Before - Legends Prophecies

Ooh, they discovered definite pieces of the legend/myth; the encounter with the "important" slave -- I wonder what the connection will turn out to be.

 

If that "important" slave is not Shmi Skywalker, I will be extremely surprised.

 

Wonderful surmise!

 

You may continue to guess. *evil chuckle *
In the upcoming chapter I must admit I have violated the timeline a bit. You will understand what I mean when you see it. I didn't like to do it as I try to keep backstories as 'canon' or 'legend' as possible, but I really needed to have Aika alive right now.

 

Chapter 11: Local Investigations

If Bant had been unhappy about Mos Eisley, the Great Chott salt flat didn't to much to improve her opinion of Tatooine. They had landed their ship a fair distance from one of the moisture farms close to the salt flat. In theory that would give them less chance of being detected by prying eyes, though Tahl wasn't entirely sure about the choice. They might be out of sight for humans, but she wasn't too convinced about the infamous Tuskens, though. Yet, there had been no life signs outside the farm when they approached so they decided to give it a try.

They'd barely set their feet on the dry soil when Bant notices her skin itching more than she'd ever experienced in her whole life.

"Kriff it," she muttered.

"I beg your pardon?" Tahl said, exquisitely polite.

"I'm itching and my skin seems to change."

"How so?"

"I don't know, it's more red than usual and it seems to be crackling a bit."

"You stay," Tahl decided. "It must be the salt in the air. Your skin is made for an aquatic environment and the amount of salt particles flowing with the sand here must be irritating. We don't have protective gear for you so stay with the ship and if you can, try to check the maps over the area and see if you can find…something. Chirrut and I can visit the farm. Actually we may look less threatening if there's only two of us."

"But…" Bant tried.

"No but's. You stay. I do not want to return with a crackled Padawan who looks like she's as old as Master Yoda."

The thought almost made Bant laugh, so reluctantly she agreed and retreated into the relative comfort of their ship. Tahl and Chirrut continued towards the homestead they'd seen from the air.

…

The homestead was not overly large seen from ground level but Tahl could sense there was more about it than what met the eye. Good thing hers didn't function then.

"It's a dome," Chirrut explained. "I've read about it. Most of the rooms are actually underground to try to keep the heat at bay. It keeps the heat out during daytime and has an insulating effect towards the night chill in the desert during nights."

Tahl knew the concept very well from several worlds she'd been to through the years but she let the boy finish his explanation anyway. Then she felt him tense beside her, and she felt another, more distant presence.

"Let me guess," she said softly, "we've got a committee coming to greet us?"

"Not really, but there is a man with a blaster," Chirrut explained unhappily, "and he does not seem happy to see us."

"Likely not," Tahl agreed, "people living out here tends to be reserved towards strangers. It's a dangerous place."

"Hello there," she called in the man's direction, and she could feel the tiniest bit of his hostile demeanour soften.

"Hello," a deep voice answered.

"No need for weapons," she said, "my young friend and I don't want to harm you in any way. We'd just like to know a bit about the area. Do you live here?"

"Yes," the man answered carefully.

"He's lowering the blaster," Chirrut whispered.

"I am Tahl Uvain," Tahl said calmly, "and my friend here is Chirrut Îmwe. We're sent from an archive, investigating an old story that should have it's origin from this area. It's basically a myth from centuries ago, but we try to find if it has some founding in real events."

"Nah, not many fairytales around here as far as I know," the man laughed softly. "But my wife may know more about it. She likes to read in the evenings."

"May we talk to your wife?" Tahl asked politely.

The man hesitated for a moment and then he shrugged.

"You seem more polite than most beings around here. I guess it's OK. At least you asked first."

He stretched out a rough work hardened hand towards Tahl and greeted her: "I'm Cliegg Lars and this is my family's homestead for years back. My wife, Aika, is indoors trying to get our son to sleep. He has a fever, but nothing critical."

"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Lars," Tahl said.

A rumbling laughter came from the man: "We're not so formal out here. Cliegg will do fine."

He led them towards the buildings that made up the homestead. Two domed buildings, likely a building for living and some technical building was placed next to a courtyard. The domes cast a welcome shadow over a part of the courtyard. A rather narrow staircase made from sand stone led to the inner quarters of the living dome.

"Aika," Cliegg called softly. "We have guests."

Shortly after a young pale woman looking surprisingly fragile, appeared from a corridor. Brown, curly hair was tied back in a neat bun from which some strands of hair tried to escape. She looked at the guests with a quizzical expression in her face.

"This is Tahl and Chirrut," Cliegg informed her, "they're searching for the origin of a myth from this area. Have you ever read anything about it?"

"What kind of myth?" Aika asked. "There are several, from different ages. Please have a seat and maybe some water and tell me more about what you're searching for."

Tahl and Chirrut gratefully did as they were told, and Tahl re-told the story she's heard from the old man on the market square.

Aika nodded slowly: "Ah, yes. The warrior queen. That is definitely a local myth. She was said to come from the mountains in the Wastes. Nobody knew who she was, only that it was said she was human. Nobody believed it, of course. A human couldn't have survived among the Tuskens, so most likely she was a female Tusken of origin. It's said that she gathered the Tusken tribes and made them stop fighting each other. Then she gathered forces and went towards Mos Eisley with her warriors. Some say she wanted to gather all the people on Tatooine to one people. Others are convinced they wanted to plunder the city. Nobody knows for sure, of course."

"That's more or less what the man on the market place said too," Chirrut chimed in, a bit disappointed.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't be of more help," Aika said softly. "However, the stories says she came from somewhere around the Krayt pass. It's a narrow canyon leading into the mountains. We never go there 'cause that's where the krayt dragons breed and it's not considered healthy to disturb them in breeding season. Actually it's not healthy to disturb them at all."

"I'd say you're right," Tahl agreed, "thanks anyway. At least we learned that she came from this area, if she ever existed at all. When we heard about her in the city we assumed that it might be a local story only, but after what you've told us it seems more likely that she's actually existed once."

And with that they bid their hosts goodbye.

…

Bant felt slightly embarrassed. She'd never thought that it would be physically impossible for her to go on such a simple mission. Tahl's comforting words about lack of protection gear didn't help much in that matter, but as she had no real choice she settled down with holomaps over the area. They were slightly boring to say the least. The open salt flat stretched out widely before her, even more boring on the map than in reality. She moved the map towards the distant mountain range where Jundland Wastes was.

The mountains formed a wide arc towards the salt flat and rose quite steeply from it. About mid-way in the arc Bant could see a discontinuity in the rocks. She zoomed in more, and moved the center of the map to see the landscape beyond the discontinuity. A rather narrow valley opened and twisted and turned among steep hills and mountains. Bant followed it, carefully noticing any irregularities she could see in the cliffs.

"This would have been soooo much easier if I'd knew what I was looking for, " she complained to herself.

And then she saw it. Deep inside the valley where the canyon opened up to a surprisingly wide plain she saw the 'something' Tahl had asked to look for. Or at least she saw 'something'. She had no idea what it could be but it didn't follow the shapes of the nature surrounding it. It seemed to be more…symmetric and shimmering. Even on the map she could see that whatever it was reflected the sun. It was too small to be a ship or even an escape pod, but it definitely seemed to be something that didn't belong there. She made a new attempt on zooming in but then the 'something' turned into a blurry blob.

They would have to go there. Definitely. She was almost sure that their small ship would be able to land nearby the construction.

….

Tahl was surprised and definitely happy when she heard about Bant's findings. While Chirrut eagerly bent over the holomap and agreed that there was something deep into the mountains, Tahl made the decision.

"I do not like what Lars said about the Krayt dragons, but if we can land close to the whatever it is, it should be safe enough. We can take off pretty fast if we have to and get outside the reach of the Krayts. I'd say we check this one too before we return home."

The two youths agreed eagerly.

 

Tahl's courtesy softened Cliegg's suspicions effectively; Aika was able to provide more clues, which Bant's map-search pinpointed. I don't like that it's in krayt country, but hopefully they'll be able to get there and out swiftly enough.

 

Chapter 12: Jundland Wastes

Far into the horizon where the Great Chott salt flats ends, the ragged hills and mountains which among the locals is called Jundland Wastes begins. Nobody really knows what is in there, but it is generally accepted that the land is one of Tuskens and krayt dragons and not a place where any sensible human being (or any other being) in their right mind would set their foot.

The small ship flew low over the salt flat in a low speed that barely was able to keep them up. Bant had a very concentrated frown on her face. She knew so very well that she was no Obi-Wan Kenobi when it came to flying, and even more far from being a Garen Muln. But neither she nor her Master were certain about Chirrut's abilities to manoeuvre the ship in cramped spaces. They knew he had some connection to the Force but they weren't sure how far it went.

Letting Tahl do the piloting seemed like an even worse idea. In her youth she had been a good pilot and in open space she could still do it well, but landing a ship in a valley surrounded by steep mountain sides…? They weren't too sure how that would end. Using the Force was all well and good but some old fashioned sight surely wasn't a disadvantage given the circumstances.

"Take her up a bit," Chirrut instructed as he sat bent over a section of the holomap. "We should go in over that pass but we need to get above the mountains."

"Above!" he repeated with some stress in his voice when Bant was too slow at reacting for his likings.

They made it. Barely.

"Keep above the mountains," Tahl instructed as well, "you're not participating in a pod-race, Padawan mine."

"As if I ever would," Bant hissed between clenched teeth.

And just as that they were over the pass, over the mountains and the valley they had seen on the holomap stretched out before them.

"Down, before we end up in no man's land," Chirrut ordered.

"This isno man's land," Bant retorted dryly. "Can you see any welcoming Tuskens or krayts or other beings down there?"

"Nope."

"Then this is as good place as any, and we should be fairly close to 'it' whatever it is I saw," Bant said and set the ship down with a soft movement that surprised herself most of soft humming of the engines tuned out and everything became quiet.

"Well done, Padawan," Tahl praised. "I knew you could do it. You're a better pilot than you give yourself credit for."

"Thanks, Master. Do you think I can go outside here?"

"Give it a try," Tahl agreed, "you felt it quickly enough near the homestead so you should get the answer as soon as we open the hatch. If it's too bad you just have to remain indoors here as well."

Bant nodded unhappily, knowing well that her Master had a valid point. She just…wanted to see her finding with her own eyes.

The hatch opened and the three of them stepped out into open air. Here, up in the mountains the air was surprisingly fresh. It was almost as a normal planet. Bant checked her gills and skin thoroughly. No itching. No clogging.

"I can do it," she said with a broad grin, "the salt concentration isn't high enough to bother me here."

"Good," Tahl said, " and squeezed her shoulders fondly, "we wouldn't have liked to have you sitting caged in the ship again."

During this exchange of pleasantries Chirrut had kept quiet, staring at a form about half a klick in front of them.

"It's there," he said, "it's really there, and it is a ship. Or a capsule. Or something like that."

Bant looked up. For the first few moment she had been to concerned about the physical environment to really see, but now she saw it too. What had seemingly been too small for being a ship when they looked at the holomap, now bore a striking resemblance to a small spaceship. it seemed like it had once upon a time plunged into the packed soil and now about two third of it could be seen above the ground. Seen from space it had seemed even smaller due to the angle the images in the holomap had been taken from. The high grass and some rugged stones around it hadn't helped much either.

They approached carefully. The grass seemed to be stepped down around the ship but as much as both Bant and Tahl reached out into the Force they couldn't feel any living beings close. Except the krayts. Tahl could feel the presence of the giant animals but they were reasonably far from the valley and didn't feel upset or angry. More tired and relaxed.

They slowly, almost reverently, went around the ship. Easily done, since it was so small. On the other side they could see some fine lines in the dull metallic grey hull. A hatch?

"Do you think it's…Anera's?" Bant whispered.

"It surely seems old enough," Chirrut commented. "I've read a bit about ships in the archives and you can see this old fashioned welding between the plates. They haven't been doing it this way for centuries, that much is certain."

Bant couldn't resist. She approached the ship and touched the hatch.

"It seems so…intact. I wonder if we can open it?"

Tahl nodded pensively. "If it has been resting here for centuries I assume it should be safe. Someone has been here recently and there were many of them, so I guess it cannot be too dangerous. At least they were alive so they could leave again."

Bant chuckled. This was Tahl's well known dry sense of humor, that much was certain. Carefully she laid her hand on the hatch. Nothing happened. As, she had to admit, expected. She hadn't supposed it would magically open after centuries half buried in the soil, but again - she had to try.

"It's locked."

"Or maybe just stuck," Chirrut encouraged.

A new attempt gave the same result. The hatch didn't move at all.

"Let me try," Tahl said softly, and knelt down beside the small vessel. Her hands moved lightly over the ancient hull and found the contours of the hatch. The two youths hardly dared to breath. Then a slight movement could be felt in the metal, hardly more than a vibration, and the hatch opened partly.

"Wow," Bant exclaimed, very unjedilike."It's open."

"At least partly," Tahl confirmed. "I don't think I can get it fully open without making too much marks in the ground and I think we shouldn't leave too many traces.

Bant nodded, and peeked in.

"It's dark," she stated, quite superfluous. "But I can see a capsule inside. Hopefully there is no-one inside. It is open."

"Can any of you get inside?" Tahl asked. "I'm sure I cannot get through the opening."

The two youths looked at each other, doubtfully.

"You're the smallest," Chirrut said mournfully, clearly wanting to be the one entering the ancient ship.

"I think I can manage," Bant agreed reluctantly. "Yes, I can do it. Besides, my eyes are more adapted to darkness than yours."

And with that she wriggled through the narrow opening.

Tahl and Chirrut could hear her muffled voice from inside.

"No, nobody here, fortunately. The cylinder is totally empty, but it seems almost like a bed. There is a small kitchenette behind it. Not much though. Seems like the cylinder has worked like a sleeping place for the space traveller. There are some tubes going into it so I assume oxygen could be fed into it while the ship was in space to save the air cleaning system from re-oxygenizing more than necessary. And…oh….."

Her voice trailed off.

"What?" Tahl asked anxiously, "Are you OK?"

"I…yes….but there is a small ragdoll here. Seems like something a child would have brought with her. " Bant's voice was quivering slightly by the thought of the child who had abandoned it's best friend inside the ship.

"Or a young girl evacuated from her family and home planet," Tahl said thoughtfully.

They could hear Bant moving around inside the ship and felt the vibrations when she climbed over the capsule and up to what would have been the rear end of the ship.

"Be careful," Tahl admonished.

"I am! I just thought I saw something partly hidden up here. Ah, yes, I was right. There it is. Get out of my way, I'm returning to daylight with today's catch."

And with that she rather ungracefully backed out of the hatch with a small notebook in her hand.

"Look what I found. The dry desert air must have preserved it to some extent."

"If that is Anera's book that family really must have been a family of writers," Chirrut grumbled, but the dry comment didn't do anything to hide the broad grin on his face.

"Let's return to our own ship and see if we can translate whatever that is written in it," Tahl agreed, "just let me close this hatch again."

 

Oooh, fantastic and unexpected discovery!

 

Chapter 13: Anera's Story

Dear Brother,

I found this book when I woke after father (I guess it must have been him) put me in the escape pod. I was so happy because I believed it was something I could read if the journey became too long, but then it was just an empty notebook. The journey became very long.

Tomorrow I will be leaving for my destiny, and if I am not to survive what lies ahead of me, I hope you will find this book when you search for me - which I am sure you will do. I never thought this would happen. I never thought we would be separated like this. Ever.

But it happened. I have no idea what went wrong when father launched the pods, but something must have gone terribly wrong. I cannot believe he would be so cruel that he deliberately split us. I have no idea where you ended up, brother, but for your sake I hope it's far from this gruelling hot and merciless place.

But let me start with the beginning.

The first thing I remember is confusion. I had gone to bed in my own bedroom and I woke up in a tiny spaceship, which I later realised was one of the advanced escape pods the government had made available. I simply had no idea what was happening at that point, but I definitely understood that I was all alone and there was no way I could manage to find my way back home. Many years later I learned that in that moment I probably didn't have a home anymore. Our homeworld had already disappeared. I kept myself alive by eating the ration bars and drinking the water onboard the pod so physically I was in fairly good shape when I landed…oh, who am I fooling…crashed here.

My first meeting with Tatooine was very abrupt, to say the least. I had no idea of how to land this thing, and to be honest I still don't know if it's even possible, so I did the only thing I could and strapped myself into the sleeping cylinder hoping that it would protect me from damage in the impact with the planet's surface.

As you may understand if you read this, it did.

What it offered little protection against was the terrible heat on this place and as the days went I really began to fear for the lack of water. I was never much of a water drinker back home. As you probably remember I preferred fizz drinks. I stole yours ever so often. But after the first couple of days here I decided to leave the relative safety of the ship and explore the surroundings.

I hate to admit it, but I was terrified. During the nights I had heard terrible cries from something I assumed were huge animals. (Much later I learned about the krayt dragons which live in the mountains here.) So in an attack of common sense I chose to start my explorations early in the mornings when the suns still were low on the sky and the chill from the night still was lingering.

It was on my third day of exploration I found the cave. It was located high up in the mountainside a few klicks away and - as by a miracle I found a small well of water nearby - or rather water trickling down the mountainside coming from stars alone know where. The cave gave good shadow for the mid day sun and was relatively cool even at daytime. After a day's pondering I decided to abandon the ship and settle down in the cave. I brought a couple of blankets and some of the stuff from the little pantry inside and moved out.

Then another series of scared nights came. I had no idea whether the screaming animals would find me and possibly kill me so I didn't get much sleep, but slowly I settled down realising that they wouldn't come here.

I also realised one more thing. Do you remember the meditation our father requested us to perform when we were children? I was never as good at it as you, but the solitude here helped me. There was simply nothing here to distract me - so out of sheer boredom I began the meditations again. Oh, brother, I'm sure you would have teased me forever had you known.

But you didn't know, did you? I tried to reach you while I was in the meditative state but I never managed. Was I too weak still? Were you too far away? Were you…dead?

No! Not that! Never that. At least I would have known that.

But I discovered something else.

Do you remember how father used to do…strange things when he thought we weren't' watching? He could move things without touching them. I saw him do it several times in his workshop. Well, I realised that I was able to do that as well. I discovered it one day when I'd been struggling with a boulder to get it in place in front of the cave opening to protect me from the strange animals that roamed the mountains at night.

It was far too heavy for me, so I gave up and sat down to meditate and when I emerged from meditation the stone had moved and was just outside the cave. I started experimenting and realised that when I was relaxed I was actually able to move other things like that.

How cool is that?

It gave me more safety during nights. At least nobody were able to enter the cave without waking me up, which was an improvement. I was lonely, but alive and determined to get through the ordeal and one day I was certain I would find you again. It was just a matter of time and strength.

They came on the third day in the third month.

'They' were the inhabitants of the area. Scary bipedal beings clad in rags from top to toe - not an inch of bare skin to be seen. They came to the valley one day I was out trying to bring more of the stuff from the ship to the cave, and they almost scared me to death. I had brought with me a wooden staff and I was determined to fight for my honour.

I fought well, brother. When the dust settled two of them were unconscious and the other four were almost as bruised as me and blinded by the sand I had thrown in their eyes with my newfound abilities, and I was still standing. You would have been proud of me. You were always the better swordsman of us.

I was afraid they would kill me there and then, but to my own huge surprise they began talking to me. Their language isn't made for human throats. It more or less sounds like growling, but after a while I understood that they wanted me to follow them.

I was scared, but I didn't sense any real danger so I did. I was so alone and deprived from contact with other beings that I probably would have followed them even if they invited me as their main course in a banquet. Fortunately I wasn't. Instead they served me a banquet, or something that seemed like that after my diet of roots and water and a couple of unlucky birds throughout the last months.

Long story short - they became my family and my friends or as close to such as it's possible to come. They respect strength and by fighting them in open fight I won theirs. I still kept the cave as my home for years to come but I visited the Sand People's camp ever so often. That's what they call themselves, you know.

There are humans living here too, they told me as soon as I had learned their language. Or rather 'inhumans'. They are hunting the Sand People down whenever they get a chance and they really do terrible things to them. I cannot and will not tell you in detail as you were always the softer and more kind-hearted one of us. Thus is it that the Sand People for generations have chosen the desert and the mountains as their home.

This was also the reason why I became their 'courier' so to speak. They are a different species but they share enough of the biology with humans to benefit from some of the medicals developed for the human race and when some of my friends became sick I volunteered to go into the settlement to buy the medicals.

That's when I really learned how humans look upon the Sand People. They are considered no more than animals. I could barely restrain myself (and you know first hand what effort that is for me) but managed to keep my mouth shut and I gratefully returned to the desert. If those elements were representative for the humans on this planet, I prefer the Sand People every day, thank you very much.

In the years to come this became a pattern for me. Every 3rd or 4th month I snuck into town, bought medical supplies and went home again. I sometimes wondered how the Sand People earned their money, but I chose not to ask.

I learned the truth eventually, the day my best friend among them came back with a blaster wound in his thigh. They had for years been raiding the moisture farms in the outskirts of the human settlements and stealing the few wupiwupis and other values they could find. It was not without danger, but this time the resistance had been unusually tough and several of them were wounded when they came back.

We managed to save most of them, but my friend didn't make it. The wound got infected and that was the end of him.

Weeks later we learned about the represalies that had hit one of the other tribes. Most of the tribe had been wiped out by the posse sent from the human settlement. For a while we prepared for a full scale war towards the other tribes in the area but it never came. Too many of them had been killed so there were not enough of them left to attack us.

That's when I took the lead of the raids. I remembered the history lessons of ancient warfare that our father taught us and I used the principles to improve our efficiency during the raids. I also taught my people to get away with more. We could always sell stolen goods to the Jawas and earn some money on that.

Our living conditions improved after that. I was able to buy more medicals and sometimes I even bought food that both Sand People and human were able to eat. I almost laughed the first time I heard the people in the settlement mention the 'Warrior Queen' who lead the Tuskens in battle. 'Tuskens' is what the humans call the Sand People.

It was also during one of these trips into the town I met Him. To this day I do not know his name. I had to go to Mos Eisley because we needed some more advanced medication than what we could find in the nearby settlements and had come into town late one evening and I had to find a place to sleep for the night. Quite contented I settled down in a shed where the humans obviously kept some eopies but apart from the stench (oh, how those animals can smell when confined inside four walls….) they were quite pleasant company. In the middle of the night I heard some noise outside and half awake I peeked out to see if I had to run. And I saw Him - an impressive human figure clad in black and with something that looked like a short gaderffi in a brilliant red colour which he swung towards his attackers. The colour reminded me of mother's ruby necklace, you know the necklace with the large crimson pendant which I was never allowed to even touch. Did I ever tell you that I sometimes felt dragged towards it as by an invisible force? The colour was so mesmerising, reminding me of blood and fire and sunsets.

Oh, I'm rambling. Sorry about that.

Anyway, the fight didn't last long. Only minutes after I woke the attackers were decapitated. I wonder why the cuts didn't bleed? Maybe the gaderffi really was made of fire? I never found the answer to that. But the stranger surely found me. In my half awake condition I had forgot to hide my inner self as father taught us and the stranger saw me. The gaderffi fire had extinguished but it seemed like he was able to ignite it again simply by pressing a button. I was mesmerised again. He must have noticed because he began talking to me and told me that I had never seen what happened. I felt something attack inside my head and swiftly I raised my mental protection, but I played along when he turned his yellow gaze towards me. I realised it was for the better if he didn't know I was able to defeat his mental…whatever he was trying to do to me. I must have fooled him because he took me to his room in one of the cantinas and fed me. I even was allowed to use a cleanser. Feeling clean for the first time in years was a wonderful feeling. I could have cried, had I dared to.

The next morning I felt even more like crying. There were things that happened that night which I will never tell anyone, least of all you my brother. There are things in life a brother never should know about his sister.

Let it be enough to say that nine months later my son was born.

Shimn (the name means 'Miracle' in SandPeople's language) is a beautiful boy, at least to look at, but even as his doting mother I must admit I'm not sure about his soul. He can be very kind and caring to those he love but oh so relentless and outright hateful when something happens that is not to his likings. He's eleven standard old now and sometimes I'm almost afraid of him. Still I can control him, because my ability of using these strange powers we have is greater than his, but soon he will surpass me. I fear that day, brother. He has too much of his father's evil in him. I know that for sure. I was never an angel myself, but his father…he was pure evil. Had I known then what I know now, I would have stayed well hidden in the shed.

My meeting with Him was the last thing that needed to happen to convince me that I belonged among the Sand People more than among the humans on this planet and for the years to come I put more effort into protecting my people and earning as much as we could from the moisture farmers. We extended our range of attacks and never hit the same place twice in a considerable amount of time. Our attacks had to be….sustainable.

Other tribes heard about our victories and joined us and slowly the Sand People began to consider themselves as one people. I had never expected such a thing to happen, but wealth is attracting all species it seems, so at this time in life, more than ten years after I began my involuntary career as a 'Warrior Queen' (I still laugh when I hear the term), most of the Sand People in the region had been united as one and were under my command.

I might have been proud of my doings, but I wasn't. Frankly I never wanted this. I know I wanted to be a princess back home, but I never did see the responsibility that comes with being a 'Queen'. Now I do, but now it's too late. I am considered one, and they will never let me go. Power attracts the Sand People and they do not abandon their leaders. They follow the strong ones, and kill the weak. I still have a dream of seeing you again, brother, so I do not want to be considered weak. I will do what I must as I have done since I first set my foot on this sandy planet.

Tomorrow that is exactly what will happen.

I have summoned my forces and we will go towards the capital. My people are by now stronger and more confident and throughout the last years we have armed ourselves with modern weapons. Hopefully, by defeating the capital we can finally get our planet back from the humans and peace can be obtained. There is one last battle to fight and then it will be over. When the capital is won, we will be in charge and no more posses will be sent from the human settlements to kill our people.

This is what I aim for.

This is what I want.

And yet, brother, I have a somewhat bad feeling about this. It is like something inside me tells me I won't come out of this battle alive. There's a strong warning inside, and yet this is what I have to do. It's my destiny. I have partly chosen it, but it is also like it has chosen me.

In case I do not return, brother, I'm leaving this diary in the old spaceship that once brought me here. If you search for me that is the one thing you will recognise and that is what you will examine first. Then you will read my words and hopefully come to the capital to find me - or my tomb. Whatever destiny bids.

May peace be with you brother, and if I do not survive the battle to come, may we meet again among the stars one day.

Your sister

Anera

 

Thanks so much @devilinthedetails, it is always nice to read feedbacks and getting them from another Obi-Wan writer adds a little extra to the feedback. Admittedly, Obi-Wan is not present in this story per se, but still he's referenced to a couple of times.

 

It has been a long time without updates on this story now. Sorry about that, but summer season is wild at my work and then came the vacation (almost as wild but in a different way). However, abandoning it was not an issue. But now it's brought to an end and I assume all of you, Force sensitive or not, can sense what's going to be the answer to all of our friend's questions.

 

Chapter 14: Prophecies

The silence hung heavily in the little spaceship as Chirrut stopped reading. Bant was the first to break the silence, by sniffing loudly.

"Such a sad story," she sighed, "they really did meet again but it was too late."

Tahl nodded in agreement, a chill running down her spine. Something was going on here, something…larger, but she couldn't quite grasp it. It was like some unknown destiny was playing a secret melody weaving past, present and future into a scary but yet logical symphony. She just wasn't able to grasp the logics of it all.

"Yes," she agreed, "it seems they did."

"Her son, what was his name again, seems to be a bad person. I wonder how he became that way? Anera seems to have been somewhat reckless but not really evil," Bant thought aloud. "I wonder if there is someone left of her bloodline and where they are? And if they are evil too."

This time Tahl had to restrain herself not to give away a visible shudder. Something, maybe the Force itself, told her that Bant might have been spot on - to something. Suddenly she could hardly wait to get back to the Temple and discuss the recent findings with Mace and Master Yoda. This was…too much for her alone and she couldn't involve the youths more than they already were. They were highly capable, but still they were young and if her hypothesis was right, she would induce too much worry to them at a too young age. And she was indeed worried herself.

"Well, guys," she said lightly, "I believe that our mission here has come to an end. We have confirmed that the first of the Kh'enbi clan actually 'came from the stars' and we even found that he had a sister."

"Shouldn't we try to find out if Anera's bloodline is still existing?" Bant suggested.

"No, young one, we should not. There are no traces to be followed. Nothing in the stories we've heard tells anything about what happened to him after Anera's death. Probably he stayed with the Sand People until he became an adult, and after that…? Who knows?"

"Yes Master," Bant agreed reluctantly, "I just feel that finding her descendants would be important somehow."

"I agree," Tahl admitted, "but there is simply no way we can find them after so many centuries as long as Anera's diary is the only thing that witnesses about a potential bloodline."

And with that the small ship lifted from Tatooine's surface for the last time.

….

Returning Chirrut Îmwe to Jedha safe and sound was an easy matter as they also had to return the ship they had been renting. Saying goodbye was worse. Chirrut had become a full fledged member of their little team and it was hard to leave him behind when they left the Temple of Jedha for the last time.

"It has been a pleasure learning to know you," Tahl said, more formally than she really wanted to.

"The pleasure has been on my side," Chirrut answered politely, making a deep bow, "learning to know Jedi and their ways will be a knowledge I will carry with me, always. I feel it will be useful for me some time in the future."

"And besides," he added with a mischievous grin, "it was fun."

And with a final, less formal, hug between he and Bant the two women entered the cruiser that would take them back to Coruscant.

….

The Council Chamber was dimly lit when Tahl entered, though she couldn't see it. Yoda and Mace Windu was waiting inside, and Tahl made a formal bow when she reached the center of the floor and began to give her mission report.

As she finished, the room was dead silent.

"A sister was there?" Master Yoda asked again.

"Yes," Tahl confirmed. "Awan, who seems to be the origin of the Kh'enbi family as we know them, had a sister. All the evidence we have found indicates that the story is true, at least in that respect. Two siblings were shipped out when a disaster hit their home planet and by a mistake they ended up on two different planets."

Yoda's ears drooped.

"So, another one there may be."

"We don't know that for sure," Mace Windu interjected, "that bloodline may have vanished long time ago. Tatooine is a dangerous world and a human growing up among the Sand People may have died at a young age."

A loud 'whack' could be heard as Yoda's gimer stick hit his boot clad shin.

"No! Listen to the Force you must. More to this story than what meets the eye there is. Yet clouded it is too. A theory you have, Master Uvain? Listen we will to what you say."

Tahl straightened her shoulders. She had knew that this moment would come. It always did. She assumed she should be flattered by the two Master's beliefs in her ability to construct theories and draw conclusions, but this time he felt that the ground she stood on was wobbly, to say the least. Usually she was a women who pursued hard evidence when developing theories.

"I have a theory," she admitted, "but it sounds too vague even for my own beliefs. On your request I will share it with you nonetheless, but please do not emphasise it too much at this point."

The two revered Masters nodded, and Tahl could feel their agreement through the Force.

"Throughout several missions now we have discovered that there is one or multiple prophecies about a so called 'Chosen One' who will bring balance to the Force. There seem to be one who is of the light - the well known one found on Stewjon, but there also seems to be a darker one, the one from the holocron Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon found on Prakith. I have no idea how the 'dark' prophecy came into the holocron, but I do believe that the two prophecies are somehow linked together and telling about two different persons. I wonder if the man Anera met may have been one of the last remaining Sith of that era. After what we have been able to find, the story about Anera and Awan took place almost a millennia ago, about the time when the Sith were extinguished. My hypothesis, though not verified by anything, is that he was able to create the holocron with the prophecy.

From there it becomes pure speculation. He may have had the ability to see what's yet to come, or he may have been a master of wishful thinking, but my guess is that he was hoping that the future child of his would be the ancestor to a new Sith era - or 'the Chosen One of the Sith' so to speak."

Mace and Yoda nodded somberly - in unison.

"Proceed, Master Uvain."

"It's from this point it becomes utterly confusing. We have verified as best we can that the original 'Chosen One prophecy' of the light is linked to the Kh'enbi family. As our Kh'enbi - or Kenobi as it is now, Obi-Wan, is the last of his bloodline it makes sense to believe that if the prophecy is true, he is the child of the light mentioned in it. It is not likely that he, being a Jedi, will have children of his own. And that worries me a lot. If I understand the prophecy right he will have to fight the darkness to restore the balance, and moreover the darkness has to rise before this final battle can take place. So if this is to come true dark times lie ahead of us."

"Worrisome it is," Master Yoda agreed, "many disturbances I have felt in the Force through the last years, but track them I cannot. Like ripples in water they are. Not fierce, not waves, but still there."

"I am more concerned about the 'dark Prophecy'," Mace sighed, "if there is a descendant from our unknown potential-Sith and Anera, where in all the blazes is he - or she? Does he really exist. Are you aware that he could be in this Temple right now and we would have no idea at all? It's more or less a ticking bomb if the prophecy bears some truth in it. Is there really no way to find such a person if he or she exists?"

Tahl shook her head slowly.

"Not that I can see. The only place such a person has been mentioned is in the prophecy, and additionally we have Anera's written statement that she had a son with a rather dubious personality. But after that it's nothing. It has been centuries since this happened, Mace. Centuries."

"You might go back to Auratera…? "

"I am sonot going back there. I had luck once, I do not think the powers of that place will let me be so lucky once more, and besides I have no idea of what to look for. We have no indications that anyone from Anera's line ever made it there. I'm not afraid of dying, but becoming ravingly insane when I have a Padawan to take care of is something else."

"So," Mace concluded, "we will just have to wait and see if any darksider turns up amidst us?"

Yoda's ears drooped even more.

"Wait we will. Watchful we will be. Tell Obi-Wan or Qui-Gon nothing we will also. The burden is getting heavier by each new discovery and Obi-Wan is still not strong enough to carry it."

"Then, may the Force be with us all," Mace Windu sighed, "we may need it."


THE END

 

Sensible theories and the only course of action that can be taken at this point.