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Chapter Twelve: A Flock of Jedi
5 BBY, Dantooine
Aris found herself in a massive room that seemed to stretch for ages. It was as tall as it was long, stretching up into the mountainside. The floor was a crackled marble and great pillars held up the ceiling around them. Half were broken yet still the room stood tall. It was evident that this was the entrance to had once been a great hub for learning and teaching. Ancient writings were etched on the floor and the walls stretching into multiple long hallways that no doubt lead to more treasures.
As much as Aris wished to continue her evaluation of history, her eyes were drawn to the group of people who were sitting on old worn couches by a raging fire. Three pairs of shocked faces stared between herself and the Mandalorian in what could only be muted horror.
"What's this, Votaz?" It was a young man who spoke first. Perhaps only a few years older than herself, he stood smoothly, his hand gripping something that was hanging very obviously from his waist. A lightsaber. Aris felt her heart leap in her throat. "Was it not agreed that we all consented to any visitors?"
"Sit down, Axel," a thin Zabrak lady muttered, rolling her eyes to the sky, "It is only a girl."
"Even an infant can be a threat to us should that infant wail in the wrong direction. You of all people should know this."
"I'm sure Votaz has a reason to forgo our agreement," the third individual said, his frog like eyes peering at her calmly. At once, the two bickering individuals silenced. Aris eyed the Mon Calamar wearily. It was evident he was the true leader of the group. His voice seeped with elderly wisdom, and his gaze was filled with knowledge.
"She's the one who blew up the base on Kashyyyk," Votaz muttered, seemingly unphased by the mistrustful gazes they were all shooting him, "Figured it was only too soon until another bounty hunter stepped in and took her to Vader."
"You did the right thing," a voice said, emerging from the hallway to the far left. At once, Aris found herself on edge, a hand moving to her blaster steadily. A man emerged, tall and thin with dark eyes that pierced through her. His face was weary but he too was evidently quite young. His long black hair was thrown freely down his back, and the Jedi garb he wore made it all to obvious that he was also part of the old order, "You've rattled more than a few cages blowing up an imperial base, girl. News like that travels far, and it travels fast. But you are welcome here, for a time. My name is Kai Justiss."
No fucking way. Aris had to fight to keep her face neutral to the man's introduction. Internally, she wanted to scream and dance and holler. Never in her life had she had such luck. Luck that Han Solo wanted to stop at Dantoonie. Luck that Votaz was the only damn bounty hunter in the Galaxy to have Jedi associates. Luck that the very Jedi who was on her list was standing right in front of her. For the first time in her life, Aris felt like things were finally going her way.
"Fast for us bounty hunters at least," Votaz seemed amused, "Your face was plastered in every dark corner of the galaxy before you likely even left the system. A Jedi rarely emerges these days, they'll be after you every step you take."
"I'm not afraid of some bounty hunters." The words came out before she could stop them. Aris found her voice caught in her throat as they all turned to stare at her.
It had been years since Aris had been in the presence of others who could use the Force. Obi-Wan had become the only knowledge, the only rope that tethered her to the old Jedi morals and laws that had once held together the Republic. Many nights, she had dreamed about what she would ask to the Jedi of the past who, in her mind, were likely all dead. Yet, Bail Organa had not been misinformed. Here, in the fiery shadows of the old Jedi Enclave, four Jedi stood, and they all looked to her.
"You should be," the thin young man, Axel, said passively, "With the Empire's resources at their back, a bounty hunter is as dangerous as any Sith."
"It is curious that you have come here so openly that our Votaz could easily find you," the Mon Calamar croaked, "What brings you to Dantoonie? Have you come to hide?"
"He brings me to Dantoonie."
She rose one hand to gesture towards Kai Justiss who had taken to leaning up against the far wall as he studied her. Her words, though not fully true, seemed to startle him. Aris had never been as attune to the Force as she wished but even she could sense the mistrust that seeped off him. The dark eyed man pursed his lips, fingers flickering through the air as if debating if he should grab for his saber. The others in the group visibly shifted with uneasy that cackled through the Force like a whip.
"Have we met before?"
"No," she said honestly, stepping slightly forward and out of the shadow of the great Mandalorian, "But, Bail Organa knew you. He knows you."
"Senator Organa is no friend to the Jedi," the Mon Calamar countered gruffly, "He has forgotten us."
"It is not untrue," the only female spoke, "He serves the very Empire who has destroyed all whom we held dear."
"Be silent," Kai Justiss spoke, calmly and unflinchingly, and his eyes did not once leave hers, "Bail Organa was our friend. I remember this. And I am alive for it. It was his resources that aided me once very long ago when I too would have become caught underneath the evils of the Sith. Tell me, girl, who are you to come in the name of Bail Organa?"
It was all rather dramatic, she thought. Kai Justiss, tall and regal, was speaking to her as if he was old royalty. His words and his demeanor were composed while Aris felt like she was internally falling apart. This was her moment. The day she had waited for her entire life. The moment where she would be accepted by more than Obi-Wan. The moment where she would perhaps even become a Jedi.
Yet, under the cautious eyes of her audience, Aris did not know the words to speak to appease them. She had been a child during the early horrors of the Jedi Purge. They had seen it and felt it and known those who had fallen. All she knew were the nightmares of dead bodies of those she could not remember. Only Obi-Wan and the sands of Tatooine were her past.
"My name is Aris Valar," she said at last, "Padawan of Obi-Wan Kenobi."
And it was not her name that brought interest. It was her Masters.
"Kenobi?" The Mon Calamar spoke first, rubbing his chin in thought as he gazed at her with his unwavering swirling colored orbs, "Surely it cannot be."
"It would be no surprise that the Great Negotiator would survive Order 66," The Zabrak spoke, a large smile engulfing her face in childish delight, "What a relief! If Obi-Wan Kenobi lives, surely there is hope for us! If he is training Jedi, we should join him and fight."
Aris grimaced, unsure how to respond to the woman's joy. It was evident that the man she knew was not the man who had once led the great clone armies. The man she knew would rather patter around in the sand digging for herbs than lead anyone to war.
"How is it that Obi-Wan trained you? He would surely not be so foolish to openly use and infiltrate the Force when the Empire looms in all corners. Tell me, girl, how this came to be."
Kai Justiss and Axel seemed to be the only two that doubted her story. The other Jedi were looking at her with avid fascination while the Mandalorian seemed to care not whether she was a mere urchin on the street or Obi-Wan Kenobi reborn.
"When we would meditate or when he would show me the ways of the Force, we would go keep into the caves of our home where he would mask my presence for as long as he could. Do you think him not capable of masking the signature of a young girl for a mere hour?"
Kai Justiss looked deeply affronted by what she was implying. His nose stuck up horribly as he grimaced in obvious discomfort at the question she had posed to him.
"Well, I mean, of course. He was one of our best-"
"Then why does it surprise you that he would be capable of training a Jedi? What would you have me do to prove to you that I am who I say I am."
"Take us to him," this came from the Zabrak girl once more, "We should be together as one in these trying times."
Her yellow eyes took on a dreamy gaze, and Aris could only imagine what she was thinking. Surely she was imagining a great reunion where her Master, emerging over the hills as the sun set behind him, greeted the group with an entire army of Jedi at his back.
The reality was one Aris knew only too well. It likely would have something to do with him throttling her out of pure rage as his new roommates watched on in muted horror.
"That's not possible," Aris said at last, "My Master has a purpose on our planet. A purpose not even I truly know. He will never leave, and he will never forgive me if I were to threaten his safety in such a way. I will not bring you to him."
"Then you cannot prove you are his apprentice," Axel's face was unmoving like stone, "What has Obi-Wan Kenobi have to fear from us unless it is you who fears the truth of your own lies exposed? I say we rid ourselves of this breach before we threaten our position even more."
"Rid yourself?" Aris fought to control her temper as her hands clenched tightly at her side, "What a honorable group of Jedi you are turning out to be. Killing a girl in cold blood because you're afraid!"
In truth, she couldn't imagine herself doing any different but the Jedi in the room shuffled audibly at the picture she was painting of them.
"It is for survival!"
"It is murder! How dare you wear the robes of the Jedi when you do nothing to represent them. It is a disrespect to their sacrifices, and the actions of a coward."
"Be calm, Aris Valar," Kai Justiss spoke, slicing through the obvious tension with but his words, "Tell us your story and the story of Bail Organa for I am curious to know of how you came to be here. I do not sense you have ill intentions. And, if you did, I do not believe you the capacity to hide them from us. You wear your heart on your sleeve for all to plainly see… a strange trait for a Jedi. However, you are not a Jedi yet. I know this in my heart, and I see it in your eyes."
"And, in truth, I believe you now more than I did before after that display," the Mon Calamar smirked, "Obi-Wan Kenobi always did prefer fiery apprentices."
Prefer was an odd way to describe her Master's ill luck at inheriting ill-tempered children from other men. Obi-Wan Kenobi never had much choice at all. Not when it had come to her, at least.
They were all silent.
She hated their attentions as much as she craved them. It was an odd thing to crave their awe and their interest yet to abhor the sympathy and compassion in their eyes.
She had told them all she could without revealing her Master's location. She had told them of the Temple and of her training and of her mission to Naboo and of Bail Organa's foolish hope to reunite the Jedi using her Master's nostalgia to spur the fight.
But, it seemed they at least believed her after each of them hard thoroughly looked through the list and rubbed their fingers over the odd pin. Each of them was unable to tell her much about the pin or the authenticity of the list. They had lingered in Dantoonie for so long that they had long been removed from the spirit of rebellion.
"I do not know what this pin represents, but I do know what this list can achieve. In the right hands, it is the key to the restoration of the Jedi Order. In the wrong, it is the final demise of the old Republic. I can see why he ordered you to burn it." Kai Justiss was looking at the paper like he was about to do just that. Aris gripped it tighter in her hand just in case he got some sort of bright idea to try and jump her, "Yet, in a way, it does give me hope. I had always thought we were alone."
"What is it you seek to accomplish by coming here, Padawan?" The Mon Calamar, who she now knew to be named Bre'ano Umakk, had said very little during their discussion. Now, he was sitting taller than all the others, and Aris felt him nearly trembling with emotion.
"I…I do not know. At first, it was a curiosity. A wish to learn and to grow through the teachings of those other than my Master. But, I see it now. And I saw it once before. In a vision, I saw the Jedi Order reborn under the hands of those alive today. So, I have come, I guess, to ask you for a promise or for your saber. Come with me and find those who are asking to be found. Or promise me that, when the time comes, as it will, for the Empire to fall, you will come."
She felt renewed with purpose then as she spoke. Her heart was beating against her chest so harshly that she could hardly fight the pride she felt in the mission she had just then created for herself. She would reunite the Jedi Order and lead it from the darkness. It was meant to be. It was always meant to be. The reason why she was brought to Obi-Wan lied in this purpose, and he must have seen it as Kiso Creel had seen it before.
"It is a beautiful dream," Votak spoke for the first time since they had first arrived, "but a dream all the same. You are a hunted woman. If you were the shadow you were before, it would be easy for you to move through the systems. But, as of now, your face is plastered for all to see. You can try to run from it, but you'll never be able to hide."
"It is a suicide mission," Justiss echoed, "But, I will not pretend I am immune to your dreams. Go and find your Jedi, Aris Valar. Your bravery exceeds my own as I will stay here awaiting your call for our return."
"I am too old for such a mission," Umakk agreed, "Yet, you have my pledge as much as it may mean."
Drakka Judarr, the young and eager Zabrak, suddenly looked crushed. Her eyes were filled with tears as she stared at Aris suddenly like she had never seen her before.
"I am afraid," she admitted, "and I cannot bare another disappointment. My place is here with the tribes. We will wage war against the Empire in little ways until the time comes for all our little ways to become one."
Aris nodded, feeling suddenly like she had lost her last hope for a companion on this journey. A fellow Force-user would be unspeakable useful in the troubles to come. As much as she hated to admit it, she had not even a lightsaber to her name.
"The Wookies have a place here," Kai Justiss spoke, raising and retreating to a small corner of the room where he fumbled for a moment through a wreckage of items, "I have fought by the sides of Wookies for many years. They will have a home, and Axel is frighteningly good at convincing the locals to aid us. He will ensure-"
"You have yet to hear my decision, Kai," he smiled at her then as if he forgotten that he was publicly orchestrating her murder not even thirty minutes before, "Would you not like to know where I stand?"
"Of course, all have a place in this fight." Translation: She really could not have cared less.
"I think I will join you and your smuggler," he stood, turning on his heel to march towards one of the long halls, "As you are lightsaberless and, it seems, still a Padwan, it would do good for you to have someone of rank to help you along. I'll just grab my bags and then we can head off."
He was out of her reach before she could even process what was happening.
The three remaining Jedi were smiling at her as if she had somehow become quite lucky to gain such an ally.
"Worry not, Aris," Drakka patted her hand, "Axel is not always as rough as he was when you first arrived. He has had many restless nights lately, and it takes its toll. He advocates peace more than any of us. He is the most skilled of us here with a lightsaber and knows more worlds than I have ever explored. You will see is value soon enough."
"He will be able to help you make your lightsaber," Kai Justiss tossed something her way and, instinctively, Aris snatched it out of the sky, "Take those pieces. They might not look like much now, but, with Axel's help, these scraps of metal will transform into the very base of your lightsaber. It is all I have to offer-"
"It is more than enough." Aris moved the pieces through her hands with reverent joy beating through her heart. And, for the first time that day, she fully smiled at the group that had been, without a doubt, far kinder than she likely deserved.
Aris, from her seat on the bottom bunk of the once empty room, found herself staring at her new roommate in a tense silence. He was pattering around in his bag, throwing out various items on the other bottom bunk that mirrored her own.
Axel, like herself, seemed to own very few possessions. All of his clothes were simple tunics and pants like those the farmers of her home plant wore. But, it was not the clothing that drew her attention. It was the items that he withdrew with obvious care, setting them on the closest table with the diligence of a new mother.
It was a small necklace that held her curiosity. Long and silver, it was a lovely pattern of small flowers with three petals. The necklace was worn yet cared for in the way it seemed to hold together despite the obvious darkening of the ore.
"It was my first Masters," he said, and Aris was startled to find his unnerving pale gaze on her, "Perhaps, one day, I shall tell you of her."
"I would like that," she replied honestly, "I hope the room is alright…it isn't much, but I can promise I am a far better roommate than Han or the Wookie."
"It's comforting. I used to love flying, you see. It reminds me of my days during the Clone Wars. I would spend what seemed like year aboard a ship. I'm happy to be on one a gain."
Aris wasn't quite sure what to say. He had a way about him that was unnervingly sad, and it made her incredibly uncomfortable in every sort of way. Axel's melancholy expression never seemed to dim, and the pale sheen of his skin and the darkness of his hair only seemed to stress the dark cloud he hid himself under.
"Well, I supposed I should leave you to it. Han will be coming back soon-"
"I would like to apologize," he said, standing rather suddenly. He was not much taller than her and far thinner yet in a way he was handsome like one would think any strange exotic being as handsome, "for my behavior. I haven't been sleeping well, you see. My dreams are plagued with visions I can't understand. They're the reason I came with you. I won't lie and say I believe we'll accomplish anything more than getting ourselves killed. But, I know without a doubt that I'm meant to be here."
"Then, it seems we'll both have to prove ourselves worthy of each other," Aris said at last, "I do not trust you, Kentar, but I hope to. I want to learn. I want to be better."
"Well, we should start by getting you a lightsaber."
"You do know he probably knows you're out here creeping on him like some sort of pervert," Aris muttered, crossing her arms as she watched Han and Chewbacca fight to peek into the dimly lit room that Axel was "peacefully" resting in, "You two aren't exactly quiet."
"I don't need to be quiet," Han snapped, rounding on her, "This is my ship! You can't just bring people on board whenever you want to!"
"Chewbacca doesn't seem to have a problem."
The Wookie gave a roar of approval (or what seemed to be approval) in response, crossing his arms over his massive chest as if standing his ground.
"Yes, yes, it was so nice of them to take your Wookie friends," Han muttered, waving off Chewbacca's patronizing look with a scowl, "But that still doesn't change the fact we don't know this guy and that you, Aris, aren't in charge of who comes aboard."
He was pointing in her face as if getting in her personal space would suddenly intimidate her into submission. Aris had to control her urge to reach up and snap his finger back.
"I told you, Han! He's a Jedi, a real Jedi-"
"See, Chewie, I fucking told you. She's a fake-"
"Oh shut up, Solo! You know I'm only in training-"
"He's a stranger, sweet cheeks, and this isn't some sort of charity project for lost lonely Jedi-"
"I don't see why another set of capable hands is such a problem for you. It's not like he's asking for anything in return."
"That's not the problem!" Han roared, waving his arms about in a frantic dance, "The problem is that I don't trust him. I can hardly even trust you. It's not like we've known each other that long. It's hardly been a few weeks-"
"Fine!" Aris shouted, suddenly quiet tired of hearing him squawk at her as Chewbacca watched on in muted fascination, "Fine. Fine. Fine. I understand. Give us a chance to prove ourselves. First sign of anything weird, we're out, alright?"
"Everything about you two is fucking weird," Han muttered, "Whatever, sweetheart. You keep him in line, and you prove your worth. Then, we can start on some trust. And that trust thing start now. No more stragglers. No more galloping off into dangerous places trying to get killed. And definitely no more singing when you shower. I thought I'd have to kill myself to get out of that misery."
And, although he wasn't smiling, Aris knew she was slightly forgiven. Yet, the line she was walking was slowly getting thinner. And, without Han Solo, Aris Valar was surely doomed.