reply. Considering their past actions, she was left somewhat puzzled by his response, questioning their precedent.

"But, Master, we went into the temple on Ossues despite having been firmly told we weren't allowed to by the Ysanna tribe taking care of it."

Akea nodded, replying to her after a moment of thought.

"That was different. They knew of the artifact within and understood its significance."

Lilandra, further puzzled, now leaned forward and twisted her body to face the Dur Sabon, who met her gaze.

"So because the Teloc hunters don't know what they've got sitting just beneath their noses, we couldn't go and get it if they said no?"

Akea, knowing she'd have further questions, nodded in brief.

"Correct, my padawan."

Lilandra tilted her head slightly, furrowing her brow.

"I'm afraid I don't understand, Master..."

Akea nodded - indeed, it was reasonable that she'd find his logic a bit backwards, and in turn, he elaborated.

"Lilandra, this is a matter of motive moreso than anything. The Ysanna on Ossus knew what they harbored; the holocron in that temple was not vital to their culture by any means, rather, they chose to prevent us from entering the temple on greed alone. I suppose, in some sense, that I am oversimplifying the situation in saying this was not a cultural matter. History was not kind to the Ysanna - it is in their nature to hoard what resources they can. Being naturally Force-sensitive, it seemed reasonable to them that they might benefit by clinging to artifacts of significance of another Force-attuned culture. However, their choice to stand in our way was deliberate - they knew of the artifact's importance to us. Furthermore, the importance of the site to them was almost entirely in its significance to us."

Lilandra, who hadn't thought overmuch about the issue, was beginning to see where Akea was going. It wasn't a difficult concept to grasp, but it also wasn't the first thing that came to mind when addressing the situation - it required careful deliberation to understand why the choices they made were correct here as well as on Ossus.

"Here, that isn't the case. The Teloc hunters do not comprehend the nature of the item their caves conceal. To them, these caves are sacred - most often, intrusion by foreigners desecrates the hallowed ground. We should count ourselves lucky to be among the few non-Teloc sentients to enter this cave system. If they had denied us entrance, we would be violating the tenants upon which their culture was built if we had entered nevertheless. They are unprepared for such a situation. On the other hand, we simply did exactly what the Ysanna expected us do - they wouldn't have kept the temple so guarded otherwise. The distinction is subtle, but important. If we perturb the established traditions of other societies in the name of advancing our own, we are little better than our supposed enemies. Some of the strongest expressions of the Force's will rest in the traditions that span thousands of years and millions of people, connecting individuals eons apart in an inseparable bond."

Lilandra nodded slowly - she was particularly fond of his last point; it jibed very well with her Mandalorian roots. She leaned back into Akea's body trunk, resuming her former, more relaxed posture. Akea had planned to speak up again after giving Lilandra a few minutes to ponder the issue, but she beat him to the punch.

"I understand, Master."

The Jedi spent a fair amount of time longer watching the flames in silence. As evening became night, Lilandra stood, dusting herself off. She spread out her bedroll, a simple, robust affair made of a material that was more durable than it was comfortable. Still, she preferred her sleeping accommodations to Akea's. Her master had an interesting way of going about things when it came to being a cold-blooded amphibian in the desert. The Dur Sabon opened a small luggage container, one of the few items they'd brought along, and removed a large durasteel cylinder. With a hiss, it opened from an etched ring in the middle, and turned out to be full of water. Akea nonchalantly dumped this water over a roughly linear patch of sand, drenching it. With an odd slithering motion, he slid beneath the sand; only his head was visible above it. No more words spoken between the two that night as they drifted off to sleep.

---

Sunrise came early, and with it, the heat returned. Lilandra squinted into the morning horizon, wiping sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand as she kicked aside the blankets under which she'd been sleeping. She stood and took a few seconds to stretch before looking around. Akea was at the crest of a nearby sand dune, having assumed a meditative posture. The horizon behind Akea was still dark, as the sun's light had not found its way there yet. It was an impressive and foreboding sight. Naturally, he'd awoken before she did - Lilandra had noted early on that all Jedi seemed to possess an uncanny ability to rise earlier in the day than their padawans, but to the give amphibian Jedi credit, he was sleeping with a blanket of wet, coarse sand.

Lilandra approached her master after carefully packing up her bedding. She folded her legs beneath her, taking a seat next to Akea. Although she was disciplined enough not to be eager for action, she was in no mood to contemplate the mysteries of the Force. Might as well as use my mandatory morning meditation hour productively, she remarked mentally, somewhat sarcastically. She closed her eyes, focusing on the distant cave whose entrance they'd be arriving at this nightfall. This was a fairly routine practice for her as of late - Akea had been teaching her to develop her specific, although unique object-tracking abilities into a more general farseeing talent. Mentally, she entered the cave, letting her presence become one with the centuries of history which inhabited the cave. She stood alongside ancient Teloc hunters as they painted tales of their triumphs, and wandered the caves years later with lost dunewolves, seeking shelter from the harsh nighttime weather. She moved deeper into the caves, where felt a presence even more intense; this was not a ghoul of the past - whatever Lilandra had stumbled upon, it was actively there. Mentally, she was clumsy. It was like forcing one's way through a field of tall vegetation - there were clear paths, but diverting from them resulted in jerky, abbreviated gains in distance. Such was Lilandra's further astral descent into the cave, a struggle with every step forward. Nevertheless, she continued to explore this presence, until...

Lilandra's eyes opened quickly, her sudden return to active consciousness accompanied by a slight gasp. Though slight, it was enough - Akea opened his eyes slowly.

"What troubles you, Lilandra?"

Lilandra looked to Akea for a few moments, simply breathing, before speaking up.

"Master, the cave... something there is not of the light - I felt a presence there. Not some trace of history, but something active, something forceful, something... dark."

This was not a revelation to the veteran Jedi Knight. Akea nodded as she spoke.

"Indeed, my padawan. Your skill in farseeing is improving. There are certain places in our universe which are unusually strong in the Force, for reasons known or not. Often, these places have a tremendous history of Force-shattering events, but other times, they have simply been blessed or cursed, and yet other times, it is not readily apparent why such a concentration forms. You might recall the Valley of the Jedi from your studies - I should hope so," the Jedi teacher said, glaring in admonishment to his student, whom he knew was not the most avid of readers, and continued, "it is the most famous example of such a place, but there are many others. Not all of them are so holy."

Lilandra nodded - she had heard of such places before, places where the Dark Side was particularly strong. She was not anticipating such an encounter on this mission, however, and despite her best efforts, appeared a bit shaken by thought. She squinted into the horizon as it was brightened by the rising sun, thinking aloud.

"Whatever happened down there must have been terrible, then... But if there is a Jedi signet ring in that cave..."

She tilted her head slightly in Akea's direction, focusing her questioning.

"How did that ring get down there in the first place?"

Akea nonchalantly offered up an explanation which was disproportionately morbid considering the ease with which he spoke of it.

"Perhaps it belonged to the last Jedi who went spelunking on Teloc Ol-sen."

Lilandra raised her eyebrows, but before she could speak up, Akea snapped into action.

"Come, Lilandra. We have much ground to cover today. I trust that you're packed and ready to depart."

Lilandra couldn't tell if Akea was teasing her with this last suggestion.

"Master Oahu, was that a joke?"

Akea had already set off. Lilandra narrowed her eyes as she watched him for a moment, slithering off in the sand. For an amphibian, he sure moved quickly in the desert. Lilandra burst into motion, darting off to the campsite and packing hers (and Akea's - the joys of being a padawan... ) sparse belongings into a large backpack and setting off after Akea at a light jog.

"Master Oahu! That was a joke, right?"