Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic: The Destined Jedi

Into the Depths

Tai, Matt, and their Padawans exited the Chieftain's hall and began their walk down to the basket that would take them to the forest floor of Kashyyyk, known as the Shadowlands. Kari and TK stuck close to their masters, as this would not only prove their skills as Jedi, but their courage as well. No one who had ventured down to the Shadowlands had ever been reported to come out alive.

The whole situation made Tai's stomach twist in and out. The thought of him going down to meet his almost certain death didn't appeal to the recent Jedi Master. "Do I really enjoy cheating death at every corner? Of course I do. So why is it that this time it makes my hair stand on end? Is it because of Kari? Sora? I have no idea, and no time to go through this now. My immediate focus needs to be on finding this Wookiee rebel and this supposed guide."

Kari could read his thoughts and reassured him that everything would be okay. "Master, everything will be fine. We may going down to the depths of despair, but it will all pay off. We will find the Star Map, and the Wookiee rebel, and then be off this planet." She put her hand on his back for reassurance.

Tai returned her kindness with a smile as they continued their walk. Matt was in a similar situation, but he was worried over his brother, as the Shadowlands were no place for a Padawan learner. Even the most experienced Jedi Knights dare not travel to the forest floor.

TK looked up at his master and smiled at him, giving him the assurance that he would be okay and death would not claim them. Matt returned this with a nod.

Finally, after a long walk which seemed to take hours, they arrived at the basket elevator that would carry them down to the Shadowlands. The Wookiee Gowroken stood as the operator. A young Wookiee, he was an obvious puppet under Chundaar's rule and obeyed without questions. His tolerance of outsiders was surprising however. "Greetings, I take it you four are the ones I am to send down to the depths of the forest floor?

TK spoke up. "Yeah, that would be us. Aren't we lucky or what?" His sarcasm made everyone snicker as they were loaded into the basket one at a time, with TK being first.

Gowroken started to lower TK as he continued to speak to the other three. "The descent is long and you would do best to keep still. We don't want to attract some... unwanted visitors, do we?"

Kari went up to Gowroken. "If anything happens to him, I will hold you personally responsible." She whispered in his ear.

Just as she had said those words, the walkway began to shake as creatures from all over began to crawl onto the surface, facing Tai, Matt, and Kari. Kinrath spiders lurched forward to sting the three Jedi as Gowroken kept lowering TK. Tai activated his lightsaber and dodged the Kinrath's stinger just in time to swipe it off clean. The creature roared in pain as it came back for another shot at injecting its venom. Tai danced around it, trying to distract it from Gowroken. Matt joined him as the two assumed a stance of two warrior monks. With style and grace, Matt and Tai began to weave in and out, confusing the Kinrath into thinking it had gone into a whirlpool. Finally, Matt sliced its lower body up into the air while Tai leapt up and sliced its head in two.

Kari ignited her lightsaber and utilized the saber throw technique against the Kinrath spider that had cornered her on the edge of the walkway. The Kinrath missed the saber by a few centimeters, but Kari had already jumped on top of it and impaled it from the top of its skin. She then used the Force to push the body of the Kinrath into the other creatures to create a barrier against them. "If this keeps up, we may have to jump down into the Shadowlands." She huffed as she hung on the wooden rail for support.

Matt looked down to see how high up they were.

"I don't really think that'd be such a good idea, Padawan. Unless you can survive a 1,000 foot drop from here." He explained as he got into the defensive position of Soresu.