Parting Gifts

[Alysanne Drast]

Catacombs of Cadera, Jedha​

She had last been here years ago, towards the end of the training. That day she had come here with Master Reach, her presence ensuring she survived the challenges that had waited for them. Thinking back brought a smile to her face, those had been simpler days. How the tables had turned. Where she was once been the padawan, she was now the Master. Or at least she had been till not too long ago. She had turned her back on that part of her life. At least till she earned that right once more. This is where that journey had begun the last time, when she had headed out to hunt for the holocron of a Jedi Master long forgotten. Her failures to unlock the secrets of that holocron had taught her much, and now that it was time to vanish once more, it only felt right that she pass on this gift to another.

She wasn't really a popular figure among the Order these days, almost all the friends and allies she had known were gone now. But the Force hadn't forksaken the Jedi, and she thought that she had found someone she could trust. She had started her hunt for the holocron here, so it was only fitting that she hand it over here.

That was if he actually showed up. She was sure he had received her message, but she had no idea if he would answer. The Force was also silent, giving her no hint regarding this future. She was just going to have to hope for the best, and wait. She walked around within the large cave she had asked him to meet her in and found a large piece of rubble to settle down on. Then, she waited. She might not be a Jedi Master any more, or even a Jedi for that matter, but at least she had the patience of one. She would wait/.

@Phoenix

 

[Teran Atrix]

Teran remembered the old days before he was a Jedi. He had seen the Jedi light up their blades on Corellia and become fascinated with what they could do and what they represented. It had been inspiring, and he knew that Alysanne had been one of the Jedi that day. Since that time he had seen the Jedi Master appear at the recent councils, but hadn't had the chance to speak with her.

Even at those meetings, though, he could sense the tension in the air. It resonated in the Force between some of the members of the old guard of Jedi, and though he knew that the Jedi Master had been absent for most of his tenure as a Jedi, he didn't know why. Perhaps he would find out today.

He'd been surprised when he received a message asking to meet with him, and if he were honest he felt a little bit wary as well. If there was bad blood between the masters he wasn't sure he wanted to get into the middle of it, but he also knew that it was part of being a Jedi to make peace. Perhaps this was his role and purpose: his destiny.

He took frequent strolls around the temple to clear his head so it wasn't difficult for him to find the meeting spot. The cave offered protection from the beating sun, and he ducked inside to find the former Jedi Master there waiting for him already.

Master Drast? he asked, Is everything okay? It certainly seemed like an odd place to meet, but it was a place away from prying eyes and ears, which Teran was perceptive enough to notice. As he focused on Master Drast, he could sense that there was an outer calm, but beneath the surface there seemed to be something more: not quite turmoil, but something that betrayed the calm exterior.

 

[Alysanne Drast]

Alys looked up as Teran approached, smiling as she got to her feet. We wasn't as much of a pariah as she had thought after all. At least he had answered her call, that itself felt right to her. "Please, call me Alys. I don't have the right to be addressed as a Master anymore. I am just Alys now."

As she got to her feat, she reached to the pouch hanging at her side and reached in for the holocron. There wasn't much point to beating around, this was something she had to get out of the way before she did anything. "I actually called you here because of that. I need to rediscover what it means to be a Jedi. And this," she said as she pulled the holocron out and held it out towards him, "belongs in the hands of a Jedi. It belonged to Master Fennex Zeerda, one of the last Jedi Masters to sit on the Council before Andraste's Sith EMpire drove the Jedi into hiding. I had thought unlocking its secrets would help us all understand what happened then, and what we could do ti fix it now. I am not sure that duty is mine anymore, but I have a feeling it might be yours."

She would wait to let him take the holocron, ready to answer any questions he might have. It wasn't every day you saw a centuries old artifact of such significance, much less have it offered to you to use.

@Phoenix

 

[Teran Atrix]

Teran really didn't know what to expect from this meeting, but that wasn't it. She explained this history of the holocron and that she wanted to give it to him, and he was stunned.

I... I don't even... he started, shaking his head, though the prospect of seeing what was on a five century old holocron certainly captivated him. He had learned a great deal about the Force from reading old Jedi books and tomes, but a holocron was something entirely different.

Does this mean you intend to leave the Order altogether? he asked. He didn't want that to be the truth. He thought that there was so much she could still offer the Order, and he didn't understand why her sudden disappearance and return was going to be topped off with another disappearance.

Finally, he gave into his curiosity and took the holocron, feeling the Force flowing through it. I don't think you should leave the Order, he said. He didn't know if it was overstepping his bounds, but recently he seemed to be doing a lot of that. He had a lot of convictions that seemed to be going contrary to everyone else, and he found himself having to blurt it out more and more often. How had he ended up in this position?

 

[Alysanne Drast]

"I.." The question caught her off guard, as it was one whose answer she herself did not know. She had been lost and without purpose till she became a Jedi, her name had been her identity, had defined every aspect of her life. Becoming a Jedi had given her the freedom to become more than her name, to become her own person. Being a Jedi was the only life she knew. Yet, she could not in good conscience say that she was worthy of being a Jedi. Not anymore. "I don't know, I honestly don't know."

She let him take the holocron, and as he did she felt a weight lift of her shoulders, a slight lessening of the tension that had been building up within her. She had tried her best to get the holocron to open, and she had repeatedly failed. But in passing it on she got the feeling she had made the right choice. Not just in the act of accepting her failures and realizing that she would probably never uncover the secrets it held within, but in also her choice of whom to hand it over to. She knew enough of the Force to know that this was right.

"I don't know if it's in my control anymore. The Order has changed, and I don't know if there is a place for me here." She stopped, realizing she was about to say things that would shift the blame onto others, onto anyone but her. She had been doing that for some time now, not anymore. Wasn't that the point of it all? "I have made mistakes, and have tried to run from them for years. It has taken a toll on me, has been slowly eating away at the core of what made me a Jedi. I see in you a certainty, a purpose that drives you. I have lost that, and before I can do anything to help others I need to find that purpose again. Maybe in going out there, letting the Force guide me, helping those I run into and need my help, maybe that might be how I find my way back to the Jedi. To the Order."

She stopped herself, realizing that she had started talking to herself. "Forgive me, I have always had the tendency to begin rambling. But to answer your question, I don't know. I know I am not worthy of the titles I once held, but that doesn't mean I will turn my back on the FOrce, or those who need my help. Isn't that what it means to be Jedi?"

The last question, meant for him, shook her as well. She hadn't considered that possibility. Maybe that was the answer. The Order could do what it had to do, and she could do what she could do. They could both be Jedi in their own ways. "I will always be there if you or anyone in the Order needs my help. And I hope, that if ever I run into a situation where one Jedi is not enough I can call on you to do what the Force wills?"

She had not intended to ask that of him. She had only called him here to give him the holocron. But she could not deny that she would need allies, and being on her own with just the kids was going to get a little lonely. It might be nice to have a friendly voice to call upon every now and then.

@Phoenix

 

[Teran Atrix]

Teran could feel the pain in her that radiated through the Force. She carried a burden that extended beyond just the holocron he now slipped into his bag. He could feel the history on the device, and he could almost see the fall of the Jedi 500 years ago. He had learned to control the flashes, but they still threatened to push into his mind when he held the item.

He moved over and took a seat on one of the stones of the cave, looking over at her as she unburdened herself. She called it "rambling" but he knew that there was something she needed to get off of her chest.

The Jedi could use people like you, he said. He didn't know what she had done, but he knew what he'd seen her do. She had stood up for the Jedi being involved in the galaxy again, and that was a fire that the Jedi needed.

Mistakes can be overcome. I don't know what you did, but it's never too late, he said. That was why the Jedi went out of their way to rescue those who had fallen to the darkness. It was never too late for redemption, and Alys was far from having walked the paths of a Sith Lord. She had a guilt, and he would have listened if she felt the need to unburden herself, but it wasn't time to pry now.

If you need another Jedi, you can always count on me, he assured her. He knew the feeling of isolation and loneliness that was too easy to let sink in. He was connected to every other living creature in the galaxy through the Force, but that didn't mean that feelings of loneliness didn't set in.

Whatever you're struggling with, you shouldn't do it alone, he said. He let out a breath as he thought about what it meant to be a Jedi. It was a topic the old Masters had written about extensively, and there were conflicting view points.

You can travel the galaxy and help people, and I think we have a duty to that, but if we can rebuild the Order to what it was before the Exile, we might be able to help... well, maybe not everyone, but trillions, he said. They had been guardians who settled disputes for the entire galaxy, and saved countless lives in the galaxy. Now they were relegated to a corner of the galaxy. They needed people like Alys to help pull them back onto the galactic stage again. Or at least that was what the somewhat-impulsive Knight thought on the topic. @Wit