A new way of life

[Jakkor Kess]

A few days ago Jakkor had done something a Jedi should dare not do. He gave into darkness, due to Faddim the Hutt selling weapons to Moisture Farmers pushing the Tusken Raiders deeper into the harsh Jundland Wastes. Where it was often difficult to survive. Less food, even lesser water. He had to keep leading his people away never wanting to risk the last time someone had murdered his own tribe. With the new tribe he had been very protective of, how could he not he had been living on Tatooine for years many years since exiling himself, the demons of his past and what he saw as what the state of the Galaxy was finally caught up to him, and he couldn't take not as what he had thought as the Last Jedi that had clung to what he considered a path of peace.

But instead, Faddim got tired of Jakkor's raids and had ambushed Jakkor's tribe in the middle of the night murdering many, this had made the Jedi Master for the first time in many years go into a rage. He led the survivors, men angry at the death of their brothers, sisters, mates, and children. Jakkor had done something he had not done in so very long. Breaking his vow of never wielding his saber again he gave into the darkness that was within. A great battle took place around the palace of Faddim the Hutt for three long days. When Jakkor finally managed to break through he and his men killed, plundered, and did things to the slaves that Jakkor himself didn't want to describe. He had even taken part in it himself after severing Faddim's head from his body. But even then he couldn't embrace the savagery and darkness that had overtaken him at that moment he had pitied a Twi'lek named Livia. Realizing at that moment the violence needed to come to an end, the darkness vanishing and feeling enlightened. He told his men to cease and said that they would be adopting the men and women into the tribe. To regrow the numbers they had before Faddim's extermination.

Within the first few days between the two. They had bonded, Jakkor felt something he hadn't felt in so many years... Peace, The Woman who was at first frightened of him, had grown into something deeper... He would say, love. He showed her the first night that all Tuskens were not savage people, in fact, revealed his skin to her. Something Tuskens never did often revealing that He was Human and revealed that the tribe he was in was Human as well, or for the most part save for a few elders who were part of the original species. He then offered to give her a new life. Not of that of a playtoy for scum who only desired her flesh and one of eternal servitude. But instead a life of that of greater meaning. One of significance as one with the sands. To be apart of the Tuskens. She had gladly accepted, her new life just beginning on that night.

The first few days was one of celebration and of one of thanks. The former women and children who had been slaves were now part of something of their own. Even quite a few becoming mates of the men. As for Livia her first days involved like that of everyone else with teachings from Jakkor personally. She had been taught how to survive the sands, how to search for water, and even food. the traditions of a Tusken such as never revealing her flesh amongst the tribe unless she was alone. The Tusken language which had consisted of nothing more than growls and grunts in a sequence which formed words in the language of the people. With the importance of covered in layers, Jakkor had created a special covering for the women which permitted more movement, and if need be could be used in combat should the women have potential as warriors. She had even been taught how to shoot with a Cycle rifle and given a bantha which whom she affectionately called Midas. And had even taken a new name as a Tusken herself Livia was no more and from then on she was known as Rujat Aola.

He arose early morning, the twin suns not risen yet. Jakkor shook his head which was covered in sweat. The past still haunted him in his dreams, memories of the Clone Wars, Order 66, the purge, and even the Sith that ruined his life long dead since then still haunted him. He had gone to a cliffside, a spot of seeing the Twin Suns rise and fall during the harsh day within the Jundland waste was a place of meditation. There silently as he closed his eyes and reaching out with the Force. He had recited the Jedi Code for the first time in what seemed to be an eternity. "There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force.


[member="Rujat Aola"]

 

[Rujat Aola]

Freedom. It was nearly a foreign concept to Rujat because she’d rarely experienced it in her life. But slowly she was learning to feel it on her ruddy skin like the dry wind of Tatooine, to taste it like the gritty sand on her tongue when she opened her mouth during a storm. In the desert, the Twi’lek wore more layers of clothing than she’d even owned at Faddim’s Palace, but she understood the need to keep her sensitive epidermis protected as well as the cultural obligation to the Tusken Raider ways. Jakkor had cleverly fashioned her headgear to accommodate her long rose-colored lekku.

Awaking in the small primitive dwelling she shared with her new Tusken mate, she realized he was not in the bed beside her. Her fingertips traced the fabric, wandering across the shape that had been there, feeling the sand there as well. We can't even keep it out of our sheets, she thought with a smile.

Rujat dipped a clean rag in a bowl of luke-warm water and rubbed it across her skin. Water was in such short supply in the Jundland Wastes, but how funny that she’d never realized it before. Faddim’s Palace contained many fountains, baths and refreshers. Only now the Twi’lek could understand the price he must have paid for all of that precious liquid gold. She craved a shower but knew it wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

After dressing in her traditional costume, she walked out to find Jakkor. The twin suns were just starting to rise, and once she could see a little better, she spied him on a far off cliff. Rujat came up behind him, hearing him speak words that were not foreign because they were Basic, but were unknown to her despite knowing his language.

"What is that, Anan? The phrasing is beautiful."

[member="Jakkor Kess"]

 

[Jakkor Kess]

Jakkor silently breathed as he finished the mantra that he had been taught eight centuries ago. He had recited this for the first time since he began his exile. Leaving the Force to decide his fate. Opening his eyes and sensing the signature of Rujat, he turned around to see her covered in her traditional Tusken Garb, which made him smile underneath his mask. Standing up slowly, wearing his version of Jedi Robes. A mixture of Tusken and Jedi Influence he admired his mate like the sands he had called home. He spoke finally. "It is a mantra you wouldn't know.. If you heard of Jedi then that is the code they use.. Something that had been passed to me long before you were born eight centuries ago."

He said as he approached her, brushing her gloved hand affectionately. Looking away never divulging too much into his past. The past was like a dark abyss filled with more bad than good. It had dared to suck him in. He had tried to forget everything and as a man who should have been dead. He had contemplated suicide on more than a number of occasions but that was before he had found Rujat. He had found a new purpose. A new purpose in her. He continued gazing into her eyes. "I suppose I never told you much of my past have I my mate?"

[member="Rujat Aola"]

 

[Rujat Aola]

"No and that's fine, Anan. I have not heard those words. I do know of the Jedi but all of that seems like… stories. From another part of the galaxy that I’ve never been exposed to.”

Her head tilted betraying her curiosity. She looked left and right, but no one from the tribe was around, so she removed her mask and helm, letting her long lekku trail down her back. Her eyes were wide. “Don’t tell me you’re a Jedi. Wait, really?”

The Twi’lek did not know whether to be elated or anxious. Jedi were all powerful beings, but Jakkor was merely a fierce Tusken warrior who’d freed her from Faddim and who’d taken her into his arms as former slave and then a lover. Rujat was careful at first, keeping her heart at arm’s length, but eventually his loyalty won her over. And now they were desert warriors together.

“Sei gue uru, is that what you are?” The alien had no idea she’d had the Force inside of her as well, and even if she did, she would not believe him if he’d insisted.

[member="Jakkor Kess"]

 

[Jakkor Kess]

Jakkor chuckled finding her reaction to not be so surprising. For someone like her, the Jedi were merely legend, tales of the Jedi and Sith stories that parents told their children at night. But the Jedi were real in this day in age but to be found on a world such as Tatooine was rare and hardly seen even here. Seeing her revealed her shocked face, he didn't even remove his own, he hardly ever removed his own only doing so when they were in their hut. Alone together, Jakkor could only nod as if her voice carried shock, fear, and surprise all in one.

He then spoke softly as to her calm her down. "Yes, I am, a Jedi Master... That is not all Rujat... I am how to say not from this time... I should have long since been dead." He said gazing into her eyes. Sending waves of clam through the Force to her, he had hoped it would help as he told his tale. "I came from a time long before you were born.. In fact eight centuries ago. I was once Jakkor Kess, Jedi Padawan of the Jedi Order. Then a conflict that had threatened to tear the galaxy apart known as the Clone Wars broke out... I was young and reckless eager to see the War to an end. For two years I fought... From the worlds of Ossus and Toydaria to Xagobah and Ragmar V... When it did come to an end my own soldiers betrayed me, my master dead and my best friend I left at the mercy of those who had sought to kill us both consumed by fear I fled."

He sighed and looked away for a moment. He needed a moment to gather thoughts, to pull the memories of that dark time to the forefront of his mind. He looked into her eyes again continuing. "I fled traveling from world to world on the run from the Galactic Empire, I was then chased by Inquisitors, Former Jedi who went bad that now served the Empire.. I was even forced to kill my own best friend who became one of them.. Twisted by the man known as Darth Vader... Vader eventually found me and I was lucky to escape with my life. I fled to the Unknown Regions determined to die at least peacefully by living out the rest of my days. I found an old Jedi station which had now been corrupted by the Empire, after engaging in a duel I was thrown into some kind of Sith Casket. Strangely I had slept for 800 years. Awakened by a Jedi Padawan who I learned the Jedi had risen only to have fallen countless times. I spent my days for the next ten years traveling the Galaxy... Lost I helped those who I could and even fought another war. I even found a Master with whom I fell in love with and had a family with... Unfortunately, I do not know what became of them. We fought because I wished to die... Seeing the Force so out of balance I desired death. After a violent confrontation, I left them and spent my years here for many years.. Wishing to die all the more and losing faith in everything till finding you. You carry the Force in you girl, not awake but asleep it is there. I will not force you for training.. Sometimes I wonder what the Jedi Order should end with me." He let out a sigh as he finished his tale. Of course, he had told the best he could. Despite how painful it was telling her he looked her in the eye and had wondered what she would say.

[member="Rujat Aola"]

 

[Rujat Aola]

Rujat was not a well-learned Twi’lek and certainly not book smart. Nor was she really that street smart. However, she’d been exposed to so much of the galaxy’s culture through her bondage at Faddim’s Palace, most of it painted with a brush of depravity and corruption. She’d witnessed trade deals which ended with corpses being dragged away from the main chamber. Those she entertained told her stories of planets like Corellia, Nar Shaddaa, Coruscant - places she could only imagine in her mind based on how they were described, worlds that sounded marvelous or nightmarish depending on the individual.

But she did know there were mysterious elements at play on Tatooine. She’d felt it often inside of her.

As she listened to Jakkor, a peace washed over her, unlike anything she’d felt before. Faith, hope, perseverance… life. I’ve never felt more free than bonded to this man. How ironic.

Her dark mauve eyes drank him in, sparkling with wonderment over the Tusken’s history, noting his faithfulness to tradition. When he came to the part about having a wife and family before her, Rujat felt an unexpected spark of jealousy, but did not show anything but a placid expression.

“Like you? I also have the Force?” Perhaps that would explain the occasionally disassociation she felt when, for example, she’d been abused by Faddim’s gang. The Twi’lek had always chalked it up to a survival instinct, but perhaps the Force allowed her to leave her body at that time, to lessen the trauma of what she was about to go through. “Would you… teach me what you know? The Jedi Order should not end with you, Anan.”

And then she sat cross-legged beside him.

“Your family. Do you ever want to find them?” she asked with clear sadness in her Ryl-accented voice. She was distressed for both of them. For Jakkor who likely missed them in a terrible way and also for herself who would be extremely desolate if he left her to return to them.

[member="Jakkor Kess"]

 

[Jakkor Kess]

Jakkor sighed as the memories were painful, he had lived an entire lifetime. Unlike Rujat who he had known for only a few months, and was present in the Galaxy not long after he had been awakened. It may have been fate that had brought the two together in the trackless deserts of Tatooine. He could feel her become calmed as she listened to him with curiosity no matter how painful it was for him. As it ended he stared into her eyes and for a moment enjoyed the comfortable silence that was between the two.

He raised an eyebrow as she was jealous, the moment he had mentioned his family before her. He could feel the spark of jealousy swell within her. She was in love with him after all. Such things were expected if not in love then she was fiercely devoted to him. Willing to do anything and everything for him. He smiled finding such a thought to be rather adorable.

Turning away as soon as she mentioned wanting to be the Last Jedi herself. The last of an old generation that should have ended with him. He didn't say anything for a moment before replying. "If you wish to learn.. I will try. But I warn you if you do this there is no going back you understand?" He said wondering if she was the success he had hoped to find for years.

When she finally brought her jealousy out through her words he chuckled and replied playfully. "You wish to be my padawan... Do you desire to become a wife as well?" He said largely ignoring her words he didn't wish to answer, he never thought too much of his family and preferred to forget them. Instead answering her question with another question curious as well as what she desired.

[member="Rujat Aola"]

 

[Rujat Aola]

As Jakkor felt too, the silence between them was not awkward or uncomfortable at all. Being with the Tusken Raider was as natural as it was to breath the dusty oxygen on Tatooine. She leaned her head against him, her lekku draping across him.

“Do you wish to become my wife as well?”

Rujat turned towards him, her eyes wide with anticipation and a spark of delight. “Is that allowed? Among Jedi? And are you proposing to me or just teasing?” In a moment, the envy of his former life was gone, and the Lethan Twi'lek playfully kissed him on the cheek.

“As I’m honored to share your bed, I would be honored to be your wife.” Though they had not known each other long at all, Rujat could not imagine her life without this strong and influential figure in it. To teach her the way of the Jedi, to bear his children or hopefully do both of those.

[member="Jakkor Kess"]

 

[Jakkor Kess]

Jakkor had initial reservations at first of taking the Twi'lek girl as both a Padawan and a Wife. But he had learned over his long life, that he shouldn't take these things so seriously. He would teach her the best he could, even though never finishing his own Jedi Training officially. He would train her what he knew of the Order before it's fall centuries ago despite him breaking certain parts that dwelled on attachment. He couldn't afford to lose Rujat, if he had lost her to the Sith, or perhaps some other dark force he did not know what he would do.

He smiled as she draped her Lekku over him, and looked at him in a face that showed delight as he asked his question. He couldn't help but chuckle and reply happily. "Well, no.. No officially, the Jedi were always forbidden from such attachment. But we are the only Jedi here. We can decide if that is what we both choose to do. So in a way also yes would you be willing to accept that proposal?" He said as he wrapped an arm lovingly around her.

He couldn't help but feel a certain happiness, at the thought of a new family one that he wouldn't be ashamed of. One that he loved just the same as any Father would. Is that a yes then?" He said chuckling.

[member="Rujat Aola"]