A Knight's Farewell

[Kane]

Jedi Temple---Jedha---2100 Hours​

Kane stood in the small courtyard, a few Jedi around the large stack of wood that was just being completed. Four tiers of large logs made up the base, on top of these logs was a thick bed of straw, and on top of this straw lay the body of Staja Retturzac . a great and noble Jedi, taken all too soon by unfair circumstances in a corrupt and wicked galaxy. Around Staja's body were branches stacked like a long triangular tent, enclosing her in a cage of wood. Though now no cage could hold her, she was more free than the air. When her body was brought back it had been in rough shape, but Kane himself had cleaned her and dressed her in her Jedi robes and a very nice belt he had found among her possessions. Her hands rested on her chest, clasped over her lightsaber. She was a warrior, had died a warrior's death and would have the sendoff that a warrior deserved.

He wished he had been there on Coralug, he wished he could have saved her. The old Jedi hadn't seen his friend since they last spoke in the library about Shryke, another Jedi taken too soon. He wished that the last words he had spoken to the Selonian weren't informing her that her friend was dead. At the very least he could take solace in the fact that she would be reunited with her friend, now that she was one with the force.

Kane placed the last of the branches on top of the unlit pyre, looking through them where he could at his friend. She looked peaceful at the very least, free notlw from all the bad in the galaxy.

Spoiler: ooc

Open to Jedi and Friends of Staja only. Stop in, say something nice and in 24-48 hours (depending on how much traffick we get) Kane will light the pyre.

 

[Tynian]

A young Ysanna stood behind Zane. The fifteen year old teenager watched reverently as his Master paid his respects to the fallen Jedi.
He didn’t know the one who had died like Zane did, but he was full of sorrow nonetheless. This life, as all life does, meant something to his master, and he would be respectful of that.
He kept quiet as instructed by Zane and waited along with him for others to come and pay their own respects.

 

[Vorro Rayden]

​

It had only been a few days since he arrived back from Ryloth, he had witnessed the destruction and enslavement of their people firsthand. He tried to help, but it seemed that pacifism had lead to their demise. He knew that these people wouldn't stop, not until the galaxy vended to their will. He didn't want to fight or kill, but he knew that he had to--a last resort. His violet blade was clipped to his side after seven long years of being dormant as he stood watching the last of the sticks planted over the Selonian's body. He had met Staja several times, she was a broken soul, but she saved him from the darkness and brought him back to his sanity. He could never repay her, but he would do his best to live up to her ways. She had lost many just like he had, but she hadn't given up faith. She was a warrior and a true Jedi. With her gone, there felt an emptiness in the physical, but a presence within the force and himself. She would live on through everyone she had crossed paths with. They would all have to carry that weight.

 

[Rask Vahnal]

A piece of Rask was now dead. He almost couldn't believe the news, that Staja Retturzac, his beloved Staja, had died fighting Exile cultists on Corulag. He didn't know who this 'Kane' was, but he knew what grief sounded like, and he knew that the Jedi weren't the type to lie about something like that. Rask knew in that moment that the piece of his heart, that fragile, blackened, broken thing he'd given to Staja was now lost forever. Staja had pushed him to be better, convinced him that he could be something more than just another booze-soaked hired gun, and was among the three people that saved his life by becoming his reasons for living. But now she was gone, that bright and beautiful Jedi warrior who he had come to know so deeply in so little time, and one of the pillars that kept him upright and sober had fallen. He drank himself into a stupor that night, kicking himself for all the things he had never done, never said to Staja that she died without knowing. The only solace he could find was in the knowledge that the gang that killed her had been taken care of, that revenge had already been taken on the pathetic sacks of kark that deprived the galaxy of Staja's light.

After recovering from the drunken bender Staja's death sent him on, Rask decided to accept the invite of this mysterious Jedi to her funeral. Rask knew nothing about the internal policies and culture of the Jedi beyond bar rumors and scholarly speculation, so for his part he tried to look presentable and sober for the affair. He dusted off his old Sector Rangers dress uniform, the patches having been removed long ago, and tried his damnedest not to break down when he saw her body lying so peacefully on the funeral pyre. Like any second now she would open those gorgeous eyes and smile lovingly over at him, but he knew that would neve happen again. Rask found himself standing next to the human he and Staja had rescued on Nar Shadda, the man looking both more somber but more stable than the day they had met, a sign perhaps that his and Staja's efforts had healed his broken mind to an extent. Rask did not look at the man, nor raise a hand to him, but simply stood there next to him and whispered out a few words he should have said a long time ago.

"I love you, Staja Retturzac."

 

[Jinlo Halan]

Making her way through the corridors that lead through to the small courtyard where a funeral pyre was going to be held for one the recently fallen Jedi, the figure's long loose raven black locks of hair fluttered in the gentle turbulent currents made in the wake of her pace, before settling down and standing out against the white Jedi Healer's robes the figure was wearing. Taking a deep breath the Jedi stepped out into the courtyard and approached the gathering of Jedi and an Amaran that she had not seen within the Temple just yet, still despite being back in the order for a few months now, she was often coming across new faces.

Slowly she looked around those who were gathered, the glowing ice blue irises of the Jedi, standing out against the dull light, as her attention fell upon the Jedi Knight who was devoted to the preservation of life and had abstained from wielding his light saber, the Amaran she had yet to meet, Tynian her mentor's current ward and latest pupil and of course Kane, her Mentor the Venerable sentinel who had helped Jinlo reintegrate back into the Jedi after her self imposed exile. Slowly she approached her friend and mentor, offering him a kind warm smile as she reached out to place a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Hey Kane, How are you holding up?" she inquired as she regarded the Jedi sentinel, recalling from perhaps no more than a month ago she was introduced to the fallen Jedi by Kane, it was clear that the two Jedi were close friends and the loss of a close comrade was often a hard blow to weather.

 

[Kane]

"I have been...better. Thank you Jinlo." Kane answered his student somberly.

Then he stepped forward to say his final words.

"Thank you all for coming, today we honor the Jedi Knight Staja Retturzac...Staja was a prime example of what a Jedi should be. She was kind, compassionate and trustworthy. She upheld the Jedi way, and strove to only do things for the greater good of the galaxy. She was dealt a bad hand in some cases, but never gave up. No, she simply strode on through her hardships and let them temper her into an even stronger person."

He paused for a moment to let it all sink in, grabbing a torch from a sconce set in a nearby pillar before walking up to the foot of the pyre. "She is one now with the living force, and she will be with us. Always." he said before gently inserting the torche between two pieces of wood.

The flame took to the dry timber and Kane stepped back, watching as Staja's body was engulfed in flames. Farewell my friend. I will join you one day. he thought to her as smoke began to climb into the sky.

The Jedi Order had lost one of it's best. And as Kane stood there between his student and his apprentice he silently vowed to honor her memory for the rest of his days.

//End Thread