Saga Before the Saga “We Have Drabbles” | UDC X

Title: We Have Drabbles
Author: Raissa Baiard
Timeframe, Characters, Genre: various, depending on the set

“We have hope. Hope that drabbles will be written. And they will.”
—Hera Syndulla, more or less (via @Findswoman )​

Welcome to my drabble challenge thread. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank @Findswoman for the suggestion to adapt Hera’s iconic quote about hope into the very “it is what it says on the tin” title and for the epigram above. Perfectly adapted quotes are perfect.

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Index
Week One
Week Two
Week Three
Week Four
Week Five
Week Six
Week Seven
Week Eight
Week Nine

 

Week One

Characters: Levi Bridger (OC), Saadya Bridger and Jedi Master Rahman Jagoda (borrowed OCs, from @Findswoman)
Timeframe: Before, 3989 BBY-3964 BBY
Genre: Character study, drama

Many thanks to @Findswoman for letting me borrow her OCs and continue with the story of Saadya and his family from her wonderful and very moving story “Saadya’s Pages”, about Ezra’s ancestors in the pre-KOTOR era.

1. Prelude
A long time ago, far on the Outer Rim, lived a man named Saadya. He was a bookbinder by trade, but a mage-artisan by nature—an artist who could put a small piece of himself into his creations. When his youngest son was found to be strong in the Force and taken to the Jedi Temple, Saadya gave him a notebook imbued with his essence so that he could communicate with the boy across the miles. But, alas, such communication was against the Jedi rules forbidding attachment, and his Jedi master confiscated the book.

Saadya never heard from his son again.

2. Bygone

Attachment was forbidden. Master Jagoda had been very clear about that when he took Levi’s notebook, the one that let him hear and speak to his father. As long as Levi was holding onto his old life, he couldn’t fully serve the Jedi. Levi didn’t understand, but he nodded solemnly.

Afterwards, he became a model student, dutiful and diligent. Master Jagoda was pleased, never suspecting that Levi kept a small, well-guarded corner of his heart reserved for Mother, Daddy, Yuval, Aleeza, and the life he lived before.

And he never forgot about the bright orange notebook decorated with frolicking Loth-cats.

3. Impend
Tomorrow Levi was going to leave Lothal, maybe forever.

According to Master Jagoda, he’d made incredible strides in the past three years, so he was being sent to the Jedi Academy on Dantooine where he could have the best instructors. But Levi didn’t want to go. First, the Jedi had taken him away from his home and family. Now they were sending him away from his whole world.

He looked at his small bag, full of clothes just like every other initiate’s, and wished he still had his orange notebook so he could take a piece of Lothal— of home—with him.

4. Descend
Levi kept a journal.

That wasn’t unusual among the Jedi, but what was unusual was that his journal was an actual flimsi notebook bound in handsome orange-brown leather. It had started as simply a day-to-day record of events and his reflections on them. But then the Mandalorians descended on the Outer Rim, blazing a bloody trail as they went, and Levi’s entries changed to become a chronicle of every system, every planet, every town they laid waste to.

The Council was hesitant to intervene, and Levi felt the least he could do was to keep a memorial of the fallen.

5. Arise

Today the town of Celex on Dellalt fell to the Mandalorians. One hundred sixty-three beings were killed in the siege and an unknown number were taken captive. The Council still refuses to intervene in the conflict.

Dellalt isn’t that far from Lothal. I think of Yuval and Aleeza, who must have families of their own by now. What happens to them when the Mandalorians finally reach it?

Do the Republic’s ordinary citizens mean so little to the Council that they are content to do nothing while they die?

If the Council will not act, I will.

—Levi ebn Saadya Gesheri

Notes: While Dellalt is an existing planet in the GFFA, the town of Celex and its siege by the Mandalorians is my own invention. Certainly. The Mandos ravaged that part of the Outer Rim at that point in time.

For Levi’s signature, I’ve borrowed @Findswoman’s convention for names in the Atiq-Lothali language. Her note on them: “Ebn” is a portmanteau of the similar Earth words “ben” and “ibn,” from Hebrew and Arabic respectively). As for Gesheri, well, gesher is Hebrew for “bridge.”

 

Superb on two counts, seeing anything from you and revisiting OCs I thought whose story was done. I love especially Bygone and Impend where we see Levi still being attached to family and home. Sad about the notebook, though. And What a sad, tragic thing to keep a journal of, but it looks like Levi's conclusion that the Council doesn't "care about plain folks" is going to create a schism.

 

Love the story of Levi, going against the code and keeping his notes. And about the ordinary citizens. So true for most ruling councils, governments etc

 

Aww, thanks so much, @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha I’m glad you enjoyed revisiting Saadya and Levi as much as I did. I suppose one could argue that keeping that attachment to home and family is what leads to Levi’s opposition to the Council’s position—or you could argue that it gives him more compassion for the ordinary citizens of the Republic. But either way one looks at it, you’re right that there’s a schism coming, and Levi isn’t the only one who feels that way.

Thank you! I’ve always felt the non-attachment rules are overly harsh; there are many ways to love that don’t lead to attachment and possession. The Jedi Council may not be completely indifferent to the ordinary citizens, but their focus on the big picture risks losing sight of what’s happening to them.

Well, thank you And thank you again for letting me tag onto Saadya’s Pages . Levi is a lot like his ultimate descendant in a lot of ways, notably the importance of family to him, coupled with an independent streak that leads him to defy authority in ways both big and small. His choice of notebook is very definitely a way of asserting that he may be a Jedi but he is still his own person—I can imagine that the Jedi Council wouldn’t take kindly to Levi signing himself “son of Saadya” and with a surname that ties him to his homeworld! Levi is in for some more run-ins with the Council and those Jedi like Master Jagoda who view individuality and independent thinking as slightly suspect if not dangerous. Levi may indeed make history—whether or not that’s a good thing depends on one’s view of certain Jedis’ actions in Old Republic history

Thanks! Again, I owe @Findswoman for providing the perfect quote her!

It was a real pleasure to revisit @Findswoman ’s terrific characters and world building and to continue Levi’s story. I think that that brevity is both one of the challenges of writing drabbles and its strengths—it forces you to distill your story down to its essence. And sometimes those spare sentences can be more effective than lengthy prose.

No, as we see, family and home are never completely gone from Levi’s heart, to the point that even years later he choose a notebook that reminds him of the one his father made for him and signs his entries the way Saadya used to sign his work.

I tried not to make Levi a copy of Ezra…but there are similarities As you note, they’re both determined to do what’s right, even if that means running up against authority. I’d say that they both have compassion as a driving force, too, and their concern for ordinary people (especially those on Lothal). Once again, I tip my hat to @Findswoman for Lothali naming conventions. Continuing to use them is another way for Levi to maintain his connection to home and family. I’m glad you enjoyed these drabbles; more are coming up very soon.

 

Week Two

Characters: Hera Syndulla, Kanan Jarrus
Time frame: OT, circa 0BBY
Genre: mush

6. Battlefield
The kintan strider lofted its iron warhammer over its head with a mighty cry and lumbered across the battlefield towards its opponent, a wiry, gnarled monnok which shook its spear and screamed defiance at the hulking beast. The two creatures clashed, raining a fury of blows on each other, but the m’onnok was no match for the crushing force of the strider’s massive hammer. It dwindled to nothingness with a gurgling wail, leaving the kintan strider alone to claim the black square it had occupied on the dejarik board.

“That,” Kanan said with a smile. “Is another piece for me.”

7. Opponent
It was supposed to have been just a pleasant game of dejarik, something to pass the time while the Ghost was traveling through hyperspace. But Kanan had always had a rather un-Jedi-like streak of competitiveness when it came to dejarik, so of course he’d proposed a friendly wager…”just to make things interesting”. The winner, he suggested, would get to choose which chores the loser had to do for the next week.

And since Kanan had already captured her m’onnok, her houjix and her grimtash, Hera had a feeling she was well on her way to ‘fresher cleaning duty.

8. General
Playing dejarik against a military strategist was always a challenge, but that wasn’t the only reason Kanan enjoyed his games with Hera. Uninterrupted time together had become increasingly rare for them since she’d been promoted to general.

Kanan could sense Hera’s concentration as she sat across the dejarik board from him. Even though he could no longer see her, through some combination of memory and the Force he could picture her there— her head tilted gently to one side, lips slightly pursed and the tip of her left lek twitching as she considered her next move.

She was beautiful as ever.

9. Knight

Hera studied Kanan’s face as he pondered the dejarik board. It was a sight that was intimately familiar to her, but she never tired of it. In the past few years, his hair and beard were a little longer. His features had changed subtly, becoming a little leaner, and his expression had become more reflective, and of course, he wore the scars of his encounter with Maul. But the quirk of his brows, the curve of his lips…that remained the same.

Hera always loved to see Kanan’s smile, even if, in this case, it meant she was losing at dejarik.

10. Ceasefire
“I suppose this means I’ll be cleaning the ‘freshers now.” Hera laughed as her savrip vanished, leaving Kanan’s strider alone on the dejarik board.

“I’m sure we can negotiate something.” Kanan shot her a mischievous grin as he slid around the curve of the acceleration couch, reaching for her.

“Oh really?”

“Mmm…” he said, pulling her into his arms. “I’m a very good negotiator.”

Ping!

The main computer chimed out an alert: the Ghost was approaching its destination and would be returning to real space.

Hera drew back from Kanan with a sigh. Duty called; their negotiations would have to wait.

 

SWEETNESS! I love the mutual/reciprocal basking. Pesky inconvenient arrival at their destination, and unfortunate delay in negotiations.

 

love the game; playfull and challenging for both

 

Thank you! That mutual/reciprocal nature of Kanan and Hera’s relationship is a big part of why I enjoy writing them so much. I’m sure that their negotiations will be fruitful when they finally have the opportunity

Thanks! With so much going on in their lives have to take whatever time they can just to enjoy each other’s company

 

Week Three

And then sometimes a random drabble prompt inspires you to write about a minor character in the show that it seems like no one else watched…
Thanks to @Findswoman for beta-ing!

Characters: Mika Grey, mentions of Kaz Xiono, Kel and Eila
Timeframe: ST, circa 34 ABY
Genre: adventure, character study

11. Inlay
Archaeologist Mika Grey had been in enough Force temples like the one on Ashas Ree to know that there was danger there, hidden just behind the crumbling facade. A Sith altar containing a powerful artifact lurked in its heart. Rather than destroy such places, the ancient Jedi had chosen to neutralize them by the curious expedient of building their own temples over the top. Even the inlaid floor hinted at this duality, with designs representing both the Dark and Light sides of the Force: a fish, a snake, the sun, the moon.

Mika stepped carefully as she made her way inside.

12. Outrun
Mika had spent most of her life seeking out Sith relics to keep them from falling into the wrong hands, but the past few years she’d been in a race against the First Order’s Raider Troopers. Now it wasn’t just some hapless ameteur explorer she had to worry about getting ahold of the relics. If the Raiders found them first, they’d take them to that Sith-wannabe Kylo Ren—and the Force alone knew what stupid things he’d do with them.

She’d lost the Raiders on Vargos 9, but it was only a matter of time until they caught up with her again.

13. Waylay
Touching the obelisk-shaped relic before thoroughly checking for traps was a novice mistake, and, like a novice, Mika was dumped in a pit when the floor opened up beneath her. She sustained herself on ration bars for two days until help arrived in the most unlikely form— two children, a ball droid and the clumsiest pilot in the New Republic.

They said that the Force favored children and fools, though (and this Kazuda seemed to be a bit of both). Somehow the motley group freed her…but not before the pilot set off more traps and destroyed the temple in the process.

14. Partake
The relic had been destroyed in a flash of its own unholy Sith power, and the Raiders along with it. Mika regretted having had to use it against them; for all their arrogance, they’d really had no idea what they were dealing with. Being consumed by Dark magic wasn’t a fate she wished on anyone, but there had been innocent lives at stake— Kazuda and his fellow pilots, and the children, Kel and Eila— and she hadn’t had many options.

At least now there was no way Kylo Ren and the First Order could partake of its dreadful power.

15. Uphold
It was sometimes difficult to explain why an archaeologist was so invested in finding these relics when she was neither a Jedi nor a Sith nor any kind of priest of the Force. But the Force wasn’t the sole province of the Jedi. It didn’t belong to any one person or group. It was called by a thousand names across the Galaxy, recognized in a myriad of ways. It belonged to everyone and was a part of everyone and everything, so it was Mika’s solemn duty to use her skills to uphold the Light and protect others against the Darkness.

Notes: this set recounts the events of the Star Wars: Resistance episode “The Relic Raiders”

 

It's always fascinating to find something with famed or infamous historic relevance, but it's also vital that it doesn't fall into ruthless hands.

 

great work by the archeologist

 

Hello! *waves* I JUST started watching Rebels yesterday, so I finally feel like I'm competently equipped to read about some of these characters I previously didn't recognize or understand; caveat that I have just started Rebels yesterday.

That is fascinating and makes me think that I ought to read the story this OC is from, because I'm so interested in the idea of an artificer mage in the GFFA.

<3 very sweet that he picked up something that reminded him of his previous notebook

I spotted the Hebrew naming convention! It's a very good choice, given Ezra's canonical name (which I also just looked up the meaning for). It's very interesting making this connection between the Hebrew language and this particular planet, given the history of the Jewish people in relation to fascism.

This is hilarious to me because my family plays competitive chess, and my 7yo is state ranked and ridiculously competitive. Though we've never put chores on the table

Also feels like you wrote this set specifically for me because my husband is blind. But also, keeping track of where your pieces are when you can't see them, and keeping spatial awareness in mind when you can't see it is ridiculously difficult, and I'm proud of Kanan for pulling it off.

Alas, the plight of the working parent.

I don't know about this show! But is the snake an actual Force thing it an Indy reference? *hums the theme*

Lol, again I don't know enough about this show, but it seems like SOMEONE took the cue of Raiders and decided to make an Indy episode. Fantastic

Perfect. Though unfortunate it wouldn't be in an endless warehouse.

 

Thank you everyone for the fantastic comments! I truly appreciate them and I promise to come back and respond properly, but the change in the weather where I live has given me a lovely all-day headache so I’m going to go ahead and post my Week Four drabbles now.

Week Four
Characters: Hera Syndulla, Kanan Jarrus, Jacen Syndulla-Jarrus
Timeframe: circa 5 ABY
Genre: AU, mush, fluff

Thank you to @Findswoman for beta reading and for the suggestion of basing these drabbles on this scene in “All the Joy, but Not the Care”.

Spoiler

As he spoke, the image framed by the doorway changed again: Kanan and Hera, hand in hand, on a beach beneath a brilliant azure sky. The crystal water lapped at their bare feet as they walked down it, laughing. Hera wore a brightly patterned scarf tied over her lekku, its fringed ends fluttering in the breeze, a white shirt that left the smooth skin of her shoulders and arms bare, and a flowing skirt that swirled around her legs, the hem damp with salt spray, though Hera seemed not to mind.

Kanan’s heart clenched painfully. He’d never seen Hera look more beautiful or carefree. He’d asked her before she’d returned to Yavin what kind of life she wanted to have after the war was over, and he knew that if she had asked him the same question, this was what he would have described: a future together, full of joy and love and hope.

And yet…

It was a future they could never have. Kanan knew what his path was; he knew what he had to do for Hera and their family. He shook his head mutely, and wished he could make himself look away from this vision, that he could be as blind to it as he was to everything else.

“Are you really that eager to sacrifice yourself, Jedi?” Palpatine’s voice was soft and wheedling, seeping into the cracks of Kanan’s resolve. “Think of what you could have—a lifetime with your beloved...and your son.”

Kanan stiffened as, in the vision, a small boy with emerald green hair pattered down the beach towards him and Hera, splashing in surf as he came. He had a sea bird feather clutched in one small fist, and he beamed as he held it up to his parents for inspection.

. While the scene in the story is a vision of a possible future, I’ve chosen to set these drabbles in my “happily ever after” AU, the Marzra-verse, in which S4 of Rebels essentially doesn’t happen.

16. Breeze
A breeze ruffled Jacen’s brilliant green hair, and foamy wavelets licked his toes as he pattered across the sand, squealing with childish laughter. A speagull feather danced down the beach on the fickle breeze, just out of reach until the wind died and it fluttered to the ground. Jacen snatched up his treasure in a chubby fist. “Mama, Daddy— look what I found!” he crowed triumphantly, running back to them.

Kanan caught him up and tossed him into the air, where he hung weightless as a feather on the breeze for a moment before coming down to his father’s embrace.

17. Idyll
It was a perfect day, Hera reflected, looking at her family.

The Hosnian Prime board of tourism could not have crafted a more idyllic scene for their holovids if it tried. The sky over the Crystal Dunes was beautifully blue with just a few wispy streamers of white against it. The warm summer sun glinted off the turquoise waves that lapped at the sparkling sand. Speagulls called to one another as they drifted lazily overhead, while spindly-legged sand pippers darted back and forth, chasing the waves.

The war, at long last, was over.

And Kanan was holding their son, smiling.

18. Shade

After a long day of playing on the beach, Jacen fell asleep on a blanket underneath the canvas beach shade that Kanan had put up for them that morning. He was still holding his speagull feather in one hand, and next to him on the blanket was a small pile of his other “treasures”: seashells, pebbles and a bit wave-smoothed driftwood.

Hera stroked his hair gently as he slept. It warmed her heart that though Jacen had lived his whole life in the shadow of war, he could still take so much joy in something as simple as a feather.


19. Balm
Kanan came over to sit beside her. He wrapped an arm around her waist and Hera laid her head against his shoulder. Not too long ago, the idea of a family vacation would have been unthinkable. Even now, it was sometimes difficult to believe that the war had finally ended and that she, Kanan and Jacen were free to enjoy moments of peace and tranquility like these together.

After so many years spent fighting the Empire, fleeing from base to base, going from mission to mission and battle to battle, stillness and rest were sweet balm to her soul.

20. Linger
They stayed on the beach until nearly sundown, and might have stayed longer, but Chopper was waiting for them back at their villa (he didn’t like the way sand got into his gears). Jacen rode home on Kanan’s shoulders, his belt pouch full of his beach treasures, except for the feather, which he’d stuck in Kanan’s hair.

Soon the four of them would have to return home to Lothal and the Jedi Temple, but in the days that were left, Hera intended to linger in the sun and surf as long as possible and bask in the warmth of being a family.

 

Sweetness! I love the details of the beach and Jacen's exuberant finds. The family warmth and Hera's sheer delight in it is a balm to the reader, as well.

 

Sweet, a day on the beach, Just like I have seen almost every day during the past weeks here in the Netherlands

 

Thank you! I really loved being able to give the family this moment “for real”—at least in my AU, which as @Findswoman always tells me, are only alternate if you want them to be

Sounds lovely! We are winding down summer here (and pretty well land locked) but I was able to draw on fond memories of vacations past while writing this set.

Week Five
Characters: Ezra Bridger, Hondo Ohnaka, mentions of Dok Ondar
Timeframe: ST, circa 34 ABY
Canonicity: ?
Genre: humor
Thanks to @Findswoman for beta-reading

21. Astray
Ohnaka Transport Solutions was not what Ezra would have expected from one of his old friend’s business ventures.

The company had its headquarters in the sleepy Black Spire Outpost on Batuu and they looked almost…reputable. The docking bay held a vintage YT-1300 freighter in addition to Hondo’s sleek, new model ZH-40 Tribune, the Katooni. Hondo had actual employees— two earnest young Batuuans — and he had porgs. A pair of the roly-poly mammavians, whose names, Hondo said, were Snappy and Puffy, had built a nest in the corner of the office.

“Hondo, you old pirate!” Ezra laughed. “You’ve finally gone legitimate!”

22. Temerity
“Ah, my friend!” the Weequay exclaimed, clapping Ezra heartily on the shoulder. “Only someone for whom I have such a deep personal regard could call me that.”

“What, pirate?”

“Certainly not! There’s nothing wrong with ‘pirate’; it is an honorable profession with a long and glorious tradition. All right, not honorable as such, or glorious in the conventional sense, but profitable— and isn’t that what really matters?”

“Old?”

“Ah, well,” Hondo sighed. “I admit that does sting a bit, but better an old pirate than a deceased pirate, you know? No, no, the word I am referring to is ‘legitimate’.”

23. Nuance
“You see, there’s legitimate and then there’s legitimate.”

“What’s the difference?”

“It’s a matter of nuance… Most of Ohnaka Transport Solutions’ clients are mostly legitimate. Oh, they may try to adjust the scales in their favor when weighing their cargo or slip something a little, shall we say, spicier in with the golden lichen dust shipment, but for the most part they are good, solid, boring citizens.

“Then there are my clients that have some legitimate business, some business that is somewhat legitimate, and some business that is definitely not legitimate, but we both pretend we know nothing about that.

24. Prolix
“And then there is Dok Ondar, the owner of the Den of Antiquities, He…well… Ondar prefers his transport solutions discreet rather than legitimate, you see. I really should not even be mentioning it to a fine, upstanding Jedi such as yourself, but if the Republic knew half of what he has in his showroom, the Ministry of History would be there like muckworts on poodoo. He has a kyber crystal sculpture from the Temple of the Guardians of the Whills on Jedha, you know. Oh yes…I…may have been involved in helping him procure it. Let me tell you how it happened…”

25. Perception
“Speaking of Ondar’s showroom… Does this look familiar?” Hondo smirked as he pulled up a holo of a display of helmets, including an old Imperial scout trooper helmet which was painted a very non-standard yellow with purple-red stripes and a bird-like emblem on a brown field.

“Wait, that’s… that’s mine! How…?”

“Well, you didn’t have any use for it. And Ondar offered me twenty thousand credits. Ah, Ezra…” he chuckled at his friend’s dumbfounded expression. “A helmet belonging to a hero of the Rebellion, painted by a Galactically famous artist? One Jedi’s castoff is another man’s historical treasure!”

Notes: The idea for this set is an older Ezra visiting Hondo at his Totally Legitimate (™) Ohnaka Transport Solutions on the planet Batuu. Hondo’s company, incidentally, serves as the basis for the Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run ride at Disney’s Galaxy’s Edge (aka Star Wars Land).

The story of Hondo and Dok Ondar stealing a kyber crystal statue comes from the Galaxy’s Edge comic #3

And you can indeed see Ezra’s scout trooper helmet on display in Dok Ondar’s Den of Antiquities in Galaxy’s Edge, though the idea that Hondo sold it to him is pure head canon.

 

I love the fun in this set. The banter between Ezra and Hondo is great

 

So I meant to review these a few weeks ago, but you know, life happens. I'm enjoying all the various characters and timeframes you've explored, and of course, it's always nice to get some K/H goodness. So here I go...

Very interesting... Is this an ability that gets lost over time, I wonder, or is it something that will crop up again in the Rebellion era and beyond?

This part really stuck out to me - it must be so strange to be separated from your siblings for that long and wonder what sort of people they've grown up into and whether they have families and what those families are like. I really like that Levi still feels that attachment to his family as strongly as ever and is moved to protect them, and the other innocent people affected by what's happening.

I thought I recognized "kintan strider", and I was waiting to see how it played out. Great job of setting this up as some grand, epic battle, only to reveal...

Well played!

This is so perfectly Kanan.

Awww

They're such a great couple, and you've captured the dynamics of their relationship so well.

!!

How very fascinating!

(I'll admit I have never seen this show, and I don't know anything about Mika beyond these drabbles, but the premise of an Sith-relic-hunting archeologist is intriguing as you've written about it here!)

I love this so much. Yes, that's it exactly.

You set this whole scene beautifully; I could see it all. So relaxed and warm and carefree.

Again, I really love all the beach imagery in this set of drabbles. The beach is my happy place, and you capture so much of what there is to love about taking a family vacation there. Beautiful.

That really says it all right there.

Heh, a nod to Ezra's "Lando Calrissian" alias?

HONDO! I could hear him saying this.

Yep, sounds about right for Hondo. Great job capturing his character throughout these!

Lol, that helmet has come quite a ways, hasn't it?

Well done with all of these, and I look forward to reading more!

 

I'm loving how quickly you establish the character of your OCs (as well as canon characters I'm not familiar with) in such short pieces.

Week Two's my favourite; I'm a sucker for a forbidden Jedi romance.

Week Four is so sweet, and I love the image of the Crystal Dunes. I'm looking forward to reaching more!