Chapter Twenty - Into The Unknown
Hours after escaping the Clone Troopers on Bogden 3, K'Kruhk and Eri led the Kybuck Clan deep within the Outer Rim. The Younglings were trying to process what had just happened. Eri herself couldn't understand why this had happened. Soon enough, K'Kruhk began to feel light headed.
Eri: Master? Are you okay?
As everyone was processing this, Eri grew more and more concerned for her master. Not since his encounter with his fallen apprentice Mordred did she see K'Kruhk wracked with fear, guilt and uncertainty. At this point, fear and uncertainty began to clutch the Jedi on board. But suddenly, Ganodi receives a signal coming from the Jedi Temple.
Ganodi: It's the Jedi Temple!
K'Kruhk: Play it. Perhaps this message will shed light on what has happened.
Ganodi soon plays the message which reveals a holoimage of Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. In that moment, a sense of hope was felt among the Younglings.
Obi-Wan(Holorecording): This is Master Obi Wan Kenobi. I regret to report that both our Jedi Order and the Republic, have fallen with a dark shadow of the Empire rising to take their place. This message is a warning and a reminder for any surviving Jedi. Trust in The Force. Do not return to the Temple...that time has past. And our future is uncertain. We will each be challenged. Our trust. Our faith. Our friendships. But we must persevere. And in time, a new hope will emerge. May the Force be with you, always.
As the message ended, that sense of hope turned to fear and uncertainty. Even K'Kruhk and Eri felt this fear.
K'Kruhk: So this ambush was not an isolated incident. This was happening all across the Galaxy.
Katooni: But why?! Why would the Clones do this?!
K'Kruhk: I do not know. But what I know for certain is that the Jedi Order as we know it, is no more.
As the Whiphid Jedi Master said this, the Younglings were in disbelief.
Gungi: <I can't believe it. Is the Jedi Order really gone?>
Zatt: This can't be real.....
Petro: We....we were just in the Jedi Temple. If we hadn't left....do you think there's any other Jedi out there?
K'Kruhk: I do not know. But we must focus on our own survival.
Upon hearing this, Katooni fired back.
Seeing the message from Obi-Wan showed that the Clones under the guise of the Sith were orchestrating a purge of the Jedi.
Katooni: We can't just leave them! They need our help!
K'Kruhk: I understand your feelings, but we must trust in the will of the Force. You heard what Master Kenobi said, the Clones are systematically wiping out the Jedi. We may be the last of the Jedi Order.
Katooni: But.....
It was at this point that Eri stepped in, placing her hand on the young Tholtholian's shoulders.
Eri: I....I know how you feel, Katooni. Before Master K'Kruhk found, I lived in constant fear. All I had ever known was fear, pain and torment. It's because of Master K'Kruhk that I was able to move past that fear. Now I will do for you what Master K'Kruhk did for me.
As Eri inspired the Kybuck Clan, a smile fell on the Whiphid Jedi Master for the first time since Order 66. K'Kruhk's smile and Eri's words seemed to put Katooni at ease as she regrouped with her fellow Younglings near the cockpit. What they had just experienced was unlike anything they've ever experienced.
Ganodi: So what now?
Katooni: Like Master Kenobi said, we must persevere. We must put our faith in the Force.
Byph: <But how?! The Jedi are gone! We may be the only ones left!>
Katooni: I know it looks bad now, but we can't let it keep us down! We have to trust in the Force!
Petro: Katooni's right. We'll bounce back. We always do.
At that point, the Younglings were moved by Katooni's words. As Katooni was raising the spirits of the others, K'Kruhk watched with a smile on his face.
K'Kruhk: I truly have taught you well, Eri. I am proud to see the Jedi you have become.
Eri: All that I am is because of you, Master K'Kruhk. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for your teachings.
Eri's humility truly brought pride to K'Kruhk. His mind falls back to when he first met Eri when she was just a scared little girl longing for a new life. Now she had grown and matured as a Jedi.
K'Kruhk: Kneel, Eri.
Eri: Master?
K'Kruhk: I promised you that you would be made a Jedi Knight. I shall honor that promise.
Heeding her master's words, Eri knelt down before K'Kruhk. K'Kruhk ignited his green Lightsaber.
K'Kruhk: We are all Jedi. The Force speaks through us. Through our actions, the Force proclaims itself and what is real. Today we are here to acknowledge what the Force has proclaimed.
Eri looked up at her master with a smile on her face. Ever since becoming K'Kruhk's apprentice, she had looked up to him as a father. The two had forged a powerful bond. Just as Eri saw K'Kruhk as a father, K'Kruhk saw Eri as a daughter.
K'Kruhk: By the right of the Council, by the will of the Force, I dub thee, Eri Jedi, Knight of the Jedi Order.
K'Kruhk then brings his Lightsaber down above each of Eri's shoulders. In that moment, Eri had become a Jedi Knight. In that moment, K'Kruhk and Eri vowed to guide the Younglings of the Kybuck Clan to safety in these dark times. The Jedi Order was now gone. Now their fates were left to the will of the Force. They would seek refuge deep within the Outer Rim to hide from the now emerging Empire. These were truly dark times for the Jedi, but they all had faith in the Force.
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