Chapter 10: Stones
Bant was a less than happy Padawan. She almost adored her Master and she was willing to travel to galaxy's end with her, but she really, really, really wished that galaxy's end had been somewhat less dry than Tatooine. A bit less dusty would have been good too.
"My gills are stuffed," she complained as the trio disembarked the ship in Mos Eisley Spaceport.
"Good you don't have to rely on them here," Tahl said dryly, "you have lungs too."
And then, with a softer mien, she pulled a small scarf out of one of her pockets.
"Here, tie that around your neck. It will protect your gills to some extent."
Bant nodded gratefully: "Thanks, Master. I should have thought of it myself."
Tahl chuckled and squeezed her Padawan's arm fondly.
"That's one of the many reasons for going to missions as a padawan, -you'll have to learn how to handle harsh environments."
"Where are we going, Master Tahl?" Chirrut chimed in.
"Shh, both of you. Please try not to 'Master' me while we're here at least. There are too many prying ears and I assume that we aren't too popular among the ruling beings here. Let's try to disappear in the crowd as much as we can. We don't need more trouble than the climate can offer."
The two youths nodded obediently. They agreed wholeheartedly in Tahl's approach. Being on such a remote planet on a real mission was adventure enough, they didn't need trouble with the Hutts.
"Now, Chirrut, please take us to the place where you believe the city wall once must have been."
Chirrut looked down at his pad and his brow wrinkled in concentration: "We're about here now so if we go through the narrow streets there we should be heading straight towards it. Uh-oh… Let's not go there."
"What is it?" Tahl asked.
"There is a Hutt coming this way."
The three friends weaved through the crowd, slightly deviating from their original course, when Tahl suddenly startled and in the next moment someone bumped into her left shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Ma'am," a young voice said, "I was in a hurry and didn't really notice you were coming. I'm so terribly sorry. I didn't mean any harm…"
Tahl felt something nudging her through the Force, something strong and powerful and yet…not there. It was like the owner of the voice were radiating a peace and calmness she'd hardly experienced before, and yet…there was something strong, almost violent there.
"No worries," she said lightly, "I'm fine and no problems from my side."
"Oh, thank you Ma'am, thank you so much. I was split from the party of my Master, Gardulla the Hutt in the traffic outside and I need to catch up before the ship takes off, else my tracker will explode."
"Your wha…?" Bant began, but before she could finish the question she was stopped by her Master's not very Jedi-like elbow in her ribs.
"You better hurry then," Tahl encouraged the young woman. "Run if you must."
The dark haired woman disappeared in the crowd while Tahl tried to figure out what had actually happened. There had been something about that woman… Then she noticed her Padawan's unusually inquisitive presence.
"Master? What was that?"
"I'm not sure, Padawan. I think the girl must have been one of the Hutt's slaves. Slaves are often marked with a chip and if they come too far from the control unit the chip may explode," she explained, "so that's why I wanted her to catch ups with the Hutt. She simply couldn't be left behind."
"A….slave?" Bant sounded as she was close to being sick.
Tahl nodded. "Yes, slavery is a part of life here on this planet."
Chirrut had been standing quietly by their side during the exchange of words but now he chose to speak up.
"Ma…Tahl, there was something about her. She was shining. I mean, not literally, of course but she felt…important somehow? How come if she were a slave?"
"I don't know, Chirrut. I really don't know, but I felt something too. Unfortunately there's nothing we can do for her, so let's try to find the place on your holomap."
But even as she spoke she knew she was wrong. The woman had been important, very important. She just couldn't figure out how or why.
…
3 hours and many, many steps later they concluded that finding a position on a map was easy. Finding something that was hidden under centuries of piled up sand was worse. Especially when they couldn't even start digging for it. Tahl could sense a growing impatience among her young charges and she didn't feel particularly patient herself. They had walked back and forth the area where the old city wall should have been without seeing anything that stood out. They simply had to give up.
"Let's return to the ship," Tahl sighed. "If there's anything here we aren't able to find it."
Bant sighed as well, but Tahl wasn't able to say in this moment whether it was a relieved or exasperated sigh. They decided to take the shortest route to their ship, take off and then find a desolate spot in the desert for the night. They didn't want to leave the planet yet but still they wanted to get away from Mos Eisley before they drew too much attention.
"Tahl?" Chirrut asked, more timid than usually, "I'm hungry. Would you mind if I bought a muja fruit in one of the booths on the market place?"
"By all means," Tahl said, "please do, and buy one for Bant and me too. We're also hungry. I'd forgotten to eat. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to starve the two of you."
Chirrut felt it too undignified to run, but he set a straight course towards one of the booths on the market place. Tahl and Bant followed at a more relaxed speed. Chirrut was about to finish his deal buying three surprisingly fresh fruits from the old man behind the desk when Tahl and Bant approached.
Tahl felt something stir and on pure instinct she stepped forward to grab the fruit that for some reason had decided that now was as good time as ever to roll down from the pile of fruits for sale. She should have learned by now that stepping forward in cramped areas was not a good idea.
"Ow," she mumbled when her left big toe hit something rock hard in front of her (the rolling fruit was saved though). It didn't really hurt but she felt a bit annoyed at her own clumsiness. The old man responded compassionately.
"What happened? "
"Oh, I just stubbed my toe towards something when I stepped forward," Tahl explained while handing the muja back to it's rightful owner "I'm totally OK but it surprised me."
"I see," the old man's eyes glittered with a mixture of amusement and pity, "I managed to break one of the legs of my booth yesterday and I didn't have time to repair it, so I got up early and took this spot since the stones from the old city wall has approximately the right height. I'll fix it tonight."
Tahl almost gaped, and she had a clear feeling that the two youths did the same.
"The old city wall?" she repeated, fully aware that she didn't appear overly intelligent in the moment.
"Yeah, back in the old days, even older than I," the old man began with a glimpse in his eye, "Mos Eisley was surrounded by a city wall. There are some remaining stones from the old wall which appear sometimes when the wind blows the sand away. Mostly they're covered though, but a full fledged sandstorm came in yesterday evening and this time it blew the sand away from the wall. Of course the city has grown beyond the old walls during the centuries. I bet the market place wasn't located here back then."
"Interesting," Tahl responded. "When did the wall break down? Was there a war or something like that?"
The old man shrugged: "Nah, the wall was partly made of sandstone so most of it has simply been destroyed by abrasion of wind and sand during the centuries. Some of it's base was made of more solid rocks though, so that's why there is some stones still to be found. It was originally built to protect the city towards Tusken raiders but I think it only came to use once when the Warrior Queen attacked the city."
"Warrior Queen?"
Tahl was now fully aware that she sounded like a Ghamorrean parrot, but she had to get as much information as she could. She'd never in a moment thought that Chirrut's shopping would have lead to such good results.
The old man chuckled amicably. "It's mostly a myth I think, but it's said that a millennia ago, or even more, the city was attacked by well organised Tuskens lead by a warrior queen with flaming eyes. It was said that she united the Tusken tribes and wanted to end the fights between Tuskens and humans. She had the most peculiar way of doing so, I think."
"I understand what you mean," Tahl agreed, "it doesn't sound very peaceful."
"It wasn't. They attacked in the night and the fight went on for hours until the Queen was suddenly killed by a stranger. He was said to be an off-worlder but nobody really all, we consider it only a myth which we tell in dark evenings."
Tahl nodded.
"And this so-called warrior queen, was she an off-worlder too?"
"Again, nobody really knows. Legend says she was human," he snorted, "but I don't believe it. Humans and Tuskens don't interact well, so my guess is that she was some kind of Tusken too. The Tusken forces had made their way up from the Wastes, it's said. Not much to find there though. Only Tuskens, krayt dragons and the occasional sarlacc," he chuckled.
"The Wastes?" Tahl was back in parrot mode.
"Mhm, it's called Jundland Wastes. It's south of Anchorhead. There are some moisture farmers down there on the edge of Jundland Wastes but no human in his right mind goes into the Wastes. It's too dangerous for people there. The Tuskens are ruthless beings when it comes to intruders in that area."
"Well, thanks for the mujas and the storytelling. We'd better be on our way back home," Tahl concluded. "It was nice meeting someone with that much knowledge about the city's history."
And with that they left.
…..
Their ship was surprisingly cool compared to the heat outside. Obviously the heat hadn't managed to break through the insulation which usually protected them from the cold space. Tahl was incredible grateful for that, and so was Bant. Being used to the heat of Jedha, Chirrut was considerably less worse for wear.
As soon as the hatch was closed behind them, Chirrut asked the inevitable question: "What now?"
Tahl could feel the youth's eagerness to fulfil their self-defined mission combined with a certain amount of anxiety of what might come.
"I think," she said slowly, "we've learned a lot today. The old man's story confirms to some extent the story about Anera and Awan, or at least what we know about it. I should think we're ready to head back."
An almost palpable feeling of disappointment spread in the small ship.
"But, Master," Bant complained, "we haven't found proof yet, have we? Not really."
"I promised to bring you back safe and sound,"Tahl said slowly, "and you heard what the old man said. Tuskens may be dangerous to people and Jundland Wastes seems to be their territory."
"But we have the ship." Chirrut tried, "We can easily escape…?"
Tahl sighed: "Let's have a sweep over the area then, and maybe seek out one or two of the moisture farmers. Maybe they have some good stories to tell? We don't necessarily have to go into the Jundland Wastes itself."
The relief in the cabin was almost as palpable as the disappointment had been a couple of minutes before.
"Let's go!" Bant stated. "I do not want to stay in this terrible city for a moment more. Even Tuskens have to be better than this place. At least they don't take slaves. Do they?"