Just Another Day

Slowly the two suns of Tatooine rose into the previously dark blue sky, masking the hidden beauty of the planet. She hadn’t noticed into last night that this planet had a certain charm about it that seemed less obvious during the day. Though that wasn’t quite important at the time, as she decided to go and perhaps look for a temporary job into she found what she came for here. Though some would argue that she was looking a bit too early if the suns were just rising, but she was sure some shops would be open soon in order to soak up as much business as possible.

Making her way down the streets of Bestine, the capital city of Tatooine. Possibly the only city on this planet with an actual police force, besides the Hutts rule. Currently wearing simple gray pants that were somewhat baggy, along with a sleeveless tight white top. Her hair currently placed in a ponytail, the 5’9’’ Kiffar looked pretty much human. Unless those looking at her didn’t know about her species’ culture, in which case she’d probably appear to be just a human with a tattoo on her face. A single white bandage wrapped around her right forearm.

Currently unarmed, she peered into shops to see if anyone was in. Unsuccessful so far she just kept making her way down, the streets currently lacking a great deal of people. Approximately five people were out in total. Sighing, she spoke under her breath and to no one in particular.

”Probably should’ve started looking later on in the day…”

Just another day Terand thought as he walked down the Bestine streets. For the past few days, Terand had only managed to obtain just a few of the things he was looking for on Tatooine. Bestine was the last city he had to search.

A light brown poncho rested on Terand's shoulders and covered his torso. As always, his custom dual Westar 34 blasters were tied down low on each thigh while the utility belt he wore was covered by the poncho along with his two lightsabers. The only other clothing visible was a light pair of pants, his black boots, and a pair of goggles on top his head.

Terand entered a shop and came back out empty handed just a few minutes later. It was then that he recognized a familiar presence. It seemed that his padawan was somewhere nearby in Bestine. Rather than looking for her however, Terand decided to walk about for a while to see if she had learned anything during her travel and sense him out with the force.

When the force presence hit her, she was currently looking through another empty shop. Turning around to pin it she soon realized this presence was her master's, Terand. Focusing for a moment she was able to pin his presence to a specific area and quickly jogged towards him. While at the same time scanning the area as much as possible as she moved, she eventually saw him a few meters away. Making her way into she was directly in front of him she stopped short of a meter, bowing her head slightly.

"Master...!"

Raising her head back to an ordinary position.

"I never expected to reunite with you here."

Terand continued on with his walk while looking at some of the outdoor stalls. He felt the presence of Ashaiya moving closer to him but made no effort to look around. All he needed to know, the force would tell him. Once the padawan stood in front of him, Terand greeted her bow with a nod of his head.

"Neither did I. Unexpected things often happen at unexpected times and places. So what brings you to Bestine?"

"I was hoping to find myself a temporary job. I didn't know how long I would be here, and I didn't want to over-stay at The Haven. So I was eventually going to rent an apartment. But now that I've found you once more, I may not need one."

Though she wasn't sure if he actually knew that The Haven was the cantina close to Anchorhead. But it wasn't important at the moment.

"Though I came to Tatooine in hopes of finding more Jedi. I only found a shapeshifting neutral with minor training, by the name of Tnu. Although I suppose that doesn't count since I actually met him on Korriban."

Noticing that she was rambling a bit at this point, she would stop herself before she went too out of hand. Clearing her throat she would now direct the conversation more to him.

"What brought you here?"

"Looking for some parts for a project I'm working on. I find Tatooine a good place for mechanical needs."

Terand chuckled a bit at his remark. Having worked in a junk shop on the very same planet, he knew he could count on some of the other shops to have what he needed.

"Oh? I'll keep that in mind then, if my ship ever finds itself in need of repairs."

Moving on from their little conversation there, she now had a more serious question in mind.

"If you don't mind me asking. What's happened to the Jedi? I'm unable to find any trace of them. Besides you anyways. But I just don't get how all the Jedi could have just abruptly vanished. Have you any idea?"

As she waited for him to answer she glanced to her left and noticed one particular shop that seemed to have some instruments on shelves on such. One in particular that caught her eye was a Mandolin. Although the shop wasn't open yet, she would keep this place in mind. She always did have an interest in music, and sort of liked the idea of learning how to play.

"Unfortunately I have been out of touch with the Jedi for a while now. The last thing I remember is Master Jia closing the Coruscant temple and find a new base. If the Jedi are in hiding then they'll remain hidden until they're ready to be found."

Terand glanced around at the shops as they walked on and continued their discussion.

"You'd do well to to not expose yourself as a Jedi unless necessary. Anonymity can be good ally in most cases. Not only are we constantly attacked, but also some see us as being no better than the Sith."

He didn't mean for this to sound like Ashaiya had done anything wrong but as a tip for her future travels alone.

"Yes, I found that out personally actually. So I've been steering clear from the subject when speaking with others. Though not many bring it up. Although, from a certain point of view you can't blame them. Considering the reason that the Sith exist is because of the Jedi."

While Terand hadn't taught her any history on the Jedi or Sith, she had learned about both factions to a slight degree while growing up. Studying history and different factions was necessary to truly become a Kiffar Guardian on her planet. Though she didn't know who this Master Jia was, she'd take note of the name.

"How long are you going to remain here? I'd like to continue where we left off from my training once we've both gathered what we came for here."

"Just long enough to check a few shops and pick up an order. After that, we can continue your training."

"Alright, I just need to wait a bit before a certain shop opens and take care of a few things. Where's your ship? I'll leave mine here with a friend."

"Out in the outskirts just a bit from the city."

Terand headed into another shop. He gave the man at the counter and nod and received a nod in return.

"I'm here for my order."

"It came in a couple of day ago."

The man reach beneath the counter and placed a medium sized box in front of Terand, who opened it up to examine the contents. Terand removed a pair bracers and studied their surface and then the shape before trying them on. The sleek design slipped over his arms with ease and fit perfectly. After pulling his sleeves over the bracers, Terand placed the credits he owed on the counter and then walked back out to the streets.

By the time he would have gotten back outside, she'd already be in the distance jogging away. Hoping to leave a note she quickly wrote, in The Haven so Tnu would see it. It explained how she managed to find her master once again, and that she was going to leave her YT-1930 with him into she came back for it at some point. Hopefully it wouldn't be too long. However approximately twenty minutes she was stopped by awkward scuffling, two voices silently struggling by the sound of it. Looking around for the source of this noise she noticed an odd shadow in between two buildings. Approaching slightly closer she realized it wasn't quite a shadow, but appeared to be a man mugging another.

"Hey!"

Calling out towards the two, the mugger quickly glanced at her and grabbed something from the other man and made a run for it in the opposite direction. Approaching the other man now...

"Are you alright?"

Shop Owner: "Y-yeah, but you have to stop him! He took an expensive jewel from my shop! I tried to stop him but he over-powered me!"

Looking out to the mugger she then concentrated the force into her right hand, and with a quick motion along with some specific aiming the man abruptly tripped to the ground. Looking as if something pulled his legs from behind him. While the fall wasn't enough to knock him out, he was stunned enough not to be in such a hurry to get back up. Jogging up the now fallen man, followed by the shop owner she quickly grabbed the odd crystal he had dropped and handed it back to the shop owner. The shop owner however had just signaled a patrolling officer to them, related the events and soon enough the mugger was arrested.

Shop Owner: "Thank you. This gem is very expensive, I'm not sure what I would've done if it was stolen."

The shop owner however then stretched his arm out, handing the crystal to her.

Shop Owner: "But I think you should have it. No charge. There was more at risk than just my shop there for a moment, if you hadn't arrived."

"Huh? No, I couldn't take it."

Shop Owner: "Please, I insist."

"Tell you what, I'll buy it. How much is it?"

Shop Owner: "A Durindfire crystal, six-hundred credits please."

Handing him the six-hundred crystal, the majority of the credit she still had on her to him she received the crystal in return. With that the Shop Owner thanked her once more and began his way back to his shop, where she now placed the crystal in a pouch. Unsure of what it actually is. But continued jogging regardless. Soon enough making it to The Haven where she slid a note underneath the locked door, and now as quickly as she came she now turned and made her way back to Bestine. On her way back she found that the shop with the Mandolin in it was now open, walking in she then purchased a fine looking one along with a small guide on how to play for one-hundred and fifty credits, leaving with her but fifty credits to spare. Taking her new instrument with her she began her way to the outskirts of town towards Terand's ship, however passing by a homeless person at the corner of one building she gave up the remaining of her credits to him. Accepting only in return a surprised look, and an excited smile.

With this she now began her way to Terand's ship once more.

Noticing Ashaiya was gone, Terand figured she was off completing her errands. Instead of standing around and waiting, Terand went on about his stroll as he checked the shops for spare parts. After acquiring a couple of chips and small motors, he headed back towards his ship. He knew Ashaiya would be able to locate his ship with the aid of the force.

On board his ship, Terand dropped off the parts in the cargo hold turned workshop. Along the walls of the workshop set cases with weapons and blasters securely placed. Scattered on the floor are crates loaded with spare parts and dismantled droids. There was one table in the room and it was loaded with tools and electromesh armor. Removing his new bracers, Terand placed them next to the electromesh and began working on a mask as he waited for his padawan to find him.

Making a quick stop on her ship, she collected her clothing and Kiffar Guardian armor along with her weapons. Soon locking the launch codes, and navigation charts by a verbal password.

Eventually finding his ship by following his force presence, she boarded the loading ramp and trusted Terand would have sensed her at this point. Making her way back to the cabin beside the Captain's, the one she used when she was previously on the ship. Placing her new instrument on the bed along with the crystal nearby. She then began putting her clothing and armor away in the small closet-like thing, and leaned her weapons on the wall. Sighing she picked up the crystal with her right hand and examined it. Speaking to no one in particular...

"I wonder if this crystal can do more than look pretty."

Several minutes passed until Terand felt Ashaiya approach the ship. Figuring she had brought some things with her, he went on working on the mask a little while longer so his padawan could get settled into her room.

After a few more minutes, Terand headed towards the cabin Ashaiya had chosen last time, thinking she'd takethe same one, and knocked on the door. In his hands was a small crate filled with parts and tubes.

"Come in."

Placing the crystal on top of the small cabinet, she then put the Mandolin into a case and slid it underneath her bed. Taking her shockstaff she then placed it in a corner, and placed her DLT-19 heavy blaster rifle in another corner standing up. She turned, by now Terand should have entered. Taking note of the crate she was a little curious as to what he was doing with it. Recalling on one of her other training sessions with him, she thought it may have to do with something along the lines of telekinetic training. But she would just have to wait to find out.

Terand entered and placed the crate down beside her before looking around. He noticed the crystal and turned towards her.

"To continue your training, you will build a lightsaber."

Reaching to his belt, Terand removed what seemed to be the hilt of a vibro blade. It was 10 inches long in length and more flat in shape instead of the traditionally round hilt.

"The lightsaber is most often the primary weapon of both Jedi and Sith."

Without any hint, a fiery blade hissed out from the hilt. Terand skillfully twirled the weightless blade around within his hands.

"Due the the weightlessness of the blade, only those trained in the force can skillfully wield these weapons. It can mean life or death to you and your opponent. All the parts you need to build your lightsaber are in the crate except for the main component, the heart of the lightsaber, the crystal."

As he mentioned the crystal, Terand pointed to the Durindfire crystal Ashaiya had placed on the cabinet.

As he pointed to the crystal on top of her cabinet, she glanced back up to it. Realizing what he meant.

"That's a lightsaber crystal? I didn't even realize when I first got it."

Looking back down to the crate she then took it with both hands and placed it on her bed. Getting right to work in constructing her lightsaber she first went through the crate, simply looking for things to perhaps use in it's construction. However she wanted the metal of the hilt to be of strength, and the metals she currently had in this crate quite didn't do it. Turning to her shockstaff she quickly grabbed it and began stripping it for resources. Adding a more personal feel to the lightsaber, she used the Force to guide her in it's interior construction. Constructing the phrik into a cylinder she then too placed it on, and soon constructed all the additional pieces with the remaining phrik of her shockstaff.

Eventually leaving a now useless staff, she took the crystal and soon began in morphing it so it'd work with the lightsaber. All this took approximately a full day, re-working the lightsaber once in a while. Moving parts to her preference, or noticing a mistake on it. She was being a perfectionist about it, since this was a rather big deal for her.

At last satisfied with it after re-doing it a few times, and once completely restarting. This would be the first time she ignited it. Triggering it with the force the lightsaber's energy blade soared out a beautiful silver colour. Testing it a few more times she now began on detailing it, which took another half-day. Making sure everything was working properly, that it was carved down properly and neatly, and lastly she carved her family's Kiffar Guardian crest on the hilt. To personalize it even more. At last happy with her result she then stood and left her room, ready to present Terand with her lightsaber.

Now just to find him...

Terand had left Ashaiyan to work on the lightsaber on her own. He went back to his workshop and continued working on his mask. Around the mouth guard, he placed two air filters, one on each side of the mouth, followed by an A99 aquata breather. Some work had to be done on the rebreather, but Terand managed to fit it into the mask neatly as well as add two more miniature tanks to increase breathing time to four hours. Next came a built-in comlink.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The afternoon found Terand in the second cargo bay which he had turned into a personal gym. Bars suspended from the ceiling and differnt types of equipment rested near the walls while the center was cleared except for a large mat. In the middle of the mat, Terand stood with his twin lightsabers ignited. He wore only a pair of brown loose fitting pants, a white wife beater, and a blindfold over his eyes.

Three remote droids circled above and around him as he stood there with both sabers at the ready. A blast was fired from one of the droids but was deflected but the fiery blade. More followed and were deflected as well. The blasts continued at varying intervals. Some came from behind, up above, from the sides, and even at angles in either rounds of one, two, and sometimes all three together. This continued on for a while.

Deciding to first check out the cargo holds, she peered into the first one. Not there. Hearing a light sound resembling a blaster she turned and made her way to the second cargo bay where she found Terand. Although training, deciding to not distract him she simply watched him from afar. She found herself greatly interested in the lightsaber and it's multiple forms, so she watched his movements. Amazed at his focus as he blind-folded himself and still managed to wield two dangerous weapons at once. She kept a grip on her lightsaber while watching him, leaning against the door way. She waited for him to finish.

Although he felt that Ashaiya was standing nearby, Terand continued with his exercise for a few more minutes. It would do her good to see another person wield a lightsaber and learn ow it was done. low powered blaster bolts continued to fire at the Jedi Knight as he deflected them back. Once he decided his padawan had seen enough, the lightsaber blades retracted back into the hilts with a his and the remotes stopped firing. Turning towards Ashaiya, he removed the blindfold and noticed the lighsaber in her hand.

"I see you have finished your assignment. Does it work?"

Looking down to the lightsaber, she used the force to trigger it. A meter long silver beam shot out quickly, a soft humming sound declaring it's deadly power. Holding it up so the beam was now directed to the ceiling of the ship she looked back to Terand.

"I believe so."

Twisting the hilt a little bit so that the neatly carved Kiffar Guardian symbol was now clearly visible to him.

"I wanted to personalize it so I carved in my clan's symbol. I hope that is alright."

"Quite alright. Many warriors personalize their weapons. Some for combat reasons, others to add some of their personality."

Terand held up both his lightsaber hilts so show her their shape. They looked more like katana hilts than a lightsaber.

"You have already learned to use the force. Now you will learn to use your new lightsaber. Deflect the remote's blaster fire. Use the force to feel where the bolt will hit."

Lifting up a hand, two of the remotes flew to the side of the room and landed while one remained in the air.

Surprised she was already learning how to deflect blaster bolts, she was taken by surprise once more when they remote fired. Swinging to deflect it she dramatically missed. Hit in the arm by the low powered bolt she winced in return. Forgetting that the lightsaber wasn't quite the same weight as a normal sword, which she was use to. But taking the weight difference into account she deflected the next bolt, however not quite with the force. But with reflexes she developed being trained as a child. Doing this a few more times she now restrained her own reflexes and tried sensing the incoming shots with the force.

Missing one, she now held the lightsaber in two hands with her knees bent. Reflecting the next one with a mixture of her reflexes and the force, she reflected another solely with the Force. Surprising herself at this she now got the feeling for sensing them, and concentrated on it. Reflecting the bolts with precision as she sensed the bolts, and reflexed with training she already obtained earlier in her life. Using the saber at different angles to reflect the bolts she waited for the next one...