Chapter 4 The Jedi of Tython

"Hello there, I am Master Dasee Viz. What is your name, little one?"

If Rayleigh still had a connection to his memories of his past life, he'd shrink back at the old man getting into his personal space and asking for his name. Thankfully, he severed the connection, so although the old man could read Rayleigh like a book, he didn't notice that many pages were missing.

Ray answered in a small but careful voice, "I'm Rayleigh. Rayleigh Rush. Are you a friend of Ms. Ledana?"

All the kids liked the beautiful Twi'lek caregiver, and since Ray saw him speaking with her, he didn't treat him as a stranger.

The Iktotchi Jedi nodded, "Yes, she is very nice. But she is worried about you. Why don't you play with the other children?"

Ray looked down a little in shame. It was embarrassing for four-year-olds to have someone confront them about their problems. He wasn't sure if he should tell him, but the man seemed nice.

"I don't like playing with their toys. I see things when I do."

This got the alien's attention. "Oh? What kind of things?"

Seeing that the man might be able to help, Ray answered, "Well, when I play with those toys, I see other kids playing with them, even when they're not. It's better with books. No one plays with the books, so I don't see them when I read."

He wasn't lying either. Because he'd chosen a backstory with Psychometry as an Instant Mastery, his character had a backstory of accidentally using it without understanding what it was before the Game started. Also, all memories of his time in the Tavern were stored in the room in his head, so once he cut the connection, he lost the knowledge that a Jedi was coming to pick him up today. This was intentional, of course. A psychic Jedi might have been able to tell if Rayleigh expected him, something that would have generated some awkward questions. All Players could instinctively shift into and out of their character mode, removing or restoring past life memories and wisdom at will. This was a feature of Gameplay that Players could use to hide from prying, supernatural eyes while young and defenseless.

Without access to his past life's memories, Ray felt genuinely worried that the man would think he was weird after learning his secret. What little Ray did not expect was that, instead, the man looked even more amazed.

"That is an incredible gift, little one. I only know of two or three people in the whole Galaxy who hold such a gift. Amazing, simply amazing."

The alien seemed to think of something and then reached into his robe's pocket and took out a handkerchief. He carefully unwrapped the item it was covering and revealed a palm-sized rusted disc with dull markings long worn out by the sands of time.

The alien asked politely, "You don't have to if you don't want to, but could you use your gift on this and tell me what you see?"

Ray got a feeling that if he did not do so, something he wanted would be lost. Though he didn't know it, that was his sealed Metaknowledge telling him that he would not go to Tython unless he played along. Although Players could not consciously access their Metaknowledge, it would still help them subconsciously make certain decisions, even when not accessing the knowledge and wisdom of their past lives.

Ray picked up the heavy metal disc and concentrated. Without accessing the room in his mind, he didn't know who the man in front of him was, but he knew to trust his instincts.

From the rusted token, he saw some alien discovering it in a beautiful forest and handing it off to the alien in front of him. The image became much fuzzier, but he then saw it lost in some battle by someone. And then he saw it gifted to a younger version of that same person after doing something. He then saw the ones who gave it, watching the person perform some fancy movements. And last, he saw someone picking it up from a smoking clay mold.

Ray tried his best to describe what he was seeing. He didn't see the excited look on the man's face because he had to close his eyes to get a better feel for the images.

Once he opened them and placed the disc back on the handkerchief, the alien stood up and said, "Ha! I knew it wasn't a form of currency! So it's an ancient mark of passage?" He seemed to be talking to himself, but then he turned back to Ray and asked, "What did the Temple he was given the mark in look like? Was it hot or cold? High or low?"

"Umm. I saw ice. It looked cold."

The man nodded with a smile. "Yes, Stav Kesh. The Temple of Martial Arts. Fantastic." He turned back to Ray and said, "What you saw was something that happened more than 30,000 years ago! You are incredible!"

The man's excitement was almost contagious, causing Rayleigh to smile. That was until moments later, when the daycare echoed with the annoyed voice of someone standing just outside the hallway entrance. "What trouble has that brat gotten into now?"

The Jedi's eyes narrowed subtly. He looked over at Ray and noticed him shrinking back a bit. The Iktotchi's gaze sharpened further. He stood up straight and took a step between the door and Rayleigh.

Dilton Mallaray stomped into the children's area with his hand over the side of his blaster. When he saw the robe-wearing alien staring him down, he stopped. When he saw the alien move his robe a little to the side to reveal a certain silver cylinder at his waist, Mallaray froze completely.

Still, a creature like Mallaray was quick to adapt. He lowered his posture before the person in the mightier position and raised his arms to show he was not a threat. "Master Jedi? What business do you have here?" As the Head of Security for a Spaceport, this was not the first time he'd seen a Jedi.

The Jedi asked in a cold, emotionless tone, "Why has this child not been tested for the Force? I could feel his presence from the landing port."

Mallaray's eyebrows shot up in shock for a moment before pulling back down into a frown. "That has nothing to do with me. He was already three when I married his mother. She didn't tell me shit and she's dead. I'm not taking the fall for anything illegal that fucking bitch did before I even met her."

"Am I to understand that this child is not your son?"

"As if he could be related to me."

"What of the father?"

"I already told you she never told me shit! That fucker's probably dead in a ditch somewhere or on the other side of the Galaxy."

"Then do you have anything against me taking him to the Temple?"

"Is that all you want? Take him. I only got stuck with him because there was no one else to feed him."

The Jedi stared him down for a few moments before letting out a faint sigh and waving him off to go. He didn't want to spare another word for such an individual, and the man had not broken any laws he knew of, so there was nothing he could do.

Looking at the more fortunate side, at least taking the child would not be a problem. Most children are taken after being tested between the ages of one and three. Some are taken as late as four, but it is rare, especially for human children who quickly grow attached to their parents. However, lingering attachment was the last thing on his mind in this situation.

Once Mallaray departed, the Jedi asked Rayleigh, "You don't have to live with him anymore. Is there anything at your home you wish to take with you?"

Technically, younglings were not allowed to take anything that reminded them of their pasts, but the Iktotchi would let Rayleigh work his way up to that first rather than directly say he couldn't take anything with him.

Ray shook his head. Other than his backpack, which he threw into that other guy's speeder for some reason, he didn't own anything. And he certainly didn't care about the backpack.

The Jedi nodded with a kind smile and said, "Very good. That makes things easier." There were occasional issues with bringing in children over a certain age, but he didn't see any signs this child would have any of those problems

Ms. Ledana came in after Mallaray had left. She asked, "Master Jedi, is Ray going to be trained?" The Iktotchi answered, "That's right. He has the gift of the Force and more. You don't have to worry about him."

The Twi'lek exclaimed, "That's great, Ray!" She then gave something of an envious look that Ray didn't understand, but Jedi did. Being chosen by the Jedi didn't just mean gaining a new life; it also meant leaving your old one. Even the visiting Jedi knew this particular planet was just terrible and the opportunity to leave was something to be treasured. This would be Rayleigh's last day in this world, but the Twi'lek would likely remain on this planet until her dying day.

However, it was not the way of the Jedi to dwell upon that which they could neither affect nor change, so the Jedi bid farewell to the young woman and took Rayleigh outside the daycare and down the hall.

A beeping sound came from the Jedi's robes a few moments after they left. Master Viz pulled out a communicator and said into it, "Yes Master Drista?"

From the other end came another man's voice, [Master Viz, the weather reports have been updated. If we don't get off this planet in the next hour, we're not going to get off today. Master Dyanameez will not let you off if we are late again because of you.]

The Jedi answered back, "We're on our way back now."

The communicator responded, [We?]

"Yes, we." With that, he hung up the communicator and motioned for Ray to hurry a bit and follow him a bit faster.

Though the city had roads for vehicles, most of the urban transportation was done using underground tunnels and trains, which could be used even if it was raining. It only took a few minutes to get from the Main Security Office to the train.

The train was, of course, filled with Scorpions. Although Rayleigh's father hated them, Rayleigh was sympathetic towards them as they had to deal with people like his father, so he had no dislike or revulsion toward them.

The Iktotchi Jedi had been to this planet in the past and knew about the heavy racism, so he had in fact paid attention to Rayleigh during their trek to see if he had inherited any of his step-father's habits. He had to check since humans were often racist, but he sensed that Rayleigh had no negative feelings toward them at all.

It would have been different if Ray still had a connection to his past life's memories. It wasn't possible for a human raised on an entirely human planet to immediately feel comfortable around aliens, but when not accessing his past life, he was just little Ray, who had grown up around aliens since he was born.

They got off the train at the port, and from the train platform, they made their way to one of the individual hangars with their own retractable roof. Due to the incoming weather, dozens of aliens were running around trying to finish their duties before the green clouds rolled in. It may not even rain later, but no ship wanted to fly through those corrosive clouds, so they wanted to get off the planet before the sky was full of them.

Upon entering the hangar, Ray saw the ship. It was orange and about the size of two buses adjacent to each other. Standing at the loading bay door in the back was a male, green-skinned Twi'lek. He wore the same robes as Viz and stared in judgmental silence as the Iktotchi smiled back shamelessly and led Rayleigh up the ramp into the ship.

A reluctant sigh was heard from him as Ray boarded and the Twi'lek hit a button on the ship's back wall, which caused some red lights to flash and the loading bay door next to the button to slowly close up.

The Twi'lek then made his way past Ray to the front of the ship's cockpit. The Iktotchi Jedi motioned for Rayleigh to follow and pointed out a seat behind the captain's chair, which Ray hopped into. The Jedi then buckled Ray up before taking his own seat in the copilot's chair.

Without a word, the pair flipped a dozen switches, which caused the ship to hum and rumble as the engines came to life. The hangar's roof was still retracted so they could lift into the air right away.

The Twi'lek then picked up a communicator on the dashboard and said into it, "This is the Sun's Venture, requesting clearance to the Southgate Hyper Lane."

Moments later, the com answered back, "Clearance approved. Your window for launch is in 6 minutes, and 23 seconds. Safe travels Master Jedi."

With that, the ship lifted quickly into the air and flew out into the sky. The planet's star system was on a single hyperspace lane, so when traveling through it, you were either going in one direction or the other. If different ships were heading to different destinations, it was not safe to enter a hyper lane together, so the ships had to line up and wait their turn.

As they left the atmosphere and reached higher than the acidic clouds could ever remain, the Twi'lek asked aloud, "Shall I address the pink Krayt Dragon on the ship, or did you wish to do so?"

The Iktotchi answered, "It was the will of the Force."

Without sounding the least bit sarcastic, the Twi'lek replied, "Ah yes, the will of the Force. That certainly makes it okay to ignore protocol, a thousand years of law, and the rules of the Council."

"He can use Psychometry."

There was a pause, but only for a moment. "Is that your excuse? You and I both know such a skill won't be of any help."

"If that is the case, how could he describe the Temple of Stav Kesh when I let him touch the medallion Master Scoffmo found?"

"What? That's impossible. We dated that disc to 32,000 years ago."

"And yet he could describe the man who it was gifted to, the scenes of the battle he died in, and the scenes of the practices he showed a group of Masters at the Temple of Martial Arts for which he was gifted it. It really is a Mark of Passage. Perhaps the Je'daii of each Temple would give a Mark when the Padawan's training was complete."

"Then why have we not found other such marks?"

"We have not found them yet, you mean. Or perhaps the practice was discontinued."

"Hmm. Wait, you are trying to distract me. Why did you simply not contact Coruscant and have them send a Seeker to come to take the child as protocol dictates?"

"He's already four and we're close to the outer rim. If I simply reported it, they may not assign a Seeker to come for a few months or even a year. By then, they may even have justified that it was simply too late and ignored him."

"Then how do you intend to send him to Coruscant?"

"I mean, well."

"Master Dyanameez is going to kill you. Do you intend for him to stay at the base camp? Tython is not a place for younglings."

"It was once."

"That was over thirty thousand years ago. I'm sure you are aware that there are one or two differences since that era that make the planet less than friendly towards padawans, younglings, and even fully-fledged Jedi Knights."

"Give him a chance. If it is completely unsuitable, I'll take him to Coruscant myself."

The dashboard began beeping, signaling it was their turn to make the jump into hyperspace.

From his seat, Rayleigh saw the stars stretched out in front of the ship turn to lines as the ship lurched forward and entered hyperspace.

The pair of Jedi then unbuckled themselves, and the Twi'lek bent down to match Ray's gaze before giving a kind smile. "I am Jedi Master Room Drista. What did my colleague tell you before bringing you here?" Ray hesitated for a moment before answering, "That I don't have to stay with Mallaray anymore."

Drista gave Viz a questioning stare, but the Iktotchi responded with a grave frown, giving the Twi'lek Jedi more insight into the unspoken reasons his friend and colleague did not follow protocol.

Master Drista once more gave Rayleigh an assessing look. Despite having just been taken from his home, family, and planet, the Jedi sensed no fear in the child. There was none of the emptiness, loss, or doubt commonly found in those taken away from their attachments. Most Jedi were highly empathetic and hanging around emotionally lost children was often uncomfortable, but he felt just fine around Rayleigh.

Besides, he wouldn't deny that he too felt this was the will of the Force. He would not admit it, of course, lest his friend end up making more unwise decisions in the future, but at least this one felt right. It was a fact that this planet was very far from Coruscant, on the opposite side of the Galactic Core, in fact. The only reason they came here was that some of the parts they needed to fix their surveying equipment had been delivered there for them to pick up. No one made deliveries directly to Tython, and for good reason. It was just a coincidence that it was the most cost-effective to pick them up on that planet.

"All right, let's test his blood first."

They unbuckled Ray and took him over to a small med station where Master Drista opened a cabinet and rummaged around for a moment before taking out a small device that looked a little like a woman's electric shaver.

He said, "Your finger, please. You'll feel a tiny prick."

Ray bravely gave the man the finger. Neither of the Jedi questioned why he chose to give them the middle one. Rayleigh didn't know either. It was a subconscious choice.

Ray didn't make a sound when it took his blood, to the approval of the two Jedi. Drista typed on the med station, but the display kept flickering off and on.

Viz asked, "Didn't you fix that already?"

Drista stopped and turned to give Master Viz a hard stare. He slowly enunciated, "I was going to. Then. Someone. Insisted. That I repair the excavator first. Because. He was. Certain. That the new site would uncover more relics. Remember?"

The Iktotchi Jedi recoiled back a bit and replied, "Ah, yes. Apologies."

A few moments later, Drista was tapping on the display again and a number appeared. "Hmm. It's over nine thousand."

Viz asked, "Just nine thousand? Considering his abilities, that's a bit low." Those with innate gifts usually had a higher count than that.

Drista shrugged, "I'll send the scans to Coruscant so they can prepare for him."

Viz interrupted, "Or, we could delete the scans. Then, if we decide to send him to Coruscant, we can perform a fresh test at that time. Otherwise, they'd notice the timestamp on the test."

Drista visibly rolled his eyes but still proceeded to delete the records of the last test and destroy the sample. He'd fix the display after getting some rest once they landed.

Neither was aware that the display of Rayleigh's midichlorian count was missing its first digit. It had always shown either everything or nothing before that, so it wasn't something they thought to look for. A midichlorian count of 9,000 was already not bad. Those with lower counts often joined the service corps rather than become knights. 9,000 was the unspoken cut-off, the minimum required to become an accomplished Jedi Knight. There were exceptions, of course, but this was the general rule.

Viz and Drista then spent a half hour speaking with and learning about Ray. It was not surprising that after learning about his life, Drista no longer complained about following the protocol when it came to taking Rayleigh from the planet. It wasn't a kidnapping, it was a delayed delivery.

Drista stated, "I can get a copy of the Temple's Education Droid data sent from Coruscant and upload it into a protocol droid. If he stays, that will take care of his youngling studies."

Viz smiled and nodded back, "As long as Master Dyanameez talks with him for five minutes, she'll forgive me and let him stay."

The Twi'lek replied, "Probably, but Master Meed will never allow any of us to take him as an Apprentice. At least not before he finishes his Initiate Trials."

There was a difference between shirking the rules, bending the rules, and outright breaking them. Not delivering an Initiate to Coruscant was one thing, but taking him in as a padawan behind the Council's back was something else entirely.

The Iktotchi Jedi responded, "I've already thought of this. I won't become his Master, just his teacher. I am under the Council of First Knowledge. I am qualified to teach younglings."

Drista rolled his eyes before replying, "The only reason you have not been removed from under the Council of First Knowledge is that you practically exiled yourself to Tython, so they don't think you can do any more damage from here." He then glanced at Ray for a moment before continuing stoically, "They obviously underestimated you."

Master Viz chuckled back. He turned back to Ray and asked, "Have you heard the story of Jedi Master Tabolin?"

Ray shook his little head, and Master Viz smiled. He happened to love telling this story. It was quite long and would help pass the time until they reached Tython.

With that, two hours passed by.

"When he awoke, Jedi Master Tabolin found himself in a high tower. They had taken his lightsaber and stripped him of his communicator and shoes. Now, Taborlin needed to escape, but when he looked around, he saw that his cell had no door. No windows. All around him was nothing but smooth, hard stone. High above him were a set of bars and the locked hatch he had been dropped down from. The only thing he saw when he looked up through those bars was dark clouds and the promise of heavy rain to come and drown him out. It was a cell no man had ever escaped from or survived.

"But, Jedi Master Tabolin knew the ways of the Force and was a master of Shatterpoint. He raised his hand to the stone wall and pushed at its weakest point, and the stone wall broke! But even then, Jedi Master Tabolin was not free. A glance down revealed that the tower was many times higher than any Jedi could ever survive falling from. However, Jedi Master Tabolin trusted the Force and felt an opportunity in it. Trusting his feelings and without hesitation, he stepped out into the open air..."

The ship's counsel started beeping, and Master Drista interrupted the story's climax with, "We have arrived."

Rayleigh, who had been completely engrossed in the best story he'd ever heard, stared pitifully at Master Viz, his eyes begging him to continue and not leave him on such a terrible cliffhanger.

Master Drista stated from the pilot's seat, "Buckle up, we're exiting hyperspace and are about to enter the planet's gravitation field."

The reminder was more for Ray, so he would not argue with the ruling. He hopped back into his chair and buckled back in while leaning sideways to look around Master Viz's chair so he could see out the ship's front window. You can't see a planet out the front window when leaving, so he didn't see anything when they left Monasta, but now they were arriving and he did not want to miss it.

The lines of stars passing by came to a halt, and a magnificent planet stretched out before their eyes. Rayleigh couldn't look away, it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. The planet's massive continents were emerald green and the planet's oceans were sapphire blue. The contrast between the two brought out the vivid colors of both and granted the planet an indescribable beauty.

"Look over there, little one. Those are Ashla and Bogan."

Ray was brought out of his stupor by Master Viz's voice, and he was able to turn to the side to see two more celestial bodies, two moons, of about the same size. The closer one was ivory white and smooth but had a captivating iridescent shimmer. The other one was blood red but contained countless shadows from what seemed to be mountains, valleys, and ravines all over its surface.

They both had a unique charm to them, especially when seen together, as they could not have contrasted more if they tried. However, neither was as fascinating as the planet, so Ray only gave them a cursory glance before returning his gaze to the beautiful gem in front of him.

The ship's counsel started blinking, and Master Drista picked up the communicator, "This is Drista and Viz, returning with parts and supplies."

From the communicator came what sounded a bit like an elderly woman's voice. [I felt that something happened while you were away and would keep you from being on time once again. I am pleased to be mistaken in this.]

The Twi'lek Jedi gave a sideways glance to his Iktotchi copilot and replied, "Master Dyanameez, I have never heard you so happy to be wrong before."

Nothing came from the communicator for a few moments before she replied, [If I was wrong in thinking I would have a headache in the future, there is no reason not to rejoice. But with your presence, I now feel that my headache is not related to an untimely arrival on your part.]

Viz and Drista shared a look once more before Drista stated, "We will be landing in five minutes."

The woman replied with a stoic huff, [Your silence on this matter assures me of my headache already. Were it not for the camp's necessity for those supplies, I would be tempted to direct you to turn around. As that is not an option, let us see what troubles you have brought.]

The flashing lights on the console went out, showing the person on the other end had hung up the call. The collective sigh in the ship was ignored by Ray, who was still basking in the planet's beauty. He almost felt that it was welcoming him, and he could not wait to arrive.