When they hear about him for the first time, it is by the mouth of one of their youngsters. He claims to have seen a small, smooth-headed creature at the south edge of the Shadowlands, and the adults all wonder if perhaps it had been a baby katarn, though it is rare that one of those lizards is born without spiky, knobby skin.
They dismiss the child's claim as nothing more than youthful fantasy.
The second time they hear about him, it is from the mouth of a survivor. Yytbi returns to their camp bloodied and torn, but alive. Katarns are truly vicious creatures, and they thank the gods that Yytbi survived. He tells them a small, hairless thing had saved him, driving off the predators with a glowing spear of light.
The description fits that of a Jedi, but the forests are far too dark for Jedi. So it must be some new kind of benevolent spirit. They decide to send a search party to find out.
When they find him, they suspect it is only because he wants to be found. His skin is dark, his beard is speckled, and his head shines like a miniature sun when the rare beam of light glances off of it. Dark, slightly manic eyes stare at them from above a toothy grin.
Is it… human?
The dark one tilts his head as if not understanding.
What are you? Man? Creature? Demon? Spirit?
The being raises a five-fingered hand to point at itself. "Jolee Bindo."
Yytbi insists that it could only be a spirit, and one of the elders immediately brings one of their prepared gifts forward. If this creature truly is a spirit, then they certainly don't want any trouble. If it originated in the Shadowlands there is no telling what harm it could potentially unleash.
The thing/spirit/man seems to realize what they are doing after a few seconds and backs away, waving the gifts aside and muttering some words in basic. "What is this, a tribute or something? I'm no god, I assure you. Not to you. To those scaly beasts, maybe, but that's what I was shooting for –"
Freyyr whacks the Jolee Bindo over the head with a loose branch and the man falls into a heap of ragged cloth and dark-skinned limbs (they know that he is a man now, because spirits are not solid). That settled, they sit tight and wait for the stranger to come to. When he does, they ask as many questions as they can think of, because it is rare for a being of his obvious knowledge to make his home where he has chosen to make it.
Beyysh owns, and knows how to operate, a translator so they fetch him from the village.
This Bindo, this human, tells them stories of distant lands, of wars, of various races and religions, of families torn apart, and of himself. While he laughs about some of it and tries for humor, it isn't hard to hear the undercurrents of frustration and sorrow. Beyysh, while sympathetic, is still amused that the human thinks them dull enough to not be able to understand the tone of his voice in spite of his laughter. Their own language is more colorful than Basic and has a greater depth of meaning than most. Beyysh, unprompted by anyone else, interrupts to ask a question of his own.
"So why are you here?"
Jolee doesn't hesitate. He shrugs. "It's where I ended up."
"Why stay?"
The human smiles. "It's interesting enough."
He has lost his purpose.
"You must possess great courage to make your home in the Shade," Beyysh offers.
Another shrug and the same unsmiling smile. "As I said, it's interesting."
He has courage, but is loyal to no one. Not anymore. He is –
There is a word in Shyriiwook that means both 'disenchanted' and 'lost', but there is no word in Basic to convey a similar idea. Beyysh understands, as does his tribe, but Jolee Bindo doesn't seem to understand himself at all. Worse still, he obviously doesn't care.
They feel they should pity him, but they don't. They come to a mutual agreement to leave each other alone and that's the end of it. Years later, when word comes to them that the man has attached himself to a foreign party making its way through the dark forests, they are neither happy nor sad.
Merely indifferent.
The Bindo man never asked for help, pity, or compassion. Neither did he give it unless the occasional situation called for it. Theirs was a relationship of mutual respect.
But when his new party of "friends" passed through their village before they left the planet, Bindo found Beyysh and shook his giant paw. "I thank you for your respect, my friend. I have found my way once more. Thought you and your people should know, since it's important to you and all."
He and Beyysh were never friends by wookiee standards, but he thinks that maybe they were by Jolee Bindo's standards. It doesn't really matter, because Bindo never returns. Nevertheless, it does warm the tribe's heart to learn that the "careless one" finally found it within himself to care again.