Cain tapped the communicator on his wrist, still keeping a cautious eye on Kar. "Master Fay, the threat is contained," he spoke calmly into the device. His voice carried both relief and urgency. I need the Eternal Dawn team on-site. There's something here we have to see… I believe we've found the nexus."
He glanced toward a faint glow emanating deeper within the jungle, past a curtain of vines and mist—evidence of the Force nexus that had drawn them all to Haruun Kal. This area pulsed with unusual Force energy, likely a concentration of life and dark echoes of past battles. Cain wanted the wise Master Fay and the other Eternal Dawn Order members to investigate it now that Kar, the self-appointed guardian of this jungle, was neutralized.
Within a few hours, the low rumble of a shuttle could be heard descending through the canopy. As Cain awaited his allies' arrival, two familiar figures emerged from behind the ferns at the edge of the clearing. Anakin and Ahsoka hurried forward, both looking battered but relieved.
Ahsoka's walked with a slight limp from the wound on her thigh and the bruise forming on Anakin's cheek. The two had taken cover when Cain engaged Kar one-on-one, after suffering Kar's initial onslaught. Now that the fight was over, they returned to their comrade's side.
Anakin's blue eyes were bright with admiration as he approached Cain, who was catching his breath beside Kar's slumped form. "Cain, that was one hell of a fight," Anakin exclaimed, offering a hand which Cain clasped in a brotherly greeting. "I haven't seen anything like it. "You and Ahsoka were Amazing yourselves." There was genuine praise and a hint of friendly envy in Anakin's and Cains tone. Despite a cut on his face, Anakin managed a grin.
He was clearly invigorated by witnessing Cain's skills. "Watching you out there, I thought Mace Windu himself had been dueling that guy the way you handled those shatterpoints," Anakin continued with a chuckle.
Anakin's pride and competitive spirit were stoked; Cain could sense Anakin's burning desire to improve radiating through the Force. No defeat would discourage The Chosen One—instead, it fueled him. "I realize I've been holding back," Anakin admitted more seriously, folding his arms. "If we're going to face foes like Kar, I need to train much more seriously. I won't be caught off guard like that again."
Ahsoka stepped up beside her mentor, her eyes alight with determination. The teenage Togruta wore an expression that mixed awe and frustration. "Master Cain, I second that," she said, offering Cain a respectful nod. She then glanced at Anakin and back to Cain. "Kar mopped the floor with me earlier… I've never felt so outmatched." Her voice held a combination of disappointment and resolve.
During the initial skirmish, Ahsoka had boldly engaged Kar alongside Anakin, only to be swiftly overwhelmed by the Korun's brute strength. Now, rubbing a sling that supported her sprained arm, she added, "I won't let that happen again. I'm ready to push myself further. Whatever it takes, I want to be able to handle anything—or anyone—like that."
Despite her youth, Ahsoka's commitment was written in the firm set of her jaw. Seeing Cain's victory had inspired her not to shrink from such threats but to rise to meet them. Cain offered her a kind smile. "You held your own as longer then most could against him, Ahsoka," he reassured, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "What's important is that your alive". You learned and will come back stronger."
As Ahsoka and Anakin tended to one another's injuries and exchanged relieved banter about surviving the "big guy," Cain heard the soft crunch of footsteps approaching from behind. He turned to see Master Fay emerging from the jungle gloom, flanked by two Jadaii knights, Paladins and a Order medic.
Master Fay's near-human features were serene, her white hair cascading over slender shoulders. Even after centuries of life, the ancient Master moved with ethereal grace. The jungle almost seemed to bend toward her as if recognizing one of the purest light-side presences in the galaxy.
"Cain, my old student" she greeted warmly, her voice musical and soothing. Her emerald-green eyes glanced over the scene—the toppled trees, the unconscious akk dog, and Kar Vastor lying on the ground—and a gentle smile of pride tugged at her lips.
"The Force guided you well, young on." She did not carry a lightsaber; as legend held, Master Fay needed none, relying purely on the Force's guidance. Cain bowed his head respectfully to one of his old masters. "Master, its been to long, the nexus is close. We can all feel it," he said, gesturing toward the interior. Master Fay nodded, already sensing the unusual concentration of Force energy nearby. She signaled the other Eternal Dawn members to begin scanning the area.
Seris, moved past to secure the perimeter and attend to the nexus investigation."Looks like you three had more fun then you could handle she would hug all three who were sore and in alot of pain saying Im glad your all alive. Meanwhile, the medic knelt by Kar to check his vitals, and Master Fay herself stepped closer to Kar's prone form, regarding him with a mix of compassion and curiosity.
Kar Vastor, though conscious, was too weak to resist. His dark eyes flickered between the newcomers. He gave a low growl—less threatening now, more of a tired acknowledgment of their presence. Master Fay slowly extended a delicate hand toward Kar but did not touch him, instead bathing him in a soft Force aura. Cain knew Fay's technique well; she could send calming waves through the Force, pacifying even the fiercest of beings by flooding them with peace.
Kar's tense muscles visibly relaxed as the ancient force light side energy enveloped him. "Rest, warrior," Fay said kindly. "No harm will come to you now." Kar's gaze fixed on her. Perhaps he sensed that this gentle woman held power of a very different kind—the power to heal and soothe rather than destroy.
The Korun's eyes closed, and he slipped into a deep, needed sleep. Master Fay's expression was compassionate. "Such darkness and pain in him," she murmured softly to Cain, Anakin, and Ahsoka, who had gathered around. "Yet not evil in the way of the Sith… more like a wounded beast defending its lair." Cain agreed; he had felt that too. Kar's darkness was of the jungle, born of survival and loss, not the cold malice of the dark side.
Seris told the Eternal Dawn knights and Paladins to carefully lifted Kar onto a repulsor stretcher for transport. Anakin raised an eyebrow, a bit surprised at how docile the fearsome fighter now seemed under Fay's influence. "He's as strong as they said," Anakin noted quietly to Master Fay and Cain.
"I doubt even Skywalker alone could have taken him down," he added with a self-deprecating grin, using the tongue-in-cheek title Ahsoka sometimes gave him. Master Fay chuckled softly. "All of you together succeeded—through bravery, skill, and trust in the Force. None of us stand alone." She then turned her attention to the faint bluish luminescence filtering through the foliage ahead, the sign of the nexus. "Come. The Force nexus awaits our study. Such places are rare and precious."
Cain watched as Master Fay and Seris led the team forward to investigate the nexus site – likely the old crashed Jedi starship from centuries ago that Kar had repurposed for his shields, or perhaps an ancient Grove where life and death converged strongly. The jungle would keep its secrets no longer.
Cain was about to follow when he felt a large hand brush his arm. Turning, he saw Kar Vastor, half-lidded eyes on him, weakly reaching out from the stretcher. It seemed Kar had roused slightly, perhaps sensing Cain's presence.
Cain knelt down beside him. Kar's voice came as a strained whisper, each word an effort. "Good…fight," he managed in Basic, voice gravelly and low. The simple phrase carried a world of respect coming from a man who rarely spoke at all. Cain found himself smiling.
"Yes. It was," he replied gently. In Kar's gaze, Cain sensed a spark of kinship forged in combat—a grudging admiration that only warriors who tested each other's limits could share.