Thahn Merod was special. Since he had left his home planet of Phelarica he did not feel normal at all, especially being here around all these Jedi. Every time he looked into his teacher’s face all he saw was a human... and he was -not- a human. He reminded himself every morning and it was the last thing he thought of before he went to sleep. Master Hesper had reminded him multiple times that he need not worry about what other people looked like, he was special, he was rare. Still, Thahn had a difficult time coming to terms with this. Granted he was special, did he have to have spikes that stuck out on his back? Did he have to have maroon fingernails? Did he have to have those... those things come out of his fingers? What were they, were they claws? Even to this day he didn’t know. His only saving throw was the force, every time he was feeling down, alone, and unhappy he could turn to it and feel all right. This was the only thing that kept him going.
It was on the day of his clan graduation that he received news of the birth of his sister, and this was two months exactly after his birthday. He was seven and he had not been home in three years. The Jedi had decided that since this was a special case he would be allowed to return home, to meet his sister and say hello to his parents. This ruling was a very strange thing indeed; it was against the Jedi Code to see your parents after leaving for training let alone a sibling. But nevertheless Thahn was put on a transport and shipped back off to Phelarica with strict instructions to keep his training a secret.
Upon arriving he was met by only his mother, for the longest time his father had a problem with his force sensitivity and thus he had a problem with Thahn. She greeted him warmly and took his hand in hers. Even at this young age Thahn could sense her being, her kindness. His father was right to be suspicious; force sensitivity was very strange, especially in their kind, but his mother ignored this, she was always encouraging him. She spoke softly to him, with a special tone behind her voice, one she reserved only for him. "Your sister is a lovely little thing, she looks a lot like her big brother. She reminds me a lot of you Thahn." He knew what she meant by this, his sister, Sahd, she was force sensitive as well.
When they got home things were the same as he remembered them, small village, small everything, quite different from Coruscant. His mother led him to his old bedroom and picked him up to lift him over what he assumed was Sahd’s cradle. She was as his mother had said, beautiful. "You can come here and see her whenever you can." This confused him, if Sahd was force sensitive like him wouldn’t she be trained too? His father’s voice chimed in almost magically, "Keep that freak of nature away from her, Sarscha!" His mother’s face fell and Thahn looked up at her, a single tear fell from her face.
Even at this age Thahn knew what his father was doing. She sniffed, "Thahn, promise your mother that when you get big enough, that you’ll come back here and get your sister..." His tiny hands gripped her fingers, "I promise mama," he said.
Two days later he returned to Coruscant and assigned to a master, his training was to proceed on Dantooine, where they were trying to revive the Jedi presence, lost long ago. It was here that he would stay for the next fifteen years.
Thahn awoke suddenly, his body sprung up from slumber, his hands shaking violently. He took a deep breath and forced himself to remember the dream, his father’s death... again. This time however he was in the canyons instead of the moors, a dully-noted point. He swung his feet over the bed and brushed his fingers through the moist straw that made up his hair. He stood and let the roughness of the carpet wake up his feet, then headed to the fresher. He splashed water across his face and more of the dream returned.
"Sahd..." He gripped the edge of the counter strongly and sighed a deep breath. He checked his chrono, four am. "May as well get up." He turned the water in the shower to steaming and stood motionless in the stream of scalding water. He knew today he would have to talk to his master; today he would have to go home. After getting ready he stood in front of the door, motionless, hand in front of the controls. At the main hall of the new temple he spoke quietly, "Where’s Master Trella?" The droid responded quickly and Thahn left silently to the meditation rooms, approaching them with caution he made sure that no one else was using them and then entered, eyes on the floor, he waited, well aware that she could see him.
"You had a vision this night Thahn." She said softly.
He took a deep breath and nodded, "I saw my sister."
Trella stood and approached him, "You knew this day would come, you knew you would have to live up to this promise. You are old enough to leave on your own now, I cannot tell you no."
Thahn nodded, almost sadly and tugged on the end of his tunic, "I’ll be taking the transport this afternoon to Coruscant. I should be on Phelarica before dark." He looked at her face, "I’ll come back."
Trella suppressed a frown, "I know now that you will not return. You have other work to do than sit here and pretend to learn what you already know. Your time here has passed, you’ve grown into a fine Jedi Thahn."
He bit his lip slightly and looked away from his master, "I know there is more you can teach me."
"Perhaps in another life, Thahn. I wish you luck, now go." She smiled slightly at her padawan and he turned away to go.
But he stopped at the door, and turned back to look at her, "You’re taught me more than you know, I thank you."
The flight to Coruscant was normal, drum travel to the hub of the galaxy, refugees from civil wars, merchants, gamblers looking to make some money in Coruscant’s renowned underworld, the rest of the galaxy was like a stew pot compared to the immaculate grasslands of Dantooine. The air on the transport was thick with the smells of other planets, different cultures and a wide variety of local drugs. Arriving on Coruscant, he sought the only ship that could take him to his home world, the Aer-Fracture, belonging to a friend from the Jedi Council, whose home world was relatively close to Phelarica. He often wondered why there was even a hyper-drive route to Phelarica; it usually had very little traffic. He reached the Jedi Temple and as a past student was rushed into to speak to the Council, he was overjoyed to see so many familiar faces but was greatly confused when he did not see his friend.
"Hesper died quite some time ago Thahn, his ship is in storage a few kilometers from here, we were not ever sure if you were going to return to Coruscant." They said in their sage way, talking about death in the subtlest way possible. "Were are sure this news bother you."
Thahn sighed deeply, "No, I knew that when I left I would not see him again but it is unfortunate nonetheless."
They were clearly impressed with his answer; the only problem now was that he had to find passage to a planet no one knew about. He thanked the masters and turned to leave. Master Thorne stopped him, "Thahn there is more." He turned questioningly and stood at attention.
"The ship is in storage a few kilometers from here, we never knew if you were going to return to Coruscant but Hesper had the ship kept safe in case you ever did. It waits for you there." This news shocked Thahn far more than the death of his teacher, it was rare for Jedi to come into ownership of spacecraft, such an item would be most beneficial for the temple, but instead of keeping it, the council intended for him to have it. He stuttered over his thanks, and sheepishly took the access codes from Master Thorne. He whispered quietly to the council and left like a ghost, floating from the chamber.
Now his future was clouding his thoughts, Trella had said that they would not meet again, that Thahn would not return to Dantooine to stay with the Jedi, now he had a ship. He gazed over the silver exterior of the Aer-Fracture, "The meaning of this is leading down one path, and I hope I have the strength to come to terms with it." Armed with only the coordinates he boarded his ship and left for Phelarica.
His village had not changed at all. The tiny red buildings were exactly as they were when he had last looked upon them. Around him were all the sights of Tabria Clan life, dark hair, dark eyes, and a lot of weaponry. People watched him as he passed by, glaring and whispering. It was impossible to deny Jedi training when you walk, talk, and act like one. He approached his hovel but immediately got a strange impression; he turned slowly and walked further down the street. The merchant area was small, since Phelarica had no trade with any planets they were forced to rely on their own resources.
He casually gazed over the selection of goods when a feeling hit him that he had not felt in quite a long time, his avoidance of his house was justified, for he knew now why he was not there. A warm tingle spread over his body and he glanced rapidly around the stalls. A female merchant approached him with a bowl of something in her hands, "Welcome stranger, can I interest you in..." He turned to face her and she gasped, dropping the bowl to the streets, her hand instantly going to her mouth in a look of ultimate surprise.
"Thahn?"
The force exploded from her and Thahn grabbed his sister as quickly as she could say his name. They remained in the embrace for quite awhile before either of them spoke, "Sahd, I came to get you. I promised mother I would come and take you away." He spoke deafly into her hair but he knew that she could hear him perfectly.
"I know, I remember that day."
This startled him greatly but he did not stir, his sister had sat on this planet, suppressing all of her gifts just for the acceptance of their father.
"Thahn," She said tearing herself back from him, "Father died, quite some time ago."
He nodded as the tears streamed down his face, "I know, I felt it happen."
She continued, "Mother, married another man, Kere Morrow... she’s pregnant."
Thahn chuckled lightly, "When will that woman stop?"
"She’s at the house now, why didn’t you stop there?"
"I had to see you first." He smiled brightly at her. "But can we go there now?" She nodded joyously, and in a youthful fashion that he suspected she would’ve grow out of by now.
At the house the smells were even more intense than the market, the house was filled the scent of baking gornesh, an old Tabrian recipe. He couldn’t help but stand outside himself and absorb all the memories he had over and over again. His mother walked into the room and her being again filled his thoughts, "Mother!"
He rushed over to her and they embraced, shorter, however than him and his sister. "I hear you’re waiting on another child... again!" He smirked at her, and she nodded modestly. "Yes, looks like a quite a boy too, what with the size of that belly!" Thahn patted his mother’s stomach in jest.
"Yes, another boy it seems, doesn’t it?" She spoke with all the maternal glow that he remembered, "I want to name it Reck, but Kere is insisting on Aric. I guess we’ll eventually figure it out, it will probably be neither what with the universe these days." She laughed lightheartedly and they walked into the kitchen where Kere and Sahd were talking quietly.
"The clans are getting more and more power these days, with the way this planet is going we’ll be in another war within months." Kere looked up from his conversation, he was a tall man, lightly built, not like Thahn’s father and had dark burgundy hair with brown eyes, a typical Tabrian. His hair was cut to a semi short length in normal fashion but he smiled with a grace he had never seen on a Kellnovan man. He stood and offered his hand, a gesture of peace in their culture, one that Thahn was uncomfortably isolated from. A sudden brush of nervousness shook him from behind, seeming from nowhere, the words seemed to drop out of his mouth like stone.
"I’m here to take Sahd."
DISCLAIMER: This story is a work of fiction written in appreciation of Star Wars; to promote the Star Wars franchise and to keep it alive. All characters and settings original to the Star Wars movies and/or novelizations are copyright to Lucasfilm, Ltd. The rest is copyright to the story's author. No profit was gained from this story.