The Heart of the Guardian

[Ral]

"Interesting," The young, dark-haired master remarked as he ran a hand through a deep gouge along the wall of the cave. "Perhaps they were something even I haven't seen then. Wouldn't it be interesting if a Krayt Dragon had made this its home?" He chuckled slightly. The master certainly did not want to encounter a gargantuan lizard on their little excursion as it meant that thing could turn violent, something Kai did not want, especially considering how rare the creatures were. Killing one, even in self-defense was a sin in his opinion. As Saana agreed to come with him he smiled, "I guess that's a good thing. Would hate to go find this cave's treasure all by myself." He winked as he moved along.

They continued down the tunnel until they came to a large chasm, the light of the entrance almost gone. Kai had felt it before they had reached it, or perhaps it would be more appropriate to say he felt the absence of something before Saana's light shined on it. Seeing the cave continue further on just past the chasm, Kai looked down into the dark depths below. Humming to himself, he smiled as he looked at the red-skinned Togruta. "Saana, did I ever tell you how I got the Solari crystal for my lightsaber?" It was a rhetorical question as he was sure he hadn't. "I went with my friend Jade, a Pantoran, to Orto Plutonia. We had both been feeling drawn to the planet after a recent expedition for lightsaber crystals. So, we went to the frozen world. We found a cave, and in the cave there was a bit of a collapse, I fell down a chasm much like this one and was separated from Jade. While I made my way out I came to a crystal cave, it glowed and sparkled with a thousand thousand crystals, and there I saw a... woman, or apparition, I'm not sure which yet, maybe even a Force ghost. This woman was a Pantoran, she asked me questions, she tested me, and she gave me this," Kai held up his lightsaber, referring to the the silvery-clear crystal which was housed inside of it. "Do you think the Force is guiding you onward or," he looked into the endless black. "Downward?"

 

[CJ Solo]

Saana chuckled a little. "Are you considering going from Jedi Master to treasure hunter, Master Kai?" She flashed him a quick smile before she followed him inside. There was only a brief moment that she paused as she glanced at the gouges in the stone that he pointed out.

"They are formidable creatures, and rare as I understand. I would not want to contribute to the end of their species." Even though Kai was allowing her to lead, more or less, she kept pace with him. There was little desire within her for them to get seperated even if it seemed so far that there was no immediate danger.

Saana stood only a couple feet from the edge of the chasm when Master Kai posed his question. "No, I have not heard that story." Her gaze shifted to him as he went into the details of the adventure. She smiled a little at its completion. "A part of me wishes I had met you sooner in my life, Master. Did your friend find a crystal as well?"

His next question to her caused her gaze to move away from him and back to the chasm and the darkness below. In truth, she had not considered the possibility that down was the way she might need to go. Saana's golden eyes looked forward, focused on the continuation of the cave ahead. However, her attention reached out to the Force, to sense the flow of it and where it wanted her to go. During those moments, she was quiet. Finally, she looked at the chasm once more. "Down feels more right to me. I think ahead only comes to a deadend."

 

[Ral]

"Hey now," Kai's face curled into an amused grin as he looked back at his apprentice when she commented about him becoming a treasure hunter. "Don't knock it. Being a treasure hunter is an excellent way to have an adventure, and as a powerful Force user you can have a major edge over others. Now, were I a man who did not come from money, and desire to have it, it's definitely a profession I'd consider. Besides artifacts can get a pretty penny on the market. You might be surprised!"

"Agreed," Kai nodded with Saana as she expressed her preference to not kill a Krayt Dragon and contribute to the extinction of the species. Saana wouldn't have to wait for Kai too much, his pace would be quick and strides measured. At the edge of the chasm, once he had done recounting her story, Kai smirked a little at Saana. Placing his hand on her shoulder, he gave her a slight pat on the cheek before peering over the edge. "Me too, Saana, me too. I was only a Padawan then. You'd have been about fifteen, I think. And my friend did, though that is a tale for another day I think."

After Saana focused on the Force and felt how it was moving, and what her instincts told her; where she felt she needed to go, she looked down the into the blackness. When she said she felt that down was the right path he smiled, and with one part prank, one part lesson in mind. Kai shoved his Padawan with the Force down into the chasm. Of course, Kai followed her and jumped down, sliding along the edge and using the Force to sense when he might hit something. Just before the end, Kai used the Force to break his fall. Landing gently on his feet, Kai chuckled as he looked at Saana. "Dark down here, huh?"

 

[CJ Solo]

It was as though Master Kai knew what she was thinking when she had tought it; how were they going to climb down there without any rope or other climbing gear. Saana felt his hand and then she was shoved off the ledge. She made a started sound that could only best be described as a squeak as she fell. Her body twisted, a hand reaching out to catch the ledge. Her fall stopped as she hit the wall of stone, garnering a grunt out of her as she hung there. Rocks and pebbles continued the descent into the darkness, eventually hitting the bottum somewhere below. It had not gone past her attention that Master Kai had jumped right after he had shoved her and she glanced down from where she dangled.

All of this had happened in a span of seconds. Master Kai had jumped and she glanced up again at the ledge and her hands. Then, with a deep breath she let go to allow herself to fall into the darkness. Reaching out with her senses, she felt for the bottum and reached out into the Force to slow her descent by pushing downward at the ground once she was close enough for it to matter. Taking another deep breath and relesing it slowly, she looked over towards Master Kai. "It is dark, yes." Saana produced a small rod from her belt and cracked it, shaking it. The small rod began to glow with a pale greenish light.

 

[Ral]

As Saana cracked the glow stick, their eyes were immediately greeted by what appeared to be a large cavern bathed in the green light of the rod in Saana's hands. As Kai's grey eyes scanned the area, he looked to his apprentice. "Well, this certainly is a cozy place," he remarked as took a step forward, his eyes returning to the cavern at the bottom of the large chasm. "I wonder if this used to be filled with water millennia ago before Tatooine turned into a desert." His eyes found an opening. "Hey look at this, let's see where it goes." Kai said; he felt a very powerful pull towards that particular part of the cavern.

Stepping forward, Kai would be tempted to activate his lightsaber, if only to fill the caves with some light to see by, but Kai knew that doing such a thing might alert any creatures still living in the network of tunnels that there was an intruder nearby. The first thing Kai noticed about the tunnel they were in was how large it was, and that it appeared to have been recently used. There were large scuff marks and shallow grooves along the wall like something large hand recently made its way through there. He thought about making a comment to Saana, but no doubt she would also be able to see what he was looking at.

As they made their way into another large cavern, Kai first noticed that two additional tunnels branched off from this room. The arched ceiling was high, almost ten meters high. In the distance on the other side, Kai made out a dark form curled up almost into a ball. "What is that?" Kai wondered to himself, but loud enough for Saana to hear. As he took a step forward, his foot accidentally kicked a rock and the stone bounced along several meters. With each bounce the rock made a loud noise, and Kai froze, his hackles rising. He wanted to swear. Unfortunately, he never got the chance as the dark form stirred, then started to move with a low growl. As it stood up, Kai quickly recognized the form. "Uh... Saana, that's a Terentatek."

 

[CJ Solo]

"It is possible there was water here. It is moisture from inside the ground that they harvest on this planet, yes?" Saana had heard about the moisture farms although in all her visits to Tatooine, this was the first time that she had ventured outside of the city and into the desert. Her golden colored eyes, given a strange appearance in the green colored light, glanced around at their surroundings as her eyes adjusted. In those few moments, Master Kai began to move forward and she began to follow.

Saana did take note of the marks on the stone. In fact, she stopped to run her fingers over a set of those marks. Her brow creased thoughtfully. "These marks, Master, they are recent." She withdrew her hand and brushed the stone dust off her hand onto her pants. A thought struck her then as Master Kai's story came back to her thoughts. Her expression became one of idle suspicion,, as though she had been given a gift and had a good idea of what it was, as she eyed Master Kai. "Are we here for a crystal for a lightsaber?" Soon she was at his side again as they moved forward.

It did not take her long to pick out the dark form on the other side of the cavern. Saana was perhaps going to say something about it, point it out, but Master Kai had kicked a stone into action. With each loud sound it made, she winced inwardly. Then it moved and Master Kai seemed to know what it was. "... A what?"

 

[Ral]

Kai enjoyed Saana's accent as she spoke, and even as she did he smiled at the almost exotic pronunciations of the words. Saana's speculation of the possibility of water and the purpose of the moisture farms was made all the more enjoyable by the accent of her words. Nodding when she was done with her supposition he replied, "Oh, I suppose it's something like that." He hummed for a moment before continuing. "You know, they say many many millennia ago Tatooine was a lush planet filled with life and covered in water, but now it's all desert. Makes you wonder what the Jawas and Sand People were before this was all a desert if it's true, huh?"

Nodding back at his apprentice when she mentioned that the markings on the walls of the cave were fresh. He didn't say anything to that, but he was thinking what that might mean for both of them. As she asked about her lightsaber crystal his eyebrows perked up. "Maybe, who knows. Wouldn't that be neat though?" He smirked, part of him hoped that was true, he hoped that they were going to find Saana's crystal together. He didn't say that, though, he just hoped it was true.

As soon as the massive beast moved, Kai could feel his blood run cold as a shiver ran down his spine. It was the dark side he was feeling, and it didn't take him long at all to put the pieces together. Kai had done much studying of history and consulting of holocrons when he was a Padawan and a Knight, and even as a Master, too. Though his duties as Councilor ate up much of his free time and prevented him from reason as much as he wanted to. Through his extensive research, Kai learned that when the dark side reigned, the Terentatek returned to the Galaxy. He supposed Tatooine was no different to all the rest of the galaxy. So, when the beast rose from its resting place, the Jedi Master knew what it was. But how could explain that to his apprentice? They didn't have enough time for a lesson, they would just have to roll with it.

As the small, twisted creature, which resembled an armored and spiked rancor that had been reduce to a more compact, but equally lethal size moved towards them, Kai drew his lightsaber. The silver blade igniting with a static crackle. "It's a Terentatek, a creature of the dark side. It's nearly impervious to most Force Powers. We'll have to think creatively now. And you might need this," Kai unhooked Aluae's lightsaber from his belt and tossed it to her. "Careful, my dear, this is one enemy that might be more dangerous than your typical Sith."

 

[CJ Solo]

The more the creature moved, the less Saana liked it. She could feel a heavy creeping cold start its way up her spine from the bottum and up through her neck and head as the creature stirred and focused its gaze on them. It looked, and most importantly felt, like nothing she had experienced before, but she knew right away it was not good. They had just become prey.

Though the creature resembled a rancor in some ways, but smaller and more compact, Saana knew that this was not something that a person just decided they wanted to get into a fight with, or underestimate. Her gaze flicked to Master Kai briefly when he spoke, tossing the lightsaber to her. She knew what that hilt meant to him and she caught it carefully, igniting the blade.

The creature did not so much lope towards them as it charged, releasing a disturbing sounding roar. Saana was quick to seperate herself from Master Kai. It would do no good for them to make a signel target for the thing.

 

[Ral]

The Terentatek lunged towards Kai as it reached the end of its charge. Being the more advanced of the two Force Users, Kai would be the natural target in this case as his own sensitivity would attract the Force Sensitive hunter. With his blade in his hand, Kai dodged off to the side, rolling and coming up out of it. He had to resist the urge to attempt to push the beast with the Force. As he had learned in his studies, the Terentatek was immune or highly resistant to most Force powers. Fighting the urge to say something to Saana, either telepathically or with his own voice, Kai hoped his apprentice would learn how to read him and the situation in a fight and use it to her advantage. To learn to feel and use the bond that formed between master and apprentice to allow her to fight more efficiently with him.

Kai knew that he should conserve his own Force reserves to enhancements to himself only, like when he called on the Force go let his surge forward and to the side. The massive beast lumbered after him, slowly, but still surprisingly fast for a creature of its size and weight. As he backed up, Kai was hoping he could draw the Terentatek into a vulnerable position. With the creature just a few meters away, it lunged forward again and took a swing at him. Bringing his own silver blade up, Kai tried to block the clawed paw. The silver line of plasma impacted the tough hide, sizzling at first but not sinking into the creatures flesh. Still, it howled angrily and tried to take another swing. Knowing better than to stick around Kai rolled backwards and out of range.

 

[CJ Solo]

Saana fought the urge to simply jump in and fight alongside her Master. The blade Master Kai had given her was active and she shifted her position, keeping the terentatek between herself and Kai. She studied the creature's movements as well as studied Master Kai's. She looked for patterns in the terentatek's motions and signs that could indicate a weakness or opening. Her attention was also on Master Kai, but she felt less like she had to conciously pay attention to him. Often, she just knew or sensed what he was doing or why it was he was doing it. For instance, Master Kai was not usually shy about using the Force as a tactic in combat against a foe, but she had noticed that he seemed to be refraining from doing so. There had to be a reason for that, a good one, else he would not obstain from it so.

Another important detail she noted was that Master Kai's lightsaber was blocked, mostly, by the creature's paw. It roared with what could only be pain or anger, or perhaps a little of both. Saana was not frozen out of the fight, however. As the beast roared in response to Master Kai's blade strike, she moved in swiftly swinging the blade upward in a diagonal strike at the terentatek's rear left flank, the lightsaber blade cutting right to left coming into contact first with the underside of its leg. Normally, it would be a strike that would sever a limb, but in this case there was something about it's hide that prevented such a clean strike. Saana wasted no time, though, in leaping back as the terentatek roared further to make sure she was out of the way. With each opprotunity that Master Kai gave her, she would again spring in on the terentatek to strike and then spring away again.

 

[Ral]

After he rolled away, Kai popped to his feet waiting for the beast to come at him again. Luckily, Saana had chosen to use the opportunity Kai had given her to attack the Terentatek's backside causing the massive creature to roar out as it took a swing at her while she dodge away. Taking a deep breath, something Kai needed to do to control his heavy beating, he jumped forward with his lightsaber in hand. Leaping up into the air, the Jedi Master gathered up all the Force he could in that short time frame. With his blade coming down, Kai used the Force to augment his strike as he drove his blade into the hide of the creature's right arm.

The blade bit deep. It didn't quite sever the limb, but it would cause significant pain and hamper movement. The beast let out a deafening howl as it took a swing at Kai with its other claw. Registering the threat, the master ducked down low and dodged the attack. Calling on the Force once more, Kai focused the energy into the Solari crystal of his lightsaber. The Terentatek was a creature of the darkside, so naturally it would be weak to the pure lightside energy that resonated inside the crystal in his lightsaber. As he ducked below the creatures long talons he brought his blade up to parry its forearm. The strike wasn't powerful enough to cut in deep, but the energy in the blade was enough to burn the hide of the beast. Hoping the opening was big enough, Kai waited for Saana to make a follow up attack on the creatures rear.

 

[CJ Solo]

Saana's heart beat quickly as the fight continued. The beast did its best to fend the both of them off, the last strike at Master Kai a little too close for her own comfort. It was in these moments that she realized how important of a part he was of her life. For him to die, would be devistating.

She had ducked away from its last attack on her and as the deadly dance continued, she could feel the sensation of the lightside of the force swelling in the cavern as Kai calls upon the Force to channel it through his lightsaber crystal. Saana continued to make use of her quick reflexes and swift movements. She was not particularly powerful in her upper body, but she made up for it in her agility. Her golden eyes waited for that opening and when it came, she attacked. Her blade found a sensitive place on the inside of the creature's leg. Her blade did not cut all the way through, but it left an obvious gash. Again the creature roared and screeched in pain.

 

[Ral]

Saana's attack managed to strike at a weak point on the creature's leg. The smoldering gash was obvious from even Kai's perspective, though he did not get a chance to look at it for more than a fraction of a second before he had to take a dive for the floor as the Terentatek let out a shrieking howl which split the stuffy cavern air. The blood curtling scream was followed closely by a large clawed paw through the air where Kai had been standing moments before. The Jedi Master could hear the air rippling over his head as the claws cut it. This time, though, the beast didn't just stop, it followed through to attack Saana.

Upon seeing that the creature was going to attack his Padawan, Kai moved to drive his blade deep into the creature's side. Calling on the Force, Kai not only focused the light side into his crystal, but the dark-haired master also used what energy left to augment his own thrust. Driving his silver blade deep into the Terentatek's thick side, he managed to imbed the lightsaber up to the hilt. It would be enough to damage the beast, but not enough to drop it as Kai soon learned as the beast started on him. It slammed the spiked elbow into his chest as it turned around on him. Unable to block the strike, all the Jedi Master could do was use the Force to cushion the impact as he hit the cave wall with an "umph".

 

[CJ Solo]

When the creature's response appeared to be to swipe at Master Kai once more, she moved in to harras the beast on its other flank. The creature's strike missed, which was a relief, but it took a second for her to realize that its attack was following through at her. Abruptly, she jumped back but it was not quite in time as it smacked her down into the ground; knocking the wind out of her. Then the paw was suddenly gone as Master Kai attacked the thing again. It was very likely his attack that kept the beast from sticking its claws into her.

For a moment, Saana laid there catching her breath and then rolled onto her side and eventually to her feet again as she retrieves the lightsaber that Kai had allowed her to use from the ground. Bruised, and a little shaken, she activated the blade once more and waited for another opening. It seemed, though, that they were doing so little damage to the thing. Finally, she made a decision; another means of attack. She backed up, waiting, then suddenly as she called upon the Force to aid her, she lept up and forward to land on the beast's back near to its shoulders. She twirled her lightsaber blade into a reverse grip and used every bit of strength and momentum she could muster to drive the blade down into the beast's neck. Its hide was tough and resistant to the blade, but even if she could not disable the beast it would be more than a distraction for Kai.

 

[Ral]

Stars exploded across Kai's vision as the back of his head slammed into the stone wall of the cavern. As he slid down the rock facing onto his butt his eyes rolled back into his head momentarily as he let out a loud groan. It only took him a moment or two more to recover, but it was long enough for the beast to close the distance between the two. Blinking his eyes a few time to clear the stars out of his vision, Kai was suddenly greeted with the resolving image of the Terentatek lumbering over him. With his heart leaping nearly into his chest from the adrenaline and fear, Kai reached for his lightsaber only to find that it had rolled away when he slammed into the cave wall. "Kriff me!" He whispered to himself as the creature began raising one of its large clawed paws in the air over him.

That's when the tail-tell tingling hit him. Instinctively, Kai rolled over onto his side right as the claw came down. The talons dug in deep to the hard stone floor and the monster roared in anger at having been denied its kill. Looking around, Kai could see his lightsaber hilt on the ground nearby. Calling out to it with the Force, the Jedi Master moved the silvery hilt back into his hand right as the Terentatek raised his hand out of the rock for another strike. Luckily for Kai, that's when Saana lept onto the creature's back and drove her lightsaber down into the thick neck. It let out another gurgling roar as it tried to swat at Saana with its one good arm. Seeing his opportunity, Kai didn't waste a moment. Activating his lightsaber, Kai began channeling the Force into it once more, and pulling his blade back exploded forward with a powerful Force-enhanced slash across the front of the beast's neck. With any luck it would be a killing blow. If not, Kai hoped that Saana would be able to do it.

 

[CJ Solo]

It was a good thing that the beast had been in the way of her seeing Master Kai slammed into the wall, and then dazed. It would have distracted her; caused her to freeze at a bad moment, falter or take her attention away from the beast. What she had seen when she had lept onto its back, plunging the blade of the lightsaber into its neck, was Master Kai dodging swipes from the creature and his lightsaber on the ground out of his reach. This caused her to focus her effort into holding on, into driving the blade in deeper. The beast's hide was resistant to lightsaber blades, not immune. Then she had heard the snap-hiss of Master Kai's lightsaber and there was more roaring from the beast. It was sheer will that kept her on the thing's back instead of getting thrown off. The beast struggled against their blades, but a few very long seconds later the terrentatek became still and collapsed to the ground. Saana was not that far behind as she slid off the creature and sat on the ground, tired.

"Is it over?"

 

[Ral]

The creature let out another gargled screech as Kai's lightsaber managed to barely pierce the hide and into its neck. Then after a few more seconds the ship reached out to Kai before collapsing onto the ground dead. Taking a deep breath, Kai looked down at the corpse of the Terentatek, it now still and lifeless. Shaking his head, the Jedi Master took another deep, long breath and exhaled it before deactivating his silver lightsaber. "Well, that was something." He remarked as he walked over to where Saana was standing nearby. Placing his hand on her arm he smiled at her. "I think that is it. You did well, you handled yourself like a Jedi should. How are you? Doing okay?" He brought a hand up to gently rub the base of one of her head-tails like a brother would to help relax her as he stared into her golden eyes to see how she really was. That's when something nearby caught his eye where the beast was resting before they awakened it. Turning to face it he furrowed his eyebrows before raising a hand to point to it. "Hey check that out, what do you think that is? Let's go check it out."

 

[CJ Solo]

"Something, indeed." Saana commented in return to Master Kai's statement, even if it had been rhetorical. The togruta padawan pushed herself to her feet and dusted herself off. A few seconds later, she felt Master Kai's hand on her arm. She was trembling a little from a mix of relief and the drop of adrenaline. "That thing was... I do not know. I have not seen anything like it before." She smiled a little at his compliment. "Did I? I felt much like I was just being someone trying to survive." She let out a bit of a laugh. Granted, there had been a number of close calls and she had remained calm, collected and in control of herself.

Saana could feel some of her tension ease away with Master Kai's brotherly touch. "I believe I am alright; scrapes and bruises. Nothing that a shower and a night of sleep cannot take care of." She lifted a hand to rest lightly on his forearm. "You? Are you alright? I saw the beast make swipes that I was certain had hit you." Kai then drew her attention away, pointing out something on the floor where the terrentatek had been sleeping before. Saana allowed her hand to drop away from his arm and moved over to where it was. She crouched down and reached down to pick it up. She studied it for several seconds before she looked up at Kai. "It looks like a gem of some kind." She straightened, offering it to him. "I am not sure of what type."

 

[Ral]

Kai wasn't surprised to feel Saana tremble as he touched her; if he hadn't been through such adrenaline inducing situations before than he probably would have been just like her, but an adrenaline junky like Kai rarely got the jitters any more. Smiling softly at the young Togruta he gave her lekku a gentle, playful squeeze. "You probably won't see another thing like it again... or at least I certainly hope you won't. Terentatek's are rare even during times likes these, and typically found in places strong of the dark side. How one found itself into a cave on Tatooine I'll never know." He shrugged a little as she responded to his compliment. "Even so, you did well. If such actions were instinctive to you then you've taken your training to heart and made it a part of you just like breathing. That in itself is commendable."

Feeling her hand touch his caused him to smile at her warmly, like he enjoyed the friendly exchange and appreciated the question she asked. "I'm glad to hear that, I'd wager we'll both need to take a shower once this is over. Wanna draw straws on who goes first?" He gave her a playful wink before addressing the question she asked of him. "I'm fine. It really wanted to eat me, but I was just quick enough to get away from its claws. A little slower and we probably wouldn't be having this conversation, though!" With a loud chuckle, Kai began to look around the room.

As they both made their way over to the other edge of the cave, Kai gently placed his hand on the small of Saana's back, guiding her forward, partly because he felt like this was something for her. As she bent over, Kai placed his hand on her shoulder and leaned over as well getting a view of what it was she found. Looking at it closely after she handed it to him, he smirked and gave it back to her, closing her red hand around it. "It's probably a crystal that can be used in a lightsaber. I can feel the Force inside of it, but you'll probably need to attune with it better. The Terentatek was probably attracted to it because of the Force energies in it. You should keep it, use it as a memento of your fight here today, and put it in your lightsaber so you'll never forget your lessons." With that Kai smiled as he finished looking around the cave looking for an exit. "Let's try this way," he remarked pointing with a nod of his head to one of the branching caves.

 

[CJ Solo]

Saana accepted the crystal back and looked upon it more thoughtfully. She had felt that twinge of force presence there in the gem and it did feel right in her hand. His words made their way through her thoughts and a part of her realized that their time together as Master and Apprentice was almost over. The construction of a lightsaber was a demonstration and representation of what an apprentice had learned and was why it was such a significant step towards becoming a Jedi Knight. Saana closed her hand around the gem again and slipped it carefully away amongst her things as she looked to Master Kai again.

"Do you even have straws to draw? I do not think you are going to find any out here." Saana smiled a little and she looked around before nodding in agreement. "Looks to be as good a way as any." She stepped to avoid the beastly corpse as she followed Master Kai into the tunnel. After several twists, turns and chosen paths a light breeze could be felt in the tunnel. "It is probably night out there by now."