STAR WARS: Gray Jedi

Chapter 3

10 years earlier...

PLANET NAG UBDUR

Solara struggled, trying to pry the Stormtroopers choking hand from her neck, but his grip was too strong, her face turning red as she gasped for air. Another Stormtrooper caught up and they restrained her hands behind her back with magnacuffs. Destin listened as one of them ordered a return back to the city. Then, they trudged away, raising Solara to her feet and pushing her forward, barking at her to move.

Destin could watch them slowly shrink away in the distance through the thicket of the forest. It was silent and Destin was left with nothing but the rumbling of thunder in the sky and the sound of falling rain. His eyes filled with tears and he cradled himself, crying, as the last of his family was taken away.

He sat on his knees, shoulders circled forward, arms cradled, and fingers trembling. It took him a moment to gather himself.

He took deep breaths, trying to calm himself as much as his cognition would allow. He  tried raising himself up from the ground to stand, nearly falling forward as he did so, his legs still throbbing from exhaustion.  As he began to walk he slowly began to remember the way back to his Aunt Kiree's home...to safety. Then, he slowed, listening to the sound of heavy bombardments off in the distance, back in the direction of the city. His legs tremored from the shockwaves reverberating off the ground. 

Destin stood, thinking hard. His family had all sacrificed everything for him, and what was he doing? Running away? Running away from his family? Is that what it meant to be strong? To abandon the very people who tried to save you? How could he? Mom, Dad, Solara...they had all loved him, and he loved them – and he was running. Destin could make it to his aunt's, but then what? Become just another war orphan with nothing but a tragic story of how his family was captured by the First Order – captured....and killed? What would he be if he ran now? A spineless, pathetic orphan. Not strong, but a coward. He couldn't bear the fact of being alone like this, with hate in his stomach and regret in his heart.  Destin raised his eyes forward, looking towards the path to his Aunt's. Then he turned his head over his shoulder, looking towards the way back to town, back to Solara, and his mother and father. Fear gripped his stomach once again, but he swallowed his throat, took a deep breath and made the decision. He ran back to his family.

                                                                                    ___

10 years later...Present

DODORAN. RAJEVEE FOREST.

Destin's eyes fluttered beneath his eyelids as he woke.

The bright morning sun batted at his eyes, piercing with sharp light and boding warmth. He had fallen asleep leaning back on the trunk of a tree after his skirmish with the bounty hunters the night before, not realizing how exhausting the scuttle had made him. Destin fought the chilly morning air, cradling himself in his own arms. 

The dreams were getting more vivid, just as his master, Bahda Han, had warned. He had explained visions of the past were common among those who were Force Sensitive, especially those undergoing training, but Destin never imagined they could be so draining. Every time he relived his past, his body suffered every emotion and physical response he experienced, as if he were back in that very moment, and every time he woke, he had to deal with the physical repercussions of that trauma. It was hell. His meditations helped a little, but not as much as he'd like. For now, without his master to guide him, he could only hope that one day the memories would fade and just be that - memories.

Destin centered himself, taking deep breaths. He reached into his knapsack and pulled out his canteen, realizing how thirsty he was. He took a big swig and stuffed it back into his knapsack. That's when he saw it. The slight glow of red coming from the bottom of his bag. He had half forgotten about the holocron he had taken from the bounty hunters. Destin pulled it out and gave it a look, once again mesmerized by its design. He ran his fingers over the small pyramid, scrutinizing the geometric glyphs on its smooth red faces. Then, as he tinkered with it, the faces of the small pyramidical holocron opened wide, catching him by surprise. From the center of it's base, a small hologram rose to the air, displaying text written in Basic.