Ark stumbled back with a grunt, clutching at his shoulder. His sword had been lost, cast aside and plunged into the dirt. The young Zabrak shaman gazed on at the man who had bested him. Average height, striking grey eyes, blonde hair and beard... In his mechanical hand he clutched a radiant sword unlike anything he had ever seen in his life. A blade truly entwined with prime energy, higher than any craft his people had ever forged. Yet, even after combat, the man wore a gentle expression. When he had observed that he was the victor, the man who called himself a Jedi Master returned his sword to his back.
"You're quite talented," the man offered, a gentle smile under his mustache. "I can see why your village chose you to lead them."
"Why... have you not slain me yet?" Ark asked, his breath heavy. "You... came here for... power... did you not?"
"I did not," the Jedi Master answered plainly. "Your people need you. I do not seek to uproot your ways."
Jasper Kai'el let out a weary chuckle, picking up the shaman's sword and placing it back in his hands. It was a bewildering gesture, one which caused the Zabrak to still his anxieties and focus solely on the Jedi. He was a true anomaly. He had come from... somewhere far away, who knows where. He fought like the Matukai who dwelled at the Summit of Elders, spoke like the wisest of shamans, and wielded the prime energy in a lesser manner, clearly using less. And yet, it was this man who had gone from village to village. He squashed rivalries with conversation, not steel. Settlements on the brink suddenly found themselves treated with aid, brought from afar by this stranger. Ark had sought to challenge this man, seeing his presence as a threat to his village. He had been soundly defeated, handled by a firm, father-like hand. Now that it was said and done, the stranger spoke with the gentle tone of a mother.
"Will you follow me?" Jasper asked, gesturing for him to follow to the top of a nearby hill.
Ark could not help but oblige. When he came to the crest of the incline, the two men were looking down on an open valley. Vessels from the stars, tattered tents, people in tattered clothing building more secure homes. This was a village. A new one.
"People will come to Refuge looking for somewhere to hide," the Jedi Master expressed. "They are weary... tired... homeless... This place, it came to be on the back of misplaced people."
"The... Rakat... forced us to be here," Ark stated. "Then more came... it has always been this way."
"There... will be a lot more people coming here then every before," Jasper informed him. "The world beyond the black hole that protects this place is in chaos... There are some who have already joined your villages, no?"
"Yes, a woman came from a place called Coruscant," the shaman confirmed. "Why... is it that you tell me this?"
"I tell you because this place needs something to protect it," the Master answered. "A safety net of interlocked elbows. Your ways here... they change with the tides of war elsewhere. You take in the weak and build them back up. You... are Jedi... just like me."
"Do... you truly believe so?"
"I do... I ask that you lock elbows with me, Jedi Knight. Your people need you to fend off the darkness... I cannot do this alone."
Fend of the darkness. The enemy of his people was the dark. It was the shadowy hand of the Rakat that had stolen them from their homes, the primal anger of Lok the Repugnant that taught them the ways of bloodshed and fear. People came to Refuge to hide from the darkness. If that evil came to Refuge, Ark had a duty to strike it down. He returned his sword to his scabbard and nodded his head.
"I will lock elbows then... Jedi Master," the shaman answered. "Your heart is true. I assumed that your kindness was a farce... you have proven me wrong. If your Jedi come to Refuge, I will be amongst them."
"Thank you," the blonde man responded. "Please... my friends call me Jasper."
Jasper Kai'el knew it with all of his heart. This is the place. He could not defend the entire galaxy. War after war he had been proven this very fact. Yet here, the cluster of worlds out by the sanctuary of Veridia, was somewhere he could defend. This would be the stonewall that held off the darkness. Behind that veil would be the bastion of safety for those fleeing from war. The villages of Refuge, born of and maintained by Refugees, looked at this vision with hope. Soon Jedi would be amidts them. Jasper had been created lowly, inheriting dust and sorrow. It was a weak boy who would claw his way into knighthood, a bleeding heart who would find a seat on the council, a Jedi Master who uplifted the weary.
In the coming weeks they would call him Lord. The weight of a planet would fall on his shoulders.
