STAR WARS: Gray Jedi

Chapter 37

TYTHON. 

Destin's X-Wing slipped out of light speed above the planet Tython. R-6 beeped a series of happy sounds as they arrived. Destin brought the X-wing  into the atmosphere and flew for the surface, landing the ship in the thick of woods that stood at the base of a small mountain covered in rich green plantlife and rocks. The landing gear touched the ground and Destin switched off the engines. The cockpit visor rose and he exited the ship as R-6 descend from the hull of the X-Wing's hull.

"Stay here and watch the ship R6," Destin said.

R6 whistled back in agreement.

Destin grabbed his travel pack and began trekking through the woods. The woods were thick with tall trees and heavy vegetation as Destin made his way upwards the base of the mountain. It began as a small rising of dirt and plant life, but as he climbed further and further, the ground became more and more covered with crystal. Even the vegetation and the trees were crusted with it more and more as he ascended. He began to climb the mountain's face which was now barren with rock. The terrain was difficult, as the smooth crystal floor caused him to slip and lose traction.

After some time and difficulty, he finally reached his destination; a small cave, burrowed within the side of the mountain. He took a flashlight from his pack and turned it on, pointing it into the mouth of the cave. It was deep, with its end nowhere in sight. Destin entered, cautious. It began as nothing but a dark tunnel, but as he progressed it began to brighten, the crystal walls glistening with dancing sunlight that pierced through gaps in the ceiling. Destin looked upwards and saw sunlight streaming through canyon like openings.

Finally, Destin reached the cave's end. Before him was a massive opening within the mountain's belly.  The room of rock and stone was large and wide. Destin looked ahead and saw small furnishings towards the back wall, all of them ignoble; blankets, sheets, pillows, a small firepit. Sitting on one of the pillows at the center of the barren room was a small chest. Destin approached it. He set his pack down and knelt down before it, unlocking its hinges and opening it. Inside was an old lightsaber, resting on small wore down pillow. He recognized it. It was Bahda's old lightsaber. In that moment he knew, that this place belonged to his master. It was a place to train, to meditate, to escape the rest of the galaxy and learn the ways of the Force. It was then he realized, those crystals he saw on the way up the mountain, weren't just any crystals. They were kyber crystals - the element that gave the lightsaber it's energy and form. Destin took his master's lightsaber from the chest and examined it in sorrowful reassurance. The sunlight began to damper within the cave as the day turned into night. The cave darkened and Destin stood, astonished by what he saw before him. The cave brightened in the night as immeasurable amounts of kyber crystals burrowed within the caves walls lit up with a luminescent glow, the likes of which Destin had never seen.

In that moment, Destin determined that here...here is where he would train,....here is where he would become ready to face his sister...here is where he would finally become a true Gray Jedi.