Redemption

by JKL Crossl

A story of a Twi'lek who comes back to Ryloth after years of banishment to visit his sick mother. He runs into old freinds and finds that the past he was running from has begun to resurface. He must stand before the Clan elders to review his banishment.

Author's notes: Just so you know the story is taking place on the planet Ryloth in the city of Kala'uun. Twi'leks have appendages (or tentacles) on their heads, usually two on each side. These are are called lekku. They contain the brain tissue of the Twi'leks. The twi'leks have developed a way to speak by twitching and moving their lekku. Whenever looja is shown using his lekku speach, he speaks within parinthesis (like this).

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I stepped from the shuttle's ramp and out into the caverns of Kala'uun, the splendor of the city twice as magnificant as when I had last been there. Large formations jutted from the ceiling and floor, like the teeth in a great maw. Stone houses mingled with more modern ones to form the great city. The houses of the nobles were barely visible off in another chamber of the extensive cavern network. Up on a hill stood the great Temple of the Mother Godess, Its great rock dome a testimony to the faith of the ancestors who built it. In the shadow of this wonder, the people went on with their daily life; toiling away to survive in the harsh climate. I smiled to myself, My people were strong, meant to survive.

I inhaled deeply, the rich, earthy smell providing a long forgotten comfort. I was home, where I belonged. There was no going back for me, Ryloth had everything I could possibly want. It was my lost paradise.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and spun around. There standing behind me was a grinning twi'lek, his flesh a pale grey, with blue markings running up the sides of his lekku. His flesh was tough and wrinkled from the hot weather and murderous sandstorms. It was Looja, the one who had helped my mother give birth to me. He had been serving the family for as long as I could remember. He was not very adept with words and used a common, non-religious form of lekku speech. His lekku moved with the speed and precision of somone who knows their art.

( Hello master Ky'rutian, are you ready to leave?)

He reached down to pick up my satchel, but I snatched it up a fraction of a second quicker. He looked at me puzzled, so i mumbled, "I can manage, thanks."

He shrugged and slung his own satchel over his shoulder.

The landing crowned the top of a large formation and so we had to climb down a steep path to get to the cavern floor. I almost slipped several times, sending small red stones scuttling down the path. Looja would grab my arm firmly to prevent me from falling, but I always pulled away. I wasn't the child that had been banished almost twenty years earlier.

Towards the end of the path the articial lights were broken and so we had to use glowsticks to light our way. I gripped Spitfire (my krayt scout pistol) in my pocket, ready to pull him out if there was a need. The paths in Kala'uun were dangerous to small groups of travelers. It was common to find theifs and small predators lurking in the darkness...waiting. The sound of a blaster click, from behind, startled me and I spun around pointing my blaster at the source of the noise.

There stood a humanoid figure decked out in a full set of composite armour. His voice sounded metallic from behind the helmet,

"Drop your weapon!"

Reluctantly I let Spitfire slip from my hands and clatter to the ground.

The man seemed to examine us, "Do you have papers?"

Looja nodded and brought out a signed parchment for the man to examine. After he had verified the validity of the papers he handed them back to Looja and turned to me.

"Hand me your gun."

Without hesitation I bent down and picked up the scoutblaster. He grabbed it from my hand and began to turn it over in his hands, inspecting it. After a while he handed it back to me.

"That's quite a powerful little gun you have there, it stays within the guidelines, so i can't do anything about it. Just remember, next time you whip that thing out at me, or anyone else, you'll end up dead. Got that?"

I nodded, convinced that the cold tone of his voice wasn't caused by the voice distortion.

The man moved back to his post in the shadows, leaving us alone on the path again. I wiped beads of sweat from my forehead and flung them into the red dirt. Looja had already started walking further down the path. I ran up beside him and mumbled, " I hate slavers."