The Death of Jheryth Chrystopher

Jheryth defended himself from the crowd of attackers he had gathered. He was surrounded, barely able to deflect the onslaught of blaster fire, not able to find the advantage on any one target. He saw Aittera closing the distance between them, determination set on her face as she tried to her best to land a shot, squeezing the trigger as quickly as her blaster could manage. He made his mind up then, using the force to hurl himself at her. He thrust his saber forward, stopping just in front of her. A sensation like nothing he ever felt, burned in his chest. He looked down between the two of them, seeing his saber in her hand, the blade illuminating the point where it protruded from his chest. He looked back up at her, noting the emotion swirling behind her eyes, but not understanding, as she seemed to fall away from him.

 A kaleidoscope of colors burst in his vision, and he threw his arms around her shoulders to steady himself. He saw the crystal blue waters of her eyes, feeling a cool breeze caress his face, the smell of sea mist filling his senses. She watched as his eyes dawned with clarity, like he received an answer to a question. He touched his lips to hers, then fell to his knees. She watched as a simple smile spread over his lips. And then he laid himself down and was still. She shut her eyes, refusing to show any emotion, letting the saber hilt fall out of her hand, clattering to the ground. She opened her eyes and walked away. She was dimly aware of someone asking what to do with the body. Some else replied, "Leave him with the rest of the trash." And the crowd dispersed.

Several minutes later, a young woman moved into the street from the shadows, her hood sliding further down around her face as she looked down at her former master. She found him exactly as she expected. She knew he told her this was to happen, but she let a tear fall for him anyway. She removed a burial cloth from the pack on her shoulder. She held out her free hand, lifting his body, and willing the cloth to wind its way around him, making a conscious effort to make his arms fold up around his chest. She lifted him higher, then laid him over her shoulder, letting his way sink down upon her. This was her burden to bear...

She lowered him into a boat, waiting on the shore of Alderaan's east coast. She arranged him on the boat, bright orange locks escaping her hood, falling down against her check. She removed an oil lamp from her pack, lit it and placed it on his chest, between where his hands were folded. She let the current pull the boat away, watching as it moved itself further out on the current. She motioned her hand, and the oil lamp broke, setting occupant and boat ablaze. She watched the flames spread quickly, feeling the breeze tug at the loose strands of her hair. She heard footfalls in the sand.

 She looked down as a young boy looked up at her, a mane of long red hair falling down his back as he stared up at her. "Where is my father?" 

She stared into those piercing green eyes for a moment, then looked back out at the water, the boy turning his head to follow her gaze. The wake of the sinking boat reflected an emerald green glow, then faded and the spot returned to it's normal color, becoming as still as if nothing had happened upon the surface. 

"Your father cannot be with you now. Come with me, and I will tell you everything about him."

Jheryth's eyes flew open. The stone he was levitating burst, spraying pebbles across the meditation room. His heart was beating fast, but an eerie calm settled over him. He had to blink twice to get those blue eyes out of his vision. He looked up to see his tactical officer crossing through the doorway into the room.

“My lord. Decker has found something that you will want to see.”

Jheryth blinked again, trying to process what he had just seen, “How is she?”

His tactical officer looked wary, but spoke with confidence, “We have lost track of her my lord. Our sources confirm that she is unharmed.”

Jheryth nodded and then rose, motioning for his officer to lead the way. He followed, making his way to the conference room, where large computer station stands where the table would be.

Decker swiveled around in her chair, her lekku twitching with excitement, “My lord! You will not believe what I have found. You have to see this!”

Decker tapped a few keys, and the holo-screen came to life, showing the aftermath of an attack an archaeological dig site. A reporter was interviewing a Jedi Sage.

“...it has still not been confirmed, and the attack and theft of the datacron does not lead credence to it's existence. The Aether Axiom is still a myth, and will remain a myth....”

Jheryth tuned out the drone of the Sage, looking at Decker, “There are very few who haven't heard the myth. It doesn't sur...”

“My lord, “ Decker interrupted in her excitement, “I know. Even us thieves have heard of it. It's like the ultimate treasure! I also found this.” She tapped a few buttons, and the screen switched to a bunch of different websites.

Jheryth looked at the screens blankly, “Ok, what am I looking at?”

Decker motioned to the different screens, “Well, to you it's a bunch of random stuff, but to someone like me, it's a trail. Someone's got that datacron, and they are making it known. Hopefully I can track 'em down.”

Jheryth nodded, “Keep me updated.” He turned to his tactical officer, “Aven, keep an eye out for her. Let me know when she resurfaces.”