Ashes to ashes...dust to dust...to the Force wilt thou return... Force thou art...to the Force, wilt thou return...
A flicker...a spark...a pulsing of Consciousness...then darkness...warmth...fluid...motion...
We have need of you again... Me? Who am I to be given this honor? Just someone who can stand the riggers of life...and who can maybe be a beacon for others once again...No...no dubious looks...you need this for yourself...and for others... I don't suppose I have a choice in this matter? What do you think?
The rain poured down in torrents; lightening split the sky like neon knives. The ground was saturated beyond capacity, making it a quick-sand bog... A blue-white strike hit the ground just outside a mass of trees caught in the throes of the storm, and within that strike, a body. A gasp of air, and a spewing of mud from the inside of a living breathing Human body... She lay caked in layers of the soggy ground around her. She was too exhausted to move, other than breath once again...She felt as if she'd drown and come back to life. Foggy incomplete memories creeped into her brain...a temple...a dark robe...faces she once knew...flashes of light...a battle...searing pain... oxygen dimishing...and then darkness... All gone now...and yet, not. She was here, now...yet connected to something greater than herself... She lay in the cold, wet muck, eyes closed, letting exhaustion claim her.
"Over here!" A voice called, "I've found something!"
Days later, she became conscious once again...this time not in cold wet, but warmth and comfort.
"Ahh, there you are, " said a woman's voice, "Figured you'd come to, sooner or later." It was a statement of fact, like she'd been expected.
She looked around the dark dingy room, with just her brown eyes; she could move nothing else. She tried to speak, and found she had no voice.
"You want to know where you are." The woman said, again, as a statement of fact, "You are in a shelter - the Telefair Shelter for wayward Souls. We found you, barely alive out in that hellascious storm. You're lucky to be alive. Now, eat some broth."
A feeding tube was put into her mouth, and warm spicy liquid trickled down her throat. That connection to something told her this woman meant well, though she was a bit pushy. There was nothing she could do but bide her time, and go along with whatever presented itself.
Within two months, she found herself back on her feet, and pretty much functional. The woman who rescued her was named Adonamara, and she traveled the galaxy finding lost souls to rescue. They not only recieved care of the body, but mind and Soul as well. She counseled the lost, taught children, and talked of a Power Greater Than Herself.
"Every since the Empire came into being, and the Jedi were distroyed, I've made it my mission to rescue anyone I came across to keep them from the clutches of their evil," she said, "Hence, my Shelter here. Though I don't stay in one place for very long. I keep moving...that way the Empire can't get a bead on me., but my mission is the same. I trust you won't be talking to the Empire any time soon, and even if you would direct them to here, it'll do them no good. Now...pack your stuff... I'm moving on, and you are almost 100. Amazing how fast you healed, though."
Adonamara eyed her curiously.
Jedi...Empire...vague yet not entirely unfamiliar words from somewhere... memories stirred, but nothing she could put a finger on.
She was directed to a old, dirty, ancient trunk. Opening it, she found underneath several mats, a clean, neatly folded dark blue robe, a tunic, undershirt, pants, belt and knee-high boots of undetermined age; and something else...a handle to something. "This is everything that was on you, when you were found," she said, "Though what that is," she pointed to the object, " I'm not entirely certain, though, I've heard stories..." Adonamara handed her a pack, saying no more of what she might or might not know about what the object was. She got the feeling that Adonamara knew more than what she was saying, but didn't press the issue. Her job was to move on, so Adonamara, and her wards were not in danger of being slowed down.
She picked up and examined the battered metal tag on the pack...she didn't recognize the language, and attempted to sound out the markings... Ssssssaaaahfffffrrrrrron...no... she tried again...Saff-fair-on...Yes, that sounded right... She looked at Adonamara... "I've found my name. At least one I can travel by...Sapharin...Telefair." Adonamara smiled a rare smile. "Now, off wit ye!" she said, shooing the newly named Sapharin out her door, "I've got to get loaded up and outta here." Quick tearful hugs were exchanged, and they parted. "May your Power protect you, " Adonamara said. For some reason, the words, "May the Force be with you," became Sapharin's reply.
Using the existing cover of darkness, Sapharin made her way, by instinct, to look for shelter. Creatures of the night, called out. Sapharin was fully aware of her surroundings, and 'knew' where danger existed. Another storm was brewing in the distance. Sapharin knew she had to find some sort of shelter, before the storm got any worse. Again she was directed by that something she had called 'the Force'. Dirt, leaves became obstacles; tree branches whipped and threatened to come down and crush her. Bracing herself into the deeply hollowed out base of a large narled tree, she stopped fighting the elements. She curled into a ball, using her pack, and dark robe as cover. With one last crash, the storm suddenly stopped. Sapharin peeked out, listening to the sudden silence. Instinct drew her forward. For another two miles, she trudged, well aware she was ravenous. Light peered over the horizon; incredulously Sapharin stared at a huge tree limb that formed a diagonal canopy blockage, in front of what appeared to be a cave.
"Well...I'll be..." she said to herself. This 'Force' had led her rightly. She found if she angled herself just so, she could fit and crawl underneath the huge tree limb. She then face the opening of a stone cave. The opening of a stone cave was a slender fit, a vertical slit in a thick wall of stone. First her bag, and then herself.
The cave opened into a small stone room, at her left shoulder, above her was a crude torch. Wishing she had light, she raised the unknown handle, by her side, touched the button, and activating it. A pulsing stream of blue-white light rose before her illuminating her surroundings. She walked around the small room and found a nearly invisible stone panel, pushing it, the wall slid quietly aside, revealing yet another stone room. Surprisingly, the room was lit with a warm glow of a what seemed to be a fire-pit. Food stuffs in organized storage. Primitive cooking, cleansing and other facilities had been set up. From the looks of things, someone had settled in for the long haul.
The exhaustion of the long night hit Sapharin, and she once again curled up on an available bedroll. She never knew anything until something prodded her awake.
The glare of a purple lightsabre lit up the cave. A blond haired woman of undetermined age, glared down at her...and she wasn't happy.
"I don't care who you are, or why you're here...I want you out of my house. Now."
End Part 1