Jedova hopped off the starfighter, looked at the small village in the horizon and started to walk towards it. It was a good distance away, but he knew it was for the best to give the tribespeople time to recover from their shock. After all, he was not an invited guest.
Besides, he did not mind the walk. The untouched valleys of Kiros were one of his favorite places in the galaxy. Ragoon VI was more beautiful, but it had its dangerous predators. Kiros was more peaceful and thus allowed more time for just enjoying the scenery instead of staying on guard to stay alive.
Suddenly, Jedova could not help wondering if the people of Lianoros took this scenery for granted and how Arya would react when she would return there to get training on using the Water element. Would she appreciate this scenery after possibly seeing far worse places to live in, feel nostalgic, or feel indifferent for some reason?
Jedova knew that he would see that when the day of Arya's return would come.
Then he noticed three tall forms approaching him, riding some sort of mounts. Lianorosians, he sensed. He was positive that he sensed the Seer among them, but he was not sure about the other two. If the Seer was one of them, then those two other Lianorosians had to be bodyguards of some sort, the Jedi Master figured. He kept walking towards them, stopping only when they were about ten meters away from him. From that distance, he could easily identify the mounts as brekos and that in the middle was indeed the Tribe Seer. He was not sure if the red-haired man on her left side was Arak, Arya's eldest brother, although he was certain that he did not recognize the sand-haired Veledosian man on the Seer's right.
The three Veledosians stopped when they were three meters away from him. Jedova reminisced the Veledosian gesture of peace and decided to try to mimic it. He showed his lightsaber and held his hands up in the air.
"I come in peace," he told, hoping that it would be enough if his gesture failed.
He was surprised to see the Lianorosians respond to it with the same gesture. That was when Jedova realized that none of them had any weapons with them.
"Why have you come to us, Jedova Wang?" Seer Ni'Dea asked. Her tone was calm and cool. Jedova knew he did not remember the woman too well at all, but he believed that she sounded far more authoritative now. Whether it was because of formality or not wanting him to be there, Jedova had no idea. Maybe it was just because she had not spoken Basic in a good while.
"I have come to inform you about Arya's current situation," Jedova told, keeping his tone serene.
"Arya?" the man who looked like Arak asked.
"How is she? Is she ok?" asked the other man. Jedova started to suspect that he was actually Tureq, Arya's younger elder brother.
"She is..." Jedova started.
"Has she been chosen by someone?" the both men asked. Jedova was now absolutely sure that they were Arya's brothers.
"I cannot tell you if you don't let me speak," he remarked. The two men startled a bit and muttered their apologies.
"Arya is doing well. You have nothing to worry about her well-being. And, to the question about her being chosen, yes. I decided to choose Arya as my Padawan learner recently," Jedova told and looked at the Seer. "Shall we talk here or will you allow me to come to your village?"
The brothers looked at the Seer.
"Come with us," Ni'Dea said and turned her breko, her nephews following her example.
Jedova walked by Arak's side, trying to answer the questions the two men were bombarding him with. Sometimes the chatter was constant and seamless, and he did not a chance to say anything. He let that be; it was certain that all those questions had been bottled up inside the two men for a long time. Once the brothers fell quiet and Jedova had filled them in with the little information he could provide about Arya's time in the Jedi Order, he asked them, "How has the life been in your village?"
"After the shock passed by and everyone got used to Arya's absence, it has been the same old," the Seer told. "Days come, days go. We live our lives here where our ancestors decided to settle after they had to leave their homes. They chose the place well. We have no need to move away because of infertility of the soil or anything else."
"I take it that you have not been interacting with outsiders after I left?" Jedova asked.
"No. No one happens to end up here. Crash-landings like what brought you to us in the first place occur in our proximity rarely, so we don't have anyone to interact with than each other," Ni'Dea told.
"Why isn't Arya with you now?" Arak asked Jedova.
"I decided that it was for the best that I'd come here alone to see how things are going here. Also, since she is turning 13, an important age for a Padawan, soon, I decided to come here to look for a birthday gift for her. You know Veledosian customs far better than I do and I believed that you could have an idea," Jedova told. "I don't want to choose something usual which she could guess beforehand."
"Oh, I believe that we can all think of something, Tureq and Arak especially," Ni'Dea said and looked at the two tribesmen on her sides.
"What about Gamu?" Jedova asked, recalling the younger brother, who had been sick back when he had been at the village.
No one said anything. Jedova hesitated.
"I..." he started.
"Gamu died soon after we left to escort you and Arya to the capital," Tureq told and turned to look at the tall Jedi. "He didn't make it through the steppe fever."
"Oh," Jedova said. "I'm sorry to hear that."
None of the Lianorosians said anything. The village was now close.
"Welcome back to our place, Jedova Wang," Seer Ni'Dea said formally. "I really don't know whether or not I wish you to stay long."
"I hope to bother you for as little time as possible," Jedova replied. "Arya is waiting for me to return to the Jedi Temple."
Tribespeople shouted in shock as they saw the Jedi Master walking alongside the riding Lianorosians. People rushed away, yelling things Jedova could not understand; he only sensed the shock and fright. The tribe was still afraid of outsiders, it seemed.
What will it be like when I return here with Arya? the Jedi Master wondered. Will they be afraid of her just like they're afraid of me?
At the border of the village, Ni'Dea, Arak and Tureq dismounted their brekos. The Seer said something to the villagers who were still there in Veledosian, and Jedova suspected it was about his stay there since he heard his name mentioned. Then the Seer turned to say something to the Deinden brothers. As the duo took the brekos and left, Ni'Dea turned to talk to Jedova, "I'd like to talk with you about Arya at the temple. Are you fine with that?"
"Of course I am," Jedova answered.
"Then follow me."
Jedova followed the shortish Seer, sometimes glancing around himself only to see any tribespeople he'd notice hide themselves behind something convenient in fear.
"Why does everyone still fear me like this?" he wondered aloud, not actually believing that the Seer had an answer.
"They fear of the unknown. And just in case you haven't noticed, you are taller than any of us, even Arak, who is ridiculously tall by our standards. You come from Ancients know where, you have skills and weapons we can't guess. You could do horrible damage, maybe destroy us all. That's what they're most afraid of: oblivion," the Seer told.
"Destroy everything?" Jedova repeated in horror. "Destruction is not the Jedi way, has never been. And I follow what I've been taught in the Order by my elders."
"I believe you, Master Wang, but when you live all your life without interacting with anyone else than your own people, your own way of life, you can't tell anything about outsiders but the risk they might possess towards your life and your community."
"Don't my intentions show in the Force?"
"They do, but you are just as inscrutable as any of us, perhaps even more with the powers you possess. The intentions you show may be true, but they may also be a pretense, or we might interpret your presence in the Force in a wrong way. There's no other way to determine which of the possibilities is the correct one than take the risk of getting killed."
Jedova did understand this. Suddenly, as yet another tribeswoman ducked to the safety of her home when he looked at her, he understood this behavior. It made sense as he looked around himself, seeing only modest, simple buildings. Even the temple had been built of clay of some sort along with the rest of the buildings. Destroying the village and its people would not take much effort from any off-worlder with proper weaponry. In theory, a single lightsaber in the hands of a darksider could be enough.
Jedova followed the Seer inside the temple, marveling the hinges of the door. He rarely saw them used anywhere as they had been vastly replaced by hydraulic systems in the places he usually went to, so he took them for granted and could not help being surprised every time he found a hinge in a place in which he usually could find only other, more advanced mechanisms.
It was rather dark in the corridor of the temple, but he still could see well in there. They went into a big room with wall paintings everywhere the Jedi Master looked and many items he could not identify in the front. Everything there was both strange and very intriguing to him and so he could not help feeling curiosity raise its head inside him. In fact, it took a lot of self-control to not ask things like a youngling.
The Seer cleared her throat, discreetly asking for his attention.
Jedova turned to look at her. "What do you want to know? I can't tell much aside from the two weeks Arya has been my apprentice."
"You already told quite a lot, but I'd like to know how she has adjusted to things out there. And I can't help but wonder why no one else has chosen her all this time," Ni'Dea told.
"I believe she has adjusted well to the change. I wasn't there to watch how she started to fare when she was placed to study with other younglings her age in Boma clan, but the clan caretaker told me that she did very well during all of her time as a Jedi Initiate. However, the latter matter is a rather difficult case."
"You seem to know about it, so please enlighten me, Master Jedi."
"Arya got through the Initiate trials at the age of ten, and after that she was eligible for being chosen as a Padawan, but those Jedi who were interested in taking her as their apprentice were either worried about her connections here or her temperament. Since my previous apprentice, Degu Odg, was knighted about six months ago, I could take Arya on as my apprentice now that I met her again."
"I was actually expecting to hear that. I guess we Veledosians have never been the favorite in the galaxy."
The bitter words made Jedova rise on the defensive. "I believe Arya's case is an individual one. Since she is the only Veledosian in the Order at the moment, no one has anything to compare her to, so they have to go by standards of their own rather than which would suit Veledosians."
"Let it be. You chose her and that's enough. When are you going to tell her that you came here?"
"On her birthday, I believe, given that you have something to do with my choice of the birthday gift."
"And if not?"
"Either then or after that, when she is ready to come here. For the time being, I believe it would be for the best to secure her position in the eyes of... well, everyone. Especially the High Council. They don't seem to trust that Arya's tutelage with me will last for long. Or at least that's the feeling I have gotten."
"So after her 13th birthday in any case." Ni'Dea's voice was indifferent.
"Yes. Do you prefer any time when I should bring her here to train?"
"Any time is fine with me as long as she is ready for it. It does not matter whether or not we know when you're coming; you'll startle the tribe anyways."
"I see. How can I know when she is ready?"
"Trust her judgement on that with respect. It's not her readiness for the training which worries me. It's her readiness for returning here. Many things have changed, and she may find that those who used to be her friends don't seem to even remember, let alone recognize her. This must have become an alien place for her during her time in the far greater world than that of our tribe."
"I see."
Ni'Dea kept prodding him with questions about Arya and how she was getting along with others, especially Jedova himself, and Jedova did his best to answer with the limited knowledge he had. For some reason, when such questions were asked by Arya's aunt who had not seen her for many years, they did not feel as odd as when asked by a Jedi high councilor. It just made more sense that the Tribe Seer, who would be responsible for a part of Arya's training, wanted to know how her niece was doing so far away from what had been her home once.
At some point, someone knocked the doorframe. Tureq and Arak were there.
"Excuse the intrusion," Tureq said. "Arak here just wanted to know what kind of a gift you were looking for, Master Wang."
"I have lots of ideas, but I believe you have certain standards," Arak noted.
"It has to be something small. It'd be for the best if it was something so small that she could carry it with her. Something that would remind her of where she came from, maybe. Or I don't know. Just something small. Practicality would be a great addition to it but not necessary," Jedova told. "I have absolutely no idea of what I'd be looking for."
"Small. Preferably pocket-sized, maybe practical. Ok, thanks!" Arak said. After that, he disappeared to the corridor. Tureq stayed just enough enough to bow to them before following his brother.
"I do have ideas of my own, but Tureq and Arak know Arya better and may have better ideas than I do. They're her brothers, after all," Ni'Dea said.
"What ideas do you have?" Jedova asked.
"Something about Veledosian myths and legends or our traditions. Of course, the size limit makes things much more difficult," Ni'Dea said and gestured around herself.
"So, these items are about your mythology?" Jedova asked.
"They are all about our mythology, traditions, ways of habit, culture. Some I need for rituals or sermons, some are for storytelling, some are preserved artifacts from Veledos, but all of them are about our people, about our culture," Ni'Dea told.
"I see," Jedova said quietly. He could not help but marvel the amazing work of handicraft he saw all around himself. Any Jedi artisan would love to see these. "I wish I knew something more than just a tiny fraction about all this."
"I'm sure you will learn quite a lot from Arya if you let her talk and listen to her." Ni'Dea's smile was foxy. "In the meantime, let us handle 'all this'."
About an hour later, Jedova left the temple. The sun was setting and Ni'Dea had assumed the authority to invite the Jedi Master over to her brother-in-law's house.
"I just have to warn you that Regemo is not what he used to be," Ni'Dea told before she knocked the door and opened it.
"Hey, aunt, you decided to take Master Wang to stay here?" Arak called out from the other side of the main room.
"If you don't mind," the Seer said and looked around the small kitchen, where what remained of the Deinden family was.
"Why should we?" Regemo asked, visibly depressed. "We've had that one room for spare for seven years already."
Jedova swallowed and tried to ignore the feeling of intruding the life of his Padawan's family. He could not help but feel like he was the most unwelcome intruder in the whole sector. After they settled at the table for dinner, Tureq and Arak filling the space in with useless chatter.
Then they started to talk business.
"So, Master Wang, we gave some thought for ideas for the birthday gift for Arya," Tureq said.
"We have a couple of ideas," Arak continued.
"I would appreciate if my idea of having some of our culture in it fits in there," Ni'Dea noted suddenly.
"Actually, it does," Arak said and put a small, gray marble on the table. "Remember this?" He pushed a button and the marble formed into a coiled snake-like being with wings. "Arya loved these. And since the lore of the Ancients was her favorite, we figured that maybe we could put them all together. I'm sure my mentor, Ta'koa, can help with that."
"And I have enough skills at engraving, so I can do that part," Tureq told.
Jedova blinked and tried to find words. This was certainly a complex work of fine artisanry that would require a lot of work. "I can't ask you to do all of that."
"Nah, you are not asking us to do that," Arak noted.
"We are asking you if our idea is eligible so that we can turn it into reality because we want to do that!" Tureq continued.
"Well, only if there is something I can do for it. It would not be right if I let you do all the work," Jedova told, trying to find a balance between calmness and visible discomfort. "I believe you don't use credits as a currency for payment, right?"
The brothers looked at each other, surprised. Then they started to laugh.
"Well no! We make arrangements and agreements here about the payment!" Tureq noted.
"I'm sure we can agree on something, though," Arak noted. "But hey, does this mean this will be it?"
"I guess so," Jedova said.
"All right. Let's see about this all tomorrow morning, decide what can be your payment and make this beauty a reality. You ok with that, Master Wang?" Tureq said.
"I am," Jedova told.
"It's settled then," Tureq said and gave his big brother a high five. Then they all concentrated on eating, the brothers still filling the silence with chatter. Jedova felt awkward; as Regemo and Ni'Dea stayed silent, he could not help feeling being unwelcome.
Later in the evening
"Good night then!" Tureq said and closed the door. Jedova went to the window and sat down to look through it. Finally, he had a moment of peace. He could contact Arya now and hope that it was not night on Coruscant yet.
"Arya Deinden here," the girl's voice sounded through the comlink.
"I hope I didn't wake you up, Padawan," Jedova said.
"Master? Oh, no, I had just finished my evening meditation. Is everything all right?"
"Yes. I have arrived at my destination and things are going well so far. I just wanted to tell you that so that you don't need to worry," Jedova told.
"That's great to hear!" Arya' voice was sincerely delighted. "What's up out there, wherever you are?"
"Some important things. I will tell you when the time is right, I promise," Jedova said.
"Alright. I'll hold onto that promise, Master," Arya noted.
"How are things going in the Jedi Temple?"
"My classes were ok. I am a bit behind because of my old timetable, but I can, and will, catch up with the others. I'm discussing about the timetable arrangements with my teachers during the week until we get things into an order. I see that you had already went on and given me some help on that matter before you left."
"Ah, yes. I did some explaining on your behalf while you were busy after finishing your lightsaber. I left the actual arrangements to you since you know your studying style better than I do."
"I appreciate that, Master. Thanks."
"You're welcome, my Padawan." Jedova wished Arya could have seen his smile. "I will go to sleep now. Good night."
"Good night, Master." That was the last thing Jedova heard before he shut his comlink and got up from the floor. He walked to the dusty bed which had been made for him – Tureq had been the only one who had dared to come to the room. He said that this had been the shared room of Arya and Gamu and that no one felt like going in there. Jedova sat down and took a look around the room. There were small objects, some toys, left on random places on the floor, all of them untouched.
Jedova felt sad to see it all, and partly responsible for this situation. He had been the one who had taken Arya away from the village although it had been on the persuasion of the Tribe Seer. That was a bad excuse, though; he had been the one who had agreed to take Arya away. Lying down, he tried to find a comfortable position on bed that was too small for him; every single turn made dust come up, every time he adjusted his head on the pillow the dust came to his nose and mouth. It was hard not to gag at the taste of it, but even harder was not to sneeze.
He sought the peace of the Force so that he could fall asleep. Trying to ignore the flickers of old grief that were all around him in the Force like stains, he slowly found his way to an uneasy sleep as the village became quieter than the gardens of the Jedi Temple.
/Star Wars (c) Lucasfilm, any characters you cannot find on Wookieepedia, Veledos, Veledosians and their language (c) Me/
