The Search For Tython Part 1 The Return To Prakith

~\*{ THE SEARCH FOR TYTHON }\*~

"A one shot series about founding the New Je'daii Order"

Part one: Return to Prakith

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IC: Mab Bathori {& Terrogate}

Music: Broken Sleep, by Agnes Obel.

https://youtu.be/9-b85ngtQO4

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158 ABY: Batorine

"I want to return to Prakith" Mab suddenly said as she watched the Catharian enter the living area. It was an idea that had been on her mind for some time. Often she dreamed about the mountainous Deep Core world, something was drawing her back, wanting her to find something. Before Terrogate could react, Iktotchi continued  "I have to find it, whatever the force is telling me to find."

Terrogate looked sharply at her as she suddenly spoke of her desire to leave in search of something she had dreamed about. It was not a casual conversational piece that they gradually got around to over a herbal tea, but more of unloading of something that had been on her mind. Like the breaking of an anchor that had been weighing her down for some time. She looked more relieved to have finally spoken the words than anything else.

Still this made the idea no less appealing to the Cathar warrior.  “Mab”, Terrogate said softly but still with a somewhat stern tone which he often managed to achieve due to his deep growling voice. “Mab, you know that is too dangerous. When you told me about your dreams I thought that’s all they would be, at least for now..” the Iktotchi could feel his concern as he raised his voice slightly. But she was entirely serious and he could see that. "It's not just a dream. Something is calling me back, this is my chance, now that the Empire is gone."

"Yes, the Empire has been destroyed but there's still much danger out there" he growled at her, "and have you forgotten that our kids are still in hiding?" She looked away, they hadn't seen their children since she had sent them away to safety over two years ago when the Empire was crumbling. "I haven't forgotten. We will bring them home, soon.. when we are sure it is safe for them." The Catharian shook his head "No one has heard from the others in months. The last thing I heard was that there were still Sith loyalists bent on hunting us down! That they are fanatics led by several higher ranking Sith clinging to the memory of the Duumvirate. Worshiping them as gods.” he growled in frustration. She understood very well that it was a risk but still she felt she had to go "I will be careful and Korg will be with me."

Terrogate stepped towards her “Mab, they could be watching the sky lanes. They could even be on Prakith! You would risk it all for this… this adventure!?.. this voice that calls to you in your dreams!?” "This is not some 'adventure', and the voice is real, I know it" the witch replied. Terrogate lowered himself to her level, looking her dead in her golden eyes. She sensed his genuine concern, Bathori knew he wasn't trying to hurt her. The past two years he had rarely left her side, she was very capable, this he knew. A witch, and immensely powerful in the force but he had sworn to protect her forever, as long as he lived and to die for her if it came to it, he would do so happily. His concern was born more for his loss of ability to fulfil that promise to protect her should she choose to leave, than her actual ability to protect herself.

“Mab” his voice was soft again as he spoke to her, “Mab, my stars and moon…my everything. I love you more than life itself, but I need to hear you say that you understand what you're doing, that you understand the risk.. and that you still feel deep down that this is what the force is guiding you to do. Not just some dream...” He placed a large clawed hand on her ultrachrome hand and the other on her cheek lightly. Brushing her hair over her ear. He smiled at her, the hard features of his face softened as he stared into the two beautiful golden orbs of her eyes. “I trust you…so if you are certain, then I will agree to this. And if you believe this is something you need to do alone my love, my heart.. then I will stay here.”

She sighed and looked away for a moment, staring out of the window. "I know" her voice was soft and sad. "I know what I am doing is risky, but I have to do this." She turned her face to meet his again, the witch had a determined look in her eyes. "I am certain that these dreams are visions, something or someone is trying to tell me something. I don't know if if it the force that is guiding me back to Prakith, but I know it is real" she paused and took a breath "because it is a risk I want to do this alone, I need you to be here for the kids" His eyes changed, his worry was increasing, Mab placed her hand on his cheek "I will be ok.. trust in the Force… trust in me"

~\*~

With a heavy heart she packed her bag, she was sad to leave Terrogate behind but it was better for her to do this alone. She needed ro be sure that he was safe and that he would be there for when their children would return home.

The Catharian stood behind her in the doorway, watching her pack her things. "Korg has already prepped your ship for departure" he said, Mab could sense the sadness in his voice "Are you sure you don't want me to come?" For a moment she paused her packing and remained silent trying not to cry. Part of her felt guilty for going without him after everything he had done for her, he had been there when she was broken, he helped her recover and he stood by her when she decided to retire from the Empire. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes, "no, I need to do this alone" she paused and sighed "I will contact you whenever I can, to…. to keep you up to date." Putting the last of her things in her bag she heard him move closer. He stood behind her, waiting for her to turn around "Will miss you."

"I will miss you too" Mab turned around with watery eyes and looked at him. "Don't be sad my love" he pulled her into his embrace. Burying her face into his chest she cried "I'm sorry.. I know you w..." but he interrupted her "sush, I understand you have to do this alone..  it's ok, I'm just worried about you" he said and kissed her on the forehead. "You are strong my love, and I am proud of you" he placed his hand under her chin pulling her face up to meet his "I love you." At once a smile appeared on her pale face "and I love you."

"Good. Now.. before you go there is something you have to do" he continued with a grin. Not knowing what he meant she frowned "do what?" Terrogate's whiskers fanned out and he let out a chuckle "you are planning to leave without saying a goodbye" pupils dilated he gently pushed her back to the bed. His body language told her enough "oooh, I understand" she giggled as she fell back on to the bed. The Catharian got on top of her "you can't go without saying goodbye." "I wouldn't dare" she replied and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling close and planting her lips on his..

An hour later, still blushing all over, Bathori was ready to go. "I will contact you when we arrive in the Prakith system" she said as she walked up the steps to the landing platform. "Promise me, any sign of trouble you will turn around and come back." the Catharian said sternly as he followed his life mate to her ship. At the top of the steps she turned towards him "of course, I will." Behind her K-0R9 walked down the ramp of the Busted Plugga and approached them "Master, the ship is fueled and ready for departure." "Excellent Korg, please take my bag to my quarters." The Iktotchi held her bag up waiting for her trustworthy droid to take it. Obedient he took it "Of course, Master" and turned around, leaving Mab and Terrogate alone. The Catharian took her hand and pulled her close again. Feeling his warm embrace was soothing, she would miss him.

Moments later she sat in the pilot seat of the Busted Plugga, and saw how Terrogate waved at her. She waved back and switched the engines on. The ship smoothly lifted off the ground and up through the canopy.  "ok Korg, let's get this show on the road" "yes Master" the droid responded and set the coordinates for the Deep Core..

~\*~

"I'll be in my Quarters Korg" Mab said as she switched the ship to auto pilot "notify me of anything happens" she added as she stood up. "Yes Master" the droid replied as it sat in the co-pilot seat.

She trusted the droid with her life, without him she would have died. If he hadn't contacted Terrogate on that horrific night she would have died alone in the abandoned tower on Prakith. With a smile she left the bridge and took the first door on her right in the main hold.

Inside her quarters she kicked off her boots and sat down on the bed. For a moment she just sat there, staring at herself in the large mirror across the room. The last time she visited the tower was when the Empire began to crumble, after Kimi, a young Pantoran warrior had sought her out for help. Kimi and several others wanted to escape the Empire's grasp and join the fight to bring it down and bring their families to safety, Mab had agreed. It had hurt Terrogate when he heard she had agreed to help the resistance without talking to him first, even more when she decided to send the children away to safety. But it was the best thing she did, for the first time she felt she had purpose that what she did had meaning.

Mab laid down, resting her head on the soft pillow, memories of Prakith swirled in her mind. Happy ones about when she came to the mountainous world for the first time, the time she started training her son, but also painful ones of when she came to the tower to die. She sighed and turned around, staring at the ceiling, she felt anxious about her return, wondering what she would find there after all that time. She closed her eyes and drifted into a deep sleep

~ In the darkness of her sleeping mind, green mists whirled around her. Cold and wet, the sound of snow crunching under heavy boots. The mists turned into snowflakes dancing on an icy wind. Her feet felt cold, it were her feet that walked through a thick layer of snow. Before her in the morning the fog the eerie Tower rose up against the horizon. "Come home" a whisper carried on the wind said

The winds became faster, it turned into a blizzard making it impossible to see. The sound of a heavy wooden hatch was heard in the background. Footsteps going down a ladder, echoing against stone walls. The image cleared, she was standing in the old dungeon under the tower. "Come home" the whisper came from a large crack in the wall leading to a tunnel system. "Come home Mab, follow the wind." ~

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158 ABY: Prakith

A loud beeping sound woke the Witch, her eyes flung open. At once she sat up straight in her bed and gazed around the room. "Master, we have arrived in the Prakith System '' she heard K-0R9's voice over the com system. She got off her bed and put her boots back on before returning to the bridge. The ship had already dropped out of hyperspace "any company?" she asked as she sat down  in the pilot seat "Nothing to worry about, a Khommite freighter and a Besalisk shuttle near Delanoth. They seem no threat." The droid explained. "Good, but keep an eye on them." Mab turned to the com system and typed a short message off their arrival for Terrogate as the ship approached Prakith.

After sending the message she switched off the autopilot "let's go home" Mab said and took the helm navigating the Busted Plugga into Prakith's orbit. The ship glided through the thick clouds over the snow covered peaks to the eerie Tower standing abandoned on of the highest cliffs. Next to the tower lay the wreck of the Nebuchadnezzar covered with a thick layer of snow. "Maybe I should repair it" she softly said as she prepped for landing.

Moments later the Busted Plugga stood on the snow covered plateau. As she carefully walked down the ramp, the icy winds blew into the Witch's face making shivers go down her spine. Her boots sunk deep into the thick blanket of show, the bright Prak sun made it sparkle like billions of tiny gems. It was obvious no one had been near the Tower in a long time, no footprints other than the ones she just made herself, were to be found on the plateau. Snowflakes danced on the wind as the fog evaporated in the warm sun.

As she looked at the abandoned tower that once was her home, she thought back about the dreams she kept having, about the voice that drew her here. Slowly she made her way to the foot of the tower, wondering what it was that lured her back, who was that voice, why did it call to her?

That night she slept in the tower, in her empty quarters at the top. She had sent Korg back to the ship, the Witch was alone. The crackling sound of the fire burning in the hearth was soothing making her quickly drift off to sleep.

~ "you came" a whisper said from the shadows. Mab's eyes opened wide and she gazed around the room. The room was no longer empty, at once she knew this was a dream. "Come… follow the wind." "Who are you.. what do you want?" She asked but there was no reply.

She jumped out of her bed and ran out of the room. Barefoot she rushed down the stone steps all the way to the ground floor. With a flick of her hand she pulled the carpet aside revealing the old wooden hatch that led the dungeon. She knelt down and pulled on the hatch door, as it opened sound voices filled the room "Mab follow the wind… come, come".

Quickly she climbed down the ladder and ignited her minty green lightsaber to light up the dark space beneath the tower. The voices kept coming from the crack in the wall, "come Mab, find us." Without hesitation the Iktotchi stepped through the crack and everything went dark. ~

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The next day Mab found herself standing at the wooden hatch. "Open it" she ordered K-0R9. The droid knelt down and grabbed the hatch, pulling it open, as it lifted warm air escaped from the space below. "What the kriff!" The Iktotchi yelled as she was blown backwards. "Master are you ok?" The droid asked as held the hatch door. With a nod she walks to the black hole in the ground, peeking inside. Ammit only been there a couple of times, she had plans to clear the rubble and use the dungeon but somehow she never came to it.

A moment later she climbed down the wooden ladder. With her feet firmly on the ground she reached up "hand me the light." The droid lowered a bright lamp that lit up the entire room. With the lamp in her hand she gazed around the room..four heavy doors leading to four cells, rubble on the floor but no cracked wall. She walked to the wall where the opening was supposed to be and placed her hand on it. It was warm to the touch but on first sight there was no sign of a hidden door. Slowly she traced the stones until she felt a warm breeze coming through a barely visible fracture. "Korg!" She yelled  "Yes Master." The security  droid responded from above. Her hand still touched the wall, trying to feel how long the fracture was. "I'm gonna need a sledgehammer."

Until the droid returned and dropped the hammer, Mab continued to examine the wall. It was clear it wasn't natural bedrock. She could feel something was behind it, something that was calling to her.

With the hammer firmly in both hands she stepped to the wall. "One… two… three" \*clang\* the hammer hit the wall, part from some dust nothing happened. "Again.." \*clang\*, nothing… she took a deep breath and struck again \*clang… crrrack\* The fracture cracked further open, pieces of wall crumbling onto the floor. The Iktotchi continued to strike the wall until she had created an opening big enough for her to fit through. She placed the hammer against the wall and shone the light onto the dark space behind it. A warm wind blew into her face "follow the wind" she whispered to herself and stepped through the crack.

~\*~

Carefully Mab followed the dark narrow tunnel, only her lightsaber casting a minty green glow on the rocky walls. Slowly she went down the path, following the warm current coming from deep inside the mountain. Her footsteps echoed against the walls, fading in the distance. "Where are you taking me?" She asked herself out loud.

There was no voice and yet she felt that pull, something beckoning her to continue deeper into the mountain. Bathori felt anxious to find out what it was and somehow it all felt very familiar as if she had been here before. A rumbling sound came from the depths, a wave of warm wind blew in her face as the ground shook. Prakith was a volcanic world, unstable terrains, it was no surprise to her. "Kriff, where are you taking me?" She whispered, her breath quickened, she felt more nervous the further she got down the tunnel, the closer she got to whatever it was leading her.

After several minutes she reached what looked like a large open space, so large that the light of her lightsaber wasn't enough to show her the room. Frustrated that she didn't bring a lamp she followed the wall, trying to find anything that could help light up the room. Soon she realised it was a man made space, perfect straight walls and carved out pillars. It didn't take long for her to find a torch on the wall and using pyrokinesis she set it on fire. The orange glow lit up only a small portion of the room, it wasn't nearly enough to light up the entire space. She followed the wall and found another torch lighting as well.

Mab continued to light all the torches she could find until the room was completely lit.

She gazed around, at the centre of the room ahw found the source of the winds some kind of vent that lead deeper below the surface. Mab could feel the heat as she held her hand above it. She turned around, and in awe she looked at the walls, they were covered in murals, the colours still so vibrant as if they just had been painted. The pillars had beautiful decorations carved on them, they looked magical. With her golden hand she traced the carvings, so delicate and precise the witch kept wondering who made this chamber.

She walked to the wall, gazing at the mural. Mab looked at a scene, with a large pyramid ship in the skies above a city. Rows of people, all kinds of species, even Iktotchi, walked up the ramps of smaller vessels on the ground. She could not read the inscription, but it was obvious they were going to the pyramid in the sky.

Mab walked to another wall, this time the pyramid ship was in orbit of a planet with two moons, one dark and one light. Smaller ships were going down to the surface. "Where is this place? This is not Prakith? Who are they?" She asked out loud as she walked to the next mural across the room.

This mural showed a map, with nine cities, again she was unable to read the inscription. The landscape seemed to be diverse, from forests to deserts, mountains to oceans. "Where is this world" mab was frustrated, she wanted to know where this world was, who these people were.

The last mural was a text, it had beautiful decorations surrounding it that showed the great opposites or light and dark. Suddenly she realized that maybe her droid was able to read the inscriptions. She had equipped him with a TranLang III communications module, which held over six million languages, even ancient ones. At once the Iktotchi ran back to the tunnel up to the tower. "Korg! Korg!!" She yelled in excitement through the narrow tunnel. "Come down here!!"

~\*~

K-0R9 stood before the wall, gazing at the text. "And? What does it say?" Mab asked excited and impatiently. "It is a very old dialect of Galactic Basic." He said, this sounded plausible as she looked at the mural with all the different kinds of species "Can you read it?" "Yes Master. This seems to be a code of conduct.. it says:

"There is no ignorance, there is knowledge\* There is no fear \* there is power \* I am the heart of the Force \* I am the revealing fire of light \* I am the mystery of darkness \* In balance with chaos and harmony \* Immortal in the Force."

The words felt familiar, she recognised them but couldn't really place it. "What about here?" She took the droid to the mural with the map. K-0R9 scanned the map "this is a map of Tython." The droid stepped closer and pointed out the biggest city "this is Akar Kesh" he moved to another city "Anil Kesh." He pointed out each city "Bodhi. Mahara Kesh. Kaleth. Padawan Kesh. Stav Kesh. Qigong Kesh and Vur Tepe." The witch's mind was buzzing, it all sounded familiar and yet she had no idea where this planet was. "Do you know anything about Tython?" She asked her droid. "I know the Je'daii order hailed from Tython" her eyes widened "the Je'daii" she whispered, she had read about them in the academy archives but it was knowledge deemed weak because they believe in a balance between light and dark..

Mab stepped away from the murals standing at the centre of the room she gazed at the beauty. She felt an even stronger pull to find Tython. "I have to find it… I will find it."

To be continued...

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