reborn § cal kestis

2

Before, the Jedi Temple had been glorious. Renowned for their impressive architecture, the Jedis revelled in any opportunity to show off this feat. This resulted in tall, spiralling towers, stained glass windows and intricate arch designs. Cal Kestis had the good fortune to visit a few of these in his first year as a Padawan. It was when they first taught the young trainees of the force, and the legacy of the Jedis. Cal could remember staring idly up at the grand structure, marvelling in all it's glory and the sheer energy that it radiated.

  But all that he could see now was ruins.

  Debris surrounded him; tangerine-coloured boulders and lone pillars settled on the hot sand in collective solitude. All that was left of the temple was the mid-section, standing victoriously amongst the rubble. Cal ventured further into the area, where a tall ceiling had managed to uphold itself despite the destruction around it. Painted onto the stone were murials and images, suggesting stories of great Jedi warriors, but the paint was cracked and faded, flakes of it covering the ground.

  The further Cal strolled, the colder the air grew. Tatooine's climate was still humid and unbearably hot, but the thick walls served as barriers to the sun's relentless heat. The only light came from the open area behind Cal; darkness clung to the walls more and more desperately as he moved closer to the back of the building, where he assumed he would find what he was looking for; the sacred Jedi texts.

  To his right, he sensed an echo, and promptly moved towards it. Lilac energy exuded from the object, which, upon closer inspection, he recognised as a lightsaber. Cal hesitated before he did anything, fearing that what he would see—what he would feel—would reach into the darkest parts of his fears and unsettle him.

Behind him, BD-1 beeped quizzically, and his confusion unintentionally spurred Cal on. He hovered his hands above the weapon, shut his eyes and summoned the force. What he saw was beyond disturbing. Flying lasers; orders shouted; lightsabers ignited; panicked cries; the temple on fire—all as if it were playing out in slow motion. Cal felt the fear of the Jedi as she fought back against advancing troops, defending the order alongside her friends—for her friends. He felt the devastation as all hope was lost, and then guilt as the Jedi abandoned her lightsaber and seemingly fled. Cal opened his eyes and shivered. These things always seemed to get to him.

"A Jedi abandoned her lightsaber after failing at defending the temple against Stormtroopers," Cal stated in response to BD-1's questioning beep. Another few beeps and trills sounded, echoing throughout the temple. "I know. It was a dark time."

Cal stood from his crouching position and continued his trek. If the Empire hadn't acquired them already, the texts should be somewhere around the back.

Recently, he had been training with Cere. He was technically already a Jedi, but figured that a little more training from a genuine Jedi master wouldn't hurt, even if Cere had experienced some problems with the force in previous years. Claiming the Jedi texts would only further his knowledge of the force, allowing him to enlighten himself with all the possibilities it could bring. Perhaps, he would often ponder to himself, if a new Jedi order is miraculously created in the future, I will be strong enough to protect and properly teach any force-sensitives. The crew may have chosen to destroy the holocron and put the fates of the Jedi in the force's hands, but Cal still believed that a new hope would eventually emerge, and only wished he could be a part of it.

If he was being entirely honest, Cal had been feeling hopeless after his encounters with the Empire and the Holocron. He no longer reminisced over Master Tapal's death, but new concerns plagued his mind. Memories of Darth Vader arose every now and again through the force echo of his lightsaber, and his nightmares consistently reminded him of the torture and suffering that Trilla Suduri endured, only to be killed mercilessly. Finding and studying the Jedi texts would not only give him purpose, but the reassurance that he was on the right path, as well as a distraction from his anxieties.