Author Note: Please kindly consider following, favoriting, and leaving a review. Your support greatly fuels my motivation for both writing and editing. Wishing you a wonderful day!
Chapter 12 - Edit
"So, this is the place," Benjamin's voice rang out, and the rest of Team Avatar turned their heads toward the left side of Appa. The enormous bison had carried them on a grueling two-day journey, and at long last, their odyssey had reached its conclusion.
Benjamin and his companions had endured the hardships of the trip, but they had finally arrived at their destination—the hidden Jedi enclave. Their journey had taken them to the very edge of Water Tribe territory, where the icy chill of the region was palpable, with a vast ocean stretching before them, dotted with imposing icebergs.
The wind bit into them, and fresh snowfall dusted their surroundings as Appa began his gradual descent. Sokka clutched the saddle handles, his keen eyes scanning the landscape. "I don't understand," he puzzled, gesturing to the icy mounds around them. "Where's the temple? I don't see anything here."
Katara, her teeth chattering from the cold, replied with a touch of sarcasm, "Yeah, Sokka, it's almost as if he keeps calling it the hidden enclave for a reason."
Benjamin, still looking out from the saddle, watched the snowflakes fall like delicate teardrops, the biting cold gnawing at him. Even Aang, usually resistant to such conditions, had donned a thick Water Tribe coat as Appa brought them lower.
Benjamin's gaze followed the coordinates they had followed to this desolate place. He noted a small patch of land, mostly obscured by snow, that offered a relatively flat surface for them to land on.
"Aang, land there," he instructed, pointing toward the clearing. Aang followed his command, steering Appa toward the area. Appa let out a low growl as his furry paws sank into the fresh snow.
As Team Avatar disembarked, Benjamin continued to survey their surroundings. All he could see were towering ice mountains stretching in every direction, with no sign of the enclave they sought.
"Benjamin!" Katara's shout drew his attention, and he turned to see the Water Tribe bender pointing at the clearing. "I think this is it!"
Aang joined Katara, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he regarded what she was indicating. "It's a dock!"
Benjamin examined it more closely. The way the snow had settled made it resemble a sort of dock or a place to disembark. Perhaps they were getting closer. They trudged through the heavy snow, their footsteps echoing in the silence.
It was Aang who spotted it first. "Guys!" he exclaimed, and Benjamin and the rest hurried over, coming to a stop before the numerous jagged ice formations jutting from the ground.
"What are you on, Aang?" Sokka quipped, his hand reaching for the wall. Benjamin followed suit, his own hand resting on the peculiar ice surface. "It's just a wall of ice!" Sokka knocked on it.
"Yeah, it is," Benjamin affirmed.
Sokka grinned, his admiration for Benjamin evident. "See, I told you, Aang. Even Benji agrees with me. Come on, let's go and look around some more."
Benjamin's eyes subtly narrowed as he rested his right hand on the wall. There was something, something not quite right about this wall, something beyond the ice. He took a few steps backward, his feet sinking into the snow beneath.
He inhaled deeply; the frigid air turned his breath visible. His right hand moved forward, fingers clenching and tightening as the force gathered around the ice wall.
"What are you doing?" Sokka exclaimed, Katara and Aang watching in amazement as Benjamin harnessed the force.
Benjamin could hear it—the whirring of gears as the wall descended into the earth, the grinding of chains and cogs as he used the force to assist the process. When it was complete, they were greeted with a long corridor, shrouded in darkness. "Looks like we found it," Benji said, taking the lead down the dimly lit passage.
"What did I tell you!" Aang playfully jabbed Sokka, who pretended to be in pain as the rest of Team Avatar followed Benjamin. The entrance was large enough for Appa to enter, and as they ventured further, Benjamin used the force once more to seal the wall behind them.
They walked in silence, unlike their usual banter during such journeys. Perhaps it was the solemnity of the moment. Katara and Sokka had little knowledge of the Jedi, only recognizing that the world's history had been nearly eradicated by the Fire Nation. People like Benjamin and Aang were the last of their kind, their histories erased, their kind extinguished by the Fire Nation. Their first encounter with a Jedi had been with Kiara, the dark Jedi who nearly captured them and brought their journey to an untimely end.
Maybe they didn't speak out of reverence for the fallen, or perhaps it was a stark contrast to their time at the Air Temple. They knew not to get their hopes up. As they delved deeper, the natural light of the cave grew dimmer. Sokka ignited a flame to create a torch as they pressed forward. After a few minutes, they entered a spacious room, about the size of a large classroom or a small warehouse. Several worn stone benches and a large marble fountain occupied the space.
On the far side of the room, three wooden doors were set into the walls, likely leading to various rooms. But that was it. The enclave was small and time had not been kind to it. Cobwebs and eroded stone adorned the fountain and benches, even covering the stone slabs they walked on. Benjamin had visited the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, where he had felt the weight of the force in those ancient halls and in the other Jedi who had walked beside him.
He had spent most of his life within the hidden enclave on Dantooine, nurturing his dreams of becoming a Jedi Knight. In that sacred place, the Force flowed like a torrential river, an omnipresent energy that seeped through every crack and crevice. The light side of the Force, pure and unyielding, pulsed through the very air.
But this was a different kind of enclave. A secret refuge, meant for the Jedi Order to regroup and rebuild if ever it faced annihilation. A place where Jedi would train in secrecy, recruiting new members in the shadows. It was also the birthplace of the war against the Sith and the Fire Nation, the crucible of their battle.
However...
Benjamin felt nothing here. The Force was absent, not dead but empty, a mere echo of what it should have been. It was as if the heart of this place had been ripped out, leaving behind a desolate void.
"Benji..." Katara's voice broke through his thoughts. She had approached him, her eyes filled with concern. Benjamin blinked, realizing he had been fixated on the eroded fountain. "Are you okay?"
He nodded slowly, his right hand absently running through his hair. His gaze wandered over the decaying walls, some parts covered in moss, others resembling the shattered tendrils of force lightning.
"Am I really okay?" He pondered silently. Standing there, his mind churned with a tumultuous sea of thoughts. There was an emptiness within him, one he couldn't quite fathom. Loneliness, perhaps?
He dismissed the notion. He wasn't alone anymore; Team Avatar was with him. Yet, they didn't truly understand him. Partly his fault, perhaps, but it was something he couldn't divulge to them. He was the Jedi on this mission, tasked with protecting the Avatar at all costs.
His purpose remained unshaken. In this era, this enclave, there was no room for indulging emotions. The Fire Nation and the Sith had not merely crippled the Jedi Order; they had obliterated it. Benjamin was all that remained. Aunt Wu, despite her knowledge of history, couldn't grasp the essence of being a Jedi as he did.
Ben's gaze drifted toward the room ahead. He pushed open the creaking door, revealing an interior filled with dusty air. Along the way, Appa lowered his head, nuzzling the stone floor, his eyes drooping as his snores reverberated through the room. The gang ventured into the central chamber, an archway leading to an even larger space.
The room stretched out before them, vast as a soccer field, its stone walls rising steadfast and imposing. Where stone slabs once paved the previous chamber, thick grey carpet now spread beneath their feet. Benjamin's gaze swept across the expanse, noting the conspicuous absence of furniture.
"Ah, a training room," he remarked, his words hanging in the air, a cue for the others to turn their attention to him.
"A training room?" Sokka echoed, skepticism in his eyes as he surveyed the near-empty space. "Then why's it so barren? Where's the weightlifting gear or the practice dummies?"
Benjamin shrugged in response to Sokka's perplexed observation. The room was indeed designated for training, but that seemed to be its sole purpose. In a hidden enclave, efficiency and secrecy took precedence over comfort. No Jedi had ventured this far before.
Leaving the spartan training chamber behind, they approached the door on the left. No need to open it; Benjamin could feel the room beyond, the one where he would construct his lightsaber. It had to be there, an instinctual knowledge that resonated within him.
Without hesitation, they entered the room to the right. This one wasn't as expansive but stretched lengthwise. Rows of bunk beds lined the space, and as they passed between the beds, something caught their eye. Pressed against the massive stone wall was a fireplace.
"Ah, a fireplace!" Aang exclaimed, pure delight lighting up his face. "Let's get a fire going; I'm freezing!" His words were accompanied by chattering teeth, but the smile remained.
"Agreed," Benjamin concurred. He headed toward the fireplace, the rest of Team Avatar quickly joining him. Sokka took the initiative, igniting a flame, and soon, they were all basking in its warmth.
The bunk beds were stripped of their mattresses and blankets, which were then placed closer to the fireplace to absorb its comforting heat. Team Avatar made themselves comfortable, settling in for the night. Benjamin, however, remained awake. His eyes locked onto the fiery embrace of the burning logs.
Perhaps it was just tension, or maybe the fear of what his dreams might bring, but he was reluctant to sleep. Despite his fatigue, there was a restless part of him that resisted the call of slumber. An inner fire smoldered in his core, a burning resolve.
He knew he should wait, build the lightsaber come morning, but his body defied his thoughts. His right hand slipped into his pocket, legs swinging off the mattress as he cradled three crystals in his palm.
There was the ponite crystal, acquired from the pirates. The Barab Ore Ingot, a gift from Aang. And finally, Kiara's corrupted kyber crystal. They gleamed under the golden glow of the fireplace, their colors mesmerizing to Benjamin's watchful eyes.
"Benjamin, what's got you up?" Sokka's voice slurred with drowsiness as he kicked off his shoes and settled into bed.
"I'm going to build my lightsaber now," Benjamin replied absentmindedly, his gaze fixed on the crystal cradled in his hand. His words carried an unwavering command that made Sokka stumble over his own thoughts.
"Ben, are you sure about this?" Katara asked, undoing her braids as she spoke. "We've had a long journey today. You should rest and do it tomorrow."
But Benjamin shook his head, mouth opening to explain himself. "I've got all the pieces right here. I need to build it now. I can't explain it, but I just feel...I have to."
The others watched him, their eyes fixed on the young Jedi in his peculiar robes, clutching three mysterious gemstones. Sokka groaned softly, realizing that it was going to be a long night.
"So, you're not using that red crystal, right?" Sokka questioned, pointing at the crystal in Benjamin's hand.
Benjamin shook his head, his tone laced with sarcasm. "Nah, I was never a fan of red. This crystal is corrupted, fueled by the dark side. But I know a technique to cleanse it, to heal and refocus it. It'll lose its red hue."
They stared at him, his words drifting into the realm of the arcane for them. However, they grasped the gist of it: Benjamin was determined to reclaim the crystal. He rose from his bed, walking out of the room, and pocketing the three crystals.
Closing the door behind him, Benjamin exhaled a heavy, cold breath. As he made his way toward the final room, the sound of Appa's steady breathing offered comfort rather than disturbance.
This place, what it might have been and what it had become, stirred complex emotions within him. It had been designed to harbor nearly fifty Force-sensitive individuals, yet now it was visited by only one. Benjamin struggled to decipher the tumult of emotions surging within him.
His gaze fell to his left palm, where bandages had concealed the stumps of his severed fingers. An eerie hollowness gripped him, a feeling more haunting than any physical pain he'd endured in countless battles. His lightsaber had been an extension of himself, and its loss was a torment he couldn't shake.
Kiara's face, with her unsettling gray eyes, flashed in his mind. He bit down on his lip, his breath growing heavier. The horrors she'd inflicted, the lives she'd taken. Why had he hesitated? She was a ruthless murderer, and in their last two encounters, he'd let her live.
She needed to pay.
Ben released a slow, deep breath, his anger dissipating like a dissipating storm. He stood before the chamber's door, wrestling with the daunting task that lay ahead. It was clear that cleansing the crystal would be futile if anger clouded his judgment. He needed calm, control – the very qualities that would prevent him from falling into the dark abyss.
"YOU NEED TO BE BETTER...YOU CAN'T STRIVE TO BE THE JEDI YOU WISH TO BECOME. YOU NEED TO BECOME THE JEDI YOU HAVE TO BECOME." His master's words reverberated in his mind, a reminder of his unyielding path. He glanced down at his missing fingers, a harsh testament to his journey.
In this primitive world, prosthetics were a distant dream, but perhaps there was a profound lesson within this adversity. He contemplated it further, his fingers brushing over the door as he pushed it open. A strange, otherworldly light met his eyes, a pure white that seemed to cascade from the iceberg's apex. It was like the very essence of the morning sun filtered through the icy ceiling.
Perhaps, he mused, the lesson here was about hesitation, about how it often led to inevitable demise. It was a lesson he believed he had grasped, yet now it was seared into his very being.
Stepping into the room, he found it smaller than the previous, akin to a small classroom. Rows of stone shelves stood tall, laden with boxes. He plucked a box from the nearest shelf and cracked it open, his eyes gleaming with delight at the sight of lightsaber components – emitters, to be precise, the part that projected the blade, the very guard of the weapon.
Returning the box, he continued to the far end of the room, where a substantial metallic desk was pressed against the wall. Above it hung an assortment of tools. Benjamin realized this was where young Force-sensitive individuals like himself would craft their lightsabers, using both the tools and the Force itself to guide them.
Seating himself on the cold floor, he tucked his legs in and cradled Kiara's lightsaber crystal in both hands. He cupped the radiant gemstone, his fingertips gently caressing its chilled surface. Beneath its gleaming exterior lay an undercurrent of anger and hatred, visible in the black lines that marred the crystal's core, revealing the improper focus of the red blade.
It baffled him. Kiara, despite her darkness, had been precise and methodical in her craft, her lightsaber a testament to her calculated nature. How had she botched such a critical aspect?
Shaking his head, he refocused. It was not the time for contemplation. Now, it was the moment to cleanse the crystal, the first step on the arduous path to constructing his own lightsaber.
He immersed himself in the task, his mind becoming a vessel for the Force. Concentrating, he directed his focus onto Kiara's crystal, engaging in a fierce inner battle with the darkness residing within it. The force lines inside the crystal became apparent to him, pulsating like veins of ethereal energy.
He clenched the crystal with unwavering determination, his breath deepening as he absorbed the icy waves of pain emanating from it. The room's residual cold blended with the force and the darkness, aiding in the extraction of the dark side from the crystal.
The gem, no larger than a thumb, radiated with an intense maelstrom of hatred and fury. Yet, Benjamin endured, gripping it tighter as he closed his eyes, sweat forming rivulets that slid from his forehead and dripped from his chin. The crimson hue of the crystal intensified.
He felt himself riding the waves of dark side energy streaming from the crystal, a crucible of Kiara's unbridled rage. For someone so composed on the surface, she harbored a tempestuous storm within.
Dark clouds of malice surged toward him, an ethereal tempest of resistance from the crystal's lingering darkness. Unmoved, he stood as the crystal's fiery heat seared his palms.
His eyes squeezed shut even tighter, the ripples of violet force lightning dancing on his skin as the crystal was trapped in the midst of that tumultuous storm. Yet, Benjamin remained steadfast, untouched by the tumult.
Kiara's wrath represented the dark side in its most primal form, a wellspring of power that lent him strength. Still, Benjamin refused to embrace such power, clutching the crystal even tighter as its cries and protests slowly diminished.
The crystal's light burst forth from his maimed fingers, casting a brilliant crimson glow that enveloped the room. But slowly, methodically, Benjamin entered a meditative state, sinking into a well of calmness as the crystal's dark side energy gradually waned.
When he sensed the crystal had been thoroughly cleansed, he began to ease himself out of the meditation, parting his eyes as he separated his palms. The crystal floated in the air, held aloft by the Force, transformed.
It was now completely white, as pure as the snow outside. The crystal had been purged of Kiara's taint and was restored to its original state, no longer bathed in crimson.
Drawing on the wisdom of the ancient Jedi, he recognized that such a cleansing would have taken considerably longer. Kiara must have rushed her attunement to the crystal for it to have emerged imperfect. Yet, as he gazed upon it, he sensed something more.
The dark side energy within the crystal, was it Kiara's lingering shadow, or a reflection of his own? He had heard tales of crystal mirroring, of cleansed crystals echoing pieces of their past and new owners.
The crystal lay there, transformed yet still bearing the echoes of its dark past. In many ways, it mirrored Benjamin's own journey with the Force. A Dark Jedi once, forsaking the power, and now on the verge of becoming a Jedi Knight. Its brilliance filled the dim, cold room, resembling a radiant sunlamp.
Benjamin recognized his fortune and allowed himself a triumphant smile. Cleansing a lightsaber crystal could have taken hours, even days, for some. And for his first attempt, his own pride and ego swelled at his astonishing success.
Basking in his victory for a brief moment, he then cradled the shimmering crystal in his hands, enclosing it with his palms. While the dark side would forever be a part of its essence, Kiara's corruption had been vanquished.
Once again, he delved into the crystal's consciousness, following its flow. He closed his eyes, but the searing white light emanating from the crystal pierced his eyelids. Through sheer effort, Benjamin began to align the crystal matrix with himself. Crystal and Jedi merged, becoming one.
He fine-tuned the crystal's attunement to himself, aligning it with the interconnected web that bound all things. His thoughts briefly brushed against those who had influenced him, their faces mere fragments from distant memories. Trissal and Shan were barely recognizable in his recollection, yet he could still sense the emotional turbulence of that time, before he had abandoned them to follow Revan and Malak.
"Light and Dark... merely tools," the crystal's voice echoed in his mind, but Benjamin remained focused, his eyes tightly shut as he sensed the attunement nearing completion. Yet, a question arose—why was the crystal making him recall these teachings?
"Whether it be light or dark, you must learn control of your abilities, or it shall lead you to the dark side. You must learn discipline to master it. If you do not learn control... you shall surely fall to the dark side," Aunt Wu's voice reverberated through his thoughts. The messages confused him. Both pertained to the Force, one treating it as a tool and the other emphasizing control and discipline.
As the crystal neared its final attunement, the voices began to fade. Benjamin was left perplexed, pondering the significance of these teachings. Two statements about the Force, seemingly contradictory in nature, echoing within him.
The crystal's whispers echoed in Benjamin's mind. His eyes remained shut, though the attunement was complete. The process had been exhausting, leaving him drained. Cleansing the crystal, aligning it with his essence, had taken a mighty toll.
He contemplated the lesson once more, a recurring theme. 'Aunt Wu wasn't the first to speak of this,' he mused. 'The ancient scrolls of Jedi from the hyperspace wars held similar beliefs.'
However, skepticism still lingered. The notion of categorizing and controlling the Force, separating it into light and dark, seemed absurd to Benjamin. He had witnessed the havoc the dark side could wreak, and simplifying the Force in such a manner felt impossible. Despite trying to dismiss it as foolish philosophy, he couldn't deny a part of him wanted to believe it.
After what felt like an eternity, he summoned the strength to open his eyes. The hovering crystal greeted him, the process complete. As he fully returned to himself, he beheld the crystal, transformed from white to a brilliant amethyst.
With a satisfied smile, he placed the purple crystal on the workbench. Ponite and Barab Ore ingot followed, resting beside the purple kyber crystal.
Navigating the shelves, Benjamin collected the necessary components for the lightsaber's skeleton—power cell, insulator, power field conductor, crystal chamber, and energy channel. His observation noted the similarity between these lightsabers and those used by Jedi and Sith in his universe. Yet, the question of this world's technological backwardness remained unanswered, a puzzle for another time.
Returning to his workbench, he emptied the box of parts, using it as an improvised container. Emitters, focusing lens, main hilt, switch, hand grip, and pommel cap—all found their place on the bench.
After a few minutes of scavenging, he arranged the components on the desk, letting out a sigh as he observed them. The violet crystal hummed with the Force, Benjamin cracking his neck, a moment of tension building.
Now, the moment of truth had arrived. Typically, crafting a lightsaber would take days or even weeks. Benjamin rested his palms on the table, his shadow looming over the assemblage.
To craft a weapon, any weapon, required an intricate dance of time and precision. Benjamin found himself devoid of time's luxury but was rich in the precision necessary for fashioning lightsaber blades. During his training under Kreia's tutelage, she had bequeathed to him ancient scrolls, the very scrolls that once graced the dark lord Exar Kun—Lord Revan's predecessor. Exar, in his descent into the abyss of the dark side, had transformed his single-bladed weapon into a twin-bladed behemoth. Taking inspiration from this dark history, Benjamin had converted his once-cyan blade into two bright azure beams of destruction.
This transformation hadn't come without its share of trials and errors, a journey fraught with lessons in lightsaber construction that would serve him well today.
With brisk and adept movements, Benjamin set to work, rapidly assembling the skeletal framework of his lightsaber blade. The tools he needed were plucked from the shelf before him, their purpose to screw and arrange the vital components.
This, he knew, was the foundation upon which the forces of the cosmos and the electronic systems would merge into a harmonious whole. Ben moved with a precision honed through countless hours of training, allowing the Force to flow through him, furthering the construction.
Perhaps two or three hours elapsed before he finally exhaled a heavy breath, his hands resting the now-complete skeleton and the visible electronics separately. The tools returned to their places on the shelf, their task complete.
His eyes, gleaming like molten gold, locked hungrily onto the remaining pieces. The tools were redundant now. The Force was all he needed. With parted hands, the components and crystals that would constitute his lightsaber floated into the air, hovering serenely. The tension of the Force tightened around each piece, guiding them into place. The ingot and ponite crystal levitated toward the crystal matrix.
With narrowed eyes and palpable concentration, he placed the two power crystals precisely. Screws were telekinetically utilized to secure the emitter, main hilt, and focusing lens. The purple kyber crystal hovered at the core of this assembly, the climax of the construction. His patience was tested, but he knew it was a necessary virtue. The pommel cap was deftly turned and screwed in, followed by the hand grip and switch. All the primary components were connected, yet separated at the midpoint.
The final piece beckoned—the kyber crystal. He used the Force to usher it towards the switch, the satisfying clink resonating as he felt the surging tide of Force energy coursing through the blade.
A cocky smirk etched across his face as he manipulated the weapon's orientation, turning it upright. The blade converged and solidified as he employed the last few screws to lock the lightsaber into its final form.
For a moment, he scrutinized the completed lightsaber, hovering in the air, its metallic silver hilt adorned with black accents and a copper-colored section near the emitter. A flat 'spine' ran the length of one side, and a ring dangled from the pommel, ready to secure the weapon to Ben's belt.
The lightsaber blade before him was a departure from his previous one, but it was uniquely his own, fashioned from parts readily available. Benjamin couldn't help but feel a surge of pride at the weapon he had meticulously crafted in his image. A deep breath filled his lungs as his finger caressed the activation button.
With a soft hiss, a clean and dazzling purple blade sliced through the air of his dimly lit room. Its gentle hum resonated with a beauty that was nothing short of music to the exile's ears.
In the annals of Jedi history, the era of Exar Kun and Revan was marked by the rarity of purple-bladed lightsabers. They were most closely associated with Jedi Guardians, individuals who had forged a unique connection with both the light and dark aspects of the Force. Those who bore these blades were often warriors, their focus on combat overshadowing the spiritual facets of the Force.
A smile of satisfaction graced Benjamin's face as he grasped the weapon with his other hand. Adjusting his stance into the lightsaber form of Shien, he executed a series of practice swings. The blade's harmonious hum filled the room, resonating within the young exile as the Force coursed through him.
After several minutes of diligent practice, Benjamin nodded, content with the results. He had successfully purged Kiara's corrupting influence, and even though the crystal retained echoes of the dark side, it was now unequivocally his. He would honor this gift bestowed upon him by the Force.
With a swift deactivation, he secured the lightsaber to his belt. As he prepared to leave the room, an unfamiliar sensation overcame him. It wasn't nostalgia, nor was it sheer happiness; it was something deeper, perhaps a sense of contentment. For once in his tumultuous life, he felt as if he had done everything right.
But Benjamin was far from naïve. He glanced down at his newly crafted lightsaber, then at the stumps of his hand. He knew he had to grow stronger, for their sake. He wouldn't allow them to suffer for his mistakes.
So, with a newfound determination, Benjamin strode out of that room. His back turned to the viewer, his golden eyes piercing the surrounding darkness. He was a Jedi Knight, clad in enigmatic red robes, with a lightsaber hanging from his belt—a true guardian and warrior of the Force.
Benjamin cautiously eased the door open, revealing the main hall where Team Avatar stood waiting, their gazes locked onto him.
"Benji!" Katara's voice cut through the room's tension. "What were you doing in there? You've been gone a whole day."
"A whole day?" Benjamin parroted, nearly shouting. Time had taken on a peculiar quality within those walls; he had presumed only a couple of hours had slipped by. He sighed heavily, and a faint grin crept across Aang's face.
"You've built it."
"Built what?" Sokka chimed in, his tone tinged with curiosity. He swiveled toward Aang's direction, spotting an object reminiscent of Kiara's weapons. "Oh, that light sword..."
"Lightsaber," Benjamin corrected, his right hand extending outward. The weapon leaped into his grasp, propelled by the Force, and he ignited it. The blade, a brilliant purple, hummed to life. Sokka, Katara, and Aang stared in awe at the radiant weapon.
"That was Kiara's crystal, right?" Sokka blurted out, Katara and Aang still fixed on the unusual weapon. Kiara's lightsabers had been red, so they had naturally assumed a similar color.
Benjamin nodded as Sokka continued to regard the blade in astonishment. "I didn't know you could change the color of a lightsaber," Aang remarked.
Benjamin deactivated the blade. "The corruption of the dark side can be purged and refocused onto a new Force-sensitive. Red represents the Sith, but it's not the only lightsaber color."
Katara crossed her arms, pouting, which elicited a groan from Benjamin. "Fine. Red is indeed the Sith's color, but there have been instances where Jedi have wielded it. Blue signifies the guardians, green the consulars, and yellow the sentinels."
Sokka took a swig from his water pouch, then turned to Benjamin. "But yours is purple. What does that mean?" He asked, wiping a stray droplet from his chin.
"Purple is for those who embrace both the light and the dark sides within themselves," Benjamin explained, but the perplexed expressions on their faces told him they still had many questions. "It's not the only alternative. There are various shades of the primary four I mentioned—gold, veridian, bronze, cyan, indigo, orange, white, silver. Countless others may have yet to be discovered or have faded into legend."
He sensed their curiosity lingering, but the moment was not ripe for a deeper discourse. Turning to Aang, he raised his hand, forestalling any imminent inquiries. "We've had our share of fun on this journey, but now it's time to get serious."
Aang nodded solemnly, acknowledging the necessity for a profound transformation in their approach. They had to evolve, adapt, and hone their skills. The question now loomed over them like an impending storm: where to next?