Episode One: Jedi of the Isles
Kashyyyk, Mid-Rim world and home planet to the Wookie's.
In the closing days of the Clone Wars between the Galactic Republic vs. the Separatist Alliance, this world held one of the last battles before the end. Then the time came...
Order 66.
The command triggered the biochips implanted in every brain in the Republic's clone army to attack any Jedi they see. Whether they were Jedi Masters of the Order to the younglings. None were spared, and all were put to the blaster.
Such was the fate of many Jedi, on many worlds throughout the galaxy.
On the Wookie Homeworld, few Jedi escaped the purge the clone troopers brought forth by running deep into the jungles of Kashyyyk, the Shadowlands.
Near the edges of the Shadowlands, several AT-RT ran across the rough terrain. Searchlights out in search of the missing Jedi. This team was soon intercepted by another.
"Any trace of the Padawan?" The intercept team leader asked.
"Negative." The Patrol leader responded.
"Let's move to the next sector. The Jedi couldn't have gone far." The dozen AT-RT's moved away into the night. A minute later, a dark shadow fell and landed near where the recon walkers stood before rushing deep into the forest.
This individual displayed several impressive athletic performances, from running on walls, tree climbing, and swinging from loose vines.
When the person reached her destination, she gave it a long panoramic view of her surroundings to be sure she was alone. When she was satisfied, she let out a tired sigh before leaning back into a tree and sliding down to the ground and sighed.
"That was too close," said the person's young female voice.
The individual revealed herself to be in the brown robes of the Jedi. Though, to the average person, you couldn't tell from the dirt and mud stuck to it. Drawing her hood back, revealed the girl's young dark tanned face and messy chocolate hair. In her hands was a white armor pack that the Republic soldiers used to carry their things.
"Okay... let us see what you have." The Padawan opened the pack. She pulled out several droid poppers and detonators. A DC-15 blaster pistol. And two field ration bars. "Not what I wanted, but it will due."
She put the weapons back in the pack and feasted on the ration bars.
Hiding out the Shadowlands of Kashyyyk for two days to get away from those in pursuit of her. Padawan Luz Noceda of the Jedi order was lost, scared, and very confused. Dodging search patrols and stealing supplies from the Republic camp to survive. Clone troopers of the Republic 41st Rangers that she and the rest of the Jedi fought beside for years, developed bonds of friendship and brotherhood through combat and war were trying to kill her.
Like they killed Master Unduli.
The Padawan shook her head. Now was not the time for thoughts. She needed to find another place to hide. The last recon unit was too close this time. They were still searching for her more after her recent raid for supplies. She would have to go deeper into the Shadowlands to hide. She needed someplace to think and plan her next move.
After another few minutes of resting, she got and rushed further into the forest. She soon stumbled upon an old wooden platform nesting between two roots of the giant tree through the dark forest.
"Good a place as any," Luz mumbles as she climbs up some roots to reach the wooden structure. Climbing on to the creaky boards, the Padawan concluded that the platform looks really old. Looking around, she saw an old wooden lift with a bunch of rope covering it. Luz figured this might be some kind of checkpoint the Wookies use to go to and from the Shadowlands. Meaning there may be a Wookie village above her and a possible way to contact anyone from the Order.
Looking down at herself, Luz could see she was a mess. Her traditional brown robes of the Jedi were matted and stained with dirt and carbon scouring. The boots she wore were caked with mud, and she could feel water sloshing between her toes. Bringing her hands up, she saw her callous skin starting to crack a bit from brushing up against the wroshyr wood and a bunch of dirt filling up under nails.
The Padawan felt weak and took a seat on an old bench and sighed at this whole situation as questions piled up. The most prominent being, "Why?"
She had personally been fighting alongside those clone troopers in the war nearly two years before they turned their blasters on her and killed Master Unduli. After everything they've been through, the laughs, the victories, and the losses we suffered, they unruly turn their weapons on us at the drop of a hat.
"It doesn't make sense!" Luz says while bringing her fist down and banging the spot next to her. "I'm so confused. Why would they do this? After four years of hard-fought battles, why would they be trying to kill us?!"
She then realized something. "If this is happening here, could that mean it's happening elsewhere!"
There are many Jedi Masters and Knights with their Padawans leading clone units all over the galaxy. If it happened to her, then it may be happening everywhere else. A cold dread filled her up as she could feel the taint of death through the Force as great darkness seemed to fill the air.
Luz reached into her robe and pulled out the last thing Master Unduli gave her before her passing.
"Padawan… trust in… your training… trust in the Force..."
Luz rolled the Master's lightsaber around in her hand. Black leather-wrapped around for a handle with the material tinted silver like most Jedi lightsabers. She had handed it off to her just before becoming one with the Force. Master Yoda instructed her once that a Jedi's lightsaber was a part of them and that Master Unduli entrusted it to her for safekeeping.
For the first time in memory, Luz had felt truly alone. "Oh, Master… What am I supposed to do now?"
"Hoot."
Luz shot up in alarm at the sound and drew her silver-hilted lightsaber, igniting its yellow blade while turning to face her opponent.
What she saw was a small bird.
Seeing no threat, Luz calmed back down and deactivated her lightsaber before laughing at the whole situation she was in. Here she was in a war zone, being chased down by former friends and jumping at the sound of birds. At little birds?! What would the other Padawans think of her if they found out about that? What a day this has been.
Luz got down to her knees and examined the bird. It was small, slightly bigger than her hand; bountiful brown feathers covered its heads and wings, while tan feathers covered its belly and legs. If someone imaged it right, the bird's color pattern could be mistaken for wearing Jedi robes. The funny thought uplifted the girl's spirit. Its golden-yellow eyes looked up at her curiously from its flat face and small orange beak.
"Hi, little guy, where did you come from?" Luz reached out in a slow, calm manner so as to not scare the little bird. It was then when her hand touched the small animal that she felt it.
The Force.
Now don't get her wrong. Luz was a Jedi. After all, she was trained to communicate with her surroundings and assist her in combat. And the Wookie homeworld was full of life with the Force flowing throughout it like one large waterfall. But this creature had the Force like she's never seen before. To describe it was odd. Different from anything she was used to.
Whatever this creature is, it was powerful in the Force.
"What are you?" Luz asked.
The response was the bird taking Luz's lightsaber out of her hand and hopping away with it. The act shocked the Padawan.
"Hey, get back here!" Luz shouted at the creature as it toddled away. "Give that back!"
Luz ran after the bird as they headed deeper into the Shadowlands, moving relatively fast for such a small bird moving along the ground. She watched the little creature approach an old abandoned hut and at the end of the path. She then saw the little thief fly into it before running after him.
"Oh no you don't!" Luz said as she ran into the hut, the door shutting behind her before a blue flash came from the house.
"Come here you little-Huk!" Luz fell to her knees and began dry heaving.
"What's… happening?!" The Jedi gasped.
To the Padawan, it was like the very Force itself was flipped over end. Everything felt different and unusual, and the young Jedi didn't know how to understand it.
Falling back on past teachings that her instructors growing up taught her, Luz closed her eyes and tried centering herself within the Force and blocked out everything else. A few moments after doing so, she opened her eyes back up and looked at her surroundings.
She was in some kind of tent, filled to the brim with all sorts of mysterious things. "Whoa, and I thought I've seen my fair share of weird stuff, but this," Luz picks up a coat hanger with a baby doll with a lizard body, "this is impressive."
"There you are!"
Luz snapped in the direction of the voice. Seeing a tent flap, she calmly moved towards it and peeked outside to see a woman with long graying hair that reached down her waist and a white polka-dotted green scarf wrapped around her head. The bird that took her lightsaber stood on top of a staff, standing still before the woman reached out and started twisting it around until the bird became wooden.
Luz gasped at that, having never seen anything like that before. Was she some kind of Force user, maybe the mysterious Gray Jedi she heard rumored of in the Padawan Maffia? Her focus was then drawn back to the woman as she rummaged through a brown bag of items.
"Now let's see what you brought me today," she said as she pulled out some kind of PDA, a diamond ring, and a shining gold cup. "Garbage, garbage, garbage."
Luz looked at her weirdly. She may not have known many things outside of the Jedi Order and the Republic military, but even she saw some value in some things she threw away. The woman continued to pull out stuff before she pulled out springy eyeglasses before putting them on and seeing the eye springs pop out. "Now, this will make me rich!"
The tan teen honestly didn't know what to think about that. She then saw the women pull out Luz's lightsaber. "Mumm… some kind of torcher device? Meh… it could sell it off as a kid's toy." She set it down at the edge of the table before rummaging back in her sack.
Seeing an opportunity, the Padawan crouched down and silently inched her way behind the women before leaning to the side where her Jedi weapon lay. Grabbing and feeling the familiar texture of her lightsaber, Luz plucked it off the table before sulking back to the tent. Seeing the door she came from, she started to walk back and to forget this slight detour.
Any hope of going back vanished when her exit was soon shut as the door suddenly folded in on itself and into a small carrying case and floated into the air.
"Nice try, kid." The lady said as she stepped into the tent, holding a strange key while she took off the googly glasses, revealing her serious face.
Luz didn't stop as she clipped her lightsaber to her belt and flung forward under the tent's edge, only thinking about running away from the crazy lady. That is till she found herself at a cliff and gasping at the sight before her.
"By the Force..."
Species of all shapes and sizes that she'd never seen in the Jedi archive dotted their little society. Some just walk down the street and greet others, some purchasing items from vendors. Overall it felt like an ordinary town you'd find in the mid rim.
The problem was that you wouldn't see something like this on the Wookie homeworld.
"I don't think I'm on Kashyyyk anymore," Luz asked herself as she backed away from the cliff before looking to see a purple little fairy girl flying near her head. "Oh, hi there, my little flying friend. You wouldn't happen to tell me what planet I'm currently on?"
The fairy just smiled at Luz before its mouth opened, showing Luz its oversized teeth from its completely undersized head.
"Give me your skin!" She said to the Jedi, her maw dripping with drool as she planned to eat Luz's skin.
Its face was quickly greeted with callous knuckles and sailed away off the quick.
"Oh, Force..." Luz breathed out to get that nightmarish image out of her head. "What is happening? Did I get killed? Am I in some bad place?!"
A hand suddenly grabbed her shoulder. Turning to its owner was the lady she was trying to run away from. "You wish."
The next thing Luz knew, she was sitting on a stool in front of the lady's table with her glaring at the Jedi.
"Look, I don't want any trouble. That bird took something of mine, and I just wanted it back." Luz explained quickly.
The woman hummed as she looked down at Luz's lightsabers. "Those must be pretty valuable then if you've come to take it back then."
"Valuable only to me," Luz responded, almost daring the woman to come and take her Jedi weapons. She appears to have gotten the message as she holds her hands in mock surrender.
"Relax, I can see you're willing to fight. Besides, you're a potential customer!" Luz blinks at the sudden shift in conversation.
"What?"
Luz blinked in surprise as the woman began pulling our several items that the Jedi had to keep an open mind with. An odd shoe she said was a foot full of holes, a bar of men's gel deodorant she thought was green candy, and finally, a small boxy monitor that she calls, "A black shadow box that reflects only sadness." All that was too much as Luz let out a small chuckle before standing up and taking the boxy monitor.
"Let me see that."
She looked it over with an appraised look at its primitive structure. As a Jedi, she had a duty to be a galactic peacekeeper. As for what duty that enthralls depends on what kind of Jedi they would become, whether it be a Guardian, Sentinel, or Consular. Luz fell mostly in that second roll. During the Jedi Temple Apprentice Tournament, her Master saw the balance between her skills with a lightsaber and knowledge in the Force. Nothing exciting except for how she approaches a problem that's in front of her. The piece of outdated tech in front of her was another problem that she glances at like one would solve a puzzle. Like any potential Jedi Sentinel, they love puzzles.
Opening a small hatch from its top, Luz placed two small batteries inside before pushing the power button. "Now, watch this."
The screen lit up, showing an old aerobics video that seemed to catch the attention of all the creatures around the market. Luz quickly put the monitor on the table before stepping away and letting everyone crowd around it. They were all transfixed by the image and the screen, bursting with a desire to own it!
"I'll give you 40 snails for it!"
"I'll give you 100!"
"Can I eat the tiny person inside?"
"I'll give you 200!"
The woman was impressed at the girl's knowledge of human artifacts and loved how it stirred up her business.
"What did you say your name was?" she asked as she looked at the dirty robbed human.
"Padawan Luz Noceda, of the Jedi Order," Luz answered with a smile.
The woman raised an eyebrow at the Padawan's introduction as she collected her customer's money. "Well, Luz, That was pretty clever for a human."
Now it was Luz's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Then what are you?"
"Oh, dear Child." The woman pulled off her scarf and showed Luz her two pointy ears. "I'm something else."
She then jumps onto her table. "I'm Eda the Owl Lady, the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles!"
"A witch?" Luz repeated. Slightly taken back by the declaration.
"I am a respected, feared‐‐" Suddenly, a masked man shows up.
"Busted!" He smashes a TV with his fist, causing the people surrounding Eda's stand to run away screaming. The man in a hooded tunic with a white wrap over his shoulders, black gloves, black pants with a belt and sword on his right hip, and black boots. He also had a large metal cone with eye holes on the sides for his face mask. The Masked Man then holds up a wanted poster with Eda on it. "Eda the Owl Lady, you are wanted for misuse of magic and demonic misdemeanors."
"You're a criminal?" Luz asked as she turned to Eda.
Luz slowly opened herself up to the Force and focused on Eda for any hint of what she was being accused of and sensed nothing.
"You are hereby ordered to come with me to the Conformatorium!" The guard said as he grabbed Eda's arm.
Eda quickly pulls away from the Masked Man's grip. "Would you guys quit following me around?! I haven't done squat."
Luz then yelps as the guard picks her up by her robes. "And you're coming too, for fraternizing with a criminal!"
"Say what?!" Having not believed what she just heard. It was like Ahsoka's trial all over again!
"Alright, alright, you win!" Eda said before reaching under the table. "Let me just get my stuff." She pulls out her wooden staff and knocks the guard right off his feet, and releases Luz.
Getting back up, Luz felt the Force being used behind her. Turning towards the source, she saw Eda levitate all the stuff on her table.
"Whoops. I can't forget this." Eda reaches into her hair and pulls out the key, pressing the eye to summon the portal door. She closes her hand into a fist, making the tablecloth wrap itself around all of her stuff. She sticks her staff through the bundle and starts running. "Follow me, human!"
Eda dragged Luz away from the guard, who slowly got up after the hit to the head.
Luz was near her breaking point at the madness she has experienced today. "This is crazy. If I die here after everything I've been through today, then I'm going to be one pissed-off Force spirit!"
Eda laughs at that. "Ha! I won't let 'em hurt you. A human like you is much more valuable to me alive than dead." The Padawan didn't like that answer.
"What does that suppose to‐‐" Luz tried to retort before Eda jumped into the air.
"Wahoo!" Eda jumps, pulling herself and the Human Girl onto her staff as the owl's wings on top unfurl while its eyes glow yellow. They take off into the sky as the guard runs after them.
Luz held on for dear life as they flew the landscape of the mysterious place.
"Flying wooden staff, crazy monsters, you're a witch! What in the nine Corellian Hells is this place?!" Luz shouted to Eda, who looked unbothered.
"This is the Boiling Isles. Every myth you humans have is caused by a little of our world leaking into yours." Eda explained as a giant beast flew beside them before spitting out spiders.
"Wow," Luz said as she looked back at Eda.
"Yep, you name it. Griffins, vampires, giraffes." Eda said before counting them off with her fingers.
Luz didn't know what any of those creatures were. The young Jedi held back any questions at the time and decided to focus on her surroundings. She was definitely not on Kashyyyk as trees here were red and short and not green and tall as skyscrapers.
The two land in a small forest; while settling down, Eda's hand remained on the staff, which surprised the Jedi to no end.
"Aaah!" Luz screamed back at the severed hand.
"Oops. That happens sometimes." Eda screws her hand back on and gestures for her to follow.
"You mean your limbs detach themselves whenever they want!" Her appendages did not look fake, and she could even see her bones! That made Luz shiver. "Whelp, I'm all adventured out for today and ready to head back home. I need to contact the Order and report in. Think you can help with that?" She asked the Owl lady.
The Witch looked the human over before smiling. "Only if you do something for me first. This way, human." Eda said before she laughed and dragged her bag of stuff with her.
Luz looked towards where Eda was walking to see a building through the trees. She sees a tower behind a strange yet mystical-looking house made from white brick with a sloping blue roof. The stained glass window above the door gives the impression of a large orange demon eye.
"Nice house."
"Thanks."
The two walked up to the place as Luz continued to look it over. "Aren't you worried about those guards finding us?"
"Nope. My house has a state‐of‐the‐art defense system," Eda boasted, gesturing to her home before looking at the owl face-shaped ornament on the door.
"Hoot, hoot. Password please?" The ornament asked, revealing itself to be sentient. Making Luz somewhat surprised to see a talking door before Eda poked it in the eyes. "AH!"
"We got no time for this, Hooty. Let us in." Eda said in a bored tone while Luz's eyebrow rose from the interaction.
"All right, alright! Geez! You never want to have any fun! Ow! Hoot!" Hooty opens his mouth wide enough to open the door completely. Luz felt a little put off about actually walking into the mouth of a sentient being but followed Eda inside.
"Welcome to... the Owl House!" Eda said with a snap of her fingers. Candles ignite. A fire in the fireplace starts, a cauldron starts stirring itself, and a broom starts sweeping the floor. Overhead, a depiction of an owl beast of some kind begins to glow with a great screeching noise.
Luz took it all in and felt overwhelmed at the different natures of the Force being used around her, and could not help but gape in awe.
"Where I hide away from the pressures of modern life. Also, the cops. Mm, also ex‐boyfriends," Eda said with a laugh.
Luz looked around to see a bunch of old stuff ranging from antique paper books to weapons decorating the wall. "This place is amazing, and you live here all by yourself?"
Suddenly, thudding footsteps shake the house, shocking the Jedi.
"Actually, I have a roommate," Eda said in slight annoyance.
Luz turned to a doorway and saw a shadow coming towards them. "What is that?!"
"That would be my roommate."
She readied herself for a fight but soon fell in disbelief when what came through.
"Who is the fool that dares intrude upon me?" He announced in an intimidating voice before being revealed to be a tiny creature with a skull head and wrapped in bath towels while holding a rubber duck. "The king of demons?" He said once again but in a high un-intimidating voice.
Luz laid eyes on the creature from the first glance. All the pain, sadness, and Jedi training went away. In her place was a regular teenage girl that saw something extremely adorable and rushed forward to it and scooped him up in her arms.
"By the Force! Eda, he's so cute! Who's a widdle guy? Who's a widdle guy? Is it you? Is it you?" Luz hugged the tiny creature to her face as she rubbed her cheek against his.
The demon struggled to free himself. "No! I don't know who your little guy is! Eda! Who is this creature?!"
"This is Luz, the human." Eda dragged Luz away from the demon. "She's here to help us with our… problem."
"Oh! Hooray!" The demon said happily.
Luz calmed back down and focused on the Witch. "Okay, so what is the problem?"
"Here, let me explain." Eda stepped back and waved her fingers in a circle, creating a magic visual as she explained their issue. Drawing more of Luz's attention as Eda explained the situation. "King was once a mighty King of Demons, until his Crown of Power was stolen, and he became-," Eda pointed at King who had somehow ended up back in Luz's arms. "-this."
"This little bundle of joy?" Luz asked as she looked down at the black fox demon.
"The crown is being held by the evil Warden Wrath and locked away behind a magical force field that only a human can breakthrough." The storybook circle fades, with Eda looking down at Luz hugging King. "A human like you, if you retrieve King's crown, and then we'll send you back to your realm. So whaddya say? Plus-" Eda picks up King by his face and shakes him gently. "-who could say no to this cute face?"
"No! Please don't encourage her!" King pleads before getting dropped.
"I mean, we're kinda your only way home."
"Mumm...You made your point at the end there," Luz said in good humor before she thought about her options. She needed to get back to the Jedi and find out what the heck was going on in the Republic. If that meant helping these two with their problem, then so be it. "Alright then, let's do this."
"Great," Eda said, looking happy before examining Luz, "but first, why don't we get you cleaned up? You could probably do good for a shower and something clean to wear." Eda drew a blue circle in the air and made a mirror with her magic.
Luz cringed at her reflection. Aside from her dirty Jedi robes, her shoulder-length brown hair was in a mess of tangles in split ends, traces of mud and leaves stuck in it, her Padawan braid nearly hidden underneath. Her chestnut eyes were rimmed red from when she cried earlier. Patches of dried dirt clung tight to her skin. Overall, she looked a mess...
"Could I..." Luz hesitantly asked.
"Bathroom's upstairs first door on the right. Leave your clothes outside the door and get yourself cleaned while I get them cleaned." Eda said, making the Jedi super grateful to the Witch.
"Thank you..." Luz thanked Eda before quietly leaving the two residents alone.
King gave Eda a strange look. "Why did you do that, Eda? You're never nice to people like that."
Eda looked at the doorway where Luz disappeared through. "I don't know, King. Call it a gut instinct. Something is telling me that human is in a lot of trouble and could use a little reprieve."
"What level of trouble?"
"Belos."
A tower loomed overhead, defended by a dark fortress as the sky was soulless and gray, giving anyone who looked at it a feeling of dread.
Luz looked at it with indifference. "What a happy place."
She stood tall, refreshed from the quick shower and clean clothing. Eda had come through and washed her Jedi robes with her magic. Her hair was cleaned and straightened out in a ponytail displaying her Padawan braid hanging loose behind her ear.
"Yep, the Conformatorium, a place for those considered unsuitable for society."
Luz notices Eda's wanted poster on the wall they're hiding behind.
"Wow, I've never seen a bounty price this high! They must really want you," Luz commented as she took it down and gazed at the number of zeroes on the poster, 12 to be accurate.
"Yep. But we're never been caught because we're too slippery." Eda said with a wink.
"Just try to catch me when I'm covered in grease! I'm a squirmy little fella!" King said as he pointed to himself before jumping off Luz's head, pointing towards the Conformatorium tower. "You and I are goanna sneak to the top where they're holding my crown!"
"While I make sure the Warden is distracted," Eda said as she gestured to herself.
"Stealth approach got it." Luz puts the wanted poster in her robe pocket before pulling her Jedi hood over her head. "How do I look?"
"Dark and mysterious," King commented.
"Oh, you'll fit right in," Eda said before she tapped her staff on the ground, creating a glowing platform for King and Luz. "Hang on tight!"
Eda stepped back as the platform rose them up and towards the window to the Conformatorium before it suddenly vanished and caused them to fall, if not for Luz grabbing the edge of the window and King grabbing Luz.
"A little warning next time would be great," Luz grumbled as she pulled herself up.
Eda, meanwhile, tosses her staff and casually sits down on it as it rises upward. "Meet you guys at the top of the tower."
Luz didn't say anything but gave the Witch the stink eye. She pulls herself up and drops to the floor with King waiting on her.
"Took you long enough."
"You're lucky you're cute, King," Luz said with narrowed eyes to King before getting up and walking forward, taking note of the number of cells inside the cell block prison.
King hops on her shoulder as she stops at the edge and looks down all the way to the bottom.
"Hey, hooded girl," a female voice said. Luz and King turned to see a woman with black hair in a high pony, wicked fangs, and green eyes wearing a yellow choker, purple dress with sleeves, in a cell with her arms crossed. "How'd you get out of your cell?"
"Sorry do disappoint, but I'm not a criminal," Luz replied as she pulled her hood down.
"Not yet, you're not," King said as he sat on her shoulder.
"Neither are us, that Warden likes to lock people up who don't fit in. Like, I write fanfics of food falling in love."
The Fanfic writer pulls out a book of said fanfiction. "I like food, I like love... Just let me write about it!"
"I'm here because I like eating my own eyes." From the cell next to the Fanfiction Writer, said a big creature with blue pants on and 5 eyeballs. He was about to demonstrate, but Luz rushed up and stopped him.
"Please don't do that." Luz pleaded.
Another prisoner then speaks up. Luz looks on the other side of the Writer. A small round creature with large blueish eyes, a very prominent nose, and reddish hair. She's practically just a head with no body, with her limbs coming out of it. Luz wondered how the Force could create something like that? "We are agents of fwee expwession! They will never siwence us!"
Fanfic Prisoner rolled her eyes. "She's massively into conspiracy theories."
"The world is a simulation! We are but playthings for a higher being!" The Conspiracy Prisoner shouted.
"These crimes are ridiculous! You didn't do anything wrong!" Luz said as she began pacing in front of them. Her knowledge of galactic laws was swarming around in her mind. "Sure, some of the stuff you do is weird, but there should be no reason for you all to be locked up about it!"
Luz pulls out Eda's poster and looks at it, wondering if the Witch was really a criminal or someone who was just misunderstood by society. A loud rumble soon took Luz out of her thoughts as it came at a steady pace and got closer to a door she saw.
"Oh no! It's Warden Wrath!" the fanfiction writer said as she turned to Luz. "Quick! Hide!"
Luz panicked a bit and ran into an opened cell next to the tiny nosed monster, pulling the door down behind her. There the Jedi waited with her hands hovering near her lightsabers.
The steps became as loud as thunder the closer he got to them. Revealing himself to be a large, muscular humanoid. Again, Luz couldn't recognize his species. He wore a hood and a mask with yellow button-like lenses and a long carved nose. A white sleeveless tunic with brass buttons, a leather belt around his waist with a brass buckle, and black trousers tucked into dark purple shoes.
"I can hear you… What are you fools whispering about?" He said as he looked at his prisoners.
The Warden looks down and sees the wanted poster of Eda on the floor. Luz clamped her mouth shut to keep her from gasping. Having not realized she dropped it.
"Eda, the owl lady," he said as he picked up the poster and crumpled it, turning his fist into a hammer and slamming it into Luz's cell door. Making King whimper at the action. "I'll get my hands on her soon enough!"
Luz gulps as she tries not to panic as his gaze drifts over her.
"Fight against the oppwessor!" Tiny Nose shouted, getting his attention off the Luz, making him turn his hand back to normal before he walked over to her cell. "We will wesist! We will conquer! We will never be afwaid of you, you old cweep!"
He then pulled the handle next to her cell door up and freed her.
"Hooway! I'm fwee! Eep!" She cheered before Wrath grabbed her in his hand and engulfed her lower body. He holds her up and points at the other two prisoners.
"Let this be a lesson to all of you. There's no place in society for you if you can't fit in." He tightens his grip, making the prisoner squeak again. Warden Wrath stomps away, crushing the crumpled-up wanted poster on his way out. Luz waited until the door closed before she opened her cell and went over to the two monsters left.
"Hold on, I'll see if I can get you guy's out." Luz went up to the levers and tested her strength against them. She went to the Fanfic Writer's cell handle, tried to push it up, feeling a lot of resistance in return.
"Kriffin hell," Luz swore. "They must have made these with the Warden strength in mind."
"Just get out of here while you still can, kid. Enjoy freedom for us." The Fanfic Prisoner walks away deeper into her cell.
Luz was stunned by what the Writer said. Never before had she heard such words uttered to her in such a defeated tone. It brought forth anger that was unbecoming of a Jedi. She could turn away and leave these innocent people to those that would harm them. It wasn't her mission to save these people. She needed to return to the Republic and warn the Jedi of what's happening on Kashyyyk. About what the clones did to Master Unduli...
But in doing so, she would be turning her back as one of the primary duties of a Jedi. So the decision for Luz was a no-brainer.
Luz breathes out and concentrates on the Force within her. She didn't feel comfortable with the Force signature of this world, so she instead used what she had inside her to strengthen her muscles.
Her efforts began to show as she was able to move it slowly upward. Before the FanFic Writer knew what was happening, unlocking mechanisms inside the wall flipped and opened the cage.
"Whoa," the Writer said, looking shocked.
Luz ignores her as she does the same with the eye-eating demon. "Go, you're free! Leave this place and head back to your lives."
The two now-former Prisoners looked at their newfound freedom. The Fanfic Prisoner puts her hand on Luz's shoulder. "Thank you." She then leaves.
Luz smiled at the deed she had done before picking up King and leaving.
"You just started a prison break, Luz. Now we are criminals!" King announced.
The Jedi rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say, King."
They continued on towards the contraband room where King's crown was being held.
Along the way, King decided to walk for himself and jump off of Luz's shoulder before Eda came flying in on her staff.
"Hey, I just checked." Eda hops off her staff. "The Warden is distracted, tormenting some tiny creature. He won't be coming around here anytime soon."
"He's also going to have his hands full with the prison break Luz caused!" King pointed out. While Luz just eye rolls.
Eda looked stunned for a moment before laughing. "Hot dog girl, I like your style."
They soon reach a towering door reading "CONTRABAND."
"My crown! It's close! I can sense its power!" King runs up to the door and fiddles with the doorknob that's as big as he is.
"Aw, he gets so cute when he's thirsty for power." Eda gushes as she watches King struggle for a bit until the doorknob comes off and throws it onto the ground with a clink. The girls watch as King tries to push open the door before. Eda looked at Luz and noticed the girl's down castrated face. "Why the long face, kid? You're acting all quiet and broody."
"I don't like this place, Eda. The Prisoners kept here aren't criminals. They're just misunderstood people that do things differently. They shouldn't be locked up for something they have that makes them stand out from others. It's not right!"
Eda looked at the kid with a mild look of understanding. Having an all too familiar feeling of what she was talking about. Before she could comment, King succeeded in opening the big door and ran inside. "Come on, before he hurts himself."
'ZAP!' "Ow!"
Entering the room, the Jedi and Witch see a big column of light in the center of the room. To Luz, the light reminded her of the ray shields the Separate would use. They walk up to King as he rubs his skull before charging at the pillar headfirst, succeeding only in launching himself backward.
"We have a human, remember?" Reminding the demon of the obvious.
"Oh, yeah." The demon said. Having forgotten that tidbit.
Luz walked towards the barrier and took a breath. She puts a hand against the pillar before walking through it. Slightly hesitant about Eda's warning, but that feeling left her as she went all the way through. On the other side, she was greeted with piles of junk. Things from books to weapons and plated armor. Atop the central one is a glowing crown.
"That must be it." Luz hopped on the pile and began climbing. Then she started to hear a faint wailing. "What?"
It was soft-like and seemed both distant and close by. It was also familiar.
Detouring around the pile of King's crown and removing a few pieces of junk, Luz found something rather unexpected.
"No way..." Luz reached down and grabbed the object of interest and held it into the light.
A Jedi Holocron.
"How did this get here?!" A Jedi Holocron was not something you leave lying around. Especially not in a pile of junk. "However you got here, I'm not leaving you behind."
Before she could hide it in her robe, the wailing became more translucent, almost song-like. "Whoa… It's like it's talking to me. Like… wanting to show me something."
"Hey, kid, you alright in there!?" Luz heard Eda's voice making Luz stuff the Holocron in her robe for safekeeping.
"I'm fine! Just a lot of junk to climb over!" Luz responded.
"Hurry up! We don't know when the Warden will be back!"
The Jedi continues to climb up till she gets close to the crown and recognizes it.
"You're kidding me...
The crown in Luz's hands wasn't that of gold and jewel but of paper and white ink with a logo of a local fast-food chain on it, "Burger Queen." She took the crown and climbed back down to the barrier before exiting and walking to Eda and King with the crown.
"My crown!" King jumps in place before taking the crown from Luz and placing it on his head.
"Yes. Yes! I can feel my powers returning! You, there. Nightmare critter." King points to a stuffed rabbit with one button eye falling out of a box and picks it up. "I shall call you Francois, and you shall be a minion in my army of darkness. Ha‐ha!"
"That crown does nothing for him, does it?" Luz said in a deadpan tone.
"Uh, no." The Witch admits and sees Luz glaring at her. Making Eda sigh.
"Oh, look at us, Luz. King and I don't have much in this world. Just each other. So if that dumb crown is important to him, it's important to me. And besides, weirdos like us have to stick together, you know?"
Luz looked astonished by the Witch's answer and smiled. The two were a family and cared for the happiness of the other. So even if the things they did were reckless and questionable. They would still be for each other.
"Well, then I'm happy to help." Luz nodded to Eda.
"Thanks, now since we're done, let's scram before the Warden finds us and loses his head," Eda said but unknown to her, Warden Wrath was coming right behind her. Luz, however, did.
"Eda, behind you!" Her warning came too late. Warden Wrath's hand turns into a blade, and with an easy swing, he decapitates Eda. Luz catches her head. Luz screams, seeing Eda sticking her tongue out like a fake corpse.
"OW! I hate that!" she said, somehow still alive and more annoyed than dead.
"WHAT THE...?! HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE?!" Luz shouted as she held her head out.
"Meh… This happens when you get older," Eda responds from Luz's arms.
"Not where I'm from, it's not," Luz said as she held Eda up to her face.
"Huh? Really?" Eda half asked in curiosity.
"Finally, I have you now, Eda the Owl Lady," Warden Wrath said as he shifted his hand back to normal and walked towards them, taking King's crown.
"WAH?!" He let out before jumping to reach his crown. Meanwhile, Eda's body somehow crawled around on the ground without her head attached.
"My guards could never catch you, but if I took something of importance from your pet, you'd come." he said before crushing the paper crown in his hand.
"No! My power..." King whined in sorrow.
"What is it that you want?" Luz demands.
"Yeah! Why do you want me? I haven't broken any of your stupid laws… In front of any of you." Eda said as she glared at the Warden.
"What I wanted..." Warden Wrath said as he reached behind his back and pulled out a bouquet of flowers before getting down on one knee. "Is for you to go out with me."
"What?" Eda and Luz said at the same time.
"Yeah! Go boss!" the guards behind him cheered.
"You've always eluded capture and always found ways of getting away," Warden Wrath said as he leaned in. "I find that attractive."
"This is by far the strangest love confection I've ever seen," luz admitted.
"Stay out of this!" Warden Wrath threw the flowers away and shifted his hand into tentacles before launching them at Luz.
The Padawan saw this coming and used the Force to jump away. Everyone watching was surprised by how the human could jump so high as she landed on top of the pile of junk where King's paper crown sat. Luz surprised them further when she threw her hand out, and King started floating unwilling towards them. After settling down, King had Eda's head shoved in his hands.
"King, take Eda's head and put her back on her body," Luz ordered the demon. "I'll hold off the lover boy and his henchmen."
"Luz, you can't really be serious about fighting, are you?!" Eda screamed to her as King held her head. "We can just think of something else!"
The Padawan smiled down at the two. "Don't worry, Eda, I've faced worse odds." She put her backpack on King's back before facing Warden Wrath.
Luz Force jumped up and somersaulted over the Warden and his Guards into a low crouch.
"Do you really think you can beat me?!" he said to Luz as he shifted his left hand into a blade. His two Guards pulled out a sword and a spiked mace.
Luz stood up and unhooked her Jedi cloak, letting it fall to the ground. She then grabbed her lightsaber, ignited its yellow blade with a SNAP-HISSS, and shifted to a 'Center of Being' stance. The lightsaber points horizontally, with the lightsaber hilt just below her chin.
The sight of the glowing blade gave the guards pause and Wrath an uneasy feeling. While King and Eda were surprised to see, Luz had brought out that strange cylinder.
Warden Wrath got over his surprise and confronted the young human. "You think a little light is going to help you?"
Luz smirks snugly at the Warden. "Oh, I know it will."
The Warden raised his right hand and signaled his men forward. "Restrain her."
The two Guards charged forth with their weapons in front of them. When they got close, Luz shifted into form 1: Shii-Cho, and delivered a Disarming Slash. With the guard's weapons in front of them, the lightsaber went through the simple iron and wood with little resistance. The Guards stopped their advance and stared dumbly at their ruined weapons. Luz went from left to right with a Sarlacc Sweep against them, not wanting to give them a chance to recover. Due to their big bodies, Luz's lightsaber didn't penetrate deeply into them, but they hurt non the less as the two Guards fell to the ground and clutched their chests in pain.
Warden Wrath growled at the Padawan. His men were easily bested by a human child. "Very well, human. You have my attention."
"I sure hope I do," Luz said as she got back into her center stance while the Warden shifted his right hand into a hammer.
"Who are you, Human," the Warden said as he readied himself to charge.
"I'm Luz Noceda, a Jedi!" Luz announced with a twirl of her lightsaber into a salute till it stood still in front of her face.
The Warden growled at the Jedi. Then suddenly was hit in the back of the head and fell to the ground. Behind him revealed Eda with her head back on her shoulders, smiling down at the defeated Warden.
Luz smiled at the Witch. "Took you long enough."
"Well, what can I say? I love to be fashionably late." Eda replied smugly. She then placed her staff in a take-off position and motioned her to get on. "Come on, Luz. Let's blow this joint."
Luz grabbed her cloak using the Force and hopped on with King lumping on her lap. With everyone on, the owl on top unfurls its wings.
"Hit it, magic stick!" Eda shouted at her staff, causing the staff to take off.
The trio flew through the halls of the Conformatorium, passing many cells with inmates cheering them on. As they passed them by, Luz used as much of the Force to open as many cells as she could. Those she freed cried out in celebration as they attacked the guards.
They soon busted out the front door and flew off into the night. Behind them, they could hear the sounds of intense fighting, more likely the Warden involved in roping up prisoners.
The trio landed and entered the house. Eda placed her staff on the sofa and turned to Luz.
"Whelp, a deal is a deal." Eda pulls out the strange key and presses the button, and up comes the strange yellow-eyed door.
Before she could move towards the door, the wailing song from the Holocron became louder.
"Hold on a sec," Luz said. The Owl House residence turns to see the Padawan fishing around in her robes.
"What's the matter?" King asked. He got his answer when the young Jedi pulled out the Holocron. "Whoa..."
"Kid, what is that?" Eda said, transfixed by the sight of its blue glow.
"This is a Holocron. They're information storage devices used by the Jedi to store knowledge. I found it on that mountain of junk near King's crown." Luz replied.
"What kind of information?" Eda asked, intrigued by how a crystal could store any wisdom.
"Anything," Luz explained. "Jedi like me use these to store all kinds of info. Lightsaber forms, Force techniques, historical events, I've even heard Jedi Masters use them to store all their experiences in them. Even going so far as to imprint themselves with the Force inside them to act as Gatekeepers."
"Interesting..." Eda rubbed her chin in thought at its implications. She then saw Luz closing her eyes and taking a breath. "Now, what are you doing?"
"This thing has been calling out to me, wanting to know something, and it's bugging me to no end."
"That thing can talk?" King said, bewildered by that thing.
"Not in the sense you know." Luz smiled at her cryptic answer. Having been on the receiving end of plenty of those. Now realizing why the Masters do it, it was a little fun.
Luz focused on the Holocron, reached out with the Force, and searched what it wanted to show her. After a few moments, she found it. Then the Holocron lighted up, its four corners turned to where the points fell over the face sides.
The Owl House residents jumped in surprise, and everyone was shown a glowing figure appearing over the Jedi Relic. Luz wasn't bothered by this and focused more on 'who' appeared.
Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi.
"This is Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. I regret to report that both our Jedi Order and the Republic have fallen, with the dark shadow of the Empire rising to take their place. This message is a warning and a reminder for any surviving Jedi, trust in the Force, do not return to the temple, that time has passed, and our future is uncertain, we will each be challenged, our trust, our faith, our friendships, but we must persevere, and in time a new hope will emerge, may the Force be with you… always."
The Holocron collapsed back to its storage form and landed back into Luz's hand. But it didn't stay there, and her hand fell with the Jedi artifact falling and tumbling along the ground as the Padawan quickly dropped to her knees. Luz felt her life just ended before her eyes.
"No… this can't be happening." Tears fell from her eyes as her whole world crumbled before her. "The Jedi… The Republic… gone?"
"Luz!"
Her head glanced up to see the faces of Eda and King. Both were filled with concern and confusion.
"What was that, Kid? What did all that guy say mean?" Eda said.
The teen was silent and tried to think of what to say. What could she say?
"Eda… It's gone. My home. The Jedi." Luz sobbed.
"I… don't know what to do..."