Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic: The Destined Jedi

Secrets of the Desert Sands

If there was one word to describe Tatooine, it would be this: Hot. The desert swallowed all hope of an oasis, as the only town close to the star map was Anchorhead. Being over 70 kilometers away, Tai and Davis kept moving forward, the heat sweltering underneath their Jedi robes. Tracks made would soon disappear, wind kicking up the sand and masking its presence to the two Jedi. Sweat poured from their faces as they looked on a map given to them by the head of the Czerka mining facility at Anchorhead. The star map was located in the eastern most part of the Dune Sea, and the journey would not be an easy one.

Tai motioned for Davis to keep up as he continued the trek. "We're about 20 more kilometers away from the location of the map." He wiped sweat off his brow as he reached for his belt to take a sip of water from his canteen.

Davis looked over Tai's arm, the eager Padawan wanting to find the map and be done with this planet. "Master, the sooner we find it, the sooner we will be off this rock." He looked up his Master, seeing his disapproval for wanting to rush through. "Master, I can explain why I always want to finish things so quickly."

Tai continued forward, but still listened to Davis speak his mind. "It occurs to me that even though we have been training a long while as Master and Student, I know very little about your background. Would you care to share with me on our trek?" He gave a reassuring smile to his pupil as he joined him.

Davis sighed. The past was something that apparently everyone was talking about for the past month. Why did he have to share his? 'But it couldn't hurt, could it?' He thought to himself as he began his tale.

"Master, I'm from the world of Ord Mantell. The world of organized crime and a haven for smugglers and pirates. Years ago, when I was about 5 years old, my 'loving' parents decided I was worth more of my weight in spice instead of as an actual human, so they abandoned me to dealers for spice. I didn't know much about the Force then, so I could only go on with my natural skill of being hauled off to work in the spice mines. The idea that parents could abandon their own child... it makes me sick. The audacity to do such a thing!

"Anyways, the Jedi soon came to the world and could not tolerate what they saw there. The children being used as slave labor to harvest a drug meant for use by the Hutts and Exchange. The only issue with their intervention was that it started a Civil War, a war that rages on to this very day." Davis stopped in the sand, feeling something akin to a tear rushing down his face.

Tai looked over to his Padawan, noticing the tear, he quickly moved over to his pupil and placed him in a fatherly embrace. "Davis, it's alright. You don't have to say anymore for now. We can continue this later."

Davis smiled at the thought of letting some of his past out in the open, that someone now knew about his situation and why he was the way he was. "I just think when I see all this death and destruction at the hands of the Sith, I want to end it. I want to see them pay for what they've done to the poor, the helpless, the innocent... to the friends I've come to know as family."

Tai smirked at the remark. The only family he had known was Kari, Sora, and Ulic Qel-Droma. The friends he had made throughout his time as a Jedi, they had become his family, whether he'd known it or not. The passion they shared for one another, the bonds they've forged. They all served a purpose in life, to defeat the Sith and reclaim the galaxy for the Republic. Though deep in his heart, he knew it wasn't to last. Soon Davis would need to learn the final secrets of the JarKai Var style. And what then? Could Tai go through with it? Leaving Sora behind, leaving Kari behind, leaving all his friends to go on without him. Just because of a rule that his master imparted on him. 'The final secret... I don't know if I can teach it to Davis. He's already lost so much, and the idea of losing me to his own blade... might tip him over the edge.'