A Visit to the Library

[Kane]

The library---Jedi Temple---Jedha---1000 Hours
​

Kane had spent most of the morning in the library, he had initially started his day reading but was quickly irritated by the dissaray his beloved library was in. Books strewn about all over the tables, some even had pages torn from them. He would eventually hunt down the book-abusers and berate them until he was blue in the face, but for now he settled for grumbling while he collected and returned the books to their shelves.

As he finished another stack he turned and -to his dismay- saw a table he had just cleared covered in books again and three apprentices starting to leave. "HEY!" he barked. "If you're done with them, put them the hell away." he ordered them. The young Jedi took their books and quickly returned them before hurrying out of the library.

Normally he wouldn't have been so snappy with them, but he was frustrated with his recent defeat by that infernal Sith woman Serie Fond. Hoping to take his mind off it he continued his task of gathering books onto a cart and putting them back where they belonged.

 

[Dune Tarn]

Dune Tarn was scanning through the dusty volumes of the library, trying to seek out books dealing with plant life. While he normally preferred camping out in the harsh wilderness or rooaming the gardens of the temples, he did have a small apartment within the Temple where he resided. It was barely furnished, save for a single feather tree that he had been caring for since it was a sapling and it had recently broken out in a series of red and yellow spots. He could not, for the life of him, remember what such spots signified but he hoped it wasn't very severe. Hopefully, the library would provide him the answers that he sought to save his plant.

As he was browsing though, he heard angry barking. He turned and suppressed a small smile when he saw that it was none other than Kane. Even though he was fifty, Kane was even older. Dune remembered him being a troublemaker in his younger days but he was also a famously tough warrior. Those apprentices were right to be scared. However, his smile soon fell as he remembered that he had heard a story that his old friend Shryke had fought with Kane on Teth shortly before the bold Harch had been brutally killed on Nal Hutta. Dune had mentored Shryke in the ways of combat but had never quite been able to curtail the young spider like Jedi's lust for battle and stubborn desire to seek out evildoers and do them justice. That had been the Harch Jedi's fatal flaw and it had eventually caught up with him. The introvert in Dune screamed for him to not say anything but the Force guided him closer to the old Human Jedi.

"Kane." Dune stated plainly and awkwardly. He was uncomfortable with sentients and hated small talk but he had to know. "You fought with Shryke on Teth?"

@One For Sorrow

 

[Kane]

Kane turned at his name, seeing a Jedi he did not know well asking him about Shryke and Teth. Teth seemed like it had happened centuries ago, he remembered how Staja had screamed when her legs were ruined.

"Dune Tarn? As I live and breathe, you're still alive?" the old Sentinel chuckled, remembering the Devaronian from when he was a younger Jedi.

"Aye I fought with Shryke. He was brave and bold and had the Exiles not had an unfair advantage the damned Harch probably would have killed all three on his own!" Kane laughed. It was true, Shryke had been an amazing fighter. His was a loss Kane still mourned.

"How did you know him?" he asked, happy to be remembering a friend.

 

[Dune Tarn]

"Still alive." Dune said a bit sadly. "It seems that us old Jedi are the only ones who will be left. I am getting tired of cremating younger Jedi. At least, those whose bodies we recover"

It was true - these were dark times and the normally shy and reclusive Dune had retreated even further into the wilderness and his plants and animals in order to cope with such tragedy. Some of the Jedi he was friendly with had informed him that some of the younger Jedi had taken to calling him "Wild Dune" and said that he was a crazy old man that haunted the woods. Given how the Mustafaran apprentice nearby was looking at him, Dune figured it was true. He raised an eyebrow at the nosy lad and barked at him.

"Get lost!" he said, raising his hands like the wild man he was purported to be. He chuckled as the younger Jedi fled in terror, grinning at Kane as he did so. Then, he became sad again. If that Mustafaran was so gullible and easily startled, then he would likely suffer the same fate as Shryke had.

"I'm glad to hear he gave them a good fight at the least. The fact that you and he both escaped with your lives speaks to both of your skills. To answer your question, I was just wondering what it was Shryke was doing on Teth. He mentioned to me something about a mission he had on Teth in passing but I never had a chance to inquire what that was before he was slain." Dune said.

"If it's possible, I would like to fulfill whatever mission he was after. To ensure he did not die in vain."

 

[Kane]

Kane chuckled as Dune scared off the mustafarian apprentice, the stories they told of "Wild Dune" always gave the old Sentinel a chuckle and watching one who obvipusly put stock in them flee from the Devaronian was quite amusing.

"Shryke Myself and another Jedi named Staja -really close friend of Shryke's- were on Teth to defend an archive for the B'omarr monks. The deal was once we expelled the raiders and they got there stuff we could set up a new Jedi temple there." Kane explained, resuming a more serious face as he thought back on the short but hard fight the three of them had been through. "We did our best but sadly they were stronger than us and we were cast out, Staja even lost her legs to the Exile bastards." he continued.

"What really bites my rump about the whole thing is that barely any time after the powerhouse piece of kark exile ended up turning to the light side, and our idiot leaders allowed it. After her transgressions and everything." he followed up in a growl.

"If you are interested in carrying on Shryke's plans of expanding the order's holdings you can count me in for sure, and likely my apprentice as well -though I can not flat out speak for him of course-." Kane added. He would love to get that new temple established, be it on Teth or anywhere else.

 

[Dune Tarn]

"This female Exile - if you give me a name, perhaps one day, I can help you resolve this matter with her. But, for now, I would like to finish what Shryke started. We are not as young as we once were, you know, and confronting former Exiles is a young man's game." Dune pointed out, puttinig his hands together and drumming his fingertips, trying his best to process all of the information that he'd received. He knew that Shryke had never truly recovered from that fateful battle on Teth where he'd been deprived of his first lightsaber. It had been a humiliating victory for a warrior so bold and brash. Instead, of learning the valuable lesson of the threat of Darksiders and the Cartel, Shryke had never changed his tactics and in an increasingly ruthless galaxy, that unbridled heroism coupled with a belligerent was inevitably going to spell disaster. It was a sad end to a Harch that Dune considered to be his friend but finishing what he started would be a fitting farewell for Shryke. And if it happened to be established on Teth, that would be even more poetic.

"Well, my friend, I think establishing that Temple may be a reality. Please tell your apprentice about this and gather any allies that you have. I will try and do the same, although my friends tend to be either plants or dead at this point." Dune joked. The Jedi wasn't that funny most of the times so his sense of humor tended to lean towards the melancholy to help him deal with tragedy.

"Just be careful, Kane. As much as I like my plants, I do enjoy having conversations with real people from time to time. Whatever we decide to do, don't die."

 

[Kane]

Kane chuckled at Dune's joke. "Well my friend, I do not intend to become either of those things." he joked back. The gruff old Sentinel was starting to like Dune. They even shared a similar sense of humor.

He had a feeling Tynian would join them on this mission, perhaps Jinlo would as well. "I will ask him. And another friend of mine. Sort of a tenporary student while she reintegrated. Long story." he said thoughtfully.

"And you, you don't die too."