Hello my wonderful readers! Before we start with this chapter I just want to let you guys know that I will be unable to write more chapters from Monday through Friday, because I'll be gone on a camping trip with some friends. We'll be kayaking on large rivers and camping in hammocks on an island! This means I won't be able to begin writing the next chapter until Saturday, which will then be posted Sunday, or late Saturday night if I have enough time.
Thank you all for your support of this series! I'm so glad you all have enjoyed this, and rest assured there is so much more to the Shaniverse than just the Legacy of Jarik Shan! :D
Now on to the chapter!
Jarik POV...
"So, you named him Toothless?" I asked curiously.
Hiccup nodded his head, brushing aside a tree branch as he lead us towards the cove. "Yeah, not the best name, I know," he admitted sheepishly.
"Why Toothless?" Ahsoka asked with an amused look on her face.
"First time I actually fed him fish, he had no teeth in his mouth, which confused me a lot," he explained. "Apparently he has retractable teeth."
"No wonder. That sounds just like something you'd name the most dangerous dragon on record," Mara said with a grin.
Hiccup eyed her in exasperation. "Am I really that predictable?" he demands.
"Yup," all three of us answer at once, and he grumbles to himself.
"A Night Fury named Toothless, with retractable teeth, and apparently has a connection to the Force, according to Mara." Ahsoka said over the bond, going over the basics of what we knew about him.
"That last bit is surprising, honestly," I admitted. "I wonder how he would interact with the Force, if he even realizes he has a connection?" I mused.
"Guess we'll just have to see," she replied with a shrug. After Hiccup's clever little eel stunt back in the ring, Mara had us all catch up to him, since she wanted him to show me and Ahsoka Toothless. He was hesitant at first, but since Mara already knew, and we had promised not to tell anyone about him, he agreed, and was currently leading us to his hideout with the Night Fury. She hasn't told Hiccup about Toothless' connection to the Force yet, which was probably for the best. No need to reveal that until we know just how his connection works. I've heard rumors of Loth-wolves being connected to the Force, but nobody has seen those in ages, so we don't know for sure if it's true or not.
Eventually, we reached a clearing in the trees, revealing the large cove in the ground. A clear blue lake was stationed in the middle of it, with dirt and trees surrounding the insides, along with several boulders. Definitely a very beautiful place like Mara said for sure.
"Nice cove," Ahsoka said, looking around it with interest.
Hiccup nods in agreement. "Yeah, I like it too. I'll go down first and get Toothless ready to meet you. He's... wary of strangers," he warned.
I shrugged. "Eh. We've handled large creatures before. We'll be fine," I reassured him. Ahsoka rolls her eyes as Hiccup heads down the rocky pathway into the cove, Mara following after him. We waited for about half a minute before Hiccup's voice carried up to us.
"Okay, you can come down now!" he called out.
Ahsoka and I both glanced at each other, communicating silently with our looks before simply jumping down the cliff, easily landing on our feet. The action startled Hiccup and Toothless, although Mara was unfazed, having done the maneuver plenty of times herself. Toothless narrowed his eyes at us with a wary gaze, growling lowly in warning.
"Geez! Why do you guys do that all the time?" Hiccup demanded in exasperation.
"What? It's easier that way," I defended, and Ahsoka smiled at me in amusement with a shake of her head.
"Whatever," I heard him mumble before turning to Toothless. "It's ok bud, they're friends," he said slowly, petting and scratching his head to calm him down. Me and Ahsoka both stretched our presence towards him in the Force to see how he would react.
Hiccup's words helped calm Toothless down, as well as me and Ahsoka with our mental approach. Mara wasn't as experienced as us yet so she couldn't have felt this, but both of us could tell how Toothless subconsciously probed us through the Force as our minds stretched out to him, judging us before deeming the both of us to be trustworthy. Instantly he went from defensive to downright adorable, gazing at us happily with wide, curious eyes. Ahsoka smiled, no doubt awwing inwardly at the sight, although keeping herself composed. She was one of two adults here after all.
We both approached calmly, allowing toothless to sniff us. He spent an extra amount of time on Ahsoka, no doubt confused about what she was, obviously having never met a Togruta before.
"Dragons alway seem to immediately like you guys," Hiccup stated with a pout. "It took me hours to gain his trust."
"That's because we have the Force," Mara spoke up.
"If only I had that," he muttered in disappointment.
"Actually Hiccup, I find you gaining Toothless' trust more impressive then how quick we do it." Ahsoka said, stroking the dragon's head, who whined happily. "We already have an instant advantage, but without it I'm not sure we would be able to gain a dragon;s trust nearly as quick as you did, if at all. The fact that you never needed the Force to do so speaks a lot about you," she said with a smile.
Hiccup considered her words, his face turning slightly red from embarrassment and joy. "W-well, thanks," he stammered gratefully.
"My mom knows how to make everyone happy!" Mara said proudly.
I fake coughed into my hand, causing Ahsoka to glance at me with a raised and demanding eyebrow. "Something you have to say little Jari?" she asked sweetly.
"Hmm?" I asked innocently. "Oh yeah, sorry. I was just remembering all of the enemies you've gathered during your career," I deadpanned, causing Mara to roll her eyes and Hiccup to snicker.
"Well, you can't make everyone happy," she agreed with a sigh.
During our discussion, Ahsoka and I were using the Force to discretely focus our senses on Toothless, analyzing his connection to the Force, and how strong it may be. From what we were seeing he had a remarkably deep connection, which affected him in numerous ways. If we were normal people like Hiccup and the Vikings then we would never realize the affects the Force had on Toothless, passing them off as that species, but that was definitely not the case.
The Force affects Toothless both physically and mentally, but it seems a lot more naturally melded than it would be for a Jedi. It's hard to explain... but basically while beings like Jedi and Sith have a connection and ability to wield the Force, Toothless is more... in tune naturally with it. Like he is an animal of the Force, similar to Morai's convor form, although obviously not nearly on her level. His plasma fire, ability to resist mental attacks, from other Force users or dragons, and his perceptiveness all stem from the Force. All dragons have a connection, just like all living things in the universe, but not in the way Toothless does. Without another Night Fury to compare however I have no idea if it's for his species or just an individual case.
After our meeting with Toothless, we left him and Hiccup to his own devices, seeing as our week long vacation on Berk was up, and we had to return to the Temple to continue Jedi training and our work for the Fulcrum agency. Bidding Hiccup and Gobber goodbye, as well as Gothi, we traveled back to Temple Island on our speedboat, parking it beside the Knight Hawk in the late afternoon. Mara was hesitant to leave, and I could understand her hesitancy, due to her fear over what Hiccup would do if the village was discovered, since we wouldn't be there to help him. Ahsoka reassured her though that if he was in danger, our close relationship with him would allow us to sense that danger through the Force.
On our way up the steps, R5 beeped at us from the ship with his usual snarky jokes, to which Mara replied with a witty comeback, which had is all laughing, and left the droid grumbling to himself. We greeted the caretakers in the middle of their cleaning up of the village, to which they enthusiastically welcomed us back, and then had a simple dinner in the courtyard, watching the sun set. A small flock of Timberjacks flew by the island very high in the sky, and we watched them go, thinking about Toothless and how that would be. After dinner, we gave Mara a quick lesson on her Force senses before heading off to sleep for the night. Ahsoka decided to once again be more intimate in the bed, wrapping herself around me in a cuddle, resting her head on my shoulder, to which I rolled my eyes at with a small smile.
The next morning, I woke up earlier than normal, taking great care to not disturb Ahsoka in her slumber, and opened up my datapad, casually checking a few easy to crack encryptions. A curious detail about Senator Gal Trayvis got my attention, relating to his secret anti-Imperial messages. He's gone on a pattern over his career, where if he mentions a planet in one of his transmissions, it means he's going to be visiting said planet. Given the Ghost Crew's familiarity with taking up secret tasks hinted at by Trayvis, I decided to send Hera a brief encoded message explaining his strategy.
With that done, I closed the datapad and laid it on the table, leaning back in the chair with a sigh. I glanced over at Ahsoka, who mumbled something in the bed, shifting slightly, causing me to smile briefly at her. Force I was in love...
I blinked quickly at my thoughts before shrugging. It was pretty obvious for all of us at this point, so no real reason to deny it right?
Anyways, checking the time on my chronometer, I decided to go meditate at the Jedi Temple. getting up from my chair, I just put on my shoes, and then wrapped my Jedi cloak around my nightclothes, carefully opening the door and stepping out into the brisk, cold morning air. Dew clumped over the rocks and the ground, the twin suns a deep orange as they just began to break the horizon far off in the distance, casting a soft glow over the island. My cloak fluttered in the breeze as I started the walk over to the Temple. Passing the Library Tree on the way, it's presence whispering with light and constantly shrouded in mist, I eventually reached the Temple after a few minutes of walking, gazing around the inside.
The Temple was a bit dim, with not much sunlight seeping inside to light it up yet, but it was bright enough for me to see general details. Satele's lightsaber lay in its position untouched on the wall as usual, with the Prime Jedi's mural sat in the center. I walked over to the wall with Satele's lightsaber and then sat before it, closing my eyes and taking deep breathes, delving into the mysteries of the Force. It took several very long minutes, maybe even half an hour before I felt something on the edge of my mind. Honing in on it, I was pulled into another brief vision.
I caught a glimpse of the island though the Force's mist, which then transitioned to a view of Mustafar.
I cringed at the sight of the planet where Anakin fully embraced the dark side against us, and where Barris died, before noticing the three Star Destroyers hovering above it. I thought I could hear screams, maybe screams from torture before that image faded.
It was replaced with a dark cave of black stone, as dark as the void of space, with a large stone in the middle of the cave. Mechanical breathing filled the air as Vader approached the stone, raising a hand out to it, in which it faintly glowed purple in response, as if there was something within.
The next scene was of Satele in the forest with a partner I didn't recognize, standing before some weird metal egg structure. I widened my eyes when the structure began to transform into a large humanoid droid.
Finally I saw her at a much older age, sitting in the very same spot of the Jedi Temple I currently was sitting in, also meditating. Her lightsaber lay in the same position currently, and the m view zoomed in towards the rock which the lightsaber lay against, revealing something behind...
I opened my eyes, blinking quickly at the brightness in my face. Squinting, I realized it was now very bright, the sun most like in mid-morning or so. Remembering my vision, I stood up and carefully moved the lightsaber to the side, placing my hands against the stone wall. Feeling alongside it for a minute brought nothing, so I tried a different tactic. Using the Force, I pressed my hand against the wall and felt for anything out of place, eventually finding it. Pulling my hand back as if grabbing something, a piece of the wall slowly slid out, revealing a small space holding a book inside, much to my surprise. Curious, I pulled it out and glanced at it, widening my eyes when I saw the name 'Satele Shan' inscribed in the bottom corner of the cover. Opening the first page, I realized this must've been a private journal. She probably directed me to it through me vision... that or I'm just a lucky guesser.
Placing the compartments hidden door back, I marveled at how seamlessly it slid back into the wall, as if it was never there in the first place before turning my attention back to the book, wondering what may be inside it. If Satele did direct me to it, then what is it that she wants me to learn?
Short chapter I know, but I was pressed for time when writing this. Thank you once again for continuing to read and follow my stories! :D
What could be in this journal written by Satele Shan? With all those years of living on Ahch-To she was bound to write something important huh? ;)
I'll see you guys with the next chapter either Saturday night or Sunday!