Gu Long and Guest, thanks for the reviews.

Chapter 9 – The Elder

Char was strolling in the jungle of Yavin IV. The air was moist, he was surrounded by thick trees, plants and brush and he was constantly attacked by leeches and mosquitoes. The sun was passing through any miniature hole it could reach and illuminated the green background. He had been warned not to go too deep into the jungle but he had not heeded that warning, mostly because he was bored and had nothing else to do. The leadership of the Resistance would not trust him with any important tasks and Rey was training with Luke and Jonathan. He hadn't seen her in days.

"From Admiral to…stroller!", Char said. "Not to say that strolling in the jungle proves to be far less enjoyable than I thought!"

As Char was walking forward, he saw the entrance to a cave. Guarding the cave were two huge marble statues of lions. Their look was ferocious; they looked as if they were to suddenly come to life and charge at any intruders. Char had not been told about that cave and so it ignited his interest.

He searched the ground for a stone. When he found a large one, he threw it at the cave's entrance. This was a smart move to make, as suddenly poisonous darts darted out of the lions' mouths. If he had walked into the cave without first doing this, he would have been killed by those darts.

"Smart.", he commented and walked forward carefully and slowly, while looking at the ground for any booby traps. The cave mouth was of impenetrable blackness. As Char stepped in he watched his shadow dissolve into the surrounding darkness. Small, loose stones littered the floor.

"I cannot see anything...", he murmured. He quickly got out of the cave, grabbed a branch of a tree and used it as torch. He then walked back into the cave. The torch created a flickering orange glow that allowed Char to see where he was going. As he walked deeper into the cave, he noticed that on his right side there was a drawing on the cave wall. It depicted people dressed in Jedi robes holding lightsabers and fighting. Char was amazed by this painting and touched it. Suddenly, the earth shook, the cave's entrance collapsed and darts shot out from both sides of the cave from hidden mechanisms.

Char sprinted forward, trying to dodge the darts, some of which flew right in front of his face. As he was running, he noticed that the cave was leading to a room. He jumped forward and got inside the room. He then let out a sigh of relief. "That was close!".

Char inspected the room, trying to find a way out. He saw that on the left corner of the room there was a wooden door. "This must be the exit.", he said. "Or I hope so… Otherwise, I will be stuck here."

As he was about to walk there, he noticed that the floor leading up to the door was made up of stone tiles. Half of them were black and the other half white. "I wonder which one is safe to walk on…"

He threw a coin he had with him on a black tile. Nothing happened. "I guess the black tiles must be the safe ones."

As he walked on the black tile, suddenly he heard a 'click' sound. He then heard the sound of something cracking on the roof. The roof suddenly cracked and hundreds of snakes began falling on the floor. "What the hell?!", he shouted. He rushed forward, dodging snakes falling from above and trying to make his way to the door. Suddenly, a snake fell on his head; Char's heart beat fast. He was terrified but with a quick move he grabbed it and threw it away. "Why wouldn't I stay in the base?".

As he reached the door, he smiled but his mood soon dampened. To his dismay, the door had no handle to open it. Seeing the snakes crawling towards him, Char charged at the door and crushed it. He then sprinted to the next room. To his horror, it was littered with skeletons. Spiders laced the walls with cobwebs of intricate beauty. As he walked around the room, he saw that there was a beautiful medallion around the neck of one of the skeletons. The medallion had a bright red stone on it that glowed.

"That medallion sure is beautiful."

Char took the medallion from the skeleton and placed it in his pocket. "It's not like he is going to need it...", he said. He walked further forward and saw a pathway illuminated by light. "This must be the exit."

Char followed the light and got out of the cave. He let out a sigh of relief and smiled. "I found my way out!"

"Quite impressive!", a middle-aged man said. The man was blind and walking with the help of a cane. He was bearded and had short black hair. "No one had ever got out of this cave alive. Haven't you been warned by anyone of this cave?"

Char was surprised to see the man. "You are…?"

The man grinned. "I am Jai, but you can simply call me 'old man'."

"You…are with the Resistance?"

Jai laughed. "No; I'm just an old man living as a hermit. I am content with staying out of the affairs of this turbulent world and spending my time strolling and cooking."

He then paused for a moment and sized up Char. "So, are you with the Resistance? You do look like a military man..."

"I suppose so..."

"You are a military officer?"

"No. Not anymore..."

"So, what exactly are you doing?"

"Nothing.", Char awkwardly admitted and sighed. He was an energetic person, a man of action. The thought of him spending his days doing nothing irritated and despaired him.

Jai warmly smiled. He patted Char on the shoulder and said, "This may not be a bad thing actually. What is your name?"

"Char..."

"Well, Char, take this piece of advice from me; it may be better to stay out of the world's affairs. Instead of pursuing power and glory, you can focus on things that really matter and live a quite and happy life."

He paused. "Why don't you come to my house? Its been a long time since I had a visitor."

Char sighed. "It's not like I have anything better to do..."

Jai led Char to his house; a hut to be more precise. The hut crouched in the shadows like a sleeping bear. It had wooden walls with a small opening at the front. "Please, come inside. I will brew you some tea.", Jai said and Char followed him inside the hut. Char sat on a mat, as the hut had no chairs. There was only one small round wooden table. Jai quickly brought a cup of green tea whose fragrance filled the hut. As Char sipped their tea, he marveled at how tasty it was.

"I see you like my tea.", Jai smilingly said. "I will bring you some cookies too. Its a recipe I learned from a famous cook from Alderaan."

Jai then quickly brought a plate of cookies. Their aromatic fragrance overpowered every other scent that lingered in the room. Its delectable aroma pervaded the air- a melange of honey dew, orange preserves and dabs of crackling nuts. Char crunched a cookie and nodded in approval. "Its very tasty. You are an excellent cook. If I was still Admiral, I would have promoted you to be my personal chef."

Jai grinned. "Thank you for your praise."

He then sat on a mat, lit up a wooden pipe of his and began smoking. Grand puffs of smoke curled around his head. "So, you were an Admiral? Of the Resistance, I suppose."

"No. I was Admiral of the First Order.", Char admitted.

"Oh?", Jai exclaimed. "That is most interesting. Why did you join the Resistance and gave up your position?"

"Because of...love?"

Jai laughed. "I see! You remind me of myself when I was young. Unfortunately my story did not have a happy ending..."

Jai could feel the muscles of his chin tremble. His eyes dripped a few tears but he quickly brushed aside all memories of his past and put up a smile. "To return back to you, I am impressed with the fact that you made your way into the Jedi temple and managed to get out. No one has ever achieved that, as far as I know at least."

"Jedi temple?", Char asked.

"Yes. What do you think this cave you walked into was? The Resistance has issued a warning to its soldiers to not approach the cave. The few foolish enough to go inside have never come out. Weren't you warned about this?"

"Apparently not..."

"This temple was build by Jedi fugitives fleeing from the Sith thousands of years ago. At that time, most Jedi had been eliminated and so this temple provided safe haven for the few who had survived. For some reason, the temple was abandoned. Locals name it 'the cursed cave' and report seeing the ghosts of the old Jedi. When the Rebels established their base here, they heeded the locals' advice and forbid their soldiers from going into the cave. The Resistance follows their example and it too has warned its soldiers to refrain from entering the old temple."

"I can assure you that getting out of this cave was no easy task.", Char said. "I was barely able to escape. That place was filled with booby traps."

Jai thought about it a for a moment. "You may be the one."

"The one?"

"I have been wanting for some time to find someone capable enough to learn my swordplay. While I do not have much interest in the affairs of this world and like to live as a hermit, I do find that it would be a waste if I do not pass on my skills to someone. By making your way out of this temple, you have impressed me enough to take you as a disciple."

Char smiled. "You? A fighter?"

Jai smirked. "What? You think because I am a blind old man I cannot beat you up? Try me."

"I do not want to fight you."

Jai pointed his cane at Char's direction. "It is a friendly spar. I will not hold it against you if you attack me."

Char swiftly attacked Jai with his right fist. Jai used his cane to first block Char's fist and then hit him on the chest. The whooshing sound of the cane revealed the great strength put behind each movement of Jai.

Char gaped in astonishment. "How did you do that?"

Jai smiled. "I am blind, not deaf. One does not need his eyes to be a great warrior. In fact, eyes can be a hindrance since they distract you. You need to use all your senses, not just rely on what you can see."

"I see... Well, it may be of value to learn your swordplay after all..."

Jai laughed. "Good! But I am not someone who tolerates slackers. You will have to work hard."

"I am more than happy to oblige. I had been bored to death in the past few days. I need to work, to do something."

"Oh, I can assure you that you will have lot of work to do..."

Jai grabbed a wooden staff and threw it at Char. "Lets' go out", he said. Char followed him outside the hut. Trees tall as cathedrals surrounded them, and a strange green light shimmered through the vast canopy of leaves. Char took on a defensive posture. Jai lunged forward and his cane collided with Char's staff. A loud sound was heard and it seemed like the earth shook.

"Good!", Jai said. "You are indeed skilled."

Char pointed his staff at Jai and thrust it towards him. As the staff sped forward, a loud sound was heard, revealing the strength behind the thrust. Jai did not even move his feet. His cane flickered and hit Char's shoulder.

"Too slow!", Jai barked. "You must attack faster!"

Char attacked again; this time he pretended to attack Jai's head and midway retreated by a step and changed the direction of the staff to Jai's chest. Jai was of course able to see through this deception and quickly blocked Char's staff with his cane, but he smiled. "Good! Now that is some good fighting."


Char had returned back to his room in the Resistance base after training for about an hour with Jai. He was exhausted and sweating. He went to the bath and washed his face with some cool, fresh water. He then took some time to examine the medallion he had found in the Jedi temple. Its red stone glowed brightly and dazzled Char with its beauty. "It truly is one of a kind!", he said. He then put the medallion around his neck. It was at that moment when he hard someone knocking the door.

"Who is it?", he asked.

"Its me.", Rey said.

"Come in."

Rey walked into the room and smilingly said, "Hi. We haven't talked for days. How have you been doing?"

"Well, I suppose... It would be better if we could spend more time together though."

"We can go for a stroll together now, if you want.", Rey replied. "I would love to chat with you. We have lot to say."

Char grinned. "I am happy to oblige."


Char and Rey strolled outside the base. It was late in the night. They gazed at the millions of bright stars and the silver glow of the moon on the dark sky. The stars looked like fireflies, illuminating the atramentous curtain of sky.

"So, how has is your training going?", Char asked.

"Pretty well, actually. But enough of talking about the training! Lets forget all about Jedi, wars and everything bothersome.", Rey said and smiled. Her smile was warm, genuinely sweet.

Rey pointed at the bright stars and said, "I remember back in Jakku we used to gaze at the stars. Now, after so many years, we still gaze together at the stars."

"You always wanted to travel around the Galaxy. You were ever curious about other worlds."

"In Jakku you were the only person who cared about me. The best memories I have are the ones I share with you. When you joined the First Order, I thought I could hate you but I was fooling myself."

She paused for a moment and took a deep breath. "I love you."

"What?", Char said. He was both taken aback and instantly filled with joy. He had been thinking about this day and night since he met again Rey but did not dare to speak of this.

"That's was why I avoided you in the past few days.", Rey admitted. "Jedi are not supposed to love, I didn't know how to bring it up to you but I could not deny it. You were always more than a best friend for me."

Char was at loss of words. He simply smiled and said, "I too love you."

Rey moved her head closer to Char. He sat frozen, from both fear and excitement. She leaned in, so her forehead rested against his. They closed their eyes. Both their breaths were shaking. Rey gently leaned in and kissed Char's warms lips. They pulled apart and took shaky, shallow breaths. Unable to contain themselves anymore, Char held Rey's head in his hands and pulled her into a fiery and passionate kiss.

"Once the war is over", Rey said, "we can return back to Jakku and be live together for the rest of our lives."

"That would be the best thing that could happen."

Char could now understand what Jai meant when he advised him to stop chasing after glory and focus on things that matter. All those years he had been focused on climbing to the top and gaining glory and power. He had forgotten what a genuine smile was like, what love and affection were like. Now, without any grand title or troops under his command, he was happier than had ever been and genuinely joyous.

"We should go back to the base.", Rey said. "I feel a bit tired. It must have been the training and all that excitement."

"Well, it is late in the night, so we should get going."


After he had bid goodnight to Rey, Char returned to his room. For some reason, he was feeling move alive than ever and energetic. He wasn't sure if it was because of his kiss with Rey or due to some other reason. As he took the medallion off his neck, he noticed that its red stone was brighter than ever. He could almost sense a feeling of prowess coming from the stone.

"Whatever this medallion is", Char said, "it is more than just pretty. It must be a Jedi artifact. I can feel as if it has a life of its own. When I touch it, I can feel as if it holds some kind of power."