Beginnings

[Ryra Kain]

Location: Corellia: Kain homestead
Timeframe: 39 ABY

Located in the valleys north of Coronet, the Kain homestead consists of the main residential home, a guest house, a large equipment and vehicle hangar, and several outbuildings of various sizes. It had been established by Ryra’s father, Eldo Kain, when he married her mother, Lyza Varss, twenty-four years ago. It had started out rather small and unassuming, but with good harvests, the Kains became well-off enough to expand the complex as well as their client base.

The Kain family boasted that they could trace their roots as far back as the Old Republic, but many of the stories passed down through the generations had turned into familial myths, their authenticity doubtful. Perhaps their ancestors did, in fact, go off to have adventures, become soldiers or have the affinity for piloting that Corellians are known for.

But, as time went on and the ravages of conflicts like the Clone Wars took their toll, the Kains were not immune to the growing distrust of those they thought were responsible for most, if not all, of the Galaxy’s woes: the Jedi. These sentiments continued on in varying degrees until it became a simple fact that things like the Force were nothing but trouble waiting to happen. If anyone in their past had become Jedi, they were eager to forget it.

Leave well enough alone.


=====

“I don’t understand what the big deal is.” They were fighting again. They always seemed to be fighting these days. “I never wanted to be a farmer! You always knew that!”

Lyza Kain swung around to face her daughter and gave the sternest glare she could manage. “No, you want to go gallivanting around to get yourself killed on some backwater planet!” She threw her arm out in the general direction of the sky, toward where she imagined some backwater planet was. “And where will you find a Jedi anyway?” She was extra sure to add heated emphasis on, to her, that dreaded title.

Ryra crossed her arms and balanced her weight on one hip. “I’ll go to Coronet. There’s a temple there and everything. It’ll be easy to find one.” A little white, necessary lie—it wasn’t actually a temple in the strictest sense, but her mother didn’t need to know that. “And no one said that I’d be leaving Corellia anyway. This is what I want to do!”

“You’re only seventeen; you don’t know what you want yet. Now, go help your brother get the harvesters in and please allow me to finish dinner.” Lyza turned back to the counter where an abundance of vegetables awaited chopping.

Ryra stubbornly hung around for a few more moments before finally turning on her heel and slapping open the door, making sure it was audible. She could just sense her mother shaking her head and muttering, “Never should have let her read all those silly holobooks. ...don't know where she got it anyway...definitely not from my side”

Stepping outside, Ryra stalked over to the hangar where she could see her brother and a droid or two milling around. “I knew you had already gotten all of the harvesters in already.”

Joran remained focused on his task, but nevertheless took the time to continue the conversation. “Have another fight with mom? I could practically hear you two from here. And she wouldn’t ask you to help me with anything unless it was to get you out of the way.” He handed a tool chest off to a droid, who shuffled away with it. “So what’d you fight about this time?”

Ryra kicked at the tread of the bulky piece of machinery that was a harvester and watched a chunk of debris fall to the ground. “Same old.”

“Of course. You know, she’d probably be less…” he searched for the right word, “cranky, if you didn’t come on so strongly about all that Jedi stuff. And you can’t really blame her. It’s a hard life, Ry. And there’s no guarantee that it’ll even happen.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You don’t think I can do it?”

“No, I said there’s no guarantee. Besides, how are you going to get to Coronet anyway? Run away? And what would you do when you got there? Unlike mom, who’s just pulling rank, I’m trying to be realistic. You’re not stupid, Ryra.”

During his speech, Ryra had been occupying herself with picking chunks of dirt out of the tread she had kicked at earlier. She knew Joran was right, but her stubborn side insisted that she could easily prove him wrong. And she had been saving up some money so she could eventually get to Coronet.

She finally shoved her hands into her pockets, uncaring of the dirt that coated them, and walked back to the house, calling over her shoulder, “Fine. I’ll stay here a while longer waiting for absolutely nothing to happen.”

Joran couldn’t help but call back, “Stop being so dramatic!” He was rewarded with a barking laugh.

[Ryra Kain]

Location: Corellia: Kain homestead
Timeframe: 38 ABY

Ryra waited a week before finally deciding to leave for Coronet. It was still the cool of the night, and the sun wouldn’t be rising for another few hours. Part of her regretted having to sneak away like this, but the other half reveled in the thrill. Adventure was finally hers and she could get off this boring farm!

It was a lot easier than she thought it would be—there was no scheduled deactivation of any droids or the need to occupy any guard animals with scraps of food. If anything, it felt like any other time she left the house before morning, much to her disappointment. Only this time, she wasn’t going to prepare for any day’s work.

She had scheduled a brief note to be sent to Jorran’s datapad telling him what she was doing and all, but she left out the part that she wouldn’t be going directly to Coronet. Ryra wanted to avoid being dragged back before she had even started. In time, she reasoned, they would all come to accept her decision.

Hopefully.

The tall grasses surrounding the compound scratched together in the breeze, effectively drowning out any sounds Ryra made as she made her way to the vehicle hangar. Pulling the door open, she stepped inside and turned on the lights, almost blinding herself with the brightness along with the particles of dust that danced through the air & obscured her vision.

Making her way through the myriad of vehicles stored there, large and small, new and old, she spotted her target: and older speeder that had more or less been forgotten. It had been shoved into a corner and a tarp hastily thrown over it.

Better to take one that’s unwanted.

Shifting her pack to where it sat more securely on her back, Ryra tore the tarp off and kicked it away. She didn’t start the speeder immediately, rather pushing it out of the hangar, dancing around pieces of farm equipment and crates.

Navigating the speeder out took longer than she would have liked, but she finally managed it. Making sure all the lights were turned off and the doors secured, Ryra hurried the speeder away from the complex.

Once she was far enough away enough where she was sure no one would be jolted awake, Ryra stopped to look back for a bit. She would miss the place, sure, but she didn’t want to always be there. Mounting the bike, it sputtered on before stabilizing and screeching off.