The arc of light from outside has gotten smaller and smaller as the Dynast brothers step through the cave. There were crystals here, the brothers were sure of it. They couldn't yet see them or sense them, but both could feel in their guts that there were kyber crystals in this cave they stood in. Jim crept slowly and quietly, peering closely for any signs of a crystal as his younger brother stood a couple meters away from him.
Jake stood straight as he watched Jim lower himself. This cave had been bigger than either had expected, Jake would be surprised if it were still day when they returned back outside, nonetheless to the abandoned enclave. A part of Jake felt this was futile, his brother was taking too long. But despite his boredom, he knew very well how necessary this trip was.
They were searching for a crystal for a reason. Jim has been using Jake's lightsaber for a couple months now. While Jake didn't have a doubt that he was powerful enough in the Force to protect himself without his lightsaber, as he's already proven by doing, a part of him still feels vulnerable. Like one blaster shot and slow reaction and that's the end of it. The lighstaber felt like armor, possibly because he could actually see the saber as a barrier and not the Force. While a part of him is ready for the end, years of war in his youth made sure of this, he certainly didn't wish to quicken it.
It is time for Jim Dynast to have his own lightsaber again.
"You aren't helping much." Jim says, his voice slightly echoing in the hollow caves.
"You know how crystals work. They call to their wielder. If I'm here for anything, it's for fighting and moral support." Jake replies, raising an eyebrow at his brother as he stands. "Now what's the problem?"
"We're going to have to go deeper. Crystals appear in clusters in these caves, they'd be hard to miss and there's absolutely nothing anywhere near the entrance." Jim says, and he unleashes the dark blue blade of Jake's lightsaber which had rested on his belt, "Come on, moral support. You're not scared of the dark, are you?"
The brothers walk together in a silence for a few minutes, at first Jake had hardly noticed it but over the minutes it got almost awkward, pressuring and unbearable. He could tell, not even by the Force but by body language, that his brother was thinking of something and he was considering if or how to bring it up.
The crunch of pebbles under their footsteps and their quiet breathing made up the sounds of the cave.
"How... How did she die?" Jim says finally, breaking the silence. He had hardly spoken above a whisper when he said it. "Ell... How did it happen?"
Jake paused completely, his face paleing and he has a sharp intake of breath. It had been five years, but the experience had still deeply bothered him. He didn't want to relive it. But this was Jim. Jim deserved to know what happened to his master, to his aunt. After all this time. He continued to follow his older brother's path, stepping forward.
"She... She led me out of the Temple during the purge. I don't think I could have made it with any other master there." Jake says, his voice obviously slowing. But his brother looked to him patiently anyways, awaiting what he had to say. "We were at the steps, we had almost made it- the both of us. But... A Sith assassin was waiting for us at the bottom."
Jake took a moment of silence, considering if he was going to tell the next bit of information or not. Who the Sith assassin was. With another slow and worried glance at his brother, he decided to be honest to completion. No matter how much it may have hurt.
"And the Sith assasssin was Zoe..." Jake looked worriedly over to his brother, expecting a reaction. But nothing. Jim just didn't blink and closed his mouth, but Jake knew he was listening. "We had to fight through her, but the clone troopers came. Between their blaster fire and her lightsaber, our chances had completely drained. And Ell knew this."
Still absolute silence from Jim.
"She... She told me to run. I wouldn't listen. I tried helping her, but she wouldn't let me. She had forced me down the steps with a push of the Force. It felt like a mountain... Zoe was scared of her. But there were too many clones, she was losing her energy, and I wasn't fast enough. Zoe couldn't best her, but distracted her so the clones could fire. The shots weakened her, and Zoe forced her to fall onto her knees... And finally..." Jake couldn't bring himself to finish it.
He looked at his brother, and for the first time in Jake's life, he saw emotion, raw and pure, in Jim's eyes. Jim likely couldn't contain it, not this time like years ago.
"I felt it in the Force. I was terrified afterwards, I didn't have it in me to run up to Zoe and fight her. Not after seeing that. So I ran. And eventually ran into Daini. As much as she annoys me, your Mandalorian saved me that day. I couldn't handle it, I couldn't handle anything after Ell..." Jake says, adding it all quietly. Jim looked to be thinking before Jim finally opened his mouth though in a very somber tone.
"What way... Beheaded? Impaled? Tortured? Shot at?" Jim asks, and there was unmistakable cracks in his voice, but now he was looking away from Jake to hide his own face.
"Im.. Impaled." Jake says, "At least it was relatively quick."
"She died heroically. Like a true Jedi." Jim says, probably trying to ease the pain to himself though it obviously wasn't working. Jake could see Jim's hand slightly shaking and constant blinking in an effort to conceal his reaction. After a moment's silence, Jim says, "Thank you."
A part of Jake was surprised. He had expected Jim to blame him that his master died. But like the perfect Jedi he is, such grudges are moot. Forgiveness is his way. Or perhaps he is glad that even though he almost lost his aunt and brother, he still has his brother. Especially because he knows absolutely nothing on his sisters whereabouts.
"You know," Jim said, almost with a chuckle in a failing attempt to humor himself, "I never understood what she was trying to teach me. When I'd get praises from Master Windu, I'd get scoldings from her. 'Think for yourself', she'd always said. 'Even small things such as those are important'. I never quite understood. Even now, I'm not sure I understand how to follow it."
Jake's mind goes back to the admitance of her master, and despite how close any of them got with their aunt, a part of him felt he didn't know enough about her life. They knew her as a person, and specific tidbits of her past, but nothing really specific of her life. He could tell she held a resentment and regret when it came to her brother, Jake and Jim's father, but he had wished to know more about the falling out. About her relationship with his father, about his father in general.
He was hardly a toddler when their father left for reasons neither of the brothers knew. And their father had likely gotten killed. There was a chance that he is still alive, there is even a chance he is also force sensitive like Ell and the siblings. But Jake never had the time to search for him, and Jim never had the care. Jake always felt more curious about their father, partially because that's the only parent he shares with the rest of his siblings, and partially because he was so young when his father left. Jim likely still has a couple memories of their father, Jim could probably recognzie his face if he saw him again, but Jake could walk right past his own father and never know it was him.
But then there is the chance that their father is simply a deadbeat.
With Jim and Jake's luck, their father probably was.
"Perhaps one day we'll know what her own childhood was like." Jake says, "And maybe our youth will make more sense."
Both brothers inhale, though the old air hardly gave them any comfort. Jake wanted to move the conversation along, in hopes to change the topic. Jim likely could tell by Jake's silence, and so he stays quiet for several minutes before he lets out a deep breath.
"We still have to go deeper." Jim says, "I know there's crystals in these caves, I just know it. but we're not there yet."
Jake could feel it too. Even though he can't pinpoint the placements of any crystals in the force, he could sense that they're in here somewhere.
"As long as there aren't too many loops we should be fine. Even though it's not a straight path, at least this cave has a singular path." He says, "But not getting lost would be prefarable."
Jim walks in a normal pace now, and Jake had just now realized that he and Jim had started walking slower over the course of their conversation. Jim was likely still processing everything he had been told, but Jake was just glad the conversation was over. Now they could discuss other things, more pleasant ones.
The drip of water from the ceiling of the cave falling to the ground made Jake quickly look up, and he mutters, "It's almost unnerving how little there is in this cave. Do you reckon Daini and Maverick are doing any better than us?"
"Daini is probably acting like a stick in the mud. She believes they're bounty hunting." Jim says and Jake looks at him in confusion. He adds, "She hates bounty hunting. Finds it unhonorable. I'm willing to bet that when we see her again the first thing she'll say is she's never doing that again."
"I'd expect more complaining out of Maverick. He's a Jedi knight."
"Yes, but he recognizes why we need the credits. We're gonna need to purchase parts for the lightsaber, and as a Jedi knight, he better understands why we need quality items for the lightsaber."
"Chances are he's doing all the credit hunting and she's just sitting on the ship testing her blasters on my droid." Jake says, and his brother chuckles, the first true chuckle he's had since before their earlier conversation.
"About the ship, how did you get it exactly?" Jim says, "I've been wondering every time I sleep on the thing. Did you steal it?"
"No, surprisingly." Jake says, "Though it is a bit of a story."
Jim outstretches his hands in front of them, "You have plenty of time to tell it."
Jake chuckles himself before he continuing to trek on, "After the purge, Daini used all the credits she had to book us immediate transit off Coruscant. It wasn't safe for either of us at that point on the planet. We didn't even know which planet we were heading, only that we were leaving for the Outer Rim. During one of the stops, another bus had been speeding- Daini said a wheel went ajar- and was heading straight towards us. It looked like it was only going to hit the front of the vehicle we were on, so we grabbed the only two people at the front. The driver of our taxi, and an middle aged man who had been sulking alone in a corner, oblivious to what was going on.
"She went for the driver, and I the man. The middle aged man was in complete shock when I grabbed him and moved him out of the way in enough time to save him from being completely crushed by the bus. He was extremely grateful to us for saving his life, and led us to a diner where he paid for food for us. We were grateful for that. We hadn't had any food for almost a week at that point. His name was Marbh Saibhir. While we were wolfing down our meals like complete slobs, we asked why he was alone and not paying any attention. Apparently Marbh was a noble on Naboo, and that's why he was willing to spend money on us for a quality dinner."
"If he were a Naboo noble why was he on a bus so close to the Outer Rim?" Jim asks.
"When he was on the bus he was deep in thought, he went on the bus in the first place to clear his mind." Jake says and his brother looks to him curiously, "Apparently his son had spoken out against the formation of the Galactic Empire. That had gotten Saibhir's son and grandchildren all assassinated. He was mourning."
"Why would he tell you that so quickly?"
"Oh, that wasn't over the dinner. We remained in contact with him while on that planet. We had saved his life, and so he paid for the three of us to go to Naboo. Daini was afraid the Empire would be too large there for us to be safe, but I've been there before. I know how easy it can be to hide there. So we decided to go with him."
"Was he aware you were a Mandalorian and a Jedi?"
"No, we kept secrets, but were overall trying to be honest. He thankfully had a manor far away from most of the cities, and had us fed and taken care of to get us back up to speed. Now that I look back, I think he probably was suspicious of me being a Jedi, but if he was he didn't rat me out."
"I know people will do things when grateful, but getting you back on your feet is more than most would be willing to do."
"I.." Jake stutters, "I think he saw his son in me. The one who had gotten assassinated. That's... probably why he was going so far to help. He kept us around, and took such a liking to us that he declared us his heirs for his own personal ship, and everything on it. Everything else he owned would go to his younger brother."
"So he passed on?" Jim says. He wasn't stupid. They were declared heirs to the ship, and the ship is theirs now. Marbh would have had to have passed or at least disappeared for them to legally get it.
"A little less than a year later, after we had left, he had died due to failing health. They wouldn't specify." Jake says, and he adds, "I think his mental state was destroyed after the deaths of his family members, and his mental health finally started impacting his physical health. Daini thinks he was poisoned. But when he died, we came to collect his funeral. Our own gratitude, for him saving us from our circumstances. And we also were able to collect our inheritance, which was The Guardian. Daini wanted to give the ship and actual name, and so chose one that she thought you'd like. One that reminded her of our aunt.
"And aboard the ship as well, was Eoh. The droid was nervous, or at least cautious with us at first. After his previous master's passing and the family assassinations, he was very observant. Eventually I grew on him and so he's been mine. That, dear brother, is how we got our ship and our droid."
"Long story indeed." Jim says, "So that's why we can legally go through most space?"
Jake nods, but the sound of chippering sparks his reflexes and he turns his entire body to where he thought he heard the sound, green lightning beginning to crack at his finger-tips. Jim swiftly turned his body to the area of sound, the lightsaber in his hands making a whoosh in movement. The sound was right around the corner. The brothers nod to one another, and with Jim in the front, they inch closer to the turn, the chippering getting louder and in greater number.
They could also feel the Force getting more powerful as they stepped on.
When they turn the corner, they see a large, open area. It was exactly what they were looking for. Chunks of colorful lightsaber crystals came out of the ground, some around the walls of the cave, others in the elevated area in the center. A small and dark waterway ran through in one of the corners, it could be no bigger than a half a meter wide. But despite the brothers' find, they couldn't immediately focus on what they were looking for. The habitants of the room turned to see their intruders.
They had a body almost like that of a bug's shell, which was in a dirty biege color. The animals all have four long and slender, bent legs which dug into the dirt aggresively at the sight of them. The top of its body had two small little black slits, which must've been the eyes. Underneath the eyes another leg potruded off the body, though this one did not touch the ground but rather raised itself up at them. Despite how abnormal they appeared they weren't all that intimidating to Jake, for they were all half his size.
Jake could recognize what species they were from his studies as a Jedi.
"A Kinrath hive." Jim says, twirling the lightsaber into a more aggressive stance, "Be careful of any venom."
"Look." Jake says, because despite listening to his brother his eyes also caught onto something in a far left corner. A heap of kinrath corpses piled together. At first it could have been normal, the Kinrath likely fought with each other. But these corpses looked to be a few years old, and most importantly, the bones were split perfectly. On closer inspection, one could notice that the split bones had molten at where they were cut. The workings of a lightsaber.
At first Jake thought it could have been Maverick, but Maverick spent his days hiding out in the Enclave. And most importantly, Maverick had no idea about this specific cave. It was Jim who found this cave, Maverick hadn't known where any caves were and Jake couldn't sense any lies.
Jim's eyes flickered to the corpses and he grimaced in thought before his eyes went back to the Kinrath that were possessively walking around the crystals and the eggs around the room. But just as quickly Jim's eyes winced in concentration.
"It's here." Jim said, and Jake knew he was referring to the crystal.
"We need to get through these things first," Jake says and he thinks for a moment to devise a plan for how to quickly take on the Kinrath, "Lure them to us, we don't want to accidently damage the crystals."
And once he finished the sentence, a spark of lightning from his hands struck towards a kinrath, killing it instantly. These creatures were never the most powerful, but what they lacked in strength they had in numbers.
The attack on one of them sent the other twenty kinrath in a blaze, many of them started moving their way towards the brothers quickly. The moment one was in blade's length of Jim, blue saber had gracefully reacted and cut off three legs in two swings. Besides his brother, Jake sent another arc of sparks towards the beasts, killing two of them for they made the mistake of standing too close together.
Jake saw in the corner of his eye that Jim took a step up, likely because he needed more space as he wielded the lightsaber in attacks to chop up the kinrath and he didn't want to accidently hit his brother. Jake stayed in the passageway in the cave, while using the Force he will be at an advantage here because he cannot get surrounded.
He switches from his Force Judgement and uses simple telekinesis to make a slam in the Force, immediately causing five kinrath to blow backwards in irregular angles, their bodies snapped by the pressure of the wave. Jim has already carved a path in the cave by now, leaving bodies of the kinrath in his wake. His flair seemed so much like Ell's that Jake almost thought it was her fighting the clones back at the Temple steps.
A kinrath had gotten closer to Jake, taking advantage of his lack of focus, and it would have hit him with one of it's feet if it weren't for Jake's Force-enhanced senses giving him a warning. Jake spun out of the way and the kinrath quickly turned to face him, a few other kinrath were coming on the way towards him, making use of the other's disraction.
Jake had to be quick, and called upon the Force in the best way he thought he would kill the kinrath. He made a fist with his hand, and almost like it was in his hand, the kinrath started crushing inwards of itself, it's body bending disgustingly before it lies dead. Jake quickly turned and sent another slam of the Force towards the other few kinrath heading his way and used another slam of the Force to send them flying. Once they were dead Jake stared at his hand he had used to crush the kinrath. When he had done it, it had felt so different. Almost violent. A part of his heart felt it was wrong, but he was unsure himself.
He comes back to his senses when he hears the sound of a lightsaber turning off. He saw that his brother had made a circle across the room leaving a trail of kinrath behind him. Jake himself began to stand normally once again, but not without taking a last look at his hand. He saw Jim step up to the largest chunk of crystals, the ones in the center of the room, but he noticed something peculiar in Jim's eyes. He looked pressured. Jake himself took a step into the room, and he finally felt it too.
The Force hung heavily here, there was an unmistakable mark of power here. So much power here it was almost crushing to sense. He was told by the Jedi that when powerful Force users went somewhere they can occasionally leave their mark, and Jake suspected that was what he was feeling. But it felt so odd. But even within the Force it all felt indivualized, he felt as if a few different people had left a trace of the Force here. He felt the light and dark mix, as if Sith and Jedi had walked in here at some point, furthering his notion. But a couple of the marks felt familiar.
While Jim stepped towards the heap of dead kinrath in the corner and knelt to sense how they died years ago, Jake stood closer to the large mound in the center of the room.
Those familiar marks felt like Jim's, but also Ell's and his sisters' as well as his own. Jake knew that relatives have closer presences to one another in the Force than others, so Jake couldn't help but wonder if a relative of his had been here before. But as he stood closer one of the familiar presences felt more specific, recognizable. His head pounded as he tried to figure out who it was, and then it finally came to him.
'Kaylie!'
Right when he realized it, Jim jumped from the kinrath and Jake's head snapped to him. He would have thought Jim saw one of them move but instead Jim looked straight at his brother.
"I saw it!" Jim says, "Her lighstaber."
Jim didn't have to say her name for Jake to know, "Kaylie killed them."
His head turned back to the mountain of many crystals before him and almost like he had a hand in the Force, he reacher out for his older sister's presence. It was her, no doubt about it. But it felt different. Like there was a large taint. It reminded him of when he sensed Zoe. He could recognize her presence in the Force, but it felt extremely different. Except Zoe felt far more extreme.
Jake could tell Jim was sensing the mound as well and Jake hit another realization. One he wants to share with his brother.
"Remember when we found the footage of her here before the purge?" Jake says, "She probably passed by here. This could be why she came."
Jake turned his head to his brother only to see his head hanging lowly. Jim says, "You don't understand... She probably killed the clones. The darkness I felt was her. The blue blade was hers."
A part of Jake didn't want to believe such a thing could happen, his sister so strictly on the darkness that it overwhelmed Jim, but it was hard to deny when he felt the very taint in her old presence right now.
Jake tried to open his mouth to find a way to respond but failed to come up with anything, and instead said, "At least we know she survived the purge."
Jake didn't know if that brought Jim any comfort. If she was far enough gone, Kaylie could actually be a great danger to innocents. But Jake had to admit to himself, that despite Kaylie's danger, he felt comfort in knowing she survived.
Jake reached with the Force again, something else left him curious. There was another presence that felt familiar. He tried grasping it, though finding it wasn't difficult. This familiar presence was by far the most powerful one in the room, and was so overbearing that Jake actually winced in pain trying to hold it and pinpoint who it was.
It felt so much older than the others here, and despite the familiarity, Jake started to realize if this was a relative, this relative never met Jake and probably lived before he was born. Yet it felt so close, so familiar...
Jake heard a shuffle of movement, and saw Jim moving around the room. He could tell Jim was concentrating by his eyes. Jake himself finally stepped away from the mound in the center, and he felt a slight relief from the pressure of the Force.
Now that the fighting has been finished, Jake could finally analyze the room properly. It seems Jim made sure to get the kinrath eggs earlier during the fight, for they were destroyed and spewn all over the ground. He saw Jim reach out his hand with the Force as he started moving towards one of the smaller mounds, and he reaches his hand out to focus his control on the Force.
Jake hastily walked over to his brother, who was now crouching over a cluster of crystals in the corner. They were assortments of yellows and greens and yet that didn't satisfy his brother's search. His eyes closed in focus and Jake heard the breaking of crystal. Jake didn't see any of these crystals break and so he curiously watched over his shoulder until finally he see's the cluster that Jim had taken from in his concentration.
Underneath and hidden beneath the other colors, a small and pure white crystal rose from its tiny mound, slowly levitating upwards until it's at arms reach, before it slowly moved its way to Jim's outstreched and waiting hand.
Once the crystal touched his skin his eyes opened and he admired it, his grateful gaze scanning it. Jake himself fell to a crouch next to his brother and stares at it in fascination. He's never seen a white blade, nonetheless a white crystal before. And this is what was calling to Jim. His eyes go from his brother and then back to the crystal, before his eyes carefully observe the room. Maybe there are even more crystals as rare hidden in here.
"Now... To create the hilt." Jim says, his eyes never leaving the crystal. Finally, he closes his palm and puts the crystal in a small bag attached to his belt.
"That'll make a beautiful blade." Jake says appreciatively and with a small smile, before patting his brother on the back and rising. His brother also slowly rises as Jake walks back to the giant mound in the center. He once again feels the pressure of the Force, but this time it feels lighter, as if he's a little more used to it.
He inspects the crystals insetad of the Force this time, and is able to plainly see blue, green, and yellow crystals growing from the ground. Crystals grow over time, but it does take years upon years. No one has entered this cave in a long time, or at least no Jedi. But the knowledge of the length of years it takes for a mound of crystals to be grown leaves something in plain sight upon further inspection.
Another small mound, and also almost hidden, lit dimly beneath all the stronger colors. By how it looked cracked and dimmed Jake could tell it had been harvested, and in the past few years. He could tell slightly from even the dimmed coloring that this one had been purple. It appeared to have been treated with care, but the mound was too small and surrounded for anymore to grow.
Maybe... Jake thought Just maybe, she took from this one.
But he lowers his head and shakes it. Or maybe because of the placement this mound has been dying for centuries. Stop overthinking everything. He takes a last look at the dim purple, before lifting himself up to a stand and readying himself to leave.
~
It had been night when the brothers arrived back to the Jedi enclave. Jim led through the hall, using Jake's blade to keep the surrounding hallway lit. Daini and Maverick could also navigate through the halls, using Mavrick's lightsaber and Daini using a flashlight that was in her equipment. During th journey the brother's had been mostly quiet, likely because Jake was thinking and still processing the events in the cave.
Jim noticed a couple times that Jake had become distracted in the cave, though he doesn't know if it was because of the revelation of their sister or something else. Of course Jake would get distracted though, his head is too close to his heart. He can't separate the two.
Says the one with an actual emotional engagement outside his fellow Jedi. Jim thinks grimly and for a moment he mulls over his own hypocrisy. He knew how much trouble his relationship with Daini could get him punished all those years ago, yet he chose to go into it anyway. Perhaps it was the adolescant hormones. But no... It feel's to true.
Jim won't deny he and Daini don't always see eye to eye, and he has a stigma against her people ever since he was held captive by them. She doesn't agree with his new caution of her people and even her herself, but a part of him couldn't help it. He tries to stay open minded about the people, but their masks reminds him of the void that was the lack of feeling the Force that they put him through. And her trying to make excuses about the clan made him upset that she couldn't even find it in herself to realize how grave he saw the situation. But she's only being loyal to her people, and Jim would do the same if the roles were reversed. Would he?
But despite her excuses, that they weren't true Mandalorians or that not all of them were like that group, she still went in guns ablazing, and even killing fellow Mandalorians, with a Jedi. And a Jedi she doesn't seem to always get along with. He owed more to her than he even realized, and would likely do more for her than he realized. He may not know her particular view or thoughts on it all, but Jim knew there were good intentions behind her. She was only standing up for what she believed.
"We're here." Jake says, and Jim snaps out of his thoughts to see that they are beside the door to the archives of the enclave. Jim turns the lightsaber off and lets his brother enter first before entering himself. When they arrive in the room they see EO going through the computers while Daini sits on a desk with her helmet off and a sac beside her.
As soon as she see's Jim and Jake enter she jumps off the table and grabs the bag. Jim scans the room with his eyes to find Maverick, only for him to be evading his sight.
"We've got the parts you needed and credits for anything else it may need, as well as supplies." Daini says and thrusts the bag into Jim's hands aggresively, "I never want to do that again."
"I understand, but we needed the credits." Jim says, and keeps his voice leveled while holding the bag that was newly forced in his arms.
"I felt like a bounty hunter." She says, and Jim feels a rise of frustration. She's making a problem out of something that isn't even a problem.
"I know, that's why I am usually sent to tackle innocent bounties for quick credits. But I needed to be in the cave." He says, keeping the normal, almost diplomatic way of speaking and he put a hand comfortingly on her shoulder. Jim could see Jake awkwardly standing beside him in the corner of his eye, as if he's trying to not pay attention to their tense conversation.
She looks as if she's going to say something else to probably make a point in her favor, but she bites her tongue and simply says, "Never again."
"Unless absolutely necessary, yes, never again." Jim says, and Daini walks back to her spot on the desk.
While walking back, Jim could've sworn he heard Jake say, "You spoil her."
Daini, missing the comment, sits back down, then looks to the droid and says, "Eoh, did you find any records of Jim and Jake yet? Remember, only ones where they're all with the council."
The droid warbles before continiung and she looks back up at the brothers while Jim opens the sack and see's many possible assortments of lightsaber parts, and even his old and destroyed lightsaber.
"Where's Maverick?" Jake asks her, and she points to one of the balconeys.
"Last I saw he went up there to check some of the scriptures."
Jake then moves in a quick stride towards the stairs that led up to there. He could sense something wrong coming from the balconey. Jim puts the sack of parts down on the desk, and then follows after his brother.
"Thank you, Daini." Jim calls as he walks from her. Though he doesn't hear a response.
While climbing up the stairs with his brother, Jake speaks.
"Was she always so tempermental?"
Jim glares at his brother, "She will be if she hears you say that."
Jake almost lets out a chuckle before turning the corner in the stair case and then entering the balconey. Jim tails him closely, and Jake pauses, searching for Maverick. But the sound of a sob quickly gave him away.
Jake and Jim rushed around the corner of a bookshelf and saw Maverick with his head in his knees and his arms circled around them. Jake kneels beside Maverick as Jim crouches.
"Arlos?" Jake says, trying to be comforting, "What is it?"
"I... I... I failed our Jedi brothers and sisters. I was reading the texts and it reminded me of how badly I failed them." He breaks into a sob and Jim and Jake share a glance that could be determined as both How do we help him? and Not again...
"Master Arlos..." Jake tries to start comfortingly, but Maverick shakes his head violently.
"Not master! No master would fail this badly..." He cries.
"You didn't fail anything." Jake says, sounding confused.
"I sent all those Jedi to their deaths when I found them!" Maverick says, "So many of them could have survived if I hadn't found them."
Jim could see in his brother's face that he didn't know how to repond, and so he takes steer of the conversation.
"You couldn't have known." He says, "None of us could. If even Yoda didn't know how could you have? You expect far too much of yourself."
Though Maverick's sobs slighty calmed, Jim called slightly upon the Force and used it to spread a sense of peace on Maverick. Maverick looked forward in a rejected defeat.
"I could've at least saved them..."
"Many Jedi passed that day, you should just thank yourself that you weren't one of those many and that you learned you weren't alone." Jim says soothingly, "There are probably other Jedi out there, that think they're the last because they haven't seen another Jedi since..." He pauses, "Since a few years ago. No matter what, lives would've ended. At least we got to keep one more."
"It's just... it's just difficult. It... it hurts."
"We're Jedi. That's our lives." Jim replies, and Jake rises to stand and offers Maverick an arm up.
Maverick takes it and Jim stands as well, along with grabbing the archives that were dropped to the floor. Maverick tries to regain emotional control, at least on his face. Jim gives a comforting pat on the back before Jim and Jake lead him downstairs and back to the main area of the room, where Daini was cleaning one of her blasters and EO was repairing the computer system's harddrives.
"So what's the plan?" Daini asks, the cloth sharply brushing grime and dust off.
Jim goes back to the sack, and looks inside it again. He can use pieces of his old lightsaber, and the new ones found by the other two. But a couple requirements were still missing.
"Tomorrow morning we'll go out to the town and purchase supplies and a couple more parts. Then we're off to Dagobah." Jim says.
"We're going to have to look for the best routes and stops, Daini." Jake says, walking to his astromech before laying his hand on it.
"As long as I get the pilot's seat." She says, and he rolls his eyes.
"Now get a good night's sleep tonight. We'll be starting a long trip tomorrow." Jim says, ignoring Jake and Daini's bickering. "We'll be starting a long trip tomorrow."