A/N: This whole fan fiction's dialogue is in English, because I don't know how to write Ithorese, the language of the Ithorians, and the story needs dialogue. The story is based more on the culture of the Ithorian species than on Byph's discovery of courage, too.
Disclaimer: I do not own The Clone Wars; Dave Filoni does. I'm just enjoying some time with the "Young Jedi" younglings again.
Byph and the Ithorian Law of Life
The planet Ithor was one of the ecological wonders of the galaxy. Its inhabitants, the Ithorians, adored and worshiped Mother Jungle, a goddess that encompassed the entirety of the planet and all life that lived on it. All life forms were precious to the Ithorian species, and because of this and their reverence for Mother Jungle, they had invented the Law of Life, which stated that all life forms that an Ithorian was forced to uproot or kill, he/she had to replace that life form twofold in order to preserve life in their Mother Jungle. And today, an Ithorian youngling named Byph, who was a Jedi Initiate for the Jedi Order, was going to undertake a ritual involving this sacred law in one of Ithor's herdships.
Jedi Master Roron Corobb was going to teach this lesson to young Byph. They were now entering the planet's atmosphere in a Republic shuttle on the surface of the planet for the ritual. Master Corobb's Padawan was a human boy named Drake Lo'gaan, but he was willing to take a short time off to educate Byph on the ways of the hammer-headed Ithorians.
"I believe you know enough about the sacred Bafforr trees on our world, am I right, Padawan?" Corobb asked the youngling.
"From what I understand," said Byph, "Bafforrs are trees with a sentient collective consciousness when linked together. And I also know that a whole Bafforr forest is usually wiser than any other being known to our people."
"That is correct," Corobb confirmed. "They can also communicate via intertwined root systems, which makes them more intelligent. And they evidently use telepathy to communicate, since they obviously do not have vocal voices, like we do."
"Okay, I understand about Bafforr trees," said Byph, "It all makes sense to me. But what exactly is this ritual going to be about?"
"It's going to be short and simple," said Corobb. "Now, we know that you have never, to date, destroyed any life, but we must make sure that you know how to follow the Law of Life in order to replace any living thing that may die at your hand, especially since you are a Jedi and you must sometimes wield a lethal lightsaber in combat. There is about to be a small harvest in Tafanda Bay, one of the most prominent herdship cities floating above Mother Jungle. We require for you to uproot one plant for the harvest, and then learn how to make two new lives from that plant before it is processed into food, and put them in the place of the dead plant. Going through this ritual with the proper respect and spiritual mindfulness will teach you to love all things that breathe and/or grow, and perhaps someday, you will become a new legend of life-preserving and peacekeeping in this time of gratuitous violence and tragedies here, there, and everywhere."
"I'll try my best, Master," said Byph. "You have my word on that."
"Remember Master Yoda's admonition, young one, " Corobb said, "Try not. Do or do not. There is no try."
"Yes, of course, Master, I'll do my best at this." Byph corrected himself.
"Indeed, young Byph," said Corobb.
A short time later, their shuttle docked in Tafanda Bay, and they were greeted by the herdship's high priest, who said, "All is made ready, my Jedi friends."
Byph and Corobb followed the priest to the jungle on the lower levels of the herdship. Down there, the Jedi found almost a dozen other young Ithorian students gathered around a spot where they were going to dig up twelve plants as part of the herdship's latest harvest. Byph took his place beside the others, and the ritual proceeded as follows:
First the priest directed Byph and the other religious students to dig up the plant each of them was assigned to dig up, and only that plant, and to do it with the utmost care. Byph took his shovel and started to dig at the dirt around his plant. He dug a little too quickly in the opinion of the high priest, and the holy man firmly, but gently, advised him to slow down and be more patient in order to avoid damaging the plant, for it was a sin against Mother Jungle to be careless when uprooting a life form from the jungle, which could cause the plant to be crippled and rendered useless for the harvest. Then another plant would have to be dug up for the harvest, and the Law of Life would increase from twofold to fourfold for the harvester. Byph took this advice and slowed down his digging a little.
After the digging was finished, Byph and the others were taken to the upper levels to the chambers where the Ithorian gardeners kept their cloning technology. The technicians and scientists gave Byph a detailed lesson on how to use the cloning tech to make new life from dead life. It was similar to Kaminoan and Spaarti cloning, in that a sample of DNA was taken from the dug-up plant and put through a machine that read the DNA and produced two seeds for new plants of the same kind to be put in their place. The other eleven students received the same lesson from the scientists.
Finally, as the last step, they all returned to the same spot in the jungle where they had been before, and were directed to plant their new seeds near the area where each of their harvested plants had been while reciting the Law of Life
Byph put his seeds in the ground and buried them carefully while he recited, "For every plant that was destroyed in the harvest, two must be planted to replace it." The others did the same. After this, the high asked Byph the Jedi to say a few words about the proper way to follow the Law to the other students. This is what Byph said:
"All life forms deserve a chance to live a full life, and that means that we, as pacifists and herbivores, have a duty to help all life survive as long as possible, as well as a duty never to take a life if we do not have to. No matter how corrupt, perverse, or purely evil a living being may be, even they must not be killed out of disrespect for life, indifference, or personal hatred. The ecosystems of the galaxy all deserve life, too, just as much as any sentient life form, and we must always be vigilant to stand up non-violently to any force of destruction that may end life throughout the universe. This is the way of the Ithorian Way of Life, and the Ithorian Law of Life, and all Ithorians must dedicate their lives to it, even, or perhaps especially, lightsaber-wielding Jedi Knights. So say I, Byph, Initiate of the Jedi Order."
The high priest then proceeded to put the blessing of the Force on Byph, and then on the other young Ithorians, one by one, and pronounced that no much or how little he was able to do to defend the galaxy, Byph would be remembered by the Force forever as a Jedi youngling who learned his lesson in the Law of Life and the Bafforr trees better than any other Ithorian Jedi in a long time, including Master Roron Corobb.
Byph felt very honored by this as he and Corobb prepared to return to Coruscant. "I'm younger and less experienced than you, Master Corobb," he asked the Jedi Master, "How come the priest said that I have a greater honor among our race than you do?"
"It's a long story that I cannot fully explain to you, Byph," replied Corobb, "But my destiny is different from yours. Only the Force can tell perfectly which Jedi are the most honorable and good, and according to the clairvoyance of the high priest, you are a more honorable individual than me, but why you are, he did not say. But be patient, like your friend and fellow Initiate, Gungi, learned to do. The Force will reveal the answers to you, in time."
Byph didn't entirely like being forced to wait, especially not when he apparently had a long life ahead of him, but he saw the wisdom in this advice, and decided to meditate on it during his spare time at the Temple. Maybe he was more than just a scaredy-cat Jedi, after all.