The Unchronicled Adventures Of Ahsoka Tano, Book Ten

Chapter Ninety-Seven: Old Master

EZRA BRIDGER

As Kanan and Ahsoka's footsteps faded away, Ezra bit his lip, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the lack of light in the space around him. He sighed as he realized that even one used to the darkness, there wasn't much to see. He recognized nothing, and there was even less light here than there had been amidst the fallen pillars.

"Sure, I'll catch up," he said to himself with a sigh. "Just as soon as I figure out where I am..."

He nearly jumped out of his skin when another voice, this one cracking and rasping slightly with age, said, "I know where you are!"

He brought his lightsaber to bear, suddenly all too conscious of Kanan's teachings from their last training session: that it was more difficult to raise his blade than it was to lower it. In a place like this, that extra split-second could very well mean the difference between life and death.

"You're with me," the voice continued with a nervous chuckle.

Ezra pointed his saber towards the origin of the sound, and the familiar blue light of the blade caught on the figure of an old non-human male hunched wearily over a cane a few feet away. But even while his face was mostly hidden by a loose cowl, from his posture to the meekness of his voice as he spoke, he didn't seem like much of a threat.

"Please put your weapon away; I– I mean you no harm."

He doesn't look like he could even if he wanted to, anyway, Ezra thought to himself. But regardless, as a precaution more than anything else, he yelled, "Stay back! I'm warning you, old man!"

"Forgive me," the old man stuttered, "i– it's just... I've been alone so long; it's been years since I've spoken to anyone."

"You live here alone, in the dark." Ezra shot a skeptical glance around him. Who in their right mind would want to live in a place like this?

"Not by choice... my, uh, ship crashed; I'm trapped, marooned. I've had to scrounge and scrape to survive.

Ezra kept his guard up, but he couldn't deny that there was a slight spark of sympathy for the man growing within him. "Look, I'm sorry, okay? I wish I could help you, but I have to get back to my friends."

He started to move away, searching a way back up to the surface, but before he could get too far, the old man called after him. "Perhaps I could help you."

Ezra scoffed. "I doubt that."

"Why are you here?" the man asked.

"I'm not gonna tell you that."

Through the Force, Ezra felt a sense of realization dawn on the old man. "You came for the same reason I did, years ago – you seek knowledge."

That caught Ezra's attention. "It's in the Temple, isn't it?"

The man nodded beneath his hood. "And I know the secret way to get inside, but– but I'm too old; I– I need help to open the door."

Ezra drew closer. "What's inside?"

"Help me and find out."

Ezra frowned, unsure if the man knew what was inside and was trying to bait him, or genuinely needed his help to get inside. Finally, curiosity overwhelmed him, and he said, "Show me this doorway."

The man motioned for him to pass. "Please, this way."

Ezra narrowed his eyes. "You first."

"Do you not trust me?" The man's eyes glinted almost eerily beneath his cowl.