Gemmy

Gemmy was a tooka who lived at the Jedi temple on the Outer Rim planet Dalna during the High Republic Era. In 230 BBY, when Jedi Knight Vernestra Rwoh and Jedi Padawan Imri Cantaros visited the temple, Gemmy was present at the temple's entrance. Shortly after, he and the temple's other tookas swarmed Jedi Knight Yacek Sparkburn inside the temple when he arrived carrying moon fish.

The following day, Gemmy began liking Cantaros despite Sparkburn stating that the tooka did not typically like others. He then accompanied Cantaros, Rwoh, and Sparkburn when they left the temple and went to the capital, Saludad, to speak with Vice President Hackrack Bep. Later, Gemmy kneaded Cantaros as he slept, eventually waking the Padawan up.

After Cantaros agreed to depart Dalna to travel to the Galactic Republic space station Starlight Beacon to ask for assistance in repairing a communications relay, Gemmy walked alongside him as he made his way to the ship he was to pilot to Starlight Beacon. The Dalna temple's tookas, including Gemmy, were later sent to new homes after the evacuation of Dalna following the Nihil's devastation of the planet, and were missed by Sparkburn, as he and Cantaros lived on the Outer Rim planet Aricho in 228 BBY.

Biography

Befriending Imri Cantaros

Gemmy was a tooka cat that lived at the Jedi Order's temple on^[1] the Outer Rim^[2] planet Dalna during the High Republic Era.^[1] In 230 BBY,^[3] when Jedi Knight Vernestra Rwoh and her apprentice, Jedi Padawan Imri Cantaros, arrived at the temple to investigate kidnappings carried out by the Nihil pirates, Gemmy and the temple's other tookas were present at the temple's entrance and Cantaros was excited to see them. After the two accompanied Jedi Master Nyla Quinn^[1]—the temple's lead Jedi^[4]—inside the temple, Jedi Knight Yacek Sparkburn appeared carrying bags of items and the tookas all flocked to him, wailing piteously. Sparkburn laughed and then stated that the cats must have smelt the moon fish he had brought with him.^[1]

The following morning, Gemmy was in the temple's common room and jumped on Cantaros after he sat in a chair with a plate of food and began to growl. The Padawan responded by breaking off a piece of cheese and feeding it to the tooka while ensuring the cat did not catch his fingers. Sparkburn laughed and stated that while Gemmy did not usually like others, he had taken a liking to Cantaros, to which the Padawan replied that he liked the tooka as well. He then scratched the cat behind its ears.^[1]

When Cantaros later stood, ready to leave the temple for a meeting with Vice President Hackrack Bep in the capital city Saludad, Gemmy climbed onto his shoulder and dug his claws into him to remain steady. Despite the pain the actions caused, the Padawan asked what to do about the tooka, to which Sparkburn stated that the cat wanted to go with him and that as long as Cantaros did not mind, he should allow him to. Cantaros was happy to let Gemmy accompany him and scratched his head; the tooka had begun to make the Padawan feel better as he had been feeling sad and not himself. In response, the cat made an unusual growling sound low in his throat.^[1]

Adventures with Imri

Gemmy then traveled with Rwoh, Cantaros, and Sparkburn in a landspeeder to Bep's house in Saludad. When they arrived, the tooka jumped off of the Padawan's shoulder and began chasing a furry puffball creature down an alley. Sparkburn told Cantaros not to worry and that the cat would return soon. After the Padawan asked if he should wait outside for Gemmy, Rwoh told him he could if he wanted, as she expected her meeting not to last long. While sitting on the house's stairs, Cantaros mentally wondered if he should go and look for the tooka but was then approached by his friend, the Dalnan Honesty Weft.^[1]

Eventually, by the time Rwoh's and Sparkburn's meeting with the vice president had finished, Gemmy had returned to the speeder and began laying across Cantaros' shoulders. After the two left the house, the Padawan asked them if they had learned anything, and the tooka purred as he burrowed into the top of Cantaros' tabard as the Jedi then spoke about the meeting and the Padawan's interaction with Weft. When Cantaros groaned about waiting longer for their investigation to continue, the cat yowled in sympathy. The four then entered the landspeeder and returned to the Jedi temple.^[1]

The following day, after Cantaros slept at the temple following an incident, he woke to find Gemmy kneading him with his claws. While unhappy about the wake-up from the tooka, he told him that he understood before getting up and going to the common room to discuss their next steps. The Padawan agreed to travel with the vice president and Jedi Knight Lyssa Votz to the Galactic Republic space station Starlight Beacon to ask for help in fixing a broken communications relay in the Dalnan system that was preventing messages from being sent and received. After Cantaros grabbed his belongings, Gemmy trotted alongside him as he made his way to the T-1 shuttle Wishful Thinking, which he was piloting to Starlight Beacon.^[1]

A new home

Days later, the Nihil used a crystal matrix tied into Dalna's crust to trigger massive volcanic eruptions and groundquakes on the planet,^[1] devastating Dalna^[6] and leading to an evacuation of the planet by the Republic and Jedi to an emergency shelter on Hansibel Island.^[1] Eventually, all of the Dalna temple's tookas,^[5] including Gemmy,^[1] were sent to new homes.^[5]

In 228 BBY,^[7] while residing on^[5] the Outer Rim^[8] planet Aricho, Sparkburn was reminded of the Dalna temple's tookas each time he and Cantaros visited a tavern named the Blue Tooka, which had a number of tookas living in it. When the two visited the tavern one day, Sparkburn informed Cantaros of his remembrance of the tookas, stating that while he knew they were in happy homes after being evacuated from Dalna, there was nothing that compared to one of the tooka's testing their claws on his chest.^[5]

Personality and traits

According to Vernestra Rwoh, Gemmy was a big tooka. Nyla Quinn stated that while the Dalna temple's tookas looked "cute and cuddly," they were also mischievous. When Gemmy began befriending Imri Cantaros, Yacek Sparkburn laughed and noted that the tooka did not typically like anyone. Sparkburn later noted that once Gemmy had made his mind up, there was not much that could be done to change it.^[1]

Skills and abilities

The tookas of the Dalna Jedi temple, including Gemmy, were good at keeping pests out of the temple according to Yacek Sparkburn.^[1]

Behind the scenes

Gemmy first appeared in the 2022 junior novel The High Republic: Mission to Disaster, written by Justina Ireland and published as part of the Star Wars: The High Republic multimedia project's^[1] Phase I.^[9]

Appearances

• The High Republic: Mission to Disaster (and audiobook) (First appearance)
• The High Republic: A Valiant Vow (and audiobook) (Indirect mention only)

Notes and references