the Tengu of Ashina
A Journey's End.
Aptly named decades prior to the death of the late Sword of the Jedi, Ryv Karis, it was a nexus of power tucked away in a little corner of Tython all but forgotten by the greater galaxy. Once, it served as an idle hobby to the Jedi. He often returned to the giant, gnarled tree found in the center of the lake. There, Ryv would commune with the creatures of the nexus as he tended to the grove deep beneath its surface.
In his final moments, Ryv stumbled into the garden he kept, half-delirious from pain after he and Darth Solipsis traded blows—and their lives—in the fated confrontation Jedi Master Vyrin Karis foresaw moments after Ryv’s birth.
When Kyric stepped onto the tiny island, Ryv walked before him. The younger Karis couldn’t help but feel his father’s presence all around him. Echoes of the man who gave his life for a few short years of peace appeared wherever Kyric’s scarred fingers touched. The boy watched his father, then only seventeen, lift a watering pail to gently feed a small patch of zeilla flowers. Those same flowers now flourished before Kyric’s very eyes. He counted three dozen by the time he turned in search of another memory.
Kyric spotted a tiny pruner half buried in the dirt and he went to it quickly. He tore the rusted tool from the earth and stood transfixed as Ryv carefully studied tangled up fishing line wound tight around a goliath turtle’s neck. His father was older then. Where once he had two arms, only one remained. Scars not unlike Kyric’s wove around the late kiffar’s arm and up his neck, as if he spent hours beneath a scalpel, sliced, cut, and studied by an aberrant mind.
Ryv didn’t hesitate to free the turtle. He didn’t hold himself above the simple task of watering the flowers, either. Everything the man did radiated warmth. His smile shone brighter than even the closest star while he stood within this peaceful place.
But Kyric remembered his father on Denon, too.
There was an incalculable pain in Ryv’s eyes when he first stumbled into the bar that housed Kyric and his siblings. The Son of the Sword remembered the apathy he saw and felt within his father when he took up Resolve and slaughtered the men who dared abuse children—his children—in the Jedi Master’s presence. And while Kyric should’ve felt scared shitless that day, he didn’t.
The boy felt safe.
A safety Kyric hadn’t known since the day he said goodbye to his father for the last time.
Tears welled up in Kyric’s eyes as a glimpse of his father’s final moments played out before him. Kyric followed him through the corridor-like passage found within the massive roots of the titanic tree. He watched as Ryv stumbled to a bushel of white roses still stained scarlet from the Jedi Master’s blood all these years later. Kyric listened to his father’s final farewell to him and Auteme, as if Ryv knew this moment would come to pass even as he lay dying in the aftermath of his greatest struggle.
The strength left Kyric’s legs, then. He fell to his knees and sobbed violently. His fingers carved deep troughs into the dirt as he struggled vainly to calm himself, but the young Jedi couldn’t contain it anymore. The pain tore his heart to pieces and stole his breath away. All he could do was quietly repeat the same four words over and over again.
“I miss you, dad.”
Tags:
Caltin Vanagor
Force Bonds:
Capris Halcyon
|
Lord Creuat
Honorable Mentions:
Auteme
|
Darth Solipsis
Aptly named decades prior to the death of the late Sword of the Jedi, Ryv Karis, it was a nexus of power tucked away in a little corner of Tython all but forgotten by the greater galaxy. Once, it served as an idle hobby to the Jedi. He often returned to the giant, gnarled tree found in the center of the lake. There, Ryv would commune with the creatures of the nexus as he tended to the grove deep beneath its surface.
In his final moments, Ryv stumbled into the garden he kept, half-delirious from pain after he and Darth Solipsis traded blows—and their lives—in the fated confrontation Jedi Master Vyrin Karis foresaw moments after Ryv’s birth.
When Kyric stepped onto the tiny island, Ryv walked before him. The younger Karis couldn’t help but feel his father’s presence all around him. Echoes of the man who gave his life for a few short years of peace appeared wherever Kyric’s scarred fingers touched. The boy watched his father, then only seventeen, lift a watering pail to gently feed a small patch of zeilla flowers. Those same flowers now flourished before Kyric’s very eyes. He counted three dozen by the time he turned in search of another memory.
Kyric spotted a tiny pruner half buried in the dirt and he went to it quickly. He tore the rusted tool from the earth and stood transfixed as Ryv carefully studied tangled up fishing line wound tight around a goliath turtle’s neck. His father was older then. Where once he had two arms, only one remained. Scars not unlike Kyric’s wove around the late kiffar’s arm and up his neck, as if he spent hours beneath a scalpel, sliced, cut, and studied by an aberrant mind.
Ryv didn’t hesitate to free the turtle. He didn’t hold himself above the simple task of watering the flowers, either. Everything the man did radiated warmth. His smile shone brighter than even the closest star while he stood within this peaceful place.
But Kyric remembered his father on Denon, too.
There was an incalculable pain in Ryv’s eyes when he first stumbled into the bar that housed Kyric and his siblings. The Son of the Sword remembered the apathy he saw and felt within his father when he took up Resolve and slaughtered the men who dared abuse children—his children—in the Jedi Master’s presence. And while Kyric should’ve felt scared shitless that day, he didn’t.
The boy felt safe.
A safety Kyric hadn’t known since the day he said goodbye to his father for the last time.
Tears welled up in Kyric’s eyes as a glimpse of his father’s final moments played out before him. Kyric followed him through the corridor-like passage found within the massive roots of the titanic tree. He watched as Ryv stumbled to a bushel of white roses still stained scarlet from the Jedi Master’s blood all these years later. Kyric listened to his father’s final farewell to him and Auteme, as if Ryv knew this moment would come to pass even as he lay dying in the aftermath of his greatest struggle.
The strength left Kyric’s legs, then. He fell to his knees and sobbed violently. His fingers carved deep troughs into the dirt as he struggled vainly to calm himself, but the young Jedi couldn’t contain it anymore. The pain tore his heart to pieces and stole his breath away. All he could do was quietly repeat the same four words over and over again.
“I miss you, dad.”
Tags:
Caltin Vanagor
Force Bonds:
Capris Halcyon
|
Lord Creuat
Honorable Mentions:
Auteme
|
Darth Solipsis
